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d8c605d2eed8f67fe54933700bfe59f9e4efa14e9917e26c49cf99ef612a4776	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Graduation: Trump crackdown on DEI cancels some college ceremonies\n\nBy Cheyanne Mumphrey and Carolyn Thompson \nMay 1st, 2025 04:06 AM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — As a first-generation college student, Austin Kissinger was looking forward to celebrating graduation with others of similar backgrounds who helped each other find their way at the University of Kentucky. Typically, Kentucky students who are the first in their family to graduate from college pick a faculty member to join them in a special ceremony.\n\nEarlier this month, the university canceled the ceremony, along with other convocations that recognize Black and LGBTQ+ students, citing the Trump administration's campaign to rein in diversity, equity and inclusion programs.\n\nThose student groups pooled resources for a celebration together off campus — without the school's involvement — but Kissinger said the about-face left him and others feeling unsupported.\n\n\"It's kind of like you're taking away our celebration, like you're not letting us embrace who we want to be,\" said Kissinger, a graduating senior who leads the university's First Generation Student Organization. \"You're not letting us represent what we do at the university.\"\n\nPresident Donald Trump's calls to eliminate any program that treats students differently because of their race have brought new scrutiny of affinity graduation ceremonies. The events have long been a way to build community and recognize the achievements and unique experiences of underrepresented students.\n\nMany affinity ceremonies are on track to proceed as usual around the country, with colleges saying the events comply with new guidance.\n\nBut some colleges are pulling back support. Those include Harvard University, which is battling the Trump administration over demands related to campus activism and diversity efforts on campus. Despite suing the administration over some of its attempts to force changes on campus, Harvard told students it would no longer provide funding, staffing or spaces for affinity celebrations, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported.\n\n## Some colleges act to comply with Trump administration guidance\n\nAt the University of Kentucky, spokesperson Jay Blanton said the main commencement celebrates all students. He said the university did away with others to comply with the law and \"how we believe it is being interpreted by the administration.\"\n\n\"The success and support of our students is a principle and purpose that is incredibly important to us. Everything we do on this campus, we do with that in mind as our goal,\" Blanton said. \"At the same time, we believe we must comply with the law and are doing so here.\"\n\nAround the country, universities have come under increasing pressure to get in line with the political agenda of Trump's administration, which already has frozen billions of dollars in grants for Harvard, Columbia University and other colleges over allegations they have not done enough to counter antisemitism.\n\nThe Education Department directed colleges to distance themselves from DEI with a \"Dear Colleague\" letter in February. It said a 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing the use of racial preferences in college admissions also applied to things like hiring, scholarships and graduation ceremonies. The administration contended American educational institutions have been discriminating against students, including white and Asian American students.\n\n\"In a shameful echo of a darker period in this country's history, many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities,\" read the letter, which was signed by Craig Trainor, the Education Department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.\n\nThe practice has roots in the era of segregation at some schools, but organizers of Black convocations today say they are a way to celebrate the accomplishments of diverse student populations that were once overlooked. Many colleges also have \"Lavender graduations,\" which celebrate LGBTQ+ students and grew out of a time decades ago when many lacked support from their families.\n\nFor students who are the first in their families to attend college, it can be easy to feel out of place or unsure of where to turn for help, Kissinger said. At Kentucky, he said he often felt like he had to figure out everything on his own. The affinity ceremony, he said, was intended as a celebration of resilience and pride that they reached graduation.\n\n## With ceremonies canceled, some find other ways to keep up traditions\n\nArizona's Maricopa County Community Colleges called off all its cultural and special interest convocations, citing in a statement \"enforcement priorities\" set by the U.S. Education Department. But the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community volunteered to hold a convocation ceremony for American Indian graduates.\n\n\"While we are deeply disappointed by the cancellation of convocation ceremonies for minority students, we believe it is important to come together as a community to honor our graduates and their families,\" community President Martin Harvier said in a statement.\n\nAt Ohio University, Aaron Thomas arranged for his alma mater's Black alumni weekend to go forward this spring after the university canceled it to comply with a state prohibition on DEI, which echoes the federal directive. Thomas, who runs a production company near the university's campus in Athens, Ohio, planned to foot the bill for an alumni barbecue until the mayor's office, nonprofits and restaurants pitched in to organize a weekend of events.\n\nAmong the schools with affinity events planned over the next few weeks is California State University, Long Beach, which says its celebrations for Pacific Islander and Cambodian students, among others, comply with the administration's guidance because they are open to anybody.\n\n\"Our students are looking forward to these celebrations, which are open to all and are consistent with guidance from the Department of Education,\" spokesperson Jim Milbury said.\n\nOn its website, a statement included with information about the cultural celebrations acknowledges the changing college landscape:\n\n\"Particularly as federal immigration policies evolve, there may be concerns that representatives and officers from U.S. immigration enforcement agencies may visit university campuses across the country,\" it says. \"While we have no knowledge of any planned visit to our campus, we offer this information.\"\n\n___ Thompson reported from Buffalo, N.Y. Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. ___\n\nThe Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Graduation: Trump crackdown on DEI cancels some college ceremonies\n\nBy Cheyanne Mumphrey and Carolyn Thompson \nMay 1st, 2025 04:06 AM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — As a first-generation college student, Austin Kissinger was looking forward to celebrating graduation with others of similar backgrounds who helped each other find their way at the University of Kentucky. Typically, Kentucky students who are the first in their family to graduate from college pick a faculty member to join them in a special ceremony.\n\nEarlier this month, the university canceled the ceremony, along with other convocations that recognize Black and LGBTQ+ students, citing the Trump administration's campaign to rein in diversity, equity and inclusion programs.\n\nThose student groups pooled resources for a celebration together off campus — without the school's involvement — but Kissinger said the about-face left him and others feeling unsupported.\n\n\"It's kind of like you're taking away our celebration, like you're not letting us embrace who we want to be,\" said Kissinger, a graduating senior who leads the university's First Generation Student Organization. \"You're not letting us represent what we do at the university.\"\n\nPresident Donald Trump's calls to eliminate any program that treats students differently because of their race have brought new scrutiny of affinity graduation ceremonies. The events have long been a way to build community and recognize the achievements and unique experiences of underrepresented students.\n\nMany affinity ceremonies are on track to proceed as usual around the country, with colleges saying the events comply with new guidance.\n\nBut some colleges are pulling back support. Those include Harvard University, which is battling the Trump administration over demands related to campus activism and diversity efforts on campus. Despite suing the administration over some of its attempts to force changes on campus, Harvard told students it would no longer provide funding, staffing or spaces for affinity celebrations, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported.\n\n## Some colleges act to comply with Trump administration guidance\n\nAt the University of Kentucky, spokesperson Jay Blanton said the main commencement celebrates all students. He said the university did away with others to comply with the law and \"how we believe it is being interpreted by the administration.\"\n\n\"The success and support of our students is a principle and purpose that is incredibly important to us. Everything we do on this campus, we do with that in mind as our goal,\" Blanton said. \"At the same time, we believe we must comply with the law and are doing so here.\"\n\nAround the country, universities have come under increasing pressure to get in line with the political agenda of Trump's administration, which already has frozen billions of dollars in grants for Harvard, Columbia University and other colleges over allegations they have not done enough to counter antisemitism.\n\nThe Education Department directed colleges to distance themselves from DEI with a \"Dear Colleague\" letter in February. It said a 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing the use of racial preferences in college admissions also applied to things like hiring, scholarships and graduation ceremonies. The administration contended American educational institutions have been discriminating against students, including white and Asian American students.\n\n\"In a shameful echo of a darker period in this country's history, many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities,\" read the letter, which was signed by Craig Trainor, the Education Department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.\n\nThe practice has roots in the era of segregation at some schools, but organizers of Black convocations today say they are a way to celebrate the accomplishments of diverse student populations that were once overlooked. Many colleges also have \"Lavender graduations,\" which celebrate LGBTQ+ students and grew out of a time decades ago when many lacked support from their families.\n\nFor students who are the first in their families to attend college, it can be easy to feel out of place or unsure of where to turn for help, Kissinger said. At Kentucky, he said he often felt like he had to figure out everything on his own. The affinity ceremony, he said, was intended as a celebration of resilience and pride that they reached graduation.\n\n## With ceremonies canceled, some find other ways to keep up traditions\n\nArizona's Maricopa County Community Colleges called off all its cultural and special interest convocations, citing in a statement \"enforcement priorities\" set by the U.S. Education Department. But the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community volunteered to hold a convocation ceremony for American Indian graduates.\n\n\"While we are deeply disappointed by the cancellation of convocation ceremonies for minority students, we believe it is important to come together as a community to honor our graduates and their families,\" community President Martin Harvier said in a statement.\n\nAt Ohio University, Aaron Thomas arranged for his alma mater's Black alumni weekend to go forward this spring after the university canceled it to comply with a state prohibition on DEI, which echoes the federal directive. Thomas, who runs a production company near the university's campus in Athens, Ohio, planned to foot the bill for an alumni barbecue until the mayor's office, nonprofits and restaurants pitched in to organize a weekend of events.\n\nAmong the schools with affinity events planned over the next few weeks is California State University, Long Beach, which says its celebrations for Pacific Islander and Cambodian students, among others, comply with the administration's guidance because they are open to anybody.\n\n\"Our students are looking forward to these celebrations, which are open to all and are consistent with guidance from the Department of Education,\" spokesperson Jim Milbury said.\n\nOn its website, a statement included with information about the cultural celebrations acknowledges the changing college landscape:\n\n\"Particularly as federal immigration policies evolve, there may be concerns that representatives and officers from U.S. immigration enforcement agencies may visit university campuses across the country,\" it says. \"While we have no knowledge of any planned visit to our campus, we offer this information.\"" } ]
6c596bbb15f19b5e58ff7913004cb532cd2cf93650be927b4c8ce1b3546bffd8	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Apple posts stronger-than-expected Q2 results, says majority of US iPhones sold will come from India\n\nBy Michael Liedtke and Barbara Ortutay \nMay 1st, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nApple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump's tariffs on its business.\n\nApple's earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street's expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter's results.\n\nCook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don't change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs, but Cook said the company remains \"confident\" in this business.\n\nThe Cupertino, California-based company earned $24.78 billion, or $1.65 per share, in the first three months of the year, up 4.8% from $23.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, in the same period a year earlier.\n\nRevenue rose 5.1% to $95.36 billion from $90.75 billion.\n\nAnalysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.62 per share on revenue of $94.19 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.\n\nThe numbers for the January-March period provide a snapshot of how Apple was faring before President Trump's unveiling of sweeping tariffs in April that rattled the financial markets amid fears a trade war would reignite inflation and shove the U.S. economy into a recession.\n\n\"While it is likely that some of the sales growth was driven by consumers accelerating purchases ahead of expected tariff increases, margins remained healthy on the other side of the balance sheet,\" said Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at Investing.com. He added that the company \"still has room for maneuver\" regardless of the economic backdrop and will \"likely not need to significantly deplete cash reserves to keep moving the needle.\"\n\nApple's reliance on Chinese factories to make its iPhones and other devices thrust the technology trendsetter into the crosshairs of Trump's trade war. The exposure caused Apple's stock price to plunge 23% shortly after the president announced the severity of the reciprocal tariffs, temporarily erasing $773 billion in shareholder wealth in the process.\n\nMost of those losses have since been recovered after Trump temporarily exempted iPhones and other electronics from the reciprocal tariffs, but Apple's stock remains down by nearly 5% since the April fusillade of tariffs.\n\nBesides the trade war, Apple has been hurt by its inability to live up to its own hype surrounding artificial intelligence features on the iPhone 16 lineup that came out last fall.\n\nThe technology wasn't ready when the iPhone 16 went on sale. Some AI features have rolled out in parts of the world as part of software updates, but Apple still hasn't been able to live up to its original promise to make Siri smarter and more versatile. The missteps prompted Apple to pull advertising campaigns promoting AI breakthroughs on the iPhone, although the company still intends to release more features powered by the technology at some point.\n\nApple had been counting on its late entry into the AI craze to revive demand for the iPhone after last year's sales dipped 2% from 2023's levels. Apple said Wednesday that its phone sales climbed 1.9% to $46.84 billion for the first three months of the year. Wall Street had expected iPhone sales of $45.62 billion.\n\nBut the company continues to see its China business decline, with revenue from the Greater China region down 2.3% to $16 billion for the quarter. Other regions, including the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia, saw sales increases.\n\nWhen Trump initially indicated his 145% tariffs on Chinese-made goods would apply to the iPhone, U.S. consumers rushed to stores to buy new devices rather than risk prices spiking higher after the duties began driving up costs. But the flurry of panic buying won't show up until Apple reports its results for the April-June quarter this summer.\n\nTrump's trade war has ramped up the pressure on Cook to work the same diplomatic sleight of hand that enabled the iPhone to avoid being stung by the China tariffs that the president imposed during his first administration.\n\nCook signaled his intention remain on good terms with Trump by arranging private meetings with him and personally donating $1 million to the president's second inauguration ceremony before sitting on the dais when Trump was sworn into office on January 20. Apple subsequently announced plans to invest $500 billion in the U.S. while hiring 20,000 workers during the next four years.\n\nTrump's trade war also is prompting a push to Apple to shift all the production of the iPhones that it sells in the U.S. from China to India, where the company has been building up its supply chain for the past seven years, according to a recent story in the Financial Times. But the complicated logistics of making such a huge move likely couldn't be completed until next year, at the earliest, leaving Apple vulnerable to the vagaries of Trump's trade war.\n\nApple's stock fell $5.81, or 2.7%, to $207.51 in after-hours trading." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Apple posts stronger-than-expected Q2 results, says majority of US iPhones sold will come from India\n\nBy Michael Liedtke and Barbara Ortutay \nMay 1st, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nApple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump's tariffs on its business.\n\nApple's earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street's expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter's results.\n\nCook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don't change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs, but Cook said the company remains \"confident\" in this business.\n\nThe Cupertino, California-based company earned $24.78 billion, or $1.65 per share, in the first three months of the year, up 4.8% from $23.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, in the same period a year earlier.\n\nRevenue rose 5.1% to $95.36 billion from $90.75 billion.\n\nAnalysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.62 per share on revenue of $94.19 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.\n\nThe numbers for the January-March period provide a snapshot of how Apple was faring before President Trump's unveiling of sweeping tariffs in April that rattled the financial markets amid fears a trade war would reignite inflation and shove the U.S. economy into a recession.\n\n\"While it is likely that some of the sales growth was driven by consumers accelerating purchases ahead of expected tariff increases, margins remained healthy on the other side of the balance sheet,\" said Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at Investing.com. He added that the company \"still has room for maneuver\" regardless of the economic backdrop and will \"likely not need to significantly deplete cash reserves to keep moving the needle.\"\n\nApple's reliance on Chinese factories to make its iPhones and other devices thrust the technology trendsetter into the crosshairs of Trump's trade war. The exposure caused Apple's stock price to plunge 23% shortly after the president announced the severity of the reciprocal tariffs, temporarily erasing $773 billion in shareholder wealth in the process.\n\nMost of those losses have since been recovered after Trump temporarily exempted iPhones and other electronics from the reciprocal tariffs, but Apple's stock remains down by nearly 5% since the April fusillade of tariffs.\n\nBesides the trade war, Apple has been hurt by its inability to live up to its own hype surrounding artificial intelligence features on the iPhone 16 lineup that came out last fall.\n\nThe technology wasn't ready when the iPhone 16 went on sale. Some AI features have rolled out in parts of the world as part of software updates, but Apple still hasn't been able to live up to its original promise to make Siri smarter and more versatile. The missteps prompted Apple to pull advertising campaigns promoting AI breakthroughs on the iPhone, although the company still intends to release more features powered by the technology at some point.\n\nApple had been counting on its late entry into the AI craze to revive demand for the iPhone after last year's sales dipped 2% from 2023's levels. Apple said Wednesday that its phone sales climbed 1.9% to $46.84 billion for the first three months of the year. Wall Street had expected iPhone sales of $45.62 billion.\n\nBut the company continues to see its China business decline, with revenue from the Greater China region down 2.3% to $16 billion for the quarter. Other regions, including the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia, saw sales increases.\n\nWhen Trump initially indicated his 145% tariffs on Chinese-made goods would apply to the iPhone, U.S. consumers rushed to stores to buy new devices rather than risk prices spiking higher after the duties began driving up costs. But the flurry of panic buying won't show up until Apple reports its results for the April-June quarter this summer.\n\nTrump's trade war has ramped up the pressure on Cook to work the same diplomatic sleight of hand that enabled the iPhone to avoid being stung by the China tariffs that the president imposed during his first administration.\n\nCook signaled his intention remain on good terms with Trump by arranging private meetings with him and personally donating $1 million to the president's second inauguration ceremony before sitting on the dais when Trump was sworn into office on January 20. Apple subsequently announced plans to invest $500 billion in the U.S. while hiring 20,000 workers during the next four years.\n\nTrump's trade war also is prompting a push to Apple to shift all the production of the iPhones that it sells in the U.S. from China to India, where the company has been building up its supply chain for the past seven years, according to a recent story in the Financial Times. But the complicated logistics of making such a huge move likely couldn't be completed until next year, at the earliest, leaving Apple vulnerable to the vagaries of Trump's trade war.\n\nApple's stock fell $5.81, or 2.7%, to $207.51 in after-hours trading." } ]
1282caa62452e67e898cb5e4f88df48051d12c2ebe01f5b19e67ef74301b6974	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Bochum draw with Heidenheim leaves both still facing relegation\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:48 PM\n\n---\n\nHEIDENHEIM, Germany (AP) — Bochum and Heidenheim are both staring relegation in the face after the struggling teams drew 0-0 in a tense Bundesliga encounter on Friday.\n\nA defeat would have condemned bottom club Bochum to the drop but a point means it survives at least one more week.\n\nThe Ruhr side remained last in the Bundesliga, equal on points with Kiel.\n\nThe result was equally frustrating for Heidenheim, which remained third from bottom, four points above Bochum and Kiel, but four behind Hoffenheim, which has a game in hand.\n\nHeidenheim lost goalkeeper Kevin Müller to injury in the 50th minute, when he was taken off on a stretcher after a goalmouth clash with Ibrahima Sissoko.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Bochum draw with Heidenheim leaves both still facing relegation\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:48 PM\n\n---\n\nHEIDENHEIM, Germany (AP) — Bochum and Heidenheim are both staring relegation in the face after the struggling teams drew 0-0 in a tense Bundesliga encounter on Friday.\n\nA defeat would have condemned bottom club Bochum to the drop but a point means it survives at least one more week.\n\nThe Ruhr side remained last in the Bundesliga, equal on points with Kiel.\n\nThe result was equally frustrating for Heidenheim, which remained third from bottom, four points above Bochum and Kiel, but four behind Hoffenheim, which has a game in hand.\n\nHeidenheim lost goalkeeper Kevin Müller to injury in the 50th minute, when he was taken off on a stretcher after a goalmouth clash with Ibrahima Sissoko." } ]
f00521f345ac957f1bb535b8bc590f5ba4b92dc950e1b8bd14ffd40d310ad85e	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Giants first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart wearing sister's sparkling necklace for luck\n\nBy Dennis Waszak Jr. \nMay 9th, 2025 08:07 PM\n\n---\n\nEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Jaxson Dart absolutely sparkled in his debut for the New York Giants.\n\nAnd he can thank his sister's jewelry collection for that.\n\nThe first-round quarterback showed up for his news conference after his first practice of rookie minicamp Friday wearing a dazzling necklace that featured shiny, diamondlike-filled hearts. And the bling caught everyone's attention, especially when the lights from the team's indoor facility shined off it.\n\n\"So, my little sister had it, it was hers,\" a smiling Dart said. \"It was before our bowl game and as I was leaving the house over Christmas — a little break before the bowl game — and just saw it in her room. And I was like, you know what, I kind of like it.\n\n\"So, I put it on and it's kind of been good luck for me ever since.\"\n\nAt the Gator Bowl in January, Dart was selected the MVP after leading Mississippi to a 52-20 thrashing of Duke while wearing the necklace. He threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns, further cementing himself as one of the draft's top available quarterbacks.\n\nThe Giants were so enthralled with Dart's talent that they traded back into the first round last month to take him with the 25th overall pick. The 21-year-old quarterback appeared to be wearing the necklace that day — and again when he was formally introduced by the team.\n\n\"She likes it, she likes it,\" a grinning Dart said when asked what his sister thinks of him wearing her jewelry. \"Now my little brother ordered one, too, so.\"\n\nIt wasn't immediately known if the necklace actually contains diamonds or what material it was made of, but this one is staying around Dart's neck for now. Oh, and his sister eventually got a replacement for her jewelry box.\n\n\"Yeah, we got her another one, too,\" the quarterback said.\n\nDart joins the Giants seemingly with no pressure to play this season since New York signed veterans Russell Wilson — who's slated to be the starter — and Jameis Winston as free agents.\n\nBut being on the sideline will be a new experience for Dart, who has been a starter for as long as he can remember.\n\n\"I haven't really sat before,\" he acknowledged.\n\nThat dates to his high school days in Utah, followed by a one-year stint at USC where he started three games as a freshman and then three years at Ole Miss.\n\n\"I'm a competitor, so I'm going to come to work each and every day and do my best to make everybody around me better,\" he said. \"I understand what the situation is, but for me and myself, I care about winning. There's nothing fun about losing, so it doesn't matter where you're at on the depth chart, if you're playing this much or not playing this much, if you're losing, it (stinks).\n\n\"So, for me, I want to make the team better, and that's my focus.\"\n\nDart is wearing No. 6 on his first jersey with the Giants — he was No. 2 at Ole Miss — but he acknowledged calling an audible might still be in play.\n\n\"Yeah, I think we'll come to a final decision here soon,\" Dart said. \"Quite honestly, I kind of have to just look at the pictures to see if I like myself in (No.) 6.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Giants first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart wearing sister's sparkling necklace for luck\n\nBy Dennis Waszak Jr. \nMay 9th, 2025 08:07 PM\n\n---\n\nEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Jaxson Dart absolutely sparkled in his debut for the New York Giants.\n\nAnd he can thank his sister's jewelry collection for that.\n\nThe first-round quarterback showed up for his news conference after his first practice of rookie minicamp Friday wearing a dazzling necklace that featured shiny, diamondlike-filled hearts. And the bling caught everyone's attention, especially when the lights from the team's indoor facility shined off it.\n\n\"So, my little sister had it, it was hers,\" a smiling Dart said. \"It was before our bowl game and as I was leaving the house over Christmas — a little break before the bowl game — and just saw it in her room. And I was like, you know what, I kind of like it.\n\n\"So, I put it on and it's kind of been good luck for me ever since.\"\n\nAt the Gator Bowl in January, Dart was selected the MVP after leading Mississippi to a 52-20 thrashing of Duke while wearing the necklace. He threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns, further cementing himself as one of the draft's top available quarterbacks.\n\nThe Giants were so enthralled with Dart's talent that they traded back into the first round last month to take him with the 25th overall pick. The 21-year-old quarterback appeared to be wearing the necklace that day — and again when he was formally introduced by the team.\n\n\"She likes it, she likes it,\" a grinning Dart said when asked what his sister thinks of him wearing her jewelry. \"Now my little brother ordered one, too, so.\"\n\nIt wasn't immediately known if the necklace actually contains diamonds or what material it was made of, but this one is staying around Dart's neck for now. Oh, and his sister eventually got a replacement for her jewelry box.\n\n\"Yeah, we got her another one, too,\" the quarterback said.\n\nDart joins the Giants seemingly with no pressure to play this season since New York signed veterans Russell Wilson — who's slated to be the starter — and Jameis Winston as free agents.\n\nBut being on the sideline will be a new experience for Dart, who has been a starter for as long as he can remember.\n\n\"I haven't really sat before,\" he acknowledged.\n\nThat dates to his high school days in Utah, followed by a one-year stint at USC where he started three games as a freshman and then three years at Ole Miss.\n\n\"I'm a competitor, so I'm going to come to work each and every day and do my best to make everybody around me better,\" he said. \"I understand what the situation is, but for me and myself, I care about winning. There's nothing fun about losing, so it doesn't matter where you're at on the depth chart, if you're playing this much or not playing this much, if you're losing, it (stinks).\n\n\"So, for me, I want to make the team better, and that's my focus.\"\n\nDart is wearing No. 6 on his first jersey with the Giants — he was No. 2 at Ole Miss — but he acknowledged calling an audible might still be in play.\n\n\"Yeah, I think we'll come to a final decision here soon,\" Dart said. \"Quite honestly, I kind of have to just look at the pictures to see if I like myself in (No.) 6.\"" } ]
44f9302a5fe804cdece079321e5c72e75bc6d49355e7661fc435a1e17cb12290	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Edwards, Randle lead Timberwolves past Warriors 102-97 for 2-1 lead in second-round playoff series\n\nBy Janie Mccauley \nMay 11th, 2025 03:34 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Even with Stephen Curry sidelined and Draymond Green in foul trouble, the Golden State Warriors were ahead by five points in the fourth quarter and felt they had every chance to grab a series lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home.\n\nUntil Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle took over for the Timberwolves in crunch time.\n\nEdwards hit a baseline 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points, Randle had 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Wolves beat the Warriors 102-97 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.\n\nJimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Curry on the floor.\n\n\"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor,\" Butler said. \"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots.\"\n\nKuminga shot 11 for 18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring that he injured early in Game 1 on Tuesday.\n\nGame 4 is Monday night at Chase Center.\n\nWarriors coach Steve Kerr stressed his team had to win with defense — and his team couldn't make the key stops down the stretch.\n\nEdwards, who showed no signs of being hampered after spraining his left ankle in the second quarter of Game 2, knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:16 remaining, while Jaden McDaniels made another key 3 with 3:20 to play.\n\nRandle began 1 for 6 and missed his initial four 3-point tries before connecting 6:30 before halftime to put Minnesota up 39-29 and force a Warriors timeout. He shot 10 for 23.\n\n\"We need it all. We needed everything from Julius, his hustle plays,\" Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. \"Sometimes he does a great job of just kind of chasing down rebounds and stuff like this. We needed it all.\"\n\nBuddy Hield's 3-pointer with 1:56 left pulled Golden State within 93-89 then McDaniels threw the ball away moments later but the Warriors were sloppy.\n\nGolden State missed all five of its 3-point tries in the first half but still led 42-40, then Hield found some rhythm and scored 14 second-half points.\n\nDraymond Green fouled out with 4:38 to play, whistled for his sixth personal trying to block a shot by McDaniels that appeared questionable on several replay reviews. Green sprinted down the floor to the Warriors bench in frustration then pulled on his warmup jacket and stood with hands on hips.\n\nTrayce Jackson-Davis moved into the Warriors' starting lineup after he made all six of his field goals and had 15 points and six rebounds in Game 2 but played just 11 minutes.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Edwards, Randle lead Timberwolves past Warriors 102-97 for 2-1 lead in second-round playoff series\n\nBy Janie Mccauley \nMay 11th, 2025 03:34 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Even with Stephen Curry sidelined and Draymond Green in foul trouble, the Golden State Warriors were ahead by five points in the fourth quarter and felt they had every chance to grab a series lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home.\n\nUntil Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle took over for the Timberwolves in crunch time.\n\nEdwards hit a baseline 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points, Randle had 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Wolves beat the Warriors 102-97 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.\n\nJimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Curry on the floor.\n\n\"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor,\" Butler said. \"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots.\"\n\nKuminga shot 11 for 18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring that he injured early in Game 1 on Tuesday.\n\nGame 4 is Monday night at Chase Center.\n\nWarriors coach Steve Kerr stressed his team had to win with defense — and his team couldn't make the key stops down the stretch.\n\nEdwards, who showed no signs of being hampered after spraining his left ankle in the second quarter of Game 2, knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:16 remaining, while Jaden McDaniels made another key 3 with 3:20 to play.\n\nRandle began 1 for 6 and missed his initial four 3-point tries before connecting 6:30 before halftime to put Minnesota up 39-29 and force a Warriors timeout. He shot 10 for 23.\n\n\"We need it all. We needed everything from Julius, his hustle plays,\" Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. \"Sometimes he does a great job of just kind of chasing down rebounds and stuff like this. We needed it all.\"\n\nBuddy Hield's 3-pointer with 1:56 left pulled Golden State within 93-89 then McDaniels threw the ball away moments later but the Warriors were sloppy.\n\nGolden State missed all five of its 3-point tries in the first half but still led 42-40, then Hield found some rhythm and scored 14 second-half points.\n\nDraymond Green fouled out with 4:38 to play, whistled for his sixth personal trying to block a shot by McDaniels that appeared questionable on several replay reviews. Green sprinted down the floor to the Warriors bench in frustration then pulled on his warmup jacket and stood with hands on hips.\n\nTrayce Jackson-Davis moved into the Warriors' starting lineup after he made all six of his field goals and had 15 points and six rebounds in Game 2 but played just 11 minutes." } ]
0f5b122861e5df860fd0b72fedcc17c8ec9c05232cb2ef00ea8eec18ba0a9c06	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# What to know about the Newark mayor's arrest at an immigration detention center\n\nMay 11th, 2025 08:09 PM\n\n---\n\nNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An immigration detention center in New Jersey is at the center of tensions between three congressional Democrats and the Trump administration after the arrest of Newark's mayor set off a scrum outside the complex.\n\nFederal prosecutors charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing after agents arrested him outside the fence of the Delaney Hall detention center on Friday. The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey says Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, ignored warnings to leave while he was there with three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation at the 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.\n\nThe arrest escalated into a brief but tense confrontation in the parking lot that included the members of Congress and federal agents, some of whom wore masks. Department of Homeland spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin has accused Baraka of playing \"political games\" and said over the weekend that an investigation is ongoing and that more actions could be taken.\n\nThe three members of Congress — Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr. — have accused federal agents of escalating the situation by arresting the mayor.\n\nHere's what to know:\n\n## Why were members of Congress at the facility?\n\nThe representatives have said they went to the facility to inspect it as a matter of congressional oversight.\n\n\"We were able to get in, speak to detainees, check out the facilities, and make sure everything was OK there,\" Rep. Watson Coleman told CNN in an interview Sunday that also included her two New Jersey colleagues. \"We were there almost two hours before the confrontation took place, but ICE kept giving us the run-around and kept saying that they needed to talk to someone else.\"\n\nDepartment of Homeland Security officials have said that lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall and that the agency would have facilitated one. Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper has said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.\n\n## Why was the mayor of Newark arrested?\n\nAlina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social media platform X that Baraka was arrested after the mayor allegedly trespassed at the detention facility. She accused him of ignoring warnings to leave the facility, which he has denied.\n\nBaraka was arrested, booked and released the same day. He said he has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.\n\nIn video reviewed by The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because \"you are not a congress member.\" He was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate at the facility where protesters were gathered, video shows.\n\nBaraka, who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has argued against the opening of the center, citing building permit issues. The facility, located along an industrial stretch of Newark Bay, opened on May 1.\n\n## What is this Newark detention center, and why has it been in the news?\n\nDelaney Hall is a two-story building next to a county prison in Newark Bay that operated as a halfway house in previous years. In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for the detention center. The deal is significant for its size and duration, and GEO officials cited it in messages to investors as a big revenue generator\n\nThe 1,000-bed capacity is also significant in advancing President Donald Trump's goals of expanding detention capacity in the U.S. beyond the previous 41,000 beds, in New Jersey, Michigan, and other states to 100,000 beds.\n\nDemocrats, including Baraka, have opposed the opening of the facility. As mayor, Baraka sued to block the opening of the detention center, saying it hadn't completed all building requirements.\n\nDHS has said that the facility has the proper permits and completed the proper inspections." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# What to know about the Newark mayor's arrest at an immigration detention center\n\nMay 11th, 2025 08:09 PM\n\n---\n\nNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An immigration detention center in New Jersey is at the center of tensions between three congressional Democrats and the Trump administration after the arrest of Newark's mayor set off a scrum outside the complex.\n\nFederal prosecutors charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing after agents arrested him outside the fence of the Delaney Hall detention center on Friday. The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey says Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, ignored warnings to leave while he was there with three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation at the 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.\n\nThe arrest escalated into a brief but tense confrontation in the parking lot that included the members of Congress and federal agents, some of whom wore masks. Department of Homeland spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin has accused Baraka of playing \"political games\" and said over the weekend that an investigation is ongoing and that more actions could be taken.\n\nThe three members of Congress — Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr. — have accused federal agents of escalating the situation by arresting the mayor.\n\nHere's what to know:\n\n## Why were members of Congress at the facility?\n\nThe representatives have said they went to the facility to inspect it as a matter of congressional oversight.\n\n\"We were able to get in, speak to detainees, check out the facilities, and make sure everything was OK there,\" Rep. Watson Coleman told CNN in an interview Sunday that also included her two New Jersey colleagues. \"We were there almost two hours before the confrontation took place, but ICE kept giving us the run-around and kept saying that they needed to talk to someone else.\"\n\nDepartment of Homeland Security officials have said that lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall and that the agency would have facilitated one. Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper has said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.\n\n## Why was the mayor of Newark arrested?\n\nAlina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social media platform X that Baraka was arrested after the mayor allegedly trespassed at the detention facility. She accused him of ignoring warnings to leave the facility, which he has denied.\n\nBaraka was arrested, booked and released the same day. He said he has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.\n\nIn video reviewed by The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because \"you are not a congress member.\" He was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate at the facility where protesters were gathered, video shows.\n\nBaraka, who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has argued against the opening of the center, citing building permit issues. The facility, located along an industrial stretch of Newark Bay, opened on May 1.\n\n## What is this Newark detention center, and why has it been in the news?\n\nDelaney Hall is a two-story building next to a county prison in Newark Bay that operated as a halfway house in previous years. In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for the detention center. The deal is significant for its size and duration, and GEO officials cited it in messages to investors as a big revenue generator\n\nThe 1,000-bed capacity is also significant in advancing President Donald Trump's goals of expanding detention capacity in the U.S. beyond the previous 41,000 beds, in New Jersey, Michigan, and other states to 100,000 beds.\n\nDemocrats, including Baraka, have opposed the opening of the facility. As mayor, Baraka sued to block the opening of the detention center, saying it hadn't completed all building requirements.\n\nDHS has said that the facility has the proper permits and completed the proper inspections." } ]
a15132da9d48c49d6670f3efbbb7d4d70a3b6bb35ab3117943f8ee05375ba80e	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# The perception of Brad Marchand is one thing. Reality, the Florida Panthers have learned, is another\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 5th, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand is many things. Sarcastic, most definitely. A pest on the ice, absolutely. Someone who doesn't mind a little bonus physicality, goes without saying. His \"little ball of hate\" nickname even got repeated once by President Barack Obama.\n\nThe Florida Panthers knew all of this when they acquired him.\n\nAnd then they learned something else. Marchand is ... likeable?\n\n\"Good person and fun to be around,\" Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. \"Great poker player as well.\"\n\nThe Toronto Maple Leafs probably believe that. To use the poker term, they've been all-in against Marchand a few times at playoff time and always lost.\n\nOne of hockey's best rivalries — Toronto fans vs. Marchand — resumes Monday night, when the Maple Leafs host the Panthers in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference second-round series. He tends to be booed whenever he touches the puck in Toronto, the fans there remembering how their team went up against Marchand and the Boston Bruins four previous times, all those series going to Game 7, all of them going Boston's way.\n\nThe fans don't like him. Marchand doesn't mind. There are bigger priorities. There's a Cup to chase.\n\n\"To be honest, I never really cared,\" Marchand said. \"Fans get a very small insight of who we are as people. They watch the games and they build opinions on players off who they are on the ice. Fans that I meet and interact with, I think they have a different perception.\"\n\nMake no mistake, there seems to be a perception about the Panthers. Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk isn't exactly adored in other buildings around the NHL. Same goes for another Florida forward, Sam Bennett. Like Marchand, they're tough, rugged, unafraid of contact. It would probably shock fans in other markets to learn that Tkachuk — like the rest of his family — support a slew of causes quietly without seeking attention for doing so. And Bennett's passion is finding sheltered animals forever homes; with every goal he scores, he pays the adoption fee to have another dog or cat join a new family.\n\nOn-ice perception is one thing, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. Actual reality is another.\n\n\"Those three men are wonderful to the support staff, trainers, coaches, everybody, flight attendants, all the people who help move our team and don't get on camera,\" Maurice said. \"They're just fantastic to watch. They make you a better person just watching them.\"\n\nMarchand might talk a lot on the ice — chirping is one of his favorite hobbies — but he's been downright gentlemanly since joining the Panthers. He's played in 15 games since the trade; he's taken only four minor penalties in that span. He's settled in on Florida's third line, been a key part of the penalty-kill, perfectly content to do his job.\n\nThe idea of someone who was the Bruins' captain joining Florida — a playoff rival — might have seemed unlikely at best a few months ago. But someone who turns 37 on May 11 knows that there might not be too many more chances to win another Stanley Cup, so he embraced the move to Florida.\n\n\"Everyone's path is different,\" Marchand said. \"Mine usually was built off of emotion and it was very intense and very competitive and sometimes when you do that you cross the line and have to play a certain way that gets me engaged all the time. Sometimes it rubs people the wrong way and it comes off in a way people don't like. But I don't play the game for anybody outside of myself and my team.\"\n\nIt was not the easiest of transitions for Marchand — who had spent his entire NHL career in Boston — after the trade. That's not because of personality or past playoff battles; it's because he was injured and recovering. His rehab work was done on a different schedule than basically the rest of the team, even keeping him from traveling with the club in the early going. It delayed his full acclimation.\n\nOnce he could play again, things fell into place with the Panthers quickly.\n\n\"I've seen a lot of guys kind of come in to the teams I was on in the past. And there's some guys that came in the wrong way and guys came in right way,\" Marchand said. \"I tried to learn from that and just kind of come in the right way and not step on toes and kind of watch and learn how things are done.\"\n\nPanthers fans throw toy plastic rats onto the ice after wins, a nod back to the team's 1995-96 season. As the story goes, Florida's Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room with his stick before opening night that season and then scored two goals in that game. \"Rat trick\" was the phrase that was born from that, and the rats have been part of Florida lore ever since.\n\nThese days, when the rats rain down, Panthers teammates fire them at Marchand's legs before he can leave the ice. It's a badge of honor. Panthers fans — who were never exactly thrilled by seeing him before the trade, of course — used to throw them at Marchand. They throw them for him now.\n\n\"It means we won,\" Marchand said. \"That's a good thing.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# The perception of Brad Marchand is one thing. Reality, the Florida Panthers have learned, is another\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 5th, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand is many things. Sarcastic, most definitely. A pest on the ice, absolutely. Someone who doesn't mind a little bonus physicality, goes without saying. His \"little ball of hate\" nickname even got repeated once by President Barack Obama.\n\nThe Florida Panthers knew all of this when they acquired him.\n\nAnd then they learned something else. Marchand is ... likeable?\n\n\"Good person and fun to be around,\" Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. \"Great poker player as well.\"\n\nThe Toronto Maple Leafs probably believe that. To use the poker term, they've been all-in against Marchand a few times at playoff time and always lost.\n\nOne of hockey's best rivalries — Toronto fans vs. Marchand — resumes Monday night, when the Maple Leafs host the Panthers in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference second-round series. He tends to be booed whenever he touches the puck in Toronto, the fans there remembering how their team went up against Marchand and the Boston Bruins four previous times, all those series going to Game 7, all of them going Boston's way.\n\nThe fans don't like him. Marchand doesn't mind. There are bigger priorities. There's a Cup to chase.\n\n\"To be honest, I never really cared,\" Marchand said. \"Fans get a very small insight of who we are as people. They watch the games and they build opinions on players off who they are on the ice. Fans that I meet and interact with, I think they have a different perception.\"\n\nMake no mistake, there seems to be a perception about the Panthers. Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk isn't exactly adored in other buildings around the NHL. Same goes for another Florida forward, Sam Bennett. Like Marchand, they're tough, rugged, unafraid of contact. It would probably shock fans in other markets to learn that Tkachuk — like the rest of his family — support a slew of causes quietly without seeking attention for doing so. And Bennett's passion is finding sheltered animals forever homes; with every goal he scores, he pays the adoption fee to have another dog or cat join a new family.\n\nOn-ice perception is one thing, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. Actual reality is another.\n\n\"Those three men are wonderful to the support staff, trainers, coaches, everybody, flight attendants, all the people who help move our team and don't get on camera,\" Maurice said. \"They're just fantastic to watch. They make you a better person just watching them.\"\n\nMarchand might talk a lot on the ice — chirping is one of his favorite hobbies — but he's been downright gentlemanly since joining the Panthers. He's played in 15 games since the trade; he's taken only four minor penalties in that span. He's settled in on Florida's third line, been a key part of the penalty-kill, perfectly content to do his job.\n\nThe idea of someone who was the Bruins' captain joining Florida — a playoff rival — might have seemed unlikely at best a few months ago. But someone who turns 37 on May 11 knows that there might not be too many more chances to win another Stanley Cup, so he embraced the move to Florida.\n\n\"Everyone's path is different,\" Marchand said. \"Mine usually was built off of emotion and it was very intense and very competitive and sometimes when you do that you cross the line and have to play a certain way that gets me engaged all the time. Sometimes it rubs people the wrong way and it comes off in a way people don't like. But I don't play the game for anybody outside of myself and my team.\"\n\nIt was not the easiest of transitions for Marchand — who had spent his entire NHL career in Boston — after the trade. That's not because of personality or past playoff battles; it's because he was injured and recovering. His rehab work was done on a different schedule than basically the rest of the team, even keeping him from traveling with the club in the early going. It delayed his full acclimation.\n\nOnce he could play again, things fell into place with the Panthers quickly.\n\n\"I've seen a lot of guys kind of come in to the teams I was on in the past. And there's some guys that came in the wrong way and guys came in right way,\" Marchand said. \"I tried to learn from that and just kind of come in the right way and not step on toes and kind of watch and learn how things are done.\"\n\nPanthers fans throw toy plastic rats onto the ice after wins, a nod back to the team's 1995-96 season. As the story goes, Florida's Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room with his stick before opening night that season and then scored two goals in that game. \"Rat trick\" was the phrase that was born from that, and the rats have been part of Florida lore ever since.\n\nThese days, when the rats rain down, Panthers teammates fire them at Marchand's legs before he can leave the ice. It's a badge of honor. Panthers fans — who were never exactly thrilled by seeing him before the trade, of course — used to throw them at Marchand. They throw them for him now.\n\n\"It means we won,\" Marchand said. \"That's a good thing.\"" } ]
475f698d2f1d066720bcf5685a3c928030bf722638eb32e26323c5a157c9221f	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Email discloses HHS plans to cut research of child welfare programs\n\nBy Ryan J. Foley \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:59 AM\n\n---\n\nIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Trump administration could gut research on the effectiveness of child welfare programs, with plans to terminate dozens of university grants studying improvements to Head Start and child care policy, according to a spreadsheet mistakenly made public this week.\n\nThe document listed more than 150 research projects under consideration for termination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It covered grants funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, which says it \"builds evidence to improve lives\" by helping policymakers evaluate programs that help low-income children and families.\n\n\"These grants are aimed at learning how to make programs more effective at pursuing goals like healthy child development, reducing abuse and neglect and promoting economic self-sufficiency,\" said Naomi Goldstein, who led the office for nearly two decades before she retired in 2022. \"It's hard to see why they would want to cancel these efforts.\"\n\nThe grant cancellations would add to deep cuts already enacted at HHS' Administration for Children and Families, which plans to close five regional offices and abruptly fired hundreds of workers one month ago. Its staffing has dropped from approximately 2,400 in January to 1,500, former employees say, and the administration has said it will fold ACF into other parts of HHS.\n\nOther HHS divisions, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, have already cut billions of dollars in grants, including those related to public health, gender, race and other subjects opposed by President Donald Trump's administration. The document released Wednesday marked the first news of plans for the possible mass terminations of ACF grants, although a department spokesperson later said it was only an outdated draft.\n\nThe proposed terminations would further undercut Head Start, the 60-year-old program overseen by ACF that supports preschool and services for hundreds of thousands of low-income children. Head Start has faced mass layoffs and a plan to eliminate its funding altogether in recent months. The grants facing termination included studies intended to answer key questions and improve its operations, such as how to retain more educators at local Head Start programs.\n\nThe spreadsheet also listed for termination grants worth millions of dollars for first-of-their-kind centers dedicated to better serving low-income Black and Hispanic children and families, located, respectively, at Morehouse College in Atlanta and at a nonprofit in Maryland.\n\nDozens of grants related to child care policy, child development, foster care, preventing child abuse, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and more were also listed as set for cancellation, reflecting ACF's widespread portfolio.\n\nThose studies help policymakers understand what works, a former administration official said.\n\n\"Ending these projects without explanation not only wastes taxpayer dollars, it also threatens the evidence base behind key safety net programs,\" said Katie Hamm, who was ACF's deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development until January. \"It's alarming that grantees and contractors had to find out this way, through an accidental email, rather than a transparent process.\"\n\nThe information was mistakenly included in an email sent Wednesday to grant recipients at universities and nonprofits by an HHS employee, who asked them to review and update their contact information.\n\nHHS recalled the message only after the spreadsheet, which had a column on whether funding would \"terminate\" or \"continue\" for each grant, had been downloaded by recipients. A department spokesperson said the document contained \"outdated and predecisional information\" but did not rule out that research inside the ACF could be cut.\n\n\"ACF is committed to ensuring that government funds are used in alignment with Administration priorities and are in the best interest of the American people,\" spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.\n\nGoldstein, the former research office director, said the situation \"does appear to reflect a level of haste and chaos\" at the agency.\n\nOnly 21 out of 177 listed grants were marked with a note to \"continue\" funding in the document. A small number had already ended, and some were marked for termination \"at the end of budget period.\"\n\nThe document didn't list how much funding in all would be cut, but the office was responsible for $154 million in grants and contracts in fiscal year 2024.\n\nMore than 50 universities were listed as having grants terminated. Several other state agencies and nonprofits would also be affected.\n\nA follow-up email told recipients to disregard the spreadsheet, but again asked for updated contact information. One researcher who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation said they were expecting to receive formal notification soon that their grants would be ending. Several other grant recipients declined to comment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Email discloses HHS plans to cut research of child welfare programs\n\nBy Ryan J. Foley \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:59 AM\n\n---\n\nIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Trump administration could gut research on the effectiveness of child welfare programs, with plans to terminate dozens of university grants studying improvements to Head Start and child care policy, according to a spreadsheet mistakenly made public this week.\n\nThe document listed more than 150 research projects under consideration for termination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It covered grants funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, which says it \"builds evidence to improve lives\" by helping policymakers evaluate programs that help low-income children and families.\n\n\"These grants are aimed at learning how to make programs more effective at pursuing goals like healthy child development, reducing abuse and neglect and promoting economic self-sufficiency,\" said Naomi Goldstein, who led the office for nearly two decades before she retired in 2022. \"It's hard to see why they would want to cancel these efforts.\"\n\nThe grant cancellations would add to deep cuts already enacted at HHS' Administration for Children and Families, which plans to close five regional offices and abruptly fired hundreds of workers one month ago. Its staffing has dropped from approximately 2,400 in January to 1,500, former employees say, and the administration has said it will fold ACF into other parts of HHS.\n\nOther HHS divisions, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, have already cut billions of dollars in grants, including those related to public health, gender, race and other subjects opposed by President Donald Trump's administration. The document released Wednesday marked the first news of plans for the possible mass terminations of ACF grants, although a department spokesperson later said it was only an outdated draft.\n\nThe proposed terminations would further undercut Head Start, the 60-year-old program overseen by ACF that supports preschool and services for hundreds of thousands of low-income children. Head Start has faced mass layoffs and a plan to eliminate its funding altogether in recent months. The grants facing termination included studies intended to answer key questions and improve its operations, such as how to retain more educators at local Head Start programs.\n\nThe spreadsheet also listed for termination grants worth millions of dollars for first-of-their-kind centers dedicated to better serving low-income Black and Hispanic children and families, located, respectively, at Morehouse College in Atlanta and at a nonprofit in Maryland.\n\nDozens of grants related to child care policy, child development, foster care, preventing child abuse, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and more were also listed as set for cancellation, reflecting ACF's widespread portfolio.\n\nThose studies help policymakers understand what works, a former administration official said.\n\n\"Ending these projects without explanation not only wastes taxpayer dollars, it also threatens the evidence base behind key safety net programs,\" said Katie Hamm, who was ACF's deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development until January. \"It's alarming that grantees and contractors had to find out this way, through an accidental email, rather than a transparent process.\"\n\nThe information was mistakenly included in an email sent Wednesday to grant recipients at universities and nonprofits by an HHS employee, who asked them to review and update their contact information.\n\nHHS recalled the message only after the spreadsheet, which had a column on whether funding would \"terminate\" or \"continue\" for each grant, had been downloaded by recipients. A department spokesperson said the document contained \"outdated and predecisional information\" but did not rule out that research inside the ACF could be cut.\n\n\"ACF is committed to ensuring that government funds are used in alignment with Administration priorities and are in the best interest of the American people,\" spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.\n\nGoldstein, the former research office director, said the situation \"does appear to reflect a level of haste and chaos\" at the agency.\n\nOnly 21 out of 177 listed grants were marked with a note to \"continue\" funding in the document. A small number had already ended, and some were marked for termination \"at the end of budget period.\"\n\nThe document didn't list how much funding in all would be cut, but the office was responsible for $154 million in grants and contracts in fiscal year 2024.\n\nMore than 50 universities were listed as having grants terminated. Several other state agencies and nonprofits would also be affected.\n\nA follow-up email told recipients to disregard the spreadsheet, but again asked for updated contact information. One researcher who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation said they were expecting to receive formal notification soon that their grants would be ending. Several other grant recipients declined to comment." } ]
a92edc62adf096b17c12de9bff5e7e921cf2e8506a7654f7222c60c49d711621	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Trump visiting the Mideast as regional crises flare\n\nBy Jon Gambrell and Tia Goldenberg \nMay 12th, 2025 05:13 AM\n\n---\n\nRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — On his trip this week to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, though his most pressing regional challenges concern two other countries: Israel and Iran.\n\nAfter ending a ceasefire two months ago, Israel is intensifying the war in the Gaza Strip, where a blockade on food, medicine and other supplies is worsening a humanitarian crisis. And Iran, an enemy of Israel and a rival of Saudi Arabia, stands on the cusp of being able to develop nuclear weapons.\n\nYet Trump will focus his attention on three energy-rich nations home to existing or planned Trump-branded real estate projects — places where he aims to leverage American economic interests to do what he personally revels in: making business deals.\n\n\"This is his happy place,\" said Jon B. Alterman, a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. \"His hosts will be generous and hospitable. They'll be keen to make deals. They'll flatter him and not criticize him. And they'll treat his family members as past and future business partners.\"\n\nTrump said Sunday he was ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar, prompting criticism from some Democrats and allies of the president.\n\nTrump won't be able to avoid diplomacy on Gaza or Iran: The Gulf countries hosting him are also interested in easing the regional tensions that emanate from these two places.\n\n\"Trump can easily score a win by reassuring them of America's strategic commitment to the region, demonstrating consistent messaging and generally rising above the fray,\" analysts Elizabeth Dent and Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote Friday.\n\n## Trump doesn't plan to visit Israel\n\nBy not scheduling a trip to Israel during his first trip to the region during his second term as president, Trump is reinforcing a feeling in Israel that its interests may not be top of mind for him.\n\nThat sense intensified last week, when Trump announced that the U.S. would halt its strikes on the Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen that agreed to stop its attacks on American vessels in the Red Sea.\n\nThe Houthis' attacks on Israel did not appear to be covered by that deal, which came as a surprise to Israel, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue. Days after the deal between the U.S. and the Houthis — and despite a two-day Israeli assault on Houthi targets — a missile from Yemen again set off air raid sirens in Israel. Then Israel's military warned Sunday that Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen could be targeted again.\n\nTrump's move to launch negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program also jarred Israel, which fears a deal that would not be strict enough to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or rein in its support for regional militant groups.\n\nIsrael had hoped that Trump might provide military assistance in any strike it carried out on the country's nuclear facilities — an action that is unrealistic so long as there are negotiations, or if they reach a deal.\n\nThat has raised questions in Israel over Trump's reliability on other major issues, like a long-sought normalization deal with Saudi Arabia as part of any defense pact the administration may reach with the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has said it would only normalize ties with Israel in exchange for significant concessions for the Palestinians toward statehood, something the current Israeli government is unlikely to agree to.\n\nIsrael has said it will hold off on expanding the war in Gaza until after Trump's visit, leaving the window open for a new ceasefire deal to materialize. On Monday, an Israeli-American held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip was released by Hamas in a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration.\n\nStill, Trump has given Israel free rein in Gaza and, like Israel, blames Hamas for any civilian casualties.\n\nU.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee played down any significance to Trump's decision not to visit Israel, saying in interviews with Israeli media that his visit to the region was focused on economic issues.\n\n## No major breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks\n\nFor Iran, much depends on the talks it is having with the U.S. over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. A reported two-month deadline to reach a deal likely has passed as U.S. officials signal America may push for Iran to give up enrichment entirely — something Tehran has insisted is a red line.\n\nAlthough four rounds of talks mediated by Oman have not led to a major breakthrough, they have gone into the so-called \"expert level\" — meaning specifics about any possible accord likely have been discussed.\n\nIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled over the weekend to both Saudi Arabia and Qatar ahead of Trump's trip. Iran likely is trying to pass messages to the U.S. while signaling its interest in continuing the talks. Iranian officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon, while Trump and Israel have both threatened to strike Iranian nuclear sites if a deal isn't reached.\n\nThe Islamic Republic is running out of options. Its economy has cratered since Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled America out of their initial nuclear deal with world powers. And Iran's self-described \"Axis of Resistance\" — a group of aligned nations and militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — has been mauled since the Israel-Hamas war began.\n\nIran also faces internal political pressure, including from women increasingly refusing to wear the state-mandated headscarf, or hijab.\n\nThere is one thing that unites most Iranians, however — pride over the Persian Gulf. Trump's consideration of having America uniformly call the body of water the \"Arabian Gulf\" instead drew fierce criticism from across the country.\n\n\"This gulf has always been the Persian Gulf — and it will forever remain the Persian Gulf,\" Tehran's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said.\n\n## Trump's 2017 trip still haunts the Gulf\n\nAfter starting his trip in Saudi Arabia, Trump will then go to Qatar, which recently announced plans for a Trump-branded development there.\n\nThis tight embrace of the president comes after his first trip to the Middle East — in 2017 — apparently sparked what became known as the Qatar crisis. That is when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE boycotted Qatar over its support of Islamists in the region and its ties to Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field.\n\nThe dispute grew so serious that Kuwait's ruling emir at the time, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, suggested on a visit to the White House there could have been \"military action.\"\n\nTrump initially criticized Qatar as having \"historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level\" at the start of the boycott. Less than a year later, he praised Qatar and rolled that back. The four nations ended their boycott just before Biden took office.\n\nAny plane gifted to the U.S. by Qatar could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft, U.S. officials said — which would amount to the president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government. \"This was just a gesture of good faith\" from Qatar, which knew that Boing had encountered delays building the next generation of the Air Force One aircraft, Trump said Monday at the White House.\n\n___\n\nGoldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. AP reporter Darlene Superville in Washington contributed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Trump visiting the Mideast as regional crises flare\n\nBy Jon Gambrell and Tia Goldenberg \nMay 12th, 2025 05:13 AM\n\n---\n\nRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — On his trip this week to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, though his most pressing regional challenges concern two other countries: Israel and Iran.\n\nAfter ending a ceasefire two months ago, Israel is intensifying the war in the Gaza Strip, where a blockade on food, medicine and other supplies is worsening a humanitarian crisis. And Iran, an enemy of Israel and a rival of Saudi Arabia, stands on the cusp of being able to develop nuclear weapons.\n\nYet Trump will focus his attention on three energy-rich nations home to existing or planned Trump-branded real estate projects — places where he aims to leverage American economic interests to do what he personally revels in: making business deals.\n\n\"This is his happy place,\" said Jon B. Alterman, a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. \"His hosts will be generous and hospitable. They'll be keen to make deals. They'll flatter him and not criticize him. And they'll treat his family members as past and future business partners.\"\n\nTrump said Sunday he was ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar, prompting criticism from some Democrats and allies of the president.\n\nTrump won't be able to avoid diplomacy on Gaza or Iran: The Gulf countries hosting him are also interested in easing the regional tensions that emanate from these two places.\n\n\"Trump can easily score a win by reassuring them of America's strategic commitment to the region, demonstrating consistent messaging and generally rising above the fray,\" analysts Elizabeth Dent and Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote Friday.\n\n## Trump doesn't plan to visit Israel\n\nBy not scheduling a trip to Israel during his first trip to the region during his second term as president, Trump is reinforcing a feeling in Israel that its interests may not be top of mind for him.\n\nThat sense intensified last week, when Trump announced that the U.S. would halt its strikes on the Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen that agreed to stop its attacks on American vessels in the Red Sea.\n\nThe Houthis' attacks on Israel did not appear to be covered by that deal, which came as a surprise to Israel, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue. Days after the deal between the U.S. and the Houthis — and despite a two-day Israeli assault on Houthi targets — a missile from Yemen again set off air raid sirens in Israel. Then Israel's military warned Sunday that Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen could be targeted again.\n\nTrump's move to launch negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program also jarred Israel, which fears a deal that would not be strict enough to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or rein in its support for regional militant groups.\n\nIsrael had hoped that Trump might provide military assistance in any strike it carried out on the country's nuclear facilities — an action that is unrealistic so long as there are negotiations, or if they reach a deal.\n\nThat has raised questions in Israel over Trump's reliability on other major issues, like a long-sought normalization deal with Saudi Arabia as part of any defense pact the administration may reach with the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has said it would only normalize ties with Israel in exchange for significant concessions for the Palestinians toward statehood, something the current Israeli government is unlikely to agree to.\n\nIsrael has said it will hold off on expanding the war in Gaza until after Trump's visit, leaving the window open for a new ceasefire deal to materialize. On Monday, an Israeli-American held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip was released by Hamas in a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration.\n\nStill, Trump has given Israel free rein in Gaza and, like Israel, blames Hamas for any civilian casualties.\n\nU.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee played down any significance to Trump's decision not to visit Israel, saying in interviews with Israeli media that his visit to the region was focused on economic issues.\n\n## No major breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks\n\nFor Iran, much depends on the talks it is having with the U.S. over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. A reported two-month deadline to reach a deal likely has passed as U.S. officials signal America may push for Iran to give up enrichment entirely — something Tehran has insisted is a red line.\n\nAlthough four rounds of talks mediated by Oman have not led to a major breakthrough, they have gone into the so-called \"expert level\" — meaning specifics about any possible accord likely have been discussed.\n\nIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled over the weekend to both Saudi Arabia and Qatar ahead of Trump's trip. Iran likely is trying to pass messages to the U.S. while signaling its interest in continuing the talks. Iranian officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon, while Trump and Israel have both threatened to strike Iranian nuclear sites if a deal isn't reached.\n\nThe Islamic Republic is running out of options. Its economy has cratered since Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled America out of their initial nuclear deal with world powers. And Iran's self-described \"Axis of Resistance\" — a group of aligned nations and militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — has been mauled since the Israel-Hamas war began.\n\nIran also faces internal political pressure, including from women increasingly refusing to wear the state-mandated headscarf, or hijab.\n\nThere is one thing that unites most Iranians, however — pride over the Persian Gulf. Trump's consideration of having America uniformly call the body of water the \"Arabian Gulf\" instead drew fierce criticism from across the country.\n\n\"This gulf has always been the Persian Gulf — and it will forever remain the Persian Gulf,\" Tehran's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said.\n\n## Trump's 2017 trip still haunts the Gulf\n\nAfter starting his trip in Saudi Arabia, Trump will then go to Qatar, which recently announced plans for a Trump-branded development there.\n\nThis tight embrace of the president comes after his first trip to the Middle East — in 2017 — apparently sparked what became known as the Qatar crisis. That is when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE boycotted Qatar over its support of Islamists in the region and its ties to Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field.\n\nThe dispute grew so serious that Kuwait's ruling emir at the time, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, suggested on a visit to the White House there could have been \"military action.\"\n\nTrump initially criticized Qatar as having \"historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level\" at the start of the boycott. Less than a year later, he praised Qatar and rolled that back. The four nations ended their boycott just before Biden took office.\n\nAny plane gifted to the U.S. by Qatar could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft, U.S. officials said — which would amount to the president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government. \"This was just a gesture of good faith\" from Qatar, which knew that Boing had encountered delays building the next generation of the Air Force One aircraft, Trump said Monday at the White House." } ]
045ec01eddf90b3df2a7322753c33a329caeaa28e8f3e76bfa58617fd801f7c4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# US robot makers hope to beat China in humanoid race. Tariffs could affect their ambitions\n\nBy Matt O'Brien \nMay 1st, 2025 06:02 PM\n\n---\n\nBOSTON (AP) — Tariffs weren't on the agenda of this week's Robotics Summit, where thousands of tech industry workers mingled with humanoid and other robot varieties and talked about how to build and sell a new generation of increasingly autonomous machines.\n\nNot on the official agenda, at least.\n\n\"Jump up to the microphones,\" said keynote speaker Aaron Saunders, chief technology officer of Boston Dynamics, inviting a standing-room-only crowd to ask him questions. \"And I'm the CTO, so don't ask me about tariffs.\"\n\nThe crowd laughed and complied. But as they streamed onto the show floor at Boston's convention center, greeted by a remote-controlled humanoid made by Chinese company Unitree, it was hard to ignore the shadow of President Donald Trump's far-reaching global tariffs and retaliatory measures from Trump's biggest target, China.\n\nTariffs are the \"No. 1 topic that we're discussing in the hallways and at the water cooler with people that I've known for a long time,\" said event organizer Steve Crowe, chair of the annual Robotics Summit & Expo. \"I think it's definitely top of mind, because there's so much uncertainty about what is going to come.\"\n\nThat concern is rooted in a robot's complex anatomy of motors and actuators to move their limbs, computers to power their artificial intelligence, and sensing devices to help them react to their surroundings. Sensors, semiconductors, batteries and rare earth magnets are among the array of components most sensitive to global trade disputes.\n\nTesla CEO and billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk warned investors last week that China's countermeasures restricting shipments of rare earth magnets will delay Tesla's development of its Optimus humanoid robots.\n\nAt the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, some humanoid makers were looking at a potential bright side to the geopolitical shifts as American businesses look harder for domestic supplies of parts and the development of U.S.-based robots that can automate factories and warehouses.\n\n\"It's added some inconveniences to our own supply chain. But it's also opened up opportunities,\" said Pras Velagapudi, chief technology officer at Oregon-based Agility Robotics, in an interview. The company is starting to deploy its humanoid robot, called Digit, at a U.S. plant run by German manufacturer Schaeffler, a maker of ball bearings and other components key to the auto industry.\n\nAl Makke, a director of engineering for Schaeffler's chassis systems, said tariffs could push many companies toward onshoring production of a variety of items in the U.S.\n\n\"And if that does happen, then local companies have to deal with high labor costs and a shortage of labor and so automation gets pushed further,\" Makke said. \"And one of those faces of automation is humanoids.\"\n\nMost of the big industrial robots employed in the U.S. are used to help make cars, and are imported from countries such as Japan, Germany or South Korea.\n\nAutomakers in the U.S. installed 9.6% more robots in their plants than a year before, according to new data from the International Federation of Robotics, a trade group.\n\nFor now, humanoids are still a niche but one that invites intense curiosity, in part thanks to popular science fiction. Saunders, of Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics, presented an update Wednesday on the development of its Atlas humanoid robot but didn't bring a physical prototype, instead showing off a more familiar pack of its four-legged Spot robots contained in a pen on the show floor.\n\nOne humanoid at the conference was Unitree's G1. Marketed for $16,000 and remote-controlled by an employee standing nearby, the robot fluidly shook hands, waved back at people and walked around the show floor, but it won't be moving totes or working in a factory anytime soon.\n\nIts main customers outside China are academic researchers and some social media influencers, and Trump's current tariffs totaling 145% on China would raise its cost to American buyers to roughly $40,000, said Tony Yang, a Unitree vice president of business development who manages its North American sales. Nevertheless, Unitree's strategy to rapidly develop its hardware and software is a long-term one.\n\n\"It's still a very narrow market, but I think there's still a huge potential market on the industry side, like for manufacturing and factory and even home use,\" Yang said.\n\nAt a full pickleball court on the show floor, some conference attendees took a break to grab a racket and swing at balls tossed by a wheeled robot. Asked to describe what's inside the Tennibot robot, its maker also had tariffs on the mind.\n\n\"Injection molded parts, rivets, screws, nuts, wheels, motors, batteries,\" said Haitham Eletrabi, co-founder and CEO of Tennibot, based in Auburn, Alabama. \"The supply chain gets very complex. We get parts from all over the world. Tariffs are adding a lot of uncertainty.\"\n\nIt's not just the U.S.-China trade rivalry that was weighing on some attendees. Francesca Torsiello, of the recruitment firm Adapt Talent, said she's also hearing more wariness from Canadian robotics and engineering candidates about taking jobs in the U.S. amid a tense political environment.\n\n\"In the past, people in Canada found it attractive to come and work for U.S. companies; right now they're being very hesitant,\" Torsiello said.\n\n————-\n\nAP video journalist Rodrique Ngowi contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# US robot makers hope to beat China in humanoid race. Tariffs could affect their ambitions\n\nBy Matt O'Brien \nMay 1st, 2025 06:02 PM\n\n---\n\nBOSTON (AP) — Tariffs weren't on the agenda of this week's Robotics Summit, where thousands of tech industry workers mingled with humanoid and other robot varieties and talked about how to build and sell a new generation of increasingly autonomous machines.\n\nNot on the official agenda, at least.\n\n\"Jump up to the microphones,\" said keynote speaker Aaron Saunders, chief technology officer of Boston Dynamics, inviting a standing-room-only crowd to ask him questions. \"And I'm the CTO, so don't ask me about tariffs.\"\n\nThe crowd laughed and complied. But as they streamed onto the show floor at Boston's convention center, greeted by a remote-controlled humanoid made by Chinese company Unitree, it was hard to ignore the shadow of President Donald Trump's far-reaching global tariffs and retaliatory measures from Trump's biggest target, China.\n\nTariffs are the \"No. 1 topic that we're discussing in the hallways and at the water cooler with people that I've known for a long time,\" said event organizer Steve Crowe, chair of the annual Robotics Summit & Expo. \"I think it's definitely top of mind, because there's so much uncertainty about what is going to come.\"\n\nThat concern is rooted in a robot's complex anatomy of motors and actuators to move their limbs, computers to power their artificial intelligence, and sensing devices to help them react to their surroundings. Sensors, semiconductors, batteries and rare earth magnets are among the array of components most sensitive to global trade disputes.\n\nTesla CEO and billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk warned investors last week that China's countermeasures restricting shipments of rare earth magnets will delay Tesla's development of its Optimus humanoid robots.\n\nAt the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, some humanoid makers were looking at a potential bright side to the geopolitical shifts as American businesses look harder for domestic supplies of parts and the development of U.S.-based robots that can automate factories and warehouses.\n\n\"It's added some inconveniences to our own supply chain. But it's also opened up opportunities,\" said Pras Velagapudi, chief technology officer at Oregon-based Agility Robotics, in an interview. The company is starting to deploy its humanoid robot, called Digit, at a U.S. plant run by German manufacturer Schaeffler, a maker of ball bearings and other components key to the auto industry.\n\nAl Makke, a director of engineering for Schaeffler's chassis systems, said tariffs could push many companies toward onshoring production of a variety of items in the U.S.\n\n\"And if that does happen, then local companies have to deal with high labor costs and a shortage of labor and so automation gets pushed further,\" Makke said. \"And one of those faces of automation is humanoids.\"\n\nMost of the big industrial robots employed in the U.S. are used to help make cars, and are imported from countries such as Japan, Germany or South Korea.\n\nAutomakers in the U.S. installed 9.6% more robots in their plants than a year before, according to new data from the International Federation of Robotics, a trade group.\n\nFor now, humanoids are still a niche but one that invites intense curiosity, in part thanks to popular science fiction. Saunders, of Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics, presented an update Wednesday on the development of its Atlas humanoid robot but didn't bring a physical prototype, instead showing off a more familiar pack of its four-legged Spot robots contained in a pen on the show floor.\n\nOne humanoid at the conference was Unitree's G1. Marketed for $16,000 and remote-controlled by an employee standing nearby, the robot fluidly shook hands, waved back at people and walked around the show floor, but it won't be moving totes or working in a factory anytime soon.\n\nIts main customers outside China are academic researchers and some social media influencers, and Trump's current tariffs totaling 145% on China would raise its cost to American buyers to roughly $40,000, said Tony Yang, a Unitree vice president of business development who manages its North American sales. Nevertheless, Unitree's strategy to rapidly develop its hardware and software is a long-term one.\n\n\"It's still a very narrow market, but I think there's still a huge potential market on the industry side, like for manufacturing and factory and even home use,\" Yang said.\n\nAt a full pickleball court on the show floor, some conference attendees took a break to grab a racket and swing at balls tossed by a wheeled robot. Asked to describe what's inside the Tennibot robot, its maker also had tariffs on the mind.\n\n\"Injection molded parts, rivets, screws, nuts, wheels, motors, batteries,\" said Haitham Eletrabi, co-founder and CEO of Tennibot, based in Auburn, Alabama. \"The supply chain gets very complex. We get parts from all over the world. Tariffs are adding a lot of uncertainty.\"\n\nIt's not just the U.S.-China trade rivalry that was weighing on some attendees. Francesca Torsiello, of the recruitment firm Adapt Talent, said she's also hearing more wariness from Canadian robotics and engineering candidates about taking jobs in the U.S. amid a tense political environment.\n\n\"In the past, people in Canada found it attractive to come and work for U.S. companies; right now they're being very hesitant,\" Torsiello said." } ]
052adbea1ca26a4b84f6e15da1365501e568cbf4307ba676d3b39130bef340bc	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# At Mass in housing projects and tourist hotspots, Romans pray next pope focuses on poverty and peace\n\nBy Giovanna Dell'Orto \nMay 4th, 2025 07:31 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — At Masses in Rome's housing projects and in the heart of its tourist district, the faithful prayed Sunday for the upcoming conclave that will elect Pope Francis ' successor.\n\nWhether in the squat 1980s concrete church of San Paolo della Croce, next to a notorious public housing project, or facing millennium-old golden mosaics in Santa Maria in Trastevere, Catholics shared two main hopes for the church's future.\n\nYoung and old, Romans and migrants alike said they would like the next pontiff to make faith accessible to those on the margins and help bring peace to a world they see as teeming with dangers.\n\n## Next pope should focus on poor\n\nMichele Cufaro said he prays the next pope will \"focus on the poor, poverty, eliminate hatred, meanness and wars, and re-educate the youth … who are getting totally lost.\"\n\nThe glass and metalworker first lived in the Corviale projects across the street – a multistory grey public housing block that snakes on a hilltop for more than 3,100 feet (1 km) – when it was built in the early 1980s. He said he knows firsthand the reality of poverty, addiction and exclusion that continues to plague many of its residents.\n\n\"I come to entrust myself to a higher power, for the things that I can't solve myself,\" Cufaro said after Mass at San Paolo as tears welled in his eyes remembering Francis' outreach.\n\nThe pontiff, who died on April 21 at age 88, visited the parish in 2018, and comforted a child worried about whether his recently deceased atheist father would be in in heaven.\n\n## 'We need a pope who comes to visit us'\n\n\"We need a pope who comes to visit us, to see the situation,\" said Ida Di Giovannantonio, who recalled meeting Francis on that visit.\n\nShe said she cried every day when she moved to the projects four decades ago, when she was in her 40s, and only felt safe going to the parish.\n\n\"It's been a place of refuge. The poor need welcoming and love,\" said Di Giovannantonio, who's also volunteered with the church's food bank. On Sunday, a shopping cart stood by the church's entrance with a sign encouraging the faithful to leave food donations.\n\n## Continuing Francis' legacy\n\nLess than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away but in a different socioeconomic world, at Santa Maria in the riverside neighborhood of Trastevere, Lisa Remondino said she hopes the next pope will continue Francis' legacy, especially in helping migrants.\n\n\"I hope it will be a welcoming pope, and also a pope who has the courage to fight for peace. He was the only voice we had against war, the powerful, and arms,\" said the kindergarten teacher, who belongs to the Catholic charity Sant'Egidio that has worked closely with Francis to help migrants and refugees.\n\nOne of the cardinals considered top contenders to succeed him, the Rev. Matteo Zuppi of Rome, has served in various capacities both at Sant'Egidio and close-by Santa Maria, whose foundation dates to the 3rd century.\n\nIn the outside portico decorated with ancient marble inscriptions and swarming with tourists, Marta Finati said she hoped that the church would continue to respect dogmas, but also be open to the wider society.\n\nThe next pope should embrace a moral and political leadership for peace that would provide a \"reference point\" for non-Catholics too, she added.\n\nRushing to change into an altar server robes at Sunday afternoon's Mass at Santa Maria, Mathieu Dansoko, who came to Italy from Mali a decade ago, said coming to church is \"like being with your family.\"\n\n\"The next pope should have the basic courage to bring the neediest from the peripheries to the center,\" he said.\n\n## Losing Francis a 'big blow'\n\nBack on the periphery of Corviale, the parish priest, the Rev. Roberto Cassano, said losing Francis was \"a big blow\" for his congregation because Pope Francis' visit had \"interrupted for a moment the marginalization of these people.\"\n\n\"We need to get back a bit to God,\" he added in the tidy rose garden between the church and the housing block that packs in more than 1,500 families. \"So much meanness, so much egoism, so much selfishness is the fruit also of the lack of God's presence in people's lives. … Different social problems would still exist, but a little less acute.\"\n\nAt Sunday morning Mass, several faithful stopped by the last pew to greet an occasional visitor – Cardinal Oswald Gracias of India, who was in Rome for the conclave gatherings, though having turned 80 at the end of last year, he can no longer cast a vote.\n\nUpon election, each cardinal gets a \"titular\" parish in Rome, and on Sunday many celebrated Mass at theirs. In his homily, Gracias mentioned the different legacies of the last three popes – St. John Paul II's \"world-changing\" geopolitical impacts, Benedict XVI's scholarship, and Francis' pastoral care. He urged the more than 100 faithful to \"pray that the Holy Spirit may give us a pope who meets the needs of the times.\"\n\nElisabetta Bonifazi, who finds in San Paolo her \"point of reference,\" said in a world rife with \"wars and contradictions,\" the new pope will need all the divine guidance and prayers.\n\n\"He will have to keep carrying this burden forward,\" she said. \"We're in an extremely difficult moment.\"\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# At Mass in housing projects and tourist hotspots, Romans pray next pope focuses on poverty and peace\n\nBy Giovanna Dell'Orto \nMay 4th, 2025 07:31 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — At Masses in Rome's housing projects and in the heart of its tourist district, the faithful prayed Sunday for the upcoming conclave that will elect Pope Francis ' successor.\n\nWhether in the squat 1980s concrete church of San Paolo della Croce, next to a notorious public housing project, or facing millennium-old golden mosaics in Santa Maria in Trastevere, Catholics shared two main hopes for the church's future.\n\nYoung and old, Romans and migrants alike said they would like the next pontiff to make faith accessible to those on the margins and help bring peace to a world they see as teeming with dangers.\n\n## Next pope should focus on poor\n\nMichele Cufaro said he prays the next pope will \"focus on the poor, poverty, eliminate hatred, meanness and wars, and re-educate the youth … who are getting totally lost.\"\n\nThe glass and metalworker first lived in the Corviale projects across the street – a multistory grey public housing block that snakes on a hilltop for more than 3,100 feet (1 km) – when it was built in the early 1980s. He said he knows firsthand the reality of poverty, addiction and exclusion that continues to plague many of its residents.\n\n\"I come to entrust myself to a higher power, for the things that I can't solve myself,\" Cufaro said after Mass at San Paolo as tears welled in his eyes remembering Francis' outreach.\n\nThe pontiff, who died on April 21 at age 88, visited the parish in 2018, and comforted a child worried about whether his recently deceased atheist father would be in in heaven.\n\n## 'We need a pope who comes to visit us'\n\n\"We need a pope who comes to visit us, to see the situation,\" said Ida Di Giovannantonio, who recalled meeting Francis on that visit.\n\nShe said she cried every day when she moved to the projects four decades ago, when she was in her 40s, and only felt safe going to the parish.\n\n\"It's been a place of refuge. The poor need welcoming and love,\" said Di Giovannantonio, who's also volunteered with the church's food bank. On Sunday, a shopping cart stood by the church's entrance with a sign encouraging the faithful to leave food donations.\n\n## Continuing Francis' legacy\n\nLess than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away but in a different socioeconomic world, at Santa Maria in the riverside neighborhood of Trastevere, Lisa Remondino said she hopes the next pope will continue Francis' legacy, especially in helping migrants.\n\n\"I hope it will be a welcoming pope, and also a pope who has the courage to fight for peace. He was the only voice we had against war, the powerful, and arms,\" said the kindergarten teacher, who belongs to the Catholic charity Sant'Egidio that has worked closely with Francis to help migrants and refugees.\n\nOne of the cardinals considered top contenders to succeed him, the Rev. Matteo Zuppi of Rome, has served in various capacities both at Sant'Egidio and close-by Santa Maria, whose foundation dates to the 3rd century.\n\nIn the outside portico decorated with ancient marble inscriptions and swarming with tourists, Marta Finati said she hoped that the church would continue to respect dogmas, but also be open to the wider society.\n\nThe next pope should embrace a moral and political leadership for peace that would provide a \"reference point\" for non-Catholics too, she added.\n\nRushing to change into an altar server robes at Sunday afternoon's Mass at Santa Maria, Mathieu Dansoko, who came to Italy from Mali a decade ago, said coming to church is \"like being with your family.\"\n\n\"The next pope should have the basic courage to bring the neediest from the peripheries to the center,\" he said.\n\n## Losing Francis a 'big blow'\n\nBack on the periphery of Corviale, the parish priest, the Rev. Roberto Cassano, said losing Francis was \"a big blow\" for his congregation because Pope Francis' visit had \"interrupted for a moment the marginalization of these people.\"\n\n\"We need to get back a bit to God,\" he added in the tidy rose garden between the church and the housing block that packs in more than 1,500 families. \"So much meanness, so much egoism, so much selfishness is the fruit also of the lack of God's presence in people's lives. … Different social problems would still exist, but a little less acute.\"\n\nAt Sunday morning Mass, several faithful stopped by the last pew to greet an occasional visitor – Cardinal Oswald Gracias of India, who was in Rome for the conclave gatherings, though having turned 80 at the end of last year, he can no longer cast a vote.\n\nUpon election, each cardinal gets a \"titular\" parish in Rome, and on Sunday many celebrated Mass at theirs. In his homily, Gracias mentioned the different legacies of the last three popes – St. John Paul II's \"world-changing\" geopolitical impacts, Benedict XVI's scholarship, and Francis' pastoral care. He urged the more than 100 faithful to \"pray that the Holy Spirit may give us a pope who meets the needs of the times.\"\n\nElisabetta Bonifazi, who finds in San Paolo her \"point of reference,\" said in a world rife with \"wars and contradictions,\" the new pope will need all the divine guidance and prayers.\n\n\"He will have to keep carrying this burden forward,\" she said. \"We're in an extremely difficult moment.\"" } ]
1cf0501d1dbd582faebbc9a8519d1864223cbb0ddcb7677fa43a14cf81bb16a4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Israel launches airstrikes on Yemen a day after Houthi rebels strike Israeli airport\n\nBy Melanie Lidman and Samy Magdy \nMay 5th, 2025 06:08 PM\n\n---\n\nJERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida on Monday with a punishing round of airstrikes, killing at least one person and wounding 35. The strikes came a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel's main airport.\n\nThe rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port Monday afternoon. Other strikes hit a cement factory in the Bajil district, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida city, the rebels said. The extent of damage at the two facilities wasn't immediately clear.\n\nThe Israeli military said more than 20 Israeli fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.\n\nHodeida residents said they heard explosions at the port, with flames and smoke seen rising over the area. Ambulance sirens were also heard across the city, they said.\n\n\"It was very strong,\" Ahmed Saleh, who lives close to the port, said of the explosions.\n\nIn Bajil, fires and thick columns of smoke were seen over the cement factory, which the Houthis said was hit by both U.S. and Israeli strikes. Ambulances also rushed to the area, said resident Khalid Seif.\n\nThe Houthi-run health ministry said at least one person was killed and 35 others were wounded in the Israeli strikes on the factory. It said rescuers were still searching for missing people.\n\nOn Sunday, the Houthis launched a missile from Yemen that struck an access road near Israel's main airport, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were lightly injured. It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Israel's airport since the start of the war.\n\nThe Houthis claimed that the strikes were a joint Israeli-American operation. However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen on Monday. The strikes were not part of Operation Rough Rider, which is the ongoing U.S. military operation against the Houthis in Yemen to prevent them from targeting ships in the Red Sea that started March 15. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.\n\nSeparately, the U.S. military launched multiple strikes Monday on Sanaa, another U.S. official said. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.\n\nNasruddin Amer, head of the Houthi media office, said the Israeli strikes won't deter the rebels, vowing they will respond to the attack.\n\n\"The aggressive Zionist-American raids on civilian facilities will not affect our military operations against the Zionist enemy entity,\" he said on social media.\n\nHe said the Houthis will escalate their attacks and won't stop targeting shipping routes and Israel until it stops the war in Gaza.\n\nThe Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians, raising their profile at home and internationally as the last member of Iran's self-described \"Axis of Resistance\" capable of launching regular attacks on Israel. The U.S. military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of daily airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.\n\nHouthi rebels have fired at Israel since the war with Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023. The missiles have mostly been intercepted, although some have penetrated Israel's missile defense systems, causing damage. Israel has struck back against the rebels in Yemen.\n\nThe Israeli military said it targeted the Hodeida port because Houthi rebels were using it to receive weapons and military equipment from Iran. Rebel-held Hodeida, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decade-long war continues.\n\nIsrael has struck Yemen, and specifically the port city of Hodeida, multiple times. It previously struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a rebel missile targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida. The Houthis have launched multiple missiles toward Israel in the past week.\n\nThe attack on Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday came hours before Israeli Cabinet ministers voted to expand the war in Gaza, including to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time. While air traffic resumed after an hour, the attack could lead to cancelations of many airlines, which had recently resumed flights to Israel.\n\n___\n\nMagdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor contributed from Washington." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Israel launches airstrikes on Yemen a day after Houthi rebels strike Israeli airport\n\nBy Melanie Lidman and Samy Magdy \nMay 5th, 2025 06:08 PM\n\n---\n\nJERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida on Monday with a punishing round of airstrikes, killing at least one person and wounding 35. The strikes came a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel's main airport.\n\nThe rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port Monday afternoon. Other strikes hit a cement factory in the Bajil district, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida city, the rebels said. The extent of damage at the two facilities wasn't immediately clear.\n\nThe Israeli military said more than 20 Israeli fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.\n\nHodeida residents said they heard explosions at the port, with flames and smoke seen rising over the area. Ambulance sirens were also heard across the city, they said.\n\n\"It was very strong,\" Ahmed Saleh, who lives close to the port, said of the explosions.\n\nIn Bajil, fires and thick columns of smoke were seen over the cement factory, which the Houthis said was hit by both U.S. and Israeli strikes. Ambulances also rushed to the area, said resident Khalid Seif.\n\nThe Houthi-run health ministry said at least one person was killed and 35 others were wounded in the Israeli strikes on the factory. It said rescuers were still searching for missing people.\n\nOn Sunday, the Houthis launched a missile from Yemen that struck an access road near Israel's main airport, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were lightly injured. It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Israel's airport since the start of the war.\n\nThe Houthis claimed that the strikes were a joint Israeli-American operation. However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen on Monday. The strikes were not part of Operation Rough Rider, which is the ongoing U.S. military operation against the Houthis in Yemen to prevent them from targeting ships in the Red Sea that started March 15. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.\n\nSeparately, the U.S. military launched multiple strikes Monday on Sanaa, another U.S. official said. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.\n\nNasruddin Amer, head of the Houthi media office, said the Israeli strikes won't deter the rebels, vowing they will respond to the attack.\n\n\"The aggressive Zionist-American raids on civilian facilities will not affect our military operations against the Zionist enemy entity,\" he said on social media.\n\nHe said the Houthis will escalate their attacks and won't stop targeting shipping routes and Israel until it stops the war in Gaza.\n\nThe Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians, raising their profile at home and internationally as the last member of Iran's self-described \"Axis of Resistance\" capable of launching regular attacks on Israel. The U.S. military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of daily airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.\n\nHouthi rebels have fired at Israel since the war with Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023. The missiles have mostly been intercepted, although some have penetrated Israel's missile defense systems, causing damage. Israel has struck back against the rebels in Yemen.\n\nThe Israeli military said it targeted the Hodeida port because Houthi rebels were using it to receive weapons and military equipment from Iran. Rebel-held Hodeida, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decade-long war continues.\n\nIsrael has struck Yemen, and specifically the port city of Hodeida, multiple times. It previously struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a rebel missile targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida. The Houthis have launched multiple missiles toward Israel in the past week.\n\nThe attack on Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday came hours before Israeli Cabinet ministers voted to expand the war in Gaza, including to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time. While air traffic resumed after an hour, the attack could lead to cancelations of many airlines, which had recently resumed flights to Israel." } ]
42181528793bed01f878cdbe7e38adf1e6da31b970a2bb8236c384b806871a5d	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 'Righteous Gemstones' embraced depravity even as it appealed to Christians\n\nBy Krysta Fauria \nMay 1st, 2025 02:28 PM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — For a show about a Christian megachurch pastor and his nepo baby children — between the sex, violence and full-frontal nudity courtesy of Walton Goggins — the final season of \"The Righteous Gemstones\" is rife with its trademark depravity.\n\nBut Danny McBride, who stars in and created the HBO series, has always hoped it would speak to people of faith, even as he acknowledged his crude sense of humor might not be for everyone.\n\n\"My hope honestly with creating the show was that people who were religious would watch it. That, ultimately, they would understand that this isn't making fun of them, but it's probably making fun of people that they identify and are annoyed by,\" he told The Associated Press ahead of the fourth and final season's finale on Sunday. \"A lot of people who come up to me, honestly, their first thing will be like, 'I go to church and I think it's funny.'\"\n\nMcBride grew up in a devout Christian household in the South. His mom even led a puppet ministry when he was a kid. At some point, though, the 48-year-old decided churchgoing wasn't for him. But his interest remained, particularly as he began to learn more about megachurches after moving to Charleston, South Carolina.\n\n\"I felt like it kind of was reflective of America in a way that everything is sort of turned into a money game,\" he said. \"The idea that like we could take something like religion and ultimately turn it into a corporation.\"\n\nMcBride's series follows widowed patriarch Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and his three adult children, the eldest of whom is played by McBride. Although the series is steeped in modern evangelical culture, McBride said, in general, people of faith were not meant to be the target of his satire.\n\n\"It was more about hypocrites and people who were saying one thing and living another,\" he said.\n\nCelebrity preachers like Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes have been fixtures of evangelical culture since the early aughts thanks to their massive congregations and strategic media presence, not to mention the Billy Grahams, Jerry Fallwells and Jim Bakkers that preceded them. But a new generation of Instagram-savvy preachers has made its way into pop culture, like Hillsong's now-disgraced Carl Lentz and Justin Bieber's pastor, Judah Smith.\n\nWith that fame comes scrutiny and the charge that their celebrity and wealth stand in contrast to the message of Jesus. But that disaffection with religious leaders that McBride exploits isn't new, says Kathryn Lofton, a professor of religious studies and American studies at Yale University.\n\n\"There's not a lot of very positive depictions of evangelists in American media in the last 50 years,\" Lofton said.\n\nThe Christianity of the Gemstone empire is anything but austere. The second episode of this season, for example, closes with Eli's kids hosting their extravagant annual give-a-thon in honor of their late mother's birthday.\n\n\"If the line's busy, call back. Somebody's gonna pick up. It might just be God,\" implores Uncle Baby Billy (Goggins). And what's a church service without a choir, dancing and, of course, jet packs?\n\nFor Deon Gibson, a graphic artist who used to work for pastor Paula White before she became the head of Donald Trump's White House Faith Office, the show is right on the nose.\n\n\"I knew those characters while I worked in the megachurches,\" he said. \"Aside from the Hollywood theatrics, it is spot on. The conversations they have, the switching around of power and positions.\"\n\nMcBride did admit it was a difficult subject to satirize considering the viral videos that often surface showing similarly extravagant stunts and rock concerts being performed at church.\n\nOne comment on the show's subreddit shares a video clip of James River Church's annual Stronger Men's Conference in Missouri. \"Thought this was a scene from the show at first,\" the commenter says of the massive pyrotechnics, monster trucks and acrobats descending from the ceiling.\n\n\"My biggest fear would be that we would put stuff in the show and then like months later before the show comes out you would like see a church actually doing something we were doing,\" McBride said. \"You're like, 'I just hope people don't think we're ripping them off.'\"\n\nAdam Devine said he thinks making satire in general is a challenge right now.\n\n\"Some of the headlines in the news, you're like, well, that wouldn't even work because people would be like, 'That's too crazy,'\" Devine said.\n\nFor all its critique and humor though, the series also infuses moments of tenderness and poignancy. One storyline that culminates in the series finale is Kelvin's struggle with his queer identity and his relationship with his partner.\n\n\"I hope that some kids who feel like hopeless and they're battling over whether they're gay or not, that this gives them a sense of hope that you can come out and be accepted by your family, by people within your church,\" Devine said. \"Not everyone is going to turn their backs on you.\"\n\nBut Gibson, who still identifies as a believer but is no longer part of a congregation, thinks the show's depictions of the megachurch world might be a tough hurdle for some people to get over.\n\n\"I think it would offend some people, the honesty of some of the characters. But I like the show because I saw both sides. I saw that side of the ministry corruption, but at the end of the day, they were people,\" he said. \"They were regular people who just got caught up in the fame and the money.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 'Righteous Gemstones' embraced depravity even as it appealed to Christians\n\nBy Krysta Fauria \nMay 1st, 2025 02:28 PM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — For a show about a Christian megachurch pastor and his nepo baby children — between the sex, violence and full-frontal nudity courtesy of Walton Goggins — the final season of \"The Righteous Gemstones\" is rife with its trademark depravity.\n\nBut Danny McBride, who stars in and created the HBO series, has always hoped it would speak to people of faith, even as he acknowledged his crude sense of humor might not be for everyone.\n\n\"My hope honestly with creating the show was that people who were religious would watch it. That, ultimately, they would understand that this isn't making fun of them, but it's probably making fun of people that they identify and are annoyed by,\" he told The Associated Press ahead of the fourth and final season's finale on Sunday. \"A lot of people who come up to me, honestly, their first thing will be like, 'I go to church and I think it's funny.'\"\n\nMcBride grew up in a devout Christian household in the South. His mom even led a puppet ministry when he was a kid. At some point, though, the 48-year-old decided churchgoing wasn't for him. But his interest remained, particularly as he began to learn more about megachurches after moving to Charleston, South Carolina.\n\n\"I felt like it kind of was reflective of America in a way that everything is sort of turned into a money game,\" he said. \"The idea that like we could take something like religion and ultimately turn it into a corporation.\"\n\nMcBride's series follows widowed patriarch Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and his three adult children, the eldest of whom is played by McBride. Although the series is steeped in modern evangelical culture, McBride said, in general, people of faith were not meant to be the target of his satire.\n\n\"It was more about hypocrites and people who were saying one thing and living another,\" he said.\n\nCelebrity preachers like Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes have been fixtures of evangelical culture since the early aughts thanks to their massive congregations and strategic media presence, not to mention the Billy Grahams, Jerry Fallwells and Jim Bakkers that preceded them. But a new generation of Instagram-savvy preachers has made its way into pop culture, like Hillsong's now-disgraced Carl Lentz and Justin Bieber's pastor, Judah Smith.\n\nWith that fame comes scrutiny and the charge that their celebrity and wealth stand in contrast to the message of Jesus. But that disaffection with religious leaders that McBride exploits isn't new, says Kathryn Lofton, a professor of religious studies and American studies at Yale University.\n\n\"There's not a lot of very positive depictions of evangelists in American media in the last 50 years,\" Lofton said.\n\nThe Christianity of the Gemstone empire is anything but austere. The second episode of this season, for example, closes with Eli's kids hosting their extravagant annual give-a-thon in honor of their late mother's birthday.\n\n\"If the line's busy, call back. Somebody's gonna pick up. It might just be God,\" implores Uncle Baby Billy (Goggins). And what's a church service without a choir, dancing and, of course, jet packs?\n\nFor Deon Gibson, a graphic artist who used to work for pastor Paula White before she became the head of Donald Trump's White House Faith Office, the show is right on the nose.\n\n\"I knew those characters while I worked in the megachurches,\" he said. \"Aside from the Hollywood theatrics, it is spot on. The conversations they have, the switching around of power and positions.\"\n\nMcBride did admit it was a difficult subject to satirize considering the viral videos that often surface showing similarly extravagant stunts and rock concerts being performed at church.\n\nOne comment on the show's subreddit shares a video clip of James River Church's annual Stronger Men's Conference in Missouri. \"Thought this was a scene from the show at first,\" the commenter says of the massive pyrotechnics, monster trucks and acrobats descending from the ceiling.\n\n\"My biggest fear would be that we would put stuff in the show and then like months later before the show comes out you would like see a church actually doing something we were doing,\" McBride said. \"You're like, 'I just hope people don't think we're ripping them off.'\"\n\nAdam Devine said he thinks making satire in general is a challenge right now.\n\n\"Some of the headlines in the news, you're like, well, that wouldn't even work because people would be like, 'That's too crazy,'\" Devine said.\n\nFor all its critique and humor though, the series also infuses moments of tenderness and poignancy. One storyline that culminates in the series finale is Kelvin's struggle with his queer identity and his relationship with his partner.\n\n\"I hope that some kids who feel like hopeless and they're battling over whether they're gay or not, that this gives them a sense of hope that you can come out and be accepted by your family, by people within your church,\" Devine said. \"Not everyone is going to turn their backs on you.\"\n\nBut Gibson, who still identifies as a believer but is no longer part of a congregation, thinks the show's depictions of the megachurch world might be a tough hurdle for some people to get over.\n\n\"I think it would offend some people, the honesty of some of the characters. But I like the show because I saw both sides. I saw that side of the ministry corruption, but at the end of the day, they were people,\" he said. \"They were regular people who just got caught up in the fame and the money.\"" } ]
283a37458aca72649bdf2dc97c6057ba580bd19f0abdceb30d24b5599f10cbad	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says league encouraged by status of CBA talks with players\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 9th, 2025 11:08 PM\n\n---\n\nSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The NHL is encouraged by the status of collective bargaining talks, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday, adding that he's optimistic a deal will be done long before the September 2026 expiration of the current deal between the league and its players.\n\nTalks began in earnest earlier this year and given the current state of the game — revenues soaring, the sport booming and some additional momentum that came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off event in February — there was no reason to think the sides would encounter major snags.\n\n\"Sooner rather than later?\" Bettman said, responding to a question about when he'd like to see a deal done. \"I mean, we have plenty of time. We have the rest of this season and all of next season. But I don't envision it taking a year to get done.\n\n\"To the contrary, I think it'll get done sooner rather later,\" Bettman continued. \"I don't have a timetable to give you. But I do think things are progressing nicely.\"\n\nThe current CBA does not expire until Sept. 15, 2026. There has been optimism that a new deal between the NHL and the NHL Players Association could be reached in the coming months, and Bettman's comments Friday before watching the Florida-Toronto Eastern Conference semifinal game did nothing to suggest otherwise.\n\nThe fact that there's a pleasant tone around talks of the negotiations is a major deviation from what has tripped the NHL up at times in the past, with some CBA talks ending with work stoppages — including one that cost the league an entire season.\n\nThe league and union have already agreed on and revealed salary cap figures for each of the next three seasons, with the ceiling going up by record amounts every year.\n\n\"We're talking and we're getting together on a pretty regular basis,\" Bettman said. \"I think the conversations are constructive. I think ultimately they'll be productive. And I think in terms of the relationship that the NHL has with the NHLPA, my relationship with (NHLPA head) Marty Walsh is in a very good place. And so, I remain very positive and optimistic that we're going to come together and get this done.\"\n\n## Playoff viewership\n\nWith three Canadian teams among the eight still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bettman said the league is pleased with it is seeing numbers-wise and interest-wise.\n\nHe pointed to these playoffs as the latest sign of competitive balance in the league.\n\n\"Our buildings are all full and it's great to see the fan reaction,\" Bettman said. \"The ebb and flow of which teams get in and how many Canadian teams or how many U.S. Teams, it is what it is. ... You look at the first round and I don't think there's anything comparable to it in sports, certainly in terms of the playoffs We're in a good place.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says league encouraged by status of CBA talks with players\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 9th, 2025 11:08 PM\n\n---\n\nSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The NHL is encouraged by the status of collective bargaining talks, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday, adding that he's optimistic a deal will be done long before the September 2026 expiration of the current deal between the league and its players.\n\nTalks began in earnest earlier this year and given the current state of the game — revenues soaring, the sport booming and some additional momentum that came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off event in February — there was no reason to think the sides would encounter major snags.\n\n\"Sooner rather than later?\" Bettman said, responding to a question about when he'd like to see a deal done. \"I mean, we have plenty of time. We have the rest of this season and all of next season. But I don't envision it taking a year to get done.\n\n\"To the contrary, I think it'll get done sooner rather later,\" Bettman continued. \"I don't have a timetable to give you. But I do think things are progressing nicely.\"\n\nThe current CBA does not expire until Sept. 15, 2026. There has been optimism that a new deal between the NHL and the NHL Players Association could be reached in the coming months, and Bettman's comments Friday before watching the Florida-Toronto Eastern Conference semifinal game did nothing to suggest otherwise.\n\nThe fact that there's a pleasant tone around talks of the negotiations is a major deviation from what has tripped the NHL up at times in the past, with some CBA talks ending with work stoppages — including one that cost the league an entire season.\n\nThe league and union have already agreed on and revealed salary cap figures for each of the next three seasons, with the ceiling going up by record amounts every year.\n\n\"We're talking and we're getting together on a pretty regular basis,\" Bettman said. \"I think the conversations are constructive. I think ultimately they'll be productive. And I think in terms of the relationship that the NHL has with the NHLPA, my relationship with (NHLPA head) Marty Walsh is in a very good place. And so, I remain very positive and optimistic that we're going to come together and get this done.\"\n\n## Playoff viewership\n\nWith three Canadian teams among the eight still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bettman said the league is pleased with it is seeing numbers-wise and interest-wise.\n\nHe pointed to these playoffs as the latest sign of competitive balance in the league.\n\n\"Our buildings are all full and it's great to see the fan reaction,\" Bettman said. \"The ebb and flow of which teams get in and how many Canadian teams or how many U.S. Teams, it is what it is. ... You look at the first round and I don't think there's anything comparable to it in sports, certainly in terms of the playoffs We're in a good place.\"" } ]
e3c28357da3cfe91579eb507500a5f735938e42584ec7bfe43f590e73b7b4283	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Back to school: WNBA teams open preseason in college arenas as star alums return to campus\n\nBy Doug Feinberg \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nCaitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu are among the players who will get a chance to play one more game in their college arenas as WNBA teams return to campuses for preseason contests.\n\nIt's a trend, started by the Las Vegas Aces last season when they played at South Carolina in a return for A'ja Wilson to her alma mater. It gives WNBA teams a chance to capitalize on the popularity of players and they hope it also brings new fans to the league.\n\nReese will headline the Chicago Sky's trip to LSU on Friday to face the Brazilian national team and then on Sunday Clark will lead the Indiana Fever to Iowa for an exhibition game against the same Brazilian squad.\n\n\"I'm really excited,\" Clark said. \"It should be fun. I can't believe it's already here. I honestly haven't been back to Iowa City a ton since I left a year ago now -- only been back once for a football game and once for the jersey retirement. But it will be fun to get back there, see some of my former teammates, my friends that are there.\"\n\nBoth the Fever and Sky games will be on national television. The WNBA will be showing all 15 of its preseason games either on national television or league pass.\n\nClark did have one concern about the trip to Iowa; the basketball arena doesn't have air conditioning.\n\n\"A lot of my family will be coming, so I know they're excited. I warned everybody, I'm like there's not air conditioning in Carver-Hawkeye (Arena), usually don't play basketball games there in May, so hopefully it stays a little cool in there,\" she said, laughing.\n\nA trio of former Notre Dame standouts will take the court in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday when the Dallas Wings open the preseason against Wilson and the Aces. WNBA All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young both starred for the Irish while Wings standout Arike Ogunbowale also excelled there.\n\nOgunbowale, who was the second-leading scorer in the WNBA last year, hit two of the most historic shots in NCAA Tournament history to lift Notre Dame to the national championship in 2018.\n\nThe opener will also mark the debut of No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers for the Wings.\n\nIonescu and the New York Liberty will close out the preseason schedule on May 12 when the team goes to Oregon to play at her alma mater against the Japanese team — the Toyota Antelopes.\n\nThe NCAA's career triple-double leader never got a chance to say goodbye to the school or the fans because the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the NCAA Tournament her senior season in 2020.\n\n\"I don't really know how I'm going to feel, especially suiting up and stepping on that court again. I might get emotional, just knowing that I finally get to say goodbye to that chapter of my life and get a little bit of the closure that I never got.\"\n\nSome storylines to watch as the preseason tips off:\n\n## Injury bug already taking its toll on Mystics\n\nWashington rookie Georgia Amoore suffered an injury to her right ACL in practice on Tuesday and is sidelined indefinitely. The No. 6 pick in the draft averaged 19.6 points for Kentucky last season and was expected to help the franchise rebuild this year along with fellow rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, who were selected third and fourth last month. The Mystics also announced that second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards is out with a lower back contusion and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.\n\n## New leadership on WNBA sidelines\n\nEight of the 13 WNBA teams will have new head coaches this season.\n\nAtlanta and Los Angeles turned to college coaches Karl Smesko and Lynne Roberts, respectively. Indiana brought back former coach and player Stephanie White to lead the Fever. White had been in charge of the Connecticut Sun, who replaced her with former Belgium national team coach Rachid Meziane.\n\nChicago, Dallas and Washington turned to former WNBA assistant coaches Tyler Marsh, Chris Koclanes and Sydney Johnson, respectively. Golden State also brought in a former assistant coach, Natalie Nakase, to be the first head coach in the expansion franchise's history.\n\n___\n\nAP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Back to school: WNBA teams open preseason in college arenas as star alums return to campus\n\nBy Doug Feinberg \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nCaitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu are among the players who will get a chance to play one more game in their college arenas as WNBA teams return to campuses for preseason contests.\n\nIt's a trend, started by the Las Vegas Aces last season when they played at South Carolina in a return for A'ja Wilson to her alma mater. It gives WNBA teams a chance to capitalize on the popularity of players and they hope it also brings new fans to the league.\n\nReese will headline the Chicago Sky's trip to LSU on Friday to face the Brazilian national team and then on Sunday Clark will lead the Indiana Fever to Iowa for an exhibition game against the same Brazilian squad.\n\n\"I'm really excited,\" Clark said. \"It should be fun. I can't believe it's already here. I honestly haven't been back to Iowa City a ton since I left a year ago now -- only been back once for a football game and once for the jersey retirement. But it will be fun to get back there, see some of my former teammates, my friends that are there.\"\n\nBoth the Fever and Sky games will be on national television. The WNBA will be showing all 15 of its preseason games either on national television or league pass.\n\nClark did have one concern about the trip to Iowa; the basketball arena doesn't have air conditioning.\n\n\"A lot of my family will be coming, so I know they're excited. I warned everybody, I'm like there's not air conditioning in Carver-Hawkeye (Arena), usually don't play basketball games there in May, so hopefully it stays a little cool in there,\" she said, laughing.\n\nA trio of former Notre Dame standouts will take the court in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday when the Dallas Wings open the preseason against Wilson and the Aces. WNBA All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young both starred for the Irish while Wings standout Arike Ogunbowale also excelled there.\n\nOgunbowale, who was the second-leading scorer in the WNBA last year, hit two of the most historic shots in NCAA Tournament history to lift Notre Dame to the national championship in 2018.\n\nThe opener will also mark the debut of No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers for the Wings.\n\nIonescu and the New York Liberty will close out the preseason schedule on May 12 when the team goes to Oregon to play at her alma mater against the Japanese team — the Toyota Antelopes.\n\nThe NCAA's career triple-double leader never got a chance to say goodbye to the school or the fans because the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the NCAA Tournament her senior season in 2020.\n\n\"I don't really know how I'm going to feel, especially suiting up and stepping on that court again. I might get emotional, just knowing that I finally get to say goodbye to that chapter of my life and get a little bit of the closure that I never got.\"\n\nSome storylines to watch as the preseason tips off:\n\n## Injury bug already taking its toll on Mystics\n\nWashington rookie Georgia Amoore suffered an injury to her right ACL in practice on Tuesday and is sidelined indefinitely. The No. 6 pick in the draft averaged 19.6 points for Kentucky last season and was expected to help the franchise rebuild this year along with fellow rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, who were selected third and fourth last month. The Mystics also announced that second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards is out with a lower back contusion and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.\n\n## New leadership on WNBA sidelines\n\nEight of the 13 WNBA teams will have new head coaches this season.\n\nAtlanta and Los Angeles turned to college coaches Karl Smesko and Lynne Roberts, respectively. Indiana brought back former coach and player Stephanie White to lead the Fever. White had been in charge of the Connecticut Sun, who replaced her with former Belgium national team coach Rachid Meziane.\n\nChicago, Dallas and Washington turned to former WNBA assistant coaches Tyler Marsh, Chris Koclanes and Sydney Johnson, respectively. Golden State also brought in a former assistant coach, Natalie Nakase, to be the first head coach in the expansion franchise's history." } ]
fd65cb575a572324cd80bcf23a29038ee2d6a186d43a9cc9e9964b0df2c5c3e8	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Washington governor signs rent-control bill into law\n\nBy Martha Bellisle \nMay 7th, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nWashington state Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law Wednesday that sets limits on rent increases, making the state among the first in the nation to provide protections for tenants.\n\nThe rent stabilization measure, House Bill 1217, adds Washington to states like Oregon and California that have sought new ways to curb homelessness.\n\nBill sponsor Sen. Emily Alvarado, a West Seattle Democrat, said the measure sets common-sense guardrails on the state's rental-housing market \"so that hardworking families and older adults don't get unchecked excessive rent increases.\"\n\n\"Housing is not a luxury. It's a basic human need,\" Alvarado said at the bill signing. \"And everyone in this state deserves a stable and affordable home.\"\n\nThe measure caps rent increases at 7% plus inflation or 10% — whichever is lower. The restrictions include single-family homes. The rent-increase cap for manufactured homes is 5%. Lawmakers approved the plan on a 54-44 vote, with five Democrats joining the Republican opposition.\n\nFerguson praised Alvarado and the many advocates across the state who worked hard to get the bill passed.\n\nIt almost didn't make it.\n\nIt successfully moved through both houses, but two amendments added on the Senate floor sent it into a conference committee. Those amendments increased the cap from 7% to 10% plus inflation and exempted single-family homes. Opponents of the bill argued that developers would leave the state if it became law and said similar policies in Oregon and California added to those states' financial burdens instead of slowing the homeless crisis.\n\nOregon's rent-control bill was passed in 2019 and later updated to cap rent increases at either 7% plus the annual 12-month average change in the consumer price index for the U.S. West, or 10% — whichever is lower.\n\nThe conference committee got the cap down to 7% plus inflation or 10% — whichever is lower, and restored protections for the 38% of renters who live in single-family homes. With Ferguson's signature, it's now law.\n\n\"This law is a good beginning. It's long overdue and it's urgently needed,\" Alvarado said. \"Forty percent of the people in the state of Washington are renters or manufactured homeowners and before today they had no protections over how high the rent can go, leading to pain and to devastating destabilization of families and communities.\"\n\nFerguson also signed nine other bills to help homeowners and renters. He said when he campaigned for governor, affordable housing was the top issue voters raised, so he supports bills to help make it easier to secure housing.\n\n\"Let's make this the session of affordable housing,\" he said before signing the first measure.\n\nThe other measures included limits on certain provisions in rental agreements, notices for mobile home communities, and property tax relief for disabled veterans." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Washington governor signs rent-control bill into law\n\nBy Martha Bellisle \nMay 7th, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nWashington state Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law Wednesday that sets limits on rent increases, making the state among the first in the nation to provide protections for tenants.\n\nThe rent stabilization measure, House Bill 1217, adds Washington to states like Oregon and California that have sought new ways to curb homelessness.\n\nBill sponsor Sen. Emily Alvarado, a West Seattle Democrat, said the measure sets common-sense guardrails on the state's rental-housing market \"so that hardworking families and older adults don't get unchecked excessive rent increases.\"\n\n\"Housing is not a luxury. It's a basic human need,\" Alvarado said at the bill signing. \"And everyone in this state deserves a stable and affordable home.\"\n\nThe measure caps rent increases at 7% plus inflation or 10% — whichever is lower. The restrictions include single-family homes. The rent-increase cap for manufactured homes is 5%. Lawmakers approved the plan on a 54-44 vote, with five Democrats joining the Republican opposition.\n\nFerguson praised Alvarado and the many advocates across the state who worked hard to get the bill passed.\n\nIt almost didn't make it.\n\nIt successfully moved through both houses, but two amendments added on the Senate floor sent it into a conference committee. Those amendments increased the cap from 7% to 10% plus inflation and exempted single-family homes. Opponents of the bill argued that developers would leave the state if it became law and said similar policies in Oregon and California added to those states' financial burdens instead of slowing the homeless crisis.\n\nOregon's rent-control bill was passed in 2019 and later updated to cap rent increases at either 7% plus the annual 12-month average change in the consumer price index for the U.S. West, or 10% — whichever is lower.\n\nThe conference committee got the cap down to 7% plus inflation or 10% — whichever is lower, and restored protections for the 38% of renters who live in single-family homes. With Ferguson's signature, it's now law.\n\n\"This law is a good beginning. It's long overdue and it's urgently needed,\" Alvarado said. \"Forty percent of the people in the state of Washington are renters or manufactured homeowners and before today they had no protections over how high the rent can go, leading to pain and to devastating destabilization of families and communities.\"\n\nFerguson also signed nine other bills to help homeowners and renters. He said when he campaigned for governor, affordable housing was the top issue voters raised, so he supports bills to help make it easier to secure housing.\n\n\"Let's make this the session of affordable housing,\" he said before signing the first measure.\n\nThe other measures included limits on certain provisions in rental agreements, notices for mobile home communities, and property tax relief for disabled veterans." } ]
8ee4c02c017b1fd23280f883fe204dc0853f8dcd43fd37d55f7c3361bb0d03a7	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Yamamoto is emerging as the new staff ace at just the right time for the Dodgers' depleted rotation\n\nBy Charles Odum \nMay 3rd, 2025 03:44 AM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — A Los Angeles Dodgers rotation filled with injuries has seen a new ace emerge in right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.\n\nYamamoto pitched like the leader of a rotation — and perhaps one of the game's top starters — in the Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning and giving up no runs.\n\n\"He's turning himself into a staff ace,\" Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game.\n\nAustin Riley doubled with two outs in the sixth inning for Atlanta's first hit off Yamamoto (4-2). The right-hander lowered his ERA to 0.90, the best mark in the major leagues. He left the game with a 2-0 lead after allowing one hit with two walks and six strikeouts in six scoreless innings.\n\nYamamoto confirmed he feels he is pitching at the same top form he showed in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in his native Japan.\n\n\"Yes, I've been able to be at a high level,\" Yamamoto said through a translator. \"I think it feels very close to my top pitching.\"\n\nYamamoto said he wasn't focused on the possibility of a no-hitter, but Roberts said it entered his thoughts \"for a quick minute.\"\n\n\"He had no-hit stuff tonight,\" Roberts said, adding the right-hander's control and mastery of his splitter set the foundation for his dominance.\n\n\"I thought tonight the splitter was fantastic,\" Roberts said. \"His command was back to being who he is. The last (game) he wasn't that sharp.\"\n\nBut even when giving up four walks in a 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh on April 25, Yamamoto's less impressive starts have still been above par. He has yet to allow more than five hits or two earned runs in any of his seven starts this season.\n\nThe emergence of Yamamoto as an ace is especially important as the Dodgers try to adjust to having three starting pitchers on the injured list. The staff is without Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation), Tyler Glasnow (shoulder inflammation) and Clayton Kershaw (recovery from toe and knee surgery).\n\nYamamoto has allowed only four earned runs in 40 innings. For Roberts, that places him among the game's elite starting pitchers.\n\n\"You look at a handful of guys that when they take the mound you know they're going to go six innings and give you a chance to win the game,\" Roberts said.\n\n\"There's been so much consistent production from Yoshi, it is real.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Yamamoto is emerging as the new staff ace at just the right time for the Dodgers' depleted rotation\n\nBy Charles Odum \nMay 3rd, 2025 03:44 AM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — A Los Angeles Dodgers rotation filled with injuries has seen a new ace emerge in right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.\n\nYamamoto pitched like the leader of a rotation — and perhaps one of the game's top starters — in the Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning and giving up no runs.\n\n\"He's turning himself into a staff ace,\" Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game.\n\nAustin Riley doubled with two outs in the sixth inning for Atlanta's first hit off Yamamoto (4-2). The right-hander lowered his ERA to 0.90, the best mark in the major leagues. He left the game with a 2-0 lead after allowing one hit with two walks and six strikeouts in six scoreless innings.\n\nYamamoto confirmed he feels he is pitching at the same top form he showed in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in his native Japan.\n\n\"Yes, I've been able to be at a high level,\" Yamamoto said through a translator. \"I think it feels very close to my top pitching.\"\n\nYamamoto said he wasn't focused on the possibility of a no-hitter, but Roberts said it entered his thoughts \"for a quick minute.\"\n\n\"He had no-hit stuff tonight,\" Roberts said, adding the right-hander's control and mastery of his splitter set the foundation for his dominance.\n\n\"I thought tonight the splitter was fantastic,\" Roberts said. \"His command was back to being who he is. The last (game) he wasn't that sharp.\"\n\nBut even when giving up four walks in a 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh on April 25, Yamamoto's less impressive starts have still been above par. He has yet to allow more than five hits or two earned runs in any of his seven starts this season.\n\nThe emergence of Yamamoto as an ace is especially important as the Dodgers try to adjust to having three starting pitchers on the injured list. The staff is without Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation), Tyler Glasnow (shoulder inflammation) and Clayton Kershaw (recovery from toe and knee surgery).\n\nYamamoto has allowed only four earned runs in 40 innings. For Roberts, that places him among the game's elite starting pitchers.\n\n\"You look at a handful of guys that when they take the mound you know they're going to go six innings and give you a chance to win the game,\" Roberts said.\n\n\"There's been so much consistent production from Yoshi, it is real.\"" } ]
2c6a66b27b6d36dec1612c06e0c8cf180c168968d41754aca93a357acfb0b548	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 80 years after World War II, Germany is still painstakingly searching for its fallen soldiers\n\nBy Kirsten Grieshaber and Vanessa Gera \nMay 6th, 2025 05:05 AM\n\n---\n\nHALBE, Germany (AP) — In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn tune.\n\nHundreds of villagers and relatives of the fallen watched silently, some wiping tears off their cheeks, as the soldiers who died in one of the last large World War II battles fighting for Adolf Hitler's army got their final resting place.\n\nThe gestures of remembrance are part of a long, complicated — and sometimes controversial — effort to bring the German dead to rest, 80 years after a war that Nazi Germany started.\n\nIt's still not the end — much work remains to identify the dead and notify any surviving family members.\n\nAcross Europe, in forests, fields and beneath old farmland, the remains of German soldiers are still being found, exhumed and reburied by teams from a nonprofit organization called the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, or German War Graves Commission, which has been doing this work for decades.\n\n## A search for the dead\n\nAs the world pauses this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the war's end, the continued search for soldiers' remains is a reminder that the conflict's legacy is not only historical or political, but also physical and unfinished, still unfolding across Europe.\n\n\"It's very, very important that this is still being done,\" said Martina Seiger, 57, whose grandfather's bones were found and buried a few years ago.\n\nSeiger and her family make a point of attending the burials of other soldiers who died in the battle of Halbe in 1945. It's as close as they can get to some kind of funeral for her grandfather, Werner Novak.\n\nNovak was 21 when he was killed. He had already been injured and sent back from the front to Berlin. He was planning to marry his pregnant fiancée and hoped for a more peaceful future, Seiger said.\n\nInstead, as the Soviet's Red Army was approaching Berlin in the last weeks of war, he was back into battle.\n\n## Lost in the chaos of war\n\nThe process of finding and identifying the remains is slow — many of the missing were buried hastily during retreat or combat, with no markers or records. Some sites are remembered only vaguely, passed down through local knowledge.\n\nOthers are beyond reach, beneath modern infrastructure or the front line in eastern Ukraine.\n\nStill, the Volksbund works on, searching across Europe's old battlefields, following tips, checking old military maps and missing soldiers lists. The work continues even in western Ukraine, away from the raging fighting in the country's east.\n\nWhen possible, the organization brings the remains to cemeteries maintained specifically for German soldiers who died abroad. It says its goal is humanistic: to offer a dignified burial to every person who died in the war, regardless of the role they played. That includes soldiers who served in a military responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.\n\nThe Volksbund does not frame its mission as one of honoring the fallen, but of identifying them and ensuring they are not left to vanish into the earth, without a name.\n\n## A missing father\n\nWolfgang Bartsch, 83, stood on a small hill near the open graves as the soldiers' bones were laid to rest.\n\nBartsch has never been able to bury his own father, who died in January 1942 fighting on the front in Russia. He was just three weeks old. Days earlier his mother was killed in an Allied bomb raid on Berlin. He was raised by his grandmother but always felt the pain of growing up without parents.\n\n\"My dad is buried somewhere in a nameless grave in Oryol in Russia,\" he said. \"The Volksbund will never be able to recover his bones because I know that lots of settlements were built on top of those graves.\"\n\nBy the Volksbund's estimate, more than 2 million German soldiers remain unaccounted for. Over the past 30 years, since gaining access to former Eastern Bloc territories, the Volksbund has recovered and reburied the remains of a million people.\n\n## Work that can be controversial\n\nIn some parts of Europe, resentment lingers toward anything perceived as rehabilitating the Nazi military past. But many accept that efforts to find the dead could help close this chapter of history.\n\n\"I don't want to rule out the possibility that we have a large number of war criminals in our war graves. We also know that some of them have even been proven to have committed the most serious war crimes,\" said Dirk Backen, the secretary general of the Volksbund.\n\n\"Behind every dead person is a human destiny and that is our main focus,\" he said. \"When you stand in front of the grave of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you naturally ask yourself whether he may have had other plans in life and a different dream than to give his life at the age of 18 for a cause that was also criminal.\"\n\nWeeks before the burial in Halbe, an exhumation took place in the Polish city of Ostrołęka, where Volksbund employees and local Polish archaeologists dug for the remains of German soldiers in a Polish cemetery wherever it would not involve disturbing a marked grave.\n\nThe skeletons were documented that day, March 19, and the bones of each person were sealed into a black bag. Dog tags were saved in the hope the remains can one day be identified. The group plans to rebury them later this year at a military ceremony in Poland.\n\n## They deserve to be buried\n\nŁukasz Karol, a Polish archaeologist working on the exhumation, acknowledges having had ethical concerns as he considered the job of unearthing soldiers of an army that invaded Poland and killed some 6 million Polish citizens over the course of the war.\n\nBut he said the work has moral significance and uncovers important scientific information.\n\n\"These are also people and they also deserve a burial,\" Karol said.\n\nUnlike in the immediate postwar years, few families today are actively searching for lost relatives. In many cases, the emotional and generational distance is too great; there is no one left to remember the missing, or the need for closure has faded with time.\n\nFor Bartsch, the 83-year-old who attended the burial in Halbe, there is no closure.\n\n\"I still can't find peace when I think that so many people are still buried here in the ground without a proper funeral,\" he said. \"My heart would rejoice if only I could bury my father too, but that won't happen.\"\n\n___\n\nGera reported from Ostrołęka, Poland." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 80 years after World War II, Germany is still painstakingly searching for its fallen soldiers\n\nBy Kirsten Grieshaber and Vanessa Gera \nMay 6th, 2025 05:05 AM\n\n---\n\nHALBE, Germany (AP) — In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn tune.\n\nHundreds of villagers and relatives of the fallen watched silently, some wiping tears off their cheeks, as the soldiers who died in one of the last large World War II battles fighting for Adolf Hitler's army got their final resting place.\n\nThe gestures of remembrance are part of a long, complicated — and sometimes controversial — effort to bring the German dead to rest, 80 years after a war that Nazi Germany started.\n\nIt's still not the end — much work remains to identify the dead and notify any surviving family members.\n\nAcross Europe, in forests, fields and beneath old farmland, the remains of German soldiers are still being found, exhumed and reburied by teams from a nonprofit organization called the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, or German War Graves Commission, which has been doing this work for decades.\n\n## A search for the dead\n\nAs the world pauses this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the war's end, the continued search for soldiers' remains is a reminder that the conflict's legacy is not only historical or political, but also physical and unfinished, still unfolding across Europe.\n\n\"It's very, very important that this is still being done,\" said Martina Seiger, 57, whose grandfather's bones were found and buried a few years ago.\n\nSeiger and her family make a point of attending the burials of other soldiers who died in the battle of Halbe in 1945. It's as close as they can get to some kind of funeral for her grandfather, Werner Novak.\n\nNovak was 21 when he was killed. He had already been injured and sent back from the front to Berlin. He was planning to marry his pregnant fiancée and hoped for a more peaceful future, Seiger said.\n\nInstead, as the Soviet's Red Army was approaching Berlin in the last weeks of war, he was back into battle.\n\n## Lost in the chaos of war\n\nThe process of finding and identifying the remains is slow — many of the missing were buried hastily during retreat or combat, with no markers or records. Some sites are remembered only vaguely, passed down through local knowledge.\n\nOthers are beyond reach, beneath modern infrastructure or the front line in eastern Ukraine.\n\nStill, the Volksbund works on, searching across Europe's old battlefields, following tips, checking old military maps and missing soldiers lists. The work continues even in western Ukraine, away from the raging fighting in the country's east.\n\nWhen possible, the organization brings the remains to cemeteries maintained specifically for German soldiers who died abroad. It says its goal is humanistic: to offer a dignified burial to every person who died in the war, regardless of the role they played. That includes soldiers who served in a military responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.\n\nThe Volksbund does not frame its mission as one of honoring the fallen, but of identifying them and ensuring they are not left to vanish into the earth, without a name.\n\n## A missing father\n\nWolfgang Bartsch, 83, stood on a small hill near the open graves as the soldiers' bones were laid to rest.\n\nBartsch has never been able to bury his own father, who died in January 1942 fighting on the front in Russia. He was just three weeks old. Days earlier his mother was killed in an Allied bomb raid on Berlin. He was raised by his grandmother but always felt the pain of growing up without parents.\n\n\"My dad is buried somewhere in a nameless grave in Oryol in Russia,\" he said. \"The Volksbund will never be able to recover his bones because I know that lots of settlements were built on top of those graves.\"\n\nBy the Volksbund's estimate, more than 2 million German soldiers remain unaccounted for. Over the past 30 years, since gaining access to former Eastern Bloc territories, the Volksbund has recovered and reburied the remains of a million people.\n\n## Work that can be controversial\n\nIn some parts of Europe, resentment lingers toward anything perceived as rehabilitating the Nazi military past. But many accept that efforts to find the dead could help close this chapter of history.\n\n\"I don't want to rule out the possibility that we have a large number of war criminals in our war graves. We also know that some of them have even been proven to have committed the most serious war crimes,\" said Dirk Backen, the secretary general of the Volksbund.\n\n\"Behind every dead person is a human destiny and that is our main focus,\" he said. \"When you stand in front of the grave of an 18-year-old young Wehrmacht soldier, you naturally ask yourself whether he may have had other plans in life and a different dream than to give his life at the age of 18 for a cause that was also criminal.\"\n\nWeeks before the burial in Halbe, an exhumation took place in the Polish city of Ostrołęka, where Volksbund employees and local Polish archaeologists dug for the remains of German soldiers in a Polish cemetery wherever it would not involve disturbing a marked grave.\n\nThe skeletons were documented that day, March 19, and the bones of each person were sealed into a black bag. Dog tags were saved in the hope the remains can one day be identified. The group plans to rebury them later this year at a military ceremony in Poland.\n\n## They deserve to be buried\n\nŁukasz Karol, a Polish archaeologist working on the exhumation, acknowledges having had ethical concerns as he considered the job of unearthing soldiers of an army that invaded Poland and killed some 6 million Polish citizens over the course of the war.\n\nBut he said the work has moral significance and uncovers important scientific information.\n\n\"These are also people and they also deserve a burial,\" Karol said.\n\nUnlike in the immediate postwar years, few families today are actively searching for lost relatives. In many cases, the emotional and generational distance is too great; there is no one left to remember the missing, or the need for closure has faded with time.\n\nFor Bartsch, the 83-year-old who attended the burial in Halbe, there is no closure.\n\n\"I still can't find peace when I think that so many people are still buried here in the ground without a proper funeral,\" he said. \"My heart would rejoice if only I could bury my father too, but that won't happen.\"" } ]
b47df8e4bcf3829fb2e56fc6909cf2f4f71f5596a913dd734222a10e680e7667	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Tourist boats capsize in sudden storm in southwest China, leaving 10 dead\n\nMay 4th, 2025 01:18 PM\n\n---\n\nBEIJING (AP) — Four boats capsized in a sudden storm at a tourist spot in southwestern China, killing 10 people, state media said Monday.\n\nMore than 80 people fell into a river when strong winds hit the scenic area in Guizhou province late Sunday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said.\n\nThe boats capsized after a sudden rain and hail storm on the upper reaches of the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China's longest river. In one video shared by state media, a man could be seen performing CPR on another person, while one of the vessels drifted upside down.\n\nInitial reports said two tourist boats had capsized, but state media said on Monday that four boats were involved. The other two boats had no passengers, and the seven crew members were able to save themselves, CCTV said.\n\nGuizhou's mountains and rivers are a major tourism draw, and many Chinese were traveling during a five-day national holiday that ended Monday.\n\nChinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to find the missing and care for the injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday. Seventy people were sent to a hospital, most with minor injuries.\n\nNoting a recent series of fatal accidents, Xi underscored the importance of strengthening safety at tourist attractions, large public venues and residential communities, as well as for the rush of people returning at the end of major holidays.\n\nCCTV said the capsized boats had a maximum capacity of about 40 people each and were not overloaded.\n\nAn eyewitness told state-owned Beijing News the waters were deep but that some people had managed to swim to safety. However, the storm had come suddenly and a thick mist obscured the surface of the river." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Tourist boats capsize in sudden storm in southwest China, leaving 10 dead\n\nMay 4th, 2025 01:18 PM\n\n---\n\nBEIJING (AP) — Four boats capsized in a sudden storm at a tourist spot in southwestern China, killing 10 people, state media said Monday.\n\nMore than 80 people fell into a river when strong winds hit the scenic area in Guizhou province late Sunday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said.\n\nThe boats capsized after a sudden rain and hail storm on the upper reaches of the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China's longest river. In one video shared by state media, a man could be seen performing CPR on another person, while one of the vessels drifted upside down.\n\nInitial reports said two tourist boats had capsized, but state media said on Monday that four boats were involved. The other two boats had no passengers, and the seven crew members were able to save themselves, CCTV said.\n\nGuizhou's mountains and rivers are a major tourism draw, and many Chinese were traveling during a five-day national holiday that ended Monday.\n\nChinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to find the missing and care for the injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday. Seventy people were sent to a hospital, most with minor injuries.\n\nNoting a recent series of fatal accidents, Xi underscored the importance of strengthening safety at tourist attractions, large public venues and residential communities, as well as for the rush of people returning at the end of major holidays.\n\nCCTV said the capsized boats had a maximum capacity of about 40 people each and were not overloaded.\n\nAn eyewitness told state-owned Beijing News the waters were deep but that some people had managed to swim to safety. However, the storm had come suddenly and a thick mist obscured the surface of the river." } ]
e22e55018d5ae4ede5bafe110b1d6a3831b85910c84d60a1beac5396e1fa3408	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Chelsea wins and Newcastle draws to tighten top-five race as United loses again in Premier League\n\nBy Steve Douglas \nMay 4th, 2025 03:17 PM\n\n---\n\nThe race for Champions League qualification got even tighter in the Premier League after Chelsea beat recently crowned champion Liverpool and Newcastle dropped points at Brighton.\n\nWith a record-extending 16th defeat of the campaign, Manchester United could hardly be further from it all.\n\nLiverpool's players were afforded a guard of honor by Chelsea as they came onto the field at Stamford Bridge for their first match as champions. They didn't really play like it, with Chelsea running out a 3-1 winner thanks to a third-minute goal by Enzo Fernandez, an own-goal by Jarell Quansah in the 56th and a stoppage-time penalty by Cole Palmer.\n\nVirgil van Dijk's header made it 2-1 at the time but Liverpool was off the pace for much of the game.\n\nThe win lifted fifth-placed Chelsea into a tie for 63 points with fourth-placed Newcastle, which needed an 89th-minute penalty by Alexander Isak to salvage a 1-1 draw at Brighton.\n\nWith Manchester City a point higher in third place and both Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa three points back in sixth and seventh, respectively, the fight to finish in the top five — and therefore qualify for next season's Champions League — looks like going to the wire. Forest has a game in hand, at Crystal Palace on Monday.\n\nThe Premier League appears to hold little importance to Man United anymore this season, with a 4-3 loss at Brentford leaving the team languishing in 15th place on 39 points and already certain of recording its worst-ever total in the Premier League as well as its lowest finish.\n\nUnited's focus is fully on winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League by that route.\n\nThe wild, end-to-end game against Brentford was played between matches against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semifinals — United leads 3-0 after the first leg — and manager Ruben Amorim fielded the club's youngest ever Premier League lineup according to average age, highlighting how Europe is clearly the priority for the remainder of this season.\n\n## Isak saves Newcastle\n\nA first-half goal by Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh — a former Newcastle player — looked like seeing off his old club, only for Isak to convert a penalty after Yasin Ayari's outstretched arm in a defensive wall block against Fabian Schar's free kick.\n\nNewcastle had previously been awarded two penalties, only for both of them to be overturned after video reviews.\n\nIsak moved onto 23 league goals for the season, putting him No. 2 on the list behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (28). It is the most by any Newcastle player in a Premier League season since Alan Shearer in 2001-02.\n\n## Palmer ends goal drought\n\nPalmer left it late to end his 18-game run without a goal in all competitions, stretching back to the middle of January.\n\nHe almost did so earlier, when he struck the ball against the post from an acute angle, but was given a chance from the penalty spot after Quansah made another mistake by tripping Moises Caicedo.\n\nPalmer buried his spot kick past Alisson Becker for his 15th league goal this season.\n\nLiverpool's visiting fans tried to encourage their team with shouts of \"champions, champions\" but with their motivation perhaps lacking, Chelsea found it surprisingly comfortable.\n\nChelsea is tied for points and goal difference with Newcastle, and only behind courtesy of scoring fewer goals. They meet next week at St. James' Park.\n\n## Some positives for Man United\n\nThere were a couple of positives on another tough day for Man United, with injury-prone midfielder Mason Mount scoring his first goal of the season and winger Amad Diallo — just back after three months out — netting the third goal in stoppage time as the visitors came from 4-1 down but couldn't find an equalizer.\n\nKevin Schade scored two of Brentford's goals, while Yoane Wisse also netted for the 18th time in the league — the same number as teammate Bryan Mbeumo.\n\n## Tottenham draws but its focus is elsewhere\n\nLike Man United, Tottenham has reached the Europa League semifinals and manager Ange Postecoglou left out a slew of key players for the 1-1 draw with West Ham in a London derby between two struggling teams.\n\nTottenham beat Bodø/Glimt 3-1 in the first leg on Thursday and faces a tough trip to northern Norway for the return game next week.\n\nPostecoglou made eight changes and went with a mostly second-string lineup against West Ham, yet still saw Wilson Odobert open the scoring in the 15th with his first league goal for Spurs. Jarrod Bowen equalized in the 27th.\n\nJames Maddison didn't play for Tottenham, with Postecoglou saying the playmaker's knee injury — sustained against Bodø/Glimt — \"doesn't look great.\"\n\n___\n\nSteve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Chelsea wins and Newcastle draws to tighten top-five race as United loses again in Premier League\n\nBy Steve Douglas \nMay 4th, 2025 03:17 PM\n\n---\n\nThe race for Champions League qualification got even tighter in the Premier League after Chelsea beat recently crowned champion Liverpool and Newcastle dropped points at Brighton.\n\nWith a record-extending 16th defeat of the campaign, Manchester United could hardly be further from it all.\n\nLiverpool's players were afforded a guard of honor by Chelsea as they came onto the field at Stamford Bridge for their first match as champions. They didn't really play like it, with Chelsea running out a 3-1 winner thanks to a third-minute goal by Enzo Fernandez, an own-goal by Jarell Quansah in the 56th and a stoppage-time penalty by Cole Palmer.\n\nVirgil van Dijk's header made it 2-1 at the time but Liverpool was off the pace for much of the game.\n\nThe win lifted fifth-placed Chelsea into a tie for 63 points with fourth-placed Newcastle, which needed an 89th-minute penalty by Alexander Isak to salvage a 1-1 draw at Brighton.\n\nWith Manchester City a point higher in third place and both Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa three points back in sixth and seventh, respectively, the fight to finish in the top five — and therefore qualify for next season's Champions League — looks like going to the wire. Forest has a game in hand, at Crystal Palace on Monday.\n\nThe Premier League appears to hold little importance to Man United anymore this season, with a 4-3 loss at Brentford leaving the team languishing in 15th place on 39 points and already certain of recording its worst-ever total in the Premier League as well as its lowest finish.\n\nUnited's focus is fully on winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League by that route.\n\nThe wild, end-to-end game against Brentford was played between matches against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semifinals — United leads 3-0 after the first leg — and manager Ruben Amorim fielded the club's youngest ever Premier League lineup according to average age, highlighting how Europe is clearly the priority for the remainder of this season.\n\n## Isak saves Newcastle\n\nA first-half goal by Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh — a former Newcastle player — looked like seeing off his old club, only for Isak to convert a penalty after Yasin Ayari's outstretched arm in a defensive wall block against Fabian Schar's free kick.\n\nNewcastle had previously been awarded two penalties, only for both of them to be overturned after video reviews.\n\nIsak moved onto 23 league goals for the season, putting him No. 2 on the list behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (28). It is the most by any Newcastle player in a Premier League season since Alan Shearer in 2001-02.\n\n## Palmer ends goal drought\n\nPalmer left it late to end his 18-game run without a goal in all competitions, stretching back to the middle of January.\n\nHe almost did so earlier, when he struck the ball against the post from an acute angle, but was given a chance from the penalty spot after Quansah made another mistake by tripping Moises Caicedo.\n\nPalmer buried his spot kick past Alisson Becker for his 15th league goal this season.\n\nLiverpool's visiting fans tried to encourage their team with shouts of \"champions, champions\" but with their motivation perhaps lacking, Chelsea found it surprisingly comfortable.\n\nChelsea is tied for points and goal difference with Newcastle, and only behind courtesy of scoring fewer goals. They meet next week at St. James' Park.\n\n## Some positives for Man United\n\nThere were a couple of positives on another tough day for Man United, with injury-prone midfielder Mason Mount scoring his first goal of the season and winger Amad Diallo — just back after three months out — netting the third goal in stoppage time as the visitors came from 4-1 down but couldn't find an equalizer.\n\nKevin Schade scored two of Brentford's goals, while Yoane Wisse also netted for the 18th time in the league — the same number as teammate Bryan Mbeumo.\n\n## Tottenham draws but its focus is elsewhere\n\nLike Man United, Tottenham has reached the Europa League semifinals and manager Ange Postecoglou left out a slew of key players for the 1-1 draw with West Ham in a London derby between two struggling teams.\n\nTottenham beat Bodø/Glimt 3-1 in the first leg on Thursday and faces a tough trip to northern Norway for the return game next week.\n\nPostecoglou made eight changes and went with a mostly second-string lineup against West Ham, yet still saw Wilson Odobert open the scoring in the 15th with his first league goal for Spurs. Jarrod Bowen equalized in the 27th.\n\nJames Maddison didn't play for Tottenham, with Postecoglou saying the playmaker's knee injury — sustained against Bodø/Glimt — \"doesn't look great.\"" } ]
d0d270a3aa8ef88ba8dbc626ad07d7e28e1417f63ed4adf6a47675e466b71b3c	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Shilo Sanders makes a big first impression with the Buccaneers\n\nBy Rob Maaddi \nMay 11th, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Shilo Sanders walked into his first news conference with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and immediately shook hands with each reporter.\n\nCoach Prime's son knows how to make a first impression on and off the field.\n\nLike his dad, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, Shilo displayed his engaging personality and commanded the interview room. He asked for beach recommendations and revealed that he plans to be the \"snack guy\" for the team's safety group.\n\n\"Man, look at where we're at,\" Sanders said with a big smile. \"Look at the whole coaching staff. It's a really supportive coaching staff. Everybody wants to see everybody do good. Everybody on the team, we all want to see each other win. It's a great environment to thrive in.\"\n\nSanders, who signed with the Buccaneers after being passed up in the draft, impressed coach Todd Bowles on the first day of rookie camp with his intelligence.\n\n\"Like the rest of the safeties, he's very intelligent, he's very loud,\" Bowles said. \"You can hear him (on the field), making calls and everything, so he has a good grasp of things Day 1. There was about three or four of them that did. He was one of them, but you have to make plays in pads. That's what it comes down to — knowing what to do and then doing it consistently and constantly getting better every day.\"\n\nThe 25-year-old Sanders even helped younger teammates with some of the defensive calls.\n\n\"He's very smart,\" rookie cornerback Jacob Parrish said. \"He helped me a lot with the adjustments. I'm excited to work with him.\"\n\nWhile younger brother, Shedeur Sanders, drew most of the attention during the draft after slipping to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, Shilo didn't get a call until hiring agent Drew Rosenhaus.\n\n\"They gave me a chance before anyone so I'm forever grateful to the Buccaneers and I'm just gonna do everything in my power to help this team win,\" Sanders said. \"That's all I want.\"\n\nShilo played in the shadow of his quarterback brother while they were coached by their father at Jackson State and Colorado. He wasn't expected to be a top-five pick like Shedeur but ended up in a favorable spot with the four-time defending NFC South champion Buccaneers, a team that needs help in the secondary.\n\n\"My take on being disappointed in lows is that it's not a real low because you can't change the past,\" Sanders said. \"I just trust God, and I always end up doing something great, so I just know it's going to happen, and whatever is happening currently is to learn or grow from.\"\n\nSanders missed three weeks last season at Colorado because of a broken forearm. He finished third on the Buffaloes with 67 total tackles, recovered two fumbles, including one he returned for a touchdown at Texas Tech. He had four forced fumbles, one recovery and a pick-6 his junior season.\n\nThe Buccaneers need more playmakers in the secondary.\n\n\"It's just an 'it' thing. You either got it or you don't,\" Sanders said. \"Throughout my whole career, I've always been a guy who gets the ball out any way, shape or form. Forced fumbles, picks, I'm gonna get the ball. That's the whole point of playing defense. We wanna get the offense the ball.\"\n\nAs for his baby brother in Cleveland, Shilo said about Shedeur: \"He's been missing me. He's been calling me like 6 a.m. He wants some brotherly love. His big brother isn't next him in practice but we talk a lot.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Shilo Sanders makes a big first impression with the Buccaneers\n\nBy Rob Maaddi \nMay 11th, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Shilo Sanders walked into his first news conference with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and immediately shook hands with each reporter.\n\nCoach Prime's son knows how to make a first impression on and off the field.\n\nLike his dad, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, Shilo displayed his engaging personality and commanded the interview room. He asked for beach recommendations and revealed that he plans to be the \"snack guy\" for the team's safety group.\n\n\"Man, look at where we're at,\" Sanders said with a big smile. \"Look at the whole coaching staff. It's a really supportive coaching staff. Everybody wants to see everybody do good. Everybody on the team, we all want to see each other win. It's a great environment to thrive in.\"\n\nSanders, who signed with the Buccaneers after being passed up in the draft, impressed coach Todd Bowles on the first day of rookie camp with his intelligence.\n\n\"Like the rest of the safeties, he's very intelligent, he's very loud,\" Bowles said. \"You can hear him (on the field), making calls and everything, so he has a good grasp of things Day 1. There was about three or four of them that did. He was one of them, but you have to make plays in pads. That's what it comes down to — knowing what to do and then doing it consistently and constantly getting better every day.\"\n\nThe 25-year-old Sanders even helped younger teammates with some of the defensive calls.\n\n\"He's very smart,\" rookie cornerback Jacob Parrish said. \"He helped me a lot with the adjustments. I'm excited to work with him.\"\n\nWhile younger brother, Shedeur Sanders, drew most of the attention during the draft after slipping to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, Shilo didn't get a call until hiring agent Drew Rosenhaus.\n\n\"They gave me a chance before anyone so I'm forever grateful to the Buccaneers and I'm just gonna do everything in my power to help this team win,\" Sanders said. \"That's all I want.\"\n\nShilo played in the shadow of his quarterback brother while they were coached by their father at Jackson State and Colorado. He wasn't expected to be a top-five pick like Shedeur but ended up in a favorable spot with the four-time defending NFC South champion Buccaneers, a team that needs help in the secondary.\n\n\"My take on being disappointed in lows is that it's not a real low because you can't change the past,\" Sanders said. \"I just trust God, and I always end up doing something great, so I just know it's going to happen, and whatever is happening currently is to learn or grow from.\"\n\nSanders missed three weeks last season at Colorado because of a broken forearm. He finished third on the Buffaloes with 67 total tackles, recovered two fumbles, including one he returned for a touchdown at Texas Tech. He had four forced fumbles, one recovery and a pick-6 his junior season.\n\nThe Buccaneers need more playmakers in the secondary.\n\n\"It's just an 'it' thing. You either got it or you don't,\" Sanders said. \"Throughout my whole career, I've always been a guy who gets the ball out any way, shape or form. Forced fumbles, picks, I'm gonna get the ball. That's the whole point of playing defense. We wanna get the offense the ball.\"\n\nAs for his baby brother in Cleveland, Shilo said about Shedeur: \"He's been missing me. He's been calling me like 6 a.m. He wants some brotherly love. His big brother isn't next him in practice but we talk a lot.\"" } ]
1c02338a0b56dc1027b61e3f488b4b86d002c08c7c022a1d6199ba1377f661f6	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Ex-Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock to take over as Football Australia interim CEO\n\nMay 8th, 2025 06:41 AM\n\n---\n\nSYDNEY (AP) — Long-time Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock will take over as Football Australia's interim chief executive officer after James Johnson resigned from the role on Thursday.\n\nGarriock played 130 games for the women's national team in a career spanning 15 years, including Olympic campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and World Cups in 2003, 2007 and 2011.\n\nGarriock, 42, joined the board of Football Australia in 2021 and was inducted into the sport's national Hall of Fame the following year for her work as a player, coach, media analyst and administrator.\n\nDuring a five-year tenure, Johnson guided Football Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic and the co-hosting of the 2023 Women's World Cup with New Zealand.\n\n\"As someone who is immensely passionate about Australian football, this decision has not come easy, but I believe the time is right to step down,\" Johnson said in a Football Australia statement that also confirmed Garriock's interim role as CEO.\n\nJohnson's resume in soccer include spells working for the Australian players' union, the Asian Football Confederation, and world body FIFA in Zurich, working on regulatory issues including the transfer market. He then represented Manchester City's parent operation City Football Group in international soccer politics.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Ex-Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock to take over as Football Australia interim CEO\n\nMay 8th, 2025 06:41 AM\n\n---\n\nSYDNEY (AP) — Long-time Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock will take over as Football Australia's interim chief executive officer after James Johnson resigned from the role on Thursday.\n\nGarriock played 130 games for the women's national team in a career spanning 15 years, including Olympic campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and World Cups in 2003, 2007 and 2011.\n\nGarriock, 42, joined the board of Football Australia in 2021 and was inducted into the sport's national Hall of Fame the following year for her work as a player, coach, media analyst and administrator.\n\nDuring a five-year tenure, Johnson guided Football Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic and the co-hosting of the 2023 Women's World Cup with New Zealand.\n\n\"As someone who is immensely passionate about Australian football, this decision has not come easy, but I believe the time is right to step down,\" Johnson said in a Football Australia statement that also confirmed Garriock's interim role as CEO.\n\nJohnson's resume in soccer include spells working for the Australian players' union, the Asian Football Confederation, and world body FIFA in Zurich, working on regulatory issues including the transfer market. He then represented Manchester City's parent operation City Football Group in international soccer politics." } ]
b091572e38fe6482ecd4118ee7840a9ff3c04b7fe094b228619c30af6e9d3470	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Republican concedes long-unsettled NC court election to Democratic incumbent\n\nBy Gary D. Robertson \nMay 7th, 2025 02:04 PM\n\n---\n\nRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat conceded last November's election on Wednesday to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, two days after a federal judge ruled that potentially thousands of disputed ballots challenged by Jefferson Griffin must remain in the final tally.\n\nIn a statement provided by his campaign, Griffin said he would not appeal Monday's decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, who also ordered that the State Board of Elections certify results that after two previous recounts showed Riggs is the winner by 734 votes from over 5.5 million ballots cast in the race.\n\nGriffin's decision sets the stage for Riggs to be officially elected to an eight-year term as an associate justice in the nation's ninth-largest state.\n\nThe state board plans to issue Riggs' certificate of election on May 13, a board spokesperson said.\n\n\"While I do not fully agree with the District Court's analysis, I respect the court's holding — just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this case,\" Griffin said. \"I will not appeal the court's decision.\"\n\n## The nation's last undecided 2024 race is settled\n\nMyers delayed carrying out his order for seven days in case Griffin wanted to ask the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review his decision. Democrats had called on Griffin for months to accept defeat, with party officials and allies holding pro-Riggs rallies and entering the litigation. They celebrated Riggs' victory.\n\n\"North Carolina can finally turn the page on the 2024 election,\" Democratic Gov. Josh Stein wrote on the social platform X.\n\nRiggs is one of two Democrats on the seven-member state Supreme Court, and winning improved the party's efforts to retake a court majority later in the decade. Riggs was appointed to the court in 2023 and has remained on the job while the election was unresolved. Griffin is a state Court of Appeals judge whose term ends in 2028.\n\n\"I look forward to continuing to serve the people of North Carolina,\" Griffin said.\n\nWhile The Associated Press declared over 4,800 winners in the 2024 general election, the North Carolina Supreme Court election was the last race nationally that was undecided.\n\nRiggs said in a news release Wednesday that she was \"glad the will of the voters was finally heard.\"\n\n\"It's been my honor to lead this fight — even though it should never have happened — and I'm in awe of the North Carolinians whose courage reminds us all that we can use our voices to hold accountable any politician who seeks to take power out of the hands of the people,\" she said.\n\n## Judge said disputed ballots had to remain in tally\n\nMyers ruled that Griffin's efforts after the Nov. 5 election to remove from the election total ballots that state appeals courts agreed were ineligible under state law would have damaged voters' federal due process or equal protection rights had they been implemented.\n\nGriffin filed formal protests that initially appeared to cover more than 65,000 ballots. Ensuing state court rulings whittled the total to votes from two categories, covering as few as 1,675 ballots to as many as 7,000, according to court filings. Griffin hoped that removing ballots he said were unlawfully cast would flip the outcome to him.\n\nDemocrats and voting rights groups had raised alarm about Griffin's efforts, which in one category of ballots had only targeted six Democratic-leaning counties. They called it an attack on democracy that would serve as a road map for the GOP to reverse election results in other states if successful.\n\n\"Make no mistake, the delay in the certification of this free and fair election was completely unnecessary,\" former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a news release.\n\nGriffin said Wednesday that his legal efforts were always \"about upholding the rule of law and making sure that every legal vote in an election is counted.\"\n\n## Two categories of ballots at issue\n\nMost of the ballots that state appeals courts found ineligible came from military or overseas voters who didn't provide copies of photo identification or an ID exception form with their absentee ballots. The appeals courts had permitted a 30-day \"cure\" process for those voters so their ballots could still count if they provided ID information.\n\nMyers, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump, agreed with Riggs and her allied litigants that the \"retroactive invalidation\" of those ballots violated the rights of service members, missionaries, or others working or studying abroad who cast their ballots under the rules for the 2024 election.\n\n\"You establish the rules before the game. You don't change them after the game is done,\" Myers wrote in his order.\n\nThe other category of ballots was cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S. but whose parents were declared North Carolina residents. A state law had authorized those people to vote in state elections, but state appeals courts said it violated the state Constitution. Myers wrote that there was no process for people mistakenly on the list to contest their ineligibility, representing \"an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.\"\n\n## Top Republican says legislation may be ahead\n\nGriffin said the rulings of state appeals judges still recognized that the state election board failed to follow the law and the state constitution. Lawyers for the board have said it carried out election rules properly.\n\nState House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, told reporters later Wednesday that Griffin's protests and litigation may prompt legislation to address problems that surfaced.\n\n\"The issues raised by Judge Griffin in that case were completely legitimate,\" Hall said, but Myers' ruling that in part found it was too late to do anything about them for a 2024 election is \"a tough pill to swallow.\"\n\n__\n\nAssociated Press writer Makiya Seminera contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Republican concedes long-unsettled NC court election to Democratic incumbent\n\nBy Gary D. Robertson \nMay 7th, 2025 02:04 PM\n\n---\n\nRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat conceded last November's election on Wednesday to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, two days after a federal judge ruled that potentially thousands of disputed ballots challenged by Jefferson Griffin must remain in the final tally.\n\nIn a statement provided by his campaign, Griffin said he would not appeal Monday's decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, who also ordered that the State Board of Elections certify results that after two previous recounts showed Riggs is the winner by 734 votes from over 5.5 million ballots cast in the race.\n\nGriffin's decision sets the stage for Riggs to be officially elected to an eight-year term as an associate justice in the nation's ninth-largest state.\n\nThe state board plans to issue Riggs' certificate of election on May 13, a board spokesperson said.\n\n\"While I do not fully agree with the District Court's analysis, I respect the court's holding — just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this case,\" Griffin said. \"I will not appeal the court's decision.\"\n\n## The nation's last undecided 2024 race is settled\n\nMyers delayed carrying out his order for seven days in case Griffin wanted to ask the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review his decision. Democrats had called on Griffin for months to accept defeat, with party officials and allies holding pro-Riggs rallies and entering the litigation. They celebrated Riggs' victory.\n\n\"North Carolina can finally turn the page on the 2024 election,\" Democratic Gov. Josh Stein wrote on the social platform X.\n\nRiggs is one of two Democrats on the seven-member state Supreme Court, and winning improved the party's efforts to retake a court majority later in the decade. Riggs was appointed to the court in 2023 and has remained on the job while the election was unresolved. Griffin is a state Court of Appeals judge whose term ends in 2028.\n\n\"I look forward to continuing to serve the people of North Carolina,\" Griffin said.\n\nWhile The Associated Press declared over 4,800 winners in the 2024 general election, the North Carolina Supreme Court election was the last race nationally that was undecided.\n\nRiggs said in a news release Wednesday that she was \"glad the will of the voters was finally heard.\"\n\n\"It's been my honor to lead this fight — even though it should never have happened — and I'm in awe of the North Carolinians whose courage reminds us all that we can use our voices to hold accountable any politician who seeks to take power out of the hands of the people,\" she said.\n\n## Judge said disputed ballots had to remain in tally\n\nMyers ruled that Griffin's efforts after the Nov. 5 election to remove from the election total ballots that state appeals courts agreed were ineligible under state law would have damaged voters' federal due process or equal protection rights had they been implemented.\n\nGriffin filed formal protests that initially appeared to cover more than 65,000 ballots. Ensuing state court rulings whittled the total to votes from two categories, covering as few as 1,675 ballots to as many as 7,000, according to court filings. Griffin hoped that removing ballots he said were unlawfully cast would flip the outcome to him.\n\nDemocrats and voting rights groups had raised alarm about Griffin's efforts, which in one category of ballots had only targeted six Democratic-leaning counties. They called it an attack on democracy that would serve as a road map for the GOP to reverse election results in other states if successful.\n\n\"Make no mistake, the delay in the certification of this free and fair election was completely unnecessary,\" former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a news release.\n\nGriffin said Wednesday that his legal efforts were always \"about upholding the rule of law and making sure that every legal vote in an election is counted.\"\n\n## Two categories of ballots at issue\n\nMost of the ballots that state appeals courts found ineligible came from military or overseas voters who didn't provide copies of photo identification or an ID exception form with their absentee ballots. The appeals courts had permitted a 30-day \"cure\" process for those voters so their ballots could still count if they provided ID information.\n\nMyers, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump, agreed with Riggs and her allied litigants that the \"retroactive invalidation\" of those ballots violated the rights of service members, missionaries, or others working or studying abroad who cast their ballots under the rules for the 2024 election.\n\n\"You establish the rules before the game. You don't change them after the game is done,\" Myers wrote in his order.\n\nThe other category of ballots was cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S. but whose parents were declared North Carolina residents. A state law had authorized those people to vote in state elections, but state appeals courts said it violated the state Constitution. Myers wrote that there was no process for people mistakenly on the list to contest their ineligibility, representing \"an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.\"\n\n## Top Republican says legislation may be ahead\n\nGriffin said the rulings of state appeals judges still recognized that the state election board failed to follow the law and the state constitution. Lawyers for the board have said it carried out election rules properly.\n\nState House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, told reporters later Wednesday that Griffin's protests and litigation may prompt legislation to address problems that surfaced.\n\n\"The issues raised by Judge Griffin in that case were completely legitimate,\" Hall said, but Myers' ruling that in part found it was too late to do anything about them for a 2024 election is \"a tough pill to swallow.\"" } ]
728a27f22252a4398f7d8d5e7bae9db724ad255f82c63521a0c44b7d0db5db85	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Why is an end to the war in Gaza so elusive?\n\nBy Tia Goldenberg \nMay 7th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The war in Gaza may be on the cusp of a new phase after Israel approved plans over the weekend to intensify its operations. Which raises the question: After 19 months of bloodshed and destruction, why is there still no end in sight?\n\nIsrael and Hamas appear to only be growing further apart. Israel unleashed fierce strikes in March, shattering a truce that had freed hostages and sent in badly needed aid. Israel's new plans include seizing the strip, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and asserting greater control over the distribution of aid in the territory, according to Israeli officials.\n\nMounting Israeli public support for an end to the war has not swayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his stance that Hamas must be destroyed first. The military pressure, vast destruction in Gaza and rising death toll have so far not budged Hamas from its position demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.\n\nHere is a deeper look at why an end to the war has been so elusive.\n\n## Israel says it won't stop until Hamas is defeated\n\nThe war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 251 hostages. Israel's massive retaliation has killed over 52,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, whose count does not differentiate between militants and civilians.\n\nThe Hamas attack upended Israel's longstanding security doctrine. For years, Israel weathered threats along its borders, launching periodic operations to contain them. Hamas' surprise assault broke that cycle.\n\nIsrael says it is no longer willing to accept a reality where such an attack can reoccur. It has gone to great lengths to reshape the region according to that new doctrine.\n\nIsraeli forces have seized areas in Lebanon and Syria and cracked down in the West Bank, displacing tens of thousands. In Gaza, they intend to remain in the territory in a bid to eliminate Hamas' ability to regroup.\n\nIsrael shows no sign of relenting, despite war crimes accusations at international courts.\n\nExperts say Hamas no longer has the capacity to stage an Oct 7.-style attack — yet it cannot be easily stamped out, either.\n\nThe drive to dismantle Hamas' military and governing capabilities by force has so far proven incompatible with Israel's other war aim: freeing hostages. The captives' relatives fear any escalation in fighting endangers them.\n\n## Hamas agrees to cede political power but not to disarm\n\nNetanyahu has said he is prepared to end the war if Hamas gives up power, disarms and leaves Gaza. But even after that, Israel appears poised to keep troops in corridors carving up Gaza — effectively a new form of occupation.\n\nHamas has offered to release all hostages in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. It says it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians but has refused to disarm, offering instead a long-term truce with Israel.\n\nNetanyahu has rejected the notion of Gaza being run by the more moderate Palestinian Authority, but has offered no concrete alternative. He opposes statehood for Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank.\n\nOpinion polls consistently show that only a minority of Palestinians support Hamas, and there have been some protests inside Gaza against Hamas and the war. Still, many Palestinians see armed resistance as the only path to statehood because negotiations and forms of nonviolent resistance have largely failed.\n\nFounded in the late 1980s, the Islamic militant group — which does not accept Israel's existence — is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an armed wing, a political party, media and charities. Over 18 years of rule in Gaza, it built a network of underground tunnels, rocket launchers, and weapons caches — some of which remains intact despite Israel's campaign.\n\n## Critics say Netanyahu's drive to continue the war is politically motivated\n\nTwo far-right parties who prop up Netanyahu's governing coalition hold the key to his political survival. They have threatened to topple the government if the war ends with Hamas intact. One party briefly quit the coalition over a recent ceasefire deal, only to return when fighting resumed.\n\nIf both leave, it could bring down the government and trigger early elections. Public opinion polls throughout the war have consistently shown that Netanyahu would struggle to form a coalition government in new elections, endangering his nearly uninterrupted 16-year rule.\n\nPart of that decline in support is because many Israelis oppose his government's insistence on continuing the war and want him to secure a deal freeing the remaining 59 hostages, roughly 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Many say Netanyahu should accept responsibility for his role in failing to prevent Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and resign, either now or after the war.\n\nPublic pressure is also mounting for an independent inquiry into the security failures of Oct. 7, which Netanyahu has refused to launch while the war continues. Any findings could be politically damaging to Netanyahu, who insists he'll face scrutiny, but only after the war.\n\nHis leadership has also been dogged by a series of scandals in his office as well as fierce public criticism against his moves to fire top security and legal officials, whom many Israelis view as an important check on executive power. He is also on trial for corruption for charges he denies.\n\n## The Trump factor\n\nDespite Netanyahu's political woes, Israel enjoys the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, who blames Hamas for the fighting and the misery the war has caused to Palestinian civilians.\n\nDuring the Biden administration, Israel faced some pushback from U.S. officials over what they saw as undue harm to civilians and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.\n\nWhile Trump says he wants an end to the war, he has so far given Israel free rein as it relaunched its military campaign in March and imposed a blockade on Gaza, barring all food, water, medicine and fuel and deepening a humanitarian crisis.\n\nOn Monday, Trump blamed Hamas for the aid crisis in Gaza, saying the group was \"taking everything that's being brought in,\" echoing Israel's accusations, which aid groups have disputed.\n\nTrump has also floated a plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, an idea once limited to the fringes of Israeli political discourse that Netanyahu has now embraced and said Israel will try to implement.\n\n___\n\nFollow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Why is an end to the war in Gaza so elusive?\n\nBy Tia Goldenberg \nMay 7th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The war in Gaza may be on the cusp of a new phase after Israel approved plans over the weekend to intensify its operations. Which raises the question: After 19 months of bloodshed and destruction, why is there still no end in sight?\n\nIsrael and Hamas appear to only be growing further apart. Israel unleashed fierce strikes in March, shattering a truce that had freed hostages and sent in badly needed aid. Israel's new plans include seizing the strip, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and asserting greater control over the distribution of aid in the territory, according to Israeli officials.\n\nMounting Israeli public support for an end to the war has not swayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his stance that Hamas must be destroyed first. The military pressure, vast destruction in Gaza and rising death toll have so far not budged Hamas from its position demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.\n\nHere is a deeper look at why an end to the war has been so elusive.\n\n## Israel says it won't stop until Hamas is defeated\n\nThe war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 251 hostages. Israel's massive retaliation has killed over 52,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, whose count does not differentiate between militants and civilians.\n\nThe Hamas attack upended Israel's longstanding security doctrine. For years, Israel weathered threats along its borders, launching periodic operations to contain them. Hamas' surprise assault broke that cycle.\n\nIsrael says it is no longer willing to accept a reality where such an attack can reoccur. It has gone to great lengths to reshape the region according to that new doctrine.\n\nIsraeli forces have seized areas in Lebanon and Syria and cracked down in the West Bank, displacing tens of thousands. In Gaza, they intend to remain in the territory in a bid to eliminate Hamas' ability to regroup.\n\nIsrael shows no sign of relenting, despite war crimes accusations at international courts.\n\nExperts say Hamas no longer has the capacity to stage an Oct 7.-style attack — yet it cannot be easily stamped out, either.\n\nThe drive to dismantle Hamas' military and governing capabilities by force has so far proven incompatible with Israel's other war aim: freeing hostages. The captives' relatives fear any escalation in fighting endangers them.\n\n## Hamas agrees to cede political power but not to disarm\n\nNetanyahu has said he is prepared to end the war if Hamas gives up power, disarms and leaves Gaza. But even after that, Israel appears poised to keep troops in corridors carving up Gaza — effectively a new form of occupation.\n\nHamas has offered to release all hostages in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. It says it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians but has refused to disarm, offering instead a long-term truce with Israel.\n\nNetanyahu has rejected the notion of Gaza being run by the more moderate Palestinian Authority, but has offered no concrete alternative. He opposes statehood for Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank.\n\nOpinion polls consistently show that only a minority of Palestinians support Hamas, and there have been some protests inside Gaza against Hamas and the war. Still, many Palestinians see armed resistance as the only path to statehood because negotiations and forms of nonviolent resistance have largely failed.\n\nFounded in the late 1980s, the Islamic militant group — which does not accept Israel's existence — is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an armed wing, a political party, media and charities. Over 18 years of rule in Gaza, it built a network of underground tunnels, rocket launchers, and weapons caches — some of which remains intact despite Israel's campaign.\n\n## Critics say Netanyahu's drive to continue the war is politically motivated\n\nTwo far-right parties who prop up Netanyahu's governing coalition hold the key to his political survival. They have threatened to topple the government if the war ends with Hamas intact. One party briefly quit the coalition over a recent ceasefire deal, only to return when fighting resumed.\n\nIf both leave, it could bring down the government and trigger early elections. Public opinion polls throughout the war have consistently shown that Netanyahu would struggle to form a coalition government in new elections, endangering his nearly uninterrupted 16-year rule.\n\nPart of that decline in support is because many Israelis oppose his government's insistence on continuing the war and want him to secure a deal freeing the remaining 59 hostages, roughly 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Many say Netanyahu should accept responsibility for his role in failing to prevent Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and resign, either now or after the war.\n\nPublic pressure is also mounting for an independent inquiry into the security failures of Oct. 7, which Netanyahu has refused to launch while the war continues. Any findings could be politically damaging to Netanyahu, who insists he'll face scrutiny, but only after the war.\n\nHis leadership has also been dogged by a series of scandals in his office as well as fierce public criticism against his moves to fire top security and legal officials, whom many Israelis view as an important check on executive power. He is also on trial for corruption for charges he denies.\n\n## The Trump factor\n\nDespite Netanyahu's political woes, Israel enjoys the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, who blames Hamas for the fighting and the misery the war has caused to Palestinian civilians.\n\nDuring the Biden administration, Israel faced some pushback from U.S. officials over what they saw as undue harm to civilians and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.\n\nWhile Trump says he wants an end to the war, he has so far given Israel free rein as it relaunched its military campaign in March and imposed a blockade on Gaza, barring all food, water, medicine and fuel and deepening a humanitarian crisis.\n\nOn Monday, Trump blamed Hamas for the aid crisis in Gaza, saying the group was \"taking everything that's being brought in,\" echoing Israel's accusations, which aid groups have disputed.\n\nTrump has also floated a plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, an idea once limited to the fringes of Israeli political discourse that Netanyahu has now embraced and said Israel will try to implement." } ]
6b488e2a938b8caf83b7d6b833aff247b949758b426ad7aa31b3ab1f4f4578ae	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Well-traveled WR Dionate Johnson's tour of the AFC North makes another stop in Cleveland\n\nMay 5th, 2025 01:40 PM\n\n---\n\nCLEVELAND (AP) — Diontae Johnson is making another stop in the AFC North.\n\nThe well-traveled wide receiver signed a one-year deal with Cleveland on Monday. The Browns are Johnson's third stop within the division in the last 14 months.\n\nJohnson spent the first five seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, where he was a Pro Bowler in 2021. He was traded to Carolina in March 2024 before being sent to Baltimore in the middle of last season. Johnson played in just four games with the Ravens before being released and signing with Houston, where he appeared in a single game.\n\nThe 28-year-old Johnson had career lows in receptions (33) and yards (375) in 2024. He joins a Browns team that has a crowded quarterback room that includes Kenny Pickett — a former teammate of Johnson's in Pittsburgh — as well as veteran Joe Flacco and rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Well-traveled WR Dionate Johnson's tour of the AFC North makes another stop in Cleveland\n\nMay 5th, 2025 01:40 PM\n\n---\n\nCLEVELAND (AP) — Diontae Johnson is making another stop in the AFC North.\n\nThe well-traveled wide receiver signed a one-year deal with Cleveland on Monday. The Browns are Johnson's third stop within the division in the last 14 months.\n\nJohnson spent the first five seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, where he was a Pro Bowler in 2021. He was traded to Carolina in March 2024 before being sent to Baltimore in the middle of last season. Johnson played in just four games with the Ravens before being released and signing with Houston, where he appeared in a single game.\n\nThe 28-year-old Johnson had career lows in receptions (33) and yards (375) in 2024. He joins a Browns team that has a crowded quarterback room that includes Kenny Pickett — a former teammate of Johnson's in Pittsburgh — as well as veteran Joe Flacco and rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel." } ]
1c81940880834f616c1d574be18da942942597925b6a6860976523fb23d2ff9a	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Federal officials set timeline for Helene aid to farmers as Georgia enacts tax breaks\n\nBy Jeff Amy \nMay 8th, 2025 08:52 PM\n\n---\n\nFORSYTH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia's governor signed a law Thursday to exempt federal crop insurance and disaster payments following Hurricane Helene damage from Georgia state income taxes, but it could be months more before some federal money starts flowing to farmers in the hardest-hit states.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Agriculture published a schedule Wednesday to start disbursing disaster aid, part of a $100 billion package passed by Congress in December.\n\nThe September storm cut a swath from Florida's Big Bend across eastern Georgia and upstate South Carolina before causing historic flooding in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.\n\nHelene is the seventh-most expensive disaster in the United States since 1980, causing an estimated $78 billion in damage and 219 deaths.\n\nOfficials have estimated that Helene caused billions in property and economic damage to agriculture, including $5.5 billion in Georgia and $4.9 billion in North Carolina.\n\nFederal officials in March began handing out $10 billion designated in the bill for farmers nationwide harmed by low crop prices and high fertilizer prices. But billions more were set aside for farmers harmed by Helene and other natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.\n\nU.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was questioned about the timeframe Tuesday by lawmakers including Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia. He told Rollins that \"Time is of the essence.\"\n\n\"I've seen the devastation firsthand,\" Rollins said. \"It is heartbreaking to witness it.\"\n\nSome farmers have dipped into savings to pay for losses not covered by insurance. Others have unpaid debts from last year, restricting borrowing to plant 2025 crops. A few have sold equipment or land to generate cash.\n\nThe schedule shows federal officials will open applications for some aid in stages from May 30 through Sept. 15. But states have to negotiate plans to distribute other aid through block grants. If state and federal officials agree on a plan by May 28, block grants would be finalized by June 13, federal officials said. If agreements can be reached by June 13, they would be finalized by June 30. After that, states must give out the money.\n\nGeorgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said Thursday that he didn't know how much money Georgia would get in block grants. He said whether the state made the May 28 deadline \"depends on how our negotiations go with USDA over the next couple of weeks.\"\n\nKemp on Thursday signed into law tax breaks for farmers and timber owners harmed by Helene that could be worth nearly $300 million.\n\n\"Farmers operate on extremely tight margins, and to rebuild from a storm of this magnitude could be impossible for some to shoulder,\" Kemp said at Georgia Forestry Association headquarters in Forsyth, saying Helene was \"a storm like no other in out state.\"\n\nThe tax breaks come on top of $867 million in spending that Georgia lawmakers earlier allotted for Hurricane Helene relief .\n\nThe law exempts federal payments to farmers because of Helene from Georgia state income taxes. That could be worth $140 million.\n\nGeorgia's law also lets private timberland owners claim a credit for damaged timber on state income taxes if they replant trees. The timberland tax break could be worth $83 million to $104 million through 2030, estimates show.\n\nAnother tax break waives state and local sales taxes on building materials to rebuild chicken houses, barns, and fences.\n\nA fourth program lets counties waive taxes when timber owners cut down trees for 15 months. Any county that waives taxes would refund any taxes collected since Oct. 1. The state could spend $17.4 million to reimburse counties' lost tax money.\n\nGeorgia lawmakers earlier approved $285 million for low-interest loans to farmers and to remove downed trees from private lands so they don't become a fire hazard. There's also $25 million in grants to nonprofits that are supposed to go to help individuals.\n\nIn South Carolina, Republican legislative leaders are discussing hundreds of millions in Helene relief as part of the state's budget. North Carolina lawmakers agreed to a $524 million supplemental Helene relief in March, in part to provide more funds for agricultural needs. It was North Carolina's fourth Helene aid package." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Federal officials set timeline for Helene aid to farmers as Georgia enacts tax breaks\n\nBy Jeff Amy \nMay 8th, 2025 08:52 PM\n\n---\n\nFORSYTH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia's governor signed a law Thursday to exempt federal crop insurance and disaster payments following Hurricane Helene damage from Georgia state income taxes, but it could be months more before some federal money starts flowing to farmers in the hardest-hit states.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Agriculture published a schedule Wednesday to start disbursing disaster aid, part of a $100 billion package passed by Congress in December.\n\nThe September storm cut a swath from Florida's Big Bend across eastern Georgia and upstate South Carolina before causing historic flooding in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.\n\nHelene is the seventh-most expensive disaster in the United States since 1980, causing an estimated $78 billion in damage and 219 deaths.\n\nOfficials have estimated that Helene caused billions in property and economic damage to agriculture, including $5.5 billion in Georgia and $4.9 billion in North Carolina.\n\nFederal officials in March began handing out $10 billion designated in the bill for farmers nationwide harmed by low crop prices and high fertilizer prices. But billions more were set aside for farmers harmed by Helene and other natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.\n\nU.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was questioned about the timeframe Tuesday by lawmakers including Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia. He told Rollins that \"Time is of the essence.\"\n\n\"I've seen the devastation firsthand,\" Rollins said. \"It is heartbreaking to witness it.\"\n\nSome farmers have dipped into savings to pay for losses not covered by insurance. Others have unpaid debts from last year, restricting borrowing to plant 2025 crops. A few have sold equipment or land to generate cash.\n\nThe schedule shows federal officials will open applications for some aid in stages from May 30 through Sept. 15. But states have to negotiate plans to distribute other aid through block grants. If state and federal officials agree on a plan by May 28, block grants would be finalized by June 13, federal officials said. If agreements can be reached by June 13, they would be finalized by June 30. After that, states must give out the money.\n\nGeorgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said Thursday that he didn't know how much money Georgia would get in block grants. He said whether the state made the May 28 deadline \"depends on how our negotiations go with USDA over the next couple of weeks.\"\n\nKemp on Thursday signed into law tax breaks for farmers and timber owners harmed by Helene that could be worth nearly $300 million.\n\n\"Farmers operate on extremely tight margins, and to rebuild from a storm of this magnitude could be impossible for some to shoulder,\" Kemp said at Georgia Forestry Association headquarters in Forsyth, saying Helene was \"a storm like no other in out state.\"\n\nThe tax breaks come on top of $867 million in spending that Georgia lawmakers earlier allotted for Hurricane Helene relief .\n\nThe law exempts federal payments to farmers because of Helene from Georgia state income taxes. That could be worth $140 million.\n\nGeorgia's law also lets private timberland owners claim a credit for damaged timber on state income taxes if they replant trees. The timberland tax break could be worth $83 million to $104 million through 2030, estimates show.\n\nAnother tax break waives state and local sales taxes on building materials to rebuild chicken houses, barns, and fences.\n\nA fourth program lets counties waive taxes when timber owners cut down trees for 15 months. Any county that waives taxes would refund any taxes collected since Oct. 1. The state could spend $17.4 million to reimburse counties' lost tax money.\n\nGeorgia lawmakers earlier approved $285 million for low-interest loans to farmers and to remove downed trees from private lands so they don't become a fire hazard. There's also $25 million in grants to nonprofits that are supposed to go to help individuals.\n\nIn South Carolina, Republican legislative leaders are discussing hundreds of millions in Helene relief as part of the state's budget. North Carolina lawmakers agreed to a $524 million supplemental Helene relief in March, in part to provide more funds for agricultural needs. It was North Carolina's fourth Helene aid package." } ]
ba4be72b8bd97bac68d29e353916484b569e7691443e1dd26baa7bf757ea6b25	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Video released of Kilmar Abrego Garcia traffic stop in 2022\n\nBy Ben Finley and Travis Loller \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:44 PM\n\n---\n\nNASHVILLE (AP) — Authorities in Tennessee have released video of a 2022 traffic stop involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland construction worker who became the face of U.S. immigration policy after his erroneous deportation to El Salvador.\n\nThe body-camera footage shows a calm and friendly exchange between officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Abrego Garcia. He was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and said they'd been working in Missouri.\n\nOfficers then discussed among themselves their suspicions of human trafficking because nine people were traveling without luggage. One of the officers said: \"He's hauling these people for money.\" Another said he had $1,400 in an envelope.\n\nAbrego Garcia was never charged with a crime, while the officers allowed him to drive on with only a warning about an expired driver's license, according to a report about the stop released last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The report said he was traveling from Texas to Maryland, via Missouri, to bring in people to perform construction work.\n\nThe Trump administration has been publicizing Abrego Garcia's interactions with police over the years, despite a lack of corresponding criminal charges, while it faces a federal court order and calls from some in Congress to return him to the U.S.\n\nAn attorney for Abrego Garcia, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement Friday that he saw no evidence of a crime in the released footage.\n\n\"But the point is not the traffic stop — it's that Mr. Abrego Garcia deserves his day in court. Bring him back to the United States,\" Sandoval-Moshenberg said.\n\nWhen details of the Tennessee traffic stop were first publicized, Abrego Garcia's wife said he sometimes transported groups of fellow construction workers between job sites.\n\n\"Unfortunately, Kilmar is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world, which means he cannot respond to the claims,\" Jennifer Vasquez Sura said in mid-April.\n\nAbergo Garcia fled his native El Salvador to the U.S. when he was 16 and lived in Maryland for roughly 14 years, court documents state. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him in March to a Salvadoran prison over a 2019 accusation that he was in the MS-13 gang.\n\nPolice in Maryland had identified Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member based on his tattoos, Chicago Bulls hoodie and the word of a criminal informant. But he was never charged. His lawyers say the informant claimed Abrego Garcia was in an MS-13 chapter in New York, where he's never lived.\n\nAbrego Garcia's expulsion to El Salvador also violated a U.S. immigration judge's order in 2019 that shielded him from deportation to his native country. The judge had determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized him and his family.\n\nAfter Abrego Garcia's family filed a lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia on April 4. The Supreme Court ruled April 10 that the administration must work to bring him back.\n\nXinis then lambasted a government lawyer who couldn't explain what, if anything, the Trump administration has done. She ordered officials to provide sworn testimony and other information to document their efforts.\n\nThe Trump administration appealed. But a federal appeals court backed Xinis' order for information in a blistering ruling. The case is ongoing.\n\nMeanwhile, President Donald Trump acknowledged to ABC News on Tuesday that he could call El Salvador's president and have Abrego Garcia sent back. But Trump doubled down on his claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.\n\nAttorney Sandoval-Moshenberg said Friday that Abrego Garcia should be able to answer the allegations himself before the U.S. immigration judge who heard his case in 2019.\n\n\"I have represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia for more than a month, and this bodycam video is the first time I've heard his voice,\" Sandoval-Moshenberg said. \"He has been denied the most basic protections of due process — no phone call to his lawyer, no call to his wife or child, and no opportunity to be heard.\"\n\n___\n\nFinley reported from Norfolk, Virginia." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Video released of Kilmar Abrego Garcia traffic stop in 2022\n\nBy Ben Finley and Travis Loller \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:44 PM\n\n---\n\nNASHVILLE (AP) — Authorities in Tennessee have released video of a 2022 traffic stop involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland construction worker who became the face of U.S. immigration policy after his erroneous deportation to El Salvador.\n\nThe body-camera footage shows a calm and friendly exchange between officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Abrego Garcia. He was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and said they'd been working in Missouri.\n\nOfficers then discussed among themselves their suspicions of human trafficking because nine people were traveling without luggage. One of the officers said: \"He's hauling these people for money.\" Another said he had $1,400 in an envelope.\n\nAbrego Garcia was never charged with a crime, while the officers allowed him to drive on with only a warning about an expired driver's license, according to a report about the stop released last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The report said he was traveling from Texas to Maryland, via Missouri, to bring in people to perform construction work.\n\nThe Trump administration has been publicizing Abrego Garcia's interactions with police over the years, despite a lack of corresponding criminal charges, while it faces a federal court order and calls from some in Congress to return him to the U.S.\n\nAn attorney for Abrego Garcia, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement Friday that he saw no evidence of a crime in the released footage.\n\n\"But the point is not the traffic stop — it's that Mr. Abrego Garcia deserves his day in court. Bring him back to the United States,\" Sandoval-Moshenberg said.\n\nWhen details of the Tennessee traffic stop were first publicized, Abrego Garcia's wife said he sometimes transported groups of fellow construction workers between job sites.\n\n\"Unfortunately, Kilmar is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world, which means he cannot respond to the claims,\" Jennifer Vasquez Sura said in mid-April.\n\nAbergo Garcia fled his native El Salvador to the U.S. when he was 16 and lived in Maryland for roughly 14 years, court documents state. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him in March to a Salvadoran prison over a 2019 accusation that he was in the MS-13 gang.\n\nPolice in Maryland had identified Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member based on his tattoos, Chicago Bulls hoodie and the word of a criminal informant. But he was never charged. His lawyers say the informant claimed Abrego Garcia was in an MS-13 chapter in New York, where he's never lived.\n\nAbrego Garcia's expulsion to El Salvador also violated a U.S. immigration judge's order in 2019 that shielded him from deportation to his native country. The judge had determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized him and his family.\n\nAfter Abrego Garcia's family filed a lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia on April 4. The Supreme Court ruled April 10 that the administration must work to bring him back.\n\nXinis then lambasted a government lawyer who couldn't explain what, if anything, the Trump administration has done. She ordered officials to provide sworn testimony and other information to document their efforts.\n\nThe Trump administration appealed. But a federal appeals court backed Xinis' order for information in a blistering ruling. The case is ongoing.\n\nMeanwhile, President Donald Trump acknowledged to ABC News on Tuesday that he could call El Salvador's president and have Abrego Garcia sent back. But Trump doubled down on his claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.\n\nAttorney Sandoval-Moshenberg said Friday that Abrego Garcia should be able to answer the allegations himself before the U.S. immigration judge who heard his case in 2019.\n\n\"I have represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia for more than a month, and this bodycam video is the first time I've heard his voice,\" Sandoval-Moshenberg said. \"He has been denied the most basic protections of due process — no phone call to his lawyer, no call to his wife or child, and no opportunity to be heard.\"" } ]
d2d8954d4a4620f7efbf65c2d76205840f13df12004f9b21e5c0ca3543c288f1	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Judge bars Trump cuts to agencies that fund libraries, settle labor issues\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 6th, 2025 06:52 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries across the U.S., settle labor disputes with public sector workers, and support state business contracting programs.\n\nU.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. in Rhode Island said Trump can't unilaterally end the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. All three agencies were established by Congress.\n\nThe agencies carried out the cuts under the direction of an executive order from Trump. In Tuesday's preliminary injunction, McConnell said the actions were likely arbitrary and capricious because the agencies weren't able to provide more than \"vague\" justifications for the sweeping cuts.\n\n\"It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated,\" McConnell wrote.\n\nTwenty-one states sued over Trump's March 14 executive order, which directed the agencies to eliminate every program that isn't mandated by law and to cut staffers and all other functions to the bare minimum allowed by statute. The states said the \"shredding\" of the agencies puts hundreds of millions of dollars of grant funding at risk and hurts the general public. Threatened programs include a braille library in Washington, a literacy program in California, and a program supporting veterans in Rhode Island, according to the lawsuit.\n\nBut attorneys for the government told the judge that the lawsuit is too broad, in part because some of the states are contending that specific grants have been terminated but others are simply anticipating future increased costs or that some grants may not be renewed.\n\nIn some cases, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote in court filings, the various grant recipients haven't even requested payment of the grants yet. Disputes over personnel claims, like employee terminations or reductions in force, must first be litigated before other entities before they can be brought to federal court, the attorneys wrote, suggesting the states were trying to \"jump the line.\"\n\nThe ruling is consistent with one handed down last week in a similar case out of Washington, D.C.\n\nU.S. District Judge Richard Leon also temporarily stopped the Trump administration from shuttering the Institute of Museum and Library Services.\n\nLeon said the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees were likely to succeed in their lawsuit contending that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to shut down the congressionally created agency." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Judge bars Trump cuts to agencies that fund libraries, settle labor issues\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 6th, 2025 06:52 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries across the U.S., settle labor disputes with public sector workers, and support state business contracting programs.\n\nU.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. in Rhode Island said Trump can't unilaterally end the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. All three agencies were established by Congress.\n\nThe agencies carried out the cuts under the direction of an executive order from Trump. In Tuesday's preliminary injunction, McConnell said the actions were likely arbitrary and capricious because the agencies weren't able to provide more than \"vague\" justifications for the sweeping cuts.\n\n\"It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated,\" McConnell wrote.\n\nTwenty-one states sued over Trump's March 14 executive order, which directed the agencies to eliminate every program that isn't mandated by law and to cut staffers and all other functions to the bare minimum allowed by statute. The states said the \"shredding\" of the agencies puts hundreds of millions of dollars of grant funding at risk and hurts the general public. Threatened programs include a braille library in Washington, a literacy program in California, and a program supporting veterans in Rhode Island, according to the lawsuit.\n\nBut attorneys for the government told the judge that the lawsuit is too broad, in part because some of the states are contending that specific grants have been terminated but others are simply anticipating future increased costs or that some grants may not be renewed.\n\nIn some cases, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote in court filings, the various grant recipients haven't even requested payment of the grants yet. Disputes over personnel claims, like employee terminations or reductions in force, must first be litigated before other entities before they can be brought to federal court, the attorneys wrote, suggesting the states were trying to \"jump the line.\"\n\nThe ruling is consistent with one handed down last week in a similar case out of Washington, D.C.\n\nU.S. District Judge Richard Leon also temporarily stopped the Trump administration from shuttering the Institute of Museum and Library Services.\n\nLeon said the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees were likely to succeed in their lawsuit contending that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to shut down the congressionally created agency." } ]
a27249d2929b7303ae7a5cb0e36440ac5c57bf67736e57fe7c95cccb29bee825	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Chelsea beats Djurgården 4-1 in Conference League semifinals, Real Betis tops Fiorentina 2-1\n\nBy Karel Janicek \nMay 1st, 2025 09:19 PM\n\n---\n\nChelsea took a big step toward advancing to the UEFA Conference League final by beating Swedish club Djurgården 4-1 in the first leg of their semifinal on Thursday.\n\nNicolas Jackson struck twice six minutes apart in the second half after Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke netted in the first half for Chelsea to take control ahead of the second leg next Thursday at Stamford Bridge.\n\n\"We're very happy that we won. That's the most important,\" Jackson told TNT Sports. \"It is one step forward and we hope to reach the final.\"\n\nChelsea was a big favorite against the Swedish team that has reached a European semifinal for the first time and proved that status despite the game being played on an artificial pitch at the Stockholm Arena.\n\nEnzo Fernández sent a precise floating cross from the right for unmarked Sancho to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead in the 13rd minute.\n\nMadueke doubled the advantage two minutes before halftime, with Fernández again providing the final pass.\n\nJackson only needed to score into an empty net after a defensive blunder in the 59th for his first before hitting the roof of the net from the edge of the area to make it 4-0.\n\nIsak Alemayehu scored a consolation goal for the hosts.\n\nReal Betis, another team in its first semifinal, topped Fiorentina 2-1 in Sevilla.\n\nThe opening goal for Betis came in the sixth minute with Cédric Bakambu crossing from the right for Abdessamad \"Abde\" Ezzalzouli to score from close range with the ball bouncing off the crossbar and a video review confirming it crossed the goal line.\n\nAntony, who is at Betis on loan from Manchester United, added the second in 64th on a rebound past former Man United goalkeeper David De Gea after his initial shot was blocked by Luca Ranieri.\n\nFiorentina was the runner-up in the third-tier club competition in the last two years, losing the finals to West Ham in 2023 and Olympiacos last year.\n\nThen Ranieri, the Fiorentina captain, reduced the lead to 2-1, leaving the second leg wide open.\n\nIn the second-tier Europa League, Man United won 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao and Tottenham beat Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt 3-1 in London.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Chelsea beats Djurgården 4-1 in Conference League semifinals, Real Betis tops Fiorentina 2-1\n\nBy Karel Janicek \nMay 1st, 2025 09:19 PM\n\n---\n\nChelsea took a big step toward advancing to the UEFA Conference League final by beating Swedish club Djurgården 4-1 in the first leg of their semifinal on Thursday.\n\nNicolas Jackson struck twice six minutes apart in the second half after Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke netted in the first half for Chelsea to take control ahead of the second leg next Thursday at Stamford Bridge.\n\n\"We're very happy that we won. That's the most important,\" Jackson told TNT Sports. \"It is one step forward and we hope to reach the final.\"\n\nChelsea was a big favorite against the Swedish team that has reached a European semifinal for the first time and proved that status despite the game being played on an artificial pitch at the Stockholm Arena.\n\nEnzo Fernández sent a precise floating cross from the right for unmarked Sancho to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead in the 13rd minute.\n\nMadueke doubled the advantage two minutes before halftime, with Fernández again providing the final pass.\n\nJackson only needed to score into an empty net after a defensive blunder in the 59th for his first before hitting the roof of the net from the edge of the area to make it 4-0.\n\nIsak Alemayehu scored a consolation goal for the hosts.\n\nReal Betis, another team in its first semifinal, topped Fiorentina 2-1 in Sevilla.\n\nThe opening goal for Betis came in the sixth minute with Cédric Bakambu crossing from the right for Abdessamad \"Abde\" Ezzalzouli to score from close range with the ball bouncing off the crossbar and a video review confirming it crossed the goal line.\n\nAntony, who is at Betis on loan from Manchester United, added the second in 64th on a rebound past former Man United goalkeeper David De Gea after his initial shot was blocked by Luca Ranieri.\n\nFiorentina was the runner-up in the third-tier club competition in the last two years, losing the finals to West Ham in 2023 and Olympiacos last year.\n\nThen Ranieri, the Fiorentina captain, reduced the lead to 2-1, leaving the second leg wide open.\n\nIn the second-tier Europa League, Man United won 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao and Tottenham beat Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt 3-1 in London." } ]
a859f298d7973952b54db9982033508a7523960cbd6fef6c88450bf78013bba1	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Soviet-era spacecraft Kosmos 482 plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit\n\nBy Marcia Dunn \nMay 10th, 2025 10:52 AM\n\n---\n\nA Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus.\n\nIts uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency's space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station.\n\nIt was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system's hottest planet.\n\nThe chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said.\n\nLaunched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.\n\nMuch of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravity's tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander — an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across — was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms).\n\nAny surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty.\n\nAfter following the spacecraft's downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecraft's deteriorating condition after so long in space.\n\nAfter so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecraft's grave.\n\n\"If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,\" Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X.\n\nAs of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit.\n\nThe U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart — and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers — was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials.\n\nIt was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris.\n\n___\n\nThe Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Soviet-era spacecraft Kosmos 482 plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit\n\nBy Marcia Dunn \nMay 10th, 2025 10:52 AM\n\n---\n\nA Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus.\n\nIts uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency's space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station.\n\nIt was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system's hottest planet.\n\nThe chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said.\n\nLaunched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.\n\nMuch of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravity's tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander — an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across — was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms).\n\nAny surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty.\n\nAfter following the spacecraft's downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecraft's deteriorating condition after so long in space.\n\nAfter so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecraft's grave.\n\n\"If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,\" Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X.\n\nAs of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit.\n\nThe U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart — and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers — was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials.\n\nIt was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris." } ]
6e2b3cbb974e617b95ebc5b91202c8f1c1365d00352e8e4167c96d33b19e3fd2	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# St. Louis agrees to pay $4M to settle lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at now-closed jail\n\nBy Heather Hollingsworth \nMay 6th, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nSt. Louis has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that inmates at a former medium-security jail were housed in \"inhumane conditions\" that included rodent feces in food, infestations of bugs and snakes, and unbearable overcrowding.\n\nThe nonprofit ArchCity Defenders announced the settlement on Tuesday as it filed a motion in federal court seeking authorization to begin notifying people who were incarcerated at the St. Louis Medium Security Institution that they could be eligible for damages.\n\nDemolition of the troubled jail, known as the Workhouse, began earlier this year. Around 16,000 people jailed there for five or more days from November 2012 through June 2022, when it closed, may be eligible to file a claim if the settlement is approved.\n\nThe agreement, signed April 10, said that the city denied any wrongdoing or liability.\n\nMayor Cara Spencer, who was sworn into office five days after the agreement was reached, declined to elaborate during a news conference Tuesday. \"I can't really speak to those decisions before I was sworn into office,\" she said.\n\nAll seven of the original plaintiffs who sued in 2017 are Black, as were the vast majority of inmates at the jail, although just over half of St. Louis' residents are Black. Virtually all of the people jailed there were awaiting trial because they couldn't afford bail, mostly for non-violent crimes.\n\n\"It was a horrible place,\" said one of the plaintiffs, Jasmine Borden, in a written statement. \"They treat dogs at the shelter better than they treated us. It's nice to be compensated with the settlement, but I can't get back any of the time that I was dealing with being locked up and being away from my kids in that unsuitable environment.\"\n\nAnother of the plaintiffs, James Cody, also said dogs were treated better during a news conference when the lawsuit was first filed.\n\nCody, who was jailed for eight months on a probation violation, said he often found mouse feces in cake served at the jail. Jail staff would simply scrape them off, he said.\n\nCody said he was housed in a dorm with 69 other men, all sharing a single working toilet, sink and shower. He recalled the heat of summer, when temperatures inside the jail reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.67 degrees Celsius), according to the lawsuit. The hot conditions led to protests that resulted in city officials temporarily bringing in portable air conditioners.\n\n\"This jail came to be such an infamous symbol of injustice and inhumane treatment in St. Louis, a symbol of racism, a symbol of the way in which we target poor people in our criminal legal system,\" said Blake Strode, ArchCity Defenders' executive director, in a phone interview.\n\n\"So many generations were harmed by it. And so, I think the fact that we are here in 2025 with the jail empty, partially demolished, fully defunded, and now you have thousands of people who are actually going to receive some recovery for the horrific conditions that they endured in the jail. I think that's a huge accomplishment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# St. Louis agrees to pay $4M to settle lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at now-closed jail\n\nBy Heather Hollingsworth \nMay 6th, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nSt. Louis has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that inmates at a former medium-security jail were housed in \"inhumane conditions\" that included rodent feces in food, infestations of bugs and snakes, and unbearable overcrowding.\n\nThe nonprofit ArchCity Defenders announced the settlement on Tuesday as it filed a motion in federal court seeking authorization to begin notifying people who were incarcerated at the St. Louis Medium Security Institution that they could be eligible for damages.\n\nDemolition of the troubled jail, known as the Workhouse, began earlier this year. Around 16,000 people jailed there for five or more days from November 2012 through June 2022, when it closed, may be eligible to file a claim if the settlement is approved.\n\nThe agreement, signed April 10, said that the city denied any wrongdoing or liability.\n\nMayor Cara Spencer, who was sworn into office five days after the agreement was reached, declined to elaborate during a news conference Tuesday. \"I can't really speak to those decisions before I was sworn into office,\" she said.\n\nAll seven of the original plaintiffs who sued in 2017 are Black, as were the vast majority of inmates at the jail, although just over half of St. Louis' residents are Black. Virtually all of the people jailed there were awaiting trial because they couldn't afford bail, mostly for non-violent crimes.\n\n\"It was a horrible place,\" said one of the plaintiffs, Jasmine Borden, in a written statement. \"They treat dogs at the shelter better than they treated us. It's nice to be compensated with the settlement, but I can't get back any of the time that I was dealing with being locked up and being away from my kids in that unsuitable environment.\"\n\nAnother of the plaintiffs, James Cody, also said dogs were treated better during a news conference when the lawsuit was first filed.\n\nCody, who was jailed for eight months on a probation violation, said he often found mouse feces in cake served at the jail. Jail staff would simply scrape them off, he said.\n\nCody said he was housed in a dorm with 69 other men, all sharing a single working toilet, sink and shower. He recalled the heat of summer, when temperatures inside the jail reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.67 degrees Celsius), according to the lawsuit. The hot conditions led to protests that resulted in city officials temporarily bringing in portable air conditioners.\n\n\"This jail came to be such an infamous symbol of injustice and inhumane treatment in St. Louis, a symbol of racism, a symbol of the way in which we target poor people in our criminal legal system,\" said Blake Strode, ArchCity Defenders' executive director, in a phone interview.\n\n\"So many generations were harmed by it. And so, I think the fact that we are here in 2025 with the jail empty, partially demolished, fully defunded, and now you have thousands of people who are actually going to receive some recovery for the horrific conditions that they endured in the jail. I think that's a huge accomplishment.\"" } ]
3476435215134749106d7898d09b6dac8309a19edaafeeae138071cdc06acb32	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# As Europe celebrates the triumph of V-E Day, Algeria marks parallel legacy of colonial-era massacres\n\nMay 8th, 2025 01:43 PM\n\n---\n\nALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — As Europe celebrates the 80th anniversary of its triumph over fascism and the end of World War II, Algeria is remembering a darker anniversary: the colonial-era massacres that erupted the same day.\n\nIn a message this week, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune framed commemoration as a matter of national pride and called the event a prelude to Algeria's fight for independence.\n\n\"The commemoration of May 8 reflects the Algerians' commitment to freedom and dignity, for which they took to the streets with bare hands to confront an enemy,\" Tebboune said, calling French colonialism \"genocidal\" and a crime against humanity.\n\nMore than 500,000 tirailleurs from North Africa, West Africa and Madagascar fought for France during WWII. Some volunteered, others were forcibly conscripted. Many lost their lives. Across the board, they were generally paid less than European soldiers.\n\nMany Algerian veterans believed their service would lead to greater rights. But when the war ended, Algerians who dared to demand them were met with repression and violence, even as French leader Gen. Charles De Gaulle exalted how \"the cause of liberty and justice\" had prevailed in a radio broadcast throughout France and its colonies, including Algeria.\n\nOn May 8, 1945, Algerians filled city streets in Ain Temouchent, Guelma, Kherrata and Setif, waving flags and reviving pre-war calls for independence. After demonstrators faced police fire, anti-French riots broke out, killing more than 100. France subsequently launched an air and ground offensive that killed thousands of Algerians — 45,000, according to Algerian authorities, and around 3,000, according to French statistics.\n\nThe war's ending sparked similar disenchantment in Britain's colonies in East and West Africa, where more than 375,000 men enlisted. Soldiers who returned home expecting to be rewarded for their service instead faced racism and a continued lack of political representation. Both helped fuel the subsequent Mau Mau rebellion against British rule in Kenya, during which tens of thousands were killed.\n\nIn recent years, memorials there as well as in South Africa have honored the service of African veterans. Elsewhere, including in Senegal, they've commemorated injustice and violence that many endured post-war.\n\nFor many in Algeria, the May 8 massacres awakened the anger and resolve that later fueled Algeria's war for independence.\n\n\"They understood that the only possible and unique path to independence was armed struggle,\" historian Mohamed Ferrad said in an interview this week.\n\nV-E Day events have been going all week in Europe, where leaders have focused on the plight of Ukraine in its fight against Russia and values such as freedom and democracy. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to speak on similar topics on Thursday evening.\n\nMeanwhile, Algeria's Ministry of War Veterans is marking the anniversary with a series of nationwide events and panels featuring firsthand accounts from veterans and lectures from historians on the battle for independence after 132 years of French colonialism.\n\nThe massacres have been debated in popular books and films in Algeria and France and are a recurring theme when tensions flare between the two countries.\n\nTebboune and Macron announced a truth commission-style \"dossier de memoire\" in 2022, led by a committee of historians from both countries. However its activities have stalled as relations deteriorated over issues such as immigration and how France's juggles ties between Algeria and its regional rival Morocco.\n\nFrench leaders, including Macron, have called for truth and recognition but stopped short of fulfilling Algeria's demands for a formal state apology for the massacres.\n\n\"Algeria will never allow the memory issue to be forgotten or used as a bargaining chip, out of loyalty to our martyrs,\" Tebboune wrote in his Wednesday letter.\n\nA delegation of around 30 French lawmakers from leftist and centrist parties arrived in Algiers on Wednesday to participate in the commemorations of the massacres." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# As Europe celebrates the triumph of V-E Day, Algeria marks parallel legacy of colonial-era massacres\n\nMay 8th, 2025 01:43 PM\n\n---\n\nALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — As Europe celebrates the 80th anniversary of its triumph over fascism and the end of World War II, Algeria is remembering a darker anniversary: the colonial-era massacres that erupted the same day.\n\nIn a message this week, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune framed commemoration as a matter of national pride and called the event a prelude to Algeria's fight for independence.\n\n\"The commemoration of May 8 reflects the Algerians' commitment to freedom and dignity, for which they took to the streets with bare hands to confront an enemy,\" Tebboune said, calling French colonialism \"genocidal\" and a crime against humanity.\n\nMore than 500,000 tirailleurs from North Africa, West Africa and Madagascar fought for France during WWII. Some volunteered, others were forcibly conscripted. Many lost their lives. Across the board, they were generally paid less than European soldiers.\n\nMany Algerian veterans believed their service would lead to greater rights. But when the war ended, Algerians who dared to demand them were met with repression and violence, even as French leader Gen. Charles De Gaulle exalted how \"the cause of liberty and justice\" had prevailed in a radio broadcast throughout France and its colonies, including Algeria.\n\nOn May 8, 1945, Algerians filled city streets in Ain Temouchent, Guelma, Kherrata and Setif, waving flags and reviving pre-war calls for independence. After demonstrators faced police fire, anti-French riots broke out, killing more than 100. France subsequently launched an air and ground offensive that killed thousands of Algerians — 45,000, according to Algerian authorities, and around 3,000, according to French statistics.\n\nThe war's ending sparked similar disenchantment in Britain's colonies in East and West Africa, where more than 375,000 men enlisted. Soldiers who returned home expecting to be rewarded for their service instead faced racism and a continued lack of political representation. Both helped fuel the subsequent Mau Mau rebellion against British rule in Kenya, during which tens of thousands were killed.\n\nIn recent years, memorials there as well as in South Africa have honored the service of African veterans. Elsewhere, including in Senegal, they've commemorated injustice and violence that many endured post-war.\n\nFor many in Algeria, the May 8 massacres awakened the anger and resolve that later fueled Algeria's war for independence.\n\n\"They understood that the only possible and unique path to independence was armed struggle,\" historian Mohamed Ferrad said in an interview this week.\n\nV-E Day events have been going all week in Europe, where leaders have focused on the plight of Ukraine in its fight against Russia and values such as freedom and democracy. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to speak on similar topics on Thursday evening.\n\nMeanwhile, Algeria's Ministry of War Veterans is marking the anniversary with a series of nationwide events and panels featuring firsthand accounts from veterans and lectures from historians on the battle for independence after 132 years of French colonialism.\n\nThe massacres have been debated in popular books and films in Algeria and France and are a recurring theme when tensions flare between the two countries.\n\nTebboune and Macron announced a truth commission-style \"dossier de memoire\" in 2022, led by a committee of historians from both countries. However its activities have stalled as relations deteriorated over issues such as immigration and how France's juggles ties between Algeria and its regional rival Morocco.\n\nFrench leaders, including Macron, have called for truth and recognition but stopped short of fulfilling Algeria's demands for a formal state apology for the massacres.\n\n\"Algeria will never allow the memory issue to be forgotten or used as a bargaining chip, out of loyalty to our martyrs,\" Tebboune wrote in his Wednesday letter.\n\nA delegation of around 30 French lawmakers from leftist and centrist parties arrived in Algiers on Wednesday to participate in the commemorations of the massacres." } ]
0be31d4e49df4cf0ff8c61709cf14d0e0a3f94964beda411989dc0d32a5915a4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Reds get Connor Joe in trade with Padres for minor leaguer and cash\n\nMay 10th, 2025 01:55 AM\n\n---\n\nHOUSTON (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds acquired outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe from the San Diego Padres on Friday in exchange for minor league right-hander Andrew Moore and cash.\n\nThe 32-year-old Joe was hitless in nine at-bats over seven games for the Padres this season while spending most of the year with Triple-A El Paso. He signed a one-year, $1 million contract with San Diego in February.\n\nJoe is a career .241 hitter over six seasons with San Francisco, Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego.\n\nMoore has a 4.15 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with Double-A Chattanooga this season. The Reds acquired him from Seattle as part of the package for Luis Castillo in 2022.\n\nTo make room on the 40-man roster, the Reds transferred outfielder Tyler Callihan to the 60-day injured list. He's expected to miss at least two months after having surgery to repair a broken left forearm on Tuesday.\n\nCincinnati announced the moves during Friday night's game at Houston.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Reds get Connor Joe in trade with Padres for minor leaguer and cash\n\nMay 10th, 2025 01:55 AM\n\n---\n\nHOUSTON (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds acquired outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe from the San Diego Padres on Friday in exchange for minor league right-hander Andrew Moore and cash.\n\nThe 32-year-old Joe was hitless in nine at-bats over seven games for the Padres this season while spending most of the year with Triple-A El Paso. He signed a one-year, $1 million contract with San Diego in February.\n\nJoe is a career .241 hitter over six seasons with San Francisco, Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego.\n\nMoore has a 4.15 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with Double-A Chattanooga this season. The Reds acquired him from Seattle as part of the package for Luis Castillo in 2022.\n\nTo make room on the 40-man roster, the Reds transferred outfielder Tyler Callihan to the 60-day injured list. He's expected to miss at least two months after having surgery to repair a broken left forearm on Tuesday.\n\nCincinnati announced the moves during Friday night's game at Houston." } ]
c1b22b6f143706fd5f1e483c1dfb7d4a998bd603093f525fcd49f122d091cd51	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Roadside bomb targeting security vehicle kills 7 soldiers in southwest Pakistan\n\nMay 6th, 2025 02:35 PM\n\n---\n\nQUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful roadside bomb struck a security vehicle in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing seven soldiers, the military said, in a sign of increasing violence in the region.\n\nThe attack occurred in the Kachhi district of Balochistan province, the military said in a statement. It blamed the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army for the bombing, describing the group as a proxy of India without backing up the claim with any evidence.\n\nIt said a clearance operation was underway and \"the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act will be brought to justice.\"\n\nThere was no immediate comment from New Delhi or the BLA, which often targets security forces and civilians and foreigners in Balochistan and elsewhere.\n\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, denounced the attack and praised security forces for sacrificing their lives in the war against extremism.\n\nThe latest attack came less than two months after a deadly assault by the BLA on a passenger train in Balochistan that killed 31 people, most of them soldiers.\n\nBalochistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency, with several separatist groups carrying out attacks primarily targeting security forces. The insurgents demand independence from the central government.\n\nThe Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group also have a presence in the province." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Roadside bomb targeting security vehicle kills 7 soldiers in southwest Pakistan\n\nMay 6th, 2025 02:35 PM\n\n---\n\nQUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful roadside bomb struck a security vehicle in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing seven soldiers, the military said, in a sign of increasing violence in the region.\n\nThe attack occurred in the Kachhi district of Balochistan province, the military said in a statement. It blamed the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army for the bombing, describing the group as a proxy of India without backing up the claim with any evidence.\n\nIt said a clearance operation was underway and \"the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act will be brought to justice.\"\n\nThere was no immediate comment from New Delhi or the BLA, which often targets security forces and civilians and foreigners in Balochistan and elsewhere.\n\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, denounced the attack and praised security forces for sacrificing their lives in the war against extremism.\n\nThe latest attack came less than two months after a deadly assault by the BLA on a passenger train in Balochistan that killed 31 people, most of them soldiers.\n\nBalochistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency, with several separatist groups carrying out attacks primarily targeting security forces. The insurgents demand independence from the central government.\n\nThe Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group also have a presence in the province." } ]
8df6e59ebd5749afeddb67bc98da8898f63953f9ec736aafb0f69c795a29f1a5	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Reds plan to place Hunter Greene on IL with Grade 1 groin strain\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:36 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene suffered a Grade 1 groin strain and will be placed on the injured list.\n\n\"It's not terrible,\" Reds manager Terry Francona said Thursday. \"But it is going to be an IL placement because we need him to miss maybe a start or two.\"\n\nGreene threw two warmup pitches prior to the fourth inning during Wednesday night's 4-3 victory at Atlanta. He felt a pull and was removed from the game.\n\n\"You don't want to miss him for even a day,\" Francona said. \"But all things considered, he's going to be OK.\"\n\nGreene is 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in eight starts this season. He has 61 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. Greene has averaged 24 starts in his first three seasons in the big leagues and made his first All-Star team last season.\n\nFrancona said the team is still weighing its options regarding a roster move and will have more information Friday.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Reds plan to place Hunter Greene on IL with Grade 1 groin strain\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:36 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene suffered a Grade 1 groin strain and will be placed on the injured list.\n\n\"It's not terrible,\" Reds manager Terry Francona said Thursday. \"But it is going to be an IL placement because we need him to miss maybe a start or two.\"\n\nGreene threw two warmup pitches prior to the fourth inning during Wednesday night's 4-3 victory at Atlanta. He felt a pull and was removed from the game.\n\n\"You don't want to miss him for even a day,\" Francona said. \"But all things considered, he's going to be OK.\"\n\nGreene is 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in eight starts this season. He has 61 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. Greene has averaged 24 starts in his first three seasons in the big leagues and made his first All-Star team last season.\n\nFrancona said the team is still weighing its options regarding a roster move and will have more information Friday." } ]
3cb51299886776ab00c3d8382a9681450b67f3ebe8263d4478230febb2651ff9	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# In Cameroon's civil war, spoken-word poets speak the unspeakable\n\nBy Nalova Akua \nMay 4th, 2025 09:55 AM\n\n---\n\nBUEA, Cameroon (AP) — A woman cried out upon seeing what looked like a corpse, a sheet-covered form lying on a stretcher. As volunteers wheeled it onto the stage, Boris Taleabong Alemnge recited a poem whose title spoke the unspoken: \"Death.\"\n\n\"The day you die, people will cry,\" the 24-year-old told hundreds of audience members in an embattled part of southwest Cameroon. \"But this won't stop the clock from ticking or the flowers from blooming.\"\n\nAlemnge is among a group of artists using spoken-word poetry to denounce ongoing bloodshed in Cameroon's English-speaking regions, where separatists are fighting government forces. The supposed corpse was a stage prop, but the tears and wails that greeted it were real.\n\nThe civil war has killed an estimated 6,500 people, a majority of them civilians, and displaced nearly 1 million since 2016.\n\nSpoken word has gained new prominence in Cameroon as poets like Alemnge, who performs under the stage name \"Penboy,\" believe their art form taps into the everyday dangers of war zones that many people avoid talking about.\n\n\"Death is inevitable, yet many people don't even want to think about it,\" he said after a performance he organized in March to launch his latest album, \"RED.\"\n\nArtists have found eager audiences who say they feel moved by the rhythms of the spoken word.\n\n\"I have watched crowds fall silent, then rise like waves, because his words have the power to heal,\" said Prosper Langmi Ngunu, who watched Penboy's performance.\n\nAlmost everyone in Anglophone areas has lost someone close to them. Mental health issues are common. So, too, is gang rape by members of the warring parties, contributing to a rise in teenage pregnancy.\n\n\"RED\" returns to the themes of Penboy's first album, \"Natives of the Universe,\" which advocates that people share common humanity and fight for reasons of vanity that don't justify the human cost.\n\nDespite the linguistic divides deepened by the conflict, Penboy has toured six of Cameroon's eight Francophone regions to draw people's attention to atrocities committed in English-speaking regions. There, he said, his poems found empathetic audiences and even turned some listeners into advocates for peace.\n\nInternational and local organizations have documented looting, killing and torture as well as mass rape and the burning of villages. The warring sides often trade blame for such abuses.\n\nThe scars of colonial rule shape discord in modern-day Cameroon along linguistic fault lines. Once a German colony, Cameroon was divided between Britain and France after World War I. They ruled it as two separate entities until the early 1960s, when Cameroon became independent and united as a single, federal, bilingual state.\n\nThe arrangement was short-lived. The following decade, Cameroon passed a referendum amending its constitution and dissolving sections guaranteeing the rights of the English-speaking minority.\n\nThe English-speaking population makes up about 20% of the country's roughly 30 million people. They feel marginalized by the Francophone majority. Tensions spiked in 2016 when the government attempted to impose French in English-speaking regions' schools and courts, igniting protests that security forces violently repressed.\n\nThe clashes prompted some English-speaking separatists to take up arms against the government. Both sides have been accused of violence against civilians.\n\nThe growing popularity of spoken-word events like Penboy's March 9 gathering reflects how people are becoming less afraid to express their outrage, said another spoken-word artist who goes by Camila.\n\n\"Since we cannot pick guns to fight, we use the power of the spoken word to send across our message. Some find peace in it, others find healing, while some get educated,\" she said.\n\nHer performance drew inspiration from an October 2021 attack in which a soldier killed 5-year-old schoolgirl Caro Louise Ndialle after shooting at a car fleeing a checkpoint.\n\n\"How can we forget carrying the lifeless body of our baby girl in our hands with her open skull like a trophy won from a tournament?\" Camila asked the audience.\n\nHer poems tap into memories of bodies strewn on city streets, and schools and hospitals that stop operating after government soldiers and separatist fighters burn them to the ground.\n\nOther works lampoon what poets see as hypocrisy and nonchalance by the warring sides.\n\nIn \"Cries Of War,\" spoken-word poet and writer Sandra Nyangha tells the story of people fed up with the conflict and eager for a return to peace.\n\n\"If you can give the order for something such as war to start, then you can also give the order to end it,\" she said.\n\nFor Penboy, spoken-word gatherings are part of efforts to bring the arts to crisis-affected communities. He has also worked on initiatives like the Students In Activism Project, launched last year, to help youth build self-confidence through developing their writing and performances.\n\nThe war has robbed many of an education, he said.\n\n\"My goal here is not just to perfect their skills. It is for them to use the art forms to bring solutions to their communities,\" Penboy said. \"Artists have the responsibility to use their craft to advocate for change.\"\n\n___\n\nFor more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse\n\nThe Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.\n\n___\n\nThis story has been corrected to note that the performance in the sixth paragraph happened in March, not last month." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# In Cameroon's civil war, spoken-word poets speak the unspeakable\n\nBy Nalova Akua \nMay 4th, 2025 09:55 AM\n\n---\n\nBUEA, Cameroon (AP) — A woman cried out upon seeing what looked like a corpse, a sheet-covered form lying on a stretcher. As volunteers wheeled it onto the stage, Boris Taleabong Alemnge recited a poem whose title spoke the unspoken: \"Death.\"\n\n\"The day you die, people will cry,\" the 24-year-old told hundreds of audience members in an embattled part of southwest Cameroon. \"But this won't stop the clock from ticking or the flowers from blooming.\"\n\nAlemnge is among a group of artists using spoken-word poetry to denounce ongoing bloodshed in Cameroon's English-speaking regions, where separatists are fighting government forces. The supposed corpse was a stage prop, but the tears and wails that greeted it were real.\n\nThe civil war has killed an estimated 6,500 people, a majority of them civilians, and displaced nearly 1 million since 2016.\n\nSpoken word has gained new prominence in Cameroon as poets like Alemnge, who performs under the stage name \"Penboy,\" believe their art form taps into the everyday dangers of war zones that many people avoid talking about.\n\n\"Death is inevitable, yet many people don't even want to think about it,\" he said after a performance he organized in March to launch his latest album, \"RED.\"\n\nArtists have found eager audiences who say they feel moved by the rhythms of the spoken word.\n\n\"I have watched crowds fall silent, then rise like waves, because his words have the power to heal,\" said Prosper Langmi Ngunu, who watched Penboy's performance.\n\nAlmost everyone in Anglophone areas has lost someone close to them. Mental health issues are common. So, too, is gang rape by members of the warring parties, contributing to a rise in teenage pregnancy.\n\n\"RED\" returns to the themes of Penboy's first album, \"Natives of the Universe,\" which advocates that people share common humanity and fight for reasons of vanity that don't justify the human cost.\n\nDespite the linguistic divides deepened by the conflict, Penboy has toured six of Cameroon's eight Francophone regions to draw people's attention to atrocities committed in English-speaking regions. There, he said, his poems found empathetic audiences and even turned some listeners into advocates for peace.\n\nInternational and local organizations have documented looting, killing and torture as well as mass rape and the burning of villages. The warring sides often trade blame for such abuses.\n\nThe scars of colonial rule shape discord in modern-day Cameroon along linguistic fault lines. Once a German colony, Cameroon was divided between Britain and France after World War I. They ruled it as two separate entities until the early 1960s, when Cameroon became independent and united as a single, federal, bilingual state.\n\nThe arrangement was short-lived. The following decade, Cameroon passed a referendum amending its constitution and dissolving sections guaranteeing the rights of the English-speaking minority.\n\nThe English-speaking population makes up about 20% of the country's roughly 30 million people. They feel marginalized by the Francophone majority. Tensions spiked in 2016 when the government attempted to impose French in English-speaking regions' schools and courts, igniting protests that security forces violently repressed.\n\nThe clashes prompted some English-speaking separatists to take up arms against the government. Both sides have been accused of violence against civilians.\n\nThe growing popularity of spoken-word events like Penboy's March 9 gathering reflects how people are becoming less afraid to express their outrage, said another spoken-word artist who goes by Camila.\n\n\"Since we cannot pick guns to fight, we use the power of the spoken word to send across our message. Some find peace in it, others find healing, while some get educated,\" she said.\n\nHer performance drew inspiration from an October 2021 attack in which a soldier killed 5-year-old schoolgirl Caro Louise Ndialle after shooting at a car fleeing a checkpoint.\n\n\"How can we forget carrying the lifeless body of our baby girl in our hands with her open skull like a trophy won from a tournament?\" Camila asked the audience.\n\nHer poems tap into memories of bodies strewn on city streets, and schools and hospitals that stop operating after government soldiers and separatist fighters burn them to the ground.\n\nOther works lampoon what poets see as hypocrisy and nonchalance by the warring sides.\n\nIn \"Cries Of War,\" spoken-word poet and writer Sandra Nyangha tells the story of people fed up with the conflict and eager for a return to peace.\n\n\"If you can give the order for something such as war to start, then you can also give the order to end it,\" she said.\n\nFor Penboy, spoken-word gatherings are part of efforts to bring the arts to crisis-affected communities. He has also worked on initiatives like the Students In Activism Project, launched last year, to help youth build self-confidence through developing their writing and performances.\n\nThe war has robbed many of an education, he said.\n\n\"My goal here is not just to perfect their skills. It is for them to use the art forms to bring solutions to their communities,\" Penboy said. \"Artists have the responsibility to use their craft to advocate for change.\"" } ]
9e26154bc13887523e0b5a7a11d9fbf38e93b802ddc29641329c08259d8510f1	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Panama president says he will not renegotiate security deal with US, despite protests\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:34 PM\n\n---\n\nPANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama President José Raúl Mulino said Thursday that he will not renegotiate an agreement with the United States to give U.S. troops access to Panamanian facilities, despite protests charging that he compromised the country's sovereignty.\n\nOn Tuesday, thousands of Panamanians marched in the capital in the largest protest yet against an agreement signed during last month's visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.\n\nThe U.S. embassy followed with a statement Wednesday saying that the agreement did not allow for establishing military bases in Panama. A U.S. military presence in Panama is sensitive, since people still remember the U.S. invasion in 1989 and U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that the U.S. take back control of the Panama Canal.\n\n\"Panama's sovereignty is not at stake, it's not handed over, it's not given,\" Mulino said during his weekly press conference. He insisted the agreement would not lead to U.S. bases in Panama.\n\nLater Thursday, the new U.S. ambassador to Panama, Kevin Marino Carbera, said in a news conference that \"the memorandum (of understanding) is going to strengthen our cooperation against drug trafficking and protect the (Panama) canal and we know that's the responsibility of both countries according to the (canal) treaty.\"\n\nThe locations where U.S. troops and contractors will have access will always remain under the control of Panama and it can terminate the agreement with six months notice, the Panamanian government has said.\n\nProtests during recent weeks have closed streets and drawn thousands.\n\nMulino said they were the result of political interests.\n\n____\n\nFollow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Panama president says he will not renegotiate security deal with US, despite protests\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:34 PM\n\n---\n\nPANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama President José Raúl Mulino said Thursday that he will not renegotiate an agreement with the United States to give U.S. troops access to Panamanian facilities, despite protests charging that he compromised the country's sovereignty.\n\nOn Tuesday, thousands of Panamanians marched in the capital in the largest protest yet against an agreement signed during last month's visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.\n\nThe U.S. embassy followed with a statement Wednesday saying that the agreement did not allow for establishing military bases in Panama. A U.S. military presence in Panama is sensitive, since people still remember the U.S. invasion in 1989 and U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that the U.S. take back control of the Panama Canal.\n\n\"Panama's sovereignty is not at stake, it's not handed over, it's not given,\" Mulino said during his weekly press conference. He insisted the agreement would not lead to U.S. bases in Panama.\n\nLater Thursday, the new U.S. ambassador to Panama, Kevin Marino Carbera, said in a news conference that \"the memorandum (of understanding) is going to strengthen our cooperation against drug trafficking and protect the (Panama) canal and we know that's the responsibility of both countries according to the (canal) treaty.\"\n\nThe locations where U.S. troops and contractors will have access will always remain under the control of Panama and it can terminate the agreement with six months notice, the Panamanian government has said.\n\nProtests during recent weeks have closed streets and drawn thousands.\n\nMulino said they were the result of political interests." } ]
a5998dc7c67a16b0eead7c59310af3835bc249775b5f643d9ff59ede7f25ac49	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Sean 'Diddy' Combs' says he's 'a little nervous' as sex trafficking trial gets underway\n\nBy Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister \nMay 5th, 2025 04:11 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — The federal sex trafficking trial of Sean \"Diddy\" Combs, whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence, began on Monday in New York City with jury selection that was briefly paused when the hip-hop entrepreneur said he was \"a little nervous\" and needed a bathroom break.\n\nThree dozen potential jurors were questioned by Judge Arun Subramanian about their answers on a questionnaire meant to help determine if they could be fair and impartial at a trial that will feature violent and sexually explicit videos. Opening statements and the start of testimony are scheduled for next week.\n\nThe judge gave the would-be jurors a brief description of the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges against Combs, telling them he'd pleaded not guilty and was presumed innocent.\n\nBy day's end, the jury pool was half its size as some were excluded for personal reasons such as inability to economically endure a trial projected to last two months or because their opinions or past experiences would endanger their objectivity.\n\nAnother three dozen prospective jurors were expected to be questioned on Tuesday. A jury was not likely before Wednesday.\n\nThroughout Monday, Combs, 55, sat with his lawyers in a sweater over a white collared shirt and gray slacks, which the judge had allowed rather than jail clothing. He's been held in a grim federal lockup in Brooklyn since his arrest last September. His hair and goatee were almost fully gray because dye isn't allowed in jail.\n\nUnlike other recent high-profile celebrity trials, Combs' court case won't be broadcast live because federal courtrooms don't allow electronic recordings inside — meaning courtroom sketch artists serve as the public's eyes in the courtroom.\n\nIf convicted of all charges, he could face a maximum of life in prison.\n\nSeveral prospective jurors indicated they'd seen news reports featuring a key piece of evidence in the case: a video of the hip-hop mogul hitting and kicking one of his accusers in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. One prospective juror described a still image she saw from the video as \"damning evidence.\" That woman was rejected from consideration.\n\nAfter another juror was dismissed, Combs asked for a bathroom break, telling the judge, \"I'm sorry your honor, I'm a little nervous today.\"\n\nOne prospective juror said she had posted a \"like\" to a video on social media by a comedian who joked about large amounts of baby oil found by law enforcement in one of Combs' homes. She was not dismissed.\n\nThe 17-page indictment against Combs — which reads like a charging document filed against a Mafia leader or the head of a drug gang — alleges that Combs engaged in a two-decade racketeering pattern of abusive behavior against women and others, with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses.\n\nCombs and his lawyers say he's innocent and any group sex was consensual. They say there was no effort to coerce people into things they didn't want to do, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.\n\nProsecutors say women were manipulated into drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers that Combs called \"Freak Offs.\" To keep women in line, prosecutors say Combs used a mix of influence and violence: He offered to boost their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn't.\n\nAnd when he wasn't getting what he wanted, the indictment says Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts including beatings, kidnapping and arson. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony.\n\nOne of four alleged victims expected to testify against Combs may not take the witness stand after all, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey revealed Monday. She told Subramanian that the woman's attorney has had personal issues and been hard to reach and it was unclear if the woman would show up either.\n\n\"There is no particular count that requires her testimony in order for us to carry our burden,\" Comey said.\n\nCombs has acknowledged one episode of violence that is considered a key piece of the prosecution's case. In 2016, a security camera recorded him beating up his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Cassie filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape.\n\nThe Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Sean 'Diddy' Combs' says he's 'a little nervous' as sex trafficking trial gets underway\n\nBy Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister \nMay 5th, 2025 04:11 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — The federal sex trafficking trial of Sean \"Diddy\" Combs, whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence, began on Monday in New York City with jury selection that was briefly paused when the hip-hop entrepreneur said he was \"a little nervous\" and needed a bathroom break.\n\nThree dozen potential jurors were questioned by Judge Arun Subramanian about their answers on a questionnaire meant to help determine if they could be fair and impartial at a trial that will feature violent and sexually explicit videos. Opening statements and the start of testimony are scheduled for next week.\n\nThe judge gave the would-be jurors a brief description of the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges against Combs, telling them he'd pleaded not guilty and was presumed innocent.\n\nBy day's end, the jury pool was half its size as some were excluded for personal reasons such as inability to economically endure a trial projected to last two months or because their opinions or past experiences would endanger their objectivity.\n\nAnother three dozen prospective jurors were expected to be questioned on Tuesday. A jury was not likely before Wednesday.\n\nThroughout Monday, Combs, 55, sat with his lawyers in a sweater over a white collared shirt and gray slacks, which the judge had allowed rather than jail clothing. He's been held in a grim federal lockup in Brooklyn since his arrest last September. His hair and goatee were almost fully gray because dye isn't allowed in jail.\n\nUnlike other recent high-profile celebrity trials, Combs' court case won't be broadcast live because federal courtrooms don't allow electronic recordings inside — meaning courtroom sketch artists serve as the public's eyes in the courtroom.\n\nIf convicted of all charges, he could face a maximum of life in prison.\n\nSeveral prospective jurors indicated they'd seen news reports featuring a key piece of evidence in the case: a video of the hip-hop mogul hitting and kicking one of his accusers in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. One prospective juror described a still image she saw from the video as \"damning evidence.\" That woman was rejected from consideration.\n\nAfter another juror was dismissed, Combs asked for a bathroom break, telling the judge, \"I'm sorry your honor, I'm a little nervous today.\"\n\nOne prospective juror said she had posted a \"like\" to a video on social media by a comedian who joked about large amounts of baby oil found by law enforcement in one of Combs' homes. She was not dismissed.\n\nThe 17-page indictment against Combs — which reads like a charging document filed against a Mafia leader or the head of a drug gang — alleges that Combs engaged in a two-decade racketeering pattern of abusive behavior against women and others, with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses.\n\nCombs and his lawyers say he's innocent and any group sex was consensual. They say there was no effort to coerce people into things they didn't want to do, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.\n\nProsecutors say women were manipulated into drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers that Combs called \"Freak Offs.\" To keep women in line, prosecutors say Combs used a mix of influence and violence: He offered to boost their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn't.\n\nAnd when he wasn't getting what he wanted, the indictment says Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts including beatings, kidnapping and arson. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony.\n\nOne of four alleged victims expected to testify against Combs may not take the witness stand after all, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey revealed Monday. She told Subramanian that the woman's attorney has had personal issues and been hard to reach and it was unclear if the woman would show up either.\n\n\"There is no particular count that requires her testimony in order for us to carry our burden,\" Comey said.\n\nCombs has acknowledged one episode of violence that is considered a key piece of the prosecution's case. In 2016, a security camera recorded him beating up his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Cassie filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape.\n\nThe Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did." } ]
f5b7154299970924f1d1ca1d17bd0a0322eb1797e6a6b5616d1e408fba298c1d	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# General Motors trims 2025 guidance, anticipating potential $5 billion tariff impact\n\nBy Michelle Chapman \nMay 1st, 2025 11:51 AM\n\n---\n\nGeneral Motors is lowering its profit expectations for the year as the carmaker braces for a potential impact from auto tariffs as high as $5 billion in 2025.\n\nGM announced early this week that it was reassessing its expectations for 2025 due to tariffs. The company said at the time that its initial full-year financial outlook didn't contemplate their potential impact.\n\nOn Thursday the automaker said that it now foresees full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $10 billion to $12.5 billion. The guidance includes a current tariff exposure of $4 billion to $5 billion.\n\nGM previously predicted 2025 adjusted EBIT between $13.7 billion and $15.7 billion.\n\nThe revised forecast comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, a significant reversal as the import taxes threatened to hurt domestic manufacturers.\n\nAutomakers and independent analyses have indicated that the tariffs could raise prices, reduce sales and make U.S. production less competitive worldwide. Trump portrayed the changes as a bridge toward automakers moving more production into the United States.\n\nStill, it remains unclear what impact Trump's broader tariffs will have on the U.S. economy and auto sales. Most economists say the tariffs — which could ultimately hit most imports — would raise prices and slow economic growth, possibly hurting auto sales despite the relief that the administration intends to offer on its previous policies.\n\nIn a letter to shareholders on Thursday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said that the automaker looks forward to maintaining its strong dialogue with the Trump administration on trade and other evolving policies.\n\n\"As you know, there are ongoing discussions with key trade partners that may also have an impact,\" she said. \"We will continue to be nimble and disciplined and update you as we know more.\"\n\nShares of GM climbed more than 2% before the opening bell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# General Motors trims 2025 guidance, anticipating potential $5 billion tariff impact\n\nBy Michelle Chapman \nMay 1st, 2025 11:51 AM\n\n---\n\nGeneral Motors is lowering its profit expectations for the year as the carmaker braces for a potential impact from auto tariffs as high as $5 billion in 2025.\n\nGM announced early this week that it was reassessing its expectations for 2025 due to tariffs. The company said at the time that its initial full-year financial outlook didn't contemplate their potential impact.\n\nOn Thursday the automaker said that it now foresees full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $10 billion to $12.5 billion. The guidance includes a current tariff exposure of $4 billion to $5 billion.\n\nGM previously predicted 2025 adjusted EBIT between $13.7 billion and $15.7 billion.\n\nThe revised forecast comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, a significant reversal as the import taxes threatened to hurt domestic manufacturers.\n\nAutomakers and independent analyses have indicated that the tariffs could raise prices, reduce sales and make U.S. production less competitive worldwide. Trump portrayed the changes as a bridge toward automakers moving more production into the United States.\n\nStill, it remains unclear what impact Trump's broader tariffs will have on the U.S. economy and auto sales. Most economists say the tariffs — which could ultimately hit most imports — would raise prices and slow economic growth, possibly hurting auto sales despite the relief that the administration intends to offer on its previous policies.\n\nIn a letter to shareholders on Thursday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said that the automaker looks forward to maintaining its strong dialogue with the Trump administration on trade and other evolving policies.\n\n\"As you know, there are ongoing discussions with key trade partners that may also have an impact,\" she said. \"We will continue to be nimble and disciplined and update you as we know more.\"\n\nShares of GM climbed more than 2% before the opening bell." } ]
33ad400caf8c4c1b98211b801e927d3edd7bc31b63c75afdf43b0dfd56dddcfd	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Ousted top election official in key swing state urges civility toward 'caretakers of our democracy'\n\nBy Christina A. Cassidy \nMay 9th, 2025 10:22 PM\n\n---\n\nThe former North Carolina elections director who was ousted this week after a politically motivated move by Republicans said Friday she hopes the new leadership will approach elections in a nonpartisan way and called for an end to verbal attacks against those who oversee the voting process.\n\nKaren Brinson Bell, who will leave the job next week, has served as the state's top election official for the last six years -- through hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the 2020 election. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, she described the \"filthy language\" and insults that had been directed at her over the years and attributed it to a \"lack of understanding\" about the law and her job to follow it.\n\nShe noted that other election officials across the country have been subjected to death threats and harassment in recent years. Since the 2020 election and the false claims of widespread fraud and manipulation of voting machines, several individuals have been prosecuted for threatening election officials.\n\n\"I hope that we get back to a place of civility, a place where it's understood that election professionals are the caretakers of our democracy and that very fundamental right to vote,\" Brinson Bell said. \"And our integrity should not be questioned for adhering to the rules and making sure that they're executed properly.\"\n\nBrinson Bell's removal followed a law passed late last year before state Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature, which they used to override the governor's veto. It took the Democratic governor's authority to appoint election board members and handed that power to the state auditor, a Republican.\n\nWhile there's precedent for a new director to be hired when a change occurs in the board, the circumstances of Brinson Bell's ouster were extraordinary.\n\nThe GOP has tried several times since 2016 to remove the governor's authority to choose members of the state election board, whose duties include carrying out campaign finance laws, certifying election results and setting rules on a host of voting administration details.\n\nDemocratic Gov. Josh Stein, who was elected last November, sued over the law, and a group of trial judges determined it was unconstitutional and shouldn't be allowed to take effect. But a state Court of Appeals panel overruled them by allowing the new board appointments to proceed.\n\nAt the new board's first meeting on May 7, they voted to replace Brinson Bell with Sam Hayes, the top lawyer for the Republican House speaker. State Republicans have long been unhappy with Brinson Bell, emphasizing on her role in a legal settlement in 2020, during the pandemic, that temporarily extended the state's mail ballot deadline to nine days rather than the usual three-day limit.\n\nFrancis De Luca, the new board chair, said in a statement on Friday that the board wanted to \"go in a new direction\" and chose not to renew Brinson Bell's contract, which expires on May 15.\n\n\"The Democratic State Board members did the same thing in 2019, when they had the opportunity to appoint a new director to implement their vision for the agency,\" De Luca said.\n\nState Senate leader Phil Berger said he had no problem with Brinson Bell's departure.\n\n\"She was a partisan actor when she was put in that place, and she acted in a partisan manner all along,\" Berger said. \"And so I am hopeful that the change that we've made will see decisions made by the board based on what the law is, not what the board thinks the law should be.\"\n\nAsked whether the board picking Hayes could mean partisan decisions favoring the GOP, Berger, a Republican, said he didn't believe that would be the case: \"Everybody who looks at it can decide what they think it looks like.\"\n\nA registered Democrat, Brinson Bell said she never acted in a partisan way and drew on her experiences as a county election official and regional support staffer for the state Board of Elections. She noted that her replacement does not have experience in election administration and said she hopes he will rely on the institutional knowledge and expertise of the board staff as well as the state's 100 county election directors.\n\n\"I hope that Mr. Hayes will lean on that and recognize that he has been given the greatest opportunity of his life, and he is now our state's caretaker of democracy and the fundamental right to vote,\" Brinson Bell said.\n\nIn many states, the top election official is the secretary of state, an elected position just like those for governor or attorney general. North Carolina is among a handful of states that have created state election boards with appointed directors as a way to make the positions less political.\n\nIt hasn't always turned out that way. In Wisconsin, which has a setup similar to North Carolina's, Republicans created a bipartisan commission to run elections starting in 2016 after they were unhappy with its predecessor, which placed retired judges in charge of election oversight. The nonpartisan leader of the elections commission, Meagan Wolfe, was appointed to her position in 2019 and confirmed unanimously by the Republican-controlled Senate for a term ending in the middle of 2023.\n\nAfter President Donald Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020, Wolfe became the target for Republicans who falsely asserted there was widespread fraud despite no evidence to back up the claims.\n\nWolfe has survived numerous attempts to oust her. Most recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in February that she can legally retain her position despite not being reappointed and confirmed by the state Senate after her first term ended.\n\nRepublicans running for secretary of state in 2022 argued for returning the power of elections to that office, even though it hasn't had that authority since 1974. The Democratic incumbent won the election and talk of ceding election oversight to the office has faded.\n\nIn North Carolina, GOP leaders also criticized the previous board for what they called errors in how election laws were carried out for the 2024 election. It led to litigation in the race for a state Supreme Court seat that dragged on for months.\n\nBrinson Bell said Friday that election was conducted \"as the rules were set, and that is how we finished the election, as well.\" She criticized efforts across the country to change the rules after an election has been held and said the voters whose ballots were challenged in the North Carolina Supreme Court race were all eligible to vote under rules set before the election.\n\n\"You don't change the rules of the game after the game's begun, nor after the game has ended,\" Brinson Bell said. \"I think that we all need to be mindful of -- is this foretelling what's to come? Is this going to be the type of challenge to our elections time and time again?\"\n\nBrinson Bell said she wasn't sure of her next move but hoped to continue working in elections.\n\n\"The one thing that I will be is a voter, a registered voter in North Carolina,\" she said. \"And I hope that these folks that we're handing this off to will value my right to cast my ballot and have my say just as much as I do for them.\"\n\n___\n\nCassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Ousted top election official in key swing state urges civility toward 'caretakers of our democracy'\n\nBy Christina A. Cassidy \nMay 9th, 2025 10:22 PM\n\n---\n\nThe former North Carolina elections director who was ousted this week after a politically motivated move by Republicans said Friday she hopes the new leadership will approach elections in a nonpartisan way and called for an end to verbal attacks against those who oversee the voting process.\n\nKaren Brinson Bell, who will leave the job next week, has served as the state's top election official for the last six years -- through hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the 2020 election. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, she described the \"filthy language\" and insults that had been directed at her over the years and attributed it to a \"lack of understanding\" about the law and her job to follow it.\n\nShe noted that other election officials across the country have been subjected to death threats and harassment in recent years. Since the 2020 election and the false claims of widespread fraud and manipulation of voting machines, several individuals have been prosecuted for threatening election officials.\n\n\"I hope that we get back to a place of civility, a place where it's understood that election professionals are the caretakers of our democracy and that very fundamental right to vote,\" Brinson Bell said. \"And our integrity should not be questioned for adhering to the rules and making sure that they're executed properly.\"\n\nBrinson Bell's removal followed a law passed late last year before state Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature, which they used to override the governor's veto. It took the Democratic governor's authority to appoint election board members and handed that power to the state auditor, a Republican.\n\nWhile there's precedent for a new director to be hired when a change occurs in the board, the circumstances of Brinson Bell's ouster were extraordinary.\n\nThe GOP has tried several times since 2016 to remove the governor's authority to choose members of the state election board, whose duties include carrying out campaign finance laws, certifying election results and setting rules on a host of voting administration details.\n\nDemocratic Gov. Josh Stein, who was elected last November, sued over the law, and a group of trial judges determined it was unconstitutional and shouldn't be allowed to take effect. But a state Court of Appeals panel overruled them by allowing the new board appointments to proceed.\n\nAt the new board's first meeting on May 7, they voted to replace Brinson Bell with Sam Hayes, the top lawyer for the Republican House speaker. State Republicans have long been unhappy with Brinson Bell, emphasizing on her role in a legal settlement in 2020, during the pandemic, that temporarily extended the state's mail ballot deadline to nine days rather than the usual three-day limit.\n\nFrancis De Luca, the new board chair, said in a statement on Friday that the board wanted to \"go in a new direction\" and chose not to renew Brinson Bell's contract, which expires on May 15.\n\n\"The Democratic State Board members did the same thing in 2019, when they had the opportunity to appoint a new director to implement their vision for the agency,\" De Luca said.\n\nState Senate leader Phil Berger said he had no problem with Brinson Bell's departure.\n\n\"She was a partisan actor when she was put in that place, and she acted in a partisan manner all along,\" Berger said. \"And so I am hopeful that the change that we've made will see decisions made by the board based on what the law is, not what the board thinks the law should be.\"\n\nAsked whether the board picking Hayes could mean partisan decisions favoring the GOP, Berger, a Republican, said he didn't believe that would be the case: \"Everybody who looks at it can decide what they think it looks like.\"\n\nA registered Democrat, Brinson Bell said she never acted in a partisan way and drew on her experiences as a county election official and regional support staffer for the state Board of Elections. She noted that her replacement does not have experience in election administration and said she hopes he will rely on the institutional knowledge and expertise of the board staff as well as the state's 100 county election directors.\n\n\"I hope that Mr. Hayes will lean on that and recognize that he has been given the greatest opportunity of his life, and he is now our state's caretaker of democracy and the fundamental right to vote,\" Brinson Bell said.\n\nIn many states, the top election official is the secretary of state, an elected position just like those for governor or attorney general. North Carolina is among a handful of states that have created state election boards with appointed directors as a way to make the positions less political.\n\nIt hasn't always turned out that way. In Wisconsin, which has a setup similar to North Carolina's, Republicans created a bipartisan commission to run elections starting in 2016 after they were unhappy with its predecessor, which placed retired judges in charge of election oversight. The nonpartisan leader of the elections commission, Meagan Wolfe, was appointed to her position in 2019 and confirmed unanimously by the Republican-controlled Senate for a term ending in the middle of 2023.\n\nAfter President Donald Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020, Wolfe became the target for Republicans who falsely asserted there was widespread fraud despite no evidence to back up the claims.\n\nWolfe has survived numerous attempts to oust her. Most recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in February that she can legally retain her position despite not being reappointed and confirmed by the state Senate after her first term ended.\n\nRepublicans running for secretary of state in 2022 argued for returning the power of elections to that office, even though it hasn't had that authority since 1974. The Democratic incumbent won the election and talk of ceding election oversight to the office has faded.\n\nIn North Carolina, GOP leaders also criticized the previous board for what they called errors in how election laws were carried out for the 2024 election. It led to litigation in the race for a state Supreme Court seat that dragged on for months.\n\nBrinson Bell said Friday that election was conducted \"as the rules were set, and that is how we finished the election, as well.\" She criticized efforts across the country to change the rules after an election has been held and said the voters whose ballots were challenged in the North Carolina Supreme Court race were all eligible to vote under rules set before the election.\n\n\"You don't change the rules of the game after the game's begun, nor after the game has ended,\" Brinson Bell said. \"I think that we all need to be mindful of -- is this foretelling what's to come? Is this going to be the type of challenge to our elections time and time again?\"\n\nBrinson Bell said she wasn't sure of her next move but hoped to continue working in elections.\n\n\"The one thing that I will be is a voter, a registered voter in North Carolina,\" she said. \"And I hope that these folks that we're handing this off to will value my right to cast my ballot and have my say just as much as I do for them.\"" } ]
41db34e59baba1fa2e8f5867266035d759d791c3298a70a11bd7a864379cb09e	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# DoorDash agrees to acquire UK rival Deliveroo for $3.9 billion\n\nMay 6th, 2025 09:23 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — DoorDash, the ubiquitous U.S. food delivery app, has agreed to acquire British rival Deliveroo for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in cash, expanding its business in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.\n\nSan Francisco-based DoorDash will pay 180 pence ($2.40) for each Deliveroo share, 29% more than the closing price on April 24, the day before the offer was announced, the companies said in a joint statement before the London Stock Exchange opened for trading on Tuesday.\n\nThe deal is DoorDash's second major international acquisition in three years as the company expands from its traditional base in the U.S., Canada and Australia. After the purchase of Deliveroo, and the 2022 acquisition of Helsinki-based Wolt Enterprises, DoorDash will operate in more than 40 markets worldwide.\n\n\"I could not be more excited by the prospect of what DoorDash and Deliveroo will be able to accomplish together,\" DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said in the statement.\n\nBoth companies were founded in 2013, using the then emerging technology of smartphones to link restaurants and their customers to a network of delivery riders.\n\nDeliveroo now operates in nine countries, including the U.K. and Ireland, which accounted for 59% of its business in 2023. It also does business in France, Italy, Belgium, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.\n\nThe acquisition comes less than three months after technology investment company Prosus agreed to buy Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com for 4.1 billion euros ($4.29 billion), boosting its food delivery portfolio in Europe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# DoorDash agrees to acquire UK rival Deliveroo for $3.9 billion\n\nMay 6th, 2025 09:23 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — DoorDash, the ubiquitous U.S. food delivery app, has agreed to acquire British rival Deliveroo for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in cash, expanding its business in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.\n\nSan Francisco-based DoorDash will pay 180 pence ($2.40) for each Deliveroo share, 29% more than the closing price on April 24, the day before the offer was announced, the companies said in a joint statement before the London Stock Exchange opened for trading on Tuesday.\n\nThe deal is DoorDash's second major international acquisition in three years as the company expands from its traditional base in the U.S., Canada and Australia. After the purchase of Deliveroo, and the 2022 acquisition of Helsinki-based Wolt Enterprises, DoorDash will operate in more than 40 markets worldwide.\n\n\"I could not be more excited by the prospect of what DoorDash and Deliveroo will be able to accomplish together,\" DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said in the statement.\n\nBoth companies were founded in 2013, using the then emerging technology of smartphones to link restaurants and their customers to a network of delivery riders.\n\nDeliveroo now operates in nine countries, including the U.K. and Ireland, which accounted for 59% of its business in 2023. It also does business in France, Italy, Belgium, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.\n\nThe acquisition comes less than three months after technology investment company Prosus agreed to buy Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com for 4.1 billion euros ($4.29 billion), boosting its food delivery portfolio in Europe." } ]
6a8b49638d4257fa5e3031ce604b6910b9410010ebf56a3a1edd208085d175cd	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Women sue over Georgia law that added cash bail requirements for certain charges\n\nBy Charlotte Kramon \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:31 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Two women behind bars in Atlanta sued the state of Georgia on Friday over a recent law that added a cash bail requirement for more crimes, many of them misdemeanors.\n\nThe lawsuit accuses the state of violating people's constitutional rights to due process when they're accused of crimes that require cash bail due to last year's Senate Bill 63.\n\nThe law, which went into effect in July, requires cash bail for 30 additional crimes, 18 of which are always or often misdemeanors, including failing to appear for a traffic citation if it's not their first. Georgia requires cash bail for far more offenses than any other state and has one of the nation's highest rates of people in jail or prison.\n\nThe American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of the two women and a nonprofit group, estimate that tens of thousands of Georgians have and will be subject to the law if a judge doesn't rule it unconstitutional.\n\nThe law \"is keeping our jails full, separating people from their jobs, families, and homes, and all but guaranteeing that people leave worse than when they came in,\" said Lachlan Athanasiou of the Southern Center for Human Rights in a statement. \"It's difficult to think of a more backwards policy.\"\n\nThe lawsuit argues that the law prevents judges from considering whether cash bail is actually needed to ensure that people accused of crimes appear in court or don't pose any public safety risk, which was the original purpose of bail.\n\nRepublicans who supported the measure have argued that people let out of jail without bail are less likely to show up for court than those who have paid to get out of jail, although national studies contradict that claim. They also said judges could still set low bails.\n\n\"If you commit a crime, you have to be accountable for that and show back up to your hearing,\" said Republican Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch after the lawsuit was filed.\n\nSince the bill was proposed, advocates warned it would hurt low-income and minority groups, who are less likely to have the means to pay cash bail. Those individuals may spend months behind bars awaiting court dates while people charged with the same offense walk free if they can afford to.\n\n\"Unwarranted pretrial detention based on a person's inability to pay cash bond is unjust to those presumed innocent, wrongly punishing poverty and harming communities and families,\" the lawsuit said, adding that it can cause instability in housing, employment and family care.\n\nThe two women who filed the suit are currently incarcerated inside Georgia's Fulton County Jail, which has been the target of a federal probe due to its filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. Sierrah Coronell was arrested in February on four charges, including drug possession and obstructing a police officer, and cannot afford to pay her $600 cash bond. She missed her daughter's 15th birthday and Easter with her five kids. She was their primary caregiver, but now they're living with their father.\n\nDiane Holsey worked at Burger King and helped take care of her grandchildren. Since she was arrested in April on two charges, including battery, Holsey has missed out on making money and could lose her job. She cannot afford her $4,000 cash bond or a $400 deposit required by a bondsman.\n\nNonprofit Women on the Rise also joined the suit. The organization provides services to women who would otherwise go to jail, but the law keeps many of them detained.\n\nThe law also limited the number of cash bonds that people or organizations, such as churches or charitable funds, can post to three per year unless they meet the same requirements bail bond companies do. A judge temporarily blocked that part of the law last year after Atlanta-based nonprofit Barred Business Foundation sued, arguing it was unconstitutional.\n\nThe law, signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, was a reversal on criminal justice reform in Georgia, a priority of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Legislation passed almost unanimously in 2018 let judges release most people accused of misdemeanors without bail — part of a set of reforms that Deal said would combat unnecessary incarceration, make sure kids grew up with parents in the home and save taxpayer money.\n\n___\n\nThis story was first published on May 2, 2025. Its headline was updated on May 6, 2025, to clarify that the law added cash bail requirements for certain charges, not just misdemeanors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Women sue over Georgia law that added cash bail requirements for certain charges\n\nBy Charlotte Kramon \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:31 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Two women behind bars in Atlanta sued the state of Georgia on Friday over a recent law that added a cash bail requirement for more crimes, many of them misdemeanors.\n\nThe lawsuit accuses the state of violating people's constitutional rights to due process when they're accused of crimes that require cash bail due to last year's Senate Bill 63.\n\nThe law, which went into effect in July, requires cash bail for 30 additional crimes, 18 of which are always or often misdemeanors, including failing to appear for a traffic citation if it's not their first. Georgia requires cash bail for far more offenses than any other state and has one of the nation's highest rates of people in jail or prison.\n\nThe American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of the two women and a nonprofit group, estimate that tens of thousands of Georgians have and will be subject to the law if a judge doesn't rule it unconstitutional.\n\nThe law \"is keeping our jails full, separating people from their jobs, families, and homes, and all but guaranteeing that people leave worse than when they came in,\" said Lachlan Athanasiou of the Southern Center for Human Rights in a statement. \"It's difficult to think of a more backwards policy.\"\n\nThe lawsuit argues that the law prevents judges from considering whether cash bail is actually needed to ensure that people accused of crimes appear in court or don't pose any public safety risk, which was the original purpose of bail.\n\nRepublicans who supported the measure have argued that people let out of jail without bail are less likely to show up for court than those who have paid to get out of jail, although national studies contradict that claim. They also said judges could still set low bails.\n\n\"If you commit a crime, you have to be accountable for that and show back up to your hearing,\" said Republican Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch after the lawsuit was filed.\n\nSince the bill was proposed, advocates warned it would hurt low-income and minority groups, who are less likely to have the means to pay cash bail. Those individuals may spend months behind bars awaiting court dates while people charged with the same offense walk free if they can afford to.\n\n\"Unwarranted pretrial detention based on a person's inability to pay cash bond is unjust to those presumed innocent, wrongly punishing poverty and harming communities and families,\" the lawsuit said, adding that it can cause instability in housing, employment and family care.\n\nThe two women who filed the suit are currently incarcerated inside Georgia's Fulton County Jail, which has been the target of a federal probe due to its filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. Sierrah Coronell was arrested in February on four charges, including drug possession and obstructing a police officer, and cannot afford to pay her $600 cash bond. She missed her daughter's 15th birthday and Easter with her five kids. She was their primary caregiver, but now they're living with their father.\n\nDiane Holsey worked at Burger King and helped take care of her grandchildren. Since she was arrested in April on two charges, including battery, Holsey has missed out on making money and could lose her job. She cannot afford her $4,000 cash bond or a $400 deposit required by a bondsman.\n\nNonprofit Women on the Rise also joined the suit. The organization provides services to women who would otherwise go to jail, but the law keeps many of them detained.\n\nThe law also limited the number of cash bonds that people or organizations, such as churches or charitable funds, can post to three per year unless they meet the same requirements bail bond companies do. A judge temporarily blocked that part of the law last year after Atlanta-based nonprofit Barred Business Foundation sued, arguing it was unconstitutional.\n\nThe law, signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, was a reversal on criminal justice reform in Georgia, a priority of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Legislation passed almost unanimously in 2018 let judges release most people accused of misdemeanors without bail — part of a set of reforms that Deal said would combat unnecessary incarceration, make sure kids grew up with parents in the home and save taxpayer money." } ]
3ace19eba0b40690d884e868a690ffe3a8e0c5047e320e26a539a2b689c6ca3d	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Gabe Taylor, younger brother of the late Sean Taylor, attends Commanders rookie camp on a tryout\n\nMay 9th, 2025 06:35 PM\n\n---\n\nASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Gabe Taylor, the younger brother of late Washington safety Sean Taylor, is attending Commanders rookie camp on a tryout.\n\nThe Commanders announced their camp roster Friday.\n\nTaylor, a defensive back who played five seasons at Rice, went undrafted last month. The agency that represents him said Taylor picked Washington after receiving multiple offers because he grew up wanting to play for the team.\n\n\"Now he has the chance to make his mark, forge his own path, compete for a roster spot and honor the memory of Sean,\" Creed Sports and Entertainment posted on social media. \"Gabe couldn't be more excited, focused, and ready for the opportunity.\"\n\nSean Taylor died in November 2007 at age 24 from a gunshot wound after being shot in the upper thigh by an intruder in his Miami home. Taylor was the fifth pick in the 2004 draft and played 3 1/2 NFL seasons with Washington before being killed.\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Gabe Taylor, younger brother of the late Sean Taylor, attends Commanders rookie camp on a tryout\n\nMay 9th, 2025 06:35 PM\n\n---\n\nASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Gabe Taylor, the younger brother of late Washington safety Sean Taylor, is attending Commanders rookie camp on a tryout.\n\nThe Commanders announced their camp roster Friday.\n\nTaylor, a defensive back who played five seasons at Rice, went undrafted last month. The agency that represents him said Taylor picked Washington after receiving multiple offers because he grew up wanting to play for the team.\n\n\"Now he has the chance to make his mark, forge his own path, compete for a roster spot and honor the memory of Sean,\" Creed Sports and Entertainment posted on social media. \"Gabe couldn't be more excited, focused, and ready for the opportunity.\"\n\nSean Taylor died in November 2007 at age 24 from a gunshot wound after being shot in the upper thigh by an intruder in his Miami home. Taylor was the fifth pick in the 2004 draft and played 3 1/2 NFL seasons with Washington before being killed." } ]
b57143a5fd33d0d3558611c9f0d380822a5e1a2ce2a1d9467966f805e560787b	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# A 2012 video shows comments from new pope that disappoint LGBTQ activists\n\nBy Colleen Barry, David Crary, and Giada Zampano \nMay 9th, 2025 05:13 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, in remarks in 2012 when he was the Augustinian prior general in Chicago, made comments critical of what he called the \"homosexual lifestyle\" and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.\n\nReports about the 2012 comments emerged after Thursday's election of U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost to succeed Pope Francis; he took the name Leo XIV.\n\nThe remarks were \"disappointing,\" said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, a U.S.-based group that advocates for greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church.\n\n\"We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that his (Leo's) heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened,\" DeBernardo said in a statement.\n\nA 2012 video provided to Catholic News Service, the news agency of the U.S. bishops conference, featured Prevost's address to the world Synod of Bishops against the backdrop of images from popular TV series and movies.\n\n\"Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel, for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia,\" Prevost said.\n\nHe singled out \"how alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed in television programs and cinema today.\"\n\nWhen he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked him if his views had changed. He acknowledged Pope Francis' call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis \"made it very clear that he doesn't want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.\"\n\nBut he underlined that doctrine had not changed, in line with Francis. \"And people haven't said yet (that) we're looking for that kind of change,\" Prevost said. \"But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church.\"\n\nIn his first remarks as pope on Thursday night, Leo spoke about building bridges and God's love for all.\n\nThe Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit who founded an LGBTQ+ outreach ministry, said such an invitation to inclusiveness and welcome was important and he considered the cardinals' choice of Prevost \"brilliant.\"\n\n\"He is humble, reserved, straightforward, trustworthy. I think he brings a wealth of experience not only (from) his long time in Peru working with the poor, but also in the Vatican,\" Martin said. \"It's rare to come in contact with someone who is actually humble and not pretending to be humble. And he's the real deal. And that really cemented my respect for him. He always treated me with great respect, dignity, friendship. He's a man of few words, and I'll say that when he talked, people listened.\"\n\nFrancis, more than any of his predecessors, incrementally conveyed through his actions, formal statements and occasional casual remarks that he wanted the church to be a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people. Yet his papacy ended with the same core doctrine for LGBTQ+ people that he inherited: The Catholic Church still rejected same-sex marriage and condemned any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as \"intrinsically disordered.\"\n\nThe U.S.-based LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD called on the new pontiff to \"build on the progress\" made by his predecessor.\n\n\"The Roman Catholic Church stands on the threshold of a hopeful and inclusive new chapter. With Pope Leo XIV's leadership, there is an extraordinary opportunity to inspire billions around the world and further embrace LGBTQ people with compassion, dignity, and love,\" GLADD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.\n\n___\n\nCrary reported from New York. Barry reported from Soave, Italy. Nicole Winfield contributed.\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# A 2012 video shows comments from new pope that disappoint LGBTQ activists\n\nBy Colleen Barry, David Crary, and Giada Zampano \nMay 9th, 2025 05:13 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, in remarks in 2012 when he was the Augustinian prior general in Chicago, made comments critical of what he called the \"homosexual lifestyle\" and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.\n\nReports about the 2012 comments emerged after Thursday's election of U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost to succeed Pope Francis; he took the name Leo XIV.\n\nThe remarks were \"disappointing,\" said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, a U.S.-based group that advocates for greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church.\n\n\"We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that his (Leo's) heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened,\" DeBernardo said in a statement.\n\nA 2012 video provided to Catholic News Service, the news agency of the U.S. bishops conference, featured Prevost's address to the world Synod of Bishops against the backdrop of images from popular TV series and movies.\n\n\"Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel, for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia,\" Prevost said.\n\nHe singled out \"how alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed in television programs and cinema today.\"\n\nWhen he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked him if his views had changed. He acknowledged Pope Francis' call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis \"made it very clear that he doesn't want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.\"\n\nBut he underlined that doctrine had not changed, in line with Francis. \"And people haven't said yet (that) we're looking for that kind of change,\" Prevost said. \"But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church.\"\n\nIn his first remarks as pope on Thursday night, Leo spoke about building bridges and God's love for all.\n\nThe Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit who founded an LGBTQ+ outreach ministry, said such an invitation to inclusiveness and welcome was important and he considered the cardinals' choice of Prevost \"brilliant.\"\n\n\"He is humble, reserved, straightforward, trustworthy. I think he brings a wealth of experience not only (from) his long time in Peru working with the poor, but also in the Vatican,\" Martin said. \"It's rare to come in contact with someone who is actually humble and not pretending to be humble. And he's the real deal. And that really cemented my respect for him. He always treated me with great respect, dignity, friendship. He's a man of few words, and I'll say that when he talked, people listened.\"\n\nFrancis, more than any of his predecessors, incrementally conveyed through his actions, formal statements and occasional casual remarks that he wanted the church to be a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people. Yet his papacy ended with the same core doctrine for LGBTQ+ people that he inherited: The Catholic Church still rejected same-sex marriage and condemned any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as \"intrinsically disordered.\"\n\nThe U.S.-based LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD called on the new pontiff to \"build on the progress\" made by his predecessor.\n\n\"The Roman Catholic Church stands on the threshold of a hopeful and inclusive new chapter. With Pope Leo XIV's leadership, there is an extraordinary opportunity to inspire billions around the world and further embrace LGBTQ people with compassion, dignity, and love,\" GLADD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement." } ]
