Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01003-4Country doubles down on climate pledges in the wake of devastating floods.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters reacting after a Japanese negotiator held ministerial talks at the White House regarding U.S. tariffs, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)2025-04-17T04:19:28Z TOKYO (AP) Japan recorded a trade deficit in its March-April fiscal year but racked up a surplus with the U.S., the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.Japans global trade deficit totaled 5.2 trillion yen ($37 billion) for the fiscal year through March, for the fourth straight year of deficits, according to the provisional statistics. The surplus with the U.S. ballooned to 9 trillion yen ($63 billion).Exports to the U.S. are a contentious issue for U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese negotiators are in Washington to argue their case against higher U.S. tariffs. Japan is a key longtime U.S. ally and major investor in the U.S., employing hundreds of thousands of Americans. Trump said on April 2 that he planned to impose a 24% tariff on imports from Japan as part of an announcement of higher tariffs on dozens of countries. After financial markets panicked, he put a partial 90-day hold on the import taxes, while increasing his already steep tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 145%. Japan still faces a 10% baseline tariff and a 25% tax on imported cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports. Most of those duties took effect recently, but they pose a grave challenge for embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Some analysts say Tokyo could at some point announce surprise concessions, like importing more American rice. Rice holds a special place in the Japanese psyche as the nations staple and has long been a protected sector in Japan. But recently a rice shortage has been pushing up prices. Japans annual exports climbed 5.9% from a year earlier, helped by strong shipments of goods like computer chips and vehicles. Imports rose 4.7%. But a weaker Japanese yen made imports more costly. A recent influx of foreign tourists to Japan has pushed exports higher, since such spending counts as exports.For the month of March, Japan recorded a trade surplus of 544 billion yen ($4 billion). Exports climbed nearly 4% from a year earlier, for the sixth straight month of gains, although the surge was slower than in February. Exports to the U.S. rose 3%, while shipments to the rest of Asia grew 5.5%. Exports to China fell, while shipments to Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea surged.This is likely due to the rerouting of exports within Asia to avoid tariff conflicts with the U.S., Min Joo Kang, a senior economist at ING, said in a report.___Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto

Chineses people wait to welcome their President Xi Jingping's arrival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)2025-04-17T04:30:06Z PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Cambodia on Thursday for a two-day state visit that serves as an opportunity to further strengthen already robust relations.The visit, Xis first since 2016, will conclude a three-nation Southeast Asian tour that included stops in Vietnam and Malaysia.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet recently described Beijing as an important and indispensable friend of Cambodia that has helped support the countrys economic and social development.Xi was greeted at the airport in Cambodias capital Phrom Penh by King Norodom Sihamoni. During his visit, Xi is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Hun Manet and Senate President Hun Sen, who is Hun Manets father and predecessor as prime minister.Trade will likely be a major topic of Xis discussions in Cambodia, which faces among the highest tariff rates proposed by Washington. In addition to Trumps universal 10% tariff, the country faces the threat of a 49% tax on exports to the U.S. once his 90-day pause expires. In addition to discussions on strengthening bilateral ties and regional and international issues, several agreements are expected to be signed on cooperation in various sectors. In both countries, Xi emphasized strengthening ties, particularly in trade and investment, amid global economic uncertainties and the backdrop of trade tensions with the United States. He underscored the need to oppose unilateralism and protectionism and uphold the multilateral trading system. China is presenting itself as a source of stability and certainty as Southeast Asia scrambles to respond to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which threaten the region export-oriented economies whose largest markets are generally the United States.The visit comes on the 50th anniversary of the April 17, 1975 takeover of Cambodia by the communist Khmer Rouge, which imposed a reign of terror with Maoist-inspired policies that saw an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians die of starvation, overwork or executions. Beijing was the main foreign backer of the Khmer Rouge and supported the group in carrying on a guerrilla war after it was ousted from power in 1979 by an invasion from Vietnam, though such history is rarely discussed by either country.Cambodias rapid growth in recent decades has been fueled largely by Beijing.In Hun Manets remarks earlier this month at the inauguration of a Chinese-funded road, he called China a first-class partner country, pointing to achievements like the inauguration of the Chinese-named Angkor Siem Reap Airport and a Phnom Penh ring road named after Xi as evidence of continued strong relations and gratitude, and noted Chinas continued ranking as the top investor in Cambodia in 2024.China is Cambodias largest trading partner, surpassing $15 billion in 2024 and representing nearly 30% of Cambodias total trade volume, though greatly in Beijings favor.Beijing also helped fund an expansion of the Ream Naval Base on Cambodias southern coast, raising worries it could become a strategic outpost for the Chinese navy in the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia has repeatedly denied any agreement granting China special privileges or the establishment of a foreign military base. Cambodia has stated that warships from all friendly countries are welcome to dock at its new pier, provided they comply with certain conditions. Japan announced on Tuesday that two of its minesweepers will visit the Ream base this weekend in the first foreign navy visit since the expansion project was completed.___Peck reported from Bangkok. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08890-7The structure and function of the MCR activation complex from Methanococcus maripaludis were revealed, demonstrating its ATP-dependent ability to activate MCR and form methane while uncovering a unique electron transfer pathway involving ironsulfur clusters similar to the nitrogenase cofactor intermediates.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08885-4High-resolution spatial proteomics were used to map molecular events during hepatocyte stress in pseudotime across all fibrosis stages, recapitulating known disease progression markers and revealing early peroxisomal activation and late-stage proteotoxic phenotypes.

Mohammad Yousaf Dar weaves a Kashmiri hand-knotted carpet at his home in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)2025-04-17T04:11:17Z SRINAGAR, India (AP) Mohammad Yousuf Dar and his wife, Shameema, sit cross-legged before their loom, deftly tying consecutive knots to create the floral patterns of the famed Kashmiri carpets that are now threatened by the Trump administrations sweeping tariffs.Genuine hand-knotted Kashmiri carpets are typically made from pure silk, and sometimes pure wool, which is more challenging. Generations of artisans have for centuries handed down the craft to ensure its survival, and while the carpets are sold for quite a sum, most craftspeople can barely make ends meet.I just help my husband so that we have a modicum of decent income to run our household, Shameema, 43, said as she and Mohamad rhythmically plucked at the colorful silk threads in their dimly lit workshop in Indian-controlled Kashmirs main city, Srinagar. They periodically glance at a yellowed scrap of paper, known as Taleem, or instructions, showcasing the pattern they are working on in an ancient shorthand of symbols and numbers and a cryptic color map. Both learned the craft at the ages of 9 and 10, respectively.The industry has survived decades of conflict over the disputed region between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan and withstood the fickleness of fashion to stay in demand, adorning mansions and museums alike. However, Kashmiri traders say that U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs on American imports can deal a hard blow to an already threatened business that is vying to survive amid mass-produced carpets, which are less costly, and artisans abandoning the industry. Although the tariffs were primarily aimed at major exporters like China, theyve inadvertently ensnared traditional handicraft industries from regions like Kashmir, which depend on U.S. and European markets for survival.Carpet exports from India to the U.S. alone are valued at approximately $1.2 billion, out of a total global export value of $2 billion, according to official data. Mohamad, 50, said he is the only weaver left out of over 100 who shifted to other jobs some two decades back in his neighborhood in Srinagar citys old downtown.I spend months knotting a single rug, he said, but if there is no demand, our skills feel worthless, he added.Still, thousands of families in Kashmir rely on this craft for their livelihood and the steep 28% tariff imposed means the imported carpets will become significantly more expensive for American consumers and retailers.If these carpets are going to be more expensive in America, does that mean our wages will rise too? Mohamad asked.Not likely.The increased cost to consumers in the U.S. doesnt translate into higher wages for weavers, experts say, but rather often leads to reduced orders, lower incomes, and growing uncertainty for the artisans.This price hike could also push buyers toward cheaper, machine-made alternatives, leaving Kashmiri artisans in the lurch.Insiders say that unless international trade policies shift to protect traditional industries, Kashmirs hand-knotted legacy may continue to fray until it disappears. Wilayat Ali, a Kashmiri carpet supplier, said his trading partner, who exports the carpets to the U.S., Germany and France, has already canceled at least a dozen orders already in the making.The exporter also returned some dozen carpets, he said. It boils down to the hard arithmetic of profit and loss, Ali explained. They dont see thousands of knots in a carpet that takes months to make.___This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Visitors rest at a booth for a wheel shaped patrol robot at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)2025-04-16T13:08:07Z GUANGZHOU, China (AP) Exporters at Chinas largest trade fair spoke on Wednesday of stalled shipments and lower sales forecasts due to the ongoing trade war with the United States.Zhang Haiyun, overseas sales director for Airdog, an air purifier maker based in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, said her company has halted shipments to the U.S. since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs of 145% on all products imported from China. Zhang Haiyun, overseas sales director of Airdog, a Chinese air purifier manufacturer, speaks at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, southern Chinas Guangdong province on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Zhang Haiyun, overseas sales director of Airdog, a Chinese air purifier manufacturer, speaks at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, southern Chinas Guangdong province on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Basically, there are no freight companies willing to take orders because no one knows what will happen to the tariffs when the goods arrive, Zhang told The Associated Press from her booth at the Canton Fair, which is Chinas largest and oldest trade event.Trumps so-called reciprocal tariffs on China, and essentially all other U.S. trading partners, loomed heavily at the biannual fair, which has been held since 1957. While the U.S. has postponed the implementation of most tariffs for three months, the duties on Chinese products remain in place pending a trade deal between the two nations. Beijing has retaliated with tariffs on U.S. goods that total 125%. Zhang said the reciprocal tariffs were enacted just as her companys business in the U.S. had started growing. Airdog sells various models of air purifiers in the U.S. and more than 90 other countries and regions around the world, with a focus on developing countries that have boosted trade with China under Beijings Belt and Road initiative. Visitors are seen at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Visitors are seen at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Visitors look at robots at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Visitors look at robots at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Visitors arrive at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Visitors arrive at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More She said her company was going to wait and see how things develop before moving production to other Southeast Asian countries.Many Chinese companies have opened factories abroad since Trumps first term in office in an attempt to avoid reciprocal tariffs between China and the U.S. But in his new round of tariff announcements, Trump targeted Southeast Asian nations with high duties, including 49% tariffs on imports from Cambodia and 46% duties on goods from Vietnam. Chinas President Xi Jinping is this week touring Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia, and making a case for free trade. Exporters across both China and Southeast Asia have expressed concern about the tariffs impact on production lines and supply chains.Wallace Huang, export business director at Weking Group, which makes small appliances such as rice cookers, air fryers and electric kettles, said his company has halted business with the U.S. for the moment.We cannot rely on a single market, Huang said, We need to diversify our market. When the West is dark, the East is bright. Wallace Huang, export business director of Weking, talks about the Chinese manufacturer of rice cookers and heaters at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Wallace Huang, export business director of Weking, talks about the Chinese manufacturer of rice cookers and heaters at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Huang said his companys exports to the U.S. have dropped between 5% and 10% since Trumps first term in office, and that his company is looking to sell more to other developing nations.Angel Li, a senior sales executive for Great Link, a logistics company focused on the North American market, said clients are calculating their next steps, though exporters of car parts and other hardware have not yet called off shipments to the U.S. and Canada.No one knows how the tariffs will change, Li said. Angel Li, marketing senior sales executive with Great Link Logistics Co. Ltd, left, talks about logistics to the U.S. at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Angel Li, marketing senior sales executive with Great Link Logistics Co. Ltd, left, talks about logistics to the U.S. at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Even exporters who dont produce in China are suffering due to the trade war. Danny Elassir, export director for Exotica, a company that makes air fresheners in Ohio, said his business is being affected due to other countries imposing tariffs on U.S. goods. Elassir said his company has been present at the Canton Fair, in the southern Guangdong province, for more than a decade because it is where it has connected with most of its clients from the Middle East and Latin America.Going back to the old duty rates this is really the only way we see it happening for business to keep growing, he said. Danny Elassir, export director with Exotica Freshener Co, a U.S. company selling fresheners, speaks at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Danny Elassir, export director with Exotica Freshener Co, a U.S. company selling fresheners, speaks at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern Chinas Guangdong province, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___Mistreanu reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang contributed to this report. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08834-1A method, RARE-seq, for sensitive detection of cell-free RNAs in blood is demonstrated to have diverse clinical applications including diagnosing and characterizing human cancers, and tracking response to RNA therapeutics.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08862-xThe dynamical axion quasiparticle, which is directly analogous to the hypothetical fundamental axion particle, is observed in two-dimensional MnBi2Te4, and has implications for quantum chromodynamics, cosmology and string theory.

Actress Nora Aunor appears during the photo call for the film '"Sinapupunan" (Thy Womb) at the 69th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)2025-04-16T19:34:34Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) Nora Aunor, who became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. Aunor died Wednesday, according to social media posts from her children. She was 71. No further details on the cause or place of her death were immediately given. Filipina actor Lotlot de Len said on Instagram that her mother touched generations with her unmatched talent, grace, and passion for the craft. Her voice, presence, and artistry shaped a legacy that will never fade.De Len said funeral plans and other details will be shared later. Aunor, born Nora Cabaltera Villamayor to an impoverished family in eastern Camarines Sur province, sold water in a train station in her hometown in her youth. She first gained fame in her teens as a singer in the 1960s before moving on to movies. She amassed more than 200 credits in film and television that included many classics of Philippine cinema, and won dozens of acting awards. Memorable roles included 1976s Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (Three Years Without God), 1984s Bulaklak sa City Jail (Flowers of the City Jail) and 1995s The Flor Contemplacion Story. She swept best actress awards in the country for her performance in 1990s Andrea, Paano ba ang Maging Isang Ina? (Andrea, What is It Like to be a Mother?) and won best actress at the Asian Film Awards for her portrayal of a midwife in 2012s Thy Womb. Aunor was still acting as recently as last year, starring in the film Mananambal (The Healer) and appearing on the TV series Lilet Matias, Attorney-at-Law. Aunor was named a National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts the countrys biggest honor for actors in 2022. In 2014, then-President Benigno Aquino III had denied her the honor because of a previous drug arrest in the U.S., provoking broad outcry.Aunors lawyer said the 2005 arrest at the Los Angeles airport came because of a pipe found in a bag she did not pack, noting she was traveling with four assistants at the time. The charges were dropped in 2007 after she completed a diversion program, her lawyer said in 2014. Aunor was married to actor Christopher de Len from 1975 until 1996. She is survived by their children Lotlet, Ian, Matet, Kiko and Kenneth de Len.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08839-wA two-dimensional Dirac graphene-channel flash memory based on a two-dimensional-enhanced hot-carrier-injection mechanism that supports both electron and hole injection is used to make devices with a subnanosecond program speed.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01105-zCirculating biomarkers are quickly becoming a crucial part of diagnosis and disease monitoring for physicians, researchers and even some consumers.

Sylvain N'goran, who has been a cocoa farmer for the past 17 years, holds cocoa beans in his hands in the village of Bocanda, north of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Oct. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Diomande Bleblonde, File)2025-04-17T05:32:01Z NGATTAKRO, Ivory Coast (AP) Jean Mari Konan Yao says hes struggling as a cocoa farmer in the west African nation of Ivory Coast, which produces almost half the worlds cocoa supply of the raw ingredient used in chocolate.Like many in Ivory Coast the worlds biggest cocoa producer Konan Yao says cocoa has long provided a lifeline for him, but adverse weather and plant diseases have hurt harvests in recent years.Now, cocoa farmers worry even more over President Donald Trumps plans to impose a 21% tariff on products from Ivory Coast the highest among West African nations.Although Trump has suspended the tariff plans for 90 days pending further review, authorities in Ivory Coast have warned that such tariffs could send the price of cocoa even higher and destabilize the local market by slowing their sales.Ivory Coast produces between 2 million and 2.5 million metric tons of cocoa annually, with around 200,000 to 300,000 metric tons exported to the United States, according to the Coffee and Cocoa Council. In 2023, Ivory Coast exported $3.68 billion worth of cocoa beans, its second biggest export after gold. The U.S. was its fourth-largest importer of cocoa beans, after the Netherlands, Malaysia and Belgium, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. For most local cocoa growers, any U.S. tariff could further shake a market already struggling with decreasing yields and shrinking funding that has limited farmers ability to meet global demands for chocolate. If we hear the American president is going to put a tax on the price of cocoa, its really not good for us, it doesnt help us, said another cocoa farmer, Salif Traor.Already, cocoa prices were rising in the country, in part because of insufficient and irregular rainfall in Ivory Coast.The U.K.-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit research firm has noted a 32% rise in the price of cocoa imported into the United Kingdom over the last three years, partially due to extreme weather conditions in parts of Africa where its mainly grown. Together, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon produce about three-quarters of the worlds cocoa. Cocoa is traded on a regulated, global market. In Ivory Coast, the government usually sets cocoa prices at the onset of each season, with prices reflecting market trends and global prices. The local prices are, however, lower than the global market rates, thereby limiting the farmers profit from high global prices.Authorities say they are already considering cocoa price increases if the U.S. tariff comes into effect.Donald Trumps customs tax is causing us problems. We are already feeling the effects, said Boss Diarra, coordinator of the local cocoa farmers union in Bouafl in central Ivory Coast. He pointed to bags of cocoa that he said farmers have been unable to sell.Meanwhile, a U.S. tariff could mean more cocoa for European markets, said Bruno Marcel Iriti, researcher at the Ivorian Flix Houphout-Boigny Polytechnic Institute. Some of the top importers of Ivory Coast cocoa are in Europe, market data show. European customers will inevitably buy cheaper because when there is too much, the customer is king, Iriti said.___For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulseThe 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.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01232-7Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01025-yCost is key in the drive to defossilize Spains energy needs as the country faces the devastating impacts of climate change.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni holds a year-end press conference in Rome, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)2025-04-17T04:05:04Z MILAN (AP) Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni will test her mettle as a bridge between the EU and the United States when she meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, the first European leader to have a face-to-face with Trump since he announced, and then suspended, 20% tariffs on European exports.Meloni secured the meeting at a critical juncture in the trade war as Italys leader, but she also has, in a sense, been knighted to represent the European Union. She has been in close contact with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the trip, and the outreach is closely coordinated, a commission spokeswoman said this week.We know we are in a difficult moment, Meloni said this week in Rome. Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent, and what I am defending.The European Union is defending what it calls the most important commercial relationship in the world, with annual trade reaching 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion). Trade negotiations fall under the European Commissions authority, which is pushing for a zero-for-zero tariff deal with the U.S. However, Trump administration officials in talks with the EU have yet to publicly show signs of relenting on Trumps insistence that a baseline 10% tariff be charged on all foreign imports. He paused for 90 days a retaliatory increase to 20%. The pause has raised some hopes for negotiations, and Melonis margins for progress are more in gaining clarity on Trumps goals rather than outright concessions, experts say. It is a very delicate mission, said Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist at the European Policy Center think tank in Brussels. There is the whole trade agenda, and while shes not officially negotiating, we know that Trump likes to have this kind of informal exchange, which in a sense is a negotiation. So its a lot on her plate. As the leader of a far-right party, Meloni is ideologically aligned with Trump on issues including curbing migration, promoting traditional values and skepticism toward multilateral institutions. But stark differences have emerged in Melonis unwavering support for Ukraine.After being the only European leader to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration, Meloni has responded with studied restraint as abrupt shifts in U.S. policy under Trump have frayed the trans-Atlantic alliance. She has denounced the tariffs as wrong and warned that dividing the West would be disastrous for everyone, after Trumps heated White House exchange with Ukraines president.She has been very cautious, said Wolfango Piccoli, an analyst at the London-based Teneo consultancy. It is what we need when we have a counterpart that is changing every day.Italy maintains a 40 billion euro trade surplus with the United States, its largest with any country, fueled by Americans appetite for Italian sparkling wine, foodstuffs like Parmigiano Reggiano hard cheese and Parma ham, and Italian luxury fashion. These are all sectors critical to the Italian economy, and mostly supported by small- and medium-sized producers who are core center-right voters. All in all, I think she will focus on the very strong economic and trade relations that Italy has with the United States, not just in terms of exports, but also services and energy, said Antonio Villafranca, vice president of the ISPI think tank in Milan. For example, Italy could even consider importing more gas from the U.S.The meeting comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over global uncertainty generated by the escalating tariff wars. Italys growth forecast for this year has already been slashed from 1% to 0.5% as a result.Meloni is also expected to address Trumps demand for NATO partners to increase military spending to 2% of gross domestic product. Italys spending, at 1.49% of GDP, is among the lowest in Europe.Experts cautioned, however, against raising expectations over any concrete progress.The best strategy has been to be very circumspect: Get there, get the meeting, get the photo opportunity, Piccoli said. If she is able to come back, and give a sense of how Washington wants to frame future relations on trade, defense and Ukraine policy, that would be a huge win.____AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo)2025-04-17T08:40:19Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Thursday killed at least 23 people, including a family of 10, local health officials said. The United Nations meanwhile raised alarm over the mounting impact of Israels six-week-old blockade preventing all food and other supplies from entering the territory.Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month and renewed its bombardment, killing hundreds of people and seizing large parts of the territory to pressure the militants to accept changes to the agreement.A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed five children, four women and a man from the same family, all of whom suffered severe burns, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed 13 people, including nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital. The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said that almost all of Gazas more than 2 million people now rely for food on the only 1 million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens supported by aid groups. Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the U.N. and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens. The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets. But most cannot afford to buy there because of spiraling prices and widespread shortages, meaning humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April on Gazas markets.The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, OCHA said. Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Its far lower than what is needed, she said.Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven liters per day, well below the amount the U.N. estimates is needed to meet basic needs.Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the central pressure tactics used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule.Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward Israel will continue to occupy large security zones inside Gaza. Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year. Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks.But food is loosely defined. We have pasta and rice but nothing much beyond that. No fresh produce. There is no chicken or beef. The only thing we have is canned meat, he said. He said 15-20% of the people who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies.Israels offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.___Khaled and Keath reported from Cairo.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war LEE KEATH Keath is the chief editor for feature stories in the Middle East for The Associated Press. He has reported from Cairo since 2005. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08650-7Reply to: Natively expressed AcrIII-1 does not function as an anti-CRISPR protein

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01129-5Metformin could reduce peoples risk of certain age-associated blood cancers, but more work is needed to identify who is likely to benefit.

by Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with Wisconsin Watch. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. In 2022, after living as a boy and going by a new name for several years, a 15-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin, wanted to make it official. Like most teenagers, he dreamed of getting his drivers license, and his family wanted his government identification to reflect who he really was.But Wisconsin law has a caveat: He would have to publish his old, feminine name and new name in the local newspaper for three weeks essentially announcing to the world that he is transgender.In many instances, if he had committed a crime, the law would afford him privacy as a minor. But not as a transgender teenager changing his name.His parents worry the public notice now poses a risk as President Donald Trump has attacked transgender rights, asserted that U.S. policy recognizes only two sexes and described efforts to support transgender people as child abuse. The publication requirements endanger the community, lawyers working with trans people say, by creating a de facto dataset of likely transgender people that vigilantes and even the government could use for firing, harassment or violence.Transgender people are over four times more likely to be victims of violence, research shows. Most transgender people and their families agreed to be interviewed for this story only if they werent named, citing safety concerns.Publication requirements really leave folks open and vulnerable to discrimination and to harassment more than they already are, said Arli Christian, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. It can put people at risk of violence and blatant discrimination simply because of who they are.Wisconsins legal process stems from a 167-year-old law, one of many statutes across the country that Christian said were intended to keep people from escaping debts or criminal records. Changing ones name through marriage is a separate process that does not require publication in a paper.Although the right to change ones legal name exists in every state, the effort and risk required to exercise it vary. Less than half of states require people to publicize their name changes in some or all cases, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that tracks voting and LGBTQ+ rights. Wisconsin law grants confidentiality only if a person can prove its more likely than not that publication could endanger them. But the statute does not define what that means. For years, some judges interpreted that to include psychological abuse or bullying, or they accepted statistics documenting discrimination and violence against transgender people nationwide. In 2023, however, a state appeals court set a stricter standard after a trans teenager was denied a confidential name change in Brown County, home to Green Bay. The teen said he had endured years of bullying, in which peers called him slurs and beat him up. Court records show the Brown County judge asserted that publishing the teens name wouldnt expose him to further harm because his harassers already knew he was transgender.The teen argued that a public process would create a record available to people he met in the future. While the appeals court conceded a reasonable judge could agree, it found the Brown County judge had not improperly exercised her discretion in denying the request. Crucially, the appeals court determined that endanger meant only physical harm. The case wasnt appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Both of these trans girls living in Wisconsin requested the confidential name-change process after the 2024 presidential election. First image: A 14-year-old likes cuddling her cat, playing video games and practicing piano. Second image: A 12-year-old shares her artwork. (Illustrations by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica. Source images obtained by ProPublica.) The combination of Wisconsins public requirement, the restrictive ruling and the Trump administrations anti-trans policies has dissuaded at least one person from going through with a name change.J.J Koechell, a 20-year-old LGBTQ+ advocate from suburban Milwaukee, tried to change his name in November but decided against it after a judge denied his request for confidentiality, ordering him to publish his change in the local paper and create a public court record if he wanted to proceed. Thats already dangerous, Koechell said of a public process, given our political atmosphere, with an administration thats trying to erase trans people from existence completely, or saying that they dont exist, or that theres something wrong with them.At the end of March, Wisconsin Democrats announced plans to introduce a bill that would eliminate the publication requirement for transgender people, so long as they can prove theyre not avoiding debt or a criminal record. Republicans, who control the Legislature, will decide whether it will receive a hearing or vote. There has been a push in some states to make it easier and safer for transgender people to update their legal documents. Michigan and Illinois laws removing publication requirements took effect earlier this year. And a California lawmaker introduced a bill that would retroactively seal all transition-related court records.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, did not respond to emails and a phone call to his office seeking comment. Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica sought comment from four other Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate. Of the two whose offices responded, a staffer for Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, R-Walworth, said, It doesnt look like something wed consider a priority, and a staffer for Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, said he was not available for comment.Asked about the safety concerns people raised, a White House spokesperson said, President Trump has vowed to defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the Federal government.No Exceptions for MinorsWisconsins law requires a transgender person to publish the details of their identity to change their name whether they are an adult or a child. The notice requirement makes no distinction based on age.This is less privacy than the legal system typically affords young people, confirmed Cary Bloodworth, who directs a family law clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Bloodworth said both child welfare and juvenile courts tend to keep records confidential for a number of reasons, including that what happens in a persons youth will follow them for a lifetime. I certainly think having a higher level of privacy for kids is a good thing, Bloodworth said, adding that she thinks the publication requirement is unnecessary for people of any age. An 11-year old trans girl recently went through the name-change process. She enjoys playing with her dog and swimming, and her mom describes her as a major science geek. (Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch) A mom living near the Wisconsin-Illinois border whose 11-year-old daughter recently went through the name-change process said these proceedings should automatically be private for children.The fact that we still have to fight to get something as simple as a confidential name change for a minor who is obviously not running away from criminal or debt charges is just so frustrating and overwhelming, she said. The judge deciding their case seemed reluctant to grant confidentiality at first, questioning whether her daughter was being threatened physically, she said. The judge granted the confidential change. But the family remains shaken. We live just in constant terror of the wrong person finding out that we have an 11-year-old trans child, she said. All it takes is one wrong person getting that information, and what we could end up going through, becoming a target, is horrifying. Right before the pandemic, a teenager told her parents she was transgender. She spent much of that first year of her transition at home, attending virtual school like the rest of her peers in the Madison school district. She came out to only a few friends and wanted to keep her gender identity private, so she kept her camera off and skipped her high school graduation. When she decided to legally change her name, the prospect of publicizing her transition terrified her, according to her mom.I explained to her that its in tiny, tiny print, and its in some page of the paper that no one is going to read, her mom said. But it felt to her like she was just standing out there in public with a TRANS sign on her. A trans teenager was terrified of the public name-change requirement. She loves playing board games, reading and spending time with friends and her partner. (Illustration by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica. Source images obtained by ProPublica.) While fewer people read physical newspapers these days, much of their content gets published online and is easily searchable. The court case, too, becomes a public record that is stored online and sometimes aggregated by other websites that show up at the top of search results. The parents of the then-15-year-old boy who changed his name before getting his drivers license discovered that happened to their son. When anyone say, a prospective employer searches the young mans name, one of the first results shows his old name and outs him as trans.This is what somebody would use as their first judgment of him, his mom said. We certainly dont want that to be something that people would use to rule him out for a job, or whatever it is he might be doing. Like many other states, Wisconsin does not have laws that ban discrimination against transgender people in credit and lending practices or in public spaces like stores, restaurants, parks, doctors offices and hotels. However, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, issued an executive order in 2019 banning transgender discrimination in state employment, contracting and public services.After Trump took office again and began issuing executive orders attacking trans rights, the boys family started to investigate how they could retroactively seal the court records related to the name change. It wouldnt change what was in the newspaper, but it could help them remove the online records. The court records also contain sensitive information like their home address that someone could use to harass them.A friend who was a retired attorney helped their son craft an affidavit describing his experiences. His mom read from it during an interview. Because of recent political events, I fear violence she said before breaking off. Oh God, I hate even reading this. I fear violence, harassment, retribution because of my status as a transgender person.Her son, who is now 18, shared a statement over email. At this moment in time Im probably more scared about being a trans person than I ever have been before, with the public record if you have my first and last name you can easily find my deadname and therefore find out Im trans, he said. I would love to say that I feel safe and valued in our society but unfortunately I cant, at times I feel that my personhood is being stripped away under this government. A trans teenager officially changed his name and now fears violence because that information is public. He enjoys doing puzzles with his family and creating metal artwork. (Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch) Anne Daugherty-Leiter, who has guided transgender clients and their families through the name-change process as board president of Trans Law Help Wisconsin, said where a person lives in Wisconsin, and therefore what court they must petition, affects their likelihood of getting a confidential change.Confidentiality is important, she said, because of how the state handles changes to birth certificates. Wisconsin birth certificates that are issued through a confidential name change show only the new name. But if a person has to announce their name change publicly, birth certificates are amended to list both the persons old and new names. Any time the person has to use that document, at the DMV or while getting a loan, it outs them, she said.This Is Not Who I AmKoechell, a trans man and LGBTQ+ activist, was unwilling to go through with the name-change process after being denied confidentiality by a judge late last year.Koechell lives in Waukesha County, a Republican stronghold where multiple schools have enacted policies critics have called anti-LGBTQ+. A judge denied J.J Koechells confidential name change with an order that referred to the trans man as she and her. (Illustration by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica. Source images courtesy of J.J Koechell, obtained by ProPublica.) In a letter to the judge, Koechell wrote that people had sent him multiple threats and posted his family members addresses online, all for being an advocate and being transgender openly in my community. I do not want to publish my deadname for people to use against me, he said in an interview, using a term common among transgender people to refer to their birth names. I dont see a reason why people who are not particularly fond of me wouldnt show up at a hearing like that and try and cause trouble. Court records show the judge denied Koechells confidentiality request and his request to reconsider. The judges order referred to Koechell, a trans man with a masculine voice and beard, as she and her.Koechell decided the public process wasnt worth the risk. But its hard, he said, to move through life with his old identification.When I go to a new doctor or new appointment or something, then thats the name on my chart, and then I get called that in a waiting room full of people, and its super uncomfortable. I just want to disappear, Koechell said. Then eventually, I have to correct the doctors, and Im like, Hey, just to let you know, I dont go by that name. This is not who I am.Data from the latest U.S. Transgender Survey found that 22% of people who had to show an ID that did not match their identity experienced some form of negative consequence, including verbal harassment, discrimination or physical violence. If the U.S. Senate passes the SAVE Act, which would require voters to prove citizenship with a passport or birth certificate, those consequences could include disenfranchisement. Transgender people who cant change the name on their birth certificate or passport would be ineligible to vote, according to the liberal think tank Center for American Progress.U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, has said the legislation directs states to create a process for citizens with a name discrepancy to register. No one will be unable to vote because of a name change, he said. Trace Schlax, a trans man in Wisconsin, has tried to change his gender marker and name on official documents. (Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch) After Trump won in November, Trace Schlax, a 40-year-old IT project manager, decided to expedite changing his gender marker on his passport, figuring he could update his name later in state court. It matters, Schlax said. He loves to travel but has encountered extra scrutiny from airport security with outdated documents. I get comments from TSA when I go through to travel domestically, about my hair, about how I look. I get extra pat-downs."He sent his application in early December and crossed his fingers. He received it back in February, rejected. By that time, Trump had issued an executive order banning trans people from changing the gender markers on their passports. Schlax decided to continue updating what records he could, like his birth certificate and drivers license. He worries about having conflicting documents. Will he get accused of fraud? Will he have trouble flying? But in the end, he decided it was still important to change his name and update his license to improve his day-to-day experience. And he decided to go about it publicly. It felt less painful, he said, to accept the risks rather than detail his personal, traumatic experiences to a judge only to have them decide he hadnt endured sufficient danger. Me changing my name and my gender marker affects absolutely no one but me, said Schlax, who has a court date to change his name in late April. Why does this have to be so hard? Why do I have to prove myself so hard? Mollie Simon contributed research.

In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish fire following a Russian attack in Dnipro, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)2025-04-17T08:42:24Z PARIS (AP) Paris is hosting a series of talks Thursday about Ukraine and its security, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, French President Emmanuel Macron and top Ukrainian officials.Rubio arrived in Paris on Thursday morning. Rubio and Witkoff will have talks with European counterparts to advance President Trumps goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war and stop the bloodshed, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.The meetings come as concerns grow about Trumps readiness to draw closer to Russia as he seeks to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine and his administrations other moves, from tariffs on some of its closest partners to rhetoric about NATO and Greenland.Ukrainian presidential adviser Andrii Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also arrived in Paris on Thursday to take part in the talks. Yermak described them as a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with representatives of the states of the coalition of the willing that are able to guarantee security. The Ukrainian delegation is also to meet with U.S. officials, Yermak said. Around 30 countries led by Britain and France have been discussing a possible coalition to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The success of the coalitions operation hinges on U.S. backup with airpower or other military assistance, but the Trump administration has made no public commitment to provide support. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is also taking part in the Ukraine discussions, along with the German governments foreign policy adviser and the Foreign Ministrys political director.Macron will hold separate meetings with Rubio and Witkoff. Macron also plans to discuss the impact of Trumps tariff policies and the conflicts in the Mideast, in a logic of de-escalation in the region, Macrons office said. In Ukraine, a massive drone attack hit the city of Dnipro on Wednesday night, killing three people including a child, the regional leader said. Ukrainian government officials and military analysts have said that Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Kyiv and strengthen the Kremlins negotiating position in ceasefire talks.Rubio and Witkoff have helped lead U.S. efforts to seek peace more than three years after Russia launched the war. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia, and Witkoff met last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraines mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine. ___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Headlights illuminate cobblestone streets in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, during an island-wide blackout, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)2025-04-17T06:52:45Z SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Crews worked early Thursday to restore power to Puerto Rico after a blackout across the entire island that affected the main international airport, several hospitals and hotels filled with Easter vacationersThe outage that began past noon Wednesday left 1.4 million customers without electricity and 328,000 without water. At least 175,000 customers, or 12%, had power back at the end of the day. Officials expected 90% of customers to have power back within 48 to 72 hours after the outage.This is a shame for the people of Puerto Rico that we have a problem of this magnitude, said Gov. Jenniffer Gonzlez, who cut her weeklong vacation short and returned to Puerto Rico on Wednesday evening.The blackout snarled traffic, forced hundreds of businesses to close and left those unable to afford generators scrambling to buy ice and candles. Its the second islandwide blackout to hit Puerto Rico in less than four months, with the previous one occurring on New Years Eve.Why on holidays? griped Jos Luis Richardson, who did not have a generator and kept cool by splashing water on himself every couple of hours. The roar of generators and smell of fumes filled the air as a growing number of Puerto Ricans renewed calls for the government to cancel the contracts with Luma Energy, which oversees the transmission and distribution of power, and Genera PR, which oversees generation. Gonzlez promised to heed those calls.That is not under doubt or question, she said, but added that its not a quick process. It is unacceptable that we have failures of this kind.Gonzlez said a major outage like the one that occurred Wednesday leads to an estimated $230 million revenue loss daily.Ramn C. Barqun III, president of the United Retail Center, a nonprofit that represents small- and medium-sized businesses, warned that ongoing outages would spook potential investors at a time that Puerto Rico urgently needs economic development. We cannot continue to repeat this cycle of blackouts without taking concrete measures to strengthen our energy infrastructure, he said.Many also were concerned about Puerto Ricos elderly population, with the mayor of Canvanas deploying brigades to visit the bedridden and those who depend on electronic medical equipment.Meanwhile, the mayor of Vega Alta opened a center to provide power to those with lifesaving medical equipment.It was not immediately clear what caused the shutdown, the latest in a string of major blackouts on the island in recent years.Daniel Hernndez, vice president of operations at Genera PR, said Wednesday that a disturbance hit the transmission system shortly after noon, a time when the grid is vulnerable because there are few machines regulating frequency at that hour.Puerto Rico has struggled with chronic outages since September 2017 when Hurricane Maria pummeled the island as a powerful Category 4 storm, razing a power grid that crews are still struggling to rebuild.The grid already had been deteriorating as a result of decades of a lack of maintenance and investment.

This articlewas producedwith support from WIRED. This reporting was also the product of dozens of public records requests.American police departments near the United States-Mexico border are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on college protesters, radicalized political activists, and suspected drug and human traffickers, according to internal documents, contracts, and communications 404 Media obtained via public records requests.Massive Blue, the New York-based company that is selling police departments this technology, calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an AI-powered force multiplier for public safety that deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels. According to a presentation obtained by 404 Media, Massive Blue is offering cops these virtual personas that can be deployed across the internet with the express purpose of interacting with suspects over text messages and social media.A screenshot from a Massive Blue presentation to the Texas Department of Public Safety, obtained using a public records request.Massive Blue lists border security, school safety, and stopping human trafficking among Overwatchs use cases. The technologywhich as of last summer had not led to any known arrestsdemonstrates the types of social media monitoring and undercover tools private companies are pitching to police and border agents. Concerns about tools like Massive Blue have taken on new urgency considering that the Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of students, many of whom have protested against Israels war in Gaza.404 Media obtained a presentation showing some of these AI characters. These include a radicalized AI protest persona, which poses as a 36-year-old divorced woman who is lonely, has no children, is interested in baking, activism, and body positivity. Another AI persona in the presentation is described as a Honeypot AI Persona. Her backstory says shes a 25-year-old from Dearborn, Michigan whose parents emigrated from Yemen, and who speaks the Sanaani dialect of Arabic. The presentation also says she uses various social media apps, that shes on Telegram and Signal, and that she has US and international SMS capabilities. Other personas are a 14 year-old boy child trafficking AI persona, an AI pimp persona, college protestor [sic], external recruiter for protests, escorts, and juveniles.An overview of how Massive Blue's products work presented to the Texas Department of Public Safety, obtained using a public records request.Our reporting shows that cops are paying a company to help them deploy AI-powered bots across social media and the internet to talk to people they suspect are anything from violent sex criminals all the way to vaguely defined protestors with the hopes of generating evidence that can be used against them.This idea of having an AI pretending to be somebody, a youth looking for pedophiles to talk online, or somebody who is a fake terrorist, is an idea that goes back a long time, Dave Maass, who studies border surveillance technologies for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media. The problem with all these things is that these are ill-defined problems. What problem are they actually trying to solve? One version of the AI persona is an escort. Im not concerned about escorts. Im not concerned about college protesters. So like, what is it effective at, violating protesters First Amendment rights?The types of personas Massive Blue tells police that it can makeMassive Blue has signed a $360,000 contract with Pinal County, Arizona, which is between Tucson and Phoenix. The county is paying for the contract with an anti-human trafficking grant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety. A Pinal County purchasing division report states that it has bought 24/7 monitoring of numerous web and social media platforms and development, deployment, monitoring, and reporting on a virtual task force of up to 50 AI personas across 3 investigative categories. Yuma County, meanwhile, signed a $10,000 contract to try Massive Blue in 2023 but did not renew the contract. A spokesperson for the Yuma County Sheriffs Office told 404 Media it did not meet our needs.An example of a "child trafficking" persona created by Massive Blue from the same presentationMassive Blue cofounder Mike McGraw did not answer a series of specific questions from 404 Media about how Massive Blue works, what police departments it works with, and whether it had been used to generate any arrests. We are proud of the work we do to support the investigation and prosecution of human traffickers, McGraw said. Our primary goal is to help bring these criminals to justice while helping victims who otherwise would remain trafficked. We cannot risk jeopardizing these investigations and putting victims lives in further danger by disclosing proprietary information.The Pinal County Sheriffs Office told 404 Media that Massive Blue has not thus far been used for any arrests.Our investigations are still underway. Massive Blue is one component of support in these investigations, which are still active and ongoing. No arrests have been made yet, Sam Salzwedel, Pinal County Sheriff's Office public information officer, told 404 Media. It takes a multi-faceted approach to disrupting human traffickers, narcotics traffickers, and other criminals. Massive Blue has been a valuable partner in these initiatives and has produced leads that detectives are actively pursuing. Given these are ongoing investigations, we cannot risk compromising our investigative efforts by providing specifics about any personas.Salzwedel added Massive Blue is not working on any immigration cases. Our agency does not enforce immigration law. Massive Blues support is focused on the areas of human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, and other investigations.Examples of AI personas from Massive Blue's presentation to the Texas Department of Public SafetyExamples of AI personas from Massive Blue's presentation to the Texas Department of Public SafetyLaw enforcement agencies have taken steps to prevent specifics about what Massive Blue is and how it works from becoming public. At public appropriations hearings in Pinal County about the Massive Blue contract, the sheriffs office refused to tell county council members about what the product even is. Matthew Thomas, Pinal County Deputy Sheriff, told the county council he cant get into great detail about what Massive Blue is and that doing so would tip our hand to the bad guys.Pinal County Sheriffs Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said, From what we can ascertain, Pinal County planned to implement technology to help identify and solve human trafficking cases and that is what we funded, but was unaware of any of the specifics of Overwatch.While the documents dont describe every technical aspect of how Overwatch works, they do give a high-level overview of what it is. The company describes a tool that uses AI-generated images and text to create social media profiles that can interact with suspected drug traffickers, human traffickers, and gun traffickers. After Overwatch scans open social media channels for potential suspects, these AI personas can also communicate with suspects over text, Discord, and other messaging services. The documents we obtained dont explain how Massive Blue determines who is a potential suspect based on their social media activity. Salzwedel, of Pinal County, said Massive Blues solutions crawl multiple areas of the Internet, and social media outlets are just one component. We cannot disclose any further information to preserve the integrity of our investigations.Sample text messages from the Massive Blue presentationOne slide in the Massive Blue presentation obtained by 404 Media gives the example of a Child Trafficking AI Persona called Jason. The presentation gives a short backstory for the persona, which says Jason is a 14-year-old boy from Los Angeles whose parents emigrated from Ecuador. Hes bilingual, an only child, and his hobbies include anime and gaming. The presentation describes his personality as shy and that he has difficulty interacting with girls. It also says that his parents dont allow him to use social media and that he hides his use of Discord from them. This AI persona is also accompanied by an AI-generated image of the boy.The presentation includes a sample conversation between this AI persona and what appears to be a predatory adult over text messages and Discord.Your parents around? Or you getting some awesome alone time, a text from the adult says.Js chillin by myself, man. My momz @ work n my dadz outta town. So itz jus me n my vid games. , Jason, the AI-generated child, responds.In another example of how the highly adaptable personas can communicate with real people, the presentation shows a conversation between Clip, an AI pimp persona, and what appears to be a sex worker.Dem tricks trippin 2nite tryin not pay, the sex worker says.Facts, baby. Aint lettin these tricks slide, the Clip persona replies. You stand your ground and make em pay what they owe. Daddy got your back, aint let nobody disrespect our grind. Keep hustlin, ma, we gonna secure that bagThe continuous evolution of operational, communication & recruitment tactics by bad actors drives exponential increases of threats and significant challenges in reducing demand, says a one-page brochure provided to police departments that explains Overwatchs functionality. The Overwatch platform harnesses the power of AI & blockchain to scale your impact without operational or technical overhead.Jorge Brignoni took notes for the Cochise County, Arizona Sheriffs Office at a meeting with Massive Blue in August 2023, which 404 Media obtained. In the notes, he wrote that Overwatch does passive engagement, then active engagement, towards commitment, with a Bad Actor, Predator, DTO [drug trafficking organization]. These targets are then HAND[ed] OFF to L.E. [law enforcement] to arrest, indict, convict.Why is he talking about converting folks into buying something, Brignoni wrote. So dumb. Talk about the widget, not how youre selling the widget to L.E.According to Brignonis notes, in addition to collecting intelligence via these AI personas, Overwatch also leverages Telco & Geo Data and Blockchain Data in the form of full transaction history, top associated wallet IDs, sending & receiving cryptocurrency, potential off-ramps (Exchange names). Cochise County Sheriffs Office ultimately did not buy Massive Blue and did not provide answers to 404 Medias questions about its meeting with the company.Besides scanning social media and engaging suspects with AI personas, the presentation says that Overwatch can use generative AI to create proof of life images of a person holding a sign with a username and date written on it in pen.The Massive Blue presentation gives an example of an Overwatch Recon Report based on 24 hours of activity across Dallas, Houston, and Austin. It claims that Overwatch identified 3,266 unique human traffickers, 25 percent of which were affiliated with larger sophisticated trafficking organizations, and 15 percent of which were flagged as potential juvenile traffickers. 404 Media was not able to verify what these accounts were and if they actually engaged in any criminal activity, and Massive Blue didnt respond to questions about what these accounts were and how exactly it identified them. On top of the ongoing contract with Pinal County Sheriffs Office and pilot with Yuma County Sheriffs Department last year, Massive Blue has also pitched its services to Cochise County in Arizona and the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to documents obtained as part of this investigation.In September 2023, Yuma County set up a meeting that was going to include federal law enforcement, but Massive Blue had to cancel the meeting: Thats unfortunate, we had federal agents here that focus on human trafficking ready to go, a Yuma County sergeant wrote in an email to Massive Blue CEO Brian Haley after Haley canceled the meeting.Much of Massive Blues public-facing activity has been through its executive director of public safety, Chris Clem, who is a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who testified before Congress about border security last year and regularly appears on Fox News and other media outlets to discuss immigration and the border. In recent months, Clem has posted images of himself on LinkedIn at the border and with prominent Trump administration members Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Massive Blue has also relied on former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery to introduce and endorse Overwatch to police departments.Clem and Lowery have spoken most extensively publicly about Overwatch, where they have described it as an amorphous cyberwall that can do everything from stopping human traffickers to preventing hackers from breaking into 401(k) accounts to taking money back from hackers who have stolen from you, though they provide no specifics about how that would work.In a two-and-a-half hour interview with podcaster Theo Von, Clem said my company Massive Blue, we basically use deep tech to identify the habits and process of you know, look, I worked on a physical wall, now weve created a cyber wall, adding that he believed it would save lives.Von asked OK, but how does your company do that?Well, Im not going to get into that too much, Clem responded, adding that he is trying to sell the technology to US Border Patrol. On June 5, a Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting was asked to approve a $500,000 contract between the county and Massive Blue in order to license Overwatch.I was looking at the website for Massive Blue and its a one pager with no additional information and no links, Kevin Cavanaugh, the then-Supervisor for District 1, said to Pinal Countys Chief Deputy at the Sheriffs office Matthew Thomas. They produce software that we buy and it does what, can you explain that to us?I cant get into great detail because its essentially trade secrets and I dont want to tip our hand to the bad guys, Thomas said. But what I can tell you is that the software is designed to help our investigators look for and find and build a case on human trafficking, drug trafficking, and gun trafficking.Cavanaugh said at the board meeting that the basic information he got is that Massive Blue uses 50 AI bots. He then asked if the software has been successful and if it helped law enforcement make any arrests. Thomas explained they have not made any arrests yet because theyve only seen the proof of concept, but that the proof of concept was good enough for us and our investigators to move forward with this. Once this gets approved and we get them [Massive Blue] under contract then we are going to move forward with prosecution of cases.A 'recon report' that Massive Blue shared with the Texas Department of Public SafetyCavanaugh asked if Overwatch is used in other counties, which prompted Thomas to invite Clem to the podium to speak. Clem introduced himself as a recently retired border agent and said that Massive Blue is currently in negotiations with three counties in Arizona, including Pinal County.As a resident of 14 years of Pinal County I know whats happening here, Clem said to the board of supervisors. To be able [to] use this program [...] to provide all the necessary information to go after the online exploitation of children, trafficking victims, and all the other verticals that the sheriff may want to go after.Cavanaugh again asked if Massive Blue gathered any data that led to arrests.We have not made arrests yet but there is a current investigation right now regarding arson and we got the leads to the investigators, Clem said, explaining the program has only been active for about six months. Investigations take time but weve been able to generate the necessary leads for the particular counties that were involved with and also in the private sector.The Pinal County Board of Supervisors concluded the exchange by approving payment for a handful of other, unrelated projects, but with board members asking to delay the vote on payment for Massive Blue for further study.The decision not to fund Massive Blue that day was covered in a local paper. Cavanaugh told the paper that he asked the company to meet with supervisors to explain the merits of the software.The State of Arizona has provided a grant, but grant money is taxpayer money. No matter the source of the funding, fighting human and sex trafficking is too important to risk half a million dollars on unproven technology, he said. If the company demonstrates that it can deliver evidence to arrest human traffickers, it may be worthwhile. However, it has yet to achieve this goal.404 Medias public record requests yielded several emails from Cavanaughs office to IT professionals and other companies that provide AI products to law enforcement, asking them if theyre familiar with Massive Blue. We dont know what was said in those meetings, or if they occurred, but when the Pinal County Board of Supervisors convened again on June 19 it voted to pay for Massive Blues Overwatch without further discussion.Supervisor [Cavanaugh] ultimately voted for the agreement because Massive Blue is alleged to be in pursuit of human trafficking, a noble goal, a representative from Cavanaughs office told 404 Media in an email. A major concern regarding the use of the application, is that the government should not be monitoring each and every citizen. To his knowledge, no arrests have been made to date as a result of the use of the application. If Overwatch is used to bring about arrests of human traffickers, then the program should continue. However, if it is just being used to collect surveillance on law-abiding citizens and is not leading to any arrests, then the program needs to be discontinued.In an August 7, 2024 Board of Supervisors meeting, Cavanaugh asked then-Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb for an update on Massive Blue. So they have not produced any results? Theyve produced no leads? No evidence that is actionable?, Cavanaugh asked. That would be public knowledge, that would be public information.I think theres a lot of ongoing investigations that theyre not going to give you information on, and were not going to give you information on, Lamb said.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08775-9Seismic reflection imaging beneath the northeastern Yellowstone caldera reveals a sharp boundary at about 3.8 km depth, which is inferred to result from a mixture of supercritical fluid and magma filling the pore space.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01103-1The genes of a Colombian woman who beat the odds might lead to a new way to tackle the disease.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08853-yNew fully integrated semiconductor laser architectures are shown to be able to generate bright and background-free picosecond solitons at GHz repetition rates in the mid-infrared range.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00688-xTransplanting dopamine-releasing neurons into the brain is a promising regenerative therapy for Parkinsons disease. Two clinical trials show that it is safe, but more evidence is needed to prove its effectiveness.

In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi attends a meeting with the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran via AP)2025-04-17T11:11:54Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program are in a very crucial stage, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the U.S. will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekends first meeting in Oman. Grossis visit also coincided with Saudi Arabias defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, visiting Tehran as the highest-ranking official from the kingdom to visit Iran since the two countries reached a Chinese-mediated dtente in 2023. Thats as Saudi Arabia tries to end its decadelong war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen even as a new, intense campaign of U.S. airstrikes targets them. The stakes of the negotiations Saturday and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldnt be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Irans nuclear program if a deal isnt reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Grossi visits during crucial Iran-US talksGrossi arrived in Iran on Wednesday night and met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who now is in Moscow for separate talks likely over the negotiations. On Thursday, Grossi met with Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, then later toured a hall featuring some of Irans civilian nuclear projects. We know that we are in a very crucial, I would say, stage of this important negotiation, so I want to concentrate on the positive, Grossi told Iranian media. There is a possibility of a good outcome. Nothing is guaranteed. We need to make sure that we put all of the elements in place ... in order to get to this agreement. He added: We know we dont have much time. So this is why Im here. This is why Im in contact with the United States as well.Asked about Trumps threats to attack Iran, Grossi urged people to concentrate on our objective.Once we get to our objective, all of these things will evaporate because there will be no reason for concern, he said.For his part, Eslami said Iran expected the IAEA to maintain impartiality and act professionally, a report from the state-run IRNA news agency said. Since the nuclear deals collapse in 2018 with Trumps unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity near weapons-grade levels of 90%.Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agencys most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003.Despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked. Saudi prince becomes kingdoms highest-level visitor to Tehran in decadesPrince Khalid bin Salman, the son of King Salman and the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Tehran on Thursday. Irans joint chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, greeted the prince on his arrival and an honor guard played for the two men. Prince Khalid, a fighter pilot, has become the first Saudi defense minister to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hes also the highest-ranking Saudi royal to visit in decades. The last was King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who did so as crown prince in 1997 for an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting held in Tehran. The state-run Saudi Press Agency, announcing the princes arrival, said his trip would include a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and issues of common interest, without elaborating. The visit is significant, particularly given the decades of enmity between the two countries. Saudi Arabia has been for years trying to get a peace deal agreed to with the Houthis. A de facto ceasefire broadly has halted hostilities in the war, though the Houthis increasingly have threatened both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid the U.S. airstrikes. ___Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Associated Press writer Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, presides over the Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-04-17T05:53:20Z VATICAN CITY (AP) The Vatican on Thursday opened the most solemn period of Holy Week with a recovering Pope Francis largely on the sidelines, as cardinals were designated to take his place presiding over the most important liturgical services leading up to Easter.The 88-year-old Francis was a no-show at Holy Thursday Mass in St. Peters Basilica. But there were unconfirmed reports in the Italian media that he hoped to visit Romes central prison later in the day to keep an appointment he has maintained throughout his 12-year papacy: to commemorate Christs Last Supper before his crucifixion with the least fortunate.The Vatican declined to confirm or deny the reports, which stressed that any such outing would be private and depend on Francis condition. But it also seemed plausible, given Francis emphasis on ministering to prisoners, particularly during the 2025 Holy Year which both opened and will close with special papal events for inmates. Francis, who is recovering from a life-threatening bout of double pneumonia this winter, is expected to make at least some Easter appearances. He made a surprise cameo at the end of Palm Sunday Mass last weekend and in recent days has made some unannounced visits including one in which he wasnt dressed in his papal white cassock to pray in St. Peters Basilica and St. Mary Major basilica across town. By all indications he is continuing to improve after his five-week hospital stay and is slowly resuming some of his normal activities. In recent outings, he has been seen without the nasal tubes that provide supplemental oxygen and Vatican officials say he is increasingly less reliant on the therapy. Francis received medical workers who treated him On Wednesday, Francis held his first formal group audience since returning to the Vatican on March 23, meeting with the medical staff of the Gemelli hospital who cared for him during his 38-day stay. Gathered in a Vatican audience hall, Francis thanked the 70-plus doctors, nurses and administrators and asked them for their continued prayers.Thank you for everything you did, Francis said, his voice still labored but seemingly stronger as he continues respiratory and physical therapy. He gave special thanks to the rector of Gemellis affiliated Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Elena Beccalli, whom he praised for her strong leadership. When women command, things go well, he said in his longest public remarks since his hospitalization.Francis has delegated the demanding Holy Week liturgical celebrations to hand-picked cardinals, but the Vatican says the pope himself composed the meditations that will be read aloud by others during the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Friday night at Romes Colosseum.The Holy Thursday Mass, for example, during which the oils used in liturgical rituals throughout the year were blessed, was celebrated by the retired head of the Vaticans patrimony office, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno. Fridays solemn commemoration before the crucifixion of Christ was assigned to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, who heads the Vatican office in charge of eastern rite Catholics. Easter Sunday was assigned to the retired administrator of St. Peters, Cardinal Angelo Comastri. It remains to be seen how Francis will handle Easter Sundays traditional Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) speech and blessing after Mass. Normally the pope delivers a sometimes lengthy discourse on the state of the world from the loggia of St. Peters, and then imparts a special blessing to the faithful in the piazza below. In theory someone else could read the speech while Francis could impart the blessing. Francis was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 with bronchitis that quickly developed into a life-threatening case of double pneumonia. Upon his release March 23, doctors prescribed two months of convalescence at the Vatican with daily respiratory and physical therapy to improve his breathing and vocal function. With time, they have predicted he will be able to resume his normal activities.___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.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01234-5Understanding the playbook that those in power use to twist numbers, and how they make others complicit, is only becoming more important in the post-truth world.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08861-yThe combined activation of Wnt and STAT3 signalling enables long-term self-renewal of human hepatocyte organoids, maintaining hepatic identity, supporting gene editing and offering therapeutic potential for liver disease through enhanced functionality, structure and metabolic competency.

Supervisor of the Checklist for the State of New Hampshire Leslie Dombroski, left, registers Elise Collins, 18, to vote in Derry, N.H., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)2025-04-17T12:14:56Z NEW YORK (AP) A federal judge on Thursday will hear arguments in three cases from national Democrats and voting rights groups that are challenging President Donald Trumps recent executive order on elections, which, among other changes, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The Democratic National Committee, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters Education Fund and others are seeking to block Trumps sweeping overhaul of federal election processes, alleging that the changes he wants are unconstitutional. The Republican presidents executive order says the U.S. has failed to enforce basic and necessary election protections and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials dont comply. It also aims to mandate major changes to election processes, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form and requiring all mail ballots to be received, rather than just postmarked, by Election Day nationwide. The plaintiffs argue Trumps order is illegal because it asserts power that he does not have over an independent agency. That agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, sets voluntary voting system guidelines and maintains the federal voter registration form. The plaintiffs also argue the order violates the Constitution, which says that states not the president get to decide the times, places and manner of how elections are run. The Constitutions so-called Elections Clause also gives Congress the power to make or alter election regulations, at least for federal office, but it doesnt mention any presidential authority over election administration.U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., will consider the plaintiffs pleas for a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the order as the lawsuits play out. She instructed the parties to be prepared to discuss a range of topics, including whether the Election Assistance Commission can comply with Trumps demands while following the law and whether the plaintiffs have standing to raise each of their claims. Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department attorney and a White House adviser during President Joe Bidens administration, said the Constitution is clear that the president has very little authority to regulate federal elections. But he said he expects the hearing will include debate over whether these groups have standing to sue and whether it is the appropriate time to bring a lawsuit.This is a pretty easy case when it comes to the legal merits, but whether they get to the legal merits is not trivial, he said.The hearing comes as other lawsuits against Trumps executive order are pending.Earlier this month, 19 Democratic attorneys general asked the court to reject Trumps executive order. The following day, Washington and Oregon, two states that hold all-mail elections, followed up with their own lawsuit against the order. ___Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.___The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about the APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ALI SWENSON Swenson covers politics and the information landscape for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter

Esta combinacin de fotografas proporcionada por el Departamento de Prisiones de California muestra a Erik (izquierda) y Lyle Menendez. (Departamento de Prisiones de California va AP, Archivo)2025-04-17T04:01:49Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Erik and Lyle Menendez could learn this week whether theyll get reduced sentences and the chance for freedom nearly 30 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents.A Los Angeles judge will preside over the resentencing hearing expected to last two days starting Thursday. The judge could make a verbal decision during the hearing or rule later with a written decision. If he shortens their sentences, the brothers would still need approval from the states parole board to get out of prison.They were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance. The case has captured the publics attention for decades, and the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and documentary The Menendez Brothers have been credited with bringing new attention to the case. Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in the past few months. The resentencing hearing will center on whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence of 50 years to life. That would make them eligible for parole under Californias youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. Former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascn asked a judge last year to reduce the brothers sentences. He lost reelection to Nathan Hochman, who moved to withdraw the resentencing request and has argued the brothers have not taken full responsibility for their crimes. A resentencing petition laid out by Gascn focuses on the brothers accomplishments and rehabilitation. The brothers attorneys say their clients have worked hard over the decades to better themselves and give back to the prison community. The extended Menendez family, with the exception of an uncle who died last month, has said they fully forgive the brothers for what they did and want them to be freed. With Hochman in charge, prosecutors argued last Friday they could not support the brothers resentencing. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled the resentencing hearings could continue despite their opposition.Prosecutors have said the brothers have not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents, or that they asked their friends to lie for them in court. Hochmans office has also said it does not believe that the brothers were sexually abused by their father and that by speaking about their childhood abuse, they have not taken complete responsibility for the crime.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01158-0The construction of a pangenome sequence collection that incorporates the genomes of nearly 150 wild and cultivated rice varieties captures all the genetic diversity found in this plant. It reveals genes associated with disease resistance that are unique to wild rice, and provides insights into the origins of domesticated rice.

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08700-0After transplantation into the brain of patients with Parkinsons disease, allogeneic dopaminergic progenitors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells survived, produced dopamine and did not form tumours, therefore suggesting safety and potential clinical benefits for Parkinsons disease.

Acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, speaks during the funeral prayers of Khalil Haqqani, the minister for refugees and repatriation, during his funeral procession in eastern Paktia province, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir, File)2025-04-17T12:51:01Z MOSCOW (AP) Russias Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a ban on Afghanistans ruling Taliban, a group that was designated as a terrorist organization more than two decades ago.The move was a diplomatic victory for the Taliban, who were put on Russias list of terrorist organizations in 2003, making any contact with them punishable under Russian law.At the same time, Taliban delegations have attended various forums hosted by Russia as Moscow has sought to position itself as a regional power broker.The courts ruling on a request by the Prosecutor Generals Office followed last years adoption of a law stipulating that the official designation as a terrorist organization could be suspended by a court.The former Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989.Russian officials have recently been emphasizing the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan. In recent years, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have removed the Taliban from their lists of terrorist groups. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of withdrawing from the country after two decades of war. The Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, but started to enforce restrictions on women and girls soon after the 2021 takeover. Women are barred from most jobs and public places, including parks, baths and gyms, while girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade. Such measures have isolated the Taliban on the world stage, although their government has established diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.The U.N. this year renewed its call for the Taliban to lift the bans.The groups decrees limiting the participation of girls and women have affected foreign aid to the country. The Taliban also have brought back their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, including public executions. Some Taliban want greater engagement with the international community and want to scrap harsher policies to attract more outside support. In recent months, there has been increased engagement between the Taliban and the U.S. under President Donald Trump, mostly because of prisoner exchanges and releases.Ibraheem Bahiss, a senior analyst with Crisis Groups Asia Program, said the Talibans listing as a terrorist group was a legal impairment for trade and political ties with Kabul and its lifting reflected Moscows desire to improved relations. However, beyond making it easier for individuals and businesses to engage with Afghanistan. I am not sure what other major benefit this will have, he said.South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said the Russian move was not ground-breaking because many countries had never formally designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization. At the same time, he called the decision a win-win for bilateral relations. For Russia, he said it would serve as a confidence-building measure helping pave the way for more engagement and enabling Moscow to better protect its interests in Afghanistan, particularly concerns about anti-Russia terror groups like Islamic State-Khorasan. Meanwhile, for the Taliban, the court decision is a legitimacy-boosting outcome they can leverage to point to international acceptance of their rule, Kugelman observed.___Associated Press writer Riazat Butt contributed to this report from Islamabad.

This image provided by World Press Photo and taken by Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times, won the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024. (Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times/World Press Photo via AP)2025-04-17T10:03:46Z THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) A portrait of a young Palestinian boy who lost both arms as a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza was honored Thursday as World Press Photo of the year.The photo, taken by Qatar-based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times shows 9-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour with his arms missing just below each shoulder.One of the most difficult things Mahmouds mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first came to the realization that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, How will I be able to hug you? Abu Elouf said in a statement released by the World Press Photo organization.The winner of the 68th edition of the prestigious photojournalism contest was selected from 59,320 entries submitted by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries.This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations, said World Press Photo Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury. In a statement, the organization said that Ajjour was injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in March 2024. After he turned back to urge his family onward, an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other, according to the World Press Photo citation.This young boys life deserves to be understood, and this picture does what great photojournalism can do: provide a layered entry point into a complex story, and the incentive to prolong ones encounter with that story, said jury chair Lucy Conticello, who is Director of Photography for French newspaper Le Mondes weekend magazine. Winning photographer Abu Elouf was evacuated from Gaza in December 2023 and she now lives in the same apartment complex as Ajjour in Qatars capital, Doha.Israel launched its devastating attack on Gaza after Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack, in which thousands of militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says over 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive. It does not differentiate between civilians and militants, but says that over half of the dead were women and children, including at least 876 infants under 1. It says over 116,000 people have been wounded.Israel blames Hamas for the heavy civilian toll because the group carries out attacks and other military activities from residential areas and civilian buildings.Competition organizers also named two World Press Photo finalists that highlighted the issues of migration and climate change.A dark photo by John Moore for Getty Images shows Chinese migrants warming themselves after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and a picture by Musuk Nolte for Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation, of a young man carrying food across a dried up river bed in Brazils Amazon basin region.In regional results announced earlier by the World Press Photo Foundation, The Associated Press was among winners in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania region. Photographer Jae C. Hong won in the Singles category with an image titled Korea Adoption Fraud and Noel Celis won in the Stories category for photos from the Philippines titled Four Storms, 12 Days.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01191-zModels estimate the ginormous potential impact of foreign-aid cuts.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01014-1Conventional tests that look only at a small subset of genetic code often miss variations hiding outside the protein-coding genome.

Spring buds appear on a tree near Eliot House, rear, at Harvard University, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)2025-04-17T14:17:43Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps administration has escalated its ongoing battle with Harvard, threatening to revoke the universitys ability to host international students as the president called for withdrawing Harvards tax-exempt status.The Department of Homeland Security ordered Harvard late Tuesday to turn over detailed records of its foreign student visa holders illegal and violent activities by April 30. International students make up 27% of the campus.The department also said it was canceling two grants to the school totaling $2.7 million. The moves deepen the crackdown on Harvard, which on Monday became the first university to openly defy the administrations demands related to activism on campus, antisemitism and diversity. The federal government has already frozen more than $2 billion in grants and contracts to the Ivy League institution. Trump suggested Tuesday on social media that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting Sickness?The hold on federal money for research at Harvard marked the seventh time the administration has taken such a step at one of the nations most elite colleges. The government is attempting to force compliance with Trumps political agenda at schools he accuses of pushing woke policies and allowing antisemitism to fester. In a letter to Harvard on Friday, Trumps administration called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university, plus changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded that the university audit views of diversity on campus and stop recognizing some student clubs. Harvard President Alan Garber said Monday that the university would not bend to the governments demands. Later that day, the White House announced the freeze of more than $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in contracts. Conservative strategist Christopher Rufo said the government should respond to Harvards defiance by cutting all federal money and stripping nonprofit status at Harvard and other Ivies that defy federal orders. Rufo urged the government to use the same tools it used during the Civil Rights Movement to force desegregation.Trump needs to follow through on his threat to defund one of the Ivy League universities, Rufo said on social media Tuesday. Cut the funding and watch the university implode.Rufo said Harvard has discriminated against white and Asian American students, citing events such as graduation celebrations specific to certain ethnic groups, along with a 2021 theater performance exclusively for Black-identifying audience members.For the Trump administration, Harvard presents the first major hurdle in its attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.Trumps campaign started at Columbia University, which initially agreed to several demands from the Trump administration but took a more emboldened tone after Harvards defiance. Columbias acting president, Claire Shipman, said in a campus message Monday that some of the demands are not subject to negotiation and that she read of Harvards rejection with great interest. Trump has targeted schools accused of tolerating antisemitism amid a wave of pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses. Some of the governments demands touch directly on that activism, calling on Harvard to impose tougher discipline on protesters and to screen international students for those who are hostile to the American values.___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. ANNIE MA Ma is an Associated Press national writer who covers K-12 education. twitter mailto JOCELYN GECKER Gecker is an Associated Press reporter covering education with a focus on social media and youth mental health. twitter mailto COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto

In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish fire following a Russian attack in Dnipro, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)2025-04-17T09:43:11Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing three people including a child and wounding dozens, officials said Thursday.The strike was the latest in a string of Russian attacks that have caused civilian casualties and intensified in recent weeks, as the United States continues efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.Thirty people, including five children, were wounded in the attack, said Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration.Local authorities said the drones caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including an educational institution, a dormitory, a gymnasium and multiple residential buildings. Emergency Service said the strikes triggered multiple fires across the city.In reaction to the Dnipro attack, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to support the country with air defense weapons. Every defense package from partners for Ukraine now, every form of support from the world for our resilience, is literally protecting lives, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Thursday. Russia uses every day and every night to kill. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation was in Paris for a round of bilateral and multilateral meetings with representatives of countries from the coalition of the willing, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, said Andrii Yermak, head of the Presidential Office. The multinational force is expected to act as a long-term security guarantee aimed at deterring future Russian aggression after a ceasefire is in place. The delegation also includes Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Yermak said talks with representatives of the United States are also scheduled.We are working on important aspects for the security of Ukraine and all of Europe, Yermak wrote on Telegram. Separately, Russias Defense Ministry said Thursday that its air defense systems shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight across six regions. Of those, 49 drones were intercepted over the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, it said. Kyivs forces seized a strip of land in the area during a surprise incursion in August 2024.Additional drones were downed over the Bryansk, Vladimir, Oryol, Ryazan, and Tula regions, the ministry said.And in Ukraine, Russia launched five missiles along with 75 strike drones overnight, the air force said Thursday. Air defense forces destroyed 25 drones, while another 30 were jammed.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Palantir, the surveillance giant, is taking on an increased role with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including finding the physical location of people who are marked for deportation, according to Palantir Slacks and other internal messages obtained by 404 Media.The leak shows that Palantirs work with ICE includes producing leads for law enforcement to find people to deport and keeping track of the logistics of Trumps mass deportation effort, and provides concrete insight into the Trump administrations wish to leverage data to enforce its immigration agenda. The internal communications also show Palantir leadership preparing for a potential backlash from employees or outsiders, with them writing FAQs that can be sent to friends or family that start to ask about Palantirs work with ICE.Hey all, wanted to provide a quick update on our work with ICE, Akash Jain, the Chief Technology Officer of Palantir Technologies and President of Palantir USG, wrote in a Slack message several days ago. Over the last few weeks we prototyped a new set of data integrations and workflows with ICE.Do you work at Palantir? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.The new administrations focus on leveraging data to drive enforcement operations has accelerated those efforts, Jain wrote.A page of an internal Palantir wiki obtained by 404 Media says Palantir participated in a three-week sprint, where developers rapidly work on new projects, with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Innovation Lab, which is the agencys centralized hub for developing new advanced analytics capabilities and tools. The primary focus of that sprint was providing immigration agents with improved awareness about the criminality and location of individuals who have already received a final order of removal, the wiki says.That prototype was a success, and ICE updated an ongoing Palantir contract for the company to continue work on the project, the wiki says. The wiki says the project is related to Enforcement Prioritization and Targeting, and specifically to support the development of an accurate picture of actionable leads based on existing law enforcement datasets to allow law enforcement to prioritize enforcement actions.404 Media first broke news of Palantirs updated ICE contract on Wednesday. U.S. government contracting records said Palantir was paid tens of millions of dollars to deploy the new targeting and enforcement prioritization, and another record said Palantir was working on complete target analysis of known populations. Those additions, worth tens of millions of dollars, were added to Palantirs $95.9 million contract with ICE for work on the Investigative Case Management (ICM) system, a powerful database and search tool the agency uses.The leaked material contains more specifics on that work. Palantirs role also includes a self-deportation tracking project, which is designed to help ICE develop a more accurate understanding of people who voluntarily leave the United States, and another project concerning immigration lifecycle operations which will support the logistics of deportation, such as overlaying information about detained or removed individuals and the availability of transportation resources, according to the wiki.This effort will last around six months and is concentrated on delivering prototype capabilities, the wiki says. The wiki leaves open the potential for longer term engagements with ICE, saying that is currently to be determined and we will aim to provide additional periodic updates as the situation develops.Neither Palantir nor ICE immediately responded to 404 Medias requests for comment.In the wiki, Palantir says it continues to support HSIs transnational criminal investigative mission, which can include countering human and drug trafficking. The initial coding sprint came about after HSI sunsetted a tool based on Palantirs Gotham product with nearly 3,700 users in late 2022, developed its own in-house system called RAVEn, then came back to Palantir in late 2024 after that project failed, the wiki says. By March 2025, because of the Trump administrations focus on immigration and a new sense of urgency according to Palantir, the HSI leadership team sought our assistance to accelerate mission progress across the agency, the wiki says.Palantir writes it remains committed to privacy and civil liberty protections, and says it believes this work with ICE is intended to promote government efficiency, transparency, and accountability.We believe these conditions are the necessary predicate to provide the tools to help ICE drive accurate enforcement actions and enable fair treatment and legal protections (including due process) for citizens and non-citizens, the wiki says.Palantir is cognizant of the risks to privacy and civil liberties involved in these mission sets and how they may be influenced by shifts in priorities, another section reads. Many risks will not be within our means to addresssome are structural and must be fully baked into the equation by virtue of a willingness to engage at all in these efforts. It's important to note that there will be failures in the removal operations process, it adds.The Trump administration has deported more than 200 people it says are hardened criminals to an El Salvadoran mega prison with no due process. A CBS News 60 Minutes investigation found that 75 percent of the men deported had no apparent criminal record. As part of that, the U.S. deported Abrego Garcia to the foreign prison: A government lawyer has said Garcias deportation was an administrative error, and despite the Supreme Court ruling that the government must facilitate Garcias return, President Trump and El Salvadoran President Bukele have deflected when asked if they will do so. On Wednesday the Department of Justice released documents to support its targeting of Garcia.President Trump has also called for deporting U.S. citizens to El Salvador.On top of the El Salvador prison deportations, the Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of students, many under the pretence that they engaged in antisemitism or supported Hamas. Plainclothes officers picked up a student on the street for deportation despite the State Department finding no evidence she was linked to Hamas or antisemitism; the justification used was an op-ed she co-wrote criticizing Israels disproportionate level of violence in Gaza. ICE agents arrested a green card holding student who participated in college protests at his interview to become a U.S. citizen. A judge recently ruled that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was among the first students arrested by ICE, can be deported.Palantir's language about fair treatment and legal protections inverts the reality unfolding before us: government agents abducting a Columbia student and permanent resident at his citizenship interview, and deporting a Maryland father to a prison overseen by a dictator, despite courts deciding he could stay and compelling the government not to remove him, Laura Rivera, an attorney at Just Futures Law, told 404 Media in an email.Palantir distorts the truth to obscure its complicity in carrying out an authoritarian agenda, supplying one of the world's most powerful domestic surveillance agencies with tools to enable their mass surveillance not only of immigrants, but of all of us, she added.In its wiki Palantir says the national conversation around immigration has shifted, with both parties campaigning on the issue. With this, there is both a lot of opportunity to do good work, as well as risk of potential harm, the wiki says.In the leaked Slack messages, Jain said that Palantir was working to include updates about this work into an FAQ with the companys PCL, or Privacy and Civil Liberties team. Jain said the company will also hold discussion groups about the topic.I recognize this is a topic of interest for a lot of hobbits and were working to integrate these updates into the PCL FAQ, Jain added, with hobbits a likely reference to J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, which Palantir gets its name from.We recognize as this becomes more public you will probably be asked about whats fact vs. fiction from friends, family, candidates and customers, Jain wrote, adding that the company is working on another FAQ that could be shared externally in those situations.John Grant, Palantirs Ethics Education Program Lead, posted links to some internal pages that might help people think through some of the questions this work might raise for you. They were:Ethics FAQ - Can it be right to support a customer who you think is wrong?Ethics Discussion - The Ethics of ImmigrationJain added that the small group discussions will likely be organized locally in each office or business area.Palantir is currently running adverts at U.S. colleges which say a moment of reckoning has arrived for the West. Our culture has fallen into shallow consumerism while abandoning national purpose. Too few in Silicon Valley have asked what ought to be builtand why. We did.Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said at the recent Border Security Expo that his intention for the agency is squads of trucks detaining immigrants in a similar way to how Amazon trucks are around the country delivering packages, the Arizona Mirror reported.The wiki says Palantir has developed into a more mature partner for ICE.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01242-5Henry Sila Nzioki has developed a weed-killing fungus to improve food security.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08977-1Author Correction: Continued Atlantic overturning circulation even under climate extremes

by Christopher Bing and Avi Asher-Schapiro ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Four days before Donald Trumps inauguration, financial technology startup Ramp published a pitch for how to tackle wasteful government spending. In a 4,000-word blog post titled The Efficiency Formula, Ramps CEO and one of its investors echoed ideas similar to those promoted by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk: Federal programs were overrun by fraud, and commonsense business techniques could provide a quick fix.Ramp sells corporate credit cards and artificial intelligence software for businesses to analyze spending. And while the firm appears to have no existing federal contracts, the post implied the government should consider hiring it. Just as Ramp helped businesses manage their budgets, the company could do the same for a variety of government agencies, according to the blog and company social media posts.It didnt take long for Ramp to find a willing audience. Within Trumps first three months in office, its executives scored at least four private meetings with the presidents appointees at the General Services Administration, which oversees major federal contracting. Some of the meetings were organized by the nations top procurement officer, Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service.GSA is eying Ramp to get a piece of the governments $700 billion internal expense card program, known as SmartPay. In recent weeks, Trump appointees at GSA have been moving quickly to tap Ramp for a charge card pilot program worth up to $25 million, sources told ProPublica, even as Musks Department of Government Efficiency highlights the multitudes of contracts it has canceled across federal agencies.Founded six years ago, Ramp is backed by some of the most powerful figures in Silicon Valley. One is Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who was one of Trumps earliest supporters in the tech world and who spent millions aiding Vice President JD Vances Ohio Senate run. Thiels firm, Founders Fund, has invested in seven separate rounds of funding for Ramp, according to data from PitchBook. Last year Thiel said there was no one better positioned to build products at the intersection of AI and finance.To date, the company has raised about $2 billion in venture capital, according to startup tracking website Crunchbase, much of it from firms with ties to Trump and Musk. Ramps other major financial backers include Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures; Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner; and 8VC, a firm run by Musk allies. The special attention Gruenbaum paid to Ramp raised flags inside and outside the agency. This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards that are set up to prevent contracts from being awarded based on who you know, said Scott Amey, the general counsel with the bipartisan Project on Government Oversight. He said career civil servants should lead the process to pick the best choice for taxpayers.A senior GSA official, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said the high level attention Ramp received was unusual, especially before a bid had been made public. You dont want to give this impression that leadership has already decided the winner somehow.GSA told ProPublica it refutes any suggestion of unfair or preferential contracting practices, with a spokesperson adding that the credit card reform initiative has been well known to the public in an effort to address waste, fraud, and abuse.Ramp did not respond to requests for comment.Rabois, one of Ramps earliest investors, is part of an influential group of tech titans known as the PayPal Mafia. Leaders of the early payments company include several influential players surrounding the Trump administration, including Musk and Thiel. Rabois and his husband, Jacob Helberg, hosted a fundraiser that pulled in upwards of $1 million for Trumps 2024 campaign, according to media reports. Trump has nominated Helberg for a senior role at the State Department.Rabois sits on Ramps board of directors. He has said he had no plans to join the Trump administration, instead telling CNBC: I have ideas, I can spoon-feed them to the right people. He told ProPublica his comments to CNBC were about big-picture policy ideas and that he had no involvement in any government-related initiatives for the company. Ramp could be a great choice for any government that wants to improve its efficiencies, Rabois added.Helberg said he has no involvement in anything related to Ramp whatsoever.Thrive Capital, Kushners firm, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Thiel did not provide a comment. 8VC did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the White House or Musk; previously, Musk has said Ill recuse myself if conflict-of-interest issues arise.Ramps meetings with Gruenbaum who comes from private equity firm KKR and has no prior government experience came at an opportune moment. GSA will decide by years end whether to extend the SmartPay contract, and preparations are afoot for the next generation of the program. SmartPay has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the financial institutions that currently operate it, U.S. Bank and Citibank.Gruenbaum and acting GSA administrator Stephen Ehikian entered the agency with a strong belief that SmartPay and other government payment programs were rife with fraud or waste, causing huge losses, sources within GSA say an idea echoed in Ramps January memo.Yet both GOP and Democratic budget experts, as well as former GSA officials, describe that view as ill-informed. SmartPay, which provides Visa and Mastercard charge cards to government employees, enables the federal workforce to purchase office supplies and equipment, book travel and pay for gas.The cards typically are used to fund travel and purchases up to $10,000.SmartPay is the lifeblood of the government, said former GSA commissioner Sonny Hashmi, who oversaw the program. Its a well-run program that solves real world problems with exceptional levels of oversight and fraud prevention already baked in.Jessica Riedl, a GOP budget expert at the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, said the notion that there was significant fraud in the charge card technology was far-fetched. She had criticized waste in government credit card programs before the latest SmartPay system was implemented in 2018.This was a huge problem about 20-25 years ago, she said. In the past 15 years, there have been new controls put into government credit card purchases.A 2017 audit of the program by the Government Accountability Office concluded there was little evidence of potential fraud in SmartPay small purchases, though it found documentation errors. More recent government audits found some instances where officials did not always use anti-fraud tools.GSAs new leaders are convinced SmartPay is entirely broken, a view they shared in private meetings, sources said. In February, they put a temporary $1 limit on government cards and severely restricted the number of cardholders, choking off funds to workers in the field.Chaos ensued across the government, news organizations reported: Staff at the National Institutes of Health were reportedly unable to purchase materials for experiments, Federal Aviation Administration workers worried they would be unable to pay for travel to test systems in the field, and National Park Service employees could not travel to oversee road maintenance projects.At the time, GSA released a statement saying the limitations were risk mitigation best practice and internally began moving to revamp SmartPay.$25 Million OpportunityRamps first bite of the SmartPay business could come through a pilot program worth up to $25 million that GSA announced several weeks after agency leadership began meeting with the company.At the tail end of the Biden administration, GSA had sent out a request for information, or RFI, seeking industry input about how to improve the next iteration of SmartPay. But some industry players who submitted responses said they did not hear back from the government. Instead, GSA started meeting with Ramp.GSA put out a new RFI for the pilot program on March 20, 2025, leaving it open for less than seven business days.John Weiler, co-founder of the nonprofit research group the IT Acquisition Advisory Council, said such a short window appeared unusual. A week is nothing, it gives the impression they had already picked the winner, said Weiler, who has worked with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to investigate IT contracting issues.Ramp is the clear-cut favorite, to secure this work, one source inside GSA and another former official told ProPublica. The winner has not yet been announced.Procurement experts told ProPublica that consulting with industry leaders before a major overhaul is good practice but that the fact-finding process must be evenhanded and led by professional contracting officers.The GSA spokesperson said that any and all communications with potential vendors, of which there were multiple, has been a part of market research in order to provide the best solution for American taxpayers. The agency declined to answer questions about whether Ramp had already been chosen internally for SmartPay work.The pilot program is unique because it uses a special GSA purchasing authority known as commercial solutions opening. This process has been used by the Pentagon to help speed up the acquisition of products for fighters in armed conflict zones. The designation means the chosen contractor can be selected faster and without the same level of controls.Its not clear how Ramp originally secured private meetings with GSA leaders. Nor is it clear if Ramp will ultimately take over the entire SmartPay contract from Citibank and U.S. Bank. Spokespeople for U.S. Bank and Citibank declined to comment.It is clear that Ramp has never had a client like the federal government. The only public-sector partner listed on its webpage is a charter school network in Nashville, Tennessee.Still, even before the RFI was publicly announced, Ramp had begun reaching out to contacts in the payment industry asking about the special bank identification numbers required to process government payments, said an industry source. Such steps, two former GSA officials said, were another sign that Ramp was preparing to work on the program.Ramps meetings with GSA come as the agency is poised to take on a more significant role in spending decisions across government. The same day the SmartPay pilot was announced, Trump issued an executive order that seeks to centralize much of government procurement inside of GSA. The DOGE initiative has been effectively headquartered out of the agency staffers have installed beds and dressers for overnight stays in the building, and Musks right-hand man Steve Davis is a key adviser to the agencys leadership.The SmartPay contract negotiation has so far flown under the radar. But changes to the credit card program could further transform daily life for federal employees and fundamentally change how agencies operate. It also represents a giant business opportunity.Theres a lot of money to be made by a new company coming in here, said Hashmi, the former GSA official. But you have to ask: What is the problem thats being solved? Doris Burke contributed research.

Headlights illuminate cobblestone streets in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, during an island-wide blackout, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)2025-04-17T15:28:45Z SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) An island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico this week, leaving 1.4 million customers without power and more than 400,000 without water.It was the second massive outage to hit Puerto Rico since New Years Eve, when a blackout left 90% of clients without power.Crews on Thursday scrambled to restore power as a growing number of Puerto Ricans called on the governor to cancel the contracts of two companies that oversee the generation, transmission and distribution of power on the U.S. territory of 3.2 million residents. When did the blackout occur?At 12:38 p.m. on Wednesday, massive generating plants began to shut down across Puerto Rico after a transmission line failed.Refrigerators stopped humming, air conditioners fell silent and traffic lights went dark.People started realizing the magnitude of the outage when they began calling friends and family that live on the other side of the island who said that they, too, were without power.Hundreds of businesses closed, including the biggest mall in the Caribbean. Hospitals and the main international airport began running on generators while dozens of passengers using a rapid transit system that serves the capital, San Juan, were forced to walk on an overpass next to the trains rails to evacuate. Incredulous, Puerto Ricans began demanding answers from the government as crews scrambled to find out what happened. When are we going to do something? reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny wrote on X, reflecting peoples collective rage.Anger grew as people began posting pictures of those affected by the blackout, including one of a woman who had plugged a small machine into the outlet of a grocery store to give herself medical treatment for a lung condition. Why did it occur?Authorities are still investigating the causes of the blackout. One possibility is that overgrown vegetation may have affected the grid and caused a transmission line to fail, officials said.Luma Energy, the company responsible for overseeing transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico, is supposed to do frequent air patrols over certain lines to ensure they remain free of vegetation.Pedro Melndez, a Luma engineer, said in a news conference Thursday that he did not immediately have details on when the company last did an air patrol, but added that those occur with the frequency established in its contract.Josu Coln, the islands energy czar and former executive director of Puerto Ricos Electric Power Authority, said Luma also needs to explain why all the generators shut down after there was a failure in the transmission system, when only one was supposed to go into protective mode.Itll likely take weeks to find a precise reason for the blackout, although Gov. Jenniffer Gonzlez said Thursday that she expects to have a very preliminary report within three days. Why is Puerto Ricos power grid in such bad shape?For decades, Puerto Ricos Electric Power Authority did not give the grid the maintenance and investment it required.It began crumbling throughout the years, and then on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory as a powerful Category 4 storm. It snapped power lines, toppled transmission towers and broke flimsy wooden light posts, leaving some people nearly a year without power.In the months that followed, crews focused on emergency repairs. It wasnt until a couple years after the hurricane that actual reconstruction began.In June 2021, the Electric Power Authority contracted Luma as it struggled to restructure its more than $9 billion debt, with negotiations still ongoing.In January 2023, the authority contracted Genera PR to oversee the generation of power on the island as part of another public-private partnership.Puerto Rico has been plagued by chronic power outages since Maria, with pictures and videos of transmission lines on fire becoming increasingly common.Gonzlez has said that providing consistent energy is a priority and distanced herself from renewable energy goals set by the previous governor.Her administration recently extended the operations of Puerto Ricos lone coal-fired plant. Meanwhile, with a poverty rate exceeding 40%, many on the island cannot afford solar panels or generators.Roughly 117,000 homes and businesses on the island have solar rooftops. Petroleum-fired power plants provide 62% of Puerto Ricos power, natural gas 24%, coal 8% and renewables 7%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.What are officials doing to improve the grid?A growing number of Puerto Ricans have demanded that the governor cancel Lumas contract, and she has pledged to do so.People must be fed up with us having such a mediocre system. If its not the transmission, its the generation, Gonzlez said. Of course there will be consequences.However, she noted that canceling the contract and finding a new company takes time.Officials also previously warned that there would not be sufficient generation come summer, when demand peaks. Given that concern, Gonzlez said the government is seeking to contract a company that can provide more than 800 megawatts of energy in the upcoming months. The request-for-proposal process began on March 25 and ends this month. Sixty companies have submitted proposals.____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)2025-04-17T12:14:08Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump slammed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, reiterating his frustration that the Fed has not aggressively cut interest rates and saying that the central bank leaders termination cannot come fast enough.Trump hinted at moving to fire Powell, whose term does not expire until May 2026. The Republican presidents broadside comes a day after Powell signaled that the Fed will keep its key interest rate unchanged while it seeks greater clarity on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation and tariffs.Powell also reiterated that Trumps tariffs would likely raise inflation and slow the economy, which could make it harder for the Fed to cut rates anytime soon. The Fed chair also suggested that the central bank will focus on fighting inflation in the wake of the tariffs, even if the duties did weaken the economy. Powells comments contributed to a drop in stock prices Wednesday. Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS, Trump said in a social media post. Referring to the European Central Bank, he added that Powell should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powells termination cannot come fast enough! AP AUDIO: Trump gripes about interest rates and says Fed Chair Powells termination cannot come fast enough AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports President Trump is showing more frustration with Fed chair Jerome Powell over interest rates. The European Central Bank on Thursday lowered its key interest rate from 2.5% to 2.25%. Powell was initially nominated by Trump in 2017, and he was appointed to another four-year term by President Joe Biden in 2022. At a November news conference, Powell indicated he would not step down if Trump asked him to resign.He has also said that the removal or demotion of top Fed officials was not permitted under the law.Trumps comments come with the backdrop of a legal case at the Supreme Court that could determine whether presidents can fire the heads of independent agencies such as the Fed. The case stems from Trumps firings of officials from two independent agencies. The Supreme Court last week let the firings stand while it considers the case. It could issue a broader ruling this summer that would enable the president to fire Fed officials, including the chair. Powell said the Fed is watching the case closely, adding that it might not apply to the Fed. Lawyers for the Trump administration have also argued that allowing the president to fire the two officials wouldnt erode the Feds independence. It is difficult to overstate the consequences at this stressed moment of a Court ruling that found that President Trump ... does have the authority to dismiss the heads of independent agencies and did not establish a clear carve-out for the Fed, Krishna Guha, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, wrote on Thursday. If you liked the tariff debacle in markets, youd love the loss-of-Fed-independence trade.Powell started Trumps second term in a relatively secure spot with a low unemployment rate and inflation progressing closer to the Feds 2% target, conditions that could have spared the U.S. central banker from the presidents vitriol. But Trumps aggressive and haphazard tariffs have increased the threat of a recession with both higher inflationary pressures and slower growth, a tough spot for Powell, whose mandate is to stabilize prices and maximize employment. With the economy weakening because of Trumps choices, the president appears to be looking to pin the blame on Powell.Powell, in his remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday, said the Fed will base its decisions solely on what is best for all Americans.Thats the only thing were ever going to do, Powell said. Were never going to be influenced by any political pressure. People can say whatever they want. Thats fine, thats not a problem. But we will do what we do strictly without consideration of political or any other extraneous factors.Our independence is a matter of law, Powell continued. Were not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms. Trump has unleashed a rash of tariffs that have put the U.S. economy and the Fed in an increasingly perilous spot. On April 2, the president rolled out aggressive tariff hikes based off U.S. trade deficits with other nations, causing a financial market backlash that almost immediately led him to announce a 90-day pause in which most countries would be charged a baseline 10% tariff while negotiations go forward. But Trump increased his tariff hikes on China to a rate of 145%, in addition to his existing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, autos and steel and aluminum.Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs have raised their odds that a recession could start. Consumers are increasingly pessimistic in surveys about their job prospects and fearful that inflation will shoot up as the cost of the import taxes get passed along to them. The risk of stagflation stagnant growth and high inflation would make it harder for the Fed to respond with the same playbook as recent downturns. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimated that the increased inflationary pressures from the tariffs would be equal to the loss of $4,900 in an average U.S. household.___AP journalists Sagar Meghani and Christopher Rugaber contributed reporting. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01198-6Study finds dozens of journals that have hiked their fees and started churning out papers after being acquired by small, recently formed companies.

Nature, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01245-2Researchers who spoke to Nature say they dont have the money or staff to do fieldwork or process samples.

by A.C. Thompson, ProPublica and FRONTLINE, and James Bandler, ProPublica ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. A Wisconsin teenager accused of murdering two family members and plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump was inspired by Terrorgram, a white supremacist network that operated on the Telegram messaging and social media platform for half a decade, according to federal court records. The Terrorgram community, which has been linked to around three dozen criminal cases around the globe, including at least three mass shootings, was profiled last month in stories and a documentary produced by ProPublica and FRONTLINE.The court documents allege that Nikita Casap, a 17-year-old from Waukesha, Wisconsin, wrote a three-page manifesto calling for the assassination of Trump in order to foment a political revolution in the United States and save the white race from Jewish controlled politicians. In his manifesto, Casap allegedly encouraged people to read the writings of Juraj Krajk, a longtime Terrogram figure who murdered two people in an attack on an LGBTQ+ bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2022, according to the court records. Casap also allegedly recommended two publications produced by the Terrorgram Collective, a secretive group that produced alleged hit lists, videos and written publications including instructions for building bombs and sabotaging critical infrastructure and distributed them throughout the Terrorgram ecosystem.Launched in 2019, Terrorgram was a constellation of scores of Telegram channels and chat groups focused on inciting acts of white supremacist terrorism and anti-government sabotage. At the networks peak, some Terrorgram channels drew thousands of followers. Over the past six months, however, the network has been disrupted as authorities in Canada, the U.S. and Europe have arrested key Terrorgram influencers and community members. But the violence hasnt stopped. Casap in February allegedly shot and killed his mother, Tatiana Casap, and stepfather, Donald Mayer; stole their property; and fled in their Volkswagen Atlas, Waukesha County prosecutors say. He was arrested in Kansas. Prosecutors have charged the teen with two counts of first-degree homicide, as well as identity theft and other theft charges. He is expected to be arraigned on May 7, according to court records. A witness told local investigators that Casap was in touch with a male in Russia through the Telegram app and they were planning to overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate President Trump, according to charging documents in the Wisconsin case. The newly unsealed federal court filings indicate that the FBI is investigating Casap in connection to the alleged assassination plot. The bureau declined to comment on the matter.Last fall, federal prosecutors accused two Americans of acting as leaders of the Terrorgram Collective and charged them with soliciting the murder of federal officials and a host of other terrorism-related offenses. The U.S. State Department has officially designated the Terrorgram Collective as a terrorist organization, as have officials in the United Kingdom and Australia. The two Americans have pleaded not guilty to the charges.Do absolutely anything you can that will lead to the collapse of America or any country you live in, Casap allegedly wrote in his manifesto, according to an FBI affidavit. This is the only way we can save the White race. The teens writings and online postings that are cited in the affidavit indicate that he is a believer in militant accelerationism, a concept that has become increasingly popular with neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists over the past decade. Militant accelerationists aim to speed the collapse of modern society through acts of spectacular violence; from the ruins of todays democracies, they aim to build all-white ethno-states organized on fascist principles.Matthew Kriner, executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism, a nonprofit think tank, called the alleged Casap plot unique. Its the first time were explicitly seeing an individual tie an accelerationist act or plot with the president of the United States as a means of collapsing society, Kriner said. I think what we have here is a fairly clear-cut case of an individual who is being groomed to take drastic terrorist action in an accelerationist manner.Casaps public defender could not be reached for comment. A Telegram spokesperson said, Telegram supports the peaceful exchange of ideas; however, calls for violence are strictly prohibited by our Terms of Service and are removed proactively as well as in response to user reports."A ProPublica and FRONTLINE review shows that Casap was recently active in at least five extremist Telegram channels or chat groups, including a Russian-language neo-Nazi chat in which posters uploaded detailed instructions for crafting explosives, poisons and improvised firearms. He was also a member of a chat group with more than 4,300 participants run by the Misanthropic Division, a global neo-Nazi organization. Casap, according to the federal documents, also sought out information online about the Order of Nine Angles, a cult that blends Satanic concepts and Nazi ideology and has increasingly turned to Telegram to recruit and proselytize. This is a clear example of how Terrorgram continues to influence murder, said Jennefer Harper, a researcher who studies online extremism. Nikita was influenced online by an assortment of ideologies and groups that intersect with the Terrorgram ecosphere.