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.

President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-03-10T20:20:22Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Education Departments Office for Civil Rights is known best for enforcing the right to disability services across Americas schools. But under President Donald Trump, its taking a frontline role in his political battles.Trump appointees have halted thousands of pending cases while they open new investigations aligned with the presidents campaign promises. Career staffers have been sidelined and pressured to quit, and those who remain are being ordered to refocus priorities on antisemitism, transgender issues and anti-DEI complaints.A memo Friday from the civil rights offices chief announced antisemitism cases are now the top priority, taking aim at colleges where pro-Palestinian protests brought accusations of anti-Jewish bias. That followed a decision to cut $400 million in federal money going to Columbia University, where on Saturday immigration officials arrested a Palestinian activist who was involved in leading student protests. Hanging in the balance are the types of cases the office traditionally has focused on students with disabilities who need services they arent getting, or students facing harassment tied to their skin color. Its normal for new presidential administrations to pause civil rights cases while they get acclimated, but this transition brought a longer and more rigid freeze than others. Trump officials lifted the freeze for disability cases on Feb. 20, and last week, new Education Secretary Linda McMahon said all cases could resume as normal. During Trumps first month in office, the Office for Civil Rights resolved about 50 cases, according to a staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. By comparison, the office resolved more than 3,000 complaints in the same window of Trumps first term, and almost 500 under former President Joe Biden.Even the most urgent cases, which are traditionally granted exceptions, sat idle during the freeze. Staff lawyers were told not to respond to outside calls or emails, leaving families in the dark. Another staff member at the civil rights office described desperate emails from parents whose schools refused to make accommodations for their childrens disabilities. We were just ignoring their emails, said the person, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Tylisa Guyton of Taylor, Michigan, filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on Jan. 20 over her 16-year-old sons repeated suspensions from a suburban Detroit school district, alleging a white administrator was targeting him and a group of other Black children. The teen has been out of school since Dec. 4. Even as investigations resume, she has heard nothing from the civil rights agency.Hes still asking every day, When can I go back to school? Guyton said of her son. The memo Friday told staffers antisemitism would be an investigative and enforcement priority. It added the memo should not be interpreted as deprioritizing any other form of OCR enforcement activity. But staffers said thats the most likely outcome as dwindling ranks of employees face heavier caseloads tied to the presidents agenda. On Monday, the Education Department sent a letter to 60 colleges warning they could lose federal money if they fail to make campuses safe for Jewish students. The list includes Harvard, Cornell and many others where pro-Palestinian protests led to accusations of anti-Jewish bias.Politics usually play into the offices priorities to some degree, and Republicans similarly accused Biden officials of going too far when they opened cases into COVID-19 mask bans or in support of transgender students. But several longtime staffers said this is the first time theyve seen cases tied to political agendas edge out their everyday work.Trump has called for a total shutdown of the Education Department, calling it a con job infiltrated by leftists. At her Senate hearing, McMahon said the civil rights office might be better served if it moves to the Justice Department. Some cases are moving forward, but others appear to be stalled, Marcie Lipsitt, said a special education advocate in Michigan.Ive said to everyone, Youre going to have to fight harder for accountability because there will be no accountability at the U.S. Department of Ed, if there is a U.S. Department of Ed, she said. At the same time, Trumps officials have continued to open their own directed investigations proactive inquiries that depart from the offices typical work responding to complaints. The office has opened more than a dozen such investigations, many aimed at pressuring universities to stop allowing transgender athletes or to take a harder stance against pro-Palestinian protesters.It adds up to more work for fewer employees at the office of about 500 workers. Staffers say field offices across the country were hit after dozens of department workers were put on leave in response to Trumps orders against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Many others took buyouts pushed by the Trump administration, leaving some field offices without administrators in key leadership jobs. Minor changes to the offices policies could also carry outsize impact. Complaints to the office cant move forward unless the filer signs a consent form allowing their name to be disclosed during the investigation. For years, the office sent reminders if the form was not submitted parents often didnt know it was required. But an updated case manual from the Trump administration drops the reminders.Staffers say it means more cases will be dismissed on a technicality.Some special education advocates have begun filing more cases with state agencies, said Brandi Tanner, an Atlanta-based psychologist and special education advocate. In conversations at a recent conference in California, disability advocates expressed uncertainty and anxiety, Tanner said.Its kind of like, were very scared about what else is going to continue to come down the pike, she said. Are students going to lose their rights?___Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump give a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)2025-03-10T18:38:48Z As President Donald Trump seeks to end wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, his approach to both seems to boil down to giving the stronger party what it wants and pushing the weaker to accept it.His defenders view it as hardnosed realpolitik a recognition that the strong eventually prevail, so better to cut ones losses in the interest of a certain kind of peace. You dont have the cards right now, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in their White House blowup. Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File) Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Hes transactional, said Aaron David Miller, a former veteran U.S. diplomat now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trump is looking for quick wins deals, I would argue not anything remotely related to the incredibly difficult work of conflict resolution.But the eventual outcome of conflicts is not always determined by military power alone see Americas 20-year war in Afghanistan, where the worlds strongest military failed to defeat a tenacious insurgency. And the mercurial Trump has a way of complicating any unified theory of his actions: In recent days, he has threatened new sanctions against Russia and his administration unnerved some Israelis by negotiating directly with Hamas., which the U.S. and Israel view as a terrorist group. FILE U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) FILE U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Peace through strength?Trump has offered Russian President Vladimir Putin nearly everything he wants before peace negotiations even begin, by ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine, and suspending military aid and intelligence sharing that Ukraine relies on as it fends off Russian attacks.At the same time, he has pressed Zelenskyy to share Ukraines mineral wealth with the U.S. without formal security guarantees in return.In the Middle East, Trump has lavished support on Israel, restoring military aid that had been paused by the Biden administration and embracing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus goals of returning all the hostages and eradicating Hamas which could be mutually exclusive. Trump has yet to make clear whether his long-term vision for peace includes a two-state solution -- long a pillar of U.S. policy in the Middle East. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More For Hamas, which started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Trump has publicly offered only threats and ultimatums. But the administration recently held direct talks with the group rather than going through mediators. Alon Pinkas, a former senior Israeli diplomat, said Trumps actions suggest he doesnt see Netanyahu as a power player like Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping, but more as a local warlord.Hes part of my empire. Hes not a decisionmaker, Pinkas said, describing Trumps approach to the Israeli leader. From left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File) From left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In both conflicts, the weaker party has remained defiantZelenskyy has reached out to Ukraines European allies, who have pledged to beef up their own defenses, and he has vowed to fight on even as he seeks to repair ties with Washington.Hamas has dismissed Trumps threats and says dozens of remaining hostages will only be returned in exchange for an end to the war. A fragile truce negotiated by the Biden administration and the Trump team is in limbo, with Israel threatening to resume the fighting.Diana Buttu, a Palestinian analyst who advised peace negotiators in the 2000s, says Trumps strategy is unlikely to succeed.Hamas, which has already survived a 15-month Israeli onslaught, doesnt give two hoots about him, she said. They dont see that hes got any leverage over them. People take part in a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 8, 2025, demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File) People take part in a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 8, 2025, demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The strong do as they wish but not alwaysThe limits of military power have been debated for millennia.Thucydides fifth century B.C. history of the war between Athens and Sparta includes a famous debate over the use of military power known as the Melian Dialogue.Athens lands a fleet at the island of Melos and makes the city-state an offer it cant refuse. Join the empire, pay tribute and you wont be obliterated. The Athenians famously advise the Melians to try to get what it is possible for you to get, considering that the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.The Melians refuse, appealing to fair play and just dealing. They warn the Athenians that such belligerence could drive other small states into the arms of Sparta. Athens lays siege to Melos, and after months of fighting sacks it, putting the men to death and sending the women and children into slavery. Its a grim parable and perhaps a cautionary tale for Canada, Greenland and Panama.In more recent conflicts, however, military might has only gone so far. Hamas has survived five wars against the most powerful military in the Middle East, the last sparked by a surprise attack that caught Israels vaunted security agencies unaware.Ukraine held off the Russian invasion after many thought it would be quickly overrun. The Biden administration had even suggested Zelenskyy flee, an offer he famously declined.Even in Melos, the outcome was not so clear-cut. Twelve years after Athens seemingly proved that might makes right, it lost the war to Sparta. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, March 26, 1979, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty, File) Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, March 26, 1979, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A more even-handed approachThe United States most successful diplomatic forays have tended to involve a more even-handed approach. It helps if the warring parties are in what political scientists refer to as a mutually hurting stalemate.Then-President Jimmy Carter secured the landmark Camp David peace agreement after twisting the arms of Israelis and Egyptians alike just five years after they fought the last of several wars. The Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violence in northern Ireland came after both Britain and Irish republicans concluded that outright victory was impossible.Trumps supporters boast that he thinks outside the box in the Middle East, but for decades, the U.S. has built its approach around ironclad support for Israel and its peace efforts have repeatedly failed.The Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in which Israel forged ties with four Arab countries sidelined the Palestinians. Hamas said its Oct. 7 attack was partly driven by the sense that the Palestinian cause had been forgotten. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo on the Blue Room Balcony after signing the Abraham Accords at the White House in Washington, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo on the Blue Room Balcony after signing the Abraham Accords at the White House in Washington, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Buttu recalls meeting with American diplomats from previous administrations who told Palestinians essentially the same thing Trump told Zelenskyy.At a meeting in November 2000 about a major settlement under construction in east Jerusalem, the Americans turned to us and said, Theres just no way, youre just going to have to accept defeat and move on... Youre going to have to lick your wounds, Buttu said.The peace process collapsed around that time as a Palestinian uprising erupted. Twenty-five years later, the conflict is deadlier than ever and no less intractable.They told the Israelis that might is right, Buttu said. It encourages them to be even mightier.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This image released by Disney shows the character Moana, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, in a scene from "Moana 2." (Disney via AP)2025-03-10T12:44:40Z LOS ANGELES (AP) A jury on Monday quickly rejected a mans claim that Disneys Moana was stolen from his story of a young surfer in Hawaii.The Los Angeles federal jury deliberated for only about 2 hours before deciding that the creators of Moana never had access to writer and animator Buck Woodalls outlines and script for Bucky the Surfer Boy.With that question settled, the jury of six women and two men didnt even have to consider the similarities between Bucky and Disneys 2016 hit animated film about a questing Polynesian princess.Woodall had shared his work with the stepsister of his brothers wife, who worked for a different company on the Disney lot, but the woman testified during the two-week trial that she never showed it to anyone at Disney.Obviously were disappointed, Woodalls attorney Gustavo Lage said outside court. Were going to review our options and think about the best path forward. In closing arguments earlier Monday, Woodalls attorney said that a long chain of circumstantial evidence and similarities so numerous they cant be coincidences make it clear that his story Bucky the Surfer Boy was the basis for the hit 2016 animated film.There was no Moana without Bucky, Lage said during closing arguments in a Los Angeles courtroom.Defense lawyer Moez Kaba said that the evidence shows overwhelmingly that Moana was clearly the creation and crowning achievement of the 40-year career of John Musker and Ron Clements, the writers and directors behind 1989s The Little Mermaid, 1992s Aladdin, 1997s Hercules and 2009s The Princess and the Frog. They had no idea about Bucky, Kaba said in his closing. They had never seen it, never heard of it.Musker and Disney attorneys declined comment outside the courtroom. Moana earned nearly $700 million in global box office.A judge previously ruled that Woodalls 2020 lawsuit came too late for him to claim a piece of those receipts, and that a lawsuit he filed earlier this year over Moana 2 which earned more than $1 billion must be decided separately. That suit remains active, though the jurys decision does not bode well for it. The relatively young jury of six women and two men watched Moana in its entirety in the courtroom. They are considering a 2004 story outline that Woodall, a New Mexico writer and animator, created for Bucky in 2003, along with a 2008 update and a 2011 script. In the latter versions of the story, the title character, vacationing in Hawaii with his parents, befriends a group of Native Hawaiian youth and goes on a quest that includes time travel to the ancient islands and interactions with demigods to save a sacred site from a developer.Jurors would have had to decide whether the two works had substantial similarity, a question that much of the trial addressed, but their instructions told them to stop if they answered no to the access question. Around 2004, Woodall gave the Bucky outline to the stepsister of his brothers wife. That woman, Jenny Marchick, worked for Mandeville Films, a company that had a contract with Disney to create live-action films and was located on the Disney lot. He sent her follow-up materials through the years. He testified that he was stunned when he saw Moana in 2016 and saw so many of his ideas. Marchick was cast as the mastermind of the theft in his original lawsuit before she was dropped as a defendant. She testified that she had not shown Bucky to anyone at Disney. And messages shared by the defense showed she eventually ignored Woodalls queries to her and told her stepsister that shed told Woodall there was nothing she could do for him.Disney attorney Kaba argued there was no evidence Marchick ever worked on Moana or received any credit or compensation for it. He emphasized to jurors that Woodall had to prove the Bucky materials got to the creators of Moana and not merely someone with connections to the corporation.Lage, Woodalls attorneys, outlined the similarities of the two works in his closing. Both include Polynesian demigods as major characters, with the figures of Maui, Te Fiti and a fiery volcano goddess in Moana clearly counterparts of the divine characters in Bucky.Both include shape-shifting characters who turn into, among other things, insects and sharks.Both include the main characters interacting with animals who act as spirit helpers.And Lage said Moana struggling to learn to sail in her quest echoes Buckys struggle to learn to surf for his.How many coincidences are too many? the lawyer asked. When does a coincidence stop being a coincidence?Kaba said many of these elements, including Polynesian lore and basic staples of literature, are not copyrightable.Many others, including shapeshifting characters, appear throughout films including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules, which made Musker and Clements essential to the Disney renaissance of the 1990s and made Disney a global powerhouse. Many others, including animal guides, go back to Disney movies as early as 1940s Pinocchio and appear in all of Musker and Clements previous films.Kaba said Musker and Clements developed Moana the same way they did the other films, through their own inspiration, research, travel and creativity.The lawyer said thousands of pages of development documents show every step of Musker and Clements creation, whose spark came from the paintings of Paul Gaugin and the writings of Herman MelvilleYou can see every single fingerprint, Kaba said. You can see the entire genetic makeup of Moana.And none of the extensive Disney documentation makes any mention of Bucky, the lawyer argued.This is Ron and Johns story, Kaba said. No matter what they tell you, this is not Buck Woodalls story. ANDREW DALTON Dalton covers entertainment for The Associated Press, with an emphasis on crime, courts and obituaries. He has worked for the AP for 20 years and is based in Los Angeles. mailto

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams (93) celebrates after recovering a fumble by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)2025-03-10T19:31:35Z The NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles are losing two of their defensive disruptors who tormented Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Defensive tackle Milton Williams agreed to a deal with New England worth $26 million annually and edge rusher Josh Sweat is heading to the Arizona Cardinals on a four-year, $76.4 million contract, people with knowledge of the terms told The Associated Press.Williams and Sweat combined for 4 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the Eagles 40-22 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.The NFLs 52-hour legal tampering period arrived Monday with a slew of stars getting big contracts following a weekend flurry that featured league MVP Josh Allens record-setting $330 million extension and Myles Garrett set to become the highest-paid non-quarterback ever. The QB carousel kept churning Monday with the Seattle Seahawks grabbing Sam Darnold (three years, $101.5 million) following his bounce-back season in Minnesota and Justin Fields landing with the New York Jets ($40 million over two years) to replace Aaron Rodgers. The terms of the deals are all according to people familiar with the negotiations who spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity because teams generally dont announce contract terms and the deals cant be signed until Wednesday.Among the other headliners were Carolina Panthers star Jaycee Horn, who became the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL with a four-year, $100 million deal that includes $70 million in guaranteed money. The Panthers also agreed to terms with Las Vegas Raiders safety Trevon Moehrig on a three-year, $51 million contract. Along with Williams, who was considered the top free agent available this year, the New England Patriots also agreed to contracts with linebacker Robert Spillane, cornerback Carlton Davis and offensive tackle Morgan Moses.The Washington Commanders made two big splashes, agreeing to terms with defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (three years, $45 million) and acquiring standout offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil in a trade with the Houston Texans. Highest PaidAllens deal includes $250 million guaranteed. Thats an NFL record regardless of position. Meanwhile, Garrett is staying in Cleveland after the Browns gave him a record four-year contract extension that makes the four-time All-Pro edge rusher the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.Garretts deal includes $122.8 million guaranteed, an average annual salary of $40 million with a total value of $204.8 million. Garrett, the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year, had asked for a trade last month but the Browns were adamant about keeping the 29-year-old star in Cleveland. Quarterback CarouselDarnold went 14-2 in Minnesota before ending the season with back-to-back duds that contributed to the decision by the Vikings to let Darnold hit the open market and turn the team over to J.J. McCarthy, who was drafted 10th overall last year.Aside from Darnold, who is heading to his fourth team in four seasons and his fifth franchise overall, two other veteran QBs are among the most intriguing names on the market: Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers.Rodgers isnt technically a free agent, but the Jets said theyre going to release him this week following a disappointing two-year stint in the Meadowlands.A torn Achilles tendon ended Rodgers 2023 season after a handful of snaps and he went 5-12 last year, coming nowhere near the 9-7 mark another former Packers great, Brett Favre, posted with the Jets in 2008 before a rebound season in Minnesota.Rodgers hopes to land somewhere so he can have a similar bounce-back at age 41, and so does Wilson, who lost his last five starts for Pittsburgh last season.Since leaving Seattle for Denver in 2022, Wilson is 17-25.Seattles move for Darnold came three days after the Seahawks agreed to a deal to send Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round draft pick. The Seahawks are undergoing major changes on offense, having also agreed to trade star receiver D.K. Metcalf to Pittsburgh for a second-round pick and have cut receiver Tyler Lockett. Among backup QBs staying put are Jarrett Stidham, who agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal to serve as Bo Nixs No. 2 in Denver, and Jimmy Garoppolo is staying with the Rams to back up Matthew Stafford.Denver also bolstered its stellar defense, agreeing to keep run-stuffer D.J. Jones (three years, $39 million) and to sign former 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (three years, $45 million).Well-traveledTwo-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick is on the move again, this time to Tampa Bay, where hell make $14 million in 2025 with $12 million guaranteed.Before a holdout ruined his 2024 season with the Jets, Reddick had 27 sacks in two seasons in Philadelphia. He also had double-digit sacks for Arizona in 2020 and Carolina in 2021. The Buccaneers are his fifth team in nine seasons.The Bucs also agreed to re-sign Chris Godwin, who is returning from a gruesome ankle injury, for $66 million ($44 million guaranteed) over three years. The 29-year-old had 50 catches for 576 yards in just seven games last season. ___AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed. ___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL ARNIE MELENDREZ STAPLETON Melendrez Stapleton is a pro football writer for The Associated Press. He is based in Denver. twitter mailto

Lori Chavez-DeRemer attends a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on her nomination for Secretary of Labor, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-03-10T19:11:22Z The Senate voted Monday to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer as U.S. labor secretary, a Cabinet position that puts her in charge of enforcing federally mandated worker rights and protections at a time when the White House is trying to eliminate thousands of government employees. Chavez-DeRemer will oversee the Department of Labor, one of several executive departments named in lawsuits challenging the authority of billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to order layoffs and access sensitive government data.The Labor Department had nearly 16,000 full-time employees and a proposed budget of $13.9 billion for fiscal year 2025. Some of its vast responsibilities include reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations. Several prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, endorsed Chavez-DeRemers nomination. The former Republican congresswoman from Oregon is the daughter of a Teamster, and during her one term in the House earned a reputation as pro-labor. The Senate voted to confirm Chavez-DeRemer 67-32, with 17 Democrats voting yes and three Republicans voting no. The Senate has now confirmed all but one of Trumps picks for his Cabinet. Its Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions had voted 14-9 in favor of her nomination last week, with all Republicans except Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky giving Chavez-DeRemer their support. Three Democrats on the committee Sens. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire voted with the majority. During her confirmation hearing before the committee, several Republican senators grilled Chavez-DeRemer about her decision to co-sponsor legislation that would have made it easier for workers to unionize and penalized employers who stood in the way of organizing efforts. She declined to explicitly state whether she still backed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, also known as the PRO Act. Chavez-DeRemer explained she had signed on as a co-sponsor because she wanted a seat at the table to discuss important labor issues. Under further questioning, she walked back some of her support of the bill, saying that she supported state right to work laws, which allow employees to refuse to join a union in their workplace. The PRO Act did not come up for a vote during her time in Congress, but the legislation was reintroduced in the House and Senate last week. As we speak, Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies are stealing the American dream away from working families, rigging every lever of society in favor of the billionaire class, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Thats why we need the PRO Act, to empower hardworking Americans to bargain for better wages, benefits, and safer working conditions. During her time in Congress Chavez-DeRemer also co-sponsored legislation which sought to protect public-sector workers from having their Social Security benefits docked because of government pension benefits. That bill also stalled because it didnt have enough Republican support. Chavez-DeRemer walked a fine line during her confirmation hearing, attempting to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans. On the subject of whether the federal minimum wage was overdue for an increase, she said she recognized it hadnt been raised from $7.25 an hour since 2009 but that she would not want to shock the economy.Some Democratic senators and workers rights advocates have questioned how much independence Chavez-DeRemer would have as President Donald Trumps labor secretary and where her allegiance would lie in an administration that has fired thousands of federal employees. CATHY BUSSEWITZ Bussewitz is a national business reporter for The Associated Press. She writes about the workplace, job issues and wellness. twitter mailto

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, Pool, File)2025-03-11T01:02:27Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas Constitutional Court could soon rule on whether to dismiss or reinstate impeached conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol. That doesnt mean the political crisis caused by Yoons short-lived imposition of martial law is over. South Koreas already-severe political divide between conservatives and liberals will likely intensify as Seoul grapples with major foreign policy challenges like U.S. President Donald Trumps America First foreign policy platform and North Koreas increasing military cooperation with Russia.Heres what to expect about the courts likely impending verdict on Yoons Dec. 3 martial law decree that is testing South Koreas democracy. What might the court do? The Constitutional Court has been deliberating whether to formally end Yoons presidency since the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly in December voted to suspend him. Yoon is also facing a separate criminal trial after his arrest and indictment by prosecutors in January for alleged rebellion in connection with his martial law decree.If the Constitutional Court rules against him, he will be officially thrown out of office and a national election will be held for a successor within two months.If the court rules for Yoon, he would return to presidential duties. It was earlier unclear whether or how soon he might return to work, because he had been in jail until Saturday. Yoon is South Koreas first president who has been arrested while in office, and there are no clear laws or past rulings that could guarantee his immediate return to office, analysts say. But he was eventually released from prison, after a Seoul court canceled his arrest and allowed him to stand his criminal trial without being detained. After hearing 16 witnesses, the court ended arguments on Feb. 25, but it hasnt announced when it will announce a verdict. Observers say it could come as early as this week, citing past cases where the court ruled on former presidents. The biggest issue is why Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police to the parliament after declaring martial law. Yoon says he wanted to maintain order, but some top military and police officers sent to the assembly have said that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to block an assembly vote about his decree or detain his political rivals.Lawmakers eventually managed to get in and vote down his decree. No violence and no arrests of politicians actually happened. What fallout is expected? Hundreds of thousands of people had earlier rallied near the assembly, calling for Yoons ouster. But those protests have since been scaled down after Yoons impeachment. Yoon supporters have also regularly staged major rallies in Seoul and other cities to denounce Yoons impeachment.Ousting Yoon from office would prompt his supporters to ramp up protests before a presidential byelection to boost prospects for a new conservative president. Reinstating him would rekindle huge liberal demonstrations demanding Yoons resignation, according to Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. No matter what decision the Constitutional Court comes up with, South Koreans division and extremely polarized politics cant help but to deepen, Choi said.Pro-Yoon rallies turned violent in January when protesters stormed the Seoul Western District Court after it approved Yoons formal arrest warrant. The protesters attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The attack injured 17 police officers.What about Yoons rebellion trial? Investigative authorities have alleged that Yoons martial law enforcement amounted to rebellion, describing it as riots with the purpose of undermining the constitution. If hes convicted of rebellion, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.Results of Yoons criminal trial will likely be affected by the Constitutional Court ruling. The Constitutional Courts endorsement of Yoons impeachment would confirm his violation of the constitution and could help increase prospects for Yoons conviction of rebellion, said Park SungBae, a lawyer specializing in criminal law. But a rejection would mean that the Constitutional Court believed Yoons martial law decree wasnt serious enough to warrant dismissal, or maybe wasnt even illegal. Prosecutors would subsequently find it burdensome to raise Yoons alleged rebellion at the criminal trial, Park said.Prosecutors indicted Yoon only on charges of rebellion, because he has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecution. Some could question whether his criminal trial should continue if his impeachment is overturned at the Constitutional Court.Even if the Constitutional Court reinstates Yoon, Choi said that Yoons authority has already been badly hurt, so South Koreas leadership vacuum will likely continue. HYUNG-JIN KIM Hyung-jin is an Associated Press reporter in Seoul, South Korea. He reports on security, political and other general news on the Korean Peninsula. twitter mailto

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with the governor of Perm territory Dmitry Makhonin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 10, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-11T03:52:07Z At least 60 Ukrainian drones targeting the Russian capital were shot down in a massive attack on Tuesday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.At least 11 of the drones were shot down in the Ramensky and Domodedovo districts of the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, Sobyanin said. He didnt specify where the other drones were shot down, noting only that they were flying towards Moscow.Flights have been restricted in and out of two Moscow airports, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. No casualties have been reported, but the attack caused minor damage to the roof of a building in Moscow, Sobyanin said in an online statement.The attack, the biggest one targeting Moscow in months, came on the day of U.S.-Ukraine negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte speaks inside the Southorn Stadium during a thanksgiving gathering organized by Hong Kong-based Filipino workers for the former populist president in Hong Kong on March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vernon Yuen, File)2025-03-11T03:25:53Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by police at Manilas international airport Tuesday on order of the International Criminal Court in connection with a case of crime against humanity filed against him, the Philippine government said.Duterte was arrested after arriving from Hong Kong and police took him into custody on orders of the ICC, which has been investigating the massive killings that happened under the former presidents deadly crackdown against illegal drugs, President Ferdinand Marcos office said in a statement.Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity, the government statement. Hes now in the custody of authorities.The surprise arrest sparked a commotion at the airport, where lawyers and aides of Duterte loudly protested that they, along with a doctor and lawyers, were prevented from coming close to him after he was taken into police custody. This is a violation of his constitutional right, Sen. Bong Go, a close Duterte ally. told reporters. The Manila office of the International Police received an official copy of the arrest warrant from the global court, the government said. It was not immediately clear where Duterte was taken by the police. The government said the 79-year-old former leader was in good health and was examined by government doctors. The ICC began investigating drug killings under Duterte from Nov. 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, to March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global courts investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing the ICC a court of last resort didnt have jurisdiction. Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in 2023 the investigation could resume and rejected the Duterte administrations objections. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the ICC can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects in the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022 and became entangled in a bitter political dispute with the former president, has decided not to rejoin the global court. But the Marcos administration has said it would cooperate if the ICC asks international police to take Duterte into custody through a so-called Red Notice, a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily arrest a crime suspect. JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

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, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)2025-03-11T04:03:29Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukraine has key questions it wants answered as army chiefs from over 30 countries arrive Tuesday in Paris for talks on creating an international force to deter future Russian aggression once a ceasefire is established. They include troop size, location and crucially, military options in the event of a transgression.The Paris meeting is the most significant culmination so far of French and British efforts to rally nations under a so-called coalition of the willing to safeguard Ukraine by establishing a reassurance and deterrence force to dissuade Russia from invading again.The talks will include nearly all 32 countries of the NATO alliance notably without the United States as well as Commonwealth nations and Asian powers Japan and South Korea, said a French military official. Participants will be invited to spell out what their militaries might be able and willing to contribute be that troops, weapons or other assistance. Some Ukrainian officials are wary of any deal without clearly identified security guarantees. For them, a key question is how such a coalition will respond if Russia violates any future ceasefire agreement. What kind of military response would follow a large-scale offensive by Russia and how quickly will that response materialize? Western and Ukrainian officials said that, while there is plenty of thinking and resolve, there is no definitive plan for military options yet. First, they must assess what willing countries might be able to offer. The Associated Press spoke to Western and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, as well as French officials in Paris and British officials in London. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to speak openly about sensitive matters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the proposal but expressed skepticism, telling The AP in an interview in February that foreign troops alone would not be a sufficient guarantee of security for his country, and that such a plan should be backed up by weapons from the U.S. and Europe, and support for Kyiv to develop its own defense industry.Diplomats are discussing, military officials are discussing, but we still dont have real proposals, said a senior Ukrainian official about the plan. The talks are not in the first stage, we did a lot in the first stage, but we still dont have a real solid approach. What means of deterrence?As President Donald Trump has appeared to nix the idea of U.S. security guarantees and other U.S. officials said this will fall on Europe to enforce, the French-British plan looks to create a force equipped with enough military might to dissuade Russia from attacking Ukraine again. That is the crux of it, said a Western official in Kyiv.The force being envisaged by France and Britain would aim to reassure Ukraine and deter another large-scale Russian offensive after any ceasefire, a French military official told AP. 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 Western official in Kyiv, offering another idea on the table, said they could incorporate direct and immediate strikes on Russian assets in the event of a violation.Details of the contours of the proposal have emerged piecemeal in recent weeks as technical discussions have been ongoing between Western diplomatic and military officials in Ukraine and other European capitals.Political leaders have convened key summits in the past two months to establish common ground. It was discussed at a summit of more than a dozen mostly European leaders in London on March 2, and at a virtual planning meeting on March 5 called by the U.K. and attended by officials from about 20 countries.France and Britain are now casting the net even wider in their search for nations willing to back the blueprint and provide the force with teeth. The Paris talks on Tuesday will include not just NATO and European Union nations but also Asian and Oceania countries. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea will dial into the discussions remotely, the French military official said. Turkey, which has the largest army in NATO and a robust defense industry and shared stakes in the Black Sea, will attend. NATO nation Canada will also be represented.The United States NATOs most militarily powerful member was not invited because European nations want to show that they are able to shoulder a large part of the job of safeguarding Ukraine once a truce is in effect, the French military official said. The contours of a planLast month, some Western officials described a small Europe-dominated reassurance force of less than 30,000 troops, rather than an ambitious army of peacekeepers posted along the 600-mile (1,000 kilometer) front line.But other officials have said the numbers were under discussion. According to one version of the proposal, troops would be posted away from the front line at key infrastructure sites such as nuclear power plants and backed by Western air and sea power. The front line would largely be monitored remotely, with drones and other technology. Air power, including U.S. air power based outside Ukraine, perhaps in Poland or Romania, would be in reserve to deter breaches and reopen Ukrainian airspace to commercial flights.Allied navies could also play a role in the Black Sea clearing mines and patrolling to keep international waters safe.The idea is to aggregate the capabilities those countries are ready to provide in order to be able to offer security guarantees to make sure the peace deal is robust and verifiable, with the aim to get some U.S. backstop, another French official said.To get signals on the U.S. backstop, the able and willing European countries must be able to aggregate their capabilities and demands, he said.Cautious Ukrainian optimismSome Western officials cautioned that there will be several stages to a peace plan and a broader range of countries could join the coalition later on. The first step could be a one-month freeze, as proposed by Zelenskyy and European leaders, as a confidence building measure.The Ukrainian officials said they were optimistic about the coalition of the willing, conceding they have few other options with NATO off the table.I fully believe its very possible, said one senior Ukrainian official. Trump is comfortable with the idea, the idea is very positive for us, and if Europe wants to be a real player, they should do this.If they lose this opportunity, we will be in a very difficult situation, he added. ___Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Emma Burrows in London, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report. SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte arrives inside the Southorn Stadium during a thanksgiving gathering organized by Hong Kong-based Filipino workers for the former populist president in Hong Kong on Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vernon Yuen)2025-03-11T04:56:05Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) Philippine ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who left a savage legacy over his deadly anti-drugs crackdown, was arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity for the thousands killed in a war he waged against drugs in a political career spanning decades. His detention capped an international investigation into killings, which unfolded for more than a dozen years..Duterte again came under the spotlight during a weekend trip to Hong Kong when the trip sparked speculation that he may have gone into exile while on a trip to Hong Kong to evade a looming international arrest warrant. He had appeared as the main speaker on Sunday at a gathering of thousands of cheering and flag-waving Filipino expatriates, who jammed Southorn Stadium in downtown Wan Chai district.Now 79 and in poor health, Duterte campaigned for his political partys senatorial candidates ahead of the May 12 mid-term elections in the Philippines. He said he was aware the International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest over his campaign against illegal drugs that left thousands of suspects dead. He again tried to justify the brutal crackdown and the crowd cheered him on. Police arrested him as he got off the plane at Manilla International Airport based on an ICC warrant.Heres more about Duterte, his ICC case and what lies ahead for one of Asias most unorthodox leaders in his time: Why was Duterte popular at home but condemned internationally?Duterte, a former prosecutor, congressman and longtime mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao, built a political name with his expletive-laced outbursts against the elites, the dominant Roman Catholic church and the West. He was also seen as pro-poor and a populist, but he is perhaps best remembered for his brutal approach to criminality, particularly illegal drugs.Under his police-enforced crackdown in Davao at the start of the millennium, an estimated 1,000 mostly poor suspects were gunned down extrajudicially. One police officer involved in the Davao killings who later defected from Duterte told The Associated Press that up to 10,000 suspects were killed by his and other police and civilian hit squads under Duterte. The death toll in the crackdown was alarmingly high for years, gaining Duterte nicknames like the Punisher and Duterte Harry, after the Western movie police character with little regard for the law. Human rights activists said people were afraid to testify against Duterte in court.In 2016, Duterte won the presidency on an audacious but failed promise to eradicate illegal drugs and corruption within three to six months, in a country long weary of crime and corruption scandals. All of you who are into drugs, you sons of bitches, I will really kill you, Duterte told a huge crowd in a 2016 campaign stop in Manila. I have no patience, I have no middle ground. Either you kill me or I will kill you idiots.The United States, the European Union and other Western governments raised alarms over the anti-drugs campaign, prompting Duterte in 2016 to tell then-President Barack Obama you can go to hell as he threatened to break up with America. What case does Duterte face before the ICC?The ICC launched an investigation into drug killings under Duterte from Nov. 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of Davao, to March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability over the killings. The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global courts investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing the ICC a court of last resort didnt have jurisdiction. Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in July 2023 the investigation could resume and rejected the Duterte administrations objections. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the ICC can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects in the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022 and became entangled in a bitter political dispute with the former president, has decided not to rejoin the global court. But the Marcos administration has said it would cooperate if the ICC asks international police to take Duterte into custody through a so-called Red Notice, a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily arrest a crime suspect.China, which controls Hong Kong, and the Philippines do not currently belong to the ICC, but both are members of Interpol. The global court may issue a warrant for Dutertes arrest through Interpol. A prominent Philippine politician closely involved in the ICC cases against Duterte told the AP over the weekend the global court had issued a warrant for Dutertes arrest through Interpol. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the sensitive issue publicly. Neither the ICC nor Interpol have yet confirmed the issuance of an arrest warrant. What will happen to Duterte?In his rambling speech on Sunday before mostly Filipino workers in Hong Kong, Duterte again justified his deadly anti-drugs campaign, saying it safeguarded Filipino people. Duterte has denied authorizing extrajudicial killings, but he openly and repeatedly threatened to kill suspected drug dealers when he was in office.What was my sin? Duterte asked in Hong Kong. I did everything in my time so Filipinos can have a little peace and tranquility. He said he was prepared to go to jail but told the crowd in jest to make donations for the construction of a monument of him which he suggested with a gesture of his hand should show him holding a gun. Duterte had said he retired from politics after his stormy presidential term ended in 2022. But in another turnaround from his earlier remarks, he registered to run for mayor of Davao with one of his sons running with him for vice mayor in elections in May.In Davao, additional police forces were deployed at the international airport and extra checkpoints were set up in what authorities said were meant to be prepared for any contingency ahead of the mid-term elections. The forces in Davao and elsewhere could step in if Dutertes arrest were to ignite unrest, which the Marcos administration said it could deftly handle. JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

A woman reads her ballot during an early voting for Greenlandic parliamentary elections at the city hall in Nuuk, Greenland, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-03-11T05:04:27Z NUUK, Greenland (AP) The single polling station in Greenland s capital city is ready.This big Arctic island with a tiny population holds early parliamentary elections Tuesday that are being closely watched. U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear he wants to take control of the region that occupies a strategic North Atlantic location and contains rare earth minerals key to driving the global economy.Trumps overtures arent on the ballot, but they are on everyones minds.This self-governing region of Denmark is home to 56,000 people, most from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds. It has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009. Now, Greenlanders are debating the best way to ensure they control their future.I think most of us have been scared since the new year because of (Trumps) interest, Pipaluk Lynge, a member of parliament from the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit, or United Inuit party, told The Associated Press. So were really, really looking to Europe right now to see if we could establish a stronger bond with them to secure our sovereign nation. Opinion polls show most Greenlanders favor independence. Most say they dont dislike Americans, pointing to the good relations they have with the local Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Force Base, where U.S. military personnel have been stationed since 1951.But Greenlanders show no sign of wanting to become Americans. Even some of Trumps biggest fans cling to the principle that they should control their destiny. That includes Gerth Josefsen, a 53-year-old fisherman from Nuuk who sports a MAGA hat and is proud to have visited Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Florida home. Their mantra is that Greenland is open for business, but not for sale.The situation has changed because of Trump and because of the world, said Doris Jensen, representative of the social democratic Siumut party who said she has always favored independence, So we have decided in our party that we have to do (it) more quickly. Trumps attention has transformed the deeply local process of democracy. Suddenly, the presence of journalists from as far away as Japan and Croatia are reminders that these are far from normal times.After candidates final televised debate at a school auditorium in Nuuk, Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede was greeted by about 75 supporters who were almost outnumbered by photographers and cameramen.All these reporters are frightening to us, said Aviaja Sinkbaek, who works at the school. It means that something must be happening soon.She added: I wonder what Trump has up his sleeve.Politics in Greenland have a different rhythm. Debates during campaigning rarely got heated. People who became too animated were asked to step outside. Issues included building a skilled workforce and how to decorate the new airport, which opened a runway long enough to handle jumbo jets in November.On Tuesday, the capitals lone polling station at the Nuuk sports hall will have political parties pitching tents outside, with campaigners offering hot drinks and Greenlandic cake -- a raisin-laced bread served with butter -- in hopes of swaying voters. A bus will circle the city of about 20,000 people, offering rides.Unofficial election results should be available soon after polls close, but they wont be certified for weeks as ballot papers make their way to the capital from remote settlements by boat, plane and helicopter.Thats because there are no roads connecting communities across the islands 2.16 million square kilometers (836,330 square miles), which make Greenland the worlds 12th biggest country.Now the vast size has drawn outsize attention.Greenlanders know what they have. They hope the rare earth minerals will help diversify an economy where government jobs account for 40% of employment.But the government has imposed strict rules to protect the environment on the island, most of which is covered by ice year-round. The harsh atmospheric conditions raise questions about whether extracting them is commercially feasible.Hurricane-strength gusts over the weekend triggered warnings for boats and building materials to be securely tied down. As the wind howled like a revving jet engine, local people retreated to their homes to play board games.

Bottles of The Bard product are seen in the reflection of a new column still that is not yet in use at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)2025-03-11T04:54:03Z This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors. Labeling on the head of a bourbon barrel is seen near bottles of product at the Brough Brothers Distillery which is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Labeling on the head of a bourbon barrel is seen near bottles of product at the Brough Brothers Distillery which is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery, removes the cover from an empty barrel of bourbon in the under construction facility in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery, removes the cover from an empty barrel of bourbon in the under construction facility in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery that is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery that is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery holds of bottle of the companys product in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery holds of bottle of the companys product in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The bung of a bourbon barrel is seen at the Brough Brothers Distillery in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) The bung of a bourbon barrel is seen at the Brough Brothers Distillery in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery that is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Bourbon barrels with product in them are seen inside of the Brough Brothers Distillery that is under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More An employee pours a glass of The Bards product in what will be a new production area at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) An employee pours a glass of The Bards product in what will be a new production area at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery walks through the under construction facility in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Victor Yarbrough, CEO of Brough Brothers Distillery walks through the under construction facility in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More An employee pours a glass of The Bards product in what will be a new production area at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) An employee pours a glass of The Bards product in what will be a new production area at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Various vapor gauges are seen near a new column still that is not yet in use at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Various vapor gauges are seen near a new column still that is not yet in use at The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Unused corks are stored in the bottling area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Unused corks are stored in the bottling area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bottles of product are stored in crates in the bottling area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Bottles of product are stored in crates in the bottling area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bottles and decorations are seen in the tasting area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Bottles and decorations are seen in the tasting area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Victor Yarbrough, CEO, of the Brough Brothers Distillery poses for a photo near empty bourbon barrels under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Victor Yarbrough, CEO, of the Brough Brothers Distillery poses for a photo near empty bourbon barrels under construction in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More

A nun attends a Rosary prayer for Pope Francis, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-03-11T05:15:50Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis has written and spoken at length about sickness, aging and death, and personally directed that his doctors provide the fairly detailed daily updates that have punctuated his own battle with pneumonia.On Monday, they reported good news: Francis was no longer in imminent danger of death but needed to remain hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment.The 88-year-old pope is merely responding to the sometimes morbid interest in the health of popes over centuries, and is making his own the somewhat-mixed legacy of St. John Paul II. The Polish pope suffered from Parkinsons disease, and his decline was on public view for years. But the Vatican never admitted he had the disease until after he was dead.Francis candor with his own fragility is very much in keeping with a decision he made early on in his papacy to be up front about his health: He granted an unprecedented tell-all interview to an Argentine doctor who published a book in 2021 detailing Francis physical and mental health history. And last week, Francis recorded an audio message from the hospital that laid bare the weakness of his voice, and the labored, breathless effort it took for him to utter just a few words.Here are a few of Francis past musings on sickness, ageing and death and how they might affect the future of his pontificate. On growing old:Francis has long complained about the way society treats old people, saying they are part of todays consumerist throwaway culture when they are deemed no longer productive. For that reason especially, he insisted that Pope Benedict XVI continue to be part of the life of the church during his 10-year retirement.Francis views on ageing have been consistent, even as he himself has aged and become dependent on a wheelchair and walker to get around.In the 2010 book On Heaven and Earth, written alongside his friend the Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Francis denounced the cruelty that confronts elderly people. He shamed families who shut their grandparents away in nursing homes and neglect to visit them.The elderly are sources of the transmission of history, the people who give us memories, they are the memory of the people, of a nation, of the family and of the culture, religion, said Francis, who at the time was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. On death in general:In the same book, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio recalled that his grandmother Rosa, who helped raise him, had the words of an adage framed on her bedside table that stayed with him all his life: See that God sees you, see that he is watching you, see that you will die and you dont know when.He referred to the saying again in 2018 in a speech to priests, and that his grandmother had instructed him to recite it every day so you will remember that life has an end.I didnt understand much at the time, but that verse, since I was three years old, has stuck with me, he told the priests. And it helped me. The thing was kind of bleak, but it helped me. On his own health problems:The Argentine journalist and physician, Dr. Nelson Castro, revealed in his 2021 book The Health of Popes, that Francis had reached out to him within a few months of his 2013 election with a suggestion that he write a book about the history of the health of the popes, including his own.Castro was granted access to the Vatican Secret Archives to research the lives and deaths of past popes and had a sit-down interview with Francis on Feb. 19, 2019, during which the reigning pope spoke at length and in detail about his various ailments over the years: The respiratory infection that resulted in the removal of the upper lobe of his right lung, the gangrenous gallbladder he had removed when he was provincial superior of the Jesuits, the compressed vertebrae, flat feet and fatty liver he has lived with.The most noteworthy revelation was that Francis said he saw a psychiatrist weekly during six months of Argentinas military dictatorship. He had sought out help to manage his anxiety when he was trying to hide people from the military and ferry them out of Argentina. In those six months she helped me with respect to how to manage the fears of that time, he told Castro. If you can imagine what it was like to transport someone hidden in the car covered by a blanket and pass through military controls. It created an enormous tension in me. He said the therapy also helped him to maintain a sense of equilibrium in making decisions of all kinds, and that in general he believes all priests must understand human psychology.We should offer a mate to our neuroses, he said, referring to the South American tea. They are our companions for life. On his own death:As early as 2014 Francis was already assuming his papacy would be short-lived and that his own death was not far off.I realize that this is not going to last long, two or three years, and then off to the house of the Father, he told reporters in 2014 while traveling home from one of his early foreign trips, to South Korea.He told Castro later that he thought about death a lot but that it didnt scare him one bit.Francis made plans, too: He decided his tomb will be in St. Mary Major basilica, not in the Vatican, so he can be near his favorite icon of the Madonna, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome), which is located there.More recently, he has taken to speaking about upcoming events that he is pretty sure he wont be around for, and indicating who might.In 2023, speaking to reporters about the Vaticans warming relations with Vietnam, Francis concurred that the country warranted a papal visit.If I dont go, surely John XXIV will, he said chuckling, referring to a future pope who might be named for the progressive, Vatican II-era pontiff, John XXIII.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A sweeper cleans as smog envelops the area and reduces visibility in Lahore, Pakistan, Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)2025-03-11T04:06:07Z BENGALURU, India (AP) Most of the world has dirty air, with just 17% of cities globally meeting air pollution guidelines, a report Tuesday found. Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir analyzed data from 40,000 air quality monitoring stations in 138 countries and found that Chad, Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India had the dirtiest air. India had six of the nine most polluted cities with the industrial town of Byrnihat in northeastern India the worst.Experts said the real amount of air pollution might be far greater as many parts of the world lack the monitoring needed for more accurate data. In Africa, for example, there is only one monitoring station for every 3.7 million people. More air quality monitors are being set up to counter the issue, the report said. This year, report authors were able to incorporate data from 8,954 new locations and around a thousand new monitors as a result of efforts to better monitor air pollution. But last week, data monitoring for air pollution was dealt a blow when the U.S. State Department announced it would no longer make public its data from its embassies and consulates around the world. Breathing in polluted air over a long period of time can cause respiratory illness, Alzheimers disease and cancer, said Fatimah Ahamad, chief scientist and air pollution expert at Malaysia-based Sunway Centre for Planetary Health. The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution kills around 7 million people each year. Ahamad said much more needs to be done to cut air pollution levels. The WHO had earlier found that 99% of the worlds population lives in places that do not meet recommended air quality levels.If you have bad water, no water, you can tell people to wait for half an hour a day, the water will come. But if you have bad air, you cannot tell people to pause breathing, she said. Several cities like Beijing, Seoul, South Korea, and Rybnik in Poland have successfully improved their air quality through stricter regulations on pollution from vehicles, power plants and industry. Theyve also promoted cleaner energy and invested in public transportation.Another notable effort to curb severe air pollution was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreement on transboundary haze pollution. Even though its had limited success so far, ten countries in the region pledged to work together to monitor and curb pollution from large forest fires, a common occurrence in the region during dry seasons.Shweta Narayan, a campaign lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance, said many of the regions witnessing the worst air pollution are also places where planet-heating gases are released extensively through the burning of coal, oil and gas. Slashing planet-warming emissions to slow the heating up of the planet can also improve air quality, she said.Air pollution and climate crisis are two sides of the same coin, she said. ___Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123___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. SIBI ARASU Sibi reports on climate change from India and South Asia twitter mailto

South Sudan's president Salva Kiir, left, and vice-president Riek Machar, right, shake hands after meetings in Juba, South Sudan, on Oct. 20, 2019, to discuss outstanding issues to the peace deal. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)2025-03-11T08:33:14Z KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) Uganda has deployed an unknown number of troops to South Sudan in a bid to protect the fragile government of President Salva Kiir as a tense rivalry with his deputy threatens a return to civil war in the east African nation. Ugandan special forces have been deployed to Juba, the South Sudanese capital, to support the government of South Sudan against a possible rebel advance on the city, said Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, a spokesperson for the Ugandan military. We sent a force there two days ago, he said. We are not there for peacekeeping.In deploying Ugandan soldiers to Juba, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni moved as a guarantor of the peace process that keeps Kiir and Machar together in a delicate government of national unity, Kulayigye told The Associated Press Tuesday. Kiir and Museveni are allies, and Museveni has in the past intervened in the South Sudan conflict to keep Kiir in power. The deployment of Ugandan troops to South Sudan underscores rising tensions in the oil-producing country that has been plagued by political instability and violence since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. The U.S. on Sunday ordered nonemergency government personnel to leave Juba. The U.N. is warning of an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress in South Sudan. The latest tensions stem from fighting in the countrys north between government troops and a rebel militia, known as the White Army, thats widely believed to be allied with Machar. Last week a South Sudanese general was among several people killed when a United Nations helicopter on a mission to evacuate government troops from the town of Nasir, the scene of the fighting in Upper Nile state, was shot at. Earlier in the week, after the White Army overran the military garrison in Nasir, government troops surrounded Machars home in Juba and several of his allies were arrested. Deputy army chief Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, who is seen as loyal to Machar, was among those detained. Kiir had angered Machars group earlier in the year by firing officials seen as loyal to Machar, who has charged that persistent violations through unilateral decisions and decrees threaten the very existence of their peace pact.Kiir urged calm after last weeks helicopter incident, saying in a statement that his government will handle this crisis and we will remain steadfast in the path of peace.Civil war erupted in South Sudan in late 2013 when a rift between Kiir and Machar escalated into fighting along ethnic lines. Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, accused a group of soldiers loyal to Machar, an ethnic Nuer, of trying to take power by force. Machar escaped Juba, and later rebels loyal to him came close to capturing Juba but were repulsed by a combined force of South Sudanese soldiers loyal to Kiir and Ugandan special forces. More than 400,000 people were killed in the 5-year civil war that followed. With the support of regional leaders and the international community, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal in 2018 and Machar returned to Juba as South Sudans first vice president. But the political rivalry between South Sudans top two leaders with Kiir suspicious of his deputys ambitions and Machar calling Kiir a dictator remains an obstacle to lasting peace. Both men have been accused of violating multiple ceasefires.Kiir and Machar are under pressure from the U.S. and others to more quickly implement the 2018 peace deal and prepare for elections.Challenges include the governments failure to implement promised reforms such as completing the unification of the army command.Presidential elections, repeatedly postponed, are now scheduled for 2026.

Nuns attend a Rosary prayer for Pope Francis, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-03-11T08:09:03Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis woke up Tuesday to good news from his doctors: They upgraded his prognosis and say he is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of the double pneumonia that has kept him hospitalized for nearly a month in the longest and gravest threat to his 12-year papacy.The 88-year-old pope isnt out of the woods yet, however. Doctors are still cautious and have decided to keep him hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment, not to mention a period of rehabilitation he will likely need.But the doctors said he remains stable and has consolidated improvements in recent days, according to blood tests and his good response to treatment. Francis, who has chronic lung disease, is still using supplemental oxygen during the day and a ventilation mask at night to help him breathe.In an early update Tuesday, the Vatican said Francis woke up around 8 a.m. after a quiet night. The Argentine Jesuit has regularly been sleeping in while at Gemelli hospital, given his usual wakeup time at the Vatican is around 4:30 a.m. Late Monday, doctors lifted their guarded prognosis for the pope, 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, given Francis fragility and risks of other complications. 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, the Vatican statement said. 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, something he was likely to continue to do through the week.The retreat, an annual gathering that kicks off the Catholic Churchs solemn Lenten season leading to Easter, continues through Friday. The Vatican has said Francis would participate in spiritual communion with the rest of the hierarchy, from afar. Francis could see and hear the Rev. Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household, but the priests, bishops, cardinals and nuns 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.Francis, who 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 and raised questions about the future.He was still keeping his eye on things, however. The Vatican said he had been informed about the floods in his native Argentina, sent a telegram of condolences and expressed his closeness to the affected population. ___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.

Journalists wait for the arrival of delegates at Tiananmen Square before the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, China, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)2025-03-11T05:33:07Z BEIJING (AP) China wrapped up its biggest political event of the year on Tuesday leaving one question unanswered: How far will it go to try to revive economic growth in 2025?A recurring theme throughout the weeklong meeting of the nearly 3,000-member National Peoples Congress was the need to boost investment and consumer spending. How much will be done to translate words into action will only become clear in the months ahead as the ruling Communist Party juggles priorities. What is clear is that a trade war with the United States has left the outlook for the coming months uncertain.The meeting ended Tuesday in the absence of top political leader Zhao Leji, who serves as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress. Zhao, who was supposed to host the congress closing ceremony, was suffering from a respiratory infection and had to take a leave of absence, according to Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the political body. Li chaired the closing session in his place.The rubber-stamp parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the government work report, with 2,882 votes for, one vote against and one abstention. Similar near-unanimous votes were recorded to pass the budget, the Supreme Court report and an amendment to a law on deputies to the congress, among other items. At stake is the health of the worlds second largest economy, a major exporter of products to countries around the world and an important market for foreign companies from Apple to Volkswagen. A prolonged property crisis has sapped consumer and business confidence, depriving the economy of its past vitality. Now, a tariff war unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump is compounding those problems. China holds back on major stimulus for nowThe Congress opened with the announcement of an economic growth target of about 5% for this year, a level that analysts said would be difficult to achieve with the measures detailed during this years Congress.They include borrowing more money for a slew of initiatives, such as giving 300 billion yuan ($41.3 billion) in rebates to consumers who trade-in old cars and appliances for new ones. But much of the borrowing will go to supporting the housing market and local governments weighed down by debt.It is unclear how much of a jolt this budget will provide to underlying domestic demand and reflation efforts, despite the sizeable rise in the deficit, Jeremy Zook, the lead China analyst for Fitch Ratings, said in a report.The ambitious 5% growth target signaled to analysts that more stimulus may be coming. Last year, the government surprised stock markets with various moves beginning in September to push growth up to 5%, also the target in 2024.Finance Minister Lan Foan told journalists covering the Congress that the government had sufficient tools in reserve to deal with external or domestic uncertainties. Xi seeks private sector help, within limitsChinese President Xi Jinping seems bent on reinvigorating private businesses, which provide a large share of growth and jobs in the countrys state-dominated economy. Years of regulatory crackdowns have shaken the confidence of entrepreneurs and other investors. The Congress reviewed comments on a law meant to improve the environment for private enterprises by regulating aspects of market access, financing, competition and property rights protection, among others. The proposed law was not put to a vote.Xi aims to send a message to entrepreneurs, but also to local governments and regulators, that the private sectors important and its necessary, Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said ahead of the congress. Private companies will also gain access to a higher share of loans than before, and financing for private businesses raised through bond issuance will be expanded, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in his work report.The foreign minister says the US shouldnt bullyMuch rides on how far Trump pursues his trade wars with China and other countries.China has diversified its export markets in recent years, but the U.S. remains a vital trading partner. The greater fear is not the tariffs themselves but the health of the U.S. economy and demand for Chinese products, said Alicia Garcia Herrero, the chief Asia-Pacific economist for Natixis investment bank. Trump has raised tariffs on imports from China twice since taking office in January. China has shown no sign of backing down.If the American side goes further down this wrong path, we will fight to the end, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told journalists during the Congress.Asked about Trumps America First policy, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the law of the jungle would reign if all countries adopted a my country first approach.A big country should honor its international obligations and fulfill its due responsibilities, he said to journalists at the Congress. It should not put selfish interests before principles, still less wield its power to bully the weak. A Chinese buzzword makes a comebackThe government said in its annual report that it would address what it considers unproductive rat-race competition, invoking a term that was a buzzword in China five years ago among stressed-out younger workers.The government is applying the term neijuan more commonly translated as involution to companies and local governments rather than workers. A proliferation of green energy firms, for example, has led to gluts in solar panels and other equipment and fierce price wars that ultimately harm the industry.Their strategies are similar, which leads to extremely cruel competition, Chinese tech leader Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi and a delegate to the Congress, told state media.The solutions are unclear, experts say, noting that government subsidies for green energy helped create the problem by encouraging so many start-ups.___Associated Press writer Fu Ting in Washington and researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed. KEN MORITSUGU Moritsugu covers political, economic and social issues from Beijing for The Associated Press. He has also reported from New Delhi, Bangkok and Tokyo and is the APs former news director for Greater China and for Japan and the Koreas. twitter SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto

An electronic stock board shows Japan's stock prices in Tokyo Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)2025-03-11T03:47:27Z TOKYO (AP) Asian benchmarks skidded on Tuesday, as worries grew about ripple effects of President Donald Trumps tariffs on regional economies and companies. Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 sank 0.8% to 36,793.11, its lowest close in six months but up from a more than 2% loss earlier in the day. Chinas Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 3,368.41 as the countrys annual national congress prepared to wrap up its annual session with some measures to help boost the slowing economy. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 23,634.20.Australias S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.9% to 7,890.10. South Koreas Kospi declined 1.2% to 2,539.94. Heightened anxiety surrounds both existing and incoming U.S. tariffs, along with retaliatory measures from trading partners, and Chinas newly effective tariffs will continue to weigh on equities, said Anderson Alves, a trader at ActivTrades. Also Tuesday, Japan slightly lowered its October-December economic growth rate to an annual rate of 2.2%, revised from the 2.8% growth given last month, because of revisions in consumer spending and private inventories.The stock fall in Asia echoed a sell-off Monday on Wall Street, where investors are raising questions on how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to get what he wants. The S&P 500 dropped 2.7%, closing 9% below its all-time high, which was set just last month. At one point, the S&P 500 was down 3.6% and on track for its worst day since 2022. Thats when the highest inflation in generations was shredding budgets and raising worries about a possible recession that ultimately never came. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.1%, after paring an earlier loss of more than 1,100, while the Nasdaq composite skidded 4%. It was the worst day yet in a scary stretch where the S&P 500 has swung more than 1%, up or down, seven times in eight days because of Trumps on -and- off -again tariffs. The worry is that the whipsaw moves will either hurt the economy directly or create enough uncertainty to drive U.S. companies and consumers into an economy-freezing paralysis. The economy has already shown some signs 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.Trump says he wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, among other reasons hes given for tariffs. His Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has also said the economy may go through a detox period as it weans off an addiction to spending by the government. The White House is trying to limit federal spending, while also cutting the federal workforce and increasing deportations, which could hinder the job market. The U.S. job market is still showing stable hiring at the moment, 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. 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 5.1% Monday to bring its loss for the year so far to more than 20%. Its a steep drop-off from its nearly 820% surge over 2023 and 2024.Elon Musks Tesla fell 15.4% to deepen its loss for 2025 to 45%. After getting an initial post-election bump on hopes that Musks close relationship with Trump would help the electric-vehicle company, the stock has slumped on worries that its brand has become intertwined with Musk. Protests against the U.S. governments efforts to cull its workforce and other moves have targeted Tesla dealerships, for example. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 9 cents to $66.12 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 18 cents to $69.46 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 147.27 Japanese yen from 147.14 yen. The euro cost $1.0862, up from $1.0834. 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

The sun sets behind the buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)2025-03-11T10:09:33Z Israeli fire has killed four people and wounded 14 in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials said, even as a fragile ceasefire with Hamas has largely held. Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians who the army says had approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas in violation of the January truce. Israel last week suspended supplies of goods and electricity to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians as it tries to pressure the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended March 1. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefires more difficult second phase, 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.Heres the latest: Israeli official says violence in Syria amounts to ethnic cleansing Israels deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that deadly sectarian violence in neighboring Syria amounted to ethnic cleansing and said Israel was working to prevent a threat along its border from Syrias new jihadi regime.Israel is committed to preventing what we saw in Syria this weekend from happening on our border, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said at a news conference in Jerusalem.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians, most of them from ousted leader Bashar Assads Alawite community. The Associated Press could not independently verify these numbers.Since Islamist-led insurgents ousted Assad in December, Israel has voiced concern that the group could seize Syrian military assets and use them against it, or that instability could spill over into its territory.Israel has deployed troops inside a buffer zone and vowed to prevent the new Syrian forces from entering the area south of Damascus. On Tuesday, the Israeli military said its fighter jets struck military targets in southern Syria, including radars and equipment. 3 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the West BankThe Palestinian Health Ministry says three Palestinians, including a 58-year-old woman, were killed by Israeli fire in the volatile West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday.The Israeli military said troops killed two militants in an exchange of fire in Jenin and arrested 10 others. It said its forces eliminated a third militant who had fired at them during the operation and destroyed two vehicles loaded with weapons.Israel launched a large-scale military operation centered on Jenin shortly after reaching a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip in January. Troops have destroyed homes and infrastructure, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes across the northern West Bank. 4 killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials sayThe Gaza Health Ministry says four people have been killed by Israeli fire and another 14 wounded over the past 24 hours.The ministry said Tuesday that rescuers had also retrieved 32 bodies from under the rubble.The four killed included three brothers hit by a drone strike in central Gaza on Monday and a woman killed by a drone strike Tuesday in the southern city of Rafah, the ministry said.The latest deaths brought the overall Palestinian death toll from the war to 48,503. More than 110,000 people have been wounded, according to the ministry.The ministry says women and children make up most of the dead but does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its toll. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 people. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Emergency officials walk next to a bus that overturned on a highway in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, killing multiple people and injuring some. (AP Photo/Alfonso Nqunjana)2025-03-11T09:04:39Z JOHANNESBURG (AP) A bus overturned on a South African highway Tuesday and passengers were thrown out of it, killing at least 12 people and injuring 45 in Johannesburg, emergency services said.Emergency crews were trying to lift the bus back onto its wheels to see if any more victims were trapped underneath it, said William Nthladi, a spokesperson for the citys Ekurhuleni Emergency Management.On arrival we found patients lying across the road, Nthladi said. The bodies of some of the victims lay on the highway near the bus and were covered with silver blankets. Two bodies were still trapped in the wreckage, Nthladi said. Handbags, a lunch box and a water bottle were visible among the belongings.We are lost for words. This is a disaster, said Andile Mngwevu, a local city councillor who went to the scene. To see so many bodies lying around is quite saddening, and the city really feels for the families who would have expected to see their loved ones return home later today. Our hearts are extremely heavy right now. The early-morning crash happened on a highway near Johannesburgs main O.R. Tambo International Airport. The bus was lying on its side near the edge of the highway. It had been transporting people from the township or Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, officials said. Nthladi said 12 people were declared dead at the scene of the crash by paramedics. A fire engine, ambulances and pathology vans were deployed. Nthladi said he couldnt give exact details on the extent of the injuries but said they ranged from serious to critical. The driver was among those taken to the hospital.No other vehicle was involved in the crash and officials werent yet able to determine the cause. ___Associated Press video journalist Alfonso Nqunjana contributed to this report.___AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen near sunset in Washington, Oct. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)2025-03-11T11:03:17Z WASHINGTON (AP) In fewer than 500 carefully chosen and somewhat opaque words, the Supreme Court has now weighed in twice on President Donald Trumps rapid-fire efforts to remake the federal government.The justices did not give Trumps administration what it sought. The court rejected the Republican administrations position that it had the immediate power to fire the head of a watchdog office. In the other, the court slowed the effort to block the release of up to $2 billion in foreign aid.In the end, the short-term losses for the administration may mean little, and the courts actions arguably reflect less about whether Trump was right or wrong in either case.Instead, they may stand for an important, but less showy, commitment to regular order from the top of a judicial system that has emerged as a key check on Trumps power with the Republican-controlled Congress largely supportive or silent. Jack Goldsmith, a Justice Department official during President George W. Bushs administration, said there may be benefits for the court in taking small steps and delaying, which brought the court advantage by achieving emergency outcomes it wanted without having to tip its hand prematurely on the merits of the cases. Trumps unparalleled flex of presidential power seems destined for several dates at a Supreme Court that he helped shape with three appointees during his first term. But even a conservative majority that has a robust view of presidential power and granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution might balk at some of what the president wants to do.His push to end birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, for instance, would discard more than 100 years of practice and a relatively settled understanding of the 14th Amendments guarantee of citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. Challenges to the citizenship order are among more than 100 lawsuits that have been filed, and lower-court judges have hit pause on the administrations plans more than 30 times.The Supreme Courts early forays have largely not been about the substance of what the president wants to do but about the procedures used by federal judges who have the first crack at evaluating the lawfulness of the administrations actions.Trump allies, most notably his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, have railed at judges slowing his agenda, threatening impeachment and launching personal attacks. The Federal Judges Association, the largest such organization, issued a rare public statement decrying irresponsible rhetoric shrouded in disinformation that could undermine public confidence in the judiciary.Though Trump has said he would obey the courts, Vice President JD Vance, Musk and others have suggested the administration could defy a court order, which would spark a constitutional crisis. Trump has vowed to appeal decisions he doesnt like, something his administration has done quickly in several cases even as some plaintiffs question whether the government is fully following judges orders. It seemed to me that theyre playing pretty fast and loose, said Jeffrey Schmitt, a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law. They dont want to be seen as blatantly disrespecting the courts and refusing to follow their orders. They also dont want to change their behavior.The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is getting drawn into the fray in fits and starts. That could change soon, as more lawsuits reach a stage at which they can be appealed to the high court. It strikes me that the court is trying to signal that the normal processes should take place, said Kent Greenfield, a Boston College law professor who is the main author of a letter signed by roughly 1,000 scholars contending that the nation already is in a constitutional crisis as a result of Trumps actions.A progressive group, Court Accountability, said the courts more recent order, in the foreign aid freeze case, may have been reported as a setback for the administration. But a closer look at the majoritys short order reveals that the Chief Justice actually gave Trump everything he wanted, the group wrote on its blog, explaining that additional delays only make it harder for people and groups hurt by the freeze to recover.Josh Blackman, a professor at the South Texas College of Law, wrote on The Volokh Conspiracy blog that the high court has ducked urgent constitutional issues it should have decided about the extent of the presidents power. Instead, he wrote, district judges are now confident they can issue any order they wish against the executive branch, and the Supreme Court will not stop them. This is the judiciary run amok.But while they sparked online outrage in some quarters of the presidents base, the events of the past few days could be seen as validation for the justices cautious approach. On Feb. 21, a Supreme Court order temporarily kept Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, in his job despite efforts by Trump to fire him.In fact, the justices didnt rule either way on the administrations request to throw out an order in Dellingers favor. The high court held the matter in abeyance, pending further proceedings in the lower court.On Thursday, Dellinger ended his legal fight after a federal appeals court ruled against him but not before he stalled the firing of 5,000 federal workers slated for layoffs.The Supreme Court finally acted on the administrations request, hours after Dellinger dropped out, dismissing it as moot.The scale of the federal layoffs that the new administration wants to carry out could also put federal employment law in front of the high court. While experts say the justices appear inclined to allow the president more power to hire and fire agency heads, the outlook is less clear for civil service protections for other federal workers. In the foreign aid freeze case, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali narrowed his payment order to require the administration to immediately pay only those organizations that had originally filed the lawsuit. But with nearly a dozen lawsuits filed over moves to freeze federal funding abroad and at home so they can align spending with Trumps agenda, the fight over power of the purse seems bound to return to the Supreme Court. The justices have played a limited role so far, but Trumps presidency is less than two months old.___Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto

House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., holds the gavel before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-03-11T11:06:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) Republicans will face a critical test of their unity when a spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies funded through September comes up for a vote.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is teeing up the bill for a vote as soon as Tuesday despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to oppose it and risk a shutdown that would begin Saturday if lawmakers fail to act. Republicans will need overwhelming support from their members in both chambers and some help from Senate Democrats to get the bill to President Donald Trumps desk. Its one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the Republican presidents second term.The CR will pass, Johnson told reporters Monday, using Washington shorthand to describe the continuing resolution. No one wants to shut the government down. We are governing, doing the responsible thing as Republicans. Its going to be up to Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats to do the right thing. The strategy has the backing of Trump, who is calling on Republicans to remain UNITED NO DISSENT Fight for another day when the timing is right. House Republicans said the bill would trim $13 billion in non-defense spending from the levels in the 2024 budget year and increase defense spending by $6 billion, which are rather flat changes for both categories when compared with an overall topline of nearly $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending. The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on auto pilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress. Democrats are mostly worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. They are already alarmed by the administrations efforts to make major cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, run by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk. And they say the spending bill would fuel the effort. This is not a clean CR. This bill is a blank check, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. Its a blank check for Elon Musk and President Trump.Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the legislation, according to a memo released by Senate Democrats. So the administration will have more leeway to reshape priorities. President Trump has endorsed this full-year CR because he understands what is in it for him: more power over federal spending to pick winners and losers and devastate Democratic states and priorities, the memo warned. For example, the Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives.Normally, when it comes to keeping the government fully open for business, Republicans have had to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan measure that both sides can support. Thats because Republicans almost always lack the votes to pass spending bills on their own. This time, Republican leaders are pushing for a vote despite Democratic opposition. Trump is showing an ability this term to hold Republicans in line. He met with several of the House chambers most conservative members last week.Now, House Republicans who routinely vote against spending bills said they would support this one. The House Freedom Caucus, which includes many of the Houses most conservative members, issued a statement of support saying contrary to Congress longtime abuse of this legislative tool, this CR is a paradigm shift.Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is still a holdout, though. He says hell vote no.I guess deficits only matter when were in the minority, said Massie, when asked why colleagues werent listening to his concerns.Trump went after Massie on social media, calling him a GRANDSTANDER, whos too much trouble.HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him, Trump posted online. Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the continuing resolution was not the outcome he was seeking but said it was time to end the cycle of short-term extensions Congress has been passing to keep the government open. This will be the third for the current budget year.Congress does have other things to do, said Cole, of Oklahoma. Its got a lot on its plate this year.Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders have come out strongly against it. Less clear is how strongly theyll push members in competitive battleground districts to follow their lead.House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican efforts to hurt the American people, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said. Senate Democrats generally seem to be emphasizing patience at this stage, waiting to see if Republicans can muscle the bill through the House before taking a stand. No comment, said top Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York as he rushed through the hallway outside the Senate chamber.Still, several rank-and-file Democrats criticized the measure. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was stunned that Republicans were trying to jam through something that is their way or the highway.If the bill does move to the Senate later this week, support from at least eight Democratic senators will likely be needed for it to advance to passage.Itll be up to the Democrats whether they want to deliver the votes and keep the government from shutting down, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.Democrats also introduced an alternative bill Monday night funding the government through April 11. The bill could serve as a Plan B if the GOP-led effort falters.The spending bill could also have major ramifications for the District of Columbias government. City officials voiced their concerns during a news conference outside the Capitol on Monday, and district residents later in the day flooded the hearing room and surrounding hallway where lawmakers were considering debate rules for the measure.The bill would limit the district to last years funding levels, though its already spending at 2025 levels. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said the proposal would require the district to cut $1.1 billion in spending in the next six months since it has already passed a balanced budget and is midway through its fiscal year. That means, officials said, cuts to critical services such as education and public safety.The mayor also emphasized that the districts 2025 budget focused on boosting three priorities: public safety, public education and economic growth. If the Congress goes through with this action, it will work against a priority that President Trump and I share, and that is to make Washington, D.C., the best, most beautiful city in the world, Bowser said.___Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Gary Fields and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

NASA paid for access to Clearview AIs Investigator Tool + Cloud Database, according to a set of procurement documents obtained by 404 Media under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).Clearview is a controversial facial recognition company which was the first to cross the rubicon of allowing third parties to search for someones face and then link that to their online activity, such as their social media profiles. Since gaining attention at the start of the decade, its facial recognition tool, built on a massive database of scraped images, has become a staple in law enforcement and federal government agencies.Clearview AI is an OSINT [open source intelligence] platform used to aid in the identification and investigations of persons of interest, by allowing users to search its database of 50+ billion facial images sourced from public-only web sources, including news media, mugshot websites, public social media, & many other open sources, one part of the documents reads. 404 Media previously reported NASAs purchase of the technology, but previously cited procurement records only said the agency bought a Clearview AI license.It is the largest known public only database of its kind and provides high level security and auditing functions better than other platforms. Clearview AI is the only technology platform available in the U.S. that offers its unique combination of web crawling and facial recognition capabilities while being in full compliance with data privacy laws, the documents continue.Do you know anything else about Clearview AI? 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.The documents, while detailing the process of NASA buying the technology, do not explicitly say why NASA believes it needs that technology.Previously, NASA told 404 Media that that license was purchased on behalf of the agencys Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIGs are bodies that investigate fraud and waste inside the U.S. government. NASAs OIG also investigates allegations of crime, cyber-crime, fraud, abuse, and misconduct having an impact on NASA programs, personnel, and resources, according to the OIGs website. The OIG previously said it had no comment on its purchase of Clearviews technology.You can read the obtained documents here.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-03-11T14:21:34Z WASHINGTON (AP) With Elon Musk facing escalating political blowback and financial troubles, President Donald Trump said he would buy a Tesla vehicle from his company, an unusual show of support from the president to his most powerful adviser.It was the latest example of how Trump has demonstrated loyalty to Musk, who spent heavily on his comeback campaign last year and has been a key figure in his second administration. The Republican president announced early Tuesday that he was going to buy a new Tesla as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.Musks electric vehicle company is being battered by sagging sales and plunging stock prices. He continues to run the automaker as well as the social media platform X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX while also serving as Trumps adviser on overhauling and downsizing the federal government. Elon Musk is putting it on the line in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! Trump wrote on social media. But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the Worlds great automakers, and Elons baby, in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trumps plans, such as how the purchase would be handled or where the car would be kept. Presidents almost never drive for security reasons. Joe Biden got behind the wheel of an electric truck while promoting domestic manufacturing, and Barack Obama took a spin with Jerry Seinfeld in the White House driveway for a comedy show. But regardless of the practicality of Trumps purchase, his overnight announcement about buying a Tesla represented another step in how the president has blurred lines by bringing Musk into his administration.Musk is the worlds richest person, with billions of dollars in government contracts. Hes also exerting sweeping influence over Trumps administration through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and traveling frequently with the president. During an interview with the Fox Business Network on Monday, host Larry Kudlow asked Musk how are you running your other businesses while also advising Trump.With great difficulty, he said. But theres no turning back, you say? Kudlow responded.Im just here trying to make government more efficient, eliminate waste and fraud, Musk said. Tesla has recently faced protests and vandalism. Police are investigating gunshots fired at a dealership in Oregon, and fire officials are examining a blaze that destroyed four Cybertrucks at a Tesla lot in Seattle. At times, the White House has needed to play cleanup for Musk, who had never worked in public service before and has admitted that hell make mistakes along the way.For example, Musk presented inflated estimates of fraud in government benefits like Social Security on Monday, leading Democrats to argue that he was planning cuts to the popular programs. Most of the federal spending is entitlements, Musk said in the interview. Thats the big one to eliminate.The next morning, a White House account on X criticized news organizations as lying hacks and told Democrats to spare us the fake outrage about reducing benefits. He was clearly talking about the WASTE in the programs, the White House posted. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 7, 2025. (Pool via AP)2025-03-11T13:57:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump says that he will double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States northern neighbor.Trump says the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States.I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.The U.S. stock market promptly fell following the social media post. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY WITH UPDATES TO FOLLOW___After a brutal stock market selloff because of his tariff threats, President Donald Trump faces pressure on Tuesday to show he has a legitimate plan to grow the economy instead of perhaps pushing it into a recession.Trump was set to deliver an afternoon address to the Business Roundtable, a trade association of CEOs that during the 2024 campaign he wooed with the promise of lower corporate tax rates for domestic manufacturers. But his plans for tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, steel, aluminum with more to possibly come on Europe, Brazil, South Korea, pharmaceutical drugs, copper, lumber and computer chips would amount to a massive tax hike. The stock markets vote of no confidence over the past two weeks puts the president in a bind between his enthusiasm for taxing imports and his brand as a politician who understands business based on his own experiences in real estate, media and marketing. Harvard University economist Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary for the Clinton administration, on Monday put the odds of a recession at 50-50.All the emphasis on tariffs and all the ambiguity and uncertainty has both chilled demand and caused prices to go up, Summers posted on X. We are getting the worst of both worlds - concerns about inflation and an economic downturn and more uncertainty about the future and that slows everything. The investment bank Goldman Sachs revised down its growth forecast for this year to 1.7% from 2.2% previously. It modestly increased its recession probability to 20% because the White House has the option to pull back policy changes if downside risks begin to look more serious.Trump has tried to assure the public that his tariffs would cause a bit of a transition to the economy, with the taxes prodding more companies to begin the years-long process of relocating factories to the United States to avoid the tariffs. But he set off alarms in an interview broadcast on Sunday in which he didnt rule out a possible recession.I hate to predict things like that, Trump said on Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures. There is a period of transition, because what were doing is very big. Were bringing wealth back to America. Thats a big thing. And there are always periods of it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I dont I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great. The promise of great things ahead did not eliminate anxiety, with the S&P 500 stock index tumbling 2.7% on Monday in an unmistakable Trump slump that has erased the market gains that greeted his victory in November 2024. The S&P 500 index continued to fall in Tuesday morning trading.The White House after the markets closed on Monday highlighted that the tariffs were prompting companies such as Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo to consider new investments in U.S. factories.It issued a statement that Trumps combination of tariffs, deregulations and increased energy production had led industry leaders to promise to create thousands of new jobs.The significance of thousands of additional jobs was unclear, as the U.S. economy added 2.2 million jobs last year alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

A hyperbaric chamber at the Oxford Center in Brighton, Mich., is shown Feb. 8, 2024. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP, file)2025-03-11T15:24:14Z Four people have been charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was killed inside a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded at a suburban Detroit medical facility.Thomas Cooper from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother was standing next to the chamber and suffered injuries to her arms when it exploded Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center in Troy.Online court records show the centers founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson is charged with second-degree murder. The other defendants are Gary Marken, 65, and Gary Mosteller, 64, charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter; and Aleta Moffitt, 60, charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart.Arraignments were scheduled Tuesday afternoon in Troy District Court, Lt. Ben Hancock said. The case is being prosecuted by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and details were expected to be released during a late morning news conference. Raymond Cassar, Markens attorney, said the second-degree murder charge comes as a total shock to him and his client.For fairness, he is presumed innocent, Cassar said. This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and our prayers go out to the family of this little boy. I want to remind everyone that this was an accident, not an intentional act. Were going to have to leave this up to the experts to find out what was the cause of this. Moffitts lawyer, Ellen Michaels, declined to comment before Tuesdays arraignment. The Associated Press left a telephone message Tuesday morning seeking comment from Petersons attorney. An attorney was not listed for Mosteller.A voicemail was left seeking comment from an attorney representing the Oxford Center. The AP also left a message seeking comment from the center.The Oxford Center had said in an email following the explosion that a fire started inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority, the center said. Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy. We do not know why or how this happened and will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place.Hyperbaric therapy increases delivers pure oxygen to a persons body inside the pressurized chamber. Thats up to five times the amount of oxygen in a normal room, Troy Fire Lt. Keith Young said following the explosion.The presence of such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment can make it extremely combustible, Young said. We did some initial investigation. This is very uncommon, so were not sure what led up to it.

The seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, Feb. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)2025-03-11T17:33:19Z WASHINGTON (AP) Stock markets are plunging, consumers and businesses have started to sour on the economy, and economists are marking down their estimates for growth this year, with some even seeing rising odds of a recession. Its a sharp shift from just a month ago, when stock indices were at record highs and consumer sentiment was rapidly improving. Many business executives were optimistic that President Donald Trump would cut taxes and pursue deregulation, which they expected would bolster growth. Instead, Trump has aggressively implemented tariffs and tariff threats against the United States largest trading partners. On Tuesday, Trump boosted import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, from 25%, in response to Ontarios imposition of duties on electricity it sends to the United States. For now, the economy appears to be stable. Stock prices often fluctuate and sharp, temporary drops typically dont harm the economy. Most analysts still think the chances of a recession are fairly small. Goldman Sachs expects slower growth this year than last but still puts the odds of a recession at just 20%. Still, fears of a downturn are rising as investors, economists, and business executives are realizing that Trumps import taxes are much more at the forefront of his economic policy this time than his last term in the White House. Tax cuts and deregulation appear for now to be on the back-burner. During Trumps first term, tax cuts came before the import duties. Tariffs can slow the economy in a variety of ways: By rising prices for consumers, they can slow spending. Businesses may pull back on investing in new projects if they face higher costs from tariffs. And the uncertainty from Trumps on-again, off-again approach can also cause firms to delay hiring and investment. The longer the tariffs stay on, the more the risk of recession grows, says Luke Tilley, chief economist at M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust. Here are some questions and answers about recessions: Are there any signs a recession is imminent? Not really. But one development that has sparked widespread fears is a real-time economy tracker maintained by the Federal Reserves Atlanta branch. Last week it showed a sharp downshift and is now projecting that the U.S. economy will shrink at an annual rate of 2.4% in the first three months of this year. The Atlanta Feds tracker is not technically a forecast but instead a running tally that is updated as economic data is released. It turned negative after trade data showed a surge in imports in January, which likely reflected an effort by businesses to get ahead of tariffs. Most economists still expect the U.S. economy to expand in the first quarter, though at a slower pace. JPMorgan sees growth slowing to just 1% at an annual rate in the first quarter, down from 2.3% in last years fourth quarter. What else has caused the stock markets to drop?Trump helped spark the sharp market selloff Monday by refusing to rule out a recession during a Sunday interview on Fox Business News. When asked whether he expected a recession this year, Trump said, I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what were doing is very big. ... It takes a little time.Some of Trumps advisers, however, have dismissed recession concerns and have said the economy should continue to grow. Why didnt Trumps tariffs spark recession fears last time?The import taxes Trump is threatening to impose this time are far more sweeping than the duties he put in place in 2018-2019, which were mostly focused on China and a few targeted items, such as steel, aluminum, and washing machines. Now, Trump has placed 20% duties on all imports from China, has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico the United States two largest trading partners and also says the U.S. will place reciprocal tariffs on all countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports, including Europe, India, and Japan. All told, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, estimates that the average U.S. tariff on imported items could rise 10 percentage points as a result, five times the increase he imposed in his first term. And most economists say that Trumps 2018-2019 duties did cause a downturn in the manufacturing sector. The Federal Reserve ended up cutting its benchmark interest rate three times in 2019 to shore up the economy. What signals would suggest that a recession has begun? The clearest signal would be a steady rise in job losses and a surge in unemployment. Companies generally stop hiring, and sometimes lay off workers, if they see their business shrinking. The unemployment rate did tick up last month, to 4.1% from 4%, though that is still quite low. But employers added 151,000 jobs, a sign that businesses are still seeking to add workers.Many economists monitor the number of people who seek unemployment benefits each week, a gauge that indicates whether layoffs are worsening. Weekly applications for jobless aid remain quite low by historical standards. Who decides when a recession has started?Recessions are officially declared by the obscure-sounding National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.The committee considers trends in hiring. It also assesses many other data points, including gauges of income, employment, inflation-adjusted spending, retail sales and factory output. It assigns heavy weight to a measure of inflation-adjusted income that excludes government support payments like Social Security.Yet the organization typically doesnt declare a recession until well after one has begun, sometimes as long as a year afterward. ___ CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto