Elon Musk speaks at a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)2025-04-02T03:39:21Z MADISON, Wis. (AP) Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.Musk and his affiliated groups sunk at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Donald Trumps administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was buying the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history. Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court, Crawford said in her victory speech. And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale. Trump endorsed Schimel as the race turned into a proxy fight over national political issues. The states high court can rule on cases involving voting rights and redistricting in a state likely to be at the center of both next years midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest. But Musks involvement dialed those dynamics up to 11: A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization, the billionaire said Tuesday in a last-ditch call to voters on his social media site X. I think it matters for the future of the world.Notably, America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the non-partisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump in November. But the end results this time were not good for Musk. Despite the millions he spent on Schimel, as of late Tuesday night the Supreme Court candidate was losing by four percentage points more than the other Republican-backed statewide candidate, Brittany Kinser, who also fell short in her bid for superintendent of public instruction. Musks court race defeat wasnt only because of crushing Democratic margins in deep blue cities like Madison and Milwaukee. Crawfords margins were higher in places where the Musk-backed group America PAC had been active, including Sauk County, just north of Madison, which Crawford was carrying by 10 points after Trump won it by less than 2 points in November.In Brown County, the home of Green Bay where Musk headlined a campaign rally with 2,000 people on Sunday, Crawford beat Schimel. Trump won the county by 7 percentage points last year.Musk was silent on his X platform in the wake of Crawfords victory, reposting a message about Vietnam and tariffs but nothing on the Supreme Court contest. The platform was rife with criticism from Trump opponents for his involvement in the race. Please send @elonmusk to all the close races! Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, wrote.Elon Musk is not good at this, J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Democratic governor and a billionaire himself who donated to support Crawford, posted on X.Voters definitely had Musk on their minds.Theres an insane situation going on with the Trump administration, and it feels like Elon Musk is trying to buy votes, said Kenneth Gifford, a 22-year-old Milwaukee college student, as he cast his ballot on Tuesday. I want an actual, respectable democracy. Others may not have had their vote decided by the billionaire but were all-too aware of the money pouring into their state.Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree who previously worked in communications and marketing, said he voted for Schimel because he wants Republicans to maintain their outsized majority in Wisconsins congressional delegation, which could be at risk if Crawford wins and the court orders the maps redrawn. But, he added, he was disappointed the election had become a financial race. I think its a shame that we have to spend this much money, especially on a judicial race, Seeger said as he voted in Eau Claire.Wisconsins Democratic Attorney General, Josh Kaul, sued to bar Musk from making his payments to voters if they signed a petition against activist judges. The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to rule on the case over a technicality.Musk swooped into the race shortly after Trumps inauguration. Republicans were pessimistic about being able to win the seat. They lost a longtime conservative majority on the state high court in 2023, and Democrats have excelled in turning out their educated, politically tuned-in coalition during obscure elections such as the one in Wisconsin. Musk duplicated and expanded on some of the methods he used in the final weeks of last years presidential race, when he spent more than $200 million on Trumps behalf in the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.This time, in addition to the $1 million checks, Musk offered to pay $20 to anyone who signed up on his groups site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof. His organization promised $100 to every voter who signed the petition against liberal judges and another $100 for every signer they referred.Democrats were happy to make Musk a lightning rod in the race.People do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Monday. If it works here, hes going to do it all over the country.___Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Washington contributed to this report. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto

The Timberwolves overcame a career- and NBA-best 61-point triple-double performance from Nikola Jokic to outlast the Nuggets 140-139 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

Stephen Curry had 52 points and 12 3-pointers as the Warriors held on for a wild 134-125 win over the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

The Timberwolves overcame a career- and NBA-best 61-point triple-double performance from Nikola Jokic to outlast the Nuggets 140-139 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

Displaced Palestinians arrive in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)2025-04-02T05:02:48Z KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) As Israel orders wide new evacuations across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians say they are crushed by exhaustion and hopelessness at the prospect of fleeing once again. Many are packing a few belongings and trudging off in search of new shelters. Some say they just cant bear to move.When ordered out of Jabaliya in northern Gaza, Ihab Suliman and his family could only grab some food and blankets before making their way south March 19. It was their eighth time fleeing over the past 18 months of war.There is no longer any taste to life, said Suliman, a former university professor. Life and death have become one and the same for us. Suliman is among the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled temporary shelters since Israel shattered a 2-month-old ceasefire on March 18 with renewed bombardment and ground assaults. Daunted by the notion of starting over, some Palestinians are ignoring the latest evacuation orders even if it means risking their lives.After one year and a half of war that has exhausted everyone, children and their parents, too, are just worn out physically and mentally, said Rosalia Bollen, UNICEFs communication specialist. For the past month, Israel has blocked all food, fuel and supplies from entering Gaza, and aid groups say there are no more tents or other shelter supplies to help the newly displaced. On Tuesday, the World Food Program shut down all its bakeries in Gaza, on which hundreds of thousands rely for bread, because it had run out of flour. Many are fleeing with almost no belongingsIsraels evacuation orders now cover large swaths of the Gaza Strip, including many areas of Gaza City and towns in the north, parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, and almost the entire southern city of Rafah and its surroundings.As of March 23, more than 140,000 people had been displaced again since the end of the ceasefire, according to the latest U.N. estimate and tens of thousands more are estimated to have fled under evacuation orders over the past week.Every time families have moved during the war, they have had to leave behind belongings and start nearly from scratch, finding food, water and shelter. Now, with no fuel entering, transportation is even more difficult, so many are fleeing with almost nothing.With each displacement, were tortured a thousand times, Suliman said. He and his family found an apartment to rent in the central town of Deir al-Balah. He said theyre struggling, with no electricity and little aid. They must walk long distances to find water.Fleeing from Rafah on Monday, Hanadi Dahoud said she is struggling to find essentials.Where do we go? she said. We just want to live. We are tired. There are long queues waiting for bread and charity kitchens.During the two-month ceasefire that began in mid-January, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flowed back to their neighborhoods. Even if their homes were destroyed, they wanted to be near them sometimes setting up tents on or next to the rubble.They had hoped it would be the end of their displacement in a war that has driven nearly the entire population of some 2.3 million from their homes.The war in Gaza began with Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Since then, Israels retaliatory offensive has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in squalid, crowded tent camps or schools-turned-shelters. Most have had to move multiple times to escape fighting and bombardment. Shelter is limitedSome shelters are so crowded they have had to turn families away, said Shaina Low, communications adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council.Many families are streaming back to Muwasi, a barren coastal stretch of southern Gaza where, before the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands had been packed into tent cities. During the ceasefire, the camps thinned out as people returned to their neighborhoods. Those returning are finding that tents are scarce; aid groups say they have none to give out because of Israels blockade.More than a million people urgently need tents, while thousands of others require plastic sheets and ropes to strengthen fragile makeshift shelters, Gavin Kelleher, NRCs humanitarian access manager in Gaza, said at a recent media briefing. For now, people are cramming into tents or moving into destroyed buildings that are in danger of collapse trying to put absolutely anything between themselves and the sky at night, Kelleher said.Relocating and reinstalling health and nutrition facilities amid declining aid supplies has been absolutely draining for families and humanitarian workers, UNICEFs Bollen said.Our job would be much easier if we had access to our supplies and if we didnt have to fear for our own lives at every moment, she said.Khaled Abu Tair led a donkey cart with some bread and blankets as he and his family fled Khan Younis. He said they were heading God knows where, and would have to set up on the street a makeshift shelter out of sheets.We do not have a place, there are no tents, no places to live or shelter, or anything, he said. Some cant bear to moveWhen orders came to evacuate Gaza Citys Tel Hawa district, Sara Hegy and her mother decided to stay. Their original home in the nearby district of Zaytoun is too destroyed to be livable, and Hegy said she was in despair at the thought of starting over again.I had a breakdown the day the war resumed. I didnt leave the house, said Hegy, who had started an online tutoring job a few days before Israel relaunched its assault.Others dread the evacuation orders that might come.Noor Abu Mariam said she and her brother and parents have already been displaced 11 times over the course of the war, moving through tent camps and houses around the south, each time starting over in the search for shelter, food and supplies.Now back in Gaza City, she cant do it again, she said.I refuse to leave the house no matter the circumstances because I am not psychologically prepared to relive those difficult days I lived in the south, she said.___Khaled reported from Cairo.

President Donald Trump speaks at a reception celebrating Women's History Month in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-04-02T04:01:52Z WASHINGTON (AP) After weeks of White House hype and public anxiety, President Donald Trump is set Wednesday to announce a barrage of self-described reciprocal tariffs on friend and foe alike.The new tariffs coming on what Trump has called Liberation Day is a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists assessments, the risky move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and mangle decades-old alliances.The White House is exuding confidence despite the political and financial gamble being undertaken.April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Tuesdays briefing while adding that the new tariffs will take effect immediately. The reciprocal tariffs Trump plans to announce follow similar recent announcements of 25% taxes on auto imports; levies against China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump has also put tariffs against countries that import oil from Venezuela and plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips. None of the warning signs about a falling stock market or consumer sentiment turning morose have caused the administration to publicly second-guess its strategy. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has suggested that the new tariffs would raise $600 billion annually, which would be the largest tax increase since World War II. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers that the tariffs would be capped and could be negotiated downward by other countries, according to the office of Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla. But the White House has yet to confirm policy details, despite Trump saying on Monday that he had made his decision.Importers would likely pass along some of the cost of the taxes on to consumers. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates that a 20% universal tariff would cost the average household an additional $3,400 to $4,200. The administrations premise is that manufacturers will quickly increase domestic production and create new factory jobs and the White House is expressing confidence that Trumps approach is absolutely correct.Theyre not going to be wrong, Leavitt said. It is going to work. And the president has a brilliant team of advisers who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focused on restoring the golden age of America and making America a manufacturing superpower.The bold optimism has done little to reassure the public or allies who see the import taxes as a threat.Based on the possibility of broad 20% tariffs that have been floated by some White House aides, most analyses see an economy tarnished by higher prices and stagnation. U.S. economic growth as measured by gross domestic product would be roughly a percentage point lower, and clothing, oil, automobiles, housing, groceries and even insurance would cost more, the Budget Lab analysis found. Trump would single-handedly be applying these tariffs, since he has ways of legally doing so without congressional approval. That makes it easy for Democratic lawmakers and policymakers to criticize the Republican administration, if the uncertainty expressed by businesses and declining consumer sentiment are, in fact, signs of trouble to come. Heather Boushey, who served as a member of the Biden White Houses Council of Economic Advisers, noted that the less aggressive tariffs Trump imposed during his first term failed to stir the manufacturing renaissance he promised voters.We are not seeing indications of the boom that the president promised, Boushey said. Its a failed strategy.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the tariffs were fundamentally a way for Trump to raise revenues in order to pay for his planned extensions of income tax cuts that disproportionately favor millionaires and billionaires.Almost everything they do, including tariffs, it seems to me, is aimed at getting those tax cuts for the wealthy, Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. Even Republicans who trust Trumps instincts have acknowledged that the tariffs could be disruptive to an economy with an otherwise healthy 4.1 % unemployment rate.Well see how it all develops, said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. It may be rocky in the beginning. But I think that this will make sense for Americans and help all Americans.Longtime trading partners are preparing their own countermeasures. Canada has already imposed some in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, put taxes on 26 billion euros worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including on bourbon, which prompted Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol. Many allies feel they have been reluctantly drawn into a confrontation by Trump, who routinely says that friends and foes have essentially ripped off the United States with a mix of tariffs and other trade barriers.The flip side, of course, is that Americans also have the incomes to choose to buy designer gowns by French fashion houses and autos from German manufacturers, whereas World Bank data show the EU has lower incomes per capita than the United States.Europe has not started this confrontation, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. We do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it.Because Trump has hyped his tariffs without providing specifics, he has provided a deeper sense of uncertainty for the world, a sign that the economic slowdown could possibly extend beyond U.S. borders to other nations that would see one person to blame.Ray Sparnaay, general manager of JE Fixture & Tool, a Canadian tool and die business that sits across the Detroit River, said the uncertainty has crushed his companys ability to make plans.Theres going to be tariffs implemented. We just dont know at this point, he said Monday. Thats one of the biggest problems weve had probably the last well, since November is the uncertainty. Its basically slowed all of our quoting processes, business that we hope to secure has been stalled.___Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Mike Householder in Oldcastle, Ontario, contributed to this report. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

With Dustin May on the mound for the first time in more than 22 months, the Dodgers came from behind to beat the Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night and improve to 7-0, tying the 1933 Yankees for the best start to a season by a reigning World Series champion.

In the heat of the Eastern Conference playoff race, and with his team struggling, New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy said Anthony Duclair was "god-awful" in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and that the veteran is failing to meet expectations.

With Dustin May on the mound for the first time in more than 22 months, the Dodgers came from behind to beat the Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night and improve to 7-0, tying the 1933 Yankees for the best start to a season by a reigning World Series champion.

A rescuer works through rubble of a collapsed building following Friday's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-04-02T07:25:39Z BANGKOK (AP) Rescue crews in Myanmar pulled a 26-year-old man out alive from the rubble of the capital city hotel where he worked early Wednesday, but most teams were finding only bodies five days after a massive earthquake hit the country. After using an endiscopic camera to pinpoint Naing Lin Tuns location in the rubble and confirm that he was alive, the man was gingerly pulled through a hole jackhammered through a floor and loaded on to a gurney nearly 108 hours after he was trapped in the hotel where he worked.Shirtless and covered in dust, Naing Lin Tun appeared weak but conscious in a video released by the local fire department, as he was fitted with an IV drip and taken away. State-run MRTV reported that the rescue in the city of Naypyitaw was carried out by a Turkish and local team and took more than nine hours. The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit midday Friday, toppling thousands of buildings, collapsing bridges and buckling roads. So far, 2,719 people have been reported dead and another 4,521 injured but local reports suggest much higher figures. The earthquake also rocked neighboring Thailand, causing the collapse of a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok. One body was removed from the rubble early Wednesday, raising the death total in Bangkok to 22 with 34 injured, primarily at the construction site. Myanmar has been wracked by civil war and the earthquake is making a dire humanitarian crisis even worse, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations. Countries have pledged millions in assistance to help Myanmar and humanitarian aid organizations with the monumental task ahead.Australia on Wednesday said it was providing another $4.5 million, in addition to $1.25 million it had already committed, and had a rapid response team on the ground. India has flown in aid and sent two Navy ships with supplies as well as providing some 200 rescue workers. Multiple other countries have sent teams, including 270 people from China, 212 from Russia and 122 from the United Arab Emirates. A three-person team from the U.S. Agency for International Development arrived Tuesday to determine how best to respond given limited U.S. resources due to the slashing of the foreign aid budget and dismantling of the agency as an independent operation. Washington said on the weekend it would provide $2 million in emergency assistance.Most of the details so far have come from Mandalay, Myanmars second-largest city, which was near the epicenter of the earthquake, and the capital Naypyitaw, about 270 kilometers (165 miles) north of Mandalay.Many areas are without power, telephone or cell connections, and difficult to reach by road, but more reports are beginning to trickle in.In Singu township, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Mandalay, 27 gold miners were killed were killed in a cave-in, the independent Democratic Voice of Burma reported. In the area of Inle Lake, northeast of the capital, many people died when homes built on wooden stilts in the water collapsed in the earthquake, the governments official Global New Light of Myanmar reported without providing specific figures.___Matthew Lee in Washington and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report. DAVID RISING Rising covers regional Asia-Pacific stories for The Associated Press. He has worked around the world, including covering the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and was based for nearly 20 years in Berlin before moving to Bangkok. twitter mailto

Displaced Palestinians carry water in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)2025-04-02T06:19:18Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israels military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize large areas, the defense minister said Wednesday.Israels offensive in the Palestinian territory was expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a written statement.Israels security perimeter, which runs along the border with Israel in northern and eastern Gaza, has been a crucial part of the countrys defense for decades, used as a way to protect its citizens living near the territory. Katz didnt specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which includes the extensive evacuation of the population from fighting areas.The minister called on Gaza residents to expel Hamas and return all hostages. The militant group still holds 59 captives, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. This is the only way to end the war, Katz said.The Hostage Families Forum, which represents most captives families, said that it was horrified to wake up this morning to the Defense Ministers announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza. The group said the Israeli government has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity to pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release, and stressed that every passing day puts their loved ones lives at greater risk. Their lives hang in the balance as more and more disturbing details continue to emerge about the horrific conditions theyre being held in chained, abused, and in desperate need of medical attention, said the forum, which called on the Trump administration and other mediators to continue pressuring Hamas to release the hostages. Our highest priority must be an immediate deal to bring ALL hostages back home the living for rehabilitation and those killed for proper burial and end this war, the group said.Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes overnight killing 17 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, hospital officials said. Officials at the Nasser Hospital said the bodies of 12 people killed in an overnight airstrike that were brought to the hospital included five women, one of them pregnant, and two children. Officials at the Gaza European Hospital said they received five bodies of people killed in two separate airstrikes.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.Israels offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since a ceasefire ended about two weeks ago, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton declined Tuesday to say whether he believes using the torpedo bats last season caused the elbow ailments that have sidelined him this season.

Six-time Pro-Bowl defensive lineman Calais Campbell has finalized a one-year deal to return to the Arizona Cardinals for his 18th NFL season, the team announced.

Val Kilmer arrives at the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards, Feb. 12, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)2025-04-02T04:56:01Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Val Kilmer, the brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in Top Gun, donned a voluminous cape as Batman in Batman Forever and portrayed Jim Morrison in The Doors, has died. He was 65. Kilmer died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, said in an email to The Associated Press. Val Kilmer died from pneumonia. He had recovered after a 2014 throat cancer diagnosis that required two tracheotomies. I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed, he says toward the end of Val, the 2021 documentary on his career. And I am blessed.Kilmer, the youngest actor ever accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended, experienced the ups and downs of fame more dramatically than most. His break came in 1984s spy spoof Top Secret! followed by the comedy Real Genius in 1985. Kilmer would later show his comedy chops again in films including MacGruber and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. His movie career hit its zenith in the early 1990s as he made a name for himself as a dashing leading man, starring alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993s Tombstone, as Elvis ghost in True Romance and as a bank-robbing demolition expert in Michael Manns 1995 film Heat with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The actor who took part in the Method branch of Suzuki arts training threw himself into parts. When he played Doc Holliday in Tombstone, he filled his bed with ice for the final scene to mimic the feeling of dying from tuberculosis. To play Morrison, he wore leather pants all the time, asked castmates and crew to only refer to him as Jim Morrison and blasted The Doors for a year. That intensity also gave Kilmer a reputation that he was difficult to work with, something he grudgingly agreed with later in life, but always defending himself by emphasizing art over commerce. In an unflinching attempt to empower directors, actors and other collaborators to honor the truth and essence of each project, an attempt to breathe Suzukian life into a myriad of Hollywood moments, I had been deemed difficult and alienated the head of every major studio, he wrote in his memoir, Im Your Huckleberry.One of his more iconic roles hotshot pilot Tom Iceman Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise almost didnt happen. Kilmer was courted by director Tony Scott for Top Gun but initially balked. I didnt want the part. I didnt care about the film. The story didnt interest me, he wrote in his memoir. He agreed after being promised that his role would improve from the initial script. He would reprise the role in the films 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.One career nadir was playing Batman in Joel Schumachers goofy, garish Batman Forever with Nicole Kidman and opposite Chris ODonnells Robin before George Clooney took up the mantle for 1997s Batman & Robin and after Michael Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989s Batman and 1992s Batman Returns. Janet Maslin in The New York Times said Kilmer was hamstrung by the straight-man aspects of the role, while Roger Ebert deadpanned that he was a completely acceptable substitute for Keaton. Kilmer, who was one and done as Batman, blamed much of his performance on the suit. The Times was the first to report his death on Tuesday. When youre in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down, Kilmer said in Val. You also cant hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you, its very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realised that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to.His next projects were the film version of the 1960s TV series The Saint fussily putting on wigs, accents and glasses and The Island of Dr. Moreau with Marlon Brando, which became one of the decades most infamously cursed productions. David Gregorys 2014 documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanleys Island of Dr. Moreau, described a cursed set that included a hurricane, Kilmer bullying director Richard Stanley, the firing of Stanley via fax (who sneaked back on set as an extra with a mask on) and extensive rewrites by Kilmer and Brando. The older actor told the younger at one point: Its a job now, Val. A lark. Well get through it. I was as sad as Ive ever been on a set, Kilmer wrote in his memoir. In 1996, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story about Kilmer titled The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate. The directors Schumacher and John Frankenheimer, who finished The Island of Dr. Moreau, said he was difficult. Frankenheimer said there were two things he would never do: Climb Mount Everest and work with Val Kilmer again. Other artists came to his defense, like D. J. Caruso, who directed Kilmer in The Salton Sea and said the actor simply liked to talk out scenes and enjoyed having a directors attention.Val needs to immerse himself in a character. I think what happened with directors like Frankenheimer and Schumacher is that Val would ask a lot of questions, and a guy like Schumacher would say, Youre Batman! Just go do it, Caruso told The New York Times in 2002.After The Island of Dr. Moreau, the movies were smaller, like David Mamet human-trafficking thriller Spartan"; Joe the King in 1999, in which he played a paunchy, abusive alcoholic; and playing the doomed 70s porn star John Holmes in 2003s Wonderland. He also threw himself into his one-man stage show Citizen Twain, in which he played Mark Twain.I enjoy the depth and soul the piece has that Twain had for his fellow man and America, he told Variety in 2018. And the comedy thats always so close to the surface, and how valuable his genius is for us today. Still, we battle racism and greed. The same country, its greatness and its tragedy.Kilmer spent his formative years in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Chatsworth High School alongside future Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and future Emmy winner Mare Winningham. At 17, he was the youngest drama student ever admitted at the Juilliard School in 1981.Shortly after he left for Juilliard, his younger brother, 15-year-old Wesley, suffered an epileptic seizure in the familys Jacuzzi and died on the way to the hospital. Wesley was an aspiring filmmaker when he died. I miss him and miss his things. I have his art up. I like to think about what he would have created. Im still inspired by him, Kilmer told the Times.While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-wrote and appeared in the play How It All Began and later turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppolas The Outsiders for the Broadway play, Slab Boys, alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn.Kilmer published two books of poetry (including My Edens After Burns) and was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for spoken word album for The Mark of Zorro. He was also a visual artist and a lifelong Christian Scientist.He dated Cher, married and divorced actor Joanne Whalley. He is survived by their two children, Mercedes and Jack. ____Kennedy reported from New York. MARK KENNEDY Kennedy is a theater, TV, music, food and obit writer and editor for The Associated Press, as well as a critic for theater, movies and music. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto ANDREW DALTON Dalton covers entertainment for The Associated Press, with an emphasis on crime, courts and obituaries. He has worked for the AP for 20 years and is based in Los Angeles. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during the International Women of Courage award ceremony, Tuesday April 1, 2025, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-04-02T04:11:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administrations desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners.Allies are deeply concerned by President Donald Trumps readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a U.S. effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have only increased the angst, especially as new U.S. tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike.Rubio arrives in Brussels on Thursday for two days of meetings with his NATO counterparts and European officials, and he can expect to be confronted with questions about the future U.S. role in the alliance. For 75 years, NATO has been anchored on American leadership, and based on what they have seen and heard since Trump took office in January, European officials have expressed deep concerns that Trump may upend all of that when he and other NATO leaders meet for a June summit in the Netherlands. Can Rubio reassure allies?As Rubio did last month at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies, Americas top diplomat, who is regarded by many overseas as a more pragmatic and less dogmatic member of Trumps administration, may be able to salvage a watered-down group consensus on the war in Ukraine. Thats even as Trump said this week that Ukraine was never going to be a member of NATO despite leaders declaring at last years summit that the country was on an irreversible path to join.But Rubio will be hard-pressed to explain Washingtons unprovoked verbal attacks on NATO allies Canada, which Trump says he wants to claim as a 51st state, and Denmark, whose territory of Greenland he says the U.S. should annex. Both have been accused of being bad allies by Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Its pretty clear neither territory has any interest in joining a Trumpian America, said Ian Kelly, U.S. ambassador to Georgia during the Obama and first Trump administration and now an international studies professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.Theres going to be a lot of very anxious Euros about what Trump is going to call for and what announcements hes going to make, he said. If he isnt already, Rubio is going to be in a mode of trying to reassure European allies that we are not, in fact, not dependable.Yet, in just under two months, NATO has been shaken to its core, challenged increasingly by Russia and the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 from the outside, and by the Trump administration from within, breaking with decades of relatively predictable U.S. leadership.Trump has consistently complained about NATO members defense spending and even raised doubts about the U.S. commitment to mutual defense in the alliances founding treaty, which says an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all. Europeans taking on more security guaranteesSince Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere in Asia and on its own borders the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen.In Europe and Canada, governments are working on burden shifting plans to take over more of the load, while trying to ensure that no security vacuum is created if U.S. troops and equipment are withdrawn from the continent.These allies are keen to hear from Rubio what the Trump administrations intentions are and hope to secure some kind of roadmap that lays out what will happen next and when, so they can synchronize planning and use European forces to plug any gaps.At the same time, NATOs deterrent effect against an adversary like Russia is only credible when backed by U.S. firepower. For the Europeans and Canada, this means that U.S. nuclear weapons and the 6th Fleet must remain stationed in Europe. America is indispensable for credible deterrence, a senior NATO diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity to speak ahead of the meeting.Around 100,000 U.S. troops are deployed across the continent. European allies believe at least 20,000 personnel sent by the Biden administration after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago could be withdrawn.Another priority for U.S. allies is to understand whether Trump believes that Russia still poses the greatest security threat. In their summit statement last year, NATO leaders insisted that Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to Allies security.But Trumps receptiveness to Putin and recent favorable remarks by some U.S. officials have raised doubts. The question, diplomats say, is why allies should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on their defense budgets if Russia is no longer a threat. At the same time, the Europeans and Canada know they must spend more not least to protect themselves and keep arming Ukraine. At their next summit in June, NATO leaders are expected to raise the alliances military budget goal from at least 2% to more than 3%.Rubio is in a very difficult position, said Jeff Rathke, president of the American-German Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Trump has tried to convince allies that a U.S. realignment with Russia is in the best interests of the U.S. and presumably Europe, and at the same time tell them that they need to double their defense spending to deal with threats posed by Russia, he said. The logical question they will ask is why?___Cook reported from Brussels.

The Bucks snapped a four-game skid by shooting 68.9% from the field Tuesday night against the Suns, the highest single-game percentage by any team this century.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal, moving him four away from passing Wayne Gretzky's NHL record, and Dylan Strome broke a third-period tie Tuesday night to lead the first-place Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins.

K9 named Lek, center, works as an emotional support with relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after Friday's earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)2025-04-02T04:45:03Z BANGKOK (AP) For most of the day, somberness clouded over a makeshift shelter set up for grief-stricken relatives of dozens of workers who remain missing at the building collapse in Bangkok. They huddled together, a short distance from the rubble, awaiting news for their loved ones to be found.But for a few minutes, their faces broke out in smiles, as a group of fluffy, playful golden retrievers approached the waiting relatives on a break from the dogs rescue mission.Bangkok is more than 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) from the epicenter of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday. Fifteen of the 22 deaths reported in Bangkok were people found at the site of the collapsed high-rise, according to the Bangkok city authorities. Around 70 workers remain missing.Pornchai Chaodongbang has been waiting for her missing brother at the site since Sunday. She said she was crying every day since the news broke, and when she saw the site of the ruins, she collapsed. On Tuesday evening, she and dozens of others were visited by Sahara, Safari and Lek, rescue dogs from K9 USAR Thailand, a non-profit that works closely with the Thai government in disaster and humanitarian relief efforts. Pornchais face lit up as she played with them. She said her spirit was lifted a little. I saw in the news that they were helping the crew up there. I felt a little happier, she said. Its the dogs main job to climb the rubble, sniffing for any sign of humans trapped underneath. But Alongkot Chukaew, deputy director of the group, said they are also offering emotional support on the side, as his experience working with the dogs in many of their missions showed that they can give moments of comfort to disaster victims.He saw that happened with Sahara during the rescue mission after the 2023 earthquake in Turkey.At times when people were feeling down, she walked over to relatives of the victims who were sitting among the rubble. I saw the children come to her, play with her. Amid those great losses, its a small moment of happiness that can lift their spirits. From that day on, its what we have been trying to do during our breaks, he said. They chose the dogs that are gentle to visit the relatives, he said. I believe their gentleness is what gives a spirit to the relatives. Its also like making a promise that they will be here with them until all the victims are found.Samran Khotchomphun said she has been waiting for her missing grandson and granddaughter since the first day of the collapse. She said she cried through the first three days because she couldnt cope with the situation.Samran said the dogs offered her a brief comfort and hope on day five of the search and rescue operations.I told the dogs, please help find them. My hope is hanging on you, she said.

In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025. (Senate Television via AP)2025-04-02T03:26:09Z WASHINGTON (AP) Democratic Sen. Cory Booker ended his record-setting speech the same way he began it, more than 25 hours earlier: by invoking the words of his mentor, the late congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis.He endured beatings savagely on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, at lunch counters, on freedom rides. He said he had to do something. He would not normalize a moment like this, Booker said of Lewis work as a young activist during the Civil Rights movement. He would not just go along with business as usual.He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation, Booker said. A break from business as usual was what Booker had in mind as he performed a feat of political endurance, holding the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes while delivering a wide-ranging critique of President Donald Trump and his policies. In doing so, Booker of New Jersey broke the record for longest Senate floor speech, a mark that had belonged for decades to Strom Thurmond, the avowed segregationist from South Carolina who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Booker said hed been aware of Thurmonds record since first coming to the Senate in 2013 a room near the Senate chamber is still named for him and it bothered him. It seemed wrong to me, Booker said. It always seemed wrong.Booker, a Black progressive, spoke about his roots as a descendant of both slaves and slave-owners as he invoked the Civil Rights movement, implicitly linking Lewis steadfast resistance to Jim Crow to the modern-day opponents of Trumps reshaping of government and society. Throughout his speech he read letters from Americans about the impact that Trumps agenda is having on their lives, drawing historical parallels and warning that the country faces a looming constitutional crisis.This is a moral moment, Booker said. Its not left or right; its right or wrong. As Booker held the floor, dozens of members of the Congressional Black Caucus flanked the back of the Senate chamber in support, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Maxine Waters. Other CBC members kept close to the floor, including Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Raphael Warnock. Before Booker surpassed Thurmonds 68-year-old record, Jeffries said Bookers speech was an incredibly powerful moment ... because he is fighting to preserve the American way of life and our democracy. And the record was held by Strom Thurmond who was actually defending Jim Crow segregation.Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a close friend of Lewis who represented the neighboring district in metropolitan Atlanta, said Bookers speech was an act of resistance.The American people want to see us as their representatives do everything we can to resist the encroachment on our liberties and the taking away of benefits, Johnson said. Bookers speech captured attention at a time when Democrats have grown frustrated and despondent at their inability to stop Trumps plans. Locked out of power in Congress and the executive branch, Democrats have struggled with how to take on Trump and the slashing of government being carried out by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Grassroots liberal organizers have been urging major Democratic figures to take a more combative approach. Some hoped that Bookers speech would offer the party lessons going forward.Booker is reminding all of America and his own party, not simply to stand for what were against, but to stand up for what we believe in, said Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an activist who helped lead the 2014 protests against police brutality in Ferguson, Mo.I think he recognized that people are looking for our leaders to have the moral clarity to declare that whats happening is wrong, and to determine, to do something about it, she said.As Bookers marathon speech drew to a close, he recalled the last conversation he ever had with Lewis, who was known for his acts of civil disobedience in Congress throughout his career until his passing in 2020.Booker recalled telling Lewis, well do everything possible to make you proud. And he said he had no doubt what Lewis message would be if he were alive today.John Lewis would say, do something, Booker said. He wouldnt treat this moral moment like it was normal. MATT BROWN Brown is a reporter covering national politics, race and democracy issues. twitter instagram mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00933-3Researchers are debating the strength of evidence connecting technology to surging rates of adolescent mental illness. But they have some clear advice for parents.

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00991-7The fierce debate about smartphones and adolescent mental health rests on conflicting science. Researchers and technology companies must work to improve it.

Carlo Ancelotti admitted Real Madrid made "a lot of mistakes" but also did "a lot of good things" in a 4-4 draw with Real Sociedad on Tuesday, which saw them reach the Copa del Rey final 5-4 on aggregate.

Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano recognized the importance of reaching the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals as a young club, but warned against taking the quarterfinal series against LAFC for granted.

Top NHL blueliners, goalies and scorers explain Ovi's unique skill as he closes in on Wayne Gretzky's record.

March saw the return of NWSL action after African stars took the league by storm in 2024. This year, Temwa Chawinga and Barbra Banda have wasted no time picking up where they left off.

Ancelotti is expected to appear in court on Wednesday for the first day of a trial in which he is accused of failing to pay 1m in tax on revenue.

Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)2025-04-02T10:09:53Z BANGKOK (AP) The trade war that U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated in his second term is a challenge for all Asian economies, large and small, in an era when the most populous region of the world is expected to drive global economic growth.Export manufacturing and free trade helped transform China and other Asian countries into economic powerhouses over the past decades. Trumps barrages of tariffs, aimed at compelling companies to keep or set up their factories in the United States, are rupturing trade agreements often made at great political cost to trading partners. The White House says the criteria for raising tariffs will include not just U.S. trade deficits but also various taxes, exchange rates, government subsidies and various non-tariff trade barriers. Apart from the tariffs to be announced on Wednesdays Liberation Day, as Trump calls it, 25% tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts are due to take effect on Thursday. Trump has also ordered levies against China, Canada and Mexico; expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum, and imposed tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela. He plans more import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips. Higher costs already have led many manufacturers to shift away from China to other economies in South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. But for now the prevailing uncertainty over what Trump will do with what he calls reciprocal tariffs may lead most to sit tight and see what comes next. Theres no script for how reciprocal tariffs get priced, and uncertainty is the only constant, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.Heres a look at how higher U.S. tariffs might affect some major Asian economies. China Despite some decrease in trade since Trump launched a trade war with China during his first term in office, the U.S. trade deficit has continued to climb, hitting $295.4 billion last year. China, the worlds No. 2 economy, has leaned heavily on exports to make up for weak demand at home. The ruling Communist Party has made exports of autos, especially electric vehicles, and batteries a priority, but 27.5% tariffs on auto exports and 102.5% duties on EVs have in effect closed the U.S. market for its automakers. China is the second largest supplier of auto parts to the U.S. behind Mexico. During Trumps first term, higher tariffs led leader Xi Jinping to champion a shift to high-tech production. That will likely continue as U.S. pressure intensifies, causing job losses due to changes in manufacturing rather than direct damage from the tariffs themselves, Raymond Yeung of ANZ Research said in a report. As Trump has rolled out rounds of tariff hikes that have piled on an extra 20%, China has raised its own import duties, targeting U.S. farm goods. It also expanded export controls, especially on strategically important minerals used in high-tech electronics. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China have fallen since the beginning of the year, and are expected to fall further after Beijing imposed a 15% tariff on U.S. LNG imports. JapanPrime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday that his government was making last ditch efforts to get the United States to exclude his country from auto tariffs. The U.S. absorbs about one-fifth of Japans exports, or about 1.5 million passenger cars a year. Even though major Japanese automakers like Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have factories in the U.S. and increasingly, in Mexico, its an important industry back home. Nearly 5.6 million people are employed in auto-related jobs, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturing Association. Japans exports of electronics, machinery, chemicals and steel are also potential targets. A central bank survey released Monday found business sentiment among large manufacturers worsened in the past quarter, for the first time in a year. Tokyos Nikkei 225 share benchmark has fallen more than 10% in the past three months, while shares in Toyota Motor Corp. have tumbled 27%. TaiwanMore than 60% of the self-governed islands economy comes from exports, and it ran a trade surplus with the U.S. of nearly $74 billion last year. Computer chips are one of Taiwans biggest exports to the United States, along with computers and other office machines and consumer products. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is expanding its U.S. factories in Arizona, enticed by U.S. incentives and its own strategic needs. In early March, its CEO C.C. Wei pledged $100 billion in new U.S. investments. South KoreaSouth Korea ran a $66 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year, and autos, electronics and computer chips were a large share. The country could boost investments in making autos, steel, and semiconductors in the U.S. and also consider revising the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to promote more balanced trade, Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute said in a recent report.South Korea is among several big importers of LNG that may try to buy more of the gas from the US to help balance trade, researchers at RaboBank said in a recent report. Vietnam Like most of its Southeast Asian neighbors, Vietnam has emulated Japan, China and other major exporting nations in relying on trade and foreign investment to develop their economies. It had the third-largest trade surplus with the United States last year, after Mexico and China, at $123.5 billion. Its biggest exports are machinery, textiles and footwear. A 14% increase in exports helped Vietnams economy expand at a sizzling 7.1% annual rate last year. The government recently said it would slash tariffs on LNG, autos, ethanol and some other farm products, moves meant to placate Trump and reduce its trade surplus. Vietnam also has agreed to allow a five-year trial launch of Elon Musks Starlink satellite internet service.IndiaThe worlds most populous country ran a trade surplus of nearly $46 billion with the U.S. in 2024, according to the U.S. Trade Representatives office. The main exports are medicines and chemicals to make them, pearls, diamonds and other gems.Exports account for just under a quarter of Indias GDP, providing millions of jobs, and the U.S. is its largest overseas market. 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

Top NHL blueliners, goalies and scorers explain Ovi's unique skill as he closes in on Wayne Gretzky's record.

Major League Baseball's average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press.

Major League Baseball's average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press.

The teams are struggling to clinch as they match up Wednesday. Plus, bracket projections after a busy Tuesday.

Thai driver Alex Albon has met the country's Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatraas, the country continues to push for a place on the Formula 1 grid.

LaLiga say Barcelona have never had the salary space to register Dani Olmo or Pau Vctor.

Maresca refused to confirm whether the club will take up their obligation to buy Sancho and warned the winger "could do better" with his end product.

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel makes his concession speech to a crowd at his election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)2025-04-02T05:46:34Z A trio of elections on Tuesday provided early warning signs to Republicans and President Donald Trump at the beginning of an ambitious term, as Democrats rallied against his efforts to slash the federal government and the outsize role being played by billionaire Elon Musk.In the marquee race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, the conservative judge endorsed by Trump and backed by Musk and his groups to the tune of $21 million lost by a significant margin in a state Trump won in November. And while Florida Republicans held two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, both candidates also underperformed Trumps November margins.The elections the first major contests since Trumps return to power were seen as an early measure of voter sentiment as Trump works with unprecedented speed to dramatically upend the federal government, clashing with the courts and seeking revenge as he tests the bounds of presidential power. The party that loses the presidency in November typically picks up seats in the next midterm elections, and Tuesdays results provided hope for Democrats who have faced a barrage of internal and external criticism about their response to Trump that they can follow that trend. Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and podcaster whose group worked alongside Musk to boost conservative Brad Schimel in Wisconsin, argued Tuesdays Supreme Court loss underscored a fundamental challenge for Republicans, particularly in races where Trump is not on the ballot. We did a lot in Wisconsin, but we fell short. We must realize and appreciate that we are the LOW PROP party now, he said, referring to low-propensity voters who dont regularly cast ballots. The party has been remade. Special elections and off-cycle elections will continue to be a problem without a change of strategy. Major shifts in WisconsinTrump won Wisconsin in November by 0.8 percentage points, or fewer than 30,000 votes. In the first major test since he took office, the perennial battleground state shifted significantly to the left. Sauk County, northwest of the state capital of Madison, is a state bellwether. Trump won it in November by 626 votes. Sauk shifted 14 points in the direction of Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal favorite backed by national Democrats and billionaire donors like George Soros. Besides strong turnout in Democratic-heavy areas, Crawford did measurably better in the suburban Milwaukee counties that Republicans rely on to run up their margins statewide. Crawford won Kenosha and Racine counties, both of which went for Trump over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. She was on pace to win by 9 percentage points.In interviews with more than 20 voters in Waunakee, a politically mixed town north of Madison, several Democrats suggested without prompting that their vote was as much if not more of a repudiation of Trumps first months in office as it was a decision on the direction of the state high court.This is our chance to say no, said Linda Grassl, a retired OB-GYN registered nurse, after voting at the Waunakee Public Library corridor Tuesday. Others disliked the richest man in the world playing such a prominent role.I dont like Elon Musk spending money for an election he should have no involvement in, said Antonio Gray, a 38-year-old Milwaukee security guard. They should let the voters vote for who they want to vote for instead of inserting themselves like they have.Republicans warn against drawing national conclusionsFormer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said that part of the challenge for Republicans had been trying to connect the dots to turn the state Supreme Court race into one about Trump a difficult task in a state judicial race.If youre somebody who showed up for Trump because you feel forgotten, you dont typically show up to vote in these kinds of elections, he said, imagining voters asking themselves: What does this have to do with Trump?Still, Walker cautioned against reading the tea leaves too closely. Id be a little bit careful about reading too much into what happens nationally, he said. Trump had better luck in Florida, where Republican Randy Fine won his special election in the 6th District to replace Mike Waltz, who stepped down to serve as Trumps national security adviser. But Fine beat his Democratic challenger, Josh Weil, by 14 percentage points less than five months after Waltz won the district by 33.This is the functional equivalent of Republicans running a competitive race in the district that is represented by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries beforehand, invoking a liberal favorite whom Trump often denigrates. Kamala Harris won that district by 30 points. Do you think a Republican would even be competitive in that district in New York, currently held by Alex? Of course, not. Jimmy Patronis, the states chief financial officer, fended off a challenge from Democrat Gay Valimont to win the northwest Florida seat vacated by Matt Gaetz but also underperformed Gaetzs last margin of victory. The pair of wins gave Republicans a 220-213 margin in the House of Representatives, when concerns about a thin GOP majority led Trump to pull the nomination of New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to be United Nations ambassador.For voters in both districts, the clear draw was Trump.Teresa Horton, 72, didnt know much at all about Tuesdays election -- but said she didnt need to. I dont even know these people that are on there, she said of her ballot. I just went with my ticket.Brenda Ray, 75, a retired nurse, said she didnt know a lot about Patronis, either, but cast her ballot for him because she believes hell vote with our president. Thats all were looking for, she said. Both Patronis and Fine were badly outraised by their Democratic challengers. Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, argued that what was a GOP concern before Tuesday night had been a sign of the partys strength. The American people sent a clear message tonight: they want elected officials who will advance President Trumps America First agenda, and their votes cant be bought by national Democrats, he said in a statement.___Associated Press writers Stephany Matat in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Kate Payne in Pensacola, Fla.; Christine Fernando in Milwaukee; Mark Vancleave in Eau Claire, Wis.; Tom Beaumont in Waunakee, Wis.; and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report. JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto

The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo on Sept. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)2025-04-02T11:05:43Z WASHINGTON (AP) After TikTok was banned in the United States earlier this year, President Donald Trump gave the platform a reprieve, barreling past a law that was passed in Congress and upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court that said the ban was necessary for national security.The Republican presidents executive orders have spurred more than 130 lawsuits in the little more than two months he has been in office, but this one barely generated a peep. None of those suits challenges his temporary block of the 2024 law that banned the popular social video app after the deadline passed for it to be sold by ByteDance, its China-based parent company.Few of the 431 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate who voted for the law have complained.Despite a bipartisan consensus about the risk to national security posed by TikToks ties to China, its as if nothing ever happened, said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell Universitys Tech Policy Institute. TikTok has stayed online, delighting 170 million users in the U.S.TikTok continues to function, much to the delight of its 170 million users in the U.S., and the tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle have been persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trumps Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.Trump declared he was suspending the law for 75 days, though no provision of the rule would appear to allow for that, to give ByteDance a fresh chance to find a U.S. buyer. The president has suggested he could extend the pause, but he has since said he expects a deal by Saturday, when the reprieve expires. He is meeting Wednesday with aides about possible suitors for TikTok. Oracle and the investment firm Blackstone are among the potential investors. Trumps action followed a fast-tracked free-speech challenge by TikTok and its users that ended with a unanimous Supreme Court ruling days before Trumps inauguration, in which the justices held that national security concerns overcame their usual receptivity to First Amendment claims. The courts opinions dealt at length with the potential for China to harvest vast quantities of TikTok users data that could allow it to track the locations of federal employees and contractors.The record before us establishes that TikTok mines data both from TikTok users and about millions of others who do not consent to share their information, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a brief separate opinion. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, TikTok can access any data stored in a consenting users contact list including names, photos, and other personal information about unconsenting third parties.TikTok, which has headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles, has said it prioritizes user safety, and Chinas Foreign Ministry has said Chinas government has never and will not ask companies to collect or provide data, information or intelligence held in foreign countries. Trump was against TikTok before he was for itThe day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users, but it came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban.The presidents position has evolved over time. During his first term, he used an executive order to try to ban TikTok on national security grounds. But federal courts blocked it. His administration then tried to negotiate a sale of the platform, but it failed.Trump changed his tune during his 2024 campaign and said he would save TikTok, then credited the platform with helping him win more young voters. He issued the 75-day pause on the first day of his second term.The law allows for one 90-day reprieve, but only if theres a deal on the table and a formal notification to Congress. Trumps actions so far violate the law, said Alan Rozenshtein, an associate law professor at the University of Minnesota. The law does not permit the sort of extension that Donald Trump has announced, Rozenshtein said.But both he and Kreps acknowledged a court challenge or other pushback is unlikely.Whos the constituency? You have 170 million Americans using the app, and theyre pretty happy to see this continue to be available to them, Kreps said. It also might be hard for someone to establish the legal right, or standing, to sue, Rozenshtein said. A plaintiff would have to be able to show harm from the delay in enforcing the law, he said.More importantly, he said, the TikTok executive order was an early example of the Trump administration not caring about the rule of law. While Trump has directed the Justice Department not to seek fines from the tech companies, they still are taking a legal gamble, according to Democratic lawmakers who oppose the TikTok ban but also criticize Trump for his actions. A future administration might have its own reasons to pursue legal claims against Apple, Google and Oracle, they wrote Trump in a letter last week.Companies could face hundreds of billions of dollars in legal liability for facilitating TikToks operations since the laws effective date of Jan. 19, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Ed Markey of Massachusetts wrote. Tech companies initially lacked clear guidanceThe companies themselves acknowledged their legally uncertain situation in their initial response to Trumps order. Oracle continued to provide cloud services to TikTok, the senators said, but Apple and Google, however, initially came to a different decision and refused to reinstate TikTok in their app stores.The companies changed course only after receiving written assurance from the Justice Department.The Democrats have called for amending the law to extend the deadline for a sale to October. Other opponents of the TikTok ban support a full repeal.Among the few supporters of the ban to speak out is Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. But rather than take on Trump, Moolenaar has focused his criticism on ByteDance and its ties the Chinese Communist Party. If ByteDance stays involved in any way, the deal is illegal plain and simple, Moolenaar said in remarks to a TikTok event on Capitol Hill last week.Several potential bidders have stepped forward.Perplexity AI presented ByteDance in January with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operations.Another possibility is a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium previously said they offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. They had planned to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they said would provide users with more control over their online data.Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, had also organized a consortium, which included the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and offered ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok.___Parvini reported from Los Angeles. SARAH PARVINI Parvini covers artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. She is based in Los Angeles. mailto

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00885-8A complete inventory of the Drosophila visual system classifies about 53,000 neurons into 732 types. The shapes and connections of all the visual neurons have been quantified, and a large collection of genetically engineered fly lines have been shared, providing a comprehensive toolkit for studying fly vision.

The former No. 1 pick has led Detroit's resurgence, but he has loftier goals than just ending the Pistons' five-year playoff drought.

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Mike Clay analyzes the best wideouts for the 2025 fantasy football season.

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Everything you need to know as F1 heads to Japan for the third race of the season.

United States forward Jaedyn Shaw has said she has struggled to deal with expectations since joining North Carolina Courage in January.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, left, talks to reporters at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-04-02T04:04:30Z WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Republicans said they are pushing ahead on President Donald Trumpsbig bill of tax breaks and spending cuts this week, even though theyre punting some of the most difficult decisions including the costs and how to pay for the multitrillion-dollar package until later.The Senate GOPs budget framework would be the companion to the House Republicans $4.5 trillion tax cuts package that also calls for slashing some $2 trillion from health care and other programs. If the Senate can move the blueprint forward, it edges Trumps allies on Capitol Hill closer to a compromise setting the stage for a final product in the weeks ahead.Obviously we are hopeful this week we can get a budget resolution on the floor that will unlock the process, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. And so we are continuing to move forward with that. While big differences remain, Republicans face increasing political pressure to deliver on what is expected to be Trumps signature domestic policy package extending the tax cuts, which were initially approved in 2017, during his first term at the White House. Those tax breaks expire at the end of the year, and Trump wants to expand them to include new no taxes on tipped wages, overtime pay and other earnings, as he promised on the campaign trail. Democrats are preparing to oppose the GOP tax plans as giveaways to the wealthy, coming as billionaire Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency is taking a chainsaw to the federal government. They warn Republicans plan to slash government programs and services that millions of Americans depend on nationwide. We are standing together against the GOP tax scam and in defense of the American people, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said alongside others on the Capitol steps late Tuesday.One main sticking point between the House and Senate GOP plans has been over whether the existing tax cuts, which are estimated to cost the federal government $4.5 trillion over the decade in lost revenue, need to be paid for by spending reductions elsewhere. Adding Trumps new tax breaks to the package would balloon the price tag even higher. To offset the costs, House Republicans are demanding some $2 trillion in cuts to health care and other accounts to stem the nations federal deficits and prevent the nations $36 trillion debt load from skyrocketing.But GOP senators have a different approach. Senate Republicans take the view that since the tax cuts are already the current policy, they would not be new and would not need to be paid for. They want to use this current policy baseline moving forward, meaning only Trumps other proposed tax breaks would come with a new cost. They are expected to set much lower spending cuts as a floor that can be raised, if needed, to compromise with the Houses $2 trillion in cuts.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and top Democrats call the Senate GOPs approach a gimmick at best if not an outright lie.It is an obscene fraud and the American people wont stand for it, said Schumer, Sen. Jeff Merkley of the Budget Committee and Sen. Ron Wyden of the Finance Committee in a letter to GOP leadership. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey argued against the GOP baseline as a gimmick that would slash important federal services while growing deficits. What theyre investing in is bigger tax cuts for the wealthiest, Booker said during a landmark overnight speech. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and congressional GOP leaders have been meeting privately as Trumps priority package churns on Capitol Hill. At a meeting with other Senate Republicans late Monday at the Capitol, Bessent urged them to get it done.We just got to start voting, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, as he exited the Monday evening session. Treasury secretary made the point that this was something we needed to do and do it quickly, Cornyn said, adding the plan was for the Senate to launch the voting this week. Were going to grind through it. Typically, the current policy baseline proposal would need to pass the muster of the Senates nonpartisan parliamentarian, to make sure it abides by the strict rules of the budget process. Senators from both parties have been arguing in closed-door sessions with the parliamentarian staff for and against the idea. However, the GOP leaders say they dont necessarily need the Senate parliamentarian, at this point, to resolve the issue, and they believe the Senate Budget chairman, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., should simply use his perch to allow their current policy baseline approach. What is more certain is that they want to move quickly this week to pass the framework. That will entail a lengthy all-night vote often called a vote-a-rama with consideration of various amendments and procedures that could drag into the weekend. Then, they will sort out the details later as the Republicans, facing Democratic opposition, build the actual package for consideration in the weeks if not months ahead.

New York Mets' Juan Soto (22) hits a home run as Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz reaches for the pitch during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)2025-04-02T10:00:08Z NEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseballs average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press.The New York Mets, with Juan Sotos record $61.9 million pay, led MLB for the third straight opening day with a $322.6 million payroll, just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at $319.5 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64.9 million ended the Athletics three-year streak as the lowest spender.Still, the Mets were down from their record high of $355.4 million in 2023.The average rose 3.6% to $5,160,245. That was up from a 1.5% increase last year but down from an 11.1% increase in 2023.Adding Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers boosted payroll by a big league-high $69 million from opening day last year. Baltimore hiked spending by $66 million, followed by Arizona ($55 million), San Diego ($47 million), Philadelphia ($41 million) and Detroit ($39 million). Los Angeles payroll figure was held down by deferred payments. Shohei Ohtanis $70 million salary was discounted to a present-day value of $28.2 million because it wont be paid in full until 2035, causing him to be listed as the 18th-highest-paid player. Other Dodgers with deferred payments include Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernndez, Scott, Will Smith and Snell. Following their record 121-loss season, the Chicago White Sox cut payroll by $60.8 million, San Francisco by $39.1 million, Miami by $31.7 million and St. Louis by $31.6 million. The American League champion Yankees dropped by $18.5 million. Just five teams were under $100 million, with the Marlins joined by the As ($74.9 million), Tampa Bay ($79.2 million), the White Sox ($80.9 million) and Pittsburgh ($87.9 million). Soto broke the previous high of $43.3 million shared by pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander under deals they agreed to with the Mets.Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is second at $42 million, followed by Texas pitcher Jacob deGrom and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at $40 million each.Of 953 players in the major leagues on opening day, 526 had salaries of $1 million or more, 55%, and down from 532 last year and 546 in 2023.There were 15 players at $30 million or more, a drop of two; 66 at $20 million, up from 66; and 177 at $10 million, an increase from 166.A total of 35 players made the $760,000 minimum.The top 50 players make 29% of the salaries, the same as in the prior two years, and the top 100 earn 48%, up from 47%.Baseballs median salary, the point at which an equal number of players are above and below, dropped to $1.35 million from $1.5 million and well below the record high of $1.65 million at the start of 2015.Average and median salaries decline over the course of the season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players making closer to the minimum. The APs average was $4.98 million at the start of last season; MLB calculated the final average at $4.59 million and the players association at $4.66 million. Because they started the season in the minor leagues, Baltimore pitcher Kyle Gibson ($5.25 million), Detroit pitcher Jason Foley ($3.15 million) and Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim ($2.8 million) were among the players not included in the opening day payroll figures.The APs figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 02 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00950-2Avoidance tactics.

Skeptics say cash to players for commercial endorsements often far exceeds the service's actual value.