Over the weekend, AI-generated audio of vice president JD Vance saying Elon Musk is cosplaying as a great American leader who is making the administration look bad circulated widely on social media. On Sunday, Vances communications director William Martin said on X that This audio is 100% fake and most certainly not the Vice President. Martins post had quoted another X post that shared the audio, but that post has since been deleted.While we dont know which specific piece of software was used to create the audio, deepfake and AI-generated disinformation firm Reality Defenders software detected the audio as likely fake."We ran it through multiple audio detection models and discovered it to be a likely fake, a Reality Defender spokesperson told me in a statement. The background noise and reverb were also likely added to deliberately mask the quality of the actual deepfaked audio for further obfuscation."Do you know anything else about how AI audio companies build safeguards? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at emanuel.404. Otherwise, send me an email at emanuel@404media.co.While Martin was reacting to the audio being shared on X, it appears to have circulated earlier on TikTok. One TikTok video of the audio posted yesterday and not labeled as being AI-generated, now has more than 2 million views and 8,000 comments, the first of which says With the rise of AI, I dont know what to believe.Technically speaking, the audio sounds entirely believable. The voice sounds exactly like Vance, and the static in the audio sounds much like other secretly recorded audio of politicians that have leaked to news organizations in the past. As Reality Defender notes, the added static also makes it more difficult for automatic deepfake detectors to recognize the audio as fake. The audio has also been reposted to TikTok dozens of times, as well as YouTube and X.This type of AI-generated content is rampant on TikTok despite the companys policies against sharing misinformation and asking users to label AI-generated content. In February, for example, I wrote about hundreds of videos that used an AI-generated voice of Donald Trump to promote various scams.TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.While we dont know exactly what software was used to create the audio, cloning peoples likeness with AI voice generation tools is extremely easy. Last year, I reported that the biggest company in this space, ElevenLabs, made it possible to clone the voices of celebrities and politicians even after the company introduced policies and safeguards against that practice. In March, a Consumer Reports assessment of six AI voice cloning products, including ElevenLabs, also found that there are no meaningful safeguards in those products to prevent people from misusing them.While the AI-generated Vance audio is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the misleading AI-generated media that exists on TikTok and other platforms, its not clear that this particular use of AI-generated audio has much of a political impact. As weve written for years, people tend to believe their priors whether the media they see online is authentic, a deepfake, or just crudely edited, and Vance has put out a clear denial. It is, however, a sign of how easy it is to produce AI-generated media that does cause true harm in the form of petty scams, an avalanche of AI Slop, and nonconsensual content.

On March 14, queer activists gathered at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in NYC to reclaim a powerful legacy the iconic "Lesbian Tent."First created nearly 30 years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Tent is considered a "physical representation of [the] demand for visibility, equality, and justice on the global stage." As governments worldwide continue to attack LGBTQ+ rights, those demands are just as important as ever.This explicitly inclusive demonstration organized by Outright International and the LBTI Caucus echoed the demands of past generations while looking towards the future.Keep scrolling for images of resilience, solidarity, and joy, all of which serve as a reminder to the world that LGBTQ+ rights are non-negotiable.The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to.The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to. The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to. The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to. The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to. The protest was organized by Outright International a nonprofit organization that works around the world to fight for and strengthen LGBTQ+ human rights. These photos are an inspiring reminder of the power of queer folks when we stand together in solidarity. Looking for ways to get involved? Here's a list of organizations and resources. Want to give back? Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to.

Actor Sam Nivola has offered his perspective on the complex sexuality of his character, Lochlan Ratliff, in HBOs The White Lotus following a series of sexually charged scenes that have sparked online debate. In the shows third season, Lochlans interactions with his brother, Saxon, played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, have drawn particular attention. A drunken kiss in an earlier episode escalatedSource

Nature, Published online: 24 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00869-8Study dispels myth that order of names in a papers author list dictates perception of success.

Nature, Published online: 24 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08887-2Generalizing arene CH alkylations by radicalradical cross-coupling

Basel Adra, from left, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham, winners of the award for best documentary feature film for "No Other Land," pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)2025-03-24T19:15:07Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli settlers beat up one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land in the occupied West Bank on Monday, and he was then detained by the Israeli military, Jewish activists on the scene said.Dozens of settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area, destroying property, said the activist group Center for Jewish Nonviolence. They attacked Hamdan Ballal, one of the documentarys co-directors, leaving his head bleeding, the activists said. As he was being treated in an ambulance, soldiers detained him and a second Palestinian man, the group said.The Israeli military said it was looking into the episode but did not immediately comment.We dont know where Hamdan is because he was taken away in a blindfold, said 28-year-old Josh Kimelman, who was at the scene. A group of 10-20 masked settlers attacked him and other Jewish activists with stones and sticks, and smashed their car windows and slashed their tires. Video provided by the Center for Jewish Nonviolence showed a masked settler shoving and swinging his fists at two activists from the group in a dusty field at night. The activists rush back to their car. Get in, get in! one shouts, and they duck inside as the thuds of rocks being thrown can be heard. Car window was broken, the driver says as they drive off. No Other Land, which won the Oscar this year for best documentary, chronicles the struggle by residents of Masafer Yatta to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages. It has two Palestinian co-directors, Ballal and Basel Adra, both residents of Masafar Yatta, and two Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.The joint Palestinian-Israeli production has won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. It has also drawn ire in Israel and abroad, as when Miami Beach briefly proposed ending the lease of a movie theater that screened the documentary.

Mia Love, Mayor of Saratoga Springs and candidate for Utah's 4th district congressional seat, gives a TV interview at the Republican election night party at the Hilton in Salt Lake City, Nov. 6, 2012. (Spenser Heaps/The Daily Herald via AP, File)2025-03-24T19:13:56Z SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The death Sunday of former U.S. Rep. Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to the U.S. House, has brought renewed attention to an aggressive form of brain cancer that killed her at age 49.The former lawmaker from Utah had undergone treatment for glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial. Her daughter said earlier this month that she was no longer responding to treatment.Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement shared by the family.Who was Mia Love?Love, born Ludmya Bourdeau, was a daughter of Haitian immigrants and a pioneering Republican congresswoman who represented Utah in the U.S. House from 2015 to 2019. She entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City, and later became the citys mayor. While in that role, Love spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention and drew rousing cheers with her criticisms of then-President Barack Obama. That year, she narrowly lost a bid for the House against the Democratic incumbent. She ran again two years later and defeated a first-time candidate by about 7,500 votes, becoming the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress. Love was briefly considered a rising star within the GOP, but her power within the party petered out as President Donald Trump took hold. Love kept her distance from Trump and called him out in 2018 for vulgar comments he made about immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations. Later that year, she lost in the midterm elections as Democrats surged. How did Love die?Love was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022. She said her doctors estimated she had only 10-15 months to live, but she surpassed that. She described during a speaking engagement in Salt Lake City how she discovered the tumor. Love said she was on vacation with her family and developed a bad headache when the plane landed. When she went to the beach, the suns reflection on the water made her headache unbearable. Her husband brought her to the hospital, and a series of X-rays revealed a tumor in her brain. Love rushed home to Utah and had surgery to remove about 95% of the tumor. Biopsy results revealed it was cancerous and likely to spread to surrounding brain tissue.She entered a clinical trial at Duke Universitys Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center in Durham, North Carolina, that involved using her bodys immune system to attack the tumor. At first, the tumor shrank, but eventually it stopped responding to treatments.What is glioblastoma?Glioblastoma is one of the most deadly and treatment-resistant cancers, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. It is a fast-growing glioma, a type of tumor that arises from glial cells, which protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. There is no cure for glioblastoma, but aggressive treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other targeted therapies may slow the growth of the tumor, according to Mayo Clinic. Its considered to be advanced by the time of diagnosis, meaning there is no way to eradicate all cancer cells. How common is it?More than 13,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year, accounting for almost half of all cancerous brain tumors, according to the Cleveland Clinic. And more than 10,000 people in the U.S. will succumb to the disease every year, the National Brain Tumor Society reports.Glioblastoma can occur at any age but is found more often in older adults. The average age at diagnosis is 64.Its the same type of brain cancer that killed former President Joe Bidens son Beau Biden in 2015 and Sen. John McCain in 2018.Can it be prevented?Researchers have not found a way to prevent glioblastoma, and the cause of most of these tumors is unknown. Glioblastoma occurs when glial cells in the brain or spinal cord mutate, altering their genetic makeup.People who have been exposed to significant amounts of radiation have an increased risk of developing glioblastoma. A family history and certain rare genetic syndromes may increase the risk of developing brain cancer. How long can you live with it?People diagnosed with glioblastoma typically have about 15-18 months to live, with only a 10% chance of survival after five years, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.With aggressive treatments, Love lived for about three years after receiving her diagnosis.My life has been extended by exceptional medical care, science and extraordinary professionals who have become dear friends, Love wrote in a recent op-ed in the Deseret News. My extra season of life has also been the result of the faith and prayers of countless friends, known and unknown. HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Schoenbaum is a government and politics reporter based in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also covers general news in the Rockies and LGBTQ+ rights policies in U.S. statehouses. twitter mailto

Love a good queer read and want more where that came from? Weve got you covered. Whether youre still thinking about Evelyn Hugo or rooting for Nick and Charlie, heres a lineup of books that bring similar feelswith fresh voices, big emotions, and LGBTQ+ stories that stick with you.If you loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidThen try The Memories of Marlie Rose by Morgan Lee MillerMarlie Rose has been a Broadway diva for decades, but being a star has cost her dearly. When shes offered a procedure that would erase the painful memories of past heartbreaks and traumas, she jumps at the chance. However, when Eleanor Olsonthe woman Marlie has loved for over 40 yearsresurfaces, Marlie begins to regret her decision to erase those precious memories as their love is rekindled.If you loved Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuistonThen try The Unlikely Heir by Jax CalderThrust into the spotlight as the new heir to the British throne, Prince Callum is uprooted from his laid-back life in California. Royal life isnt the fairy tale he imagineduntil an unlikely friendship with Prime Minister Oliver Hartwell reveals a kindred spirit.If you loved Call Me By Your Name by Andr AcimanThen try Isaacs Song by Daniel BlackLike Elio Perlman, young queer man Isaac finds himself at a crossroads. After a difficult upbringing in Missouri, he moves to Chicago in the late 80s to explore his authentic self and his art. But as the AIDS crisis and the attack on Rodney King fundamentally alter his path, Isaac begins writing down his life storyand is forced to reckon with his past and what the future may hold.If you loved The Fingersmith by Sarah WatersThen try The Best Bad Things by Katrina CarrascoThe Best Bad Things trades the gritty streets of Victorian era London, for the rough edges of 1880s United Statesspecifically the Washington Territory. Alma Rosales, trained by the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency and fired for going undercover as a man, is now chasing a stolen stash of opium for a West Coast smuggling ring. Once again donning her male alter ego, she dives into a world of double crosses and danger in this twisty, gender-bending tale.If you loved Delilah Green Doesnt Care by Ashley Herring BlakeThen try Honey Girl by Morgan RogersMuch like the titular Delilah, Grace Porter is on a journey of self discovery. After earning her PhD in astronomy, Grace celebrates in Vegasonly to wake up married to a woman she doesnt know. As she escapes to New York to figure things out, Grace is forced to confront burnout, family expectations, and the unexpected love that might help her rediscover herself.If you loved Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob TobiaThen try Black, Fat, Femme: Revealing the Power of Visibly Queer Voices in Media and Learning to Love Yourself by Dr. Jonathan P. HigginsIn Black. Fat. Femme. Dr. Jonathan P. Higginsaka Doctor Jon Paulshares a powerful, personal reflection on identity, media, and what it means to live at the intersection of Black, fat, and femme. Through honest, personal storytelling and cultural insight, they highlight the importance of real representation, uplift the trailblazers whove made space for authenticity, and call out the ways Black Fat Femme voices are often left out of the broader LGBTQ+ narrative.If you loved This Book is Gay by Juno DawsonThen try American Teenager by Nico LangJournalist Nico Lang traveled the country speaking to transgender teens and their families. The result of this year of interviews and building relationships is a book that offers a deeply human and personal look at what it really means to grow up trans in todays America. While the teens face their share of challenges, there is also joy, kinship and hope to be found along the way.If you loved Heartstopper by Alice OsmanThen try Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-OConnellMuch like Nick and Charlie of Heartstopper fame, high schooler Frederica Freddy Riley is navigating life as a queer teen in love. Her girlfriend, Laura Dean, is popular and charmingbut theres one big problem: she keeps breaking up with Freddy. With help from her friends and a mysterious psychic, Freddy learns more than she expected about herself and why she just cant quit Laura Dean.If you loved The Price of Salt by Patricia HighsmithThen try Passing Strange by Ellen KlagesThe Price of Salt, also known as Carol, is a beloved tale of lesbian love in the 1940s with a rare hopeful ending for books of its time. Like Highsmiths novel, Ellen Klages explores queer love in the 40s toothis time in San Francisco, with a dash of magic. Six womens lives collide as they navigate hidden cities and forbidden love in this fantastical tale.The post Queer Lit Matchmaker: What to read after your favorite LGBTQ+ novel appeared first on News Is Out.

Early voting has begun for the April 1 election for Wisconsins Supreme Court. Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel are running for a 10-year term.These are their records on LGBTQ issues: In response to the question from PBS Wisconsin, Do trans people have any specific protections under the law? Are they a protected class? Do they [...]The post Election 2025: Wisconsins Supreme Court Candidates on the Record first appeared on GLAAD.

Jennifer Lopez made a memorable appearance at Broadways opening night of Othello on Sunday, March 23, alongside her child Emme, 17. The star-studded event, held at the Barrymore Theatre in New York City, marked the highly anticipated return of Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in a new revival of the classic Shakespearean tragedy. Lopez, 55, shared her exciting night with fans via InstagramSource

Nature, Published online: 24 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00804-xThe nuclear pore complex is the gateway to the nucleus of cells. Now an in vivo imaging technique can track the way in which molecules move through this complex.

Nature, Published online: 24 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00859-wSeveral high-profile incidents in the past month have scientists on edge.

Locals inspect the site reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes overnight in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-03-24T19:02:02Z WASHINGTON (AP) Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain appears to be authentic.The material in the text chain contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing, editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023. Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15, the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalists number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat. Trump told reporters he was not aware of the apparent breach in protocol. I know nothing about it, Trump said, adding that The Atlantic was not much of a magazine. He went on to say, I dont know anything about it. Youre telling me about it for the first time.Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hacked. The sharing of sensitive information comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths office has just announced a crackdown on leaks of sensitive information, including the potential use of polygraphs on defense personnel to determine how reporters have received information. Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Hegseth, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the defense secretary posted war operational plans on an unclassified app.The handling of national defense information is strictly governed by law under the century-old Espionage Act, including provisions that make it a crime to remove such information from its proper place of custody even through an act of gross negligence. The Justice Department in 2015 and 2016 investigated whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law by communicating about classified information with her aides on a private email server she set up, though the FBI ultimately recommended against charges and none were brought.In the Biden administration, some officials were given permission to download Signal on their White House-issued phones, but were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the Democratic administration.The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to communicate what they internally referred to as tippers to notify someone when they were away from the office or traveling overseas that they should check their high side inbox for a classified message.The app was sometimes also used by officials during the Biden administration to communicate about scheduling of sensitive meetings or classified phone calls when they were outside the office, the official said. TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto

From left, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5), forward Cooper Flagg (2), center Khaman Maluach (9), guard Sion James (14) and guard Kon Knueppel (7) react to their team's lead during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Mount St. Mary's, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)2025-03-24T18:18:22Z Follow APs full coverage of March Madness.Get the AP Top 25 mens college basketball poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Baylor coach Scott Drew knew beating No. 1 seed Duke would be a tough task considering the Blue Devils elite efficiency rankings at both ends of the court.The analytics showed they didnt have any weaknesses, Drew said Sunday after a 89-66 loss to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.And the Blue Devils have lived up to that heading into the Sweet 16.Sure, the point margins are impressive enough. But the underlying data for teams still alive in the Sweet 16 can indicate which teams fit the profile of those that reach the Final Four or cut down the nets, and the Blue Devils have been absolutely dominant notably at the offensive end behind junior Tyrese Proctor going on a sudden outside-shooting tear.First of all it helps when Tyrese is on the heater he was on, graduate guard Sion James quipped.But weve built this throughout the year. This isnt something that just kind of came on. Weve been building toward this for the season. And now were hoping for the next few weeks that we can keep it sustained. Profiles of a winnerGoing back to the 2001 tournament, 16 of 23 national champions were ranked inside the top 25 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency for KenPom entering March Madness, with six owning top-10 status at both ends.Take a step back, and more than half of the Final Four teams (51 of 92) were inside the top 25 at both ends, with 18 of those being top 10 in both areas.As for the others, slightly more than half of the remaining teams held at least top-10 status at one end of the floor to offer one commonality. The tiersThat creates three tiers of Sweet 16 teams for this week:Five favorites who entered the tournament with top-25 rankings for both ends: the Blue Devils, fellow 1-seeds Florida, Houston and Auburn; and 2-seed Tennessee. Of that group, the Blue Devils are top 5 at both ends, while the Gators and Cougars are in the top 10.Six teams that ranked in the top 10 to offer elite play at one end of the court: 2-seeds Alabama and Michigan State; 3-seeds Kentucky and Texas Tech; and 4-seeds Purdue and Maryland. Of that group, the Spartans were the only top-10 defense and also flirted with joining the aforementioned top tier by entering the tournament ranked 27th offensively (118.1 points per 100 possessions).Five outliers: 4-seed Arizona, 5-seed Michigan, 6-seeds BYU and Mississippi; and 10-seed Arkansas. Of that group, BYU and Arizona were slightly outside of the top-10 offensively, while Michigan flirted with top-10 status defensively.Dukes startThe Blue Devils entered the tournament ranked third in KenPoms adjusted offensive efficiency (128.0 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in defense (89.8). They have started their push for a sixth national title with home-state romps against Mount St. Marys and Baylor as the headliner in the East Region, led by an offense exceeding its own elite season-long performance.Duke has scored on 79 of 123 possessions (64.2%) through two games and is averaging 1.48 points per possession. By comparison, UConn began its blowout-filled march last year to a second straight NCAA title by averaging 1.29 points per possession and scoring on 59.7% of its possessions in the opening weekend. Defensively, Duke has allowed 0.927 points per possession, a slight downtick from its regular-season numbers.When it comes to this years Sweet 16 teams, Dukes effective field-goal percentage which factors in the added value of 3-point shots was 67% through two games, according to Sportradar, with the Crimson Tide (61%) as the next-best team. The Blue Devils also have a Sweet 16-low eight turnovers through two games while posting a nearly 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.And Dukes 67-point victory margin through two games is 24 points better than Houstons as the next closest team, with the Blue Devils standing as the only member of the Sweet 16 to win both tournament games by at least 20 points. Tournament testsThe other 1-seeds offer statistical profiles close to Duke, but they also have faced something the Blue Devils havent: a test.The Gators entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in adjusted offensive efficiency (128.6) and No. 10 in defense (92.4), while the Cougars were the inverse by ranking 10th in offense (123.2) and second in defense (87.8). And No. 1 overall seed Auburn was slightly outside of that group by ranking third and 12th, respectively.Yet all three have encountered a bit more resistance, notably with Florida having to take over down the stretch to end UConns two-year title reign and Houston fending off Gonzaga in Round 2.Theres value in that, too, beyond the numbers.If youre going to make a deep run in March, youve got to catch some breaks, and youve got to win some games like this to be able to push through and stay alive, Florida coach Todd Golden said. Theoretically, beating a team like UConn, thats used to winning this time of year, in the fashion that we did should be really good for us moving forward.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AARON BEARD Beard covers sports in North Carolina for The Associated Press with an emphasis on college basketball. His coverage includes ACC sports and the NHLs Carolina Hurricanes. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)2025-03-24T21:04:51Z SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) Lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government filed a legal action Monday in El Salvador aimed at freeing 238 Venezuelans deported by the United States who are being held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.Jaime Ortega, who says he represents 30 of the imprisoned Venezuelans, said they filed the habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Courts Constitutional Chamber. He said that by extension they requested that it be applied to all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.The maneuver essentially compels the government to prove someones detention was justified.The Salvadoran government has been silent about the status of the Venezuelan prisoners since the U.S. government sent them more than a week ago, despite a U.S. federal judges verbal order to turn the planes around.The Trump administration is using an 18th-century wartime law to justify sending the Venezuelans, who it says were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which the administration declared an invading force. We represent at this moment 30 Venezuelans who have given us the power to act, but by extension, we are asking for habeas corpus for the rest of the Venezuelan citizens who are detained in our country, Ortega said. Salvador Ros, another lawyer with the firm, said they were contracted by the Venezuelan government and the Families of Immigrants Committee in Venezuela. He said the Venezuelans they represent are not members of the Tren de Aragua and had migrated from their country and dont have any criminal record. In February, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele offered to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to imprison U.S. deportees or even U.S. citizens serving prison sentences. The U.S. is paying El Salvador to hold them for what both governments say is a cost savings.But lawyers in both countries have questioned the legal justification for sending migrants who have not been convicted or in many cases even charged with a crime to prison in a foreign country.

Adult entertainers are working harder than ever.It's no easy task filming such sexy videos on camera, but Grant Ducati is living his best life as a gay content creator.Three years into the game, the star started began his career on OnlyFans and social media before filming studio content at Carnal Media.With so many spicy movies under his belt, Ducati is dishing on his favorite type of steamy scene to film at the 2025 GayVN Awards."I love topping! Topping is so much easier. That's an easy day at work! Honestly, anything where I get a heavy script... that's so much fun for me," Ducati tells PRIDE. See on Instagram Although he loves topping in a lot of his erotic films, fans can expect Ducati to try a little bit of everything in his wide range of movies. The star is even ready to take things up a notch by recording a very sexy scene with multiple men."I want a big group! I've done a lot of [orgy] scenes topping, but I'm ready to bottom. I'm here for the longterm!"Fans can keep up with Grant Ducati by following him on Instagram here. To see the full interview from the GayVN Awards, check out the video at the top of the page.

Onya Nurve has captured the spotlight on RuPauls Drag Race Season 17, dominating the competition with her talent and charisma. As the season approaches its finale, the Ohio native is hopeful her impressive track record will earn her a coveted spot in the final lineup. Despite her strong performance on the show, Nurve faced a difficult moment in week 10s episode. After her eliminationSource

Jenna Jameson has officially moved on just a month after filing for divorce from her wife.The former adult film star has been teasing her new relationship via Instagram for several weeks now, posting photos alongside captions like, "Life is too fleeting to not love this woman," while declining to do a face reveal.That changed a few days back, when Jameson shared a photo strip, ultimately revealing her new girlfriend to be Milagros R. Ocampo or Mil, for short."Hard launch" she wrote in a new post yesterday, confirming once and for all that she and Ocampo are dating.See on InstagramAlthough it wasnt immediately clear when the two struck up their relationship, the news comes just three weeks after word broke that Jameson filed for divorce from Jessi Lawless on February 27.Jameson and Lawless met through TikTok and quickly tied the knot in May 2023. It took less than a year for their relationship to dissolve, although Lawless told People that Jameson "tried to rekindle the relationship multiple times but I was unwilling to entertain her advances."Lawless herself has already long moved on, sharing at the time that she had been seeing someone for eight months."Im thankful that it looks like Jenna might be moving on now as well," she said.See on InstagramSure enough, Jamesons "hard launch" of her relationship with Ocampo whose Instagram bio describes her as an "author & voice actor of upcoming literary fiction novel" supports that theory. Both have continued to post new pictures indicating they seem to be enjoying their time together."You make every day so beautiful. Thank you for being so loving," Jameson commented on a recent post of Ocampos. "This year will be fantastic and set the stage for many more. I love you."

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, center, answers questions about the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa during a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)2025-03-24T19:30:29Z ALBUQUERQE, N.M. (AP) Authorities have released body camera footage from outside the home of Gene Hackman, where the actor and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in late February.The redacted footage shows deputies talking with the two workers who called authorities to report seeing someone lying on the floor inside the home. With no signs of forced entry or other evidence of suspicious circumstances, the deputies asked about the possibility of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning, and the workers said they didnt see how that could have been the case.Somethings not right, one of the workers said. Authorities soon determined there were no leaks that could have been fatal, further fueling a mystery that captured the publics attention. It was solved about a week later when medical investigators confirmed that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimers about a week after hantavirus pulmonary syndrome a rare, rodent-borne disease took the life of his wife. The Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office released only some of the footage from the investigation. A New Mexico court last week granted a temporary restraining order against the release of any photographs and video showing Hackman and his wife the inside of their home. Hackmans estate had filed the petition to withhold images, citing the need to protect the familys constitutional right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment. Workers who had maintained the property talked to investigators about respecting Hackman and Arawakas privacy. One worker described Arawaka as a private person. The body camera footage also shows brief sightings of one of the couples dogs running in the wooded hills on their property on the edge of Santa Fe. A man who identified himself to officers as a dog trainer who cared for the couples pet dogs said the couple were nuts about their dogs. Theres toys everywhere around the property, he said.In a separate video, Arakawas hairdresser told investigators that his client took the dogs with her everywhere and that the smallest one would often hang out inside the salon with them during her visits. That dog was found inside a crate, not far from Arakawas body. A report obtained by The Associated Press from the state Department of Agricultures veterinary lab states the dog likely died from dehydration and starvation. The actors daughter, Elizabeth Hackman, told authorities she wanted the dog that died to be cremated. Authorities put her in touch with the local animal shelter to talk about the options.___Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

A screenshot of the publication 'The Eagle' featuring an opinion piece by student Mari Santos, a political science student studying abroad for the semester in Scotland at the University of Glasgow. (Ethan Mahimainathan, The Eagle via AP)2025-03-24T20:05:08Z LONDON (AP) The urgent care doctor cocked an eyebrow at Mari Santos and her American accent.It was four days after President Donald Trumps inauguration, and Santos was a student with a stomach bug in the first weeks of an overseas semester in Glasgow, Scotland. A doctor arrived to see her after a six-hour wait. But before asking what ailed her, he said this: Interesting time to be an American, I suppose.Until then, Santos, 20, had not been thinking about Trump just her 104-degree fever and concern about being sick while abroad. But the president and his triumphant return to the White House, she says, were on her physicians mind, giving the American University student an instant education in geopolitics. The lesson, as she sees it: Theres a kind of chilling in the air. I knew that maybe that Europe is not in general big fan of American politics, Santos said, but I didnt expect it to be such like a personal thing. The United States and its center of gravity occupy a unique space in the international conversation. People the world over talk about America its policies, its proclivities, its place in the world. They have for generations. They did it during the Iraq War. They did it during the first Trump administration. And two months into Trump 2.0, at least in many European and English-speaking countries, its happening again sometimes even more intensely. People from other countries have questions about Trump and trustAnswering for America under the new Trump administration is becoming a delicate experience for some of the estimated 5 million U.S. citizens living in other countries.From Santos in Scotland to others in New Zealand, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, Republican and Democratic expats alike told The Associated Press in recent weeks that the moment they are revealed to be American changes virtually every conversation to, in essence, What about Trump? At its root, this change is about whom to trust among those thought until now to be allies, in world politics and in life. Trump, known for insisting the truth is what he says it is, is now the voice of America not VOA, the independent news service that told the nations story for eight decades until he silenced it March 16. The president himself has set an example in which trust is almost beside the point. Who do I trust? I mean, who do you trust? Do you trust anybody? he said during an interview last month with The Spectator, when asked how much he trusts people like Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post.What comes after the revelation that someone is American, U.S. citizens overseas say, are awkward questions, pauses and euphemisms but almost always a reference to America under Trump in 2025.Before this year, the typical follow-up would be asking where exactly Im from and what brought me to France, said Anthony Mucia, 31, a Nebraska native who lives in Toulouse, France and has been overseas for six years. Twice now, the first thing someone asked me was, Are you glad to be in France now? He also gets looks that he interprets as a bit of shock or uneasiness. Almost like it automatically turned into an embarrassing topic. Whats bending these interactions, expats say, is Trumps flurry of orders and statements that have upended 80 years of international order and spooked markets.Hes talked about how the U.S. will one way or the other capture Greenland from Denmark, take back Panama and make Canada the 51st U.S. state. He wants to empty and develop war-battered Gaza, and has cut off U.S. aid to the worlds neediest people. Hes falsely blamed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the Russian invasion and ended a White House meeting with Zelenskyy after berating the Ukrainian leader. Trump has let Europes leaders know that the U.S. is not a staunch ally in facing the Russian threat. And hes set off tariff wars with China, Canada and Mexico. Not smoothing the American experience overseas is the backlash developing against Trumps association with Elon Musk and Tesla, which has fueled growing boycott movements. People are joining Facebook groups to exchange ideas about how to avoid U.S. products. Feelings are especially strong across the Nordic region particularly Denmark, where Trumps moves have set the Danish Viking blood boiling, one man told The Associated Press.So far, the interactions are less hostile than wary, Americans overseas say. But anti-U.S. sentiment is emerging as a concern on the cusp of whats expected to be a record-setting international travel season for Americans. Prepare to talk about whats going onJake Lamb, 32, moved from Colorado to Auckland, New Zealand in 2023. He said says hes noticed a significant shift in the types and frequency of questions Im asked over the past year. Kiwis remain friendly about it, but theyve been saying they might have to hide Lamb or vouch that hes one of the good ones if Trump escalates conflicts with former allies. He thinks that the good humor belies wariness.I am concerned that it may become difficult for some not to hold individual Americans responsible, Lamb, a volunteer coordinator for a charity and who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris, said in an email.Elizabeth Van Horne, 33, has lived in France since 2013. For years, she said, people would ask why on Earth Id come to live in France if I could live in the U.S: Its so beautiful, theres so much potential, so much opportunity, like living in a TV show.Now, that romanticized image has completely changed, Van Horne, a Democrat, said in an email. Early in March, a postal worker told her its sad to watch.For me, she said, that conversation summed it up: Je suis desole pour vous Im sorry for you.For Trump supporters abroad, it can be complicatedGeorganne Burke, a Syracuse, N.Y., native living in Ottawa, supported Trump in all three elections and is the chairwoman of Republicans Overseas in Canada. Shes a dual citizen, which makes her something like the Peace Bridge that links the two nations in Buffalo, N.Y.Trumps tariff war, his manner and his provocative talk about how Canada only works as the 51st U.S. state has everybodys hair on fire, she said in an interview. Burke, 77, says shes received threats and had a tense talk with an anti-Trump co-worker. People ask her, How could anyone vote for him?An invitation to speak about trade near the end of March, she says, came with the organizer saying that he was pretty sure that most of the people will be polite. Burke accepted the invitation.She says anti-American sentiment was bad during the Iraq war under President George W. Bush in 2003. But now its different. Then, it was kind of more on the politicians, as the targets of public ire, Burke said in a recent interview. Now, its much more personal. Burkes counterpart in London, Greg Swenson of Republicans Overseas UK, says walking around as an American in another country remains more positive than negative. In interviews with media outlets, he readily acknowledges Trump can be obnoxious. But Swenson, 62, is an investment banker, and he says the president and America remain good for business. Greg Swenson of Republicans Overseas UK, poses for a photograph in London, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Greg Swenson of Republicans Overseas UK, poses for a photograph in London, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In the private capital world, which is not affected by day-to-day (market) volatility, there is just a huge amount of optimism, Swenson said. That means, he says, that investors want to work with U.S. vendors and customers, seeking American credibility through an affiliation with the president.As for what people overseas think of Americans right now: A survey of social media, neighbors and others shows plenty are curious and concerned. When an American dad posted on Reddit his worry that his family wont be welcomed in Ireland, an Irish dad who asked the AP to identify him by his Reddit handle responded this way:A lot of people like me are really, really alienated and angry at the US and Americans, wrote MDMB13. But the good news is were Irish so youll never know because (we) bury our feelings in a far-off place and let them fester over decades. He ended his comment with a smile emoji. LAURIE KELLMAN Kellman has covered U.S. politics and foreign affairs for the Associated Press, including 23 years reporting from Washington and three from Jerusalem. She is based in London. twitter facebook mailto

Salmon poached in green salsa and topped with baked chips are displayed for a photo in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead, File)2025-03-24T14:07:15Z LONDON (AP) You can have your cake and eat it too just do it slowly. Experts tend to focus on the kinds of foods you can eat to improve your health. But the speed at which you devour your dinner matters just as much. There are risks with eating too fast think stuck food and the potential to overeat before your brain tells you to stop. (Inhaling your food also risks annoying your slower-paced dining companions or the person who took the time to cook your meal.)Here are some tips from scientists on how to slow down and take a more mindful approach to consuming your diet.How fast is too fast?If youre the kind of person who can regularly polish off breakfast, lunch or dinner in less than 20-30 minutes, you are eating too fast.It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to communicate to the brain via a whole host of hormonal signals that its full, said Leslie Heinberg, at the Center for Behavioral Health at the Cleveland Clinic. So when people eat rapidly, they can miss these signals and its very easy to eat beyond the point of fullness. Why is that a problem?People who eat quickly are likely to swallow more air, Heinberg said, which could lead to bloating or indigestion. Not chewing your food properly can also compromise digestion, meaning you wont get all of the nutrients from your food. Unchewed pieces of food also could get stuck in your esophagus.Some previous studies have suggested that people who eat quickly have the highest risk of obesity, while the slowest eaters were the least likely to be obese. How can you slow down when eating?For starters, turn off the TV and put down your phone. If youre eating while you watch TV, people tend to eat until theres a commercial or the show is over, Heinberg said, adding that people are less inclined to pay attention to the bodys own signals that its full. When we do things while were eating, were eating less mindfully. And that often causes us to eat more. She said that when people focus exclusively on eating, they tend to enjoy the meal more and eat less.Heinberg also acknowledged the pace at which you eat is often an ingrained habit, but said change is still possible. She suggested things like using your non-dominant hand to eat, trying utensils you might not ordinarily use like chopsticks or taking a deliberate break to drink water when your plate is partially empty.If you have a busy life, it might be unavoidable to eat lunch at a work meeting or snack while running errands. But Sarah Berry, chief scientist at the British nutritional company ZOE, said when possible, be mindful of what the food tastes and feels like. If were not fully present, its very easy to eat more quickly and not notice how much weve consumed, Berry said. Chew your food, just like mom told you toOne of the simplest things to do is to increase the number of bites you take, said Helen McCarthy, a clinical psychologist with the British Psychological Society. If you chew each mouthful a little bit longer, that will slow down your eating, she said. The kind of food you eat may also make a difference, pointing out that its much easier to eat ultraprocessed or fast foods quicker, because they typically have a softer texture.Its hard to eat vegetables and protein at the same rate as something thats highly processed and requires less chewing, McCarthy said.Some of her patients also reported an unintentional side effect once they began eating more slowly, referencing one woman who often ate a tube of potato chips every evening. When McCarthy told her to slow down and eat every single chip individually, her patient told her it was like having a mouthful of claggy chemicals. She didnt find (the chips) enjoyable anymore, McCarthy said.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The number of bars in the United States dedicated to showcasing womens sports is expected to increase significantly this year, with the total set to quadruple from six to about two dozen by the end of 2025. These specialized venues, dedicated to providing a welcoming atmosphere for fans of womens sports, have opened in cities across the country, from major metropolises like New York and ChicagoSource

Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen, right, warms up behind guard JuJu Watkins, left, before a game against Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Monday, March 24, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)2025-03-25T02:39:51Z Follow APs full coverage of March Madness. Get the AP Top 25 womens college basketball poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. LOS ANGELES (AP) JuJu Watkins was carried off the floor in the first quarter of top-seeded Southern Californias game against Mississippi State in the womens NCAA Tournament on Monday night.Watkins was driving to the basket when she went down between two Bulldogs defenders with 4:43 remaining. She grabbed her right knee with a pained expression on her face.The crowd in Galen Center went silent as coach Lindsay Gottlieb and two other USC staffers attended to Watkins, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who averages 24.6 points and is one of the biggest stars in the womens game. She was carried off the court by multiple people and the game went to a media timeout with the Trojans leading 13-2.The crowd loudly booed Mississippi State on its next possession.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Mariama Soriba undergoes a procedure for a contraceptive implant at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)2025-03-25T05:04:13Z FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) When she got pregnant at 16, Fatou Esther Jusu was terrified that it would derail her future.Abortion is illegal in Sierra Leone. Fearing judgment from her family, she took friends advice and bought misoprostol, a drug whose uses include abortion, from a local pharmacy. It didnt work. Desperate, she tried again and miscarried.I went to the toilet and the baby came out, she said. She fainted and was taken to a hospital, where she pleaded with doctors not to tell her parents.Now 21, Jusu considers herself lucky. One friend died after taking an expired version of the medication.With those experiences in mind, the nursing student is mobilizing others in support of a bill that would decriminalize abortion in the West African country.Even though I made a mistake, this mistake is saving other people, Jusu said. Fatou Esther Jusu poses at headquarters of feminist group Purposeful in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Fatou Esther Jusu poses at headquarters of feminist group Purposeful in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Sierra Leone could become the second country in West Africa to decriminalize abortion, which health workers say would significantly improve the safety of pregnant women, decrease the number of preventable deaths and bring an end to the current colonial-era law. Tens of thousands of women and girls attempt to self-terminate their pregnancies every year in Sierra Leone, where abortion is illegal in all circumstances.Supporters of the bill say unsafe abortions account for around 10% of maternal deaths. Healthcare workers are known to perform terminating procedures when the situation is incompatible with life of the woman, usually in the case of incomplete abortions. Because abortion is illegal, they cite other reasons for the termination. Sierra Leones President Julius Maada Bio pointedly introduced the Safe Motherhood Bill after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, stripping away womens constitutional protections for abortion.At a time when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are either being overturned or threatened, we are proud that Sierra Leone can once again lead with progressive reforms, Bio said. A pregnant patient consults with nurse Isha T Kamanda at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A pregnant patient consults with nurse Isha T Kamanda at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Wednesday, 12 March, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Wednesday, 12 March, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More If approved, the bill would have been West Africas most progressive legislation on abortion, allowing the procedure for up to 14 weeks.But Sierra Leone since then has been torn apart by debate. Following opposition from religious leaders, the bill has been amended and now limits abortion to cases of life-threatening risk, fatal fetal abnormalities, rape or incest.The government says it expects a vote in parliament in the coming weeks. It is not clear whether it will be approved. They go to any lengthAn estimated 90,000 abortions are performed annually in Sierra Leone, a country of more than 8 million people, according to research by the African Population and Health Research Center. About 10% of the countrys maternal deaths affecting 717 of every 100,000 births are due to unsafe abortions, the center said.Health workers say the true number is likely much higher.Due to cost and stigma, many women and girls resort to unsafe methods like expired medication, laundry detergent, hangers or sharp instruments.On a recent morning at a clinic run by the MSI Sierra Leone nonprofit, dozens of women and girls waited nervously for consultations with nurse Hawanatu Samura. Hawanatu Samura or Nurse Awa instructs a patient to take medication ahead of an evacuation procedure at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Hawanatu Samura or Nurse Awa instructs a patient to take medication ahead of an evacuation procedure at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Nurse Isha T Kamanda consults a pregnant patient at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Nurse Isha T Kamanda consults a pregnant patient at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Mariama Soriba undergoes a procedure for a contraceptive implant at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Mariama Soriba undergoes a procedure for a contraceptive implant at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More MSI offers post-abortion care, including terminations in cases of incomplete miscarriage, often when people have tried and failed abortions themselves. The nonprofit is the largest individual service provider of family planning services in the country.If patients want an abortion, they go to any length, Samura said. She often sees damage caused by unsterilized instruments, leading to severe hemorrhages, especially in underage girls.Over 20% of girls between 15 and 19 in Sierra Leone get pregnant, according to the U.N. Population Fund, one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world.Samura said a 13-year-old already mother to a 10-month-old recently arrived with severe pain after secretly taking unidentified pills to try to abort her pregnancy.In Sierra Leone, people are afraid of the stigma so they would prefer to die silently, she said. The patient did not understand her body, Samura said, and her dead fetus resulted in dangerous septicemia.The clinic has at least one such case a month, the nurse said. Women wait for consultations at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Women wait for consultations at the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices clinic in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices staff use a megaphone to announce their family planning services in the community, weaving through the stalls of the Luma market in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A Marie Stopes Sierra Leone Reproductive Choices staff use a megaphone to announce their family planning services in the community, weaving through the stalls of the Luma market in Njagbahun, Sierra Leone, Saturday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A debate over tradition and valuesMany women and girls who have had abortions fear speaking out, and the push for the bill in Sierra Leone has been led by womens rights groups and medical professionals.If you arent listening to your doctors, then who are you listening to? said lawyer and advocate Nicky Spencer-Coker. She has fought for reproductive rights alongside a coalition of womens rights organisations since 2015.At the time, parliament unanimously passed a first version of a bill allowing abortions for up to 12 weeks. But then-President Ernest Bai Koroma blocked the bill amid pressure from anti-abortion and religious groups. Some Muslim and Christian leaders have denounced the current bill as ungodly and hellish. Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles, head of the countrys Inter-Religious Council, said it contradicts citizens religious values and sensibilities.Sierra Leones current president has faced opposition from his own party members, including lawmaker Rebecca Yei Kamara.In our communities, children dont get pregnant they talk to them, they teach them how to grow up into womanhood, she said, and accused supporters of the bill of exaggerating the countrys abortion statistics.Government officials have called the bill a necessary response to the reality of high numbers of deaths among pregnant women.The number of girls that die every year thats the demonstration of peoples will, Chernor Bah, the information minister, told The Associated Press.Officials also say the bill is needed to strengthen gender reforms in Sierra Leone, which include last years ban on child marriage.The bill also would allow wider access to family planning and reproductive health services. Activists fear those will be lost if the bill fails. School girls walk home past a mural from womens organisation Plan International reading My Body, My Choice, My Rights in Freetown, Sierra Leone Thursday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) School girls walk home past a mural from womens organisation Plan International reading My Body, My Choice, My Rights in Freetown, Sierra Leone Thursday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Allegations of foreign interferenceBoth sides in the debate have accused each other of being sponsored by foreign governments.Some conservative U.S. media have framed the bill in Sierra Leone as a Biden-backed push for abortion rights in Africa.The U.S. embassy in Freetown denied involvement in the bill.Sierra Leones Inter-Religious Council has cited the recent changes on abortion access in the U.S. as reference points in their position papers opposing the bill.Meanwhile, the reality for some pregnant women and girls remains harrowing.Many healthcare practitioners told the AP they want the bill to pass so they can save lives without fear.Samura the nurse recalled a mother who had traveled for hours in agony to the capital after drinking a concoction given to her by a traditional healer. Samura accompanied the patient to a hospital to seek treatment for a distended abdomen, severe septicemia and anemia.The mother of six died in the waiting room.Right there on the couch . everybody was crying, Samura said. Anytime I think of her, I wish the bill had been long passed.___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.

A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-03-25T04:04:23Z NUUK, Greenland (AP) Lisa Slrun Christiansen gets up at 4 a.m. most days and gets to work knitting thick wool sweaters coveted by buyers around the world for their warmth and colorful patterns celebrating Greenlands traditional Inuit culture.Her morning routine includes a quick check of the news, but these days the ritual shatters her peace because of all the stories about U.S. President Donald Trumps designs on her homeland.I get overwhelmed, Christiansen said earlier this month as she looked out to sea, where impossibly blue icebergs floated just offshore. Lisa Solron Christiansen, 57, knits a sweater holding her grand daughter Siilia, 2, at her home in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Lisa Solron Christiansen, 57, knits a sweater holding her grand daughter Siilia, 2, at her home in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The daughter of Inuit and Danish parents, Christiansen, 57, cherishes Greenland. It is a source of immense family pride that her father, an artist and teacher, designed the red-and-white Greenlandic flag.On his deathbed he talked a lot about the flag, and he said that the flag is not his, its the peoples, she said. And theres one sentence I keep thinking about. He said, I hope the flag will unite the Greenlandic people. Members of Inuit Ataqatigiit political party dance with national flags at a party after parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Members of Inuit Ataqatigiit political party dance with national flags at a party after parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Pieces of ice float on the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Pieces of ice float on the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Military vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Military vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Island of anxietyGreenlanders are increasingly worried that their homeland, a self-governing region of Denmark, has become a pawn in the competition between the U.S., Russia and China as global warming opens up access to the Arctic. They fear Trumps aim to take control of Greenland, which holds rich mineral deposits and straddles strategic air and sea routes, may block their path toward independence.Those fears were heightened Sunday when Usha Vance, the wife of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, announced she would visit Greenland later this week to attend the national dogsled race. Separately, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will visit a U.S. military base in northern Greenland. The announcement inflamed tensions sparked earlier this month when Trump reiterated his desire to annex Greenland just two days after Greenlanders elected a new parliament opposed to becoming part of the U.S. Trump even made a veiled reference to the possibility of military pressure, noting the U.S. bases in Greenland and musing that maybe youll see more and more soldiers go there. News of the visit drew an immediate backlash from local politicians, who described it as a display of U.S. power at a time they are trying to form a government. A crow flies over political placards for the upcoming elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A crow flies over political placards for the upcoming elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More People cast their votes in parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) People cast their votes in parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More People stand in line outside a polling station to cast their vote in parliamentary elections, in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) People stand in line outside a polling station to cast their vote in parliamentary elections, in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A woman casts her votes in parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A woman casts her votes in parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Electoral workers prepare to count votes during parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Electoral workers prepare to count votes during parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More It must also be stated in bold that our integrity and democracy must be respected without any external interference,' outgoing Prime Minister Mte Boroup Egede said.Greenland, part of Denmark since 1721, has been moving toward independence for decades. Its a goal most Greenlanders support, though they differ on when and how that should happen. They dont want to trade Denmark for an American overlord.The question is whether Greenland will be allowed to control its own destiny at a time of rising international tensions when Trump sees the island as key to U.S. national security.David vs. GoliathWhile Greenland has limited leverage against the worlds greatest superpower, Trump made a strategic mistake by triggering a dispute with Greenland and Denmark rather than working with its NATO allies in Nuuk and Copenhagen, said Otto Svendsen, an Arctic expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.Trumps actions, he says, have united Greenlanders and fostered a greater sense of national identity.You have this feeling of pride and of self-determination in Greenland that the Greenlanders are not, you know, cowed by this pressure coming from Washington, Svendsen said. And theyre doing everything in their power to make their voices heard.Denmark recognized Greenlands right to independence at a time of its choosing under the 2009 Greenland Self-Government Act, which was approved by local voters and ratified by the Danish parliament. The right to self-determination is also enshrined in the United Nations charter, approved by the U.S. in 1945. Passengers ride on a boat outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Passengers ride on a boat outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More People listen speeches of candidates for upcoming parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) People listen speeches of candidates for upcoming parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Children stand in the snow as candidates pictures on boards are seen outside a polling station during parliamentary elections, in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Children stand in the snow as candidates pictures on boards are seen outside a polling station during parliamentary elections, in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More U.S. national securityBut Trump is more focused on the economic and security needs of the U.S. than the rights of smaller nations. Since returning to office in January, he has pressured Ukraine into giving the U.S. access to valuable mineral resources, threatened to reclaim the Panama Canal and suggested that Canada should become the 51st state.Now he has turned his attention to Greenland, a territory of 56,000 people, most from indigenous Inuit backgrounds.Greenland guards access to the Arctic at a time when melting sea ice has reignited competition for energy and mineral resources and attracted an increased Russian military presence. The Pituffik Space Base on the islands northwest coast supports missile warning and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO. A boy throws ice into the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A boy throws ice into the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Women carry political placards for the upcoming elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Women carry political placards for the upcoming elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Before Trumps re-election, Greenlanders hoped to leverage this unique position to help the country achieve independence. Now they fear it has made them vulnerable.Cebastian Rosing, who works for a water taxi firm that offers tours around the Nuuk fjord, said hes frustrated that Trump is trying to take over just as Greenland has begun to assert its autonomy and celebrate its Inuit origins.Its so weird to defend (the idea) that our country is our country because its always been our country, he said. Were just getting our culture back because of colonialism. Cebastian Rosing, 35, rides on a boat at the sea ilnet near Kapisillit village in Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Cebastian Rosing, 35, rides on a boat at the sea ilnet near Kapisillit village in Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Strategic importanceIts not that Greenlanders dont like the U.S. They have welcomed Americans for decades.The U.S. effectively occupied Greenland during World War II, building a string of air and naval bases.After the war, President Harry Trumans government offered to buy the island because of the extreme importance of Greenland to the defense of the United States. Denmark rejected the proposal but signed a long-term base agreement.When Trump resurrected the proposal during his first term, it was quickly rejected by Denmark and dismissed as a headline-grabbing stunt. But now Trump is pursuing the idea with renewed energy.During a speech earlier this month he told a joint session of Congress that the U.S. needed to take control of Greenland to protect its national security. I think were going to get it, Trump said. One way or the other. Passengers walk on a pier after arriving in Kapisillit village in Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Passengers walk on a pier after arriving in Kapisillit village in Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A fisherman rides on a boat though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A fisherman rides on a boat though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Seal heads are seen in a box at the market in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Seal heads are seen in a box at the market in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Sellers cut fish at the market in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Sellers cut fish at the market in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A model in the Marshall Islands?Even so, Trump has his admirers in Greenland.And there is no greater fan than Jrgen Boassen. When he spoke to The Associated Press, Boassen wore a T-shirt featuring a photo of Trump with his fist in the air and blood streaming down his face after an assassination attempt last year. Underneath was the slogan, American Badass.Boassen works for an organization called American Daybreak, which was founded by former Trump official Thomas Dans and promotes closer ties between the U.S. and Greenland.The former bricklayer, who describes himself as 110% Inuit, has a litany of complaints about Denmark, most stemming from what he sees as mistreatment of local people during colonial rule. In particular, he cites Inuit women who say they were fitted with birth control devices without their permission during the 1970s. Juergen Boasson, Trumps fan posting for photo in his house in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Juergen Boasson, Trumps fan posting for photo in his house in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Trump must act to secure Americas back door, Boassen says, because Denmark has failed to guarantee Greenlands security.But even he wants Greenland to be independent, a U.S. ally but not the 51st state.What he has in mind is something more like the free-association agreement the Marshall Islands negotiated with the U.S. when it became independent in 1986. That agreement recognizes the Pacific archipelago as a sovereign nation that conducts its own foreign policy but gives the U.S. control over defense and security. Were in 2025, Boassen said. So I dont believe they can come here and take over.Whatever happens, most Greenlanders agree that the islands fate should be up to them, not Trump.We have to stand together, Christiansen said, her knitting needles clicking and clacking. Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.___

A doctor assists 13-year-old Palestinian Yamen Asfour as he learns to walk on a prosthetic leg at the Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City on Tuesday, Feb. 18. 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-03-25T06:07:20Z GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) Five-year-old Sila Abu Aqlan curled her lip in concentration as she practiced walking for the first time on a prosthetic leg at a clinic in Gaza City. The foot of the new leg had a little pink sneaker with a lacy frill, matching her pink hoodie.It has been nearly 15 months since the little girls leg was amputated after it was left severely burned from an Israeli airstrike. Finally, she is being fit for a prosthetic.One of the most shocking sights in Gazas war has been the thousands of children with amputated limbs from Israels bombardment. The U.N.s humanitarian aid organization OCHA called it the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history.Throughout the 17-month war, supplies and services for children and adults with amputations have fallen far short of demand. Gazas ceasefire that began in mid-January offered a window for aid agencies to bring in an increased number of prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, crutches and other devices. Still, it only covered about 20% of the total need, said Loay Abu Saif, head of a disability program run by the aid group Medical Aid for Palestine, or MAP.The window slammed shut when Israel barred entry of all medical supplies as well as food, fuel and other aid on March 2. Israels resumpton of its military campaign last week, killing hundreds of Palestinians, has only added to the ranks of amputees. Children struggle with multiple traumasWith help limited, children wrestle with the psychological pain of losing a limb along with other traumas.Silas mother, father and sisters were all killed in an airstrike on her home in December 2023. Sila suffered severe burns to her right leg. A month of treatment had little effect, and Sila would scream in excruciating pain, her aunt Yasmine al-Ghofary said. Doctors amputated her leg above the knee.I try as much as I can to make her happy. But the truth is, theres only so much she can be happy. Pain is pain, and amputation is amputation, al-Ghofary said. Sila sees other girls playing and tries to keep up with them using her walker but falls down. She says, Why am I like this? Why am I not like them? said al-Ghofary.In October 2023, 11-year-old Reem lost her hand when an airstrike hit nearby as her family fled their home in Gaza City.Reem can no longer dress on her own, brush her hair or tie her shoes. She gets angry and hits her siblings if she cant find someone to help her, her mother said. Other times, she isolates herself and just watches other children playing.Once Reem told her dad that she wished to die, said her mother, who goes by the traditional name, Umm Reem. In another instance, we were talking about meat, and she said, Slaughter me like a sheep, and she was laughing. Thousands need helpSome 3,000 to 4,000 children in Gaza had suffered amputations as of November 2024, according to Jamal al-Rozzi and Hussein Abu Mansour, two prominent experts with rehabilitation programs in the territory who spoke with The Associated Press.Up to 17,500 adults and children suffered severe limb injuries, leaving them in need of rehabilitation and assistance, the World Health Organization estimated in September.Throughout the war, hospitals lacked medicines that could have averted amputations. Doctors describes cutting off limbs because of infections that should have been easily treated.In its campaign in Gaza, Israel has struck homes and shelters with families inside almost daily.Gazas Health Ministry on Monday put out a list of the names of more than 15,000 children, 17 and younger, killed by Israels offensive. The list included nearly 5,000 children younger than 6, including 876 infants who had not reached a year in age.Israels offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians of all ages and wounded more than 113,000, according to the ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. Nearly 90% of the population of some 2.3 million have been displaced, and vast areas of Gaza have been destroyed.Israel launched the campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and blames the group for civilian deaths because it operates in residential areas. Conditions in camps make it even harder for childrenLast May, 13-year-old Moath Abdelaals leg was amputated above the knee after an Israeli airstrike in the southern city of Rafah.The family had to flee to a tent camp outside the neighboring city of Khan Younis. During the ceasefire, they moved back to their hometown Jabaliya in northern Gaza, but their home had been destroyed, so they live in a tent by the ruins, said his father, Hussein Abdelaal.Moaths psychological state is worsening, his father said. Moving with crutches around the rubble is difficult. Doctors had to amputate more from his leg, almost up to his hip, because of complications. The boy learned that a number of his friends in the neighborhood had been killed, Abdelaal said.He has been having a hard time coping with his new situation. Hes not sleeping well next to his siblings. Its difficult to see our son like that, said Abdelaal. Aid agencies provide some servicesSila is being treated at the Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City, a program launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross that has provided physical therapy, wheelchairs and prosthetics to hundreds of Palestinians suffering from amputations or paralysis. But supplies are limited. Wheelchairs are urgently needed, with 50 to 60 people a day asking for them in northern Gaza alone, said Mahmoud Shalabi with MAP. Al-Rozzi, executive director of the National Rehabilitation Society in the Gaza Strip, said Israel blocks materials to manufacture prosthetics from entering Gaza on grounds they could have dual or military uses. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid, said there have never been limitations on medical supplies to Gaza, including wheelchairs, prosthetics and crutches.Some hope for treatment abroadSome child amputees have been evacuated out of Gaza for treatment. But the pace of medical evacuations has remained slow, at a few dozen a day, and was reduced after Israels strikes last week. As many as 13,000 patients of all kinds are waiting their chance to get out. Asmaa al-Nashash wants nothing more than for her 11-year-old son Abdulrahman to go abroad for a prosthetic leg.The boy was selling items from a stand at a U.N. school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp when an airstrike hit, she said. Shrapnel tore through his leg, and doctors couldnt save it.Since then, he often sits alone playing games on her phone because he cant play football with other children, she said. Other kids bully him, calling him the one-legged boy.My heart gets torn into pieces when I see him like this and I can do nothing for him, she said.___Khaled reported from Cairo. Associated Press reporter Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Field Hospitals Department in Gaza, surveys the destruction inside the surgical building of Nasser Hospital, a day after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-03-25T06:33:28Z Palestinian medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday.The dead include three children and their parents, who were killed in a strike on their tent near the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which has received a flood of dead and wounded since Israel resumed heavy bombardment of Gaza last week, shattering the ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war.Israels campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 113,000, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.Israel launched the campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. ___Heres the latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 23Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday.Nasser Hospital said it received four additional bodies from two other strikes in addition to the family of five.In central Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in three separate strikes. Three others were killed in a strike on a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda Hospital.In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed 5 people, according to the Health Ministrys emergency service. Another 12 people were wounded, it said.

The entrance of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is seen on Nov. 7, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)2025-03-25T06:28:46Z TOKYO (AP) A court ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church in Japan, upholding a government request for a revocation spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.The Tokyo District Courts revocation of the churchs legal status means it will lose its tax-exempt privilege and must liquidate its assets. However, the church can still appeal the decision to higher courts.The order follows a request by Japans Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers. The investigation into the 2022 assassination of Abe revealed decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japans governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in 1968 amid an anti-communist movement supported by Abes grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his familys financial troubles. The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group to face a revocation order under Japans civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges - the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.Japan has in place hurdles for restraining religious activities due to lessons from the prewar and wartime oppression of freedom of religion and thought.

In this July 10, 2013, file photo, prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)2025-03-25T04:14:43Z Since plunging during the COVID-19 pandemic, international student enrollment in the U.S. has been rebounding a relief to American universities that count on their tuition payments. Two months into the new Trump administration, educators fear that could soon change. Unnerved by efforts to deport students over political views, students from other countries already in the U.S. have felt new pressure to watch what they say. A Ph.D. student at the University of Rochester from South Asia said it feels too risky to speak about LGBTQ+ causes she once openly championed or even be seen near a political demonstration. With reports of travel bans circulating, she likely wont fly home for the summer out of fear she would not be allowed back into the U.S. Youre here for an education so youve got to keep moving forward on that end, said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities. But also its very hard to, say, OK, Im at work. Ive got to zone out. I cant be thinking about the news. Educators worry its a balancing act that will turn off foreign students. As the U.S. government takes a harder line on immigration, cuts federal research funding and begins policing campus activism, students are left to wonder if theyll be able to get visas, travel freely, pursue research or even express an opinion. It has a chilling effect, said Clay Harmon, executive director of AIRC, a membership organization focused on recruiting and enrolling international students. Even if theres no direct consequence or direct limitation right now, all of this cumulatively produces an impression that the U.S. is not welcoming, its not open or that you may be in some kind of danger or jeopardy if you do come to the U.S. During a recent trip to India, the biggest sender of students to the U.S., the consensus among recruiting agencies was that far fewer of that countrys students are interested in American colleges than in recent years, Harmon said. Some students are waiting to see how policy changes will play out, while others already have deferred admission offers for fall 2025, he said. Student social networks are active, and news about immigration-related developments in America like a Republican proposal to prevent Chinese students from studying in the U.S. spreads quickly.Students in Canada, China, India and elsewhere have been seeking answers and advice on Reddit and other social media sites, wondering whether to move forward with U.S. plans, or choose a college in the United Kingdom, Germany or elsewhere in Europe.International students are coveted as an antidote to declining domestic enrollment and source of full-price tuition payments. In the 2023-2024 academic year, 1.1 million international students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed an all-time high $43.8 billion to the nations economy and supported more than 378,000 jobs, according to data released by NAFSA, an agency that promotes international education. International graduate students also play a large role in advancing research, said Fanta Aw, who heads NAFSA.Aw said universities must work to remind prospective students that detentions like those of a pro-Palestinian activist Columbia University and, more recently, a scholar at Georgetown University, still are not the norm, despite the attention they receive.We have international students at lots of universities, she said, and news coverage has focused on consequences for international students at just a couple of colleges. So we have to also put into perspective the fact that the vast majority of students are in universities where were not hearing anything.The messaging from colleges and universities on the changing political climate has varied. Some, including Northeastern University in Boston, have responded to Trumps directives with webpages to keep current and prospective students informed. Our global community will continue to be a welcoming place for admitted students from all corners of the world, spokeswoman Renata Nyul said via email. Others have gone further. Bunker Hill Community College in Boston has suspended its one- to two-week study abroad programs, citing concerns about potential travel restrictions. Administrators at Columbias Graduate School of Journalism have warned students who are not U.S. citizens about their vulnerability to arrest or deportation.Brown University has advised international students and staff, including visa holders and permanent residents, to postpone travel after a Brown professor was deported to Lebanon despite having a U.S. visa. Homeland Security officials later said she openly admitted to supporting a Hezbollah leader and attending his funeral. ___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. CAROLYN THOMPSON Thompson is an Associated Press reporter based in Buffalo, New York. twitter mailto

A group of sheikhs call for the prayer during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday March 7, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)2025-03-25T05:59:06Z DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Sahar Diab had visited Damascus famed Umayyad Mosque previously. But as the Syrian lawyer went there to pray during her countrys first Ramadan after the end of the Assad familys iron-fisted rule, she felt something new, something priceless: A sense of ease.The rituals have become much more beautiful, she said. Before, we were restricted in what we could say. ... Now, theres freedom.As Diab spoke recently, however, details were trickling in from outside Damascus about deadly clashes. The bloodshed took on sectarian overtones and devolved into the worst violence since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown in December by armed insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).This Ramadan the Muslim holy month of daily fasting and heightened worship such are the realities of a Syria undergoing complex transition. Relief, hope and joy at new openings after 53 years of the Assad dynastys reign, prolonged civil war and crushing economic woes intermingle with uncertainty, fear by some, and a particularly bloody and worrisome wave of violence. Some are feeling empowered, others vulnerable. Were not afraid of anything, Diab said. She wants her country to be rebuilt and to get rid of Assad-era corruption and bribery.At the Umayyad Mosque, the rituals were age-old: A woman fingering a prayer bead and kissing a copy of the Quran; the faithful standing shoulder-to-shoulder and prostrating in prayer; the Umayyads iconic and unusual group call to prayer, recited by several people. The sermon, by contrast, was fiery in delivery and new in message.The speaker, often interrupted by loud chants of God is great, railed against Assad and hailed the uprising against him.Our revolution is not a sectarian revolution even though wed been slaughtered by the sword of sectarianism, he said. This Ramadan, Syrians marked the 14th anniversary of the start of their countrys civil war. The conflict began as one of several popular uprisings against Arab dictators, before Assad crushed what started as largely peaceful protests and a civil war erupted.It became increasingly fought along sectarian lines, drawing in foreign powers and fighters. Assad, who had ruled over a majority Sunni population, belongs to the minority Alawite sect and had drawn from Alawite ranks for military and security positions, fueling resentment. That, Alawites say now, shouldnt mean collective blame for his actions.Many Syrians speak of omnipresent fear under Assad, often citing the Arabic saying, the walls have ears, reflecting that speaking up even privately didnt feel safe. They talk of hardships, injustices and brutality. Now, for example, many celebrate freedom from dreaded Assad-era checkpoints.They would harass us, said Ahmed Saad Aldeen, who came to the Umayyad Mosque from the city of Homs. You go out ... and you dont know whether youll return home or not.He said more than a dozen cousins are missing; a search for them in prisons proved futile. Mohammed Qudmani said even going to the mosque caused anxiety for some before, for fear of getting on security forces radar screen or being labeled a terrorist.Now, Damascus streets are bedecked with the new three-starred flag, not long ago a symbol of Assads opponents. It flutters from poles and is plastered to walls, sometimes with the words God is great handwritten on it.One billboard declares this the Ramadan of victory. On a government building, the faces of former presidents Bashar and Hafez Assad are partly cut off from a painting; in their place, The Freedom is scribbled in Arabic.Haidar Haidar, who owns a sweets shop, said he was touched that new security force members gave him water and dates while he was out when a call to prayer signaled that those fasting can eat and drink.We never saw such things here, he said, adding that he used to recite Quranic verses for protection before passing through Assads checkpoints.He said his business was doing well this Ramadan and ingredients have become more available. Still, challenges economic, geopolitical and otherwise abound.Many dream of a new Syria, but exactly how that would look remains uncertain.The situation is foggy, said Damascus resident Wassim Bassimah. Of course, theres great joy that weve gotten rid of the cancer we had, but theres also a lot of wariness.Syrians, he added, must be mindful to protect their country from sliding back into civil war and should maintain a dialogue that is inclusive of all.The external enemies are still there, he said. So are the enemies from within.The wars scars are inescapable.Just outside of Damascus, death and destruction are seared into some landscapes littered with pockmarked and ruined structures. Many Syrians grieve the missing and killed; many families have been divided by the exodus of millions as refugees. Ramadan typically sees festive gatherings with loved ones to break the daily fast. Some Syrians huddle around food and juices at restaurants or throng to Ramadan tents to break their fast and smoke waterpipes as they listen to songs.But this months violence in Syrias coastal region has stoked fears among some.The bloodshed began after reports of attacks by Assad loyalists on government security forces. Human rights and monitoring groups reported revenge killings in the counteroffensive, which they said saw the involvement of multiple groups. According to them, hundreds of civilians, or more, were killed; figures couldnt be independently confirmed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the killed civilians were Alawites in addition to a number of armed Alawites and security forces. Syrian authorities have formed a committee tasked with investigating the violence.Even before the bloodshed, while many celebrated the new government, others questioned what the ascent of the former insurgent forces would mean for freedoms, including of minorities and of those in the majority who are secular-minded or adhere to less conservative interpretations of Islam. The new authorities have made assurances about pluralism.Sheikh Adham al-khatib, a representative of Twelver Shiites in Syria, said many from the Shiite minority felt scared after Assads ouster and some fled the country. Some later returned, encouraged by a relative calm and the new authorities reassurances, he said, but the recent violence and some individual transgressions have rekindled fears.As the violence unfolded earlier this month, crowds gathered in Damascus.Some rallied to support security forces. Others, like Malak al Shanawani, participated in a different gathering, against the killing of the security forces and civilians. The bloodshed brought tears to her eyes.Its nightmarish, said the feminist and political activist. Its one of the worst moments.Under Assad, al Shanawani was arrested more than once. Among those killed in the violence, she said, were three brothers of an Alawite friend who was also arrested under Assad.When we used to hear that the Alawites would get slaughtered, wed say: No, we can protect you; we wouldnt allow this to happen, said al Shanawani, whos from the Sunni community. But it has happened.At the silent vigil, activists raised signs that called for de-escalation and denounced sectarian incitement. One read: Neither religion, nor sect will divide us. Another declared: The Syrian revolution doesnt accept injustice.But the gathering quickly deteriorated into shouting and shoving matches as some on the street appeared provoked by it.One man angrily asked participants where they were when it was the Sunnis who were suffering. Another furiously ripped a sign. A third insulted Alawites. Here and there, some attempted to discuss, to find common ground. Occasionally, people who started off arguing would agree on something and join each other in chants.One. One. One, they yelled. The Syrian people are one.As the chaos and friction continued, however, gunshots were fired into the air to disperse the crowds.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. MARIAM FAM Fam is a reporter with The Associated Press Global Religion team. She covers faith, and the many ways it intersects with culture and daily life, in the Middle East and beyond. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00875-wInterventions involving bacteria or fungi could help to sequester greenhouse gases, create more sustainable products and clean up pollution in ways that are economically viable and safe.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00926-2Give grants to female scientists in war zones

Photos by The White House / Fox News / ABC News / MSNBC / Fox 5 New York. Subscribe nowAt 27 years old, Karoline Leavitt is the youngest White House Press Secretary ever. Before assuming this role, she interned at Fox News, worked as an Assistant Press Secretary to Kayleigh McEnany during Trumps first term and ran to become a New Hampshire Congresswoman. Though she ultimately lost her bid for Congress, she gained national attention for her far-right policies, which included an unapologetic denial of the 2020 presidential election results. While Leavitt has never advocated in favor of or against marriage equality, she approaches the trans and nonbinary community with vitriol.Heres a comprehensive track record of Leavitts comments and actions related to the LGBTQ community and other minority groups.Run for Congress as a New Hampshire RepublicanAug. 24, 2021In an interview with NHJournal, Leavitt expresses concerns about local Black Lives Matter (BLM) Chair of the Board of Directors Andres Mejia becoming the Exeter school systems director of diversity, equity and inclusion. She discredits BLM and says, Im very concerned that we have someone who is part of a Marxist terrorist organization sitting in a position of power in our school system.Leavitt goes on to say that Critical Race Theory [CRT] is a racist ideology that divides us based on our skin color. It reverses what heroes like Martin Luther King fought for. It is evil to teach young children to view each other differently based on what we look like.Sept. 29, 2022Leavitt holds a press conference outside West High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. She demands that public schools out LGBTQ students to their families. Families should always be informed about their children, says Leavitt. We should not be allowing bureaucrats and politicians to stand in the way of the family unit.In response, Granite State Progress, a New Hampshire-based progressive advocacy organization, releases an article titled LGBTQ+ Advocates and Moms Speak Out Against CD 1 Republican Candidate Karoline Leavitt Targeting LGBTQ+ Youth. In it, they challenge Leavitts claims, stating she is directly interfer[ing] in parent-child relationships and could put some Granite State students at risk for harm.March 30, 2022In an interview with right-wing cable news commentary channel Newsmax, Leavitt vehemently supports Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay bill which originally passed into law in March 2022. In its latest iteration, the law bans public school districts from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity until the 12th grade.Ron DeSantis is ensuring that our young children are not being taught this crap. China and Russia and our adversaries around the world are not teaching their children about who is gay and being transgender and all this other bologna, says Leavitt. They are teaching them math, arithmetic, reading and writing. Quite frankly this is a national security risk.September 2022During her campaign for New Hampshire Republican 1st Congressional District, Leavitt repeats lies that the presidential election was stolen. I consistently continue to be the only candidate in this race who says that I believe the 2020 election was undoubtedly stolen from President Trump, Leavitt says in a debate.Sept. 13, 2022Leavitts campaign to become the youngest congresswoman in history is met with vehement opposition. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the official campaign arm for the Democrats in the House of Representatives, issues a press release titled The Case Against Karoline Leavitt. In it, DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney says Leavitt is a radical MAGA Republican who is unprepared and ill-equipped to represent the Granite State. Her lies about the 2020 election and her agenda to ban abortion, cut Social Security, and repeal the Affordable Care Act are too extreme for New Hampshire.Nov. 8, 2022Leavitt loses her congressional race to U.S. Representative Chris Pappas for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District.Subscribe nowSpokesperson for Make America Great Again Inc.Aug. 14, 2023Leavitt writes an op-ed for the British newspaper The Telegraph titled Why young women like me love Donald Trump. In the piece, she agrees with Trumps calls for federal funding cuts to any schools that aim to teach critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content to our children. She adds, Its mothers who are now often confronted with the insane leftist ideologies about race and gender in the curriculums of Americas public schools, poisoning the minds of their young children.Screenshot via The Telegraph.She goes on to write that President Joe Bidens support for transgender-identified men in womens sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms is insulting to women. These policies are implemented in the name of progressive ideology, but they have only regressed our society to the days before Title IX was signed into law a law that prohibited sex-based discrimination for federally-funded educational centers, facilitating a boom in womens sport."July 2024During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Leavitt is asked whether Trump would address LGBTQ issues in his speech. In response, she says Trump "continues to fight and win for all Americans." She adds in a statement that President Trump is leading the most diverse political movement in history. Its disappointing to see the divisive hateful rhetoric coming out of the Democrat Party while President Trump talks about bringing our country together and making life better for Americans.November 2024The Times of India reports that Leavitt is described in her home states political circles as KKKaroline for her far-right views. This nickname was adopted and used by many folks on social media.In an email to NBC News about whether the Trump administration would try to overturn marriage equality laws, Leavitt says, President Trump will be a president for ALL Americans and wants to unify our country through success, adding that rolling back same-sex marriage laws was never a campaign promise that he made.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused journalism. Jan. 21, 2025At Trumps inaugural prayer service, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde looks Trump in the eye and says, In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.In response, Leavitt lashes out at the Bishop on Fox News: I was there with President Trump and everybody there was shocked and mortified by the disturbing comments from this bishop, who chose to weaponize the pulpit. She had an opportunity to pray over the President and the Vice President and their families who were sitting in the first pews, and she spoke about truth, which was very ironic, because words later, she spewed lies.Jan. 28, 2025In her debut as Trumps White House Press Secretary, Leavitt attacks so-called transgenderism and wokeness. Leavitt describes Trumps executive orderthat erases the idea that trans people exist in the eyes of the federal governmentas a restoration of sanity in the face of wokeness. She adds that Trump plans to cut all funding for trans-related issues. It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.Jan. 31, 2025After 64 people are killed on an American Airlines flight that collided with a Blackhawk Helicopter in Washington, DC, Leavitt blames Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for issues related to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In a press conference, she says the FAA was putting DEI hiring efforts over the merits and skills of potential candidates. She adds that Trump has put an end to DEI hiring practices at the FAA. It should be noted that no evidence has been found that DEI hiring in the FAA has caused an increase in accidents.February 2025Leavitt falsely claims that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided a $32,000 grant to help fund a "transgender comic book" in Peru. Through USAID, over the past several years, these are some of the insane priorities that that organization has been spending money on. $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru. I dont about you, but as an American taxpayer, I dont want my dollars going towards this crap.Snopes later revealed Leavitts claims are false. While the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic and Consular Programsnot USAIDdid provide a $32,000 grant covering part of or all of the funding for the second of three issues of a Peruvian comic book series about a band of superheroes as part of a student cultural exchange program between the U.S. and Peru, the issue featured no transgender characters.Feb. 5, 2025In a press briefing, Leavitt says trans women will not compete in women's sports during the 2028 Olympics. "[Trump] does expect the Olympic committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women's sports. ... The policy of this administration is that there are only two sexes: male and female. Pretty simple."Leavitt expresses fear for both young women and girls. "I think kids have already been exposed to discrimination, especially young women and girls who have been forced to shower in locker rooms with biological men, who have been forced to compete on playing fields with biological men, which is incredibly unfair and unsafe, and again, an incredibly unpopular policy with the American people."Feb. 6, 2025In an interview with The National News Desk, Leavitt calls on Congress to codify Trump's executive order that would ban trans women from competing in womens sports at the high school and collegiate levels. With President Trumps executive order, and hopefully soon further legislation by Congress that the president would sign into law, this will no longer be allowed to take place, says Leavitt.In a press conference that same day, Leavitt speaks about how the Trump administration is cutting a long list of crap put in place by the Biden administration, including $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala. This claim is misleading: The grant was awarded to an LGBTQ rights group, Asociacin Lambda, and is intended to be used for a variety of gender-affirming healthcare including hormone therapy, mental health therapy, surgeries and speech therapy. Only $350,000 has been given so far.Feb. 12, 2025Leavitt disregards Mexican people and their heritage by saying the Gulf of Mexico is in fact the Gulf of America because Trump decrees it so. It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I am not sure why news outlets dont want to call it that, but that is what it is.Additional reporting by Spencer MacnaughtonIf objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00925-3How to get more women into mining

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00927-1Lesotho matters

Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)2025-03-25T09:37:52Z PARIS (AP) Actor Grard Depardieu acknowledged Tuesday that he used crude and heated language around a woman who accuses him of sexual assault and grabbed her hips but denied assaulting her, as he testified for the first time at his landmark trial in Paris.I understand perfectly if shes a bit upset, he said of the set dresser he worked with on a movie in 2021. He acknowledged that he sometimes has a potty mouth, telling the court: I am capable of trash talk. And he admitted that he was wrong to use heated language with the woman when they had an on-set argument about a painting.I dont have to talk like that, get angry like that, voil, he said in his gruff, deep voice so familiar to global cinemagoers.The 76-year-old former Oscar nominee has denied sexual assault allegations filed by the 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant. The women allege that he groped them during filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). The actor faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($81,000) if convicted. Depardieu acknowledged that he did grab the hips of the set dresser during their argument on set about whether a painting was good or bad art. But he said his gesture hadnt been ill-intentioned and argued that she hadnt appeared offended, saying: She didnt answer as if I was assaulting her. He acknowledged that sometimes his behavior is regarded as boorish. Ive always been told I have a Russian nature, I dont know if its because of the drinking or the vulgarity, he said.But he said hes not a predator. Im not touching the butts of women, he said.Because of Depardieus fame and impact on the French movie industry, his trial is seen as an important test of French willingness to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter

Luigi Mangione , accused of fatally shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City and leading authorities on a five-day search is scheduled, appears in court for a hearing, Feb. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)2025-03-25T03:29:57Z NEW YORK (AP) Luigi Mangione is asking for a laptop in jail, but just for legal purposes not for communicating with anyone as he awaits trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcares CEO.In a court filing made public late Monday, Mangiones lawyers proposed that he get a laptop configured solely to let him view a vast amount of documents, video and other material in the case surrounding the shooting of Brian Thompson. Similar limited-laptop provisions have been made for some other defendants in the federal lockup where Mangione is being held.The Manhattan district attorneys office, which is prosecuting Mangione on a rare New York state charge of murder as an act of terrorism, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. According to Mangiones lawyers, prosecutors are frowning on the laptop request, saying that some witnesses have been threatened. Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote that theres no connection to Mr. Mangione for any of said alleged threats.Mangione, 26, is accused of gunning down Thompson in December outside a Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare was about to hold an investor conference. Thompson, who was 50 and had two children in high school, worked for decades within UnitedHealthcare and its parent company. Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a Maryland real estate family, has pleaded not guilty to the New York state charges. He also faces a parallel federal case that carries the possibility of the death penalty. He hasnt entered a plea to the federal charges or to state-level gun possession and other charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested days after Thompsons death. Thompsons killing alarmed the corporate world, where some health insurers hastily switched to remote work or online shareholder meetings.But at the same time, the case channeled some Americans frustrations with health insurance companies. Mangiones writings and words on bullets recovered from the scene reflected animus toward health insurers and corporate America, authorities have said. Some people have lionized the accused killer, donated money to his defense and even flocked to his court appearances. Others, including elected officials, have deplored the praise for what they cast as ideological violence and vigilante justice.Through his lawyers, Mangione has released a statement thanking supporters.If he does get a laptop, it would be unable to connect to the internet, run video games or play movies or other entertainment, his lawyers said in Mondays filing. But it would let him examine, from his jail cell, more than 15,000 pages of documents and thousands of hours of video that prosecutors gathered and were required to turn over to his attorneys.Otherwise, he can view the material when meeting with his lawyers. But they say there arent enough visiting hours in the day for him to do that and properly help prepare his defense.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00895-6Intermittent fasting has gained a following, in part because of tantalizing hints that it can boost cognition, fend off cancer and even slow ageing.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00928-0Lessons from Portugal on effects of cutting research funding

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a ceremony to raise the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag at the State Department, Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-03-25T04:08:19Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administrations top intelligence officials face Congress for back-to-back hearings this week, their first opportunity since being sworn in to testify about the threats facing the United States and what the government is doing to counter them.FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, are among the witnesses who will appear Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee.Tuesdays hearing will take place one day after news broke that several top national security officials in the Trump administration, including Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic. The annual hearings on worldwide threats will offer a glimpse of the Trump administrations reorienting of priorities, which officials across agencies have described as countering the scourge of fentanyl and fighting violent crime, human trafficking and illegal immigration. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray routinely has said he is hard-pressed to think of a time in his career when the United States faced so many elevated threats at once, but the concerns he more regularly highlighted had to do with sophisticated Chinese espionage plots, ransomware attacks that have crippled hospitals and international and domestic terrorism. We have to change to the dynamic threat landscape that is changing constantly not just in America but abroad, Patel said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday night, citing the elevated threat from narco-traffickers. But, he added, were not going to forget or ignore national security never. The hearings are also unfolding against the backdrop of a starkly different approach toward Russia following years of Biden administration sanctions over its war against Ukraine. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call with President Donald Trump to an immediate pause in strikes against energy infrastructure in what the White House described as the first step in a movement to peace. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto

After being rescued from Ukraine, lion sisters Amani and Lira settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)2025-03-25T10:08:13Z SMARDEN, England (AP) One malnourished lioness had spent her life confined to an apartment. Another was so shell-shocked she could barely walk.They are among five traumatized lions rescued from the war zone in Ukraine who are settling into a new home in England after an international effort to bring them to safety.Male African lion Rori and lionesses Amani, Lira and Vanda arrived this month at the Big Cat Sanctuary after a 12-hour journey by road and ferry from temporary homes at zoos and animal shelters in Belgium. They join lioness Yuna, who arrived in August, at the sanctuarys new Lion Rescue Center, which officially opens on Tuesday. Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Cameron Whitnall watches Vanda a lion rescued from Ukraine, as she settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Cameron Whitnall watches Vanda a lion rescued from Ukraine, as she settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Yuna, a lion rescued from Ukraine growls at a camera as she settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Yuna, a lion rescued from Ukraine growls at a camera as she settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More All five were found near the front line in Ukraines war against Russian invasion, neglected and abandoned by their owners.All of these five lions were originally from the illegal pet trade and wildlife trade, said Cameron Whitnall, managing director of the Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of London. None of them came from zoos. After being rescued from Ukraine, lion sisters Amani and Lira settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) After being rescued from Ukraine, lion sisters Amani and Lira settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More After being rescued from Ukraine, lion sisters Amani and Lira settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) After being rescued from Ukraine, lion sisters Amani and Lira settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Yuna was kept in a small brick cell and was shellshocked after missile debris fell near her enclosure. Rori was mistreated in a private menagerie, while sanctuary staff believe siblings Amani and Lira were bred to have their photos taken with tourists as cubs. Vanda, kept inside an apartment, was malnourished and infested with parasites.Whitnall says in her new home Vanda, like the others, can become the lion she deserves to be. Cameron Whitnall feeds Yuna after lions are rescued from Ukraine and settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Cameron Whitnall feeds Yuna after lions are rescued from Ukraine and settle into their new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The lions were saved by the Wild Animals Rescue Center run by Natalia Popova, a Ukrainian woman who has saved hundreds of abandoned pets and zoo animals since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. Lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, deer, monkeys and more have passed through her shelter, a converted horse stables near Kyiv.Hundreds have been sent abroad for treatment and recovery. Whitnall was determined to bring the five lions to Britain, even though the sanctuary had nowhere to put them. A fundraising campaign launched in May 2024 raised more than 500,000 pounds ($650,000) to cover the costs of transportation, veterinary care and building a new home for the cats. After being rescued from Ukraine, lion Lira settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) After being rescued from Ukraine, lion Lira settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More After being rescued from Ukraine, lion Vanda settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) After being rescued from Ukraine, lion Vanda settles into her new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Rori a lion rescued from Ukraine settles into his new forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary, near Ashford in Kent, England, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Staff say they are adapting well to their enclosures, which have been designed around each lions individual needs. Yuna and Rori, who have coordination issues, got gently landscaped environments where they cant fall from a height, while sisters Amani and Lira have trees to climb. Vanda, the most playful and confident of the lions, has an enclosure that includes a water feature.Im sure its a bit of a journey. Weve got more to do, but they are taking everything so incredibly well, said curator Briony Smith, who looks after the animals. You can already tell that there is improvement in their care and their welfare and the way that they feel about that.Smith and Whitnall are still getting to know their four newest charges. They have already formed a strong bond with Yuna, who had never been on grass until she was rescued.She could barely walk, Whitnall said. She was suffering from shellshock and concussion. She was so severely bad that they were actually going to euthanize her. But we managed to step in and get her out of the war zone, and shes just come on leaps and bounds since being here at the sanctuary.Were just so happy with her progress, said Whitnall, who enjoys feeding Yuna her favorite snack of raw chicken legs. Shes a beautiful lioness now. ___Video journalist Tom Rayner contributed to this story.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00892-9Insurers rely on sophisticated catastrophe modelling to estimate risk exposure and as climate risks are rising, so are the costs for protection.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00871-0A multi-century climate record suggests that current Atlantic jet-stream variations are not the cause of an increase in extreme weather events.

An image of the Signal app is shown on a mobile phone in San Francisco, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)2025-03-25T13:24:28Z LONDON (AP) A magazine journalists account of being added to a group chat of U.S. national security officials coordinating plans for airstrikes has raised questions about how highly sensitive information is supposed to be handled.Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg detailed a discussion that happened over the Signal messaging app hours before strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen order by U.S. President Donald Trump.The National Security Council has since said the text chain appears to be authentic and that it is looking into how a journalists number was added to the chain.Heres a look at the app in question. What is Signal?Its an app that can be used for direct messaging and group chats as well as phone and video calls.Signal uses end-to-end encryption for its messaging and calling services that prevents any third-party from viewing conversation content or listening in on calls. In other words, messages and calls sent on Signal are scrambled and only the sender and recipient at each end will have the key to decipher them. Signals encryption protocol is open source, meaning anyone that its freely available for anyone to inspect, use or modify. The encryption protocol is also used by another popular chat service, social media company Metas WhatsApp platform. Encryption on Signal is turned on by default, unlike another popular messaging app, Telegram, which requires users to turn it on and does not make it available for group chats. Signal has features that are found on other messaging apps. It allows users to host group chats with up to 1,000 people and messages can be set to automatically disappear after a certain time. Is it secure?Signal touts the privacy of its service and experts agree it is more secure than conventional texting.But it could be hacked.Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, such as scheduling sensitive meetings, but in the Biden administration, people who had permission to download it on their White House-issued phones were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the administration. The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to notify someone that they should check for a classified message sent through other means.Beyond concerns about security, Signal and other similar apps may allow users to skirt open records laws. Without special archiving software, the messages frequently arent returned under public information requests.In the Atlantic article, Goldberg wrote that some messages were set to disappear after one week and some after four. Do other government officials use Signal?Encrypted messaging apps are increasingly popular with government officials, according to a recent Associated Press review.State, local and federal officials in nearly every state have accounts on encrypted messaging apps, according to the review, which found many of those accounts registered to government cellphone numbers. Some were also registered to personal numbers. Whos behind Signal? The apps origins date back more than a decade, when it was set up by an entrepreneur who goes by the name Moxie Marlinspike, who was briefly head of product security at Twitter after he sold his mobile security startup to the social media company. Marlinspike merged two existing open source apps, one for texting and one for voice calls, to create Signal. The nonprofit Signal Foundation was set up in 2018 to support the apps operations as well as investigate the future of private communication, according to the foundations website. The foundation says it is a nonprofit with no advertisers or investors, sustained only by the people who use and value it.The foundations board has five members, including Brian Acton, who cofounded WhatsApp and donated $50 million to set up the foundation. ___Associated Press writers Tara Copp, Aamer Madhani and Eric Tucker contributed to this report from Washington. KELVIN CHAN Chan covers technology and innovation in Europe and beyond for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen (44) drives to the basket against UNC Greensboro guard Jaila Lee and forward Khalis Cain (15) during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)2025-03-25T12:27:06Z Follow APs full coverage of March Madness. Get the AP Top 25 womens college basketball poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. LOS ANGELES (AP) If Southern California wants to win its first national championship in 41 years, the Trojans will have to find a way to get it done without star guard JuJu Watkins.They notched their 30th win for the first time since 1986 by walloping ninth-seeded Mississippi State 96-59 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night. But they lost Watkins to a season-ending right knee injury in the first quarter.She was streaking down the court on a fast break with two Bulldogs defenders nearby when her knee bent awkwardly as she planted her right foot. She immediately crumpled to the court. Watkins had to be carried off, unable to put any weight on her leg. She will have surgery and then rehabilitate, USC said, without specifying her injury.The sight of Watkins writhing in pain on the court, holding her injured knee while her teammates stood around her and coach Lindsay Gottlieb rushed to the 19-year-olds side shocked the crowd of 7,808 at Galen Center. JuJu is a generational talent, Mississippi State guard Jerkaila Jordan said. Shes changed the game in so many ways at such a young age. Seeing her go down was really tough. I said my prayers for her. Losing Watkins just five minutes in on a non-contact play turned the home fans angry and they booed the Bulldogs the rest of the game. At halftime, they jeered the MSU cheerleaders routine. You had to be here to feel it, Gottlieb said. I dont know if people saw that through the TV, but it was a palpable thing.The top-seeded Trojans, meanwhile, were all business. Buoyed by the raucous crowd, they hit buzzer-beating shots at the end of the first, second and third quarters and ran their lead to 46 points in the fourth.I wouldnt say this is our defining moment, said Kiki Iriafen, who scored a season-high 36 points. Its what we expect of ourselves. We expect to win in this tournament regardless if its going our way, we have people, we dont have people. Thats the standard here. Next up is the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Washington, where the Trojans (30-3) play fifth-seeded Kansas State (28-7) on Friday.USC has yet to know what its like playing without one of the biggest stars in college basketball. Watkins started all 34 games as a freshman, leading the Trojans to the Elite Eight while boosting attendance with strong support from her nearby community of Watts.I hope she can at some point see just the significance that she has here that goes so far beyond just her talent and abilities, Gottlieb said. Thats whats really generational about it, the way shes galvanized everyone, and the way that her team had her back and also really is a team.This year was supposed to be about winning it all.It still could be, but the picture looks a lot different without Watkins.Iriafen, a Stanford graduate transfer, showed what she can do without her running mate, shooting 16-of-22 to go with nine rebounds.Kiki is one of the best players in the country. She was electric, Bulldogs coach Sam Purcell said. We had our center on her, our guard on her, we doubled her, we went 2-3, we went man-to-man, we trapped her. We never stopped her. USC had five players in double figures against the Bulldogs, including three freshmen. One of them, Kaleigh Heckel, along with sophomore Malia Samuels, ran the offense in Watkins absence. They combined for nine assists, five steals and two turnovers. Heckel also scored 13 points and had six assists.Another freshman, Avery Howell, tied her career high with 18 points and had four 3-pointers and six assists. A third freshman, Kennedy Smith, had 10 points and five steals.We have a pretty big role this year, Howell said. Were prepared for most moments because of the time were given in games and how hard we work in practice.The Trojans won their first two tournament games by a combined 83 points.We will make sure that were pouring into this team, to JuJu and keeping us together because as you saw we are capable of a lot of greatness, Gottlieb said. Thats what will continue to be the message to our team.___AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00914-6A musicians query as to the origin of a warped wolf tone, and a review of a book by physicist Marie Curie, in our weekly dip into Natures archive.

Nature, Published online: 21 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00941-3Babies as young as one year old can form memories, our adult brains just cant access them. Plus, US-funded researchers outside the United States are being grilled about ideology and physicists suggest a crazy new way we could generate electricity.

A woman places her ballot in a box during early voting in Waukesha, Wis., Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)2025-03-25T14:18:52Z MADISON, Wis. (AP) Turnout during the first week of early voting ahead of Wisconsins pivotal state Supreme Court race is far exceeding levels from another high-stakes election just two years ago, the latest sign of the intense interest in a contest that has obliterated spending records and drawn attention from President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser, Elon Musk.As of Tuesday, with just a week to go until the final day of voting, nearly 48% more early ballots have been cast compared with the same point two years ago, according to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission. More than 345,000 voters had returned ballots, either by mail or in person, compared with about 233,000 at this point two years ago during another race for a Supreme Court seat.The election will determine whether the court will remain under 4-3 liberal control or flip to a conservative majority. One of the current liberal justices is retiring. This years race has morphed into a proxy battle over the nations politics, with Trump and Musk getting behind Brad Schimel, the Republican-backed candidate in a race that is officially nonpartisan. All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late last week.Total spending on the race has reached more than $73 million, including more than $14 million by groups funded by Musk, according to a tally Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice. Thats the most on record for any U.S. judicial race, breaking the $56 million spent on Wisconsins Supreme Court contest in 2023, when majority control also was on the line. All that spending and attention has helped fuel early voting, said Kevin Kennedy, Wisconsins former top elections official who now works as a consultant. He spoke while taking a break from working at a Madison poll site where people could vote early. Theres just a lot of money being invested, Kennedy said. Everything seems to be focused on, Lets get out the vote.After previously being critical of early voting, Trump and the Republican Party are urging their supporters to cast their ballots before the final day of voting on April 1. Early voting ends Sunday. The strategy, which they deployed with great success in last years presidential race, appears to be contributing to large turnout increases in more conservative counties across Wisconsin.Schimels opponent, Democratic-backed Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, has raised more than $25 million for the race to date, including $5.5 million from the state Democratic Party since early February. Her supporters include billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, had raised more than $12 million, which includes more than $6 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party since early February.But outside groups have more than made up the difference in what the candidates have raised.The roughly $28 million spent by the candidates as of Monday was far exceeded by the roughly $45 million spent so far by outside groups, according to the Brennan Center calculation. Schimel and his allies, which include groups backed by Musk, have spent about $41 million, while Crawford and her supporters have spent about $32 million. Voters in Wisconsin do not register by political party, so its impossible to know how many of the ballots already submitted came from Republicans or Democrats. But the data shows that the largest increases are coming from both Democratic- and Republican-heavy counties.Milwaukee County, the states largest county and the one that is home to the most Democrats, led all counties in ballots returned with 54,750. That is more than 46% ahead of this point two years ago. Liberal Dane County, the states second largest county and home to the state capital of Madison and the University of Wisconsin, has also seen a 46% increase.But Republican parts of the state also have seen big jumps.Voting was up in the three suburban Milwaukee counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, which are commonly referred to as the WOW counties. Ballot returns were up more than 62% in Waukesha and 51% in Ozaukee. In Washington, the most heavily Republican of the three counties, early voting was more than double two years ago. In Brown County, the states fourth most populous one, which is reliably Republican, early turnout was up more than 34%.While the early voting is high for a spring election, its far from what battleground Wisconsin saw at this point before the presidential race. A week before the Nov. 5 election, nearly 1 million voters had cast their ballots, almost four times as many as in this race to date.The race comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules. On Monday night, Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told supporters that electing Crawford was important so she and other liberal justices can order a redraw of congressional boundary lines. Even though Wisconsin is a swing state, Republican-drawn lines have allowed the party to hold six of its eight congressional seats.As soon as possible, we need to be able to revisit that and have fair lines, Jeffries said in a live discussion on the social media platform X. The only way for that to be even a significant possibility is if you have an enlightened Supreme Court.Schimel has accused Crawford of promising to Democrats that she will redraw the lines. Crawford has denied that. SCOTT BAUER Bauer is the APs Statehouse reporter covering politics and state government in Madison, Wisconsin. He also writes music reviews. twitter mailto

In this photo provided by El Salvador's presidential press office, prison guards transfer deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)2025-03-25T13:47:49Z SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) The U.S. government used an 18th-century wartime law to deport more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, where they were immediately transferred to the countrys maximum-security gang prison.And while a federal judge in Washington tries to determine whether the U.S. government defied his order to return the migrants while they were in the air and insists that they must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged members of a notorious gang, there has been no word from El Salvadors president or judiciary about what the prisoners legal status is in that country.That may change soon. On Monday, lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government took legal action on behalf of the Venezuelan prisoners seeking their release from the prison, which U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to visit Wednesday. The U.S. says the Venezuelans were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a criminal organization that U.S. President Donald Trump declared an invading force, but has provided no evidence of their alleged membership. The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge. El Salvador hasnt had diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2019, so the Venezuelans imprisoned there do not have any consular support from their government either.Even Salvadoran citizens have been living under a state of emergency that has suspended fundamental rights since 2022 and the countrys judiciary is not considered independent. All of which raises questions about the prisoners legal future in El Salvador. What has El Salvadors government said about the prisoners status in the country?Nothing.President Nayib Bukele announced Sunday that the United States had sent what he called 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua to El Salvador and they were immediately sent to its maximum security gang prison. The U.S. government would pay an annual fee for their incarceration, Bukele wrote in a post on X.El Salvadors Attorney Generals Office and Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression did not respond to requests for comment about the status of the Venezuelan prisoners. What do El Salvadors laws say about the status of these prisoners?Lawyer David Morales, legal director for the nongovernmental organization Cristosal, said there was no legal basis for the Venezuelans imprisonment in El Salvador. He said he knew of no Salvadoran law or international treaty that would support their imprisonment.They are illegal detentions because they havent been submitted to the jurisdiction of a Salvadoran judge, nor have they been prosecuted or convicted in El Salvador, he said. As such, their imprisonment here is arbitrary.He said El Salvadors prosecutors office for human rights would have the authority to intervene, because it has a broad mandate when it comes to prisoners, but we already know that its not playing its role because it is dominated, subjected to political power. What are lawyers doing?Lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government filed a legal action Monday in El Salvador aimed at freeing 238 Venezuelans deported by the United States who are being held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.Jaime Ortega, who says he represents 30 of the imprisoned Venezuelans, said his firm filed the habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Courts Constitutional Chamber. He said that by extension they requested that it be applied to all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.Before it was filed, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya had suggested human rights organizations and the prisoners families should file habeas corpus petitions, essentially compelling the government to prove someones detention was justified as a mechanism to denounce (the situation) as well as to pressure the government.Still, Anaya said the lack of judicial independence in El Salvador made success unlikely. Bukeles party removed the justices of the Supreme Courts Constitutional chamber in 2021 and replaced them with judges seen as more amenable to the administration.Who is going to decide these peoples freedom, U.S. judges, Salvadoran judges? Anaya asked. The habeas corpus petitions could at least show the illegitimacy of this vacuum. How hard is it for Salvadorans to get out of prisons there?El Salvador has lived under a state of emergency since March 2022, when Congress granted Bukele extraordinary powers to fight the countrys powerful street gangs.Since then, some 84,000 people have been arrested, accused of gang ties. The state of emergency has allowed authorities to act without basic protections like access to a lawyer or even being told why theyre being arrested. They can be held for 15 days without seeing a judge.Homicides have plummeted in El Salvador and the improved security has fueled Bukeles popularity.But while Bukele has said some 8,000 of those arrested have been freed for lack of evidence, many more have found no way out.Last year, the Due Process Foundation published a report showing that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court had systematically rejected more than 6,000 habeas corpus petitions made by families of people arrested under the state of emergency. ____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

A newly introduced bill in Texas would require online sellers to show a photo ID before buying a dildo.SB 3003, introduced by Senator Angela Paxton (wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton), would criminally charge online retailers for selling an obscene device without verifying the buyers age. Sellers would have to require customers to submit their government-issued photographic identification, or use third-party age verification services that use public records or other reliable sources to verify the purchaser's identity and age, the bill says. Owning a credit card, which already requires the holder to be over 18 years of age, would not be enough.Like the regressive and ineffective adult site age verification laws passing all across the country in the last few years, this law would drag Texans back to a not-so-distant time when sex toy sellers had to pretend vibrators were for massage.Hallie Lieberman, journalist and author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy, sold sex toys in Texas in the early 2000s under the states six dildo law, which criminalizes the possession of six or more obscene devices, defined as "a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." That law is still on the books but is now considered unenforceable and unconstitutional. Lieberman told me sellers got around the law by claiming the toys were for medical purposes. This bill could send retailers back to that time.I can see something like that happening again, with people saying on their sex toy store websites that vibrators are for back massage and butt plugs are for rectal strengthening, Lieberman said. It's similar to how sex toys were marketed in the early 20th century to get around obscenity laws and the Comstock Act (which unfortunately still exists and may be used to prevent access to contraceptives and sex toys nationwide.) Butt plugs were sold as cures for asthma and vibrators for sciatica. We are literally going back in time with this law.Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the InternetInvasive and ineffective age verification laws that require users show government-issued ID, like a drivers license or passport, are passing like wildfire across the U.S.404 MediaEmanuel MaibergLieberman told me she had to call the clitoris the man in the boat at the time to avoid breaking the law. When we can't speak openly about our bodies and sexual pleasure, when we're forced to use euphemisms, we not only are under informed about our bodies, but we also feel shame in seeking out pleasure, she said.Like age verification laws for websites, the bill would make buying sex toys online harder for everyone, not just minors, and would send consumers to less-safe retailers with lower-quality, possibly dangerous toys. And also like those laws, people who do upload their government ID or undergo other age verification measures could risk having their purchases exposed to a hostile government.The government should not have a record of what sex toys we buy. This isn't just a frivolous concern, Lieberman said. In a nation where the president has declared that there are only two genders and that transgender people don't exist, where trans people are erased from government websites and kicked out of the military, it would be dangerous for the government to have a record that you purchased sex toys designed for trans people. Imagine you're a school teacher at a public school in Texas and there's a record you purchased a sex toy designed for queer people in a state where a parental bill of rights bill was just passed prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation in schools."We are literally going back in time with this law."Texas legislators have been trying to limit access to sex toys for their constituents for years. In late 2024, Hillary Hickland, a freshman member of Texas Republican House, introduced a bill that would ban retailers in the state from selling sex toys unless they file paperwork to become sexually oriented businesseseffectively forcing stores like Walmart, CVS and Target, which sell vibrators and other sex toys, to take those products off their shelves and forcing brick-and-mortar boutiques to verify the ages of all customers. The bill was referred to Texas Trade, Workforce & Economic Development committee earlier this month.Paxtons bill would charge online retailers with a Class A Misdemeanor if they dont verify ages, and would open them up to fines up to $5,000 for each violation.Paxton did not respond to a request for comment.