A U.S.-born toddler sits on her mother's lap as Nora Sandigo, who runs a non-profit dedicated to supporting immigrant families, explains migrants' legal rights and options to prepare their families in case a parent were to be detained or deported, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)2025-02-19T02:05:33Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration on Tuesday stopped support for legal representation in immigration court for children who enter the United States alone, a setback for those fighting deportation who cant afford a lawyer.The Acacia Center for Justice says it serves 26,000 migrant children under its federal contract. The Interior Department gave no explanation for the stop-work order, telling the group only that it was done for causes outside of your control and should not be interpreted as a judgment of poor performance. The halt remains in effect until further notice.The Interior Department and Health and Human Services Department, which oversees unaccompanied migrant children, did not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.Acacia says it runs the legal aid program through a network of 85 organizations nationwide that represent children under 18. The halt comes shortly after the Justice Department briefly stopped support for other contacts to provide legal information and guidance to people facing deportation. It restored funding after being sued by advocacy groups. People fighting deportation may hire attorneys at their own expense, but the government does not provide them. Groups that rely on federal support to represent children said the most vulnerable would suffer most under the decision to halt work on the $200 million contract.Expecting a child to represent themself in immigration court absurd and deeply unjust, said Christine Lin, director of training and technical assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies.___

The cargo ship Laodicea sails through the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 7, 2022. An Associated Press investigation showed that the ship, owned by the Syrian government, was part of an extensive Russian-run smuggling operation that has been hauling stolen Ukrainian grain from ports in occupied Crimea to customers in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Yoruk Isik, File)2025-02-19T10:25:40Z BRUSSELS (AP) European Union envoys have approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia, with the measures set to enter into force next week on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a top EU official and diplomats confirmed on Wednesday.The move comes with the Europeans sidelined from U.S.-led talks to end the war.The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine in February 24, 2022. More than 2,300 officials and entities usually government agencies, banks and organizations have been hit.The diplomats confirmed approval of the sanctions the 16th package of measures including travel bans, asset freezes and trade restrictions on condition that they not be named. The measures are still not entirely finalized until EU foreign ministers endorse them on Monday, allowing them to enter force. Among the latest sanctions are measures targeting Russias so-called shadow fleet of ships that it exploits to skirt restrictions on transporting oil and gas, or to carry stolen Ukrainian grain. Some 70 vessels believed to be part of the shadow fleet will be added to more than 50 already listed. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose services drafted some of the measures for consideration, welcomed their prospective adoption by the 27-nation blocs ambassadors. The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putins shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans. We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin, she said in a social media post.Almost 50 Russian officials will be targeted, joining a list that already includes Putin, several of his associates and scores of lawmakers, while dozens more entities face sanctions. Among the measures are restrictions on 13 Russian banks and 3 financial institutions, the diplomats said.The sanctions would also place restrictions on the use of 11 ports and airports in Russia that the EU considers are being used to help Moscow bypass an oil price cap and other measures already imposed by the bloc.Trade bans on some chemicals and aluminum are also included. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The sun breaks through overcast skies as ice forms along Lake Michigan and the South Haven Lighthouse Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in South Haven, Mich. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)2025-02-19T05:07:03Z NORFOLK, Va. (AP) The latest in a long line of winter storms is taking direct aim at the East Coast, threatening to dump heavy snow and some ice in several states.A storm that dropped snow in the Midwest was spreading across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys on Wednesday, bringing more misery to some places just starting to clean up from deadly weekend floods.Up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow was possible along the Atlantic Coast in Virginia and significant ice accumulations were forecast in eastern North Carolina, the National Weather Service said.Elsewhere, a polar vortex took over from Montana to southern Texas. Bismarck, North Dakota, hit minus 39 degrees (minus 39.4 C) early Tuesday, breaking a record for the date set in 1910. The biggest batch of record cold temperatures are likely to hit early Thursday and Friday, said weather service meteorologist Andrew Orrison. Deja storm all over again North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency Tuesday in anticipation of Wednesdays ice-and-snow mix.What we fear the most are road conditions and loss of power due to ice accumulation, Stein said Tuesday on the social platform X. So folks need to be prepared. Virginia remained under a similar declaration that Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued for another storm on Feb. 10 that allowed the National Guard and state agencies to assist local governments. Both Stein and Youngkin asked motorists to stay off roads. Snow after floodsWeekend storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. killed at least 17 people, including 14 in Kentucky, where a half-foot (15 centimeters) or more of snow was expected starting Wednesday.This is a snowstorm in the middle of a natural disaster, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday.In southern West Virginia, weekend floods killed three people in McDowell County, destroyed roads and severed public water systems. Thousands remained without power Tuesday night. Shelters were open at multiple churches and schools while more than a dozen locations were serving hot meals.The incoming snowstorm is going to severely hinder, if not halt, a lot of the efforts that we have, said McDowell County Commissioner Michael Brooks. We want to ensure that we are doing our best to at least keep people warm. Bone-chilling coldMore than 80 million people in the nations midsection were in the midst of gripping cold, the weather service said. Hundreds of public school districts canceled classes or switched to online learning for a second day Wednesday in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Some relief was in sight with readings expected to climb above freezing by the weekend.Stephanie Hatzenbuhlers family has been contending with the cold in many ways on their farm and ranch west of Mandan, North Dakota, from their calving operation, to vehicles and equipment starting without issues, to their coal-fired furnace keeping up.Theres always something new to learn and something new to experience. It doesnt matter how many times youve done this, so you have to adapt, said Hatzenbuhler, who called the cold spell the Siberian experience. Slick roads caused minor injuries in the crash of a tractor-trailer carrying eggs on the Will Rogers Turnpike in northeastern Oklahoma on Tuesday.Expensive cargo right now, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on X.___Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Associated Press writers from across the U.S. contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Candles with the pictures of Pope Francis are the laid under the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-02-19T11:13:41Z LONDON (AP) Vatican officials said late Tuesday that Pope Francis had developed pneumonia in both lungs, further complicating the pontiffs recovery. The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. On Monday, doctors said he had developed a mix of infections in his respiratory tract.On Wednesday, the Vatican said Pope Francis had a tranquil night, woke up and had breakfast, saying he was in good spirits. Heres a look at what a pneumonia diagnosis can mean and potential treatments doctors might be trying: Whats happened?Pope Francis was admitted to Romes Gemilli hospital in fair condition on Friday after his bronchitis worsened. On Monday, doctors said he had developed a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, or a mix of viruses, bacteria and possibly other organisms were growing in his respiratory tract.Late Tuesday, the Vatican said a chest scan showed he had developed pneumonia in both lungs, requiring additional medication.Bronchitis occurs when the airways in the lung, known as the bronchial tubes, become inflamed, leading to coughing and mucus production. That infection can sometimes spread to the lungs, resulting in pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs thats typically caused by an infection. How serious is this?Doctors say pneumonia in anyone can be serious, but for someone of the popes age, its particularly worrying.One of the risk factors for more serious infection, like older age, meaning anyone over 65, said Dr. Meredith McCormack, director of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University.Even though the pope lost part of his right lung decades ago, McCormack said that shouldnt necessarily compromise his recovery, adding that she would be more concerned about any possible signs of weakness in His Holiness.Being a more frail older person can increase your risk of having complications, she said, noting that having to use a wheelchair could be considered a sign of frailty. The pope has relied on a wheelchair for more than two years.It appears, however, that the pope is not bed-bound. He has been able to get out of bed and his heart function is good, according to a Vatican official. What kind of treatments are available?Beyond antibiotic drug therapy, there are multiple treatments available, including supplemental oxygen and therapies to support the lungs and body while its trying to recover.Dr. Andrew Chadwick, a respiratory and intensive care specialist at Oxford University Hospital in Britain, said steroids and antibiotics would be the core elements of the popes care, alongside nursing care and chest physiotherapy.Physiotherapy can help patients clear the fluids building up in their lungs, particularly if they arent very mobile themselves.McCormack of Johns Hopkins said that severe cases of pneumonia were typically treated for about one to two weeks but that recovery in an older person could extend beyond that. What will doctors be looking out for in the next few days?Mainly, theyll be hoping that the popes condition doesnt deteriorate further.While we give antibiotics and other therapies, were waiting for the body to respond, McCormack said. If he just stays as he is while hes fighting off the infection and has a gradual recovery, that lack of worsening would be an encouraging sign.Dr. Maor Sauler, who specializes in adult pulmonary and critical care at Yale University, said that antibiotics typically need the lungs to be working to recover from infections, including pneumonia, but the ability of lungs to recover diminishes with age. When anyone has pneumonia, theres a good chance we can treat it, he said. However, it is also one of the leading causes of death. And so there are also situations where, despite our best efforts, we cannot clear the infection. ___Nicole Winfield in Rome 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.

New York City mayor Eric Adams attends a news conference regarding a police officer that was shot in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-02-19T05:04:02Z NEW YORK (AP) Justice Department lawyers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are set to face a federal judge who is signaling that hes unlikely to rubber stamp their request to drop the mayors corruption charges weeks before an April trial.Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan scheduled the Wednesday afternoon hearing after three government lawyers from Washington made the dismissal request on Friday. Manhattans top federal prosecutor resigned after she refused an order to do so.Ho already indicated that the hearing was likely to be only an initial step when he wrote in an order Tuesday that one subject on the agenda will be a discussion of procedure for resolution of the motion.Also set for discussion are the reasons for the request to dismiss the indictment against the Democrat that charges the first-term mayor with accepting over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy his influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He has pleaded not guilty. Early last week, Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told prosecutors in New York in a memo to drop the charges because the prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime. He said charges could be reinstated after Novembers mayoral election. Two days later, then-interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying Boves request to drop charges in return for assistance in enforcing federal immigration laws would betray Bondis own words that she will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior, or other forms of misconduct. Dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence Adamss mayoral decision-making would be all three, Sassoon, a Republican, said of what she called a quid pro quo deal as she offered to resign. She also said prosecutors were about to bring additional obstruction of justice charges against Adams. Bove responded to Sassoon with apparent anger, accepting her resignation and accusing her of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case. He then informed her that two prosecutors assigned to the case were suspended with pay and that an investigation would determine if they keep their jobs.If either of those prosecutors wished to comply with his directive to dismiss charges, he welcomed them to do so, but Hagan Scotten quit the following day, writing in a resignation letter that he supported Sassoons actions.Scotten wrote to Bove that it would take a fool or a coward to meet his demand to drop the charges, but it was never going to be me.In all, seven prosecutors, including five high-ranking prosecutors at the Justice Department in Washington, had resigned by Friday.Since then, a small army of former prosecutors have gotten behind the defiant stand by Sassoon and other prosecutors. On Friday, seven former Manhattan U.S. attorneys, including James Comey, Geoffrey S. Berman and Mary Jo White, issued a statement lauding Sassoons commitment to integrity and the rule of law.On Monday, three former U.S. attorneys from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut submitted papers to Ho suggesting that he appoint a special prosecutor if he finds the Justice Department acted improperly or that he order all evidence be made available to state and local prosecutors.A former Watergate prosecutor filed papers separately, telling the judge to reject the governments request and consider assigning a special counsel to explore the legal issues and ultimately consider appointing an independent special prosecutor to try the case.Also Monday, Justice Connection, an organization advocating for Justice Department employees, released a letter signed by over 900 former federal prosecutors to career federal prosecutors that said they have watched with alarm as values foundational to a fair and justice legal system have been tested. In the letter, the former prosecutors said they salute and admire the courage many of you have already exhibited. You have responded to ethical challenges of a type no public servant should ever be forced to confront with principle and conviction, in the finest traditions of the Department of Justice.On Tuesday, Alex Spiro, a lawyer for the mayor, wrote to the judge, saying those who believed that Adams struck a quid pro quo with prosecutors were wrong.There was no quid pro quo. Period, he said. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/Pool Photo via AP)2025-02-19T09:26:37Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump is living in a Russian-made disinformation space as a result of his administrations discussions with Kremlin officials.Zelenskyy said he would like Trumps team to be more truthful.He made the comments shortly before he was expected to meet with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, who arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday. Kellogg will meet Zelenskyy and military commanders as the U.S. shifts its policy away from years of efforts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump suggested Tuesday that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week, as talks between top American and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia sidelined Ukraine and its European supporters.French President Emmanuel Macron was to hold a videoconference on Ukraine later Wednesday with leaders of over 15 countries, mostly European nations, with the aim of gathering all partners interested in peace and security on the continent, his office said. Key European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday after they felt they had been sidelined by the Trump administration. Trumps comments are likely to vex Ukrainian officials, who have urged the world to help them fight Russias full-scale invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.Trump also said at Mar-a-Lago that Zelenskyys rating stood at 4%. Zelenskyy replied in a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv that we have seen this disinformation. We understand that it is coming from Russia. He said that Trump lives in this disinformation space.Trump also suggested Ukraine ought to hold elections, which have been postponed due to the war and the consequent imposition of martial law, in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution.Zelenskyy questioned claims, which he didnt specify, that 90% of all aid received by Ukraine comes from the United States. He said that, for instance, about 34% of all weapons in Ukraine are domestically produced, over 30% of support comes from Europe, and up to 40% from the U.S. The battlefield has also brought grim news for Ukraine in recent months. A relentless onslaught in eastern areas by Russias bigger army is grinding down Ukrainian forces, which are slowly but steadily being pushed backward at some points on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.Trump told reporters at his Florida residence Tuesday that Ukraine should have never started the war and could have made a deal to prevent it.Kellogg said his visit to Kyiv was a chance to have some good, substantial talks. Zelenskyy was due to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday but canceled his trip in what some analysts saw as an attempt to deny legitimacy to the U.S.-Russia talks about the future of his country.American officials have signaled that Ukraines hopes of joining NATO in order to ward off Russian aggression after reaching a possible peace agreement wont happen. Zelenskyy says any settlement will require U.S. security commitments to keep Russia at bay. We understand the need for security guarantees, Kellogg said in comments carried by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Novyny on his arrival at Kyiv train station.Its very clear to us the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and the independence of this nation as well. ... Part of my mission is to sit and listen, the retired three-star general said.Kellogg said he would convey what he learns on his visit to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to and ensure that we get this one right.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto HANNA ARHIROVA Arhirova is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine. She is based in Kyiv. twitter instagram mailto

The price is displayed on the edge of an empty shelf used to display eggs at a grocery store, Feb. 12, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)2025-02-18T16:29:19Z NEW YORK (AP) Small business owners that rely on eggs for their products are facing sticker shock because the usually reliable staple is in short supply.Avian flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, causing U.S. egg prices to skyrocket. The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities reached $4.95 in January, eclipsing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier and more than double the low of $2.04 that was recorded in August 2023. The Agriculture Department predicts prices will soar another 20% this year.Most owners are taking the increase in stride, looking at it as just one of many hurdles they constantly face. But if the problem persists, they could be forced to raise prices or adjust their products.Liz Berman is the owner and sole proprietor of The Sleepy Baker in Natick, Massachusetts. She specializes in custom, from-scratch cakes but also sells cupcakes, cookies, pies and other baked goods. Eggs are just one of the baking ingredients experiencing price shocks. Items such as cocoa powder and butter have gone up as well. And price isnt the only issue. Its not just the cost of eggs, right? Its also just the availability, she said. She prefers to buy medium-sized white shelled eggs, buying a box with 18 dozen eggs, but two weeks ago those were unavailable, so she had to buy brown eggs in individual cartons of 12. It sounds kind of silly, but when I Im the sole proprietor and I have a huge volume of work, to have to take a dozen of eggs out of my walk-in at a time as opposed to a flat of eggs, its just its a pain, she said.She doesnt think prices will ease anytime soon. Cocoa powder prices have been elevated for years.I think ultimately Im going to have to increase my prices, which is hard because thats going to mean that theres a category of customer that wont order from me anymore, she said. In Princeton, New Jersey, John Nachlinger, owner of the Bad Cookie Company, is imposing a temporary 25 cent per cookie surcharge to help mitigate added costs. As cookies are already a tight-margin food, these increases have really hurt our bottom line, Nachlinger said. He said he doesnt want to permanently raise prices or adjust the size of his cookies since he hopes the egg situation is temporary. We want to bring value to our customers, he said.At Daisies, a pasta restaurant in Chicago, chef/partner Joe Frillman and chef/partner Leigh Omilinsky havent raised prices but are thinking of adjusting menu items.Omilinsky said she is thinking of adding more vegan and egg-free deserts to the menu and has been working more with flax seeds. She said the shortage has made her more conscious of the ingredients she is using and wasting less.You know, if we need egg yolks we are absolutely saving those whites, she said. Meanwhile, Frillman said the restaurant has shifted to making pastas that use less eggs.Weve just changed the shape of the noodle, he said. We use an extruder which is a piece of equipment that allows us to basically extrude pasta without eggs. Depending on how long the egg shortage lasts, they could adjust menu items too, he said. We have a pappardelle on our menu thats been on since day one, he said. If this gets to the point where its just cost prohibitive, its very egg yolk heavy, we would then transfer to something like a spaghetti or a fettuccine that is a similar noodle that we can make without eggs.Meanwhile, Stephanie Maynard, co-owner of Ox Hollow Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, faces a different issue: skyrocketing demand. The farm she owns with her husband produces beef, pork, poultry, eggs and vegetables. They have 950 laying hens, with 300 more coming in March. The winter is generally a quieter time as the farm prepares for busy spring and summer months, increasing the inventory on hand until it is ready to sell. But this year, theyre rushing to increase egg production for customers at greenmarkets. People who might normally buy eggs at supermarkets are turning to greenmarkets due to the shortages, and regular customers are increasing their orders just to make sure they have eggs, she said.We have developed a rapport with our customers. I know a lot of them by name and face, she said. And now youre seeing people that youve never seen attend a market before. So Im drawing a lot of new customers in to get eggs at the market. MAE ANDERSON Anderson reports for The Associated Press on a wide range of issues that small businesses face. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

This week we start with Jason's story about anyone being able to push updates to DOGE.gov website. Then we talk about other stories with the DEI.gov and Waste.gov sites. After the break, Sam tells us all about some lawyers who get caught using AI in a case. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about a true crime documentary YouTube channel where the murders were all AI-generated.Listen to the weekly podcast onApple Podcasts,Spotify, orYouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism.If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov WebsiteElon Musk's Waste.gov Is Just a WordPress Theme Placeholder PageLawyers Caught Citing AI-Hallucinated Cases Call It a 'Cautionary Tale'A True Crime Documentary Series Has Millions of Views. The Murders Are All AI-Generated

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-19T14:05:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) Thousands of federal government employees have been shown the door in the first month of President Donald Trumps administration as the White House and its Department of Government Efficiency fire both new and career workers, tell agency leaders to plan for large-scale reductions in force and freeze trillions of dollars in federal grant funds.It is affecting more than just the national capital region, home to about 20% of the 2.4 million members of the civilian federal workforce, which does not include military personnel and postal employees workers. More than 80% of that workforce lives outside the Washington area.There is no official figure available of the total firings or layoffs. The Associated Press tallied how agencies are being affected based on AP reporting and statements from lawmakers and employee unions. Here is a look at some of the broad and specific ways federal agencies and employees are being affected by the administrations reductions, as of Wednesday: Deferred resignation proposal for federal workersThe White House offered a deferred resignation proposal in exchange for financial incentives, like months of paid leave, to almost all federal employees who opted to leave their jobs by Feb. 6.But just before that deadline, a federal judge blocked Trumps plan, wanting to hear arguments from the administration and the labor unions, which said the offer was illegal.According to the Office of Personnel Management, about 75,000 federal employees had accepted the offer as of Feb. 12. Probationary employee layoffsThere have also been wide-ranging layoffs of probationary employees those generally on the job for less than a year and who have yet to gain civil service protection. Potentially hundreds of thousands are affected.On Feb. 13, the administration ordered agencies to lay off nearly all such workers. According to government data maintained by OPM, 220,000 federal employees had less than a year on the job as of March 2024. Department of Veterans AffairsOn Feb. 13, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees who had served for less than two years. According to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., that included researchers working on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure.Education DepartmentAt least 39 people have been fired from the Education Department, including special education specialists and student aid officials, according to a union that represents agency workers.There have also been nearly $900 million in cuts to the departments Institute of Education Services, which tracks the progress of Americas students. It is unclear to what degree the institute would continue to exist. Industry experts said at least 169 contracts were terminated Feb. 10.Energy DepartmentHundreds of federal employees tasked with working on the nations nuclear weapons programs were laid off Feb. 13, but that move was largely rescinded hours later, according to a memo obtained by the AP. Three U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation said as many as 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were ousted, with some losing access to email before they had learned they were fired. Department of Health and Human ServicesThe cuts include more than 5,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services.At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1,300 probationary employees roughly one-tenth of the agencys total workforce are being forced out. The Atlanta-based agencys leadership was notified of the decision Feb. 14, according to a federal official who was at the meeting and was not authorized to discuss the orders and spoke on condition of anonymity.Department of Homeland SecurityThe probationary cuts included more than 130 employees at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees the nations critical infrastructure, including the federal efforts to secure election systems. It is not clear whether those included 17 employees who had worked on election security and had already been placed on leave.Four employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency its chief financial officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist were fired Feb. 11 over payments to reimburse New York City for hotel costs for migrants. Internal Revenue ServiceThe IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two people familiar with the agencys plans who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It is unclear how many IRS workers will be affected or when the cuts will happen.National Park ServiceThe administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions.The firings were not publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members. Adding to the confusion, the park service now says it is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were initially rescinded last month.Seasonal workers are routinely added during the warm-weather months to serve more than 325 million annual visitors who descend on the nations 428 parks, historic sites and other attractions. Consumer Financial Protection BureauThe administration has ordered the agency created after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting it down. Agriculture DepartmentThe new agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, said on Feb. 14 that her agency had invited Elon Musks DOGE team with open arms and that layoffs will be forthcoming.Foreign aid and developmentTrump swiftly ordered a halt to much of the aid that the United States sends abroad. Several weeks later, the pause is on pause.In his first week in office, Trump issued an executive order directing a 90-day hold on most of the foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued several specific exemptions, including emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance. But thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide stopped work or prepared to do so.Without the money to pay staff, aid organizations including the U.S. Agency for International Development began laying off hundreds of employees. Crews removed the agencys signage from its Washington headquarters.But on Feb. 13, a federal judge considering some of the lawsuits challenging agency cuts ordered the administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze.Federal grants and loansThe White House said last month it was pausing federal grants and loans as the Republican administration began an across-the-board ideological review.The freeze could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve, said a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.Democrats and independent organizations said the move was illegal because Congress had already authorized the funding.Inspectors generalEach of the federal governments largest agencies has its own independent inspector general who is supposed to conduct objective audits, prevent fraud and promote efficiency.Trump has fired at least 17 of them, including watchdogs he appointed in his first term. At least one Democratic appointee, Michael Horowitz at the Justice Department, was spared.Trump told reporters that its a very common thing to do and that he would put good people in there that will be very good.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the firings were a chilling purge. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a top Trump ally, acknowledged that the firings may have violated the law, but he added, Just tell them you need to follow the law next time.Department of JusticeIts normal for politically appointed U.S. attorneys to be replaced, but it is not standard procedure for career prosecutors to be ousted with a change in administrations. The Justice Department said last month that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of Trump by special counsel Jack Smiths team.By tradition, career employees remain with the department across presidential administrations regardless of their involvement in sensitive investigations. Multiple senior career officials were also reassigned.State DepartmentA large number of senior career diplomats who served in politically appointed leadership positions as well as in lower-level posts at the State Department left their jobs at the demand of the new administration.It was not immediately clear how many nonpolitical appointees were being asked to leave.___Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto

An election poster of the far-right anti-immigrant party Alternative For Germany party AfD, with with the slogan reading "It's time for a country that is still a home country", is displayed in a street, in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)2025-02-19T07:32:47Z MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) When Haben Gebregergish first immigrated to the German city of Magdeburg seven years ago, the Eritrean immigrant was walking to the supermarket with her child when an intoxicated woman approached her on the street. At the time, Gebregergish did not speak German well enough to comprehend what the woman was saying. But Gebregergish says that when the woman threw a beer bottle at her head, she immediately understood.It was one of her first encounters with racism, but certainly not the last. In the aftermath of a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg late last year, Gebregergish and other migrants who have settled in the city say they have experienced a sharp increase in racism and anti-immigration sentiments.We are the same as you, Gebregergish said earlier this month. We are not different. Just like you, we have feelings. Sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are happy, just like everyone else. The Christmas market violence was one of five high-profile attacks committed by immigrants in the past nine months that have made migration a key issue as the country heads toward an early election on Sunday. The suspect, a Saudi doctor, drove into the holiday market teeming with shoppers and left five women and a 9-year-old boy dead and 200 people injured. The suspect arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency, and authorities say the suspect does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him. Just one day after Dec. 20 violence, there was a large right-wing demonstration in Magdeburg, and verbal and physical attacks on people with a migrant background have increased significantly in the city since then, according to the German-Syrian Cultural Association in Magdeburg.The migrant community and the advice centers report that attacks have increased by more than 70% here in the city, said Saeeid Saeeid, who came to Germany from Syria seven years ago and is a member of the association. Racism already exists here and everywhere. But it has increased enormously since the attack. Ketevan Asatiani-Hermann, newly elected chair of the board for the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration in Magdeburg, said victims of racist attacks in the city often do not feel support from politicians or police. The hatred has always been there, people just didnt dare to say it so clearly before, said Asatiani-Hermann, who came to Magdeburg in 2011 from Georgia.Officers sometimes target or search the victims first before the perpetrator, she alleged, and they also worry reporting an attack could have a negative impact on their residence status.The Magdeburg Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.Mayor Simone Borris, in a statement, said: Cohesion and community are fundamental values of a city that are inviolable. The mayor also referred media to online services for migrants, and said the citys Cooperation with the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration will be expanded. Magdeburg is located in the former communist east, an area where the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has its highest support. The party is polling in second place going into the upcoming election with about 20% support and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country. Even though its highly unlikely to take a share of power soon, it has become a factor that other politicians cant ignore and has helped shape Germanys debate on migration.The elections outcome and a potential gain in influence for AfD could have a large impact on Magdeburgs politics and everyday life, Asatiani-Hermann said.Saeeid said the citys migrants feel alone, and want to hear directly from their elected officials to address their concerns.We will not allow Magdeburg to become a playing field for racism and hatred, he said.__Dazio reported from Berlin. STEFANIE DAZIO Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

In this photo released by NDN Collective, Native American activist Leonard Peltier poses for pictures as he was released from a Florida prison on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, weeks after then-President Joe Biden angered law enforcement officials by commuting his life sentence to home confinement in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. (Angel White Eyes, NDN Collective via AP)2025-02-19T05:09:18Z BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) Supporters of Native American activist Leonard Peltier plan to welcome him back to his North Dakota community on Wednesday, a day after his release from a Florida prison where he had been serving a life sentence in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.Peltier, 80, is expected to join family and supporters at an events center in Belcourt, a small town just south of the Canadian border on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians reservation.Were so excited for this moment, Jenipher Jones, one of Peltiers attorneys said soon before his release. He is in good spirits. He has the soul of a warrior.Then-President Joe Biden commuted Peltiers life sentence to home confinement, leading to his release Tuesday from the Coleman penitentiary. Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and given two consecutive life sentences stemming from a 1975 confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were killed, and while Peltier acknowledged firing shots during the confrontation, he denied being the person whose shots killed the men. Native Americans widely believe he was a political prisoner who was wrongly convicted because he fought for tribal rights as a member of the American Indian Movement. Some in law enforcement have argued for years against freeing Peltier. As Biden considered his options as his term ended, former FBI Director Christopher Wray sent the president a letter in which he called Peltier a remorseless killer who should remain in prison.In a statement about the commutation, Biden said numerous individuals and groups supported releasing Peltier due to the time he spent in prison, his age and his leadership role among Native Americans.

An Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 4, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File)2025-02-05T18:46:59Z After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward.Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover.Heres everything you need to know about this years show:When are the Oscars?The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The show, to be broadcast live by ABC, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific. Are the Oscars streaming?For the first time, the Oscars will be streamed live on Hulu. You can also watch via Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. With authentication from your provider, you can watch on ABC.com and the ABC app. Whos hosting the Oscars?For the first time, Conan OBrien is hosting the Academy Awards. OBrien, the late-night host turned podcaster and occasional movie star, said upon the announcement: America demanded it and now its happening: Taco Bells new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, Im hosting the Oscars. How have the wildfires altered the show?The wildfires that consumed large parts of Los Angeles in early January led some to call for the cancellation of the Academy Awards. The academy twice postponed the announcement of nominations but never pushed the March 2 date of the ceremony. Academy leaders have argued the show must go ahead, for their economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience. Organizers have vowed this years awards will celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.Still, the fires have curtailed much of the usual frothiness of Hollywoods awards season. The film academy canceled its annual nominees luncheon.For many involved in the Oscars, the fires have been felt acutely. OBriens Pacific Palisades home survived but his family has been unable to go back to it. OBriens assistant and podcast co-host Sona Movsesian lost her home.I know so many people who lost their homes and Im just, was ridiculously lucky, OBrien told The Associated Press. So we want to make sure that that show reflects whats happening and that we put a light on the right people in the right way. Whos presenting at the Oscars?More stars were added to the presenter lineup Wednesday, including Selena Gomez, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Alwyn, Goldie Hawn, Ben Stiller, Ana de Armas, Sterling K. Brown, Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp and Connie Nielsen. Theyll join the likes of Halle Berry, Penlope Cruz, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Amy Poehler, June Squibb and Bowen Yang, as well as last years acting winners Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, DaVine Joy Randolph on the Oscar stage. Though the academy initially said it would bring back the fab five style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organizers have reportedly abandoned those plans for this years ceremony. Nick Offerman will also be participating as the Oscars announcer. Will there be any performances?The academy has announced that, unlike previous years, the original song nominees will not be performed this time. That doesnt mean there wont be music, though. Wicked, one of the biggest box-office hits of 2024, could feasibly figure into the Oscar plans. (Its songs werent eligible for best song since, hailing from the Broadway musical, they arent original to the movie.) Whats nominated for best picture?The 10 nominees for best picture are: Anora; The Brutalist; A Complete Unknown; Conclave; Dune: Part 2; Emilia Prez; Im Still Here; Nickel Boys; The Substance; WickedHow can I watch the Oscar-nominated films?Some of the nominees are still in theaters, but many of this years Oscar nominees are streaming on various platforms. The AP has this handy guide to help with Oscar cramming.Who are the favorites?More than most years, thats a tricky question, but a front-runner has emerged after Anora took the top awards at the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild over the weekend. The best picture race had been seen as unusually wide open, with Anora, Conclave, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown and Emilia Prez all having legitimate hopes of winning. In the acting categories, Demi Moore (The Substance) is favored for best actress, although Mikey Madisons BAFTA win for Anora makes it more of a race. Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) is most likely in best actor, Zoe Saldaa (Emilia Prez) is the supporting actress front-runner and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) is the favorite for best supporting actor. None of those awards, however, is considered definite locks. Whats the deal with Emilia Prez?Jacques Audiards Emilia Prez, a narco-musical about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirming surgery, comes in with a leading 13 nominations. The film, at one point, seemed like Netflixs best chance yet to land the streamer its first best picture win. Its star, Karla Sofa Gascn, made history by becoming the first openly trans actor nominated for an Oscar. But no nominee has had a rockier post-nominations Oscar campaign. After old offensive tweets by Gascn were uncovered, the actress issued an apology. The fallout, though, has badly damaged a movie that was already a divisive contender, and led Netflix to radically refocus its flagging campaign. ___For more coverage of this years Academy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Jaqueline Benitez, who depends on California's SNAP benefits to help pay for food, shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, File)2025-02-19T14:20:49Z A push to ban sugary drinks, candy and more from the U.S. program that helps low-income families pay for nutritious food has been tried before but it may soon get a boost from new Trump administration officials. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly confirmed health and human services secretary, and Brooke Rollins, the new agriculture secretary, have both signaled that they favor stripping such treats from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.Kennedy has been most vocal, calling for the government to stop allowing the nearly $113 billion program that serves about 42 million Americans to use benefits to pay for soda or processed foods.The one place that I would say that we need to really change policy is the SNAP program and food stamps and in school lunches, Kennedy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham last week. There, the federal government in many cases is paying for it. And we shouldnt be subsidizing people to eat poison. In one of her first interviews after being confirmed, Rollins said she looked forward to working with Kennedy on the issue. When a taxpayer is putting money into SNAP, are they OK with us using their tax dollars to feed really bad food and sugary drinks to children who perhaps need something more nutritious? Rollins said. These are all massive questions were going to be asking and working on in the coming months and years. But removing certain foods from SNAP known for years as food stamps isnt as simple as it sounds. The program is run by the USDA, not HHS, and is administered through individual states. It is authorized by the federal Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which says SNAP benefits can be used for any food or food product intended for human consumption, except alcohol, tobacco and hot foods, including those prepared for immediate consumption.Excluding any foods would require Congress to change the law or for states to get waivers that would let them restrict purchases, said Katie Bergh, a senior policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group. Over the past 20 years, lawmakers in several states have proposed stopping SNAP from paying for bottled water, soda, chips, ice cream, decorated cakes and luxury meats like steak. None of those requests have ever been approved under either Republican or Democratic presidents, Bergh said. In the past, Agriculture Department officials rejected the waivers, saying in a 2007 paper that no clear standards exist to define foods as good or bad, or healthy or not healthy. In addition, the agency said restrictions would be difficult to implement, complicated and costly. And they might not change recipients food purchases or reduce conditions such as obesity. Anti-hunger advocates point to research that shows SNAP recipients are no more likely than other low-income Americans to buy sugary drinks or snack foods. And they say that limiting food choices undermines the autonomy and dignity of people who receive, on average, about $187 per month or about $6.16 per day, according to latest figures. This is just another way to cut benefits, said Gina Plata-Nino, a deputy director at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit advocacy group. Its like, how do we restrict people more? How do we stigmatize them more? Bills are pending in Congress and in several states to restrict SNAP benefits from paying for soda, candy and other items. Rep. Josh Breechan, an Oklahoma Republican, sponsored the Healthy SNAP Act. If someone wants to buy junk food on their own dime, thats up to them, he said. But what were saying is, Dont ask the taxpayer to pay for it and then also expect the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the resulting health consequences.One SNAP recipient said she uses her monthly $291 benefit to buy necessities such as meat, oil, milk and coffee. Martina Santos, 66, of New York City, supplements those foods with fresh vegetables and fruits from a pantry run by the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, where shes also a volunteer. Because she has diabetes and other health conditions, she said she understands the importance of using the benefits only for nutritious options. For me, SNAP is to be used toward healthy food to get people to avoid all the disease theyre having around right now: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, Santos said.In Kansas and elsewhere, bills that would ban soft drinks and candy highlight some of the challenges of such changes. Several pending bills seek to keep SNAP from paying for soft drinks, but they would continue to allow drinks containing milk, milk alternatives like soy or almond milk, or drinks with more than 50% vegetable or fruit juice. Candy is characterized as any unrefrigerated, flourless preparation of sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops or pieces. By that definition, Kit Kat and Twix bars, which contain flour, wouldnt be banned. And juices that contain high amounts of sugar, but are more than half fruit juice by volume, would be allowed. Such conundrums have stymied changes to the SNAP program for decades. But this moment could be different, said Dr. Anand Parekh, chief medical officer of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.The momentum behind Kennedys Make America Healthy Again movement could spur a new focus on solutions to poor diets that account for leading risk factors for early disease and death. When we talk about the SNAP program, we have to remind people that the N stands for nutrition, Parekh said. Its about time that both parties can come together and see what are the innovations here to improve diet quality and nutrition.___Associated Press video journalist Mary Conlon 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.

San Francisco Giants clubhouse attendant Riley Halpin gathers a mound of dirty clothes in the clubhouse after spring training baseball practice at the team's facility, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)2025-02-19T15:22:44Z SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) From the pinstripes of New York all the way to the Dodger blues of Los Angeles, there is a strong connection among the clubhouse staffers who wash the dirt-caked, hard-worn uniforms of the major leagues.Just like the players who wear the jerseys.The clubhouse community is really close, says Riley Halpin, 29, a clubhouse attendant for the San Francisco Giants.Theres not a guy in the league I dont think that I cant call with a laundry question that wont answer it, says Kiere Bulls, a home clubhouse manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates.On the eve of another season as players throw their spring training apparel into hampers on wheels in Arizona and Florida here is a closer look how laundry is done in the major leagues, along with a few tips for your own dirty uniforms and other items at home: Dirt is worse than grass stainsTEAM: Chicago White SoxLAUNDERER: Rob Warren, clubhouse managerTIP: Dirt on uniforms is more difficult to get out than grass stains. When it comes to the biggest laundry challenges, he preaches patience. Well throw it in, and then usually check it again, he says. Well run it through once and then after that first load is when we kind of do the scrubbing and spraying.QUOTABLE: So well get the first load started within 15, 20 minutes after the end of a game, Warren says. Basically as soon as we have enough to start a load, well start a load. Things will change that time. Sometimes a win is quicker or shorter, or you know, getaway day, hopefully quicker. First, soak itTEAM: Cleveland GuardiansLAUNDERER: Sam Hindes, home clubhouse supervisorTIP: Soaking is important. When it comes to tough stains, sometimes they let the uniforms soak overnight in a mixture of detergent and other products. Then a big thing that works is a lot of people dont know that pressure, like not necessarily a pressure washer, but the higher the pressure on the water, the better it gets stains out, he says. I never really knew that until I started doing the uniforms. QUOTABLE: Hindes says position players usually have the dirtiest uniforms one in particular. Jos Ramrez is one that you always know is going to come back that night and its going to need some work on it, Hindes says. He has pine tar on his jersey and hes always out there, hes a grinder. He steals bases. Hes always diving all over the place. He plays his heart out. Let that pretreat sit for a bitTEAM: New York YankeesLAUNDERER: Lou Cucuzza Jr., director of clubhouse operationsLAUNDRY TIP: Its all about pretreating and letting the pretreat treatment soak in for a while. So if youve got something dirty and youre pretreating it, dont throw it right into the machine because that pretreats just going to get washed away. You want that pretreat really to soak up that stain and separate the fibers of the uniform or apparel, whatever youre wearing.QUOTABLE: The clay that surrounds the field differs around the majors, presenting a unique challenge So we could come off the road or Ill get a team off the road that played, lets say, in Baltimore. They have a tough clay or Boston, their clay is very different than the clay at Yankee Stadium, Cucuzza says. The clay at Yankee Stadium, I have no problem getting visiting uniforms clean. Its really quick. Sometimes Ill get a team, maybe from Baltimore, and its like, wow, thats a tough red clay. Its a little hard getting out so it may have to go through two washes to get it out. Make sure youre using the right solutionsTEAM: Philadelphia PhilliesLAUNDERER: Sean Bowers, home clubhouse assistantTIP: Using the right chemicals is crucial. Some of the laundry chemicals in big league clubhouses arent widely available, but Bowers says he likes Goof Off for pine tar stains and detergents with protein release for dirt-related issues.QUOTABLE: When the field gets painted, getting the paint out is really tough. Just a regular grass stain I can get out fairly easily. But the paint, especially around opening day or after theres concerts and where the stage was, they have to take care of that part of the field. Those outfielders, its really difficult to get that out. Spray, spray and spray againTEAM: Pittsburgh PiratesLAUNDERER: Kiere Bulls, home clubhouse managerTIP: For uniforms (and, presumably, anything else) caked with dirt, Bulls recommends spraying off as much of it as possible before it even goes into the laundry. He has some chemicals that he uses at the ballpark, but he likes OxiClean and Shout for dirt predicaments at home.QUOTABLE: Theres a lot of times that if a players real, real bad that it may have to get washed three times just to get the stains out. But the uniforms are hung dry. ... They dont go in the dryer. They just get washed and hung right outside the lockers.If at first you dont succeed ... TEAM: San Francisco GiantsLAUNDERER: Riley Halpin, clubhouse attendantTIP: Halpin says washing uniforms is a trial-and-error process much of the time. Obviously when it comes to the at-home kind of washing, you dont have these top-of-the-line chemicals that professional teams have, he says. So I would say just do a little bit of research. ... Find out what the top kind of brands people are using at the Walmarts and stuff like that. And go with it.QUOTABLE: Halpin says he gets to the ballpark around noon for a typical night game and leaves around 1 a.m. Its long days. But its kind of what you sign up for, you know, with this job. And its super cool just to obviously get to do what we get to do. So we all put up with it. ___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb JAY COHEN Cohen is a national baseball writer and an editor on the APs sports desk. Based in Chicago, he also covers hockey, football and basketball, along with international water polo. twitter facebook RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. To subscribe to Court Watch, click here.Meta is suing a scammer who allegedly and prolifically extorted people by banning and unbanning their Instagram accounts.The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, is against Idriss Qibaa, who ran the Unlocked 4 Life extortion scheme, according to an earlier criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Qibaa, a self-described professional when it comes to the banning and unbanning of Instagram accounts, admitted on Adam 22s No Jumper podcast in January 2024 that he had over 200 people who pay him monthly to maintain access to their accounts, and claimed he made more than $600,000 a month with this scheme. On the podcast episode, Adam mentioned that celebrities have fallen victim to similar extortion crimes, and Qibaa responded that theyre getting extorted.Scammer Allegedly Makes $600,000 a Month Holding Instagram Accounts HostageThe case of Unlocked4Life, who outed himself on Adam-22s No Jumper podcast, shows how Instagram account scammers have escalated to violence and intimidation too.404 MediaSamantha ColePart of the Unlocked 4 Life extortion scheme included threatening to murder victims if they didnt cooperate, according to the criminal complaint. A federal grand jury in the District of Nevada indicted Qibaa in August 2024 in a case thats ongoing, charging him with two counts of violating interstate communications law for sending messages threatening to injure or kill two victims. The indictment goes into detail about the harassment Qibaa allegedly doled out against people who didnt comply with his scheme, including sending hundreds or thousands of text messages, racial slurs, messages threatening to kill them, and photos of a man with a bloodied face. Heres the last guy who came to take photos/came near my home, that text said. In one case, he threatened to blast out a victims social security number and demanded she pay him $20,000 to stop harassing her, according to court documents.Do you know anything else about social media account extortion? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.Metas new complaint accuses Qibaa of selling unauthorized Instagram services including (a) the ability to disable user accounts; (b) user account reinstatement services intended to circumvent enforcement actions taken by Meta in response to users who violated the Instagram Terms of Use (Terms) and other rules that govern access to and use of Instagram, including Instagrams Community Standards (collectively, Instagram Terms and Policies); and (c) fake engagement services intended to artificially inflate followers on Instagram user accounts, among other things. The complaint also claims that Qibaa was running the same grift on X, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Telegram.In February 2024, Meta sent Qibaa a cease-and-desist letter, revoked his licenses to access Facebook and Instagram, and disabled his accounts, according to the complaint. But Qibaa made new Instagram accounts to get around the bans, Meta alleges.Metas complaint is a look into how easy it is to manipulate its own reporting and moderation features. The company says Qibaa got peoples Instagram accounts banned by simply submitting fake reports claiming they were violating the platforms terms. When Qibaa submitted the misleading reports, Meta alleges, Instagram disabled the account on the same day, and in some cases, reinstated it on the same day, too.

Roughly 10 months after it was released, the Humane AI Pin, a terribly executed and terrible product is now officially a $700 brick of e-waste after the company sold its software to HP and told its dozens of customers that they are now out of luck.Every Humane AI Pin ever created will stop functioning at the end of the month. Well, that is not exactly correct. As Engadget has pointed out, Humane told customers that nearly every function of the AI pin will stop working on February 28, but that true diehards can continue to access offline features, which primarily seems to be checking whether the battery is charged or not: After February 28, 2025, AI Pin will still allow for offline features like battery level, etc., but will not include any function that requires cloud connectivity like voice interactions, AI responses, and Center access. Humane went on to say that We encourage you to recycle your AI Pin through an e-waste recycling program.We Can, and We Must, Clown on the Humane AI Pin ForeverThe Humane Ai Pin joins a rich tradition of terrible tech products that includes the Juicero, Coolest Cooler, and Magic Leap that we must remember forever.404 MediaJason KoeblerIf you are not familiar, the AI Pin is a $700 piece of junk that was supposed to be an AI assistant but instead barely worked, was perhaps a fire hazard, and whose main functionality was triggering fragile venture capitalists on Twitter who self-immolated when the reviews were understandably very bad.There is very little to say about the Humane AI pin right now other than they are very lucky that the vast majority of tech journalists in the United States are too busy writing about the Elon Musk-led ransacking of the federal government to dunk on this company in the way it truly deserves (we are also doing this but need a break for five minutes).The company and the tech was wildly hyped, wasted gazillions of dollars (it raised $240 million in funding), made something terrible, existed for less than a year, and are now hazardous e-waste that is a huge pain in the ass to safely dispose of. The saving grace of all of this is that Humane sold so few devices (roughly 10,000) that the number of consumers who are affected is relatively low as these things go and therefore, there are fewer of them that need to be recycled.The Humane AI Pin is the latest in a long line of internet of things devices that cost a lot and then became e-waste when the company decided to stop supporting it or went out of business.On recycling: I have been to electronics recycling centers, and small wearables like this are labor intensive to recycle because they have small, difficult-to-remove batteries. An iFixit teardown wondered whether Humane pin was one of the worst devices ever, and stated that both the Humane AI pin and the Rabbit R1, another AI wearable, have batteries that are a pain to remove, hidden behind thoroughly glued-down panels, and that making the battery so difficult to reach is perplexing at best.Anyways, we must never forget the Humane AI Pin. Good job everyone.

A$AP Rocky, center right, speaks next to attorney Chad Seigel after he was found not guilty in his trial Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-02-18T21:32:33Z LOS ANGELES (AP) A jurys acquittal of A$AP Rocky on Tuesday put to rest a case that has hung over the hip-hop star for years and threatened to derail his life and career.Rocky was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, filed after a November 2021 incident in which a former friend said the rapper shot at him in Hollywood, grazing his knuckles.Rocky had been free on bail since his 2022 arrest, but he faced immediate incarceration if he had been convicted. Rocky pleaded not guilty, rejected a plea deal that would have involved very little jail time and opted not to testify during the case.He appeared nervous ahead of the verdict and leaped into the arms of Rihanna, his longtime partner, once it was clear the jury acquitted him.Thank yall for saving my life, he told the panel as they left.Heres some key elements of the case and how it played out: What jurors decidedUltimately, it took the jury of seven women and five men roughly three hours to decide the case, finding Rocky not guilty of the two felonies. Key evidence and testimony A$AP Rellis testimony made up the bulk of the prosecutions case. One surveillance camera captured the sound of the shots being fired. Another partially captured a scuffle shortly before the shooting. Yet another camera captured the incident itself, though it is small and blurry in the corner of the frame.Jurors also considered text messages to Rocky and others that Relli sent before and after the incident. Relli has also filed a lawsuit, and said in the communications that he had a greater desire to be paid by Rocky rather than to see him prosecuted.Rockys lawyer Joe Tacopina said in his closing argument that Relli is an angry pathological liar who committed perjury again and again and again and again.Defense witnesses included two members of Rockys inner circle who testified that he carried the prop gun. The penalty Rocky faced if convictedIf convicted of both charges, Rocky faced up to 24 years in prison. A conviction would have likely had immediate consequences, especially if he was taken into immediate custody.In addition to his life with Rihanna and their two young children, Rocky has a packed public schedule the next few months.Whats next for A$AP Rocky after his acquittalIts a major year for Rocky, with three big events on the horizon.In March, hell headline the Rolling Loud music festival in Los Angeles.In May, hell be at the Met Gala, the biggest fashion carpet of the year, as a celebrity co-chair along with LeBron James and Pharrell Williams. And this summer, hell add major motion picture actor to his resume as the co-star with Denzel Washington in director Spike Lees film Highest 2 Lowest. Rihannas role in the caseBefore the trial started, whether Rihanna would appear was one of the biggest unanswered questions. Even the judge asked Tacopina if shed show: Shes welcome to be here whenever she wants Id just like to know.Tacopina said it was unlikely, but as the case progressed, Rihanna became a frequent observer in the courtroom. Her first appearances were surreptitious, with few noticing her presence in the courtroom the first day.But eventually Rihanna started entering and exiting the courthouse via public entrances, where photographers and fans waited.She surprised everyone during closing arguments last week by bringing the couples sons, 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers, to the proceedings.She watched the verdict and received a jubilant Rocky in her arms when he leaped into the audience after his acquittal. A$AP Rocky and A$AP RelliThe trial had its roots in high school in New York, when the Harlem-raised Rakim Mayers, now known as A$AP Rocky, met Terell Ephron, known as A$AP Relli, who was the trials most important witness.Ephron testified that he brought Rocky into a crew of young creators who called themselves A$AP for Always Strive and Prosper.A feud developed after Rocky achieved widespread fame, and came to a head in Hollywood on the night of Nov. 6, 2021, when Ephron said Rocky fired at him three or four times, the shots grazing his knuckles.Ephron went to the police two days later, and brought shell casings he had picked up himself. Rockys lawyers seized on recordings of a man who sounded like Relli saying he would stop participating in the criminal case when he was paid in a lawsuit; Relli said the recording was fake. Other key players in the trialSuperior Court Judge Mark Arnold, a former sheriffs deputy, has an affable but no-nonsense style and dispenses with many court formalities. In an uncommon move in LA County courts, he allowed cameras in court for nearly the entire trial.I believe that the public deserves to see what goes on in the courtroom, he said before the trial.Tacopina has also represented other hip-hop figures, including Meek Mill and YG. The lawyer who normally practices in New York is gregarious, quick with a joke and always happy to talk to the media, but can be ruthless in cross-examination. Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, best known for his successful murder prosecution of real estate scion Robert Durst, was a late addition to the prosecution team. Hes also known for his aggressive cross-examination, including a relentless, weekslong questioning of Durst.He sparred continuously with Tacopina throughout the trial, but ultimately came up short of a conviction once the case was in the jurys hands.

President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Pool via AP)2025-02-19T17:24:19Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is formally designating eight Latin American crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, upping its pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and on anyone aiding them.The move, carrying out a Jan. 20 executive order by President Donald Trump, names Tren de Aragua in Venezuela, MS-13 in El Salvador and others. The designation will be published in Thursdays edition of the Federal Register, according to a notice Wednesday.The Republican president has made securing the U.S.-Mexico border among his top priorities, vowing to carry out mass deportations, sending active duty troops to the border and reaching deals with some countries to take in more migrants. The notification is due for formal publication in the federal register Thursday.The foreign terrorist organization label is unusual because it deploys a terrorist designation normally reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State group that use violence for political ends not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. The Trump administration argues that the international connections and operations of the groups including drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and violent pushes to extend their territory warrant the designation. Critics of the move call it an unnecessarily broad and harsh one that could damage relations and paralyze trade with Latin America. Businesses, banks and buyers could fear possible U.S. prosecution if they knowingly or unknowingly have any transactions that touch the world of the cartels. Such cartels permeate Mexicos economy, dealing not only in drug trafficking and migrant smuggling but fighting for control of the multibillion-dollar avocado business.Aid groups say some past U.S. designations of groups as foreign terrorist organizations have threatened overall food imports into countries, for example, by making shipping companies fearful that U.S. prosecutors may accuse them of directly or indirectly supporting the targeted groups. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Trumps order last month that set up the new formal designation by saying Mexico would defend its sovereignty and independence while seeking coordination.We all want to fight the drug cartels, Sheinbaum said. The U.S. in their territory, us in our territory. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

A soldier enters a bullet-riddled home covered by the initials of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) and Zetas (Z) in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, Sept. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)2025-02-19T17:59:30Z MEXICO CITY (AP) The United States government is formally designating eight Latin American organized crime groups that also operate in the U.S. to be foreign terrorist organizations. They are involved in drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and extend their territory through violence.The Trump administration is applying a terrorist designation thats normally reserved for groups like the Islamic State group or al-Qaida that use violence for political ends not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. The aim is to increase pressure on the groups and anyone who the U.S. sees as aiding them. The designation will be published in Thursdays edition of the Federal Register, according to a notice Wednesday.Heres a look at the eight Latin American drug cartels labeled as foreign terrorist organizations: Sinaloa Cartel MexicoThe Sinaloa Cartel, through various incarnations, is Mexicos oldest criminal group dating to the 1970s. It is a criminal conglomerate, an umbrella of sorts for various groups, based in the mountains of the state by the same name in northwest Mexico. It holds firm control of the western portion of the U.S.-Mexico border.Sinaloa moves all sorts of drugs across continents using boats, planes, migrants and cross-border tunnels. Its considered the most corrupting criminal organization in Mexico. A former security chief was convicted of helping them.One of their most lucrative businesses in recent years has been the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the U.S. Sinaloa imports the precursor chemicals from China, produces the drug and smuggles it across the border.The arrest of Sinaloas eldest leader, Ismael El Mayo Zambada in July set off months of internal jockeying for power between Zambada loyalists and sons of the cartels best known former leader Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn, already serving a life sentence in the U.S. Jalisco New Generation Cartel MexicoThe gruesome discovery of some thirty dismembered bodies dumped in the hotel zone of Veracruz in 2011 announced the arrival of the Zeta Killers, who soon established themselves as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a hyper-violent and fast-growing group that spread through sort of franchise agreements with local gangs.Jalisco, named for a west-central Mexican state where its based, has aggressively attacked Mexican authorities, including military helicopters, using explosive-dropping drones and improvised explosive devices. It even attempted a spectacular assassination of the then-Mexico City police chief now Mexicos security director in the heart of the capital.Led by Nemesio El Mencho Oseguera, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says Jalisco distributes tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in all 50 states. Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel MexicoBoth the Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel operate along the eastern end of the U.S.-Mexico border, moving drugs, immigrants, guns and money in what is the most direct route to the U.S. from Central and South America.The Gulf Cartel has a long history in Mexico, but has fractured in recent years spurring frequent clashes between factions. Its former leader, Osiel Crdenas Guilln (now imprisoned in Mexico after serving a sentence in the U.S.), recruited members of Mexicos military in the late 1990s to form a fearsome element known as the Zetas that eventually split and became their own drug trafficking organization.The Northeast Cartel is a remnant of the Zetas.The Northeast cartel has retained a relatively small portion of what the Zetas once ruled through relentless violence. Their base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border.La Nueva Familia Michoacana and United Cartels MexicoThese local organized crime groups, operating in west-central Mexico, produce synthetic drugs, but they are a concern to the U.S. because of something else: avocados.Security analyst David Saucedo points out that the state of Michoacan exports $2.8 billion of avocados, a trade threatened by local criminal groups. U.S. inspectors working in Michoacan checking for pests have been threatened on multiple occasions by these groups, which control production and, to an extent, the price of avocados through extortion and threats to growers. Tren de Aragua VenezuelaThis organized crime group emerged from a prison in central Venezuela more than a decade ago. In recent years, it has spread from Chile to the United States, capitalizing on the exodus of some 8 million Venezuelans escaping their countrys political and economic crises.While its origins are in drug trafficking, its main businesses are migrant smuggling, human trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labor. Its known for extreme violence decapitations and burying victims alive that has generated panic in countries across the hemisphere.U.S. authorities say Tren de Aragua insinuated itself into criminal networks in South America, launders its proceeds through crypto currencies and now poses a threat in various U.S. cities. Trump and his allies have seized on the gangs presence and made it the face of the alleged threat posed by undocumented immigrants. Mara Salvatrucha El SalvadorAlso known as MS-13, this violent street gang was one that Trump seized on during his first presidency as the threat posed by immigration, much like hes using Tren de Aragua now. What he failed to mention was that it originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s in communities made up largely of refugees from El Salvadors civil war and other immigrants, but grew to include many U.S. citizens in its ranks.In the U.S. the gang is known for brutal violence and street-level drug drug sales.Deported Salvadorans spread the gang to El Salvador where it quickly grew, corrupting and overwhelming local authorities. The gang and its rivals controlled swaths of territory, forcibly recruiting and extorting residents.The gang has been severely weakened in El Salvador since President Nayib Bukele launched an all-out assault on it and other street gangs nearly three years ago. His administration has arrested more than 80,000 people during that time for alleged gang ties, though civil rights groups say there has been little due process.__AP journalist Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

The Capitol is seen framed through a window in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-02-19T18:26:22Z WASHINGTON (AP) No sooner had Senate Republicans voted to begin work on $340 billion budget bill focused on funding the White Houses mass deportations and border security agenda than President Donald Trump threw it into turmoil.Trump on Wednesday criticized the approach from the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and sided with the House GOPs broader, if politically difficult, plan that includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and other priorities. Senators wanted to address those later, in a second package. Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Capitol Hill to confer privately with Republican senators.Unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it! Trump posted on social media. Trump wants the Houses version passed as a way to kickstart the process and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.The Senates Republican leadership is scrambling after being blindsided by the post.As they say, I did not see that one coming, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Thune had engineered the two-bill approach as a way to deliver an early victory for the White House and had pushed the Senate forward while the House is away on recess this week, saying it was time to act. Thune was meeting privately in his office with Graham. Were planning to proceed, but obviously we are interested in, and hoping to hear with more clarity where the White House is coming from, Thune said.The sudden turn of events means more upheaval in the difficult budget process. Republicans have majority control of the House and Senate, but face big hurdles in trying to put the presidents agenda into law as Democrats prepare to counter the onslaught of actions from the White House. Late Tuesday, Republicans had pushed ahead on the scaled-back budget bill, on a party-line vote, 50-47, in what was supposed to be the first step in unlocking Trumps campaign promises tax cuts, energy production and border controls and dominating the agenda on Capitol Hill.But it also comes as the administrations Department of Government Efficiency effort is slashing costs across government departments, leaving a trail of fired federal workers and dismantling programs on which many Americans depend. Democrats, having floundered amid the initial upheaval coming from the White House, have emerged galvanized as they try to warn the public about what is at stake.These bills that they have have one purpose and that is theyre trying to give a tax break to their billionaire buddies and have you, the average American person, pay for it, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York told The Associated Press.Schumer convened a private call over the weekend with Democratic senators and agreed on a strategy to challenge Republicans for prioritizing tax cuts that primarily flow to the wealthy at the expense of program and service reductions in health care, scientific research, veterans services and elsewhere. This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight, Schumer said.The Senates budget process begins this week, with an initial 50 hours of debate followed by an expected all-night session with lots of attempts to amend the package. The Republican package would allow $175 billion to be spent on border security, including money for mass deportation operations and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in addition to a $150 billion boost to the Pentagon and $20 billion for the Coast Guard.Republicans are determined to push ahead after Trump border czar Tom Homan and top aide Stephen Miller told senators privately last week that they are running short of cash to accomplish the presidents immigration priorities.Trump met with Republican senators last month, expressing no preference for one bill or two, but just that Congress get the result.The Senate Budget Committee said its package would cost about $85.5 billion a year, for four years of Trumps presidency, paid for with new reductions and revenues elsewhere that other committees will draw up. Eyeing ways to pay for it, Republican senators are considering a rollback of the Biden administrations methane emissions fee, which was approved by Democrats as part of climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and hoping to draw new revenue from energy leases as they aim to spur domestic energy production.The House GOP bill is multiple times larger, with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $1.5 trillion in spending reductions over the decade across Medicaid health care programs, food stamps and other services used by large swaths of the country. The cuts could ultimately grow to $2 trillion to appease hard-right conservatives. The budget plans are being considered under whats called the reconciliation process, which allows passage on a simple majority vote without many of the procedural hurdles that stall bills. Once rare, reconciliation is increasingly being used in the House and Senate to pass big packages on party-line votes when one party controls the White House and Congress.During Trumps first term, Republicans used the reconciliation process to pass the GOP tax cuts in 2017. Democrats used reconciliation during the Biden presidency era to approve COVID relief and also the Inflation Reduction Act.

Police workers observe the body of a man which was killed after a Russian attack, which also injured multiple people in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)2025-02-19T19:39:29Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) A Ukrainian presidential adviser claimed on Wednesday that the United States has weakened its position and relinquished the diplomatic lead to Russia ahead of any possible peace talks on Ukraine, following a meeting in Saudi Arabia between top American and Russian diplomats.The remarks by Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came a day after President Donald Trump falsely suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which is entering its fourth year next week. The U.S.-Russia talks in Riyad, the Saudi capital, were held without Ukraine and its European allies. Why should dominance be handed over to a country that is an aggressor, a violator of international law, and the author of aggression against Ukraine, Podolyak said. We still do not understand this strategy. Podolyak said Ukraine was neither briefed on the talks ahead of them or on their outcome. To me, the concept of peace through strength, which the American administration promotes, sounds strange, he said, adding that what was on display in Riyad from the America side was weakness. This contradiction is quite odd, he added. Therefore, peace through weakness in relation to Russia for Europe and the United States is impossible. That would instead be peace through violence. Trump echoed Russian narratives on Wednesday, claiming that Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, must face elections, while Kyiv, citing its constitution, maintains that elections cannot be held during wartime. The U.S. president then escalated this claim by posting on social media that Zelenskyy was a Dictator without Elections. Putin fiercely hates Mr. Zelenskyy. He understands that he cannot break him. He has been unable to do so for three years, Podolyak said. He suggested that Russia might seek to interfere in Ukraines electoral process should elections take place to create significant internal tension and conflict internally in Ukraine. HANNA ARHIROVA Arhirova is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine. She is based in Kyiv. twitter instagram mailto

Servicemen run during the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercise, involving some 10,000 troops in three different countries from nine nations, representing the largest NATO operation planned this year, at a training range in Smardan, eastern Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)2025-02-19T14:21:31Z SMARDAN, Romania (AP) NATO members continued their largest combat exercises of 2025 on Wednesday, testing their ability to rapidly deploy large-scale forces on the 32-nation alliances eastern border as worries grow over its most powerful member, the United States.The drills in Romania, which borders Ukraine, come as a shaken Europe grapples with a new U.S. course under President Donald Trump. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has demanded that allies dramatically ramp up military spending and said U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere casting doubts on Washingtons longstanding security guarantees provided to Europe.Days before the third anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Steadfast Dart 2025 drills comprise about 10,000 military personnel from nine nations as part of NATOs new Allied Reaction Force. They are taking place over six weeks in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Although the Trump administration has not announced plans to pull U.S. forces from the region, Hegseths remark that European allies must lead from the front left NATO partners contemplating a potential new reality in which the U.S. is no longer the powerful, nuclear-armed backstop for the continents security. Radu Tudor, a defense analyst in Bucharest, said a U.S. rollback of its military presence in Romania would be a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The whole eastern flank of NATO (would) become weaker in front of Russias aggressive behavior, he said, adding that it would push Romania to ask NATO allies to contribute troops and weapons to plug the gap left by several thousand American troops.Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, commander of the Allied Joint Force Command, said threats to NATO have become increasingly complex and unpredictable over the past decade.To address this complex security environment, NATO has undergone a significant war-fighting transformation. We have taken our defensive plans from concept to reality, Munsch told reporters at the training base on Wednesday. This exercise represents the culmination of our efforts and the beginning of our new force that will defend every inch of alliance territory. European allies have also expressed concern over being sidelined from talks between Washington and Moscows top diplomats on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia on working towards ending the war in Ukraine.The fast-moving developments prompted Frances president to convene select EU countries and the U.K. for talks this week in Paris.NATO has bolstered Europes eastern flank Wednesdays combat exercises in Romania saw live-fire training and trench warfare drills. Greek and Spanish marines led exercises last week in Greece, including a mock amphibious assault.NATOs new Allied Reaction Force, established last July, is designed to deploy at scale within 10 days and combines conventional forces with cyber and space-based technologies. Britain leads the operation with 2,600 military personnel and 730 vehicles.The drills also include Romania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey and involve 1,500 military vehicles, more than 20 aircraft and more than a dozen naval assets. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, NATO bolstered its presence on Europes eastern flank by sending additional multinational battlegroups to Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia.Since then, Romania has played an increasingly prominent role in the alliance. It has donated a Patriot missile system to Ukraine and opened an international training hub for F-16 jet pilots from allied countries, including Ukraine.___McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A Social Security card is displayed Oct. 12, 2021, in Tigard, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)2025-02-19T20:20:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) The new head of the Social Security Administration said Wednesday that deceased centenarians are not necessarily receiving benefits, contradicting claims that tens of millions of dead people over the age of 100 are getting payments from the agency.Lee Dudek, the new acting SSA commissioner who was placed in the role by President Donald Trump, gave the clarification after Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk falsely claimed on social media and in press briefings that people who are 100, 200 and even 300 years old are improperly and routinely getting benefits.While it is true that improper payments have been made, including some to dead people, the numbers thrown out by Trump and Musk are overstated and misrepresent Social Security data. Here are the facts: What has the Trump administration said about payments to centenarians?On Tuesday, Trump said at a press briefing in Florida that we have millions and millions of people over 100 years old receiving Social Security benefits. Theyre obviously fraudulent or incompetent, Trump said.If you take all of those millions of people off Social Security, all of a sudden we have a very powerful Social Security with people that are 80 and 70 and 90, but not 200 years old, he said. He also said that theres one person in the system listed as 360 years old.Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is seeking to root out fraud, waste and abuse, issued a slew of posts on his social media platform X on Monday night, including: Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security and Having tens of millions of people marked in Social Security as ALIVE when they are definitely dead is a HUGE problem. Obviously. Some of these people would have been alive before America existed as a country. Think about that for a second So are tens of millions of people over 100 years old receiving benefits?No.Part of the confusion comes from Social Securitys software system based on the COBOL programming language, which has a lack of date type. This means that some entries with missing or incomplete birthdates will default to a reference point of more than 150 years ago. The news organization WIRED first reported on the use of COBOL programming language at the Social Security Administration. Additionally, a series of reports from the Social Security Administrations inspector general in March 2023 and July 2024 state that the agency has not established a new system to properly annotate death information in its database, which included roughly 18.9 million Social Security numbers of people born in 1920 or earlier but were not marked as deceased. This does not mean, however, that these individuals were receiving benefits.The agency decided not to update the database because of the cost to do so, which would run upward of $9 million. A July 2023 Social Security OIG report states that almost none of the numberholders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments. And, as of September 2015, the agency automatically stops payments to people who are older than 115 years old. What does the acting Social Security commissioner say about that?Dudek, who was named acting chief of the Social Security Administration after the resignation of Michelle King, issued a news release Wednesday reiterating the agencys commitment to transparency. The last lines of the note acknowledged recent reporting about people older than 100 receiving benefits from the agency.He seemed to confirm that confusion had arisen because of the default settings on the database.The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits, he said.I am confident that with DOGEs help and the commitment of our executive team and workforce, that Social Security will continue to deliver for the American people, Dudek said. How big of a problem is Social Security fraud?A July 2024 report from Social Securitys inspector general states that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency paid out almost $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion or less than 1% in improper payments. Most of the erroneous payments were overpayments to living people.In addition, in early January, the U.S. Treasury clawed back more than $31 million in a variety of federal payments not just Social Security payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that former Treasury official David Lebryk said was just the tip of the iceberg. The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave the Department of Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administrations Full Death Master File for three years as part of the omnibus appropriations bill in 2021. The SSA maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who have died, and the file contains more than 142 million records, which go back to 1899, according to the Treasury.Treasury estimated in January that it would recover more than $215 million during its three-year access period, which runs from December 2023 through 2026. What are some of the concerns about misinformation on Social Security payments?Chuck Blahous, a senior research strategist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said, Two cheers for Elon Musk if he can root out and put a stop to improper payments. But to pick the places in the federal government where error rates are high, Social Security would be near the bottom of the list, not near the top, Blahous said. Medicaid improper payment rates are quite substantial, and soared after the Medicaid expansion of the ACA.By all means go after any improper payments that are found, but lets not pretend thats where the systems biggest financial problems are, he said.Sita Nataraj Slavov, a professor of public policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, said the claims by Musk and Trump will make people think the solutions to the governments financial problems are simpler than they appear.The real concern is that this claim may mislead people into thinking theres an easy fix to Social Securitys financial problems that we can somehow restore solvency without making sacrifices through higher taxes or lower benefits, Slavov said. This is simply not true.What does the White House say about the criticism?Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesperson, referred back to the Social Securitys inspector general report.A previous investigation revealed the SSA paid at least $71.8 billion in improper payments, she said. The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Administrations whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers. __ 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

President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Miami. (Photo image via AP)2025-02-19T16:31:40Z MIAMI (AP) President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he better move fast to negotiate an end to Russias invasion of Ukraine or risks not having a nation to lead.The rhetoric from Trump toward Ukraine comes amid an escalating back-and-forth between the two presidents and rising tensions between the United States and much of Europe over Trumps approach to settling the biggest conflict on the continent since World War II.Trump used an extended social media post on his Truth Social platform to lash out at Zelenskyy and call the Ukrainian a dictator without elections. Trumps broadside came not long after Zelenskyys comment that Trump was being influenced by Russian disinformation as he tries to bring the fighting to a close on terms that Kyiv says are too favorable to Moscow.Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldnt be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and TRUMP, will never be able to settle, Trump said of Zelenskyy, who was a popular television star in Ukraine before running for office. AP AUDIO: Trump warns Zelenskyy to quickly negotiate wars end with Russia or risk not having a nation to lead AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports President Trump and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskyy are trading barbs as relations sour over the Russia war. The U.S. has obligated about $183 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to the U.S. special inspector general, conducting oversight of American assistance to Ukraine. Trump, who was in Miami for a meeting of business executives hosted by Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund, accused Zelenskyy of being A Dictator without Elections !! Due to the war, Ukraine did delay elections that were scheduled for April 2024. Trump also contended that Zelenskyy was misusing American aid intended for the war effort and had taken advantage of Democrat Joe Bidens administration.The Republican president was riled by Zelenskyys charge that Trump lives in this disinformation space fostered by Moscow. We have seen this disinformation. We understand that it is coming from Russia, Zelenskyy said. Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance told the Daily Mail that Zelenskyys criticism of Trump was not helping his cause. The idea that Zelensky is going to change the presidents mind by bad mouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration, Vance said.Ukrainian officials, however, continue to raise their concerns about Trumps approach.Why should dominance be handed over to a country that is an aggressor, a violator of international law, and the author of aggression against Ukraine? said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy. We still do not understand this strategy. The back-and-forth came after senior U.S. and Russian officials meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed to negotiate a settlement to an end to the war. Ukrainian and European officials were not included despite Zelenskyys insistence that they should be part of any such discussions.Trump said Zelenskyy should have negotiated a deal earlier. Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left, Trump said. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only TRUMP, and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the gravy train going.The rhetoric from Trump went even further than the false charges he made Tuesday against the Ukrainians when he suggested Kyiv was responsible for starting the war. It was Russia that invaded its smaller neighbor.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York was appalled that Trump was blaming Ukraine for Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion.Its disgusting to see an American president turn against one of our friends and openly side with a thug like Vladimir Putin, Schumer said.Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he disagreed with Trumps suggestion that Ukraine was responsible.I think Vladimir Putin started the war, Kennedy said. I also believe, from bitter experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster. Hes a gangster with a black heart who has Soviet dictator Josef Stalins taste for blood. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Trumps words were insulting to the thousands who of Ukrainians who have died in the war and he accused the president of parroting Putin. I would call on President Trump to apologize to the people of Ukraine, but it would be a waste of breath, Durbin said. Donald Trump is a pushover for Putin. The Trump administration has also shown frustration with Zelenskyy for directing his ministers last week not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraines rare earth minerals. The Ukrainians said the document was too focused on U.S. interests. The proposal, a key part of Zelenskyys talks with Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the private talks who were not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.Ukrainian officials met on Wednesday in Kyiv with retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trumps special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.Its an egregious war in the sense of the length of time and casualties there and he understands the human suffering, Kellogg said of Trumps thinking. He understands the damage that we can see and we want to see an end to it. I think it would be good for the region and good for the world, as well.___Madhani and Pesoli reported from Washington. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Associated Press writers Susie Blann and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. STEPHANY MATAT Matat is an Associated Press general assignment reporter with a focus on politics and South Florida issues. twitter instagram mailto AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto MIKE PESOLI Pesoli is an Associated Press video journalist based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This image taken from video provided by CTV shows workers near the crashed passenger jet on a tarmac of the Toronto Pearson Airport on Wednesday, Feb.19, 2025. (CTV via AP)2025-02-19T20:39:06Z After watching videos of a Delta Air Lines jet catch fire upon landing and flip over on a Toronto runway, its fair to wonder how anyone could have survived.But aviation experts said it was not surprising that all 76 passengers and four crew walked away from Mondays disaster, with 21 people suffering minor injuries and only one still hospitalized on Wednesday. Its a credit, they said, to advances in plane design as well as a crew that flawlessly executed an evacuation plan. When I first saw (footage of) that aircraft upside down at the airport, I was like: How can that happen? And how can anybody survive that? Michael McCormick, an assistant professor and program coordinator for air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, said. It was absolutely astounding to watch the people actually climbing out. But McCormick and others said the fact there were only minor injuries shows that passenger jet design and engineering has greatly improved over time. Fuel tanks are stored in the wings, so the wings are designed to break off in a crash to remove a seriously explosive hazard, he said. The tail-like fin of a plane known as a vertical stabilizer is frangible or easily broken meaning an aircraft that has flipped over can stay flat on the ground and passengers and crew are able to evacuate, he said. Aviation is and remains the safest form of transportation, McCormick said, adding that it was no fluke 80 people were able to walk away from the Toronto crash. That is because the safety of aviation is constantly improving. Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, said the seats and seat belts also helped to prevent fatalities. He noted that passenger jet seats are designed to withstand impacts of up to 16 times the force of gravity and that the seat belts restrained the passengers who were suspended upside down as the plane slid to a halt on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The odds of getting injured or killed in an commercial airline accident is far less than driving in your car, Guzzetti said.Experts also credited the crew, who calmly and quickly shepherded many of the passengers off the plane before emergency crews even arrived on the scene. Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, called the flight crew heroes, while their boss, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, praised their response as a testament to the safety thats embedded in the systems.Its horrifying. When you look at the video you can imagine when I received the text minutes after it happened, hearing that there was a regional jet upside down on an active runway with 80 people on board, how I felt without knowing it, what was transpiring, Bastian said in an interview with CBS Mornings. But the reality is that safety is embedded into our system, he said. Air travel in the United States is the safest form of transportation and travel there is. Period. And its because we train for events like this. Flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed on landing around 2:30 p.m. on Monday. Videos show the plane hitting the runway hard, bursting into flames then skidding along the tarmac and flipping over. All of a sudden, everything just kind of went sideways and the next thing I know, its kind of a blink and Im upside down still strapped in, Peter Carlson, who was traveling to Toronto for a paramedics conference, told CBC News.Other videos appear to show passengers scrambling out of an upside-down cabin as workers assist them off the plane onto the snowy tarmac as emergency crews hose the aircraft with water.Some passengers who have been harmed as a result of the crash retained the law firm Rochon Genova, according to Vincent Genova, head of the companys Aviation Litigation Group.Our clients, similar to many other passengers, suffered personal injuries of a serious nature that required hospital attention, Genova said in a statement. With our involvement, we expect to reach a timely and fair resolution for these clients and others who reach out to us. A Canadian investigator refused to comment on preliminary theories, although aviation experts told the Associated Press they will likely consider weather conditions, as well as the possibility of human error or an aircraft malfunction.At this point, its far too early to say what the cause of this accident might be, Ken Webster, a senior investigator for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said in a video statement Tuesday. He said investigators will examine the wreckage and runway, and that the cockpit voice and flight data recorders are being analyzed. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto

Andrew Lester appears in court to answer charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, April 19, 2023, in Liberty, Mo. (KMBC via AP, Pool, File)2025-02-19T20:55:31Z MISSION, Kan. (AP) An 86-year-old Missouri man has died just days after pleading guilty to a lesser charge in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student who rang the white mans doorbell by mistake, prosecutors announced Wednesday.Andrew Lester of Kansas City was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of the then-16-year-old, who survived and is now a freshman at Texas A&M. Before his trial was scheduled to begin, he pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge of second-degree assault, which carries up to seven years behind bars. He was scheduled to be sentenced on March 7.Cher Congour, a spokeswoman for the Clay County prosecutors office, said Lesters attorney informed them of his death.We have learned of the passing of Andrew Lester and extend our sincere condolences to his family during this difficult time, the prosecutors office said in a news release. While the legal proceedings have now concluded, we acknowledge that Mr. Lester did take responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty in this case. The news release offered no cause of death. Kansas City police didnt immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Clay County Sheriffs Office, didnt immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press. The case shocked the country and renewed national debate about gun policies and race in the U.S. Yarl showed up on Lesters doorstep on the night of April 13, 2023, after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin siblings. Lesters attorney, Steve Salmon, had argued that Lester was acting in self-defense and that he was terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed. Authorities say Lester shot Yarl twice: first in the head, then in the arm.Yarl testified at a hearing that he rang the bell and then waited for someone to answer for what seemed longer than normal. As the inner door opened, Yarl said, he reached out to grab the storm door, assuming he was at his brothers friends parents. He said Lester shot him in the head and uttered, Dont come here ever again. Although the bullet didnt penetrate Yarls brain, the impact knocked him to the ground. Yarl said Lester then shot him in the arm. The teen was taken to the hospital and released three days later.His family said the shooting took a big emotional toll and they had filed a lawsuit against the retired aircraft mechanic.Now, another Black child harmed by prejudice will never see the man who shot him face the full weight of the justice system. While Lester finally admitted guilt, it came at the very last momentafter two years of stalling. That delay leaves our family reeling, Yarls family said in a written statement Wednesday.Salmon said last year that Lesters physical and mental condition had deteriorated. He said Lester had heart issues, a broken hip and had been hospitalized. Lester also lost 50 pounds (23 kilograms), which Salmon blamed on the stress of intense media coverage and death threats he subsequently received. During Fridays hearing, the judge asked Lester whether he was in poor health. Lester responded yes.Ralph is doing his best to be okay, a spokesperson for the family said in a text.A judge had previously ordered a mental evaluation of Lester but allowed for the trial to proceed after its completion. The results of that evaluation were not released publicly. Lesters grandson, Daniel Ludwig, didnt immediately return a text message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Herb Ettel attends a rally at Health and Human Services headquarters to protest the polices of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)2025-02-19T22:04:01Z WASHINGTON (AP) Hundreds of current and former federal employees rallied Wednesday outside the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters, protesting recent firings and their effect on public health, and directing much of their ire at Elon Musk and his agencys efforts to cut spending.We are here today to fight for the future of science, to fight for your familys future, to give the American people hope, said Ian Fucci, a cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Consider the medications you rely on for diabetes, heart disease or cancer. These were developed in large part due to NIH and NIH-funded researchers. Is destroying years of progress into research really serving the American people? No. Amid frigid temperatures and light snow, attendees chanted slogans such as Funding, not freezes and Stand up, fight back. They carried signs proclaiming, Protect civil servants because they protect you! and In science we trust. Many said they were there to fight the work of Musks Department of Government Efficiency and the confusion its workforce reductions have sowed. One sign altered the DOGE acronym to read Department of Grifting Everything. Are we going to shut down the illegal Elon Musk takeover of the government? Yeah, you bet we are, Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen told the crowd of about 300. Were going to fight this in the courts. Were going to fight this in the Congress. And there can be no business as usual in the Congress. And were going to fight this in gatherings like this all over the country. Ellen Bak, a former NIH scientist, said she was terminated over the weekend and that her research into stem cells and blood cancer had essentially been lost. The sheer amount of money and time and testing and care and effort, she said. Is it all just gone? Jenna McGrew, an 18-year-old student from Florida, said she attended because her older brother, Ethan, suffers from a rare autoimmune disease and is in intensive care at NIH with a serious bacterial infection. She called the level of uncertainty inside the NIH a risk to his life. Speaking of President Donald Trump, McGrew said, What he is doing is not only affecting my family, it is affecting every citizen in America, and everyone outside of America. The NIH is one of the best hospitals in the world. And they research everything. And so the funding cut for them is not only affecting America, but its affecting the rest of the world.The rally took place within sight of the Capitol, and multiple lawmakers pledged to continue their outnumbered fight against Trumps policies from inside the Congress. Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin drew an extended analogy between the scientists medical research and this moment in American history. These are the people who are fighting the viruses that threaten the American people, Raskin told the crowd. But fascism is a virus, too.The people who are out here fighting in subfreezing temperatures, they are the antibodies. We are the antibodies.___Associated Press journalist Serkan Gurbuz contributed to this report. NATHAN ELLGREN Ellgren is an Associated Press video journalist based in Washington, D.C. mailto ASHRAF KHALIL Khalil writes about local issues in Washington, D.C., for The Associated Press and covers the social safety net around the country. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk, joined by his son X A-Xii, speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-19T22:24:07Z WASHINGTON (AP) Its been a burning political question for weeks: How long will President Donald Trump who doesnt like sharing the spotlight be able to do just that with Elon Musk, a billionaire also overly fond of attention?In a joint Fox News Channel interview that aired Tuesday, both insisted they like each other a lot and would stick with their arrangement despite what Trump said were attempts by the media to drive us apart.At times, Trump sat back as Fox News Channels Sean Hannity heaped praise on Musk in an attempt to counteract a Democratic narrative that hes a callous and unelected force out to destroy the government and upend civil society through sweeping cuts being imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency. There were also moments when Trump and Musk were all but finishing each others sentences, as if they were part of a buddy comedy and not the president and his most powerful aide. Heres a look at how the friendship formed, what it means for them both and why Trumps history suggests it may not last: They werent always friends Trump told Hannity that he wasnt really acquainted with Musk until recently, saying, I knew him a little bit through the White House originally but didnt know him before that. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and became a U.S. citizen in 2002. Hes the worlds richest man, with a net worth exceeding $400 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His vast business holdings include X, Tesla and SpaceX, as well as the satellite internet service provider Starlink. Musk said he voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Musk has recently said that Tesla was being unfairly targeted by regulations in its original home state of California. Musk and the companys headquarters moved to Austin, Texas in 2021, and he increasingly soured on Biden with the then-presidents embrace of unions that clashed frequently with Tesla. In the past, Musk butted heads with Trump over climate change. They feuded as recently as July 2022 with Trump calling Musk a bulls- artist. He also suggested then that Musk came to the White House during his first term seeking federal subsidies for electric cars that dont drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere. I could have said, drop to your knees and beg, and he would have done it, Trump previously said on his social media site. Musk originally backed Ron DeSantis in last years Republican presidential primary, even helping the Florida governor launch his White House bid in a glitch-marred presentation on X. But Musk met with Trump at his Florida residence last March and endorsed the then-canidate in July shortly after the first assassination attempt. I was going to do it anyway, but that was a precipitating event, Musk told Hannity. Musk appeared at his first Trump rally in early October, and his super PAC spent around $200 million to boost the Republicans campaign. X also amplified messaging and often disinformation promoted by Trump and his Make America Great Again movement. The pair spent election night at the presidents Mar-a-Lago club. Less than a week after securing victory, Trump announced that Musk would lead DOGE, the new push to shrink government, alongside former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who left the commission by Inauguration Day. Their relationship is mutually beneficial Trump has empowered Musk to help him keep a campaign promise and shatter the deep state by firing scores of federal workers, shrinking or shuttering agencies and slashing the size of government.Theres a vast federal bureaucracy that is implacably opposed to the the president, Musk told Hannity. He added: What were seeing here is the sort of the thrashing of the bureaucracy as we try to restore democracy and the will of the people.Tesla and SpaceX have benefited from lucrative government contracts from the Defense Department, NASA and other federal entities, as well as plenty of tax breaks and subsidies over the years. The Trump administration could also take a lot of regulatory heat off Musk, including dismissing crash investigations into Teslas partially automated vehicles and a Justice Department criminal probe examining whether Musk and Tesla have overstated their cars self-driving capabilities. Musk nonetheless insisted to Hannity, I havent asked the president for anything, ever. Trump said the billionaire wont be involved in areas where his government efforts and business concerns overlap though that seems dubious given that Musks team has already begun scrutinizing federal contracts in areas that would seem to present conflict-of-interest concerns. Trumps friendships often dont last Trump and Musk say they wont turn on each other. But those once closest to Trump often end up as his fiercest critics. His former vice president, Mike Pence, said Trump endangered his family in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and attempted to bully him into violating the Constitution. His former attorney general, Bill Barr, refuted Trumps falsehoods about widespread fraud in the 2020 election and has since said he shouldnt be anywhere near the Oval Office. Michael Cohen, Trumps longtime lawyer who testified against him in a hush money case, told a House committee in 2019: People that follow Mr. Trump, as I did blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that Im suffering. More recently, Trump shrugged off potential security risks while ending Secret Service protection for former top officials in his first administration, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former White House chief of staff John Kelly. Trump also has shown repeatedly that he doesnt like being overshadowed, even hinting at such where Musk is concerned. Asked recently about Musk appearing on the cover of Time from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump quipped, Is Time Magazine still in business? But Trump has also been fiercely loyal to those he perceives as having stood by him. Former White House adviser Peter Navarro, who served time in prison related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is back helping dictate Trump trade policy. Trumps valet, Walt Nauta, is working anew at the White House after once being a codefendant with Trump in the classified documents case. Trump has also said hed offered about 10 jobs to his former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, whom he pardoned after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.Four weeks in, they seem genuinely fond of each other Throughout the interview, Hannity was friendly and his questions were mostly fawning. But what came through was how complimentary Trump and Musk were of each other even amid skepticism about how long thatll last.Hes an amazing person, Trump said of Musk. I love the president, I just want to be clear about that, Musk offered of Trump.I feel like Im interviewing two brothers here, Hannity finally said. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)2025-02-19T16:55:49Z Apple has released a sleeker and more expensive version of its lowest priced iPhone in an attempt to widen the audience for a bundle of artificial intelligence technology that the company has been hoping will revive demand for its most profitable product lineup.The iPhone 16e unveiled Wednesday is the fourth-generation of a model thats sold at a dramatically lower price than the iPhones standard and premium models. The previous bargain-bin models were called the iPhone SE, with the last version coming out in 2022.Like the higher-priced iPhone 16 lineup unveiled last September, the iPhone 16e includes the souped-up computer chip needed to process an array of AI features that automatically summarize text, audio and create on-the-fly emojis while smartening up the devices virtual assistant, Siri. It will also have a more powerful battery and camera. All those upgrades will translate into a higher starting price for an iPhone 16e at $600, a 40% increase from $430 for the last iPhone SE. But iPhone 16e will be more affordable than the cheapest standard iPhone 16 at $800. The new phone will be available in stores Feb. 28, but can be pre-ordered beginning Friday. Were so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people, said Kaiann Drance, an Apple vice president in charge of promoting a device lineup that accounts for more than half of the companys revenue. But Apple is also trying to balance its desire to offer a more affordable iPhone that will lure more people into its sphere of product against its self interest in maximizing its profits from selling higher price products, according to Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee.The problem with a lower-end product in a luxury portfolio is that you want it to be good but not so good as to cannibalize the crown jewels, Chatterjee said. Although Apple has been hyping its foray into AI since last June, the complete set of features still havent been released in the U.S. and the technology still isnt even available in some parts of the world.The delays in making the iPhones AI dubbed Apple Intelligence more widely available through free software updates dinged the Cupertino, California, company during the past holiday when sales of the device dipped slightly from their 2023 levels.Apple has primarily been losing the ground in China, where it hasnt yet specified when the iPhones AI technology will be available. But the company recently struck an AI partnership with Alibaba in China that could pave the way for the technology coming to iPhones in that country this spring.Besides being able to handle AI for the first time, the iPhone 16e has a different look from previous SE models. It boasts a 6.1-inch display screen, slightly larger than the 4.7-inch display on SE model and no longer has a home screen button like the SE had. The new iPhone 16e will rely include a facial recognition option for unlocking the device, just like the higher priced models do.Apples shares edged higher Wednesday to close at $244.87, below the stocks peak of roughly $260 reached in late December. MICHAEL LIEDTKE Liedtke has been covering technology and wide range of other business topics for The Associated Press since the turn of the century. twitter mailto

A demonstrator holds a poster displaying a prohibited traffic sign reading "Musk DOGE" during a rally to protest President Trump's policies on Presidents Day Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)2025-02-19T21:59:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) Although some parts of President Donald Trump s agenda are getting bogged down by litigation, Elon Musk s Department of Government Efficiency is having better luck in the courtroom.Labor unions, Democrats and federal employees have filed several lawsuits arguing that DOGE is running roughshod over privacy protections or usurping power from other branches of government. But judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents havent always gone along with those arguments, at least so far. Most notably, DOGE critics are failing to obtain temporary restraining orders that would prevent Musks team from accessing sensitive government databases. It is not the job of the federal courts to police the security of the information systems in the executive branch, wrote U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in a case involving the Office of Personnel Management. Moss was appointed by President Barack Obama. The success is striking given the other challenges that Trump has faced in the judicial system, which has blocked at least temporarily his efforts to limit birthright citizenship, freeze congressionally authorized foreign aid and stop some healthcare services for transgender youth. If Musks opponents continue struggling to gain traction with lawsuits, he could be largely unencumbered in his crusade to downsize the federal government and workforce. The continued successes in the courts in favor of the Trump administration shouldnt be a surprise to anyone who has ever read our great Constitution, which clearly lays out the role of the Executive Branch, and which President Trump and his entire administration are following to a T, Harrison Fields, the White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement. The resistance campaign can try, but they will continue to fail in their pursuit to rewrite the Constitution and deny the people the legal authority of the President to run the Executive Branch. An exception to DOGEs legal victories has been a suit regarding Treasury Department systems, which are used to distribute trillions of dollars in federal money. The databases can include sensitive information like bank accounts and Social Security numbers, and theyre traditionally maintained only by nonpartisan career officials. A judge in Washington restricted DOGEs access to two staff members, while another judge in New York has temporarily blocked DOGE altogether. Norm Eisen, a lawyer who worked for House Democrats during their first impeachment of Trump, said it was too early to say that the legal efforts wouldnt work. He noted that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, also appointed by Obama, expressed concern about Musks apparent unchecked authority in a case involving federal data and worker layoffs.Although she didnt issue a temporary restraining sought by Democratic attorneys general from 14 states, Chutkan said they could still make a strong argument Musk and DOGE violated the Constitution as the case progresses. Eisen is representing current and former employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was shut down by Musk and Trump. His lawsuit alleges that Musk and DOGE are exercising powers that should only belong to those elected by voters or confirmed by the Senate. These are not minor peccadillos, Eisen said. These are some of the most fundamental issues that our Constitution and laws address.John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California in Berkeley, said an important factor has been the administrations contention that Musk is a presidential adviser without any independent authority. He said there are echoes of another legal battle from the 1990s, when Hillary Clinton chaired a healthcare task force as first lady. A federal appeals court in Washington ruled that the task force did not need to comply with rules on open meetings. Thats how theyre winning the lawsuits, Yoo said. Theyre trying to stay on the side of the line that the D.C. circuit has drawn.U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman heard more than three hours of arguments Wednesday on a request for a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit challenging DOGEs access to personal information collected by the federal government. She did not issue a decision, and expressed skepticism about the argument from labor unions. But she also pressed administration lawyers on why DOGE representatives need to know everything.Emily Hall of the Justice Department said DOGE was tasked with making broad, sweeping reforms that require such access.Its a pretty vague answer, responded Boardman, who was appointed by President Joe Biden.A major victory for Trump and Musk came in Boston, where U.S. District Judge George OToole Jr. allowed the administration to implement its deferred resignation program.Commonly described as a buyout, the program allows workers to quit while getting paid until Sept. 30. It was challenged by a group of labor unions, but OToole ruled against them on technical legal grounds, saying they didnt have standing to sue. OToole was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Moss, the judge in the case involving the Office of Personnel Management, also decided not to block Musks team from viewing Education Department data. He pointed out that DOGE employees had testified in court papers they would follow laws around information sharing. U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, also did not stand in the way of DOGEs involvement at the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although Bates said he had serious concerns about the privacy issues raised by the legally complex case, he found the evidence did not yet justify a court block. Administration lawyers said the DOGE team was not running rampant, accessing any data system they desire and had gotten security training and signed nondisclosure agreements.___ 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 CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/Pool Photo via AP)2025-02-19T19:25:37Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) President Donald Trump this week falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war that has cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives, causing outrage and alarm in a country that has spent nearly three years fighting back a much larger Russian military.Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator without elections and claimed his support among voters was near rock-bottom. Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the disinformation is coming from Russia, and some of what Trump has said does echo Russias own narrative of the conflict.Heres a look at some of Trumps statements: Ukraine should have never started it Rescuers and volunteers are working at Ohmatdyt Childrens Hospital that was strongly damaged during a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 08, 2024, amid the Russian invasion. Russia is massively attacking Ukraine with missiles on July 08. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via AP) Rescuers and volunteers are working at Ohmatdyt Childrens Hospital that was strongly damaged during a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 08, 2024, amid the Russian invasion. Russia is massively attacking Ukraine with missiles on July 08. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More WHAT TRUMP SAID: Youve been there for three years. You should have ended it ... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. THE FACTS: Russias army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO. But Russias aggression against Ukraine didnt start then. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw signs that Ukraine was pulling away from Russias sphere of influence, seeking alliances with western European nations. Putin illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula and started an armed aggression in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas that grew into a long-running conflict that left thousands dead.That conflict simmered until 2022, when Putin ordered what he called military exercises along Ukraines borders. He told the world that the roughly 150,000 soldiers that he had amassed would not be used to invade Ukraine. But in the early hours of Feb. 24, Russia launched widespread airstrikes and soldiers began pouring over the border.Ukraine should hold elections Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/Pool Photo via AP) Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/Pool Photo via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More WHAT TRUMP SAID: We have a situation where we havent had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, Trump said in Mar-a-Lago, adding on Wednesday in a post on social media: A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.THE FACTS: Zelenskyy was elected to a five-year term in 2019, and the next presidential elections had been scheduled for spring 2024. But Ukrainian law prohibits parliamentary or presidential elections during a state of martial law, so Zelenskyy has remained in office. He has said he believes elections will be held in Ukraine after martial law is lifted. The country would need to amend the law if it decided to hold a vote. There are numerous factors that, according to Ukraines government, would render it literally impossible to ensure a fair electoral process in the circumstances of a total war.According to the United Nations refugee agency, some 6.9 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered worldwide since February 2022. Of those, millions remain outside the country due to the war. It would be nearly impossible for all of those who have been displaced to participate in an election, potentially robbing millions of their right to vote.Furthermore, around 800,000 soldiers are currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they struggle to contain Russian advances. An election would necessitate pulling soldiers off the front lines to vote, weakening Ukraines military position. Additionally, those fighting would be unable to run for office, a right that is guaranteed to them by Ukrainian law. Many Ukrainians are living in areas under Russian occupation, essentially precluding their participation in any electoral process. And since Russia continues to regularly strike both military and civilian targets across the country, packing millions of citizens into crowded polling places could create additional danger. Zelenskyys support at rock bottom?WHAT TRUMP SAID: The leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but hes down at 4% approval rating. THE FACTS: Zelenskyy retains a fairly high level of public trust about 57 percent - according to a report released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institution of Sociology, whose executive director is Anton Hrushetskyi.Speaking in Kyiv on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the number given by Trump, for which the president cited no sources, was disinformation that originated in Russia, and that the president unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.Zelenskyy said he will ask pollsters in the coming weeks to conduct surveys on the publics trust in him and share the results with the Trump administration. Millions of deaths Oleksii Yukovs team members offload the bodies of Russian soldiers theyve collected from the frontline in the Sloviansk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Yukov and his team retrieve bodies from the frontline to barter for Ukrainian bodies in periodic exchanges of war dead. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) Oleksii Yukovs team members offload the bodies of Russian soldiers theyve collected from the frontline in the Sloviansk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Yukov and his team retrieve bodies from the frontline to barter for Ukrainian bodies in periodic exchanges of war dead. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More WHAT TRUMP SAID: When you see whats taken place in Ukraine with millions of people killed, including the soldiers, millions of people killed, a big percentage of their cities knocked down to the ground, I dont know how anybody even lives there.THE FACTS: No estimates by any reputable analysis place deaths near the millions. While exact figures of the number of deaths are unknown, Zelenskyy said earlier this month that over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022. He has also said that tens of thousands of civilians had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but that no exact figures would be available until the war was over. The most recent data from the Russian Defense Ministry, published in January 2023, pointed to just over 6,000 military deaths, although reports from U.S. and U.K. officials put that number significantly higher. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an interview after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, , U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)2025-02-19T14:35:18Z JOHANNESBURG (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africas policies as anti-American.Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as Americas chief diplomat after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Riyad over the war in Ukraine. Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Unions foreign policy chief to brief them immediately after Tuesdays meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the State Department said. Top European diplomats, as well as Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are all expected at the Group of 20 meeting in Johannesburg while the U.S. will be represented by a lower-level delegation. A G20 meeting would normally be an opportunity for a U.S. secretary of state to push for support on U.S. positions, especially at the start of a new administration.Analysts say Rubios absence reflects the Trump administrations indifference to organizations promoting international cooperation, but Rubio has also directly rejected South Africas priorities for its G20 presidency. The hosts have picked solidarity, equality, sustainability as the theme of the G20 this year. South Africa, the first African nation to hold the groups presidency, says it will try to advance the interests of poor countries, especially with debt refinancing and helping them mitigate the impacts of climate change, where the developing world is asking rich countries to pay more. Rubio posted on X this month that he would also not attend the main G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, saying South Africa was using the gathering to promote diversity, equality and inclusion frameworks, In other words: DEI and climate change. My job is to advance Americas national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism, Rubio wrote.Rubios decision to skip the G20 meeting also underscores a major deterioration in U.S. relations with South Africa, one of its key trade partners in Africa.President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month stopping U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa over a land law that he says discriminates against some of the countrys white minority. The order also called South Africas foreign policy anti-American and criticized its ongoing case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the United Nations top court, and what it said was the countrys closeness to the Communist Party in China.South Africa is due to hand over the presidency of the G20 to the U.S. at the end of this year, and the two countries are expected to work together under G20 protocols. South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday that the U.S. would be represented in Johannesburg this week in one form or shape or another and stressed that Rubios decision was not a complete boycott of South Africas G20 by the U.S. Analysts in Africa says they still see a way for the G20 to make progress under South Africas presidency, even with limited U.S. interest. The EU, Russia and China have expressed support for South Africas G20 leadership.No one wants to be on the wrong side of the United States, said Oscar van Heerden, senior researcher at the University of Johannesburgs Centre of African Diplomacy and Leadership. But I think everyone also realizes that what drives the foreign policy of the United States is not necessarily what drives the foreign policy of the European Union or the other members of the G20.While European allies have their own concerns over future cooperation with the Trump administration after they were sidelined by its move to hold bilateral talks this week with Russia, the G20 meeting was still an opportunity for the EU to promote inclusivity. Multilateralism is under threat right now, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in South Africa, We also need to use this opportunity to develop the international system further to be more inclusive for all countries in the world.___Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth T. Clement istens during oral arguments at the Michigan Hall of Justice, Dec. 4, 2024, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)2025-02-19T23:37:16Z LANSING, Mich. (AP) The chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court announced Wednesday that she is stepping down from the court by the end of April, opening the door for the court to have a 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices. Elizabeth Clement did not give a reason for her upcoming resignation. Leading our states highest court has been an opportunity to continue a proud record of independence, fairness, and commitment to the rule of law, Clement said in a statement. I am thankful to my colleagues for their support and friendship, as well as for their willingness to seek common ground in serving the people of Michigan.Michigans justices are technically nonpartisan, but they are nominated by parties or appointed by the governor in the case of a vacancy. The court currently has a 5-2 majority of justices backed by Democrats after picking up a seat in the November election. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has the opportunity to appoint a justice to fill Clements vacancy and create a 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices. Whoever fills the vacancy must run for retention in 2026 for a full eight-year term. Clement was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2017 by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. She secured a full term in the 2018 general election and her term was set to end in 2026. In November 2022, she was chosen to serve as Chief Justice. Going forward, my plan is to continue working to find ways to bring people together, to put data to work, and to make a difference in the lives of people so that interactions with our justice system result in safer communities and stronger families, Clement said in the statement released by the court. ISABELLA VOLMERT Volmert covers Michigan government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Lansing. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Kennedy Center is seen Aug. 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)2025-02-19T21:19:36Z Until a few weeks ago, the biggest news to come out of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., was its annual celebration of notable American artists.That has changed since the return of Donald Trump.In the first month of his second term, the president has ousted the arts institutions leadership, filled the board of trustees with his supporters and announced he had been elected the boards chair unanimously. In a statement this week to The Wall Street Journal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke. President Trump and the members of his newly-appointed board are devoted to rebuilding the Kennedy Center into a thriving and highly respected institution where all Americans, and visitors from around the world, can enjoy the arts with respect to Americas great history and traditions. What is the Kennedy Center and how long has it been around?Supported by government money and private donations and attracting millions of visitors each year, the center is a 100-foot high complex featuring a concert hall, opera house and theater, along with a lecture hall, meeting spaces and a Millennium Stage that has been the site for free shows. The centers very origins are bipartisan. It was first conceived in the late 1950s, during the administration of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, who backed a bill from the Democratic-led Congress calling for a National Culture Center. In the early 1960s, Democrat President John F. Kennedy launched a fundraising initiative, and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed into law a 1964 bill renaming the project the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Kennedy had been assassinated the year before.Construction began in 1965 and the center formally opened six years later, with a premiere of Leonard Bernsteins Mass, otherwise known as MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers). Who has performed at the Kennedy Center?The center has long been a showcase for theater, music and dramatic performances, with artists ranging from the Paul Taylor Dance Company to a joint concert by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Other highlights have included the annual Mark Twain Award for comedy, with recipients including Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey and Bob Newhart, and the annual Kennedy Center ceremony honoring outstanding artists, most recently Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt and the Grateful Dead, among others.Presidents have routinely attended the honors ceremony, even in the presence of artists who disagreed with them politically. The good-natured spirit was well captured in 2002, during Republican President George W. Bushs first term, when Steve Martin offered tribute to honoree Paul Simon. Martin digressed into a tangent about pirated music recordings and joked that he had been approached by Bush about getting bootlegs of Barbra Streisand, a prominent Democrat.Its been nice being a citizen, Martin added, as Bush and others laughed in response. Why is Trump focusing on the Kennedy Center now?Trump mostly ignored the center during his first term, becoming the first president to routinely skip the honors ceremony. One honoree, producer Norman Lear, had threatened not to attend if Trump was there.Mirroring his overall governing approach, Trump has been far more aggressive and proactive in his second term, citing some drag show performances at the center as a reason to transform it entirely.At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN, he wrote on his social media website earlier this month. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center website still includes a passage about the core mission, one that strives to ensure that the education and outreach programs and policies of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts meet the highest level of excellence and reflect the cultural diversity of the United States.Also listed on the site is a new project called Promise of US, for which the public is invited to submit an artistic self-portrait to be part of a virtual wall of faces expressing the myriad diversity of Americas peoples and the promise of Americas future. This ever-expanding mosaic will be featured on the Centers website and social channels. Who is in charge now?Trump pushed out the incumbent board chair David M. Rubenstein, a philanthropist and Baltimore Orioles owner. He now presides over a board that by tradition was divided between Democratic and Republican appointees, but is now predominantly Republican, with recent additions including Attorney General Pam Bondi, country star Lee Greenwood and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter, brought on by Rubenstein in 2014, resigned soon after the board shakeup. Trump replaced her, on an interim basis, with diplomat Richard Grenell, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Germany during the presidents first term.Im really, really, really sad about what happens to our artists, what happens on our stages and our staff who support them, Rutter said during a recent interview with NPR. The Kennedy Center is meant to be a beacon for the arts in all of America across the country. What has been the fallout?The fallout is unprecedented. Kennedy Center consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Rene Fleming have resigned and actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny have canceled appearances. During a concert last weekend that proceeded as scheduled, singer-songwriter Victoria Clark wore a T-shirt reading ANTI TRUMP AF.Further controversy is possible. Next months schedule includes RIOT! Funny Women Stand Up, a special comedy event in celebration of Womens History Month. Conan OBrien is to receive the Twain award in an all-star event that will likely include jokes about the president. (Representatives for OBrien have not responded to requests for comment.) The center also is scheduled to host Eureka Day, a stage play centered on an outbreak of mumps, a sensitive topic with the confirmation of vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. __An earlier version of this story said the center has canceled performances by the touring childrens musical Finn and a planned concert featuring the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington, D.C., since Trump took over. Kennedy Center officials say the cancellations were initiated before the change in leadership. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)2025-02-20T01:07:41Z WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the military services to identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year in order to redirect those savings to fund President Donald Trumps priorities. Hegseth has committed to redirecting Pentagon spending to more directly support warfighters. In a statement late Wednesday, Robert Salesses, who is performing the duties of deputy secretary of defense, said the time for preparation is over and excessive bureaucracy and programs targeting climate change or other woke programs such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives would be targeted. To achieve our mandate from President Trump, we are guided by his priorities including securing our borders, building the Iron Dome for America, and ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing, Salesses said. Iron Dome is envisioned as an extensive, multilayered air defense system for the U.S. that Trump has said should include the ability to shoot down incoming missiles from space. The roughly $50 billion would represent about 8% of the militarys budget. It was not immediately clear which parts of the Pentagons spending on diversity and equity programs, or its spending to address climate change such as buying alternate fuels for aircraft, or making bases more resistant to the effects of extreme weather, such as the 2018 hurricane that caused significant damage to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida would be targeted or could add up to $50 billion in savings. The spending cuts mandate comes as the military is quickly trying to build its fiscal year 2026 request, a congressional process that often starts late during transitions between new presidential administrations. Hegseth has asked the Pentagon to find offsets programs that can be cut to achieve spending elsewhere for fiscal year 2026, which starts Oct. 1. The cuts would be as drastic as the single-year ordered savings across the military in the 2013 sequestration, a law passed by Congress that was intended to force the legislative branch to reach agreement on budget deficit reductions and instead forced the services to cut $56 billion in a matter of months. Because of the way the military budget is structured, long-term, high-dollar procurement programs at the time were protected, as were most entitlements such as military retirement and health care. At the time, the accounts that were easier to cut were found in operations, maintenance and personnel. The services lost noncommissioned officers highly trained mid-level enlisted personnel and cut training such as flight hours. Military training accidents quickly climbed. In the years since the sequester, Congress and the services have directed additional protections to operations and maintenance spending. 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

U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks along the Mutianyu Great Wall section in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)2025-02-20T02:03:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) Joyce Yip, a 39-year-old entrepreneur in southern Chinas Guangzhou, has a new celebrity crush: Melania Trump.The two-time first lady has become an online celebrity in China, especially among women. That may be surprising, given her husbands hostility toward China, but social media posts reflect an admiration for her independence, her taste in fashion and how shes raising her teenage son. And, perhaps most importantly, her stoic allegiance to President Donald Trump despite his misogynistic comments, allegations that hes had extramarital affairs and his being found liable for sexual abuse in a civil suit brought by a New York advice columnist.She looks heroic, elegant and resolute, so powerful and majestic, loving it so much, Yip wrote on the Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu after the inauguration last month. After the first lady wore a wide-brimmed hat to the inauguration, similar products appeared on online shops and knitting influencers on Xiaohongshu posted videos showing people how to make their own within 48 hours.By Chinas conventional standards, women are expected to be supportive of their husbands and to focus on raising children. But Melania Trumps streaks of independence also appeal to Chinese fans, as does her ascent from small-town Slovenian roots to the top of the worlds social ladder. Chinese fans like her having both traditional and modern sides of a woman, said Jingsi Wu, an associate professor of media studies at Hofstra University in New York. Both sides are on display in a 4-year-old video that showed Melania Trump refusing to hold her husbands hand as they disembarked from Air Force One. The video has scored more than 5 million likes on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and still generates views and comments.Around half a million people liked a November post on Xiaohongshu that joked about how unwilling the usually reserved Melania Trump must be to return to the very public life of a first lady. A satire in The New Yorker magazine meant to be critical of her marriage to the president received 1 million views on Bilibili, a YouTube-like platform, and only seemed to boost her popularity. Almost 30,000 people liked a November post about a years-old interview Melania Trump and her husband did on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, saying their relationship was super sweet. Ge Yahan is among Melanias fans. The 24-year-old from Zibo on Chinas eastern coast calls Melania a mysterious lady who was brave enough to follow her dreams from a small town in Slovenia to the United States.Her celebrity crush brings in a bit of pocket money too. She has been selling unauthorized copies of Melanias new self-titled memoir translated to Mandarin by AI on Chinas social media underground for eight yuan ($1.10). Donald Trump has been openly critical of Chinas economic practices as barriers to Americas financial success. He launched a trade war during his first term by imposing hefty tariffs on Chinese imports, adding more after he returned to office last month. He mocked the deadly coronavirus as the Kung Flu, a racist term for COVID-19. Earlier this year, Trump claimed, without evidence, that thousands of Chinese immigrants are flooding the U.S. to build an army and attack America. But Wu, the academic, said people in China often see U.S. politics as akin to a soap opera.Pouring over details of leaders lives is a novelty to many in China, where top leaders tend to appear only in tightly stage-managed public settings. Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, who was a well-known singer before marrying Xi Jinping, has kept a higher profile than the wives of previous leaders, but the couples lifestyle is still so little known that its not clear where they live or whether they have a pet.Rose LuQiu, an associate professor at School of Communication in Hong Kong Baptist University, said fans see Donald Trump as a winner, whose success the first lady shares.The more independent and accomplished she is but still unwaveringly loyal to (Donald) Trump the more it reflects his perceived success as a man, she said. Huang Li, who works in public relations for the fashion industry and sells Melania Trumps memoir online on the side, says she doesnt care about politics, but says she likes Trump for his hard work and the courage he showed by yelling fight, fight, fight after being shot during an assassination attempt in July.Huang has sold more than 30 copies of Melanias memoir, which is not available in China. Chinas National Publications Import & Export Shanghai Co. is pre-selling English copies for 290 yuan ($40), and its not clear if there are plans for an official translation.People want to know more about her, Huang said.Fans also like what they see as sacrifices Melania Trump has made to help her 18-year-old son Barron. Many have joked that she only agreed to move back to the White House dormitory to help with his career. Wu said this appeals to Chinese fans. Chinese pay extra attention to parenting, she said. Melanias perseverance amid her husbands personal and political scandals resonates with fans even more.Melania is a woman who is low-key, very real, supports her husband in the back and stands with him when he needs her, said Yip, the entrepreneur.Like many admirers of Melania, Yip said she liked the presidents daughter Ivanka during her highlight moments eight years ago. But Yip now views her a traitor for testifying in her fathers civil fraud trial in New York last year after being ordered by the judge to take the stand. Even though Ivanka Trump revealed little, Yip and many other Chinese believe she betrayed her father.The rules of this society are that men are allowed to be disloyal, but not women, said Yip, Melania is very loyal to her husband. FU TING Ting reports for APs Global Investigations team. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022. The yearlong war in Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead and wounded on both sides, disrupted energy and food supplies, and reduced whole cities to ruins. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)2025-02-20T05:13:50Z When Russian troops rolled into Ukraine three years ago, they brought their parade uniforms with them on the push to Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin expected a quick victory.What Putin dubbed the special military operation has turned into Europes largest conflict since World War II. Tens of thousands have been killed, entire cities have been reduced to smoldering ruins, millions of Ukrainians became refugees, and Russia was isolated from the West.Now as senior Russian and U.S. officials are talking again and setting the stage for summit meeting, Putin appears closer than ever to cementing Moscows gains of about a fifth of Ukraines territory and keeping it out of NATO.President Donald Trump sharply reversed the three-year U.S. policy of isolating Russia when he called Putin and said afterward they agreed to work together very closely to end the war. He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be involved in negotiations but didnt elaborate. Trump also expressed understanding of Putins key demand on the pivotal issue of Ukraines prospective NATO membership that the U.S. and other alliance members previously described as irreversible. Theyve been saying that for a long time that Ukraine cannot go into NATO, Trump said of Russia. And Im OK with that. Changing fortunesPutin invaded on Feb. 24, 2022, after demanding that NATO abandon membership for Ukraine and pull back the alliances troops on NATOs eastern flank -- actions rejected by the West.He claimed his move was necessary to safeguard Russias security interests and protect Russian speakers in Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies denounced his move as an unprovoked act of aggression. Ukrainians saw it as Moscows attempt to destroy their national sovereignty and identity.Russian troops reached the outskirts of Kyiv early in the invasion but pulled back a month later amid heavy losses and Ukraines attacks on supply lines. More humiliating setbacks came in September and October 2022, when a Ukrainian counteroffensive forced Russia to pull back from large parts of the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the Kherson region in the south. Fortunes changed in 2023 when a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south failed to cut Russias land route to the Crimea Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014.Russia seized the combat initiative last year with offensives along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front, making slow but persistent gains. In the fall, Russian forces captured the most territory since the opening of the war.Moscow also pummeled Ukrainian infrastructure with waves of missiles and drones, destroying much of its power generating capacity.Ukraine struck back in August with an incursion into Russias Kursk region to try to distract Moscows forces in the east and gain more leverage in potential peace talks. Ukraine still holds some of those gains, but its limited resources are stretched, making it difficult to defend strongholds in the east. Ukraines demands, Trumps viewWhile Zelenskyy earlier demanded Russias full withdrawal from all occupied areas as a precondition for talks, he later acknowledged Kyiv cant immediately reclaim all its territory. He said Ukraine wont abandon its goal of joining NATO even though Trump dismissed that as impractical and Zelenskyy emphasized needing reliable Western security guarantees and a robust European peacekeeping force to prevent Russian attacks.Trumps call with Putin and ensuing Russia-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia shattered the Biden administrations nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine policy. Trump blamed Kyiv for failing to make a deal with Moscow that could have prevented the war, praised Russias military might and even suggested that Ukraine may be Russian someday.Zelenskyy said Ukraine wont accept any deal negotiated without Kyiv and insisted that European allies must participate in peace talks. He dismissed a U.S.-proposed draft agreement that would give Washington a large share of Ukraines rare earth minerals as too focused on U.S. interests and had no security guarantees for Kyiv. Europe in the coldTrumps approach stunned European allies, whose shock deepened when Vice President JD Vance sharply rebuked them at the Munich security conference over free speech and migration.While the Trump administration said European allies werent welcome at the peace talks, it encouraged them to provide security guarantees for Kyiv in what former British ambassador Nigel Gould-Davies called a contradictory approach.Washington has signaled that the U.S. alone will negotiate an end to the war but also that Europe alone must pay for and enforce an outcome it has not played a role in deciding, said Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Putins goalsPutins key goals remain much the same that Ukraine renounce joining NATO and enforce the use of the Russian language to keep the country in Moscows orbit but now wants Kyiv to withdraw its forces from the four regions Moscow has seized but doesnt fully control.He said a peace agreement could be broadly based on a draft negotiated early in the war that obliged Ukraine to declare neutrality, scale down its military and protect Russian language and culture. Those talks collapsed in April 2022 with no deal.Putin ruled out a truce, arguing it would benefit Kyiv. But some Kremlin-watchers believe he could accept it if Kyiv agrees to hold elections after a ceasefire.Trump echoed Putins line that Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, needs to face voters, while Kyiv maintains elections are impossible to hold amid a war. Trump escalated that notion Wednesday by posting on social media that Zelenskyy was a Dictator without Elections.Putin could hope an election would weaken Zelenskyy and lead to political instability, said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.In his view, most potential outcomes would be advantageous for Moscow whether through heightened political infighting, possible protests, or a fragile victory for a new president, she wrote.Jack Watling of Londons Royal United Services Institute says Ukraine faces a politically divisive election, economic paralysis due to a lack of foreign direct investment, and coercive threats from Russia to restart the war after a truce. Keeping peaceIts unclear who would monitor any potential ceasefire.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said NATO should play no role and that any European troops taking part should not be covered by NATOs charter obliging allies to aid of any member under attack - conditions that could dampen European enthusiasm about the mission.While the U.K. and others signal readiness to deploy troops for such a mission, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the U.S.-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia that Moscow wont accept troops from any NATO members in a peacekeeping force. Some reports suggested Chinese or Brazilian troops as part of a monitoring force, but those countries havent signaled any intention of participation.Many believe Putin is no rush to make a peace deal. Negotiations appear desirable but by no means necessary for Russia to achieve its goals in its war against Ukraine, Stanovaya wrote.Virtually any outcome will be a good result for Moscow, she said, pointing at the erosion of Western unity and reduced Western support for Kyiv amid Moscows gains.Putin has repeatedly made it clear that he believes Russia can achieve its goals in Ukraine without any U.S.-brokered deal, Stanovaya noted. As far as he is concerned, Moscow simply needs to wait until Ukraine falls apart of its own accord, after which the Russian army will crush any remaining resistance among the Ukrainian army. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Election posters showing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and CDU top candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz in Frankfurt, Germany, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)2025-02-20T05:19:32Z BERLIN (AP) German voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament that will determine how the country is run for the next four years. Europes biggest economy is the 27-nation European Unions most populous nation and a leading member of NATO, as well as the second-biggest weapons supplier to Ukraine, after the United States, following Russias full-scale invasion in 2022. Germanys next government will be central to Europes response to an assertive new U.S. administration.Heres a look at what to expect for Sunday and beyond. What happens on election day?Polls are due to open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.. Germans can also vote by postal ballot, but their ballot must arrive by the time polling stations close on election day to be counted. Exit polls will come and vote-counting will begin immediately after voting ends, and the general picture of the outcome should be clear very quickly. A final official result is expected early Monday. Who are the contenders?Four candidates are running to be Germanys next leader: incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats; Friedrich Merz, the candidate of the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union party; current Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, of the environmentalist Greens; and Alice Weidel, of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD.Preelection polls have put Merzs Union bloc in the lead with support of about 30%, ahead of AfD, with around 20%. Scholzs Social Democrats and Habecks Greens are further back.Merz is favored to replace Scholz as chancellor, but its not yet clear what governing coalitions will be possible after the election. How easy it is to form a government may depend in part on how many parties are in the new parliament. Opinion polls show three parties hovering around the 5% of the vote needed to win seats.All mainstream parties say they wont work with AfD. Whats up for grabs?At least 59.2 million people in a country of 84 million are eligible to vote for the new Bundestag, or lower house of parliament. It is the 630-member Bundestag that will elect the next chancellor, Germanys equivalent of a prime minister. There are 29 parties on the ballot, but its likely that between five and eight of them will get enough votes to win seats in parliament. In most cases, parties must win at least 5% of the vote to get a share of the seats.What happens after polls close?Germanys electoral system rarely gives any party an absolute majority and opinion polls suggest that no party is anywhere near one this time. The country has no tradition of minority governments at national level, which means that two or more parties will most likely form a coalition.There is no formal referee for the process of forming a new government, and no set time limit. Parties hold exploratory talks to determine who they have most common ground with, and one combination of parties then moves on to formal coalition talks.Those negotiations typically produce a detailed coalition agreement setting out the new governments plans. That will typically need approval at least from conventions of the parties involved. Some parties may choose to put it to a ballot of their entire membership. Once that process is complete, the Bundestag can elect the new chancellor. Whats at stake?A strong German government would be important to Europes response to the new U.S. administration and to turmoil in Ukraine and elsewhere. Germany and neighboring France have traditionally been the motor of the EU, but both heavyweights have been consumed by domestic political instability in recent months.This election is being held seven months earlier than originally planned because Scholzs three-party coalition collapsed in November as it argued about how to reinvigorate the economy, which has shrunk for the past two years. One of the new governments most urgent tasks will be to find a coherent response to that problem. Another challenge will be further reducing irregular migration, which has been a top issue in the campaign.Merz has said he hopes to form a new government by mid-April if he wins. Scholzs outgoing government will remain in office on a caretaker basis until the Bundestag elects the new chancellor.

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)2025-02-20T05:07:26Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps restrictions on foreign aid and targeting of a key agency funding programs around the world may be offering an opening to Americas biggest adversary China.From the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development to quitting international groups, Trumps drastic America First moves have raised concerns among some lawmakers and experts about whether the U.S. is ceding global influence to its rivals, especially at a time when Washington is fretting over Beijings growing clout at the cost to American interests. Foreign assistance offered the U.S. a source of soft power allowing it to cultivate goodwill, build alliances and counter adversaries in a bid to shore up national security without having to dispatch troops, weapons or other more coercive measures.In Cambodia, the contrast could not be sharper than China sending $4.4 million to support demining operations, as Trump halted a $6.3 million grant from the State Departments Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement partly meant to clear U.S.-origin unexploded ordnances as the remnants of war. Administration officials say its past time to review how America spends money abroad. Asked if the U.S. was giving China and Russia an opening for greater global influence, national security adviser Mike Waltz denied that, telling NBCs Meet the Press recently that all too often, these missions and these programs ... are not in line with strategic U.S. interests like pushing back on China.In Panama, the Trump administration got the government to quit the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijings flagship overseas development program, prompting condemnation from China. What it means for the US to step backExperts and lawmakers disagree on the impact of the U.S. taking a step back from foreign aid. Lawsuits are challenging the administrations freeze on foreign assistance and moves against USAID, with temporary holds on some of those efforts.The second Trump administration will deliver the goal for China of wielding greater global influence, Feng Zhang, a visiting scholar at Yale Law Schools Paul Tsai China Center, said at a recent debate in Washington.Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, was worried for the same reason. China doesnt even need to fight for their influence around the world now because of our own effort, Kim said recently on Meet the Press.Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said it could be time for change on foreign assistance.I think as we dig into this, were going to find out whats been working and what hasnt been working, he said. And then how do we innovate to a new way of promoting American interests, American values and being clear on what those values are.Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University, said global influence goes beyond foreign aid, with the U.S. commanding the worlds most powerful military and its dollar dominating the financial system. Lets not accept at face value that China is ready or able to step in where the U.S. may be leaving a vacuum, Wilder said.The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing is willing to work with all countries and parties, including the U.S., to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of development, so as to promote common development and prosperity among all countries.The foreign aid rivalryThe two countries the primary players in global development are spending foreign assistance differently. Most Chinese money is issued as debt and typically spent on energy and infrastructure projects. Most U.S. funds were disbursed as grants or loans with low or no interest rates in areas like public health and humanitarian aid, said AidData, an international development research lab at William & Mary Universitys Global Research Institute.In Peru, Chinese money helped build the $1.3 billion megaport in Chancay, which opened in November during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. U.S. foreign aid in Peru, by contrast, was used to finance coffee and cacao as alternatives to cocaine production. Elsewhere, American dollars helped fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, treated malnourished children in South Sudan and provided medical services at an immigrant shelter in Mexico. Acknowledging that the U.S. should fund tangible foreign projects like ports and factories, Congress in 2018 established an institution to combine government funding with private investments for projects such as the trans-Africa rail project in Angola. Overall, China spent $1.34 trillion on nearly 18,000 overseas development projects between 2000 and 2021, averaging about $61 billion a year, AidData said.The U.S. disbursed $1.24 trillion in foreign aid, including military assistance, between 2001 and 2023, the research lab said.USAID, created during the Cold War to counter Soviet influence, is the single largest U.S. government player in foreign aid. It paid out $43.8 billion in 2023, AidData said. That is equivalent to less than 1% of total annual government spending. US could risk goodwill abroadBecause of the differences in the types of projects funded, China is unlikely to step in as the U.S. retreats, but Beijing still wins because foreign aid is about building relationships and goodwill, said Samantha Custer, director of policy analysis at AidData.These countries are watching the U.S. and how it engages with its partners and its workers, and theyre making determinations as to whether the U.S. is a reliable economic and security partner, and increasingly there are concerns that we are not, Custer said. That will feed into Beijings narrative that its a responsible partner and global leader while sowing doubt about the U.S., she said.New York-based China Labor Watch, which monitors labor conditions and investigates practices such as the use of forced labor in China, relies on U.S. funding for about 90% of its budget, and the aid freeze has forced the group to lay off or put on unpaid leave most of its U.S. staff, group founder Li Qiang said.China now has a strategic opening as the go-to alternative for countries seeking investments without political conditions, said Salvador Santino Regilme, an associate professor of international relations at Leiden University in the Netherlands.The broader implication of the U.S. aid freeze is a return to militarized diplomacy, where soft power is sidelined in favor of hard-power coercion, he said.___Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report. DIDI TANG Tang joined the AP Washington bureau in 2023 after spending 11 years in Beijing as a China correspondent. She covers anything related to the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on U.S.-China competitions mailto

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-02-20T05:01:40Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate was set to vote Thursday on whether to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, a decision that could place him atop the nations premier federal law enforcement agency despite concerns from Democrats over his qualifications and the prospect that he would do President Donald Trumps bidding.Patel cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week by a 12-10, party-line vote and is set for consideration by the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday afternoon. He is expected to be confirmed unless more than three Republican senators defy Trumps will and vote against him, which is seen as unlikely. Trump has already secured approval for most of his nominees despite initial Republican skepticism to several of his choices. Patel, a Trump loyalist who has fiercely criticized the agency that he is poised to lead, would inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil. The Justice Department in the last month has forced out a group of senior FBI officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump has said that he expects some of those agents will be fired. Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel as the right person for the job. Democrats, meanwhile, have complained about his lack of management experience compared to others who have held the directors job and highlighted incendiary past statements that they say call his judgment into question. My prediction is if you vote for Kash Patel, more than any other confirmation vote you make, you will come to regret this one to your grave, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said this week.Patels eyebrow-raising remarks on hundreds of podcasts over the last four years include referring to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as criminal gangsters, referring to some Jan. 6 rioters as political prisoners and pledging to come after anti-Trump conspirators in the government and media. At his confirmation hearing last month, Patel said Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding the broader point that he was trying to make, such as when he proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington and turning it into a museum for the so-called deep state. And Patel denied the idea that a list in his book of government officials who he said were part of a deep state amounted to an enemies list, calling that a total mischaracterization.FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and served for more than seven years but who repeatedly angered the president and was seen by him as insufficiently loyal. He resigned before Trump took office. A former federal defender and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, Patel attracted Trumps attention during his first term when, as a staffer on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, he helped author a memo with pointed criticism of the FBIs investigation into ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 campaign. Patel later joined Trumps administration, both as a counterterrorism official at the National Security Council and as chief of staff to the defense secretary. 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

This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)2025-02-20T05:18:28Z KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) Hamas is set to return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday, including a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nations agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.The remains to be released from the Gaza Strip are of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir. Kfir was the youngest captive taken that day. Hamas has said all three were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war. The militant group also plans to release the body of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. The heart of an entire nation breaks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday in anticipation of the bodies being returned to Israel.Israelis have celebrated the return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that paused over 15 months of war. But the handover on Thursday will provide a grim reminder of those who died in captivity as the talks leading up to the truce dragged on for over a year.It could also provide impetus for negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire that have hardly begun. The first phase is set to end at the beginning of March. Infant was the youngest taken hostage Kfir Bibas was just 9 months old, a red-headed infant with a toothless smile, when militants stormed into the familys home on Oct. 7, 2023. His brother Ariel was 4. Video shot that day showed a terrified Shiri swaddling the two boys as militants led them into Gaza.Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately and released this month after 16 months in captivity.Relatives in Israel have clung to hope, marking Kfirs first and second birthdays and his brothers fifth. The Bibas family said in a statement Wednesday that it would wait for identification procedures before acknowledging that their loved ones were dead.Supporters throughout Israel have worn orange in solidarity with the family a reference to two boys red hair and a popular childrens song was written in their honor. Like the Bibas family, Oded Lifshitz was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his wife Yocheved, who was freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Oded was a journalist who campaigned for the recognition of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.Hamas-led militants abducted 251 hostages, including some 30 children, in the Oct. 7 attack, in which they also killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.More than half the hostages, and most of the women and children, have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and have recovered dozens of bodies of people killed in the initial attack or who died in captivity.Its not clear if the ceasefire will lastHamas is set to free six living hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and says it will release four more bodies next week, completing the ceasefires first phase. That will leave the militants with some 60 hostages, all men, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Hamas has said it wont release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he is committed to destroying Hamas military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive. Trumps proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it, which has been embraced by Israel but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt.Hamas could be reluctant to free more hostages if it believes the war will resume with the goal of annihilating the group or forcibly transferring Gazas population.Israels military offensive killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to fields of rubble and bombed-out buildings. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gazas population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.___Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Elon Musk, left, and President Donald Trump, right, are seen through the windows as Marine One lands on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-20T03:55:07Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he likes the idea of giving some of the savings from Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency back to U.S. citizens as a kind of dividend.He said at an investment conference in Miami that the administration is considering a concept in which 20% of the savings produced by DOGEs cost-cutting efforts goes to American citizens and another 20% goes to paying down the national debt.Trump also said the potential for dividend payments would incentivize people to report wasteful spending.Theyll be reporting it themselves, Trump said. They participate in the process of saving us money.Later, as he flew back to Washington aboard Air Force One, he was asked by a reporter about the plan floated by Musk.I love it, the Republican president told reporters on the plane. A day earlier, Musk wrote on his social media platform that he will check with the President in response to a suggestion that Trump and Musk should announce a DOGE Dividend that would send a refund to taxpayers from part of the savings created by DOGE. Its efforts have already led to thousands of federal government employees being fired or laid off. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto

South Korean actor Kim Sae-ron arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Yonhap via AP)2025-02-20T07:16:03Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) In the about 1,000 days between her drunken-driving crash in May 2022 and her death, South Korean mainstream news organizations published at least around 2,000 stories on film actor Kim Sae-rom. They illustrate how the local media often cover a celebritys fall from grace. Previously one of the brightest young stars in South Korean cinema, Kim was condemned and ridiculed for driving drunk; for talking about her financial struggles after losing roles; for taking a job at a coffee shop; for attempting a comeback in theater; for going out with friends instead of showing remorse; and for being seen smiling on set while shooting an indie movie.After the 24-year-old actor was found dead at her home Sunday, the headlines predictably swung to calling for changes to the way celebrities are treated in the public arena.Kims death, which police consider a suicide, adds to a growing list of high-profile celebrity deaths in the country, which some experts attribute to the enormous pressure celebrities face under the gaze of a relentlessly unforgiving media that seizes on every misstep. ___EDITORS NOTE: In South Korea, callers can receive 24-hour counseling through the suicide prevention hotline 1577-0199, the Life Line service at 1588-9191, the Hope Phone at 129 and the Youth Phone at 1388.___Heres a look at the intense pressure faced by South Korean celebrities who fall from grace. A sudden fall from graceSouth Korea is notoriously harsh on its celebrities, particularly women. Kim rose to stardom as a child actor with the 2010 hit crime thriller The Man from Nowhere and garnered acclaim and popularity for her acting in movies and TV dramas for years.But that changed after May 18, 2022, when Kim crashed a vehicle into a tree and an electrical transformer while driving drunk in southern Seoul. She posted a handwritten apology on Instagram and reportedly compensated around 60 shops that lost power temporarily because of the crash, but that did little to defuse negative coverage and she struggled to find acting work. When a Seoul court issued a 200 million won ($139,000) fine over the crash in April 2023, Kim expressed her fears about the media to reporters, saying many articles about her private life were untrue.Im too scared to say anything about them, she said.Relentless negative coverageIn the wake of Kims drunken-driving crash, celebrity gossip channels on YouTube began posting negative videos about her private life, suggesting without providing evidence that she was exaggerating her financial straits by working at coffee shops, and arguing that social media posts showing her socializing with friends meant she wasnt showing enough remorse.Other entertainers, especially female, have struggled to find work after run-ins with the law, including drunken driving or substance abuse, and experts say many of them are reluctant to seek treatment for mental health problems like depression, fearing further negative coverage.Kwon Young-chan, a comedian-turned-scholar who leads a group helping celebrities with mental health issues, said celebrities often feel helpless when the coverage turns negative after spending years carefully cultivating their public image. Kwon, who stayed with Kims relatives during a traditional three-day funeral process, said her family is considering legal action against a YouTube creator with hundreds of thousands of subscribers for what they describe as groundless attacks on Kims private life.Peter Jongho Na, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, lamented on Facebook that South Korean society had become a giant version of Squid Game, the brutal Netflix survival drama, abandoning people who make mistakes or fall behind, acting as though nothing happened. Media blamed for celebrity deathsThe National Police Agency said officers found no signs of foul play at Kims home and that she left no note.But a spate of high-profile deaths has sparked discussions about how news organizations cover the private lives of celebrities and whether floods of critical online comments are harming their mental health. Similar conversations happened after the 2008 death of mega movie star Choi Jin-sil; the death of her former baseball star husband, Cho Sung-min, in 2013; the deaths of K-Pop singers Sulli and Goo Hara in 2019; and the death of Parasite actor Lee Sun-kyun in 2023. Sensational but unsubstantiated claims like from social media are widely recycled and amplified by traditional media outlets as they compete for audience attention, said Hyun-jae Yu, a communications professor at Seouls Sogang University.Struggling with a sharp decline in traditional media readership, he said, media turn to covering YouTube drama as the easiest way to drive up traffic, often skipping the work of reporting and verifying facts.Following the 2019 deaths of Sulli and Goo Hara, which were widely attributed to cyberbullying and sexual harassment both in the public and media, lawmakers proposed various measures to discourage harsh online comments. These included expanding real-name requirements and strengthening websites requirements to weed out hate speech and false information, but none of these proposed laws passed. Reforms remain elusive South Korean management agencies are getting increasingly active in taking legal action to protect their entertainers from online bullying. Hybe, which manages several K-Pop groups including BTS, publishes regular updates about lawsuits its filing against social media commentators it deems malicious.But Yu said its crucial for mainstream media companies to strengthen self-regulation and limit their use of YouTube content as news sources. Government authorities could also compel YouTube and other social media platforms to take greater responsibility for content created by their users, he said, including actively removing problematic videos and preventing creators from monetizing them. The South Korean office of Google, YouTubes parent company, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.Heo Chanhaeng, an executive director at the Center for Media Responsibility and Human Rights, said news organizations and websites should consider shutting down the comments sections on entertainment stories entirely.Her private life was indiscriminately reported beyond what was necessary, Heo said. Thats not a legitimate matter of public interest. KIM TONG-HYUNG Kim has been covering the Koreas for the AP since 2014. He has published widely read stories on North Koreas nuclear ambitions, the dark side of South Koreas economic rise and international adoptions of Korean children. twitter mailto

A protester wearing a mask of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends with his fellow protesters during a rally calling for Yoon to step down in front of the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. The signs read "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol quickly." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)2025-02-20T01:58:45Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court Thursday for a hearing where his lawyers contested his arrest on a criminal charge alleging he was orchestrating a rebellion when he briefly imposed martial law in December.Security was heightened as the motorcade transporting Yoon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court and dozens of his supporters rallied nearby. The preliminary hearing will involve discussions of witnesses and other preparations for his criminal trial, and the court was also to review the request by Yoons lawyers to cancel his arrest and release him from custody. Such challenges are rarely successful. Yoon was indicted Jan. 26 on the rebellion charge carrying a potential punishment of death or life in prison. In South Korea, presidents have immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but not on charges of rebellion or treason. The indictment alleges his imposition of martial law was an illegal attempt to shut down the National Assembly and arrest politicians and election authorities. The conservative Yoon has said his martial law declaration was intended as a temporary warning to the liberal opposition and that he had always planned to respect lawmakers will if they voted to lift the measure. Yoons presidential powers were suspended when he was impeached Dec. 14, and South Koreas Constitutional Court is nearing a decision on whether to formally remove him from office or dismiss the Assemblys impeachment and reinstate him. Martial law was lifted about six hours after Yoon declared it but has caused political turmoil, disrupted high-level diplomacy and tested the resiliency of the countrys democracy. Yoons conservative supporters rioted at the Seoul Western District Court after it authorized his arrest last month, while his lawyers and ruling party have openly questioned the credibility of courts and law enforcement institutions handling the case. Yoon has continued to express contempt for his liberal rivals for obstructing his agenda and endorsed baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud to justify his ill-fated authoritarian push.Yoons defense minister, police chief and several military commanders have also been arrested and indicted on rebellion, abuse of power and other charges related to the martial law decree, which involved hundreds of heavily armed troops deployed to the National Assembly and National Election Commission offices. KIM TONG-HYUNG Kim has been covering the Koreas for the AP since 2014. He has published widely read stories on North Koreas nuclear ambitions, the dark side of South Koreas economic rise and international adoptions of Korean children. twitter mailto

2025-02-20T08:39:56Z JOHANNESBURG (AP) A meeting of foreign ministers from G20 countries will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday, but U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend amid diplomatic tensions between South Africa and the U.S.Diplomats including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to attend the gathering, while the U.S. will be represented by acting ambassador to South Africa Dana Brown.The European Union, the United Nations and the African Union, which is part of the G20, will also be in attendance.Rubio snubbed the meeting after an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump stopped foreign aid to the country over a law that the White House said amounts to discrimination against the countrys white minority. The U.S. is also displeased with South Africas case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has said that Rubios decision was not a complete boycott of South Africas G20. He said the U.S. would be represented in Johannesburg this week in one form or shape or another. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent has also confirmed his will not attend a meeting of G20 finance ministers scheduled to take place in South Africa next week.Bessent said on the social media platform X that he would not participate in the event because of obligations in Washington. A senior Treasury official will attend in his place, he said. Analysts say that Rubio and Bessents absence signalled the U.S was pulling back from the G20 and demonstrated how strained relations are.I think if we want to really know what message the US administration is trying to send, you have to know whether the treasury secretary will come next week or not. And if he chooses not to come as well, thats a quite serious sign, said political analyst Daniel Bradlow. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to officially open and address the gathering under the theme Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, which Rubio has described as a diversity, equality and inclusion framework one that the new Trump administration vocally opposes.South Africa will host over 130 working group meetings and 23 ministerial-level meetings this year as part of their G20 presidency, which began in December last year.The U.S. is expected to take over the G20 presidency in 2026 after South Africas tenure. MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Magome is an Associated Press reporter based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He covers a range of topics including general news, politics, and enterprise stories from across the Southern Africa region. mailto

Casey Brunson, Casey Brunson, Steevan Galindo and Joseph Moore, from left, take direction from Christopher Franklin, center, during a rehearsal at the Stax Music Academy, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)2025-02-20T05:03:46Z MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Memphis music studio where some of Americas most recognizable songs were recorded decades ago is now a museum. But next door, trumpets blare, drums boom, and singers craft the soulful sounds of Stax Records biggest hits.At Stax Music Academy, young musicians rehearse the unmistakable intro to Theme from Shaft, the Isaac Hayes tour de force that won an Oscar in 1972 and tantalizes listeners with its pulsating bass line, crisp hi-hat and funky guitar. Theres an air of professionalism among the students as their teacher hands out sheets of music and words of wisdom.Here we go. Read the ink thats on the paper. From the top, one, two, ready and , says Sam Franklin IV, the academys music director. When they finish, Franklin says, Hey yall, that was good.Under the guidance of Franklin and other instructors, the students are practicing for three concerts in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday to celebrate Black History Month and the academys 25th anniversary. Created in 2000, the academy is an after-school program for teens that teaches them to sing, dance and play instruments. Some pay nothing to attend. The academy has graduated more than 4,000 students since it started in the working-class neighborhood of Soulsville, where Stax Records produced soul and R&B classics in the 1960s and 1970s. Since 2008, every high school senior has been accepted to a college or university, many on full scholarships. The academy has performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and in Europe and Australia. Students take pride and joy in continuing the legacy of the influential record company, where Otis Redding cut (Sittin On) the Dock of the Bay, Sam and Dave worked on Soul Man, and The Staple Singers made Respect Yourself. Other mainstays of the Stax catalog include Booker T. and the MGs, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett and Johnnie Taylor. Before it went bankrupt in 1975, Stax Records helped develop the raw, emotional Memphis Sound, driven by tight horn and rhythm sections, and strong-voiced singers. Some Stax songs were energetic and raucous, others smooth and sexy. Stax Records no longer churns out chart-topping music, although it still has a program for songwriters. The building has been converted into the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The Stax Music Academy group practicing on a rainy January evening includes both Black and white players. Before the work begins, some students joke around and dance in the hallway outside the rehearsal room, which boasts a high ceiling and a whiteboard with musical notes written on it. In a separate room, vocalists clap for each other as they take turns singing for their instructors.Its so fun, said Tatiyana Clark, a 17-year-old singer who joined the academy in 2023. Ive been in places where we would have the same interest in music, but nothing is like the connection that I have here. Honestly, its a different level of friendship, when you have the exact same feelings towards music, the same experiences almost. Stax began online Black History Month presentations in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous programs have included specific themes, with this years being the U.S. labor movement and how it involved and affected Black people, including work training, entrepreneurship and unionization. But this years show is a series of in-person concerts at a downtown Memphis venue where attendees will hear Sam and Daves Hold On, Im Comin, Arthur Conleys Sweet Soul Music, and Cause I Love You, by the father and daughter duet of Rufus and Carla Thomas. A companion study guide includes lessons and activities highlighting key figures and events that shaped labor policies and standards. Its all about the message for me, said Johnathan Cole, an 18-year-old singer and songwriter. It feels good because with the world going crazy right now, everybody just needs a little bit of love, happiness and music. Thats what Stax Music Academy has always been about: love, music, creativity. When the labor and civil rights movements were striving for racial equality and social justice, Booker T. and the MGs churned out Green Onions and other toe-tapping instrumental songs, with Black men at organ and drums Booker T. Jones and Al Jackson Jr. and white players on lead and bass guitar Steve Cropper and Donald Duck Dunn.I would describe Stax as change, said Johnathan McKinnie, a 16-year-old piano and organ player. It drastically changed how music was formed It was definitely an advocate for civil rights.In the vocalists rehearsal room, the group is perfecting Eddie Floyds song about luck and love, Knock on Wood. Its like thunder, and lightning, the way you love me is frightening better knock, knock, knock on wood, three vocalists sing in harmony. Breathe. Youre not breathing, one instructor tells a student, who smiles and nods. The exchange exemplifies the spirit of cooperation and dedication that permeates the academy. Pasley Thompson, a 17-year-old singer and songwriter, calls the academy an escape from the every day.Being able to be in a space with people that get you on a creative level, and on a personal level, because were around each other all the time, its a really great feeling to have, she said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A militant stands next to the coffins containing the bodies of hostages, from right to left, Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted before their are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-02-20T09:27:26Z JERUSALEM (AP) Ariel and Kfir Bibas two of the youngest hostages held in Gaza became a symbol for Israelis of the brutality of Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The return of what are presumed to be their bodies on Thursday dashed hopes they had survived captivity and struck another blow to a nation still reeling from Hamas assault.The fate of Ariel and Kfir, just 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted, captivated Israelis, and the return, along with a body said to be that of their mother, Shiri Bibas, brings a tragic measure of closure to the country.But it is also likely to fuel anger over the governments failure to bring home some 250 hostages sooner and safely, and it could step up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire.The mother and children were taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Video of the abduction, with a terrified Shiri Bibas seen swaddling her two redheaded boys in a blanket and being whisked away by armed men, ricocheted around the world in the hours after the attack. Yarden Bibas, the father, was abducted and held separately and released on Feb. 1, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that paused the 15-month-long war in Gaza. During the first phase, a total of 33 hostages are to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Eight of those 33 were said by Israel to be dead. Since his release, Yarden Bibas has pleaded for information about his family, whose fate has been unclear for much of the war. While Hamas last year released a video of Yarden Bibas in captivity as a sign of life, nothing had been heard from his wife or children. The militant group claimed they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the first weeks of the war, and filmed Yarden Bibas receiving the news. Israel did not confirm the claim, saying just that it had grave concern for their lives.The bodies released Thursday will now be formally identified, which could take up to 48 hours. The Bibas boys became icons and their plight transfixed IsraelisThe Bibas familys struggle became a rallying cry for protesters demanding the hostages be freed. Concern for their well-being emerged during a November 2023 ceasefire, when most women and children were freed, and grew in recent weeks when living women hostages were freed.At just 9 months old, Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children taken hostage Oct. 7. The infant with red hair and a toothless smile became an icon across Israel and his ordeal was raised by Israeli leaders on podiums around the world.The extended Bibas family has been active at protests, branding the color orange as the symbol of their fight for the ginger babies. They marked Kfir Bibas first birthday with a release of orange balloons and lobbied world leaders for support.Family photos aired on TV and posted across social media created a national bond with the two boys and made them familiar faces. Israelis learned of Ariel Bibas love for Batman and photos from a happier time showed the entire family dressed up as the character. The Hostages Families Forum said there were more hostages in Gaza whose lives could still be saved, and called for an extension to the ceasefire.There is no more time to waste, it said in a statement.The fate of the young boys and their mother was unclearThe lack of information about Shiri Bibas and her children created uncertainty and ambiguity, including among their relatives.Shiri Bibas sister, Dana Silberman-Sitton, has said she did not believe her sister or the children were still alive. She told Israeli news site Ynet that she decided to tell her children in December 2023 that Aunt Shiri and their cousins had died, after Hamas claimed they were killed by Israeli airstrikes.I created a defense mechanism for myself: Because I cannot live with uncertainty anymore, I live with the knowledge that Shiri and the kids are dead, she told Ynet in September.Silberman-Sittons parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, were also killed on Oct. 7, 2023, at Kibbutz Nir Oz.Yarden Bibas sister, Ofri Bibas Levy, took the opposite approach: She insisted that Shiri and the children were still alive, traveled abroad on missions and gave numerous interviews to ensure their story was constantly being mentioned. The story of the family captured Israels attention and much of the world because it encapsulated many of the worst aspects of Hamas attack, explained Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, a professor at the Hebrew University school of social work who specializes in trauma.The graphic scene of the mother trying to protect the two babies was burned into the mind in the country, she said. Everything together created a kind of capsulated example of pain that really became the most dramatic symbol of Oct. 7. MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

People walk in front of the main entrance of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-02-20T07:44:31Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis is continuing his recovery from pneumonia, eating breakfast out of bed on Thursday morning after a sixth peaceful night at the hospital, the Vatican said.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a new update after confirming late Wednesday that new blood tests showed a slight improvement in some inflammation indices for the 88-year-old pontiff, who had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter. Francis was visited Wednesday by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, his first known VIP visitor. She reported after their 20-minute visit that Francis was in good spirits and had joked around as always.Francis was admitted to Romes Gemelli hospital Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened. Doctors on Tuesday diagnosed pneumonia in both lungs, on top of a polymicrobial infection in his respiratory tract, meaning a combination of bacteria, viral and other organisms. He is taking a combination of antibiotics and cortisone for what doctors also diagnosed as asthmatic bronchitis. Doctors say pneumonia in such a fragile, elderly patient makes him particularly prone to complications given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from his lungs. While his heart is strong, Francis isnt a particularly healthy 88-year-old. He isnt physically active, uses a wheelchair because of bad knees, had part of one lung removed as a young man, and has admitted to being a not-terribly-cooperative patient in the past.___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.

A bus, believed to be carrying Chinese nationals who have worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar, crosses the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province before being flown back to China on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Sarot Meksophawannakul)2025-02-20T09:32:41Z BANGKOK (AP) An airlift carrying more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar began Thursday, after the rescued workers were taken across the border to Thailand and put on chartered flights to China.Thailand, China and Myanmar have coordinated efforts over the past month to shut down the scam centers that bilked victims around the world out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.Hundreds of thousands of people from Southeast Asia and elsewhere are estimated to have worked at such centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and many were recruited under false pretenses for other jobs and found themselves trapped in virtual slavery.Thai officials said recently that as many as 10,000 people may be repatriated from Myanmar from the online scam centers. So far, 16 flights, or about four a day, have been scheduled to repatriate the Chinese nationals, accompanied by police. Because of the large number of Chinese the projected number so far is 1,041 Thailand is allowing Beijing to handle most of their processing and investigations on their return to China. Thai officials told reporters on Thursday the rescued workers were being taken in batches of 50 across a bridge from Myanmars Myawaddy to Thailands Mae Sot, where they were processed including with biometric scans and sent on by bus to Mae Sots airport. There they boarded China Southern Airlines planes, whose destination was shown by flight tracking websites as Jinghong in southwestern Chinas Yunnan province.Thai authorities are overseeing the evacuation and processing of scam center workers from other nations. Last week, some 260 people from 20 nations, including many from Africa, crossed from Myanmar into Thai custody after they were reportedly rescued from scam centers. The organized repatriation of freed scam workers from nations other than China will begin on Sunday, Thai PBS reported.Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on a visit to Beijing earlier this month told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Thailand would crack down on the scam networks. Just ahead of her visit, Thailand cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar hosting scam centers along the border, citing national security and the damage that Thailand has suffered from the operations.Thailand wants to cooperate with China since reports about scam workers being trafficked through Thailand have circulated widely on Chinese social media. The Thai government and others fear it will discourage the lucrative market of inbound Chinese tourists.The Border Guard Force in Myawaddy, a militia of the Karen ethnic minority that controls the area, has organized the repatriation of foreign workers from Myanmar. But critics have accused the group of involvement in the criminal activities by providing protection to the scam centers. It denies the accusations.An earlier crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar happened in late 2023, after China expressed embarrassment and concern over illegal casinos and scam operations along its border in Myanmars northern Shan state.Ethnic guerrilla groups with close ties to Beijing shut down many operations, and an estimated 45,000 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement were repatriated.___Associated Press journalist Jutarat Skulpichetrat reported from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, speaks during the unveiling of a statue of former head football coach Bob Stoops in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)2025-02-20T12:25:05Z OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Former Oklahoma Gov. David Boren, who became one of the nations youngest governors in the 1970s at age 33 and later helped shape national intelligence as a U.S. senator, has died. He was 83. Boren, who went on to serve as president of the University of Oklahoma after retiring from politics, died early Thursday at his home near Newcastle, said Bob Burke, a longtime family friend. He said Borens death was the result of complications from diabetes. The son of a Democratic congressman, Boren quickly followed in his fathers footsteps into elected office and oversaw a dramatic downsizing of government in Oklahoma, where over decades in legislative corridors and university offices he became one of the states most influential figures. His son, Dan Boren, also served four terms as an Oklahoma congressman. In 2019, David Boren cut ties with the university he had led for 24 years amid a probe into allegations that he had sexually harassed male subordinates. Boren denied wrongdoing and the allegations never resulted in charges or civil litigation. He was the smartest person I ever knew, Burke, an attorney and author who managed Borens first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1978. He was a Rhodes Scholar, yet he could communicate with a farmer in overalls on the Main Street of a small Oklahoma town. No Oklahoman had more influence on the states progress in its first century than David Boren, he said. Boren served in the U.S. Senate between 1979 and 1994 and was the longest-serving chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He became president of Oklahomas largest public university after leaving the Senate and held the position until stepping down in 2018.He saw public service as a noble calling and dedicated his life to it, Borens son, Dan Boren, said in a statement. The countless heartwarming stories I hear almost daily from people across this state who he helped are reminders of his remarkable life. We shall cherish the memory of his service and remarkable life. A year after leaving the University of Oklahoma, a former student alleged he was touched and kissed inappropriately by Boren on several occasions about a decade earlier, allegations that Boren repeatedly denied. An investigation into Borens alleged misconduct by the Jones Day law firm, which ended when Boren severed ties to the university in 2019, was never publicly released. The allegations against Boren tarnished his reputation and led him to withdraw from public life.Boren served four terms in the Oklahoma House before being elected governor at the age of 33 in 1974, which at the time made him the youngest governor in the country. He ran a reformist campaign that became known as the Boren Broom Brigade to demonstrate his pledge to sweep out the old guard.As governor, Boren worked to eliminate the inheritance tax, cut the state income tax and reorganize a state government he described as cluttered with 214 boards, agencies and commissions.This excessive red tape in government is a constant drain on taxpayer dollars, Boren once said, adding that the government needed to get out of the horse and buggy era. While in the U.S. Senate, Boren forged close relationships with the leaders of the nations intelligence community, including former CIA Director George Tenet, whom Boren tapped as the Intelligence Committees chief of staff prior to Tenets appointment as CIA director.On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Boren was having breakfast with Tenet at a Washington hotel when Tenet, then CIA director, learned that an aircraft had flown into the World Trade Center tower in New York City. Boren later recalled that neither he nor Tenet was totally shocked by the terrorist attack because the two men had spoken frequently about the possibility of international terrorists launching an attack in the U.S.I thought George was obsessed with Osama bin Laden and terrorism around the world, Boren told The Oklahoman months after the attacks. I dont think everything changed Sept. 11; only our perception and understanding changed. In the Senate, Boren also helped build bipartisan support to oppose South Africas oppressive racial apartheid regime ahead of Nelson Mandelas release from prison in 1990. Shortly after his release, Mandela traveled to the U.S. and appeared as a guest on an ABC News town hall moderated by Ted Koppel. Boren was in the audience and Mandela led a standing ovation after Boren summed up the evils of apartheid and called for its end.He has said all the things that are required to be said in regards to the problems of South Africa, Mandela said.During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Boren also said he was heavily involved with helping influence U.S. policy in Central America, particularly in Nicaragua, during conflict in that country between the right-wing Contras and the leftist Sandinistas, working as an informal emissary for former President George H.W. Bush. The fact that I was in a different party and the fact that we trusted each other -- was a big benefit, Boren told The Oklahoman in 1994.In 2016, Boren spearheaded a campaign in Oklahoma to adopt a 1 percent sales tax increase that would have raised about $550 million annually for public education, including pay raises for school teachers who were at the time among the lowest paid in the nation. But it was defeated in a statewide referendum.David Lyle Boren was born on April 21, 1941, in Washington, the son of U.S. Rep. Lyle Hagler Boren and the former Christine McKown. He was married twice, to the late Janna Little Robbins and then to Molly Shi Boren, a former judge, English teacher and president emeritus of the Oklahoma Arts Institute.Boren suffered from a minor stroke at a statue dedication ceremony in April 2018 and was hospitalized for several days. Boren also underwent heart bypass surgery in March 2017.Boren is survived by two children, including Dan Boren, the former Oklahoma congressman who is currently secretary of commerce for the Chickasaw Nation.___Retired Associated Press journalist Tim Talley was the principal writer of this obituary. SEAN MURPHY Murphy is the statehouse reporter for The Associated Press in Oklahoma City. He has covered Oklahoma news and politics since 1996. twitter mailto