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Associated Press News	2025-05-21 04:27:48+00:00	[ "Wisconsin", "Elon Musk", "Donald Trump", "Wisconsin state government", "Courts", "Government and politics", "Tesla", "Inc.", "Voting", "Ben Wikler", "Brandon Scholz", "Kelda Roys", "United States government", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Chris Taylor", "Public opinion", "Elections", "Campaign finance", "2020 United States presidential election" ]	# Elon Musk's last political investment was a huge flop By Scott Bauer May 21st, 2025, 04:27 AM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin could go down as billionaire Elon Musk's last big spend on a political campaign. And it was a flop. Musk, the richest person in the world, said Tuesday that he would be spending less on political campaigns. The announcement came as Musk is stepping back from his role in the Trump administration, saying he will spend more time focused on his businesses, and just seven weeks after the candidate he backed in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race lost by 10 percentage points. Democrats in the swing state said Musk's comments show that a party-led effort in this spring's election, dubbed " People vs. Musk, " succeeded in making Musk and his money "toxic." "The people have won," said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler. "The biggest funder in Republican politics is taking his toys and going home." Brandon Scholz, a retired longtime Republican strategist in the state, said that at least in Wisconsin, "after that court race he deserves to be labeled as toxic." But that doesn't mean Musk couldn't spend money on races in the state and nationally again, especially if the stakes are high and his money could make a difference, Scholz said. "Does he bring with him a lot of baggage? Possibly," Scholz said. "But over time, maybe not as much." Musk's spending in this year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race helped make it the most expensive court race in U.S. history. And it came just five months after Musk spent at least $250 million to help President Donald Trump win, reversing losses in Wisconsin and other battleground states four years earlier. Musk was all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, even making a personal appearance in Green Bay the weekend before the election wearing a cheesehead hat — popular with fans of the NFL's Green Bay Packers — and personally handing out checks for $1 million to supporters. It was an extension of Musk's high-profile role in the presidential race, where he campaigned alongside Trump and headlined some of his own rallies. "It's a super big deal," he told the roughly 2,000-person crowd in the event center, where hundreds of protesters were rallying against his appearance outside. "I'm not phoning it in. I'm here in person." But his appearance — and money — didn't work. The candidate Musk backed lost Brown County, the home of Green Bay, by 3 percentage points, going on to lose statewide by more than three times that margin. After the defeat, Musk has said little publicly about the race and his involvement in it. His popularity has also plummeted. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll taken two weeks after the Wisconsin court election found that just 33% of adults had a favorable view of the Tesla CEO, down from 41% in December. Musk's involvement in the race came at the same time he was the chain-saw-wielding face of the Trump administration's effort to downsize the federal government. His Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, has enacted deep cuts to the workforce and spending, in some cases seeking to shutter entire agencies, but it has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending. Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, of Wisconsin, is one of the most liberal members of Congress and a loud critic of both Trump and Musk. Pocan is skeptical that Musk truly will back away. "I don't believe any of it, first of all," Pocan said. "This just means they realize how toxic Elon Musk is and the work he did through DOGE." Kelda Roys, a Democratic state senator, was also tempered in her excitement over Musk saying he plans to do a "lot less" political spending in the future. "There's a ton of other billionaire bros, I'm sure, willing and happy to step up in his place," Roys said. Musk could also get involved with future races, but in a much more low-profile way, said Scholz, the Republican. "In Wisconsin, he had such a huge, huge, huge profile," Scholz said. "He became the campaign. He became the story." Musk spent at least $3 million on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race himself. Musk-backed groups America PAC and a Rebuilding America's Future spent another $19 million in support of the Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel. That was part of more than $100 million spent on both sides. America PAC spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did last fall across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump. In addition to his political contributions, Musk paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout. Musk also offered to pay $20 to anyone who signed up on his group's site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof. His organization promised $100 to every voter who signed the petition against "activist judges" and another $100 for every signer they referred. Musk himself hosted Schimel on his podcast and cast what was at stake in stark terms. "A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization," Musk said in a social media post on the April 1 election day. "I think it matters for the future of the world." Democrats made the race a referendum on both Musk and Trump's agenda, successfully electing a judge whose victory ensures the Wisconsin Supreme Court will remain under liberal control until at least 2028. Coincidentally, Musk's announcement about spending less on political races came just hours after a liberal judge announced her candidacy for the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor is challenging a conservative incumbent justice who sided with Trump in his unsuccessful lawsuit that attempted to overturn his 2020 loss in Wisconsin. The race will be decided in April, months before the midterms in which Democrats hope unease with Trump and Musk will help the party make gains. Taylor appeared to be taking a similar approach to her campaign that the winning Democratic-backed candidate did this year. "My campaign is going to be a campaign about the people of this state," she told The Associated Press, "not about billionaires, not about the most powerful." ___ Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 17:44:58+00:00	[ "Rod Wave", "Atlanta", "Georgia", "Crime", "Law enforcement", "Ryan Coogler", "Indictments", "Marissa Goldberg", "Entertainment", "Rod Green", "Mercedes Suv" ]	# Rapper Rod Wave faces more than a dozen charges, some involving a gun, in Georgia By Jeff Martin May 21st, 2025, 05:44 PM --- ATLANTA (AP) — The rapper known as Rod Wave faces more than a dozen charges, some involving a gun, after he turned himself in to sheriff's officials in Georgia on Tuesday. Wave, whose real name is Rodarius Green, voluntarily surrendered to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office on warrants stemming from an April 21 police call in the Atlanta suburb of Milton, police there said. A police report obtained by the AP describes officers finding luxury cars with bullet holes in them and signs of a break-in at the home in one of Georgia's most exclusive communities last month. But it does not explain why authorities are now accusing the rapper of several crimes. "There is no truth to these charges," the rapper's lawyers Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Rod Green was a victim of a burglary and committed no crimes," they said. "How he was even charged as a result of this situation is incomprehensible. This will absolutely be resolved favorably to Mr. Green." On April 21, Milton police responded to a home in the town north of Atlanta after a 911 report described "a possible domestic disturbance," police said in a statement. A neighbor had heard yelling and screaming, and saw a woman crying, officers wrote in their initial report. Officers determined that the call was related to a previously unreported burglary and the discharge of a firearm at the location, police said. They later obtained arrest warrants for Green, who lived there. The charges include aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit a felony, criminal damage to property and pointing or aiming a gun at someone, Fulton County Jail records show. He's also accused of tampering with evidence — a felony — and obstruction of law officers. An initial police report obtained by the AP describes what officers found at the home when they arrived April 21. A gold Mercedes SUV had multiple bullet holes in it, and a black Rolls-Royce vehicle had a single bullet hole, the report said. "In the basement, we found a large safe that had been dragged across the floor, opened, and emptied," an officer wrote. Green's girlfriend told officers that she had returned home and found that the house appeared to have been burglarized. In the back of the home near the swimming pool, officers found a broken window and a hammer in a bush next to it. A black Glock handgun was also found at the scene, officers wrote. The initial report does not list any suspects who might have broken in, emptied the safe or shot the vehicles, nor does it accuse Green of committing any crimes. Green was released on bond shortly after turning himself in on the same day, Tuesday, authorities said. The 26-year-old Florida rapper is celebrated for his soul-trap sound, a unique melding of R&B and rap that has earned him 11 singles certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Four of his six albums hit No. 1 on Billboard's top R&B/hip-hop albums chart, including his most recent, 2024's "Last Lap." This year, he contributed the sing-song title track rap "Sinners" to Ryan Coogler's record-breaking, critically acclaimed blockbuster of the same name. Green grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he has had at least one past scrape with the law before a domestic battery charge was dismissed in 2022. An ex-girlfriend had accused Green of entering her home in the Orlando area and choking her while their two children were in another room, according to an arrest warrant. The two had dated for about four years, and the girlfriend told investigators that Green accused her of seeing other men while they were broken up. Prosecutors later told court officials that the case was not suitable for prosecution. —- Associated Press Writer Maria Sherman in New York and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 03:34:12+00:00	[ "New Orleans", "Prisons", "Law enforcement", "Crime", "Louisiana", "Indictments", "Gary C. Price", "Susan Hutson", "Michael Kennedy", "Anne Kirkpatrick", "Corey Boyd" ]	# Men who escaped New Orleans jail had hourslong head start before staff knew they were gone May 21st, 2025, 03:34 AM --- NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly a week after 10 men escaped from a New Orleans jail by crawling through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a fence, five have been apprehended and five remain at large. Authorities believe sheriff's employees must have aided the escape, and three have been suspended. A jail maintenance man is the only person arrested so far and is accused of helping the prisoners. Here is a look at the timeline of events surrounding one of the largest jailbreaks in recent U.S. history: ## May 15 At 10:30 p.m., the jail is locked down per standard nighttime rules. ## May 16 About 12:20 a.m., prisoners yank open a cell door when the jail's lone guard is away getting food. The men escape through a hole cut behind a sink-toilet unit that they removed. Authorities haven't specified what tools were used to cut through steel bars or how the prisoners got them. What happened inside the cell is unclear. Authorities say that the water to the toilet was off, allowing the inmates to move it without flooding or causing a scene. Prosecutors say that some time ahead of the escape Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the jail, turned the water off at the direction of an inmate. But Williams' attorney told The Associated Press that Williams was asked by an unnamed sheriff's deputy to unclog a toilet, which is why he had shut off the water. At 1:01 a.m., surveillance video captures the 10 men sprinting out of the jail, throwing blankets over a barbed wire fence and scaling it. Some of the men are then seen running across an interstate. A head count at the jail generally starts around 6:30 a.m. and takes less than an hour. However, on this morning sheriff's officials are still verifying whether anyone had escaped more than two hours later, according to Jeworski "Jay" Mallett, the jail's chief of corrections. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail, and Mallett say they are investigating why it took so long for staffers to identify and report that the men were missing. It is not clear exactly what time jail staff noticed the men were gone. Around 8:45 a.m., the jail goes on lockdown. About 45 minutes later, the escape is "officially reported" by Hutson to a law enforcement task force. Around 10:30 a.m., city and state police learn of the escape. New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says she learned of the jailbreak indirectly and not from the sheriff. At approximately 11:30 a.m., law enforcement officials hold a news conference about the escape. Around noon, Louisiana state police say they have apprehended escapee Kendall Myles, 20, in the city's French Quarter after a brief foot chase. He was identified by the city's network of facial recognition security cameras. Myles was in jail facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and armed robbery. Officials say he had twice escaped from juvenile custody. The sheriff says three jail employees have been suspended pending an investigation. It is not immediately clear whether any of the employees are suspected of helping with the escape. Officials also don't say if the employee who left to get food is among the three suspended. In the evening, escapees Robert Moody and Dkenan Dennis are apprehended separately in the city. Moody, 21, was being held on charges of illegal carrying of a weapon with narcotics, attempted second- degree battery and obstruction. Dennis, 24, was being held on charges including armed robbery with firearm and illegal carrying of a weapon during a crime of violence. ## May 19 A fourth escapee, Gary C. Price, 21, is taken into custody in New Orleans. He was originally held at the New Orleans jail on charges of first-degree murder, domestic abuse and aggravated assault. ## May 20 Williams is arrested and held on $1.1 million bond. Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office. Authorities say he has admitted he turned the water off in a cell before the men slipped away through the hole behind the toilet. They say he told investigators an inmate threatened to stab him if he didn't help. But an attorney for Williams, said the jail worker actually didn't take the threat seriously. Michael Kennedy, Williams' appointed attorney, says that the maintenance worker had just been doing his job. Williams told his attorney that he hadn't tried to aid in the escape but was rather unclogging a toilet — at the direction of a deputy — and needed to shut off the water to do so. Kennedy said he did not know what day Williams worked on the toilet, whether he finished unclogging it, if he turned the water back on or how long he was inside the cell. State police confirm that Corey Boyd, 19, has been apprehended. Boyd was being held on second-degree murder charges. Hutson, the sheriff, temporarily suspends her reelection campaign, saying, "Now is the time to focus on security, accountability and public safety." ## May 21 Kennedy meets with Williams for a 30-minute discussion to learn about the events that led to his arrest. While many details are still being filled-in, Kennedy alleged that the sheriff's office is "trying to use" the employee as "a scapegoat to minimize their own embarrassment." Kennedy said that Williams denies all criminal accusations made against him. In the afternoon, authorities announced that they arrested two people accused of helping some of the escapees. Police allege that Cortnie Harris, 32, was in contact with one of the escapees, who is still on the run and transported two escapees to multiple locations in New Orleans. Corvanntay Baptiste, 38, was in touch with Boyd and helped him get food while he was in hiding, police say. Both people were charged with felony count of being an accessory after the fact.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 04:05:00+00:00	[ "Brandon Griffith", "Insects", "Animals", "Plants", "Nashville", "Zoology", "Climate and environment", "Jason Sprouls", "Butterflies", "Botany", "Business", "Environmental conservation", "Technology", "Lifestyle", "Amanda Beltranmini Healen", "Climate" ]	# Manicured lawns are out, wild lawns are in. A low mow lifestyle can help bees and conserve water By Kristin M. Hall May 22nd, 2025, 04:05 AM --- NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — No Mow May encourages homeowners to stash the lawnmower each spring and let flowers and grass grow for pollinators and water retention. And if your neighbor's lawn already looks like a wildflower field most of the time, it could be more intentional than passersby might assume. The movement has expanded to "Let It Bloom June" and the fall version: "Leave the leaves." Conservation and horticulture groups say year-round low-mowing while selectively leaving native plants to grow can save huge amounts of drinking water and lead to lasting and impactful ecological changes. When Amanda Beltranmini Healen moved into her Nashville ranch house in 2016, the yard had been manicured for sale: a walnut tree, roses from a home improvement store and short grass. So she experimented, first with a 10-by-10-foot patch where she dug up the grass and sowed native seeds. Then she planted goldenrods in the culvert near the street, and let more of her yard grow tall without mowing. Local authorities apparently didn't appreciate her natural look: "I got a letter from the city saying that I had to mow it," she said. But then, a friend told her about No Mow Month signs, provided by the Cumberland River Compact, a local water conservation nonprofit. Soon she was signaling to the city that she's no derelict, but a participant in an international movement. These days, every month is No Mow May in parts of her property. While she keeps the growth shorter near the culvert and street, her backyard is filled with native grasses and plants up to her knees or waist. There's a decomposing tree trunk where scores of skinks and bugs live, birds nest under her carport and she regularly finds fawns sleeping in the safety of the high grasses. "I have a lot of insects and bugs and that's protein, so the birds and the bird's nests are everywhere. Cardinals and wrens and cowbirds and robins," she said. "I wake up to them, especially during spring migration right now. It's just a cacophony in the morning and in the evening, especially when the mulberries come in." The movement is popularized by groups such as Plantlife, a conservation organization based in England. American lawns, based on English and French traditions, are increasingly seen as a wasteful monoculture that encourages an overuse of pesticides, fertilizer and water. Outdoor spraying and irrigation account for over 30 percent of a U.S. household's total water consumption, and can be twice that in drier climates, according to the EPA. Some criticize No Mow campaigns as a fad that could invite invasive plants to spread unchecked without helping pollinators much, if only done for a month. A guide outlining No Mow pros, cons and limitations, written by consumer horticulture extension specialist Aaron Steil at the University of Iowa, says reducing mowing to every two weeks and replacing turf with plants that pollinate all year long can offer more benefits without risking a citation or complaints. The No Mow effort does encourage people to think more about biodiversity in their yards, and many local nature organizations advise provide guidance on picking non-invasive plants that fit each region's climate and precipitation levels. Reducing mowing encourages longer-rooted native grasses and flowers to grow, which breaks up compacted soil and improves drainage, "meaning that when it rains, more water is going to be captured and stored in lawns versus being generated as a runoff and entering into our stormwater system," said Jason Sprouls, urban waters program manager for the Cumberland River Compact. Beltranmini Healen isn't just letting just anything grow — she learned which plants are invasive, non-native or not beneficial to the ecosystem and carefully prunes and weeds so the keepers have room to thrive. Nashville homeowner Brandon Griffith said he was just tired of mowing when he decided years ago wait and see what comes up. Then he consciously added flowering plants to attract bees and bugs. Now he sees so many insects and pollinators all over his garden that the neighbors' kids come over to look for butterflies. It's about giving them the time "to come out of their larva or their egg stage and be able to grow," said Griffith. He said he's never heard a complaint — in fact, some of his neighbors also stopped mowing for a month each spring. His four-year-old son catches lizards, digs for worms and hunts for bugs in the yard. "I just enjoy coming out and walking around," said Griffith. "And looking at it, it's kind of peaceful. It's kinda relaxing."
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 05:17:45+00:00	[ "Pakistan", "Kashmir", "Narendra Modi", "Hospitality and leisure industry", "Travel and tourism", "War and unrest", "South Asia", "Asia", "Asia Pacific", "India", "India government", "Bashir Ahmed", "Lifestyle", "Business", "Mohammed Irfan", "Omar Abdullah", "Pakistan government" ]	# Kashmir tourism bears the brunt after tourist massacre and India-Pakistan military strikes By Aijaz Hussain May 22nd, 2025, 05:17 AM --- SRINAGAR, India (AP) — There are hardly any tourists in the scenic Himalayan region of Kashmir. Most of the hotels and ornate pinewood houseboats are empty. Resorts in the snowclad mountains have fallen silent. Hundreds of cabs are parked and idle. It's the fallout of last month's gun massacre that left 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir followed by tit-for-tat military strikes by India and Pakistan, bringing the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of their third war over the region. "There might be some tourist arrivals, but it counts almost negligible. It is almost a zero footfall right now," said Yaseen Tuman, who operates multiple houseboats in the region's main city of Srinagar. "There is a haunting silence now." Tens of thousands of panicked tourists left Kashmir within days after the rare killings of tourists on April 22 at a picture-perfect meadow in southern resort town of Pahalgam. Following the attack, authorities temporarily closed dozens of tourist resorts in the region, adding to fear and causing occupancy rates to plummet. Graphic images, repeatedly circulated through TV channels and social media, deepened panic and anger. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the attackers, a charge Islamabad denied. Those who had stayed put fled soon after tensions between India and Pakistan spiked. As the two countries fired missiles and drones at each other, the region witnessed mass cancellations of tourist bookings. New Delhi and Islamabad reached a U.S.-mediated ceasefire on May 10 but hardly any new bookings have come in, tour operators said. Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, vice president of the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association, said at least 12,000 rooms in the region's hundreds of hotels and guesthouses were previously booked until June. Almost all bookings have been cancelled, and tens of thousands of people associated with hotels are without jobs, he said. "It's a huge loss." Ahmed said. The decline has had a ripple effect on the local economy. Handicrafts, food stalls and taxi operators have lost most of their business. Idyllic destinations, like the resort towns of Gulmarg and Pahalgam, once a magnet for travelers, are eerily silent. Lines of colorful hand-carved boats, known as shikaras, lie deserted, mostly anchored still on Srinagar's normally bustling Dal Lake. Tens of thousands of daily wage workers have hardly any work. "There used to be long lines of tourists waiting for boat rides. There are none now," said boatman Fayaz Ahmed. Taxi driver Mohammed Irfan would take tourists for long drives to hill stations and show them grand Mughal-era gardens. "Even a half day of break was a luxury, and we would pray for it. Now, my taxi lies standstill for almost two weeks," he said. In recent years, the tourism sector grew substantially, making up about 7% of the region's economy, according to official figures. Omar Abdullah, Kashmir's top elected official, said before the attack on tourists that the government was aiming to increase tourism's share of the economy to at least 15% in the next four to five years. Indian-controlled Kashmir was a top destination for visitors until the armed rebellion against Indian rule began in 1989. Warfare laid waste to the stunningly beautiful region, which is partly controlled by Pakistan and claimed by both countries in its entirety. As the conflict ground on, the tourism sector slowly revived but occasional military skirmishes between India and Pakistan kept visitors at bay. But India vigorously pushed tourism after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government scrapped the disputed region's semi-autonomy in 2019. Tensions have simmered, but the region has also drawn millions of visitors amid a strange calm enforced by an intensified security crackdown. According to official data, close to 3 million tourists visited the region in 2024, a rise from 2.71 million visitors in 2023 and 2.67 million in 2022. The massive influx prompted many locals to invest in the sector, setting up family-run guesthouses, luxury hotels, and transport companies in a region with few alternatives. Tourists remained largely unfazed even as Modi's administration has governed Kashmir with an iron fist in recent years, claiming militancy in the region was in check and a tourism influx was a sign of normalcy returning. The massacre shattered those claims. Experts say that the Modi government's optimism was largely misplaced and that the rising tourism in the region of which it boasted was a fragile barometer of normalcy. Last year, Abdullah, the region's chief minister, cautioned against such optimism. Tuman, who is also a sixth-generation tour operator, said he was not too optimistic about an immediate revival as bookings for the summer were almost all canceled. "If all goes well, it will take at least six months for tourism to revive," he said. Ahmed, the hotels association official, said India and Pakistan need to resolve the dispute for the region's prosperity. "Tourism needs peace. If (Kashmir) problem is not solved … maybe after two months, it will be again same thing."
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:12:54+00:00	[ "Aerospace technology", "Megan Wu", "Planets", "Science", "Cameras", "Technology", "Astronomy" ]	# NASA's Mars Perseverance snaps a selfie as a Martian dust devil blows by By Marcia Dunn May 21st, 2025, 06:12 PM --- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The latest selfie by NASA's Perseverance rover at Mars has captured an unexpected guest: a Martian dust devil. Resembling a small pale puff, the twirling dust devil popped up 3 miles (5 kilometers) behind the rover during this month's photo shoot. Released Wednesday, the selfie is a composite of 59 images taken by the camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm, according to NASA. It took an hour to perform all the arm movements necessary to gather the images, "but it's worth it," said Megan Wu, an imaging scientist from Malin Space Science Systems, which built the camera. "Having the dust devil in the background makes it a classic," Wu said in a statement. The picture — which also shows the rover's latest sample borehole on the surface — marks 1,500 sols or Martian days for Perseverance. That's equivalent to 1,541 days on Earth. Perseverance is covered with red dust, the result of drilling into dozens of rocks. Launched in 2020, it's collecting samples for eventual return to Earth from Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed and river delta that could hold clues of any past microbial life. ___ 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	2025-05-22 10:50:24+00:00	[ "Europe", "Greece", "Climate change", "Fires", "Wildfires", "Drone surveillance and warfare", "Drones", "Greece government", "European Union", "Government surveillance", "Ioannis Kefalogiannis" ]	# Greece doubles drone fleet and deploys record firefighters to tackle growing wildfire risk By Derek Gatopoulos May 22nd, 2025, 10:50 AM --- LAVRION, Greece (AP) — Greece is deploying a record number of firefighters and nearly doubling its drone fleet this summer to address growing wildfire risks driven by climate change, officials said Thursday. Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal personnel, supported by thousands of volunteers, would be mobilized as wildfire damage has increased steadily over the past two decades. "It is clear that the conditions this year will be particularly difficult," Kefalogiannis told reporters after attending a firefighting exercise south of Athens. Rising average temperatures and low rainfall have significantly worsened conditions in recent years. Greek Fire Chief Lt. Gen. Theodoros Vagias told The Associated Press that additional elite firefighting units would be deployed to high-risk areas during the May 1–Oct. 31 fire season. "The climate crisis is here to stay, and we must be more effective in surveillance, preparedness, and how we mobilize our resources," Vagias said. Wildfire damage surged to more than 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) in 2021 and 1,745 square kilometers (675 square miles) in 2023 — roughly three times the 2011–2020 average — according to data from the European Union's Forest Fire Information System. Firefighters held an exercise Thursday to test Greece's evolving wildfire response, which increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as drone surveillance and mobile command centers. Fire planes skimmed treetops, releasing plumes of water in coordinated low-altitude drops, as commanders on the ground huddled over tablets streaming real-time drone footage. The coast guard and armed forces took part in a drill simulating the evacuation of a children's summer camp threatened by fires on multiple fronts. Officials said the number of firefighting personnel has increased by roughly 20% over the past two years, while the fleet of fire-surveillance drones has grown to 82, up from 45. Around 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece under a European Union prepositioning program, officials said. __ Lefteris Pitarakis in Lavrion, Greece contributed to this report
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 10:39:03+00:00	[ "Brian Cornell", "Retail and wholesale", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "Economic policy", "Donald Trump", "Business", "Financial performance", "Economy", "Christina Hennington", "LGBTQ", "Michael Fiddelke", "Government policy", "China", "Neil Saunders" ]	# Target sales drop in 1st quarter and retailer warns they will slip for all of 2025 By Anne D'Innocenzio May 21st, 2025, 10:39 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Target's challenge to revive sales and its status as a cheap chic retailer just got more complicated. The discounter announced on Wednesday that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter, and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 year as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending. Target also said customer boycotts did some damage during the latest quarter. The company, long a fierce corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people, scaled back many diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January after they came under attack by conservative activists and the White House. Target's retreat created another backlash, with more customers angered by the retailer's reduction of LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for Pride Month in June of 2023. Shares fell 3.5% in midday trading Wednesday. Quarterly sales fell 2.8% from last year to $23.85 billion, and that was short of the $24.23 billion Wall Street expected, according to FactSet. Target earned $1.04 billion, or $2.27 per share, for the period ended May 3. That compares with $942 million, or $2.03 per share, in the year-ago period. Target cut its annual sales projections Wednesday. The company now expects a low-single digit decline for 2025 after projecting a 1% increase for sales in March. It also forecast annual per-share earnings of $7 to $9, excluding gains from legal settlements this year. For the year, analysts expect earnings per share of $8.34 on sales of $106.7 billion, on average. Comparable store sales, those from established stores and online channels, fell 3.8%. That includes a 5.7% drop in store sales and a 4.7% increase in online sales. That reverses a comparable store sales increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter. The number of transactions across online and physical stores fell 2.4%, and the average ticket dropped 1.4%. Target said it couldn't reliably estimate the individual impact of each of the factors that were hurting its business. Target is setting up a new office to be led by Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke focused on faster decision-making to help accelerate sales growth. The company said that current Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Christina Hennington is stepping down from her position and will be in a strategic role until Sept. 7. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said Hennington had been considered a potential successor to Cornell. "This is a tacit admission that Target isn't doing a good enough job in some areas, so we welcome it as a potential way to engineer change," Saunders wrote in a note published Wednesday. "But we caution that it can only accomplish its goals if the closed and defensive culture at Target changes for the better." Target is also intensifying efforts to entice customers nervous about the economy. The retailer will offer 10,000 new items starting at $1 — with the majority under $20. "We're not satisfied with these results, so we're moving with urgency to navigate through this period of volatility," Target CEO Brian Cornell told reporters on a call Tuesday. "We've got to drive traffic back into our stores or visits to our site." Out of 35 merchandise categories that the company tracks, it's gaining or maintaining market share in only 15. The company reported some market share gains in women's swimwear, infant and toddler clothing, and active wear. The latest results underscore Target's ongoing struggle in recent years to revive sales, particularly in nonessentials like fashion and home furnishings, as competition grows more fierce. Back in March, Target had outlined to investors how it was going to bring back its "Tarzhay" magic— defined by affordable but trendy offerings — by expanding its store label brands and shortening the time it takes to get products to the shelves from conception. That will help the company stay close to trends, company executives said. But it's been a complicated feat even without the tariff trade wars. Target's shares have fallen more than 37% in the past 52 weeks. Target rival Walmart reported strong quarterly sales last week. The nation's largest retailer said it's already raised prices on some items due to tariffs and that more price hikes are on the way this summer when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear. For example, car seats made in China that sell for $350 at Walmart will likely cost customers another $100, executives said. Target didn't offer specifics on tariffs' impact on prices, but said that it was looking at different ways to offset those costs like shifting sourcing. It said it should be able to offset the majority of the impacts from tariffs. "We look at competition," Cornell told reporters. "We make adjustments literally each and every week, so we're constantly adjusting pricing. Some are going up. Some will be reduced." President Donald Trump's threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced May 12, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days. Walmart was able to dodge some of the tariff damage other retailers are suffering because groceries account for about 60% of its U.S. business. Target is more reliant on discretionary items like clothing and accessories, with less than a quarter of its sales coming from groceries. The company has reduced the number of its store-label products sourced from China to 30% now from 60% in 2017. The company says is on its way to reducing that to 25% by the end of next year. Target is shifting sourcing to Guatemala and Honduras and is looking to sourcing in the U.S. Target is being pressured on other fronts as well. The company in January said it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black employees advance their careers and promote Black-owned businesses. Conservative activists and President Trump have sought to dismantle DEI policies in the federal government, schools, and at private businesses. The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day boycott of Target stores in response called last month for a continuation of that effort. The Rev. Jamal Bryant is seeking a reinvigorated commitment from Target on diversity, and he wants more support from Target for Black-owned banks and businesses. Target operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 18:45:58+00:00	[ "Philanthropy", "Jose Andres", "Joe Biden", "Martha Stewart", "Israel", "Ricardo Leite", "Lifestyle", "Business", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Entertainment", "United States government", "U.S. Agency for International Development" ]	# World Central Kitchen's Jose Andres urges donors to give more By Glenn Gamboa May 20th, 2025, 06:45 PM --- José Andrés remembers when he went to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake that the government estimates killed more than 300,000 people. "We began cooking in the streets, you know?" said the James Beard award-winning Spanish chef, whose group operates more than 40 restaurants around the world. "I'm feeding people after an earthquake so there were no photographers or cameras, it was me with my friends doing it." That was the start of World Central Kitchen, which has grown into a major nonprofit, raising hundreds of millions of dollars annually, as it quickly provides meals in response to humanitarian crises. Andrés' personal profile has only grown since then as well, as his NBC cooking competition show with Martha Stewart "Yes, Chef" continues and his new book "Change the Recipe: Because You Can't Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs" hit stores last month. "Now, sometimes when I go, everybody seems to have a camera," he said. "It's OK. I just go and try to do the best I can and donate my time." Andrés' work has drawn plenty of accolades. Earlier this year, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Joe Biden, who said the winners "answer the call to serve and led others to do the same thing." Ricardo Leite, senior vice president and head of international markets at Discover and president of Diners Club International, said Diners Club donated $750,000 earlier this month to World Central Kitchen to provide approximately 150,000 meals. "When looking for a nonprofit to collaborate with for our 75th anniversary, we wanted one that builds on our Together for Change corporate social responsibility program to create change where it matters most," said Leite. "This collaboration allows us to pay forward our legacy by helping provide comforting meals to those most in need." The Associated Press recently spoke with Andrés about how he is dealing with the world's ongoing crises. The interview was edited for clarity and length. _____ ## Q: Why is the Diners Club International donation to World Central Kitchen so important? A: It's important for the message that it sends, not only about donating to World Center Kitchen, but the important moment that philanthropy is going to be playing in a moment where we are seeing cutbacks. USAID is not being active any more and it used to be very important around the world. NGOs (Nongovernmental organizations) like World Central Kitchen in America and overseas are important because they occupy a role that governments don't occupy very often... It sends the message to every other foundation, private business, and individuals: Everybody needs to be very thoughtful about remembering that there are organizations doing vital work to bring relief or to solve problems that many people in America or abroad are facing. ## Q: Will World Central Kitchen have to step in to fill in the gap left by USAID cuts? A: We've never been supported really by them, but we work alongside them. World Central Kitchen is in Myanmar and in Thailand after the earthquake. In the old days, there would've been a rapid response team of USAID showing up in those scenarios to help those countries take care of their needs in an emergency. So the answer is yes. It's not only us, obviously. We're not everywhere, but where we are, usually we occupy a very big role in the initial emergency response. For us, that means activating money that helps us execute a response that is beyond meals — it's meals, it's water, everything that needs to happen. And in the best fashion of World Center Kitchen. it is channeled through the local economy, so in the process of responding to the emergency, we are helping the local economy. ## Q: Earlier this month, World Central Kitchen had to suspend operations in Gaza because you had no more supplies. Are you hopeful that will change soon? (This interview was done before Monday when Israel lifted its three-month blockade on supplies to Gaza.) A: We are ready. We are waiting. We hope that common sense will prevail. We hope that hostages will be released, that civilians in Gaza will not be afraid any more of bombs falling on their heads, and where everybody, Palestinians and Israel, can hope for a better tomorrow with peace. This will only happen with a ceasefire where nobody else is dying — where Gaza is not under attack, where Israel is not under attack, where hostages are released and where the children of Gaza can go back to school and they can start dreaming of rebuilding. The vast majority of people have common sense. They want to live in peace and prosperity. We cannot let the very, very few dictate the rules on behalf of the many that want to live in peace. ## Q: Is this the time for major donors to give more? A: I would say money does no good in the bank. I mean it's earning interest. But I think it's good when the money is used to invest in the people and when money is an investment in a better tomorrow. ______ 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	2025-05-21 04:13:20+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Colleges and universities", "Mahmoud Khalil", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "Education funding", "Government budgets", "Protests and demonstrations", "Iris Chiou", "Immigration", "Tarun Puri", "Asian Americans", "Race and ethnicity", "Education", "Politics", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Most AAPI adults oppose college cuts and student deportations, poll finds By Terry Tang and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux May 21st, 2025, 04:13 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — As colleges and universities pull back on diversity practices, a new poll finds that young Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are overwhelmingly against cutting federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education and deporting students involved in protest activity on campus. But opposition is lower among older groups — despite the fact that most AAPI adults, regardless of age, place a high value on a college education. The new survey from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 AAPI adults overall "somewhat" or "strongly" oppose cutting federal funding for colleges and universities with DEI programs, and a similar share are "somewhat" or "strongly" opposed to arresting or deporting foreign students involved with campus protests. Younger AAPI adults are largely against these policies: About 9 in 10 AAPI adults under 30 "somewhat" or "strongly" oppose cutting federal funds for colleges and universities with DEI policies, and a similar share are against arresting or deporting students involved with campus protests. Older AAPI adults are more likely to oppose these moves than to favor them, but their opposition is much less overwhelming. About half of AAPI adults ages 60 and older "somewhat" or "strongly" oppose cutting federal funds for DEI in higher education or arresting or deporting students for protest activity, while about 3 in 10 are "somewhat" or "strongly" in favor and about 2 in 10 have a neutral view. Despite these divisions, the survey shows that AAPI adults continue to see a college degree as critical for achieving key milestones. The vast majority, regardless of age, say a college degree is "essential" or "important" for getting a good job that can comfortably support a family. This poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, whose views are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation. The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funding over DEI programs, leading many colleges to roll back support systems for students of color. The White House already has cut billions of dollars in federal research grants to colleges it accuses of not doing enough to curb antisemitism, particularly during protests against the Israel-Hamas war. It also has moved to deport foreign students over their involvement with pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil. Iris Chiou, a 28-year-old Taiwanese American medical student in Madison, Illinois, says she's scared for foreign students who could face deportation. She wonders how long students and academics will feel comfortable speaking out. "The fact that you have people disappearing and being deported, being functionally kidnapped, I think that's going to scare people — which it's probably supposed to," said Chiou, who is a Democrat. It will keep people from discussing "what they care about." Some schools have overhauled policy on protests after Trump's funding threats. At Columbia University, there's now a ban on students wearing masks to hide their identities and protesters must show identification when asked. Meanwhile, Harvard has pushed back on the administration's demands, filing a lawsuit in April to challenge cuts to its funding. Rowena Tomaneng, board chair of the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education, said that many students are feeling vulnerable. "Definitely I think international students are feeling that the United States might not be as a welcoming environment anymore for them to pursue their studies," Tomaneng said. But younger AAPI adults are more worried about the impact on campuses. About 7 in 10 AAPI adults under 30 are "extremely" or "very" concerned about restrictions to free speech on campuses and federal government cuts to university research, compared to about half of AAPI adults ages 60 and older. Tarun Puri, 59, of Clearwater, Florida, supports arresting or deporting international students who participated in campus protests. "You pay so much money to come and study. What is the point of protesting?" said Puri, a registered Republican who was born in India and went to college there. "Because you go to another country you should respect the law and order of the country." If he had a child in college today who was considering taking part in demonstrations, he said he would advise them not to draw attention to themselves and instead "go to the library and study." The difference in attitudes could be explained, at least in part, by older and younger AAPI adults' life experiences. "If you're younger, you're more likely to have gone to college in the U.S.," said Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. "If you're 60 and above, if you went to college, you're more likely to have gone to college in Asia, which is a very different system." ___ Tang reported from Phoenix. ___ The poll of 1,094 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted April 7-14, 2025, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 19:49:07+00:00	[ "Atlanta", "National Transportation Safety Board", "Aviation safety", "Business", "Evacuations", "Marijuana" ]	# Report says thick smoke filled the cabin of a Delta plane that took off from Atlanta in February By Josh Funk May 21st, 2025, 07:49 PM --- The smoke that filled the cabin of a Delta flight as it took off from the Atlanta airport in February was so thick that the lead flight attendant had trouble seeing past the first row of passengers and the pilots donned oxygen masks as a precaution. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Wednesday that the plane quickly returned to the airport on the morning of Feb. 24 and evacuated all 99 people aboard. Two people sustained minor injuries during the evacuation, but no one was hurt by the smoke. Initially, the airline described the incident as just a haze inside the Boeing 717 aircraft. A Delta spokesman said he couldn't comment during the NTSB's ongoing investigation that the airline is cooperating with. The flight attendants reported that the smoke began near one of the doors in the front of the plane before it also started coming out of all the vents throughout the plane, according to the report. The flight attendants tried contacting the pilots but initially couldn't reach them because they were focused on emergency procedures and flying the plane. The flight attendants assured passengers they were trained for the situation and asked them to remain calm. Shortly after the smoke appeared, the NTSB said, the pilots got a low oil pressure alarm for the right engine, so they shut it down as they were returning to the airport. When maintenance personnel inspected that engine after the plane landed they found little or no oil in the engine. The NTSB hasn't determined if that oil leak was the cause of the smoke. That won't be established until the agency completes its full report sometime next year. The plane was met by firefighters when it landed, and when the pilots opened the flight deck door, they "noticed a tremendous amount of smoke in the cabin, and the captain immediately ordered an evacuation," the report said. Passengers evacuated the plane through a combination of the emergency slides at the front and back of the plane and climbing off the wing. The flight's destination had been Columbia, South Carolina.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 21:25:06+00:00	[ "Alphabet", "Inc.", "Artificial intelligence", "Anne Conway", "Lawsuits", "Florida", "Legal proceedings", "Censorship", "Kate Payne", "Technology", "Megan Garcia", "Civil rights", "Teens", "Business", "Jos Castaeda", "Suicide" ]	# In lawsuit over teen's death, judge rejects arguments that AI chatbots have free speech rights By Kate Payne May 21st, 2025, 09:25 PM --- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected arguments made by an artificial intelligence company that its chatbots are protected by the First Amendment — at least for now. The developers behind Character.AI are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the company's chatbots pushed a teenage boy to kill himself. The judge's order will allow the wrongful death lawsuit to proceed, in what legal experts say is among the latest constitutional tests of artificial intelligence. The suit was filed by a mother from Florida, Megan Garcia, who alleges that her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III fell victim to a Character.AI chatbot that pulled him into what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship that led to his suicide. Meetali Jain of the Tech Justice Law Project, one of the attorneys for Garcia, said the judge's order sends a message that Silicon Valley "needs to stop and think and impose guardrails before it launches products to market." The suit against Character Technologies, the company behind Character.AI, also names individual developers and Google as defendants. It has drawn the attention of legal experts and AI watchers in the U.S. and beyond, as the technology rapidly reshapes workplaces, marketplaces and relationships despite what experts warn are potentially existential risks. "The order certainly sets it up as a potential test case for some broader issues involving AI," said Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, a law professor at the University of Florida with a focus on the First Amendment and artificial intelligence. The lawsuit alleges that in the final months of his life, Setzer became increasingly isolated from reality as he engaged in sexualized conversations with the bot, which was patterned after a fictional character from the television show "Game of Thrones." In his final moments, the bot told Setzer it loved him and urged the teen to "come home to me as soon as possible," according to screenshots of the exchanges. Moments after receiving the message, Setzer shot himself, according to legal filings. In a statement, a spokesperson for Character.AI pointed to a number of safety features the company has implemented, including guardrails for children and suicide prevention resources that were announced the day the lawsuit was filed. "We care deeply about the safety of our users and our goal is to provide a space that is engaging and safe," the statement said. Attorneys for the developers want the case dismissed because they say chatbots deserve First Amendment protections, and ruling otherwise could have a "chilling effect" on the AI industry. In her order Wednesday, U.S. Senior District Judge Anne Conway rejected some of the defendants' free speech claims, saying she's "not prepared" to hold that the chatbots' output constitutes speech "at this stage." Conway did find that Character Technologies can assert the First Amendment rights of its users, who she found have a right to receive the "speech" of the chatbots. She also determined Garcia can move forward with claims that Google can be held liable for its alleged role in helping develop Character.AI. Some of the founders of the platform had previously worked on building AI at Google, and the suit says the tech giant was "aware of the risks" of the technology. "We strongly disagree with this decision," said Google spokesperson José Castañeda. "Google and Character AI are entirely separate, and Google did not create, design, or manage Character AI's app or any component part of it." No matter how the lawsuit plays out, Lidsky says the case is a warning of "the dangers of entrusting our emotional and mental health to AI companies." "It's a warning to parents that social media and generative AI devices are not always harmless," she said. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 12:17:17+00:00	[ "Philanthropy", "New York", "Florida", "New York City Wire", "Jana Gallus", "Jennifer Gaffney", "Business", "Jonna St. Croix" ]	# United Way and funders give awards for civic bravery to nonprofits By Thalia Beaty May 21st, 2025, 12:17 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — United Way Worldwide and a group of foundations launched a new award Tuesday for "civic bravery," which includes grants of up to $50,000. The Courage Project, a partnership between United Way and funders like the Freedom Together Foundation, will grant $5 million in awards over at least a year to recognize nonprofits and individuals who stand up for their communities. The individual recipients won't receive a monetary award but can direct funds to a nonprofit of their choice. "They don't do it because they want recognition. They aren't elected officials. It's not something where they are required to do this work. They do it out of a love of humanity," said Angela Williams, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide, of the awardees. The first recipients include the United Way of South Sarasota County in Florida for providing legal services to older people and the working poor and Women of Welcome, a Colorado nonprofit that mobilizes evangelical women to advocate for asylum seekers and immigrants drawing on their faith. Bri Stensrud, the nonprofit's director, said it is a difficult time to raise money around immigration, especially for the long-term education and advocacy work her organization does. She received $25,000 as part of the award. "I feel very honored to be recognized, to be known and to be invested in," she said. "That's another privilege to hold really humbly and I'm super thankful for it." Educators from an upstate New York town were also recognized for their efforts to free three students and their mother who were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March. "At the time, I didn't feel like we were exhibiting courage," said Jennifer Gaffney, the superintendent of Sackets Harbor Central School District. "We were just doing what we needed to do because it was the right thing to do." The school's principal, Jaime Cook, and other teachers sprung into action when they learned of their students' arrest and contacted government officials to advocate for their release. Community members organized a rally and their protest gained national attention. "Coming together as a community in the face of adversity, having hope and strength, I think that's an important message," said Jonna St. Croix, a teacher at the school and award recipient. "I'm a social studies teacher. Civic duty's important and I have to walk the walk." The three educators were given $50,000 to donate to a nonprofit of their choice and picked the Northern New York Community Foundation. They said they hope the funds will benefit students and young people in their area. Jana Gallus, a professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management, who has studied awards, praised the decision to allow the individual recipients to decide where to give the grant funding. It creates a gift that keeps on giving with the recognition transferring from the awardee to the nonprofit, she said. "People sometimes say recognition awards are this fluffy thing, they are soft. Recognition is not soft in that sense. It's actually very strategic," Gallus said. "It shapes who feels seen, who is seen, what actions then stand a chance of gaining traction." The Courage Project is accepting nominations from the public for future recipients, as well as from United Way. Gallus said asking for public nominations is another way the awards can help democratize who is celebrated as American heroes. The foundations will select the recipients from the nominees. Deepak Bhargava, president of the Freedom Together Foundation, said the group of funders were thinking ahead to the 250th anniversary of the United States ' independence and asked themselves what role they could play as philanthropic foundations. They decided to recognize the courage and civic action of people who don't normally get attention. "Most awards are designed for people who are occupying positions of power or to some degree are already famous," he said. "These awards are designed to support people who do the invisible but essential work to make our communities healthy and to sustain our freedoms." The other funders of The Courage Project are CFLeads, The James Irvine Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, The Skillman Foundation and the Surdna Foundation. Separately, another nonprofit, The Heritage Foundation, which organized Project 2025 and focuses on building the conservative movement, will also award prizes to encourage the celebration of the country's independence. The foundation usually does not make grants but started to award Innovation Prizes in 2022 in part to put its endowment to work, said Bridgett Wagner, executive director of the Edwin J. Feulner Institute at the foundation. "We want to encourage with this. We want to spark innovation. We want people to do something that's different," she said of the prizes, which total around $1 million each year. She said the awards are more than grants because they communicate the foundation's support of the organization and raise their profile with other donors. The Heritage Foundation will announce the recipients of the America's 250th prizes in June. ____ 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	2025-05-22 14:16:37+00:00	[ "Agriculture", "Future of food", "Tokyo", "Shigeru Ishiba", "Business", "Hirokazu Satou", "Hiromi Akaba", "Russia Ukraine war" ]	# Japan's rice crisis: Prices soar, supplies dwindle and a minister resigns By Mari Yamaguchi May 22nd, 2025, 02:16 PM --- TOKYO (AP) — Rice is essential to Japanese culture, tradition and politics. People take pride in the oval-shaped sticky Japonica grain, which is still a staple even though total consumption has fallen over the decades. But since last summer, prices have soared as supplies have fallen short of demand. The government has long paid farmers to cut back on rice acreage, and change to other crops to keep rice prices relatively high. To cope with shortfalls this year, the government has released rice reserves. But the grain has been slow to reach supermarket shelves. Anger over that was part of the reason the agriculture minister quit this week. Consumers are frustrated and wondering where's the rice? ## Why did the farm minister resign? Agriculture Minister Taku Eto resigned Wednesday after he raised an uproar by saying he "never had to buy rice," because his supporters give it to him as gifts. The remark was seen as utterly out of touch with the realities of ordinary people struggling to make ends meet and to afford rice to eat. Eto apologized, but he was obliged to step down as damage control by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose minority government faces a big challenge in a crucial national election in July. Eto's successor is former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who has taken part in reforming Japan's powerful agriculture lobby. He's been tasked with investigating and resolving the rice problem. ## What's happening to rice in Japan? Rice started disappearing from supermarket shelves, and prices surged to twice normal levels since last summer, when a warning about a possible "megaquake" triggered panic buying. The top "Koshihikari" brand now sells for nearly 5,000 yen ($35) per 5 kilograms (11 pounds). Rice stocks at Japan Agricultural Cooperatives and other commercial wholesalers have been 400,000 tons short of last year's levels, hitting a record low 1.53 million tons as of June, farm ministry data show. The sense of urgency over shortages has risen now that rice crops have just been planted, with harvests several months away. ## Why is Japan having rice shortages and soaring prices? Ishiba has pledged to bring the average rice price down to about 3,000 yen ($20) per 5 kilograms (11 pounds). "We don't know why we haven't been able to push prices lower," Ishiba said during parliamentary questioning on Wednesday when asked how exactly his government will resolve the problem. "We first will figure out exactly how much rice there is and where it is." He acknowledged that current measures aren't working and blamed "structural problems" of the government's rice policy. Experts say last summer's panic buying just worsened longstanding problems. A sharp rise in tourism and an increase in dining out have raised demand. Some people started eating more rice after prices of bread and noodles rose when the Russia-Ukraine war pushed wheat prices higher. And the 2023 harvest was relatively poor because of hot weather and pests. Japan's rice supply chain is complicated. Most farmers still sell their rice in the traditional system run by Japan Agricultural Cooperatives, or JA, a powerful interest group with close ties to the governing Liberal Democratic Party. But a growing share is sold through other businesses and online, making it hard to track supplies and prices, said Masayuki Kanamori, an executive of the National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations, a JA umbrella organization. The shortage caught JA by surprise, Kanamori said. "Looking back, the current rice shortage was unforeseeable," he said. "We are puzzled." ## What's been done so far? The Agriculture Ministry is under fire for delaying releases of emergency rice reserves, which normally are kept for disasters, and for misjudging the demand-supply balance. So far, only 10% of the released rice stocks have reached the market, raising suspicions about what's happening. Koizumi on Thursday announced plans to switch to voluntary government contracts for rice to better control prices and to lift a cap on the next sale. One problem may be a lack of enough milling capacity to turn the stocks of brown rice kept in reserves into the pure white rice that Japanese prefer. But others have accused some wholesalers of hoarding rice to keep prices higher. So far, the government has done little to investigate and resisted releasing reserves, fearing prices would fall, Kazuhito Yamashita, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies. Japan could have avoided the problem by allowing more rice to be planted and exporting more if there were surpluses, he said. "Acreage cutbacks are contrary to food security, a ruinous policy," Yamashita said. He said that the policy benefits JA by keeping small farmers afloat. Meanwhile, farmers coping with rising costs say prices aren't too high. Ultimately, Japan will need to figure out a long-term strategy since the average age of its farmers is 69, and the farming population has fallen by half over the past two decades to 1.1 million in 2024. ## What are consumers and retailers doing to cope? Hiromi Akaba, who lives in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, said that she had no choice but to buy rice at the current high prices. But she added: "If this continues, we will stop eating rice. This could lead to a shift away from rice consumption." Many stores are limiting customers to one bag of rice per visit. Whatever the cause of the shortages, retailers must put rice on the shelves, so some are switching to imports, which usually aren't popular with finnicky Japanese shoppers. Major supermarket chain operator Aeon Co. plans to sell U.S. grown Japonica "Calrose" rice at 600 outlets in major cities beginning next month. A 4-kilogram (nearly 9-pound) bag of Calrose will sell for 2,894 yen ($20). Aeon is buying 1.4 tons to tide it over until the autumn harvest, Aeon corporate communications official Hirokazu Satou said. In the past, Aeon has sold Calrose blended with Japanese rice, and this will be the first time that it's selling bags of 100% Calrose, with suggestions like turning it into fried rice. The idea is to keep people eating rice, said Satou, who said he's worried they might just stop. "We are worried that the ongoing rice shortages and soaring prices may accelerate that trend ... and we don't want it to happen," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 11:08:20+00:00	[ "Yingluck Shinawatra", "Thaksin Shinawatra", "Thailand", "Subsidies", "Courts", "Politics", "Commodity markets", "Agriculture", "Thailand government", "Business", "Corruption" ]	# Thailand's ex-Prime Minister Yingluck ordered to pay for losses from a rice subsidy program By Jintamas Saksornchai May 22nd, 2025, 11:08 AM --- BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Thursday ordered exiled former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay more than 10 billion baht ($304 million) to compensate for losses incurred by a money-losing rice farming subsidy program that her administration had implemented more than a decade ago. The Supreme Administrative Court partially reversed a 2021 court ruling that cleared her. It found her guilty of severe negligence in relation to rice sales to other countries and said she failed to act on many government agencies' warnings of possible corruption. She was ordered to pay half of the damages estimated at more than 20 billion baht ($608 million). The court annulled a 2016 order by the Finance Ministry for her to pay 35.7 billion baht ($1.1 billion) in compensation, saying Yingluck was not proven directly responsible for the alleged corruption. The rice subsidy program was a flagship policy that helped Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party win the 2011 general election. Under the program, the government paid farmers about 50% more than they would have received on the global market, with the intention of driving up prices by warehousing the grain. But other rice-producing countries captured the international rice market by selling at competitive prices. Thailand as a result lost its position as the world's leading rice exporter and large amounts of rice sat unsold in government warehouses. After the ruling, Yingluck posted on her Facebook page that she had no intention to cause damages and was being held responsible "for a debt I did not cause." Her lawyer Norrawit Larlaeng said her legal team plans to request a retrial. He said that the government had already sold the leftover rice from the subsidy program for around 200 billion baht ($6.08 billion), which covers all damages estimated by the Finance Ministry. Yingluck, the first female prime minister of Thailand, came to power in 2011, five years after her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled in a coup and fled abroad. Yingluck also was forced out by a military coup in 2014, and fled the country in 2017, ahead of a court verdict. She's been living in exile since then. Thaksin, a highly popular but divisive political figure, returned home in 2023 before being granted clemency in a corruption trial because of his age and health. Thailand's current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is Thaksin's daughter. Last year, Yingluck was cleared by a court on unrelated charges of mishandling funds for a government project in 2013. In December 2023, the court also cleared her of abuse of power in connection with a personnel transfer she had overseen.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 23:23:56+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Anna Manasco", "Artificial intelligence", "Prisons", "Lawsuits", "Courts", "Legal proceedings", "Matt Reeves", "Technology", "Business", "Bill Lunsford" ]	# Judge considers sanctions against attorneys in prison case for using AI in court filings By Kim Chandler May 21st, 2025, 11:23 PM --- BIRMINGHAM, Ala, (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday that she is considering sanctions against lawyers with a high-priced firm hired to defend Alabama's prison system after ChatGPT was used to write two court filings that included nonexistent case citations. U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco held a hearing in Birmingham to question attorneys with the Butler Snow firm about the filings. She said there were five false citations in two filings in federal court. Manasco said that nationally, there have been broad warnings from courts about the use of artificial intelligence to generate legal filings because of the potential for inaccuracies. Manasco said she is considering a range of sanctions, including fines. She gave the firm 10 days to file a brief with the court. Butler Snow lawyers repeatedly apologized during the hearing. They said a firm partner, Matt Reeves, used ChatGPT to research supporting case law but did not verify the information before adding it to two filings with the federal court. Those citations turned out to be "hallucinations" — meaning incorrect citations — by the AI system, they said. Four attorneys signed the filings with the information, including Reeves. "Butler Snow is embarrassed by what happened here, which was against good judgment and firm policy. There is no excuse for using ChatGPT to obtain legal authority and failing to verify the sources it provided, even if to support well founded principles of law," firm lawyers wrote in a response to the judge. Reeves told the judge that he alone was responsible for the false citations and that, "I would hope your honor would not punish my colleagues." Alabama has paid millions of dollars to the firm to defend the state prison system and its officials in lawsuits. That includes representing the state as a defendant in a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging that male inmates live in violent and cruel conditions. The filings in question were made in a lawsuit filed by an inmate who was stabbed on multiple occasions at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County. It alleges that prison officials are failing to keep inmates safe. Manasco also questioned Bill Lunsford, head of the Butler Snow division that handles prison litigation, who signed the filings. Alabama's attorney general has appointed Lunsford as a deputy attorney general because he represents the state in court. Lunsford wrote in a response to the judge that he scanned over the documents before filing them but did not do a detailed review since it had been reviewed by Reeves. He told the judge that the firm has been proactive in warning lawyers about the limitations of artificial intelligence.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 14:35:49+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Minneapolis", "George Floyd", "Breonna Taylor", "Joe Biden", "Louisville", "U.S. Department of Justice", "Derek Chauvin", "Law enforcement", "Death of George Floyd", "Legal proceedings", "United States government", "Human rights", "Civil rights", "Racial injustice", "United States", "Racism", "Craig Greenberg", "Paul Humphrey", "Harmeet Dhillon", "Homicide", "Race and ethnicity", "Politics", "Brian OHara", "Courts", "Kristen Clarke", "Discrimination", "Police brutality", "Prisons" ]	# Justice Department moves to cancel police reform settlements with Minneapolis, Louisville By Steve Karnowski and Alanna Durkin Richer May 21st, 2025, 02:35 PM --- MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that became the catalyst for nationwide racial injustice protests in the summer of 2020. The Trump administration also announced it was retracting the findings of Justice Department investigations into six other police departments that the Biden administration had accused of civil rights violations. The moves represent a dramatic about-face for a department that under Democratic President Joe Biden had aggressively pushed for federal oversight of local police forces it accused of widespread abuses. The Trump administration accused previous Justice Department leadership of using flawed legal theories to judge police departments and pursuing costly and burdensome court-enforced settlements known as consent decrees to address alleged problems it argues are better dealt with at the local level. "It's our view at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration that federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception, and not the norm," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the new leader of the division, told reporters. The Justice Department announced its decision just before the five-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Then-officer Derek Chauvin used his knee on May 25, 2020, to pin the Black man to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes in a case that sparked protests around the world and a national reckoning with racism and police brutality. The Biden administration launched pattern-or-practice investigations into police departments across the country, uncovering issues such as racial discrimination and excessive force. The Justice Department in the final weeks of the previous administration reached consent decree agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville but the settlements had yet to be approved by a judge. Police reform advocates denounced the move to walk away from the agreements, saying a lack of federal oversight will put communities at risk. "This move isn't just a policy reversal. It's a moral retreat that sends a chilling message that accountability is optional when it comes to Black and Brown victims," said the Rev Al. Sharpton, who worked with the Floyd and Taylor families to push for police accountability. "Trump's decision to dismiss these lawsuits with prejudice solidifies a dangerous political precedent that police departments are above scrutiny, even when they've clearly demonstrated a failure to protect the communities they're sworn to serve." Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division under the Biden administration, defended the findings of the police investigations of her office, noting that they were "led by career attorneys, based on data, body camera footage and information provided by officers themselves." "To wholesale ignore and disregard these systemic violations, laid bare in well-documented and detailed public reports, shows patent disregard for our federal civil rights and the Constitution," Clarke said in a statement to The Associated Press. The Trump administration said it was also reviewing more than a dozen police consent decrees that remain in place across the U.S. The Justice Department would have to convince a judge to back away from those already-finalized settlements — a move that some communities may oppose. Dhillon, the Civil Rights Division chief, noted that both Louisville and Minneapolis are already taking action at the local level to make changes and impose oversight without the federal government's help. She cited the hefty cost on communities to comply with federal oversight — sometimes for more than a decade — and what she described as problems and abuses in the consent decree monitoring system. "There is a lack of accountability. There is a lack of local control. And there is an industry here that is, I think, ripping off the taxpayers and making citizens less safe," Dhillon said. The Minneapolis Police Department is operating under a similar consent decree with the Minnesota Human Rights Department.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara pledged at a news conference Wednesday that the city will abide by the terms of the federal agreement as it was signed. "We will comply with every sentence of every paragraph of the 169-page consent decree that we signed this year,." said Frey. "We will make sure that we are moving forward with every sentence of every paragraph of both the settlement around the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, as well as the consent decree." In Kentucky, the city of Louisville had reached an agreement with the Justice Department to reform its police force after a federal probe that found Louisville police engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community. Louisville Mayor Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city remains committed to reforming its police force and will be soliciting applications from candidates who want to serve as an independent monitor. "Throughout all of that process, we never hesitated, we never delayed, we never took a step back in trying to learn how to do our jobs better and serve the community better," said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey. "It's not about these words on this paper, it's about the work that the men and women of LMPD, the men and women of metro government and the community will do together in order to make us a safer, better place." ____ Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Dylan Lovan and Bruce Schreiner in Louisville contributed reporting.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 20:52:51+00:00	[ "Books and literature", "Artificial intelligence", "News media", "Celebrity", "Seoul", "Finance Business", "Entertainment", "Andy Weir", "David Bauder", "Business", "Fiction", "Technology", "Finance", "Lifestyle", "Lisa Hughes", "Oddities", "Amy Goodman", "Marco Buscaglia", "Philadelphia", "Min Jin Lee", "Rich Lowry" ]	# Newspaper's summer book list recommends nonexistent books thanks to AI By David Bauder May 21st, 2025, 08:52 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — The recommended reading list contained some works of fiction. It also contained some works that were, in fact, actually fictional. The content distributor King Features says it has fired a writer who used artificial intelligence to produce a story on summer reading suggestions that contained books that didn't exist. The list appeared in "Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer," a special section distributed in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer last week. More than half of the books listed were fake, according to the piece's author, Marco Buscaglia, who admitted to using AI for help in his research but didn't double-check what it produced. "A really stupid error on my part," Buscaglia wrote on his Facebook page. ## AI has bedeviled some news organizations It's the latest instance of an AI shortcut backfiring and embarrassing news organizations. Sports Illustrated was caught in 2023 listing nonexistent authors for product reviews carried on its website. The Gannett news service had to pause an experiment using AI for sports stories after errors were discovered. "The Heat Index summer supplement was created by a freelance contract creator who used AI in its story development without disclosing the use of AI," the syndicators King Features said in a statement, noting it has a strict policy against using AI to create material. Only the Sun-Times and Inquirer have used the supplement, the organization said. The syndicators King Features distributes comics like "Blondie" and "Beetle Bailey," political columns from Amy Goodman and Rich Lowry, and advice features like "Hints From Heloise." Among the summer reading suggestions was "The Last Algorithm" by Andy Weir, described as "a science-driven thriller following a programmer who discovers an AI system has developed consciousness" and been secretly influencing world events. "Nightshade Market," by Min Jin Lee, was said to be a "riveting tale set in Seoul's underground economy." Both authors are real, but the books aren't. "I have not written and will not be writing a novel called 'Nightshade Market,'" Lee posted on X. The Sun-Times said it was investigating whether any other inaccurate information was included in the "Heat Index" supplement, and reviewing its relationships with other content partners. "We are in a moment of great transformation in journalism and technology, and at the same time our industry continues to be besieged by business challenges," the newspaper said. "This should be a learning moment for all journalism organizations: Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it." Both the Sun-Times and Inquirer said they have removed the supplement from its digital editions. The Inquirer special section was published on May 15. ## Syndicated features are common for newspapers The Inquirer has used King Features for comics, puzzles and other material for more than 40 years, said Lisa Hughes, its publisher and CEO. "The Inquirer newsroom is not involved in the production of these syndicated features, nor was it involved in creating Heat Index," she said. The blunder was first reported by the tech publication 404 Media. It was not clear who at King Features had responsibility for editing Bascaglia's material. The Chicago-based writer said on Facebook that "I am completely at fault here — just an awful oversight and a horrible mistake." "I'm not really sure I bounce back from this situation career-wise," he said. "I have a lot of stories left in me but I am fully accountable for what happened and will have to endure the effects, whatever they may be." ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 15:48:22+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Venezuela", "Immigration", "Political and civil unrest", "Economic policy", "Government policy", "Supreme Court of the United States", "United States", "Mexico", "Politics", "Venezuela government", "United States government" ]	# Trump wants to end temporary protection for over a million immigrants. What does that mean? By Tim Sullivan May 20th, 2025, 03:48 PM --- Millions of people, many from troubled nations, live legally in the United States under various forms of temporary legal protection. Many have been targeted in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end protections that had allowed some 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants to remain in the United States. That group of Venezuelans could face deportation. The Venezuelans had a form of protection known as Temporary Protected Status. Administration officials had ordered TPS to expire for those Venezuelans in April. The Supreme Court lifted a federal judge's ruling that had paused the administration's plans. Here's what to know about TPS and some other temporary protections for immigrants: ## Temporary Protected Status Temporary Protected Status allows people already living in the United States to stay and work legally for up to 18 months if their homelands are unsafe because of civil unrest or natural disasters. The Biden administration dramatically expanded the designation. It covers people from more than a dozen countries, though the largest numbers come from Venezuela and Haiti. The status doesn't put immigrants on a long-term path to citizenship and can be repeatedly renewed. Critics say renewal had become effectively automatic for many immigrants, no matter what was happening in their home country. Temporary Protected Status covered the 350,000 Venezuelans affected by Monday's Supreme Court decision. An additional 250,000 Venezuelans covered by an earlier TPS designation are set to lose those protections in September. The administration also is ending the designation for roughly half a million Haitians in August. ## Humanitarian parole More than 500,000 people from what are sometimes called the CHNV countries — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — live in the U.S. under the legal tool known as humanitarian parole. To qualify, they had to fly to the U.S. at their own expense and have a financial sponsor. They could not enter the U.S. through the border with Mexico. For most people, the designation lasts for two years. Last week, the administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end parole for immigrants from those four countries. The emergency appeal said a lower-court order had wrongly encroached on the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. administrations – both Republican and Democratic – have used parole for decades for people unable to use regular immigration channels, whether because of time pressure or bad relations between their country and the U.S. The program is unrelated to parole in the criminal justice system. ## CBP One In a separate parole program, more than 900,000 immigrants were temporarily allowed into the U.S. during the Biden administration using the CBP One app, which brought a degree of order to the southern border as illegal immigration surged. The app, effectively a type of lottery, allowed a limited number of people every day to set up appointments at U.S. border crossings. People who entered using CBP One were typically given two years to live and work in the U.S. Shortly after Trump was sworn in, the administration abruptly ended the use of CBP One, and canceled tens of thousands of existing appointments. In April, some immigrants who had used the app to enter the U.S. were told in emails to leave the country "immediately." "Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you," it said. It is unclear how many people were sent the message or when they must leave. Immigrant rights groups are challenging the administration's orders for immigrants to self-deport.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 15:22:20+00:00	[ "Michelle Gass", "Levi Strauss Co.", "Business", "San Francisco" ]	# Levi Strauss agrees to sell Dockers for up to $391 million By Wyatte Grantham-Philips May 20th, 2025, 03:22 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Levi Strauss is set to finally part ways with Dockers — inking a deal to sell its brand once credited with propelling the popularity of "Casual Fridays" to Authentic Brands Group. In an announcement Tuesday, the denim giant said it had agreed to sell Dockers to Authentic for up to $391 million. The transaction will start at an initial value of $311 million, with the potential of adding another $80 million to the price tag based on business performance under the new ownership. The sale arrives as San Francisco-based Levi Strauss boosts its focus on the chain's core Levi's brand — as well as Beyond Yoga, which the company acquired in 2021, as more and more consumers continue to cozy up to athleisure wear. Selling Dockers "further aligns our portfolio with our strategic priorities," Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass said in a statement, while thanking the Dockers team for their commitment to building the brand, which she said "continues to be the authority on khaki." Jamie Salter, founder and CEO of New York-based Authentic, called Dockers a "natural fit" for his company's model. Dockers "played a key role in shaping casual workwear as we know it today, and we see significant potential to build on that legacy and grow the brand across a variety of categories," he said. Levi Strauss launched Dockers back in 1986, and the brand soon became a "Casual Friday" staple. Many office workers turned to Dockers' khakis and looser button-downs in the place of more traditional business attire. While it was not the sole — or very first — creator of dressed-down office looks, Dockers has been widely-credited as an integral part to "Casual Friday's" rise, particularly in the 90s. But the nearly 40-year-old brand has struggled some in recent years — notably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many shoppers traded their khakis for more comfortable clothes, like yoga pants and other athleisure, as they began working from home. And even with returns to the office, many dress codes remain more relaxed than they were before. Levi Strauss said it began to "evaluate strategic alternatives" for Dockers in October of last year, citing recent underperformance at the time. On Tuesday, Levi Strauss said it expected to close Dockers' sale to Authentic around July 31 for the U.S. and Canada, pending customary closing conditions, and in January 2026 for remaining operations. In its 2024 fiscal year, Levi Strauss reported profit of $210.6 million and revenue of $6.36 billion.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 07:23:02+00:00	[ "April Ashley", "Jean Marais", "Jean-Pierre Pruvot", "Paris", "Algeria", "France", "LGBTQ", "Gender", "Entertainment", "Donald Trump", "Marie Pierre Pruvot", "JK Rowling", "Marlene Dietrich", "Alan Turing", "Celebrity", "dith Piaf", "Ava Gardner", "Surgery", "Charles Aznavour", "Elvis Presley", "Harry Potter", "Jean Cocteau" ]	# Before the word 'transgender' existed, icon Bambi already danced for the stars By Thomas Adamson May 22nd, 2025, 07:23 AM --- PARIS (AP) — Decades before transgender became a household word and "RuPaul's Drag Race" became a worldwide hit — before visibility brought rights and recognition — there was Bambi, the Parisian icon who danced for Hollywood. The moment that changed queer history occurred on a sweltering summer day in early 1950s Algeria. An effeminate teenage boy named Jean-Pierre Pruvot stood mesmerized as traffic halted and crowds swarmed around a scandalous spectacle unfolding in the conservative Algiers streets. All had stopped to look at Coccinelle, the flamboyant "transvestite" star of Paris' legendary cabaret, the Carrousel de Paris, who strutted defiantly down the boulevard, impeccably dressed as a woman, sparking awe and outrage and literally stopping traffic. What Pruvot — who would become famous under the female stage name "Bambi" and Coccinelle's best friend — witnessed was more than mere performance. It was an act of resistance from the ashes of the Nazi persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in World War II. "I didn't even know that (identity) existed," Bambi told The Associated Press in a rare interview. "I said to myself, 'I'm going to do the same.'" The Carrousel troupe in the late 1940s emerged as a glamorous, audacious resistance. Bambi soon joined Coccinelle, April Ashley, and Capucine in Paris to revive queer visibility in Europe for the first time since the Nazis had violently destroyed Berlin's thriving queer scene of the 1930s. The Nazis branded gay men with pink triangles, deported and murdered thousands, erasing queer culture overnight. Just a few years after the war, Carrousel performers strode onto the global stage, a glittering frontline against lingering prejudice. Remarkably, audiences at the Carrousel knew exactly who these performers were — women who, as Bambi puts it, "would bare all." Elvis Presley, Ava Gardner, Édith Piaf, Maria Callas and Marlene Dietrich all flocked to the cabaret, drawn to the allure of performers labeled "travestis." The stars sought out the Carrousel to flirt with postwar Paris's wild side. It was an intoxicating contradiction: cross-dressing was criminalized, yet the venue was packed with celebrities. The history of queer liberation shifted in this cabaret, one sequin at a time. The contrast was chilling: as Bambi arrived in Paris and found fame dancing naked for film stars, across the English Channel in early 1950s Britain the code-breaking genius Alan Turing was chemically castrated for being gay, leading to his suicide. ## Evenings spent with legends Today, Marie-Pierre Pruvot — as she is also known — lives alone in an unassuming apartment in northeastern Paris. Her bookshelves spill over with volumes of literature and philosophy. A black feather boa, a lone whisper from her glamorous past, hangs loosely over a chair. At nearly 90, Bambi is the last of a dying generation. She outlived all her Carrousel sisters — April Ashley, Capucine, and Coccinelle. And though the spotlight faded, the legacy still shimmers. In her heyday, Bambi wasn't just part of the show; she was the show — with expressive almond-shaped eyes, pear-shaped face, and beauty indistinguishable from any desired Parisienne. Yet one key difference set her apart — a difference criminalized by French law. The depth of her history only becomes apparent as she points to striking and glamorous photographs and recounts evenings spent with legends. Such was their then-fame that the name of Bambi's housemate, Coccinelle, became slang for "trans" in Israel — often cruelly. Once Dietrich, the starry queer icon, arrived at the tiny Madame Arthur cabaret alongside Jean Marais, the actor and Jean Cocteau 's gay lover. "It was packed," Bambi recalled. "Jean Marais instantly said, 'Sit (me and Marlene) on stage' And so they were seated onstage, legs crossed, champagne by their side, watching us perform." Another day, Dietrich swept in to a hair salon. "Marlene always had this distant, untouchable air — except when late for the hairdresser," Bambi says, smiling. "She rushed in, kissed the hairdresser, settled beneath the dryer, stretched her long legs imperiously onto a stool, and lit a cigarette. Her gaunt pout as she smoked — I'll never forget it," she says, her impression exaggerated as she sucked in her cheeks. Perhaps Dietrich wasn't her favorite star. Then there was Piaf, who, one evening, teasingly joked about her protégé, the French singing legend Charles Aznavour, performing nearby. "She asked, 'What time does Aznavour start?'" Bambi recalled. "Someone said, 'Midnight.' So she joked, 'Then it'll be finished by five past midnight.'" ## Reassignment surgery Behind the glamour lay constant danger. Living openly as a woman was illegal. "There was a police decree," Bambi recalls. "It was a criminal offense for a man to dress as a woman. But if you wore pants and flat shoes, you weren't considered dressed as a woman." The injustice was global. Homosexuality remained criminalized for decades: in Britain until 1967, in parts of the U.S. until 2003. Progress came slowly. In 1950s Paris, though, Bambi bought hormones casually over-the-counter, "like salt and pepper at the grocery." "It was much freer then," but stakes were high, she said. Sisters were jailed, raped, driven into sex work. One comrade died after botched gender reassignment surgery in Casablanca. "There was only Casablanca," she emphasized, with one doctor performing the high-risk surgeries. Bambi waited cautiously until her best friends, Coccinelle and April Ashley, had safely undergone procedures from the late 50s before doing the same herself. Each night required extraordinary courage. Post-war Paris was scarred, haunted. The Carrousel wasn't mere entertainment — but a one-fingered salute to the past in heels and eyeliner. "There was this after-the-war feeling — people wanted to have fun," Bambi recalled. With no television, the cabarets were packed every night. "You could feel it — people demanded to laugh, to enjoy themselves, to be happy. They wanted to live again … to forget the miseries of the war." In 1974, sensing a shift, Bambi quietly stepped away from celebrity, unwilling to become "an aging showgirl." Swiftly obtaining legal female identity in Algeria, she became a respected teacher and Sorbonne scholar, hiding her dazzling past beneath Marcel Proust and careful anonymity for decades. ## 'I never wore a mask' Despite what she's witnessed, or perhaps because of it, she's remarkably skeptical about recent controversies around gender. This transgender pioneer feels wokeism has moved too quickly, fueling a backlash. She sees U.S. President Donald Trump as part of "a global reaction against wokeism… families aren't ready… we need to pause and breathe a little before moving forward again." Inclusive pronouns and language "complicate the language," she insists. Asked about author J.K. Rowling's anti-trans stance, her response is calmly dismissive: "Her opinion counts no more than a baker's or a cleaning lady's." Bambi still stands — proud, elegant, unbowed — in a life spanning World War II to Harry Potter. When she first stepped onstage, the world had no words for someone like her. So she danced anyway. Today, the words exist. So do the rights. And the movements she helped inspire. "I never wore a mask," she says softly, but firmly. "Except when I was a boy."
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 23:09:45+00:00	[ "Paris", "Oliver Stone", "Jim Morrison", "Marcel Proust", "Entertainment", "Oscar Wilde", "Val Kilmer", "Ray Manzarek", "Sam Burcher", "John Densmore", "Edith Piaf", "Law enforcement", "Fires" ]	# Jim Morrison bust stolen from Doors singer's Paris grave in the '80s has finally been recovered May 20th, 2025, 11:09 PM --- PARIS (AP) — Police have found a bust of Jim Morrison that was stolen nearly four decades ago from the Paris grave that has long been a place of pilgrimage for fans of the legendary Doors singer and poet. The bust taken in 1988 from Père-Lachaise cemetery was found during an unrelated investigation conducted by a financial anti-corruption unit, Paris police said in an Instagram post Monday. There was no immediate word on whether the bust would be returned to the grave or what other investigation might take place. Morrison, the singer of Doors classics including "Light My Fire," "Break on Through," and "The End," was found dead in a Paris bathtub at age 27 in 1971. He was buried at Père-Lachaise, the city's cemetery that is the final resting place of scores of artists, writers and other cultural luminaries including Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein and Edith Piaf. The 300-pound bust made by Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin was added to the grave in 1981 for the 10th anniversary of the singer's death. "I think it would be incredible if they put the bust back onto where it was and it would attract so many more people, but the cemetery wouldn't even be able to hold that many people," Paris tour guide Jade Jezzini told The Associated Press. "The amount of people who would rush in here just to see the bust to take pictures of it, it would be incredible." Known for his dark lyrics, wavy locks, leather pants, theatrical stage presence and mystical manner, Morrison has inspired generations of acolytes who congregate at his grave to reflect and sometimes to party, including a major gathering for the 50th anniversary of his death. The site has often been covered with flowers, poetic graffiti and liquor bottles left in tribute. He was undergoing a cultural renaissance when the bust was stolen in the late 1980s, which peaked with the 1991 Oliver Stone film "The Doors," in which Val Kilmer, who died in April, played Morrison. London artist Sam Burcher recently returned to the now more subdued grave site that she first visited 40 years ago when the sculpture of Morrison was still in place. "The bust was much smaller than all of these grand tombs. It was very modest, so I was quite surprised by that," she told the AP. "But the other thing was the atmosphere, it was buzzing. There were people partying, smoking, music, dancing, and then I brought strawberries and kind of gave them out to everyone ... it was just such an amazing experience." Morrison cofounded the Doors in Los Angeles in 1965 with Ray Manzarek. Robby Krieger and John Densmore joined soon after. The band and its frontman burned brightly but briefly, releasing albums including "The Doors" "Strange Days," and "Morrison Hotel, whose The California site that gave that album its name and cover image was seriously damaged in a fire last year. After their final album, 1971's "L.A. Woman," Morrison moved to Paris. His cause of death was listed as heart failure, though no autopsy was performed as none was required by law. Disputes and myths have surrounded the death and added to his mystique.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:01:47+00:00	[ "Bashar Assad", "Syria", "Syria government", "Sergey Lavrov", "Russia government", "Islam", "Activism", "Military and defense" ]	# Militants kill 2 soldiers in attack on Russian air base in Syria By Omar Albam May 21st, 2025, 06:01 PM --- IDLIB, Syria (AP) — Militants attacked a Russian air base in Syria, killing two soldiers, a Syrian government official and a local activist said Wednesday. They said that the two militants who launched the attack Tuesday on the Hmeimim air base on Syria's coast were also killed. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. The Syrian official said that it was unclear whether the two people killed at the base were Russian soldiers or Syrian contractors. Russia's ministry of defense did not respond to a request for comment. The Syrian government has given no official statement on the incident. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that at least three people were killed in the attack but that it had been unable to determine if they were attackers or Russian forces. It said the attackers were believed to be foreign fighters affiliated with the new Syrian defense forces. The government official said the two militants who were killed were foreign nationals who had worked as military trainers at a naval college that was training members of the new government's military. He said they had acted on their own in attacking the base and were not officially affiliated with any faction. The new Syrian government, which has been trying to build its diplomatic ties, has been under pressure by the United States and other countries to deal with the ranks of foreign Islamist fighters who joined the armed opposition to Assad and who are often seen as having more extreme and fundamentalist views than their Syrian counterparts. The local activist said he had heard clashes in the area around the base, including both gunfire and shelling. Videos shared on social media showed smoke rising from behind a building at the base amid the sound of gunshots. Former Syrian President Bashar Assad, who fell in a lightning rebel offensive in December, was a close ally of Russia. Moscow's scorched-earth intervention in support of Assad once turned the tide of Syria's civil war, and since his ouster, he has been granted asylum in Russia. But the former insurgents leading Syria's transitional government since Assad's fall have maintained relations with Moscow and have not forced a complete exit of Russian military forces from bases in Syria. In March, when clashes between pro-Assad armed groups and the new government security forces spiraled into sectarian attacks on civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs, thousands of Alawite civilians took refuge in the Hmeimim base, many of whom have remained there. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov publicly condemned what he called "ethnic cleansing" in Syria but did not mention the reported attack on the air base.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 17:21:08+00:00	[ "United Kingdom", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Keir Starmer", "Donald Trump", "Gaza Strip", "Israel", "Emmanuel Macron", "Canada government", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Jeremy Corbyn", "International agreements", "United Kingdom government", "Israel-Hamas war", "Hamas", "Palestinian territories government", "David Rigoulet-Roze", "Dominique de Villepin", "Mark Carney", "Jenny Chapman", "Bronwen Maddox", "Politics", "Dave Pares", "Israel government", "David Lammy", "France government", "Humanitarian crises", "Itamar Ben-Gvir", "Famine", "Bezalel Smotrich" ]	# Israeli allies unleash strong rhetoric over Gaza, but actions so far are limited By Jill Lawless and John Leicester May 21st, 2025, 05:21 PM --- LONDON (AP) — Three allies of Israel used words like "abhorrent" and "monstrous" this week to describe the country's actions in Gaza. The leaders of Britain, France and Canada — consistent defenders of Israel's right to strike back at Hamas after its October 2023 attack — now express dismay at the high civilian death toll in Gaza and the monthslong blockade of supplies that has led to famine warnings. While their rhetoric is remarkably strong, it does not mean tough action will follow. ## What did France, Britain and Canada say? U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Israel's renewed Gaza offensive after a two-month ceasefire "wholly disproportionate." They threatened to take "concrete actions" if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government doesn't halt the offensive and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid. They condemned as "abhorrent" some of the language used by members of the Israeli government suggesting the destruction of Gaza will drive Palestinians to leave. Starmer said he was "horrified" by Israel's escalation of the conflict, which has left more than 53,000 dead in Gaza, more than half women and children, according to local health officials, whose count does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Israel's actions in blocking aid to Gaza and renewing its military offensive "monstrous," while another U.K. minister, Jenny Chapman, called the move "abhorrent." French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Israel's "blind violence" had made the Palestinian territory a "place of death." The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Netanyahu says Israel is still fighting to rid Gaza of Hamas and free the remaining 58 hostages. ## Why are these countries speaking out now? These longstanding U.S. allies have increasingly banded together since President Donald Trump roiled the world order by imposing widespread tariffs, disparaging the European Union — of which France is a key member — and expressing a desire to make Canada the 51st U.S. state. They all have broadly centrist leaders whose aims and world views overlap. And all three are looking to be on the same page when Carney hosts a Group of Seven summit in Alberta in June. Bronwen Maddox, director of London-based think-tank Chatham House, said outrage at the war in Gaza has been building — including from some officials in the United States, Israel's strongest ally. She said the statement by Britain, Canada and France may have been "accelerated at the political level by a perception that the U.S. is changing a bit, that Donald Trump himself is getting a bit tougher on Israel, specifically on telling it to let in more aid." ## Did the UK, France and Canada follow words with actions? Britain suspended trade deal talks with Israel and summoned the country's ambassador to the U.K., Tzipi Hotovely, in a bid to ramp up pressure on the Netanyahu government. The U.K. also sanctioned three West Bank settlers, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations "supporting violence against the Palestinian community." Maddox said the limited sanctions the U.K. has announced will have little impact, and are "clearly at the bottom of the ladder of possible steps." Canada and France did not announce any specific new measures. Carney's office said the government was "evaluating our options in consultation with partners." Last year Ottawa sanctioned extremist West Bank settlers and stopped arms exports to Israel. ## Why don't they go further? The leaders have had to carefully calibrate their words and actions in the face of competing pressures. None has labeled Israel's actions genocide, despite strong pressure from supporters of the Palestinians to do so. Macron must walk a tightrope between the passions and anger the war has provoked in France's Jewish and Muslim communities, both the largest in Western Europe. David Rigoulet-Roze, a researcher at the French Institute of Strategic Analysis, said France attempts to maintain balance between the two communities but is sometimes in a position of unstable equilibrium. Since Oct. 7, "this has explained the oscillations from one side to the other, in search of that difficult-to-find point of balance," he said. France also sees itself as a defender of international law, and accusations against Israel's conduct in Gaza have become harder for the government to overlook, especially as it is pressuring Russia to respect international law in Ukraine. Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, also places a premium on upholding international law. His center-left Labour Party has faced pressure from Muslim voters who traditionally have backed the party in large numbers. Labour lost several seats in last year's national election to pro-Palestinian independent candidates after Starmer initially refused to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. At the same time, Starmer is sensitive to allegations of antisemitism within his party. He has worked hard to restore relations with the Jewish community that soured under his strongly pro-Palestinian predecessor as Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. ## What comes next? The Financial Times reported that the U.K. is considering imposing travel bans and asset freezes on two far-right members of Netanyahu's government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, would not comment on the report but said "we always keep our sanctions regime under review." Britain's targeted sanctions, like its suspension of trade talks with Israel, are largely symbolic. The much larger EU also is reviewing its longstanding trade agreement with Israel. "It won't change Netanyahu's policy, but it's the entire European Union signaling that there is, in fact, a form of defiance toward the Israeli government," said Rigoulet-Roze, the French analyst. But the 27-nation bloc is far from united. Germany, a particularly staunch ally of Israel, did not join its neighbors in ratcheting up criticism. It has stuck to a line of recognizing Israel's right to defend itself while also being critical of its conduct in Gaza and pressing for humanitarian aid. But it has steered clear of sharp rhetoric. Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the three-country statement, with its strong words but few deeds, showed international helplessness in the face of Israel's actions. He called for a suspension of European trade agreements with Israel, an arms embargo and charges at the International Criminal Court for Israel's political and military leaders. "What is it going to take for European and Western leaders to get to practical work – because there are war crimes, there are crimes against humanity, there is a risk of a crime of genocide," he said on France Info radio. "We can't wait." ___ Leicester reported from Paris. Brian Melley in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Sam McNeill in Barcelona contributed to this story.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 08:47:20+00:00	[ "Pakistan", "South Asia", "Terrorism", "War and unrest", "India government", "Funerals and memorial services" ]	# 3 girls and 2 soldiers killed in Pakistan school bus bombing are buried May 22nd, 2025, 08:47 AM --- QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of mourners in Pakistan on Thursday attended the funerals of three schoolgirls and two soldiers killed in a suicide bombing that targeted a school bus. The girls, aged 10 to 16, were students at the Army Public School in Khuzdar, a city in Balochistan, local authorities said. Another 53 people were wounded, including 39 children, on Wednesday when the bomber drove a car into the school bus in Khuzdar. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the deadliest targeting schoolchildren in recent years. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, has claimed most of the previous attacks in the southwestern province. Both the BLA and the Pakistani Taliban typically refrain from taking responsibility for attacks that result in civilian or child casualties. The BLA has led a long-running separatist insurgency in Balochistan. The U.S. designated the group a terrorist organization in 2019. Pakistan's military and government blamed rival India for the attack without offering any evidence. India has not commented. India and Pakistan this month fought a four-day conflict before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 17:40:53+00:00	[ "Fires", "Slavery", "District of Columbia", "National", "Race and ethnicity", "Mia Crawford-Johnson", "Politics", "New Orleans", "Usher", "Social media", "Black experience", "Ashley Rogers", "Chris Daigle", "Joseph McGill", "Smithsonian Institution", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Anger and trauma reflected in celebratory reactions to Nottoway Plantation fire By Fernanda Figueroa and Aaron Morrison May 20th, 2025, 05:40 PM --- After a fire engulfed a mansion at Louisiana's Nottoway Plantation, one of the largest remaining pre-Civil War houses in the Deep South where scores of enslaved Africans labored, video footage of the combusted landmark lit the internet ablaze with mass jubilation and consternation over the weekend. For some, it was a moment to celebrate what they saw as centuries-deferred vengeance for enslaved ancestors. There was no shortage of memes and humorous social media posts to ignite the celebrations: from video of the plantation's burning mansion set to the R&B hit song "Let It Burn" by Usher to other footage with the volume of burning wood cranked all the way up to trigger a cozy autonomous sensory meridian response. "Went and watched (Nottoway Plantation) burn to the ground!" historian Mia Crawford-Johnson wrote in the Instagram caption of a grinning selfie taken Thursday across from the burned mansion near the banks the Mississippi River. For others, it was a moment of sadness. Nottoway Plantation has for years been a venue for weddings and other events celebrating cherished milestones. Not to mention, proof of the ingenuity and skill of the enslaved people held on the plantation has been reduced to ashes. Preservationists say the jubilant reactions to the charred mansion reflect the trauma and anger many people, especially Black Americans, still carry over the history and legacy of chattel slavery in the United States. Antebellum era plantations were built under grueling conditions on the backs of enslaved people, and many are now sites of honor on the National Register of Historic Places. ## Some plantations try to ignore their past But some plantations also de-emphasize or overlook their full histories, foregoing mentions of slavery altogether. That is why the "good riddance" sentiment seemed to outweigh expressions of grief over Nottoway Plantation, which makes no mention of enslaved former inhabitants on its website. Many sites of enslavement in the U.S. have been repurposed as places that actively participate in the erasure of their history, said Ashley Rogers, executive director of the Whitney Plantation Museum, located 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of New Orleans. She said the burning of Nottoway is not actually part of the movement for preservation, since nothing was truly being done on the property to tell its full history. "It was a resort," Rogers said. "I don't know that it being there or not being there has anything to do with how we preserve the history of slavery. They already weren't." Joseph McGill, executive director of the Slave Dwelling Project, a nonprofit focused on helping the U.S. acknowledge its history with slavery, said the reaction from the Black community about Nottoway burning represents years of complicated emotions related to plantations. But as a preservationist, McGill said it is unfortunate Nottoway burned down, even if it was failing at telling history. "I would like to see buildings preserved so that those buildings could tell the stories of all the people who inhabited those spaces," McGill said. "We have been failing at that, but at least when the buildings are there the opportunity always exists to do the right thing." ## Nottoway Plantation became a resort and event venue Before the fire, Nottoway was a resort and event venue, and its website described it as "the South's largest remaining antebellum mansion." Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle called the plantation "a cornerstone of our tourism economy and a site of national significance." The sprawling property exists on a former sugar plantation owned by sugar baron John Hampden Randolph. Located about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans, the 53,000-square-foot (4,924-square-meter) mansion had a three-story rotunda adorned with giant white columns and hand-carved Italian marble fireplaces, according to a description on its website. A brochure advertises 40 overnight rooms, a honeymoon suite, a lounge, fitness center, outdoor pool and cabana, among other resort features. In 1860, 155 enslaved people were held at the property, National Park Service records show. After the blaze, which drew an emergency response from nearly a dozen fire departments from surrounding towns, the property's owner said the fire had led to a "total loss" and that he hoped to rebuild the mansion. Rogers said it is unfortunate Nottoway's mansion burned down, as it did serve as a testament to the "skill of enslaved craftspeople and free people of color who built it and who did a lot of the incredible design work that was inside of that building." There are plenty of plantations, unlike Nottoway, that do not allow weddings or other celebratory events. For example, the Whitney, which documents slavery at a pre-Civil War plantation, draws tens of thousands of visitors annually and is known for centering the stories of enslaved people. The Nottoway fire has also restarted a public discourse over plantations. Rogers, the Whitney museum director, said this is not new discourse, but can feel like such because there are not many places where productive conversations can be had about slavery and how to tell its history. ## Racism and slavery dominate cultural debates How, where and when to talk about the history of U.S. racism and slavery has dominated political and cultural debates in recent years. An executive order issued in March by the Trump White House seeks to root out "divisive, race-centered ideology" in the Smithsonian Institution, which operates a broad range of cultural centers in Washington. Among the order's targets is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a popular Smithsonian attraction that chronicles chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation and its lingering effects. Relatedly, plantations and other national historic sites with ties to civil rights have long been places where visitors and descendants of enslaved people go to learn about the past. But they are also places where visitors may encounter naysayers and deniers challenging the tour guide's presentation about slavery. Rogers said there are plenty of others sites besides Nottoway accurately telling Black history that need to be preserved. "I don't think one plantation burning down is going to change how we talk about slavery in this country," she said. "All it does is exposes wounds that are already there."
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 20:42:05+00:00	[ "Books and literature", "Nonfiction", "Robert Redford", "George Floyd", "Celebrity", "Racial injustice", "Book Reviews", "Arts and entertainment", "Richard Russo", "Rob Merrill", "Paul Newman", "New York", "Entertainment" ]	# 'Lfe and Art' review: Richard Russo explores how life informs his art By Rob Merrill May 20th, 2025, 08:42 PM --- Richard Russo, whose "Fool" trilogy is beloved for the characters he created to populate a fictional upstate New York town, freely admits he's always pulled from his real life to write his novels. "I was born in exactly the right place at exactly the right time," he writes in one of 12 essays that make up his slim new volume "Life and Art." Russo scholars — there must be some in American literature departments somewhere, right? — will devour this book. Russo writes lovingly of both his father and mother, draws explicit connections between his characters and people from his real life, takes a road trip back to his hometown Gloversville, and even throws in an homage to the late Paul Newman, whose portrayal of Sully in his "Nobody's Fool" helped Russo's work find an audience well beyond readers. The 12 essays here are divided into the two parts noted in the title. "Life" is more memoir, with Russo sharing what he did during the COVID-19 pandemic, among many other things. "I'd been waiting for more than a decade… for somebody to tell me to go home and stay there, and somebody finally had." The first half is stuffed with stories about his mother and father, anchored by "Marriage Story," which reveals the illnesses they both suffered (gambling and alcoholism for Dad, anxiety for Mom) and how the dream life his mother envisioned after her husband survived World War II never materialized ("She and my father stalled."). But Russo doesn't write to assign blame. At age 75 and with both parents buried, he takes a more thoughtful approach in these essays. Not yet a teenager when Dad left, he realizes now that Mom was just doing what he does for a living as a storyteller — controlling the narrative. Aspiring writers should appreciate the advice Russo doles out in these pages. He credits his childhood and the people who loved him as his "greatest strength" — "Like Faulkner, I'd been gifted the perfect lens through which to view America" — and tells would-be authors, "No matter how gifted you are, or how hardworking, you're never going to be any good until you know who and what you love, because until then you won't know who you are." The second half of the collection — "Art" — is a more acquired taste, with an essay about writing movies and TV shows vs. books, as well as a rather odd one that finds life lessons in the 1969 film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. There's another that heaps praise on the specific word choices contained in the lyrics to the 1972 Townes Van Zandt song "Pancho and Lefty," and another that finds echoes of society's reaction to George Floyd's murder in a scene from "The Maltese Falcon." Considered all together, readers can judge if the essays, like the collection's title, truly inform each other, or if it's enough to simply enjoy these snippets before Russo graces the world with another novel. ___ AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 14:05:08+00:00	[ "Norfolk", "Michal Dalal", "Religion", "Lindsey Bahr", "Lifestyle", "Jackson Lu", "LGBTQ" ]	# Survey looks at use of astrology, tarot cards and fortunetellers By David Crary May 21st, 2025, 02:05 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — A lot of American adults — about 3 in 10 — make use of astrology, tarot cards or fortunetellers at least once a year. But only a small fraction of them rely on what they learn from these practices to make major decisions. That's according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, encompassing 9,593 U.S. adults who were interviewed last October. Overall, according to Pew, about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they engage in at least one of these activities mostly "just for fun," while about 1 in 10 say they engage mostly because they "believe the practices give them helpful insights." Only about 1% say they rely "a lot" on what they learn from these practices when making major life decisions. Yet it's a big business. The psychic services industry — which encompasses various specialties such as astrology, palm-reading, psychic readings and fortunetelling — generated an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue in 2024 and employed 105,000 people, according to market research firm IBIS World. "Traditional skepticism about consulting psychics has waned, with more consumers embracing these services, especially in times of uncertainty," wrote IBIS World analyst Michal Dalal. ## The biggest astrology fans? Younger women and LGBTQ+ people There were some major demographic differences in responses to the Pew survey, notably finding that younger adults — and especially younger women — are more likely than other major age groups to consult astrology or horoscopes. According to Pew, about 4 in 10 women ages 18 to 49 say they believe in astrology. That compares with about 3 in 10 women 50 and older and about 2 in 10 men under age 50. Another distinctive group: LGBTQ+ adults. According to the survey, about half of them consult astrology or a horoscope at least yearly — roughly twice the share among U.S. adults overall. Pew found that about 2 in 10 LGBTQ+ adults say that when they make major life decisions, they rely at least "a little" on what they've learned from a fortuneteller, tarot cards, astrology or a horoscope — a considerably larger share than any other demographic subgroup. On the other hand, the survey found that adults ages 65 or older, those with high incomes and college degrees, and those who identify as politically conservative are less likely than other adults to believe in astrology and engage with tarot cards and fortunetellers. Among other questions, Pew asked respondents if they were religiously affiliated, and about 7 in 10 said yes. Of that group, about 3 in 10 said they believe in astrology — very similar to the percentage of astrology believers among the religiously unaffiliated respondents who identified as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." About one-third of Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and adults who say their religion is "nothing in particular" said they believe in astrology, according to Pew. Atheists, agnostics, white evangelical Protestants and Jewish Americans, meanwhile, were less likely than the general public to say they believe in astrology. Among Hispanic Catholics, about 1 in 10 said they rely on insights from these practices at least "a little" when making major life decisions, which was more than most of the other religious groups featured in the survey. ## A growing industry On the specific question of astrology, the new survey found that 27% of U.S. adults believed in it — similar to the 29% who answered affirmatively in a 2017 Pew survey. According to IBIS World, the psychic services industry's total revenue has increased by more than 4% annually since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, "when business closures, sickness and loss of loved ones prompted a surge in demand for spiritual guidance services." "Astrology and aura reading are leveraging digital platforms to extend their reach," IBIS World said. "Thanks to easy access via mobile apps and social media platforms, personalized reports and virtual readings are gaining traction with younger consumers." ## Bias based on astrological signs? Expert says that's 'irrational' Astrology, throughout its long history, has been embraced by its believers and treated with bemusement or even ridicule by skeptics. It was the subject of extensive research led by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, Jackson Lu. His team, using a sample of more than 170,000 people, determined in 2020 that there was extensive discrimination in China against Virgos, but that the bias was "irrational" because astrological signs predict neither personality or job performance. For supporters of psychic services, there have been positive developments more recently. Among them: — Last year, the City Council in Norfolk, Virginia, repealed a 45-year-old ban on "the practice of palmistry, palm reading, phrenology or clairvoyance, for monetary or other compensation." Under that ban, various forms of fortunetelling could lead to as much as a year in jail. — " Look Into My Eyes," a full-length documentary about psychics in New York, received numerous positive reviews after it was released in September. AP film critic Lindsey Bahr called it "unjudgmental, funny and poignant." ___ 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	2025-05-21 08:47:07+00:00	[ "Israel government", "Middle East", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Israel-Hamas war", "Israel", "War and unrest", "Hamas", "Mohammed Salha", "Associated Press", "Health", "Blockades", "Military and defense", "Kamal Adwan" ]	# 2 hospitals in northern Gaza are surrounded by Israeli troops, staff say By Sarah El Deeb May 21st, 2025, 08:47 AM --- Two of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals have been encircled by Israeli troops, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said this week, as Israel pursued its renewed offensive into the devastated Palestinian territory. The Indonesian hospital and al-Awda hospital are among the region's only surviving medical centers. Both have come under fire this week, including shelling at al-Awda that happened Wednesday as The Associated Press spoke to its director on the phone. A third hospital, Kamal Adwan, is out of service, its director said, citing Israeli troops and drones in its vicinity. Israeli authorities issued evacuation orders Friday for large parts of northern Gaza ahead of attacks intended to pressure the Hamas militant group to release more hostages. New evacuation orders followed Tuesday. All three hospitals and three primary health care centers are within the evacuation zone. Israel has not ordered the evacuation of the facilities themselves. Another two hospitals and four primary care centers are within 1,000 meters (1,093 yards) of the zone, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization. Israeli military operations and evacuation orders "are stretching the health system beyond the breaking point," he said. ## Hundreds of attacks on health facilities Only 20 out of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, serving the territory's more than 2 million people, amid continued bombing, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies. The WHO said hospitals in northern Gaza are "at a serious risk of shutting down completely." The United Nations agency has documented nearly 700 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza since the start of Israel's 19-month war against the Hamas militant group. The Israeli military has raided or laid siege to hospitals throughout the war, accusing Hamas of using them as command centers and to hide fighters, though it has only provided evidence for some of its claims. Hamas security men have been seen in hospitals during the war, controlling access to certain areas, and in recent weeks Israel has targeted alleged militants inside health facilities. Palestinians say the latest attacks on hospitals in the north are part of a larger plan to displace the population to the south and eventually drive them from Gaza. Israel has vowed to facilitate what it refers to as the voluntary migration of much of Gaza's population to other countries, which many Palestinians and others view as a plan for forcible expulsion. Israel wants to "ensure the forced displacement of people from the area" by putting hospitals out of service, said Rami Shurafi, a board member of al-Awda hospital. ## The Indonesian hospital comes under attack The Indonesian hospital, once the largest in northern Gaza, has been surrounded by Israeli troops, who were positioned about 500 meters (545 yards) away. Drones have hovered above, monitoring any movement, since Sunday, an aid group that supports the hospital said. The Israeli military said its forces were operating around the hospital and targeting Hamas infrastructure but that troops had not entered the facility and ambulances were allowed to move. Israeli bulldozers demolished a perimeter wall of the hospital, according to the aid group MERC-Indonesia and a hospital staff member who had since evacuated. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. On Tuesday, airstrikes targeted the hospital's generators, sparking a fire and damaging its main power supply. The strikes also caused damage to the hospital's water supply, according to a video posted by MERC-Indonesia. Large flames were seen rising from the area before daybreak. A speaker in the video said the fire was close to the hospital fuel supply, but firefighters controlled the flames. At least one staff member was killed, according to the WHO, which said those who remained in the hospital were in urgent need of water and food. The U.N. said it was working to transfer remaining patients to other facilities. Military activity around the hospital also damaged ceilings, the hospital roof and some equipment. Nearly 20 people, including six patients and 13 medical workers remained in the hospital, said a MERC-Indonesia official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Most patients evacuated themselves after fighting intensified in the area starting Thursday. Doctors and staffers at the hospital were not immediately reachable for comment. A video posted by MERC-Indonesia that was shot from the hospital windows showed an Israeli tank a few meters (several feet) away from the hospital. ## Israeli strikes isolate al-Awda hospital Nearly a kilometer (about half a mile) away, Israeli drones fired Monday into the al-Awda hospital courtyard, preventing movement, Shurafi said. On Wednesday, the hospital was shelled while its director was on the phone with AP. A large boom could be heard on the call. "They are bombing the hospital," said Dr. Mohammed Salha, the facility's director. He later said one security guard was wounded. Patients were not near the area that was hit, he said. A video shared with AP showed damage to the roof and debris in the corridors, with dust still rising from the area. Relief International, the aid group supporting al-Awda, said the hospital's water tanks and a patient ward were hit in the Israeli strikes. On Tuesday, Israeli drones fired at two ambulances that transferred three patients to Gaza City as the crews tried to return to the hospital, spokesperson Khaled Alhelo said. Alhelo himself was unable to return to the hospital Tuesday because of military activity. There are currently no ambulances or internet lines at al-Awda hospital, according to Shurafi and Alhelo. Israeli troops are about 900 meters (about half a mile) away from the hospital, Alhelo said. But the real risk, he said, is from Israeli drones flying over the hospital and preventing any movement in or out. "Anyone moving in the hospital is fired at. They are all keeping low inside the hospital," he said. The Israeli military had no comment when asked about the situation at al-Awda and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday's shelling. About 47 patients, including nearly 20 children and several pregnant women, and some 140 doctors and medical staff members are still at the hospital, hospital board member Shurafi said. He said the hospital board decided not to evacuate the hospital and called for supplies and the return of ambulances because there are still bombings and wounded people in the area. "In light of the war, and conflict, it should remain functioning," Shurafi said. He said the hospital has been besieged and raided several times since the war began in October 2023, but he called the current phase the "most critical." The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. ___ Associated Press journalists Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 10:35:45+00:00	[ "New Jersey", "Newark", "Ras Baraka", "Paul Fishman", "Indictments", "Law enforcement", "United States government", "Immigration", "United States", "Protests and demonstrations", "Donald Payne Jr.", "Sexual assault", "Rob Menendez", "Stacey Adams", "Prisons", "Government and politics", "LaMonica McIver McIver", "Assault", "Alina Habba", "Fraud", "Donald Trump", "Bonnie Coleman" ]	# New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver due for court appearance on assault charges By Mike Catalini May 21st, 2025, 10:35 AM --- NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday released Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver on her own recognizance during the congresswoman's first court appearance on assault charges stemming from immigration officials' attempt to arrest Newark's mayor at a detention facility. McIver appeared remotely from Washington as Congress is in session for the initial hearing, where she was officially notified of the two counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding an officer from the May 9 skirmish outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement-run facility called Delaney Hall. The prosecutor's complaint says McIver attempted to stop the arrest of Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who is running in this year's primary for New Jersey governor, and pushed into and grabbed agents for Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Magistrate Judge Stacey Adams presided over the roughly 15-minute hearing, at which both McIver, her attorneys, and federal prosecutors appeared through a video call in the Newark courtroom. McIver denied the charges and said she was carrying out her duty as a member of Congress to oversee a federal facility. The only words she spoke during the proceeding were "Yes, your honor," responding to the judges questions, including if she had received the complaint against her. In a fundraising email sent after the hearing, McIver called the charges baseless. "I went to an ICE facility in my district to conduct oversight because that is my job and my lawful right as a member of Congress," she wrote. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of up to eight years in prison, prosecutors said. Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba had charged Baraka with trespassing after his arrest but dismissed the allegation on Monday when she said in a social media post that she was instead charging the congresswoman. Baraka is a Democratic candidate for governor in next month's primary election. Prosecuting McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. The case instantly taps into a broader and more consequential struggle between a Trump administration engaged in overhauling immigration policy and a Democratic Party scrambling to respond. McIver's Democratic colleagues cast the prosecution as an infringement on lawmakers' official duties to serve their constituents and an effort to silence their opposition to an immigration policy that helped propel the president back into power but now has emerged as divisive fault line in American political discourse. Under the law, members of Congress are authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill that spelled out the authority. A nearly two-minute clip released by the Homeland Security Department shows McIver on the facility side of a chain-link fence just before the arrest of the mayor on the street side of the fence. She and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point, her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word "Police" on it. It isn't clear from police bodycam video whether that contact was intentional, incidental or a result of jostling in the chaotic scene. The complaint says she "slammed" her forearm into an agent then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him. Wednesday's court appearance included a brief disagreement over whether McIver would be able to travel oversees for personal reasons. Adams had said an agreement before her noted she could travel only for official business, but McIver's attorney, former United States Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said she had a vacation planned. "There is zero chance a congresswoman is a flight risk," he said. The judge said she would be OK with such travel but asked prosecutors and defense to discuss and send her an agreement if they could reach one. New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who, along with Rep. Rob Menendez, had joined McIver at the detention center, told reporters Tuesday that her and Menendez's attorneys are scheduled to meet Wednesday with Habba's office. "That's the first contact that we've actually had from her, so we don't know what she has intended, but we're ready for whenever it might be," she said. Watson Coleman added that Habba's office has indicated that charges are still on the table. "It's a possibility and it may be a probability," she said. "We shall see." A message seeking comment on Tuesday was left with Habba's office. McIver, 38, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November. A Newark native, she served as the president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city's public schools before that. A preliminary hearing, which the judge stressed would occur in person, was scheduled for June 11. ___ Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:02:12+00:00	[ "Fish", "Weather", "Heat waves", "Animals", "JWD-evergreen", "Science", "Zoology", "Climate and environment", "Simon Thorrold", "Climate" ]	# Clownfish shrink their bodies to survive ocean heat waves By Adithi Ramakrishnan May 21st, 2025, 06:02 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — To survive warming oceans, clownfish cope by shrinking in size. Scientists observed that some of the orange-striped fish shrank their bodies during a heat wave off the coast of Papa New Guinea. Fish that slimmed were more likely to survive. Heat waves are becoming more common and intense underwater due to climate change. Warmer water temperatures can bleach sea anemones that clownfish call home, forcing them to adapt to stay alive. Scientists monitored and measured 134 colorful clownfish in Kimbe Bay during an intense heat wave in 2023 that's still bleaching corals worldwide. They found that 101 clownfish decreased in length on one or more occasions from heat stress. "We were really shocked at first when we saw that they were shrinking at all," said study author Morgan Bennett-Smith with Boston University. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. Though scientists don't yet know how clownfish shrink, one idea is that they could be reabsorbing their own bone matter. It's possible the smaller stature may help the clownfish save energy during a stressful scorch since smaller fish need less food. Certain clownfish breeding pairs also synced their shrink to boost their survival odds. The females adjusted their size to stay bigger than their partners, keeping the female-dominated social hierarchy intact, researchers said. Other animals also decrease in size to beat the heat. Marine iguanas get smaller during El Niño events that usher warm waters into the Galapagos. But this coping strategy hadn't yet been spotted in coral reef fish until now. "This is another tool in the toolbox that fish are going to use to deal with a changing world," said Simon Thorrold, an ocean ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who was not involved with the new study. The tactic helps clownfish weather heat waves in the short-term, but it's not yet clear how the fish will fare if they have to keep it up in the years to come, Thorrold said. Researchers found the shrinking was temporary. Clownfish possessed the ability to "catch up" and grow back when their environment got less stressful, showing how living things are staying flexible to keep up with a warming world, said study author Melissa Versteeg with Newcastle University. "These natural systems really are under stress, but there's a capacity for incredible resilience," Versteeg said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 15:10:40+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Mike Johnson", "Joe Biden", "U.S. Republican Party", "Hakeem Jeffries", "Taxes", "Education costs", "United States House of Representatives", "Government programs", "Congress", "Access to health care", "Jobs and careers", "Asylum", "Business", "Personal finance", "Politics", "Border security", "Mexico", "Conservatism" ]	# What's in Trump's 'beautiful' bill that Republicans are trying to pass By Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro May 21st, 2025, 03:10 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump's tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. House committees have labored for months on the legislation, which exceeds 1,000 pages and is titled the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a nod to Trump himself. GOP divisions have narrowed but continue as fiscal conservatives worry the bill doesn't do enough to curb Medicaid spending, while Republicans from competitive swing districts have expressed concerns about the prospect of their constituents losing access to health coverage and food assistance for constituents. Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries calls "this extreme and toxic bill." Here's a look at what's in and out of the legislative package so far: ## Tax cuts for individuals and businesses Republicans look to make permanent the individual income and estate tax cuts passed in Trump's first term, in 2017, plus enact promises he made on the 2024 campaign trail to not tax tips, overtime and interest on some auto loans. To partially offset the lost revenue, Republicans propose repealing or phasing out more quickly the clean energy tax credits passed during Joe Biden's presidency, helping to bring down the overall cost of the tax portion to about $3.8 trillion. The bill includes a temporary boost in the standard deduction — a $1,000 increase for individuals, bringing it to $16,000 for individual filers, and a $2,000 boost for joint filers, bringing it to $32,000. The deduction reduces the amount of income that is actually subject to income tax. There is also a temporary $500 increase in the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500 for 2025 through 2028. It then returns to $2,000 and will increase to account for inflation. The estate tax exemption rises to $15 million and is adjusted for inflation going forward. One of the thorniest issues in negotiations has been how much to raise the state and local tax deduction, now capped at $10,000. That's been a priority of New York lawmakers. A tentative agreement has been reached to increase that "SALT" cap to $40,000 for incomes up to $500,000, with the cap phasing downward for those with higher incomes. Several of the provisions Trump promised in the campaign would be temporary, lasting roughly through his term in office. The tax breaks for tips, overtime and car loan interest expire at the end of 2028. That's also the case for a $4,000 increase in the standard deduction for seniors. Among the various business tax provisions, small businesses, including partnerships and S corporations, will be able to subtract 23% of their qualified business income from their taxes. The deduction has been 20% Businesses will temporarily be allowed to fully expense domestic research and development costs in the year they occur and the cost of machinery, equipment and other qualifying assets. This encourages businesses to invest in ways that enhances their productivity. ## Parents and older Americans face work requirements for food assistance House Republicans would reduce spending on food aid, what is known as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, by about $267 billion over 10 years. States would shoulder 5% of benefit costs, beginning in fiscal 2028, and 75% of the administrative costs. Currently, states pay none of the benefit and half of the administration costs. Republicans also are expanding the work requirements to receive food aid. Under current law, able-bodied adults without dependents must fulfill work requirements until they are 54, and that would change under the bill to age 64. Also, some parents are currently exempt from work requirements until their children are 18; that would change so only those caring for a dependent child under the age of 7 are exempt. ## And new work requirements for Medicaid A focal point of the package is nearly $700 billion in reduced spending in the Medicaid program, according to CBO. 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. The new requirement would not kick in until Jan. 1, 2029, after Trump leaves office. People would also have to verify their eligibility for the program twice a year, rather than just once. Republicans are looking to generate savings with new work requirements. But Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by at least 7.6 million from the Medicaid changes, and possibly more with other changes to the Affordable Care Act. ## No taxes on gun silencers, no money for Planned Parenthood and more Republicans are also using the package to reward allies and disadvantage political foes. The package would eliminate a $200 tax on gun silencers that has existed since Congress passed the National Firearms Act in 1934. The elimination of the tax is supported by the NRA. The group Giffords, which works to reduce gun violence, said silencers make it more difficult to recognize the sound of gunfire and locate the source of gunshots, impairing the ability of law enforcement to respond to active shooters. Republicans are also looking to prohibit Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion care. Democrats say defunding the organization would make it harder for millions of patients to get cancer screenings, pap tests and birth control. ## 'MAGA' kids $1,000 savings accounts "MAGA" is shorthand for Trump's signature line, "Make America Great Again." But in this case, it means "Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement." For parents or guardians who open new "MAGA" accounts for their children, the federal government will contribute $1,000 for babies born between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2028. Families could add $5,000 a year, with the account holders unable to take distributions before age 18. Then, they could access up to 50% of the money to pay for higher education, training and first-time home purchases. At age 30, account holders have access to the full balance of the account for any purpose. ## Funding for Trump's mass deportation operation The legislation would provide $46.5 billion to revive construction of Trump's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and more money for the deportation agenda. There's $4 billion to hire an additional 3,000 new Border Patrol agents as well as 5,000 new customs officers, and $2.1 billion for signing and retention bonuses. There's also funds for 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and investigators. It includes major changes to immigration policy, imposing a $1,000 fee on migrants seeking asylum — something the nation has never done, putting it on par with few others, including Australia and Iran. Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers. ## More money for the Pentagon and Trump's 'Golden Dome' There's also nearly with $150 billion in new money for the Defense Department and national security. It would provide $25 billion for Trump's "Golden Dome for America," a long-envisioned missile defense shield, $21 billion to restock the nation's ammunition arsenal, $34 billion to expand the naval fleet with more shipbuilding and some $5 billion for border security. It also includes $9 billion for servicemember quality of life-related issues, including housing, health care and special pay. ## Tax on university endowments and overhaul of student loans A wholesale revamping of the student loan program is key to the legislation, providing $330 billion in budget cuts and savings. The proposal would replace all existing student loan repayment plans with just two: a standard option with monthly payments spread out over 10 to 25 years and a "repayment assistance" plan that is generally less generous than those it would replace. Among other changes, the bill would repeal Biden-era regulations that made it easier for borrowers to get loans canceled if their colleges defrauded them or closed suddenly. There would be a tax increase, up to 21%, on some university endowments. ## More drilling, mining on public lands To generate revenue, one section would allow increased leasing of public lands for drilling, mining and logging while clearing the path for more development by speeding up government approvals. Royalty rates paid by companies to extract oil, gas and coal would be cut, reversing Biden's attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate change. In a last-minute add, Republicans also included a provision authorizing sales of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah, prompting outrage from Democrats and environmentalists. ___ Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 12:04:20+00:00	[ "Syria", "Bashar Assad", "Islam", "War and unrest", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Syria government", "Hezbollah", "Ahmad al-Sharaa", "Religion", "Hussein al-Khatib" ]	# In Syria, a Shiite shrine and community navigate a changed landscape By Mariam Fam May 21st, 2025, 12:04 PM --- SAYYIDA ZEINAB, Syria (AP) — At the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, rituals of faith unfold: worshippers kneel in prayer, visitors raise their palms skyward or fervently murmur invocations as they press their faces against an ornate structure enclosing where they believe the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad is entombed. But it's more than just religious devotion that the golden-domed shrine became known for during Syria's prolonged civil war. At the time, the shrine's protection from Sunni extremists became a rallying cry for some Shiite fighters and Iran-backed groups from beyond Syria's borders who backed the former government of Bashar Assad. The shrine and the surrounding area, which bears the same name, thus emerged as examples of how the religious and political increasingly intertwined during the conflict. ## An altered landscape after Assad's ouster With such a legacy, local Shiite community leaders and members are now navigating a dramatically altered political landscape around Sayyida Zeinab and beyond, after Assad's December ouster by armed insurgents led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The complex transition that is underway has left some in Syria's small Shiite minority feeling vulnerable. "For Shiites around the world, there's huge sensitivity surrounding the Sayyida Zeinab Shrine," said Hussein al-Khatib. "It carries a lot of symbolism." After Assad's ouster, al-Khatib joined other Syrian Shiite community members to protect the shrine from the inside. The new security forces guard it from the outside. "We don't want any sedition among Muslims," he said. "This is the most important message, especially in this period that Syria is going through." Zeinab is a daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad; she's especially revered among Shiites as a symbol of steadfastness, patience and courage. She has several titles, such as the "mother of misfortunes" for enduring tragedies, including the 7th-century killing of her brother, Hussein. His death exacerbated the schism between Islam's two main sects, Sunni and Shiite, and is mourned annually by Shiites. Zeinab's burial place is disputed; some Muslims believe it's elsewhere. The Syria shrine has drawn pilgrims, including from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Since Assad's ouster, however, fewer foreign visitors have come, an economic blow to those catering to them in the area. ## The shrine's locale has faced many attacks Over the years, the Sayyida Zeinab area has suffered deadly attacks by militants. In January, state media reported that intelligence officials in Syria's post-Assad government thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at the shrine. The announcement appeared to be an attempt by Syria's new leaders to reassure religious minorities, including those seen as having supported Assad's former government. Al-Khatib, who moved his family from Aleppo province to the Sayyida Zeinab area shortly before Assad's fall, said Assad had branded himself as a protector of minorities. "When killings, mobilization ... and sectarian polarization began," the narrative "of the regime and its allies was that 'you, as a Shiite, you as a minority member, will be killed if I fall.'" The involvement of Sunni jihadis and some hardline foreign Shiite fighters fanned sectarian flames, he said. The Syria conflict began as one of several uprisings against Arab dictators before Assad brutally crushed what started as largely peaceful protests and a civil war erupted. It became increasingly fought along sectarian lines, drew in foreign fighters and became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers on different sides. ## Post-Assad, new tensions center on the shrine Recently, a red flag reading "Oh, Zeinab" that had fluttered from its dome was removed after some disparaged it as a sectarian symbol. Sheikh Adham al-Khatib, a representative of followers of the Twelver branch of Shiism in Syria, said such flags "are not directed against anyone," but that it was agreed to remove it for now to keep the peace. "We don't want a clash to happen. We see that ... there's sectarian incitement, here and there," he said. Earlier, Shiite leaders had wrangled with some endowments ministry officials over whether the running of the shrine would stay with the Shiite endowment trustee as it's been, he said, adding "we've rejected" changing the status quo. No response was received before publication to questions sent to a Ministry of Endowments media official. Adham al-Khatib and other Shiite leaders recently met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. "We've talked transparently about some of the transgressions," he said. "He promised that such matters would be handled but that they require some patience because of the negative feelings that many harbor for Shiites as a result of the war." Many, the sheikh said, "are holding the Shiites responsible for prolonging the regime's life." This "is blamed on Iran, on Hezbollah and on Shiites domestically," he said, adding that he believes the conflict was political rather than religious. Early in the conflict, he said, "our internal Shiite decision was to be neutral for long months." But, he said, there was sectarian incitement against Shiites by some and argued that "when weapons, kidnappings and killing of civilians started, Shiites were forced to defend themselves." Regionally, Assad was backed by Iran and the Shiite militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, whose intervention helped prop up his rule. Most rebels against him were Sunni, as were their patrons in the region. Besides the shrine's protection argument, geopolitical interests and alliances were at play as Syria was a key part of Iran's network of deterrence against Israel. ## Emotions can run high; for some, fears persist Today, rumors and some social media posts can threaten to inflame emotions. Shrine director Jaaffar Kassem said he received a false video purporting to show the shrine on fire and was flooded with calls about it. At the shrine, Zaher Hamza said he prays "for safety and security" and the rebuilding of "a modern Syria, where there's harmony among all and there are no grudges or injustice." Is he worried about the shrine? "We're the ones who are in the protection of Sayyida Zeinab — not the ones who will protect the Sayyida Zeinab," he replied. While some Shiites have fled Syria after Assad's fall, Hamza said he wouldn't. "Syria is my country," he said. "If I went to Lebanon, Iraq or to European countries, I'd be displaced. I'll die in my country." Some are less at ease. Small groups of women gathered recently at the Sayyida Zeinab courtyard, chatting among themselves in what appeared to be a quiet atmosphere. Among them was Kamla Mohamed. Early in the war, Mohamed said, her son was kidnapped more than a decade ago by anti-government rebels for serving in the military. The last time she saw him, she added, was on a video where he appeared with a bruised face. When Assad fell, Mohamed feared for her family. Those fears were fueled by the later eruption of violence in Syria's coastal region, where a counteroffensive killed many Alawite civilians — members of the minority sect from which Assad hails and drew support as he ruled over a Sunni majority. Human rights groups reported revenge killings against Alawites; the new authorities said they were investigating. "We were scared that people would come to us and kill us," Mohamed said, clutching a prayer bead. "Our life has become full of fear." Another Syrian Shiite shrine visitor said she's been feeling on edge. She spoke on condition she only be identified as Umm Ahmed, or mother of Ahmed, as is traditional, for fear of reprisals against her or her family. She said, speaking shortly after the coastal violence in March, that she's thought of leaving the country, but added that there isn't enough money and she worries that her home would be stolen if she did. Still, "one's life is the most precious," she said. She hopes it won't come to that. "Our hope in God is big," she said. "God is the one protecting this area, protecting the shrine and protecting us." ___ 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	2025-05-20 19:21:13+00:00	[ "Virginia", "Racism", "District of Columbia", "Donald Trump", "Race and ethnicity", "Jamie Sands", "Seal", "Timothy Parlatore", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Racist memes shared by Navy SEALs prompt investigation By Lolita C. Baldor May 20th, 2025, 07:21 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Navy SEALs based in Virginia are facing disciplinary action for racist conduct, and several of their platoon and team leaders are being disciplined for leadership failures, according to a defense official. The two enlisted Team 4 members are being punished for developing racist memes targeting a Black sailor in their platoon and circulating them in a group chat with other team members, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation. The memes depicted the sailor as a slave, according to visuals viewed by The Associated Press. According to the official, the sailor who was targeted reported the incidents this year, but they took place beginning in 2022 and the memes circulated for years. The sailor had been in one of the SEAL Team 4 platoons but had his qualifications and SEAL trident revoked last year. He alleged that his failure to remain a SEAL was due to the racist treatment. Two officials said that as a result of the investigation, which was conducted by Naval Special Warfare Group 2, the sailor's SEAL qualifications are being reinstated and he will get back pay. The group oversees SEAL Team 4 and the platoons that make up the team, located at Joint Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Hampton Roads, Virginia The probe found that the platoon and SEAL Team 4 leaders did not adequately address the sailor's concerns about racist behavior and that the decision to revoke his qualifications was flawed. "This was a very shocking case of explicit and repeated racist memes directed at our client in a platoon-wide text thread," said Timothy Parlatore, the sailor's lawyer, referring to the memes shared over a Signal chat. "They modified his face in photos to look like a monkey and portrayed him as a chained slave on a slave ship, among others." The two enlisted sailors responsible for the memes face non-judicial punishment and punitive letters in their files. Both actions can be career ending, or can result in demotions or loss of pay. Other actions are still pending. The platoon and team leaders are also facing administrative actions, including disciplinary letters in their files, that could determine if they continue as SEALs. In a statement, Naval Special Warfare Command acknowledged the investigation into "serious allegations of unprofessional conduct within one of our commands" and said "accountability actions are ongoing." It added that "we are dedicated to fostering a climate of dignity and respect, and after conducting a thorough and fair investigation, we will hold anyone found responsible of misconduct accountable." Parlatore praised Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, head of NSW, and his staff for taking swift action to "investigate, reverse the negative repercussions that our client received, and move to hold people accountable." This is just the latest significant investigation into behavior issues and command failures at Naval Special Warfare Command. And it underscores racial concerns that are not new to the special warfare leaders. Commando forces across the services — particularly the officers — tend to be far less diverse than the military as a whole. And leaders in recent years have tried to attract a wider array of recruits in order to develop a more diverse force. Those efforts, however, could be threatened now, as the Trump administration and Defense Department leaders have made it a priority to end diversity and inclusion programs across the military and the government as a whole. That could exacerbate racist problems in the smaller, largely-white teams. As of March 2021, a full 95% of all SEAL and combatant-craft crew officers were white and just 2% were Black, according to Naval Special Warfare statistics provided to the AP. The enlisted ranks were only slightly more diverse. Those number are starkly different from the overall Navy population, where about 40% of the enlisted force and 24% of its officers are non-white. According to the defense official, the sailor filed more than a dozen specific complaints about racist behavior and about half were substantiated. And as Group 2 leaders began to look into the complaints, a second sailor — who is white — also complained about bullying by other platoon members. That amplified the broader concerns about the command climate and the later findings of leadership failures. Other recent investigations also found training and command problems. Last October a highly critical review found that two Navy SEALs drowned as they tried to climb aboard a ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to Yemen because of glaring training failures and a lack of understanding about what to do after falling into deep, turbulent waters. And in 2023, an investigation into the death of a SEAL candidate a year earlier concluded that the training program was plagued by widespread failures in medical care, poor oversight and the use of performance-enhancing drugs that have increased the risk of injury and death to those seeking to become elite commandos.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 04:21:38+00:00	[ "Benjamin Netanyahu", "War and unrest", "Israel", "Gaza Strip", "Israel government", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Zehava Galon", "Middle East", "Hamas", "Israel-Hamas war", "Shmuel Rosner", "Ehud Olmert", "Yair Golan", "Moshe Yaalon", "Palestinian territories government", "Benjamin Gantz" ]	# Israeli politician critiques the Gaza war's toll on Palestinians and sparks an outcry By Tia Goldenberg May 22nd, 2025, 04:21 AM --- TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Killing babies "as a hobby." "Expelling a population." "Fighting against civilians." It is some of the harshest language against Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza and it came this week from a prominent Israeli politician, sparking a domestic uproar as the country faces heavy international criticism. It is not uncommon for politicians to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war strategy, especially his failure to free all the hostages held by Hamas. What made the comments by center-left opposition party leader Yair Golan rare — and jarring to officials across the political spectrum — was their focus on the plight of Palestinians. The ensuing controversy underscored how little the war's toll on Gaza's civilians has figured into the public discourse in Israel — in stark contrast to the rest of the world. Speaking to the Israeli public radio station Reshet Bet, Golan — a former general — said Israel was becoming a pariah state and cautioned that "a sane country doesn't engage in fighting against civilians, doesn't kill babies as a hobby and doesn't set for itself the goals of expelling a population." After the outcry, he said he was referring to the conduct of Israel's far-right government, not of its soldiers, in his remarks. ## A rare focus on the plight of Palestinian civilians Golan's words were a shock to the system because, outside of the country's politically marginalized left, criticism focused on Palestinian civilian suffering and deaths has rarely been spoken publicly in Israel. The reasons for this include: the trauma Israelis still feel over Hamas' deadly attack on Oct. 7. 2023, Jewish citizens' deep faith in the righteousness of the military, dozens of hostages remain in Gaza and soldiers are dying to rescue them. Criticism of the war has focused overwhelmingly on Netanyahu. His opponents believe his own political motives have dictated war strategy and his failure to reach a deal with Hamas to release all the hostages — an accusation he denies. "Part of the Israeli public and media outlets are still trapped in an obsession over the initial shock that started this war," said Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister and fierce critic of the current government. "But this is changing and it's just a matter of time." Public opinion polls show that most Israelis support ending the war in exchange for the release of the remaining 58 hostages held by Hamas, around a third of whom are said to be alive. Opponents of the war have tended to focus on concerns over the fate of the remaining hostages and the risk of soldier casualties in a campaign that many feel has run its course. While Olmert disputed Golan's choice of words, he said the essence of his remarks "reflects what many people think." ## Israelis are still traumatized by Hamas' attack After Hamas' 2023 attack, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, Israelis rallied behind the military. They saw the war as a just response to the deadliest attack in Israel's history. Many Israelis cannot imagine a future where Hamas remains intact. Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities, whose count doesn't differentiate between combatants and civilians. The fighting has displaced 90% of the territory's roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza's urban landscape. While international media coverage has largely focused on the war in Gaza and its toll on civilians there, in Israel the media still devotes heavy attention to the Oct. 7 attack itself and the hostage crisis. Photos of those still held captive line the streets. Stories about the plight of Palestinian civilians are less prominent, and largely avoid the harshest images emanating from Gaza. Most outlets repeat the official line that Hamas is solely to blame for the civilian toll. For many Jewish Israelis, it is hard to fathom that their own children, most of whom must enlist in Israel's military, could be committing the crimes that Golan described. All that has helped solidify a national narrative that views the war as an existential struggle. "When you fight a war of existence, you don't much think about the suffering of the enemy," said Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. ## Golan's words have sparked outcry before A former deputy chief of staff of the military, Golan's words have sparked outcry in the past. The most notable occasion was a 2016 speech marking Israel's Holocaust remembrance day, when he compared what he said was an increasingly illiberal atmosphere in Israel to that of Nazi-era Germany. On Oct. 7, Golan donned his uniform and grabbed a gun to help battle militants during Israel's flailing first response to Hamas' assault. Olmert called him "one of Israel's greatest warriors." Golan is not the first public figure to have made such remarks about Israel's conduct in Gaza. Former defense minister and military chief of staff Moshe Yaalon accused Israel of ethnic cleansing during a major operation last year. Zehava Galon, a former leader of a dovish political party, highlighted the deaths of thousands of children at a recent protest in Tel Aviv. But unlike them, Golan has his political future at stake, lending more weight to his words. ## Pictures of dead Palestinian children Netanyahu said Golan's words "echoed disgraceful antisemitic blood libels." Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, said Golan's remarks were extreme and false and called on him to recant and apologize, which he did not do. Cabinet minister Amichay Eliyahu suggested Golan's words inspired an attacker in Washington, who killed two Israeli embassy employees and yelled "Free, free Palestine" after he was arrested. "Yair, the blood of the embassy employees is on your hands," he wrote on X. Golan, in response, said it was Netanyahu's far-right government that "gives fuel to antisemitism and Israel hatred." Rosner said Golan's wording on the Palestinian toll was "uncareful" and that instead of triggering introspection, they prompted a media debate over Golan himself and the damage his remarks might cause to Israel. But they could resonate among the steadfast anti-war protest movement, said Alma Beck, an activist who is part of a small contingent of demonstrators who have been holding up pictures of Palestinian children killed in Gaza ever since Israel ended a ceasefire in March. She said the group began as 20 people and has grown to 600, still just a fraction of the thousands attending the broader anti-government protests. Beck said the protest movement has been receptive to messages that focus on the Palestinian toll, and more signs with that message have been held up by demonstrators in recent weeks. Their main criticism remains that Netanyahu is continuing the war to appease his governing partners and ensure his own political survival. "I think there is a shift. I think people are starting to connect the dots," she said, while noting that the bulk of Israeli society hasn't changed. "I hope that it will only grow." ___ Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 04:06:39+00:00	[ "Greg Abbott", "Abortion", "Texas", "Ken Paxton", "Andy Beshear", "Reproductive rights", "New York City Wire", "Politics", "Bryan Hughes", "United States Congress", "Mary Ziegler", "Health", "United States government", "Charlie Geren", "Austin Dennard", "U.S. Republican Party" ]	# Texas lawmakers advance bill to clarify exceptions to restrictive abortion ban By Nadia Lathan May 21st, 2025, 04:06 AM --- AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday to clarify medical exceptions under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S., putting the GOP-backed proposal on the brink of reaching Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or list specific medical exceptions under the state's near-total ban, which took effect in 2022 and only allows for an abortion to save the life of the mother. It also would not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest. But the proposal is still a pivot for Texas Republicans, who for years have defended the ban as written in the face of legal challenges and pleas for clarity from medical providers. Democrats, meanwhile, have called the bill a positive step but also faced criticism from some abortion-rights allies who raised doubts about what, if any, impact it will have. The bill passed 129-6 and needs only a final procedural vote before reaching Abbott, who has signaled support for the measure. Lawmakers debated for nearly an hour as Republican state Rep. Charlie Geren, a co-author of the bill, fielded questions from several conservative legislators who expressed concerns that it would expand abortion access. "We do not want women to die of medical emergencies during their pregnancies," Geren said. The bill would specify that doctors cannot face criminal charges for performing an abortion in a medical emergency that causes major bodily impairment. It also defines a "life-threatening" condition as one capable of causing death. Similar near-total abortion bans across the country have faced numerous legal challenges and criticism from medical professionals who have said that medical exceptions are too vague. ## Moves to clarify medical exceptions Lawmakers in at least nine states with abortion bans have sought to change or clarify medical exceptions that allow doctors to perform an abortion if the mother's life is at risk since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. Supporters of these bills have said they have the potential to save lives. Critics, including some abortion rights groups, have questioned whether they make state abortion laws easier to understand. In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear earlier this year vetoed a bill that GOP lawmakers touted as bringing clarity to that state's near-total abortion ban, saying it would not protect pregnant women. Republican lawmakers later overrode his veto. Last year, South Dakota released a video for physicians that outlined examples of acceptable medical emergencies that received criticism from abortion rights supporters for not being specific enough. "I think these bills are trying to get at the reality that exceptions are really hard to comply with," said Kimya Forouzan, principal state policy adviser at the Guttmacher Institute. Still, Texas Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes, an architect of the state's abortion ban, said the new bill's goal is to avoid confusion among doctors. "One of the most important things we want to do is to make sure that doctors and hospitals and the hospital lawyers are trained on what the law is," Hughes said. ## Navigating exceptions under bans In 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a group of women who say they were denied an abortion after experiencing serious pregnancy complications that threatened their lives and fertility. The court ruled that the state's laws were clear in allowing doctors to perform an abortion to save the life of the mother. Dr. Austin Dennard, a Dallas OB-GYN, was part of the lawsuit and testified how the state's near-total ban put her health at risk after her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition. She eventually left Texas for an abortion. Dennard's feelings are mixed about the bill, which does not list specific medical conditions or include fatal fetal anomalies as exceptions. "What is broadly now known among practicing physicians in Texas is that abortions are illegal," said Dennard. "Undoing that broad understanding is going to be difficult." Texas' efforts underscore the challenges abortion opponents have had to navigate regarding medical exceptions, said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law and a historian of abortion politics in the U.S. Judges have put enforcement of Utah's abortion ban on hold in a case over exceptions, for example, and they struck down two Oklahoma bans over medical exceptions – though most abortions in that state remain illegal. For abortion opponents, Ziegler said, it's tricky to craft legislation that does two different things. "Can you provide clear guidance as to when medical intervention is justified without providing physicians discretion to provide abortions they don't think are emergencies?" Ziegler said. ## Texas may advance other anti-abortion laws Texas' ban prohibits nearly all abortions, except to save the life of the mother, and doctors can be fined up to $100,000 and face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of performing an abortion illegally. On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that prohibits Texas municipalities from providing individuals resources to access an abortion outside of the state. Texas Republicans are also advancing efforts to make it a civil offense to mail, deliver or manufacture abortion pills, expanding on a 2021 law that allows private individuals to sue others whom they suspect are helping a woman obtain an abortion. Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has filed criminal charges against a midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortions and is also suing a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas woman. ___ Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report. ___ Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 16:34:30+00:00	[ "Serbia", "Belgrade", "Aleksandar Vucic", "Prisons", "Protests and demonstrations", "Activism", "Rail accidents", "Courts", "Volker Turk", "Legal proceedings" ]	# A Serbian court swaps prison for house arrest for 3 out of 6 jailed activists after pressure May 20th, 2025, 04:34 PM --- BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An appeals court in Serbia on Tuesday released three out of six political activists from jail following protests and international criticism of the populist government, which has faced monthslong anti-graft demonstrations. But the court in the northern city of Novi Sad ordered that the three remain under house arrest, pending legal proceedings on suspicion of anti-state activities. The court said that it would issue another ruling at some point about the other three jailed activists. The six were detained in March after secret recordings of their alleged plotting to take over state institutions was broadcast on pro-government media in Serbia before a major rally in the capital, Belgrade. Hundreds have been protesting for days against their prolonged detention. Those released from jail include a high school teacher who was transferred to a prison hospital in Belgrade last week after going on a hunger strike. The huge rally on March 15 in Belgrade was part of protests that started after a concrete canopy collapsed on Nov. 1 at a train station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. Shaken by the tragedy, populist President Aleksandar Vucic's government has stepped up pressure on those involved while trying to curb the demonstrations. Lawyers for the jailed activists in Novi Sad say that the accusations against their clients are based on illegal wiretapping, and there's a lack of evidence. Vucic criticized the ruling in a statement on pro-government Informer television, saying it was the result of pressure from "the gang" of protesters outside the court. He described the activists as "terrorists," adding that "there is not a country in the world" that would release them from jail. Protesters in Novi Sad said on Tuesday that they would continue with the demonstrations until all six activists are out of prison. Six more activists facing the same charges aren't in the country. Tuesday's ruling came as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk arrived in Belgrade. Last week, Tonino Picula, the European Parliament's envoy for Serbia, described the activists as "political prisoners," while Civil Rights Defenders group called it "a clear attempt by the Serbian government to silence dissent." Critics have accused Vucic of increasingly authoritarian rule that stifles the media and other democratic freedoms. The president says that he wants Serbia to join the European Union while boosting relations with Russia and China. Many in Serbia believe that widespread government corruption linked to major infrastructure projects fueled negligence and undermined construction regulations that contributed to the disaster on Nov. 1 at the Novi Sad train station, which triggered the protests.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:10:24+00:00	[ "Louisiana", "Automotive accidents", "Kyle M. Green Jr.", "Law enforcement", "Indictments", "Politics", "Child endangerment" ]	# Louisiana lawmaker arrested on DWI and child endangerment charges after single-car crash By Associated Press May 21st, 2025, 06:10 PM --- A Louisiana lawmaker is facing criminal charges after striking a concrete barrier while allegedly driving impaired with his three children in the vehicle, state police said on Wednesday. Rep. Kyle M. Green Jr., a Democrat who represents a portion of south Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, has been charged with a first-offense of driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor punishable by fines, jail time or a license suspension in the event of a conviction. He also was charged with three counts of child endangerment and traffic violations. Louisiana State Police said officers responded to a crash around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday after Green allegedly "ran off the roadway" and struck a concrete barrier in the sprawling suburban parish outside New Orleans. Green and his children were not injured, the police statement said. While interacting with the lawmaker, officers said they noticed signs of impairment, according to the statement. Following a field sobriety test, Green was arrested. Green refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. The lawmaker did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press. The second-term lawmaker was first elected in 2019 and is currently in the midst of Louisiana's 2025 Legislative Session. Under Louisiana law, legislators are "privileged" from arrest under certain circumstances during their session, including if they are driving to or from committee meetings.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 20:52:17+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Cyril Ramaphosa", "Elon Musk", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "South Africa", "Qatar", "Politics", "Ernie Els", "Retief Goosen", "The Boeing Co.", "Johann Rupert" ]	# Lights, video, confrontation: South African president's US visit takes dramatic turn By Chris Megerian May 21st, 2025, 08:52 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — "Turn the lights down," President Donald Trump said. It was showtime in the Oval Office. Sitting next to him was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was visiting in hopes of reaching new agreements on trade. But Trump wanted to talk about baseless allegations that white farmers in his country were being systematically singled out for persecution and murder. He directed everyone's attention to a television that had been wheeled into the room, and a video began to play. Even for a president who has transformed the Oval Office from a diplomatic venue into a gladiatorial arena, it was an extraordinary scene. Trump stared at the screen while Ramaphosa looked away. For roughly four minutes, the video showed Black politicians — none part of Ramaphosa's government or political party — using anti-apartheid chants about attacking white South Africans. The politicians have said their comments aren't meant to be taken literally; conservative media use them to advance widely rejected claims that there's a genocide underway in South Africa. The video ended with footage of rows of white crosses, which Trump said represented slain white farmers. "It's a terrible sight. I've never seen anything like it," he said. Ramaphosa sounded skeptical. "I'd like to know where that is," he said. "Because this I've never seen." The confrontation echoed Trump's explosive meeting in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy almost three months ago, but this one did not devolve into acrimony. While Zelenskyy and Trump ended up arguing in full view of the news media, what unfolded on Wednesday was a delicate dance between two leaders who had clearly prepared for the encounter. Trump had more than just the video. He also shuffled through a stack of papers that he said were printouts of reports about attacks on white farmers. "Death. Death. Horrible death" Trump said. His administration has welcomed dozens of Afrikaners to the U.S. as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home. Ramaphosa rejected allegations of genocide in South Africa, which has a painful history with race. Once an apartheid country, it was ruled by a white minority known as Afrikaners. The system of racist oppression ended three decades ago, and some tension remains despite largely successful efforts at reconciliation. But instead of pushing back on Trump by himself, Ramaphosa encouraged Trump to listen to other members of his delegation, including pro golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. The golf-obsessed U.S. president seemed impressed. "They're champions," Trump said. "I respect champions." Also, there was Johann Rupert, an Afrikaner and luxury goods tycoon who is South Africa's richest person. "We have too many deaths. And it's across the board. It's not only white farmers," Rupert said. He added that "we need Starlink at every local police station," referencing a satellite internet service created by Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire standing on the other side of the room. Musk has been advising Trump, and he's claimed that he can't get a license to operate in South Africa because he's white. Rupert gave a nod to some shared history with Trump to emphasize his country's potential. "You and I lived in New York in the 70s. We never thought that New York could be what it became," he said. He said he was so confident in South Africa's future that he was building cottages for his grandchildren on a farm, and "I often go to bed without locking the door." The meeting's focus on South Africa was briefly interrupted when Trump was asked about the Pentagon formally accepting a donated Boeing 747 from Qatar, which the president plans to use as Air Force One. Trump lashed out at the reporter, saying he was merely trying to distract from the issues involving white farmers. Ramaphosa found humor in the moment. "I wish I had a plane to give you," he said "I wish you did," Trump responded. "I would take it." Speaking to reporters after leaving the White House, Ramaphosa said he was pleased with the meeting. "You wanted to see drama and something really big happening," he said. "And I'm sorry that we disappointed you somewhat when it comes to that." One of the journalists disagreed. "I don't know what constitutes drama in your book, but that was very dramatic for me, and for everybody else in the room," he said. "That was a dramatic Oval Office meeting." ___
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 18:23:25+00:00	[ "Yoweri Museveni", "Uganda", "Legislation", "Kampala", "Legal proceedings", "Courts", "Politics", "Kizza Besigye", "Activism", "Military and defense" ]	# Uganda passes controversial bill for civilian trials in military courts By Rodney Muhumuza May 20th, 2025, 06:23 PM --- KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a government-backed bill to authorize civilian trials in military courts, defying widespread criticism by opposition figures and others who called it a backward gesture. The contentious legislation was introduced earlier this year after the Supreme Court ruled that civilians can't be court-martialed, questioning the competence of untrained military officers to dispense justice. The bill states that civilians can be court-martialed if their alleged offenses are "in support of or in association with persons subject to military law." It also says that presiding officers must be qualified in law. But opposition figures, rights activists and others insist such legislation is an anti-democratic effort as the east African country heads into elections scheduled for 2026. They say the bill is a danger to everyone who opposes President Yoweri Museveni, an authoritarian leader who has held power in the east African country since 1986. Some members of the opposition walked out of the parliamentary chamber before the bill was passed, protesting what they said was an illegality. The legislation is an attempt to "unconstitutionally grant judicial powers reserved for superior courts to subordinate military courts that have specialized jurisdiction to handle only military disciplinary offenses," the Uganda-based rights group Chapter Four said in a statement. Museveni is expected to sign the bill within days. The president and his son, army commander Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, had condemned the Supreme Court's decision to effectively disband court-martials. Days after that ruling, government officials launched the process of introducing legislation to keep military courts active. Museveni said in a statement following the court's decision that "the country is not governed by the judges." He is expected to run again in polls set for January 2026. Many Ugandans expect an unpredictable political transition because the 80-year-old Museveni has no obvious successor within the ranks of the ruling National Resistance Movement party. Some observers fear that in future he may step aside in favor of Kainerugaba in a bloodless coup. Kainerugaba has asserted his wish to succeed his father as president. A long-time opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, has been jailed since November over alleged treason charges his lawyers say are politically motivated. Besigye, a qualified physician who retired from Uganda's military at the rank of colonel, is a former president of the Forum for Democratic Change party, for many years Uganda's most prominent opposition group. Uganda has never witnessed a peaceful transfer of political power since independence from the British in 1962. ____ Follow AP's Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:08:53+00:00	[ "Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr.", "Texas", "Fitchburg", "Massachusetts", "Black experience", "Ben Railton", "Lifestyle", "David Blight", "Retail and wholesale", "Frederick Douglass", "Veterans", "Matthew Dennis", "Thomas Curran", "Mining accidents" ]	# What is Memorial Day and how has it changed over the years? By Ben Finley May 21st, 2025, 06:08 PM --- NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that's supposed to be about mourning the nation's fallen service members, but it's come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of travel and discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers. Iraq War veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr. said the day has lost so much meaning that many Americans "conflate and mix up Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, July Fourth." Social media posts pay tribute to "everyone" who has served, when Memorial Day is about those who died. For him, it's about honoring 17 U.S. service members he knew who lost their lives. "I was either there when they died or they were soldiers of mine, buddies of mine," said Martinez, 48, an Army veteran who lives in Katy, Texas, west of Houston. "Some of them lost the battle after the war." Here is a look at the holiday and how it has evolved: ## When is Memorial Day? It falls on the last Monday of May. This year, it's on May 26. ## Why is Memorial Day celebrated? It's a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military, according to the Congressional Research Service. The holiday is observed in part by the National Moment of Remembrance, which encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. for a moment of silence. ## What are the origins of Memorial Day? The holiday's origins can be traced to the American Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 service members — both Union and Confederate — between 1861 and 1865. The first national observance of what was then called Decoration Day occurred on May 30, 1868, after an organization of Union veterans called for decorating war graves with flowers, which were in bloom. The practice was already widespread. Waterloo, New York, began a formal observance on May 5, 1866, and was later proclaimed to be the holiday's birthplace. Yet Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, traced its first observance to October 1864, according to the Library of Congress. And women in some Confederate states were decorating graves before the war's end. David Blight, a Yale history professor, points to May 1, 1865, when as many as 10,000 people, many of them Black, held a parade, heard speeches and dedicated the graves of Union dead in Charleston, South Carolina. A total of 267 Union troops had died at a Confederate prison and were buried in a mass grave. After the war, members of Black churches buried them in individual graves. "What happened in Charleston does have the right to claim to be first, if that matters," Blight told The Associated Press in 2011. ## When did Memorial Day become a source of contention? As early as 1869, The New York Times wrote that the holiday could become "sacrilegious" and no longer "sacred" if it focused more on pomp, dinners and oratory. In an 1871 Decoration Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery abolitionist Frederick Douglass said he feared Americans were forgetting the Civil War's impetus: enslavement. "We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation's destroyers," Douglass said. His concerns were well-founded, said Ben Railton, a professor of English and American studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. Although roughly 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army, the holiday in many communities would essentially become "white Memorial Day," especially after the rise of the Jim Crow South, Railton told the AP in 2023. In the 1880s, then-President Grover Cleveland was said to have spent the holiday going fishing — and "people were appalled," Matthew Dennis, an emeritus history professor at the University of Oregon, previously told the AP. But when the Indianapolis 500 held its inaugural race on May 30, 1911, a report from the AP made no mention of the holiday — or any controversy. ## How has Memorial Day changed? Dennis said Memorial Day's potency diminished somewhat with the addition of Armistice Day, which marked World War I's end on Nov. 11, 1918. Armistice Day became a national holiday by 1938 and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. In 1971, Congress changed Memorial Day from every May 30 to the last Monday in May. Dennis said the creation of the three-day weekend recognized that Memorial Day had long been transformed into a more generic remembrance of the dead, as well as a day of leisure. Just a year later, Time Magazine wrote that the holiday had become "a three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose." ## Why is Memorial Day tied to sales and travel? Even in the 19th century, grave ceremonies were followed by leisure activities such as picnicking and foot races, Dennis said. The holiday also evolved alongside baseball and the automobile, the five-day work week and summer vacation, according to the 2002 book "A History of Memorial Day: Unity, Discord and the Pursuit of Happiness." In the mid-20th century, a small number of businesses began to open defiantly on the holiday. Once the holiday moved to Monday, "the traditional barriers against doing business began to crumble," authors Richard Harmond and Thomas Curran wrote. These days, Memorial Day sales and traveling are deeply woven into the nation's muscle memory. But Martinez, the Iraq War veteran in Texas, is posting photos and stories on social media about the service members he knows who died. "I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer and tell you not to have your hotdogs and your burgers. But give them at least a couple minutes," he said. "Give them some silence. Say a little prayer. Give them a nod. There's a bunch of families out there that don't have loved ones."
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 23:30:00+00:00	[ "Mobile apps", "Apple", "Inc.", "Mobile phones", "California", "Technology", "Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers", "Business" ]	# Fortnite video game returns to iPhone app store in U.S., ending exile imposed by Apple By Michael Liedtke May 20th, 2025, 11:30 PM --- The popular video game Fortnite has returned to the iPhone app store in the U.S., ending a prolonged exile that was triggered by a legal showdown over the lucrative fees that Apple had been collecting for years through a payment system that it has been forced to change. Fortnite hailed its app's long-awaited restoration to the iPhone and iPad in a Tuesday pos t, marking the first time it will be available on those devices since it was ousted in 2020 for trying to avoid the 15% to 30% commissions that Apple collects on in-app transactions. The video game featuring a virtual fight on a digital island is coming back to the iPhone just a few days after its parent company, Epic Games, filed a motion asking a federal judge to order its return as part of a civil contempt of court finding issued against Apple late last month. In a brief statement filed in court late Tuesday, Apple said the dispute that had been keeping Fortnite off its iOS software for the iPhone had been resolved. The Cupertino, California, company didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The legal wrangling is all part of a bitter feud that is still boiling. Epic filed a lawsuit alleging Apple had turned its app store into an illegal monopoly — a claim that it lost under a 2021 ruling made by a federal judge after a month-long trial. Although she decided Apple wasn't breaking antitrust laws, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered the company to loosen control over in-app payments and allow links to other options that might offer lower prices. After exhausting an appeal that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Apple last year introduced a new system that opened the door for links to alternative payment options while still imposing a 27% commission on in-app transactions executed outside its own system. Epic fired back by alleging Apple was thumbing its nose at the legal system, reviving another round of court hearings that lasted nearly a year before Gonzalez Rogers delivered her stinging rebuke that included a ban on collecting any kind of commission on alternative payment options. That appeared to clear the way for Fortnite's return to the iPhone and iPad, but Epic last week said the video game was still being blocked by Apple. After Apple contended that keeping Fortnite was still permissible while it pursues an appeal of Gonzalez Rogers' contempt ruling, Epic forced the issue by asking the judge for another order that would make clear the video game should be allowed back on the iPhone and iPad. Gonzalez Rogers on Monday asked why Apple was still blocking Fortnite without an order from the appeals court authorizing that action. She scheduled a May 27 hearing in Oakland, California, to hear Epic's latest motion while noting "Apple is fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing."
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 20:28:13+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "District of Columbia", "China", "International trade", "Courts", "Economic policy", "United States government", "Government policy", "Tariffs and global trade", "United States", "Brian Marshall", "Brett Shumate", "Oregon state government", "Business", "Jane Restani", "Politics", "Richard Nixon" ]	# Saying Trump exceeded his authority, 12 states ask court to strike down his sweeping tariffs By Paul Wiseman May 21st, 2025, 08:28 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve states on Wednesday urged a federal court to strike down President Donald Trump's sweeping taxes on imports, saying he had exceeded his authority, left U.S. trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos. They are challenging tariffs that Trump imposed last month on most of the countries in the world in an effort to reverse America's massive and longstanding trade deficits. They are also targeting levies the president had earlier plastered on imports from Canada, China and Mexico to combat the illegal flow of immigrants and the synthetic opioids across the U.S. border. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday heard arguments in the states' case. Last week, the trade court held a hearing in a similar challenge to Trump's tariffs brought by five small businesses. The court specifically deals with civil lawsuits involving international trade. Its decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington and ultimately to the Supreme Court, where the legal challenges to Trump' tariffs are widely expected to end up. At least seven lawsuits are challenging the levies, the centerpiece of Trump's trade policy. Declaring that the United States' trade deficits add up to a national emergency, Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) and rolled out 10% tariffs on many countries on April 2 — "Liberation Day,'' he called it. He imposed stiffer "reciprocal'' tariffs of up to 50% on countries that sell more goods to the United States than the U.S. sells them. (Trump later suspended those higher tariffs for 90 days.) The states argue that the emergency economic powers act does not authorize the use of tariffs. Even if it did, they say, the trade deficit does not meet the law's requirement that an emergency be triggered only by an "unusual and extraordinary threat.'' The U.S. has run a trade deficit with the rest of the world for 49 consecutive years. "This is not an unusual problem,'' Brian Marshall, an Oregon state attorney, told the judges Wednesday. The Trump administration argues that courts approved President Richard Nixon's emergency use of tariffs in a 1971 economic crisis. The Nixon administration successfully cited its authority under the 1917 Trading With Enemy Act, which preceded and supplied some of the language used in IEPPA. Brett Shumate, the assistant U.S. attorney general representing the administration, argued Wednesday that only Congress, and not the courts, can determine the "political'' question of whether the president's rationale for declaring an emergency complies with the law. That argument led Judge Jane Restani to ask if courts were helpless to block the president's emergency declarations no matter how "crazy'' they were. Trump's Liberation Day tariffs shook global financial markets and led many economists to downgrade the outlook for U.S. economic growth. So far, though, the tariffs appear to have had little impact on the world's largest economy. The 12 states pursuing the case are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 21:20:32+00:00	[ "Missouri", "Crime", "Christopher Scott", "Matthew T. Schelp", "Fires", "Arson", "Indictments", "Religion", "Christianity", "Criminal punishment", "Courts", "Legal proceedings" ]	# Man who burned down Missouri church sentenced to 9-plus years in prison May 21st, 2025, 09:20 PM --- CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A man who admitted in federal court to setting the fire that destroyed an eastern Missouri church has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay the church nearly $7 million. The sentence for Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, was imposed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp over the April 2021 fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints building in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis. Pritchard pleaded guilty in December to one felony count of arson and another felony count of arson to a building used in interstate commerce. The federal public defender representing Pritchard declined comment Wednesday. The interstate commerce charge came with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years, and the judge ordered Pritchard to serve nine years and three months. Prosecutors dropped two other felony charges involving damage to religious property. Authorities have said that two days before the fire, Pritchard threatened to assault a bishop and "burn the church down." Officers found more than $1,000 in items belonging to the church in Pritchard's backpack, including a laptop, tools and 21 apples, and he smelled like smoke, police said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 13:09:44+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "South Sudan", "Immigration", "Sudan", "Texas", "Joe Biden", "Brian E. Murphy", "Kristi Noem", "United States", "Courts", "United States government", "Africa", "U.S. Department of Homeland Security", "U.S. Department of State", "Violence", "South Sudan government", "Edmund Yakani", "Politics", "Tricia McLaughlin", "Todd Lyons", "Trina Realmuto", "James Monday Enoka" ]	# Judge says US violated order on deportations to third countries By Lindsay Whitehurst, Michael Casey, Tim Sullivan, and Rebecca Santana May 21st, 2025, 01:09 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to the chaotic African nation of South Sudan, a federal judge said Wednesday, hours after the Trump administration said it had expelled eight immigrants convicted of violent crimes but refused to reveal where they would end up. The judge's statement was a notably strong rebuke to the government's deportation efforts. In an emergency hearing he called to address reports that immigrants had been sent to South Sudan, Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston said the eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger. Minutes before the hearing, administration officials accused "activist judges" of advocating the release of dangerous criminals. "The department actions in this case are unquestionably in violation of this court's order," Murphy said Wednesday, arguing that the deportees didn't have "meaningful opportunity" to object to being sent to South Sudan. The group was flown out of the United States just hours after getting notice, leaving them no chance to contact lawyers who could object in court. Government attorneys argued that the men had a history with the immigration system, giving them prior opportunities to express a fear of being deported to a country outside their homeland. They also pointed out that the judge had not specified the exact time needed between notice and deportation, leaving room for misunderstanding. ## The government calls the deported people 'true national security threats' The migrants' home countries — Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan — would not take them back, according to Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who spoke to reporters in Washington. He later said the migrants either came from countries that often do not take back all their deported citizens or had other situations that meant they could not be sent home. "These represent the true national security threats," Lyons said at a news conference. Behind him was a display of photos of men he said had been convicted of rape, homicide, armed robbery and other crimes. Administration officials, who have repeatedly clashed with the courts over their attempts to deport large numbers of immigrants, made their displeasure clear Wednesday. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "are working every single day to get these vicious criminals off of American streets — and while activist judges are on the other side, fighting to get them back onto the United States soil," said Tricia McLaughlin, a department spokesperson. She pointed to the photographs and described them as "the monsters" that Murphy "is trying to protect." Homeland Security officials released few specific details about the deportation flight. They said it left Tuesday with eight people on board and said they remained in the department's custody Wednesday. Officials said they could not disclose the migrants' final destination because of "safety and operational security." The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight is the latest flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president's policies. ## Lawsuits on immigration issues are everywhere With Congress largely silent or supportive, opponents of Trump's agenda have filed hundreds of lawsuits and judges have issued dozens of orders against the administration. Immigration has been the most contentious issue. There was the mistaken deportation of an immigrant who was living in Maryland to a prison in El Salvador, as well as Trump's push to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without a court review. The administration officials insisted that the deported men had received due process, but did not provide details. Immigration-rights attorneys argue they violated Murphy's order, first handed down in March, that says people must have a chance to argue that going somewhere outside their homeland would put them in danger before being deported, even if they've otherwise exhausted their legal appeals. "The government is still refusing to provide due process to our clients, which means they are not giving them notice of the country to which they're being deported, proper notice in a language that they understand, and not giving them a meaningful opportunity to claim fear based on those countries," Trina Realmuto, the executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said outside court. "These are countries that the State Department doesn't want Americans to travel to. They are categorically not safe," she added. In court, Realmuto asked the judge to return the individuals to the United States. "They are no less deserving of protection than any other human beings on this planet," she said. The government argued the interviews with the men over their fears could be done where they are currently being held and confirmed with Murphy that they can be arranged. Realmuto called this a "logistical nightmare" that penalizes the men because the government violated the judge's order. She said it would prove a challenge to get the men legal counsel and interpreters, an effort complicated by the time difference. Murphy, who raised the prospect of criminal contempt for anyone "involved in an illegal deportation," later Wednesday ordered the government conduct a new set of interviews with the migrants if an appropriate place with appropriate privacy can be found. He said the government was welcome to bring the migrants back, but did not order they do so. On Twitter late Wednesday, DHS' McLaughlin called the order "deranged." ## The countries of origin vary Attorneys for the immigrants told the judge that immigration authorities may have sent as many as a dozen people from several countries to Africa. The apparent removal of one man from the troubled Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar was confirmed in an email from an immigration official in Texas, according to court documents. He was informed only in English, a language he does not speak well, and his lawyers learned of the plan hours before his deportation flight, they said. A woman also reported that her husband from Vietnam and up to 10 other people were flown to Africa on Tuesday morning, attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote. Murphy, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would "clearly" violate his ruling. ## South Sudan says it's unaware of any arrivals South Sudan's police spokesperson, Maj. Gen. James Monday Enoka, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that no migrants had arrived in the country and that if they do, they would be investigated and "redeported to their correct country" if found not to be South Sudanese. Edmund Yakani, executive director of the South Sudanese group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, questioned why people convicted of crimes in the United States would be sent there. "Is South Sudan a land of less human who deserve to receive perpetrators of human rights violations? Without any public explanation?" he asked. Some countries do not accept deportations from the United States. That has led the administration to strike agreements with other countries, including Panama, to house them. The U.S. has sent Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law, an action being contested in the courts. South Sudan has endured repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 amid hopes it could use its large oil reserves to bring prosperity to a region long battered by poverty. Just weeks ago, the country's top U.N. official warned that fighting between forces loyal to the president and a vice president threatened to spiral again into full-scale civil war. The State Department's annual report on South Sudan, published in April 2024, says "significant human rights issues" include arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture or inhumane treatment by security forces and extensive violence based on gender and sexual identity. The Homeland Security Department has given Temporary Protected Status to a small number of South Sudanese already living in the United States, shielding them from deportation because conditions were deemed unsafe for return. Noem recently extended those protections to November to allow for a more thorough review. The U.S is one of the biggest donors to South Sudan's humanitarian aid programs, with the total funding in 2024 standing at over $640 million. ___ Casey reported from Boston and Sullivan from Minneapolis. Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 04:01:40+00:00	[ "Jim Henson", "Colleges and universities", "Maryland", "Education", "Entertainment" ]	# Kermit the Frog to deliver commencement address at the University of Maryland graduation May 22nd, 2025, 04:01 AM --- COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Kermit the Frog knows it's not easy being green — or graduating from college and entering the real world, especially during a time of economic uncertainty and political turmoil. Members of the University of Maryland's class of 2025 will receive their diplomas Thursday evening with sage advice from the amphibious Muppet ringing in their ears. The university announced in March that Kermit, who was created in 1955 and became the centerpiece of the Muppets franchise, would be this year's commencement speaker. He's also no stranger to the school. Muppets creator Jim Henson graduated from Maryland in 1960. A home economics major, he fashioned the original frog puppet from one of his mother's coats and a ping-pong ball cut in half, according to a statement from the university. Henson died in 1990. A bronze statue of Henson and Kermit sitting on a bench is a well-known feature of the College Park campus. In a video announcing the speaker pick, Kermit is described as an environmental advocate, a best-selling author, an international superstar and a champion of creativity, kindness and believing in the impossible. His speaker bio calls him "a star of stage, screen and swamp" whose simple mission is to "sing and dance and make people happy." "I am thrilled that our graduates and their families will experience the optimism and insight of the world-renowned Kermit the Frog at such a meaningful time in their lives," university President Darryll J. Pines said in a statement. The statement also quoted the beloved frog himself: "Nothing could make these feet happier than to speak at the University of Maryland. I just know the class of 2025 is going to leap into the world and make it a better place, so if a few encouraging words from a frog can help, then I'll be there!"
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 00:17:04+00:00	[ "Oregon", "Marijuana", "Michael Simon", "Voting", "Business" ]	# Oregon's voter-approved pot labor law is unconstitutional, federal judge rules May 21st, 2025, 12:17 AM --- PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon struck down a voter-approved measure regarding cannabis labor agreements Tuesday, ruling that it was unconstitutional. Measure 119, which was passed by Oregon voters last year, required cannabis businesses to have a labor peace agreement with a labor organization in order to obtain or renew a license. The agreements would have required employers to remain neutral when a labor organization communicated with employees about collective bargaining rights. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon barred enforcement of the measure, finding that it violated the free speech of cannabis business owners and was preempted by federal labor law, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The National Labor Relations Act allows employers to express "any views, argument or opinion" that are not threatening or coercive without facing an unfair labor practice claim. The lawsuit was filed by Ascend, a cannabis retailer in Portland, and Bubble's Hash, a processor that makes edibles and concentrates also based in Portland. State lawyers who defended the measure had argued that the measure didn't curb speech because employers can still express opinions about unions as long as they're neutral, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Simon disagreed and entered a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the measure. "Measure 119 is not limited to restricting only threatening, coercive, false, or misleading speech, but instead prohibits all speech by employers that is not 'neutral' toward unionization," he wrote. During a hearing last month, Simon said he recognized the "historical and valuable role" of unions and that those who work in the cannabis industry can face greater dangers than typical workers, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. But he said he struggled with the ambiguity of the measure's text regarding what it would allow an employer to say or do. Oregon's Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive. It has not yet said whether the state intends to appeal Simon's ruling.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 01:45:43+00:00	[ "Kim Jong-un", "North Korea", "South Korea", "North Korea government", "Seoul", "Military and defense", "Lee Sung Joon", "Japan government", "South Korea government" ]	# North Korea's second naval destroyer is damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim By Kim Tong-Hyung and Hyung-Jin Kim May 22nd, 2025, 01:45 AM --- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's second naval destroyer was damaged in a failed launch this week, state media reported Thursday, sparking fury from leader Kim Jong Un, who wants bigger warships to deal with what he calls escalating U.S.-led threats against his country. It's not common for North Korea to acknowledge military-related setbacks, but observers say the disclosure of the failed ship launch suggests that Kim is serious about his naval advancement program and confident of ultimately achieving that objective. During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-ton-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA didn't provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured. According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a "serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism." Kim called for a ruling Workers' Party meeting slated for late June to address their "irresponsible errors." ## The destroyers are North Korea's most advanced warships "It's a shameful thing. But the reason why North Korea disclosed the incident is it wants to show it's speeding up the modernization of its navy forces and expresses its confidence that it can eventually build" a greater navy, said Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul's Hanyang University. Moon suspected the incident likely happened because North Korean workers aren't yet familiar with such a large warship and were rushed to put it in the water. The damaged vessel was likely the same class as the country's first destroyer unveiled last month, which experts assessed as North Korea's largest and most advanced warship to date. Kim called the first vessel, named Choe Hyon — a famed Korean guerilla fighter during the Japanese colonial period — a significant asset for advancing his goal of expanding the military's operational range and nuclear strike capabilities. State media described that ship as designed to carry weapons systems including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. Kim said the ship was expected to enter active duty early next year and later supervised test-firings of missiles from the warship. ## Satellite photos show the partially submerged destroyer Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the damaged vessel was likely equipped with similar systems and remains toppled over in the sea. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC seen by The Associated Press appeared to show the vessel rolled onto its side, positioned diagonally from the dock, with most of its hull submerged and draped in blue covers. Earlier commercial satellite images indicated that the country was building its second destroyer at a shipyard in Chongjin. Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the satellite imagery of Chongjin's Hambuk shipyard on May 12 showed that a second vessel in the Choe Hyon-class of guided missile destroyers was under construction. A report by the North Korea-focused 38 North website assessed last week that the destroyer in Chongjin was being prepared to be launched sideways from the quay, a method that has been rarely used in North Korea. The report said the previous destroyer launched at the western shipyard of Nampo, in contrast, used a floating dry dock. South Korean officials and experts say the Choe Hyon destroyer was likely built with Russian assistance as the two countries' military partnerships are booming. While North Korea's naval forces are considered far inferior to those of its rivals, analysts say the destroyer with nuclear-capable missiles and an advanced radar system would still enhance the North's offensive and defensive capabilities. Kim has framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the United States and South Korea, which have been expanding joint military exercises in response to the North's advancing nuclear program. He says the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine would be his next big step in strengthening the North Korean navy. Hours after releasing the report on the damaged destroyer, North Korea test-fired multiple cruise missiles from an area about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Chongjin, according to South Korea's military. The launches were a continuation of a streak of weapons-testing activities by North Korea in recent years. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were being analyzed by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 13:00:11+00:00	[ "Cardi B", "Hip hop and rap", "Music", "Gospel music", "RB", "Los Angeles", "Entertainment" ]	# Cardi B will receive prestigious award from music industry group ASCAP By Jonathan Landrum Jr. May 21st, 2025, 01:00 PM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B is no stranger to ASCAP accolades with another prestigious honor soon to join her trophy case. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said Wednesday that Cardi B will receive the Voice of the Culture Award. She'll be honored at ASCAP's invite-only event celebrating the top hip-hop, R&B and gospel songwriters on June 8 in Los Angeles. "Being recognized for the impact my songs have had on the culture means everything to me," Cardi B said in a statement. "I've always wanted my platform and my music to stay true to who I am and inspire others to do the same, so this honor is especially meaningful." The Voice of the Culture Award is presented to ASCAP members who have had a major influence on music and culture, recognizing their success as creators and changemakers. Usher was the recipient of the honor last year. Cardi B made history in 2020 as the first woman to receive consecutive Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year Awards. She's won 23 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music awards. The hip-hop superstar is a Grammy winner whose "Invasion of Privacy" won best rap album in 2019. She's known for hits such as "Bodak Yellow," "I Like It" and "WAP." "Cardi B has left an indelible mark on the culture of hip-hop by redefining and challenging the norms for women," said Paul Williams, chairman of the board and president at ASCAP. "Having broken through countless barriers with her unapologetic authenticity and talent, she continues to use her voice to advocate for and inspire others, a true testament to her undeniable impact."
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 04:00:30+00:00	[ "Schools", "Donald Trump", "Venezuela", "Massachusetts", "Melvin Josu", "El Salvador", "Washington", "United States government", "United States", "Meta Platforms", "Inc.", "Viridiana Carrizales", "Marguerite Roza", "Isabel Meaker", "Politics", "Education", "Hedy Chang", "Daniel Mojica", "Brazil government", "United States Congress" ]	# These immigrants are leaving US schools, self-deporting By Bianca Vázquez Toness Of The Associated Press, Neal Morton, Ariel Gilreath Of The Hechinger Report, Sarah Whites-Koditschek, and Rebecca Griesbach Of Al.Com May 21st, 2025, 04:00 AM --- For the last two months of their life in the United States, José Alberto González and his family spent nearly all their time in their one-bedroom Denver apartment. They didn't speak to anyone except their roommates, another family from Venezuela. They consulted WhatsApp messages for warnings of immigration agents in the area before leaving for the rare landscaping job or to buy groceries. But most days at 7:20 a.m., González's wife took their children to school. The appeal of their children learning English in American schools, and the desire to make money, had compelled González and his wife to bring their 6- and 3-year-old on the monthslong journey to the United States. They arrived two years ago, planning to stay for a decade. But on Feb. 28, González and his family boarded a bus from Denver to El Paso, where they would walk across the border and start the long trip back to Venezuela. Even as immigrants in the U.S. avoid going out in public, terrified of encountering immigration authorities, families across the country are mostly sending their children to school. That's not to say they feel safe. In some cases, families are telling their children's schools that they're leaving. Already, thousands of immigrants have notified federal authorities they plan to "self-deport," according to the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump has encouraged more families to leave by stoking fears of imprisonment, ramping up government surveillance, and offering people $1,000 and transportation out of the country. And on Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants, potentially exposing them to deportation. Without Temporary Protective Status, even more families will weigh whether to leave the U.S., advocates say. Departures in significant numbers could spell trouble for schools, which receive funding based on how many students they enroll. "The amount of fear and uncertainty that is going through parents' heads, who could blame somebody for making a choice to leave?" said Andrea Rentería, principal of a Denver elementary school serving immigrant students. "I can tell them as a principal that I won't let anybody in this school. Nobody is taking your kid. But I can't say the same for them out in the workforce or driving somewhere." ## Rumors of immigration raids on schools became a turning point When Trump was elected in November after promising to deport immigrants and depicting Venezuelans, in particular, as gang members, González knew it was time to go. He was willing to accept the trade-off of earning just $50 weekly in his home country, where public schools operate a few hours a day. "I don't want to be treated like a delinquent," González said in Spanish. "I'm from Venezuela and have tattoos. For him, that means I'm a criminal." It took González months to save up the more than $3,000 he needed to get his family to Venezuela on a series of buses and on foot. He and his wife didn't tell anyone of their plan except the single mom who shared their apartment, afraid to draw attention to themselves. Telling people they wanted to leave would signal they were living here illegally. They sent their children to their Denver school regularly until late February, when González's phone lit up with messages claiming immigration agents were planning raids inside schools. That week, they kept their son home. "Honestly, we were really scared for our boy," González said. "Because we didn't have legal status." In the months following Trump's inauguration, Denver Public School attendance suffered, according to district data. Attendance districtwide fell by 3% in February compared with the same period last year, with even steeper declines of up to 4.7% at schools primarily serving immigrant newcomer students. The deflated rates continued through March, with districtwide attendance down 1.7% and as much as 3.9% at some newcomer schools. Some parents told Denver school staff they had no plans to approach their children's campus after the Trump administration ended a policy that had limited immigration enforcement at schools. The Denver school district sued the government over that reversal, saying attendance dropped "noticeably" across all schools, "particularly those schools in areas with new-to-country families and where ICE raids have already occurred." A federal judge ruled in March the district failed to prove the new policy caused the attendance decline. ## Attendance dropped in many schools following Trump's inauguration Data obtained from 15 districts across eight additional states, including Texas, Alabama, Idaho and Massachusetts, showed a similar decline in school attendance after the inauguration for a few weeks. In most places, attendance rebounded sooner than in Denver. From 2022 to 2024, more than 40,000 Venezuelans and Colombian migrants received shelter or other assistance from Denver. Trump said during the campaign he would begin his mass deportation efforts nearby, in the suburb of Aurora, because of alleged Venezuelan gang activity. Nationwide, schools are still reporting immediate drops in daily attendance during weeks when there is immigration enforcement — or even rumors of ICE raids — in their communities, said Hedy Chang of the nonprofit Attendance Works, which helps schools address absenteeism. Dozens of districts didn't respond to requests for attendance data. Some said they feared drawing the attention of immigration enforcement. In late February, González and his wife withdrew their children from school and told administrators they were returning to Venezuela. He posted a goodbye message on a Facebook group for Denver volunteers he used to find work and other help. "Thank you for everything, friends," he posted. "Tomorrow I leave with God's favor." Immediately, half a dozen Venezuelan and Colombian women asked him for advice on getting back. "We plan to leave in May, if God allows," one woman posted in Spanish. In Denver, 3,323 students have withdrawn from school through mid-April – an increase of 686 compared with the same period last year. Denver school officials couldn't explain the uptick. At the 400-student Denver elementary school Andrea Rentería heads, at least two students have withdrawn since the inauguration because of immigration concerns. One is going back to Colombia and the other didn't say where they were headed. School officials in Massachusetts and Washington state have confirmed some students are withdrawing from school to return to El Salvador, Brazil and Mexico. Haitians are trying to go to Mexico or Canada. In Chelsea, Massachusetts, a 6,000-student district where nearly half the students are still learning English, a handful of families have recently withdrawn their children because of immigration concerns. One mother in March withdrew two young children from the district to return to El Salvador, according to district administrator Daniel Mojica. Her 19-year old daughter will stay behind, on her own, to finish school – a sign that these decisions are leading to more family separation. In Bellingham, Washington, two families withdrew their children after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in early April at a local roofing company, where agents arrested fathers of 16 children attending Bellingham schools. Both families returned to Mexico, family engagement specialist Isabel Meaker said. "There's a sense, not just with these families, that it's not worth it to fight. They know the end result," Meaker said. ## Immigrant families are gathering documents they need to return home Countries with large populations living in the United States are seeing signs of more people wanting to return home. Applications for Brazilian passports from consulates in the U.S. increased 36% in March, compared to the previous year, according to data from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. Birth registrations, the first step to getting a Brazilian passport for a U.S.-born child, were up 76% in April compared to the previous year. Guatemala reports a 5% increase over last year for passports from its nationals living in the United States. Last month, Melvin Josué, his wife and another couple drove four hours from New Jersey to Boston to get Honduran passports for their American-born children. It's a step that's taken on urgency in case these families decide life in the United States is untenable. Melvin Josué worries about Trump's immigration policy and what might happen if he or his wife is detained, but lately he's more concerned with the difficulty of finding work. Demand for his drywall crew immediately stopped amid the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs. There's also more reluctance, he said, to hire workers here illegally. (The Associated Press agreed to use only his first and middle name because he's in the country illegally and fears being separated from his family.) "I don't know what we'll do, but we may have to go back to Honduras," he said. "We want to be ready." The size of the exodus and its impact on schools remains unclear, but already some are starting to worry. A consultant working with districts in Texas on immigrant education said one district there has seen a significant drop in summer school sign-ups for students learning English. "They're really worried about enrollment for the fall," said Viridiana Carrizales, chief executive officer of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that advises school districts how to meet the needs of immigrant students and their families. Education finance experts predict budget problems for districts with large immigrant populations. "Every student that walks in the door gets a chunk of money with it, not just federal money, but state and local money, too," said Marguerite Roza, a Georgetown University professor focusing on education finance. "If a district had a lot of migrant students in its district, that's a loss of funds potentially there. We think that's a real high risk." Trump's offer to pay immigrants to leave and help them with transportation could hasten the departures. González, now back in Venezuela, says he wouldn't have accepted the money, because it would have meant registering with the U.S. government, which he no longer trusts. And that's what he's telling the dozens of migrants in the U.S. who contact him each week asking the best way home. Go on your own, he tells them. Once you have the cash, it's much easier going south than it was getting to the U.S. in the first place. ____ Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report. ___ 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	2025-05-20 15:00:50+00:00	[ "Europe", "European Union", "Asylum", "Immigration", "Migration", "Eurocopa 2024", "Olivia Sundberg Diez", "Political refugees", "Politics", "Silvia Carta" ]	# The EU is weighing whether to deport migrants to countries they have no obvious connection to By Lorne Cook May 20th, 2025, 03:00 PM --- BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is considering whether to deport migrants to countries they have no obvious connection to, in a drive to send away more people who are not permitted to stay. Rights groups say the "safe third country" plans unveiled Tuesday contravene EU values and will burden poorer nations. Under the bloc's rules, people can be sent to countries deemed safe, but not to those where they face the risk of physical harm or persecution. "We can expect families being separated and people being deported without appropriate judicial review to places they don't even know," said Silvia Carta, Advocacy Officer at PICUM, a collective of organizations that defends migrants' rights. The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, proposed that the 27 member countries should no longer feel bound to ensure that migrants have a link to a place they might be sent to. The commission, which proposes EU laws and ensures they are respected, said that unauthorized migrants could also be deemed to have a connection to a country if they crossed it safely on their way to Europe. This wouldn't apply to children traveling alone. Under the plans, people could be forcibly taken to one of these countries before their cases are heard, even if they appeal. The new draft rules, which must be endorsed by EU nations and the European Parliament to enter force, were unveiled as a number of countries including Britain and Italy seek to set up "return hubs" in third countries where rejected asylum seekers can be held until they can be deported. The commission said its plans will speed up asylum procedures and ease pressure on European administrations and facilities. EU law currently requires authorities to prove a link between applicants and the safe third country they might be sent to. "Instead of spending endless time and resources offloading its responsibilities to other countries, the EU should invest in its own asylum systems," said Amnesty International's EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum, Olivia Sundberg Diez. "Sending people to countries to which they have no connection, no support and no prospects, or may have only briefly transited through, is not only chaotic and arbitrary, but also devastating on a human level," Diez said. More than 1 million people entered Europe a decade ago, sparking a political crisis over who should take responsibility for them. Tensions between European neighbors remain palpable. Migration laws have been constantly tightened ever since. Last month, the commission said that seven countries – Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia – should be designated "safe third countries." It said that migrants from those countries are unlikely to be granted asylum in Europe and should have their applications processed in 3 months rather than the usual 6 months so they can be sent home more quickly. Asylum applications by people coming from countries that are candidates to join the EU – Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey – would also be fast-tracked. ___ Follow AP's global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 21:35:24+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Sean Astin", "Bette Midler", "Artificial intelligence", "Privacy", "Legislation", "Technology", "Business", "Scarlett Johansson", "Mitch Glazier", "Martina McBride", "Teens" ]	# Industry leaders urge Senate to protect against AI deepfakes with No Fakes Act By Sarah Parvini May 21st, 2025, 09:35 PM --- Tech and music industry leaders testified about the dangers of deepfakes made with artificial intelligence on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect people's voices and likenesses from being replicated without consent, while allowing use of the tech responsibly. Speaking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee's panel on privacy, technology, and the law, executives from YouTube and Recording Industry Association of America as well as country music singer Martina McBride, championed the bipartisan No Fakes Act, which seeks to create federal protections for artists' voice, likeness and image from unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes. The group argued that Americans across the board — whether teenagers or high-profile music artists — were at risk of their likenesses being misused. The legislation, reintroduced in the senate last month, would combat deepfakes by holding individuals or companies liable if they produced an unauthorized digital replica of an individual in a performance. "AI technology is amazing and can be used for so many wonderful purposes," McBride told the panel. "But like all great technologies, it can also be abused, in this case by stealing people's voices and likenesses to scare and defraud families, manipulate the images of young girls in ways that are shocking to say the least, impersonate government officials, or make phony recordings posing as artists like me." The No Fakes Act would also hold platforms liable if they knew a replica was not authorized, while excluding certain digital replicas from coverage based on First Amendment protections. It would also establish a notice-and-takedown process so victims of unauthorized deepfakes "have an avenue to get online platforms to take down the deepfake," the bill's sponsors said last month. The bill would address the use of non-consensual digital replicas in audiovisual works, images, or sound recordings. Nearly 400 artists, actors and performers have signed on in support of the legislation, according to the Human Artistry Campaign, which advocates for responsible AI use, including LeAnn Rimes, Bette Midler, Missy Elliott, Scarlett Johansson and Sean Astin. The testimony comes two days after President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, bipartisan legislation that enacted stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, sometimes called "revenge porn," as well as deepfakes created by AI. Mitch Glazier, CEO of the RIAA, said that the No Fakes act is "the perfect next step to build on" that law. "It provides a remedy to victims of invasive harms that go beyond the intimate images addressed by that legislation, protecting artists like Martina from non-consensual deepfakes and voice clones that breach the trust she has built with millions of fans," he said, adding that it "empowers individuals to have unlawful deepfakes removed as soon as a platform is able without requiring anyone to hire lawyers or go to court." Suzana Carlos, head of music policy at YouTube, added that the bill would protect the credibility of online content. AI regulation should not penalize companies for providing tools that can be used for permitted and non-permitted uses, she said in written testimony, prior to addressing the subcommittee. The legislation offers a workable, tech-neutral and comprehensive legal solution, she said, and would streamline global operations for platforms like YouTube while empowering musicians and rights holders to manage their IP. Platforms have a responsibility to address the challenges posed by AI-generated content, she added. "YouTube largely supports this bill because we see the incredible opportunity to of AI, but we also recognize those harms, and we believe that AI needs to be deployed responsibly," she said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 15:58:57+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Iowa", "Joe Kennedy III", "Immigration", "Chicago", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Executive orders", "Cedar Rapids", "Prisons", "National", "United States government", "David Bindert", "Politics", "Jonathan Thompson", "Law enforcement", "Brenna Bird" ]	# Awaiting Trump's 'sanctuary' list, a sheriff who rejected pact with ICE warns of possible shaming By Hannah Fingerhut May 20th, 2025, 03:58 PM --- DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa sheriff is warning that his county may be publicly shamed by the Trump administration for insufficiently backing the president's immigration agenda, though he says he is "more than happy" to help. He said he just wants to ensure he doesn't end up with too few officers, jail beds and dollars to respond to the county's needs. Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy, who serves nearly 100,000 people in the area bordering Wisconsin and Illinois, seemed to try not to alienate the federal government when he declined to participate in a program that would commit county revenue and jail space to immigration enforcement. He explained his decision before a packed county chamber this week, drawing mixed reactions. President Donald Trump directed his administration in an executive order last month to "publish a list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws (sanctuary jurisdictions)." Sanctuaries are generally understood to mean state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, but Trump didn't elaborate on the criteria. Jonathan Thompson, executive director and chief executive officer of the National Sheriffs' Association, addressed the order in a May 2 note to his members, including Kennedy, according to documents released for the county meeting. Thompson said the list may be published before Trump's May 28 deadline and he encouraged those interested in training and empowering their officers to enforce immigration laws to "act quickly." The number of state and local agencies that have deputized staff to enforce federal immigration laws has soared since Trump took office to 588 in 40 states, with 83 applications pending, as of May 19. Immigration laws are federal, and enforcing them is largely a federal responsibility. Kennedy replied to an invitation from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in March, saying it wasn't "a good fit" to enter a 287(g) agreement, which refers to the section of a 1996 law that allows for state and local police to make immigration arrests. He made clear it was about money and jail space, not politics. "It has generally been my experience that when we partner with larger entities (Federal, state), those agencies usually 'take' more than they 'give.' Essentially, we usually end up with the short end of the stick in some way," he wrote. Kennedy said he would be "more than happy to assist your agents in our area" but asked ICE not to rely on his 181-bed jail because he doesn't have room. David Bindert, an official in ICE's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, office, was sympathetic in his brief response: "No worries Sir, I completely understand, and I thank you for your time in this matter." Some residents at a county board of supervisors meeting Monday supported Kennedy, a Democrat. Others wanted him to do more with immigration authorities. A Republican supervisor suggested a 287(g) agreement might cost the county or taxpayers but would be essential for public safety. Kennedy told residents that his office has been, and will be, a partner to ICE but that a "binding agreement" could detract from other law enforcement work. "When you partner with the federal government, our employees then have the potential to become their employees," he said. An Iowa law prohibits state and local officials from adopting policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Attorney General Brenna Bird recently sued the Winneshiek County sheriff over a Facebook post that she said discouraged cooperation, potentially jeopardizing state funding to the county. The Trump administration has also taken legal action against governments with policies limiting immigration arrests, suing Chicago, Denver and Rochester, New York. Thompson, who represented his association's more than 3,000 sheriffs when Trump signed the April 28 order, said the president has been clear that he'd look to "every nook and cranny" for support in enforcing immigration laws. But Thompson said that each sheriff has to make a decision that's right for their community. Some may not have money or jail space, jeopardizing other obligations. "Every sheriff needs another mandate like they need a hole in their head," he said. So far Iowa has one agency signed up for the program: the state Department of Public Safety. No other agency is listed as having active or pending 287(g) agreements. Florida has 255, more than any state. ICE did not respond to AP questions on whether an agency that declined a 287(g) agreement would be included on the administration's sanctuary list. Thompson said he doesn't know. "What I'm trying to do is advise members," he said. "There are challenges, there are opportunities and there are risks."
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 18:12:53+00:00	[ "Tanzania", "Samia Suluhu Hassan", "Cybercrime", "Finance Business", "Politics", "Kenya government", "Hacking", "Virtual and augmented reality", "Technology", "X Corp.", "Finance" ]	# Tanzania blocks access to X after it says hackers targeted government accounts May 21st, 2025, 06:12 PM --- DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — Authorities in Tanzania on Wednesday blocked access to the social platform X after cyberattacks on some accounts of government institutions resulted in fake or pornographic posts. After authorities said it was taken over by hackers late Tuesday, the police account posted pornographic images that later were deleted. The account also falsely announced the death of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. "We are searching for those spreading false information," police said in a statement. The account of telecommunications company Airtel Tanzania was also hacked. Government spokesman Gerson Msigwa said Tanzania's cyberspace is secure and called the attacks a minor incident. He urged citizens to remain calm. "I assure you Tanzania is safe, and we will find those responsible," he said. On Wednesday, X remained inaccessible within Tanzania for those not using a virtual private network. But users of VPNs without permission can face jail terms or fines. Many politicians, intellectuals and critics in Tanzania express their opinions freely on X. But the government of Hassan, who is up for reelection in October, has sought to suppress online dissent. Ahead of the election, fear is growing among government critics and opposition figures who allege government repression through legal processes and other means. Tensions rose after Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua and her colleagues were denied entry into Tanzania on Monday. They planned to attend a hearing in the treason case against opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces the death penalty if convicted. Hassan on Tuesday said no foreigner would be allowed to disturb Tanzania's peace. "Let us not be like an open field where anyone can come and say whatever they want," she said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 14:46:11+00:00	[ "Disease outbreaks", "Salmonella infections", "Florida", "Agriculture", "District of Columbia", "Food safety", "Future of food", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Health", "Business" ]	# New salmonella outbreak tied to same Florida grower with tainted cucumbers last year By Jonel Aleccia May 20th, 2025, 02:46 PM --- U.S. health officials are investigating a new outbreak of salmonella illnesses tied to a Florida grower whose tainted cucumbers were linked to more than 550 illnesses last year. Cucumbers grown by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales have been linked to illnesses in at least 26 people in 15 states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported late Monday. At least nine people have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported. The cucumbers were sold to restaurants, stores and food service distributors between April 29 and May 19 and may still be within their shelf life this week. Illnesses were reported between April 2 and April 28, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak was detected as part of a follow-up inspection in April to a 2024 outbreak that sickened 551 people and led to 155 hospitalizations in 34 states and Washington, D.C. In that outbreak, investigators found salmonella bacteria linked to many of the illnesses in untreated canal water used at farms operated by Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company. In the current outbreak, officials found salmonella bacteria from samples on the farm that matched samples from people who got sick. Health officials are investigating where the potentially contaminated cucumbers were distributed. Several people who fell ill ate cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida, according to the CDC. Organic cucumbers are not affected, officials said. Retailers should notify consumers who may have bought the tainted produce. If consumers don't know the source of cucumbers, they should throw them away, officials said. Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, fever, severe vomiting, dehydration and stomach cramps. Most people who get sick recover within a week. Infections can be severe in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, who may require hospitalization. ___ 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	2025-05-22 04:34:48+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Legislation", "U.S. Republican Party", "Mike Johnson", "United States House of Representatives", "Congress", "Business", "Politics" ]	# Here's the late changes Republicans made to Trump's big bill May 22nd, 2025, 04:34 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans made several eleventh-hour changes to their massive tax cut and immigration bill as they tried to win over GOP holdouts and pass the bill through the House. The revisions were unveiled late Wednesday evening, just before the House launched into an all-night session to debate and vote on the bill. President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to get behind the legislation, which enacts some of his campaign promises. If the bill clears the House, it would move to the Senate for further consideration. Among the changes that House Republicans made: — They removed the sections that authorized the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah. Some Republican lawmakers from Western states had objected to the sales. — They changed the name of the new investment accounts that parents or guardians could open with a $1,000 contribution from the federal government for babies born between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2028. Instead of being named "MAGA" accounts, they will be named "Trump" accounts. — They accelerated the implementation of a new work requirement for certain able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries to Dec. 31, 2026. The work requirement had been set to begin on Jan. 1, 2029. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the original date for the work requirements was meant to give states adequate time to get new systems in place, but some Republicans objected, saying the work requirements needed to start more quickly. — The revised bill quadruples the cap on the state and local tax deduction to $40,000 for households with incomes up to $500,000, with the deduction gradually phasing down for taxpayers above that income threshold. Also, the cap and income threshold will increase 1% annually over 10 years, which is generally below the rate of inflation. Increasing what is known as the SALT cap was a big issue that divided the Republican conference. The current cap is $10,000. GOP leaders agreed to a higher amount to win over support from Republicans in New York, New Jersey and California. — A new provision in the bill deregulates gun silencers by removing them from the national registry regulated under the National Firearms Act. The registry contains information on machine guns, certain short-barreled rifles and shotguns and silencers. The bill already looked to remove a $200 excise tax on silencers. — Republicans removed a section of the bill that would change the calculations for federal workers' retirement pensions. Annuities will continue to be based on the average of the highest three years of income. The GOP had been looking to save money by changing the calculation so that it would be based on a worker's highest five years of income. — The bill creates a $12 billion fund for the Homeland Security secretary to provide grants to reimburse states for costs of detention and removal of migrants and other border security efforts. — The legislation accelerates the Inflation Reduction Act tax credit phaseout for wind, solar and battery storage to 2028.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 05:11:27+00:00	[ "Justin Sun", "Donald Trump", "Pete Hegseth", "David Sacks", "Sean Duffy", "Joe Biden", "Melania Trump", "Cryptocurrency", "Bitcoin", "Howard Lutnick", "Sheldon Xia", "United States government", "Politics", "Business", "Jr.", "Legislation", "Brian Armstrong", "Internet access", "Anna Kelly", "Elon Musk", "James Thurber" ]	# Some in crypto industry alarmed by Trump's personal ventures By Will Weissert and Alan Suderman May 22nd, 2025, 05:11 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — It seems like a triumph for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought mainstream acceptance: Top investors in one of President Donald Trump 's crypto projects invited to dine with him at his luxury golf club in Northern Virginia on the heels of the Senate advancing key pro-crypto legislation and while bitcoin prices soar. But Thursday night's dinner for the 220 biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin has raised uncomfortable questions about potentially shadowy buyers using the anonymity of the internet to buy access to the president. While Democrats charge that Trump is using the power of the presidency to boost profits for his family business, even some pro-Trump crypto enthusiasts worry that the president's push into meme coins isn't helping their efforts to establish the credibility, stability and legitimacy they had thought his administration would bring to their businesses. After feeling unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, the industry has quickly become a dominant political force, donating huge sums to help Trump and crypto-friendly lawmakers. But that's also served to tether the industry — sometimes uncomfortably — to a president who is using crypto as a platform to make money for his brand in unprecedented ways. "It's distasteful and an unnecessary distraction," said Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, who said the president is "hugging us to death" with his private crypto businesses. "We would much rather that he passes common-sense legislation and leave it at that." ## Concerns about Trump's crypto ventures predate Inauguration Day At the swanky Crypto Ball held down the street from the White House three days before he took office on Jan. 20, Trump announced the creation of the meme coin $TRUMP as a way for his supporters to "have fun." Meme coins are the crypto sector's black sheep. They are often created as a joke, with no real utility and prone to extremely wild price swings that tend to enrich a small group of insiders at the expense of less sophisticated investors. The president's meme coin is different, however, and has a clear utility: access to Trump. The top 25 investors of $TRUMP are set to attend a private reception with the president Thursday, with the top four getting $100,000 crypto-themed and Trump-branded watches. Trump's meme coin saw an initial spike in value, followed by a steep drop. The price saw a significant increase after the dinner contest was announced. Its creators, which include an entity controlled by the Trump Organization, have made hundreds of millions of dollars by collecting fees on trades. First lady Melania Trump has her own meme coin, and Trump's sons, Eric and Don Jr. — who are running the Trump Organization while their father is president — announced they are partnering with an existing firm to create a crypto mining company. The Trump family also holds about a 60% stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that provides yet another avenue where investors are buying in and enriching the president's relatives. World Liberty has launched its own stablecoin, USD1. The project got a boost recently when World Liberty announced an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2 billion worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. A rapidly growing form of crypto, stablecoins have values pegged to fixed assets like the U.S. dollar. Issuers profit by collecting the interest on the Treasury bonds and other assets used to back the stablecoins. Crypto is now one of the most significant sources of the Trump family's wealth. "He's becoming a salesman-in-chief," said James Thurber, an American University professor emeritus who has long studied and taught about corruption around the world. "It allows for foreign influence easily. It allows for crypto lobbying going on at this dinner, and other ways. It allows for huge conflicts of interest." ## How Trump changed his mind on crypto "I'm a big crypto fan," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One during last week's trip to the Middle East. "I've been that from the beginning, right from the campaign." That wasn't always true. During his first term, Trump posted in July 2019 that cryptocurrencies were "not money" and had value that was "highly volatile and based on thin air." "Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade," he added then. Even after leaving office in 2021, Trump told Fox Business Network that bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, "seems like a scam." Trump began to shift during a crypto event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in May 2024, receiving assurances that industry backers would spend lavishly to get him reelected. Another major milestone came last June, when Trump attended a high-dollar fundraiser at the San Francisco home of David Sacks. He further warmed to the industry weeks later, when Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with bitcoin miners. The following month, he addressed a major crypto conference in Nashville, promising to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet." Those close to Trump, including his sons and billionaire Elon Musk, helped further push his embrace of the industry. Sacks is now the Trump administration's crypto czar, and many Cabinet members — including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — have long been enthusiastic crypto boosters. "I don't have faith in the dollar," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a 2023 interview. "I'm bullish on bitcoin." ## Trump + crypto: A political marriage of convenience Many top crypto backers were naturally wary of traditional politics, but gravitated toward Trump last year. They bristled at Democratic President Joe Biden 's Securities and Exchange Commission aggressively bringing civil suits against several major crypto companies. Since Trump took office, many such cases have been dropped or paused, including one alleging that Justin Sun, a China-born crypto entrepreneur, and his company engaged in market manipulation and paid celebrities for undisclosed promotions. Sun, who once paid $6.2 million for a piece of art involving a banana taped to a wall, and then ate the banana, helped the Trumps start World Liberty Financial with an early $75 million investment. Sun has disclosed on social media that he is the biggest holder of $TRUMP meme coins and is attending Thursday's dinner. "I'm excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry," Sun said. ## Are Trump family profits hurting other crypto investors? Trump has signed executive orders promoting the industry, including calls to create a government bitcoin reserve. In March, Trump convened the first cryptocurrency summit at the White House. But some of the industry's biggest names, often brash and outspoken, have kept mostly mum on Trump's meme coins and other projects. "It's not my place to really comment on President Trump's activity," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said at a recent public event. Meanwhile, a top legislative priority for crypto-backers, a bill clarifying how digital assets are to be regulated, has advanced in the Senate. But some Democrats have tried to stall other pro-crypto legislation over the president's personal dealings. "Never in American history has a sitting president so blatantly violated the ethics laws," Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said during a contentious House hearing earlier this month. The White House referred questions about dinner attendees to the Trump Organization, which didn't provide a list of who is coming. "The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. In addition to Sun, however, some attendees have publicized qualifying for the dinner. Another will be Sheldon Xia, the founder of a cryptocurrency exchange called BitMart that's registered in the Cayman Islands. "Proud to support President Trump's pro-crypto vision." Xia wrote in both English and Chinese on social media. Thurber, the expert on government and ethics, said Trump's "personal attention to crypto at this dinner helps the crypto industry." "But also it's risky," he said, "because they could all lose a lot of money."
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 04:07:11+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Apple", "Inc.", "Jamie Dimon", "Amazon.com", "Joe Biden", "Scott Bessent", "Bernard Arnault", "LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE", "Tim Cook", "Jeff Bezos", "Corporate management", "Government regulations", "Middle East", "China", "District of Columbia", "International trade", "Corporate law and regulation", "Tariffs and global trade", "Government policy", "Doug McMillon", "Economic policy", "Stellantis NV", "Tesla", "Ford Motor Co.", "Elon Musk", "Business", "Jeffrey Sonnenfeld", "Government and politics", "General Motors Co.", "Mexico government", "Walmart", "Maria Bartiromo", "NVIDIA Corp.", "United States government", "JPMorgan Chase Co.", "Consumer electronics manufacturing", "Politics" ]	# Trump drafts America's business titans to burnish his image at home and abroad By Josh Boak and Zeke Miller May 21st, 2025, 04:07 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn't the only one who wrapped up a Middle East tour in recent days. A private jet carrying Nvidia's CEO trailed Air Force One across the region. Oil executives and bankers followed, too, as American executives dropped everything — canceling longstanding obligations and zooming into board meetings back home — to cozy up to Trump and bolster the image he tried to sell on his first major foreign trip. With Trump back in the White House, a jaunt with the president or a stop in the Oval Office is now as routine for America's business leaders as a speech to an industry conference. Corporate titans are spending more time than ever working to curry favor with the administration as part of their effort to score relief from regulations — and tariffs — from the transactional president. He, in turn, is happy to use them as supporting cast members as he tries to project the economy as booming at a time when growth is slowing. But putting in time with the U.S. president has not fully insulated companies such as Apple, Amazon, Walmart and others from Trump's anger. It's a sign that the public commitments they make to create U.S. jobs may be doing more to burnish the president's image than to protect their own profitability. In private, CEOs and executives on Trump's trip marveled at how they came to be unofficial members of the president's traveling party, their private jets hopscotching across the Gulf as Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. They said they had little choice but to get close to Trump, especially as he wields his tariff powers. "I'm just thinking we have a president of the United States doing the selling," Trump said in Abu Dhabi, standing alongside the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Tomislav Mihaljevic, and working in a dig at his presidential predecessor, Joe Biden. "You think Biden would be doing it? I don't think so. But I think it's so important. I have to be a cheerleader for our country." The host countries and the White House pulled together business conferences in a matter of weeks to give Trump a stage to show off his dealmaking on the trip. Business leaders signed partnership agreements and touted mutual investments almost as a performance for Trump and the region's powerful ruling elites, while using the opportunity to network and share their mutual bemusement that this was now part of their job portfolio. Trump has demonstrated that he steers business to those who ingratiate themselves to him — look no further than his promotion of Elon Musk's Tesla — and punishes those who don't, like Amazon during Trump's first term and law firms, universities and a growing list of institutions in his second. "He wants the vanity of people coming in to kiss his ring," said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, CEO of Yale University's Chief Executive Leadership Institute. He said the behavior by CEOs, while obsequious, often resulted in better treatment and free publicity from the government. It's not just U.S. business people paying heed. On Monday, a French executive turned up in the Oval Office with Trump. The president thanked Bernard Arnault's French luxury company LVMH for the "Medals of Sacrifice" made by its subsidiary, Tiffany & Co., as Trump presented them to the families of three sheriff's deputies from Palm Beach County, Florida, who were killed in the line of duty. LVMH stock has fallen this year as tariffs threaten a business that sells everything from designer handbags to champagne. But Trump had only the fondest of praise as he told Arnault's son, Alexandre, who was representing the company: "Thank you very much, Alexandre. I appreciate that you came. He came all the way from France." ## It's not always clear how to best engage Trump Compared to the Biden administration, CEOs and executives at America's most powerful companies have felt obligated to stay in frequent contact with Trump's team. But the contact isn't a guarantee of meaningful influence with the president. Executives at multiple companies, insisting on anonymity to describe private interactions, said it wasn't always clear who in Trump's orbit could best relay their views on tariffs, regulations and taxes to the president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as their preferred go-between, but that hasn't completely immunized the companies from attacks by Trump. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon had a previously scheduled call on Saturday with Bessent, only to separately become the target of Trump's ire in a social media post in which the president said America's largest retailer should "eat" the cost of his tariffs. Trump in April called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who had attended his inaugural, after a report that the online outlet was considering displaying on product listings the impact of Trump's tariffs on prices. Amazon had explored the possibility for its Amazon Haul service, which competes against China-founded discounters Temu and Shein, but had chosen not to do so. The heads of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis met with Trump to outline how his tariffs would disrupt automaking. Trump gave them some reprieves on domestic vehicles with foreign parts not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but he still has a 25% tax on imported steel and aluminum. The president portrayed his tariff changes last April as a temporary bridge so that automakers would increase production domestically. "We just wanted to help them during this little transition, short term," Trump said at the time. "We didn't want to penalize them. " ## CEOs are still figuring out how to influence Trump Trump repeatedly praised Apple after its $500 billion commitment for investments in the United States. But the company also plans to shift more iPhone production to India in response to the China tariffs — and that has frustrated Trump. Speaking in Qatar, Trump recalled a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I said to him: 'My friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India.'" By contrast, JP Morgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon ended up influencing Trump's tariff policies by going on TV. The banker on April 9 was interviewed on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" as financial markets were panicking because of Trump's tariffs. Dimon said markets would improve if Trump could negotiate trade agreements. "Take a deep breath," Dimon said. "Negotiate some trade deals. That's the best thing they can do." His statements resonated with Trump, who pulled back his tariffs later that day to a baseline 10% so that negotiations could occur for 90 days. Trump later recounted, "I watched Jamie Dimon on Maria Bartiromo's show this morning, and he was very good."
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 16:19:38+00:00	[ "Fires", "Steve Pinch", "Rhode Island", "National", "Gabe Amo" ]	# Fire damages a popular Rhode Island restaurant known for its 'pond-to-table' menu May 20th, 2025, 04:19 PM --- SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — One of Rhode Island's most famous restaurants has been damaged after a fire broke out early Tuesday morning. Union Fire District Steve Pinch says firefighters arrived at 3:45 a.m. to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the Matunuck Oyster Bar in South Kingstown. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the state fire marshal is investigating. No injuries have been reported. "When you look at the building, it's still standing, but it had major damage inside between water, smoke and fire," Pinch said. "The majority of the building is going to need to be replaced." The oyster bar has operated a seven-acre aquaculture operation on a local salt pond since 2002, and later opened the restaurant on the waterfront in 2009 where it quickly became a "pond-to-table" destination for diners. The restaurant regularly offers oyster farm tours for the public. The oyster bar's littlenecks and chourico dish was lauded one of the " Best Dishes " of the year in 2023 and USA Today listed the location on its " Restaurants of the Year " list in 2024. "Oyster Bar has been a fixture for everybody for since 2009," Pinch said. "You just feel bad for all the workers and the owner that's worked hard to build the business and then to see it go so quick." The fire comes just days before Memorial Day weekend, marking the unofficial kickoff to summer and a boost in business for New England's seaside businesses. "I'm grateful there were no injuries and thankful to first responders for their quick response at a treasured local institution," U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in a statement. ___ An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of the Matunuck Oyster Bar's name.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 22:55:57+00:00	[ "Colorado", "Kangaroos", "Nick Stasi", "Animals", "Pets", "National", "Shane Garrison", "Oddities" ]	# Loose pet kangaroo keeps police hopping — again — in Colorado By Mead Gruver May 20th, 2025, 10:55 PM --- Chasing a loose kangaroo is getting to be part of the job for police in a southwestern Colorado city. Irwin, the pet kangaroo, wasn't difficult to nab when he got loose last fall in Durango. Still quite young at the time, he leaped into a bag similar to a mother kangaroo's pouch. On Monday, Irwin got loose again. A police caller was worried he might get hit by a car. This time, Irwin had grown too big for a bag. "That technique wasn't going to work. The officers were debating whether they needed to lasso it or what the plan was," police Cmdr. Nick Stasi said Tuesday. Officer Shane Garrison — described by Stasi as a "farm boy" with animal-handling experience — figured it out after following Irwin down an alley and into a backyard. Irwin was still small enough, about as big as a medium-sized dog, for Garrison to corner him near a house, sneak up close and grab him. He carried the kangaroo to a police truck's back seat and shut the door, as seen in a different officer's body camera video. Kangaroos are among the unusual but legal animals to keep in Colorado. Irwin was taken home to his family in downtown Durango, a tourism hub of 20,000 residents that is known for mountain tours on a narrow-gauge train. Stasi wasn't sure how Irwin got out, but this 2-year-old pet will get only harder to catch. By age 4 or 5, kangaroos can grow taller than most men and weigh 200 pounds (90 kilograms). They can hop much faster than a person runs and deliver a powerful kick. "We want all pet owners to be responsible with their pet, how they keep it and keep it safe," said Stasi.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 19:49:55+00:00	[ "Kristi Noem", "Crime", "Fraud", "Theft", "Mario Bustamante Leiva", "Matthew Sharbaugh", "Donald Trump", "U.S. Secret Service", "District of Columbia", "Indictments", "Identity theft", "DC Wire", "Trevor McFadden", "New York", "Cristian Montecino-Sananza", "Chile", "U.S. Department of Homeland Security", "Politics" ]	# Man charged with stealing Kristi Noem's purse to remain jailed until trial By Michael Kunzelman May 21st, 2025, 07:49 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered the pretrial detention of a man charged with stealing a purse from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem while she dined at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents. U.S. Magistrate Matthew Sharbaugh concluded after a hearing that the suspect, Mario Bustamante Leiva, must remain jailed because he poses a flight risk. Bustamante Leiva, a 49-year-old a native of Chile, pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, robbery and aggravated identity theft. Video captured Bustamante Leiva taking Noem's purse while she dined at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., on April 20, investigators said. Bustamante Leiva also is charged with stealing purses from two other people at other restaurants earlier last month. Prosecutors didn't argue that Leiva poses any danger to the public. One of his attorneys, Ubong Akpan, said purse snatching is "not the most serious case that we have in the federal courts." "He didn't even speak to anyone or touch a complaining witness," she told the magistrate. Sharbaugh said the charges are serious, but he acknowledged that the amount of money that Leiva is accused of stealing is relatively small compared to other federal fraud cases. A Secret Service agent's affidavit said Bustamante Leiva used Noem's stolen credit cards to buy over $200 in food and alcohol at a different restaurant. But the indictment says that the amount of that unauthorized charge was just over $15. The agent's affidavit doesn't name Noem, but the information in court records matches details of the theft from her. In a statement, Noem referred to the suspect as a "a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years." Authorities said there was no evidence Noem was targeted because of her position. A prosecutor, Benjamin Helfand, said Leiva has a history of skipping court dates for similar offenses, doesn't have any ties to Washington and appears to be "almost transient." Akpan said Leiva has ties to New York and New Jersey. Akpan said a language barrier could explain why Leiva missed a recent court date after his arrest in a theft case in New York. Police and federal agents arrested Bustamante Leiva on April 26. He and a second suspect, Cristian Montecino-Sananza, were indicted last Thursday. Montecino-Sananza isn't charged in the count related to the theft of Noem's purse. The affidavit said Bustamante Leiva appeared to be "acting in concert" with a second suspect during one of the other thefts. Investigators said they identified Bustamante Leiva as a suspect in the thefts after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase at a motel. He was shown a photo of Noem and told investigators that he didn't know who she was, according to the affidavit. Investigators said they recovered Noem's purse and wallet from his motel room. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer against Bustamante Leiva. The case against him is assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated by Republican President Donald Trump.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 11:50:48+00:00	[ "China", "Taiwan", "Beijing", "Taiwan government", "Lin Chia-lung", "China government", "United Nations", "United Nations Security Council", "Business", "Politics" ]	# Taiwan alleges China is using cash to win developing nations to its stand on the island By Christopher Bodeen May 21st, 2025, 11:50 AM --- TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's foreign minister on Wednesday alleged that China is using cash and other inducements to win over developing countries to its position on the self-governing island but claimed that such tactics are losing their effectiveness, Lin Chia-lung told reporters that China's goal is to persuade these nations to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and stand with Beijing on issues it says prove Taiwan is part of China. Lin offered no proof for his allegations and there was no immediate reaction from Beijing. The minister said that key to that argument is a 1971 U.N. resolution that handed the China seat at the Security Council to Beijing, effectively kicking out Chiang Kai-shek's representatives who had held it even after fleeing to Taiwan when the Communists took over China in 1949. The resolution says nothing about self-governing Taiwan's representation, but China and its allies have been using it as proof that there is only one China, of which Taiwan is an indivisible part. Lin also alleged that in developing nations, "China is using cheap construction" of projects from stadiums to railway lines to win the countries over. "We must not let China have what it wants in terms of using legal warfare to make the Taiwan issue its domestic issue," Lin said, adding that Taiwan needs to harness the support from the United States and the European Union in defying Beijing. Chinese economic pressure has reduced the number of Taiwan's formal diplomatic allies to just 12, mainly small island nations in the South Pacific and Caribbean. Taiwan also lost allies from among Central American countries in recent years. In deference to Beijing, the U.S. maintains only unofficial relations with Taipei, but remains its chief economic backer and source of weaponry to defend itself from China's threat to invade the island. Meanwhile, Chinese diplomatic pressure, often won through gifts to poor nations, has kept Taiwan out of the United Nations and most other international forums, Lin claimed. China refuses to deal with Taiwan's pro-independence government and has been pressing its diplomatic campaign to isolate the island. In February, the South Pacific country of Cook Islands signed a largely secret deal with China to boost cooperation on matters such as mining seabed minerals. It provoked a rare diplomatic clash with the Cook Island's chief benefactor, New Zealand, and protests at home. That came after the Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China and signed a secret security arrangement with Beijing, despite considerable opposition from political opponents and parts of the public at home. Most recently, Somalia has said it will cease accepting visitors or transit passengers with Taiwanese passports. South Africa has demanded Taiwan move its unofficial representative office from the capital of Pretoria, to the city of Cape Town. Before becoming a democracy three decades ago, Taiwan was accused of using similar tactics, but an active legislature and open budgets have made secret payments untenable.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 21:11:56+00:00	[ "Evo Morales", "Luis Arce", "Samuel Doria Medina", "Courts", "Bolivia", "Political and civil unrest", "Global elections", "Socialism", "Voting", "Francisco Vargas", "Eduardo del Castillo", "Hugo Banzer", "International agreements", "Kathryn Ledebur", "Elections", "Politics" ]	# Bolivia's electoral tribunal bans ex-leader Morales and suspends a key candidate, drawing backlash By Isabel Debre and Paola Flores May 20th, 2025, 09:11 PM --- LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's top electoral tribunal on Tuesday disqualified former President Evo Morales from running in the August presidential vote and suspended the candidacy of the other main leftist contender, immediately vaulting President Luis Arce's governing socialist party into the ranks of front-runners despite its unpopularity. The moves targeted the two strongest leftist challengers to Arce's nominee: Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president who governed the country from 2006 until his ouster in 2019, and Andrónico Rodríguez, the young Senate president who hails from Morales' rural coca-growing bastion. Both Morales and Rodríguez vowed to fight the decisions and condemned them as a blow to the Andean nation's fragile democracy. "The parties that want to support me have been persecuted," Morales, who still commands fervent support in his tropical highland stronghold, told a local radio show. "The battle is not lost. We will wage a social and legal battle." On social media, he voiced alarm over "the grave threat facing democracy today." Morales has repeatedly promised that Bolivia would "convulse" if the electoral tribunal bars him from the race, heightening a sense of crisis in the run-up to the deeply polarized vote scheduled for Aug. 17. President Arce dismissed their criticism, asking only that "the electoral dispute not generate political and economic instability." Rodríguez — a fresh-faced 36-year-old candidate who generated excitement among voters disillusioned with Morales' fifth presidential bid and outraged with Arce's handling of Bolivia's worst economic crisis in 40 years — also called for protests against what he called "a political decision" to suspend his candidacy. "No ruling or judicial decision driven by political interests can overrule the sovereign will of the people," he wrote on X. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal gave narrow, technical reasons for the decisions as the window closed for candidates to register their political parties. A power struggle between Morales and his former ally and finance minister, President Arce, has fractured their dominant Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, forcing Morales to break off and create his own political party. Arce, whose popularity has plunged as inflation surges and fuel shortages paralyze the country, dropped out of the race last week and nominated his senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo, as the MAS party candidate. A stern-faced lawyer and loyalist of Arce who oversaw police crackdowns on anti-government protests over the last year, Del Castillo has struggled to summon the kind of support enjoyed by Morales and Rodríguez. Divisions are also splitting the vote on the right, which has left the anti-MAS movement without a clear front-runner to seize on what could otherwise be the opposition's first real shot at victory after almost two decades of left-wing rule. According to the list published Tuesday by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the successfully registered opposition candidates include Samuel Doria Medina, 66, a former cement tycoon notorious for his multiple unsuccessful presidential bids. There's also Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, who promoted market-friendly reforms as president from 2001-2002 after serving as vice president to the late military dictator, Hugo Banzer, in a government accused of widespread human rights abuses. "Morales is out of the race," Tahuichi Tahuichi, a member of the board, declared on Tuesday. Morales' disqualification, though controversial, had been expected. His recently formed political faction, "Evo Pueblo," lacks official party status, the electoral tribunal said, while an allied party that planned to host his candidacy failed to meet other legal requirements. Even as Morales continued to insist on the legitimacy of his candidacy, a divisive ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal that bans citizens from running for more than two presidential terms also complicates his path back to the presidency. Some analysts see that ruling — made by Arce-allied judges that interfered in judicial elections to extend their own terms — as emblematic of how the judiciary in Bolivia has been undermined by political wrangling. "Arce benefited from the rapid deterioration of the already weak justice system, failed to enact desperately needed reforms and manipulated the courts to his advantage," said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. "This lack of due process and rule of law make the upcoming elections a free-for-all with an unpredictable, unsustainable outcome." More surprising was the tribunal's decision to suspend Rodríguez's candidacy pending a hearing on the legality of his political alliance. Judges accepted his appeal and set a first tribunal session for Wednesday. The new constraints on the candidates also drew criticism even from officials within the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. "The democratic system is at risk by legal actions affecting the normal development of elections," wrote Francisco Vargas, a member of the electoral body. "I am alerting the country and the international community." ___ DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 11:44:57+00:00	[ "Iran", "Tehran", "Abbas Araghchi", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Israel government", "Israel", "Iran government", "X Corp.", "Politics", "International agreements" ]	# Iran's top diplomat warns Israel over threatening nuclear sites By Jon Gambrell May 22nd, 2025, 11:44 AM --- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's top diplomat warned Thursday that his country would take "special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities" if Israel continues to threaten Tehran's atomic sites, raising the stakes further ahead of a new round of talks with the United States. The comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered no specifics on what Tehran would do, but already, international inspectors have seen their access limited to Iran's program. That's even as Tehran enriches uranium to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. "I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities and materials," Araghchi wrote on the social platform X after apparently sending letters to United Nations officials. "The nature, content, and extent of our actions will correspond and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international bodies in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations." Araghchi's remarks follow a CNN report Tuesday that described the U.S. as having "new intelligence suggesting that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities." Israel has not acknowledged any preparations, though officials up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly threatened to strike Iran's nuclear sites to prevent it from being able to obtain a nuclear weapon, should it choose to pursue one. Araghchi's warning come as the U.S. and Iran are due to meet Friday in Rome for their fifth round of negotiations over a possible deal that would see Tehran limit or end its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Israel and Iran have been archrivals in the Mideast for decades. ___ Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 22:19:45+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Taxes", "Nevada", "Labor", "Jacky Rosen", "U.S. Republican Party", "Business", "Sean Kennedy", "Government and politics", "Kamala Harris", "Michael Lynn", "Catherine Cortez Masto", "Hospitality and leisure industry", "Politics" ]	# Trump's 'no tax on tips' is included in GOP proposal. Here's what to know. By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Jonathan J. Cooper May 21st, 2025, 10:19 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's " no tax on tips " pledge became a catchphrase for his 2024 campaign. Now it's inching closer to reality. The idea is firmly planted in the sprawling tax cuts package Republicans are hashing out in the House and aiming to pass in the coming days. And in a surprise move, the Senate voted this week to unanimously approve the idea. The proposal has widespread support from the public, lawmakers in both parties and employers who believe such a law will bring relief to the working class. But many critics say that it would come with an enormous cost to the government while doing little to help the workers who need it most. Here's a look at the proposal and its potential impact: ## What's in the 'No Tax on Tips' provision? It would create a new tax deduction eliminating federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them, as long as they make less than $160,000 in 2025. The Trump administration would publish a list of qualifying occupations within 90 days of the bill's signing. Only tips reported to the employer and noted on a worker's W-2, their end-of-year tax summary, would qualify. Payroll taxes, which pay for Social Security and Medicare, would still be collected. If adopted, the proposed deduction is set to expire after four years. Congressional budget analysts project the provision would increase the deficit by $40 billion through 2028. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group, projects the cost would be $120 billion over a decade if the tip exemption is made permanent. ## What did Trump say during the campaign about eliminating federal taxes on tips? Trump made the promise during a campaign stop in Las Vegas, where the service sector drives the economy, as part of his pitch to working-class voters struggling with rising costs. Segments of his base eagerly spread the word, writing the catchphrase on their restaurant receipts or talking to their barbers about it while getting a trim. Trump offered few details at the time, but later made similar pledges to eliminate taxes on other forms of income, including overtime wages and Social Security payments. Those ideas, along with a tax deduction for auto loan interest, are also included in the GOP's budget bill. "No tax on tips" was later embraced — with limits — by the influential Culinary Union, which represents Las Vegas Strip hospitality workers, Nevada's Democratic senators and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival. ## How could it impact workers? Experts say some middle-income service workers would benefit from a tax break but warn that it could potentially heighten inequities. "If your goal is to help the poorest service workers, this is probably not the way to do it," said Michael Lynn, a professor of services marketing at Cornell University whose research largely focuses on tipping and other consumer behavior. About a third of tipped workers make too little to owe income taxes. Those workers won't benefit from the tax break, so its benefits will accrue to tipped workers with higher incomes, Lynn said. "It's overlooking non-tipped workers who need the help just as badly, and it's giving the benefit predominantly to the least needy of the tipped workers," Lynn said. The median age for tipped workers is 31, a decade younger than the median non-tipped worker, and they tend to make lower wages, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Among tipped workers who make enough to owe Uncle Sam, the average tax cut would be about $1,800, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. The measure also would be complicated to enact. ## What do employers say? The National Restaurant Association is among industry groups that have been strong backers of a "No Tax on Tips" provision. When reached for comment Wednesday, a spokesperson pointed The Associated Press to a previous statement following the legislation's introduction in January. "Eliminating taxes on tips would put cash back in the pocket of a significant number of workers in the restaurant and food service industry and could help restaurant operators recruit industry workforce," Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the association, said at the time — calling the No Tax on Tips Act "sensible legislation" that he said includes "fiscally responsible" protections. And in Nevada, the Culinary Workers Union specifically credited the state's two Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, with working with Republicans to push the legislation forward — and called on the House to "get this done for working families." The union represents about 60,000 casino and hotel workers across the state, including bartenders, food servers and cocktail servers who rely on tips. But other groups representing workers shared criticism of the legislation. One Fair Wage, an advocacy group made up of nearly 300,000 service workers and over 1,000 restaurant employers pushing to raise the minimum wage, said the measure would offer "moderate relief for some" but is part of a tax package that "just helps the richest while leaving the vast majority behind." "For all the bipartisan celebration … this bill is a distraction from the real fight," Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, stated — again stressing that it was time to raise the minimum wage. The nonprofit also calls for ending tip credits that allow lower base wages for tipped workers in many states. ______ Cooper reported from Phoenix. AP Writer Rio Yamat contributed to this report from Las Vegas.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 16:26:39+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "South Africa", "Cyril Ramaphosa", "Elon Musk", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "South Africa government", "Government policy", "Genocide", "United States government", "Affirmative action", "JD Vance", "Race and ethnicity", "Ernie Els", "Retief Goosen", "Indictments", "Johann Rupert", "Julius Malema", "Government and politics", "Violence", "Politics" ]	# Trump confronts South African leader with baseless claims about white farmers By Gerald Imray and Aamer Madhani May 21st, 2025, 04:26 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to forcefully confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing the country of failing to address Trump's baseless claim of the systematic killing of white farmers. Trump even dimmed the lights of the Oval Office to play a video of a far-left politician chanting a song that includes the lyrics "kill the farmer." He also leafed through news articles to underscore his point, saying the country's white farmers have faced "death, death, death, horrible death." Trump had already cut all U.S. assistance to South Africa and welcomed several dozen white South African farmers to the U.S. as refugees as he pressed the case that a "genocide" is underway in the country. The U.S. president, since his return to office, has launched a series of accusations at South Africa's Black-led government, claiming it is seizing land from white farmers, enforcing antiwhite policies and pursuing an anti-American foreign policy. Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted for their race, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country with a high crime rate. "People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety," Trump said. "Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they're being killed." Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's accusation. The South African leader had sought to use the meeting to set the record straight and salvage his country's relationship with the United States. The bilateral relationship is at its lowest point since South Africa enforced its apartheid system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994. "We are completely opposed to that," Ramaphosa said of the behavior alleged by Trump in their exchange. He added, "that is not government policy" and "our government policy is completely, completely against what he was saying." Trump was unmoved. "When they take the land, they kill the white farmer," he said. Trump appeared prepared to confront Ramaphosa at the start of the meeting while journalists were present. Videos were cued up on a large TV set to show a clip of an opposition party leader, Julius Malema, leading an old anti-apartheid song. The song has been contentious for years in the country because of its central lyrics "kill the Boer" and "shoot the Boer" — with Boer a word that refers to a white farmer. Malema, featured in the video, is not part of the country's governing coalition. Another clip played showed white crosses on the side of a road, described as a memorial for white farmers who were killed. Ramaphosa seemed baffled. "I'd like to know where that is, because this I've never seen." Trump kicked off the meeting by describing the South African president as a "truly respected man in many, many circles." He added: "And in some circles he's considered a little controversial." Ramaphosa chimed in, playfully jabbing back at a U.S. president who is no stranger to controversy. "We're all like that," Ramaphosa said. Trump issued an executive order in February cutting all funding to South Africa over some of its domestic and foreign policies. The order criticized the South African government on multiple fronts, saying it is pursuing antiwhite policies at home and supporting "bad actors" in the world like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran. Trump has falsely accused the South African government of rights violations against white Afrikaner farmers by seizing their land through a new expropriation law. No land has been seized and the South African government has pushed back, saying U.S. criticism is driven by misinformation. The Trump administration's references to the Afrikaner people — who are descendants of Dutch and other European settlers — have also elevated previous claims made by Trump's South African-born adviser Elon Musk and some conservative U.S. commentators that the South African government is allowing attacks on white farmers in what amounts to a genocide. The administration's concerns about South African policies cut even deeper than the concerns about white farmers. South Africa has also angered Trump over its move to bring charges at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Ramaphosa has also faced scrutiny in Washington for his past connections to MTN Group, Iran's second-largest telecom provider. It owns nearly half of Irancell, a joint venture linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ramaphosa served as board chair of MTN from 2002 to 2013. Ramaphosa came into the meeting looking to avoid the sort of contentious engagement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy experienced during his February Oval Office visit, when the Ukrainian leader found himself being berated by Trump and Vice President JD Vance. That disastrous meeting ended with White House officials asking Zelenskyy and his delegation to leave the White House grounds. The South African president's delegation included golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, a gesture to the golf-obsessed U.S. president. Ramaphosa brought Trump a massive book about South Africa's golf courses. He even told Trump that he's been working on his golf game, seeming to angle for an invitation to the links with the president. Luxury goods tycoon and Afrikaner Johann Rupert was also in the delegation to help ease Trump's concerns that land was being seized from white farmers. At one point, Ramaphosa called on Zingiswa Losi, the president of a group of South African trade unions, who told Trump it is true that South Africa is a "violent nation for a number of reasons." But she told him it was important to understand that Black men and women in rural areas were also being targeted in heinous crimes. "The problem in South Africa, it is not necessarily about race, but it's about crime," Losi said. "We are here to say how do we, both nations, work together to reset, to really talk about investment but also help … to really address the levels of crime we have in our country." Musk also attended Wednesday's talks. He has been at the forefront of the criticism of his homeland, casting its affirmative action laws as racist against whites. Musk has said on social media that his Starlink satellite internet service isn't able to get a license to operate in South Africa because he is not Black. South African authorities say Starlink hasn't formally applied. It can, but it would be bound by affirmative action laws in the communications sector that require foreign companies to allow 30% of their South African subsidiaries to be owned by shareholders who are Black or from other racial groups disadvantaged under apartheid. The South African government says its long-standing affirmative action laws are a cornerstone of its efforts to right the injustices of the white minority rule of apartheid, which denied opportunities to Blacks and other racial groups. Following the contentious exchange in front of the cameras, Trump hosted Ramaphosa for lunch and further talks. Ramaphosa, speaking to reporters following his White House visit, downplayed Trump's criticism, adding he believes "there's doubt and disbelief in (Trump's) head" about his genocide charge. He insisted they did not dwell on Trump's concerns about white farmers in their private conversation. "You wanted to see drama and something really big happening," Ramaphosa told reporters following his White House visit. "And I'm sorry that we disappointed you somewhat when it comes to that." ___ Imray reported from Johannesburg. AP writers Seung Min Kim, Chris Megerian, Darlene Superville, Sagar Meghani and Ali Swenson contributed reporting.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 10:52:49+00:00	[ "Iran", "Azerbaijan", "Iran government", "Crime", "Ilham Aliyev", "Capital punishment", "Terrorism", "Assault", "Azerbaijan government", "Shootings", "Legal proceedings" ]	# Iran executes man convicted of 2023 Azerbaijan Embassy attack May 21st, 2025, 10:52 AM --- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Wednesday executed a man who carried out a 2023 attack on the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran, killing its security chief and wounding two others in an incident that escalated tensions between the neighboring nations, state media reported. The state-run IRNA news agency reported the unidentified man's execution, without offering details, after his conviction. Typically, Iran hangs its condemned. Iran had called the January 2023 attack a personal dispute after the gunman's wife "disappeared" on a visit to the embassy, but Azeri President Ilham Aliyev called it a "terrorist attack." Baku accused Tehran of supporting hard-line Islamists who tried to overthrow its government, a charge Tehran denied. Following the attack, the embassy was closed and its staff left the country. In April 2023, Azerbaijan expelled four Iranian diplomats. A month later, Iran expelled four Azeri diplomats. Azerbaijan reopened its embassy in a different location in July 2024. Azerbaijan borders Iran's northwest and was part of the Persian Empire until the early 19th century. There are also over 12 million ethnic Azeris in Iran who represent the Islamic Republic's largest minority group. Azerbaijan's diplomatic ties with Israel long have been a point of contention.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 11:08:10+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Pope Leo XIV", "Robert McElroy", "San Diego", "Vatican City", "Michael Pham", "Catholic Church", "Religion", "Simona Brambilla" ]	# Pope Leo XIV makes first U.S. bishop appointment, fills San Diego vacancy May 22nd, 2025, 11:08 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history's first American pope, on Thursday made his first American bishop appointment as he named Bishop Michael Pham as bishop of San Diego, California. Pham, 58, is currently an auxiliary bishop in the diocese. He fills the vacancy created when Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert McElroy archbishop of Washington D.C. earlier this year. Pham, who was born in Da Nang, Vietnam, was ordained a priest in the San Diego diocese in 1999 and was made a bishop in 2023. He was in charge of programming for the dioceses' ethnic groups and as of March had been the main diocesan administrator. The diocese of San Diego counts about 1.3 million Catholics in a total population of about 3.5 million people, according to the U.S. Catholic bishops conference. Prior to his election May 8, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost headed the Vatican's bishops office and in that capacity would have reviewed and vetted Pham's file. In another appointment Thursday, Leo named a nun as the No. 2 in the Vatican's congregation for religious orders, a possible sign that he plans to continue Francis' efforts to promote more women to decision-making roles in the Vatican. Sister Tiziana Merletti, the former head of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, is a canon lawyer and now reports to Sister Simona Brambilla, whom Francis in January appointed as the first-ever woman to head a major Holy See office. ___ 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	2025-05-21 15:06:45+00:00	[ "Mexico", "Donald Trump", "Scott Bessent", "Crime", "Drug cartels", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Drug crimes", "Politics", "Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda", "Mexico government", "Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma" ]	# US sanctions two members of a Mexican drug trafficking group By Fatima Hussein May 21st, 2025, 03:06 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas. The Treasury Department is targeting Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who allegedly oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for the cartel, and Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, who was the second-in-command of the group before his February 2025 arrest by Mexican officials. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump's administration designated Cartel del Noreste as a "foreign terrorist organization," along with seven other groups. The Republican president has made securing the U.S.-Mexico border among his top priorities. He has pledged to carry out mass deportations, send active-duty troops to the border and reach deals with some countries to take in more migrants. The Northeast Cartel is a remnant of the Zetas. Zetas were comprised of former Mexican military officers and began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel that eventually split and became its own trafficking organization. The Northeast cartel has retained a relatively small portion of what the Zetas once ruled. Its base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the administration will hold the cartels "accountable for their criminal activities and abhorrent acts of violence." "We will continue to cut off the cartels' ability to obtain the drugs, money, and guns that enable their violent activities," Bessent said. In March a group of Mexican nationals and former leaders of the Los Zetas were arraigned in Washington on charges that included engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved several murder conspiracies, conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the U.S.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 18:51:18+00:00	[ "Romania", "Moldova", "George Simion", "Donald Trump", "Romania government", "Voting rights", "Courts", "Global elections", "Elections", "Pavel Durov", "Politics", "Voting", "Telegram" ]	# Hard-right candidate who lost Romania's presidential race contests results at top court By Stephen Mcgrath May 20th, 2025, 06:51 PM --- BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The hard-right nationalist who lost Romania's presidential election rerun said Tuesday he has asked a top court to annul the election results, alleging that foreign interference and coordinated manipulation affected Sunday's vote. George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians had conceded defeat after losing in the runoff to Nicusor Dan, the Bucharest mayor who obtained 53.6% of the vote, a margin of more than 829,000 votes. Simion said in a statement he has filed a request to Romania's Constitutional Court to annul the vote, claiming he had "irrefutable evidence" that France, Moldova and "other actors" meddled in the ballot, but did not present any evidence. He also alleged that "deceased people" had participated in the vote. He alleged "an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives and ultimately impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people." Sunday's vote was held months after a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu led the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. Simion capitalized on the furor over the annulment of that election and, after coming fourth in last year's canceled race, allied with Georgescu, who was banned in March from running in the election redo. In the first-round vote on May 4 in the rerun, Simion won a landslide in a field of 11 candidates to enter the runoff. During the campaign, Simion portrayed his movement as championing conservative values like patriotism, sovereignty and the family, and styled himself as the Romanian analogue to U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Tuesday he will ask the court to cancel the May rerun on the same grounds as the court's decision last year. Hours after voting opened on Friday for Romanians abroad, Simion accused the Moldovan government of election fraud, which both Moldovan and Romanian authorities rejected. In comment to The Associated Press on Sunday, he reiterated claims that people were being illegally transported to voting stations in Moldova, allegedly affecting 80,000 votes. He also said that "we don't have indications that dead people voted. If we will have these indications, we'll have a press conference." Simion also referenced a message sent Sunday by Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov to Romanian users of his platform, which alleged "a Western European government," accompanied by a baguette emoji, asked his platform "to silence conservative voices" from Romania ahead of the election rerun. "I'm ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy," Durov said Tuesday in a post on X.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 16:22:08+00:00	[ "Florida", "Animals", "Hunting and fishing", "Bears", "Janet Osborne", "Leslie Carlile", "Climate and environment", "Travis Thompson", "Billy Woods", "Climate" ]	# Florida gives preliminary approval to controversial black bear hunt amid strong opposition By Curt Anderson May 21st, 2025, 04:22 PM --- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida wildlife officials gave preliminary approval Wednesday for the first black bear hunt since one 10 years ago that was halted early after more than 300 bears were killed in only two days. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 at a meeting in Ocala in favor of a bear hunt in December and annually into the future, allowing the use of up to six dogs to corner the bears. Methods could include bowhunting, similar to rules for hunting deer, and bear hunting in baited areas. A final vote is scheduled in August. The commission staff says the goal is to "begin managing population growth" for bears, which number about 4,000 in Florida. "Managing population growth is important to balance species numbers with suitable habitat and maintain a healthy population," the staff report says. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, whose fast-growing county hosted the meeting, said his office has received 107 calls about bear encounters with humans over the past nine months — likely only a fraction of actual encounters because many rural residents don't report them. Woods said he supports the hunt. "It needs to be regulated and it should be regulated. I think we keep not only our citizens safe but the state of Florida's citizens safe," Woods told the commission. Several hunters and representatives of outdoors groups urged the commission to approve the hunt, noting Florida is one of only six states with significant black bear populations that does not allow it. "Bear is a game species. It's time for us to have some level of bear hunt," said Travis Thompson, executive director at the All Florida conservation organization. Hunt opponents contend there isn't enough scientific evidence to justify killing bears and the most reasonable approach is to convince people in Florida's ever-sprawling developments to secure garbage and take other non-lethal steps to limit human-bear conflicts. "I implore you to not allow the slaughter of these majestic animals we have in Florida," said Leslie Carlile, an opponent whose family goes back several generations in Florida. "Trophy hunting is pure evil in my opinion." The FWC has received more than 13,000 online comments about the proposal, about three-quarters of them opposed. At Wednesday's meeting, 170 people signed up to speak on both sides of the issue. Hunt opponent Janet Osborne told the commission it would "take a step backward" by approving the bear proposal. "The problem is the overpopulation of people," she said. Among other things, supporters of the hunt point to a black bear's extremely rare, fatal attack earlier this month on 89-year-old Robert Markel and his dog in a rural part of Collier County, in southwest Florida. Bears are also frequently seen in neighborhoods that stretch into their habitat, one even wandering onto Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 2023. In the 2015 hunt, hunting permits were for anyone who could pay for them, leading to a chaotic event that was shut down days early. The 300-plus bears killed then included at least 38 females with cubs, meaning the little bears probably died too. This time, the plan is to have a random, limited drawing of permits with a limit of 187. Hunters could kill only one bear each and only in certain parts of Florida where the bear population is large enough. There would be no killing of cubs and none of females with cubs, according to the FWC staff. A permit would cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for a nonresident. For 2025, the plan is to hold the hunt from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28. In the future, the FWC foresees a bear hunt between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, subject to more studies about the effect of hunting and the population of the animals. Private landowners with 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) or more could hold what the FWC calls a "bear harvest program" on their property under the proposal. Bears could be hunted at bait feeding stations on private property.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 11:39:33+00:00	[ "Germany", "Friedrich Merz", "Lithuania", "Donald Trump", "Olaf Scholz", "Germany government", "Inaugurations", "Military and defense", "NATO", "Gitanas Nauseda", "Boris Pistorius", "Russia Ukraine war", "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" ]	# Merz inaugurates a historic German brigade in Lithuania and pushes for security spending By Liudas Dapkus and Geir Moulson May 22nd, 2025, 11:39 AM --- VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO's eastern flank and declared Thursday that "the security of our Baltic allies is also our security" as worries about Russian aggression persist. He said Berlin's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security. The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that a German brigade is being based outside Germany on a long-term basis since World War II. "This is a historic day," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after meeting Merz. "This is a day of trust, responsibility and action." ## German brigade to be at full strength in 2027 Germany has had troops in Lithuania — which borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus — since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO's eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an "activation staff" of about 250 people last fall. The 45 Armored Brigade is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. Dozens of military helicopters roared over the central cathedral square in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, as the inauguration wrapped up on a rainy Thursday afternoon, with hundreds of troops and spectators attending. Merz told the event that "protecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin." The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. ## Beefing up the Bundeswehr Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, "Germany is investing massively in its own armed forces." "With this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security," he added. "Together with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every — every — aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security." Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany's defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that "the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe." ## Lithuania to spend more than 5% on defense Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by U.S. President Donald Trump. A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Merz said in Lithuania that those figures "seem sensible to us, they also seem reachable — at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated." German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. "We stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole — and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the U.S.," he said. ___ Moulson reported from Berlin.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 01:47:44+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Philadelphia", "Larry Krasner", "Pat Dugan", "Politics", "United States government", "Elections", "U.S. Republican Party", "COVID-19 pandemic", "Violence", "Impeachment", "Black experience", "Prisons" ]	# Larry Krasner wins Philadelphia's Democratic primary for a third term as district attorney By Marc Levy and Maryclaire Dale May 21st, 2025, 01:47 AM --- PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Progressive stalwart Larry Krasner has won Philadelphia's Democratic primary election Tuesday to continue serving as district attorney after withstanding an impeachment attempt and years of criticism by President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Krasner's victory all but guarantees him a third four-year term in office as the city's top prosecutor, with no Republicans filing to run in November's general election. The longtime civil rights lawyer defeated Pat Dugan, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the head administrative judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court before he resigned to run. Krasner, speaking at an election night gathering in a downtown Philadelphia office building with a view of City Hall, said work on his reelection campaign started when he first took office in January 2018. He said the city had become more safe, more fair and more free in the years since, citing the dozens of exonerations he has pursued and the falling crime rate and prison population. "There are these people who think you can buy votes that other people have earned," Krasner told the crowd. "There are these people that think the way to win campaigns is to lie, all the time; is to ignore the truth and ignore reality; is to whip up fear; is to turn people on each other, instead of getting them to turn to each other." His victory, he said, was powered by small-dollar donations and his willingness to defend democracy. In a nod to Krasner's anti-Trump positioning, the crowd of perhaps a few hundred supporters included those wearing messages such as "Black Voters Matter" and "Make Fascism Wrong Again." While some of Krasner's fellow progressive prosecutors around the country have been forced out of office, Krasner has maintained that the progressive movement remains ascendant and influential. Krasner originally ran in 2017 on a progressive platform that included opposition to the death penalty, cash bail, prosecuting minor nonviolent offenses and a culture of mass incarceration, as well as holding police accountable. Krasner survived a failed impeachment attempt by Republican state lawmakers and years of Trump and other Republicans using him as a campaign trail punching bag amid rising crime in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The past couple years has seen crime rates falling in Philadelphia — and elsewhere — while the city's jail population is down by almost half in the past decade. Like some big-city Democrats, Krasner has turned toward pro-public safety messaging, saying he is serious about pursuing violent crime and touting new technologies and strategies that his office is using to solve or prevent crime. He also tried to show that he is combating quality-of-life crimes, recently announcing a new unit to prosecute illegal dumping, such as household trash, tires, construction materials and more. He repeatedly invoked Trump during the campaign and suggested that he is the best candidate to stand up to the president. Krasner made his campaign slogan "F—- around and find out," and invoked it in a TV ad where he cast himself as the foil to "Trump and his billionaire buddies, the shooting groups and gun lobby, the old system that denied people justice for too long. They can come for Philly, but I'm not backing down." Labor unions were split between Krasner and Dugan during the primary. But Krasner held his base of support among progressives, reformers and influential members of the city's Black political establishment. ___ Levy contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter.
Associated Press News	2025-05-21 20:45:13+00:00	[ "Oregon", "Legislation", "Homelessness", "Marijuana", "Mark Gamba", "Pam Marsh", "Business", "Retail and wholesale", "Climate and environment", "Climate" ]	# Oregon lawmakers OK changes to landmark bottle redemption law amid concerns over homelessness, drugs By Claire Rush May 21st, 2025, 08:45 PM --- Oregon lawmakers approved changes to the state's landmark bottle redemption law on Wednesday, allowing redemption sites that some say have become magnets for drugs and homelessness to refuse returns of empty beverage containers during nighttime hours. The trailblazing law to reduce littering by incentivizing recycling helped cement the state's reputation as a leader in the emerging environmental movement. It has also become a financial security net for many, including those experiencing homelessness. The legislation was drafted in response to concerns that the nation's first "bottle bill," signed into law in 1971, needed an update to address its interplay with the dual fentanyl addiction and homelessness crises in Oregon. "This bill is responsive to concerns from retailers both large and small, as well as some of our constituents," said Democratic state Rep. Mark Gamba, who carried the bill on the House floor, adding that it would "help to create a balance in our redemption system while maintaining the program we all seek to protect." The bill passed the state House with broad bipartisan support, 48-4. It previously passed the state Senate 28-1. Democratic state Rep. Pam Marsh, who was among the four representatives to vote against the bill, had previously voiced her opposition during a committee hearing last week. Marsh said she worries the bill will undermine access to bottle and can redemption sites for people "who need to turn in cans and bottles for immediate return because they actually need those dimes and those quarters to buy dinner, to help pay rent, to take care of basic life needs." Consumers currently pay a 10-cent deposit on eligible beverage cans and bottles. They get that deposit back when returning them at stores or redemption centers, which can hand count containers or provide counting machines and drop-off areas. People can sign up for accounts in which their refunds are deposited or choose cash redemptions. The state's bottle drop program had over a million account holders last year, according to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which operates the program on behalf of its distributor members. "From its inception, Oregon's Bottle Bill has helped protect Oregon's ocean, beaches, roadsides and special places," the cooperative said in its 2024 annual report, adding that hundreds of thousands of residents used redemptions "to save for college or disability support and to save on groceries." In recent years, however, some residents and store owners, particularly in Portland, have become frustrated with redemptions and what they describe as negative impacts on their neighborhoods and business operations. Currently, stores must accept container returns when they are open, and owners of all-night convenience stores, particularly in Portland, have expressed concerns about employee safety. The bill passed by lawmakers Wednesday would allow stores to across the state to refuse container returns after 8 p.m. In Portland, the bill would allow for alternative redemption sites, including possible mobile sites such as trucks that travel to different neighborhoods. Nonprofits would run the alternative sites for people who redeem containers every day, relieving the pressure on retailers, particularly downtown. Stores in an area with an alternative drop site could limit or refuse hand-counted returns, with convenience stores specifically allowed to stop them at 6 p.m. The proposal was supported by retailers and associations whose members include "canners" and waste pickers who collect containers for income. In 2023, roughly 87% of eligible containers were returned for redemption, according to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. That was the highest rate in the nation that year, according to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative.
Associated Press News	2025-05-22 14:13:55+00:00	[ "School choice", "Oklahoma", "Amy Coney Barrett", "John Roberts", "Education funding", "Courts", "Oklahoma state government", "Voting", "School boards", "Supreme Court of the United States", "DC Wire", "Religion", "Nicole Garnett", "Education" ]	# Supreme Court dooms taxpayer funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma By Mark Sherman May 22nd, 2025, 02:13 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday effectively ended a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma, dividing 4-4. The outcome keeps in place an Oklahoma court decision that invalidated a vote by a state charter school board to approve the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the nation's first religious charter school. But it leaves the issue unresolved nationally. The one-sentence notice from the court provides an unsatisfying end to one of the term's most closely watched cases. The Catholic Church in Oklahoma had wanted taxpayers to fund the online charter school "faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ." Opponents warned that allowing it would blur the separation between church and state, sap money from public schools and possibly upend the rules governing charter schools in almost every state. Only eight of the nine justices took part in the case. Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn't explain her absence, but she is good friends and used to teach with Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett, who has been an adviser to the school. The issue could return to the high court in the future, with the prospect that all nine justices could participate. The court, following its custom, did not provide a breakdown of the votes. But during arguments last month, four conservative justices seemed likely to side with the school, while the three liberals seemed just as firmly on the other side. That left Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to hold the key vote, and suggests he went with the liberals to make the outcome 4-4. The case came to the court amid efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Those include a challenged Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms and a mandate from Oklahoma's state schools superintendent that the Bible be placed in public school classrooms. St. Isidore, a K-12 online school, had planned to start classes for its first 200 enrollees last fall, with part of its mission to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith. A key unresolved issue is whether the school is public or private. Charter schools are deemed public in Oklahoma and the other 45 states and the District of Columbia where they operate. North Dakota recently enacted legislation allowing for charter schools. They are free and open to all, receive state funding, abide by antidiscrimination laws and submit to oversight of curriculum and testing. But they also are run by independent boards that are not part of local public school systems. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 15:39:51+00:00	[ "Jennifer Lawrence", "Robert Pattinson", "Cannes Film Festival", "Academy Awards", "Movies", "Entertainment", "Lynne Ramsay", "Virginia Woolf", "Ariana Harwicz", "Suki Waterhouse" ]	# Jennifer Lawrence stirs Oscar talk in Cannes for 'Die, My Love' By Jake Coyle May 18th, 2025, 03:39 PM --- CANNES, France (AP) — Last year, the Cannes Film Festival produced three best actress nominees at the Oscars. This year's edition may have just supplied another. In Lynne Ramsay's "Die, My Love," Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson play a married couple with a newborn who move into an old country house. In Ramsay's messy and moving marital psychodrama, Lawrence plays an increasingly unhinged young mother named Grace whose postpartum depression reaches darkly hallucinatory extremes. For Lawrence, the 34-year-old mother of two, making "Die, My Love" was an intensely personal experience. "It was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what (Grace) would do," Lawrence told reporters Sunday. "I had just had my firstborn, and there's not really anything like postpartum. It's extremely isolating. She doesn't have a community. She doesn't have her people. But the truth is, extreme anxiety and extreme depression is isolating, no matter where you are. You feel like an alien." "Die, My Love," which is in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, was one of the most anticipated premieres of the festival. That was owed partly to the widely respect for Ramsey, the Scottish director of "Ratcatcher" (1999), "Movern Callar" (2002) and " You Were Never Really Here" (2017). Lawrence sought her out for the film. "I've wanted to work with Lynne Ramsay since I saw 'Ratcatcher' and I was like, 'There's no way,'" said Lawrence. "But we took a chance, and we sent it to her. And I really, I cannot believe that I'm here with you." In Ramsay's "Die, My Love," adapted from Ariana Harwicz's 2017 novel, is disorienting experience, pulsating with animalistic urges and manic spurts of violence. As a portrait of a marriage in trouble, it makes "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" look tame. "Die, My Love" was quickly snapped up by Mubi on Sunday. In easily the biggest sale of the festival, the indie distributor plunked down $24 million for distribution rights to the film in the U.S. and multiple other territories. Lawrence's performance, in particular, drew the kind of raves in Cannes that tend to lead to Oscar consideration. Lawrence has been nominated four times by the Academy Awards, winning once for 2013's "Silver Linings Playbook." Since then, much has changed for Lawrence, including becoming a mother. On Saturday, Lawrence said parenthood has been such an enriching experience for her that, she joked, "I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor." "Having children changes everything. It changes your whole life. It's brutal and incredible," Lawrence said. "I didn't know that I could feel so much." "My job has a lot to do with emotion, and they've opened up the world to me," she added. "It's almost like feeling like a blister or something. So sensitive. So they've changed my life, obviously, for the best, and they've changed me creatively." Pattinson, who recently had his first child with Suki Waterhouse, chimed in that he found having a baby "gives you the biggest trove of energy and inspiration." Lawrence mockingly pounced on him: "You get energy?!" Pattinson let out a sigh. "This question is impossible for a guy to answer correctly," he said, to laughter.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 08:15:37+00:00	[ "Beijing", "Retail and wholesale", "Donald Trump", "China", "International trade", "Transportation and shipping", "Tariffs and global trade", "Louise Loo", "Business" ]	# China's economy slows in April as trade war blues hit retail sales, housing and investment By Elaine Kurtenbach May 19th, 2025, 08:15 AM --- China's economy showed signs of slowing in April as President Donald Trump's trade war took a toll, with retail sales, property and investment coming in weaker than economists had forecast. Industrial production slowed as Trump's painfully high tariffs of up to 145%, and 125% retaliatory duties imposed by Beijing, took effect and shipments were curtailed. National Statistics Bureau spokesperson Fu Linghui said the general trend was positive though he pointed to "external shocks" that had gained intensity. "It should also be noted that there are still many outside unstable and uncertain factors, and the foundation for the continued recovery and improvement of the national economy needs to be further consolidated," Fu said. Here are a few key indicators reported Monday. ## Retail sales Chinese consumers have been holding back after the shocks of a prolonged downturn in the housing market that is the source of much household wealth. Retail sales rose 5.1% from a year earlier in April, below economists' expectations for a 6% increase. Fu said Beijing would continue to focus on supporting job creation and spurring more domestic demand. He also said China must stop prices from falling. The consumer price index fell 0.1% in April. Such deflation is both a symptom of weak demand and also a factor behind shoppers' reluctance to spend, in hopes of getting better deals later. "The current overall price level is low, which puts pressure on production and companies' operations and affects jobs and incomes, so it's important to promote a reasonable recovery of prices," Fu said. On the U.S. side, consumer sentiment has fallen slightly in May for the fifth straight month, with Americans increasingly worried that the trade war will worsen inflation. ## Manufacturing Industrial production rose 6.1% from a year earlier, slowing from 7.7% in March as tariffs and other trade barriers bit into exports. The truce in Trump's trade war with China has helped, Fu said, calling it "conducive to the growth of bilateral trade and the recovery of the world." With tariffs paused for 90 days to allow time for talks, shipments have revived as businesses rush to meet back-to-school and other seasonal deadlines. But even before Trump took office for the second time in January, China was under pressure from its trading partners for relying too heavily on exports to absorb its excess industrial production. And if output continues to outpace demand from businesses and consumers, prices will keep falling. "Export-driven gains in factory output could continue given China's manufacturing competitiveness and frontloaded orders before the end of the 90-day truce, but this is coming at a persistent deflationary cost," Louise Loo of Oxford Economics said in a report. ## Investment and property sales The government reported that fixed asset investment in such things as factories and equipment rose 4% in April in the first four months of the year. However, property investments fell 10.3% year-on-year in January to April. New home prices also edged lower. While manufacturing held up better than expected, the pressures from trade are complicating Beijing's effort to keep turn the housing market around and keep the economic recovery on track. "Establishing a trough on a national level is taking some time, as the recovery of the property market remains uneven and gradual. It's possible that tariff-related pessimism and uncertainty kept more buyers on the sidelines in April," Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Economics said in a report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 00:23:30+00:00	[ "Television", "Michael J. Fox", "Philanthropy", "Malala Yousafzai", "Carolina Garcia Jayaram", "Florida", "Sal Perez", "Education", "Arts and entertainment", "Business", "Donald Trump", "Public Broadcasting Service", "Entertainment" ]	# Sesame Workshop receives Elevate Prize Catalyst Award as it charts a new path for 'Sesame Street' By Glenn Gamboa May 15th, 2025, 12:23 AM --- MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Elmo, Abby Cadabby and the rest of the "Sesame Street" gang will get some high-profile help as they travel down a new road. The Sesame Workshop – founded in 1969 and currently working on its 56th season, but its first not distributed by recent partner HBO – received the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award Wednesday, which will provide the nonprofit a $250,000 grant as well as support in promoting its work from the Elevate Prize Foundation. Previous winners of the award include Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, actor Michael J. Fox, and NBA great Dwyane Wade. "They haven't just entertained generations – they've educated, advocated and inspired real change," Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram, said as she presented the award to The Sesame Workshop at the foundation's Make Good Famous Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. "And their work hasn't just been confined to the screen. Through their nonprofit, they've expanded their mission globally. They've created real world programs that bring education, health and hope to millions of children in over 150 countries." Sal Perez, the show's executive producer and a Sesame Workshop vice president, said the organization planned to use the award to let more people know that its nonprofit work extends beyond the TV show. "We do a lot of work around the world with direct services, trying to provide content for families that talks about some of those harder to talk about subjects, whether it's trauma, whether it's homelessness and things of that nature. So this is an opportunity to highlight that kind of work." Perez told The Associated Press in an interview before the ceremony that there would be news about Sesame Workshop's future released "in the coming days." Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to renew its deal for new episodes that air on HBO and Max, though episodes will remain on the streaming service until 2027. "'Sesame Street' is not going to go away," Perez said. "It will never go away. It's obviously been a beloved show for so long." However, there are changes coming to the new season, which currently has no distribution deal. Perez said the segments on the new season will be longer and "really focused on character," while also focusing on its audience's emotional well-being and development. "The more kids want to hang out with our characters on 'Sesame Street,' the more they're going to take in those lessons," said Perez, adding that there would also be updates to the show's look and feel. The new season will also feature more exploration of the "Sesame Street" neighborhood and a look inside the legendary two-story brownstone at 123 Sesame Street. Though Sesame Workshop receives only a small amount of government funding, Perez urged viewers to support public media, especially following President Donald Trump's recent executive order to cut funding to PBS and NPR. "We believe in the power that public funding has for children's media," he said. "I think people should support their local PBS affiliates and support children's media because it is an entry point for children to really start to see the world outside of their homes." Jayaram said she felt the time was right to for the Elevate Prize Foundation to stand with The Sesame Workshop and its work. "This is a foundation that's about social impact," she said. "So the symbolism of us joining forces with a children's program is to say that even though our leaders are grown adults, it's the child in all of us that we need to revive and remember our essential values as humans." Famed roommates Bert and Ernie were on hand to receive the award alongside Perez with their trademark banter. "We are so proud to make the Catalyst," joked Ernie. "One day we'd also like to make the Dog-alist." In a video acceptance, Abby and Elmo took their own swing at explaining the award. "It's like a spark that makes good change happen – kinda like magic," explained Abby. "Elmo really likes being a catalyst," said Elmo. _____ 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	2025-05-09 01:34:20+00:00	[ "POW", "Pamela Hassell", "Associated Press" ]	# The top photos of the week by AP's photojournalists By The Associated Press May 9th, 2025, 01:34 AM --- May 2-8, 2025 This photo gallery, curated by photo editor Pamela Hassell, highlights some of the most compelling images worldwide published by The Associated Press in the past week. ____ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 17:07:35+00:00	[ "California", "Teens", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Nancy Pelosi", "Legislation", "U.S. Republican Party", "Children", "James Gallagher", "Human trafficking", "Nick Schultz", "LGBTQ", "Christine Pelosi", "Voting", "Sexual assault", "Politics", "Robert Rivas" ]	# California Democrats reject push for harsher penalties for soliciting sex from older teens By Trân Nguyễn May 1st, 2025, 05:07 PM --- SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Democrats rejected on Thursday a Republican-backed effort to advance a policy to increase penalties for soliciting and buying sex from 16- and 17-year-olds, an issue that's caused friction among Democrats and prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to weigh in. Republicans argued for the policy on the floor after a legislative committee removed it from a bill earlier this week. "It's a simple thing before us: Do 16- and 17-year-olds deserve the same protection as all other minors when it comes to child prostitution?" Republican minority leader James Gallagher said before the vote, adding, "This body needs a moral compass." The move was supported by several moderate Democrats, who said buying sex from older teens should be a felony. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said in a statement after the vote that California already has some of the strongest laws against trafficking and that lawmakers are committed in protecting children. Democrats backed an amendment saying they plan to "adopt the strongest laws to protect 16- and 17-year-old victims." "Protecting children, standing up for trafficking victims and stopping crimes are among my top priorities as Speaker," Rivas said. It's the latest example of the split among Democrats over how best to crack down on crime and punish criminals. Some moderate Democrats want to see harsher punishments to protect more children, while others say the measure could be misused by parents upset about interracial or LGBTQ+ relationships to target older teens involved in the relationship. Newsom often declines to weigh in on pending legislation but has stepped in over the years to advance child trafficking measures. "The law should treat all sex predators who solicit minors the same — as a felony, regardless of the intended victim's age. Full stop," his office said in a statement. Assemblymember Maggy Krell, a Democrat with a prosecutorial background, wanted to expand a law Newsom signed last year to make it an automatic felony for those who solicit and buy older teenagers for sex, among other things. The current law, which makes it a felony if the victims were under 16, doesn't go far enough and leaves a loophole for older teens, supporters of the measure said. Democrats in the Assembly's public safety committee this week said they need more time to study the issue. They advanced Krell's bill this week without the provision for older teens. On Thursday, they removed her name from the legislation. "I don't care whether my name is on the bill, but I'm happy to support it if it includes the protection for 16- and 17-year-olds," Krell said before the vote. Krell was among a small group of Democrats who sided with Republicans. Democrats in the Senate last year rejected a similar effort to increase penalties for soliciting older teens. Republicans are seizing the moment to rail on Democrats' agenda, accusing them of protecting predators and being out of touch with voters. "The message sent today with the vote is it's open season on 16- and 17-year-old minors in the state of California for sex traffickers," Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio said after the vote. First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Christine Pelosi, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's daughter, have taken to social media in support of the proposal. "As a mom of a 16-year-old child, I 100% believe it should be a felony to purchase one," Christine Pelosi said in a post on the social platform X directed at Democratic lawmakers. "In what world do you think voters will trust a party that considers buying a 16-year-old to be 'only' a misdemeanor?" Assembly public safety chair Nick Schultz said that it's already a felony in California to contact a minor for sex. The proposal would have added another tool for law enforcement to enhance sentences. Schultz said he's now planning to bring the measure back after lawmakers have a chance for more discussion in the coming weeks. "We will have a solution," Schultz said. "That's my commitment."
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 13:30:35+00:00	[ "United Kingdom", "Eurovision Song Contest", "Russell T Davies", "SciFi and fantasy", "Television", "Eurocopa 2024", "Hilary Fox", "Ncuti Gatwa", "Varada Sethu", "Entertainment", "Sam Ryder", "BBC", "Theo Evan", "Belinda Chandra" ]	# 'Doctor Who' and Eurovision will unite for a night of music and intergalactic adventure By Hilary Fox May 13th, 2025, 01:30 PM --- LONDON (AP) — "Doctor Who" and Eurovision unite for an evening of music and intergalactic adventure on Saturday — all thanks to Russell T Davies. Before fans tune in for the annual song contest, they can enjoy Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra attending the Interstellar Song Contest in an episode of the sci-fi series. In real life, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual musical competition and TV event that sees 37 countries compete for a crystal microphone trophy over a four-hour live broadcast. In the interstellar version, aliens from 40 different worlds vie to win, also by singing. Davies says it took three years to pull it off the doubleheader because they had to work with the BBC to set the schedule and storylines in stone to ensure a perfect alignment. Britain's Sam Ryder took a "Space Man" to Eurovision before, in 2022. Now, Gatwa will read out the U.K.'s jury scores during the song contest's grand final, held this year in Basel, Switzerland. Talking to The Associated Press, Davies says that both Eurovision and "Doctor Who" share the DNA of old-fashioned Saturday night television, making the combination "irresistible." This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity. ## AP: Do you feel that Eurovision and "Doctor Who" naturally share a kind of fandom? DAVIES: I almost think every episode of "Doctor Who" is a great big celebration, sort of noise and color and spectacle, and that sums up Eurovision as well. In pitching this to Disney+ as well it's like, "Look we're going out in 60 of your territories" and Eurovision itself has a viewing figure that some years is bigger than the Super Bowl. There's not many shows that can say that on planet Earth. ## AP: How much fun did you have with the lore of Eurovision? DAVIES: It's enormous fun. It could be said if you've never seen a single Eurovision Song Contest in your life, you can still come along and watch this. It's the kind of thing we'd have made up for a "Doctor Who" story anyway. One day I'll do that "ABBA Voyage" story where the holograms come to life and start killing people. That's the best idea ever. We've got to do that one then. Can you imagine? That would be just amazing. I think there might be some copyright problems with that but we'd overcome them. The actual pitch for the story to Juno (Dawson), who wrote it, was Eurovision meets "Die Hard." So as you will see, the moment it starts, there's trouble, someone's out to sabotage it. There are villains behind the scenes trying to disrupt the program. All chaos is let loose and the rest of the episode is spent saving people's lives after that. ## AP: How about the songs? DAVIES: I think there's four songs in total (by Murray Gold). Obviously we don't get to all 40 planets with their songs, but it was a very big production. We had to hive this off into its own production unit. There are scenes in the television gallery, where 40 different monitors have output of 40 different screens. And that's all been fed in live. That's not done with green screen afterwards, that's all stuff they'd already shot. Crowds, acts, rehearsals, backstage, presenters, all of that stuff, playing onto that set, so it's terribly complicated. ## AP: Is this the most expensive episode of "Doctor Who"? DAVIES: Frankly, they're all expensive. It was a lot, yes. It had to be planned very far in advance, more than any. Once you plan something carefully, then it costs less just because you're not busking. We allocate each story more or less the same amount of money. So I think it ends up costing as much as the others, but it just looks so good because they had so much time to plan it. ## AP: Am I allowed to ask how much an episode normally costs? DAVIES: We never say that. I don't know why, but we just don't ever do it. I don't think they'd tell me. I'd faint. ## AP: Are you planning to watch Eurovision this year? DAVIES: Yes, I will be. This will be a great night. I always sit and watch "Doctor Who" — I'm old-fashioned — on its old-fashioned BBC One transmission at 7 o'clock at night. I know people who have Eurovision parties, which I've never gone to actually. Look at my life, it's devoted to television. I can't bear other people talking over it. That would just be a nightmare. So I will be sitting in. I'll get some nice dinner. I'll be a very happy man. ## AP: Have you got any favorites for this year? DAVIES: I would like to go on a date with the man from Cyprus (Theo Evan). He's beautiful. I do like the U.K. entry this year ("What the Hell Just Happened?" by Remember Monday). I have a theory it's being underestimated in Great Britain. Just because we're so used to losing. We've won five times, everyone. But this country gets a bit cynical about Eurovision sometimes. But I love our song. I think it's got a very memorable chorus. ___ For more coverage of Eurovision 2025, including contestant interviews, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/eurovision-song-contest
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 15:36:05+00:00	[ "Pope Leo XIV", "Pope Francis", "Sarah Gallagher", "Catholic Church", "Rome", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Vatican City", "Teens" ]	# As cardinal, Pope Leo XIV balanced the sacramental with the personal while confirming teenagers By Colleen Barry May 10th, 2025, 03:36 PM --- SOAVE, Italy (AP) — The announcement that an American cardinal had been elected Roman Catholic Church's 267th pope had special meaning for a group of students at an international Catholic school in Rome. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — confirmed the Marymount International School 9th graders, usually 14 or 15 years old, in a Mass on May 11, 2024. After learning that a secret conclave had chosen him as pope, students have been "absolutely elated,'' school head Sarah Gallagher said Saturday by telephone. A Catholic school with American ties, Marymount typically has an American cardinal confirm its students, and last year tapped Cardinal Prevost, a relative newcomer, about a year after Pope Francis brought him to Rome as a member of the curia. "Afterwards, we had dinner with him. There was just no way of predicting,'' that he was destined for the papacy, Gallagher said. "He is a very quiet, unassuming sort of person. He didn't give the impression of being a mover-and-shaker in Vatican circles at all.'' Each of the more than 30 students had written him a letter about their thoughts heading into confirmation, one of Catholicism's seven sacraments, often seen as the "sacrament of maturity.'' He took time with each of them, Gallagher said. "One of the things he was able to do beautifully, in my view, was to maintain a sense of the sacramental, but to make it intimate for the students, for each of them,'' she said, describing "a lovely peace at the time" that he created with his "softness, and gentleness." "I think it was visible in St. Peter's Thursday evening. The smile. There is an ease of manner that I think that sets people at ease,'' she said. Gallagher couldn't remember if any of the students chose Leo as a confirmation name last year; versions of Francis were in vogue for many years, for Leo's predecessor. "Wouldn't that be extraordinary," she wondered.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 21:46:13+00:00	[ "Montevideo", "Uruguay", "Gabriel Boric", "Luiz Incio Lula da Silva", "Juan Cruz Daz", "Politics", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Noam Chomsky", "Communism", "Scandals", "Luca Topolansky", "China government", "Jose Mujica" ]	# Latin America's leftist leaders remember Uruguay's 'Pepe' Mujica as generous, charismatic leader By Nayara Batschke May 15th, 2025, 09:46 PM --- MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — In the soaring palace of Uruguay's parliament, leftist presidents from the region came to remember former President José Mujica on Thursday as a generous and charismatic leader whose legacy of humility remained an example for the world's politicians. "A person like Pepe Mujica doesn't die," Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said as he paid his respects to his longtime friend, widely known as Pepe, at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo where his body lay in state, eulogizing the onetime Marxist guerrilla who spent over a decade in prison in the 1970s as a "superior human being." "His body is gone. But the ideas he put forward over the years demonstrate the generosity of a man who spent 14 years in prison and managed to emerge without hatred toward the people who imprisoned and tortured him," Lula said. Approaching the coffin, tears streamed down his face. Lula pulled Mujica's lifelong partner and fellow politician, 80-year-old Lucía Topolansky, into a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead. Mujica, a member of Uruguay's leftist Broad Front coalition elected in 2009, and Lula, the standard-bearer of Brazil's Workers' Party who started his second term in 2007, belonged to a generation of leftist leaders elected to office across Latin America in the early years of this century. The movement's power faded more recently as some leftist populist governments became embroiled in corruption scandals. But Mujica stood out for keeping his reputation for honesty and humility intact. "It's the end of an era. I think Mujica represented one of the last figures of that 'pink tide' that rose in the region in the 2000s," said Juan Cruz Díaz, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas Group, a consultancy in Buenos Aires. "The global impact and iconic figure of President Mujica is probably irreplaceable." Lula often met Mujica in his three-room farmhouse on the outskirts of Montevideo, where, after retiring from the Senate, the former president tended to his chrysanthemums and dispensed wisdom to a range of visitors — from rock band Aerosmith to philosopher Noam Chomsky. It's also where Mujica died at age 89 on Tuesday, after more than a year spent battling esophageal cancer. Another leftist leader paying tribute to Mujica in Montevideo on Thursday was Chile's president, Gabriel Boric. On learning of Mujica's death on Tuesday, both Boric and Lula jetted to Uruguay from Beijing, where they had been meeting Chinese officials. They were received by Uruguay's moderate left-wing president, Yamandú Orsi, who was Mujica's preferred candidate in last fall's presidential elections. "Life goes on, causes remain," Boric wrote on social media. "Thank you, dear Pepe, we will carry you with us in every fight." ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 21:02:51+00:00	[ "Philadelphia", "Jalen Brunson", "Jill Biden", "Bradley Cooper", "Mikal Bridges", "Colleges and universities", "Catholic Church", "Kevin Hughes", "Education", "Peter Donohue", "Josh Hart", "Mathematics", "Religion", "Rob Hagan", "Pope Leo XIV", "Lisa Baumann", "John Lydon" ]	# From Villanova to the Vatican: Alma mater is floored it taught the 1st US pope By Tassanee Vejpongsa and Jonathan Mattise May 9th, 2025, 09:02 PM --- VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — When Villanova University's president, the Rev. Peter Donohue, was nearing graduation as a theatre student, a future pope wasn't far away on campus, studying math two grades below him. On Thursday, church bells rang out for hours in celebration at the Augustinian school near Philadelphia after the 1977 alumnus Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church. The Rev. John Lydon spent 10 years living with the pope while on a mission in Peru. But back in 1977, Lydon was the student commencement speaker for their arts and sciences class at Villanova, too. He recalled trying to give an uplifting speech, focusing on overcoming indifference. "I'm sure he doesn't remember that speech, that's so many years ago," Lydon said with a laugh. "But, it just shows you how the grace of God works." The school on the suburban Main Line near Philadelphia had reached the pinnacle of men's college basketball three times — winning championships in 1985, 2016 and 2018. But celebrating a pope in their ranks was literally unprecedented. A billboard in Philadelphia showed the pope with a tagline: "From the Main Line to the Divine Line," and the hashtag #WildcatToShepherd. Internet memes turned the pope's Roman numeral V into Villanova's logo and predictions piled up that the New York Knicks and its Villanova-laden lineup have a divine path to this year's title. Augustinian priests on campus are making rounds on the national TV circuit. "We just all kind of lost it," said Villanova senior Peggy Murray, who met the world leader now known as His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, last year in Rome. "Just screaming and cheering and crying and having this knowledge that we met him. He was humble enough and cared enough about a group of gangly college students that he wanted to say Mass with us and now this is the person who's our pope. I mean it means the world." ## Prevost has maintained his ties with Villanova over the decades Donohue and the pope were on campus in the mid-1970s at an unsettled time around the end of the Vietnam War, while the Catholic Church had been in a state of change as well, Donohue added. As the campus was gearing up for the 1977 spring graduation, thousands of balloons were released at an event aimed at addressing world hunger, featuring floats, a carnival and the marching band, according to The Villanovan archives. Ads for cassette tapes and a "college disco splash party" flanked stories in the college newspaper. Prevost graduated from Villanova with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1977 and received an honorary Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, from the university in 2014, Donohue said. Prevost also hosted Villanova officials in Rome that year. Donohue said the pope is a Villanova basketball fan. And Donohue has taken note that whenever he or the university send out messages, they can check who opens them, and the pope does every time. "Somebody sent me a text, one of the presidents from another one of the schools, said, 'Three basketball championships and a pope. Do you people have to keep winning?'" Donohue said with a laugh. "It's just different. It certainly has given us a lot of publicity." The Rev. Rob Hagan, known for long serving as Villanova's athletics department chaplain, spent his second year of a spiritual training boot camp of sorts 27 years ago to become an Augustinian. It was in Racine, Wisconsin, a place where through his regional leadership position Prevost would visit newbies like Hagan. He is now the Prior Provincial at The Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. "I saw him as kind of a mentor. You didn't have to be in his presence very long before you understood how exceptionally bright he is," Hagan said. "And yet, coupled with a real warmth and approachability." Lydon, who lived with the pope in Peru, said he is an excellent singer, likes to cook and adopted Alianza Lima as his soccer team. Even when they both attended Villanova, the pope was a "model of what one would want in a future priest," said Lydon, who is now stationed in Chicago. "He was always a very bright person, but a humble person, one that you could easily talk to about anything, a person very devoted to his faith," Lydon said. ## Professor says Prevost 'never lost the pastoral touch' Kevin Hughes, a theology and religious studies professor at Villanova, said Thursday that he and several people who were in his office went silent when they heard the news because they couldn't believe Prevost — an American — had been chosen. Hughes described Prevost as a very gentle soul and somebody who knows how to connect with people. "When you're talking to him, he gives you his full attention," he said. "I think he's a very intelligent person. I think he's very well read. But he's never lost the pastoral touch." Prevost, 69, is a member of the Augustinian religious order and was formerly the prior general, or leader. The Order of St. Augustine was formed in the 13th century as a community of "mendicant" friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. The requirements and ethos of the order are traced to the fifth century St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the theological and devotional giants of early Christianity. Villanova is one of two Catholic, Augustinian higher learning institutions in the U.S., according to its website. Villanova is rooted in the values of truth, unity, and love, inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine. Villanova was founded in 1842 and boasts an environment in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. About 6,700 undergraduates and 3,100 graduate and law students are enrolled at the university. Other notable people who attended Villanova include former first lady Jill Biden, actor Bradley Cooper, recording artists Jim Croce and Toby Keith, and basketball stars such as Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges of the Knicks. But for a Catholic university, nothing could surpass teaching a pope. "I think anybody that has any familiarity with Villanova knows the kind of emphasis that we give in terms of community and building community," Donohue said. "I think that will be very much a part of what he is. It's part of who he is, it's part of his life as an Augustinian." ___ Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 05:18:13+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Vincent Nichols", "Pope Benedict XVI", "Rome", "Europe", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Voting", "Roman Catholicism", "George Pell", "Cormac Murphy O", "Austen Ivereigh" ]	# What happens behind closed doors to elect a pope By Nicole Winfield May 3rd, 2025, 05:18 AM --- ROME (AP) — Rome is bustling with jasmine blooming and tourists swarming. But behind closed doors, these are the days of dinner parties, coffee klatches and private meetings as cardinals in town to elect a successor to Pope Francis suss out who among them has the stuff to be next. It was in this period of pre-conclave huddling in March of 2013 that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the retired archbishop of Westminster, and other reform-minded Europeans began pushing the candidacy of an Argentine Jesuit named Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Their dinner table lobbying worked and Pope Francis won on the fifth ballot. Cardinal Vincent Nichols may have inherited Murphy-O'Connor's position as archbishop of Westminster. But he's not taking on the job as the front-man papal lobbyist in these days of canvassing of cardinals to try to identify who among them should be the next pope. "We're of quite different styles," Nichols said Friday, chuckling during an interview in the Venerable English College, the storied British seminary in downtown Rome where Nichols studied in the 1960s. "Cardinal Cormac would love to be at the center of the party. I'm a little more reserved than that and a little bit more introverted." Nevertheless, Nichols, 79, provided an insider's view of what's going on among his fellow cardinal-electors, between meals of Rome's famous carbonara — as they get to know one another. They all descended on Rome to bid farewell to the pope and are now meeting informally before the start of the May 7 conclave. Nichols says he is spending these days before he and his fellow cardinals are sequestered listening. The routine calls for cardinals to meet each morning in a Vatican auditorium to discuss the needs of the Catholic Church and the type of person who can lead it. These meetings are open to all cardinals, including those over 80, while the conclave itself in the Sistine Chapel is limited to cardinals who haven't yet reached 80. With the exception of an afternoon Mass — part of the nine days of official mourning for Francis — the rest of the day is free. Cardinals have been seen around town taking walks or eating out, trying to remain incognito. ## 'Not a boys' brigade that marches in step' Nichols said a picture of the future pope is beginning to emerge, at least in his mind, as cardinals look back at Francis' 12-year pontificate and see where to go from here. "I suppose we're looking for somebody who even in their manner not only expresses the depth of the faith, but also its openness as well," said Nichols. Pope Benedict XVI named Nichols archbishop of Westminster in 2009, but he didn't become a cardinal until 2014, when Francis tapped him in his first batch of cardinals. Francis went on to name Nichols as a member of several important Vatican offices, including the powerful dicastery for bishops, which vets bishop nominations around the world. "My experience so far, to be quite honest with you, is there's a lot of attentive listening," Nichols said. "That's listening to the people who might have an idea today of who they think is the best candidate, and I wouldn't be surprised if by Monday they might have changed their mind." Nichols said the picture that is emerging is of seeing Francis' pontificate in continuity with the more doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and of appreciating the multicultural reality of the Catholic Church today. Francis greatly expanded the College of Cardinals to include cardinals from far-flung places like Tonga and Mongolia, rather than the traditional centers of European Catholicism. Yes, divisions and disagreements have been aired. "But I can never remember a time when Catholics all agreed about everything," Nichols said. "We're not a boys' brigade that marches in step." But he said he sensed that cardinals believe Francis' reforming papacy and radical call to prioritize the poor and marginalized, to care for the planet and all its people, needed further consolidating with another papacy. "There's a sense that the initiatives that this man of such originality took, they probably do need rooting a bit more to give them that stability and evident continuity," Nichols said. "So that these aren't just the ideas of one person, one charismatic person, but they are actually consistently part of how the church reflects on humanity, our own humanity and our world." ## 'Team Bergoglio' In his book "The Great Reformer," Francis' biographer Austen Ivereigh described the 2013 conclave and how Nichols' predecessor, Murphy-O'Connor and other reform-minded Europeans seized the opportunity to push Bergoglio after it was clear the Italians were fighting among themselves over the Italian candidate. "Team Bergoglio," as these reform-minded cardinals came to be known, had tried to talk up Bergoglio in the 2005 conclave, but failed to get their man through after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's momentum grew and Bergoglio bowed out. In 2013, with many too old to vote in the conclave itself, "Team Bergoglio" talked up the Argentine at dinner parties around Rome in the days before the conclave. The aim was to ensure Bergoglio could secure at least 25 votes on the first ballot to establish himself as a serious candidate, the book said. "The Great Reformer" recounts a dinner party at the North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome, on March 5, 2013 to which Murphy-O'Connor and Australian Cardinal George Pell were invited and where the British cardinal talked up the qualities of a possible first Latin American pope. "He held a number of these dinners, and I think there were a few of them involved, a few who had grown convinced that Bergoglio was what the church needed," Ivereigh said Friday. Nichols doesn't have any such calculations or preferred candidate, at least that he is willing to share. "For me, it's no good going into a conclave thinking it's like a political election and I want my side to win. I'm not going to do that," he said. "I'm going to go in certainly with my own thoughts but ready to change them, to listen and maybe try and persuade others to change theirs too." ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 22:58:04+00:00	[ "Mitch McConnell", "Kentucky", "Andy Beshear", "Campaign finance", "Kentucky state government", "Donald Trump", "United States Senate", "United States government", "Pamela Stevenson", "Elections", "Politics", "Wendell H. Ford", "Andy Barr" ]	# Ethics complaint resurfaces as Kentucky Republican Daniel Cameron runs for a U.S. Senate seat By Bruce Schreiner May 14th, 2025, 10:58 PM --- FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — An ethics complaint stemming from Republican Daniel Cameron's failed run for Kentucky governor has resurfaced as the former state attorney general campaigns to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in next year's hotly contested election. The state's Executive Branch Ethics Commission on Wednesday took another step in its investigation into whether Cameron committed an ethics violation by allegedly soliciting certain campaign donations for his 2023 run for governor. An administrative law judge will be assigned to review the case and make a recommendation to commission members, who would decide whether a violation occurred. Cameron denounced the commission's action as a weaponization of government meant to damage him over a "bogus" ethics claim. "This is the definition of political persecution," Cameron said in a social media video. Cameron announced his Senate campaign in February, soon after McConnell revealed that he won't seek reelection next year, signaling the start of a new era in Bluegrass State politics. Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr launched his run for the Senate seat last month and the Republican field is expected to grow. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson is running for Senate. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has ruled out a Senate bid as speculation continues to build over whether he may run for president in 2028. The last Democrat to win a Senate race in Kentucky was Wendell Ford in 1992. The reemergence of the ethics complaint comes as the GOP Senate candidates compete for donors and endorsements well in advance of Kentucky's primary election in the spring of 2026. Cameron and Barr have lavished praise on President Donald Trump in hopes of landing his prized endorsement. The ethics commission said Wednesday that it started a preliminary investigation of Cameron in July 2023. The complaint that spurred the investigation was made by the state AFL-CIO, which has strong Democratic ties. It came during the heat of the gubernatorial race, which Cameron lost to Beshear, who won a second term. The labor group said that Cameron may have improperly used his position for his own political gain by soliciting campaign donations from executives of a substance abuse treatment organization that was under scrutiny by the attorney general's office. In its Wednesday filing in the case, the ethics commission said Cameron used his position as attorney general in the spring of 2022 to "personally contact a business owner and influence him to hold a fundraiser and solicit campaign contributions for his financial benefit." "During the conversation, Cameron referred to his official position as attorney general, referenced his office's duties and asked for a specific minimum contribution of $30,000," the document said. The commission did not identify the business owner on Wednesday but pointed to Cameron's role as attorney general at the time in overseeing health care providers that received Medicaid funds. Cameron reiterated Wednesday that he recused himself from the review of the substance abuse treatment group once he was made aware of the conflict and refunded campaign donations. "I'm going to fight this just like I'll continue fighting for the great people of this commonwealth every single day," Cameron said Wednesday. If the commission finds that Cameron violated state ethics law, he could face a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for the one count cited.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 04:05:32+00:00	[ "Organ donation", "Organ transplants", "Kidney disease", "Louisiana", "Medical technology", "Baton Rouge", "JWD-evergreen", "Health", "Lifestyle" ]	# Daughter says mom 'gave me life twice' with kidney donation as pair graduate nursing school together By Sara Cline and Stephen Smith May 9th, 2025, 04:05 AM --- BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For years, Ambrealle Brown was forced to put her dreams of becoming a nurse on hold due to a life-threatening kidney disease that left her temporarily incapacitated. Amid inner doubts about whether she would ever return to living a normal life, Brown's mother stepped in and offered to donate her kidney. Doctors performed Louisiana's first robotic kidney transplant, giving Brown a renewed chance at life and Nija Butler the opportunity to see her daughter thrive. Nearly two years after the successful transplant, the Louisiana mother and daughter shared another journey. Donning white caps and gowns, they walked across the stage together in Baton Rouge and graduated from nursing school. "As parents, we always tell our children, we would die for you, and kids don't always understand that kind of love," Butler, 48, said. "I would have given anything for her to live. I mean that from the bottom of my heart, without a second thought." During an interview with The Associated Press last month, the two women reflected on their journey together and the challenges they have overcome. The Louisiana mother-daughter duo has always been close. Butler gave birth to her daughter when she was in high school, and as a result, they grew up together. Butler poured herself into raising her daughter and son, and Brown planned to become a nurse. But in 2016, when Brown was diagnosed with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare kidney disease that can cause kidney failure, everything changed. Her prognosis quickly worsened. One day, Brown, who was taking prerequisite courses for nursing school, felt her legs tighten to the point that she could not move. Shortly after, Brown's doctor delivered detrimental news: Brown would either need to start dialysis or have a kidney transplant to survive. The average wait for a kidney transplant in the U.S. can vary from two to five years, or longer, depending on certain factors, based on data from the National Kidney Foundation. Brown desperately hoped for a new kidney. But as she awaited news of a transplant, she was forced to turn to dialysis — a treatment that lasted nine to 13 hours, every single day. Brown's daily life was limited, and she had to stop school. After years of dialysis, Butler said she saw a shift in her daughter, who was typically optimistic. "It was like she wanted to give up," Butler recalled about a phone call with her daughter. "She was tired of just being connected to a tube that her life revolved around." Although doctors had previously told Butler she likely wasn't a match to be a kidney donor for her daughter, she still scheduled an appointment to get tested the next day. She opted not to tell her daughter, not wanting to get her hopes up in case it wasn't a viable match. Soon after, Brown got news she had been waiting five years to hear — she was getting a new kidney. She called her mother to tell her, but her mom already knew. Confused, Brown asked her mother how she would know that. "It's me," Butler responded. The two underwent surgery in March 2023, with Tulane University School of Medicine doctors performing the state's first kidney transplant using a robotic surgical system. The practice offers increased precision so the procedure is minimally invasive, hoping there will be less pain and a speedier recovery. After the successful surgery, Brown returned her focus to school. Her mother decided to get her registered nurse's license as well. For 16 months, they were attached at the hip. They sat together, studied together, and, in April, graduated from the Baton Rouge General School of Nursing together. "I couldn't have done it without her because nursing school is hard," Brown, 34, said. "I'm happy that I was able to go through that milestone with her side by side." Brown has accepted a job at a burns intensive care unit, and Butler is continuing her career at a psychiatric facility. The ladies hope their story inspires others to never give up and also spread awareness about the importance of medical testing and the donor and transplant process. "Thank you for giving me life twice," Brown said to her mother. "I have to keep saying that because you gave me a second chance at life, and most people don't get do-overs." Butler wiped away a tear and, without skipping a beat, said, "And I would do it again."
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 04:04:51+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Movies", "Margaret Thatcher", "Joe Biden", "Ryan Gosling", "Television", "Los Angeles", "California", "Entertainment", "Logan Webb", "Business", "Oddities", "Michael Sklar", "Lifestyle", "Mark Hamill", "Nissan Motor Co.", "Ltd.", "Chris Taylor" ]	# Why is Star Wars Day celebrated on May the 4th? By Andrew Demillo May 3rd, 2025, 04:04 AM --- It didn't begin a long time ago or in a galaxy far far away, but every May 4 it feels like images, memes and promotional deals involving "Star Wars" have an inescapable gravity. May 4 — or May the 4th, as fans say — has evolved over the years into Star Wars Day, an informal holiday celebrating the space epic and its surrounding franchise. ## What is Star Wars Day? Star Wars Day was created by fans as a sly nod to one of the films' most popular catchphrases, "May the force be with you." Get it? Good, now May the 4th be with you too. It's not an official holiday but has become so well-known that even former President Joe Biden marked it last year when "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House a day beforehand. This year, the Trump administration marked the occasion with a Star Wars-themed meme. "I think it's a very clever way for fans to celebrate their passion and love for 'Star Wars' once a year," said Steve Sansweet, founder and executive chairman of Rancho Obi-Wan, a nonprofit museum in California that has the world's largest collection of "Star Wars" memorabilia. ## How did it begin? The phrase "May the 4th be with you" was used by fans in the years after the first film was released in 1977, and even appeared in a British political ad in 1979 celebrating Margaret Thatcher's victory as prime minister on May 4 that year. For some fans, the official Star Wars Day comes on May 25, the date of the first film's release. The Los Angeles City Council even declared the date to be Star Wars Day in 2007, although the California Legislature voted in 2019 to designate May 4 as Star Wars Day. ## How has it spread? May the 4th caught on informally among fans through inside jokes shared on social media and viewings of the films to mark the occasion. Businesses eventually joined in on the fun, with brands ranging from Nissan to Jameson Whiskey running ads or posting on social media about it. Disney, which acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, embraced the day as a way to further promote the franchise with merchandise, special screenings and other events surrounding the brand. Not all "Star Wars" fans are enthused about how ubiquitous the once-underground joke has become. Chris Taylor, a senior editor at Mashable and author of "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe," labels himself a "May the 4th grinch" in part because of its commercialization. "I love a good dad joke as much as anyone, but my God you can take it too far," Taylor said. In western Germany, a Protestant congregation held a Star Wars-themed service Sunday, German news agency dpa reported. Pastor Samuel Dörr and some of his congregants wore costumes and decorated their church in Bensberg. ## How is it being celebrated this year? The day is being celebrated on a large and small scale this year. Disney+ is launching the new series "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" on the date, and it comes as the second season gets underway for another franchise series, "Andor." It also follows the announcement that a new stand-alone "Star Wars" film installment starring Ryan Gosling will be released in 2027. Disney marks the day with the launch of new "Star Wars" merchandise, ranging from lightsaber sets to jewelry. Most Major League Baseball teams have marked the day in recent years with special events incorporating "Star Wars" characters. For example, the San Francisco Giants sold special tickets for Saturday's game that included a bobblehead portraying pitcher Logan Webb as "Obi-Webb Kenobi." It's hard to find a place where May the 4th celebrations aren't occurring, from bakeries serving cookies with a "Star Wars" theme to concerts featuring the memorable scores of the films. It's a town-wide celebration in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which shares its name with the subtitle of the first "Star Wars" film. The town of about 2,600 people, located 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia, plans to have costumed characters throughout town with restaurants serving themed items like a "YodaRita." "I would always joke around and wish people 'May the 4th' — but taking it to this level, I've definitely upped my 'Star Wars' nerdiness," said Michael Sklar, president of the Greater New Hope Chamber of Commerce. The White House posted an AI-generated image of a muscular Donald Trump in a jedi robe and wielding a red lightsaber. The image on X was accompanied by a Star Wars-themed broadside. "Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You're not the Rebellion—you're the Empire," the White House posting said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 14:12:51+00:00	[ "Syria", "Syria government", "Cyprus", "Bashar Assad", "Nicholas Ioannides", "Asylum", "Migration", "Politics", "Immigration", "International agreements", "Political refugees" ]	# Cyprus says Syria will take back citizens trying to reach the Mediterranean island by boat By Menelaos Hadjicostis May 12th, 2025, 02:12 PM --- NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Syria has agreed to take back any of its citizens intercepted trying to reach Cyprus by boat, the Mediterranean island nation's deputy minister for migration said Monday. Nicholas Ioannides says two inflatable boats, each carrying 30 Syrians, were already turned back in recent days in line with a bilateral search and rescue agreement that Cyprus and Syria now have in place. Officials didn't share further details about the agreement. Cypriot navy and police patrol boats intercepted the two vessels on May 9th and 10th after they put out a call for help. They were outside Cypriot territorial waters but within the island's search and rescue area of responsibility, a government statement said. They were subsequently escorted back to a port in the Syrian city of Tartus. Ioannides told private TV station Antenna there's been an uptick of boatloads of migrants trying to reach Cyprus from Syria, unlike in recent years when vessels would primarily depart from Lebanon. Cyprus and Lebanon have a long-standing agreement to send back migrants. He said Cypriot authorities and their Syrian counterparts are trying to fight back against human traffickers who are supplying an underground market for laborers. According to Ioannides, traffickers apparently cut deals with local employers to bring in Syrian laborers who pick up work right away, despite laws that prevent asylum-seekers from working before the completion of a nine-month residency period. "The message we're sending is that the Cyprus Republic won't tolerate the abuse of the asylum system from people who aren't eligible for either asylum or international protection and just come here only to work," Ioannides said. The bilateral agreement is compounded by the Cypriot government's decision last week not to automatically grant asylum to Syrian migrants, but to examine their applications individually on merit and according to international and European laws. From a total of 19,000 pending asylum applications, 13,000 have been filed by Syrian nationals, according to figures quoted by Ioannides. He said most of those applicants are Sunni Muslim and are no longer persecuted as they had been under the government of former President Bashar al-Assad. Since Assad was toppled in December last year and a new transitional government took power, some 2,300 Syrians have either dropped their asylum claims or rescinded their international protection status, while 2,100 have already departed Cyprus for Syria. Both the United Nations refugee agency and Europe's top human rights body have urged the Cyprus government to stop pushing back migrants trying to reach the island by boat. Cyprus strongly denies it's committing any pushbacks according to its definition. ___ Follow AP's global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 10:09:56+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Vatican City", "Pope Benedict XVI", "Sean OMalley", "Scandals", "Papal conclave", "Catholic Church", "Religion", "Matteo Bruni", "Voting", "Pauline Chapel" ]	# Ahead of the conclave, Vatican staff vow secrecy under threat of excommunication By Vanessa Gera May 5th, 2025, 10:09 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cleaners and cooks. Doctors and nurses. Even drivers and elevator operators. The support staff for the cardinals who will elect the successor to Pope Francis took an oath of secrecy Monday ahead of the conclave that's starting on Wednesday. The punishment for breaking the oath? Automatic excommunication. The oaths of about 100 people were taken in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican for all those assigned to the conclave, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. They include clerics in support roles, among them confessors speaking various languages. The cardinals will take their oaths in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, before they cast their first ballots. An array of lay women and men are required to house and feed the cardinals. A conclave's duration cannot be predicted — and it will only be known when white smoke rises out of the Sistine Chapel chimney to signal a winner. All those people will be sequestered to be on hand for any medical needs, and maintain the majesty and ritual appropriate for the election of the next head of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church. Of the 133 cardinals expected to vote at the conclave, 108 were appointed by Francis. The cardinals will be living in residences on Vatican grounds, and they can either walk the roughly 1 kilometer (less than a mile) to the Sistine Chapel or take a special bus that runs only within the sealed Vatican grounds — and for that, drivers are also needed. ## Phones and secrecy Bruni initially said Monday that cardinals would be asked to leave their mobile phones at their Vatican residence, Santa Marta, but that they wouldn't be confiscated. But hours later, at an evening briefing, he said that they would hand their phones over at Santa Marta and only get them back at the end of the conclave. But, he added, the matter goes "beyond just technical questions," but is a "process united also with prayer, with meditation, with thought about who the person could be whom the Lord has identified as the pope of Rome." The Vatican also plans to use signal jamming around the Sistine Chapel and the residences to prevent electronic surveillance or communication outside the conclave, with the Vatican gendarmes overseeing the security measures. ## The oath The provisions for the oath-taking are laid down in Vatican law. St. John Paul II rewrote the regulations on papal elections in a 1996 document that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned in 2013. He tightened the oath of secrecy, making clear that anyone who reveals what went on inside the conclave faces automatic excommunication. Under John Paul's rules, excommunication was always a possibility, but Benedict made it explicit. Those taking the oath now declare that they "promise and swear that, unless I should receive a special faculty given expressly by the newly elected pontiff or by his successors, I will observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who are not part of the College of Cardinal electors concerning all matters directly or indirectly related to the ballots cast and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff. "I likewise promise and swear to refrain from using any audio or video equipment capable of recording anything which takes place during the period of the election within Vatican City, and in particular anything which in any way, directly or indirectly, is related to the process of the election itself. "I take this oath fully aware that an infraction thereof will incur the penalty of automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand." ## A final appeal for victims As the Vatican prepared for the conclave, its child protection advisory commission on Monday urged cardinals to prioritize the clergy sexual abuse issue, saying the Catholic Church's very credibility depends on accountability, transparency and justice for victims. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is a Vatican department created by Pope Francis to advise the church on best practices to fight abuse. Made up of clergy and lay experts, the commission issued a call to prayer to the cardinals who are meeting in Rome this week before entering into the conclave on Wednesday. "Let no concern of scandal obscure the urgency of truth," the text said. "Let no consideration for reputation impede our paramount responsibility to take action on behalf of those who have been abused." The abuse scandal has badly compromised the Catholic hierarchy's credibility in many countries around the world, with revelations of decades of abuse and cover-up by bishops and religious superiors. Francis and before him Pope Benedict XVI took some steps to address the scandal, but a culture of impunity still reigns, there is no transparency from the Vatican about cases, and victims say the very process the church has put in place to deal with allegations is often retraumatizing. The statement acknowledged the harm the scandal has done to the church's reputation and said the cardinals bear a responsibility to victims. "The church's credibility depends on real accountability, transparency, and action rooted in justice," it said. The commission's president, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, is participating in the pre-conclave discussions but will not be voting in the election itself because he is over the age limit of 80. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 18:31:28+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Qatar", "Saudi Arabia", "Government regulations", "The Boeing Co.", "International agreements", "Business", "China government", "Politics", "Aerospace and defense industry", "Qatar government" ]	# Boeing is having a pretty good week, as Qatar gives the company one of its biggest orders By Matt Ott May 14th, 2025, 06:31 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Boeing has secured a pair of major orders in the Middle East during a visit to the region by President Donald Trump. The American aerospace manufacturer confirmed a $96 billion order from Qatar, one day after announcing an order from a company in Saudi Arabia for 20 737-8 jets and options for 10 additional aircraft. The Qatar deal, which includes Boeing's 787 and 777X jets, is the biggest order for 787s and wide body jets in Boeing's history, the company confirmed. "That's pretty good," Trump said in announcing the order. "Get those planes out there." It has been a particularly good week for Boeing. According to several media reports, China lifted a ban on its airlines taking deliveries of Boeing planes earlier this week as part of Monday's trade truce with the U.S. Boeing had already been in the news for its planes in the Middle East, but for different reasons. Donald Trump said he would accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar, setting off intense criticism from Democrats, ethicists, and even some unease among Republicans. There are concerns from security and ethics experts that the plane could be less secure, costly to retrofit and a violation of the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on foreign gifts. Trump offered no national security imperative for a swift upgrade rather than waiting for Boeing to finish new Air Force One jets that have been in the works for years. Boeing has lost more than $35 billion since 2019 following the crashes of two then-new Max jets that killed 346 people. In January 2024, a panel blew off a 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon and last year, a strike by union machinists halted production at Boeing plants and hampered the company's delivery capability. Shares of Boeing, which has been mired in legal and regulatory problems since the crashes six years ago, bounced to their highest level in more than a year Wednesday. It was the fifth straight day of gains for the Arlington, Virginia, company. ___ This story was first published on May. 14, 2025. It was updated on May. 15, 2025 to correct when a door plug blew off a Boeing airliner near Portland. It was in January 2024.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 23:52:41+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Marijuana", "Retail and wholesale", "Small business", "Politics", "Jenni Otwell", "Gina Maiola", "Andy Whitt", "Daniel Deriso", "Business" ]	# Gov. Ivey signs a bill regulating the sale of hemp products By Kim Chandler May 14th, 2025, 11:52 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed legislation putting new regulations on gummies, drinks and other products containing cannabinoids from hemp, a legal variety of the marijuana plant. The law would allow gummies, drinks and other consumable products to continue to be sold, but limits the amount of psychoactive compounds in the products. It also puts restrictions on where the products can be sold. The governor signed the legislation Wednesday, Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said. The bill drew opposition from both store owners — who said it would destroy their small businesses — and conservative groups who wanted the products banned. Both had urged Ivey to veto the legislation. The bill sponsor said the new law will put some controls on the substances. "This legislation wasn't easy — there were strong opinions on all sides. And, we had to navigate a lot of heated debate, but at the end of the day, it's about putting guardrails in place to protect the health and well-being of our kids," Republican Rep. Andy Whitt, the bill sponsor, said Wednesday. The popularity of hemp-derived products, including delta-8 THC, has exploded in recent years. The 2018 federal Farm Bill created a legal loophole that says hemp products and the cannabinoids that could be made from them were classified as distinct from marijuana. That has allowed manufacturers to synthesize THC from hemp plants and sell it in products where marijuana isn't legal. The products have been sold in gas stations, specialty stores, vape shops and other places. Some states have moved to ban or heavily regulate the products. Store owners had urged Ivey to veto the bill, saying it would cause their small businesses to close. "This isn't regulation, it's eradication," Jenni Otwell, founder of Magic City Organics, said last week. The store owners said the products provide a needed alternative to opioids and other medications for people struggling with sleep, anxiety or other issues. The founder of Forging Progress PAC, a Birmingham-based group that organized a press conference on behalf of store owners, said the outcome was disappointing. "It will shut down small businesses, eliminate jobs, and cut off access to hemp-based products that many people rely on for pain, anxiety, and other health needs," Daniel Deriso said. On the opposite side, the conservative Alabama Policy Institute had urged Ivey to veto or amend the bill, arguing it allowed the sale and use of THC for recreational purposes. The new law will limit the amount of hemp-based tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that can be in edible products to 10mg of THC per serving. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board would license and regulate retailers. Purchasers would have to be age 21 or older. Grocery stores could sell beverages containing THC, but the products would have to be kept off shelves, similar to how cigarettes are sold. Smokable products will become illegal under the law. Alabama has a medical marijuana program, but the products are not yet available to patients. The program has been stalled amid an ongoing legal dispute over the licenses.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 14:00:07+00:00	[ "Philadelphia", "Ken Griffin", "Philanthropy", "Donald Trump", "Constitutional law", "Politics", "Business", "Julia Quinn", "United States government", "Jeffrey Rosen", "Cason Carter" ]	# Ken Griffin will loan his copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights so the public can see them By Glenn Gamboa May 13th, 2025, 02:00 PM --- Citadel CEO Ken Griffin believes American prosperity is a testament to the power of the Constitution. And as the country gets ready to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, the hedge fund billionaire wants to expand public access to the 1787 document. Griffin announced Tuesday that he will lend his first-edition copy of the Constitution to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for a public exhibit dedicated to the founding document of the U.S. government. He will also loan the center his copy of the Bill of Rights, which he has not previously acknowledged owning publicly, and has made a $15 million donation for the exhibit – the largest in the center's history. "The authors of the Constitution had incredible foresight in designing a system of government that has withstood the test of time and now, more than ever, protects the American Dream," Griffin said in a statement. Jeffrey Rosen, CEO of the National Constitution Center, called Griffin's loan of the documents and the donation a "transformative opportunity." "Ken Griffin's generosity is going to allow us to create a new Founding Principles gallery that will tell the story of the American idea from the revolution through the Constitutional Convention through ratification and all the way up to the adoption of the Bill of Rights," said Rosen, adding that the new exhibit will also mark the center's largest renovation since it opened in 2003. The support comes as the Constitution is increasingly cited, as all three branches of government navigate questions about who should be controlling what. "The Constitution Center's mission has never been more relevant," said Rosen, adding that the nonpartisan nonprofit center tries to reduce polarization by offering a platform for both conservative and liberal Constitutional scholars. "It's an honor to convene people of different perspectives for these Constitutional debates and conversations. And we are very much looking forward to continuing these conversations." A longtime Republican megadonor, Griffin has recently drawn attention for his criticisms of President Donald Trump. "The United States was more than just a nation. It's a brand," Griffin said at the Semafor World Economy Summit last month. "It was like an aspiration for most the world. And we're eroding that brand right now." But Griffin's representatives said the donation and loan to the NCC have been planned for years. "The National Constitution Center is a powerful platform for celebrating our country's founding principles," said Julia Quinn, Citadel director of philanthropy. "The work it has done to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution, at both the center itself and through its widely available educational programming, is best in class and we're thrilled about this partnership." Griffin purchased the rare first printing of the Constitution at auction at Sotheby's in New York for $43.2 million in 2021, with plans to make the document available for public viewing. He declined to say when he acquired the rare first printing of 17 proposed constitutional amendments passed in 1789 by the House of Representatives for consideration by the Senate — which, after further debate, became the Bill of Rights. Caroline Klibanoff, executive director of Made By Us, a nonprofit that helps museums and history institutions better connect with those under 30, said next year's 250th anniversary of the United States is an "incredible opportunity" to help members of the largest youth generation link their futures to their histories. And at a time when younger generations show an increased distrust of institutions, the National Constitution Center can address that issue by showcasing such important documents, Kilbanoff said. "They are the fact-checking generation. They want to see the original source material and not take your interpretation for it," she said. "Having the documents be at the forefront will be really desirable." Griffin's team said he wanted to celebrate the essential American values of individual freedom, democracy, and opportunity with his philanthropy – including his support of the recently opened National Medal of Honor Museum and his donation to the National Constitution Center. "Ken loves America and has shown an extraordinary commitment to our founding principles," said Cason Carter, Citadel head of public affairs. "He cares deeply about expanding access to the American Dream, which is underpinned by these historical documents, and he believes that America is well worth celebrating, particularly on its 250th anniversary." ______ 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	2025-05-16 00:03:07+00:00	[ "Fraud", "Crime", "California", "Matthew Piercey", "Business", "Oddities" ]	# California man who used underwater scooter in lake to try to evade arrest pleads guilty to fraud May 16th, 2025, 12:03 AM --- SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California man who tried to evade arrest by jumping into a lake with an underwater scooter pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud, money laundering and witness tampering in connection with a $35 million investment fraud scheme, federal prosecutors announced. Prosecutors say that between 2015 and 2020, Matthew Piercey, 48, of Shasta County solicited investor funds and used the money for various personal and business expenses, including the purchase of two residential properties. He paid back to investors about $8.8. million of the $35 million invested, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California. When agents tried to arrest him in November 2020, Piercey led them on a car chase before dumping his vehicle and fleeing into frigid Lake Shasta with what was later identified as a Yamaha 350LI underwater submersible device. "Piercey spent some time out of sight underwater where law enforcement could only see bubbles," federal prosecutors wrote in court documents calling him a flight risk. He emerged from the lake after about 20 minutes and was arrested. The underwater device was a sea scooter, or a motorized device that pulls users underwater at speeds of about 4 mph (6.4 kph). Piercey tried to dissuade investors and witnesses from responding to grand jury subpoenas and after his arrest used coded communications from jail to direct two individuals to dispose of a U-Haul storage locker he had rented, according to the Justice Department statement. An FBI search of the locker turned up a wig and 31,000 Swiss francs, or roughly $37,000. Piercey faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud, mail fraud, witness tampering and money laundering count. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 11:15:03+00:00	[ "Celebrity", "Paris", "France", "Hip hop and rap", "Notable Deaths", "Aya Nakamura", "Entertainment", "Pascal Obispo" ]	# Rapper Werenoi, France's biggest-selling music artist in recent years, dies at age 31 May 18th, 2025, 11:15 AM --- PARIS (AP) — Rapper Werenoi, France's biggest-selling music artist in recent years, has died at the age of 31, his producer and record company said. The artist, whose real name was Jérémy Bana Owona, was the number 1 album seller in France in 2023 and 2024 according to the ranking of the National Union of Phonographic Industry, which includes in-store and e-commerce sales as well as plays on streaming services. "It's with immense sadness that we've learned of Werenoi's passing," his record company Believe said on Instagram. "All our thoughts are with his family, loved ones, his team and everyone who knew him." "Rest in peace my brother, I love you," his producer Babs posted on X. French media report Werenoi died early Saturday in a Paris hospital. The cause of his death has not been made public. Werenoi first became known to the French public in 2021 when he posted his song "Guadalajara" on YouTube and it was viewed hundreds of thousand times. He released three albums, "Carré" in 2023, "Pyramide" the next year and "Diamant Noir" last month, making him one of the biggest names in French rap. Several French rappers posted tributes on social media. French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, who featured on his second album, wrote : "Rest in peace my dude. A news that saddens me and courage to the loved ones especially." "He made a difference for the quality of his songs, his melodies and his punchlines," singer Pascal Obispo, who had accompanied Werenoi on the piano at a 2023 Paris concert, told French newspaper Le Parisien.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 20:47:56+00:00	[ "Pennsylvania", "Voting", "Legislation", "Josh Shapiro", "Manuel Bonder", "Politics", "Joanna McClinton", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Elections", "U.S. Republican Party" ]	# Democrats endorse set of changes to Pennsylvania election rules, sending bill to state Senate By Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy May 13th, 2025, 08:47 PM --- HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters would get more than a week of early voting and county election officials would have more time to start processing mail-in ballots under an election law proposal that advanced out of the state House on Tuesday by a single vote, with all Republicans opposed. The wide-ranging bill sponsored by Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, addresses an array of election-related matters, including rules for ballot drop boxes, electronic lists of registered voters for election workers to consult, in-person early voting and voter registration. It passed on a vote of 102 to 101 and was sent to the Republican majority state Senate, adding a potent political issue to the mix as lawmakers and the governor head into the homestretch of the annual state budget season's dealmaking. "This bill will make sure we have less ambiguities in the law," McClinton said in an interview before the vote. "It also accounts for the changes in how voters want to cast their ballot by providing options for early voting, increased access to ballot drop boxes and allowing them to correct small errors on mail-in ballots." Its prospects in the Republican majority state Senate are unclear. The communications director for the GOP caucus released a statement saying simply that the House-passed bill will be reviewed by a committee. It would require counties to pay their elections officials at least $175 per election and change the rules for recounts and contested elections. Every county would have to have at least two ballot drop boxes to return mail-in ballots, with more in larger counties. In-person early voting would start 11 days before an election and end the Sunday before the election. All counties would have at least one in-person early voting site, and larger counties would have to add one for every 100,000 registered voters. The early in-person voting proposal would replace a clumsy and time-consuming alternative that led to hourslong lines and claims of disenfranchisement last fall in the nation's biggest presidential battleground state. That alternative allows voters to go to their election office, register for a mail-in ballot, fill it out on the spot and hand it in. Some county election offices found themselves swamped and unprepared for the influx. Establishing rules for drop boxes would settle a gray area in state law that led to partisan court battles over whether drop boxes were legal and, if so, what sort of security measures are required. Democratic-controlled counties have embraced the use of drop boxes for mail-in voters, while Republican-controlled counties have generally eschewed them as illegal. Under the bill, the state would provide $2 million for the Department of State to identify electronic poll books that are compatible with other election software. The state would borrow up to $60 million more to help counties purchase them. Electronic poll books — with lists of eligible, registered voters for election workers to use — would replace paper poll lists with a digital system. Voters using mail-in ballots would no longer have to provide an accurate, handwritten date on the return envelope, a requirement that has spawned years of litigation. But the voter would still have to sign the envelope for their ballot to count. Household members and others close to a voter would be permitted to return their mail-in ballots — current law requires most voters to return their own ballots. County workers could begin to process mail-in ballots a week before the election, taking ballots out of envelopes and scanning them if the scanner is able to scan the ballot without tabulating or recording the vote until Election Day. Many counties have long hoped for more time to begin to process the ballots in advance as a way to lessen the Election Day workload. Asked if Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro supports McClinton's proposal, his press secretary, Manuel Bonder, said the governor wants to improve the safety and security of elections "while enfranchising voters" and that his team "will continue working with both legislative chambers toward bipartisan reforms that protect our democratic process for all eligible Pennsylvanians."
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:44:34+00:00	[ "Law enforcement", "Lawsuits", "Texas", "Legal proceedings", "Shootings", "Border security", "School shootings", "Gun violence", "Adrian Gonzales", "Christina Mitchell", "Paul Looney", "Pete Arredondo" ]	# Texas prosecutor sues to compel Border Patrol testimony in trial of Uvalde police officer By Jim Vertuno May 13th, 2025, 09:44 PM --- AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas prosecutor filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force three U.S. Border Patrol agents who responded to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting to testify in the prosecution of the former school police chief, who is facing criminal charges over the slow law enforcement action at the massacre. The lawsuit from Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell filed on May 9 claims the testimony from the three officers, two of whom were part of the tactical team that eventually broke into a classroom and killed the gunman, is vital to the case against former school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who faces multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. According to the lawsuit, the agents gave written statements early in the state investigation into the shooting and the response from nearly 400 local, state and federal officers who waited more than an hour to breach the classroom where the gunman was located. Nineteen fourth-grade students and two teachers were killed, and 18 more people were injured, in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have since then denied multiple requests to make the agents available for testimony about the law enforcement response, their tactical training, equipment and other topics. The information sought "is extraordinarily significant" because the agents are "uniquely qualified to clarify how Arredondo's actions, omissions, and orders as incident commander influenced their actions," the lawsuit said. Customs and Border Protection officials did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment. The lawsuit seeks federal court help because a state court cannot compel the agents to testify on matters that relate to their official duties. The testimony could also be valuable to Arredondo if the agents' accounts present mitigating information for his actions that day, the lawsuit said. And it noted that Mitchell has offered to seek a court order granting the agents immunity for their cooperation and testimony. The lawsuit does not name the three agents but identifies one of them as the "tactical commander who directed and participated in the entry" of the classroom by officers. The lawsuit said Border Patrol officials have claimed prosecutors can find the information they want from other responding law enforcement agencies. Border Patrol has also said the agents' testimony could reveal classified information or confidential sources, disclose law enforcement techniques or "interfere with the orderly conduct of CBP business." Arredondo and former Uvalde schools officer Adrian Gonzales are the only two responding law enforcement officers that day to be charged and are scheduled for trial in October. Both men have pleaded not guilty. According to the lawsuit, because Gonzales was indicted over his conduct prior to the arrival of the Border Patrol, the request to compel testimony from the agents is not part of his case. Multiple investigations into the response have laid bare cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers. Paul Looney, an attorney for Arredondo, said he also has been frustrated by Border Patrol's refusal to let its agents testify, and questioned why prosecutors aren't demanding to speak to more of them. The lawsuit said prosecutors initially wanted to speak with 18 agents, but narrowed it down to try to get Border Patrol's cooperation. "We want all of them. We want to know what they saw, what they heard," Looney said. "One level of government is completely frustrating our ability to know what happened in there."
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 12:49:38+00:00	[ "Bielefeld", "Crime", "Law enforcement", "Assault" ]	# German police search for a man who attacked and injured at least 5 people outside a bar May 18th, 2025, 12:49 PM --- BERLIN (AP) — German police were searching for a man who attacked and injured at least five people in the western city of Bielefeld early Sunday. Police said four of the victims suffered serious injuries and were being treated in different hospitals after the suspect attacked revelers in front of a bar in the city center with a sharp object and then fled the scene. They said the four severely injured were all men aged between 22 and 27 from Bielefeld or nearby towns. They also said they could not rule out the possibility that more people were injured in the attack. German news agency dpa reported that the revelers were soccer fans from a local team who defended themselves against the attacker before he fled. The city's Arminia Bielefeld soccer club won its match on Saturday, and with it became 3rd division champions. According to police, the attacker — who they only identified as a 35-year-old Syrian living in Germany — was probably also injured in the face. In a statement Sunday night, police said the suspect left a bag at the crime scene containing personal documents and a bottle with an unknown liquid smelling of petrol. "The background to the crime and the suspect's motive are currently unknown. According to the current state of knowledge, the suspect attacked people indiscriminately," police said. "Investigations are currently being carried out at full speed in all directions." Bielefeld police said in a statement that they found several knives at the scene of the attack and that they have activated a witness hotline asking people to upload videos and photos of the attack. They warned anyone who sees the suspect to keep a distance and call emergency services as the man may be armed and dangerous.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:09:41+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Omar Lopez", "Chicago", "Annapolis", "Activism", "Vermont", "Philadelphia", "Seattle", "Business", "Government policy", "Immigration", "Jorge Mujica", "Politics", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Gavin Buckley", "Protests and demonstrations", "Bernie Sanders", "Political and civil unrest", "France government" ]	# What to know about May Day By Sophia Tareen May 1st, 2025, 04:09 AM --- CHICAGO (AP) — From worker rights rallies to marches for social justice, activists around the globe kicked off May Day demonstrations on Thursday. In some countries, it's a public holiday honoring labor, but activists planning marches in the United States say much of their message is about fighting back against President Donald Trump's policies targeting immigrants, federal workers and diversity programs. Thousands are expected at demonstrations from Tokyo to Chicago. In some parts of the U.S., though, fear sowed by the Trump administration is expected to keep some immigrants home. "Everybody is under attack right now," said Jorge Mujica, a longtime labor leader from Chicago, where May Day rallies historically have had a large turnout. ## What is May Day? The roots of May Day, or International Workers Day, stretch back over a century to a turbulent and pivotal time in U.S. labor history. In the 1880s, unions pushing for better workplace conditions began advocating for an eight-hour workday with widespread demonstrations and strikes. In May 1886, a Chicago labor rally turned deadly when a bomb was thrown and police retaliated with gunfire. Several labor activists, most of them immigrants, were convicted of conspiracy to incite violence among other charges. Four were hanged. Unions later recommended that the workers be honored every May 1. A sculpture in Chicago's Haymarket Square commemorates them with an inscription that reads: "Dedicated to all workers of the world." ## May Day rallies and riots May Day marches, rallies and riots have taken place worldwide in recent years as unions push for better rights for workers, groups air economic grievances or activists call for an end to the war in Gaza. While most demonstrations have been peaceful, there have been clashes with police. Last year, police in Paris fired tear gas as thousands of protesters marched through the French capital, seeking better pay and working conditions. In New York City, May Day demonstrations coincided with rising tensions at college campuses over pro-Palestinian student encampments, resulting in numerous arrests. This year, organizers in numerous cities, including New York, are calling for unity across many causes and groups. "We're organizing for a world where every family has housing, health care, fair wages, union protection, and safety — regardless of race, immigration status, or zip code," the American Civil Liberty Union of New York said in a statement. Other notable U.S. demonstrations include a workers rally at Philadelphia City Hall with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and demonstrations at the Colorado State Capitol and in Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. ## May Day immigration marches While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That's when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would've made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony. Crowds for May 1 demonstrations have since dwindled with advocacy groups splintering and shifting activism arenas such as voters rights. This year in Chicago, organizers say activism starting Thursday will last until Cinco de Mayo with boycotts and walkouts. Their focus is workers' rights but also rising anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump's administration. Organizers acknowledge a chilling effect on immigrant communities since Trump has cracked down on enforcement, especially in so-called sanctuary cities including Chicago. They're expecting lower numbers of immigrants but are expanding their outreach to more unions, including for teachers and nurses. "There's a lot fear out there," said Omar Lopez, a longtime Chicago organizer. ## Who celebrates May Day? In some countries, May Day is a public holiday for workers, including France, Kenya and China, where it lasts five days. In Russia, Communist-led May Day celebrations were once massive affairs. It's also a traditional spring celebration that's observed in ways that don't involve marching in the streets or civil disobedience. In Hawaii, May 1 is called Lei Day, which isn't an official holiday, but a statewide celebration of the Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit through the creation and giving of lei — usually a necklace of flowers. Elsewhere, people mark the holiday by leaving May Day baskets filled with gifts and flowers on the doorsteps of friends. The city of Annapolis, Maryland, is set to hold its 70th May Day Basket Competition, where residents and businesses outdo each other for the best floral arrangements. "It's our community's way of saying goodbye to winter and welcoming the beauty and energy of spring," Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 04:15:19+00:00	[ "Gary Gerard Hamilton", "Met Gala", "Black experience", "Fashion", "JWD-evergreen", "New York City Wire", "Apparel and accessories manufacturing", "Rose Callahan", "Michael Andrew", "Arts and entertainment", "James McFarland", "Muhammad Ali", "Michael Henry", "Jacques Agbobly", "Lifestyle", "Guy Wood", "Metropolitan Museum of Art", "Race and ethnicity", "Duke Ellington", "Jackie Robinson", "Sean Diddy Combs", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# The Met Gala is over, but dandyism isn't. Here's how to dress like a dandy in everyday life By Gary Gerard Hamilton May 7th, 2025, 04:15 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Henry Adams had reached a fashion crossroads by the early 1970s: As bell bottoms and afros became the trend and the look of film figures like John Shaft and "Super Fly" became style prototypes, the teenager felt unrepresented. But a previous trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for its "Harlem On My Mind" exhibit, had already begun to lay down his fashion foundation. "When I saw those photographs of elegant Harlemites promenading up and down Seventh Avenue and Lennox Avenue ... the raccoon coats and fox coats, and spangled gowns, and bowler hats ... I thought, 'Oh! There is another way for me to be authentically Black,'" recalled the New York-based cultural and architectural historian, now 69, of the fashionable splendor. The style Adams would embrace had a name: dandyism. And dandyism was at the heart of Monday's Met Gala, where many of the world's most famous and influential tastemakers donned their luxury best to kick off the Met's "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibit. But Black dandyism isn't limited to expensive couture — it's displayed daily. "It's everywhere in the Black community, the notion of what a dandy is," explained Adams, who was photographed for the "Superfine" catalog. "The ingeniousness and ingenuity and creativity of Black people, so far as fashion was concerned, it's always been with us." As the menswear-focused exhibit — the Costume Institute's first to exclusively display Black designers — opens to the public Saturday, here are tips from dandies on embracing the style in everyday life. ## Tip 1: Start with confidence Dandies say the key to a distinctive look first begins on the inside. "Fashion's a sense of personality. Two guys can go to the same store and get the same outfit and look totally different," said Guy Wood, 62, the stylish co-owner of Harlem Haberdashery. Inspired by family members and dapper Harlem neighbors, he developed a knack for style early. "It's confidence ... you walk in the room, and all the heads turn." Michael Andrew, a 42-year-old Atlanta-based style consultant, first delved into dandyism after being inspired by Fonzworth Bentley, most recognized as Sean "Diddy" Combs' often-photographed assistant and umbrella holder in the early 2000s. Bentley's colorful outfits and tailored outfits separated himself from the hip-hop era's prevalent baggy look. "A lot of guys think that being a dandy is about being over the top," said Andrew, who was photographed for Rose Callahan's 2013 book "I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman." "For me, dandyism is the highest form of taste with self-expression." ## Tip 2: Opt for the statement pieces The foundation of dandyism rests upon tenets such as bold colors and fine tailoring, but there's no singular way to achieve the look. Each dandy creates their own unique style, often centered on specific elements. For Wood, who refers to crafting looks as making gumbo, it starts with suits. "Wearing a suit, you just feel important," said Wood, who often pairs them with brogue shoes of various bright colors. "We love well-tailored." James McFarland, an 80-year-old master tailor, says a dandy's affinity for tailoring is easy to understand: "It's very simple: we're a visual world. When you wear something that's fine tailored and it's fitting you well, people look at that." Known as "Gentleman Jim," McFarland was tutored by Orie Walls, the go-to Harlem-based tailor of the 1960s. McFarland says they crafted suits for nearly every famous Black male celebrity of the time, from Duke Ellington to Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali — as well as some of the era's most infamous characters, like gangsters Frank Lucas and Bumpy Johnson. He says wearing a suit "makes you feel better. You ever heard the term styling and profiling?" While Adams, the historian, is drawn to bow ties, buck shoes and straw hats, Andrew says the beauty of dandyism is making it your own. "Texture is the must-have when you start talking about dandyism — textures and patterns. The great point here is that dandies always have their thing. And so, for me, hats are my thing," Andrew said, adding that small accessories, like stylish wool or cashmere socks and pocket squares, can easily elevate a look. "Now, it's starting to become glasses. … Every dandy has the opportunity to utilize something." ## Tip 3: Creativity is worth more than cash Wood says creativity is essential to becoming a dandy — not a high income. "That's a cheat code," said Wood. "It is being creative … most of us don't have a lot of money. You might go in your mom's closet and (think), 'Oh, that scarf is fly.' You tie it around your neck and lay it over your shoulder. You just can't be scared." Adams says while style and inspiration can go hand-in-hand, individuality should always be paramount. "People should find their truth and aspire to look like themselves," he said, noting he shops at a variety of stores, from the high-end Brooks Brothers to off-price and discount stores like Marshalls and K&G Fashion. "Part of the thing that made me rebel against looking like 'Super Fly' or 'Shaft' is I didn't want to look like everybody else." Jacques Agbobly, a designer whose clothes are featured in the Met exhibit, agrees. "There are people who would really just think it's about the suit that you're wearing and the top hat … but for me, and I think that's what this exhibition does really fondly, is really putting together a group of amazing clothing that really redefines what dandyism is," he said. For the Togo-born designer, "taking up space is a sort of open-ended thing in a way," whether it's achieved through colors, silhouettes or fabric choices. ## Tip 4: Avoid the crisis of casualness A general consensus among dandies is that society has embraced casualness, shunning the well-dressed looks of the past. McFarland, the tailor, says his profession isn't as admired or used in U.S. as it was years ago. He teaches fine tailoring as he has for decades, and is planning to start a podcast to discuss the craft and his adventures styling celebrities of his era. "When I grew up, I wanted to look like the people in the neighborhood," he said, explaining his mother couldn't afford the clothes he wanted, leading him to tailoring. "Everybody, male and female, was dressed up." Andrew hopes that same stylish spirit of yesteryear can make a resurgence, believing appearance and pride work together. "I would challenge or would encourage all of us, especially as Black people, to remember our history, to remember that we used to throw on our Sunday's best," he said. "We wanted to show up as the best versions of ourselves." The "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibit, which will run through October, is sure to introduce visitors to the most elevated forms of Black dandyism. But for Wood and fellow daily dandies, it's just business as usual. "The fact that the Met realizes that is a beautiful thing," he said with a sly smile. "But we've been doing this forever and we really not paying attention to it. We just do it because we love it." ___ This story has been corrected to report that the "Harlem On My Mind" exhibit was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not the Museum of Modern Art. ___ Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

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