A polling officer checks the identity cards of people before they cast their votes for the capitals state legislature election at a polling booth in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly)2025-02-05T03:10:09Z NEW DELHI (AP) Thousands begin voting in the Indian capitals state legislature election on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist party trying to unseat a powerful regional group that has ruled New Delhi for over a decade.Voters walked to polling booths on a cold, wintry morning to cast their ballots across the sprawling capital. Manish Sisodia, a key Aam Aadmi Party leader, and others offered prayers in a temple before voting.Modis Bharatiya Janata Party is up against the AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, which runs New Delhi and has built a vast support base on its welfare policies and an anti-corruption movement. Kejriwal, a popular crusader against corruption, suffered a setback as he himself faced graft allegations.The AAP won 62 out of 70 seats in a landslide victory in the last election, held in 2020. leaving BJP with only eight and the Congress party with none. The AAP had also swept the 2015 state elections, winning 67 seats, with the BJP taking three. Modi and Kejriwal have both campaigned vigorously in roadshows with thousands of supporters tailing them. They have offered to revamp government schools and provide free health services and electricity, and a monthly stipend of over 2,000 rupees ($25) to poor women. Voting ends later Wednesday, with results due on Saturday. More than 15 million people are eligible to vote in New Delhis election. Arati Jerath, a political commentator, predicted a tight contest between the two parties, saying, Even since the AAP rose to prominence, it has been a one-sided contest.Delhi, a city of more than 20 million people, is a federal territory that Modis party has not won for over 27 years despite having a sizable support base there.Kejriwal and other AAP leaders recently faced graft allegations in a liquor license case.Neerja Chowdhury, a political analyst, said the liquor policy case in which several AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, went to jail had dented Kejriwals clean image. Kejriwal was arrested last year along with two key leaders of his party ahead of national elections on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. They have consistently denied the accusations, saying they are part of a political conspiracy. The Supreme Court allowed the release of Kejriwal and other ministers on bail.Kejriwal later relinquished the chief ministers post to his most senior party leader.The BJP, which failed to secure a majority on its own in last years national election but formed the government with coalition partners, has gained some lost ground by winning two state elections in northern Haryana and western Maharashtra states.Modis party hopes to benefit after last weeks federal budget slashed income taxes on the salaried middle class, one of its key voting blocks.Opposition parties widely condemned Kejriwals arrest, accusing Modis government of misusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken political opponents, and pointed to several raids, arrests and corruption investigations of key opposition figures in the months before the national election. Kejriwal vowed to be an anti-corruption crusader and formed the AAP in 2012 after tapping into public anger against the then-Congress party government over a series of corruption scandals. His pro-poor policies have focused on fixing state-run schools and providing cheap electricity, free health care and bus transport for women.The BJP was voted out of power in Delhi in 1998 by the Congress party, which ran the government for 15 years. In the 2015 and 2020 elections in Delhi, the AAP won landslide victories.

A housing construction site is seen at the West Bank Jewish settlement of Eli, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)2025-02-04T20:03:21Z BEIT EL, West Bank (AP) The Jewish population in the West Bank grew at twice the rate of the general Israeli population last year, according to an advocacy group that hopes the Trump administration will support policies that help accelerate the growth of settlements in the occupied territory.The West Banks Jewish-settler population rose by roughly 2.3% over 12,000 people last year, reaching 529,450, according to a report by WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com, based on official government figures.That was a slight dip from the 2.9% growth rate in 2023, but roughly double the 1.1% population growth rate inside Israel proper. The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank could grow much higher under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Baruch Gordon, the director of the group that publishes the data, said Tuesday. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built about 130 settlements and dozens of settlement outposts in a bid to cement its control over the territory. The Palestinians seek the area as the heartland of a future state and say the presence of settlements makes independence impossible. Nearly all of the international community, including the former Biden administration, opposes the settlements as obstacles to peace.The International Court of Justice ruled in July that the occupation of the West Bank was illegal and said that it violated Palestinians right to self-determination. It said Israeli policy in the territories constituted systemic discrimination based on religion, race or ethnic origin, and that Israel had already effectively annexed large parts of the territory. During his first term, Trump broke with the international community and years of American policy. He developed close ties with settler leaders and presented a peace plan that would allow Israel to annex large parts of the West Bank and keep all of its settlements. That track record has raised hopes among Israels settlers that they could be entering a new period of rapid growth. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus coalition is dominated by settler supporters and he has placed a prominent settler leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in charge of settlement planning.I think youre going to see an explosion of the construction here, Gordon said.Gordons group projects the Jewish population in the West Bank will surpass 600,000 by 2030. There are roughly 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.The report does not include east Jerusalem, where it estimates 340,000 Jewish settlers live. Israel says these settlers are residents of neighborhoods of its capital, while the international community considers these areas to be settlements.Inside the gated settlement of Beit El, on a hilltop abutting several Palestinian villages in the central West Bank, construction is continuing apace. Its a rapidly developing community, where high-rise luxury condominiums finished last year can now house 300 families and construction workers are working on a new dormitory for a Jewish seminary. Settlers like Gordon say Israel must keep the territory for security and spiritual reasons. This is our biblical heartland, he says.But critics say the settlement expansion is a recipe for continued conflict. The military last month launched a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank last month, in part as a response to militant attacks on settlements.The United Nations says over 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered Israels war in Gaza. It also has reported a jump in settler attacks on Palestinians.Israel says its military offensives are aimed at militants, but stone throwers and uninvolved civilians have also been killed in the crackdown. JULIA FRANKEL Frankel is an Associated Press reporter in Jerusalem. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Packages are seen stacked on the doorstep of a residence, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, in Upper Darby, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)2025-02-04T23:54:48Z A sweeping new U.S. tariff on products made in China is expected to increase the prices American consumers pay for a wide array of products, from the ultra-cheap apparel sold on online shopping platforms to toys and electronic devices such as computers and cellphones. An additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods took effect Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump agreed to pause his threatened tariffs against Mexico and Canada for 30 days. The delay followed negotiations on Trumps demands for the North American nations to take steps to reduce illegal immigration and the flow of drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S. After failing to get a similar White House reprieve, China struck back with retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods that are set to begin next week. The sheer volume and variety of the China-made merchandise sold in the U.S. means residents would probably see the prices of many typically inexpensive items tick higher if the tit-for-tat tariffs persist. These are some of the products most likely to be impacted: Electronics, home supplies and car partsThe U.S. imported about $427 billion worth of goods from China in 2023, the most recent year with complete data, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Consumer electronics, including cellphones, computers and other tech accessories, make up the biggest import categories. China is a dominant production engine for tech gear, including for American companies like Apple that have their products assembled in the country. In 2023, China accounted for 78% of U.S. smartphone imports and 79% of laptop and tablet imports, the Consumer Technology Association trade group reported. The tariffs also may affect how much consumers pay for typically inexpensive clothing, shoes and kitchen items like pots and pans, as well as the big-ticket items, such as appliances, furniture and auto parts. Jay Salaytah, 43, who runs his own auto repair shop in Detroit, said he bought some pieces of equipment sooner than he might have, anticipating they would cost more if Trump implemented his campaign promise to use import tariffs as a tool to promote U.S. manufacturing. I knew the costs were going to go up, and these are manufactured in China, Salaytah said of a probe test light he purchased before Tuesdays tariff went into effect. Low-cost apparel and accessoriesIn addition to imposing a new tariff on Chinese imports, Trumps executive order also suspended a little-known trade exemption that allowed goods worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. duty-free. The order left open the possibility for the loophole to still be used with shipments from other countries.The trade rule, known as de minimis, has existed for nearly a century. It came under greater scrutiny in recent years due to the rapidly growing number of low-cost items coming into the U.S. from China, mainly from prominent China-founded online retailers such as Shein, Temu and Alibabas AliExpress. Former President Joe Bidens administration proposed a crackdown on the loophole in September, but the rules did not take effect before Biden left office. Shein and Temu have gained global popularity by offering a quickly updated assortment of ultra-inexpensive clothes, accessories, gifts and gadgets shipped mostly from China, allowing the two e-commerce companies to compete on the home turf of American companies.Seattle-based Amazon is trying to compete with them through an online storefront that mimics their business model by offering cheap products shipped directly from China.Chinese exports of low-value packages soared to $66 billion in 2023, up from $5.3 billion in 2018, according to report released last week by the Congressional Research Service. In the U.S., Temu and Shein comprise about 17% of the discount market for fast fashion, toys and other consumer goods, the report said. How much will prices go up?Its unclear. Under de minimis, Shein, Temu and AliExpress could bypass taxes collected by customs authorities. But under the changes effective Tuesday, company shipments from China will now be subject to existing duties plus the new 10% tariff imposed by Trump, analysts said.The vast majority of these orders are valued less than $800, which means all or virtually all of them are going to get caught in that, Youssef Squali, an analyst at Truist Financial, said. Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of e-commerce intelligence firm Marketplace Pulse, said he thinks the price increases on platforms like Shein and Temu will be pretty small and the products they sell will remain cheap. However, the rule change is likely to result in delivery delays since the packages now have to go through customs, Kaziukenas said.The new tariffs will also hit third-party sellers on Amazon that import products from China, according to Squali. He expects sellers to eat some of the costs and pass the rest onto customers, which he thinks could result in percentage price increases in the mid-single digits. Other e-commerce sites that host businesses, such as Etsy, are also going to be impacted, Squali said. Temu, which is owned by Chinas PDD Holdings, has previously said its growth did not depend on the de minimis policy. Though most of its products are shipped from China, Temu has been recruiting Chinese merchants to store inventory in the U.S., a move that experts said would allow it to not be as exposed to changes around the trade rule. In January, China also introduced measures to help cross-border e-commerce build overseas warehousing by offering them tax rebates or tax exemptionsWhat are US retailers saying?The day after Novembers U.S. presidential election, Brieane Olson, CEO of teen clothing chain PacSun, went to Hong Kong to meet with factory executives to figure out ways to prepare for Trumps tariff plan. Roughly 35% to 40% of PacSuns garments are made in China, even as the chain has accelerated moves to diversify with suppliers in countries like Cambodia and Vietnam.But Olson said Trumps 10% tariff on Chinese goods was less extreme than the company anticipated. For now, PacSun doesnt plan to increase prices on its products or move its manufacturing of knitwear and denim out of China. Toys are another category of consumer products that relies heavily on imports from China. Greg Ahearn, the president and CEO of The Toy Association trade group, said he thinks toy companies that source in China are going to absorb the cost of the new tariff in the short term.Eventually, those price hikes will be moved onto the consumer, Ahearn said. ___Associated Press writers Anne DInnocenzio in New York, and Christopher Rugaber and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report. HALELUYA HADERO Haleluya covers Amazon, retail and technology. twitter mailto

Red Cross personnel load bodies of victims of the fighting between Congolese government forces and M23 rebels in a truck in Goma, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, as the U.N. health agency said 900 died in the fight. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)2025-02-04T20:27:29Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Congos government on Tuesday described the unilateral ceasefire declared by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo as false communication, while the United Nations noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in the region.The M23 rebels on Monday announced the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after pleas for the safe passage of aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.But all we are waiting for is the withdrawal of the M23, Congos government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told journalists.The M23 last week seized control of Goma, a city of 2 million people at the heart of a region home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. It remains under rebel control.The M23 had been reported to be gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo and advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu, in South Kivu. On Tuesday, U.N, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists they had reports of heavy fighting in South Kivu, though we dont have any reports of the M23 moving closer to Bukavu.The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. Thats far more than in 2012, when they briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congos east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the worlds technology. Congos government has said it is open to talks to resolve the conflict, but that dialogue must occur within the context of previous peace agreements. Rwanda and the rebels have accused Congo of defaulting on previous agreements. Regional leaders are meeting Friday and Saturday in Tanzania to discuss the conflict.Also Tuesday, Congos interior minister, Jacquemain Shabani, said the death toll in last weeks fighting had reached 2,000, asserting that bodies had been put into one or more mass graves. Shabani called them victims of massacres perpetrated by the Rwandan occupation army. There was no immediate Rwanda comment.On Monday, the U.N. health agency said at least 900 people had been killed in the fighting in Goma between the rebels and Congolese forces.Residents continued to bury bodies.I just saw the conditions in which our Congolese brothers were buried, our children who were shot during the events in Goma, Elisha Dunia, the father of one victim, told The Associated Press at a cemetery in the city. We are heartbroken, and we ask for peace to return to our country.Debors Zuzu, also at the cemetery, said he lost three family members, two in a bomb explosion while another was shot. He said he was devastated.Our biggest plea is for the leaders to ensure that the war ends because war has no value. We want peace in Goma, Zuzu said. If everyone dies, I dont know who the leaders will govern.The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, called for the urgent reopening of the airport in Goma, calling it a lifeline for the evacuation of wounded people and the delivery of aid.___Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Solar panels system funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are seen in the Lebanese-Syrian border town of Majdal Anjar, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)2025-02-05T02:33:59Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is placing U.S. Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave except those deemed essential, upending the aid agencys six-decade mission overseas.A notice posted online Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home. The move had been rumored for several days and was the most extreme of several proposals considered for consolidating the agency into the State Department. Other options had included closures of smaller USAID missions and partial closures of larger ones.Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut down after President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance. In the space of a few weeks, Trump political appointees and Elon Musks budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency have dismantled the aid agency despite outcry from Democratic lawmakers. They have ordered a spending stop that has paralyzed U.S.-funded aid and development work around the world, gutted the senior leadership and workforce with furloughs and firings, and closed Washington headquarters to staffers Monday. Lawmakers said the agencys computer servers were carted away. Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper, Musk boasted on X.Musks teams had taken USAIDs website offline over the weekend and it came back online Tuesday night, with the notice of recall or termination for global staffers its sole post. The decision to withdraw direct-hire staff and their families earlier than their planned departures will likely cost the government tens of millions of dollars in travel and relocation costs.Staff being placed on leave include both foreign and civil service officers who have legal protection against arbitrary dismissal and being placed on leave without reason.The American Foreign Service Association, the union which represents U.S. diplomats, sent a notice to its members denouncing the decision and saying it was preparing legal action to counter or halt it. Locally employed USAID staff, however, do not have much recourse and were excluded from the federal governments voluntary buyout offer.USAID staffers abroad have been fearing the move, packing up household belongings over the past week. Families faced wrenching decisions as the move loomed, including whether to pull children out of school midyear. Some gave away pet cats and dogs, fearing the Trump administration would not give them time to complete the paperwork to bring the animals with them.The announcement came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on a five-nation tour of Central America and met with embassy and USAID staff at two of the regions largest USAID missions: El Salvador and Guatemala on Monday and Tuesday.Journalists accompanying Rubio were not allowed to witness the so-called meet and greet sessions in those two countries, but had been allowed in for a similar event in Panama on Sunday in which Rubio praised employees, particularly locals, for their dedication and service. Democratic lawmakers and others say the USAID is enshrined in legislation as an independent agency and cannot be shut down without congressional approval.The online notice says those who will exempted from leave include staffers responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs and would be informed by Thursday afternoon.Thank you for your service, the notice concluded.___Lee reported from Guatemala City. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

Tuskegee Airmen Detroit Chapter President Arthur Green, left, of Farmington Hills, holds a P-51 D model plane as Lt. Col. Harry Stewart, Jr., center, and Col. Charles McGee, right sign their autographs on the model for the 127th Mission Support Group, June 19, 2012, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. (Todd McInturf/Detroit News via AP, File)2025-02-05T05:23:00Z Retired Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr, a decorated World War II pilot who broke racial barriers as a Tuskegee Airmen and earned honors for his combat heroism, has died. He was 100. Stewart was one of the last surviving combat pilots of the famed 332nd Fighter Group also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The group were the nations first Black military pilots.The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum confirmed his death. The organization said he passed peacefully at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Sunday.Stewart earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for downing three German aircraft during a dogfight on April 1, 1945. He was also part of a team of four Tuskegee Airmen who won the U.S. Air Force Top Gun flying competition in 1949, although their accomplishment would not be recognized until decades later. Harry Stewart was a kind man of profound character and accomplishment with a distinguished career of service he continued long after fighting for our country in World War II, Brian Smith, president and CEO of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum, said. Born on July 4, 1924, in Virginia, his family moved to New York when he was young. Stewart had dreamed of flying since he was a child when he would watch planes at LaGuardia airport, according to a book about his life titled Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airmens Firsthand Account of World War II. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, an 18-year-old Stewart joined what was then considered an experiment to train Black military pilots. The unit sometimes was also known as the Tuskegee Airmen for where they trained in Alabama or the Red Tails because of the red tips of their P-51 Mustangs.I did not recognize at the time the gravity of what we are facing. I just felt as though it was a duty of mine at the time. I just stood up to my duty, Stewart said of World War II in a 2024 interview with CNN about the war. Having grown up in a multicultural neighborhood, the segregation and prejudice of the Jim Crow-era South came as a shock to Stewart, but he was determined to finish and earn his wings according to the book about his life. After finishing training, the pilots were assigned to escort U.S. bombers in Europe. The Tuskegee Airmen are credited with losing significantly fewer escorted bombers than other fighter groups. I got to really enjoy the idea of the panorama, I would say, of the scene I would see before me with the hundreds of bombers and the hundreds of fighter planes up there and all of them pulling the condensation trails, and it was just the ballet in the sky and a feeling of belonging to something that was really big, Stewart said in a 2020 interview with WAMC. Stewart would sometimes say in a self-effacing way that he was too busy enjoying flying to realize he was making history, according to his book. Stewart had hoped to become a commercial airline pilot after he left the military, but was rejected because of his race. He went on to earn a mechanical engineering degree New York University. He relocated to Detroit and retired as vice president of a natural gas pipeline company. Stewart told Michigan Public Radio in 2019 that he was moved to tears on a recent commercial flight when he saw who was piloting the aircraft. When I entered the plane, I looked into the cockpit there and there were two African American pilots. One was the co-pilot, and one was the pilot. But not only that, the thing that started bringing the tears to my eyes is that they were both female, Stewart said.The Air Force last month briefly removed training course s with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs in an effort to comply with the Trump administrations crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The materials were quickly restored following a bipartisan backlash.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-05T05:02:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump offered a jaw-dropping performance during his joint news conference Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting that Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip could be permanently resettled elsewhere and that the U.S. might stage a long-term takeover of the vacated region even leading redevelopment efforts to make it a seaside paradise in waiting. He refused to rule out sending U.S. troops in to seal the deal, and said he himself ever the real estate developer might pay a personal visit. Here are some takeaways from Trumps remarks: Trumps comments could upend the ceasefire in GazaNegotiations to sustain the tenuous ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and secure the liberation of the remaining living hostages in captivity there, including at least one American are set to begin in earnest this week. Trumps audacious proposal to relocate roughly 1.8 million Palestinians from the land they have called home, and look to as part of a future state, could completely upend those negotiations.The framework for the talks calls for surging humanitarian and reconstruction supplies to help the people of Gaza recover after more than 15 months of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas. It was always going to be a challenge for mediators to try to win Hamas agreement to be uprooted as the governing authority in the territory. Trumps suggestions that the U.S. take ownership of the area and redevelop it, with the possible support of American troops, is a sure non-starter for the militant group. It is also likely to put new stress on Qatar and Egypt, the other mediators in the talks, who have long advocated for Palestinian statehood.A breakdown in the negotiations could see the return to fighting in Gaza jeopardizing the fates of the remaining living hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups in the territory. The suggestions were quickly panned in the Middle EastTrumps comments were immediately repudiated by Saudi Arabia, whose foreign ministry issued a sharply worded statement that the nations long call for an independent Palestinian state was a firm, steadfast and unwavering position.Saudi Arabia has been in negotiations with the U.S. over a deal to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for a security pact and other terms. But the ministrys statement noted Saudi Arabias absolute rejection of efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.The duty of the international community today, the statement added, is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it.Hamas, in its own statement said, We reject Trumps statements in which he said that the residents of the Gaza Strip have no choice but to leave, and we consider them a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region. An isolationist president is open to sending US troops to GazaTrump has built a political persona around an America first mantra that promotes isolationism, and is proud of the fact that the U.S. is currently not engaged in any foreign military conflicts. So the fact that he might be ready to dispatch U.S. troops to Gaza is nothing short of stunning.The president said he wants the U.S. to take long-term ownership of the Gaza and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. Asked if that might involve American military forces, Trump replied, As far as Gaza is concerned, well do what is necessary. If its necessary, he added, Well do that.Trump is in real estate developer modeTrump, who became famous as a 1980s New York real estate developer, still often gleefully looks at the world that way and it showed on Tuesday.The president said he envisions the worlds people living in a redeveloped Gaza that he said could look like the Riviera of the Middle East.This could be something that could be so valuable. This could be so magnificent, Trump said, adding that most importantly, the people that live there would be able to live in peace and, Well make sure that its done world-class.Trump said that eventually he envisioned Palestinians, mostly living in the region but also described his vision for Gaza as an international, unbelievable place. The president also said he planned to visit Israel during his second term in office and even suggested he might go to Gaza a trip that would present unprecedented logistical and security challenges. Trump keeps expressing reluctance about his own Iran stanceAmid precarious ceasefire and hostage negotiations, Trump has also begun expressing reluctance about the pressure his administration is seeking to put on Iran. Trump made it clear he would like to negotiate with one of Americas top adversaries to allow it to prosper as long as Iran commits to not developing a nuclear weapon. He twice said he hated signing an executive order earlier Tuesday instructing the U.S. to impose maximum pressure on Tehran.I want Iran to be peaceful and successful. I hated doing it, the president said. Trump then sought to address the people of Iran directly by saying he would love to be able to make a great deal, a deal where you can get on with your lives. Youll do wonderfully.That tone was a noticeable departure from unapologetically tough words Trump offered about some of Americas allies in recent days threatening tariffs against Canada and Mexico and suggesting that similar levies could be coming against the European Union.Trump praised the Iranians as industrious, beautiful and incredible people, and said his one requirement as he seeks a deal with them is that they dont obtain a nuclear weapon. He also said if Iran can convince the U.S. that they wont, I think theyre going to have an unbelievable future.I hope were going to be able to do something so that it doesnt end up in a very catastrophic situation. I dont want to see that happen, Trump said. I really want to see peace.Trumps takeover list is growing And now its designs on Gaza. Trumps suggestions that the U.S. could occupy Gaza, with the possible support of U.S. troops, follows his threatening to take the Panama Canal by military force. And that came after his repeated insistence the U.S. can somehow wrest control of Greenland from Denmark, and that Canadians would like to become the 51st state. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., didnt mince words when asked about Trumps suggestions for Gaza: Hes completely lost it. He wants a U.S. invasion of Gaza, which would cost thousands of American lives and set the Middle East on fire for 20 years? asked the Democrat from Connecticut. Its sick. ___Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto MICHELLE L. PRICE Price is a national political reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto

A view of an area in Gaza City destroyed during fightings between the Israeli army against Hamas, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Feb.4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-02-05T04:50:39Z JERUSALEM (AP) Gaza has long been a powder keg, and it exploded after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and began killing and abducting people, sparking a crushing Israeli military operation there thats only recently reached an uneasy ceasefire.President Donald Trump s suggestion Tuesday that that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and the U.S. take ownership may spark new tension over the enclave on the Mediterranean Sea.Heres a look at the troubled modern history of the Gaza Strip: 1948 - 1967: Egyptian rule of GazaBefore the war surrounding Israels establishment in 1948, present-day Gaza was part of the large swath of the Middle East under British colonial rule. After Israel defeated the coalition of Arab states, the Egyptian army was left in control of a small strip of land wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.During the war, some 700,000 Palestinians either fled or were forced from their homes in what is now Israel a mass uprooting that they call the Nakba, or catastrophe. Tens of thousands of Palestinians flocked to the strip. Under Egyptian military control, Palestinian refugees in Gaza were stuck, homeless and stateless. Egypt didnt consider them to be citizens and Israel wouldnt let them return to their homes. Many were supported by UNWRA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, which has a heavy presence in Gaza to this day. Meanwhile, some young Palestinians became fedayeen insurgency fighters who conducted raids into Israel. 1967 - 1993: Israel seizes controlIsrael seized control of Gaza from Egypt during the 1967 Mideast war, when it also captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas that remain under Israeli control. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers semi-autonomous areas of the occupied West Bank, seeks all three areas for a hoped-for future state.Israel built more than 20 Jewish settlements in Gaza during this period. It also signed a peace treaty with Egypt at Camp David a pact negotiated by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has referenced this 40-year old treaty when he declined to permit Palestinian refugees from Gaza into Egypt, saying the potential entrance of militants into Egypt would threaten longstanding peace between Israel and Egypt.The first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in Gaza in December 1987, kicking off more than five years of sustained protests and bloody violence. It was also during this time that the Islamic militant group Hamas was established in Gaza. 1993 - 2005: The Palestinian Authority takes chargeFor a time, promising peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders made the future of Gaza look somewhat hopeful. Following the Oslo accords a set of agreements between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat that laid the groundwork for a two-state solution control of Gaza was handed to the fledgling Palestinian Authority. But the optimism was short lived. A series of Palestinian suicide attacks by Hamas militants, the 1995 assassination of Rabin by a Jewish ultranationalist opposed to his peacemaking and the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister the following year all hindered U.S.-led peace efforts. Another peace push collapsed in late 2000 with the eruption of the second Palestinian uprising. As the uprising fizzled in 2005, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, uprooting all of Israels troops and roughly 9,000 settlers in a move that bitterly divided Israel. 2005 - 2023: Hamas seizes powerJust months after Israels withdrawal, Hamas won parliamentary elections over Fatah, the long-dominant Palestinian political party. The following year, after months of infighting, Hamas violently seized control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority.Israel and Egypt imposed a crippling blockade on the territory, monitoring the flow of goods and people in and out. For nearly two decades, the closure has crippled the local economy, sent unemployment skyrocketing, and emboldened militancy in the region, which is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Through previous wars and countless smaller battles with Israel that devastated Gaza, Hamas has only grown more powerful. In each subsequent conflict, Hamas has had more rockets that have traveled farther. The group has displayed a growing array of weapons. Its top leaders have survived, and ceasefires have been secured. In the meantime, it has built a government, including a police force, ministries and border terminals equipped with metal detectors and passport control. 2023 Hamas attack sparks the Israel-Hamas warThe Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage. Over 100 hostages were freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023, eight have been rescued alive and dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces.Israels air and ground war has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of the dead were fighters. The war has left large parts of several cities in ruins and displaced around 90% of Gazas population of 2.3 million people.Under the first phase of the latest ceasefire, which went into effect on Jan. 19, Hamas is to release a total of 33 hostages, eight of whom Hamas says are dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces have pulled back from most areas and allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to devastated northern Gaza while aid flows in.Negotiations on the second phase, which would end the war and see the remaining 60 or so hostages returned, are set to begin Monday. If mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt are unable to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the war could resume in early March.___The Associated Press is republishing this story from Oct. 21, 2023, to update with the ceasefire and President Donald Trumps comments about the Gaza Strip. JULIA FRANKEL Frankel is an Associated Press reporter in Jerusalem. twitter mailto

Palestinians carry defaced pictures of U.S. President Donald Trump while protesting against his latest statements regarding the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, in the West Bank city of Ramallah Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)2025-02-05T05:55:42Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) President Donald Trumps proposal that the United States take over the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.Trumps suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take ownership in redeveloping the war-torn territory into the Riviera of the Middle East.The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too, Trump said. Well own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs. The comments came amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, during which the militant group has been turning over hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Israel. Egypt, Jordan and other American allies in the Middle East have already rejected the idea of relocating more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere in the region.Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed in quickly on Trumps expanded idea to take over the Gaza Strip in a sharply worded statement, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a firm, steadfast and unwavering position. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land, the statement said. Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra, Australia, that his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East and that nothing had changed. Australias position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, as it was 10 years ago, he said. Trump has already made waves and upset longtime allies suggesting the purchase of Greenland, the annexation of Canada and the possible takeover of the Panama Canal. It was not immediately clear whether the idea of taking over the Gaza Strip was a well thought out plan, or an opening gambit in negotiations. Albanese, whose country is one of the strongest American allies in the Asia-Pacific region, seemed frustrated to even be asked about the Gaza plan, underscoring that his policies will be consistent.Im not going to, as Australias prime minister, give a daily commentary on statements by the U.S. president, he said. My job is to support Australias position.New Zealands Foreign Ministry said in a statement that its long-standing support for a two-state solution is on the record and added that it, too, wont be commenting on every proposal that is put forward. Hamas, which sparked the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, said Trumps proposal was a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished, the militant group said in a statement. In its attack on Israel, Hamas killed some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israels ensuing air and ground war has has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities who do not say how many of the dead were fighters. The war has left large parts of several cities in ruins and displaced around 90% of Gazas population of 2.3 million people.In the U.S., opposition politicians quickly rejected Trumps idea, with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons calling his comments offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish. The idea risks the rest of the world thinking that we are an unbalanced and unreliable partner because our president makes insane proposals, Coons said, noting the irony of the proposal coming shortly after Trump had moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.Why on earth would we abandon decades of well-established humanitarian programs around the world, and now launch into one of the worlds greatest humanitarian challenges? Coons said. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American member of Congress from Michigan, accused Trump in a social media post of openly calling for ethnic cleansing with the idea of resettling Gazas entire population. ___Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Charlotte McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report. DAVID RISING Rising covers regional Asia-Pacific stories for The Associated Press. He has worked around the world, including covering the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and was based for nearly 20 years in Berlin before moving to Bangkok. twitter mailto JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

A U.S. Postal Service employee loads parcels outside a post office in Wheeling, Ill., on Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)2025-02-05T08:29:52Z HONG KONG (AP) Americans are likely to pay more for products from popular Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu as the U.S. Postal Service said it would stop accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong.The move was announced Tuesday, coming after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax. Canada and Mexico managed to negotiate a month-long reprieve from 25% tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.It will likely impact online shopping destinations like Shein and Temu, popular with younger shoppers in the U.S. for cheap clothing and other products, usually shipped directly from China.Cheap, direct postal service helps these companies keep costs low, as did the de minimis exemption that previously allowed shipments to go tax-free if their value is under $800.The temporary suspension by USPS is likely to delay shipments and could mean higher prices in the long term. What exactly did the USPS announce?The U.S. Postal Service said in a notice that it would temporarily stop accepting inbound parcels from the China and Hong Kong Posts until further notice.Letters and flats mail that measures up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) long or 3/4 inches (1.9 centimeters) thick are not affected. Why did it happen?The USPS did not state a reason in a brief announcement, but the suspension came after Trump closed the de minimis customs exemption this week that allowed shoppers and importers to avoid duties on packages worth below $800.The exemption was removed as part of an executive order to levy a 10% tariff on Chinese goods.U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously stated that it processes an average of over four million de minimis imports each week. What is the impact and who is most affected?Consumers and companies alike will no longer be able to send parcels to the U.S. from Hong Kong or China.This move is likely to impact Chinese e-commerce firms like Shein and Temu, although Shein is likely to be more affected, according to Jacob Cooke, CEO of e-commerce marketing agency WPIC Marketing + Technologies.Both companies have significant market share in the U.S.Compared to Temu, Shein relies more heavily on USPS for direct-to-consumer shipping from China, and without this channel, it will have to rely more on private carriers, said Cooke.That will increase logistics costs, which along with the recent scrapping of the de minimis exemption for most products from China, could erode its price advantage.Cooke said Temu operates on a semi-consignment model and often ships bulk orders to the U.S. before fulfilling orders domestically.Temus model of sourcing low-cost goods should also enable the platform to absorb higher logistics costs and remain price competitive, he said.Shein and Temu did not immediately comment.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China would take necessary measures to protect its companies, and urged the U.S. to stop politicizing economic and trade issues and using them as a tool, and to stop unreasonably suppressing Chinese companies. What are possible ways for companies to work around the issue?It is unclear how long the USPS suspension will last, but the effort to crack down on the de minimis excemption seems like a longer-term shift in policy, Cooke said.Shein and Temu will simply need to rely more on private carriers as a workaround to the USPS suspension, he said.In the long term, Shein could accelerate its warehouse expansion in the U.S., while Temu can double down on its semi-consignment model. By shipping in bulk to the U.S. and fulfilling orders domestically, logistics cost can be reduced, Cooke said.Shipping in bulk to the U.S. and fulfilling domestically can reduce logistics costs, but for Shein, this poses a longer-term disruption to their business model which has depended on rapidly developing new SKUs and shipping them directly to consumers, Cooke said. ZEN SOO Soo reports on technology and business in China and across Asia for The Associated Press. She is based in Hong Kong. twitter mailto

Police officers stand guard near the scene of a shooting at an adult education center on the outskirts of Orebro, Sweden, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)2025-02-05T06:57:46Z OREBRO, Sweden (AP) Swedens worst mass shooting left at least 11 people dead, including the gunman, at an adult education center west of Stockholm as officials warned that the death toll could rise.The gunmans motive, as well as the number of wounded, hadnt been determined by early Wednesday as the Scandinavian nation where gun violence at schools is very rare reeled from an attack with such bloodshed that police early on said it was difficult to count the number of dead among the carnage.The school, called Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Stockholm.Justice Minister Gunnar Strmmer called the shooting an event that shakes our entire society to its core. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the Royal Palace and government buildings. The Swedish news agency TT reported that officials have planned a news conference for Wednesday morning. The shooting started Tuesday afternoon after many students had gone home following a national exam. Students sheltered in nearby buildings, and other parts of the school were evacuated following the shooting. Authorities were working to identify the deceased, and police said the toll could rise. Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police, told reporters that the suspected gunman was among the dead. There were no warnings beforehand, and police believe the perpetrator acted alone. Police havent said if the man was a student at the school. They havent released a possible motive, but authorities said there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point. Police raided the suspects home after Tuesdays shooting, but it wasnt immediately clear what they found. Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people, the prime minister told reporters in Stockholm late Tuesday. This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history. Many questions remain unanswered, and I cannot provide those answers either. But the time will come when we will know what happened, how it could occur, and what motives may have been behind it. Let us not speculate, he said.While gun violence at schools is very rare in Sweden, people were wounded or killed with other weapons such as knives or axes in several incidents in recent years.___Stefanie Dazio reported from Berlin. Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Kwiyeon Ha in London, contributed to this report.

A view of an area in Gaza City destroyed during fightings between the Israeli army against Hamas, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Feb.4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-02-05T08:50:07Z JERUSALEM (AP) Palestinians will mark this year the 77th anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now faced in the Gaza Strip particularly as President Donald Trump has suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and that the United States take ownership of the enclave.Palestinians refer to their 1948 expulsion as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. Some 700,000 Palestinians a majority of the prewar population fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israels establishment.After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, the refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population. Israels rejection of what Palestinians say is their right of return to their 1948 homes has been a core grievance in the conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last collapsed 15 years ago. The refugee camps have always been the main bastions of Palestinian militancy. Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale.All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to visit their destroyed homes after a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war took hold Jan. 19. The images from several rounds of mass evacuations throughout the war and their march back north on foot are strikingly similar to black-and-white photographs from 1948. Mustafa al-Gazzar, in his 80s, recalled in 2024 his familys monthslong flight from their village in what is now central Israel to the southern city of Rafah, when he was 5. At one point they were bombed from the air, at another, they dug holes under a tree to sleep in for warmth.Al-Gazzar, now a great-grandfather, was forced to flee again in the war, this time to a tent in Muwasi, a barren coastal area where some 450,000 Palestinians live in a squalid camp. He said then the conditions are worse than in 1948, when the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees was able to regularly provide food and other essentials.My hope in 1948 was to return, but my hope today is to survive, he said. The war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel, has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, making it by far the deadliest round of fighting in the history of the conflict. The initial Hamas attack killed some 1,200 Israelis.The war has forced some 1.7 million Palestinians around three quarters of the territorys population to flee their homes, often multiple times. That is well over twice the number that fled before and during the 1948 war. Israel has sealed its border. Egypt has only allowed a small number of Palestinians to leave, in part because it fears a mass influx of Palestinians could generate another long-term refugee crisis.The international community is strongly opposed to any mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza an idea embraced by far-right members of the Israeli government, who refer to it as voluntary emigration.Israel has long called for the refugees of 1948 to be absorbed into host countries, saying that calls for their return are unrealistic and would endanger its existence as a Jewish-majority state. It points to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries during the turmoil following its establishment, though few of them want to return.Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there. One U.N. estimate said it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes. The Jewish militias in the 1948 war with the armies of neighboring Arab nations were mainly armed with lighter weapons like rifles, machine guns and mortars. Hundreds of depopulated Palestinian villages were demolished after the war, while Israelis moved into Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, Jaffa and other cities.In Gaza, Israel has unleashed one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, at times dropping 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs on dense, residential areas. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to wastelands of rubble and plowed-up roads, many littered with unexploded bombs. Yara Asi, a Palestinian assistant professor at the University of Central Florida who has done research on the damage to civilian infrastructure in the war, says its extremely difficult to imagine the kind of international effort that would be necessary to rebuild Gaza.Even before the war, many Palestinians spoke of an ongoing Nakba, in which Israel gradually forces them out of Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured during the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for a future state. They point to home demolitions, settlement construction and other discriminatory policies that long predate the war, and which major rights groups say amount to apartheid, allegations Israel denies.Asi and others fear that if another genuine Nakba occurs, it will be in the form of a gradual departure.It wont be called forcible displacement in some cases. It will be called emigration, it will be called something else, Asi said.But in essence, it is people who wish to stay, who have done everything in their power to stay for generations in impossible conditions, finally reaching a point where life is just not livable.___Associated Press reporters Wafaa Shurafa and Mohammad Jahjouh in Rafah, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.___The Associated Press is republishing this story from May 14, 2024, to update with the ceasefire and President Donald Trumps comments about the Gaza Strip.

This image taken from video provided by WSYX shows police responding to an active shooter early Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in New Albany, Ohio. (WSYX via AP)2025-02-05T06:44:55Z NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) One person has died and five others were wounded in a shooting Tuesday night at a cosmetics warehouse in Ohio, officials said.The victims have been transported to hospitals and the suspect is no longer believed to be at the building, said Josh Poland, a spokesperson for the city of New Albany. New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones described the shooting just before 11 p.m. as a targeted type of attack and said officials dont believe the suspect poses a general threat to the public. We have a person of interest and were looking to locate them and bring them into custody, he said during a press conference. A firearm was found at the scene.The shooting happened at the warehouse for a company that makes products including cosmetics and toiletries. Police did not immediately provide a motive for the shooting or the conditions of those wounded. About 150 people were evacuated to a neighboring building, according to Jones.

This image from video provided by UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences shows Doug McCullough, who has spinal muscular atrophy, during tests of experimental spinal cord stimulation to improve muscle function in Pittsburgh, on March 14, 2023. (UPMC, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences via AP)2025-02-05T10:01:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) Three people with a muscle-destroying disease destined to worsen got a little stronger able to stand and walk more easily when an implanted device zapped their spinal cord.On Wednesday, researchers reported what they called the first evidence that a spine-stimulating implant already being tested for paralysis might also aid neurodegenerative diseases like spinal muscle atrophy by restoring some muscle function, at least temporarily.These people were definitely not expecting an improvement, said Marco Capogrosso, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh who led the research. Yet over the month-long pilot study, they were getting better and better.Spinal muscle atrophy or SMA is a genetic disease that gradually destroys motor neurons, nerve cells in the spinal cord that control muscles. That leads muscles to waste away, especially in the legs, hips and shoulders and sometimes those involved with breathing and swallowing. There is no cure. A gene therapy can save the lives of very young children with a severe form of the disease, and there are some medicines to slow worsening in older patients. Stimulating the spinal cord with low levels of electricity has long been used to treat chronic pain but Capogrossos team also has tested it to help people paralyzed from strokes or spinal cord injury move their limbs unaided. While turned on, it zaps circuits of dormant nerves downstream of the injury to activate muscles. Then Capogrosso wondered if that same technology might help SMA in a similar way by revving up related sensory nerves so they wake up damaged muscle cells, helping them move to combat wasting. The Pitt researchers implanted electrodes over the lower spinal cord of three adults with SMA and tested their muscle strength, fatigue, range of motion and changes in gait and walking distance when the device was firing and when it was turned off. It didnt restore normal movement but with just a few hours of spinal stimulation a week, all quickly saw improvements in muscle strength and function, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.With a progressive disease you never get any better, said study participant Doug McCullough, 57, of Franklin Park, New Jersey. Either youre staying stable or getting worse. So having any improvement is just a really surreal and very exciting benefit.All three participants significantly increased how far they could walk in six minutes, and one who initially couldnt stand from a kneeling position could by the studys end, Capogrosso said. And McCulloughs gait changed so that each step was about three times longer.They get less fatigued so they can walk for longer, Capogrosso said. Even a person this many years into the disease can improve.Intriguingly, researchers found the improvements didnt disappear as soon as the stimulator was switched off, though they did fade as participants were tracked after the study ended.McCullough said even when the stimulator was turned off, some nights his legs would just feel supercharged. While he understood that the device had to be removed at the studys end, he was disappointed. He said there were some lingering benefits at his six-week checkup, but none after six months. Neuroscientist Susan Harkema, who led pioneering studies of stimulation for spinal cord injuries while at the University of Louisville, cautioned the new study is small and short but called it an important proof of concept. She said its logical to test the technique against a list of muscle-degenerating diseases.Human spinal circuitry is very sophisticated its not just a bunch of reflexes controlled by the brain, said Harkema, now with the Kessler Foundation, a rehabilitation research nonprofit. This is a very solid study, an important contribution to move forward.At Pitt, Capogrosso said some small but longer studies are getting underway.___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

Police personnel redirect traffic near the international airport, before the arrival of a US military plane carrying deported Indian immigrants, in Amritsar, India, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)2025-02-05T09:21:46Z AMRITSAR, India (AP) A U.S. military plane carrying 104 deported Indian migrants arrived in a northern Indian city on Wednesday, the first such flight to the country as part of a crackdown ordered by the Trump administration, airport officials said.The Indians who returned home had illegally entered the United States over the years and came from various Indian states.The move came ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Washington, which is expected next week. U.S. President Donald Trump and Modi discussed immigration in a phone call last week and Trump stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and fair bilateral trade.India has cooperated with the U.S. and said it is ready to accept the deported Indians after verification.New Delhi says it is against illegal immigration, mainly because it is linked to several forms of organized crime, and it has not objected to the U.S. deporting its citizens. For Indians, not just in the United States but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals, and they are overstaying or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality that they are indeed Indians, Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said last month. If that happens to be the case, then we will take things forward. We will facilitate the return to India, Jaiswal said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week the deportation flights were an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, which he said is destructive and destabilizing.The State Department said such deportations send a message of deterrence to other people considering migrating illegally.Indias junior External Affairs Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh told Indias Parliament that 519 Indian nationals were deported to India between November 2023 and October 2024, citing U.S. government data. The U.S. government carries out deportations through commercial and chartered flights, he added.Media reports say there are about 7,25,000 undocumented Indians in the U.S., mainly from Punjab and Gujarat states, and that Indians comprised about 3% of all illegal border crossings in the U.S. in 2024.The Indian Express newspaper said there were 20,407 undocumented Indians as of November last year who are either facing final removal orders or are currently in detention centers of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, right, greets Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, left, after an NFL football game Dec. 16, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)2025-02-05T11:00:07Z ASHBURN, Va. (AP) Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin paused for a moment to think while speaking to a reporter after a practice this season.Now that you mention it, McLaurin said, Ive never had a Black head coach in high school, college or the NFL. Coordinators and position coaches only.McLaurin, like the majority of NFL players, is Black, and, like some of his colleagues, harbors concerns about the lack of Black head coaches. The Associated Press surveyed more than 65 Black players from 25 teams about the topic, and more than a third about 36% were discouraged or disappointed by the number of Black coaches.Until you see more coaches, Dolphins linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. said, were all going to look at it the same way: There arent enough Black coaches.For Sundays Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, both starting quarterbacks are Black. Neither coach is. Panthers safety Nick Scott sees a parallel with how long it took clubs to discard biases about Black QBs.They were labeled as not as cerebral. That was the narrative. But I dont know how you go about changing that (for coaches), Scott said. I would hate for it to turn into some affirmative action thing, where people are getting pushed into a job whether they are qualified or not. So its a tricky balance, right? ... But I think there are plenty of guys who are qualified. At a time when President Donald Trump has moved to end federal government diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and a number of prominent companies scaled back DEI initiatives, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday the league will continue its diversity efforts. Several players the AP interviewed noted the gap between the proportion of Black athletes in the NFL 53.5% in 2023, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) and that of Black head coaches, 22% to start this season. That might drop to 19% next season (six of 32), depending on the New Orleans Saints pick for the last opening. You cant just overlook that discrepancy, McLaurin said. Obviously, you want the best candidate for the job, whether its someone who is Black, white, Asian or whoever. However, when you have a big representation of African-American players that are in your league, you would like to see that represented in coaching, as well.How many NFL teams never had a full-time head coach who is Black?Setting aside interim hires, McLaurins Commanders is one of 11 clubs that never employed a full-time head coach who is Black, joining the Bills, Cowboys, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Rams, Ravens, Saints, Seahawks and Titans. Thats about a third of the NFL.No! Are you saying most Southern teams have never? Thats crazy! How many have never drafted a Black quarterback? Have you done that one? Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. Theres obvious franchises that wont hire a Black coach.Over 25 seasons from 2000 through 2024, an AP count shows, 31 of 173 new NFL coaches 18% are Black.Youd be blind not to be discouraged, Cowboys special teams player C.J. Goodwin said. Black coaches can do it, can get the job done. ... You dont want to have the glass ceiling.Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce spoke for the 58% of surveyed players who answered No to that question (6% werent sure how they felt) by responding: Its, like, eyebrow-raising when you actually hear the number, but its not discouraging. Two of three new full-time NFL coaches who are Black got firedThis season began with seven Black head coaches: holdovers Mike McDaniel of the Dolphins, Todd Bowles of the Buccaneers, DeMeco Ryans of the Texans and Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, and newcomers Antonio Pierce of the Raiders (who began on an interim basis the prior season), Jerod Mayo of the Patriots and Raheem Morris of the Falcons.Pierce and Mayo were fired in January. One of six hires this offseason is Black, Aaron Glenn of the Jets. Its still like, Oh, wow, its a Black coach! Jets defensive lineman Solomon Thomas said. In a league thats predominantly Black, I definitely believe there should be more. Brandon Brown, the director of TIDES, said it makes sense players would feel that way.We always need to continue the upward progress. Anytime you see downward progress, its a bit discouraging, Brown said. In talking to people at the NFL, there is no lack of trying to be diverse in their hires. What that eventually looks like is one thing.How many Black coaches are in the NBA, MLB and NHL?In the NBA, where about 70% of players are Black, 11 of 30 teams 37% have a Black coach. In Major League Baseball, three of 30 teams have a Black manager. In the 30-team NHL, theres been one Black coach, Dirk Graham, who was fired by the Blackhawks during his only season. Nearly 40% of the NFL players who participated in the AP survey would like to be a head coach in the league; others are more likely to try to be an assistant or work in college, high school or youth football. More than 90% were encouraged by the number of Black head coaches getting new full-time positions last offseason. Those three hires tied for the most since 2000. What is the NFLs Rooney Rule? The NFLs Rooney Rule was created in 2003 named for Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who died in 2017 to increase diversity among coaches (and, later, front-office executives) by making clubs interview minority candidates. The Rooney Rules a great rule, Washingtons McLaurin said, but ... from what Ive heard, some teams kind of use that to check a box, which is unfortunate, instead of using the rule the way it was intended.That is one of the elements in the 2022 lawsuit filed by former Dolphins head coach now Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who accused the NFL and three teams of racist hiring practices.I knew what Mr. Rooney was trying to accomplish with that, Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. And so to see people work around it and say, Well, this guy was already getting the job; were just (talking to a Black candidate) to appease the many I dont think thats right.Recent searches by the Patriots and Jaguars, for example, raised eyebrows with interviews perceived by some as merely aimed at satisfying the Rooney requirements.We follow up with the candidates, Goodell said. We speak about the sincerity and the thoroughness of an interview to make sure that were doing that in the proper fashion.Why are there so few Black head coaches in the NFL?As for underlying causes, some, like Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, pointed to networking and nepotism.For Black people in this league, its an uphill battle. ... Theres been a plethora of white head coaches over the course of the history of the NFL. Those coaches have sons who get into coaching, Hamilton said. Look at the big Shanahan tree. No disrespect to them, but they have a step up in the business. Its not about what you know; its about who you know. ... Black people have kind of been behind.Others found connections to larger issues.Its just American society, the Cowboys Goodwin said. Thats more of a societal question than it is a question about the NFL.___AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson, David Brandt, Dave Campbell, Tom Canavan, Schuyler Dixon, Josh Dubow, Dan Gelston, Will Graves, Kyle Hightower, Larry Lage, Mark Long, Brett Martel, Steve Megargee, Charles Odum, Steve Reed, Joe Reedy, Andrew Seligman, Dave Skretta, Arnie Stapleton, Alanis Thames, Teresa M. Walker, Dennis Waszak Jr., John Wawrow and Tom Withers contributed to this report.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl HOWARD FENDRICH Fendrich is an Associated Press national writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on tennis and other sports. twitter mailto

A man accused of being an Islamic State (ISIS) fighter as others stand inside a cell at the Syrian Democratic Forces-run Gweiran Prison, now called Panorama, in Hassakeh, northeastern Syria, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)2025-02-05T05:02:01Z HASSAKEH, Syria (AP) Men of various ages and nationalities sit silently in their cells, a small window in the metal doors their only opening to the world. All are alleged members of the Islamic State group, captured during the final days of the extremists so-called caliphate declared in large parts of Iraq and Syria.The Gweiran Prison, now called Panorama has held about 4,500 IS-linked detainees for years. The Associated Press was given an exclusive visit to the prison, nearly two months after the fall of the 54-year Assad dynasty in Syria an upheaval the detainees might not even know about as prison officials try to limit outside information.Syrian President Bashar Assads ouster during a lightning insurgent offensive in December has led to new attention, and new pressures, on such detention centers in the countrys northeast that have been holding some 9,000 IS members without trial. The centers are guarded by members of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that in March 2019 captured the last sliver of land that IS members once held, the eastern town of Baghouz. SDF chief commander Mazloum Abdi told the AP that after the fall of Assad, IS members captured large amounts of weapons in eastern Syria from posts abandoned by forces loyal to the former president. An SDF security official warned that the extremists might attack detention facilities and try to free their comrades. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The detainees are a literal and figurative ISIS army in detention, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said during a visit to Syria last month.The prison visit occurred in a corridor with six cells on each side and with masked guards holding clubs. A window in a cell door was opened, and the detainees were told they could speak briefly to journalists. A young man moved forward and identified himself as Maher, a nurse from Melbourne, Australia. Prison authorities asked that only first names be used.Id love to go back to Australia, the man said, adding that he was not arrested in 2019 in Baghouz but gave himself up when the U.S.-led coalition opened a humanitarian corridor.I didnt do anything to anyone. Ive been here for seven years without judgement. Without anything, he said, and expressed regret for a lot of things.Maher said he married a Syrian woman and has two sons, and they are at one of the camps housing families of IS members in northeast Syria. He said he has not had information about them, and that he sent a letter to his parents via the International Committee of the Red Cross and never received an answer.The security of the detention centers is a growing question since Assads fall.One of the most serious threats to the centers came in January 2022 when IS gunmen stormed the prison, leading to 10 days of battles with the SDF that left nearly 500 people dead.The prison, formerly the classrooms of a technical school, was later renovated with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. Security was tight when the AP visited, with armed fighters stationed on roads leading to the facility. But SDF officials have said that recent clashes between their fighters and Turkey-backed gunmen in northern Syria, which coincided with the insurgent offensive that led to Assads fall, are affecting their ability to protect the prisons.During a visit to Turkey last month by Syrias foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani, his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan told reporters that Ankara was ready to help Syrian authorities manage the detention centers as well as the camps where more than 40,000 people, many of them women and children, with alleged IS links are held.But the SDF chief commander didnt welcome the idea.The way Turkey can help is to stop its attacks on us so that we concentrate on the protection of al-Hol and the prisons, Abdi said.He added that the fate of al-Hol and other prisons can be solved within Syria. The countrys future is being discussed in talks between the SDF, which controls nearly 25% of Syria, and the new government in Damascus led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. Inside the cells, the men wait for word on their own fate.A British prisoner from London who asked that his name not be made public said he wants to return to Britain and stand trial there. He was 18 when he came to Syria a decade ago after seeing media reports on the killings of kids by Assads government forces during a popular uprising that turned into civil war.He said he later wanted to leave Syria but could not.Once you enter (IS) its hard to leave, he said.He claimed he had not been a fighter but bought and sold cars while living in IS-held areas. He said all men captured by the SDF in the Baghouz area in early 2019 were classified as IS members.Seven years have passed in detention.To survive a day in this place is a miracle, he said, adding that he and fellow detainees know nothing of the world now, not even the date.Asked what day it was, he replied: We are in early 2025.

The former president of Spain's soccer federation Luis Rubiales sits in a courtroom on the outskirts of Madrid, Monday Feb. 3, 2025 where he goes on trial for his unsolicited kiss on forward Jenni Hermoso. (Chema Moya, Pool photo via AP)2025-02-05T12:40:08Z MADRID (AP) The brother of Jenni Hermoso and one of her teammates told a judge Wednesday there were attempts to pressure the player into downplaying the unsolicited kiss by former Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales in the awards presentation ceremony following the 2023 Womens World Cup.Rafael Hermoso said in court that former womens national team coach Jorge Vilda asked him to tell Jenni to record a video together with the former president to show she was OK with the kiss. Former teammate Misa Rodrguez said Jenni told the other players that she was being coerced and that she was not well after what happened.Rubiales is on trial for sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup won by Spain in Sydney, as well as for coercion for allegedly trying to convince the player to support his version of the kiss. Vilda and two other former members of the federation are also on trial for coercion. All four deny wrongdoing.Jenni Hermoso says she did not consent to the kiss while Rubiales says it was consensual. The kiss marred the title celebrations and sparked outrage in Spain about the prevalence of sexism in sports and beyond. Rafael Hermoso said his sister told him she was pressurised several times by members of the Spanish federation.She came to us half-crying and told us that they were pressuring her to take a stance downplaying the kiss, Rafael said. Rodrguez said Jenni told them about the kiss and that she did not know how to react to it. She also said that Jenni told them she was being pressurised to record a video and downplay the kiss.She told us that she didnt want to do it and we supported her decision, Rodrguez said. We told her that she should not talk to anybody anymore and should try to get some rest, because we noticed that she was not well. Rafael Hermoso said Vilda came to him on the plane returning from the final in Australia to ask him to talk to his sister. We were talking about soccer and the achievement of the team and suddenly he mentioned the kiss, Rafael said. He said that the president wanted me to talk to Jenni to ask her to record the video together downplaying the kiss, because that would be the best thing for everyone.Rafael added that Vilda told him that Rubiales daughters were crying and that the president was worried about losing his job because of what happened. He said Vilda told him that he had already talked to Jenni and that she had not agreed to do the video.I told him that I was not going to try to convince her to do something that I also dont agree with, Rafael said.Rafael said he felt Vilda threatened his sister by hinting that things would not be good for her in the federation if she decided not to help. He also said Vilda implied that Jenni owed that to Rubiales daughters and the president himself.Jenni Hermoso was not called up to the national team immediately after the World Cup, with new coach Montse Tom saying she wanted to protect the player. Rubiales has yet to testify and denied the charges. He resigned under pressure three weeks later and was banned by FIFA for three years. He said he was the victim of a witch hunt by false feminists. Prosecutors, Hermoso and the Spain players association want Rubiales jailed for two and a half years, fined 50,000 euros ($51,800) for damages, and banned from working as a sports official. They want the other three defendants sentenced to one and a half years in prison.The trial is expected to last at least 10 days. Rubiales attended the first day on Monday. The coach of the mens national team, Luis de la Fuentes, testified on Tuesday.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer TALES AZZONI Azzoni is a sports reporter based in Madrid in charge of Spain and Portugal for The Associated Press. He has covered multiple World Cups and Olympic Games for the AP, as well as other major sporting events worldwide. twitter mailto

A cleric walks in front of a shopping center in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)2025-02-05T05:08:16Z TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Irans government seems to be welcoming some recent decisions by the United States even though they happen to come from a man Iranian operatives have allegedly been plotting to assassinate. President Donald Trumps moves to freeze spending on foreign aid and overhaul, maybe even end, the U.S. Agency for International Development have been lauded in Iranian state media. The reports say the decisions will halt funding for opponents of the countrys Shiite theocracy pro-democracy activists and others supported through programs as part of U.S. governments efforts to help democracy worldwide. At the same time, Iranian officials appear to be signaling that they are waiting for a message from Trump on whether he wants to negotiate over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program. At stake are potentially billions of dollars withheld from Iran through crushing sanctions and the future of a program on the precipice of enriching weapons-grade uranium. And even when signing an executive order to reimpose his maximum pressure on Iran on Tuesday, Trump suggested he wanted to deal with Tehran. Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians worry what all this could mean for them. On Wednesday, Irans currency, the rial, plunged to a record low of 850,000 to $1 after Trumps order, showing the ongoing economic volatility they face. A decade ago, it stood at 32,000 rials to $1.It encourages hard-liners inside Iran to continue repressions because they feel the U.S. would have less capability in supporting Iranian people who seek freedom, said Maryam Faraji, a 27-year-old waitress in a coffee shop in northern Tehran. Iranian media say Trumps cuts could stop the opposition in IranThe state-run IRNA news agency said that cutting the budget of foreign-based opposition could affect the sphere of relations between Tehran and Washington.Newspapers, like the conservative Hamshhari daily, described Irans opposition as counterrevolutionaries who had been celebrating Trumps election as heralding the last days of life of the Islamic Republic.They then suddenly faced the surprise of cut funding from their employer, the newspaper crowed. Even the reformist newspaper Hammihan compared it to a cold shower for opponents of Irans theocracy abroad, an idea also expressed by the Foreign Ministry. Those financial resources are not charity donations, Esmail Bagahei, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, said during a briefing with reporters on Monday. They are wages paid in exchange for services.This is a clear sign of Americas interventionist policy particularly during the Biden administration, which tried to pressure Iran and meddle in its domestic affairs through financial aid, Bagahei added.It remains unclear how funding for Iranian activists and opposition figures would be affected by the USAID decision. The lions share of money for civil society in Iran has come through the U.S. State Departments Near East Regional Democracy fund, known by the acronym NERD, which grew as an American response to the Green Movement protests in 2009. In 2024, the Biden administration requested $65 million for NERD after over $600 million had been appropriated by Congress for the fund, according to the Congressional Research Service. That money and other funding had gone in the past toward training journalists and activists on how to report on human rights abuses, funding access to the internet amid government shutdowns and other issues.The State Department did not respond to a request for comment over the NERD funding and its future. American officials for years have kept the awardees of NERD grants secret due to what they describe as the risk activists face from Iran, particularly after Iranian intelligence officers have allegedly targeted in kidnapping or assassination plots, U.S. prosecutors say. Iran repeatedly hints its ready to talk to TrumpIran also noticed that the U.S. avoided direct criticism of the Islamic Republic during a review by the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva last week. For those in Irans government, theres anticipation this could mean that Trump is willing to negotiate, something he repeatedly brought up in his election campaign as a possibility. Even Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, in a speech in September opened the door to talks with the U.S., saying there is no harm in engaging with the enemy. More recently, he tempered that, warning that sinister plots could still be concealed behind diplomatic smiles.We must be careful about who we are dealing with, who we are negotiating with, and who we are speaking to, Khamenei said last week.While Bagahei, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, acknowledged Iran hasnt seen any green light yet for talks, Iran is trying to do everything it can to signal it wants them. The countrys reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who campaigned on outreach to the West, urged officials on Monday to listen to dissent from the Iranian people and avoid further crackdowns like those that followed the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. The enemies are hoping that by stirring up disputes within the country, they will throw people into the streets and then ride the wave of protests themselves, Pezeshkian said.As he signed the executive order on Iran on Tuesday, Trump warned the country would be obliterated if he was assassinated by Tehran. The order calls for putting Irans export of oil to zero, including to China, which buys Tehrans crude at a discount. It also seeks a so-called snapback of United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.However, Trump still left the door open for talks. Im going to sign it, but hopefully were not going to have to use it very much, he said from the Oval Office. We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran.We dont want to be tough on Iran. We dont want to be tough on anybody, Trump added. But they just cant have a nuclear bomb.Trump followed with another online message on Wednesday, saying: Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper, he wrote on Truth Social. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed.He did not elaborate. However, factions within Irans theocracy are still likely to oppose talks, whether out of their own self interest or over anger that Trump ordered the 2020 drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the countrys top general and a revered figure. That killing fueled Iranian calls for Trumps assassination and alleged plots against him. In November, the Justice Department disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Trump. While Iran denied being involved, Tehran has a history of plotting the killing of opponents abroad.This will not have any impact on the factions that oppose talks with the U.S. but maybe some moderates find it as an excuse to say that Trump is taking some steps, Iranian political analyst Ahmad Zeiabadi said.For now though, much of this can seem as conjecture and theorizing to many of Irans over 80 million people who continue to struggle in the grips of the countrys ailing economy.Tehran taxi driver Gholanhossein Akbari, 27, insisted Iranians like him never benefitted from U.S. support of Irans pro-democracy activists abroad.We did not see any result from the funds the U.S. paid to foreign-based Iranian activists who only make comments in the media, Akbari said.___Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. NASSER KARIMI Karimi reports and writes from Tehran, Iran, on various topics for The Associated Press. He began working for AP in 2003. twitter instagram mailto JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-05T13:10:05Z President Donald Trumps stunning proposal to forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and develop it as a tourist destination faces major obstacles.The Palestinians and many others view such plans as ethnic cleansing, an attempt to drive them from their homeland after Israels 15-month offensive against Hamas rendered much of it uninhabitable. It was also seen as an attempt to liquidate their decades-long struggle for a state, which has wide international support.Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan close U.S. allies at peace with Israel have condemned such plans and roundly rejected Trumps suggestion that they take in more Palestinian refugees. Saudi Arabia issued a rare overnight statement rejecting the idea of transfer and reiterating that it wont normalize relations with Israel a key goal of the Trump administration without the establishment of a Palestinian state including Gaza.The proposal also risks undermining the ceasefire in Gaza and the continued release of hostages taken in Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Trump has claimed credit for brokering the truce, but its future is now more uncertain. The Palestinians dont want to leavePalestinians view Gaza as an integral part of their national homeland and aspire to an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.Most of Gazas population are descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out of what is now Israel. They were not allowed to return because they would have outnumbered the new states Jewish population. The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, suggested that if Trumps goal is to send the Palestinians to a happy, nice place, they should return to their ancestral homes in Israel. The ideal of remaining on ones land despite threats of expulsion is at the heart of the Palestinians struggle and self-identity, and was on vivid display last week when hundreds of thousands returned to northern Gaza despite its near-total destruction.Both Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which recognizes Israel and cooperates with it on security, have vehemently condemned Trumps proposal.Arab countries will not accept Palestinian refugeesEgypt and Jordan, which made peace with Israel decades ago, have repeatedly rejected previous proposals to resettle Palestinians within their borders.They too fear that Israel would never allow the Palestinians to return, and that a mass influx of Palestinian refugees would once again destabilize the region, as it did in the decades after 1948, when it was a key factor in Lebanons civil war and Israels two invasions of that country. Both countries also have struggling economies that would have a hard time absorbing large numbers of refugees.Trump suggested that wealthy Gulf countries could pay to resettle the Palestinians, but that appears unlikely.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have joined Egypt and Jordan in rejecting any transfer plans, and the Saudis repudiated the plan almost immediately. The Saudi statement reiterated remarks made in September by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.The kingdom said its unwavering position is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises.Trump has leverage, but so do Mideast leadersTrump seems to relish using tariffs, sanctions and aid cutoffs to pressure allies and adversaries alike, and could apply economic pressure on countries like Egypt and Jordan, which have long relied on American aid.But those countries have levers of their own in the face of what they see as a major threat to their national security. And wealthy Gulf countries, which have also historically provided aid to Egypt and Jordan, could help cushion any economic blow.Egypt has already warned that any mass transfer of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula bordering Gaza could undermine its peace treaty with Israel a cornerstone of regional stability and American influence for nearly a half-century.Egypt and Qatar have also served as key mediators with Hamas in the talks that led to the ceasefire, and both are working with Trumps Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, to try to extend it. Israelis welcome the plan, but hostages are a priorityThe idea of mass transfer has historically been confined to the far-right in Israel, but on Wednesday, mainstream leaders said Trumps plan was worth considering.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the press conference with Trump, acknowledged that jaws drop when the U.S. president proposes unorthodox ideas, but then people scratch their heads and they say, You know, hes right.Benny Gantz, a centrist politician and former general long seen as a more moderate alternative to Netanyahu, said Trumps proposal showed creative, original and intriguing thinking, and should be studied alongside other war goals, prioritizing the return of all the hostages. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, a fierce critic of Netanyahu who has voiced support for a two-state solution in the past, did not object to the idea. Instead, he said in an interview with local media that it was too early to react to Trumps proposal since there are no concrete details, and that returning the hostages was most important. The current phase of the Gaza ceasefire, in which Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, ends in early March. The second phase, in which the remaining 60 or so hostages would be freed in exchange for more prisoners, is being negotiated.Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal which would likely preclude any forcible transfer.Israels far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who supports what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of large numbers of Palestinians and the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza, has threatened to leave Netanyahus coalition if he doesnt resume the war after the first phase, which would likely lead to early elections. He welcomed Trumps proposal.The resumption of the war would put the remaining hostages lives at risk, and theres no guarantee it would eliminate Hamas, which still controls most of Gaza. It would also undo what Trump has portrayed as a major accomplishment and further delay any normalization with Saudi Arabia.An opening gambit?Theres another possibility: That Trumps proposal is an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at eventually securing the kind of Middle East mega-deal he says he is seeking.It was only last week that Trump was threatening major tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Americas two biggest trading partners, before putting them on hold after their leaders took steps to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. During his first term, Trump flirted with the possibility of Israel annexing parts of the occupied West Bank before the idea was shelved as part of a normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates.Trump could ultimately pare down his proposal or put it on hold in exchange for concessions from Arab leaders, perhaps on Gazas reconstruction or on normalization with Israel though the Saudi statement appeared to rule that out.There could be more clarity when the shock wears off, and when Trump meets with Jordans King Abdullah II at the White House next week.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

We dedicate the whole free section of this episode to Musks takeover of the federal government. We got audio from a meeting in which a Musk ally laid out their plans for AI across the government, and revealed who is now the head of HR for DOGE. In the subscribers only section, we talk about how your public library probably already has a bunch of AI slop.Listen to the weekly podcast onApple Podcasts,Spotify, orYouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism.If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Things Are Going to Get Intense: How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the GovernmentMusks DOGE Brings in HR Consultant Focused on Non-Woke DEI 'Aligned With Our FaithAI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library

A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati)2025-02-05T14:31:26Z WELLFLEET, Mass. (AP) The waters of Cape Cod Bay are coming for the big brown house perched on the edge of a sandy bluff high above the beach. Its just a matter of when.Erosion has marched right up to the concrete footings of the multimillion-dollar home where it overlooks the bay. Massive sliding doors that used to open onto a wide deck, complete with hot tub, are now barricaded by thin wooden slats that prevent anyone from stepping through and falling 25 feet to the beach below. A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The owner knew it. He removed the deck and other parts of the house, including a small tower that held the primary bedroom, before stopping work and falling into a standoff with the town. Hes since sold the place to a salvage company that says it wont pay for work.Officials in Wellfleet worry the homes collapse will damage delicate beds in their harbor where farmers grow oysters that are among New Englands most prized. A report commissioned by the town projects if nothing is done, the 5,100-square-foot home will tumble into the bay within three years and possibly much sooner. Its certain fate is a reminder of the fragility of building along the cape, where thanks to climate change sea level rise has accelerated in recent years. I mean, the cape has always been moving, said John Cumbler, a retired environmental history professor who also serves on the Wellfleet Conservation Commission. The sand is moving. A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More History of the home The house was built in 2010 on Cape Cod on the bay side of the peninsula. Its original owners, Mark and Barbara Blasch, sought permission from the commission in 2018 to build a 241-foot-wide seawall to stave off erosion. The commissions seven members all volunteers rejected the seawall on the grounds that it might have unintended effects on the beach and the way water carries nutrients in the bay. They also questioned whether it would actually save the house. The property is within Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Seashore Administration supported rejection of the seawall because of the critical location within the seashore and Wellfleet Harbor area, including critical habitat and valuable shellfish operations.The Blasches appealed the rejection in state district court and lost. An appeal to the states Superior Court is pending.A New York man, attorney John Bonomi, bought the house in 2022 for $5.5 million, even as its future was in doubt. Bonomis attorneys declined to comment for this story. A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A home sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Threat to the bay and oyster bedsA report prepared for Wellfleet last year by Bryan McCormack, a coastal processes specialist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant, estimates that the bluffs are eroding at a rate of 3.8 to 5.6 feet a year. The report estimated collapse in up to three years, but likely sooner.The report said a collapse could send debris into Wellfleet Harbor, where the towns namesake oysters, well known to shellfish lovers, take two to three years to reach maturity.The house has a lot of fiberglass insulation in it. It has toxic material in it, Cumbler said. If that toxic material gets into Wellfleet Harbor, which is where the currents will take it, it could endanger the oyster industry in Wellfleet, our major industry outside of tourism. A sign in front of a home that sits atop a sandy bluff reads keep off the dunes, in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A sign in front of a home that sits atop a sandy bluff reads keep off the dunes, in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Standoff over what to do with the houseBonomi came to us back in October and said, yes, we understand the house is in danger of falling into the sea, and we will give you a plan by January for what we will do with the house, Cumbler said. We asked for a plan to remove it from the danger.That plan was supposed to be presented at the commissions January meeting. But Bonomis attorney, Tom Moore, wrote to the town in December to say Bonomi had sold the house to CQN Salvage, a company incorporated in October, that Moore was also representing. Moore wrote that the town is on notice to take whatever steps it deems prudent to prevent the collapse of the embankment and the other consequences of further erosion. CQN Salvage is ready to work alongside the town in such efforts but will not fund them.Its not clear who owns CQN Salvage. Its incorporation records in New York state dont list any officials. Moore declined to speak with The Associated Press. A home, center left, sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A home, center left, sits atop of a sandy bluff overlooking a beach in Wellfleet, Mass., Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More At the January meeting, Moore appeared by video and told the commission that the bare minimum estimate to remove the house was at least $1 million.So, you plan to do nothing and allow it to fall into the water? Lecia McKenna, the towns conservation agent, asked Moore.I plan to ask you to not let it fall into the water, Moore responded.The commission voted to extend to June 1 the deadline to comply with its enforcement order. A home sits atop of a sandy bluff in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) A home sits atop of a sandy bluff in Wellfleet, Mass., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Muggiati) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Wellfleet is left to watch and waitFor now, the town is left to simply watch the house. When the AP recently visited the site, 20 mph winds were hitting the bluffs and sand could be seen trickling down.The sea level at nearby Falmouth has risen 11 inches (about 28 centimeters) in the past 90 years, but the pace is accelerating. An AP analysis of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found the sea level around Cape Cod between 1995 and 2024 was rising at an annual rate of 0.16 inch (about 4 millimeters) faster than the prior 30-year period. McCormack, the Woods Hole specialist who prepared the report for the town, said its difficult to attribute erosion at a single property to climate change and sea level rise. And he said Cape Cod has been eroding for tens of thousands of years.But he said the bluffs have receded 54 feet since 2014, and the erosion rate over the last decade has exceeded long-term rates published by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.___AP data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed.___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.

Colin MacKnight, Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, Ark., rehearses, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, for his upcoming lunch-time concert series featuring the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. (AP Photo/Katie Adkins)2025-02-05T05:07:34Z LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) It was hushed inside a 140-year-old cathedral on the outskirts of Little Rocks downtown as about five dozen people sat in the pews during a recent lunch break in January.The nave filled with the sounds of the Gothic churchs pipe organ, and a screen showed a man performing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Those gathered werent there for church, but for the third concert in a series Colin MacKnight is performing over the next year to commemorate the 275th anniversary of Bachs death. MacKnight, Trinity Episcopal Cathedrals music director, is performing all of Bachs organ works throughout 2025 one lunch break at a time. The ambitious plan entails performing 18 hours of music in half-hour increments nearly every Wednesday. Ive wanted to for a really long time because its, I think, the most thorough way of immersing myself in the brilliance of Johann Sebastian Bach, MacKnight said one morning as he rehearsed in the empty cathedral the day before a concert. The concerts in Little Rock are among several events around the world this year commemorating the German composers legacy and the anniversary of his death.MacKnight, who is from Bethesda, Maryland, has been music director at Trinity for three years. He said the first time he remembers hearing Bach was at a relatives funeral when he was about 12 years old.Something about hearing it that time just really mesmerized me and that was the beginning of my love of Bach, he said. The 31-year-olds hands move easily between the four keyboards of the organ console, flanked by knobs controlling different sounds that are assembled into various combinations.Underneath, his feet press on the pedalboards combining to create the notes of Bachs works. MacKnight, who has played the organ since he was 16, acknowledges how dizzying the sight of the instrument can be for newcomers. If you dont know what youre looking at, its a little overwhelming, like an airplane console, he said.MacKnights concerts which are free and open to the public are also mini-lessons for those who come, with a glossary of terms like concerto and fugue included in the program. In between pieces, MacKnight gives audience members some background on Bach and his organ works.These pieces are in the unfortunate category of being much, much harder than they sound, he says.Generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, Bach is known in particular for his organ works and their heavy use of pedals and complex structures. Few organists perform the composers complete organ works, given the difficulty and quantity of the music. They include Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs, who taught MacKnight at the Juilliard School. Jacobs performed an 18-hour nonstop concert of Bachs organ works to mark the 250th anniversary of the composers death in 2000.The free concerts so far have drawn a mix of church members, classical music aficionados and newcomers who say they want a quiet break from the daily bustle. I like the complexity of the music and the power of the organ, which stirs me internally, said Barry Coplin, a member of the church who has attended two of MacKnights concerts.Ben Wiley, who lives about 30 minutes away, is a classical music fan who was attending his third of MacKnights shows and said he appreciates being able to hear Bachs works in half-hour increments.Its a good way to be able to get it done in short bursts, to be able to absorb it better and come back to get the next batch, he said.MacKnight is also performing a 100-minute concert of Bachs most extensive organ work the Clavier-Ubung III, sometimes referred to as the German Organ Mass on July 28, the day the German composer died in 1750 at 65.The Rev. Thomas Alexander, a priest at Trinity, said the concerts allow the public to enjoy MacKnights talents, come together and learn more about Bach in a way they normally wouldnt be able to.Its like reading someones complete collection of novels. You get to really get to know someone in a comprehensive way, Alexander said. But it also builds a sense of community. ANDREW DEMILLO DeMillo is a government and politics reporter for The Associated Press, based in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has worked for the AP since 2005. twitter mailto

A couple awaits the arrival of their first child in Carlsbad, Calif., in November 2005. (AP Photo/Julie Busch, File)2025-02-05T15:09:06Z NEW YORK (AP) Black women in the U.S. died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher white women around the time of childbirth in 2023, as maternal mortality fell below prepandemic levels overall but racial gaps widened, according to federal health data released Wednesday.In 2021 and 2022, the maternal death rate for Black women was about 2.6 times higher than white women.The data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic, at its peak, impacted all pregnant women. But once we went back to usual activities, then the impact of systemic racism and unequal access (to medical care) ... came right back into place, said Dr. Amanda Williams, interim medical director for the March of Dimes.The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions report Wednesday on the 2023 deaths was drawn from death certificates. The CDC counts women who died while pregnant, during childbirth and up to 42 days after birth. Accidental deaths are excluded.The report found: 1. The maternal death rate for white women dropped from 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 to 14.5 per 100,000 in 2023. 2. The rate for Black women went from 49.5 to a little above 50, though the report says that increase was not statistically significant. 3. The rate for Hispanic women dropped from about 17 to about 12.4. The rate for Asian Americans fell from about 13 to about 11. In total, 669 women died in 2023 during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, the CDC reported. Thats down from 817 deaths in 2022 and 1,205 in 2021, when it was the highest in more than 50 years. Excessive bleeding, blood vessel blockages and infections are leading causes of maternal deaths.Among those infections is COVID-19. The coronavirus and its complications proved dangerous to pregnant women. And, in the worst days of the pandemic, burned out physicians may have added to the risk by ignoring pregnant womens worries, experts say. COVID-19s overall impact on pregnancies declined as the pandemic subsided and as hospitals and birthing centers returned to normal operations.Also, the federal Medicaid program expanded to cover postpartum care for up to 12 months, instead of just seven weeks. That helped more moms recover and made them healthier for the next time they tried to have a baby, Williams said. The number of maternal deaths is also tied to the number of pregnancies. U.S. births have been declining, and fewer pregnancies contributes to fewer pregnancy-related deaths, noted Eugene Declercq, a maternal deaths researcher at Boston University.CDC officials refused an Associated Press request to talk to a report author.The government is still receiving and processing death reports from last year. But Declercq said his analysis of available data suggests the number of 2024 maternal deaths may end up about the same as 2023. ___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.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, claps as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk prepares to depart after speaking at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-02-05T13:01:48Z WASHINGTON (AP) When Elon Musk debuted the Department of Government Efficiency recently at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson enthusiastically predicted the coming Trump administration would bring a lot of change around here.Three weeks in, the change the Trump administration has brought is a disruption of the federal government on an unprecedented scale, dismantling longstanding programs, sparking widespread public outcry and challenging the very role of Congress to create the nations laws and pay its bills.Government workers are being pushed to resign. Entire agencies are being shuttered. Federal funding to states and nonprofits was temporarily frozen. And the most sensitive Treasury Department information of countless Americans was opened to Musks DOGE team in an unprecedented breach of privacy and protocol.This is an erosion of our democracy, said Brian Riedl, a longtime economic adviser to conservative Republicans, now at the Manhattan Institute think tank. President Donald Trump has tapped Musk, the worlds richest man, to take on inner workings of the worlds oldest democracy, and so far the results are stunning, if not alarming and unlawful, being challenged in dozens of court cases nationwide. Congress is proving little match for DOGE as wary lawmakers watch it march through the bureaucracy. Instead, a rush of lawsuits is demanding interventions to stop the Republican presidents team from unilaterally gutting government. And protests are erupting outside government agencies and clogging the congressional phone lines. Whatever DOGE is doing, it is certainly not not what democracy looks like or has ever looked like in the grand history of this country, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government, Schumer posted on Musks social media site X. Musk responded on his platform: Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that DOGE is doing work that really matters.Congress has been here before, tested during Trumps first term by his willingness to break the norms and skirt the outer banks of legality, most notably when he steamrolled Congress and poached federal military housing and construction funds to build parts of his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.But Trumps second-term partnership with Musk, who spent some $200 million on Trumps White House bid and employs the tech world ethos of moving fast and breaking things, is escalating the confrontation. On a stated quest to save money by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, they are making moves to upend American institutions, decimate the civil service and leave a reformed or hollowed-out federal government in its place.Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said it would be catastrophic to our system of government if the effort succeeds.Many of the things they are doing are brazenly unlawful, and weve seen that the courts have been willing to intervene and intervene quickly, Parrott said. Theres a real readiness and understanding of the stakes. In many ways, Trump is pursuing by force what Republicans have long promised but have been unable to deliver by congressional action: shrinking the size and scope of the federal government. Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist quipped more than a decade ago about the goal of making government small enough to drown in a bathtub. But facing pushback from within their ranks about cutting programs Americans rely upon, Republicans have repeatedly failed to accomplish their budget-slashing goals even when they fully control Congress and the White House, as they do now.While Congress has the power to pass legislation to fund government operations, the president can veto bills or sign them into law. Instead, Trump is testing an idea championed by his nominee for budget director, Russ Vought, that the executive has the ability to impound federal funds, clawing the money back. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said DOGE provides cover for some Republicans who want to cut federal funds, when Congress has failed to do so.And other Republicans say they are comfortable with Trumps pause of certain federal operations, particularly the U.S. Agency for International Development, which sends aid around the world. Closing the Department of Education is next on deck. Weve got oversight, said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. If he goes too far, Ill be the first person to step up. Taken together the actions of the administration and DOGE have been swift, relentless and wide open to debate.Trumps Office of Management and Budgets move to abruptly freeze federal grants and loans drew outrage nationwide as states and nonprofit organizations feared being locked out of funds they need to provide housing, health care and other services. A day later, the White House reversed course. The shutdown of funds to USAID is largely seen as a test case for the Impoundment Control Act, which Vought has discussed using as a way to roll back congressionally approved funding. Voughts nomination is on track for Senate confirmation this week, despite all Senate Democrats saying they will oppose him.And DOGE dipped into the inner-workings of the Treasury Department to access its payment system and the private information of millions of Americans in what is widely viewed as a way for the White House to eventually stop federal funds to various entities.On Monday, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan said the administrations actions with the federal funding potentially run roughshod over a bulwark of the Constitution by interfering with Congresss appropriation of federal funds.Defendants actions appear to suffer from infirmities of a constitutional magnitude, she wrote, extending an order issued last week that had paused OMBs sweeping funding freeze. The appropriation of the governments resources is reserved for Congress, not the Executive Branch. And a wealth of legal authority supports this fundamental separation of powers.Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said what gives her pause now is how Congress moves forward with legislation to fund the government by the upcoming March 14 deadline.What if we do all that and come to an agreement ... vote it in and this administration says, Thats bunk. We dont have to go by that, she said. So the level of trust is at the lowest I have ever seen it here.Asked if the administration could do what its doing, Johnson, the speaker, insisted, There will be an appropriate action for Congress to take, but we havent yet sorted out whats happening with it.Pressed if Trump had the authority to shut agencies, he said: I dont have all the answers.___Associated Press writer Kevin Freking and videojournalist Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.

The flag of the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, flies in front of the USAID office in Washington, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-02-05T16:17:17Z WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. aid staffers around the world scrambled Wednesday for answers and started to pack up households or pull their children from school after a sudden Trump administration order that yanked almost all of them off the job and out of the field.In Washington, Democratic lawmakers and other supporters of the U.S. Agency for International Development planned rallies to protest the dismantling of the independent government agency established six decades ago. USAID has been one of the agencies hardest hit as the new administration and Elon Musks budget-cutting team target federal programs they say are wasteful or not aligned with a conservative agenda.U.S. embassies in many of the more than 100 countries where USAID operates convened emergency town halls for the thousands of agency staffers and contractors looking for answers. Embassy officials said they had been given no guidance on what to tell staffers, particularly local hires, about their employment status. A USAID contractor posted in an often violent region of the Middle East said the shutdown had placed the contractor and the contractors family in danger, unable to reach the U.S. government for help if needed. The contractor woke up one morning earlier this week blocked from access to government email and other systems, and an emergency panic button app was wiped off the contractors smartphone. You really do feel cut off from a lifeline, the contract staffer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a Trump administration ban forbidding USAID workers to speak to people outside their agency. Despite the administrations assurances that the U.S. government would bring the agencys workers safely home as ordered within 30 days, many feared being stranded in the field and left to make their own way home. Their colleagues in Washington described reactivating employee networks that had helped in the past to bring local staffers out of danger zones. The late-night order Tuesday to abandon USAID posts worldwide comes as many of the aid workers abroad are locked out of email and emergency communications with their own government. Most agency spending has been ordered frozen, and most workers at the Washington headquarters have been taken off the job, making it unclear how the administration will manage and pay for the abrupt relocation of thousands of staffers and their families.The mass removal of thousands of staffers would doom billions of dollars in projects in some 120 countries, including security assistance for Ukraine and elsewhere as well as development work for clean water, job training and education, including for schoolgirls under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.The online notification to USAID workers and contractors said they would be off the job, effective just before midnight Friday, unless deemed essential. Direct hires of the agency overseas got 30 days to return home, while contractors would be fired, the notice said.Thousands already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut down after Trump, a Republican, imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance. Despite outcry from Democratic lawmakers, the aid agency has been a special target as the administration and Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency look to shrink the government. They have ordered a spending stop that has paralyzed U.S.-funded aid and development work, gutted the agencys senior leadership and workforce with furloughs and firings, and closed the Washington headquarters to staffers Monday.Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper, Musk boasted on X.The United States is the worlds largest humanitarian donor by far. It spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance, a smaller share of its budget than some countries.Hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medication already delivered by U.S. companies are sitting in ports because of the shutdown.Health programs like those credited with helping end polio and smallpox epidemics and an acclaimed HIV/AIDS program that saved more than 20 million lives in Africa have stopped. So have programs for monitoring and deploying rapid-response teams for contagious diseases such as an Ebola outbreak in Uganda. South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told Parliament on Wednesday that officials scrambled to meet with U.S. Embassy staff for information after receiving no warning the Trump administration would freeze crucial funding for the worlds biggest national HIV/AIDS program.South Africa has the worlds highest number of people living with HIV, at around 8 million, and the United States funds around 17% of its $2.3 billion-a-year program through the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. The health minister did not say whether U.S. exemptions for lifesaving care affect that work. Democrats and others say the USAID is enshrined in legislation as an independent agency and cannot be shut down without congressional approval. Supporters of USAID from both political parties say its work overseas is essential to countering the influence of Russia, China and other adversaries and rivals abroad, and to cementing alliances and partnerships.Half a dozen Democratic members of Congress were expected to speak Wednesday at a rally that gathered hundreds of demonstrators across the street from the U.S. Capitol.The decision to withdraw direct-hire staff and their families earlier than their planned departures will probably cost the government tens of millions of dollars in travel and relocation costs. Staff ordered on leave include both foreign and civil service officers who have legal protection against arbitrary dismissal and being placed on leave without reason.The American Foreign Service Association, the union which represents U.S. diplomats, sent a notice to its members denouncing the decision and saying it was preparing legal action to counter or halt it.Locally employed USAID staff, however, do not have much recourse and were excluded from the federal governments voluntary buyout offer.USAID staffers and families faced wrenching decisions as the rumored order loomed, including whether to pull children out of school midyear. Some gave away pet cats and dogs, fearing the administration would not give workers time to complete the paperwork to bring the animals with them.The announcement came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on a five-nation tour of Central America and met this week with embassy and USAID staff at two of the regions largest USAID missions: El Salvador and Guatemala.At a news conference Tuesday, Rubio said he has long supported foreign aid. I continue to support foreign aid. But foreign aid is not charity. He noted that every dollar the U.S. spends must advance its national interests.The online notice says those who will be exempted from leave include staffers responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs and would be informed by Thursday afternoon.Thank you for your service, the notice concluded.___Lee reported from Guatemala City. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter FARNOUSH AMIRI Amiri covers Congress for The Associated Press, with a focus on foreign policy and congressional investigations. She previously covered politics for AP as a statehouse reporter based in Columbus, Ohio. twitter mailto

In this Sept. 16, 2015, photo, a woman in Sullivan City, Texas, who said she entered the country illegally, walks with her daughter who was born in the United States, but was denied a birth certificate. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)2025-02-05T06:11:38Z GREENBELT, Md. (AP) A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a second nationwide pause on President Donald Trumps executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. to someone in the country illegally, calling citizenship a most precious right. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman said no court in the country has endorsed the Trump administrations interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.This court will not be the first, she said.She added: Citizenship is a most precious right, expressly granted by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.Boardman said citizenship is a national concern that demands a uniform policy, adding that only a nationwide injunction will provide complete relief to the plaintiffs.After reading her ruling from the bench, the judge asked a government attorney if they would be appealing her decision. The attorney said he didnt have the authority to immediately take a position on that question. Trumps inauguration week order had already been on temporary hold nationally because of a separate suit brought by four states in Washington state, where a judge called the order blatantly unconstitutional. In total, 22 states, as well as other organizations, have sued to try to stop the executive action. Boardman, nominated by former President Joe Biden, agreed to the preliminary injunction after a hearing federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland. Immigrant-rights advocacy groups CASA and Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, and a handful of expectant mothers brought the suit before Boardman. At the heart of the lawsuits is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision that determined Scott, a slave, wasnt a citizen. The principle of birthright citizenship is a foundation of our national democracy, is woven throughout the laws of our nation, and has shaped a shared sense of national belonging for generation after generation of citizens, the plaintiffs argued in the suit. The Trump administration asserts that children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship. The Constitution does not harbor a windfall clause granting American citizenship to, inter alia: the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws, the government argued in reply to the Maryland plaintiffs suit. The 14th Amendment was added in the aftermath of the Civil War to ensure citizenship for former slaves and free African Americans. It states: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.In addition to the 22 states with Democratic attorneys general seeking to stop the order, 18 Republican attorneys general announced this week that theyre seeking to defend the presidents order by joining one of the federal suits brought in New Hampshire. The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship the principle of jus soli or right of the soil is applied. Most are in the Americas, and Canada and Mexico are among them.During his first week in office, Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration and issued edicts to carry out promises of mass deportations and border security.Some actions were felt immediately. Others face legal challenges. If they happen at all, other orders may take years to happen but have led to fear in immigrant communities.Whether Trump can enact his agenda could come down to money. Congress is expected to consider funding support soon. Trump may use emergency powers to tap the Defense Department, as he did for a border wall during his first term. MIKE CATALINI Catalini covers government, elections and news primarily in New Jersey for The Associated Press. He focuses on accountability and how policy affects people. twitter

Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 404 Media has learned.Good morning, everyone! As a reminder, please refrain from using Slack at the moment while our various general counsels figure out the best way to handle the records migration to our new EOP [Executive Office of the President] component, a message seen by 404 Media reads. Will update as soon as we have more information!Another message seen by 404 Media provides an update and asserts that the US Digital Service (which is now DOGE) will split from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).I spoke to the DOGE team about Slack. Because of the USDS split from OMB, OMB is asking us to stop generating new slack messages starting now, the message says. We expect this to be a temporary pause, and we expect to continue having access to historical Slack material. We may have intermittent access as we go through this system transition so continue to use good data hygiene and backup any critical material. We will keep you updated.Do you know more about DOGE or USDS? We would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can contact Jason on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. You can contact Joseph on Signal at +44 20 8133 5190. The messages indicate that, under Elon Musks leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. Instead, DOGE is asserting that rather than reporting up through the Office of Management and Budget as the United States Digital Service did for years, it is reporting through the Executive Office of the President and to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Under OMB, it was generally subject to FOIA. Under the White House Chief of Staff, records it creates are generally not subject to FOIA.This would make DOGE a Presidential Records Act entity, meaning records it creates are not FOIAble until years after a president leaves office rather than a Federal Records Act entity, which would make its records FOIAble now. This is a very notable, but unsurprising move that federal records experts have been worried about since the issuance of Donald Trumps executive order renaming the United States Digital Servicean agency of federal tech workers that was formed under the Obama administrationto the United States DOGE Service. That executive order specifically states that the renamed entity shall be established in the Executive Office of the President, and that the USDS administrator (Elon Musk) shall report to the White House Chief of Staff. The Dispatch, for example, wrote a very informative article about this could limit public scrutiny of DOGE and the clever executive order that did this.Government experts 404 Media spoke to said the directive to not use Slack and the assertion that DOGE is now under the Executive Office of the President rather than OMB is not surprising but that it is very concerning, and that this assertion can be, will be, and is being legally challenged."Just changing the name alone under the Executive Order doesn't affect DOGE's recordkeeping status, Jason R. Baron, professor at the University of Maryland and former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration told 404 Media in a phone call. The administration apparently has made a determination that DOGE will be a presidential component subject to the Presidential Records Act. However, that will surely be challenged in the courts in connection with FOIA lawsuits. Under FOIA, it will be for the courts to decide whether under existing DOGE is acting more like a federal oversight agency or as a presidential component that solely advises the President.The Presidential Records Act was created in part to make it so that the president does not need to publish records about their decisions, advice, and considerations while they are president. But Barron said that the way DOGE is currently actinggoing into agencies across the federal government and gutting or threatening to gut themis not a presidential advice function, it is a cross-agency function. He suggested that a court will have to consider this in any lawsuit about DOGEs status.DOGE staff certainly do not appear to be solely advising and assisting the President, Baron said. They appear to have taken actions in the real world that affect Treasury Department and USAID operations involving electronic systems. Whether those activities are deemed illegal or not under other laws, they are certainly actions beyond what a group of people who are solely advising and the president would do.Lauren Harper, the Freedom of the Press Foundations Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy, wrote a blog post explaining that DOGEs move to EOP was almost definitely an attempt to hide records, but that journalists should challenge this. Does Musk think that placing DOGE within the government will make it easier to hide its records? If so, lets prove that troubling assumption wrong.Harper told 404 Media that beyond not being governed by FOIA, in the Presidential Records Act, there is a carveout for personal records that doesnt exist in the Federal Records Act.This means that the president and their staff get to decide if records are personal, which means, they can do whatever they want with them without consulting anybody, she said.Both Harper and Baron stressed that any distinction over DOGEs status matters only to records they themselves are creating, and that many of DOGEs actions will remain FOIAble via other agencies. For example when DOGE employees email people at the Treasury Department, those records should be able to be obtained directly via the Treasury Department even if they are not available from DOGE.Already, DOGE has been subject to several lawsuits about its status within the government and what transparency laws it must abide by. The Congressional Research Service, a segment of the Library of Congress that analyzes changes to government, meanwhile published a paper about DOGEs early implementation, which raised the question about what types of records would be available to the public: Certain transparency statutes might apply to USDS, depending on its membership and implementation, the paper says. These statutes include the Freedom of Information Act, where members of the public can request agency information, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires public reporting and meetings for advisory committees where at least one nonfederal member is providing advice to the federal government. Will USDS and the DOGE effort involve nonfederal persons in advisory roles? What level of public and congressional information access is anticipated?

If theres one thing Id hoped people had learned going into the next four years of Donald Trump as president, its that spending lots of time online posting about what people in power are saying and doing is not going to accomplish anything. If anything, its exactly what they want.Trumps second presidential term has arrived amidst a new golden age for internet grifters, propagandists, and bad-faith hucksters of all stripes. The contours of this era of untruth have been flashing like neon signs for the past decade, constantly enticing us to engage with its impenetrable nonsense. Whether its gaslighting everyone who saw Elon Musk give two Nazi salutes during the inauguration or blaming the Los Angeles wildfires on the racist dog whistle of DEI, lies and absurdities now regularly flood our senses, having long outpaced the medias capacity to filter them.Many of my journalist colleagues have attempted to beat back the tide under banners like fighting disinformation and accountability. While these efforts are admirable, the past few years have changed my own internal calculus. Thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Hannah Arendt warned us that the point of this deluge is not to persuade, but to overwhelm and paralyze our capacity to act. More recently, researchers have found that the viral outrage disseminated on social media in response to these ridiculous claims actually reduces the effectiveness of collective action. The result is a media environment that keeps us in a state of debilitating fear and anger, endlessly reacting to our oppressors instead of organizing against them.To that end, the age of corporate social media has been a roaring success.The reality is you are oxygenating the things these people are saying even as you purport to debunk them, Katherine Cross, a sociologist and author of Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix, told 404 Media. Whether its [New York Times columnist] Ross Douthat providing a sane-washing gloss on Trumps mania or people on social media vehemently disagreeing and dunking on it, theyre legitimizing it as part of the discourse.Cross book contains a meticulous catalog of social media sins which many people who follow and care about current events are probably guilty ofmyself very much included. She documents how tech platforms encourage us, through their design affordances, to post and seethe and doomscroll into the void, always reacting and never acting.But perhaps the greatest of these sins is convincing ourselves that posting is a form of political activism, when it is at best a coping mechanisman individualist solution to problems that can only be solved by collective action. This, says Cross, is the primary way tech platforms atomize and alienate us, creating a solipsism that says you are the main protagonist in a sea of NPCs.Everything on social media is designed to make you think like that, said Cross. Its all about youyour feed, your network, your friends.In the days since the inauguration, Ive watched people on Bluesky and Instagram fall into these same old traps. My timeline is full of reactive hot takes and gotchas by people who still seem to think they can quote-dunk their way out of fascismor who know they cant, but simply cant resist taking the bait. The media is more than willing to work up their appetites. Legacy news outlets cynically chase clicks (and ad dollars) by disseminating whatever sensational nonsense those in power are spewing."For most people, social media gives you this sense that unless you care about everything, you care about nothing. You must try to swallow the world while its on fire"This in turn fuels yet another round of online outrage, edgy takes, and screenshots exposing the hypocrisy of people who never cared about being seen as hypocrites, because thats not the point. Even violent fantasies about putting billionaires to the guillotine are rendered inept in these online spacesjust another pressure release valve to harmlessly dissipate our rage instead of compelling ourselves to organize and act.This is the opposite of what media, social or otherwise, is supposed to do. Of course its important to stay informed, and journalists can still provide the valuable information we need to take action. But this process has been short-circuited by tech platforms and a media environment built around seeking reaction for its own sake. Many Twitter refugees made a good choice in migrating from Musks X to Bluesky, carving out a new online space that is inhospitable to bigoted debate bros and time-wasting trolls. But in their enemies absence, many of these Left-leaning posters have just reverted to dunking on each other, preferring the catharsis of sectarian conflict over the hard work of organizing.Under this status quo, everything becomes a myopic contest of who can best exploit peoples anxieties to command their attention and energy. If we dont learn how to extract ourselves from this loop, none of the information we gain will manifest as tangible actionand the people in charge prefer it that way.Its no surprise that tech billionaires like Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg have rushed to kiss the ring of the twice-ascendent Trump. The marriage of big tech and Trumpworld should make clear that Silicon Valley and authoritarians share the same goal: to crush dissent by keeping their would-be opponents spinning on an endless hamster wheel of reactive anger. And just like in the classic 1983 thriller WarGames, the only winning move is not to play.That can be a tough pill to swallow when the internet is our main window into the world, and that world seems to be rapidly falling apart. We gaze into our phone-portals, paralyzed by the trance of the doomscroll, reacting and swiping from one news article and hot take to another. Authoritarians issue frightening proclamations that may or may not be legally enforceable, seizing our attention and energy and ensuring that the process will repeat, ad infinitum.So what is the alternative? If we log off, what exactly are we supposed to do instead? How are we supposed to get information without constantly raising our antennae into the noxious cumulonimbus cloud of social media?It isnt quite as simple as touch grass, but it also sort of is.Trusted information networks have existed since long before the internet and mass media. These networks are in every town and city, and at their core are real relationships between neighborsnot their online, parasocial simulacra.Here in New York City, in the week since the inauguration, Ive seen large groups mobilize to defend migrants from anticipated ICE raids and provide warm food and winter clothes for the unhoused after the city closed shelters and abandoned people in sub-freezing temperatures. Similar efforts are underway in Chicago, where ICE reportedly arrested more than 100 people, and in other cities where ICE has planned or attempted raids, with volunteers assigned to keep watch over key locations where migrants are most vulnerable.A few weeks earlier, residents created ad-hoc mutual aid distros in Los Angeles to provide food and essentials for those displaced by the wildfires. The coordinated efforts gave Angelenos a lifeline during the crisis, cutting through the false claims spreading on social media about looting and out-of-state fire trucks being stopped for emissions testing. Many mutual aid groups in Los Angeles have not just been helping people affected by the fires but have also focused on distributing information about how to learn about and resist ICE raids in Los Angeles. It is no surprise that some of the largest and most coordinated protests in the early days of Trumps term have happened in Los Angeles, where thousands of anti-ICE protesters shut down the 101 highway and several streets in downtown Los Angeles Sunday.Some of these efforts were coordinated online over Discord and secure messaging apps, but all of them arose from existing networks of neighbors and community organizers, some of whom have been organizing for decades.For most people, social media gives you this sense that unless you care about everything, you care about nothing. You must try to swallow the world while its on fire, said Cross. But we didnt evolve to be able to absorb this much info. It makes you devalue the work you can do in your community.Its not that social media is fundamentally evil or bereft of any good qualities. Some of my best post-Twitter moments have been spent goofing around with mutuals on Bluesky, or waxing romantic about the joys of human creativity and art-making in an increasingly AI-infested world. But when it comes to addressing the problems we face, no amount of posting or passive info consumption is going to substitute the hard, unsexy work of organizing.Its a lesson the Extremely Online Left still hasnt fully learned, failing where its political enemies succeed. Reactionary right-wing groups like the homophobic and transphobic Moms for Libertywhich seeks to ban books from LGBTQ and BIPOC authors under the guise of parental rightshave claimed political victories by seizing power one public school board and small town at a time. Other reactionaries have similarly managed to take their pet grievances about diversity and wokeness to the national level by moving from online outrage to on-the-ground community organizing.You can discourse and quote-dunk and fact-check until youre blue in the face, but at a certain point, you have to stop and decide what truth you believe in. The internet has conditioned us to constantly seek new information, as if becoming a sponge of bad news will eventually yield the final piece of a puzzle. But there is also such a thing as having enough information. As the internet continues to enshittify, maybe what we really need is to start trusting each other and our own collective sense of what is true and good.We dont need any more irony-poisoned hot takes or cathartic, irreverent snark. We need to collectively decide what kind of world we actually do want, and what were willing to do to achieve it.Janus Rose is New York City-based journalist, educator and artist whose work explores the impacts of A.I. and technology on activists and marginalized communities. Previously a senior editor at VICE, she has been published in digital and print outlets including e-Flux Journal, DAZED Magazine, The New Yorker, and Al Jazeera.

The logo for the Justice Department is seen before a news conference at the Department of Justice, Aug. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-02-05T17:08:34Z WASHINGTON (AP) FBI agents who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner while investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are not at risk of being fired, a top Justice Department official said in a memo to the bureau workforce obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.But the memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove also provides no reassurances for any agents found to have acted with corrupt or partisan intent and suggests those employees, if there any, have reason to be concerned about a massive and highly unusual review process the Trump administration Justice Department is embarking upon to identify what it says is potential misconduct.The message from Bove, which also accuses acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of insubordination, is aimed at providing a measure of clarity following days of turmoil and uncertainty inside the bureau as a result of an extraordinary Justice Department demand on Friday for the names of agents who participated in the investigations. Many within the FBI had seen that request as a precursor for mass firings. Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties, wrote Bove, who was previously part of Donald Trumps legal team in his criminal cases. The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI. Thousands of FBI employees who participated in investigations related to the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of then-President Trumps supporters were subsequently asked to complete in-depth questionnaires about their involvement in the inquiries as the new Trump administration Justice Department weighs disciplinary actions. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department and the special counsel cases against former President Donald Trump. twitter mailto ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto

People gather at a makeshift memorial near the scene of a shooting on the outskirts of Orebro, Sweden, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)2025-02-05T13:38:38Z They scrambled for cover as quickly as they could as shots rang out, sheltering behind and under whatever they could find to escape the gunman and the gore. One survivor with children feared she might never see them again. Another used her friends shawl to staunch the bleeding of a man whod been shot in the shoulder. Witnesses of Swedens worst mass shooting described horror and panic that gripped an adult education center west of Stockholm as the gunman killed at least 10 people. He also died, although its not yet clear how.Here are witness accounts of the carnage that also seriously wounded at least five people and horrified the Scandinavian nation where gun violence at schools is very rare. Healthcare students worst hours of my lifeHellen Werme, 35, thought of her two children, ages two and three, as she heard the gunman pacing outside the classroom where she and five other people hid.Those were the worst hours of my life. I did not know if I would get shot there and then, or in ten minutes. You simply waited, the newspaper Expressen quoted her as saying.The report said Werme, three classmates and two teachers were about to start a lesson on how to install catheters on patients when they heard the first shots Tuesday at the Campus Risbergska adult training school in Orebro, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Stockholm. We thought it was a door slamming. Like, oh, sounds like someone is angry, Werme was quoted as saying. Then my teacher shouted, Lock the doors and get down on the floor.They crawled behind some hospital beds and lay there, making no noise. A womans pleas, followed by a shotStudent Mirna Essa described a bone-chilling moment to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.We hear a woman saying, No, no, no, three times. After that we heard someone shooting, it quoted her as saying. I did not know what was happening, I simply ran. It was chaos within a few seconds. It was like a movie. All you can think of is, Why?Essa studies Swedish at the school. It offers educational classes for adults, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities.I dont want to go back. Not now, she told the newspaper as she returned Wednesday to light a candle for the victims. All I can think of are those who died, I cannot think of anything else.Barricades made with classroom furnitureStudent Andreas Sundling said the first loud bangs made him think people were fighting outside and maybe, I dont know, throwing chairs and tables. And then we heard people screaming.We locked the (classroom) doors and barricaded the doors with tables and chairs, he said. As more shots rang out, they hid under tables, too, he added.And then after maybe two hours, yeah, two and a half hours, the police came and they basically kicked down the door, Sundling said. Inside the school, it was blood everywhere on the floor. It was crazy.Student describes victims bleedingBroadcaster TV4 interviewed a student who said she performed first aid on a man who was shot in the shoulder. TV4 identified her only by her first name, Marwa.He was bleeding a lot. When I looked behind me I saw three people on the floor bleeding. Everyone was shocked. They said, Go out! Get out! she said.Me and my friend tried to save the life of this person. People were very shocked. The police were not on site and neither was the ambulance. So we had to help. I took my friends shawl and tied it tightly around his shoulder so that he wouldnt bleed so much. Teacher heard bangs and evacuated Teacher Mattias Jansson said that training hes received for dealing with emergencies kicked in when he heard shouts for people to evacuate. When we made it to the emergency exit we heard the bangs, he told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. These are things that we have been taught, gathering and evacuating, try to get as many people out as possible. ___AP correspondent Mimmi Montgomery in London contributed.

A New York state senator is trying to introduce the same age verification legislation that has resulted in massive porn sitesincluding Pornhub and its network of sister sitesgoing dark across much of the U.S. south and midwest.The bill, introduced by Republicans Jake Ashby and Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, is almost identical to every other law that has passed across the country in the last two years related to age verification: it would require porn sites to verify that visitors are at least 18 years old through digital identification, credit card transaction, government ID, or password-protected login.Like other laws in Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, Montana, and more than a dozen more states, it defines material harmful to minors as a laundry list of sex acts and body parts, including actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of: (A) a person's pubic hair, anus, or genitals or the nipple of the female breast; (B) touching, caressing, or fondling of nipples, breasts, buttocks, anuses, or genitals; or (C) sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions, exhibitions, or any other sexual act that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.The authors write in their justification for the bill: The internet is a dangerous place for children, rife with sexual material that is harmful to minors. The ease of access to this material is downright scary. This legislation seeks to prioritize the protection of children by requiring pornography websites to verify the age of its users. Upon verification that a user is 18 years of age or older, access to the site would be given.Sites that operate in the state and don't have age verification set up would face a $50,000 penalty per day.In 19 states, Republican and Democratic governors have signed these age verification bills into law. New York should be next, Ashby wrote in a Facebook post. In recent years, New York has made positive, bipartisan strides to protect our kids online. We believe this is another important step. Consuming this kind of content is wrong for our kids mental health and their emotional development. It can be toxic for their future relationships, Ashby said in a press release, the New York news outlet Troy Record reported.Podcast: Pornhub Exec Discusses Pulling Out of the South, Trad Wives, and Feet PicsIn this special interview episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub, about age verification laws and what shes hearing from adult performers.404 MediaSamantha ColeWhen age verification laws are enacted in states, searches for VPNs spike, people go to less-moderated non-compliant websites, and adults rights to privacy and speech are infringed upon. Adult industry and first amendment advocates have lobbied for device-based controls for children, instead.The bill was referred to the committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection on January 30.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) pose with the trophy during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt York)2025-02-05T18:01:56Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are pursuing history and a few of Taylor Swifts records.Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles stand in their way.The Chiefs (17-2) will try to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls when they face the Eagles (17-3) on Sunday in the Superdome.Its a rematch from two years ago when Hurts nearly led the Eagles to a championship only to watch Mahomes snatch it away by rallying Kansas City to a 38-35 win on Harrison Butkers 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left.Mahomes lifted the Chiefs to an overtime win against San Francisco in another Super Bowl rematch last year. Now, theyre poised for a three-peat, a word coach Andy Reid doesnt use much.I think the only time Ive heard him say it is to the media whenever yall ask him about it, Mahomes said. Hes very locked in on just, How can we be great with our cadence today at practice? so thats just the stuff that Coach Reid focuses on. Reid won more games than any coach in franchise history during his 14 seasons in Philadelphia but couldnt win the big one, going 1-4 in NFC championship games and losing a Super Bowl to the Patriots. He went right to Kansas City after the Eagles fired him following the 2012 season and has built a dynasty thanks to Mahomes, Kelce, Chris Jones and others. You dont have time to think about all that, Reid said of the three-peat. Youre focused in on the job at hand here and thats playing against a great Eagles team. Jones, the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle, echoed his coachs viewpoint.We dont talk about no three-peat, Jones said. I think thats what were here for. We understand that. We understand theres one more game until the offseason and we can do whatever we want to do. Our main focus is making sure were prepared for the Eagles. No matter what the Chiefs say, everyone else is talking about it. No team has done it in the Super Bowl era, though the Green Bay Packers won an NFL championship in 1965 and followed by winning the first two Super Bowls. Kelce even started all the three-peat talk on stage last year when he said the teams goal was to win three.This is gonna be our biggest test yet, Kelce said. They got a lot of great players but the biggest thing is they play great together. You could see their communication. You could see the accountability they have, especially in the secondary. Its not gonna make my job any easier.These Eagles are different from the group that fell just short against Kansas City in Arizona two years ago.They have the NFLs most dynamic player in the backfield. Barkley rushed for 2,447 yards with seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards in the regular season and playoffs.The goal has always been to win it, not just to get here, Barkley said.Losing to the Chiefs two years ago only motivated Hurts even more. Hes determined to hoist a Lombardi trophy and even had a photo of him walking off the field with Kansas Citys red and yellow confetti falling around him as the background on his phone. Its had a great driving force, Hurts said of that loss. It lit a flame, lit a fire in me, and to have this opportunity again is exactly what you work for.Hurts, Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and a dominant offensive line present a major challenge for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.The Eagles also have the leagues No. 1-ranked defense, featuring eight new starters from 2022 and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean plus the emergence of defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith has transformed a defensive unit that fell apart last season.Were fortunate to have Steve Spagnuolo, but I tell you that Vic is one of those guys, Reid said. Hes just one of those really creative defensive minds that survived a long time in this league. Hes been time-tested, and, he has the trust of his players. If the Chiefs win, Reid and Mahomes will be one step closer to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Theyre halfway to the six Belichick and Brady won together in New England and Mahomes is still four away from Bradys seven rings. Im trying to be the greatest Patrick Mahomes that I can be. Thats obviously a goal of anyones to be the greatest at their profession but in order to do that, you have to be the greatest that you can be every single day, Mahomes said. Whenever Im done with football, if I leave everything out there the way that I feel like I have so far as far as effort and mentality, Ill be happy with the results.A win for Kansas City also would give Kelce his fourth ring, the same number of Grammy Awards his pop star girlfriend has won for best album. Overall, Kelce has 18 playoff wins and Swift has 14 Grammys. Shes up there being the superstar that she is and never taking no for an answer and always working her tail off. I better match that energy for sure, Kelce said.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl ROB MAADDI Maaddi is senior NFL writer for The Associated Press. Hes covered the league for 24 years, including the first two decades as the Eagles beat writer. mailto

Louise Hamlin, left, and Chris Wilson, two neighbors who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire, stand for a photo with the remains of their homes in Altadena, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)2025-02-05T05:30:05Z Before a wildfire ravaged their street in northwest Altadena, Louise Hamlin and Chris Wilson lived next door to each other in nearly identical houses.I chose an old home in an old neighborhood because it has soul, said Hamlin, a 51-year-old single mom with a teenage boy, who bought her 1,500-square-foot home 10 years ago.Today, gone are their charming English-style cottages built in 1925 with the welcoming porches and Palladian windows. Amid the rubble and ash, little is left of their historic neighborhood.In the weeks since the Eaton wildfire took their homes, Hamlin and Wilson have been stumbling through the layers of business, bureaucracy and emotional trauma of surviving a natural disaster, with their sights firmly set on rebuilding. How theyll navigate rebuilding is a story of contrasting fortunes and unequal recovery that reveals the nations growing home insurance crisis. Her insurance has already paid out nearly a million dollars and she is searching for contractors. He is contemplating loans, lawsuits and moving his family out of California.It changes the whole trajectory to your life, said Wilson, 44, who bought his house five years ago with his wife, who is six months pregnant with their first child. The Unfair PlanHamlins home was privately covered by Mercury Insurance, but Wilson was forced onto the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan the states bare-bones insurance program when SafeCo declined to renew his policy last May. The FAIR Plan insures people who cant get private coverage but need insurance as a condition of their mortgage.As wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters become more frequent due to climate change, many property owners find themselves struggling to find or afford private insurance. The issue is particularly acute in California, where some major insurance companies have stopped writing new policies altogether or are refusing to renew existing ones. State officials recently started rolling out new regulations to entice insurers to stay in California, with the hope of getting as many homeowners as possible off the FAIR Plan. FAIR, with its high premiums and basic coverage, was designed as a temporary safety net until policyholders find a more permanent option. Yet the number of FAIR Plan residential policies more than doubled from 2020 to 2024, reaching nearly 452,000 policies last year. For Wilson and Hamlin, their parallel rebuilding journeys serve as a cautionary tale. Wilson paid nearly 60% more in premiums related to the fire than Hamlin, for less than half the coverage.Thats why a lot of people call it The Unfair Plan. said Amy Bach, executive director of the consumer advocacy group United Policyholders.SafeCos parent company Liberty Mutual said in a statement that it couldnt comment on any individual policies but acknowledged difficult but purposeful business decisions in California.Mercury didnt respond to requests for comment. Janet Ruiz, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, which represents many major insurance companies, said California is fortunate to have the FAIR Plan, which is required to accept everyone. Ruiz said outcomes would be even worse if homeowners had no coverage at all. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said California is working to make sure all claims are paid. He said in a statement that his office is working to get homeowners off the FAIR Plan and back to traditional more comprehensive insurance coverage. A FAIR Plan spokesperson declined to comment on Wilsons case, and noted that its difficult to compare policies and coverage. 31,000 wildfire claimsThousands of people lost their homes in the Eaton and nearby Palisades fires, which were among the most destructive in California history.The FAIR Plan said it expanded staffing to meet the surging demand and has a funding mechanism in place to pay all covered claims. State data shows more than 31,000 wildfire-related claims had been filed as of last week, including roughly 4,400 claims under the FAIR Plan. Hamlin had standard comprehensive home insurance, with an annual policy premium of $1,264 at the time of the fire. She can receive up to $1.5 million to replace her home, other structures and personal property, including up to $303,000 for living expenses while displaced. Her policy further entitles her to coverage that could add more than $200,000 to help her rebuild.Wilson, meanwhile, pays a $2,000 premium for the FAIR Plan that sets his maximum payout at $686,000, including $100,000 for living expenses while displaced.Wilson also had to buy wrap-around insurance for $1,500 a year for issues the FAIR Plan doesnt cover, such as burst pipes or falling objects. That supplemental plan doesnt cover fire damage.Hamlin said Mercurys support has been exceptional, immediately sending her money and helping with next steps such as finding housing and getting contractor quotes. Within days, the company wired her tens of thousands of dollars to get started while the process fell into place. Being able to rest at night and wake up and deal with everything else is really important, Hamlin said.Meanwhile, Wilson has struggled to even talk to a FAIR Plan representative. There was zero communication in the first two weeks, contact information was listed incorrectly, phone numbers had no voicemail and emails bounced back.Half the time, I feel like Im doing something wrong, Wilson said. After The Associated Press reached out for comment, Insurance Department spokesperson Michael Soller said a representative would contact Wilson directly.Its just luck, reallyWilson said he feels haunted by his choices. He thought he had bought property in a low-risk area, and had avoided looking for homes in another neighborhood further north after hearing that people there had been dropped by their insurers.Hamlin, too, was aware of the fire risks when she moved in. She previously lived in Pasadena and was surprised that State Farm, her then-insurance company, would not offer her coverage in Altadena. She chose Mercury because it was the cheapest option, and was considering pursuing even more robust coverage.I could have been dropped when Chris was dropped. Any of us could be at any time. Its just luck, really. Its nothing I did or didnt do, Hamlin said, stunned by the comparison. I had the same risk factors as everyone else.Stephen Collier, a professor of urban planning at University of California, Berkeley, said the seemingly random nature of who gets dropped and when has much to do with insurance companies complicated risk models. Theyre all trying to manage their exposure, Collier said. If you think about wildfires, you dont want concentrated exposure.Wilson said SafeCo requested an inspection of his property before deciding not to renew his policy. Panicked, he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with them, offering to clear brushes, trim trees near the roof, and other wildfire mitigation efforts.Wilson shopped around aggressively with his insurance agent but to no avail, and resigned himself to the FAIR Plan, assuming he would eventually find private insurance again.There was another catch: Wilson said he couldnt get comprehensive replacement cost coverage on the FAIR Plan because his roof was too old. Instead, he ended up with what is known as actual cash value coverage, which greatly limits the payout based on the physical depreciation of what was lost.Were talking hundreds of thousands of dollars and thats very, very painful, said Bach of United Policyholders.An uninsurable futureCiting rising fire risks and other problems, seven of the top 12 insurance companies either paused or restricted new business in California in 2023. State regulations give insurers more latitude to raise premiums in exchange for issuing policies in high-risk areas, including consideration of climate change in premiums and passing the costs of reinsurance to consumers.But those are only short-term solutions, said Dave Jones, Californias insurance commissioner from 2011 to 2018. He pointed to Florida, where officials have done everything the insurers asked California to do but yielded little success.Were marching steadily towards an uninsurable future in the United States because were not doing enough fast enough to address the underlying cause, which is climate change, Jones said.Unless governments take on the financial burden of serious mitigation efforts, the price of Californias fire risk will remain unequal and left to the homeowners, Collier of UC Berkeley said. That could be the underinsured like Wilson swallowing their personal losses, or all California homeowners collectively saddled with increased premiums, or both. State Farm, Californias largest insurance company, this week urged the state to approve an emergency rate hike of 22% for homeowner policies starting in May after processing nearly 8,700 claims and paying out more than $1 billion to policyholders for the LA fires.Theres a huge amount of risk in the system and theres a big question of who is going to pay for this, Collier said.Wilson expects hell have to take out loans to rebuild. Hes considering joining a lawsuit against Southern California Edison that alleges the utilitys equipment sparked the blaze, in hopes of receiving settlement money.But with a baby on the way, Wilson said he cant fathom living in limbo on the FAIR Plan forever, and hes thinking about leaving California if private insurance remains out of reach. I dont want to have to be prepared to maybe lose everything again, Wilson said. Stuck paying for an insurance that doesnt cover anything. You dont want to live in a risky area. You dont have the safety net.___Associated Press data journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington, D.C., contributed. SALLY HO Ho is an investigative and business news reporter for The Associated Press. Shes filed public records requests in all 50 U.S. states and covered a range of major world events. twitter mailto TRN NGUYN Nguyn is an Associated Press reporter covering California government and politics. mailto

Laundry hangs on a destroyed building caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-02-05T17:42:24Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Saeed Abu Elaishs wife, two of his daughters and two dozen others from his extended family were killed by Israeli airstrikes over the past 15 months. His house in northern Gaza was destroyed. He and surviving family now live in a tent set up in the rubble of his home.But he says he will not be driven out, after President Donald Trump called for transferring all Palestinians from Gaza so the United States could take over the devastated territory and rebuild it for others. Rights groups said his comments were tantamount to a call for ethnic cleansing and forcible expulsion.We categorically reject and will resist any plans to deport and transfer us from our land, he said from the Jabaliya refugee camp.Trumps call for depopulating Gaza has stunned Palestinians. Hundreds of thousands in the territory rushed to return to their homes even if destroyed as soon as they could following the ceasefire reached last month between Israel and Hamas. Though some experts speculated that Trumps proposal might be a negotiating tactic, Palestinians across the region saw in it an effort to erase them completely from their homeland, a continuation of the expulsion and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. That event is known among Palestinians as the Nakba, Arabic for the Catastrophe. Trumps statement a wild swing away from years of U.S. policy meshed with calls from far-right politicians in Israel to push Palestinians out of Gaza, particularly into Egypt. We dont want a repeat of our ancestors tragedy, said Abu Elaish, a health care worker.Like many, Abu Elaish could point to his own familys experience. In May 1948, Israeli forces expelled his grandparents and other Palestinians and demolished their homes in the village of Hoj in whats now southern Israel just outside the Gaza Strip, he said. The family resettled in Gazas Jabaliya camp, which over the decades grew into a densely built urban neighborhood. Israeli troops leveled most of the district during fierce fighting with Hamas militants over recent months. Mustafa al-Gazzar was 5 years old, he said, when his family and other residents were forced to flee as Israeli forces in 1948 attacked their town of Yabneh in what is now central Israel.Now in his 80s, he sat outside his home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, flattened by an airstrike, and said it was unthinkable to go after surviving 15 months of war.Are you crazy, you think I would leave? he said. You think youll expel me abroad and bring other people in my place? I would rather live in my tent, under rubble. I wont leave. Put that in your brain.Instead of being sent abroad, I should return to my original land where I was born and will die, he said, referring to Yabneh, located near what is now the central Israeli city of Yavneh. He said Trump should be seeking a two-state solution. This is the ideal, clear solution, peace for the Israelis and peace for the Palestinians, living side by side, he said. In his comments Tuesday alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said Palestinians from Gaza should be resettled in lands in Egypt, Jordan or elsewhere, promising them a beautiful place. Egypt and Jordan have both rejected Trumps call to resettle Palestinians on their soil.Trump said the U.S. would take over Gaza and rebuild it into a Riviera of the Middle East for the worlds people, dismissing the idea that Palestinians would refuse to leave or want to return.Amna Omar, a 71-year-old from the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, called Trump a madman.Omar was able to go to Egypt during the war after her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In Cairo, doctors told them his cancer had gone untreated for too long and he died in October.She said she intends to go back home as soon as she can, as did other Palestinians in Egypt.Gaza is our land, our home. We as Gazans have the right to the land and want to rebuild it, she said. I dont want to die in Egypt like my husband. I want to die at home. Palestinians have shown a powerful determination to return to their homes after nearly the entire population was displaced by the war. Joyous crowds streamed back to northern Gaza and Rafah, both of which were devastated by Israeli bombardment and ground offensives.With their neighborhoods reduced to landscapes of rubble, many returnees are homeless, water is scarce and electricity is largely non-existent in most areas. Still, for most, the destruction has not diminished their will to stay.We remain here, even if it means living in the rubble of our homes better that than living in humiliation elsewhere, said Ibrahim Abu Rizk, who returned to Rafah to find his home in ruins. For a year and a half, we have been slaughtered, bombed, and destroyed, only to then leave just like that? The ceasefire deal brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, calls for a return of Palestinians to their homes as well as a massive international reconstruction effort in its third phase assuming Israel and Hamas can reach a deal on who will govern the territory.International law forbids the forced removal of populations. The Israeli rights group Btselem said Trumps statement constitutes a call for ethnic cleansing through uprooting and forcibly transferring some 2 million people. This is Trump and Netanyahus roadmap for a second Nakba of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.Palestinian refugees have long demanded they be allowed to return to homes in what is now Israel, citing the right to return widely recognized for refugees under international law. Israel argues that right does not apply to the Palestinians and says a mass return would end the Jewish majority in the country.Throughout the 15-month war in Gaza, many Palestinians expressed fear that Israels goal was to drive the population into neighboring Egypt. The government denied that aim, though some hard-right members of the coalition called for encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza and for restoring Jewish settlements there. The Israeli-occupied West Bank home to more than 500,000 settlers has also seen more than a year of escalated violence.The rejection of Trumps call was echoed by Palestinians in the West Bank and in surrounding Arab countries like Jordan and Lebanon that are also home to large refugee populations.If he wants to displace the population of Gaza, Mohammed al-Amiri, a resident in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said of Trump, then he should return them to their original homeland from which they were displaced in 1948, inside Israel, in the depopulated villages.___Magdy reported from Cairo and Frankel from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Mohammed Jahjouh in Rafah and Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report. JULIA FRANKEL Frankel is an Associated Press reporter in Jerusalem. twitter mailto

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives a joint news conference with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)2025-02-05T18:07:08Z GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday delivered a robust defense of the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and praised President Donald Trumps widely panned proposal for the United States to take control of the Gaza Strip.Rubio said the administration was essentially forced to shut down USAID because of insubordination within its ranks by staffers who refused to comply with demands to justify its budget and its programs.He said Trumps suggestion that the U.S. take over Gaza was in fact a very generous offer to reconstruct and develop the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday during a news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled elsewhere and proposed the U.S. take ownership in redeveloping the area into the Riviera of the Middle East. It was not meant as a hostile move, Rubio said during a news conference in Guatemala City. It was meant as a, I think, a very generous move.He said Gaza is akin to a natural disaster and people cant live there because there are unexploded munitions, debris and rubble. In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while youre rebuilding it, he said. At USAID, almost all the agencys workers overseas are being pulled off the job and out of the field under a sudden Trump administration order. Rubio said the original intention was to keep the agency running while reviewing how money was being spent. But he said the government received no cooperation and employees were acting in contravention and insubordination.It is not the direction I wanted it. Its not the way we wanted to do it initially, but it is the way we will have to do it now, Rubio said. What would be a gift to our geopolitical rivals is billions of dollars in foreign aid that is not aligned to the national interests in the foreign policy of the United States. Immigration, a Trump administration priority, has been the major focus of Rubios first foreign trip as Americas top diplomat, a five-country tour of Central America. During his visit to Guatemala, the countrys President Bernardo Arvalo said his country will accept migrants from other countries being deported from the United States. Under the safe third country agreement announced by Arvalo, the deportees would then be returned to their home countries at U.S. expense.We have agreed to increase by 40% the number of flights of deportees both of our nationality as well as deportees from other nationalities, Arvalo said, speaking during a news conference with Rubio. The Guatemalan presidents offer came days after El Salvador Monday announced a similar but broader agreement.Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country would accept U.S. deportees of any nationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes.

Protesters demonstrate against Project 2025, in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-02-05T06:12:23Z Follow todays live updates on the Trump administration Thousands of demonstrators gathered in cities across the U.S. on Wednesday to protest the Trump administrations early actions, decrying everything from the presidents immigration crackdown to his rollback of transgender rights and a proposal to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.Protesters in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana and beyond waved signs denouncing President Donald Trump; billionaire Elon Musk, the leader of Trumps new Department of Government Efficiency; and Project 2025, a hard-right playbook for American government and society.Democracy is not a spectator sport! Do something, said a sign held aloft by one demonstrator in Philadelphia.The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media issued calls for action, with messages such as reject fascism and defend our democracy. AP AUDIO: Thousands protest Trump administration policies in cities across the US AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports protests are expanding to President Trumps proposed changes. Outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, a crowd of about 1,000 people gathered in freezing temperatures. Catie Miglietti, from the Ann Arbor area, said Musks access to the Treasury Department data was especially concerning to her. She painted a sign depicting Musk puppeteering Trump from his outraised arm evoking Musks straight-arm gesture during a January speech that some have interpreted as a Nazi salute. If we dont stop it and get Congress to do something, its an attack on democracy, Miglietti said.In Columbus, Ohio, protesters outside the Statehouse shouted, Wake up USA! Stop the coup thats underway!Im appalled by democracys changes in the last, well, specifically two weeks but it started a long time ago, said Margaret Wilmeth, a self-described senior citizen from Columbus. So Im just trying to put a presence into resistance. Craig and Robin Schroeder drove nearly two hours from their home in Findlay for the demonstration. They described the appointment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a slap to Ohios military families. The Senate narrowly confirmed Hegseth after questions from members in both parties over his qualifications to lead the military, especially amid allegations of heavy alcohol use and aggressive behavior toward women.This is my first protest ever, but I cant imagine a more worthwhile one, said Robin Schroeder, 47.Demonstrations in several cities piled criticism on Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.DOGE is not legit, read one poster on the state Capitol steps in Jefferson, Missouri, where dozens of protesters gathered. Why does Elon have your Social Security info???Members of Congress have expressed concern that DOGEs involvement with the U.S. government payment system could lead to security risks or missed payments for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. A Treasury Department official says a tech executive working with DOGE will have read-only access.The Missouri protesters chanted we will not bend down and we will not be silenced. Trump has signed a series of executive orders in the first couple of weeks of his new term on everything from trade and immigration to climate change. As Democrats begin to raise their voice in opposition to Trumps agenda, protests have also begun. In Alabama, several hundred people gathered outside the Statehouse to protest state and federal actions targeting LGBTQ people.On Tuesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey promised to sign legislation declaring that there are only two sexes, male and female echoing Trumps recent executive order for the federal government to define sex as only male or female.The President thinks he has a lot of power, the Rev. Julie Conrady, a Unitarian Universalist minister told the crowd. He does not have the power to determine your gender. He does not have the power to define your identity.___Associated Press journalists Joey Cappelletti and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; Julie Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Michael Conroy in Indianapolis, Indiana; Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; and Gabriel Sandoval in Phoenix contributed to this report. ___The attribution for a quote from the Alabama protest has been corrected to reflect that it was from The Rev. Julie Conrady, not Patricia Todd. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This image provided by Pringles shows the Pringles 2025 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Pringles via AP)2025-02-05T15:07:31Z NEW YORK (AP) Eugene Levys trademark eyebrows fly off for Little Caesars. A tongue dances to Shania Twain to promote Nestles Coffee Mate Cold Foam. And Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reunite at Katzs Deli in an ad for Hellmanns. A frenzied mix of silliness and celebrities is hitting the airwaves and the internet, and that means one thing: it is Super Bowl ad time again.Veteran advertisers are using tried-and-true tactics like celebrity cameos, humor and cute animals to win over watchers. Meanwhile, first-time and newer advertisers are courting outrageousness and using stunts to try to stand out in the battle to capture the attention of the more than 120 million viewers expected to tune into Sundays game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on Fox. Super Bowl viewers are a unique audience because theyre as primed to watch the ads as they are the game. This is a societal moment where we come together as a country, said Kimberly Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginias Darden School of Business. We may be on different sides, you know, of the gridiron or the field. But we come together. With 80-plus ad spots divvied up among the 50-something advertisers during the game, its tough to make sure viewers remember your brand message. And with a few ad spots going for a record $8 million for 30 seconds this year, the stakes have never been higher. But the price tag is worth it, advertisers say. Rachel Jaiven, head of Hagen-Dazs marketing, said the brand decided to make its first-ever appearance in the game due to the size of the viewership and its association with snacking.We know at the Super Bowl these days that everyone watches, its a wide audience, Jaiven said. The brands ad shows stars from the Fast & Furious franchise enjoying an ice cream bar. We thought it was time for us to tell our story, remind people what they love about Hagen-Dazs and of course, have them stock up on Hagen-Dazs in their freezer.In order to garner more publicity, many advertisers release their ads ahead of the game. Of the ads that have already been released, heres a sampling of the approaches advertisers are taking during the big game this year. CELEBRITY-PALOOZAHellmannsHellmanns ad made a splash ahead of the game by reuniting Meg Ryan and Billy Crystals When Harry Met Sally characters at Katzs Deli enjoying a sandwich with Hellmanns. Sydney Sweeney joins to utter the famous line Ill have what shes having.MetaChris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth wear Ray-Ban Meta AI-powered glasses while looking at art. Hemsworth accidently eats a banana in an art piece worth $6.2 million, and Kris Jenner appears to scold them.Michelob UltraActors Catherine OHara and Willem Dafoe star as pickleball players hustling younger players to win Michelob Ultras.Stella ArtoisSoccer star David Beckham learns he has a twin named Dave Beckham who turns out to be Matt Damon. They dont have much in common but both drink Stella Artois.Uber EatsMatthew McConaughey explains a conspiracy theory that football was invented to sell food, with cameos by Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, Charli XCX, Kevin Bacon and YouTuber Sean Evans. SILLY HUMORCoors LightAdorable sloths undergo mishaps because theyre slow, like a kitchen fire and running into a glass door; they have a Case of the Mondays, like many people sluggish at work the day after the Super Bowl.Little CaesarsActor Eugene Levys eyebrows fly off and fly around after he tries the pizza chains Crazy Puffs in what is strangely not the only ad with flying facial hair in it (see Pringles).Nestle Coffee MateThe first-time advertiser goes for silly humor in an ad that shows a mans tongue dancing, and even doing a flip, to a song sung by Shania Twain to represent how good Nestle Coffee Mate Cold Foam tastes.PringlesActor Nick Offerman, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and L.A. Clippers James Harden watch their famous mustaches fly away to help deliver Pringles. SERIOUS MESSAGESDoveDove highlights the problem of low body confidence in young girls and depicts a young girl running down the sidewalk to H.E.R.s version of Born to Run.Foundation to Combat AntisemitismPatriot owner Robert Kraft has an ad in the game for the second year in a row. Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady voice reasons why people hate each other in an effort to combat hate speech. Hims and HersFirst-time advertiser Telehealth company Hims & Hers highlights the obesity epidemic and says weight loss drugs should be more affordable.NovartisFirst-time advertiser Novartis is focusing on breast cancer awareness in its ad featuring Wanda Sykes and Hailee Steinfeld. FIRST-TIME ADVERTISERSHagen-DazsThe ice-cream brand reunites Fast & Furious stars Michelle Rodriguez, Vin Diesel and Ludacris, except this time, theyre going slow. They cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway in a Chevrolet Chevelle slowly so they can enjoy eating an ice cream bar.InstacartFirst-timer Instacart joins DoorDash and Uber Eats and a battle between food delivery services during the game. Instacart loads up its ad with tons of brand characters it hopes viewers recognize: from Mountain Dews PuppyMonkeyBaby character from a 2016 Super Bowl ad to the Jolly Green Giant and the Pillsbury Doughboy. The characters represent all the things you can get delivered from the food delivery service.Totinos Pizza RollsIn one of several ads featuring aliens, comedian Tim Robinson and actor Sam Richardson say goodbye to an alien who was living in their neighborhood. Cookware brand Hexclad and Doritos ads also feature aliens.SURPRISESNot all advertisers release their ads early, so there are always plenty of surprises on game day. Only two auto brands, Stellantis Jeep and Ram, have announced Super Bowl ad plans, but they havent given any details on the ads.Dunkin has secured the first ad spot after kickoff but is staying mum on details other than teasing that it will star Ben and Casey Affleck and Jeremy Strong. Canned water company Liquid Death will advertise for the first time with an ad created in-house. Duracell has teased that its ad will feature a Duracell Scientist but hasnt given any other details.Ad experts think it is unlikely that an A.I.-generated ad will debut during advertisings biggest night after Coca-Colas holiday ad created with the help of A.I. technology drew some backlash. But if one did debut, it would be sure to make a splash. MAE ANDERSON Anderson reports for The Associated Press on a wide range of issues that small businesses face. She is based in New York. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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/Alex Brandon)2025-02-05T05:07:21Z President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls and womens sports.The order, titled Keeping Men Out of Womens Sports, gives federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administrations view, which interprets sex as the gender someone was assigned at birth.With this executive order, the war on womens sports is over, Trump said at a signing ceremony.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order upholds the promise of Title IX and will require immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and athletic associations that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.The timing of the order coincided with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and is the latest in a string of executive actions from Trump aimed at transgender people. Trump found during the campaign that his pledge to keep men out of womens sports resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, pledging to get rid of the transgender insanity, though his campaign offered little in the way of details. The order offers some clarity. For example, it authorizes the Education Department to penalize schools that allow transgender athletes to compete, citing noncompliance with Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in schools. Any school found in violation could potentially be ineligible for federal funding.The order also calls for private sporting bodies to meet at the White House so the president can hear in person the stories of female athletes who have suffered livelong injuries, who have been silenced and forced to shower with men and compete with men on athletic fields across the country. Follow todays live updates on the Trump administration The move is the latest by the Trump administration to limit the rights of the transgender population.Previous ones have sought to have the federal government reject the idea that people can transition to a gender other than the one assigned at birth. That has implications for areas including passports and prisons. Hes also opened the door to barring transgender service members from the military; called to end federal health insurance and other funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19 and restrict the way lessons on gender can be taught in schools.Already, transgender people have sued over several of the policies and are likely to challenge more of them in court.Civil rights lawyers who are handling the cases have asserted that in some instances, Trumps orders violate laws adopted by Congress and protections in the Constitution and that they overstep the authority of the president.There could be similar questions for this order, for instance: Can the president demand that the NCAA change its policies? NCAA President Charlie Baker told Republican senators in December that the organization would follow federal law. The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.The order came a day after three former teammates of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas filed a lawsuit accusing the NCAA, Ivy League, Harvard and their own school, Penn, of conspiring to allow Thomas to compete at conference and national championships.The lawsuit, which makes similar allegations of that filed last year by Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and others, alleges the defendants violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to swim and acted in bad faith. Gaines joined Trump for the signing ceremony.___Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, M.L. Price, Geoff Mulvihill and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.___AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports WILL GRAVES Graves is a national writer for The Associated Press, based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NFL, MLB, NHL, the Olympics and major college sports. twitter facebook mailto

Elon Musk arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP, File)2025-02-05T21:30:18Z WASHINGTON (AP) Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are demanding answers after they say President Donald Trump gave billionaire Elon Musk and his staff access to sensitive data and classified secrets as part of their work to overhaul the federal government.The lawmakers on Wednesday wrote to Susie Wiles, Trumps chief of staff, and asked what security precautions had been taken to prevent unauthorized leaks of information by staff at the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. Trump tapped Musk to run the taskforce, which has quickly gotten to work dismantling whole agencies of the federal government.As part of that effort, Musk and his staff have gained access to computer systems that the senators say contain potentially sensitive medical and financial information about millions of Americans as well as federal payroll information, classified documents, information from foreign intelligence partners and the identities of undercover agents and intelligence sources. In the letter, the senators warned that national security and the personal privacy of Americans could be at risk if the information is mishandled intentionally or through negligence. They ask whether Musks team has met with U.S. intelligence officials to discuss how to reduce the chances of the data being misused and what steps to take to protect classified information, such as the identities of CIA informants or the actions of overseas intelligence operatives. Such information would be highly valuable to the spy agencies of Russia, China, Iran and other nations, and its loss could put lives at risk while undermining efforts to prevent terrorism and other threats to the U.S., the senators wrote. No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans personal information, the Senators wrote. The letter was signed by seven Democrats serving on the Intelligence Committee as well as independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.The White House did not immediately respond to the senators questions. Musk has dismissed criticism of his government involvement, saying it just shows his effort is needed.

President Donald Trump speaks before Pam Bondi is sworn in as Attorney General by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-05T22:12:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldnt waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation building.But just weeks into his second go-around in the White House, the Republican leader laid out plans to use American might to take over and reconstruct Gaza, threatened to reclaim U.S. control of the Panama Canal and floated the idea that the U.S. could buy Greenland from Denmark, which has shown no interest in parting with the island.The rhetorical shift from America First to America Everywhere is leaving even some of his allies slack-jawed and wondering if hes really serious.The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians, a flummoxed Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and Trump ally, posted Wednesday on social media. I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood. The presidents shocking declaration Tuesday that he wants to remove roughly 1.8 million Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop the war-scarred territory into the Riviera of the Middle East with long-term American ownership raises anew questions about the direction of Trumps foreign policy during his norm-breaking second term. Is Trumps imperialist talk just meant to appear tough on the world stage? Is he merely trying to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cover with far-right members of his governing coalition who oppose moving forward with the second phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas? Is the Gaza takeover proposal a land grab by a president who sees the world through the prism of a New York real estate developer? Or is it, possibly, a bit of all of above?Whatever the answer, Trumps play on Gaza has perplexed Washington and the world as they try to make sense of the presidents foreign policy doctrine. Trump advisers try to temper concernsThe presidents advisers sought Wednesday to temper concerns about his plans for the territory, just a day after Trump shocked the world with his call for a world-class American rehab of Gaza that would take place after relocating Palestinians to neighboring Arab nations.Both his top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, edged away from Trumps suggestion that Gazans would be relocated permanently.Rubio said Trumps proposal to take ownership of Gaza and redevelop the area should be seen as a generous offer.It was not meant as a hostile move, Rubio said during his visit to Guatemala. It was meant as ... a very generous move.Rubio added that the moment was akin to a natural disaster. People wont be able to live Gaza for years to come because there are unexploded munitions, debris and rubble.In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while youre rebuilding it, he said.Trump would not rule out the possibility of U.S. troops being deployed to carry out his plan.But Leavitt downplayed the prospects that Trumps plan would come with a cost to American taxpayers or that Trump would deploy U.S. forces. Its been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort, to ensure stability in the region for all people, Leavitt told reporters at the White House. But that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.The White House has yet to explain under what authority Trump could carry his Gaza proposal. Nor has the administration clarified how Trump would get around stiff opposition to any relocation of Gazas population from Arab allies, including Egypt and Jordan, that he expects to take in Palestinians.Still, they insist that Trump is just looking for an answer to the generational strife between Israelis and Palestinians thats convulsed the region for decades and foiled many of his White House predecessors.Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, Leavitt said. President Trump is an outside-of-the-box thinker and a visionary leader who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable. Democrats criticize expansionist talkThe expansionist talk in Gaza is playing out as Trump has begun an effort to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal agency that provides crucial aid that funds education and fights starvation, epidemics and poverty overseas. Trump sees it as a poster child of government waste and advancement of liberal social programs.That split screen has galled some of Trumps Democratic detractors.Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., called Trumps Gaza proposal offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish. Even worse, he said, it risks the rest of the world thinking that we are an unbalanced and unreliable partner because our president makes insane proposals. Coons added that it was particularly infuriating that Trump floated the idea at a moment when he is also insisting that USAID be dismantled in the name of fighting government waste.Why on earth would we abandon decades of well-established humanitarian programs around the world, and now launch into one of the worlds greatest humanitarian challenges? Coons said.Mideast allies reject moving displaced Palestinians in GazaTrumps push was roundly rejected Wednesday by European and Middle East allies, including those hes calling on to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been left homeless by the war. The Arab League, the 22-member regional grouping, said the proposal represents a recipe for instability. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said displaced Palestinians in Gaza must be allowed home. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would be unacceptable and against international law.Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said the idea of Americans going in on the ground in Gaza is a nonstarter for every senator.So I would suggest we go back to what weve been trying to do, which is destroy Hamas and find a way for the Arab world to take over Gaza and the West Bank, in a fashion that would lead to a Palestinian state that Israel can live with, Graham said.But even as his Gaza proposal was panned, Trump continued to insist that it has widespread support.Everybody loves it, Trump said in a brief exchange with reporters.___Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Matthew Lee in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Farnoush Amiri and Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report. AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto

This image provided by the New York State Attorney General office shows body camera footage of correction officers beating a handcuffed man, Robert Brooks, 43, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, N.Y., on Dec. 9, 2024. (New York State Attorney General office via AP, File)2025-02-05T16:25:11Z ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) The death of a handcuffed man who was pummeled by New York prison guards was ruled a homicide in an autopsy report, lawyers for his family said Wednesday.The report issued by the county medical examiners office last week concludes that the cause of Robert Brooks death in December was compression of the neck and multiple blunt impact injuries. The manner of death was determined to be homicide, according to the attorneys.Body camera video shows corrections officers assaulting Brooks for about 10 minutes while he was handcuffed on a medical examination table at Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. One officer uses a shoe to strike Brooks in the stomach, and another yanks him up by his neck and drops him back on the table.Brooks was pronounced dead the next morning.I think what this does is rule out any argument that there was some other cause of death other than what we saw on video, family attorney Stephen Schwarz said of the autopsy report. New Yorks attorney general last month appointed Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick as a special prosecutor to investigate Brooks death. A grand jury is expected to hear evidence in the case. More than a dozen correctional officers and two nurses were suspended without pay. One officer quit.Brooks son, Robert L. Brooks Jr., has sued the people implicated in the attack, as well as the head of the upstate facility at that time and the commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump gestures after 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/Alex Brandon)2025-02-05T23:15:49Z WASHINGTON (AP) The federal office that enforces civil rights at schools across the U.S. has been ordered to prioritize complaints of antisemitism above all else as it molds to President Donald Trumps agenda, raising fears that other rights violations will go unpunished.Trumps new leader of the Education Departments Office for Civil Rights told staff this week they will be expected to aggressively pursue complaints involving antisemitism and hew closely to Trumps wishes, according to sources who were on the call with Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.Already there are signs of a hard turn on civil rights enforcement, including new actions focused squarely on anti-Jewish bias and transgender issues.Responding to a White House order last week, the office launched new antisemitism investigations at five universities including Columbia and Northwestern. Days earlier, it opened an inquiry into Denver public schools over an all-gender bathroom that replaced a girls bathroom while leaving another one exclusive to boys. On Wednesday, Trump ordered schools that receive federal money to ban transgender girls from participating in womens sports, promising the Education Department would investigate schools and colleges that dont comply. The offices fleet of lawyers have mostly been sidelined while the new administration shifts priorities. Daily work has been frozen, which is typical when a new president takes office, but sources say theres a new blackout on communication with schools, colleges or those submitting complaints. Questions about how to enforce Title IX go unanswered, leaving schools in the dark as they navigate a new memo from the agency last week. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. In the staff call, Trainor said the office must be more aggressive and faster than it was under former President Joe Biden. He accused the previous administration of neglecting its duty to fight antisemitism, leaving more than 100 cases open. Trump has called for a review of all antisemitism cases opened since Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including those resolved under Biden. With a rigid focus on antisemitism and gender identity, theres fear the office wont give adequate attention to racial discrimination, mistreatment based on disability, or Islamophobia. The office is required to process all complaints it fields, but politics can play a role in setting priorities and choosing which cases to pursue.Raymond Pierce, who led the office under Democratic President Bill Clinton, said focusing on antisemitism alone doesnt fulfill the mission of the office to enforce civil rights laws.Antisemitism is an issue, he said. But the Civil Rights Act is broader than just religion.In a statement, Trainor promised his office will vigorously investigate all alleged violations of civil rights laws within its purview. Trainor had also warned staff of a coming restructuring and acknowledged that Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency is examining the Education Department. It raised worries about staffing cuts in a civil rights office that has seen dwindling numbers even as it received a record 22,687 complaints last year. Additionally, theres concern Trump in his quest to shut down the Education Department will slash the offices budget and move it to the Justice Department, as suggested in the Project 2025 blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation. The impact of Trumps changes are most likely to be felt by Black students and those who are disabled, according to lawyers and advocates. For decades, the Office for Civil Rights has worked to force equal access for marginalized students, said Derek W. Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.If the office finds merit in a complaint, it has the power to withhold federal funding until schools or states comply.Are there local and state officials who want to do right by kids? Of course, there are, Black said. But are there districts that dont think its a big deal or dont want to do right by poor kids? Unfortunately, there are. Historically, most complaints to the department have involved disability discrimination, but last year accusations of sex discrimination surged to account for more than half of all complaints, according to an annual report. Disability discrimination accounted for 37%, while discrimination over race or national origin accounted for 19%.In addition to its duty to investigate complaints, the office creates federal rules to interpret federal law for schools and colleges. That role has been at the center of a political tug-of-war over Title IX, with recent administrations repeatedly rewriting the rules governing investigations of campus sexual misconduct. The Biden administration issued new rules last year expanding Title IX to protect transgender and LGBTQ+ students, and boosting victims rights. A federal judge overturned the rules in January, reverting to a previous set of rules from Trumps first term.In a memo to schools and colleges last week, the Office for Civil Rights emphasized that the earlier Trump rules would be enforced, but it created confusion about how to handle cases that were opened when Bidens rules were in effect. With no communication from the department, there has been little clarity for schools.There are also questions about how antisemitism investigations will change. Trump has used heated rhetoric to push for more aggressive action against colleges found to have tolerated antisemitism, and Trainor blasted the Biden administration for signing toothless agreements to resolve cases. No new guidance has been issued to lawyers who investigate cases.As the office awaits orders to resume its work, it faces a growing backlog of complaints. Before Trump took office, there were more than 140 open investigations involving shared ancestry, many of them dealing with antisemitism or Islamophobia. The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations after Oct. 7, 2023. A flurry of schools reached deals to settle the cases before Trump took office amid fears that he would issue heavier sanctions.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto BIANCA VZQUEZ TONESS Vzquez Toness is an Associated Press reporter who writes about the continuing impact of the pandemic on young people and their education. twitter mailto

Eric and Lara Trump talks as President Donald Trump attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-05T18:59:44Z NEW YORK (AP) Fox News Channel has hired the presidents daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be host of a new weekend show that will debut later this month.Trump was a contributor who made appearances on Fox in 2021 and 2022, after President Donald Trump lost his bid for a second term, then served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.Her hourlong show, My View with Lara Trump, will air at 9 p.m. on Saturday nights, Fox announced on Wednesday. Shes scheduled to start her show on Feb. 22.Fox said in its announcement that Trumps show will focus on the return of common sense to all corners of American life as the country ushers in a new era of practicality.Political relatives are no stranger to television, although this is believed to be the first time someone so closely related to a U.S. president has been given such a prominent TV role while the politician is in office. Former President George W. Bushs daughter Jenna has been a longtime host on NBCs Today show. Chelsea Clinton also worked as a reporter for NBC News while her mother Hillary was secretary of state. Meghan McCain, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, was a host on ABCs daytime talk show The View. Im thrilled to bring my voice back to Fox News, talk directly with the American people, and highlight what makes this country so great, Lara Trump said in a statement released by Fox. As I cover the success of the golden age of America, I look forward to where this time will lead our country and where this opportunity will lead me in the future. Her father-in-law has had a complicated relationship with Fox News, even as many of its personalities support his policies. Hes known to complain on social media if he sees something on the network that he considers disloyal.Meanwhile, the president has staffed his new administration with several former Fox employees 19, by a recent count in The New York Times headlined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Foxs prime-time lineup is largely filled with opinion shows. Sean Hannity spoke frequently with Trump during his first term and has interviewed the president since his return to office.It was unclear how Lara Trumps show came together. Married to Donald Trumps son Eric, she said in December that she would consider running for a Senate seat in Florida in 2026.Her new show will displace one hosted by Fox personality Brian Kilmeade, which is moving to Sunday nights.In a statement, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott called Lara Trump a gifted communicator who knows how to connect to the viewers, successful entrepreneur and working mother.___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

Audience members gather at Made By Google for new product announcements at Google on Aug. 13, 2024, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File)2025-02-06T00:25:54Z SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Google is scrapping some of its diversity hiring targets, joining a lengthening list of U.S. companies that have abandoned or scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.The move, which was outlined in an email sent to Google employees on Wednesday, came in the wake of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that was aimed in part at pressuring government contractors to scrap their DEI initiatives. Like several other major tech companies, Google sells some of its technology and services to the federal government, including its rapidly growing cloud division thats a key piece of its push into artificial technology.Googles parent company, Alphabet, also signaled the shift in its annual 10-K report it filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In it, Google removed a line included in previous annual reports saying that its committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve. Google generates most of Alphabets annual revenue of $350 billion and accounts for almost all of its worldwide workforce of 183,000. Were committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year weve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there, Google said in a statement to The Associated Press. Weve updated our 10-K language to reflect this, and as a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic. The change in language also comes slightly more than two weeks after Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other prominent technology executives including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood behind Trump during his inauguration. Meta jettisoned its DEI program last month, shortly before the inauguration, while Amazon halted some of its DEI programs in December following Trumps election.Many companies outside of the technology industry also have backed away from DEI. Those include Walt Disney Co., McDonalds, Ford, Walmart, Target, Lowes and John Deere.Trumps recent executive order threatens to impose financial sanctions on federal contractors deemed to have illegal DEI programs. If the companies are found to be in violation, they could be subject to massive damages under the 1863 False Claims Act. That law states that contractors that make false claims to the government could be liable for three times the governments damages.The order also directed all federal agencies to choose the targets of up to nine investigations of publicly traded companies, large non-profits and other institutions with DEI policies that constitute Illegal discrimination or preference.The challenge for companies is knowing which DEI policies the Trump administration may decide are illegal. Trumps executive order seeks to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs and other activities of the federal government, and to compel federal agencies to , combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities. In both the public and private sector, diversity initiatives have covered a range of practices, from anti-discrimination training and conducting pay equity studies to making efforts to recruit more members of minority groups and women as employees. Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, has tried to hire more people from underrepresented groups for more than a decade but stepped up those efforts in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis triggered an outcry for more social justice. Shortly after Floyd died, Pichai set a goal to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in the Mountain View, California, companys largely Asian and white leadership ranks by 30% by 2025. Google has made some headway since then, but the makeup of its leadership has not changed dramatically. The representation of Black people in the companys leadership ranks rose from 2.6% in 2020 to 5.1% last year, according to Googles annual diversity report. For Hispanic people, the change was 3.7% to 4.3%. The share of women in leadership roles, meanwhile, increased from 26.7% in 2020 to 32.8% in 2024, according to the companys report.The numbers arent much different in Googles overall workforce, with Black employees comprising just 5.7% and Latino employees 7.5%. Two-thirds of Googles worldwide workforce is made up of men, according to the diversity report.Associated Press business reporter Alexandra Olson contributed to this report. MICHAEL LIEDTKE Liedtke has been covering technology and wide range of other business topics for The Associated Press since the turn of the century. twitter mailto

Dairy cows stand in a field outside of a milking barn at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center research facility in Ames, Iowa, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall,File)2025-02-06T00:29:59Z Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu thats different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday. The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them. I always thought one bird-to-cow transmission was a very rare event. Seems that may not be the case, said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.A version of the H5N1 bird flu virus known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after being introduced to cattle in late 2023, scientists said. It has infected more than 950 herds in 16 states. The new version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle on Friday, according to USDA. It was detected in milk collected as part of a surveillance program launched in December. Now we know why its really important to test and continue testing, said Angela Rasmussen, a virus expert at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, who helped identify the first spillover. The D1.1 version of the virus was the type linked to the first U.S. death tied to bird flu and a severe illness in Canada. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms following contact with wild and backyard birds. In British Columbia, a teen girl was hospitalized for months with a virus traced to poultry. At least 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, mostly those who work closely with dairy or cattle, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USDA officials said they would post genetic sequences and other information about the new form of the virus to a public repository later this week. Scientists said that would be key to understanding whether the spillover was a recent event or whether the virus has been circulating, perhaps widely, for longer. If this turns out to have been something that crossed into cattle a couple months ago, a couple months is a long time not to detect it, said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has studied the H5N1 virus in cattle. He added that its important for federal officials to share promptly information about a virus that has the potential to trigger a pandemic that could make COVID seem like a walk in the park. Its a vital part of national security, global security, the well-being of people, of animals and of businesses in the U.S., Worobey added. ___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.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-05T16:59:23Z LANSING, Mich. (AP) A group that played a key role in Donald Trumps voter outreach to the Arab American community alongside his allies is rebranding itself after the president said that the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip. Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, said during a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the group would now be called Arab Americans for Peace.The name change came after Trump held a Tuesday press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and proposed the U.S. take ownership in redeveloping the area into the Riviera of the Middle East.The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously were completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in Historic Palestine, Bahbah said. And so we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning. Arab Americans for Trump helped lead voter outreach efforts for Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election in swing states such as Michigan and Arizona. The residents of Dearborn, Michigan -- the heart of Arab America are going to take a deep breath following President Donald Trumps Gaza comments, a community leader said (AP video: Mike Householder) The group, independent from the Trump campaign, frequently facilitated meetings between Arab American community leaders and Trumps allies, including Richard Grenell, now serving as Trumps envoy for special missions, and Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trumps daughter Tiffany and now a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. In the 2024 election, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Dearborn, Michigan home to the nations largest concentration of Arab Americans since 2000 on his way to winning the state. Trump visited Dearborn on Nov. 1. Bahbah said the group had been thinking about changing its name for a while and ultimately made the decision Tuesday. But Bahbah had said during a phone interview just prior to Trumps Tuesday night press conference with Netanyahu that the groups name was Arab Americans for Trump. In a press release issued Wednesday by Arab Americans for Peace, the group said its members appreciate the presidents offer to clean and rebuild Gaza but take issue with the presidents suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants. JOEY CAPPELLETTI Cappelletti covers politics and state government for The Associated Press in Michigan. He is based in Lansing. twitter mailto

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy is greeted by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2025-02-05T09:54:30Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukraine wants to collaborate with partner countries on postwar projects worth billions of dollars not just in mining rare earth elements, but also in energy and construction sectors to help rebuild the country, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Wednesday.Sybiha responded to comments by President Donald Trump who said Monday that he wanted to gain access to Ukraines valuable rare earth materials as a condition for continuing support for its war against Russia.Ukrainian officials have said Russia wants to get its hands on Ukraines vast natural resources.Kyiv intends to offer guarantees of the presence of major businesses in Ukraine and the vested interests of our closest allies the United States in developing these (rare earth) deposits and ensuring their protection, the foreign minister said. But cooperation should not be limited to rare earth materials, Sybiha said in a news conference alongside visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy.Ukraine has huge potential to become a guarantor of energy security in Europe by buying liquefied natural gas from the United States and storing it in its massive underground tanks for later distribution, he said. Sybiha also said there was joint interest from Ukrainian and American businesses in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine, estimated to cost more than $400 billion. This will be one of the largest projects of this century and, accordingly, one of the largest opportunities for our allies. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Tuesday night that the war has killed 45,100 Ukrainian troops. The fighting also has injured close to 390,000 troops, he told Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.On Dec. 8, he said Ukraine had lost some 43,000 soldiers on the battlefield and 370,000 wounded.Russia hasnt given its number of killed since September 2022, seven months after its all-out invasion. If the U.S. stops sending vital military aid, that could also jeopardize European support, Zelenskyy said in the interview. Without a doubt, we cannot do without this kind of (Western) support, he said.Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the United States must be part of any Western troop deployment to safeguard a peace deal with Russia and shield against another invasion. Sending only European troops would not be enough, he said.Because this is not just a matter of numbers, it is about sharing responsibility and ensuring security guarantees. This cannot be done without the United States of America, he said at a news conference with Lammy.Ukrainian forces are slowly losing ground, especially in eastern areas, where they are being pushed backward by their bigger foe.Russias Defense Ministry claimed Wednesday that Russian troops had captured the villages of Baranivka in the eastern Donetsk region and Novomlynsk in the northeastern Kharkiv region.Baranivkas capture is part of Russias effort to envelop Pokrovsk, a key road and rail hub whose loss would compromise a wider area of defense, while the seizure of Novomlynsk is part of Russias onslaught toward Kupiansk, another important train junction. Ukraine keeps hitting the Russian militarys rear areas and supply lines in an effort to disrupt the creeping advance.Ukraines Army General staff claimed Wednesday that Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region of Russia overnight, setting it on fire.According to the General Staff, the oil refinery and petroleum product manufacturing plant supplies gasoline and diesel to the Russian army.The governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, claimed that fragments of a downed Ukrainian drone hit an oil tank at an oil depot in the village of Novominskaya early Wednesday, sparking a fire.The fire was put out shortly after and there were no injuries, emergency officials said.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Mexican National Guards arrive to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, to reinforce the country's border with the United States. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)2025-02-06T01:08:50Z CIUDAD JUREZ, Mexico (AP) A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Jurez and El Paso, Texas Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 officers Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump.Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Jurez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana.It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the countrys National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl smuggling. Trump has declared an emergency on the border despite migration levels and fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the part year. The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry. On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force. At least 1,650 officers were expected to be sent to Ciudad Jurez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 personnel are slated to be sent.During Secretary of State Marco Rubios trip through Latin America where migration was at the top of the agenda - the top American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government. The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of shrewd political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican leader. Many had previously cast doubt that shed be able to navigate Trumps presidency as effectively as her predecessor and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, second from left, and center Bam Adebayo (13) watch with their teammates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)2025-02-06T01:31:13Z Jimmy Butler has gotten his wish. Hes being traded out of Miami.The Heat and the Golden State Warriors have agreed on a deal that sends Butler to the Bay Area, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. The trade ends a Miami era for Butler that will be remembered first for two trips to the NBA Finals and then three suspensions toward the end of a hostile breakup.Golden State is making it happen by moving Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and draft compensation out in the deal, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not gotten league approval.It wasnt immediately clear if all three of those players were ending up in Miami.Golden State becomes Butlers fifth team, after stints in Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Miami. His arrivals were celebrated in all four cities, and his departures werent exactly smooth in any of them. But with the Warriors, he joins Stephen Curry and Draymond Green the two players left who have been part of all four recent Golden State title teams, with hopes of getting back to title contention. Butlers breakup with the Heat brewed for months. The primary issue that caused the beginning of the end of his Miami stint was money; hes eligible for a two-year, $113 million extension and the Heat never offered such a deal, largely because hes missed about 25% of the teams games since he arrived in 2019. There were other factors as well. Neither side was particularly happy with the other at the end, and it became evident that the fracture couldnt be repaired. Butler can be difficult to deal with and the Heat culture is such where it works best when everyone is aligned with team ideals. When he said he didnt expect to find on-court joy with the Heat again in early January, he was suspended for seven games as the last straw on a list of what the team called detrimental conduct. That was the start of a wild ending: Butler was suspended three times in January alone, the second a two-game ban for missing a team flight, the last an indefinite one of at least five games that followed him leaving shootaround early after learning he wasnt going to start a Jan. 27 game against Orlando.There was a lot said by everybody, except for me, to tell you the truth, Butler said after his first game back following the first suspension. Well let people keep talking. ... The whole truth will come out.He never said he wanted a trade; at least, not openly, because its not allowed by league rule and would have subjected him to a fine of up to $150,000. The Heat said Butler asked for one and when that was revealed the team also changed course from team president Pat Rileys December vow not to trade him; when the suspension was announced, the Heat said they were trying to make a trade happen.But there were obvious signs; his hair color for some games just happened to be in the colors of Phoenix, Dallas, Golden State and Houston the four teams that were most prominently mentioned as possible trade partners for Miami. For at least one game, Butler also wore shoes that perfectly matched the Suns color scheme. Butler is averaging 17 points per game this season. He had one of the best statistical games in Heat history against Detroit on Dec. 16 35 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.It was never the same again. In his six appearances following that Detroit game, including one where he departed in the first quarter with an illness, Butler averaged 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists.The Heat-Butler marriage wasnt always bad, of course. Butler arrived to fill Dwyane Wades spot as the star of the team, the face of the franchise. He even got Wades former locker space. He was an All-Star twice in Miami, helped the Heat to the NBA Finals in the bubble in 2020 and then as a No. 8 seed in 2023 and turned in some epic postseason performances. There have been 18 40-point games in Heat playoff history; Butler is responsible for eight of them, including a team-record 56 against Milwaukee in 2023. Butler leaves Miami in third place on the teams all-time playoff scoring list, behind only Wade and LeBron James.One of the last times Butler was seen as a member of the Heat was at a padel tournament on Jan. 25, which essentially became his farewell to Miami.I love this city with everything that I have, he said that day.Two days later, he was suspended by the Heat for the third and final time. And now, his Heat era is over.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba TIM REYNOLDS Reynolds is an Associated Press sports writer, based in South Florida. twitter mailto