Nikola Jokic had 42 points and 22 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Nuggets a stunning 121-119 comeback win over the top-seeded Thunder on Monday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

An unending purge in Chinas top military ranks raises serious questions over the countrys readiness for offensive war.

Our clinics have found clear evidence of starvation in one-third of the population. And now Israel wants to take over aid.

Sweeping trains, sharp suiting, feathered finery and more.

In a short film and in conversation, the German filmmaker ponders the meaning of freedom, the complacency of peace and the new insecurity from Russias war and Donald Trump.

Cardinals leave at the end of a Mass on the eighth of nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)2025-05-06T05:00:36Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Cardinals electing a new pope have some fundamental questions to weigh, beyond whether to give the Catholic Church its first Asian or African pontiff, or a conservative or progressive.Although they come from 70 different countries, the 133 cardinals seem fundamentally united in finding a pope who will be able to make the 2,000-year-old church credible and relevant today, especially to young people.Its a tall task, given the sexual abuse and financials scandals that have harmed the churchs reputation and the secularizing trends in many parts of the world that are turning people away from organized religion.Add to that the Holy Sees dire financial state and often dysfunctional bureaucracy, and the job of being pope in the 21st century seems almost impossible.We need a superman! said Cardinal William Seng Chye Goh, the 67-year-old archbishop of Singapore. The cardinals will begin trying to find him Wednesday afternoon, when those princes of the church walk solemnly into the Sistine Chapel to the meditative chant of the Litany of the Saints. Theyll take their oaths of secrecy under the daunting vision of heaven and hell in Michelangelos Last Judgement, hear a meditation from a senior cardinal, and then cast their first ballot. Assuming no candidate secures the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals will retire for the day and return on Thursday. They will have two ballots in the morning and then two in the afternoon, until a winner is found.Asked what the priorities of the cardinal electors were, Goh told reporters this week that the No. 1 issue was that the new pope must be able to spread the Catholic faith and make the church relevant in todays time. How to reach out to young people, how to show a face of love, joy and hope. A pope for the futureBut beyond that, there are some real-world geopolitical concerns to take into consideration. The Catholic Church is g rowing in Africa and Asia, both in numbers of baptized faithful and vocations to the priesthood and womens religious orders. It is shrinking in traditionally Catholic bastions of Europe, with empty churches and the faithful formally leaving the church in places like Germany, many citing the abuse scandals.Asia is ripe for evangelization and the harvest of vocations, said the Rev. Robert Reyes, who studied in the seminary with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Filipino prelate considered a contender to be the first Asian pope.But should the pope necessarily reflect the new face of the Catholic Church, and inspire the faithful especially in the parts of the world where the momentum of growth is already under way? Does it even matter? Pope Francis was the first Latin American pope, and the region still counts the majority of the worlds Catholics.Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the retired archbishop of Mumbai, said the church needs to become more Asian, culturally and spiritually.The center of gravity of the world is shifting toward Asia, he said. The Asian church has much to give to the world. At 80, Gracias wont be participating in the conclave, but India has four cardinal-electors, and overall Asia counts 23, making it the second-biggest voting bloc after Europe, which has 53 (or likely 52, given that one is not expected to participate for health reasons).One of the big geopolitical issues facing the cardinals is China and the plight of the estimated 12 million Chinese Catholics there. Under Francis, the Vatican in 2018 inked a controversial agreement with Beijing governing the appointment of bishops, which many conservatives decried as a sellout of the underground Chinese Catholics who had remained loyal to Rome during decades of communist persecution. The Vatican has defended the accord as the best deal it could get, but it remains to be seen if Francis successor will keep the policy. The church in AfricaAccording to Vatican statistics, Catholics represent 3.3% of the population in Asia, but their numbers are growing, especially in terms of seminarians, as they are in Africa, where Catholics represent about 20% of the population. Catholics are 64% of the population in the Americas, 40% of Europes population and 26% of Oceanias population, according to Vatican statistics from 2023, the last available year. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo, said he is in Rome to elect a pope for the worlds 1.4 billion Catholics.I am not here for the Congo, I am not here for Africa, I am here for the universal church. That is our concern, the universal church, he told reporters. When we are done, I will return to Kinshasa and I will put back on my archbishop of Kinshasa hat and the struggle continues.Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, the chatty French-born archbishop of Algiers, Algeria, lamented last week that there hadnt been enough time for the cardinals to get to know one another, since many of them had never met before and hail from 70 countries in the most geographically diverse conclave in history. By this week, however, he said that any number of candidates were possible. It is what I call an artichoke heart, he said. Every day, I say to myself, Ah! Oh my God! There we have it!The role of the Holy SpiritFor the cardinals, there is also the belief that they are guided by the Holy Spirit.There is a famous quote attributed to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1997, in comments to a Bavarian television station. The future Pope Benedict XVI said the Holy Spirit acted like a good educator in a conclave, allowing cardinals to freely choose a pope without dictating the precise candidate.Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined, Ratzinger reportedly said. There are too many contrary instances of popes the Holy Spirit would obviously not have picked.___Associated Press correspondent Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Silvia Stellacci, Trisha Thomas and Giovanna DellOrto in Rome contributed.___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. NICOLE WINFIELD Winfield has been on the Vatican beat since 2001, covering the papacies of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the Francis pontificate and traveling the world with them.

with the remains of fallen German soldiers of WWII to the grave during a funeral service at a memorial site for fallen soldiers in Halbe, Germany, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)2025-05-06T05:05:22Z HALBE, Germany (AP) In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn tune.Hundreds of villagers and relatives of the fallen watched silently, some wiping tears off their cheeks, as the soldiers who died in one of the last large World War II battles fighting for Adolf Hitlers army got their final resting place.The gestures of remembrance are part of a long, complicated and sometimes controversial effort to bring the German dead to rest, 80 years after a war that Nazi Germany started.Its still not the end much work remains to identify the dead and notify any surviving family members. Across Europe, in forests, fields and beneath old farmland, the remains of German soldiers are still being found, exhumed and reburied by teams from a nonprofit organization called the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgrberfrsorge, or German War Graves Commission, which has been doing this work for decades. A search for the deadAs the world pauses this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the wars end, the continued search is a reminder that the conflicts legacy is not only historical or political, it is also physical and unfinished, still unfolding in the ground beneath Europes surface.Its very, very important that this is still being done, said Martina Seiger, 57, whose grandfathers bones were found and buried a few years ago. Seiger and her family make a point of attending the burials of other soldiers who died in the battle of Halbe in 1945. Its as close as they can get to some kind of funeral for her grandfather, Werner Novak.Novak was 21 when he was killed. He had already been injured and sent back from the front to Berlin. He was planning to marry his pregnant fiance and hoped for a more peaceful future, Seiger said. Instead, as the Soviets Red Army was approaching Berlin in the last weeks of war, he was back into battle. Lost in the chaos of warThe process of finding and identifying the remains is slow many of the missing were buried hastily during retreat or combat, with no markers or records. Some sites are remembered only vaguely, passed down through local knowledge. Others are beyond reach, beneath modern infrastructure or the front line in eastern Ukraine. Still, the Volksbund works on, searching across Europes old battlefields, following tips, checking old military maps and missing soldiers lists. The work continues even in western Ukraine, away from the raging fighting in the countrys east.When possible, the organization brings the remains to cemeteries maintained specifically for German soldiers who died abroad. It says its goal is humanistic: to offer a dignified burial to every person who died in the war, regardless of the role they played. That includes soldiers who served in a military responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.The Volksbund does not frame its mission as one of honoring the fallen, but of identifying them and ensuring they are not left to vanish into the earth, without a name. A missing fatherWolfgang Bartsch, 83, stood on a small hill near the open graves as the soldiers bones were laid to rest. Bartsch has never been able to bury his own father, who died in January 1942 fighting on the front in Russia. He was just three weeks old. Days earlier his mother was killed in an Allied bomb raid on Berlin. He was raised by his grandmother but always felt the pain of growing up without parents.My dad is buried somewhere in a nameless grave in Oryol in Russia, he said. The Volksbund will never be able to recover his bones because I know that lots of settlements were built on top of those graves.By the Volksbunds estimate, more than 2 million German soldiers remain unaccounted for. Over the past 30 years, since gaining access to former Eastern Bloc territories, the Volksbund has recovered and reburied the remains of a million people. Work that can be controversial In some parts of Europe, resentment lingers toward anything perceived as rehabilitating the Nazi military past. But many accept that efforts to find the dead could help close this chapter of history. I dont want to rule out the possibility that we have a large number of war criminals in our war graves. We also know that some of them have even been proven to have committed the most serious war crimes, said Dirk Backen, the secretary general of the Volksbund. Behind every dead person is a human destiny and that is our main focus, he said. When you stand in front of the grave of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you naturally ask yourself whether he may have had other plans in life and a different dream than to give his life at the age of 18 for a cause that was also criminal. Weeks before the burial in Halbe, an exhumation took place in the Polish city of Ostroka, where Volksbund employees and local Polish archaeologists dug for the remains of German soldiers in a Polish cemetery wherever it would not involve disturbing a marked grave.The skeletons were documented that day, March 19, and the bones of each person were sealed into a black bag. Dog tags were saved in the hope the remains can one day be identified. The group plans to rebury them later this year at a military ceremony in Poland.They deserve to be buriedukasz Karol, a Polish archaeologist working on the exhumation, acknowledges having had ethical concerns as he considered the job of unearthing soldiers of an army that invaded Poland and killed some 6 million Polish citizens over the course of the war. But he said the work has moral significance and uncovers important scientific information.These are also people and they also deserve a burial, Karol said. Unlike in the immediate postwar years, few families today are actively searching for lost relatives. In many cases, the emotional and generational distance is too great; there is no one left to remember the missing, or the need for closure has faded with time. For Bartsch, the 83-year-old who attended the burial in Halbe, there is no closure.I still cant find peace when I think that so many people are still buried here in the ground without a proper funeral, he said. My heart would rejoice if only I could bury my father too, but that wont happen.___Gera reported from Ostroka, Poland. KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Grieshaber is a Berlin-based reporter covering Germany and Austria for The Associated Press. She covers general news as well as migration, populism and religion. mailto

San Diego manager Mike Shildt was so angry with plate umpire Adrian Johnson that he made a spectacle by tossing his glasses en route to an ejection during the Padres' 4-3 victory over the Yankees on Monday night.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz exited midway through the second period of his team's 5-4 win over the Panthers on Monday, after taking an elbow to the head from Florida forward Sam Bennett.

The Celtics might've finally reached a saturation point as they missed a record 45 3-pointers Monday night as the Knicks took advantage in a 108-105 Game 1 overtime victory.

New York reliever Devin Williams' nightmare season continued on Monday night with another poor outing in the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the San Diego Padres, as the right-hander was charged with three runs, increasing his ERA to 10.03 in 14 games this season.

Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal need to be ready to give their life to reach the Champions League final.

While a starry group of co-chairs greeted guests, Spike Lee, Venus Williams, Zoe Saldaa and Rihanna discussed the significance of dandyism and the importance of the event.

The home ministry ordered officials to test air raid sirens and teach civilians to navigate blackouts and carry out evacuations.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just after House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework, at the Capitol in Washington, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-05-06T04:01:18Z WASHINGTON (AP) Congress is deep into drafting President Donald Trumps big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but its bumpy, one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnsons goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day.In fact, the tax cuts portion is still a work in progress. As are the reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other mainstay government programs. Mostly, the Republicans, who have the majority in Congress, have made progress on parts that would increase spending, adding some $350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security, including money for the U.S-Mexico border wall.There are some bumps in the road, Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the Republican chairman of the powerful Ways and Means tax-writing committee, acknowledged on Fox News Sunday. All told, some 11 committees in the House are compiling their bills, and about half have finished up. They are being approved at the committee level by Republicans, on party-line votes, with Democrats opposed.But some of the most-watched committees Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Agriculture have yet to act. Johnson himself acknowledged on Monday that his Memorial Day deadline may slip, but vowed our timetable is on pace. Once all the committees are done, the different pieces of legislation will be rolled together at the Budget Committee into what Trump calls one big, beautiful bill. If the House can pass the package, it next would go to the Senate, which is drafting its own version, for a final product by July 4. Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries calls the extreme Republican agenda. Heres a look at whats in and out, so far. Funding for 1 million migrant deportations, 20,000 new officers and the border wallTwo of the committees handling immigration- and border security-related matters have wrapped up their legislation.Central to the Homeland Security Committees bill is $46.5 billion to revive construction of Trumps wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with some 700 miles of primary wall, 900 miles of river barriers and more.It would provide $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.All told, the Homeland Security Committee approved $69 billion in new spending.At the same time, the Judiciary Committee, which handles interior immigration enforcement and legal proceedings, has also completed its $110 billion bill.It would impose 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.And there are more new fees proposed on various other legal paths to entry, including a $3,500 fee for those sponsoring unaccompanied children to enter the U.S., a $2,500 penalty if sponsors of unaccompanied children skip court appearances and a $1,000 fee for individuals paroled into the U.S.Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers. It calls for 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and investigators. More money for the Pentagon and Trumps Golden DomeThe House Armed Services Committee was tasked with drafting legislation with $100 billion in new spending. But they did that and more, passing a bill with $150 billion for the Defense Department and national security.Among the highlights, it would provide $25 billion for Trumps Golden Dome for America, a long-envisioned missile defense shield, $21 billion to restock the nations 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. Overhaul of the student loan repayment plansA wholesale revamping of the student loan program is the key to the Education and Workforce Committees legislation, with $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 depending on the amount borrowed, and a repayment assistance plan with monthly payments based on a borrowers income.The new income-based plan is generally less generous than those it would replace. Minimum payments for the lowest-income borrowers would be higher, and forgiveness would be provided after 30 years of payments instead of 20 or 25. The new repayment plans would take hold in July 2026.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. Federal employee pension cutsThe House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform targeted federal workers pensions for a projected $50.9 billion in deficit savings over 10 years.Most of the savings would come from requiring federal workers hired before 2014 to pay more into the retirement system. They would have to match the 4.4% salary rate paid by federal workers hired since 2014.The committee also called for basing a retirees annuity payment on their average top five earning years instead of the top three. And the committees plan would eliminate a temporary, supplemental payment for newly retired federal workers who retire before they are eligible for Social Security.Republicans argued that federal employee retirement benefits outpace those in the private sector. But critics, including Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who voted against the committees package, said changing a workers pension during the middle of employment is wrong.Democrats said the change would result in less take-home pay for many middle-class Americans in the federal workforce.More drilling, mining on public lands The House Natural Resources Committee is set to meet Tuesday to consider its bill, which largely matches Trumps executive orders to open public lands and waters to more natural resource development.It 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 former President Joe Bidens attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate change.Oil and gas royalty rates would drop from 16.7% on public lands and 18.75% offshore to a uniform 12.5%. Royalties for coal would drop from 12.5% to 7%.The measure calls for four oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the next decade. It also seeks to boost the ailing coal industry with a mandate to make available for leasing 6,250 square miles of public lands an area greater in size than Connecticut. Republican supporters say the lost revenue would be offset by increased development. Its uncertain if companies would have an appetite for leases given the industrys precipitous decline in recent years as utilities switched to cleaner burning fuels and renewable energy.___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Collin Binkley in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.

Indian security officers inspect the site where militants indiscriminately opened fired on tourists on Tuesday, in Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo, File)2025-05-06T03:01:12Z SRINAGAR, India (AP) Hundreds of Indian tourists, families and honeymooners, drawn by the breathtaking Himalayan beauty, were enjoying a picture-perfect meadow in Kashmir. They didnt know gunmen in army fatigues were lurking in the woods.When the attackers got their chance, they shot mostly Indian Hindu men, many of them at close-range, leaving behind bodies strewn across the Baisaran meadow and survivors screaming for help. The gunmen quickly vanished into thick forests. By the time Indian authorities arrived, 26 people were dead and 17 others were wounded.India has described the April 22 massacre as a terror attack and blamed Pakistan for backing it, an accusation denied by Islamabad. India swiftly announced diplomatic actions against its archrival Pakistan, which responded with its own tit-for-tat measures.The assailants are still on the run, as calls in India for military action against Pakistan are growing. World leaders are scrambling to de-escalate the tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have historically relied on third countries for conflict management.But the massacre has also touched a raw nerve. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis 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. Those claims now lie shattered. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. India admits security lapse Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, second left, talks to three Indian defense chiefs, Army General Upendra Dwivedi, third right, Naval Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, second right, and Air Force Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, right, as Indian Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan, left, watches as they wait for the arrival of Japans Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, second left, talks to three Indian defense chiefs, Army General Upendra Dwivedi, third right, Naval Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, second right, and Air Force Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, right, as Indian Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan, left, watches as they wait for the arrival of Japans Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Security experts and former intelligence and senior military officers who have served in the region say Modis government riding on a nationalistic fervor over Kashmir to please its supporters missed warning signs. The government acknowledged that in a rare admission.Two days after the attack, Kiren Rijiju, Indias parliamentary affairs minister, said that a crucial all-party meeting discussed where the lapses occurred.We totally missed ... the intentions of our hostile neighbor, said Avinash Mohananey, a former Indian intelligence officer who has operated in Kashmir and Pakistan. The meadow, near the resort town of Pahalgam, can be reached by trekking or pony rides, and visitors cross at least three security camps and a police station to reach there. According to Indian media, there was no security presence for more than 1,000 tourists that day. Pahalgam serves as a base for an annual Hindu pilgrimage that draws hundreds of thousands of people from across India. The area is ringed by thick woods that connect with forest ranges in the Jammu area, where Indian troops have faced attacks by rebels in recent years after fighting ebbed in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of an anti-India rebellion.The massacre brought Modis administration almost back to where it started when a suicide car bombing in the region in 2019 prompted his government to strip Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and bring it under direct federal rule. Tensions have simmered ever since, but the region has also drawn millions of visitors amid a strange calm enforced by an intensified security crackdown. We probably started buying our own narrative that things were normal in Kashmir, Mohananey said. Tourists wait for their turn to use a ski-lift to transport them up a slope in Gulmarg, northwest of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Jan. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File) Tourists wait for their turn to use a ski-lift to transport them up a slope in Gulmarg, northwest of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Jan. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In the past, insurgents have carried out brazen attacks and targeted Hindu pilgrims, Indian Hindu as well as Muslim immigrant workers, and local Hindus and Sikhs. However, this time a large number of tourists were attacked, making it one of the worst massacres involving civilians in recent years.The attack outraged people in Kashmir and India, where it led to calls of swift action against Pakistan. Indian television news channels amplified these demands and panelists argued that India should invade Pakistan. Modi and his senior ministers vowed to hunt down the attackers and their backers.Experts say much of the public pressure on the Indian government to act militarily against Pakistan falls within the pattern of long, simmering animosity between both countries.All the talk of military options against Pakistan mainly happens in echo chambers and feeds a nationalist narrative, in India, New Delhi-based counterterrorism expert Ajai Sahni said.It doesnt matter what will be done. We will be told it was done and was a success, he said. And it will be celebrated nonetheless. Modis optimism misplaced, experts say A Kashmiri boatman stands on his illuminated boat during a laser show and and live concert organized to boost winter tourism in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Dec. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File) A Kashmiri boatman stands on his illuminated boat during a laser show and and live concert organized to boost winter tourism in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Dec. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Experts also say that the Modi governments optimism was also largely misplaced and that its continuous boasting of rising tourism in the region was a fragile barometer of normalcy. Last year, Omar Abdullah, Kashmirs top elected official, cautioned against such optimism. By this attack, Pakistan wants to convey that there is no normalcy in Kashmir and that tourism is no indicator for it. They want to internationalize the issue, said D.S. Hooda, former military commander for northern India between 2014 to 2016.Hooda said the choice of targets and the manner in which the attack was carried out indicates that it was well-planned.If there would have been a good security cover, maybe this incident would not have happened, he said.India sees Pakistan connection to the attackIndian security experts believe the attack could be a retaliation for a passenger train hijacking in Pakistan in March by Baloch insurgents. Islamabad accused New Delhi of orchestrating the attack in which 25 people were killed. India denies it.Mohananey said that Indian authorities should have taken the accusations seriously and beefed-up security in Kashmir, while arguing there was a striking similarity in both attacks since only men were targeted.It was unusual that women and children were spared in both cases, Mohananey said.Two senior police officers, who have years of counterinsurgency experience in Kashmir, said after the train attack in Pakistan that they were anticipating some kind of reaction in the region by militants. An Indian paramilitary soldier walks past graffiti on a wall in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File) An Indian paramilitary soldier walks past graffiti on a wall in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that security officials perceived the threat of an imminent attack, and Modis inauguration of a strategic rail line in the region was canceled. A large-scale attack on tourists, however, wasnt anticipated, because there was no such precedence, the officers said.Hooda, who commanded what New Delhi called surgical strikes against militants in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir in 2016, said that the attack has deepened thinking that it was time to tackle the Pakistani state, not just militants.Such calculus could be a marked shift. In 2016 and 2019, India said that its army struck militant infrastructure inside Pakistan after two major militant attacks against its soldiers.After this attack, Hooda said, India wants to stop Pakistan from using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.We need to tighten our security and plug lapses, but the fountainhead of terrorism needs to be tackled, Hooda said. The fountainhead is Pakistan.___Saaliq and Roy reported from New Delhi. AIJAZ HUSSAIN Hussain is a senior reporter for The Associated Press covering the Kashmir conflict, Indian politics and strategic affairs, and climate. He has worked for the AP for nearly two decades. twitter mailto SHEIKH SAALIQ Saaliq covers news across India and the South Asia region for The Associated Press, often focusing on politics, democracy, conflict and religion. He is based in New Delhi. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Racing Louisville FC midfielder Ary Borges has been suspended for an additional three matches for pushing the center referee after a recent match.

Initial talks have taken place between Manchester United and the representatives of on-loan Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen. Transfer Talk has the latest news, gossip and rumors.

Friedrich Merz reacts after he was not elected new Chancellor in the first voting process at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)2025-05-06T04:01:05Z BERLIN (AP) In a historic first, conservative leader Friedrich Merz s bid to become Germanys 10th chancellor since World War II failed in the first round of voting in parliament on Tuesday by six votes, a stunning defeat as he had been widely expected to win smoothly.A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot since the end of the war. Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot. He only received 310 votes well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was not immediately clear how long the process could take.The lower house of parliament called the Bundestag has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. Merz can run again, but other lawmakers can also throw their hat in the ring. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be held within the two-week period. If Merz or any other candidate fails to get that majority during the period of 14 days, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election. Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union s most populous member after outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholzs government collapsed last year.Germany has the continents biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. Merzs portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administrations trade policy on top of domestic issues such as the stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party. 80th anniversary of World War IITuesdays vote was held on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Germanys unconditional surrender in World War II. The ballots are secret and cast in the restored Reichstag, where graffiti left by Soviet troops has been preserved at several locations in the building.Merzs failure in the voting adds to the challenges ahead whoever is elected chancellor will face questions about the future of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, also known as AfD. Mainstream German political parties refuse to work with it, citing the so-called firewall theyve upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war.AfDs riseLast week, the German domestic intelligence service said it has classified AfD which placed second in national elections in February as a right-wing extremist organization, making it subject to greater and broader surveillance. Germanys Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution described the party as a threat to the countrys democratic order, saying it disregards human dignity in particular by what it called ongoing agitation against refugees and migrants.The federal offices decision prompted blowback from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance over the weekend. Germanys Foreign Ministry hit back at Rubio after he called on the country to undo the classification. The domestic intelligence services measure does not amount to a ban of the party, which can only take place through a request by either of parliaments two chambers or the federal government through the Federal Constitutional Court. Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence services decision. The new coalitionGermanys new coalition is led by Merzs center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and joined by the center-left Social Democrats, Scholzs party. All three parties previously approved the coalition deal.The coalition aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization.The Union and Social Democrats have governed Germany together before, in the 1960s, and then in three of the four terms of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who led the country from 2005 to 2021.Merzs party last month announced its proposed government team, including senior lawmaker Johann Wadephul as foreign minister a position the CDU last held in the 1960s. STEFANIE DAZIO Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

by Eric Umansky, Vernal Coleman and Maryam Jameel As the Trump administration pledges to eliminate 80,000 employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, ProPublica reporters are investigating how changes at the VA are affecting veterans themselves. Trump has promised to put veterans first, but our reporting shows veterans care is suffering amid wide-ranging cuts. If youve experienced setbacks in your care, we want to hear from you. We would also appreciate firsthand insights about changes happening within the VA from agency employees. Please do not fill out this form if you work for the VA or another federal agency. Instead, contact our reporters via the encrypted messaging app Signal: Eric Umansky: Ericumansky.04 Vernal Coleman: vcoleman91.99 We appreciate you sharing your story, and we take your privacy seriously. We are gathering these stories for the purposes of our reporting and will contact you if we wish to publish any part of your story. You can also reach our VA reporting team at VA@propublica.org. You can share your experience using our form.

by Eric Umansky and Vernal Coleman ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Earlier this year, doctors at Veterans Affairs hospitals in Pennsylvania sounded an alarm. Sweeping cuts imposed by the Trump administration, they told higher-ups in an email, were causing severe and immediate impacts, including to life-saving cancer trials. The email said more than 1,000 veterans would lose access to treatment for diseases ranging from metastatic head and neck cancers, to kidney disease, to traumatic brain injuries.Enrollment in clinical trials is stopping, the email warned, meaning veterans lose access to therapies.The administration reversed some of its decisions, allowing some trials to continue for now. Still, other research, including the trials for treating head and neck cancer, has been stalled. President Donald Trump has long promised to prioritize veterans.We love our veterans, he said in February. We are going to take good care of them.After the Department of Veterans Affairs began shedding employees and contracts, Trumps pick to run the agency, Secretary Doug Collins, pledged, Veterans are going to notice a change for the better. But dozens of internal emails obtained by ProPublica reveal a far different reality. Doctors and others at VA hospitals and clinics across the country have been sending often desperate messages to headquarters detailing how cuts will harm veterans care. The VA provides health care to roughly 9 million veterans. In March, VA officials across the country warned that a critical resource databases for tracking cancer would no longer be kept up to date. As officials in the Pacific Northwest explained, the Department of Government Efficiency was moving to kill its contract with the outside company that maintained and ran its cancer registry, where information on the treatment of patients is collected and analyzed. DOGE had marked it for immediate termination. Officials at the VA centers in the Pacific Northwest said funding for their cancer research was updated for immediate termination after a review by the Department of Government Efficiency. (Obtained by ProPublica) The VA in Detroit raised a similar alarm in an email, warning of the inability to track oncology treatment and recurrences. The emails obtained by ProPublica detail a wide variety of disruptions. In Colorado, for instance, layoffs to social workers were causing homeless veterans waiting for temporary housing to go without help. The warnings, sent as part of a longstanding system at the VA to alert higher-ups of problems, paint a portrait of chaotic retrenchment at an agency that just three years ago was mandated by Congress through the PACT Act to expand care and benefits for veterans facing cancer and other issues after exposure to Agent Orange, burn pits or other toxins. Doctors and other health care providers across the VA have been left scrambling and short-staffed amid an ever-shifting series of cuts, hiring freezes and other edicts from the White House. VA officials in Pittsburgh sent warnings about studies being impacted by a hiring freeze. These included studies on cancer, suicide prevention and exposure to toxins. (Obtained by ProPublica) The upheaval laid bare in the emails is particularly striking because the cuts so far would be dwarfed by the dramatic downsizing in staff and shift in priorities the administration has said is coming. The VA has cut just a few thousand staffers this year. But the administration has said it plans to eliminate at least 70,000 through layoffs and voluntary buyouts within the coming months. The agency, which is the largest integrated health care system in the U.S., currentlyhas nearly 500,000 employees, most of whom work in one of the VAs 170 hospitals and nearly 1,200 clinics. Despite an expanded role mandated by Congress through the PACT Act, administration officials have said their goal is to trim the agency to the size it was before the legislation passed. The Biden Administration understood what it meant to pay for the cost of war; it seems the Trump Administration does not, said Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat and chief author of the PACT Act. Documents obtained by ProPublica show DOGE officials working at the VA in March prepared an outline to transform the agency that focused on ways to consolidate operations and introduce artificial intelligence tools to handle benefits claims. One DOGE document proposed closing 17 hospitals and perhaps a dozen more. VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz told ProPublica that there would be no hospital closures. Just because a VA employee wrote something down, doesnt make it VA policy, he said in a written statement. But he did say that use of AI will be a big part of what he called VAs reform efforts. Kasperowicz dismissed the idea that the emails obtained by ProPublica show chaos. The only thing these reports show is that VA has a robust and well-functioning system to flag potential issues and quickly fix them so we can provide the best possible care to Veterans, he wrote. DOGE did not respond to requests for comment. The White House released a budget proposal last week that calls for a 4% increase in the VAs budget. That total includes more money for medical care, though a portion of that would be used to pay for veterans to seek care outside the VA medical system. More answers to the VAs larger plans may come today, when Collins is scheduled to testify before the Senate Veterans Committee, his first hearing on Capitol Hill since coming into office. David Shulkin, who headed the VA in Trumps first term, said the administration is too focused on cuts rather than communicating a strategy for improving care for vets.I think its very, very hard to be successful with the approach that theyre taking, Shulkin told ProPublica. One way local VA officials have tried to limit the damage has been by sending warnings formally known as an issue brief to higher-ups. And sometimes it works. After officials in Los Angeles warned that all chemotherapy would stop unless Washington backed off killing a service contract, the VA reversed its decision. And, amid growing scrutiny, the administration also made some researchers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere exempt from cuts. The laid-off social workers who helped homeless vets in Colorado were also brought back after about a month away from their jobs. Kasperowicz said that four social workers were affected but their caseload was temporarily redistributed to other members of the homeless team.The warnings from officials across the country underscore how the comparatively modest cuts so far are already affecting the work of the VAs medical system, with the study and treatment of cancer cited in multiple warnings to agency leadership.We have absolutely felt the impact of the chaos all around us. Were already losing people, said one senior researcher, who spoke to ProPublica anonymously for fear of retaliation.Referring to studies, he added: Were going to be losing things that cant restart.And while Kasperowicz told ProPublica that the issues in Pennsylvania have been resolved, locals there said thats not the case and that the impact is ongoing.In Pittsburgh, two trials to treat veterans with advanced head and neck cancer, which officials in March had warned were at risk because of hiring freezes, have still not started, according to Alanna Caffas, who heads a Pittsburgh nonprofit, the Veterans Health Foundation, that partners with the VA on research.Its insane, Caffas said. These veterans should be able to get access to research treatments, but they cant. VA employees in Pittsburgh sent a warning that they had lost research staff because of the hiring freeze. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica) A third trial there, to help veterans with opioid addiction, wasnt halted. Instead, it was hobbled by layoffs of key team members, according to Caffas and another person involved in the research.Regarding the issues with cancer registries, Kasperowicz said there had been no effect on patients. He added that the VA is moving to create a national contract to administer those registries.Rosie Torres, founder of Burn Pits 360, the veterans advocacy group that also pushed hard for the legislation, called the emails showing impeded cancer treatment a crisis in the making and gutwrenching. That the decisions are being made without input from the communities of vets they affect is worse, she added.If they are killing contracts that may affect the delivery of care, then we have a right to know, she said. Last week, as the second Trump administration marked its first 100 days in office, Collins celebrated what he described as its achievements. In a recorded address, he said that under his stewardship the VA processed record numbers of benefit claims, ended divisive spending on diversity initiatives and redirected millions of agency dollars from non-mission-critical programs back toward services to benefit veterans. We will not stop working to put veterans first, he wrote in an accompanying op-ed. Others say Collins has done no such thing. Instead of focusing on veterans, said one VA oncologist, were spending an enormous amount of time preparing for a staffing catastrophe. Veterans lives are on the line, the doctor said. Let us go back to work and take care of them. Alex Mierjeski contributed research, and Joel Jacobs contributed reporting.

The setback was likely temporary, but it was historic. No modern German chancellor has ever failed to secure the job on a first ballot in Parliament.

For the first time since having my kids, I felt like a whole person.

The presidents fantasizing about remaining in office deserves more forceful pushback.

Many in the region are preparing for a possible military confrontation between India and Pakistan because of a terrorist attack two weeks ago.

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier passes by an armoured Hummer vehicle equipped with an anti-drone net on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, May 5, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)2025-05-06T08:52:38Z Russian forces intercepted more than 100 Ukrainian drones fired at almost a dozen regions of Russia, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Tuesday, in an attack that forced all four airports around Moscow to temporarily suspend flights.Nine other regional Russian airports also temporarily stopped operating as drones struck areas along the border with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia, according to Russias civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, and the Defense Ministry. It was the second straight night that the Moscow region reportedly was targeted.Two people were injured in the Kursk region, according to local Gov. Alexander Khinshtein, and some damage was reported in the Voronezh region. The Russian reports couldnt be independently verified.The drone assault comes two days ahead of a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire in the more than three-year war announced by President Vladimir Putin to coincide with celebrations in Moscow marking Victory Day in World War II. The day celebrating Moscows defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 is Russias biggest secular holiday when foreign dignitaries will gather in the Russian capital. Meanwhile, Russian forces overnight fired at least 20 Shahed drones at Kharkiv, Ukraines second-0largest city near the border with Russia, injuring four people, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.The drones started a fire at the biggest market in Kharkiv, Barabashovo, destroying and damaging around 100 market stalls, he said. Seven more civilians were injured elsewhere in the Kharkiv region by Russian glide bombs and drones, Syniehubov said.Putin last week declared a brief unilateral truce on humanitarian grounds from May 8. Ukraine has called for a longer ceasefire.Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by insisting on far-reaching conditions. Ukraine has accepted it the proposal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday at the White House that the brief truce doesnt sound like much, but its a lot if you knew where we started from. Foreign leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the Victory Day festivities in Moscow include Chinas President Xi Jinping, described by Putin as our main guest.Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, another top ally whom Putin has courted, had been expected in Moscow but he canceled his trip amid tensions with Pakistan.Other guests include Slovakias populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has openly challenged the European Unions policies over Ukraine. Serbias President Aleksandar Vucic also has accepted an invitation, his first trip to Russia since the invasion, but his attendance was uncertain after he became ill.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

FILE- Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia, center, leaves after a court appearance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)2025-05-06T04:51:25Z DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) Bangladeshs ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to the country from London on Tuesday after four months of medical treatment, adding to pressure for its interim leaders to hold elections.The South Asian country has been under a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a students-led mass uprising in August last year. Zia, Hasinas archrival, and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party have been pushing Yunus government to hold a national election in December to return the country to democratic rule.Under Hasina, many opposition political parties including Zias BNP had either boycotted the polls or accused the authorities of rigging them. Many welcomed Hasinas overthrow as a chance to return to democratic elections, but suspicion and uncertainty have surfaced in recent months about the new governments commitment to hold elections soon. It has said the next election will be held in either December or by June next year, depending on the extent of reforms in various sectors. Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, leads the party as acting chief from exile in London. After Zia landed at 10:43 a.m., she was greeted by senior party leaders at Dhakas main airport. Zia, sitting in a wheelchair, smiled as she repeatedly raised her right hand to receive greetings. Crowds gathered outside Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to welcome the returning leader, amid tight security. Thousands of supporters, many carrying Bangladesh and BNP flags, waited along about a 9-kilometer stretch of road leading to her house in Dhakas upscale Gulshan area. Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, Zia arrived on a special air ambulance arranged by Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who also arranged her transport to London in January. Zia suffers from various serious health conditions and she has not attended any public gatherings. Zias physical presence in the country has huge symbolic value for her party while Hasina is in exile in India.Ahead of her arrival, BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tuesday her return will help Bangladesh restore the democratic process.This is a joyous moment for us and the nation. At this crucial time for democracy, her presence marks a significant day for the country. We believe that Khaleda Zias return will facilitate the path to democratic transition, Fakhrul told reporters.Zia and Hasina have alternately ruled the country as prime ministers since 1991 when the country returned to a democracy after the ouster of authoritarian President H.M. Ershad.Zia served the country as prime minister three times, twice for full five-year terms and once for just a few months. During Hasinas 15 years in power, Zia was tried and jailed for 17 years in two corruption cases. Her party said the charges against Zia were politically motivated, an allegation Hasinas government denied. Later, Zia was released from jail on condition that she not leave the country. Zia is the widow of former military chief-turned-president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladeshs independence struggle against Pakistan in 1971.

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01207-8Researchers and administrators are exploring ways to restructure a rigid hierarchy that can breed power abuses.

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01406-3Manage releases of forever chemicals in lab waste

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01403-6Next CERN collider has community input

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01405-4USAIDs shutdown: a crisis for sub-Saharan Africa

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01404-5In science-for-policy design, one size doesnt fit all

Hind Kabawat hopes her long experience as a conflict mediator can help Syrias next generation. The challenges are immense.

The volley comes just days before a planned parade in the capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

The Canadian prime minister will meet with President Trump, days after being elected on an anti-Trump platform as relations between the two allies are at a historic nadir.

Its Danny Kind, and hes not even Catholic. But hes in a college class that simulated the conclave of 1492. (There were costumes, bribes and Oreos.)

States have long used taxes on hospitals and nursing homes to increase federal matching funds. If Republicans end the tactic, red states could feel the most pain.

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-05-06T09:40:56Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) An Israeli plan to seize the Gaza Strip and expand the military operation has alarmed many in the region. Palestinians are exhausted and hopeless, pummeled by 19 months of heavy bombing. Families of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza are terrified that the possibility of a ceasefire is slipping further away.Whats left for you to bomb? asked Moaz Kahlout, a displaced man from Gaza City who said many resort to GPS to locate the rubble of homes wiped out in the war.Israeli officials said Monday that Cabinet ministers approved the plan to seize Gaza and remain in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time news that came hours after the military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear. It may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, about 35 of whom are believed to be dead. Israels ensuing offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who dont distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count. They destroyed us, displaced us and killed us, said Enshirah Bahloul, a woman from the southern city of Khan Younis. We want safety and peace in this world. We do not want to remain homeless, hungry, and thirsty.Some Israelis are also opposed to the plan. Hundreds of people protested outside the parliament Monday as the government opened for its summer session. One person was arrested.Families of hostages held in Gaza are afraid of what an expanded military operation or seizure could mean for their relatives. I dont see the expansion of the war as a solution it led us absolutely nowhere before. It feels like dj vu from the year ago, said Adi Alexander, father of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, a soldier captured in the Oct. 7 attack.The father is pinning some hopes on U.S. President Donald Trumps visit to the Middle East, set for next week. Israeli leaders have said they dont plan to expand the operation in Gaza until after Trumps visit, leaving the door open for a possible deal. Trump isnt expected to visit Israel, but he and other American officials have frequently spoken about Edan Alexander, the last American-Israeli held in Gaza who is still believed to be alive.Moshe Lavi, the brother-in-law of Omri Miran, 48, the oldest hostage still believed to be alive, said the family was concerned about the plan.We hope its merely a signal to Hamas that Israel is serious in its goal to dismantle its governmental and military capabilities as a leverage for negotiations, but its unclear whether this is an end or a means, he said. Meanwhile, every day, dozens of Palestinians gather outside a charity kitchen that distributes hot meals to displaced families in southern Gaza. Children thrust pots or buckets forward, pushing and shoving in an desperate attempt to bring food to their families.What should we do? asked Sara Younis, a woman from the southernmost city of Rafah, as she waited for a hot meal for her children. Theres no food, no flour, nothing.Israel cut off Gaza from all imports in early March, leading to dire shortages of food, medicine and other supplies. Israel says the goal is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages.Aid organizations have warned that malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in Gaza. The United Nations says the vast majority of the population relies on aid.Aid groups have expressed concerns that gains to avert famine made during this years ceasefire have been diminishing.Like most aid groups in Gaza, Tikeya has run out of most food and has cooked almost exclusively pasta for the past two weeks. Nidal Abu Helal, a displaced man from Rafah who works at the charity, said that the group is increasingly concerned that people, especially children, will die of starvation.Were not afraid of dying from missiles, he said. Were afraid that our children will die of hunger in front of us.___Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo. MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01349-9Studies suggest benefits as well as harms from digital companion apps but scientists worry about long-term dependency.

Nature, Published online: 02 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01416-1Unusual extrinsic geometries give rose petals their curled edges and pointed corners. Plus, a new technique that can directly edit proteins in living cells and how India rewrote the rules of space travel when it launched its first satellite.

by Anna Clark ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Just one year ago, JD Vance was a leading advocate of the Great Lakes and the efforts to restore the largest system of freshwater on the face of the planet.As a U.S. senator from Ohio, Vance called the lakes an invaluable asset for his home state. He supported more funding for a program that delivers the tools we need to fight invasive species, algal blooms, pollution, and other threats to the ecosystem so that the Great Lakes would be protected for generations to come.But times have changed.This spring, Vance is vice president, and President Donald Trumps administration is imposing deep cuts and new restrictions, upending the very restoration efforts that Vance once championed. With the peak summer season just around the corner, Great Lakes scientists are concerned that they have lost the ability to protect the public from toxic algal blooms, which can kill animals and sicken people.Cutbacks have gutted the staff at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Severe spending limits have made it difficult to purchase ordinary equipment for processing samples, such as filters and containers. Remaining staff plans to launch large data-collecting buoys into the water this week, but its late for a field season that typically runs from April to October.In addition to a delayed launch, problems with personnel, supplies, vessel support and real-time data sharing have created doubts about the teams ability to operate the buoys, said Gregory Dick, director of the NOAA cooperative institute at the University of Michigan that partners with the lab. Both the lab and institute operate out of a building in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that was custom built as NOAAs hub in the Great Lakes region, and both provide staff to the algal blooms team. This has massive impacts on coastal communities, Dick said. Gregory Dick, director of the Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes Research, which works side by side with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, says that cuts to the lab will have a massive impact on coastal communities. (Nick Hagen for ProPublica) Multiple people who have worked with the lab also told ProPublica that there are serious gaps in this years monitoring of algal blooms, which are often caused by excess nutrient runoff from farms. Data generated by the labs boats and buoys, and publicly shared, could be limited or interrupted, they said.That data has helped to successfully avoid a repeat of a 2014 crisis in Toledo, Ohio, when nearly half a million people were warned to not drink the water or even touch it. If the streams of information are cut off, stakeholders will be very unhappy, said Bret Collier, a branch chief at the lab who oversaw the federal scientists that run the harmful algal bloom program for the Great Lakes. He was fired in the purge of federal probationary workers in February.The lab has lost about 35% of its 52-member workforce since February, according to the president of the labs union, and it was not allowed to fill several open positions. The White House released preliminary budget recommendations last week that would make significant cuts to NOAA. The budget didnt provide details, but indicated the termination of a variety of climate-dominated research, data, and grant programs, which are not aligned with Administration policy of ending Green New Deal initiatives. An earlier document obtained by ProPublica and reported widely proposed a 74% funding cut to NOAAs research office, home of the Great Lakes lab. Vances office didnt respond to questions from ProPublica about how federal cuts have affected Great Lakes research. The White House also didnt respond to messages. Water samples from bodies of water in the Great Lakes region (Nick Hagen for ProPublica) Municipal water leaders in Cleveland and Toledo have written public letters of support on behalf of the lab, advocating for the continuation of its work because of how important its tools and resources are for drinking water management.In a statement to ProPublica, staffers from Toledos water system credited the Great Lakes lab and NOAA for alerting it to potential blooms near its intake days ahead of time. This has saved the system significant costs, they said, and helped it avoid feeding excess chemicals into the water.The likelihood of another 2014 dont drink the water advisory has been minimized to almost nothing by additional vigilance from both the lab and local officials, they said.Remaining staff have had to contend with not only a lack of capacity but also tight limits on spending and travel. Several people who have worked in or with the lab said that the staff was hampered by strict credit card limits imposed on government employees as part of the effort to reduce spending by the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been spearheaded by presidential adviser Elon Musk.The basic scientific supplies that we use to provide the local communities with information on algal bloom toxicity our purchasing of them is being restricted based on the limitations currently being put in by the administration, Collier said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations custom-built hub for the Great Lakes region in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Nick Hagen for ProPublica) NOAA and the Department of Commerce, which oversees the agency, didnt respond to messages from ProPublica. Neither did a DOGE official. Eight U.S. senators, including the minority leader, sent a letter in March to a top NOAA leader inquiring about many of the changes, but they never received a response.The department described its approach to some of its cuts when it eliminated nearly $4 million in funding for the NOAA cooperative institute at Princeton University and emphasized the importance of avoiding wasteful government spending. ProPublica has reported on how the loss of research grants at Princeton and the more significant defunding of the NOAA lab it works with would be a serious setback for weather and climate preparedness.A number of the staffing losses at the Great Lakes lab came when employees accepted offers of early retirement or voluntary separation; others were fired probationary workers targeted by DOGE across the government. That includes Collier, who had 24 years of professional experience, largely as a research professor, before he was hired last year into a position that, according to the labs former director, had been difficult to fill.A scientist specializing in the toxic algal blooms was also fired. She worked on the team for 14 years through the cooperative institute before accepting a federal position last year, which made her probationary, too. A computer scientist who got real-time data onto the labs website and the only person who knew how to push out the weekly sampling data on harmful algal blooms was also fired. She was probationary because she too was hired for a federal position after working with the institute. And because of a planned retirement, no one holds the permanent position of lab director, though there is an acting director. The lab isnt allowed to fill any positions due to a federal hiring freeze.At the same time, expected funds for the lab's cooperative institute are delayed, which means, Dick said, it may soon lay off staff, including people on the algal blooms team. In March, Clevelands water commissioner wrote a letter calling for continued support for the Great Lakes lab and other NOAA-funded operations in the region, saying that access to real-time forecasts for Lake Erie are critically important in making water treatment decisions for more than 1.3 million citizens.In 2006, there was a major outbreak of hypoxia, an issue worsened by algal blooms where oxygen-depleted water can become corrosive, discolored and full of excess manganese, which is a neurotoxin at high levels. Cleveland Water collaborated with the lab on developing a groundbreaking hypoxia forecast model, said Scott Moegling, who worked for both the Cleveland utility and Ohios drinking water regulatory agency.I knew which plants were going to get hit, Moegling said. I knew about when, and I knew what the treatment we would need would be, and we could staff accordingly.The American Meteorological Society, in partnership with the National Weather Association, spotlighted this warning system in its statement in support of NOAA research, saying that it helps keep drinking water potable in the Great Lakes region.Collier, the former branch chief, said that quality data may be lacking this year, not just for drinking water suppliers, but also the U.S. Coast Guard, fisheries, shipping companies, recreational businesses and shoreline communities that rely on it to navigate risk. In response to a recent survey of stakeholders, the president of a trade organization serving Great Lakes cargo vessels said that access to NOAAs real-time data is critically important to the commercial shipping fleet when making navigation decisions.Because federal law requires NOAA to monitor harmful algal blooms, the cuts may run against legal obligations, several current and former workers told ProPublica. The blooms program was federally mandated to be active every single day, without exception, Collier said. First image: Harmful algal bloom on Lake Erie, observed during weekly sampling in 2022. Second image: A beaker holding a water sample taken from Lake Erie during a peak harmful algal bloom, shown at its natural concentration in 2017. (The Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan) The 2024 bloom in Lake Erie was the earliest on record. At its peak, it covered 550 square miles. Warming temperatures worsen the size and frequency of algal blooms. While the field season was historically only about 90 days, Collier said, last year the team was deployed for 211 days.As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is typically first to show signs of problems. But its also an emblem of environmental stewardship, thanks to its striking recovery from unchecked industrial pollution. The lake was once popularly declared dead. A highly publicized fire inflamed a river that feeds into it. Even Dr. Seuss knocked it in the 1971 version of The Lorax. The book described fish leaving a polluted pond in search of some water that isnt so smeary. I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.But the rise of agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA, and labs like the one protecting the Great Lakes, along with legislation that protected water from pollution, led to noticeable changes. By 1986, two Ohio graduate students had succeeded in persuading Theodor Geisel, the author behind Dr. Seuss, to revise future editions of his classic book.I should no longer be saying bad things about a body of water that is now, due to great civic and scientific effort, the happy home of smiling fish, Geisel wrote to them.Early this year, headlines out of the Midwest suggested that Vance could be a game-changing Great Lakes advocate and that he might save the Great Lakes from Trump.A 2023 report to Congress about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a popular funding mechanism for projects that protect the lakes, including the research labs, described the labs work on harmful algal blooms as one of its success stories. Last year, with Vance as a co-sponsor, an act to extend support for the funding program passed the Senate, but stalled in the House. Another bipartisan effort to reauthorize it launched in January. Nicole Rice was recently fired from her position at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory after 10 years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A promotion put her on probationary status. Shes worried that federal cuts are placing the Great Lakes system at risk. (Nick Hagen for ProPublica) Project 2025, the plan produced by the Heritage Foundation for Trumps second term, recommended that the president consider whether NOAA should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories.NOAA is a colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry, the plan said, and this industrys mission seems designed around the fatal conceit of planning for the unplannable.That is not to say NOAA is useless, it added, but its current organization corrupts its useful functions. It should be broken up and downsized.When asked at his confirmation hearing in January if he agreed with Project 2025s recommendation of dismantling NOAA, Howard Lutnick, head of the commerce department, said no. One month later, the Great Lakes labs probationary staff got termination notices. That includes Nicole Rice, who spent a decade with NOAA. A promotion made her communications job vulnerable to the widespread firings of federal probationary workers.In recent testimony to a Michigan Senate committee, Rice expressed deep concern about the future of the Great Lakes. It has taken over a century of bipartisan cooperation, investment and science to bring the Great Lakes back from the brink of ecological collapse, Rice said. But these reckless cuts could undo the progress in just a few short years, endangering the largest surface freshwater system in the world. Vernal Coleman contributed reporting.

Plus, the Met Galas unforgettable looks.

Supporters of the former corporate lawyer say he is well-prepared and thoughtful, but critics accuse him of failing to think more than one step ahead and breaking promises.

We have photos from the biggest night in fashion.

A painting of the monarch in the regalia of the crowning ceremony is a royal tradition. An official painting of Queen Camilla was also revealed.

Three years into Russias invasion of Ukraine, antiwar parents and some teachers say they are going to great lengths to shield children from state-mandated patriotic education classes.

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01199-5What does a chief business officer do, and how do you become one? Filippo Mulinacci describes his corporate career, the importance of on-the-job training and why he doesnt miss the bench.

Nature, Published online: 06 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01348-wTheres no mystery to innovation and economic growth; the US must nurture its scientists or find out the hard way.

How one of the most iconic places in New York City transformed from a tourist area to a boxing venue.

Draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down the odds, likely picks and best fits for prospects.