2025-03-13T21:25:31Z NEW YORK (AP) Columbia University says it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring, and had temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated.In a campus-wide email sent Thursday, the university said its judicial board had issued its sanctions against dozens of students who occupied Hamilton Hall based on its evaluation of the severity of behaviors.The university did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, suspended or had their degree revoked.The culmination of the monthslong investigative process comes as the universitys activist community is reeling from the arrest of a well-known campus activist, Mahmoud Khalil, by federal immigration authorities this past Saturday the first of many such arrests, according to President Donald Trump. At the same time, the Trump administration has stripped the university of more than $400 million in federal funds over what it describes as the colleges inaction against widespread campus antisemitism.The takeover of Hamilton Hall came on April 30, 2024, an escalation led by a smaller group of students of the tent encampment that had sprung up on Columbias campus against the war in Gaza. Students and their allies barricaded themselves inside the hall with furniture and padlocks in a major escalation of campus protests. At the request of university leaders, hundreds of officers with the New York Police Department stormed onto campus the following night. Officers carrying zip ties and riot shields poured in to the occupied building through a window and arrested dozens of people.At a court hearing in June, the Manhattan district attorneys office said it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people initially arrested on trespassing charges inside the administration building but all of the students still faced disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion from the university. The district attorneys office said at the time that they were dismissing charges against most of those arrested inside the building due in part to a lack of evidence tying them to specific acts of property damage and the fact that none of the students had criminal histories.More than a dozen of those arrested were offered deals that would have eventually led to the dismissal of their charges, but they refused them, protest organizers said, in a show of solidarity with those facing the most extreme repression. Most in that group were alumni, but two were current students, prosecutors said. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen near sunset in Washington, Oct. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)2025-03-13T19:01:52Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow restrictions on birthright citizenship to partly take effect while legal fights play out.In emergency applications filed at the high court on Thursday, the administration asked the justices to narrow court orders entered by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that blocked the order President Donald Trump signed shortly after beginning his second term.The order currently is blocked nationwide. Three federal appeals courts have rejected the administrations pleas, including one in Massachusetts on Tuesday. The order would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 whose parents are in the country illegally. It also forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for such children. Roughly two dozen states, as well as several individuals and groups, have sued over the executive order, which they say violates the Constitutions 14th Amendment promise of citizenship to anyone born inside the United States. The Justice Department argues that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings. The administration instead wants the justices to allow the Trumps plan to go into effect for everyone except the handful of people and group that sued, arguing that the states lack the legal right, or standing, to challenge the executive order. As a fallback, the administration asked at a minimum to be allowed to make public announcements about how they plan to carry out the policy if it eventually is allowed to take effect.Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris contends in her filing that Trumps order is constitutional because the 14th amendments citizenship clause, properly read, does not extend citizenship universally to everyone born in the United States. But the emergency appeal is not directly focused on the validity of the order. Instead, it raises an issue that has previously drawn criticism from some members of the court, the broad reach of orders issued by individual federal judges.In all, five conservative justices, a majority of the court, have raised concerns in the past about nationwide, or universal, injunctions.But the court has never ruled on the matter.The administration made a similar argument in Trumps first term, including in the Supreme Court fight over his ban on travel to the U.S. from several Muslim majority countries.The court eventually upheld Trumps policy, but did not take up the issue of nationwide injunctions.The problem has only gotten worse, Harris told the court on Thursday. Courts issued 15 orders blocking administration actions nationwide in February alone, compared to 14 such orders in the first three years of President Joe Bidens term, she wrote.The heightened pace of activity also reflects how quickly Trump has moved, less than two months in office, to fire thousands of federal workers, upend tens of billions of dollars in foreign and domestic aid, roll back the rights of transgender people and restrict birthright citizenship. 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

In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov as he visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)2025-03-13T20:09:07Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) As momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia, Ukraine has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip.The Ukrainian army stunned Russia in August by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land. It was a much-needed morale boost for Ukraine but more importantly, the countrys leaders believed the capture of Russian territory might help in any future peace negotiations with its enemy. Now, after months of intense pressure from Russian forces supported by troops from North Korea, Ukraine only holds about 30% of the Russian land it had seized and its forces are in retreat after a rapid near-defeat in the city of Sudzha. A damaged monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands in a central square in Sudzha, Russia, on Aug. 16, 2024. This image was approved by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry before publication. (AP Photo, File) A damaged monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands in a central square in Sudzha, Russia, on Aug. 16, 2024. This image was approved by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry before publication. (AP Photo, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The Ukrainian army on Thursday was trying to quickly build up defensive lines near the border to prevent Russia from turning its assault on Sudzha into a launchpad for advancing into northeastern Ukraine.Politically speaking, the retreat from large parts of Russias Kursk region could be a moment of reckoning for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military advisers. The invasion of Kursk was intended to redirect Russian forces from inside Ukraine and the land gained was supposed to help Ukraine get back at least some of the 20% of its country taken by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 But many soldiers and commanders have long questioned whether it was worth diluting their forces available to defend Ukraine and those doubts only grew as the retreat from Kursk accelerated.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but that the details still need to be worked out. Putin made the remarks just hours after the arrival of President Donald Trumps envoy in Moscow. In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a visit to military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a visit to military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The defeat in Sudzha caps months of struggle in KurskCombat is ongoing in the periphery of Sudzha as some Ukrainian soldiers try to fight their way out of Russias Kursk region back into the neighboring Sumy region of Ukraine.Ukrainian soldiers and commanders fear that Russias air superiority will enable them to wipe out the logistics routes vital to sustaining the soldiers who are still in Kursk. Russia has retaken control of about 70% of the territory Ukraine captured in the first weeks of its August incursion into Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Nov. 7, 2024, Russian Army soldiers fight with Ukrainian Armed forces in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File) In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Nov. 7, 2024, Russian Army soldiers fight with Ukrainian Armed forces in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More To flee the Kursk region, Ukrainian soldiers must walk dozens of kilometers to get back into Ukraine, while avoiding Russian forces. Some soldiers are angry that commanders did not order them to withdraw weeks ago, when it would have been safer to do so. Ukrainian soldiers ask: Was the invasion of Kursk worth it?Some of Ukraines military leaders believe the daring push into Russian territory was essential to preventing further Russian advances along the countrys northeast. And, by degrading and redirecting Russian forces, it enabled Ukraine to push back the enemy in the east for the first time since a successful counteroffensive in 2022.Other military leaders say the Kursk offensive whose political aim appears to have ultimately failed cost Ukraine some of its best units and most precious weapons. Relatives and friends attend a funeral for Ukrainian soldier Petro Velykiy, who was killed in a battle with the Russian troops in Russias Kursk region, during a ceremony in Chernyhiv, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov, File) Relatives and friends attend a funeral for Ukrainian soldier Petro Velykiy, who was killed in a battle with the Russian troops in Russias Kursk region, during a ceremony in Chernyhiv, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More After the fall of Sudzha the largest settlement in Kursk they controlled, with a pre-war population of 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers are pessimistic about their ability to hold what land they have left in the Russian region. And they recognize the political stakes of the defeat.I understand that the (Russian) side is delaying (ceasefire negotiations) until they reclaim Kursk, and only then they will talk, said one Ukrainian commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But we already, to put it mildly, will not have any levers of influence to return any of our territory.The Associated Press interviewed five soldiers and commanders, all of whom spoke anonymously, citing legal repercussions for talking about sensitive military matters. Russias use of North Korean soldiers changed the battlefieldSoldiers said their ability to hold Kursk began to deteriorate the moment soldiers from North Korea entered the battle late last year. As time went on, Pyongyangs troops only became more effective, Ukrainian soldiers said.When one Ukrainian drone operator spotted some 40 North Korean soldiers near a tree line a few weeks ago, he said he was amazed by the physical fitness of North Korean troops. Some were capable of quickly running long distances carrying heavy ammunition, he said. Ive never seen anything like that before, he said.Shortages of manpower, weaponry and ammunition also hampered Ukrainian soldiers, who said that they were outnumbered five to one, on average and ten to one in some areas. The last days in the battle for SudzhaOver the past three months, the Russians gradually wore down the Ukrainians. Under heavy air assault from the Russians, Ukrainian troops often had to carry on their backs for 20 or 30 kilometers (12 to 18 miles) reinforcements of ammunition, food and medical supplies. By the time they reach the positions, they are completely exhausted, a Ukrainian sergeant said. In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Oct. 17, 2024, a Russian soldier fires a gun toward a Ukrainian position in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File) In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Oct. 17, 2024, a Russian soldier fires a gun toward a Ukrainian position in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More It is unclear how the recent U.S. pause in intelligence sharing influenced the battle for Kursk. Russian forces seized an estimated 166 square kilometers (64 square miles) in Kursk between March 7 and March 10, a period that the pause was in effect.Also last week, several hundred Russian special forces launched a surprise attack from behind Ukraines defensive lines after crawling 15 kilometers through a natural gas pipeline.And in another instance, Ukrainian soldiers that had been positioned to the northwest of Sudzha, in Lebedivka, simply abandoned their positions, according to a Ukrainian drone operator.Everyone was leaving randomly, he said, so he eventually left, too. A withdrawal that came too lateTop army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday he had ordered soldiers to withdraw to more advantageous positions in Kursk, saying preserving the lives of soldiers was his priority.But some soldiers said it should have happened sooner. One Ukrainian soldier said he and his comrades defied their company commanders orders, and made their own decision to retreat.Were sick and tired of sitting under fire all the time, said the soldier. Because all the main roads are being monitored by Russian drones, he said soldiers are withdrawing in small groups along tree lines to avoid detection. All the units that are left there, I dont know how they (the command) are going to get them out, because all supply chains have been disrupted, he said, referring to Sudzha and surrounding areas. The guys who came out said there were a lot of our dead bodies and a lot of burnt equipment.Russian forces are closing in on Ukrainian soldiers escape routes from the north and south of Sudzha.Ukraine still controls a sliver of territory in Kursk along the border with Sumy. Soldiers said attention has shifted to building up defenses along the border to prevent a Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory. Trenches are quickly being dug, but it is not clear if they will be enough.It depends on the power we have, one commander said. A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. This image was approved by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry before publication. (AP Photo, File) A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. This image was approved by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry before publication. (AP Photo, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___Associated Press journalist Hanna Arhirova contributed. 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

Sports writer and author John Feinstein poses in Washington, Feb. 28, 2006. (AP Photo Caleb Jones, file)2025-03-13T21:02:28Z WASHINGTON (AP) John Feinstein, one of the countrys foremost sports writers and the author of numerous bestselling books, died unexpectedly Thursday. He was 69.Feinstein died of natural causes at his brothers home in McLean, Virginia. Robert Feinstein said he discovered Johns body.Feinstein was a full-time reporter for The Washington Post from 1977 to 1991 and a commentator for outlets such as NPR, ESPN and the Golf Channel. He remained with the Post as a contributing columnist, and he also hosted satellite radio programs on SiriusXM.He was very passionate about things, Robert Feinstein said. People either loved him or hated him and equally strongly.John Feinstein was working until the time of his death. He was in Washington this week to cover the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and he filed a column Wednesday for the Post on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. Feinstein was comfortable writing about an array of sports, but he was best-known for his connection to college basketball because of his groundbreaking book A Season on the Brink.Feinstein took a leave of absence from the Post in 1985 to embed with coach Bob Knights Indiana team, and the book highlighted the authors flair for the dramatic and ability to capture his subjects personalities.Knights reputation for having a hot temper was well-established by then, and Feinstein brought it to life. But Feinstein also effectively portrayed the personal relationships Knight had with his players, which could alternative between warm and abusive. He went on to write more than 40 books, including A Good Walk Spoiled (1995), about professional golf, and A Civil War (1996), about the Army-Navy football game. After that books publication, he worked for many years as a radio commentator for Navy football.The Ancient Eight, about Ivy League football, was published last year. Feinstein also wrote sports novels aimed at younger readers.Feinstein is survived by his wife, Christine, son Danny and daughters Brigid and Jayne, as well as Robert and his sister, Margaret.___AP Sports Writer Eric Olson in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report. HOWARD FENDRICH Fendrich is an Associated Press national writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on tennis and other sports. twitter mailto

2025-03-14T01:42:17Z DENVER (AP) An American Airlines plane caught fire while sitting at a gate at Denver International Airport on Thursday, prompting slides to be deployed so passengers could evacuate quickly. An airport spokesperson told multiple news outlets that the plane was at gate C38 when the fire started Thursday afternoon. A photo posted by CBS News showed passengers standing on a planes wing as smoke surrounded the aircraft. No injuries were reported, and firefighters put out the blaze by the evening, the spokesperson said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Specialist Philip Finale works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)2025-03-13T20:07:39Z NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. stock market has just dropped 10% from its high set last month, hurt by worries about the economy and a global trade war.T he fall for the S&P 500 is steep enough that Wall Street has a name for it: a correction. Such drops have happened regularly for more than a century, and market pros often view them as potentially healthy wipeouts of overdone euphoria, which could send stock prices too high if unchecked. But corrections are frightening in the moment, particularly for every new generation of investors that gets into the market at a time when it seems like stocks only go up. The S&P 500 is coming off two straight years with gains of more than 20%. Such stellar gains left the market looking too expensive to critics, who pointed to how prices rose faster than corporate profits. Culling too-high enthusiasm among day traders is one thing. The larger fear always accompanying a correction is that it could be a warning sign of a coming bear market, which is what Wall Street calls a drop of at least 20%.Heres a look at what history shows about past corrections, and what market watchers are expecting going forward. Whats behind this correction?The U.S. stock market initially jumped after President Donald Trumps election in November on hopes hed bring lower taxes, less regulation for businesses and other policies that would drive corporate profits higher. All those gains have since disappeared, as Wall Street faces the potential downsides of Trumps White House for the economy.The president has been making announcements on tariffs at a dizzying pace, first placing them on trading partners, then exempting some and then doing it all over again. The tariffs could hit every country that trades with the United States, which would raise prices for U.S. households and businesses when high inflation has already proven stubborn to fully subdue. The fear is that tariffs could slow or even halt the solid growth the U.S. economy was showing when it ended 2024. Even if Trump ultimately goes forward with less painful tariffs, all the uncertainty around the will-he-or-wont-he rollout could prove damaging by freezing economic activity. Such concerns have shown up in the latest readings on consumer confidence, as well as companies forecasts for future profits. Trump himself has acknowledged his plans could affect the U.S. economys growth.All the uncertainty is also making things more complicated for the Federal Reserve, which had been cutting interest rates after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Cutting rates further would help the economy, but it could also put upward pressure on inflation. The brunt of this sell-off has also hit stocks that critics were saying looked the most expensive after running wild through the frenzy around artificial intelligence. Nvidia, for example, has already dropped roughly 14% in 2025 so far after surging more than 800% through 2023 and 2024.Most of the other big stocks in the Magnificent Seven that have dominated the market recently have also been lagging the rest of the S&P 500. Those seven stocks alone had accounted for more than half the S&P 500s total return last year. How often do corrections occur?Every couple years, on average. Even during the historic, nearly 11-year-long bull run for U.S. stocks from March 2009 to February 2020, the S&P 500 stumbled to five corrections, according to CFRA. Worries about everything from interest rates to trade wars to a European debt crisis caused the pullbacks. The U.S. markets last correction was in 2023, when the S&P 500 dropped 10.3% from the end of July into October. At the time, high Treasury yields were undercutting stock prices as traders accepted a new normal where the Fed would keep rates high for a while. But stocks would quickly turn higher as optimism revived that cuts to rates were on the horizon. The last correction that did graduate into a bear market was in 2022. Thats when the Fed first began cranking up interest rates to combat the worst inflation in generations. Worries rose that high rates would slow the economy enough to create a recession, one that ultimately never came. Through the 2022 bear market, the S&P 500 fell 25.4% from Jan. 3 to Oct. 12. What typically happens after a drop like this?Looking only at corrections since 1946 that managed to right themselves before turning into a bear market, the S&P 500 has taken an average of 133 days to hit bottom and lost an average of nearly 14% along the way, according to CFRA. The index has taken an average of 113 days to recoup its losses.For declines that become bear markets, the damage is much worse. Going back to 1929, the average bear market has taken an average of nearly 19 months to hit bottom and caused a loss of 38.5% for the S&P 500, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. How bad can a bear market be? On paper, an investor can lose most of their money. From late 1929 into the middle of 1932, the stock market fell a little more than 86%, for example. A bear market can also feel interminable: One lasted more than five years, from 1937 into 1942, where U.S. stocks lost 60%, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.In Japan, after the Nikkei 225 index set a record at the end of 1989, it sank and then took decades to fully recover. It wasnt until 2024 that it got back to that peak. The Japanese example is an outlier, though. In almost every case, investors would have made back all their losses from a downturn for U.S. stocks if they simply held on and didnt sell. That includes the 2000 dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 coronavirus collapse. What should we expect this time?No one knows. Some investors on Wall Street say they expect Trump to pull back on some policies if they prove to be too damaging, while others say the uncertainty alone is creating enough pain. The economy has given signals that its still relatively solid at the moment, including last months jobs report, but the outlook looks cloudier than usual given all the unknowns. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, center, answers questions about the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa during a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)2025-03-14T00:23:10Z SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) A representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports especially photographs and police body-camera video related to the recent deaths of Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home last month.Authorities last week announced that Hackman died at age 95 of heart disease with complications from Alzheimers disease as much as a week after a rare, rodent-borne disease hantavirus pulmonary syndrome took the life of his 65-year-old wife. Hackmans pacemaker last showed signs of activity on Feb. 18, indicating an abnormal heart rhythm on the day he likely died. The couples bodies werent discovered until Feb. 26 when maintenance and security workers showed up at the Santa Fe home and alerted police leaving a mystery for law enforcement and medical investigators to unravel. Julia Peters, a representative for the estate of Hackman and Arakawa, urged a state district court in Santa Fe to seal records in the cases to protect the familys right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution emphasizing the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and potential for their dissemination by media. The request, file Tuesday, also described the couples discrete lifestyle in Santa Fe since Hackmans retirement. The state capital city is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors. The couple lived an exemplary private life for over thirty years in Santa Fe, New Mexico and did not showcase their lifestyle, said the petition. New Mexicos open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of people who are deceased, said Amanda Lavin, legal director at the nonprofit New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. Some medical information also is not considered public record under the state Inspection of Public Records Act. At the same time, the bulk of death investigations by law enforcement and autopsy reports by medical investigators are typically considered public records under state law in the spirit of ensuring government transparency and accountability, she said.I do think it does infringe on transparency if the court were to prohibit release of all the investigation records, including the autopsies, Lavin said Thursday. The whole idea of those records being available is to ensure accountability in the way those investigations are done.There is also a public health concern given that hantavirus was involved, Lavin said.She said the preemptive request to prevent the release of government records on constitutional grounds is unusual.Hackman, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a storied career in films including The French Connection, Hoosiers and Superman from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.Arakawa, born in Hawaii, studied as a concert pianist, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid-1980s while working at a California gym.

A chain link fence protects a satellite station and other equipment behind the Bureau of Reclamation office Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Rebecca Boone)2025-03-14T04:04:31Z Federal agencies will begin to vacate hundreds of offices across the country this summer under a frenetic and error-riddled push by Elon Musks budget-cutting advisers to terminate leases that they say waste money.Musks Department of Government Efficiency maintains a list of canceled real estate leases on its website, but internal documents obtained by The Associated Press contain a crucial detail: when those cancellations are expected to take effect. The documents from inside the General Services Administration, the U.S. governments real estate manager, list dozens of federal office and building leases expected to end by June 30, with hundreds more slated over the coming months.The rapid pace of cancellations has raised alarms, with some agencies and lawmakers appealing to DOGE to exempt specific buildings. Several agencies are facing 20 or more lease cancellations in all, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey. Many of the terminations would affect agencies that arent as well-known but oversee services critical to many Americans. They span from a Boise, Idaho, office of the Bureau of Reclamation which oversees water supply and deals with disputes across the often-parched American West to a Joliet, Illinois, outpost of the Railroad Retirement Board, which provides benefits for railroad workers and their survivors. The lease terminations do not mean all the locations will close. In some cases, agencies may negotiate new leases to stay in place, downsize their existing space or relocate elsewhere.Some agencies are saying: Im not leaving. We cant leave, said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official who now represents building owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions. I think theres going to be a period of pushback, a period of disbelief. And then, if necessary, they may start working on the actual execution of a move. Errors add to confusionDOGE says GSA has notified landlords in recent weeks that it plans to terminate 793 leases, focusing mostly on those that can be ended within months without penalty. The group estimates those moves will save roughly $500 million over the terms of the leases, which in some cases were slated to continue into the 2030s. The Bureau of Reclamation cancellation in Boise, for instance, would take effect Aug. 31 and is expected to save a total of $18.7 million through 2035.But DOGEs savings estimates a fraction of Musks $1 trillion cost-cutting goal have not been verified and do not take into account the costs of moves and closures. The group has released no information about what they will mean for agencies.My initial reaction is this is just going to cause more chaos, said Jim Simpson, an accountant in Arizona who helps low-income people file taxes and serves on an IRS panel that advocates for taxpayers. Theres a lot of room to help with government efficiency, but it should be done surgically and not with a chainsaw. Simpson said he was surprised to learn that dozens of IRS offices, including local taxpayer assistance centers, were facing upcoming lease cancellations. He refers clients there to get paperwork to file returns and answer IRS inquiries, and he said losing services would cause a lot of anxiety and delay refunds.Plans to cancel the leases at several of the IRS centers and other sites were in error and have been rescinded, according to a person with direct knowledge of the changes who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity in order to avoid retaliation. Those changes are not yet reflected on DOGEs list, which only removed one and added dozens more in its latest update published Thursday.The GSA walked back the cancellation of a Geological Survey office in Anchorage, Alaska, for instance, after learning it did not have termination rights, according to the person familiar with the matter.Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Monday that hed convinced DOGE to back off lease terminations planned for the National Weather Center in Norman, a Social Security office in Lawton and the Indian Health Services office in Oklahoma City. But all three leases remained on DOGEs list of cancellations as of Thursday.GSAs press office didnt respond to inquiries. The real estate market is blindsidedWhile there was already a bipartisan push to reduce the governments real estate footprint, the mass cancellations blindsided an industry known for its stability.Landlords who had been expecting government agencies to remain tenants, for several more years in some cases under their existing leases, were stunned. Some agencies learned from building managers, not their federal partners, that their leases were being canceled, according to real estate managers.Becker, whose firm is tracking the DOGE lease cancellations, and other observers said they expect some agencies will be unable to move their personnel and property out of their spaces within such tight timelines. That may force some agencies to pay additional rent during whats known as a holdover period, undermining DOGEs stated goal of saving taxpayer money.The Building Owners and Managers Association, which represents the commercial real estate industry, told landlords in a recent advocacy alert to be prepared to seek payment from any federal government tenants who stay beyond their leases. Many affected agencies arent speaking upAsked about plans for buildings with leases that will soon expire, the IRS did not respond. A Social Security Administration spokesperson downplayed the impact of its offices losing leases, saying many were small remote hearing sites, did not serve the public, were already being consolidated elsewhere or planned for closure.Several other agencies provided little clarity saying they were working with GSA to consider their options, in statements that were nearly identical in some cases.But a spokesperson for the Railroad Retirement Board expressed concern over the upcoming lease cancellations of its offices in Joliet, Illinois, and eight other states, saying it was working to maintain a public-facing office presence for the local railroad community.Government Accountability Office official David Marroni told a congressional hearing last week that the push to unload unnecessary federal real estate was long overdue, saying agencies have for too long held on to unnecessary space. But he warned the downsizing must be deliberate and carefully planned to generate substantial savings and mitigate the risk of mistakes and unexpected mission impacts.That process had already started before Musks team arrived, with the federal governments real estate portfolio steadily declining over the last decade. Indeed, critics of DOGE say if it were truly interested in cost-cutting it could learn from GSA, whose mission even before Trump took office was to deliver effective and efficient services to the American public.A law signed by former President Joe Biden before he left office in January directed agencies to measure the true occupancy rates of leased spaces by this summer. Those that did not meet a target of 60% use rate over time would be directed to dispose of their excess space.There is a logical and orderly way to do this, Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat, said at last weeks hearing. Instead, he said, DOGE is pursuing a reckless approach that threatens to harm the delivery of public services.Industry observers cautioned that each situation is different, and it will take months or years to understand the full impact of the lease cancellations.It really depends on the terms. But it is a shock, there is no question, that all of a sudden, boom, in six weeks all these things have happened, said J. Reid Cummings, a professor of finance and real estate at the University of South Alabama. Its like a blitzkrieg.__Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa; Goodman reported from Miami; and Keller reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report. RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 20-year AP veteran, hes known for investigative reporting and using open records laws to obtain information. twitter mailto JOSHUA GOODMAN Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America. twitter mailto CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Keller works with reporters and editors to find stories in data and documents and contributes context to spot and breaking news stories for The Associated Press. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain someone during an enforcement operation, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-03-14T04:02:42Z When a couple from Colombia who was planning their wedding showed up for a check-in with U.S. immigration authorities, one was given his next appointment date. The other was detained and deported.Jhojan doesnt know why Felipe was detained at the Feb. 5 appointment with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But Jhojan was so worried after Felipes deportation that he didnt show up for his next check-in a month later. Jhojan insisted The Associated Press withhold the couples last names, fearing retribution. He is among many people who now fear that once-routine immigration check-ins will be used as an opportunity to detain them. The appointments have become a source of anxiety as President Donald Trump presses ahead with a campaign of mass deportations and the number of people in ICE custody has reached its highest level since November 2019. The check-ins are how ICE keeps track of some people who are released by the government to pursue asylum or other immigration cases as they make their way through a backlogged court system. The government has not said how many people ICE has detained at such appointments or whether thats now standard practice, but immigration advocates and attorneys are concerned people might stop showing up, putting themselves further at risk of deportation. If you show up, theyll deport you. If you dont, theyll deport you, too, Jhojan, 23, told the AP this week. The U.S. government is saying littleICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, did not respond to repeated requests for comment about immigrants being detained at check-ins.With the federal government releasing little information, its hard to sort out facts from rumors as fears run rampant in many immigrant communities. However, Trump has made it a priority to deport anyone who is in the U.S. illegally, a sharp shift from his predecessor, Joe Biden, who focused only on immigrants who were deemed public safety or national security threats and people stopped at the border. ICE has arrested 32,809 people since Trump took office, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said Wednesday during a call with reporters. About 47,600 people are in ICE detention, according to the ICE official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with guidance set by the administration.Its the first time in four years that ICE has arrested more people than Customs and Border Protection, indicating that more immigrants are being detained inside the U.S. than along its borders.Immigration check-insICE calls people in for appointments for several reasons, including issuing a court date. If an immigrant breaks the law during that time or a judge declines their appeal to stay in the U.S., ICE can detain and deport them. In Louisiana, ICE detained an immigrant last month who was asked to show up under the guise of being eligible for another program with less supervision, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which declined to offer further details. ICE also has locked up some people it just recently deemed as likely to qualify for asylum and unlikely to flee authorities.John Torres, a former ICE acting director, said its hard to comment in detail without more information about each case. But, he added, the major reason those things take place is because something has changed in their status or somethings been discovered about their background. Some asylum-seekers have been targetedAn immigrant from Ecuador who is in his 20s is among the asylum-seekers who have been detained, according to attorney Rosa Barreca. It happened at the mans first check-in, on Feb. 3. The man had turned himself in to border agents after entering the U.S. illegally three weeks earlier. ICE officials at that time interviewed him and released him from custody, concluding he had a reasonable fear of persecution if he returned to his home country, according to Barreca. Releasing him suggested that ICE wasnt concerned he would flee. The fact that he didnt made it easier for ICE to jail him.The family called me surprised and in a panic, said Barreca, who runs a private practice in Philadelphia, where the mans family lives. When I asked the reason, he just said it is based on the executive orders and didnt specify anything further.He had no criminal convictions and no contact with police during his few weeks in the U.S., Barreca said, ruling out every red flag she can imagine. Lawyers are telling immigrants to prepare Lawyers cannot advise clients to simply skip the meetings, which would lead to deportation orders. Instead, advocates and lawyers urge immigrants to prepare for appointments and the possibility of detention. Theyre cautioning immigrants to note sudden changes in how their check-ins are conducted such as appointments that were always virtual instead being done in person.They are also encouraging immigrants to make emergency child care arrangements and to provide details of their cases with friends and family. That includes sharing a unique identification number that ICE uses to track people. Immigrant rights groups say people should bring someone, preferably an attorney, to ICE appointments.Advocates are also returning to a tactic from the first Trump administration by telling people to have a group of supporters walk them to their check-ins and wait outside. When people feel unsafe going to report, its setting everything up for failure, said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center. It undermines the trust that people need to have.___Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed. CEDAR ATTANASIO Attanasio covers New York City for The Associated Press with a focus on immigration and the ocean. He uses remote sensing to support the APs global coverage. twitter instagram facebook mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Soldiers from Belgium and Luxembourg line up as they prepare to board a military transport plane at Melsbroek Military Airport in Melsbroek, Belgium, July 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)2025-03-14T04:21:34Z BRUSSELS (AP) In the year after Russia launched outright war on Ukraine, NATO leaders approved a set of military plans designed to repel an invasion of Europe. It was the biggest shake-up of the alliances defense readiness preparations since the Cold War.The secret plans set out how Western allies would defend NATO territory from the Atlantic to the Arctic, through the Baltic region and Central Europe, down to the Mediterranean Sea. Up to 300,000 troops would move to its eastern flank within 30 days, many of them American. That would climb to 800,000 within six months.But the Trump administration warned last month that U.S. priorities lie elsewhere. Europe must take care of its own security, and those goals now seem questionable. Mustering just 30,000 European troops to police any future peace in Ukraine is proving a challenge. Billions of euros are being shifted to military budgets, but only slowly, and the Europeans are struggling to fire up production in their defense industries.Beyond funding, tens of thousands more European citizens might have to complete military service, and time is of the essence. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that Russian forces could be capable of launching an attack on European territory in 2030. Concerned about Russias intentions, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to introduce large-scale military training for every adult male, and double the size of Polands army to around 500,000 soldiers.If Ukraine loses the war or if it accepts the terms of peace, armistice or capitulation then, without a doubt and we can all agree on that Poland will find itself in a much more difficult geopolitical situation, Tusk warned lawmakers last week. The scale of Europes military personnel shortageThe Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that Europe, including the U.K., has almost 1.5 million active duty personnel. But many cant be deployed on a battlefield, and those who can are hard to use effectively without a centralized command system.The number of Russian troops in Ukraine at the end of 2024 was estimated to be around 700,000.NATO troops are controlled by a U.S. general, using American air transport and logistics.Analysts say that in the event of a Russian attack, NATOs top military officer would probably dispatch around 200,000 U.S. troops to Europe to build on the 100,000 U.S. military personnel already based there.With the Americans out of the picture, a realistic estimate may therefore be that an increase in European capacities equivalent to the fighting capacity of 300,000 U.S. troops is needed, the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank estimates.Europe faces a choice: either increase troop numbers significantly by more than 300,000 to make up for the fragmented nature of national militaries, or find ways to rapidly enhance military coordination, Bruegel said. The question is how. Making up the numbersNATO is encouraging countries to build up personnel numbers, but the trans-Atlantic alliance isnt telling them how to do it. Maintaining public support for the armed forces and for Ukraine is too important to risk by dictating choices.The way they go about it is intensely political, so we wouldnt prescribe any way of changing this whether to go for conscription, elective conscription, bigger reserves, a senior NATO official said on the condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to brief journalists unless he remained unnamed.We do stress the point that fighting with those regional plans means that we are in collective defense and likely in an attrition war that requires way more manpower than we currently have, or we designed our force models to deliver, he added.Eleven European countries have compulsory military service: Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and non-European Union nation Norway. The length of service ranges from as little as two months in Croatia to 19 months in Norway.Poland isnt considering a return to universal military service, but rather a reserve system based on the model in Switzerland, where every man is obliged to serve in the armed forces or an alternative civilian service. Women can volunteer.Belgiums new defense minister plans to write a letter in November to around 120,000 citizens who are age 18 to try to persuade at least 500 of them to sign up for voluntary military service. Debate about the issue goes on in the U.K. and Germany. Confronting the challengesGermanys professional armed forces had 181,174 active service personnel at the end of last year slightly lower than in 2023, according to a parliamentary report released Tuesday. That means its no closer to reaching a Defense Ministry target of 203,000 by 2031.Last year, 20,290 people started serving in the German military, or Bundeswehr, an 8% increase, the report said. But of the 18,810 who joined in 2023, more than a quarter 5,100 or 27% of the total left again, most at their own request during the six-month trial period.The German parliaments commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Hgl, said that army life is a hard sell.The biggest problem is boredom, Hgl said. If young people have nothing to do, if there isnt enough equipment and there arent enough trainers, if the rooms arent reasonably clean and orderly, that deters people and it makes the Bundeswehr unattractive.At the other end of the scale, tiny Luxembourg has unique demographic challenges. Of its roughly 630,000 passport holders, only 315,000 are Luxembourgers. The number of people of military service age 18 to 40 is smaller still.Around 1,000 people are enlisted. Thats small compared to some European powers, but bigger per capita than the U.K. armed forces. Recently, Luxembourg where unemployment is low and salaries are high has struggled to find just 200-300 military personnel.Military service comes with many challenges too, not least convincing someone to sign up when they might be sent to the front, and hastily trained conscripts cant replace a professional army. The draft also costs money. Extra staff, accommodation and trainers are needed throughout a conscripts term.___Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This satellite image from NOAA shows a March megastorm building across the United States, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (NOAA via AP)2025-03-14T04:06:54Z A huge storm system crossing the U.S. threatens to unleash tornadoes Friday in the Mississippi Valley, blizzards in the northern Plains and dry, gusty conditions in Texas and Oklahoma that pose an extreme risk of wildfires. The National Weather Service predicted extreme weather across a vast swath of the U.S. with a population exceeding 100 million people. Powerful winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were forecast from the Canadian line to the Rio Grande border with Mexico. Forecasters say the severe storm threat will continue into the weekend, with a moderate chance of tornadoes and damaging winds pushing farther south Saturday to areas including New Orleans and Birmingham, Alabama. Heavy rain could bring flash flooding to some parts of the East Coast on Sunday. Experts say its not unusual to see such weather extremes in March, when emerging spring warmth and lingering winter cold create big temperature differences for storms to thrive. If theres a time of the year where a storm like this can deliver these coast-to-coast impacts, we are in it, said Benjamin Reppert, a meteorologist at Penn State University. Tornadoes likely amid storm outbreakA regional outbreak of severe storms was expected Friday afternoon with some risk of thunderstorms extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Forecasters said tornadoes, damaging winds and hail up to baseball-size were likely, with the greatest risk in eastern Missouri, much of Illinois and portions of Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. The weather services Storm Prediction Center said 17 million people faced an enhanced to moderate severe storm threat from Des Moines, Iowa, to Jackson, Mississippi.The tornado threat pushes farther south on Saturday into the Gulf Coast states, including New Orleans and other parts of eastern Louisiana and much of Mississippi and Alabama. Blizzards expected in Northern Plains Forecasters warned that heavy snow whipped by powerful winds are likely to make travel treacherous in parts of the Rockies and Northern Plains. Blizzard conditions were possible in the Dakotas and Minnesota.Winter storm warnings issued Thursday lingered into Friday morning in mountainous regions of Arizona and Utah, where more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snowfall was possible. Forecasters warned of poor visibility and icy road conditions, urging motorists to travel with extra food and water in case they became stranded.The winter blast continued after snowfall of up to 3 feet (90 centimeters) blanketed the Sierra Nevada earlier in the week. Dry, gusty conditions bring extreme threat of wildfiresWarm, dry weather and sustained winds of up to 45 mph (72 kph) brought what the weather service called near historic conditions for sparking wildfires Friday to the Southern Plains and parts of the Southwest. Wind gusts exceeding 80 mph (128 kph) were possible. Forecasters shared a bit of advice during a special briefing: For those stuck on the roads, keep a firm grip on the steering wheel and watch for fallen trees, power lines and other debris. They said the strong winds would be kicking up plenty of dust and that brownout conditions were possible. This is likely to be the worst dust storm so far this year, said Randall Hergert, a lead forecaster with the weather service in Albuquerque. Forecasters also warned about an extreme risk of fires in parts of northern Texas, much of Oklahoma and southeast Kansas. A broader area where the fire threat was designated as critical stretched from eastern New Mexico into Texas and north to a portion of southern Iowa.The weather service said a potential for dry thunderstorms in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas carry the added risk of fires being started by lightning with minimal rainfall to stop them from spreading.

People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)2025-03-14T05:01:36Z JERUSALEM (AP) The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trumps proposed postwar plan, American and Israeli officials say.The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland reflect the determination by the U.S. and Israel to press ahead with a plan that has been widely condemned and raised serious legal and moral issues. Because all three places are poor, and in some cases wracked by violence, the proposal also casts doubt on Trumps stated goal of resettling Gazas Palestinians in a beautiful area.Officials from Sudan said they have rejected overtures from the U.S., while officials from Somalia and Somaliland told The Associated Press that they were not aware of any contacts. The family of Fatima Al-Absi share Iftar, the fast-breaking meal, on the first day of Ramadan in their damaged apartment in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) The family of Fatima Al-Absi share Iftar, the fast-breaking meal, on the first day of Ramadan in their damaged apartment in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Under Trumps plan, Gazas more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere. He has proposed the U.S. would take ownership of the territory, oversee a lengthy cleanup process and develop it as a real estate project. The idea of a mass transfer of Palestinians was once considered a fantasy of Israels ultranationalist fringe. But since Trump presented the idea at a White House meeting last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed it as a bold vision. Palestinians in Gaza have rejected the proposal and dismiss Israeli claims that the departures would be voluntary. Arab nations have expressed vehement opposition and offered an alternative reconstruction plan that would leave the Palestinians in place. Rights groups have said forcing or pressuring the Palestinians to leave could be a potential war crime.Still, the White House says Trump stands by his vision. President Donald Trump meets with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump meets with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret diplomatic initiative, U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed the contacts with Somalia and Somaliland, while the Americans confirmed Sudan as well. They said it was unclear how much progress the efforts made or at what level the discussions took place. Separate outreach from the U.S. and Israel to the three potential destinations began last month, days after Trump floated the Gaza plan alongside Netanyahu, according to the U.S. officials, who said that Israel was taking the lead in the discussions.Israel and the U.S. have a variety of incentives financial, diplomatic and security to offer these potential partners. It is a formula that Trump used five years ago when he brokered the Abraham Accords a series of mutually beneficial diplomatic accords between Israel and four Arab countries. The White House declined to comment on the outreach efforts. The offices of Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, the Israeli Cabinet minister and Netanyahu confidant who has been leading Israels postwar planning, also had no comment. But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a longtime advocate of what he calls voluntary emigration of Palestinians, said this week that Israel is working to identify countries to take in Palestinians. He also said Israel is preparing a very large emigration department within its Defense Ministry. Here is a closer look at the places the officials say have been approached.SudanThe North African country was among the four Abraham Accord nations that agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.As part of the deal, the U.S. removed Sudan from its list of state supporters of terrorism, a move that gave the country access to international loans and global legitimacy. But relations with Israel never took off as Sudan plunged into civil war between government forces and the RSF paramilitary group.The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to the U.N. and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and then-President Joe Bidens administration in January said the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide. The U.S. and Israel would be hard-pressed to persuade Palestinians to leave Gaza, particularly to such a troubled country. But they could offer incentives to the Khartoum government, including debt relief, weapons, technology and diplomatic support. A woman and child relax next to a mural of Somaliland's flag, in Hargeisa, Somaliland, a semi-autonomous breakaway region of Somalia, on Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File) A woman and child relax next to a mural of Somaliland's flag, in Hargeisa, Somaliland, a semi-autonomous breakaway region of Somalia, on Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Two Sudanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter, confirmed that the Trump administration has approached the military-led government about accepting Palestinians. One of them said the contacts began even before Trumps inauguration with offers of military assistance against the RSF, assistance with postwar reconstruction and other incentives.Both officials said the Sudanese government rejected the idea. This suggestion was immediately rebuffed, said one official. No one opened this matter again.Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan told an Arab leaders summit last week in Cairo that his country categorically rejects any plan that aims to transfer the brotherly Palestinians from their land under whatever justification or name. SomalilandSomaliland, a territory of over 3 million people in the Horn of Africa, seceded from Somalia over 30 years ago, but it is not internationally recognized as an independent state. Somalia considers Somaliland part of its territory.Somalilands new president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, has made international recognition a priority.An American official involved in the efforts confirmed that the U.S. was having a quiet conversation with Somaliland about a range of areas where they can be helpful to the U.S. in exchange for recognition.The possibility of U.S. recognition could provide an incentive for Abdullahi to back away from the territorys solidarity with the Palestinians.The United Arab Emirates, another Abraham Accord country that has developed strong ties with Israel, once had a military base in Somaliland and maintains commercial interests there, including a port. The territorys strategic location, in the Gulf of Aden waterway near Yemen, home to the Houthi rebel group, could also make it a valuable ally.Over the years, Somaliland has been lauded for its relatively stable political environment, contrasting sharply with Somalias ongoing struggles amid deadly attacks by al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab. Since 1991, Somaliland has maintained its own government, currency and security structures. Still, it has one of the lowest income levels in the world.An official in Somaliland, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said his government has not been approached and is not in talks about taking in Palestinians. Palestinians hang decorations next to their destroyed homes in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Palestinians hang decorations next to their destroyed homes in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More SomaliaSomalia has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians, often hosting peaceful protests on its streets in support of them. The country joined the recent Arab summit that rejected Trumps plan and seems like an unlikely destination for Palestinians, even if they did agree to move.Sambu Chepkorir, a lawyer and conflict researcher in Nairobi, Kenya, said it is difficult to understand why Somalia would want to host Palestinians given the countrys strong support for Palestinian self-rule.The realignments keep changing, and so maybe there is a hidden agenda in why Somalia, Chepkorir said.A Somali official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the country had not been approached about taking in Palestinians from Gaza and there had been no discussions about it.___Lee reported from Washington, and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and Sam Mednick in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)2025-03-14T06:23:58Z NEW YORK (AP) Handcuffed and shackled, Mahmoud Khalil was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend in a manner that left the outspoken Columbia University graduate student feeling like he was being kidnapped, his lawyers wrote in an updated lawsuit seeking his immediate release.The lawyers described in detail what happened to the Palestinian activist as he was flown to Louisiana by agents he said never identified themselves. Once there, he was left to sleep in a bunker with no pillow or blanket as top U.S. officials cheered the effort to deport a man his lawyers say sometimes became the public face of student protests on Columbias campus against Israels military actions in Gaza.The filing late Thursday in Manhattan federal court was the result of a federal judges Wednesday order that they finally be allowed to speak with Khalil. The lawyers said his treatment by federal authorities from Saturday, when he was first arrested, to Monday reminded Khalil of when he left Syria shortly after the forced disappearance of his friends there during a period of arbitrary detention in 2013. Throughout this process, Mr. Khalil felt as though he was being kidnapped, the lawyers wrote of his treatment.Earlier this week, President Donald Trump heralded Khalils arrest as the first of many to come, vowing on social media to deport students he said engage in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. In court papers, lawyers for the Justice Department said Kahlil was detained under a law allowing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to remove someone from the country if he has reasonable grounds to believe their presence or activities would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.Trump and Rubio were added as defendants in the civil lawsuit seeking to free Khalil.The government attorneys asked a judge to toss out the lawsuit or transfer it to New Jersey or Louisiana, saying jurisdiction belongs in the locations where Khalil has been held since his detention. According to the lawsuit, Khalil repeatedly asked to speak to a lawyer after the U.S. permanent resident with no criminal history was snatched by federal agents as he and his wife were returning to Columbias residential housing, where they lived, after dinner at a friends home.Confronted by agents for the Department of Homeland Security, Khalil briefly telephoned his lawyer before he was taken to FBI headquarters in lower Manhattan, the lawsuit said.It was there that Khalil saw an agent approach another agent and say, the White House is requesting an update, the lawyers wrote.At some point early Sunday, Khalil was taken, handcuffed and shackled, to the Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a privately-run facility where he spent the night in a cold waiting room for processing, his request for a blanket denied, the lawsuit said.When he reached the front of the line for processing, he was told his processing would not occur after all because he was being transported by immigration authorities, it said. Put in a van, Khalil noticed that one of the agents received a text message instructing that Khalil was not to use his phone, the lawsuit said.At 2:45 p.m. Sunday, he was put on an American Airlines flight from Kennedy International Airport to Dallas, where he was put on a second flight to Alexandria, Louisiana. He arrived at 1 a.m. Monday and a police car took him to the Louisiana Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana, it said.At the facility, he now worries about his pregnant wife and is also very concerned about missing the birth of his first child, the lawsuit said.In April, Khalil was to begin a job and receive health benefits that the couple was counting on to cover costs related to the birth and care of the child, it added.It is very important to Mr. Khalil to be able to continue his protected political speech, advocating and protesting for the rights of Palestinians both domestically and abroad, the lawsuit said, noting that Khalil was planning to speak on a panel at the upcoming premiere in Copenhagen, Denmark, of a documentary in which he is featured. At a hearing Wednesday, Khalils attorneys said they had not been allowed any attorney-client-protected communications with Khalil since his arrest and had been told they could speak to him in 10 days. Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that at least one conversation be permitted on Wednesday and Thursday.

2025-03-14T07:17:13Z TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Representatives of China, Russia and Iran called Friday for an end to U.S. sanctions on Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and a restart to multinational talks on the issue.The talks are the latest attempt to broach the matter and come after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Irans supreme leader in an attempt to jumpstart talks. The letter, which hasnt been published, was offered as Trump levied new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign that holds out the possibility of military action while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached. The three nations who met Friday morning emphasized the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions, Chinas Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu read from a joint statement, flanked by Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. The three countries reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect remains the only viable and practical option in this regard, Ma read. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to meet with the representatives later in the day.Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has mocked Trump, saying he wasnt interested in talks with a bullying government, although Iranian officials have offered conflicting signals over the possibility of negotiations. Trump sent a letter to Khamenei in 2019 with no apparent effect on rising tensions. China and Russia are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with France and Britain, that took part in the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal preliminary framework agreement alongside Germany and the European Union. Trump withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions in the wider Middle East. China and Russia have particularly close relations with Iran through energy deals and Iran has provided Russia with bomb-carrying drones in its war against Ukraine. They are also seen as sharing a joint interest in diminishing the role of the U.S. and other liberal democracies in determining world events in favor of their own highly authoritarian systems. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.While Iran has maintained it wont negotiate under duress, its economy has been savaged by the U.S. sanctions. Protests over womens rights, the economy and Irans theocracy in recent years have shaken its government.China has sought to become more involved in Middle Eastern affairs and a year ago hosted talks leading to the full restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. ___Associated Press journalist Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters as Republicans work to pass an interim spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies funded through September, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-03-14T04:05:07Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate finds itself on Friday in a familiar position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours to spare as Democrats confront two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or voting no and letting a funding lapse ensue.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration about the options before them, but late Thursday made clear he will not allow a government shutdown. His move gives Democrats room to side with Republicans and allow the continuing resolution, often described as a CR, to come up for a vote as soon as Friday.A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with Republicans to move the funding package forward. While the CR still is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse, Schumer said.Congress has been unable to pass the annual appropriations bills designed to fund the government, so theyve resorted to passing short-term extensions instead. The legislation before the Senate marks the third such continuing resolution for the current fiscal year, now nearly half over. The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of September. It would trim non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion. The Republican-led House passed the spending bill on Tuesday and then adjourned. The move left senators with a decision to either take it or leave it. And while Democrats have been pushing for a vote on a fourth short-term extension, GOP leadership made clear that option was a non-starter. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and others used their floor time Thursday to make the case that any blame for a shutdown would fall squarely on Democrats.Democrats need to decide if theyre going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if theyre going to shut down the government, Thune said when opening the chamber. Progressive groups urged Democratic lawmakers to insist on the 30-day extension and oppose the spending bill, saying business as usual must not continue while Trump and ally Elon Musk dismantle critical agencies and programs.But Schumer said Trump would seize more power during a shutdown, because it would give the administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and the country, Schumer said.Democrats have been critical of the funding levels in the bill. They note that both defense and non-defense spending is lower than what was agreed to nearly two years ago when Congress passed legislation lifting the debt ceiling in return for spending restraints. But they are even more worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. Many Democrats are referring to the measure as a blank check for Trump.Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the continuing resolution passed by the House. So the administration will have more leeway to decide where the money goes.For example, a Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives. At the Army Corps of Engineers, funding levels for more than 1,000 projects to enhance commerce, flood control and healthy ecosystems would be determined by the administration rather than Congress.Democrats also object to the treatment of the District of Columbia, as the bill effectively repeals its current year budget and forces it to go back to the prior years levels, even though the district raises most of its own money. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the district would have to cut spending by $1.1 billion over just a few months. Democrats also object to clawing back $20 billion in special IRS funding, on top of the $20 billion rescission approved the year before. The changes essentially cut in half the funding boost that Congress intended to give the agency through legislation passed by Democrats during Joe Bidens presidency.The spending bill before the Senate is separate from the GOP effort to extend tax cuts for individuals passed in Trumps first term and to pay for those with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.That second package will be developed in the months ahead, but it was clearly part of the political calculus Democrats were considering as they argued against the six-month extension. Both efforts are designed to help the well-off at the expense of other Americans, they said. Youre looking at a one-two punch, a very bad CR, then a reconciliation bill coming down, which will be the final kick in the teeth for the American people, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Democratic arguments were hypocritical because they were essentially calling for shutting down the government to protect the government.Democrats are fighting to withhold the paychecks of air traffic controllers, our troops, federal custodial staff, Cotton said. They cant be serious.

Mehmet Oz speaks during a campaign rally in Pennsburg, Pa., Nov. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-03-14T04:05:56Z WASHINGTON (AP) Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trumps pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday morning. The 64-year-old was a respected heart surgeon who turned into a popular TV pitchman. Now he has his sights on overseeing health insurance for about 150 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. Republicans, who have coalesced around Trumps nominees for the health agencies, are likely to ask Oz about his plans for Medicare and Medicaid, including the Trump administrations focus on eliminating fraud from the $1 trillion programs. Democrats, meanwhile, will question Ozs tax filings, which they say show he has used a tax code loophole to underpay taxes by thousands of dollars on Medicare, the program hell oversee. They will also grill Oz on any cuts he would make to the health insurance coverage as well as comments on his TV show supporting privatized Medicare. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has done an extensive review of Ozs finances, spokesman Christopher Krepich said in a statement about Ozs taxes. He added that the office has indicated any potential conflicts have been resolved and he is in compliance with the law. Oz has hawked everything from supplements to private health insurance plans on his former TV series, The Dr. Oz Show, which ran for 13 seasons and helped him amass a fortune. Ozs net worth is between $98 million and $332 million, according to an analysis of the disclosure, which lists asset values in ranges but does not give precise dollar figures. His most recent disclosure shows he also holds millions of dollars worth of shares in health insurance, fertility, pharmaceutical and vitamin companies. He has promised to divest from dozens of companies that would pose conflicts for him as the CMS administrator. In the job, he could wield significant power over most health companies operating in the U.S. because he can make decisions about who and what are covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Ozs hearing comes as the Trump administration seeks to finalize leadership posts for the nations top health agencies. On Thursday, Senate committees voted to advance the nominations of Marty Makary, poised to lead the Food and Drug Administration, and Jay Bhattacharya, set to helm the National Institutes for Health, for a full Senate vote. The nomination of Dave Weldon to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was abruptly withdrawn Thursday. Those men have all leaned into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. s call to Make America Healthy Again, a controversial effort to redesign the nations food supply, reject vaccine mandates and cast doubt on some long-established scientific research. Americans need better research on healthy lifestyle choices from unbiased scientists, Oz wrote late last year in a social media post praising Kennedys nomination to be the nations health secretary. This isnt Ozs first time testifying before senators. In 2014, several senators scolded him during a hearing about the questionable weight loss products he hawked on his television show. ___AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report from Indianapolis. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, left, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, center, and Roki Sasaki, right, pose for photographs during the official Press conference Friday, March 14, 2025, in Tokyo, as the Dodgers play their MLB opening games against the Chicago Cubs at Tokyo Dome next week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)2025-03-14T09:02:19Z TOKYO (AP) Its only two games to start the Major League Baseball season the World Series-champion Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome.For the record, the MLB regular season consists of almost 2,500 games.But its much more for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was born in Japan. And for Shohei Ohtani and the four other Japanese players competing at home for the Dodgers and Cubs.Then theres MLB, which opens its regular season for the second straight year in the Asian market. A year ago it was Seoul, South Korea, where the Dodgers and San Diego Padres split two games. It was also where the betting scandal broke around Ohtanis interpreter.Its hard to tell if this is the golden age for Japanese players in the United States, Ohtani said Friday, speaking through an interpreter, as both teams trained at the Tokyo Dome. I know theres been a lot of Japanese players that came before me, Ohtani added. But having five (Japanese players) is a big deal. Its truly a big deal.Asked what he was most looking forward to, Ohtani replied: Eating good food, getting over the jetlag, and just being able to enjoy playing the game. Roberts back in JapanIts a homecoming for Roberts, who was born on Japans southern island of Okinawa to a Japanese mother and an American father. Hes expecting relatives to attend from Okinawa, where last year he was honored by officials there.For me its personal because I get to represent my moms side of the family, Roberts said. I have a lot of relatives and family that can watch this baseball game watch a Dodgers game at night instead of having to watch us in the morning.The time difference between Japan and the American east coast is 13 hours, and Japan is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles.Japan is Dodgers country, swept away by Ohtani, the World Series title, and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. They are expected to be the Dodgers starters against the Cubs I think our mission was accomplished painting the counry of Japan in Dodgers blue, Roberts said.Yamamoto and Ohtani talked about the joy of being home, as did Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki, the likely DH. Imanaga is expected to start against Yamamoto in the first game.I hope my teammates are really enjoying Japan right now, Ohtani said. But also I hope the fans get to see my teammates enjoying Japan.Ohtani says pitching on trackOhtani was reminded that he has not thrown a bullpen session in several weeks as he hopes to return to pitching after missing out last season following elbow surgery.I want to prioritize the hitting aspect as were getting into the season, to give a little breather mentally and physically to the pitching side of thing, he said. This is according to plan and Im pleased with how things have been going. Sasaki with something to proveFor Sasaki, its different. The 23-year-old signed with the Dodgers two months ago and needs to prove himself, though many feel hes a cant-miss prospect.I literally was in Japan until a couple of months ago, he said through an interpreter. For me its more about being able to pitch in a different uniform on a differnt team and make sure I do perform at my best.Sasaki met Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday in his office and gave him an autographed Dodgers cap. He was accompanied by Dodgers owner Mark Walter.Im truly happy that the Dodgers are opening the season in Japan, Japanese media reported Ishiba as saying.Cubs party with Imanaga and SuzukiCubs manager Craig Counsell talked about a party thrown Thursday by Imanaga and Suzuki to welcome the other Cubs to Japan. For most its the first visit. What impressed Counsell was a large tuna that was carved up in a ceremony at the party. Sashimi and sushi for all.We had tuna cut open, Counsell said. Some of the players participated in that, which was scary for a second with players with knives in their hands. But other than that it was great.Counsell said the trip to Japan was about kizuna, which is the Japanese word for bonding. Hes obviously been schooled by his Japanese players.That started for our team last night with the great party and being able to be together, Counsell said.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb STEPHEN WADE Wade has written about sports and the politics of sports around the globe for The Associated Press. He has covered nine Olympics and five soccer World Cups and has been based for AP in Madrid, London, Beijing, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, before moving to Tokyo. twitter mailto

Jessie Holmes (15), of Alabama, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)2025-03-14T11:19:54Z JERUSALEM (AP) Hamas said Friday it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-national hostages who died in captivity.Hamas did not immediately specify when the release of soldier Edan Alexander and the four bodies would occur, and other countries party to the agreement did not immediately confirm the Hamas statement.The statement comes as talks continue in Doha to try to broker the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the first phase of which ended two weeks ago.In a separate statement, Hamas official Husam Badran reaffirmed what he said was Hamas commitment to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in all its phases, warning that any Israeli deviation from the terms would return negotiations to square one.Israel is pressing the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire. Hamas 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. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)2025-03-14T11:04:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is set to visit the Justice Department on Friday to rally support for his administrations tough-on-crime agenda, an appearance expected to double as a victory lap after he emerged legally and politically unscathed from two federal prosecutions that were dismissed after his election win last fall.Im going to set out my vision, the Republican president said Thursday about the purpose for a visit the White House is billing as historic. The venue selection for the speech underscores Trumps keen interest in the department and desire to exert influence over it following criminal investigations that shadowed his first four years in office and subsequent campaign. The visit, the first by Trump and the first by any president in a decade, brings him into the belly of an institution he has disparaged in searing terms for years but one that he has sought to reshape by installing loyalists and members of his personal defense team in top leadership positions. Although theres some precedent for presidents to speak to the Justice Department workforce from the buildings ceremonial Great Hall, Trumps trip two months into his second term is particularly striking. Thats because of his unique status as a onetime criminal defendant indicted by the agency he is now poised to address and because his remarks are likely to feature an airing of grievances over his exposure to the criminal justice system including an FBI search in 2022 of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for classified documents. Trumps visit also comes at a time when Attorney General Pam Bondi has asserted that the department needs to be depoliticized even as critics assert agency leadership is injecting politics into the decision-making process. President Trump will visit the Department of Justice to give remarks on restoring law and order, removing violent criminals from our communities, and ending the weaponization of justice against Americans for their political leanings, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. The relationship between presidents and Justice Department leaders has waxed and waned over the decades depending on the personalities of the officeholders and the sensitivity of the investigations that have dominated the day. The dynamic between President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his attorney general, Merrick Garland, was known to be fraught in part because of special counsel investigations that Garland oversaw into Bidens mishandling of classified information and into the firearms and tax affairs of his son Hunter.When it comes to setting its agenda, the Justice Department historically takes a cue from the White House but looks to maintain its independence on individual criminal investigations.Trump has upended such norms. He encouraged specific investigations during his first term and tried to engineer the firing of Robert Mueller, the special counsel assigned to investigate ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 campaign. He also endured difficult relationships with his first two handpicked attorneys general Jeff Sessions was fired immediately after the 2018 midterm election, and William Barr resigned weeks after publicly disputing Trumps bogus claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Arriving for a second term in January fresh off a landmark Supreme Court opinion that reaffirmed a presidents unshakable control of the Justice Department, Trump has appeared determined to clear from his path any potential obstacles, including by appointing Bondi a former Florida attorney general who was part of Trumps defense team at his first impeachment trial and Kash Patel, another close ally, to serve as his FBI director.At her January confirmation hearing, Bondi appeared to endorse Trumps false claims of mass voter fraud in 2020 by refusing to answer directly whether Trump had lost to Biden. She also echoed his position that he had been unfairly targeted by the Justice Department despite the wealth of evidence prosecutors say they amassed. She regularly praises him in Fox News Channel appearances and proudly noted that she had removed portraits of Biden, Garland and Vice President Kamala Harris from a Justice Department wall upon arriving. We all adore Donald Trump, and we want to protect him and fight for his agenda. And the people of America overwhelmingly elected him for his agenda, Bondi said in a recent Fox interview with Trumps daughter-in-law Lara Trump.Even before Bondi had been confirmed, the Justice Department fired department employees who served on special counsel Jack Smiths team, which charged Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election and with hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Both cases were dismissed last November in line with longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting sitting presidents. Officials also demanded from the FBI lists of thousands of employees who worked on investigations into the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trumps supporters stormed the building in an effort to halt the certification of the electoral vote, and fired prosecutors who had participated in the cases. And theyve ordered the dismissal of a criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams by saying the charges had handicapped the Democrats ability to partner in the Republican administrations fight against illegal immigration.Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.___Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.___Follow the APs coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department and the special counsel cases against former President Donald Trump. twitter mailto ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto

A homeless woman smokes fentanyl in a park June 28, 2024, in downtown Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)2025-03-14T12:04:19Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate was preparing Friday to give final approval to a bill that could result in harsher prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers as both Republicans and Democrats seek to show they can act to rein in distribution of the deadly drug.The bill has already passed the House and has picked up Democratic support in the Senate, showing many in the party are eager to clamp down on fentanyl distribution following an election in which Republican Donald Trump harped on the problem. House Republicans passed a similar bill in 2023 with dozens of Democrats joining in support, but it languished in the Democratic-held Senate. Critics say the proposal repeats the mistakes of the so-called war on drugs, which imprisoned millions of people addicted to drugs, particularly Black Americans.Now, with Republicans in control of the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune has prioritized the legislation, making it one of the early bills to send to Trump for his signature. The president has indicated he will sign it. Thune said this week the legislation gives law enforcement a critical tool to go after the criminals bringing this poison into our country and selling it on our streets. Called the HALT Fentanyl Act, the bill would permanently place all copycat versions of fentanyl alterations of the drug that are often sold by traffickers on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations list of most dangerous drugs, known as Schedule 1. The drugs had already been temporarily placed on the list since 2018, but that designation was set to expire at the end of the month. The move would mean an increase in criminal convictions for distributing fentanyl-related substances, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The legislation also seeks to make it easier to research the drugs.The bill passed the House last month with 98 Democrats and every Republican except Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky in support. In the Senate, a majority of Democrats have supported the push to bring it to final passage. Law enforcement groups have also supported the bill. This is bipartisan because, frankly, fentanyl is a bipartisan problem, said Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who has sponsored the bill.Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have found agreement on trying to halt the flow of fentanyl into the United States, where it is blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths every year. Trump has said that halting the illicit flow of fentanyl is one of the top goals of his on-again-off-again tariff threats against Mexico, Canada and China.But some progressive Democrats said the bill was missing an opportunity to tackle root causes of addiction or to focus on stopping the drug from entering the U.S.Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement that support for the bill was enabling a political stunt at the expense of real solutions.The bill will do little to actually solve the fentanyl crisis but will make it harder to research addiction and overdose reversal medication, disrupt communities and families by incarcerating rather than treating addiction, and divert resources from methods that work to disrupt the flow of fentanyl in the United States to strategies from the outdated War-on-Drugs solutions that do not work, Markey added.The average prison sentence for those convicted of trafficking fentanyl-related drugs was seven years and three months in 2023, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Almost 60% of those convicted were Black, 23% were Hispanic and 16% were white. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Jessie Holmes (15), of Alabama, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)2025-03-14T11:07:04Z NOME, Alaska (AP) Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday.Holmes was first to the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome, on the Bering Sea coast. The race began March 3 in Fairbanks after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point.That made the normally 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race a staggering 1,129 miles (1,817 kilometers) across the Alaska wilderness. Holmes finished in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.Its hard to put into words, but its a magical feeling, Holmes said shortly after crossing the finish line. Its not about this moment now. Its about all those moments along the trail.Holmes, who was competing for the eighth time, previously finished in the top 10 five times, including third last year and in 2022. In his first Iditarod, in 2018, his seventh-place finish earned him Rookie of the Year honors. Born and raised in Alabama, Holmes left at age 18 and worked as a carpenter in Montana for three years. He arrived in Alaska in 2004 and found adventure running dogs on a remote location of the Yukon River.Its been a truly amazing 10 days and I soaked in every part of it the lows, the highs, the in-betweens. ... Im really proud of these dogs and I love them. And they did it. They deserve all the credit, Holmes said.Holmes now lives in Nenana, where he works as a carpenter and lives a subsistence lifestyle. From 2015 through 2023, he was a cast member of Life Below Zero, a National Geographic program that documents the struggles of Alaskans living in remote parts of the state. Besides the lack of snow north of the Alaska Range that forced the change of starting point to Fairbanks, race organizers also had to make changes to the ceremonial start in Anchorage.With snow trucked in to cover streets in the states largest city, the usual parade route there was shortened from 11 miles to under 2 miles (from about 18 kilometers to under 3.2 kilometers), and the number of dogs was reduced. Only 33 mushers started in Fairbanks, tied with 2023 for the smallest field ever. The drop in participants has raised concerns about the viability of the race, which has had to contend with inflation, climate change and pressure from animal rights groups.One dog died in this years Iditarod: a pregnant female on the team of musher Daniel Klein, who under race rules scratched due to the death.Nearly a third of the mushers quit early, including eight who scratched and two who were withdrawn for not being competitive.

An Iranian woman, without a mandatory headscarf, or hijab, walks in downtown Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)2025-03-14T09:01:02Z GENEVA (AP) Iran increasingly relies on electronic surveillance and the public to inform on women refusing to wear the countrys mandatory headscarf in public, even as hard-liners push for harsher penalties for those protesting the law, a United Nations report released Friday found.The findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran come after it determined last year that the countrys theocracy was responsible for the physical violence that led to the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death led to nationwide protests against the countrys mandatory hijab laws and the public disobedience against them that continues even today, despite the threat of violent arrest and imprisonment. Two and a half years after the protests began in September 2022, women and girls in Iran continue to face systematic discrimination, in law and in practice, that permeates all aspects of their lives, particularly with respect to the enforcement of the mandatory hijab, the report said. The state is increasingly reliant on state-sponsored vigilantism in an apparent effort to enlist businesses and private individuals in hijab compliance, portraying it as a civic responsibility. Irans mission to the U.N. in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings of the 20-page report. Drones, surveillance cameras monitor womenIn it, U.N. investigators outline how Iran increasingly relies on electronic surveillance. Among the efforts include Iranian officials deploying aerial drone surveillance to monitor women in public places. At Tehrans Amirkabir University, authorities installed facial recognition software at its entrance gate to also find women not wearing the hijab, it said. Surveillance cameras on Irans major roadways also are believed to be involved in searching for uncovered women. U.N. investigators said they obtained the Nazer mobile phone app offered by Iranian police, which allows the public to report on uncovered women in vehicles, including ambulances, buses, metro cars and taxis. Users may add the location, date, time and the license plate number of the vehicle in which the alleged mandatory hijab infraction occurred, which then flags the vehicle online, alerting the police, the report said. It then triggers a text message (in real-time) to the registered owner of the vehicle, warning them that they had been found in violation of the mandatory hijab laws, and that their vehicles would be impounded for ignoring these warnings.Those text messages have led to dangerous situations. In July 2024, police officers shot and paralyzed a woman who activists say had received such a message and was fleeing a checkpoint near the Caspian Sea. Tensions remain after 2022 death of Mahsa AminiAminis death sparked months of protests and a security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and led to the detention of more than 22,000. After the mass demonstrations, police dialed down enforcement of hijab laws, but it ramped up again in April 2024 under what authorities called the Noor or Light Plan. At least 618 women have been arrested under the Noor Plan, the U.N. investigators said, citing a local human rights activist group in Iran. Meanwhile, Iran executed at least 938 people last year, a threefold increase from 2021, the U.N. said. While many were convicted of drug charges, the report said the executions indicate a nexus with the overall repression of dissent in this period. As Iran continues its crackdown over the hijab, it also faces an economic crisis over U.S. sanctions due to its rapidly advancing nuclear program. While U.S. President Donald Trump has called for new negotiations, Iran has yet to respond to a letter he sent to its 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Social unrest, coupled with the economic woes, remain a concern for Irans theocracy. ___Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. JAMEY KEATEN Keaten is the chief Associated Press reporter in Geneva. He previously was posted in Paris and has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and across Europe. twitter 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

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a senate inquiry on the so-called war on drugs during his administration at the Philippine Senate Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)2025-03-14T08:56:40Z THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before judges of the International Criminal Court on Friday, days after his stunning arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly war on drugs he oversaw while in office.The 79-year-old Duterte, the first Asian former leader arrested on an ICC warrant, will be read his rights and formally informed of the charges of crimes against humanity that the courts prosecutors filed against him after a lengthy investigation.Estimates of the death toll during Dutertes presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported up to the 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.The court will also seek to set a date for a key pre-trial hearing likely months from now at which judges will assess whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a full trial, which could take years. If Duterte is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Duterte was arrested Tuesday amid chaotic scenes in the Philippine capital after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He was swiftly put on a chartered jet and flown to the Netherlands. After a series of medical checks on arrival, he was taken to the courts detention center, located behind the high brick walls of a Dutch prison complex close to the North Sea coastline. Prosecutors accuse him of involvement as an indirect co-perpetrator in multiple murders, amounting to a crime against humanity for allegedly overseeing killings from November 2011 until March 2019, first while he was mayor of the southern city of Davao and later as president of the Philippines. Duterte will not be required to formally enter a plea at Fridays hearing.According to the prosecution request for his arrest, as Davao mayor Duterte issued orders to police and other hitmen who formed so-called Davao Death Squads or DDS. He told them that their mission was to kill criminals, including drug dealers, and provided clearance for specific DDS killings, prosecutors allege, adding that he recruited, paid and rewarded the killers and provided them with the necessary weapons and resources, and promised to shield them from prosecution.The document seeking an ICC warrant for Duterte said that prosecutors built their case using evidence including witness testimony, speeches by Duterte himself, government documents and video footage.Human rights groups and victims families have hailed Dutertes arrest as a historic triumph against state impunity, while the former presidents supporters have slammed what they call the governments surrender of a rival to a court whose jurisdiction they dispute.We are happy and we feel relieved, said 55-year-old Melinda Abion Lafuente, mother of 22-year-old Angelo Lafuente, who she said was tortured and killed in 2016.Dutertes appearance before the ICC is a testament to the courage and determination of the victims, their families, and Filipino activists and journalists to pursue justice no matter how long it takes, said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Other leaders facing ICC arrest warrants, like Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, should take note that even those who seem untouchable today can end up in The Hague. Dutertes legal team said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s administration should not have allowed the global court to take custody of the former leader because the Philippines is no longer a party to the ICC.Our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen even a former president at that to foreign powers, Vice President Sara Duterte, the ex-presidents daughter and a political rival of the current president, said Tuesday before her father was flown out of Manila.Judges who approved Dutertes arrest warrant said the court has jurisdiction because the crimes alleged in the warrant were committed before Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the court in 2019.___Joe Gomez, Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Pool via AP)2025-03-14T14:17:03Z WASHINGTON (AP) More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trumps campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning Americas schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over race-based preferences in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. We will not yield on this commitment.Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world. Department officials said that the group limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs. The group of 45 colleges facing scrutiny over ties to the PhD Project include major public universities such as Arizona State, Ohio State and Rutgers, along with prestigious private schools like Yale, Cornell, Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A message sent to the PhD Project was not immediately returned.Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding impermissible race-based scholarships, the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race. Those seven are: Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, the New England College of Optometry, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota, the University of South Florida and the University of Tulsa School of Medicine. The department did not say which of the seven was being investigated for allegations of segregation.The Feb. 14 memo from Trumps Republican administration was a sweeping expansion of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred colleges from using race as a factor in admissions.___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.447 words 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

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a civilian hospital following a Russian drone attack in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)2025-03-14T11:05:22Z Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine, asking him to convey Moscows thoughts to Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.Putin asked Witkoff late Thursday to give additional messages to U.S. President Donald Trump, Peskov told reporters, after the Russian leader said at a news conference that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed.Trump said the U.S. held very good and productive discussions with Putin the day before. In a post on his Truth Social site Friday morning, Trump said that there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end, adding that Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military. Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russias full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russias army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage. The Russian army, backed by North Korean troops, are now close to completely driving Ukrainian forces from their foothold in Russias Kursk border region in what would be a major setback for Kyiv. A possible phone call between Putin and Trump to settle outstanding ceasefire issues could be arranged after Witkoff delivers the messages in Washington, Peskov said. There is an understanding on both sides that such a call is needed, Peskov said. There are certainly some grounds for cautious optimism, Peskov said of the ceasefire proposal. A lot still needs to be done, but the president has shown solidarity with President Trumps position.U.S. officials have said Washington was set to discuss technical issues related to a possible ceasefire next week. Given the range of issues on the table, and the sharp differences between what Moscow and Kyiv want, it could potentially take weeks or months for the guns to fall silent. Trump vowed during his election campaign to settle the war in 24 hours, but in January he changed that timeframe, voicing hope that peace could be negotiated in six months.Putins apparently amicable tone toward the White House reflects the remarkable shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Former President Joe Biden had sought to isolate Putin.Trump has threatened both Russia and Ukraine with punitive measures if they dont engage with his peace efforts.Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks on ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a tense meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war.Trump has raised the possibility of tightening sanctions on Russia, though his administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraines hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russias army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country. Meanwhile, Russian air defenses downed four Ukrainian drones attacking the Russian capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. One damaged the roof of an apartment building a few kilometers (miles) from the Kremlin. Several other buildings were lightly damaged by drone fragments, but there were no injuries, according to emergency officials.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A shaft of light shines into a bedroom in Belle, W.Va., on Nov. 11, 2013. (Craig Cunningham/The Daily Mail via AP, File)2025-03-14T14:03:01Z Chances are, if youre reading this, you got some sleep last night. But are you feeling rested?Experts say its an important question to consider. Most of us spend a third of our lives sleeping, but you may need more or less than eight hours a night. Heres what sleep scientists and doctors say about how much you really need and whether your gender plays a role.Sleep quality over quantitySleep is still a mystery, despite how critical it is for our health.The reasons arent entirely clear, but its an essential thing that we all do, said Dr. Rafael Pelayo, a sleep specialist at Stanford University. Something remarkable happens when you sleep. Its the most natural form of self-care that we have.Most of the population gets between seven to nine hours and that particular category has the lowest association with health problems, said Molly Atwood, a behavioral sleep medicine clinician at Johns Hopkins. Once people either dip into less than six hours of sleep or get more than nine hours on average, the risk of health problems inches up, Atwood said, but everybody is different. When youre trying to figure out how much sleep you need, its important to think about the quality of it, Pelayo said: What you really want to do is wake up feeling refreshed thats what its about.If somebody tells me that they sleep many hours but they wake up tired, something is wrong, Pelayo said. You shouldnt leave your favorite restaurant feeling hungry. How much sleep we need changesThe amount of sleep we need changes throughout our lives. Newborns need the most somewhere between 14 to 17 hours. Definitely when were babies and children, because we are growing so rapidly, we do need a lot more sleep, Atwood said.The National Sleep Foundation recommends most adults between 26 and 64 get between seven to nine hours of sleep. People who are 65 and older can get slightly less, and young adults between ages 16 and 25 can get slightly more. Humans cycle through sleep stages roughly every 90 minutes. In the first portion of the night, Atwood said that more of the cycle is slow wave sleep, or deep sleep, which is essential to repairing and restoring the body. Its also when growth hormone is released. In the latter hours of the night, more of the sleep cycle is spent in rapid-eye movement sleep, or dream sleep, which is important for learning and memory consolidation, or the process in which short-term memory gets turned into long-term memory. Kids get more deep sleep, with about 50% of the night in that realm, she said. That drops at adolescence, Atwood said, because our body doesnt need the same kind of repair and restoration.Something else interesting happens around puberty: Gender-based differences in sleep start to crop up. Do women need more sleep than men?Research doesnt show that women need more sleep but women do get slightly more sleep on average than men, Atwood said.It starts at a young age. Though they have the same sleep needs, teenage girls seem to get less sleep than teenage boys, Pelayo said. Additionally, teenage girls tend to complain of insomnia more frequently.When women become first-time mothers, they often care for newborns throughout the night more frequently, which means less sleep, said Allison Harvey, a clinical psychologist and professor who studies sleep at UC Berkeley.Hormones may also impact womens sleep quantity and quality during pregnancy and menopause.With menopause in particular, women can develop deterioration in their sleep with an increased number and duration of nighttime awakenings, said Dr. Mithri Junna, a Mayo Clinic neurologist who specializes in sleep. Atwood said women may also need more sleep right before their menstrual cycle.There are definitely times that your bodys telling you that you need more sleep, she said. Its important to listen.When to seek help sleepingYoull know if youre not getting enough sleep if youre feeling grumpy, irritable and inattentive. Long-term, those minor symptoms can become serious problems even deadly.If youre not getting enough sleep or you have untreated insomnia or sleep apnea, your risk of depression increases, Atwood said. Your risk of cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure, risk of heart attack and stroke increases. Your immune system is compromised. Youre at greater risk for Alzheimers. If youre getting the recommended amount of sleep every night but still waking up feeling tired, you might consider going to your primary care physician. They can rule out other health conditions that may affect your sleep, Atwood said. But if problems persist, seeking out a sleep specialist could be helpful.___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. DEVNA BOSE Bose is a public health reporter for The Associated Press, based in Jackson, Mississippi. She covers hospitals, rural health access and disparities, public health funding and other topics that broadly intersect with the health of communities. twitter mailto

A girl throws colored powder on her friend as they celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)2025-03-14T07:11:04Z NEW DELHI (AP) Millions of people in South Asia celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Friday by smearing each other with brightly colored powder, dancing to festive music and feasting on traditional sweets prepared for the occasion.The raucous spring festival sees Hindus take part in a kaleidoscopic celebration of the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil. The festival is a national holiday in India, while in Nepal its a two-day event that began Thursday. Its also observed in other South Asian countries as well as among the Indian diaspora.Holi has its origins in Hindu mythology and lore and celebrates the divine love between the Hindu god Krishna and his consort Radha, and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation.Across the country, people, mostly dressed in all white clothes, celebrated the festival by hurling colored powder at each other. Children, perched on rooftops and balconies, flung water balloons filled with colored pigments at passers by. Groups of young men also used water guns to chase people down in public parks and on the roads, while others danced on the streets to music blaring from speakers. In New Delhi, a rainbow haze hung in the air around a park where the group of friends splashed one another with pigmented powder and colored water. Its time for fun and frolic, said Krisha Bedi, a lawyer, whose face was covered with red, green and blue colors. In some places, people hurled marigolds, roses and jasmine petals instead of colored powder.Amid massive celebrations in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad, thousands of people gathered at temple were sprayed with colored water from huge pipes as they swayed to traditional Gujarati music, clapping over their heads.Food and drink are a big part of the festivities. Vendors in parts of India sold thandai, a traditional light green beverage prepared with milk, cardamom and dried fruit, and gujia, a flaky, deep-fried sweet pastry stuffed with milk curds, nuts and dried fruit. Another tradition that marks Holi is bhang, a local drink prepared with cannabis and consumed with milk or water. The drink is connected to Hinduism, particularly to Lord Shiva, and is also enjoyed during other religious festivals in the region. Its consumption is permissible under Indian law and it is also sold at government licensed shops.In many parts of India, people also light large bonfires the night before the festival to signify the destruction of evil and victory of good. Families gather around the flames to sing, dance and pray to Hindu gods.In two northern towns, hundreds of women celebrated last week by playfully hitting men who teased them as a part of ritual with wooden sticks. The festival is called Lathmar Hol, or Stick Holi.

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss companies' responses to being monitored by an ICE contractor, caring about the little things, weight loss drug ads, and how our SXSW shindig went.JOSEPH: This week I reported on the more than 200 sites, services, and apps that ShadowDragon, a contractor for ICE and other U.S. government agencies, is monitoring. By monitoring I mean, built the capability for its tool to scrape data from them. This isnt necessarily straightforward: if youre selling a capability to a government, I imagine they expect near flawless uptime and for the tool to grab whatever data is available.The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring404 Media has obtained the list of sites and services that ICE contractor ShadowDragon pulls data from. ShadowDragon sources data from all over the web and lets government analysts easily search it and draw connections between people.404 MediaJoseph CoxI contacted a bunch of the companies mentioned. Not all of them, because I dont think including statements from more than 200 is feasible, but a lot. Just for those who are interested in the story, below Ive pasted some statements that didnt get into the story, either because I didnt name the company, I found their statement could be confusing for readers, or I paraphrased it in the piece and am including the fuller version here. These were all via email.

Gold bars are shown stacked in a vault at the United States Mint on July 22, 2014 in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)2025-03-14T16:34:28Z NEW YORK (AP) Amid widespread economic turmoil, the price of gold has soared to levels never seen before.Gold futures surpassed the $3,000 per troy ounce for the first time this week. The price to buy gold on the spot market in New York is following closely behind.Interest in buying gold can rise sharply in times of uncertainty, as anxious investors seek safe havens for their money. Gold prices are spiking higher now as U.S. President Donald Trumps tariff policies have kicked off an international trade war that has roiled financial markets and threatened to reignite inflation for families and businesses alike.If trends continue, analysts say golds price could continue to climb in the months ahead. But precious metals are also volatile assets and so the future is never promised. Heres what to know. Whats the price of gold today?The going price for New York spot gold closed Thursday at record $2,988 per troy ounce the standard for measuring precious metals, which is equivalent to 31 grams per FactSet. Thats over $825 higher than golds spot price one year ago.Gold futures surpassed the $3,000 mark Thursday. But as of midday Friday, fell to just over $2,990.The price of spot gold is up nearly 14% since the start of 2025, per FactSet. By contrast, the stock market has tumbled. The benchmark S&P 500 has tumbled more than 5% this year with even blue-chip stocks fading. Apple, for instance, just had its worst week in five years. Why is the price of gold going up?A lot of it boils down to uncertainty. Interest in buying gold typically spikes when investors become anxious and theres been a lot of economic turmoil in recent months.Today, the heaviest uncertainty lies with Trumps escalating trade war. The presidents on-again, off-again new levy announcements and retaliatory tariffs from some of the nations closest traditional allies have created a sense of whiplash for both businesses and consumers who economists say will foot the bill through higher prices. Confidence began to slide at the start of the year for both U.S. households and businesses due to fears of inflation and tariffs. Those worries seem to only be worsening, according to a preliminary survey released Friday by the University of Michigan. Its measure of consumer sentiment sank for a third straight month due mostly to concerns about the future.Joe Cavatoni, chief market strategist at the World Gold Council, said Friday that he and others have been anticipating golds latest milestone for months noting in an email that the global challenges and risks that come with managing money today have heightened concern and caused more and more to turn to the asset as a safe haven.This is what has pushed gold to break record after record thus far, and with rising inflation expectations, lower rates, and continued uncertainty, we continue to see support for gold looking ahead, he added.Over the last year, analysts have also pointed to strong gold demand from central banks around the world amid geopolitical tension, including wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Is gold worth the investment?Advocates of investing in gold call it a safe haven arguing the commodity can serve to diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate possible risks down the road. Some also take comfort in buying something tangible that has the potential to increase in value over time.Still, experts caution against putting all your eggs in one basket. And not everyone agrees gold is a good investment. Critics say gold isnt always the inflation hedge many say it is and that there are more efficient ways to protect against potential loss of capital, such as derivative-based investments.The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also previously warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, the commission said, and prices rise as demand goes up meaning when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers.If you do choose to invest in gold, the commission adds, its important to educate yourself on safe trading practices and be cautious of potential scams and counterfeits on the market. WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Grantham-Philips is a business reporter who covers trending news for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., listens as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-14T18:31:54Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Democratic Party was fracturing Friday as a torrent of frustration and anger was unleashed at Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, who faced what they saw as an awful choice: shut the government down or consent to a Republican funding bill that allows President Donald Trump to continue slashing the federal government.After Schumer announced Thursday that he would reluctantly support the bill, he bore the brunt of that anger, including a protest at his office, calls from progressives that he be primaried in 2028 and suggestions that the Democratic Party would soon be looking for new leaders.Since their election losses, Democrats have been hunkered against a barrage of Trumps early actions in office, locked out of legislative power and left searching for a plan to regain political momentum. But as Schumer prepared to let pass one of the rare moments when the party might regain leverage in Washington, the Democratic Party erupted in a moment of anger that had been building for months. Many in the party felt the New York Democrat was not showing sufficient fight, arguing that a government shutdown would force Trump and Republicans to the negotiating table. Yet for Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since Trump took office in 2016, the choice ultimately came down to preventing a shutdown that he believed would only hand Trump more power and leave his party with the blame for disruptions to government services. A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive, Schumer warned on the Senate floor Friday morning, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency effort led by Elon Musk. Still, as the Senate headed for a crucial vote on the government funding bill, hardly any Democrats were speaking up in support of Schumers strategy. It was a remarkable turn for the longtime Democratic leader, leaving him standing practically alone. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, his longtime ally and partner in funding fights of the past, said in a statement, Lets be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.Pelosi added that the senators should listen to the women who lead appropriations for Democrats, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. They had proposed a 30-day stopgap plan instead of the Republican proposal that would provide funding until September. The Republican bill would trim $13 billion in non-defense spending from the levels in the 2024 budget year and increase defense spending by $6 billion.As House Democrats, who almost all voted against the bill earlier this week, concluded a retreat in northern Virginia Friday, they also called for their Senate colleagues to show more fight. House Democratic leadership rushed back to the Capitol to hold a news conference and urge their Senate colleagues to vote against the bill.We do not want to shutdown the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown, Jeffries said. He also repeatedly declined to answer questions about whether he had confidence in Schumer.Other Democrats, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028 and also visited the Democratic retreat, called for a broader movement. He mentioned the recent 60th anniversary of peaceful civil rights protests in Selma, Alabama, and argued that Democrats need to find collective courage. When those individuals marched, there wasnt one voice, Beshear said. There was a collective courage of that group that changed the world. That day opened up the eyes of the country to what was really going on.Some were ready to start marching.Were ready to get out of this building and head back to the Capitol at any moment and prevent the government from shutting down, said Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.But now is the moment for Democrats to draw a line in the stand and say that we stand very firmly on the side of working class people and against the ultra-rich that are trying to corrupt our government for themselves, he added. Meanwhile, some of the nations most influential progressive groups warned of serious political consequences for Senate Democrats and predicted a fierce backlash when members of Congress return home next week.Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, which has organized hundreds of protests across the nation, said that nearly 8 in 10 of the groups activists support primary challenges against Senate Dems who cave on the GOP bill.He wrote on social media that the vast majority of those Democratic activists plan to express their anger at town halls or other public events next week. MoveOn, another progressive group that claims nearly 10 million members nationwide, predicted that its activists would also demand answers from Democratic officials in the coming days Clearing the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is unacceptable. Its past time for Democrats to fight and stop acting like its business as usual, said Joel Payne, a spokesperson for MoveOn.In a social media post, Anne Caprara, the chief of staff for Illinois Gov. JB Prtizker, argued that the party could unify around a fight with Trump.The fight going on in the Democratic Party right now is not between hard left, left and moderate. Its between those who want to fight and those who want to cave, Caprara said, adding, Misread this at your own peril.Even in the Senate, Democrats were mostly unwilling to speak up to defend Schumers move. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, even suggested that the party should be looking for new leaders in the coming years.I think come 26, 28, well get some new leadership, he said. His office later said Warnock was answering the question broadly.Mostly, though, senators just lamented that they had been jammed by a Republican Party that has found a new sense of unity under Trump. For years, House Republicans have not been able to muster votes for government funding on their own, forcing them into bipartisan negotiations. This time, they passed the bill on party lines and left Washington.Were stuck with two bad choices presented by a unified Republican front, said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat.He was voting against the bill, yet said of Schumers decision: These are tough, tough calls.___Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam in Washington contributed. Peoples reported from New York and Brown reported from Leesburg, Va. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto MATT BROWN Brown is a reporter covering national politics, race and democracy issues. twitter instagram mailto

In this image taken from video provided by Justus Rainey, passengers move away from a plane as smoke surrounded the aircraft, in Denver, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Justus Rainey via AP)2025-03-14T15:52:32Z DENVER (AP) A fire on an American Airlines plane after it diverted mid-flight and landed at Denver International Airport sent passengers fleeing onto a wing in a fraught evacuation amid billowing clouds of smoke. Airport officials said 12 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.The country has seen a recent spate of aviation disasters and close calls stoking fears about air travel, though flying remains a very safe mode of transport. Recent on-the-ground incidents have included a plane that crashed and flipped over upon landing in Toronto and a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a parked Delta plane while it was taxiing at the Seattle airport.In this latest incident, Flight 1006 was headed from the Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas Fort Worth on Thursday, but diverted to Denver and landed safely around 5:15 p.m. after the crew reported engine vibrations, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. While taxiing to the gate, an engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught fire, the FAA added. Photos and videos posted by news outlets showed passengers exiting the plane onto its left wing as an engine on the right wing burned and black smoke surrounded the aircraft. They lined up and got to the ground using slides and ladders brought over by groundcrews, according to the FAA, videos and passenger interviews. American said in a statement that the flight experienced an engine-related issue after taxiing to the gate. There was no immediate clarification on exactly when the plane caught fire. All 172 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated from the plane, authorities and airport officials said. American Airlines referred questions about the 12 people taken to hospitals to local officials. Ten people were taken to the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora but spokesperson Kelli Christensen said she did not have an update on how many were there Friday.A replacement plane and crew took passengers to Dallas-Fort Worth, the airline said. The flight landed Friday around 5 a.m. local time, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. How common are airplane fires?Engine fires are very rare with crews trained to deal with them, according to aviation expert Steven Wallace. They typically are not catastrophic even if they occur in the air since planes can fly with a single engine, he said.A pilot going to work for an airline today could likely fly for 30 years and never experience an engine failure, said Wallace, a former director of the FAAs accident investigations office.Former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall said the reported engine vibrations were unusual but a slew of problems could have caused them and a fire, making it difficult to speculate on.As for the recent spate of aviation incidents, given the past history, you can classify it as unusual, said Hall, but I dont know if you have enough information to draw any conclusions. A passengers account of what happenedAfter hearing midflight that something was wrong with the engine and theyd have to land, passenger Daniel Friedman said in an interview with a WRAL-TV reporter at the Denver airport that he started thinking about who he would call and in what order and writing a eulogy.Really I just wanted to make sure we got here safe and didnt know if it was going to happen or not, Friendman said.When the plane caught fire after landing, flames could be seen right outside the window and people pushed and shoved to get off the plane, Friedman said. Once emergency doors opened, people hopped onto the wing and then onto ladders to get off the plane, he said. He said he scratched his leg jumping off the wing onto a ladder. Once on the ground, Friedman wanted to call friends and family to tell them he loved them.Friedman said he has concerns that hes been hearing of so many aviation incidents lately.Hopefully this never happens to me or anybody else again because thats not a good day, he said. I dont wish that upon anybody.The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have said they will investigate. We thank our crew members, DEN team and first responders for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority, American Airlines said.Colorado resident Ian Paisley was at the airport Friday to fly to Hawaii with his family and said they fly about three or four times a year. He heard about Thursdays fire but didnt think that it would change his familys plans.We can have confidence that even though these are terrible things that happen and very frightening for people, that for most of us its not going to be something that affects our lives and we can have confidence that we can still go up in the air and be safe, he said.___ Brumfield reported from Washington. JESSE BEDAYN Bedayn is a statehouse reporter for The Associated Press based in Denver. He is a Report for America corps member. mailto

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies before a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the Postal Service on Capitol Hill, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Washington. (Tom Brenner/Pool via AP,File)2025-03-14T01:54:02Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. WASHINGTON (AP) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget and hell do that working with Elon Musk s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a letter sent to members of Congress on Thursday.DOGE will assist USPS with addressing big problems at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat. The agreement also includes the General Services Administration in an effort to help the Postal Service identify and achieve further efficiencies.USPS listed such issues as mismanagement of the agencys retirement assets and Workers Compensation Program, as well as an array of regulatory requirements that the letter described as restricting normal business practice.This is an effort aligned with our efforts, as while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done, DeJoy wrote. Critics of the agreement fear negative effects of the cuts will be felt across America. Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, who was sent the letter, said turning over the Postal Service to DOGE would result in it being undermined and privatized. This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans especially those in rural and hard to reach areas who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more, he said in a statement. USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers tasked with making deliveries from inner cities to rural areas and even far-flung islands. The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to the letter. The USPS announced the plan during the final days of the Biden administration in January but at the time didnt include the number of workers expected to leave. Neither the USPS nor the Trump administration immediately responded to emails from The Associated Press requesting comment.The agency previously announced plans to cut its operating costs by more than $3.5 billion annually. And this isnt the first time thousands of employees have been cut. In 2021, the agency cut 30,000 workers. As the service that has operated as an independent entity since 1970 has struggled to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail, it has fought calls from President Donald Trump and others that it be privatized. Last month, Trump said he may put USPS under the control of the Commerce Department in what would be an executive branch takeover.The National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian L. Renfroe said in a statement in response to Thursdays letter that they welcome anyones help with addressing some of the agencys biggest problems but stood firmly against any move to privatize the Postal Service.Common sense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily, he said.DeJoy, a Republican donor who owned a logistics business, was appointed to lead USPS during Trumps first term in 2020. He has faced repeated challenges during his tenure, including the COVID-19 pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts. ____This story has been updated to make clear that the voluntary early retirement program being used to make the job cuts was announced in January and is not a result of the agreement with the Department of Government Efficiency. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Sean Combs arrives at the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)2025-03-14T19:04:33Z NEW YORK (AP) Sean Diddy Combs returned to federal court in New York City on Friday, pleading not guilty to the latest version of an indictment charging him with two decades of sex trafficking crimes.The 55-year-old Combs, his beard noticeably grayer than even weeks ago, stood with his hands folded before him as he told Judge Arun Subramanian that he had read the indictment and understood the charges against him.Combs, who has been held without bail since his September arrest, hugged two of his lawyers as he entered the courtroom.Subramanian told lawyers that questionnaires will be distributed to hundreds of prospective jurors at the end of April so that questioning of would-be jurors can begin on May 5, with opening statements expected to occur on May 12.According to the indictment, Combs used the power and prestige he wielded as a music mogul to intimidate, threaten and lure women into his orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. The indictment said he then used force, threats and coercion to cause victims, including the three women, to engage in commercial sex acts. It said he subjected his victims to violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm and verbal abuse.On multiple occasions, Combs threw both objects and people, as well as hit, dragged, choked and shoved others, it said. On one occasion, Combs dangled a victim over an apartment balcony. Defense lawyers have argued that prosecutors were trying to demonize sex acts between consenting adults.Part of the discussion in court Friday revolved around what will be allowed at the trial regarding a video that aired on CNN last year that showed Combs punching his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner said the video was critical to the case. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said the video was deceptive and not in accordance with the actions that took place.He said certain actions were speeded up in the video by as much as 50 percent and others were taken out of order.From the defense standpoint, its a misleading piece of evidence, a deceptive piece of evidence, a piece of evidence that has been changed, he said.Combs blew kisses and waved to family members in the gallery as he was led out of the courtroom by marshals.

Mark Carney is sworn in as prime minister during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday, March 14, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-03-14T12:51:22Z TORONTO (AP) Former central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as Canadas new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, annexation threats and an expected federal election.Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. Carney is widely expected to trigger a general election in the coming days or weeks.We will never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada, Carney said. We are very fundamentally a different country. The governing Liberal Party had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared economic war and repeatedly has said Canada should become the 51st state. Now the party and its new leader could come out on top. Carney has said hes ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he doesnt plan to visit Washington at the moment but hopes to have a phone call with the president soon.. The president is a successful businessman and deal maker. Were his largest client in so many industries, Carney said. Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K. He will now try to steer Canada through the trade war brought by Trump. Carney, a former Goldman Sachs executive with no experience in politics, becomes Canadas 24th prime minister. He said protecting Canadian workers and their families in the face of unjustified trade actions and growing the economy will be his top priorities. Carney said he will travel to Europe to visit French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the coming days. He received invitations from both. We must diversify our trade partners and strengthen our security in so doing, Carney said. Trump put 25% tariffs on Canadas steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products April 2. He has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a fictional line.The U.S. trade war and Trumps talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Partys chances in a parliamentary election expected within days or weeks, and Liberal showings have been improving in opinion polls.The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surge.But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canadas next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the United States. He will do very well. Hes respected internationally, former Prime Minister Jean Chrtien told reporters Friday. But, he added: There is no magic solution. This is not a normal situation. Weve never seen someone who changes his mind every five minutes as president of the United States. It creates problems everywhere, not only in Canada.A new Cabinet of 13 men and 11 women was sworn in, smaller than Trudeaus 37-member team. Franois-Philippe Champagne becomes Canadas new finance minister, the governments second most powerful position. He was previously industry minister. Dominic LeBlanc goes from finance to to intergovernmental affairs.Mlanie Joly remains foreign minister. Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister who lost to Carney in the Liberal Party leadership race, becomes minister of transport and internal trade.

Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025, before a hearing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security data. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)2025-03-14T20:47:58Z BALTIMORE (AP) A federal judge is considering whether to temporarily block Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security Administration systems that hold sensitive data on millions of Americans.A group of labor unions and retirees sued the Trump administration and asked the court to issue an emergency order limiting DOGEs access to the agency and its data. DOGEs nearly unlimited access violates privacy laws and presents massive information security risks, they said. A recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.The administration has said DOGE is targeting waste and fraud in the federal government. During a Friday hearing on the issue in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander repeatedly questioned attorneys for the government about why the DOGE team needed such a large quantity of sensitive personal information about Social Security recipients, including health records for disability applicants. She questioned whether a more targeted approach would allow DOGE to uncover improper payments without accessing so much data. This is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer, she said of the Trump administrations approach. While alluding to technical issues that could affect her ruling, the judge said she was struggling to understand why DOGEs actions were necessary, calling them extremely worrisome and surprising. Whats the excuse for that or the justification? she asked. The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at the Social Security Administration, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. They have received privacy training, and eight had passed background checks as of Wednesday, government lawyers said in court documents. They argued in court that the DOGE access doesnt deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees and auditors are routinely allowed to search its databases. But attorneys for the plaintiffs called it unprecedented.This is, in fact, a sea change in terms of how the agency protects personal information, said Alethea Anne Swift, an attorney with the legal services group Democracy Forward, which is behind the lawsuit.Outside the courthouse ahead of the hearing, dozens of union workers and retirees rallied in support of the plaintiffs and expressed concern over whether their Social Security benefits are at risk.We want Elon Musk and the DOGE group to take their hands off Social Security, said Ronnie Bailey, 75, a retired Maryland corrections officer and Vietnam veteran. When you talk about peoples lifelines, Social Security is not waste.Agnes Watkins, a retired nurse, said she relies on Social Security checks to pay her mortgage and cover other basic necessities. She said shes disturbed at the thought that anybody can just come in and gain access to private information. It doesnt feel secure, she said.The group held signs calling for the protection of Social Security benefits and shouted Down with DOGE and other chants. DOGE has also accessed other government databases, including at the Treasury and IRS.At Social Security, DOGE staffers swept into the agency days after Trumps inauguration and pressed for a software engineer to quickly get access to data systems that are normally carefully restricted even within the government, a former official said in court documents.The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner.I am deeply concerned about DOGEs access to SSA systems and the potential to inappropriately and inaccurately disclose this information, especially given the rushed nature in which we were required to onboard, she said.Hollander, who is based in Baltimore and was appointed by President Barack Obama, is the latest judge to consider a DOGE related case. The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits, some of which have shed light on staffing and operations that have largely been kept under wraps.Several judges have raised questions about DOGEs sweeping cost-cutting efforts, but they have not always agreed that the risks are imminent enough to block the team from government systems.___Whitehurst reported from Washington. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)2025-03-14T05:55:04Z NEW YORK (AP) U.S. stocks rallied to their best day in months on Friday as Wall Streets roller coaster suddenly shot back upward. That still wasnt enough to keep the U.S. market from a fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak since August. The S&P 500 jumped 2.1% a day after closing more than 10% below its record for its first correction since 2023. The last time the index shot up that much was the day after President Donald Trumps election, when Wall Street was focusing on the upsides of Trumps return to the White House.The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.A multi-day relief rally could be coming after so much negativity built among investors, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management. Swings in sentiment dont go full-tilt in just one direction forever, and the U.S. stock market has been tumbling quickly since setting a record less than a month ago. One piece of uncertainty hanging over Wall Street may be clearing after the Senate made moves to prevent a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. government. Past shutdowns have not been a huge deal for financial markets. But any reduction of uncertainty can be helpful when so much of it has been sending the U.S. stock market on big, scary swings not just day to day but also hour to hour. To be sure, the heaviest uncertainty remains with Trumps escalating trade war. There, the question is how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes. While stock prices may be close to finishing their reset to account for tariffs set to hit in April, Ma said concerns about how big an impact cutbacks in federal spending will have on the economy are likely to remain for some time. U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of all the uncertainties created by Trumps barrage of on -again, off -again tariff announcements and other policies. Thats raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy. Worries look to be only worsening among U.S. households, according to a preliminary survey released Friday by the University of Michigan. Its measure of consumer sentiment sank for a third straight month, mostly because of concerns about the future rather than complaints about the present. The job market and overall economy look relatively solid at the moment. Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors, according to Joanne Hsu, direct of the survey, and frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of ones policy preferences.Such fears have Wall Street focused on whether companies are seeing the souring mood of consumers translating into real pain for their businesses. Ulta Beauty jumped 13.7% after the beauty products retailer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The companys forecasts for upcoming revenue and profit fell short of analysts targets, but Chief Financial Officer Paula Oyibo said it wanted to be cautious as we navigate ongoing consumer uncertainty. Analysts said the forecasts appeared better than feared.Gains for Big Tech stocks and companies in the artificial-intelligence industry also helped support the market. Such stocks have been under the most pressure in the recent sell-off after critics said their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI. Nvidia rose 5.3% to trim its loss for 2025 so far below 10%. Apple climbed 1.8% to pare its loss for the week, which at one point had been on pace to be its worst since the 2020 COVID crash. All told, the S&P 500 rose 117.42 points to 5,638.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674.62 to 41,488.19, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 451.07 to 17,754.09. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.Stocks jumped 2.1% in Hong Kong and 1.8% in Shanghai after Chinas National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice ordering financial institutions to help develop consumer finance and encourage use of credit cards, do more to aid borrowers who run into trouble and be more transparent in their lending practices. Economists say China needs consumers to spend more to get the economy out of its doldrums, although most have advocated broader, more fundamental reforms. In the bond market, Treasury yields rose to recover some of their sharp recent losses. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.31% from 4.27% late Thursday and from 4.16% at the start of last week.Yields have been swinging since January, when the 10-year yield was approaching 4.80%. When worries worsen about the U.S. economys strength, yields have fallen. When those worries lessen, or when concerns about inflation rise, yields have climbed. ___AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks from his vehicle as he walks to board his airplane prior to departing Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec, Canada, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Saul Loeb, Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-14T21:32:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africas ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in the country, in the latest Trump administration move targeting the African nation.Rubio, in a post on X, accused Ebrahim Rasool of being a race-baiting politician who hates President Donald Trump and declared him persona non grata. Rubio linked to a Breitbart story about a talk Rasool gave during a South African think tanks webinar.Rasool, speaking by videoconference, talked about Trump ally Elon Musks outreach to far-right figures in Europe as a dog whistle in a global movement trying to rally people who see themselves as part of an embattled white community.The State Department did not have additional details about the ban, and it was unclear whether Rasool was even in the U.S. at the time the decision was made. Rubio posted as he was flying back to Washington from a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. It is highly unusual for the U.S. to expel a foreign ambassador, although lower-ranking diplomats are more frequently targeted with persona non grata status. At the height of U.S.-Russia diplomatic expulsions during the Cold War and then again over Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea, allegations of interference in the 2016 U.S. election and the poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer in Britain, neither Washington nor Moscow saw fit to expel the respective ambassadors. Phone calls to the South African Embassy seeking comment, made at the end of the work day, were not answered.Rasool previously served as his countrys ambassador to the U.S. from 2010 to 2015 before returning in January. As a child, he and his family were evicted from a Cape Town neighborhood designated for white people. Rasool became an active anti-apartheid campaigner, serving time in prison and identifying as a comrade of the countrys first post-apartheid president, Nelson Mandela. He later became a politician in Mandelas African National Congress political party. His ouster comes after Trump signed an executive order that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africas Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trumps claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions.Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners which the order referred to as racially disfavored landowners when no land has been taken under the law. Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S. They are only one part of South Africas white minority.The Expropriation Act was signed into law by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year and allows the government to take land in specific instances where it is not being used, or where it would be in the public interest if it is redistributed. It aims to address some of the wrongs of South Africas racist apartheid era, when Black people had land taken away from them and were forced to live in areas designated for non-white people.Musk, who grew up in South Africa and heads Trumps Department of Government Efficiency, has highlighted that law in social media posts and cast it as a threat to South Africas white minority. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for The Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

The Transport Security Administration has a freeze on credit card purchases for its bomb-sniffing dogs, TSA confirmed to 404 Media on Friday. The statement follows the leak of an alleged internal email which said TSA was cutting off requests for dog food and vet visits.A TSA spokesperson told 404 Media: Our heroic canines are happy, healthy, and funded. Credit card purchases have been restricted for 30 days, but Canine operations have NOT been adversely affected by this effort.This program, called the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program, is administered by the TSA, and trains and deploys both TSA-led and state and local law enforcement-led canine teams in support of day-to-day activities that protect the transportation domain, according to the programs website.I contacted TSA for comment after Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin posted of a computer screen showing an email seemingly directed at TSA personnel on Friday. The email she posted said: "Subject: NEW GUIDANCE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!Importance: HighGood morning all,As of the moment, ALL requests for everything to include (Vet visits, kenneling, dog food, etc...) have been put on hold until we receive further guidance. I apologize for the confusion, but due to new guidance sent out last night, nothing is being approved at this time. Once I receive an update, I will be sure to share with all of you."404 Media hasnt independently verified the emails contents, but the TSAs response to our request for comment about it confirms that there is a freeze on credit cards. The TSA spokesperson didnt clarify whether these were Department of Government Efficiency-related (DOGE) cuts, and the allegedly internal email Griffin posted doesnt mention DOGE, but Elon Musks department has been busy making poorly-coded and insecure websites, dodging FOIA, gutting national parks resources, bringing in HR consultants to redefine DEI consistent with Christianity, demanding federal workers list their weeks out in bullet points, and generally sowing chaos all over the federal government with layoffs and budget cuts.Yesterday was National K9 Veterans Day. The official White House account on X posted with a photo of President Donald Trump next to a dog: "Happy K9 Veterans Day to all of our heroic working dogs, including Conan who fearlessly participated in the military operation that ended ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019.

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)2025-03-14T21:36:26Z NEW YORK (AP) A video released Friday shows the moment federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose detention has sparked fierce protest across the country.The clip begins with at least three immigration agents confronting Khalil in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus Saturday night. The agents inform him that he is going to be under arrest, then repeatedly order him to turn around and stop resisting.Theres no need for this, Khalil replies calmly as they place him in handcuffs. Im going with you. No worries.As his wife, Noor Abdalla, cries out in protest, asking in Arabic: My love, how can I call you? Khalil assures her that he will be fine and instructs her to call his attorney, who was representing him in a student disciplinary case. Abdalla, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, then asks the immigration agents to identify themselves. We dont give our names, one replies, as Khalil is hustled out of the frame.The video was released by Khalils attorneys the same day the Justice Department announced that it was investigating whether the university concealed illegal aliens on its campus. In a statement accompanying the video, Abdalla described the interaction as the most terrifying moment of my life. She said the arrest happened as the couple were returning home from an Iftar celebration to their Manhattan apartment, which is owned by Columbia University. This felt like a kidnapping because it was: Officers in plainclothes who refused to show us a warrant, speak with our attorney, or even tell us their names forced my husband into an unmarked car and took him away from me, she continued. They threatened to take me too, even though we were calm and fully cooperating.The arrest of Khalil, a lawful U.S. resident with no criminal history, has sent shockwaves through Columbia University, triggering fear among international students and widespread condemnation from free speech groups, who accuse the Trump administration of seeking to criminalize political dissent. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned that the attempted deportation will be the first of many brought against those who joined protests against Israels military action in Gaza. He has accused the demonstrators of being pro-Hamas, referring to the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.Earlier Friday, federal officials announced that they had arrested another woman tied to the protests outside Columbia University and revoked the visa of a Columbia University doctoral student, who self-deported earlier this week.In court papers, lawyers for the Justice Department said Kahlil was detained under a law allowing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to remove someone from the country if he has reasonable grounds to believe their presence or activities would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences. On Thursday, Khalils lawyers filed new court documents describing how he was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend.The experience reminded Khalil of when he left Syria shortly after the forced disappearance of his friends there during a period of arbitrary detention in 2013, the lawyers wrote.According to the lawsuit, federal agents repeatedly denied Khalils request to speak to a lawyer after he was detained. When he was taken to FBI headquarters in lower Manhattan, Khalil saw an agent approach another agent and say, the White House is requesting an update, the lawyers wrote.At some point early Sunday, Khalil was taken, handcuffed and shackled, to the Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a privately run facility where he spent the night in a cold waiting room for processing, his request for a blanket denied, the lawsuit said.When he reached the front of the line for processing, he was told his processing would not occur after all because he was being transported by immigration authorities, according to the suit. Put in a van, Khalil noticed that one of the agents received a text message instructing that Khalil was not to use his phone, the lawsuit said.At 2:45 p.m. Sunday, he was put on an American Airlines flight from Kennedy International Airport to Dallas, where he was placed on a second flight to Alexandria, Louisiana. He arrived at 1 a.m. Monday and a police car took him to the Louisiana Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana, the suit said.At the facility, he now worries about his pregnant wife and is also very concerned about missing the birth of his first child, the lawsuit said.In April, Khalil was to begin a job and receive health benefits that the couple was counting on to cover costs related to the birth and care of the child, it added.It is very important to Mr. Khalil to be able to continue his protected political speech, advocating and protesting for the rights of Palestinians both domestically and abroad, the lawsuit said. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)2025-03-14T23:05:21Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The replacements for NASAs two stuck astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pairs return after nine long months.Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More NASA wants overlap between the two crews so Wilmore and Williams can fill in the newcomers on happenings aboard the orbiting lab. That would put them on course for an undocking next week and a splashdown off the Florida coast, weather permitting.The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg.Reaching orbit from NASAs Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASAs Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japans Takuya Onishi and Russias Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free. Crew10 members, from left, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, astronaut Nichole Ayers, astronaut Anne McClain and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Crew10 members, from left, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, astronaut Nichole Ayers, astronaut Anne McClain and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Spaceflight is tough, but humans are tougher, McClain said minutes into the flight. As test pilots for Boeings new Starliner capsule, Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week or so when they launched from Cape Canaveral on June 5. A series of helium leaks and thruster failures marred their trip to the space station, setting off months of investigation by NASA and Boeing on how best to proceed. Eventually ruling it unsafe, NASA ordered Starliner to fly back empty last September and moved Wilmore and Williams to a SpaceX flight due back in February. Their return was further delayed when SpaceXs brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs before launching their replacements. To save a few weeks, SpaceX switched to a used capsule, moving up Wilmore and Williams homecoming to mid-March. Already capturing the worlds attention, their unexpectedly long mission took a political twist when President Donald Trump and SpaceXs Elon Musk vowed earlier this year to accelerate the astronauts return and blamed the former administration for stalling it.Retired Navy captains who have lived at the space station before, Wilmore and Williams have repeatedly stressed that they support the decisions made by their NASA bosses since last summer. The two helped keep the station running fixing a broken toilet, watering plants and conducting experiments and even went out on a spacewalk together. With nine spacewalks, Williams set a new record for women: the most time spent spacewalking over a career.A last-minute hydraulics issue delayed Wednesdays initial launch attempt. Concern arose over one of the two clamp arms on the Falcon rockets support structure that needs to tilt away right before liftoff. SpaceX later flushed out the arms hydraulics system, removing trapped air.The duos extended stay has been hardest, they said, on their families Wilmores wife and two daughters, and Williams husband and mother. Besides reuniting with them, Wilmore, a church elder, is looking forward to getting back to face-to-face ministering and Williams cant wait to walk her two Labrador retrievers.We appreciate all the love and support from everybody, Williams said in an interview earlier this week. This mission has brought a little attention. Theres goods and bads to that. But I think the good part is more and more people have been interested in what were doing with space exploration. ___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.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-03-15T00:41:15Z WASHINGTON (AP) An appeals court on Friday lifted a block on executive orders seeking to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, handing the Trump administration a win after a string of setbacks defending President Donald Trumps agenda from dozens of lawsuits.The decision from a three-judge panel allows the orders to be enforced as a lawsuit challenging them plays out. The appeals court judges halted a nationwide injunction from U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore.Two of the judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that Trumps anti-DEI push could eventually raise concerns about First Amendment rights but said the judges sweeping block went too far.My vote should not be understood as agreement with the orders attack on efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, Judge Pamela Harris wrote. Two of the panels members were appointed by President Barack Obama, while the third was appointed by Trump. Abelson had found the orders likely violated free-speech rights and are unconstitutionally vague since they dont have a specific definition of DEI. Trump signed an order his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all equity-related grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they dont promote DEI.The city of Baltimore and other groups sued the Trump administration, arguing the executive orders are an unconstitutional overreach of presidential authority. The Justice Department has argued that the president was targeting only DEI programs that violate federal civil rights laws. Government attorneys said the administration should be able to align federal spending with the presidents priorities.Abelson, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, agreed with the plaintiffs that the executive orders discourage businesses, organizations and public entities from openly supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. Efforts to increase diversity long have been under attack by Republicans who contend the measures threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and educational opportunities for white people. Supporters say the programs help institutions meet the needs of increasingly diverse populations while addressing the lasting impacts of systemic racism.Their purpose was to foster equitable environments in businesses and schools, especially for historically marginalized communities. Researchers say DEI initiatives date back to the 1960s but they expanded in 2020 during increased calls for racial justice.In addition to the mayor and the Baltimore City Council, the plaintiffs include the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which represents restaurant workers across the country.___Associated Press writer Lea Skene contributed to this story. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto

Protesters gather ahead of a major rally this weekend in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)2025-03-14T10:53:21Z BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets in Serbias capital Belgrade on Friday, staging a joyful prelude to a major anti-government rally on the weekend and dealing a blow to populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The citizens of Belgrade came out to welcome thousands of university students who converged on Belgrade from across the country for the rally planned for Saturday that is expected to draw even more people. Saturdays protest is seen as a culmination of months of anti-graft demonstrations in the Balkan country that have posed the biggest challenge so far for Vucics decade-long firm grip on power in Serbia. Flares, fireworks and flag-waving crowds filled the downtown streets in stark contrast to weeks of fear-mongering spread by Vucics populists with an aim to dissuade people from attending the rally Saturday. The autocratic leader has repeatedly warned that violence is planned at the rally and threatened arrests over any incidents. Vucics supporters have been camping in the city center, fueling fears of clashes with the protesters. At a news conference on Friday evening, a defiant Vucic again said that authorities have received multiple reports of alleged planned unrest and described Saturdays rally as illegal. Vucic reiterated claims that Western intelligence services were behind the protests with an aim to oust him from power. I do not accept blackmail, I will not agree to pressure, I am the president of Serbia and I wont allow the street to set the rules, Vucic said. Students have led the nationwide anti-graft movement, which started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station and killed 15 people in Serbias north more than four months ago.Earlier, police detained six opposition activists on suspicion of preparing actions against the constitutional order and security a day after an alleged recording of their meeting was broadcast on pro-government television stations on Thursday. The Serbian state will do everything to secure peace, Vucic said. Those disrupting peace will be arrested and severely punished.The protesters didnt seem to care. Marko Vukovic, a student from Belgrade said he came to support my friends, colleagues and all the citizens who think for themselves, to fight for a more just Serbia.Many people cried, laughed and screamed with joy. Protesting students have struck a cord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions. Previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful while drawing huge crowds. In Belgrade, tensions soared after Vucics supporters, including former paramilitary fighters, set up a camp in a park outside the presidency building. Tractors were parked around the camp on Friday. Authorities said that the parliament building across the street would be locked for the next three days because of security reasons. Railway traffic was suspended, along with many bus links to Belgrade. Responding to tensions, the European Unions mission in Serbia said on Friday that freedom of assembly is a fundamental right and the safety of participants and institutions must be ensured. Violence must be avoided, the EU said. Serbia is formally seeking EU membership, but the governing populists have been accused of stifling democratic freedoms while strengthening relations with Russia and China. ___Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., gives a television interview, as the Senate works to avert a partial government shutdown ahead of the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-03-15T04:06:20Z WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Democrats were grim Friday as they left Washington after a brutal 10-week stretch that consistently showed the limits of their power in the minority and culminated with a deeply personal rupture over how to best counter President Donald Trump.Everyone made hard decisions, right? Really hard decisions, said Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, of the position in which Democrats found themselves over the last week as they had to decide between voting for a Republican spending bill they hated and shutting down the government. Its like two horrible things, and you cant imagine either one.Internal dissension burst into the open Thursday evening after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would vote to move forward on the Trump-backed spending measure, ensuring its eventual passage even though Democrats said it would give Trump broad discretion on decisions that are traditionally left to Congress. The intraparty backlash was unusually swift as activists and House Democrats who had uniformly opposed the bill heaped criticism on Schumer. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Schumers New York colleague, joined other top party members in a statement saying, We will not be complicit. The heat on Schumer came after several other Democratic setbacks in the dizzying weeks since Trumps inauguration, and as Republicans have only become more unified under the presidents second term. Republicans confirmed Trumps entire Cabinet swiftly and with little internal disagreement, denying Democrats the needed votes to block nominees they saw as extreme, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Democrats were also unable to stop a series of moves by Trumps administration that would normally be left to Congress under the law, including mass firings across the government. Adding to their challenges, the outlook for future Senate elections grew even gloomier after Democrats in three swing states the latest being Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire announced their retirement. The days leading up to Fridays vote on government spending were particularly bleak after several hourslong meetings that became contentious. Senate Democrats repeatedly left the meetings stone-faced and refusing to talk with reporters. The angst was particularly acute among rank-and-file who have spent years messaging about the perils of shutdowns.Its a momentous decision, said Shaheen, one of nine Democrats who voted with Schumer to keep the government open.The tension was unusually high after Senate Democrats had remained solidly unified through Trumps first term and through most of Democrat Joe Bidens presidency, when Democrats passed several major policy bills and held the Senate against perceived odds in the 2022 midterm elections. Schumers move to support the spending legislation put him in the rare position of bucking his partys base. He said that of two bad options, a partial government shutdown was worse because it would give Trump even more control to shut down agencies and there would be no off-ramp to get out of it. I think people realize its a tough choice, he said. Reaction to Schumers decision was mixed. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who voted not to move forward on the spending measure, wouldnt answer when asked by reporters if she still has confidence in the Democratic leader. But Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who voted to move forward, said Schumer is showing leadership by taking a stand.Schumer and Democrats in his caucus say they believe they will eventually gain more political ground as members of their party become more motivated, and as they continue to criticize Trump on what they predict will be the economic ramifications of his policies.On Friday, as he walked into the Senate to vote, Schumer said Democrats will resume pounding away at Donald Trump and arguing that hes hurting the middle class economically. Its brought down his numbers some, and were going to keep at it, keep at it, keep at it. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said that spending vote was a tough political call, but the party would continue to be unified on the economic message. All of our base wants us to fight, and Im with them, said Welch, who voted not to move forward on the spending measure. But he questioned whether the party ever had any leverage, as Trump was preparing to blame them if there was a shutdown. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Democrats need to keep their eyes on the ball.The stark reality is, were the minority in the House, were the minority in the Senate, and we dont control the White House, so we need to use every tool as nimbly and ingeniously as we can, Blumenthal said. But most importantly, the growing anger. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A resident walks on a street during a general blackout in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)2025-03-15T02:18:00Z HAVANA (AP) Cuba suffered a massive power outage Friday night affecting Havana and the countrys provinces that left millions in the dark.Cubas Ministry of Energy and Mines said at around 8:15 p.m. local time an outage at the Diezmero substation on the outskirts of Havana had caused a significant loss of generation in western Cuba and, with it, the failure of the National Electric System.The ministry said on its account on the social platform X that it is working on the recovery process.The streets of Havana were dark and empty, with light coming only from the windows of hotels that had generators. Internet service was affected.People in provinces as far away as Guantnamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara reported experiencing blackouts with just flickers of light.Earlier, the Electric Union, the state agency that regulates the sector, said in its daily report that peak-hour demand would be around 3,250 megawatts and the deficit would reach around 1,380 megawatts, meaning 42% of the national energy system would be shut down. This figure is not the highest in recent memory. Cuba suffered th ree widespread outages in its national energy system at the end of last year, leaving the island in the dark amid a serious economic crisis. Cubas power grid has been plagued by frequent outages, with more than half of the country experiencing power cuts during peak hours. The outages are primarily caused by fuel shortages and aging infrastructure. In many parts of the island, electricity is crucial for cooking and water pumping.Authorities on the island have begun a program to install photovoltaic parks and promised that dozens of them will be ready this year. Blackouts previously prompted anti-government demonstrations in 2021, 2022, and 2024.

A student from Columbia University holds up a keffiyeh as they line up to enter Manhattan federal court to attend the deportation case of Mahmoud Khalil, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)2025-03-15T05:09:28Z In the span of a week, a hush has descended on higher education in the United States.International students and faculty have watched the growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University with apprehension. Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses.The elite New York City university has been the focus of the Trump administrations effort to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges last year. Federal immigration agents have arrested two foreigners one of them a student who protested last year at Columbia. Theyve revoked the visa of another student, who fled the U.S. this week. Department of Homeland Security agents also searched the on-campus residences of two Columbia students on Thursday but did not make any arrests there. GOP officials have warned its just the beginning, saying more student visas are expected to be revoked in the coming days.Columbias Graduate School of Journalism issued a statement reporting an alarming chill among its foreign students in the past week. Many of our international students have felt afraid to come to classes and to events on campus, said the statement signed by The Faculty of Columbia Journalism School.It added: They are right to be worried. Alarm at campuses across the countryInternational students and faculty across the U.S. say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country.Green-card-holding faculty members involved in any kind of advocacy that might be construed as not welcome by the Trump administration are absolutely terrified of the implications for their immigration status, said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.Dubal, who is also general counsel for the American Association of University Professors, says some international faculty are now shying away from discourse, debate, scholarly research and publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals.We are literally not hearing their voices. There is a silencing happening that has a huge impact on the vibrancy of higher education, Dubal said. People are very, very scared. The first arrestThe first publicly known arrest occurred last Saturday, when federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and outspoken graduate student, in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus.Khalil has become the face of President Donald Trumps drive to punish what he calls antisemitic and anti-American protests that swept U.S. campuses last year. Khalil, a legal U.S. resident with a green card, is being held in a federal detention complex in Louisiana.Students and faculty who participated in the protests at Columbia have insisted criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights isnt antisemitic. Some Jewish students and faculty say the anti-Israel rhetoric made them feel unsafe.Civil rights advocates say the detention of Khalil is an assault on free speech. But the ongoing arrests send a wider message that disagreeing with the Trump administration could get you kicked out of the country, said Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union. If the administration can do this to Mr. Khalil because of the speech about Palestine, it can do it to any non-U.S. citizen who takes a position on hot-button global issues, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, the tariffs imposed against U.S. allies or the rise of far-right political parties in Europe, he said. That worry has spread outside New York. A Bangladeshi student at Louisiana State University, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has stopped posting about anything political on social media since the first arrest at Columbia. She fears losing her green card.I feel like its not safe for me to share those things anymore because I have a fear that a quote-unquote authoritarian regime is lurking over social media posts, the student said. When she lived in Bangladesh, she said, people could be arrested for posting dissent on social media. What I fear is a similar situation in the United States. Advice from colleges and universitiesSome schools have been advising international students to be cautious of what they say publicly and to watch what they say online. Several international students on a variety of college campuses said they preferred not to speak with a reporter out of concern for their immigration status. Administrators at Columbias Graduate School of Journalism have warned students who are not U.S. citizens about their vulnerability to arrest or deportation.Nobody can protect you, these are dangerous times, the schools dean, Jelani Cobb, said in a post Thursday on Bluesky explaining the comment. I went on to say that I would do everything in my power to defend our journalists and their right to report but that none of us had the capacity to stop DHS from jeopardizing their safety. At the University of California, Davis, the Global Affairs Program has updated its website with guidance on the First Amendment and advice on free speech for non-U.S. citizens.While international students and scholars have broad rights to freedom of speech and lawful assembly, please be aware that being arrested or detained by law enforcement may trigger current and/or future immigration consequences, the school says on its website. Each person should take appropriate care and utilize their best judgment.Escalations after Khalils arrestImmigration authorities activities at Columbia quickly escalated this week. Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by immigration officers for overstaying her student visa, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The former students visa was terminated in January 2022 for lack of attendance, the department said. She was previously arrested for her involvement in protests at Columbia in April 2024, the agency added.The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student at Columbia University, for allegedly advocating for violence and terrorism. Srinivasan opted to self-deport Tuesday, five days after her visa was revoked, the department said.The president has warned the arrest and attempted deportation of Khalil will be the first of many. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday that more student visas were likely to be revoked in the coming days.___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. JOCELYN GECKER Gecker is an Associated Press reporter covering education with a focus on social media and youth mental health. twitter mailto

Mark Nelson, of Wis., waits with his tractor-trailer after it overturned during high winds and a possible tornado on Interstate 44 westbound at Villa Ridge, Mo., Friday, March 14, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)2025-03-15T05:41:06Z OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The threat of tornadoes moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, a day after a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that damaged buildings, whipped up dust storms that caused deadly crashes and fanned more than 100 wildfires in several central states.Multiple tornadoes were reported in Missouri on Friday, just some of the extreme weather that was forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier areas to the south.Three people were killed Friday in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo County in the Texas Panhandle, according to Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the states department of public safety. One pileup involved an estimated 38 cars. Its the worst Ive ever seen, Barkley said, calling the near-zero visibility a nightmare. We couldnt tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers. This is terrible out here, said Charles Daniel, a truck driver hauling a 48-foot (14.6-meter) trailer along Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma. Theres a lot of sand and dirt in the air. Im not pushing it over 55 mph. Im scared it will blow over if I do. Forecasters said the severe storm threat would continue into the weekend with a high chance of tornadoes and damaging winds Saturday in Mississippi and Alabama. Heavy rain could bring flash flooding to some parts of the East Coast on Sunday. Experts say its not unusual to see such weather extremes in March. Whats unique about this one is its large size and intensity, said Bill Bunting of the National Weather Services Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. And so what that is doing is producing really substantial impacts over a very large area. Tornadoes hit amid storm outbreakThe weather service said at least five tornadoes were reported in Missouri on Friday, including one in Saint Louis. Several buildings were damaged in the storm, including a strip mall in Rolla, Missouri, where a tornado was reported Friday afternoon.The Storm Prediction Center said fast-moving storms could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs, but the greatest threat would come from straight-line winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 100 mph (160 kph) possible. Potentially violent tornadoes were expected Saturday in parts of the central Gulf Coast and Deep South into the Tennessee Valley, according to the National Weather Service.The Storm Prediction Center said parts of Mississippi including Jackson and Hattiesburg and areas of Alabama including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa would be at a high risk. Severe storms and tornadoes were also possible across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle. Wildfires break out amid dry, gusty conditions Wildfires in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds, and evacuations were ordered Friday for some communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico.A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from less than a square mile (about 2 square kilometers) to an estimated 32.8 square miles (85 square kilometers), the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening.About 60 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, another fire grew to about 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometers) before its advance was halted in the afternoon. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center due to several fast-moving fires that prompted evacuations of the town of Leedey in the western part of the state and in a rural area east of Norman.Firefighters had been prepositioned in certain areas, which helps authorities jump on blazes early, said Andy James, Oklahoma Forestry Services fire management chief. Firefighting aircraft were also deployed in some parts of Oklahoma and Texas but were generally unable to fly due to low visibility from smoke and dust, he added. Friday evening, the National Weather Service said a complex of extremely dangerous fires was located northeast of Oklahoma City, near Stillwater, and urged some people in the city of about 50,000 to evacuate. Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders via social media that included homes, hotels and a Walmart. Officials urged people in some areas of central Missouris Camden County to evacuate due to wildfires, and the State Highway Patrol warned via social media that they were nearing homes and businesses. Roughly 120 miles (190 kilometers) of Interstate 70 in western Kansas were temporarily shut down due to blowing dust and limited visibility.High winds also knocked out power to more than 216,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, according the website poweroutage.us.Blizzard warnings in Northern PlainsThe National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible. Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected to cause whiteout conditions.___Associated Press journalists from across the U.S. contributed to this report. SEAN MURPHY Murphy is the statehouse reporter for The Associated Press in Oklahoma City. He has covered Oklahoma news and politics since 1996. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani, left, speaks during a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein following their meeting, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March.14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)2025-03-14T14:53:28Z BAGHDAD (AP) The head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with U.S.-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister announced Friday.The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism, Prime Minister Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or Abu Khadija, was deputy caliph of the militant group and as one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world, the statement said.On his Truth Social platform Friday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said: Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government. PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH! Trump posted.A security official said the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place Thursday night but that al-Rifais death was confirmed Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syrias top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat IS. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of IS. He said the officials had spoken in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq during the visit.Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront IS, and said it would soon begin work. The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad. The current interim president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaida militant in Iraq after the U.S. invasion of 2003, and later fought against Assads government in Syria. But Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy, he said.Strengthening the partnership between the two countries will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external powers and better able to determine our own destiny, he said.The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an IS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria. While Syrias new rulers - led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - have pursued IS cells since taking power, some fear a breakdown in overall security that could allow the group to stage a resurgence.The U.S. and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.When the agreement was reached to end the coalitions mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of IS was under control and they no longer needed Washingtons help to beat back the remaining cells.But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to power in late 2022.-Associated Press staff writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows a breach at a tailing dam at a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe. (AP Photo/Richard Kille )2025-03-15T04:36:11Z KITWE, Zambia (AP) Authorities and environmentalists in Zambia fear the long-term impact of an acid spill at a Chinese-owned mine that contaminated a major river and could potentially affect millions of people after signs of pollution were detected at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream.The spill happened on Feb. 18 when a tailings dam that holds acidic waste from a copper mine in the north of the country collapsed, according to investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia. The collapse allowed some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream that links to the Kafue River, Zambias most important waterway, the engineering institution said.It is an environmental disaster really of catastrophic consequences, said Chilekwa Mumba, an environmental activist who works in Zambias Copperbelt Province. China is the dominant player in copper mining in Zambia, a southern African nation which is among the worlds top 10 producers of copper, a key component in smartphones and other technology.Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema called for help from experts and said the leak is a crisis that threatens people and wildlife along the Kafue, which runs for more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) through the heart of Zambia. Authorities are still investigating the extent of the environmental damage. A river died overnightAn Associated Press reporter visited parts of the Kafue River, where dead fish could be seen washing up on the banks about 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream from the mine run by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, which is majority owned by the state-run China Nonferrous Metals Industry Group.The Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation said the devastating consequences also included the destruction of crops along the rivers banks. Authorities are concerned that ground water will be contaminated as the mining waste seeps into the earth or is carried to other areas.Prior to the 18th of February this was a vibrant and alive river, said Sean Cornelius, who lives near the Kafue and said fish died and birdlife near him disappeared almost immediately. Now everything is dead, its like a totally dead river. Unbelievable. Overnight, this river died.About 60% of Zambias 20 million people live in the Kafue River basin and depend on it in some way as a source of fishing, irrigation for agriculture and water for industry. The river supplies drinking water to about five million people, including in the capital, Lusaka.The acid leak at the mine caused a complete shutdown of the water supply to the nearby city of Kitwe, home to an estimated 700,000 people. Attempts to roll back the damageThe Zambian government has deployed the air force to drop hundreds of tons of lime into the river in an attempt to counteract the acid and roll back the damage. Speed boats have also been used to ride up and down the river, applying lime. Government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said the situation was very serious and Sino-Metals Leach Zambia would bear the costs of the cleanup operation.Zhang Peiwen, the chairman of Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, met with government ministers this week and apologized for the acid spill, according to a transcript of his speech at the meeting released by his company. This disaster has rung a big alarm for Sino-Metals Leach and the mining industry, he said. He said it will go all out to restore the affected environment as quickly as possible.Discontent with Chinese presenceThe environmental impact of Chinas large mining interests in mineral-rich parts of Africa, which include Zambias neighbors Congo and Zimbabwe, has often been criticized, even as the minerals are crucial to the countries economies. Chinese-owned copper mines have been accused of ignoring safety, labor and other regulations in Zambia as they strive to control its supply of the critical mineral, leading to some discontent with their presence. Zambia is also burdened with more than $4 billion in debt to China and had to restructure some of its loans from China and other nations after defaulting on repayments in 2020. A smaller acid waste leak from another Chinese-owned mine in Zambias copper belt was discovered days after the Sino-Metals accident, and authorities have accused the smaller mine of attempting to hide it.Local police said a mine worker died at that second mine after falling into acid and alleged that the mine continued to operate after being instructed to stop its operations by authorities. Two Chinese mine managers have been arrested, police said.Both mines have now halted their operations after orders from Zambian authorities, while many Zambians are angry.It really just brings out the negligence that some investors actually have when it comes to environmental protection, said Mweene Himwinga, an environmental engineer who attended the meeting involving Zhang, government ministers, and others. They dont seem to have any concern at all, any regard at all. And I think its really worrying because at the end of the day, we as Zambian people, (its) the only land we have.___Zimba reported from Lusaka, Zambia.___AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa