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

Former Grand Coulee Dam worker, Stephanie Duclos, sits in front of the Grand Coulee Dam on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 in Coulee Dam, Wash., explaining how she was terminated from her job under the Trump administrations federal workforce reduction plan. (AP Photo/Martha Bellisle)2025-03-15T04:13:53Z COULEE DAM, Wash. (AP) Trump administration workforce cuts at federal agencies overseeing U.S. dams are threatening their ability to provide reliable electricity, supply farmers with water and protect communities from floods, employees and industry experts warn.The Bureau of Reclamation provides water and hydropower to the public in 17 western states. Nearly 400 agency workers have been cut through the Trump reduction plan, an administration official said. Reductions-in-force memos have also been sent to current workers, and more layoffs are expected. The cuts included workers at the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydropower generator in North America, according to two fired staffers interviewed by The Associated Press.Without these dam operators, engineers, hydrologists, geologists, researchers, emergency managers and other experts, there is a serious potential for heightened risk to public safety and economic or environmental damage, Lori Spragens, executive director of the Kentucky-based Association of Dam Safety Officials, told the AP. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said federal workforce reductions will ensure disaster responses are not bogged down by bureaucracy and bloat. A more efficient workforce means more timely access to resources for all Americans, she said by email.But a bureau hydrologist said they need people on the job to ensure the dams are working properly. These are complex systems, said the worker in the Midwest, who is still employed but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of possible retaliation. Workers keep dams safe by monitoring data, identifying weaknesses and doing site exams to check for cracks and seepage.As we scramble to get these screenings, as we lose institutional knowledge from people leaving or early retirement, we limit our ability to ensure public safety, the worker added. Having people available to respond to operational emergencies is critical. Cuts in staff threaten our ability to do this effectively. A federal judge on Thursday ordered the administration to rehire fired probationary workers, but a Trump spokesperson said they would fight back, leaving unclear whether any would return. The heads of 14 California water and power agencies sent a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Interior last month warning that eliminating workers with specialized knowledge in operating and maintaining aging infrastructure could negatively impact our water delivery system and threaten public health and safety.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also operates dams nationwide. Matt Rabe, a spokesman, declined to say how many workers left through early buyouts, but said the agency hasnt been told to reduce its workforce. But Neil Maunu, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, said it learned more than 150 Army Corps workers in Portland, Oregon, were told they would be terminated and they expect to lose about 600 more in the Pacific Northwest. The firings include district chiefs down to operators on vessels and people critical to safe river navigation, he said. Their last day is not known. The Corps was told to provide a plan to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management by March 14, Maunu said.Several other federal agencies that help ensure dams run safely also have faced layoffs and closures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is laying off 10% of its workforce and the Federal Emergency Management Agencys National Dam Safety Review Board was disbanded in January. The cuts come at a time when the nations dams need expert attention.An AP review of Army Corps data last year showed at least 4,000 dams are in poor or unsatisfactory condition and could kill people or harm the environment if they failed. They require inspections, maintenance and emergency repairs to avoid catastrophes, the AP found.Heavy rain damaged the spillway at Californias Oroville Dam in 2017, forcing nearly 190,000 residents to evacuate, and Michigans Edenville Dam breached in storms in 2020, the AP found. Stephanie Duclos, a Bureau of Reclamation probationary worker fired at the Grand Coulee Dam, said she was among a dozen workers initially terminated. The dam across the Columbia River in central Washington state generates electricity for millions of homes and supplies water to a 27-mile-long (43-kilometer) reservoir that irrigates the Columbia Basin Project.This is a big infrastructure, she said. Its going to take a lot of people to run it. Some fired employees had worked there for decades but were in a probation status due to a position switch. Duclos was an assistant for program managers who organized training and was a liaison with human resources. The only person doing that job, she fears how others will cover the work.Youre going to get employee burnout in the workers left behind, she said. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who pushed a bipartisan effort to ensure the National Dam Safety Program was authorized through 2028, said, the safety and efficacy of our dams is a national security priority. Americans deserve better, and I will work to make sure this administration is held accountable for their reckless actions, Padilla said.___Associated Press White House reporter Chris Megerian contributed from Washington, D.C. MARTHA BELLISLE Bellisle is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Washington state. She reports on a range of topics, including police accountability, police training and mental health. She also has covered the Winter Olympics. twitter mailto

Death Row building at the Louisiana State Penitentiary Friday, Sept. 18, 2009, in Angola, La. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni, File)2025-03-15T01:07:07Z BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Louisianas first execution using nitrogen gas is set to move forward as planned next week after a federal appeals court on Friday vacated a preliminary injunction granted by a lower judge. With a March 18 date hastily nearing, attorneys for Jessie Hoffman Jr. told The Associated Press that they plan on immediately taking the legal matter to the U.S. Supreme Court in the hopes of halting the execution. State officials, including Attorney General Liz Murrill, applauded the appeals courts decision saying Louisiana is long overdue in delivering justice promised to the families of victims.Hoffmans attorney, Cecelia Kappel, denounced the decision, saying the new execution method is likely to cause Jessie to suffer psychological terror and a torturous death.Under the states new procedure, Hoffman will be strapped to a gurney and forced to breathe pure nitrogen gas through a full-face respirator mask. The protocol is nearly identical to that of Alabama, the first state to use nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution and has carried out four such executions. If the death penalty is carried out then Hoffman, who was convicted of the 1996 murder of Mary Elliott in New Orleans, would be Louisianas first execution in 15 years. Hoffmans attorneys say the new execution method is a violation of the Constitution, describing it as cruel and unusual punishment. During a hearing last week, multiple medical experts testified that they believe the method to be torturous, with one expert comparing the method to causing the same sensation and emotional terror as drowning. Hoffmans attorneys pointed to nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama, where inmates appeared to shake and gasp to varying degrees during their executions, according to media witnesses. Alabama officials said the shaking and gasping are involuntary movements associated with oxygen deprivation. Attorneys for Louisiana remain adamant that nitrogen hypoxia is seemingly painless.Following last weeks hearing, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick issued a preliminary injunction stopping the state from moving forward with the execution. In her ruling, Dick said the court is tasked with answering the ultimate question of whether or not the execution method of nitrogen hypoxia is a cruel and unusual punishment, which would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment. She went on to say that it would not be a matter of whether Hoffman would be executed, but rather how. During the hearing, Hoffman requested that he be put to death using a humane method, specifically asking for death by a firing squad or a drug cocktail typically used for physician-assisted death. The only approved execution methods in Louisiana are nitrogen hypoxia, lethal injection and electrocution. On Friday the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the state could move forward with the execution using nitrogen gas. Judge James Ho and Judge Andrew Oldham, both appointees of President Donald Trump, ruled to vacate the lower courts preliminary injunction. Among the reasons for their decision, the judges pointed to the states argument that Hoffmans requested execution method of a firing squad would be more painful than nitrogen hypoxia. Reasonable minds can differ on the proper understanding of the Eighth Amendment in certain cases, but surely we can all agree that it does not require State officials to favor more painful methods of execution over less painful ones, the court wrote. Judge Catharina Haynes, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, wrote a dissent saying the courts need more time for litigation.Obviously that cannot be done once he (Hoffman) is dead, she wrote.If the execution occurs as scheduled, Louisiana would be the second state to use nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama first used the method of nitrogen hypoxia to put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death last year, marking the first time a new method had been used in the U.S. since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. Over recent decades, the number of executions nationally has declined sharply amid legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs and waning public support for capital punishment. That has led a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty. Last year, Louisiana lawmakers expanded the states approved methods to carry out the death penalty to include nitrogen hypoxia, sparking a renewed push to resume executions in the state. Murrill told the AP in February that she expects at least four people will be executed this year. There are 56 people on Louisianas death row. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)2025-03-15T06:07:12Z LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is convening a second meeting of global leaders Saturday to discuss the developments regarding the war in Ukraine, following another frantic week of diplomacy aimed at getting Russia to back a 30-day ceasefire.Unlike the first summit on March 2, the meeting of what Starmer has termed the coalition of the willing will be conducted virtually. The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission. If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace, Starmer is set to tell leaders, in remarks released by his office ahead of the meeting. If they dont, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war. Around 25 countries are expected to be involved in the call, including European partners, and Ukraine. Leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ukraine, as well as officials from NATO and the European Unions executive, are also set to take part. Like last time, there will be no representative from the United States, which has shifted its approach on the war since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by Trumps predecessor, Joe Biden, became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office. Saturdays meeting takes place in the wake of a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has backed.Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that he supported a truce in principle but has set out a host of details that need to be clarified before agreeing to a ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has voiced cautious optimism about the possibility of Putin, who met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, on Thursday, backing a ceasefire. Starmer appears to be less optimistic, and is set to tell leaders that concrete commitments are required now as Putin plays pointless games with Trumps peace plan.Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place. But the world needs to see action, not a study, or empty words and pointless conditions, Starmer said. The Kremlins complete disregard for President Trumps ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.Starmer has taken the lead, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, in assembling the coalition of the willing in part to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. One outcome has already been a growing acceptance from European countries in particular that they need to do more secure their own security, including by increasing their defense spending.Macron said he had spoken Friday with both Zelenskyy and Starmer about progress at the U.S.-Ukraine talks earlier this week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which led to Trump resuming military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Saturdays meeting, he said, will continue to work on reinforcing the support for Ukraine and toward a solid and lasting peace.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. My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now, Starmer said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Yael Alexander holds a poster of her son, Edan, who was taken hostage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, during a weekly rally for families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and their supporters, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)2025-03-15T07:13:24Z CAIRO (AP) Hamas said Saturday it would only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an exceptional deal aimed at getting the truce back on track.A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefires second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gazas border with Egypt.Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza. Israel has cast doubt on Hamas offerThere was no immediate comment from Israel, where government offices were closed for the weekly Sabbath. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office on Friday accused Hamas of manipulation and psychological warfare when the offer was initially made, before Hamas spelled out the conditions.The United States said it presented on Wednesday a proposal to extend the ceasefire a few more weeks as the sides negotiate a permanent truce. It said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while privately making entirely impractical demands.Negotiations continued in Egypt after senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Friday. Egypt and Qatar served as key mediators with Hamas in reaching the ceasefire and have continued to host talks aimed at getting it back on track. There was no immediate comment from the mediators. A ceasefire in limboUnder the ceasefire agreement reached in January, Israel and Hamas were to begin negotiations over a second phase in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting truce in early February, but so far only preparatory talks have been held.After the first phase ended at the beginning of this month, Israel said it had agreed to a new U.S. proposal in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages in return for a vague commitment to negotiate a lasting ceasefire. Hamas rejected that offer, accusing Israel of backtracking on the signed agreement and trying to sabotage the truce.Israel has barred the delivery of food, fuel and other supplies to Gazas roughly 2 million Palestinians, and cut electricity to the territory, to pressure Hamas to accept the new proposal.The first phase of the truce, which took hold on Jan. 19, saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone along Gazas border and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.An Israeli official said last month that Israel will not withdraw from the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, as called for in the ceasefire agreement. They have cited the need to combat weapons smuggling. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. The group is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefire agreements.Israels military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced most of the population and left nearly everyone dependent on international aid to survive.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war 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

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)2025-03-15T10:25:37Z LONDON (AP) U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told global leaders to keep the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine.In his opening remarks Saturday to a virtual gathering of what he has termed the coalition of the willing, Starmer said Putin will sooner or later have to come to the table.The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Michael Woolfolk poses for a photo at the state capitol, Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)2025-03-15T04:05:17Z ATLANTA (AP) Earlier this year, Michael Woolfolk attended a legislative committee in Georgia where lawmakers considered for a third year whether to compensate the 45-year-old for the 19 years he spent behind bars for a 2002 killing before charges against him were dismissed. Behind him sat Daryl Lee Clark, also 45, who spent 25 years in prison for a 1998 murder conviction that was vacated over a series of legal and police errors. It was his second attempt to obtain compensation.Georgia is one of 11 states with no law on compensating people found to have been wrongfully convicted. Individuals seeking compensation take their cases to the legislature, where they seek a lawmaker to sponsor a resolution to pay them. Critics say it mires the process in politics. Lawmakers have been considering legislation to move the decision to judges, but now its unclear if that will pass this year. We need to take care simply of people who have lost so many years of their lives and their ability to make money, have a job, have a family, create stability, Republican Rep. Katie Dempsey, a sponsor of the Georgia bill, told The Associated Press. Many are at the age where they would be looking at their savings, and instead, theres none. Missouri lawmakers have sent the governor a bill updating the states compensation law, and legislatures in Florida and Oregon also are considering updates of their laws. Montana is considering an update of its expired program and Pennsylvania is among those, like Georgia, looking to create one. A tricky processOf the 1,739 people who have filed wrongful compensation claims under state laws since 1989, 1,328 received compensation, according to data from George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Gutman. That doesnt include cases in states like Georgia, which has no law outlining a process.Since 1995, 12 Georgians have received compensation and at least 11 more have sought it, according to the Georgia Innocence Project. Even some people with strong cases were turned down because they failed to convince lawmakers they were innocent, advocates say. The latest version of Georgias proposal would require individuals to prove their innocence to an administrative law judge. They could receive $75,000 for each year of incarceration and reimbursement for other costs such as fines and fees. There would be an additional $25,000 for each year of incarceration awaiting a death sentence.The way that the state has treated these individuals by taking away their freedom and liberty and effectively ruining their lives, by wrongfully convicting them and then failing to expeditiously compensate them and help them get back on their feet, doesnt sit well with me, said Democratic Rep. Scott Holcomb, a bill sponsor and former prosecutor.Whether a person was released based on a finding they were not guilty or based on trial or law enforcement error is often a sticking point. Advocates say those wrongfully convicted deserve compensation either way because they are innocent until proven guilty, but some lawmakers are hesitant to pay them. Senate Majority Whip Randy Robertson, a former sheriffs deputy, was the lead opponent last year of individual requests for compensation and an effort to pass a compensation law. He takes issue with the term exonerated, which he says is too often used in cases where convictions are overturned based on trial errors. Robertson this year introduced a different compensation bill with stricter rules that didnt get a hearing.Other states consider changesFlorida is the only state that prevents exonerees with previous felony convictions from qualifying for compensation, according to an analysis by the advocacy group The Innocence Project. Florida Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley wants to change that. For the third year she is sponsoring a bill to end the rule, arguing that an unrelated charge should not prevent people who were wronged by the state from being compensated for their lost liberty.A bill in the Oregon Legislature would update a law passed in 2022 that provides exonerees $65,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned, on the condition they file a successful petition proving their innocence. The new bill comes amid criticism that few exonerees have received compensation since the law took effect. Missouris legislature recently passed and sent to the governor a measure expanding a restitution program for people wrongly convicted of felonies. The legislation would raise compensation from $100 to $179 per day of imprisonment and remove a requirement that innocence is proven by DNA analysis. Many Georgia lawmakers have said they dont want to play judge and hope the state process changes.If the legislature doesnt pass a bill before adjourning April 4, Woolfolk and Clark may not be compensated this year. The House overwhelmingly approved five requests that could fail in the Senate. Starting a career at 45 is hard, Woolfolk said, and he missed his childrens upbringing. He said he is sick of trying to convince lawmakers to help him.Clark, who does not have children, got a standing ovation from House lawmakers last year who voted to compensate him.This year, his hope and prayers are that he also gains some help.___Associated Press reporters Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida, Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.___Kramon and Payne are corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. CHARLOTTE KRAMON Kramon covers government and politics from Atlanta. She is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani warms up prior to a spring training baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)2025-03-15T10:00:06Z TOKYO (AP) The Tokyo Series a.k.a. the celebration of Shohei Ohtani begins this week in a festive atmosphere. The Japanese two-way star is among the most beloved athletes in the world and coming off one of the best seasons in the history of Major League Baseball while earning his third MVP for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.Its easy to forget that almost exactly one year ago, his career was briefly on the rocks.The Dodgers were playing the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea, last March when a bombshell was revealed: Ohtanis interpreter and close friend Ippei Mizuhara was being criminally investigated for ties to an illegal gambling ring and had stolen a huge amount of money from the baseball star.Eventually, Mizuhara would plead guilty to bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers players bank account. He was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison in February. Ohtani was never implicated in the scandal, but it was the first whiff of controversial news for a player with a squeaky-clean reputation. Looking back, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was a valuable lesson. Hes really become his own man, Roberts said. I think his English has gotten considerably better. Hes handling a lot of matters by himself and not having any type of conduit. I think hes opened himself up more to staff, the players, his teammates. Its just good to see him become his own man, and I say that in an honest and positive way.Ohtani is no longer a young man by baseball standards he turned 30 last July and is in the prime of a one-of-a-kind career. He revealed last spring he was married to Mamiko Tanaka and the couple is expecting a baby later this year. Combined with the Mizuhara situation, the developments have forced Ohtani to mature, becoming a more well-rounded individual. That could serve him well as he deals with the reality of his surgically-repaired body. Ohtani had surgery during the offseason to repair a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder that he suffered during the World Series. Hes also trying to return to the pitchers mound after needing major elbow surgery in 2023 for the second time in his career. Roberts said Ohtanis improved maturity was noticable earlier this month after the manager suggested that the player slow down his throwing program, instead concentrating on hitting for a few weeks to get the shoulder ready for his designated hitter role in 2025.Last year, Ohtani might have tried to push through without resting. This year, he took Roberts advice.Hes smart, he wants to pitch, he wants to hit, but he really understands that he had a major surgery (on his shoulder) and hes coming off another major surgery in his elbow, Roberts said. So to be as good as he expects to be, I think theres got to be some sacrifices. I think as you get older, you have more experiences, youre more likely to listen to stuff like that.Its fair to wonder if weve already seen the best of Ohtani, considering its going to be nearly impossible to recreate last season, when he became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season. His stolen base attempts in 2025 figure to be down drastically particularly early in the season as he tries to protect his left shoulder. His projected return to the mound is in May, which could eat into his plate appearances later in the season. Itll be a delicate balance, but Ohtani and the Dodgers seem to be on the same page.Im going to let the team dictate that, Ohtani said. I do want to play as much as possible, as many games as possible, but if the team feels like I should get a break, Ill follow that.If theres anything weve learned about Ohtani over the past seven years, its that it would be foolish to put limits on what he can accomplish. The three-time MVP and the Dodgers open the season as favorites to capture a second straight World Series title.Ohtani hasnt lost his flair for the dramatic, either. In his first spring at-bat after shoulder surgery, he hit an opposite-field homer against Yusei Kikuchi.He does not cease to amaze, Roberts said. Every time Shohei gets up to bat, youve got to watch because something special might happen.___On Baseball analyzes the biggest topics in MLB.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb DAVID BRANDT Brandt is an Associated Press sports writer based in Phoenix. He covers a wide variety of sports including the NBA, NFL and MLB. twitter mailto

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a joint press conference following their meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)2025-03-15T06:02:41Z ANKARA, Turkey (AP) The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assads government has aggravated already tense relations between Turkey and Israel, with their conflicting interests in Syria pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.Turkey, which long backed groups opposed to Assad, has emerged as a key player in Syria and is advocating for a stable and united Syria, in which a central government maintains authority over the whole country. It welcomed a breakthrough agreement that Syrias new interim government signed this week with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate with the Syrian government and army.Israel, on the other hand, remains deeply suspicious of Syrias interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, pointing to his roots in al-Qaida. Its also wary of Turkeys influence over Damascus and appears to want to see Syria remain fragmented after the country under Assad was turned into a staging ground for its archenemy, Iran, and Tehrans proxies. Syria has become a theater for proxy warfare between Turkey and Israel, which clearly see each other as regional competitors, said Asli Aydintasbas, of the Washington-based Brookings Institute. This is a very dangerous dynamic because in all different aspects of Syrias transition, there is a clash of Turkish and Israeli positions.Following Assads fall, Israel seized territory in southern Syria, which Israeli officials said was aimed at keeping hostile groups away from its border. The new Syrian government and the United Nations have said Israels incursions violate a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries and have called for Israel to withdraw. Israel has also conducted airstrikes targeting military assets left behind by Assads forces and has expressed plans to maintain a long-term presence in the region. Analysts say Israel is concerned over the possibility of Turkey expanding its military presence inside Syria. Since 2016, Turkey has launched operations in northern Syria to push back Syrian Kurdish militias linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and maintains influence in the north of the country through military bases and alliances with groups that opposed Assad. Turkish defense officials have said Turkey and Syria are now cooperating to strengthen the countrys defense and security, and that a military delegation will visit Syria next week.Nimrod Goren, president of the Mitvim Institute, an Israeli foreign policy think tank, said that unlike Turkey, which supports a strong, centralized and stable Syria, Israel at the moment appears to prefer Syria fragmented, with the belief that could better bolster Israels security.He said Israel is concerned about al-Sharaa and his Islamist ties, and fears that his consolidated strength could pose what Israel has called a jihadist threat along its northern border.Israeli officials say they will not tolerate a Syrian military presence south of Damascus and have threatened to invade a Damascus suburb in defense of members of the Druze minority sect, who live in both Israel and Syria, after short-lived clashes broke out between the new Syrian security forces and Druze armed factions. The distance from Damascus to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights is about 60 kilometers (37 miles.) Turkey and Israel once were close allies, but the relationship has been marked by deep tensions under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans more than two-decade rule, despite brief periods of reconciliation. Erdogan is an outspoken critic of Israels policies toward the Palestinians, while Israel has been angered by Erdogans support for the Hamas militant group, which Israel considers to be a terrorist group.Following the war in Gaza, Turkey strongly denounced Israels military actions, announced it was cutting trade ties with Israel, and joined a genocide case South Africa brought against Israel at the U.N. International Court of Justice.Aydintasbas said Turkish authorities are now increasingly concerned that Israel is supportive of autonomy demands from Kurds, the Druze and Alawites. Erdogan issued a thinly veiled threat against Israel last week, saying: Those who seek to provoke ethnic and religious (divisions) in Syria to exploit instability in the country should know that they will not be able to achieve their goals.Last week, factions allied with the new Syrian government allegedly including some backed by Turkey launched revenge attacks on members of Assads Alawite minority sect after pro-Assad groups attacked government security forces on Syrias coast. Monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed. Erdogan strongly condemned the violence and suggested the attacks were aimed at Syrias territorial integrity and social stability. Israels deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said the deadly sectarian violence amounted to ethnic cleansing by Islamist groups led by a jihadist Islamist terror group that took Damascus by force and was supported by Turkey. Israel, Haskel added, was working to prevent a threat along its border from Syrias new jihadist regime.Israels involvement in Syria is deepening, with the country pledging protection and economic aid to the Druze community in southern Syria at a time of heightened sectarian tensions. The Druze, a small religious sect, are caught between Syrias new Islamist-led government in Damascus and Israel, which many Syrians view as a hostile neighbor leveraging the Druzes plight to justify its intervention in the region. Israel says it sent food aid trucks to the Druze in southern Syria and is allowing some Syrian Druze to cross into the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights to work. Al-Sharaa was somewhat conciliatory toward Israel in his early statements, saying that he didnt seek a conflict. But his language has become stronger. In a speech at a recent Arab League emergency meeting in Cairo, he said that Israels aggressive expansion is not only a violation of Syrian sovereignty, but a direct threat to security and peace in the entire region. The Brookings Institutes Aydintasbas said the escalating tensions are cause for serious concern.Before we used to have Israel and Turkey occasionally engage in spats, but be able to decouple their security relationship from everything else, Aydintasbas said. But right now, they are actively trying to undermine each other. The question is, do these countries know each others red lines?A report from the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank led by a former Israeli military intelligence chief, suggested that Israel could benefit from engaging with Turkey, the one regional power with considerable influence over Syrias leadership, to reduce the risk of military conflict between Israel and Syria.__Hazboun reported from Jerusalem. Tia Goldenberg contributed from Jerusalem. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A visitor to the city wearing a mask of President Donald Trump poses for a photo in front of a Canadian flag being held by tourists from Toronto showing their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs, in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-03-15T12:07:32Z WASHINGTON (AP) A gobsmacked planet is wondering whats next from President Donald Trump on the tariff spree hes set in zigzag motion.In recent weeks, Trump has announced punishing tariffs against allies and adversaries alike, selectively paused and imposed them, doubled and then halved some, and warned late in the week that hell tax European wine and spirits a stratospheric 200% if the European Union doesnt drop a 50% tariff on U.S. whiskey.His ultimate stated goal is clear: to revive American manufacturing and win compromises along the way. But people and nations whose fortunes rise and fall on trade are trying to divine a method to his machinations. So far, hes spurred fears about slower growth and higher inflation that are dragging down the stock market and consumer confidence.His tariff policy is erratic, more erratic than April weather, Robert Halver, head of capital markets analysis at Germanys Baader Bank, said from the floor of the Frankfurt stock market. So, there is no planning certainty at all. The same goes for Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, where owner Mark OCallaghan is waiting to see if the prohibitive taxes on European wine over a third of his business really happen. Hes mindful of Trumps seemingly whack-a-mole approach on which countries and goods to hit and how hard. It changes by the hour now, right? OCallaghan said. You know, its hard to navigate and manage, and everything changes so quickly.In Canada, generations of political leaders took it as a point of pride that their country and the U.S. share the worlds longest undefended border, as they liked to say. No more. Trump unifies CanadaTrumps sweeping taxes on Canadian imports come in the context of his wanting the U.S. to absorb its neighbor, an ambition that has united Canadians of the left and right in seething anger. A recent Nanos poll found that the vast majority of Canadians say their opinion of the United States has sunk from a year ago.The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country, Prime Minister Mark Carney said days before his swearing-in Friday. Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly said: If the U.S. can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe.Trade wars sparked by retaliatory and escalating tariffs typically form in the grind of legislation, as happened with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act nearly a century ago. This round comes from Trumps executive actions, with Congress passive, and can change like the weather, or perhaps even his moods. Thats how March came in like a lion. Watch your mannersPersonal pique is part of it all, suggests Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. If you make him unhappy, he responds unhappy, he told Bloomberg TV, explaining that Trump didnt like it when a variety of countries targeted with new U.S. tariffs retaliated with tariffs of their own.Nor was Trump content when Canada did not show immeasurable respect for his trade grievances, Lutnick told CBS News. Say, Thank you, I want to work it out with you, he added, as if advising Ottawa on how to be properly deferential. I want you to be happy.Trump himself said of Canada, We dont need anything that they have. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S. and a key source of energy, cars and car parts via the integrated North American auto industry, food, critical minerals, fertilizer, lumber and more.His stop-and-start tariffs have shaken the stock market, yielded some concessions and induced whiplash across industries and countries: Heavy taxes on Canadian and Mexican products were announced, shelved for a month one day away from taking effect imposed, then two days later adjusted to exempt, for now, a range of goods covered under the North American trade pact renegotiated in Trumps first term. Trumps aides say the reason for those tariffs is to end fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration, though the president also wants to close the trade deficit with Americas two largest trade partners. Trump stuck with his new tariffs on China, imposing a 10% penalty then doubling it, drawing retaliatory tariffs of 15% on U.S. farm goods this past week. The U.S. tariffs are also about fentanyl. The prevailing tensions between Canada and the U.S. flared when Ontario, the most populous province, retaliated against the U.S. duties with an announcement that it would add a 25% surcharge on electricity it exports to several states.Trump, who now belittles Canadian sovereignty at every turn, immediately threatened to slam Canada with a 50% tax on steel and aluminum. He then pulled back to a still-hefty 25% when Ontario backed down, in a drama that played out over mere hours.But Wednesday, the global U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in, and Europe responded. The EU announced duties on U.S. textiles, home appliances, motorcycles, peanut butter, jeans and more. American whiskey, popular overseas, was marked for a 50% tariff. Trumps response: 200% on European wine and spirits and on Champagne.We want toasts, not tariffs, said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council in the U.S.But escalation appears to be the toast of the day. The U.S. has a new wave of reciprocal tariffs in line against Europe in early April, and exemptions for the auto industry and other industries are set to expire.Theres not much chance March will go out like a lamb.___Associated Press writers Mae Anderson in New York and Josh Boak in Washington and video journalist Daniel Niemann in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

Pope Francis shares a light moment with "Telefono Amico" support hotline president Dario Briccola during an audience at the Vatican Saturday, March 11, 2017. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP, File)2025-03-15T06:04:22Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Hows Pope Francis doing? Can you give him my get-well wishes? Can I speak with him directly?The nuns who operate the Vaticans switchboard are fielding a growing number of calls with questions like that as the pope remains hospitalized in Rome.They feel like children waiting to know about their father, said Sister Anthony, who runs the operation in a spartan office steps away from St. Peters. Basilica. We tell them to pray for him.The Vaticans central number is public and the sisters of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master make sure all who call it get a real person, not the press 1 for English, 2 for Latin version of the automation thats become the norm at major institutions and businesses worldwide.Its the Vaticans voice a voice that despite the digitalization of communications, the Vatican wants to preserve as a human voice, said Mother Micaela, the orders mother superior. The Pious Disciples sisters are part of the 100-year-old Pauline orders, which are focused on communications, including landmark Catholic publishing operations around the world. In spring 1970, they were called to operate the Vatican switchboard and instructed by the then-mother superior to be a voice that does good because through the phone wire it communicates Christ himself. Today, often with headsets over their veils, the sisters cover the phones for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, in front of large monitors that show the incoming calls country of origin. Gendarmes, the Vaticans police, take the night shift. About a dozen sisters hailing from Italy, the Philippines, Poland and elsewhere take calls from around the world, predominantly in Italian, English and Spanish.Many callers just need to be directed to the right Vatican office or official, and the sisters oblige with the aid of massive yearbooks and directories, as well as a solid knowledge of protocols and a hefty dose of discretion, Sister Anthony said. Those who call asking for financial help are put through to the Vatican almoners office, which has provided aid recently to victims of war in Ukraine, floods in Brazil, and homelessness in Naples in southern Italy. On a recent afternoon, standing by her office chair decorated with a flower-embroidered pillow, Sister Gabriella took a call from a priest inquiring about jointly celebrating a Mass with other priests as part of his jubilee pilgrimage. Since 2025 is a Holy Year for the Catholic Church, with 32 million pilgrims projected to visit Rome, related calls make up a large part of the 50-70 queries the nuns answer daily.But then there are callers with questions the sisters cant just look up or patch through those in distress or angry or hopeless.We never get a call thats the same as the previous one, said Sister Simona, whos worked the switchboard for 15 years.Francis has built a reputation for eschewing formalities from his way of dressing to his personal outreach to the poor and marginalized before his hospitalization that projects more parish priest than head of state and leader of a global religion with 1.4 billion followers. So some callers ask the nuns to just put him on the line. People of simple faith dont understand that the pope cannot speak with everyone, Sister Gabriella said.Others need counseling or comfort. The sisters try to provide it within the boundaries of limited time and not being misconstrued as official Vatican spokespeople.But if I can give consolation or hope, I think thats OK, said Sister Anthony, who came to the Vatican a year ago from her native Philippines, where she was a provincial superior. Some calls are very triggering.Among those calling with concerns about the pope recently was a woman who told Sister Anthony that she is Muslim but likes Francis, and wanted to inquire about his health.Thats very impressive for me, the sister recalled, while adding that some callers are far less friendly. Others are angry with the church, so we listen respectfully. Across the spectrum of callers, the sisters say theyre particularly happy to provide a womans touch.Pope Francis often reminds that the church is a mother, Mother Micaela said. And to be this voice, this sensibility, this feminine approach gives a sense of reliability.About 1,100 women, religious and lay, work at the Vatican. Francis has recently named a few to top posts, even though the priesthood and deaconate and thus the majority of the church hierarchy remain exclusively male.The switchboard sisters find pride in both their unseen service and the increasing visibility of women at the Vatican.For me its a blessing to be in one community with the pope and serving the universal church, Sister Anthony said. Knowing there are more responsibilities for women, we feel very empowered.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Welcome back to the Abstract!In the immortal words of a wise crab: Darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me. Thats why were going to be under the sea for most of this weeks column, though the wonderful things that surround us will be 1) massive flesh-eating sharks 2) conveyor belts of whale excrement and 3) alien microbes.Depending on your proclivities, then, you might be alternately relieved or bummed to leave the ocean depths and return to land for one last story about atmospheric oxygen, which is a very handy element for those who dont enjoy asphyxiation (no judgement!). Where did Earths oxygen come from? Scientists make the case for ancient volcano burps. Let em rip.Jaws vs. the Meg: This Time, Its Peer-ReviewedShimada, Kenshu et al. Reassessment of the possible size, form, weight, cruising speed, and growth parameters of the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), and new evolutionary insights into its gigantism, life history strategies, ecology, and extinction. Palaeontologia Electronica.It's time to check in with the heavyweight champ of sharks: Megalodon. Yes, star of the acclaimed films The Meg, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, Shark Attack 3: Megalodon, and Bigfoot vs. Megalodon: The Legends Are Real.Megalodon, which went extinct two million years ago, was a big-ass shark. Indeed, it may have been the biggest-ass shark that ever swam the seas. And now scientists have proposed that this animal was even bigger than previously assumed, measuring an astonishing 24.3 meters (80 feet!) in length and weighing in at 94 tons (188,000 pounds!).Otodus megalodon is represented primarily by its gigantic teeth measuring up to at least 16 cm and possibly as much as about 20 cm in height, said researchers led by Kenshu Shimada of DePaul University. However, the lack of complete fossil specimens has resulted in uncertainty regarding the true size of this prehistoric shark. This paucity of fossil material has hampered our understanding of the biology and ecology of O. megalodon, despite its presumed significant role in shaping the modern-day marine ecosystem as one of the largest carnivores that ever existed.Many previous studies have speculated that Megalodon had a similar body plan to its relative, the 15-foot-long great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), which would put the extinct predator around 60 feet in length. Shimada and his colleagues instead suggest that Megalodon likely had a slenderer body than great whites, which would stretch its expanse out another 20 feet.Megalodon compared to extant lineages. Watch out, humans! Image: Shimada, Kenshu et al.First of all, I hope these findings inspire a new franchise called Slendershark that combines Slenderman creepypasta with the Megalodon action/horror subgenre. Youre welcome, Hollywood. Secondly, the team also validated the existing film Jaws vs. The Meg with this little nugget:Additional inferred growth patterns corroborated by the known fossil record support the hypothesis that the emergence of [great white sharks] during the Early Pliocene is at least partly responsible for the demise of O. megalodon due to competition for resources, the researchers said.So as it turns out, the winner of Jaws vs. The Meg is the iconic apex predator that still roams the seas today. Coronate the GwsOAT (Greatest white sharks Of All Time).The Great and (Gross) Whale Conveyor BeltRoman, Joe et al. Migrating baleen whales transport high-latitude nutrients to tropical and subtropical ecosystems. Nature Communications.We move now from the great white shark to the great brown shart. Im talking poop from whales, people. Also on the list: pee, placenta, and dead meat produced by migrating baleen whales like grays, humpbacks, and North Atlantic and southern right whales. All of this delightful corporeal junk contributes to what is known as the great whale conveyer belt, a trail of nutritious remnants that whales leave behind as they migrate from high-latitude feeding ground to their winter breeding grounds in the tropics.Scientists have attempted to quantify the impact of this cetacean excrement flow on surrounding ecosystems and the results are impressive. Migrating whales convey an estimated 3,784 tons of nitrogen per year (mostly from their pee) and 46,512 tons of biomass per year (mostly from their carcasses) to winter grounds, said researchers led by Joe Roman of the University of Vermont.These numbers might have been three times higher before commercial whaling, the team said. To our knowledge, baleen whales provide the largest long-distance nutrient subsidy on the planet.Indeed, the enrichment provided by even one individual female whale is astonishing. On each calving journey, she would leave 77kilograms of nitrogen and 774kilograms throughout her life, the study reports. At the end of her life, her 27-ton body would transport 2,782kg of carbon to the ocean floor creating a huge nutrient pulse.The sea runs on pee. Image: Roman, Joe et al.Many marine ecosystems depend on this vibrant cocktail of urea, feces, afterbirth, and dead bodies. But while the study outlines cool concepts like the whale pump (the vertical movement of nutrients), it also offers a dire warning about the projected decline of the great pee tunnel as baleen whales increasingly struggle with a variety of human-driven pressures.Although many [whale] populations have increased since the demise of commercial whaling, future recovery is imperiled by human actions such as shipping, fishing, and climate change, Roman and his colleagues said. Populations of humpback and right whales in the Southern Hemisphere, for example, will likely peak around 2050 and decline along with changes in ocean temperature, sea ice, and primary productivity. Such changes could disrupt one of the worlds most prominent links between high- and low-latitude marine ecosystems.If we humans dare to disrupt the great whale conveyor belt, we deserve to have some of it hosed into our faces.My Cup of (Alien Moon Water) Runneth OverBouffard, Mathieu et al. Seafloor hydrothermal control over ocean dynamics in Enceladus. Nature Astronomy.We move now from the seas of Earth to the seas of Enceladus, a weird little walnut of a moon that orbits Saturn. Though it is only 300 miles wide, Enceladus is a promising place to look for life because it squirts plumes of its subsurface ocean into space from icy surface geysers, making it theoretically easy for a life-hunting spacecraft to scoop up samples without even having to land. Indeed, the Cassini spacecraft (RIP) already sampled the plumes, but it was not equipped with life-detection instruments.Now, scientists have produced new models that reveal what might be going on under Enceladus ice crust. With the help of Cassini data, the new study models how alien seawater travels from hydrothermal vents around the moons rocky core all the way up to the plumes erupting from its surface, particularly at the South Pole, where ice is thinnest.Enceladus compared to the Moon and Earth. Image: NASAGeophysical and chemical analysis data from the Cassini spacecraft revealed that Enceladus harbours a global salty ocean with continuing hydrothermal activity underneath an ice crust of very uneven thickness: 2025km on average, more than 30km in some equatorial regions and less than 5km beneath the South Pole, said researchers led by Mathieu Bouffard of Nantes Universit.Here we perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of the ocean dynamics, the team said. Our simulations confirm that a strong heterogeneous seafloor heat flux concentrates upwellings at the South Pole, thus efficiently transporting organic matter from hydrothermal vents to erupting plumes.Chemical observations by future missions to Enceladus mayallow the identification of the best spot for collecting materials from the deepest and freshest parts of the ocean, the study concluded.In other words, any life that exists around Enceladuss hydrothermal vents can get a one-way ticket into space if its in the right place at the right time. This moon is potentially an alien sprinkler just waiting for a mission to come sample its watery innards. While concept missions to Enceladus have been proposed, nothing has been formally greenlit, which sort of boggles the mind. What are we waiting for? Lets go chug some moon juice already!The Breath of Life Is a Hot Magma BelchWatanabe, Yasuto et al. Mechanistic links between intense volcanism and the transient oxygenation of the Archean atmosphere. Communications Earth & Environment.Are you ready to emerge from seas filled with massive carnivorous sharks, whale sewage, and putative alien lifeforms? Would you like to breathe the fresh air on land again? We now surface for a story about the atmospheric oxygen that has led to the proliferation of life on Earth.About 2.5 billion years ago, oxygen levels in the ocean-atmosphere system skyrocketed to levels we are familiar with today. This transition, known as the Great Oxygenation Event, was driven by the emergence of photosynthetic bacteria that exhaled oxygen into the world and paved the way for an age of exploding biodiversity.But before this event, during a period called the late Archean, the oxygen levels were much lower, supplied only by transient oxygenation events called whiffs (the actual scientific term). Now, scientists think they have a lead on the origin of at least some of these whiffs: Swaths of land covered in volcanoes known as Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) that frequently erupted for about 500 million years leading up to the Great Oxygenation Event.Here, have some whiffs. Image: 2025 Watanabe et al. CC-BY-NDOur biogeochemical model indicates that a whiff of oxygena transient oxygenation event of the atmosphere during the late Archeancould have been triggered by intense volcanism, said researchers led by Yasuto Watanabe of the Japan Meteorological Agency.The whiffs during the late Archean infer that the Earth system was approaching a tipping point for the permanent oxidation of the atmosphere, the team said. Our results highlight the mechanistic link between planetary volcanic activities and the dynamic evolution of the atmosphere at the dawn of the Great Oxidation Event.In short, the fresh air we breathe today may have originally flowed from the magmatic rumblings of our ancient planet. Your weekend mantra: Inhale. Exhale. Erupt. Whiff. Namaste.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

A message for Pope Francis is seen in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Saturday, March 15, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-03-15T09:42:36Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis entered the fifth week of hospital treatment for double pneumonia on Saturday very much looking ahead as he continued work on a signature priority of his papacy and signs of his recovery remained on a positive trajectory. Working from the Gemelli hospital, Francis has approved a three-year implementation and evaluation process for his reform project that aims to make the church a more welcoming and responsive place. The Vatican office for the synod, or gathering of bishops, released a timetable through 2028 to implement the reforms and said Francis had approved the calendar last week.The Vatican announced Friday that it would provide medical updates on the pope less frequently, in what it called a positive development. It also has ceased issuing brief morning advisories that the pope had slept well and was starting his day. Doctors this week said the 88-year-old pontiff was no longer in critical, life-threatening condition, but have continued to emphasize that his condition remained complex due to his age, lack of mobility and the loss of part of a lung as a young man. Francis was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis that made it difficult for him to speak. Doctors soon added a diagnosis of double pneumonia and a polymicrobial (bacterial, viral and fungal) infection.The first three weeks of his hospitalization were marked by a rollercoaster of setbacks, including respiratory crises, mild kidney failure and a severe coughing fit. But medical updates this week have focused on his continued physical and respiratory therapy, as well as the rotation from high-flow oxygen through nostril tubes during the day and a non-invasive ventilation mask at night to help ensure his rest. An X-ray this week confirmed that the infection was clearing.With little more to report, doctors on Friday canceled a planned medical update. The next is likely to be issued later Saturday. Doctors have not indicated how much longer Francis will be hospitalized. The pope this week participated in Lenten spiritual exercises from the hospital, which Vatican officials have said implied a lighter workload. He received a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well on the 12th anniversary of his papacy Thursday. The only public sign of life from the pope since his hospitalization was a recorded audio message thanking people for their prayers for his recovery in a weak and labored voice. It was played in St. Peters Square for the faithful gathered for a nightly recitation of the rosary prayer. For the last four Sundays, the traditional blessing that the pope delivers from a window overlooking St. Peters Square has been released as a text.

Rep. Chuck Edwards talks during a town hall in Asheville, N.C. on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)2025-03-15T14:26:43Z HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) One after another, callers on a telephone town hall with U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga pressed the Michigan Republican about possible cuts to Social Security. Among them was a retired teacher and coach from West Michigan who said he and his wife, both with disabilities, have struggled to access their benefits. The man, identified only as Michael from Allegan, said he feared that office closures and massive layoffs of federal workers part of an effort by President Donald Trump and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency to slash government spending will make it even harder.We worked our entire life, he said. But we cant get any help because we cant get through to anybody.Huizenga pledged throughout the meeting: Let me just reiterate, Social Security is not being touched.Similar exchanges have played out across the political battleground of Michigan and elsewhere in the U.S. in recent days, as widespread cuts prompt fears among constituents about the popular program, which provides monthly benefits to retirees and some children. Its left Republicans scrambling to reassure voters and play down Musks comments about Social Security and his ability to make cuts. The GOP also has accused Democrats of fear-mongering on the matter. Its clear the issue has resonated. Of the 13 questions Huizenga took, nine were related to Social Security. In a nearby mid-Michigan district that was among the most competitive U.S. House races last year, a poll taken at the beginning of first-term GOP Rep. Tom Barretts telephone town hall showed Social Security and Medicare as the top issue for attendees. And at a fiery in-person town hall in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the first questions Rep. Chuck Edwards fielded was on how he would ensure the protection of our Social Security benefits. After the question was read, the room of about 300 people erupted in applause. While Trump has repeatedly said he will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, the administration has begun layoffs affecting over 10% of the Social Security Administration workforce and the closure of dozens of offices nationwide. Musk, the worlds richest man and one of Trumps most influential advisers, has called Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time. He hinted that it could be a primary target in his broader effort to downsize the federal government, saying in an interview on Fox Business Network that most of the federal spending is entitlements and thats the big one to eliminate. The White House insisted Musk was only referring to fraud. Democrats, struggling for a unified message against Trump, see an opportunity. Polling indicates that cuts to Social Security would be unpopular, including within Trumps base. A solid majority of Republicans said the U.S. is spending too little on Social Security in a January AP-NORC poll, and only about 1 in 10 said too much is being spent on the program.In her rebuttal to Trumps joint congressional address earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin warned that the president could very well come after your retirement. Potential cuts to critical government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security brought Leslie Boyd out to listen to Edwards town hall in North Carolina on Thursday. Those programs need to be improved instead of cut, Boyd said before the event, and she hoped Edwards had the courage to stand up for that.Boyd, 72, said she has some savings, but depends on Social Security. I paid into that my entire career, Boyd said. I worked from the time I was 16. I paid into that, its mine and I want it.Asked about the program inside the packed meeting, Edwards began by saying President Trump has made it clear before he was interrupted by jeers. He then shifted to discuss his own viewpoint on the program instead.Im not going to vote to dissolve your Social Security. Im not looking to, Edwards started to say before being drowned out by shouting. He continued, Thats a promise thats been made to the American people. Those folks who have worked all their life and paid into that certainly deserve to reap the rewards. Several attendees continued to yell at Edwards, demanding he stand up to Musk. Barrett opened a telephone town hall in his mid-Michigan district Monday night by addressing the flood of concerns over DOGE he said his office had been receiving. Barrett stressed that Musk is merely an adviser and said programs are temporarily paused and under review.I want to be very clear that this does not include Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, he said. Again, this does not include Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Its important to keep in mind that DOGE is only giving recommendations. Republican leaders have cautioned lawmakers against in-person town halls, contending without offering evidence that paid activists were disrupting events. Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, a staunch Trump ally, claimed Democratic donors had organized the disruptions.Yet even in tightly controlled telephone town halls, where questions are often screened in advance by congressional staffers, Social Security was a top concern. During McClains Monday call, a caller named Beverly, who said her handicapped son relies on Medicaid, expressed her fears: Im really concerned about that being cut, I guess.Let me put your mind at ease. Do not listen to the Democrats that are fearmongering, said McClain, who represents a heavily Republican district north of Detroit. There are no cuts to Medicaid.During the town hall with Huizenga, a caller named Val from Berrien County, Michigan, voiced her frustration, warning that office closures could cause some beneficiaries to slip through the cracks.Suddenly theyre going to find themselves without the means to cover their housing, or the means to get the care they need or to be able to get food on the table, she said.___Associated Press writer Makiya Seminera contributed from Asheville, N.C. JOEY CAPPELLETTI Cappelletti covers politics and state government for The Associated Press in Michigan. He is based in Lansing. twitter mailto

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani connects for a two-run home run in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)2025-03-15T11:06:41Z TOKYO (AP) Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.In an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, the three-time MVP belted a two-run homer to right field in the third inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 4-0 lead, setting off a roar from the roughly 42,000 fans in attendance.He always seems to rise to certain occasions, expectation to put on a performance, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Once again, he delivered.Ohtani led off the game with a walk and came to bat for a second time in the third inning. He didnt get his best swing on the ball, but the 6-foot-4, 210-pound slugger was still able to launch a slider from Yomiuris Shosei Togo 391 feet, which was plenty of distance to get it over the fence.The 30-year-old is just 4 1/2 months removed from surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder but has recovered remarkably fast. His big swing at the Tokyo Dome is another sign that hes feeling good heading into his eighth big league season, his second with the Dodgers. I was a bit out front on it, but it went out at a good angle and I thought it was going to be a home run, Ohtani said, through a translation. The Dodgers put on quite a power display in the third with Michael Conforto, Ohtani and Teoscar Hernndez all going deep to give Los Angeles a 5-0 advantage. Conforto said it was great to go deep in his first at-bat, but the conversation quickly switched to Ohtani. Its really amazing, Conforto said. In every big moment, he seems to just do what the fans want him to do.Los Angeles beat Yomiuri 5-1.The Dodgers are playing in Japan as part of the Tokyo Series. The team is playing two exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.In 2024, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season. He played several seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb DAVID BRANDT Brandt is an Associated Press sports writer based in Phoenix. He covers a wide variety of sports including the NBA, NFL and MLB. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, meets with President Nayib Bukele at his residence at Lake Coatepeque, El Salvador, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-03-15T16:05:15Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps administration will pay El Salvador $6 million to imprison for one year about 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, in one of the first instances of the Central American country taking migrants from the United States.The agreement follows discussions between El Salvadors President, Nayib Bukele, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about housing migrants in El Salvadors notorious prison. Bukeles government has arrested more than 84,000 people, sometimes without due process, since 2022 as part of his crackdown on gang violence in the small country.Memos detailing the transfer did not disclose how the Trump administration identified the roughly 300 people as members of Tren de Aragua, a gang Trump repeatedly highlighted in the campaign and declared to be a terrorist organization. The Republic of El Salvador confirms it will house these individuals for one (1) year, pending the United States decision on their long term disposition, wrote El Salvadors ministry of foreign affairs in a memo obtained by the Associated Press. The Central American nation and Trump administration last month struck a deal to house migrants detained in the United States. The Trump administration contended that El Salvador could even house American citizens, though the U.S. cannot deport citizens to another country. Rubio and Bukele discussed the specifics of the new transfer, which include a cost of about $20,000 to house each prisoner for the year. A State Department document also suggests that it may set aside $15 million to send to El Salvador to house additional members of the gang.The Salvadoran memo also confirmed the country would take two men it said were members of the MS-13 gang, an organization that was initially comprised of Salvadoran migrants to the U.S. and had gained an increasing foothold in El Salvador prior to Bukeles crackdown. One man, Cesar Eliseo Sorto Amaya, was convicted of double homicide in El Salvador before he was caught illegally entering the United States, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The other was charged under President Joe Bidens administration with being a high-ranking leader of the MS-13 gang.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a fire engine and school buses burn after a Russian drone hit them when firefighters were putting out the fire at a lyceum following Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)2025-03-15T08:54:37Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows overnight, with both sides reporting Saturday more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories.The attacks comes less than 24 hours after 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.Putin told a press conference on Thursday that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such a deal.Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, after virtual talks between Western allies hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy voiced Ukraines support for the 30-day full ceasefire proposal to discuss a longer-term peace plan, but said Russia would attempt to derail talks with conditions and buts. Starmer has told allies to keep the pressure on Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine, hailing Ukraine as the party of peace. Starmer said Putin will sooner or later have to come to the table. In a statement earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy had accused Moscow of building up forces along the border.The build up of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war, he said. However, Zelenskyy stressed that if Russia did not agree with the U.S. proposal there would be specific, harsh and straightforward response from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.He also said that Kyivs troops were maintaining their presence in Russias Kursk region after Trump said Friday that thousands of Ukrainian troops had been surrounded by the Russian military.The operation of our forces in the designated areas of the Kursk region continues, Zelenskyy said. Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region. There is no encirclement of our troops. Ukraines air force said Saturday that Russia had launched a barrage of 178 drones and two ballistic missiles over the country overnight. The attack was a mixture of Shahed-type drones and imitation drones designed to confuse air defenses. Some 130 drones were shot down, while 38 more failed to reach their targets.Russia attacked energy facilities, causing significant damage, striking energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, Ukraines private energy company DTEK said in a statement on Saturday. Some residents were left without electricity.The damage is significant. Energy workers are already working on the ground. We are doing everything possible to restore power to homes as soon as possible, the energy firm said.Falling drone debris in Russias Volgograd region sparked a fire in the Krasnoarmeysky district of the city, close to a Lukoil oil refinery, according to Gov. Andrei Bocharov, who provided no further details. Nearby airports temporarily halted flights, local media outlets reported. No casualties were reported. The Volgograd refinery has been targeted by Kyivs forces on several occasions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, most recently in a drone attack on Feb. 15.___ Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report. ___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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)2025-03-15T17:35:42Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has signed into law legislation funding the government through the end of September, ending the threat of a partial government shutdown and capping off a struggle in Congress that deeply divided Democrats.Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a post on X that Trump signed the continuing resolution Saturday.The bill largely keeps government funding at levels set during Joe Bidens presidency, though with changes. It trims non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increases defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion.The Senate cleared the legislation on Friday in a 54-46 party line vote, with 10 members of the Senate Democratic caucus helping the bill advance to passage despite opposition from within their party most vocally from colleagues in the House, who exhorted them to reject the bill out of hand. Senate Democrats argued for days over whether to force a shutdown, livid that Republicans in the House had drafted and passed the spending measure without their input. Democrats said the legislation shortchanges health care, housing and other priorities and gives Trump wide leeway to redirect federal spending even as his administration and the Department of Government Efficiency rapidly dismantle congressionally approved agencies and programs. In the end, enough of the Democratic senators decided a government shutdown would be even worse than letting the funding bill pass. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a shutdown would have given the Trump administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive, Schumer said. Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.Passage of the funding bill through the House earlier in the week was a victory for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who managed to hold Republicans together and muscle the bill to passage without support from Democrats something theyve rarely been able to achieve in the past.

Residents walk on a street during a general blackout in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)2025-03-15T16:51:39Z HAVANA (AP) Millions of people in Cuba remained without power Saturday after a failure of the nations electric grid left the island in the dark the previous night.The massive blackout is the fourth in the last six months as a severe economic crisis plagues the Caribbean country. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, in a statement on social media, attributed the latest outage to a failure at a substation in the suburbs of Havana, the capital.Lzaro Guerra, director of electricity at the ministry, said on national television that power was already being generated to support vital services such as hospitals.A statement from the Cuban Electricity Union released Saturday said the strategy was to create microsystems that will connect to each other to gradually restore electricity across the country. Several of these were already operating in the provinces of Guantnamo, Santiago, Las Tunas and Pinar del Ro. Internet and telephone service were intermittent more than 12 hours after power went out around 8 p.m. local time Friday.Cuba suffered similar blackouts in October, November and December. The latest was the first of 2025 but in mid-February authorities suspended classes and work activities for two days due to a shortage of electricity generation that exceeded 50% in the country. Experts have said the electricity disruptions are a result of fuel shortages at power plants and aging infrastructure. Most plants have been in operation for more than 30 years. The outages come as Cubans are experiencing a severe economic crisis that analysts have blamed on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a program of domestic measures that triggered inflation and, above all, the tightening of sanctions by the United States.Many Cuban families use electric equipment to prepare their meals. The outage could cause food to thaw in refrigerators and possibly spoil due to the islands tropical climate.When I was about to start cooking and making some spaghetti, the power went out. And now what? Cecilia Duquense, a 79-year-old housewife who lives in the working-class neighborhood of Central Havana, said Saturday.

The Chicago River is dyed green as part of annual St. Patrick's Day festivities Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)2025-03-15T18:42:27Z CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago River is once again glowing kelly green as the city opens its annual St. Patricks Day celebrations.Thousands lined the river and packed bridges Saturday and erupted in cheers as members of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Union Local 130 sprayed dye into the water from boats, carrying on a tradition they began some 63 years ago.The dyeing immediately precedes the annual downtown St. Patricks Day parade. The day which falls on Monday this year celebrates Irish culture. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and is credited with having brought Christianity there in the fifth century.The dye is nontoxic. While the river stays bright for several hours, some trace of color can remain for days.A second St. Patricks Day parade was scheduled for Sunday on Chicagos South Side.

Villanova's Kyle Neptune watches during an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Villanova, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)2025-03-15T15:31:12Z The AP Top 25 mens college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season!Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. PHILADELPHIA (AP) Villanova fired Kyle Neptune on Saturday after a three-year run where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to ever make the NCAA Tournament.Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East in three seasons with the Wildcats, including a 19-14 record this season. The Wildcats who won two national championships under Wright lost to UConn on Thursday night in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.It was the first major decision made by Eric Roedl, a Villanova alumnus hired earlier this season as the athletic director.Since coming to Villanova, I have been struck by Kyles tireless work ethic and his dedication to the student-athletes he served, Roedl said in a statement. We are grateful to Kyle for his long service to Villanova and his mentorship to the many outstanding young men he has coached. Neptune felt the heat this season as the Wildcats once a perennial Big East winner and national title contender slid into mediocrity and out of national prominence. Not even regular-season wins over St. Johns and UConn could offset the overall lack of consistency in a season that also included losses to Columbia and Saint Josephs. The 40-year-old Neptune served under Wright on the Villanova coaching staff before accepting the head coaching position at Fordham in 2021. Neptune went 16-16 in his lone season at Fordham. Wright, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, guided Villanova to titles in 2016 and 2018 and led the Wildcats to two other Final Four appearances. He went 520-197 in 21 seasons at the school and has remained a steady presence at Villanova games. He now works for CBS.The Wildcats will miss the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season for the first time since Wrights first three seasons more than 20 years ago. Wright was given the grace period Neptune was not in large part because this was no rebuild on the Main Line the program boasted healthy NIL coffers and had the nations leading scorer this season in Eric Dixon. Villanova could still play in the new College Basketball Crown tournament later this month in Las Vegas.Assistant Mike Nardi will serve as interim head coach.The program that once anchored its success on the Villanova Way a mini-dynasty built on NBA-ready upperclassmen has become discombobulated under the roster chaos born of NIL money and the transfer portal. The yearly roster turnover has done little to build the culture where senior stars once taught the new kids the concept of Villanova basketball that was once a championship hallmark under Wright.Well-liked and respected by all in the program, Neptune had downplayed criticism throughout his tenure, insisting over the last two seasons as fan unrest grew on the suburban campus that he didnt hear fans who booed him at times during pregame introductions or the horde that chanted Fire Neptune!Wright floored Villanova when he retired at 60 years old just weeks after leading the Wildcats to a Final Four in 2022. Neptune was hired the same month. He first came to Villanova in 2008, serving two seasons as video coordinator. Neptune returned as an assistant coach in 2013 and worked under Wright as Villanova rose into a perennial Final Four contender. That success as an assistant never carried over once Neptune got the top job. Villanova now will look to hire only its fifth coach since 1973.The question is, will ties to Wright even matter as the search for a new coach ramps up or will Villanova look outside the program for a fresh start?___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball DAN GELSTON Gelston is an an Associated Press sports writer covering major college and pro sports in Philadelphia, including the 76ers, Flyers, Eagles, Phillies and Villanova. twitter mailto

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman2025-03-15T18:48:43Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on Yemens capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, promising to use overwhelming lethal force until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom, Trump said in a social media post. No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country fully accountable for the actions of its proxy. It comes two weeks after the U.S leader sent a letter to Iranian leaders offering a path to restarting bilateral talks between the two countries on Irans advancing nuclear weapons program that Trump has said he will not allow to become operational. The Houthis reported a series of explosions in their territory Saturday evening. Images circulating online show plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility. The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing in waters off Yemen in response to Israels blockade on Gaza. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then. Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of additional consequences for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire in the war isnt extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase.The Houthis had described their warning as taking hold in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.The Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, when a tenuous ceasefire in Gaza took effect. The attacks greatly raised the Houthis profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemens decade-long stalemated war thats torn apart the Arab worlds poorest nation.The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen. Israels military declined to comment.The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit a residential neighborhood in Sanaas northern district of Shouab. Sanaa residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood in Shouab district, terrifying women and children in the area.The explosions were very strong, said Abdallah al-Alffi. It was like an earthquake.The Saturday operation against the Houthis was conducted solely by the U.S., according to a U.S. official. It was the first strike on the Yemen-based Houthis under the second Trump administration, and it comes after a period of relative quiet in the region. Such broad-based and pre-planned missile strikes against the Houthis were done multiple times by the Biden administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region. The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which includes the carrier, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser, are in the Red Sea and were part of the mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been operating in the region.Trump announced the strikes as he spent the day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk, Trump said.___Baldor reported from Washington and Magdy reported from Cairo. AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed from Washington. MICHELLE L. PRICE Price covers the White House. She previously covered the 2024 presidential campaign and politics, government and other news in New York, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. She is based in Washington. twitter mailto LOLITA C. BALDOR Baldor has covered the Pentagon and national security issues for The Associated Press since 2005. She has reported from all over the world including warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. twitter mailto 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 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Henry Carmona, 48, right, who fled Venezuela after receiving death threats for refusing to participate in demonstrations in support of the government, stands with friends and a reporter following a press conference by Venezuelan community leaders to denounce changes to the protections that shielded hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, including Carmona, from deportation, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)2025-03-15T18:41:27Z A federal judge on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from using an 18th century law known as the Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelans, kicking off a blizzard of litigation over the controversial move even before the president has announced it.President Donald Trump has widely signaled he would invoke the 1798 Act, last used to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War 2.On Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed an extraordinary lawsuit in federal court in Washington contending the order would identify a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, as a predatory incursion by a foreign government and seek to deport any Venezuelan in the country as a member of that gang, regardless of the facts.James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, agreed to implement a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation for 14 days under the act of the five Venezuelans who are already in immigration custody and believed they were being moved to be deported. Boasberg said his order was to preserve the status quo. Boasberg scheduled a hearing for later in the afternoon to see if his order should be expanded to protect all Venezuelans in the United States. Hours later, the Trump administration appealed the initial restraining order. The unusual flurry of litigation highlights the controversy around the Alien Enemies Act, which could give Trump vast power to deport people in the country illegally. It could let him bypass some protections of normal criminal and immigration law. But it would face immediate challenges along the lines of Saturdays litigation because it has previously only been used during wartime. The law requires a formal declaration of war before it can be used. But immigration lawyers were alarmed by a flurry of activity Friday night. Last night, it appears the government was preparing to deport a number of Venezuelans they had no legal authority to deport, said Ahilan Arulanantham, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles who filed two petitions to block deportations that night. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People gather in front of the Serbian parliament during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)2025-03-15T10:24:00Z BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) At least 100,000 people descended on Belgrade on Saturday for a mass rally seen as a culmination of months-long protests against Serbias populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.Large crowds of flag-waving protesters clogged the downtown area of the capital despite occasional rain, with people hardly able to move and many stuck hundreds of meters away from the planned protest venue. Following apparent sporadic incidents between protesters and the police, university students who have been leading the peaceful protests for the past four months abruptly called for an end to the demonstration Saturday, saying they no longer can guarantee safety at the rally. Most of the protesters dispersed, but thousands remained on the streets as tensions surged.Police said the crowd reached 107,000 people at the peak of the protest. Serbian independent media described the rally as the biggest ever in the country, saying the numbers were much higher. All public transport in Belgrade was canceled as protesters streamed into the city from various directions. The rally was part of a nationwide anti-corruption movement that erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbias north in November, killing 15 people. Almost daily demonstrations that started in response to the tragedy have shaken Vucics firm grip on power in Serbia like never before in the past 13 years in charge. Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations, demanding accountability for the victims. Saturdays rally was dubbed 15 for 15, referring to the date of the protest and the number of people killed in the city of Novi Sad on Nov. 1. The crowds fell silent for 15 minutes in the evening to honor the victims. Ahead of the demonstration, Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents. A deafening sound of whistles, drums and vuvuzelas filled the air on Saturday. Some protesters carried banners that read, Hes Finished! Crowds chanted Pump it Up, a slogan adopted during past four months of student-led protests.I expect that this will shake his authority and that Vucic will realize that people are no longer for him, Milenko Kovacevic, a protester, said.The massive rally is not the endgame in a struggle for a more democratic Serbia, Dejan Simic, another protester, said. This is just the beginning of the end, a process which I hope will end soon, he said.Protesting university students have been a key force of the anti-graft movement with their call for justice. Students determination has struck a chord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions. Hundreds of police deployed in cityOn Friday evening, tens of thousands of people staged a joyous welcome for the students who have been marching or cycling for days from across Serbia toward Belgrade. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told state RTS broadcaster that 13 people were detained overnight. He said police detained six opposition activists for allegedly plotting to stage a coup and stir unrest. By Saturday morning people were assembling in various parts of the city as they marched toward the center. The entire downtown zone was flooded with people hours before the scheduled start of the gathering.Reflecting the tensions, police said they arrested a man who rammed his car into protesters in a Belgrade suburb, injuring three people. Hundreds of police officers were deployed inside and around government buildings and in front of the presidential palace. Many railway and bus links toward Belgrade have been canceled, in an apparent effort to prevent people from attending the rally. The transport company said the cancellation was made for security reasons.Several reporters from neighboring Croatia as well as Slovenia have been turned back from Serbias border under explanation that their presence at the rally represents a security risk. Vucic claims West is backing protestsVucic has rejected earlier proposals for a transitional government that would prepare an early election. Fueling fears of clashes, Vucics supporters have been camping in central Belgrade in front of his headquarters. They include ex-members of a dreaded paramilitary unit involved in the assassination in 2003 of Serbias first democratic Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, as well as soccer hooligans who are known for causing violence. Private N1 television on Saturday broadcast footage of dozens of young men with baseball caps going into the pro-Vucic camp.Vucic has been claiming that Western intelligence services were behind almost daily student-led protests with an aim to oust him from power. He has presented no evidence for the claims. Previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful while drawing huge crowds.