Content warning: This article contains mentions of self-harm and suicide.Joanne Chew found deepfakes of herself online the same way many women have found themselves face-swapped into porn: She was searching her own name after a big accomplishment.Sometimes I just Google my name to see what comes up, Chew told me in a phone call in August 2024. I want to see, like, is it my artwork, or my acting, or my main website that comes up first? And then I saw this, and I thought, Okay, this is weird. Someone was posting deepfakes of her with her full name in the video titles, alongside racist slurs, to popular tube sites.Chew acted in the May 2024 film Dead Wrong and suspects her harasser started ramping up his targeting her in AI face-swapped porn shortly before the time it came out.At the time, I thought, It's gonna blow over. Because this is bound to happen the more you move forward in your career as any sort of public person, she said. But then I noticed he was putting up more and more... And then I started wondering, is it somebody that I know? Although the names changed over the year, all of the deepfake content at that point was coming from the same username, Ron. 404 Media isnt publishing his screen names to avoid amplifying his accounts.Many targets of deepfake harassment attempt to tackle the barrage of harassment themselves by finding and reporting content to sites that are difficult to reach and often rarely respond. This is a time-consuming, traumatizing process. Chew did this for a while. Initially I thought it was just going to be a few videos, and I had other girlfriends who modeled and acted, with much bigger followings than me, who said unfortunately these things happen as our careers progress, she said.She pushed what she saw out of her mind for a few months until she checked again around August. She was horrified, she said, to see how much more had been uploaded in just a few months. At the height, he had an album of over 2,000 pieces of content, [was posting] on multiple sites, multiple YouTube channels, and then he started making multiple accounts on Facebook and Instagram to direct message me.At that point, she enlisted the help of Charles DeBarber, an online investigator who previously helped Girls Do Porn victims reclaim their images online.We're seeing a rapid upswing of AI generated art used in harassment. The ease [with which] even a lay person can use an open source tool to create deep fakes is going to only make them increase, DeBarber told me. The technology is inevitable, but the way it is used requires careful regulation and consequences for its abuse. We're still struggling to catch up to technology.Chews harasser only ramped up his efforts as time went on. Ron contacted Chew directly to insult her, obsess over her, or beg for her forgiveness, all while posting more degrading content all over the internet. Nearly a year later, Chew is still dealing with the fallout of becoming a victim of non-consensual, algorithmically-generated intimate imagery.After discovering this content, Im not going to lie there are times it made me not want to be around any more either, she said. I literally felt buried.When a big-name celebrity like Scarlett Johansson or Taylor Swift is targeted with deepfake harassment, its often from a legion of fans, people who join group efforts in Telegram channels or make Civitai models of a specific person. Its been this way from the beginning of deepfakes, with people trading tips and tricks for the best prompts, platforms, and generative AI tools to create whatever explicit material theyre trying to achieve featuring a specific person. But when its someone who doesnt have the same professional or financial power as these mega-celebrities, the harassment can take on a different form: one guy, in Chews case, producing what feels like an endless stream of images and videos of his obsession in videos stolen from pornographers and warped into something that threatens to take over a persons life. Follower of the goddess J., Rons Instagram account bio said. The account was dedicated to posting photos of Chew, with an AI-generated image of her in a kimono as the profile picture. He was also, it seemed, the one spreading this content all over every popular deepfake repository and tube site.In August, Chew posted a video explaining the situation to her followers on Instagram. By then, Ron had made hundreds of pieces of deepfaked content of her, and a YouTube channel dedicated to posting it. She filed a complaint to YouTube, and the platform responded, telling her this account was not in violation of its privacy guidelines, which clearly forbids AI-generated or other synthetic content that looks or sounds like you.Screenshot courtesy Joanne ChewHow is this not a violation? Someone has taken my name, my face, my professional information, against my consent, and is creating horrible, disgusting, degrading content [and] posting it all over the internet. Make this make sense, she said in the video.Screenshot via InstagramI felt like he was watching my social media, so I was kind of just calling him out on stuff to see if he would drop more hints or say more things, Chew told me.Later that month, Ron removed all of the content from the YouTube channel.But in September, Ron started commenting on Chews Instagram posts. And for the first time, she engaged with her harasser directly, replying to his comments.Then, he sent her a barrage of messages on Instagram, pleas for attention and forgiveness mixed in with threats. Please give my life some meaning, he wrote. I dont want to just be the deepfake porn monster I started as. What did you say I was? A deranged monster. People can change. Right? Let me change and be a good person. To me you have the most beautiful face of any asian girl I have ever seen. Please let me be your devoted worshipper. Ok I will put up nice pics of you on my instagram. Until you say otherwise. You mocked my art before. But these will be real art. Inspired by you, Jo.He continued sending her long, emotionally-charged messages, about how he feels worthless and is a monster, how he hated himself and wanted to die. I just want to say that Im with you on A.I. We got to stop it, he said. It hurts women. But it also addicting and does terrible things to the men who use it. Sure it feels good and its exciting. But after the poison is released, there is guilt and shame. I hated myself after every release. Its terrible to be the monster you hate.Illustration: Lindsay BallantHe begged her to see him as her biggest fan, and to consider letting him start an OnlyFans on her behalf. He said he made money off of making deepfakes of her. Men love you. Use them for yourself, he wrote. I will stop if you ask me to. If you want me to never look at any of your social media, all you have to do is ask. I am a man of my word. If you ask me to, I will never look you up ever again. I will stop being a fan.He made a point of calling me Jo because I said only people who grew up with me are allowed to call me that and for a while he was purposely referring to me as Jo in some of the titles of his content and while messaging me, she said.Chew didnt engage with any of these direct messages. But on the same day he was sending her these screeds, he uploaded a new video to a tube site: Hate-Fucking Joanne Chew Some Chinese Whore.On Facebook, he sent her more incredibly lengthy messages about his obsession with her.I don't want you dead. I am making you immortal, one message said. He continued:You hate me now, but maybe someday you will see things my way. I am not the monster you think I am. I'm just honest with my nature. I'm also sorry about your dad. I lost mine when I was a kid. Yes, it's true. I do love your image. And rest in mind, I'm not anyone from your life. [...] So life isn't that nice, so I've made up your personality and surrounded it with AI flesh. I have a mask of you that I make my tiny Asian girlfriend wear. Lastly, yes, I do have eight inches. It's not the biggest, but it is fine for little Asian girls. I'm good with my life and my love of the girl I have created in my mind with your face and my girlfriend's body. No one loves you as much as I do. You should be flattered that anyone loves you. And yes, my art is of the highest integrity, because it is actually truly honest. It isn't hiding or lying like all the beta males in your life. I am a real man that desires your body and isn't afraid to say so, not your real one, though, that one is bold and faded, but your AI body is forever young, Jo.She replied to some of his Facebook messages, trying to goad him into giving more information she could potentially bring to the police. But he never took the bait, instead continuing to send long rants about his sex life, her appearance, and his racist fetishes. (Chew still hasnt gone directly to the police; she told me shes had negative experiences going to her local police for assault, something many women report as a systemic issue across police forces.)By late September, things became quiet. Hed deleted or deactivated his Instagram and Facebook accounts. But another account, under a new username, popped up in October and restarted the harassment, posting more to sites where people seek out deepfake porn.In some videos and images, the bodies he swapped her face onto seemed very young, and were posted alongside videos of children.In November, Chew found someone posting the same images and videos to another site with her Chinese name. Its very sensitive for me as Ive grown sick and tired of the fetishization of Asian women (that Ive been exposed to my entire life) and Ive only been open with my Chinese name in the last decade or so. she told me in an email. It looks like its all preexisting content. Drives me nuts someone or multiple people are out there freely distributing said content facing no repercussions (and even profiting from it).Around the same time, the videos returned to YouTube, posted by two new accounts, where the uploader titled videos with Chews full name.Screenshot via YoutubeBy December, other users were reposting the same content on porn tube sitesagain with her full name in the titles. Around that time, a new username popped up in her Instagram comments, claiming that Ron died by suicide and that she was to blame.Initially wasnt planning on replying, but wanted to see if he would drop any more information (whether or not its true is debatable), Chew told me at the time. Then he started making excuses for Ron (whether he is him or one of his followers remains to be seen) saying he was mentally challenged and then tried to blame me for his suicide, which also may or may not have happened.Screenshot via YoutubeOver the course of 10 months, Chew kept finding more accounts posting her image, her full name, and graphic videos and photos alongside degrading titles and descriptions.As of writing, the harassment has slowed down. In the last year, Chew has sent me dozens of emails with links to hundreds and thousands of pieces of content and screenshots showing more deepfakes, comments, and videos on multiple platforms, many more than can be shown in one article. Much of it is gone after DeBarbers reporting and takedown notices and searching for her name on Google no longer returns results from porn sites, but some of it is still online.But shes still terrified of the long-term effects this harassment could continue to have. Although shes a working actor, she still relies on working in the corporate world to make ends meet between the more sporadic gigs in the arts, and those jobs often require background checks. And as an actor, its made networking and social events harder, as trusting people outside of her closest confidants has become difficult. It's made me incredibly wary of men, which I know isn't fair, but Ron could literally be anyone, she said. And there are a lot of men out there who don't see the issue, they wonder why we aren't flattered for the attention.Deepfakes started as a novel AI-powered explicit imagery abuse technique seven years ago. The technology went from crude frankenporn among the programming-savvy and morally flippant to producing fakes so realistic it was considered a national security threat within months of its inception. But its most popular use has always been as a mass-harassment tool. The platforms where people spread deepfakes have only expanded in that time, while the methods for making deepfakes have gotten simpler; so simple that schoolchildren do it. The adults in the room, as well as policymakers, continue to fail victims of deepfake harassment. Conversations about deepfakes still leave sex workers, who are doubly exploited in this content, behind. AI continues to explode exponentially, while women targeted by this kind of harassment say again and again and again that they believe sexualized online harassment is part of the deal of being a successful woman on the internet: untenable and yet part of some unwritten contract.The Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 created a federal civil cause of action for victims of non-consensual content, DeBarber said. This law allows victims to file a lawsuit against the person who disclosed their intimate images without consent. However, this law doesn't cover deepfakes including those created via AI. The focus tends to be on celebrities, influencers, and political figures. This itself is changing rapidly. We feel lawmakers and voters aren't seeing the larger picture this is an everyone issue.Even when proposed legislation takes a new stab at criminalizing deepfakes, like the TAKE IT DOWN Act is currently attempting, it risks being used as a weapon by those who would love to further curb free speech online, rather than being nuanced, effective, and inclusive or learning from legislative mistakes of the past.While legislators and platforms continue to fumble around for solutions and police push victims to the side, everyone suffers. There is still no technological solution to deepfakes, and a perfect legal one seems far away, too. But Chews experience confronting her harasser gives us a new look into the mind of the people who dole out the abuse and hide behind anonymity, and the exhausting process of reclaiming one's own name.

A doctor looks at PET brain scans at Banner Alzheimers Institute in Phoenix on Aug. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)2025-04-02T15:26:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains.A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%.The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age and what we can do about it.Its a very robust finding, said lead researcher Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And women seem to benefit more, important as theyre at higher risk of dementia.The study tracked people in Wales who were around 80 when receiving the worlds first-generation shingles vaccine over a decade ago. Now, Americans 50 and older are urged to get a newer vaccine thats proven more effective against shingles than its predecessor. The new findings add another reason for people to consider rolling up their sleeves, said Dr. Maria Nagel of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, who studies viruses that infiltrate the nervous system. The virus is a risk for dementia and now we have an intervention that can decrease the risk, Nagel said.With Alzheimers and other forms of dementia on the rise in an aging population, the implications of the study are profound, Dr. Anupam Jena, a Harvard physician and health economist, wrote in a Nature commentary. What is shingles?Anyone whos had ever had chickenpox nearly everybody born before 1980 harbors that virus for the rest of their life. It hides in nerves and can break out when the immune system weakens from illness or age, causing painful, blister-like sores typically on one side of the body that last for weeks whats called shingles.About 1 in 3 Americans will get shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most recover, it sometimes causes severe complications. If it infects an eye it can cause vision loss. Up to 20% of shingles patients suffer excruciating nerve pain months or even years after the rash itself is gone. Whats the link between shingles and dementia?Its not clear exactly how Alzheimers and other types of dementia form. But certain viruses that sneak inside the nervous system especially members of the herpes family including the chickenpox virus -- have long been suspected of adding to genetic and other factors that make people more vulnerable.Last summer, doctors at Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital reported that an episode of shingles could raise someones risk of dementia by about 20%.Partly, its because that virus can cause inflammation, bad for organs including the brain. It also can directly infect blood vessels in the brain, causing clots and impeding blood flow, said Colorados Nagel, a risk both for strokes and for dementia.More intriguing, her lab also discovered shingles can spur formation of a sticky protein called amyloid thats one of the hallmarks of Alzheimers. Do shingles vaccines protect against dementia?Adults who get recommended vaccines tend to have other brain-healthy habits including exercising and a good diet, which made it hard to prove an extra benefit.Stanfords Geldsetzer took advantage of a natural experiment in Wales, which opened shingles vaccinations with an age limit: anyone 80 or older on Sept. 1, 2013, was ineligible but those still 79 could squeeze in. Comparing seniors who just met or just missed that cutoff would mimic a research study that randomly assigned otherwise similar people to be vaccinated or not.Geldsetzers team analyzed more than 280,000 medical records and found evidence that vaccination did offer some protection against dementia. At the time, people received a first-generation vaccine called Zostavax.An important next step is testing whether todays vaccine, Shingrix, also offers dementia protection, Nagel said. Another research group recently reported some evidence that it does. Vaccine manufacturer GSK last month announced a collaboration with UK health officials to track seniors cognitive health as they get vaccinated.Geldsetzer also hopes to further study that earlier shot to see if the type of vaccine might make a difference. What are the shingles vaccine recommendations?Shingrix is a onetime vaccination, given in two doses a few months apart. The CDC recommends it starting at age 50 for most people but also for younger adults with certain immune-weakening conditions including those who years ago got that first-generation shingles vaccine. Fewer than 40% of eligible Americans have gotten vaccinated.Side effects including injection-site pain and flu-like fever and achiness are common. The CDC cautions if youre currently fighting another virus such as the flu or COVID-19, to wait on a shingles shot until youre well.While theres no proven prevention for dementia, doctors also recommend other commonsense steps to lower the risk. Stay socially and cognitively active. And control high blood pressure and, for people with diabetes, high blood sugar, both of which are linked to cognitive decline. -The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE- In this May 22, 2011 file photo, emergency personnel walk through a severely damaged neighborhood after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-04-02T14:56:00Z ATLANTA (AP) U.S. government forecasters are using a relatively rare high-risk designation the highest category they use to warn that a major tornado outbreak appears likely Wednesday in an area thats home to about 2.5 million people.That area most at risk of catastrophic weather on Wednesday includes parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.The Norman, Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center says that multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes, appear likely. Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate their intensity.Historically, the high-risk designation has been used sparingly, but it did appear just a couple of weeks ago to warn of a deadly tornado outbreak in mid-March. Magenta marks areas at highest riskThe Storm Prediction Center uses five categories to warn of expected severe weather, ranging from marginal to high. Its forecast maps are color-coded, with the lowest risk areas in green and the highest shown in magenta.The high risk designation is used when severe weather is expected to include numerous intense and long-tracked tornadoes or thunderstorms producing hurricane-force wind gusts and inflicting widespread damage, according to the agency.On many days when the high risk designation was used in recent years, the forecasts became reality. 2024 Kansas and Oklahoma tornado outbreakOn May, 6, 2024, the Storm Prediction Center assigned the high-risk category to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, warning of multiple significant tornadoes along potentially long paths.The forecast was prescient, as dozens of tornadoes gouged the landscape. One of the strongest twisters tore through the small town of Barnsdall, Oklahoma and then struck the larger community of Bartlesville. Aerial video showed many homes reduced to piles of rubble. About 25 people were rescued from homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, the towns mayor said at the time. 2023 Mississippi River Valley tornadoesOn March 31, 2023, the Storm Prediction Center outlined two areas along the Mississippi River Valley at high risk for tornadoes.Hours after that forecast was issued, multiple twisters collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois and shredded homes and shopping centers in Arkansas.A roof collapse at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, killed one person and injured more than two dozen others. About 260 people were in the venue at the time, the local fire chief said.In all, 146 tornadoes from the 2023 outbreak were confirmed, making it the third-largest tornado outbreak on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said. More than two dozen people were killed and dozens of others injured. JEFF MARTIN Martin covers breaking news in the southeastern U.S. for The Associated Press. He is based in Atlanta. mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08828-zIllness signals from the gut reactivate and strengthen flavour representations in the amygdala to support learning from delayed postingestive feedback.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08814-5A comparison of alpha diversity (number of plant species) and dark diversity (species that are currently absent from a site despite being ecologically suitable) demonstrates the negative effects of regional-scale anthropogenic activity on plant diversity.

On Tuesday, some parents lost the ability to track the locations of their children using a T-Mobile tracking device and app and instead were shown the exact locations of random other children around the country, 404 Media has learned.T-Mobile sells a small GPS tracker for parents called SyncUP, which they can use to track the locations of young children who dont have cell phones yet. Jenna, a parent who uses SyncUP to keep track of her three-year-old and six-year-old children, logged in Tuesday and instead of seeing if her kids had left school yet, was shown the exact, real-time locations of eight random children around the country, but not the locations of her own kids. 404 Media agreed to use a pseudonym for Jenna to protect the privacy of her kids.Im not comfortable giving my six-year-old a phone, but he takes a school bus and I just want to be able to see where he is in real time, Jenna said. I had put a 500 meter boundary around his school, so I get an alert when hes leaving.Jenna sent 404 Media a series of screenshots that show her logged into the app, as well as the locations of children located in other states. In the screenshots, the address-level location of the children are available, as is their name and the last time the location was updated. In many cases, the location updated time said just now or one minute ago. It is clear the tracked people are children because their profile pictures show images of young kids wearing backpacks, and many of the locations shown are schools around the country.As a mother, this is super alarming to me, and I raised flags right away [with T-Mobile] and nobody took me seriously there, Jenna said. I was probably shown more than eight children. I would log in and I couldnt see my children but I could see a kid in California. I refreshed and then I had no trackers, and then I refreshed again and would see a different child.Jenna called T-Mobile support April 1 and shared part of the audio with 404 Media. In the audio, a T-Mobile employee said they filed a ticket but had no information about what happened. We are now aware of the problem and were trying to find a way to fix the problem, they say. Ive asked what we can do to see your kids SyncUp trackers because you cant see your own kids trackers but somebody elses. Well just need to wait for a little bit.Jenna also emailed T-Mobile and asked what happened but has not heard back. A request for comment was acknowledged by T-Mobile but it did not immediately provide one.Jenna is not alone. On Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook, parents say that they were also shown the locations of random people instead of their children or partners. T-Mobile also offers a device called SyncUp DRIVE, which is a dedicated car tracking device. In a Reddit thread called SyncUp sharing locations of other users, several posters said that they were being shown other peoples locations on their SyncUp DRIVE. Never have I ever seen this, one post says. I went to check on a vehicle location and someone else's car is on my account. I closed it and checked again. A new person's car shows up. Nowhere does it show the devices on our account and it just pulling other cars and placing them there. The more I play with this, the more it seems to be a serious issue with TMO. There is no account hack or anything else. Every time I open the app, I get a different person's vehicle.Another poster said that the app keeps randomly adding and removing cars that arent my own. A third said same thing happening to me. Random cars, random locations.One Redditor told 404 Media I could see other people's vehicles listed and get the info on each. The vehicles listed changed every time I checked the app. I reached out to tforce on Twitter and was told they would escalate the issue. Shortly after the app started correctly only showing my vehicles.Yall need to figure out your systems because I should not be able to see other peoples children on my syncup locations and not be able to see MY OWN CHILD, one Twitter user said. Im getting locations for kids idk from different states but cant get my sons location. Another person on Twitter wrote I have 3 kids with watches. No visibility to them today though T-Life app. However, another person could see one of my children. They called the principal at her school to let her know. I spoke with this person and found out she had access to 20 people.What happened with SyncUp is reminiscent of a bug that happened with Ubiquiti home surveillance cameras in December 2023, when some users logged into their apps and were being shown live footage from other peoples cameras.An inherent risk with any type of app that allows users to track or spy on their kids or spouse is that once this data exists it can be leaked or hacked by bad actors. For years, weve reported on this exact thing happening, including a case in 2018 where an app that sells spyware to parents left the pictures of hundreds of monitored children online.T-Mobile announced last month that some of its older SyncUp DRIVE devices would lose many features. Jenna told 404 Media that this morning she was again correctly showed the locations of her children.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08813-6A pyramidal cell type and the 5-HT2A receptor in the medial frontal cortex have essential roles in psilocybins long-term drug action.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08804-7In thromboinflammation, early tissue plasminogen activator administration directly improves endothelial barrier function, prophylactic defibrotide and enoxaparin suppress microvascular thromboinflammation through endothelium-mediated mechanisms and combining enoxaparin with crizanlizumab reduces microvascular occlusion and protects endothelial function in sickle cell disease.

