by J. David McSwane and Hannah Allam ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. On Feb. 10, more than a dozen Department of Homeland Security officials joined a video conference to discuss an obscure, sparsely funded program overseen by its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The office, charged with investigating when the national security agency is accused of violating the rights of both immigrants and U.S. citizens, had found itself in the crosshairs of Elon Musks secretive Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.It began as a typical briefing, with Homeland Security officials explaining to DOGE a program many describe as a win-win. It had provided some $20 million in recent years to local organizations that provide case workers to keep people in immigration proceedings showing up to court, staff explained, without expensive detentions and ankle monitors.DOGE leader Kyle Schutt, a technology executive who developed a GOP online fundraising platform, interrupted. He wanted Joseph Mazzara, DHSs acting general counsel, to weigh in. Mazzara was recently appointed to the post after working for Ken Paxton as both an assistant solicitor general and member of the Texas attorney generals defense team that beat back public corruption charges.Schutt had a different interpretation of the program, according to people who attended or were briefed on the meeting.This whole program sounds like money laundering, he said.Mazzara went further. His facial expressions, his use of profanity and the way he combed his fingers through his hair made clear he was annoyed.We should look into civil RICO charges, Mazzara said.DHS staff was stunned. The program had been mandated by Congress, yet Homeland Securitys top lawyer was saying it could be investigated under a law reserved for organized crime syndicates.I took it as a threat, one attendee said. It was traumatizing. For many in the office, known internally as CRCL, that moment was a dark forecast of the future. Several said they scrambled to try to fend off the mass firings they were seeing across the rest of President Donald Trumps administration. They policed language that Trumps appointees might not like. They hesitated to open complaints on hot-button cases. They reframed their work as less about protecting civil rights and more about keeping the department out of legal trouble.None of it worked. On March 21, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem shut down the office and fired most of the 150-person staff. As a result, about 600 civil rights abuse investigations were frozen.All the oversight in DHS was eliminated today, one worker texted after the announcement that theyd been fired.Eight former CRCL officials spoke with ProPublica about the dismantling of the office on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution. Their accounts come at a time when the new administrations move to weaken oversight of federal agencies has faced legal challenges in the federal courts. In defending its move to shut CRCL, the administration said it was streamlining operations, as it has done elsewhere. DHS remains committed to civil rights protections but must streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement, said DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.CRCL staff often functioned as internal adversaries to slow down operations, McLaughlin added. She did not address questions from ProPublica about the February meeting. Mazzara and Schutt did not reply to requests for comment.The offices closure strips Homeland Security of a key internal check and balance, analysts and former staff say, as the Trump administration morphs the agency into a mass-deportation machine. The civil rights team served as a deterrent to border patrol and immigration agents who didnt want the hassle and paperwork of an investigation, staff said, and its closure signals that rights violations, including those against U.S. citizens, could go unchecked.The office processed more than 3,000 complaints in fiscal year 2023 on everything from disabled detainees being unable to access medical care to abuses of power at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and reports of rape at its detention centers. For instance, following reports that ICE had performed facial recognition searches on millions of Maryland drivers, a CRCL investigation led the agency to agree to new oversight; case details have been removed from the DHS website but are available in the internet archive. The office also reported to Congress that it had investigated and confirmed allegations that a child, a U.S. citizen traveling without her parents between Mexico and California, had been sexually abused by Customs and Border Protection agents during a strip search.Those cases would have gone nowhere without CRCL, its former staffers said.Nobody knows where to go without CRCL, and thats the point, a senior official said. Speaking of the administration, the official went on, They dont want oversight. They dont care about civil rights and civil liberties.The CRCL staff, most of them lawyers, emphasized that their work is not politically motivated, nor is it limited to immigration issues. For instance, sources said the office was investigating allegations that disaster aid workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency had skipped over houses that displayed signs supporting Trump during the 2024 election.The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties touches on everyone, one fired employee said. Theres this perception that were only focused on immigrants, and thats just not true.Uncertainty and PanicThe final days of the civil rights office unfolded in a cloud of uncertainty and panic, as with other federal offices getting RIFd, the Beltway verb for the governments reduction in force.Staff members described the weeks before the shutdown as a whittling away of their work. Dozens of investigative memos posted online in a transparency initiative? Deleted from the site. The eight-person team on racial equity issues? Immediately placed on leave. Travel funds to check conditions at detention centers? Reduced to $1.As fear intensified that the civil rights office would be dismantled, staff tried to lie low. Leaders told staff to stop launching investigations that came from media reports, previously a common avenue for inquiries. Now, only official complaints from the public would be considered.Staff was particularly frustrated that under this new mandate it couldnt open an official investigation into the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and legal resident who was arrested for participating in protests against Israels war in Gaza. CRCL staff was unable to open an investigation into Mahmoud Khalils arrest after they were told to stop launching investigations that came from media reports. (Bing Guan/The New York Times/Redux) With dozens of employees spread across branches or working remotely, many civil rights staffers had never met their colleagues until the Trump administrations return-to-office order forced them to come in five days a week. By early March, when reality had sunk in that their jobs were likely to be eliminated, they began quietly organizing, setting up encrypted Signal chat groups and sharing updates on lawsuits filed by government workers in other agencies.Its inspiring how federal employees are pushing back and connecting, one worker said.Beyond Trumps mandate to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, leaders told staff to omit from memos words such as however, which might sound combative, or stakeholders, which came across as too warm and fuzzy.Daily life was one miserable assignment after the next, a staffer said. The orders coming down from Trump appointees were intended to basically tell us how to undo your office.In what would be the last days of the office, the atmosphere was chilling and intimidating. Some personnel froze, too afraid to make recommendations, while others risked filing new investigations in final acts of defiance.When the news came on a Friday that they were all being fired, civil rights staff were told they couldnt issue any out-of-office reply, one former senior official said.They are still technically employees, on paid leave until May 23. Many have banded together and are exploring legal remedies to get their jobs back. In the interim, if complaints are coming in, none of the professionals trained to receive them are around.Whats Been LostDays after the meeting in which allegations of money laundering and organized crime were loosely thrown at CRCL employees, the program in question was shut down. That effort had essentially earmarked money to local charities to provide nonviolent immigrants with case workers who connect them to services such as human trafficking screening and information on U.S. law. Created by Congress in 2021, the goal was to keep immigrants showing up to court.Now, Trumps DHS is suggesting the case worker program is somehow involved in human smuggling. Erol Kekic, a spokesperson for the charity the federal government hired to administer funds in that program, said Church World Services received a weirdly worded letter that baffled the organizations attorneys.They said there could be potential human trafficking, he said, referring to DHS. But they didnt accuse us directly of it.The nonprofit is working on its response, he said.Elsewhere, the absence of Homeland Securitys civil rights oversight is already reverberating.With their office closed, CRCL staff now fear the hypotheticals: At ports of entry, Americans Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizure are relaxed; if CBP abuses its power to root through phones and laptops, who will investigate? And if DHS began arresting U.S. citizens for First Amendment protected speech? Their office would have been the first line of defense.As an example of cases falling through the cracks, CRCL staff told ProPublica they had recommended an investigation into the deportation of a Lebanese professor at Brown University who was in the country on a valid work visa. Federal prosecutors said in court she was detained at an airport in Boston in connection with sympathetic photos and videos on her phone of leaders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Reuters reported she told border authorities she did not support Hezbollah but admired the groups deceased leader Hassan Nasrallah for religious reasons.Staff also wanted to look into the case of a 10-year-old girl recovering from brain cancer who, despite being a U.S. citizen, was deported to Mexico along with her parents when they hit an immigration checkpoint as they rushed to an emergency medical visit.In Colorado, immigration attorney Laura Lunn routinely filed complaints with CRCL, saying pleas with ICE officials at its Aurora detention center were often ignored. Those complaints to CRCL have stopped her clients from being illegally deported, she said, or gotten emergency gynecological care for a woman who had been raped just before being detained.But now, she asks, Who do I even go to when there are illegal things happening?Lunns group, the Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network, has also joined in large group complaints about inadequate medical care, COVID-19 isolation policies and access to medical care for a pod of transgender inmates.Shes among those trying to find clients who were housed in the Aurora facility but have mysteriously disappeared. Her clients had pending proceedings, she said, yet were summarily removed, something shed never seen in 15 years of immigration law.Ordinarily, I would file a CRCL complaint. At this moment, we dont have anyone to file a complaint to, Lunn said.That sort of mass deportation is something CRCL would have inspected. In fact, staff members said they had just launched a review into Trumps increased use of Guantanamo Bay to detain migrants, an inquiry which now appears to have vanished. A new camp site where the Trump administration plans to house thousands of undocumented migrants at Guantnamo Bay, seen in February 2025. A recent CRCL review of the administrations use of Guantanamo Bay has vanished. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux) In New Mexico, immigration lawyer Sophia Genovese said shes filed more than 100 CRCL complaints, helping her secure medical care and other services for sick and disabled people.She said she has several pending complaints, including one about a detainee who has stomach cancer but cant get medication stronger than ibuprofen and another involving an HIV-positive patient who hasnt been able to see a doctor.CRCL was one of the very few tools we had to check ICE, to hold ICE accountable, Genovese said. Now you see them speeding to complete authoritarianism.

Pop-up gear, meant to prevent whale entanglements while crab fishing, front, sits on Pier 45 as James Sanders loads crab traps onto the boat Pale Horse in San Francisco, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)2025-04-13T04:15:25Z After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay on the water longer while keeping the marine mammals safe.The state has been running a pilot program since 2023 to try out so-called pop-up gear to protect whales while finding a solution to fishermens woes and is expected to fully authorize the gear for spring Dungeness crab fishing in 2026. The gear, which uses a remote device to pull up lines laid horizontally across the sea floor, also is being tried on lobster in Maine, black sea bass in Georgia and fisheries in Australia and Canada.Unfortunately, it has been six years weve been delayed or closed early for whales, said Brand Little, a San Francisco Dungeness crab fisherman who is among those participating in the pilot. This is a way to get our industry back, he said.The effort comes after reports of whale entanglements off the Pacific Coast spiked a decade ago during a marine heat wave. The change in temperature drove whales, many of them threatened or endangered humpbacks, to seek out food sources closer to the California coast, where they were caught in vertical fishing lines that had been strung between crab pots on the ocean floor and buoys bobbing on the surface. In response, California state regulators barred Dungeness crab fishing when whales are known to be present. That shortened the season significantly, giving fishermen a narrow window in which to make a living. So some began trying pop-up gear and determined the method works and is worth the additional cost. No more vertical linesThe gear lets fishermen use a remote-operated, acoustic release device to pop-up a crab pot from the ocean floor rather than have it tethered to a floating buoy. Pots can be strung together with ropes laid horizontally instead of vertically, so whales can pass over them while migrating through the area.If you remove the vertical line, you have removed the entanglement risk, and you have allowed a fishery to continue, said Ryan Bartling, senior environmental scientist supervisor with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.Many long-time Dungeness crab fishermen have been slow to warm up to the idea due to the cost, which can run $1,000 per pop-up device plus an on-board unit. It also takes time to restring the pots after an intense winter season of derby-style fishing, which takes place when whales are calving in warmer waters to the south.There also is a need for a unified tracking system since the gear isnt visible on the surface, Bartling said.More than four dozen whales were entangled in fishing nets in 2015, compared with an annual average of 10 in prior years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many were humpback whales, which were listed as endangered in the 1970s and have been recovering since protections were put in place, the agency said.Environmental advocates sued California over the increased entanglements and reached a settlement with the state in 2019 that encouraged the use of ropeless gear. Bart Chadwick, who owns San Diego-based Sub Sea Sonics, said he previously used pop-up technology to retrieve expensive equipment while conducting environmental work at sea. When he retired from his job, he made tweaks so it could be adapted for fishing.It allows them to fish in places they wouldnt otherwise, Chadwick said, adding the technology also reduces gear losses. Only for springtime Most Dungeness crab fishermen make their money during the early part of the season when whales typically arent near the California coast. Experts say the pop-up gear wont work then due to crowding and the technology is currently being considered solely for the smaller spring season, which starts April 16 in central California.Geoff Shester, senior scientist at conservation organization Oceana, said he thinks the method could eventually be used more broadly if fishermen find it efficient and cost-effective.Think about electric cars, or hybrids, or even digital cameras, Shester said. Every time you have a new technology, there is a lot of resistance at first.Crab fisherman Ben Platt said he was a vocal opponent but will join this years pilot since multiple pots now can be strung together, making the method simpler and cheaper. Still, he said many fishermen have concerns and arent likely to get on board.Well just have to see and take a look at the results, Platt said.For Stephen Melz, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, California, having more time out on the ocean is key. Years ago, he said he would go out for Dungeness crab starting in November and fish through the spring.Now, with the shortened season, he said there is no room for error and the gear helps him get out so he can pay his bills.Better than just sitting at dock, he said.

by Jesse Eisinger ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. In his Rose Garden speech launching a global trade war by announcing the most sweeping tariffs in modern history, President Donald Trump bestowed a history lesson on his audience that diverged from the factual record: Then in 1913, for reasons unknown to mankind, they established the income tax so that citizens, rather than foreign countries, would start paying the money necessary to run our government. Then in 1929, it all came to a very abrupt end with the Great Depression, and it would have never happened if they had stayed with the tariff policy; it would have been a much different story.So why did we institute an income tax? Were there any humans who knew what the reasoning was? And did the actions of 1913 lead to the Great Depression in 1929?There is a clear consensus among historians on these points. No, the income tax was not a mistake. But it was something stranger: both a 40-year struggle and an accident.In 1913, the states ratified the 16th Amendment, which gave the federal government the power to collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived.This was not the first income tax effort, however.For a few short years during and after the Civil War, the United States imposed its first tax on income to help fund the massive costs of the war. Placed on relatively high incomes but only collecting a modest percentage, it was cast as both a way to generate needed revenue and a way to maintain fairness.Yes, thats right, one of the chief selling points of taxing income was that it was a way of achieving equity in the burdens of the war. Responding to allegations that only poor men were fighting and dying, President Abraham Lincoln and his Republican Party made sure the law required that the taxes people paid would be publicly disclosed. Unsurprisingly, the wealthy men of the dawning Gilded Age did not like seeing their tax information in the pages of The New York Times. Wealthy interests forced a repeal of the income tax in 1871, and the federal government returned to funding itself with proceeds from user fees and tariffs. Efforts to rein in the rich persisted, however. Congress moved in 1894 to reintroduce an income tax. The populist Nebraskan politician William Jennings Bryan gave a famous speech on the floor of Congress. Responding to the argument that the wealthy would leave America if they had to pay such a tax, then proposed as 2% on the top incomes, he said:Of all the mean men I have ever known, I have never known one so mean that I would be willing to say of him that his patriotism was less than 2 per cent deep. If some of our best people prefer to leave the country rather than pay a tax of 2 per cent, God pity the worst.Congress passed the law. One year later, however, the Supreme Court controversially rejected it, 5-4, in the case of Pollock v. Farmers Loan and Trust Company. The party of Lincoln, now dominated by wealthy Northeastern interests, celebrated. Its 1894 platform had declared that an income tax will bring odium on any party blind enough to support it and predicted that partys funeral. Populists like Bryan didnt give up. A young Democratic congressman from Tennessee named Cordell Hull said in his maiden speech on the floor in 1908, in which he proposed passing another income tax, that he was willing to risk the odium and the funeral.Hulls effort didnt gather much momentum that time, but he didnt give up. He obsessively talked with anyone and everyone about an income tax, so much so that when leaders of his own party saw him approaching, they would turn and walk in another direction, he later recalled. Soon he would succeed, but only thanks to the help of the party that was against the income tax the Republicans.In 1909, the country was facing a severe drop in federal revenue and a widening deficit after the financial panic of 1907, which had ended only thanks to a bailout led by J.P. Morgan, the most powerful banker of the age. At the same time, with new responsibilities like trying to keep food and medicines safe and maintaining a growing empire abroad, the federal governments needs were exploding. A few years earlier, Congress had allocated $1 billion in spending for the first time ever (about $30 billion in todays dollars).To address these issues, the Republican party turned to tariffs. Tariffs not only remained the cornerstone of Republican economic policy, they were also the key to the partys political power. Each time a new tariff bill came up for consideration was like throwing bananas in a cage of monkeys, economist Henry George said. Lobbyists from every corner of American industry descended on the capital to push for lower imposts on their companies and, if possible, to have them raised on someone else. Tariffs and levies on things like tobacco and alcohol were deeply unpopular with the public. They were regressive, costing working people a far greater percentage of their income than the rich. In one of his speeches, Hull attacked the new dominant class of oligarchs: The world has never seen such colossal fortunes as we behold in the present age ... the Carnegies, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans, and the Rockefellers, with their aggregated billions of hoarded wealth.Hull said, It would seem that this class of people consider themselves almost immune from any kind of taxation. He closed a speech with a warning to his congressional colleagues: Public sentiment is becoming aroused.In Washington, lawmakers had a bounty of novel ideas for raising funds. Some members of Congress suggested an inheritance tax, others a corporate profits tax, and still others wanted some version of a stamp tax on commercial documents. As president, Theodore Roosevelt supported an income tax, though he didnt do much to push it legislatively. Most Republican senators, many of whom were millionaires themselves, had mild aversions to some of the proposals and a particular loathing for the income tax.Nelson Aldrich, the Senate majority leader from Rhode Island, a millionaire and the father-in-law of John D. Rockefeller Jr., was arguably the most powerful politician in the country at the time. Teddy Roosevelt nicknamed him the King Pin. In 1909, Aldrich was trying to pass a new tariff bill. Hulls Democrats posed a problem for him, but not the only one. He also faced a rebellious faction within his own party, the progressive Republicans. These were largely Midwestern and Western leaders who argued for what they described as working peoples interests, as well as reforms to improve public safety and the strengthening of labor unions. They also supported an income tax.Aldrich tried a series of legislative maneuvers to delay votes on anything about the income tax. The proponents were undeterred, and, as a next step, he and then-President William Taft put their weight behind a corporate income tax, contending that it would be a lesser evil than a personal income tax. The wealthy did not like it, but it passed surprisingly easily, leaving Republicans hopeful the income tax was dead. In a private letter to a friend, the president explained, A good many people who are attacking [the corporate income tax] now will be glad to use it as a means of preventing the income tax later on.Taft proved to be overly optimistic. Supporters of the income tax kept pushing, seeking to raise money directly from the wealthy. A debate ensued about whether Congress could simply pass an income tax law or, since the Supreme Court had struck one down recently, whether a constitutional amendment was needed. Hull pointed out that the makeup of the court had changed and argued that a law could now pass muster with the justices. Then, one progressive Republican proposed an income tax amendment.Aldrich pounced on what he perceived as his opponents misstep. He threw his support to the measure as a means of placating the advocates for a national income tax. In exchange, enough lawmakers agreed to back Aldrichs tariff bill.Aldrich, of course, did not support the income tax amendment, but he believed it was too radical to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, the minimum required by the Constitution. Leading politicians assumed that the defeat of the amendment would likely kill the income tax for years, if not a generation.Hull agreed with that analysis and was despondent. It has long been understood that the Republicans never support a worthy cause until forced by public sentiment. Too stupid to devise and enact wholesome laws and to formulate and execute sound administrative policies, this piratical organization is wont to wait until Democrats point the way, he said in a speech on the floor.And so Nelson Aldrich, the senator who had done more than almost any other American politician in history to protect the wealthy, introduced what would turn out to be an historic measure to amend the Constitution and explicitly allow income taxes on the rich. A few days later, with little fanfare, the amendment passed the Senate by a unanimous vote of 77-0.Soon after, Congress passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff bill, giving Aldrich his victory.But Aldrich had miscalculated and Hull had been too gloomy. After a slow start for the ratification movement, political winds shifted and enough states came around. The amendment was ratified four years later. Then it fell to Hull to almost singlehandedly write what became the 1913 income tax law. Hulls plan proved prescient. He had foreseen that if the United States ever became entangled in a war that involved attacks on shipping, imports would dry up and tariff revenue would plummet. When the United States joined the war against Germany in 1917, Congress had to raise income tax rates to generate the money needed to pay for the expense of sending soldiers to Europe.So no, President Trump, the origins of the income tax are not lost to history.But did the tax cause the Great Depression 16 years after its enactment, as Trump has argued? No serious economist thinks so. Heres one data point: In the 1920s, Republicans regained the presidency. Andrew Mellon, one of the richest men in the country, became Treasury secretary. One of the main causes he worked for was lowering income taxes, and the lead-up to the worst economic calamity of the 20th century was actually marked by a decline in those tax rates.The evidence is similarly clear on Trumps argument that continued reliance on tariffs to fund the government would have averted the Great Depression. In June of 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, significantly raising taxes on imported goods in hopes of boosting American industries and increasing domestic employment. Hoover brushed aside the arguments of his own economists who warned that other nations would respond with their own tariffs, touching off a trade war in which every country would lose.Economists now agree that Hoovers tariffs deepened the economic downturn that had begun with the 1929 stockmarket crash. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gradually reduced the tariffs during his presidency, and his Democratic and Republican successors continued that pattern well into the 21st century.Todays situation has similarities to the pre-income-tax years. The American economy is again marked by wealth inequality, with the largest gap between rich and poor weve seen since the Gilded Age. We are having debates about how to reduce the federal deficit, about how to fairly and adequately tax the rich and about what the appropriate size of government would be. Last week, Trump reached back in history to restore U.S. tariffs to the Smoot-Hawley levels, triggering a global selloff in stock markets around the world. Correction April 8, 2025: This story originally incorrectly identified William Jennings Bryan as a Kansan politician. He represented Nebraska.

by Doug Bock Clark ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Members of a bipartisan committee of North Carolina senators are asking the state auditor to investigate how money intended to stop human trafficking had been spent and managed, in response to ProPublicas reporting.ProPublica had reported how the Republican-dominated legislature had directed $15 million for sexual abuse survivors away from Democratic-led agencies that had long overseen such money, sending it to a tiny commission in the Republican-helmed state court system. The Human Trafficking Commission struggled to disburse the funds in a timely manner, according to its former grants administrator. Staffers at 18 crisis centers told ProPublica payments were delayed for months and led to cuts, some of which continue to limit urgent, potentially lifesaving services.It sounds like something that we can definitely put the auditor on, said Sen. Steve Jarvis, a Republican co-chair of the Committee on Regulatory Reform, after a Democratic senator highlighted ProPublicas reporting in a meeting last week. The committee subsequently advanced a bill to empower the state auditor to create a team to investigate waste, fraud and inefficiency in state spending and report to lawmakers what can be cut. The DAVE Act named for Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek would create under him the Division of Accountability, Value and Efficiency. This division has been widely described as North Carolinas version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.Boliek told the senators that he was moving quickly to respond to ProPublicas reporting. Boliek said that he had read the article and put it on his teams whiteboard, and that he had established a rapid response team as a way for us to be proactively reactive even before the division is officially established. Boliek did not respond to questions about the nature and timing of the investigation sent to his office.Sen. Woodson Bradley, a Democratic member of the committee, said in the meeting that as a survivor of domestic violence, this story broke my heart. It broke my trust. Bradley said she had heard from numerous survivors across the state about the story.So Im asking publicly, before the DAVE Act goes to the Senate floor, to explain to all of North Carolina what went wrong here? How can we fix this? Bradley said, leading to the promises from the Republican senator and state auditor to look into the Human Trafficking Commission.Bradley said that after the meeting, The auditor gave me personal assurances that he or his team would look into this. Though the existence of such investigations is rarely made public, I followed up to ask for a formal investigation, and Im waiting for written confirmation.In the meeting, Bradley also raised concerns that the DAVE Act could be politicized, with investigations targeting agencies led by Democrats or serving them, as Democrats have accused DOGE of doing. She argued that the redirection of the $15 million to the Human Trafficking Commission had happened through a partisan maneuver in a past state budget and worried that the DAVE Act could be similarly skewed. It needs to be an honest and bipartisan review, Bradley said.Boliek promised to do his job in a nonpartisan way thats data-centric and based on what were actually getting as a return on investment on taxpayer dollars.In addition to the $15 million redirected to the Human Trafficking Commission, lawmakers gave the commission additional money specifically for faith-based groups. The group that received the most money from the commission $640,000 had been created by the former head of the state GOP about two months before it was named in the 2021 budget. In October 2024, the group wrote in its quarterly report to the court system that it had assisted only four victims, and its executive director said that at least three of those women had been given only food and gas and no long-term services. The executive director told ProPublica that as of March 2025 the group had helped about two dozen victims.A spokesperson for the court system declined to comment for this article, pointing ProPublica to its past statements.Our experience is that support for fighting human trafficking is nonpartisan in the legislature, the spokesperson had previously told ProPublica, as it is in the Judicial Branch.After the meeting, Jarvis told ProPublica that the DAVE Act was meant to address situations exactly like those with the Human Trafficking Commission.The goal of the DAVE division, Jarvis said, would be to get down into the details of how efficiently agencies are working to make sure they are operating the right way.

by Mark Olalde ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. President Donald Trumps executive orders shrinking the federal workforce make a notable exception for public safety staff, including those who fight wildland fires. But ongoing cuts, funding freezes and hiring pauses have weakened the nations already strained firefighting force by hitting support staff who play crucial roles in preventing and battling blazes.Most notably, about 700 Forest Service employees terminated in mid-Februarys Valentines Day massacre are red-card-carrying staffers, an agency spokesperson confirmed to ProPublica. These workers hold other full-time jobs in the agency, but theyve been trained to aid firefighting crews, such as by providing logistical support during blazes. They also assist with prescribed burns, which reduce flammable vegetation and prevent bigger fires, but the burns can only move forward if theres a certain number of staff available to contain them. (Non-firefighting employees without a red card cannot perform such tasks.)Red-card-carrying employees are the backbone of the firefighting force, and their loss will have a significant impact, said Frank Beum, a board member of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees who spent more than four decades with the agency and ran the Rocky Mountain Region. There are not enough primary firefighters to do the full job that needs to be done when we have a high fire season. ProPublica spoke to employees across the Forest Service which manages an area of land nearly twice the size of California including staff working in firefighting, facilities, timber sales and other roles, to learn how sweeping personnel changes are affecting the agencys ability to function. The employees said cuts, which have hit the agencys recreation, wildlife, IT and other divisions, show the Trump administration is shifting the agencys focus away from environmental stewardship and toward industry and firefighting.But notwithstanding Trumps stated guardrails, the cuts have affected the Forest Services more than 10,000-person-strong firefighting force. Hiring has slowed as there are fewer employees to get new workers up to speed and people are confused about which job titles can be hired. Other cuts have led to the cancellation of some training programs and prescribed burns.Its all really muddled in chaos, which is sort of the point, one Forest Service employee told ProPublica.This agency is no longer serving its mission, another added.The employees asked not to be named for fear of retribution. Get in TouchProPublica is reporting on the federal public lands grazing program. Do you work on grazing in the Forest Service? Reach out directly via Signal to Mark_Olalde.13 or email mark.olalde@propublica.org. Or find details on more ways to send us tips securely. The Forest Service did not respond to questions about the impact of cuts other than to clarify the number of terminated employees. The Forest Service spokesperson said about 2,000 probationary employees typically new staff and those who were recently promoted, groups that have fewer workplace protections were fired in February. Others with knowledge of the terminations, including a representative of a federal union and a Senate staffer, said the original number of terminated employees was 3,400 but that decreased, likely as workers were brought back in divisions such as timber sales.The White House and a representative from the Department of Government Efficiency did not respond to requests for comment.In early March, an independent federal board that reviews employees complaints compelled the Department of Agriculture, the Forest Services parent department, to reinstate more than 5,700 terminated probationary employees for 45 days. During their first weeks back on the payroll, many, including Forest Service personnel, were put on paid administrative leave and given no work.The administration and DOGE continue working toward layoffs amid court challenges to their moves. Word circulated throughout the Forest Service in March that departmental leadership had compiled lists containing the names of thousands of additional Forest Service employees who could be soon laid off, according to some workers.Additionally, understaffing in the agencys information technology unit is threatening firefighting operations, according to an agency employee. In December, the branch chief overseeing IT for the agencys fire and aviation division left the job. The Department of Agriculture posted the job opening, describing the division as providing support to the interagency wildland fire communitys technical needs. This includes overseeing software that firefighting crews use to request equipment everything from fire-resistant clothing to hoses from the agencys warehouses so first responders have uninterrupted access to lifesaving equipment.The day after Trumps inauguration, the Department of Agriculture removed the IT job posting. The position remains unfilled, according to an employee with knowledge of the situation.The hiring of new firefighters has also bogged down amid the deluge of sometimes-conflicting orders from the administration and DOGE, Forest Service staffers said.We are really, really behind onboarding our employees right now, a Forest Service firefighter told ProPublica.The staffing issues exacerbate challenges that predate the second Trump administration. To address a massive budget shortfall, the Forest Service under President Joe Biden last year paused the hiring of seasonal workers, except those working on wildfires. (Firefighters did see a permanent pay increase codified by Congress in its recently approved spending bill.)Still, many permanent employees, including many firefighters, work on a seasonal basis and are placed on an unpaid status for several months each year when there is less work. Uncertainty within the federal government has led many of these employees to give up on government work and look elsewhere.Some of our people have taken other jobs, one Forest Service employee told ProPublica. People arent going to wait around.Cuts to the agencys legal department will also curb its ability to care for the nations forests and fight wildfires, an employee told ProPublica. Large prescribed burns and other vegetation-removal projects require environmental review, a process that is often targeted with lawsuits, including by green groups concerned that the efforts go too far in removing trees.A smaller legal staff could lead to fewer prescribed burns, increasing the risk of catastrophic fires, according to a lawyer for the Department of Agriculture who worked on Forest Service projects. The lawyer was fired in the mid-February purge of probationary employees.Every time we lose a case out West, it means the Forest Service cant do a project, at least temporarily, the lawyer said.Theyre going to get sued more, and theyre going to lose more, said the lawyer, who was reinstated in March following the board ruling that the Department of Agricultures mass firings were illegal.The employee received back pay but was immediately put on administrative leave. Because of the cuts to support staff, it was several weeks before many of the returning employees were reissued government laptops and badges and allowed to do any work.Government efficiency at its finest, the lawyer said.

by Dave Altimari and Ginny Monk, The Connecticut Mirror This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Connecticut Mirror. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. This year, the head of Connecticuts Department of Motor Vehicles made a startling public admission, telling lawmakers that the agency, which regulates the towing industry, has never enforced a century-old law meant to protect drivers whose cars are towed.Under that law, if vehicle owners dont reclaim their towed cars or cant afford the fees, towing companies can sell them, but they are required to hold onto the proceeds for a year so the vehicle owner can claim the money. Tow companies are entitled to subtract their fees. But, even if the owner still doesnt come forward, the companies arent supposed to pocket the profits and must turn over any remaining money to the state.DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera told lawmakers the agency had never set up a process to accept deposits and wasnt tracking whether any money had come in.In fact, the DMV commissioner said he wasnt aware of that part of the statute until The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica brought it to his attention last fall as part of an investigation into how Connecticuts laws favor towing companies at the expense of drivers. After the storys publication, the state treasurers office audited its deposits and determined that no tow truck company or the DMV had ever turned over money from sales in the history of the law.In a statement, Guerrera said, This law has been in effect since the 1930s, yet unfortunately, there has never been a system in place to effectively monitor its implementation. Tony Guerrera, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, told lawmakers the state doesnt have a system to ensure that towing companies turn over the unclaimed profits from car sales. (Shahrzad Rasekh/The Connecticut Mirror) This failure has hurt both vehicle owners and the state itself: Owners dont have the opportunity to get money back that the law says should be theirs, and the state is missing out on both the potential payments and any interest or investment income that would accrue from the deposits.The unenforced law is another example of how the DMV has failed to oversee the towing industry, which sells thousands of cars following tows each year. In an extreme case, reported by the news organizations last month, a DMV employee was found to be part of a scheme to undervalue cars and sell them for thousands in profit, according to an internal DMV investigation. The employee denied he did anything wrong and still works at the DMV. In another, criminal court records show, a Norwalk towing company owner was caught driving a Mercedes-Benz he had towed, racking up nearly 6,000 miles in 22 months. The tower was charged with larceny and participated in a diversion program, after which his record was expunged. CT Mirror and ProPublica have spoken to dozens of people who had their cars towed and never saw them again. Many said they werent notified that their cars would be sold.Legislators are now aiming to create a system to make sure car owners or eventually the state get that money. A wide-ranging bill to overhaul the entire towing statute would require towing companies to submit documentation to the DMV of the sale price, any towing and storage fees they incurred and information on the vehicle and its owner within 15 days of a sale.The bill would also reform the process of escheating, or remitting money to the state. After reviewing the sale document, the DMV would require the tower to send a certified letter notifying the owner or lienholder of the sales proceeds. Instead of the general fund, leftover money would be sent to the states unclaimed property fund and appear on a publicly posted list.Guerrera said the DMV recently added more staff charged with overseeing the sales system and added a section to its website this year to ensure tow companies are aware of the requirement to turn money over to the state.During an interview late last year, Guerrera said that implementing the process wasnt the DMVs responsibility and that doing so was up to the state treasurers office. But the treasurer pushed back on that in a statement, saying it fell under DMV rules. After the initial CT Mirror and ProPublica story was published, Guerrera took more ownership.I am glad this has been brought to my attention and I am more than prepared to address this issue, ensuring that it is now being handled properly and in accordance with its intended purposes, he said in a statement.The Transportation Committee approved the bill on March 19, sending it to the House. Some lawmakers opposed it, arguing the bill was intended to target a few bad apples but adds unnecessary regulations on all towing companies.House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he expects lots of debate as the bill winds its way through the legislature, but he said the escheating process needs to be addressed.Theres got to be some accountability and transparency on that for sure, Ritter said. This is peoples property.Timothy Vibert, president of Towing and Recovery Professionals of Connecticut, said a past association president asked DMV officials about how to return funds to the state but received no answers.He said tow companies rarely make back their towing and storage fees when they sell cars and questioned why any tower would ever give the state money.There might have been a little bit of a windfall with one car or another, but theres been a whole lot of losers, so why does the state get a chance to take it? asked Vibert, who owns Farmington Motor Sports. He added that many towers would rather return the cars.What the towers are doing is keeping those cars and then just getting rid of them for $500 or $600, Vibert added. So were keeping the cars for, Im going to guess 45 days, maybe sometimes 50, depending on the paperwork, and then were just disposing of them because theyre not worth anything.House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said he thinks there usually isnt money left over after fees. I think, frankly, what usually happens is the tow companies wait for the towing and storage fees to exceed the value, so it never ends up going to the state or back to the individual, he said.Kristianne Hall experienced the fees piling up firsthand while she was bartending in downtown New Haven. The job posed a delicate balance. She had to work her shift and offer sufficient service to get good tips. But she also had to keep the parking meter fed. There were a few times Hall couldnt get to the meter, and parking tickets stacked up. Kristianne Hall said she should have received thousands of dollars after her car was towed and sold, but she never got anything. (Octavio Jones for ProPublica) In 2015, her car got booted and then towed when she couldnt afford to pay the $500 to get the device taken off. By the time she had that money saved, she said, the towing company quoted her $2,000 to get the vehicle back from its lot.Hall couldnt afford that and never saw the car again. She estimated the 2008 Chevrolet Aveo was worth about $5,000, which is supported by a Kelley Blue Book report, thousands more than what the towing company told her shed need to pay to get it back.Why was I not entitled to the rest of that money if I own that car outright? she asked.After the tow, Hall struggled to get to and from work. She had to take an Uber home because the city bus stopped running before her shifts ended. She quickly ran low on money and had to turn to her roommates to help her pay bills before she eventually moved in with her grandparents in Florida.I felt like a failure because I couldnt hack it, Hall said. It was a really, really hard and almost traumatic situation. Has Your Car Been Towed in Connecticut? Share Your Story and Help Us Investigate. Asia Fields contributed reporting.

Two boys sit on a mattress as they ride on their family car while s fleeing from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-04-13T07:19:59Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) Israel struck a hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday, forcing patients to evacuate as attacks intensified across the Strip.The pre-dawn strike hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, after Israel issued an evacuation warning, according to Gazas ministry of health. One patient died during the evacuation because medical staff were unable to provide urgent care, it said.The hospital, run by the Diocese of Jerusalem, was attacked on Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus entry into Jerusalem.Hours later, a separate strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killed at least seven people, according to staff at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. Israel said it struck a command and control center used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. It said prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm, including issuing warnings, and using precise munitions and aerial surveillance. The strikes came hours after Israels defense minister said that military activity would rapidly expand across Gaza and that people would have to evacuate from fighting zones. Israel also announced Saturday the completion of the Morag corridor, cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, with the military saying it would soon expand vigorously in most of the small coastal territory. Israeli authorities have vowed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms. Director of Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr. Fadel Naim, said they were warned of the attack before it was struck. In a post on X, he wrote that the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, impacting more than 100 patients and dozens of medical staff. The health ministry said the strike destroyed the ward for outpatients and laboratories and damaged the emergency ward. Medical facilities often come under fire in wars, but combatants usually depict such incidents as accidental or exceptional, since hospitals enjoy special protection under international law. In its 18-month campaign in Gaza, Israel has stood out by carrying out an open campaign on hospitals, besieging and raiding them, some several times, as well as hitting multiple others in strikes while accusing Hamas of using them as cover for its fighters.Last month Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis city, the largest in southern Gaza, killing two people and wounding others and causing a large fire, the territorys health ministry said. The facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel ended the ceasefire with a surprise wave of airstrikes.The war started after Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.More than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have so far been killed in Israels retaliatory offensive, according to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.___Magdy reported from Cairo. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto

Children wearing face masks wait to throw water during the first day of annual traditional water festival also known as "Thingyan", in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)2025-04-13T07:23:14Z BANGKOK (AP) Several Southeast Asian countries kicked off their annual water festival holiday on Sunday, but in the wake of a devastating earthquake last month, Myanmar is missing out on the fun.The holiday is an occasion for merrymaking during what is usually the hottest time of the year. In Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, millions normally take part in a mix of raucous play with uninhibited splashing of water on friends and strangers alike, and sober ceremonies to show respect to ones elders.Temperatures this time of year can creep above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Many who have moved to cities for work return to their native villages and towns to reunite with their families. The celebration is normally spread over several days, culminating on the actual New Years Day.In Myanmar, the holiday is called Thingyan. But this year, the country is struggling to recover from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28 that devastated its central heartland, killing more than 3,600 people and leveling structures from new condos to ancient pagodas. Central Myanmar was shaken again on Sunday by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake in one of the biggest aftershocks since the March 28 temblor. Even before last months quake, Myanmar was reeling from a repressive military that seized power in 2021 and is carrying out a brutal war on the pro-democracy forces trying to unseat it. In 2020, the pandemic also quashed celebrations. Still, the holiday offered a brief respite from the grim struggles of daily life in one of the regions poorer countries, and this is the first year Myanmar could celebrate Thingyans inclusion on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, an honor attained last December.A few days after the quake, the military government announced that this years festival would be observed peacefully in pursuit of traditional culture and would not include joyous singing and dancing, due to a nationwide grieving period. People are free to celebrate privately and quietly, and items related to the festival, including water guns, are being sold in malls and stores. However, there is no government-organized entertainment. In Yangon, the countrys largest city, major festival pavilions and decorations that were already being built in front of the City Hall were dismantled.Peoples Square, a major celebration spot in Yangon, will not host the festival this year, but a traditional charity feast will be held without music and dance, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Thursday.In Yangon, the downtown area near City Hall was quiet, in sharp contrast to many past occasions.The only visible signs of the holiday were the sights of children playing with water in the streets of residential neighborhoods, and mostly elderly people going to Buddhist monasteries and pagodas for traditional prayers.In the capital, Naypyitaw, state-media reported Saturday that a quiet celebration of the holidays recognition by UNESCO would include events such as applying Thanaka, a yellowish-white paste made from ground tree bark as a traditional natural cosmetic, gently washing the heads and cutting the nails of elderly people as a gesture of respect, and donating food. Neighboring Thailand, where the holiday is called Songkran, was expected to celebrate with revelry as usual. It sees a mass exodus of the workforce in the capital, Bangkok, return to their upcountry home towns, often extending what is officially a three-day holiday into an entire working week.Foreign tourists join locals in almost orgiastic water fights, especially in Bangkoks Khao San Road backpackers district. Water pistols are merely small arms. It is not unusual to see huge buckets of water dumped on any convenient target. Moving vehicles serve as both platforms and targets for attacks.The holiday is historically pegged to a seasonal movement of the sun, critical to largely agrarian societies. The water hijinks originated in olden days as a ceremony to welcome rainy season. A traditional ritual still practiced by many involves cleansing images of the Buddha and washing the hands and feet of elders. There is a darker side to the goings-on, as well. Thailand already has one of the worlds highest rates of traffic fatalities, which spikes during Songkran with so many on the move and often inebriated.Cambodia, where the holiday is called Choul Chnam Thmey, and Laos, where it is Pi Mai Lao, have similar celebrations, generally smaller in scale and less raucous than those in Thailand.-Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.

by Megan OMatz ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. When Susan Crawford, Wisconsins newly elected Supreme Court justice, took the stage in Madison on Tuesday night to claim victory, four women flanked her, beaming, hands on one anothers shoulders. One had her fist raised in triumph.The supporters were four justices now serving on the states Supreme Court, representing the courts liberal faction. Pictures and video of the moment captured the overt display of partisanship in a contest for the states highest court.Missing from the scene: the courts three conservative leaning justices. About 60 miles east, one of them, Rebecca Bradley, joined the election event of the opposing candidate, former Republican Attorney Gen. Brad Schimel, where she expressed disappointment that he lost and blamed liberals for politicizing the court. I also think the way Judge Crawford ran her race was disgusting, Bradley said, according to the news site The Bulwark. Bradley accused the Democratic Party of buying another justice.Bradley added: It needs to stop. Otherwise, there is no point in having a court. This is what the Legislature is supposed to do, to make political decisions based on policy. Thats not what a courts supposed to do, and unfortunately, were going to see this happening for at least the next several years.Officially the Supreme Court race was nonpartisan. Crawford and Schimel did not run with an R or D beside their name. Wisconsin judges take an oath to be faithful to the state constitution, to administer justice without favoritism and to act impartially.But the spectacularly high-profile Wisconsin contest was undeniably political. The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice estimated the spending topped $100 million making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Large sums came from political action committees and shadowy third-party groups that funneled money into TV ads, mailers, canvassing and other assistance.President Donald Trump, taking a keen interest in the race, endorsed Schimel and held a tele-rally for him. His close adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, funneled roughly $25 million into the race, via his super PAC, an associated dark-money entity and direct party donations. The outlays included offers to pay Schimel volunteers $50 for every photo of a voter outside a polling station, as well as million-dollar checks as prizes to three supporters. At one point in the race, Schimel posed for photos in front of a giant inflatable likeness of Trump.On the other side, the Democratic Party endorsed Crawford and steered over $11 million to her campaign from contributions made to the party by donors that included billionaires such as George Soros and Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. On social media in the waning days of the campaign, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton urged support for Crawford. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler attended Crawfords victory party in Madison.Wisconsins raw partisan display reflects a growing focus on the importance of these courts in shaping policy especially on hot-button issues like abortion, redistricting and voting rights. At the same time, it feeds a growing concern nationally about the independence of state high courts. Some government watchdogs worry that the blatant partisanship around who serves on these courts is increasing distrust by the public in judicial decisions, jeopardizing the system of checks and balances needed in a functioning democracy.The targeting of state supreme courts by special interests and ultrawealthy individuals, some court observers say, can leave the public with the impression that justices are no different than any senator or representative or governor: devoted to serving their political allies. At that point, will court orders no longer carry the moral weight and respect needed to carry them out?At the national level, a federal judge is considering whether the Trump administration defied a court order to halt planes deporting immigrants to a prison in El Salvador, prompting Trump to call for the judges impeachment. In Wisconsin, meanwhile, Musk exhorted voters to sign a petition against activist judges.Especially at this moment, when courts are being tested and are serving as a crucial bulwark in our democracy, it is very important that the public be able to trust them and keep demanding that other elected officials follow court decisions, said Douglas Keith, senior counsel for the Brennan Center, a policy institute that studies judicial elections and advocates for a fair and independent judiciary.Similar to how U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been subject to political maneuvering, state courts in recent years have seen battles over ideological control. Billionaire Elon Musk, right, spent roughly $25 million in an attempt to get former Republican Attorney Gen. Brad Schimel elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, including handing out million-dollar checks to supporters. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) In North Carolina, where justices run under partisan labels, the Republican-led Supreme Court blocked the certification of a Democrat elected to the bench in November, while the GOP candidate challenges the validity of more than 60,000 ballots cast in the race. On Friday, the states lower court of appeals, in a 2-1 decision led by Republicans, ordered those voters to provide their drivers license or Social Security number within 15 days to demonstrate their eligibility to vote. Democrats vowed to challenge the ruling in front of the state Supreme Court.And in Iowa, after the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that the state constitution protected the right to an abortion, the Legislature changed who can serve on the states judicial nominating commission. New justices, appointed by the states Republican governor, in 2022 reconsidered the abortion issue and reversed course, also citing the constitution.The debate over money in Wisconsins state Supreme Court races goes back more than 15 years, when the state enacted public financing for such contests to limit spending. But that did not last long. Republicans threw out spending reforms in 2015, and the money devoted to these races has grown exponentially.In Wisconsin eight years ago, a group of 54 retired judges were so worried about the influence of money on the work of the judiciary that they petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They sought to amend the Code of Judicial Conduct to require parties in lawsuits to disclose campaign contributions over $250 and impose recusal standards in cases involving sizable donations.As money in elections becomes more predominant, citizens rightfully ask whether justice is for sale, the petition stated.The state Supreme Court voted 5-2 to deny the petition, with conservatives, including current Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley, lined up against it on constitutional grounds.Michael Kang, a professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, has studied the effect of campaign donations on state supreme court decisions and found that judges elected in competitive races were more likely to rule in favor of business litigants as the amount of campaign donations they received from corporate interests increased. His research, over many years, also found that contributions from political parties correlated with subsequent judicial voting in election disputes over issues such as ballot counting or candidate eligibility.But Kangs work went further by examining judges barred from running again because of mandatory retirement ages. He found that the effect of money drops off for lame duck judges who are spared from having to raise money to run again.You can go a long way toward addressing the role of money, even with judicial elections, by giving judges one long term, but they're not eligible for reelection at the end, he said at a recent panel discussion. And that, to an important degree, ought to reduce the influence of money.In Wisconsin, Crawfords victory cements liberal control of the court for the next three years.Beside her on stage in Madison were liberal justices: Jill Karofsky, Rebecca Dallet, Ann Walsh Bradley, who is retiring, and Janet Protasiewicz, who was elected in 2023 with the help of $10 million from the Democratic Party. That contest broke spending records, at roughly $56 million, and shifted the balance of the court to the left after 15 years of conservative dominance.The courts current session ends in June, and Crawfords swearing in will be in August. In the future, the seven-member court is likely to confront issues with huge implications for both parties or their supporters.Crawfords victory signals that Wisconsin likely will continue to permit access to abortion, which now is legal up to 20 weeks in the pregnancy. Anti-abortion advocates backed Schimel, and had he won, it was assumed that Wisconsin could revert to an 1849 law that outlawed most abortions. Over a decade ago, as a county district attorney, he signed on to a legal white paper advocating support for the 1849 provision, which does not allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest or protecting the mothers health. Crawford, as a private attorney, fought for abortion rights.Democrats at some point are widely expected to bring another lawsuit challenging the states gerrymandered congressional maps. Wisconsin voters are evenly divided politically, but representation in the U.S. House is skewed to favor the GOP. Six seats are held by Republicans and two by Democrats. Last year, the liberal-controlled court didnt fall in lockstep with some expectations about its political leanings, handing Republicans a small victory in declining to consider a Democratic lawsuit challenging those maps.In other states, justices who once could largely toil above the political fray have paid a political price for their decisions.In Ohio in 2022, Republican lawmakers briefly toyed with impeaching Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, a fellow Republican, after she sided with three Democrats in repeatedly overturning the states legislative maps, which had been drawn by Republicans. She later retired.In Oklahoma last November, voters tossed out Yvonne Kauger, who had served over 30 years on the bench. A campaign to remove her and two colleagues, fueled by $2 million in dark money, painted them as too liberal, noting they were appointed by Democratic governors.Is it any surprise all three are activist liberal judges, killing common sense lawsuit reform, adding millions to the cost of doing business, padding the pockets of trial lawyers? one video ad blared.Justices traditionally dont campaign in Oklahoma retention elections, which Kauger told a news outlet left the judges helpless to defend themselves. I am saddened and alarmed that the system is being used to attack the independent judiciary based on dissatisfaction with a few specially selected opinions, she said.In Wisconsin, ads from both sides painted unflattering portraits of the candidates. Crawford was labeled a radical liberal judge who gave a light sentence to a child molester. Schimel was accused of giving plea deals to despicable criminals. Both were attacked for their views on abortion.Musk and Trump, meanwhile, depicted Schimels installment on the court as a vital step in carrying out Trumps agenda and keeping GOP control of Congress.In Green Bay, two days before the election, Musk told supporters the state Supreme Court race is a vote for which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans now control the chamber by only 7 votes. Redrawing congressional lines in Wisconsin could make some seats more competitive for Democrats.That is why it is so significant. And whichever party controls the House, you know, it, to a significant degree, controls the country, which then steers the course of Western civilization, Musk told the crowd.In the end, Crawford won with 55% of the vote.Today, Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections, and our Supreme Court, and Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, Crawford told her supporters. Our courts are not for sale.Retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer said he does not like big money in politics at any level, from county commissioner to state Supreme Court. But after decades of wrestling with the issue hes concluded that spending controls are unworkable, as loopholes invariably open.I view it much like a water bed, he said. You push down here and it pops up over there.

by Renee Dudley ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. A few weeks ago, my colleague Doris Burke sent me a story from The New York Times that gave us both deja vu.The piece reported that Starlink, the satellite internet provider operated by Elon Musks SpaceX, had, in the words of Trump administration officials, donated internet service to improve wireless connectivity and cell reception at the White House. The donation puzzled some former officials quoted in the story. But it immediately struck us as the potential Trump-era iteration of a tried-and-true business maneuver wed spent months reporting on last year. In that investigation, we focused on deals between Microsoft and the Biden administration. At the heart of the arrangements was something that most consumers intuitively understand: Free offers usually have a catch.Microsoft began offering the federal government free cybersecurity upgrades and consulting services in 2021, after President Joe Biden pressed tech companies to help bolster the nations cyber defenses. Our investigation revealed that the ostensibly altruistic White House Offer, as it was known inside Microsoft, belied a more complex, profit-driven agenda. The company knew the proverbial catch was that, once the free trial period ended, federal customers who had accepted the offer and installed the upgrades would effectively be locked into keeping them because switching to a competitor at that point would be costly and cumbersome.Former Microsoft employees told me the companys offer was akin to a drug dealer hooking users with free samples. If we give you the crack, and you take the crack, youll enjoy the crack, one said. And then when it comes time for us to take the crack away, your end users will say, Dont take it away from me. And youll be forced to pay me.What Microsoft predicted internally did indeed come to pass. When the free trials ended, vast swaths of the federal government kept the upgrades and began paying the higher subscription fees, unlocking billions in future sales for the company. Microsoft has said all agreements with the government were pursued ethically and in full compliance with federal laws and regulations and that its only goal during this period was to enhance the security posture of federal agencies who were continuously being targeted by sophisticated nation-state threat actors. But experts on government contracting told me the companys maneuvers were legally tenuous. They circumvented the competitive bidding process that is a bedrock of government procurement, shutting rivals out of competition for lucrative federal business and, by extension, stifling innovation in the industry.After reading the Times story about Starlinks donation to the White House, I checked back in with those experts.It doesnt matter if it was Microsoft last year or Starlink today or another company tomorrow, said Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for government procurement law studies at George Washington University Law School. Anytime youre doing this, its a back door around the competition processes that ensure we have the best goods and services from the best vendors.Typically, in a competitive bidding process, the government solicits proposals from vendors for the goods and services it wants to buy. Those vendors then submit their proposals to the government, which theoretically chooses the best option in terms of quality and cost. Giveaways circumvent that entire process. Yet, to hear Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tell it, the Trump administration wants to not only normalize such donations but encourage them across Washington.Last month, during an appearance on the Silicon Valley podcast All-In, he floated his concept of a gratis vendor who gives product to the government. In the episode, released just a few days after The New York Times published its Starlink story, Lutnick said such a donor would not have to go through the whole process of becoming a proper vendor because youre giving it to us. Later, he added: You dont have to sign the conflict form and all this stuff because youre not working for the government. Youre just giving stuff to the government. You are literally giving of yourself. Youre not looking for anything. Youre not taking any money.Since President Donald Trump took office in January, Musk, who is classified as an unpaid special government employee, has made a show of providing his services to the president and products from his companies to the government at no cost to the taxpayer. The White House donation was just the latest move. In February, he directed his company SpaceX to ship 4,000 terminals, at no cost, to the Federal Aviation Administration for installation of its Starlink satellite internet service.During our Microsoft investigation, salespeople told me that within the company the explicit end game was converting government users to paid upgraded subscriptions after the free trial and ultimately gaining market share for Azure, its cloud platform. Its unclear what the end game is for Musk and Starlink. Neither responded to emailed questions.Federal law has long attempted to restrict donations to the government, in large part to maintain oversight on spending.At least as far back as the 19th century, executive branch personnel were entering into contracts without seeking the necessary funding from Congress, which was supposed to have the power of the purse. Lawmakers didnt want taxpayers to be on the hook for spending that Congress hadnt appropriated, so they passed the Antideficiency Act, a version of which remains in effect today. One portion restricted voluntary services to guard against a supposed volunteer later demanding government payment.But in 1947, the General Accounting Office (now called the Government Accountability Office), which offers opinions on fiscal laws, made an exemption: Providing what became known as gratuitous services would be allowed as long as the parties agree in writing and in advance that the donor waives payment.Microsoft used that exemption to transfer the consulting services it valued at $150 million to its government customers, entering into so-called gratuitous services agreements. To give away the actual cybersecurity products, the company provided existing federal customers with a 100% discount for up to a year. It is unclear whether gratuitous services agreements were in place for Musks giveaways. The White House and the FAA did not respond to written questions. Neither did SpaceX. An official told The New York Times last month that a lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsels Office had vetted the Starlink donation to the White House.For the experts I consulted, the written agreements might help companies comply with the letter of the law, but certainly not with the spirit of it. Just because something is technically legal does not make it right, said Eve Lyon, an attorney who worked for four decades as a procurement specialist in the federal government.The consequences of accepting a giveaway, no matter how its transferred, can be far reaching, Lyon said, and government officials might not grasp the perniciousness at the outset.Tillipman agreed, saying the risk for ballooning obligations is particularly pronounced when it comes to technology and IT. Users become reliant on one provider, leading to vendor lock-in, she said. Its too soon to tell what will come of Starlinks donations, but Microsofts White House Offer provides a preview of whats possible. In line with its goal at the outset, the worlds biggest software company continues to expand its footprint across the federal government while sidestepping competition. A source from last years Microsoft investigation recently called to catch up. He told me that, with the government locked into Microsoft, rivals continue to be shut out of federal contracting opportunities. When I asked for an example, he shared a 2024 document from the Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA, which handles IT for the Department of Defense. The document described an exception to fair opportunity in the procurement of a variety of new IT services, saying the $5.2 million order will be issued directly to Microsoft Corporation. The justification? Switching from Microsoft to another provider would result in additional time, effort, costs, and performance impacts. DISA did not respond to emailed questions. Doris Burke contributed research.

Mohammed Othman, a Palestinian survivor of the April 13, 1975 attack on a bus carrying Palestinians that sparked Lebanon's civil war, prays over the graves of those killed that day, at the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)2025-04-13T05:23:53Z BEIRUT (AP) It was an ordinary day in Beirut. In one part of Lebanons capital, a church was inaugurated, with the leader of the Christian Phalange party there. In another, Palestinian factions held a military parade. Phalangists and Palestinians had clashed, again, that morning.What happened next on April 13, 1975, would change the course of Lebanon, plunging it into 15 years of civil war. It would kill about 150,000 people, leave 17,000 missing and lead to foreign intervention. Beirut became synonymous with snipers, kidnappings and car bombs.Lebanon has never fully grappled with the wars legacy, and in many ways it has never fully recovered, 50 years later. The government on Sunday will mark the anniversary with a minute of silence. The massacreUnrest had been brewing. Palestinian militants had begun launching attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory. Leftist groups and many Muslims in Lebanon sympathized with the Palestinian cause. Christians and some other groups saw the Palestinian militants as a threat.At the time, Mohammad Othman was 16, a Palestinian refugee in the Tel al-Zaatar camp east of Beirut.Three buses had left camp that morning, carrying students like him as well as militants from a coalition of hardline factions that had broken away from the Palestinian Liberation Organization. They passed through the Ein Rummaneh neighborhood without incident and joined the military parade. The buses were supposed to return together, but some participants were tired after marching and wanted to go back early. They hired a small bus from the street, Othman said. Thirty-three people packed in.They were unaware that earlier that day, small clashes had broken out between Palestinians and Phalange Party members guarding the church in Ein Rummaneh. A bodyguard for party leader Pierre Gemayel had been killed.Suddenly the road was blocked, and gunmen began shooting at the bus from all sides, Othman recalled. Some passengers had guns they had carried in the parade, Othman said, but they were unable to draw them quickly in the crowded bus.A camp neighbor fell dead on top of him. The mans 9-year-old son was also killed. Othman was shot in the shoulder.The shooting didnt stop for about 45 minutes until they thought everyone was dead, he said. Othman said paramedics who eventually arrived had a confrontation with armed men who tried to stop them from evacuating him.Twenty-two people were killed.Conflicting narrativesSome Lebanese say the men who attacked the bus were responding to an assassination attempt against Gemayel by Palestinian militants. Others say the Phalangists had set up an ambush intended to spark a wider conflict.Marwan Chahine, a Lebanese-French journalist who wrote a book about the events of April 13, 1975, said he believes both narratives are wrong.Chahine said he found no evidence of an attempt to kill Gemayel, who had left the church by the time his bodyguard was shot. And he said the attack on the bus appeared to be more a matter of trigger-happy young men than a planned operation. There had been past confrontations, but I think this one took this proportion because it arrived after many others and at a point when the authority of the state was very weak, Chahine said.The Lebanese army had largely ceded control to militias, and it did not respond to the events in Ein Rummaneh that day. The armed Palestinian factions had been increasingly prominent after the PLO was driven out of Jordan in 1970, and Lebanese Christians had also increasingly armed themselves.The Kataeb would say that the Palestinians were a state within a state, Chahine said, using the Phalange Partys Arabic name. But the reality was, you had two states in a state. Nobody was following any rules.Selim Sayegh, a member of parliament with the Kataeb Party who was 14 and living in Ein Rummaneh when the fighting started, said he believes war had been inevitable since the Lebanese army backed down from an attempt to take control of Palestinian camps two years earlier.Sayegh said men at the checkpoint that day saw a bus full of Palestinians and thought that is the second wave of the operation that started with the killing of Gemayels bodyguard. The war unfolded quickly from there. Alliances shifted. New factions formed. Israel and Syria occupied parts of the country. The United States intervened, and the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks were targeted by bombings. Beirut was divided between Christian and Muslim sectors.In response to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, a Shiite militant group was formed in the early 1980s with Iranian backing: Hezbollah. It would grow to be arguably the most powerful armed non-state group in the region.Hezbollah was the only militant group allowed to keep its weapons after Lebanons civil war, given special status as a resistance force because Israel was still in southern Lebanon. After the group was badly weakened last year in a war with Israel that ended with a ceasefire, there has been increasing pressure for it to disarm. The survivorsOthman said he became a fighter because there were no longer schools or anything else to do. Later he would disarm and became a pharmacist.He remembers being bewildered when a peace accord in 1989 ushered in the end of civil war: All this war and bombing, and in the end they make some deals and its all over.Of the 10 others who survived the bus attack, he said, three were killed a year later when Christian militias attacked the Tel al-Zaatar camp. Another was killed in a 1981 bombing at the Iraqi embassy. A couple died of natural causes, one lives in Germany, and he has lost track of the others.The bus has also survived, as a reminder.Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the attack, it was towed from storage on a farm to the private Nabu Museum in Heri, north of Beirut. Visitors took photos with it and peered into bullet holes in its rusted sides.Ghida Margie Fakih, a museum spokesperson, said the bus will remain on display indefinitely as a wake-up call to remind Lebanese not to go down the path of conflict again.The bus changed the whole history in Lebanon and took us somewhere that nobody wanted to go, she said. ABBY SEWELL Sewell is the Associated Press news director for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. She joined the AP in 2022 but has been based in the region since 2016, reporting and guiding coverage on some of its most significant news stories. twitter mailto

Waving EU and party flags Hungarian demonstrators protest against a law that effectively bans LGBTQ+ Pride events and restricts the right to assembly in the downtown of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP)2025-04-13T06:27:09Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hungarian lawmakers are preparing to vote on a constitutional amendment viewed by many critics as both a crackdown on the freedoms of assembly and expression and the most recent move by the populist government to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ communities. The amendment, which will almost certainly be passed on Monday by the two-thirds majority of Prime Minister Viktor Orbns nationalist Fidesz party, would permanently codify a ban on public events held by LGBTQ+ communities including the popular Pride event that draws thousands annually in the capital, Budapest.It will also provide a constitutional basis for denying the gender identities or sexual characteristics of minority groups, and allow for some Hungarians to have their citizenship suspended if they are deemed to pose a threat to Hungarys security or sovereignty. Heres what the amendment will do, what it entails for LGBTQ+ Hungarians, and for some of the basic rights of all citizens in the Central European nation. A ban on LGBTQ+ events?The amendment, the 15th to Hungarys constitution since it was unilaterally authored and approved by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition in 2011, gives legal support to a law fast-tracked in March that made it an offense to hold or attend events that violate the countrys contentious child protection legislation, which prohibits the depiction or promotion of homosexuality to minors aged under 18.That law also allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify individuals that attend prohibited events such as Budapest Pride and can come with fines for violators of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546).Some legal experts have argued that such a restriction on assembly rights violates Hungarys constitution. In order to bring the Pride ban in line with constitutional protections, the amendment declares that childrens rights to moral, physical and spiritual development supersede any other fundamental right other than the right to life including that to peacefully assemble. The amendment also declares that a persons sex at birth is a biological characteristic and can be either male or female an expansion of an earlier amendment that prohibits same-sex adoption by stating that a mother is a woman and a father is a man. This declaration will provide a constitutional basis for denying the gender identities of transgender people, as well as ignoring the existence of intersex individuals, who are born with atypical sexual characteristics that do not align with binary conceptions of male and female. The human rights agency of the United Nations has written that up to 1.7% of the global population is born with intersex traits. The amendment, as well as previous legislation targeting LGBTQ+ communities, is reminiscent of similar restrictions against sexual minorities in Russia. Orbn, seen as Russian President Vladimir Putins closest ally in the European Union, has in recent years prohibited same-sex adoption and banned any LGBTQ+ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to minors.His government argues that its policies are designed to protect children from sexual propaganda, but critics view them as part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and mobilize his conservative base. Citizenship could be suspendedHungary has taken vigorous steps in recent months to protect its national sovereignty from what it claims are foreign efforts to influence its politics or even topple Orbns government.The self-described illiberal leader has accelerated his longstanding efforts to crack down on critics such as media outlets and groups devoted to civil rights and anti-corruption, which he says have undermined Hungarys sovereignty by receiving financial assistance from international donors.In a speech laden with conspiracy theories in March, Orbn compared people who work for such groups to insects, and pledged to eliminate the entire shadow army of foreign-funded politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-NGOs and political activists. As part of the governments sovereignty protection efforts, the newest constitutional amendment will make it possible to suspend the Hungarians citizenship if they are deemed to pose a threat to public order, public security or national security. Such suspensions would apply to Hungarian citizens who also hold citizenship of another country that is not a member of the EU or European Economic Area. Such suspensions may last for a maximum of 10 years. This is fascismThe passage of the law banning Pride set off a wave of protests in Hungary with thousands taking to the streets to demand the restoration of assembly rights. Demonstrators employed the tactic of blocking bridges and major thoroughfares in Budapest, something Orbn later said would be prohibited by new legislation.Reacting to the ban on Pride, local organizers wrote: This is not child protection, this is fascism.On Monday, when lawmakers vote to approve the constitutional amendment, the opposition Momentum party will attempt to blockade the parliament and prevent the vote from taking place. The party accused Orbns government of being an intimidating and cowardly power, writing on social media: Lets collectively prevent them from leading us down the Putin road and depriving us of our freedom.Another protest is expected after the passage of the amendment. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group, has said the planned amendment is a significant escalation in the Governments efforts to suppress dissent and weaken human rights protection.The group, along with rights groups the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Httr Society, have urged the European Commission to launch a procedure against Hungarys government, arguing the amendment and other recent legislation breaches EU law. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto

by Kayla Guo, The Texas Tribune ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. Attorney General Ken Paxton has spent much of his career, which has taken him to the heights of Republican politics, trailed by a raft of criminal and civil accusations.But in the final days of the Biden administration, The Associated Press reported Thursday, the Justice Department defused the most serious legal threat he faced a federal criminal probe into allegations of corruption by declining to prosecute and effectively ending the investigation.With the investigation over, Paxton has nearly cleared his crowded slate of career-threatening legal battles, just as he gears up for a likely 2026 primary run against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.The end of this investigation is both politically and personally a huge boon for Ken Paxton, said Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. Paxton can point to that and say, You see, even under a Democratic administration, they didnt feel that there was anything there that merited moving forward.Two sources familiar with the issue, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, told the AP of the Justice Departments decision, including that it was made while President Joe Biden was still in office. The DOJ did not immediately respond to questions about confirming the AP report. The development extends a multiyear string of legal victories vindicating the once-embattled Republican. It underscores Paxtons durability through all manner of political, personal and legal troubles and helps burnish his reputation among the right wing of his party as a fighter who, like President Donald Trump, has defied numerous efforts by his detractors to take him down.It really sets up those parallels to Trump that will play very well among the Republican primary electorate, Wilson said. Paxton is a political survivor. People have written his obituary a couple of times, and he has really forged this loyal base among the grassroots activists in the Republican Party.Paxtons attorney Dan Cogdell said he learned of the outcome from the AP because the Justice Department never notified him of its decision not to prosecute.The fact that they declined prosecution is not a surprise, Cogdell said. I dont really think they ever had a case to begin with.There was little concern that the case would continue under the Trump administrations Justice Department, given Paxtons close alliance with the president.In January, the Texas Supreme Court tossed the State Bar of Texas lawsuit against Paxton over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden.Prosecutors last year dropped felony securities fraud charges against Paxton just three weeks before he was set to face trial, after he agreed to perform 100 hours of community service, take 15 hours of legal ethics courses and pay $271,000 in restitution to those he was accused of defrauding more than a decade ago. The deal ended a nearly nine-year-old felony case that had dogged Paxton since his early days in office. And when the state Legislature sought to impeach him for the same allegations of corruption that spurred the federal investigation, the Texas Senate acquitted him of 16 charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction charges that more than 70% of his own party had supported in the House. Paxtons last outstanding legal battle is a whistleblower lawsuit filed against him by four of the former senior aides who reported him to the FBI, who allege that he fired them improperly after they spoke out. The Texas Supreme Court said in November that Paxton would not have to sit for a deposition in the lawsuit another win for the attorney general, who has managed to avoid testifying about the corruption allegations through the civil lawsuit, his impeachment trial and the federal investigation. Paxton last year said he would no longer contest the facts of the case in order to end what he called wasteful litigation and a distraction for his office.The whistleblowers are now waiting on a Travis County district judge to rule on a settlement.DOJ clearly let political cowardice impact its decision. The whistleblowers all strong conservatives did the right thing and continue to stand by their allegations of Paxtons criminal conduct, TJ Turner and Tom Nesbitt, attorneys for some of the whistleblowers, told the AP in a statement. On Thursday, Paxton referenced the end of the federal investigation to take a swing at Cornyn, who has been critical of Paxtons legal controversies and steadfast in his bid for reelection.This former TX Supreme Court Justice and TX Attorney General ignored the rule of law, the Constitution, and innocent until proven guilty while standing with the corrupt Biden DOJ cheering on the bogus witch hunts against both me and President Trump, Paxton posted on social media in reference to Cornyn, adding, Care to comment now, John?In response to an attempt by Paxton to tag Cornyn as insufficiently conservative and supportive of Trump, Cornyn had said, Hard to run from prison, Ken. The likely matchup could prove to be Cornyns toughest primary battle yet as Texas Republican primary voters lurch toward the right and his popularity among GOP voters drops from 2020 highs.Among Republican-identifying voters, according to polling by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, Cornyn has a 49% approval rating, compared to Paxtons 62% approval rating. Texas other senator, Ted Cruz, meanwhile, has an approval rating of 78% among Republicans.Still, Cornyn, who has trounced past challengers, is a prodigious fundraiser and wields widespread influence as a senior senator. He has also worked to smooth over his relationship with the hard-right in Texas and tout his work in the Senate in support of Trump.On Thursday, Cornyn declined to comment on Paxton or the Justice Department decision not to prosecute, saying he was not going to have any comments about that until hes an announced candidate. Then Ill have a lot to say.In response to a request for comment, Cornyns campaign, meanwhile, sent an endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council that was announced Thursday.Cruz declined to comment. Fundamentally, hes a fighter, and hes also a risk-taker, said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist and the former Travis County GOP chair, describing Paxtons position heading into a potential campaign with the federal investigation behind him. What I think this whole episode taught him is, trust your instincts and never quit. The psychology of that has to be very powerful for him in approaching this race. Katharine Wilson of The Texas Tribune and Vianna Davila with ProPublica contributed reporting.

by Stacy St. Clair, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Amid a standout season last year, University of Illinois mens basketball stars found themselves in high demand as they reached the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.Three players appeared in a commercial for a local BMW dealership. One did an Instagram post for TurboTax.Another promoted an apartment complex near the Urbana-Champaign campus. But not one of those endorsements which are allowed now that student-athletes can profit from their personal brands was reported to the university, as state law requires. In fact, the entire Illini team reported just $9,100 in name, image and likeness deals during the 2023-24 season, according to records obtained by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica. By comparison, the average earnings reported for a male basketball player in the Big Ten and the three other biggest college conferences were more than $145,000 during that school year, according to data that institutions voluntarily provided to the NCAA.The Illini basketball teams missing disclosures reflect an indifference to documenting NIL deals across the athletic department, the news organizations found. Athletes from 20 sports combined have reported earning only about $1.2 million in three-plus years, compared with the $20 million Ohio State Universitys football team reportedly received in a single year, or a University of Missouri quarterback who alone is estimated to have made more than $1 million in NIL deals.By shrugging its shoulders at Illinois reporting requirements, the university is failing to compile a complete picture of how its students some of them still teenagers are navigating a relatively new terrain rife with legal, moral and financial pitfalls. I find that maddening and irresponsible, said Bill Carter, founder of Student-Athlete Insights, which provides NIL consulting services. It seems unethical to me to allow 18-to-23-year-olds to participate in something life-altering like this but provide no structure, no support, no direction. A University of Illinois cheerleader rallies fans at the start of a womens basketball game in February. The lead sponsor of the states law on college athletes name, image and likeness deals said one goal of the mandatory reporting provision was to examine potential gender gaps in compensation. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Officials from the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics say they inform the schools athletes of their responsibilities but acknowledge they do not enforce compliance, despite the Illinois law requiring athletes to disclose all deals to their schools. The officials downplayed those failures by asserting that reporting is spotty nationwide.Athletes should just disclose the deals, but both here and across the country, they just kind of dont really do that, Kamron Cox, a U of I assistant athletic director and the schools NIL specialist, said in an interview.In a three-page response to questions, the athletic department acknowledged students are underreporting their earnings and did not dispute any of the figures in this story. The statement noted it is students responsibility to report NIL agreements and said the university has fulfilled its obligations under the law by paying for an app that allows athletes to do so. It called the states disclosure rules which the university had advocated for ineffective, noting the law carries no penalties and arguing that punishing players internally would harm the institutions reputation. Our program, like most across the country, is doing its best to navigate in uncharted waters, the statement said. It contended that 70% of NIL deals nationwide go unreported, citing one industry insider whose estimates have varied. Blind adherence to an untenable process does not appear to be the expectation of the state, the NCAA, or our industry.Administrators also said they do not know how much money Illini basketball players or any of the student-athletes are receiving through NIL, even though todays collegiate marketplace requires understanding the amounts needed to recruit and retain star athletes. That lack of knowledge is not possible and its not believable, Carter said.More than 20 states, including Illinois, passed laws requiring athletes to disclose their deals after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled four years ago that collegiate competitors have the right to make money. ProPublica and the Tribune obtained records of the deals reported by U of I athletes from July 2021 through October 2024 via the Freedom of Information Act, offering the public a rare look at the lack of accountability in the big-money world of college sports. Michael LeRoy, a University of Illinois professor who has studied name, image and likeness deals in collegiate athletics, said he wonders why the Illinois athletic department hasnt done more to ensure compliance with NIL reporting requirements. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) The records the U of I provided to the Tribune and ProPublica included 1,037 deals across all sports with the names of the athletes redacted by agreement. Sponsored social media posts were, by far, the most frequent way athletes reported earning money, followed by autograph signings and personal appearances. In this far-from-complete data, deals ranged from a male basketball players $326,000 arrangement with a Porsche dealership in Kentucky to $10 for a track athlete to endorse a mens soap called Freshticles.The Illinois law on NIL requires athletes to provide their schools with copies of contracts when the deals are valued at $500 or more. Illini athletes reported more than 175 deals that meet that standard. But when the news organizations filed a public records request seeking contracts for 12 of the largest reported deals, a university administrator responded that the campus did not have any of them.There is nothing in the Illinois law that would be difficult for any Big Ten athletic program to follow, said Michael LeRoy, a labor and employment relations professor at U of I and former chair of the schools athletic board. But theyre clearly choosing not to do it. You have to wonder why.The NCAA declined to speak with reporters for this story, but it has issued multiple statements stressing the need for transparency in NIL agreements. It established a policy last year to encourage athletes nationwide to report deals to their institutions, so schools could then provide the information to the NCAA to make available on a public dashboard intended to help students navigate the NIL marketplace.But up to now, there have been no consequences for athletes or institutions that fall short.That could soon change. Next week, a $2.8 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by student-athletes against the NCAA is expected to gain final approval, shifting the landscape again. Under the deal, known as the House settlement after one of the plaintiffs, a school would be able to pay its athletes directly from a revenue-sharing budget capped at $20.5 million for the next school year. Schools also could be directly involved in negotiating NIL deals for their athletes, and deals worth at least $600 and those made with collectives would need to be reported to an outside entity. That entity would evaluate whether the payments align with a fair market value and ensure the money is not a pay-to-play deal. Those reports are not expected to be made public.The four largest conferences the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 have said they plan to create an organization that would both implement and enforce the rules as the NCAAs oversight role shrinks. It also could issue penalties. The ante has been upped, said Joshua Lens, a University of Iowa sports management professor who has studied NIL extensively. It will require disclosure like we have all along, but now the schools and athletes could be penalized. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, shown at State Farm Center on the University of Illinois campus, signed legislation in 2021 that allows college athletes in the state to make money off their brand while requiring them to report such deals to their school. (Anthony Zilis/The News-Gazette) Face Wash and Physical TherapyThe NIL era in Illinois began on June 29, 2021, at the State Farm Center on the University of Illinois campus. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the groundbreaking legislation, known as the Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act, while surrounded by several Illini athletes, including gymnast Dylan Kolak. Illinois was among the first states to pass an NIL law, and Kolak was ready to seize the moment. He had begun making TikTok videos during the pandemic to promote mens gymnastics and fitness, amassing more than 500,000 followers in a little over a year. When companies approached him about the possibility of endorsement deals, Kolak said he either ignored their messages or explained that NCAA rules prohibited him from earning money that way. For Kolak, a partial-scholarship athlete who excelled at the floor exercise and vault, it stung each time he passed up an offer. Former Illini gymnast Dylan Kolak reported his NIL deal with Athletico, a physical therapy provider, to the university, in keeping with state law. (TikTok video obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune) Watch video Hes the type of athlete state Rep. Kam Buckner, a former Illini defensive lineman, had in mind when the Chicago Democrat sponsored legislation codifying moneymaking opportunities for student-athletes. He was joined by two former Northwestern University athletes, state Sen. Napoleon Harris and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch.Buckner said he remembered what it was like to be a college athlete and need extra cash for necessities. In a way, it had the underlying air of indentured servitude where you dont even own your own space, Buckner said. And so for me, this was about fairness.The state laws rules for NIL are straightforward: Athletes cant take money from the gambling, tobacco or alcohol industries. They cant use a university logo without permission. They cant wear their uniforms in advertisements unless they have prior approval from their institutions. And they have to report their NIL deals to their schools. From Buckners standpoint, that clause offered universities and their athletes a baseline for understanding what kind of deals and what kind of dollars were available in this new and unfamiliar world. The data also could help identify any gender or racial gaps that emerged, Buckner said.By all accounts, the school took the reporting requirement seriously in the beginning. We were told to report our deals constantly, Kolak said. We were told we could lose our eligibility if we didnt. Nobody wanted to risk that.Kolak said he reported everything that came his way, including $900 for an Instagram post about a face wash, $1,300 for promoting mens shoes on TikTok and $2,375 for documenting his physical therapy at Athletico. Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, a former Illini football player, was a chief sponsor of the states NIL legislation. He said he remembers what it was like to be a college athlete and need extra money for necessities. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) The reporting requirement became so ingrained in Kolak and his teammates in those early NIL days that the mens gymnastics squad logged 128 deals in 2021 and 2022. It was the most of any Illini mens team, with only womens softball recording more deals. The number dropped significantly, however, by 2023 and 2024, after the university stopped stressing the importance of reporting. The mens gymnastics team reported just 44 deals in those years still the most reported by any mens team. Cox, the U of I assistant athletic director, said he regularly reminded students about the disclosure rules during the first year of NIL. But after the NCAA in October 2022 barred schools from arranging or negotiating NIL deals for athletes, the department stopped stressing the importance of reporting, according to Cox.The fall 2022 guidance didnt say to stop, however. In fact, it stated, when permitted by applicable state laws schools can and should require student-athletes to report NIL activities to the athletics department.Roger Denny, the U of I athletic departments chief operating officer, said in an interview that the department still conducts several presentations each year for athletes to go over contracts, taxes and disclosure rules. The departments statement said it sends weekly emails to athletes and conducts sessions with an NIL consultant. Asked for an example of the emails, the department shared the most recent newsletter, in which the last item reminded athletes to disclose their NIL deals. Buckner, the Illinois lawmaker, said that he was unaware of the reporting practices and the rules should be followed so athletes understand the playing field. I dont believe in just throwing arbitrary mechanisms into policy that arent followed, he said. If theyre not doing what theyre intended to do, weve got to figure out how to change that.The universitys lack of attention to students reporting is apparent in the schools data, which shows the reported value of NIL deals dropped by 85% on the Urbana-Champaign campus in the 2023-24 academic year. According to the records, student-athletes reported making a total of just $103,000 that year, down from $702,500 in 2022-23. First image: University of Illinois gymnast Sam Phillips pets his cat, Richard Parker, at his apartment in Champaign. Phillips, who recently injured his Achilles tendon, said his former school, the University of Nebraska, exercised more oversight over his NIL agreements than the U of I does. Second image: Phillips displays an Instagram promotion he did for Degree deodorant. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Illini gymnast Sam Phillips, a two-time All-American who transferred from the University of Nebraska last year, said NIL rules were mentioned at a meeting for new U of I athletes. But there hasnt been additional discussion about NIL, he said. By contrast, at Nebraska, Phillips said he regularly received advice from an athletic department compliance officer who reminded him to disclose his deals to the university.He did so through an app that many universities use called Opendorse, which helps athletes find NIL deals and report them to university officials. U of I is spending $260,000 on a contract with Opendorse through mid-2026, which the athletic department said fulfills its obligation under the states NIL law to facilitate reporting.Nebraskas compliance officer reviewed each of Phillips agreements at that school, according to the app, but as of December there was no indication U of I had examined the deals Phillips had reached since his transfer, including with Abbott, Degree deodorant and Savage X Fenty underwear. The university said its athletic department reviews deals submitted through Opendorse but that it does not document it on the app and it is not required to. I havent spoken to anyone in [the U of I] administration at all, said Phillips, a nonscholarship athlete who uses the money to pay for living expenses. It has been on my own. Quattrone, who owns five auto dealerships in the Champaign area, has autographed sports memorabilia on display in his office at Serra Buick GMC in Savoy. Quattrone said he has sold cars to student-athletes at hefty discounts, among other compensation, in exchange for their appearances and participation in ads. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) A Ridiculously Good DealAt Illinois, the reporting failures are best exemplified through the universitys marquee mens sports: football and basketball. Relying on social media, news releases and media interviews, ProPublica and the Tribune identified dozens of endorsements that were not included in the database provided by U of I. The missing endorsements include several promoted during March Madness in 2024, including the TurboTax ad from basketball player Marcus Domask and a popular commercial for a Serra Champaign car dealership that featured three of his teammates.In that ad, Terrence Shannon Jr., Coleman Hawkins and Ty Rodgers wore Groucho Marx glasses as they sought an autograph from Illini teen superfan Tommy Rouse. The players, who have all driven luxury vehicles from Serra, had their cars cleaned while they shot the video in the showroom, according to dealership owner Ben Quattrone. Quattrone, a longtime supporter of the athletic department, said he has sold cars to athletes at hefty discounts in exchange for their appearances and participation in ads, as well as provided car washes in exchange for signed basketballs, all permitted under the NIL rules. He estimates he has spent about $150,000 in the past few years to purchase TV ads and other media promotions featuring Illini athletes.Illini athletes have posted videos on social media showing them driving BMWs, including a BMW XM, an SUV with a sticker price of $160,000. I make them a ridiculously good deal, said Quattrone. Records on NIL deals reported to the University of Illinois did not include this 2024 commercial for a Champaign car dealership in which Illini players Coleman Hawkins, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Ty Rodgers appeared in Groucho Marx glasses. (Obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune) Watch video No Illinois athlete, however, has disclosed a deal with Serra to the university, records show. Quattrone said he reminds athletes to set aside money to pay taxes on their NIL deals but said he was unsure of their reporting obligations to the university. Around the same time as the Serra ad came out, the Pacifica on Green a new apartment complex that caters to students also tried to capitalize on the success of the universitys basketball team and its football program. The Tribune and ProPublica identified at least six football and mens basketball players featured on the apartment complexs Instagram, including then-Illini forward Dain Dainja, who appeared in multiple posts throughout the 2023-24 season.In one post, which celebrated the team advancing to the Elite Eight, Pacifica gave a signed Dainja jersey to a tenant who renewed his lease during March Madness. An earlier photo showed Dainja signing the jersey for the renewal promotion while wearing an olive green Pacifica T-shirt.No mens basketball or football players disclosed receiving any kind of payment from the complex. Only one Illini athlete a female basketball player told the university about receiving compensation from Pacifica: more than $16,000 for Instagram reels, according to the data. Former Illini basketball player Marcus Domask promoted TurboTax in a paid partnership Instagram post last year. The deal was not included in the NIL records provided by the university. (Screen recording by ProPublica. Cropped by ProPublica.) Watch video None of the athletes in the Serra, Pacifica or TurboTax promotions or their representatives agreed to comment for this story. A Pacifica representative also did not respond to interview requests.The failure by many male athletes to disclose their deals also makes it difficult to assess differences in NIL compensation between male and female students at U of I a stated goal of the Illinois laws lead sponsor.That a gender gap exists is clear, despite the flawed nature of the data. In the three-year period examined by the Tribune and ProPublica, male athletes accounted for more than $1 million in reported earnings, compared with $160,000 total for female athletes.But in the 2023-24 school year, after administrators stopped stressing the importance of reporting, men disclosed only $44,500 in NIL deals, compared with $58,500 for the women.The falloff in reporting also obscures the role played by a boosterlike nonprofit organization called the Icon Collective in raising NIL money for Illinois student-athletes. Such collectives have become common at many universities, raising millions of dollars paid to players in exchange for community service such as volunteering at a food bank.Icon is supposed to be independent from the U of Is athletic department, though records show they work together on everything from athlete appearances to the beer sold at Memorial Stadium. Reporters identified at least six U of I athletes who promoted the Pacifica on Green apartment complex on Instagram, but only one deal with Pacifica, involving an unnamed woman, was included in the NIL data from the university. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) In announcing Icons launch in early 2023, a university press release said the collective had raised more than $1.5 million intended for student-athletes.But Illini athletes reported receiving only about $99,000 from Icon between February 2023 and October 2024, with the bulk of it $75,000 going to Illini football players. No mens basketball players reported receiving any money via the collective, though the group regularly uses images of mens players in its marketing material.Icons president, Kathleen Knight, a former athletic department employee, declined to answer questions about the inconsistencies between the athletes reports and her organizations purported fundraising.In a brief statement, Knight said Icon does not publicly share its financial information. Cox, the assistant athletic director and NIL specialist, said he does not know how much money Icon has distributed to its athletes, in part because of the lack of disclosures.The university made a similar statement on Thursday. Leadership of the athletic department remains unaware of the terms of Icons agreements with most of our student-athletes, it said.Several experts told ProPublica and the Tribune that the idea an athletic department wouldnt know the amount of money a collective gave to its athletes defies credulity, given the well-known financial demands of the college marketplace and the typically close relationships between collectives and athletic departments. Its not even putting their head in the sand, said Carter, the NIL expert. Its patently false. A video board at the University of Illinois State Farm Center displays an advertisement for a new Icon Collective membership drive. The collective raises NIL money to benefit Illini student-athletes. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) The Future of TransparencyAt a congressional hearing last month, Illini athletic director Josh Whitman talked about the future of NIL and the importance of creating national standards for revenue-sharing and NIL deals instead of a patchwork of state-by-state legislation.We certainly dont have an interest in micromanaging those opportunities for our student athletes, he told federal lawmakers. But it is important that we do try and create some system to monitor that, to create some level of transparency. Our student-athletes want that transparency.U of I administrators, however, have argued against public transparency when it comes to NIL deals. Cox, also an adjunct professor at the universitys law school, wrote in a law publication last year that the best move for all institutions to support student-athletes is to refuse disclosure of student-athlete NIL information as a matter of policy.Administrators then succeeded in getting a law passed that they contend exempts NIL records from the Freedom of Information Act, severely hindering any further public analysis or accountability. Indeed, the U of I said in early January that it would no longer release the type of records obtained by the Tribune and ProPublica for this investigation.Our position is that thats not the publics business, Whitman told a reporter last year.The Illinois athletic department also referenced the FOIA exemption in its three-page response to ProPublica and the Tribune, saying that although there is public desire for NIL information, the privacy of students is the more pressing concern.But even as Illinois administrators pushed to change the law last year, the requirement that athletes report the deals to their institutions remained. And athletes will be required to disclose their deals under the House settlement a mandate the university celebrated in its written statement. In the face of strong and swift accountability, officials said, their athletes would comply. Joe Mahr of the Chicago Tribune contributed data analysis. Mariam Elba of ProPublica contributed research reporting.

2025-04-13T08:52:44Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) More than 20 people have been killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, the citys acting mayor said Sunday.Two ballistic missiles struck the heart of the city as local people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday.On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy, Artem Kobzar said in a statement on social media. Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths.The strike comes less than a day after Russia and Ukraines top diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative U.S.-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the 3-year-old war. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)2025-04-13T06:22:40Z PARIS (AP) After his arrest, the boys mother was stunned to discover that her 12-year-old had been learning how to kill and gorging on videos of decapitation and torture so gruesome they made even case-hardened French court officials look away. The mother told criminal investigators that shed thought her son had been playing video games and doing homework during the hours he spent in his room. The childs descent into the internets darkest recesses started innocently enough, with online searches about Islam after an aunt gave him a Quran as a gift, says the boys lawyer. From there, more searching, automated algorithms that steer users online experiences and the boys curiosity ultimately led him to encrypted chats and ultraviolent propaganda pumped out by Islamic State militants and other extremist groups that are worming their way via apps, video gaming and social media into the minds of the very young. Paul-Edouard Lallois, the French prosecutor who secured the boys conviction on two terror-related charges last August, says the thousands of images and other extreme content that the child viewed so warped his understanding of the world and of right and wrong that it will take years and years of work to enable this kid to recover normal bearings. The prosecutor believes that left unstopped, the boy was on a trajectory to possibly becoming a completely dehumanized soldier who risked joining the ranks of digitally radicalized teenagers in France and beyond who are hatching terror plots and expressing support for extremism. The huge library of violent content, several terabytes of data, that the boy amassed included video tutorials on bomb-making, the prosecutor said.It is possible to completely upend the mental bearings of such a young child, he said. Do that for a few years and, even before he has turned 18, hes already capable of, yes, committing an attack and the worst things with just a knife. An emerging global threatAcross Europe and further afield, the picture is similar: Counterterrorism agencies are grappling with a new generation of attackers, plotters and acolytes of extremism who are younger than ever and have fed on ultraviolent and potentially radicalizing content largely behind their screens. Some are appearing on police radars only when its already too late with knife in hand, as theyre carrying out an attack. Olivier Christen, Frances national anti-terrorism prosecutor who handles the countrys most serious terror investigations, has a firsthand view of the surging threat. His unit handed terror-related preliminary charges to just two minors in 2022. That number leapt to 15 in 2023 and again last year, to 19.Some are really very, very young, around 15 years old, which was something that was almost unheard of no more than two years ago, Christen said in an interview with The Associated Press. It demonstrates the strong effectiveness of the propaganda disseminated by terrorist organizations, which are quite good at targeting this age group. The so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network that usually shuns the limelight, comprising U.S., U.K., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand security agencies, is so alarmed that it took the unusual step in December of calling publicly for collective action, saying: Radicalized minors can pose the same credible terrorist threat as adults. In Germany, an Interior Ministry task force launched after deadly mass stabbings last year is focusing on teenagers social networks, aiming to counter their growing role in radicalization. In France, the domestic DGSI security agency says 70% of suspects detained for involvement in alleged terror plots are under the age of 21. In Austria, security services say a 19-year-old suspect arrested in August, with an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old, for an alleged ISIS-inspired plot to slaughter Taylor Swift concertgoers, was radicalized online. So, too, was a suspected ISIS supporter, aged 14, detained this February for an alleged plan to attack a Vienna train station, Austrian authorities say. The VSSE intelligence agency in Belgium says almost a third of suspects detained there for plotting attacks from 2022 to 2024 were minors the youngest only 13. Extremist propaganda is just a click away for young people in search of an identity or a purpose, it said in a report in January, with radicalization occurring at speeds that are nothing short of meteoric. A path from porn to jihadi propaganda Counterterror investigators say the online radicalization of a child can sometimes take just months. Digitally nimble, kids are adept at covering their tracks and skirting parental controls. The 12-year-olds mother had no inkling that her boy was consulting extremist content, the familys lawyer, Kamel Aissaoui, told The AP.And unlike previous generations of militants who were easier for police to track and monitor because they interacted in the real world, their successors are often interacting only in digital spaces, including on encrypted chats to mask their identities and activities, investigators say.They live on their phones, their tablets, their computers, in contact with people they dont know, said a senior official from a European intelligence agency who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity to discuss its work combatting illegal extremist activity.Some start to imagine who they would attack, how they would go about it, doing actual reconnaissance, hunting for a weapon, consulting tutorials on how to make explosives, the official said. For some kids, the process starts with violent pornography or a fascination for gory images, counterterrorism investigators say. From there, more clicks can lead to grisly murder videos from Mexican drug cartels and ultimately to jihadi decapitations, throat-slitting and torture, in videos that are sometimes slickly produced with music and are shared on chat groups. Often theyre heavy consumers of everything that is broadcast on the Web and especially things that are forbidden, said Christen, the French national anti-terror prosecutor. Its something of a chain reaction that gets them to the ultra-violence disseminated by jihadi movements. Kids from all backgroundsAissaoui, the childs lawyer, said the trial was so tough on the 12-year-old that the hearing had to be paused twice because he was so distraught. He says the boy isnt violent and was simply a victim of apps and other digital tools that expose kids to extremist content.He was directed from site to site, and so on and so forth, until he came across things he should never have seen, the lawyer said. The boy is now in residential care without access to social networks, with specialized educators and regular visitation rights for his parents, the prosecutor told AP.Counterterrorism investigators say theyre dealing with kids from an array of backgrounds. Some have behavioral difficulties and some tend to be loners whose social interactions are largely virtual, but others raise no concerns with their behavior before it draws police attention.Police analysis of the 12-year-old boys computer and phone found 1,739 jihadi videos, a phenomenal quantity of scenes of decapitation, throat-slitting, shootings, the prosecutor said. He also had how-to videos on bomb-making and killing, including one that appeared to show the real-life death of a tied-down man being methodically chopped into pieces.I have seen some horrible things in my career, he said. But this goes beyond all comprehension.

by Heather Vogell ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Workers at one of the nations largest baby formula plants say the Abbott Laboratories facility is engaging in unsanitary practices similar to those that led it to temporarily shut down just three years ago, sparking a nationwide formula shortage.Current and former employees told ProPublica that they have seen the plant in Sturgis, Michigan, take shortcuts when cleaning manufacturing equipment and testing for microbes. The employees said leaks in the factory are sometimes not fixed, a dangerous problem that can promote bacterial growth. They also said workers at the facility do not always take required swabs to check for pathogens while performing maintenance during production. Supervisors have urged workers to increase production and have retaliated against workers who complained about problems, the employees said.One worker complained to the Food and Drug Administration in February, saying the plant has experienced persistent leaks and unaddressed contamination issues, according to correspondence between the worker and the agency viewed by ProPublica. Water and chemicals have pooled on the floor, the worker said. In one spot, white sweetener oozed from a pipe and formed a pile like a stalagmite on top of a tank used for blending, the employee said.The complaints come as the Trump administration is dismantling wide swaths of the federal government including conducting mass layoffs at the FDA and filling some key regulatory positions with industry-friendly voices. The new head of the FDA division that oversees baby formula is a corporate lawyer who previously defended Abbott against a lawsuit. The workers ProPublica spoke to said they did not want to be named because they feared repercussions from Abbott management, but they felt compelled to speak up out of concern that a baby who drank formula made at the plant would fall ill.I cant have this on my conscience, one of the workers said. Abbott called workers assertions untrue or misleading, denied their claims about retaliation and said the company stands behind the quality and safety of all our products including those made at Sturgis. In a statement, a spokesperson said that since 2022, the company had increased plant staff by 300 people, spent $60 million on upgrades and stationed multiple food-safety consultants there on weekdays. The company said the plant often takes more than 10,000 environmental swabs across the facility in a month to check for microbes.We believe Sturgis is the most inspected, tested, and swabbed infant formula manufacturing facility in the U.S., and likely in the world, the statement said.That said, Abbott conceded that the plant acted outside of our quality process in one incident from last May.Workers told ProPublica that, instead of retrieving a portable pump, an employee used a piece of cardboard from a trash bin to funnel coconut oil, a formula ingredient, into a tank during production of the companys Pure Bliss by Similac Organic brand. Abbott said the cardboard was reactively used to prevent spilling onto the floor. The company denied that there was a trash receptacle in the area and said plant practice was for cardboard to be stacked on a pallet before being recycled.Food-safety laws require companies to use clean tools to transfer ingredients, not a makeshift implement like cardboard, said Patrick Stone, a former FDA inspector who works as a consultant. No one would think thats a proper use, he said. Its not something thats been cleaned and verified its clear of contamination.Abbott, however, downplayed the significance of the incident, saying it occurred early in the manufacturing process, before pasteurization, and the product underwent enhanced testing that came back negative for microbes.We acknowledge that this is outside of our quality process, and this has been addressed, Abbotts statement said. The company said the plant had a discussion with the employee reiterating the proper procedure.Employees complained about the incident at the time and some hoped the plant had destroyed the formula. But a few weeks later, they received an email, which ProPublica viewed, that said the plant had released all batches not just on time, but early. It congratulated workers for an amazing milestone and achievement for Sturgis. Abbott said there have been no medical complaints related to the lot. The brand is advertised as suitable for newborns. In another incident in February, an employee said that the company had signed off on the use of an amino acid that was 10 months past its manufacturers best by date. A photo of the label viewed by ProPublica showed a best by date of April 2024. The law requires that ingredients in formula not expire before the formula as a whole, Stone said.Abbott said that the powders expiration date had been extended, which it said regulations permit in some cases, after the company used third-party testing to confirm its nutrient levels.But the worker said the amino acid powder was chunky and employees refused to add it to a formula mixture. It had been manufactured in October 2023. Abbott told ProPublica that two containers of amino acid mix were, in fact, placed on hold due to crustiness and later destroyed. When we find products that dont meet all specifications, we dispose of them, the company said.Some of the workers said theyve felt pressure not to disrupt the manufacturing process. At one meeting in February, a worker said a senior manager told employees the plant needed to improve its profit margins by either increasing production or reducing the amount of formula it was discarding as unusable.Abbott disputed the idea that it is cutting corners to make more formula.Any assertion that quality is being sacrificed at the expense of volume and profit is patently untrue, it said. The company said that in 2024, Abbott made 41% less formula at Sturgis than it had in 2021, the year before the shutdown.For its part, the FDA did not respond to questions about whether an inspection or investigation is taking place at the Sturgis plant in response to the complaint it received. The agency said it generally does not comment on potential or ongoing inspections or investigations.In a statement, the FDA said that it takes reports related to infant formula seriously and follows up as appropriate. The case could prove to be a major test for President Donald Trumps second administration, which just last month announced an effort to ensure the ongoing quality, safety, nutritional adequacy, and resilience of the domestic infant formula supply. Dubbed Operation Stork Speed, it promised to increase ingredient testing and communicate regularly with consumers and the industry as significant developments occur to ensure transparency, including information regarding nutrients and health outcomes.Egregiously Unsanitary ConditionsThe Abbott employees concerns come three years after the company voluntarily recalled several formula brands, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare, and temporarily halted production at Sturgis amid reports of unsanitary conditions and infant deaths. A former plant employee in 2021 had told the FDA that the plant was using lax cleaning practices, falsifying records and releasing untested infant formula to the public. FDA inspectors found leaking equipment valves, standing water and a type of bacteria at the plant called Cronobacter sakazakii, which is common but can be deadly for young babies. Company documents showed the manufacturer had even discovered the bacteria in its finished formula in 2019 and 2020, the report said. Food-safety laws require companies to test samples of their formula to check the nutrient content and look for harmful microorganisms.Those inspection findings were shocking, a former FDA chief said later. He called the plant egregiously unsanitary.Initial reports said several infants were hospitalized and two died from an illness caused by the Cronobacter bacteria after drinking formula made at the Sturgis plant, according to an inspector generals report. Between December 2021 and June 2022, it said the FDA received a total of 16 consumer complaints involving infant deaths and Sturgis facility products. The report said the FDA did not directly link drinking formula from the plant to any of the infants illnesses or deaths. Abbott said no unopened Abbott formula has ever tested positive for Cronobacter.Still, in May of 2022, Abbott signed a consent decree with the Department of Justice and the FDA and committed to following improved procedures at the facility. The decree is still in effect. It says the company can be fined up to $30,000 a day for violations, with a maximum of $5 million in a year.The plants nearly four-month-long shutdown in 2022 sparked a nationwide formula shortage, which was worsened by COVID-19-related supply-chain issues. Store shelves emptied of formula, leaving parents desperate. Some babies developed symptoms such as spitting up and diarrhea after being forced to switch brands, researchers found. Nearly half of parents in one survey of primarily low-income families said theyd resorted to at least one unsafe feeding practice, such as watering down formula.Abbott said it disagreed vehemently with the FDA chiefs comments on the Sturgis plant being unsanitary, and it said the former employee who filed the 2021 complaint with the agency was dismissed for serious violations of its food-safety policies. Abbott said the employees specific claims were not supported by the FDA. Its time to stop giving credence and fame to individuals with questionable agendas that have led to unnecessary formula shortages, Abbott said. New Complaints Arise as FDA Is CutIts unclear how the Trump administration, with its reduced federal workforce, will respond to the newest complaints. The administration recently eliminated 3,500 FDA jobs as part of extensive cuts in federal health workers ranks. While officials said the reductions will not impact inspectors, the agency did not answer a question about whether any of the employees being let go are involved in inspection or enforcement for the Sturgis facility. The White House also recently installed a corporate lawyer in a top FDA post, putting him in charge of the agencys regulation of formula. Kyle Diamantas, acting deputy commissioner for human foods, previously defended Abbott against a lawsuit in which families alleged the company failed to warn them about a deadly bowel condition that premature babies who are fed formula have a greater risk of developing. Abbott has appealed a verdict in which it was ordered to pay $495 million.Meanwhile, at the Department of Agriculture, officials disbanded an advisory committee that had been studying the threat of Cronobacter contamination in powdered formula. The USDA said at the time that it did so to comply with an executive order seeking to reduce bureaucracy but it remained committed to food safety. The Heritage Foundations Project 2025 blueprint for a Trump presidency had listed as one of its goals reevaluating excessive regulation of infant formula.Families using formula arent being protected if the FDA is acting like a partner to companies like Abbott instead of overseeing them, said Jennifer Pomeranz, a professor and expert in public health and food policy at New York University who has served as a witness for plaintiffs suing Abbott over the bowel condition. She called Diamantas appointment the perfect example of regulatory capture.In its statement to ProPublica, the FDA said it is committed to enhancing regulatory oversight of all infant formula manufacturers to help ensure that the industry is producing infant formula under the safest conditions possible. The Sturgis plant is a major supplier of formula in the United States and had been producing about 20% of the nations formula when it shut down in 2022. Abbott provides formula to more than half of babies in the government-backed nutrition-assistance program, called WIC, that subsidizes families formula purchases. The company has contracts to be the sole source of formula for WIC recipients in 36 states and Washington, D.C., as of August of last year.If You Have Leaks, Forget About ItSince the 2022 consent decree, FDA records show it has completed 10 inspections, including a multiweek review that was underway when employees said the cardboard incident took place. (The company says that according to its records, it has been inspected by FDA 12 times in that period.) No action was required in response to most of those visits, according to a database that tracks FDA inspections. But for one inspection that ended in December 2022, the FDA issued a citation that noted concerns related to contamination prevention, worker hygiene and the handling of consumer complaints, documents say.A report from that inspection completed just seven months after Abbott signed the consent decree said the agency found problems similar to those that had shut down the plant. The report noted, among other things, six instances of employees failing to collect required swabs to test for bacterial contamination after cleaning up a leak. It also said inspectors found apparent insects and dust like debris near formula-making equipment. You did not establish a system of process controls covering all stages of processing that was designed to ensure that infant formula does not become adulterated due to the presence of microorganisms in the formula or in the processing environment, the report said.Stone, the former FDA inspector who is now a consultant, said the citation is significant. FDA should have really hammered on them harder, he said, but theyre weak and theyre scared.Without taking those swabs and testing them, the company cannot know if the formula is contaminated, Stone said. Unless youre monitoring your environment, you dont know whats in your environment, he said. If you have leaks, forget about it. You dont know whats in there.Abbott said it has addressed all FDA observations from 2022. FDA inspectors have raised no major issues since then, the company said.In 2023, Abbott confirmed the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into conduct at the plant. A spokesperson for the departments Western District of Michigan did not respond to a request for information about the investigations status. Abbott did not respond to a question about the probe but said at the time that it was cooperating fully. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission were also scrutinizing the company after the problems surfaced in Sturgis. Spokespeople for the SEC and FTC, which released a report on the formula supply disruptions, declined to comment. Abbott did not respond to questions about the investigations.More recently, some employees who spoke to ProPublica said plant leaders have urged them to speed up production even though the consent decree aimed to add more safety protocols. Imagine a 10-page rule book youre told you have to operate by no matter what, one said. No deviations. Youre doing that, and then your boss says, Youre not doing your job fast enough.The workers said some employees have pushed supervisors to follow sanitary procedures more closely and at times refused to run equipment until their concerns about sanitation were met, even as they feared losing their jobs. Abbott is one of the largest and highest-paying employers in the largely rural area near the Indiana border. The plants tall white tower, emblazoned with a large green a, looms over nearby homes.An employee said that since the consent decree, he had witnessed leaks of formula, oil, chemicals and water that were not cleaned up, fixed or documented properly. Sometimes, the worker said, supervisors resisted shutting down machinery always a money-losing proposition to address a leak. The worker reported seeing a leak that hadnt been handled correctly more than once a month. Its all over, the employee said.Photos taken in the plant show equipment whose outer surface was streaked with drips from formula ingredients that had leaked. In one instance, an absorbent mat had been placed on the floor to catch drips. Procedures require the plant to contain leaks, fix equipment and test the area for pathogens, workers say. Leaks can become breeding grounds for bacteria.Abbott said in a facility the size of Sturgis, with literally miles of pipes, leaks, drips, and condensation are inevitable. The plant has a team it deploys quickly to contain leaks, then swab, test and sanitize the area, the company said. The plant aims to limit standing water and sanitize regularly to prevent bacterial growth, Abbott said, and it runs six times the number of Cronobacter tests on finished product samples as required by federal regulations.Abbott has a quality policy that we make our products as if they were for our own families, the companys statement said. If quality were not our first priority Abbott would not still be here at 137 years. A contractor Abbott hired to improve its processes has raised concerns about the facility not following protocols or procedures in past audits but cited no such problems in the audit completed earlier this year, said Mansour Samadpour, co-founder of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group. IEH, which began its work after the consent decree, reports back to Abbott and the FDA on what the plant needs to correct. Neither Abbott nor IEH provided a copy of the most recent audit.Samadpour declined to detail the earlier concerns. He said it was possible an employee could miss a swab, but said theres no systemic problem. He said he does not have concerns about sanitary practices in the plant.If I have any concerns, they will hear from me and FDA will hear from us, said Samadpour, who spoke with ProPublica at Abbotts request. That is our job. Debbie Cenziper contributed reporting.

by Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. The last time Sam met with his therapist, Scott Owen, the session was nothing more than an hour of Owen sexually abusing him, he told a Provo, Utah, courtroom this week. Sam remembers sitting in his car afterward, screaming as loud as he could.I could feel him all over my skin, he said. I could not believe this was happening.It was October 2017, and Sam had been seeing Owen for therapy for more than a year. A faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was struggling with what he called unwanted same-sex attraction. Owen was a high-ranking leader in the LDS Church at that time, and Sam said Owen assured him that he had helped more than 200 men who felt similarly.Instead, he said, Owen meticulously leveraged his two roles as a therapist and a church leader to assure him that the sexual touching during their sessions was key to helping him heal, learn how to accept intimacy and grow closer to God.He exploited my trust, he weaponized my faith and dismantled my confidence, Sam told the courtroom. What he did was not just unethical. It was calculated, predatory and destructive.Police began investigating Owen in 2023 only after The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica reported on a range of sex abuse allegations against Owen, who had built a reputation over his 20-year therapy career as a specialist who could help gay men who were members of the LDS Church. Some of the men who spoke to The Tribune said their bishop in the faith referred them to Owen and used church funds to pay for sessions where Owen allegedly also touched them inappropriately. Austin Millet at his home in Oregon. Millet is one of several men who told The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica that Owen abused them during sessions paid for with funds from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Amanda Lucier for ProPublica) In February, Owen pleaded guilty to three charges, admitting he sexually abused Sam and a second patient who also said he sought Owens help because he was struggling with his sexuality and Latter-day Saints faith. Owen also pleaded no contest in another case, saying prosecutors likely had enough evidence to convict him at a trial on an allegation that he had groped a young girl during a therapy session.But the number of people who say that Owen harmed them is much larger and they filled a Provo courtroom on Monday as Owen was sentenced to spend at least 15 years in prison. One by one, they stood at a podium in court and told Owen how he had hurt them. Most were his patients, like Sam, a pseudonym to protect his identity from his community.One man told the court Owen had abused him when Owen was a leader of a young mens group organized by the LDS Church.He had sleepovers at his house, Mike Bahr said. I was there once, and I have lived in a nightmare since.Also speaking were family members of a man who had died by suicide, including his brother who said his sibling disclosed to him that Owen had abused him just days before he took his life.And there was one of Owens own family members, his cousin, who alleges that Owen molested him on a family trip when he was a kid. After becoming more public with his own abuse allegations several years ago, James Cooper has worked to gather others who say his cousin victimized them. James Cooper speaks during Owens sentencing hearing. Cooper is Owens cousin and alleges the man abused him when he was a child. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) He spoke about the dynamics that allowed Owen to hurt others for so long without repercussions.Certainly, we know how charismatic he is, and what its like to be a victim of sexual assault. The shame you carry. The guilt you carry, he said. The fear of Scott. The fear of not being accepted by your family, your society, your church. All those things are enormous factors.One woman spoke about Owen touching her inappropriately during therapy when she was 13 years old, in 2007. During the hearing, the only woman to have publicly accused him said Owen had made her feel like something was wrong with her. Now, she added, He no longer holds power over me.When Owen, 66, was given a chance to speak, he said there was no excuse or rationale for what he had done.I am so sorry, he said. All I have to offer is whats left of my life. And I hope that in offering those years, justice will have been met in some small fashion, and those who I have hurt can disconnect from me and move forward with their healing.Defense attorney Earl Xaiz said Owen did not want leniency from the judge but mentioned in court that his client had been sexually abused himself as a child and had struggled with his sexuality.Fourth District Judge Kraig Powell sentenced Owen on Monday to 15 years to life in prison. Given Owens age and the nature of his crimes, both prosecutors and the defense agreed it is likely he will spend the rest of his life in prison.Powell became emotional as he handed down the sentence, telling Owen that he harmed not only those who spoke publicly on Monday, but all of those therapists and church leaders who are ethical and working to help people.Thousands and thousands of these people, I fear, will be affected by this terrible, abhorrent case, the judge said. Owen was sentenced to prison after he admitted he sexually abused patients during sessions. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) While Owen gave up his therapy license in 2018 after several patients complained to state licensors that he had touched them inappropriately, the allegations were never investigated by the police and were not widely known.Under a negotiated settlement with Utahs licensing division, Owen was able to surrender his license without admitting to any inappropriate conduct, and the sexual nature of his patients allegations is not referenced in the documents he signed when he gave up his license. He continued to have an active role in his therapy business, Canyon Counseling, until The Tribune and ProPublica published their investigation.Police interviewed more than a dozen former patients of Owens, all of whom reported that he touched them in ways they felt were inappropriate during therapy sessions. But Owen faced charges in connection with only three patients, because the type of touching that the other men alleged fell under parts of the criminal code that had a shorter window of time for prosecutors to file a case, called the statute of limitations. The crimes that Owen was charged with are all felonies that have no statute of limitations.Both state licensors and local leaders in the LDS Church knew of inappropriate touching allegations against Owen as early as 2016, reporting by The Tribune and ProPublica showed, but neither would say whether they ever reported Owen to the police.The church said in response to that reporting that it takes all matters of sexual misconduct seriously, and that in 2019 it confidentially annotated internal records to alert bishops that Owens conduct had threatened the well-being of other people or the church.The church also said it has no process in place to vet the therapists its church leaders recommend and pay for using member donations. It is up to individual members, a church spokesperson has said, to make their own decisions about whether to see a specific therapist that their bishop recommends. Michael, a former patient of Owens who agreed to be photographed but asked to be identified by only his first name, looks at his wife while speaking in court about the inappropriate touching he said happened in therapy sessions. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) For some who accused Owen of abuse, Mondays sentencing was the only chance they had to address Owen because charges could not be brought in their cases. That includes Michael, who asked to be identified by only his first name. He said he saw Owen for therapy on and off for about a decade, starting when he was 14. He read a letter to his younger self in court on Monday.I just learned on Thursday that we are beyond our legal opportunity to fix this problem, he said. And it broke my heart to learn that I cant pursue a court case for you. Youll have to be strong. Its going to be so hard, but youre going to make it through. Editors note: Sam is identified only by a pseudonym because he requested anonymity. We have granted this request because of the risk to his standing in his community. The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica typically use sources full names in stories. But sometimes that isnt possible, and we consider other approaches. That often takes the form of initials or middle names. In this case, we felt that we couldnt fully protect our source by those means. We know his full name and have corroborated his accounts in documents and through interviews with others.

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-04-13T10:36:49Z VATICAN CITY (AP) A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peters Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a Good Palm Sunday, a good Holy Week, in yet another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia.Many in the crowd reached out to touch Francis hand or garments as he was brought in a wheelchair down a ramp to the main altar, where he issued his brief greeting into a microphone. Francis was not wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, as he had during a similar appearance last Sunday.On his way back to St. Peters Basilica from where he had emerged, Francis stopped to bless a rosary, and offered candy to a boy who greeted him.The 88-year-old Francis is entering his fourth week of convalescence, which is expected to last at least two months. In the traditional Sunday blessing, the pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers. At this time of physical weakness, they help me to feel Gods closeness, compassion and tenderness even more. For the ninth week, including his five-week hospitalization starting Feb. 14, the blessing was delivered as a text. The pope offered prayers for those suffering in the conflict in Sudan, which marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, and for Lebanon, where civil war began 50 years ago, as well as for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan. In a prepared homily read by a top Vatican cardinal, Francis urged the faithful to carry the cross of those who suffer around us to mark the start of the solemn Holy Week.Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals, led the celebrations, leading a procession of cardinals around the piazzas central obelisk carrying an ornately braided palm that recalls Jesus triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, when crowds waved palm branches to honor him.The initial welcome contrasts with the suffering that follows, leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians observe on Good Friday, followed by his resurrection, celebrated on Easter Sunday. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People dance at the Chapultepec Scenic Garden during a cost-free, harassment-free, judgment-free event by the New Network of Dancers collective or NRB, in Mexico City, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)2025-04-13T05:05:11Z MEXICO CITY (AP) Its 4 p.m. on a recent Sunday afternoon, and a pavilion of towering windows in a Mexico City urban park is nearly packed. The public is diverse, but everyone here wants the same thing: to dance freely, at no cost, without harassment or prejudice.Twenty-somethings, children with their mothers, teenagers and elderly couples gather around the disc jockeys console. A murmur fills the air as roughly 300 people await the start. The first notes then pierce the air and a shiver runs through the crowd.This is an open invitation for everyone to move as they wish in a safe space! said Axel Martnez, one of the collectives founders, as he grabs a microphone and cheers the revelers on. At their own pace, each person is carried away by the music and no one seems surprised by the moves of others.From experimental jazz pieces and smooth Egyptian hip-hop to the more familiar pulse of cumbias grooved with an electronic touch, people dance to it all.The party was organized by the Nueva Red de Bailadores or NRB (New Network of Dancers), a collective that aims to create spaces where people can gather to dance freely. Theres no cover charge, no booze, and no pressure to do the right moves. Dancing with peace of mindThe collective began nine years ago as a simple gathering of friends dancing freely in an apartment. As word spread, their numbers swelled from 20 to 50, then more than 100 so they had to move to a park.The New Network of Dancers is (a community) of philosophy and action, said Martnez. Dancing alone is very fulfilling, but dancing with a lot of people is also very enriching.As their numbers grew, the NRB approached the authorities and established a relationship with the agency responsible for preserving Mexico Citys historic center and with museum directors, who agreed to provide sound equipment and other resources for the events. Building on its network of contacts, it has organized some 300 dancing sessions in ever more striking and unexpected spaces, such as old factories and gardens.The latest NRB party featured two dance floors one inside and one outside the pavilion both areas filled with joy and lightness. As organizers pointed out, their parties forgo police and security, fostering a sense of collective care where attendees look out for one another.Being able to come to a space where you feel happiness and respect ... it gives you peace of mind, said Ana Celia Agustn, 29, a regular at NRB dances.A key to the collectives success comes from having become a real social network, and what NRB member Elas Herrera describes as a virtuous circle between online and in-person interaction that the collective has unleashed.While social media videos and posts have played a role in promoting the dance parties, word-of-mouth has been key to make them so popular.I knew a lot about dancing and my body always mixed it with alcohol, said Mateo Cruz, 27. Here I found a new place. Its been an eye-opening experience for me to discover that I have all this stuff inside me that I can let go of. I can completely free myself from what others think, from what I think myself. Fun without any troubleThe Mexican capital is a city that dances, especially in its most popular neighborhoods, where public space is often turned into a dance floor for market anniversaries, patron saint celebrations or simply the joy of weekend cumbias.Generally, however, these parties feature a more homogenous crowd and musical selection. In contrast, the NRB dances have opened the dance floor to a more diverse audience and invites everyone on a shape-shifting musical journey.Isabel Miraflores, a 73-year-old retired high school assistant principal, came with her husband and said she enjoyed both the dancing and the presence of people of different ages. I think its wonderful because its a free event, she said. We get together with people from all parts of society and we have fun without any trouble.The sun has set, its almost 7 p.m., and there is just over one hour left before the dance ends, but dozens are still waiting in line to enter the pavilion in the famed Bosque de Chapultepec, an urban park that stretches across more than 2,000 acres in the heart of Mexico City. In a capitalist reality like ours, its very difficult to find an alternative, especially one that is free, said Martnez. Accessibility is everything for us.____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muoz)2025-04-13T05:02:47Z BARCELONA, Spain (AP) At the Barcelona Zoo, a 40-year-old African elephant places her foot through the metal barrier where a zookeeper gently scrubs its sole the beloved pachyderm gets her pedicure, along with apple slices every day.The treatment is part of the zoos specialized geriatric care for aging animals that cannot be reintroduced into the wild as zoos world over increasingly emphasize lifelong care.Sending them back into nature would be an error, said Pilar Padilla, head of the zoos mammal care. It is very likely they wouldnt survive.Zoos have undergone a rethink in recent decades with the emphasis on the conservation of species and education, moving away from the past paradigm that often displayed exotic animals as a spectacle. The new approach includes knowing how to adapt to the needs of aging animals, which has led zoos to create bigger, more nature-like enclosures, such as the Sahel-Savannah area at the zoo in the Spanish city of Barcelona. Along with breeding programs to reintroduce fit animals into nature, zoos today want to ensure that animals living longer due to advancements in veterinary care can age gracefully, said Martn Zordan, the CEO of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or WAZA. Specialized geriatric care is becoming increasingly essential, Zordan told The Associated Press at the organizations Barcelona offices. Zordan said that just like older people, elderly animals require more care: regular health checks, arthritis treatment, softer foods or nutritional supplements, adapted living spaces and monitoring of mental and behavioral health.Along with caring for a pair of aging elephants, the Barcelona Zoo is also the home for a 15-year-old wolf, a leopard and a tiger who are both 17, as well as some older birds including a flock of senior flamencos. Its not alone several zoos in the United States, for example, highlight their treatment of older animals, such as the zoos in Baltimore and Baton Rouge. A study of griefZookeepers at the Barcelona Zoo, not far from the citys Mediterranean coastline, are closely monitoring its two aging female pachyderms, Susi and Bully (pronounced BUH'-yi), as they cope with the recent death of Yoyo, their former pen-mate and long-time companion.Yoyo died in December at age 54. Susi, at 52, is now among the oldest known African elephants in captivity, even though WAZA said the age of animals born in the wild is approximate. Bully, who is 40, is also considered old for an African elephant. All three were captured in the wild and spent time in circuses an other zoos before coming to Barcelona. The zoo is now working with the University of Barcelona to study the impact of Yoyos death on Susi and Bully. Its the first study of its kind, focused on elephants not from the same family after the death of a long-time companion, Padilla told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the zoos elephant enclosure. At first, Susi and Bully showed their shock by not eating, but are now adapting well and turning to one another, including even sharing food, Padilla said, adding that Susi has taken on the dominant role that Yoyo had. The proof is in the teethFor elephants, their teeth are the real age test. What marks the decline of the animal is the wear on their teeth, Barcelona zookeeper Jos Mara Santamara said after finishing the Bullys pedicure. They go through six sets of molars during their life, and when they reach around 40 years old they lose the last set.Susi and Bully require daily checkups, food suited for their now molar-less mouths and extra attention to their legs hence the daily pedicures and the enclosures soft sandy floor to cushion aching feet.Those are the sort of considerations taken because we care about these animals living comfortably and leading lives with dignity, Zordan said.

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-04-13T12:34:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) After President Donald Trump reversed course on his tariffs and announced he would pursue trade negotiations, he had a simple explanation for how he would make decisions in the coming weeks.Instinctively, more than anything else, he told reporters this past week. You almost cant take a pencil to paper, its really more of an instinct than anything else.It was the latest example of how Trump loves to keep everyone on edge for his next move. Trump has not only expansively flexed the powers of the presidency by declaring emergencies and shredding political norms, he has eschewed traditional deliberative procedures for making decisions. The result is that more of life around the country and the world is subject to the presidents desires, moods and grievances than ever before.We have a democratic leader who seems to have the authority to act as whimsically as a 19th century European autocrat, said Tim Naftali, a historian and senior research scholar at Columbia University. He sneezes and everyone catches a cold. The White House rejects criticism that Trump is overstepping his authority or improperly consolidating power. Administration officials frequently emphasize that the Republican president won a clear election victory and is now pursuing the agenda that he campaigned on. In this view, resisting his will, such as when courts block his executive orders, is the real threat to democracy. Trust in President Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday while answering questions about economic policy. He knows what hes doing. The presidency has been accumulating power for years, long before Trump ran for office, and it is not unusual for administrations to veer in various directions based on political and policy priorities. But Trumps new term has been different in the early months, and he seems to recognize it. The second term is just more powerful, Trump marveled recently. When I say do it, they do it.Although international trade offers the most extensive example of Trumps inclination to act unilaterally since he returned to office in January the same approach has been evident elsewhere. He installed himself as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to overhaul programming at Washingtons premier cultural institution. He issued an order to purge improper ideology from the Smithsonian Institutions network of museums. He punished law firms associated with his opponents. He directed the Justice Department to investigate former officials who crossed him during his first term. When Trump decided to remove regulations on household water efficiency he wants more water flowing in showers his executive order said the normal public comment period is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal.What the president ends up having is what he wants, which is everyones attention all of the time, Naftali said.Trumps ambitions stretch beyond the United States, such as his goal of annexing Greenland. Vice President JD Vance visited the island last month to talk about its strategic location in the Arctic, where Russia and China want to expand their influence, but also its importance to Trump himself. We cant just ignore the presidents desires, Vance said. Trump has spent decades trying to turn his impulses into reality, whether its skyscrapers in Manhattan or casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He once sued a journalist for allegedly underestimating his net worth. During a deposition, Trump said it goes up and down with the markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings.A lawyer for the journalist appeared puzzled. You said your net worth goes up and down based upon your own feelings?Trump said yes. I would say its my general attitude at the time that the question may be asked.He took a similar approach into the White House for his first term. While talking about the economy with The Washington Post, Trump said my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody elses brain can ever tell me. Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff under Democratic President Bill Clinton and later served in national security roles for Democratic President Barack Obama, said there normally is a more deliberative process for critical issues.If you throw all of that out of the window and operate based on gut instincts, what youre doing is making every decision a huge gamble, Panetta said. Because you just havent done the homework to really understand all of the implications.When you roll dice, he added, sometimes its going to come up snake eyes.Because Trump does not have a clear process for making decisions, Panetta said that means everybody has to kowtow to him because thats the only way youre going to have any impact. Trump has seemed to enjoy that aspect of the ongoing controversy over tariffs. During a Republican dinner this past week, he said foreign leaders were kissing my ass to talk him out of his trade agenda. The saga began on April 2 when Trump declared that trade deficits when the U.S. buys more products from some countries than it sells represented a national emergency, enabling him to enact tariffs without congressional approval. The stock market collapsed and then the bond market began to slide. On Wednesday, Trump backed off his plans.Although high taxes have been left in place on imports from China, many of the other targeted tariffs have been paused for 90 days to allow time for negotiations with individual countries. Americans should trust in that process, said Leavitt, the press secretary.Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the conservative Cato Institute, expressed concern that the course of international trade was becoming dependent on the whims of a single dude in the Oval Office.Lincicome said the White House timeline to reach trade deals was not credible given the complexity of the issues. A more likely scenario, he said, is that the resulting agreements will be nothing more than superficial nothingburgers and Trump will declare a great victory and all this stuff settles down.Peter Navarro, Trumps trade adviser, said in an interview with Fox Business Network that theres a whole portion of our White House working day and night on negotiations. Were going to run 90 deals in 90 days, he said. Its possible. 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

FILES - This combo shows Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, left, and Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, speaking at separate events in Quito, Ecuador on Jan. 19, 2025 and Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, Files)2025-04-13T05:01:17Z Sigue la cobertura en vivo de AP en espaol de las elecciones presidenciales en Ecuador. QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Ecuadorians are voting Sunday in the countrys presidential election runoff, facing the choice between incumbent President Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzlez. Its the second presidential runoff election in less than two years in the South American country, where voting is mandatory. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time, with more than 13 million people eligible to vote.Noboa, a conservative young millionaire, and Gonzlez have both promised voters solutions to the extortions, killings, kidnappings and other crimes that became part of everyday life as the country emerged from the pandemic. Analysts expect the result in Sundays vote to have a very tight margin.Voters chose Noboa over Gonzlez in the runoff of a snap election in October 2023. The candidates advanced to Sundays contest after polling most votes in Februarys first-round election. Noboa won 44.17% of the votes while Gonzlez garnered 44%. Analysts expect Sundays results to have a very tight margin. Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT; 8 a.m. EST) and close at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT; 6 p.m. EST) Initial results are expected two hours after polls close. Voters are primarily worried about the violence that transformed the country, starting in 2021 a spike in crime tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru.Both candidates have promised tough-on-crime policies, better equipment for law enforcement and international help to fight drug cartels and local criminal groups. More than 13 million people are eligible to vote, which is mandatory for adults up to the age of 65. It is optional for people aged 16 and 17 and over 65. Failure to vote results in a $46 fine.In 2023, Noboa and Gonzlez were largely unknown to most voters as they sought the presidency for the first time. They were first-term lawmakers in May 2023, when then-President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly, shortening his own mandate as a result and triggering that years snap election. Noboas first foray into politics was his stint as lawmaker. An heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, Noboa opened an event-organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.Gonzlez, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Rafael Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president.Noboa, 37, declared Ecuador to be in a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024, allowing him to deploy thousands of soldiers to the streets to combat gangs and to charge people with terrorism counts for alleged ties to organized crime groups.Under his watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023, to 38.76 per 100,000 people in 2024. But despite the decrease, the rate remained far higher than the 6.85 homicides per 100,000 people seen in 2019. Some of Noboas heavy-handed crime-fighting tactics have come under scrutiny for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing. He has also been criticized for allegations of electoral anomalies he made after Februarys vote.Following the first-round election, Noboa said there had been many irregularities and that in certain provinces there were things that didnt add up. He provided no further details or evidence. Electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union ruled out fraud.___Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.

Demonstrators rally against President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in San Jose, Calif., as part of a national day of action on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)2025-04-13T12:38:49Z SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Like many in the tech industry, Jeremy Lyons used to think of himself as a relatively apolitical guy.The only time he had participated in a demonstration before now was in the opening days of Donald Trumps first presidential term, when he joined fellow Google workers walking out of the companys Silicon Valley campus to protest immigration restrictions. Googles co-founder and its chief executive officer joined them.Last weekend was Lyons second, also against Trump, but it had a very different feel.The man directing thousands of marchers with a bullhorn in downtown San Jose on April 5 was another tech worker who would not give his full name for fear of being identified by Trump backers. Marchers were urged not to harass drivers of Tesla vehicles, which have gone from a symbol of Silicon Valleys environmental futurism to a pro-Trump icon. And no tech executives were anywhere to be seen, only months after several had joined Trump at his January inauguration. To Lyons, 54, the change says as much about whats happened to Silicon Valley over the past quarter-century as it does about the atmosphere of fear surrounding many Trump critics nowadays.One of the things Ive seen over that time is a shift from a nerdy utopia to a money first, move fast and break things, Lyons said. Political gap seen between tech leaders and their workforceThe tech industrys political allegiances remain divided. But as some in the upper echelons of Silicon Valley began shifting to the right politically, many of the tech industrys everyday workers have remained liberal but also increasingly nervous and disillusioned. Their mood is in stark contrast to the prominent tech leaders who have embraced a conservative populist ideology.I think youre seeing a real gap between the leadership elite here in Silicon Valley and their workforce, said Ann Skeet, who helps run a center at Santa Clara University studying the ethics of the tech industry.The shift hasnt been for a lot of people, said Lenny Siegel, a former mayor of Mountain View and longtime liberal activist in the valley. Its a handful of people whove gotten the attention.The biggest example of that is Elon Musk, the worlds richest person and CEO of the worlds best-known electric car company who has taken on a prominent role slashing federal agencies in Trumps administration. Musk has been joined by several tech billionaires, including investor David Sacks, who helped fundraise for Trumps campaign and became the White Houses artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar, and venture capitalist Marc Andreesen. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also attended Trumps inauguration in Washington.Zuckerberg began praising Trump after the then-candidate, angered over money Zuckerberg steered toward local election offices in some states in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, threatened last summer to imprison him. Zuckerberg also donated $1 million to the presidents inauguration fund and co-hosted an inauguration reception for billionaire Republican donors. Trump has filled a number of his administrations posts with billionaires and his support from wealthy tech leaders led Democratic President Joe Biden to warn that the United States risked becoming an oligarchy ruled by elites. During Trumps first term, the valley and its leaders were a bulwark of resistance to the Republican, especially over immigration, given that the industry draws its workforce from around the globe. Its against that backdrop that thousands of people attended the recent rally at a downtown San Jose park to protest the actions of Trump and Musk.Even as tech industry has changed, Silicon Valley has leaned DemocraticSanta Clara County, which comprises most of Silicon Valley, swung 8 percentage points toward Trump in November election against Democrat Kamala Harris, matching the shift across California. Even with that swing, the county voted 68% to 28% for the then-vice president and remains a Democratic stronghold.Were still in the belly of the beast, said Dave Johnson, the new executive director of the Santa Clara GOP, who said the party has gained some new members in the county but few from the tech industry. If the lake was frozen, theres a little glimmer on top. I would not say there are cracks in the ice. The valley has long leaned Democratic, but with an unusual political mix: a general dislike of getting too involved in Washingtons business coupled with an at-times contradictory mix of libertarian individualism, Bay Area activism and belief in the ability of science to solve the worlds problems.That has persisted even as the tech industry has changed.The tech boom was fueled by scrappy startups that catered to their workers dreams of changing the world for the better. Googles motto was dont be evil, a phrase it removed from its code of conduct by 2018, when it and other companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, had grown into multinational behemoths. The companies have had layoffs in recent years, a shock to an industry that not long ago seemed poised for unlimited growth. Entrepreneurs once dreamed of building startups that would change the world, said Jan English-Lueck, a San Jose State University professor who has been studying Silicon Valley culture for more than 20 years.Now, she said, if youre part of a startup, youre hoping youll be absorbed in a way thats profitable.Discontent among some in the tech industry about where its headed Even before some prominent tech leaders shifted toward Trump, there was mounting discontent among some in the industry over its direction. IdaRose Sylvester runs a business promoting a Silicon Valley-style approach to entrepreneurs in other countries.I feel sick to my stomach now, she said.Sylvester was already disenchanted with the growing inequality in the valley and the environmental cost of all the energy needed to power crypto, AI and data centers. She took part in protests against Trump in 2017, but felt that energy fade once he lost the 2020 election to Biden.I saw a lot of people get out of politics once Biden won. There was a feeling it was all OK, Sylvester said. It was not all OK.It is worse now, she said. She helped organize one of several demonstrations across the valley last weekend during a national day of protests against the new administration.At first glance, the one in downtown San Jose could have been a typical anti-Trump protest anywhere. A large crowd of largely middle-age and older people carried signs against the president and Musk while chanting against oligarchs.But it was clearly a Silicon Valley crowd, one still reeling not only from Trumps challenges to the countrys system of checks and balances but also from the actions of the valleys top executives.The money is all shifting to the wealthiest, and that terrifies me, said Dianne Wood, who works at a startup. Unfortunately, youve got the Zuckerbergs and Elon Musks of the world who are taking that over.Just coming here, everyones saying turn off the facial recognition on your phone, Wood added. Were all scared.Kamal Ali, who works in AI, said he felt betrayed by that shift.The trust is broken. A lot of employees are very upset by whats going on, he said. Its going to be different forever.___Associated Press writer Sarah Parvini in Los Angeles and video journalist Haven Daley contributed to this report.

Participants sing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on the opening day of Osaka Expo 2025 in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)2025-04-13T10:52:09Z OSAKA, Japan (AP) The Expo 2025 opened in Osaka on Sunday with more than 10,000 people singing Beethovens Ninth Symphony to celebrate the start of the six-month event that Japan hopes will unite the world divided by tensions and wars. Here is what to know about the Expo 2025 Osaka:What is Expo 2025 Osaka about?The Osaka Expo is held at Yumeshima, which means dream island, a reclaimed industrial waste burial site in the Osaka Bay, where participants from more than 160 countries, regions and organizations showcase their futuristic exhibits inside about 80 pavillons of unique architecture.Creating a future society for our lives is the main theme. It is Osakas second Expo after the hugely successful 1970 event that attracted 64 million visitors, a record until Shanghai in 2010. Organizers expect 28 million visitors through mid-October, though ticket sales have been slow, with about 9 million sold in advance, short of an initial target of 14 million. Its been 55 years since the last Expo in Osaka. Ive been looking forward to it, said Daiki Chiba, who traveled from from Sendai, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Osaka. Many visitors carried Myaku-Myaku mascots or wore clothes matching its colors red, blue and white to get in the mood. What does it mean to hold Expo amid global tensions The Expo comes only four years after Japan struggled to host the no-audience Tokyo Olympics during the coronavirus pandemic.It opens in the wake of trade wars and fears of a global economic downturn sparked by U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs, the three-year Russian invasion of Ukraine and Middle East conflicts.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba compared the global tensions to a national crisis and said that Trumps tariffs, especially the 25% duty on automobiles, would be a blow to all industries and Japans economy. Still, Japan wants to turn the pinch into a chance.I think the timing is actually quite fitting, said Sachiko Yoshimura, head of Expo 2025 global communications. Holding the Expo now could eventually help to address the divisions in the world. ... I believe this Expo in Japan might actually lead to stronger international relationships and improvements. What is the Grand Ring?The iconic ring, designed by architect Sou Fujimoto, is a lattice-like structure encircling the venue and recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest wooden architecture. It is 20 meters (65 feet) high and has a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) circumference.The costly ring takes up more than 14% of the Expos total spending of 235 billion yen ($1.64 billion) and has triggered public criticism. The total cost nearly doubled from the initial estimate largely due to the weaker yen, causing construction delays. Several pavilions, including those of Nepal, India, Vietnam and Chile, were not ready for the opening. The ring is supposed to be partially reusable, reflecting the theme of creating a sustainable future.What are other highlights?Exhibits of cutting-edge technology, such as robots and flying cars, as well as pop culture like Hello Kitty and Gundam, are among the highlights. Pavilions all look amazing, said Laurel Sylvester from New Zealand, visiting with her husband and two children. Her family is interested in ocean sustainability and planned to visit the Blue Ocean Dome. She said the boys are super excited to have their photo with the (big Gundam) robot and some of the interesting tech things that are going on. A small artificial heart made from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS, demonstrated a heartbeat at a Japanese health care pavilion. At the Future of Life pavilion, visitors can interact with robots. A human washing machine that was a sensation at the 1970 expo returned with a high-tech makeover.The U.S. pavilion focuses on space travel. Its lunar stone from the Apollo 12 mission, a sensation at the 1970 expo, was back on display.China, also highlighting space technology, exhibits soil samples from its lunar missions.Carrying a Not for sale sign and decorated with its blue-and-yellow national flags, Ukraine attracted many visitors with a globe and other items carrying barcodes. By scanning them, visitors can see videos showing peoples lives at war and their reconstruction effort. Dymtro Liuyi, Ukrainian creative director, said his countrys participation was undecided until December due to the war. The preparation was finished Sunday morning, he said, showing blue paint on his fingers. What is Myaku-Myaku?With its blue face encircled by red balls, some of them eyeballs, the mysterious, smiley creature Myaku-Myaku welcomes visitors. The imaginary creature was born from the fusion of cells and water in a small spring in the Kansai region, organizers say. The friendly but clumsy character can transform into various shapes and is good at finding a rainbow after the rain.___Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

President Donald Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, April 11, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-04-13T14:29:31Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) Donald Trumps doctor says the oldest man to be elected president is fully fit to serve as commander in chief as the White House released the results of Trumps physical exam from Friday.Trump is 78, and his physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, cited what he said is Trumps active lifestyle and said it continues to contribute significantly to the Republican presidents well-being. Trump turns 79 on June 14.In a report released Sunday, the doctor said in a summary that Trump is fully fit to execute the duties of Commander-in-Chief and Head of State. The results showed Trump has dropped 20 pounds since his last physical as president in 2020. He weighed 244 pounds back then and is now down to 224 pounds. The exam summary noted that Trump previously had cataract surgery. A common procedure among aging people, the surgery typically involves removing a cloudy eye lens and replacing it with an artificial lens to help clear up vision. Barbabella said Trumps days include participating in multiple meetings, public appearances, media availabilities and frequent victories in golf events. Trump is an avid golfer and said he recently won tournaments played at clubs he owns in Florida Trumps cholesterol levels have improved over time, helped by the medications rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. At his physical in January 2018, his total cholesterol was 223. In early 2019, the reading came in at 196 and it stood at 167 in 2020. Today it is 140. Ideally, total cholesterol should be less than 200. His blood pressure was 128 over 74. That is considered elevated, and people in that situation are likely to develop high blood pressure unless steps are taken to control the condition.Trump has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute, in line with previous tests. A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 beats to 100 beats per minute, and generally, a lower rate implies better cardiovascular fitness.Trump also takes aspirin, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.___Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia contributed to this report. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families.

President Donald Trump, right, attends a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)2025-04-13T02:59:24Z MIAMI (AP) President Donald Trump said the standing ovation and cheers he drew when he took his seat at a UFC event in his home state of Florida were signs were doing a good job.Trump shook hands with some supporters as he walked to his cageside seat Saturday night at Miamis Kaseya Center while others waved his trademark red campaign cap. The Republican president, who stayed for several hours before flying back to his home in Palm Beach, said it was a great honor to receive that recognition from the crowd.It says were doing a good job. If we werent doing a good job, wed get the opposite, he told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. In the nearly three months since he has been back in office, Trump has launched a broad effort led by billionaire Elon Musk to shrink government by firing thousands of workers and cutting spending, tried unsuccessfully thus far to end Russias war against Ukraine and impose tariffs against many countries, including close allies of the United States. Democrats, and even some Trump supporters, have criticized his early actions. But at UFC, it was a night focused on the fighters in the cage. Every one of them came up at the end, and they were great, Trump said. I mean, theyre all warriors, modern day warriors.At one point, fighter Dominick Reyes walked over to the side of the Octagon after winning his bout and acknowledged Trump. Reyes went to take a photo with the president after the post-fight interview. Trumps granddaughter, Kai Trump, who attended UFC 314 with him, said it was awesome.The president watched as Australian Alexander Volkanovski won his 10th championship fight in a row, defeating Diego Lopes of Brazil early Sunday morning by unanimous decision in the featherweight contest.Trump is a longtime UFC fan and sports enthusiast who has frequently attended major fights and has had a longtime friendship with Dana White, the UFC president and CEO. It was Trumps first UFC visit since returning to the White House in January and came weeks after he attended the Saudi-sponsored LIV golf tournament at his golf club in Miami. Trump attended the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, both in February. He was cageside at a UFC championship fight in New York in November, shortly after winning the election. Trumps close affiliation with UFC had helped boost his campaign among young male voters.As Trump entered the Miami arena accompanied by White, the president shared an embrace with podcast host Joe Rogan. Musk and Rogan sat by Trumps side.Also at the event were several members of his administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.___Superville reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. STEPHANY MATAT Matat is an Associated Press general assignment reporter with a focus on politics and South Florida issues. twitter instagram mailto DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Cesar Acevedo, left, holds his infant son, Adriel Acevedo, as as nurse Tracey McElroy, right, prepares to give him a vaccination that included a polio dose at the Dallas County Health and Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)2025-04-13T13:27:07Z The measles outbreak in West Texas didnt happen just by chance.The easily preventable disease, declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of the funding needed to run vaccine programs, officials say.We havent had a strong immunization program that can really do a lot of boots-on-the-ground work for years, said Katherine Wells, the health director in Lubbock, a 90-minute drive from the outbreaks epicenter.Immunization programs nationwide have been left brittle by years of stagnant funding by federal, state and local governments. In Texas and elsewhere, this helped set the stage for the measles outbreak and fueled its spread. Now cuts to federal funding threaten efforts to prevent more cases and outbreaks.Health departments got an influx of cash to deal with COVID-19, but it wasnt enough to make up for years of neglect. On top of that, trust in vaccines has eroded. Health officials warn the situation is primed to get worse. Recent cuts by the Trump administration have pulled billions of dollars in COVID-19 related funding $2 billion of it slated for immunization programs for various diseases. Overseeing the cuts is Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to prominence leading an anti-vaccine movement. While Kennedy has said he wants his agency to prevent future outbreaks, hes also declined to deliver a consistent and forceful message that would help do so encouraging people to vaccinate their children against measles while reminding them it is safe. At the same time, lawmakers in Texas and about two-thirds of states have introduced legislation this year that would make it easier to opt out of vaccines or otherwise put up barriers to ensuring more people get shots, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. That further undercuts efforts to keep infectious diseases at bay, health officials said. The more than 700 measles cases reported this year in the U.S. have already surpassed last years total. The vast majority more than 540 are in Texas, but cases have popped up in 23 other states. Two Texas children have died. A 6-year-old girl from Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, died in February, the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. An 8-year-old girl from the same town, Seminole, died earlier this month. Children in the U.S. are generally required to be vaccinated to go to school, which in the past ensured vaccination rates stayed high enough to prevent infectious diseases like measles from spreading. But a growing number of parents have been skipping the shots for their kids. The share of children exempted from vaccine requirements has reached an all-time high, and just 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots in 2023. Thats well below the 95% coverage level that keeps diseases at bay.Keeping vaccination rates high requires vigilance, commitment and money.Though the outbreak in Texas started in Mennonite communities that have been resistant to vaccines and distrustful of government intervention, it quickly jumped to other places with low vaccination rates. There are similar under-vaccinated pockets across the country that could provide the tinder that sparks another outbreak.Its like a hurricane over warm water in the Caribbean, said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston. As long as theres warm water, the hurricane will continue to accelerate. In this case, the warm water is the unvaccinated kids. Flatlined vaccine funding in TexasLubbock receives a $254,000 immunization grant from the state annually that can be used for staff, outreach, advertising, education and other elements of a vaccine program. That hasnt increased in at least 15 years as the population grew.It used to be enough for three nurses, an administrative assistant, advertising and even goodies to give out at health fairs, Wells said. Now it covers a nurse, a quarter of a nurse, a little bit of an admin assistant, and basically nothing else. Texas has among the lowest per capita state funding for public health in the nation, just $17 per person in 2023, according to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center.Vaccines are among the most successful tools in public healths arsenal, preventing debilitating illnesses and lowering the need for expensive medical care. Childhood vaccines prevent 4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says the measles vaccine will save some 19 million lives by 2030.U.S. immunization programs are funded by a variable mix of federal, state and local money. Federal money is sent to every state, which then decides how much to send to local health departments. The stagnant immunization grant funding in Texas has made it harder for local health departments to keep their programs going. Lubbocks health department, for example, doesnt have the money to pay for targeted Facebook ads to encourage vaccinations or do robust community outreach to build trust.In Andrews County, which borders Gaines County, the biggest cost of its immunization program is personnel. But while everything has gotten more expensive, the grant hasnt changed, Health Director Gordon Mattimoe said. That shifts the burden to county governments. Some kick in more money, some dont. His did.The problem: keeping people safe from outbreaks requires high vaccination rates across a broad region, and germs dont stop at county borders.Andrews County, population 18,000, offers a walk-in vaccine clinic Monday through Friday, but other West Texas communities dont. More than half the people who come to the clinic travel from other counties, Mattimoe said, including much larger places and Gaines County.Some had to drive an hour or more. They did so because they had trouble getting shots in their home county due to long waits, lack of providers and other issues, Mattimoe said.Theyre unable to obtain it in the place that they live. ... People are overflowing, over to here, Mattimoe said. Theres an access issue.That makes it more likely people wont get their shots. In Gaines County just 82% of kindergartners were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. Even in Andrews County, where, at 97%, the vaccination rate is above the 95% threshold for preventing outbreaks, it has slipped two percentage points since 2020.Vaccine funding crises arent only in TexasThe health departments millions of Americans depend on for their shots largely rely on two federal programs: Vaccines for Children and Section 317 of the Public Health Services Act. Vaccines for Children mostly provides the actual vaccines. Section 317 provides grants for vaccines but also to run programs and get shots into arms.About half of kids qualify for Vaccines for Children, a safety-net program created in response to a 1989-1991 measles epidemic that sickened 55,000 people and killed 123. Section 317 money sent to state and local health departments pays for vaccines as well as nurses, outreach and advertising. Health departments generally use the programs in tandem, and since the pandemic theyve often been allowed to supplement it with COVID-19 funds.The 317 funds have been flat for years, even as costs of everything from salaries to vaccines went up. A 2023 CDC report to Congress estimated $1.6 billion was needed to fully fund a comprehensive 317 vaccine program. Last year, Congress approved less than half that: $682 million.This, along with insufficient state and local funding, forces hard choices. Dr. Kelly Moore, a preventive medicine specialist, said she faced this dilemma when directing Tennessees immunization program from 2004 to 2018. What diseases can we afford to prevent and how many people can we afford to protect? Those decisions have to be made every year by every state, said Moore, who now runs the advocacy group Immunize.org.A rural clinic may have to be closed, or evening and weekend hours eliminated, she said. It becomes difficult for them to staff the clinics they have and difficult for the people in those communities to access them, especially if theyre the working poor.At the same time, health officials say more funding is needed to fight misinformation and mistrust about vaccines. In a 2023 survey by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, 80% of local health departments reported vaccine hesitancy among patients or their parents in the previous year, up from 56% in 2017.If we dont invest in education, it becomes even more difficult to get these diseases under control, Moore said. An unclear future given continuing cuts and hesitancyFacing these headwinds, things got much worse in March when Kennedys health department canceled billions of dollars in state and local funding. After 23 states sued, a judge put a hold on the cuts for now in those states but not in Texas or other states that didnt join the lawsuit.But local health departments are not taking chances and are moving to cut services.HHS said the money, allocated through COVID-19 initiatives, was cut because the pandemic was over. But CDC had allowed the money to be used to shore up public health infrastructure generally, including immunization programs.Before he was confirmed as health secretary, Kennedy vowed not to take vaccines away. But in Texas, his departments cuts mean state and local health departments are losing $125 million in immunization-related federal funding as they deal with the measles outbreak. A spokesperson for the federal health department did not respond to an AP request for comment.Dallas County, 350 miles from where the outbreak began, had to cancel more than 50 immunization clinics, including at schools with low measles vaccination rates, said Dr. Philip Huang, the countys health director.Near the center of the outbreak, Lubbocks health department said seven jobs are on the line because they were paid by those grants. Included in the affected work are immunizations.Across the border in New Mexico, where the outbreak has spread, the state lost grants that funded vaccine education.Kennedys cuts also hit vaccination programs in other states Its still unclear how the recently announced $2 billion in cuts will affect immunization programs across the country, but details are starting to trickle out from some states.Washington state, for example, would lose about $20 million in vaccination-related funding. Officials were forced to pause mobile vaccine efforts on their Care-A-Van, which has administered more than 6,800 COVID-19 vaccines, 3,900 flu vaccines and 5,700 childhood vaccines since July. The state also had to cancel more than 100 vaccine clinics scheduled through June, including more than 35 at schools.Connecticut health officials estimate if the cuts stand, they will lose $26 million for immunization. Among other reductions, this means canceling 43 contracts with local health departments to increase vaccination rates and raise confidence in vaccines, losing vaccination clinics and mobile outreach in underserved neighborhoods, and stopping the distribution of vaccine-related educational materials.Several of the 23 states suing the federal government, including Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, cite losses to vaccine programs. As the cuts further cripple already struggling health departments, alongside increasingly prominent and powerful anti-vaccine voices, doctors worry that vaccine hesitancy will keep spreading. And measles and other viruses will too.My whole lifes purpose is to keep people from suffering. And vaccines are a tremendous way to do that, Moore said. But if we dont invest in them to get them in arms, then we dont see their benefits.___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. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto MICHELLE R. SMITH Smith reports for APs global investigations team. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island. instagram mailto DEVI SHASTRI Shastri is a public health reporter for The Associated Press, based in Milwaukee. She covers housing access, the social safety net, medical misinformation and other topics that influence the health of communities broadly. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Voters queue up outside a polling station to cast their votes for the presidential elections in Liberville, Gabon, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Betines Makosso)2025-04-13T07:30:23Z LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabons interim president who staged a 2023 coup that ended a decadeslong political dynasty, has been elected president, according to provisional results announced by the countrys interior ministry.Oligui Nguema, 50, recorded a landslide victory with 90.35% of votes cast, defeating seven other candidates, including immediate past Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. He came in a distant second with 3% of votes cast, Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said as he announced the provisional results.The Interior Ministry announced a turnout of 87.21% in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations. Its Gabons first election since the 2023 military coup that ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years. It was seen as a crucial election for the central African nations 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth. Bilie-By-Nze recently told The Associated Press that Oligui Nguema took advantage of state resources to support his campaign. The government denies this. Local observers deemed the conduct of the election satisfactory in nearly all the polling stations monitored.At least 94.8% of the polling stations observed operated under satisfactory conditions, while the transparency of operations was deemed satisfactory in 98.6% of cases, the Gabonese Civil Society Organizations Observation Mission said late Saturday. Oligui Nguema, who has been serving as interim president, had his representatives present in 69.6% of the polling stations observed while Bilie-By-Nzes representation stood at just 8.2%, the observers said.Oligui Nguema, the former head of the countrys Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba nearly two years ago. He hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office. After casting his ballot on Saturday in the capital, Libreville, the interim president said he felt proud of the citizens seeking to turn the page to join the new Republic.In a video message shared after he voted in the north of the country, Bilie-By-Nze said he was concerned that unused voting cards could be used for potential electoral fraud.Voters who spoke to the AP were divided on how the military has performed since taking over power in 2023, with most saying they have failed in their promises.Im telling you that for me, the military has failed, said Antoine Nkili, a 27-year-old unemployed man with a masters degree in law. They promised to reform the institutions, but they havent. Instead, theyve enriched themselves.Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his budget address for the 2025-26 fiscal year to a joint session of the state House and Senate at the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-04-13T15:13:40Z HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governors residence after someone set fire to the building, police said Sunday.No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities. The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governors official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that, while the investigation was ongoing, they were prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson.State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the riverfront mansion but said it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been in a different part of the residence, police said. In a statement, Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2 a.m. to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after the fire broke out. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished, Shapiro said in a statement. On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residences south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. There was still a police presence early Sunday afternoon as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway and an officer led a dog outside a iron security fence. Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east. He posted a picture on social media Saturday of the familys Passover Seder table at the residence. State police are leading the investigation. The agency offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-04-13T17:54:12Z NEW YORK (AP) New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on federal authorities to revoke the operating permits of the helicopter tour company whose sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River Thursday, killing a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran.At a press conference Sunday, Schumer said the company, New York Helicopter Tours, should be required to halt all flights as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the deadly crash. The Senate Democrat minority leader also called on the Federal Aviation Administration to ramp up safety inspections for other helicopter tour companies, accusing them of cutting corners and putting profits over people.The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Merc Camprub Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilots license in 2023. One of the things we can do to honor those lives and try to save others is to make sure it doesnt happen again, Schumer said. We know there is one thing for sure about New York Citys helicopter tour companies: they have a deadly track record. Thursdays crash has renewed safety concerns about New Yorks sightseeing excursions, a popular tourist draw that whisks passengers high above the city, offering soaring views of the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center and other landmarks. In the last two decades, five helicopters on commercial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers as a result of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 people.The president of New York Helicopter Tours, Michael Roth, did not respond to phone and email inquiries. The company said in a statement published on its website that it was cooperating with authorities in the investigation. In response to Schumers calls for more oversight, an industry group, Eastern Region Helicopter Council, said Manhattans sightseeing choppers already operate under the most stringent of regulations.We stand ready to work with leaders on finding ways to ensure the safety and preservation of our businesses and aviation community, the group said. Critics of the industry have long sought to limit or entirely ban nonessential helicopter flights from taking off above the city, though they have had limited success. After New York City capped the number of flights that could take off from Manhattan heliports at 30,000 annually in 2016, many companies moved operations to New Jersey. Two years later, in 2018, five people died when a helicopter offering open door flights crashed in the East River after a passengers restraint tether snagged on a fuel switch, stopping the engine.The cause of Thursdays crash is not yet determined. According to Schumer, rescue divers were continuing to search for the helicopters main rotor and assembly gear box, which would give clues about what happened. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

by Hannah Allam ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. With a line of cars waiting behind them at the train station, the two women hugged tightly as they said goodbye at the end of a spring break that hadnt turned out to be the relaxing vacation theyd imagined.Their girls trip had transformed into endless conversations about security precautions as one of the friends, 30-year-old Turkish national Rmeysa ztrk, grew increasingly worried she would become a target of the Trump administrations deportation campaign.ztrk, a former Fulbright scholar in a doctoral program at Tufts University, was stunned to find out in early March that she had been targeted by a pro-Israel group that highlighted an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing the schools response to the war in Gaza.Her concern deepened days later with the detention of former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident the government is trying to deport over his role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. By the time of ztrks spring break trip on March 15, she was consumed with anxiety, said her friend E., an Arab American academic on the East Coast who asked to withhold her name and other identifying details for security reasons.During their reunion in E.s hometown, the first time theyd been together since the summer, the friends looked up know-your-rights tutorials and discussed whether ztrk should cut short her doctoral program. They spent their last day together filling out intake forms for legal aid groups just in case.Right up until their last minutes together at the train station, they wrestled with how cautious ztrk should be when she returned to Massachusetts. ztrk wondered if she should avoid communal dinners, a feature of Muslim social life during the holy month of Ramadan.I told her to keep going out, to be with her community. I wanted her to live her life, E. recalled, her voice breaking.And then she got abducted in broad daylight.By now, much of the country has seen the footage of Oztrks capture.Surveillance video from March 25 shows her walking to dinner in Somerville, Massachusetts, near the Tufts campus, chatting on the phone with her mother when she is swarmed by six masked plainclothes officers. ztrk screams.Within three minutes, shes bundled into an unmarked car and whisked away, a jarring scene that showed the nation what President Donald Trumps deportation campaign looks like on the street level: federal agents ambushing a Muslim woman who co-wrote an op-ed in a college newspaper.The footage drew worldwide outrage and turned ztrk into a powerful symbol of the Department of Homeland Security dragnet. Surveillance Video of Rmeysa ztrks Capture (Obtained by ProPublica) Watch video To piece together whats happened since then, ProPublica examined court filings and interviewed attorneys and ztrks close friend, who regularly speaks to her in detention. What emerges is a more intimate picture of ztrk and how a child development researcher charged with no crime ended up in a crowded cell in Louisiana. The interviews and court records also provide a glimpse into a sprawling, opaque apparatus designed to deport the maximum number of people with minimum accountability.Her lawyers describe it as the story of a Trump-era rendition, a callback to the post-9/11 practice of federal agents grabbing Muslim suspects off the street and taking them to locations known for harsh conditions and shoddy oversight.ztrk is among nearly 1,000 students whose visas have been revoked, according to a tally by the Association of International Educators. And she is among several students and professors who have been detained.Her detention was exceptional, immigration attorneys said, because it was caught on camera. Whats scariest, they say, is how fast the removals happen and how little is known about them.Homeland Security spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.The video of ztrks arrest surfaced because Boston-area activists had set up a hotline for locals to report interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The call that came in about ztrk reported a kidnapping, said Fatema Ahmad of the Muslim Justice League, part of the advocacy network that obtained the footage.What broke me was her screaming. And knowing that the same thing had just happened to almost 400 people in the Boston area the week before, she said, referring to a recent six-day ICE operation.After her arrest, ztrk was held by ICE incommunicado for nearly 24 hours, her attorneys said, during which time she suffered the first of four asthma attacks. Only later, through court filings and conversations with ztrk, her attorneys learned that in the course of a single night she was taken from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and then Vermont, where the next morning, she was loaded onto a plane and flown to an ICE outpost in Alexandria, Louisiana.Her last stop was a detention center in Basile about an hour away, where she remains, one of two dozen women in a damp, mouse-infested cell built to hold 14, according to court filings.ICE officials say in court documents they couldnt find a bed for ztrk in New England, adding that out-of-state transfers are routinely conducted after arrest, due to operational necessity.Immigration attorneys say the late-night hopscotch was an ICE tactic to complicate jurisdiction and thwart legal attempts to stop ztrks removal. Louisiana and Texas, they say, are favored destinations because the courts there are viewed as friendlier to the Trump administrations MAGA agenda, issuing decisions limiting migrant rights.It was like a relay race, and she was the baton, ztrks attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said.Whole Other Level of TerrorOn March 4, two weeks before their spring break reunion, ztrk texted her friend E. to say shed been doxxed by Canary Mission, part of an array of shadowy, right-wing Jewish groups that are criticized for using cherry-picked statements and distorted context to portray even mild criticism of Israel as antisemitism or support for terrorism.For more than a decade, hard-line pro-Israel groups have publicized the names of pro-Palestinian activists, academics and students, often with scant or dubious evidence to back allegations of anti-Jewish bigotry. The goal, civil liberties advocates say, is to silence protesters through campaigns that have cost targets jobs and led to death threats. On its website, Canary Mission said it is motivated by a desire to combat antisemitism on college campuses. It says it investigates individuals and groups across the North American political spectrum, including the far-right, far-left and anti-Israel activists.The effort was stepped up during the wave of student protests that erupted in opposition to the war in Gaza.ztrks entry on the Canary Mission site, posted in February, claims she engaged in anti-Israel activism in 2024, citing the op-ed she co-wrote more than a year ago that accused Tufts of ignoring students calls to divest from companies with ties to Israel over human rights concerns.I can not believe how much time people have, ztrk texted her friend when she saw the post.E. responded with an open-mouthed shocked emoji. The Canary Mission entry, she said, had unlocked a whole other level of terror for ztrk.It was that feeling of having your privacy be so violated for people to spend all this time and energy on one op-ed, E. said.The op-ed published in The Tufts Daily was signed by four authors, including ztrk, and endorsed by more than 30 other unnamed students. The language echoed the statements of United Nations officials and international war crimes investigators about the death toll in Gaza, which according to health officials there has passed 50,000, with about a third of the casualties under 18.ztrk, an advocate for children in communities plagued by violence, was personally heartsick over images of burned and mangled Palestinian children. But she was not a prominent activist or a fixture at campus protests, her friends and attorneys say.ztrks attorneys, who are scheduled to appear Monday before a federal judge in Vermont, say the sole basis for revoking her visa appears to be the op-ed highlighted by Canary Mission.Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer representing ztrk, said pro-Israel groups are providing the administration with lists of targets for its deportation campaign against noncitizen student protesters. The sequence of events, he said, is op-ed, doxxing, detention.Pro-Israel groups, including Canary Mission, have boasted about their influence on the Trump administrations targeting of student protesters. Immigration officials insist that they make their own removal decisions based on a number of factors, including a hard line on criticism of Israel.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he has revoked more than 300 student visas, including for Khalil and ztrk, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits the deportation of noncitizens who are deemed adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States.We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist who tears up our university campuses, Rubio told a news conference last month in response to a question about ztrks detention. Every day I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.A spokesperson said the State Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.In a call with reporters on Thursday, attorney Marc Van Der Hout of Khalils legal team said the authority Rubio cites was intended for rare occasions involving high-level diplomatic matters, not to be used to go after people for First Amendment-protected activity.Overnight OdysseySurrounded by masked officers on March 25, ztrk had no idea who was seizing her or where she was being taken, according to a statement filed on Thursday in federal court. The operatives were dressed in civilian clothes, she wrote, so at first she worried they were vigilantes spurred by Canary Mission.I had never seen police approach and take someone away like this, she wrote. I thought they were people who had doxxed me and I was afraid for my safety.ztrks statement details her harrowing night being shuttled across New England with little food after a day of fasting for Ramadan. She describes being shackled by her feet and stomach and then driven to different sites for meetings with unidentified men, some in uniform and some not. One group so unsettled her, ztrk wrote, that she was sure they were going to kill me.At another stop, described in the statement as an isolated parking lot, ztrk repeatedly asked an officer if she was in physical danger.He seemed to feel guilty and said we are not monsters, ztrk wrote.At the last stop in Vermont, ztrk wrote, she arrived famished and with a lot of motion sickness from all the driving. Officers took her biometric data and a DNA sample.She would stay there for the night, in a cell with just a hard bench and a toilet. Officers gained access to her cellphone, she wrote, including personal photos of her without her religious headscarf.During the night they came to my cell multiple times and asked me questions about wanting to apply for asylum and if I was a member of a terrorist organization, ztrk wrote. I tried to be helpful and answer their questions but I was so tired and didnt understand what was happening to me.Around 4 the next morning, she wrote, she was shackled again in preparation for a trip to the airport. She was told the destination was Louisiana. Her statement to the court recounts the parting words of one of her jailers: I hope we treated you with respect.At nearly every stage of her detention, ztrk, who takes daily preventative medication for asthma, experienced asthma attacks, which she says are triggered by fumes, mold or stress, court files say.During one in Louisiana, ztrk wrote, a nurse took her temperature and said, You need to take that thing off your head, before removing her hijab without asking. When ztrk protested, the nurse told her, This is for your health.By her fourth wheezing episode, ztrk wrote, she didnt bother to seek attention from her jailers in Louisiana: I didnt feel safe at the medical center.After the portrait ztrk paints of ICE detention, her statement turns back to her old life, a reminder of how abruptly her world has shifted. From her cell in Louisiana, she described the plans she had in the coming months. Completing her dissertation. A conference in Minnesota. Students to mentor. A summer class to teach.I want to return to Tufts to resume all of my cherished work, she concluded.Reunion Interruptedztrk and E. bonded in 2018 after meeting at a Muslim study group in New York, where they were both attending Columbia University.They were in their 20s then, two bookish cat lovers who were serious about their studies and their faith. They went on nature walks and liked afternoon naps.Old ladies, E. said with a laugh.They remained close and took turns visiting after ztrk left for Tufts and E. moved away from the city. Over the years, the pressures of grad school and distance had made their visits less frequent, E. said, so theyd been looking forward to their three-day spring break catch-up.During the visit, E. said, the women broke their fast together and visited a mosque for late-night Ramadan prayers. They stopped by a childrens library ztrk wanted to visit. They stayed up late talking, gaming out how to keep ztrk safe from the Trump administrations crackdown.She said, I think this is going to be the last time I get to visit you, E. recalled. I told her, No, no, youre going to be able to come again, dont worry, and Im going to come visit you. That all turned out to be wrong.The friends had kept in touch daily after parting at the train station. They exchanged mundane texts and voice notes about doing taxes and eating cookies. E. sent ztrk a photo of the park where they had walked during their visit. Rmeysa! The trees are starting to bloom again, she wrote.They last texted on March 25, a couple hours before ztrk was detained on the way to dinner in Somerville.E. didnt find out what happened until the next morning, when she stumbled out of bed before dawn for the early meal Muslims eat before the daily Ramadan fast. Sipping her tea, E. scrolled through her phone and spotted a message that said, Have you seen this? alongside an alert about ztrks arrest.It was like: Is this real? Am I still asleep? she recalled.E. said the idea of her gentle friend being swept into ICE custody still didnt seem real until later that morning, when the video was released and she saw a familiar figure, in the same white jacket shed worn on her visit.It was utterly nauseating to watch, E. said. So horrifying and so heartbreaking to see her have to be so violently taken that way. E. and ztrk (Courtesy of E.) Trying to Be a Good DetaineeTwo days after ztrks transfer to Louisiana, E. received a call from a strange number that came up on her phone as Prison/Jail. It was ztrk, in the first of what would become regular check-ins at random times of the day.In interviews, E. showed ProPublica corroborating photos, text messages and voice notes of her interactions with her friend.She always starts with, Is this a good time to talk? And Im, like, Ive been waiting for this, E. said.Some days, ztrk sounds upbeat. Turkish diplomats, she told E., had delivered her a new hijab. ztrk found a cookbook and noted a citrus salad recipe she might try someday. She cracked jokes about being too old to climb into a bunk bed every night.In one call, ztrk expressed relief that shed filed her taxes before getting detained a perfect example, E. said, of her overachieving friends wry sense of humor.She read the detainee handbook two times, E. said. She said, Im trying to be a good detainee.Other calls are not as easy, E. said, adding that she didnt want to divulge specifics out of respect for her friends privacy. In those harder talks, E. said, she wishes she could be there to tell her itll be OK, give her a hug.Their conversations are sprinkled with reminders that ztrks nightmare might not end soon. She asked for help canceling appointments and returning library books. Shes also in the process of requesting a single paperback, per detention regulations.If approved, she wants E. to find her a guide for writing childrens literature, preferably with exercises she could do from her cell. E. said her heart ached when ztrk asked her to make the book a long one.The calls and tasks ease feelings of helplessness, E. said, an antidote for the guilt that sneaks up on her when she walks outside on a sunny day.How is it that were moving forward, she said, while my closest friend is rotting in this place?

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is pictured before participating in an interview outside the White House, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-04-13T19:10:58Z ATLANTA (AP) Trump administration officials were out in force across the television networks Sunday defending President Donald Trumps economic policies after another week of reeling markets that saw the Republican administration reverse course on some of its steepest tariffs.White House advisers and Cabinet members tried to project confidence and calm amid Trumps on-again, off-again approach to tariffs on imported goods from around the world. But their explanations about the overall agenda also reflected shifting narratives from a president who, as a candidate in 2024, promised an immediate economic boost and lower prices but now asks American businesses and consumers for patience.A week ago, Trumps team stood by his promise to leave the impending tariffs in place without exceptions. They used their latest news show appearances to defend his move to ratchet back to a 10% universal tariff for most nations except China (145%), while granting exemptions for certain electronics smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and semiconductor chips.Here are the highlights of what Trump lieutenants said last week vs. Sunday: There are varying answers on the purpose of the tariffsLong before launching his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump bemoaned the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing. His promise is to reindustrialize the United States and eliminate trade deficits with other countries. LAST WEEKCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, interviewed on CBS Face the Nation, played up national security. Youve got to realize this is a national security issue, he said, raising the worst-case scenarios of what could happen if the U.S. were involved in a war. We dont make medicine in this country anymore. We dont make ships. We dont have enough steel and aluminum to fight a battle, right? he said.SUNDAYLutnick stuck to that national security framing, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro focused more on the import taxes being leverage in the bigger economic puzzle. The world cheats us. Theyve been cheating us for decades, Navarro said on NBCs Meet the Press. He cited practices such as dumping products at unfairly low prices, currency manipulation and barriers to U.S. auto and agricultural products entering foreign markets.Navarro insisted the tariffs would yield broader bilateral trade deals to address all those issues. But he also relied on a separate justification when discussing China: the illicit drug trade.China has killed over a million people with their fentanyl, he said.Meanwhile, Lutnick said the exemptions for certain electronics could be subject to new tariffs targeted by sector. Theyre going to have a special focus-type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored, he told ABCs This Week. The status of negotiations with other nations, including China, remains fuzzyLAST WEEKWith the higher rates set to be collected beginning April 9, administration officials argued that other countries would rush to the negotiating table. Ive heard that there are negotiations ongoing and that there are a number of offers, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, told ABC. He claimed that more than 50 countries (were) reaching out, though he did not name any. SUNDAYNavarro named the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Israel as among the nations in active negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Lutnick and other officials.Greer said on CBS that his goal was to get meaningful deals before 90 days - the duration of Trumps pause - and I think were going to be there with several countries in the next few weeks.Talks with China have not begun, he said. We expect to have a conversation with them, he said, emphasizing it would be between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.Navarro was not as specific about Beijing. We have opened up our invitation to them, he said. Lutnick characterized the outreach as soft entrees through intermediaries.Pressed on whether there is any meaningful back and forth, Navarro said, The president has a very good relationship with President Xi. Then he proceeded to criticize several Chinas polices and trade practices. The pitches are different, but confidence is constantLAST WEEKNavarro was bullish even after U.S. and global trading markets suffered trillions of dollars in losses.The first rule, particularly for the smaller investors out there, you cant lose money unless you sell. And, right now, the smart strategy is not to panic, he said on Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures.SUNDAYNavarros optimism did not waver despite another net-loss week for securities markets and rocky bond markets. So, this is unfolding exactly like we thought it would in a dominant scenario, he said.Others confronted some of the more complex realities of trying to achieve Trumps goal of restoring a bygone era of U.S. manufacturing.Lutnick suggested the focus is on returning high-tech jobs, while sidestepping questions about lower-skilled manufacturing of goods such as shoes that could mean higher prices because of higher wages for U.S. workers. But some of that high-tech production is what Trump has, for now, exempted from the tariffs that he and his advisers frame as leverage for forcing companies to open U.S. facilities. Hassett did acknowledge widespread angst.The survey data has been showing that people are anxious about the changes a little bit, he said, before steering his answer to employment rates. The hard data, he said, has been really, really strong. BILL BARROW Bill Barrow covers U.S. politics. He is based in Atlanta. twitter mailto

2025-04-13T16:27:50Z MILWAUKEE (AP) A Wisconsin teenager charged in the deaths of his parents faces wider allegations that he killed them to obtain the financial means to assassinate President Donald Trump and overthrow the government, according to a recently unsealed federal warrant.Nikita Casap, 17, was charged last month by Waukesha County authorities with first-degree murder, theft and other crimes in the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and his stepfather, Donald Mayer. Authorities allege the teenager fatally shot them at their home outside Milwaukee in February and lived with the decomposing bodies for weeks before fleeing with $14,000 cash, passports and the family dog. He was arrested last month in Kansas.Casap, in custody at the Waukesha County jail on a $1 million bond, is due in court next month to enter a plea. County prosecutors have offered a glimpse of the federal allegations, which were outlined in an FBI warrant unsealed Friday. Federal authorities accuse Casap of planning his parents murders, buying a drone and explosives, and sharing his plans with others, including a Russian speaker. His intentions are detailed in a three-page antisemitic manifesto praising Adolf Hitler. The warrant filed at the federal court in Milwaukee also contains excerpts of communications on TikTok and the Telegram messenger app. Casap appears to have written a manifest calling for the assassination of the President of the United States. He was in touch with other parties about his plan to kill the President and overthrow the government of the United States, the search warrant says. The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan. In court, prosecutors alleged Casap was in touch with a person who speaks Russian and shared a plan to flee to Ukraine. Authorities found him in Kansas with money, passports, a car and the familys dog. Federal prosecutors alleged Casaps manifesto outlined his reasons for wanting to kill Trump and included ideas about how he would live in Ukraine.Citing Casaps writings, the federal warrant said the teenager wanted to spur governmental collapse by by getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president.Phone and online messages seeking comment were left Sunday for Casaps public defender, Nicole Ostrowski. In court last month, she moved to dismiss some of the charges against her client, including theft, arguing that prosecutors had not laid out their case. Shes also noted her clients age during court proceedings. He is young, he is still in high school, she said on March 12.County authorities also charged Casap with hiding a corpse, theft and misappropriating identification to obtain money.Officers found the bodies of Tatiana Casap, 35; and Mayer, 51, on Feb. 28. Family members requested a well-being check after Mayer didnt report for work and Nikita Casap skipped school for about two weeks. Authorities believe the parents were killed weeks earlier. Prosecutors said in court that the couples bodies were so badly decomposed that they had to be identified through dental records. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)2025-04-13T23:25:44Z AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest moment of all, hitting a wedge into 3 feet for birdie in a sudden-death playoff Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career Grand Slam.What should have been a coronation for McIlroy along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing jaw-dropping finish at golfs greatest theater that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.I started to wonder if it would ever be my time, McIlroy said in Butler Cabin before Scottie Scheffler helped him into the green jacket.It ended with more heartache for Justin Rose, who lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff in 2017 and forced this one with a clutch 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 6-under 66. He wound up joining Ben Hogan as the only players to lose twice in playoffs at Augusta National. McIlroy lost a two-shot lead in two holes at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Raes Creek on the par-5 13th. And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, McIlroy delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do, two birdies that sent him to the 18th hole with a one-shot lead. That still wasnt enough. He missed a 5-foot par putt for a 1-over 73 and the first Masters playoff in eight years. McIlroys wedge bounced onto the slope of the top shelf with enough spin to trickle down to 3 feet. And when Rose missed from 15 feet, McIlroy finally sealed it. McIlroy went 11 long years without a major, knowing the Masters green jacket was all that kept him from joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only winners of golfs four professional majors. He raised both arms and let the putter fall behind him, and before long he was on his knees, then his forehead on the 18th green as his chest heaved with emotion.So ended one of the wildest Sundays at a major that is known for them. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who beat McIlroy at Pinehurst No. 2 last June, had the lead after two holes when McIlroy opened with a double bogey.He crashed out with a pair of three-putts and two shots into the water on the back nine, closing with a 75.Ludvig Aberg, a runner-up in his Masters debut a year ago, suddenly had a share of the lead when McIlroy fell apart on the middle of the back nine. He missed a birdie putt from the fringe to take the lead, then finished bogey-triple bogey.Rose had every reason to believe he threw away his chances on Saturday with a 75 that put him seven shots behind, and then two bogeys on the front nine. Even as he steadied himself, he was four shots back and running out of time. He did his part in a 10-birdie round and that dynamic birdie putt to cap it off.McIlroy helped in a big way.Nothing was more shocking than the 13th. McIlroy played it safe, leaving himself a big target and a lob wedge. He missed his mark by some 20 yards, the ball disappearing into the tributary of Raes Creek and leading to double bogey. Then came a tee shot into the pine straw that led to another bogey, and the lead was gone again. But he was resilient as ever hes been like that his entire career. Seemingly in trouble left of the 15th fairway, McIlroy hit 7-iron around the trees and onto the green to 6 feet.He missed the eagle putt the birdie still helped him regain a share of the lead. Two holes later, facing a semi-blind shot, he drilled 8-iron and chased after it, urging it to Go! Go! Go! Go! And it did, barely clearing the bunker and rolling out to 2 feet for birdie and a one-shot lead.Turns out that wasnt enough either. He hit into a bunker from the fairway. He missed the 5-foot putt for the win. There was more work to do. But the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland never wavered in what he came to Augusta National to do.He leaves with a green jacket.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf DOUG FERGUSON Doug Ferguson has been the APs golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award. twitter mailto

This 2024 photo provided by John Santoro shows, from left, Dr. Michael Groff, Karenna Groff, Dr. Joy Saini, and James Santoro. (Courtesy John Santoro via AP)2025-04-13T00:24:53Z A private plane that crashed in upstate New York over the weekend was carrying a close-knit family of physicians and distinguished recent student-athletes, bound for a trip to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and the Passover holiday.The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B went down shortly after noon Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, New York, near the Massachusetts line, killing all six people aboard, according to authorities and a family member who spoke to The Associated Press. Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her father, a neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist and Karenna Groffs boyfriend, James Santoro, another recent MIT graduate, according to James father, John Santoro. They were a wonderful family, Santoro told AP. The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. Were all personally devastated. Santoro said his son first met Groff as a freshman studying at MIT. Groff, who grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, was an All-American soccer player studying biomedical engineering. Santoro, a math major from New Jersey, played lacrosse for the school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Groff co-founded openPPE, helping to create a new design of masks for essential workers. In 2023, she received the prestigious NCAA woman of the year award for the previous year for her on- and off-field accomplishments. Really, this recognition is a testament to my MIT womens soccer family and all of the guidance, support, and friendship they have provided for me over the years, she said in an interview at the time. After graduating, Santoro and Groff moved to Manhattan, where Groff enrolled in medical school at New York University and Santoro worked as an investment associate for Silver Point, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut. On Saturday morning, they traveled to an airport in White Plains, a suburb of New York City, where they boarded Michael Groffs private plane, according to John Santoro.They were set to land at the Columbia County Airport, but crashed roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the south. Its in the middle of a field and its pretty muddy, so accessibility is difficult, Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore said at a news conference Saturday. The National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation and is expected to provide an update Sunday evening. Funeral arrangements were underway, Santoro said. The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives, he added, and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Facebook was once the digital town square—a place to connect with friends, share life updates, and post dog photos. But over the years, that vision has unraveled. What’s left is a platform increasingly dominated by outrage, conspiracies, and hate speech. How did we get here? More importantly, why has Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook, allowed this to happen? Engagement Over...

Writer Mario Vargas Llosa speaks to reporters in New York, Oct. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)2025-04-14T01:21:08Z Lee esta historia en espaol LIMA, Peru (AP) Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for many decades, has died, his son said Sunday. He was 89.It is with deep sorrow that we annouce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family, read a letter signed by his children lvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana, and posted by lvaro on X.The letter says that his remains will be cremated and that there wont be any public ceremony.His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him, they added.He was author of such celebrated novels as The Time of the Hero (La Ciudad y los Perros) and Feast of the Goat. A prolific novelist and essayist and winner of myriad prizes, Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel in 2010 after being considered a contender for many years.Vargas Llosa published his first collection of stories The Cubs and Other Stories (Los Jefes) in 1959. But he burst onto the literary stage in 1963 with his groundbreaking debut novel The Time of the Hero, a book that drew on his experiences at a Peruvian military academy and angered the countrys military. A thousand copies of the novel were burned by military authorities, with some generals calling the book false and Vargas Llosa a communist. That, and subsequent novels such as Conversation in the Cathedral, (Conversacin en la Catedral) in 1969, quickly established Vargas Llosa as one of the leaders of the so-called Boom, or new wave of Latin American writers of the 1960s and 1970s, alongside Gabriel Garca Mrquez and Carlos Fuentes. Vargas Llosa started writing early, and at 15 was a part-time crime reporter for La Crnica newspaper. According to his official website, other jobs he had included revising names on cemetery tombs in Peru, working as a teacher in the Berlitz school in Paris and briefly on the Spanish desk at Agence France-Presse in Paris. He continued publishing articles in the press for most of his life, most notably in a twice-monthly political opinion column titled Piedra de Toque (Touchstones) that was printed in several newspapers.Vargas Llosa came to be a fierce defender of personal and economic liberties, gradually edging away from his communism-linked past, and regularly attacked Latin American leftist leaders he viewed as dictators.Although an early supporter of the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, he later grew disillusioned and denounced Castros Cuba. By 1980, he said he no longer believed in socialism as a solution for developing nations.In a famous incident in Mexico City in 1976, Vargas Llosa punched fellow Nobel Prize winner and ex-friend Garca Mrquez, whom he later ridiculed as Castros courtesan. It was never clear whether the fight was over politics or a personal dispute, as neither writer ever wanted to discuss it publicly. As he slowly turned his political trajectory toward free-market conservatism, Vargas Llosa lost the support of many of his Latin American literary contemporaries and attracted much criticism even from admirers of his work.Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa was born March 28, 1936, in Perus southern city of Arequipa, high in the Andes at the foot of the Misti volcano.His father, Ernesto Vargas Maldonado, left the family before he was born. To avoid public scandal, his mother, Dora Llosa Ureta, took her child to Bolivia, where her father was the Peruvian consul in Cochabamba.Vargas Llosa said his early life was somewhat traumatic, pampered by his mother and grandmother in a large house with servants, his every whim granted.It was not until he was 10, after the family had moved to Perus coastal city of Piura, that he learned his father was alive. His parents reconciled and the family moved to Perus capital, Lima.Vargas Llosa described his father as a disciplinarian who viewed his sons love of Jules Verne and writing poetry as surefire routes to starvation, and feared for his manhood, believing that poets are always homosexuals. After failing to get the boy enrolled in a naval academy because he was underage, Vargas Llosas father sent him to Leoncio Prado Military Academy an experience that was to stay with Vargas Llosa and led to The Time of the Hero. The book won the Spanish Critics Award.The military academy was like discovering hell, Vargas Llosa said later.He entered Perus San Marcos University to study literature and law, the former as a calling and the latter to please my family, which believed, not without certain cause, that writers usually die of hunger.After earning his literature degree in 1958 he didnt bother submitting his final law thesis Vargas Llosa won a scholarship to pursue a doctorate in Madrid. Vargas Llosa drew much of his inspiration from his Peruvian homeland, but preferred to live abroad, residing for spells each year in Madrid, New York and Paris.His early novels revealed a Peruvian world of military arrogance and brutality, of aristocratic decadence, and of Stone Age Amazon Indians existing simultaneously with 20th-century urban blight.Peru is a kind of incurable illness and my relationship to it is intense, harsh and full of the violence of passion, Vargas Llosa wrote in 1983.After 16 years in Europe, he returned in 1974 to a Peru then ruled by a left-wing military dictatorship. I realized I was losing touch with the reality of my country, and above all its language, which for a writer can be deadly, he said.In 1990, he ran for the presidency of Peru, a reluctant candidate in a nation torn apart by a messianic Maoist guerrilla insurgency and a basket-case, hyperinflation economy.But he was defeated by a then-unknown university rector, Alberto Fujimori, who resolved much of the political and economic chaos but went on to become a corrupt and authoritarian leader in the process.Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Vargas Llosas longtime friend, later confessed that he had rooted against the writers candidacy, observing: Perus uncertain gain would be literatures loss. Literature is eternity, politics mere history.Vargas Llosa also used his literary talents to write several successful novels about the lives of real people, including French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin and his grandmother, Flora Tristan, in The Way to Paradise in 2003 and 19th-century Irish nationalist and diplomat Sir Roger Casement in The Dream of the Celt in 2010. His last published novel was Harsh Times (Tiempos Recios) in 2019 about a U.S.-backed coup detat in Guatemala in 1954.He became a member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1994 and held visiting professor and resident writer posts in more than a dozen colleges and universities across the world.In his teens, Vargas Llosa joined a communist cell and eloped with and later married a 33-year-old Bolivian, Julia Urquidi the sister-in-law of his uncle. He later drew inspiration from their nine-year marriage to write the hit comic novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (La Ta Julia y el Escribidor).In 1965, he married his first cousin, Patricia Llosa, 10 years his junior, and together they had three children. They divorced 50 years later, and he started a relationship with Spanish society figure Isabel Preysler, former wife of singer Julio Iglesias and mother of singer Enrique Iglesias. They separated in 2022.He is survived by his children.___Giles reported from Madrid.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a bilateral meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, unseen, at Diaoyutai Guest House in Beijing, China, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Andres Martinez Casares/Pool Photo via AP)2025-04-14T03:10:40Z HANOI, Vietnam (AP) Chinas leader Xi Jinping started a week of diplomacy in Southeast Asia with a visit to Vietnam on Monday, signaling China s commitment to global trade, just after U.S. President Donald Trump upended the global economy with his latest tariffs moves. Although Trump has paused some tariffs, China was the outlier, as he has kept in place 145% tariffs on the worlds second-largest economy. Xis visit this week lets China show Southeast Asia it is a responsible superpower in the way that contrasts with the way the U.S. under President Donald Trump presents to the whole world, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapores ISEASYusof Ishak Institute. China also can work to shore up its alliances and find solutions for the high trade barrier that the U.S. has on Chinese exports. There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war, Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media. Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment. While Xis trip likely was planned earlier, it has become significant because of the tariff fight between China and the U.S., the worlds two largest economies. In Vietnam, Xi will meet with Vietnams Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, as well as the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The trip to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia is all about how China can really insulate itself against the from Trump, said Nguyen, pointing out that since Xi became the president of China in 2013, he has only visited Vietnam twice. This is his third visit and comes just a year after he last visited in December 2023. The timing of the visit sends a strong political message that Southeast Asia is important to China, said Huong Le-Thu at the International Crisis Group. She said that given the severity of Trumps tariffs and despite the 90-day pause, Southeast Asian nations were anxious that the tariffs, if implemented, could complicate their development. Xis trip is to showcase how China is the opposite to the coercive and self-interested U.S. There will be a lot of expectations about what type of leadership and initiatives China is going to come up with at this time of crisis, she said. Vietnam is experienced at balancing its relations with the U.S and China. It is run under a Communist, one-party system like China but has had a strong relationship with the U.S. In 2023, it was the only country that received both U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinas Xi Jinping. That year it also upgraded the U.S. to its highest diplomatic level, the same as China and Russia. Vietnam was one of the biggest beneficiaries of countries trying to decouple their supply chains from China, as businesses moved here. China is its biggest trading partner, and China-Vietnam trade surged 14.6% year-on-year in 2024, according to Chinese state media.But the intensification of the trade war has put Vietnam in a very precarious situation given the impression in the U.S. that Vietnam is serving as a backdoor for Chinese goods, said Giang, the analyst at Singapores ISEASYusof Ishak Institute. Vietnam had been hit with 46% tariffs under Trumps order before the 90-day pause.China and Vietnam have real long-term differences. They have disputes over territory in the South China Sea, and Vietnam has faced off with Chinas coast guard but does not often publicize the confrontations.After Vietnam, Xi is expected to go to Malaysia next and then Cambodia. HUIZHONG WU Wu covers Chinese culture, society, and politics for The Associated Press, as well as the countrys growing overseas influence from Bangkok. She was previously based in Taiwan and China. twitter ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Ghosal covers the intersection of business and climate change in southeast Asia for The Associated Press. He is based out of Hanoi in Vietnam. twitter mailto

Incumbent presidential candidate Daniel Noboa holds his children's hands after voting in the election runoff in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-04-14T04:29:35Z QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Daniel Noboa stunned voters in 2023 when he won a snap election for a 16-month presidency after only a brief stint as a lawmaker and with no established political machinery. No longer a political neophyte, the conservative millionaire defeated the protegee of Ecuadors most influential recent president for a second time and earned four years in office with Sundays election victory. The new term will allow Noboa, 37 and heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, to continue some of his no-holds-barred crimefighting strategies that part of the electorate finds appealing but which have tested the limits of laws and norms of governing.A huge hug to all the Ecuadorians who always believed in this young president, he told supporters after the National Electoral Council said results showed an irreversible trend in his favor. Ecuador wants to be different... it wants to move forward. Only 16 months in officeNoboa opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. He began his political career in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission.Noboa defeated leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzlez in the October 2023 runoff of a snap election triggered by the decision of then-President Guillermo Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and shorten his own mandate as a result. Noboa defeated her again in Sundays runoff election.Figures released by Ecuadors National Electoral Council showed Noboa receiving 55.8% of the vote with more than 92% of ballots counted, while Gonzlez earned 44%. However, Gonzlez, the mentee of former President Rafael Correa, vowed to seek a recount over what she described as grotesque electoral fraud.Under Noboas watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023, to 38.76 per 100,000 people in 2024. But despite the decrease, the rate remained far higher than the 6.85 homicides per 100,000 people seen in 2019. During his brief first term, Noboa has sought to establish a friendly relationship with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Grace Jaramillo, an Andean region expert and professor at the University of British Columbia, said these efforts played a role in some voters decisions.The majority of Ecuadorians have migrant relatives and know well that a scenario with Gonzlez, a leftist, would be terrible for deportations, Jaramillo said. ts an issue that touches every middle- and working-class home... Showing closeness to Trump was crucial for many families.Questionable tacticsNoboas crime-fighting strategies have been questioned inside and outside the South American country.Ecuador has been under a state of internal armed conflict since he declared it in January 2024 in order to mobilize the military in certain places, including prisons, where organized crime has taken hold. To the shock and bewilderment of world leaders, Noboa also authorized last years police raid on Mexicos embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who had been living there for months. Further, he entrusted presidential powers while campaigning earlier this year to a government official, unelected Vice President Vernica Abad, as required by the Ecuadorian Code of Democracy.Ahead of Februarys first-round election, Quitos University of the Americas professor Maria Cristina Bayas said Noboa has not hesitated to use the law and the Constitution to keep things working the way he wants and may continue to do so if reelected.Noboa and Abad began feuding before taking office. The origins of the dispute are unknown, but shortly after becoming president, Noboa dispatched Abad to serve as ambassador to Israel, effectively isolating her from his administration. She has described her monthslong posting as forced exile.___Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the governor's official residence about a suspected arson fire that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)2025-04-14T05:23:33Z HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) A man is facing charges after authorities say he broke into the Pennsylvania governors mansion in the middle of the night, set a fire that left significant damage and forced Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building during the Jewish holiday of Passover.Firefighters extinguished the fire early Sunday morning and no injuries were reported. The suspect, identified as Cody Balmer, 38, was arrested nearby later in the day, police said.Authorities said they were investigating how someone was able to elude police to break into the governors residence in Harrisburg.Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris said the fire was a carefully planned attack but emphasized the investigation is continuing. He did not give a possible motive. Police call arson a planned attackBalmer apparently scaled an iron security fence that stands around 7 feet (2.1 meters) and is monitored by security cameras, police said. Police became aware someone had climbed over the fence and began a pursuit on the grounds but initially didnt locate anyone.Police allege Balmer broke into the southern wing of the residence, entering a room often used to entertain crowds and display art, and set a fire using a homemade incendiary device. Police declined to elaborate on the device, but the fire left significant damage to the room, charring walls, tables, buffet serving dishes, plates and a piano. Window panes and brick around doors and windows were blackened.Balmer was inside for around a minute before he left and escaped the premises, authorities said. Suspect faces chargesAuthorities said Balmer will face charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault. Balmer has faced criminal charges over the past decade including simple assault, theft and forgery, according to online court records. He drew a sentence of probation after guilty pleas to theft and forgery counts. Simple assault charges from 2023 appeared unresolved.Authorities did not say whether Balmer has a lawyer or where he was being held. Calls to people believed to be his relatives went unanswered or unreturned on Sunday. One recent residence listed for him in Harrisburg was condemned in 2022. Governor is a rising Democratic starShapiro, 51, is the first-term governor of the nations fifth-most populous state, a presidential battleground that has helped make him a rising star in the Democratic Party and viewed as a potential White House contender in 2028.Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family had celebrated Passover at the residence on Saturday and were awakened by state troopers pounding on their doors at about 2 a.m. Sunday. Shapiro has been outspoken about his Jewish faith.He used his first ad in his campaign for governor in 2022 to tell family stories and describe his commitment to making it home Friday night for Sabbath dinner, complete with footage of him and his children at the table. Family and faith ground me, he said.In stump speeches and his election-night victory speech, Shapiro regularly quoted an ancient rabbinic maxim: No one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it. Attack happened during PassoverThe attack happened on the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began at sundown Saturday. The holiday commemorates the Israelites liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt, including their 40-year journey through the desert. It is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews and is celebrated with a special meal called a Seder, which includes the eating of matzah, a type of unleavened bread, and the retelling of the Exodus story.Shapiro had celebrated with a Seder at the official residence with his family and members of the Jewish community in the same room where authorities said the fire was set.___Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter. MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

Chandera Weldesenbet, 41-year-old, left, a wounded former combatant of the recent war, sits outside his home carrying his one-and-a-half-year-old child and his wife Rahel Gebrekidan, right, in Quiha, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane)2025-04-14T05:24:16Z MEKELE, Ethiopia (AP) Chandera Weldesenbet is worried about dying before he receives the help he needs.The 41-year-old veteran of the recent war in Ethiopias Tigray region has metal shrapnel in his body that is yet to be removed, more than two years after the fighting ended.Unable to get specialized medical care, Chandera is bedridden most of the time because of the pain. He is one of many casualties whose untreated or poorly treated injuries are a reminder of the wars toll.When I think about my future prospect and my ability to raise a child in such hardship and circumstances, I feel hopeless, he said, with a toddler at home. Chandera Weldesenbet, 41-year-old, left, a wounded former combatant of the recent war, sits outside his home carrying his one-and-a-half-year-old child and his wife Rahel Gebrekidan, right, in Quiha, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Chandera Weldesenbet, 41-year-old, left, a wounded former combatant of the recent war, sits outside his home carrying his one-and-a-half-year-old child and his wife Rahel Gebrekidan, right, in Quiha, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Wounded Tigrayan former combatants of the recent war, wait to be attended at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Wounded Tigrayan former combatants of the recent war, wait to be attended at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Chandera, a former hotel worker in the town of Shire, found that health facilities across the region had been largely destroyed in the fighting.The head of the Ethiopian National Rehabilitation Commission, Temesgen Tilahun, told The Associated Press there are more than 43,000 Tigrayan former combatants. A prosthetic leg backdropped by wounded Tigrayan former combatant is seen at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) A prosthetic leg backdropped by wounded Tigrayan former combatant is seen at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Wounded Tigrayan former combatants of the recent war practice how to use prosthetic legs at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Wounded Tigrayan former combatants of the recent war practice how to use prosthetic legs at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre at Mekele in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Thousands of people were killed in the war that pitted local fighters against federal troops who were allied with fighters from other regions, and ended in 2022. No one knows how many were wounded. Some former combatants in Tigray returned to their homes to find there was no way to receive medical support for permanent disabilities. Hiluf Haile, 24-year-old, Tigrayan former combatant of the recent war being examined by a doctor at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Hiluf Haile, 24-year-old, Tigrayan former combatant of the recent war being examined by a doctor at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Hiluf Haile managed to receive therapy in the Tigray capital, Mekele, to adjust to a new prosthetic leg at the only center in Tigray that offers such treatment. But he has witnessed the chronic shortage of support for other disabled ex-combatants.Many who had serious injuries have limited access to orthopedic therapy and must navigate damaged communities that have little or no infrastructure to accommodate them.They survive by begging, laying bare the scar of the war, Haile said.Tesfaye Kiros, another veteran, lost a leg and has been unable to find employment. He regularly begs at a busy bus station in Mekele, Tigrays capital. He dreams of returning to his hometown of Zalambessa, near the border with Eritrea. That remains elusive as new tensions rise between Ethiopia and Eritrea, its former ally in the war.The 31-year-old had been elated when a diaspora-led initiative, Rescue & Oasis Actions for the Disabled of War, chose him to receive a three-wheel electric bike to help him be mobile. But, still unable to find work, he sold it to feed his children.The bike would have helped me a great deal, he said.With limited resources as Tigray recovers from the war, the regional government has appealed to the federal government in Addis Ababa, the capital, for more support and for international donors to come to the rescue.The government has offered veterans reintegration into the armed forces.Tigray has too many individuals with disabilities who need support, especially medicine, and the situation is extremely dire, said Gebrehiwot Gebrezgiabher, commissioner for the Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission. We are too overwhelmed to support them without more financial support.The Mekelle Ortho-Physiotherapy Center, which has operated in Tigray for nearly three decades with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross, is trying to fill the gap. The group has treated disabled combatants, providing prosthetic limbs and mobility aid such as crutches. But it is unable to help everyone who needs support without more funding.Over the years, we have delivered a total of 180,000 services. However, this number pales in comparison to the 65,000 we have provided in just the last three years, manager Birhane Teame said.Teame urged international organizations to assist his group in alleviating the burden in Tigray. Birhane Teame, the manager of Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre, speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Birhane Teame, the manager of Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre, speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Prosthetic which have been serviced for clients, rest on a wall at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Prosthetic which have been serviced for clients, rest on a wall at Ortho-Physiotherapy Centre in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanuel Birhane) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse___The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The 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. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 14 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01145-5More Everything Forever dissects the techno-utopian vision gripping Silicon Valley and Washington DC.

by Topher Sanders ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. When news broke in January that the Trump Justice Department was freezing significant work on civil rights litigation, including police reform cases, attention immediately focused on two cities: Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky.Both places were on the cusp of entering court-enforced agreements to overhaul their police forces after high-profile police killings there sparked a nationwide reckoning over race and policing.But its now clear that the administrations move will be felt well beyond those two cities. In fact, it throws into question police reform efforts in at least eight other communities across the country, according to a ProPublica review. The need for change in these places was documented in a flurry of investigations published by the Justice Department in the final year of Joe Bidens presidency. All of the probes found a pattern or practice of unlawful behavior that was routine enough that the federal government recommended reforms.From Phoenix to Trenton, New Jersey, federal officials investigating the eight agencies found unjustified killings, excessive force, debtors prisons, retaliation against police critics, racial discrimination, unlawful strip searches and officers having sexual contact with sex workers during undercover operations. Such findings are typically the first step toward a department agreeing to federal oversight and court-ordered reform. Over the years, the DOJ has credited such agreements, known as consent decrees, for having helped departments reduce unnecessary use of force, cut crime rates and improve responses to people with behavioral health needs. President Donald Trumps Justice Department, however, has ordered its civil rights attorneys to pause such work until further notice, effectively reinstating the limited approach it took during the presidents first term. Department officials did not respond to questions about the pause or how long it would remain in effect.For now, that means any reform efforts will be up to local leadership a dynamic that experts say could bode poorly for communities with long histories of police abuse.Cliff Johnson, an attorney and director of the Mississippi office of the MacArthur Justice Center, a nonprofit legal organization, was not optimistic.While those DOJ reports sometimes can lead municipalities, police departments and other offenders to come to Jesus, Johnson said, what weve been seeing, from our perspective, is folks saying, I dont need Jesus. I got Trump.Louisiana leaders, for example, have slammed the Justice Departments report, which found a pattern of problems in the way the state police used force against civilians. Gov. Jeff Landry said the report was an attempt by the Biden administration to diminish the service and exceptionality of the state police. And state Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Justice Department was being used to advance a political agenda.The report was partly spurred by the 2019 death of Ronald Greene, who was killed while in the custody of Louisiana State Police. Officers repeatedly shocked him with a Taser, dragged him by his ankle shackles and then left him face down in the road. Some officers deactivated or muted their body cameras during the incident. Louisiana troopers had claimed Greene died when his car crashed after a high-speed chase. The department was forced to change its story when The Associated Press obtained and published body-camera footage of the incident.Federal investigators found the episode was not an outlier. According to their report, officers in the department used Tasers without warning and against people who were restrained or who did not pose a threat, didnt give people the chance to comply before using force, used force against people who werent a threat, and used excessive force against people running from officers.A spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police did not answer questions about the reports findings but said the agency is working to improve its relationship with citizens and other stakeholders. Landrys office did not respond to ProPublicas questions about the report and the states response, and Murrills office declined to comment.Across the state line in Lexington, Mississippi, the Justice Departments shift away from police accountability could also be consequential. Department officials said residents there were so afraid of local police that they were hesitant to meet with investigators in public, fearful of retaliation.They had good reason to be concerned. In 2023, officers arrested an attorney who was representing citizens in police abuse cases against the department. She had been filming a traffic stop at the time.The police force made up of about 10 officers, some of whom are part time is the smallest the Justice Department has investigated in decades. Federal investigators ultimately found that its officers use excessive force, discriminate against Black people, conduct stops and searches without probable cause, and arrest people purely for not having the money to pay fines.Its unclear what steps, if any, the Lexington Police Department is taking in response to the report. Police Chief Charles Henderson declined to comment and directed questions to the city attorney, who did not return a call.Reform advocates have put their hopes in upcoming elections in Lexington that could bring in new leadership that is more interested in making changes at the police department.In Mount Vernon, New York, advocates say theyve seen little movement since the Justice Department found police there use excessive force, conduct unlawful strip and body cavity searches of arrestees, and fail to properly train officers and supervisors. It also found police discriminated against Black people. One group is considering legal action to bring the city to the table.It seems like Mount Vernon has put lip service on addressing the findings, said Daniel Lambright, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. It remains unclear actually what theyre doing to address the findings.In their report, federal investigators expressed concern that the police departments overly aggressive tactics unnecessarily escalate encounters. In one instance, they wrote, five Mount Vernon officers used force on a man they thought was selling drugs without announcing their presence or attempting to arrest him peacefully. Instead, one of the officers approached the man from behind and attempted to put him in an upper body hold, which started an altercation, according to the report. Police then threw the man to the ground. One officer drove his Taser into the suspect five times while another repeatedly punched him in the head. The man suffered a broken nose.The reform efforts have to continue, said the Rev. Stephen Pogue, a member of the United Black Clergy of Westchester, an organization that works on social justice matters in Mount Vernon and surrounding areas. Were not in one of those places where Trump is our god. In Mount Vernon, we still need Jesus.Pogue said he hopes the city will host a public meeting about the report before the summer.Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and a police spokesperson did not reply to interview requests. But in December, the mayor said in a statement that the city would work with the Justice Department to address its findings. We wholeheartedly support our good officers and at the same time will not tolerate and will punish unconstitutional policing, she said.In Phoenix, city and police officials have sent conflicting signals about the federal investigation, which found the Police Department used excessive and deadly force, violated the rights of homeless people, and discriminated against Black, Latino, Native American people, as well as those who have behavioral disabilities. Why the hell would anybody ever accept a consent decree? said one City Council member months before the report was released. Afterward, the head of the police union said the investigation was a farce and part of an unprofessional smear campaign.But Mayor Kate Gallego has said the city is taking the report seriously. In September, the City Council passed several police reform measures, including requiring all officers who deal with the public to use body-worn cameras, even the special units that have been at the center of controversial shootings.Regardless of the new federal administration, these reforms are moving forward, and the mayors commitment to improving the police department is unwavering, a mayoral spokesperson told ProPublica.Some of the other cities the Justice Department had targeted are taking small steps toward fixing problems the federal investigators identified, though its unclear whether the efforts will result in lasting change.In Oklahoma City, where Justice found in January that police officers discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities, the city recently began funding mobile mental health units that can respond to incidents instead of police, said Jessica Hawkins, chair of the citys Crisis Intervention Advisory Group. She said the city is also working on a written response to the DOJ report but didnt know when it would be completed.Police Chief Ron Bacy declined ProPublicas request for an interview and through a spokesperson said the department was still reviewing the report.In Memphis, Tennessee, where federal investigators found that police use excessive force, conduct unlawful stops and discriminate against Black people, the mayor put together a reform task force, led by a retired federal judge. The DOJ report, in our case, kick-started a conversation that had sort of gone cold, said Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City, an organization that works on litigation and justice matters in Memphis.And in Trenton, New Jersey, where the Justice Department found that local police have a pattern or practice of using excessive force and conducting unlawful pedestrian and vehicle stops, City Council member Jasi Edwards has been hosting community meetings to introduce the idea of a civilian complaint review board and build support for the measure. Edwards said she plans to formally put forth her proposal sometime in the fall.It will likely run into resistance, though. Representatives of the Police Department and mayor told ProPublica that they didnt believe a civilian review board was necessary because it would be costly and there are existing ways for citizens to complain about police conduct. The DOJ report, they said, highlighted some areas in need of improvement but mischaracterized a number of cases and gave an inaccurate depiction of the departments culture.In Worcester, Massachusetts, reforms are already moving forward in response to the Justice Departments investigation.Last month, the police chief released a 15-page report on proposed measures intended to remedy the problems identified by federal investigators. The changes, which are still awaiting legal review, include prohibiting police from releasing K-9 dogs into mass gatherings or riot scenes and requiring a supervisor to go to a scene if someone reports being injured by police.The police chief, Paul Socier, has also proposed several changes to how officers approach prostitution. Investigators found the department engaged in outrageous government conduct with sex workers by having sexual contact during undercover operations.We are hopefully headed in the right direction, said Audra Doody, co-executive director of Safe Exit Initiative, an organization in Worcester that provides services, housing and counseling to sex workers who want to leave the sex trade. With a time of such uncertainty, I want to believe our people in the community are telling the truth and actually are going to do what they say theyre going to do, which they seem like they are, right now. ProPublica is reporting on how the Trump administrations efforts to reshape the federal government will impact the Department of Justice and its work on civil rights. If youre a former or current Justice Department employee and you want to send us a tip, please contact us. Were especially interested in the departments Civil Rights Division. Topher Sanders can be reached by phone or on Signal at 904-254-0393 or by email at topher.sanders@propublica.org.

A rescue worker rests near university building destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-04-14T10:22:21Z BRUSSELS (AP) European officials condemned Monday Russias deadly missile attack on Ukraines Sumy that killed and wounded scores, accusing Moscow of committing war crimes and demonstrating disregard for Washington-led efforts to end the war.Ukrainian officials said two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning hit the heart of Sumy, a city about 30 kilometers away from Ukraines border with Russia, as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 and wounding 117. It is the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose country holds the European Unions rotating presidency, said that the recent attacks are Russias mocking answer to Kyivs agreement to a ceasefire proposed by the U.S. administration over a month ago.I hope that President Trump, the U.S. administration, see that the leader of Russia is mocking their goodwill, and I hope the right decisions are taken, Sikorski told reporters Monday in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers met. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen noted that the attack on Sumy came shortly after Trumps envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It demonstrates that Russia shows full disregard for the peace process, but also that Russia has zero regard for human life. Lithuanias foreign minister Kestutis Budrys said the Russian strike used cluster munitions to target civilians in what he called a war crime by definition. French Foreign Minister Jean-Nol Barrot said the attack shows that Putin has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire. He must therefore be forced to do so, and thats why Im calling on the European Union to take the toughest sanctions against Russia to suffocate its economy and prevent it from fueling its war effort.The EU has imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia and is working on a 17th package, but the measures are getting harder to agree on as they also impact European economies. Germanys chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, described the Sumy attack late Sunday as a serious war crime.Merz said that, three days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was in Moscow, Russia attacked a childrens hospital in Kyiv. Evidently, he (Putin) interprets our readiness to speak to him not as a serious offer to make peace possible but as weakness, he said in an appearance on ARD television.Merz made clear that he stands by his past calls to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something that outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. He said that the Ukrainian military needs to be able to get ahead of the situation and that any delivery of long-range missiles must be done in consultation with European partners.Two children were killed and 15 others were wounded in the attack, according to Ukraines State Emergency Service. Only filthy scum can act like this taking the lives of ordinary people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media, adding that the first strike hit city university buildings, while the second exploded above street level. The head of the Ukrainian presidents office, Andriy Yermak, said cluster munitions were used to kill as many people as possible. The Associated Press was unable to verify that claim.The attack on Sumy followed a deadly April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyys hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 people, including nine children.Zelenskyy called for a global response to the attack. Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. Whats needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves, he said.Asking about the attack, Trump said late Sunday evening that he was trying to get the war stopped. I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think its a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing, he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington. He did not clarify whether he was saying the attack was unintentional.Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sam McNeil in Barcelona, Spain, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Nature, Published online: 14 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01144-6Two books discuss how these space rocks are entwined with science, commerce, policy and life.

by Nicole Foy ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Just a week into President Donald Trumps second term, Rep. Adriano Espaillat began to see reports of Puerto Ricans and others being questioned and arrested by immigration agents. So Espaillat, a New York Democrat, did what members of Congress often do: He wrote to the administration and demanded answers. That was more than 10 weeks ago. Espaillat has not received a response. His experience appears to be common. At least a dozen members of Congress, all Democrats, have written to the Trump administration with pointed questions about constituents and other citizens whom immigration agents have questioned, detained and even held at gunpoint. In one letter, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanded a list of every citizen detained during the new administration. None has received an answer.What we are clearly seeing is that with this administration, they are not responding to congressional inquiries, said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernndez, a New Mexico Democrat. Leger Fernndez and others wrote to Trump and the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 28 after receiving complaints from constituents and tribal nations that federal agents were pressing tribal citizens in New Mexico for their immigration status, raising concerns about racial profiling.The congresswoman and others say the lack of response is part of a broader pattern in which the administration has been moving to sideline Congress and its constitutional power to investigate the executive branch.That is a big concern on a level beyond what ICE is doing, Leger Fernndez said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of DHS. This administration does not seem to recognize the power and authority and responsibility of Congress.Norman Ornstein, a longtime congressional observer at the American Enterprise Institute, said prior administrations lack of responsiveness has frustrated lawmakers too. But hes never seen one so thoroughly brush off Congress. Whats clear now is that the message from Donald Trump and his minions is: You dont have to respond to these people, whether they are ours or not, Ornstein said, referring to Republicans and Democrats. Thats not usual. Nothing about this is usual.A White House spokesperson denied that the administration has been circumventing Congress or its oversight. Passage of the continuing resolution that kept our government open and commonsense legislation like the Laken Riley Act are indicative of how closely the Trump administration is working with Congress, said Kush Desai in a statement. The White House did not answer questions about the letters. DHS also did not respond to ProPublicas questions.Last month, ProPublica detailed how Americans have been caught in the administrations dragnet. Such mistakes have been made by many administrations over decades. The government often has not taken steps to reduce errors, such as updating its files when agents confirm somebodys citizenship. But experts and advocates have warned that Trumps aggressive immigration goals including arrest quotas for enforcement agents make it more likely that citizens will get caught up.ICE and its sister agency, Customs and Border Protection, said in earlier statements to ProPublica that agents are allowed to ask for citizens identification. The agencies did not provide explanations for their actions in most of the cases ProPublica asked about. Answers were also hard to come by during Trumps first term, even when Democrats controlled the House and had more power over hearings. At a House hearing in 2019 about family separation, lawmakers pressed then-Border Patrol Chief Brian Hastings about another issue: the three-week detention of a Dallas-born high school student and citizen, who was only released after The Dallas Morning News reported what happened. Hastings said the student never claimed to be a citizen during his detention though the newspaper reported that the agencys own paperwork noted the opposite. Hastings also declined to give any broader accounting of how often the agency had held Americans. I dont have information about specific cases, he said. (Hastings did not respond to requests for comment.)Espaillat, the New York representative, has been in office for eight years. He said he frequently raised immigration questions and concerns during the Biden administration too, and got responses.Republicans complained about the opposite experience during the Biden administration. They said the administration was unresponsive to Congress questions on immigration, forcing lawmakers to subpoena officials for answers. (The administration dismissed the moves as political posturing.) Espaillat said hes not surprised the Trump administration has been silent. They probably dont have a good answer.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor's official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)2025-04-14T11:22:10Z HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governors mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him, according to court documents released Monday.The fire left significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building early Sunday. The man, arrested later in the day, faces charges including attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said.During a police interview, authorities said Cody Balmer told them after he was taken into custody that he would have beaten Shapiro with a small sledge hammer if he had found him, the documents say. Balmer had walked an hour from his home to the governors residence, and during the police interview, Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro, according to a police affidavit, but it wasnt noted why. Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover at the residence on Saturday and were awakened by state troopers pounding on their doors at about 2 a.m. Sunday. They fled and firefighters extinguished the fire, officials said. No one was injured. At a Sunday evening news conference in front of the badly damaged south wing of the governors residence, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg.Authorities did not say whether Balmer has a lawyer or where he was being held and calls to people believed to be relatives went unanswered or unreturned Sunday. One recent listed residence in Harrisburg was condemned in 2022. One recent listed residence in Harrisburg was condemned in 2022. Shapiro says he is unbowedParis emphasized that the investigation is continuing. Authorities did not disclose the mans motive, but an emotional Shapiro, who is viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he is unbowed.Shapiro said that if Balmer was trying to stop him from doing his job, then hell work harder, and he added that Balmer will not stop him from observing his faith.When we were in the state dining room last night, we told the story of Passover and the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt to freedom, Shapiro said. I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempts to put on me by attacking us as they did here last night. I refuse to let anyone who had evil intentions like that stop me from doing the work that I love. Police say suspect hopped security fence and forcibly entered residenceAuthorities said the suspect hopped over a nearly 7-foot-high (2.1-meter-high) iron security fence surrounding the property, eluded officers who became aware of the breach and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire. He used beer bottles filled with gasoline to make the Molotov cocktails, documents say,Lt. Col. George Bivens said Balmer appeared to have carefully planned the attack. He was inside the residence for about a minute before he escaped, Bivens said.Bivens said Balmer was later arrested in the area.Balmer has faced criminal charges over the past decade including simple assault, theft and forgery, according to online criminal court records.We have to be better than this, Shapiro says Shapiro said the fire was set in the very room where he and his family celebrated Passover with a seder with members of Harrisburgs Jewish community on Saturday night.We dont know the persons specific motive yet, Shapiro told the news conference. But we do know a few truths. First: This type of violence is not OK. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I dont give a damn if its coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another or one particular person or another. It is not OK, and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.The fire badly damaged the inside of the large room that is often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. Large west- and south-facing windows were completely missing their glass panes, shattered glass littered the pathways and doors stood ajar amid signs of charring. Window panes and brick around doors and windows were blackened and charred. Inside, a charred piano, tables, walls, metal buffet serving dishes and more could be seen through broken windows and fire-blackened doors.___Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., arrives to speak to reporters following a closed-door Republican meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-04-14T11:04:41Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate, once again, was working into the early morning hours Friday with its new majority leader, Republican John Thune, setting the pace.It wasnt until just after 2 a.m. that the last of the senators had straggled into the chamber to cast their vote on the confirmation of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Razin Caine for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vote capped a grinding start to the year for the Senate that included several all-night floor sessions and importantly for Thune the quickest top-level Cabinet confirmation process in the past 20 years.At the outset, however, such an outcome was far from assured. President Donald Trump was making demands that the new Senate leader be ready to put the chamber into recess so he could skip over the Senate confirmation process altogether. Faced with that prospect, Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said his message in conversations with the president was, Let us do this the old-fashioned way and just use the clock and grind it out, and then well see where we go from there. That approach has been successful allowing Thune to show Trump the Senates worth while also preserving its constitutional role in installing a presidents Cabinet. But the decision to push forward on even Trumps most unconventional Cabinet nominees has also come at a cost. Several Cabinet officials have been intimately involved in the early controversies of Trumps second term, from discussing military plans on an unclassified Signal app chat to encouraging the Republican president to follow through with steep tariffs on trading partners. GOP senators, many of whom still hold traditional Republican ideas, have often had to mount a response. The Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, last month initiated an investigation by the Pentagons inspector general into whether classified information was shared on Signal by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And GOP senators more recently made a concerted effort to encourage Trump to negotiate trade deals with other nations rather than listen to advisers like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was adamant that tariffs were there to stay. In an interview with The Associated Press shortly after Trump announced a pause on tariffs to most nations, Thune said the announcement showed the president is responding to the feedback hes given.I think everybody wants to see him succeed with this, wants to see the country succeed and wants to make sure that were gauging and calibrating as some of these major policy shifts are being made the impacts that they have, Thune added.That balance Thunes supportive yet still cautious approach has marked his early months working with a president with whom, until last year, he had a fraught relationship. So far, Trump and Thune have stayed on upbeat terms, but the stakes will only rise for Republicans in the coming months as they try to lift through Congress a massive package of tax breaks and spending cuts on party-line votes. During Trumps first term, it took barely a year and some setbacks in Congress before Trump began openly feuding with then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.Discussing the reconciliation package as he sat in McConnells old leadership office, Thune stressed that for the GOPs marquee legislation to work, Everybodys got to be rolling in the same direction. It takes a lot of teamwork. A check and balanceAs Trump has entered office with practically total command of the Republican Party and an agenda to upend the federal government and its role in society, Thune acknowledged that Trump has been aggressive in his use of executive power. But he argued that it was no different from how previous presidents wanted to take as much power as they possibly can, pointing to President Joe Bidens moves to cancel student debt and boost government food assistance.Our job is to do what we can to support the president and his agenda, Thune said. But, you know, be that important check and balance, too, that the Founders intended.Still, as Trump has blazed through constitutional norms with sweeping orders that endanger civil rights, government programs, the federal workforce and Americas relationship with allies, Republicans in Congress have stood by.We need Republicans to get off the sidelines, including the majority leader, and say, This is unacceptable behavior by any president, said Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat.Kelly cited Trumps disparagement of NATO and comments about taking over countries like Canada and Greenland and the Panama Canal. The damage that Donald Trump is doing to our international reputation is not something we easily recover from, he said.Still, Kelly added that Thune deserves some credit for making the mechanics of the Senate function well. Thune has been aggressive in trying to get the Senate to move faster through its votes. He noted that he had allowed one recent vote session to close before he had even had a chance to cast his vote because he was at the White House for a meeting.Its an incremental change in the Senates timing, but one that Thune, a former runner, hopes will contribute to the chamber becoming more active and deliberative in shaping the law. He won the leadership contest in part by pledging to allow individual senators to have more of a say in crafting and amending legislation.So far, the Senate has also gained bipartisan support to pass bills that will increase prison penalties for fentanyl traffickers as well as mandate the detainment of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and are accused of theft and violent crimes.Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican who has been vocal about changes to the way legislation advances, said Thune has done a great job, although the Senate hasnt had much of a chance to work on legislation.The truth of the matter, he added, is weve been consumed by confirmations. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)2025-04-14T10:19:02Z ROME (AP) Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared ready Monday to leave the Middle East, as an Italian source said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog separately confirmed he would be taking a trip to Iran later in the week, possibly to discuss ways to improve access for his inspectors to Tehrans program. The stakes of the negotiations couldnt be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Irans nuclear program if a deal isnt reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.A source in the Italian government confirmed that the next round would take place in Rome on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they werent authorized to speak publicly. The persons comments came as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani separately told journalists in Osaka, Japan, that the Italian government has given its OK to host the talks. We received the request from the interested parties, from Oman, which plays the role of mediator and we gave a positive response, Tajani said. We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue. Both Iranian and U.S. officials did not immediately acknowledge the venue of the second round of negotiations. However, its likely that Oman, which hosted the first round of talks on Saturday in Muscat, would continue to mediate between the two sides. The next round of talks will probably be held somewhere other than Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told journalists on Monday in Tehran. Its not an important matter. IAEA chief to head to Iran ahead of talksThe talks will follow a visit by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran later this week. The IAEA played a key role in verifying Irans compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and has continued to work in the Islamic Republic, even as the countrys theocracy slowly peeled away its access after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018.Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed, Grossi wrote on X.Grossi will arrive in Iran on Wednesday night and will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, the state-run IRNA news agency reported, quoting Kazem Gharibabadi, a deputy foreign minister. Sanctions relief and enrichment remain top issuesThe 2015 nuclear deal saw Iran agree to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67% enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Today, Iran enriches up to 60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels and has enough stockpile for multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to build them.The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran and unfroze assets around the world. The deals collapse refroze those funds and limited Irans ability to sell crude oil abroad though it still sells to China, likely at a sharp discount. While the U.S. can offer sanctions relief for Irans beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Judging from negotiations since 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%. However, neither side has offered any public statements about what it is specifically seeking in the talks. There must definitely be guarantees in place regarding the fulfillment of commitments, Baghaei said Monday. The issue of guarantees is especially important given the history of broken promises in the past. God willing, the negotiating team will continue its work with all these factors and points in mind.He added: As long as the language of sanctions, pressure, threats, and intimidation continues, direct negotiations will not take place. However, Abbas and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff did meet and speak face to face after some two hours of indirect talks mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. Speaking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he met with Witkoff and that his envoy had very good meetings on the Middle East.Well be making a decision on Iran very quickly, Trump said, without elaborating. ___Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers David Biller and Giada Zampano in Rome and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/ JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto