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.

It seems like every year we hear about more queer women athletes who manage to find love and tie the knot. While some like to keep their weddings private, others celebrate their love loudly and share photographs and videos from their weddings with the fans who have always rooted for them. From teammates who fell for each other while playing their favorite sport to fierce rivals who managed to find love with the enemy to athletes who found a soul mate outside of sports, these women are winning at life and love. These lesbian and sapphic athletes took the plunge, said I do, and then shared their love with the world. Its enough to make you believe in love again!Courtney Vandersloot and Allie QuigleySee on InstagramChicago Sky star Courtney Vandersloot and former WNBA player Allie Quigley got married in 2018 when both women were playing for the Sky, setting a record for the first married couple to take home a pro sports championship together when they won the 2021 WNBA Championship. Affectionately known as the Vanderquigs, the pair got married in a quiet ceremony in Seattle, Wash. with several members of the Sky in attendance. The wedding may have been private but the couple posted photos in their gorgeous lace wedding dresses for their fans on Instagram.Anya Packer and Madison PackerSee on InstagramRetired National Womens Hockey League stars Anya Packer and Madison Packer tied the knot in 2019 in a beautiful ceremony at a resort in Newport, Rhode Island. Madison wore a white gown with lace details, and Anya sported a navy blue suit for their wedding that featured a lighthouse in the background. The couple has since had two adorable children and launched a parenting podcast called These Packs Puck.Anna Petrakova and Candace ParkerSee on InstagramRetired WNBA superstar Candace Parker married former Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova in a quiet ceremony in December 2019 but didnt go public with their marriage until 2021. Parker shared the news via Instagram by posting photos of their wedding where both women wore white gowns. The couple met way back in 2012 while they were both playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia and now share three children together. Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura StaceyPWHL Montreal Victoire teammates Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey tied the knot in September 2024 in front of 192 family members and friends in Canada. The couple posted videos of the nuptials on social media wearing white gowns and looking happy on their big day. Poulin and Stacey have an impressive hockey record together, taking home gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships as teammates.Tziarra King and Jess FishlockSee on InstagramSoccer power couple Tziarra King and Jess Fishlock got married in 2023 while playing together on the Seattle Reign. King, who wore a sleeveless lace gown, has since retired from soccer, but Fishlock, who walked down the aisle in a backless, long-sleeved lace dress, is still scoring goals for the Reign. The happy couple is now thinking about having children as part of their next phase of life.Meghan Duggan andGillian Apps (@) Once fierce rivals on the ice, Meghan Duggan and Gillian Apps walked down the aisle together in 2018. Theyve since retired from professional hockey, but while still playing, the two women were competing on opposing teams. Now the happy couple has put the competition on the back burner and is busy raising their three beautiful children together.Tierna Davidson andAlison JahansouzSee on InstagramSoccer star Tierna Davidson married wife Alison Jahansouz on New Years Eve 2024 and posted photos on Instagram with the caption, "Running into 2025 with my wife, alongside photos of the ceremony with the couple wearing a matching white dress and suit. The two began dating in 2017 when they were still teammates playing for the Stanford Cardinals and got engaged in March 2023.Emily van Egmond andKat ThompsonSee on InstagramAfter originally meeting on a dating app, Australian soccer star Emily van Egmond tied the knot with photographer Kat Thompson on December 27, 2024, after getting engaged the previous June. At the star couples wedding, van Egmond sported a double-breasted tuxedo and Thompson wore a beautiful strapless gown in a ceremony that was covered by Vogue Australia. The happy couple is expecting the first new addition to their family in October 2025.Chloe Logarzo andMcKenzie BerryhillSee on InstagramAustralian soccer legend Chloe Logarzo wed her longterm girlfriend, retired American soccer star McKenzie Berryhill, in a gorgeous beachside destination wedding in Thailand in November 2024. The lovebirds started as teammates on the Washington Spirits before beginning to date back in 2019. Then, after the Tokyo Olympics, Logarzo asked Berryhill to marry her, and the couple posted engagement photos on Instagram while in Paris together. Diana Taurasi and Penny TaylorSee on InstagramIn 2017, retired Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi married three-time WNBA champion Penny Taylor, who also played for the Mercury for most of her professional basketball career. For the Arizona-based ceremony, which was covered by People, Taylor wore a low-cut strapless gown while Taurasi dressed in a simple suit and sneakers. The couple shares two children named Leo and Isla. Amanda Chidester and Anissa UrtezSee on InstagramSoftball stars Amanda Chidester, who took home a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and Anissa Urtez got married in June 2024 in Salt Lake City while both were wearing stunning white wedding gowns.

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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2025-05-10T11:41:31Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity.In his first formal audience, Leo made clear he will follow in the modernizing reforms of Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the least and rejected.Citing Francis repeatedly, he told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor.Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day in the encyclical. In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour, he said. 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. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Women and girls look on as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)2025-05-10T11:33:29Z WASHINGTON (AP) About half of U.S. adults approve of how President Donald Trump is handling transgender issues, according to a new poll a relative high point for a president who has the approval overall of about 4 in 10 Americans.But support for his individual policies on transgender people is not uniformly strong, with a clearer consensus against policies that affect youth.The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey conducted this month found theres more support than opposition on allowing transgender troops in the military, while most dont want to allow transgender students to use the public school bathrooms that align with their gender identity and oppose using government programs to pay for gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.Schuyler Fricchione, a 40-year-old stay-at-home mother from northern Virginia, is one of those who opposes the government paying for gender-affirming care, especially for young people. She said she doesnt want people to make major changes that they might later regret. But she said that because of her Catholic faith, she doesnt want to exclude transgender people from public life. Its very important to me that everyone understands their dignity and importance as a person.It is something I am kind of working through myself, she said. I am still learning. Most adults agree with Trump that sex is determined at birthAbout two-thirds of U.S. adults agree with President Donald Trump that whether a person is a man or woman is determined by their biological characteristics at birth.The poll found that Republicans overwhelmingly believe gender identity is defined by sex at birth, but Democrats are divided, with about half saying gender identity can differ from biological characteristics at birth. The view that gender identity cant be separated from sex at birth view contradicts what the American Medical Association and other mainstream medical groups say: that extensive scientific research suggests sex and gender are better understood as a spectrum than as an either-or definition. A push against the recognition and rights of transgender people, who make up about 1% of the nations population, has been a major part of Trumps return to the White House and was a big part of his campaign.He has signed executive orders calling for the government to classify people by unchangeable sex rather than gender, oust transgender service members and kick transgender women and girls out of sports competitions for females. Those actions and others are being challenged in court, and judges have put many of his efforts on hold.The public is divided on some issues and many are neutralDespite being a hot-button issue overall, a big portion of the population is neutral or undecided on several key policies.About 4 in 10 people supported requiring public schoolteachers to report to parents if their children are identifying at school as transgender or nonbinary. About 3 in 10 opposed it and a similar number was neutral.About the same portion of people just under 4 in 10 favored allowing transgender troops in the military as were neutral about it. About one-quarter opposed it. Tim Phares, 59, a registered Democrat in Kansas who says he most often votes for Republicans, is among those in the middle on that issue.One on hand, he said, Either you can do the job or you cant do the job. But on the other, he added, Im not a military person, so Im not qualified to judge how it affects military readiness.This month, a divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trumps administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges proceed, a reversal of what lower courts have said.Most object to government coverage of gender-affirming care for youthAbout half oppose allowing government insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to cover gender-affirming medical care, such as hormone therapy and surgery, for transgender people 19 or older. About two-thirds oppose it for those under 19.And on each of those questions, a roughly equal portion of the populations support the coverage or is neutral about it.One of Trumps executive orders keeps federal insurance plans from paying for gender-affirming care for those under 19. A court has ruled that funding cant be dropped from institutions that provide the care, at least for now. Meanwhile, Trumps administration this month released a report calling for therapy alone and not broader gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. Twenty-seven states have bans on the care for minors, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming months over whether the bans can hold. Forming a stance is easy for someWhile Democrats are divided on many policies related to transgender issues, theyre more supportive than the population overall. There is no anguish over the issue or other transgender policy questions for Isabel Skinner, a 32-year-old politics professor in Illinois.She has liberal views on transgender people, shaped partly by her being a member of the LGBTQ+ community as a bisexual and pansexual person, and also by knowing transgender people.She was in the minority who supported allowing transgender students to use the public-school bathrooms that match their gender identity something that at least 14 states have passed laws to ban in the last five years.I dont understand where the fear comes from, Skinner said, because there really doesnt seem to be any basis of reality for the fear of transgender people.___Mulvihill reported from New Jersey.___The AP-NORC poll of 1,175 adults was conducted May 1-5, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points. GEOFF MULVIHILL Mulvihill covers topics on the agendas of state governments across the country. He has focused on abortion, gender issues and opioid litigation. twitter mailto LINLEY SANDERS Sanders is a polls and surveys reporter for The Associated Press. She develops and writes about polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and works on AP VoteCast. twitter RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Max Goodman, left, and Ross Brubeck walk on a trail near Princeton, N.J., as part of a Quaker march from New York City to Washington D.C. to protest President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants on Wednesday May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)2025-05-10T11:34:48Z PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) A group of Quakers are marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the Trump administrations crackdown on immigrants.The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and support womens voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Far more recently, Quakers sued the federal government earlier this year over immigration gents ability to make arrests at houses of worship. Organizers of the march say their protest seeks to show solidarity with migrants and other groups that are being targeted by President Donald Trumps administration.It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats, said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt a connection to the faiths long history of activism. I just have to put one foot in front of the other to move towards something better, something more true to what Quakers before us saw for this country and what people saw for the American Experiment, the American dream, she said. Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House across New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the Flushing Remonstrance a 17th century document that called for religious freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship. Quakers say it remains relevant in 2025 as a reminder to uphold the guiding principle that all are welcome. We really saw a common thread between the ways that the administration is sort of flying against the norms and ideals of constitutional law and equality before the law, said Max Goodman, 28, a Quaker, who joined the march.Even when they arent breaking rules explicitly, theyre really engaging in bad faith with the spirit of pluralism, tolerance and respect for human dignity that undergirds our founding documents as Americans and also shows up in this document thats really important in New York Quaker history. A Quaker history of resistance The Religious Society of Friends best known as the Quakers originated in 17th century England.The Christian group was founded by George Fox, an Englishman who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the Inner Light.Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.Brought to court for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a judge who derided him as a quaker in reference to his agitation over religious matters.Following the faiths core beliefs in nonviolence and justice, Quakers have demonstrated for the abolition of slavery, in favor of the suffrage movement, against both World Wars, and the U.S. role in the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, said Ross Brubeck, 38, one of the Quaker march organizers. They also joined protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the Black Lives Matter protests after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.Within the DNA of Quakerism is actions speaking out against authority, said Brubeck, who was marching along a trail in New Jersey with companions waving an upside-down American flag intended to serve as a signal of distress.Quakers have had a central role in opposition to repression within the United States since its founding, Brubeck said.The basic unit of Quaker organization is the weekly meeting, which corresponds to the congregation in other churches. Quakers gather for silent worship in meeting houses, where they wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak.When Brubeck and his group reached downtown Princeton, they were met by members of the local Quaker group, who praised them for their effort and guided them to their meeting house. After taking their shoes off their blistery feet, some rested on wooden pews and later prayed in silence, holding hands in a circle in preparation for another long walk. I felt humbled by their presence knowing what a long way theyve been walking, said Casey Oware, a member of the Princeton Friends Meeting. And also a sense of connection knowing that were fighting for the same thing. Her friend, Marae McGhee, a retired teacher and member of the local Quaker group, agreed: Its such a disturbing time and I think a lot of people feel that theres little they can do. But these folks are doing it theyre giving their feet and their energy. Quaker beliefs and a lawsuit challenge to Trump Quaker practices and beliefs vary from a more Bible-centered Christianity, with pastors as worship leaders, to a more liberal approach with less structured worship and a wide range of teachings.One the most well-known Quakers was William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania following the faiths emphasis on religious tolerance; the group became influential in cities like Philadelphia.But members of the group have also faced scorn for refusing to join wars due to their belief in pacifism and nonviolence. Some were persecuted and even killed for trying to spread their religious beliefs.Earlier this year, five Quaker congregations filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship.The Quaker groups were later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. Following that, more than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites filed a similar lawsuit, but a federal judge ruled against them last month.During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump insisted that immigrants were an existential threat to America. Immigration into the U.S., both legal and illegal, surged during President Joe Bidens administration, and Trump assailed that influx in ways that proved powerful with voters. Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched a campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. Immigrants are the ones experiencing the most acute persecution in the United States, Brubeck said. The message to Trump is that the power is not his to make.__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. LUIS ANDRES HENAO Henao is a multimedia reporter on the APs Global Religion team. He focuses on features and has reported for the AP from Alaska, Antarctica and the Amazon. twitter instagram mailto

This photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. (J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)2025-05-10T10:52:50Z A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking confirmed its uncontrolled reentry, based on analysis and no-shows of the spacecraft on subsequent orbits. The European Space Agencys space debris office also indicated that the spacecraft had reentered after it failed to appear over a German radar station.It was not immediately known where the spacecraft came in or how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar systems hottest planet.The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said. Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction. Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravitys tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms). After following the spacecrafts downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecrafts deteriorating condition after so long in space. As of Saturday morning, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecrafts demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit.The U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials. It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Michelle and Richard Beck, right, stand outside their Atlanta-area home Thursday, May 1, 2025. They are Gen Xers who speak with southern accents while their Gen Z sons, Dylan and Richard, left, do not. (AP Photo/ Sharon Johnson)2025-05-10T04:07:44Z Growing up in Atlanta in the 1940s and 1950s, Susan Levines visits to New York City relatives included being the star of an impromptu novelty show: Her cousin invited over friends and charged 25 cents a pop for them to listen to Levines Southern accent. Even though they too grew up in Atlanta, Levines two sons, born more than a quarter century after her, never spoke with the accent that is perhaps the most famous regional dialect in the United States, with its elongated vowels and soft r sounds.My accent is nonexistent, said Ira Levine, her oldest son. People I work with, and even in school, people didnt believe I was from Atlanta.The Southern accent, which has many variations, is fading in some areas of the South as people migrate to the region from other parts of the U.S. and around the world. A series of research papers published in December documented the diminishment of the regional accent among Black residents of the Atlanta area, white working-class people in the New Orleans area and people who grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. More than 5.8 million people have moved into the U.S. South so far in the 2020s, more than four times the combined total of the nations three other regions. Linguists dont believe mass media has played a significant role in the language change, which tends to start in urban areas and radiate out to more rural places. Late 20th century migration surge affects accentsThe classical white Southern accent in the Atlanta area and other parts of the urban South peaked with baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 and then dropped off with Gen Xers born between 1965 and 1980 and subsequent generations, in large part because of the tremendous in-migration of people in the second half of the 20th century. It has been replaced among the youngest speakers in the 21st century with a dialect that was first noticed in California in the late 1980s, according to recent research from linguists at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Brigham Young University. That dialect, which also was detected in Canada, has become a pan-regional accent as it has spread to other parts of the U.S., including Boston, New York and Michigan, contributing to the diminishment of their regional accents. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the trigger point in the decline of the Southern accent was the opening in 1959 of the Research Triangle Park, a sprawling complex of research and technology firms that attracted tens of thousands of highly educated workers from outside the South. White residents born after 1979, a generation after the Research Triangles establishment, typically dont talk with a Southern accent, linguist Sean Lundergan wrote in a paper published in December.Often, outsiders wrongly associate a Southern accent with a lack of education, and some younger people may be trying to distance themselves from that stereotype.Young people today, especially the educated young people, they dont want to sound too much like they are from a specific hometown, said Georgia Tech linguist Lelia Glass, who co-wrote the Atlanta study. They want to sound more kind of, nonlocal and geographically mobile. Accents change for younger peopleThe Southern dialect among Black people in Atlanta has dropped off in recent decades mainly because of an influx of African Americans from northern U.S. cities in what has been described as the Reverse Great Migration.During the Great Migration, from roughly 1910 to 1970, African Americans from the South moved to cities in the North like New York, Detroit and Chicago. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren have moved back South in large numbers to places like Atlanta during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and are more likely to be college-educated.Researchers found Southern accents among African Americans dropped off with Gen Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, according to a study published in December. The same researchers previously studied Southern accents among white people in Atlanta.Michelle and Richard Beck, Gen Xers living in the Atlanta area, have Southern accents, but its missing in their two sons born in 1998 and 2001. I think they speak clearer than I do, Richard Beck, a law enforcement officer, said of his sons. They dont sound as country as I do when it comes to the Southern drawl. New Orleans yat accent diminishedUnlike other accents that have changed because of an influx of new residents, the distinctive, white working-class yat accent of New Orleans has declined as many locals left following the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The accent is distinct from other regional accents in the South and often described as sounding as much like Brooklynese as Southern. The hurricane was a catastrophic language change event for New Orleans since it displaced around a quarter million residents in the first year after the storm and brought in tens of thousands of outsiders in the following decade. The diminishment of the yat accent is most noticeable in millennials, who were adolescents when Katrina hit, since they were exposed to other ways of speaking during a key time for linguistic development, Virginia Tech sociolinguist Katie Carmichael said in a paper published in December.Cheryl Wilson Lanier, a 64-year-old who grew up in Chalmette, Louisiana, one of the New Orleans suburbs where the accent was most prevalent, worries that part of the regions uniqueness will be lost if the accent disappears.Its kind of like were losing our distinct personality, she said.Southern identity changingWhile it is diminishing in many urban areas, the Southern accent is unlikely to disappear completely because accents are an incredibly straightforward way of showing other people something about ourselves, said University of Georgia linguist Margaret Renwick, one of the authors of the Atlanta studies.It may instead reflect a change in how younger speakers view Southern identity, with a regional accent not as closely associated with what is considered Southern as in previous generations, and linguistic boundaries less important than other factors, she said.So young people in the Atlanta area or Raleigh area have a different vision of what life is in the South, Renwick said. And its not the same as the one that their parents or grandparents grew up with.___Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social. MIKE SCHNEIDER Schneider covers census, demographics and Florida for The Associated Press. Author of 2023 book, Mickey and the Teamsters. twitter mailto

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Welcome back to the Abstract!First, a quick housekeeping note.Weve been getting really positive feedback on The Abstract, so we are spinning it up as its own newsletter that well continue to send every Saturday.If you are reading this, we hope you continue to want to receive The Abstract! But if you dont want to get The Abstract email for whatever reason, go to 404media.co and log in via the sign in button in the top right corner. Once you are logged in, click the green account button in the top right corner, click Manage under the Emails category, and youll see a toggle you can switch to stop receiving The Abstract newsletter. The idea here is just to give our readers more granular control over what newsletters they receive, especially as we think about other cool things to do around The Abstract.Obviously we hope youll stick around as we continue to cover the most exciting, mind-blowing studies we find every week.Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming:Last weekend, I led with a story about a beat-keeping sea lion. This weekend, I will kick off with some poetic porpoises. Based on this emerging pattern, I hereby declare May to be Inspirational Aquatic Mammals Month. Sorry, Zombie Awareness Month, May isnt big enough for both of us and in any case, you should be in October with all the other scary stuff.With that important business settled, lets move on to a visit to Tiny Town. Population: 16 kindergarteners. Theres nowhere to sleep or gas up, but ice cream is abundant. Next, every photo is technically a picture of atoms, but new images released this week take it to the next level. Last, Tyrannosaurus rex goes on TyrAncestry.com.Happy Inspirational Aquatic Mammals Month to all who observe. \(^o^)/A Porpoise Corpus with PurposeZhang, Yaoyao et al. Range contraction of the Yangtze finless porpoise inferred from classic Chinese poems. Current Biology.For centuries, people have been enchanted by the Yangtze finless porpoise, the only freshwater porpoise known in the world. Spectators across the ages have marveled at its elusive beauty, chronicling sightings of the porpoise in Chinas rich poetic tradition.Now, scientists have mined this vast porpoise corpus for insights into the historic range and population of the iconic animal. This is a neat thing to do on its own merits, but its also part of a broader effort to save the species from extinctionwith only about 1,250 individuals left in the wild, the porpoise is considered critically endangered.As regular readers of the Abstract will know, nothing delights me more than scientific conclusions based on historical documents (see: milky seas and Transylvanian weather). Call it science from the stacks, where the library is the laboratory. All the better if it is for a worthy conservation cause.To that end, the studys authors identified 724 ancient poems that reference the Yangtze finless porpoise over the past 1,400 years, since the Tang Dynasty. Roughly half of the poems included location details, allowing the team to roughly track its population distribution with a chronology of geospatial grids.Grids of population distribution across 1,400 years. Image: Zhang, Yaoyao et al.Our study provides the first evidence from historical literature sources of major and rapid contractions in the range of the Yangtze finless porpoise, said researchers led by Yaoyao Zhang of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We used the occurrence sites in poems to map the historical distribution of the Yangtze finless porpoise. The number of grids with occurrences declined from 169 in the Tang Dynasty to just 59 in modern times, implying a contraction of 65 percent of the historical ranges of the Yangtze finless porpoise.Importantly, there was a sharp decrease from 142 grids during the Qing Dynasty to 59 in modern times, suggesting a relatively rapid shrinkage of range over the past century, the team continued. Our study demonstrates that historical art forms provide valuable information that can be used to track wildlife range changes over time. Chinese poets, many of whom were well-educated intellectuals, sometimes portrayed animals with a high degree of accuracy.The rapid decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise, driven by intense human activity, has been confirmed by all kinds of empirical evidencefield studies, genomic analysis, population models, and more. In that sense, the teams poetic sources corroborate what is already a well-documented phenomenon.But as with past studies in this genre, the real novelty of this work is hidden in the supplemental information: In this case, two Excel spreadsheets that painstakingly record all 724 poetic references to the captivating creatures. For instance, the authors highlighted this evocative line from Emperor Qinglong, who lived in the 18th century: Porpoises chased moonlight on silvered tides.A Ming Dynasty woodblock-printed illustration that documents the Yangtze finless porpoise. Image: "Sancai Tuhui," compiled by Wang Qi (15731620)As I am woefully monolingual (unless you count Dovahzul), I had to rely on Google Translate to comb through a sampling of the other collected verses. But even through this leaky linguistic bucket, you can catch fleeting glimpses of the river porpoises through the eyes of bygone poets. My favorite is a verse written from Climbing the Yellow Crane Tower by Jun Lin, who lived 500 years ago, which is listed in row 112 on the spreadsheet labeled mmc3.Green smoke and fragrant trees in Hanyang City, on a sunny day, porpoises worship the waves. The egrets turn around the painted tower sails past the shadows, and the cranes return to the sound of immortal pipes and flutes. Cui Lang's verses are the only ones left in ancient and modern times, and Fan Lao's feelings are hung in the halls and temples. Drunk, I strike coral and stroke my long sword, leaning against the sky and whistling alone at a peak.In a few sentences, this poet brings us into the smells, sights, and sensations of this moment in time. While there is clear scientific value in these historical texts, as evidenced by the new study, they should also be appreciated as threads of cultural continuity. Its one thing to simply be told that we should conserve species like the Yangtze finless porpoise, but it hits on a different level to realize that future generations may never share these experiences of reverence and rumination from the past.Tiny Town, Where Memories Are Made (and then Magnetically Imaged)Junga, Yaelan and Dilks, Daniel. Early development of navigationally relevant location information in the retrosplenial complex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Speaking of future generations, heres a story about how a bunch of kindergarteners played a video gamefor science! Researchers designed a simple virtual world, called Tiny Town, to probe when, and how, humans start to develop a mental map of landmarks for navigation.A scene from Tiny Town. Image: Dilks LabThe triangular town included a lake corner, a trees corner, and a mountain corner, with several landmarks: a lion statue at the town square, two ice cream stores, two playgrounds, and two fire stations. What is Tiny Towns energy source? How does it manage its wastewater? Why are there no residential areas? None of these questions matter. This is a municipality made for five-year-olds where an average day consists of: ice cream for breakfast, swings, ice cream for lunch, slide, ice cream for dinner, FIRE TRUCK WEE-OOO WEE-OOO.During the experiment, a group of 16 five-year-olds explored Tiny Town with navigation arrows, and were then tested on location and category details in an fMRI machine. The brain activity recorded in the sessions revealed that the retrosplenial complex (RSC), a brain region critical for map-based navigation, is already tracking landmarks in early childhood.A participant being introduced to Tiny Town. Image: Dilks LabThe current study demonstrates that by at least 5-y of age, RSC represents location information within a large-scale virtual town, said authors Yaelan Junga and Daniel Dilks of Emory University. This finding suggests that despite the protracted development of map-based navigational skills, the neural system supporting navigation in large-scale spaces develops remarkably early in childhood.In addition to this interesting finding, the study also includes some adorable insights into working with child subjects: One child (70 mo old, female) did not complete the fMRI session due to fear of the scanner while two children (ages of 65 mo old and 71 mo old, both male) were excluded due to excessive motion. Sounds about right.Time for an Extreme Close-upNo, Like Really Really ExtremeYao, Ruixiao et al. Measuring Pair Correlations in Bose and Fermi gases via atom-resolved microscopy. Physical Review Letters.A great candid shot will always beat out a staged photo, but it can be tough if your subjects are atoms. No zoom-in lens is ever going to resolve the quantum realm; thats a job for lattices, lasers, and other instruments of unfathomable calibrative accuracy.Scientists have devised ways to get particles to sit still and say cheese, but a new study reports the first directly imaged particles in the continuum, meaning they were freely interacting with each other right up until the photoshoot. Behold: portraits of free-range bosons and fermions.The three bottom microscope images show (left to right) sodium bosons forming a Bose-Einstein condensate, lithium fermions weakly interacting, and lithium fermions forming pairs. Image: Yao, RuixiaoHere we demonstrate real-space, atom-resolved microscopy of quantum gases in the continuum, said researchers led by Ruixiao Yao of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Imaging quantum gases in situ at the resolution of single atoms realizes the ultimate depth of information one may obtain in real spaceWith atom-resolved imaging, one comes close to having complete information about correlations in continuum quantum gases.In addition to this atomic photo album, the same journal published two other studies this week with very similar resultsXiang et al and de Jongh et alproving that great minds think alike (especially if those minds are preoccupied with single-atom imagery).Life Finds a Way (Across the Bering Land Bridge, in this Case)Morrison, Cassius et al. Rise of the king: Gondwanan origins and evolution of megaraptoran dinosaurs. Royal Society Open ScienceTyrannosaurus rex needs no introduction, and you probably wouldnt want a formal meeting with one anyway. This fantastic tyrant has captured our imaginations and haunted our nightmares since we first started piecing together its massive remains.But while we know how the T. rex story endsbig rock in sky went boomthe evolutionary roots of this animal have long generated debate. The genus T. rex rose to dominance in late Cretaceous North America, but its unclear whether its earlier ancestorslets call them Tyrannogrannies or Tygranny-saurscame from the same continent, or perhaps hailed from Asia.Now, scientists have pieced together the deep origins of tyrannosaurids and megaraptorians, a related lineage of giant carnivorous dinosaurs, with biogeographic models that analyzed the age and distribution of fossils around the world. Their results support the hypothesis that the T. rex line leads back to Asia.Megaraptorian dispersal routes (the study did not have an analogous map for tyrannosauroids). Image: Morrison, Cassius et al.This biogeographical modelindicates the ancestor of the clade Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus was present in both Asia and Laramidia, and therefore the ancestor of Tyrannosaurus came from Asia, said researchers led by Cassius Morrison of University College London. "Our analysis supportsa western Eurasian dispersal into Africa, and then the rest of the southern continents for megaraptorans, and multiple dispersal events across the Bering Land Bridge between Asia and North America in pantyrannosaurians.Just more evidence that we all have tangled ancestries, even if only some of us get to become 15,000-pound apex predators that dominated continents for millions of years.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

Over the last year, Idaho-based bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick has gained national attention for putting on Heterosexual Awesomeness Month, during which he held events that included straight couples receiving a 15% discount on Wednesdays and straight men dressed like heterosexual male[s] receiving a free draft beer on Hetero Male Monday.Fitzpatrick, who has described the LGBTQ community as wicked, perverse and [one that] victimizes children, is taking it a step further this year. Hes launched a 501(c)(3) charity, Heterosexual Awesomeness Inc., where hes raising money with DOGE-style transparency for a two-day event in June thats meant to be a Straight Pride, oras one promo video describes ita declaration that faith, family and freedom are worth protecting.The organization says, Were slugging it out against the gutless enemies of traditional values, including abortions life-crushing lies Big Pharmas pill-pushing scams, and the LGBTQ+ agendas anti-kin chaos. From exposing human traffickings evil to torching woke indoctrination in schools, weve got 7 non-negotiable standseach one a hill well die on to protect the sacred core of family. This is where we fight and where we win, armed with grit and Gods design.Efforts to hold so-called Straight Pride events have taken place around the world for years. Vladimir Putins United Russia Party displayed a heterosexual Pride flag in 2015; and in 2019, Super Happy Fun Americaa far-right group that has been allied with the Proud Boysput on a Straight Pride in Boston.We wanted to learn about Fitzpatricks motivations and why he believes fighting back against Pride Monthwhich he has said exists so LGBTQ people can march down the street and engage in disgusting and criminal activityis a charitable cause.Subscribe nowWatch the full interview above or read the transcript here:Spencer Macnaughton: Hi everyone, I'm here today with Mark Fitzpatrick, founder of the non-profit Heterosexual Awesomeness, Inc. And also the person putting on Hetero Awesomeness Fest in June. Mark, thanks so much for chatting with me and Uncloseted Media today.Mark Fitzpatrick: Hey, absolutely. Thank you for having me on. I think this is gonna be an enlightening conversation.SM: Absolutely. So let's start right away for people who haven't heard about it before. Tell me about the evolution story of Hetero Awesome Fest.MF: So a year ago, none of this existed. And I was just a bar owner for Old State Saloon, which is in Eagle, Idaho, just outside Boise. And our bar is an overtly conservative, Christian-type of a place. We have Sunday morning Bible studies. We have events like conspiracy theory trivia nights, where we give away AR-15s to the winners. We host a lot of political parties, GOP parties, etc. So going into last year in May. And it was just said, Oh, we don't want to go downtown because of all the stuff going on with Pride. And it's just something that has gotten so extreme. And I said, Well, what if we, you know, celebrated, you know, God's design for sexuality, heterosexuality. And I just thought, Man, that's awesome. So Hetero Awesome. And so we announced at our bar that during [June] we would be celebrating heterosexual awesomeness. We did Beers for Breeders on Monday where if you're a heterosexual male and you just walk in the door, you get a free beer. I was met with just an overwhelming amount of extreme vitriolic response from the LGBTQ community online. And so going through that experience really opened my eyes to the depths of how evil at least a decent chunk of the community is. I think over time I've become stronger and stronger feeling that people need to stand up for the beliefs that they think are right. So we're approaching June, and I decide, Hey, let's do a Fest. We'll do it over a weekend in the same month. And in order to get big sponsors, they typically like to donate to a 501(c)(3) or nonprofit or whatever.SM: You're a charity, essentially.MF: Exactly. It's a little bit more on the offens[ive] than it was last year, and that's because of what I've learned that, and I believe strongly, needs to end and people need to stand up and say enough is enough. Especially when it comes to children.Support accountability, LGBTQ-focused journalism.SM: And how much money have you raised through the charity, through Hetero Awesomeness Inc.?MF: Uh, so we basically started launching publicly just a couple weeks ago. I think we're up to $1100.SM: So tell me a little bit, you know, you've said there's a lot of concerns you have with the so-called movement as I assume you're talking about LGBTQ people. What are your thoughts on gay and lesbian people specifically?MF: I'm Christian, and so I follow scripture, what God says. Jesus said, You shouldn't even lust. If you've lusted, you've committed adultery. So we're all in the same boat. I'm in the same boat. Like sin is sin, sexual sin is sin. And that would be sexuality outside of a committed male-female relationship, marriage. And there's a punishment for that. And you cannot be a being that is a sinful being and be together with a perfect God. So the punishment is death and separation from God forever in Hell. I do love gays, lesbians, bisexuals, the people. I love the people, okay? And I love them enough to tell them that truth because I don't want them to go to Hell.SM: I'm openly gay, obviously. A lot of people on my team are openly LGBTQ in some way. Do you believe all of us are going to Hell?MF: So unless you put Jesus Christ there as your Lord and Savior, who sacrificed for your sinsand it has to be, like, truly Jesus Christ. It can't be like a made-up Jesus Christ that suddenly agrees with everything I do and how I live my life. But if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, and took the penalty for your sins, you put your faith and trust and hope in that, then you're [not] gonna go. You will be entering the kingdom, you won't be going to Hell.SM: Just to be clear, yes or no, I'm openly gay, am I going to Hell?MF: Is Jesus your Lord and Savior?SM: No.MF: Okay, then yeah, you're going to Hell.SM: Okay, no, just interesting. As somebody who's not religious, it's good to get clarification on that. So me, my whole team, were going to Hell. Hetero Awesomeness Fest, this has gone kind of viral in national media. You say the event is meant to be a two-day festival that honors the value that this nation was built on. What can we expect if we were to attend Hetero Awesome Fest?MF: Traditional family values, and they've been deteriorating the last several decades. And what you're gonna see at the fest is a weekend of family-friendly good times, music. There'll be some speakers. There'll be a whole bunch of different booths and businesses there. It's kind of like a Pride fest, but there's just a different type of folks there.SM: And would gay couples, gay families, trans people, would they be welcome at Hetero Awesome Fest?MF: Yeah, I always say like in my bar people always ask me, Would we be welcome in your bar? Of course. Like, I just don't want any idiots.SM: What would an example of, I guess, an LGBTQ person acting like an idiot be?MF: Somebody like, cross-dressing. If they're cross-dressing and they're showing, you know If they're just being super, like, I want attention.SM: So are trans people allowed in your bar? Because all trans people, most trans people, presumably, would be cross-dressing [in your eyes].MF: Uh, so again, as long as they're not acting like an idiot. If I were to walk over to anybody and say, Hey, can you guys settle down a bit or whatever. And if they were to pull their phone out and start filming me in my own bar, I'd be like, This is very odd, idiotic behavior. You need to leave.SM: Right. [But] filming you in your own bar versus somebody cross-dressing are two different things. Would a cross-dresser be allowed in your bar?MF: Yeah, so it's kind of like how we can write volumes and volumes of books on stuff that's idiotic. It's hard to define, you know, and it'sSM: But hang on, is cross-dressing idiotic? Is that allowed or not? It's just a simple question, I think.MF: I mean, I don't think it's right. I think it's immoral, but people do immoral things. I don't think if somebody's in my bar and they're cross-dressing and they're acting in a way that's otherwise relatively normal? I don't see that being something that I would kick them out over.SM: Got you, got you. And you've had other events that have given a free beer to a heterosexual guy who is dressed like a heterosexual guy. I'm just genuinely curious. What is a dude who's dressed like a heterosexual guy? Like, am I doing it right now? Am I?MF: Yeah, you qualify. I'm just kidding. It's more, I put it in there more as a joke.SM: What's funny about that to you? What makes it funny? Like, why does that tap into your sense of humor? Because I think a lot of people probably wouldn't think it's funny.MF: Okay, yeah, so I mean a lot of people do think it's funny, including LGB people. And the point is like, I dont know. I dont care if you walk in and you're gay or not gay or straight. It doesn't matter to me. Like as long as you're not acting, like, like an idiot, then you're gonna be fine.SM: Some people might take issue with the fact that giving discounts to a majority group, or to folks who aren't part of marginalized or oppressed populations through history, is akin to giving discounts to white people and not giving those same discounts to Black people or Latino people. Do you see that as similar?MF: People can be offended about all kinds of things. It's almost like you open your mouth, somebody's gonna be offended about something. I remember a few years back, I'm in the real estate industry and Coldwell Banker National was offering an incentive to start a branch for Coldwell Banker. And it was like 10 grand. And they described everybody who gets the incentive. And the only person who doesn't get the incentive was a straight white male who's not lying. And it's like, Okay, so everybody gets this incentive except me because I'm not gonna lie and pretend to be gay or whatever. And I'm not gay and I'm white and Im a male. And it's like, hey, that's kind of ridiculous.SM: What you're tapping into there is essentially the opposite of misogyny or the opposite of homophobia. Do you think there is a lot of heterophobia and sexism against men in society right now?MF: I mean, we're talking about coming off of some decades of, you know, DEI. Prior to that, you would call it affirmative action. And I have dozens of examples, and myself included, where male whites were definitely not hired. That's just our society. I don't think it's right. I think I believe strongly in a meritocracy, where people should get a job or get whatever they're competing for based off of their merits and their merits alone. Not because of their skin color or who they sleep with in their bedroom.SM: I know a lot of denominations of Christianity in the U.S. particularly believe in patriarchal governance structures. Do you believe in that?MF: I believe the best family would be a family where children grow up with their mother and father. This is the best case scenario. And the father would be a strong leader and demonstrate strong leadership. And the mother would be there to help support that leadership. And the father would love the mother so much that he cherishes her. And he would make decisions and lead that family because he loves and cherishes his wife. And that's a beautiful, beautiful, perfect relationship. And together they can love their children the best way. That's the type of patriarchal type of family that I think would be and is the best.SM: What denomination of Christianity do you identify with?MF: Non-denominational, it's just biblical Christianity.SM: You've said that there's no hate involved in these events and that the festival isn't about targeting any group. But then you've also written on your social media, on your Instagram that, quote, the LGBTQ agenda is wicked, perverse, and victimizes children. And you've said that, quote, Pride Month exists so LGBTQ can march down the street doing, quote, disgusting and criminal activities. What are the activities that you deem to be disgusting and criminal in your eyes?MF: The thing that they did with that post is that they took out the other person's comments on there. Their comments were that Pride exists so that social rights can be protected and gays won't be victims just simply walking down the street. But that's not what Pride still is. It's gotten very, very wicked. So, in other words, I'm just showing the polarity of it, the other extreme of it. Like, you say, It's only this, and you're so innocent and everything else, and I'm saying, No, part of what you're doing is pushing a transsexual agenda on children. And so, ultimately, what would my advice be for Pride or whatever? Like, a rebrand where we're not sexualizing children, where were not doing all of the things that everybody, or a lot of people in the country that have a higher sense of morality are saying, Hey, this needs to stop. Those people have been inactive, they've had their heads down, just kind of working conservative American Christian people, and they haven't engaged in the culture wars basically at all in the last 20 or 30 years. And now as a result, we're looking at some extremism and it's the extremism and victimization of children and where it's heading and people I'll just stop right there.SM: So you're saying that there's disgusting and criminal activities. Calling people criminals is a very bold accusation. What evidence do you have to support calling LGBTQ people criminals?MF: Naked. Nakedness walking down the street.SM: What else?MF: Does there need to be anything else?SM: Then you've seen that with your own eyes.MF: I've seen plenty of videos of it, yeah.SM: What else is disgusting, wicked, perverse, and criminal?MF: So you have these, uh, drag shows in front of children. You know, just the conversation in my opinion is completely wicked [and] trying to lead a child down the path that they may not be the gender or sex that God gave them. That whole thing's wicked. Not, you know, basically trying to create a society where we don't have definitions is also wicked. It's just a wicked thing.SM: You say that you have concerns about sexualizing children, and there's a huge narrative, especially in kind of right-wing American spaces of LGBTQ people grooming kids, right? But if you look at the statistics, in conservative Christian spaces, pedophilia, incest, rape, abuse is disproportionately higher in religious biblical circles. Why wouldn't you focus your energy on something like that when that is significantly more prevalent than in LGBTQ circles?MF: It's horrible, it's all horrible, because you're not marchingSM: If you're a devout Christian, why not focus there? There's so many Christians who I think are focusing on the LGBTQ people, but the problem is deeply embedded, pervasive, and systematic in Christian circles. Why not focus there?MF: I'm just not, I'm not gonna fight what you just said. There is a lot of hypocrisy in the Church. I'm very disappointed in the Church and the people that are in the Church. And there's a lot of evil. I mean, a tremendous amount of evil. I would say probably most people in the Church who think they're Christian are probably not saved. They're not true Christians. There's so much evil inside the church. It's wicked, it's horrible. Why am I focusing on this? Well, this is what happened. This is just where I found myself. Five years ago if you asked me, would [I] be like, you know, I'm not gonna say famous, but would [I] be a significant face against an LGBT community? I mean, no. This is the path that God put in front of me when I decided to do Heterosexual Awesomeness month last year.SM: Obviously, there's an anger toward the LGBTQ Movement, as you call it. Take me inside your mind. What makes you angry? What makes you fired up at what you describe as the LGBTQ Movement?MF: Yeah, it's the extreme part of it. So it's gonna beand it's not an individualanybody who's willing to talk to me, and I've put out several videos last year, stood outside PrideFest, gave a gift card to whoever had five minutes to chat. And I tell them, they're standing in front of me, and I say, Look, I want you to know that I love you. I love you as a human, you were created in God's image. And I give them the Gospel.SM: How can you say that though? That is so, to me, if I'm being honest, sounds so beyond hypocritical.MF: I understand.SM: You say, I love you. How much of that Christian, I love you, I love you, I love you, you're wicked, you're perverse, youre criminal. There is a complete disconnect to those two sentiments.MF: Because there's a very foundational disagreement on what's moral, and my concern is true for you. Like, and you can say, Hey, Christianity's crazy, and that guy's crazy and I'm never gonna believe it. Well, that's fine. But the thing is, a lot of people have a big problem with it, and I think it's because they have a conscience, and the conscience tells them there's something wrong with this. We really want people to gather around us and support us and kind of champion this as being a righteous and good thing. And when somebody doesn't do that, it bothers me because I have a conscience and I know ultimately, God wrote in my DNA that this is not the right thing to do. And it could just be that we totally disagree. So then I would just say, just dismiss me, just say, That guy's crazy and move on.SM: From my perspective, the reason I think it's important to have these conversations and speak to folks who have your perspective is that there are 41% of LGBTQ kids in this country who seriously considered suicide in the last year. And a lot of the reason for that is because there's so much animus. There's so much weaponization of Christianity to hate gay people or to say people are living in sin for this reason. And I just don't really see the productivity of that sentiment when there are so many LGBTQ people in affirming families who are living amazing lives like myself, like my team here at Uncloseted Media. So that confuses me. Do you ever question what you're doing and if it's really helping?Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused, investigative journalism.MF: So people are going to be divided on it. Jesus said, Don't think that I came to bring peace, I actually came to bring division. And people throw Jesus stuff at me all the time [and say], You're not like Jesus, you're not like Jesus. And they just don't know who Jesus is. He is very blunt with people, and He said, Leave your sin behind. And that's what He wants.SM: What would you say, though, to the kid who knows he's gay? There's nothing he can do to change it. And he is feeling suicidal because he's trapped in a hyper-religious community where everyone, pastors, teachers, parents, are saying, Sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. What would you say to that kid right now?MF: My first request would be, Hey, would you be willing to meet once a week and have a Bible study together?SM: For the kid who comes out and says, I'm suicidal, I think I'm gay, you would offer Bible study. We've talked to many kids from doing stories and conversion therapy who spent 30 years trying that. Nothing worked. I'm wondering, you mentioned your daughter. What if she came to you and said, Dad, I've been feeling this way for years and years. I know I'm a lesbian. What would you do if it was your daughter?MF: Well, yeah, I mean, same thing. I would pray for her and pray with her and talk a lot through it with her. And I mean, I would still be her dad. Do you have a specific question? I'm not sure. I mean I would still love her and be her dad.SM: Would you support her and support her having a wife and be there at her wedding?MF: No.SM: Okay, understood. You mentioned that traditional family values are deteriorating. Can you expand on that?MF: Yeah, so if you look at the percentages of children who grow up with mother and father at home have dropped significantly since 1970. I think it was up near 70% and now it's down near 40. And that means there's a lot of broken families. You don't have that relationship of a loving husband who loves his wife demonstrated for them. And that's led to higher crime rates, pregnancy rates, more abortions, broken families, more crime, all these types of things that we see in our society as we becomeSM: How has that led to [higher] crime rates?MF: Well, I mean, I don't have the studies1 in front of me. I wasn't prepared for that question. But if you look at broken families, the children that don't have a traditional mother and father, they have a higher crime rate for those children.SM: Which study are you referring to?MF: I'd have to look it up. I mean, I can send it to you after the interview or something.SM: As you mentioned at the top, you are a 501(c)(3) charity. What charitable purpose do you guys serve?MF: So the goal would be to defend and celebrate traditional family values. So we're basically going to create content, and we're building a content creation team, where we will be exposing the people who are the enemies of traditional family values.SM: Am I an enemy of traditional family values?MF: So I don't know because I dont know you.SM: I run an LGBTQ news publication. I'm gay and I have a boyfriend. Am I an enemy?MF: I don't know, because I don't know [you]. I'd have to know more. Does that make you an enemy right there? No, I don't think so.SM: Doesn't that mean I'm threatening traditional family values by actively engaging in a relationship that isn't traditional?MF: If you were attracting a lot of attention writing pieces about how the traditional family value is not the best and should be destroyed or something like that, this company would direct their attention towards you. But the type of people we're going to be exposing would be people who have supported, whether it's a corporation or company or a political leader, who have supported legislation or who have supported any movements or events or things that do something that would be victimizing children, for example.Subscribe nowSM: There's so much, obviously, tension in America specifically between conservative Christian families who want the traditional values and LGBTQ people. What do you think we can do to bridge the gap?MF: I think what people are realizing is that there's been decades of massive amounts of funding, tax dollars, corporate dollars, towards a movement where we're now waking up and seeing, hey, this has gone in a very wicked direction. The number one way to get back on track would be to reverse a lot of the stuff that's happened. We've gone too far. I don't know how to define exactly, I haven't put a whole essay together on exactly everything that would need to be backed up.SM: Trump, in the election cycle, and the GOP spent $215 million on anti-trans ads. Five times more than he spent on ads focused on the economy. And when Americans were asked for a list of the 27 issues they care most about, trans ranked dead last.For me, as an openly gay man, I look at folks like you and other people who feel the same way as you and think, Why are you guys so obsessed with us? Why do you care so much? Why do you put so much time, so much effort, start a charity, start a festival? What's the obsession?MF: I would say, Why do you want people to be obsessed with you? Because the reality isSM: We dont!MF: But you do. But you want the obsession if it's positive obsession, so you want everybody to come around andSM: Dont straight people want the obsession? They're ingrained in every single pop culture reference in the history of mankind, and gay people have just started to have representations in the last decade. So I think obsession is a little hypocritical.MF: Well, I mean, I could say the same thing. So it's basicSM: Every single representation is heterosexual. It's pervasive through history until about 10 years ago, where, yes, same-sex representations has become mainstream. And I don't think that's a bad thing.MF: It's representative because the great majority of people are heterosexual. And that's how we procreate and that's how God designed it. So it's not like an obsession. And the reason why Pride movements in the past, I'm sorry, straight Pride movements in the past or parades or whatever have fizzled out and become nothing is because it's like, it's normal, right? But the reality is we're getting to a couple of years here where people are like, This has gone crazy. So the opposite thing over here, I want to pay attention to this opposite thing and support it because this has gotten way too far. Meaning LGBTQ Pride has gone way too. Enough is enough is like the thing that I hear from people who come into the bar and say, Thank you so much for standing for this and standing for that and everything that you're doing, because enough is enough.SM: The mini fame you've received, do you like that?MF: I like it only in that I'm committed to speaking truth and everything that I do in my life, I just wanna glorify God. Am I gonna be perfect at doing that? No, but if He can speak through me and I can tell your audience the truth about the good news. I wanna be as famous as possible, if that's the case. In other words, the bigger the audience that I can talk to and give that message to, the better. I can understand when people call me a hater, I can. I can grasp that. But I do love them. I really do. I love you. I mean, I love this conversation. I don't really know if that's an adequate way of explaining it all, but I just feel like I am going to do what God wants me to do and I'm not afraid of anything.SM: Couldn't you just glorify God by like feeding the homeless though, instead of attacking the LGBTQ community?MF: I'm happy to do that, but then...SM: I'm just throwing it out there that might be a betterMF: Right. But then we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I think this conversation could end up with a lot of people having big, other conversations all over the place. If you think it's crazy and gays are totally fine and they're not going to Hell, fine. Just converse about the children's stuff. Like, can we all just agree about the children's and back the heck up on that?SM: Well, we can go back to the children's stuff that needs to be addressed inside the Church, but we won't go tit for tat on that.MF: I agree.SM: Look, Mark, Mark Fitzpatrick, the creator of Hetero Awesomeness Fest in Boise, Idaho. I really appreciate you coming on today to talk with me and Uncloseted Media. I think these conversations are important, whether or not we agree on everything. So thank you.MF: Thanks for your time. I appreciate it.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media1After this interview, Uncloseted Media followed up with Fitzpatrick about the study he was referencing. While Fitzpatrick couldnt point to a specific study, he does remember learning about this from sociology classes in college and sent an article from City Journal, a magazine published by the conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. The article says that a stable, married family still gives children a leg up in life.To make its case, the City Journal article references a study published in The Future of Children, in which the authors mention a previous study that determined children raised in single-parent families didnt fare as well as those raised in two-parent families [and] that the rise of single parenthood was contributing to higher rates of poverty. However, this previous study also found that children raised by same-sex couples fared no better or worse than those raised by opposite-sex parents. The Future of Children study goes on to reference a 2015 study concluding that same-sex couples are as good at parenting as their different-sex counterparts.Another study mentioned by the Journal article found that parental separation does have, on average, a negative impact on childrens education outcomes. But when divorce took place in a family with high levels of conflict, children experienced relief. This study makes no mention of outcomes for children raised by LGBTQ parents.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, following a tour of the Texas A&M AgriLife Phenotyping Greenhouse in College Station, Texas on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.(Meredith Seaver /College Station Eagle via AP)2025-05-10T13:08:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. s promise for pulling back the curtain to find autisms causes in a few months is jarring and unrealistic.Thats because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role and the quest to understand differences inside the brain that can be present at birth.Virtually all the evidence in the field suggests whatever the causes of autism and theres going to be multiple causes, its not going to be a single cause they all affect how the fetal brain develops, said longtime autism researcher David Amaral of the UC Davis MIND Institute.Even though we may not see the behaviors associated with autism until a child is 2 or 3 years old, the biological changes have already taken place, he said.Kennedy on Wednesday announced the National Institutes of Health would create a new database to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases by merging Medicaid and Medicare insurance claims with electronic medical records and other data. He has cited rising autism rates as evidence of an epidemic of a preventable disease caused by some sort of environmental exposure and has promised some of the answers by September. What is autism?Autism isnt considered a disease. Its a complex brain disorder better known as autism spectrum disorder, to reflect that it affects different people in different ways. Symptoms vary widely. For some people, profound autism means being nonverbal and having significant intellectual disabilities. Others have far milder effects, such as difficulty with social and emotional skills.Autism rates are rising not among profound cases but milder ones, said autism expert Helen Tager-Flusberg of Boston University. Thats because doctors gradually learned that milder symptoms were part of autisms spectrum, leading to changes in the late 1990s and early 2000s in diagnosis guidelines and qualifications for educational services, she said. Whats the state of autism research?The link between genes and autism dates back to studies of twins decades ago. Some are rare genetic variants passed from parent to child, even if the parent shows no signs of autism.But thats not the only kind. As the brain develops, rapidly dividing cells make mistakes that can lead to mutations in only one type of cell or one part of the brain, Amaral explained.Noninvasive testing can spot differences in brain activity patterns in babies who wont be diagnosed with autism until far later, when symptoms become apparent, he said.Those kinds of changes stem from alterations in brain structure or its neural circuitry and understanding them requires studying brain tissue thats available only after death, said Amaral, whos the scientific director of a brain banking collaborative called Autism BrainNet. The bank, funded by the nonprofit Simons Foundation, has collected more than 400 donated brains, about half from people with autism and the rest for comparison.What about environmental effects?Researchers have identified other factors that can interact with genetic vulnerability to increase the risk of autism. They include the age of a childs father, whether the mother had certain health problems during pregnancy including diabetes, use of certain medications during pregnancy, and preterm birth.Any concern that measles vaccinations could be linked to autism has been long debunked, stressed Tager-Flusberg, who leads a new Coalition of Autism Scientists pushing back on administration misstatements about the condition. What about Kennedys database plan?The U.S., with its fragmented health care system, will never have the kind of detailed medical tracking available in countries like Denmark and Norway places with national health systems where research shows similar rises in autism diagnoses and no environmental smoking gun.Experts say Kennedys planned database isnt appropriate to uncover autisms causes in part because theres no information about genetics. But researchers have long used insurance claims and similar data to study other important questions, such as access to autism services. And the NIH described the upcoming database as useful for studies focusing on access to care, treatment effectiveness and other trends. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURAN NEERGAARD Neergaard is an Associated Press medical writer who covers research on brain health, infectious diseases, organ transplantation and more. She is based in Washington, D.C. mailto

The quake on Saturday morning had a preliminary magnitude of 4.1, with an epicenter about 30 miles southwest of Knoxville, Tenn. Residents in Atlanta reported feeling it.

The new pope said he would be guided by a key document that his predecessor wrote listing the churchs priorities, including a loving care for the least and the rejected.

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