Elon Musk speaks at a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)2025-04-02T17:19:59Z WASHINGTON (AP) DOGEs days appear to be numbered.Elon Musk recently suggested that he will be done with his work in the near future. President Donald Trump told reporters this week that at some point, hes going to be going back to running his companies. As far as the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump said it will end.All of that talk was before Musk faced a setback Tuesday in Wisconsin, where voters rejected his choice for a state Supreme Court candidate despite more than $21 million in personal donations and his campaign appearance over the weekend. There are more problems for the billionaire entrepreneur at Tesla, his electric automaker, which saw a 13% drop in sales in the first three months of the year.The White House has not disclosed any clear timeline for closing down DOGE, and the government cost-cutting organization was never supposed to become a permanent fixture in Washington. But it could be reaching a conclusion faster than anticipated. DOGE was originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026. Now there are signs that it already is winding down. DOGE employees have been shifted to various federal agencies, which are supposed to take the lead on cutting costs. Government-wide layoffs are underway to accomplish some of the goals laid out by Musk and Trump. We think probably over the next two or three months, well be pretty much satisfied with the people that are working hard and want to be members of the administration, Trump said last week. The potential end of DOGE does not mean Trump will stop shaking up Washington. But it appears the administrations efforts will be entering a new phase that is less focused on Musk, whose chain saw-wielding work as a presidential adviser made him a political lightning rod.DOGE was initially envisioned as an independent advisory panel, with Musk sharing leadership with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur. Ramaswamy dropped out and is running for Ohio governor, and DOGE became part of the government. It was stocked with Musks allies, who were dispatched throughout the bureaucracy to cancel contracts, access sensitive data and push for cuts. Musk presumably has a ticking clock on his tenure. He was hired as a special government employee, which means he can only work 130 days in a 365-day time period.I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame, Musk told Bret Baier of Fox News on March 27. So far DOGE is well short of that target, according to its own calculations, which have been criticized as inflated and inaccurate. Musk did not commit to leaving the administration by any particular date, and it is unclear how the administration is tracking Musks time. On May 30, it will be 130 days since Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20.Trump told reporters on Monday in the Oval Office that Id keep him as long as I could keep him and hes a very talented guy.The Republican president was known for explosive breakups with top advisers during his first term, but anyone hoping for such a split with Musk has been disappointed. I think hes amazing, but I also think hes got a big company to run, Trump said. And so, at some point, hes going to be going back.Asked if DOGE would continue without Musk, Trump demurred. He said Cabinet officials have worked closely with Musk and may keep some of the DOGE people at their agencies.But at a certain point I think it will end, Trump said.Musks poll numbers lag behind Trumps, which Democrats believe they were able to use to their advantage in Wisconsin. Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel, who Musk supported, and ensured the state Supreme Courts liberal majority. In the closing days of that campaign, Musk described the race as important for the future of civilization. He struck a different tone afterward.I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain, Musk wrote on X at 3:13 a.m. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01020-3The genomes of two women who lived 7,000 years ago in the Sahara when it was a green savannah reveal a remarkably isolated population.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08719-3A modelling study shows that the trace-element composition of Earths Hadean protocrust is similar to that of the current average continental crust, severely compromising geochemical arguments for when and how plate tectonics began.

Sgt. Tyler Midyett of the Emmet County Sheriff's Department works along with Sgt. Mitch Wallin, not pictured, to clear fallen trees from along Eppler Road in Petoskey, Mich., Tuesday, April 1, 2025, as cleanup from the weekend's ice storm continues. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)2025-04-02T05:02:23Z Potentially deadly flash flooding, high-magnitude tornadoes and baseball-sized hail could hit parts of the Midwest and South on Wednesday as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged, forecasters warned. There were already tornado warnings Wednesday morning near the Missouri cities of Joplin and Columbia merely the opening acts of what forecasters expect will be a more intense period of violent weather later Wednesday, as daytime heating combines with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nations midsection from the Gulf.The potent storm system will bring significant, life-threatening flash flooding starting Wednesday and continuing each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime, the weather service said in one of its flood warnings. Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.The flood fears come as residents in parts of Michigan continued to dig out from a weekend ice storm. Floods could inundate towns, sweep cars awayThunderstorms with multiple rounds of heavy rain were forecast in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley beginning midweek and lasting through Saturday. Forecasters warned the storms could track over the same areas repeatedly and produce heavy rains and dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned.Were potentially looking at about two months of rain in just a handful of days, Thomas Jones, a weather service meteorologist in Little Rock, Arkansas, said Monday.Parts of Arkansas, west Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Indiana were at an especially high risk for flooding, the weather service said. Tornado seen in Kansas and more could be comingAt least one tornado was spotted Tuesday night in Kansas. Take cover now! the weather services office in Wichita warned residents on the social platform X. No injuries were reported.Another tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service office in Tulsa. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds. Tornado warnings were also issued in Missouri on Wednesday. Authorities in eastern Missouri were trying to determine whether it was a tornado that damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs Wednesday morning in and around Nevada, Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that the damage shut down a portion of U.S. Route 54 in the city of about 8,300 about 95 miles (153 kilometers) south of Kansas City, Missouri.Along with tornadoes, high winds with gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) were also expected across large parts of the Midwest. The ominous forecast comes nearly two years to the day that an EF-3 tornado struck Little Rock, Arkansas. No one was killed, but that twister caused major destruction to neighborhoods and businesses that are still being rebuilt today.More than 90 million people are at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation that stretches from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center. Strong and long-lasting tornadoes appear likely in highest-risk areaAbout 2.5 million people are in a rarely-called high-risk zone. That area most at risk of catastrophic weather on Wednesday includes parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.A tornado outbreak was expected Wednesday, and multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes, appear likely, the Storm Prediction Center said. Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate their intensity.Hours before the storms were expected to arrive in the Memphis area and in eastern Arkansas, the National Weather Service reported peak wind gusts of 58 mph (93 kph) in Memphis and 51 mph (82 kph) in Jonesboro, Arkansas.At a slightly lower risk for severe weather on Wednesday is an area that includes Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Louisville, Kentucky, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Nashville, Tennessee, were also at risk. Wintry mix blasts Upper MidwestIn Michigan, crews worked to restore power after a weekend ice storm toppled trees and power poles. More than 135,000 customers in northern Michigan and 11,000 in northern Wisconsin were still without electricity Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.Schools in several counties in Michigans the mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula have been closed as deputies used chain saws to clear roads and drivers lined up at gas stations. And more wintry weather was on the way: A mix of sleet and freezing rain could keep roads treacherous into Wednesday across parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, the weather service said.Heavy, wet snow also was forecast into Wednesday across the eastern Dakotas and parts of Minnesota.___Associated Press writers Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Isabella OMalley in Philadelphia; Ed White in Detroit; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed. JEFF MARTIN Martin covers breaking news in the southeastern U.S. for The Associated Press. He is based in Atlanta. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08760-2Measuring acoustic oscillations in 27 stars within the M67 cluster presents evidence of a rapidly evolving convective zone as stars evolve from subgiants to red giants.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08796-4Neonatal antibiotic use is shown to reduce immune response to infant vaccines, accompanied by reduced abundance of Bifidobacteria in the gut microbiota, with experiments in mice indicating that probiotic therapy could be beneficial.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08761-1Non-classical correlations between two photons in the near-field regime give rise to entanglement in their total angular momentum, leading to a completely different structure of quantum correlations of photon pairs.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08744-2A general reinforcement-learning algorithm, called Dreamer, outperforms specialized expert algorithms across diverse tasks by learning a model of the environment and improving its behaviour by imagining future scenarios.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08800-xUsing a natural experiment that avoids common bias concerns, this study finds that the live-attenuated shingles vaccine reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis within a follow-up period of 7 years by approximately one-fifth.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08784-8A chiral copper catalyst, generated in situ from commercially available components, can be used to achieve photoinduced deracemization of alkyl halides through carbonhalogen bond cleavage.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08798-2Spontaneous parthenogenesis in sunflower has been used to develop a scalable doubled haploid breeding system.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08747-zThe acetylene hydrogenation activity and stability of a palladium single-atom catalyst are both controlled by the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the oxide support.

A TikTok logo is shown on a phone in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)2025-04-02T17:48:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) Amazon has put in a bid to purchase TikTok, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour pitch as a U.S. ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday.The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Amazon offer was made in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.The New York Times first reported on the bid.President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day gave the platform a reprieve, barreling past a law that had been upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court, which said the ban was necessary for national security.Under the law, TikToks Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance is required to sell the platform to an approved buyer or take it offline in the United States. Trump has suggested he could further extend the pause on the ban, but he has also said he expects a deal to be forged by Saturday. Amazon declined to comment. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The existence of an Amazon bid surfaced as Trump was scheduled on Wednesday to meet with senior officials to discuss the coming deadline for a TikTok sale. Although its unclear if ByteDance plans to sell TikTok, several possible bidders have come forward in the past few months. Among the possible investors are the software company Oracle and the investment firm Blackstone. Oracle announced in 2020 that it had a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global after securing its business as the apps cloud technology provider. In January, the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI presented ByteDance with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operation. Last month, the company outlined its approach to rebuilding TikTok in a blog post, arguing that it is singularly positioned to rebuild the TikTok algorithm without creating a monopoly. Any acquisition by a consortium of investors could in effect keep ByteDance in control of the algorithm, while any acquisition by a competitor would likely create a monopoly in the short form video and information space, Perplexity said in its post.The company said it would remake the TikTok algorithm and ensure that infrastructure would be developed and maintained in American data centers with American oversight, ensuring alignment with domestic privacy standards and regulations.Other potential bidders include a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium say theyve offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, says he too has organized a consortium and is offering ByteDance more than $30 billion for the platform. Wyoming small business owner Reid Rasner has also announced that he offered ByteDance roughly $47.5 billion.Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that ByteDance could share user data such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers with Chinas authoritarian government. TikTok said it has never done that and would not do so if asked. The U.S. government has not provided evidence of that happening. Trump has millions of followers on TikTok and has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. During his first term, he took a more skeptical view of TikTok and issued executive orders banning dealings with ByteDance as well as the owners of the Chinese messaging app WeChat.Parvini reported from Los Angeles. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto SARAH PARVINI Parvini covers artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. She is based in Los Angeles. mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00904-8The discovery that sunflower seeds can develop without fertilization reveals a pathway to accelerate improvement of this crop and potentially others.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08793-7Pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into the Green Sahara, where an isolated, distinct North African ancestry persisted.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-04-02T22:55:27Z MEXICO CITY (AP) The sweeping new tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump were met initially with measured reactions from key trading partners, highlighting the lack of appetite for a full-fledged trade war.The fact that the tariffs fell most heavily on parts of the world sleeping through the night appeared to at least temporarily delay some of the potential outrage.Trump presented the import taxes, which he calls reciprocal tariffs and range from 10% to 49%, in the simplest terms: the U.S. would do to its trading partners what he said they had been doing to the U.S. for decades.Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, he said. But it is not going to happen anymore.The president promised that Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country. He framed it not just as an economic issue, but a question of national security that threatens our very way of life. Nobody wants a trade warShortly after Trumps announcement, the British government said the United States remains the U.K.s closest ally. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the U.K. hoped to strike a trade deal to mitigate the impact of the 10% tariffs on British goods announced by Trump.Nobody wants a trade war and our intention remains to secure a deal, said Reynolds. But nothing is off the table and the government will do everything necessary to defend the U.K.s national interest. British officials have said they will not immediately retaliate, an approach backed by the Confederation of British Industry, a major business group.Italys conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni described the new 20% tariffs against the European Union as wrong, saying they benefit neither side.We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players, Meloni said in a Facebook post. In any case, as always, we will act in the interest of Italy and its economy, also by discussing with other European partners, she added. No basis in logicSome countries took issue with the White Houses calculations.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the U.S. tariffs imposed on his country were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%, said Albanese. The U.S. and Australia have a free trade agreement and the U.S. has a $2-to-$1 trade surplus with Australia. The administrations tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the basis of our two nations partnership. This is not the act of a friend.Trump said the United States bought $3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept U.S. beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw U.S. beef was for biosecurity reasons.New Zealand also took issue with Trumps tariff logic.Trade minister Todd McClay rejected the figure on the administrations chart about the tariffs New Zealand imposes and said he had asked his countrys officials to clarify it. We dont have a 20% tariff rate, he said, adding that New Zealand was a very low tariff regime and the correct figure was below the 10% baseline rate applied by the U.S. to all countries.We wont be looking to retaliate. That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers and it would be inflationary, he said.Spared for the moment from the latest round of tariffs were Mexico and Canada, so far as goods that already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States. Yet, the previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports were scheduled to take effect at midnight.Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday she would wait to take action on Thursday when it was clear how Trumps announcement would affect Mexico.Its not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, Im going to impose tariffs on you, she said in a news briefing Wednesday morning. Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.Canada had imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, imposed taxes on 26 billion euros worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol. Little to gainAs Trump read down the list of countries that would be targeted Wednesday, he repeatedly said he didnt blame them for the tariffs and non-tariff barriers they imposed to protect their own nations businesses. But were doing the same thing right now, he said.In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender, Trump said.Speaking from a business forum in India, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that such measures, in addition to causing uncertainty, challenge the mutually agreed rules and the principles that govern international trade. Ultimately, Trump announced Chile would face the baseline reciprocal tariff of 10%. The U.S. is Chiles second most important trading partner after China.Analysts say theres little to be gained from an all-out trade war, neither in the United States or in other countries.Once again, Trump has put Europe at a crossroads, said Matteo Villa, senior analyst at Italys Institute for International Political Studies.If Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing, he added.Villa also noted that retaliation would certainly be a further blow to the United States, but it would hurt Europe even more, as the EU bloc depends more on exports to the U.S. than vice versa.On the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response, Villa said. Probably the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.__AP journalists around the world contributed to this story.

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-04-02T22:42:00Z WASHINGTON (AP) After weeks of anticipation and speculation, President Donald Trump followed through on his reciprocal tariff threats by declaring on Wednesday a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States.In announcing the reciprocal tariffs, Trump was fulfilling a key campaign promise by raising U.S. taxes on foreign goods to narrow the gap with the tariffs the White House says other countries unfairly impose on U.S. products.Reciprocal means they do it to us and we do it to them, the president said from the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday.Trumps higher rates would hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy. But economists dont share Trumps enthusiasm for tariffs since theyre a tax on importers that usually get passed on to consumers. Its possible, however, that the reciprocal tariffs could bring other countries to the table and get them to lower their own import taxes.The Associated Press asked for your questions about reciprocal tariffs. Here are a few of them, along with our answers: Do U.S.-collected tariffs go into the General Revenue Fund? Can Trump withdraw money from that fund without oversight?Tariffs are taxes on imports, collected when foreign goods cross the U.S. border by the Customs and Border Protection agency. The money about $80 billion last year goes to the U.S. Treasury to help pay the federal governments expenses. Congress has authority to say how the money will be spent. Trump largely supported by Republican lawmakers who control the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives wants to use increased tariff revenue to finance tax cuts that analysts say would disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Specifically, they want to extend tax cuts passed in Trumps first term and largely set to expire at the end of 2025. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, has found that extending Trumps tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 to 2034. Trump wants higher tariffs to help offset the lower tax collections. Another think tank, the Tax Policy Center, has said that extending the 2017 tax cuts would deliver continued tax relief to Americans at all income levels, but higher-income households would receive a larger benefit. How soon will prices rise as a result of the tariff policy? It depends on how businesses both in the United States and overseas respond, but consumers could see overall prices rising within a month or two of tariffs being imposed. For some products, such as produce from Mexico, prices could rise much more quickly after the tariffs take effect. Some U.S. retailers and other importers may eat part of the cost of the tariff, and overseas exporters may reduce their prices to offset the extra duties. But for many businesses, the tariffs Trump announced Wednesday such as 20% on imports from Europe will be too large to swallow on their own.Companies may also use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices. When Trump slapped duties on washing machines in 2018, studies later showed that retailers raised prices on both washers and dryers, even though there were no new duties on dryers. A key question in the coming months is whether something similar will happen again. Economists worry that consumers, having just lived through the biggest inflationary spike in four decades, are more accustomed to rising prices than they were before the pandemic.Yet there are also signs that Americans, put off by the rise in the cost of living, are less willing to accept price increases and will simply cut back on their purchases. That could discourage businesses from raising prices by much. What is the limit of the executive branchs power to implement tariffs? Does Congress not play any role?The U.S. Constitution grants the power to set tariffs to Congress. But over the years, Congress has delegated those powers to the president through several different laws. Those laws specify the circumstances under which the White House can impose tariffs, which are typically limited to cases where imports threaten national security or are severely harming a specific industry. In the past, presidents generally imposed tariffs only after carrying out public hearings to determine if certain imports met those criteria. Trump followed those steps when imposing tariffs in his first term.In his second term, however, Trump has sought to use emergency powers set out in a 1977 law to impose tariffs in a more ad hoc fashion. Trump has said, for example, that fentanyl flowing in from Canada and Mexico constitute a national emergency and has used that pretext to impose 25% duties on goods from both countries.Congress can seek to cancel an emergency that a president declares, and Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, has proposed to do just that regarding Canada. That legislation could pass the Senate but would likely die in the House. Other bills in Congress that would also limit the presidents authority to set tariffs face tough odds for passage as well. What tariffs are other countries charging on US goods? U.S. tariffs are generally lower than those charged by other countries. The average U.S. tariff, weighted to reflect goods that are actually traded, is just 2.2% for the United States, versus the European Unions 2.7%, Chinas 3% and Indias 12%, according to the World Trade Organization. Other countries also tend to do more than the United States to protect their farmers with high tariffs. The U.S. trade-weighted tariff on farm goods, for example, is 4%, compared to the EUs 8.4%, Japans 12.6%, Chinas 13.1% and Indias 65%. (The WTO numbers dont count Trumps recent flurry of import taxes or tariffs between countries that have entered into their own free trade agreements, such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that allows many goods to cross North American borders duty free.) Previous U.S. administrations agreed to the tariffs that Trump now calls unjust. They were the result of a long negotiation between 1986 to 1994 the so-called Uruguay Round that ended in a trade pact signed by 123 countries and has formed the basis of the global trading system for nearly four decades. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08753-1A head-to-head double-ring complex of the human multifunctional DNA repair protein RAD52 mediates protection of stalled replication forks during replication stress, protecting them from reversal by SMARCAL1 motor.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4A millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic system with an onboard power supply and a wireless, optical control mechanism is developed for general applications in electrotherapy and specific uses in temporary cardiac pacing.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08759-9A RISC-V microprocessor capable of executing standard 32-bit instructions has been designed with 5,900 MoS2 transistors and a complete standard cell library based on 2D semiconductor technology.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00560-yResearchers describe how they are using skills honed in the laboratory in their creative pursuits.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01028-9Smaller than a grain of rice, this injectable device could allow for minimally invasive heart-surgery plus, research suggesting that a shingles vaccination reduces the risk of dementia.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00902-wMirror-image isomer blends have been converted into a single isomer by a light-activated copper catalyst a challenging reaction that prevents the waste of materials.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00755-3Sequencing of 7,000-year-old human genomes from when the Sahara Desert was green suggest that pastoralism spread through cultural exchange, not large-scale migration.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00979-3Psilocybin, a classic psychedelic, has therapeutic potential for psychiatric disorders. A specific brain circuit and receptor have now been found to be required for psilocybins long-term effects on neural plasticity and depression-related behaviour.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00976-6Innovative experimental and computational techniques have been developed to study the interface of oil droplets suspended in water, a model system of hydrophobic interaction. These techniques reveal greater water structural disorder than in bulk water and an intense electric field at the wateroil interface.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01019-wThe Dreamer system reached the milestone by imagining the future impact of possible decisions.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00861-2Large-scale analyses of electronic health data suggest that the herpes zoster vaccine could protect against dementia but its not yet clear how.

Wall Street signs are displayed outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-04-03T00:44:24Z BANGKOK (AP) Asian markets and U.S. futures tumbled Thursday following U.S. President Donald Trumps announcement of big increases in tariffs on imports of goods from around the world. Tokyos Nikkei 225 index initially dipped more than 4%, but recovered slightly. It was down 2.9% at 34,675.97.Trump said he was imposing a 24% reciprocal tariff on Japan, one of the United States closest allies. South Korea, also an ally, was hit with a 25% tariff. Its benchmark Kospi slumped 1.5% to 2,468.97.Hong Kongs Hang Seng lost 1.4% to 22,887.03, while the Shanghai Composite index edged less than 0.1% lower, to 3,348.67. The announcement came as a major shock, Yeap Junrong of IG said in a commentary. China, in particular, was hit with an additional 34% tariff, bringing its total tariff burden to 64% when accounting for previous measures. However, losses might be blunted by expectations of further economic stimulus from Beijing to offset the impact of the higher tariffs. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3% to 7,830.30. The future for the S&P 500 dropped 3% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2%, auguring potential losses when U.S. markets reopen on Thursday. On Wednesday, U.S. stocks whipped through another dizzying day before Trumps unveiling of his Liberation Day tariffs. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 5,670.97 after careening between an earlier loss of 1.1% and a later gain of 1.1%. Its had a pattern this week of opening with sharp drops only to finish the day higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% to 42,225.32, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% to 17,601.05.Elon Musks Tesla helped knock the market around after initially falling more than 6% following a report that it delivered fewer electric vehicles in the first three months of the year than it did in last years first quarter. It closed 5.3% higher. Tesla is one of Wall Streets most influential stocks because of its immense size, and its faced backlash due to anger about CEO Elon Musks leading the U.S. governments efforts to cut spending. On Wall Street, Newsmax fell 77.5% in its third day of trading to give back some of the meteoric gains from its debut at the start of the week. It surged 735% Monday and then another 179% on Tuesday.Several airlines, meanwhile, flew higher to recover some of the sharp losses taken recently on worries that tariff-weary customers will fly less. United Airlines climbed 4.6%.Financial markets around the world have broadly been shaky lately because of uncertainty about Trumps trade war. He has said he wants tariffs to make the global system more fair and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States from other countries. But tariffs also threaten to grind down growth for the U.S. and other economies, while worsening inflation when it may be stuck above the Federal Reserves 2% target. After the U.S. market closed, Trump declared a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States. The president held up a chart while speaking at the White House, showing the United States would charge a 34% tax on imports from China, a 20% tax on imports from the European Union, and 32% on Taiwan. Trump earlier announced 25% tariffs on auto imports; levies against China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump has also put tariffs against countries that import oil from Venezuela and plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.Treasury yields swung in the bond market, echoing the indecision seen in the stock market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell as low as 4.11% in the morning from 4.17% late Tuesday and from roughly 4.80% early this year. But it later rose to 4.18%. Higher yields can indicate higher expectations for the economy or for inflation. In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude plunged $2.08 to $69.63 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up $2.06 to $72.89 per barrel.The dollar fell to 148.07 Japanese yen from 149.28 yen. The euro rose to $1.0897 from $1.0855. ___AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the APs business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Rescuers scan the rubbles at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)2025-04-03T05:13:31Z BANGKOK (AP) The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit Myanmar nearly a week ago rose Thursday to 3,085 as more bodies were found by search and rescue teams, the military-led government said.In a short statement, the military said another 4,715 people have been injured and 341 are missing. The epicenter of Fridays 7.7 magnitude earthquake was near Mandalay, Myanmars second-largest city. It brought down thousands of buildings, buckled roads and destroyed bridges in multiple regions. Local media reports of casualties have been much higher than the official figures and with telecommunications widely out and many places difficult to reach, its thought the numbers could rise sharply as more details come in. Myanmars military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into a civil war. The quake worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people had been displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million were in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations. Amid growing fears that ongoing fighting could hamper humanitarian aid efforts, the military declared a temporary ceasefire Wednesday, through April 22. The announcement followed unilateral temporary ceasefires announced by armed resistance groups opposed to military rule. In the militarys announcement, it said it would still take necessary measures against those groups if they use the ceasefire to regroup, train or launch attacks. In Bangkok, where the quake brought down a skyscraper under construction, the search for survivors and bodies continued as Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said a possible sound of life was detected amid the rubble. Twenty-two people were killed, and 35 injured, in the city, mostly by the collapse of the unfinished building. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as they block a highway in Jerusalem, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)2025-04-03T05:10:45Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office is once again ensnared in scandal after police arrested two of his close associates this week on suspicion of accepting money from Qatar to promote a positive image of the Gulf Arab state in Israel.The affair has gripped Israelis because Qatar, a country that many view as a patron of Hamas, and which has no formal diplomatic ties to Israel, appears to have penetrated the highest corridors of power.Qatar, which is a key mediator for Hamas in its ceasefire negotiations with Israel, denies backing the militant group. Netanyahu has given a statement to police on the matter but is not a suspect in the case, which he says is baseless and meant to topple his rule. The investigation is just the latest scandal to roil Netanyahu, who is the subject of a long-running corruption trial and regularly rails against a deep state that is out to get him. Critics say Netanyahu, the countrys longest-serving prime minister, has worked in recent years to undermine Israels state institutions, including its judiciary. Most recently, they point to his attempt to dismiss the head of Israels domestic security agency, which is also investigating his offices alleged links to Qatar. Netanyahu advisers allegedly promoted Qatari interestsDubbed Qatargate by Israeli media, the investigation centers on accusations that two close advisers to Netanyahu longtime media consultant Jonatan Urich, and former spokesman Eli Feldstein were hired to run a public-relations campaign to improve Qatars image among Israelis while it was negotiating on behalf of Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza. Payments were allegedly funneled through an American lobbyist.According to a court document, the American lobbyist and Urich struck a business connection to positively promote Qatar and spread negative messages about Egypt, another important mediator in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations. Feldstein was allegedly paid to pass on those messages to journalists. He and Urich could face charges of contact with a foreign agent, money laundering, bribery, fraud and breach of trust, according to Israeli media. Other than financial gain, any other possible motives are unclear. One Israeli journalist questioned in the case is Zvika Klein, the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, an English-language daily. According to a report this week in the Post, Klein visited Qatar at the invitation of its government last year and subsequently wrote a series of articles about his impressions, one of which laid out Qatars case against Israeli claims that it backs the militant group. The newspaper said Klein, who could not be reached for comment, is currently barred from speaking to journalists.Lawyers for Urich and Feldstein did not respond to requests for comment.Netanyahu has slammed the probe as a political witch hunt and accused police of holding his advisers as hostages wording that angered many in Israel because Hamas is still holding dozens captive inside Gaza after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. A judge on Tuesday extended the detentions of Urich and Feldstein, who has been indicted in a separate case involving the leak of classified information to a German tabloid. If the new allegations are substantiated, its an abuse of the office, said Tomer Naor, of the Movement of Quality Government in Israel. Whats particularly worrying, he said, is how easily outside actors appear to have gained access to the prime ministers inner circle and that the advisers allegedly promoted Qatari talking points to journalists while giving the impression that the messaging was coming from the prime ministers office. Qatar is a key mediator on Gaza with ties to HamasThe nearly 18-monthlong war in Gaza rages on after last months collapse of a 42-day ceasefire that Qatar played a key role in helping secure.Among Israelis, the gas-rich emirate is best known for sending money to Gaza beginning in 2018 an effort meant to help poor families. But analysts and former officials say some of the money dispatched with Netanyahus blessing made its way to Hamas military wing and helped it prepare for the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israelis are also suspicious of Qatars intentions because it is the homebase for Hamas political leaders, and its broadcaster Al Jazeera is seen by Israel as a mouthpiece for Hamas, allegations the network denies. Qatar says it provided humanitarian aid to Gaza in full coordination with the Israeli government. When reached by the AP, a Qatari government official did not directly respond to the alleged links to Netanyahus advisers. He said mediation efforts on Gaza would continue. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.Once the target of a regional blockade over its alleged ties to Islamist extremist groups and Iran, Qatar has long sought to be seen as an influential regional player and as a trusted conflict mediator. But throughout the war in Gaza, many in Israel, including Netanyahu, have expressed anger that Qatar wasnt doing enough to pressure Hamas to meet Israels terms for a ceasefire. Qatars aim in the alleged public-relations campaign in Israel may have been to quell those accusations and make sure they didnt influence the U.S., with whom it has close security ties, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.He said any effort to besmirch Egypt, a longtime mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, may have been a way to improve Qatars own regional standing.Qatar brings up a lot of emotions in Israel because it is viewed as having played a key role in bolstering Hamas ahead of its Oct. 7 attack, Guzansky said. Before the war, Netanyahu had approved the transfer of funds from Qatar to Gaza as part of a strategy to contain Hamas, he explained.Qatar is contemptible. But we should check ourselves first, he said. We not only allowed, we encouraged Qatar to invest in Gaza.The affair is the latest scandal to dog NetanyahuIts not clear what, if anything, Netanyahu knew about his advisers alleged wrongdoing. Previous aides who got into trouble with the law have turned state witness against Netanyahu in his corruption trial. Netanyahus testimony in that trial was halted after Urich and Feldsteins arrest this week; he was summoned to give police a statement about the case.Netanyahu is under immense public pressure to accept responsibility for his role in failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack, including allowing the transfer of Qatari cash to Gaza.Mass protests erupted in recent weeks over Netanyahus decision to end the Gaza ceasefire that had facilitated the release of dozens of hostages, and over his moves to fire the head of the countrys domestic security agency and its attorney general.The attempt to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar came as the agency was running its own probe into the Qatar links. That prompted accusations that Netanyahu was trying to snuff out the investigation. Netanyahu has suggested, with little evidence, that the probe was a result of collusion between Bar and the attorney general as a way to thwart the domestic security chiefs dismissal. A court froze Bars dismissal pending further hearings. That hasnt stopped Netanyahu from trying to appoint his replacement.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war TIA GOLDENBERG Goldenberg is an Associated Press reporter and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories. She previously reported on East and West Africa from Nairobi. twitter mailto

Ryland Mosley, 18, who was on the 2nd story of his home when the storm passed, stands outside of it observing the damage, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)2025-04-03T05:48:22Z Violent storms cut through a wide swath of the South and Midwest, spawning tornadoes and killing at least one person, knocking down power lines and trees and ripping roofs off homes.Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Wednesday in parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Mississippi as storms hit those and other states in the evening. Forecasters attributed the violent weather to daytime heating combining with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nations midsection from the Gulf.At least one person was killed in southeast Missouri, KFVS-TV reported, while part of a warehouse collapsed in a suburb of Indianapolis, temporarily trapping at least one person inside. In northeast Arkansas a rare tornado emergency was issued as debris flew thousands of feet in the air. The coming days were also forecast to bring the risk of potentially deadly flash flooding to the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The potent storm system will bring significant, life-threatening flash flooding each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said. With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime, the weather service said. Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.More than 90 million people were at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center. Tornadoes touch down, and more could be comingA tornado emergency the weather services highest alert was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the service.Its definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas, Amin said.A tornado was also reported on the ground near Harrisburg, Arkansas, in the evening.The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported that there was damage in 22 counties due to tornadoes, wind gusts, hail and flash flooding. At least four people were injured, but there were no reports of fatalities as of Wednesday evening.In Kentucky, a tornado touched down Wednesday night around Jeffersontown, a suburb of Louisville, passing the Interstate 64 and Interstate 265 interchange, according to the weather service.Four people were injured in Kentucky when a church was hit by debris from a suspected tornado, according to Ballard County Emergency Management. One person was in critical condition, while the others have non-life-threatening injuries.In Brownsburg, Indiana, where part of a warehouse collapsed, the police department told people to not travel through the city. Five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, Indiana, state police reported. In Pilot Grove, Missouri, several structures were damaged, cars flipped over and power poles were snapped, the state emergency management agency said. Minor injuries were reported, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Authorities in eastern Missouri were trying to determine whether it was a tornado that damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs in the morning in and around the city of Nevada. Another tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso on Wednesday, according to the weather service. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.Power was knocked out to nearly 90,000 customers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. As storms moved through Indiana on Wednesday night, more than 182,000 customers lost power. Strong and long-lasting tornadoes are possible in highest-risk areaAbout 2.5 million people were in a rarely called high-risk zone, covering parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.The Storm Prediction Center said multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes were likely. Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest in intensity.At a slightly lower risk for severe weather was an area that included Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Louisville, Kentucky. Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville, Tennessee, were also at risk. Floods could inundate towns, sweep cars awayA line of thunderstorms dropped heavy rain through parts of Indiana on Wednesday night. At least one street was flooded in Indianapolis, with water nearly reaching the windows of several cars, according to the citys metropolitan police department. No one was in the vehicles.Additional rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could track over the same areas repeatedly, producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away. Middle Tennessee was looking at severe storms followed by four days of heavy rains as the front stalls out and sticks around through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Mark Rose. I dont recall ever seeing one like this, and Ive been here 30 years, Rose said. Its not moving.Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding. Power outages in Upper MidwestIn Michigan, crews worked to restore power after a weekend ice storm. More than 122,000 customers were still without electricity on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.The Mackinac Bridge connecting Michigans Lower and Upper Peninsulas was shut down because large chunks of ice were falling from cables and towers. It was the third consecutive day of bridge interruptions from the ice storm.___Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella OMalley in Philadelphia; and Ed White in Detroit. JEFF MARTIN Martin covers breaking news in the southeastern U.S. for The Associated Press. He is based in Atlanta. mailto

Journalists run for cover as protesters throw stones at a police car during a demonstration in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)2025-04-03T04:27:01Z PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) Jean-Jacques Asperges once relished returning home after a long day working at a radio station in one of the worlds most dangerous places for journalists.He had a roof and four walls for protection, but gang violence forced him and his family to flee their home twice.Now, Asperges, 58, his wife and their two children are forced to sleep on the floor of a soiled and overcrowded makeshift shelter with thousands of other Haitians also left homeless by gang violence.Bullets fall here all the time, he said.Having lost all his work equipment, Asperges relies solely on his phone, but he remains undeterred like dozens of other journalists in Haiti who are under attack like never before. They are dodging bullets, defying censorship and setting personal struggles aside as they document the downfall of Haitis capital and the surge in violence blamed on powerful gangs that control 85% of Port-au-Prince. Heavily armed gangs attacked at least three TV and radio stations in March. Two of the buildings were already abandoned because of previous violence, but gunmen stole equipment that had been left behind. Its a message: You dont operate without our permission, and you dont operate at all in our turf, said David C. Adams, an expert on press freedom issues in Haiti.Gangs sent an even deadlier message on Christmas Eve, when they opened fire on journalists covering the failed reopening of Haitis largest public hospital, saying they had not authorized its reopening. Two journalists were killed and at least seven others were injured, including Asperges, who was shot in the stomach. It was the worst attack on reporters in Haiti in recent history.Everyone is threatened. Everyone is under pressure, said Max Chauvet, director of operations at Le Nouvelliste, Haitis oldest independent newspaper. You feel in danger doing your jobDonning a bulletproof vest emblazoned with PRESS on it is now a dangerous move in Haiti. What used to serve as a symbolic and physical shield has become a target.At least 10 journalists covering a major March protest were attacked, including Jephte Bazil, a videographer who runs his own media company, Machann Zen Hati.He was threading his way through a protest in the Canap-Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince when three men dressed in black and with their faces covered called him over.What the hell are you doing around here? Bazil recalled them asking.They searched his bag, took away his cellphone and demanded multiple forms of ID. Bazil handed over only his passport, keeping his ID card hidden because it stated he was from Martissant, a community that gangs seized several years ago. He was too scared to show it and possibly be accused of being a gang member or a sympathizer.I believe I could have been killed, Bazil said.After an interrogation that lasted at least half an hour, Bazil said the men released him. As he walked away, one followed him with a machete to see if he was headed where he said he was going.Once he reached his destination, Bazil said the man told him: If you had made any other turn, I would havecut your head off. It was not the first time Bazil feared for his life. He was injured in Decembers hospital attack and, in February, while covering a confrontation between police and gangs, his motorcycle was shot but he was spared.Journalists are targets now, whether police or gangs, he said.Haitians increasingly distrust the media, accusing local journalists of working for gangs. Meanwhile, gang members have taken to social media to threaten journalists. One gang leader said he would kidnap radio reporters and ensure they wont ever talk into a microphone again, while another threatened a talk show host based outside of Haiti, saying that if he ever set foot in the country, it would be the last time he would do so.As a result, Haitis Online Media Collective has advised that journalists not cover incidents involving armed groups.Its not just journalists who are the victims, its press freedom itself, said Obest Dimanche, the collectives spokesperson. But given the persistent attacks by heavily armed gangs in the capital and beyond, most journalists disregard that advice.They travel in packs and zoom around on motorcycles through Port-au-Princes hilly neighborhoods, ducking in unison when shots are fired. At the end of the day, they check in on each other to ensure everyone returned safely home. Those who lost their homes to gang violence like Asperges go back to a shelter while others sleep on the floor of their media company.You feel in danger doing your job nowadays, said Jean Daniel Snat, a journalist at Le Nouvelliste and Magik9 radio station.He lamented how journalists no longer have access to many neighborhoods in the capital because of gang violence: If you cant talk to the peopleyou wont be able to report.The violence also has forced media companies to close, lay off reporters or stop printing, as was the case for Le Nouvelliste when gunmen attacked and occupied its offices last year. Since then, the newspaper has operated solely online. Killings and impunityOn March 13, Haitis prime minister condemned the attack on the building that once housed Radio et Tlvision Carabes, the countrys oldest radio station, and pledged to protect media institutions.Located on Rue Chavannes, the stations former headquarters were considered a heritage monument, said journalist Richecarde Clestin, who works for the station.Founded in 1949, the station has reported on Haitis tumultuous history: its coups, dictatorships and first democratic elections.Considered one of Haitis most influential radio stations, it was a blow to many to see smoke and flames rising from the building.Every employee has a story with the space, said journalist Dnel Sainton, who described the former headquarters as the soul of Radio et Tlvision Carabes, which has been forced to move twice because of gang violence.Also attacked that week was radio station Mlodie FM and TV station Tl Pluriel.What were seeing now, kind of the wholesale targeting of the media, is different, said Adams, the expert on press freedom issues in Haiti. In the old days, individual journalists were targeted.According to UNESCO, at least 21 journalists were reported killed from 2000 to 2022 in Haiti, with nine killed in 2022, the deadliest year for Haitian journalism in recent history.The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reported one journalist killed in 2023 and two more in 2024.Investigative journalist Gardy Saint-Louis recently told Tlgramme360, an online news site, that he planned to go into hiding. Saint-Louis was quoted as saying that he began receiving anonymous calls in September 2024, and that death threats escalated into an attack in February, when armed men opened fire on his house.Other journalists have fled Haiti, where attacks and killings are rarely solved.Haiti ranks first globally as the country most likely to let journalists murders go unpunished, according to a 2024 CPJ report. Since 2019, seven killings remain unsolved, including that of Garry Tesse, a radio host whose mutilated body appeared six days after he vanished in 2022. Shortly before his death, Tesse accused a powerful prosecutor of plotting to kill him.___Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Palestinians inspect a UN building after it was hit by an Israeli strike, in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-04-03T07:46:52Z DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Overnight strikes by Israel killed at least 55 people across the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Thursday, a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the Palestinian territory.Israel has vowed to escalate the nearly 18-month war with Hamas until the militant group returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory. Israel has imposed a month-long halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle.Officials in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the strip, said the bodies of 14 people had been taken to Nasser Hospital nine of them from the same family. The dead included five children and four women. The bodies of another 19 people, including five children aged between 1 and 7 years and a pregnant woman, were taken to the European hospital near Khan Younis, hospital officials said. In Gaza City, 21 bodies were taken to Ahli hospital, including those of seven children. The Israeli military ordered the residents of several areas -- Shujaiya, Jadida, Turkomen and eastern Zeytoun -- to evacuate on Thursday, adding that the army will work with extreme force in your area. It said people should move to shelters west of Gaza City. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel was establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu referred to the new axis as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities. He said it would be a second Philadelphi corridor referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May. Israel has reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor, also named for a former settlement, that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow coastal strip. Both of the existing corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.We are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages, Netanyahu said.The Western-backed Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas, expressed its complete rejection of the planned corridor. Its statement also called for Hamas to give up power in Gaza, where the militant group has faced rare protests recently.Netanyahus announcement came after the defense minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones, apparently referring to an existing buffer zone along Gazas entire perimeter. He called on Gaza residents to expel Hamas and return all the hostages, saying this is the only way to end the war.Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages 24 of whom are believed to be alive in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory. Violate international lawOn Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel plans to maintain overall security control of Gaza after the war and implement U.S. President Donald Trumps proposal to resettle much of its population elsewhere through what the Israeli leader referred to as voluntary emigration.Palestinians have rejected the plan, viewing it as expulsion from their homeland after Israels offensive left much of it uninhabitable, and human rights experts say implementing the plan would likely violate international law.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies. Israels offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.The war has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and at its height displaced around 90% of the population. Israeli strikes on SyriaSeparately, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southwestern Syria, Syrian state media reported Thursday.SANA said the nine were civilians, without giving details. Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they were local gunmen from the Daraa province, frustrated with Israeli military encroachment and attacks in recent months.Israel has seized parts of southwestern Syria and created a buffer-zone there, which it says is to secure Israels safety from armed groups. But critics say the military operation has created tensions in Syria and prevents any long-term stability and reconstruction for the war-torn country.Israel also struck five cities in Syria late Wednesday, including over a dozen strikes near a strategic airbase in the city of Hama.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right, talk after a welcoming ceremony with a guard of honor at Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)2025-04-03T09:06:15Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungarys capital early Thursday to red carpet treatment despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the worlds top war crimes court.Hungarys government, led by its populist prime minister and Netanyahu ally, Viktor Orbn, used the occasion of the Israeli leaders visit to announce it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court.Just as Netanyahu met with Orbn for a welcome with full military honors in Budapests Castle District, Orbns chief of staff, Gergely Gulys, wrote in a brief statement that the government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework. At the welcoming ceremony kicking off Netanyahus visit, only his second foreign trip since the ICC issued the warrant against him in November, he stood alongside Orbn as a military band played and processions of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles passed by. The two leaders were set to hold talks later on Thursday. Netanyahu will spend several days in Hungary before departing on Sunday. The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said when issuing its warrant there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israels campaign against Hamas charges that Israeli officials deny. Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to arrest suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply.After the ICC issued the warrant in November, Orbn accused the worlds only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide of interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes, saying the move undermined international law and escalated tensions. His invitation to Netanyahu was in open defiance of the courts ruling. Hungary joined the court in 2001 during Orbns first term as prime minister. Reacting to Hungarys decision to leave the court, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar thanked Orbn for the move, writing on X: I commend Hungarys important decision to withdraw from the ICC.The so-called International Criminal Court lost its moral authority after trampling the fundamental principles of international law in its zest for harming Israels right to self-defense, Saar wrote. Thank you Hungary for your clear and strong moral stance alongside Israel and the principles of justice and sovereignty!Netanyahu in February met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, where Trump suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take ownership in redeveloping the area into the Riviera of the Middle East.Neither the United States or Israel are signatories to the ICC. Trump in February issued sanctions against the court for its investigations into Israels conduct of the war in Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them children. The ICC has criticized Hungarys decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu. The courts spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, said its not for parties to the ICC to unilaterally determine the soundness of the Courts legal decisions. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto

2025-04-03T08:15:41Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hungary said Thursday it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the worlds only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide.Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Gergely Gulys, who is Prime Minister Viktor Orbn chief of staff wrote in a brief statement. The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework.The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, despite an international arrest warrant against him over his conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip.Hungarys government, led by right-wing populist Orbn, extended the invitation to Netanyahu in November after the ICC, based in the Hague, Netherlands, issued the warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity. Orbn, a close Netanyahu ally, has called the arrest warrant outrageously impudent and cynical. Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply with its rulings.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a walk-off solo home run against as Atlanta Braves catcher Atlanta Braves' Chadwick Tromp looks on during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)2025-04-03T06:07:41Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Shohei Ohtani met the moment again, and his latest theatrics have the Los Angeles Dodgers perfect to start the season.The Japanese superstar hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning on his bobblehead night, lifting the Dodgers over the winless Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Wednesday.If I didnt get a good pitch to hit, I was willing to walk, Ohtani said through a translator. Coming into the inning, tied in that last at-bat, it just felt like we really had a good shot to win.At 8-0, the Dodgers are off to the best start ever by a defending World Series champion. Theyve trailed in six of those games, but they already have two walk-off wins. And Ohtani has scored in every game.Overall, not just tonight, there is a really good vibe within the team, he said, so I just think thats allowing us to come back in these games to win. A crowd of 50,281 roared as Ohtanis 399-foot shot sailed into center field and he rounded the bases. You just feel hes going to do something special, manager Dave Roberts said.It was hardly a surprise coming from last years NL MVP. In 2024, his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani hit a game-ending grand slam on his first bobblehead night. He had a walk-off homer on another of his giveaway nights. He keeps getting into these situations and moments where youre expecting the unthinkable out of him and he rarely disappoints. Thats really saying something, said teammate Max Muncy, whose two-run double tied the game in the eighth and set the stage for Ohtani. Dodgers starter Blake Snell said: When he was coming up and its his bobblehead night everyone knew. We knew. Its just what he does.Thousands lined up hours before first pitch to secure the first of four Ohtani bobbleheads this season. As like last year, traffic snarled around the stadium with helicopters showing the chaos on local television. Just grateful as a player to just be able to perform and have an opportunity like this, said Ohtani, who finished 3 for 5. I think the credit really goes to Max Muncy to be able to pull through and tie the game.Muncy ditched the new torpedo bat he had used earlier in favor of his usual lumber.I do think there was some good to using the torpedo bat, just in BP and everything, he said. It might be something that I use as a practice bat and then go back to my bat for the game. It seemed to work that last at-bat.The Dodgers rallied from a 5-0 deficit after Muncys two early errors at third base led to five unearned runs by the Braves against Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner making his second start for his new team.I was dumbfounded with the way we were playing. I didnt recognize that club in the first couple of innings, Roberts said. We had no business winning that game, but to our guys credit we just kept fighting.The bullpen picked up Snell, allowing just three hits over the final five innings. Rookie reliever Jack Dreyer earned his first major league win with two hitless innings.We all believe, Snell said. We got each others backs, and its a good feeling to have. For Muncy, it seems similar to last years never-say-die attitude that helped the Dodgers to their eighth World Series title.Weve been carrying it into this season. Its been fun to watch, he said. The guys dont give up. No ones really been down or out on themselves. Just seeing the guys in the clubhouse come together like that, its a pretty cool moment.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York mayor Eric Adams speaks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during a task force meeting addressing retail theft, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Joseph Frederick)2025-04-03T11:12:56Z New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said he will pull out of the citys Democratic primary and instead run for reelection as an independent candidate, arguing that his federal bribery charges had made it impossible to mount a primary campaign.In a video, Adams, whose criminal case was dismissed Wednesday, said he will not run in the Democratic primary in June because the case dragged on too long while the false accusations were held over me.I firmly believe that this city is better served by truly independent leadership, not leaders pulled at by the extremists at the far left or the far right, but instead those rooted in the common middle, the place where the vast majority of New Yorkers are firmly planted, Adams said.The decision came after intense speculation over whether Adams would remain in the Democratic primary, which has attracted a several serious opponents, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Adams announcement was first reported by Politico.

A cow rests near a park bench and trash bins on August 12, 2002 on Australia's remote Norfolk Island. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)2025-04-03T13:26:40Z MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony whose leader is befuddled that it was targeted.The American president rattled markets, manufacturers and more Wednesday announcing a baseline of 10% tariffs on imports into the United States and far higher on goods from some places, notably those with high trade surpluses with the United States.A few countries like Russia, which is facing U.S. sanctions, and Canada and Mexico which face separate U.S. tariff measures were left off. The Holy See, for example, got a pass too from being listed among the dozens of countries and territories targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump.Heres a look at some target territories that have little to no production, exports or role in the global economy. There was no immediate explanation as to why these places made the cut in a list presented on the White House-affiliated Rapid Response 47 account on the X social media platform. Jan Mayen This small Arctic island, possibly featuring more polar bears than people, figures among the more peculiar places on the U.S. target list.The only inhabitants on Jan Mayen, part of Norway since 1930, are staff of the Norwegian military and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The island 600 kilometers (370 miles) northeast of Iceland is partly covered by glaciers.The Norwegian militarys main role there is to oversee Norways claim to sovereignty over the island, it flies C-130 Hercules cargo planes to Jan Mayen about a dozen times a year from Norway. The planes are able to land only if visibility is good as the airport doesnt have any instrument landing capabilities.Norways Foreign and Environment Ministries did not immediately reply to requests for comment Thursday from The Associated Press. TokelauThe nation made up of three tropical coral islands and home 1,500 people on a combined land area of 4 square miles (10 sq. km), is also facing 10% U.S. tariffs.One of the smallest economies in the South Pacific, Tokelau survives on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and finance from New Zealand, which counts the islands as one of its territories.Roland Rajah, lead economist at the Lowy Institute, an Australian foreign policy think tank, said officials in small island nations would likely struggle to change Washingtons mind.If those countries didnt get much consideration in terms of what tariffs were imposed on them given their size and obscurity to the Trump administration, that also could make it difficult for them to do anything about negotiating their way out of those tariffs, he said. Christmas IslandThe leader of Christmas Island, which has fewer that 2,000 people, said the Indian Ocean atoll exported nothing to the United States.Theres no trade between Christmas Island and America except that we do buy mining equipment through Tractors Singapore, said Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson, referring to the regional dealer for the Texas manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc.The Australian outpost located 360 kilometers (225 miles) south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta has used U.S. heavy machinery to mine phosphate for decades. The trade, if anything, is U.S. product into Christmas Island. The only thing that we export is phosphate and that goes to Malaysia, Indonesia, maybe Thailand and a bit to the Australian mainland, Thomson said.Heard and McDonald IslandsThe Heard and McDonald Islands in the remote Antarctic, which together form another Australian territory this one uninhabited is also on the list and subject to 10% tariffs. The mostly barren islands between Madagascar and Antarctica have two active volcanoes and can only be reached by sea.Contacted by the AP, the Australian governments Antarctic Division did not immediately respond when asked about how the tariff might affect its operations in the islands. Norfolk IslandNorfolk Island in the Pacific, another Australian territory with a population of around 2,000 people, received more severe tariff treatment.The Trump administration, in its calculation, said the former British penal colony charges the United States 58% tariffs and it responded with a tariff rate of 29% on Norfolk Island, whose economy revolves around tourism. Its about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Sydney.Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian governments representative on the island, was looking into what was behind it.To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States, he told the AP. We dont charge tariffs on anything. I cant think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so were scratching our heads here.Speaking to reporters, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quipped: Im not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States.But that just shows, I think, exemplifies, the fact that nowhere on Earth is exempt from this. ___Keaten reported from Geneva. Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report. ROD MCGUIRK McGuirk covers Australian and South Pacific news for The Associated Press. He is based in Melbourne. mailto JAMEY KEATEN Keaten is the chief Associated Press reporter in Geneva. He previously was posted in Paris and has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and across Europe. twitter

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, poses with counterparts during a group photo of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters Brussels, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)2025-04-03T06:49:17Z BRUSSELS (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administrations new envoy to NATO are seeking to reassure wary members of the U.S. commitment to the alliance. Rubio on Thursday decried hysteria and hyperbole in the media about U.S. President Donald Trumps intentions, despite persistent signals from Washington that NATO as it has existed for 75 years may no longer be relevant. Rubio and newly confirmed U.S. ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker are in Brussels for a meeting of alliance foreign ministers at which many are hoping Rubio will shed light on U.S. security plans in Europe. The United States is as active in NATO as it has ever been, Rubio told reporters as he greeted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte before the meeting began. And some of this hysteria and hyperbole that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted. President Trumps made clear he supports NATO, Rubio said. Were going to remain in NATO.We want NATO to be stronger, we want NATO to be more visible and the only way NATO can get stronger, more visible is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability, he said. Whitaker said in a statement that under President Trumps leadership, NATO will be stronger and more effective than ever before, and I believe that a robust NATO can continue to serve as a bedrock of peace and prosperity. But he added: NATOs vitality rests on every ally doing their fair share. Concerns about US commitment to allies Despite those words, European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by Trumps readiness to draw closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat as the U.S. tries to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as his rhetorical attacks and insults against allies like Canada and Denmark.Rubio and Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen met on the sidelines of the meeting. They didnt respond to a shouted question about Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark which Trump has his eye on, but they smiled and shook hands in front of U.S. and Danish flags. Trumps imposition of new global tariffs, which will affect allies, have also added to the uncertainty and unease.French Foreign Minister Jean-Nol Barrot warned that NATOs unity is being tested by the decisions taken and announced yesterday (Wednesday) by President Trump.Asked about concerns among European allies about a possible U.S. troop drawdown and the importance of getting clear messages from the Trump administration, Rutte said: These issues are not new. There are no plans for them to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe.Indeed, the Trump administration hasnt made its NATO allies aware any plans that it might have. But several European countries are convinced that U.S. troops and equipment will be withdrawn, and they want to find out from Rubio how many and when so they can fill any security gaps.We need to preempt a rapid retreat, but weve had nothing precise from the U.S. yet, a senior NATO diplomat said before the meeting, briefing reporters on his countrys expectations on condition that he not be named. Ruttes dilemma NATOs secretary-general is in a bind. European allies and Canada have tasked him with keeping the United States firmly in NATO. Around 100,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe along with the Navys 6th Fleet and nuclear warheads. U.S. firepower ensures that NATOs ability to deter Russia is credible.This means he cant openly criticize Trump, who is commander in chief of the United States, NATOs biggest and best-equipped armed forces.What is clear is that U.S. allies must ramp up defense spending even more than they already have since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, so that they can defend Europe with less American help and keep Ukraines armed forces in the fight.The U.S expects European allies to take more responsibility for their own security, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, which means that European NATO countries rapidly have to strengthen the European pillar of NATO and have to increase their defense spending. Since U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that American security priorities lie elsewhere in Asia and on the United States own borders the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen.In Europe and Canada, governments are working on burden shifting plans to take over more of the load, while trying to ensure that no security vacuum is created if U.S. troops and equipment are withdrawn from the continent.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-04-03T13:41:27Z ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) The acting chief of the top federal agency for protecting worker rights has signaled a pivot toward prioritizing President Donald Trumps campaign to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the private and public sectors.The initial steps taking by Andrea Lucas, acting chief of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, have earned her strong backing from the Trump administration, which has moved against DEI through embattled executive orders that dismantled programs at federal agencies and threatened investigations and stiff financial penalties for federal contractors that engage in illegal diversity-related practices. Trump recently nominated Lucas to a new five-year term as commissioner. But former Democratic EEOC officials and prominent civil rights groups have accused Lucas of taking shortcuts that supersede her authority and they have urged employers to be wary of her directives and guidance, if not altogether ignore them. The most recent flashpoint involves two technical assistance documents issued by the EEOC along with the Department of Justice attempting to clarify what might constitute DEI-related Discrimination at Work and providing guidance on how workers can file complaints over such concerns. The documents take broad aim at practices such as training, employment resources group and fellowship programs, warning such programs depending on how theyre constructed could run afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and gender. The documents followed letters that Lucas sent to 20 prominent law firms demanding information about diversity fellowships and other programs she claimed could be evidence of discriminatory practices.A group of 10 former Democratic commissioners and counsels released its own letter Thursday warning the legal community the DEI documents give the misleading impression that common programs are fraught with legal peril and dismissed them as reflecting Lucass personal opinion. The letter offered counter-guidance on how employers should continue implementing training and other practices that EEOC policy documents encourage to prevent discrimination. Last month, seven of the same former EEOC officials sent Lucas a letter warning that she appeared to exceed her authority with her demands for information from the 20 law firms without first launching a formal investigation. A group of prominent civil rights organizations went a step further in their own letter to Lucas, urging the law firms to ignore her demands because they have no legal obligation to reply.This isnt how the EEOC works. No single commissioner not even the Chair has the authority to send threatening letters demanding private information from employers, said Noreen Farrell, director of Equal Rights Advocates, one of the civil rights organizations that signed onto the response led by the National Womens Law Center. The EEOC Chair cant just rewrite decades of settled civil rights law with a hastily written memo. Jenny Yang, a former EEOC commissioner under President Barack Obama, said Lucas letters to the 20 law firms were without precedent at the EEOC, which initiates most investigations in response to complaints filed by workers. In very rare cases, a commissioner can file their own charge against an employer but it wouldnt be made public and would require the commissioner to provide evidence of possible discrimination under penalty of perjury, Yang said. Law firms including some of the 20 targeted by Lucas are already coming under pressure to change their approach to diversity and inclusion in response to separate Trump executive orders designed to punish them for taking on the presidents rivals as clients and other actions that have angered him. For example, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom recently learned that the president intended to issue an order targeting it over its pro bono legal work and its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The firm has consequently agreed to review its hiring practices, among other things. The 20 law firms targeted in Lucas letters did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether they intended to respond to her demands. Lucas did not respond to request for comment on the DEI technical assistance documents, and the EEOC declined to say whether the law firms have any legal obligation to respond to her letters or whether they would face any penalty for not doing so.But Lucas, a Republican who was first appointed to the EEOC in 2020, has long argued that she is not reinterpreting civil rights laws but rather sounding the alarm that many companies have adopted DEI practices that cross the line into discrimination. Lucas has argued the EEOC has turned a blind eye to risky company practices, which she said proliferated especially after the 2020 racial justice protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd. Far too many employers defend certain types of race or sex preferences as good, provided they are motivated by business interests in diversity, equity, or inclusion., Lucas said in a statement announcing the new technical assistance on DEI.Many employers are likely to take heed of her warnings as the EEOC signals that it will be become a powerful ally to workers claiming discrimination stemming from DEI practices. Anuradha Hebbar, president of CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity, an arm of the influential Society for Human Resource Management, said the EEOC has especially makes clear that companies should avoid fellowships, internships and other programs that are only open to women or certain racial groups. Stefan Padfield of conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research praised the EEOCs the shift as a much-needed course correction that will open the floodgates for complaints against DEI practices that should be deemed illegal. Lucas has acknowledged that she cannot unilaterally change some of the agencys guidelines and policies that may contradict Trumps slew of executive orders, though the EEOC has already moved to drop seven lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender and nonbinary people in response to a presidential order declaring the government would only recognize the male and female genders. Changing such policies including the EEOCs five-year strategic enforcement plan that pledges support for DEI would require a majority vote by the agencys five commissioners. But Trump recently fired two of those commissioners both Democrats before their terms expired in a move that upended 60 years of precedent for an agency established by Congress as independent and bipartisan.In their letter Thursday, the former EEOC officials accused Lucas of cherry-picking rare instances of discrimination to convey the message that training and other DEI practices are inherently risky when in fact most are legally sound. Our federal civil rights offices and officials should not be intimidating or discouraging employers who are working to advance these goals, the letter said.________The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. ALEXANDRA OLSON Olson is a business reporter for The Associated Press, focusing on women in the workplace. She has spent many years as a correspondent in Latin America. twitter mailto CLAIRE SAVAGE Savage is a national reporter for the APs Business team. She covers women in the workforce and is based in Chicago. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-04-03T15:31:56Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has moved to fire several senior White House National Security Council officials soon after he was urged by far-right activist Laura Loomer to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently committed to his Make America Great Again agenda, several people familiar with the matter said Thursday.Loomer presented her research to Trump in an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday, making her case for the firings, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Serio Gor, the director of the Presidential Personnel Office, took part in the meeting, the people said.NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on the meeting or the firings, insisting that the White House does not discuss personnel matters. Loomer, who has promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories, was a frequent presence on the campaign trail during Trumps 2024 successful White House run. More recently, shes been speaking out on social media about some members of Trumps national security team that she insists cant be trusted. The move by Trump to push out staff comes at a moment when his national security adviser Mike Waltz is fighting back criticism over using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss planning for the sensitive March 15 military operation targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. A journalist, The Atlantic magazines Jeffrey Rosenberg, was mistakenly added to the chain and revealed that Trumps team used it to discuss precise timing of the operation, aircraft used to carry out the strikes and more.Waltz has taken responsibility for building text chain, but has said he does not know how Rosenberg ended up being included. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto ZEKE MILLER Miller leads coverage of the president and the presidency for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto