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A paramilitary soldier stand alert on a road near Karachi port following raising military tension between Pakistan and India, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)2025-05-09T23:03:19Z ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistans army spokesman said that India has fired missiles at three air bases inside the country, but most of the missiles have been intercepted.Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said in a televised address that all Pakistan Air Force assets are safe. He added that some of the Indian missiles also hit Indias eastern Punjab.The army spokesman said the missiles fired by India targeted the Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district in the eastern Punjab province. Sharif said some of the missiles fired by India have also gone into Afghanistan, and Pakistan had evidence to prove it.Sharif aid that continuing its naked aggression, India, some time back, has fired air-to-surface missiles with its jets. According to information till now, all PAF (Pakistan Air Force) assets are safe, he said.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., speaks with an officer demanding she be let into the ICE Detention office after the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)2025-05-09T19:38:34Z Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday at a federal immigration detention center where he has been protesting its opening this week, a federal prosecutor said. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka committed trespass and ignored warnings from Homeland Security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, a detention facility run by private prison operator Geo Group. Rep. LaMonica McIver, center, demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Rep. LaMonica McIver, center, demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Habba said Baraka had chosen to disregard the law and added that he was taken into custody.Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.Linda Baraka, the mayors wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.They didnt arrest anyone else. They didnt ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor, she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him.A crowd gathered to protest outside the building where Baraka was being held, with many chanting, Let the mayor go! Witnesses describe a heated argumentWitnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jerseys congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates. There was yelling and pushing, Martinez said. Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car. Amina Baraka, mother of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, hugs Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., outside of an ICE office after her sons arrest, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Amina Baraka, mother of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, hugs Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., outside of an ICE office after her sons arrest, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of the facility. The department said further that as a bus carrying detainees was entering, a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility. Homeland Security did not respond to questions about why only the mayor was arrested.Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the lawmakers went to the facility early in the afternoon unannounced because their plan was to inspect it, not to take a scheduled tour.They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority, he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. DHS, in its statement issued after Barakas arrest, said Menendez, Watson Coleman and a number of protesters were currently holed up in a guard shack at the facility. Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour, McLaughlin said. Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Watson Coleman, who left and was at a Homeland Security Investigations holding facility where Baraka was said to have been taken, said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit. Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not storm the detention center, she wrote. The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didnt even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident. Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gateIn video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not join a tour of the facility because you are not a congress member.Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: Theyre talking about coming back to arrest you.Im not on their property. They cant come out on the street and arrest me, Baraka replied.Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, Shame, Baraka was dragged back through the security gate in handcuffs.The ICE personnel came out aggressively to arrest him and grab him, said Julie Moreno, a New Jersey state captain of American Families United. It didnt make any sense why they chose that moment to grab him while he was outside the gates.An email and phone message left with the mayors communications office were not immediately answered Friday afternoon. Kabir Moss, a spokesperson for Barakas gubernatorial campaign, said, We are actively monitoring and will provide more details as they become available. Several civil rights and immigration reform advocates as well as government officials condemned Barakas arrest. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, whose office is defending a state law barring private immigration detention facilities, criticized the arrest during a seemingly peaceful protest and said no state or local law enforcement agencies were involved. The history of the facilityThe two-story building next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house. In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the Newark detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE. Protestors shout Let him out to demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Protestors shout Let him out to demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The announcement was part of President Donald Trumps plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.Baraka sued Geo soon after the deal was announced.Geo touted the Delaney Hall contract during its earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.Hall said the activation of the facility and another in Michigan would increase total capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared. ___Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, far left, looks on from the defense table with his attorneys, as a prospective juror, far right, answers questions posed by Judge Arun Subramanian, center, at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)2025-05-09T13:21:51Z NEW YORK (AP) Sean Diddy Combs was not treated differently because of his race by prosecutors who brought racketeering and sex trafficking charges against him, a judge ruled Friday as he rejected a request to dismiss some charges three days before opening statements in the hip-hop moguls trial.Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs had shown no evidence of discriminatory effect or intent based on his race, when his lawyers made their arguments in Manhattan federal court in February. In a separate written opinion, the judge also refused to suppress evidence in the case.The lawyers had written that the prosecution was unprecedented because, most disturbingly, no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution.The judge agreed with arguments by prosecutors that the extent of criminal conduct by Combs from 2004 to 2024 when he was alleged to have overseen a racketeering enterprise that enabled him to sexually abuse women was enough to separate the case against him from other prosecutions. AP AUDIO: Jury selection for sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs is pushed to next week AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on jury selection in Diddys trial. Its the severity of what Combs allegedly did not his race that mattered, the judge wrote. Subramanian noted that lawyers for Combs had alleged that the government sought to humiliate him through its news releases, the way search warrants were executed at his home, the refusal to let him surrender and alleged leaks to the media.However, Combs doesnt point to any evidence that racial bias played a role in the Governments actions, that the prosecution team was responsible for any leaks to the press, or that the way Combss homes were searched bespeaks a discriminatory purpose, the judge wrote. He added that the governments press releases and refusal to allow Combs to self-surrender were in keeping with how it has handled cases with defendants of other races.The ruling came as opening statements were scheduled to occur Monday immediately after the final stage of jury selection, which defense lawyers say will take only a matter of minutes. Prosecutors allege that Combs, 55, used his fame and power at the top of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse women from 2004 to 2024. He pleaded not guilty after his September arrest and has been held without bail at a Brooklyn federal lockup.At a hearing Friday, Subramanian cancelled plans to finish picking the jury for the trial, saying he was worried that some jurors might get cold feet and back out of the case by Monday if they had the weekend to think about it.One juror who sent an email to the courts jury department on Thursday night expressing concern about her well-being was dismissed from the panel of 45 jurors, from which 12 jurors and six alternates will be chosen on Monday.Combs was in the Manhattan courtroom on Friday, but jurors werent required to be there. The trial is projected to last two months.Would-be jurors were asked questions earlier in the week to help the judge and lawyers determine if they could be fair and impartial. And they were also questioned to ensure they could decide the case on the facts even after seeing explicit videos of sexual activity that some might find disturbing. If Combs is convicted on all charges which include racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking he would face a mandatory 15 years in prison and could remain behind bars for life.An indictment includes descriptions of Freak Offs, drugged-up orgies in which women were forced to have sex with male sex workers while Combs filmed them.The charges against him also portray Combs as abusive to his victims, sometimes choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, often by the hair. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony.His lawyers say prosecutors are trying to criminalize sexual activity between consenting adults. They concede that Combs had abused various substances but say he has since undergone treatment.A centerpiece of the evidence against him are recordings of Combs beating a longtime girlfriend in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. After a video of the encounter aired on CNN last year, Combs apologized, saying, I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. Im disgusted now.Numerous prospective jurors told the judge theyd seen the video and some were deemed too affected by it to be impartial.

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A paramilitary soldier stand alert on a road near Karachi port following raising military tension between Pakistan and India, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)2025-05-10T00:26:20Z State-run Pakistan Television said Saturday that retaliatory attacks are underway after India fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan. It did not give details, and it was unclear which military locations in India were being targeted.Multiple locations in India are being targeted in the retaliatory attacks, the state-run media reported.India fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan but most of the missiles were intercepted, Pakistans army spokesman said Saturday. Its the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a gun massacre last month that India blames Pakistan for.Here is the latest:Loud explosions heard at multiple places in Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents sayThe explosions on Saturday were heard in the disputed regions two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard last two nights during drone attacks, said Sheesh Paul Vaid, the regions former top police official and a resident of Jammu. It looks like a war here.___ Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. G7 urges both India and Pakistan to exercise maximum restraintThe Group of Seven nations, or G7, has urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan as hostilities flared. Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability. We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides, a statement by Canada on behalf of G7 foreign ministers said Friday. We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome, the statement said.___ India says drones sighted in 26 locations in border areas The Indian army said in a statement late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations in Indian states bordering Pakistan and in Indian-controlled Kashmir, including regions Srinagar main city.It said the drones were tracked and engaged.The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary, the statement said.___ Analyst says Pakistan exercised maximum restraint before retaliatingSyed Mohammad Ali, a defense analyst, says Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes after exercising maximum restraint.He said Pakistan is using its ballistic missiles to hit those Indian military facilities from where India launched the latest attacks on Pakistan.The world knows that Pakistan exercised maximum restraint. We gave diplomacy a chance when friendly countries made efforts to defuse the situation, but India kept on indulging in aggression, he said.

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Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)2025-05-10T04:33:14Z Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was released after spending several hours in custody following his arrest at a new federal immigration detention center he has been protesting against.Baraka was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility and was finally released around 8 p.m. Friday. Stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, he told waiting supporters: The reality is this: I didnt do anything wrong. The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included. All of us here, every last one of us, I dont care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak, Baraka said, at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us. Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration.He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues. Linda Baraka, the mayors wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.They didnt arrest anyone else. They didnt ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor, she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.Habba said Baraka had chosen to disregard the law. Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility. Witnesses describe a heated argumentWitnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jerseys congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.There was yelling and pushing, Martinez said. Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour. They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority, he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 and 4 p.m.Watson Coleman later said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit.Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not storm the detention center, she wrote. The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didnt even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident. Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gateIn video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because you are not a congress member.Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: Theyre talking about coming back to arrest you.Im not on their property. They cant come out on the street and arrest me, Baraka replied.Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, Shame, Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.Several civil rights and immigration reform advocates, as well as government officials, condemned Barakas arrest. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, whose office is defending a state law barring private immigration detention facilities, criticized the arrest during a seemingly peaceful protest and said no state or local law enforcement agencies were involved. Rep. Menendez said in a statement that as members of Congress, they have the legal right to carry out oversight at DHS facilities without prior notice and have done so twice already this year. But on Friday, Throughout every step of this visit, ICE attempted to intimidate everyone involved and impede our ability to conduct oversight. The detention centerThe two-story building next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house. In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE. The announcement was part of President Donald Trumps plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.Baraka sued Geo soon after the deal was announced.Geo touted the Delaney Hall contract during an earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.Hall said the activation of the center and another in Michigan would increase capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared. ___Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Protestors demand the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest at an ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)2025-05-10T04:24:02Z TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Talks planned this weekend between U.S. and Chinese officials in Switzerland are a culmination of more than three months of dizzying rounds of retaliatory tariffs between the two countries that have crippled each others exporters and dragged on their economies.Washington and Beijing are entering talks with tariffs on each others goods at an all-time high. U.S. duties on Chinese imports stand at 145%, while Chinas retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods have reached 125%.U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed the talks could bring tangible progress, and that he was open to lowering the tariffs substantially if Beijing made concessions. China, however, has reiterated calls for Washington to cancel the tariffs ahead of the talks.Here is a play-by-play of how U.S. and Chinese tariffs have reached such sky-high levels since the beginning of Trumps second term in office: Feb. 1, 2025Trump signs an executive order imposing 10% tariffs on China, as well as 25% duties on Mexico and Canada. He later announces a 30-day reprieve on the Mexican and Canadian tariffs.Feb. 4The 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S. come into effect. China retaliates the same day by announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including duties on American coal, liquefied natural gas and agricultural machinery. March 4Trump imposes additional 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods, bringing the total level of duties to 20%. China responds with tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies. March 10Chinese tariffs and measures announced on March 4 go into effect.April 2On Trumps so-called tariff Liberation Day, he announces additional 34% duties on all Chinese imports, alongside tariffs on goods from countries around the world. The sweeping tariffs are to come into effect April 9. April 4China fights back by imposing 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods, effective April 10, as well as other retaliatory measures including more export controls on rare earth minerals.China also suspends imports of sorghum, poultry and bonemeal from several U.S. companies, adds 27 firms to lists of companies facing trade restrictions, and starts an anti-monopoly probe into DuPont China Group, a subsidiary of the U.S. company DuPont.April 7Trump threatens China with additional 50% tariffs if it doesnt roll back its 34% reciprocal tariffs.April 9Trumps Liberation Day tariffs come into effect. The U.S. raises tariffs on China even higher than previously announced, to 104%.Beijing retaliates with duties of 84% on U.S. goods, effective April 10.Trump further raises tariffs on all Chinese goods to 145%, effective immediately.April 11China raises its tariffs on all U.S. goods to 125%, effective April 12. Beijing says it would not raise the duties any further.May 6The Trump administration announces that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva. China will be represented at the talks by Vice Premier He Lifeng. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto

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A sign is displayed on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)2025-05-09T23:36:05Z Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle claims the company collected users data without permission, the states attorney general announced Friday.Attorney General Ken Paxton described the settlement as sending a message to tech companies that he will not allow them to make money off of selling away our rights and freedoms.In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law. Paxton said in a statement. For years, Google secretly tracked peoples movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won.The agreement settles several claims Texas made against the search giant in 2022 related to geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data. The state argued Google was unlawfully tracking and collecting users private data.Paxton claimed, for example, that Google collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through such products and services as Google Photos and Google Assistant. Google spokesperson Jos Castaeda said the agreement settles an array of old claims, some of which relate to product policies the company has already changed. We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services, he said in a statement.The company also clarified that the settlement does not require any new product changes. Paxton said the $1.4 billion is the largest amount won by any state in a settlement with Google over this type of data-privacy violations.Texas previously reached two other key settlements with Google within the last two years, including one in December 2023 in which the company agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.Meta has also agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over allegations that the tech giant used users biometric data without their permission. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Switzerland's Economy Minister Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, left, shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, right, next to Switzerland's President Karin Keller-Sutter, center, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and China, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, Pool)2025-05-10T04:15:16Z GENEVA (AP) The U.S. treasury secretary and Americas top trade negotiator will meet with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland this weekend to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the worlds two biggest economies and to damage global commerce.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim. But there is hope that the two countries will scale back the massive taxes tariffs theyve slapped on each others goods, a move that would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on U.S.-China trade.U.S. President Donald Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries boycotting each others products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion. Even before the talks began, Trump suggested Friday that the U.S. could lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that 80% Tariff seems right! Up to Scott. Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted it will be the first time He and Bessent have talked. And she doubts the Geneva meeting will produce any substantive results. The best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the ... tariffs at the same time, she said, adding even a small reduction would send a positive signal. It cannot just be words.Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon. He has, for example, imposed a 10% tax on imports from almost every country in the world.But the fight with China has been the most intense. His tariffs on China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States. The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trumps first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed the 145%. During Trumps first term, the U.S. alleged that China uses unfair tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless cars. These include forcing U.S. and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market; using government money to subsidize domestic tech firms; and outright theft of sensitive technologies.Those issues were never fully resolved. After nearly two years of negotiation, the United States and China reached a so-called Phase One agreement in January 2020. The U.S. agreed then not to go ahead with even higher tariffs on China, and Beijing agreed to buy more American products. The tough issues such as Chinas subsidies were left for future negotiations.But China didnt come through with the promised purchases, partly because COVID-19 disrupted global commerce just after the Phase One truce was announced. The fight over Chinas tech policy now resumes.Trump is also agitated by Americas massive trade deficit with China, which came to $263 billion last year.In Switzerland, Bessent and Greer also plan to meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter.Trump last month suspended plans to slap hefty 31% tariffs on Swiss goods -- more than the 20% levies he plastered on exports from European Union. For now, hes reduced those taxes to 10% but could raise them again.The government in Bern is taking a cautious approach. But it has warned of the impact on crucial Swiss industries like watches, coffee capsules, cheese and chocolate.An increase in trade tensions is not in Switzerlands interests. Countermeasures against U.S. tariff increases would entail costs for the Swiss economy, in particular by making imports from the USA more expensive, the government said last week, adding that the executive branch is therefore not planning to impose any countermeasures at the present time. The government said Swiss exports to the United States on Saturday were subject to an additional 10% tariff, and another 21% beginning Wednesday.The United States is Switzerlands second-biggest trading partner after the EU a 27-member-country bloc that nearly surrounds the wealthy Alpine country of more than 9 million. U.S.-Swiss trade in goods and services has quadrupled over the last two decades, the government said.The Swiss government said Switzerland abolished all industrial tariffs on Jan. 1 last year, meaning that 99% of all goods from the United States can be imported into Switzerland duty-free.____Wiseman and Tang reported from Washington. DIDI TANG Tang joined the AP Washington bureau in 2023 after spending 11 years in Beijing as a China correspondent. She covers anything related to the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on U.S.-China competitions mailto JAMEY KEATEN Keaten is the chief Associated Press reporter in Geneva. He previously was posted in Paris and has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and across Europe. twitter

President Donald Trump speaks at an education event and executive order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)2025-05-10T02:03:14Z SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The Trump administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday.Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed last week by labor unions and cities, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trumps efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime, Illston wrote in her order.The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the presidents workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management. The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing the executive order, including taking any further action. They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already underway or poised to be underway, including at the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in March it will lay off 10,000 workers and centralize divisions. Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and agencies created by Congress.But he must do so in lawful ways, she said. He must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way. Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE. Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a result of Trumps government-shrinking efforts. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go. In her order, Illston gave several examples to show the impact of the downsizing. One union that represents federal workers who research health hazards faced by mineworkers said it was poised to lose 221 of 222 workers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office; a Vermont farmer didnt receive a timely inspection on his property to receive disaster aid after flooding and missed an important planting window; a reduction in Social Security Administration workers has led to longer wait times for recipients.All the agencies impacted were created by Congress, she noted.Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies should follow in exercising their own decision-making process. It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to implement, Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said of the memo. It is setting out guidance. But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies. They are not waiting for these planning documents to go through long processes, she said. Theyre not asking for approval, and theyre not waiting for it.The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the U.S. Supreme Court later blocked his order. Plaintiffs include the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore; labor group American Federation of Government Employees; and nonprofit groups Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Taxpayer Rights and Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks.

Pope Leo XIV, then Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo Robert Prevost, preaches during a Corpus Christi celebration in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, Friday, June 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Julio Reano)2025-05-10T04:06:04Z SAO PAULO (AP) The bishop sat quietly near the front row, hands folded, listening as Indigenous leaders and church workers spoke about the threats to Perus northern forests, a part of the Amazon rain forest. It was 2016, a year after Laudato Si, Pope Francis encyclical on the environment.When he was up to speak, the bishop didnt preach though he was in his city of Chiclayo as host of a regional gathering. Instead, he reflected on things he had seen. Its a very important encyclical, he said. It also represents something new in terms of this explicit expression of the churchs concern for all of creation. That bishop, Robert Prevost, is now Pope Leo XIV.He was always very welcoming, very close to the people, Laura Vargas, secretary of the Interreligious Council of Peru, who helped organize the event, recalled in a phone interview with The Associated Press. He had no problem saying yes when we proposed it he was genuinely interested in social pastoral work.Since then, Prevost deepened his ties with interfaith environmental networks like the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and Indigenous organizations such as AIDESEP, which place forest protection and rights at the center of Church concern. Such credentials have brought hope to clergymen and faithful in the Amazon region, a vast area with 48 million residents and 6.7 million square kilometers (2.6 million square miles) in South America. They see Chicago-born Prevost, who spent about two decades in Perus countryside, as a pontiff who protect the region and fight against climate change. NAVIGATING THE AMAZONMany Catholics have said they believe Prevosts experience as bishop of Chiclayo, a city of 630,000 residents in Northern Peru and not too far from the Amazon, was one of the key reasons he was chosen. They also said the pontiffs hands-on experience in an impoverished area far from major cities could also serve him well in dealing with the Amazon and navigating its challenges.The Amazon is a key regulator of the climate, as its dense forests absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that when released into the atmosphere heats the planet. But many parts of the Amazon are under threat from a wide range of illegal activities: farmers clearing trees to raise cows, gold miners dredging rivers and destroying local ecosystems and land-grabbers seizing territories. Wildfires and droughts, exacerbated by climate change, have also hit Amazon communities hard in recent years.Prevost is well acquainted with these issues, having presided over the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which helped him bond with colleagues of the nine countries touched by the Amazon. Many of them are among the 105 bishops of an organization he openly supports, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, a Catholic Church network focused on the Amazon region. I spoke to him a number times about the Amazon and the environment. He doesnt need to be convinced of its importance, said Cardinal Pedro Barreto, the president of the network, who has known Prevost since he became the bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. Brazilian Friar Paulo Xavier agrees.Leo will follow Francis; we are going forward with environment protection, Xavier said. The Holy Spirit has acted on our behalf. Xavier is based in Manaus, a city of 2 million residents in the Amazon which received its first-ever cardinal appointed by Francis in 2022: the now 74-year-old archbishop Leonardo Steiner, an enthusiast of Laudato Si.Steiner, Xavier and the Manaus archdiocese have invested to get the encyclical into the hands of locals, even when that means jumping on small, motorized canoes through the brown waters of the Negro River to reach isolated villages in journeys that can last days on a boat. POPE FOR ACTIONIn November 2024, the Vatican News reported that Prevost called for more action to tackle climate change and protect the environment during a seminar in Rome. He cited efforts the Vatican has taken such as installing solar panels and electric vehicles. On the social media platform X, Prevost has reposted messages about protecting the environment. One message he reposted on April 1, 2017, expressed concern about emissions of carbon dioxide, a planet-warming gas, during President Donald Trumps his first term.Laura Vicua, an Indigenous woman of the Kariri people and the vice president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon Region, said in a letter published on social media that she hopes the pope will be an ally in the fight against climate change. The conference was created by Francis in 2020 to promote discussion between clergymen and laypeople.From our dear Amazon, we plead with you to be our ally in the defense of what is the most sacred for us; life, land and rights, Vicua wrote.Indigenous peoples like Vicuas Kariri are often regarded as key protectors of the Amazon, but for many years they have been forced out of their lands by criminals, deforestation and famine, as seen in the Yanomami lands in Northern Brazil in 2023. Spaniard Luis Ventura, the executive-secretary of Brazils Indigenous Missionary Council, said he prays for the new pope to keep his eyes close to the Amazon, with a special attention to the Indigenous. Founded in 1972, the council had rare occasions to meet with pontiffs until Francis rose in 2013. Its members hope Leo doesnt change that.Leo XIV will have a big impact on the Amazon, said Ventura. His life was always with the people in Peru, and that allows us to think the church will be deep into the territory.CLIMATE URGENCYFrancis showed great interest in the Amazon during his pontificate. Four years after Laudato Si, he hosted the Amazon Synod, which sought new Paths for the Church and for an integral ecology. Rose Bertoldo, one of the secretaries of the Manaus archdiocese, said she is hopeful for the regions future under Leo, given it would build on Francis interest. She added the new pontiff will have a chance to visit Brazil, the nation with the most Catholics in the world, during this years U.N. climate summit, known as COP30, in the Amazonian city of Belem in November. We know that the urgencies and the challenges in the Amazon will be bigger because of the global political context of division. We need him at COP, Bertoldo said. Irish priest Peter Hughes, who spent most of his life in Peru, met Prevost shortly after he arrived in the Andean nation in 1985. They quickly became friends, and would see each other when the bishop of Chiclayo was in the capital Lima. Back then, (Prevost) was worried about extractivism in the Amazon and the effect it had on the poor, said Hughes, referring to the new pontiff. Now it is a much more complex world, the urgency is evident.____ Grattan reported from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Associated Press writer Isabella OMalley contributed from Philadelphia.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. MAURICIO SAVARESE Savarese is a reporter since 2004, with a vast experience covering soccer and politics. English, Espaol, Portugus, some French and a bit of Italian. twitter instagram facebook mailto STEVEN GRATTAN Grattan reports on the Amazon rainforest and deforestation around Latin America for The Associated Press. He is based in Bogota, Colombia. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Cardinal Robert Prevost celebrates Mass at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Ill., in 2024. (Photo courtesy of the Midwest Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel via AP)2025-05-10T04:03:37Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) The new popes French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy.All four of Pope Leo XIVs maternal great-grandparents were free people of color in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found. As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures in Louisiana, the popes maternal ancestors would be considered Creole.It was special for me because I share that heritage and so do many of my friends who are Catholic here in New Orleans, said Honora, a historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter.Honora and others in the Black and Creole Catholic communities say the election of Leo a Chicago native who spent over two decades in Peru including eight years as a bishop is just what the Catholic Church needs to unify the global church and elevate the profile of Black Catholics whose history and contributions have long been overlooked. A rich cultural identityLeo, who has not spoken openly about his roots, may also have an ancestral connection to Haiti. His grandfather, Joseph Norval Martinez, may have been born there, though historical records are conflicting, Honora said. However, Martinezs parents the popes great-grandparents were living in Louisiana since at least the 1850s, he said.Andrew Jolivette, a professor of sociology and Afro-Indigenous Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, did his own digging and found the popes ancestry reflected the unique cultural tapestry of southern Louisiana. The popes Creole roots draw attention to the complex, nuanced identities Creoles hold, he said. There is Cuban ancestry on his maternal side. So, there are a number of firsts here and its a matter of pride for Creoles, said Jolivette, whose family is Creole from Louisiana. So, I also view him as a Latino pope because the influence of Latino heritage cannot be ignored in the conversation about Creoles. Most Creoles are Catholic and historically it was their faith that kept families together as they migrated to larger cities like Chicago, Jolivette said.The former Cardinal Robert Prevosts maternal grandparents identified as mulatto and Black in historical records were married in New Orleans in 1887 and lived in the citys historically Creole Seventh Ward. In the coming years, the Jim Crow regime of racial segregation rolled back post-Civil War reforms and just about every aspect of their lives was circumscribed by race, extending even to the church, Honora said. An American story of migrationThe popes grandparents migrated to Chicago around 1910, like many other African American families leaving the racial oppression of the Deep South, and passed for white, Honora said. The popes mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, who was born in Chicago, is identified as white on her 1912 birth certificate, Honora said. You can understand, people may have intentionally sought to obfuscate their heritage, he said. Always life has been precarious for people of color in the South, New Orleans included.The popes grandparents old home in New Orleans was later destroyed, along with hundreds of others, to build a highway overpass that eviscerated a stretch of the largely Black neighborhood in the 1960s, Honora said. A former New Orleans mayor, Marc Morial, called the popes familys history, an American story of how people escape American racism and American bigotry. As a Catholic with Creole heritage who grew up near the neighborhood where the popes grandparents lived, Morial said he has contradictory feelings. While hes proud of the popes connection to his city, Morial said the new pontiffs maternal familys shifting racial identity highlights the idea that in America people had to escape their authenticity to be able to survive. African American influence on CatholicismThe Rev. Ajani Gibson, who heads the predominantly Black congregation at St. Peter Claver Church in New Orleans, said he sees the popes roots as a reaffirmation of African American influence on Catholicism in his city.I think a lot of people take for granted that the things that people love most about New Orleans are both Black and Catholic, said Gibson, referring to rich cultural contributions to Mardi Gras, New Orleans jazz tradition and brass band parades known as second-lines.He hoped the popes Creole heritage emerging from the citys cultural gumbo pot signals an inclusive outlook for the Catholic Church.I want the continued elevation of the universal nature of the church that the church looks, feels, sounds like everybody, Gibson said. We all have a place and we come and bring who we are, completely and totally, as gifts to the church.Shannen Dee Williams, a history professor at the University of Dayton, said she hopes that Leos genealogical roots and historic papacy will underscore that all roads in American Catholicism, in North, South and Central America, lead back to the churchs foundational roots in its mostly unacknowledged and unreconciled histories of Catholic colonialism, slavery and segregation. There have always been two trans-Atlantic stories of American Catholicism; one that begins with Europeans and another one that begins with Africans and African-descended people, free and enslaved, living in Europe and Africa in the 16th century, she said. Just as Black history is American history, (Leos) story also reminds us that Black history is, and always has been, Catholic history, including in the United States.Hope for the futureKim R. Harris, associate professor of African American Religious Thought and Practice at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said the popes genealogy got her thinking about the seven African American Catholics on the path to sainthood who have been recognized by the National Black Catholic Congress, but havent yet been canonized. Harris highlighted Pierre Toussaint, a philanthropist born in Haiti as a slave who became a New York City entrepreneur and was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1997.The excitement I have in this moment probably has to do with the hope that this popes election will help move this canonization process along, Harris said. While its not known how Leo identifies himself racially, his roots bring a sense of hope to African American Catholics, she said.When I think about a person who brings so much of the history of this country in his bones, I really hope it brings to light who we are as Americans, and who we are as people of the diaspora, she said. It brings a whole new perspective and widens the vision of who we all are.Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, the only historically Black Catholic university, said he was a little surprised about the popes heritage.Its a joyful connection, he said. It is an affirmation that the Catholic Church is truly universal and that (Black) Catholics remained faithful regardless of a church that was human and imperfect. It also shows us that the church transcends national borders.___Bharath reported from Los Angeles.___Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.___Associated Press 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. JACK BROOK Brook covers Louisiana government, infrastructure and environmental issues from New Orleans. He is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto DEEPA BHARATH Bharath is a reporter with APs Global Religion team. She is based in Los Angeles. twitter mailto

Angel City defender Savy King was "responsive and undergoing further evaluation" after being stretchered off the field following a "medical event" during the team's match against the Utah Royals on Friday night.

Shohei Ohtani's three-run homer capped a six-run ninth inning for the Dodgers, who rallied for a thrilling 14-11 victory over the Diamondbacks.

After getting blown out by 43 points in Game 2, the Nuggets tapped into their mix of experience, home environment and closing prowess to beat the Thunder in overtime for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

An emergency ruling by a federal judge in California amounted to the broadest effort yet to halt the Trump administrations overhaul of the federal government.

South Korea's People Power Party's presidential election candidate Kim Moon Soo, right, and independent preliminary presidential election candidate Han Duck-soo pose for a photo during a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)2025-05-10T03:28:30Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas embattled conservative party has taken the unprecedented step of nullifying its primary and replacing presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo just one week after Kims selection, deepening internal turmoil ahead of the June 3 presidential by-election.Saturdays move by the People Power Partys leadership, which Kim denounced as an overnight political coup, underscores the desperation and disarray within the party following the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law in December.Kim, a staunch conservative and former labor minister under Yoon, was named the PPPs presidential candidate on May 3 after winning 56.3% of the primary vote, defeating a reformist rival who had criticized Yoons martial law. But the PPPs leadership, dominated by Yoon loyalists, has spent the past week pressuring Kim to step aside and back Han, whom they believe stands a stronger chance against liberal Democratic Party frontrunner Lee Jae-myung. Han served as acting president after Yoon was impeached by the legislature in December and officially removed by the Constitutional Court in April. He resigned from office May 2 to pursue a presidential bid, arguing his long public service career qualifies him to lead the country amid growing geopolitical uncertainty and trade challenges intensified by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. After failed talks between Han and Kim to unify their candidacies, the PPPs emergency committee canceled Kims nomination in the early hours of Saturday and officially registered Han as a party member and its new presidential candidate. The replacement still requires confirmation through an all-party vote Saturday and approval by the partys national committee Sunday, which is the deadline for candidates to register with the election authorities. Han in a message issued through the party claimed if we unite, we can surely win.Speaking at a news conference, Kim lamented democracy in our party died and vowed to take unspecified legal and political steps, but it remained unclear whether any realistic path existed to restore his candidacy without the partys cooperation.Kim had opposed the legislatures impeachment of Yoon on Dec. 14, though he said he disagreed with Yoons decision to declare martial law on Dec. 3. Kim had gained popularity among hardline PPP supporters after he solely defied a Dec. 11 demand by an opposition lawmaker that all Cabinet members stand and bow in a gesture of apology for Yoons martial law enactment at the Assembly.Han and Kim have lagged well behind Lee in recent opinion polls. Lee, who spearheaded the Democrats efforts to oust Yoon, ridiculed the PPP efforts to switch candidacies, telling reporters Thursday, I have heard of forced marriages but never heard of forced unity.Lee has long cultivated an image as an anti-establishment figure capable of tackling South Koreas entrenched inequality and corruption. However, critics view him as a populist who fuels division and vilifies opponents, warning that his leadership could further polarize the country.He currently faces five trials for corruption and other criminal charges. If he becomes president, those trials likely will stop because of special presidential immunity from most criminal charges. KIM TONG-HYUNG Kim has been covering the Koreas for the AP since 2014. He has published widely read stories on North Koreas nuclear ambitions, the dark side of South Koreas economic rise and international adoptions of Korean children. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Meridah Nandudu, Bayaaya specialty coffee ltd founder, holds fried roasted coffee beans in Mbale, Uganda, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)2025-05-10T04:12:44Z SIRONKO, Uganda (AP) Meridah Nandudu envisioned a coffee sisterhood in Uganda, and the strategy for expanding it was simple: Pay a higher price per kilogram when a female grower took the beans to a collection point.It worked. More and more men who typically made the deliveries allowed their wives to go instead.Nandudus business group now includes more than 600 women, up from dozens in 2022. Thats about 75% of her Bayaaya Specialty Coffees pool of registered farmers in this mountainous area of eastern Uganda that produces prized arabica beans and sells to exporters.Women have been so discouraged by coffee in a way that, when you look at (the) coffee value chain, women do the donkey work, Nandudu said. But when the coffee is ready for selling, men step in to claim the proceeds.Her goal is to reverse that trend in a community where coffee production is not possible without womens labor. Uganda is one of Africas top two coffee producers, and the crop is its leading export. The east African country exported more than 6 million bags of coffee between September 2023 and August 2024, accounting for $1.3 billion in earnings, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority. The earnings have been rising as production dwindles in Brazil, the worlds top coffee producer, which faces unfavorable drought conditions.In Sironko district, where Nandudu grew up in a remote village near the Kenya border, coffee is the communitys lifeblood. As a girl, when she was not at school, she helped her mother and other women look after acres of coffee plants. They usually planted, weeded and toiled with the post-harvest routine that includes pulping, fermenting, washing and drying the coffee. The harvest season was known to coincide with a surge in cases of domestic violence, she said. Couples fought over how much of the earnings that men brought home from sales and how much they didnt. When (men) go and sell, they are not accountable. Our mothers cannot ask, We dont have food at home. You sold coffee. Can you pay school fees for this child? she said.Years later, Nandudu earned her degree in the social sciences from Ugandas top public university in 2015, with her father funding her education from coffee earnings. She had the idea to launch a company that would prioritize the needs of coffee-producing women in the countrys conservative society.She thought of her project as a kind of sisterhood and chose bayaaya a translation in the Lumasaba language for her companys name.It launched in 2018, operating like others that buy coffee directly from farmers and process it for export.But Bayaaya is unique in Mbale, the largest city in eastern Uganda, for focusing on women and for initiatives such as a cooperative saving society that members can contribute to and borrow from.For small-holder Ugandan farmers in remote areas, a small movement in the price of a kilogram of coffee is a major event. The decision to sell to one or another middleman often hinges on small price differences. A decade ago, the price of coffee bought by a middleman from a Ugandan farmer was roughly 8,000 Uganda shillings, or just over $2 at todays exchange rate. Now the price is roughly $5.Nandudu adds an extra 200 shillings to the price of every kilogram she buys from a woman. Its enough of an incentive that more women are joining. Another benefit is a small bonus payment during the off-season from February to August.That motivates many local men to trust their women to sell coffee, Nandudu said. When a woman sells coffee, she has a hand in it.Nandudus group has many collection points across eastern Uganda, and women trek to them at least twice a week. Men are not turned away.Selling as a Bayaaya member has fostered teamwork as her family collectively decides how to spend coffee earnings, said Linet Gimono, who joined the group in 2022.And with assured earnings, shes able to afford the small things she often needs as a woman. I can buy soap (and) I can buy sugar without pulling ropes with my husband over it, she said. Another member, Juliet Kwaga, said her mother never would have thought of collecting coffee earnings because her father was very much in charge.Now, Kwagas husband, with a bit of encouragement, is comfortable sending her. At the end of the day I go home with something to feed my family, to support my children, she said.In Sironko district, home to more than 200,000 people, coffee trees dot the hilly terrain. Much of the farming is on plots of one or two acres, although some families have larger tracts.Many farmers dont usually drink coffee, and some have never tasted it. Some women smiled in embarrassment when asked what it tasted like.But things are slowly changing. Routine coffee drinkers are emerging among younger women in the coffee business in urban areas, including at a roasting place in Mbale where most employees are women. Phoebe Nabutale, who helps oversee quality assurance for Darling Coffee, was raised in a family of coffee growers. She bent over the roaster, smelling the beans until she got the aroma she wanted.Many of her girlfriends, she said, regularly ask how they can break into the coffee business, as roasters or otherwise.For Nandudu, who aims to start exporting beans, thats progress.Now there are more women in coffee as a business, she said. ___For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulseThe Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, who entering Friday night had been the worst goalie statistically in these playoffs, posted his first postseason shutout since 2021 to help the Jets even their series with the Stars at one game apiece.

Pakistan said it had fired missiles at military sites in India after accusing India of targeting at least three of its air bases. India said it had targeted the bases in response to a wave of Pakistani attacks.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, meets with French President Emanuel Macron, center, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz onboard a train to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv where all three will hold meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday, May 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)2025-05-10T06:55:52Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) The leaders of four European countries arrived in Kyiv Saturday in a joint show of support as calls intensify for Russia to agree to a monthlong ceasefire in the war.The leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom arrived together at the train station in Kyiv, where they are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.The visit marked the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled together to Ukraine, while Friedrich Merz is making a first visit to Ukraine as Germanys new chancellor.Along with President Donald Trump, the European leaders are pushing for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire to allow for peace talks on ending the conflict.We reiterate our backing for the President Trumps calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace, the leaders said in a joint statement.

El Clsico is always huge, but with Barcelona and Real Madrid meeting so late in the season with a title still on the line, this is one for the ages.

FILE- A man cries at the trolleybus after a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Volodymyr Hordiienko, file)2025-05-10T08:38:34Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Two months ago, following high-level talks between Ukrainian and American delegations in the Saudi city of Jeddah, the United States proposed an unconditional 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly announced on that same day that Ukraine was ready to accept the proposal, provided Russia did the same.The Russian leader balked, saying a temporary break in hostilities would only benefit Ukraine and its Western allies by letting them replenish their arsenals. Since then, Russia has continued its military campaign, maintaining attacks along the roughly 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) front line and targeting civilian infrastructure. In some cases, it has stepped up its attacks on residential areas with no obvious military targets. An Associated Press tally based on reports from Ukrainian authorities found at least 117 civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in Russian aerial attacks since Ukraine announced on March 11 its willingness for a ceasefire all of them attacks involving long-range drones and a variety of missiles. The tally does not include casualties caused by short-range weapons, including mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, S-300 and S-400 ballistic missiles, drone-dropped explosives and aerial glide bombs, which Russia continues to use along the front line and nearby areas. Ukrainian officials do not provide overall casualty figures nor do they release official figures on how many Ukrainian troops have been killed on the battlefield. Among the deadliest attacks recently was a Russian ballistic missile that struck in the packed center of Sumy in northeast Ukraine on a busy Palm Sunday morning in mid-April. At least 35 people, including two children, were killed and around 120 wounded. Another blasted a playground in Zelenskyys hometown, killing 20 people including nine children. A deadly barrage targeting the capital Kyiv prompted rare criticism from President Donald Trump for the Russian leader.Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. In the past two months, Putin has twice unilaterally declared a brief ceasefire, one for Easter and the other to mark Victory Day in World War II. Both were repeatedly violated. Ukraine, meanwhile, has continued to launch droves of drones at Russian regions. This week, Russias Victory Day festivities were overshadowed by reports of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and triggering severe disruptions at the capitals airports, as well as cellphone internet outages amid jamming aimed at foiling more potential attacks.Heres a look at some of the deadliest attacks by Russian troops targeting Ukraine since March, 11:___March 24: A Russian missile hit a densely populated area of Sumy, damaging 30 residential buildings and a school. Local authorities said 101 people were wounded, including 23 children. April 3: Russian forces launch Shahed drones at a residential neighborhood in Ukraines second largest city of Kharkiv. Regional officials reported five people killed and 34 others wounded. Among the victims was an entire family, including their 12-year-old daughter. April 4: Russian forces carry out a combined missile and drone attack on a residential area in Kryvyi Rih that blasted a playground. According to local authorities, 20 people were killed, including nine children, and 74 others were wounded. The assault damaged more than 60 apartment buildings and private homes.April 13: On a busy Palm Sunday morning, a Russian ballistic missile strikes Sumy city center filled with civilians, killing 35 people, including two children, and wounding 119. It was one of the deadliest attacks on Ukrainian civilians this year. The next day, Russia said it targeted a gathering of senior Ukrainian military officers. Putin later admitted it was a civilian facility but claimed it hosted an award ceremony for Ukrainian troops. April 18: Three Russian cluster munitions struck Kharkiv, killing one man and wounding 113 people, including nine children. The strikes that happened during early morning hours could have potentially led to much higher casualty rates if conducted an hour later, city authorities said. April 24: Russia struck Ukraines capital Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. At least 12 people were killed and 90 were hurt in the deadliest assault on the city since last July. In total, Russia launched 145 Shahed drones and 70 missiles in a single night over Ukraine. April 29: At least 16 Russian Shahed drones struck Kharkiv, wounding 47 people, including two children and a pregnant woman. The citys mayor reported direct hits on residential buildings and a medical facility. May 2: Drones targeted at least four districts of Kharkiv city, injuring 47 people. One child was among the wounded.

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