People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centers, sit with their faces masked while in detention after being released from the centers in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanaphon Wuttison)2025-03-09T11:04:27Z MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) Thousands of sick, exhausted and terrified young men and women, from countries all over the world squat in rows, packed shoulder to shoulder, surgical masks covering their mouths and eyes. Their nightmare was supposed to be over.Last month, a dramatic and highly publicized operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Myanmar where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings. But survivors have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities with no medical care, limited food and no idea when theyll be sent home.One young man from India said about 800 people were being held in the same facility as him, sharing 10 dirty toilets. He said many of the people there were feverish and coughing. Like all former enslaved scammers who talked to The Associated Press, he spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety. If we die here with health issues, who is responsible for that? he asked.The armed groups who are holding the survivors, as well as Thai officials across the border, say they are awaiting action from the detainees home governments. Its one of the largest potential rescues of forced laborers in modern history, but advocates say the first major effort to crack down on the cyber scam industry has turned into a growing humanitarian crisis. The people released are just a small fraction of what could be 300,000 people working in similar scam operations across the region, according to an estimate from the United States Institute of Peace. Human rights groups and analysts add that the networks that run these illegal scams will continue to operate unless much broader action is taken against them. A high-profile crackdownThe trapped people, some of whom are highly educated and fluent in English, were initially lured to Thailand with promises of lucrative office jobs, only to find themselves locked in buildings where they describe being forced to sit at computers up to 16 hours a day running scams. Refusing to work could bring beatings, starvation and electric shocks.Your passport is confiscated, you cannot go outside and everything is like hell, a living hell, a trapped Pakistani man told The Associated Press. Cyber scams run from compounds have flourished during the pandemic, targeting people around the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes estimates that between $18 billion and $37 billion was lost in Asia alone in 2023, with minimal government action against the criminal industrys spread.Beijing began pushing the regions governments to crack down this year after a young Chinese actor was trafficked to Myanmar by people who promised him an acting job in Thailand. His girlfriend spearheaded a viral social media campaign that led to his release. Following that rescue, a senior Chinese government official visited Thailand and Myanmar demanding an end to the scams. In response, Thailand cut electricity, internet and gas supplies to five border towns in Myanmar.Shortly after, the ethnic militia groups that rule this part of Myanmar the Kayin Border Guard Force and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army asked some of the trapped scammers if they wanted to leave, and then escorted them out of their compounds. From forced labor to detentionAs the number of people released grew into the thousands, formerly enslaved scammers found themselves caught in indefinite detention just across a narrow, slow-moving rivers width from freedom.Most are being held either in army camps controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, or repurposed scam compounds, where many have been since early February. For weeks, men and women have shared unsanitary conditions, sleeping on the floor and eating what their captors provide. At one point, the Border Guard Force said that over 7,000 people were crammed into these facilities, as China began busing citizens across the border for flights.Exclusive photos obtained by AP underscore the detainees desperation: Surgical masks, often two per face, cover their eyes, noses and mouths as they huddle under the watchful eyes of armed guards. It felt like a blessing that we came out of that trap, but the actual thing is that every person just wants to go back home, said another Indian man, 24, speaking softly on a contraband phone from inside a makeshift detention center. He asked to not publish his name out of concern for his safety and because the militias guarding them had confiscated their phones.Last week, fights broke out between Chinese citizens waiting to go home and the security forces guarding them, two detainees told the AP.An unconfirmed list provided by authorities in Myanmar says theyre holding citizens from 29 countries including Philippines, Kenya and the Czech Republic. Waiting for a $600 plane ticketAuthorities in Thailand say they cannot allow foreigners to cross the border from Myanmar unless they can be sent home immediately, leaving many to wait for help from embassies that has been long in coming. China sent a chartered flight Thursday to the tiny Mae Sot airport to pick up a group of its citizens, but few other governments have matched that. There are roughly 130 Ethiopians waiting in a Thai military base, stuck for want of a $600 plane ticket. Dozens of Indonesians were bused out one morning last week, pushing suitcases and carrying plastic bags with their meager possessions as they headed to Bangkok for a flight home.Thai officials held a meeting this week with representatives from foreign embassies, promising to move as quickly as possible to allow them to rescue their trapped citizens. But they warned that Thailand can only manage to receive 300 people per day, down from 500 previously, Monday through Fridays. It also announced it would let embassy staff cross over into Myanmar.The ministry attaches very high importance to this and is aware that there are sick people, and that they need to be repatriated, Nikorndej Balankura, spokesman for Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.The Indian Embassy in Bangkok did not respond to requests for comment. The Czech Foreign Ministry says it cannot confirm a Czech citizen is among those repatriated. It says it is in touch with the embassies in Bangkok and Yangon over the issue and that the embassies have not been asked for assistance.Amy Miller, the Southeast Asia director of Acts of Mercy International who is based at the Thai-Myanmar border, says its hard for the world to understand why all of the released workers arent free.You can literally, with your naked eye, stand at the border and see people inside, on their balconies, in these compounds, and yet we cannot reach them, she said. Pausing a moment, she gestured out a nearby window toward the Friendship Bridge to Myanmar just blocks away. I think what people dont understand is that to enter into another country is an act of war. You cannot just go in and receive these people out.Assistance is scarceAiding the work on the front lines, especially for those countries with fewer resources, are a handful of small nonprofit groups with very limited funds.In a nondescript Mae Sot home, Millers organization receives escapees and a trickle of survivors who have made it across the river with comfortable couches, clean water, food and working phones to reach their families. She said todays unprecedented numbers are overwhelming the aid available across the river.When were looking at numbers in the thousands, the ability to get them over to Thailand and process them and house them and feed them would be impossible for most governments, said Miller. It really does require a kind of a global response.The recent abrupt halt to U.S. foreign aid funding has made it even harder to get help to released scam center workers.The United Nations International Organization for Migration, for example, previously funded care for victims of trafficking in scam compounds in one shelter in Cambodia, but was forced to halt that work by the Trump Administrations funding freeze announced in January, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The halt to funding has also impacted a network of civil society groups that worked to stop human trafficking and rescue survivors in Thailand.Its really heartbreaking to see that theres such an immense amount of people that are in need of assistance, said Saskia Kok, Head of Protection Unit in Thailand for the IOM.In a statement, U.S. officials acknowledged the high pressure impasse.The United States remains deeply concerned about online scam operations throughout Southeast Asia, which affect thousands of Americans and individuals from many other countries, said a State Department spokesperson in a statement sent to the AP. A bigger problemWhile advocates estimate some 50 million people are living in modern slavery, mass rescues of enslaved workers are rare. In 2015, more than 2,000 fishermen were rescued from brutal conditions at sea, liberated after an Associated Press investigation exposed their plight. That same year hundreds of Indians were rescued from brick factories in India. And last year Brazilian prosecutors rescued 163 Chinese nationals working in slavery-like conditions at an electric vehicle factory construction site in northeastern Brazil.What we are seeing at the Thai-Myanmar border now is the result of years of inaction on a trafficking crisis that has had a devastating impact on thousands of people, many of whom were simply seeking better economic prospect, but were lured to these compounds on false pretenses, said Amnesty International Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman.Being forced to commit a crime under threat of violence should not be criminalized, said Freeman. However, in general we are aware of countries in the region repatriating their nationals from scam compounds only to then charge them with crimes.Business as usualIts not clear how much of an effect these releases will have on the criminal groups that run the scam centers.February marked the third time the Thais have cut internet or electricity to towns across the river. Each time, the compounds have managed to work around the cuts. Large compounds have access to diesel-powered generators, as well as access to internet provider Starlink, experts working with law enforcement say.The resources is the one thing that they are not lacking and theyve been able to bring them to bear in the past, said Benedikt Hoffman, acting representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the region.The armed groups that staged the crackdown have also been accused of helping to run scam compounds in Myawaddy. The head of the Kayin Border Guard Force, General Saw Chit Thu, has been sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom for profiting from scam compounds and human trafficking, respectively. Compounds in the DKBAs control are less well-documented in the public record, but activists say they also control a fair number.There is clearly a lot of pressure on the Border Guard Force to take action and helping people to leave is one of the most visible ways to do so, Hoffman said. That said, it likely also reflects an adjustment to the business model, reducing the number of people involved and with less attention, continuing lower key operations.It will take simultaneous pressure exerted in multiple areas to truly shut down the compounds, said Hoffman.In this crackdown, there have been no major prosecutions or compounds shut down.This doesnt affect anything, said a 23-year-old Pakistani man who had hoped to be freed only to be trapped in an army camp. The bosses, he said, are rich as hell and can buy anything they need to keep the lucrative operations going. Meanwhile, he said, conditions are worsening.My friends are in really bad condition, we cant survive here, he said, requesting anonymity out of fear for retribution from his guards. He asks a question thats been haunting him day in and day out for weeks: Is anyone coming for us?___The Associated Press is investigating cyber scams. If you or someone you know is being or has been held and forced to scam others, here are the ways to get in touch with us. APs global investigative team: [emailprotected].___Mendoza reported for FRONTLINE (PBS). AP reporters Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, and Niniek Karmini and AP video journalist Andi Jatmiko in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report. HUIZHONG WU Wu covers Chinese culture, society, and politics for The Associated Press, as well as the countrys growing overseas influence from Bangkok. She was previously based in Taiwan and China. twitter MARTHA MENDOZA Mendoza reports on justice, accountability and transparency for The Associated Press. She is a member of APs Investigative team. twitter mailto

India's captain Rohit Sharma, center, flips the coin at the toss prior to the start of the ICC Champions Trophy final cricket match between India and New Zealand at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)2025-03-09T08:58:07Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the coin toss and chose to bat first against India in the 2025 Champions Trophy final on Sunday.It is the 15th consecutive toss India has lost since the 2023 Cricket World Cup final in November 2023 the longest such run for any team in one-day internationals.India is the only unbeaten side in the tournament after wins against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in the group phase, and then Australia in the semifinal. All matches were played in Dubai after the Indian government refused permission for its team go to hosts Pakistan on security grounds.New Zealand beat Pakistan in Karachi, and then Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, before making the trip to Dubai to play India. The Black Caps then returned to Pakistan where it beat South Africa in the second semifinal at Lahore. Both sides have previously won this tournament. Indias last success came in 2013 and were runners-up to Pakistan in 2017. It also shared the trophy with Sri Lanka in 2002 after a rain-affected two-day final.New Zealand won the Champions Trophy (then the ICC Knockout Trophy) in 2000 it beat India in the final at Nairobi, Kenya. It remains the only limited-overs ICC trophy in the Black Caps cabinet. Pacer Matt Henry, who leads the tournament with 10 wickets in four matches has been ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained during the semifinal. Medium pace allrounder Nathan Smith is his replacement in the only change for New Zealand. India has fielded an unchanged eleven from the semifinal and has again opted for four spin options.The pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is dry and should aid spin as the game progresses. The surface was previously used for the India-Pakistan game here on Feb. 23.There is little chance of evening dew as the ambient temperature has shot up in the UAE this past week but if there is any, it will aid the chasing side. Line-ups:New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke, Nathan SmithIndia: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Lokesh Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy___AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Elon Musk, center left, operating with a directive from President Donald Trump to slash government spending, walks with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., right, as he arrives to meet with Republican senators, at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-03-09T11:56:57Z DENVER (AP) For decades, conservatives in Congress have talked about the need to cut government deeply, but they have always pulled back from mandating specific reductions, fearful of voter backlash.Now, President Donald Trumps administration is trying to make major cuts in government through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, run by billionaire Elon Musk an initiative led by an unelected businessman whos unlikely to ever run for office and was appointed by a termed-out president who no longer needs to face voters again.The dynamic of cutting government while also cutting out those who answer to voters has alarmed even some fiscal conservatives who have long pushed for Congress to reduce spending through the means laid out in the Constitution: a system of checks and balances that includes lawmakers elected across the country working with the president. Some members of the Trump administration got frustrated that Congress wont cut spending and decided to go around them, said Jessica Reidl of the conservative think tank The Manhattan Institute. Now, she said, no one who has to face voters again is determining spending levels. That may be changing.On Thursday, facing mounting court challenges to the legality of Musk ordering layoffs, Trump told his Cabinet that Musk could only make recommendations about government reductions. And there were more signs that Congress, after sitting on the sidelines for nearly the first two months of Trumps administration, is slowly getting back into the game. On Wednesday, Republican senators told Musk that he needed to ask Congress to approve specific cuts, which they can do on an up-or-down, filibuster-free vote through a process known as recission.Senators said Musk had never heard of the process before. That was a striking admission given that its the only way for the executive branch to legally refuse to spend money that Congress has given it. To make it real, to make it go beyond the moment of the day, it needs to come back in the form of a rescission package, said Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a longtime advocate of spending reductions who said he introduced the idea of recission to Musk during the lunch meeting of the GOP caucus.Of course, letting Congress have the final word may be constitutional, but it would open up the process to individual representatives or senators balking at cuts because of home-state interests or other concerns, as some have already. But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and an economist in George W. Bushs administration, said that messy process is a superior one.Theres always this instinct in people to insulate decisions from politics, Holtz-Eakin said. Its a mistake in a democracy. Its really messy. Youre not going to get the cleanliness of a corporate reorganization.Riedl noted she has advocated for deep cuts for decades, but theres a reason Congress has balked.If Congress wont pass certain spending cuts, its because the American people dont want it enough, she said. If I want spending levels to be cut, its my job to persuade the people of America to agree with me. Trump and his supporters argue they did just that in the last presidential election when he promised to shake up Washington: The people elected me to do the job and Im doing it, Trump said during his address to Congress last week.A corporate-style approach to government has long been the goal of conservatives, especially one segment that has recently called for a more CEO-style leader who is less tied down by democratic commitments to voters. Musk has embodied that, bringing the same disruptive, cost-cutting zeal he brought to his private companies. Some of his DOGE moves mirrored steps he took to slash the social media site Twitter, including the email offering buyouts, both times called Fork in the Road.Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, said the effort seems more destructive than just an attempt to shrink government in ways conservatives have long advocated. It is usurping the role of Congress on spending and program design, using cuts as a backdoor way to impound and close agencies created by Congress, Moynihan said. It is implementing an unprecedented scale of disruption.Grover Norquist, an anti-tax activist whose pledge to make government small enough to drown it in a bathtub has made him an icon for small-government conservatives, cheered the DOGE project. He said Congress has to authorize any real reductions, but hoped that DOGEs cuts show the legislative branch that voters will not panic when government is shrunk.If we do something for three years, theyll make it the law, Norquist said of Congress. Theyll see its safe, theyll see its successful. Theyll come in and put their name on it. Norquist acknowledged that Congress has repeatedly balked at the level of cuts that he would like to see, even under unified Republican control. He asserted that 95% of Republicans support such reductions but that wasnt enough to get it across the finish line in an era where the majority party usually only has a razor-thin margin of control in either chamber.The past nearly half-century of politics has been defined by conservatives pledging to cut government spending, only to see it continue to grow. Republican Ronald Reagan swept into the presidency in 1980 pledging to cut government, but when he left eight years later its size had increased. The trend continued through Trumps first term and during Democrat Joe Bidens presidency.Now, however, Trump will not face voters again, despite occasional quips about seeking a constitutionally prohibited third term. He has been open about his grudge against the federal bureaucracy, which he blames for many of his troubles during his initial four years in office.I dont think previous presidents have had the same animus towards the federal government this one has, Holtz-Eakin said.He noted that Trump has launched a second cost-cutting initiative through traditional channels his own Office of Management and Budget, which asked agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. That, Holtz-Eakin said, makes those coming reductions likelier to stick than DOGE cuts.Holtz-Eakin said there are initial signs of voter discontent over the pace, depth and chaos of the cuts. The usual way you visit that on a president is you wipe out his party in the midterms, Holtz-Eakin said. You never evade the voters.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with Jason Hing, chief deputy of emergency services at the Los Angles Fire Department, left, and Capt. Jeff Brown, chief of Station 69, as they tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-03-08T21:12:15Z CHICAGO (AP) The countrys preeminent federal fire training academy canceled classes, effective immediately, on Saturday amid the ongoing flurry of funding freezes and staffing cuts by President Donald Trumps administration.The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that National Fire Academy courses were canceled amid a process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities, according to a notice sent to instructors, students and fire departments. Instructors were told to cancel all future travel until further notice.Firefighters, EMS providers and other first responders from across the country travel to the NFAs Maryland campus for the federally funded institutions free training programs.The NFA is a powerhouse for the fire service, said Marc Bashoor, a former Maryland fire chief and West Virginia emergency services director with 44 years of fire safety experience. Its not a nice to have. It is the one avenue we have to bring people from all over the country to learn from and with each other. If we want to continue to have one of the premier fire services in the world, we need to have the National Fire Academy. The academy, which also houses the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial, opened in 1973 to combat a growing number of fatal fires nationwide. At the time, the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control envisioned it to be the West Point of the Fire Service, according to a report form the organization. Bashoor said the NFA was set to welcome a new set of fire safety officers for training next week. People had made their plane and travel reservations. And all of a sudden, they get an email that Sorry, its been canceled, he said. Its really upsetting.For firefighters, including those on the frontlines of deadly fires that ravaged California this year, having an essential training institution shut down under the presumption that theres waste, fraud and abuse has been demoralizing, Bashoor said. He said losing NFA training could make the coordinated response that prevented additional deaths and destruction in California more difficult. FEMA and the National Fire Academy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.While surveying disaster zones in California in January, Trump said he was considering getting rid of FEMA altogether, previewing sweeping changes to the nations central organization of responding to disasters.Firings at the U.S. Forest Service on the heels of the deadly California blazes also sparked outcry among discharged workers and officials who said it would mean fewer people and less resources will be available to help prevent and fight wildfires.

2025-03-09T12:13:29Z WASHINGTON (AP) An armed man believed to be traveling from Indiana was shot by U.S. Secret Service agents near the White House after a confrontation early Sunday, according to authorities. No one else was injured in the shooting that happened around midnight about a block from the White House, according to a Secret Service statement. President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time of the shooting. The Secret Service received information from local police about an alleged suicidal individual who was traveling from Indiana and found the mans car and a person matching his description nearby. As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel, the Secret Service said in a statement. The man was hospitalized. The Secret Service said his condition was unknown. The Metropolitan Police Department will investigate because the shooting involved law enforcement officers. A message left Sunday for the police department wasnt immediately returned.

