Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) participates during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson )2025-02-07T18:32:34Z NEW YORK (AP) You dont have to be an American football fan, or even an American for that matter, to have heard about the Super Bowl. For the NFL faithful, the event is a final push toward the end zone following a season-long drive down the gridiron, each yard filled with shot nerves and high blood pressure. But for those who are just joining for the final sprint (and didnt understand the metaphor in that last sentence), heres everything you need to know to get caught up to speed.Whos playing?Last years Super Bowl winners, the Kansas City Chiefs, will be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles.If a ChiefsEagles Super Bowl sounds familiar, thats because it is. Just two years ago, the two teams competed in Super Bowl 57, when quarterback Patrick Mahomes helped lead his team to victory. Whats all this chatter about a three-peat?This year, all eyes are on the Chiefs. Not just because Taylor Swifts boyfriend is on the team ( though it helps ) but because they have the chance to do something that no team has ever done before: win three straight Super Bowls.Can they do it? We shall see. Gamblers are split in the early wagering on the Super Bowl. Sports betting site BetMGM has the Chiefs as the favored winners with odds at -130. The underdog Eagles have their odds at +110. FILE- Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, left, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) shake hands following an NFL football game on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) FILE- Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, left, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) shake hands following an NFL football game on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More AP @ the Super Bowl What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards When is the game, and how can I watch it?At 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9, the two teams will face off at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will air on Fox, but for those without cable, the network will stream the game on Tubi, a free, ad-supported streaming service, for the first time. Kansas City Chiefs place kicker Matthew Wright (49) kicks a 31-yard field goal as time expires in an NFL football game, Dec. 8, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File) Kansas City Chiefs place kicker Matthew Wright (49) kicks a 31-yard field goal as time expires in an NFL football game, Dec. 8, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More How does football work again? What are the rules?For all its ubiquity in the U.S., football is a surprisingly complicated sport. So lets stick with the basics and talk through some terms you might hear on the broadcast.There are two teams, and each one wants to score as many points as possible.When a team has the ball, they will attempt to either run or throw the football down the 100-yard-long field in hopes of getting it into the end zone, thus scoring a touchdown, which is worth 6 points (a successful extra point kick after the touchdown would make it 7). The other team will seek to stop their opponent by either tackling the player with the ball, knocking the ball to the ground or intercepting the ball. Teams have sets of offensive and defensive players. When a team has the ball, their offensive players take the field, pushing forward and protecting the player with the ball. The team without the ball has its defensive players take the field, attempting to stop their opponents from advancing. The team with the ball has four chances (called downs) to move 10 yards down the field. If they successfully advance 10 yards, the number of downs resets. If they fail, the ball must go to the other team.There are a lot more details and exceptions, but these fundamental rules should help get you through the game. Who are some key players to watch?Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, #26, helped lead the Birds to the Super Bowl and had an incredible season. He signed a $37.75 million, three-year contract last March and became the ninth player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a regular season. He also set an NFL record by completing seven touchdown runs of at least 60 yards in the regular season and playoffs.Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, #1, had a great Super Bowl against the Chiefs two years ago, but he lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the first half of Kansas Citys 38-35 comeback victory. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts speaks during an NFL football news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, ahead of Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts speaks during an NFL football news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, ahead of Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More But that wont cut it this time, especially not in Philadelphia.As for the Chiefs, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, #15, or as his teammates and coaches call him, Laid-back Pat, is one of the greatest in the sport. He already has three Super Bowl rings and is chasing a fourth, and is a two-time league MVP who is shattering records every season. Travis Kelce, #87, has been ranked by AP as the NFLs top tight end two years in a row. Kelce is Mahomes most trusted pass catcher, so you can expect to hear the two players names mentioned in tandem a lot on Sunday. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) participates during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson ) Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) participates during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson ) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Who are the coaches?Nick Sirianni took the helm for the Eagles in 2021, his first time serving as head coach. Hes worked to fill the shoes of coach Doug Pederson, who led the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2017.Sirianni has the highest winning percentage among active NFL coaches and the fifth-best in NFL history. However, hes often ridiculed for his sideline antics that can overshadow his coaching success. Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, left, and quarterback Jalen Hurts celebrate after the Eagles won the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, left, and quarterback Jalen Hurts celebrate after the Eagles won the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The Chiefs Andy Reid is an NFL stalwart whos guided the team for over a decade.Reid is no stranger to the Eagles himself. Before joining the Chiefs, he coached the Eagles for 13 seasons and was the most successful in the teams history. Go figure. FILE_ Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is doused after their win against the Philadelphia Eagles at the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) FILE_ Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is doused after their win against the Philadelphia Eagles at the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Despite leading opposing teams, Reid and Sirianni have something in common: At some point, Eagles fans wanted them both fired.What if football just isnt my thing? FILE - Taylor Swift stands on the field after an AFC Championship NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. Taylor Swift, who is holding concerts in Japan, will make it in time for the Super Bowl to see her partner and football superstar Travis Kelce play. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) FILE - Taylor Swift stands on the field after an AFC Championship NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. Taylor Swift, who is holding concerts in Japan, will make it in time for the Super Bowl to see her partner and football superstar Travis Kelce play. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More You dont have to keep your eye on the ball to enjoy the big game. Here are a few things to watch out for this year:1. Fun ads: Brands are paying big bucks to keep the nostalgia train rolling. Former When Harry Met Sally costars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal will reunite for a mayonnaise commercial set in Katzs Deli, and Chrises Pratt and Hemsworth will use their bromance (last seen on screen in Avengers: Infinity War) to promote Metas smart Ray Ban sunglasses. 2. The halftime show: Seventeen-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar will perform at this years halftime show, continuing his cultural domination with another victory lap following the release of his chart-topping GNX album and decisive triumph over Canadian rapper Drake in last years rap beef.3. Taylor Swift: While its impossible to know where the superstar will be on any given day, its safe to assume shell be in New Orleans on Feb. 9 wearing red to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.4. Betting on the game: If youre over 18 and in a state where its legal, you can become one of the many millions of Americans who bet on the big game. And if the game itself doesnt interest you, there are tons of other proposition bets that have nothing to do with football. They could be anything from what color the Gatorade will be when its dumped on the winning coach (a long-standing football tradition), to how long the national anthem run time will be and whether Kelce will propose to Swift at the end of the game. ( Yes, this is a real thing.) BRIDGET BROWN Brown is an editor for APs live blog coverage. She is also a digital video producer and editor. twitter mailto CURTIS YEE Yee is an Associated Press editor in Washington, D.C. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, and teammates run the tush push play during the NFL championship playoff football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, FIle)2025-02-08T19:24:19Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) They are two of the more delightful in Philadelphia and detestable to the rest of the league words that have escalated into the fast-evolving NFL lexicon.Tush push.No team has taken advantage of the rugby-style scrum deemed so unstoppable that the NFL had flirted with the idea of banning the play quite like the Eagles under coach Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts.Sirianni likes to say that every first down for the Eagles is first-and-9.No example summed up how much the tush push can be a pain in the butt to the opposition quite like when the Eagles used it to maddening perfection against Washington in the NFC championship game. The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again. It sounded implausible but it was true, right there in Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2 of the leagues rule book. Titled Fouls To Prevent Score, it states, The defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score. Further, the rule reads that if the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team. Hurts, as he inevitably does, scored a touchdown. AP @ the Super Bowl What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards Its a great concept, great play, hard to stop, Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said. If I was them, I would run it, too. Oh, they do, on repeat: The Eagles were successful on 28 of 34 tush push attempts this season, according to Next Gen Stats. Overall, Hurts converted 35 of 43 attempts this year on third- or fourth-and-1 from anywhere on field, plus any other runs from the 1-yard line.Thats the incredulous part teams know the tush push is coming, fans at Lincoln Financial Field go wild when the Eagles line up in TP formation and yet defenses still cant stop the score. Just dont tell Kansas City.The Chiefs, who have mastered the art of everything from the improbable comeback win to defying the odds and the injuries that seem insurmountable en route to a third straight Super Bowl, might have unlocked the cheat code on stopping the tush push.In the AFC title game, the Buffalo Bills converted only twice on six attempts with their tweaked version of the tush push. While the Eagles like to bunch together and push Hurts forward, the Bills and QB Josh Allen tend to lean left in their first-down attempts."(KC) put their big guys inside and their linebackers were coming downhill pretty hard, Allen said after the game. They played it well.Well enough to stop the Eagles?The Eagles fell short to Kansas City 38-35 when they played each other in the Super Bowl two years ago, but it wasnt because of the tush push. Hurts scored two touchdowns on the play against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and threw for 304 yards and accounted for four total TDs and then used the play against the Chiefs in the 2023 season to score the winning touchdown.Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, whose complicated defensive playbook and reliance on blitzes are a big reason why the team is back on the NFLs biggest stage, has had at least two weeks to devise a scheme to stop Hurts. I think the Eagles have perfected this thing over however many years its been and that offensive line, I think theyre built for it, Spagnuolo said. They could take that O-line and win some rugby tournaments. Theyre that big and physical and theyve really perfected the way they do it. I think its really tough to stop.Those teams that cant stop it start making excuses.Consider, Green Bay president and CEO Mark Murphy wrote on the teams website after the Packers were eliminated by the Eagles that the tush push is bad for the game.There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less, Murphy wrote. The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous. ... I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run. Ban the tush push?Sirianni can only scoff at critics who hate on the play.The success that we have is not always replicated around the entire league, Sirianni said. We saw it last week with the game plan were studying with Kansas City against Buffalo. Stopped them in a critical situation. I guess Im lobbying to never change that rule because were successful at it. Were successful at it because of the guys we have up front.The Eagles played to near push-perfection this season even after Cam Jurgens replaced the retired Jason Kelce at center. It helps having a quarterback who can squat the weight of about three Saquon Barkleys in Hurts and a stout offensive line that features Pro Bowl stars Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.Controversial or not, just maybe the Eagles can use the push to sneak away with a Super Bowl win.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl DAN GELSTON Gelston is an an Associated Press sports writer covering major college and pro sports in Philadelphia, including the 76ers, Flyers, Eagles, Phillies and Villanova. twitter mailto

Montinique Monroe for Uncloseted MediaSubscribe nowJake Golding found himself on Tinder messaging a match, excited at the thought of locking in a date.But before he could ask the guy out, he needed to tell him something important. Im always thinking about when Im going to bring it up, Golding told Uncloseted Media. What if its a dealbreaker?His fingers paused over the keyboard before typing: I have an ostomy, followed by a shaky thumb punch on the send icon.Montinique Monroe for Uncloseted Media.A few minutes passed. Then a day. Eventually, he realized he had been ghosted.Golding, 37, says that after he had his colon removed in 2022 because of severe ulcerative colitis, the physical and mental toll of having to wear an ostomy was rough.I'm single and having a hard time imagining any man finding my body attractive again with this large incision scar, bag and no large intestine, says Golding, a former aromatherapist living in Austin, Texas.There are three main types of ostomiescolostomy, ileostomy, and urostomyeach designed to reroute waste when elimination through the anus or urinary canal is not possible. After the surgery, going to the bathroom on a toilet is now a completely different process. By creating an openingknown as a stomain the abdomen wall, bowel movements are collected in an external pouch attached to the skin. There are nearly one million people in the U.S. who live with an ostomy, and around 100,000 ostomy surgeries are performed each year.People receive ostomy surgery for a variety of health conditions, such as ulcerative colitis or rectal and colon cancer. While support groups do exist, there are still a lot of myths and stigmas surrounding ostomies, like smell and hygiene. Some people are choosing to die rather than undergo the surgery, partly due to their concerns about acceptance. For those who choose to go through with it, a new normal unfolds, and navigating body image, sex and dating are part of the process.Montinique Monroe for Uncloseted Media.For Golding, adjusting to life with a stoma made everything more complicated. The combination of bag and adhesives and all the technical stuff takes a while to figure out, he says. In the beginning, I didn't want to go out because I didn't know if I was going to have a leak. When you're always worried about whether you're going to have poop come out unexpectedly somewhere, it can make being out in public and socializing challenging.A 2019 study in the Journal of Nursing and Health Science found that three-quarters of stoma patients had poor body image and low self-esteem after the surgery. One of the most effective interventions for combating these feelings and maintaining well-being is self-acceptance, though that can be difficult as feelings of rejection, fear of being naked and embarrassment are common after surgery.I feel very, very self-conscious about it, Graham Butler McIntosh, a 43-year-old from Glasgow, Scotland, told Uncloseted Media. I was in the best shape of my life before I got sick, he says. And now, I don't think my body looks nice at all. I'm the kind of person who bases a lot of my self-worth on my self-image, so loving myself now is hard.Butler McIntosh, who got an ileostomy two years ago after the mother-of-all-flare-ups of ulcerative colitis, says his ostomy bag runs through his mind any time he is in public. I dont like it being seen at all, he says. I remember once getting up and doing a karaoke performance and having a lot of fun. I sat down afterward and wondered if everybody could see [it]. What if it was hanging out?Photo courtesy of Butler McIntosh.At the gym, Butler McIntosh hides his bag by wearing his towel higher than usual, double-checking that his T-shirt is tucked in tightly and leaving his shirt on in the locker room.Subscribe nowLike many gay men, Butler McIntosh places so much stock on his body being nice to look at. He says he is never going to be happy with [his] body ever again.Golding also makes sure his bag is disguised at the gym. Part of being masculine is being strong and independent, and my ostomy makes me feel vulnerable.Montinique Monroe for Uncloseted Media.My friends and family have been reassuring, but that's not the same as having a boyfriend accepting you, Golding says, adding that gay men tend to be a lot more visually oriented.I think that it takes a certain kind of person to look past my imperfections now, and I feel preoccupied on dates until I share with people [that I have an ostomy].While some dates have gone well, rejection is common and something that Butler McIntosh experienced the first time he met up with someone after the surgery.Ahead of a hook-up date, Butler McIntoshwho is in an open marriagetold the guy that he had an ostomy. But when they met up and he took his shirt off, things got awkward. He said my bag was scaring him He turned around and wouldn't look at me, so I just put my clothes back on and left.In so many ways, my confidence was just shattered.Since then, Butler McIntosh says that sometimes he wont tell his sexual partners about his ostomy and just keep his shirt on. Its stressful. Sometimes, I have to try and spend a sexual encounter trying to hide it, getting their hands away from certain areas and not letting them do certain things. Or I lie down to hide it, which I shouldn't have to do.One reason that people choose to share about their ostomy is because the surgery can result in the anus hole being sewn shut, known as a Ken or Barbie Butt. And even if the anus is still intact, it can be dangerous to penetrate the rectum, making it difficult to receive anal penetration.Butler McIntosh says it has changed the way he has sex with his husband of 15 years. If he was the [top] and I was the [bottom], that's no longer physically possible. I cannot do that for him anymore. I miss it, he says.That can be very devastating, says Lorraine Grover, psychosexual nurse specialist. If [receiving anal] is a big part of your life, it can change a lot of dynamics within the relationship.Grover says connecting to your body after ostomy surgery is essential. Self-pleasure can be very helpful, she says. If we dont know how our own body responds after surgery, its hard to include a partner in that. You have to know your own body first.She suggests experimenting with new toys, like an o-ring or a penis vacuum. These are especially useful if erectile dysfunction is an issue, which can be common after ostomy surgery due to nerve damage.Use the whole body and areas you havent tried before, she says. Kissing, touching, using the skin, which is a massive erogenous zone. Some accessories can also be added to the stoma bag, like leather or lacey covers that resemble underwear.Intimacy is powerful, and you dont have to give that up, Grover says.Gavin Skolnick, a 41-year-old chef living in the Bahamas, says that having partners who have been accepting and nonjudgmental of his ostomy has been a game changer regarding his body image.Photo courtesy of Kvolek.Gavin shared everything with me before we met so I wouldnt be alarmed, Tess Kvolek, Skolnicks partner of six months, told Uncloseted Media. I didnt blink twice.Its not the most sexy thing, she adds. You go to the bathroom in a bag on your stomach. And on our first date, the bag fell off, and a small accident occurred on the floor. He was mortified. But I just brushed it off. Shit happens. We all have baggagepun intendedsome just looks a little different.Kvolek tells her boyfriend, "Wear that bag with pride. You survived cancer."I found with the right people, it was just easy. You don't have much control over it, says Skolnick, who has had his bag for over 18 years after surviving colon rectal cancer when he was 22. He says his partners support and their communication has made everything feel natural and comfortable.Support is so important, Linda Coulter, an ostomy nurse and a director at United Ostomy Associations of America, told Uncloseted Media. Just asking, What do you need from me? and demystifying the ostomy. Sometimes you can prepare, like going to the bathroom before [sex], not eating certain foods, and so on. Communication is really a huge part of it.If you have a brain tumor or a heart condition, people immediately understand you're going through something big, Coulter says. When it happens to our intestines or waste management system, it's something we're taught from a very young age not to talk about. Its behind a closed door. We need to normalize talking about that. Ostomies are lifesavers and people need to know that.Subscribe nowFor June Turner, a 29-year-old in Wichita, Kansas, that means sporting her ostomy with pride. I don't want it to be some dirty little secret, she says. Unlike many folks who hide their bag, Turner emphasizes it by wearing crop tops and even decking it out with different colored covers, including one that has Hot Girl Shit written overtop.Montinique Monroe for Uncloseted Media.Back in Texas, Jake Golding is still adjusting to life with a stoma and continues to put himself out there. During one date last year, the conversation shifted to ostomies. This time, Goldings date was the one who brought it up.By complete coincidence, he had survived colon cancer and also had an ostomy, Golding says. It was jarring at first, but then I felt very relieved that I was not the only person in the world suffering from this because it definitely feels like that sometimes. It was very comforting to know that someone else had been through something similar and survived.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

People walk past the John Harvard statue on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)2025-02-09T04:51:34Z As Republicans in Congress look for ways to slash spending, some legislators are floating new taxes on college scholarships, an end to student loan repayment plans and a big hike in taxes on university endowments. The ideas affecting higher education are among many in circulation among House committees that are exploring ways to cover the cost of extending and expanding tax cuts passed in President Donald Trumps first term. The recommendations are still evolving, and its unclear how close any of them will get to being implemented. Regardless, advocates across higher education say they are alarmed to see such proposals gain traction at all with Republicans. Its shocking to me because this amount of cuts is not happening in reaction to like a budget crisis, like a recession. This really feels different in the sense that it is not something that there is an external push or a need for. So, it feels more ideological in a way, said Jessica Thompson, a higher education policy expert with The Institute for College Access and Success.Here is a look at possible federal budget cuts that would affect higher education under the Trump administration: Cutting programs that help students pay off college debtThe U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce has suggested several possible ways to overhaul student loan programs. Some would reduce student access to federal aid for college. On the chopping block potentially are several plans students can opt into to repay their students loans, including the SAVE plan introduced by the Biden administration. That plan doesnt require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line $32,800 a year for a single person and prevents interest from adding to balances as long as borrowers make their monthly payments. The SAVE plan was already put on hold after Republicans challenged it. Some plans do not appear to be targeted, including one that caps loan payments based on borrowers income level. Another possible change would give borrowers additional opportunities to recover from defaults. While they currently can rehabilitate their loans just once, allowing them to make a certain number of consecutive payments to get out of default, the proposal would allow them to go through that process twice. The committee projected the new process could save the government millions of dollars but did not spell out how. The timing is uncertain on when any of these proposals could surface. They could be considered as soon as this spring in a process known as budget reconciliation that would allow Republicans to squeeze proposals through Congress purely on party-line votes. That would not be easy in the House, where Republicans hold the majority by just a few seats.An end to tax-free status for scholarshipsScholarships and fellowships have been exempt from taxes as long as they are used for tuition and related expenses. That would change under another proposal thats up for consideration. The changes could create new financial burdens for students and families, advocates say. Theres been great progress in bringing down the costs of higher education. Adjusted for inflation, public university tuition is less now than it was ten years ago, said Craig Lindwarm, senior vice president of governmental affairs with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. But as we look at some of the proposals that are options, many would increase costs on students and families, and I think (the proposals) are heading in the direction that most dont want to see, which is increasing expenses on students and families. Increasing taxes on college endowmentsThe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act currently requires some private nonprofit colleges and universities to pay a 1.4% tax on income from their endowments, which raised about $244 million from 58 institutions in 2022. The committee suggests increasing that to a 14% tax and expanding which colleges would have to pay it.Also being considered among hundreds of other ideas in circulation are fines for colleges and universities that violate students rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against discrimination toward students of shared ancestry. Such investigations often have been resolved through settlements calling for training and policy updates. Title VI is currently what is being used to investigate complaints of antisemitism on college campuses across the U.S. ___Mumphrey reported from Phoenix. AP education writer Collin Binkley in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. ___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. CHEYANNE MUMPHREY Mumphrey is a national writer who covers higher education. twitter mailto

Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-02-09T13:40:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) Elon Musk made a clear promise after Donald Trump decided to put him in charge of making the government more efficient.Its not going to be some sort of backroom secret thing, Musk said last year. It will be as transparent as possible, maybe even streamed live online. It hasnt worked out that way so far.In the three weeks since the Republican president has been back in the White House, Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work. He has not answered questions from journalists or attended any hearings with lawmakers. Staff members for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have sidelined career officials around Washington. It is a profound challenge not only to business-as-usual within the federal government, which Trump campaigned on disrupting, but to concepts of consensus and transparency that are foundational in a democratic system. Musk describes himself as White House tech support, and he has embedded himself in an unorthodox administration where there are no discernible limits on his influence. Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Trump has allowed Musk to exert unprecedented power and authority over government systems with maximal secrecy and little-to-no accountability. The White House insisted that DOGE is extremely transparent and shared examples of its work so far, such as canceling contracts and ending leases for underused buildings. House Republicans said the Trump administration also discovered that Social Security benefits were being paid to a dozen people listed as 150 years old. Trump, Musk and their allies are betting the American people will support their efforts to wipe out excessive spending, regardless of concerns about how it is being done. The president said Friday that Musk is finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste. Trump was particularly enthusiastic about efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, where Musk has worked to choke off funding. Asked if Musk should publicly answer questions about his work, the president said, Oh sure.Hes not shy, Trump said. Elons not shy.That is true, at least judging by Musks social media, where no thought appears to be suppressed. His X account is a flood of internet memes, attacks on critics and professions of loyalty to the president. He has made clear the grand scope of his ambitions, talking in existential terms about the need to reverse the federal deficit, cut government spending and roll back progressive programs. This administration has one chance for major reform that may never come again, he posted on Saturday. Its now or never.Musk is used to doing things his own way. The worlds richest person, he became wealthy with the online payment service PayPal, then founded the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. More recently, he bought Twitter and rebranded it as X, cutting jobs and remaking its culture. He seems to be taking a similar approach to the federal government, but he can be tightlipped about his plans. For example, he has not explained how his team will utilize access to payment systems that include sensitive data on people in the United States.Much of DOGEs work is happening behind the scenes. Team members have shown up at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies. Their arrival is never publicly announced, and career staff members are looking over their shoulders for unfamiliar faces in the hallways.At the Education Department, DOGE employees are working out of a conference room on the seventh floor, which also houses the secretarys office. Sheria Smith, president of a federal employees union that represents some of the agencys staff, said it is unclear what internal systems have been accessed by Musks team and for what reason. Its the lack of transparency thats alarming, she said. While longtime staff members fret about their future, DOGE workers have been spotted cheerfully trading high-fives with each other.They dont seem to answer to anyone and are not engaging with anyone in our agency, Smith said. Sometimes a rumor circulates that Musk himself is making the rounds. But he generally has been at the White House complex, where he has an office.David Sacks, a Musk ally working on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency issues for the administration, said he stopped by to check on the DOGE team.The whole room was full of young coders, he said during The All-In Podcast, which Sacks hosts with three other venture capitalists. The facilities people dont know what to do because theyve never had people ask to stay late on Friday night before. Journalists have been piecing together the identities of people who work for DOGE, discovering a cadre of young acolytes with technology and engineering backgrounds. Some were previously employed by Musks companies, and Musk has said it is a crime to reveal their names. He has not cited any law that would be broken by such a disclosure.It does not appear to be an idle threat. Ed Martin, the Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney in the nations capital, said last week that we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.Martin followed up on Friday to thank Musk for referring suspects who were stealing government property and/or threatening government employees. No additional information was provided by Martins office or the White House.Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended DOGEs work, saying in a CNBC interview Friday that members of Musks team were like young gun management consultants coming in to take a critical look at how things are run.Theyre part of a team assembled by DOGE, friends in Elons broader circle that are very good at IT and very good at systems, Wright said. It took more than two weeks after Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20 to figure out that Musk had formally joined the administration as a special government employee. The White House said Musk will file a financial disclosure report, but it will be kept secret. Because of Musks sprawling business interests, the report would likely be among the most extensive ever compiled.Its unclear whether Musk swore an oath to the Constitution like other federal workers. Even though Trump promised that Musk would steer clear of any areas where he has a conflict of interest, no details have been provided on how that is being evaluated. A test of that arrangement could come soon, with Musk set to review spending at the Pentagon, where SpaceX has billions of dollars in contracts to put satellites in orbit.Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee tried to issue a subpoena to force Musk to testify, but the effort was blocked by Republicans.Who is this unelected billionaire, that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement, and have sweeping reform or changes to agencies without any congressional review, oversight, or concurrence? said Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, the committees top Democrat.House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Republicans were doing the bidding of an unelected, out of control, billionaire puppet master.Trump said he was still in charge of Musk, saying Ill tell him to go here, go there, he does it.He also backed Musks aggressive approach.We have to take some of these things apart to find the corruption, he said. Contacting The Associated PressThe Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual, nonpartisan journalism. We are reporting on changes within the U.S. government under the new administration. If you are a former or current government worker who would like to share information with us, please message us on Signal at TheAP.1846 ___Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Fatima Hussein contributed to this report. 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

This image provided by Coors Light shows the Coors Light 2025 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Coors Light via AP)2025-02-09T15:22:38Z Most of the commercials airing during this years Super Bowl are going for laughs, with advertisers betting that America could use a brief diversion.As the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs hit the field in New Orleans, a parade of silly ads will hit airwaves on Sunday. Many companies put their ads online ahead of the game, but some held out to maintain an element of surprise. Humor dominates in the ads released so far. Four old ladies go on a joy ride with WeatherTech, while Eugene Levys eyebrows fly off and buzz around after he eats some Little Caesars. Sloths have a case of the Mondays in an ad for Coors Light. A mans tongue starts dancing to celebrate cold foam from Nestl Coffee Mate. British singer Seal becomes an actual seal, sad that he cant hold Mountain Dew with his flippers.Actor Glenn Powell does a take on Goldilocks for Ram Trucks, while comedian Nate Bargatze clones himself and hires an opera singer because he saved so much money using DoorDash. Shaboozey takes a lighthearted stroll through New Orleans for Nerds, while the stars of the Fast and Furious franchise take a slow cruise in a convertible so they can enjoy Hagen-Dazs ice cream bars. Tim Calkins, a professor of marketing at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management, said this was a complicated Super Bowl for advertisers. Most ads were in development during last falls U.S. presidential election race, so avoiding controversy was even more of a priority than usual, Calkins said. The finalized crop of commercials feature a lot of simple humor, nostalgia and few creative risks, he said. But even that approach can backfire.Thats the challenge this year. Everybody wants to be safe, but you also want to be interesting, Calkins said. Safe advertising isnt the advertising you notice or remember. AP @ the Super Bowl What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards And advertisers cant afford not to be noticed. Some of the roughly 80 Super Bowl ads spots cost a record $8 million for 30 seconds this year. Here are some of the themes of this years Super Bowl ads:Heartwarming nostalgia Budweiser brings back its Clydesdales for its Super Bowl ad, including a foal that wants to join the delivery team. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reenact their famous scene from 1989s When Harry Met Sally, except this time Sally is expressing her enthusiasm for Hellmanns mayonnaise. The Muppets search for accommodations with Booking.com, while an Instacart ad features a parade of familiar mascots like Mr. Clean, the Jolly Green Giant and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Disney asks what the world would be like without the iconic characters it owns, like Elsa from Frozen, Bart Simpson and the Marvel superheroes. Advertisers are leaning on nostalgia more than they used to in Super Bowl ads, according to Kimberly Whitler, a marketing professor at the University of Virginias Darden School of Business. Nods to the past can broaden the appeal of an ad to different generations and connect products to positive cultural moments, she said. Celebrity mash-upsPutting celebrities together in unexpected combinations can also broaden the appeal of a commercial. In their Super Bowl ad for Michelob Ultra, Catherine OHara and Willem Dafoe are pickleball champs. Soccer star David Beckham and actor Matt Damon are long-lost twins who bond over Stella Artois. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and comedian Pete Davidson team up for a HexClad commercial, while Post Malone, Shane Gillis and Peyton Manning have a block party with Bud Light. A slew of celebrities, including Matthew McConaughey, Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig and Charlie XCX, appear in an ad for Uber Eats. Linli Xu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Minnesotas Carlson School of Management, said celebrity endorsements can get people talking. But with dozens of brands using them, theres a risk of diminishing returns.Celebrities can also get so much attention that viewers dont remember which brand theyre advertising, Xu said.There is a balancing act in terms of having celebrities in the ads, she said. Serious momentsIt isnt all fun and games at the Super Bowl this year. Pharmaceutical company Novartis urges women to get early detection for breast cancer. Dove warns that half of girls who quit sports have been criticized for their body type. Hims & Hers, a telehealth company, talks about Americas obesity epidemic. And the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, founded by New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, has a stark ad featuring Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady saying what they hate about each other. Xu said she expected more ads promoting that unifying message. But for the most part, advertisers went with humor, she said.We just had an election year and theres a lot of discussion around divisiveness, she said. People might be wanting to see some unity, everybody coming together as a country.Artificial intelligence arrivesSeveral Super Bowl ads make the case for AI as a helpmate. Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth and Kris Jenner team up for an ad wearing Meta s smart glasses, which use artificial intelligence to answer questions about what wearers are seeing. Actor Walton Goggins pitches GoDaddy Airo, which uses AI to help build websites and social content. And Googles 50 States, 50 Stories campaign will show viewers a small business from their state thats using Googles Gemini AI assistant. But Cirkul, a water bottle brand, pokes fun at AI, showing comedian Adam Devine accidentally ordering 100,000 bottles using the AI assistant on his phone. DEE-ANN DURBIN Durbin is an Associated Press business writer focusing on the food and beverage industry. She has also covered the auto industry and state and national politics in her nearly 30-year career with the AP. twitter mailto 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 WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Grantham-Philips is a business reporter who covers trending news for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

A recipe for shrimp po'boy sandwiches appears in New York on May 19, 2022. (Cheyenne Cohen via AP)2025-02-03T13:50:45Z If youre throwing a watch party for Super Bowl LIX, you couldnt ask for a better backdrop and inspiration than the games host city, New Orleans.The town is known for enticements, from its music scene to Mardi Gras to distinctive architecture and, ya know, food. There are plenty of traditional Cajun or Creole recipes, like gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, etouffee, muffaletta, beignets. But Im going to go with the classic Shrimp PoBoy.A century-old origin storyPoboys were invented in New Orleans during a streetcar strike in 1929. The story goes that two brothers, Benny and Clovis Martin, former streetcar workers who had opened a coffee stand, began feeding striking colleagues with big sandwiches stuffed into half loaves of bread. One of the brothers, its said, would drawl here comes another poor boy each time someone approached for a sandwich, but it sounded more like poboy. And the name stuck. What makes poboys different?The key thing about poboys is the bread. It is the foundation, and it is the thing that differentiates a poboy from a hoagie, a hero, a sub or any other kind of sandwich, says Ian McNulty, food writer for the news site NOLA.com.Its the bread that in New Orleans we call French bread, but which is not even remotely like a baguette, he continues. It has a crackling crisp, very thin exterior crust and an airy, malty interior (achieved through fermentation). This combination of crisp to puffy textures makes the bed that both cradles all the fillings and stands up to them. The two main suppliers of New Orleans French bread, McNulty says, are Leidenheimer Baking Co. and the much smaller John Gendusa Bakery. Someone attempting to make a po boy outside of New Orleans should try to find bread that matches those characteristics.In a pinch, you can use a baguette instead, or an Italian loaf, but maybe dont tell Ian I told you that was OK.Once you have the right bread, decide if you want it dressed, and how. Fully dressed means shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced pickles and mayonnaise. Any combination of those is still dressed.For the filling, roast beef and fried oysters are popular poboy options, but here I went with plump, crispy, fresh-from-the-pan fried shrimp. Buy shrimp that are not too large nor too small, like 31-40 per pound shrimp. McNulty advises that the best fried shrimp will fall out the side of the sandwich and constitute their own little side dish to munch outside it.The key as always with shrimp is to avoid overcooking, he says. When you start to wonder if they might be done, they already are. You want a golden crust but you want that fresh pop of the shrimp within.McNultys favorite local places for po boys are Parkway Bakery & Tavern, in the heart of the city, and Domilises, a small neighborhood shop.My recipe:___Shrimp PoBoyServes 4Ingredients: 1 loaf New Orleans French Bread, or French or Italian bread1 pound medium (31/40 per pound) shrimp cup all-purpose flour cup cornmeal2 teaspoons kosher salt, pus more to taste1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper teaspoon paprika teaspoon garlic powder teaspoon cayenne pepper1 large egg cup milkVegetable oil for fryingTo Dress the PoBoys:Remoulade sauce or mayonnaiseShredded romaine or iceberg lettuceSliced picklesSliced tomatoesDirections:Slice the bread in half horizontally, then slice the loaf into 2 to 4 sections, depending on how big you want each sandwich to be. Scoop out some of the fluffy bread from the middle if you wish; thats a personal choice (but common in the po boy world of New Orleans).Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl. Mix the egg with the milk in another bowl and season with a bit more salt and pepper. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet.A few at a time, dunk the shrimp in the milk mixture, turning them to coat. Using a slotted spoon or your hand, remove the shrimp, allow any excess liquid to drip back into the bowl, then dredge them in the flour mixture, making sure they are well coated. Use one hand for the wet ingredients and another for the dry to keep everything from getting clumpy and messy. As the shrimp are breaded, place them, without touching each other, on the wire rack. When all of the shrimp are coated, place the baking sheet into the fridge and let the shrimp chill for 15 minutes.Line a large plate with paper towels. Pour the oil to a depth of 1 inch into a large, heavy, deep skillet. Heat the oil over medium high heat to 365F. (Tip: If you dont have a candy thermometer, just wait until the oil is shimmering, then add one shrimp. If it starts to gently sizzle and turn golden brown after about 2 minutes, your oil is the perfect temperature.)In a few batches, add the shrimp, turning them with a slotted spoon as they cook. They should fry for about 2 to 3 minutes total, and become golden brown and crispy. Remove them with a slotted spoon to the paper-towel-lined plate. See if they need another light sprinkle of kosher salt. Continue frying until all of the shrimp are cooked and crispy. (Tip: You may need to allow the oil to come back up to temperature in between batches of shrimp. Adding too many shrimp at once will lower the temperature of the oil, and the shrimp wont get nicely browned and crunchy.)Spread some remoulade or mayo on the toasted bread. Add shredded lettuce to the bottom piece, then pile on the warm shrimp, tomatoes and pickles. Add a bit more sauce and lettuce if you like, and then top with the other piece of bread. Serve immediately.___Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook. She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at [emailprotected].___For more AP food stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/recipes. For more Thanksgiving stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/thanksgiving, and for more holiday stories go to https://apnews.com/hub/holidays.

In this undated photo provided by the NFL, New Orleans artist Tahj 'Queen Tahj' Williams works on the Super Bowl logo. (NFL Via AP)2025-02-05T21:06:14Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Artist Tahj Queen Tahj Williams rarely cruises through downtown New Orleans, but recently she did, finding one of her creations on full display: The Super Bowl logo and theme art she meticulously stitched in her sewing room now stretched across buildings near t he Caesars Superdome.In that moment, it all sunk in. Williams design, a tribute to Black Masking culture, wouldnt just be a local spectacle. Her artwork would be seen all over the world.As visitors gather in New Orleans this week and millions tune into the Super Bowl on Sunday, Williams will be celebrating her artistry and culture. I come from a great and beautiful culture, and I want the world to see it the same way as I do, said Williams, 26, who is the first person to handcraft both the Super Bowl logo and theme art. Her intricate beadwork reflects the spirit of her city, celebrating Black Masking culture, which Williams uncle introduced to her as a child. In this undated photo provided by the NFL, New Orleans artist Tahj Queen Tahj Williams works on the Super Bowl logo. (NFL Via AP) In this undated photo provided by the NFL, New Orleans artist Tahj Queen Tahj Williams works on the Super Bowl logo. (NFL Via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Williams theme art and logo will be featured almost everywhere such as digital game tickets, the official program cover, the team jerseys for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, the game ball and the exterior of a hotel in New Orleans. Black Masking Culture, which was rooted in the 1800s, blends African and Native American heritage. The elaborate, hand-sewn suits adorned with intricate beadwork and feathers are highlighted with bold and colorful designs to pay homage to their ancestral influence. AP @ the Super Bowl What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards The New Orleans natives designs feature bold pinks, deep reds, chartreuses and lush greens, blending traditional elements with modern creativity in her hand-sewn beadwork. Her concept for the logo comes from the Black Masking Indian suits she creates for Mardi Gras. In this undated photo provided by the NFL, shows the Super Bowl logo created by New Orleans artist Tahj Queen Tahj Williams. (NFL Via AP) In this undated photo provided by the NFL, shows the Super Bowl logo created by New Orleans artist Tahj Queen Tahj Williams. (NFL Via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The suits, often created over a year of meticulous hand-sewing and beadwork, are a central part of Mardi Gras, St. Josephs Night and Super Sunday celebrations. I always try to do some kind of bright colors because bright colors speak to me, said Williams, a member of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Tribe. Shes also a master in the intricate art of Black Masking suit design, a tradition deeply rooted in the Indigenous and African heritage of New Orleans. They remind me of the happiest times in my life, she said. The design itself comes from New Orleans deep-rooted architecture. The historical parts of the city. Were known for food, the second-line band, you see the French Quarter.Williams Super Bowl journey began when an NFL representative reached out to her through social media in February 2024. She spent about a month on the beadwork, describing the process as nothing short of peaceful. AP @ the Super Bowl What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards For Williams, creativity is the perfect escape from her day job as a cybersecurity engineer at Microsoft. Her beadwork was a step-by-step process, focusing on the Super Bowls Roman numbers of LIX (59) first, then fleshing out the rest.I dont really look at this as a chore. Depends on your mindset, she said. I dont look at the full piece that Im trying to bead. We call it a patch. Ill start with the L. Then Ill do the I before the X. Ill work on the trophy then the wording. I dont look at the whole thing because Ill get discouraged. You need to do it in a way where you can see progress. The NFL said Williams work honors the cultural roots of New Orleans, calling her the perfect artist. As a local artist, Williams knows plenty of talented individuals who may not have the same marketability as those with larger audiences. She hopes more major organizations, like the NFL, will recognize and provide opportunities to proven local talent.Its about continuing on this pattern of local artists, small artists getting these big opportunities, she said. When you have a little bit more followers, its easier for these big organizations with these amazing opportunities to find you. I just want these bigger organizations to try their hardest to find those smaller artists that still make beautiful, amazing work, but just may not have the kind of marketing behind them that a larger artist would. Williams, who was the captain of her middle school football team, said shell be attending a Super Bowl for the first time. She wants to keep certain memorabilia like a jacket filled with lapel pins, a game ticket and a Bud Light sign that lights up, even though shes not a beer drinker.As the big game draws closer, Williams grows more excited. The culture and artistry will be on display for the Super Bowl, she said. Im looking forward to it.___For more on the Super Bowl, visit https://apnews.com/hub/super-bowl JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. Landrum is an entertainment reporter based in Los Angeles. He reports on television, film and music for The Associated Press. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk together at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)2025-02-08T06:43:40Z Nearly three years after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, his troops are making steady progress on the battlefield. Kyiv is grappling with shortages of men and weapons. And the new U.S. president could soon halt Ukraines massive supply of military aid. Putin is closer than ever to achieving his objectives in the battle-weary country, with little incentive to come to the negotiating table, no matter how much U.S. President Donald Trump might cajole or threaten him, according to Russian and Western experts interviewed by The Associated Press.Both are signaling discussions on Ukraine - by phone or in person - using flattery and threats. Putin said Trump was clever and pragmatic, and even parroted his false claims of having won the 2020 election. Trumps opening gambit was to call Putin smart and to threaten Russia with tariffs and oil price cuts, which the Kremlin brushed off. Trump boasted during the campaign he could end the war in 24 hours, which later became six months. Hes indicated the U.S. is talking to Russia about Ukraine without Kyivs input, saying his administration already had very serious discussions. He suggested he and Putin could soon take significant action toward ending the war, in which Russia is suffering heavy casualties daily while its economy endures stiff Western sanctions, inflation and a serious labor shortage. But the economy has not collapsed, and because Putin has unleashed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times, he faces no domestic pressure to end the war.In the West, the idea came from somewhere that its important to Putin to reach an agreement and end things. This is not the case, said Fyodor Lukyanov, who hosted a forum with Putin in November and heads Moscows Council for Foreign and Defense policies. Talks on Ukraine without UkraineUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Putin wants to deal directly with Trump, cutting out Kyiv. That runs counter to the Biden administrations position that echoed Zelenskyys call of Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.We cannot let someone decide something for us, Zelenskyy told AP, saying Russia wants the destruction of Ukrainian freedom and independence.He suggested any such peace deal would send the dangerous signal that adventurism pays to authoritarian leaders in China, North Korea and Iran.Putin appears to expect Trump to undermine European resolve on Ukraine. Likening Europes leaders to Trumps lapdogs, he said Sunday they will soon be sitting obediently at their masters feet and sweetly wagging their tails as the U.S. president quickly brings order with his character and persistence.Trump boasts of his deal-making prowess but Putin will not easily surrender what he considers Russias ancestral lands in Ukraine or squander a chance to punish the West and undermine its alliances and security by forcing Kyiv into a policy of neutrality.Trump may want a legacy as a peacemaker, but history wont look kindly on him if hes the man who gives this all away, said Sir Kim Darroch, British ambassador to the U.S. from 2016-19. Former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said a deal favoring Moscow would send a message of American weakness. Echoes of HelsinkiTrump and Putin last met in Helsinki in 2018 when there was mutual respect between them, said former Finnish President Sauli Niinist, the summit host. But they are not very similar, he added, with Putin a systematic thinker while Trump acts like a businessman making prompt decisions.That could cause a clash because Trump wants a quick resolution to the war while Putin seeks a slower one that strengthens his military position and weakens both Kyiv and the Wests political will.Zelenskyy told AP that Putin does not want to negotiate. He will sabotage it. Indeed, Putin has already raised obstacles, including legal hurdles and claimed Zelenskyy has lost his legitimacy as president.Putin hopes Trump will get bored or distracted with another issue, said Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat in Geneva who quit his post after the invasion. Russian experts point to Trumps first term when they said Putin realized such meetings achieved little.One was a public relations victory for Moscow in Helsinki where Trump sided with Putin instead of his own intelligence agencies on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election. Another was in Singapore in 2018 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when he failed to reach a deal to halt Pyongyangs nuclear program. Previous peace talksThe Kremlin last year said a draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in Istanbul early in the conflict but which Kyiv rejected could be the basis for talks. It demanded Ukraines neutrality, stipulated NATO deny it membership, put limits on Kyivs armed forces and delayed talks on the status of four Russian-occupied regions that Moscow later annexed illegally. Moscow also dismissed demands to withdraw its troops, pay compensation to Ukraine and face an international tribunal for its action. Putin hasnt indicated he will budge but said if there is a desire to negotiate and find a compromise solution, let anyone conduct these negotiations.Engagement is not the same as negotiation, said Sir Laurie Bristow, British ambassador to Russia from 2016-20, describing Russias strategy as whats mine is mine. And whats yours is up for negotiation.Bondarev also said Putin sees negotiations only as a vehicle to deliver him whatever he wants, adding its astonishing that Western leaders still dont understand Kremlin tactics.That means Putin is likely to welcome any meeting with Trump, since it promotes Russia as a global force and plays well domestically, but he will offer little in return.What Trump can and cant doTrump said Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Putin to avoid war, adding he wouldnt have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office.Trump has threatened Russia with more tariffs, sanctions and oil price cuts, but there is no economic wonder weapon that can end the war, said Richard Connolly, a Russian military and economic expert at Londons Royal United Services Institute.And the Kremlin is brushing off the threats, likely because the West already has heavily sanctioned Russia.Trump also cant guarantee Ukraine would never join NATO, nor can he lift all Western sanctions, easily force Europe to resume importing Russian energy or get the International Criminal Court to rescind its war crimes arrest warrant for Putin.Speaking to the Davos World Economic Forum, Trump said he wants the OPEC+ alliance and Saudi Arabia to cut oil prices to push Putin to end the war. The Kremlin said that wont work because the war is about Russian security, not the price of oil. It also would harm U.S. oil producers.In the tradeoff between Putin and domestic oil producers, Im pretty sure which choice Trump will make, said Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.Trump could pressure Russia by propping up the U.S. oil industry with subsidies and lift the 10% trade tariffs imposed on China in exchange for Beijing limiting economic ties with Moscow, which could leave it truly isolated, Connolly said. Europe also could underscore its commitment to Kyiv and curry favor with Trump by buying U.S. military equipment to give to Ukraine, said Lord Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser.Lukyanov suggested that Trumps allies often seem afraid of him and crumble under his threats.The big question, he said, is what will happen when Putin wont.This story has been updated to correct that the summit with North Korea in Singapore was in 2018, not 2019. EMMA BURROWS Burrows is an Associated Press reporter covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is based in London. twitter RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Director, Office of Management and Budget, is sworn-in during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-02-09T16:08:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down an agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal.Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama pushed to include it in the 2010 financial reform legislation that followed the 2007-2008 financial crisis.The email also ordered the bureau to cease all supervision and examination activity. Also late Saturday, Vought said in a social media post that the CFPB would no longer withdraw funds from the Federal Reserve, adding that its current financing of $711.6 million is excessive. Congress directed the bureau to be funded by the Fed to insulate it from political pressures. The CFPB says that it has obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers since its founding in the form of canceled debts, compensation, and reduced loans. Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, an advocacy group, said, thats why Wall Streets biggest banks and Trumps billionaire allies hate the bureau: its an effective cop on the finance beat and has stood side-by-side with hundreds of millions of Americans Republicans and Democrats battling financial predators, scammers, and crooks. The administrations move against the CFPB highlights the tensions between Trumps more populist promises to lower costs for working-class families and his pledge to reduce government regulation. During the campaign, Trump said he would cap credit card interest rates at 10%, after they had soared to record levels above 20%, on average, as the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates in 2022 and 2023. The CFPB had started work on how that proposal would be implemented. Voughts email follows a similar directive from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Feb. 3 and is the latest move by the Trump administration to rapidly curtail the work of federal agencies that they have deemed excessive. Vought suggested that the CFPB is unaccountable in his social media post. Contacting The Associated PressThe Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual, nonpartisan journalism. We are reporting on changes within the U.S. government under the new administration. If you are a former or current government worker who would like to share information with us, please message us on Signal at TheAP.1846 Obama created the bureau in the wake of the 2007-2008 housing bubble and financial crisis, which was caused in part by fraudulent mortgage lending. It was the brainchild of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and has attracted criticism and lawsuits from large banks and financial industry trade associations. Voughts email said that President Donald Trump had made him acting director of the CFPB on Friday. Trump fired the previous director of the bureau, Rohit Chopra, on Feb. 1.Under Chopra, the CFPB approved rules to cap overdraft fees by banks, limit junk fees, and has proposed restrictions on data brokers selling personal information such as Social Security numbers. The agency had also sought to address complaints about the alleged debanking of crypto firms and conservatives by seeking to ban contracts that could cause someone to lose access to financial services for making political statements. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This image released by Animal Planet/Warner Bros. Discovery shows animal expert Victoria Schade interacting with dogs on the set of "Puppy Bowl XXI," airing Sunday. (Animal Planet/Warner Bros. Discovery via AP)2025-02-05T16:06:27Z NEW YORK (AP) If you tune into the Puppy Bowl on Sunday, youll likely see a key persons influence even if you dont actually see her.Victoria Schade is a dog trainer and novelist whos the shows lead puppy trainer and wrangler. Shes the one making sure the shelter pups have a conflict-free contest and that theyre captured at their most adorable all from off-camera.It is Schade who gets the puppies to look up during the The Star-Spangled Banner or run through a tunnel to get to the field for the starting lineups. Shes on the lookout for possible conflicts or nervous dogs.My responsibilities include ensuring puppy happiness and safety during gameplay, she says. So if theres any moment where a puppy looks like theyre overwhelmed or they just need a break, Ill step out and give them a little break on the sideline. Animal expert Victoria Schade interacting with dogs on the set of Puppy Bowl XXI, airing Sunday. (Animal Planet/Warner Bros. Discovery via AP) Animal expert Victoria Schade interacting with dogs on the set of Puppy Bowl XXI, airing Sunday. (Animal Planet/Warner Bros. Discovery via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Schade has been working with the doggies on the Animal Planet show for 19 years and is believed to be the longest serving member of the Puppy Bowl crew. She also works the kitten halftime show and calls filming both her favorite week of the year.I think she is one of the most dedicated, hardest working people out there in the business, says Puppy Bowl referee Dan Schachner, now in his 14th year. She doesnt ever seem to run out of energy. She never says no to a request and theres always brightness and sunshine from her with every step.Schade has coached hundreds of dogs over the years but never adopted one from the show until now. She took home Boris known on the show as Mr. Pickles from Dallas Dog rescue. I saw star quality. So this was the year, she says. Treats and funny noisesEarly on, Schade was responsible for recruiting and selecting the puppies, a task now that leans on animal rescue groups and shelters throughout the country. These days, shes the lead trainer.If youre seeing the puppy looking up at the camera, Im typically right there with the treat, she says. Its a lot of treats and funny noises. And that does the trick.This year, Schade is stepping out from the sidelines and joining Schachner on camera for an hour-long pre-game kickoff show, which features a doggie combine and a draft. Other show highlights include segments with Dan Smyers, from superstar country duo Dan + Shay, and Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi.Schade has developed some very special animal-related skills over the years, including anticipating when one of the players needs to relieve itself.One of my Puppy Bowl skills is reading butts. So I know when a puppy is going to go to the bathroom and Ill typically say like, Watch out in the 20-yard-line, were going to have a deposit and everyones ready to go with that cleanup.The Puppy Bowl made its debut as counter-programming to the Super Bowl in 2005. Dogs score touchdowns on a gridiron carpet when they cross the goal line any goal line with a toy in their mouth.The show is really just an excuse to spend time watching adorable, clumsy pups play with chew toys, wag their tails furiously and lick the camera. A deeper reason is to encourage animal adoption. According to the ASPCA, approximately 390,000 shelter dogs are euthanized each year and 2 million shelter dogs are adopted.Most of the puppies are usually adopted by airtime, since the show was filmed in the fall. But the point is to show that animals just like the ones on the show can be found at any shelter at any time.This years three-hour television event this year will feature 142 rescue puppies from 80 shelters across 40 states and one from Nicaragua, a Chihuahua-German shepherd. There will be 11 special needs dogs.Thats the most amount weve ever had, says Schachner. Look out for Jolene, who is a pitbull mix thats in a wheelchair. Look out for a three-legged Boston terrier from New York City. And my personal favorite, is Sprinkle, who is a blind and deaf Aussie. So its just incredible to watch them play.The inaugural Puppy Bowl was watched by nearly 6 million viewers. Last year, 12.6 million viewers tuned in. In comparison, this years Golden Globes attracted 9.3 million. Practical advice for raising puppiesSchade, whose first book was Bonding With Your Dog and who then pivoted to writing pet-oriented novels, like Life on the Leash and Dog Friendly, is a wealth of information about our four-legged friends.She advises dog owners to learn to read the body language of their pet, to try to understand what theyre trying to say. Like tail-wagging how tight? And where is the tail positioned?Schade is a big advocate for positive reinforcement and science-based training, not the so-called alpha dog approach, which uses intimidation or force.Theres no need to be the alpha, which has been debunked anyway. You are your dogs ally. Youre their friend. Youre their No. 1. And its a relationship based in compassion and understanding. That means load up on treats. She advocates keeping them in your pocket and consistently using them as rewards for good behavior, especially when potty training.I cannot stress it enough: When you think youre treating enough, treat more because, especially during puppyhood, it is such a critical learning period and every interaction is a chance to teach something. MARK KENNEDY Kennedy is a theater, TV, music, food and obit writer and editor for The Associated Press, as well as a critic for theater, movies and music. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York before his return to the White House. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)2025-02-09T17:54:28Z President Donald Trumps national security adviser said Sunday that top administration officials will meet with European officials this week about how to end the war in Ukraine, nearly three years after Russia launched an all-out invasion.Less than a day earlier, the New York Post reported that Trump had a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss steps toward a negotiated solution. There was no immediate confirmation from the White House or the Kremlin. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz declined to comment in a television interview.Waltz said the Russian economy is not doing well and that Trump is prepared to tax, to tariff, to sanction Moscow to get Putin to the negotiating table.But Waltz also underscored the Trump administration is looking to use this weeks engagements to begin talks on clawing back some of the United States assistance to Ukraine. He said European allies will also need to take a greater role in supporting Ukraine going forward. We need to recoup those costs and that is going to be a partnership with the Ukrainians in terms of their natural resources and their oil and gas and also buying ours, Waltz said in an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press. Those conversations are going to happen this week. And I think an underlying principle here is that the Europeans have to own this conflict going forward. President Trump is going to end it. And then in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the Europeans. Vice President JD Vance will be in Paris on Monday for an artificial intelligence summit thats gathering government officials and will head later in the week to the Munich Security Conference, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will lead the battle-weary countrys delegation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trumps special envoy on Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will also be in Munich. On Wednesday, Hegseth will join the main international forum for drumming up weapons and ammunition for Ukraine. Hes set to participate in a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels the following day.The U.K. is convening the 26th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a consortium of about 50 partner nations, on Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. It was not immediately clear whether the U.K. convened the meeting on its own initiative or whether Washington requested it. Kyiv under pressure as Russian troops advance and Trump floats talks with PutinPutin is closer than ever to achieving his objectives in battle-weary Ukraine, with little incentive to come to the negotiating table, no matter how much Trump might cajole or threaten him, according to Russian and Western experts interviewed by The Associated Press.Putin has previously said Trump was clever and pragmatic, and even parroted his false claims of having won the 2020 election. Trumps opening gambit was to call Putin smart and to threaten Russia with tariffs and oil price cuts, which the Kremlin brushed off.Trump boasted during the presidential election campaign that he could end the war in 24 hours, which later became six months. Hes indicated the U.S. is talking to Russia about Ukraine without Kyivs input, saying his administration already had very serious discussions. That would run counter to the Biden administrations position that echoed Zelenskyys call of Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader has suggested any peace deal reached without Kyivs input would send the dangerous signal that adventurism pays to authoritarian leaders in China, North Korea and Iran.Meanwhile, Trump has hinted he and Putin could soon take significant action toward ending the war, in which Russia is suffering heavy casualties daily while its economy endures stiff Western sanctions, inflation and a serious labor shortage.But the economy has not collapsed, and because Putin has unleashed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times, he faces no domestic pressure to end the war.Ukraine hopes to make its case in MunichAndriy Yermak, a top Zelenskyy adviser who will attend the Munich security conference, has told AP the Ukrainian delegation will use its platform to present Kyivs position on ending the war. He said Kyiv hopes to discuss what security guarantees could be put in place to prevent repeated aggression by Russia. The Munich summit comes at a pivotal moment for Ukraine, which is striving to establish a relationship with the new U.S. administration, a key partner during its yearslong war against Russia. ___Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Paris contributed.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher speaks during an interview in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)2025-02-09T14:17:02Z CAIRO (AP) Famine has been mostly averted in Gaza as a surge of aid enters the territory during a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday. But he warned the threat could return quickly if the truce collapses.Tom Fletcher spoke exclusively to The Associated Press after a two-day visit to Gaza, where hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived each day since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.The threat of famine, I think, is largely averted, Fletcher said in Cairo. Those starvation levels are down from where they were before the ceasefire.He spoke as concerns grow over whether the ceasefire can be extended and talks are meant to begin on its more difficult second phase. The six-week first phase is halfway through.As part of the agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day, a major increase after months of aid officials expressing frustration about delays and insecurity hampering both the entry and distribution of food, medicines and other badly needed items. The U.N. humanitarian office has said more than 12,600 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire took effect. Fletcher urged both Hamas, which quickly reasserted its control of the territory in the hours after the ceasefire took effect, and Israel to stick to the deal that has saved so many lives.The conditions are still terrible, and people are still hungry, he said. If the ceasefire falls, if the ceasefire breaks, then very quickly those (famine-like) conditions will come back again. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people.For months before the current ceasefire, food security monitors, U.N. officials and others had been warning of possible famine in parts of devastated Gaza, especially the north, which had been largely isolated since the earliest weeks of the 16-month war. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been able to return to the north under the ceasefire. We cant ... sit by and just allow these people to starve to death, Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, told CBS in December. The Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more aid deliveries and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. Fletcher said more food and medical supplies are crucially needed for the territory of more than 2 million people, most of them displaced, and he expressed concerns about disease outbreaks due to the lack of basic health supplies. He also called for scaling up the delivery of tents and other shelters to those who have returned to their home areas, as winter continues.We must get tens of thousands of tents very rapidly in, so that people who are moving back, particularly moving back into the north, are able to take shelter from those conditions, he said.Fletcher entered the Palestinian territory through the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza, where he said he drove through bombed-out, flattened and pulverized areas. You cant see the difference between a school or a hospital or a home, he said of the north.He said he saw people trying to find where their homes had been and collecting the bodies of loved ones from the rubble. He saw dogs looking for corpses in the rubble, too.It is a horror movie. Its a horror show, he said. It breaks your heart again and again and again. You drive for miles and miles and miles, and this is all you see.Fletcher acknowledged that some Palestinians have been angry at the international community over the war and its response.There was despair and anger. And I can understand the anger at the world that this has happened to them, he said. But there was also a sense of defiance as well. People were saying, We will go back to our homes. We will go back to the places that we have lived for generations, and we will rebuild.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A security officer stands outside the Caesars Superdome before the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)2025-02-08T21:54:03Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) With the Kansas City Chiefs gearing up for their third Super Bowl in as many seasons and the Philadelphia Eagles returning for their second in three years, Sunday will showcase a myriad of players who have big game experience.From relaxing, to hydrating, to having fun but not too much fun players on both sides shared what they would go back and tell themselves about playing in the Super Bowl before their first appearance in the big game.___CHIEFS Patrick Mahomes after winning last years Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Doug Benc) Patrick Mahomes after winning last years Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Doug Benc) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More PATRICK MAHOMES, quarterback: We won that first one but I felt I came out too anxious, a little too pumped up, so more than anything just play the game that you love the way youve always played it and that will be enough.JAYLEN WATSON, cornerback: Just chill, dont get too high too early, its a long week, dont wear yourself out, its an exciting week.NICK BOLTON, linebacker: The ebbs and flows, the highs and lows of the game, I wouldve let myself know that. Its such an emotional game, the game goes up and down. Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid celebrates following an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 31-13. (AP Photo/David Becker) Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid celebrates following an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 31-13. (AP Photo/David Becker) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More JUSTIN REID, safety: Just, throughout the week, try and enjoy the experience a little bit more. Ive had some fun but you want to make sure with your first Super Bowl that you play well. Secondly, its just being prepared for how long the game is. That was different, the extended warmup, instead of a three-hour game its a five-hour game, its a 30-minute halftime so just having a great plan for that. GEORGE KARLAFTIS, defensive end: Its just a game. Its the same game youve been playing 19 times that season. Same game, same time, all that stuff. AP @ the Super Bowl Live coverage from both on and off the field. What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards HARRISON BUTKER, kicker: There were a lot of nerves and anxious feelings the entire two weeks and especially the week leading up to the Super Bowl. I remember getting to the game and just feeling exhausted from all of the pressure that felt like it was on my shoulders. CREED HUMPHREY, center: Just enjoy the moment, its hard to get to this game, just enjoy everything you can, dont take it for granted. Enjoy the moment but focus on the mission. LEO CHENAL, linebacker: Weve had this group of guys that Ive been around since my first season and weve had the experience of getting to places like this and going far in the playoffs. I would tell myself to not get wrapped up in off the football field. You have to appreciate the spectacle of where we are but dont get wrapped up in it.EAGLESAJ BROWN, wide receiver: Focus on the game. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) participates during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson ) Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) participates during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson ) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More DARIUS SLAY, cornerback: I would tell myself to not warm up as much, as fast. I was energized and ready to go and not knowing I got to go back in the locker room and sit there for another 45 minutes. I had to re-warm up so I have to pace myself, a lot more stretching because of the halftime show which feels like an hour long so I dont wanna get tight so I have to make sure Im loose and ready to go.DEVONTA SMITH, wide receiver: Just go out there and be you.REED BLANKENSHIP, safety: Have fun, embrace it, dont get caught up in the lights. Its another game, we get to play football. Its the biggest stage in football and the world and its an honor to play in it. Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert speaks during an NFL football news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, ahead of Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert speaks during an NFL football news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, ahead of Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More DALLAS GOEDERT, tight end: Dreams are coming true. Do everything you can to help the team win because winning is the most important thing.LANDON DICKERSON, center: Dont ride the waves. Theres gonna be a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. Stay level-headed and keep playing.LANE JOHNSON, offensive tackle: Probably hydrate a little more. I was pretty tired out there.___Joel Haas and Tyler Millen are students in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

People carry the coffin of Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, who died Tuesday in Portugal, to be buried at the Aga Khan mausoleum, in Aswan, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Haytham Fahmy)2025-02-09T16:15:23Z ASWAN, Egypt (AP) The Aga Khan IV was laid to rest on Sunday at a private ceremony in Aswan, Egypt.The death of Prince Karim - the 49th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims - was announced Tuesday by the Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community. His son, 53-year-old Rahim Al-Hussaini, has been named as the Aga Khan V, the spiritual leader of the worlds millions of Ismaili Muslims, in according with his fathers will.On Saturday, a private funeral service took place at the Ismaili community center in Lisbon attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Spains King Emeritus Juan Carlos and Portugals President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.The Aga Khan is considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is treated as a head of state.The governor of Aswan welcomed Prince Karims family at the southern Egyptians provinces airport on Saturday. When his will was opened, it was found that he had requested to be buried in Aswan near his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah, and his grandmother, Om Habiba, said Maj. Gen. Ismail Kamal. Ismaili mourners marched as bells rang during the burial ceremony in the countrys southern Aswan province, as Prince Karims body was taken in a van. They carried his body, draped in a white shroud, and placed it on a yacht on the Nile River.Prince Karim, 88, was given the title of His Highness by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather, the Aga Khan III, unexpectedly made him heir to the familys 1,300-year dynasty as leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect. The late Aga Khan evolved over decades into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly with ease. He was a defender of Islamic culture and values, but also widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West. The Aga Khan Development Network deals mainly with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development. It says it works in over 30 countries and has an annual budget of about $1 billion for nonprofit development activities.Ismailis lived for many generations in Iran, Syria and South Asia before also settling in east Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe, North America and Australia more recently. They consider it a duty to donate up to 12.5% of their income to the Aga Khan as steward.

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the International Religious Freedom Summit at the Washington Hilton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-02-09T19:59:01Z WASHINGTON (AP) Top Trump administration officials are openly questioning the judiciarys authority to serve as a check on executive power as the new presidents sweeping agenda faces growing pushback from the courts.Over the past 24 hours, officials ranging from billionaire Elon Musk to Vice President JD Vance have not only criticized a federal judges decision early Saturday that blocks Musks Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records, but have also attacked the legitimacy of judicial oversight, a fundamental pillar of American democracy, which is based on the separation of powers.If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, thats also illegal. Judges arent allowed to control the executives legitimate power, Vance wrote on X on Sunday morning. That post came hours after Musk said overnight that the judge who ruled against him should be impeached.A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW! said Musk, who has been tasked by President Donald Trump with rooting out waste across the federal government. Musk also shared a post from a user who had suggested that the Trump administration openly defy the court order.I dont like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but Im just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us, the person had written, in part. The court order against Musk barred his team temporarily from accessing a Treasury system that contains sensitive personal data, such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans. Musk and his team say they are simply rooting through government systems to identify waste and abuse at the direction of the Republican president. Deputy White House chief of staff of Stephen Miller called the ruling an assault on the very idea of democracy itself. What we continue to see here is the idea that rogue bureaucrats who are elected by no one, who answer to no one, who have lifetime tenure jobs, who we would be told can never be fired, which, of course, is not true, that the power has been cemented and accumulated for years, whether it be with the Treasury bureaucrats or the FBI bureaucrats or the CIA bureaucrats or the USAID bureaucrats, with this unelected shadow force that is running our government and running our country, Miller said on Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures.The pushback comes as the administrations efforts to dismantle government agencies and eliminate large swaths of the federal workforce are being held up by the courts. Judges have also blocked Trump, at least temporarily, from moving forward with mass federal buyouts, from placing thousands of USAID workers on leave and from implementing an executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S.Early Saturday, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued, alleging the Trump administration allowed Musks team access to the Treasury Departments central payment system in violation of federal law. The payment system handles tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans benefits and much more, sending out trillions of dollars every year while containing an expansive network of Americans personal and financial data. A hearing is set for Feb. 14.Democrats have been sounding alarms over Musk and Trumps efforts, including efforts to halt spending that has already been appropriated by Congress. Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress is the body in charge of spending.I think this is the most serious Constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly, since Watergate, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on ABCs This Week. This is a red alert moment when this entire country has to understand that our democracy is at risk.Murphy expressed concern that the courts are ill-prepared for the onslaught they are facing. The pace of this assault on the Constitution in order to serve the billionaire class, it is absolutely dizzying. And so, you have to run a full-scale opposition, Murphy said. Ultimately, youve got to bring the American public into this conversation because we need our Republican colleagues in the House and in the Senate ultimately to put a stop to this. You cannot just rely on the court system.Republicans, who have largely stood in lockstep behind the president since he was sworn in for a second term, did so again on Sunday.Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan blasted the court ruling for the Treasury Department case while arguing that the president should be able to implement his agenda as he sees fit.I assume we will argue this out in court, like the other 17 or 18 decisions we have seen in the last several days. That all is going to get argued out in court. And, frankly, we knew the left, we knew the Democrats were going to do this, the Republican said on CNNs Inside Politics. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Former Marshall football player Randy Moss of the Oakland Raiders waves to fans prior to serving as an honorary coach during Marshall's annual Green-White game Saturday, April 22, 2006, in Huntington, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)2025-02-09T17:12:05Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Hall of Famer Randy Moss made an emotional return to ESPNs coverage of the Super Bowl on Sunday, two months after he took a leave from his job to get treated for cancer.Moss was back on ESPNs Sunday NFL Countdown before Kansas City took on Philadelphia in the Super Bowl. He was greeted with a video that included messages from Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Justin Jefferson, Kevin Garnett and several other big names welcoming him back to ESPNs set.Moss was moved to tears by the video before getting on with his job of analyzing the Super Bowl.Guys its been hard, but I got a lot of love and a lot of people believing in me, he said. Im happy to be here.Moss took a leave of absence from ESPN in early December after undergoing surgery for cancer. He said at the time that a cancerous mass was found in his bile duct, between his pancreas and liver. He said he had surgery to put a stent in his liver on Thanksgiving and later had a six-hour procedure to remove the cancer. He also said he would undergo radiation and chemotherapy. Moss has been a fixture on the ESPN show since 2016. Moss, who turns 48 on Thursday, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 after playing 14 seasons with the Vikings, Raiders Patriots, Titans and 49ers.Moss ranks second in NFL history with 156 touchdown catches and fourth with 15,292 yards receiving, He set an NFL record with 23 TD receptions in 2007 for the Patriots.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Petey, voiced by Pete Davidson, left, and Dog Man, voiced by Peter Hastings in a scene from DreamWorks Animation's "Dog Man." (Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation via AP)2025-02-09T17:18:01Z NEW YORK (AP) On a quiet winter weekend at the box office, DreamWorks Animations Dog Man chased its own tail, repeating as the top movie in theaters. The animated Universal Pictures release, adapted from Dav Pilkeys popular graphic novel series, collected $13.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Both new releases the Ke Huy Quan action movie Love Hurts and the Valentines Day-themed slasher Heart Eyes were left nipping at the heels of Dog Man.Hollywood often largely punts Super Bowl weekend to the small screen. Last year, Apples much-derided Argylle debuted on the same weekend. Instead, the movie industry spends more energy pitching its blockbusters in trailers for the huge football audience on TV.It wasnt a banner weekend for Dog Man. It fell steeply, dropping 62% in it second weekend. But with a production budget of $40 million, Dog Man has already tallied $54.1 million domestically in two weeks. Coming in second was Spyglass Media Groups Heart Eyes, released by Sony. The horror-rom-com mashup earned $8.5 million from 3,102 locations. Reviews have been good for the film, directed by Josh Ruben and starring Oliva Holt and Mason Gooding, though audiences were less impressed. Moviegoers gave it a B- CinemaScore. Spyglass made Heart Eyes for $18 million. Love Hurts, the action comedy from 87North Productions (John Wick, The Fall Guy), debuted with a paltry $5.8 million in 3,055 theaters. In his first big movie role since his Oscar-winning comeback in Everything All at Once, Ke Huy Quan stars as a mild-mannered realtor with a hitman past. Ariana DeBose co-stars. It, too, was modestly budgeted at $18 million. Audiences, however, mostly rejected the movie, giving Love Hurts a C+ CinemaScore. Next weekend should bring Hollywood its biggest box-office weekend of the year with the release of Marvels Captain America: Brave New World and Sonys Paddington in Peru. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. Dog Man, $13.7 million.2. Heart Eyes, $8.5 million.3. Love Hurts, $5.8 million.4. Mufasa: The Lion King, $3.9 million.5. Companion, $3 million.6. One of Them Days, $3 million.7. Becoming Led Zeppelin, $2.6 million.8. Flight Risk, $2.6 million.9. Sonic the Hedgehog, $1.8 million.10. Moana 3, $1.5 million. JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

A woman stamps her fingerprint on the voter list during presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)2025-02-09T07:07:04Z Sigue la cobertura en vivo de AP en espaol de las elecciones presidenciales en Ecuador. GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) Polls closed in Ecuadors presidential election Sunday, which shaped up to be a repeat of the 2023 race, when voters chose a young, conservative millionaire over the leftist protge of the countrys most influential president this century. President Daniel Noboa and Luisa Gonzlez were the clear front-runners among the pool of 16 candidates. All promised voters to reduce the widespread crime that pushed their lives into an unnerving new normal four years ago.The spike in violence across the South American country is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. So many voters have become crime victims that their personal and collective losses will be a determining factor in deciding whether a third president in four years can turn Ecuador around or if Noboa deserves more time in office. Ecuadors National Electoral Council reported that more than 83% of the roughly 13.7 million eligible voters cast ballots. Electoral authorities were expected to begin releasing results after 7:30 p.m. local time.Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. In the port city of Guayaquil, people lined up, initially under light rain and then under a scorching sun, outside a public university where tens of thousands were expected to cast ballots. Crime, gangs and extortion For me, this president is disastrous, said Marta Barres, 35, who went to the voting center with her three teenage children. Can he change things in four more years? No. He hasnt done anything.Barres, who must pay $25 a month to a local gang to avoid harassment or worse, said she would vote for Gonzlez because she believes she can reduce crime across the board and improve the economy. To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest challenger. If needed, a runoff election would take place on April 13. More than 100,000 police officers and members of the military were deployed across the country to safeguard the election, including at voting centers. At least 50 officers accompanied Noboa, his wife and their 2-year-old son to a voting center where the president cast his ballot in the small Pacific coast community of Oln. Noboa defeated Gonzlez in the October 2023 runoff of a snap election that was triggered by the decision of then-President Guillermo Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and shorten his own mandate as a result. Noboa and Gonzlez, a mentee of former President Rafael Correa, had only served short stints as lawmakers before launching their 2023 presidential campaigns.Testing the limits of laws and norms of governingNoboa, 37, is an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade. He opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. His political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. Under his presidency, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 38.76 per 100,000 people last year. Still, it remained far higher than the 6.85 per 100,000 people in 2019, and some of Noboas no-holds-barred crimefighting strategies have come under scrutiny inside and outside the country for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing. His questioned tactics include the state of internal armed conflict he declared in January 2024 in order to mobilize the military in places where organized crime has taken hold, as well as last years approval of a police raid on Mexicos embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who had been living there for months.His head-on approach, however, is also earning him votes.My vote was for Noboa because of his skills and because he maintains a direct confrontation with the armed drug-trafficking groups and the corrupt, Pablo Votruba, a retired doctor in Quito, said. Things are not going to changeGonzlez, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president. He was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2020 in a corruption scandal.Gonzlez was a lawmaker from 2021 until May 2023, when Lasso dissolved the National Assembly. She was unknown to most voters until Correas party picked her as its presidential candidate for the snap election.They are the fear, we are the hope, hope for change, for joy, for better days to come, she told reporters after voting in her hometown of Canuto, in northwestern Ecuador.Meanwhile, a group of soldiers, citing security reasons, prevented presidential candidate Andrea Gonzlez, no relation to Luisa, from entering her assigned polling station with her protection detail. After a brief discussion, she was allowed in accompanied only by her chief of security. Waiting for her turn to vote in Guayaquil, architecture student Keila Torres said she had not yet decided who to vote for. None, she said, will be able to lower crime across Ecuador due to deep-rooted government corruption.If I could, I wouldnt be here, said Torres, who has witnessed three robberies in public buses over the past four years and barely escaped a carjacking in December. Things are not going to change. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Carbon dioxide and other pollutant billows from a stack at PacifiCorps coal-fired Naughton Power Plant, near where Bill Gates company, TerraPower plans to build an advanced, nontraditional nuclear reactor, Jan. 13, 2022, in Kemmerer, Wyo. (AP Photo/Natalie Behring, File)2025-02-09T14:30:08Z CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) Putting carbon dioxide from power plants and industrial facilities underground where it wont contribute to global warming could see less federal support and enthusiasm under President Donald Trump. But experts and industry advocates doubt demand for the technology will go away as long as utilities face state-level climate change goals.Trump has vowed to drill, baby, drill for fossil fuels and ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the landmark Paris agreement to try to limit Earths warming. Meanwhile, his new energy secretary, Chris Wright, has vowed to prioritize affordable, reliable and secure energy in a policy-setting order that criticizes zero-carbon goals and makes no mention of carbon capture.Carbon captures doubters include both conservative policy organizations and environmental groups . Even so, its outlook in the U.S. isnt all bleak. Carbon capture got a $12 billion boost under Joe Biden through increased tax incentives and funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With projects scattered nationwide, including dozens in Republican states, there may be less appetite to include them in budget cuts, said analyst Rohan Dighe with the energy and resources research firm Wood Mackenzie. But a broader trend away from environmental, social and governance investing, or ESG, could sap momentum for carbon capture, Dighe said by email. So even absent government rollback of funding, we could see fewer project announcements and movements due to lower interest in decarbonizing, Dighe wrote.Carbon capture involves separating carbon dioxide from the emissions of power plants and other industrial facilities and pumping it underground. The goal can be either to store it permanently so it doesnt contribute to climate change, or to pressurize an oilfield to help increase production. Carbon capture has deep support in Republican Wyoming, home to projects including an ExxonMobil plant that separates CO2 from sour gas wells for use in aging oilfields and another experimenting with putting power plant CO2 underground.In 2021, GOP Gov. Mark Gordon pledged to make the sparsely populated state which exports 12 times more energy than it consumes not just carbon neutral but carbon negative.Carbon capture features prominently in that plan. In 2020, Wyoming, which contributed tens of millions of dollars for a carbon capture research facility at an operating power plant, became one of the first states to regulate underground carbon dioxide injection itself rather than through the EPA. That list now also includes Louisiana, North Dakota and West Virginia.But theres also growing skepticism in Wyoming, the nations top coal producer. With Trump back in office, some question the need for greenhouse gas goals. One state lawmaker recently proposed legislation titled Make Carbon Dioxide Great Again that would back off carbon capture including a 2020 state law requiring utilities to study how much it would cost to install at the states fossil-fuel-fired power plants. No other lawmakers supported the bill and it failed.Meanwhile, Gordon is sticking with carbon capture to help protect Wyomings coal industry. Eighteen states that account for almost two-thirds of Wyomings coal market have renewable energy and carbon-neutrality goals, Gordon spokesman Michael Pearlman said by email.To keep that market, we have to use carbon capture, Pearlman wrote.The billions of dollars in federal grants for carbon capture approved under Biden have aided dozens of carbon capture projections nationwide through the Department of Energys CarbonSAFE program. Seven are in Wyoming.The future of the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture projects especially worries the Carbon Capture Coalition, a group of more than 100 environmental groups, unions and companies. It recently urged Congress to uphold the credit, which was included in the Inflation Reduction Act.To date, the Petra Nova facility outside Houston, whose CO2 is used to increase production at nearby oilfields, is the nations only power plant that puts the greenhouse gas underground on a commercial scale. More could be coming eventually. Government support helped spur 270 carbon capture projects across the U.S. in the past few years, the coalition wrote to congressional leaders. We wanted to kind of put a stake in the ground, said Madelyn Morrison, the groups government affairs director.Republicans have voted dozens of times, unsuccessfully, to repeal portions of the Inflation Reduction Act when they held a minority in the Senate, according to the Brookings Institution. Now that they control the Senate, House and White House, the bar to repeal is lower.That would have support from the conservative Heritage Foundation, a longstanding opponent of carbon capture. Requiring carbon capture for coal- and gas-fired power plants would be costly just when electric vehicles are increasing energy demand, the group argued in a paper last year. Others on the right say building out the network of pipelines and injection wells necessary for carbon capture threatens to trample on private property rights.Carbon capture and storage projects are nothing more than an opportunistic scheme to make vast sums of money from a problem that arguably does not exist, concluded a January report by the conservative Heartland Institute that recommended abolishing the 45Q tax credit.Earthjustice and other environmental groups oppose carbon capture largely because they see it as dubious cover to maintain fossil fuel production.For the Carbon Capture Coalition, the technology is a middle ground recognizing that neither carbon-free energy production nor an end to burning fossil fuels will happen overnight. Even if Trump is all in for fossil fuels, U.S. consumers and the global market will demand the technology, the group says.In order for these American industries to really remain competitive, not only in domestic markets, but really in the global marketplace, their businesses really depend on investing in innovative solutions like carbon management, Morrison said.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

President Donald Trump, left, waves as he boards Air Force One with grandson Theodore, Ivanka Trump's son, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-09T22:02:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said he will announce on Monday that the United States will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada and Mexico, as well as other import duties later in the week. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff, he told reporters Sunday on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl. When asked about aluminum, he responded, aluminum, too will be subject to the trade penalties. Trump also reaffirmed that he would announce reciprocal tariffs probably Tuesday or Wednesday meaning that the U.S. would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on U.S. goods. If they are charging us 130% and were charging them nothing, its not going to stay that way, he told reporters. Trumps comments are the latest example of his willingness to threaten, and in some cases to impose, import taxes. Tariffs are coming much earlier in his presidency than during his previous four years in the White House, when he prioritized tax cuts and deregulation. Trump has alternately said he sees import taxes as tools to force concessions on issues such as immigration, but also as a source of revenue to help close the governments budget deficit. Financial markets fell on Friday after Trump first said he would impose the reciprocal tariffs. Stock prices also dropped after a measure of consumer sentiment declined on Friday, largely because many respondents cited tariffs as a growing worry. The survey also found that Americans are expecting inflation to tick up in the coming months because of the duties. Trump on Sunday did not offer any details about the steel and aluminum duties, or the reciprocal tariffs. Trump previously threatened 25% import taxes on all goods from Canada and Mexico, though he paused them for 30 days barely a week ago. At the same time, he proceeded to add 10% duties on imports from China.Yet on Friday, he said he would also delay the tariffs on the millions of small packages often from fast-fashion firms such as Temu and Shein until customs officials can figure out ways to impose them. The small packages have previously been exempt from tariffs. ___Associated Press writer Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One contributed to this report. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

Lady Gaga opened the 2025 Super Bowl LIX pregame with a poignant tribute to resilience and unity, delivering a heartfelt performance of her 2022 song Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick. Dressed in an ethereal all-white ensemble, the multi-talented performer sang while playing the piano in front of a crowd on Bourbon Street, a symbolic location for both New Orleans and the nation as a whole.The moving performance kicked off the evenings pregame show, which was dedicated to honoring the strength of communities impacted by tragedy across the country. Gagas appearance was a surprise to many, as her performance had not been previously announced. Her song, which was nominated for an Academy Award, was chosen as a fitting tribute to the themes of perseverance and unity highlighted throughout the segment.Before Gaga took the stage, Michael Strahan, co-host of the pregame show, introduced a somber opening segment. He and former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady walked down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, discussing the resilience of the city following a terror attack earlier in the year. Strahan spoke of the collective strength of communities and how, when tragedy strikes, people come together. When tragedy strikes, we dont break, we come together. We rise above and never let evil win, Brady said.The pregame show continued with a tribute to various cities affected by recent tragedies, from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Strahan emphasized that, despite the challenges faced, Americans continue to show resilience, never losing hope. We come together because thats who we are and thats what we do, Strahan added, speaking to the nations spirit of unity.As the camera panned over the crowd, which included first responders, military personnel, and locals wearing NOLA Strong shirts, Gagas performance began, providing a powerful moment of reflection. Her somber yet inspiring rendition of Hold My Hand resonated with many, particularly in the wake of difficult times in cities across the country.In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, Lady Gaga had been in the spotlight for another major career milestone. Just days before the pregame performance, she released her new single, Abracadabra, from her upcoming album Mayhem. The track premiered during a commercial break at the 2025 Grammy Awards, following weeks of anticipation surrounding the singers seventh studio album. Mayhem is set for release on March 7, 2025, and fans can expect a full tracklist to be unveiled soon.The nights pregame festivities continued with a star-studded lineup of performers. Jon Batiste delivered a moving rendition of the National Anthem, followed by Ledisis powerful performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing. Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle joined forces for a soulful version of America the Beautiful. Additionally, Harry Connick Jr. teamed up with renowned jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard for a tribute performance, while the Soul Rebels and the Original Pinettes added their own musical contributions to the celebration.Super Bowl LIXs pregame entertainment was a memorable mix of musical tributes, honoring both the resilience of communities across the country and the spirit of unity that transcends sports. Lady Gagas performance, in particular, left a lasting impression, offering a moment of reflection on the power of music to bring people together in times of hardship.As the world turned its attention to the big game, the pregame show reminded viewers of the importance of community, healing, and strength in the face of adversity. The performances showcased a diverse array of talent, each adding to the emotional depth of the night. Lady Gagas moving tribute served as the perfect kickoff to a Super Bowl celebration filled with heartfelt moments and unity.The post Lady Gaga Honors Resilience in Super Bowl LIX Pregame Performance appeared first on Gayety.

In this April 17, 2019, photo, reviewed by U.S. military officials, the control tower is seen through the razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-02-10T00:53:33Z ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A federal court on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan immigrants held in New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba as part of the presidents immigration crackdown. In a legal filing earlier in the day, lawyers for the men said the detainees fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantanamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang. It asked a U.S. District Court in New Mexico for a temporary restraining order blocking their transfer, adding that the mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction. During a brief hearing, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary order, which was opposed by the government, said Jessica Vosburgh, an attorney for the three men. Its short term. This will get revisited and further fleshed out in the weeks to come, Vosburgh told The Associated Press. A message seeking comment was left for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. The filing came as part of a lawsuit on behalf of the three men filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and Las Americas Immigrant Advisory Center.The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a lawless prison in the central Venezuelan state of Aragua more than a decade ago and has expanded in recent years as millions of desperate Venezuelans fled President President Nicols Maduro s rule and migrated to other parts of Latin America or the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week that flights of detainees had landed at Guantanamo. Immigrant rights groups sent a letter Friday demanding access to people who have been sent there, saying the base should not be used as a legal black hole.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that more than 8,000 people have been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump has vowed to deport millions of the estimated 11.7 million people in the U.S. illegally.

Kendrick Lamar performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)2025-02-10T01:53:20Z Follow live updates on the 2025 Super Bowl Salutations!, the actor Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam introduced Kendrick Lamar at New Orleans Caesars Superdome for the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show a powerful, commanding creative choice by the first solo hip-hop artist to ever headline the coveted slot.As if there were any doubts of the Pulitzer Prize winning rappers ability to put on a show.He started with GNX moving into Squabble Up. For just under 13 minutes during the halftime show sponsored by Apple Music and Roc Nation, Lamar commanded the field.Dancers dressed in red, white and blue joined Lamar. But even in their patriotic colors, they were labeled too loud, too reckless, too ghetto, by Jacksons Uncle Sam, who reminded Lamar to play the game. Then, he launched into Humble., DNA., Euphoria and man at the garden. Score keeper, deduct one life, Jackson interrupted again. Lamar launched into peakboo, and then teased a performance of Not Like Us. I wanna play their favorite song but you know they love to sue, Lamar told the women dancers behind him, referencing Drake.It is hard to underscore the ubiquity of Not Like Us with its billion streams on Spotify, the massive hit is a regional anthem for Los Angeles, a rallying cry for community and against culture vultures, a diss track that won Lamar the highly-publicized feud with Drake and the track that won song and record of the year at the Grammys last weekend. Leading up to the Super Bowl, whether or not Lamar would perform the song was a legitimate question held by fans and critics alike. Lamar levels strong accusations against Drake in its lyrics; Drake has sued Universal Music Group for defamation as a result of the songs popularity. Does a Super Bowl performance further complicate things? AP @ the Super Bowl Live coverage from both on and off the field. What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards Little was known about Lamars halftime performance ahead of time. Lamar promised to keep his passion for storytelling at the forefront of his plans, and SZA was a previously announced guest performer. They are frequent collaborators; she most recently appeared his recent album GNX and was featured on a couple songs including Gloria and Luther, which also features sampled vocals from Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn through If This World Were Mine. The duo will also co-headline a 19-city North American tour this spring and summer. SZA appeared on stage for Luther and All the Stars. Thats what America wants nice and calm, Jackson said. And then, like clockwork: Lamar launched into Not Like Us with the removal of the word pedophiles in its lyrics into tv off. He brought out the producer Mustard and tennis superstar Serena Williams was spotted crip walking along to the diss track.Is there any better publicity than the biggest stage in U.S. sports? Consider this just another step in Lamars continued victory lap.He is also no stranger to the Super Bowl stage, having previously performed at the NFLs championship game in 2022 as a guest artist, alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem. Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date, Lamar said in a statement in September, when he was first announced as the 2025 halftime performer. And Ill be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.Make no mistake about it thats exactly what he did Sunday evening.___For more on the Super Bowl, visit https://apnews.com/hub/super-bowl MARIA SHERMAN Maria Sherman is the music reporter at The Associated Press. She is based in New York City. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One where Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 "the first ever Gulf of America Day," as he travels from West Palm Beach, Fla. to New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-09T22:11:40Z Follow live updates on the 2025 Super Bowl WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said he is serious about wanting Canada to become the 51st state in an interview that aired Sunday during the Super Bowl preshow.Yeah it is, Trump told Fox News Channels Bret Baier when asked whether his talk of annexing Canada is a real thing as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently warned.I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And Im not going to let that happen, he said. Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially a subsidy to Canada? The U.S. is not subsidizing Canada. The U.S. buys products from the natural resource-rich nation, including commodities like oil. While the trade gap in goods has ballooned in recent years to $72 billion in 2023, the deficit largely reflects Americas imports of Canadian energy. Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada would be better off if it agreed to become the 51st U.S. state a prospect that is deeply unpopular among Canadians.Trudeau said Friday during a closed-door session with business and labor leaders that Trumps talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state was a real thing and tied to desire for access to the countrys natural resources. Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on ..., Trudeau said, according to CBC, Canadas public broadcaster. Theyre very aware of our resources of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday as he traveled to the Super Bowl game in New Orleans, Trump continued to threaten a country that has long been one of the U.S.'s closest allies. He claimed that Canada is not viable as a country without U.S. trade, and warned that the founding NATO member can no longer depend on the U.S. for military protection. You know, they dont pay very much for military. And the reason they dont pay much is they assume that were going to protect them, he said. Thats not an assumption they can make because why are we protecting another country?In the Fox interview, which was pre-taped this weekend in Florida, Trump also said that he has not seen enough action from Canada and Mexico to stave off the tariffs he has threatened to impose on the countrys two largest trading partners once a 30-day extension is up.No, its not good enough, he said. Something has to happen. Its not sustainable. And Im changing it.Trump last week agreed to a 30-day pause on his plan to slap Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on all imports except for Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity, which would be taxed at 10%, after the countries took steps to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking.Aboard Air Force One, Trump said that he would on Monday announce a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., including from Canada and Mexico, and unveil a plan for reciprocal tariffs later in the week. Very simply its if they charge us, we charge them, he said.Trumps participation in the Super Bowl interview marked a return to tradition. Presidents have typically granted a sit-down to the network broadcasting the game, the most-watched television event of the year. But both Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, were inconsistent in their participation.Biden declined to participate last year turning down a massive audience in an election year and also skipped an appearance in 2023, when efforts by his team to have Biden speak with a Fox Corp. streaming service instead of the main network failed. During his first term, Trump participated three out of four years.Trump was the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in person something he told Baier he was surprised to learn.I thought it would be a good thing for the country to have the president at the game, he said.During his flight to New Orleans, Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 the first ever Gulf of America Day as Air Force One flew over the body of water that he renamed by proclamation from the Gulf of Mexico. Trump in the interview, also defended the work of billionaire Elon Musk, whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has been drawing deep concern from Democrats as he moves to shut down whole government agencies and fire large swaths of the federal workforce in the name of rooting out waste and inefficiency.Musk, Trump said, has been terrific, and will target the Department of Education and the military next.Were going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse, Trump predicted. I campaigned on this.He was also asked about his dancing, which has become a popular meme on social media.I dont know what it is, he said. I try and walk off sometimes without dancing and I cant. I have to dance.___ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One contributed to this report. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean (33) scores a touchdown after intercepting a pass during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)2025-02-10T03:18:44Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat and the Philadelphia Eagles ferocious defense denied Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat.It wasnt even close.DeJean got a pick-6 on his 22nd birthday, Sweat tormented Mahomes and the Eagles routed the Chiefs 40-22 on Sunday to secure the franchises second Super Bowl championship.Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score on a tush push, and Vic Fangios defense was so dominant that the Eagles didnt need much from Saquon Barkley.The game-changing running back finished with 57 yards, breaking Terrell Davis record for yards rushing in a season, playoffs included. Hurts threw for 221 yards.With Donald Trump becoming the first president in office to attend a Super Bowl, the Eagles outplayed Kansas City in every facet, delighting a raucous pro-Philly crowd that celebrated each score with a familiar rendition of Fly! Eagles! Fly! Even Taylor Swifts presence couldnt help the Chiefs. They lost for the first time in 10 games this season with the pop superstar in a suite watching boyfriend Travis Kelce, who didnt catch a pass until late in the third quarter. Not in Kansas Citys worst nightmares could its fans have imagined such a lackluster performance. The Chiefs had won three of the previous five Super Bowls, losing 31-9 to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers four years ago. AP @ the Super Bowl Live coverage from both on and off the field. What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards Mahomes was 8-0 against Fangios defenses before the longtime coordinator and former Broncos head coach outcoached Andy Reid, capping his first season with his hometown team. Reid fell to 3-3 in Super Bowls, including a loss with the Eagles. The Eagles sacked Mahomes six times, the most of his career, including 2 1/2 by Sweat. And they did it without Fangio calling a single blitz.Barkley, the 2024 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, only had 31 yards rushing in the first half when Philly built a 24-0 lead. The Chiefs were aiming to become the third team in NFL history to win three straight championships and the first to three-peat in the Super Bowl era.Hurts nearly led the Eagles to victory against the Chiefs two years ago in Arizona, but Mahomes led a comeback and Harrison Butker kicked the game-winning field goal in the final minute for a 38-35 victory. Mahomes rallied Kansas City to an overtime victory over San Francisco last year for the Chiefs second straight title.This time, a revamped Philly defense featuring eight new starters from the 2022 team made sure Mahomes had no chance to pull off his magic.Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who mocked fans chanting Fire Nick! during a victory over Cleveland in October and was called a clown on national television, should finally silence critics by adding a championship ring to a resume that includes the fifth-best winning percentage in league history.Sirianni was showered with Gatorade with nearly three minutes left in the game while backup QB Kenny Pickett took snaps in mop-up duty.Barkley helped push Hurts into the end zone from the 1 to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Up 10-0 after Jake Elliotts 48-yard field goal, Sweat and Jalyx Hunt sacked Mahomes on consecutive plays. Mahomes then rolled out and made an errant throw that was picked by DeJean, who returned it 38 yards for a 17-0 lead.It was Mahomes first pick-6 in 21 career playoff games and ended a streak of 297 straight passes without an interception.All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun picked Mahomes again late in the second quarter, and Hurts connected with A.J. Brown on a 12-yard TD pass for a 24-0 lead.Hurts threw a perfect 46-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith to make it 34-0 late in the third.Mahomes fired a 24-yard TD pass to Xavier Worthy to avoid the shutout, but the 2-point conversion failed. He threw two late, mostly meaningless TD passes, one to DeAndre Hopkins and another to Worthy.After two weeks of discussions about questionable calls that led to public perception that officials favor the Chiefs a theory NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called ridiculous the first penalty of the game only fueled critics. A 32-yard pass from Hurts to Brown to the Chiefs 18 on fourth-and-2 was negated by a penalty for offensive pass interference. Brady, now a Fox analyst, and officiating analyst Mike Pereira both disagreed with the call, although Brown shoved Trent McDuffies facemask.On the next possession, the Eagles benefited from an unnecessary roughness penalty on McDuffie against Dallas Goedert following an incomplete pass on third-and-5.Hurts then connected with Jahan Dotson on a 27-yard pass to the 1 and scored on the next play.Hurts streak of 217 passes without a pick ended in the first half when he was intercepted deep in Kansas City territory, but the Chiefs didnt capitalize.The Green Bay Packers are the only NFL team to win three championships in a row, doing it from 1929-31 and 1965-67.The NBAs Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-02, led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeill, are the last team in the major American professional leagues to win three straight titles.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl ROB MAADDI Maaddi is senior NFL writer for The Associated Press. Hes covered the league for 24 years, including the first two decades as the Eagles beat writer. mailto

Cardinal Michael Czerny meets with journalists at the Vatican press hall, in Rome, on March 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)2025-02-10T03:30:22Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis point-man on migration and development has urged the Trump administration to remember Christian principles about caring for others, saying people are being terrorized by the U.S. crackdown on migrants and vital church-run aid programs are being jeopardized by the planned gutting of USAID.Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Czech-born Canadian Jesuit, is one of the cardinals most closely associated with Francis pontificate and heads the Vatican office responsible for migrants, the environment, the churchs Caritas Internationalis charity and development. In an interview with The Associated Press, Czerny said every incoming government has the right to review its foreign aid budget, and to even reform an agency like USAID. But he said its another thing to dismantle an agency after it has made funding commitments. There are programs underway and expectations and we might even say commitments, and to break commitments is a serious thing, Czerny said Sunday. So while every government is qualified to review its budget in the case of foreign aid, it would be good to have some warning because it takes time to find other sources of funding or to find other ways of meeting the problems we have. USAID is the main international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government and in 2023 managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations. The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk have targeted USAID hardest so far in their challenge of the federal government: A sweeping funding freeze has shut down most of USAIDs programs worldwide, though a federal judge on Friday put a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job. One of USAIDs biggest non-governmental recipients of funding is Catholic Relief Services, the aid agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S., which has already sounded the alarm about the cuts. Other programs, including Caritas international programs at the diocesan and national levels, are also being impacted directly or indirectly, Czerny said. I think people are still reeling from the news and beginning to figure out how to respond, he said.While large, the USAID budget is less than one percentage point of the U.S. gross domestic product and a fraction of the biblical call to tithe 10% of ones income, Czerny noted.Czerny acknowledged Francis has often complained about Western aid to poor countries being saddled with conditions that may be incompatible with Catholic doctrine, such as programs promoting gender ideology. The Trump administration has said it is targeting these woke programs in its USAID cuts.If if the government thinks that its programs have been distorted by ideology, well, then they should reform the programs, Czerny said. Many people would say that shutting down is not the best way to reform them.Another area of concern for the Vatican and Catholic hierarchy in the U.S. is the Trump administrations crackdown on undocumented migrants. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration. Some are being held in federal prisons while others are being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. A crackdown is a terrible way to administer affairs and much less to administer justice, said Czerny, whose own family immigrated to Canada as refugees after World War II. And so Im very sorry that many people are being hurt and indeed terrorized by the measures.All we can hope for is that the people, Gods people and the people of goodwill, will help and protect those vulnerable people who are suddenly made much more vulnerable, he added.The U.S. conference of Catholic bishops put out an unusually critical statement after President Donald Trumps initial executive orders, saying those focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us. It was a strong rebuke from the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, which considers abortion to be the preeminent priority for Catholic voters and had cheered the 2022 Supreme Court decision to end constitutional protections for abortion that was made possible by Trump-appointed justices. Trump won 54% of Catholic voters in the 2024 election, a wider margin than the 50% he won of Catholic voters in the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden, a Catholic.Inspired by the biblical call to welcome the stranger, Francis has made caring for migrants a priority of his pontificate, demanding that countries welcome, protect, promote and integrate those fleeing conflicts, poverty and climate disasters. Francis has also said governments are expected to do so to the limits of their capacity.And I dont think that is any country except perhaps Lebanon, and maybe one or two other exceptions who are really over the limit, Czerny said. So I think its incumbent on us first of all as human beings, as citizens, as believers, and in our case, as Christians. ___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.

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, running for re-election, waves after accompanying his running mate, Maria Jose Pinto, to cast her ballot during the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)2025-02-10T04:51:27Z En resumen: Revisa la cobertura de AP en espaol de las elecciones presidenciales en Ecuador del domingo. GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) Ecuador will choose its next president in a runoff election after conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzlez garnered enough votes Sunday to beat 14 other candidates.The contest, set for April 13, will be a repeat of the October 2023 snap election that earned Noboa a 16-month presidency.Noboa and Gonzlez are now vying for a full four-year term, promising voters to reduce the widespread criminal activity that upended their lives four years ago.The spike in violence across the South American country is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. So many voters have become crime victims that their personal and collective losses were a determining factor in deciding whether a third president in four years could turn Ecuador around or if Noboa deserved more time in office. Noboa, an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, and Gonzlez, the protge of Ecuadors most influential president this century, were the clear front-runners ahead of the election. Figures released by Ecuadors National Electoral Council showed that with 80% of ballots tallied, Noboa received more than 3.71 million votes, or 44.43%, while Gonzlez earned over 3.69 million votes, or 44.17%. The 14 other candidates in the race were far behind them.Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. Electoral authorities reported that more than 83% of the roughly 13.7 million eligible voters cast ballots. Crime, gangs and extortion Under Noboas watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 38.76 per 100,000 people last year. Still, it remained far higher than the 6.85 per 100,000 people in 2019, and other crimes, such as kidnapping and extortion, have skyrocketed, making people fearful of leaving their homes.For me, this president is disastrous, said Marta Barres, 35, who went to the voting center with her three teenage children. Can he change things in four more years? No. He hasnt done anything.Barres, who must pay $25 a month to a local gang to avoid harassment or worse, said she supported Gonzlez because she believes she can reduce crime across the board and improve the economy. Noboa defeated Gonzlez in the October 2023 runoff of a snap election that was triggered by the decision of then-President Guillermo Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and shorten his own mandate as a result. Noboa and Gonzlez, a mentee of former President Rafael Correa, had only served short stints as lawmakers before launching their presidential campaigns that year.To win outright Sunday, a candidate needed 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest challenger. More than 100,000 police officers and members of the military were deployed across the country to safeguard the election, including at voting centers. At least 50 officers accompanied Noboa, his wife and their 2-year-old son to a voting center where the president cast his ballot in the small Pacific coast community of Oln. Testing the limits of laws and norms of governingNoboa, 37, opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. His political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. As president over the past 15 months, some of his mano dura, or heavy-handed, tactics to reduce crime have come under scrutiny inside and outside the country for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing.His questioned tactics include the state of internal armed conflict he declared in January 2024 in order to mobilize the military in places where organized crime has taken hold, as well as last years approval of a police raid on Mexicos embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who had been living there for months.His head-on approach, however, is also earning him votes.Noboa is the only person hitting organized crime hard, retiree German Rizzo, who voted to get the president reelected, said outside a polling station in Samborondn, an upper-class area with gated communities separated from the port city of Guayaquil by a river. Things are not going to changeGonzlez, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president. He was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2020 in a corruption scandal.Gonzlez was a lawmaker from 2021 until May 2023, when Lasso dissolved the National Assembly. She was unknown to most voters until Correas party picked her as its presidential candidate for the snap election.Quitos University of the Americas professor Maria Cristina Bayas said Sundays result was a triumph for Correas party because pre-election polls projected a wider difference between Noboa and Gonzlez. Esteban Ron, dean of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences at the International University SEK in Quito, said Noboa will be forced to reengineer his campaign at the risk that he may have already reached his vote ceiling. Ron attributed the outcome to the problems Noboa faced during his administration.Waiting for her turn to vote in Guayaquil, architecture student Keila Torres said she had not yet decided who to vote for. None, she said, will be able to lower crime across Ecuador due to deep-rooted government corruption.If I could, I wouldnt be here, said Torres, who witnessed three robberies in public buses over the past four years and barely escaped a carjacking in December. Things are not going to change. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump gestures to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after being sworn in as president during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)2025-02-10T05:02:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump will need the Supreme Court, with three justices he appointed, to enable the most aggressive of the many actions he has taken in just the first few weeks of his second White House term. But even a conservative majority with a robust view of presidential power might balk at some of what the president wants to do.The court gave Trump major victories last year that helped clear away potential obstacles to his reelection, postponing his criminal trial in Washington, D.C., then affording immunity from prosecution for official actions. But Trumps first term was marked by significant defeats as well as some wins at the court.It will be an extraordinary test for the Roberts Court whether its willing to stand up for constitutional principles it has long embraced, said Michael Waldman, the president of New York Universitys Brennan Center and the author of a book that is critical of the court. Some of the things we have seen are so blatantly unconstitutional that I am confident the court will stand up. Other things that align with the accumulation of the power of the presidency make me very nervous. Theres no shortage of issues that could find a path to the nations highest court. Lower courts already have paused orders on birthright citizenship, a freeze on government grants and loans, and a buyout order for federal workers. Other lawsuits have been filed over restrictions on transgender people, limits on asylum-seekers, efforts to shutter USAID, Elon Musk and his teams access to sensitive data and the firing of officials at independent federal agencies. Trump met with mixed success at the court in his first term. By a 5-4 vote, the justices upheld his ban on travel to the U.S. from several mostly Muslim countries, but only after courts had blocked the first two versions of it. The same five conservative justices backed Trumps firing of the head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and cleared the way for the administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico, while a lawsuit over the money continued. At the same time, Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the courts then-four justice liberal bloc to prevent Trump from ending the DACA program for immigrants who were brought here as children. The same five-justice majority also stopped the administration from including a question about citizenship on the 2020 census.Roberts also bluntly rebuked Trump for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an Obama judge.One big difference from the first Trump presidency is that there are just three liberal justices, after Ruth Bader Ginsburgs death in September 2020 allowed Trump to appoint a third justice, Amy Coney Barrett, in the final months of his term. She joined earlier Trump appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Birthright citizenship could offer a critical early testThe issue that might be first in line this time is Trumps order ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally. The administration already has indicated it will appeal a judges ruling that has so far blocked it.Depending on how quickly the federal appeals court in San Francisco acts, an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court could arrive within weeks if Trumps Justice Department wants to press courts to allow the order to take effect while the legal fight continues.While there is some support in legal circles for what Trump is trying to do, the more broadly held view among both liberal and conservative scholars is that this is a fight the president wont win.Im exceedingly skeptical about there being any votes for the birthright citizenship executive order as written, said Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who describes himself as right-of-center. Will Trumps order to freeze federal spending stand? Trumps now-paused effort to freeze federal spending and his call to shut down USAID also might meet resistance, even in front of the conservative court, though more modest reductions could fare better.The court will be more skeptical, especially if the administration tries to completely unwind an agency that has been created by statute, said Villanova University law professor Michael Moreland, who worked in the George W. Bush White House.The history of the travel ban, which the court eventually upheld after it was revised twice, is instructive, Adler said.Make the broad announcement thats a bit blunderbuss, a bit aggressive, that pushed the envelope. Then settle back to a more defensible space after pushback. It results in something more modest, but still dramatic, he said. The Biden administration figured out a legally defensible way not to spend border wall money that Congress appropriated. Theres a lot more play in the joints than people recognize, Adler said. The presidents power to fire is on firmer groundTrump is on firmer ground in his firing of National Labor Relations Board member Gynne A. Wilcox and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, all Democrats.Wilcox already has sued, arguing that federal law protects her from being arbitrarily dismissed.But even her lawyers acknowledged in their filing that her lawsuit could tee up a Supreme Court challenge to a 90-year-old precedent that Roberts and the other conservatives already have narrowed. The case known as Humphreys Executor held that President Franklin Roosevelt could not arbitrarily fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission, a ruling that applied to other independent federal agencies as well.That ruling, though, has run into a legal theory embraced by conservatives that says the Constitution gives all executive power to the president, the one person who is accountable to the entire American electorate.In the CFPB case in 2020, Roberts brushed aside Justice Elena Kagans complaint that the court was removing a measure of independence from political pressure.Roberts left Humphreys Executor standing, but diminished, even as Justice Clarence Thomas and Gorsuch wrote that they would have gone ahead and overruled it.If I had to speculate, Id say it would be if not outright overruled at least severely constrained, Moreland said.

President Donald Trump is pictured before boarding Air Force One at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-10T02:46:09Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin.For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.The move by Trump is the latest in what has been a rapid-fire effort by his new administration to enact sweeping change through executive order and proclamation on issues ranging from immigration, to gender and diversity, to the name of the Gulf of Mexico.Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the pennys cost. The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Every penny cost nearly $0.037 up from $0.031 the year before. The mint also loses money on the nickel, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make.It is unclear whether Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly one-cent coin. Currency specifications -- including the size and metal content of coins -- are dictated by Congress. But Robert K. Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, has argued that there might be wiggle room.The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies, he said last month.Members of Congress have repeatedly introduced legislation taking aim at the zinc coin with copper plating. Proposals over the years have attempted to temporarily suspend the pennys production, eliminate it from circulation, or require that prices be rounded to the nearest five cents, according to the Congressional Research Service. Proponents of eliminating the coin have cited cost savings, speedier checkouts at cash registers, and the fact that a number of countries have already eliminated their one-cent coins. Canada, for instance, stopped minting its penny in 2012.It wouldnt be the first time the U.S. eliminated its least valuable coin. The half-cent coin was discontinued by Congress in 1857.Trumps new administration has been sharply focused on cutting costs, with Musk, who has been brought on to lead the task, targeting entire agencies and large swaths of the federal workforce as he tries to identify a goal of $2 trillion in savings.Lets rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if its a penny at a time, Trump wrote in his post.Trump sent the message as he was departing New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl.___AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, and Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor before a TV election debate in Berlin, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (Michael Kappeler /dpa via AP)2025-02-09T22:01:04Z BERLIN (AP) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described President Donald Trumps suggestion that the U.S. could take ownership of the Gaza Strip, relocate its population and redevelop it as a scandal in a pre-election debate Sunday. His main challenger also voiced unease but suggested theres a lot of rhetoric coming from Washington.The center-left Scholz and center-right challenger Friedrich Merz, the front-runner in the Feb. 23 election, discussed top domestic issues such as Germanys struggling economy and migration, and also addressed foreign policy three weeks into Trumps new term.Asked what he made of Trumps proposal to redevelop Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East, Scholz replied: A scandal. Besides that, a really terrible expression, given the extent of the destruction that is now visible there. The relocation of populations is unacceptable and against international law, he added in the debate on ARD and ZDF public television. He pointed to the position of Egypt and Jordan. I share this assessment, Merz said. But it is one of a whole series of proposals coming from the American administration that are certainly disconcerting, but one has to wait and see what is really meant seriously and how it is implemented theres probably a lot of rhetoric in this. The two candidates differed in their assessment of a Trump order directing the federal government to recognize only two sexes male and female. Merz said it is a decision I can understand. I think its inappropriate, Scholz said. Every person should be happy the way they want to be happy.Merz said the new U.S. president is predictably unpredictable. He said that there are significant concerns on this side of the Atlantic about what else is coming; so its all the more important that we on this side of the Atlantic are as united as possible. He said that, if elected, he would put a great deal of effort into ensuring such European unity. Scholz said that his strategy for dealing with Trump is clear words and friendly conversations. He pointed to his public statements after Trump said he wouldnt rule out the use of military force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland that all countries must respect existing borders.He also pointed to the importance of European unity and said he and other countries are working on proposals to increase NATOs presence in Greenland.Asked about a response to possible U.S. tariffs against the EU, Scholz said: We are prepared ... We can act in an hour as the European Union.

A flag is raised during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)2025-02-10T07:05:21Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A performer at Kendrick Lamars Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag referencing both Sudan and the Gaza Strip, providing a brief protest referencing two wars shaking the Middle East. Security at the stadium detained the performer shortly after waving the flag atop a car used as a prop in the performance. Its unclear if the performer, as of yet unnamed by authorities, would face any charges. The NFL said the person would be banned for life from NFL stadiums and events, while the company behind the halftime show said it was not part of the planned performance. But whats happening in Gaza and Sudan? And how does it affect the wider world? The Associated Press explains whats going on. Whats happening in the Gaza Strip?The Gaza Strip is an enclave along the Mediterranean Sea bordered by both Egypt and Israel. Its some 360 square kilometers (140 square miles) about the twice the size of Washington and 3 times the size of Paris. But its incredibly densely populated and was home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the start of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. That war began when Hamas, a militant group thats ruled Gaza since 2007, stormed across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Israel responded with a devastating ground and air campaign striking across Gaza, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Much of the territory has been obliterated. A ceasefire in the war began Jan. 19 and is still holding. Palestinian militants have freed hostages while Israel has released Palestinians held in prisons there. However, worries remains over whether the peace will hold. Comments by President Donald Trump, who was on hand Sunday night for the Super Bowl, suggesting the U.S. was committed to buying and owning Gaza, also have upended discussions about the enclaves future. AP @ the Super Bowl Live coverage from both on and off the field. What time does the Super Bowl start? Our guide to the game The ads youll be watching Kendrick Lamar is ready for halftime See who won the AP MVP and other awards The Palestinians want the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for a future state of their own, with east Jerusalem as its capital. That long-sought, two-state solution for the decadeslong conflict is backed by Mideast nations and much of the international community. Israel has expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gazas population, with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday calling it a revolutionary, creative vision. Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it. Whats happening in Sudan? Sudan, a nation in East Africa, has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led a military coup in 2021.The RSF and Sudans military began fighting each other in 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war. In recent weeks, Burhans forces including Sudans military and allied militias have advanced against the RSF. They retook a key refinery north of Khartoum, Sudans capital. Theyve also pushed in on RSF positions around Khartoum itself. That fighting has led to an increase in civilian casualties. From Jan. 31 until Feb. 5, the U.N.s Human Rights Office documented at least 275 civilian deaths from artillery, airstrikes and drone assaults.Indiscriminate attacks, as well as threats and attacks directed against civilians must cease immediately, said Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Office. The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and their allied movements and militias must respect their international law obligations and take concrete steps to protect civilians from harm, including humanitarian workers and human rights defenders. Have these wars come up in popular culture before?Online, activists have sought to draw attention to both the Gaza Strip and Sudan, though the conflicts have different roots and participants. However, the idea of the two conflicts being linked by their devastation has been made by celebrities. In August, American rapper Macklemore said he canceled a concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates role in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in Sudan through its reported support of the paramilitary force thats been fighting government troops there. While the UAE repeatedly has denied arming the RSF, U.N. experts reported credible evidence last year showed that the Emirates sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.Macklemore at the time said he reconsidered the show in part over his recent, public support of Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war. He has been performing a song called Hinds Hall, in honor of a young girl named Hind Rajab killed in Gaza in a shooting Palestinians have blamed on Israeli forces opening fire on a civilian car. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

U.S. Vice President JD Vance looks on prior to boarding Air Force Two for travel to France from Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via A)2025-02-10T06:02:04Z PARIS (AP) Major world political leaders are meeting for an AI summit in Paris, where challenging diplomatic talks are expected while tech titans fight for dominance in the fast-moving technology industry.Heads of state, top government officials, CEOs and scientists from around 100 countries are participating in the two-day international summit starting Monday. High-profile attendees include U.S. Vice President JD Vance, on his first overseas trip since taking office, and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.Were living a technology and scientific revolution weve rarely seen, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday on national television France 2. France and Europe must seize the opportunity because AI will enable us to live better, learn better, work better, care better and its up to us to put this artificial intelligence at the service of human beings, he said. Vances debut abroadThe summit will give some European leaders a chance to meet Vance for the first time. The 40-year-old vice president was just 18 months into his time as Ohios junior senator when Donald Trump picked him as his running mate.On Tuesday, Vance will have a working lunch with Macron, with discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East on the menu. Vance, like President Donald Trump, has questioned U.S. spending on Ukraine and the approach to isolating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump promised to end the fighting within six months of taking office. Vance will attend later this week the Munich Security Conference, where he may meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The vice president was joined by his wife Usha and their three children Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel for the trip to Europe.Leaders in Europe have been watching carefully Trumps recent statements on threats to impose tariffs on the European Union, take control of Greenland and his suggestion that Palestinians clear out Gaza once the fighting in the Israel-Hamas conflict ends an idea thats been flatly rejected by Arab allies. Fostering AI advancesThe summit, which gathers major players such as Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, aims at fostering AI advances in sectors like health, education, environment and culture. A global public-private partnership named Current AI is to be launched to support large-scale initiatives that serve the general interest. The Paris summit is the first time well have had such a broad international discussion in one place on the future of AI, said Linda Griffin, vice president of public policy at Mozilla. I see it as a norm-setting moment.Nick Reiners, senior geotechnology analyst at Eurasia Group, noted an opportunity to shape AI governance in a new direction by moving away from this concentration of power amongst a handful of private actors and building this public interest AI instead.However, it remains unclear if the U.S. will support such initiatives.French organizers also hope the summit will lead to major investment announcements in Europe. France is to announce AI private investments worth a total of 109 billion euros ($113 billion) over the coming years, Macron said, presenting it as the equivalent of Trumps Stargate AI data centers project. Indian PM co-hosting the summitIndias Prime Minister Narendra Modi is co-hosting the summit with Macron, in an effort to involve more global actors in AI development and prevent the sector from becoming a U.S.-China battle. Indias foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, stressed the need for equitable access to AI to avoid perpetuating a digital divide that is already existing across the world.Macron will also travel Wednesday with Modi to the southern city port of Marseille to inaugurate a new Indian consulate and visit the ITER nuclear research site. France has become a key defense partner for India, with talks underway on purchasing 26 Rafale fighter jets and three Scorpene submarines. Officials in New Delhi said discussions are in final phase and the deal could be inked in a few weeks.___AP journalists Kelvin Chan in Paris and Aijaz Hussain in New Delhi contributed to this report. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto

Palestinian motorists waiting in line at the Ein Senia Israeli army checkpoint are seen through an iron gate north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)2025-02-10T05:13:13Z RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) Abdullah Fauzi, a banker from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, leaves home at 4 a.m. to reach his job by 8, and hes often late.His commute used to take an hour until Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, after which Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip.The Israeli military also ramped up raids against Palestinian militants in the northern West Bank, and diverted its residents through seven new checkpoints, doubling Fauzis time on the road.Now its gotten worse. Since the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas took effect, Fauzis drive to the West Banks business and administrative hub, Ramallah, has become a convoluted, at least four-hour wiggle through steep lanes and farm roads as Israel further tightens the noose around Palestinian cities in measures it considers essential to guard against militant attacks. You can fly to Paris while were not reaching our homes, the 42-year-old said from the Atara checkpoint outside Ramallah last week, as Israeli soldiers searched scores of cars, one by one. Whatever this is, theyve planned it well, he said. Its well-designed to make our life hell. A ceasefire begets violenceAs the truce between Israel and Hamas took hold on Jan. 19, radical Israeli settlers incensed over an apparent end to the war and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages rampaged through West Bank towns, torching cars and homes. Two days later, Israeli forces with drones and attack helicopters descended on the northern West Bank city of Jenin, long a center of militant activity. More checkpoints started going up between Palestinian cities, slicing up the occupied West Bank and creating choke points the Israeli army can shut off on a whim. Crossings that had been open 24/7 started closing during morning and evening rush hours, upturning the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. New barriers earthen mounds, iron gates multiplied, pushing Palestinian cars off well-paved roads and onto rutted paths through open fields. What was once a soldiers glance and head tilt became international border-like inspections. Israel says the measures are to prevent Hamas from opening a new front in the West Bank. But many experts suspect the crackdown has more to do with assuaging settler leaders like Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister and an important ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has threatened to topple the government if Israel does not restart the war in Gaza.Israel now has a free hand to pursue what it has wanted to in the West Bank for a long time: settlement expansion, annexation, said Tahani Mustafa, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. It was considered a potential trade-off.Asked why Israel launched the crackdown during the ceasefire, the Israeli military said politicians gave the order in part over concerns that the release of Palestinian prisoners in swaps for Israeli hostages held by Hamas could raise tensions in the West Bank.The checkpoints all over the West Bank, it said, were to ensure safe movement and expand inspections.Checkpoints are a tool we use in the fight against terror, enabling civilian movement while providing a layer of screening to prevent terrorists from escaping, said Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman. Life disrupted To spend rush hour at an Israeli checkpoint is to hear of the problems it has brought Palestinian families divided, money lost, trade disrupted, sick people kept from doctors.Ahmed Jibril said not even his position as manager of emergency services for the Palestinian Red Crescent protects him.Were treated like any other private car, he said, describing dozens of cases in which Israeli soldiers forced ambulances to wait for inspection when they were responding to emergency calls.In one case, on Jan. 21, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that a 46-year-old woman who had suffered a heart attack in the southern city of Hebron died while waiting to cross a checkpoint. The Israeli military said it was not aware of that specific incident. But citing Hamas use of civilian infrastructure like hospitals to conceal fighters, the army acknowledged subjecting medical teams to security checks while trying to reduce the delay as much as possible in order to mitigate harm. The U.N. humanitarian agency, or OCHA, reported that, as of last Nov. 28, Israel had 793 checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, 228 more than before the war in Gaza. The agency hasnt updated the tally since the ceasefire, but its latest report noted a surge in suffocating restrictions that are tearing communities apart and largely paralyzing daily life. A bubble burstsWith its upscale restaurants and yoga studios, Ramallah gained a reputation in past conflicts for being something of a well-to-do bubble where cafe-hopping residents can feel immune to the harsh realities of the occupation. Now its residents, struck in numbingly long lines to run simple errands, feel under siege.All we want to do is go home, said Mary Elia, 70, stalled with her husband for nearly two hours at the Ein Senia checkpoint north of Ramallah last week, as they made their way home to east Jerusalem from their daughters house. Are we meant to never see our grandchildren? Suddenly, her face contorted in discomfort. She had to urinate, she said, and there were hours to go before they crossed.A national obsessionRoll down the window at a bottlenecked checkpoint and the same soothing female voice can be heard emanating from countless car radios, reeling off every Israeli checkpoint, followed by salik Arabic for open or mughlaq, closed, based on the conditions of the moment. These reports recently beat out weather broadcasts for top slot on the West Bank radio lineup. Almost every Palestinian driver seems able to expound on the latest checkpoint operating hours, the minutiae of soldiers mood changes and fiercely defended opinions about the most efficient detours.I didnt ask for a Ph.D. in this, said Yasin Fityani, 30, an engineer stuck in line to leave Ramallah for work, scrolling through new checkpoint-dedicated WhatsApp groups filled with footage of soldiers installing cement barriers and fistfights erupting over someone cutting the line.Lost time, lost moneyIt was the second time in as many weeks that his boss at the Jerusalem bus company called off his morning shift because he was late. Worse still for Nidal Al-Maghribi, 34, it was too dangerous to back out of the queue of frustrated motorists waiting to pass Jaba checkpoint, which severs his east Jerusalem neighborhood from the rest of the city. Another full days work wasted in his car.What am I supposed to tell my wife? he asked, pausing to keep his composure. This job is how I feed my kids.Palestinian trucks, packed with perishable food and construction materials, are not spared the scrutiny. Soldiers often ask truckers to pull over and unload their cargo for inspection. Fruit rots. Textiles and electronics get damaged.The delays raise prices, further choking a Palestinian economy that shrank 28% last year as a result of punitive Israeli policies imposed after Hamas attack, said Palestinian Economy Minister Mohammad Alamour. Israels ban on most Palestinian workers has left 30% of the West Banks workforce jobless.These barriers do everything except their stated purpose of providing security, Alamour said. They pressure the Palestinian people and the Palestinian economy. They make people want to leave their country. ISABEL DEBRE DeBre writes about Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for The Associated Press, based in Buenos Aires. Before moving to South America in 2024, she covered the Middle East reporting from Jerusalem, Cairo and Dubai. twitter mailto

Free Syrian Army fighters walk through tunnels built by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces under the town of Tel Rifaat in the Aleppo region of northern Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)2025-02-10T05:04:06Z TEL RIFAAT, Syria (AP) The long anticipated return home for residents of the Syrian town of Tel Rifaat, displaced since 2014, has collided with a painful reality scars of war, streets lined with rubble and ruins standing in place of their homes. Years of fighting and military fortifications have left an unmistakable mark on the town, a key flashpoint in the conflict between Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups in northern Syria.During Syrias civil war, Tel Rifaat became part of the repeated cycles of fighting and displacement that have played out since 2011. Syrian Kurdish forces took control of the town in 2016, displacing most of its population. In other places, like the town of Afrin, Kurdish resident were displaced after Turkish-backed forces took control, and many fled to Tel Rifaat. In December, during a lightning offensive by Syrian rebels that ousted President Bashar Assad, the tables were turned again as Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. Those who have returned to Tel Rifaat since then were met with an unexpected discovery a vast network of underground tunnels that local authorities say were dug during the time when the SDF controlled the area. The network, built for military use, runs beneath homes, schools, and public buildings, weakening the structures on the ground above. Some walls have cracked and what remains lies on an unstable foundation, making reconstruction even more difficult and adding to the challenges of rebuilding the town. Inside their homes, returning families met with further signs of loss. Doors hang from broken hinges, walls are scarred by neglect, and rooms have been stripped of essentials wiring, plumbing, even furniture. Nothing valuable has been left behind. Signs of hurried departures are everywhere abandoned belongings, scattered debris, and makeshift barricades hastily dismantled. On the towns outskirts, a concrete wall, once a military barrier, cuts through parts of the town. Built by the SDF fighters as a defensive structure, it now stands an unwanted remnant of the past, blocking access to farmland.Infrastructure is poor, with water and electricity networks barely functional. Still, despite the destruction or perhaps because of it, the people of Tel Rifaat say they are busy clearing the rubble and getting their lives back on track.

A Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) feeds on agave nectar in Nuevo Len, Mexico, in July 2022. (Chris Galloway/Horizonline Pictures/Bat Conservation International via AP)2025-02-10T05:05:03Z FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) Scientists have long suspected that Mexican long-nosed bats migrate through southeastern Arizona, but without capturing and measuring the night-flying creatures, proof has been elusive.Researchers say they now have a way to tell the endangered species apart from other bats by analyzing saliva the nocturnal mammals leave behind when sipping nectar from plants and residential hummingbird feeders. Bat Conservation International, a nonprofit group working to end the extinction of bat species worldwide, teamed up with residents from southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and west Texas for the saliva swabbing campaign.The samples of saliva left along potential migration routes were sent to a lab at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where researchers looked for environmental DNA or eDNA to confirm that the bats cycle through Arizona and consider the region their part-time home. The Mexican long-nosed bat has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1988, and is the only one in Arizona with that federal protection. It is an important species for pollinating cactus, agave and other desert plants. Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced the discovery in late January. While expanding Arizonas list of bat species to 29 is exciting, wildlife managers say the use of this novel, noninvasive method to nail it down also deserves to be celebrated. If we were trying to identify the species in the absence of eDNA, biologists could spend hours and hours trying to catch one of these bats, and even then, youre not guaranteed to be successful, said Angie McIntire, a bat specialist for the Arizonas Game and Fish Department. By sampling the environment, eDNA gives us an additional tool for our toolkit.Every spring, Mexican long-nosed bats traverse a lengthy migratory path north from Mexico into the southwestern U.S., following the sweet nectar of their favorite blooming plants like breadcrumbs. They return along the same route in the fall. The bat conservation group recruited ordinary citizens for the mission, giving them kits to swab samples from bird feeders throughout the summer and fall.Inside the university lab, microbiology major Anna Riley extracted the DNA from hundreds of samples and ran them through machines that ultimately could detect the presence of bats. Part of the work involved a steady hand, with Riley using a syringe of sorts to transfer diluted DNA into tiny vials before popping them into a centrifuge.Sample after sample, vial after vial, the meticulous work took months.Theres a big database that has DNA sequences of not every animal but most species, and so we could compare our DNA sequences we got from these samples to whats in the database, Riley said. A little bit like a Google search youve got your question, youre asking Google, you plug it into the database, and it turns up youve got a bat, and you have this kind of bat. Kristen Lear, of the conservation group, said the collection of eDNA has been used successfully for determining the presence of other kinds of wildlife in various environments, so the group proposed trying it with bats.They do apparently leave behind a lot of spit on these plants and hummingbird feeders, Lear said.___ONeil reported from Las Vegas. Gabriel Sandoval, a corps member for the Associated Press/ Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)2025-02-10T07:45:52Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40--22 in the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans in a dozen years. It was played amid heavy security and with President Donald Trump in attendance just 41 days after a man plowed a truck into New Years revelers on Bourbon Street.There were tributes before the game, and some big plays during it.Heres a look at some of the more memorable moments from Sunday nights NFL title tilt. Fly Eagles Fly The Eagles convincingly captured the second Super Bowl trophy in franchise history while preventing Kansas City from achieving the first three-peat of the NFLs Super Bowl era. Hurts opened scoring on Philadelphias patented tush push play from 1 yard out in the first quarter. Rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean returned an interception 38 yards for a score and Hurts found A.J. Brown with a 12-yard scoring pass that gave the Eagles a stunning 24-0 lead at halftime.The Eagles widened their lead to 34-0 in the third quarter on Hurts 46-yard scoring strike deep down the middle to DeVonta Smith before Kansas City finally got on the board. We were here to play the game and make sure that green confetti fell at the end, Brown said.Virtually all the Chiefs points were academic, but made Patrick Mahomes statistical line (257 yards passing and three TDs) look a lot better than they did after one of his worst first halves of football as a pro. Defensive dominanceThe Eagles held Mahomes to just 6 of 14 passing for 33 yards in the first half, and also became the first NFL team to sack Mahomes as many as three times and intercept him twice in the first half of any regular-season or playoff game.DeJean, who also was celebrating his 22nd birthday on Sunday, made it 17-0 with his interception return in the second quarter. He undercut a pass intended for DeAndre Hopkins and crossed most of the field before weaving his way through pursuing Chiefs players near the Eagles sideline during the final 5 yards of his return. Late in the second quarter, former New Orleans Saints linebacker Zach Baun made a diving interception of a Mahomes pass at the Kansas City 14, setting up Hurts TD pass to Brown.Philadelphia finished with six sacks of Mahomes, the most the Chiefs QB has taken in a game in his NFL career. We didnt pressure much, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. Hes so good against pressure that I was hoping we could play the game without having to pressure much and that happened.Rushing record Philadelphias Saquon Barkley, the AP Offensive Player of the Year, completed the most prolific NFL season ever by a running back.Barkley entered the Super Bowl needing 30 yards to break the record of 2,476 yards rushing set by Terrell Davis in 1998, when he helped the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl. Barkley had 31 by halftime and finished with 57 yards, giving him 2,504 yards in 20 games. Davis set his mark in 18 contests. Presidential visit Trump became the first sitting US president to attend a Super Bowl.Trump spent a few minutes on the field before he headed to his suite to watch the game with Saints owner Gayle Benson, along with several lawmakers and family members.After entering through a tunnel near the Chiefs end of the field, Trump greeted first responders and victims of the New Years Day attack in the French Quarter.He was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from fans.As expected, Trump left the game after halftime.Before Trump exited, Mahomes mother, brother and sister posed for a photo with him.Kendrick LamarWith actor Samuel L. Jackson serving as emcee and dressed like Uncle Sam, Kendrick Lamar opened his halftime performance crouched atop a Buick Grand National Experimental the car for which his newest album, GNX, is named.Dancers wearing red, white and blue came pouring out of the car and moved in sync to songs such as Humble.Guest star SZA later joined Lamar for their slow-jam-style collaboration Luther.Near the conclusion of his performance, Lamar transitioned to Not Like Us, which won him Grammys for song of the year and record of the year. The song also takes shots at rival artist Drake, who has sued the Universal Music Group record label for defamation over the track. Big Easy bashWhat is already considered Carnival season in New Orleans it runs from Twelfth Night through Mardi Gras Day was ramped up even more with a week of Super Bowl-related festivities.The NFL Honors awards show was held at the historic Saenger Theater, where Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was named AP NFL Most Valuable Player for the 2024 season, and the Minnesota Vikings Kevin OConnell was named AP NFL Coach of the Year.But nothing, it seemed, was more talked about than 72-year-old former NFL coach Bill Belichick now the coach of the North Carolina Tarheels arriving on the red carpet with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson. Meanwhile, there were parties all over town, with several popular restaurants and cocktail bars from Nina Comptons Compere Lapin to the Columns Hotel and Hot Tin bar atop the roof of the Pontchartrain Hotel rented out for Super Bowl visitors private events.While there was a heavy law enforcement presence, it didnt stop crowds from flocking to the famed French Quarter.New Orleans flairPregame performances were highlighted by several musical artists from Louisiana.Harry Connick Jr. performed a rendition of Professor Longhairs, Go to the Mardi Gras. Terence Blanchard joined the Southern University Band, nicknamed the Human Jukebox, to perform Teddy Swims Lose Control.Trombone Shorty joined singer Lauren Daigle to perform America the Beautiful, and Jon Batiste sang The Star Spangled Banner, while playing a grand piano at midfield.Somber remembrances Shortly before the coin toss, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan introduced local first responders who responded to the Jan. 1 terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.Each of them held a photo of one of the 14 New Years revelers who died in the attack.Family members of two of the victims Tiger Bech and Matthew Tenedorio were on the field as honorary captains.Together, we rise. Together, we heal. Together we will carry your memory with us forever, Jordan said.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A Palestinian man wearing a red shirt, left, stands amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings, watching Israeli soldiers, bottom right, take position in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)2025-02-10T09:48:56Z Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again rejected a U.S. proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and said Israel should pay for the damage it caused there and for reconstruction to begin.We do not consider the proposal to exile the Palestinians from the lands they have lived in for thousands of years as something to be taken seriously, Erdogan said during a visit to Malaysia on Monday.No one has the power to force the Palestinian people to experience a second Nakba, he added, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.Erdogan, who is on a four-day tour of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, highlighted the severe destruction in Gaza.He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government should look for funds to compensate for what he said was damage amounting to $100 billion instead of looking for a place for the people of Gaza.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, attends the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP, File)2025-02-10T11:25:23Z LONDON (AP) The head of the U.N. AIDS agency said Monday the number of new HIV infections could jump more than six times by 2029 if American support of the biggest AIDS program is dropped, warning that millions of people could die and more resistant strains of the disease could emerge.In an interview with The Associated Press, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said HIV infections have been falling in recent years, with just 1.3 million new cases recorded in 2023, a 60% decline since the virus peaked in 1995. But since President Donald Trumps announcement the U.S. would freeze all foreign assistance for 90 days, Byanyima said officials estimate that by 2029, there could be 8.7 million people newly infected with HIV, a tenfold jump in AIDS-related deaths to 6.3 million and an additional 3.4 million children made orphans. We will see a surge in this disease, Byanyima said, speaking from Uganda. This will cost lives if the American government doesnt change its mind and maintain its leadership, she said, adding that it was not her place to criticize any governments policy. Byanyima pleaded with the Trump administration not to abruptly cut off funding, which she said has resulted in panic, fear and confusion in many of the African countries hardest hit by AIDS. In one Kenyan county, she said 550 HIV workers were immediately laid off, while thousands of others in Ethiopia were terminated, leaving health officials unable to track the epidemic. She noted that the loss of U.S. funding to HIV programs in some countries was catastrophic, with external funding, mostly from the U.S., accounting for about 90% of their programs. Nearly $400 million goes to countries like Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania, she said.We can work with (the Americans) on how to decrease their contribution if they wish to decrease it, she said. Byanyima described the American withdrawal from global HIV efforts as the second biggest crisis the field has ever faced after the years-long delay it took for poor countries to get the lifesaving antiretrovirals long available in rich countries. Byanyima also said the loss of American support in efforts to combat HIV was coming at another critical time, with the arrival of what she called a magical prevention tool known as lenacapavir, a twice-yearly shot that was shown to offer complete protection against HIV in women, and which worked nearly as well as for men. Widespread use of that shot, in addition to other interventions to stop HIV, could help end the disease as a public health problem in the next five years, Byanyima said.She also noted that lenacapavir, sold as Sunlenca, was developed by the American company Gilead.International aid, Byanyima said, helped an American company to innovate, to come up with something that will pay them millions and millions, but at the same time prevent new infections in the rest of the world. The freeze in American funding, she said, didnt make economic sense.We appeal to the U.S. government to review this, to understand that this is mutually beneficial, she said, noting that foreign assistance makes up less than 1% of the overall U.S. budget. Why would you need to be so disruptive for that 1%? Byanyima said that so far, no other countries or donors have stepped up to fill the void that will be left by the loss of American aid, but that she plans to visit numerous European capitals to speak with global leaders.People are going to die because lifesaving tools have been taken away from them, she said. I have not yet heard of any European country committing to step in, but I know they are listening and trying to see where they can come in because they care about rights, about humanity. ___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.

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)2025-02-10T10:39:25Z TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Chinas tit-for-tat duties on U.S. imports took effect Monday, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he wants to slap new duties on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S.The rapid-fire shots of tariffs and import curbs hearken back to Trumps first term in office, when the U.S. and China engaged in a trade war that spanned most of Trumps first four years in office and was continued to a certain extent under his successor, Joe Biden.Less than a month after returning to the White House on Jan. 20, Trump slapped 10% duties on all Chinese imports, a move thats expected to raise prices on goods including laptops, toys and fast fashion.China responded with 15% duties on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. Beijing also launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Google and added PVH, the owner of U.S. fashion brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, to its unreliable entity list. China also restricted the exports of five rare metals used as key components in the defense and clean energy industries among others. As the new frictions threaten to escalate into a trade war, here are some key moments in the countries yearslong trade spat: March 2017 Shortly after becoming U.S. president for the first time, Trump, determined to reduce trade deficits with other countries, signs an executive order calling for tighter tariff enforcement in anti-dumping cases. April 2017 During a visit to Beijing, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agree to a 100-day plan for trade talks meant to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China. The trade talks fail by July.August 2017 Trump launches an investigation into alleged Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property, which the U.S. estimated was costing it up to $600 billion a year. January 2018 The U.S. announces 30% tariffs on imported solar panels, which come mostly from China.April 2018 Beijing hits back with tariffs on U.S. imports worth about $3 billion, including 15% duties on products including fruits, nuts, wine and steel pipes, and a 25% tax on pork, recycled aluminum and six other types of goods.A day later, the U.S. ups the ante by slapping a 25% tax on Chinese goods from the aerospace, machinery and medical industries worth about $50 billion. China retaliates with 25% duties on aircraft, automobiles, soybeans and chemicals among other imports, worth about another $50 billion.June-August 2018 The two countries impose at least three more rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs affecting more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and more than $110 billion worth of U.S. imports to China. These include 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods that take effect in September 2018 and are supposed to increase to 25% on Jan. 1, 2019.December-May 2019 Washington and Beijing fail to iron out a trade deal after agreeing to halt new tariffs in December 2019. After the talks collapse, Trump goes ahead and raises tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. May 2019 Washington bans Chinese technology company Huawei from buying parts and components from U.S. companies.June 2019Trump and Xi agree in a phone call to restart trade talks, but these hit numerous snags in the next five months.January 2020 The U.S. and China sign a Phase One trade deal through which China commits to buying an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods and services over the next two years. However, a research group later found China had bought essentially none of the goods it had promised.October 2022 Biden, who had retained most of the tariffs enacted under Trump, issues sweeping new restrictions on selling semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China. These curbs will be expanded in October 2023 and December 2024.February 2024 On his campaign trail, Trump says that he plans to impose tariffs of at least 60% on all Chinese imports if he wins a second term in office.May 2024 Biden raises tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment.Feb. 4, 2025 New 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S. come into effect. China retaliates the same day by announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including the duties on American coal, liquefied natural gas and agricultural machinery. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump is pictured before boarding Air Force One at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-10T14:36:38Z CONCORD, N.H. (AP) A third federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trumps executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in New Hampshire comes after two similar rulings by judges in Seattle and Maryland last week.A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union contends that Trumps order violates the Constitution and attempts to upend one of the most fundamental American constitutional values.Trumps Republican administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and therefore are not entitled to citizenship. The administration is appealing the Seattle judges block on Trumps executive order. At the heart of the lawsuits in the three cases is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which held that Scott, an enslaved man, wasnt a citizen despite having lived in a state where slavery was outlawed. In 1898, in a case known as United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the U.S. Supreme Court found the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon being born on U.S. soil were children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes.The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship the principle of jus soli, or right of the soil is applied. Most are in the Americas and Canada and Mexico are among them.___Associated Press writer Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this story. 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

A new paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University finds that as humans increasingly rely on generative AI in their work, they use less critical thinking, which can result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.[A] key irony of automation is that by mechanising routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise, the researchers wrote.The researchers recruited 319 knowledge workers for the study, who self reported 936 first-hand examples of using generative AI in their job, and asked them to complete a survey about how they use generative AI (including what tools and prompts), how confident they are the generative AI tools ability to do the specific work task, how confident they are in evaluating the AIs output, and how confident they are in their out abilities in completing the same work task without the AI tool. Some tasks cited in the paper include a teacher using the AI image generator DALL-E to create images for a presentation about hand washing at school, a commodities trader using ChatGPT to generate recommendations for new resources and strategies to explore to hone my trading skills, and a nurse who verified a ChatGPT-generated educational pamphlet for newly diagnosed diabetic patients.Overall, these workers self-reported that the more confidence they had in AI doing the task, the more they observed their perceived enaction of critical thinking. When users had less confidence in the AIs output, they used more critical thinking and had more confidence in their ability to evaluate and improve the quality of the AIs output and mitigate the consequences of AI responses.The data shows a shift in cognitive effort as knowledge workers increasingly move from task execution to oversight when using GenAI, the researchers wrote. Surprisingly, while AI can improve efficiency, it may also reduce critical engagement, particularly in routine or lower-stakes tasks in which users simply rely on AI, raising concerns about long-term reliance and diminished independent problem-solving.The researchers also found that users with access to GenAI tools produce a less diverse set of outcomes for the same task, compared to those without. This tendency for convergence reflects a lack of personal, contextualised, critical and reflective judgement of AI output and thus can be interpreted as a deterioration of critical thinking.The researchers also noted some unsurprising conditions that make workers use more or less critical thinking and pay attention to the quality of the AI outputs. For example, workers who felt crunched for time used less critical thinking, while workers in high-stakes scenarios and workplaces who were worried about harm caused by faulty outputs used more critical thinking.So, does this mean AI is making us dumb, is inherently bad, and should be abolished to save humanity's collective intelligence from being atrophied? Thats an understandable response to evidence suggesting that AI tools are reducing critical thinking among nurses, teachers, and commodity traders, but the researchers perspective is not that simple. As they correctly point out, humanity has a long history of offloading cognitive tasks to new technologies as they emerge and that people are always worried these technologies will destroy human intelligence.Generative AI tools [...] are the latest in a long line of technologies that raise questions about their impact on the quality of human thought, a line that includes writing (objected to by Socrates), printing (objected to by Trithemius), calculators (objected to by teachers of arithmetic), and the Internet, the researcher wrote. Such consternation is not unfounded. Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.I, for example, am old enough to remember a time when I memorized the phone numbers of many friends and family members. The only number I remember now that all those contacts are saved on my phone is my own. I also remember when I first moved to San Francisco for college I bought a little pocket map and eventually learned to navigate the city and which Muni busses to take where. There are very few places I can get to today without Google Maps.I dont feel particularly dumb for outsourcing my brains phonebook to a digital contacts list, but the same kind of outsourcing could be dangerous in a critical job where someone is overlying on AI tools, stops using critical thinking, and incorporates bad outputs into their work. As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, and the biggest investor in OpenAI, Microsoft is pot committed to the rapid development of generative AI tools, so unsurprisingly the researchers here have some thoughts about how to develop AI tools without making us all incredibly dumb. To avoid that situation, the researchers suggest developing AI tools with this problem in mind and design them so they motivate users to use critical thinking.GenAI tools could incorporate features that facilitate user learning, such as providing explanations of AI reasoning, suggesting areas for user refinement, or offering guided critiques, the researchers wrote. The tool could help develop specific critical thinking skills, such as analysing arguments, or cross-referencing facts against authoritative sources. This would align with the motivation enhancing approach of positioning AI as a partner in skill development.

For over a decade, Damez has been making his mark as an independent artist, navigating the highs and lows of the industry with grit, resilience, and an undeniable passion for his craft. Now, with his latest single, Long Way Now, he is stepping into new sonic territory, embracing country music in a way that is [...]The post Damez Shines While Exploring New Musical Horizons with Long Way Now Single first appeared on GLAAD.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-10T16:42:53Z WASHINGTON (AP) The head of the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that seeks to protect whistleblowers, sued President Donald Trump on Monday, saying he was illegally fired as part of the presidents massive overhaul of the government. Hampton Dellinger was informed of his firing in an email Friday evening from the White House personnel director, who said he was writing on behalf of the president. His termination comes as Trumps Republican administration is testing the limits of well-established civil service protections by moving to dismantle federal agencies and push out staffersDellinger notes in his lawsuit, filed in Washington federal court, that special counsels can be removed by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.President Trumps purported removal of Special Counsel Dellinger is unlawful, the lawsuit says. It has no basis in fact and thus cannot be squared with the statutory text. And it is in direct conflict with nearly a century of precedent that defines the standard for removal of independent agency officials and upholds the legality of virtually identical for-cause removal protections for the heads of independent agencies. The Office of Special Counsel is responsible for enforcing multiple laws related to federal employees, including the Hatch Act, which restricts the partisan political activities of government workers. Its an independent agency separate and apart from Justice Department special counsels who are appointed by the attorney general for specific investigations, like Jack Smith. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto 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 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Rehan family in their encampment in the ruins of their home amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-02-10T16:21:12Z JERSUSALEM (AP) A Hamas spokesman on Monday accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement with the group, including targeting Palestinians in Gaza with airstrikes, and said that next Saturdays hostage release would be delayed. A Hamas spokesperson said Monday that the group will delay the next hostage release after accusing Israel of violating ceasefire agreement.Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire went into effect last month, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 prisoners. The next exchange was scheduled for Saturday, releasing three Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, accused Israel on Monday of systematically violating the ceasefire agreement over the past three weeks, and said Saturdays release would be delayed. The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemys violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement, Abu Ubaida said. This includes delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A sign stands at the construction site for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's headquarters in Washington, Aug. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file)2025-02-10T16:59:19Z WASHINGTON (AP) Over the weekend, some staff members at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw a sign of trouble to come. Windows in two basement conference rooms were covered with brown paper and blue painters tape, concealing their occupants. Voices could be heard inside discussing cuts to government agencies. When the door was cracked open, there were young people with temporary badges. It was fresh evidence that the agency, which was created to protect Americans from financial fraud, abuse and deceptive practices, was the newest target of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Now the Washington headquarters is shut down for the week, and there are fears that it will be gutted like the U.S. Agency for International Development.Pictures of the conference rooms were viewed by The Associated Press, and the scene was described by two current employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. The secrecy contradicts insistence by the White House that Musk is transparently fulfilling President Donald Trumps goal of downsizing the federal government. Russ Vought, Trumps budget chief, sent an email to employees on Monday morning saying they should not perform any work tasks. They were directed to contact the top lawyer for the Office of Management and Budget to get approval in writing before performing any work task. Vought is also serving as the bureaus acting director. The previous director, Rohit Chopra, was fired by Trump, a Republican, on Feb. 1. Voughts message followed one on Saturday evening that ordered the bureau to cease all supervision and examination activity.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, was created after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Officials said that it has obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers since its founding in the form of canceled debts, compensation and reduced loans. However, the bureau has been a target of conservatives for years, and some businesses have chafed at its investigations and regulatory oversight. On Friday night, Musk posted CFPB RIP on X, his social media platform. He added an emoji of a tombstone. When another person expressed approval of the plan, Musk wrote they did above zero good things, but still need to go.Since Congress created the CFPB, it would need to pass additional legislation to formally eliminate it. However, agency leadership can decide what enforcement actions to take, if any. Democrats and progressives expressed outrage over the Trump administrations decision to target the CFPB.Elon Musk and Russ Vought arent just testing the limits of the law theyre shattering them, daring anyone to stop them, said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the activist group Indivisible. This attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant power grab by billionaires who want to rig the system even further in their favor. 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

The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is pictured Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)2025-02-10T15:39:45Z LONDON (AP) The Saudis are furious. The Danes are scrambling. Colombia has backed down. Mexico and Canada stand in a purgatory between tariff wars with the US and not. China has retaliated, launching a trade war between the economic superpowers. The Brits, long proud of their special relationship with the United States, are leaning into their tradition of quiet diplomacy.Its as if President Donald Trump has flung a bag of marbles across the global stage, under the feet of foreign leaders who have often stepped together through eight decades of postwar global order.Everyone, it seems, is responding to Trump even Australias leader, when asked last week for his thoughts only a few hours after Trump announced the US would take over the decimated Gaza Strip and turn it into the Riviera of the Middle East.Im not going to, as Australias prime minister, give a daily commentary on statements by the U.S. president, Anthony Albanese told reporters. Acknowledged publicly or not, world leaders are watching Trumps wood-chipper approach to some American government institutions and wondering about those of the post-Cold War order: What of the U.S. roles in NATO, the United Nations, the World Bank and other pillars of the international order? On U.S.-controlled NATO, Trump has long questioned the value of the pact and threatened not to defend members of the alliance that fail to meet defense-spending goals. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump began to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization for the second time, an act that would leave the U.N. agency without its biggest donor. WHOs leaders huddled over a response and asked diplomats to lean on Washington to reverse Trumps decision. A German envoy worried: The roof is on fire. Trumps actions portend a permanent shift in the landscape not just a switch that flips back in four years time, wrote Heather Hurlburt, a political and international affairs expert with Chatham House, a think tank in London. Outside of leadership circles, anyone who depends on U.S. aid for food and medicine is coming to grips with the life-and-death implications of not having it after Trumps drive to dismantle USAID and its six-decade mission to stabilize countries by providing humanitarian aid. Were waiting for the decisions, but we are not very, I would say, optimistic, said Arjana Qosaj Mustafa of the Kosovo Womens Network, an umbrella group of 140 NGOs. But nevertheless, we are resilient. So well try to do our best.Emboldened by his reelection and with help from presidential friend Elon Musk, Trump has unleashed his signature chaos by distraction on the world. A story of flooding the zone and examples setPresidential orders and utterances hes suggested annexing Canada and taking over the Panama Canal occur at a speed that can atomize opposition. No one person or government can keep track of them all. And that, rather than clarity, is the effect of what Trumps allies call flooding the zone. Got a problem with it? Trump has an answer: Fafo, short for mess around and find out, except the first word isnt mess. The president posted the acronym on social media, complete with a photo of him in a fedora and pinstripes.Ask Colombia what happens when you say no to Trump. Its president briefly resisted planeloads of immigrants during Trumps first week until the 47th US president threatened the country with as much as a 50% hike in tariffs. Colombia accepted the immigrants. Boom, example set.The enforcement technique has long delighted Trumps supporters, who turned out for him during the 2024 election heavily influenced by their anxiety over the economy and their own finances, according to APVotecast. Trump says hes trying to save taxpayer money and spend it on issues that align with American interests.Take Greenland and the Gaza Strip. The isolationist, America first president says the U.S. will do so. He eventually ruled out using the military to move Gazas 2 million people elsewhere, but his plan to develop the seaside enclave into a luxury resort apparently stands. Never mind that friends and foes alike, from the volatile Mideast to China and the staid UK, have cast the idea as a nonstarter. Powerful Saudi Arabia issued an absolute rejection of it. Or that it could jeopardize the fragile hostages-for-prisoners ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, Egypts peace deal with Israel. It could violate international law, too.Also, Palestinians streaming back to what once were their homes after 15 months of relentless air raids overwhelmingly say theyre not leaving. But Trumps plan has found support in Israel, with leaders there taking care to say leaving would be voluntary rather than forced expulsion, which would be a war crime. World leaders scramble to leadWe are not a bad ally, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen found it necessary to tell reporters last week, like other leaders on their heels as they respond to the Trump administration.In this case, according to the Copenhagen Post, Frederiksen was responding to comments by Vice President JD Vance on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, that the EU and NATO member nation was not being a good ally. He repeated that an American acquisition of Greenland was possible.That came after Frederiksen had flown to European capitals last month to urge other countries on the continent to respond with one voice against Trumps vow to make Greenland part of the United States. Denmark also has legislation to crack down on racism toward Greenlanders and has sent $2 billion to the Arctic island for its security. Federiksen also shared a photo on Facebook Jan. 29 of European leaders dining at her home, with the caption: We have always stood together in the Nordic countries. And with the new and more unpredictable reality in which we are facing, good and close alliances and friendships have only become more important.The sentiment is spreading to larger groups. A recent meeting of EU leaders in Brussels that was supposed to be about boosting defense against the Russian threat became very much about Trump.We have to do everything to avoid this totally unnecessary and stupid tariff war or trade war, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters. He said Trumps threats of tariffs on the EU amount to a serious test of European unity, and Its the first time where we have such a problem among allies. Europes leaders said they were going to wait to see the details of what Trump is proposing. In Greenland, meanwhile, Trumps remarks have fueled a generational fight for full independence from Denmark and become a key issue ahead of elections in March. Some of its leaders have said the worlds largest island, home to 57,000 people, doesnt want to be part of the United States or Denmark. The unfortunate rhetoric has caused a lot of worry and concern not only in Greenland but the rest of the Western Alliance, Naaja H. Nathanielsen, Greenlands minister of business and trade, told The Associated Press.The feelings are not, however, unanimous. Europes far-right leaders applauded Trumps agenda at a rally Saturday in Madrid under the banner, Make Europe Great Again. Those gathered included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italys Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen and others.Some leaders downplayed Trumps threat to hike tariffs on European imports, saying that the EUs taxes and regulations pose bigger dangers to the regions prosperity. But every speaker touched on illegal immigration, as painful and divisive in Europe as it is in the United States.Le Pen said the Patriots for Europe group had the best chance of working with Trump. We, Le Pen said, are the only ones that can talk with the new Trump administration. LAURIE KELLMAN Kellman has covered U.S. politics and foreign affairs for the Associated Press, including 23 years reporting from Washington and three from Jerusalem. She is based in London. twitter facebook mailto

Priya Kathpal, right, and Taylor Williamson, who work for a company doing contract work for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, carry signs outside the USAID headquarters in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-02-10T16:34:52Z WASHINGTON (AP) Officials and federal officers turned away scores of U.S. Agency for International staffers who showed up for work Monday at its Washington headquarters, after a court temporarily blocked a Trump administration order that would have pulled all but a fraction of workers off the job worldwide.A front desk officer told a steady stream of agency staffers dressed in business clothes or USAID sweatshirts or T-shirts that he had a list of no more than 10 names of people allowed to enter the building. Tarps hung over USAIDs interior signs. A man who earlier identified himself as a USAID official took a harsher tone, telling staffers just go and why are you here?Co-workers embraced who had not seen each other since soon after President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who runs a cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, began dismantling USAID and its aid and development programs worldwide three weeks ago. Even as Trump and Musk have taken aim at other government agencies, USAID has been hit hardest so far. The president signed an executive order freezing foreign assistance so the administration could review spending that it says is wasteful or not aligned with Trumps agenda. That has forced U.S.-funded aid and development programs worldwide to shut down and lay off staff even as Secretary of State Marco Rubio had sought to mitigate the damage by issuing a waiver to exempt emergency food aid and life-saving programs. Despite the waiver, aid groups say the government has not resumed payments. Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the largest humanitarian groups, called the U.S. cutoff the most devastating in its 79-year history and said Monday that it will have to suspend programs serving hundreds of thousands of people in 20 countries.The impact of this will be felt severely by the most vulnerable, from deeply neglected Burkina Faso, where we are the only organization supplying clean water to the 300,000 trapped in the blockaded city of Djibo, to war-torn Sudan, where we support nearly 500 bakeries in Darfur providing daily subsidized bread to hundreds of thousands of hunger-stricken people, the group said in a statement. In an interview aired Sunday with Fox News host Bret Baier ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump suggested that he might allow a handful of aid and development programs to resume under Rubios oversight.Let him take care of the few good ones, Trump said. Aid organizations say the damage that has been done to programs would make it impossible to restart many operations without additional substantial investment.A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a Trump administration order that would have put thousands of USAID staffers on administrative leave that same day and given those abroad 30 days to get back to the United States at government expense. The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit by two groups representing federal workers, and another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.While the judge ordered the administration to restore agency email access for staffers, the order said nothing about reopening USAID headquarters. Some staffers and contractors reported having their agency email restored by Monday, while others said they did not. Some staffers told The Associated Press that they came to the USAID offices because they were confused by conflicting agency emails and notices over the weekend about whether they should go in. Others expected they would be turned away but went anyway. Some who asked to go retrieve belongings were denied entrance. A USAID email sent Sunday night, saying it was From the office of the administrator, told employees that what it called the former USAID headquarters and other USAID offices in the Washington area were closed until further notice. It told workers to telework unless they are instructed otherwise.Department of Homeland Security officers and civilians also blocked USAID staffers and Democratic lawmakers from entering the headquarters last week. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

A street sign with names of U.S. government agencies housed at the Ronald Reagan Building, including the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID headquarters in Washington, is pictured with one building occupant taped, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-02-10T18:43:24Z When U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department told their contractors to pause all work, Sadie Healy expected the impact to be horrendous. But Healy, who runs a small global health consulting firm, Molloy Consultants, realized no one was documenting how bad the freeze on U.S. foreign aid would be. USAID wouldnt be cataloging the impacts as President Donald Trumps administration fired senior staff, shuttered its headquarters and then told its employees their jobs would end. The nonprofits and aid companies who worked with USAID were fighting to survive. So Healy decided she would do it. I am an action person. The depression and the sadness that we knew this was going to cause was something I couldnt deal with, Healy said in an interview with The Associated Press. So we called a Zoom meeting.Healy is one of a growing number of people and organizations in the international development ecosystem stepping forward to track the impact of the freeze on U.S. foreign aid. Many are nonprofits who already support grassroots groups around the world, while others are professionals now volunteering their time, connections and skills. The U.S. is the largest single global humanitarian funder, giving $13.9 billion in 2024, and largest supporter of U.N. agencies, meaning any changes to foreign assistance have sweeping impacts across geographies and issues. The pause in funding has since turned into the dismantling of USAID and its programs.CLOSE IT DOWN, Trump said on social media on Friday, though a judge has paused a plan to put thousands of employees on paid leave. Are USAID cuts permanent or not?Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and billionaire adviser to the Trump administration, has led the campaign to shut down USAID, saying in posts on X that it is evil, a criminal organization, and a vipers nest of radical-left marxists who hate America. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said funding will not be permanently cut, but people in the field say every day the freeze continues and USAID stops works causes irreparable harm. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.Healy and her business partner Meg McClure said they decided to focus on documenting the number of American jobs lost. They eventually got in touch with a staffer from a Senate committee, who advised them on what data to collect.Within days, they launched a website, USAID Stop-Work, and a survey to document how many U.S. jobs have been lost as a result of the freeze on foreign assistance. So far, employers or employees have reported 10,758 jobs cut since the stop work orders landed on Jan. 24. That number includes some positions at USAID, but not all of the 8,000 workers directly employed by the agency and the thousands more in the field. We can document the destruction that this executive order has caused, Healy said. And we hope that lawyers and we hope that members of Congress can use that for their case.At least two groups with tech capacity and deep networks circulated online surveys to learn about the extent of the funding cuts. They eventually merged efforts and set up the website, Global Aid Freeze to visualize the initial responses. The nonprofit GlobalGiving launched a fund to support small international organizations, many of whom will not survive even a 90-day pause in U.S. foreign funding. Roth Smith, an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, studies how people organize outside of formal structures, often in response to a disaster. He said volunteer efforts to map a crisis and connect that information to people who can act is typical, but the reach of this organizing is impressive. This is a much larger scale and it seems to be highly polished, he said. Things are fundamentally changedThe international nonprofit Accountability Lab, which now operates the Global Aid Freeze website, said 568 organizations responded to its survey about the impacts of the U.S. governments foreign aid freeze. Half of the respondents estimated they had less than 3 months of operating reserves, meaning they will shutdown by May if funding remains on hold. Blair Glencorse, founder and co-CEO of Accountability Lab, said theyve been in touch with foundations to try to help them figure out where their support can be most strategic. He said it also seems hard for nonprofits in developing countries to understand how dramatic and lasting the changes in U.S. foreign funding may be. Things are fundamentally changed and I dont think the aid system is going to be the same again, he said.Other grassroots efforts have focused on supporting those who lost their jobs. Joanne Sonenshine, an economist who has worked as a consultant alongside USAID for more than a decade, said she saw a flood of LinkedIn posts about layoffs and in response, a flurry of job announcements. So, she set up a spreadsheet where people could put in their experience and contact information and others could post links to open positions. Almost 800 people wrote in their names, locations and work history. Another spreadsheet included more than 550 entries. This just goes to show how much we need support for these people. And this is not just D.C. people, by the way, Sonenshine said. These are U.S. contractors or U.S. staff all over the world whose livelihoods and their familys life depended on the U.S. government.These grassroots tracking efforts are largely self-funded and self-directed. Healy and McClure pay for the website tracking U.S. job losses themselves. Accountability Lab stood up their survey without any dedicated funding, though theyve recently gotten some support to continue the effort. Other professionals within international development have also offered to work for free to help people find jobs or help organizations get new funding. Healy said that willingness reflects the broader ethos and resilience of the community.We love planning, its our favorite thing, Healy said. We are like, This is the moment we were made for. Lets go.___Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. THALIA BEATY Beaty reports on philanthropy for The Associated Press and is based in New York.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, speaks, Oct. 21, 2020, during a news conference in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)2025-02-10T19:02:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Monday will pardon Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a person familiar with his plans.Trump commuted Blagojevichs 14-year sentence for political corruption charges during his first term. He planned to sign the pardon on Monday afternoon, according to the person, who was not authorized to discuss the planned pardon publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.Blagojevich, who appeared on Trumps reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice, was convicted in 2011. He served eight years before Trump, a Republican, cut short his term.Blagojevich was convicted on charges that included seeking to sell an appointment to then-President Barack Obamas old Senate seat and trying to shake down a childrens hospital.The intended pardon during Trumps fourth week in office follows clemency that Trump granted on his first day back to the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. The move paved the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent attacks on police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. Blagojevich appeared on Celebrity Apprentice in 2010, before his first corruption trial started, drawing praise from Trump at the time when he fired him as a contestant.Later as president, Trump drew links between investigations of his own behavior in his first term and Blagojevichs case. Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich, represented former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired from the agency in 2017.Comey was working in the private sector during the Blagojevich investigation and indictment.Former special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the investigation into ties between between Russia and Trumps 2016 campaign, was FBI director during the investigation into Blagojevich. Blagojevich was convicted on 18 counts. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in 2015 tossed out five of the convictions, including ones in which he offered to appoint someone to a high-paying job in the Senate.Axios first reported the news of the expected pardon on Monday afternoon.___Price reported from New York. ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto MICHELLE L. PRICE Price is a national political reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto