Ukrainian people celebrate in front of the parliament the day when Ukraine's independence was declared, in Kyiv, Aug. 24, 1991. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)2025-08-24T05:00:11Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Oleksandr Donii was one of the leaders of student-led protests for sovereignty and political reform in 1990 that preceded Ukraines declaration of independence. He remembers thinking the fight for autonomy would take decades.Instead, it came much sooner than he ever imagined. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine quickly declared independence in 1991 and later conducted a referendum backed by more than 90% of voters.I was preparing myself for prisons and labor camps, and I thought the struggle would last about 2030 years, Donii told The Associated Press. Moscows grip endured after independenceAs the country marks 34 years since that monumental event Sunday, Donii and others from Ukraines first generation of lawmakers and activists describe how despite separation from the Soviet Union, Moscows grip endured. Russia used political pressure, social division and the sidelining of pro-Western voices. That eventually paved the way for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three decades later and Ukraines current fight for independence and identity in the face of its aggressive neighbor. Back in 1990, Donii and other student leaders of a hunger strike were calling not only for breaking away from Moscow but also for renewing the political system at home. Their first proposal was to conduct snap elections for Ukraines Parliament, which Donii saw as essential for clearing out the Soviet-era lawmakers still in office. The idea, however, failed to gain broad support even among pro-independence forces. Ukraine, having won independence, did not win the removal of the Communist ruling class, he said. In his view, opportunities that were within reach in the early 1990s slipped away, leaving Ukraine to pay a high price today as it presses toward the European Union and NATO not as distant aspirations but as urgent necessities for safeguarding sovereignty and securing an independent path. Oleksandr Nechyporenko, a lawmaker from the first Ukrainian Parliament, remembers how fragmented society was on the verge of independence.A very large part was neutral, it included people who wavered, who didnt have enough information, he recalled. There was also a big and powerful core that was categorically in favor of preserving the Soviet Union, communist rule, ties with Russia, and so on. Nechyporenko says the passionate change-makers were a minority.We should have been more firmIn his view, Ukraines tolerance toward agents of Russian influence since the early days of its independence was a major mistake. We should have been more firm, more radical, he said.That sense of missed resolve is not limited to politics alone. Decisions made in the early years of independence continue to weigh heavily as Ukraine now fights for survival against Russia. One of the most consequential was the choice to surrender the vast nuclear arsenal left on Ukrainian soil after the Soviet collapse.The path we were supposed to take with the worlds third-largest nuclear arsenal about five thousand nuclear warheads that path should have given us the opportunity to effectively use this potential for integration with the West, said Yurii Kostenko, a scholar and politician who led negotiations on Ukraines nuclear disarmament in the early 1990s. He says that while leading the negotiation process, his vision of nuclear disarmament included the U.S. assisting Ukraine financially and technologically to turn nuclear warheads into fuel for nuclear power plants. Accession to NATO would have been Ukraines guarantee of security. The American side was ready to make it happen, Kostenko says.A deal to give Russia its nuclear warheadsBut instead of cooperation with the U.S., Kostenko recalls Ukraine being eventually pressured into surrendering its warheads to Russia, receiving almost nothing in return. He said to achieve that, then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin demanded Kostenkos dismissal as leader of the negotiations by Ukraines then-President Leonid Kravchuk. That demand was granted.No longer led by Kostenko, Ukraines delegation dropped the initial plan codesigned with the U.S. and chose to cooperate with Russia instead. Kostenko says that in exchange for its nukes, Ukraine received $1.5 billion in nuclear fuel and natural gas from Russia, which, he says, was worth around 1% of what Ukraine gave up. Instead of NATO accession, Ukraine received the Budapest Memorandum, an agreement in which Ukraine was granted assurances of sovereignty and territorial integrity from the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia. For many Ukrainians, it has become a symbol of promises that carried no weight. Moscow shredded the agreement first with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and then with the full-scale invasion in 2022. Three decades later, as Ukraine once again negotiates its future with Western partners under the shadow of Russian aggression, the choices and compromises of the 1990s still loom large, shaping its search for lasting security.

Chief of Talent at New Schools for New Orleans, Jahquille Ross, walks down a hallway at Alice Hart Charter School in New Orleans, on July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith)2025-08-24T04:03:54Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina changed the face of education in New Orleans forever. The school system was utterly destroyed and then utterly transformed, becoming the first and only all-charter school district in the country.Ahead of the storms anniversary, The Associated Press asked three survivors to reflect on what it was like to be a student or a teacher during that tumultuous period. For some, connections they developed with educators who helped them through the crisis inspired careers as teachers. Their experiences also offer lessons for teachers and schools going through natural disasters today. What follows are the educators accounts in their own words, condensed for publication.A storm evacuee found caring teachers in Texas Chris Dier helps students at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans create a structure made of pasta and marshmallows. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Chris Dier helps students at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans create a structure made of pasta and marshmallows. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More 1. Chris Dier, a history teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, was just starting his senior year of high school in neighboring Chalmette when Katrina hit. He evacuated to a hotel, then a shelter for Katrina survivors in Texas. I remember waking up to my Aunt Tina banging on the hotel door. I remember she said, There are hundreds of bodies everywhere, that the levees broke. Ill never forget getting that knock on the door that let me know that everything has changed, that everything is different.There was an elderly couple that came to the shelter and talked with us, and they offered us their trailer so we could actually have a space to live. We stayed in that trailer for the remainder of the year, and I finished my high school in Texas, Henderson High School. One of the reasons I wanted to become a teacher was because of how these teachers treated us at our lowest points. I remember Coach Propes, the soccer coach who got us soccer cleats and took care of us in that way. I remember Mrs. Rains, the English teacher who had us in our class and had all the supplies ready. I remember Ms. Pellon, the Spanish teacher who also had supplies for us. Mr. McGinnis, he would come in in the early hours to tutor me in chemistry because I missed weeks of school. They made me feel welcome. They made me feel like I belong. They made me feel that I was part of a larger community, as opposed to just a statistic. The last thing I wanted to do growing up was be a teacher, because I saw how my mom was a teacher and all the time and effort she put into her craft. She would be cooking with her left hand and grading papers with her right hand. I wanted more in life. But Katrina changed me in that way, because I saw how these teachers responded. Chris Dier measures a structure made of pasta and marshmallows created by his students. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Chris Dier measures a structure made of pasta and marshmallows created by his students. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Everything we talk about is before Katrina and after Katrina. Now I have before COVID and after COVID. I started seeing the parallels right away, right when the schools closed down, March 16 (in 2020). The questions that (students) had, those same questions I had after we evacuated during Hurricane Katrina. I remember thinking, Are we really never coming back to school?I went home that weekend and wrote an open letter to seniors, offering some support and advice. I wrote about what its like to lose your senior year. I said that folks will downplay the situation, because they dont know what it feels like to have their senior year stripped. But I do know. I try to tell them that theyre not forgotten: Teachers are thinking of them. We care for them.A new school left a student missing New Orleans love and attention Jahquille Ross, chief of talent at New Schools for New Orleans, poses for a photo in Alice Hart Charter School. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Jahquille Ross, chief of talent at New Schools for New Orleans, poses for a photo in Alice Hart Charter School. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More 2. Jahquille Ross has been an elementary school teacher and principal and now works for the education nonprofit New Schools for New Orleans. When Katrina hit, he was an eighth grader at Edna Karr Magnet School on the West Bank of New Orleans. We decided after watching the news on Friday, to leave Saturday. I just remember being on the highway forever. Literally forever. I lived with my brother and my sister-in-law during that time, because my mother had passed away when I was 12, in 2003. We were heading to Alexandria, where my sister-in-law is from. I just remember being hungry for a long time.It was devastating to see what all was taking place in New Orleans on national TV during this time. When you saw the large amount of people, the impact of the water and the flooding and the damage that was done because of the wind, it was like: Oh, were going to be in Alexandria a while.At that time, a while to me was like, maybe another week or two. And that wasnt the case. It was one, two, three, four schools in one year. Exhausting. It was hard to make friends wherever I went, because I was unsure at that time, how long are we gonna be in a particular setting? Places just dont feel like New Orleans. Jahquille Ross walks down a hallway at Alice Hart Charter School in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Jahquille Ross walks down a hallway at Alice Hart Charter School in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More We moved to Plano, Texas, for about six months. Really nice area, really nice people. There were more white people than Ive ever seen before at school. I felt the racism a little bit more. It was more prevalent from students.I was not performing academically at the level that I had normally been in New Orleans. Just trying to stay afloat in my classes was a struggle. The teachers didnt really go out of their way. They were strictly, like, This is the lesson, this is the material, this is when the test is. I just didnt get the love and attention that I was accustomed to in New Orleans.I came back to New Orleans in March or April. It felt good to be back home. I had my friend base from middle school. I had friends from elementary school. I was back amongst family and elders, like my grandma, my auntie, my cousins, everybody. We lived 10, 15 minutes within each other, which is really good. We had neighborhood-based schooling, you know, prior to Katrina. It changed the trajectory of my life. I did not want to always become an educator. With my mother passing away, it was school that grounded me. It was the teachers and leaders inside of those school buildings that supported me, pushed me and encouraged me. I had some pivotal educators in my life who played a big role in my education and my journey. In return, I felt like I could do that for other children of New Orleans. I chose to go into elementary education, so that students in their early years of education would have the opportunity to be educated by a Black male. Jahquille Ross shows what was his first classroom as a teacher at Alice Hart Charter School in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Jahquille Ross shows what was his first classroom as a teacher at Alice Hart Charter School in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Flooding wiped out schools and memories3. Michelle Garnett was an educator in New Orleans for 33 years, mostly in kindergarten and pre-K, before retiring in 2022. She was teaching kindergarten at Parkview Elementary in New Orleans when Katrina hit and had to evacuate to Baton Rouge.When we were able to come back to the city, going back to my original school, Parkview, it was devastating to see the school just completely destroyed. That memory, I wouldnt want to go through that again if I could be spared of that.My mother was a classroom teacher, and she had given me a lot of things. Just memories that you just cant get back. My mother was a little bit of an artist, so she drew a lot of the storybook characters for me. My dad also gave me a cassette tape with the song Knowledge is Power that I used to play for my kids. I lost the tape that he had given me. So, you know, sentimental things. Everybody in the city lost a lot.My classroom was just molded and water warped, and it smelled, and it was just horrific. I can say, nobody could salvage anything from that particular school. It was just all all was lost.We were all in Baton Rouge together as a family, 23 of us strong in my daughters house. Siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. On top of the 23 people in my daughters house, she was eight months pregnant at the time. But we were happy. Everybody was safe, and we had to accept things that we couldnt change.I loved what I did. Got into it strictly by necessity. My second daughter, who is now deceased, had a very rare form of muscular dystrophy. Orleans Parish hired me as my own childs specific aide. She was only in school a short time from December to May, and the next month, two days after her sixth birthday, she passed. I was asked to continue work as a child-specific aide. During that process is when I got the passion and desire to go back to school, to be certified in education.We think we choose a path for ourselves, and God puts us in the place where he wants us to be. Teaching is where I needed to be. And I absolutely enjoyed it.___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. SHARON LURYE Lurye is the data reporter for The Associated Press Education Reporting Network. She is based in New Orleans. twitter facebook mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This undated image provided by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shows a great white shark named Turbo. (Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries via AP)2025-08-24T11:53:04Z SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) Rick Clough spent some four decades fishing for lobsters and sea urchins off the Maine coast before spotting one of the oceans most recognized predators a great white shark.The approximately 8-foot (2.4-meter) shark, seen off the beach town of Scarborough in July, surprised Clough, but didnt make him fear the ocean though he admitted, Im not sure Id want to go urchin diving now. This undated image provided by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shows a great white shark named Turbo. (Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries via AP) This undated image provided by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shows a great white shark named Turbo. (Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Boaters, beachgoers and fishermen like Clough who spend time in the chilly waters of New England and Atlantic Canada are learning to live with great white sharks, the creatures made famous by the 1975 film Jaws. Sightings of the apex predators are up in places like Maine, where they were once very rarely spotted. Scientists link the white shark sightings to increased availability of the seals the sharks feast on, and say beachgoers are generally very safe from shark bites. The sharks can grow close to 20 feet (6 meters) long, though most dont get that big. David Lancaster, an avid fisherman who recently captured drone footage off a white shark off of Scarborough, Maine, motors out to sea, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Scarborough. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) David Lancaster, an avid fisherman who recently captured drone footage off a white shark off of Scarborough, Maine, motors out to sea, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Scarborough. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More David Lancaster, a commercial clam digger in Scarborough, used a drone to get a look at an approximately 12-foot (3.6-meter) shark near the towns famed beaches earlier this month. He described the animal as magnificent and really amazing to see. But he also said the sharks presence reminded him that swimmers need to look out for the big fish. Why are great whites going north? Sightings of great whites off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have become increasingly frequent in recent years, and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has documented hundreds of the animals over more than a decade. But new data shows the sharks are heading even farther north into New Hampshire, Maine and beyond, said Greg Skomal, a senior fisheries biologist with the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries and a veteran white shark researcher. The number of white sharks detected off Halifax, Nova Scotia, increased about 2.5 times from 2018 to 2022, according to a paper published by Skomal and others in May in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Even farther north, the number detected in the Cabot Strait that separates Nova Scotia and Newfoundland increased nearly four times over, the paper said. A harbor seal, a species favored by white sharks, rests on a small island Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, off of Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) A harbor seal, a species favored by white sharks, rests on a small island Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, off of Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Skomal said the average residency in these northern waters has also increased from 48 days to 70 days, suggesting that white sharks appear to be increasingly comfortable farther north.A key reason for the shift seems to be the successful conservation of seals off New England and Canada via laws such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has allowed seals to thrive and provide a food source for the predatory sharks, Skomal said.It could be a function of a growing prey base, Skomal said. And that would be seals.Sharks are protected, tooGreat white sharks also benefit from protections, including a ban on fishing for them in U.S. federal waters that has stood since 1997. They are still considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In Massachusetts, the marine fisheries department said it strengthened its fishing laws after fishermen in 2024 chose to target white sharks anyway. The state prohibited the use of certain kinds of heavy fishing gear in shoreline areas where white sharks are most commonly found. This TV grab shows an aerial image of a great white shark off the coast of Scarborough, Maine, on Monday, August 11, 2025. (David Lancaster via AP) This TV grab shows an aerial image of a great white shark off the coast of Scarborough, Maine, on Monday, August 11, 2025. (David Lancaster via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More We believe here in Massachusetts that targeting white sharks from the beach is not a safe practice, Skomal said. Not only because it could result in the death of the shark, but because it could be a public safety issue.Despite the size and strength of the sharks, dangerous encounters between white sharks and humans are vanishingly rare. Worldwide, there have been fewer than 60 fatal great white shark bites on humans in recorded history, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History.Living with great whitesThe first recorded fatal shark attack in Maine happened in 2020 when a great white shark killed 63-year-old Julie Dimperio Holowach off Bailey Island. Its an exceedingly rare event. But were providing all of this information to mitigate human behavior and hopefully reduce any negative encounters between humans and sharks, said Ashleigh Novak, research coordinator with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Visitors enjoy the summer weather not far from recent sightings of white sharks, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Scarborough, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Visitors enjoy the summer weather not far from recent sightings of white sharks, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Scarborough, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The growth of social media has made shark sightings go viral in recent summers. A smartphone app called Sharktivity also allows shark spotters to report their sightings.Lancaster, a surfer, said living with great whites is just something people in New England are going to have to adjust to.Its crazy that they are around, as fishermen and surfers, and something we have to accept, Lancaster said. Its in the back of your head, but you have to accept it.___Associated Press photojournalist Robert F. Bukaty contributed to this story in Scarborough, Maine.___This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. PATRICK WHITTLE Whittle is an Associated Press reporter based in Portland, Maine. He focuses on the environment and oceans. twitter mailto

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Team members demonstrate how the team enters a residence in the pursuit of a wanted subject at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski)2025-08-24T11:43:39Z BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) Immigration and Customs Enforcement is an agency inside the Department of Homeland Security that is integral to President Donald Trumps vision of carrying out the mass deportations he promised during the campaign. Deportation officers within a unit called Enforcement and Removal Operations are the ones who are responsible for immigration enforcement. They find and remove people from the United States who arent American citizens and, for a variety of reasons, no longer can stay in the country.Some might have gone through immigration court and a judge ordered them removed. Or they were arrested or convicted of certain crimes, or theyve repeatedly entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. ICE also manages a growing network of immigration detention facilities around the country where it holds people suspected of immigration violations. Overall, its activities and how it carries them out have polarized many Americans in recent months. After years when the number of deportation officers largely remained even, the agency is now rapidly hiring. Congress this summer passed legislation giving ICE $76.5 billion in new money to help speed up the pace of deportations. Thats nearly 10 times the agencys current annual budget. Nearly $30 billion is for new staff.Last week, The Associated Press got a chance to visit the base in southern Georgia where new ICE recruits are trained and to talk to the agencys top leadership. Here are details about four things ICE is doing that came out of those conversations. Its surging hiringICE currently has about 6,500 deportation officers, and it is aggressively looking to beef up those numbers. Acting Director Todd Lyons says he wants to hire an additional 10,000 by years end. The agency has launched a new recruiting website, offered hiring bonuses as high as $50,000, and is advertising at career expos. Lyons said the agency has already received 121,000 applications many from former officers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Team members demonstrate how the team enters a residence in the pursuit of a wanted subject at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Team members demonstrate how the team enters a residence in the pursuit of a wanted subject at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More New recruits are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia. Thats a sprawling facility near the coast where federal law enforcement officers not just ICE agents from around the country live and train. ICE is looking to more than double the number of instructors who train deportation officers.Caleb Vitello, who runs training for ICE, says it has cut Spanish-language requirements to reduce training by five weeks, and hes been looking for ways to streamline the training and have recruits do more at the field offices where theyre assigned. Its preparing for conflictAs Trumps effort to deport millions of people has intensified, violent episodes have unfolded as ICE seeks to arrest people. Critics have said ICE is being too heavy-handed in carrying out arrests while ICE says its people are the ones being attacked.Vitello said the agency tracks every time officers use force as well as any time someone attacks its officers. According to the agencys data, from Jan. 21 through Aug. 5 there were 121 reported assaults of ICE officers compared with 11 during the same period last year. A member of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Team demonstrates how the team deploys at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) A member of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Response Team demonstrates how the team deploys at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Lyons said that after recent operations in Los Angeles turned violent, ICE is making gas masks and helmets standard issue for new agents. Right now were seeing and were having to adapt to all different scenarios that we were never trained for in the past, he said.Lyons says the agency is also starting to send out security teams to accompany agents making arrests: Were not gonna allow people to throw rocks anymore, because were going to have our own agents and officers there to protect the ones that are actually out there making that arrest.Its beefing up specialized units for high-risk situationsAbout eight deportation officers dressed in military-style camouflage uniforms, helmets and carrying an assortment of weapons stand outside a house yelling Police! We have a warrant! before entering and clearing the house.They are members of a Special Response Team taking part in a demonstration at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. These officers are like a SWAT team deportation officers with special training to assist in difficult situations. They also accompany detainees the agency deems dangerous when they are deported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trainees practice shooting a handgun at the indoor firing range at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trainees practice shooting a handgun at the indoor firing range at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Everybody is trained to serve a warrant, Vitello said. These guys are trained to serve high-risk warrants.There are roughly 450 deportation officers with the special training to serve on these teams, and Lyons says they have been deployed to assist with immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and Washington.He said hed like to have more such units but wouldnt put an exact number on how many. Vitello said theyre also in the process of getting more of the specially armored vehicles. Its teaching whom agents can arrest and whenNew recruits to ICE receive training on immigration law and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful searches. Longtime officers get regular refreshers on these topics.In limited situations, ICE agents are allowed to enter someones home. Generally when theyre seeking someone theyre trying to remove from the country, they have an administrative warrant as opposed to a criminal warrant. That administrative warrant doesnt allow them to enter the house without first getting permission. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instructor demonstrates getting a 170 lb. dummy into a position to be handcuffed on the agility course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instructor demonstrates getting a 170 lb. dummy into a position to be handcuffed on the agility course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga. on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fran Ruchalski) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Vitello says the new recruits are taught about the different warrants and how the rules differ. And theyre taught how those who allowed ICE to enter their house can change their mind.If somebody says Get out, and you dont have your target, you have to leave, he said.Multiple videos on social media have shown ICE officers breaking car windows to pull someone out of a vehicle and arrest that person.The Fourth Amendment doesnt extend to someones vehicle, so Vitello said deportation officers do have the authority to arrest someone in a car or truck. Vitello said in the rare case where a target was in a motor home, officers would talk to the agencys lawyers first to figure out what protections apply. REBECCA SANTANA Santana covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Associated Press. She has extensive experience reporting in such places as Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. twitter mailto

A study examining the gender identities of cis and trans children over an 11-year period has found that both groups are equally consistent in how they identify. The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)worked with over 900 youth in North America from 2013 to 2024. The subjects initially fell into three categories when recruited for the study: trans youth who socially transitioned with family support by 12 years old; cisgender youth who were age- and gender-matched to the trans group; and cisgender siblings of those in the trans group. Related Hospitals are ending their trans youth programs at an accelerating rate The study followed youth from an average of 8.1 years old through an average of 14.3 years old and concluded that among early-transitioning transgender children as well as their counterparts who were cisgender in childhood, stability in gender identity was by far the modal trajectory.According to youth and parent-report, most youths current identities are the same as those they held at the beginning of the study, the authors explained, adding that to the extent that youths identities did change, gender change was no more or less likely in any of therecruitment groupscompared to the others. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In other words, socially transitioned transgender youths were no more or less likely to show gender change throughout childhood and adolescence than youths who are cisgender in childhood.The study found that over 80% of youth showed stability in their identities throughout the study. It also found that when subjects did experience a gender change, When gender change did occur in all three groups, it overwhelmingly involved change to (and, to a lesser extent, from) a nonbinary gender identity.There was also no evidence that young people were less or more likely to change their identity at any specific age. The study also emphasized the importance of family support. Early identifying transgender childrens sense of their own gender was no more or less stable than cisgender childrens, the study concluded, suggesting that children who are supported in their transgender identities tend to show developmental patterns that mirror their cisgender peers.The findings mirror what has overwhelmingly been found in studies on trans adults, that very few people detransition and those that do often do so due to anti-trans discrimination rather than an identity change. Most recently, the U.S. Trans Survey, considered to be the most extensive survey conducted on trans health in America, reaffirmed this fact. Released byAdvocates For Trans Equality(A4TE) on June 11, the survey questioned over 84,000 trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people aged 18 and older in 2022. Of all respondents, 9% had detransitioned at some point in their lives.Social and structural explanations dominated the reasons why respondents reported going back to living in their sex assigned at birth at some point, the report reads.Only 4% of people who went back to living in their sex assigned at birth for a while cited that their reason was because they realized that gender transition was not for them. When considering all respondents who had transitioned, this number equates to only 0.36%. On top of that, 98% of respondents said they felt more satisfied with their lives since transitioning.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

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The guitarist and frontman chat about their fraught partnership, earliest goals and (possibly) final shows on the road.

An enormous whitetail deer had become a local legend in rural New York. Then a picture of his carcass appeared on social media.

In this photo provided by RESQSHIP, Italian Coast Guard personnel evacuate migrants from the vessel NADIR operated by the organization RESQSHIP, off the coast of the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Jan Salmen/RESQSHIP via AP)2025-08-24T12:00:20Z BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Three young sisters have died after an overcrowded rubber dinghy took on water in bad weather while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, a German nonprofit organization reported Sunday.The sisters from war-torn Sudan, who were 9, 11 and 17 years old, are the latest known victims of a Mediterranean migration route that has claimed more than 30,000 lives since the International Organization for Migration started counting in 2014. Volunteers with the German group RESQSHIP found their bodies after rescuing some 65 people from the unseaworthy boat in international waters north off Libya on the night of Friday to Saturday. A fourth person was reported missing at sea. Their mother and brother were among survivors who were brought to shore on the Italian island of Lampedusa late Saturday, the group said. The green rubber dinghy had departed Zuwara in western Libya earlier Friday.The boat was really overcrowded and partially deflated, Barbara Satore, one of the rescuers, told The Associated Press. It was a really pitch dark night with 1.5 meter (4.9 feet) waves, and the boat had been taking on water for hours. Satore said they found it after an alert from the Alarm Phone network, which receives calls from migrant boats in distress. It was only after rescuers evacuated around two-thirds of the people on board that the bodies emerged floating in a pool of water and fuel at the bottom of the boat. I heard a woman screaming and a man pointing into the water, Satore said. The darkness and weather conditions made the rescue very dangerous, she added. The medical team attempted resuscitation but they had been underwater for an extended period of time.The mother remained in shock and sat next to the remains of her daughters aboard the rescue ship, Satore said. Relatives asked the crew for white sheets and wrapped the bodies with them. Among the other people rescued were pregnant women and many children, Satore said. Four of them required urgent medical evacuation and were transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel alongside their family members. Survivors came from Sudan but also Mali, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Eritrea she added.Separately, a different Mediterranean rescue group said it had saved more than 50 people from one migrant boat but failed to reach a second boat in distress after it had been intercepted by Libyan coast guards. The so-called Libyan Coast Guard and associated actors are accused by an independent United Nations Fact-Finding Mission of serious human rights violations and c rimes against humanity in Libya, the SOS Humanity NGO said in a statement. Forcing people who seek protection back to a country where they face torture and abuse is violating international law.___Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration RENATA BRITO Brito leads international migration coverage for The Associated Press. She is based out of Barcelona, Spain. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nigeria army patrols along the Kaduna Birnin Gwari area in Nigeria, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)2025-08-24T14:22:01Z ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) At least 76 hostages, including children, have been freed after Nigerias military targeted militants with precision airstrikes in the countrys northwest, local authorities said.The airstrikes were launched on targets around Pauwa Hill, located in the Kankara area of Katsina state, in the early hours of Saturday, Nasir Muazu, the states commissioner for internal security, said in a statement. The air assault was launched in a manhunt for a notorious kidnapper.The rescued hostages include some of those kidnapped during an attack on a mosque in Unguwan Mantau that led to the death of at least 50 people, the commissioner said.However, it was regrettably noted that one child tragically lost his life during the ordeal, Muazu said.In recent months, there has been an uptick in attacks on communities in the northwest and north-central regions of Africas most populous country, where farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. An attack last month in north-central Nigeria killed 150 people. The conflict has become deadlier in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herdsmen are taking up more sophisticated arms. The commissioner said the air assault is part of a broader strategy to dismantle criminal hideouts, weaken their networks and put an end to the cycle of killings, kidnappings, and extortion that have plagued innocent citizens. The West African country is also dealing with an insurgency in its northeast region that has resulted in the death of around 35,000 civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million others, according to the United Nations.Also on Saturday, separate airstrikes in the northwest of Nigeria killed 35 militants in a targeted attack.Despite the efforts by the government of President Bola Tinubu to curb jihadi attacks, the militancy has persisted.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-08-24T14:42:44Z ATLANTA (AP) President Donald Trump says he will be at the opening round of the high-charged Ryder Cup next month in New York, and he thinks U.S. captain Keegan Bradley should be playing.Trump posted on his social media site Saturday night he would be there on Friday, Sept. 26, for the start of three-day matches between the United States and Europe. He said he was invited by the PGA Tour, which does not run the event.A PGA of America spokesperson did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.Already the most raucous event in golf, this Ryder Cup has more anticipation than usual because of the venue the Black course at Bethpage State Park on New Yorks Long Island, a public course with a reputation for having the rowdiest fans.Given his passion for golf, it was expected Trump would make a presence at some point during the Ryder Cup. He met with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods earlier this year to try without success to solve the divide created by the breakaway, Saudi-funded LIV Golf. The PGA Tour announced this week it would return to Trump National Doral in Florida next year for the first time in nearly a decade. The added wrinkle to this Ryder Cup is Bradley, who is debating whether to become the first captain to play in the matches since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley, 39, is the youngest American captain since Palmer was 34. Whether he should play and maintain captain duties has been the subject of much debate, and Bradley has added to the intrigue by winning twice in the last year. He shot 63 on Saturday a few hours before Trumps post on Truth Social to get into fourth place with a chance to win the season-ending FedEx Cup.Keegan Bradley should DEFINITELY be on the American Ryder Cup Team As Captain!!! He is an AMAZING guy. It will be a great Ryder Cup, Trump wrote. Trump, who attended the Super Bowl in February and most recently the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in New Jersey, is friendly with several prominent golfers. Bryson DeChambeau, who qualified for the U.S. team, has played golf with Trump and was the only golfer Trump appointed to the Presidents Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.Bradleys decision on whether to play will come Wednesday when he announces his six captains picks.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf DOUG FERGUSON Doug Ferguson has been the APs golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award. twitter mailto

Spectators wait for gates to open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-08-24T15:07:30Z NEW YORK (AP) Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova made clear they didnt love the idea of starting a Grand Slam tournament on a Sunday instead of a Monday when the French Open was the first to do it nearly 20 years ago and they were on the schedule for the new, earlier Day 1.Now that the trend has reached the U.S. Open this year, not every current player is exactly a proponent of the switch, either even if the crowds were gathering on-site Sunday morning before the start of competition.I hate the Sunday start, said Jordan Thompson, an Australian whos been ranked as high as No. 26 in singles and No. 3 in doubles. Tournaments dont start on Sunday; they finish on Sunday. Pretty sure no player would like (it), particularly me.Alas, Thompson was scheduled to face Corentin Moutet on Sunday as things got going at Flushing Meadows, where there will now be 15 days of singles competition instead of 14, and theres little doubt that more money from all sorts of sources was part of the calculus behind the change. Im not really a fan of it. I dont know why they had to make it even longer. Well, I know why they did it they get to sell tickets for an extra day, said 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Jessica Pegula, this years No. 4 seed, who was due in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night to play against Mayar Sherif. Im not really for it. I dont think a lot of the players were for it, especially those who play the week before a Slam. It makes everything a little longer and a little harder. I dont think a lot of players want that. Pegula cited this move by the U.S. Tennis Association which followed the French Tennis Federations decision to begin on Sunday in 2006, and the Australian Opens move to do the same in 2024 as an example of her sports repeated failure to ask for, or follow up on, athletes input. Wimbledon is now the lone major that starts on Monday. A lot of times, they ask for player feedback and when we do (respond), they dont listen to anything we say, said Pegula, one of 20 players who signed a letter in March sent to the people who run the Grand Slam events to ask for better communication, more contributions to player welfare and a higher share of revenue. The way they go about announcing these things, sometimes players arent aware. This also comes at a time that players have complained about the recent shift to longer non-Slam tournaments that last more than a week.Those in charge of tennis point to higher prize money that comes from those extended tournaments and changes such as the extra day have coincided with increases in prize money, which is up to a record $85 million, including $5 million to each singles champion, at the U.S. Open.USTA spokesman Brendan McIntyre said adding a 15th day of singles not only can provide more fans the opportunity to see main draw singles competition in person, but also gives fans around the globe the opportunity to watch ... (on television) on a weekend day and night.But there are players, such as Thompson, two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe or Matteo Arnaldi of Italy, who said its a mistake to set things up so someone who makes a tournament debut on Sunday and wins wouldnt play again until Wednesday, a change to the every-other-day rhythm at the Slams. I mean, I get it, Tiafoe, an American who is seeded 17th and plays his first match Monday, said about the Sunday opening. Why not? If you can make money on a day and get the guys out there, and were already all here anyway (on what used to be) kind of a dead day ... its not a bad thing. But the two days off that early in a Slam? Its a little weird.___Howard Fendrich has been the APs tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis HOWARD FENDRICH Fendrich is an Associated Press national writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on tennis and other sports. twitter mailto

Throughout the history of this country, schools have reproduced the cultural norms, often with the attendant range of social inequities and dominant group privileges found within society at large.In colonial America, few regions mandated the building of schools or the provision of childhood instruction. Schools were constructed only because local citizens decided to pool their resources. Related Karoline Leavitt says the president plans to extort schools into ending gender-affirming care During this time, classroom lessons were tied directly to Protestant religions and the Protestant Bible, which the early settlers (a.k.a. land thieves) brought with them from England. School lessons primarily centered on preaching, catechizing, and prayers calling for freedom from influences of the Devil and from attacks by indigenous native populations.The most frequently used schoolbook wasThe New England Primerto teach both reading and the Protestant catechism. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Praife [Praise] to GOD for learning to Read.THE Praifes [Praises] of my TongueI offer to the Lord,That I was taught and learnt fo [so] youngTo read his holy Word.That I was brought to knowThe Danger I was in,By Nature and by Practice tooA wretched flave [slave] to Sin:That I was led to fee [see]I can do nothing well ;And whether fhall [shall] a Sinner fleeTo fave [save] himfelf [himself] from Hell.Dear Lord this Book of thine,Informs me where to goFor Grace to pardon all my Sin,And make me holy too.Here I can read and learnHow CHRIST the Son of GODHas undertook our great concern,Our Randfon [Ransom] coft [cost] his Blood.And now he reigns above,He fends [sends] his Spirit downTo fhew [show] the wonders of his Love,And make his Gofpel [Gospel] known.O may the Spirit teach,And make my heart receiveThofe [Those] Truths which all thy Servants preach,And all thy Saints believe !Then fhall [shall] I praife [praise] the LordIn a more cheerful Strain,That I was taught to read his Word,And have not learnt in vain.Several Catholic parishes established parochial or parish schools partly due to the Protestant teachings that pervaded the public-school curriculum. Following the Revolutionary War, leaders such as Thomas Jefferson called for state-supported and mandated public education, believing that the very survival of the new republic depended on an educated populace.Jefferson advocated for a three-year publicly supported education for all white children No such guarantees were to be extended to children of enslaved Africans with advanced education provided to a select few males.As Jeffersonwrote, the schools will reveal a few geniuses raked from the rubbish. The first statewide school system was established in Massachusetts in the 1820s largely because of the efforts of Horace Mann, the first secretary of education of any state. While traveling throughout Massachusetts, Mann found an unequal patchwork of local schools dependent on the tax base of each community. He proposed a new structure, which he called common schools. These schools were to serve all children of all income levels. He hoped they would help to end, or at least reduce, the financial inequities between citizens of the state.Mann and other political and community leaders also supported a homogeneity of opinion and belief. They argued that the main purpose of public education was for the development of good character based on religion, which was itself based on the central teachings of the Protestant Bible.The march toward Christian NationalismOver the course of U.S. history, and quite visibly within approximately the last decade, far-right white Christian cultural soldiers have raided and assaulted public education with their so-called anti-woke and anti-DEI crusade.Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of his self-proclaimed free state of Floridawhere woke goes to die, has banned books, taken over a formerly progressive and successful college and university system and turned it a deep blood red, eliminated advanced placement courses on African American history, and has criminalized gender-affirming care for trans people and the use of public facilities aligning with their gender identities.DeSantis and his cronies have also eliminated discussions of race, sexuality, and gender in schools, revoked reproductive freedoms from Florida residents, and cruelly targeted immigrants for deportation. Oklahoma, one of the deepest of the deep red states, has shot off the next salvo in this patriarchal heteronationalist Christian white supremacist crusade. The right-wing Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, has imposed what he described as the America First state teachers certification test to root out woke indoctrination.Though Walters has exempted pre-service and in-service continuing teachers from Oklahoma and incoming teachers from most other states from having to take the test, he requires teachers applying for positions in Oklahoma from two of the largest blue states, California and New York, to take and pass the test.Assisting in the development of the 50-question multiple-choice test (which paradoxically limits teachers curricular choices) was the conservative media company, PragerU, which is not a bona fide educational institution. Prager University Foundation (PragerU) was co-founded in 2009 by talk show hostDennis Pragerand screenwriterAllen Estrinto create conservative content, including videos used in some public schools, on political, economic, and social topics. The organizations content contains incorrect and misleading information to promote conservative ideals like anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs and climate change denial.Walters has targeted incoming teachers from California and New York because he views these states as failing to effectively teach the role that Christianity played in the nations development.Speaking to theNew York Post, Walters claimed: Youre not gonna lie to kids about the influences Christianity had on American history. We want you to teach history appropriately. In addition, Walters said that the purpose of the test is to verify that no one teaches radical woke gender theory that goes against biology and science.A few of the sample questions Walters supplied to theNew York Postinclude, Which chromosome pair indicates a woman? and Why is freedom of religion important to Americas identity?While so-called wokeness is out of bounds anywhere near the schools in Oklahoma, Walters promotes Bible-infused lesson plans and a video of himselfprayingfor Donald Trump and attacking liberals. Promoting conservative Christian evangelicalism in public educationServing as an associate professor at a large Research I public land grant university in the Midwest, I observed the overarching influence of Christian evangelicalism inhabiting the campus community. The largest of all the student organizations, for example, was the SALT Company, the university ministry of the towns Cornerstone Baptist Church.I taught multiculturalism courses in the School of Education there for nine years. Some of the students wrote about the warnings from their pastors and national Christian leaders regarding the dangers attending secular educational institutions posed to their faiths. One student referred to Brannon Howse, president and founder of the Worldview Weekend Foundation, which purports to fight influence from revisionist history, cultural Marxism, and humanist ideologies. Students, faculty, and staff, in addition to members from surrounding communities, have founded numerous campus and community-based Christian student organizations, some to promote their version of faith and to help insulate students from the so-called secular humanist indoctrination of public secular universities. One such organization on our campus and many others throughout the nation includes local chapters of the Christian Educators Association International (CEAI).Student leaders and community advisors set up display tables and distribute flyers announcing their mission to recruit school staff and administrators to serve as Missional Teachers. Missional Teachers are established by the work of Jesus Christ, a brochure states. They are sent out into the mission field of education, connected with the body of Christ to serve His purposes in all things. The organizations goal is to bring the word of Jesus and reintroduce prayer into schools, not just in parochial schools, but also within public education.Among the services they provide are subscriptions to their magazineTeachers of Vision, free Bibles for the classroom, and most tellingly, professional liability insurance: Being a Christian educator has difficult barriers. Fears of saying something illegal often rule in the mind of Christian teachers. Many dont know what their freedoms are.In this regard, the organization also provides Access to advice, consultation, support. Largely on the level of higher education, theInternational Alliance for Christian Education(IACE) is a global education network encompassing a variety of educational institutions and organizations in the evangelical tradition. The emergence and vital kingdom importance of Christian education as a global phenomenon calls for Christian educators in every global region and at all educational levels to affirm and unite around their mutual commitments to Christ-centeredness and confessional solidarity.The International Alliance for Christian Education, through what it refers to as itsNext-Generation LeadershipDevelopment, addresses the complex challenges of a secularized, pluralized, and privatized 21st century world. It publishes a journal:INTEGRATION: A Journal of Faith and Learning.Integration is a journal for educators who are committed to thinking Christianly about higher education, its website states. Our mission is to promote a robust vision for the integration of faith and learning across the academic disciplines from a perspective that is rooted in a biblical worldview and in conversation with the Christian intellectual tradition. On a final course paper at my Midwest institution, one of my students wrote that she enjoyed the course and she felt that both I and my graduate assistant (who had earlier come out to the class as lesbian) were very knowledgeable and good professors with great senses of humor.Nonetheless, she informed us that we will be going to Hell for being so-called practicing homosexuals. Two years later, another student wrote in her course paper that homosexuality and transgender identities are sins in the same category as stealing and murder. This student strongly implied that I would land in Hell if I continued to act on my same-sex attractions.She and several other students through the years went further by insisting that since I am Jewish and I do not accept Jesus as my personal savior, I will go to Hell regardless of my sexual identity and behavior. A few students accused me of killing the Lord. One student told me to my face that anyone who doubts this, only death will tell! She concluded by asserting that the real Christian privilege is to suffer and die in the name of Jesus Christ.Another student in his final paper for the course entirely dismissed the notion of Christian privilege by asserting: [A]s a Christian I am called to not be tolerant. I am not called to be violent, but am called to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28). When I look through all of the information I have been given in my life I come to the conclusion that America was founded as a Christian nation Separation of church and state was created to keep the state out of changing the church, not to keep the church out of the state.While the march toward Christian nationalism starts in the larger society, it is strengthened and enhanced in the schools.Oklahomas so-called anti-woke assessment test further pushes the brown-shirted Christian crusaders takeover of public education.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

When Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are looking at maps of Ukraine and deciding which parts Russia should have, its time to make waffles.

This cover image released by Knopf shows "Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice" by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. (Knopf via AP)2025-08-24T17:27:07Z NEW YORK (AP) A posthumous and unsparing memoir by one of Jeffrey Epsteins most prominent accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, will be published this fall, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf said Sunday. Nobodys Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice is scheduled for release Oct. 21, the publisher confirmed to The Associated Press. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at age 41, had been working on Nobodys Girl with author-journalist Amy Wallace and had completed the manuscript for the 400-page book, according to Knopf. The publishers statement includes an email from Giuffre to Wallace a few weeks before her death, saying that it was her heartfelt wish the memoir be released regardless of her circumstances.The content of this book is crucial, as it aims to shed light on the systemic failures that allow the trafficking of vulnerable individuals across borders, the email reads. It is imperative that the truth is understood and that the issues surrounding this topic are addressed, both for the sake of justice and awareness. Giuffre had been hospitalized following a serious accident March 24, Knopf said, and sent the email April 1. She died April 25. In the event of my passing, I would like to ensure that NOBODYS GIRL is still released. I believe it has the potential to impact many lives and foster necessary discussions about these grave injustices, she wrote to Wallace. In 2023, the New York Post had reported that Giuffre had reached a deal believed to be worth millions with an undisclosed publisher. Knopf spokesperson Todd Doughty said that she initially agreed to a seven-figure contract with Penguin Press, but moved with acquiring editor Emily Cunningham after Knopf hired Cunningham as executive editor last year.Giuffre had stated often that, in the early 2000s, when she was a teenager, she was caught up in Epsteins sex-trafficking ring and exploited by Britains Prince Andrew and other influential men. Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019 in what investigators described as a suicide. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in late 2021 on sex trafficking and other charges. Andrew had denied Giuffres allegations. In 2022, Giuffre and Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement after she had sued him for sexual assault.Giuffres name has continued to appear in headlines, even after her death. In July, President Donald Trump told reporters that Epstein had stolen Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida where she once worked. She had alleged being approached by Maxwell and hired as a masseuse for Epstein. Maxwell has denied Giuffres allegations.Doughty declined to provide details about the Epstein associates featured in Nobodys Girl, but confirmed that Giuffre made no allegations of abuse against Trump, who continues to face questions about Epstein, the disgraced financier and his former friend. Knopfs statement says the book contains intimate, disturbing, and heartbreaking new details about her time with Epstein, Maxwell and their many well-known friends, including Prince Andrew, about whom she speaks publicly for the first time since their out-of-court settlement in 2022. Knopf Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jordan Pavlin, in a statement, called Nobodys Girl a raw and shocking journey and the story of a fierce spirit struggling to break free. Giuffres time with Epstein is well documented, although her accounts have been challenged. She had acknowledged getting details wrong, errors she attributed to trying to recall events from years ago. In 2022, she dropped allegations against Alan Dershowitz, saying in a statement at the time that she may have made a mistake in identifying the famed attorney as an abuser.Nobodys Girl was both vigorously fact-checked and legally vetted, a Knopf statement reads.Giuffres co-author on her memoir, Wallace, is an award-winning magazine and newspaper reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. She has also collaborated on two previous books, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmulls Creativity, Inc. and former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelts Hot Seat. HILLEL ITALIE Italie has covered the publishing industry since 1998. He writes about notable books, industry trends and ongoing issues such as book bans, AI, consolidation and copyright. twitter instagram mailto

Maria Sharapova of Russia holds the trophy after winning the women's final match against Sara Errani of Italy at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris, June 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)2025-08-23T23:47:12Z NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) Serena Williams made a surprise and early appearance at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, emerging from behind the stage to introduce former rival, former fan and forever friend Maria Sharapova for her induction on Saturday night.Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion who will be eligible for her own enshrinement in 2027, drew gasps and shrieks from the crowd at the Newport shrine.There are only a few players in my career who challenged me to be the very best, every single time we stepped out on the court, Williams said. Maria Sharapova was one of them. Whenever I saw her name next to mine in the draw, I made sure I practiced harder.And the feeling was mutual.Its a gift to have someone who motivates you to reach those heights. And Ill forever be grateful for bringing out the best in me, Sharapova said in her acceptance speech. We both knew no other way than to fight our hearts out. ... We both hated to lose more than anything on this earth, and we both knew that the other was the biggest obstacle between ourselves and the trophy. The first Russian woman ever to reach No. 1 in the rankings and one of 10 women to complete the career Grand Slam, Sharapova was joined in the Class of 2025 by dominating doubles team Mike and Bob Bryan. The twin brothers finished their speech with one of their trademark chest bumps. Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova, Jim Courier, Stan Smith and Andy Roddick were among those in the crowd, wearing their blue Hall of Fame blazers. Sharapova and the Bryan brothers also received a cast tennis racket that is the halls newest offering to inductees. Sharapova was described in her introductory video as someone who combined grit with glamour, and some of the stylish outfits she competed in are already displayed in the hall including a tuxedo-inspired dress she wore at Wimbledon in 2008. Williams noted that her rival was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 straight years bolstered by endorsement income that surpassed her on-court winnings.She showed us all how to take excellence on the court and turn it into excellence in business, and fashion, branding and everything that she touched, Williams said. She changed how women not only approached tennis, but sports and opportunity. She showed us that you can be fierce on the court and strategic off the court, and unapologetically herself the entire time.Sharapova said her induction gave her a chance to look back something she tried not to do when she was playing. And she credited her success to embracing the struggles and leaning into the hard stuff.When voices inevitably tell you to ease up, to round your edges, dull your ambition, I hope you can find a way to ignore them, she said. Compete fiercely. Raise your standard. Set goals that intimidate you. And dont forget to celebrate your victories, no matter how small.In giving my life to tennis, tennis gave me a life, she said. And what a remarkable, remarkable life. And Im so deeply grateful for it. The Bryans shared a speech as if they were taking turns hitting on a court, alternating at the microphone as they thanked coaches, friends and Davis Cup teammates from a career in which they won 119 ATP titles, including 16 Grand Slams, and an Olympic gold medal. They spent a record 438 weeks atop the world rankings.Navratilova, who won the 2006 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan, credited the brothers for keeping the doubles disciplines from being forgotten.Not too many athletes transcend their sport, she said. For twins to do it is amazing.Bob Bryan said he was fortunate because for most of my career, I had the No. 1 player in the world across the hall.Doubles was our love from Day 1, Mike Bryan said. We loved everything about doubles. We loved the strategy, the teamwork, sharing the highs and lows. Like our personalities, our games complemented each other perfectly.___This story has been corrected to delete an erroneous reference to Sharapova winning Wimbledon in 2008. She won it in 2004.___AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis JIMMY GOLEN Golen covers Boston sports for The Associated Press, with a little bit of sports law and Olympic beach volleyball and curling mixed in. twitter mailto

President Trump said he was considering sending troops to cities like Chicago, New York and Baltimore. State and local leaders say they have crime under control.

The president and his allies should not be trusted to ensure the integrity of the vote.

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Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents patrol the National Mall, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-08-24T18:19:16Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Marylands governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead send in the troops.Last week, Trump said he was considering Chicago and New York for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nations capital, where thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the streets.Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trumps unprecedented flex of federal power aimed at combatting crime and homelessness in Washington. Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets. In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said Moore asked in a rather nasty and provocative tone, and then raised the specter of repeating the National Guard deployment he made in Los Angeles over the objections of Californias Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom. Wes Moores record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other Blue States are doing, Trump wrote, as he cited a pejorative nickname he uses frequently for the California governor. But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the troops, which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime. Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance about improving crime rates in Baltimore. The president is spending all of his time talking about me, Moore said on CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday. Im spending my time talking about the people I serve.After surging National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers into Washington this month, Trump has said Chicago and New York are most likely his next targets, eliciting strong pushback from Democratic leaders in both states. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has spent weeks preparing for an operation in Chicago that would include National Guard troops and potentially active duty forces. Asked about the Post report, the White House pointed to Trumps earlier comments discussing his desire to expand his use of military forces to target local crime.I think Chicago will be our next, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, adding, And then well help with New York.Trump has repeatedly described some of the nations largest cities run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations as dangerous and filthy. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is Black, as is Moore. The District of Columbia and New York also have Black mayors.The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking during a religious event Sunday at Howard University in Washington, said the Guards presence in the nations capital was not about crime: This is about profiling us.This is laced with bigotry and racism, he later elaborated to reporters. Not one white mayor has been designated. And I think this is a civil rights issue, a race issue, and an issue of D.C. statehood. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said there is no emergency warranting the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago.Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain hes causing families, Pritzker wrote on X. Well continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans.___Cooper reported from Phoenix. JONATHAN J. COOPER Cooper is a national politics reporter based in Phoenix. He previously covered news and politics in Arizona, California and Oregon. mailto LEAH ASKARINAM Askarinam covers U.S. elections for The Associated Press, working alongside the Decision Desk and explanatory team. mailto

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has been mocking Donald Trump on social media this past week, and many on the right are angry at him for disrespecting their partys leader.But one commentators particularly ironic take has turned many heads. The account Governor Newsom Press Office, which is associated with Newsoms office, has been posting messages in Trumps style, such as writing in all-caps with boastful messages that make little sense. Related Gavin Newsom misgenders gay MAGA activist, calling him Nancy Mace Newsom has also been using this account to point out contradictions from Trump supporters. For example, he posted an AI-generated image of Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock, and Hulk Hogan praying over him. When a conservative got angry and called Newsoms post very disrespectful and blasphemy! Newsom replied with a screenshot of a Trump post that showed a picture of Trump as the pope, which Trump actually posted to social mediain May.And to Fox commentator Dana Perino, communicating in this style is only presidential when Trump does it. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today You have to stop it with the Twitter thing, she ranted. If I were his wife, I would say you are making a fool of yourself, stop it Hes got a big job as governor of California, but if he wants an even bigger job, he has to be a little more serious.Perino who was White House press secretary under President George W. Bush. has since been roasted on social media over the fact that she doesnt seem to think the current president is acting foolish at all. While some brutally mocked the hosts apparent lack of self-awareness, others pointed out the more sinister implications of the double standard at play. I finally figured out what @DanaPerino is telling us here:It's okay to be a deranged narcissistic sociopath like @realDonaldTrump, and it's okay to tweet like a deranged narcissistic sociopath like @realDonaldTrump if, in fact, you are a deranged narcissistic sociopath like https://t.co/bC0bp6mSCu George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 20, 2025This double standard is not just about social media etiquette it's a reflection of a broader political narrative where Trump's actions are normalized, while others are held to an impossible standard. The irony is palpable Trump, who has made a career out of inflammatory tweets Siegien (@margaretsiegien) August 18, 2025Imagine if that was done by The President of The United States now THAT would be completely embarrassing, childish and unprofessional Oh Wait Thank you for your attention to this matter Suspiro (@Alejandra_Tica) August 18, 2025Fox News is truly struggling with the idea that Trump is being trolled gloriously by Newsome! They cheered for almost a decade about how Trump is not a typical politician and now his own tactics are being used against him and they cant take it!!!! Dj Omega Mvp (@DjOmegaMVP) August 18, 2025I want the brain of a hypocrite to be studied, like seriously what is going on in the brain chemistry https://t.co/8f5gROZBf2 Steirra (@ayeestee_) August 20, 2025So what you're telling us, @DanaPerino, is either you haven't read the infantile and unserious social media posts from the so-called president, making you ignorant, or you have read him referring to the Governor of California as "Newscum," making you a hypocrite. So which is it? https://t.co/cgeZD6LvSt Ken Norkin (@kennorkin) August 19, 2025Indeed, can you imagine someone elected to a big political job persistently posting self-aggrandizing tweets while taunting and insulting rivals in all caps? https://t.co/KgVuwTVtWv Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 18, 2025Are they deliberately hypocrites or are they that dense not to see it?Creating cognitive dissonance is all part of the psychological manipulation to control people. Gaslighting serves to make you doubt reality. Precariousness makes people feel powerless and easier to influence. https://t.co/DWFXkADboR AntiNarcopathyPharmD (@narceducator) August 19, 2025They know what Newsom is doing. They just cant admit it, bc that would imply that Trumps own Twitter demeanor is appalling. Which is exactly the point. https://t.co/zioQEmRjXk Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) August 19, 2025 Newsoms office, itself, also responded to the clip, writing, in all caps, ALMOST A WEEK IN AND THEY STILL DONT GET IT. Perino clapped back, claiming she does get it, but that it just isnt funny. ALMOST A WEEK IN AND THEY STILL DON'T GET IT https://t.co/xACH6zSfXX Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 19, 2025 Perino is not the only one on the right angry about the attention Newsom is drawing with his new posting style. Fox contributor Tomi Lahren got so mad at Newsom that she ranted about the gender neutral bathrooms of California where Newsom supposedly has to sit to pee, implying that Newsom is not a real man because he dislikes Trump.Many on the right are obsessed with gender roles and believe that accusing a man of not being masculine enough or a woman of not being feminine enough is a deep insult.In another post, she again called Newsom a woman as an insult.Gavin desperately wants to be president, but he has a better shot at being a real housewife of Beverly Hills, she wrote, commenting on Newsom calling Trump weak.In another post last week, Lahren joked about Newsom having a baby with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and that baby being former congressman Beto ORourke, who she called Beta ORourke. Buttigieg is gay, and many on the right still mock him for being a parent,accusing him of chestfeeding his children as an insult.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

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Ben Shelton, of the United States, reacts after defeating Ignacio Buse, of Peru, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)2025-08-24T19:52:44Z NEW YORK (AP) Theres a larger contingent of Americans in the U.S. Open mens bracket than at any time in the past quarter-century. Might be the best crop in nearly that long, too, and two of the leaders Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton got the tournament started on Sunday with dominant performances.Shelton, the No. 6 seed and twice a Grand Slam semifinalist, needed just 2 hours, 7 minutes to get past qualifier Ignacio Buse of Peru 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the first contest in Arthur Ashe Stadium on the events debut of a Sunday start instead of Monday.Fritz, the No. 4 seed and the runner-up to Jannik Sinner at Flushing Meadows a year ago, needed about 10 fewer minutes to move on with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over yet another U.S. man, Emilio Nava, a wild-card entry, at Louis Armstrong Stadium.In all, there are 23 men from the host country in the field, the most since the same number were in the draw in 1997 at what Fritz called the most important tournament for us Americans all year. There are 25 U.S. women, which is less of a milestone for a group that regularly produces Grand Slam champions and finalists. I do think the competition among all of us, Fritz said about the men, pushes all of us and gives us motivation to be better. Theyre all chasing the same prize: the first Grand Slam singles trophy for an American man since Andy Roddick triumphed in New York in 2003. Thats quite a ways away at this point, though, especially considering that Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz have combined to win each of the past seven major titles. As soon as you start looking ahead of yourself, you stumble over your own feet, said Shelton, who lost to Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals in January, to Alcaraz in the French Opens fourth round in June and to Sinner in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July.This is the one, for sure, Shelton said about the U.S. Open, where he reached the final four in 2023. This is the pinnacle of tennis for me, what I dreamed about when I was a kid. He produced some highlight-worthy moments Sunday while accumulating more than twice as many winners as Buse, including one swerving, around-the-post forehand that looked very much like something his idol another lefty, by the name of Rafael Nadal used to do.Shelton won the point on 26 of 33 trips to the net and saved all five of Buses five break chances.Fritz, similarly, went 13-for-14 at the net and swept aside all four break points he faced, buoyed, he said, by the confidence that I know Ive played well here before.What else happened at the US Open on Sunday?Emma Raducanu won a match in New York for the first time since she won the 2021 U.S. Open title, eliminating Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2. Other players in action included No. 1 seed and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, while at night, Novak Djokovic was scheduled to face 19-year-old Californian Learner Tien, before 2024 runner-up Jessica Pegula was up against Mayar Sherif in the last match in Ashe.Who is on Mondays schedule at the US Open?Venus Williams is slated to make her return to Grand Slam tennis after a two-year absence, meeting 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova on Monday night. The 45-year-old Williams is a seven-time major singles champion. Others on the Day 2 program include Alcaraz against big-serving American Reilly Opelka, Australian Open champion Madison Keys, and two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis HOWARD FENDRICH Fendrich is an Associated Press national writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on tennis and other sports. twitter mailto

Manchester United is still searching for their first win of the season in the Premier League after squandering the lead in a 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday.

The Brewers paid tribute to longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker, who died in January at age 90, in star-studded pregame ceremony.

Ben Shelton, the No. 6 seed, enjoyed a routine win over Ignacio Buse in the first round of the US Open on Sunday. Joining him in advancing to the second round was fellow American and No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated Emilio Nava in straight sets.

Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk, 27, a key cog in the franchise's two Stanley Cup runs the past two years, underwent surgery this month and is expected to miss the start of the regular season, an NHL source told ESPN, confirming a report.

A single afternoon in court illustrated the new ways in which laws are being enforced after President Trumps takeover of the citys police.

Washingtons increasing focus on Beijing is straining the decades-old alliance between South Korea and the United States.

A firefighter battles the Pickett Fire burning in the Aetna Springs area of Napa County, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)2025-08-24T18:22:21Z Wildfires in California wine country and Central Oregon grew overnight, prompting hundreds of evacuations as firefighters sought to contain the blazes Sunday amid dry, hot weather.The Pickett Fire in Napa County had grown to more than 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) and was 11% contained as of early Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection. About 190 people were ordered to leave their homes, while another 360 were under evacuation warnings as the fire threatened about 500 structures near Aetna Springs and Pope Valley, said Jason Clay, spokesman for Calfire Sonoma Lake-Napa Unit.More than 1,230 firefighters backed by 10 helicopters were battling the fire, which began Thursday after a week of extremely hot weather. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.Residents of the Western United States have been sweltering in a heat wave that hospitalized some people, with temperatures forecast to hit dangerous levels throughout the weekend in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Clay said the weather has moderated since the fire broke out, with Sundays high expected to be 94 degrees (34 Celsius). But humidity levels were expected to drop amid increasing winds later Sunday afternoon. Thats been a driving factor in the afternoons since weve seen the fire activity pick up for the last three days, Clay said, adding that support from all up and down California has been critical to our efforts. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. The fire began in the same area as the much larger Glass Fire in 2020, which crossed into Sonoma County and eventually burned about 105 square miles (272 square kilometers) and more than 1,500 structures. That fire was driven by wind, while the current fire is fueled mainly by dry vegetation on steep slopes some of it dead and downed trees left over from the Glass Fire and some of it grass and brush that grew back and then dried out again, said Clay. In Oregon, the Flat Fire in Deschutes and Jefferson counties had grown to almost 34 square miles (88 square kilometers), with about 4,000 homes under various levels of evacuation notice, including 1,000 with orders to leave immediately, according to the state Fire Marshals Office.Firefighters were able to cut containment lines and continued to suppress fires in some residential areas. However, they faced significant challenges Sunday with difficult terrain, low humidity and triple-digit temperatures in some areas, officials said.Some homes have burned, and officials said they were working to confirm the status of structures.The area is in a high desert climate, where dried grasses and juniper trees are burning and fire is racing through canyon areas where its challenging to create containment lines, said Jason Carr, Deschutes County sheriffs spokesman. The fire began Thursday night and grew quickly amid hot, gusty conditions. Fire officials were keeping an eye on isolated thunderstorms in Southern Oregon that could drift north on Sunday, state Fire Marshals spokesman Chris Schimmer said in a video posted to Facebook. If we get thunderstorms that roll through, it can ... cause the fire to jump (containment) lines, said Carr, adding the downdrafts can push fire in multiple directions.Although its difficult to directly tie a single fire or weather event directly to climate change, scientists say human-caused warming from burning fossil fuels like coal and gas is causing more intense heat waves and droughts, which in turn set the stage for more destructive wildfires.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A firefighter battles the Pickett Fire burning in the Aetna Springs area of Napa County, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)2025-08-24T20:31:04Z SEATTLE (AP) Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 48th home run on Sunday against the Athletics, tying the single-season record for catchers set by Salvador Perez with the Kansas City Royals in 2021.The switch-hitting Raleigh, batting from the right side, homered off As left-hander Jacob Lopez in the first inning to make it 2-0.It was the 39th longball Raleigh has delivered as a catcher this year. He has nine while serving as a designated hitter.Perez hit 15 home runs as a DH in 2021, and 33 at catcher.Only four other players in big league history have hit at least 40 homers in a season while primarily playing catcher: Johnny Bench (twice), Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley and Mike Piazza (twice). Bench, Campanella and Piazza are Hall of Famers.Raleigh launched 27 homers in 2022, then 30 in 2023 and 34 last season. A first-time All-Star at age 28, Raleigh burst onto the national scene when he won the All-Star Home Run Derby in July. He became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the title. He is the second Mariners player to take the crown, after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr.Raleighs homer gave him 104 RBIs on the season. He is the first catcher with consecutive 100-RBI seasons since Piazza (1996-2000), and the first American League backstop to accomplish the feat since Thurman Munson (1975-77).___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

San Franciscos Transgender District is mounting a fundraising drive to offset losses from government funding cuts to services vital to its founding mission.Its a change in strategy forced on LGBTQ+ community groups nationwide as the Trump administrations assault on queer identities includes the freezing of congressionally approved federal grants, a move widely deemed as illegal. Related Trans landmark added to National Register of Historic Places despite Trumps anti-trans attacks Those losses are trickling down to state and local governments, as well. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Luries latest budget slashes nonprofit grants and other contracts by more than $170 million in an effort to shore up city finances in the face of further funding threats by the Trump administration.The Transgender District, comprising six square blocks in San Franciscos downtown Tenderloin neighborhood, was founded in 2017 during Trumps first term in office. Its the only legally recognized cultural district of its kind in the world. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today To address the cuts, the Transgender District is launching theRiot Fund,a three-year emergency campaign to raise at least $100,000. The drives goal is to restore services now on hold and move away from a history of government reliance.The fund got a high-profile debut yesterday at the Districts annualRiot Party, commemorating the historic Comptons Cafeteria Riots in 1966, when transgender patrons fought back against serial abuse by San Francisco cops. The party was co-produced by the District and the all-Black drag show Reparations, with headliners including Reparations founder and Drag Queen of the Year Nicki Jizz, plus Jax, Militia Scunt, Afrika America, Redbone, and Bettyie Jayne. RuPauls Drag Race alum Naomi Smalls was also among the featured talent.As the worlds first and only legally recognized transgender cultural district, we have spent the past eight years building a global model for how cities can invest in and uplift trans communities with intention and impact, the group says in their fundraising appeal. Yet today, as funding sources disappear and our financial challenges grow more severe, we have been forced to scale back the very services that so many trans and nonbinary people rely on.Programs under threat include the Districts signature Entrepreneurship Accelerator, the Social Justice Fellowship, and the Community Advisory Council. Wellness and safety programs, as well as name- and gender marker- change clinics, are also struggling amid the cuts. This administration doesnt want to fund anything having to do with LGBT communities, especially the T, Carlo Gomez Arteaga, one of the Districts co-executive directors, told the San Francisco Chronicle of Trumps broad assault on marginalized groups. They dont want to have any funding go towards diversity and equity initiatives or anything that favors a particular minority, even if lifting up the most marginalized lifts everyone up.District leaders described the Riot Fund as an attempt to protect what has already been built.Co-executive director Breonna McCree told Axios funding was more vital than ever as a great migration of trans and nonbinary people fleeing red states arrives in the city. The Districts rent stabilization program, established to ease housing costs as new arrivals settle in to San Francisco, is one of the programs now on hold.Our community is very nuanced, and we need different pathways for entry to support, co-executive director Carlo Gmez Arteaga said. The more pathways to entry to support, the greater likelihood that person will get the support systems that they need.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Chinese Taipei won its first LLWS since 1996, although its 18 titles are the most of any country beside the United States.

Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 48th and 49th home runs on Sunday against the Athletics, breaking the single-season record for catchers.

After setbacks in its last three flight attempts, Elon Musks company has a lot riding on the latest trip of its Starship prototype.

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