ATLANTA -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he is not concerned about ticket sales for this summer's Club World Cup in the United States despite questions about how well the 32-team event is selling across the country.

Sudan's military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan center, is greeted by troops as he arrives at the Republican Palace, recently recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, in Khartoum, Sudan, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo, File)2025-04-14T22:30:41Z UNITED NATIONS (AP) More than 300 civilians were killed in two days of intense fighting in Sudans conflict-wracked Darfur region, the U.N. humanitarian agency reported Monday, as the African countrys brutal civil war nears the two-year mark. The attacks launched by Sudans notorious paramilitary group on two famine-hit camps for displaced people in North Darfur and its nearby capital on Friday and Saturday were initially reported to have left more than 100 dead, including 20 children and nine aid workers, according to a U.N. official.But the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, reported the much higher death toll Monday, citing local sources that were not identified. The Associated Press could not independently verify the numbers due to the conditions and communications on the ground.Sudan plunged into conflict on April 15, 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including the vast western Darfur region. Since then, at least 24,000 people have been tallied as being killed, according to the United Nations, though activists say the number is far higher. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, known as the RSF, carried out the recent attacks after the Sudanese military late last month regained control over Khartoum, a major symbolic victory in the war. The war has created the worlds largest humanitarian crisis and worst displacement crisis, and it has led to Sudan becoming the only country in the world experiencing famine. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said OCHA has received reports of mass casualties and large-scale displacement following the recent fighting in and around the Zamzam and Abu Shorouk displacement camps, as well as North Darfurs capital, El Fasher, the only capital in Darfur that the RSF doesnt control. North Darfur is one of five states in the Darfur region. Preliminary figures from local sources indicate that more than 300 civilians have been killed, including 10 humanitarian personnel from the NGO Relief International who lost their lives while operating one of the last functioning health centers in Zamzam camp, Dujarric said.The escalation in the fighting came ahead of a conference in London to spotlight the wars anniversary on Tuesday organized by Britain, the European Union, Germany and France, where more than 20 foreign ministers are expected along with representatives of global organizations.Dujarric said the United Nations wants the conference to see Sudans neighbors and the international community move in unity of purpose towards peace instead of fueling the conflict.Also Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council has scheduled emergency closed consultations on Sudan.The U.N. migration agency said Monday the RSF attacks in Zamzam camp have displaced between 60,000 to 80,000 families in the past two days. The majority of the families remain within El Fasher, which is under military control but has been besieged by the RSF for over a year. Mamadou Dian Balde, the U.N. refugee offices regional director, said in a video press conference with U.N. correspondents that massive violations of human rights have forced almost 13 million Sudanese to flee their homes, including 4 million who fled to other countries. Most fled to Sudans immediate neighbors, but more than 200,000 have gone to Libya and about 70,000 to Uganda, he said.Balde said the U.N. refugee agencys appeal for $1.8 billion to help the millions of refugees and their host nations is only 10% funded. He warned that if it doesnt get more money, people will move toward southern Africa, east Africa, the Gulf countries and Europe.We really hope that tomorrows event in London will also show greater support for the Sudanese brothers and sisters who have been displaced, Balde said.___Associated Press reporter Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo.

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A Sudanese evacuee carries her son as they leave the USNS Brunswick at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)2025-04-15T05:03:18Z CAIRO (AP) As Sudan marks two years of civil war on Tuesday, atrocities and famine are only mounting in what the U.N. says is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.Last month, the Sudanese military secured a major victory by recapturing the capital of Khartoum from its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. But that has only moved the war into a new phase that could end up with a de facto partition of the country.On Friday and Saturday, RSF fighters and their allies rampaged in two refugee camps in the western Darfur region, killing at least 300 people. The Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps, which shelter some 700,000 Sudanese who fled their homes, have both been stricken with famine, and aid workers cannot reach them because of the fighting.Half the population of 50 million faces hunger. The World Food Program has confirmed famine in 10 locations and says it could spread, putting millions in danger of starvation. This abominable conflict has continued for two years too long, said Kashif Shafique, country director for Relief International Sudan, the last aid group still working in the Zamzam camp. Nine of its workers were killed in the RSF attack. He said the world needs to press for a ceasefire. Every moment we wait, more lives hang in the balance, he said. Humanity must prevail.Here is what is happening as the war enters its third year: Carving up SudanThe war erupted on April 15, 2023, with pitched battles between the military and the RSF in the streets of Khartoum that quickly spread to other parts of the country.It was the culmination of months of tension between the head of the military, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSFs commander, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The two were once allies in suppressing Sudans movement for democracy and civilian rule but turned on each other in a struggle for power.The fighting has been brutal. Large parts of Khartoum have been wrecked. Nearly 13 million people have fled their homes, 4 million of them streaming into neighboring countries. At least 20,000 people have been recorded killed, but the true toll is probably far higher. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, and the RSF fighters have been notorious for attacking villages in Darfur, carrying out mass killings of civilians and rapes of women.The militarys recapture of Khartoum in late March was a major symbolic victory. It allowed Burhan to return to the capital for the first time since the war started and declare a new government, boosting his standing.But experts say the RSF consolidated its hold on the areas it still controls a vast stretch of western and southern Sudan, including the Darfur and Kordofan regions. The military holds much of the north, east and center.The reality on the ground already resembles a de facto partition, said Federico Donelli, an assistant professor of international relations at Universit di Trieste in Italy.Donelli said its possible the two sides could seek a ceasefire now. But more likely, he said, the military will keep trying to move on RSF-held territory. Neither side appears able to defeat the other.Both parties are suffering from combat fatigue, said Suliman Baldo, director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker.The RSF is weakened by internal fissures and lacks political legitimacy within the country, said Sharath Srinivasan, professor of international politics at Cambridge University.But it has strong access to weapons and resources, bolstered by support from the United Arab Emirates, Chad, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia, he said.Without understanding the complex regional geopolitics of this war, it is easy to underplay the RSFs resilience and ability to strike back, said Srinivasan, author of When Peace Kills Politics: International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudans. Famine is deepeningHundreds of thousands of people trapped by the fighting face hunger and starvation. So far, the epicenter of famine has been in the North Darfur province and particularly the Zamzam camp. The RSF has been besieging the camp as it wages an offensive on El Fasher, the regional capital and the last main position of the military in the Darfur region.Amna Suliman, a mother of four living in the camp, said people have resorted to eating grass and tree leaves.We have no choice, she said in a recent phone interview. We live in fear, with no communication, no food, and no hope.Since famine was first declared in Zamzam in August, it has spread to other parts of the province and nearby South Kordofan province.The WFP warned this week that 17 other locations will also soon fall into famine including other parts of the Darfur region but also places in central and south Sudan because aid workers cannot reach them.The situation is very dire, said Adam Yao, deputy representative of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Agency in Sudan.Already, at least 25 million people, more than half of the countrys population, face acute hunger, including 638,000 who face catastrophic hunger, the most dire rating used by aid agencies, according to the WFP. Some 3.6 million children are acutely malnourished. The needs everywhere are hugeIn other areas, the militarys capture of territory allowed aid groups to reach refugees and displaced people who have been largely cut off from aid for two years.Sudan has been hit by multiple outbreaks of cholera, malaria and dengue in the past two years. The latest cholera outbreak in March killed about 100 people and sickened over 2,700 others in the White Nile province, according to the Health Ministry.The economy has been decimated, with a 40% drop in GDP, according to the United Nations Development Program, UNDP. Full-time employment has been halved and almost 20% of urban households reported that they have no income at all, it said.At the same time, U.N. agencies and aid groups have faced funding cuts from major donors, including the United States. Only 6.3% of the $4.2 billion required for humanitarian assistance in Sudan this year has been received as of March, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Sudan.The reductions come at a time when the needs in Sudan have never been greater, with more than half of the population hungry and famine spreading, she said.About 400,000 people managed to return to their hometowns in areas retaken by the military around Khartoum and nearby Gezira province, according to the U.N. migration agency.Many found their homes destroyed and looted. They depend largely on local charities for food.Abdel-Raham Tajel-Ser, a father of three children, returned in February to his neighborhood in Khartoums sister city of Omdurman after 22 months of displacement.The 46-year-old civil servant said he found his house, which had been occupied by the RSF, severely damaged and looted.It was a dream, he said of his return, adding that his life in the largely destroyed neighborhood with almost no electricity or communications is much better than living as a refugee or a displaced person. ___Associated Press Writer Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto

Reinforcement Syrian security forces deploy in the outskirts of Latakia, Syria, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam, File)2025-04-15T05:16:16Z BEIRUT (AP) A month after a wave of revenge attacks left hundreds of Alawite civilians dead, members of the Syrian religious minority are still living in fear, with dozens killed in smaller attacks since the start of April.The Muslim minority group was seen as a privileged minority under the rule of the Alawite Assad family, but since Bashar Assad s government fell late last year members have feared revenge from the countrys Sunni majority. The new government promised to protect minority groups, but when a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces near the coastal city of Latakia last month, it sparked a counteroffensive that took a brutal toll on the coastal regions largely Alawite population.Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that more than 1,700 people, most of them civilians, were killed in March. While no official figures have been released by the government, other human rights groups have given similar estimates. It was the worst violence since an insurgency led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew Assad last December. Militias target Alawites Rights groups reported widespread revenge killings as militants from Syrias Sunni majority targeted Alawites, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency. Several people told me that when these militia members entered their home, in addition to asking if they were Alawite or Sunni, they blamed them for what happened to them under the former Assad government, said Diana Semaan, Amnesty Internationals Syria researcher who investigated dozens of killings that took place in Baniyas and spoke to eyewitnesses and survivors. While there has not been another outbreak of violence on the same scale, Alawites continue to report incidents of harassment, shakedowns and sometimes worse.An Alawite who lives in the Latakia area said there are still regular attacks targeting Alawites, most of whom had nothing to do with the Assad government or security forces. Everyone from the regime or close to it fled a long time ago, he told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his life. He said a 20-year-old factory worker who was the breadwinner of his family was shot by guards at a local checkpoint, even though he had not served in the army under Assad. He would pass the checkpoints on his motorcycle every day. He and the guards would even greet each other, he said. Attacks spread along the coastAttacks on Alawites spread from Latakia into the nearby province of Tartus, with some later hitting the major city of Homs inland.Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Observatory, said 42 people have died in sectarian killings since the Muslim feast of Eid el-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan on March 30. The killings, did not stop but now they are individual acts, Abdurrahman said.Mohammed Saleh, an activist from the central city of Homs who spent 17 years imprisoned during the rule of Bashar Assad and his father because of his opposition to the government, said victims of the attacks included Alawites who opposed Assads rule. Saleh said 18 people he knew personally who had previously been detained by Assads forces were killed in last months attacks. Saleh said he is worried that Syria is turning from one dictatorship to another.What we want is to have serious national army and security agencies whose job is to protect everyone and that they include everyone and not be made up of one sect or one religion, Saleh said. There cannot be a state for everyone when security agencies belong to one sect.One high school in the city of Baniyas in Tartus province, posted a list on Facebook of almost 80 teachers, students and relatives and alumni who were killed in attacks over the past month.A video widely shared on social media showed the bodies of two young men with their mother standing by them, as the person filming scolded her and said her sons deserved to die because they were Alawite.Tens of thousands of Alawites flee to LebanonAlawites and other Syrians from coastal areas are fleeing into Lebanon through unofficial border crossings, some carrying babies and helping tired elderly people and pregnant women as they cross over a river dividing the two countries.Some 30,000 Alawite Syrians have fled to Lebanon over the past month, the United Nations refugee agency says, scattered in some 30 towns and villages in northern Lebanon. While there is little assistance for them in Lebanon, many dont feel safe enough to go back. Attacks test the interim governments promisesOngoing attacks have been a major letdown for Syrians who hoped that Assads sudden fall would spell an end to violence against the countrys many religious and ethnic groups after over a decade a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The new government has promised to create an inclusive state that holds perpetrators of crimes to account, and interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has vowed to hold the perpetrators of recent attacks to justice and set up a committee to investigate the attacks. A few arrests have been reported, and the committee has said it is continuing its investigation in the coastal province, though they have not yet disclosed their findings. Right groups say the interim government faces a test.What happens now is extremely important because it will literally set the path towards justice. Were no longer talking about addressing past violations and holding those perpetrators accountable, which is already a huge endeavor, said Amnesty Internationals Semaan. Now were looking at how the government at how it will set paths towards justice for the violations that it (has) committed. KAREEM CHEHAYEB Chehayeb is an Associated Press reporter in Beirut. twitter instagram mailto

Napoli cruised to a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Empoli on Monday with Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku leading the charge as the hosts kept pace with Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

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This is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo)2025-04-15T07:40:29Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding nine other people, a spokesman for the hospital said.The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area, where hundreds of thousands have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. The wounded were all patients and medics, and two of the patients were in critical condition after the strike, said Saber Mohammed, a hospital spokesman.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.The military has struck hospitals on several occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas militants of hiding out in them or using them for military purposes. Hospital staff have denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and gutting the territorys health system. On Sunday, Israel struck the last major hospital providing critical care in northern Gaza after ordering an evacuation. A patient died during the evacuation, and the strike severely damaged the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings, according to Al-Ahli Hospital. The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, condemned the strike.Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control center within the facility, without providing evidence. Hamas denied the allegations.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed over 51,000 people, according to an updated toll released by Gazas Health Ministry on Tuesday. That includes more than 1,600 people killed since Israel ended a ceasefire and resumed its offensive last month to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead. The offensive has destroyed much of the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians.___Magdy reported from Cairo.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This photograph released by the U.S. Navy shows a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter hovering over the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier while operating in the Middle East on April 12, 2025. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Jordan/U.S. Navy via AP)2025-04-15T07:45:25Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program, satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed. The operation of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group in the Arabian Sea comes as suspected U.S. airstrikes pounded parts of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overnight into Tuesday. American officials repeatedly have linked the U.S. monthlong campaign against the Houthis under President Donald Trump as a means to pressure Iran in the negotiations. Questions remain over where the weekend talks between the countries will be held after officials initially identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman. American officials so far havent said where the talks will be held. The stakes of the negotiations couldnt be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. 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. U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who represented America in last weekends talks in Oman, separately signaled that the Trump administration may be looking at terms of the 2015 nuclear deal that the president unilaterally withdrew from in 2018 as a basis for these negotiations. He described the talks last weekend as positive, constructive, compelling. This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization, Witkoff told Fox News on Monday night. That includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there. And it includes the trigger for a bomb.He added: Were here to see if we can solve this situation diplomatically and with dialogue. Vinson joins Truman as second US aircraft carrier in MideastSatellite photos taken Monday by the European Unions Copernicus program showed the Vinson, which is based out of San Diego, California, operating northeast of Socotra, an island off Yemen that sits near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. The Vinson is accompanied by the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton and two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the USS Sterett and the USS William P. Lawrence.The U.S. ordered the Vinson to the Mideast to back up the USS Harry S. Truman, which has been launching airstrikes against the Houthis since the American campaign started March 15. Footage released by the Navy showed the Vinson preparing ordinance and launching F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets off its deck in recent days. The U.S. Navys Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which oversees the Mideast, declined to discuss details of the Vinsons operations. Witkoff suggests 3.67% uranium enrichment for Iran Meanwhile, Witkoff offered for the first time a specific enrichment level hed like to see for Irans nuclear program. Today, Tehran enriches uranium to up to 60% a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. They do not need to enrich past 3.67%, Witkoff told Fox News. In some circumstances, theyre at 60%, in other circumstances, 20%. That cannot be.And you do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program where youre enriching past 3.67%. So this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization.The 2015 nuclear deal Iran agreed to with world powers under President Barack Obama saw Tehran agree to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67% enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Iran in exchange received access to frozen funds around the world, and sanctions were lifted on its crucial oil industry and other sectors. Irans Javan newspaper, which is believed to be close to its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, suggested in an editorial Tuesday that Tehran would be open to reducing its enrichment. Something that we have done before, why should we not carry it again and reach a deal? the editorial asked. This is not called a withdrawal by Islamic Republic from its ideals anywhere in the world.When Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, however, he pointed at Irans ballistic missile stockpile as one reason to leave the deal. Witkoff said any deal with Iran would have to include missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there and it includes the trigger for a bomb.Iran relies on its ballistic missiles as a hedge against regional nations armed with advanced fighter jets and other American weaponry. Getting it to abandon its missile program likely will be difficult in negotiations.___Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.___Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/ JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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by Amy Yurkanin ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. When Max Rykov started reading a Jan. 24 letter sent to the leaders of the countrys 10 refugee resettlement agencies, he found the wording vague but ominous. The agencies were ordered to stop all work funded by the Department of State and not incur any new costs.At first, he wondered if the order from the Trump administration was only targeting refugee work in other countries. Rykov, then the director of development and communications at a refugee resettlement partner in Nashville, began texting colleagues at other agencies. What does it mean? he asked. By Monday, three days after the memo, it became clear. The Nashville International Center for Empowerment, along with similar nonprofits across the country, would not have access to the money the government had promised to refugees for their first three months in the United States. That day, NICE laid off 12 of its 56 resettlement staff members and scrambled to free up funds to pay for the basic needs of nearly 170 people dependent on the frozen grants. Max Rykov arrived in the U.S. as a child and went on to become the director of development and communications at the Nashville International Center for Empowerment, which helps refugees resettle. (Arielle Weenonia Gray for ProPublica) Rykov knew exactly what was at stake, and that delivered an additional dose of dread. Born in the former USSR, he and his family arrived in the U.S. as refugees in 1993, fleeing the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic devastation and discrimination against Soviet Jews. He was 4 years old, and it was bewildering. Though his family was part of one of the largest waves of refugee resettlement in U.S. history, they ended up in a place with few Russian immigrants.Life in Birmingham, Alabama, a post-industrial city shaped by the Civil Rights movement and white flight, revolved around Saturday college football games and Sunday church. Rykov said his family felt barren in the U.S. away from their culture. Birminghams Jewish community was small and the Russian population tiny.But a local Jewish organization sponsored the Rykovs and paired them with a friendship family. The group rented them an apartment and furnished it. Then the organization helped Rykovs parents find work. And Birminghams Jewish community banded together to fund scholarships for Rykov and other Soviet refugee children to attend a private Jewish school, where Rykov felt less isolated. He went on to attend the University of Alabama and overcame his feeling of otherness. After graduation, he found purpose in bringing people together through his work organizing cultural events, including arts festivals and an adult spelling bee, doing social media outreach for the Birmingham mayor and, in 2021, finding a dream job at a Nashville nonprofit devoted to the very efforts that he believes helped define him. When Rykov heard that President Donald Trumps second administration had ordered cuts to the refugee program, his thoughts raced to the Venezuelan refugee family his organization was assisting, an older woman in poor health, her daughter who cared for her and the daughters two children, one not yet kindergarten age. None of them spoke English, and there was no plan for how they would cover the rent, which was due in four days. This is a promise that we made to these people that we have reneged on, he said. Is that really whats happening? Yeah, thats exactly whats happening.As the realization of what lay ahead set in, Rykov started to cry. Over the next two months, the Trump administration carried out and defended its destabilizing cuts to the refugee program. The moves brought wave after wave of uncertainty and chaos to the lives of refugees and those who work to help resettle them. One of the largest nonprofit agencies that carry out this work, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, laid off a third of its staff in February and said Monday that it would end all of its refugee efforts with the federal government. A Jewish resettlement organization, HIAS, cut 40% of its staff. As the groups fight legal battles to recoup the millions of dollars the government owes them, some have been forced to close resettlement offices entirely.The Nashville International Center for Empowerment is still struggling to keep its own afloat. Although NICE staff members had anticipated some cuts to refugee programs under Trump, they said they were caught off guard when reimbursements for money already spent failed to appear and by the dwindling opportunities to seek recourse.After a judge ordered the Trump administration to restart refugee admissions, the administration responded by canceling contracts with existing resettlement agencies and announcing plans to find new partners. And the administration has indicated it will remain resistant, refusing to spend millions appropriated by Congress for refugees.Many have lost faith and trust in the American system because of this, said Wooksoo Kim, director of the Immigrant and Refugee Research Institute at the University of Buffalo. For many refugees, it may start to feel like its no different from where they came from. In court documents, lawyers for the Department of Justice argued the U.S. does not have the capacity to support large numbers of refugees.The President lawfully exercised his authority to suspend the admission of refugees pending a determination that further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States, the motion said. In Nashville, that anxiety has been playing out week after week in tear-filled offices and in apartment complexes teeming with families who fled war and oppression. Rykov couldnt help but feel overwhelmed by the extreme shift in attitudes about immigrants in just a few years. In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, his familys dormant fears about Russia were reawakened but they felt a surge of pride for the U.S. when it stepped up to help Ukraine and welcome its refugees. Months after the invasion, Ukrainian athletes came to Birmingham for the World Games, which is similar to the Olympics. When they entered the stadium waving the Ukrainian flag, the crowd gave them a standing ovation. His parents, whod never felt quite at home in the U.S., loudly joined in the U-S-A chant that followed.But now, three years later, was all of America now ready to abandon refugees? Rykov was starting to see the signs, but he refused to believe it and instead recommitted himself to the work.He and his colleagues reached out to every donor in their network and called an online meeting with local churches who might be able to help with rent payments, food, job searches and transportation. Agencies would struggle without the help of the churches. And churches dont have the resources, training or bandwidth to carry out the work of the agencies. But Rykov knew that for the time being, hed need more help than ever from church volunteers.Without your intervention here, this is gonna be a humanitarian disaster in Nashville, he told them in the online meeting held about a week after the cuts. And in every community, obviously, but we were focusing on ours. Were not gonna be in a position to help in the same way much longer, and this is a stark reality that were facing.Then he went on the local news, warning that this immediate funding freeze puts those recently arrived refugees really at risk of homelessness. The responses on social media reflected the hate and intolerance that had polluted the national conversation about immigration.The common theme was, Refugees? Do you mean illegal invaders? Rykov recalled. People are so completely misinformed, clearly not reading the article or watching the story, and its very disappointing to see that. And I guess its sad too that I expect it. One Month After the Cuts No Time to Screw Around In late February, church volunteer Abdul Makembe and a program manager from NICE squeezed into the cramped apartment of a family of five from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both Makembe and NICE had been working with the family for months, but with the loss of funding, NICE could no longer offer support and had asked Makembe to be more involved. Abdul Makembe, who immigrated from Tanzania, volunteers to help African families settle in the U.S. (Arielle Weenonia Gray for ProPublica) A native of Tanzania, Makembe moved to Tennessee in the late 1970s. After working in infectious disease research and nonprofit management, which involved several trips to Africa, he retired in 2015 and began volunteering to help newly arrived African families. Rykov came to know him as a fixture of the refugee community, always eager to help.In the apartment, Makembe perched on the edge of a couch and Mungaga Akilimali sat across from him on the floor. So, the situation has improved a little bit? Makembe asked.The Congolese man ran his hands over his head.The situation, so far, not yet, Akilimali said. Im just trying to apply and reapply and reapply, but so far nothing.Akilimali and his family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo more than 10 years ago. Since 1996, soldiers and militias have killed 6 million people there and committed atrocities against countless civilians. War, political instability and widespread poverty have displaced millions of others. Akilimali and his wife settled for a time in South Africa, where they encountered xenophobia and anti-immigrant violence. Immigrants and refugees have become political scapegoats there, spawning a rash of attacks and even murders. His wife, Bulonza Chishamara, nearly died there in 2018 after an ambush by an anti-immigrant mob.Doctors gave her eight units of blood and Chishamara spent days paralyzed in a hospital bed, Akilimali said. She still walks with a limp.The family had rejoiced when they got approved for refugee resettlement in 2024 in Tennessee. Their new life in Nashville began with promise. Akilimali, who speaks fluent English and trained as a mechanic, got a drivers license and a job at Nissan.However, he lost the job before his probationary period ended due to layoffs, and he hasnt been able to find another one. NICE used to have a robust staff of employment specialists. But the cuts forced the organization to reassign them.That left fewer resources for people like Akilimali, who had been in the U.S. longer than the three months during which new refugees were eligible for state department aid but who still needed help finding work. For Rykov, the work of spreading awareness about the cuts and raising funds to offset them intensified throughout February. He and others working with refugees across the country were hoping that the courts might force the administration to release the federal money that if they could keep things afloat in the short term, relief would come. Then, on Feb. 25, a federal judge in Washington ruled in favor of the agencies. He ordered the administration to restore payments and restart refugee admissions.The relief was short-lived. A day later, the administration canceled contracts with resettlement agencies, and lawyers for the administration have appealed the order. Their argument: The gutted refugee agencies no longer have capacity to restart resettlement, making it impossible to comply with court orders. Rykov said some of the diminished number of remaining staff members began to look for new jobs.After that, Rykov and his team kicked into emergency mode. They worked long hours making phone calls and arranging meetings with potential volunteers and donors.It was a cocktail of emotions, he said. The generosity of donors and volunteers filled him with gratitude. But he couldnt escape the sense of foreboding that consumed the office, where many desks sat empty and remaining employees voiced deepening concerns about the fates of their clients.Rykov likened the urgent energy at NICE to the aftermath of a natural disaster. Theres no time to screw around.At the same time, staffers worried about the cratering budget and the future of the organization. And it was hard not to notice how much the mood in Tennessee and around the country was shifting. In an order suspending refugee admissions, Trump described immigrants as a burden who have inundated American towns and cities.NICE had always felt protected, powered by an idealistic and diverse staff who chose to work in refugee resettlement despite the long hours and low pay. The cuts and the discourse eroded that sense of safety, Rykov said.In February, a tech company offered him a job in Birmingham. It was a chance to be closer to his parents and back in the city where hed come of age a reminder of an era that felt kinder than the current one. He took the job.Working at NICE, its the best job I ever had and the most meaningful job I ever had, he said.Rykov packed up a few things from NICE. A Ukrainian flag lapel pin. A signed photograph of him and his coworkers. In his Birmingham apartment, he placed the picture on a bookshelf next to one of him and his parents at his high school graduation.By the time he left, NICEs refugee resettlement team was down to 30 employees; it had been 56 before the cuts. For its part, NICE has vowed to carry on. The organization has paired 24 families with volunteer mentors since the funding cuts.Church volunteers, who were accustomed to helping furnish and decorate apartments for new arrivals, now had to help prevent evictions. They had to track down documents and help complete paperwork lost in the confusion of the nonprofits layoffs. And the group of mostly retired professionals now had to assist with the daunting task of finding unskilled jobs for refugees who didnt speak much English. Two Months After the Cuts One Volunteer, Many People in Need On a mid-March morning, Makembe woke at 6 a.m. to begin tackling his volunteer work for NICE. Despite the long hours he clocks volunteering, the 74-year-old has kept his energy level and his spirits up. As he left the garage apartment he shares with his wife in a rough north Nashville neighborhood, he made sure to double-check the locks. On this day, he was working not with the Akilimali family but with a family of four who recently arrived from Africa. The child needs to see a specialist at the Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt.It was Vanderbilt that brought Makembe to Nashville decades ago, for his masters degree in economic planning. He followed that with a doctorate in health policy and research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Over the years that followed, he made repeated trips back to Tanzania to do research on malaria and parasitic infections.All that took a toll on Makembes marriage, and he and his first wife divorced when his two children were very young. They are now grown and successful. His son is an accountant and his daughter recently finished law school and works at a firm in New York. That leaves him more time to spend with refugees.But the volunteer work does bring some financial stress. He is trying to save $5,000 to apply for a green card for his wife, which is tough. Because he spent much of his career working outside the U.S., Makembe receives less than $1,000 a month from Social Security. He drives a 2004 Toyota that was donated to his church to aid the congregations work with refugees, but he pays out of pocket for gas and car insurance. The costs can add up. Its not uncommon for him to burn a quarter tank of gas a day when he is volunteering.Makembes church, Woodmont Hills Church, is a significant contributor to the citys refugee resettlement work an ethos shared by its current congregants but that has led to the loss of members over the years. Though it had a congregation nearing 3,000 members in the late 90s, attendance shrank as the churchs ideology grew more progressive and Tennessees grew more conservative. Its now down to 800 members. Yet the church remained steadfast in its commitment to helping refugees. Its leaders invited NICE to hold classes in its empty meeting rooms and made space to house a Swahili church and a Baptist church formed by refugees from Myanmar. And when NICE lost funding, Woodmont Hills members donated their time and money. Makembe has helped dozens of refugees over the years but was particularly worried for the family he had to take to the Childrens Hospital that March morning, serving as both driver and translator. They arrived right before Trump cut off funding, and they had struggled to get medical care for their 5-year-olds persistent seizures. A doctor at a local clinic had prescribed antiseizure medication, but it didnt work, and the child experienced episodes where his muscles tensed and froze for minutes at a time.Nashville has world-class medical facilities, but NICE no longer had staff available to help the family understand and navigate that care, leaving them frustrated. It took months for the family to get in to see a specialist. During the long wait, Makembe said, the boys father began to lose hope. His sons seizures had become longer and more frequent. Makembe stepped in to help them get a referral from a doctor at the local clinic.The childs father had to miss the doctors appointment that March morning so that he could go to an interview at a company that packages computer parts. Both he and his wife had been searching for jobs and striking out. Makembe has tried to help but has run into barriers. He does not have the same connections with labor agencies that NICE staffers did. Makembe said he wants to get the child enrolled in a special school for the fall and find a wheelchair so his mom wont have to carry him.And thats just this family. Makembe said new refugees have been waiting for months to get job interviews. When he visits the five families he mentors, their neighbors approach him asking for help. Many of their requests are for the assistance NICE and other refugee agencies once offered.Im very much worried, he said. I mean, they have no idea of what to do.

Sales rep promote projectors at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)2025-04-15T05:55:14Z BANGKOK (AP) The Trump administration has taken its next steps toward imposing more tariffs on key imports, launching investigations into imports of computer chips, chip making equipment and pharmaceuticals. The Department of Commerce posted notices about the probes late Monday on the Federal Register, seeking public comment within three weeks. It had not formally announced them earlier. Although President Donald Trump paused most of his biggest tariff hikes last week for 90 days, apart from those for imports from China, he has said he still plans tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips. The Commerce Department said it is investigating how imports of computer chips, equipment to make them and products that contain them which include many daily necessities such as cars, refrigerators, smart phones and other items affect national security. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 permits the president to order tariffs for the sake of national security. The probe includes assessing the potential for U.S. domestic production of computer chips to meet U.S. demand and the role of foreign manufacturing and assembly, testing and packaging in meeting those needs. Among other aspects of the entire computer chip supply chain, the government intends to also study the risks of having computer chip production concentrated in other places and the impact on U.S. competitiveness from foreign government subsidies, foreign unfair trade practices and state-sponsored overcapacity. After Trump said electronics would not be included in what his administration calls reciprocal tariffs of up to 50% on some nations, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained in an interview on ABC News that pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and autos will be handled with sector specific tariffs.And those are not available for negotiation, Lutnick said. They are just going to be part of making sure we reshore the core national security items that need to be made in this country. We need to make medicine in this country, he said. We need to make semiconductors. The investigation into pharmaceutical imports includes ingredients used to make such drugs and touches on many of the same aspects of relying on imports to make them. Asked about his plans for more tariffs on pharmaceuticals, Trump said Monday, Yeah, were going to be doing that. He said it would be in the not too distant future.Were doing it because we want to make our own drugs, he said. More than 70% of the materials, or active pharmaceutical ingredients, used to make medicines made in the United States are produced in other countries, with India, the European Union and China leading suppliers. The U.S. produces about a fifth of all pharmaceuticals made worldwide, but consumes about 45%, far more than any other country. The U.S. also is a major producer of semiconductors, but only in some areas. It relies heavily on imports from Taiwan and South Korea for certain kinds of advanced chips. In particular, Taiwan dominates advanced logic chip production at 92% of all fabrication capacity according to the International Trade Administration, with South Korea making 8%. Products like laptops, smartphones and the components needed to make them accounted for nearly $174 billion in U.S. imports from China last year. The administrations plans suggest that such electronics will still be taxed by previous (non-reciprocal) tariffs and potentially under additional, sector-specific levies.Although major computer chip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. are investing heavily in U.S. manufacturing facilities, partly due to incentives put in place during former President Joe Bidens time in office, the costly process of changing entire supply chains would take years. Separately, the Commerce Department said Monday that it was withdrawing from a 2019 agreement that had suspended an antidumping investigation into imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, effective in 90 days. It said the current arrangement failed to protect U.S. growers from unfairly priced imports of tomatoes. Most tomatoes from Mexico will be subject to a 20.91% tariff, it said. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the APs business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto

Men and women rescued from scam compounds in Myanmar sit inside a camp belonging to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in Kyaukhat, Myanmar on April 13, 2025, after their escape attempt to discuss their options for getting home. (AP Photo)2025-04-15T09:32:19Z BANGKOK (AP) They walked out of the compound in Myanmar not knowing where they would go. Though they were aiming for the river that separated them from Thailand and freedom, they didnt know if they would make it across. A group of more than 270 some men and women, who were rescued from forced labor in scam compounds two months ago but remain in detention in Myanmar, attempted a mass escape Sunday out of fear that they may end up being sent back to prison-like compounds where they face beatings, torture and potentially even death.We will kill ourselves instead of going back to them, said one woman, who has been waiting to go home to Ethiopia for more than two months. She came to Myanmar for what she thought was a job in customer service more than a year ago, only to realize she had been trafficked. She was forced to work in online scams targeting people across the world. Facing pressure from China, Thailand and Myanmars governments launched a massive operation in February in which they released thousands of trafficked people from scam compounds, working with the ethnic armed groups that rule Myanmars border areas. Some 7,200 overwhelmingly from China have returned home, according to Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but around 1,700 are still stuck in Myanmar, many detained in locked compounds not much different to those they were released from. That includes this group of 270, most from Ethiopia and other African countries, who attempted to escape after a meeting in which guards suggested they could be returned to scam compounds. Their attempt underscores the ongoing humanitarian situation left by one of the biggest releases of forced laborers in modern history. Multiple members of the group described the escape attempt to The Associated Press by telephone. All asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution from the armed groups holding them. The delay in assistance has caused severe physical and psychological suffering, said Jay Kritiya in a statement, the coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Victim Assistance in Human Trafficking, an alliance of groups, who assists people who had been trafficked into scam compounds. Working in the scam compounds means a minimum 12 to 16-hour days of in front of computers where they are forced to contact targets from around the world online and manipulate them into handing over money. Survivors said if they dont meet targets, they are beaten or physically punished in other ways. Most of the 1,700 people still in Myanmar are being held in army camps or repurposed scam compounds controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, an ethnic militia that rules this part of Myanmar.But the most desperate were a group of 270 held by a neighboring ethnic militia group called the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, which rules an area south of the Border Guard Force. Non-profit organizations based at the border have been fundraising to help get these men and women home, but as the wait dragged on their embassies told some of them that they were not on Myanmars official list of people waiting for repatriation. That could stop them from being sent home even if they had plane tickets. In recent weeks, people from the group said, they saw visitors who appeared to be from the compounds come to talk to the DKBA militia soldiers. After one of these meetings, the DKBA soldiers came to the detained people and offered them a chance to go back to the compounds. They told them: Whoever wants to go back to work, can go back easily, said one man. There will not be punishment. There will be (a) salary.The men and women grew scared, and on Sunday, they took things into their own hands. They all packed up their suitcases and decided to head for the compounds exit. We are tired and we want to go, said one man. Theres no proper food. We are sleeping on the floor.They walked out slowly in a loose group, pulling all their personal belongings with them. Although they made it out the compound, they were met by soldiers with guns on the street, according to three people who tried to leave and videos of the confrontation viewed by the AP. Eventually, one of the soldiers said they were open to discussion, and the group agreed to turn back. Kritiya, the activist, said that the DKBA had agreed to send the men and women to Myawaddy, which is under the control of the Kayin Border Guard Force, where they could then be taken to Thailand and then their home countries. The DKBA could not be reached for comment. Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it was aware of the escape attempt and the men and womens names were being added to the official repatriation list. Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director at Acts of Mercy International, said her group, alongside an airline and partner groups, had raised enough money for the 270-plus group to go home. Ethiopia said it had repatriated 130 citizens from an earlier batch and further rounds will begin in the next 10 days, Ambassador Nebiat Getachew, spokesperson of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.For now, the men and women are waiting. Its really, really hard to trust, said one man. Youre not 100% sure it will happen.___AP writer Samuel Getachew contributed to this report from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. HUIZHONG WU Wu covers Chinese culture, society, and politics for The Associated Press, as well as the countrys growing overseas influence from Bangkok. She was previously based in Taiwan and China. twitter

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01141-9Resource constraints hobble analyses of how digital technologies affect mental health, and take a huge toll on the scientists working to make the online world safer.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01126-8An analysis for Nature reveals the studies that appear most in the reference lists of current publications.

Is Patrik Schick the man to solve Manchester United's goal-scoring woes? Transfer Talk has the latest news and gossip.

Here are the latest top 25 rankings with a new No. 1 team at the top.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01147-3A graduate student from southeast Asia, now based in a European country and missing her homeland, agonizes over her next career move.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01203-yDiscussions of technologies societal impacts are still too limited

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Here's what is at stake in each matchup, with playoff seeding and draft lottery position on the line.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01201-0Africa CDC must become financially independent

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01204-xEnsuring that conferences are inclusive requires diverse organizers

There's a new featherweight champion and new strawweight No. 1 contender -- but just one is in ESPN's top 10.

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Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01209-6Four people with liver failure will be connected to an external organ from genetically modified pigs.

Nature, Published online: 14 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01222-9Scientific bodies, academics and state attorneys have filed five lawsuits against the US National Institutes of Health, with more likely to follow. Plus, physicists have a new estimate for the maximum mass of a neutrino and a planet was spotted falling into its host star.

After firing their third coach in three years, the Suns' next -- and perhaps only -- move is trading the superstar owner Mat Ishbia acquired just hours after buying the team: Kevin Durant.

With a roster tight against the salary cap, the club has needed to make the most of its roster spots.

Boni Speer, left, and her daughter, Tracy Balhan, hold a photo of Bill Speer, Tracys father, in Aurora, Ill., on Friday, March 14, 2025. (Benjamin Thorp/WFYI Public Media via AP)2025-04-15T11:00:39Z AURORA, Ill. (AP) At her mothers home in Illinois, Tracy Balhan flips through photos of her dad, Bill Speer. In one picture, hes smiling in front of a bucket of sweating beers and wearing a blue T-shirt that reads, Pops. The man. The myth. The legend.Balhans father died last year after struggling with dementia. During one episode late in his life, he became so agitated that he tried to exit a moving car. Balhan recalls her dad larger than life, steady and loving yelling at the top of his lungs.His geriatric psychiatrist recommended she take him to the emergency room at Endeavor Healths Edward Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Naperville because of its connection to an inpatient behavioral care unit. She hoped it would help get him a quick referral.But Speer spent 12 hours in the emergency room at one point restrained by staff waiting for a psych evaluation. Balhan didnt know it then, but her dads experience at the hospital is so common it has a name: ER boarding. AP AUDIO: As dementia rates increase, experts warn hospital emergency rooms are underprepared If you or your loved one is 65 or older and you go to the ER, youre more likely to wait hours or even days before you get a hospital bed and receive specialized care. Thats especially true for dementia patients. In collaboration with The Associated Press, Side Effects Public Medias Ben Thorp reports that experts say things will only get worse as the U.S. prepares for a silver tsunami of aging baby boomers and spiking rates of dementia. One in six visits to the emergency department in 2022 that resulted in hospital admission had a wait of four or more hours, according to an Associated Press and Side Effects Public Media data analysis. Fifty percent of the patients who were boarded for any length of time were 65 and older, the analysis showed. Some people who arent in the middle of a life-threatening emergency might even wait weeks, health care experts said. ER boarding is a symptom of the U.S. health care systems struggles, including shrinking points of entry for patients seeking care outside of ERs and hospitals prioritizing beds for procedures insurance companies often pay more for. Experts also warn the boarding issue will worsen as the number of people 65 and older in the U.S. with dementia grows in the coming decades. Hospital bed capacity in the U.S. may not keep up. Between 2003 and 2023, the number of staffed hospital beds was static, even as emergency department visits shot up 30% to 40% over that same period. Number of hospital beds at issueFor older people with dementia, boarding can be especially dangerous, Chicago-based geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Shafi Siddiqui said. One research letter published in June 2024 in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at more than 200,000 patients and found long ER stays could be linked to a higher risk of dementia patients developing delirium a temporary state of mental confusion and sometimes hallucinations. People need to be enraged about (boarding), said Dr. Vicki Norton, president-elect of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.National emergency physician groups have lobbied for years to keep boarding under control. While theyve made some progress, nothing substantial has changed, despite concerns that it leads to worse patient outcomes.Dr. Alison Haddock, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said thats because boarding is a failing of the entire health care system that manifests in the ER, so solving it demands a systemic approach.Federal and state policy decisions made nearly 40 years ago limited the number of hospital beds, said Arjun Venkatesh, who studies emergency medicine at Yale. People are now living longer, he said, resulting in more complicated illnesses. In 2003, there were 965,000 staffed hospital beds compared to 913,000 in 2023, according to the American Hospital Association. And another JAMA research letter published in February shows there are 16% fewer staffed beds in the U.S. post-pandemic. The ones available may be prioritized for scheduled care patients who need non-urgent procedures, like cancer care or orthopedic surgeries. Insurance companies pay hospitals more for those surgeries, Haddock said, so hospitals arent likely to move patients into those beds even as emergency rooms fill up.Where can people go?Though long stays in the emergency department are common, there isnt good data that tracks the extremes, emergency medicine experts said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently ended a requirement that hospitals track the median wait times in their emergency departments. An advisory group that develops quality measures for CMS recommended that the agency try to more accurately capture long emergency department stays. That measure has recently been submitted to CMS, which can choose to adopt it. Patients families worry that long emergency room stays may make things worse for their loved ones, forcing some to search for limited alternatives to turn for support and care.Nancy Fregeau lives in Kankakee, Illinois, with her husband Michael Reeman, who has dementia.Last year, she said he visited the Riverside Medical Center emergency department several times, often staying more than four hours and in one case more than 10, before finally getting access to a behavioral care bed. Riverside declined to comment on Reemans case. During long waits, Fregeau doesnt know what reassurance she can offer her husband. Its hard enough for anyone to be in the ER but I cannot imagine someone with dementia being in there, she said. He just kept saying When am I going? Whats happening?Since November, Reeman has been going to the MCA Senior Adult Day Center in Kankakee. Fregeau said Reeman treats the day center like its his job, offering to vacuum and clean, but comes home happier after having time around other people and away from the house.In Illinois, there are fewer adult day centers than there are counties, and other resources for people with dementia are shrinking, too. A report from the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living found that 1,000 nursing homes in the U.S. closed between 2015 and 2022. At least 15 behavioral health centers, which are facilities that specialize in treating mental health issues, closed in 2023. With fewer places for patients to go after being discharged, hospital beds are being used for longer, exacerbating the boarding problem. Its becoming more difficult to get a specialty hospital bed, especially when patients dementia causes aggression. That was the case for Balhans father, who became increasingly agitated during his ER stay. Hospital staff told Balhan the behavioral care unit wasnt taking dementia patients, so Speer was stuck in the ER for 24 hours until they found a behavioral health facility, separate from the health system, that would take him.While the hospital couldnt comment on Speers specific situation, Endeavor Health spokesperson Spencer Walrath said its behavioral care unit typically admits geriatric psychiatry patients, including those with dementia, but it depends on factors like bed availability and the patients specific medical needs.Balhan feels that the U.S. health care system failed to treat her dad as a human being.It didnt feel to me like he was being treated with any dignity as a person, she said. If anything could change, that would be the change that I would want to see.___AP data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.___This story is a collaboration between Side Effects Public Media, a health reporting collaboration of NPR member stations across the Midwest, and The Associated Press. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A version of this piece originally ran on DexDigi, Dexter Thomass newsletter, and a video version ran on his YouTube. Please consider subscribing to both.The Hollywood sign was on fire; or at least, it was online. Those images and videos were fake and AI-generated. Maybe you already knew this. But people made money off of them, anyway.At the beginning of January, the Instagram account FutureRiderUS was posting AI videos of a motorcycle riding through futuristic landscapes hence the name. Those videos usually would get anywhere from 20k to 30k views. But then, the fires started.The next day, FutureRiderUS posted its own flaming Hollywood sign video. That one got a million views.Next, they posted another AI video, this one focusing on firefighters rescuing baby animals.23 million views on that one. 78,000 comments, 2.5 million likes.How much money did they make? It's hard to say exactly, but we can estimate.Instagram pays people through programs where creators earn money based on how many views their Reels receive. The more viral a video, the longer users stay on the app, which allows Instagram to show more ads. Instagram then passes on some of the profit to the creator. How much? Meta doesnt publish those numbers, and it varies depending on the audience that is looking at them. But I asked a few influencers, and the recent rate seems to be around $100~$120 per million views. Jasons reporting shows that Facebook was paid out a few hundred dollars for single viral AI generated images, and Meta has paid out more than $2 billion through programs like Ads on Reels.Just look at FutureRiderUSs most popular posts from a roughly 24 hour stretch starting Jan 10:1m + 24m + 6m + 6m + 45m + 4m + 8m 94 million views.Thats 94 million views, from typing in some prompts. Conservatively, this is likely worth thousands of dollars. Not a bad days work.After that initial hit, FutureRiderUS started experimenting with different combinations of LA fire-themed AI slop, refining as they go. At first, their focus was on the firefighters holding baby animals. When the views on these started slowing down, the account shifted to videos showing animals running from fire; no firefighters needed. One features a swan bleeding out onto a freeway, with no visible fire at all.Its obvious what is going on here: FutureRiderUS realized that animals are a reliable attention-getter, but theyre experimenting to see which combination is the most profitable. Theyre A/B testing the AI slop to see what sticks.When I say slop, by the way, I partially mean that in a literal sense. In the most popular video, a man is inexplicably exuding smoke from under his jacket as he cradles an owl. Another firefighter, instead of saving a raccoon, instead appears to nudge it back into the flames. Its sloppy.Still, a lot of people seem to be genuinely unaware that these images are fake. Some people can tell, and have commented angrily or jokingly about it. (A third group: people who are initially fooled, but when another commenter tells them its fake, they get annoyed, saying that they appreciate seeing images of heroic firefighters or vulnerable animals, even if those specific ones are not real.)FutureRiderUS has addressed this, sort of.In the comments section of their most viral post (45 million views) featuring a firefighter carrying two baby bears to safety, they posted a response to angry commenters. Three days after the initial post, they commented, admitting that the post is AI-generated. They said, in part: (emphasis mine):In this video, I aimed to shed light on the reality of what is happening. These problems are very realanimals are dying, homes are being destroyed, and firefighters are risking their lives to save others. They dont have the time to produce visually stunning and powerful footage to raise awareness about these issues. Thats why I took the initiative to create something that could help people see and truly think about these tragedies. []Through art, even when created by AI, we can evoke emotions, raise awareness, and inspire change.The logic of their argument seems to be this (my paraphrase):If I don't post these provocative images, nobody will care about the brave firefighters or the people who lost their homes.This sort of defensive, it-doesnt-matter-if-its-fake stance is something that we are starting to notice more, as its used to justify the posting (and monetization) of everything from Palestinians to flood victims. But we shouldnt lose track of the context: the main purpose of this account is to make money. It says so right on the page.On January 18th, as the fires were still burning, FutureRiderUS posted a Reel advertising their $19.99 course on how to create viral content online by posting AI videos: Earn $5000 a Month with Viral Videos - Zero Experience Needed - Start Today and Watch Your Life Change.To be clear, the man in the video above isnt FutureRiderUS - the voice and video are AI-generated.The post also goes on to brag about how FutureRiderUS got 285 million views in one month. The post (as well as another earlier one) points viewers to the link in their bio, which takes you to the course that promises to teach you to replicate FutureRiderUS success. The landing page contains screenshots of the viral fire videos as proof of their virality.From their ad copy:This proves that anything is possible when you know how to create content that grabs attention.Again this is about creating content that grabs attention.Not raising awareness. And for the account owner to suggest that they are motivated by something other than money seems disingenuous. There are no donation links, no mention of local organizations. Instead, the only call to action is to click the link to buy their viral video course.I usually wouldnt do this, but for journalisms sake, I bought the course. The course contains two files. The first is a ten-page, wide-spaced PDF that is clearly ChatGPT-generated. If youre curious, heres a summary of the main points:Look online for what is already trending at the momenttype that into Sora.ai to generate a similar videoadd music, then post the video onlinerepeat multiple times a dayNothing you couldnt find online for free or perhaps guess yourself.Really the only unique parts of the guide are two rules it suggests: first, that you should clearly label the post as AI-generated. FutureRiderUS doesnt seem to follow this rule, but more on that in a moment.And then, it tells you to not spend too much time on any one video. Just 30 minutes are enough to move from concept to final upload, it advises. And to drive home this point, theres the second file: an .mp4 that is just a screen recording of an iPhone going from prompt to upload in seven minutes.Youre probably curious about who is behind the account. I was, too. So I asked them some questions via Instagram DM.Heres a summary of what they told me: Theyre Russian, and they only started doing this in December. OpenAIs Sora had been released that month, and they got an account and started posting AI videos. Success came pretty immediately. They proudly told me about their high follower count across multiple social media platforms, and how well their guide was selling. As they put it, the results speak for themselves.When I started asking about their LA fire videos, they started to get annoyed. I pointed out that most commenters clearly didnt understand it was AI. The ones who did seemed angry. FutureRiderUS said that they didnt see the problem, because they had added an AI label to their videos.Heres the thing: FutureRiderUS is right.On all of the fake fire videos FutureRiderUS has uploaded, there is an AI Info label. Not on the video itself, but in the Instagram interface. The trouble is that the label doesnt show up when youre watching the video normally. You can only see it if you tap the See More tag, and even then, space is prioritized for the song title, so sometimes the tag is pushed off of the screen.2Ive actually already shown an example in this article. Scroll back up and look at the screenshots of the fake burning Hollywood sign that went viral. That tiny A in the bottom right. Did you notice it?(I made a video that explains this interface part a bit more visually. Jump to 12:00).Below is the best-case scenario. The left image is what the 43-million view post looks like from the main grid; the center is what it looks like when youre scrolling this is where people spend most of their time. The right is what it looks like if you take the trouble to open the text description.It says AI Info in small text on the bottom right. Not AI Warning, not AI Caution. Just AI Info.Why would you click this?Meta has a page that makes a big deal about this tag. They primarily show what it looks like in the grid view. The issue is that its even more imperceptible there. Have a look at that Los Angeles, California tag in the leftmost image above. Up in the top left, under the username. When you first look at the post in the grid, thats what you see the location tag. And then, the music title scrolls into view for a few moments. Only after that, the text AI Info appears. By that time, youre watching the video, not looking at tiny text scrolls in the upper corner of your screen.You have to either wait for 5.5 seconds (I timed it) for the AI info to appear, or you have to search at the bottom of the screen.3In our conversation, FutureRiderUS said that it isnt the posters fault if people didnt notice the interface AI tag: it was Instagrams responsibility to make the tags bigger or more noticeable.FutureRiderUS insisted that they are following the rules as written. As I spoke to them, I realized that they were probably correct. But just to make sure, I sent an email to Metas press department, asking if simply adding the AI Info tag is enough.I never got a response, but Meta has indicated to 404 Media and to the general public more broadly that it has no problem with this type of content and that it expects to see more AI-generated content on its platforms moving forward.This all said, there are easy ways to make it clear that your post is not real. Some creators will do this by putting an #AI tag prominently at the beginning of the post, and then writing their caption below.FutureRiderUS, in their own guide they sell to customers, suggests going further and actually writing it in the post itself. I sent them a quote from their own guide:"Important: State that this content (or parts of it) is AI-generated (e.g., 'Created with AI' or 'AI-Generated Content')."(The bolded Important is in the original.)This really seemed to annoy FutureRiderUS, and they accused me of harassment:"Why should anyone pressure me or force me to do something beyond the established rules? I am following the platforms guidelines, and anything beyond that crosses a line. This kind of behavior can be considered harassment, as it unfairly targets and imposes additional expectations on me that are not required by the platform."If its not already obvious, everything FutureRiderUS wrote to me, as well as their captions and comments, is being copied and pasted from ChatGPT.To be clear, I am not really interested in criticizing any one individual here. In the absence of stronger rules on Instagram, this just comes down to a question of ethics. I am free to believe that what FutureRiderUS is doing is not ethical; they are free to disagree, or at least pretend to.But neither of our opinions matter, because of two facts: fake AI slop is profitable, and there are countless users doing the same thing. Theres absolutely nothing to stop them.That is: the Instagram platform doesnt just enable this behavior, it rewards it. So do other platforms. On Instagram and TikTok, FutureRiderUSs top hits are from fake LA fires; on YouTube, its three-hour long Christmas music compilations with slop visuals of families shopping. None are clearly labeled. Disaster porn is just another kind of #content.It doesnt really matter what that content is: as long as it is content that grabs attention, both sides can make money.For the slop creator and the platform, this is a clear win-win, at least in the short term. The only loser here is the audience, who is unable to recognize slop when they see it.Theres this thing that AI proponents like to say every time something new comes out: this is the worst it'll ever be. So far, they've been right, and they may well continue to be right. Its hard to predict what happens next with AI, but I have one prediction I feel fairly comfortable making: unaided, most of us will always struggle to reliably recognize AI when we see it.But its hard to blame us when two sides are conspiring against us: Instagrams interface makes it almost impossible to tell, and creators are incentivized to lie by omission.A few days after their viral successes, the viewcounts on FutureRiderUS fire content started to dwindle. The fires themselves were still burning in Los Angeles, but FutureRiderUS shifted focus. On January 14, as talks of a Gaza ceasefire started to circulate, the account anticipated interest in the trend, and made a post as their viral video guide suggests.This post is an AI slop collage of a Palestinian flag atop a spire, a woman crying as bodies and rubble lay in the street, children, bloody arms, doctors walking sideways. The caption is a vaguely worded, inoffensive block of text that says, in part, This is not about taking sides, its about humanity.This move is completely obvious to anyone who follows FutureRiderUS viral video guide or honestly, any of the tons of books, articles, LinkedIn posts or videos by content creators who teach you how to make content and grow your account.Again, its all about content. Content that grabs attention. Of course somebody was going to use those tools and strategies for something like this. As long as the platforms allow it and keep making money off of it there's no reason for it to stop.FutureRiderUS had decided that the algorithmic juice had been squeezed out of Los Angeles. Moving on to Palestine content is just a business decision.graph of Google Trends searches for la firesThe Palestine post got a few comments, which are of the usual sort: heart emojis, crying emojis, someone musing about a world war. One of the commenters seems completely uninterested in Palestine, humanity, or a ceasefire. Instead, they ask the real question:if i join your courses, what ill get from the courses?But after nearly a day, the Palestine video hadnt even broken 10k views. It was a flop.A few hours later, FutureRiderUS posted a video of a bear eating honey.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01128-6A powerful and unbiased way to identify links between genetic variants and biological traits has changed scientists understanding of complex diseases and how to treat them.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00918-2A 250,000-year-old footprint preserved in ash, and the effect of a polluted atmosphere on health and the economy, in our weekly dip into Natures archive.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi wants to play at the 2026 World Cup, according to his Inter Miami teammate and friend Luis Suarez.

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Peeps marshmallow treats move through the manufacturing process at the Just Born factory in Bethlehem, Pa., Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-04-15T05:01:05Z BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) Love them or hate them, those marshmallow Peeps that come in blindingly bright colors and an array of flavors are inescapable around the Easter holiday. Millions are made daily in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by Just Born Quality Confections, a family-owned candy manufacturer that also churns out Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike fruit chews and Goldenbergs Peanut Chews.Peeps is Just Borns most recognizable brand and one of a handful of candies that evoke strong reactions good and bad. Some say an Easter basket isnt complete without Peeps while others deride them as being indestructible. Some use them in recipes or even artwork. Even if youre not usually one to gravitate to eating the Peeps, theres always so many other fun ways to include them in your celebrations, said Caitlin Servian, brand manager for Peeps. How many Peeps are made each year?On average, about 5.5 million are made each day.That adds up to 2 billion a year or roughly 6 Peeps for every man, woman and child across the U.S. How many different varieties and colors are there?First hatched in yellow, the sugary chicks and bunnies come in nine colors for this Easter season, including pink, blue and lavender. And there are even more flavors 14 for Easter from cookies and cream, to fruit punch and sour watermelon. The varieties and colors vary throughout the year with different holiday seasons. How long does it take to make a Peep?Before the early 1950s, making the candies by hand took 27 hours. Bob Born, who became known as the Father of Peeps, came up with a way to speed up the process. He and a company engineer designed a machine to make them in less than six minutes. The same process is used today. How are they made?The main ingredients sugar, corn syrup and gelatin are cooked and combined to create marshmallows, which are then shaped and sent through a sugar shower.A whopping 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of sugar is used per batch for Peeps colored sugars. Freshly made Peeps each chick weighs one-third of an ounce then move along a conveyor so that they can cool before being packaged. ___Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Vejpongsa is a video journalist for The Associated Press in Philadelphia. She was previously based in Taipei and Bangkok. twitter JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto

None of the frontier AI research labs have presented any evidence that they are on the brink of achieving artificial general intelligence, no matter how they define that goal, but Google is already planning for a Post-AGI world by hiring a scientist for its DeepMind AI lab to research the profound impact that technology will have on society.Spearhead research projects exploring the influence of AGI on domains such as economics, law, health/wellbeing, AGI to ASI [artificial superintelligence], machine consciousness, and education, Google says in the first item on a list of key responsibilities for the job. Artificial superintelligence refers to a hypothetical form of AI that is smarter than the smartest human in all domains. This is self explanatory, but just to be clear, when Google refers to machine consciousness its referring to the science fiction idea of a sentient machine.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Elon Musk, and other major and minor players in the AI industry are all working on AGI and have previously talked about the likelihood of humanity achieving AGI, when that might happen, and what the consequences might be, but the Google job listing shows that companies are now taking concrete steps for what comes after, or are at least are continuing to signal that they believe it can be achieved.Part of the problem is that AGI is a loosely defined term and goal. According to The Information, a 2023 document from OpenAI and Microsoft defined AGI as an AI system that can generate up to $100 billion in profit, which seems entirely removed from any scientific benchmark. Earlier this year, Altman wrote that OpenAI is confident it knows how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it and that the company believes that in 2025 well see the first AI agents join the workforce. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later downplayed this type of AGI definition, saying Us self-claiming some AGI milestone, thats just nonsensical benchmark hacking to me.As other critics have previously pointed out, AGI and the massive impact it could theoretically have on society is also a useful marketing strategy for AI companies, allowing them to hype up their value based on something that may or may not happen in the future, while distracting from the actual problems and harm their AI system are actively causing as they exist.Googles job listing appears to prepare the company for the most ambitious, science fiction-y interpretation of AGI. Other key responsibilities for the job include research projects exploring the influence of AGI on domains such as economics, law, health/wellbeing, AGI to ASI, machine consciousness, and education, conducting in-depth studies to analyze AGI's societal impacts across key domains, and building infrastructure and evaluation frameworks for a systematic evaluation of AI's societal effects.The job listing comes shortly after Deepmind published a report in early April about taking a responsible path to AGI. The report, which states that AI thats at least as capable as humans at most cognitive tasks, could be here within the coming years, details how Google is taking a systematic and comprehensive approach to AGI safety, exploring four main risk areas: misuse, misalignment, accidents, and structural risks, with a deeper focus on misuse and misalignment.Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01177-xTo combat long-overlooked fungal pathogens, researchers and regulators must embrace innovative science and policy.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01202-zScientists must regain trust

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Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)2025-04-15T04:04:49Z NEW YORK (AP) The last time a New York City jury sat in judgment of Harvey Weinstein, the ex-movie studio boss was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison.Five years later, that landmark #MeToo verdict is gone wiped away on appeal and Weinstein is set to go on trial again, beginning Tuesday with jury selection.New Yorks highest court, the Court of Appeals, overturned Weinsteins conviction and ordered a new trial, finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted his original one in 2020.That ruling gave Weinstein a second chance to fight the charges and do so in a different atmosphere than his first trial, which was held in the middle of a global reckoning over sexual misconduct.Weinstein, 73, who has pleaded not guilty and denies that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, is older and more frail, in and out of the hospital regularly for a variety of health problems. Hes now far removed from when he was among the most powerful men in the movie business. Even if he is acquitted, he will not walk free.Weinstein is also appealing a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, though his lawyers said he needs to be resentenced because the since-vacated New York conviction factored into how his punishment was calculated. Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial. He is accused of raping an aspiring actor in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a criminal sex act by forcing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006. He is also charged with one count of criminal sex act based on an allegation from a woman who was not a part of the original trial. That woman, who has asked that she not be named publicly, alleges that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel.Speaking outside the courthouse on Tuesday, that accusers lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said one thing would become crystal clear from her clients upcoming testimony at the trial: This was not consensual. This was sexual assault with force. I am confident that there will be justice in this case, Goldbrum told reporters, adding that her client was resolved to testify. It is important for women everywhere and for people who are victims of sexual assault everywhere that others pave the way and show their dedication in this fight against sexual assault.Judge Curtis Farber has set aside at least four days for jury selection and expects opening statements and the start of testimony next week.The judge, prosecution and defense will work to whittle a massive pool of potential jurors down to the 18 people 12 jurors and six alternates needed for the trial by asking questions and seeking to eliminate anyone they feel cant judge the case fairly.Selecting a jury will involve bringing in around 80 potential jurors at a time for two basic screening questions. The first group was brought in late Tuesday morning after defense lawyers and prosecutors ironed out some last-minute loose ends. The judge will ask for a show of hands from anyone who has work, family or other obligations that will prevent them from serving. Hell then ask for a show of hands from anyone who feels they cant be impartial based on the nature of the charges or news coverage.Anyone who raises a hand will be sent home, Farber has said.Those who remain will be seated in or near the jury box, 24 at a time, and asked additional questions about things like their education, work, and whether anyone they know is in law enforcement or has been a victim of a crime.Prosecutors and Weinsteins lawyers will each have 40 minutes to question each subset of 24 potential jurors. Often, lawyers will use that time to follow up on things raised in earlier questioning or zero in on concerns about potential biases.Either side can ask the judge to dismiss a potential juror. If too many jurors are dismissed, another group will be brought in and the process will repeat until the full jury is seated. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using various artificial intelligence tools, including ones that can quickly identify people of interest by pulling data from social media, according to documents published by the agency last week and marketing material from the contractors.The documents follow others that 404 Media has previously obtained and published through the Freedom of Information Act and are more up to date.Fivecast ONYX supports the collection of publicly available, internet-based content in near real-time, quickly organizing the content to facilitate analysis and the surfacing of risks and threats against the homeland to enhance CBP tactical targeting, analysis and vetting capabilities while at the same time supporting CBPs strategic counter-network analysis, one of the documents says, referring to the Australian intelligence company Fivecast. CBP also published documents about Dataminr, another social media monitoring company.Do you work at Fivecast, Dataminr, or DHS? 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.CBP published the latest documents to its website which lists AI programs or tools related to the agency on April 7. Previous documents published in the last year include ones discussing an underwater inspection system, anomaly detection algorithms, and its use of autonomous surveillance towers.The release of these documents happened the same week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will Begin Screening Aliens Social Media Activity for Antisemitism. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a different branch of DHS, is conducting the antisemitism social media searches, according to the announcement. CBP told 404 Media in an email that Neither tool is used for vetting or travel application processing, referring to Dataminr and Onyx, but did not elaborate beyond that.The release of information about these tools comes in a climate of high-profile detainment of students who have criticized Israels indiscriminate bombing campaign in Gaza. Hundreds of students have had their visas revoked, many for protesting against Israel, and people who have criticized Israel have been detained on the street or at official appointments with DHS.A video on Fivecasts website says Onyx combines advanced data collection and AI-enabled analytics to rapidly identify people of interest. Some of those AI capabilities include object and concept recognition from images and videos; natural language processing that looks for risky keywords and phrases; a tool that looks for similar phrases across investigations; and user-trainable logo detector, according to the video.As 404 Media previously reported, Onyx also includes sentiment and emotion detection over time.Although published recently, the Fivecast documents date from May 2023. One of them, a statement of work, says CBP is proactively collecting, harnessing and applying the power of data, intelligence, and advanced analytics. This statement of work is similar to some 404 Media obtained from CBP through FOIA requests discussing the agencys bulk pilot of Fivecast in March 2021 and another from 2022. Journalist Todd Feathers also obtained what appears to be the May 2023 statement of work.The recently added documents to the AI section of CBPs website also includes Dataminr, a social media monitoring company that also claims to use AI, although the company has been around for years. In recent years, Dataminr has integrated Generative AI for real-time event description and launched ReGenAI (Regenerative AI), a breakthrough form of Generative AI that automatically regenerates in real time as events unfold. Dataminrs AI platform is powered by more than 50 proprietary LLMs and multi-modal foundation models, trained on Dataminrs 12+ year proprietary event archive, its website reads.That statement of work from September 2023 says OSINT Team analysts, working alongside CBPs tactical targeting/analytical units, intelligence support cells, and enforcement units, use a commercially available tools and analytical tradecraft methodologies to exploit asymmetric data sources to inform targeting, vetting, and network development and analysis workflows.The document adds DataMinr enables advanced search, collection, and analysis of publicly available information through a single user interface, facilitating the collection of information regarding people, places, and things across social media platforms, as well as general information held on the surface, deep, and dark web to inform situational awareness and to support CBP law enforcement and national security operations.I previously obtained a document which said CBP used another AI-powered monitoring tool called Babel X to screen travelers, including U.S. citizens.Neither Fivecast nor Dataminr responded to a request for comment.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01130-yFatal blood clots can arise in people who have cancer. The discovery of a cue that underlies these clots offers a therapeutic target and a way to assess clot risk.