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

A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File)2025-03-11T16:52:43Z Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico are now up to more than 250 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes.Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus thats airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.Heres what you need to know about measles in the U.S.How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 25 new cases of measles since the end of last week, bringing Texas total to 223. Twenty-nine people in Texas are hospitalized. New Mexico health officials announced Friday that there were 30 cases in Lea County, which neighbors the West Texas communities at the epicenter of the outbreak. A school-age child died of measles in Texas last month, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult last week. Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?Measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases and there have been three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025. In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. Do you need an MMR booster?The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions. Adults with presumptive evidence of immunity generally dont need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally.A doctor can order a lab test called an MMR titer to check your levels of measles antibodies, but health experts dont always recommend this route and insurance coverage can vary. Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s dont need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from killed virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. That also includes people who dont know which type they got.What are the symptoms of measles?Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC. How can you treat measles?Theres no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.Why do vaccination rates matter?In communities with high vaccination rates above 95% diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called herd immunity. But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. Five years earlier, measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019.___AP Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. DEVI SHASTRI Shastri is a public health reporter for The Associated Press, based in Milwaukee. She covers housing access, the social safety net, medical misinformation and other topics that influence the health of communities broadly. twitter mailto

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, accompanied by investigator in charge Brice Banning, left, speaks about the recent mid-air collision of an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, at a news conference in Washington, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-03-11T18:34:26Z Federal investigators looking for the cause of the January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people recommended a ban on some helicopter flights Tuesday to improve safety.A military helicopter collided with the American Airlines jet as it was approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport over the Potomac River on Jan. 29. Among the victims were 28 members of the figure skating community.National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the board determined that the existing separation distance between planes and helicopters at Reagan National Airport is insufficient and poses an intolerable risk to aviation safety.It shouldnt take tragedy to require immediate action, she said.Under the current practice helicopters and planes can be as close as 75 feet apart from each other during landing, Homendy said. Investigators have identified 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024, she said. Following the crash, the FAA took steps to restrict helicopter flights around Reagan National Airport to ensure that planes and helicopters are no longer sharing the same airspace. Now flights are put on hold temporarily when helicopters need to pass by the airport. Investigators have said the helicopter may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and the crew may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers. The collision likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet (91 meters), as the plane descended toward the helicopter, which was well above its 200-foot (61-meter) limit for that location. The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy said last month. The helicopter was on a check flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy said. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nations capital.Within just a months time earlier this year, there were four major aviation disasters in North America, including the midair collision over the Potomac and most recently in mid-February when a Delta flight flipped and landed on its roof at Torontos Pearson Airport, injuring 21 people. Those accidents and close calls left some worried about the safety of flying even though fatal crashes are rare and the track record of U.S. airlines is remarkably sound.President Donald Trump blamed the midair collision over Washington, D.C., on what he called an obsolete air traffic control system and promised to replace it. He also faulted the helicopter for flying too high. Federal officials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at U.S. airports. Among the reasons they have cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, long shifts, intensive training and mandatory retirements. JOSH FUNK Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers all the major freight railroads including Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX, Canadian National and CPKC. Funk also covers Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and has been attending Buffetts Woodstock for Capitalists annual meeting every spring in Omaha, Nebraska, for 19 years. twitter mailto JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Smoke billows from the MV Solong cargo ship in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in England. (Dan Kitwood/Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-11T08:58:46Z LONDON (AP) British police arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of manslaughter as they searched for answers about why a cargo ship hit a tanker transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England, setting both vessels ablaze. One sailor was presumed dead in the collision, which sparked fears of significant environmental damage.Humberside Police said the 59-year-old was detained on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision. The man, who was not named by police, has not been charged. The government said the cause of the collision was being investigated, but there was no indication of foul play.U.K. officials were watching for damage to birds and sea life after jet fuel poured into the North Sea when the Portugal-registered container ship Solong broadsided the U.S.-flagged tanker MV Stena Immaculate on Monday. The collision sparked explosions and fires that burned for more than 24 hours. AP AUDIO: UK police arrest a man on suspicion of manslaughter over North Sea ship collision AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports British officials are concerned about environmental damage after a cargo ship carrying a toxic chemical hit a tanker transporting jet fuel off eastern England. Footage filmed from a helicopter on Tuesday morning showed the fire appeared to largely be out on the tanker, which had a large gash on its port side.The U.K. coast guard agency said Tuesday that the Solong was still alight. It said the cargo ship, whose front end was crushed and blackened, was drifting south, away from the tanker, and a 1 kilometer (around a mile) exclusion zone had been put in place around both ships. No sign of pollution from vessels is observed at this time, Transport minister Mike Kane told lawmakers in the House of Commons. But he cautioned that it was a fast-changing situation, and said the cargo ship is likely to sink. The government said air quality readings were normal and the risk to public health onshore was very low.The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels in the foggy North Sea.All but one of the 37 crew members from the two vessels were brought safely ashore in the port of Grimsby, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of London, with no major injuries. One crew member was missing, and the coast guards called off the search late Monday. Our working assumption is that, very sadly, the sailor is deceased. Kane said.The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch has begun gathering evidence of what caused the Solong, bound from Grangemouth, Scotland, to Rotterdam, Netherlands, to hit the stationary tanker, which was anchored about 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the English coast.The investigation will be led by the U.S. and Portugal, the countries where the vessels are flagged.The 183-meter (596-foot) 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. Its operator, U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, said that it was carrying 220,000 barrels of Jet-A1 fuel in 16 tanks, at least one of which was ruptured. The company said that it was unclear how much fuel had leaked into the sea.The owner of the Solong, shipping company Ernst Russ, said that contrary to earlier reports, the vessel wasnt carrying containers of sodium cyanide, which can produce harmful gas when combined with water. It said that four empty containers had previously contained the chemical. Our team is actively engaged with all local authorities, and we will work with cleanup teams to ensure every effort is made to mitigate further impacts on the marine environment, the company said in a statement.Greenpeace U.K. said that it was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage from the collision, which took place near busy fishing grounds and major seabird colonies.Environmentalists said that oil and chemicals posed a risk to sea life, including whales and dolphins and to birds, including puffins, gannets and guillemots that live on coastal cliffs.Tom Webb, senior lecturer in marine ecology and conservation at the University of Sheffield, said that wildlife along that stretch of coast is of immense biological, cultural and economic importance. Alex Lukyanov, who models oil spills at the University of Reading, said that the environmental impact would depend on multiple factors, including the size of the spill, weather conditions, sea currents, water waves, wind patterns and the type of oil involved.This particular incident is troubling because it appears to involve persistent oil, which breaks up slowly in water, he said. The environmental toll could be severe. JILL LAWLESS Lawless is an Associated Press reporter covering U.K. politics and more. She is based in London. twitter mailto

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones runs with the ball against the Indianapolis Colts during an NFL football game, Jan. 1, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, file)2025-03-11T15:27:01Z INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indianapolis Colts wanted someone to challenge quarterback Anthony Richardson for the starting job.They opted for Daniel Jones. The former New York Giants starter agreed Tuesday to a one-year, $14 million contract with the Colts, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because free agents cant sign until Wednesday, said Jones deal is worth up to $17.7 million.Colts general manager Chris Ballard projected this sort of move was in the works when he told reporters at the NFLs annual scouting combine Indy would have an open competition for the job.I think its good for the team, I think its good for Anthony, Ballard said in late February. Look, we drafted Anthony high, knowing it was going to take some time, and we knew there was going to be some hiccups along the way. Jones, the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 by the Giants who went 24-44-1 in New York with one playoff victory, will get a chance to prove he can still be a starter in the league. He finished last season as a backup for the Vikings after the Giants released him. Minnesota appears set to start J.J. McCarthy, who missed his rookie season with a knee injury. Sam Darnold, who led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in the regular season, agreed to a deal with Seattle on Monday.Richardson was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft but has struggled with both injuries and accuracy in his first two NFL seasons. Hes just 8-7 as a starter and last season had the lowest completion rate, 47.7%, of any starting quarterback in the NFL. In two seasons, Richardson also has 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Coach Shane Steichen also benched Richardson for two games after he took himself out of a game for one play because he was tired. Some teammates publicly criticized Richardsons decision. He was reinstated as the starter when Steichen said he saw Richardson had showed the growth Steichen was seeking. I think consistency is the biggest thing, Steichen said in February when asked where he wanted to see Richardsons biggest improvement in 2025. Weve had these conversations, myself and him, about being consistent. Hes played 15 games, he played 11 last year and did some really good things, but were just looking for the consistency, right?Even if Richardson wins the competition, though, Jones still may get an opportunity to prove himself all over again. Richardson played only four games as a rookie before suffering a season-ending injury to his throwing shoulder, which required surgery.He missed four additional games with injuries last season.It wouldnt be the first time a Colts quarterback took advantage of such a chance.Gardner Minshew nearly led the Colts to the playoffs in 2023, made the Pro Bowl roster and then signed a free agent deal with Las Vegas.Last season, the Colts brought in 39-year-old Joe Flacco, the 2023 AP Comeback Player of the Year. He went 2-4 in six starts and relieved Richardson in two other games. The Colts also had four-year veteran Sam Ehlinger on the roster and undrafted rookie Jason Bean on the practice squad in 2024. Ehlinger now is a free agent.While Ballard and Steichen each have said they believe Richardson still can fulfill the potential they saw in the strong-armed 6-foot-4, 244-pound star at Florida, they also think a real competition and a healthy offseason could expedite Richardsons learning process.I know we all want to see a finished product right now, Ballard said at the combine. I do, you do, fans do. We all do. But I think as he continues to progress, adding competition, I think, will help up everybodys game.___AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Tiger Woods flips his club after his shot to the 10th green during the final round of The Players Championship golf tournament Sunday, March 17, 2019, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)2025-03-11T20:09:33Z PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Tiger Woods announced he had a less invasive surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon on Tuesday, yet another injury that would seem likely to keep him out of the Masters and perhaps other major championships this year.Woods posted the development on his social media accounts without detailing how long he expected to be out.As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured, Woods said.He said he had minimally invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon that the doctor said went smoothly. Such surgeries involve smaller incisions, and the recovery time is quicker. But most recoveries take a month before someone can even put weight on their foot.Woods said he would focus on rehab and recovery.The Masters is April 10-13. Woods set the Masters record last year by making the cut for the 24th time in a row. But he has not competed outside of his indoor league except for 18 holes of the Seminole Pro-Member last week since missing the cut in the British Open last summer.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf DOUG FERGUSON Doug Ferguson has been the APs golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award. twitter mailto

Protesters demonstrate in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at Washington Square Park, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-03-11T20:54:57Z NEW YORK (AP) The White House complained Tuesday that Columbia University is refusing to help federal agents find people being sought as part of the governments effort to deport participants in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as the administration continued to punish the school by yanking federal research dollars.Immigration enforcement agents on Saturday arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist who played a prominent part in protests at Columbia last year. He is now facing possible deportation.President Donald Trump has vowed additional arrests. In a briefing with reporters in Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said federal authorities have been using intelligence to identify other people involved in campus demonstrations critical of Israel that the administration considered to be antisemitic and pro-Hamas. She said Columbia had been given names and was refusing to help the Department of Homeland Security to identify those individuals on campus. As the president said very strongly in his statement yesterday, he is not going to tolerate that, Leavitt said. A Columbia spokesperson didnt immediately return a message seeking comment.Last week, the Trump administration announced it was pulling $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia, accusing the school of failing to stop antisemitism on campus. As part of those cuts, the National Institutes of Health late Monday it was cutting more than $250 million in funding, which included more than 400 grants. X. Edward Guo, director of Columbias Bone Bioengineering Laboratory, posted a screenshot on X of an email he received notifying him that one of his NIH awards had been canceled. We understand this may be shocking news, the email reads.The university was wracked last spring by large demonstrations by students calling for an end to Israeli military action in Gaza and a recognition of Palestinians human rights and territorial claims. The university ultimately called in police to dismantle a protest encampment and end a student takeover of an administration building. Khalil, 30, had been a spokesperson for the protesters. He hasnt been charged with any crimes, but Leavitt said the administration had moved to deport him under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state the power to deport a non-citizen if the government has reasonable ground to believe the persons presence could have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.As of Tuesday, Khalil was being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.Civil rights groups and Khalils attorneys say the government is unconstitutionally using its immigration-control powers to stop him from speaking out. A federal judge set a hearing for Wednesday and ordered the government not to deport him in the meantime.Trump, a Republican, has suggested that some protesters support Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251. Israel responded with bombardment and other military offensives that have left over 48,000 Palestinians dead in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Israel says more than 17,000 were militants. Trump heralded Khalils arrest as the first of many to come, vowing on social media to deport students the president described as engaging in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.Immigration agents also tried to arrest another international student at Columbia, but they werent allowed into an apartment where she was, according to a union representing the student.Khalil, who finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in December, and protest leaders have said they are anti-war, not antisemitic. They note that some Jewish students and groups have joined the demonstrations. A Columbia disciplinary body recently told Khalil it was investigating whether he violated a new harassment policy by calling a school official genocidal. Leavitt didnt detail specific wrongdoing by Khalil. But she said he had organized protests that disrupted classes, harassed Jewish students and distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, fliers with the logo of Hamas.Born in Syria, Khalil is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing. It didnt address his citizenship but said his relatives have been displaced anew amid Syrias civil war and are now in other countries.Khalil is married to a U.S. citizen, who is expecting their first child.For everyone reading this, I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby, his wife, who has not been publicly identified, wrote in a statement provided by his lawyers. I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world.

Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, attends a hearing of the Health, Education, and Labor Committee on her nomination, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-03-11T22:03:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Education Department plans to lay off over 1,300 of its more than 4,000 employees as part of a reorganization thats seen as a prelude to President Donald Trumps plan to dismantle the agency.Department officials announced the cuts Tuesday, raising questions about the agencys ability to continue usual operations. The layoffs are part of a dramatic downsizing directed by Trump as he moves to reduce the footprint of the federal government. Thousands of jobs are expected to be cut across the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration and other agencies. The department is also terminating leases on buildings in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland, said Rachel Oglesby, the departments chief of staff. She said the changes would not affect the agencys Office for Civil Rights or its functions mandated by Congress, such as the distribution of federal aid to schools. The Trump administration had already been whittling the agencys staff, though buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. After Tuesdays layoffs, the Education Departments staff will sit at roughly half of its previous 4,000, Oglesby said. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told employees to brace for profound cuts in a memo issued March 3, the day she was confirmed by the Senate. She said it was the departments final mission to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agencys authority to states. The department sent an email to employees Tuesday telling them its Washington headquarters and regional offices would be closed Wednesday, with access forbidden, before reopening Thursday. The only reason given for the closures was unspecified security reasons. Trump campaigned on a promise to close the department, saying it had been overtaken by radicals, zealots and Marxists. At McMahons confirmation hearing, she acknowledged only Congress has the power to abolish the agency but said it might be due for cuts and a reorganization. Whether the cuts will be felt by Americas students as Democrats and advocates fear is yet to be seen. Already there are concerns the administrations agenda has pushed aside some of the agencys most fundamental work, including the enforcement of civil rights for students with disabilities and the management of $1.6 trillion in federal student loans.McMahon told lawmakers at her hearing that her aim is not to defund core programs, but to make them more efficient.Even before the layoffs, the Education Department was among the smallest Cabinet-level agencies. Its workforce included 3,100 people in Washington and an additional 1,100 at regional offices across the country, according to a department website.The departments workers had faced increasing pressure to quit their jobs since Trump took office, first through a deferred resignation program and then through a $25,000 buyout offer that expired March 3. The buyout offer came with a warning that there would be significant layoffs in the near future.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the 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

This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo)2025-03-12T01:37:23Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Yemens Houthi rebels warned shippers early Wednesday that any Israeli vessel traveling through nearby Mideast waters is now a target as Israel continues to block aid to the Gaza Strip. The warning from the Houthis again throws into chaos a crucial maritime waterway between Asia and Europe, threatens revenue from Egypts Suez Canal and possibly will halt aid shipments to war zones. The rebels in the past have also had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.The statement from the Houthis Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center follows a four-day deadline set by the rebels for Israel to resume aid shipments. We hope it is understood that the actions taken by the (Houthi military) ... stem from a deep sense of religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility toward the oppressed Palestinian people and aim to pressure the Israeli usurper entity to reopen the crossings to the Gaza Strip and allow the entry of aid, including food and medical supplies, the statement said. It described the warning as taking hold in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea. The statement added: Any Israeli vessel attempting to violate this ban will be subject to military targeting in the declared operational area.There was no immediate sign of an attack on ships. Israel had no immediate comment. The rebels secretive leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned Friday that attacks against Israel-linked vessels would resume within four days if Israel didnt let aid into Gaza. That deadline passed Tuesday. The rebels had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Joey Bosa (97) drinks water before an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sept. 8, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)2025-03-12T02:22:08Z ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Bills turned to Joey Bosa to fill their pass-rush needs, agreeing with him on a one-year, $12.6 million contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement wont be official until the NFLs new business year begins on Wednesday. ESPN.com first reported the deal.Bosa joins the Bills after the team cut Von Miller on Sunday to free up salary-cap space.Bosa was the NFLs defensive rookie of the year after being selected by the Chargers with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 draft out of Ohio State. He played nine seasons with the franchise before being cut last week, also for salary-cap reasons.At 29, Bosa is six years younger than Miller, though his production has dwindled because of injuries. Bosas 72 sacks are tied for 10th most since 2016, but hes combined for only 14 over the past three seasons. He played in 14 games with nine starts last season after agreeing to restructure his contract. But Bosa battled hip and back injuries, and his five sacks were his fewest in the six seasons during which he has played at least 12 games. Bosa played 14 games total in 2022 and 23 due to groin and foot injuries.Bosa should fill a starting spot opposite Greg Rousseau, who had a team-leading eight sacks last season. Rousseau is entering his fifth season and last week signed a four-year, $80 million extension that locks him in through 2028. The five-time defending AFC East champions also return edge rusher A.J. Epenesa.Buffalo moved on from Miller after three season because his salary didnt match his dip in production. The NFLs active leader in sacks was limited to six sacks last year, and had none in 2023 in being slowed after having surgery to repair a right knee injury sustained in November 2022.Buffalo finished 18th in the NFL with 39 sacks last season, down from 54 in 2023. The Bills defense doesnt often blitz, instead relying on its four-man front to apply pressure.Bosa is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and has topped 10 sacks four times, most recently with 10 1/2 in 2021. He had a career-best 12 1/2 sacks in 2017.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

This image provided by NASA shows BAE Systems employees working on NASAs SPHEREx observatory in the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 16, 2025. (NASA via AP)2025-03-12T03:12:32Z NASAs newest space telescope rocketed toward orbit Tuesday to map the entire sky like never before a sweeping look at hundreds of millions of galaxies and their shared cosmic glow since the beginning of time.SpaceX launched the Spherex observatory from California, putting it on course to fly over Earths poles. Tagging along were four suitcase-size satellites to study the sun.The $488 million Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years, and how the universe expanded so fast in its first moments.Closer to home in our own Milky Way galaxy, Spherex will hunt for water and other ingredients of life in the icy clouds between stars where new solar systems emerge.The cone-shaped Spherex at 1,110 pounds (500 kilograms) or the heft of a grand piano will take six months to map the entire sky with its infrared eyes and wide field of view. Four full-sky surveys are planned over two years, as the telescope circles the globe from pole to pole 400 miles (650 kilometers) up. Spherex wont see galaxies in exquisite detail like NASAs larger and more elaborate Hubble and Webb space telescopes, with their narrow fields of view. Instead of counting galaxies or focusing on them, Spherex will observe the total glow produced by the whole lot, including the earliest ones formed in the wake of the universe-creating Big Bang.This cosmological glow captures all light emitted over cosmic history, said the missions chief scientist Jamie Bock of the California Institute of Technology. Its a very different way of looking at the universe, enabling scientists to see what sources of light may have been missed in the past. By observing the collective glow, scientists hope to tease out the light from the earliest galaxies and learn how they came to be, Bock said. We wont see the Big Bang. But well see the aftermath from it and learn about the beginning of the universe that way, he said. The telescopes infrared detectors will be able to distinguish 102 colors invisible to the human eye, yielding the most colorful, inclusive map ever made of the cosmos. Its like looking at the universe through a set of rainbow-colored glasses, said deputy project manager Beth Fabinsky of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To keep the infrared detectors super cold minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 210 degrees Celsius) Spherex has a unique look. It sports three aluminum-honeycomb cones, one inside the other, to protect from the sun and Earths heat, resembling a 10-foot (3-meter) shield collar for an ailing dog. Besides the telescope, SpaceXs Falcon rocket provided a lift from Vandenberg Space Force Base for a quartet of NASA satellites called Punch. From their own separate polar orbit, the satellites will observe the suns corona, or outer atmosphere, and the resulting solar wind.The evening launch was delayed two weeks because of rocket and other issues.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FIL:E - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)2025-03-12T04:09:55Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump in recent days has dismissed fears of a recession and brushed aside the stock market sell-off, going so far as to say, You cant really watch the stock market. Thats a new message from a leader who has frequently pointed to the markets ups and downs as a reflection of himself and his activities, even when he was not in power. Over the last year, while President Joe Biden was in office, Trump took credit for stock market rallies as a vote of confidence in his electoral prospects. When the market dipped, he blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. And he predicted that if Democrats won the 2024 presidential election, the stock market would have crashed.A look at some of Trumps observations on the stock market over the last year:Jan. 29, 2024, on Truth SocialTHIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET BECAUSE MY POLLS AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN, AND THAT WILL DRIVE THE MARKET UP EVERYTHING ELSE IS TERRIBLE (WATCH THE MIDDLE EAST!), AND RECORD SETTING INFLATION HAS ALREADY TAKEN ITS TOLL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN March 12, 2024, on Truth Social High Interest Rates and Inflation are choking our great middle class, and ALL, our Economy is bad, and our Stock Market is rising only because Polls are strongly indicating that we will WIN the Presidential Election of 2024.April 25, 2024, on his way into court for his criminal trial in New York The stock market is, in a sense, crashing. The numbers are very bad. This is Bidenomics. Its catching up with him. Its lucky that its catching up before he leaves office as opposed to after he leaves office.May 15, 2024, on Truth SocialThank you to Scott Bessent, one of the Great Prognosticators on Wall Street! There are many people that are saying that the only reason the Stock Market is high is because I am leading in all of the Polls, and if I dont win, we will have a CRASH of similar proportions to 1929. I agree, but lets hope we dont have to worry about that! May 18, 2024, at an NRA event in Dallas, Texas:We are a nation whose stock markets continued success is contingent on MAGA winning the next election.July 16, 2024, on Truth SocialDow Jones UP 742 based on the fact that the Market expects a TRUMP WIN in November! Nice compliment Thank you!Aug. 4, 2024, on Truth SocialSTOCK MARKETS CRASHING. I TOLD YOU SO!!! KAMALA DOESNT HAVE A CLUE. BIDEN IS SOUND ASLEEP. ALL CAUSED BY INEPT U.S. LEADERSHIP!Aug. 14, 2024, at a rally in Asheville, North CarolinaIf Harris wins this election, the result will be a Kamala economic crash, a 1929-style depression. 1929. When I win the election, we will immediately begin a brand new Trump economic boom. Itll be a boom. Were going to turn this country around so fast. Many people say that they only reason the stock market is up is because people think I am going to win.Oct. 29, 2024, during a rally in Allentown, PennsylvaniaYou want to see a market crash? If we lost this election, I think the market would go down the tubes.Nov. 4, 2024, at a rally in Grand Rapids, MichiganTrump started praising Bessent and said: You know what his theory is? The stock market is the only sign of life, and its only going up because everyone thinks Trump is going to win the election. And others, too. Others, too. Im seeing it a lot. I think theyre following your lead. But I appreciate that confidence. Nov. 14, 2024, at a Mar-a-Lago gala in Florida:We had three or four of the highest -- I guess, almost every single day, we set new records in the stock market. We set new records economically.Trump, in comments directed at House Speaker Mike Johnson, then said: Mr. Speaker, I think its important, maybe you should pass a bill, you have to start my term from Nov. 5, OK, or Nov. 6, if you want. Nov. 5 because the market has gone through the roof. Enthusiasm has doubled.Dec. 12, 2024, in an interview with CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange:Trump was asked by host Jim Cramer whether its still the case that stock market indexes were a good barometer of his performance.Well, I think Ive always said, you know, to me, stock market is very all of it, you know, all of it together, its very important. Its an honor to be here in New York Stock Exchange. I sort of joked that I actually bought the building across the street because the stock exchange was here. Its a big deal. Dec. 16, 2024, during a news conference at Mar-a-LagoTrump was asked whether he is concerned that his tariffs might hurt the stock market.Make our country rich. Tariffs will make our country rich, Trump responded. Jan. 7, 2025, during a news conference at Mar-a-LagoSince my election, the stock market has set records. The S&P 500 index has broken above 6,000 points for the first time ever, never even close.Jan. 19, 2025. at a rally in Washington, D.C.Everyone is calling it the I dont want to say this. Its too braggadocious, but well say it anyway, the Trump effect. Its you. Youre the effect. Since the election, the stock market has surged, and small business optimism has soared, a record 41 points to a 39-year high. Feb. 19, 2025, at an investment conference in Miami BeachI think the stock market is going to be great. In other words, we will rapidly grow our economy by dramatically shrinking the federal government.Feb. 21, 2025, speaking to the nations governors at the White HouseWhen we turned over the reins, the stock market was higher than just previous to COVID coming in, which was an amazing achievement.March 4, 2025, in a joint address to CongressHaving sparked a North American trade war and with the S&P 500 losing all of its post-election gains, Trump said in his speech to Congress: Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and its happening and it will happen rather quickly. Therell be a little disturbance, but were OK with that. It wont be much.March 9, 2025, in a taped interview on Fox News Channels Sunday Morning FuturesAfter a week of wild swings on Wall Street over uncertainty about his tariffs, Trump was asked whether he was expecting a recession in 2025. He said: 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 added, It takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I think it should be great for us.Elsewhere in the interview, when Trump was asked about the market going down: You cant really watch the stock market. ... You cant go by that. You have to do whats right.March 9, 2025, to reporters on Air Force OneWhen asked about his hesitation during the Sunday Morning Futures interview before answering the recession question, Trump said: I tell you what, of course you hesitate. Who knows? All I know is this: Were going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and were going to become so rich youre not going to know where to spend all that money. Im telling you, you just watch.March 11, 2025, to reporters at the White HouseTrump was asked about the market after a selloff Monday and more trembling on the markets Tuesday. Markets are going to go up and theyre going to go down. We have to rebuild our country, he said.In response to a question about whether his tariffs caused the turmoil in the markets, Trump said: Biden gave us a horrible economy. He gave us horrible inflation. And I think the market was going to go very, very bad. If anything, I have a lot of very smart people, friends of mine, and great businessmen. Theyre not investing because of what Ive done.On whether he thinks there will be a recession: I dont see it at all. I think this countrys going to boom. But as I said, I can do it the easy way or the hard way. The hard way to do it is exactly what Im doing, but the results are going to be 20 times greater. Remember, Trump is always right. MICHELLE L. PRICE Price covers the White House. She previously covered the 2024 presidential campaign and politics, government and other news in New York, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. She is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, arrives for a hearing of the Health, Education, and Labor Committee on her nomination, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-03-12T04:17:44Z As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the Education Department, officials have suggested other agencies could take over its major responsibilities: civil rights enforcement to the Justice Department, perhaps; student loans to Treasury or Commerce; oversight of student disability rights to Health and Human Services.Less clear is what could happen with a more lofty part of its mission promoting equal access for students in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal.The department has cut its workforce in half, including a layoff of 1,300 people announced Tuesday. President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to eliminate the department entirely, calling it wasteful and infiltrated by leftists. Without the department, advocates worry the federal government would not look out in the same way for poor students, those still learning English, disabled students and racial and ethnic minorities. Gutting the agency that is charged to ensure equal access to education for every child is only going to create an underclass of students, said Wead James, senior director of K-12 education policy for the Center for American Progress, a think tank that advocates for racial equity policies and increased investment in public schools. The equity goal of the Education Department, which was founded in 1980, emerged partly from the anti-poverty and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The act creating the department described its mission, in part, as: To strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual. If new Education Secretary Linda McMahon really does work herself out of a job, as Trump has said he wants, the government will lose a bully pulpit to draw attention to the nations challenges and evangelize solutions, said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank that advocates for more rigorous academic standards and accountability for public schools. But Petrilli doubts that significantly paring back the department if not completely eliminating it will be noticeable in the real world.Test scores continue to show many school children are struggling academically. The latest national tests showed one-third of eighth grade students missing fundamental skills in reading, and a widening gap between the highest-performing and lower-performing students. Thats the justification McMahon and other Trump allies have used for dismantling the department and sending its funding directly to states to spend.Far from perfect, the department has offered a valuable north star for schools, said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president of EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates for educational equity. It is the role of the department to institute guardrails, investments and protections that support equal outcomes for students, he said. Trump has said he wants to return all control of schools to states. The biggest question for many is what happens to the billions of dollars sent to run public schools every year, such as Title I funding, which supports schools in communities with high concentrations of poverty. Educating low-income children, students learning English and those with disabilities often costs more because it requires specialized teaching or smaller class sizes. Districts without a strong tax base to fund schools often struggle to meet these students needs, which Congress recognized by authorizing the money. McMahon has said she wants to send the money directly to states, with fewer restrictions. Some have worried that without guardrails or federal oversight, states will use the money to advance their own priorities in ways that potentially entrench inequality. If the funding is distributed to states as block grants, its potentially a way to defund public education, said Del Pilar. Block grants allow politicians to direct funds as they see fit, and that could be away from schools, he said. Students in Mississippi, South Dakota, Arkansas, Montana and Alaska could be affected the most if rules or oversight changes for how states spend this money. During the 2021-2022 school year, these states relied on federal aid for at least 20% of school funding, according to government data. The agency traditionally has worked on behalf of disadvantaged students through its Office for Civil Rights, with an emphasis defending the rights of students with disabilities and students facing harassment tied to their skin color. Under the Trump administration, the agency has prioritized allegations of antisemitism. While some advocates worry about the pivot in priorities, some attorneys say they had given up on recommending parents pursue complaints with the Office for Civil Rights, which they perceived as understaffed and too slow to provide relief. Well before Trump was sworn in for a second term, the system moved slowly, but it has now gotten even worse, said A. Kelly Neal, a special education attorney in Macon, Georgia. Usually they were a little bit more responsive, Neal said. It may not have been the response you wanted. But at least they tried to pretend they were doing something. She said she would have no problem if the Department of Justice took on enforcement of these cases.As part of a crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the Trump administration last month ended the contract for the Equity Assistance Center-South, a technical assistance program for Southern school districts still operating under federal desegregation orders. On Tuesday, the Southern Education Foundation appealed the decision to cancel its contract to run the center.The attempt to close these such centers abdicates the governments responsibility to help school districts address educational inequities and provide greater education opportunities for our students, said Raymond Pierce, Southern Education Foundations president and chief executive officer. ___Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this report. ___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. BIANCA VZQUEZ TONESS Vzquez Toness is an Associated Press reporter who writes about the continuing impact of the pandemic on young people and their education. twitter mailto

Electoral workers prepare to count votes during parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-03-12T05:36:07Z NUUK, Greenland (AP) The center-right Demokraatit Party won the most votes in Greenlands parliamentary elections, a surprise result as the territory went to the polls in the shadow of President Donald Trumps stated goal of taking control of the island one way or another.Both Demokraatit the Democrats and the second place party, Naleraq Point of Orientation favor independence from Denmark, but they have differences on the pace of change.Demokraatits upset victory over parties that have governed the territory for years indicates that many in Greenland care just as much about healthcare, education, cultural heritage and other social policies.The unanticipated results came after huge crowds streamed into the polling station in the capital, Nuuk, throughout the day, warmed by sunny skies. Exhausted voting officials closed the polls well after the planned 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday to make sure everyone in line got a chance to cast their ballot. Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede in February called elections a bit early, saying the country needed to be united during a serious time that is unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced. Trump has been outspoken about his desire to control Greenland, telling a joint session of Congress last week that he thought the U.S. was going to get it one way or the other.Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic and has rich deposits of the rare earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology. Egedes Inuit Ataqatigiit (United Inuit) had been widely expected to win the contest, followed by Siumut two parties which had dominated Greenlands politics in recent years.A break from Denmark wasnt on the ballot, but it was on everyones mind. The island of 56,000 people has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, and the 31 lawmakers elected will shape the islands future as it debates whether the time has come to declare independence. Four of the five main parties in the race sought independence, but disagreed on when and how.Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while Demokraatit favors a more moderate pace of change.What approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if Demokraatit decides to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party, said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

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)2025-03-12T04:12:21Z NEW YORK (AP) When protests over the Israel-Hamas war took root on Columbia Universitys campus last spring, Mahmoud Khalil became a familiar, outspoken figure in a student movement that soon spread to other U.S. colleges.The international-affairs graduate student was a fixture in and around the protest encampment on Columbias Manhattan campus, serving as a spokesperson and negotiator for demonstrators who deplored Israels military campaign in Gaza and pressed the Ivy League school to cut financial ties with Israel and companies that supported the war.We want to be visible, Khalil said last April.Now that visibility has helped make him the face of President Donald Trumps drive to punish what he calls antisemitic and anti-American campus protests. In the first publicly known arrest of the crackdown, federal immigration agents took Khalil, a legal U.S. resident married to an American citizen, from his apartment Saturday and held him for potential deportation. To Trump and his administration, Khalils arrest is an opening move in a campaign to rid the country of foreign students accused of helping to make American campuses intimidating territory for Jewish students. To civil rights advocates and Khalils lawyers, his detention is an assault on free speech and an attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian views. And to some who have worked alongside the 30-year-old graduate student at the protests and elsewhere, his arrest is a startling takedown of someone with diplomatic experience that he brought to bear in the charged days of the demonstrations. You couldnt meet a kinder or nicer person to work with. Hes thoughtful. Hes intelligent. Hes conscientious, said former British diplomat Andrew Waller, a colleague of Khalils from the U.K.s Beirut-based embassy for Syria. Khalil worked there from about 2018 to 2022, running a scholarship fund and supporting the U.K.s diplomatic engagement with Syria, Waller said, noting that the role required an extensive background check.He said the two spoke a few weeks ago, and Khalil was focused on becoming a father his wife is pregnant and on strife in Syria, where he was born and raised in a Palestinian family. Khalil also expressed concern that he might be targeted by the new Trump administration, Waller said. Flight from civil war to the halls of academiaAfter finishing high school in Syria, Khalil was on track to study aviation engineering there, but his plans were upended by the countrys civil war, he wrote in a 2017 essay for an international education charity. He recounted that he left for Beirut, got a job with an education nonprofit that helps Syrian children, and went to a Lebanese university.Where would I be if, like countless other Syrian refugees before me, I could not get a scholarship, could not work, or worst of all, could not leave Syria in the depths of the ongoing war? he wondered in the essay.Khalil earned a bachelors degree in computer science and decided to continue his studies at Columbia, according to an online bio for a 2020 international development conference where he was listed as a speaker. Then, last spring, protests over the war in Gaza erupted at Columbia, where demonstrators set up tents in the middle of campus and took over an administration building. A wave of similar demonstrations spread to some other colleges around the country.Khalil served as a prominent student mediator on behalf of pro-Palestinian activists and Muslim students concerned for their safety.But images of his maskless face at protests, along with his willingness to share his name with reporters, quickly made him a target among those who saw antisemitism in the demonstrations.Im an easy scapegoat for them to say, Look at this Palestinian who never wore a mask and was active in the school protests, Khalil told an Associated Press reporter in an interview last week.The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association, meanwhile, has called Khalil a ringleader of the chaos on campus. A new Columbia disciplinary committee has investigated various allegations against Khalil, most recently whether he violated a university anti-harassment policy by calling a dean genocidal. Targeted by the Trump administrationKhalil is now being held in a federal detention complex in Louisiana.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Khalil should be deported because he organized protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda. The U.S. government has designated Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, as a terrorist organization.Those who protested alongside Khalil dispute that account.If someone distributed something at a protest that has nothing to do with the group, they attribute it to him for having his face at the action, said Maryan Alwan, a Columbia University senior. She described Khalil as mild-mannered and gifted at navigating internal disputes among student protesters. Outside of activism, she said he enjoyed cooking and playing drums in Columbias Arab Music Ensemble.Columbia protest leaders have insisted theyre anti-war, not antisemitic, and the demonstrations include some Jewish students and groups.Still, a Columbia task force on antisemitism found serious and pervasive problems with the climate on campus. The group said in a report that during the demonstrations, Jews and Israelis had been verbally abused, humiliated in classes and ostracized from student groups.Khalil finished his masters degree studies in December and has been scheduled to receive his degree in May, his lawyers said in a court filing.Meanwhile, he and his wife are expecting their first child. She is eight months pregnant, according to his attorneys. While not giving her name, they released a statement in which she implored the public to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and father-to-be. I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room, she wrote. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen addresses European Parliament members on new plans to ramp up defense spending agreed at last week's summit, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)2025-03-12T06:13:54Z BRUSSELS (AP) The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action after the Trump administration officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, with duties on industrial and agricultural products that will go into effect April 1.As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros ($28 billion), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 member countries.We will always remain open to negotiation. We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs, von der Leyen said.The commission also said that steel and aluminum products would be hit in return, but also textiles, leather goods, home appliances, house tools plastics and wood. Agricultural products will also be impacted including poultry, beef, some seafood, nuts, eggs, sugar and vegetables. President Donald Trump said his taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs, but von der Leyen said: Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy, she said. European steel companies have been bracing for losses.It will further worsen the situation of the European steel industry, exacerbating an already dire market environment, Henrik Adam, president of the Eurofer European steel association, said last month.He said the EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports. The United States is the second biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of the total EU steel exports.Losing a significant part of these exports cannot be compensated by EU exports to other markets, Adam said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)2025-03-12T05:54:31Z QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Pakistani security forces exchanged gunfire on Wednesday with hundreds of separatist militants as they sought to free about 300 hostages aboard a train in the countrys rugged southwest, officials said.Security forces were being cautious as officials said the hostages were surrounded by militants wearing vests loaded with explosives.At least 27 militants have been killed and security forces rescued more than 150 of the 450 people who were on the train when it was hijacked on Tuesday as it entered a tunnel in Bolan, a district in restive Balochistan province.The Baloch Liberation Army group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was open to negotiations to swap prisoners. So far, there has been no response or any indication from the government to the offer from the insurgents.Authorities said the rescued included women and children, while an undisclosed number of security personnel have been killed, according to three security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump walks from the Oval Office to depart on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)2025-03-12T04:02:57Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Wednesday, promising that the taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when his seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown.Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. The U.S. president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging reciprocal rates starting on April 2.Trump told CEOs in the Business Roundtable on Tuesday that the tariffs were causing companies to invest in U.S. factories. The 8% drop in the S&P 500 stock index over the past month on fears of deteriorating growth appears unlikely to dissuade him, as Trump argued that higher tariff rates would be more effective at bringing back factories. The higher it goes, the more likely it is theyre going to build, Trump told the group. The biggest win is if they move into our country and produce jobs. Thats a bigger win than the tariffs themselves, but the tariffs are going to be throwing off a lot of money to this country. Trump on Tuesday threatened to put tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum from Canada, but he chose to stay with the 25% rate after the province of Ontario suspended plans to put a surcharge on electricity sold to Michigan, Minnesota and New York. In many ways, the president is addressing what he perceives as unfinished business from his first term. Trump meaningfully increased tariffs, but the revenues collected by the federal government were too small to significantly increase overall inflationary pressures. Trumps 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum were eroded by exemptions.After Canada and Mexico agreed to his demand for a revamped North American trade deal in 2020, they avoided the import taxes on the metals. Other U.S. trading partners had import quotas supplant the tariffs. And the first Trump administration also allowed U.S. companies to request exemptions from the tariffs if, for instance, they couldnt find the steel they needed from domestic producers.While Trumps tariffs could help steel and aluminum plants in the United States, they could raise prices for the manufacturers that use the metals as raw materials.Moreover, economists have found, the gains to the steel and aluminum industries were more than offset by the cost they imposed on downstream manufacturers that use their products. At these downstream companies, production fell by nearly $3.5 billion because of the tariffs in 2021, a loss that exceeded the $2.3 billion uptick in production that year by aluminum producers and steelmakers, the U.S. International Trade Commission found in 2023.Trump sees the tariffs as leading to more domestic factories, and the White House has noted that Volvo, Volkswagen and Honda are all exploring an increase to their U.S. footprint. But the prospect of higher prices, fewer sales and lower profits might cause some companies to refrain from investing in new facilities.If youre an executive in the boardroom, are you really going to tell your board its the time to expand that assembly line? said John Murphy, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Soldiers of Ukraine's 5th brigade hold a poster thanking for the US for support during a flashmob at the front line near Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)2025-03-12T10:22:26Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyivs fight against Russias invasion and Ukrainian officials signaled they were open to a 30-day ceasefire.The Kremlin didnt comment on the agreement announced Tuesday between the U.S. and Ukraine on the provision of further military support, including intelligence sharing, and the possibility of a ceasefire that Washington backs.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that its important not to get ahead of the question of responding to the 30-day ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting detailed information about it from the U.S. and suggested Russia must get that before it can take a position.The Russian missiles killed four Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 24 on a ship docked at the southern port of Odesa late Tuesday, where it was loading Ukrainian wheat for Algeria, Infrastructure Minister Oleksii Kuleba said. Another missile killed a woman in Kryvih Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyys hometown in central Ukraine, authorities said. The American help is vital for Ukraines shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russias bigger military force at bay. But for Moscow, more American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving its war aims and likely will be a tough sell in Moscow for Washingtons peace efforts. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics center, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced Wednesday.The deliveries go through a NATO and U.S. hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow thats has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine about 70 kilometers (45 miles) away.U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the three-year war and pressured Zelenskyy to enter talks. The suspension of U.S. assistance came days after Zelenskyy and Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesdays talks in Saudi Arabia, said that Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and hasnt accepted any concessions.Were going to tell (the Russians) this is whats on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now itll be up to them to say yes or no, Rubio told reporters after the talks. If they say no, then well unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.French President Emmanuel Macron welcome the U.S.-Ukraine agreement and said on X that the ball is now clearly in Russias court. Russian officials are wary about the U.S.-Ukraine talksRussian lawmakers signaled wariness about the prospect of a ceasefire.Russia is advancing (on the battlefield), so it will be different with Russia, senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev noted in a post on the messaging app Telegram.Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American, Kosachev wrote.Lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet told the state news agency Tass that Russia is not interested in continuing the war but at the same time Moscow will not tolerate being strung along.The outcome of the Saudi Arabia talks puts the ball back in Russias court and places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire, John Hardie, a defense analyst and deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute.Moscow will present itself as cooperative, but may push for agreement on basic principles for a final peace deal before agreeing to a ceasefire, he said. Russia may also insist on barring Western military aid to Ukraine during the ceasefire and on Ukraine holding elections ahead of a long-term peace agreement.Russias foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, reported Wednesday morning that the services chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke on the phone with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Tuesday.The two discussed cooperation in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations, according to a statement by the SVR.___Stefanie Dazio in Berlin, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine 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

A general view of the exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)2025-03-12T10:16:35Z THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday to face an International Criminal Court charge of crimes against humanity linked to the deadly crackdown on drugs he oversaw while in office.The 79-year-old Dutertes arrest Tuesday on a warrant issued by the global court was hailed by human rights groups and families of victims as a major breakthrough and step toward ending impunity. A general view of the exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) A general view of the exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Flight tracking data showed that after leaving Manila, the jet carrying Duterte waited for hours in Dubai before taking off again, apparently headed for Rotterdam The Hague Airport. The court didnt immediately comment on the flight, but Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that police arrested Duterte when he returned from a trip to Hong Kong and sent him to the ICC. A plane carrying former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague takes off in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A plane carrying former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague takes off in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte rush to the fence of the Villamor Air Base in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday March 11, 2025, upon learning that the plane taking the ex-president to The Hague has left the airport. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon) Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte rush to the fence of the Villamor Air Base in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday March 11, 2025, upon learning that the plane taking the ex-president to The Hague has left the airport. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More When he arrives in the Netherlands, he will be taken to the courts detention unit inside a Dutch prison complex near the North Sea coast. A general view of one of the entrances to the International Criminal Court detention center near The Hague in Scheveningen, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) A general view of one of the entrances to the International Criminal Court detention center near The Hague in Scheveningen, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A general view of one of the entrances to the International Criminal Court detention center near The Hague in Scheveningen, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) A general view of one of the entrances to the International Criminal Court detention center near The Hague in Scheveningen, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Rights groups and families of victims welcomed the arrest.This is a monumental and long-overdue step for justice for thousands of victims and their families, said Jerrie Abella of Amnesty International. It is therefore a hopeful sign for them, as well, in the Philippines and beyond, as it shows that suspected perpetrators of the worst crimes, including government leaders, will face justice wherever they are in the world, Abella added. Emily Soriano, the mother of a victim of the crackdowns, said she wanted more officials to face justice.Duterte is lucky he has due process, but our children who were killed did not have due process, she said. Llore Pasco wipes tears behind pictures of her sons who were victims of alleged extra-judicial killings as she attends a press conference a day after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Llore Pasco wipes tears behind pictures of her sons who were victims of alleged extra-judicial killings as she attends a press conference a day after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Relatives hold pictures of victims of alleged extra-judicial killings during a press conference a day after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Relatives hold pictures of victims of alleged extra-judicial killings during a press conference a day after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Relatives hold pictures of victims of alleged extra-judicial killings in front of a picture arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with a sign that says "Jail Duterte" during a press conference in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Relatives hold pictures of victims of alleged extra-judicial killings in front of a picture arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with a sign that says "Jail Duterte" during a press conference in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Dutertes supporters, however, criticized his arrest as illegal and sought to have him returned home. Small groups of Duterte supporters and people who backed his arrest demonstrated on Wednesday outside the court before his arrival.The ICC investigationThe ICC opened an inquiry in 2021 into mass killings linked to the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.Estimates of the death toll during Dutertes presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported and up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.ICC judges who looked at prosecution evidence supporting their request for his arrest found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder as an indirect co-perpetrator for having allegedly overseen the killings when he was mayor of Davao and later president of the Philippines, according to his warrant. What happens next?Within days of being taken into custody at the courts detention center, Duterte will be taken to court for a hearing. Judges will confirm his identity, check that he understands the charges against him and set a date for a hearing known as a confirmation of charges at which a panel of pretrial judges will assess if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to merit sending him to a full trial.Duterte could challenge the courts jurisdiction and the admissibility of the case. While the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the alleged crimes happened before Manila withdrew from the court.That process will likely take months and if the case progresses to trial it could take years. Duterte will be able to apply for provisional release from the courts detention center while he waits, though its up to judges to decide whether to grant such a request.Dutertes legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, told reporters in Manila that the Philippine Supreme Court can compel the government to bring back the person arrested and detained without probable cause and compel the government bring him before the court and to explain to them why they (government) did what they did. Salvador Panelo, former presidential spokesman and chief presidential legal counsel of Philippine former President Rodrigo Duterte, shows a copy of the Habeas Corpus petition before filing it at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 11, 2025 in Manila, Philippines (AP Photo/Noel Celis) Salvador Panelo, former presidential spokesman and chief presidential legal counsel of Philippine former President Rodrigo Duterte, shows a copy of the Habeas Corpus petition before filing it at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 11, 2025 in Manila, Philippines (AP Photo/Noel Celis) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Marcos said Tuesday that Dutertes arrest was proper and correct and not an act of political persecution. Dutertes daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, criticized the Marcos administration for surrendering her father to a foreign court which currently has no jurisdiction to the Philippines.The Philippines is no longer a member state of the ICCDuterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, 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 that the ICC a court of last resort therefore didnt have jurisdiction.Appeals judges at the ICC rejected those arguments and ruled in 2023 that the investigation could resume.The ICC judges who issued the warrant also said that the alleged crimes fall within the courts jurisdiction. They said Dutertes arrest was necessary because of what they called the risk of interference with the investigations and the security of witnesses and victims. ___Aleksandar Furtula in The Hague, Joeal Calupitan and Basilio Sepe in Manila, Philippines, and Jerry Harmer in Bangkok, contributed to this report.

A shopper checks eggs before he purchases at a grocery store in Glenview, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)2025-03-12T07:01:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. inflation may have cooled a bit last month but it could be a short reprieve as President Donald Trumps tariffs are widely expected to keep prices elevated in the coming months. On Wednesday, the Labor Department is expected to report that in February the consumer price index rose 2.9% from a year ago, according to economists surveyed by FactSet. That would be down slightly from 3% in January and the first drop in five months. It fell to a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, are also expected to slip to 3.2%, down from 3.3% in January. Economists watch core prices closely because they often provide a better read on where inflation is headed. Yet both measures have largely become stuck at the levels reached last summer, when a retreat in inflation largely stalled after dropping steeply its peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Stubborn inflation would create political problems for Trump, who promised as a candidate to knock the hell out of inflation. And with Trump imposing or threatening to impose a wide range of tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, China, Europe and India, most economists forecast price growth will likely remain elevated this year. Theres no real progress toward that 2% goal, Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade Americas, a financial services firm, said. I suspect that youre going to start seeing inflation numbers go the other way. Wednesdays update is unlikely to move the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve much closer toward cutting their key interest rate, which they reduced three times last year amid signs that inflation was fading. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in January that rate cuts were on hold and another reduction is highly unlikely at the Feds meeting next week.On a monthly basis, both headline and core prices are projected to have risen 0.3% in February from the previous month. That would be an improvement from January, when overall inflation spiked 0.5%, but increases at that pace are still too large to get inflation on a yearly basis back to the Feds 2% target. The biggest wild card for the Fed and the economy as a whole are the tariffs and Trumps threats to impose more. Since his inauguration in January, Trump has imposed 20% taxes on all imports from China, and 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico, though most of those tariffs have been suspended for a month. On Wednesday, the administration increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, promising that the taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when Trumps seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown. The European Union responded in kind almost immediately announcing retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products.Trump has promised reciprocal duties on countries that tariff exports from the United States, including Europe, India, and South Korea on April 2. The duties have roiled financial markets and could sharply slow the economy, with some analysts raising the odds of a recession. Economists at the Yale Budget Lab calculate that the reciprocal tariffs, by themselves, could boost the average U.S. tariff rate to its highest level since 1937, and cost the average household as much as $3,400. Aside from the tariffs, prices some things, such as eggs, are expected to have gotten even more expensive last month, pushing inflation higher. Avian flu has forced farmers to slaughter more than 160 million birds, including 30 million in January. Average egg prices hit $4.95 a dozen nationwide in February, a record high. The price had consistently been below $2 a dozen for decades before the disease struck. Economists will also closely watch the prices of new and used cars, auto insurance, airline tickets, and rents, among other items, to get a broader sense of where inflation may be headed. Gas prices are expected to have fallen last month. Tariffs, according to economics textbooks, are generally expected to result in just a one-time increase in prices, but not necessarily ongoing inflation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made that case in remarks at the Economic Club of New York last week, while acknowledging that prices might be higher. We could get a one-time price adjustment, he said. Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream.But Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted on Friday that in some cases tariffs could worsen inflation for example, if they were enacted as a series of price hikes that caused consumers to expect inflation to move higher. What really does matter is what is happening with long-term inflation expectations, Powell added. Powell noted that shorter-term expectations for rising prices have risen, partly out of concern about tariffs, though longer-term expectations have been stable.Even the perception that prices will rise can ignite inflation if if households and businesses alter their behavior ahead of time to offset those price increases. Some companies may begin to charge customers if they expect their own costs to increase, for example. ____AP Writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman in Washington, and Lorne Cook and David McHugh in Europe, contributed to this report. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

Northwestern freshman Kat Righeimer, one of six women from Kobe Bryants Mamba Academy going through their first experience with college basketball, warms up with teammates during NCAA college basketball practice in Evanston, Ill., Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)2025-03-12T10:00:08Z The AP Top 25 womens college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season!Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) On the fifth anniversary of that day when the helicopter crashed, and she lost Coach Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and so much more Kat Righeimer became a scholarship player at Northwestern.The former walk-on, who played for Kobe Bryant with the Mamba Academy, soaked in the moment with her jubilant teammates. The timing, she said, felt like a sign.I look at it as like a gift from heaven, kind of from them, Righeimer said. Just like them telling me keep going, keep pushing.Keep working. Just like Kobe would have wanted.Righeimer, 18, is one of six women from the Mamba Academy going through their first experience with college basketball. A proud group that learned so much from Bryant always Coach Bryant to them forever connected by a club team and a tragedy that shook their world.They are spread throughout the country and right beside each other through text messages of love and support. Emily Eadie is at Princeton, and Annika Jiwani plays for Dartmouth. Annabelle Spotts just finished her first season at the University of Chicago. Mackenly Randolph is at Louisville, and Zoie Lamkin plays for Orange Coast College back home in Southern California. What lessons they learned from KobeAs they moved through their first season of college ball, their conversations with Kobe were a frequent companion.For Lamkin, it was all about repetition. Finish your breakfast, thats what Eadie remembers. For Jiwani, it was the value of mistakes. Righeimer and Spotts focused on the mirror, and improving every day.At the end of the day, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, did I get better today? said Spotts, who is interested in working in sports after graduation, possibly on the business side. And if not, fix that tomorrow. ... Thats one thing that always sticks with me.Bryant wanted Eadie to clean up her opportunities inside. When the 6-foot forward misses a layup or an easy shot with the Tigers, she often returns to what he used to say. In terms of finishing layups, because that was just something easy, she said, he was just like always just you cant leave them on the table. You cant leave your eggs and bacon on the table. ... Always got to finish your breakfast.When Lamkin first joined the Mamba team, she wasnt very good with her left hand. So Bryant suggested brushing her teeth and turning on the TV with her left hand.He was like, If youre struggling with something ... just continue to practice on it, said Lamkin, a 5-foot-7 guard who is averaging 13.3 points this season.Jiwani had the reverse experience. The 6-foot forward was a lefty growing up, so Bryant would tape her left hand behind her back and have her do everything with her right hand. Jiwani remembers Bryant staying after practice to work with her.She also remembers the value he placed on mistakes as growth opportunities.Thats just ... that doesnt even apply to basketball. I think that applies to life for me, said Jiwani, who hopes to become a doctor someday. As college players they have even more appreciation for KobeAll the players fondly remember the two sides of Gigi a fierce competitor on the court, and a lighthearted friend off it.She was very bubbly, I can hear her laugh in my head, Righeimer said. She was always smiling, always cracking jokes. But on the court, its like a light switch. She becomes like a beast.Eadie called Gigi just the hardest worker.A lot like her father.The players described Kobe Bryant as extremely detailed, focusing on the small things. He rarely raised his voice. He just wanted to see us figure it out on our own, Lamkin said.Righeimer said she doesnt think they touched a basketball at her first practice with Bryant. They just played defense and ran the whole time. He taught me to play my game, remember what I do best, Mackenly Randolph said.The icon part of Bryants life all the basketball accolades and worldwide notoriety that rarely surfaced with the players. For them, he was just coach.It never felt like he was this huge celebrity. But when we would go to these tournaments and all these people would come up and crowd our court, thats when it felt real, Eadie said. I was like, Wow, this is a big thing. Its only now, when they look back as college players, that they have a better understanding of what they experienced.Throughout the whole time that I knew him he was such a global figure, such an influence on the whole game of basketball and everyone who played it, Spotts said. I feel like I couldnt fully appreciate and understand it at such a young age. Where now I could have. It was just kind of a surreal thing the whole time. What they remember about being told of the crash On Jan. 26, 2020, a helicopter carrying Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna along with six other passengers and a pilot crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles. They were traveling to a tournament at Bryants Mamba Sports Academy. Alyssa Altobelli, 14, and Payton Chester, 13 two more Mamba teammates were among the victims. Assistant coach Christina Mauser, Altobellis parents, Keri and John, and Paytons mother, Sarah, also were on the flight.At the academy that day, as the players waited for the rest of the team to arrive, there was a growing unease.Spotts father, Jon, got everyone together in a meeting room. The helicopter had crashed, he said. There may have been some fatalities, he continued a word that stayed with the players long after that moment, an almost incomprehensible possibility when connected to their friends.Fatalities.I was only, I think 13 at the time, said Lamkin, who is interested in becoming a nurse after college. I didnt realize that meant like people might have, you know, passed away. And so I asked my mom, what does that mean? And she told me, and I just remember everybody just like breaking down, crying.Fatalities.I grew up going to Catholic school, Righeimer said. I went to church twice a week, and I prayed a lot, but I dont remember ever praying as hard as I did that moment. And I remember telling my dad, What does this mean? What are we going to do?The Mamba Academy team was a group of All-Stars in a local league before it turned into the club team. There were players added along the way, often involving a somewhat dazing encounter with Bryant.The Mamba parents became friends, too. After the helicopter went down, they had to face their own profound grief alongside their children.I think it was bigger than it being Kobe Bryant for our team and for my family, Annika Jiwani said.___Feinberg reported from New Jersey.___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP womens college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball JAY COHEN Cohen is a national baseball writer and an editor on the APs sports desk. Based in Chicago, he also covers hockey, football and basketball, along with international water polo. twitter facebook

A contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and many other U.S. government agencies has developed a tool that lets analysts more easily pull a target individuals publicly available data from a wide array of sites, social networks, apps, and services across the web at once, including Bluesky, OnlyFans, and various Meta platforms, according to a leaked list of the sites obtained by 404 Media. In all the list names more than 200 sites that the contractor, called ShadowDragon, pulls data from and makes available to its government clients, allowing them to map out a persons activity, movements, and relationships.The news comes after ICE detained Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Columbia University protester and green card holding legal permanent resident of the U.S., on Saturday with the intention of deporting him. It also comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly launching an AI-fueled Catch and Revoke effort to scan the social media accounts for tens of thousands of student visa holders social media accounts, looking for what Axios reported as foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups.There is no indication ShadowDragon specifically, or its data tool SocialNet, is part of that program. But ShadowDragon says in marketing material its tools can be used to monitor protests, and claims it found protests around Union Station in Washington DC during a 2023 visit by Benjamin Netanyahu. Daniel Clemens, ShadowDragons CEO, previously said on a podcast that protesters should not be surprised when people are going to investigate you because you made their life difficult.Multiple tech companies and websites whose public data ShadowDragon pulls tell 404 Media the contractor may be violating their terms of use around scraping.The long list of sites and services that ShadowDragons SocialNet tool accesses is a reminder of just how much data is accessible and collected from and about us to provide surveillance services to the government and others, Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director the Electronic Privacy Information Centers (EPIC) Project on Surveillance Oversight, told 404 Media in an email. SocialNet is just one example of the unchecked surveillance ecosystem that lacks any meaningful transparency, oversight, or accountability that allows the government to circumvent Constitutional and statutory protections to access sensitive personal data, he added.Do you work for ICE or one of its contractors? 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.Marketing material available online says SocialNet can plot identities and find connections between them; create a map of suspicious activity and follow a suspects trail, and follow the breadcrumbs of your targets digital life and find hidden correlations in your research. In one promotional video, ShadowDragon says users can enter an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target. We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.The leaked list of targeted sites and services include ones from major tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok. It also includes communication tools like Discord and WhatsApp; activity- or hobby-focused sites like AllTrails, BookCrossing, Chess.com, and cigar review site Cigar Dojo; payment services like Cash App, BuyMeACoffee, and PayPal; sex worker sites OnlyFans and JustForFans; and social networks Bluesky and Telegram. Even relatively obscure social networks are included in the list, such as BeReal.ShadowDragon also pulls data from some sites geared towards specific demographics and highly personal interests, such as the social network for Black people called Black Planet or the fetish site FetLife, which 404 Media previously reported.The list also includes Roblox. In a recent video on ShadowDragons YouTube channel, staff members discussed how children are groomed on Roblox and other platforms or apps geared towards children.What sort of data is returned when a ShadowDragon customer queries one of these sites depends on each individual service, with some likely returning much more than others.404 Media has uploaded the list here.According to U.S. government procurement databases, ShadowDragons clients include the State Department, the Army, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the DEA, and, especially, ICE. ICE continued its contract with ShadowDragon as recently as February 24, with the procurement record saying the deal included access to SocialNet.An ICE statement of work that EPIC obtained through the Freedom of Information Act describes why ICE, and specifically Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), sought out SocialNet in one instance.ICE analysts conduct research on readily available public domain open source information that spans beyond US domain websites and require ICE to effectively track and investigate known criminal elements and locations to mitigate the flow of illegal goods and personnel into the United States borders and territories, the document reads. SocialNet data is a data subscriptions service that maps social media connections to uncover aliases, associates and gather inferences of lifestyle and physical location of threats. SocialNet performs federated searches and visualizes social media connections to uncover identities, correlations, networks of associates quickly.HSI INTEL must remain diligent in seeking new and improved means of combatting the challenges that face our Law Enforcers and Intelligence Analysts for identifying, tracking, investigating and apprehending criminal entities. SocialNet data adds to HSI INTEL's ability to successfully meet those mission goals and their public responsibility by leveraging capabilities with proven results for both cyber or physical criminal investigations and social media forensics, it continues. In this case, the document indicates HSI sought to use SocialNet through Maltego, a commonly-used piece of open source intelligence software.404 Media previously reported that some of ICE moved to SocialNet because it was retiring the use of another tool called Babel X.A screenshot of a ShadowDragon video on Vimeo.404 Media contacted numerous companies named in the leaked list of services that ShadowDragon pulls data from. Pinterest pointed to its terms of service, which say users will not scrape, collect, search, copy or otherwise access data or content from Pinterest in unauthorized ways. Cash App also pointed to its own terms of service which bans the monitoring of any material on any Cash App system, both manually and with automated means.Responding to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads being included in the list, Meta said in a statement Unauthorized scraping is against our terms, and we routinely investigate and take action to enforce our terms against unauthorized scrapers when we find they have violated our policies.Snap said any scraping violates its terms of service.LinkedIn said in a statement We are constantly testing new ways to ensure that control of member data remains in our members' hands. Unauthorized scraping is not permitted, and our teams at LinkedIn invest in technology and take legal action when necessary to detect and prevent our members' information from being scraped and used without their consent.Chess.com said in a statement We were not previously aware that ShadowDragon was scraping data from Chess.com. To clarify our position, we do not permit the use of personal information from our users without a valid legal basis and compliance with applicable laws, even if such information is publicly available.If ShadowDragons activities are conducted lawfully, with a legitimate legal basissuch as in response to a government order or as part of a legally authorized investigation we would not object. However, if the data being collected includes personal information and is being used without proper legal authorization, this would not align with our policies, the statement added.When asked if ShadowDragons activity constitutes scraping and provided with the list of sites, Sandy MacKay, VP of business operations at ShadowDragon, told 404 Media in an email that ShadowDragon doesnt log customer inquiries or the resulting data, so we cant provide information that violates the privacy settings of individual account owners using these platforms, including data theyve deleted. In other words, the searches are performed live on sites when the ShadowDragon user requests it. That might arguably still violate some of the companies terms of use, however.In the ShadowDragon podcast where Clemens made his comments about protesters, he added that protesters are probably not moving the needle at all. He added My word of advice for anybody thats feeling invited into the rage mob of the day, is, hey man, get off social media. Go buy a lake house, get a beach house. Do something. Get in debt and get off social media. Dont get invited into all this rage.When 404 Media previously reported those comments, Clemens said in an email my comments from the podcast refer to ALL groups, regardless of affiliation or cause. It was a reminder to everyone that everything we do in public, including social media posts, often lacks a legal expectation of privacy, in the same vein as the EFF's recommendations for protestors.ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

We start this week with Emanuel's great investigation into Chinese AI video models, and how they have far fewer safeguards than their American counterparts. A content warning for that section due to what the users are making. After the break, Joseph explains how police are using AI to summarize evidence seized from mobile phones. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about an AI-developed game that is making a ton of money. But your AI-generated game probably won't.Listen to the weekly podcast onApple Podcasts,Spotify, orYouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism.If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Chinese AI Video Generators Unleash a Flood of New Nonconsensual PornAlibaba Releases Advanced Open Video Model, Immediately Becomes AI Porn MachineCellebrite Is Using AI to Summarize Chat Logs and Audio from Seized Mobile PhonesThis Game Created by AI 'Vibe Coding' Makes $50,000 a Month. Yours Probably Wont