Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and other dignitaries, attend an international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Normandy. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)2025-02-14T13:46:44Z BRUSSELS (AP) Increasingly alarmed that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere, a group of European countries has been quietly working on a plan to send troops into Ukraine to help enforce any future peace settlement with Russia.Britain and France are at the forefront of the effort, though details remain scarce. The countries involved in the discussions are reluctant to tip their hand and give Russian President Vladimir Putin an edge should he agree to negotiate an end to the war he launched three years ago.What is clear is that Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs a guarantee that his countrys security will be assured until peace takes hold. The best protection would be the NATO membership that Ukraine has long been promised, but the U.S. has taken that option off the table.I wont get into the particular capabilities, but I do accept that if there is peace then there needs to be some sort of security guarantee for Ukraine and the U.K. will play its part in that, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in cautious remarks on Thursday. The Europeans began exploring what kind of force might be needed about a year ago, but the sense of urgency has grown amid concern that U.S. President Donald Trump might go over their heads, and possibly even Ukraines, to clinch a deal with Putin.Many questions remain unanswered but one stands out: what role, if any, might the United States play? European powers consider the road aheadIn December, after Trump was elected but before he took office, a group of leaders and ministers huddled with Zelenskyy at NATO Secretary-General Mark Ruttes residence in Brussels. They came from Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Top European Union officials attended too.The talks built on an idea promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2024. At the time his refusal to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine prompted an outcry, notably from the leaders of Germany and Poland.Macron appeared isolated on the European stage, but his plan has gained traction since.Still, much about what the force might look like and who will take part will depend on the terms of any peace settlement, and more.Italy has constitutional limits on the use of its forces. The Netherlands would need a greenlight from its parliament, as would Germany, whose position could evolve after the Feb. 23 elections usher in a new government. Poland is cautious, given lingering animosities with Ukraine that date from World War II.We are in a very early stage, Hanno Pevklur, Estonias defense minister told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.While there are various ongoing discussions and rumors, it is critical for European allies to understand what the contact line in Ukraine will look like before coming up with a plan, Pevkur said.If Russia and Ukraine reduce their forces along the front line to a couple of thousand on both sides, then its not a problem for Europe to also be there, Pevkur said, pointing out that it would be much harder if there is still a boiling conflict. A robust security force rather than peacekeepersThe makeup and role of the force will be dictated by the kind of peace deal thats reached. If Russia and Ukraine can agree terms as the negotiations progress, its plausible that fewer security precautions and a smaller force would be needed.But experts and officials warn that, as things stand, the Europeans must deploy a robust and sizeable contingent, rather than a team of peacekeepers like United Nations blue helmets.It has to be a real force (so) that the Russians know that if they ever tested it that they would get crushed. And you can be sure that Russia will test it, Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe, said last month at a European Policy Centre think tank event.They violate every single agreement. So if we send a force in there, theyve got to have airpower, large land forces, drones, counter-drones, air and missile defense. All of that, he said. If they go in there with a bunch of blue helmets and rifles, they will get crushed. Retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of Frances military mission at the United Nations, agreed that U.N. peacekeepers are better suited for deployment in zones that are far more stable.For starters, mounting this operation with soldiers taken from across the world would take about a year, he said.There also needs to be training of Ukrainian soldiers and investment in Ukraines defense industry, Latvia Defense Minister Andris Sprds told the AP. How big a force?The nature of the peace deal will determine the size and location of the European contingent. Zelenskyy has insisted on at least 100,000 to 150,000 troops. Media reports have speculated about a 30,000-40,000 strong force. Diplomats and officials have not confirmed either figure.Ukraine also wants air support, not just boots on the ground.What is clear is that the Europeans would struggle to muster a large-scale force, and certainly could not do it quickly.In an interview on Friday with the Financial Times, Macron said that the idea of deploying a huge force is far-fetched.We have to do things that are appropriate, realistic, well thought, measured and negotiated, he said.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted this week on robust international oversight of the line of contact, a reference to the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) long front line. The Europeans are reluctant as that would require too many troops.Nearly all agree that some kind of American backstop is essential. European armed forces have long relied on superior U.S. logistics, air transport and other military capabilities.The U.S. lays down some rulesAt NATO headquarters on Wednesday, Hegseth began describing the terms under which the U.S. might agree to a force that would help provide Ukraine with the robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again.Any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops, Hegseth told almost 50 of Ukraines Western backers. If they go to Ukraine, he said, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission.Putin has said that he launched the invasion in part due to NATO territory expanding too close to Russias borders and is unlikely to accept any operation run by the worlds biggest military organization.Any European allies taking part would not benefit from NATOs collective security guarantee if they were attacked, Hegseth said. He underlined that there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.He did not reveal what role the U.S. might play.From Ukraines perspective, a Europe-only operation simply would not work. Any security guarantees are impossible without the Americans, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned Thursday.___Associated Press writers Emma Burrows in Munich, Germany and Angela Charlton and John Leicester in Paris and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP File)2025-02-15T00:35:50Z An Alabama woman who said she was raped by rappers Jay-Z and Sean Diddy Combs when she was 13 withdrew her civil lawsuit against both men on Friday, according to court filings.The unidentified woman in December added Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, to a lawsuit she had filed against Combs in Manhattan federal court, alleging that she was attacked by the singers in 2000 after Combs limo driver offered her a ride to an MTV Video Music Awards after-party.The court document submitted by the womans attorneys announcing the voluntary dismissal did not include any reasons or explanation for the withdrawal. Jay-Z, who vehemently denied the claims and tried to get extracted from the lawsuit, called the womans decision to withdraw her claim a victory and said the fictional tale she and her lawyers created was laughable. The frivolous, fictious and appalling allegations have been dismissed, he said in a statement posted on social media. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.Combs remains jailed in New York awaiting a criminal trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He also faces a wave of sexual assault lawsuits, many of which were filed by the plaintiffs lawyer, Tony Buzbee, a Texas attorney who says his firm represents over 150 people, both men and women, who allege sexual abuse and exploitation by Combs. Lawyers for Combs said dismissal of the lawsuit without a settlement confirmed that other lawsuits he is facing are built on falsehoods. For months, we have seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity, pushed forward by an attorney more focused on media headlines than legal merit. Just like this claim, the others will fall apart because there is no truth to them, they said in a statement, adding that Combs has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone man or woman, adult or minor. When asked for a response, Buzbee responded no comment in an email Friday night.Buzbees firm, which has set up a 1-800 number for accusers, has filed a wave of lawsuits against the hip-hop mogul. Buzbees lawsuits allege that many of the people he represents were abused at parties in New York, California and Florida where individuals were given drinks that were laced with drugs.Statements from both rappers derisively referred to Buzbee and his firm as the 1-800-lawyer. Jay-Z accused him of hiding behind Jane Doe for financial gain.When they quickly realize that the money grab is going fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions, he wrote. The system has failed.Jay-Z and Combs are part of a generation of hip-hop titans who rose to prominence in the 2000s, emerging as wide-ranging entrepreneurs and two of the worlds wealthiest rappers.The artists have collaborated over the years, with Jay-Z being featured on Combs debut album, No Way Out, and Combs appearing on Jay-Zs sophomore album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.Diddy launched his Bad Boy Records around the same time Jay-Z launched his Roc-A-Fella record label. The pair has been frequently photographed together at events.Jay-Z has won 25 Grammys while Diddy has collected three trophies. His Roc Nation company served as co-executive producer of the recent Super Bowl halftime show. SUSAN HAIGH Haigh covers the Connecticut General Assembly, state government, politics, public policy matters and more for The Associated Press. She has worked for The AP since 2002. twitter mailto JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. Landrum is an entertainment reporter based in Los Angeles. He reports on television, film and music for The Associated Press. twitter instagram mailto

People holding posters with photos of Israelis hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, react at the so-called "hostages square" as they watch their release live on a television screen in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)2025-02-15T05:46:25Z Three Israeli men held hostage in the Gaza Strip are set to be released on Saturday in exchange for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.Its the latest indication that the fragile ceasefire deal, which teetered in recent days, will hold. Nearly all the 73 remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers, and about half are believed to be dead.The two sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners so far during the first phase of the truce. The war could resume if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages captured in Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and an indefinite extension of the truce. Heres the latest:___ Hamas fighters gather ahead of hostage releaseKHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Dozens of masked and armed Hamas fighters have gathered in the southern Gaza Strip for the release of three Israeli hostages.As with previous exchanges, a stage was set up and the area was festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions. Nearby was the shell of a heavily damaged multistory building.The militants are expected to parade the hostages before crowds and cameras before handing them over to the Red Cross, which will transport them to Israeli forces. Who are the hostages and prisoners being released?All three hostages set to be released are men who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where some 80 of roughly 400 residents were taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack. Iair Horn, 46, is a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina. He was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who was staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity. Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, is an American-Israeli had was working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later. Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship, was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanovs father was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.Among the most prominent of the more than 300 Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti. Israel sentenced Ahmed Barghouti to life on charges that he dispatched suicide bombers during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002.The truce is holding, but its still very fragileThe ceasefire appeared dangerously close to collapse in recent days.Hamas said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of not adhering to their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble, while Israel said it would resume fighting Saturday unless hostages were freed.Trumps proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region threw the truces future into further doubt. Trump has proposed that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the Riviera of the Middle East. The idea has been welcomed by Israels government, whose far-right members are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of destroying Hamas and implementing Trumps plan. But it has been strongly rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, and human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.Hamas may be unwilling to release any more hostages if it believes the war will resume. The captives are among the only bargaining chips it has left.

In this photo released by Press Information Department, visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, walks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, right, during a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Press Information Department via AP)2025-02-13T08:32:31Z ISLAMABAD (AP) Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Israel during a visit to Pakistan on Thursday, speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and condemning ideas to forcibly displace them from their land. Speaking at a business forum, Erdogan accused Israel of failing to keep to a ceasefire agreement, warning that the region was being dragged toward blood and tears again. Erdogan reiterated his opposition to President Donald Trumps proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.Gaza belongs to our Gazan brothers and sisters and will remain so forever, he said in a televised speech at a business forum in the capital, Islamabad. The homeland for which the Palestinians have sacrificed tens of thousands of their children is not up for bargaining.Earlier on Thursday, Erdogan held talks on Gaza and bilateral Turkey-Pakistani trade and cooperation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The two leaders chaired strategic cooperation talks and witnessed the signing of 24 agreements and a memorandum of understanding on boosting economic and defense ties. Sharif said the two nations would try to increase the volume of their annual bilateral trade to $5 billion, from the current $1.4 billion. Erdogan said both Turkey and Pakistan strive to provide every effort to support the Palestinians. We must strengthen this determined stance, especially at a time when there are unlawful and morally unacceptable proposals such as tearing our Gazan brothers from their homeland, he added. Erdogan also paid tribute to Pakistani security forces and civilians killed in militant attacks, which Pakistan has blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and whose leaders and fighters are hiding in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban seized power in 2021.Pakistan and Turkey in the statement stressed that Afghanistan should not become a safe haven for terrorist groups and Kabul should take all necessary measures against TTP and the Islamic State group. The two sides expressed their grave concern at the unprecedented loss of lives and property as well as displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as a result of indiscriminate use of force by Israel. While welcoming the Gaza ceasefire, they hoped that the truce would lead to a permanent and durable ceasefire. As well as calling for greater humanitarian assistance, the two sides underscored that any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land as well as to continue illegal settlements constitute blatant violations of international law.The Turkish leader also met with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari before returning home. ___Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This combination of images provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Iair Horn, Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov and Sagui Dekel Chen, who all were abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)2025-02-15T04:47:59Z KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) Hamas-led militants released three male Israeli hostages Saturday, parading them before a crowd in the southern Gaza Strip before handing them over to the Red Cross as part of a shaky ceasefire deal that requires Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.The Red Cross delivered the three Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Rusian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 to the Israeli military, which said they were being taken for medical treatment and to be reunited with their relatives. All were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They appeared pale and worn, but seemed to be in better physical condition than the three men released last Saturday, who had emerged emaciated from 16 months of captivity. The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardized in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting.U.S. President Donald Trumps controversial proposal to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire. But Hamas said Thursday it would move ahead with the release of more hostages after talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials. The group said the mediators had pledged to remove all hurdles to ensure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza. It will be the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. So far, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners have been freed during the first phase of the truce.Red Cross vehicles carrying the hostages left the area in the southern town of Khan Younis where the handover took place, and were headed to deliver the hostages to Israeli forces. As with previous exchanges, the release was heavily choreographed, with the hostages made to walk onto a stage and make remarks into microphones before the crowd. Dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters lined up near the stage festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions while music blared from loudspeakers. Who are the hostages and prisoners being released?The three hostages were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities in southern Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the devastating war.Horn was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who had been staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity. Dekel Chen had been working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later.Troufanov was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanovs father was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.The Hamas-linked Prisoners Information Office said Friday that 369 Palestinians were set to be released from Israeli prisons on Saturday. It said 36 of those were serving life sentences. Among the most prominent Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure. Israel sentenced Ahmed Barghouti to life on charges that he dispatched suicide bombers during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002.Concerns are high about the remaining hostages conditionOf the 251 people abducted, 73 remain in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.Concern has been growing about the remaining hostages condition, particularly after the release of three last Saturday, who emerged looking emaciated and frail. One of them, 65-year-old Keith Siegel, said Friday in a video message addressed to Trump that his captors treated him worse as the 15-month war intensified, kicking him, spitting on him and holding him without water or light. The truce remains very fragileThe ceasefire appeared dangerously close to collapse in recent days.Hamas had said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of not adhering to their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble. Israel said it would resume fighting Saturday unless hostages were freed.While the immediate crisis may have been averted, the truce faces a much bigger challenge with the deals first phase set to conclude in early March. There have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.At its height, the fighting displaced 90% of Gazas population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have since returned to their homes as the ceasefire took hold, though many found only rubble, buried human remains and unexploded ordnance.The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Trumps plan increases uncertaintyTrumps proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has thrown the truces future into further doubt. The idea has been welcomed by Israels government. But it has been strongly rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.Trump has proposed that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the Riviera of the Middle East.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of destroying Hamas and implementing Trumps plan. The militant group remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.Hamas may be unwilling to release any more hostages if it believes the war will resume. The captives are among the only bargaining chips it has left.___Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the Munich Security Conference at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)2025-02-15T08:06:51Z MUNICH (AP) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday shot back strongly in defense of his stance against the far-right and said his country wont accept people who intervene in our democracy, a day after U.S. Vice President JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy.The German leader spoke with just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.MUNICH (AP) European leaders trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraines future were set to express their reactions on Saturday, as the Trump administration continues to upend trans-Atlantic conventions that have been in place since after World War II.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were to speak on the second day of the Munich Security Conference, a day after U.S. Vice President JD Vance all but scolded European allies over democracy and raised questions about the U.S. commitment to help Ukraines defense against Russian forces. U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in which he said the two leaders would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal. Trump later assured Zelenskyy that he, too, would have a seat at the table. The war was sparked by Russias invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Already Friday, the Ukrainian leader said that his country wants security guarantees before any talks with Russia. Shortly before meeting with Vance in Munich, Zelenskyy said he will only agree to meet in-person with Putin after a common plan is negotiated with Trump. After a 40-minute meeting with Zelenskyy, Vance said the Trump administration wants the war to end. Beforehand, Vance lectured European officials on free speech and illegal migration on the continent, warning that they risk losing public support if they dont quickly change course.The threat that I worry the most about vis--vis Europe is not Russia. Its not China. Its not any other external actor, Vance said in a speech that drew a tepid response. What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.On the sidelines of the event, Vance met with Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, nine days before a German election. Mainstream German parties say they wont work with the party in a longstanding stance to shun the extreme right in a country scarred by Nazism.Vance later headed back to Washington.Among other speakers set to take the dais in Munich were NATO chief Mark Rutte and foreign ministers from countries including Canada, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and from Syrias new government.___

Pope Francis autographs a bottle of bourbon held by Kentucky Catholic priest Rev. Jim Sichko at the Vatican on May 1, 2024. (Courtesy Vatican Media via AP)2025-02-15T05:04:33Z LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) It sounds like the opening line of a joke: What happens when the pope gets his hands on two bottles of Kentucky bourbon? But it actually occurred and the punch line is heartwarming: the autographed bottles raised tens of thousands of dollars to help poor and sick people, as well as homeless cats and dogs.The plan was concocted by the Rev. Jim Sichko, a Kentucky-based Roman Catholic priest. He saw an opportunity to turn a signature Kentucky product, and his access to Pope Francis as a papal missionary of mercy, into a way to help those in need by auctioning off bourbon bottles signed by the pope. Rev. Jim Sichko holds a bottle of Kentucky bourbon signed by Pope Francis on May 1, 2024. (Jim Sichko via AP) Rev. Jim Sichko holds a bottle of Kentucky bourbon signed by Pope Francis on May 1, 2024. (Jim Sichko via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More I understand that at times people say, What is this priest doing? I get it, Sichko said in a recent interview. I think outside the box all the time.His unconventional idea raised about $30,000 when Sothebys auctioned off two bottles signed by the pope, plus another bourbon bottle autographed by former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady. The proceeds are being divided among organizations selected by Sichko. He presented the first check on Jan. 31 to Paws 4 the Cause, an animal rescue organization in Lexington, Kentucky. Other checks will help hospice care in his native Texas and a legal clinic in Lexington that assists immigrants, he said. The Catholic Diocese of Lexington, where Sichko is based, will use some of the money to help people in need. It all began several years ago when Sichko gave Francis a bottle of hard-to-get Pappy Van Winkle bourbon as a gift when the priest visited Rome. After that, Sichko routinely presented a gift, often Kentucky bourbon, when encountering the pope as part of his role as a papal missionary of mercy. Pope Francis autographs a bottle of bourbon held by Kentucky Catholic priest Rev. Jim Sichko at the Vatican on May 1, 2024. (Courtesy Vatican Media via AP) Pope Francis autographs a bottle of bourbon held by Kentucky Catholic priest Rev. Jim Sichko at the Vatican on May 1, 2024. (Courtesy Vatican Media via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Sichko is one of hundreds of such missionaries appointed by Francis. They are assigned to travel the world spreading kindness, forgiveness, joy and mercy to people they encounter. Sichko, 58, said he travels the world about 300 days a year as a missionary and evangelist. During a visit to the Vatican last year, Sichko carried with him two bottles of bourbon, but with a different mission. He wanted to spread good to others by having the pope sign the two bottles donated by Willett Distillery in Kentucky. The bottles carried special seals and contained Willett bourbon that had aged for 10 years. When the time came, he mustered the nerve to seek the papal signatures.I just pulled out the bottle of bourbon with a pen, Sichko recalled. And he looked at me and he signed it. And I was shocked. And then what I did was I pulled out the other bottle. And he signed that.Sichko wasnt ready for what happened next. He looked at both bottles and he looked at me and he said, Father, which one of these is mine? Sichko recalled. That led to an uncomfortable confession.I said, Neither one of these are for you. I want to come up with a creative way to auction them off for the good of others, Sichko said. And thats how it came about.Sichkos teammate on the project was Drew Kulsveen, the master distiller at Willett Distillery. From the first conversation, our door was open knowing this contribution can impact countless people in need through his work, Kulsveen said in a statement. Pope Francis is pictured in a selfie photo with Rev. Jim Sichko at the Vatican on March 13, 2020. (Jim Sichko via AP) Pope Francis is pictured in a selfie photo with Rev. Jim Sichko at the Vatican on March 13, 2020. (Jim Sichko via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Kulsveen and his wife joined Sichko on the journey to Rome. He called it a tremendous honor watching the pope sign the bottles of bourbon from his distillery.Sichko received a warm welcome from workers at the animal shelter when he arrived carrying a $7,375 donation. Anita Spreitzer, vice president and general manager of Paws 4 the Cause, said it would help pay for an expansion of the shelter that was underway.Part of the donation, however, will be passed along to another animal rescue group, she said. That brought a hearty approval from Sichko, who said, Thats the way it goes give and receive.Sichko said he expects to return to the Vatican in about six months but doesnt know if he will ask the pope to sign more bourbon bottles.It loses its flair if youre constantly getting him to autograph things, the priest said. Sichko said he hopes his work has a ripple effect, inspiring acts of kindness by others. It can be as small as opening the door for someone or letting someone go ahead of them in the grocery checkout line.Everyone can do something, Sichko said. It costs nothing to be kind.Our world is turning into a very angry world, he added. And I think its time that we just chill out a bit and recognize truly what were called to be. And that is brothers and sisters. We may all have different skin colors. We may have all different ways of life. But I think we all come from the same place, and that is love and love of God.

Miley Cyrus attends the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)2025-02-14T20:25:30Z NEW YORK (AP) By the time Cher sang If I Could Turn Back Time, it seemed as if time had indeed been turned back, and every single Saturday Night Live musical guest of 50 years had magically found their way to Radio City Music Hall.Of course, it was only a smattering. But SNL50: The Homecoming Concert boasted an epic lineup. It was an evening of memorable solo performances and often fascinating, one-time-only collaborations: Bonnie Raitt and Chris Martin. Arcade Fire, David Byrne, St. Vincent and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Post Malone and Nirvana.The concert, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, was only one element of what has become an enormous celebration of the shows 50 years in existence, leading up to Sundays SNL50: The Anniversary Special, live from Studio 8H.But Friday night was all about music.Some highlights: Return of the 1990sIf a decade can win the night, lets hear it for the 1990s. A classic performance from that decade was most likely to get the Radio City audience on its feet, singing along and pulling out their phones to record. The Backstreet Boys proved irresistible when they broke into I Want it That Way. Snoop Dogg may have sung Gin and Juice, but he was trailed by enough smoke to give nearby audience members a contact high. Wearing a gigantic coat befitting a winter night, Lauryn Hill commanded the stage with Wyclef Jean and the crowd melted at the first notes of Killing Me Softly. Yes, (some) comics can do musicNaturally, some former SNL cast members reprised old characters, with varying levels of success. The Culps, the stuffy music teachers played by Will Ferrell and Ana Gastayer, hit harder and funnier than they ever did on the show. Their attempts at being current were hilarious and they even worked in a few verses of Not Like Us, with a plea for harmony between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Andy Samberg and Chris Parnells Lazy Sunday was welcome, but too short. Lady Gaga was a good sport, replacing Justin Timberlake to sing about a Christmas gift whose title cant be repeated here. But Bill Murrays lounge singer foursome routine with Gastayer, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong fell a bit flat. They love LorneSNL creator Lorne Michaels didnt perform, but he was referred to all night long.I love you, Lorne Michaels, declared Miley Cyrus, dedicating her hit song Flowers to the shows founder. Raitt, finishing I Cant Make You Love Me, thanked Michaels for having her on the show so many times. Lets give it up for Lorne, said former cast member Adam Sandler, introducing a collaboration between Post Malone and Nirvana. We love you buddy. And Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the British folk band Mumford & Sons, said he was there to represent Michaels admirers from across the pond. Creative collabsThe night featured fascinating collaborations that brought together musicians of all kinds. Cyrus teamed with Brittany Howard to sing Queens Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Arcade Fire joined with David Byrne, St. Vincent and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to perform David Bowies Heroes. Byrne later also collaborated with Robyn, in matching khaki suits, for Dancing On My Own and This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody). And for Raitts second song, she sat down with Chris Martin, the Coldplay frontman who became her pianist for I Cant Make You Love Me. In another collab of sorts, the B-52s were joined on Love Shack by former and current SNL cast members Fred Armisen, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman, singing the bang bang lyrics.Lady Gaga collaborated with herself, singing both parts of Shallow and bringing down the house. Most valuable playerQuestlove is more associated with the Tonight show, but he is proving to be the MVP of these Saturday Night Live anniversary festivities. Not only did the drummer produce the splendid documentary on the SNL musical legacy, but he effortlessly kept the beat with The Roots, his legendary hip-hop group and Tonight show house band, as they covered every style imaginable, from Snoop to Eddie Vedder to Brandi Carlile. Byrne bowed in appreciation.No JokeCarlile has become known lately for her collaborations, most notably coaxing Joni Mitchell back to the stage. Friday night provided a reminder of her own artistry with the political climate adding a special urgency to her impassioned version of The Joke. A second Nirvana reunionFor the second time in as many weeks, the surviving members of Nirvana reunited. Rather than the quartet of women who fronted the band for the Fire Aid concert, Malone took Kurt Cobains place on Friday. Their version of Smells Like Teen Spirit was fierce, a reminder of why the song packed such a wallop when it was first heard. 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 JOCELYN NOVECK Noveck is an Associated Press national writer specializing in culture and gender, and a film critic. twitter mailto

M23 rebels escort government soldiers and police who surrendered to an undisclosed location in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)2025-02-15T09:55:10Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Residents and business owners in eastern Congos second largest city sat in wait on Saturday morning after a night of loud gunfire marking the ongoing advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.Families remained indoors and shops remained closed as M23 fighters entered the outskirts of Bukavu a city of about 1.3 million people that lies 63 miles (101 kilometers) south of Goma, the regions largest city taken by the rebels last month.The group, backed by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congos mineral-rich east. Its southward expansion encompasses more territory than rebels had previously seized and poses an unprecedented challenge to the central governments authority.The rebellion has killed at least 2,000 people in and around Goma and left hundreds of thousands of displaced stranded, the U.N. and Congolese authorities have said. The rebels on Friday also claimed to have seized a second airport in the region, in the town of Kavumu outside Bukavu. The U.N. warned that the recent escalation of fighting with government forces has left 350,000 internally displaced people without shelter. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm who was in control of the strategically important airport, which Congolese forces have used to resupply troops and humanitarian groups used to import aid. Government officials and local civil society leaders did not immediately comment, though Congos Communications Ministry said the rebels had violated ceasefire agreements and attacked Congolese troops working to avoid urban warfare and violence in Bukavu.M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on X that the rebels took over Kavumu airport and its surroundings to eliminate the threat at the source. The airport posed a danger to the civilian population, he said. A local civil society leader in Kavumu reported seeing soldiers abandon their positions and head towards Bukavu a repeat of events that transpired last month in the lead-up to the M23s capture of Goma. Congos military, despite its size and funding, has long been hindered by shortcomings in training and coordination and recurring reports of corruption.International leaders are expected to discuss the conflict at the African Union summit in Ethiopia this weekend as Congos President Flix Tshisekedi continues to plead the international community to intervene to contain the rebels from advancing. However, little progress has been made since the government dismissed a ceasefire that M23 declared last wee unilaterally as false.Chaos and panic among residents Meanwhile, in South Kivu province, residents fled Bukavu into neighboring towns and stocked up on household supplies in anticipation of further bloodshed in the streets. The U.N. refugee agency has said that shelling and looting have already destroyed 70,000 emergency shelters, leaving those displaced with few places to go.I noticed that the soldiers were dropping out and fleeing, so I told myself that I could no longer stay in this place, said Chirimwami Alexis, among residents fleeing from Kavumu. The fear we have is people moving without any preparation or food. We are running away just because of this situation. -Associated Press Sam Metz in Rabat, Morocco, contributed to this report.

Residents welcome students in the Serbian industrial town of Kragujevac, who have arrived to protest the deaths of 15 people killed in the November collapse of a train station canopy, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)2025-02-15T09:14:37Z KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia (AP) Serbias striking students and supporters of populist President Aleksandar Vucic have planned parallel rallies on Saturday as both mark the countrys Statehood Day with notably contrasting messages.The student-led protest is the latest in a nationwide anti-graft movement that reflects mounting calls for fundamental political changes in the Balkan state, triggered after a concrete canopy on a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, killing 15 people.The rally, in the central industrial city of Kragujevac, is set to draw tens of thousands of people who, bedsides demanding justice over a fatal accident, have been asking to root out rampant endemic corruption and respect for the rule of law.Students chose Kragujevac for Saturdays rally because of its history; In 1835, Serbia was still part of the Ottoman Empire. People in Kragujevac announced a new constitution that sought to limit the powers of the then-rulers. The date is now celebrated as the Statehood Day. The students arrived at the city on Friday and were met with cheers and support by the residents. Ahead of Saturdays protest, they organized marches in various parts of the country, encouraging people to converge in Kragujevac. Some walked, others ran or cycled. Along their journey, people greeted them with food and refreshments and offered accommodation, many crying and expressing hope for change. Meanwhile, in Sremska Mitrovica, a small town northwest of Belgrade, Vucic is expected to recycle a traditional nationalist theme, warning that the West wants to unseat him by force and that this could lead to the breakup of the country. Serbian authorities are expected to bus in thousands of their supporters from throughout Serbia as well as Bosnia to Sremska Mitrovica on Saturday. Some opposition activists have said they will try to prevent their arrival. The anti-graft movement is Vucics biggest challenge in recent years. The president who has ruled Serbia with a firm grip on power for more than a decade and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been previously accused of stifling democratic freedoms, publicly discrediting opponents and rigging elections, according to international vote observers.The canopy disaster, widely believed to have happened due to government corruption, has become a flashpoint for wider discontent with the authoritarian rule, with university students at the forefront of the anti-graft uprising. Their determination, youth and creativity have struck a cord among people widely disillusioned with politicians.Prosecutors have charged 13 people over the canopy fall, and protests have forced the resignation of Serbias prime minister. But students have said their protests will continue until their demands for full accountability are met. In the past three months, the president has shifted between accusing the students of working for foreign powers to offering concessions and claiming he has fulfilled each of their demands. But during a trip to the Serb-controlled part of neighboring Bosnia this week, Vucic has reiterated claims about an alleged plot from abroad to overthrow him and his government. The authorities, Vucic said, couldnt believe how much money has been invested to bring down the government in Serbia. He offered no proof for the claims.Vucics trip to the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia was apparently designed to stress Serbian unity with the Serbs in Bosnia, where a bid to create a pan-Serb state in the 1990s was widely blamed for triggering a bloody war that left more than 100,000 people killed and millions displaced.___Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report from Belgrade.

A protester is silhouetted against a trans pride flag during a pro-transgender rights protest outside of Seattle Children's Hospital, in Seattle, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)2025-02-15T11:00:08Z The federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss its own lawsuit on behalf of a worker allegedly fired for his sexual orientation and gender identity, arguing that the case now conflicts with President Donald Trumps recent executive order, according to court documents. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday filed a joint motion to dismiss its case against Harmony Hospitality LLC, which operates a Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel in Dothan, Alabama, just eight months after the agency sued the company over its firing of an employee who identifies as nonbinary male and gay.The employee worked for Harmony as a night auditor and styled himself in conformity with male gender stereotypes at work, according to the EEOCs original lawsuit. But when he was called in for a meeting outside of working hours, he wore capri-cut joggers, pink-painted nails, and box braids. Upon learning about the employees gender identity and sexual orientation, Harmony Hospitalitys co-owner said the employee needed to be hidden because of his appearance, and seven hours later, he was fired via text message, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint accuses Harmony of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by terminating the employee because of his sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and failure to adhere to male gender stereotypes. The EEOCs request to now dismiss the case marks a major departure from its prior interpretation of civil rights law after the Trump administration declared that the government would recognize only two sexes: male and female. Thats in stark contrast to a decade ago when the agency issued a landmark finding that a transgender civilian employee of the U.S. Army had been discriminated against because her employer refused to use her preferred pronouns or allow her to use bathrooms based on her gender identity. Just last year, the EEOC updated its guidance to specify that deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, or refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, constituted a form of harassment. Former EEOC General Counsel and Professor and Co-Dean Emeritus at Rutgers Law School David Lopez, who served in the agency for more than 20 years, called the EEOCs move unprecedented and discriminatory.For an anti-discrimination agency to discriminate against a group, and say, Were not going to enforce the law on their behalf itself is discrimination, in my view. Its like a complete abdication of responsibility, Lopez told The Associated Press in a phone interview.The motion to dismiss the Alabama case, filed jointly with the defendants, comes just weeks after Trump dismissed two Democratic commissioners of the five-member EEOC before their terms expired, an unprecedented decision that removed what would have been a major obstacle to his administration efforts to upend interpretation of the nations civil rights laws. Had the commissioners been allowed to carry out their terms, the EEOC would have had a Democratic majority well into Trumps term. The administration also fired Karla Gilbride as the EEOCs general counsel, replacing her with Andrew Rogers as acting counsel. Shortly after their dismissal, acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, signaled her intent to put the agencys resources behind enforcing Trumps executive order on gender. She announced in a statement that one of her priorities would be defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights. Later, she ordered that the EEOC would continue accepting any and all discrimination charges filed by workers, although complaints that implicate Trumps order should be elevated to headquarters for review. Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters, Lucas said in her statement. Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly. She removed the agencys pronoun app, which allowed employees to display their pronouns in their Microsoft 365 profiles, among other changes. Nearly all workplace discrimination charges must pass through the EEOC at least initially and the agencys decision to drop the Alabama case raises serious questions about whether its protections will extend to LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming people going forward. Attorneys for Harmony Hospitality LLC did not immediately reply to emails seeking comment. In a court filing, the company denied the original allegations of discrimination in the EEOCs lawsuit and said the plaintiff was separated from employment based on reasonable, legitimate factors, though the company did not specify the reasons. The company also said the plaintiffs gender played no role in any of the companys actions. Asked for comment on why its dropping the case, an EEOC spokesperson replied that the agency will not comment on litigation. But in its motion to dismiss, the EEOC cites compliance guidance from the Office of Personnel Management on Trumps executive order titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government as the reason behind its decision.The EEOCs continued litigation of the claims in this action may be inconsistent with the Order and the OPM Guidance, the motion says.Jocelyn Samuels, one of the Democratic EEOC commissioners who was fired last month, said via email of the decision: I think it is truly regrettable and an illustration of the significant damage caused by the Presidents executive order. The Administrations efforts to erase trans people are deeply harmful to a vulnerable community and inconsistent with governing law. I hope that the EEOC will assist each of the individuals harmed by this withdrawal to find counsel who can represent them in vindicating their rights.Lopez of Rutgers University said dropping the Alabama case is not only inconsistent with a 2020 Supreme Court decision that ruled gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from discrimination in employment, but also the agencys own strategic priorities and harassment enforcement guidance.This is the inevitable outcome when the EEOC is weaponized to greenlight discrimination against American workers, added Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign, in an emailed statement. Instead of standing up for the rights of everyone to a workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and bias, the Trump administration is making it abundantly clear they will not protect working people.________The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. 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. CLAIRE SAVAGE Savage is a national reporter for the APs Business team. She covers women in the workforce and is based in Chicago. twitter instagram mailto ALEXANDRA OLSON Olson is a business reporter for The Associated Press, focusing on women in the workplace. She has spent many years as a correspondent in Latin America. twitter mailto

FBI agents search a neighborhood in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 where Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, who were involved in the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont, had been renting homes in the neighborhood, their landlord told The Associated Press. (WRAL-TV via AP)2025-02-15T05:07:24Z Heres a look at the timeline of events in a series of killings that culminated in a Jan. 20 highways shootout that killed a Border Patrol officer in Vermont. It is based on Associated Press interviews and a review of police reports, court records and online postings: 2016Jack LaSota, who uses feminine pronouns, a computer programmer and transgender woman living in the San Francisco Bay area, starts writing a blog under the online persona Ziz with complex and sometimes rambling theories about technology, gender identity and human cognition. She gets involved in the rationalist movement, a community that seeks to understand human cognition and is concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.2018LaSota attends programs organized by rationalist groups but splits from them after they reject her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain can hold separate values and genders. November 2019LaSota and three others Emma Borhanian, Gwen Danielson and Alexander Leatham are arrested during what they called a protest against sexual misconduct within rationalist organizations. August 2022The U.S. Coast Guard responds to a report that LaSota had fallen out of a boat in San Francisco Bay. No body is found. An obituary is published. November 2022Curtis Lind goes to court seeking to evict LaSota, Borhanian, Leatham and others who have been living in vans and box trucks on his property in Vallejo, California, for nonpayment of rent. On Nov. 15, two days before the eviction deadline, Lind is impaled with a sword and partially blinded in an attack during which he shoots and kills Borhanian. Concluding that Lind acted in self-defense, officials charge Leatham and Suri Dao with murder. LaSota is not charged but police report having contact with her at the scene. December 2022Rita and Richard Zajko are shot and killed in their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, on New Years Eve. A neighbors doorbell camera captures audio and video of a car pulling up to their home, a voice shouting Mom! and another voice exclaiming, Oh my God! Oh, God, God! January 2023Police question the Zajkos daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont. A few weeks later, officers briefly take her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel, but release her without charges. LaSota, staying at the same hotel, is arrested and charged with obstructing the homicide investigation and disorderly conduct. July 2023Felix Bauckholt, also referred to in court documents as Ophelia, begins renting half a duplex in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.May 2024Teresa Youngbluts parents report her missing in Seattle after she sends her mother emails saying she has moved in with a friend and changed her number. November 2024Youngblut and Maximilian Snyder apply for a marriage license in Washington state. Also this month, Youngblut begins renting a condo near Bauckholts in North Carolina. January 2025Youngblut and Bauckholt check into a hotel in Lyndonville, Vermont, on Jan. 14. Investigators put the pair under surveillance after a hotel worker reports concerns about their all-black tactical clothing and the gun Youngblut was carrying.On Jan. 17, Lind, the landlord in California is killed. Snyder is charged with murder, and prosecutors allege he was trying to prevent Lind from testifying against his earlier attackers.On Jan. 20, U.S. Border Patrol officers pull Youngblut and Bauckholt over on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont. Agent David Maland and Bauckholt are killed in a shootout. Youngblut, who is wounded, is charged with firearms charges.February 2025The FBI searches the Chapel Hill property where a landlord says Youngblut, Bauckholt and LaSota had been living earlier this winter.

A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-02-15T11:15:02Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis slept well during a quiet first night in the hospital after being admitted with a respiratory tract infection, and was up eating and reading Saturday, the Vatican said.Francis, 88, ate breakfast Saturday morning and read the newspapers while continuing his drug therapy, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.Francis was admitted to Romes Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.Preliminary tests showed he had a respiratory tract infection and a slight fever. The Vatican canceled his audiences through Monday at least.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, Dec. 16, 2020, south of Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)2025-02-14T22:46:38Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Defense Department has told the military services to reach out once again to service members who were forced out or voluntarily left the military because they refused to get the COVID vaccine and see if they want to reenlist. The directive reflects the executive order signed by President Donald Trump a week after he took office, and it says that all service members who opt to return to the military will have to reenlist for at least two years. According to a memo released on X, Darin Selnick, who is working as the defense undersecretary for personnel, said the vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on service members. It directs the services to set up a program to contact troops and begin doing so in two months.At least 8,200 troops were forced out of the military in 2021 for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. The military services sent out notices in 2023 to all troops discharged over the vaccine, advising them they could return to the military, but just 113 have reenlisted. Defense officials said at the time that many troops appeared to use the vaccine mandate as a way to get out of their service obligations quickly and easily. Its unclear how many more may now be interested, since this new offer will allow eligible troops to come in at their previous rank and give them back pay, benefits and bonuses, as long as they meet all requirements for the reinstatement. Officials have not provided any cost estimates. To return, all would have to meet weight, fitness, medical and other requirements, and they could be refused if they now have a criminal record or other disqualifying factor. Officers would have to get recommissioned, which is a simple appointment process. The memo directs the services to broadly apply waiver authorities to permit maximum eligibility, as appropriate. And, in a highly unusual move, only very senior civilian leaders confirmed by the Senate will have the authority to reject a waiver request. In addition, any recommendation to reject a service members request for reinstatement must be sent to the secretary of that service, and that authority cannot be delegated to anyone else. Traditionally waivers or other similar decisions are made at much lower levels.The services will have 30 days to identify those who were forced out solely for refusing the vaccine order, and within 60 days must begin a program to contact them. Once service members receive the estimate of back pay and other compensation, they will have 60 days to decide whether to return to the military. The offer is only good for one year from the date of the memo, which was Feb. 7. It wasnt posted publicly until late Thursday afternoon.Service members must go through screening through the Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records process. The memo directs the boards to move swiftly and give priority to COVID-related applications. Troops who left the service voluntarily to avoid the vaccine may also seek reinstatement but must submit a written statement saying they left for that reason. They will not receive back pay, but will have to commit to a two-year reenlistment. According to the services, 3,748 Marines were discharged, and 25 opted to re-enlist since the 2023 offer went out; 1,903 Army soldiers were discharged, and 73 returned; 1,878 sailors were discharged and two returned; 671 airmen were discharged and 13 returned.The Pentagon made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in August 2021 for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said getting the vaccine was critical to maintaining a healthy force prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon dropped the mandate in January 2023. LOLITA C. BALDOR Baldor has covered the Pentagon and national security issues for The Associated Press since 2005. She has reported from all over the world including warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. twitter mailto

Welcome back to the Abstract, 404 Media's weekly roundup of scientific studies to distract us from our present dystopia!This week, we are traveling back in time to 16th century Transylvania, so please make sure you are up to date on your bubonic plague shots. A study reconstructed wild weather events through the eyes of record-keepers during this fraught period, opening a tantalizing window into climate extremes unleashed by a vengeful God (according to contemporary reports).Then: making love the medaka way (get those anal fins ready). Next, the chillest insect in Antarctica (also: the only one). Finally, these turtles will dance for food, and yes, its very cute.The Haunting Weather Reports of 16th Century TransylvaniaGaceu. Ovidiu Rzvan et al. Reconstruction of climatic events from the 16th century in Transylvania: interdisciplinary analysis based on historical sources. Frontiers in Climate.Rejoice, for this week has delivered one of the best varieties of study: Science via historical documents. Sure, ice cores and geological strata are great for reconstructing past climates, but nobody can bitch about the weather better than a good old-fashioned red-blooded member of team Homo sapien.To that end, researchers searched for mentions of weird weather across a trove of diaries, monastery records, travel notes, and other documents from 16th century Transylvania, during a pivotal moment in climate history when a centuries-long cooling event called the Little Ice Age intensified, according to researchers led by Ovidiu Rzvan Gaceu of the University of Oradea.These types of studies are packed with colorful human testimonies that can corroborate natural records. More importantly, though, they are just fun to read, especially during such an evocative time and place, freshly haunted by the vampiric spirit of Vlad the Impaler. Some highlights:In August 1526, heavy rainfall caused freak floods in Braov that washed the walls of the fortress, demolished the main gate, and the fish also got caught in the big church, according to the Annals of Braov. Fish in the church! The ultimate baptism.In autumn 1553, people in the city of Cluj reported unusual weather events including October strawberries. For real, October is for pumpkins, get out of here with the strawbs. Turned out it was a bad omenthere was a plague the following winter. Keep that in mind if you see any late autumn strawberries: Kill on sight.Naturally, a lot of these accounts are heartbreaking. Locusts sometimes covered the whole sky and destroyed grain crops and caused terrible famines. A storm-related fire killed 14 people and made 60 poor. On September 29, 1582, there was such a big storm, as it was said that it had never been seen before in the city of Cluj, which uprooted the trees and raised the roofs of the houses, people believed that it is sent by divinity to punish the crimes committed by them.I mean, Im not saying these people werent doing crimes. Its 16th century Transylvania. Do what you gotta do. But that's not why there is extreme weather. Youre just in the Little Ice Age.The study ultimately identified multiple pieces of evidence associated with extreme weather events, including 40 unusually warm summers and several years of excess precipitation or drought. Taken together with natural archives, the documents paint a picture of troubled times, exacerbated by an unstable climate and possible emergent vampires. Relatable!Fish Spawn WildKondo, Yuki et al. Medaka (Oryzias latipes) initiate courtship and spawning late at night: Insights from field observations. PLOS One.Valentines Day is over, but the romantic mood is still in the airor in the water, if youre a medaka (flawless segue). Scientists have discovered that wild medaka, also known as Japanese rice fish, are fans of late-night booty calls, which is a behavior that has not been observed in captivity.Although medaka and other model organisms are invaluable in laboratories, their ecology in the wild remains largely unknown, said researchers led by Yuki Kondo of Osaka Metropolitan University. This study showed that medaka in the wild initiate spawning during late nocturnal hours and exhibit vigorous courtship behavior at midnight.Kondo and her colleagues recorded this vigorous courtship by placing GoPros into streams over the course of several summer nights in Gifu, Japan. The tapes revealed that medaka like to spawn in the dark, possibly to avoid predators during copulation. The results provide the first empirical evidence that medaka mating begins significantly earlier than previously reported in the laboratory.For anyone who feels clueless about courtship, may I offer a page from the Medaka Sutra:The spawning behavior of medaka follows a sequence of events: the male chases the female (following), the male swims rapidly around the female (quick circle), the male wraps his dorsal and anal fins around the female (wrapping), the female releases eggs, the male releases sperm (egg and sperm release), and the male leaves the female (leaving), according to Kondos team.The only true love language is, indeed, spoken with anal fins.Medaka at Medaka. Image: Osaka Metropolitan UniversityMajor bonus points also go to Osaka Metropolitan Universitys press team for throwing together this version of Edward Hoppers famous Nighthawks painting with medaka getting drinks at a bar that is also named Medaka. It is genuinely one of the most inspired public relations efforts I have ever seen, and Im going to get a print of it to hang on my wall.The Insect at the Edge of EarthYoshida, Mizuki et al. Obligate diapause and its termination shape the life-cycle seasonality of an Antarctic insect. Scientific Reports.Belgica antarctica, or the Antarctic midge, is the only insect that lives year-round on its namesake continent. Do you know how weird you have to be to be the only insect somewhere? But this midge doesnt care. It just lives out its bug life, which lasts two years, in an otherwise bugless wasteland.Humans definitely care about the midge, thoughhow could we not? What is it doing there? How is it not dead? What can it teach us about cryopreservation? These questions are addressed in a new study that resolved mysteries about the animals interesting life cycle.Freeze tolerance and cryoprotective dehydration are cold tolerance strategies used by various invertebrate species in polar regions and indeed, B. antarctica utilises both for overwintering, said researchers led by Mizuki Yoshida of the Ohio State University, who completed the project while at Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU killing it this week).Larvae that are frozen in ice and cryoprotectively dehydrated readily survived 32 days of simulated overwintering, the team said. Unlike many insects restricted to highly specific microhabitats, B. antarctica larvae inhabit a remarkably diverse range of substrates that differ in vegetation, substrate type, slope, drainage, and thermal and hydric conditions.Antarctic midges. Image: Osaka Metropolitan UniversityI love the phrasing of readily survived as if the midges were eager to show off their cryoprotective superpowers. After this 32-day period they emerged with That all you got? energy. By studying the bugs in these simulated conditions, the researchers confirmed that they rely on multiple overwintering strategies, including a state of arrested development called obligate diapause.Diapause has long been assumed to be uncommon in Antarctic species, but the present study reveals that B. antarctica utilises diapause for seasonal adaptation, as in many temperate species, Yoshida and her colleagues said.In addition to being the only endemic Antarctic insect, this midge has the smallest genome of any known insect while also being the largest fully terrestrial animal on the continent, even though its only a few millimeters long. In other words, it is the biggest animal in Antarctica that doesnt fly or swim. Okay, Antarctic midge. You just keep doing you.Everyone Do the TurtleGoforth, Kayla et al. Learned magnetic map cues and two mechanisms of magnetoreception in turtles. Nature.Last, turtles do a little victory dance when they find food. Yes, it is cute. Yes, there is a video.The footage (along with this extended clip) is part of a study that tested if turtles could distinguish the magnetic signatures of two geographical areas. When the turtles were exposed to signatures associated with an area they associated with food, they danced in anticipation of a meal, demonstrating that they could tell the signals apartand party accordingly.Hallmarks of the behaviour include some or all of the following: tilting the body vertically, holding the head near or above water, opening the mouth, rapid alternating movement of the front flippers, and, occasionally, even spinning in place, hence the name turtle dance, said researchers led by Kayla Goforth of Texas A&M University. Turtles exhibited significantly higher levels of turtle dance behaviour when experiencing the field in which they had been fed.With that, lets all tilt vertically, spin in place, and shell-abrate the long weekend.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, third left, speaks during a bilateral meeting with United States Vice-President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)2025-02-14T18:53:03Z MUNICH (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to President Donald Trumps history as a dealmaker on Friday, offering flattering words as he sought the U.S. presidents leadership in negotiations that could end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.I hope that we can count that, really, President Trump will help us, Zelenskyy said during the Munich Security Conference. I really count on him because he is the president of the United States.Trump was not in Munich, but his presence loomed large over the gathering.Zelenskyy, speaking in English during a panel discussion with U.S. senators, did not hesitate to lay on the approbation for the U.S. president: I see, yes, that he is a strong man. And if he will choose our side, and if he will not be in the middle, I think he will pressure and he will push Putin to stop the war. He can do it. The Ukrainian presidents comments came after Trump upended years of steadfast U.S. support for Ukraine by talking directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a call on Wednesday. The U.S. president has been vague about his specific intentions, other than suggesting that a deal will likely result in Ukraine being forced to cede territory that Russia has seized since it annexed Crimea in 2014. Trump has long played up his deal-making abilities stretching back to his days as a New York developer including in his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, and his reality TV show, The Apprentice. Zelenskyy on Friday said he will agree to meet with Putin only after we have common plan with Trump, and told the crowd Trump had recently given him his telephone number.Some in Munich were wary about what Trumps dealmaking might produce. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was convinced that a simple make a deal and leave would weaken us all: Ukraine and Europe, but also the U.S. But Lithuanias defense minister said Europe needs to admit the harsh reality that it needs the United States and Trump, whom she called creative with out-of-the-box solutions.Dovil akalien said Europe needs to muscle up and the continent must band together against Russia. We cannot get in a quarrel. We cannot become hostile to each other, akalien told The Associated Press in Munich.In Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put the spotlight on his boss as personally leading any negotiations.President Trump will be the one at the table with Zelenskyy and Putin, Hegseth said, to lead to a lasting and enduring peace that will not embolden Russia.But its not just Trump who likes to emerge from every negotiation as the winner.Hegseth said that while Trump would have a seat at the table, he expects Putin to claim victory no matter what.Zelenskyy acknowledged that all parties want to claim success.I think everyone will try to come out of this situation as winners, Zelensky told reporters. I mean, the United States wants victory. The Russians want this victory very much, you understand. And Ukraine it deserves it, thats all. And thats why it will be very difficult. Just very difficult.He added: But who said we wouldnt overcome difficulties?__Scislowska reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Dazio from Berlin. EMMA BURROWS Burrows is an Associated Press reporter covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is based in London. twitter STEFANIE DAZIO Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump walks from the Oval Office to board Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-15T14:09:09Z WASHINGTON (AP) As President Donald Trump approaches the first-month mark in his second term, he has moved with dizzying speed and blunt force to reorder American social and political norms and the economy while redefining the U.S. role in the world.At the same time, he has empowered Elon Musk, an unelected, South African-born billionaire, to help engineer the firing of thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies created by Congress. Those efforts have largely overshadowed Trumps crackdowns on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border, and his efforts to remake social policy by wiping out diversity, equity and inclusion programs and rolling back transgender rights. The president has also imposed scores of new tariffs against U.S. trade partners and threatened more, even as economists warn that will pass costs on to U.S. consumers and feed inflation. Heres a look at the first four weeks: Mass f ederal firings begin The Trump administration fired thousands of workers who were still in probationary periods common among new hires. Some had less than an hour to leave their offices. Those potentially losing jobs include medical scientists, energy infrastructure specialists, foreign service employees, FBI agents, prosecutors, educational and farming data experts, overseas aid workers and even human resources personnel who would otherwise have to manage the dismissals. At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to protect the public after the 2008 financial crisis, employees say the administration not only wants to cut nearly the entire workforce but also erase all its data from the past 12 years. The administration agreed to pause any further dismantling of the agency until March 3, under a judges order. While Trump promised to turn Washington upside down, his moves could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal employees around the country and drive up the unemployment rate if large numbers of layoffs happen at once. President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, en route to West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, en route to West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Legal challenges mount Court challenges to Trumps policies started on Inauguration Day and have continued at a furious pace since Jan. 20. The administration is facing some 70 lawsuits nationwide challenging his executive orders and moves to downsize the federal government. The Republican-controlled Congress is putting up little resistance, so the court system is ground zero for pushback. Judges have issued more than a dozen orders at least temporarily blocking aspects of Trumps agenda, ranging from an executive order to end U.S. citizenship extended automatically to people born in this country to giving Musks team access to sensitive federal data. While many of those judges were nominated by Democratic presidents, Trump has gotten unfavorable rulings from judges picked by Republican presidents, too. Trump suggested he could target the judiciary, saying, Maybe we have to look at the judges. The administration has said in the meantime that it will appeal, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt railed against the orders slowing the presidents agenda, calling each an abuse of the rule of law. The administration has notched a few wins, too, most significantly when a judge allowed it to move forward with a deferred resignation program spearheaded by Musk. The economic outlook worsensAmid the policy upheaval, the latest economic data could prompt some White House worries. Inflation rose at a monthly rate of 0.5% in January, according to the Labor Department. Over the past three months, the consumer price index has increased at an annual rate of 4.5% -- a sign that inflation is heating up again after having cooled for much of 2024. Trump told voters he could lower inflation, and do so almost immediately after taking office. But Leavitt, while blaming Trumps predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, acknowledged the latest inflation indicators were worse than expected.More trouble signs came when the Commerce Department reported that retail sales slumped 0.9% on a monthly basis in January. A drop that large could signal a weakening in consumer confidence and economic growth. The Federal Reserves report on industrial production also found that factory output slipped 0.1% in January, largely due to a 5.2% drop in the making of motor vehicles and parts.These could all be blips, which means the monthly data in February will really matter. The fair trade Trump wants isnt necessarily fair After previously imposing tariffs on China and readying import taxes on Canada and Mexico, Trump rolled out what he called the big one. He said his administration would put together new tariffs in the coming weeks and months to match what other countries charge.Other nations hardly find Trumps approach fair.From their vantage point, he is including items other than tariffs such as value added taxes, which are akin to sales taxes. That means the rates could be much higher than a standard tariff in Europe. On top of that, Trump plans separate additional tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceuticals, in addition to the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that he announced on Monday.It is not clear whether these trade penalties are mainly negotiating tools or ways for Trump to raise revenues. So far, he has suggested that they are both.Congress watches its authority erode. But there are signs of pushbackCongress finds itself confounded by the onslaught as its institutional power as the Constitutions first branch of government with its unmatched authority over federal spending is being eroded in real time.House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he finds the work of Musks team very exciting. Johnson said Trump is taking legitimate executive action.But even among congressional Republicans there were small signs of protest emerging letters being written and phone calls being made to protect their home-state interests and constituents as funding for programs, services and government contracts is being dismantled. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., urged the Homeland Security Department not to issue blanket deportations for Venezuelan migrants who fled their country and now call the Miami-area home. Im not powerless. Im a member of Congress, he said.Democratic lawmakers have joined protesters outside shuttered federal offices, arguing Trump and Musk had gone too far. Democrats suggested legislation to protect various programs, and even filed articles of impeachment against the president over his plans to bulldoze and redevelop Gaza. President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media during a briefing at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko, File) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media during a briefing at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Trump wants a new world order With his phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin this past week, Trump is hoping he initiated the beginning of the end of the Kremlins war on Ukraine.The leaders agreed to have their teams start negotiations immediately. After getting off the phone with Putin, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss getting both sides to the negotiating table.The Putin call is a monumental development in a war that has left hundreds of thousands dead or seriously wounded.But the way ahead remains complicated.Zelenskyy said he will not meet with Putin until a plan for peace is hammered out by Trump. Trump has gotten blowback when European leaders sharply criticized him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for suggesting that NATO membership was not in the cards for Ukraine.The White House faces a further quandary with Zelenskyy wanting the U.S. and other countries to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and Zelenskyy insisting that he and Trump iron out an agreement on the contours of any peace deal.___Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Munich and AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro 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 JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto

An assortment of Kellogg's Froot Loops, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, and Honey Smacks in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., June 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)2025-02-15T13:54:12Z The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the dye known as Red 3 from the nations food supply in January, setting deadlines for stripping the brightly hued additive from candies and cough syrup, baked goods and frozen treats.The agency said it was taking the action because studies found that the dye, also known as erythrosine, caused cancer in lab rats. A federal statute requires FDA to ban any additive found to cause cancer in animals, though officials stressed that the way Red 3 leads to cancer in rats doesnt happen in people.But the dye is only one of several synthetic colors widely found in common foods and other products.As their use is questioned by experts and consumers, heres what you need to know: What are artificial colors?Synthetic dyes are petroleum-based chemicals that dont occur in nature. Theyre widely used in foods to enhance the visual appeal of products, according to Sensient Food Colors, a St. Louis-based supplier of food colors and flavorings.Nine dyes, including Red 3, have been allowed in U.S. food. The other common color additives in food are Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. Two permitted colors are used more rarely: Citrus Red 2 and Orange B.The FDA certifies synthetic color additives and regulates their use.With the FDAs recent order on Red 3, manufacturers have until January 2027 to remove the dye from their products. Makers of ingested drugs like cough syrups have until January 2028. Who is concerned about these dyes and why?Consumer advocates, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, had long lobbied to ban Red 3 from food because of the rat-cancer link. The dye was prohibited for decades in cosmetics, but not in food or ingested medications.Other research has tied artificial colors to behavioral problems in some children, including hyperactivity and impulsivity, particularly for those at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.Artificial colors are not the main cause of ADHD, but they may contribute significantly to some cases, said Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, an emeritus psychiatry professor at Ohio State University who studied dyes and their effect on behavior and now advises CHADD, a support group for people with ADHD.The FDA says it has reviewed and evaluated the effects of color additives on childrens behavior. It says its scientists believe that most children suffer no adverse effects when consuming them, though it acknowledges some children may be sensitive to them.About two-thirds of Americans favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.Will other colors be banned?Momentum is building for the removal of synthetic dyes in foods. Last year, California became the first state to ban six artificial food dyes from food served in public schools. More than a dozen state legislatures may take up bills this year that would ban synthetic dyes in foods, either for school lunches or in any setting. In October, protesters demanded that WK Kellogg Co. remove artificial dyes from cereals such as Apple Jacks and Froot Loops. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently confirmed as the U.S. secretary of health and human services, campaigned on a promise to Make America Healthy Again, including a focus on artificial dyes and other chemicals in food. His support has been buoyed by MAHA moms, women on social media calling for an end to artificial ingredients and ultraprocessing in the U.S. food supply, among other concerns. I was called a conspiracy theorist because I said that red dye caused cancer, Kennedy said during his confirmation hearing. Now, FDA has acknowledged that and banned it.What about natural colors?It is possible to add color to foods with natural ingredients. Some manufacturers have already reformulated products to remove Red 3. In its place they use beet juice; carmine, a dye made from insects; or pigments from foods such as purple sweet potato, radish and red cabbage.But its tricky, said Meghan Skidmore, a Sensient spokesperson. Natural dyes may be less stable than synthetic dyes and may be affected by factors including heat and acid levels. Its not impossible to replace, but theres not a single solution, she said. How can you avoid synthetic dyes?Because the dyes are so widely used, it can be difficult to find foods that dont contain color additives.The best to way to avoid the dyes is to read ingredient labels, said Arnold.If the list is so long that you dont want bother reading it and it probably has things in it you cant pronounce, dont buy it, he said.___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.

Darren Cobb poses for a photo at his home Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)2025-02-15T15:00:06Z NEW YORK (AP) To President Donald Trump, its a hotbed of waste, fraud and abuse whose only purpose is to destroy people and whose staff amounts to a vicious group.To Jonathon Booth, its simply the agency that helped him get $17 back.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in the crosshairs of a White House that has halted its work, closed its headquarters and fired scores of its workers. But to many who have turned to the agency, it has been an effective problem-solver that fought abusive businesses when no one else would.This is the core of consumer protection someone willing to help with stuff thats small enough that no one would sue over, says Booth, a 34-year-old professor from Boulder, Colorado, who filed a complaint with CFPB in October when his credit card company wouldnt remove an errant late fee. If theres no one watching, if the risk of getting caught goes down, more companies will bend the law to make money. A few weeks after Booth turned to CFPB, his case was closed and his account credited.Even as Trump and his cost-cutting czar, the billionaire Elon Musk, have demonized and neutered the agency, its defenders tell success stories of its work. Created under the 2010 DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and beginning its work in 2011, CFPB says it has fielded more than 7.7 million complaints and returned nearly $20 billion to consumers in just over 13 years of existence. Nurit Baytch, a 47-year-old from Cambridge, Massachusetts, turned to CFPB last month after a dispute over a basement mold removal project. Baytch, who is disabled, said she discovered a worker knocked over a jug of hydrogen peroxide, soaking boxes of photos, books and electronics. When neither the contractor nor Venmo, the service she used to pay him, would help, she contacted CFPB. She didnt expect to receive anything out of the filing, but less than two weeks later, she was refunded $100 to cover the damage. Baytch now calls the agency an unalloyed good. The only people its bad for is big businesses that want to mistreat consumers, Baytch says, calling Trumps targeting of the agency dishonest. Any voter who understands what it does sees its a positive thing.CFPB, a response to the 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing Great Recession, was set up to protect Americans from credit card companies, mortgage providers and debt collectors, among others. It was a brainchild of Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts prior to her election to the Senate and, from its birth, has been a source of ire for the finance industry and many Republican lawmakers.Conservatives have long branded CFPB a power-hungry agency that goes beyond its authority, a viewpoint made clear in the sweeping far-right vision for the U.S. known as Project 2025, which called the bureau a shakedown mechanism for leftist nonprofits.Still, nothing has compared to what awaited CFPB since Trump returned to Washington. The White House branded the agency woke and weaponized and ordered it to stop nearly all its work. A judge ruled Friday that plans for mass layoffs, deletion of data or removal of funding from the agency must be halted at least through March 3. But CFPBs future has never seemed more tenuous.Its been troubling to watch for those like Barbara Seese, a 71-year-old retired teacher in Phoenix, who says CFPB is far from the villain Trump has portrayed it as.A hero, she says of the agency.A decade ago, Seese was pestered by debt collectors who claimed her 95-year-old father had unpaid dentist bills. Even as the calls persisted and got increasingly ugly, the debt collectors refused to give basic information for Seese to check if there actually were bills that she let slip through the cracks.She reached out to attorneys general in two states but it wasnt until she filed a claim with CFPB that anything changed. Within a day, the calls stopped, and a week later, the case was closed. The debt, it turned out, was for another man with the same name as her father. They were just so helpful, so informative, so professional. I just really felt like I was in safe hands, in good hands, says Seese. Once a complaint is filed with CFPB, it is reviewed by staff and the clock begins ticking. In cases outside CFPBs oversight, the consumer is referred to another regulator or advised to contact a local authority like their state attorney general. But for cases within CFPBs purview pertaining to large financial services companies the complaint is routed to that company, which typically has 15 days to respond.Sometimes, the simple involvement of CFPB and the clout of its name leads to an immediate resolution from a company eager to avoid a negative light in the agency complaint database. For others, it prompts additional investigation. And in some, the company digs in its heels, insisting it is in the right. The agencys work has two essential tracks: the micro view of individual complaints and the macro view across all complaints that informs broader regulation and lawsuits. Whatever the outcome in the former could lead to action in the latter.In 2023, some 40% of cases were closed with some sort of non-monetary relief. Just 1.5% resulted in a payment to the consumer.I would like to see more of these complaints resolved, but no agency is flawless, says Ruth Susswein, director of consumer protection at the nonprofit Consumer Action and a wholehearted supporter of CFPB. Resolution is the goal but its not the only benefit of this system, of this process.As much of a target as CFPB has been for some, it had recently showed signs of staying power. Bills introduced to repeal the agency in the last Congress went nowhere and a Supreme Court case aimed at dismantling the way CPFB is funded failed last year by a 7-2 vote.The bureau marshaled on, with recent work including capping bank overdraft fees and removing medical debt from consumer credit reports. Now, all of it is in doubt.Musk conceded the agency staff did above zero good things, but still need to go. CFPB had about 1,700 employees late last year. Its budget last fiscal year was $729 million.Though many are quick to defend Trumps moves and agree Washington is a hotbed of waste, the attack on CFPB has caused even some of his supporters to pause.Darren Cobb, a 61-year-old retired auto dealership manager from Las Vegas, spent two months wrestling with his mortgage company last year when it failed to pay local taxes that he was billed for. Nine letters and countless calls yielded nothing.But Cobb says as soon as he filed a CFPB complaint, the mortgage companys tenor changed. Within two weeks, the claim was settled. To avoid being in arrears with his county, he had paid the roughly $800 tax bill a second time. The mortgage company finally refunded the money.With CFPBs intervention, a check was overnighted to him.Sometimes youre up against a brick wall and you need an advocate, says Cobb. If that program is disbanded, where is a consumer supposed to turn to? There is nobody.Cobb voted for Trump and agrees there is government waste, but cautions the president to make sure he understands the work of the agency hes targeting.You just cant get scissors out and start cutting without understanding what youre cutting, he says.___Matt Sedensky can be reached at [emailprotected] and https://x.com/sedensky. MATT SEDENSKY Sedensky is a national writer for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Motorists travel along a snow covered State Route 267 in Truckee, Calif., Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)2025-02-15T16:37:32Z LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Much of the eastern U.S. braced for a renewed round of harsh, soggy weather on Saturday, while snowstorms were predicted in the Northeast and heavy winds brought the threat of tornadoes to the Mississippi Valley.Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Arkansas were under flood warnings, and residents were warned by the National Weather Service to stay off roads. Parts of western Kentucky could face up to 8 inches of rain.Gov. Andy Beshear preemptively declared a state of emergency in Kentucky, where flash flooding is expected on Saturday and into Sunday.We want to specifically put assets in places that flood and have flooded in the past, Beshear said on social media.The weather service said flash flooding is possible in the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys. In Tennessee on Saturday, flash flood warnings were alerted in some counties north of Nashville until Saturday evening. The National Weather Service called the expected rain a major, potentially historic, flash flood event.Heavy snow, meanwhile, was expected to blanket much of New England and then transition to sleet, making travel nearly impossible, the NWS said. In northern New York, heavy mixed precipitation is expected throughout the weekend. Weather forecasters said residents should expect snow, sleet and ice accumulations of six to 13 inches and wind gusts as high as 45 mph (72 kph) late Saturday and Sunday.Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice and strong winds. Travel could be very difficult to nearly impossible, the NWS said. Frigid polar vortex arrives Saturday Meteorologists warn that the U.S. is about to get its 10th and coldest polar vortex stretching event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe. The latest projected cold outbreak should first hit the northern Rockies and northern Plains on Saturday and then stick around all next week.In Denver, where temperatures are expected to dip as low as 14 degrees (minus 10 degrees Celsius) over the weekend, the city has extended its cold weather shelters for those living on the streets. The Denver Coliseum will be opened Saturday for additional space.In the Rocky Mountains, skiers eager for the long Presidents Day weekend are already facing a closure on a section of Interstate 70 due to snow as officials warn of hazardous conditions on the mountain roads over the weekend. California struggles with mudslidesDry weather returned to southern California after the strongest storm of the year but the risk of rock and mudslides on wildfire-scarred hillsides continued Friday since dangerous slides can strike even after rain stops, particularly in scorched areas where vegetation that helps keep soil anchored has burned away.Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people.A storm in the Sierra Nevada mountains dumped 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow over 36 hours. Two ski patrol staff from Mammoth Mountain were caught in an avalanche during avalanche mitigation work Friday morning, the resort said in a Facebook post. One was extracted and was responsive, while the other was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.__Olga R. Rodriguez and Eugene Garcia in California contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House, May 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)2025-02-15T18:41:16Z VIENNA (AP) A 23-year-old man stabbed five passersby in southern Austria on Saturday in what police said was a random attack that left a 14-year-old dead and four others injured.The suspect was detained in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said. He is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria, they said.The victims were all men. Two were seriously injured and two sustained minor injuries, police said.Police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio said a motive was not immediately known. He added that police were investigating the attackers personal background. We have to wait until we get secure information, he said.A 42-year-old man who works for a food delivery company witnessed the incident from his car, police said. He drove toward the suspect and helped to prevent things from getting worse, Dionisio told Austrias public broadcaster ORF. Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim. This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values. Erwin Angerer, a lawmaker for the far-right Freedom Party, said his party had been warning about the situation in Austria as a result of the countrys disastrous asylum policy. Austrias Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was expected in Villach on Sunday morning.Police said it wasnt clear whether the suspect acted on his own and continued to search for potential additional suspects. It was also not known whether there is any connection between the attacker and the victims. According to the Austrian Ministry of Interior, 24,941 foreigners applied for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants comes from Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Over the past two years, the number of asylum seekers has decreased significantly. In 2022, applications peaked at over 100,000, while approximately 59,000 individuals sought asylum in 2023.Several European countries, among them Austria, said in December they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear political situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad.

The sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is seen. May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)2025-02-15T16:23:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agencys plans, and cuts could happen as soon as next week.This comes as the Trump administration intensified sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection. Its unclear how many IRS workers will be affected. Previously, the administration announced a plan to offer buyouts to almost all federal employees through a deferred resignation program to quickly reduce the government workforce. The program deadline was Feb. 6, and administration officials said employees who accept will be able to stop working while still collecting a paycheck until Sept. 30.However, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were told they will not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline, according to a letter sent recently to IRS employees. It is unclear how many workers will be impacted by the layoff announcement plan. Representatives from the U.S. Treasury and IRS did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment. Jan. 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline. The Biden administration invested heavily in the IRS through an $80 billion infusion of funds in Democrats Inflation Reduction Act, which included plans to hire tens of thousands of new employees to help with customer service and enforcement as well as new technology to update the tax collection agency. Republicans have been successful at clawing back that money, and billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have called for the U.S. to delete entire agencies from the federal government as part of his to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities. Elected officials are trying to fight against DOGE plans. Attorneys general from 14 states challenged the authority of to access sensitive government data and exercise virtually unchecked power in a lawsuit filed Thursday.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, says the actions taken by Musk at the helm of DOGE can only be taken by a nominated and Senate-confirmed official. It cites constitutional provisions that delineate the powers of Congress and the president. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto

White South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)2025-02-15T10:39:12Z PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday and gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government.Hundreds of protesters held placards that read Thank God for President Trump and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority.Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africas Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trumps claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions. Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners which the order referred to as racially disfavored landowners when no land has been taken under the law. Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S. They are only one part of South Africas white minority. In a speech to Parliament this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the forced removal of any people from their land will never be allowed in South Africa again after millions of Blacks were dispossessed of property under the apartheid system of white minority rule and hundreds of years of colonialism before that. The people of this country know the pain of forced removals, Ramaphosa said. He said the land law does not allow any arbitrary taking of land and only refers to land that can be redistributed for the public good.The Trump administrations criticism and punishment of South Africa has elevated a long-standing dilemma in the country over moves to address the wrongs of centuries of white minority rule that oppressed the Black majority. According to the government, the land law aims to fairly address the inequality that the majority of farmland in South Africa is owned by whites, even though they make up just 7% of the countrys population.White protesters on Saturday held banners referencing the expropriation law but also other affirmative action policies put in place by the government since the end of apartheid in 1994 to advance opportunities for Blacks. Those laws, known as Black Economic Empowerment, have been a source of frustration for some white people.Influential Trump adviser Elon Musk who was raised in South Africa has also criticized South Africas government and claimed it is anti-white for years, although some have questioned his motivations. He has recently failed to get a license for his Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa because it doesnt meet the countrys affirmative action criteria.While race has long framed South African politics, the country has been largely successful in reconciling its racially diverse people in the years after apartheid. The current government is made up of a coalition of 10 Black-led and white-led political parties that are working together.___Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.___AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House, May 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)2025-02-15T12:42:43Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hours before President Donald Trump was sworn in to begin his second term, promising a golden age for America, the leader of a Central European country was describing the years ahead in strikingly similar terms.Prime Minister Viktor Orbn said Trumps return would usher in Hungarys own golden age and mark the collapse of liberal democracy.The messaging overlap was no surprise.Orbns strongman style has long served as an inspiration for U.S. conservatives, who have looked at Hungary as a possible model for a right-wing America with less immigration, fewer regulations and the removal of democratic constraints they see as unwieldy or inconvenient. Orbn has formed a close bond with Trump and has made multiple visits to the presidents Florida resort. This week, the prime minister praised Trumps unilateral outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. During one of last years U.S. presidential debates, Trump praised Orbn as a strong man. Hes a tough person. Now, with Trump back in office since Jan. 20, he is testing the limits of presidential power in a way that is drawing comparisons to the anti-democratic methods employed by Orbn and other autocrats. Orbn used state power to crush rivals, remake the judiciary and game elections to make it much harder to oust his party. He has cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, the media and civic organizations.Although the two men and political systems are different, there are striking parallels between what Orbn has achieved in Hungary and Trumps agenda and approach for his second term. A blueprint for returning to officeAfter becoming prime minister in 1998, Orbn suffered an unexpected electoral defeat four years later. He then swore he would never lose again and began planning the political transformation of Hungary, said Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton professor who worked at Hungarys Constitutional Court in the 1990s.While he was out of power, Orbn and his allies created a legal framework to consolidate authority. It was swiftly implemented after Orbns Fidesz party swept to victory with a two-thirds majority in 2010. It wasnt called Project 2025, Scheppele added, referring to the controversial conservative blueprint for Trumps second term that has been reflected in many of the presidents early actions. It might have been called Project 2010.The European Parliament has declared Orbans Hungary an electoral autocracy.Upon returning to office with a Republican majority in Congress, Trump issued a blizzard of executive orders seeking to expand the power of the presidency and test the countrys system of checks and balances. He has continued to make changes to the government without consulting Congress.The American Bar Association issued a statement warning that many of the Trump administrations actions are contrary to the rule of law. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House, May 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House, May 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Remaking the legal systemThe most consequential of Fideszs early actions was cracking down on judicial independence.In 2012, Orbns government lowered the mandatory judicial retirement age, resulting in the termination of nearly 300 senior judges. Responsibility for filling the positions was vested in a single political appointee the spouse of a Fidesz founder.It took three years and it was all over, Scheppele said. As long as he had the highest court in his pocket, he could get away with a lot.While Trump and Republicans cannot unilaterally change the face of the judiciary, the parallels with Orbn are clear. Republicans have long sought a conservative judiciary, and Trump embraced that priority when he first became president in 2017. In his first term, Trump nominated three of the U.S. Supreme Courts current nine members, giving conservatives a supermajority that last year shielded the Republican from criminal prosecution for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss.Trump has moved to remake the U.S. Department of Justice after having spoken repeatedly about using it to go after his critics and those who investigated him. He has fired prosecutors who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and moved to purge the FBI. His administration has criticized judges who have temporarily halted some of its actions, with some in power even suggesting at one point that unfavorable decisions could be defied.Still, Trumps power over the judicial branch is not absolute. Many Trump-appointed judges showed independence in 2020, rebuffing his lawsuits to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.The U.S. court system also is larger than Hungarys and full of judges appointed by previous presidents, including Biden. Consolidating political powerOrbns first moves after regaining power were rewriting Hungarys constitution and overhauling election laws in a way that ensured his party would have a greater proportion of its own lawmakers in the legislature.Due partly to those changes, Orbns party has won a two-thirds majority in every election since 2010 while receiving as little as 44% of the vote. In Hungary, parties, rather than voters, select candidates for seats in parliament a system that gives Orbn tremendous power in shaping the government.He decides who can be a politician and who cannot be a politician, said Zsuzsanna Szelnyi, a founding Fidesz member who left the party in 1994. He completely owns the party. Orbn has defined his party as embodying true Hungarian identity while branding his rivals as unpatriotic and serving foreign interests. Its similar to Trump, who has used dark rhetoric against political opponents. There also are parallels in dealing with the media. Orban undermined his countrys independent media as deep-pocketed allies who benefited from generous state contracts bought out influential news outlets. Trump, too, has put pressure on the media in the United States through lawsuits and regulatory threats.While Trump does not control party elections in the same way Orbn does, he has put his stamp on the Republican Party, making loyalty to him its organizing principle. He has prioritized loyalty in nominations for top government jobs, including the leadership of the U.S. Justice Department, FBI and U.S. Defense Department.Trump also is pushing to change civil service rules so he and his allies can remove federal employees who they see as not loyal to him and potentially replace them with ones who are. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands during a meeting in Moscow, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands during a meeting in Moscow, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Cozying up to dictatorsOrbns evolution into an autocrat occurred parallel to another transformation: his drift toward Russia, China and other autocracies.Gza Jeszenszky, Hungarys first foreign minister after the fall of state socialism, said Orbn recognized that the constraints of a Western democracy were incompatible with the sweeping changes he wanted. So he took examples from autocratic countries, specifically Putins Russia.His aim was to follow them, Jeszenszky said. Trump has a long history of speaking favorably about autocrats, especially Putin whom he once said he trusted above U.S. intelligence services. He also had praised Putins invasion of Ukraine as brilliant and has not committed to Ukraine being an equal participant in negotiations with Russia to end the war.Szelnyi, the Fidesz founding member, said fundamental political and economic differences between Hungary and the U.S. would make it more difficult for such a comprehensive political capture to take place in the U.S.Still, she said, Hungarys transformation under Orbn should serve as a warning.If autocratization starts, it goes on like a snowball, she said. Its not something that stops its a process.___Riccardi reported from Denver. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, en route to West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-15T19:47:01Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump toured a Boeing airplane to check out new hardware and technology features and highlight the aircraft makers delay in delivering updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, the White House said Saturday. Trump visited the 13-year-old private aircraft parked at Palm Beach International Airport. President Trump is touring a new Boeing plane to checkout the new hardware/technology, said Steven Cheung, the White House communications director. This highlights the projects failure to deliver a new Air Force One on time as promised.Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist and the president flies on both of the more than 30-year-old planes. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the aircraft maker has lost billions of dollars on the project. Delivery initially was set for 2024, but has been pushed to some time in 2027 for the first plane and in 2028 Trumps final year in office for the second, according to the U.S. Air Force. Trump has railed against the projects cost and delivery delays. He told Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk during an online chat in 2024 on Musks X social media platform that he was able to cut more than $1 billion from the project by playing hard ball with Boeing during his first term in office. Over a course of about four weeks, by my saying Im not going to do it, I got the price reduced by $1.6 billion for the exact same plane, other than we had a nicer paint job, if you want to know the truth, but for the exact same plane, Trump said. Musk, a billionaire, helped bankroll Trumps 2024 campaign and is leading a new Department of Government Efficiency that is working to shrink the size of government by cutting spending, eliminating agencies and slashing the federal workforce. Musk has been criticized for his methods. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said last month that Musk is working with the company to help speed delivery of the Air Force One replacements.Trump is also interested in changing the color scheme of Air Force One from light blue to a darker blue. An earlier attempt by Trump to switch the colors was dropped by then-President Joe Biden after a study concluded that doing so would require additional testing and cause further delays, adding to the cost. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Palestinian prisoner Waddeh Bazrah, 43, is greeted after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)2025-02-15T13:14:51Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages captured by Hamas, as a fragile ceasefire held.Israel views the prisoners as terrorists. Palestinians often see them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation.Nearly every Palestinian has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel for militant attacks or lesser offenses such as rock-throwing. Some are incarcerated for months or years without trial in what is known as administrative detention, which Israel says is needed to prevent attacks and avoid sharing sensitive intelligence.Among those newly released, 36 had been sentenced to life for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Twelve of those were allowed to return to homes in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Palestinian medics said that four were hospitalized for urgent care. The 24 others with life sentences were being sent into exile.The rest of the 333 Palestinians released had been detained in Gaza after Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of people in Gaza and held them without trial. As part of the ceasefire, Israel committed to releasing more than 1,000 of them on the condition that they hadnt participated in the Oct. 7 attack.A look at some prominent prisoners released since the truce took effect on Jan. 19: Ahmed Barghouti, 48Among the most prominent prisoners released is a close aide of militant leader and political figure Marwan Barghouti, who is still imprisoned. The two arent closely related.Ahmed Barghouti was given a life sentence for dispatching assailants to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s. As a commander in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of the secular Fatah Party, he was also convicted of possession of firearms and attempted murder.He was sent to Egypt. The Sarahneh brothers Three brothers from east Jerusalem were released after more than 22 years in prison for their involvement in suicide bombings that killed Israelis during the second intifada. Israeli authorities brought Ibrahim, 55, and Musa, 63, to their homes in the West Bank.The third brother, Khalil, 45, who was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in 2002, was sent to Egypt.Ibrahim Sarahnehs Ukrainian wife, Irena, had been sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for organizing with her husband a suicide bombing that killed two people in the Israeli city of Rishon Lezion. She was released in 2011 as part of a swap for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas.The conditions of detention are more difficult than you could imagine, Ibrahim Sarahneh told The Associated Press as he stepped off a bus in the West Bank village of Beitunia. There is beating, insults, cursing. The Israeli Prison Service says it ensures all basic rights of prisoners and detains them according to the law.The Aweis brothers Hassan Aweis, 47, and Abdel Karim Aweis, 54, from the occupied West Bank, were released on Saturday after nearly 23 years in prison.Hassan Aweis was sentenced to life in 2002 on charges of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive device and attempted murder. He was involved in planning attacks during the second intifada for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.Its an indescribable feeling of pain mixed with joy, Aweis said.Abdel Karim Aweis sentenced to the equivalent of six life sentences for throwing an explosive device, attempted murder and assault, among other charges was transferred to Egypt.Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49Abu Shakhdam was sentenced to the equivalent of 18 life sentences over his involvement in Hamas attacks that killed dozens of Israelis during the second intifada. They included a suicide bombing that blew up two buses in Beersheba in 2004, killing 16 Israelis, including a 4-year-old.Abu Shakhdam was arrested in the West Bank in 2004 following a gunfight with Israeli security forces in which he was shot 10 times.During 21 years in prison, his family said, he finished high school and earned a certificate for psychology courses. He was released on Feb. 8. Jamal al-Tawil, 61Al-Tawil, a prominent Hamas politician in the occupied West Bank, spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prisons, in part over allegations that he helped plot suicide bombings.Most recently, the Israeli military arrested al-Tawil in 2021, saying he had participated in riots and mobilized Hamas political activists in Ramallah, the seat of the semiautonomous Palestinian Authority, Hamas main rival. He was held without charge or trial.Too weak to walk, al-Tawil was taken to a hospital after his release in Ramallah on Feb. 8.Mohammed el-Halabi, 47The Palestinian manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision, a Christian aid organization, was arrested in 2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to Hamas in a case that drew criticism from rights groups. He was freed on Feb. 1.El-Halabi and World Vision denied the allegations and independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing. Zakaria Zubeidi, 49 A prominent militant leader in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade during the second intifada, Zubeidi later became a theater director in the Jenin refugee camp, where he promoted what he described as cultural resistance to Israel.His jailbreak in 2021 when he and five others used spoons to tunnel out of one of Israels most secure prisons and remained at large for days before being caught thrilled Palestinians and stunned the Israeli security establishment.In 2019, after Zubeidi had served years in prison for attacks in the early 2000s, Israel arrested him again, accusing him of being involved in shooting attacks that targeted buses of Israeli settlers but caused no injuries.Zubeidi had been awaiting trial when he was sentenced to five years in prison for his jailbreak. He was released on Jan. 30 into the West Bank.Mohammed Odeh, 52, Wael Qassim, 54, and Wissam Abbasi, 48They hail from east Jerusalem and rose within the ranks of Hamas. Held responsible for deadly attacks during the second intifada, they were handed multiple life sentences in 2002.They were accused of plotting a suicide bombing at a pool hall near Tel Aviv in 2002 that killed 15 people. Later that year, they were found to have orchestrated a bombing at Hebrew University that killed nine people, including five American students.All were transferred to Egypt on Jan. 25.Mohammad al-Tous, 67Al-Tous held the title of longest continuously held prisoner in Israel until his release on Jan. 25, Palestinian authorities said.First arrested in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces along the Jordanian border, the Fatah party activist spent a total of 39 years behind bars. Originally from the West Bank, he was sent into exile.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war ISABEL DEBRE DeBre writes about Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for The Associated Press, based in Buenos Aires. Before moving to South America in 2024, she covered the Middle East reporting from Jerusalem, Cairo and Dubai. twitter mailto

After waiting in a cue, people are led into a downtown Chicago building where an immigration court presides, Nov. 12, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)2025-02-15T19:43:02Z SAN DIEGO (AP) The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday amid sweeping moves to shrink the size of the federal government.On Friday, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice, said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents federal workers. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week.It was unclear if they would be replaced. The U.S. Justice Departments Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.Immigration courts are backlogged with more than 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and it takes years to decide asylum cases. There is support across the political spectrum for more judges and support staff, though the first Trump administration also pressured some judges to decide cases more quickly. The Trump administration earlier replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the agencys acting director. Sirce Owen, the current leader and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a slew of new instructions, many reversing policies of the Biden administration. Last month, the Justice Department halted financial support for nongovernmental organizations to provide information and guidance to people facing deportation but restored funding after a coalition of nonprofit groups filed a federal lawsuit. The firings touch on two top Trump priorities: mass deportations and shrinking the size of the federal government. On Thursday, it ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. Probationary workers generally have less than a year on the job.Biggs, the union official, said he didnt know if the judges firings were intended to send a message on immigration policy and characterized them as part of a campaign across the federal workforce. Theyre treating these people as if theyre not human beings, he said. Its bad all around. ___ RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A community member holds a sign calling for a national boycott of Target stores during a news conference outside Target Corporation's headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt, File)2025-02-15T20:03:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) The NAACP wants Black Americans to steer their buying power toward companies that havent pulled back from diversity, equity and inclusion programs under conservative pressure, and the nations oldest civil rights organization is listing which brands have stood by or reversed past commitments to DEI.The NAACP says the spending guide it published Saturday is needed because DEI initiatives promote the social and economic advancement of Black Americans, who are projected to consume nearly $2 trillion in goods and services in nominal dollars by 2030, according to the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility. Diversity is better for the bottom line, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in an exclusive announcement to The Associated Press. In a global economy, those who reject the multicultural nature of consumerism and business will be left in the past they are living in. Keisha Bross, an economic strategist at the NAACP, says they are not calling for a boycott of companies but instead encourage consumers to buy-in on companies that back their values. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to use the Black Consumer Advisory. The NAACP is speaking with executives at companies named in the advisory for reversing their DEI policies including Lowes, TargetWalmart, Amazon, Meta, McDonalds, and Tractor Supply and will update its guidance as companies roll back or reaffirm commitments to DEI. The advisory praises Costco for standing by previous commitments, as well as Apple, Ben & Jerrys, Delta Airlines, e.l.f. Cosmetics and JPMorgan Chase & Co.The effort comes as corporations, governments and other major institutions face pressure to roll back DEI policies amid a backlash from the Trump administration and Republican-led state governments.Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to end illegal preferences and discrimination in government and instructed federal agencies to find ways alongside the Justice Department to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI. DEI policies are a catchall term for programs meant to promote fair treatment, impartial hiring and cooperation between people from different backgrounds. Such policies vary wildly but often include anti-discrimination mandates and training meant to inform people about how to promote inclusive values. Some institutions hire staff who focus on implementing DEI policies.The advisory looks at which companies are backtracking on prior commitments, including by eliminating diversity officer positions, ending hiring practices meant to boost staff diversity or supplier diversity standards, or reducing investments in Black communities such as support for historically Black colleges and universities.The study by McKinsey also found that Black Americans are more likely to live in communities that lack access to the goods and services of major companies.Johnson, the NAACP president, said he wants to provide a framework for Black communities as we make difficult decisions on where to spend our hard-earned money. If corporations want our dollars, they better be ready to do the right thing, he said. Trumps orders also face legal pushback. In February, a group that included the mayor of Baltimore and an association representing university professors sued the Trump administration over the orders, claiming that the directives violated civil rights law.In his crusade to erase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility from our country, President Trump cannot usurp Congresss exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit wrote.More litigation surrounding DEI in the private sector is pending. The Federal Communications Commission recently sued Comcast over its DEI policies. And the state of Missouri in February filed a lawsuit against Starbucks over its DEI policies. Companies including Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola, IBM, Mastercard and Pepsico face shareholder resolutions challenging their DEI practices. MATT BROWN Brown is a reporter covering national politics, race and democracy issues. twitter instagram mailto

Passengers jostle with each other to board a train at the New Delhi Railway station, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb.15, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-02-15T19:29:17Z NEW DELHI (AP) At least 15 people were killed in a stampede at a railway station in Indias capital of New Delhi, an official said Sunday.Delhis caretaker chief minister Atishi, who uses only one name, said that the bodies were brought to the capitals Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital.The stampede happened late Saturday while thousands of people were gathered at the New Delhi railway station and waiting to board a train to the site of the Maha Kumbh Hindu festival in northern India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was distressed by the stampede.My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede, he said on X.Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that an investigation has been ordered to find what led to the stampede.At least 30 people were killed in a stampede at the six-week festival last month after tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters.

United States Vice-President JD Vance, second right, and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, third right, meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, third left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)2025-02-16T05:11:08Z MUNICH, Germany (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraines rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S. interests.The proposal, which was at the center of Zelenskyys talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior official familiar with the talks.Zelenskyys decision to reject a deal, at least for now, was described as short-sighted by a senior White House official.I didnt let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest, Zelenskyy told The Associated Press on Saturday in Munich. The proposal focused on how the U.S. could use Kyivs rare earth minerals as compensation for support already given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and as payment for future aid, current and former senior Ukrainian officials said speaking anonymously so they could speak freely. Ukraine has vast reserves of critical minerals which are used in aerospace, defense and nuclear industries. The Trump administration has indicated it is interested in accessing them to reduce dependence on China but Zelenskyy said any exploitation would need to be tied to security guarantees for Ukraine that would deter future Russian aggression. For me is very important the connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment, the Ukrainian president said. Zelenskyy did not go into details about why he instructed his officials not to sign the document which was given to Ukrainian officials on Wednesday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent on a visit to Kyiv.Its a colonial agreement and Zelenskyy cannot sign it, the former senior official said. White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes did not explicitly confirm the offer, but said in a statement that President Zelenskyy is being short-sighted about the excellent opportunity the Trump Administration has presented to Ukraine. The Trump administration has grown weary of sending additional U.S. aid to Ukraine and Hughes said a minerals deal would allow American taxpayers to recoup money sent to Kyiv while growing Ukraines economy.Hughes added that the White House believes binding economic ties with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of lasting peace. He added, The U.S. recognizes this, the Russians recognize this, and the Ukrainians must recognize this.U.S. officials in discussions with their Ukrainian counterparts in Munich were commercially minded and largely concentrated on the specifics of exploring the minerals and how to form a possible partnership to do that with Ukraine, the senior official said. The potential value of the deposits in Ukraine has not yet been discussed, with much unexplored or close to the front line. The U.S. proposal apparently did not take into account how the deposits would be secured in the event of continuing Russian aggression. The official suggested the U.S. did not have ready answers, to that question and that one of their takeaways from discussions in Munich will be how to secure any mineral extraction operation in Ukraine involving people and infrastructure.Any deal must be in accordance with Ukrainian law and acceptable to the Ukrainian people, the senior Ukrainian official said. Subsoil belongs to Ukrainians under the Constitution, Kseniiia Orynchak, founder of the National Association of Mining Industry of Ukraine previously told the AP suggesting a deal would need popular support. Zelenskyy and Vance did not discuss the details of the U.S. document during their meeting Friday at the Munich Security Conference, the senior official said. That meeting was very good and substantive, with Vance making it clear his and Trumps main goal was to achieve a durable, lasting peace, the senior official said. Zelenskyy told Vance that real peace requires Ukraine to be in a strong position when starting negotiations, stressed that the U.S negotiators should come to Ukraine, and that the U.S., Ukraine and Europe must be at the negotiating table for talks with Russia.But Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trumps special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, all but cut Europeans out of any Ukraine-Russia talks, despite Zelenskyys request.You can have the Ukrainians, the Russians, and clearly the Americans at the table talking, Kellogg said at an event hosted by a Ukrainian tycoon at the Munich Security Conference. Pressed on whether that meant Europeans wont be included, he said: Im a school of realism. I think thats not going to happen. Ukraine is now preparing a counter proposal which will be delivered to the U.S. in the near future, the official said.I think its important that the vice president understood me that if we want to sign something, we have to understand that it will work, Zelenskyy told AP. That means, he said, It will bring money and security.___Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington D.C., and Volodymyr Yurchuk and Susie Blann in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed. EMMA BURROWS Burrows is an Associated Press reporter covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is based in London. twitter

In this image made from a video provided by Moscow City Court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny makes a heart symbol while standing in the defendants cage during a hearing into his 2014 criminal conviction in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Moscow City Court via AP, File)2025-02-16T05:11:20Z The stunning news came in a terse statement from the Russian penitentiary service a year ago: Opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in the Arctic Circle penal colony where he was serving a prison sentence.In the year since the death of Navalny at age 47, the Russian opposition has struggled to find its footing against President Vladimir Putin.Outlawed at home and operating from exile abroad without Putins fiercest foe, it has failed to form a united front and a clear plan of action against the Kremlin. Instead, rival groups have traded accusations that some see as efforts to discredit each other and vie for influence. Navalnys death was a blow to hopeNavalnys death was a point of no return and left an impossible void to fill, said Oleg Ivanov, a supporter who left Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and lives in Los Angeles. Alexei was the only hope that Russia has, at least potentially and hypothetically, some kind of a meaningful leader who could unite all the people willing to change something in our country, in our lives, Ivanov said in an interview with The Associated Press.Ivanov, who joined the mass protests that erupted across Russia in 2017, said that since Navalnys death, Im afraid that there is no one left who could somehow resist the Kremlin.Navalny is the second opposition leader whose sudden death shocked Russia and the world. In February 2015, prominent politician Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin just days before he, Navalny and others were expected to lead a mass anti-Putin rally. Millions viewed his anti-corruption videosNavalnys vision of a beautiful Russia of the future, where leaders are freely and fairly elected, corruption is tamed, and democratic institutions work, earned him widespread support in the vast country.His charisma and sardonic humor drew young, energetic activists to his side a team that resembled a fancy startup rather than a clandestine revolutionary operation, according to his memoir, Patriot, released eight months after his death.Together they created colorful, professionally produced videos exposing corruption by government officials. Millions viewed them on YouTube and tens of thousands attended rallies even as authorities cracked down harder on dissent. Attacks with dye, then a poisoningAs Navalny aspired to public office, authorities responded by bringing multiple criminal charges against him, his allies and even relatives. Regularly jailed, he was physically attacked by Kremlin supporters, one of whom threw green dye in his face that nearly cost him the vision in one eye.He finished second in the race for Moscow mayor in 2013 amid allegations of vote rigging. In 2017, he announced plans to run for president and set up a sprawling network of regional offices across the country, recruiting local activists. When he was eventually barred from running, he kept those offices open, extending his reach across Russias 11 time zones.In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent attack he blamed on the Kremlin, which always denied involvement. His family and allies fought to have him flown to Germany for treatment and recovery. Five months later, he returned to Russia, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned for the last three years of his life.But even behind bars, in incredibly harsh conditions of constant pressure and surveillance, Navalny found a way to relay messages. His popular social media accounts were regularly updated with sarcastic vignettes about prison life and political statements. Death blamed on natural causes, but allies say he was killedAuthorities blamed Navalnys death, announced Feb. 16, 2024, on natural causes a sudden spike in blood pressure and chronic diseases. His family and allies reject that and insist he was killed on orders from the Kremlin accusations its officials deny.Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral in Moscow on March 1 in a rare show of defiance in a country where any street rally or even single pickets often result in immediate arrest. For days afterward, people brought flowers to his grave.Longtime ally Vladimir Ashurkov described Navalny as a political figure that basically defined the generation of Russians over the last 15 years.While he was alive, even from prison, he was raising his voice against the war and against Putins tyranny, Ashurkov told AP in London. Putins exiled foes face dark timesHis widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has vowed to continue his fight. She has recorded regular video addresses to her supporters and has met Western leaders and top officials, advocating for Russians who oppose Putin and his war in Ukraine.Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation continues to expose corruption in Russia in colorful videos and organizes occasional protests abroad, condemning Putin and the war in Ukraine.A landmark East-West prisoner swap in August freed other key dissidents like Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, promising to reinvigorate the opposition movement unmoored by Navalnys death. So far, however, they havent gone beyond meetings with Western officials and supporters in exile, or a few rallies - actions unlikely to dent Putins war effort or his ever-growing crackdowns that sweep up remaining dissidents and ordinary Russians alike. Ashurkov describes the situation in Russia and Ukraine now as dark times and difficult times.But he notes that Navalny went through many difficulties and pressure in his life.His advice and his motivation to all of us has been, Dont sit still. Try to do something to change the situation, and be prepared for change, he said.Associated Press journalist Kwiyeon Ha in London contributed. DASHA LITVINOVA Litvinova is an Associated Press correspondent covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. She has covered Russia and the region for over a decade. twitter mailto

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)2025-02-16T06:54:13Z JERUSALEM (AP) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is kicking of a Mideast tour in Israel on Sunday, as Arab leaders reel from President Donald Trumps proposal to transfer the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip to other countries and redevelop it under U.S. ownership. Israels Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Satruday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) Israels Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Satruday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More On Rubios first visit to the region as Americas top diplomat he is likely to get a warm welcome from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has praised the plan, and pushback from Arab leaders, who have universally rejected it and are scrambling to come up with a counterproposal.The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas meanwhile remains intact after a major dispute threatened to unravel it last week. But the sides face a fast-approaching deadline in early March to negotiate the next phase, and the war may resume if they dont reach an agreement.Netanyahu has signaled readiness to resume the war after the current stage, even if that would leave dozens of hostages in captivity. At the same time, he has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send its top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected such a scenario. Israels Defense Ministry meanwhile said Sunday it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from the United States. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Israel on the first leg of his Middle East trip, as Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar waits to welcome him, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Israel on the first leg of his Middle East trip, as Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar waits to welcome him, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More If someone has a better plan... thats great In a radio interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trumps proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to come up with their own postwar plan that would be acceptable to Israel, which says Hamas can have no role in Gaza.He also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send in troops to combat Hamas, which survived Israels devastating 15-month onslaught and remains in firm control of the territory.If someone has a better plan, and we hope they do, if the Arab countries have a better plan, then thats great, Rubio said Thursday on the Clay and Buck Show. But Hamas has guns, he added. Someone has to confront those guys. Its not going to be American soldiers. And if the countries in the region cant figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it and then were back to where weve been.It was not clear if Rubio would meet with any Palestinians.Arabs have limited options as Israel has rejected past plansFor Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are both nightmare scenarios. Either would open them up to fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.Egypt says it will host an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza to be rebuilt without removing its population, which human rights groups say would likely violate international law.Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century-old peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of American influence in the region.Arab and Muslim countries have until now conditioned any support for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war. The Biden administration spent months rallying regional powers behind such plans, but they fizzled as Israel ruled out not only a Palestinian state but also any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.Last year, Egypt proposed that a committee of independent technocrats under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority take charge of governing and rebuilding Gaza. Hamas accepted the proposal but its secular rival, Fatah, which dominates the authority, refused to embrace it and the plan went nowhere. Rubio to visit regional heavyweightsRubio will meet with Netanyahu on Sunday before traveling onward to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, regional heavyweights that have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians and would be key to any regional response.The United Arab Emirates was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords in which four Arab states normalized relations with Israel during Trumps previous term. Trump hopes to expand the accords to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer U.S. defense ties, but the kingdom has said it will not normalize relations with Israel without a pathway to a Palestinian state.Rubio will not be visiting Egypt or Jordan, close U.S. allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump has at times suggested he might slash U.S. aid to the two countries, which could be devastating for their economies, if they dont comply.He is also skipping Qatar, which along with Egypt had served as a key mediator with Hamas in brokering the ceasefire. Trump took credit for the ceasefire, which was reached in the closing days of the Biden administration after his Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined the talks. But more recently, Trump has suggested that Israel resume the war if the remaining dozens of hostages abducted in Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the fighting, are not released sooner than planned.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

An aerial view of an ilmenite open pit mine in a canyon in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2025-02-16T07:01:37Z KIROVOHRAD REGION, Ukraine (AP) The mineral ilmenite is extracted from mounds of sand deep in the earth and refined using a method that summons the force of gravity, resulting in a substance that glimmers like a moonlit sky. Ukraine boasts vast reserves of ilmenite a key element used to produce titanium in the heavy mineral sands that stretch for miles along the countrys embattled east.Much of it, as with all of Ukraines critical minerals industry, is underdeveloped because of war as well as onerous state policies.That is poised to change if U.S. President Donald Trumps administration agrees to a deal with Ukraine to exchange critical minerals for continued American military aid. In the central region of Kirovohrad, the ilmenite open-pit mine is a canyon of precious deposits that its owner is keen to develop with U.S. companies. But many unknowns stand in the way of turning these riches into profit: cost, licensing terms and whether such a deal will be underpinned by security guarantees. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that he did not permit his ministers to sign a mineral resource agreement with the U.S. because the current version is not ready to protect us, our interests. Ukrainian businessmen with knowledge of the minerals industry also privately expressed skepticism about whether a deal is viable. The capital-intensive industry is unlikely to yield results in years, if not decades, as geological data is either limited or classified. Many question what conditions American companies are willing to risk to build up the industry and whether existing Ukrainian policies that have so far deterred local businessmen will accommodate foreign investors.The main thing we can gain is certain security guarantees obtained through economic means, so that someone stronger than us has an interest in protecting us, said Andriy Brodsky, CEO of Velta, a leading titanium mining company in Ukraine. The question of security guaranteesA deal, which would essentially barter one resource for another, could help strengthen Kyivs relationship with the Trump administration.The United States is a major consumer of critical raw earth minerals such as lithium and gallium, two elements that Ukraine has in proven reserves. Trump has specifically mentioned rare earth elements, but these are not well researched, industry experts told The Associated Press.Titanium, used in aerospace, defense and industry, is also high in demand and the U.S. is a leading importer of ilmenite. Sourcing the minerals from Ukraine would reduce future reliance on Russia and China.In exchange, Kyiv would continue to receive a steady stream of American weaponry that offers leverage against Moscow and without which Ukraine cannot ward off future Russian aggression in the event of a ceasefire.The question of security guarantees is a sticking point for companies, Ukrainian businessmen and analysts said. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously to describe private conversations, told the AP that U.S. companies expressed interest in investing but needed to ensure their billions will be safeguarded in the event of renewed conflict. But once invested in Ukraine, the presence of American business interests alone might act as a guarantee, Brodsky said. If this process starts, it will continue, Brodsky said. Once the investment figures exceed hundreds of billions, the Americans, a highly pragmatic people, will protect their profits earned on Ukrainian soil. They will defend their interests against Russia, China, Korea, Iran and anyone else. They will protect what they consider theirs.Growing American interestBrodsky, who just returned from a trip to Washington and New York, said the conversation among U.S. businesses is changing in Kyivs favor.A lot of people in very serious and wealthy offices are saying that now, we our country and my company are in the right place and doing exactly what needs to be done at this moment, he said.Velta has worked with American partners for many years. Brodsky has begun negotiating with companies he believes could be a partner in the event of a deal. Ukraine has never been attractive to foreign investors because of prohibitive government policies not offering incentives to attract foreigners, for instance. Brodsky believes that international companies will need to pair up with local partners to flourish.American companies have several ways to enter the market, explained Ksenia Orynchak, director of the National Association of Extractive Industries of Ukraine, but would require traversing certain circles of hell in Ukraines bureaucracy. Teaming up with an existing Ukrainian license owner is possibly the most straightforward. She said more exploration is needed in the field and hinted existing data may have been acquired through ulterior motives. Under the Soviet system, geologists stood to gain if they claimed to have found large reserves. Someone did it so that Moscow would praise Ukrainian geologists or Soviet geologists, she said. She advises American investors to lower existing thresholds for exploration because bidding can take place in areas where reserves are only presumed, not proven.I believe, and so does the expert community, that this is not right. In fact, we are selling a pig in a poke, she said. A historically untapped sectorAt the extraction site, the air is dense with ilmenite dust. When the afternoon suns rays pierce the darkened space, they sparkle and dance in the air. The soot covers the faces of workers who spend hours inside every day extracting the precious material from sand.The gravity separation method removes unwanted elements in the ore and water separated from the mineral rains down through metal-lined floors. Workers are used to getting wet and dont bat an eye. Titanium is developed from the purified ilmenite at a different facility.Velta began in the form of an expired license for geological exploration and a business plan for $7 million when Brodsky acquired the company. It would be eight years and many millions more invested before he could even think about production capacity.The deal also does not factor in a crucial element that could prove challenging later: The position of Ukrainian people themselves. According to the Constitution, the subsoil where extraction would take place belongs to Ukraine. I am very afraid that they (Ukrainian people) already had disapproving reviews, that everything is being given away. Who allowed him? He had no right? And so on, Orynchak said. Those sensitivities were echoed among workers at the Velta mine. Speaking anonymously to voice his true thoughts, one said: If you have a vegetable garden in your home, do you invite a foreigner to take it? The high risk often is a key reason that some Ukrainian businessmen privately express skepticism about the deal. When one businessman of a major group of companies heard about the arms-for-minerals deal, his first impression was: This is just hot air, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak freely about his thoughts. This is a very capital intensive industry. Just to take ground from an open pit will cost you billions. Not millions, billions.___Associated Press journalists Kwiyeon Ha in London and Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed. Arhirova reported from Kyiv. SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto HANNA ARHIROVA Arhirova is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine. She is based in Kyiv. twitter instagram mailto

People clear the rubble inside a home that was damaged and looted, in Maarat al-Numan, on the outskirts of Idlib, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)2025-02-16T05:01:39Z MARAAT AL-NUMAN, Syria (AP) After a decade of war and displacement, many Syrians are returning to their homes, only to find them looted and roofless. In towns like Maarat al-Numan and Kfar Nabl in northern Syria, residents who fled years ago have returned since the fall of former President Bashad Assad but are now confronting the harsh reality of widespread theft and destruction. Strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, Maarat al-Numan became a touchpoint in the Syrian civil war.Assads forces seized the area back from rebel control in 2020. After that, groups affiliated with Assad looted houses and demolished some of them to extract valuable materials and furniture, human rights groups said. Steel and wires were taken out of rooftops to be sold.An aerial video of the area shows rows of houses that are still standing but with their roofs missing. Anmar Zaatour, a resident who left in 2019, said he came back in 2025 to find his home destroyed.There was nowhere to put our children, he said. This destruction isnt from the bombing, it was the military. And its not just mine, its my neighbors, and friends. Zakaria al-Awwad burst into tears of mixed joy and sorrow upon his return to Maarat al-Numan. His house was destroyed, one of the first ones to get hit, he said.There is no place like home, he said. Even if I have to put on a sheet of cloth, it is better than anything else. We have freedom now, and that is priceless. Others were more circumspect about the future.The problem is, its impossible to resume a life without a roof, said returning resident Hassan Barbesh. Maarat al-Numan is an impoverished town. Its a very difficult task to start from scratch.Ghaith AlSayed in Kfar Nabl, Syria, and Omar Albam in Maarat al-Numan, Syria, contributed to this report. MOSAAB ELSHAMY Elshamy is an Associated Press photographer covering North Africa and beyond. He has covered major stories across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. twitter instagram mailto

An aerial view shows the devastation from the Palisades Fire on beachfront homes Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)2025-02-16T05:43:13Z LOS ANGELES (AP) On a recent Sunday, Tracy Quinn drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to assess damage wrought upon the coastline by the Palisades Fire. An aerial view shows the devastation by the Palisades Fire Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) An aerial view shows the devastation by the Palisades Fire Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The water line was darkened by ash. Burnt remnants of washing machines and dryers and metal appliances were strewn about the shoreline. Sludge carpeted the waters edge. Waves during high tide lapped onto charred homes, pulling debris and potentially toxic ash into the ocean as they receded. It was just heartbreaking, said Quinn, president and CEO of the environmental group Heal the Bay, whose team has reported ash and debris some 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the Palisades burn area west of Los Angeles. Tony Lai, center, rakes through the remains of his fire-ravaged beachfront property with his wife Everlyn in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Tony Lai, center, rakes through the remains of his fire-ravaged beachfront property with his wife Everlyn in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Beachfront properties are burned by the Palisades Fire, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) Beachfront properties are burned by the Palisades Fire, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More As crews work to remove potentially hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous materials from the Los Angeles wildfires, researchers and officials are trying to understand how the fires on land have impacted the sea. The Palisades and Eaton fires scorched thousands of homes, businesses, cars and electronics, turning everyday items into hazardous ash made of pesticides, asbestos, plastics, lead, heavy metals and more. Since much of it could end up in the Pacific Ocean, there are concerns and many unknowns about how the fires could affect life under the sea. We havent seen a concentration of homes and buildings burned so close to the water, Quinn said. Fire debris and potentially toxic ash could make the water unsafe for surfers and swimmers, especially after rainfall that can transport chemicals, trash and other hazards into the sea. Longer term, scientists worry if and how charred urban contaminants will affect the food supply. Properties damaged by the Palisades Fire are seen from a coastline perspective Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Properties damaged by the Palisades Fire are seen from a coastline perspective Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The atmospheric river and mudslides that pummeled the Los Angeles region last week exacerbated some of those fears. When the fires broke out in January, one of Mara Dias first concerns was ocean water contamination. Strong winds were carrying smoke and ash far beyond the blazes before settling at sea, said the water quality manager for the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental nonprofit. Scientists on board a research vessel during the fires detected ash and waste on the water as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) offshore, said marine ecologist Julie Dinasquet with the University of California, San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Things like twigs and shard. They described the smell as electronics burning, she recalled, not like a nice campfire. Runoff from rains also are a huge and immediate concern. Rainfall picks up contaminants and trash while flushing toward the sea through a network of drains and rivers. That runoff could contain a lot of nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate that end up in the ash of the burn material that can get into the water, said Dias, as well as heavy metals, something called PAHs, which are given off when you burn different types of fuel.Mudslides and debris flows in the Palisades Fire burn zone also can dump more hazardous waste into the ocean. After fires, the soil in burn scars is less able to absorb rainfall and can develop a layer that repels water from the remains of seared organic material. When there is less organic material to hold the soil in place, the risks of mudslides and debris flows increase. Los Angeles County officials, with help from other agencies, have set thousands of feet of concrete barriers, sandbags, silt socks and more to prevent debris from reaching beaches. The LA County Board of Supervisors also recently passed a motion seeking state and federal help to expand beach clean ups, prepare for storm runoff and test ocean water for potential toxins and chemicals, among other things. Beyond the usual samples, state water officials and others are testing for total and dissolved metals such as arsenic, lead and aluminum and volatile organic compounds. They also are sampling for microplastics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, that are harmful to human and aquatic life, and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a group of man-made chemicals shown to cause cancer in animals and other serious health effects. Now banned from being manufactured, they were used in products like pigments, paints and electrical equipment. County public health officials said chemical tests of water samples last month did not raise health concerns, so they downgraded one beach closure to an ocean water advisory. Beachgoers were still advised to stay out of the water. Dinasquet and colleagues are working to understand how far potentially toxic ash and debris dispersed across the ocean, how deep and how fast they sunk and, over time, where it ends up. Forest fires can deposit important nutrients like iron and nitrogen into the ocean ecosystem, boosting the growth of phytoplankton, which can create a positive, cascading effect across the ecosystem. But the potentially toxic ash from urban coastal fires could have dire consequences, Dinasquet said. Reports are already showing that there was a lot of lead and asbestos in the ash, she added. This is really bad for people so its probably also very bad for the marine organisms. A huge concern is whether toxic contaminants from the fire will enter the food chain. Researchers plan to take tissue fragments from fish for signs of heavy metals and contaminants. But they say it will take a while to understand how a massive urban fire will affect the larger ecosystem and our food supply.Dias noted the ocean has long taken in pollution from land, but with fires and other disasters, everything is compounded and the situation is even more dire. ___The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment. DORANY PINEDA Pineda writes about water, climate and the environment in Latino communities across the U.S. twitter

A person lights a candle at the site of a stabbing attack in Villach, Austria, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)2025-02-16T09:51:38Z VIENNA (AP) Austrian authorities say they have classified the deadly stabbing attack in a southern city as an Islamic terror incident. The suspect, a 23-year-old Syrian man, stabbed six passersby in broad daylight in Villach on Saturday, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding five others. He was arrested after the attack. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said Sunday he felt anger about an Islamist attacker who indiscriminately stabbed innocent people here in this city.This marks the second deadly jihadi attack in Austria in recent years. In November 2020, a man who had previously attempted to join the Islamic State group carried out a rampage in Vienna, armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, killing four people before being fatally shot by police.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. VIENNA (AP) The city of Villach in southern Austria is in shock after a man stabbed six passersby in broad daylight, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding five others, as police tried to establish a motive that put migration in the spotlight. Residents began placing candles at the site of the attack in the city of about 60,000 inhabitants. A group of young people, who knew the boy who died in Saturdays attack, gathered at the crime scene on Sunday morning to mourn and tearfully light candles, local media reported.The 23-year-old suspect, who was detained shortly after the stabbing, is a Syrian with a residence permit in Austria. A 42-year-old man, also a Syrian working for a food delivery company, witnessed the attack from his car. He drove toward the suspect and helped to prevent the situation from escalating, police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio told Austrias public broadcaster ORF. Austrias President Alexander Van der Bellen called the attack horrific. No words can undo the suffering, the horror, the fear. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased victim and the injured, he posted on X. The Free Syrian Community of Austria issued a statement on Facebook distancing itself from the attack and expressing its deepest condolences to the victims families. We all had to flee Syria, our home country, because we were no longer safe there no one left their country voluntarily. We are grateful to have found asylum and protection in Austria, the association said. Finally, we would like to emphasize: Anyone who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society does not represent the Syrians who have sought and received protection here, the statement concluded.Dionisio said that a motive for the attack was not immediately known and police were investigating the suspects background. Carnival procession canceled as police gather evidence Villach, a popular tourist destination near the borders of Italy and Slovenia, is known for its laid-back atmosphere, which blends Mediterranean and Alpine traditions. The city hosts annual carnival processions in March and an event on Saturday was canceled in the wake of the attack. The Austrian Ministry of Interior activated a platform for witnesses to upload videos or photos related to the attack. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner is expected in Villach on Sunday for a press conference. Local authorities said a crisis response team will be available to support pupils when schools open on Monday. The victims were all men, with two seriously wounded and two sustaining minor injuries, police said. Later Saturday, police said a fifth person was also injured. Peter Kaiser, the governor of the province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old. This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values, he said. Calls to strengthen migration rules Far-right leader Herbert Kickl wrote on X that he is appalled by the horrific act in Villach and called for a rigorous crackdown on asylum. At the same time, I am angry angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life, Kickl said.From Austria to the EU the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct, he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in its election platform.Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law. We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to avoid such acts of horror in the future, he said.The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said, Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society.

People walk past an independence square in Bukavu, eastern Congo, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga)2025-02-16T09:56:18Z BUKAVU, Congo (AP) Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congos second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning and took control of the South Kivu province administrative office after little resistance from government forces, many of whom fled the rebels advance.Associated Press journalists witnessed scores of residents cheering on the M23 rebels in central Bukavu on Sunday morning as they walked and drove around the city center after a dayslong march from the regions major city of Goma 63 miles (101 kilometers) away, which they captured late last month. Several parts of the city, however, remained deserted with residents indoors.The M23 rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congos mineral-rich east, and are supported by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the U.N. It was not clear if the rebels had taken decisive control of the city of about 1.3 million people. Their presence in central Bukavu is an unprecedented expansion of the rebels reach in their yearslong fighting with Congolese forces. Unlike in 2012 when they only seized Goma in the fighting connected to ethnic tension, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power. Many Congolese soldiers were seen on Saturday fleeing the rebels advance into Bukavu alongside thousands of civilians amid widespread looting and panic. Congos President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting in the faraway capital of Kinshasa, where officials noted that Bukavu was briefly invaded by M23 but remains under the control of the Congolese army and allies from local militia, the presidency said on X. There were no signs of fighting or of Congolese forces in most parts of Bukavu on Sunday.Tshisekedi has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict. Congos forces are being supported in Bukavu by troops from Burundi and in Goma by troops from South Africa. Burundis president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest his country will not retaliate in the fighting. In a post on X he said that those people who were ready to get profit of the armed attack of Rwanda to Burundi will not see this. The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23, said it was committed to defending the people of Bukavu in a Saturday statement that did not acknowledge their presence in the city. We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic, Lawrence Kanyuka, the alliances spokesperson, said in a statement.The fighting in Congo has connections with a decadeslong ethnic conflict. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda. Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group. Rwanda says the group is fully integrated into the Congolese military, which denies the charges.

Alexander Stubb, President of Finland speaks as part of a panel discussion during the Munich Security Conference at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)2025-02-16T10:57:34Z MUNICH (AP) Finlands president on Sunday urged the rearming of Ukraine and putting maximum pressure on Russia through sanctions and asset freezes in the run-up to possible negotiations sought by the U.S. on ending the war. Alexander Stubb and other European leaders at the final day of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday sought to firm up how the European Union can move from talk to more action and stay relevant as Washington pushes to stop the fighting. He laid out three phases: pre-negotiation, ceasefire and long-term peace negotiation.The first phase is the pre-negotiation, and this is a moment when we need to rearm Ukraine and put maximum pressure on Russia, which means sanctions, which means frozen assets, so that Ukraine begins these negotiations from a position of strength, he said. U.S. President Donald Trumps push for a quick way out of the Ukraine war has stirred concern and uncertainty in Munich. After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Trump later assured Zelenskyy he also would have a seat at the table. U.S. officials have indicated that European nations, however, would not be involved. Dont underestimate Trump as a negotiator, I genuinely believe that Putin is baffled and afraid what might be coming from there, Stubb said. Right now, the ball is in our court here in Europe. We need to convince the Americans wheres the value added, and then get back into the table. I think in Europe we need to talk less and do more, he added later. President Edgars Rinkvis of Latvia, which like Finland borders Russia, agreed that if we are strong, if we have something to offer ... then we are going to be interesting to the United States. If you are just continue having those nice conferences, talking and whining, then we are not going to be interesting to our own publics very soon. The three-day conference was a hub of crisscrossing diplomacy on issues of politics, economics, and defense and security, with top envoys on hand from places as diverse as Syria and Saudi Arabia, and Japan and South Korea, as well as many European leaders. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of an armed forces of Europe " to better stand up to an expansionist Russia that could threaten the European Union, too. He also said he directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraines rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S. interests.The proposal was a key part of his talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich event, according to one current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks. Zelenskyys decision not to sign a deal, at least for now, was described as short-sighted by a senior White House official.Also Saturday, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Munich that he has asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to exclude Japan from steel and aluminum tariffs as well as from reciprocal tariff measures. Iwaya, who had a brief chat with the top U.S. diplomat on the sidelines of the conference, said he also raised the issue of auto tariffs, though he gave no further details. If imposed, the impact of auto tariffs on the Japanese auto industry would be huge, experts say. ___Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report. EMMA BURROWS Burrows is an Associated Press reporter covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is based in London. twitter RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, arrives for talks with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb.15, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/DPA via AP, Pool)2025-02-16T17:29:44Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Saudi Arabia for meetings in preparation for a possible visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian minister said Sunday, at a time of intense speculation over planned U.S.-Russia talks in the kingdom to end Moscows war on its neighbor.It also comes as a top U.S. envoy revealed that he and a fellow negotiator appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump were heading to Saudi Arabia.Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who also serves as first deputy prime minister, didnt clarify whether there is a link between Zelenskyys possible trip and the previously announced U.S.-Russia talks. In a Facebook post, she said that the Ukrainian delegations focus is on strengthening economic ties, as Kyiv prepares to sign important economic agreements with countries in the region. Svyrydenko didnt say anything about when Zelenskyy might go to Saudi Arabia and who he might meet with. No further details were immediately available.Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, said earlier Sunday that there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future. In a Telegram post, Yermak said the Ukrainians werent planning to do so until we develop a plan to end the war and bring about a just peace. Mykhailo Podolyak, another Zelenskyy adviser, on Saturday denied that Ukraine will participate in any planned U.S.-Russia meetings in Saudi Arabia. There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing, Podolyak said on Ukrainian television.But Svyrydenkos remarks came within hours of an announcement by Steve Witkoff, Trumps close ally and special envoy to the Middle East, that high-level meetings were imminent in Saudi Arabia to discuss a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.Speaking to Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures program, Witkoff said that he and national security adviser Mike Waltz will be having meetings at the direction of the president, and hope to make some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine. Witkoff didnt specify who they would be meeting and what they would discuss, but he said that he was leaving for Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening.Following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Trump noted that they agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately on ending the fighting. The president appointed Witkoff and Waltz to lead those talks, alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.Earlier this week, Russian officials and state media took a triumphant tone after Trump jettisoned three years of U.S. policy and announced that he would likely meet soon with Putin to negotiate a peace deal in the almost three-year war in Ukraine.Trumps announcement created a major diplomatic upheaval that could herald a watershed moment for Ukraine and Europe.Zelenskyy said that he wouldnt accept any negotiations about Ukraine that dont include his country. European governments have also demanded a seat at the table. Putin has been ostracized by the West since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, didnt directly respond to the question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a significant portion of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.Those are details, and Im not dismissive of the details, theyre important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. Its getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. Thats what the president has directed us to do, he said.

Workers shield themselves from the rain at the Griffith Park Observatory Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-02-13T18:17:23Z Atmospheric rivers are a plume of moisture that extend across the Pacific to near Hawaii. When they hit land they can cause heavy rains and snow. Heres a look at the phenomenon:What is an atmospheric river?Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky, transporting much of the moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.They occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast of the United States, where they create 30% to 50% of annual precipitation and are vital to water supplies but also can cause storms that produce flooding and mudslides, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Formed by winds associated with cyclones, atmospheric rivers typically range from 250 miles to 375 miles (400 to 600 kilometers) in width and move under the influence of other weather. Many atmospheric river events are weak. But the powerful ones can transport extraordinary amounts of moisture. Studies have shown that they can carry seven to 15 times the average amount of water discharged daily by the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. What happens when an atmospheric river reaches land? When the moisture-laden air moves over mountain ranges such as the Sierra Nevada along the California-Nevada line, the water vapor rises and cools, becoming heavy precipitation that falls as rain or snow, according to NOAA.While traditional cold winter storms out of the north Pacific build the Sierra snowpack, atmospheric rivers tend to be warm. Snow may still fall at the highest elevations but rain usually falls on the snowpack at lower elevations. That can quickly prompt melting, runoff and flooding and decrease the snowpack needed for Californias water supply. What is a pineapple express?It is a nickname for a strong atmospheric river in the tropical Pacific near Hawaii.Where did the term atmospheric river come from? The name came from research published in the 1990s by scientists Yong Zhu and Reginald E. Newell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Atmospheric rivers are often referred to as ARs.

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-16T15:40:21Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Even as hes vowed to push the United States ahead in artificial intelligence research, President Donald Trumps threats to alter federal government contracts with chipmakers and slap new tariffs on the semiconductor industry may put new speed bumps in front of the tech industry.Since taking office, Trump has said he would place tariffs on foreign production of computer chips and semiconductors in order to return chip manufacturing to the U.S. The president and Republican lawmakers have also threatened to end the CHIPS and Science Act, a sweeping Biden administration-era law that also sought to boost domestic production. But economic experts have warned that Trumps dual-pronged approach could slow, or potentially harm, the administrations goal of ensuring that the U.S. maintains a competitive edge in artificial intelligence research. Saikat Chaudhuri, an expert on corporate growth and innovation at U.C. Berkeleys Haas School of Business, called Trumps derision of the CHIPS Act surprising because one of the biggest bottlenecks for the advancement of AI has been chip production. Most countries, Chaudhuri said, are trying to encourage chip production and the import of chips at favorable rates. We have seen what the shortage has done in everything from AI to even cars, he said. In the pandemic, cars had to do with fewer or less powerful chips in order to just deal with the supply constraints. The Biden administration helped shepherd in the law following supply disruptions that occurred after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when a shortage of chips stalled factory assembly lines and fueled inflation threatened to plunge the U.S. economy into recession. When pushing for the investment, lawmakers also said they were concerned about efforts by China to control Taiwan, which accounts for more than 90% of advanced computer chip production. In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwans President Lai Ching-te speaks at a press conference after a security meeting about U.S. President Trumps tariffs on trade partners and semiconductors at the Presidential office in Taipei, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwans President Lai Ching-te speaks at a press conference after a security meeting about U.S. President Trumps tariffs on trade partners and semiconductors at the Presidential office in Taipei, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwans President Lai Ching-te speaks at a press conference after a security meeting about U.S. President Trumps tariffs on trade partners and semiconductors at the Presidential office in Taipei, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwans President Lai Ching-te speaks at a press conference after a security meeting about U.S. President Trumps tariffs on trade partners and semiconductors at the Presidential office in Taipei, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More As of August 2024, the CHIPS and Science Act had provided $30 billion in support for 23 projects in 15 states that would add 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Commerce Department. That funding helped to draw in private capital and would enable the U.S. to produce 30% of the worlds most advanced computer chips, up from 0% when the Biden-Harris administration succeeded Trumps first term.The administration promised tens of billions of dollars to support the construction of U.S. chip foundries and reduce reliance on Asian suppliers, which Washington sees as a security weakness. In August, the Commerce Department pledged to provide up to $6.6 billion so that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. could expand the facilities it is already building in Arizona and better ensure that the most advanced microchips are produced domestically for the first time.But Trump has said he believes that companies entering into those contracts with the federal government, such as TSMC, didnt need money in order to prioritize chipmaking in the U.S. They needed an incentive. And the incentive is going to be theyre not going to want to pay at 25, 50 or even 100% tax, Trump said. TSMC held board meetings for the first time in the U.S. last week. Trump has signaled that if companies want to avoid tariffs they have to build their plants in the U.S. without help from the government. Taiwan also dispatched two senior economic affairs officials to Washington to meet with the Trump administration in a bid to potentially fend off a 100% tariff Trump has threatened to impose on chips. If the Trump administration does levy tariffs, Chaudhuri said, one immediate concern is that prices of goods that use semiconductors and chips will rise because the higher costs associated with tariffs are typically passed to consumers. Whether its your smartphone, whether its your gaming device, whether its your smart fridge probably also your smart features of your car anything and everything we use nowadays has a chip in it, he said. For consumers, its going to be rather painful. Manufacturers are not going to be able to absorb that. Even tech giants such as Nvidia will eventually feel the pain of tariffs, he said, despite their margins being high enough to absorb costs at the moment. Theyre all going to be affected by this negatively, he said. I cant see anybody benefiting from this except for those countries who jump on the bandwagon competitively and say, You know what, were going to introduce something like the CHIPS Act.Broadly based tariffs would be a shot in the foot of the U.S. economy, said Brett House, a professor of professional practice at Columbia Business School. Tariffs would not only raise the costs for businesses and households across the board, he said for the U.S. AI sector, they would massively increase the costs of one of their most important inputs: high-powered chips from abroad. If you cut off, repeal or threaten the CHIPS Act at the same time as youre putting in broadly based tariffs on imports of AI and other computer technology, you would be hamstringing the industry acutely, House said. Such tariffs would reduce the capacity to create a domestic chip building sector, sending a signal for future investments that the policy outlook is uncertain, he said. That would in turn put a chilling effect on new allocations of capital to the industry in the U.S. while making more expensive the existing flow of imported chips.American technological industrial leadership has always been supported by maintaining openness to global markets and to immigration and labor flows, he said. And shutting that openness down has never been a recipe for American success.___Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report. SARAH PARVINI Parvini covers artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. She is based in Los Angeles. mailto

Emily Russell sits on the newly constructed staircase leading up to the front of her home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)2025-02-16T13:29:08Z SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) Emily Russell remembers feeling hopeful after she managed to get an appointment with the Federal Emergency Management Agency not long after Hurricane Helene ripped though her home in Swannanoa, North Carolina.But after several assistance requests were denied or left pending, Russell says the agency has been of no help to her family after the late September storm. Still reeling in a world turned upside-down by the most damaging storm in state history, she finds herself open to President Donald Trumps suggestion about getting rid of FEMA.That is a common sentiment in the mountains of western North Carolina, where living in a trailer with limited supplies for months can try anyones patience. Russell, who like many others did not have flood insurance, endured those stresses as she prepared for the birth of her son, but then volunteers stepped up to rebuild her home. Back there now, she can cradle her tiny infant in her arms on her newly constructed front porch overlooking a heaping pile of rotting debris and two Trump-Vance signs posted to a pole in her yard. Emily Russell holds her infant son on her front porch, which was built by volunteers, in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Emily Russell holds her infant son on her front porch, which was built by volunteers, in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Frustration with stopgap relief efforts has been exacerbated by confusion over where long-term help should come from. FEMA is meant to be a first line, providing temporary housing and funding for repairs while insurance foots most of the bill. It is not the message residents heard initially, when politicians, including then-President Joe Biden, who toured the damaged area, promised residents they would have whatever they needed. As more time passes, the reality of long-term recovery has gotten complicated. To Russell and many others, Trump saying he would consider eliminating FEMA made sense. To some experts and officials, however, that could cause more problems than it would solve. Days after Trump took office on Jan. 20, he surveyed the fallout from wildfires in California and the hurricane in North Carolina and suggested that states primarily manage the response to natural disasters. As a candidate, he had disparaged FEMAs work in the southern states hit by Helene. That criticism, which began almost as soon as the wind stopped blowing, has not stopped. A piece of debris with an American flag and inspirational message stand along a riverbank in Swannanoa, N.C., on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. More than four months after the remnants of Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, many residents are frustrated with the federal response. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed) A piece of debris with an American flag and inspirational message stand along a riverbank in Swannanoa, N.C., on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. More than four months after the remnants of Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, many residents are frustrated with the federal response. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Garbage and debris sitin a heap in front of Emily Russells home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Garbage and debris sitin a heap in front of Emily Russells home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More More recently, FEMA was criticized by Trump adviser Elon Musk over payments to reimburse New York City for hotel costs for migrants. Four FEMA employees were fired, accused of circumventing leadership to make the transactions, which have been standard for years through a program that helps with costs to care for a surge in migration. North Carolinas government estimated that Helene caused a record $59.6 billion in damages. FEMA has contributed almost $380 million through public assistance grants to the state and local governments, as well as approximately $372 million directly to North Carolinians as of Feb. 11, according to the agency. FEMAs responsibilities include direct financial assistance to individuals and reimbursements to governments for recovery tasks like debris removal and rebuilding roads. Russell was confused when she was denied on her FEMA application, especially after she said an inspector told her the home was a complete loss. Rushing floodwaters tore off the side of her house, and heavy mud seeped inside, warping the floorboards and rendering most things unsalvageable. She thought the home she grew up in would be bulldozed. Emily Russell sits on the newly constructed staircase leading up to the front of her home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Emily Russell sits on the newly constructed staircase leading up to the front of her home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Russell called FEMA and spoke with representatives in-person about her denied request. She said they told her she needed receipts for certain personal items, which she did not have. To keep being told its pending or not approved, its just, its just a devastating feeling, Russell said. I mean, you just feel lost. In Buncombe County, where Russell lives, about 70% of homeowners who registered with FEMA received some level of assistance, according to the agencys data. Approximately 91% of those approved received up to $10,000, while about 3.6% got between $25,000 and a maximum payment that would likely top out at a little over $40,000. Danny Bailey, a 61-year-old Buncombe County retiree, said he received $42,500 after losing practically everything from flooding, including the trailer he lived in, his sisters double-wide mobile home and a barn. His family had moved to the property in 1968. Bailey already spent some of his money on necessities, such as propane to make it through the winter. He lives in a donated trailer on his property, now a muddy, rutted expanse, and said FEMA shouldve done more.If this is the way they are, he ought to do away with them, Bailey said of Trump, whose win in North Carolina helped propel him to victory in November. Danny Bailey, 61, stands in front of the trailer he lives in with his pet dogs in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Danny Bailey, 61, stands in front of the trailer he lives in with his pet dogs in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A row of propane tanks sits along the side of Danny Baileys trailer in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) A row of propane tanks sits along the side of Danny Baileys trailer in Swannanoa, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Bailey ran into issues getting the money. A few days after Helene, he said a FEMA inspector came to his property and told him to go online to apply for disaster assistance, but Bailey had no computer or reliable cell service. He traveled almost 100 miles east to Statesville to use his nephews computer, Bailey said, and then had problems getting clear answers from FEMA on his application status. Eventually, he received his money. Their attitude was, you know, this happened to you, but its up to you to fix it. And I aint the one who caused it, he said with a laugh. Complaints about FEMAs application process are common because of the administrative hurdles in place to ensure applicants eligibility, said Miyuki Hino, a city and regional planning professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. People may also believe FEMA should provide more assistance when its role is mainly to meet immediate needs such as shelter, Hino said. There always has been an underlying tension on the federal governments role in natural disaster response, but Hino said the agencys increasing politicization could be attributed to the rising frequency of expensive disasters caused by climate change. Dissolving FEMA could create issues when disasters extend beyond state lines or localities need expertise on disasters they are not used to confronting. Overall, eliminating FEMA would likely slow the recovery process for future disasters, she said. FEMAs potential eradication worries Dalton George, the mayor pro tempore of Boone, a mountain town in Watauga County that was ravaged by Helene. Despite understandable frustrations, he said the agency moved quickly to help. It has contributed money for home restorations, as well as keeping several families in hotels under its transitory sheltering program, he said.It feels like people are more anti-FEMA than they are about actually solving some of these problems, George said.Responsibilities would be partly shifted onto local governments, and George said towns such as Boone do not have resources for that. Private organizations would need to step up more than they have, George said, and they already are overextended. Vickie Revis relies heavily on private entities such as churches to supply almost everything on her property, including the trailer she stays in with her husband along the Swannanoa River. Her home of eight years was completely swept away by the river something she used to associate with beauty and peace but now ties to terror. Vickie Revis and her granddaughter, Addisun Cole, 8, stand outside the trailer on Revis property where shes currently living after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Vickie Revis and her granddaughter, Addisun Cole, 8, stand outside the trailer on Revis property where shes currently living after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Addisun Cole, 8, plays with Little Bit, her grandmothers cat, outside the trailer of her grandmother, Vickie Revis, where Revis is living after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Addisun Cole, 8, plays with Little Bit, her grandmothers cat, outside the trailer of her grandmother, Vickie Revis, where Revis is living after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Vickie Revis holds one of several mud-stained family photographs that were recovered after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Vickie Revis holds one of several mud-stained family photographs that were recovered after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A view of a building and damaged waterfront destroyed by Hurricane Helene as seen from across the Swannanoa River adjacent to Vickie Revis' property, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) A view of a building and damaged waterfront destroyed by Hurricane Helene as seen from across the Swannanoa River adjacent to Vickie Revis' property, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Its like a friend that came in and robbed you of everything you have, Revis said. Her restoration process, however, will largely be funded by FEMA, as Revis said she received more than $40,000. She said she had no issues with how the agency handled her situation. Instead, Revis talked at length about the grief she still lives with: lost pets; meaningful possessions that disappeared; home expansion plans to accommodate more family members that will not happen. She said she rarely left her trailer until recently because she could not bear to face the devastation.Now, it is the rebuilding that keeps Revis going. How long will that go on?However long it takes, she said.___ Associated Press data journalist Larry Fenn in New York contributed to this report. MAKIYA SEMINERA Seminera is a state government reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump walks from the Oval Office to departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-16T19:49:54Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office.The emergency appeal is the start of what probably will be a steady stream from lawyers for the Republican president and his administration seeking to undo lower court rulings that have slowed his second term agenda.The Justice Departments filing obtained by The Associated Press asks the conservative-majority court to lift a judges court order temporarily reinstating Hampton Dellinger as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel.Dellinger has argued that the law says he can only be dismissed for problems with the performance of his job, none of which were cited in the email dismissing him. The petition came hours after a divided appeals court panel refused on procedural grounds to lift the order, which was filed Wednesday and expires on Feb. 26.The case is not expected to be docketed until after the Supreme Court returns from the Presidents Day holiday weekend. The justices would not act until Tuesday at the earliest. Its not clear what reception Trump will get from the conservative-dominated court that includes three justices he nominated in his first term.The case began last week when Dellinger sued over his removal as head of the Office of Special Counsel, which is responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. He was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024. Dellinger said the offices work needed now more than ever, noting the unprecedented number of firings, without cause, of federal employees with civil service protections in recent weeks by the Trump administration. The administration argues that the order reinstating Dellinger for two weeks wrongly restricts what the president can do. The brief cites the Supreme Court decision that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution and reflected a muscular view of executive power. Until now, as far as we are aware, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the president to retain an agency head, acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris wrote. The brief references some of the dozen or more cases where judges have slowed Trumps agenda, including by ordering the temporary lifting of a foreign aid funding freeze and blocking workers with Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from accessing Treasury Department data for now. The administration is facing at least 70 lawsuits, and letting the order in Dellingers case stand could embolden judges to issue additional blocks, the Justice Department argues. Dellingers firing was the latest move in Trumps sweeping effort to shrink and reshape the federal government, testing the limits of well-established civil service protections by moving to dismantle federal agencies and push out staffers. The independent Office of Special Counsel is separate from Justice Department special counsels such as Jack Smith, who are appointed by the attorney general for specific investigations, such as Smiths criminal investigation of Trump before he returned to the White House. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration campus in Silver Spring, Md., is photographed on Oct. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)2025-02-16T18:01:14Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administrations effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired.Probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated, according to three FDA staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.The total number of positions eliminated was not clear Sunday, but the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agencys centers for food, medical devices and tobacco products which includes oversight of electronic cigarettes. It was not clear whether FDA employees who review drugs were exempted from the layoffs. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to fire 5,200 probationary employees across its agencies, which include the National Institutes of Health, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.People who spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity on Friday said the number of probationary employees to be laid off at the CDC would total nearly 1,300. But as of early Sunday afternoon, about 700 people had received notices, according to three people who spoke on condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said none of the CDC layoffs affected the young doctors and researchers who track diseases in whats known as the Epidemic Intelligence Service. The FDA is headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington and employs nearly 20,000 people. Its long been a target of newly sworn-in health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who last year accused the agency of waging a war on public health for not approving unproven treatments such as psychedelics, stem cells and chelation therapy. Kennedy also has called for eliminating thousands of chemicals and colorings from U.S. foods. But the cuts at FDA include staffers responsible for reviewing the safety of new food additives and ingredients, according to an FDA staffer familiar with the firings. An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday afternoon.Nearly half of the FDAs $6.9 billion budget comes from fees paid by companies the agency regulates, including drug and medical device makers, which allows the agency to hire extra scientists to swiftly review products. Eliminating those positions will not reduce government spending.A former FDA official said cutting recent hires could backfire, eliminating staffers who tend to be younger and have more up-to-date technical skills. The FDAs workforce skews toward older workers who have spent one or two decades at the agency, and the Government Accountability Office noted in 2022 that the FDA has historically faced challenges in recruiting and retaining staff due to better money in the private sector. You want to bring in new blood, said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner under President George W. Bush. You want people with new ideas, greater enthusiasm and the latest thinking in terms of technology. Mitch Zeller, former FDA director for tobacco, said the firings are a way to demoralize and undermine the spirit of the federal workforce.The combined effect of what theyre trying to do is going to destroy the ability to recruit and retain talent, Zeller said.The FDAs inspection force has been particularly strained in recent years after a wave of departures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of the agencys current inspectors are recent hires. It was not immediately clear whether those employees were exempted.FDA inspectors are responsible for overseeing thousands of food, drug, tobacco and medical device facilities worldwide, though the AP reported last year that the agency faced a backlog of roughly 2,000 uninspected drug facilities that hadnt been visited since before the pandemic.The agencys inspection force have also been criticized for not moving faster to catch recent problems involving infant formula, baby food and eyedrops. ___AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.___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.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference regarding immigration enforcement at the Justice Department, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-16T12:40:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) Pam Bondi had insisted at her Senate confirmation hearing that as attorney general, her Justice Department would not play politics.Yet in the month since the Trump administration took over the building, a succession of actions has raised concerns the department is doing exactly that.Top officials have demanded the names of thousands of FBI agents who investigated the Capitol riot, sued a state attorney general who had won a massive fraud verdict against Donald Trump before the 2024 election, and ordered the dismissal of a criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams by saying the charges had handicapped the Democrats ability to partner in the Republican administrations fight against illegal immigration. Even for a department that has endured its share of scandals, the moves have produced upheaval not seen in decades, tested its independence and rattled the foundations of an institution that has long prided itself on being driven solely by facts, evidence and the law. As firings and resignations mount, the unrest raises the question of whether a president who raged against his own Justice Department during his first term can succeed in bending it to his will in his second. We have seen now a punishing ruthlessness that acting department leadership and the attorney general are bringing to essentially subjugate the workforce to the wishes and demands of the administration, even when its obvious that some of the decisions have all the signs of corrupting the criminal justice system, said retired federal prosecutor David Laufman, a senior department official across Democratic and Republican administrations. He spoke not long after Manhattans top federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, resigned in protest following a directive from Emil Bove, the Justice Departments acting No. 2 official, to dismiss the case against Adams. In a letter foreshadowing her decision, Sassoon accused the department of acceding to a quid pro quo dropping the case to ensure Adams help with Trumps immigration agenda. Though a Democrat, Adams had for months positioned himself as eager to aid the administrations effort in Americas largest city, even meeting privately with Trump at Trumps Florida estate just days before the Republican took office. Multiple high-ranking officials who oversaw the Justice Departments public integrity section, which prosecutes corruption cases, joined Sassoon in resigning. This image provided by Office of the New York Mayor shows New York Mayor Eric Adams as he speaks during an address from City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Ed Reed/Office of the New York Mayor via AP) This image provided by Office of the New York Mayor shows New York Mayor Eric Adams as he speaks during an address from City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Ed Reed/Office of the New York Mayor via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More On Friday, a prosecutor involved in the Adams case, Hagan Scotten, became at least the seventh person to quit in the standoff, telling Bove in a letter that it would take a fool or a coward to meet his demand to drop the charges. (Bove and department lawyers in Washington ultimately filed paperwork Friday night to end the case).Though the circumstances are significantly different, the wave of resignations conjured memories of the 1973 Saturday Night Massacre when multiple Justice Department leaders quit rather than carry out President Richard Nixons orders to fire the Watergate special prosecutor. Even though there may not be more resignations, a clear message has been sent about the objectives and the expectations of the department, said Alberto Gonzales, who served as attorney general under Republican President George W. Bush until his 2007 resignation in the wake of the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys.The purpose of the department is to ensure that our laws are carried out, that those who engage in criminal wrongdoing are prosecuted and punished, Gonzales said. And to some it may appear that if you have some kind of relationship with the White House, there may not be consequences for doing something that ordinary Americans engaged in similar conduct would be punished. Bove, a former New York federal prosecutor himself who represented Trump in his criminal cases, pointedly made no assessment about the legal merits of the case against Adams. Bove cited political reasons, including the timing of the charges months before Adams presumed reelection campaign and the restrictions the case had placed on the mayors ability to fight illegal immigration and violent crime. This undated image, provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of New York, shows Danielle R. Sassoon, interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. (U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of New York via AP) This undated image, provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of New York, shows Danielle R. Sassoon, interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. (U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of New York via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In a letter to Sassoon, Bove said case prosecutors would be subject to internal investigations.Bondi defended the decision to drop the case, asserted in a Fox New interview Friday that Adams was targeted after he criticized the Biden administrations immigration policies. Her chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, said prosecutors who refused the dismissal order have no place at DOJ. The decision to dismiss the indictment of Eric Adams is yet another indication that this DOJ will return to its core function of prosecuting dangerous criminals, not pursuing politically motivated witch hunts, Mizelle said in a statement that accused prosecutors without evidence of disordered and ulterior motives. At the White House on Friday, Trump said he was not involved in the Adams case and knew nothing about it. The New York showdown follows a separate dispute between Bove and the acting FBI leadership over his demands for a list of agents involved in the investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol so the Justice Department could determine whether personnel action was warranted. The request was seen by some as a precursor to possible mass firings, but it was also consistent with Trumps fury over those criminal cases, which he erased with sweeping pardons soon after his inauguration. Attorney Emil Bove sits on the day of a sentencing hearing in the criminal case in which President-elect Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, outside of New York Criminal Court in Manhattan in New York City, Jan. 10, 2025. (Brendan McDermid, Pool Photo via AP, File) Attorney Emil Bove sits on the day of a sentencing hearing in the criminal case in which President-elect Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, outside of New York Criminal Court in Manhattan in New York City, Jan. 10, 2025. (Brendan McDermid, Pool Photo via AP, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Bove referred to the acting FBI directors resistance to his directive as an act of insubordination and said agents who simply followed orders would not lose their jobs but those who acted with partisan intent were at risk.In between White House terms, Trump and his allies pressed the case that the Justice Department had become weaponized against conservatives and him in particular, citing separate indictments that were later dismissed after Trump won back the presidency in November.On her first day on the job, Bondi announced the creation of a Weaponization Working Group, to scrutinize the prosecutors who brought criminal and civil cases against Trump and to examine the Jan. 6 prosecutions. She wrote in a memo that the department must take immediate and overdue steps to restore integrity and credibility and to ensure that personnel were ready and willing to implement the presidents agenda. Pam Bondi is sworn in as Attorney General by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, right, as President Donald Trump, partner John Wakefield and mother Patsy Bondi, look on, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Pam Bondi is sworn in as Attorney General by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, right, as President Donald Trump, partner John Wakefield and mother Patsy Bondi, look on, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The group, notably, was not tasked with examining other politically sensitive matters more favorable to Trump, including a special counsels investigation of Democratic President Joe Bidens handling of classified information or the prosecution of Bidens son Hunter, who was convicted of gun and tax charges before receiving a pardon from his father in December. Among the prosecutors singled out by the working group was special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against Trump, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose civil fraud suit against Trump led to a nearly $500 million judgment.A frequent target of Trumps ire, James would surface again days later when Bondi, in her first news conference, announced a lawsuit against the state of New York over a law that allows people who might not be in the U.S. legally to get a drivers license. Bondi opened her remarks by saying she had filed charges against James and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, before later clarifying that she was referring to a lawsuit.More departures and more turmoil could be ahead.The prospect of the hollowing out of the Justice Department and the (FBI) is now a live and dangerous risk being played out, said Laufman, the retired prosecutor. Where it goes from here, we just cant currently assess. 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

President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)2025-02-16T21:13:33Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps approach to ending Russias war against Ukraine has left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried they are being largely sidelined by the new U.S. administration as Washington and Moscow plan direct negotiations. With the three-year war grinding on, Trump is sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian counterparts, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the upcoming diplomatic efforts and spoke on condition of anonymity.It is unclear whether Ukraine or European officials will be represented in discussions expected to take place in Riyadh in the coming days. The official said the United States sees negotiations as early-stage and fluid, and who ultimately ends up at the table could change. The outreach comes after comments by top Trump advisers this past week, including Vice President JD Vance, raised new concerns in Kyiv and other European capitals that the Republican administration is intent on quick resolution to the conflict with minimum input from Europe. Decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyin an address Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. From now on, things will be different, and Europe needs to adjust to that. White House officials on Sunday pushed back against the notion that Europe has been left out of the conversation. Trump spoke by phone in recent days with French President Emmanuel Macron and is expected to consult with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week. During his visit to Munich and Paris, Vance held talks with Macron, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte as well as Zelenskyy. Now they may not like some of this sequencing that is going on in these negotiations but I have to push back on this ... notion that they arent being consulted, Waltz told Fox News Sunday.They absolutely are and at the end of the day, though, this is going to be under President Trumps leadership that we get this war to an end, Waltz said.Rubio, who was in Israel on Sunday before heading to Saudi Arabia, said the U.S. is taking a careful approach as it reengages with Moscow after the Biden administrations clampdown on contacts with the Kremlin following the February 2022 invasion.Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and the two leaders agreed to begin high-level talks on ending the war. They were initially presented as two-way, but Trump later affirmed that Ukraine would have a seat though he did not say at what stage.It was not immediately clear whether any Ukrainians would take part in the upcoming Riyadh talks. A Ukrainian delegation was in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to pave the way for a possible visit by Zelenskyy, according to Ukraines economy minister.I think President Trump will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time. But I dont want to prejudge that, Rubio said told CBS Face the Nation. I dont want to foreclose the opportunity to end a conflict thats already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and continues every single day to be increasingly a war of attrition on both sides, he said.Heather Conley, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Central Europe during Republican President George W. Bushs administration, said that with Trumps current approach to Moscow, the U.S. appears to be seeking to create a new international approach based on a modern-day concert of great powers.As in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it is only for the great powers to decide the fate of nations and to take either by purchase or force that which strengthens the great powers economic and security interests, Conley said. Each of these powers posit claims or coerce countries in their respective regional spheres of influence. There is some debate inside the administration about its developing approach to Moscow, with some more in favor of a rapid rapprochement and others wary that Putin is looking to fray the Euro-Atlantic alliance as he aims to reclaim Russian status and wield greater influence on the continent, according to the U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.Trump said last week that he would like to see Russia rejoin what is now the Group of Seven major economies. Russia was suspended from the G8 after Moscows 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea region.Id like to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, its not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia, Trump told reporters. I think Putin would love to be back.The anticipated Saudi talks also come amid tension over Trumps push to get the Ukrainians to agree to give the U.S access to Ukraines deposits of rare earth minerals in exchange for some $66 billion in military aid that Washington has provided Kyiv since the start of the war, as well as future defense assistance. Zelenskyy, who met on Friday with Vance and other senior U.S. officials in Munich, said he had directed Ukraines minister to not sign off, at least for now.Zelenskyy said in an interview the deal as presented by the U.S. was too focused on American interests and did not include security guarantees for Ukraine.The White House called Zelenskyys decision short-sighted, and argued that a rare-earths deal would tie Ukraine closer to the United States something that Moscow doesnt want to see.European officials were also left unsettled by some of Vances remarks during his five-day visit to Paris and Munich last week in which he lectured them on free speech and illegal migration on the continent. He warned that they risk losing public support if they dont quickly change course.Vance also met while in Munich with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party in this months election.Throughout Europe, officials are now looking to recalibrate their approach in the face of the Trump administrations unfolding Ukraine strategy.Macron will convene top European countries in Paris on Monday for an emergency working meeting to discuss next steps for Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Nol Barrot said Sunday. A wind of unity is blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the COVID period, Barrot told public broadcaster France-Info.___Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto

The SNL50 logo is seen outside the Nasdaq Marketplace in New York's Times Square, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)2025-02-16T05:00:20Z NEW YORK (AP) Fifty seasons of Saturday Night Live sketches, songs and special guests will be celebrated Sunday as the variety show celebrates its landmark anniversary.The pop culture juggernaut has launched the careers of generations of comedians, from Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Tina Fey to Kristen Wiig.Many of those stars will be on hand for SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration, airing live from New York on Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific.The three-hour extravaganza comes after months of celebrations of Saturday Night Live, which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with an original cast that included John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner.Its become appointment television over the years as the show has skewered presidents, politics and pop culture and been a platform for the biggest musical stars of the moment. As streaming has altered television viewing, SNL sketches, host monologues and short comedy films remain popular on social media and routinely rack up millions of views on YouTube. Each SNL episode holds at least some surprises, and Sundays special is no different. While NBC has revealed some of the stars who are expected to appear, many of the specials moments, cameos and music performances remain a surprise. On Sunday, NBC announced more guest appearances including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Leslie Jones, Billy Crystal, Cher, Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin, who holds the title of the person whos hosted SNL the most times. The network is still promising more surprises.Heres what to know ahead of SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration. When does the SNL 50th anniversary tribute show start?NBC will air SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration on Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific. The anniversary show will also stream on Peacock.A red carpet show hosted by SNL alumna Leslie Jones and NBC News Willie Geist will precede the special, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. This combination of photos shows, top row from left, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, bottom row from left, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Adam Sandler. (AP Photo) This combination of photos shows, top row from left, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, bottom row from left, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Adam Sandler. (AP Photo) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Which SNL alums are slated to appear?Prepare for generations of SNL stars to return for Sundays special. NBC says in addition to Murphy and Fey, you can expect: Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Chris Rock, Fred Armisen, Jason Sudeikis, Jimmy Fallon, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Pete Davidson, Seth Meyers, Tracy Morgan, Will Ferrell and Will Forte. Current cast member Kenan Thompsons appearance was also touted.Some members of the first Saturday Night Live cast, known as the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, will appear, including Chase, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris and Jane Curtin. A publicist for Dan Aykroyd, the lone remaining surviving member, did not respond to a request for comment on whether he would attend.Which former hosts will appear on SNL50?Steve Martin, who has left an indelible comedic mark on SNL over the years, will be among the many successful hosts returning for the shows 50th celebration.Other prolific and returning hosts range from actors like Tom Hanks, Martin Short and Scarlett Johansson (who is married to current SNL cast member Colin Jost) to athletes like Peyton Manning. Former SNL writer John Mulaney will appear, as will Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, Kim Kardashian, Paul Simon, Pedro Pascal, Quinta Brunson, Robert De Niro and Woody Harrelson. This image released by Peacock shows Miley Cyrus performing during SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. (Virginia Sherwood/Peacock via AP) This image released by Peacock shows Miley Cyrus performing during SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. (Virginia Sherwood/Peacock via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More How will SNL honor its musical legacy? In some ways, it already has. Radio City Music Hall on Friday hosted the star-packed SNL50: The Homecoming Concert with a lineup that included Cher, Miley Cyrus, Arcade Fire, David Byrne, Post Malone and Nirvana.Sundays special will include appearances by Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Cyrus and other music stars, though the show hasnt said whether all will perform. McCartney has used New Yorks Bowery Ballroom as a warm-up spot, hosting three surprise shows this week.The musical legacy of SNL is also explored in the documentary Ladies and Gentlemen ... 50 Years of SNL Music, from the Oscar-winning Questlove. Its currently streaming on Peacock.___For more coverage of the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/saturday-night-live

Warwick Davis poses with the BAFTA fellowship award at the 78th British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA's, in London, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)2025-02-16T23:32:16Z The British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs, have given audiences some great moments in recent years. Remember Ariana DeBoses Angela Basset did the thing, that awkward performance that had a joyful second life as a joke? Or Ryan Goslings wink at Emma Stone last year that had internet shippers in a tizzy?The worst part is that for some parts of the world, including the U.S., theyre also not the easiest to watch or at least a little harder than just turning on ABC (and soon Hulu) to watch the Oscars. The Associated Press is here to help those without a BritBox subscription with a rundown of the best and most memorable moments of the night, where Anora did not sweep (though Mikey Madison did triumph over best actress front-runner Demi Moore), Conclave won big and Emilia Prez proved its still a contender.(500 Miles) singalong with Brian Cox David Tennant (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) David Tennant (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Host David Tennant got the ceremony off to an amusing start with a pre-recorded bit where various actors give him a little pep talk, appearing in his dressing room mirror including fellow Scot Brian Cox, who kicked off a rousing rendition of The Proclaimers song Im Gonna Be (500 Miles). Tennant took over and brought the anthem into the room, where Selena Gomez seemed genuinely surprised when he tapped her shoulder and inserted her name into the song. There were the celebrity participants of course, James McAvoy, Camila Cabello and Colman Domingo among them. But even some not in the show sang along happily as well, Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden included. Others, like Adrien Brody and Demi Moore, did not seem to be part of the chorus. Selena Gomez narrowly avoids a presenting gaffe Selena Gomez (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Selena Gomez (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More No presenter wants a John Travolta Adele Dazeem moment or, worse, a Faye Dunaway La La Land flap, and you could see the wheels turning in Gomezs head as she looked at the card for the debut by a British writer, director or producer award. I dont know how to say, she said quietly from stage, looking at her co-star and co-presenter, Zoe Saldaa, before looking further down on the card. Oh, Kneecap, she said, quietly adding, Rich and simply avoiding the writer-directors last name, Peppiatt. Jesse Eisenbergs sweet, funny tribute to his wife Jesse Eisenberg (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Jesse Eisenberg (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Jesse Eisenberg started off his best screenplay win for A Real Pain with some signature, self-deprecating jokes about how neither he, his wife nor the person who sat him thought he was going to win. The audience laughed loudly when he said thats why his wife didnt attend the ceremony. But he quickly turned sincere, offering a touching tribute to his wife, Anna Strout, whom he credited with helping him learn about the world around him. Youve put every worthwhile thought into my head over the last 20 years, Eisenberg said. I love you so much. Zoe Saldaas teary, fierce speech Zoe Saldaa, winner of the supporting actress award for Emilia Perez (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Zoe Saldaa, winner of the supporting actress award for Emilia Perez (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Perhaps Saldaa was feeling the pressure of Emilia Prezs diminished Oscar dreams two days before voting closes. Or maybe she was just really overwhelmed to win the best supporting actress BAFTA. Regardless, she let her emotions show in a teary and intense speech, in which she poked fun at her own inability to do a good British accent, shouted out her makeup artist as her closest confidant and made a case for the film.Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds, and I hope, I hope that Emilia Prez did something like this, she said. Voices need to be heard, just not my English accent. Bye, guys. Jeff Goldblum, piano man Jeff Goldblum (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP) Jeff Goldblum (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In memoriam segments dont need to be flashy. All you need is a thoughtful reel, Jeff Goldblum and a piano, it turns out. He played As Time Goes By.Warwick Davis keeps it short, and sincere Warwick Davis with the BAFTA fellowship award (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Warwick Davis with the BAFTA fellowship award (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Warwick Davis joked that hed keep his BAFTA Fellowship acceptance speech short, telling the audience that its OK, they can laugh. This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me, and Ive been in Star Wars, he said. Davis also got emotional, speaking about his wife who died last year.She was always so supportive of my career, encouraging me to grab every opportunity with both hands, he said. Since then, life has been pretty tough for me. Thanks to the support of our wonderful children, Ive been able to continue working and engaging in life. Mikey Madison gets her moment Mikey Madison with the leading actress award (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Mikey Madison with the leading actress award (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Moore has been sweeping many of the best actress prizes, but Anora star Madison got a great, big moment and win. Though she said she didnt expect it, and said she should have listened to my publicist and written a speech, Madison gave a notably thoughtful speech, paying tribute to her director, producer, co-stars, mother (her favorite scene partner) and the sex worker community. I just want to say: I see you. You deserve respect and human decency, she said. I will always be a friend and an ally, and I implore others to do the same. LINDSEY BAHR Bahr has been a film writer and critic for The Associated Press since 2014. twitter instagram mailto

Elon Musk listens during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-16T23:53:16Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nations nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that DOGEs blind cost cutting will put communities at risk. Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were abruptly laid off late Thursday, with some losing access to email before theyd learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning to find they were locked out. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.One of the hardest hit offices was the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, which saw about 30% of the cuts. Those employees work on reassembling warheads, one of the most sensitive jobs across the nuclear weapons enterprise, with the highest levels of clearance. The hundreds let go at NNSA were part of a DOGE purge across the Department of Energy that targeted about 2,000 employees.The DOGE people are coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, referencing Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency team. They dont seem to realize that its actually the department of nuclear weapons more than it is the Department of Energy. By late Friday night, the agencys acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo rescinding the firings for all but 28 of those hundreds of fired staff members. This letter serves as formal notification that the termination decision issued to you on Feb. 13, 2025 has been rescinded, effective immediately, said the memo, which was obtained by the AP. The accounts from the three officials contradict an official statement from the Department of Energy, which said fewer than 50 National Nuclear Security Administration staffers were let go, calling them probationary employees who held primarily administrative and clerical roles. But that wasnt the case. The firings prompted one NNSA senior staffer to post a warning and call to action.This is a pivotal moment. We must decide whether we are truly committed to leading on the world stage or if we are content with undermining the very systems that secure our nations future, deputy division director Rob Plonski posted to LinkedIn. Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and adversarily opportunistic at worst.While some of the Energy Department employees who were fired dealt with energy efficiency and the effects of climate change, issues not seen as priorities by the Trump administration, many others dealt with nuclear issues, even if they didnt directly work on weapons programs. This included managing massive radioactive waste sites and ensuring the material there doesnt further contaminate nearby communities. That incudes the Savannah River National Laboratory in Jackson, South Carolina; the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state, where workers secure 177 high-level waste tanks from the sites previous work producing plutonium for the atomic bomb; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, a Superfund contamination site where much of the early work on the Manhattan Project was done, among others. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, both Democrats, called the firings last week utterly callous and dangerous. The NNSA staff who had been reinstated could not all be reached after they were fired, and some were reconsidering whether to return to work, given the uncertainty created by DOGE. Many federal employees who had worked on the nations nuclear programs had spent their entire careers there, and there was a wave of retirements in recent years that cost the agency years of institutional knowledge. But its now in the midst of a major $750 billion nuclear weapons modernization effort including new land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, new stealth bombers and new submarine-launched warheads. In response, the labs have aggressively hired over the past few years: In 2023, 60% of the workforce had been there five years or less. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the firings could disrupt the day-to-day workings of the agency and create a sense of instability over the nuclear program both at home and abroad.I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a monkey wrench in the whole national security apparatus and cause disarray, he said. That can only benefit the adversaries of this country. TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto

Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks after receiving this year's Roepke Prize for Civil Society of the Liberal Institute at the Congress centre in Kloten, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Ennio Leanza/Keystone via AP)2025-02-16T22:25:38Z MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) Argentine lawyers filed fraud charges against President Javier Milei in criminal court on Sunday for promoting a cryptocurrency on his social media, one of the lawyers told The Associated Press.On Friday, Milei posted on X about $LIBRA, a coin that he said was aimed at encouraging economic growth by funding small businesses and startups. He deleted the post a few hours later and the value of the currency collapsed, causing millions of dollars in losses to its brief investors, according to financial site Dexscreener.The coin, developed by KIP Protocol and Hayden Davis, could be obtained by accessing a link that directed users to a website called vivalalibertadproject.com, referring to the well-known phrase with which Milei closes speeches and messages on his social media.The Presidents Office said in a Saturday statement that Milei was not involved in any stage of the cryptocurrencys development and decided to remove the post to avoid speculation and limit further exposure, following the public reaction to the projects launch. Jonatan Baldiviezo, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs, told the AP that they saw an illicit association to commit an indeterminate number of frauds in the episode. Within this illicit association, the crime of fraud was committed, in which the presidents actions were essential, he said. Baldiviezo signed the petition with Marcos Zelaya, another lawyer; the engineer Mara Eva Koutsovitis; and the economist Claudio Lozano, who presided over the Argentine Central Bank during former president Alberto Fernndezs administration. Criminal justice is expected to assign a judge to the case or refer it to a prosecutor for further investigation on Monday. The plaintiffs saw in Mileis action an operation known in the crypto world as rug pull. This occurs when a developer launches an attractive token to lure investors but later abandons it after funds become overpriced, making the tokens worthless. Baldiviezo also added that Milei violated the Public Ethics Law. The President shared a post on his personal accounts announcing the launch of KIP Protocols project, as he does daily with many entrepreneurs who wish to launch projects in Argentina to create jobs and attract investments, the Presidents Office said.After deleting the post, Milei said on X he was unaware of the currencys development and blamed his political opponents for trying to exploit the episode. I was not aware of the details of the project, and after getting informed, I decided not to continue promoting it (which is why I deleted the tweet), he said.The Presidents Office said the countrys Anti-Corruption Office, which operates under the Executive Branch, would act immediately. The administration also acknowledged that Milei and members of his administration recently met with representatives of KIP Protocol at the presidential office. All the information gathered in the investigation will be handed over to the judiciary to determine if any of the companies or individuals linked to the KIP Protocol project committed a crime, the Milei administration said in the Saturday statement. Hayden Mark Davis, one of KIP Protocols representatives who met with Milei, blamed the president for the crypto currencys collapse in a video posted on his social media on Saturday. Despite prior commitments, Milei and his team unexpectedly changed their position, withdrawing their support and deleting all previous posts on social media, Davis said.