Migrants, mostly from Asian countries, arrived in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after spending weeks in a temporary Panamanian immigration camp following their deportation from the U.S. and being released on the condition that they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)2025-03-09T04:53:39Z PANAMA CITY (AP) After weeks of lawsuits and human rights criticism, Panama on Saturday released dozens of migrants who were held for weeks in a remote camp after being deported from the United States, telling them they have 30 days to leave the Central American nation.It thrust many like Hayatullah Omagh, a 29-year-old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control, into a legal limbo, scrambling to find a path forward.We are refugees. We do not have money. We cannot pay for a hotel in Panama City, we do not have relatives, Omagh told the Associated Press in an interview. I cant go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances ... It is under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back?Authorities have said deportees will have the option of extending their stay by 60 days if they need it, but after that many like Omagh dont know what they will do. Migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration shelter after being deported from the U.S. embraced upon arriving in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration shelter after being deported from the U.S. embraced upon arriving in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Omagh climbed off a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other nations after spending weeks detained in poor conditions by the Panamanian government, which has said it wants to work with the Trump administration to send a signal of deterrence to people hoping to migrate. Iranian migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration camp after being deported from the U.S. arrive in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Iranian migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration camp after being deported from the U.S. arrive in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Human rights groups and lawyers advocating for the migrants were waiting at the bus terminal, and scrambled to find the released migrants shelter and other resources. Dozens of other people remained in the camp. Among those getting off buses were migrants fleeing violence and repression in Pakistan and Iran, and 27-year-old Nikita Gaponov, who fled Russia due to repression for being part of the LGBTQ+ community and who said he was detained at the U.S. border, but not allowed to make an asylum claim. A Vietnamese boy traveling with his mother and other migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration camp after their deportations from the U.S. arrives in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) A Vietnamese boy traveling with his mother and other migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration camp after their deportations from the U.S. arrives in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Nikita Gaponov, second from right, of Russia, and other migrants who were held in a temporary Panamanian immigration shelter after being deported from the U.S. arrive by bus in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Nikita Gaponov, second from right, of Russia, and other migrants who were held in a temporary Panamanian immigration shelter after being deported from the U.S. arrive by bus in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Once I get off the bus, Ill be sleeping on the ground tonight, Gaponov said.Others turned their eyes north once again, saying that even though they had already been deported, they had no other option than to continue after crossing the world to reach the U.S. The deportees, largely from Asian countries, were part of a deal stuck between the Trump administration and Panama and Costa Rica as the U.S. government attempts to speed up deportations. The administration sent hundreds of people, many families with children, to the two Central American countries as a stopover while authorities organize a way to send them back to their countries of origin. Critics described it as a way for the U.S. to export its deportation process.The agreement fueled human rights concerns when hundreds of deportees detained in a hotel in Panama City held up notes to their windows pleading for help and saying they were scared to return to their own countries. Under international refugee law, people have the right to apply for asylum when they are fleeing conflict or persecution.Those that refused to return home were later sent to a remote camp near Panamas border with Colombia, where they spent weeks in poor conditions, were stripped of their phones, unable to access legal council and were not told where they were going next. Lawyers and human rights defenders warned that Panama and Costa Rica were turning into black holes for deportees, and said their release was a way for Panamanian authorities to wash their hands of the deportees amid mounting human rights criticism. Upon being released Saturday night, human rights lawyers identified at least three people who required medical attention. One has been vomiting for over a week, another deportee had diabetes and hadnt had access to insulin in the camp and another person had HIV and also didnt have access to medicine in detention.Those who were released, like Omagh, said they could not return home.As an atheist and member of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan known as the Hazara, he said returning home under the rule of the Taliban which swept back into power after the Biden administration pulled out of the country would mean he would be killed. He only went to the U.S. after trying for years to live in Pakistan, Iran and other countries but being denied visas. Omagh was deported after presenting himself to American authorities and asking to seek asylum in the U.S., which he was denied. Hayatullah Omagh, of Afghanistan, and other migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration temporary shelter after being deported from the U.S. arrive in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Hayatullah Omagh, of Afghanistan, and other migrants who were held in a Panamanian immigration temporary shelter after being deported from the U.S. arrive in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, after authorities gave them 30 days to leave the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More My hope was freedom. Just freedom, he said. They didnt give me the chance. I asked many times to speak to an asylum officer and they told me No, no, no, no, no.Still, he said that leaving the camp was a relief. Omagh and other migrants who spoke to the AP detailed scarce food, sweltering heat with little relief and aggressive Panamanian authorities. In one case, Omagh and others said, a Chinese man went on a week-long hunger strike. In another, a small riot broke out because guards refused to give a migrant their phone. The riot, they said, was suppressed by armed guards.Panamanian authorities denied accusations about camp conditions, but blocked journalists from accessing the camp and cancelled a planned press visit last week. While international aid organizations said they would organize travel to a third country for people who didnt want to return home, Panamanian authorities said the people released had already refused help.Omagh said he was told in the camp he could be sent to a third country if it gives people from Afghanistan visas. He said that would be incredibly difficult because few nations open their doors to people with a Afghan passport.He said he asked authorities in the camp multiple times if he could seek asylum in Panama, and said he was told that we do not accept asylum.None of them wants to stay in Panama. They want to go to the U.S., said Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez, Panamas deputy foreign minister, in an interview with the AP last month. Migrants, mostly from Asian countries, arrived in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after spending weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp following their deportation from the U.S. and being released on the condition that they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Migrants, mostly from Asian countries, arrived in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after spending weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp following their deportation from the U.S. and being released on the condition that they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Samin Ihaider, of Pakistan, third from right, confers with other migrants at a bus station food court after arriving in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, following weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp after their deportation from the U.S. and release on the condition they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Samin Ihaider, of Pakistan, third from right, confers with other migrants at a bus station food court after arriving in Panama City on Saturday, March 8, 2025, following weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp after their deportation from the U.S. and release on the condition they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More That was the case for some, like one Chinese woman who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from Panamanian authorities. Upon getting off the bus, the first thing she wanted to do was find a Coca-Cola. Then, shed find a way back to the U.S.I still want to continue to go to the United States and fulfill my American dream, she said. Iranian migrants make a phone call from a bus station food court after arriving in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, following weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp where they were held after their deportation from the U.S. and released on the condition that they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Iranian migrants make a phone call from a bus station food court after arriving in Panama City, Saturday, March 8, 2025, following weeks in a Panamanian immigration camp where they were held after their deportation from the U.S. and released on the condition that they leave the country within 30 days. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More ___Janetsky reported from Mexico City. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walks to the House Chamber before President Donald Trump addresses to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-03-09T13:45:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) Most of the 80,000 federal workers responsible for researching diseases, inspecting food and administering Medicare and Medicaid under the auspices of the Health and Human Services Department were emailed an offer to leave their job for as much as a $25,000 payment as part of President Donald Trumps government cuts.The workers have until 5 p.m. on Friday to submit a response for the so-called voluntary separation offer. The email was sent to staff across the department, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the National Institutes of Health as well as the Food and Drug Administration, both in Maryland. The mass email went out to a broad population of HHS employees, landing in their inboxes days before agency heads are due to offer plans for shrinking their workforces. HHS is one of the governments costliest federal agencies, with an annual budget of about $1.7 trillion that is mostly spent on health care coverage for millions of people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. There was no immediate comment Sunday from HHS.Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps health secretary, has hinted at plans at deep cuts to the staff. Last year, he promised to immediately clear out all 600 employees at the NIH, the nations biomedical research arm. He has not gone that far, but in an interview last month shortly after being sworn in last month, Kennedy said he wanted to remove some workers from the public health agencies. I have a list in my head, Kennedy said of potential firings at the agency. He said some workers made really bad decisions on nutrition guidelines. The Trump administration, with the help of billionaire Elon Musk, has been trying to push out federal workers in an effort to cut costs. In January, most federal employees received a deferred resignation offer that came with eight months of pay. Thousands of probationary employees, too, have been fired across federal agencies, including at HHS. The latest move to reduce the number of federal health workers comes as the the CDC is assisting with a deadly measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico and as lawmakers are debating deep cuts to Medicaid in the federal budget. HHS workers are directed in the email to reach out to their local human resources office to submit for the voluntary separation. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

An area in front of the security checkpoints is empty at Hamburg Airport, Germany Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)2025-03-09T13:34:15Z BERLIN (AP) Flight cancellations at Hamburg Airport after a surprise strike by workers affected more than 40,000 passengers on Sunday, a day before a planned wider protest across Germany amid new contract negotiations.Only 10 of more than 280 scheduled flights went as planned early Sunday, the airport said. Many service desks sat empty as would-be passengers lined up to seek information about the cancellations.The surprise walkout, which reportedly took place with only about a half-hour advance notice, came before a broader series of preannounced strikes across 13 airports in Germany on Monday, organized by the ver.di union.The union, whose members work in areas including passenger services and cargo and goods screening, called for Sundays strike by security control staff to put pressure on company representatives amid collective bargaining talks. The behavior of the trade union ver.di is dishonorable: The strike without notice hits Hamburg Airport at the start of the vacation season, airport spokeswoman Katja Bromm said in a statement. She said that on Monday, arrivals would be possible, and that considerable disruptions and cancellations were expected. Bromm said that Sundays walkouts were excessive and unfair to tens of thousands of travelers who have nothing to do with the disputes.For months, ver.di has been negotiating a new agreement that aims to improve occupational health and safety, provide more vacation days, an increase in the annual bonus to 50% and the freedom to choose a doctor for employees regular, mandatory medical exams, among other things.

Palestinians leave after attending the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Imam Shafi'i Mosque, damaged by Israeli army strikes, in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, Friday March 7, 2025.(AP Photo/(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-03-09T15:21:30Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israel says it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza. The full effects of that are not immediately clear, but the territorys desalination plants receive power for producing drinking water.Sundays announcement comes a week after Israel cut off all supplies of goods to the territory to over 2 million people. It has sought to press Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended last weekend. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.Hamas has pressed to start negotiations on the ceasefires more difficult second phase instead, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others. The militant group on Sunday said it wrapped up the latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without changes to its position, calling for an immediate start of the ceasefires second phase.The new letter from Israels energy minister to the Israel Electric Corporation tells it to stop selling power to Gaza. Israel had warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next. Gaza has been largely devastated by the war, and generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply. The ceasefire has paused the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The first phase allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.Israeli forces have withdrawn to buffer zones inside Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the first time since early in the war and hundreds of trucks of aid entered per day until Israel suspended supplies. US envoy envisages a longer truceThe White House on Wednesday made the surprise confirmation of direct U.S. talks with Hamas.On Sunday, envoy Adam Boehler told CNN that I think you could see something like a long-term truce, where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree theyre not part of the political party going forward. I think thats a reality. Its real close.When asked by CNN if he would speak with the militant group again, Boehler replied, You never know.He added: I think something could come together within weeks, and expressed hope for a deal that would see all hostages released, not only the American ones.Hamas on Sunday reiterated its support for a proposal for the establishment of an independent committee of technocrats to run Gaza until Palestinians hold presidential and legislative elections.That committee would work under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank. Israel has rejected the PA having any role in Gaza, but hasnt put forward an alternative for postwar rule. Hamas attack in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and took 251 people hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.Israels military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt say how many of the dead were militants.Now, with the cutoff of all supplies to Gaza, Palestinians are reporting sharp price increases for dwindling items as fears grow again.Since the ceasefire began, the situation has improved a little. But before that, the situation was very bad, said Fares al-Qeisi in the southern city of Khan Younis. I swear to God, one could not satisfy their hunger.___Follow developments at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

President Donald Trump waves before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-03-09T15:54:04Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump is dismissing business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on a range of American trading partners and the prospect of higher prices, and isnt ruling out the possibility of a recession this year.After imposing and then quickly pausing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that sent markets tumbling over concerns of a trade war, Trump said his plans for broader reciprocal tariffs will go into effect April 2, raising them to match what other countries assess. April 2nd, it becomes all reciprocal, he said in a taped interview with Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures. What they charge us, we charge them.Asked about the Atlanta Feds warning of an economic contraction in the first quarter of the year, Trump seemingly acknowledged that his plans could affect U.S. growth. Still, he claimed, it would ultimately be great for us. When questioned whether he was expecting a recession in 2025, Trump responded: I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what were doing is very big. Were bringing wealth back to America. Thats a big thing. He then added, It takes a little time. It takes a little time. On Wall Street, it was a tough week with wild swings dominated by worries about the economy and uncertainty about what Trumps tariffs. Trump brushed aside concerns from businesses seeking stability as they make investment decisions. He said that for years the globalists, the big globalists have been ripping off the United States and that now, all were doing is getting some of it back, and were going to treat our country fairly.You know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I dont know if its predictability, the Republican president said.Trump last week lifted the Mexico and Canada tariffs on American car manufacturers, and then virtually all imports to the U.S., but kept them on goods from China. More tariffs are coming this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling NBCs Meet the Press that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday. Lutnick said Trumps threatened tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber though would wait until April.Will there be distortions? Of course, Lutnick said. Foreign goods may get a little more expensive. But American goods are going to get cheaper, and youre going to be helping Americans by buying American. ZEKE MILLER Miller leads coverage of the president and the presidency for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-03-09T16:28:42Z Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that were following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe and that were making sure were following through on what President Trump has promised, Noem told CBS Face the Nation.While these polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings, they are frequently used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances.White House officials have previously expressed frustration with the pace of deportations, blaming it in part on recent leaks revealing cities where authorities planned to conduct operations. Noem announcement of two new leadership appointments within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes less than two months into the Trump administration and demonstrates the importance that the administration places on carrying out the presidents deportation agenda. Todd Lyons, the former assistant director of field operations for the agencys enforcement arm, will serve as acting ICE director. Madison Sheahan, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Noems former aide when she was governor of South Dakota, has been tapped to be the agencys deputy director. The leadership changes come after ICEs acting director was reassigned on Feb. 21. Two other top immigration enforcement officials were reassigned Feb. 11. Those staffing changes came amid frustrations in the Trump administration about the pace of immigration arrests. Noem also announced on Friday that the agency has identified and planned to prosecute two leakers of information.On Sunday, she said these two people were leaking our enforcement operations that we had planned and were going to conduct in several cities and exposed vulnerabilities. She said they could face up to 10 years in federal prison.A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Relatives and neighbours mourn during the funeral procession for four Syrian security force members killed in clashes with loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad in coastal Syria, in the village of Al-Janoudiya, west of Idlib, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)2025-03-09T16:01:42Z An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the countrys 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns. Rights groups reported dozens of revenge killings resulting from Sunni militants targeting the minority Islamic sect, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency.Heres a look at the latest violence in the war-wracked country: What started the violence?Tensions have been on the rise since Assads downfall following sectarian attacks against Alawites, who ruled Syria for over 50 years under the Assad dynasty. The assaults continued despite promises from Syrias interim president that the countrys new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities.In their ambush, the pro-Assad Alawite gunmen overwhelmed government security forces and later took control of Qardaha, Assads hometown, as Damascus scrambled to bring in reinforcements.Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani said Sunday that security forces have restored control of the region and will continue pursuing leaders of the galvanized insurgency.But despite authorities calling for an end to the sectarian incitement, the clashes turned deadly, and many civilians were killed. Who are the dead?Most of the dead are apparently members of the Alawite community, who live largely in the countrys coastal province, including in the cities of Latakia and Tartous. Rights groups estimate that hundreds of civilians were killed.The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, and it once formed the core constituency of Assads government in the Sunni-majority country.Opponents of Assad saw Syria under the familys rule as granting privileges to the Alawite community. As the civil war intensified, militant groups emerged across the country and treated Alawites as affiliates of Assad and his key military allies, Russia and Iran.Syrias new interim government is under Sunni Islamist rule. Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former HTS leader, has promised that the country will transition to a system that includes Syrias mosaic of religious and ethnic groups under fair elections, but skeptics question whether that will actually happen.Little is currently known about the Alawite insurgency, which is composed of remnants of Assads web of military and intelligence branches, and who their foreign backers might be. Why were the Alawites targeted?The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 745 civilians killed, mostly in shootings. In addition, 125 members of government security forces and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed. Electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around Latakia, the group added.Meanwhile, the Syria Campaign and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, which both advocated against Assad after the civil war began in 2011, said Saturday that both security forces and pro-Assad gunmen were carrying out mass executions and systematic killings.The SNHR estimated that 100 members of the governments security forces were killed Thursday, while 125 of an estimated 140 civilians were slain over the weekend in suspected revenge killings.The Associated Press could not verify those numbers, and conflicting death figures during attacks in Syria over the years have not been uncommon. Two residents in the coastal region said that many homes from Alawite families were looted and set on fire. They spoke from their hideouts on condition of anonymity, fearing for their lives.Damascus blamed individual actions for the widespread violence against civilians and said government security forces were responding to the gunmen loyal to the former government. Can Damascus restore calm after the clashes?Damascus has struggled to reconcile with skeptics of its Islamist government, as well as with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast and the Druze minority in the south. Al-Sharaa has lobbied to convince the United States and Europe to lift sanctions to pave the way for economic recovery to pull millions of Syrians out of poverty and make the country viable again.Washington and Europe are concerned that lifting sanctions before Syria transitions into an inclusive political system could pave the way for another chapter of autocratic rule.Al-Sharaa appealed to Syrians and the international community in an address over the weekend, calling for accountability for anyone who harms civilians and mistreats prisoners. Such human rights violations were rampant under Assad. Al-Sharra also formed a committee composed mostly of judges to investigate the violence. In a statement issued Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Syrian authorities to hold the perpetrators of these massacres accountable. Rubio said the U.S. stands with Syrias religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities. KAREEM CHEHAYEB Chehayeb is an Associated Press reporter in Beirut. twitter instagram mailto

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)2025-03-09T16:22:58Z NEW YORK (AP) Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in last springs anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, according to his attorney.Mahmoud Khalil was inside his university-owned residence Saturday night near Columbias Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the building and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalils student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.The arrest appeared to be among the first known actions under President Donald Trumps pledge to deport international students who joined the protests against Israels war in Gaza that swept college campuses last spring. His administration has claimed participants forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting Hamas, a terror organization. AP AUDIO: ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests, his lawyer says AP correspondent Julie Walker reports ICE arrests a Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests. Khalil served as a negotiator for students as they bargained with university officials over an end to the tent encampment erected on campus, a role that made him one of the few student activists willing to share his name and identity. The authorities declined to tell Khalils wife, who is eight months pregnant, whether he was accused of committing a crime, Greer said. Khalil has since been transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained, Greer told the AP. This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.A Columbia spokesperson said law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property, but declined to say if the school had received one ahead of Khalils arrest. The spokesperson also declined to comment on Khalils detention. Messages seeking comment were left with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.The Department of Homeland Security can initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a broad range alleged criminal activity, including supporting a terror group. It would ultimately be up to an immigration judge to revoke someones permanent resident status, according to Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of legal service providers in New York. This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didnt like, Mackler said.Khalil was among those investigated by a new Columbia University office that has brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students who have expressed criticism of Israel, according to records shared with the AP. Those investigations come as the Trump administration has ramped up scrutiny on Columbia because of what the government describes as the Ivy League schools failure to squelch antisemitism on campus. On Friday, federal agencies announced they would be cutting $400 million in grants and contracts from the university. The allegation against Khalil focused on his involvement in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, claiming he had helped organize an unauthorized marching event that glorified Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack and played a substantial role in the circulation of social media posts criticizing Zionism. I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with, Khalil told the AP last week.They just want to show Congress and rightwing politicians that theyre doing something, regardless of the stakes for students, he added. Its mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Calin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of presidential elections, later annulled by the Constitutional Court, speaks to media after registering his new bid for the country's presidency outside Romania's Electoral Authority, in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)2025-03-09T18:36:34Z BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Romanias electoral body on Sunday rejected Calin Georgescus candidacy in the presidential election rerun, after the far-right populist won the first round of last years race before a top court annulled the election.The 62-year-old Georgescu filed his candidacy on Friday in the capital, Bucharest. The Central Election Bureau, also known by its Romanian acronym BEC, had 48 hours to register or reject it. It wasnt immediately clear on what grounds his candidacy was rejected, but the BEC said that a full text of its decision would later be published on its website. The decision can be appealed at the Constitutional Court within 24 hours.The BECs rejection came after Romanias Constitutional Court annulled the first-round results two days before the Dec. 8 runoff, after allegations emerged that Russia had run a coordinated online campaign to promote the outsider. At the time, Georgescu, who ran as an independent, denounced the courts decision as an officialized coup and an attack on democracy. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, who had backed Georgescus bid, reacted to BECs decision on Sunday by calling it a new abuse and a continuation of the coup dtat. Down with Ciolacu, down with the dictators! he said in a post on Facebook, referring to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. Last month, prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against Georgescu, accusing him of incitement to actions against the constitutional order, supporting fascist groups and false declarations of electoral campaign funding and asset disclosures.Before the Nov. 24 election, Georgescu, who is under judicial control and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, had polled in single digits and declared zero campaign spending. Allegations quickly emerged of electoral violations and Russian interference. Moscow denied that it had meddled in the election.The first round of the rerun is scheduled for May 4. If no candidate wins more than 50% of ballots, a runoff will follow on May 18. The deadline for presidential candidacy applications is March 15 at midnight.

Bryan Szeliga owner of Fishtown Seafood poses for a photograph at his location in Haddonfield, N.J., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-03-09T14:00:55Z NEW YORK (AP) At Fishtown Seafood, owner Bryan Szeliga is worried about the oysters.Szeliga, who operates three retail and wholesale locations in Philadelphia and Haddonfield, N.J., sells a range of seafood. But briny, slurpable oysters are the biggest part of his overall business. And 60% to 70% come from Canada.The Trumps administrations on-again, off-again 25% tariffs on imports from Canada which went into effect on Tuesday only to be suspended on some items for a month on Thursday are giving Szeliga whiplash. The flip-flopping is making it tough to plan ahead. And if the tariffs do eventually go into effect, hell likely need to raise prices and offer his customers fewer choices of oysters.Part of the problem of the chaos and shock and awe approach to the negotiation is you cant actually really business plan based on knowing what is and isnt actually going to happen, he said. Thats a big problem. AP AUDIO: How one small business is navigating Trumps on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian goods AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on how one small business is navigating President Trumps on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian goods. Szeliga started Fishtown Seafood four years ago after other jobs in the food industry including chef and working for a nonprofit. His customers include neighborhood locals and others who shop at his retail shops as well as restaurant wholesale clients. He sources some of his U.S. products directly from fish farms but for Canadian oysters he goes through dealers.Theyre larger companies that aggregate from all the (seafood) producers and then and then distribute throughout the country, he said. Theres also a quality consideration.Canadian oysters simply have the size, flavor profile, and brand recognition that our customers prefer and have grown to love, he said. Trying to planOn Tuesday, most of his suppliers told Szeliga theyd be raising prices. He only made one purchase while the tariff was in effect, buying some sweet petite oysters from Prince Edward Island, to make sure a wholesale client had enough product. He paid the whole 25% markup himself and didnt pass it along to his client, eating the extra cost. The suppliers price increases are likely to come down now that the tariffs are postponed, but only for a month.Now that he has a month reprieve, Szeliga said he plans to adjust his own inventory and work with his wholesale clients to plan out a menu that will be less affected by the tariffs. That might mean replacing higher-priced, higher-quality oysters with domestic or lower-priced Canadian offerings.Now that we have a picture of what this is probably going to look like, lets just start designing out your menus so that were prepared and its not complete bedlam again, he said. Even if prices come down, we know prices are going to come up to X, Y, Z (when the tariffs return). He said hell be asking his clients, What products are going to work for you in a month? A blow to the burgeoning oyster marketSzeliga isnt alone with his concerns the entire oyster market could be affected.The total value of U.S. imported seafood in 2023 was $25.5 billion. Canada, as the largest supplier, delivered more than $3.6 billion in seafood products to the United States in 2023. Imports of seafood from Canada into the U.S. rose 10% in 2024 to $3.96 billion, according to the USDA.While oysters are just a fraction of that the most popular seafood remains shrimp, salmon and tuna oyster demand has been growing. In 2022, oysters joined the National Fisheries Institute Top 10 List for the first time ever. Szeliga has watched as the popularity meant more and more restaurants, beyond just oyster bars, began offering the bivalve on their menus. He worries that growth will now fade and fizzle.I think its really going to take the momentum out of what is a growth industry, he said. Limiting choice, raising pricesSzeliga said hell likely limit the number of oysters he carries in his shop from 12 to about 10 to make sure he can still offer a range of higher and lower price oysters that his customers want, even if he no longer carries the most expensive options. Switching to oysters harvested only in the U.S. isnt an option, because although there are numerous types of oysters available on U.S. coasts, the majority of U.S. seafood is imported. Canada is the largest supplier of seafood to the U.S. Thats hard to match.For domestic oysters the production is pretty maxed out right now, he said. Oysters can take several years to grow and make it to market so a farmer would have needed to make a business selection several years ago to grow their business to be in a good position right now to take full advantage of this situation.Szeliga worries that Canadian producers might start limiting what they sell to the U.S. market after the tariff confusion.So ultimately, his customers should expect less choice of oysters, and for a higher price since not all prices will come back down after theyve been marked up.Some products that were really value purchases in the past. I think those suppliers, it forced them to realize they were value, he said. And I think there are going to be products that arent going to come back down (price-wise), he said. MAE ANDERSON Anderson reports for The Associated Press on a wide range of issues that small businesses face. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

In this March 9, 2009 file photo, The Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters for the State Department, is seen in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-03-09T18:48:37Z Aubrey Lay a Fulbright scholar was supposed to get paid for three months of work by the U.S. government through his teaching assistantship at a school for Ukrainian refugees in Estonia. Instead, he only got about one weeks pay, and no word on when he might see the rest of his grant.Lay is among scholars around the world who depend on State Department funding to participate in long-established programs like Fulbright and who say their payments have been abruptly cut off after getting a notice that officials were reviewing their activities. The move appears to be in line with the White Houses initiative to sharply slash government spending - a shakeup that has affected scores of federal agencies.The government is facing even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. President Donald Trump has directed agencies to prepare plans for widespread layoffs, known as reductions in force, that will likely require more limited operations at agencies that provide critical services. The funding freeze has sparked panic among thousands of scholars who area stranded outside their home countries without clarity on the future of their programs or the money needed to support themselves. In February, the U.S. State Department temporarily paused spending in an effort to review its programs and activities, according to NAFSA, an association of international educators. That included programs such as Fulbright, Gilman and Critical Language international scholarships. In the weeks since officials enacted the pause, some scholars and advocacy groups have said the flow of funds dried up for peoples grants, yet there is no communication from U.S. officials on whether that will change. The State Department did not comment on the funding freeze following an inquiry by the Associated Press over the weekend.Lay found the lack of communication from U.S. officials troublesome. He was also left wondering about the future of the program that his grandmother also participated in decades ago. After it was established in 1946, the program has become a flagship for the U.S. governments mission toward cross-cultural engagement. I dont want to be one more thing that is changing and uncertain in their lives, Lay said. I cant bear that thought.Lay said he will be OK for another month, but he worries about participants with no extra money saved.The clarity that Ive gotten is that nobody knows whats going on? he said. The clarity that Ive gotten is that every time Ive asked anybody, they dont know whats happening, and they are just as confused as I am, as we all are.Thousands of scholars are in similar positions to Lay, according to the Fulbright Association, which is a nonprofit group comprising alumni. In a newsletter email, the association said the halt in funding impact over 12,500 American students, youth, and professionals currently abroad or scheduled to participate in State Department programs in the next six months. Aside from U.S. citizens, the Fulbright Association also said the pause has cut funding for U.S. programs hosting more than 7,400 people. Halyna Morozova, a Fulbright scholar from Kyiv teaching Ukrainian to students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, said she was at the airport Feb. 28 after what felt like a never-ending day. President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier that day in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting. The future of her country along with her family back home weighed heavily on her mind. Then she got an email from the Institute of International Education, commonly referred to as IIE, which administers the Fulbright scholarship. IIE is currently authorized to send you a partial stipend equivalent to one week of your anticipated upcoming stipend payment, the email said. We will update you on future payments as soon as possible.Morozova panicked. She usually gets $750 each month. Now, she has to stretch $187.50 to make ends meet.It was very scary, I would say, not just because I am lost in another country, she said. We dont know if we will ever get another stipend here, and if they have enough money to buy our tickets home. So there are a lot of things that are not clear and not certain. Olga Bezhanova, a professor who manages Morozova and two other scholars, said the exchange program has been in place for nearly two decades at her university, becoming a bedrock of their language education. Now, she is trying to see if her university will supplement the funds being withheld by the federal government. If that doesnt work out, she said she was unsure of what else could be done.I have to look into the faces of these wonderful people, and theyre asking me: Is this America? What is this? she said. This is a mess.___Olivia Diaz 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. OLIVIA DIAZ Diaz covers Virginia politics with the Associated Press. twitter mailto

Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney speaks following the announcement of his win at the party's announcement event in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-03-09T14:19:35Z TORONTO (AP) Former central banker Mark Carney will become Canadas next prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader Sunday as the country deals with U.S. President Donald Trumps trade war and annexation threat, and a federal election looms.Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days. Carney won in a landslide, winning 85.9% of the vote. There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy, Carney said. Donald Trump, as we know, has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell and how we make a living. Hes attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses and we cannot let him succeed and we wont.Carney said Canada will keep retaliatory tariffs in place until the Americans show us respect. Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada and when in 2013 he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. His appointment won bipartisan praise in the U.K. after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries. The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.Trumps trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can. The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Partys chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving steadily in opinion polls.We have made this the greatest country in the world and now our neighbors want to take us. No way, Carney said earlier. After decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canadas next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States.Carney has picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since declaring his candidacy in January. He is a highly educated economist with Wall Street experience who has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister, but he lacks political experience.The other top Liberal leadership candidate was former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Trudeau told Freeland in December that he no longer wanted her as finance minister, but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for U.S.-Canada relations. Freeland resigned shortly after, releasing a scathing letter about the government that proved to be the last straw for Trudeau.Carney is expected to trigger an election shortly afterward. Either Carney will call one, or the opposition parties in Parliament could force one with a no-confidence vote later this month.

First responders work the scene after a plane crashed in the parking lot of a retirement community in Manheim Township, Pa., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Logan Gehman/LNP/LancasterOnline via AP)2025-03-09T20:48:24Z A single-engine airplane carrying five people crashed and burst into flames Saturday in the parking lot of a retirement community near a small airport in suburban Pennsylvania, and everyone on board survived, officials and witnesses said.The fiery crash happened around 3 p.m. just south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, police Chief Duane Fisher told reporters at an evening briefing. All five victims were taken to hospitals in unknown condition. Nobody on the ground was hurt, the chief said. Brian Pipkin was driving nearby when he noticed the small plane climbing before it suddenly veered to the left. And then it went down nose first, he told The Associated Press. There was an immediate fireball.Pipkin called 911 and then drove to the crash site, where he recorded video of black smoke billowing from the planes mangled wreckage and multiple cars engulfed in flames in a parking lot at Brethren Village. He said the plane narrowly missed hitting a three-story building at the sprawling retirement community about 75 miles (120 km) west of Philadelphia. A fire truck from the airport arrived within minutes, and more first responders followed quickly. It was so smoky and it was so hot, Pipkin said. They were really struggling to get the fire out. A dozen parked cars were damaged, Fisher said. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there were five people aboard the Beechcraft Bonanza. Air traffic control audio captured the pilot reporting that the aircraft has an open door, we need to return for a landing. An air traffic controller is heard clearing the plane to land, before saying, Pull up! Moments later, someone can be heard saying the aircraft was down just behind the terminal in the parking lot street area.The FAA said it will investigate. The crash comes about a month after seven people were killed when an air ambulance burst into flames after crashing onto a busy Philadelphia street.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looks to pass during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)2025-03-10T00:10:14Z ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) NFL MVP Josh Allen was rewarded Sunday with a contract extension that is reportedly worth $330 million, which would make him among the leagues highest-paid players.The Buffalo Bills announced the agreement, which adds two years to Allens contract and locks the 28-year-old in through the 2030 season. ESPN.com reported the deals value and includes an NFL-record $250 million guaranteed.The Bills did not release the value of the contract.The extension comes following Allens seventh NFL season in which he became the Bills third player to earn NFL MVP, and first since running back Thurman Thomas did so in 1991. The new deal eclipses Allens previous contract, a six-year $258 deal he signed with Buffalo in August 2021.Allen has established himself as one of the leagues elite quarterbacks and re-written nearly every franchise single-season passing and scoring record at his position. In doing so, hes overcome the many questions and criticisms he faced for being considered a raw and inaccurate player when Buffalo selected him with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 draft out of Wyoming. Just as important, Allen has solidified what had been an unsettled position in Buffalo since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly retired following the 1996 season. The Bills under Allen have won five consecutive AFC East titles and are on a six-year playoff run. Allens MVP honor came during a season in which he essentially did more with what was considered less receiving talent around him. Adopting an Everybody Eats motto, Buffalo ran away with the AFC East by clinching the division with five games still left in a 13-win season and after the team traded top receiving option Stefon Diggs to Houston and lost No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis in free agency. Though Allen failed to top 4,000 yards for the first time since 2019, the quarterback enjoyed his most efficient seasons with a career-low six interceptions, a year after throwing a career-worst 18. Allen finished with 28 touchdowns passing, scored another 12 rushing and was credited with a touchdown receiving after completing a pass to Amari Cooper, who then lateralled the ball back to the quarterback.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Shizuyo Takeuchi, 94-year-old Tokyo raid survivor, shares her experience in front of a map of the areas damaged during the 1945 Tokyo Firebombing at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage on Feb. 24, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)2025-03-10T02:11:51Z TOKYO (AP) More than 100,000 people were killed in a single night 80 years ago Monday in the U.S. firebombing of Tokyo, the Japanese capital. The attack, made with conventional bombs, destroyed downtown Tokyo and filled the streets with heaps of charred bodies.The damage was comparable to the atomic bombings a few months later in August 1945, but unlike those attacks, the Japanese government has not provided aid to victims and the events of that day have largely been ignored or forgotten. Elderly survivors are making a last-ditch effort to tell their stories and push for financial assistance and recognition. Some are speaking out for the first time, trying to tell a younger generation about their lessons.Shizuyo Takeuchi, 94, says her mission is to keep telling the history she witnessed at 14, speaking out on behalf of those who died. Red skies, charred bodiesOn the night of March 10, 1945, hundreds of B-29s raided Tokyo, dumping cluster bombs with napalm specially designed with sticky oil to destroy traditional Japanese-style wood and paper homes in the crowded shitamachi downtown neighborhoods.Takeuchi and her parents had lost their own home in an earlier firebombing in February and were taking shelter at a relatives riverside home. Her father insisted on crossing the river in the opposite direction from where the crowds were headed, a decision that saved the family. Takeuchi remembers walking through the night beneath a red sky. Orange sunsets and sirens still make her uncomfortable. By the next morning, everything had burned. Two blackened figures caught her eyes. Taking a closer look, she realized one was a woman and what looked like a lump of coal at her side was her baby. I was terribly shocked. ... I felt sorry for them, she said. But after seeing so many others I was emotionless in the end. Many of those who didnt burn to death quickly jumped into the Sumida River and were crushed or drowned. More than 105,000 people were estimated to have died that night. A million others became homeless. The death toll exceeds those killed in the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing of Nagasaki.But the Tokyo firebombing has been largely eclipsed by the two atomic bombings. And firebombings on dozens of other Japanese cities have received even less attention. The bombing came after the collapse of Japanese air and naval defenses following the U.S. capture of a string of former Japanese strongholds in the Pacific that allowed B-29 Superfortress bombers to easily hit Japans main islands. There was growing frustration in the United States at the length of the war and past Japanese military atrocities, such as the Bataan Death March. Recording survivors voicesAi Saotome has a house full of notes, photos and other material her father left behind when he died at age 90 in 2022. Her father, Katsumoto Saotome, was an award-winning writer and a Tokyo firebombing survivor. He gathered accounts of his peers to raise awareness of the civilian deaths and the importance of peace. Saotome says the sense of urgency that her father and other survivors felt is not shared among younger generations. Though her father published books on the Tokyo firebombing and its victims, going through his raw material gave her new perspectives and an awareness of Japans aggression during the war. She is digitalizing the material at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, a museum her father opened in 2002 after collecting records and artifacts about the attack.Our generation doesnt know much about (the survivors) experience, but at least we can hear their stories and record their voices, she said. Thats the responsibility of our generation. In about 10 years, when we have a world where nobody remembers anything (about this), I hope these documents and records can help, Saotome says. Demands for financial helpPostwar governments have provided 60 trillion yen ($405 billion) in welfare support for military veterans and bereaved families, and medical support for survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Civilian victims of the U.S. firebombings received nothing. A group of survivors who want government recognition of their suffering and financial help met earlier this month, renewing their demands.No government agency handles civilian survivors or keeps their records. Japanese courts rejected their compensation demands of 11 million yen ($74,300) each, saying citizens were supposed to endure suffering in emergencies like war. A group of lawmakers in 2020 compiled a draft proposal of a half million-yen ($3,380 ) one-time payment, but the plan has stalled due to opposition from some ruling party members.This year will be our last chance, Yumi Yoshida, who lost her parents and sister in the bombing, said at a meeting, referring to the 80th anniversary of Japans WWII defeat. Burnt skin and screamsOn March 10, 1945, Reiko Muto, a former nurse, was on her bed still wearing her uniform and shoes. Muto leapt up when she heard air raid sirens and rushed to the pediatric department where she was a student nurse. With elevators stopped because of the raid, she went up and down a dimly lit stairwell carrying infants to a basement gym for shelter. Soon, truckloads of people started to arrive. They were taken to the basement and lined up like tuna fish at a market. Many had serious burns and were crying and begging for water. The screaming and the smell of burned skin stayed with her for a long time.Comforting them was the best she could do because of a shortage of medical supplies. When the war ended five months later, on Aug. 15, she immediately thought: No more firebombing meant that she could leave the lights on. She finished her studies and worked as a nurse to help children and teenagers.What we went through should never be repeated, she says.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, speaks to an overflow crowd outside Lincoln High School as he talks about "Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here", Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)2025-03-10T04:03:34Z WARREN, Mich. (AP) Bernie Sanders is standing alone on the back of a pickup truck shouting into a bullhorn.Hes facing several hundred ecstatic voters huddled outside a suburban Detroit high school the group that did not fit inside the high schools gym or two overflow rooms. The crowd screams in delight when he tells them that a combined total of 9,000 people had shown up for the rally.What all of this tells me, is not just in Michigan or in Vermont, the people of this country will not allow us to move toward oligarchy. They will not allow Trump to take us into authoritarianism, Sanders yelled. Were prepared to fight. And were going to win.At 83 years old, Sanders is not running for president again. But the stooped and silver-haired democratic socialist has emerged as a leader of the resistance to Donald Trumps second presidency. In tearing into Trumps seizure of power and warning about the consequences of firing tens of thousands of government workers, Sanders is bucking the wishes of those who want Democrats to focus on the price of eggs or roll over and play dead. For now, at least, Sanders stands alone as the only elected progressive willing to mount a national campaign to harness the fear and anger of the sprawling anti-Trump movement. He drew a crowd of 4,000 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday night. He faced another 2,600 or so the next morning a few hours away in Altoona, Wisconsin, a town of less than 10,000 residents. And his crowd of 9,000 in suburban Detroit exceeded his own teams expectations. By design, each stop was in a swing U.S. House district represented by a Republican. Sanders, who was just elected to his fourth Senate term from Vermont, conceded that this is not the role he expected to play at this stage of his career.In fact, his team intentionally waited in the early weeks of the Trump presidency to launch what they are now calling his stop oligarchy tour to see if a high-profile Democrat would fill the leadership void. Instead, Sanders who is not a Democrat himself despite allying with Senate Democrats and running twice for the partys presidential nomination has people wondering if hes considering another White House bid.This is like presidential campaign rallies, isnt it? But Im not running for president, and this is not a campaign, Sanders told The Associated Press. You gotta do what you gotta do. The countrys in trouble and I want to play my role. The divided Democratic resistanceSince losing the White House, Democrats across Washington have struggled to coalesce behind a consistent message or messenger to stop Trumps aggressive moves to slash the government workforce, weaken federal oversight and empower tech titan Elon Musk to execute his vision. There has been no centralized movement to organize the anti-Trump resistance.You look around who else is doing it? No one, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said of Sanders efforts. My hope is that the dam will break in terms of Democrats going on the offense ... We need to take the argument directly to the people. Ocasio-Cortez, a longtime Sanders ally, said she would join him on the road in the coming weeks. Shes also planning solo appearances in Republican-held congressional districts in Pennsylvania and New York and perhaps others in places where Republicans have declined to hold in-person town halls where they might face protests. Its not about whether Bernie should or shouldnt be doing this. Its about that we all should, she said. But he is unique in this country, and so long as we are blessed to have that capacity on our side, I think we should be thankful for it.Beyond Sanders tour, angry voters have so far relied on grassroots groups like Indivisible to organize a series of local protests. They have been effective in pressuring Trumps allies in some cases. A number of House Republicans facing angry questions have criticized Musk or questioned the cuts being carried out at his allies behest.Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin, who has been critical of many Democratic leaders, praised Sanders for stepping up. I wish more Democrats were traveling the country, including to red states, to rally the the majority against Musk and Project 2025, Levin said. Sure as hell beats (House Democratic leader Hakeem) Jeffries traveling the country for his childrens book tour during a constitutional crisis.During last months congressional recess, Jeffries made two appearances to promote a childrens book about democracy. He has also traveled to support House Democrats. This past weekend, he was in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.The truth is that few, if any, Democratic leaders have the capacity to draw such crowds on short notice or organize the related logistics on a national scale. The partys nascent class of 2028 presidential prospects, a group that includes California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, have limited national profiles and they have been reluctant to step too far into the national spotlight so far. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, among the more outspoken Trump critics in Congress, said that Democrats must be better organized. People are desperate to be plugged into action right now. People see the threat. They are anxious and angry and motivated and they want to be sent in a direction to help, he said. Murphy acknowledged that Sanders still has plenty of detractors within the Democratic Party who view him and his progressive policy ideas replacing private and job-based health insurance with a government-funded Medicare for All plan, free public college, and the Green New Deal on climate policy as too radical.Indeed, it was just five years ago when Democrats coalesced around Joe Biden to effectively block Sanders from winning the partys 2020 presidential nomination. There still are a lot of folks who view Bernie as a danger to the party, Murphy said, whereas I see his message as the core of what we need to build on.Sanders was a staunch supporter of Biden over the last four years but criticized the Democratic Party in the aftermath of Kamala Harris loss last fall, declaring that Trumps victory was possible only because Democrats had abandoned the working class.United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who introduced Sanders in Michigan, said more Democrats need to follow his lead to focus on working-class people and working-class issues.Theyve got to take a hard look in the mirror, in my opinion, and decide who the hell they want to represent, Fain said of Democrats. Weve been clear as a union, if they arent looking out for working-class people, were not going to be there for them.The voters speakThe voters who packed venues across Wisconsin and Michigan over the weekend composed a diverse group, including some who did not support Sanders past presidential campaigns. Most said that Democratic leaders have not done enough to stop Trump. Im here because Im afraid for our country. The last six weeks have been horrible, said Diana Schack, a 72-year-old retired lawyer who attended her first Sanders rally on Saturday. I am becoming a more avid Bernie fan, especially in light of the work hes doing traveling around the country. These are not normal times.In Kenosha the night before, Amber Schulz, a 50-year-old medical worker, demanded that her party step up and do something. Bernie is the only politician I trust, she said.Tony Gonzales, 56, an independent from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, said hes worried that Trump will dismantle historic American standards and try to stay in office beyond this term. The Constitution bars presidents from serving more than two terms, even as Trump has suggested he deserves a third.Its a dangerous time right now, Gonzales said. What Bernie has to say and the turnout is important. His voice is still being heard.Sanders delivered the same fiery populist message over the weekend that he has for decades, seizing on the nations economic inequality to call for free health care, free public higher education and stronger social safety net programs. Sanders was especially focused on the team of billionaires Trump has appointed to serve as leaders in his administration, including Musk and a half dozen others. They want to dismantle the federal government and cut programs that working people desperately need, Sanders warned. Yes, the oligarchs are enormously powerful. They have endless amounts of money. They control our economy. They own much of the media, and they have enormous influence over our political system, he continued. But from the bottom of my heart, I believe that if we stand together, we can beat them.Its unclear how long that Sanders, an octogenarian who was hospitalized for a heart condition during his 2020 campaign, will continue in this role. A spokesperson said Sanders hasnt had any health issues since the 2019 episode. He is not expected to slow down anytime soon. Sanders is leaning on his 2020 presidential campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, to organize his stops, backed by a handful of former presidential campaign staffers working on a contract basis. Shakir, who lost his bid to become the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, acknowledged strategic differences within the party about how best to combat Trump.Last month, veteran political strategist James Carville penned an opinion piece calling for Democrats to roll over and play dead, betting that Trump and his party would ultimately suffer a political backlash from voters for going too far. One theory is you can play dead; you can strategically retreat, Shakir said. Or, you play alive, and you go out to people and you talk to them with conviction and integrity.

Ukrainian veterans Denys Kryvodubski, left, Stanislav Povkhan, center, and Mikhailo Danylo, top right, ski down a slope to warm up during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)2025-03-10T04:04:28Z HOODOO SKI AREA, Ore. (AP) Ukrainian war veteran Oleksandr Shvachka lost his left leg to Russian tank fire outside Kyiv. Three years on, the latest step in his physical and mental rehabilitation recently unfolded under a brilliant blue sky on a snow-covered mountain more than 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) away.Shvachka, 38, was one of five Ukrainian veterans who came to the Pacific Northwest for ski lessons this month with Oregon Adaptive Sports, an organization working to make sports more accessible to people with disabilities. On a recent day, he listened attentively to an instructor before launching himself down a slope at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon, leaning on two hand-held outriggers, which resemble forearm crutches with short skis at the ends, for turns and balance as he picked up speed. Oleksandr Shvachka prepares to put on a prosthetic leg after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Oleksandr Shvachka prepares to put on a prosthetic leg after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan places an American flag sticker on his prosthetic leg after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan places an American flag sticker on his prosthetic leg after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Equipment used by Oregon Adaptive Sports is seen at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Equipment used by Oregon Adaptive Sports is seen at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veterans Denys Kryvodubski, left, Stanislav Povkhan, center, and Mikhailo Danylo, top right, ski down a slope to warm up during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veterans Denys Kryvodubski, left, Stanislav Povkhan, center, and Mikhailo Danylo, top right, ski down a slope to warm up during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Shvachka was wounded in the village of Makariv outside the capital of Kyiv in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine the previous month. He said skiing on the mountain was an amazing emotion. Its a new experience, and Im so happy, he said.The Oregon city of Corvallis has been sister cities with Uzhhorod in western Ukraine for over 30 years. Its sister city association is hosting the veterans, some of whom have been recovering in Uzhhorods rehabilitation hospital, as well as two Ukrainian ski coaches, association co-founder Carol Paulson said. Ukrainian veterans Mikhailo Danylo, left, and Artem Pogorilyi laugh after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veterans Mikhailo Danylo, left, and Artem Pogorilyi laugh after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veterans Artem Pogorilyi, left, and Stanislav Povkhan, right, ski during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veterans Artem Pogorilyi, left, and Stanislav Povkhan, right, ski during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The ski programs goal is to improve the veterans physical and mental health and teach the Ukrainian ski coaches how to use adaptive ski equipment so they can share that knowledge with the war-torn countrys thousands of amputees. The group had four days of lessons over the course of two weeks. It reminds them that they can participate fully in life, Paulson said. The best thing is the feeling that they get not only of independence, but just of well-being.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Paulson taught adaptive skiing to Vietnam War veterans who had lost limbs. She saw how being active on the mountain improved their mood and wanted to offer the same experience to Ukrainian war veterans. Ukrainian veterans and instructors are reflected in ski goggles as they talk during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veterans and instructors are reflected in ski goggles as they talk during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan, center, participates in a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan, center, participates in a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka skis during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka skis during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The peacefulness of skiing compared to other sports, too, is special, she said. Its quiet. You have the pristine snow and the breeze of the wind.For Shvachka, adaptive sports have been key in his physical and mental rehabilitation, while the other veterans provide motivation, he said.In 2023, with his prosthetic leg, Schvachka ran a 10K race organized by the U.S. Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., and competed with other Ukrainian veteran amputees in Arnold Classic Europe, an offshoot of a fitness and body-building competition founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan adjusts his head covering as he pauses after going down a slope during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Stanislav Povkhan adjusts his head covering as he pauses after going down a slope during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veteran Artem Pogorilyi poses for a photo after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Artem Pogorilyi poses for a photo after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A worker with Oregon Adaptive Sports hands Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka a cup of water during a break in a lesson on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) A worker with Oregon Adaptive Sports hands Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka a cup of water during a break in a lesson on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In that multi-sport event, a group of eight veterans used ropes to pull four semitruck cabs weighing 35 tons (31.7 metric tons) over 65 feet (20 meters) in a little more than 30 seconds, according to the events Instagram page, which described it as a strongman world record.Pat Addabbo, executive director of Oregon Adaptive Sports, said the ski lessons highlight the transformative power of sport. Ukrainian veterans and ski instructors talk before going on a chair lift during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veterans and ski instructors talk before going on a chair lift during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka shows a Ukrainian flag that is signed to members of Oregon Adaptive Sports after a lesson on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Shvachka shows a Ukrainian flag that is signed to members of Oregon Adaptive Sports after a lesson on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More What youre seeing here today is a great example of that people from across the world, coming to our little ski area here in Oregon, to learn these life-changing skills that they hopefully can take home with them and teach others, Addabbo said.The Ukrainian veterans and ski instructors will take outriggers with them back to Ukraine so they can start teaching three-track skiing using one full-size ski and two outriggers to others who have lost limbs. Ukrainian veteran Denys Kryvodubski poses for a photo after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Denys Kryvodubski poses for a photo after a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More I think we are starting a new era of our war veteran rehabilitation program, said Kristian Minai, one of the Ukrainian instructors. Minai also coaches Ukraines national deaf ski team and is working on developing a national Paralympics ski team.Maybe, some day, we will see them from the podium in the Paralympic Games, he added with a smile. Ukrainian veteran Denys Kryvodubski skis during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Ukrainian veteran Denys Kryvodubski skis during a lesson with Oregon Adaptive Sports on the three track skiing method at Hoodoo Ski Area in central Oregon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Renos-Pantelis, with a GPS tracking device glued on its back is seen at the Attica Zoological Park, in eastern Athens, Greece, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)2025-03-10T05:24:36Z ATHENS, Greece (AP) Panagis hauls himself out of the pool at a rehabilitation center in Greece and scurries over for a delectable lunch: whole mackerel. Its been about three months since the orphaned seal pup was found struggling in the coastal waters of Cyprus. Soon, hell be well enough to go home.Panagis is one of dozens of Mediterranean monk seals, or Monachus monachus, that have been nursed back to health by Greeces MOm, a charity dedicated to the care and protection of the rare marine mammal whose population had dwindled so dramatically that at one point it faced extinction.Thanks to conservation efforts, the seals with the big, round eyes and prominent whiskers are now making a remarkable comeback. Nearly half of their estimated global population of 800 live in Greek waters, where the extensive coastline offers an abundance of sea caves that provide shelter for females to rear their young. From near extinction to recoverySleek and remarkably fast in the water, the monk seal is a skillful hunter and can consume up to 3 kilograms (6 pounds) of fish, octopus and squid a day. But its not averse to a ready meal, and can rip through fishing nets to steal fish which led fishermen to view them as pests. For decades, they were hunted, contributing to a major population decline between the 1960s and 1980s that led the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, to list them as critically endangered.When conservation efforts began in the 1980s, combined with outreach programs to educate the public and fishermen society gradually began to change and the population began to recover, said Panagiotis Dendrinos.Dendrinos, a marine biologist and coordinator of the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal or MOm that has pioneered the Monachus monachus conservation program, says the monk seal is the only seal species in the Mediterranean Sea and also one of the rarest species of seal and marine mammal in the world. To protect an animal like the Mediterranean monk seal in its natural environment, you essentially have to protect the entire marine ecosystem, he said.Conservation efforts have paid off, and in recent years, the species climbed down a notch on the IUCNs Red List of threatened species to endangered. About a year ago improved one step further, to vulnerable.A unique seal rehabUsually contacted by members of the public who find an animal in distress, MOm specialists tend to adult seals on location where possible, and transport young seals to the organizations rehabilitation center housed in the grounds of Athens zoo, on the outskirts of the Greek capital.There, the young mammals are looked after by veterinarians, fed a special diet to provide them with the best nutrition and hone their swimming skills in a pool. Their carers give them names often after the people who found them but make sure contact with humans is kept to a minimum to prepare the animals for their return into the wild. The young seals typically stay in the rehab center for several months, until theyve put on enough weight and their natural hunting instinct kicks in, allowing them to fend for themselves. They are then tagged so they can be tracked, and re-introduced into the wild. MOm, the only center of its kind in the region, has cared for about 40 seals from far and wide, both on location and in its facilities, Dendrinos said. This year, we had a really pleasant surprise, he said. A female seal that had been treated and released four years ago was spotted nursing a pup.Planes, boats and cars to the rescuePanagis was found in Cyprus, near where the body of his mother had been found a few days earlier. Alerted by locals, the organization arranged for the seal to be flown to Athens.Transportation is carried out with whatever is available, said veterinary assistant Nikitas Vogiatzis, shortly after feeding Panagis. Either by plane, or by boat, or even by taxi. Konstantina came in a taxi, Panagis by plane, Renos came on a boat, he said, listing MOms most recent wards. Weighing just under 15 kilograms (33 pounds) when he arrived, the now 3-month-old seal has reached over 40 kilograms (88 pounds). Panagis is nearly ready for his return trip home, which MOm experts hope will happen in May. Back into the wildRenos short for Renos-Pantelis was found in November in the small Aegean island of Anafi by a nurse and a military conscript whom he was named after. The seal pup was shipped to MOms facility. He got medical treatment and was put on a special diet until he was old enough to move on to solid fish the mackerel that Panagis is so fond of.He recovered and on a cold, sunny February day, it was his turn to head back into the wild. MOm personnel loaded him into a crate and whisked him by speedboat to the uninhabited islet of Gyaros, the closest marine protected area to Athens.The release location is chosen based on there being enough food, and there being no disturbance by people, which is very important, said Vogiatzis, the veterinary assistant. The crate is placed near the water, he said. Then, you open the door, you say a prayer and you say: So long.Renos crate was deposited on a beach and the door opened. The young seal sniffed the air timidly, and waited. Slowly, he inched his way out of the crate, then picked up speed as he belly-hauled his way down the beach, splashed into the sea and was gone.___Associated Press photographer Thanassis Stavrakis in Gyaros, Greece, contributed to this report.

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)2025-03-10T04:38:52Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Saudi Arabia is set to host talks Tuesday between the United States and Ukraine after an argument erupted during President Volodymyr Zelenskyys Feb. 28 visit to the White House. Riyadh, the capital of the oil-rich kingdom, may seem like an unusual venue for talks aimed at smoothing over relations after the blowup. But Saudi Arabia under its assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been positioning itself as an ideal location for possible peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow and even the first face-to-face talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. Heres what to know about why this meeting is taking place and Saudi Arabias role: Why are these talks happening?U.S. and Ukrainian officials will meet after the Oval Office meeting between Zelenskyy, Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance descended into an extraordinary 10-minute argument before journalists. Trump at one point admonished Zelenskyy by angrily saying: Youre gambling with World War III, and what youre doing is very disrespectful to the country. Zelenskyy ended up leaving the White House without signing a deal that included granting the U.S. access to Ukraines rare earth minerals. Kyiv hoped that deal would ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support that Ukraine urgently needs as it battles Russia in the war that began after Moscows full-scale invasion in February 2022. Where will these talks take place?Saudi Arabias Foreign Ministry in a statement Friday identified the location for the talks as Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea. Its not clear why the kingdom picked Jeddah as opposed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabias capital city where the initial Russia-U.S. talks took place on Feb. 18. However, Jeddah has hosted other diplomatic engagements in the past and is home to royal palaces. Saudi Arabias Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would continue to pursue a lasting peace to end the Ukrainian crisis. The kingdom has continued these efforts over the past three years by hosting many meetings on this matter, the Foreign Ministry said. Who will attend the talks?Zelenskyy plans to visit Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of the talks. He earlier delayed a trip to the kingdom after traveling to the neighboring United Arab Emirates, which also has been considered as a possible venue for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. We continue working on the relevant steps with our partners who want peace, who want it just as much as we do, Zelenskyy said Friday. There will be a lot of work here in Europe, with America in Saudi Arabia we are preparing a meeting to accelerate peace and strengthen the foundations of security.Zelenskyy wrote online that a team including his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov traveling with him to Saudi Arabia will take part in the talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the American team for the Ukrainian talks and meet with Prince Mohammed.Sybiha also spoke Friday with Rubio ahead of the talks. Sybiha described it as a constructive call. A two-sentence readout from the State Department said Rubio underscored President Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible and emphasized that all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace. Why are these talks in Saudi Arabia? Since assuming power in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed took an aggressive posture both at home and abroad. His public image reached its nadir with the 2018 slaying of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, believed by the United States and others to be at the princes orders. In the last two years, however, Prince Mohammed instead has reached a dtente with Iran, hosted Zelenskyy for an Arab League summit and been involved in negotiations over the wars in Sudan and the Gaza Strip. Riyadh also maintained ties to Russia through the OPEC+ oil cartel while Western nations levied sanctions against it. Thats reasserted the role the kingdom long has perceived itself as having being the leader of the Sunni Muslim world and a dominant force in the Middle East. Hosting Russia-U.S. talks, possibly drawing Trump to the kingdom for his first foreign trip in this term through investments and other possible meetings only raise Saudi Arabias profile further as a neutral territory for high-stakes negotiations. Saudi Arabias autocratic government, compliant media and distance from the war also allows for talks to take place in a tightly controlled country with relative privacy. What does this mean for the war and the wider world?Trump remains focused on reaching some kind of peace deal to stop the war. His approach toward Ukraine so far has relied far more on stick than carrot limiting their access to intelligence and weaponry. While conciliatory toward Putin, Trump recently also threatened new sanctions against Russia over its ceaseless attacks on Ukrainian cities. If Ukraine and the U.S. reach some sort of understanding acceptable to Trump, that could accelerate his administrations push to talks. However, the rest of Europe remains skeptical as theyve been sidelined from the talks. The European Union last week agreed to boost the continents defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Protesters shout slogans during a press conference demanding to stop the upcoming Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea, near the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 10, 2025. The letters read "Stop, War exercise." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)2025-03-10T05:34:32Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, South Koreas military said, hours after South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their large annual combined drills, which the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Koreas fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the Norths Hwanghae province but gave no further details such as how far they flew.Earlier Monday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries began their annual joint military exercises, which are scheduled to last 11 days. The Freedom Shield command post exercise began after the South Korean and U.S. militaries paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week. The drills start drew the condemnation of nuclear-armed North Korea, which issued a government statement calling the exercises a dangerous provocative act that increases the risks of military conflict.About 30 people were injured, two of them seriously, when two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly fired eight MK-82 bombs on a civilian area in Pocheon, a town near the North Korean border, on Thursday. The bombing occurred while South Korean and U.S. forces were engaging in a live-fire drill ahead of the larger Freedom Shield exercise. In a background briefing to domestic reporters on Monday, the South Korean air force repeated its initial assessment last week that one of the KF-16 pilots had entered the wrong coordinates for a bombing site. The unidentified pilot didnt recognize the error during a pre-takeoff check and, rushing to meet scheduled timing, failed to visually verify the target before proceeding with the bombing. The second pilot had the correct coordinates but focused only on maintaining formation with the other aircraft and dropped the bombs following the first pilots instructions, failing to recognize they deviated from the right target, according to the content of the briefing provided to The Associated Press. Gen. Lee Youngsu, chief of staff of the South Korean air force, bowed and apologized Monday over the injuries and property damage caused by the incident, which he said should have never happened and must never happen again.Both the South Korean and U.S. militaries have halted all live-fire exercises in South Korea following the mishap. South Korean military officials say live-fire training will resume after they complete the ongoing investigation on the bombing and formulate preventative steps.The Freedom Shield exercise marks the first large-scale joint exercise since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term. It comes amid growing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and its alignment with Russia in President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. Trump, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his first term, has expressed his willingness to reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, which collapsed due to disagreements over exchanging U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the Norths denuclearization steps. But Pyongyang has yet to respond to his overture and has continued its fiery rhetoric against Washington and Seoul over their joint military exercises, which Kim portrays as rehearsals for invasion. In a statement issued through state media Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield exercise an aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal that risks triggering physical conflict on the Korean Peninsula.The ministry reiterated Kims state goals for a radical growth of his nuclear force to counter what he claims as growing threats posed by the U.S. and its Asian allies. KIM TONG-HYUNG Kim has been covering the Koreas for the AP since 2014. He has published widely read stories on North Koreas nuclear ambitions, the dark side of South Koreas economic rise and international adoptions of Korean children. twitter mailto

A vehicle sits in flood waters in the Brisbane suburb of Oxley, Australia, Monday, March 10, 2025. (Jono Searle/AAP Image via AP)2025-03-10T05:51:36Z WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Australias prime minister cautioned that the fallout from a vicious tropical storm over the weekend was far from over as parts of two states remained inundated with perilous floodwaters on Monday, even as the initial threat from the deluge continued to recede.One person was killed and several others injured after heavy rain lashed Australias east coast on Saturday, toppling trees and power lines and inundating some parts of Queensland and New South Wales with record downpours. The two states escaped the level of chaos forecast from the tropical low weather system, which was earlier expected to make landfall as the first tropical cyclone to hit south east Queensland in 51 years before weakening as it approached.Still, 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in the region on Monday afternoon after the storm prompted the biggest blackout in Queenslands history and more than 700 schools were closed for the day. Those living near rivers and creeks were urged to evacuate or stay indoors as water levels continued to rise in some areas with more rain forecast triggering further warnings during the day. Disaster was declared for the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where a river was expected to flood overnight. People in surrounding suburbs were ordered to leave their homes. Meanwhile, in other towns where floodwaters began to recede a cleanup began as power was restored for tens of thousands of people. The scale of the damage was not immediately clear. Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments for up to 13 weeks beginning Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday. In the city of Lismore in New South Wales, two military trucks helping with the rescue efforts on Saturday rolled over, injuring 13 of the 36 personnel travelling in them. One remained in hospital on Monday with injuries that were not life-threatening, Australias Defense Minister Richard Marles said. The single casualty of the crisis was a 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo, police said. His body was recovered on Saturday. Albanese warned residents of the two stricken states not to be complacent as flood warnings lingered to follow officials directives. If its flooded, forget it, he said, referring to traveling in or entering inundated areas.Cyclones are common in Queenslands tropical north but are rare in the states temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was last week expected to become the first cyclone since 1974 to cross the Australian coast near Queenslands state capital of Brisbane, Australias third-most populous city.But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, defined as carrying sustained winds of less than 63 kph (39 mph).Authorities had feared similar scenes to those eastern Australia experienced during massive floods in 2011 and in a series of 2022 events in which more than 20 people died. CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY Graham-McLay is an Associated Press reporter covering regional and national stories about New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands by putting them in a global context. She is based in Wellington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Liberal Leader Mark Carney smiles as he delivers his victory speech during the Liberal leadership announcement in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-03-10T04:06:28Z TORONTO (AP) Canadas next prime minister has helped run two Group of Seven economies in crisis before and now will try to steer Canada through a looming trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, a threat of annexation and an expected federal election. Former central banker Mark Carney will become prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader Sunday in a landside vote with 85.9% support. Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in in the coming days. Carney is widely expected to trigger an election the coming days or weeks amid Trumps sweeping tariff threats. Canada didnt ask for this fightWe didnt ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves, Carney said. The Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.Carney said Canada will keep its initial retaliatory tariffs in place until the Americans show us respect.Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada and when in 2013 he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. His appointment won bipartisan praise in the U.K. after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries. He helped managed the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K. The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.Trumps trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can. Canadian nationalism surgesThe surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Partys chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving in opinion polls.The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed they would destroy our way of life, Carney said. In America health care is big business. In Canada it is a right.Carney said America is a melting pot. Canada is mosaic, he said. America is not Canada. And Canada will never, ever will be a part of America in any way, shape or form.After decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canadas next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States.These are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust, Carney said. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.Trump has postponed 25% tariffs on many goods from Canada and Mexico for a month, amid widespread fears of a broader trade war. But he has threatened other tariffs on steel, aluminum, dairy and other products.Carney picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since declaring his candidacy in January. He is a highly educated economist with Wall Street experience who has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister, but he lacks political experience.Trudeau previously offered to make him finance minister. Carney has said former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper also offered to make him finance minister. Former Goldman Sachs executiveCarney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto, before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003.In 2020, he began serving as the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance.The other top Liberal leadership candidate was former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who received just 8% of the vote. Trudeau told Freeland in December that he no longer wanted her as finance minister, but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for U.S.-Canada relations. Freeland resigned shortly after, releasing a scathing letter about the government that proved to be the last straw for Trudeau. Either Carney will call an election in the coming days or weeks, or the opposition parties in Parliament could force one with a no-confidence vote later this month.Trudeau urged Liberals supporters to get involved.This is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given, Trudeau said.

In this photo released by Nissan Motor Corp., its driverless vehicle, center, drives along a street in Yokohama, near Tokyo in February 2025. (Nissan Motor Corp. via AP)2025-03-10T04:01:10Z YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) The van makes its way slowly but surely through the city streets, braking gently when a car swerves into its lane. But its steering wheel is turning on its own, and theres no one in the drivers seat.The driverless technology from Nissan Motor Corp., which uses 14 cameras, nine radars and six LiDar sensors installed in and around the vehicle, highlights Japans eagerness to catch up with players like Googles Waymo that have taken the lead in the U.S. Japan, home to the worlds top automakers, has not kept pace with the global shift to autonomous driving, so far led by China and the U.S. But momentum is building. Waymo is going to land in Japan this year. Details havent been disclosed, but it has a partnership with major cab company Nihon Kotsu, which will oversee and manage their all-electric Jaguar I-PACE sport-utility vehicles, first in the Tokyo area, still with a human cab driver riding along. During Nissans demonstration, the streets were bustling with other cars and pedestrians. The vehicle stayed within the maximum speed limit in the area of 40 kph (25 mph), its destination set with a smartphone app. Takeshi Kimura, the Mobility and AI Laboratory engineer at Nissan, insists an automaker is more adept at integrating self-driving technology with the overall workings of a car simply because it knows cars better.How the sensors must be adapted to the cars movements, or to monitor sensors and computers to ensure reliability and safety requires an understanding of the auto system overall, he said during a recent demonstration that took reporters on a brief ride. Nissans technology, being tested on its Serena minivan, is still technically at the industrys Level Two because a person sits before a remote-control panel in a separate location outside the vehicle, in this case, at the automakers headquarters, and is ready to step in if the technology fails. Nissan also has a human sitting in the front passenger seat during the test rides, who can take over the driving, if needed. Unless there is a problem, the people in the remote control room and the passenger seat are doing nothing. Nissan plans to have 20 such vehicles moving in the Yokohama area in the next couple of years, with the plan to reach Level Four, which means no human involvement even as backup, by 2029 or 2030. Autonomous vehicles can serve a real need given the nations shrinking population, including a shortage of drivers.Other companies are working on the technology in Japan, including startups like Tier IV, which is pushing an open source collaboration on autonomous driving technology.So far, Japan has approved the use of so-called Level Four autonomous vehicles in a rural area in Fukui Prefecture, but those look more like golf carts. A Level Four bus is scuttling around a limited area near Tokyos Haneda airport. But its maximum speed is 12 kmph (7.5 mph). Nissans autonomous vehicle is a real car, capable of all its mechanical workings and speed levels. Toyota Motor Corp. recently showed its very own city or living area for its workers and partnering startups, near Mount Fuji, being built especially to test various technology, including autonomous driving.Progress has been cautious. University of Tokyo Professor Takeo Igarashi, who specializes in computer and information technology, believes challenges remain because its human nature to be more alarmed by accidents with driverless vehicles than regular crashes. In human driving, the driver takes responsibility. Its so clear. But nobody is driving so you dont know who will take responsibility, Igarashi told The Associated Press.In Japan, the expectation for commercial services is very high. The customer expects perfect quality for any service restaurants or drivers or anything. This kind of auto-driving is a service form a company, and everybody expects high quality and perfection. Even a small mistake is not acceptable. Nissan says its technology is safe. After all, a human cant be looking at the front, the back and all around at the same time. But the driverless car can, with all its sensors. When a system failure happened during the recent demonstration, the car just came to a stop and all was well. Phil Koopman, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, believes the autonomous vehicle industry is just getting started. The main problem is whats known as edge cases, those rare but dangerous situations that the machine has not yet been taught to respond to. Using autonomous fleets of a significant size for some time is needed for such edge cases to be learned, he said.We will see each city require special engineering efforts and the creation of a special remote support center. This will be a city-by-city deployment for many years, said Koopman.There is no magic switch.___Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto

Airport workers protest during a strike of the union ver.di at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany on Monday, March 10, 2025, when all major airports in Germany went on a warning strike. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)2025-03-10T07:49:05Z BERLIN (AP) A one-day strike by workers at 13 German airports, including the Frankfurt and Munich hubs and all the countrys other main destinations, caused the cancelation of most flights on Monday.The 24-hour walkout, which started at midnight, involves public-sector employees at the airports as well as ground and security staff. At Frankfurt Airport, 1,054 of the days 1,116 scheduled takeoffs and landings had been canceled, German news agency dpa reported, citing airport traffic management. All of Berlin Airports regular departures and arrivals were canceled, while Hamburg Airport said no departures would be possible. Cologne/Bonn Airport said there was no regular passenger service and Munich Airport advised travelers to expect a greatly reduced flight schedule.The ver.di service workers unions strike targeted the Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart and Munich airports. At the smaller Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports, only security workers were called out. The union announced the strike on Friday. But at Hamburg Airport, it added a short-notice walkout on Sunday to the strike on Monday, arguing that it must ensure the measure was effective. The so-called warning strike, a common tactic in German wage negotiations, relates to two separate pay disputes: negotiations on a new pay and conditions contract for airport security workers, and a wider dispute over pay for employees of federal and municipal governments. The latter already has led to walkouts at Cologne/Bonn, Duesseldorf, Hamburg and Munich airports. Pay talks in that dispute are due to resume on Friday, while the next round of talks for airport security workers is expected to start on March 26.

In this file photo dated July 2007, an Inuit seal hunter touches a dead seal atop a melting iceberg near Ammassalik Island, Greenland. (AP Photo/John McConnico, file)2025-03-10T06:05:54Z NUUK, Greenland (AP) When U.S. President Donald Trump first suggested buying Greenland in 2019, people thought it was just a joke. No one is laughing now.Trumps interest in Greenland, restated vigorously soon after he returned to the White House in January, comes as part of an aggressively America First foreign policy platform that includes demands for Ukraine to hand over mineral rights in exchange for continued military aid, threats to take control of the Panama Canal, and suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.Why Greenland?Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and Trump wants to make sure that the U.S. controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America. Who does Greenland belong to?Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a long-time U.S. ally that has rejected Trumps overtures. Denmark has also recognized Greenlands right to independence at a time of its choosing.Amid concerns about foreign interference and demands that Greenlanders must control their own destiny, the islands prime minister called an early parliamentary election for Tuesday.The worlds largest island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world. Why are other countries interested in Greenland?Climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting the competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the regions mineral resources.Let us be clear: we are soon entering the Arctic Century, and its most defining feature will be Greenlands meteoric rise, sustained prominence and ubiquitous influence, said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.Greenland located on the crossroads between North America, Europe and Asia, and with enormous resource potential will only become more strategically important, with all powers great and small seeking to pay court to it. One is quite keen to go a step further and buy it.The following are some of the factors that are driving U.S. interest in Greenland.Arctic competitionFollowing the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change, the hunt for scarce resources and increasing international tensions following Russias invasion of Ukraine are once again driving competition in the region.Strategic importanceGreenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure that it didnt fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes. The U.S. has retained bases in Greenland since the war, and the Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Force Base, supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO. Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic. Natural resourcesGreenland has large deposits of so-called rare earth minerals that are needed to make everything from computers and smartphones to the batteries, solar and wind technologies that will power the transition away from fossil fuels. The U.S. Geological Survey has also identified potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas. Greenlanders are keen to develop the resources, but they have enacted strict rules to protect the environment. There are also questions about the feasibility of extracting Greenlands mineral wealth because of the regions harsh climate.Climate changeGreenlands retreating ice cap is exposing the countrys mineral wealth and melting sea ice is opening up the once-mythical Northwest Passage through the Arctic. Greenland sits strategically along two potential routes through the Arctic, which would reduce shipping times between the North Atlantic and Pacific and bypass the bottlenecks of the Suez and Panama canals. While the routes arent likely to be commercially viable for many years, they are attracting attention. Chinese interestIn 2018, China declared itself a near-Arctic state in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a Polar Silk Road as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Chinas move, saying: Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims? A Chinese-backed rare earth mining project in Greenland stalled after the local government banned uranium mining in 2021. IndependenceThe legislation that extended self-government to Greenland in 2009 also recognized the countrys right to independence under international law. Opinion polls show a majority of Greenlanders favor independence, though they differ on exactly when that should occur. The potential for independence raises questions about outside interference in Greenland that could threaten U.S. interests in the country.

Actress Amy Irving sits with actor-director-playwright Athol Fugard during rehearsals of the play "The Road to Mecca" on Feb. 29, 1988 in New York. (AP Photo/Mario Cabrera, File)2025-03-10T07:50:54Z CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) Athol Fugard, South Africas foremost dramatist who explored the pervasiveness of apartheid in such searing works as The Blood Knot and "Master Harold... and the Boys, has died. He was 92.The South African government confirmed Fugards death and said the country has lost one of its greatest literary and theatrical icons, whose work shaped the cultural and social landscape of our nation.Six of Fugards plays landed on Broadway, including two productions of Master Harold... and the Boys, in 1982 and 2003.Because Fugards best-known plays center on the suffering caused by the apartheid policies of South Africas white-minority government, some among Fugards audience abroad were surprised to find he was white himself.Master Harold... and the Boys is a Tony Award-nominated work set in a South African tea shop in 1950. It centers on the relationship between the son of the white owner and two Black servants who have served as surrogate parents. One rainy afternoon, the bonds between the characters are stressed to breaking point when the young man begins to abuse his elders. In plain words, just get on with your job, the boy tells one servant. My mother is right. Shes always warning me about allowing you to get too familiar. Well, this time youve gone too far. Its going to stop right now. Youre only a servant in here, and dont forget it. When it opened in Johannesburg in 1983 at the height of apartheid in the audience was anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu. I thought it was something for which you dont applaud. The first response is weeping, Tutu, who died in 2021, said after the final curtain. Its saying something we know, that weve said so often about what this country does to human relations. The Road to Mecca, with its three white characters, touches on apartheid of a different sort. It concerns an adventurous artist named Miss Helen, at odds with and cut off from the rigid and unyielding Afrikaners around her. Its her eccentric artwork that severs her from society and makes her the subject of a fight for control. A production opened in San Francisco in 2023, prompting the San Francisco Chronicles theater critic to note that its central concern how to deal with people who are aging and alone feels ripe for our own moment of declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy amid a fraying social safety net. Fugard once told an interviewer that the best theater in Africa would come from South Africa because the countrys daily tally of injustice and brutality has forced a maturity of thinking and feeling and an awareness of basic values I do not find equaled anywhere in Africa.Fugard was born in Middleburg in the semiarid Karoo on June 11, 1932. His father was an English-Irish man whose joy was playing jazz piano. His mother was Afrikaans, descended from South Africas early Dutch-German settlers, and earned the familys income by running a store.Fugard said his first trip into Johannesburgs Black enclave of Sophiatown since destroyed and replaced with a white residential area was a definitive event of my life. I first went in there as the result of an accident. I suddenly encountered township life. This ignited Fugards longstanding urge to write. He left the University of Cape Town just before he would have graduated in philosophy because I had a feeling that if I stayed I might be stuck into academia.Fugard became a target for the apartheid government and his passport was taken away for four years after he directed a Black theater workshop, The Serpent Players. Five workshop members were imprisoned on Robben Island, where South Africa kept political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Fugard and his family endured years of government surveillance; their mail was opened, their phones tapped, and their home subjected to midnight police searches.He hitchhiked through Africa in 1953 with South African poet Perseus Adams, and ended up working as a sailor, the only white seaman on his ship. Fugards theater experience was confined to acting in a school play until 1956, when he married actor Sheila Meiring and began concentrating on stage writing. He and Meiring later divorced. He married second wife Paula Fourie in 2016. He took a job in 1958 as a clerk with a Johannesburg Native Commissioners Court, where Black people who broke racial laws were sentenced, one every two minutes.We were absolutely broke. I needed a job and I needed information on the pass system, Fugard said. His job included witnessing the caning of lawbreakers. It was the darkest period of my life.He got some satisfaction in putting a small wrench in the works, by shuffling up the charge sheets, delaying proceedings enough for friends of the Black detainees to get them lawyers. Fugard wrote, directed and acted in his early productions. On the eve of the opening of A Lesson From Aloes, at Johannesburgs Market Theater, Fugard dismissed one of the three performers and took the role himself.Later in life, Fugard taught acting, directing and playwriting at the University of California, San Diego. In 2006, the film Tsotsi, based on his 1961 novel, won international awards, including the Oscar for foreign language film. He won a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.More recent plays include The Train Driver (2010) and The Bird Watchers (2011), which both premiered at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town. As an actor, he appeared in the films The Killing Fields and Gandhi. In 2014, Fugard returned to the stage as an actor for the first time in 15 years in his own play, Shadow of the Hummingbird, at the Long Wharf in New Haven, Connecticut. Kennedy reported from New York. 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

Karen Ortiz, an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, poses for photos, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-03-10T04:17:40Z NEW YORK (AP) To billionaire Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team at the Department of Government Efficiency, Karen Ortiz may just be one of many faceless bureaucrats. But to some of her colleagues, she is giving a voice to those who feel they cant speak out.Ortiz is an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- the federal agency in charge of enforcing U.S. workplace anti-discrimination laws that has undergone tumultuous change since President Donald Trump took office. Like millions of other federal employees, Ortiz opened an ominous email on Jan. 28 titled Fork in the Road giving them the option to resign from their positions as part of the governments cost-cutting measures directed by Trump and carried out by DOGE under Musk, an unelected official.Her alarm grew when her supervisor directed administrative judges in her New York district office to pause all their current LGBTQ+ cases and send them to Washington for further review in order to comply with Trumps executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two immutable sexes male and female. Ortiz decried managements lack of action in response to the directive, which she said was antithetical to the EEOCs mission, and called upon some 185 colleagues in an email to resist complying with illegal mandates. But that email was mysteriously deleted, she said. The next day, after yet another frustrating Fork in the Road update, Ortiz decided to go big, emailing the EEOCs acting chair Andrea Lucas directly and copying more than 1,000 colleagues with the subject line, A Spoon is Better than a Fork. In it, Ortiz questioned Lucass fitness to serve as acting chair, much less hold a license to practice law. I know I take a great personal risk in sending out this message. But, at the end of the day, my actions align with what the EEOC was charged with doing under the law, Ortiz wrote. I will not compromise my ethics and my duty to uphold the law. I will not cower to bullying and intimidation. Ortiz is just one person, but her email represents a larger pushback against the Trump administrations sweeping changes to federal agencies amid an environment of confusion, anger and chaos. It is also Ortizs way of taking a stand against the leadership of a civil rights agency that last month moved to dismiss seven of its own cases representing transgender workers, marking a major departure from its prior interpretation of the law. Right after sending her mass email, Ortiz said she received a few supportive responses from colleagues -- and one calling her unprofessional. Within an hour, though, the message disappeared and she lost her ability to send any further emails.But it still made it onto the internet. The email was recirculated on Bluesky and it received more than 10,000 upvotes on Reddit after someone posted it with the comment, Wow I wish I had that courage. AN AMERICAN HERO, one Reddit user deemed Ortiz, a sentiment that was seconded by more than 2,000 upvoters. Who is this freedom fighter bringing on the fire? wrote another. The EEOC did not feel the same way. The agency revoked her email privileges for about a week and issued her a written reprimand for discourteous conduct.Contacted by The AP, a spokesperson for the EEOC said: We will refrain from commenting on internal communications and personnel matters. However, we would note that the agency has a long-standing policy prohibiting unauthorized all-employee emails, and all employees were reminded of that policy recently.A month later, Ortiz has no regrets.It was not really planned out, it was just from the heart, the 53-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview, adding that partisan politics have nothing to do with her objections and that the public deserves the EEOCs protection, including transgender workers. This is how I feel and Im not pulling any punches. And I will stand by what I wrote every day of the week, all day on Sunday. Ortiz said she never intended for her email to go beyond the EEOC, describing it as a love letter to her colleagues. But, she added, I hope that it lights a fire under people. Ortiz said she has received a ton of support privately in the month since sending her email, including a thank-you letter from a California retiree telling her to keep the faith. Open support among her EEOC colleagues beyond Reddit and Bluesky, however, has proven more elusive. I think people are just really scared, she said.William Resh, a University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy professor who studies how administrative structure and political environments affect civil servants, weighed in on why federal workers may choose to say nothing even if they feel their mission is being undermined. We can talk pie in the sky, mission orientation and all these other things. But at the end of the day, people have a paycheck to bring home, and food to put on a table and a rent to pay, Resh said. The more immediate danger, he said, is the threat to ones livelihood, or inviting a managers ire. And so then thats where you get this kind of muted response on behalf of federal employees, that you dont see a lot of people speaking out within these positions because they dont want to lose their job, Resh said. Who would?Richard LeClear, a U.S. Air Force veteran and EEOC staffer who is retiring early at 64 to avoid serving under the Trump administration, said Ortizs email was spot on, but added that other colleagues who agreed with her may fear speaking out themselves.Retaliation is a very real thing, LeClear said.Ortiz, who has been a federal employee for 14 years and at the EEOC for six, said she isnt naive about the potential fallout. She has hired attorneys, and maintains that her actions are protected whistleblower activity. As of Friday, she still had a job but she is not a lifetime appointee and is aware that her health care, pension and source of income could all be at risk. Ortiz is nonetheless steadfast: If they fire me, Ill find another avenue to do this kind of work, and Ill be okay. They will have to physically march me out of the office.Many of Ortizs colleagues have children to support and protect, which puts them in a more difficult position than her to speak out, Ortiz acknowledged. She said her legal education and American citizenship also put her in a position to be able to make change.Her parents, who came to the United States from Puerto Rico in the 1950s with limited English skills, ingrained in her the value of standing up for others. Their firsthand experience with the Civil Rights Movement, and her own experience growing up in mostly white spaces in Garden City on Long Island, primed Ortiz to defend herself and others.Its in my DNA, she said. I will use every shred of privilege that I have to lean into this. Ortiz received her undergraduate degree at Columbia University, and her law degree at Fordham University. She knew she wanted to become a judge ever since her high school mock trial as a Supreme Court justice. Civil rights has been a throughline in her career, and Ortiz said she was super excited when she landed her job at the EEOC.This is how I wanted to finish up my career, she said. Well see if that happens.________The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. CLAIRE SAVAGE Savage is a national reporter for the APs Business team. She covers women in the workforce and is based in Chicago. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Tyler Klick, Partner/Viticulturist of Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, looks up toward a solar panel while being interviewed about Lumo smart irrigation valves in a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard during an interview in Geyserville, Calif., Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)2025-03-10T10:26:51Z LOS ANGELES (AP) When artificial intelligence-backed tractors became available to vineyards, Tom Gamble wanted to be an early adopter. He knew there would be a learning curve, but Gamble decided the technology was worth figuring out.The third-generation farmer bought one autonomous tractor. He plans on deploying its self-driving feature this spring and is currently using the tractors AI sensor to map his Napa Valley vineyard. As it learns each row, the tractor will know where to go once it is used autonomously. The AI within the machine will then process the data it collects and help Gamble make better-informed decisions about his crops what he calls precision farming.Its not going to completely replace the human element of putting your boot into the vineyard, and thats one of my favorite things to do, he said. But its going to be able to allow you to work more smartly, more intelligently and in the end, make better decisions under less fatigue. Gamble said he anticipates using the tech as much as possible because of economic, air quality and regulatory imperatives. Autonomous tractors, he said, could help lower his fuel use and cut back on pollution. As AI continues to grow, experts say that the wine industry is proof that businesses can integrate the technology efficiently to supplement labor without displacing a workforce. New agricultural tech like AI can help farmers to cut back on waste, and to run more efficient and sustainable vineyards by monitoring water use and helping determine when and where to use products like fertilizers or pest control. AI-backed tractors and irrigation systems, farmer say, can minimize water use by analyzing soil or vines, while also helping farmers to manage acres of vineyards by providing more accurate data on the health of a crop or what a seasons yield will be. Other facets of the wine industry have also started adopting the tech, from using generative AI to create custom wine labels to turning to ChatGPT to develop, label and price an entire bottle. I dont see anybody losing their job, because I think that a tractor operators skills are going to increase and as a result, and maybe theyre overseeing a small fleet of these machines that are out there, and theyll be compensated as a result of their increased skill level, he said.Farmers, Gamble said, are always evolving. There were fears when the tractor replaced horses and mules pulling plows, but that technology proved itself just like AI farming tech will, he said, adding that adopting any new tech always takes time.Companies like John Deere have started using the AI that wine farmers are beginning to adopt. The agricultural giant uses Smart Apply technology on tractors, for example, helping growers apply material for crop retention by using sensors and algorithms to sense foliage on grape canopies, said Sean Sundberg, business integration manager at John Deere.The tractors that use that tech then only spray where there are grapes or leaves or whatnot so that it doesnt spray material unnecessarily, he said. Last year, the company announced a project with Sonoma County Winegrowers to use tech to help wine grape growers maximize their yield. Tyler Klick, partner at Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, said his company has started automating irrigation valves at the vineyards it helps manage. The valves send an alert in the event of a leak and will automatically shut off if they notice an excessive water flow rate.That valve is actually starting to learn typical water use, Klick said. Itll learn how much water is used before the production starts to fall off.Klick said each valve costs roughly $600, plus $150 per acre each year to subscribe to the service.Our job, viticulture, is to adjust our operations to the climatic conditions were dealt, Klick said. I can see AI helping us with finite conditions.Angelo A. Camillo, a professor of wine business at Sonoma State University, said that despite excitement over AI in the wine industry, some smaller vineyards are more skeptical about their ability to use the technology. Small, family-owned operations, which Camillo said account for about 80% of the wine business in America, are slowly disappearing many dont have the money to invest in AI, he said. A robotic arm that helps put together pallets of wine, for example, can cost as much as $150,000, he said. For small wineries, theres a question mark, which is the investment. Then theres the education. Whos going to work with all of these AI applications? Where is the training? he said.There are also potential challenges with scalability, Camillo added. Drones, for example, could be useful for smaller vineyards that could use AI to target specific crops that have a bug problem, he said it would be much harder to operate 100 drones in a 1,000 acre vineyard while also employing the IT workers who understand the tech. I dont think a person can manage 40 drones as a swarm of drones, he said. So theres a constraint for the operators to adopt certain things.However, AI is particularly good at tracking a crops health including how the plant itself is doing and whether its growing enough leaves while also monitoring grapes to aid in yield projections, said Mason Earles, an assistant professor who leads the Plant AI and Biophysics Lab at UC Davis.Diseases or viruses can sneak up and destroy entire vineyards, Earles said, calling it an elephant in the room across the wine industry. The process of replanting a vineyard and getting it to produce well takes at least five years, he said. AI can help growers determine which virus is affecting their plants, he said, and whether they should rip out some crops immediately to avoid losing their entire vineyard. Earles, who is also cofounder of the AI-powered farm management platform Scout, said his company uses AI to process thousands of images in hours and extract data quickly something that would be difficult by hand in large vineyards that span hundreds of acres. Scouts AI platform then counts and measures the number of grape clusters as early as when a plant is beginning to flower in order to forecast what a yield will be.The sooner vintners know how much yield to expect, the better they can dial in their wine making process, he added.Predicting what yields youre going to have at the end of the season, no one is that good at it right now, he said. But its really important because it determines how much labor contract youre going to need and the supplies youll need for making wine.Earles doesnt think the budding use of AI in vineyards is freaking farmers out. Rather, he anticipates that AI will be used more frequently to help with difficult field labor and to discern problems in vineyards that farmers need help with.Theyve seen people trying to sell them tech for decades. Its hard to farm; its unpredictable compared to most other jobs, he said. The walking and counting, I think people would have said a long time ago, I would happily let a machine take over. SARAH PARVINI Parvini covers artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. She is based in Los Angeles. mailto

Police try to detain protesting Tibetan exiles during a protest outside Chinese embassy to mark the 1959 uprising in Tibet against the Chinese rule on this day, in New Delhi,India, Monday, March, 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)2025-03-10T09:58:34Z NEW DELHI (AP) Dozens of Tibetan protesters clashed with police outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday as Tibetans living in exile marked the 66th anniversary of their uprising against China that was crushed by Chinese forces. As in past years, police blocked the protesters from entering the embassy and briefly detained some of them after wrestling them to the ground.Hundreds also marched in the north Indian town of Dharamshala, the seat of the exiled Tibetan government and home of Dalai Lama, their 89-year-old spiritual leader. Separately, about a hundred Tibetan women gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, an area designated for protests close to Parliament.The protesters shouted anti-China slogans, carried Tibetan flags and played the national anthems of Tibet and India.India considers Tibet to be part of China, although it hosts the Tibetan exiles. The 1959 independence uprising was quelled by the Chinese army, forcing Dalai Lama and his followers into exile in India. Many had their faces painted in colors of the Tibetan national flag. The demonstrators observed a minute of silence to remember Tibetans who lost their lives in the struggle against China. Monks, activists, nuns and schoolchildren marched across the town with banners reading, Free Tibet and Remember, Resist, Return. Penpa Tsering the president of the Central Tibetan Administration, as the exiled Tibetan government calls itself accused Chinas leadership of carrying out a deliberate and dangerous strategy to eliminate the very identity of the Tibetan people. This marks the darkest and most critical period in the history of Tibet, Tsering told the gathering. As we commemorate the Tibetan National Uprising Day, we honor our brave martyrs, and express solidarity with our brothers and sisters inside Tibet who continue to languish under the oppressive Chinese government. The Tibetan government-in-exile in India accuses China of denying the most fundamental human rights to people in Tibet and trying to expunge the Tibetan identity. China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but the Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent until China occupied it in 1950.The Dalai Lama denies Chinas claim that he is a separatist and says he only advocates substantial autonomy and protection of Tibets native Buddhist culture.___Bhatia reported from Dharamshala, India.

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)2025-03-10T11:29:56Z WASHINGTON (AP) In President Donald Trumps idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when top hats and shirtwaists were fashionable and typhoid fever often killed more soldiers than combat. It was the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system, when poverty was widespread while barons of phenomenal wealth, like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, held tremendous sway over politicians who often helped boost their financial empires. We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. Thats when we were a tariff country. And then they went to an income tax concept, Trump said days after taking office. Its fine. Its OK. But it would have been very much better. The desire to recreate that era is fueled by Trumps fondness for tariffs and his admiration for the nations 25th president, William McKinley, a Republican who was in office from 1897 until being assassinated in 1901. Though Trumps early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent with him imposing them, then pulling many back he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism. There have even been suggestions that higher import tariffs on the countrys foreign trading partners could eventually replace the federal income tax. Experts on the era say Trump is idealizing a time rife with government and business corruption, social turmoil and inequality. They argue hes also dramatically overestimating the role tariffs played in stimulating an economy that grew mostly due to factors other than the U.S. raising taxes on imported goods. And Gilded Age policies, they maintain, have virtually nothing to do with how trade works in a globalized, modern economy. The most astonishing thing for historians is that nobody in the Gilded Age economy except for the very rich wanted to live in the Gilded Age economy, said Richard White, a history professor emeritus at Stanford University. Trump says high tariffs and low interest rates, like those the U.S. had after the Civil War, can hastily pay down todays federal debt and fatten government coffers while boosting domestic manufacturers and enticing foreign producers to move to the U.S. Its not a new theme for him. I am a Tariff Man, Trump declared in a 2018 online post. Campaigning for a second term last fall, Trump said of the McKinley era, We were a very wealthy country, and were going to be doing that now. Today, he says tariff is his favorite word and represents a very powerful weapon that politicians havent used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form. The White House has rushed to raise tariffs on imports from China and on aluminum and steel made abroad while promising that import levies will soon increase on the European Union, as well as new, foreign-made cars, microchips and pharmaceuticals. Trump also increased tariffs on Canada and Mexico, though he later delayed most of them. He has similar plans for potentially every country the U.S. does business with, saying broad reciprocal import taxes are coming April 2nd and will be consistent with levies other countries charge U.S. manufacturers to export their goods. Dartmouth College economics professor Douglas Irwin said Trump advocating for modern tariffs by pointing to the 1890s is flawed.We did grow rapidly in the late 19th century, he said. But its a stretch to attribute it to tariffs.The president is more accurate when he paints with a broader brush and says, Look, this entire period with fiscal surpluses we grew rapidly. Thats true of this 40-year period, added Irwin, author of Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy.But, when you dig down to the details and say, We raised tariffs in this instance, thats where things go awry. Or the story doesnt quite hold together as well, Irwin said. Was America really at its wealthiest from 1870 to 1913? The Gilded Age featured extraordinary wealth for a small class of people that largely obscured rampant poverty for many other Americans. The name comes from a 1873 novel, co-written by Mark Twain, which satirized the greed and deceit of the eras government and politicians. Many contemporary leaders were openly influenced by the famed robber barons, builders of monopolies who stoked industrialization while shaping the way millions of other Americans lived and worked. Rockefeller became the exemplar of the era when his Standard Oil empire made him the worlds first billionaire. Morgan was an investment banker and legendary financier of industrial interests. Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed a breathtaking fortune through shipping and railroads, while steel magnate Andrew Carnegie was also a dedicated philanthropist who argued the rich had a moral responsibility to use their wealth to better a deeply unequal society. Overall, the U.S. economy grew rapidly between 1870 and 1913, though there were dips and recessions, too. Some historians call it the second industrial revolution because of major increases in manufacturing and factory output. New industries like steel, electricity and petrochemicals boomed, as did sectors including construction and machinery. But White said those years were marked by erratic economic growth, and those upturns were mostly fueled by millions of immigrants joining the U.S. workforce. Indeed, the number of U.S. residents jumped from 38.5 million-plus in 1870 to more than 106 million by 1920. Another factor was the seizing of land from Native Americans during U.S. expansion west. That meant exploiting natural resources along the way including gold, silver, timber, grazing and farmland, as well as coal, copper and oil, especially after the discovery of the Spindletop geyser in Texas in 1901. Average wages rose, but so did inequality, with almost no social safety net. Working conditions were often so abhorrent, meanwhile, that the labor movement began gaining strength, as did progressive politicians clamoring for breaking up monopolies. This is the height of antimonopoly, political turmoil, the rise of labor in the United States, said White, author of The Republic for Which it Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896. And the reason was, people did not regard this as a particularly healthy economy.In fact, despite the growth, standards of living fell, including life expectancy and key health indicators, White said. Could tariffs replace the federal income tax? The modern federal income tax came into fruition with the ratification of 16th Amendment in 1913, ending the 43-year era when Trump says the country was wealthiest. He has not expressly detailed plans to end a national income tax since retaking the White House, and he cant do so without an act of Congress and upending the federal budget in almost incalculable ways. In fiscal year 2024, the federal government collected about $4 trillion in individual income tax and tax withholdings, according to the Treasury Department, compared with customs duties accounting for around $76.4 billion.But the president nonetheless signed a Day 1 executive order calling for the creation of the External Revenue Service to collect tariffs, duties, and other foreign trade-related revenues. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested Trumps goal there was to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay.Republican strategist Karl Rove, author of The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters, has defended the notion of low, reciprocal tariffs on U.S. foreign trading partners. But Rove also says that tariffs cant realistically replace a federal income tax. He noted in a February op-ed that from 1863 to 1913 tariffs brought in nearly half the U.S. governments revenue but last year they accounted for less than 2% of federal revenue. Why does Trump so revere McKinley? In his inaugural address, Trump called McKinley a great president and natural business man, who he said made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. Hours later, he signed an executive order overturning an Obama administration directive and renaming Americas tallest peak Mount McKinley. But todays economy is immeasurably different than in McKinleys time.Global communication is now virtually instantaneous. Back then, communication was cumbersome and products were often fully assembled before being exported. Shipping could take months. Todays goods often contain raw material components or parts that need to be assembled that are sourced all over the world and then built in places different from where they are ultimately sold. The disruption of such carefully calibrated, multinational logistical systems by the coronavirus pandemic was a key reason why everything from leather couches to flooring to microchips for new cars suddenly became scarce. And that helped feed record inflation beginning in 2021 that continues to dog the U.S. economy today. Robert W. Merry, author of President McKinley: Architect of the American Century, said McKinley was the leading voice on tariffs at a time when they dominated policy discussions because they were the federal governments chief source of revenue, given that no income tax existed. But Trump differs with McKinley in using tariffs as a bludgeon to get other countries to do our bidding on efforts that have nothing to do with revenue, or economic matters or trade. The president has done that with Canada and Mexico, using tariff threats to try to force those countries to take harder lines against drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Nobody would have even considered such a thing in McKinleys day, Merry said.McKinley champions the Tariff Act of 1890McKinley grew up in Canton, in northeast Ohio, son of an iron foundries owner who was especially sensitive to overseas competition. He won a seat in Congress representing a steel-producing district and so promoted tariffs that one humor magazine used a cartoon on its cover to unflatteringly dub him the Napoleon of Protectionism. As chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, McKinley championed the Tariff Act of 1890, which set the then-highest import tax in U.S. history, raising taxes to 49.5% on 1,500-plus items everything from glass to tin plates to cayenne pepper. The results were quickly poor for the economy and for Republicans. It led to an increase in prices, a kind of inflation, even before the bill took effect, Merry said. The argument was, it was carte blanche for retailers and industrialists who basically jacked up their prices unnecessarily. Americans dealt Republicans landslide congressional defeats during the 1890 midterms, voting scores of incumbents out of office including McKinley. The tariff fallout also helped Grover Cleveland win the White House for Democrats in 1892, after he lost his reelection the previous cycle.McKinley rebounded, though. He was elected Ohio governor and eventually won the presidency in 1896 on a campaign slogan Trump has repeated: I am a tariff man standing on a tariff platform. His campaign also got boosts from big donations by major industrialists like Rockefeller, who were strongly opposed to McKinleys populist Democratic opponent, William Jennings Bryan.Just as in McKinleys time, todays business titans have worked to ingratiate themselves to Trump. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was among the technology leaders who traveled to Trumps Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, was already a fixture, before Inauguration Day. Meta, Google and Microsoft joined other major firms donating $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee, while Amazon Prime Video is set to distribute a documentary about first lady Melania Trump. Some business interests are hoping Trump will usher in a new era of antitrust, in which the government does less to block highly profitable corporate consolidation. What was the great tariff commission? Ignoring some of the political problems tariffs created for Republicans in his favored era, Trump instead has focused on repeating how import taxes after the Civil War helped the U.S. pay off debts it incurred during the fighting and eventually achieve government budget surpluses. From 1866 to 1893, the U.S. ran nearly three straight decades of budget surpluses, fueled largely by tariffs and high domestic taxes on things like alcohol and tobacco, as well as the sale of federal lands. Paying down debt helped lower interest rates. Trump has even begun trumpeting what he calls the great tariff commission of 1887, which the president says was tasked with helping the government spend all those surpluses. Irwin said there was a tariff commission, but it was actually convened five years earlier in 1882. It also recommended reducing tariffs, which Congress didnt do.Its hard to say it was a political success. Its hard to say it was an economic success, Irwin said. Because we spent a lot of the 1890s with double digit unemployment.Thats because federal budget surpluses eventually began to effectively decrease the U.S. money supply and cause deflation. Meanwhile, higher tariffs increased the cost of living for many Americans, which, coupled with a financial crisis in Great Britain, helped trigger the Panic of 1893. That resulted in railroad bankruptcies, a stock market crash and a crushing recession in which unemployment reached 25% nationally. Then-President Clevelands lack of solutions was a key factor in voters turning on him and the Democrats and toward McKinley three years later. McKinley also differed with Trump on key issuesTrump has used his opening weeks back in office to champion U.S. expansionism in ways unseen in the modern era. Hes refused to rule out U.S. military forces seizing back control of the Panama Canal and suggested buying Greenland from Denmark, making Canada the 51st state and even working with Israel to put American developers in charge of turning the Gaza Strip into a seaside Riviera.There are echoes of McKinley there, because, as president, he moved to expand the reach of the U.S. The Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico became American territories as part of the treaty that ended the Spanish-American War in December 1898.But the comparison is not so easy. McKinley was also skeptical of U.S. expansionism, even writing himself a note at the start of the war and carrying it as a reminder, Merry said. While we are conducting war, and until its conclusion, we must keep all we get, the note said. When the war is over, we must keep what we want.Shortly after winning reelection in 1900, meanwhile, McKinley began rethinking tariffs, as a stronger and still-growing U.S. manufacturing base made him more appreciative of foreign markets. McKinley began to see that, if we were going to be able to sell our goods overseas as we were going to need to do because we would have more goods than wed have a market for we were going to have to accept goods as well, Merry said. He said that McKinley gave a speech in Buffalo, New York, outlining this concept of reciprocity, which was: Im prepared to bring down tariffs. Even me. Even William McKinley. That was his first big initiative after being reelected, Merry said. In that speech on Sept. 5, 1901, McKinley said, A policy of goodwill and friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times. Measures of retaliation are not.Trump is now promising that similar, reciprocal tariffs will take effect next month. But actually successfully pulling that off will be another difference from McKinley, who never got the chance. The day after his Buffalo speech, McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. He died on Sept. 14, 1901. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Wikipedia is one of the most valuable repositories of information ever created by humanity. Having your own Wikipedia page has become a kind of status symbolproof that someone is important enough to enter the historical record. But, ironically, having your face in a Wikipedia page is often not flattering at all.In fact, Wikipedia portraits, often included in Wikipedia articles about celebrities, are so famously bad that theres an Instagram page dedicated to them. Take the Wikipedia portraits of American actor Jay Olcutt Sanders performing an ancient Greek play in 2009, or English footballer Kyle Bartley with what looks to be a referees finger in his mouth.Lots of portraits on Wikipedia are also many years old. Comedian Joe Pescis Wikipedia photo, for example, is from 2009. Jeanne Tripplehorn, who starred in Criminal Minds and also won an Emmy for her portrayal of Jackie Kennedy, has a Wikipedia photo from 1992.This portrait problem stems from Wikipedias mission to provide free reliable information. All media on the site must be openly licensed, so that anyone can use it free of charge. That, in turn, means that most photos of notable people on the site are of notably poor quality.No professional photographers ever have their photos on Wikipedia, because they want to make money from the photos, said Jay Dixit, a writing professor and amateur Wikipedia photographer. Its actually the norm that most celebrities have poor photos on Wikipedia, if they have photos at all. Its just some civilian at an airport being like, Oh my god, its Pete Davidson, click with an iPhone.Dixit is part of a team of volunteer photographers, called WikiPortraits, thats trying to fix that problem.Its been in the back of our minds for quite a while now, said Kevin Payravi, one of WikiPortraits cofounders. Last year, finally, we decided to make this a reality, and we got a couple of credentials for Sundance 2024 [a major film festival]. We sent a couple photographers there, we set up a portrait studio, and that was our first organized effort here in the U.S. to take good quality photos of people for Wikipedia.Since last January, WikiPortraits photographers have covered around 10 global festivals and award ceremonies, and taken nearly 5,000 freely-licensed photos of celebrity attendees. And the celebrity attendees are often quite excited about it. Dixit, for example, found Jeremy Strong of Succession at a New York showing of the new The Apprentice and asked to take a new headshot of him for Wikipedia.His publicist said no, Dixit said. But Jeremy said, Wait, youre from Wikipedia? For the love of God, please take down that photo. Youd be doing me a service. So he stood and posed, and I got a shot of him. Strongs old photo was from 2014.WikiPortraits photos are currently used on Wikipedia articles in over 120 languages, and theyre viewed up to 80 million times per month from those pages alone. In January, for example, Payravi said that over 1,500 WikiPortraits photos were used on articles that collectively received 140 million views. Many WikiPortraits photos have also been used by a variety of news outlets around the world, including CNN Brasil, Times of Israel, and multiple non-English-language smaller news organizations.Its become sort of a mini photo agency that is accessible for organizations that cant afford Getty [Images], said Jennifer 8. Lee, another WikiPortraits cofounder, referring to one of the biggest stock and news photo agencies in the world. WikiPortraits photographers both run temporary photo studios at events for celebrities to come have their photos taken, and roam red carpets to snap candids.Our priority is, of course, Wikipedia, Payravi said. Well often check to see existing coverage on Wikipedia. If were at a film festival, and we see people who have a Wikipedia article, but dont have a photo, thats going to become our priority.Sriya Sarkar, a videographer by trade who has covered three festivals for WikiPortraits, said that taking photos of underrepresented people was also a major goal.Kevin and Jenny are constantly trying to find ways to address the diversity blind spots that are in Wikipedia and helping to correct that, Sarkar said. We need more high quality portraits of notable figures in the public domain, and of course, most people of color who are notable figures in the public domain are not represented in Wikipedia. Its not just about photos. The diversity angle is a really important reason why this project is being done.But not being an official news or photo agency means WikiPortraits sometimes faces problems getting media credentials to cover events.The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, for example, last year featured a Native American woman who builds robots that teach Indigenous languages. Lee thought she would be a good candidate for a new Wikipedia page, and applied to the conference to take her photo, but was rejected on the basis of the conference only accepting editorial media.I dont think Wikimedia is traditional press, but I do consider it media, Lee said. I was like, Are you kidding me?Other events were often more willing to grant some form of press credentials.Wikipedia itself is a very big brand name, Payravi said. Oftentimes when we apply for credentials, they ask us, Whats your circulation? They ask that because theyre expecting a news publication or a magazineand then we say several billion, so theyre often pretty willing to credential us.Funding poses another main challenge. Photographers must already own a professional-quality camera, and usually have to cover the cost of getting to events and at least part of their lodging. Although WikiPortraits sometimes receives rapid grants from the Wikimedia Foundation and private donors to cover costs, Payravi said he still likes to run a tight ship.But over 30 people have taken on the job, and for some of them, its deeply personal. Sarkar grew up hearing about the Jaipur Literature Festival, and this past January got enough funding from the Wikimedia Foundation to make the trip and cover it for WikiPortraits.I got to take photos, yes, but I also got to hear from diplomats and thought leaders and culture makers from my culture, Sarkar said. That meant a lot to meto be able to bring these people to an audience that may not be able to reach them, even if its just through a photo. Wikipedia has a lot of space to expand and really diversify their database, and I think by taking photos and going to these events, its helpful for both the Wikipedia community and obviously all the millions of people who use them.In 2024, WikiPortraits focused largely on film festivals. Payravi said this year he wanted to cover a wider variety of events. That includes events like the Jaipur Literature Festival and CES Las Vegas, a major tech conference, that WikiPortraits photographers had covered in January.This is cheesy, but a pictures worth a thousand words, Payravi said. The picture you see that comes up first in Google results is Wikipediathats the thing people are going to see first and recognize you as. I think its very important for people to have a good photo of themselves for their online presence. And its a really fun way for an amateur photographer like me to both give back and also get to see my photographs used and showcased. I hope its also good for the people were photographing.

Sydney Smith, who lost her job due to DOGE cuts, stands in front of the Sydney Yates building that houses the Forest Service on Thursday, March. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)2025-03-10T12:02:33Z WASHINGTON (AP) A young economist who had uprooted her life for civil service. A fierce housing advocate terminated just before buying her first home. A semifinalist whose dreams were dashed before they materialized.For decades, the Presidential Management Fellows program was seen as a building block for the civil service with the expectation that the few who earned the position would one day become leaders in the federal workforce. Now the road ahead is uncertain. Hundreds of the fellows have been terminated or placed on administrative leave amid a nationwide slashing of the federal workforce.One of President Donald Trumps executive orders ended the program, which was created in 1978 to entice highly qualified workers with advanced degrees to join the federal government.Trumps Republican administration had ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers in one fell swoop. That included recent classes of the fellows program, which has a two-year probationary period. Fellows had persevered through an intense selection process that included multiple tests and evaluations as well as a blind interview. The agency website said about 10% of applicants are accepted, although that number has been recently as low as just 3%. Charles Conyers, an Office of Personnel Management retiree who was a fellow in the class of 2003, said he was saddened and puzzled about the administration eliminating a program that brought to the government some of the brightest minds in America. He said losing their skills and ending a program that attracted and groomed exceptional future leaders was tragic. While many fellows affected by the job cuts were reluctant to speak on the record, several did. As a group, they said they loved their jobs and see federal civil service as a way to serve their country. All would welcome, if given a chance, the opportunity to get back to work and use their expertise. An incredible brain drainJenn Kauffman, who has a background in public health and labor studies, was a semifinalist for the fellows program this year and had been waiting to hear if she would be accepted. As layoffs were announced, she began to worry if it would continue.I worked really hard and wanted that satisfaction to see it through, she said.On Feb. 19, during the week finalists would have been named, the Trump administration announced an executive order cutting the program.Kauffman, 45, said she was crushed by the decision and worries that the mass layoffs and dissolution of the fellows program will forever change public service.Its so easy to decimate something but so much harder to rebuild, she said. And I worry that the incredibly talented people who may have been my cohort or colleagues are going to go elsewhere, and there will be an incredible brain drain. Its such a loss for the American people. At the Forest Service, a perfect fitSydney Smith, 28, said many of the fellows were shocked at being let go because they came in to the government with ideas on how to make it more efficient.Smith studied chemistry as an undergraduate student at Willamette University in Oregon before going on to study accounting at George Washington University. She heard about the presidential fellows program but was skeptical she would get in because of the low acceptance rate.After she made it as a finalist in 2023, she started working for the U.S. Forest Service as an accountant. Shes a backpacker who loves the outdoors and is passionate about making public lands accessible. It was a perfect fit.Now Smiths goal is to finish the CPA exams, something she was doing to make herself even more qualified for federal service.Im hopeful that in the future that there will be room for me in the government, she said. I dont know what that would look like, but I am hopeful that it still exists. A high school dream derailedMcKenzie Hartman, 26, was an economist for the IRS research division in Ogden, Utah, when she received an email Feb. 19 that she should return to the office with all her equipment.The next day, a manager collected her equipment and walked her out. On the way home, Hartman took a wrong turn because her mind was elsewhere.It felt surreal, she said. I had planned on working for the federal government since high school.Hartman lost access to her offices video conferencing software and couldnt join her colleagues for her own goodbye gathering. She had to call in instead. Her termination letter came the following weekend.Its crazy to get a letter terminating you for performance when everyone around you is saying incredible things about your performance, Hartman said.Since then, she has been applying for jobs and embarked on a road trip with her partner through several national parks, where shes seen protests against the Trump administrations cuts.For a lot of us, there is a question on whether well return to federal service, she said. Many of us would like to, and this was what we wanted for our careers, but its demoralizing. A surprise, gut-wrenching terminationBianca Nelson, 31, had been working for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the unit she calls the front door of HUD. She never planned to leave. On Feb. 14, she got an email that she was terminated, effective immediately.Nelson and her partner were planning to buy their first home that month their dream apartment. Now, theyve had to lean on savings to keep them afloat. She called it gut-wrenching.She had to forward the termination email to her boss, who had not been told she or others would be fired. Days later, she picked up her belongings, including a bell given to her at a New York City Housing Authority groundbreaking ceremony a memento representing her love for her work.Since then, she has spent her days organizing paperwork for unemployment and insurance, taking networking calls, volunteering with her union, organizing a resource fair for other fired federal workers in her area and volunteering with housing advocacy organizations.Ending the program, she said, is closing a pipeline to future leaders.Worrying about those who need helpMadeleine Parkers fellowship began in September 2023, one month after she finished her doctorate degree in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.Parker, 32, chose to work in housing because of its importance in offering families stability. She said she had hoped to continue working for the federal government.Its been hard to step back from that, she said.She is trying to strategize on what comes next while worrying about the people who need the help. Theres the personal impact of my own job, but I have this immense concern about the impacts on the people we serve, from the programs I worked on and that my colleagues worked on, from affordable housing development to disaster recovery, she said.We made a differenceJuliane Alfen, 25, left her workplace at the U.S. Agency for International Development in tears, exiting to cheers from supporters who protested the abrupt way one of the worlds preeminent aid organizations had been decimated.A 2023 fellow, her goal was to build a life and career around federal service.Alfen learned of the fellowship through her graduate school program in international affairs at the University of California, San Diego. The day she learned shed made it to finalist, she said, I literally screamed and called my mom on the phone. There had been more than 10,000 initial applicants.Now, when she looks at her LinkedIn account, everyone is job hunting. She said she would love the opportunity to return to USAID, though the prospects for that are uncertain given the Trump administrations gutting of the agency through his adviser Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency and halting its humanitarian work.I feel, Alfen said, like we made a difference.___Fernando reported from Chicago.

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protester who was detained by ICE on Saturday, has been moved to a detention facility in Louisiana, according to ICEs detainee locator system. Khalil was a key part of Columbia students protests last year against Israels indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks. He is a green card holding legal permanent resident of the U.S. and has not been charged with a crime.The news follows Khalils attorney initially being told he was being detained in a New Jersey facility, but after his wife went to visit him, found that Khalil was not there, according to the Associated Press.The locator system says Khalil is being held in the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility. It is owned and operated by the Geo Group, a long-time ICE contractor. Previous research found the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility received the largest number of sexual and physical abuse complaints filed to ICEs oversight body.Image: Screenshot of the ICE detainee locator system.ICE confirmed Khalils arrest in a post to X on Sunday, writing in support of President Trumps executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. ICE did not explain or provide evidence for how Khalil was aligned to Hamas.Secretary of State Marco Rubio also posted to X saying we will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.Do you know anything else about Khalil's case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +44 20 8133 5190. Otherwise, send me an email at joseph@404media.co.Khalils attorney Amy Greer said she spoke on the phone with one of the ICE agents during Khalils arrest on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. The ICE agent said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalils student visa. When Greer said that Khalil is a legal permanent resident with a green card, the ICE agent said they were revoking that instead, the Associated Press added.Last Spring protestors at Columbia set up a tent encampment on university grounds to protest the mass killing of Palestinians by Israel, often with the aid of U.S. weapons. Those protests ended when a large police presence entered the university and forcibly removed the protesters. Khalil acted as a negotiator for students as they bargained with the university to end the tent encampment, the Associated Press added.On Friday a group of government agencies said they had cancelled $400 million in federal grants and contracts with Columbia University over what they described as the universitys continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.

Ukrainians hold Ukrainian and European flag as the Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the colors of Ukraine to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country, in Paris, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)2025-03-10T13:27:06Z PARIS (AP) Military officials from more than 30 nations will take part in Paris talks on the creation of an international security force for Ukraine, a French military official said Monday.Such an international force would aim to dissuade Russia from launching another offensive after any ceasefire in Ukraine comes into effect. The long list of participants in Tuesdays discussions will also include Asian and Oceania nations that will join remotely, the French official said. The international makeup of the meeting offers an indication of how broadly France and Britain which are working together on plans for the force are casting their net as they aim to build what the French official described as a coalition of nations able and willing to be part of an effort to safeguard Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.The French military official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the blueprint for the force that is shrouded in secrecy and the Paris talks that will consider it. The force being envisaged by France and Britain would aim to reassure Ukraine and deter another large-scale Russian offensive after any ceasefire, the official said. It could include heavy weaponry and weapons stockpiles that could be rushed within hours or days to aid in Ukraines defense in the event of a Russian attack that shatters any truce, the official said. The French-British blueprint will be presented to military officials from more than 30 nations in the first part of Tuesdays talks, the official said. The talks second part will include more precise and concrete discussions where the participants will be invited to say whether and how their militaries might be able to contribute, the official said.Its not, This is what we need, the official said. Its more, What are you bringing to the pot?The official stressed, however, that the ultimate decision on whether nations take part in the force would be taken at a political level, by government leaders. Chiefs of staff or, in Canadas case, their representative from nearly all of the 32 nations of the NATO military alliance will attend the Paris discussions. Three NATO nations will be absent. They are Croatia and Montenegro, which were invited but didnt respond, and the United States, the official said.The official said the United States wasnt invited because European nations want to demonstrate that they can take responsibility for a large part of the post-ceasefire security framework for Ukraine.Also attending will be the chiefs of staff of Ireland and Cyprus and a representative from Austria all nations that are not NATO members but are in the European Union.Australia and New Zealand, which are Commonwealth nations, as well as Japan and South Korea, will listen into the talks remotely, the official said. Ukraine will be represented by a military official who is also a member of the countrys security and defense council.

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-03-10T13:37:41Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court agreed Monday in a case from Colorado to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children.The conservative-led court is taking up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.The justices also have heard arguments in a Tennessee case over whether state bans on treating transgender minors violate the Constitution. But they have yet to issue a decision.Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the practice of trying to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling.The issue is whether the law violates the speech rights of counselors. Defenders of such laws argue that they regulate the conduct of professionals who are licensed by the state. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the state law. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has struck down local local bans in Florida.In 2023, the court had turned away a similar challenge, despite a split among federal appeals courts that had weighed state bans and come to differing decisions. At the time, three justices, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, said they would have taken on the issue. It takes four justices to grant review. The nine-member court does not typically reveal how justices vote at this stage of a case so its unclear who might have provided the fourth vote. The case will be argued in the courts new term, which begins in October. The appeal on behalf of Kaley Chiles, a counselor in Colorado Springs, was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal organization that has appeared frequently at the court in recent years in cases involving high-profile social issues. One of those cases was a 5-4 decision in 2018 in which the justices ruled that California could not force state-licensed anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion.Chiles lawyers leaned heavily on that decision in asking the court to take up her case. They wrote that Chiles doesnt seek to cure clients of same-sex attractions or to change clients sexual orientation.In arguing for the court to reject the appeal, lawyers for Colorado wrote that lawmakers acted to regulate professional conduct, based on overwhelming evidence that efforts to change a childs sexual orientation or gender identity are unsafe and ineffective.___Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

An NYSE sign is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)2025-03-10T05:27:08Z NEW YORK (AP) Wall Streets sell-off is worsening Monday as worries about the economy and President Donald Trumps tariffs send U.S. stocks further from their record set just last month.The S&P 500 was down 1.4% in early trading, coming off its worst week since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 430 points, or 1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.1% lower. The main measure of the U.S. stock market is on track for a seventh swing of more than 1%, up or down, in the last eight days following a scary stretch dominated by worries that Trumps on -and- off -again tariffs will either hurt the economy directly or create enough uncertainty to drive U.S. companies and consumers into an economy-harming paralysis. The S&P 500 is down 7.4% from its all-time high set on Feb. 19.The economy has already given some signals of weakening, mostly through surveys showing increased pessimism. And a widely followed collection of real-time indicators compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests the U.S. economy may already be shrinking. Asked over the weekend whether he was expecting a recession in 2025, Trump told Fox News Channel: I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what were doing is very big. Were bringing wealth back to America. Thats a big thing. He then added, It takes a little time. It takes a little time. Also this weekend, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on NBCs Meet the Press that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday. The U.S. job market is still showing stable hiring, to be sure, and the economy ended last year running at a solid rate. But economists are marking down their forecasts for how the economy will perform this year. At Goldman Sachs, for example, David Mericle cut his estimate for U.S. economic growth to 1.7% from 2.2% for the end of 2025 over the year before, largely because tariffs look like theyll be bigger than he was previously forecasting. He sees a one-in-five chance of a recession over the next year. The worries hitting Wall Street have so far been hurting some of its biggest stars the most. Big Tech stocks and companies that rode the artificial-intelligence frenzy in recent years have slumped sharply. Nvidia fell another 2.6% Monday to bring its loss for the year so far to 18.3%. Its a steep drop-off from its nearly 820% surge over 2023 and 2024.Apple fell 3.2% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after the iPhone maker confirmed it was delaying the AI update to its Siri personal assistant until 2026. Its not just Big Tech. Investors are sending prices sharply lower for all kinds of investments whose momentum had earlier seemed nearly impossible to stop at times, such as bitcoin. The cryptocurrencys value has dropped back toward $83,000 from more than $106,000 in December. Instead, investors have been herding into U.S. Treasury bonds as they look for something safer to own with all the uncertainty. That has sent prices for Treasurys sharply higher, which in turn has sent down their yields. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell again to 4.24% from 4.32% late Friday. Its been falling sharply since January, when it was approaching 4.80%, as worries about the economy have grown.On Wall Street, Redfin jumped 77% after Rocket said it would buy the digital real estate brokerage in an all-stock deal valuing it at $1.75 billion. Rockets stock sank 9.7%. In stock markets abroad, European indexes also fell following a mixed session in Asia. Indexes fell 1.8% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai after China said consumer prices fell in February for the first time in 13 months. Its the latest signal of weakness for the worlds second-largest economy, as persistent weak demand was compounded by the early timing of the Lunar New Year holiday.___AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP, File)2025-03-10T12:22:54Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the Trump administration had finished its six-week purge of programs of the six-decade-old U.S. Agency for International Development, and said he would move the 18% of aid and development programs that survived under the State Department.Rubio made the announcement in a post on X. It marked one of his relatively few public comments on what has been a historic shift away from U.S. foreign aid and development, executed by Trump political appointees at State and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency teams.Rubio in the post thanked DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform in foreign aid.President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all of the tens of billions of dollars of U.S. aid and development work abroad. Trump charged that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda. Rubios social media post Monday said that review was now officially ending, with some 5,200 of USAIDs 6,200 programs eliminated. Those programs spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States, Rubio wrote.In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping ... to be administered more effectively under the State Department, he said. Democratic lawmakers and others call the shutdown of congressionally-funded programs illegal, saying such a move requires Congress approval. The Trump administration has given almost no details on which aid and development efforts abroad it spared as it mass-emailed contract terminations to aid groups and other USAID partners by the thousands within days earlier this month. The rapid pace, and the steps skipped in ending contracts, left USAID supporters challenging whether any actual program-by-program reviews had taken place. Aid groups say even some life-saving programs that Rubio and others had promised to spare got the termination notices, such as emergency nutritional support for starving children and drinking water serving sprawling camps for families uprooted by war in Sudan. Republicans broadly have made clear they want foreign assistance that would promote a far narrower interpretation of U.S. national interests going forward.The State Department in one of multiple lawsuits it is battling over its rapid shutdown of USAID had said earlier this month it was killing more than 90% of USAID programs. Rubio gave no explanation for why his number was lower.The dismantling of USAID that followed Trumps order upended decades of policy that humanitarian and development aid abroad advanced U.S. national security by stabilizing regions and economies, strengthening alliances and building goodwill. In the weeks after Trumps order, one of his appointees and transition team members, Pete Marocco, and Musk pulled USAID staff around the world off the job through forced leaves and firings, shut down USAID payments overnight and terminated aid and development contracts by the thousands. Contractors and staffers running efforts ranging from epidemic control to famine prevention to job and democracy training stopped work. Aid groups and other USAID partners laid off tens of thousands of their workers in the U.S. and abroad.Lawsuits say the sudden shutdown of USAID has stiffed aid groups and businesses that had contracts with it of billions of dollars.The shutdown has left many USAID staffers and contractors and their families still overseas, many of them awaiting U.S.-paid back payments and travel expenses back home. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP, File)2025-03-10T12:15:42Z LONDON (AP) A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for the American military off the coast of eastern England Monday, setting both vessels on fire and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea. The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels. All 37 crew members aboard the two vessels were safe and accounted for, with one hospitalized, local lawmaker Graham Stuart said.Stuart said he was concerned about the potential ecological impact of the spill.The U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The cargo vessel, Portugal-flagged container ship Solong, was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel, when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and multiple explosions onboard, with fuel released into the sea. It said all 23 of the mariners on the tanker were safe and accounted for.The Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the U.S. governments Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed. Britains Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. (0948 GMT). Humber Coast Guard made a radio broadcast asking vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene off the coast near Hull, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of London.The RNLI lifeboat agency said there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships. It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside a coast guard rescue helicopter and a coast guard plane. Video footage aired by British broadcasters and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said he had been told there was a massive fireball.Boyers said casualties were brought in on a Windcat 33 high-speed vessel and a harbor pilot boat.Its too far out for us to see about 10 miles but we have seen the vessels bringing them in, he said. They must have sent a mayday out. Luckily there was a crew transfer vessel out there already. Since then, there has been a flotilla of ambulances to pick up anyone they can find.U.K. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was being kept up to date on the developing situationI want to thank all emergency service workers involved for their continued efforts in responding to the incident, she said.Greenpeace U.K. said it was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage from the collision, which took place in a busy fishing ground and close to major seabird colonies. Scientists said the environmental impact might be less severe than with a spill of heavier crude oil.Mark Sephton, Professor of Organic Geochemistry at Imperial College London, said jet fuel biodegrades more quickly than crude oil, and warmer temperarures also speeds biodegration.In the end, it all depends on the rate of introduction of fuel and the rate of destruction by bacteria, he said. Lets hope the latter wins out. JILL LAWLESS Lawless is an Associated Press reporter covering U.K. politics and more. She is based in London. twitter mailto

Pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil, second from left, debates with a pro-Israel demonstrator during a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)2025-03-10T16:24:14Z NEW YORK (AP) A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University is facing deportation following his arrest by federal immigration agents over the weekend.Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the university in December, was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, saying it was a result of President Donald Trumps executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. He has not been formally charged with a crime. Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file) Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Khalils lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa. But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights advocacy group, said Monday that it is working with Khalils lawyer and called for his immediate release. Khalil is a lawful permanent resident of our nation who has not been charged with or convicted of a single crime, the Washington-based group said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Securitys lawless decision to arrest him solely because of his peaceful anti-genocide activism represents a blatant attack on the First Amendments guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians. Federal immigration authorities also visited a second international student at Columbia over the weekend and attempted to take her into custody but were prevented from entering the apartment, according to a union representing the student. The woman has not been identified, and its not clear what grounds ICE had for the visit.According to the Student Workers of Columbia, a graduate student union representing the woman, three ICE agents visited her university-owned residence Friday night and attempted to enter without a warrant.The agents were rightfully turned away at the door, the student union said.Over the weekend, the university circulated guidance to students about its policies for allowing federal authorities on campus. The guidance states that in general, ICE agents must have a judicial warrant or subpoena to access non-public areas, including housing.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message posted Sunday on X that the administration will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.Khalils arrest is the first publicly known deportation effort under Trumps promised crackdown on students protesting the war in Gaza. Members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, including Sueda Polat, second from left, and Mahmoud Khalil, center, are surrounded by members of the media outside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) Members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, including Sueda Polat, second from left, and Mahmoud Khalil, center, are surrounded by members of the media outside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The Republican president has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas that controls Gaza. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization.Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also counts Jewish students and groups among its members. But the divestment group, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group.Khalil is currently being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana after initially being sent to a facility in New Jersey, according to ICEs online detainee database, which lists his birthplace as Syria.Its unclear when he will have a hearing in immigration court, which is typically the first step in the deportation process. Spokespersons for ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.Columbia University declined to comment on Khalils arrest over the weekend. University spokespersons did not immediately respond Monday.A protest was scheduled for later Monday in front of ICEs offices in Manhattan.Khalil was one of the most visible activists in last years protests, serving as a negotiator for students who erected a tent encampment on campus. Pro-Israel activists in recent weeks have called on the Trump administration to begin deportation proceedings against him. Mahmoud Khalil, center right, listens as members of the student protest negotiation team speak during a press conference near the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) Mahmoud Khalil, center right, listens as members of the student protest negotiation team speak during a press conference near the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Khalil was also among those being investigated by a new Columbia office that has already brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to records shared with The Associated Press.Khalil received a masters degree from Columbias school of international affairs last semester. His wife, who is an American citizen, is eight months pregnant.Meanwhile, the Trump administration last week pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia because of what it claimed was the Ivy League schools failure to reign in antisemitism on campus. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto CEDAR ATTANASIO Attanasio covers New York City for The Associated Press with a focus on immigration and the ocean. He uses remote sensing to support the APs global coverage. twitter instagram facebook mailto 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

In this satellite image provided by CSU/CIRA & NOAA taken 1:10 GMT on Feb. 25, 2025, shows three cyclones, from left, Alfred, Seru and Rae east of Australia in the South Pacific. (CSU/CIRA & NOAA via AP, File)2025-03-10T16:00:30Z Climate change is already causing all sorts of problems on Earth, but soon it will be making a mess in orbit around the planet too, a new study finds.MIT researchers calculated that as global warming caused by burning of coal, oil, gas continues it may reduce the available space for satellites in low Earth orbit by anywhere from one-third to 82% by the end of the century, depending on how much carbon pollution is spewed. Thats because space will become more littered with debris as climate change lessens natures way of cleaning it up.Part of the greenhouse effect that warms the air near Earths surface also cools the upper parts of the atmosphere where space starts and satellites zip around in low orbit, That cooling also makes the upper atmosphere less dense, which reduces the drag on the millions of pieces of human-made debris and satellites. That drag pulls space junk down to Earth, burning up on the way. But a cooler and less dense upper atmosphere means less space cleaning itself. That means that space gets more crowded, according to a study in Mondays journal Nature Sustainability. We rely on the atmosphere to clean up our debris. Theres no other way to remove debris, said study lead author Will Parker, an astrodynamics researcher at MIT. Its trash. Its garbage. And there are millions of pieces of it.Circling Earth are millions of pieces of debris about one-ninth of an inch (3 millimeters) and larger the width of two stacked pennies and those collide with the energy of a bullet. There are tens of thousands of plum-sized pieces of space junk that hit with the power of a crashing bus, according to The Aerospace Corporation, which monitors orbital debris. That junk includes results of old space crashes and parts of rockets with most of it too small to be tracked. There are 11,905 satellites circling Earth 7,356 in low orbit according to the tracking website Orbiting Now. Satellites are critical for communications, navigation, weather forecasting and monitoring environmental and national security issues. There used to be this this mantra that space is big. And so we can we can sort of not necessarily be good stewards of the environment because the environment is basically unlimited, Parker said. But a 2009 crash of two satellites created thousands of pieces of space junk. Also NASA measurements are showing measurable the reduction of drag, so scientists now realize that that the climate change component is really important, Parker said.The density at 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth is decreasing by about 2% a decade and is likely to get intensify as society pumps more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, said Ingrid Cnossen, a space weather scientist at the British Antarctic Survey who was not part of the research. Cnossen said in an email that the new study makes perfect sense and is why scientists have to be aware of climate changes orbital effects so that appropriate measures can be taken to ensure its long-term sustainability. ___Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears___Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. SETH BORENSTEIN Borenstein is an Associated Press science writer, covering climate change, disasters, physics and other science topics. He is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez appear in court for a preliminary hearing held in Beverly Hills, Calif., April 12, 1991. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)2025-03-10T17:46:41Z LOS ANGELES (AP) The district attorney of Los Angeles County said Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on whether the brothers had exhibited insight and complete responsibility into lies told during their trial, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents. He said their repeated argument that they killed their parents in self-defense does not match the facts of the case that showed premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years, Hochman said.Hochman compared the Menendez case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He noted that, like the Menendez brothers, Sirhan had many letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked his parole in 2022, saying he still poses an unreasonable threat to the public. Hochman called it an instructive case because the Menendez brothers also fell short of taking full responsibility for their crimes. The countys top prosecutor said he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DAs office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies. A resentencing hearing has been scheduled for later in March and Hochman said the court may move forward with it.Hochman, who took office in December, said last month that he opposed a new trial for the Menendez brothers. The siblings were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In October, then-District Attorney George Gascn recommended the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman called his predecessors recommendation a desperate political move. The brothers, who are now in their 50s, were found guilty in the murders of their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez.They began their bid for freedom in recent years after new evidence of their fathers sexual abuse emerged, and they have the support of most of their extended family. Family members didnt immediately comment Monday after Hochmans news conference. Newsom last month ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released. The brothers have another pathway to freedom. They have also submitted a clemency plea to Newsom, who has said he would not make a decision until Hochman reviewed the case.Hochman rejected arguments by a relative of the brothers that he is biased against them. Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the siblings, has asked that he be removed from the case.I will follow the facts and the law wherever they take us, Hochman said.

Smoke rises from a factory hit during clashes by Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad in the outskirts of Latakia, Syria, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)2025-03-10T12:02:58Z DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syrias central government has reached a deal with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the countrys northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army.The deal was signed Monday by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.The deal marks a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government led by the group that led the ousting of President Bashar Assad in December.The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey in the northeast, airports and oil fields under the control of the central government.Syrias Kurds will gain their rights including teaching and using their language, which were banned for decades under Assad. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.Syrias interim government on Monday announced the end of a days-long military operation against insurgents loyal to ousted president Bashar Assad and his family in the worst fighting since the end of the 13-year civil war in December. The Defense Ministrys announcement comes after a surprise attack by gunmen from the Alawite community on a police patrol near the port city of Lattakia Thursday spiraled into widespread clashes across Syrias coastal region, during which monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed. Syrias new interim Islamist rulers are struggling to exert their authority across the country and reach political settlements with other minority communities, notably the Kurds of the northeast and the Druze in southern Syria.To the remaining remnants of the defeated regime and its fleeing officers, our message is clear and explicit, said Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani. If you return, we will also return, and you will find before you men who do not know how to retreat and who will not have mercy on those whose hands are stained with the blood of the innocent. Abdel-Ghani said that security forces will continue searching for sleeper cells and remnants of the insurgency of former government loyalists. Though the governments counter-offensive was able to largely contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in Syrias western coastal region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians. The Associated Press could not independently verify these numbers.The interim government is made up of members of Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led a lightning insurgency in December that overthrew Bashar Assad, ending over half a century of his familys dictatorial rule. The Assad family are Alawites.Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said the retaliatory attacks against Alawite civilians and mistreatment of prisoners were isolated incidents, and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators as he formed a committee to investigate the incident. Abdel-Ghani says the security forces will allow the committee the full opportunity to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts, and rectify wrongdoings. Still, the footage of houses in several neighborhoods set on fire and bloodied bodies laid on the streets alarmed Western governments, who have been urged by Al-Sharaa to lift economic sanctions on Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement issued Sunday urged Syrian authorities to hold the perpetrators of these massacres accountable. Rubio said the U.S. stands with Syrias religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.Thousands of Syrians from the coastal area fled to neighboring Lebanon, mostly through unofficial crossings. The UN refugee agency said in a statement that according to local authorities, 6,078 people have arrived in about a dozen villages in northern Lebanons Akkar province fleeing the fighting, while arrivals in other parts of the country were still being verified. Lebanon is hosting more than 755,000 registered Syrian refugees, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be unregistered. Since the fall of Assad, the flow had begun to reverse, with the UN reporting that nearly 260,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since November, about half of them coming from Lebanon.

A Vatican Swiss guard stands prior to a mass for the world of volunteers led by delegate of Pope Francis Cardinal Michael Czerny in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)2025-03-10T08:12:22Z ROME (AP) Doctors said Monday Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of pneumonia that has kept him hospitalized for nearly a month, but have decided to keep him hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment.In a late update, the doctors said the 88-year-old pope remains stable and has consolidated improvements in recent days, as determined by blood tests and positive responses to drug treatments.The Vatican said the doctors had lifted their previous guarded prognosis, meaning they determined he was no longer in imminent danger as a result of the original respiratory infection he arrived with on Feb. 14. But their caution remained. However, in view of the complexity of the clinical picture and the important infectious picture presented on admission, it will be necessary to continue medical drug therapy in a hospital setting for additional days, according to the Vatican statement. In a sign of his improved health, Francis followed the Vaticans weeklong spiritual retreat via videoconference on Monday in both the morning and afternoon sessions.As he did on Sunday, Francis participated in the retreat remotely from the Rome hospital where he is being treated. He could see and hear the Rev. Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household, but the priests, bishops and cardinals gathered for the retreat in the Vatican auditorium could not see or hear him. Pasolini is delivering a series of meditations this week on The hope of eternal life, a theme that was chosen well before Francis was admitted to Romes Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with a complex lung infection. The retreat, an annual gathering that kicks off the Catholic Churchs solemn Lenten season leading to Easter, continues through the week. The Vatican has said Francis would participate in spiritual communion with the rest of the hierarchy, from afar. Francis also resumed his physical and respiratory therapy at the Gemelli hospital, and rested and prayed inbetween. Francis has been using a nasal tube for supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night, therapy that he was continuing Monday.The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had what was just a bad case of bronchitis when he was hospitalized last month. The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future.Francis was still keeping his eye on things. The Vatican said he had been informed about the floods in his native Argentina and expressed his closeness to the affected population. In addition, a Vatican cardinal close to Francis spoke out Monday to refute some negative media reports that have circulated in his absence. The Vatican development office released a letter written by Cardinal Michael Czerny to one of Francis close friends, the Argentine social justice activist Juan Grabois. Grabois had travelled to Rome to pray for Francis at Gemelli hospital, and some Italian media reported last month that he had tried to forcibly get into Francis 10th floor hospital suite, a claim he denied. In the March 6 letter, Czerny told Grabois that Francis knew of your presence in Rome and your daily vigils of prayer and spiritual solidarity at Gemelli Polyclinic and Im sure this gave him a true comfort and support.Additionally, I know that you join me in strongly repudiating the unfounded versions that have circulated in some media about alleged inappropriate behavior in the hospital, Czerny wrote. The Vatican is always abuzz with rumor but has gone into overdrive with speculation about Francis health and talk of conclaves, even though Francis is very much alive and in charge. The fact that Czerny felt it necessary to defend one of Francis friends suggested that the rumor and maneuvering in Francis absence had crossed a line.On Thursday, the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of Francis election, the first with the pope out of sight but still in charge. Francis was elected the 266th pope, the first Jesuit pope and first from Latin America on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. ___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.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford holds a news conference regarding the new tariffs that the United States has placed on Canada, at Queen's Park in Toronto on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-03-10T15:25:52Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. TORONTO (AP) Ontarios premier, the leader of Canadas most populous province, announced that effective Monday it is charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million Americans in response to U.S. President Donald Trumps trade war. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan.I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the United State escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference in Toronto. Believe me when I say I do not want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people who didnt start this trade war. Its one person who is responsible, its President Trump.Ford said Ontarios tariff would remain in place despite the one-month reprieve from Trump, noting a one-month pause means nothing but more uncertainty. Quebec is also considering taking similar measures with electricity exports to the U.S. Fords office said the new market rules require any generator selling electricity to the U.S. to add a 25% surcharge. Ontarios government expects it to generate revenue of $300,000 Canadian dollars ($208,000) to CA$400,000 ($277,000) per day, which will be used to support Ontario workers, families and businesses.The new surcharge is in addition to the federal governments initial CA$30 billion ($21 billion) worth of retaliatory tariffs have been applied on items like American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products. Trade war intensifies Trump launched a new trade war last week by imposing tariffs against Washingtons three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin.Trump later said he has postponed 25% tariffs on many goods from Canada and Mexico for a month, amid widespread fears of a broader trade war.Ford estimated it will add about CA$100 ($69) a month to the bills of each American affected.It needs to end. Until these tariffs are off the table, until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario will not relent, Ford said.Ford said Trump changes his mind every day, but if he continues to attack Canada he will do everything it takes to maximize the pain. Republicans, at least the ones I speak to, do not agree with President Trump but they are too scared to go out there and say it publicly, Ford said. Its a shame but we need to end this.Trump has urged U.S. automakers to move auto production from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. Last week Trump granted a one-month exemption to 25% tariffs on vehicles and auto parts traded through the North American trade agreement USMCA after speaking with leaders of automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Ontario is the auto sector hub of Canada. Premier Ford also noted Trump is threatening Canada with steel, aluminum and diary tariffs. I will do whatever it takes to maximum the pain against Americans, Ford said. Stephen Lecce, Ontarios minister of energy and electrification, said the U.S. needs Canadas power and it could impact other states as well as the three states often resale Ontarios electricity. It is regrettable we are here, Lecce said. Ford calls for export taxes on Canadian oil Trumps trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.Fords Progressive Conservative government just won reelection by standing up for Canada against Trump. Ford said the Canadian province of Alberta should agree to put an export tax on oil. Alberta provides 4.3 million barrels of oil a day to the U.S. You want to talk about a Trump card. That will instantly change the game, Ford said. I know the Americans. If all of a sudden their gas prices go up a dollar a gallon they will lose their minds.Despite Trumps claim that the U.S doesnt need Canada, nearly a quarter of the oil America consumes per day comes from Canada. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security. Nearly CA$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Canada Liberal Leader Mark Carney talks to media as he leaves a caucus meeting in Ottawa, Monday, March 10, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-03-10T20:33:53Z TORONTO (AP) Canadas governing Liberal Party appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year. Then Donald Trump declared economic war and threatened to annex the entire country as a 51st state. Now the Canadian Liberals and their new prime minister could come out on top.Then theres Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, facing a groundswell of visible support at home for her approach to Trumps tariff threats. Theres Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited the White House last month and was knocked on his heels, then went back to Europe to receive what many offered as a heros welcome. Even Emmanuel Macrons comeback in French polls might be linked, some say, to his taking a more robust approach with the new U.S. president during recent weeks.Saying the United States will always do whats best for the United States first, Trump has shaken up decades of international order. In weeks, he has sent leaders of other nations scrambling to shore up their own economies, partnerships and defenses against a Russia threat and solidify their own polls at home, too. Trump is like a flaming freight train that is igniting everything in its path, said Kory Teneycke, a conservative Canadian campaign director. Its not just a big thing. Its almost the only thing that is moving the electorate right now. Everyone, it seems, is responding to Trump. But nearly two months after his blizzard of executive orders, threats and trade wars, some leaders are steadying their messages with defiance and plans not that they will necessarily change the Trump administrations approach to it all. Scrambling and dread in EuropeFor great swaths of the European continent, Trumps reversal of three years of support for Ukraine after Russias invasion was received as an existential matter. Trumps false claim that Zelenskyy started the war and the American presidents thrashing of Zelenskyy in the Oval Office Feb. 28 undermined 80 years of cooperation with Europe on the understanding that the U.S. would help protect those nations from the Russian threat after World War II. Trump also limited Ukraines access to intelligence and weaponry. The confrontation 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. And a lot of Europe didnt like it much. Leaders immediately backed up the Ukrainian president on social media. Visual confirmation came the next day, when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer enveloped Zelenskyy in a hug in front of 10 Downing Street for all to see. It was a visual hint at what one historian suggests could happen: Oddly enough, NATO might become kind of a anti-Trump alliance, said Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto. Hes doing a good job of creating that.That could happen reasonably quickly; some European leaders are already understanding that Trump is setting them adrift to face Russia alone. For years, Trump had complained that NATO allies werent contributing enough to Europes defense. Macron, too, had pushed for a stronger, more sovereign Europe since his own election in 2017, and has since insisted that the EU step up and start acting as a strategic world power. And within moments of his Feb. 23 election as Germanys likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, declared that his absolute priority will be for Europe to really achieve independence from the U.S. Germany, Europes biggest economy, is expected under its likely coalition government to loosen restrictions on borrowing money for defense spending. Meanwhile last week, the EUs 27 member nations signed off on a plan to loosen budget restrictions so that willing EU countries can increase their military spending. But for all that, Europes leaders were sidelined from talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday to end the war. Canadas conservatives struggleCanadas federal Conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre were heading for a massive victory in Canadas federal election this year until, Teneycke says, Trumps near-daily trade and annexation threats derailed them. Its the kiss of death to have JD Vance say something nice about you or have Elon Musk tweet out support for you. Every time Musk says something nice about Pierre Poilievre he goes down a point or two, he said. Stop helping. You are not helping.Teneycke was the campaign director for Doug Fords recent Progressive Conservative party win in the Canadian province of Ontario. Fords government just won big by having Ford stand up strong for Canada against Trump. Trumps trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can. The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Partys chances federally in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving in opinion polls. The change in the polls is dramatic. In mid-January a poll by Nanos, the Liberals trailed the opposition Conservatives and Poilievre 47% to 20%. This week the latest poll has the Liberals within 2 points. And that was before the party chose former central banker Mark Carney to replace Justin Trudeau. They are coming right back from the dead, Bothwell said. I am amazed. And it is all Trump.Bothwell says Trumps appeal is merely to American nationalism what he calls a type of it that is offensive to all foreigners. He says Canadians are rallying around the flag as if its wartime. If somebody comes up and kicks sand in your face and then spits in your eye, you dont like it, Bothwell said. Its a response to provocation. And a very serious provocation.Mexico has a less confrontational approachIn Mexico, a jubilant Sheinbaum celebrated with fellow citizens at a huge rally Sunday after many American tariffs were delayed, Although she appears strong now, it is not clear whether the 62-year-old presidents political support would weaken if the Mexican economy deteriorates because of tensions with the United States. The president will overcome everything, said Mariana Rivera, a 40-year-old social activist who held up a massive Mexican flag as high as her arms allowed.While her predecessor and populist ally managed an amicable relationship with Trump in his last term, some questioned if Sheinbaum would be able to strike up the same dynamic. But with approval above 80% and a steady peso, even Sheinbaums critics have admitted that the leader has been able to navigate the chaotic waters with expertise.Shes a leader that has chosen a very rational, reasonable strategy, a strategy that focuses on cooperation at the same time that Trudeau has come at with very conflictive language, said Palmira Tapia, a political analyst in Mexico.Sheinbaum has repeatedly said she would manage relations with Trump with a cool head, especially when it comes to Trumps promise of 25% tariffs, something economic forecasters said would sink Mexicos economy into a recession.To appease Trump, Sheinbaum has directed 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, stepped up crackdowns on fentanyl and sent 29 cartel bosses to face justice in the U.S. While Canada and China immediately responded to last weeks tariffs by reciprocating, Sheinbaum bided her time. After Trump said he would delay the tariffs, she turned a planned march into a festival. Where will the ripples end? Trump is already so unpopular in Canada that hockey great Wayne Gretzky, a friend of Trumps who has not spoken up for Canada, has become a pariah in his home country.This is Wayne Gretzky the best-known and best-regarded Canadian in my life time. Since the early 80s this guy has been Canadian like a beaver and maple syrup, Teneycke said. Hes absolutely iconic, and he would be booed if he took center ice at any NHL game in Canada right now over the Trump thing. Its flabbergasting.___Rob Gillies oversees coverage of Canada for The Associated Press. AP journalists Laurie Kellman in London and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed.