In this image released by the FBI shows the wanted posted for Rafael Caro Quintero. (FBI via AP, File)2025-02-28T16:31:14Z NEW YORK (AP) Cartel leaders Rafael Caro Quintero and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes are set to be arraigned in a U.S. federal court in New York City on Friday, following their surprise transfer from Mexico. The pair were among 29 Mexican prisoners sent Thursday to eight cities across the U.S.Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985 and had been on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Carrillo Fuentes is a former leader of the Juarez drug cartel. The pair are set to appear in federal court in Brooklyn, part of the Eastern District of New York, where Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn was previously prosecuted.The White House, in a statement Friday ahead of the arraignments, called Caro Quintero one of the most evil cartel bosses in the world.The Trump Administration is declaring these thugs as terrorists, because that is what they are, and demanding justice for the American people, the statement read. The prisoner handover comes as Mexican officials are in Washington trying to dissuade President Donald Trump from imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports. In exchange for delaying tariffs, Trump had insisted that Mexico crack down on cartels, illegal immigration and fentanyl production.Among the others extradited are leading members of the six Mexican organized crime groups recently designated by the Republican administration as foreign terrorist organizations. They include cartel leaders, security chiefs from both factions of the Sinaloa cartel, cartel finance operatives and a man wanted in connection with the killing of a North Carolina sheriffs deputy in 2022.Carrillo Fuentes is the brother of drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as The Lord of The Skies, who died in a botched plastic surgery in 1997.Caro Quintero, meanwhile, has long been one of Americas top Mexican targets for extradition. He had served 28 years in a Mexican prison but walked free after a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Kiki Camarena. The murder marked a low point in U.S.-Mexico relations and was a focus of the popular Netflix series Narcos: Mexico.Caro Quintero returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora until he was arrested by Mexican forces in 2022.The U.S., which at one point had offered a $20 million reward for Caro Quinteros capture, immediately sought his extradition.But the request remained in limbo as then-Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador severely curtailed his countrys cooperation with the U.S. to protest undercover American law enforcement operations targeting Mexican political and military officials.Then, in January, a nonprofit group representing the Camarena family sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to renew the extradition request. ___Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. PHILIP MARCELO Marcelo is a general assignment reporter in the NYC bureau. He previously wrote for AP Fact Check and before that was based in Boston, where he focused on race and immigration. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss stunt blogging, Signal pains, and murderous Reels.EMANUEL: Yesterday Jason wrote about Instagram delivering users reels showing murder, gore, and extreme violence. Its hard to say exactly how many people saw these videos, but judging by what users have said online, and the fact that Meta felt the need to publicly apologize for the videos, which the company said it served users because of an error, suggest that these were very widespread.Ill admit that when Jason first flagged to us on Slack that this was happening it didnt immediately strike me as a must do it immediately story. First, its kind of hard to suss out if what one or a handful of users say they see on Instagram is really a widespread problem or a very specific rabbit hole the algorithm put them in because of their particular Instagram habits. Second, I think that Ive become numb to how terrible content on Meta platforms and Instagram in particular has become.

Elon Musk speaks during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Pool via AP)2025-02-28T17:25:20Z WASHINGTON (AP) Federal employees should expect another email on Saturday requiring them to explain their recent accomplishments, a renewed attempt by President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to demand answers from the government workforce. The plan was disclosed by a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.The first email, which was distributed a week ago, asked employees what did you do last week? and prompted them to list five tasks that they completed. Musk, who empowered by Trump is aiming to downsize agencies and eliminate thousands of federal jobs, said anyone who didnt respond would be fired. Many agencies, meanwhile, told their workforces not to respond or issued conflicting guidance.The second email will be delivered in a different way, according to the person with knowledge of the situation, potentially making it easier to discipline employees for noncompliance. Instead of being sent by the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government but doesnt have the power to hire or fire, the email will come from individual agencies that have direct oversight of career officials. The plan was first reported by The Washington Post. Its unclear how national security agencies will handle the second email. After the first one, they directed employees not to write back because much of the agencies work is sensitive or classified. Less than half of federal workers responded, according to the White House. The Office of Personnel Management ultimately told agency leaders shortly before the Monday deadline for responses that the request was optional, although it left the door open for similar demands going forward. On Wednesday, at Trumps first Cabinet meeting of his second term, Musk argued that his request was a pulse check to ensure that those working for the government have a pulse and two neurons. Both Musk and Trump have claimed that some workers are either dead or fictional, and the president has publicly backed Musks approach.Addressing people who didnt respond to the first email, Trump said they are on the bubble, and he added that he wasnt thrilled about them not responding.Now, maybe they dont exist, he said without providing evidence. Maybe were paying people that dont exist.In addition to recent firings of probationary employees, a memo distributed this week set the stage for large-scale layoffs and consolidation of programs. ___Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 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 ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Gomez Licon writes about national politics for The Associated Press. She is based in Florida. twitter mailto

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)2025-02-28T15:14:29Z INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, the top two quarterbacks in this years NFL draft, have confirmed they will not work out at this weeks NFL annual scouting combine.The announcements are not a surprise. Both had indicated previously they werent planning to do on-field drills when quarterbacks, running backs and receivers are schedule to be on the Lucas Oil Stadium field.Its also hardly a new trend. They join a long group of quarterbacks who have opted out of the workouts, a list that includes names such as No. 1 overall picks Caleb Williams, Bryce Young and Joe Burrow among others.Sanders and Ward, who developed a friendly rivalry when they were Pac-12 foes, do have plenty of work on tape. Each started at least 50 games at multiple schools during their college careers.Sanders helped revive programs at Jackson State in Mississippi before following his father and longtime coach, Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, to Colorado. Ward threw for an NCAA record 158 touchdown passes at FCS school Incarnate Word in Texas, Washington State and last season at Miami.Last season, Sanders was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year while Ward was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The closed LTV Steel taconite plant sits idle near Hoyt Lakes, Minn., Feb. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)2025-02-28T05:13:52Z CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) President Donald Trump is taking a step toward granting the U.S. mining industrys biggest wishes by singling out one metal as a focus of his domestic minerals policy: copper.From talk of acquiring Greenland and its vast mineral wealth to prodding Ukraine for minerals in exchange for help fending off Russias invasion, Trump has made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy.An executive order Trump signed Tuesday calls for boosting the domestic copper industry by investigating the national security implications of imports and weighing tariffs as a response.The United States has ample copper reserves, yet our smelting and refining capacity lags significantly behind global competitors, the order reads.It could mean a new day for U.S. copper mining, and new worries for environmental groups that are contesting proposals such as the stalled Twin Metals project near northern Minnesotas Boundary Waters, a lake-filled wilderness on the U.S.-Canada border. The White House itself acknowledges that America has ample supplies of copper. Sacrificing an irreplaceable national treasure for an insignificant amount of copper is reckless and unnecessary, Ingrid Lyons, executive director of the Save the Boundary Waters, said by email. Copper is in demand Copper is at least as crucial as lithium and cobalt for rechargeable batteries and rare-earth elements for cellphones, LED lights and flat-screen TVs. Copper goes into the cords and transmission lines that plug gadgetry into power.Copper is, I think, the metal that is really the most critical because it is the electricity metal, said Debra Struhsacker, a mining industry policy consultant. The electricity demand is, I think, going to stay. And copper is indispensable for that.U.S. copper use, imports and exports have fluctuated somewhat over the past two decades, according to the Copper Development Association, but a dearth of smelting compared with the amount mined domestically has remained a consistent theme. Where does the U.S. get its copper?While the U.S. in 2024 mined an estimated 1.1 million tons (1 million metric tons) of copper and exported about a third of that in primarily unrefined form, it imported 810,000 tons (735,000 metric tons), nearly all of it refined, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Trumps executive order accurately refers to China as the worlds leading refiner of copper, with over half the worlds smelting capacity. China, however, does not directly factor into U.S. supplies. Two-thirds of U.S. imports of refined copper comes from Chile, which is the worlds leading copper producer, with lesser amounts from Canada, Mexico and Peru.How much those numbers might change with rising copper demand to support construction of transmission lines and manufacturing of wind turbines and electric vehicles remains to be seen. Some predict global demand to double by 2030 and keep rising, notes the National Mining Association.Even before Trumps plan for copper, the association was encouraged by Trump executive orders promoting mining. One lifts government rules and regulations responsible for undue burdens on mining and mineral processing, calls for updating the U.S. Geological Surveys list of minerals deemed critical to the nation and backs efforts to find and mine new sources of those minerals.Made in America, America first, starts with American mining and American miners that supported this president across the country, National Mining Association president and CEO Rich Nolan said. Copper projects have faced delaysThe mining associations top priorities include: The planned $1.7 billion Twin Metals copper-nickel-cobalt mine that environmental groups contend poses an unacceptable risk to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota, the most visited federally designated wilderness area. The latest blow to the project came when a judge refused to reinstate mining leases. The stalled $1 billion NewRange Copper Nickel mine, also in northeastern Minnesota, which developers look to redesign to make more environmentally and cost-efficient after a series of court and regulatory setbacks. The contested Resolution Copper project at Oak Flat in central Arizona, which is believed to be the worlds third-biggest deposit of copper ore and was the site of a battle between locals who want the mine for economic development and native Apache who consider the land sacred. An appeals court panel in 2024 refused to block a crucial land transfer for the mine. Southern Arizonas proposed Copper World copper-molybdenum mine, formerly known as the Rosemont mine, which has been delayed by a court ruling that limited how mining companies can discard tailings on U.S. Forest Service land under the 1872 Mining Law. All four projects are led by non-U.S. companies including Toronto, Canada-based Hudbay Minerals Inc., developer of Copper World. Some mines dont operate at full capacityThe federal government should have a national strategy to protect the environment and public health by avoiding new terrain and increasing production at existing mines operating at less than full capacity, said Rob Peters, executive director of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, a group opposing Copper World.That would make sense, right? But theres nothing like that. Instead, its sort of like the Wild West where companies in our case here in Arizona, the majority of them foreign companies just can come in. And the only decision-making process is the company figures out where they think they can make the most money, Peters said.Decades ago, Arizona copper made the U.S. the worlds top producer. Now it ranks fifth.To Struhsacker, the industry consultant, lack of government coordination has stalled permits and stifled mine development. Trumps executive orders recognize the need to make permitting work again, she said.

This image released by SRH shows a scene from the film "Hundreds of Beavers." (SRH via AP)2025-02-28T17:55:31Z Hollywoods never-ending awards season can make it easy to get a little lost in the run-of-the-mill best categories. Actor. Actress. Director. Picture. A great movie can be reduced to a single performance; those that are left out seem to simply vanish for a while. But more often than not, its the little things that make us love the movies we love the lines we quote, the props we delight in, the character quirks we remember, the songs we actually add to our playlists. In that spirit, ahead of Sundays Oscars, AP Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr make selections for their own awards some more offbeat than others.Most trusty steed: Aaron Pierres bike, Rebel Ridge Aaron Pierre and bike in Rebel Ridge (Allyson Riggs/Netflix via AP) Aaron Pierre and bike in Rebel Ridge (Allyson Riggs/Netflix via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Jeremy Saulniers lean thriller is like an Western fable: An innocent guy who doesnt want any trouble rides into town and becomes ensnared by corrupt lawmen. Protagonists before him might have come on a horse, but Terry Richmond (Pierre) gets around by bike. Pierre oozes movie-star cool, even while pedaling furiously. (A second award to Rebel Ridge, too, for best scene involving Wikipedia.) J.C. Best stuffy: Chris Hemsworths teddy bear, Furiosa Chris Hemsworth (and teddy) in Furiosa (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) Chris Hemsworth (and teddy) in Furiosa (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Hemsworth may play a maniac warlord named Dementus who rides a Roman chariot across the wasteland of George Millers Furiosa, but hes also a big softy who carries his childhood stuffy. Strapped to Dementus is a teddy bear, an artifact of a childhood that, like Furiosas, is marked by grief. J.C. Best tearjerker: My Old Ass Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza in My Old Ass (Amazon via AP) Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza in My Old Ass (Amazon via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Megan Parks My Old Ass sneaks up on you. Oh, you think, its just some funny high-concept movie about a teenage girl who starts talking to her almost 40-year-old self after a mushroom trip. Sure, it is that, but its also a profound meditation on time, family and the impossibility of really, truly appreciating things in the moment. Its done with such a light, entertaining touch that by the time the waterworks really start, you almost dont know what hit you. L.B. Best action hero: June Squibb, Thelma Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in Thelma (Magnolia Pictures via AP) Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in Thelma (Magnolia Pictures via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More All I need to say is: Mobility scooter chase scene. Plus, the now-95-year-old did her own stunts. J.C. Best part of a so-so movie: Kumail Nanjiani, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Dan Aykroyd and Kumail Nanjiani in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Jaap Buitendijk/Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP) Dan Aykroyd and Kumail Nanjiani in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Jaap Buitendijk/Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Awards to go to movies that people think are, you know, really good. But great performances can happen in not-so-good movies. Frozen Empire is a lightly enjoyable, slightly kid-oriented extension of Ghostbusters, but every time Nanjiani is on screen, as the reluctant heir to the role of Firemaster, the movie is hysterical. J.C. Best song: Brighter Days and Harper and Will Go West (tie) Will Ferrell hopes Will & Harper, with Harper Steele, will become a guidebook for viewers on how to talk about transgender issues. The original song category at the Oscars is deeply broken. Or maybe Im just wildly out of sync with that branch, but there were two great, memorable songs from wonderful films and neither was even shortlisted. One, Kristen Wiigs charming Harper and Will Go West was technically in the end credits of Will & Harper, but the wait for said song was a key thread throughout. The other, Nicholas Britells Brighter Days provided a profound moment of mourning and catharsis in Blitz. Theyre both songs that Ive added to playlists unlike any of the nominated ones. L.B.Best use of Taylor Swift: The Fall Guy Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy (Eric Laciste/Universal Pictures via AP) Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy (Eric Laciste/Universal Pictures via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ive probably already seen David Leitchs stuntman extravaganza half a dozen times, partially because my kids like it, too, and partially because Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are absurdly winning in it. Theres just not much better than Gosling cry-singing to All Too Well. J.C. Best scene-stealer: Adam Pearson, A Different Man Adam Pearson in A Different Man (Matt Infante/A24 via AP) Adam Pearson in A Different Man (Matt Infante/A24 via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Sebastian Stan has gotten most of the awards love for Aaron Schimbergs twisty dark comedy, but its Pearson who lifts A Different Man to another level. In a movie full of artifice and identity shifts, hes the real deal. J.C.Best prop: The glass of milk, Babygirl Nicole Kidman in Babygirl (A24 via AP) Nicole Kidman in Babygirl (A24 via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More I dont make the rules, Harris Dickinsons Samuel does. L.B.Most beavers: Hundreds of Beavers Hundreds of Beavers (SRH via AP) Hundreds of Beavers (SRH via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More It would be hard to find a movie more predicated on mascot costumes and hats. Director Mike Cheslik didnt have much more than a handful of beaver costumes when he went into rural wintry Wisconsin to make this slapstick, microbudget, almost-instant cult classic. But cheap visual effects can do wonders, even when it comes to multiplying semiaquatic rodents (or guys in beaver mascot costumes). J.C.Most understood assignment: Aubrey Plaza, Megalopolis Aubrey Plaza in Megalopolis (Lionsgate via AP) Aubrey Plaza in Megalopolis (Lionsgate via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Theres a lot going on in Francis Ford Coppolas long-awaited epic, and, understandably, Im not sure everyone knew what they were in for. Some characters talk in verse. A Russian satellite is said to be falling to Earth. Adam Driver can stop time. Any actor could be forgiven for losing their bearings. But Plaza, playing a character named, um, Wow Platinum, is supremely spot on no matter how scattershot everything around her is. J.C. Best mullet: Kristen Stewart, Love Lies Bleeding Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding (Anna Kooris/A24 via AP) Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding (Anna Kooris/A24 via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Rose Glass Love Lies Bleeding, that sweaty, pulpy, violent, romantic ride, is a cult classic in the making thanks in no small part to Stewarts fearless performance as Lou, a gym manager in rural New Mexico in 1989 who falls for a drifter bodybuilder. And at least 35% of that great performance is in Lous greasy mullet. L.B.Best ensemble: His Three Daughters Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon in His Three Daughters (Netflix via AP) Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon in His Three Daughters (Netflix via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen make up a very dysfunctional family but one stirring ensemble in Azazel Jacobs tender family drama. They are a perfect trio, with the added charm of Jay O. Sanders as their ailing Jets-fan father. And us Jets fans take any win we can. J.C. Most memorable moviegoing experience: Sing Sing at Sing Sing David Dap Giraudy, Sean San Jos and Colman Domingo in Sing Sing (A24 via AP) David Dap Giraudy, Sean San Jos and Colman Domingo in Sing Sing (A24 via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Easily the most unforgettable and moving time at the movies for me in 2024 was seeing Sing Sing at its namesake New York correctional facility, in a crowd half-filled with incarcerated men and with much of the movies cast returning to where they began acting. It was a reminder that, through acting and art, you can win a lot more than an Oscar. J.C.___For more coverage of the Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards. 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 LINDSEY BAHR Bahr has been a film writer and critic for The Associated Press since 2014. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-02-28T17:33:39Z CHICAGO (AP) President Donald Trumps administration is backing off its demand for an extra layer of federal scrutiny whenever states seek even minor changes to their transportation plans, after the rescinded requirement sparked concern that some payments for roads, bridges and transit would be delayed or even halted due to policy differences.Most of the federal money used for transportation projects flows to states almost automatically through formulas established by Congress that consider population and other factors. For decades, states have enjoyed widespread autonomy to set their own priorities and spend the funds on projects they deem as most worthy.But under the policy the administration put in place last week and reversed this week, no additional money was to be allocated until lawyers in the U.S. Department of Transportation s Washington headquarters signed off on any changes. Such amendments to state transportation plans were already subject to a federal review, but it was usually a swift process from a regional office to confirm they didnt violate any U.S. laws. State transportation departments learned of the reversal Friday through an email from Joung Lee, deputy director and chief policy officer for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Lee said the Trump administration had confirmed that the review process was being returned to the regional level without the need for lawyers in Washington to sign off. As this remains a continuing development, we will keep you posted on any further updates, Lee wrote. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration didnt respond to emails seeking details about why the headquarters-level review was implemented and later reversed.The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, which represents organizations that oversee local and regional transportation projects that get federal funding, told its members last week that at least six states had reported learning about an anticipated pause in getting their plans approved due to the extra review. In areas with large-scale projects or narrow construction windows, even short delays can cascade into prolonged setbacks, increased project costs, and missed opportunities to address critical transportation needs, AMPO said in the memo.AMPO followed up the next day with new information from the Federal Highway Administration, which confirmed there was an ongoing administrative review of the projects, but that there is no pause.Even something as minor as adding or removing lanes of a road, or changes in cost estimates or supplies, could have required a federal review. Advocates for transportation projects said the sheer volume of projects had spurred concerns that much-needed federal funding would be delayed even as many states are set to enter construction season.Youre having to get approval from an office that didnt have to approve things before, said Steve Davis, vice president of transportation policy for Smart Growth America, a nonprofit that advocates for safer streets and other community improvement efforts. I dont see any way that this does not slow down and delay projects. The metropolitan planning organization in Chicago alone, for example, sends about eight amendments a year to its transportation improvement plan, and each includes about 300 different projects. That is just one of 410 metropolitan planning organizations across the country that set their own plans and seek amendments to them throughout the year.Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institutions metropolitan policy program Brookings Metro, said that even more concerning than delays was the possibility that the U.S. Transportation Department might try to redirect projects already approved by states in order to promote the administrations policy objectives. Trump has signed executive orders seeking to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a memo that calls for prohibiting governments that get Department of Transportation funds from imposing vaccine and mask mandates, and requiring their cooperation with the administrations immigration enforcement efforts. It wasnt immediately clear whether those orders would have any impact on the approval of amendments to state transportation plans.Even the threat of (transportation improvement program) amendments not being approved can have a chilling effect on project delivery, Tomer said. And if project delivery is delayed, that means higher costs for the project and, in the end, the taxpayers.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives to talk to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans to find agreement on a spending bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-02-28T18:36:59Z WASHINGTON (AP) As House members finished voting for the week and left Washington, the lead Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, voiced frustration that Republicans had yet to respond to her latest offer on a full-year spending bill, even though it had been made five days earlier.Meanwhile, her Republican counterpart outright dismissed Democratic efforts to include assurances in the legislation that funding approved by Congress would be spent by President Donald Trumps administration as lawmakers intended. A Republican Senate and a Republican House are not going to limit what a president can do, particularly when he has to sign the bill, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.The exchanges demonstrate the divides that remain as the nation approaches a March 14 deadline to avoid a partial federal government shutdown. Such deadlines have become commonplace in recent years with lawmakers almost always working out their differences in the end, or at least agreeing to a short-term funding extension.But with Republicans now in charge of the White House and Trump sidestepping Congress on previous funding decisions, a more contentious dynamic has emerged during negotiations, raising questions about whether lawmakers will avoid a shutdown this time.Heres a look at where things stand. First things first: How much to spend?The stage for the current negotiations was set nearly two years ago when then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then-President Joe Biden worked out a two-year budget deal that would essentially hold non-defense spending flat for 2024, while boosting it slightly for defense. The agreement provided for 1% increases for both in 2025. Democrats want to adhere to that agreement, which would bring defense spending to about $895.2 billion and non-defense to about $780.4 billion. Republicans are looking to spend less on non-defense programs. Cole has argued Republicans are not bound to an agreement negotiated by two men no longer in office. Its unclear how much the two sides disagree on an overall spending amount. But Sen. Patty Murray, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said they werent far apart. We are close on topline spending, but we need to know Republicans are willing to work with us to protect Congress power of the purse and I welcome any and all ideas they may have on how we can work together to do just that, Murray said. With Trump and Musk slashing government, Democrats want guaranteesTrump pushed early to pause grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars while his administration conducted an across-the-board review of federal programs. A subsequent memorandum purported to rescind the pause.Still, a federal judge issued an order earlier this week as a backstop. The preliminary injunction continued to block the pause. The judge said the freeze had placed critical programs for children, the elderly, and everyone in between in serious jeopardy.Meanwhile, Trump has empowered Elon Musk to help engineer the firing of thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies created by Congress. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to appropriate money and requires the executive to pay it out. A 50-year-old law known as the Impoundment Control Act makes that explicit by prohibiting the president from halting payments on grants or other programs approved by Congress.Democrats have sought to place in the spending bill some guarantees the administration would follow what Congress intended.What weve been talking about is the numbers, and were talking about the issue of assurances, DeLauro said. Its trying to make it possible to have the money go as intended.But Republicans are making clear thats a non-starter.Democrats are placing completely unreasonable conditions on the negotiations. They want us to limit the scope of executive authority. They want us to tie the hands of the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson said. Why is Congress so late?The current fiscal year began in October, so lawmakers are already five month late.Trump complained Thursday on Truth Social, blaming Biden, saying he left us a total MESS.The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill (CR) to the end of September. Lets get it done!But it was congressional Republicans who opted in December to hold over budget negotiations for a few months, largely because Trump would be in the White House. Johnson on Fox News in December urged a short-term extension so we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. Thats when the big changes start. What happens if they cant reach an agreement?The first fallback option is the continuing resolution Trump endorsed, a stopgap measure that would generally fund federal agencies at current levels.It looks as though it is becoming inevitable at this point, Johnson said, blaming Democrats.That will be tough for defense hawks to accept, as many Republicans already consider the Pentagon to be underfunded. But it will also be tough for Democrats who worry that funding for housing programs, child care, nutrition assistance and other services is failing to keep pace with inflation, fraying the safety net for many Americans.Murray and DeLauro issued a joint statement Friday morning, saying they hoped Republicans would return to the negotiating table and that walking away from bipartisan talks raised the risk of a shutdown.They also said the continuing resolution being pursued by Republicans would give Trump new flexibility to spend funding as he sees fit.While Elon Musk has been calling for a shutdown, Democrats have been working to pass bills that make sure Congress decides whether our schools or hospitals get funding not Trump or Musk, the two Democratic lawmakers said.The White House has submitted to lawmakers a list of what are referred to as anomalies that it wants to see added to a continuing resolution. For example, it wants an additional $1.6 billion to increase pay for junior enlisted service members by an average of 10% effective April 1. Congress has also supported a pay increase in previous legislation. The White House is also seeking $485 million for more immigrant detention beds and for removal operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request also seeks to give Trump more flexibility on how money within certain departments is spent. For example, the White House wants language allowing $30 billion in Department of Defense transfers.Democrats will want to negotiate some of the changes the White House is seeking, adding to the uncertainty of reaching a final agreement.Republicans likely need votes from the other sideGetting spending bills over the finish line has required support from both parties. Some Republicans never vote for continuing resolutions. Nearly three dozen House Republicans voted against the last one in December, and they now only have a one-vote cushion to work with in the House if Democrats withhold their support.If talks break down completely, funding for agencies will end at midnight March 14. Both parties will pin the blame on the other and some of that is already happening.Trump is no stranger to shutdowns. He presided over the longest one in the nations history, one that lasted 35 days, with Trump relenting only after intensifying delays at the nations airports and another missed payday for hundreds of thousands of federal workers brought new urgency to resolving the standoff.Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, reacts to the gallery after speaking during debate on the gender identity bill, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)2025-02-28T20:43:59Z DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa became the first U.S. state to remove gender identity protections from its civil rights code on Friday when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that opponents say will expose transgender people and other Iowans to discrimination in all aspects of daily life.The new law, which goes into effect July 1, follows several years of action from Reynolds and Iowa Republicans to restrict transgender students use of such spaces as bathrooms and locker rooms, and their participation on sports teams, in an effort to protect people assigned female at birth. Republicans say those policies cannot co-exist with a civil rights code that includes gender identity protections.The law also creates explicit legal definitions of female and male based on their reproductive organs at birth, rejecting the idea that a person can transition to another gender. Reynolds proposed a similar bill last year, but it didnt make it to a vote of the full House or Senate. Women and men are not identical; they possess unique biological differences. Thats not controversial, its common sense, Reynolds said in a statement at the time. Its unfortunate that defining a woman in code has become necessary to protect spaces where womens health, safety, and privacy are being threatened. She added that such spaces included domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to formalize a definition of the two sexes at the federal level, leading several Republican-led legislatures to push for laws defining male and female. Trump posted in support of the Iowa bill on his Truth Social platform Thursday after it got final approval from the Iowa House and Senate. Five House Republicans joined all Democrats in the House and Senate in voting against the bill. Iowa state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl was the final Democrat to speak before the vote, wiping away tears as she offered her personal story as a transgender woman, saying: I transitioned to save my life. The purpose of this bill and the purpose of every anti-trans bill is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence, Wichtendahl said. The sum total of every anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal.Hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates streamed into the Capitol rotunda on Thursday waving signs reading Trans rights are human rights and chanting slogans including, No hate in our state! There was a heavy police presence, with state troopers stationed around the rotunda. The few protesters who lingered for final passage of the bill were emotional.Not every state includes gender identity in their civil rights code, but Iowa is now the first in the U.S. to remove nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity, said Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank.Sexual orientation and gender identity were not originally included in the states Civil Rights Act of 1965. They were added by the Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2007, also with the support of about a dozen Republicans across the two chambers. The House Republican moving the bill Thursday, Rep. Steven Holt, said that if the Legislature can add protections, it can remove them. As of July 1, Iowas civil rights law will protect against discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability status.Advocacy groups promise to defend transgender rights, which may lead them to court.Keenan Crow, director of policy and advocacy for LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Iowa, said the organization is still analyzing the text of the bill and that its vagueness makes it hard to determine where the enforcement is going to come from. We will pursue any legal options available to us, Crow said.

Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)2025-02-28T19:18:57Z JOLIET, Ill. (AP) A jury found an Illinois landlord guilty of murder and hate crime charges Friday for a brutal 2023 attack on a Palestinian American family that killed a 6-year-old.Joseph Czuba, 73, was charged in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023 in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago. Authorities alleged the family who were renting rooms in Czubas house was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes over the crime that renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago areas large and established Palestinian community.The trial featured detailed testimony from police officers, medical workers, Czubas ex-wife and Shaheen, who described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before going after her son in a different room. Prosecutors say that the child had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still in his side. Graphic photos of the murder, a knife holder Czuba allegedly used that day, along with police video footage were central to the Will County prosecutors case. At times video screens showing explicit footage were turned away from the public viewing audience where members of Wadees family sat during the trial. If it wasnt enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boys body, Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant states attorney, told jurors during opening statements. Czuba had pleaded not guilty. He faced murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crime charges in an eight-count indictment.Defense attorneys insisted pieces of evidence tying Czuba to the crimes were missing. His ex-wife, testifying for the prosecution, could only describe one outburst during their 30 years of marriage and said he carried knives often because he was handy around the house. Go beyond the emotions to carefully examine the evidence, said Kylie Blatti, one of Czubas public defenders. It is easy to get lost in the horror of those images.One of the critical parts of the trial was Shaheens testimony and the 911 she made to report the crime that happened just days after the war started. She said they had not previously had any issues in the two years they rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. Later, he confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth. He told me You, as a Muslim, must die, said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover. The boy was later pronounced dead.Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands. Separately, civil lawsuits have been filed over the boys death, including by his the father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them at the house.The case, which generated headlines around the world, comes amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrive, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The brothers were charged with human trafficking in Romania and arrived in the U.S. after authorities lifted travel restrictions. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)2025-02-28T19:59:17Z TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, have returned to the U.S. after authorities lifted travel restrictions on the siblings, who have millions of online followers. After the pair arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear the influencer brothers are not welcome in his state and that his administration is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the pair sparking pushback from supporters of the Tates.Here is what to know. Who are the Tates?Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 36, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.Andrew Tate is a hugely successful social media figure, attracting millions of followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren who were drawn in by the luxurious lifestyle the influencer projects online.He previously was banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook for hate speech and his misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted. The Tates, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, were arrested in late 2022 and formally indicted last year on charges they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations. The Tates departure came after Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a Trump administration official expressed interest in the brothers case at the recent Munich Security Conference. Just weeks ago, Andrew Tate posted on X: The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever. Hold on. Where are they now?The Tates arrived in the U.S. Thursday, landing in Fort Lauderdale around midday.Speaking to reporters at the airport, Andrew Tate repeated his insistence that the siblings had done nothing wrong.We live in a democratic society where its innocent until proven guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. Theres a lot of opinions about us, things that go around about us on the internet, he said.The brothers are expected to return to Romania, where they still face criminal charges. An attorney for the siblings there did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday on when they are due back in the country.What has the response been to their return?The brothers return to the U.S. after a Trump official expressed interest in their case has sparked disagreement among conservative commentators and officials. Speaking to reporters, Floridas Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made clear he doesnt want the brothers to remain in his state. Florida is not a place where youre welcome with that type of conduct, DeSantis said.Floridas attorney general is examining whether the state may have any jurisdiction over the brothers alleged crimes, and if so, how to hold them accountable. In court documents, the Tates have said they are not and have never been Florida residents. Other Republicans in the Sunshine State which has become a stronghold of Trumps MAGA movement are rolling out the welcome mat. In a post on X, the Tampa Bay Young Republicans club formally invited Andrew Tate to speak to their group.As free speech absolutists, the Tates havent been formally convicted of any crimes and are welcome to speak to our group, the post reads. Were old enough to remember when a (asterisk)Convicted Felon.(asterisk) won the Presidency.What is next on the legal front?The Tates still face criminal charges in Romania and will have to return at least from time to time for proceedings in that case, which is expected to take years to resolve.Once the legal saga in Romania ends, the United Kingdom has an extradition request that was approved last year by a Romanian court for separate charges the Tates face there related to allegations of sexual aggression.Meanwhile, a defamation lawsuit the brothers filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court in 2023 continues to proceed. The pair filed the case against a woman who accused them of imprisoning her in Romania. A judge has denied a motion by the woman, identified as Jane Doe, to pause the case until the Romanian matter is concluded. Now that they are back in the U.S., the Tates have filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order against the woman, but no ruling has been issued as of Friday afternoon. The siblings want the woman barred from coming within 500 feet (152 meters) of them and that she be prevented from contacting, threatening, stalking, harming or harassing either Tate brother.___ Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Tampa and Stephen McGrath in Sighisoara, Romania, contributed to this report. Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. KATE PAYNE Payne writes about state government and education and is based in Tallahassee, FL. She is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto

Men sit outside the general hospital in Basankusu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where some victims of unidentified illnesses are being treated, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Guy Masele Sanganga)2025-02-28T21:57:41Z BASANKUSU, Congo (AP) Authorities investigating the deaths of at least 60 people in northwestern Congo suspect the water source in one of the areas may have been contaminated, the World Health Organization said Friday. But the agency said its too early for any definitive conclusion. Doctors are investigating more than 1,000 illnesses that emerged since late January in five villages in Congos Equateur province, where high rates of malaria have complicated efforts to diagnose the cases and where officials have said theyve been unable so far to confirm the main cause.WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during an online briefing Friday that for one of the villages there is a very strong level of suspicion of a poisoning event related to the poisoning of a water source.Ryan did not clarify whether he was referring to contamination by accident, negligence or deliberate action. He also did not identify the village where the poisoning was suspected. We will not stop investigating until we are sure that the true cause or the absolute cause of what is occurring here is fully investigated, Ryan said. Illnesses were first detected in late January in the village of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. Twelve cases and eight deaths in total have been recorded in Boloko, with no new cases recorded since January, officials say, adding that nearly half of deaths there occurred within hours of the onset of symptoms. The village of Bomate in Basankusu health zone, around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Boloko, has been hit the most: 98% of the cases and 86% of deaths have been recorded there, health officials say.WHO said on Thursday that hundreds of the patients have tested positive for malaria, which is common in the region. In addition to common malaria symptoms such as fever and body aches, patients have also shown symptoms like chills, sweating, stiff neck, runny or bleeding nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhea. The health crisis has caused fear among residents, some of whom have said they fled the villages to avoid falling sick.Experts say access to the sick has been hindered by the remote locations of the affected villages and that several people died before medical teams were able to reach them.For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulseThe Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.The World Health Organization on Friday said water poisoning is a suspect in the illnesses that have killed at least 60 people and infected more than 1,000 others in northwestern Congo. The agency, however, added that detailed investigations are still ongoing to make a definitive conclusion.Indications from authorities in Congo show a very strong level of suspicion of a poisoning event related to the poisoning of a water source in one of the affected villages, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during an online briefing. Clearly, at the centre of this, we have some kind of poisoning event. We will not stop investigating until we are sure that the true cause or the absolute cause of what is occurring here is fully investigated, Dr Ryan said.Another likely suspect could be a toxic-type event either from a biological perspective like meningitis or from a chemical exposure, the WHO emergencies chief said, citing systematic investigations carried out so far by experts.Officials, though, havent been able to confirm the main cause of the illnesses, he said, adding that the high rates of malaria and other common illnesses in the villages are making it difficult to determine the cause.Up to five villages in Congos Equateur province have recorded the illnesses first detected in the village of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. Twelve cases and eight deaths in total have been recorded in Boloko, with no new cases recorded since January, officials say, adding that nearly half of deaths there occurred within hours of the onset of symptoms. The village of Bomate in Basankusu health zone, around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Boloko, has been hit the most: 98% of the cases and 86% of deaths have been recorded there, health officials say.WHO said on Thursday that hundreds of the patients have tested positive for malaria, which is common in the region. In addition to common malaria symptoms such as fever and body aches, patients have also shown symptoms like chills, sweating, stiff neck, runny or bleeding nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.The health crisis has caused fear among residents, some of whom have said they fled the villages to avoid falling sick. Experts say access to the sick has been hindered by the remote locations of the affected villages and that several people died before medical teams were able to reach them.For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulseThe Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)2025-02-28T20:58:30Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the war in Ukraine, accusing him of not showing gratitude after he challenged Vance on the question of diplomacy with Russias Vladimir Putin.The argument in the Oval Office was broadcast globally. It led to the rest of Zelenskyys White House visit being canceled and called into question how much the U.S. will still support Ukraine in its defense against Russias 2022 invasion. Here is a transcript of the key moments of the exchange. Zelenskyy challenges Vance on Russia and diplomacyVance: For four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is, maybe, engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States words mattered more than the president of the United States actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. Thats what President Trump is doing.Zelenskyy: Can I ask you?Vance: Sure. Yeah. Zelenskyy: OK. So he (Putin) occupied it, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years Im not speaking about just Biden, but those times was (Barack) Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump. And God bless, now, President Trump will stop him. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the --" Trump: 2015?Zelenskyy: 2014.Trump: Oh, 2014? I was not here.Vance: Thats exactly right.Zelenskyy: Yes, but during 2014 til 2022, the situation is the same, that people have been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him, me, like, you, president, in 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, (French President Emmanuel) Macron and (former German Chancellor Angela) Merkel. We signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go But after that, he broke the ceasefire, he killed our people, and he didnt exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. But he didnt do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean? Vance: Im talking about the kind of diplomacy thats going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, with respect, I think its disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.Zelenskyy: Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have? Vance: I have been to Zelenskyy: Come once.Vance: Ive actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that youve had problems, bringing people into your military?Zelenskyy: We have problems Vance: And do you think that is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?Zelenskyy: A lot of questions. Lets start from the beginning.Vance: Sure. Trump erupts when Zelenskyy suggests the U.S. might feel it in the future Zelenskyy: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and dont feel now. But you will feel it in the future. God bless Trump: You dont know that. You dont know that. Dont tell us what were going to feel. Were trying to solve a problem. Dont tell us what were going to feel.Zelenskyy: Im not telling you. I am answering on these questions.Trump: Because youre in no position to dictate that.Vance: Thats exactly what youre doing.Trump: You are in no position to dictate what were going to feel. Were going to feel very good.Zelenskyy: You will feel influenced.Trump: We are going to feel very good and very strong.Zelenskyy: I am telling you. You will feel influenced.Trump: Youre, right now, not in a very good position. Youve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position Zelenskyy: From the very beginning of the war Trump: Youre not in a good position. You dont have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.Zelenskyy: Im not playing cards. Im very serious, Mr. President. Im very serious.Trump: Youre playing cards. Youre gambling with the lives of millions of people. Youre gambling with World War III. Zelenskyy: What are you speaking about?Trump: Youre gambling with World War III. And what youre doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country thats backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.Vance: Have you said thank you once?Zelenskyy: A lot of times. Even today.Vance: No, in this entire meeting. You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.Zelenskyy: No.Vance: Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president whos trying to save your country.Zelenskyy: Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can Trump: Hes not speaking loudly. Hes not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.Zelenskyy: Can I answer Trump: No, no. Youve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble. Zelenskyy: I know. I know. Trump: Youre not winning. Youre not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us. Zelenskyy: Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, weve been alone. And we are thankful. I said thanks.Trump demands Zelenskyy accept a ceasefireTrump: If you didnt have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.Zelenskyy: In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days. Trump: Maybe less. Its going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.Vance: Just say thank you.Zelenskyy: I said a lot of times, thank you, to American people.Vance: Accept that there are disagreements, and lets go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when youre wrong. We know that youre wrong.Trump: But you see, I think its good for the American people to see whats going on. I think its very important. Thats why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful.Zelenskyy: Im thankful.Trump: You dont have the cards. Youre buried there. People are dying. Youre running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you tell us, I dont want a ceasefire. I dont want a ceasefire, I want to go, and I want this. Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.Zelenskyy: Of course we want to stop the war. But I said to you, with guarantees.Trump: Are you saying you dont want a ceasefire? I want a ceasefire. Because youll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.Zelenskyy: Ask our people about a ceasefire, what they think.Trump: That wasnt with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.Zelenskyy: This is your president. It was your president.Trump: Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you Javelins. I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave Javelins. Youve got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you dont have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you dont have any cards.Trump says Putin respects him due to the investigations of his first termVance, restating a reporters question: She is asking what if Russia breaks the ceasefire. Trump: What, if anything? What if the bomb drops on your head right now? OK, what if they broke it? I dont know, they broke it with Biden because Biden, they didnt respect him. They didnt respect Obama. They respect me. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt ... All I can say is this. He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he did. I dont know what happened, but he didnt break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I dont know if you can make a deal.The problem is Ive empowered you (turning toward Zelenskyy) to be a tough guy, and I dont think youd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But youre either going to make a deal or were out. And if were out, youll fight it out. I dont think its going to be pretty, but youll fight it out. But you dont have the cards. But once we sign that deal, youre in a much better position, but youre not acting at all thankful. And thats not a nice thing. Ill be honest. Thats not a nice thing. All right, I think weve seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television. I will say that.___ ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Gomez Licon writes about national politics for The Associated Press. She is based in Florida. twitter mailto

Supporters of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rally outside of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-02-28T22:36:48Z BERLIN (AP) European leaders pledged late Friday to stand by Ukraine in the wake of the contentious Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with their statements in support of their neighbor on the continent ensuring a deepening transatlantic rift.European leaders already were shaken by Vances speech to the Munich Security Conference two weeks ago in which he lectured them about the state of their democracy. As prime ministers and presidents across the continent scrambled to respond, they have held a series of emergency summits to discuss security.Another major summit is scheduled for Sunday in London, hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. More than a dozen European and EU leaders, including Zelenskyy, will gather for a meeting meant to drive forward action on Ukraine and security. Starmer spoke with both Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday and maintained his strong support for Ukraine, his office said in a statement.He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine, the statement said. The European leaders comments Friday largely did not mention Trump or Vance, but rather sought to assure Ukraine of their support as the war with Russia enters its fourth year. Zelenskyy re-posted their comments on X, writing thank you for your support to each likely a dig at the Trump administration. During the extraordinary meeting Friday in Washington, Trump chided Zelenskyy after Vance, one of the administrations most skeptical voices on Ukraine, said he was being disrespectful for debating Trump in the Oval Office in front of the American media.Have you said thank you once? Vance asked Zelenskyy.The Ukrainian president said four times during the course of their exchange that he was thankful or had already expressed his thanks. Trump then called off the signing of a minerals deal that he said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia. Zelenskyy left the White House shortly after Trump shouted at him, showing open disdain. The White House said the Ukrainian delegation was told to leave.A senior Ukrainian official said Zelenskyy spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and President of the European Council Antonio Costa after he left the White House, describing all the conversations as supportive of the Ukrainian leader. The official, who is familiar with the matter, requested anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.Italys Premier Giorgia Meloni, however, proposed an immediate summit between the United States and European allies to speak frankly about how we intend to face todays great challenges, starting with Ukraine. She urged the West to stay united.Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favors those who would like to see the decline of our civilization, she said. A division would not benefit anyone. Some posts on X were directed to Zelenskyy. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President.And Friedrich Merz, Germanys likely next chancellor, wrote: Dear Volodymyr @zelenskyyua, we stand with #Ukraine in good and in testing times. We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.The victory for Merzs party Sunday in Germanys national election ensured that Ukraine has an even stronger supporter in the European Unions largest country. Merz during the campaign promised to unite Europe in the face of challenges from both Russia and the United States.But Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party and one of Merzs challengers, wrote Historic. Trump & Vance! on X with a link to a video of the meeting. AfDs platform calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Weidel also met with Vance in Munich. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn praised Trump for his conduct in the Oval Office, casting Zelenskyy as working against peace in his own country.Strong men make peace, weak men make war, Orbn wrote on X. Today President Donald Trump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!Orbn is a consistent backer of the Kremlin and has been outspokenly antagonistic against neighboring Ukraine. After winning the last Hungarian elections in 2022, less than six weeks after Russias full-scale invasion, he cited Zelenskyy as one of the opponents he had defeated in the campaign.Meanwhile in Estonia, which borders Russia, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the only obstacle to peace is Russian President Vladimir Putin s decision to continue the war. It is time for Europe to step up, Tsahkna said in a statement. We do not need to wait for something else to happen; Europe has enough resources, including Russias frozen assets, to enable Ukraine to continue fighting.And Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerssons reminded Ukraine of whats at stake for the Nordic and Baltic countries, and others, if Russias aggression spreads.You are not only fighting for your freedom but also for all of Europes, Kristersson wrote on X. European officials from Austria, he Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Spain, among others, also offered their support to Ukraine. __Blann reported from Kyiv. Associated Press writer Justin Spike in Kyiv contributed reporting. STEFANIE DAZIO Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-28T20:36:21Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. WASHINGTON (AP) Key Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been stalwart supporters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the blowup between the Ukrainian leader and President Donald Trump is threatening to change that.Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington to sign a deal that would give the U.S. access to its mineral riches as Trump attempts to pressure Ukraine into a deal to end the war with Russia. Although support for Ukraine has waned among GOP congressional members in the three years since Russia invaded, key Republicans hoped the deal would revive American support for Kyiv.Instead, the fallout from a heated Oval Office exchange between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance has many Republicans even those who previously backed Ukraine scolding Zelenskyy. For other GOP lawmakers who have long criticized U.S. support for Ukraine, the exchange was an opportunity to laud Trump for berating Ukraines leader. And for Democrats, it was proof that Trump is playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Heres what congressional lawmakers are saying as the future of Ukraine hangs in the balance: Republicans who have supported Ukraine in the pastSEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina:Graham called the meeting a complete, utter disaster and said hes never been more proud of Trump.What I saw in the Oval office was disrespectful and I dont know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again. SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO:Thank you @POTUS for standing up for America in a way that no President has ever had the courage to do before. Thank you for putting America First. America is with you!HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana:The death and destruction of the Russian-provoked war needs to stop immediately, and only our American President can put these two countries on a path to lasting peace. President Zelenskyy needed to acknowledge that, and accept the extraordinary mineral rights partnership proposal that President Trump put on the table. What we witnessed in the Oval Office today was an American President putting America first. REP. DON BACON, Nebraska:A bad day for Americas foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom.REP. MIKE LAWLER, New York:Diplomacy is tough and often times there are serious differences of opinion and heated exchanges behind closed doors. Having this spill out into public view was a disaster especially for Ukraine.REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania:It was heartbreaking to witness the turn of events that transpired in todays meeting regarding Ukraines future. It is time to put understandable emotions aside and come back to the negotiation table.Republicans who are opposed to Ukraine aidSEN. JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri:Remember: the U.S. Senate has repeatedly and for years voted BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine with no strings attached and with no true oversight. Its time for some ACCOUNTABILITY.SEN. MIKE LEE, Utah:Thank you for standing up for OUR COUNTRY and putting America first, President Trump and Vice President Vance! SEN. ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas:Not another penny.REP. ANDY BIGGS, Arizona:Dictator Zelensky had the audacity to disrespect President @realDonaldTrump and VP @JDVance during what should have been a friendly meeting, and @POTUS rightfully showed him the door. This is the leadership America has craved for four years.Democrats, who as a party overwhelmingly support UkraineSENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER, New York:Trump and Vance are doing Putins dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy.HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES, New York:Todays White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator. The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin.SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut:My strong and passionate hope is that the talks can be resumed or restored, and this event wont derail continued support. I have very strong hopes that the coalition we have in Congress and it is a very strong bipartisan coalition will be persuasive to the administration and others that we have a long-term national security interest in Ukraine prevailing over Putins brazen aggression.SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota:Answer to Vance: Zelenskyy has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly. And our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe. Shame on you.SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, Connecticut:It was a planned ambush designed to embarrass President Zelenskyy in order to benefit Vladimir Putin. That was an embarrassment. That was an abomination. What you watched was American power being destroyed in the world as everybody watches President Trump become a lapdog for a brutal dictator in Moscow.

Signs in Spanish and English are displayed the Brooklyn borough of New York, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-02-28T22:50:30Z As President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States, activists and advocacy groups are alarmed by what that will mean for non-English speakers when it comes to immigration, voter access and other issues. The order, which was announced Friday, will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English, according to a fact sheet. The move rescinds a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.Designating English as the national language promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement, according to the White House. But some activists and organizations think the move is just another way for the president to stoke division and fear. This isnt just an offensive gesture that sticks a thumb in the eye of millions of U.S. citizens who speak other languages, but also will directly harm those who have previously relied on language assistance for vital information, Vanessa Crdenas, executive director of Americas Voice, an advocacy group for immigration reform, said in an email. What does it mean to have an official language?According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an official language is what is used by the government to conduct official, day-to-day business. Having one or more official languages can help define a nations character and the cultural identity of those who live in it. Prioritizing one language may place certain people in position of power and exclude others whose language is not recognized, according to the institute. U.S. English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States, believes having an official language provides a common means of communication, encourages immigrants to learn English to use government services and defines a much-needed common sense language policy. Currently there are more than 350 languages spoken in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The most widely spoken languages other than English are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic.People in the U.S. also speak Native North American languages such as Navajo, Yupik, Dakota, Apache, Keres and Cherokee, among others. Potential impact on citizenship and votingAnabel Mendoza, the communications director for United We Dream, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization, said limiting the language of federal communication will make it harder for people to become citizens if they are denied the ability to speak their native tongue throughout the process. Currently, people of certain age and residency requirements can qualify for a waiver to do the citizenship test and interview in their native language. Trump is trying to send the message that if youre not white, rich and speak English you dont belong here, Mendoza said. Let me be clear: Immigrants are here to stay. No matter how hard Trump tries, he cant erase us.The Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced Friday that New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat, caucus chair, will deliver, on behalf of Democrats, the official Spanish-language response to Trumps upcoming joint address to Congress.George Carrillo, co-founder & CEO of the Hispanic Construction Council, said it seems like a step backwards in a country that has championed its diversity. He is also concerned how limiting governmental communication might affect U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico where the predominant language is Spanish. This executive order, while framed as promoting unity, risks dismantling critical supports like ESL programs and multilingual resources that help immigrants adapt and contribute, Carrillo said. Imagine families navigating healthcare or legal systems without materials in a language they understand, its a barrier, not a bridge. APIAVote, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on registering Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, also expressed worry this could mean barriers for millions of voters such as naturalized citizens or elderly residents who arent English-proficient. It will make it harder for them to participate civically and vote, as well as access critical healthcare, economic and education resources, the group said in a statement.Furthermore, the organization says this action could make anyone who speaks another language a target.The exclusionary nature of this policy will only fuel xenophobia and discrimination at a time when anti-Asian hate and hate against other minority and immigrant groups are rising.States that have English as the official languageMore than 30 states, from California to New Hampshire, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to U.S. English. Hawaii is the only state to declare two official languages, English and Hawaiian.For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language, but those efforts failed. The most recent effort was in 2023, when Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, introduced the English Language Unity Act. Vance is now vice president. How many countries have official languages?It is estimated that over 170 countries have an official language, with some having more than one language. Mexico does not have an official language. In Canada the official languages are English and French. According to Canadas Official Languages Act of 1969, the purpose of designating two languages ensures the equality of status and protecting linguistic minorities while taking into account the fact that they have different needs._____Figueroa reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in New York and Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this report. FERNANDA FIGUEROA Figueroa reports on Latino/Hispanic affairs as a member of the APs Race & Ethnicity team. twitter mailto

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pauses during a interview with Bret Baier during a taping of FOX News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-02-28T23:59:51Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his countrys interests.The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russias three-year onslaught.The exchange, which saw a frustrated Zelenskyy lectured by Trump and Vice President JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous U.S. support, delighted officials in Moscow, who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader. Many Ukrainians unfazed by the rowBut many Ukrainians on Friday seemed unfazed by the blowout between Zelenskyy and Trump, expressing a sense that the Ukrainian leader had stood up for their countrys dignity and interests by firmly maintaining his stance in the face of chiding from some of the worlds most powerful men.Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their presidents performance in Washington, because Zelenskyy fought like a lion.They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation, she said. But Zelenskyy was defending Ukraines interests.The meeting at the White House was meant to produce a bilateral agreement that would establish a joint investment fund for reconstructing Ukraine, a deal that was seen as a potential step toward bringing an end to the war and tying the two countries economies together for years to come. But as Zelenskyy and his team departed the White House at Trumps request, the deal went unsigned, and Ukraines hopes for securing U.S. security backing seemed farther away than ever. Yet as the Ukrainian leader was set to return to Kyiv empty handed, his support at home seemed undiminished. Regional Ukrainian leader says president held strongAs two drones struck Ukraines second-largest city Kharkiv on Friday night, the head of the region which sits on the border with Russia, Oleh Syniehubov, praised Zelenskyy. He said the president held strong to his insistence that no peace deal could be made without assurances for Ukraines security against future Russian aggression. Our leader, despite the pressure, stands firm in defending the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians. We need only a just peace with security guarantees, Syniehubov said.Kyiv resident Artem Vasyliev, 37, said he had seen complete disrespect from the United States in the Oval Office exchange, despite the fact that Ukraine was the first country that stood up to Russia.We are striving for democracy, and we are met with total disrespect, toward our warriors, our soldiers, and the people of our country, said Vasyliev, a native of Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.Vasyliev criticized the U.S. president for what he said was a failure to recognize the human cost of Russias invasion, saying Trump doesnt understand that people are dying, that cities are being destroyed, people are suffering, mothers, children, soldiers.He cannot understand this, he is just a businessman. For him, money is sacred, he said. Broad praise for Zelenskyy on social mediaUkrainian social media was awash in praise for Zelenskyy late Friday, with officials on the national, regional and local level chiming in to voice their support for their leader.The outpouring resembled a recent surge in Ukrainian unity after Trump denigrated Zelenskyy by making false claims that Ukraine was led by a dictator who started the war with Russia comments that led some of the Ukrainian presidents harshest critics to rally around him.Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Ukraines southern Kherson region, which was mostly occupied by Russia early in the war but later partially retaken by Ukrainian forces, said three years of war had hardened his countrymen to the ups and downs of the fight to survive. We know what pressure is, on the front lines, in politics, in daily struggle, Prokudin said. It has made us stronger. It has made the president stronger. Determination is the force that drives us forward. And I am confident that we will endure this time as well. Trumps administration cast the heated exchange with Zelenskyy as part of its America First policy and slammed the Ukrainian leader for a perceived lack of gratitude for U.S. assistance. But Zelenskyys backers in Ukraine praised his commitment to acting in Ukraines national interest even if it meant coming into conflict with the president of the United States. Unwavering commitment to Ukraines interests and devotion to his country. This is what we saw today in the United States. Support for the President of Ukraine, Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba wrote on Telegram Friday. Not all of Ukraines political figures, however, were as full-throated in their praise for how the Oval Office meeting concluded. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that he hoped that Ukraine does not lose the support of the United States, which is extremely important to us.Today is not the time for emotions, from either side. We need to find common ground, Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram.___Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov contributed to this report. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-03-01T00:59:09Z WASHINGTON (AP) The first time he spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump tried to pressure Ukraines new leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. It was a 2019 phone call that eventually sparked an impeachment. On Friday, a meeting in the Oval Office that started out with cordialities turned heated at the end, with Vice President JD Vance telling Zelenskyy to show more gratitude toward Trump, before the president himself began shouting. Youre gambling with the lives of millions of people, Trump berated Zelenskyy. Youre gambling with World War III.With that, Trump scrapped plans to sign an agreement that would have allowed the U.S. to access Ukraines rare earth minerals, a deal the U.S. president had said would have helped move the war toward a conclusion. The blowup cast new doubt on the future of U.S. support for Kyiv in fending off Russias invasion.A look at the evolution of Trump and Zelenskyys relationship over the years: Perfect phone call In July 2019, Zelenskyy was anxious for a meeting with Trump at the White House, one of the Ukrainian leaders top foreign policy priorities at the time. During a 30-minute call, Trump dangled the possibility of a face-to-face meeting. But he also suggested that future U.S. military support for Ukraine might be contingent on its leader helping investigate business dealings there by Hunter Biden, the former vice presidents son. The elder Biden was competing for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Trump seemed to want to weaken him 15 months out from Election Day. Trump denied wrongdoing and began referring to his exchange with Zelenskyy as a perfect phone call. Even Zelenskyy later insisted that he faced no blackmail. But Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House in December 2019 on abuse of power and obstruction of justice charges, only the third American commander in chief to be in that situation. He was acquitted by the Senate. Russias war in Ukraine Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, triggering the biggest conflict on the European continent since World War II.Since then, the U.S. has provided more than $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. The Biden administration made steadfast military and political support for Zelenskyys country a centerpiece of his foreign policy. As the war raged, the Biden White House staunchly defended continuing to provide support to Ukraine, even as some Republicans began grumbling about so much funding for a war that had no end in sight. In a speech to Congress in December 2022, Zelenskyy thanked every American for supporting his country. Your money is not charity, he said then. Its an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.Trump, then campaigning for his second term, said repeatedly that Russia would never have invaded Ukraine if hed been president and that hed have no trouble solving the conflict. Upon taking office, he upended years of U.S. policy by dispatching negotiators to Saudi Arabia to meet with officials from Russian President Vladimir Putins government, and also began hammering out the minerals deal that he and Zelenskyy had planned to sign Friday. Trump meets with Zelenskyy ahead of Election Day 2024 Last September, Zelenskyy accompanied Biden to a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers producing some of the most critically needed munitions for his countrys fight with Russian ground forces. A few days later, he traveled to Trump Tower in Manhattan and discussed ending the war. In comments to Fox News Channel afterward, Trump said of the fighting, It should stop and the president wants it to stop, meaning Zelenskyy. And Im sure President Putin wants it to stop and thats a good combination, Trump added. Zelenskyy invited Trump to visit Ukraine, to which Trump responded, I will. That trip came up again Friday, when Vance told Zelenskyy, You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition.Zelenskyys September trip was not billed as political, though, and Trumps election opponent was Vice President Kamala Harris, not Biden. Still, Pennsylvania is a battleground state and some congressional Republicans at the time accused Democrats of using Zelenskyys visit to bolster Harris politically. Trump calls Zelenskyy a dictator, then suggests he didnt Last December, Trump met with Zelenskyy again during a visit to Paris to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was a hastily arranged three-way meeting set up by French President Emmanuel Macron, who was trying to push the president-elect to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russias invasion.As president, Trump has publicly prodded Zelenskyy that he had better move quickly to negotiate an end to Russias war in Ukraine, or risk no longer having a country to lead. On his social media site, Trump decried Zelenskyy for not organizing an election to decide if he should remain in power an idea backed by Russia calling him a dictator without elections. He also suggested that Ukraine was responsible for Russias invasion, but later conceded that Russia was the aggressor.Before this week, Zelenskyy had been to the White House four times all during the Biden administration. When the Ukrainian leader announced he was coming to Washington and was ready to sign a minerals deal, Trumps tone got more conciliatory. He called Americas support for Ukraine against Russias invasion a very worthy thing to do. And, when pressed about having called Zelenskyy a dictator, Trump responded: Did I say that? I cant believe I said that. Next question.It all served to make Fridays blowup all the more spectacular. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)2025-03-01T05:02:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) All it took was 90 seconds for weeks of tortured diplomacy to unwind in spectacular fashion.President Donald Trumps Oval Office thrashing of Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday laid bare the limits of a full-court press by Americas allies aimed at reshaping Trumps determination to end Russias invasion even if the terms are not to Ukraines liking. It also stressed the profound ways Trump feels emboldened to redirect U.S. foreign policy priorities toward his America First agenda in ways that extend well beyond those of his tumultuous first term.The sudden blowup was the most heated public exchange of words between world leaders in the Oval Office in memory, as the usual staid work of diplomacy descended into finger-pointing, shouting and eye-rolling.The encounter left the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and Kyivs ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy. You either make a deal or we are out, Trump told Zelenskyy, underscoring the American leaders plans to dictate a swift end to the war or leave its longtime ally to continue the fight without its strongest backer. The stunning episode capped a week of what turned out to be largely futile efforts by U.S. allies to paper over differences between Washington and Kyiv and to try to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron huddled with Trump to lay the groundwork for an eventual European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine aimed at deterring future Russian aggression and to encourage the U.S. president to be more skeptical of Vladimir Putin.But even as Trump and Macron greeted each other with a vise-like grip, the U.S. was splitting with its European allies at the United Nations by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in a series of resolutions marking the three-year anniversary of the war. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington and appealed to Trump for a U.S. backstop for European nations who would provide front-line security for Ukraine. He was in essence looking for insurance that, should a peace deal be reached, Russia wont restart the fighting in the future. Starmer brought flattery and a state visit invitation from King Charles III to soften the ask.The approach seemed to work, as Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling Americas support for the country against Russias invasion a very worthy thing to do and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a dictator.But Trump also brushed aside Putins past broken diplomatic promises, claiming they occurred under different presidents, and saying the Russian leader had never violated a commitment to him. It came as his aides were planning a series of negotiating sessions with Russian officials to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.All the while, Trump was focused on securing a financial stake in Ukraines critical minerals to recoup the tens of billions the U.S. has given to Kyiv to defend itself. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, wanted more than Washingtons vague promises that the U.S. would work to preserve its economic interest in Ukraine under the agreement and pushed for more concrete security guarantees. But Trump would not budge, and U.S. officials repeatedly said Zelenskyy would not be welcome to meet with the president to discuss Trumps push for negotiations with Russia until it was signed. After weeks of browbeating, Zelenskyys government on Wednesday formally agreed to the proposal, clearing the path for Fridays meeting.It started off cordially enough, as Trump and Zelenskyy spoke politely, even with admiration, of one of another for the first half-hour of the meeting. Trump even suggested he would continue some military assistance to Ukraine until he could secure an enduring peace deal with Russia.But when the Ukrainian leader raised alarm about trusting any promises from Putin to end the fighting, Vice President JD Vance rebuked him for airing disagreements with Trump in public. It instantly shifted the tenor of the conversation. Zelenskyy grew defensive, and Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful and disrespectful and issued stark warnings about future American support. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, both a defense hawk and a strident ally of Trumps, said he had warned Zelenskyy ahead of the meeting not to take the bait in his dealings with Trump, who has repeatedly shown a penchant for throwing criticism but a deep resistance to receiving it.It was Vance a longtime critic of American support for Ukraine who dangled it, when he insisted diplomacy was the only pathway forward.What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? Zelenskyy said, listing Russias past violations of ceasefires. What do you mean? Im talking about the kind of diplomacy thats going to end the destruction of your country, Vance responded before tearing into the Ukrainian leader. Mr. President, with respect, I think its disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.Trump then let loose, warning the Ukrainian leader, Youre gambling with World War III, and what youre doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country thats backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.At another point, Trump declared himself in the middle, seeming to formally break from years of American support for Ukraine. He went on to deride Zelenskyys hatred for Putin as a roadblock to peace.You see the hatred hes got for Putin, Trump said. Thats very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.Its going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, Trump said to Zelenskyy as the two leaders talked over each other.The episode was just the latest instance of Trumps brazen moves to shift long-held American policy positions in his first six weeks back in office, portending even more uncertainty ahead for longtime American allies and partners who have already felt pressed to justify their place in Trumps eyes. It comes just weeks after Trump floated a permanent relocation of Palestinians in Gaza and an American takeover of the territory, and as he has doubled down on plans to put stiff tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting next week. After the Oval Office dustup, Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House by top Trump advisers scrapping plans for a lunch, a joint press conference and the signing of the economic agreement, even as the Ukrainian leader and his aides pushed for a reset on the meeting. Trump later told reporters he didnt want to embolden the Ukrainian leader if he didnt want peace with Russia flipping what Ukraine had seen as an inducement for security guarantees into a cudgel. You cant embolden somebody who does not have the cards, Trump said.After the disastrous encounter, Zelenskyy appeared on Fox News on Friday evening and told Bret Baier that his public spat with Trump and Vance was not good for both sides. But Zelenskyy said Trump who insists Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war needs to understand that Ukraine cant change its attitudes toward Russia on a dime.Zelenskyy added that Ukraine wont enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.Everybody (is) afraid Putin will come back tomorrow, Zelenskyy said. We want just and lasting peace.Its so sensitive for our people, Zelenskyy said. And they just want to hear that America (is) on our side, that America will stay with us. Not with Russia, with us. Thats it.Zelenskyy acknowledged that without U.S. support, his countrys position would grow difficult.After repeatedly declining opportunities to apologize to Trump, Zelensky closed his Fox appearance with a sheepish expression of remorse as he struggled with the reality of Trumps new direction in Washington: Sorry for this. ZEKE MILLER Miller leads coverage of the president and the presidency for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Gene Hackman, right, and long-time friend Daniel Lenihan, discuss their new book, "Wake of the Perdido Star," on Nov. 19, 1999, in Cloudclift Bakery, the cafe where they first dreamed up their adventure story, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone, File)2025-03-01T05:02:51Z SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) The pion- and juniper-scented Rocky Mountain foothills overlooking Santa Fe have helped the city earn a reputation as a refuge for famous actors and authors seeking to escape the spotlight. The house owned by actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa stands Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales) The house owned by actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa stands Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Sometimes the worlds attention is unavoidable, as it was this week when Oscar-winner Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside their home in those very foothills. Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, eschewed fame and made Santa Fe their home decades ago, like many other acclaimed artists, including the former playwright Sam Shepard, actors Shirley MacLaine and Ali MacGraw, and Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin.In addition to the fresh air and mountain vistas, Santa Fe situated more than a mile above sea level is known for Pueblo-style architecture, Southwest-themed art galleries and turquoise jewelry-filled boutiques. Initially settled by Indigenous people and once colonized by Spain, the capital city of New Mexico today embraces a low-key vibe where young skateboarders share the sidewalks with wealthy retirees decked out in Pendleton cardigans and cowboy boots. Its not uncommon to see a famous person strolling downtown, dining out or hiking on the numerous trails; its just that locals know not to gush over them. You recognize that celebrities who come here are coming here for the same reason. They just want to live and be normal people, artist Kristin Bortles said, taking a break from planning a mural for a new coffee shop. The normally laid back city was in collective shock Thursday as news spread about Hackman and Arakawa. The last time a crush of media descended on Santa Fe was when Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of the movie Rust. Actor Gene Hackman waits backstage at the opening of the new OKeeffe Museum, July 17, 1997, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Michael Pahos, File) Actor Gene Hackman waits backstage at the opening of the new OKeeffe Museum, July 17, 1997, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Michael Pahos, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More On Friday, conversations about what had happened to Hackman and his wife always came back to Santa Fes reputation as a place where celebrities could unwind and live unassuming lives far from the glitz of Los Angeles or New York City and even some of the more glamorous Rocky Mountain enclaves, like Vail, Colorado. Hackman retired in the early 2000s after a decades-long career that included roles as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films. Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen on the Hollywood social circuit.He served for several years on the board of trustees at the Georgia OKeeffe Museum in Santa Fe and wrote a novel about the American West centered on New Mexico called Payback at Morning Peak and coauthored one on the Civil War entitled Escape from Andersonville. (A real life battle took place just east of Santa Fe in 1862, at Glorieta Pass.) Hackman and Arakawa lived in a multilevel Pueblo-style home that blends in with the surrounding geography. He enjoyed weekly Pilates classes, bicycle rides along paved trails and getting fresh eggs dropped off by friends.While Hackman kept a tight circle of friends and didnt go out much, he was sometimes spotted downtown. But one of the most accomplished actors of his generation mostly blended in. Downtown Santa Fe, N.M., is seen March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File) Downtown Santa Fe, N.M., is seen March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People walk around the Santa Fe Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil) People walk around the Santa Fe Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A man walks through downtown Santa Fe, N.M., Feb. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/The New Mexican, Amiran White, File) A man walks through downtown Santa Fe, N.M., Feb. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/The New Mexican, Amiran White, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A haze of wildfire smoke hangs over the Upper Rio Grande Valley, May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File) A haze of wildfire smoke hangs over the Upper Rio Grande Valley, May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The thing Ive learned about Santa Fe is that you never know who youre talking to, you never know who youre going to meet or whos around the corner, said Gabriel Garcia, whose family has been selling jewelry and leather crafts on the Santa Fe Plaza for more than 60 years.Hackman usually was in jeans, a flannel shirt and sometimes a baseball cap, said friend Stuart Ashman, the former head of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and past CEO of the International Folk Art Market. Obviously he was a huge star, Ashman said, but you would never know it when you talked to him because he had that sort of what I call a princely attitude, where hes focused on you and asks you about you, not talking about himself.Hackman enjoyed painting and was drawn to the beauty of the hills surrounding Santa Fe and the light of the high desert, Ashman said. Arakawa, a classical musician, was soft spoken and never one to expect special treatment, said Larry Keller, owner of a high-end furniture and art store where she would shop. Being a part of the Santa Fe community, he said, means not drawing extra attention to someone because of their celebrity status. Were too cool for school, you know. Thats the Santa Fe vibe, Keller said.___AP writers Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.

Palestinians have dinner inside their destroyed apartment decorated for the holy month of Ramadan in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-03-01T10:45:57Z CAIRO (AP) The latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has made no progress so far, and it was unclear whether the talks would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said. The first phase of the ceasefire, which paused 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Phase one expires on Saturday, but under the terms of the deal, fighting is not to resume while negotiations are underway on the second phase, which could end the war in Gaza and see the remaining living hostages returned home. Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo, with the goal of bringing an end to the war with the return of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Hamas did not attend the talks, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau, told The Associated Press there had been no progress on finding a solution before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday. It was unclear whether those mediators were going to return to Cairo to resume talks on Saturday as has been expected, and Naim said he had no idea when negotiations might start again. Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7 2023 attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel. Since then, Israels military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say that more than half the dead have been women and children. The two sides agreed to the three-phase ceasefire deal in January, with the aim of bringing an end to the war. On Friday, Hamas said that it reaffirms its full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details and called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately proceed to the second phase without any delay or evasion. In addition to phase two of the ceasefire, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that mediators in the talks were also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region.Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefires first phase by 42 days, saying it goes against the truce agreement, according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.The Israeli proposal calls for extending the ceasefire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday, in return for an additional hostage exchange, the Hamas member said.The U.N. food agency, the World Food Program, said in a post on social media on Saturday that it reached 1 million Palestinians across Gaza during the deals first phase.The pause in fighting helped restoring distribution points, reopening bakeries, and expanding cash assistance, the agency said.The ceasefire must hold, it said. There can be no going back.___ Rising reported from Bangkok SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto DAVID RISING Rising covers regional Asia-Pacific stories for The Associated Press. He has worked around the world, including covering the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and was based for nearly 20 years in Berlin before moving to Bangkok. twitter mailto

Amber Crooks, environmental policy manager with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, left, and Michael McGrath of the Sierra Club, right, hold a map showing proposed developments at the Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)2025-03-01T05:04:39Z FLORIDA PANTHER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Fla. (AP) In January, an endangered Florida panther known as UCFP479 became the first to die this year in a vehicle collision along a rural southwestern Florida road.The male panther, just under 2 years old, will not be the last. Athena the panther looks out from her enclosure at the Florida panther exhibit at the Naples Zoo, Jan. 15, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Athena the panther looks out from her enclosure at the Florida panther exhibit at the Naples Zoo, Jan. 15, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In 2024, 36 panther deaths were recorded by state wildlife officials, which was the most since 2016. The majority of those deaths are the result of collisions with vehicles, including one that was struck by a train, state statistics show.An estimated 120 to 230 adult Florida panthers live in the wild in the states southwestern corner, where they are faced with a booming human population and the accompanying development. Loss of habitatThe Florida panther, which is similar to but smaller than the Western cougar or mountain lion, once roamed across a large swath of the southeastern U.S. Hunting and habitat loss have decimated the species numbers and confined them to a shrinking space of about 2 million acres (809,000 hectares), according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This 2017 image from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service motion-activated camera shows a Florida panther at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File) This 2017 image from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service motion-activated camera shows a Florida panther at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Indeed, along what were once narrow country roads in eastern Collier and Lee counties there are numerous major projects under way that will create tens of thousands of homes and the traffic that comes with them.Were at a critical juncture now, said Michael McGrath of the Sierra Club, which recently led a tour of panther country for journalists and activists. Were going to see more and more deaths. Sprawl kills. Environmental groups have been fighting an uphill battle to curb some of the development and vow to continue those efforts.You can see all of that land is primary panther habitat, said Amber Crooks, environmental policy manager at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. We have to fight until that last decision is made. A placard displays locations of panther habitats inside the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) A placard displays locations of panther habitats inside the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Conservation effortsThe Florida panther is the only established population of pumas east of the Mississippi River, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They have been listed as federally endangered since 1967. A 26,600-acre (10,700-hectare) panther refuge was established in 1989 next to the Big Cypress National Preserve, west of the Everglades.In 1981, the state began capturing panthers to check their health, administer vaccines, take genetic samples and fit them with radio collars to track them. A Florida panther, rescued as a kitten, runs away from its game officials and photographers as it is released back into the wild in the Florida Everglades, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) A Florida panther, rescued as a kitten, runs away from its game officials and photographers as it is released back into the wild in the Florida Everglades, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A panther crossing sign is displayed on a road bordering the Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) A panther crossing sign is displayed on a road bordering the Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The panther population at one point in the 1990s dropped to around 50 animals, in part because of inbreeding that caused numerous health problems. That led officials to import eight female Texas pumas to Florida to breed with males, helping boost panther numbers and improving their genetic diversity. The offspring are considered to be Florida panthers and are protected under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Characteristics of panthersFlorida panthers resemble the cougars and pumas found in the American West, with beige or tan fur and white markings underneath. They eat various types of prey, especially deer and raccoons.Males tend to roam more than females in search of territory and sometimes are spotted near the Orlando area. One male was shot and killed by a hunter in Georgia in 2008, wildlife officials say. Because males roam more, they are more prone to being struck by vehicles. People walk along a path at the Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) People walk along a path at the Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Other threatsPanthers face the threat of disease, including a form of feline leukemia transmitted to them by domestic cats. Bobcats also are prone to the disease.A 2002 outbreak of feline leukemia killed at least five panthers, federal wildlife officials say. Athena the panther walks inside her enclosure at the Florida panther exhibit at the Naples Zoo, Jan. 15, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Athena the panther walks inside her enclosure at the Florida panther exhibit at the Naples Zoo, Jan. 15, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Michael McGrath of the Sierra Club holds an undated photograph showing a panther killed on the road at the CREW Wildlife and Environmental Area in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Michael McGrath of the Sierra Club holds an undated photograph showing a panther killed on the road at the CREW Wildlife and Environmental Area in Southwest Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Another emerging disease appears to cause weakness in the rear legs of panthers and bobcats, many of them seen walking unsteadily on trail video cameras. We encourage the public to continue to submit footage and pictures of wildlife that appear to have problems with their rear legs, the Florida wildlife commission said in an online post.Some are killed through fights among themselves, especially males. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This cover image released by Simon Element shows "Eat Better, Sleep Better: 75 Recipes and A 28-Day Meal Plan That Unlock the Food-Sleep Connection" by Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge and Kat Craddock. (Simon Element via AP)2025-03-01T05:08:57Z Anyone who has ever suffered in bed after eating three slices of pizza could surmise there is some relationship between food and sleep quality.For Marie-Pierre St-Onge, the director of Columbia Universitys Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research, years of studying the relationship confirmed it.Data from large-scale population studies showed that eating a lot of saturated fat and simple carbohydrates made it harder to get deep, restorative sleep, she said. The inverse was also true. People who dont get enough sleep, for example, were more likely to be obese.Its a cycle of having poor sleep leading to poor dietary choices, and lower dietary quality that further propels poor sleep, St-Onge said.If bad food could keep you awake, she wondered, can good food help you sleep? Her research led to a new cookbook, Eat Better, Sleep Better, co-written with Kat Craddock, editor-in-chief of the food magazine Saveur. St-Onge said the answer is yes. The books recipes reflect her findings that people with high-fiber diets report better sleep, and the dishes rely heavily on what she called sleep-supporting ingredients. Nuts, seeds and whole grains such as barley, buckwheat and kasha contain melatonin, a compound the body also produces naturally to regulate the circadian rhythm. Research suggests the anti-inflammatory properties of ginger and turmeric improve sleep quality, as do the phytochemicals in brightly colored fruits and vegetables like squash, cherries, bananas and beefsteak tomatoes, St-Onge said. This article is part of APs Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well. Besides the properties of particular ingredients, the combination of certain foods is key to encouraging your body to produce the hormones it needs to fall and stay sleep, she said. Tryptophan, for example, is an essential amino acid only found in food, but it requires nutrients such as magnesium, zinc and B vitamins to be converted into melatonin and serotonin. St-Onge noted that people shouldnt expect to fall dead asleep after loading up on certain ingredients at dinner. Food has to be processed, with chemical reactions transforming nutrients over time before they are absorbed. Its making sure you have a healthy diet across the day to have the nutrients at the ready, she said.Recipes were developed for every meal of the day, plus snacks and desserts, the authors said. The two then arranged them into a 28-day meal plan designed to improve your sleep.Craddock said developing the recipes came naturally because the research stressed using a variety of foods she likes to cook with anyway. The challenge was making sure the recipes fell within the nutritional requirements.My instincts are to go hard on bacon and butter and cheese and heavy cream, and she pared a lot of that back, Craddock said.Instead of bacon, Craddock said, she could achieve similar flavors with a little olive oil and smoked paprika. It was a bit of a dance back and forth between my more restaurant approach to making foods delicious and her nutritional goals.A Creole gumbo recipe, for instance, is inspired more by a vegetarian version often served during Lent than the heavier traditional one. The andouille often used a pork product high in saturated fat is swapped out for healthier chicken sausage. Adding more than a pound of mixed greens makes it more like a vegetable stew, and brown rice adds a complex carbohydrate. With numerous charts and scientific research, the book is a practical guide to improving your diet in general. But Craddock said it also introduces people to international ingredients and dishes so they might think beyond what they eat every day.If you dig a little deeper and look a little further, there are healthful and flavorful and exciting ingredients from many cultures that are right in our own backyard, she said.EDITORS NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at https://www.albertstumm.com

People walk at dusk in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)2025-03-01T05:23:11Z VATICAN CITY (AP) There has long been a Vatican taboo against openly talking about a conclave when a pope is sick: Its considered gauche to speculate about the election of a new pope while the current one is fighting for his life. And that is certainly true as Pope Francis battles double pneumonia at Romes Gemelli hospital. Academy Awards hopeful Conclave reveals system behind selecting a new pontiff, as Pope Francis remains hospitalized, battling pneumonia. (Feb. 27) But the surprising success of Conclave the film and its momentum going into Sundays Academy Awards have thrust the arcane rules, glorious ceremony and supreme drama of one of the Catholic Churchs most solemn moments into popular culture. And its put the Catholic hierarchy in something of a bind as it simultaneously prays for Francis.The film cant be dismissed as distasteful or blasphemous, since it treats the gravity of a papal election with respect and accurately portrays the ancient rituals and contemporary problems facing todays Catholic Church. Both the Vatican newspaper LOsservatore Romano and the Avvenire daily of the Italian bishops conference gave Conclave rave reviews. A nun prays for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File) A nun prays for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Granted, those reviews were published before Francis entered the hospital Feb. 14 with a complex lung infection that has taken him out of commission for the longest time of his 12-year papacy. Its unclear if the newspapers would have published them after Francis health took such a dire turn. Thats even more the case since its clear from the opening scenes that the figure of Francis is very much present in the film, from the opening scenes in the Vaticans modern Santa Marta hotel where Francis chose to live to one of the figures central to the plot.But at the very least, the life-imitating-art coincidence of Conclave the movie finding mass popular appeal at a time when the worlds media has descended on Rome to monitor every update of Francis health has certainly piqued interest in what might happen in a real-life conclave. Author Harris knows its a sensitive timeConclave, director Edward Bergers adaptation of the Robert Harris novel starring Ralph Fiennes as the dean of the College of Cardinals, has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It goes into Sundays Oscars with a Bafta win for best picture and a SAG award for best ensemble. A light illuminates a polychrome mosaic portrait of Pope Francis placed on the frieze of St. Pauls Outside The Walls Basilica in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) A light illuminates a polychrome mosaic portrait of Pope Francis placed on the frieze of St. Pauls Outside The Walls Basilica in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Harris is well aware of the sensitivity of the moment, and how the surreal turn of events of an ailing pope dovetailing with an Oscar campaign had made his book and the film relevant to say the least. But he is adamant against trying to milk the moment for publicity.Ive been refusing all requests to talk about it and a future conclave because I think thats in extreme bad taste, Harris told The Associated Press. I really hope hes got some more years yet.Francis suffered a setback on Friday, and was placed on noninvasive mechanical ventilation after a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that had to be extracted. He was up, however, on Saturday morning drinking coffee, suggesting he was not dependent on the mask to breathe. Doctors said they need 24 to 48 hours to evaluate how and if the isolated episode affected his overall clinical condition, while keeping his prognosis guarded.All of which has made Conclave the film a bit too close for comfort in more ways than one for anyone following Francis plight and concerned about what it means for the Catholic Church. Mild spoiler alert To recap: The film opens with the death of the pope and turns around the political maneuvering and manipulations behind the election of his successor. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) is dean of the College of Cardinals, who must organize the conclave amid his own crisis of faith. With the future of the church weighing on him, he has to contend with secrets, scandals, smear campaigns and surprising twists, while ensuring the elections integrity. Catholic faithful attend a nightly rosary prayer service for the health of Pope Francis in St. Peters Square at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Mosaab Elshamy, File) Catholic faithful attend a nightly rosary prayer service for the health of Pope Francis in St. Peters Square at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Mosaab Elshamy, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Massimo Faggioli, theologian at Villanova University, said the film was sadly effective in illustrating the institutional instability that the church is going through now, as well as the ease with which a single act or allegation of misconduct can ruin someone.The main threats (are) now coming not from the outside (Napoleon, or Hitler, or secularization), but from the inside (especially the fear of another sexual scandal), he said. Berger certainly takes some creative liberties. Lawrence, for example, would have been excommunicated two or possibly three times for his efforts to navigate the intrigue, given the ban on communications with the outside world during a conclave and canon laws governing the seal of the confessional and the sealing of the papal apartment after a pope has died. But this is Hollywood, and His Eminence can be forgiven.Catholic media loved the filmAvvenire, which hews to the Vatican establishment line, praised the film for its sumptuous beauty, twists of plot and anything but trivial commentary about the current state of the church.Lets face it: Conclave, which takes us to the heart of one of the worlds most mysterious and secret events, is a highly entertaining film, especially for an American audience that isnt terribly picky, Avvenire said Dec. 20, when the film opened in Italian theaters and well before Francis got sick. Writing in the Vatican newspaper LOsservatore Romano on Feb. 1, critic Alessandra Comazzi highlighted the short but critical turn played by Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes.As a longtime critic for the La Stampa daily, Comazzi is well aware of the Vatican taboo of openly talking of a conclave. But in an interview, she said the film managed to treat a conclave as thriller without causing offense. She said the Vatican newspaper was only too happy to publish her rave.The dean Lawrence has to govern the conclave and liberate it from these false prophets, she said. And I think also from the ecclesial and religious point of view, the director managed to do it in a very respectful way.But a cardinal close to Francis didntThat said, someone who has actually participated in a conclave gave the film something of a thumbs down.My experience of being in at least one conclave was not that it was some sort of scene of political backroom plotting of how to get your candidate elected, Cardinal Sean OMalley, the retired archbishop of Boston, wrote in a Feb. 7 blog post.OMalley voted in the 2013 conclave that elected Francis pope and is one of his closest allies. He said he and his brother cardinals were well aware that millions of Catholics were praying from afar so that the Holy Spirit would guide us in our deliberations.And, of course, at the moment when each cardinal votes, you take your ballot, stand in front of Michelangelos image of Christ in the Last Judgment and swear before God that you are going to vote for the person that you believe is Gods will for the church, he wrote.Its a much different experience than what they depicted in the movie, he wrote. For all its artistic and entertainment value, I dont think the movie is a good portrayal of the spiritual reality of what a conclave is.___Associated Press writer Hilary Fox in London contributed to this report.___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.

2025-03-01T13:46:39Z SEATTLE (AP) President Donald Trumps plan to pull federal funding from institutions that provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth will remain blocked on a long-term basis under a federal judges ruling in Seattle late Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King previously granted a two-week restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration Colorado has since joined the case. Kings temporary order expired Friday, and she held arguments that day before issuing a preliminary injunction blocking most of Trumps plan pending a final decision on the merits of the case. She rejected a portion of the states challenge regarding the orders protections against female genital mutilation, on grounds that no credible threat of prosecution exists in such cases. Two of Trumps executive orders are at issue in the case. One, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism, calls for stripping federal money from programs that promote gender ideology. The other, Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, calls for the federal government to cut off research and educational grants for institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, that provide gender-affirming care to people under age 19. Several hospitals around the country ceased providing care, including puberty blockers and hormone treatments, following the order. Medicaid programs in some states cover gender-affirming care, and Trumps Protecting Children order suggests that practice could end. It also raises the prospect that medical professionals could be criminally charged for providing gender-affirming care under a law that bans medically unnecessary genital mutilation of underage females a notion that the states suing Trump call repugnant and legally unsupportable. Young people who persistently identify as a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth a condition called gender dysphoria are far more likely to suffer from severe depression and to kill themselves if they do not receive treatment, which can include evaluation by a team of medical professionals; a social transition, such as changing a hairstyle or pronouns; and eventually puberty blockers or hormones. Surgery is extremely rare for minors. In her ruling Friday, the judge said the order was not limited to children or to irreversible treatments and that it doesnt target medical interventions performed on cisgender children. In fact, its inadequate means-end fit would prevent federally funded medical providers from providing necessary medical treatments to transgender youth that are completely unrelated to gender identity, she wrote. For example, a cisgender teen could obtain puberty blockers from such a provider as a component of cancer treatment, but a transgender teen with the same cancer care plan could not.In his arguments Friday, Washington Assistant Attorney General William McGinty stressed the urgency of the issue. There are going to be young people who are going to take their lives if they can no longer receive this care, he said.The executive order uses derisive terminology words such as maiming, sterilizing and mutilation that contradicts what is typical for gender-affirming care in the United States. Such care is widely endorsed by the medical community, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians.King, the judge in Seattle, grilled Justice Department attorney Vinita Andrapalliyal in court about the meaning and effect of Trumps executive orders.What is gender dysphoria? she asked.Your honor, I am not a medical provider, Andrapalliyal responded.Its a thing, correct? King asked. Its a medically recognizable diagnosis?I dont have an official position on that, Andrapalliyal said.The judge continued to press, saying she was looking for a legitimate government interest that would justify Trumps orders. The four Democratic attorneys general suing in Seattle argued that the orders violate equal rights protections, the separation of powers and the states right to regulate issues not delegated to the federal government.The Trump administration disputed those claims in court filings. The Presidents authority to direct subordinate agencies to implement his agenda, subject to those agencies own statutory authorities, is well established, Justice Department attorneys wrote.In addition to the orders on health care access and defining the sexes as unchangeable, Trump has also signed orders that open the door to banning transgender people from military service; set up new rules about how schools can teach about gender; and would ban transgender athletes from participating in girls and womens sports.Many legal challenges have been filed.

People demonstrate during the Presidents Day protest Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Lincoln, Neb. (Justin Wan/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)2025-03-01T12:56:06Z During his first six weeks in office, President Donald Trump has embarked on a dizzying teardown of the federal government and attacks on long-standing institutions in an attempt to increase his own authority.He has pardoned those who attacked the U.S. Capitol to overturn his 2020 election loss, placed loyalists atop the FBI and military, and purged the Department of Justice, which dropped investigations against Trump allies. He declared control over independent agencies such as the Federal Elections Commission, punished media outlets for coverage he dislikes and his allies suggested he could defy court orders.Those who monitor democracy across the globe had warned that a second Trump term could endanger Americas 240-year experiment with democracy. His opening weeks in office have done nothing to dispel those concerns.Trump is using the classic elected authoritarian playbook, said Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College, who joined more than 800 other political scientists in signing a letter warning that Trump is undermining the rule of law and the basic constitutional principle of checks and balances. Its almost embarrassing how crude it is. Nyhan said some of Trumps moves echo those made by others who won democratic elections and then moved to centralize control, such as Hungarys Viktor Orban. Those who have resisted authoritarians in other countries say they are alarmed by what is happening in the United States. I feel like Im living through this twice, said Maria Ressa, a journalist who won a Nobel Prize after being prosecuted by the government of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, on a call last week about the threat of Trump to democracy.What youre seeing is exactly that think about it as death by a thousand cuts, she said. Youre bleeding so much that, at some point, the body politic dies. What democracy is all aboutTrump has certainly embraced the image of a strongman. The president declared, we are the federal law and posted on his social media site that He who saves his country does not violate any law a quote often attributed to Napolean Bonaparte. The official White House account posted on the social media site X an image of a smiling, crowned Trump with the words LONG LIVE THE KING. Trumps supporters say he actually is trying to preserve American democracy by giving voters what they want a strong president. How strong Trump can become is in question. Courts have paused several of his executive orders, including ones seeking to eliminate agencies created by Congress and ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally.Trump campaigned last year promising to dismantle what he contends is a corrupt government bureaucracy, which he blames for failures during his first term and his subsequent prosecution. On his first day in office, the new president told reporters his goal was to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office in February, billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump tapped to spearhead cuts to the federal government, claimed he is the one trying to restore democracy. Some of the lawsuits seeking to stop Musks actions have been unsuccessful, allowing him to proceed. The people voted for major government reform and thats what the people are going to get, Musk told reporters. Thats what democracy is all about.But many who track democracy warn that Musks conception is incomplete.The power you gain through the ballot box is not unlimited power. Thats the essence of liberal democracy, said Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretary general of the Stockholm-based pro-democracy group International IDEA. Undermining our democratic traditionsOn the world stage, Trump and his administration have alarmed longtime allies in Europe over whether the U.S. remains committed to NATO and his siding with Russia in talks to end the war in Ukraine, a country the Kremlin invaded three years ago, and at the United Nations last month.On Friday, Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Russian officials and many Trump allies expressed glee; European nations reacted in horror.U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the close relations between the Trump administration and Russian President Vladimir Putins government amounted to an existential threat. This Putin-Trump alliance means abandoning our allies, supporting authoritarianism and undermining our democratic traditions, he said in a social media post.The common theme throughout Trumps moves is about expanding his personal power, said Josh Chafetz, a Georgetown law professor.Its not even clear what its power in service of, he added, noting that Trump has few strong ideological convictions. Politicizing federal law enforcementDespite concerns that the administration would disregard the judiciary, Trump and Musk said it would obey court rulings and eventually seek congressional approval for the changes they are making. Still, Musk and some other Republicans have also called for impeaching judges who rule against the administration.There are plenty of other warning signs, chiefly the aggressive use of the Department of Justice to promote Trumps political interests.The department directed prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, citing his cooperation with the administrations immigration crackdown. That led to several senior Justice Department officials resigning after saying such a deal was dangerous and some former top prosecutors warning about the risks to the rule of law.Trumps pick to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, represented some defendants who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin, in his interim post as the top federal prosecution in the nations capital, contacted at least two congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, to investigate previous statements they had made. One statement related to Musk and another dealt with the conservative Supreme Court justices who were in the majority ruling that ended the constitutional right to abortion.This notion that you can use your power to reward your friends and punish your enemies it reminds me of something that has long been a staple of Latin American politics, said Casas-Zamora, who is from Costa Rica.Threatening perceived enemiesTrump has escalated attacks on media outlets whose coverage he dislikes, kicking them out of their Pentagon workspace or barring them from the Oval Office and Air Force One and picking which will be allowed to cover his events. His appointee to head the Federal Communications Commission is investigating PBS and National Public Radio, which receive federal money.Trump also issued an executive order to take control of independent agencies such as the FCC, Federal Election Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission.Some leading Democrats have used striking analogies in warning about Trumps actions. In a State of the State address last month that ended with a scathing assessment of Trumps actions, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish, implored lawmakers to remember what gave rise to Nazism in Germany nearly a century ago.If we dont want to repeat history, Pritzker said, then for Gods sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.___Associated Press writers John OConnor in Springfield, Illinois, and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

Welcome back to the Abstract!Hows your mental state these days? Feeling burnt out? Well, have I got a story for you about a guy whose mind was so blown by the events of his time that we can see his actual neurons 2,000 years later. Im not trying to trivialize anyones legitimate feelings of stress; just giving us all the opportunity to look on the bright side: We havent been cooked aliveyet!Next, Mars. Want to live there? Some people apparently do. Heres a guide to the best coastal real estate of the past, courtesy of a rover that recently died there. Snap up your timeshare before Elon Musk buys it and names it X-Mars-the-Spot or some crap. Then, scientists raise alarms about all the weird endangered animals that get short shrift compared to fan favorites, like tigers, and whales, and Moo Deng. Last, an ode to the mama bear. Enjoy!This is Your Brain on Mount VesuviusGiordano, Guido et al. Unique formation of organic glass from a human brain in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CE. Scientific Reports.Nearly 2,000 years ago, a young man aged about 20 was chilling out in the Collegium Augustalium, a hall built to worship Emperor Augustus, in the Roman town of Herculaneum. Nobody knows what was running through his mind that morning, but we know what was there by the afternoon: A heat-shocked brain preserved in organic glass.This unlucky fellow was one of the thousands of people killed when Mount Vesuvius blew its ever-lovin top in the year 79, burying the neighboring towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in searing ash, lava, and pumice.Remains of the man in the Collegium Augustalium. Image: Pier Paolo PetroneThe man in the Collegium Augustalium, who probably served as the buildings guardian, was lying down in bed when he was hit by a fast-moving volcanic belch, known as a pyroclastic flow, which raised his body temperature well above 510C (950F).That is, medically speaking, too hot. But while it is an absolutely horrifying way to die, the guardian has the posthumous honor of having a preserved glass brain formed by a unique process of vitrification which is the only such occurrence on Earth, according to researchers led by Guido Giordano of Universit Roma Tre.Our comprehensive chemical and physical characterization of the material sampled from the skull of a human body buried at Herculaneum by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius shows compelling evidence that these are human brain remains, composed of organic glass formed at high temperatures, a process of preservation never previously documented for human or animal tissue, neither brain nor any other kind, said the team.The glass that formed as a result of such a unique process attained a perfect state of preservation of the brain and its microstructures including exceptionally well-preserved complex networks of neurons, axons, and other neural structures, the researchers added.Neural structures preserved in glass. Image: Giordano, Guido et alWe talk about having brain-freeze or being brain-fried, but the guardian definitely has us all beat with: brainvitrified-into-glass-via-volcano. While its probably not how this guy hoped to go down in history, its insane that we can look at an ancient persons actual brain, down to the neural structures, after 2,000 years. These same networks once carried thoughts like what should I have for lunch? and Emperor Augustus was so based and now they are laid out in front of us, immortalized in a glass tableau.We reconstruct a scenario where a fast, very hot ash cloud was the first deadly event during the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption, enveloping victims, including the guardian who was subject to the specific conditions for heating the brain at temperatures well above 510 C without the (total) destruction of the cerebral tissue, the team said. The brain then turned into glass during the fast cooling at glass transition temperature close to 510C. Later, in agreement with witness accounts and deposit stratigraphy, Herculaneum was progressively buried by thick pyroclastic flow deposits, but at lower temperatures, so that the unique presence of a vitrified brain could have been preserved until today.Dont mess with Mount Vesuvius! Unless you want people to look at your neurons in 2,000 years, in which case: go with the pyroclastic flow.Oceanfront Property on Mars (Ocean Not Included)Li, Jianhuii and Liu, Hai et al. Ancient ocean coastal deposits imaged on Mars. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Martian lakes? Sure. Rivers? Ok. But a big ole Martian ocean? Show me the receipts.Thats the upshot of a decades-long debate about whether a vast Martian sea extended across the northern lowlands of the red planet billions of years ago. Now, Chinas Zhurong rover has produced the aforementioned receiptsand they are premium property deeds.Various observations suggest that large amounts of liquid water once existed on the Martian surface, however, the nature and fate of this water are uncertain, said researchers co-led by Jianhui Li and Hai Liu of Guangzhou University.Through radar data gathered by the Zhurong Rover, we identify extensive dipping deposits in the subsurface of southern Utopia Planitia, the team said. These deposits have structures similar to those of Earths coastal sediments. This finding implies the past existence of a large water body, supporting the hypothesis of a past ocean in the northern plains of Mars.Concept illustrations of the ancient beach. Image: Li, Jianhuii and Liu, Hai et alThe Zhurong rover landed in 2021 in a region called Utopia Planitia, at the edge of this proposed shoreline. Though it died the next year, it is still producing revelations from beyond the grave as scientists work through its observations.This study provides the first clear onsite evidence that ocean waves lapped against these lowlands, creating scenic beaches. All you have to do to cash in on this location is go back in time about four billion years and adapt your body to an alien planet, which is only slightly more challenging than getting into the housing market here on Earth in the present day.Will Somebody Please Think of the Amphibians?!Gunard, Benoit et al. Limited and biased global conservation funding means most threatened species remain unsupported. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event. Yup, its a bummer. To make matters worse, even our efforts to help curb the losses get all tangled up with our biases toward the so-called charismatic megafauna that most inspire our wonder, affection, and asymmetric sympathy.Enchanting animals like rhinos, tigers, and pandas have become the icons of conservation movementsbut these anthropic preferences come at a great cost, reports a new study that analyzed roughly 14,600 conservation projects over a period of 25 years.More attention is urgently needed to assess the extinction risks of neglected taxa, especially smaller species, said researchers led by Benoit Gunard of the University of Hong Kong. Paradoxically, while approximately 6% of species identified as threatened were supported by conservation funds, 29% of the funding was allocated to species of least concern.For example, small-bodied taxa, such as amphibians, have been known to be the most threatened of vertebrate groups for two decades, accounting for ~25% of the threatened vertebrate species and yet, amphibians received only 2.5% of recent funding, which declined from 4% in the late 1990s, the team said. Similarly, weak conservation efforts are observed within many groups of mammals (e.g., Rodentia, Chiroptera), reptiles (e.g., Squamata, Serpentes, or nonmarine Testudines), or insects (e.g., Odonata, Orthoptera) despite the well-known threats to these taxa.Honestly, preach. This problem has been a hobby-horse of mine for yearsand if a hobby-horse were a real endangered species, it would probably get disproportionate conservation funding.To that end, the authors made a series of recommendations for a more holistic distribution of conservation funding and more balanced coverage of threatened species within conservation programs.Successful citizen-science programs, even for taxa not typically seen as charismatic, have already spurred an increase in local and applied actions, as many individuals may feel geographically disconnected from some of the large megafauna that receive the lions share of funding, the team noted.With heightened awareness of the essential functions and services of many species that are often seen as less charismatic, it is crucial to address these biases and optimize the allocation of funds to ensure the protection of these species.Stoneflies and salamanders need love too! Who cares if they dont inspire Disney movies or Moo-Deng-level devotion? Are we really so superficial that we predicate survival on cuteness?I mean, yes, evidentlyI will literally do this in the following section. I contain hypocritical multitudes. But you can still ogle adorable animals while recognizing the urgent need for more objective conservation approaches.And now, on to a story about endangered charismatic megafauna.A Moment of Zen from an Arctic DenArcher, Louise et al. Monitoring phenology and behavior of polar bears at den emergence using cameras and satellite telemetry. The Journal of Wildlife Management.Last, polar bear cubs. Yeah. We deserve it. We talked about the uncharismatic minor-fauna. Now show us those fluffy little bear cubs.Scientists have done just that by filming a bunch of cuddly future killers emerging from their dens for the first time. For six years, a team logged footage from cameras installed at roughly a dozen sites in Svalbard, Norway, to get a better sense of the factors involved in this crucial rite of passage for bears, which is rarely observed as the dens tend to be in remote and inaccessible parts of the Arctic.The results revealedvery cute cubs. I just want to pick them up and hug them and accept the fatal mauling that comes my wayworth it for the snug. But in addition to lil baby bear pics, the study also produced valuable scientific insights, which was not necessary, but is nonetheless appreciated.We found that the probability a bear had broken out of the den could be accurately predicted from changes in collar temperature, activity, and ordinal date, said researchers led by Louise Archer of the University of Toronto. Post-den emergence behavior was influenced by external environmental temperature, time of day, and the amount of time since den breakout; bears were more likely to emerge and stay outside longer given warmer temperatures and increasing time since den breakout.Our study highlights the importance of the post-emergence period for cub acclimatization and development and provides new monitoring tools to study polar bear denning behavior, which is increasingly vulnerable to disruption in a rapidly changing Arctic, the team said.Polar bear family near den. Image: Steven C Armstrup/Polar Bears InternationalThe study is also a reminder of the general badassery of mama bears. These animals mate in the spring, delay implantation for several months (wish humans had this trick), dig out a den in late summer, give birth to tiny 600-gram cubs around the winter solstice, nurse them for several months, before emerging with them in the spring, by which point they have fasted up to eight months and lost nearly half their body weight. And then they have to raise the dang kids solo! All while humans make their lives immeasurably harder with the effects of climate change.These moms deserve a medal. Made of meat. Give the moms 5,000-pound meat medals.And with that, may you emerge from your dens as spring starts to thaw the Northern Hemisphere. Just watch out for volcanoes!Thanks for reading! See you next week.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pauses during a interview with Bret Baier during a taping of FOX News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-03-01T12:23:36Z Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the American people and leadership and voiced hope for strong relations, a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with U.S. President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived in London ahead of a summit on Sunday organized by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with other European leaders. The summit will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.The shouting match that unfolded Friday in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting at the White House between Trump and Zelenskyy seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russias three-year onslaught. Heres the latest: Our horror is greater today than before, says German foreign ministerGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a new era of nefariousness had begun in the wake of Trumps treatment of Zelenskyy at the White House, but vowed that it would only increase her countrys commitment to Ukraine.Many of you will have slept fitfully tonight in the face of the unspeakable videos from the White House. Frankly, so did I. Unfortunately, this was not a bad dream, but a violent reality, she told reporters on Saturday. Our horror is greater today than before, but so is our commitment to the people of Ukraine, to our own security and to peace in Europe.She described Ukraine as part of free and democratic Europe and said there is no question as to who is the aggressor and who is the brave defender in the war. Russia launches 154 drones at Ukrainian territory, wounds 12 in KharkivA nighttime Russian drone strike on Ukraines second city of Kharkiv wounded 12 civilians, including three children, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported on Saturday.According to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, some of the drones hit a medical facility where inpatients were staying overnight, while others damaged residential buildings. Ukraines air force said Russia overnight launched a total of 154 attack drones at Ukrainian territory, 103 of which were shot down.Russia says the White House blowout is Kyivs failureRussias Foreign Ministry spokesperson described Fridays Oval Office blowout between Trump and Zelenskyy as a complete political and diplomatic failure for Kyiv. In a statement Saturday, Maria Zakharova also slammed the political weakness and extreme moral degradation of European leaders who continue to support Ukraine and its president. Zakharova said Russias war aims remain unchanged, implying Moscow will insist on a demilitarized Ukraine barred from NATO, and on annexing Ukrainian territories it controls.German president criticizes TrumpGerman President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized Trump in unusually sharp terms for his behavior during the meeting with Zelenskyy at the Oval Office. Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the whole world, Steinmeier told dpa, the German news agency, during a flight to Uruguay. The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA. Macron suggests that Putin, not Zelenskyy, is gambling with World War IIIFrench President Emmanuel Macron said if someone is gambling with World War III, it is not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but more likely his Russian counterpart.Macron reacted to Fridays heated exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, during which Trump accused Zelenskyy of gambling with World War III.If anyone is gambling with World War III, his name is Vladimir Putin, Macron told Portugals RTP news channel during a visit to Lisbon ahead of Sundays Ukraine summit of European leaders in London.Macron said he still hopes that the United States will remain committed to the defense of democracy.My hope is that the United States of America will continue to stand by its history and its principles, he said. Whenever we have had major conflicts, the United States of America has been on the right side of history and freedom. Turkish foreign minister discusses Ukraine with Lavrov Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the war in Ukraine, officials said. The phone call came a day before Fidan is due to attend a London summit of European leaders to discuss bringing the three-year conflict to an end.Turkey, which has close ties to both Ukraine and Russia, has previously offered to mediate talks. It hosted unsuccessful peace talks in 2022. Zelenskyy expresses his thanks to the US peopleUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced thanks to the American people and leadership, and hope for strong relations, less than a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.Ukraine had walked into the meeting prepared to sign a mineral deal with the U.S., hoping it would be a step toward a just ceasefire, but left empty handed.In a series of posts on X on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are very grateful to the United States for all the support, and specifically thanked Trump and Congress alongside the American people.Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: Its a historic and solid bond between our peoples. American people helped save our people, he said. We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them, he added.Zelenskyy arrives in the UK ahead of schedule to meet with StarmerBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to meet Saturday afternoon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the dramatic blowout with President Donald Trump at the White House.Zelenskyys plane with the Ukrainian flag on its tail landed at London Stansted Airport the morning after the diplomatic spat on live TV.Zelenskyy had been due to meet with Starmer on Sunday, hours before taking part in a London summit of European leaders to discuss how to ensure a peaceful end to the war and provide security across the continent.But the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)2025-03-01T11:00:08Z INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty noticed running back values declining just as his college career started to take off.Then he watched the resurgence of free agent acquisitions Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs and realized things were back on the upswing just as Jeanty was becoming a marquee name in college football.The timing couldnt be better for Jeanty and a stacked crop of running backs at the annual NFL scouting combine. Suddenly, Jeanty is considered a possible top-15 pick in one of the strongest position groups.I think there was a period of time where there was just kind of a low (in value) at the position, Jeanty said. But those guys, theyve been doing special deals and showing if you have a special player at running back, it can really enhance your offense.Theres little doubt a workhorse back or even a strong backfield tandem can propel a team into an immediate playoff or Super Bowl contender. But the conventional wisdom lately has been avoiding hefty investments at the position.Since 2020, only five backs were first-round draft picks and only four went in the top 30. The same philosophy held true in free agency. Last year, the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders each let their top rushers walk away and, perhaps not surprisingly, each team earned top-six picks in Aprils draft. Barkley, meanwhile, topped the 2,000-yard mark and won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles while Henry and Jacobs led their new teams, Baltimore and Green Bay, back to the playoffs.Will those results benefit a position group that seemingly has a fit for every team?Jeanty certainly hopes so after rushing for 2,601 yards and falling 27 yards short of Barry Sanders Football Bowl Subdivision single-season record as well as falling just short to receiver-cornerback Travis Hunter in the closest Heisman Trophy race since 2009. Theres a need for a lot of teams at running back, whenever they feel necessary to draft one, Jeanty said.This years position group is deep, versatile and seems to have something for everyone.Jeanty, for instance, finished last season with nearly 2,000 yards after contact with Boise State.Cam Skattebo led Arizona State to a CFP playoff berth by rushing for more than 1,700 yards and catching 45 passes for another 600.Its pretty simple, Im physical, Skattebo said. People dont think Im as fast as I am, which I am fast, but I like to punish defenders because they dont like to do that for four quarters.Dylan Sampson does more than score touchdowns, but he did break Tennessees single-season school record, a mark that had stood nearly a century.And TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both possess rare power-speed combinations as Ohio State found out in its national championship-winning season. Together they gave the Buckeyes arguably the FBS best backfield tandem.The best part of my game is my breakaway speed, said Henderson, who plans to run the 40-yard dash in Saturdays workouts featuring quarterbacks and receivers in addition to backs. The area of the game Im looking to highlight is my pass protection. I feel like that shows what type of player you are. Jeanty still feels like he has something to prove, too that hes a better receiver than he had a chance to demonstrate at Boise State.Each is likely to find an NFL home, though its unclear where they may land and whether anyone can climb high enough on draft boards to join Jeanty as a first-round selection.But after this past season, Jeanty thinks NFL teams could be rewarded, maybe handsomely, if theyre willing to take a chance.You can see the value of running backs is definitely going back up, so definitely coming in at the perfect time, Jeanty said. Its not just him (Barkley), all the guys are doing exception things in the NFL. And right here, in my draft class, there are a lot of great backs as well.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Pool via AP)2025-03-01T14:00:06Z DETROIT (AP) President Donald Trumps trade wars threaten to claim a casualty on the home front: the American auto industry.If the president goes ahead with 25% taxes on imports from Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, he will disrupt more than $300 billion in annual U.S. automotive trade with its two neighbors, wreck supply chains that have been operating for decades and likely push up the already-forbidding price of new cars.The tariffs pose an existential threat to North American auto production, said David Gantz, a fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. They will push up the cost of everything thats imported from Mexico or Canada that goes into a car assembled in the U.S.Kelley Blue Book says Trumps tariffs could raise the U.S. price of the average new car already approaching $49,000 by $3,000 or more. The price of some full-size pickup trucks could shoot up by $10,000. The economic pain would intensify if Canada and Mexico counterpunched with tariffs on American exports.The economic impact of a sustained 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico would be severe, with full tit-for-tat retaliation likely to push Canada and Mexico into a recession and the U.S. to a point of stagnant growth, Andrew Foran of TD Economics wrote. Foran estimates that 25% tariffs would push down auto sales by 13.6% a year in Canada and 10.6% in the United States. Trumps tariffs would upend North American auto supply chainsSince 1965 when the U.S. and Canada eliminated tariffs on each others autos and auto parts North America has turned into an integrated auto manufacturing powerhouse. Mexico was brought into the fold by a 1994 regional trade pact and another one negotiated by Trump himself in 2020.The fact that you can tap relatively cheap steel and aluminum from Canada, that you can use the relatively low-cost labor in Mexico to assemble cars, and that you can leverage the high tech expertise and technology of the United States together, makes North America an incredibly competitive place to build automobiles, said Brett House, a professor at Columbia Universitys business school. Much of the production has moved to Mexico. Ford, for example, manufactures the small Bronco Sport SUV and Maverick pickup in Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Stellantis makes the Jeep Compass and Wagoneer S at a plant in Toluca, west of Mexico City, which has been in operation since 1968. General Motors turns out GMC and Chevrolet pickups at a plant in Silao in central Mexico.Just over half the 8 million cars and light trucks the United States imported last year came from Mexico (No. 1 at almost 3 million) and Canada (No. 4 at 1.1 million). Canada and Mexico are also the top two foreign markets for U.S.-built cars and light trucks, accounting for 53% of Americas auto exports.By taxing Canadian and Mexican imports, most of which has been entering the U.S. duty free, Trump would be lobbing an explosive into that elaborate manufacturing network. The costs and red tape would pile upA White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the tariff plan, said the taxes would apply each time goods cross the border from Mexico or Canada. That means the costs would pile up as auto components traveled from factories in the United States to Mexico or Canada and back again. So would the red tape: Its an administrative and bureaucratic nightmare to keep track of things, Gantz said.Whats more, the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would come atop higher taxes Trump intends to impose on foreign steel and aluminum starting March 12. Trump is removing exemptions on the metals tariffs he imposed in his first term 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum and raising the levy on aluminum to 25%. That means U.S. importers, including auto companies, would pay 50% duties on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico, big sources of the metals.Youre talking about the material costs going up every time (a part) goes into one market and comes back, said K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research. The higher costs would take a toll. A decade ago, Prasad said, the lowest-earning 20% of American consumers couldnt afford a new car. Already, he said, the bottom 40% of the population is not able to afford a new vehicle.Ford CEO Jim Farley has complained that so far what were seeing is a lot of cost and a lot of chaos.General Motors CEO Mary Barra said last month at the Wolfe Research auto industry conference that GM has been doing scenario planning and look at what at the different things we can change, we can move, we can respond. She expressed confidence that company can find ways to mitigate the effect of the tariffs. Stellantis chairman John Elkann recently said he thinks the administrations policies will boost American jobs and manufacturing.Trumps trade war comes at an awkward time for automakers. Theyre trying to shift from gasoline-powered to electric vehicles, using revenue generated from selling conventional cars to finance EV investments, Prasad said, so the tariffs could hurt sales and limit the money available for the EV transition. Why is Trump doing this?Trump insists that the hefty hit to imports from Canada and Mexico arent about trade; theyre about slowing the flow of undocumented immigrants and fentanyl across U.S. borders.We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled, Trump wrote Thursday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.Canada wouldnt seem to be an especially important source of fentanyl: U.S. customs agents seized just 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last year, versus the 21,100 pounds at Mexicos.Many analysts suspect that Trump has another goal: The 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement he negotiated in his first term comes up for renewal next year. Although the president characterized the USMCA as a victory and a big improvement over the 1994 pact it replaced, it failed to reduce Americas trade deficits with Canada and Mexico. In fact, theyve gotten bigger. (In Canadas case, thats largely because of surging energy exports that the American Midwest and Northeast rely on.) So he is likely to seek revisions meant to ensure that more production specifically auto production is done in the United States, not just North America. The tariffs could give him leverage to pressure Canada and Mexico into accepting the USMCA changes he wants. In the meantime, writes TD Economics Foran, the North American auto industry should still prepare itself for a prolonged period of elevated trade uncertainty and potential trade disruptions.____Wiseman reported from Washington. ALEXA ST. JOHN St. John is a climate solutions reporter for The Associated Press, based in Detroit. She covers the ways people and communities create viable and scalable solutions to the planets warming. twitter mailto

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, left, prays during a rosary prayer held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)2025-03-01T07:42:46Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis was resting Saturday after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia: Doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted.Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the episode impacted Francis overall clinical condition. His prognosis remained guarded, meaning he wasnt out of danger. A woman attends a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peters Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) A woman attends a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peters Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In its brief morning update Saturday, the Vatican said: The night has passed quietly, the pope is resting.In the late Friday update, the Vatican said the 88-year-old suffered an isolated crisis of bronchial spasm, a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit, that resulted in a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture. Doctors aspirated the vomit and placed Francis on non-invasive mechanical ventilation. The pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover. He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange and was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said. The episode, which occurred in the early afternoon, marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Romes Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14. The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors say the episode is alarmingThe Vatican said the episode was different to the prolonged respiratory crisis on Feb. 22, in that it was an isolated spasm that resulted in Francis aspirating the vomit that he produced. Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said the episode as relayed by the Vatican was alarming and underscored Francis fragility and that his condition can turn very quickly.I think this is extremely concerning, given the fact that the pope has been in the hospital now for over two weeks, and now hes continuing to have these respiratory events and now had this aspiration event that is requiring even higher levels of support, he told The Associated Press.So given his age and his fragile state and his previous lung resection, this is very concerning, added Coleman, who is not involved in Francis care. People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Dr. William Feldman, a pulmonary specialist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, said it was a good sign that the pope remained alert and oriented during the episode, but concurred that it marked a worrying turn.Often we will use noninvasive ventilation as a way of trying to stave off an intubation, or the use of invasive mechanical ventilation, Feldman said.Types of noninvasive ventilation include a BiPAP machine, which helps people breathe by pushing air into their lungs. Doctors will often try such a machine for a while to see if the patients blood gas levels improve so they can eventually go back to using oxygen alone.Doctors did not resume referring to Francis being in critical condition, which has been absent from their statements for three days now. But they say he isnt out of danger, given the complexity of his case. Prayers continued to pour inLate on Friday, Francis closest friend in the Vatican bureaucracy, Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernndez, led the nightly prayer in St. Peters Square to pray for Francis health.With other cardinals bundled against the night chill, Fernndez urged the crowd to pray not just for Francis but for others, as the pope himself would. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, second from right, leads a rosary prayer for Pope Francis health in St. Peters Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, second from right, leads a rosary prayer for Pope Francis health in St. Peters Square at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Certainly it is close to the Holy Fathers heart that our prayer is not only for him, but also for all those who in this particular dramatic and suffering moment of the world bear the hard burden of war, of sickness, of poverty, said Fernndez, the Vaticans doctrine chief.Also Friday, the Vatican published a document signed by Francis on Feb. 26 From the Gemelli Polyclinic, a new official tagline that showed Francis was still working from the hospital.___Carla K. Johnson contributed from Washington state. ___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.

Buster Poindexter is seen at the Grammy Awards in New York's Radio City Music Hall, March 2, 1988. (AP Photo, File)2025-03-01T16:19:18Z NEW YORK (AP) David Johansen, the wiry, gravelly-voiced singer and last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75.Johansen died Friday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed in early 2025 that he had stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor.The New York Dolls were forerunners of punk and the bands style teased hair, womens clothes and lots of makeup inspired the glam movement that took up residence in heavy metal a decade later in bands like Faster Pussycat and Mtley Cre.When youre an artist, the main thing you want to do is inspire people, so if you succeed in doing that, its pretty gratifying, Johansen told The Knoxville News-Sentinel in 2011. Rolling Stone once called the Dolls the mutant children of the hydrogen age and Vogue called them the darlings of downtown style, tarted-up toughs in boas and heels.The New York Dolls were more than musicians; they were a phenomenon. They drew on old rock n roll, big-city blues, show tunes, the Rolling Stones and girl groups, and that was just for starters, Bill Bentley wrote in Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen. The band never found commercial success and was torn by internal strife and drug addictions, breaking up after two albums by the middle of the decade. In 2004, former Smiths frontman and Dolls admirer Morrissey convinced Johansen and other surviving members to regroup for the Meltdown Festival in England, leading to three more studio albums. In the 80s, Johansen assumed the persona of Buster Poindexter, a pompadour-styled lounge lizard who had a hit with the kitschy party single Hot, Hot, Hot in 1987. He also appeared in such movies as Candy Mountain, Let It Ride, Married to the Mob and had a memorable turn as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Bill Murray-led hit Scrooged. Johansen was in 2023 the subject of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschis documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only, which mixed footage of his two-night stand at the Caf Carlyle in January 2020 with flashbacks through his wildly varied career and intimate interviews.I used to think about my voice like: Whats it gonna sound like? Whats it going to be when I do this song? And Id get myself into a knot about it, Johansen told The Associated Press in 2023. At some point in my life, I decided: Just sing the (expletive) song. With whatever you got. To me, I go on stage and whatever mood Im in, I just claw my way out of it, essentially.David Roger Johansen was born to a large, working class Catholic family on Staten Island, his father an insurance salesman. He filled notebooks with poems and lyrics as a young man and liked a lot of different music R&B, Cuban, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. The Dolls the final original lineup included guitarists Sylvain Sylvain and Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane and drummer Jerry Nolan rubbed shoulders with Lou Reed and Andy Warhol in the Lower East Side of Manhattan the early 1970s. They took their name from a toy hospital in Manhattan and were expected to take over the throne vacated by the Velvet Underground in the early 1970s. But neither of their first two albums 1973s New York Dolls, produced by Todd Rundgren, nor Too Much Too Soon a year later produced by Shadow Morton charted.Theyre definitely a band to keep both eyes and ears on, read the review of their debut album in Rolling Stone, complementary of their strange combination of high pop-star drag and ruthless street arrogance.Their songs included Personality Crisis (You got it while it was hot/But now frustration and heartache is what you got), Looking for a Kiss (I need a fix and a kiss) and a Frankenstein (Is it a crime/For you to fall in love with Frankenstein?)Their glammed look was meant to embrace fans with a nonjudgmental, noncategorical space. I just wanted to be very welcoming, Johansen said in the documentary, cause the way this society is, it was set up very strict straight, gay, vegetarian, whatever... I just kind of wanted to kind of like bring those walls down, have a party kind of thing. Rolling Stone, reviewing their second album, called them the best hard-rock band in America right now and called Johansen a talented showman, with an amazing ability to bring characters to life as a lyricist.Decades later, the Dolls influence would be cherished. Rolling Stone would list their self-titled debut album at No. 301 of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, writing its hard to imagine the Ramones or the Replacements or a thousand other trash-junky bands without them.Blondies Chris Stein in the Nolan biography Stranded in the Jungle wrote that the Dolls were opening a door for the rest of us to walk through. Tommy Lee of Motley Crue called them early inspirations. Johansen is one of those singers, to be a little paradoxical, who is technically better and more versatile than he sounds, said the Los Angeles Times in 2023. His voice has always been a bit of a foghorn higher or lower according to age, habits and the song at hand but it has a rare emotional urgency.The Dolls, representing rock at its most debauched, were divisive. In 1973, they won the Creem magazine poll categories as the years best and worst new group. They were nominated several times for The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but never got in.Dirty angels with painted faces, the Dolls opened the box usually reserved for Pandora and unleashed the infant furies that would grow to become Punk, wrote Nina Antonia in the book Too Much, Too Soon. As if this legacy wasnt enough for one band, they also trashed sexual boundaries, savaged glitter and set new standards for rock n roll excess.By the end of their first run, the Dolls were being managed by legendary promoter Malcolm McLaren, who would later introduce the Sex Pistols to the Dolls music. Culture critic Greil Marcus in Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century writes the Dolls played him some of their music and he couldnt believe how bad they were.The fact that they were so bad suddenly hit me with such force that I began to realize, Im laughing, Im talking to these guys, Im looking at them, and Im laughing with them; and I was suddenly impressed by the fact that I was no longer concerned with whether you could play well, McLaren said. The Dolls really impressed upon me that there was something else. There was something wonderful. I thought how brilliant they were to be this bad.After the first demise of the Dolls, Johansen started his own group, the David Johansen band, before reinventing himself yet again in the 1980s as Buster Poindexter.Inspired by his passion for the blues and arcane American folk music Johansen also formed the group The Harry Smiths, and toured the world performing the songs of Howlin Wolf with Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm. He also hosted the weekly radio show The Mansion of Fun on Sirius XM and painted.He is survived by his wife, Mara Hennessey, and a stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey. 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

Pete Rose sits in the Washington Wild Things dugout before a Frontier League baseball game against the Lake Erie Crushers in Washington, Pa, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)2025-03-01T17:14:44Z President Donald Trump says he plans to issue a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, baseballs late career hits leader who was banned from MLB and the Hall of Fame for sports betting.Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday night to say Rose, who died in September at 83, shouldnt have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.Trump did not specifically mention Roses tax evasion case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 and served a five-month prison sentence.The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose over the next few weeks.MLB handed Rose a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation determined he had bet on baseball games, including some involving his own Cincinnati Reds.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo testifies before the House Oversight Select Subcommittee's hearing on the Coronavirus Pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)2025-03-01T17:50:04Z NEW YORK (AP) Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career following a yearslong exile over a barrage of sexual harassment accusations.In a video announcing his campaign, Cuomo pitched his return as a way to pull the city from social and political turmoil, highlighting moderate positions on crime and his long history of political accomplishments. I am not saying this is going to be easy, it wont be easy but I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announce my candidacy today for Mayor of New York City today, he said.The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite entering the race deeply wounded by the scandal that forced his resignation from the governors office in 2021.He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, who for now remains under indictment on federal corruption charges, and under scrutiny from critics who question his independence from Republican President Donald Trump. Cuomo enters the race with fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over his three terms as governor and potential support among many of the same moderate voters who helped propel Adams to the mayors office. Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall 3 1/2 years ago, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his response to the pandemic. In his campaign video, Cuomo acknowledged past mistakes over his long career but cast himself as a seasoned leader who could thread political divides between the left and right, calling for a government that can take a stand and get things done. Did I always do everything right in my years of government service? Of course not. Would I do some things differently knowing what I know now certainly. Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for it and I hope to show that every day.Cuomo had been circling a return to politics for years while simultaneously fighting to rehabilitate his image and undermine the allegations against him.At least 11 women credibly accused him of sexual harassment, which included allegations of unwanted kissing and touching, as well as remarking about their looks and sex lives, according to a report released by New Yorks attorney general. One aide later filed a criminal complaint accusing Cuomo of grabbing her breast when they were alone in the governors mansion in Albany in late 2020.Cuomo denied the sexual assault allegation, which a prosecutor ultimately dropped on the grounds that wasnt enough proof to get a conviction at trial.As for his behavior with some of the other women, Cuomo insisted he did not intentionally mistreat them and had simply fallen behind the times of what was considered appropriate workplace conduct. Taxpayers have spent millions of dollars to defend him and his top aides in court against various lawsuits related to the allegations. He is moving to sue at least one of accusers for defamation.The race already has several candidates vying to beat Adams in the June Democratic primary. Among them are city Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who was a frontrunner in the mayors race four years ago until a woman accused him of groping and kissing her without her consent 20 years earlier.Adams is also seeking reelection but is facing a tempest over the criminal case against him, and the U.S. Justice Departments extraordinary effort to end the case over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges.An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks along with illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the presidents immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibly that the case could reemerge after the mayoral election. That dynamic led critics to claim that Adams had struck a deal to help with Trumps immigration crackdown in exchange for legal salvation.Adams has strongly denied such an arrangement was made, while facing intense pressure to step down and a potential removal from office by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. Some of the mayors top deputies announced plans to step down in protest.Cuomo started in politics working for his father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, and later rose to become U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton and New York attorney general before being elected governor in 2010. His national star power was highest during the coronavirus pandemic, when his televised daily briefings, full of clear-eyed rhetoric on the virus, attracted admirers nationwide who saw him as a steady hand of leadership at a chaotic time. The briefings won an international Emmy award and led to him getting a book deal for more than $5 million to write American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic.Women, though, began coming forward in late 2020 and early 2021, accusing Cuomo of misconduct. He faced a potential impeachment before he stepped down. A state ethics panel tried unsuccessfully to get Cuomo to give up the proceeds of his book deal after it determined he used taxpayer resources to prepare, edit and publish the book.Cuomo was further damaged by allegations that a directive from his administration had unintentionally contributed to a wave of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by initially barring them from refusing to readmit virus patients discharged from hospitals. The governor insisted the allegations was baseless, but his administration was subsequently found to have substantially undercounted the number of nursing home deaths as it sought to deflect the criticism.Cuomo still has a significant campaign war chest that could technically be used in his bid for mayor. But the process of transferring his state donations to a city committee would be complicated and require each donor to sign off on the switch, a potentially burdensome effort.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, embraces and greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street, London, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)2025-03-01T18:40:11Z LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and told him he had the nations unwavering support a day after the blowout at the White House with President Donald Trump.Zelenskyy arrived to shouts of support from people who had gathered outside of 10 Downing St., where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside. And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, Starmer told the leader of the war-torn country. We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.Zelenskyy thanked him and the people of the U.K. for their support and friendship.The meeting comes the day after an extraordinary diplomatic meltdown when Trump and Vice President JD Vance blasted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on live television for not being grateful enough for U.S. support. Zelenskyy had been poised to ink a deal to give the U.S. access to mineral riches as Trump pressures Ukraine to reach a deal to end the war with Russia. But he left town without signing anything.Zelenskyy had been scheduled to meet with Starmer on Sunday before a summit with other European leaders to discuss Ukraine and shoring up defenses across the continent. But the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit. Zelenskyy will meet with King Charles III on Sunday before the summit that is being held at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.

Syrian Druze hold up a placard in Arabic reads "Sweida will not be your poisoned dagger in Syria's back." as stage a demonstration against Israeli incursions into Syrian territory in the southern province of Sweida, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)2025-03-01T19:37:33Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israels defense ministry on Saturday said the military has been instructed to prepare to defend a Druze settlement in the suburbs of Damascus, asserting that the minority it has vowed to protect was under attack by Syrian forces.The statement, citing an order from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, follows an Israeli warning last weekend that the forces of neighboring Syrias new government and the insurgent group that led last years ouster of former President Bashar Assad should not enter the area south of Damascus.Saturdays statement indicates that Israeli forces could push farther into Syria as its new authorities try to consolidate control after more than a decade of civil war. Israeli forces recently set up posts in a buffer zone and on strategic Mt. Hermon nearby. There have been no major clashes between Israeli troops and Syrias new forces. We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us, the statement said.There was no immediate response from Syrias government. The Druze are a religious minority who live in southern Syria and in Israels Golan Heights, where they navigate their historically Syrian identity while living under Israeli rule.Israels statement followed the outbreak of unrest Friday in the Druze settlement of Jaramana, when a member of the security forces entered and started shooting in the air, leading to an exchange of fire with local gunmen that left him dead. On Saturday, gunmen came from the Damascus suburb of Mleiha to Jaramana, where they clashed with Druze gunmen. That left one Druze fighter dead and nine other people wounded, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.The Israeli warning last Sunday to Syrian forces and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main former rebel group, made clear that Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period. We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida from the forces of the new regime, that earlier statement said. Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria.After the fall of Assad in December, Israel seized the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory. The zone was set up under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Syrias new authorities and U.N. officials have called for Israel to withdraw.Meanwhile, Netanyahus government has been under pressure to protect Israelis living near border areas in the north as it tries to return residents of the north to their homes. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Protesters rally outside of a Tesla store in Boston, Saturday, March 1, 2025, against the company's CEO, Elon Musk, who is leading an effort to cut government jobs on behalf of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)2025-03-02T00:01:38Z BOSTON (AP) Demonstrators gathered outside Tesla stores across the U.S. Saturday to protest the automakers billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, and his push to slash government spending on behalf of President Donald Trump. The demonstrations are part of a growing backlash in North America and Europe to Musks disruptive role in Washington. Critics of Trump and Musk hope to discourage and stigmatize purchases of Tesla, the electric car company that is the worlds most valuable automaker. Liberal groups for weeks have organized anti-Tesla protests in hopes of galvanizing opposition to Musks Department of Government Efficiency and energizing Democrats still demoralized by Trumps November victory.We can get back at Elon, said Nathan Phillips, a 58-year-old ecologist from Newton, Massachusetts, who was protesting in Boston on Saturday. We can impose direct economic damage on Tesla by showing up at showrooms everywhere and boycotting Tesla and telling everyone else to get out, sell your stocks, sell your Teslas. Musk is taking direction from Trump to slash federal spending and sharply reduce the workforce, arguing that Trumps victory gave the president and him a mandate to restructure the U.S. government. DOGE officials have swiftly gained access to sensitive databases, directed thousands of federal job cuts, canceled contracts and shut down sections of the government, including the U.S. Agency for International Development. Musks critics say his actions defy Congresss power to control the U.S. budget and present a host of ways for him to enrich himself. Musk leads several other companies, notably SpaceX, which conducts launches for NASA and the intelligence community, and the social media platform X. Tesla and the White House did not respond to emailed requests for comment Saturday. More than 50 demonstrations were listed Saturday on the website Tesla Takedown, with more planned later in March from coast to coast in the United States along with England, Spain and Portugal. News reports showed demonstrations in recent days in U.S. cities including Tucson, Arizona; St. Louis; New York City; Dayton, Ohio; Charlotte; and Palo Alto, California. Some Tesla owners have also reported their vehicles vandalized with spray painted swastikas amid what Jewish groups and observers fear is a rise in antisemitism.Federal prosecutors charged a woman in connection with a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership, which included Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words Nazi cars spray painted on the building.Saturdays demonstration in Boston had a festive atmosphere, with a brass band playing music as protestors carried signs and chanted. Several of the signs mocked Musk and DOGE, with one reading: Stop Elon and his despicable Muskrats. This government led by Trump and Musk, its gone completely off the rails and we are here to stop that, said Carina Campovasso, a retired federal worker. And I hope they listen.About 300 demonstrators protested at a Tesla dealership in New York City on Saturday. Police said nine people were taken into custody but did not elaborate on the charges they faced.Teslas share price has fallen by nearly a third since Trump took office, though its still higher than it was a year ago. Musks current net worth is an estimated $359 billion, according to Forbes, which calculated his 2024 net worth as $195 billion. ___Cooper reported from Phoenix. Patrick Whittle contributed from Scarborough, Maine. JONATHAN J. COOPER Cooper writes about national politics from Arizona and beyond for The Associated Press. Now based in Phoenix, he previously covered politics in Oregon and California. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump walks before talking with reporters then boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-03-01T23:30:40Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump on Saturday signed a pair of actions to increase domestic lumber production, including a directive for the Commerce Department to investigate the possible harms that lumber imports pose to national security.The U.S. president signed an executive order to increase the possible supplies of timber and lumber and possibly lower housing and construction costs. The goal is to streamline the permitting process by salvaging more wood from forests and expand how much wood product can be offered for sale, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the actions on a call with reporters.The official said the order would also help prevent wildfires and improve the habitat for animals. The order would streamline the permitting process for obtaining wood products. The official said that Canada, Brazil and Germany, among others, are engaged in subsidies regarding lumber that put the United States at a disadvantage. At the presidents direction, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would start a Section 232 investigation under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to determine possible national security risks.Trump told reporters on Feb. 19 while aboard Air Force One that he was considering a 25% tariff on lumber imports, according to Reuters. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump, left, gestures as is escorted by Air Force Col. Angela Ochoa, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, center, as he walks from Marine One before boarding Air Force One, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)2025-03-02T01:40:37Z WASHINGTON (AP) The head of a federal watchdog agency must remain in his job, a judge in Washington ruled on Saturday, saying President Donald Trumps bid to remove the special counsel was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sided with Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, in a legal battle over the presidents authority to oust the head of the independent agency thats likely headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dellinger sued Trump last month after he was fired, even though the law says special counsels can be removed by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. Jackson, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic president Barack Obama, quickly reinstated Dellinger in the job while he pursued his case.Jackson rejected the Trump administrations claims that the special counsels removal protections are unconstitutional because they prevent the president from rightfully installing his preferred agency head. The judge said allowing the president to remove the special counsel at will would have a chilling effect on his crucial duties, which include guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. The Special Counsel is supposed to withstand the winds of political change and help ensure that no government servant of either party becomes the subject of prohibited employment practices or faces reprisals for calling out wrongdoing by holdovers from a previous administration or by officials of the new one, Jackson wrote in her decision. The Justice Department quickly filed court papers indicating it will challenge the ruling to Washingtons federal appeals court. The case has already gone up once to the Supreme Court, which previously temporarily allowed Dellinger to remain in his job. The ruling comes as Dellinger is challenging the removal of probationary workers who were fired as part of the Trump administrations massive overhaul of the government. A federal board on Tuesday halted the terminations of several probationary workers after Dellinger said their firings may have been unlawful. Im glad and grateful to see the court confirm the importance and legality of the job protections Congress afforded my position, Dellinger said in a statement on Saturday. My efforts to protect federal employees generally, and whistleblowers in particular, from unlawful treatment will continue.The judge said the special counsel has a unique status and mission, which requires independence from the president to ensure he can carry out his responsibilities. The office investigates whistleblower claims of reprisal, can pursue disciplinary action against employees who punish whistleblowers and provides a channel for employees to disclose government wrongdoing. If I dont have independence, if I can be removed for no good reason, federal employees are going to have no good reason to come to me, Dellinger told reporters outside Washingtons federal courthouse after a recent hearing. The Office of Special Counsel is also responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, which restricts the partisan political activities of government workers. Dellingers firing came as Trump administration employees have touted their support on social media for his policies even though the Hatch Act is meant to restrict political advocacy while on duty.The Justice Department employed sweeping language in urging the Supreme Court last month to allow the termination of the head of an obscure federal agency with limited power. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in court papers that the lower court had crossed a constitutional red line by blocking Dellingers firing and stopping Trump from shaping the agenda of an executive-branch agency in the new administrations critical first days.Dellinger was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto

Residents gather for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, organized by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), on the first day of Ramadan in the Jobar neighborhood, which was devastated by the Syrian war, in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday, March 1, 2025.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)2025-03-01T17:37:46Z DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Some restaurants and coffee shops in Syria were closed during the day Saturday while others opened as usual as observant Muslims began fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, the first since the fall of Assad family rule in the war-torn country.Syrias interim Ministry of Religious Endowments reportedly called for all restaurants, coffee shops and street food stands be closed during the day and that people must not eat or drink in public or face punishment. Those who violate the rule could get up to three months in jail. However, it did not appear that any official order had been issued by the government to that effect.Associated Press journalists who toured Damascus on Saturday said some coffee shops were opened but had their windows closed to that people cant see who is inside. Insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, overthrew President Bashar Assads secular government in early December ending the 54-year Assad family dynasty. Since then, Syrias new Islamist government under former insurgent leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, has been in control and many fear that the country could turn into an Islamic state, although al-Sharaa has so far promised to respect religious minorities. Under Assads rule during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset, people were allowed to eat in public. This year, many people are abstaining from eating in public fearing reprisals. Ramadan this year comes with a new flavor. This is the Ramadan of victory and liberation, said interim Minister of Religious Affairs Hussam Haj-Hussein in a televised statement. Most countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Kuwait began observing Ramadan on Saturday, while a few other countries such as Malyasia and Japan, as well as some Shiite Muslims, will begin the fast on Sunday. In many parts of the region, the holy month this year is bittersweet. Lebanese this year mark Ramadan after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in late November. In the Gaza Strip, a fragile ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, nears the end of its first phase, and many Palestinians ate their first iftar in the middle of the rubble where their houses used to be.This year, after the fall of the regime, there are many confirmations regarding the prohibition of publicly breaking the fast, with violators facing imprisonment, said Damascus resident Munir Abdallah. This is something new, good and respectable, meaning that the rituals of Ramadan should be fully observed in all their aspects.Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons. The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.The actual start date may vary among Muslim communities due to declarations by multiple Islamic authorities around the globe on whether the crescent has been sighted or different methodologies used to determine the start of the month. The fast breaking meal is known as iftar and usually family members and friends gather at sunset to have the main meal. Muslims eat a pre-dawn meal, called suhoor, to hydrate and nurture their bodies ahead of the daily fast.The holy month is also a time when Islamic and charitable organizations frequently provide meals for those unable to afford their own.In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Bashar al Mashhadani, imam of the Sheikh Abdulqadir al Gailani Mosque in Baghdad said the mosque was preparing to serve 1,000 free meals per day to people coming to break their fast.Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, one of Islams most important feasts.___Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.

Farooq Safar standing in his back yard that was bombed by a Turkish drone in October 2024. Guharze village in Dahuk, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya)2025-03-02T05:18:17Z GUHARZE, Iraq (AP) Iraqi Kurdish villagers, displaced by fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants that has played out for years in northern Iraq, are finally allowing themselves to hope they will soon be able to go home. Their hopes were raised after the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, on Saturday declared a ceasefire in the 40-year insurgency against the Turkish government, answering a call to disarm from earlier in the week by the groups leader, Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in Turkey since 1999. The truce if implemented could not only be a turning point in neighboring Turkey but could also bring much needed stability to the volatile region spanning the border between the two countries. In northern Iraq, Turkish forces have repeatedly launched blistering offensives over the past years, pummeling PKK fighters who have been hiding out in sanctuaries in Iraqs northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have been completely emptied of their residents. A home left decades agoAdil Tahir Qadir fled his village of Barchi, on Mount Matin in 1988, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched a brutal campaign against the areas Kurdish population. He now lives in a newly built village also named Barchi, after the old one that was abandoned about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away, south of the mountain.He used to go back to the old village every now and then to farm his land. But that stopped in 2015 when Turkish forces moved in and set up camp there in the fight against PKK, hitting the group with wave after wave of airstrikes. Iraqi Kurdish farmers and their lands became collateral damage. The Turkish airstrikes and ground incursions targeting PKK positions displaced thousands of Iraqi Kurdish civilians, cutting off many from their land. Because of Turkish bombing, all of our farmlands and trees were burned, Qadir said. If peace comes, he will go back right away, he says. We wish it will work so we can return. Fighting emptied out villages in IraqIn the border area of Amedi in Iraqs Dohuk province once a thriving agricultural community around 200 villages had been emptied of their residents by the fighting, according to a 2020 study by the regional Iraqi Kurdish government. Small havens remained safe, like the new Barchi, with only about 150 houses and where villagers rely on sesame, walnuts and rice farming. But as the fighting dragged on, the conflict grew ever closer. There are many Turkish bases around this area, said Salih Shino, who was also displaced to the new Barchi from Mount Matin.The bombings start every afternoon and intensify through the night, he said. The bombs fall very close ... we cant walk around at all.Airstrikes have hit Barchis water well and bombs have fallen near the village school, he said.Najib Khalid Rashid, from the nearby village of Belava, says he also lives in fear. There are near-daily salvos of bombings, sometimes 40-50 times, that strike in surrounding areas. We cant even take our sheep to graze or farm our lands in peace, he said. Ties to Kurdish brethren in TurkeyIraqi Kurdish villagers avoid talking about their views on the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey and specifically the PKK, which has deep roots in the area. Turkey and its Western allies, including the United States, consider the PKK a terrorist organization. Still, Rashid went so far as to call for all Kurdish factions to put aside their differences and come together in the peace process.If theres no unity, we will not achieve any results, he said.Ahmad Saadullah, in the village of Guharze, recalled a time when the region was economically self-sufficient.We used to live off our farming, livestock, and agriculture, he said. Back in the 1970s, all the hills on this mountain were full of vines and fig farms. We grew wheat, sesame, and rice. We ate everything from our farms.Over the past years, cut off from their farmland, the locals have been dependent on government aid and unstable, seasonal jobs, he said. Today, we live with warplanes, drones, and bombings. Farooq Safar, another Guharze resident, recalled a drone strike that hit in his back yard a few months ago.It was late afternoon, we were having dinner, and suddenly all our windows exploded, he said. The whole village shook. We were lucky to survive.Like others, Safars hopes are sprinkled with skepticism ceasefire attempts have failed in the past, he says, remembering similar peace pushes in 1993 and 2015.We hope this time will be different, he said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Fatima Al-Absi prepares food for her family's iftar, the fast-breaking meal, on the first day of Ramadan in their damaged apartment in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-03-02T05:33:57Z JABALIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) Before the war, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was a festive time of increased worship, social gatherings and cheer for Fatima Al-Absi. Together with her husband, the resident of Jabaliya in Gaza said she used to do Ramadan shopping, visit relatives and head to the mosque for prayers.But the Israel-Hamas war has shredded many of the familiar and cherished threads of Ramadan as Al-Absi once knew it: her husband and a son-in-law have been killed, her home was damaged and burnt and the mosque she attended during Ramadan destroyed, she said.Everything has changed, she said on Saturday as her family observed the first day of Ramadan. Theres no husband, no home, no proper food and no proper life.For Al-Absi and other Gaza residents, Ramadan started this year under a fragile ceasefire agreement that paused more than 15 months of a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated the Gaza Strip. Compared to last Ramadan, many found relief in the truce but theres also worry and fear about whats next and grief over the personal and collective losses, the raw wounds and the numerous scars left behind. Ive lost a lot, said the 57-year-old grandmother, whos been reduced to eking out an existence amid the wreckage. Life is difficult. May God grant us patience and strength, she added. Israels government said early Sunday it supports a proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza through Ramadan and Passover even as Hamas has insisted earlier on negotiating the truces second phase. The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office came minutes after the first phase ended, and as talks have begun on starting the second phase. The statement gave new details on what Israel described as a U.S. proposal, which it said was made after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff got the impression that at this stage there was no possibility of bridging the positions of the parties to end the war, and that more time was needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire., Were scared because theres no stability, Al-Absi said and added that shes praying for the war to end and that she cant bear any more losses. She spoke before Israels statement.Though Ramadan is still far from normal, some in the Gaza Strip said that, in some ways, it feels better than last years.We cant predict what will happen next, Amal Abu Sariyah, in Gaza City, said before the months start. Yes, the country is destroyed and the situation is very bad, but the feeling that the shelling and the killing ... have stopped, makes you (feel) that this year is better than the last one.Overshadowed by war and displacement, last Ramadan, was very bad, for the Palestinian people, she said. The 2024 Ramadan in Gaza began with cease-fire talks then at a standstill, hunger worsening across the strip and no end in sight to the war.The war was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel in which Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Israels military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Vast areas of Gaza have been destroyed. Under the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded back into northern Gaza. After initial relief and joy at returning to their homes even if damaged or destroyed theyve been grappling with living amid the wreckage.As Palestinians in the Gaza Strip prepared for Ramadan, shopping for essential household goods and food, some lamented harsh living conditions and economic hardships, but also said they rely on their faith in God to provide for them.I used to help people. ... Today, I cant help myself, said Nasser Shoueikh. My situation, thank God, used to be better and I wasnt in need for anything. ... We ask God to stand by us.For observant Muslims the world over, Ramadan is a time for fasting daily from dawn to sunset, increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast. Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Fatima Barbakh, from the southern city of Khan Younis, said her Ramadan shopping was limited to the essentials.We cant buy lanterns or decorations like we do every Ramadan, she said. Back in Jabaliya, Al-Absi bitterly recalled how she used to break her fast with her husband, how much she misses him and how she remembers him when she prays.We dont want war, she said. We want peace and safety.___Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Fam from Cairo. Associated Press journalist Abdel Kareem Hana contributed from Gaza City. ___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. MARIAM FAM Fam is a reporter with The Associated Press Global Religion team. She covers faith, and the many ways it intersects with culture and daily life, in the Middle East and beyond. mailto

Conan O'Brien, host of Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, helps to roll out the red carpet for the show at the Dolby Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)2025-03-02T05:00:10Z LOS ANGELES (AP) After a topsy-turvy Oscar season in which frontrunners were constantly shuffled, old tweets hobbled a top contender and space was held for Wicked, the 97th Academy Awards get underway Sunday.Sundays Academy Awards, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, will bring to a close one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory.The ceremony kicks off 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast by ABC and streamed on Hulu. Conan OBrien is hosting for the first time. The official red carpet preshow on ABC and Hulu starts at 6:30 p.m. Unofficial E! red carpet coverage begins at 4 p.m. EST and The Associated Press will livestream arrivals beginning at 3 p.m.Light rain was in the forecast for Sunday morning in Los Angeles, which is still recovering from wildfires that devastated the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods earlier this year. The fires affected many throughout the film industry and within the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Some even called for the cancellation of Hollywoods awards season. While his Pacific Palisades house was spared, OBrien has been living out of a hotel the last two months. Oscar producers have said the show will celebrate the citys resilience. Is there an Oscar favorite?The lead nominee is Netflixs Emilia Prez, with 13 nominations, but that film has seen its chances crater following uproar over years-old offensive tweets by its star, Karla Sofa Gascn, the first openly trans actor nominated for best actress.The favorite is Sean Bakers Anora, about a sex worker who weds the son of a Russian oligarch. The Neon release, the Cannes Palme dOr winner, won with the producers, directors and writers guild. The only movie with the same resume to not win best picture is Brokeback Mountain.Its closest competition is Conclave, the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes. It won at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, wins that came just as Pope Francis was hospitalized for double pneumonia. Oscar voting concluded before the pope fell ill.Also in the mix are The Brutalist, nominated for 10 awards, and the musical hit Wicked, also with 10 nominations. Several of the early craft Oscars could be shared between Wicked and Dune: Part Two. Will politics play a starring role?For the first time, an actor is nominated for playing the sitting U.S. president. Sebastian Stan is nominated for best actor for his performance as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice, as is his co-star, Jeremy Strong, for playing Roy Cohn. Trump has called those involved with the film human scum.The political tenor of this years ceremony could be volatile, with the Oscars coming weeks into the second Trump administration and falling two days after the presidents dramatic rupture with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.Speaking earlier this week, OBrien said hell strive to strike a delicate balance.I cannot ignore the moment were in, he said. But I also have to remember its threading a needle. I also have to remember what were here to celebrate and infuse the show with positivity. Will Timothe Chalamet win his first Oscar?While the supporting acting categories feature overwhelming favorites in Zoe Saldana (Emilia Prez) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), both best actor and best actress are close contests.In best actress, Demi Moore (The Substance) is most likely to win, but Mikey Madison (Anora) or Fernanda Torres (Im Still Here) could pull off the upset.Adrien Brody is favored in best actor for his performance in The Brutalist. But Timothe Chalamet stands a decent chance of beating him, for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The 29-year-old Chalamet, who won at the Screen Actors Guild, would become the youngest best actor winner ever, edging Brodys record, set in 2003 in his win for The Pianist. Can the show lift a battered Hollywood?This years Oscars are unspooling after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3% from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain. Last years telecast, propelled by the twin blockbusters of Oppenheimer and Barbie, led the Oscars to a four-year viewership high, with 19.5 million viewers. This year, with smaller independent films favored in the most prominent awards, the academy will be tested to draw as large of an audience.With a not particularly starry array of best song nominees, the academy has done away with performances of original songs this year. But there will be music, including a performance by Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah. Last years acting winners Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, DaVine Joy Randolph will also take part in the ceremony. Though the academy initially said it would bring back the fab five style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organizers have reportedly abandoned those plans.The ceremony will be taking place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday at their New Mexico home. ___For full coverage of this years Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards 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 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street, London, England, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)2025-03-02T05:01:32Z LONDON (AP) It was supposed to cap a week of whirlwind diplomacy advancing the prospect of peace in Ukraine.But a summit of European leaders on Sunday has been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding by U.S. President Donald Trump of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday for being ungrateful for U.S. support. The London meeting has now taken on greater importance in defending the war-torn ally and shoring up the continents defenses.Theres a real problem for European leaders to pick up the pieces and try and move forward, Peter Ricketts, the former British national security adviser, told BBC radio on Saturday. Its going to be a damage limitation exercise. Its going to have to be an exercise in where do we go from here?The meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old elegant mansion near Buckingham Palace, follows a charm offensive last week to engage with Trump at the White House to put Ukraine at the center of negotiations and tilt his allegiances toward Europe. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is hosting the leaders of more than a dozen countries and other officials, said he is determined to find an end to Russias war on Ukraine. We have an opportunity to come together to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine that secures their sovereignty and security, Starmer said in advance. Now is the time for us to unite in order to guarantee the best outcome for Ukraine, protect European security, and secure our collective future. The summit will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania. The Turkish foreign minister, NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council will also attend. Zelenskyy received broad support from leaders across Europe after the White House fiasco, which was exceptional for featuring an attack on an ally and because it was broadcast on live television. Starmer embraced Zelenskyy when he arrived Saturday for a private meeting a day before a get-together had been scheduled before the summit.As you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, Starmer said. We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.Europe has been uneasy since Trump initiated direct peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been isolated by most Western leaders since invading Ukraine three years ago. The scramble to remain relevant and protect European interests as their once stalwart ally appeared to be cozying up to Putin was even more troubling when Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator and falsely said Ukraine started the war.Meetings in recent days had provided some hope until Zelenskyys visit to the White House.Visits to the Oval Office by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had declared his visit a turning point, and Starmer were seen as steps in the right direction. The meetings were cordial and Trump even took a gentler tone toward Ukraine though he would not commit to providing U.S. security guarantees and maintained Europe would need to provide peacekeeping troops. Within 12 hours of Starmers return from Washington, the talk of peace seemed to collapse as Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy for challenging Trumps assertions that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted. Starmer did an impressive job of asserting Europes agency in the war on Ukraine and conveying to President Trump that Europe is willing and able to take a leading role in implementing any credible peace deal, said Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank. Unfortunately, Fridays White House meeting was a major step backward.Ukraine can no longer count on military or political support from the U.S. after Trump declared himself neutral in negotiations, Ellehuus said. She said Europe needs to step in and could release some 200 billion euros ($207 billion) in seized Russian assets to help fund that effort. The immediate goal of the meetings in London must be to keep Ukraine in the fight so it can negotiate from a maximum position of strength, she said.Starmer pledged this week to boost military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027. Other European nations may follow suit.Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Saturday that Europe faces a historic test and has to care for itself. He said European countries have to increase their arms spending to reach at least 3% of GDP.If we dont increase our effort fast enough and let the aggressor dictate its conditions we wont end up well, he said.Macron, who said it was legitimate for the U.S. to shift its focus to dealing with China and Asia, also called for more defense spending as he called for unity among his neighbors.We should have woken up earlier, Macron said. Ive been saying for years that we need a more sovereign, more united, more independent Europe.___Associated Press writers Karel Janicek in Prague and Samuel Petrequin contributed.

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers the annual State of the Nation address, which marks the start of the legislative year, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)2025-03-02T04:50:04Z BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Argentinas libertarian president Javier Milei signaled late Saturday that a new deal with the International Monetary Fund was imminent, as he used his annual address to congress to project an optimistic picture of his economic overhaul following a divisive first year in office and recent swirl of controversies.In a speech that played to the sentiments of his right-wing base but included little in the way of new policy, Milei promised the crisis-stricken nation that, in the coming days, he would ask congress to support the government in this new agreement with the International Monetary Fund even as it seemed Argentina had yet to close the deal.Revisiting the economic themes of his 2023 presidential campaign ahead of crucial midterm elections in October, Milei declared: We went from talking about hyperinflation to talking about long-term stability. He cited his standard refrain about the governments success in dragging down the monthly inflation rate from a peak of 26% in December 2023, when he entered office, to just over 2% in January, and in helping the country claw its way out of a painful recession. We have gone from being a global laughing stock ... to being an unexpected protagonist, Milei said.Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who waved a chainsaw gifted by Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week in Washington, has cited the Argentine presidents approach as inspiration for his own rampage through American federal bureaucracy. The eyes of the world are now on Argentina after a long time, he said. As is the case of Elon. On trade policy, Milei announced Argentina would leave the Mercosur bloc of South American nations if needed to clinch a free trade agreement with the United States. It marked Mileis latest effort to align his nation with U.S. President Donald Trumps administration at the expense of Argentinas previous allies and regional partnerships. To take advantage of this historic opportunity, we must be willing to make things more flexible or even, if necessary, to leave Mercosur, he said. Dangling an IMF dealIn his speech, Milei gave no further details about the supposed new financing deal with the Washington-based lender a program his government has sought for months in order to help lift Argentinas strict capital and currency controls in hopes of reaping the benefits his free-market reforms, which, in 2024, delivered Argentinas first fiscal surplus in 14 years. Milei said his government would use a cash infusion from the IMF to replenish the central banks diminished hard currency reserves, helping prevent a possible run on the peso as Argentina attempts to lift its complex web of capital controls before the years end.This new agreement will give us the tools to pave the way toward a freer and more efficient exchange rate system for all our citizens, to attract greater investments that will translate into lower inflation, greater growth and employment levels, Milei told congress. Foreign companies consider the notorious currency controls, which set an official exchange rate and restrict access to dollars in Argentina, to be the greatest impediment to investing in Argentina. The IMF, encouraged by Mileis progress but wary about the sustainability of his austerity, has been weighing whether to lend more money to troubled Argentina, its largest debtor with a history of defaults that still owes over $40 billon for its most recent program that ended in December. The fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Facing a hostile congressWhile Mileis speech couched his successes as wins for the Argentine people, a boycott by members of Argentinas left-leaning opposition Peronist party, Unin por la Patria, left the typically packed legislative chamber half-empty.The Peronist bloc controls 46% of seats in the senate and 39% in the lower house compared with just 10% and 15% respectively for Mileis La Libertad Avanza party.That Mileis political opponents remain hostile is no surprise, experts say, as the president pushes at the generally understood limits of executive power to steer around congress. The irascible former rocker and TV personality has brought a softer tone to his negotiations with lawmakers in recent months, borrowing some votes from the former center-right government of Mauricio Macri to ensure the passage of some key initiatives.But Milei has largely relied on decrees and other executive powers to deregulate industries, dissolve ministries, lay off over 40,000 public employees, eliminate public works projects, slash inflation adjustments for pensions and wages and curb the powers of trade unions, among other changes.He showed that he can govern the country without congress, said Sebastin Menescaldi, an economist with the Buenos Aires consultancy firm EcoGo. Last week, Milei inflamed the political opposition by announcing he would bypass the countrys senate to appoint two Supreme Court justice nominees by decree one of whom has triggered backlash over accusations of money laundering and illicit enrichment. The appointments were widely criticized an overreach of executive authority that would ensure favorable rulings on his sweeping reforms whose constitutionality has been questioned in federal courts.As tensions rise between the government and lawmakers, midterm elections in October 2025 will prove crucial. A good result in the ballot would allow Milei to make all the changes he wants and not have to make any concessions, said Menescaldi, warning, That could mean he becomes more authoritarian. Steering clear of scandalIn recent weeks, the far-right economist has confronted the biggest crisis in his 14-month-old administration after promoting an unknown cryptocurrency token that shot up after his endorsement and rapidly cratered, prompting dozens of criminal complaints and calls for his impeachment. Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible fraud and abuse of authority. Milei made no mention of the crypto scandal during his speech Saturday, which lasted over an hour. 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

This is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo)2025-03-02T06:58:54Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israel said Sunday it is stopping the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip.The prime ministers office did not elaborate on the decision but warned of additional consequences if Hamas does not accept what Israel says is a U.S. proposal for an extension of the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the supply of aid has been completely halted.The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which included a surge in humanitarian assistance, expired on Saturday. The two sides have yet to negotiate the second phase, in which Hamas was to release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout and a lasting ceasefire.Israel said earlier on Sunday that it supports a proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire through Ramadan and Passover, or April 20. It said the proposal came from the Trump administrations Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff. Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office.There was no immediate comment from the United States, Egypt or Qatar, who have been mediating between Israel and Hamas for over a year. Hamas has not yet responded to the proposal.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war TIA GOLDENBERG Goldenberg is an Associated Press reporter and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories. She previously reported on East and West Africa from Nairobi. twitter mailto

Priest Andrea Conocchia, third from left, speaks with transgender women, from left, Andrea Paola Torres Lopez from Colombia, also known as Consuelo, Claudia Vittoria Salas from Argentina and Carla Segovia from Argentina as they sit in the Beata Vergine Immacolata parish church in Torvaianica, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)2025-03-02T06:16:27Z TORVAIANICA, Italy (AP) Moira Camila Garnica and a group of fellow migrant transgender women have been gathering at their parish church to pray for Pope Francis as he continues to battle pneumonia in a Rome hospital, about an hour away from this modest seaside town. Many grew up Catholic in Argentina like Francis, and their prayers encompass gratitude for his outreach several met him in person as well as hope thatthe door he opened toward a doubly marginalized communitywill not be shut in the future.The biggest fear is that you never know how things will be in the future, should he no longer lead the church, that it might go backwards, said Garnica, 47. We hope that the church will continue with this empathy, continue to be open to everyone, continue to help, because sometimes one person can take a big step forward and then others take three steps back. Garnica and several other Latin American women, most sex workers who have been in Italy for a couple of decades, gathered for evening Mass in late February at the Blessed Immaculate Virgin Church. It was here they found food, medicine and basic financial assistance when Italys strict COVID-19 lockdown rendered them unable to work, isolated and destitute. The parish priest, the Rev. Andrea Conocchia, invited them to write letters to Francis outlining their needs. The Vaticans almoner office not only provided money but brought a few dozen of them to the Vatican for vaccines. Years later, some were invited to a lunch for the poor with the pope. In this Covid period, it was important that Pope Francis got inside the mind of transgender women, in the mind of the human beings that we are, and started to treat us like human beings, and that I think is the moment when faith or Christianity could embrace us, said Carla Segovia.The 48-year-old woman, of Indigenous Bolivian descent, left her native Argentina as a college student during its financial crisis more than 20 years ago. She has been working as a prostitute since she started to pay for her gender surgeries as a youth, and calls the violence and discrimination she has faced a tough test of your potential to survive. Now that Francis is ill, she said she wants to transmit to him our strength, the same thing that he brought to us in the difficult time of the pandemic. We want to inoculate him with this strength that is so crucial the fact that you need to fight for your life.Gender transition is a controversial issue in many countries including the United States, where Catholic bishops reject it, and immigration is also roiling politics on both sides of the Atlantic. But Francis has made inclusion a hallmark of his papacy; specifically, the Vatican has stated its permissible, under certain circumstances, for trans people to be baptized as Catholics and serve as godparents.Segovia and other women in their community were involved in the church as children but later felt their identity and work pushed them away until they came to the Torvaianica parishs food distribution site, during the pandemic lockdown. We Latin Americans are very Catholic, but being trans, many doors close, and people walk away from us, and we walk away too, Garnica said. The word-of-mouth was that this church welcomed you, helped you, and I came to ask for help because I felt so alone.So did Minerva, a Peruvian 54-year-old who asked only her professional name be used, her voice shaking with emotion as she recounted how the experience changed her life in town.We had no work, we had no money to buy food. A friend through word of mouth told me, go to the parish and knock, ask for Father Andrea. I came, I knocked, and like never before he opened his arms, he provided a support so big that still today hes helping us, Minerva said.He opened for us so many doors. At the beginning even here people didnt pay attention to us. Now, when they see us, they greet us.For the Rev. Conocchia, helping this group of women is perfectly in line with the model of an open church reaching out to the margins that Francis has promoted, as well as the popes famous who am I to judge approach to LGBTQ+ issues. We put the poor back at the center, we put people back at the center, and thats the Gospel, Conocchia said. What matters to me is a person, a persons life and their story a person is never what they do.He said the Vaticans more open attitude, as well as its concrete welcome for this group of women, can help abolish prejudices that religious people hold since its possible the womens clients might include people who attend Mass, he wryly noted.For the women, who often are rejected by their own families, its a moment of grace that went straight to the heart.A trans girl would have never imagined in her life that she could see the pope receive her, welcome her, and help her, Garnica said. Already here people mistreat you for being Latin American, imagine Latin America and trans. But thanks to Father Andrea, people understood that we also have a heart, we also can contribute, we need the church, too. Minerva was a First Communion catechist in her parish in Peru, until she said she was kicked out for her identity. In the Torvaianica sacristy, under a picture of Francis, she practiced singing a Spanish-language version of Amazing Grace in hopes of joining the local choir. One verse, that she likes to sing to Mary, is about coming out of the shadows and into the light.I am church not part of the church, I am church because each one of us is church, she said.___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. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA Sunday, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)2025-03-02T08:44:45Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earths celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions. Firefly Aerospaces Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moons northeastern edge of the near side.Confirmation of successful touchdown came from the companys Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 225,000 miles (360,000 kilometers) away. You all stuck the landing. Were on the moon, Fireflys Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported. An upright and stable landing makes Firefly a startup founded a decade ago the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Even countries have faltered, with only five claiming success: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. A half hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures, the first showing views during descent of the surface and craters. Two other companies landers are hot on Blue Ghosts heels, with the next one expected to join it on the moon later this week.Blue Ghost named after a rare U.S. species of fireflies had its size and shape going for it. The squat four-legged lander stands 6-foot-6 (2 meters) tall and 11 feet (3.5 meters) wide, providing extra stability, according to the company. Launched in mid-January from Florida, the lander carried 10 experiments to the moon for NASA. The space agency paid $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. Its the third mission under NASAs commercial lunar delivery program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade. The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down.It carried a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 10 feet (3 meters) below the surface. Also on board: a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust a scourge for NASAs long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment.On its way to the moon, Blue Ghost beamed back exquisite pictures of the home planet. The lander continued to stun once in orbit around the moon, with detailed shots of the moons gray pockmarked surface. At the same time, an on-board receiver tracked and acquired signals from the U.S. GPS and European Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers.The landing set the stage for a fresh crush of visitors angling for a piece of lunar business. Another lander a tall and skinny 15-footer (4 meters tall) built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines is due to land on the moon Thursday. Its aiming for the bottom of the moon, just 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the south pole. Thats closer to the pole than the company got last year with its first lander, which broke a leg and tipped over. Despite the tumble, Intuitive Machines lander put the U.S. back on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo program in 1972.A third lander from the Japanese company ispace is still three months from landing. It shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 15, taking a longer, windier route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023.The moon is littered with wreckage not only from ispace, but dozens of other failed attempts over the decades.NASA wants to keep up a pace of two private lunar landers a year, realizing some missions will fail, said the space agencys top science officer Nicky Fox. Unlike NASAs successful Apollo moon landings that had billions of dollars behind them and ace astronauts at the helm, private companies operate on a limited budget with robotic craft that must land on their own, said Firefly CEO Jason Kim. Kim said everything went like clockwork. We got some moon dust on our boots, Kim said. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shake hands during a meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, England, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-02T09:23:24Z Britain is hosting a summit of European leaders on Sunday to shore up support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.The London meeting has now taken on greater importance in defending the war-torn ally and boosting the continents defenses. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is hosting the leaders of more than a dozen countries and other officials, embraced Zelenskyy on his arrival in London on Saturday, saying he is determined to find an end to Russias war on Ukraine.Starmer announced Sunday that Britain, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the United States a plan that emerged, he said, in talks among the countries leaders following the White House spat.Heres the latest: Polish prime minister says Europe should have confidence in its strengthPolands Prime Minister Donald Tusk says hes flying to London with a message that Europe must believe that it can be a major military power.Tusk told reporters at the airport before leaving Warsaw on Sunday that Europe has 2.6 million professional soldiers more than the U.S., China or Russia and that in the areas of combat aircraft and artillery it is also strong.Europe has an advantage over everyone here, Tusk said.He added that hed reiterate at the summit in London that Polands support for Kyiv remains firm. Today in Europe there is a deficit of imagination and courage, he said. Europe must understand its strength. Kremlin spokesman says Russias and US foreign policies are in alignmentWith a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the foreign policy alignment of the U.S. administration largely mirrors that of Moscow.The new (U.S.) administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision, Peskov said, according to a post by state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin on Sunday on the Telegram channel. Peskov spoke on Wednesday, before the Zelenskyy-Trump blowout on Friday. His remarks were seen as a follow-up on the U.S. splitting with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In the U.N. General Assembly last week, the U.S. joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscows aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.Ties between Moscow and Washington had plummeted to their lowest levels since the Cold War after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.European Commission chief says path to peace in Ukraine is a surge in Europes defenses The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, says she will highlight Europes ongoing support to Ukraine during the London summit on Sunday. As she traveled to the United Kingdom, von der Leyen said the aim of the 27-nation bloc is to create a path to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Von der Leyen, the head of the EUs executive arm, wrote on the social network X: The path to peace is strength. Weakness breeds more war. We will support Ukraine, while undertaking a surge in European defense. Italys Meloni spoke with Trump after his spat with ZelenskyyItalian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has positioned herself as a bridge between Trump and Europe, spoke with the U.S. president on Saturday night, ahead of the London meeting, her office said.Meloni, the only European leader to attend Trumps inauguration, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, making her position difficult given the White House clash.Macron says Russia is a threat not just to Ukraine but also EuropeFrench President Emmanuel Macron says Russia must be stopped or its likely to expand its military operations in Ukraine further west.Macron told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of a summit in London that Vladimir Putins ambitions pose an existential threat to Europe.We have an over-armed and aggressive Russia on our borders. It is carrying out terrorist actions and massive disinformation campaigns here and in Europe, Macron said. If Putin is not stopped, Macron said, he will certainly move on to Moldova and perhaps beyond to Romania.Its our security thats at stake, Macron added.The clear destiny of the Americans is to be on the side of the Ukrainians, I have no doubt about that, he said. I want the Americans to understand that disengagement from Ukraine is not in their interests. Starmer says the UK, France and Ukraine will draft a ceasefire plan to present to the USThe British prime minister says the Unted Kingdom, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the United States.Starmer says the plan emerged after talks among the four countries leaders following President Volodymyr Zelenskyys spat with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.The prime minster told the BBC he believes the U.S. president wants a durable peace in Ukraine. He repeated his assertion that American security guarantees will be needed to make it stick. London summit welcomes Europe leaders after stunning Oval Office spatThe meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old elegant mansion near Buckingham Palace, follows a charm offensive last week to engage with Trump to tilt his allegiances toward Europe. That offensive, however, devolved into a meltdown on live television from the Oval Office on Friday with Trumps extraordinary scolding of Zelenskyy. It seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russias three-year onslaught on Ukraine.Sundays summit will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.The summit on Sunday will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.NATO chief says he told Zelenskyy to restore relationship with TrumpNATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he had to find a way to restore his relationship with the American president after the two leaders engaged in an extraordinary meltdown at the White House on Friday.Rutte told the BBC on Saturday that he told Zelenskyy that he really had to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine. He was referring to the first Trump administrations decision in 2019 to supply Ukraine with Javelin antitank missiles that Ukraine used to deadly effect against Russian tanks in the first wave of the 2022 invasion.Calling the Friday meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy unfortunate, Rutte said he knew as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to a durable peace with Russia.Rutte said he expected European leaders, who were meeting in London on Sunday, to help secure a future peace deal by providing Ukraine with security guarantees. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A woman takes pictures as it rains in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)2025-03-02T07:47:28Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis was in stable condition and resting on Sunday as he continued his recovery from double pneumonia, but again skipped his weekly noon blessing to avoid even a brief public appearance.Instead, the Vatican distributed a message from the pope in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers. He said he was living his hospitalization as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.I feel in my heart the blessing that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord, Francis said in the text. At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.It marked the third weekend in a row that Francis has canceled the Sunday appointment delivering the Angelus prayer in person. He could have done so from his 10th floor hospital suite at the Gemelli hospital if he were well enough.Despite the absence, many signs indicated he was recovering and improving. The night was quiet, the pope is still resting, the Vatican said in its Sunday update. He had no fever or signs of elevated white blood cells, which would signal his body was still fighting an infection. Doctors on Saturday reported that Francis was in stable condition, with no mention of him being critical. Their upbeat assessment came a day after a respiratory crisis that resulted in him being put on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.But the 88-year-old pope had a good response in his gas exchange levels even during the long periods he was off the ventilator mask Saturday and only using high-flow supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said. Nuns pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb.14, in Rome, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Nuns pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb.14, in Rome, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More he fact that Francis was able to use just high-flow oxygen for long periods, without any significant effect on the levels of oxygen in his blood, was a sign his respiratory function was improving.Doctors were cautious however and kept his prognosis as guarded, meaning he wasnt out of danger. He was eating and drinking and continued his respiratory physiotherapy, and spent 20 minutes in his private chapel down the hall on Saturday, the Vatican said. The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into a complex pneumonia in both lungs.Prayers continued to pour in People shelter from the rain as they pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb.14, in Rome, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) People shelter from the rain as they pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where the Pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb.14, in Rome, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Francis hospitalization has come as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. They are walking through the Holy Door at St. Peters Basilica and also making pilgrimages to the hilltop Umbrian town of Assisi, to pray at the home of Francis namesake, St. Francis.Every day were praying for the pope, said the Rev. Jacinto Bento, a priest visiting Assisi on Saturday with a group of 30 Jubilee pilgrims from the Azores Islands. Were very sad for his situation.In an odd coincidence, Francis was supposed to have presided Saturday over a Holy Year audience in the Vaticans auditorium for the staff of the Gemelli hospital and other health care workers. They came as planned and completed the pilgrimage, while Francis continued his recovery at the hospital.We thought we would be able to meet him this morning in Paul VI Hall for the Jubilee Catechesis, but he surprised us by coming to us, said Monsignor Claudio Giuliodori, spiritual guide of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, of which Gemelli is a part.Giovanni Frisullo, a Gemelli neurologist, said the atmosphere at Gemelli was one of tension and prayer. There is a situation of waiting but also of hope, he said.___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.