null

Cole Palmer hit back at "social media idiots" after ending his goal drought in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.

Beyond the politics is a brew of resentment and reverence that the president, an Ivy League graduate himself, has long harbored for a club that has never accepted him.

Shabbos Kestenbaum sued Harvard over accusations that it had ignored antisemitism when he was a student. His criticism has taken him to the White House and all over the world.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia stands on top of his car after winning the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Miami Gardens. Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)2025-05-04T21:41:49Z MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) Oscar Piastri maintained his advantage in the Formula 1 championship fight by winning the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday for his fourth win through six races this season.Piastri has now won three consecutive F1 races for McLaren Racing, where he and teammate Lando Norris are trying to dethrone four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull. Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in 28 years; Mika Hakkinen did it with a win in the 1997 season finale and then victories in the first two races of 1998.He widened his lead over Norris in the driver standings to 16 points, while Verstappen trails Piastri by 32 points.Norris earned his first Grand Prix victory last year at Miami when he snapped Verstappens two-year winning streak at the course surrounding Hard Rock Stadium. Norris also won the sprint race on Saturday Piastri dominated but a late safety car cost him the victory but Verstappen won the pole in qualifying. Verstappen, who announced the birth of his first child Friday morning, has been determined to disprove the myth that fatherhood would make him a more conservative driver. It was evident as he darted away at the start and then aggressively held off Norris challenge for the lead. The Red Bull and McLaren were side-by-side and Norris was trying to edge ahead of the Dutchman, but he ran off track and lost four spots. Norris said Verstappen forced him off track and there was nothing he could do but try to avoid running into a wall but F1 took no action against Verstappen. What can I say? If I dont go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, Norris said. You cant win. But it really just how it is with Max its crash or their pass.Norris recovered and picked his way back toward the front, but not before Piastri took control away from Verstappen on the 14th of 57 laps. McLaren has decided it will allow Piastri and Norris to race each other cleanly without team orders, and Norris was cleared to challenge his Australian teammate for the victory. In the waning laps, Norris was able to close the gap but could never catch Piastri and settled for second in a 1-2 finish for McLaren. The two held a nearly 40-second advantage over George Russell of Mercedes, who finished third.Verstappen faded to fourth.Its just incredible, the hard work thats gone in, Piastri said of McLaren. I remember two years ago here in Miami, we were genuinely the slowest team. I think we got lapped twice and to now have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result of the hard work of every single person.Alex Albon of Williams was fifth, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was sixth and Charles Leclerc was seventh after Ferrari ordered Lewis Hamilton to give his teammate the position in the closing laps. Hamilton was eighth.Carlos Sainz Jr. was ninth for Williams and Yuki Tsunoda was 10th for Red Bull. Doohan in doubtJack Doohan ran into another car on the opening lap and then crashed on the second lap a showing that wont quiet chatter the rookie is on the verge of being replaced at Alpine by Franco Colapinto.There have been media reports in Argentina that Colapinto will replace Doohan at F1s next race, later this month in Italy. It was dismissed at the start of the Miami weekend by Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes, who indicated as it is today the Australian would still be in the seat at Imola.I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco, when hes going to be in the car. Im sure theres a lot of people in Argentina whod like him in the car this Sunday, Oakes said about the speculation. Weve been pretty open as a team that thats just noise. Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But its natural that theres always speculation there.As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre (Gasly), he continued. Weve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but today that is the case.Doohan, who didnt complete two laps Sunday and finished last, has yet to score a point this season through six races. His best finish was 13th at the Chinese Grand Prix.___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

null

The Royals, who entered Sunday's game with an MLB-low 18 home runs this season, hit a franchise-record seven homers against the Orioles.

Thousands of migrants from Venezuela and other countries are stranded in southern Mexico, forbidden to travel or work, but lacking the papers or money to go back to their home countries.

For nearly four decades the prop house History for Hire has helped filmmakers recreate the past. But with fewer films shot in Los Angeles, they are not sure how much longer they can hang on.

Top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr., 19, who hit .329 with 11 stolen bases in 24 games at the High-A level this season, was promoted to Double-A by the New York Yankees on Sunday, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, bringing him closer to the majors.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said whoever wins the team's kicking job will be a decision "based on football."

George Simion bucked a recent trend of voters around the world punishing candidates seen as friendly to President Trump.

In voting in Canada and Australia, right-wing parties that borrowed from the MAGA playbook were punished. Elsewhere, President Trump is having a more complex impact.

A boat makes its way toward Alcatraz Island with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the background in this view from Sausalito, Calif., Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)2025-05-04T23:18:30Z NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on a hard-to-reach California island that has been closed for more than 60 years.In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. Thats the way its supposed to be.That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house Americas most ruthless and violent Offenders, he wrote, adding: The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. The prison infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it was known as the The Rock and housed some of the nations most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George Machine Gun Kelly. It has long been part of the cultural imagination and has been the subject of numerous movies, including The Rock starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didnt survive the attempt.The fate of three particular inmates John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris is of some debate and was dramatized in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clinton Eastwood. Alcatraz Island is now a major tourist site that is operate by the National Parks Service and is a designated National Historic Landmark. The closure of the federal prison in 1963 was attributed to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility, because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat.A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency will comply with all Presidential Orders. The spokesperson did not immediately answer questions from The Associated Press regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agencys role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Services control of the island.The island serves as a veritable time machine to a bygone era of corrections. The Bureau of Prisons currently has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz, including its maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, and the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is home to the federal death chamber.The order comes as Trump has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, without due process. Trump has also directed the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labeled the worst criminal aliens. The Bureau of Prisons has faced myriad crises in recent years and has been subjected to increased scrutiny after Jeffrey Epsteins suicide at a federal jail in New York City in 2019. An AP investigation uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons. AP reporting has disclosed widespread criminal activity by employees, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including assaults and suicides.The APs investigation also exposed rampant sexual abuse at a federal womens prison in Dublin, California. Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law strengthening oversight of the agency after AP reporting spotlighted its many flaws.___ Sisak reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto

Mr. Deepfakes, the go-to site for nonconsensual deepfake porn, says its shutting down and not coming back because it lost a service provider and data.A critical service provider has terminated service permanently. Data loss has made it impossible to continue operation, a notice that appears when visitors go to the site now says. The site's forums and videos are no longer available at the time of writing. We will not be relaunching. Any website claiming this is fake. This domain will eventually expire and we are not responsible for future use. This message will be removed around one week.We dont know why Mr. Deepfakes was shut down, which service it was cut from, and why. The person behind the site is also still anonymous, though in January the German newspaper Der Spiegel said it was able to identify them as a 36-year-old in Toronto who has been working at a hospital for several years.While this is an important victory for victims of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), it is far too little and far too long in the making, Hany Farid, a professor at UC Berkeley and one of the worlds leading experts on digitally manipulated images, told us in an email. The technology, financial, and advertising services that continue to profit from and enable sites like mrdeepfakes have to take more responsibility for their part in the creation and distribution of NCII. While this takedown is a good start, there are many more just like this one, so lets not stop here.Shortly after we first reported about the emergence of deepfake videos in 2017, named after the pseudonymous Reddit user of the same name who first started sharing videos that face swapped female celebrities into existing porn videos, the practice quickly spread to other corners of the internet. But no site was as central to the development, distribution, and monetization of deepfake porn videos like Mr. Deepfakes, which quickly gained popularity after Reddit, Pornhub, and other sites banned deepfake porn and other forms of nonconsensual media following our reporting.Do you know anything else about the people behind Mr. Deepfakes? We would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message Emanuel securely on Signal at (609) 678-3204. Otherwise, email him emanuel@404media.co. Using a non-work device, you can message Sam securely on Signal at +1 646 926 1726. Otherwise, send her an email at sam@404media.co.Mr. Deepfakes allowed users to upload videos to its site like other porn tube sites, and also connected users with creators, who sold their services and created videos per request. These creators were often paid via cryptocurrency. While other porn tube sites, social media, and various internet platforms gradually banned nonconsensual synthetic sexual media over the years and have successfully moderated against it to various degrees of success, Mr. Deepfake kept hosting these videos the entire time.More importantly, the Mr. Deepfakes forums became an important resource for people who created nonconsensual media. Users on the site flocked to the forums to develop new techniques with each other, link to apps and tools that helped them create deepfakes, and shared datasets designed to recreate the likeness of specific real people.In 2022 we reported that DeepFaceLab, one of the most advanced and popular open-source projects for creating deepfake videos, was developed in large part by users on the Mr. Deepfakes forums. A research paper presenting the DeepFaceLab method originally credited Mr. Deepfakes (Mr. Dpfks) for providing the forums where much of its development happened. Mr. Deepfakes name was taken off the paper after our story.While Mr. Deepfakes is gone, at least for now, unfortunately its toxic legacy will likely live on forever. The community that it built has since connected on Telegram, where much of that same kind of development of techniques and sharing of nonconsensual media happens now. The tools and apps that it popularized have also spread far and wide across the internet, with even companies like Apple and Google struggling to keep it off its platforms, and social media like Instagram struggling to stop them from advertising there.

null

The fans got exactly what they wanted Sunday at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena: another vintage Caitlin Clark moment.

The authorities arrested Jacob Henriques, 29, after he had tried to solicit prospective and admitted students for sex, the Justice Department said. He worked for Emmanuel College in Boston.

He starred in one of the westerns that dominated TV in the late 1950s. After losing traction in Hollywood, he became a traveling clown.

Reigning Cup champion Joey Logano surged ahead on the restart in overtime Sunday to win in the 11th race this year

Real Madrid have identified William Saliba as a possible future leader of the club. Transfer Talk has the latest news, gossip and rumors.

President Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had raised the idea with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, who rejected it.

President Trump repeatedly said he didnt know when asked in a TV interview whether every person on American soil was entitled to due process, as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver will don his second ring in a several month stretch after helping the Eagles win Super Bowl LIX in February.

Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead to 16 points with victory ahead of teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix.

In a lawsuit, the condo board at 432 Park Avenue says the city and potential residents were not told about the severity of early cracks in the supertall buildings exterior.

The patriotic response to todays threat to American democracy is to oppose Trump soberly and strategically.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters after disembarking Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-05-05T02:22:36Z NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump is opening a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the U.S.In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death, he wrote, complaining that other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw filmmakers and studios away from the U.S. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!It wasnt immediately clear how any such tariff on international productions could be implemented. Its common for both large and smaller films to include production both in the U.S. and other countries. Big-budget movies like the upcoming Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning, for instance, are shot around the world. Incentive programs for years have influenced where movies are shot, increasingly driving film production out of California and to other states and countries with favorable tax incentives, like Canada and the United Kingdom. Yet tariffs are designed to lead consumers toward American products. And in movie theaters, American-produced movies overwhelming dominate the domestic marketplace. China has ramped up its domestic movie production, culminating in the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 grossing more than $2 billion this year. But even then, its sales came almost entirely from mainland China. In North America, in earned just $20.9 million.The Motion Picture Association didnt immediately respond to messages Sunday evening.The MPAs data shows how much Hollywood exports have dominated cinemas. According to the MPA, the American movies produced $22.6 billion in exports and $15.3 billion in trade surplus in 2023. Trump has made good on the tariff man label he gave himself years ago, slapping new taxes on goods made in countries around the globe. That includes a 145% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% baseline tariff on goods from other countries, with even higher levies threatened.By unilaterally imposing tariffs, Trump has exerted extraordinary influence over the flow of commerce, creating political risks and pulling the market in different directions. There are tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, with more imports, including pharmaceutical drugs, set to be subject to new tariffs in the weeks ahead.Trump has long voiced concern about movie production moving overseas.Shortly before he took office, he announced that he had tapped actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to serve as special ambassadors to Hollywood to bring it BACKBIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!U.S. film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the U.S. was down 26% last year compared with 2021, according to data from ProdPro, which tracks production. The groups annual survey of executives, which asked about preferred filming locations, found no location in the U.S. made the top five, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Toronto, the U.K., Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia came out on top, with California placing sixth, Georgia seventh, New Jersey eighth and New York ninth.The problem is especially acute in California. In the greater Los Angeles area, production last year was down 5.6% from 2023 according to FilmLA, second only to 2020, during the peak of the pandemic. Last, October, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed expanding Californias Film & Television Tax Credit program to $750 million annually, up from $330 million. Other U.S. cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago and San Francisco have also used aggressive tax incentives to lure film and TV productions. Those programs can take the form of cash grants, as in Texas, or tax credits, which Georgia and New Mexico offer. Other nations have been stealing the movie-making capabilities from the United States, Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday night after returning from a weekend in Florida. If theyre not willing to make a movie inside the United States we should have a tariff on movies that come in.___Associated Press writer Gary Field contributed to this report from Washington. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) and Draymond Green celebrate after Game 7 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)2025-05-05T03:15:10Z HOUSTON (AP) Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Buddy Hield made nine 3-pointers and scored 33 points, and the Golden State Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 7 Sunday night.The Warriors will face the Timberwolves Tuesday night in Minnesota.Hield had a scorching first half with six 3-pointers and 22 points to carry the Warriors to a 12-point lead, with Curry scoring just three points before the break. Then Curry took over in the closing minutes and performed his signature night night gesture as the Warriors put the Rockets away.The Warriors became the seventh No. 7 seed in NBA history to advance to the semifinals and eliminated Houston in the playoffs for a fifth time. They sent the James Harden-led Rockets squads packing four times between 2015 and 2019. Hield was 9 of 11 from 3-point range, setting an NBA record for a Game 7 and making more 3s than the Rockets, who were 6 of 18 from long range.Amen Thompson scored 24 points to lead Houston, which forced Game 7 with two straight wins but couldnt put away the experienced Warriors.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Here's what has stood out from the latest playoff games of the second round.

Trailing 3-1 in the third period of Game 7 at home, with their season on the line, the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets rallied to stun the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, securing a victory in their first-round series Sunday, and a second-round date with the Dallas Stars.

The Pacers used a barrage of 3-pointers and a 22-point, 13-assist effort from Tyrese Haliburton to stun the top-seeded Cavaliers 121-112.

Stephen Curry scored 22 points, Buddy Hield had 33 points, and the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Rockets on Sunday.

Scottie Scheffler tied the PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record Sunday, finishing at 253 and running away with an eight-shot victory at his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

As a U.S. tax loophole ends, the apparel makers that sell to America are forced to consider alternative markets or cheaper locations in and outside China.

U.S. oil prices fell to around $56 a barrel after the OPEC Plus cartel said it would bring more oil to market.

Declaring foreign film production a national security threat, the president said he had asked his top trade official to start the process of imposing a tax on Hollywood.

London City Lionesses have secured promotion to the Women's Super League (WSL) with a 2-2 draw with fellow contenders Birmingham City.

Former Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has criticised Manchester United's decision to transfer Scott McTominay to Napoli last summer.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim defended making wholesale changes to field the club's youngest ever Premier League lineup in Sunday's 4-3 loss at Brentford.

Kylian Mbapp scored two goals as Real Madrid fought off a late comeback attempt from Celta Vigo to secure a 3-2 win on Sunday.

Carlo Ancelotti said next weekend's Clsico will be "almost" decisive in the LaLiga title race after Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 3-2 on Sunday.

America must discard the belief that it is beating China in the innovation race.

The army chief, Gen. Syed Asim Munir, who usually works behind the scenes, has been shaping Pakistans tone in the crisis over Kashmir with his own tough talk.

Her free concert on Rio de Janeiros Copacabana Beach was not disrupted. The police said a group had planned to attack it with improvised explosives.

An Israeli army tank maneuvers in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)2025-05-05T05:26:52Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israeli Cabinet ministers approved plans to intensify military operations in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Monday.The official said the plan was gradual and involved claiming more territory in the Palestinian enclave, where Israel already controls roughly half of the land. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the influential security Cabinet, a gathering of top ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, approved the decision early Monday. The approval comes a day after Israel announced it was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers for the expanded operations in Gaza, which Israel says are meant to increase pressure on Hamas to negotiate a ceasefire that better aligns with Israels terms.An eight-week ceasefire with the Hamas militant group collapsed in March when Israel resumed strikes in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians, many of them women and children. Israel also captured swaths of territory and before the ceasefire crumbled, halted all entry of aid into Gaza. It says these were means to get Hamas to show more flexibility in ceasefire talks.The barring of aid has plunged the territory of 2.3 million people into what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis of the war. Hunger has been widespread, and shortages have set off looting.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war TIA GOLDENBERG Goldenberg is an Associated Press reporter and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories. She previously reported on East and West Africa from Nairobi. twitter mailto

Cardinals attend a mass on the fifth of nine days of mourning for late Pope Francis, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)2025-05-05T05:16:52Z VATICAN CITY (AP) There is no rule that cardinals electing a new pope vote a certain way according to their nationality or region. But understanding their makeup in geographic terms can help explain some of their priorities as they open the conclave Wednesday to choose a new leader of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church.A cardinal who heads the Vaticans liturgy office might have a very different set of concerns than the archbishop of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A cardinal who runs a large European archdiocese with hundreds of priests likely has other priorities than the Vatican ambassador ministering to war-torn Syria or the archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua whose church has been under siege by the government. There are currently 135 cardinals who are under age 80 and eligible to vote in the conclave, hailing from 71 different countries in the most geographically diverse conclave in history. Already two have formally told the Holy See that they cannot attend for health reasons, bringing the number of men who will enter the Sistine Chapel down to 133. A two-thirds majority is needed to be elected pope, meaning that if the number of electors holds at 133, the winner must secure 89 votes. Here is a regional breakdown of the full 135 cardinal electors, according to Vatican statistics and following the Vaticans geographic grouping. Europe: 53 (of whom 17 are Italian, the most of any country.) One of the electors who says hes skipping the conclave is from Spain, so the actual number of Europeans is expected to be 52. Asia (including Middle East): 23Africa: 18. One of the electors who says hes skipping the conclave is from Kenya, so the actual number of Africans is expected to be 17.North America: 16 (of whom 10 are American, 4 are Canadian and 2 are Mexican)South America: 17Central America: 4Oceania: 4 (one each from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga)___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Supporters of Muttahida Qabail Federation party burn a rendition of the Indian flag and poster with the picture of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a demonstration in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)2025-05-05T05:44:15Z ISLAMABAD (AP) Irans foreign minister was in Pakistan on Monday to try and mediate in the escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi after last months deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir.The visit by Abbas Araghchi was the first by a foreign dignitary since tensions flared in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region, Pakistans Foreign Ministry said. The visit comes just days after Tehran offered to help ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.Araghchi was welcomed by senior Pakistani officials after landing at an airport near Islamabad. He is to meet his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, as well as President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ministry said. It gave no further details.Pakistans armed forces have been on high alert since last week, after Cabinet minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad had credible intelligence that India could attack Pakistan in response to the April 22 assault in the resort town of Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists mostly Hindus in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any role in the attack, and offered to have a credible international probe. New Delhi has so far not accepted the offer and several world leaders, including officials from the United States, have urged both sides to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation. Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly due to their competing claims over Kashmir.The latest flare-up led the two countries to expel each others diplomats and nationals, as well as the shuttering of airspace. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A view taken from a Cub artillery observation plane on July 10, 1945, shows vast areas of destruction in Berlin, after repeated Anglo-American air raids on the German capital. Seen on the left, center, is the heavily damaged building of the German Reichstag with its distinct cupola, in the background center are the remains of Lehrter Bahnhof, one of the city's train stations. (AP Photo, File)2025-05-05T05:00:07Z BERLIN (AP) Central Berlin was in ruins after the Red Army completed the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in an intense fight for the capital in May 1945.After decades of division and its revival as the capital of a reunited, democratic Germany, the city is now transformed, blending painstakingly restored buildings with modern architecture. But the scars of the past remain visible in many places: facades riddled with holes from bullets and shrapnel, or gaps in rows of houses sometimes plugged by new buildings.An Associated Press story from May 9, 1945, painted a stark picture. It read: This town is a city of the dead. As a metropolis it has simply ceased to exist. Every house within miles of the center seems to have had its own bomb.Berlin, the epicenter of Adolf Hitlers power, was the ultimate prize as the Allies closed in from east and west on the disintegrating German defenses in the final stage of World War II. We all had a little case next to the bed, even the children, recalled Eva-Maria Kolb, now 89, of the constant aerial bombing in the last six months of the war. When there was an air raid warning you had to pull something on quickly and then go down to the basement. The final Battle of Berlin in late April and early May 1945 reduced much of what was left of the city to rubble. The Soviet military attacked from several directions with an enormous concentration of troops, who faced a struggle to cross rivers and canals and an intensifying street fight as they moved deeper and deeper into the city. On April 25, Berlin was encircled. Hitler killed himself in his bunker on April 30; and on May 2, the commander of German military forces in Berlin, Gen. Helmuth Weidling, capitulated to Soviet forces. Berlin was a heap of rubble because of these last 10 days, almost everything in the center was ruined, said Jrg Morr, the director of the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, located in the building where Germanys final surrender was signed. But the infrastructure could be repaired relatively quickly the sewerage system wasnt so badly damaged. They managed to get the water supply and pipes going again. A lot of old Berliners are still familiar with hand pumps ... electricity came, so that the trams starting running again, and the commuter trains.Kolb said: It was, of course, a great relief in 45 that the war was over and Hitler was no longer alive ... everyone who wasnt a Nazi was very, very grateful that the war was over.She recalled that parts of the city were rubble, but she went to a school in the Tempelhof district, south of the center, that was only half-ruined. It no longer had a roof and the second or third floor was missing but we had lessons. Only when it rained were lessons canceled. This marked the endPost-war Berlin was divided into sectors controlled by the wartime allies. That hardened into a Cold War division that saw two separate German states founded in 1949 and ultimately led to the building in 1961 of the Berlin Wall, which fell 28 years later as communist rule collapsed in East Germany. Germany was reunited in 1990 and the national government moved to Berlin in 1999. Parliament now meets in the restored Reichstag, where the raising of the Soviet Unions red flag in 1945 was emblematic of the victory over Nazi Germany. Graffiti left by Soviet troops at the Reichstag has been preserved at several places in the building.The military surrender of Berlin on May 2, 1945, wasnt quite the end of the war. Hitlers successor, Grand Adm. Karl Dnitz, tried to fight on but was quickly forced to negotiate Germanys surrender. Germanys unconditional capitulation was signed at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, on May 7 and came into effect the following day. But the Soviet Union had only a liaison officer at the ceremony and fighting against the Red Army continued in the east, so a second ceremony was agreed at Soviet headquarters in Berlin on May 8, Morr said. As a result, the West and Russia mark the end of the war in Europe on May 8 and May 9, respectively.In this room, World War II ended in Europe, he said, in the preserved hall where the capitulation was signed in Berlin. This marked the end.___Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Iraqi Justice Minister Khaled Shwani speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)2025-05-05T04:43:47Z BAGHDAD (AP) As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the countrys prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the countrys justice minister said in an interview.Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told The Associated Press on Saturday that Iraqs 31 prisons currently hold approximately 65,000 inmates, despite the system being built to accommodate only half that number. He acknowledged that the overcrowding has put a severe strain on prison healthcare and human rights standards.When we took office, overcrowding stood at 300%, he said. After two years of reform, weve reduced it to 200%. Our goal is to bring that down to 100% by next year in line with international standards.Thousands more detainees remain in the custody of security agencies but have not yet been transferred to the Ministry of Justice due to lack of prison capacity. Four new prisons are under construction, Shwani said, while three have been closed in recent years. Two others have been opened and six existing prisons expanded. The general amnesty law passed in January had strong support from Sunni lawmakers who argue that their community has been disproportionately targeted by terrorism charges, with confessions sometimes extracted under torture. But opponents say the law would allow the release of people involved in public corruption and embezzlement as well as militants who committed war crimes. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog group, said in a statement that the current version of the general amnesty law raises deep concerns over its potential legal and security consequences.Shwani said 2,118 prisoners have been released from the justice ministrys prisons since the amnesty law took effect, while others had been released from the custody of security agencies before being transferred to the Ministry of Justice. We have a committee studying the status of inmates and identifying those who may qualify for release, but the vision is not yet final, he said. The minister said he expects a good number to be released but cannot specify an exact percentage until we receive clarity from the judiciary on who qualifies for the amnesty.Iraqs prisons house hundreds of foreign nationals, most of them convicted of terrorism-related charges or affiliation with the al-Qaida and Islamic State militant groups. The inmates hail from countries including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Egypt, North African nations, and several European states, as well as a handful of U.S. citizens. Shwani said discussions are underway with several governments to repatriate their citizens, excluding those sentenced to death.He said inmates have been repatriated under existing agreements with Iran, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, including 127 Iranian inmates who were recently transferred back to Tehran.An Iranian who was convicted in the 2022 killing of a U.S. citizen in Baghdad remains in custody, however, Shwani said.Stephen Edward Troell, 45, a native of Tennessee, was fatally shot in his car in November by assailants as he pulled up to the street where he lived in Baghdads central Karrada district with his family. Iranian citizen Mohammed Ali Ridha was convicted in the killing, along with four Iraqis, in what was described as a kidnapping gone wrong. All executions have been halted following the issuance of the general amnesty law, Shwani said.Iraq has faced criticism from human rights groups over its application of the death penalty and particularly over mass executions carried out without prior notice to lawyers or family members of the prisoners.Shwani pushed back against the criticisms of prison conditions and of the executions.There are strict measures in place for any violations committed against inmates, he said. Many employees have been referred for investigation, dismissed, and prosecuted.He insisted that the number of executions carried out is limited not as high as reported in the media and said the death penalty is only applied in crimes that severely threaten national security and public safety, including inmates convicted in a 2016 bombing attack in Baghdads Karrada district that killed hundreds of people, as well as cases of child rape and high-ranking IS leaders.Executions have been paused to reassess cases under the new amnesty law, he said.