8c092e5f912450a93fede98157a3e6614228ecc5fadf610fccd17f9248d48ee2	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Blue Jays sign pitchers Spencer Turnbull, Jose Urena to 1-year deals\n\nMay 5th, 2025 09:59 PM\n\n---\n\nTORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays signed right-handed pitchers Spencer Turnbull and Jose Ureña to one-year contracts on Monday.\n\nTurnbull was optioned to the Florida Complex League Blue Jays roster as he continues to get into game shape after missing much of last season.\n\nThe 32-year-old appeared in 17 games (seven starts) with Philadelphia in 2024, with a 3-0 record with a 2.65 ERA and 58 strikeouts, before being placed on the injured list on June 27 with a right lat strain.\n\nTurnbull is 15-29 with a 4.26 ERA in 78 appearances (67 starts) with Detroit and Philadelphia. He threw the eighth no-hitter in Tigers history on May 18, 2021.\n\nTurnbull has a $1,265,306 salary, which comes out to a prorated $1 million for the rest of the season. He can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses for innings: $100,000 each for 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90. In addition, he can earn $1 million in roster bonuses for days on the active roster: $125,000 for 60, $250,000 apiece for 80 and 100, and $375,000 for 120.\n\nUreña, 33, made one appearance for the New York Mets this season and three starts for their Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.\n\nHe had a 5-8 record with a 3.80 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 33 appearances (nine starts) with the Texas Rangers in 2024.\n\nUreña gets a salary of $1.75 million while in the major leagues and $180,000 while in the minors.\n\nHe can earn $750,000 for innings: $250,000 each for 90, 100 and 110. He also can make $250,000 for games: $50,000 apiece for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.\n\nUreña has played 11 seasons with Miami, Detroit, Colorado, the Chicago White Sox, Texas and the Mets with a 44-77 record and 3.80 ERA.\n\nTo make room on the 40-man roster, right-handers Max Scherzer (right thumb inflammation) and Erik Swanson (right median nerve entrapment) have been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Left-hander Josh Walker was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Blue Jays sign pitchers Spencer Turnbull, Jose Urena to 1-year deals\n\nMay 5th, 2025 09:59 PM\n\n---\n\nTORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays signed right-handed pitchers Spencer Turnbull and Jose Ureña to one-year contracts on Monday.\n\nTurnbull was optioned to the Florida Complex League Blue Jays roster as he continues to get into game shape after missing much of last season.\n\nThe 32-year-old appeared in 17 games (seven starts) with Philadelphia in 2024, with a 3-0 record with a 2.65 ERA and 58 strikeouts, before being placed on the injured list on June 27 with a right lat strain.\n\nTurnbull is 15-29 with a 4.26 ERA in 78 appearances (67 starts) with Detroit and Philadelphia. He threw the eighth no-hitter in Tigers history on May 18, 2021.\n\nTurnbull has a $1,265,306 salary, which comes out to a prorated $1 million for the rest of the season. He can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses for innings: $100,000 each for 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90. In addition, he can earn $1 million in roster bonuses for days on the active roster: $125,000 for 60, $250,000 apiece for 80 and 100, and $375,000 for 120.\n\nUreña, 33, made one appearance for the New York Mets this season and three starts for their Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.\n\nHe had a 5-8 record with a 3.80 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 33 appearances (nine starts) with the Texas Rangers in 2024.\n\nUreña gets a salary of $1.75 million while in the major leagues and $180,000 while in the minors.\n\nHe can earn $750,000 for innings: $250,000 each for 90, 100 and 110. He also can make $250,000 for games: $50,000 apiece for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.\n\nUreña has played 11 seasons with Miami, Detroit, Colorado, the Chicago White Sox, Texas and the Mets with a 44-77 record and 3.80 ERA.\n\nTo make room on the 40-man roster, right-handers Max Scherzer (right thumb inflammation) and Erik Swanson (right median nerve entrapment) have been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Left-hander Josh Walker was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo." } ]
3a2de4facd671eb634b260fe978ed4b6cf14b47794bba88a47c8c9fc01cde22b	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Oh Ohtani! Dodgers star hits 3-run homer in late rally in 14-11 victory over Diamondbacks\n\nBy John Marshall \nMay 10th, 2025 06:40 AM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — Dave Roberts played with Barry Bonds, watching the seven-time National League MVP at the height of his powers.\n\nThe Los Angeles Dodgers' manager has seen only one player who compares to Bonds: Shohei Ohtani.\n\nOhtani added to his growing legend Friday night, blasting a three-run homer to cap a six-run ninth inning in the Dodgers' improbable 14-11 comeback victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.\n\n\"Between him and Barry Bonds, those are the two best players I've ever seen,\" Roberts said. \"I played with Barry, but what Sho does in the clutch, I've never seen anything like what he does in the clutch.\"\n\nThe Dodgers and Diamondbacks played one of the wildest games of the season in the desert, combining for 25 runs, 26 hits, two blown leads of at least three runs and six homers.\n\nIt all came down to Ohtani.\n\nThe Japanese star has shown a knack for coming through in big moments during his eight-year career, first with the Los Angeles Angels, the past two seasons with the crosstown Dodgers.\n\nOne of two players to win MVP in both leagues — twice in AL, once NL — Ohtani came to the plate in the ninth after the Dodgers rallied with three runs to tie it at 11. Ryan Thompson entered the game to face Ohtani with runners on first and second.\n\nThompson got ahead of Ohtani 1-2, but left a breaking ball on the inside corner. Ohtani turned on it quickly and sent it deep into the seats in right for his 12th of the season. He tossed his bat and raised his arms in celebration in a similar fashion to what Arizona's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did after a tying grand slam in the fifth.\n\n\"It was a really great game,\" Ohtani said through an interpreter. \"It's not the kind of game we play a lot, but for us to score a lot, for them to come back, for us to come back again — it was very emotional.\"\n\nOhtani kicked off the crazy night in the desert with a 423-foot double off the center field wall, a 107.9 mph shot that would have gone out in most ballparks.\n\nIt wasn't even the hardest hit of the first inning. Arizona's Ketel Marte hit the first of his two solo homers — exit velocity 113.1 — and Eugenio Suárez followed with a two-run shot.\n\nThe Dodgers then took their turn to bash baseballs.\n\nKiké Hernández hit a leadoff homer in the second inning, Ohtani added a run-scoring double and Los Angeles went up 8-3 after a five-run third.\n\nThe Dodgers' bats went quiet after that — no hits the next four innings — and the Diamondbacks came alive.\n\nGurriel hit his seventh career grand slam in the fifth inning and Arizona went up 9-8 on a bases-loaded walk. The Diamondbacks kept hitting, going up 11-8 on consecutive solo homers by Marte and pinch hitter Randal Grichuk in the eighth.\n\nSeemingly in control, Arizona sent out Kevin Ginkel to pitch the ninth.\n\nIt didn't go so well.\n\nFreddie Freeman opened with a punch single through the shifted left side. Andy Pages, who had three RBIs, followed with a run-scoring double, Hernandez matched him and Max Muncy hit an RBI single to tie it at 11.\n\nGinkel was removed after hitting Michael Conforto with a pitch, leaving Thompson to face Ohtani with two on and one out.\n\nThen Ohtani did what he does best.\n\n\"Whenever you see Sho put in these spots, you expect the incredible,\" Muncy said. \"He rarely disappoints and that's no different there.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Oh Ohtani! Dodgers star hits 3-run homer in late rally in 14-11 victory over Diamondbacks\n\nBy John Marshall \nMay 10th, 2025 06:40 AM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — Dave Roberts played with Barry Bonds, watching the seven-time National League MVP at the height of his powers.\n\nThe Los Angeles Dodgers' manager has seen only one player who compares to Bonds: Shohei Ohtani.\n\nOhtani added to his growing legend Friday night, blasting a three-run homer to cap a six-run ninth inning in the Dodgers' improbable 14-11 comeback victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.\n\n\"Between him and Barry Bonds, those are the two best players I've ever seen,\" Roberts said. \"I played with Barry, but what Sho does in the clutch, I've never seen anything like what he does in the clutch.\"\n\nThe Dodgers and Diamondbacks played one of the wildest games of the season in the desert, combining for 25 runs, 26 hits, two blown leads of at least three runs and six homers.\n\nIt all came down to Ohtani.\n\nThe Japanese star has shown a knack for coming through in big moments during his eight-year career, first with the Los Angeles Angels, the past two seasons with the crosstown Dodgers.\n\nOne of two players to win MVP in both leagues — twice in AL, once NL — Ohtani came to the plate in the ninth after the Dodgers rallied with three runs to tie it at 11. Ryan Thompson entered the game to face Ohtani with runners on first and second.\n\nThompson got ahead of Ohtani 1-2, but left a breaking ball on the inside corner. Ohtani turned on it quickly and sent it deep into the seats in right for his 12th of the season. He tossed his bat and raised his arms in celebration in a similar fashion to what Arizona's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did after a tying grand slam in the fifth.\n\n\"It was a really great game,\" Ohtani said through an interpreter. \"It's not the kind of game we play a lot, but for us to score a lot, for them to come back, for us to come back again — it was very emotional.\"\n\nOhtani kicked off the crazy night in the desert with a 423-foot double off the center field wall, a 107.9 mph shot that would have gone out in most ballparks.\n\nIt wasn't even the hardest hit of the first inning. Arizona's Ketel Marte hit the first of his two solo homers — exit velocity 113.1 — and Eugenio Suárez followed with a two-run shot.\n\nThe Dodgers then took their turn to bash baseballs.\n\nKiké Hernández hit a leadoff homer in the second inning, Ohtani added a run-scoring double and Los Angeles went up 8-3 after a five-run third.\n\nThe Dodgers' bats went quiet after that — no hits the next four innings — and the Diamondbacks came alive.\n\nGurriel hit his seventh career grand slam in the fifth inning and Arizona went up 9-8 on a bases-loaded walk. The Diamondbacks kept hitting, going up 11-8 on consecutive solo homers by Marte and pinch hitter Randal Grichuk in the eighth.\n\nSeemingly in control, Arizona sent out Kevin Ginkel to pitch the ninth.\n\nIt didn't go so well.\n\nFreddie Freeman opened with a punch single through the shifted left side. Andy Pages, who had three RBIs, followed with a run-scoring double, Hernandez matched him and Max Muncy hit an RBI single to tie it at 11.\n\nGinkel was removed after hitting Michael Conforto with a pitch, leaving Thompson to face Ohtani with two on and one out.\n\nThen Ohtani did what he does best.\n\n\"Whenever you see Sho put in these spots, you expect the incredible,\" Muncy said. \"He rarely disappoints and that's no different there.\"" } ]
3b2e7ccc05151f8d0c8cd3234447f2af497f3198a77a602768ddf30146545335	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Straka, Lowry handle blustery conditions at Truist, head into final round tied at Philly Cricket\n\nBy Bob Lentz \nMay 10th, 2025 10:58 PM\n\n---\n\nFLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Sepp Straka is looking to become the second multiple-event winner of the PGA Tour season. Shane Lowry is seeking his first individual title since 2019.\n\nStraka shot a 4-under 66 and Lowry had a 67 in blustery conditions Saturday to share the lead heading into the final round at The Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course.\n\nThe pairing of the two in the final round of the Truist Championship couldn't stack up more differently. Straka is ready for the stress that comes with the last pairing in the final round, while Lowry is comfortable with the final-round pressure as he works to end a lengthy winless run.\n\n\"All you can do is try to focus on what you can control, and that is your target, try to hit your number, and try to make a good swing,\" said Straka, a winner at The American Express in January who would join three-time winner Rory McIlroy with a victory Sunday. \"You're going to feel terrible while trying to do it, but that's just part of it. That kind of makes it fun when you are able to pull it off.\"\n\nMeanwhile, Lowry is confident that he has put himself in a position to win an individual title for the first time since the 2019 British Open.\n\n\"Keep knocking on the door, and eventually you'll go through it. I feel like I've done a good job of it this season, last season. It does get frustrating sometimes,\" said Lowry, who teamed with McIlroy to win a team event in New Orleans last year. \"I'm going to go out and give my best. If it's good tomorrow, that will be great.\"\n\nStraka started the round two strokes behind and offset his only bogey with five birdies — two in the final four holes — and made a clutch par putt from 16 1/2 feet at the 18th.\n\nLowry moved into a tie for the lead by matching Straka's birdie on the downwind 489-yard, par-4 17th and will be paired with the 32-year-old Austrian on Sunday in the final round of the sixth of signature event of the PGA Tour season.\n\nKeith Mitchell, the leader after 18 and 36 holes, labored through a round of 1 over. He was 11 under with Justin Thomas, who charged up the leaderboard despite bogeys on the two par 5s in a 67. Hideki Matsuyama was another stroke back after a 63, the best score of the day.\n\nMcIlroy, the defending champion, made an early move before spoiling a three-birdie run with consecutive bogeys. He had an uneventful back nine with one birdie and was 8 under after a 69, tied with Nick Taylor (67), Sam Burns (67), Sungjae Im (67) and Tony Finau (67).\n\nThe players dealt with the third variation of playing conditions. Two days after 64 players broke par, and a day after rain tempered scoring on the 7,100-yard layout, wind at 12 mph — with gusts to 27 mph — and quicker greens made low scoring difficult.\n\n\"It's great to see the way the conditions come into it today,\" Lowry said. \"The golf course is standing up really well. ... It was very tough today in those winds, particularly tough to hole putts.\"\n\nStraka agreed.\n\n\"It's been fun on the tee box trying to strategize on a new golf hole every day and trying to figure out the best way to play it,\" he said.\n\nStraka proved to be the steadiest among the leaders. He started the round five strokes back and moved into a tie for the lead with a bogey-free front nine that included two birdies. He closed out his round with five birdies and a bogey.\n\nLowry moved into a tie with playing partner Mitchell with a birdie at the first, and the duo traded the lead through the front nine, making the turn at 13 under, deadlocked with Straka, who was a hole ahead. The Irishman took the lead with a birdie putt of 17 feet at the 459-yard, par-4 10th, but was forced to settle for a tie after Straka's strong finish.\n\nThomas, looking for a second win in as many starts after taking the RBC Heritage, birdied three of the final four holes on the front nine and added back-to-back birds on the back to move into contention.\n\nMitchell did his best to maintain his lead, but bogeys at Nos. 3, 4, 8, 10 and 14 were his undoing. He steadied himself and closed with four pars.\n\nMcIlroy struggled throughout, hitting just three of 14 fairways. He had an uneventful back nine of 1 under and will start the final round five strokes behind the leaders in a bid to win in his first individual event since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters last month.\n\n## Philly Cricket making history\n\nThe Philadelphia Cricket Club will make PGA Tour history in the final round.\n\nThe par-3 14th hole on the Wissahickon Course will play 95 yards Sunday. That makes the hole the shortest par 3 played on tour — excluding majors — in the Shotlink era. The move is a nod to Philly Cricket's original St. Martins Course, built in 1895. Expanded to 18 homes in 1897, the course hosted the U.S. Open in 1907 and 1910.\n\nAt the U.S. Open in 2023, the 15th hole at Los Angeles Country Club played 81 yards in the third round.\n\n## Out of the running\n\nJustin Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at nearby Merion Golf Club, withdrew from the Truist after two rounds due to illness. He was last in the 72-player field with a two-day total of 7 over. Also, Michael Kim, who would have been paired with Rose as the first twosome out Saturday, withdrew due to a back injury after 12 holes.\n\n___\n\nAP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Straka, Lowry handle blustery conditions at Truist, head into final round tied at Philly Cricket\n\nBy Bob Lentz \nMay 10th, 2025 10:58 PM\n\n---\n\nFLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Sepp Straka is looking to become the second multiple-event winner of the PGA Tour season. Shane Lowry is seeking his first individual title since 2019.\n\nStraka shot a 4-under 66 and Lowry had a 67 in blustery conditions Saturday to share the lead heading into the final round at The Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course.\n\nThe pairing of the two in the final round of the Truist Championship couldn't stack up more differently. Straka is ready for the stress that comes with the last pairing in the final round, while Lowry is comfortable with the final-round pressure as he works to end a lengthy winless run.\n\n\"All you can do is try to focus on what you can control, and that is your target, try to hit your number, and try to make a good swing,\" said Straka, a winner at The American Express in January who would join three-time winner Rory McIlroy with a victory Sunday. \"You're going to feel terrible while trying to do it, but that's just part of it. That kind of makes it fun when you are able to pull it off.\"\n\nMeanwhile, Lowry is confident that he has put himself in a position to win an individual title for the first time since the 2019 British Open.\n\n\"Keep knocking on the door, and eventually you'll go through it. I feel like I've done a good job of it this season, last season. It does get frustrating sometimes,\" said Lowry, who teamed with McIlroy to win a team event in New Orleans last year. \"I'm going to go out and give my best. If it's good tomorrow, that will be great.\"\n\nStraka started the round two strokes behind and offset his only bogey with five birdies — two in the final four holes — and made a clutch par putt from 16 1/2 feet at the 18th.\n\nLowry moved into a tie for the lead by matching Straka's birdie on the downwind 489-yard, par-4 17th and will be paired with the 32-year-old Austrian on Sunday in the final round of the sixth of signature event of the PGA Tour season.\n\nKeith Mitchell, the leader after 18 and 36 holes, labored through a round of 1 over. He was 11 under with Justin Thomas, who charged up the leaderboard despite bogeys on the two par 5s in a 67. Hideki Matsuyama was another stroke back after a 63, the best score of the day.\n\nMcIlroy, the defending champion, made an early move before spoiling a three-birdie run with consecutive bogeys. He had an uneventful back nine with one birdie and was 8 under after a 69, tied with Nick Taylor (67), Sam Burns (67), Sungjae Im (67) and Tony Finau (67).\n\nThe players dealt with the third variation of playing conditions. Two days after 64 players broke par, and a day after rain tempered scoring on the 7,100-yard layout, wind at 12 mph — with gusts to 27 mph — and quicker greens made low scoring difficult.\n\n\"It's great to see the way the conditions come into it today,\" Lowry said. \"The golf course is standing up really well. ... It was very tough today in those winds, particularly tough to hole putts.\"\n\nStraka agreed.\n\n\"It's been fun on the tee box trying to strategize on a new golf hole every day and trying to figure out the best way to play it,\" he said.\n\nStraka proved to be the steadiest among the leaders. He started the round five strokes back and moved into a tie for the lead with a bogey-free front nine that included two birdies. He closed out his round with five birdies and a bogey.\n\nLowry moved into a tie with playing partner Mitchell with a birdie at the first, and the duo traded the lead through the front nine, making the turn at 13 under, deadlocked with Straka, who was a hole ahead. The Irishman took the lead with a birdie putt of 17 feet at the 459-yard, par-4 10th, but was forced to settle for a tie after Straka's strong finish.\n\nThomas, looking for a second win in as many starts after taking the RBC Heritage, birdied three of the final four holes on the front nine and added back-to-back birds on the back to move into contention.\n\nMitchell did his best to maintain his lead, but bogeys at Nos. 3, 4, 8, 10 and 14 were his undoing. He steadied himself and closed with four pars.\n\nMcIlroy struggled throughout, hitting just three of 14 fairways. He had an uneventful back nine of 1 under and will start the final round five strokes behind the leaders in a bid to win in his first individual event since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters last month.\n\n## Philly Cricket making history\n\nThe Philadelphia Cricket Club will make PGA Tour history in the final round.\n\nThe par-3 14th hole on the Wissahickon Course will play 95 yards Sunday. That makes the hole the shortest par 3 played on tour — excluding majors — in the Shotlink era. The move is a nod to Philly Cricket's original St. Martins Course, built in 1895. Expanded to 18 homes in 1897, the course hosted the U.S. Open in 1907 and 1910.\n\nAt the U.S. Open in 2023, the 15th hole at Los Angeles Country Club played 81 yards in the third round.\n\n## Out of the running\n\nJustin Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at nearby Merion Golf Club, withdrew from the Truist after two rounds due to illness. He was last in the 72-player field with a two-day total of 7 over. Also, Michael Kim, who would have been paired with Rose as the first twosome out Saturday, withdrew due to a back injury after 12 holes." } ]
a8e22bf6016bfb31c5c3a6a01fa1e6448953ea546c475812e0f0ec99cc344efd	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Jeff Sperbeck, former agent for John Elway, dies after golf cart injury. What we know\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:22 PM\n\n---\n\nLA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — The death of Jeff Sperbeck, a business partner and former agent for NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, after falling off a golf cart on Saturday appeared to be a \"horrific accident\" that didn't involve criminal activity, said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, whose agency is investigating the incident.\n\nSperbeck, 62, died on Wednesday, after his injury at a Southern California golfing community. Witness Ali Simon told KESQ-TV of Palm Springs that Elway was at the scene of the crash.\n\n\"This appears to be a horrific accident,\" Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Denver Post. \"And unfortunately for all of those involved, one of the people – well, a couple of them – happen to be very high-profile celebrities. And that makes this more of an issue than it probably should be.\"\n\nElway, who played his whole career on the Denver Broncos, issued a statement saying he was devastated by the loss of his close friend.\n\nHere is what we know about the incident.\n\n## What happened last weekend?\n\nRiverside County fire authorities were called to The Madison Club, an upscale country club and residential community in the desert community of La Quinta near Palm Springs, on Saturday evening for a report of a person suffering serious injuries after falling off a golf cart.\n\nSperbeck was then taken to the hospital, and he died early Wednesday from his injuries.\n\nElway was at the scene of the crash, witness Ali Simon told KESQ-TV. Simon said she did not see the accident occur, but saw a man lying on the ground surrounded by people and Elway on the phone.\n\nTMZ has reported that Elway was driving the golf cart, citing unidentified sources. KUSA-TV in Denver also cited an unnamed source saying Elway was driving.\n\nLaw enforcement officials have not said who was driving the golf cart, and Elway did not confirm or deny it in a statement about Sperbeck's death.\n\nMedical personnel at the scene didn't find evidence suggesting Elway was drunk, Bianco told the Denver Post. He did not elaborate about how personnel reached that conclusion.\n\n## What is the sheriff's office's involvement?\n\nBianco said first responders didn't immediately call the sheriff's office to the scene, and typically would notify law enforcement if there were a concern. He said his agency got involved following media interest in the case and is reviewing surveillance footage and witness testimony. The investigation will be short, he said.\n\nEd Obayashi, Modoc County deputy sheriff and special prosecutor, said law enforcement might not initially be called to investigate an injury involving a single person, for example, who falls down the stairs or from a bicycle.\n\nBut if a death occurs, Obayashi said law enforcement officials are typically asked to investigate so the coroner can complete a thorough report.\n\n\"It could be a matter of routine, or there may be some information they received that requires them to investigate it,\" said Obayashi, who trains law enforcement officials on legal issues.\n\nElway's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, told Colorado's 9NEWS it was an accident.\n\n\"The investigation has confirmed what we already knew: This was a tragic accident and sometimes things happen in life that we will never comprehend,\" Steinberg said.\n\n## Who was Sperbeck?\n\nSperbeck, who is from the Orange County seaside community of San Clemente, began managing Elway in 1990, when Elway was quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He represented more than 100 NFL players during a three-decade career as an agent and business adviser.\n\nHe was best known as Elway's longtime friend, business partner and agent who helped manage the Hall of Famer's extensive off-field business empire, which included restaurants, car dealerships and a winery.\n\n\"We are grieving this unimaginable loss as a family alongside our dearest friends the Elway's and the many other clients Jeff called friends,\" the Sperbeck family said in a statement.\n\nSperbeck managed Elway's marketing and business ventures, and the two collaborated with winemaker Rob Mondavi Jr. in 2015 to co-found 7Cellars by John Elway. Sperbeck was also involved in numerous charitable endeavors and co-founded a sports marketing firm.\n\nElway issued a statement following Sperbeck's death.\n\n\"I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the passing of my close friend, business partner and agent Jeff Sperbeck,\" he said. \"There are no words to truly express the profound sadness I feel with the sudden loss of someone who has meant so much to me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Jeff Sperbeck, former agent for John Elway, dies after golf cart injury. What we know\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:22 PM\n\n---\n\nLA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — The death of Jeff Sperbeck, a business partner and former agent for NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, after falling off a golf cart on Saturday appeared to be a \"horrific accident\" that didn't involve criminal activity, said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, whose agency is investigating the incident.\n\nSperbeck, 62, died on Wednesday, after his injury at a Southern California golfing community. Witness Ali Simon told KESQ-TV of Palm Springs that Elway was at the scene of the crash.\n\n\"This appears to be a horrific accident,\" Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Denver Post. \"And unfortunately for all of those involved, one of the people – well, a couple of them – happen to be very high-profile celebrities. And that makes this more of an issue than it probably should be.\"\n\nElway, who played his whole career on the Denver Broncos, issued a statement saying he was devastated by the loss of his close friend.\n\nHere is what we know about the incident.\n\n## What happened last weekend?\n\nRiverside County fire authorities were called to The Madison Club, an upscale country club and residential community in the desert community of La Quinta near Palm Springs, on Saturday evening for a report of a person suffering serious injuries after falling off a golf cart.\n\nSperbeck was then taken to the hospital, and he died early Wednesday from his injuries.\n\nElway was at the scene of the crash, witness Ali Simon told KESQ-TV. Simon said she did not see the accident occur, but saw a man lying on the ground surrounded by people and Elway on the phone.\n\nTMZ has reported that Elway was driving the golf cart, citing unidentified sources. KUSA-TV in Denver also cited an unnamed source saying Elway was driving.\n\nLaw enforcement officials have not said who was driving the golf cart, and Elway did not confirm or deny it in a statement about Sperbeck's death.\n\nMedical personnel at the scene didn't find evidence suggesting Elway was drunk, Bianco told the Denver Post. He did not elaborate about how personnel reached that conclusion.\n\n## What is the sheriff's office's involvement?\n\nBianco said first responders didn't immediately call the sheriff's office to the scene, and typically would notify law enforcement if there were a concern. He said his agency got involved following media interest in the case and is reviewing surveillance footage and witness testimony. The investigation will be short, he said.\n\nEd Obayashi, Modoc County deputy sheriff and special prosecutor, said law enforcement might not initially be called to investigate an injury involving a single person, for example, who falls down the stairs or from a bicycle.\n\nBut if a death occurs, Obayashi said law enforcement officials are typically asked to investigate so the coroner can complete a thorough report.\n\n\"It could be a matter of routine, or there may be some information they received that requires them to investigate it,\" said Obayashi, who trains law enforcement officials on legal issues.\n\nElway's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, told Colorado's 9NEWS it was an accident.\n\n\"The investigation has confirmed what we already knew: This was a tragic accident and sometimes things happen in life that we will never comprehend,\" Steinberg said.\n\n## Who was Sperbeck?\n\nSperbeck, who is from the Orange County seaside community of San Clemente, began managing Elway in 1990, when Elway was quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He represented more than 100 NFL players during a three-decade career as an agent and business adviser.\n\nHe was best known as Elway's longtime friend, business partner and agent who helped manage the Hall of Famer's extensive off-field business empire, which included restaurants, car dealerships and a winery.\n\n\"We are grieving this unimaginable loss as a family alongside our dearest friends the Elway's and the many other clients Jeff called friends,\" the Sperbeck family said in a statement.\n\nSperbeck managed Elway's marketing and business ventures, and the two collaborated with winemaker Rob Mondavi Jr. in 2015 to co-found 7Cellars by John Elway. Sperbeck was also involved in numerous charitable endeavors and co-founded a sports marketing firm.\n\nElway issued a statement following Sperbeck's death.\n\n\"I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the passing of my close friend, business partner and agent Jeff Sperbeck,\" he said. \"There are no words to truly express the profound sadness I feel with the sudden loss of someone who has meant so much to me.\"" } ]
a74b0048d9c651f2797e77feb2d5071fc6d67e7f491e8654a761f29f53bcacba	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Human rights commission urges monitoring of Brazil's flood recovery efforts\n\nBy Gabriela Sá Pessoa \nMay 1st, 2025 07:40 PM\n\n---\n\nSAO PAULO (AP) — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is calling for a permanent monitoring system to track Brazil's compliance with its recommendation s following the devastating floods that struck southern Brazil one year ago.\n\nJavier Palummo, the commission's special rapporteur, told The Associated Press Thursday the initiative aims to maintain a permanent channel with Brazil's government and \"strengthen public accountability, give international visibility to good practices, and monitor risks of setbacks—especially in the most affected areas and for vulnerable groups.\"\n\nBetween April and May 2024, unprecedented floods hit nearly all the municipalities in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Over 2.3 million people were affected. Hundreds of thousands were displaced and 182 died, according to official data. Analysts compared the scale of devastation to Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005.\n\nA new report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released Wednesday highlights stark inequalities in the recovery process. Indigenous and quilombola communities —which are home to descendants of escaped slaves—, female-headed households, and unhoused people have faced significant challenges in accessing reconstruction aid and public services.\n\n\"These groups often reported being excluded from recovery planning,\" Palummo said. \"The lack of land regularization and limited institutional engagement reinforce historic inequalities.\"\n\nPalummo visited flood-hit areas in December. He cited the solidarity of a quilombola community where women led relief efforts as especially moving. He also pointed to the Mbyá-Guarani people of Eldorado do Sul, who lost their homes and school first to flooding, then to a construction project. Forced to resettle near a highway, they now face insecurity, health risks, and cultural loss.\n\n\"These disasters are not just natural—they're worsened by chronic neglect,\" he said. \"They reflect deep structural inequalities and growing climate vulnerability fueled by unplanned urban growth, environmental degradation, and environmental racism.\"\n\nThe report, he said, is the first of its kind by the commission affiliated with Organization of American States. Palummo will present the findings next week to local communities in Porto Alegre and to federal and state officials. He will also speak at a public hearing May 8 in Brasília.\n\n___\n\nFollow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Human rights commission urges monitoring of Brazil's flood recovery efforts\n\nBy Gabriela Sá Pessoa \nMay 1st, 2025 07:40 PM\n\n---\n\nSAO PAULO (AP) — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is calling for a permanent monitoring system to track Brazil's compliance with its recommendation s following the devastating floods that struck southern Brazil one year ago.\n\nJavier Palummo, the commission's special rapporteur, told The Associated Press Thursday the initiative aims to maintain a permanent channel with Brazil's government and \"strengthen public accountability, give international visibility to good practices, and monitor risks of setbacks—especially in the most affected areas and for vulnerable groups.\"\n\nBetween April and May 2024, unprecedented floods hit nearly all the municipalities in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Over 2.3 million people were affected. Hundreds of thousands were displaced and 182 died, according to official data. Analysts compared the scale of devastation to Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005.\n\nA new report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released Wednesday highlights stark inequalities in the recovery process. Indigenous and quilombola communities —which are home to descendants of escaped slaves—, female-headed households, and unhoused people have faced significant challenges in accessing reconstruction aid and public services.\n\n\"These groups often reported being excluded from recovery planning,\" Palummo said. \"The lack of land regularization and limited institutional engagement reinforce historic inequalities.\"\n\nPalummo visited flood-hit areas in December. He cited the solidarity of a quilombola community where women led relief efforts as especially moving. He also pointed to the Mbyá-Guarani people of Eldorado do Sul, who lost their homes and school first to flooding, then to a construction project. Forced to resettle near a highway, they now face insecurity, health risks, and cultural loss.\n\n\"These disasters are not just natural—they're worsened by chronic neglect,\" he said. \"They reflect deep structural inequalities and growing climate vulnerability fueled by unplanned urban growth, environmental degradation, and environmental racism.\"\n\nThe report, he said, is the first of its kind by the commission affiliated with Organization of American States. Palummo will present the findings next week to local communities in Porto Alegre and to federal and state officials. He will also speak at a public hearing May 8 in Brasília." } ]
a2c545b06e6c4cecf2f4d664af9e716f01e949111a38ce63e86b90b20d39030e	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Mike Tirico says he's fine after nut allergy knocked him off Derby broadcast\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 5th, 2025 03:16 PM\n\n---\n\nNBC Sports host Mike Tirico said Monday he is feeling fine after having to leave the Kentucky Derby broadcast early over the weekend because of a strong reaction to a nut allergy.\n\n\"I've had a nut allergy my whole life and am usually very, very careful,\" he said on the \"Today\" show. \"I ate something that had a nut in it and had a nut allergy, causing your throat and your nose and all that stuff to kind of clog up and swell. It affects your breathing a little bit.\"\n\nTirico said he took an epinephrine shot and was treated by EMTs at Churchill Downs. He began feeling better later Saturday night.\n\n\"I'm embarrassed about the attention,\" he said.\n\nAhmed Fareed took over for the 58-year-old broadcaster, who was hosting Derby coverage for the ninth year.\n\nTirico is set to host the Preakness Stakes on NBC on May 17.\n\n___\n\nAP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Mike Tirico says he's fine after nut allergy knocked him off Derby broadcast\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 5th, 2025 03:16 PM\n\n---\n\nNBC Sports host Mike Tirico said Monday he is feeling fine after having to leave the Kentucky Derby broadcast early over the weekend because of a strong reaction to a nut allergy.\n\n\"I've had a nut allergy my whole life and am usually very, very careful,\" he said on the \"Today\" show. \"I ate something that had a nut in it and had a nut allergy, causing your throat and your nose and all that stuff to kind of clog up and swell. It affects your breathing a little bit.\"\n\nTirico said he took an epinephrine shot and was treated by EMTs at Churchill Downs. He began feeling better later Saturday night.\n\n\"I'm embarrassed about the attention,\" he said.\n\nAhmed Fareed took over for the 58-year-old broadcaster, who was hosting Derby coverage for the ninth year.\n\nTirico is set to host the Preakness Stakes on NBC on May 17." } ]
157fb8ed5266dabf4d7763854527b58b67ec880bc3e7c59a9c1c7cd43197ed5c	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 18-24\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 12th, 2025 01:33 PM\n\n---\n\nCelebrity birthdays for the week of May 18-24:\n\nMay 18: Actor Candice Azzara (″Caroline in the City,\" ″Rhoda\") is 84. Bluegrass singer-guitarist Rodney Dillard of The Dillards is 83. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman of Yes is 76. Singer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo is 75. Actor James Stephens (\"Paper Chase,\" ″Father Dowling Mysteries\") is 74. Country singer George Strait is 73. Actor Chow Yun-Fat (\"Anna and the King,\" ″The Replacement Killers\") is 70. Singer-guitarist Page Hamilton of Helmet is 65. Guitarist Barry Graul of MercyMe is 64. Singer Michael Tait of Newsboys and of dc Talk is 59. Singer-actor Martika (\"Kids Incorporated,\" \"Wiseguy\") is 56. Comedian Tina Fey (\"30 Rock,\" ″Saturday Night Live\") is 55. Musician Jack Johnson is 50. Country singer David Nail is 46. Singer Darryl Allen of Mista is 45. Actor Allen Leech (\"Downton Abbey\") is 44. Guitarist Kevin Huguley of Rush of Fools is 43. Contemporary Christian singer Francesca Battistelli is 38. Actor Spencer Breslin (\"The Cat in the Hat\") is 33. Actor Violett Beane (\"God Friended Me\") is 29. Actor Hala Finley (\"Man with a Plan\") is 16.\n\nMay 19: TV personality David Hartman is 90. Actor James Fox is 86. Actor Nancy Kwan is 86. Musician Pete Townshend is 80. Singer-actor-model Grace Jones is 74. Drummer Phil Rudd AC/DC is 71. Actor Steven Ford is 69. Actor Toni Lewis (\"Homicide,\" ″Oz\") is 65. Guitarist Iain Harvie of Del Amitri is 63. Actor Polly Walker (film's \"John Carter,\" TV's \"Bridgerton\") is 59. Actor Jason Gray-Stanford (\"Monk\") is 55. Gospel singer Israel Houghton is 54. Singer Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base is 53. TV personality Kim Zolciak Biermann (\"Real Housewives of Atlanta\") is 47. Singer Shooter Jennings is 46. Comedian Michael Che (\"Saturday Night Live\") is 42. Guitarist Tim McTague of Underoath is 42. Guitarist James Richardson of MGMT is 42. Actor Eric Lloyd (\"The Santa Clause\") is 39. Singer Sam Smith is 33. Actor Nolan Lyons (\"Boardwalk Empire\") is 24.\n\nMay 20: Actor David Proval (\"The Sopranos\") is 83. Singer-actor Cher is 79. Actor Dave Thomas (\"Grace Under Fire,\" ″SCTV\") is 77. Musician Warren Cann of Ultravox is 75. Actor Dean Butler (\"Little House on the Prairie\") is 69. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's is 67. Singer Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills is 66. Actor Bronson Pinchot is 66. Actor John Billingsley (\"True Blood,\" ″Enterprise\") is 65. Actor Tony Goldwyn (\"Scandal\") is 65. Singer Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 is 64. TV personality Ted Allen (\"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy\") is 60. Actor Mindy Cohn (\"Facts of Life\") is 59. Guitarist Tom Gorman of Belly is 59. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 53. Bassist Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne is 50. Actor Matt Czuchry (\"The Good Wife,\" ″Gilmore Girls\") is 48. Singer-actor Naturi Naughton (3LW) is 41. Country singer Jon Pardi is 40.\n\nMay 21: Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 84. Keyboardist Bill Champlin (Chicago) is 78. Actor Carol Potter (\"Beverly Hills, 90210,\" ″Sunset Beach\") is 77. Singer Leo Sayer is 77. Comedian and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken is 74. Actor Mr. T is 73. Drummer Stan Lynch (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) is 70. Actor Judge Reinhold is 68. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes (\"The Notebook\") is 66. Actor Lisa Edelstein (\"House\") is 59. Actor Fairuza Balk (\"The Waterboy\") is 51. Singer-guitarist Mikel Jollett of Airborne Toxic Event is 51. Rapper Havoc of Mobb Deep is 51. Drummer Tony LoGerfo of Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real is 42. Actor Sunkrish Bala (\"Castle\") is 41. Actor David Ajala (\"Star Trek: Discovery,\" \"Black Box\") is 39. Actor Ashlie Brillault (\"Lizzie McGuire\") is 38. Country singer Cody Johnson is 38. Actor Scott Leavenworth (\"7th Heaven\") is 35. Actor Sarah Ramos (\"Parenthood,\" ″American Dreams\") is 34.\n\nMay 22: Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 87. Actor Frank Converse is 87. Actor Barbara Parkins (\"Peyton Place,\" ″Valley of the Dolls\") is 83. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 75. Actor Al Corley (\"Dynasty\") is 70. Singer Morrissey is 66. Actor Ann Cusack (\"Jeff Foxworthy Show,\" ″A League of Their Own\") is 64. Bassist Dana Williams of Diamond Rio is 64. Guitarist Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms is 63. Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence (\"Chuck\") is 61. Singer Johnny Gill is 59. Bassist Dan Roberts of Crash Test Dummies is 58. Actor Brooke Smith (\"Grey's Anatomy,\" ″The Silence of the Lambs\") is 58. Actor Michael Kelly (\"House of Cards\") is 56. Model Naomi Campbell is 55. Actor Anna Belknap (\"CSI: NY\") is 53. Singer Donell Jones is 52. Actor Sean Gunn (\"Guardians of the Galaxy,\" ″Gilmore Girls\") is 51. Actor A.J. Langer (\"Private Practice\") is 51. Actor Ginnifer Goodwin (\"Once Upon a Time\") is 47. Singer Vivian Green is 46. Actor Maggie Q (\"Insurgent,\" ″Divergent\") is 46. Actor Molly Ephraim (\"Last Man Standing\") is 39. Actor Anna Baryshnikov (\"Superior Donuts\") is 33. Actor Camren Bicondova (\"Gotham\") is 26.\n\nMay 23: Actor Barbara Barrie is 94. Actor Joan Collins is 93. Actor Lauren Chapin (\"Father Knows Best\") is 80. Country singer Judy Rodman is 74. Author Mitch Albom is 67. Comedian Drew Carey is 67. Actor Lea DeLaria (\"Orange Is the New Black\") is 67. Country singer Shelly West is 67. Actor Linden Ashby (\"Melrose Place\") is 65. Actor-model Karen Duffy is 64. Actor Melissa McBride (\"The Walking Dead\") is 60. Drummer Phil Selway of Radiohead is 58. Actor Laurel Holloman (\"The L Word\") is 57. Drummer Matt Flynn of Maroon 5 is 55. Singer Lorenzo is 53. Country singer Brian McComas is 53. Actor-playwright John Pollono (\"This is Us\") is 53. Singer Maxwell is 52. Singer Jewel is 51. Actor LaMonica Garrett (\"Designated Survivor,\" ″Sons of Anarchy\") is 50. Comedian Tim Robinson (\"Saturday Night Live\") is 44. Actor Adam Wylie (\"Picket Fences\") is 41. Director Ryan Coogler (\"Black Panther,\" \"Creed\") is 39. Singer Sarah Jarosz is 34.\n\nMay 24: Musician John Madden of The Serendipity Singers is 88. Jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp is 88. Comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong is 87. Musician Bob Dylan is 84. Actor Gary Burghoff (\"MASH\") is 82. Singer Patti LaBelle is 81. Actor Priscilla Presley is 80. Country singer-songwriter Mike Reid is 78. Actor Jim Broadbent (\"Moulin Rouge,\" ″Iris\") is 76. Actor Alfred Molina is 72. Singer Rosanne Cash is 70. Actor Cliff Parisi (\"Call the Midwife\") is 65. Actor Kristin Scott Thomas is 65. Actor John C. Reilly (\"Chicago,\" \"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story\") is 60. Actor Dana Ashbrook (\"Twin Peaks\") is 58. Actor Eric Close (\"Nashville,\" ″Without a Trace\") is 58. Actor Carl Payne (\"Martin,\" ″The Cosby Show\") is 56. Guitarist Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes is 56. Actor Dash Mihok (\"Silver Linings Playbook\") is 51. Actor Bryan Greenberg (film's \"Bride Wars,\" TV's \"One Tree Hill\") is 47. Actor Billy L. Sullivan (\"Something So Right\") is 45. Actor-rapper Big Tyme is 44. Drummer Cody Hanson of Hinder is 43. Dancer Mark Ballas (\"Dancing With the Stars\") is 39. Country singer Billy Gilman is 37. Rapper G-Eazy is 36. Actor Cayden Boyd (\"The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl\") is 31." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 18-24\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 12th, 2025 01:33 PM\n\n---\n\nCelebrity birthdays for the week of May 18-24:\n\nMay 18: Actor Candice Azzara (″Caroline in the City,\" ″Rhoda\") is 84. Bluegrass singer-guitarist Rodney Dillard of The Dillards is 83. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman of Yes is 76. Singer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo is 75. Actor James Stephens (\"Paper Chase,\" ″Father Dowling Mysteries\") is 74. Country singer George Strait is 73. Actor Chow Yun-Fat (\"Anna and the King,\" ″The Replacement Killers\") is 70. Singer-guitarist Page Hamilton of Helmet is 65. Guitarist Barry Graul of MercyMe is 64. Singer Michael Tait of Newsboys and of dc Talk is 59. Singer-actor Martika (\"Kids Incorporated,\" \"Wiseguy\") is 56. Comedian Tina Fey (\"30 Rock,\" ″Saturday Night Live\") is 55. Musician Jack Johnson is 50. Country singer David Nail is 46. Singer Darryl Allen of Mista is 45. Actor Allen Leech (\"Downton Abbey\") is 44. Guitarist Kevin Huguley of Rush of Fools is 43. Contemporary Christian singer Francesca Battistelli is 38. Actor Spencer Breslin (\"The Cat in the Hat\") is 33. Actor Violett Beane (\"God Friended Me\") is 29. Actor Hala Finley (\"Man with a Plan\") is 16.\n\nMay 19: TV personality David Hartman is 90. Actor James Fox is 86. Actor Nancy Kwan is 86. Musician Pete Townshend is 80. Singer-actor-model Grace Jones is 74. Drummer Phil Rudd AC/DC is 71. Actor Steven Ford is 69. Actor Toni Lewis (\"Homicide,\" ″Oz\") is 65. Guitarist Iain Harvie of Del Amitri is 63. Actor Polly Walker (film's \"John Carter,\" TV's \"Bridgerton\") is 59. Actor Jason Gray-Stanford (\"Monk\") is 55. Gospel singer Israel Houghton is 54. Singer Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base is 53. TV personality Kim Zolciak Biermann (\"Real Housewives of Atlanta\") is 47. Singer Shooter Jennings is 46. Comedian Michael Che (\"Saturday Night Live\") is 42. Guitarist Tim McTague of Underoath is 42. Guitarist James Richardson of MGMT is 42. Actor Eric Lloyd (\"The Santa Clause\") is 39. Singer Sam Smith is 33. Actor Nolan Lyons (\"Boardwalk Empire\") is 24.\n\nMay 20: Actor David Proval (\"The Sopranos\") is 83. Singer-actor Cher is 79. Actor Dave Thomas (\"Grace Under Fire,\" ″SCTV\") is 77. Musician Warren Cann of Ultravox is 75. Actor Dean Butler (\"Little House on the Prairie\") is 69. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's is 67. Singer Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills is 66. Actor Bronson Pinchot is 66. Actor John Billingsley (\"True Blood,\" ″Enterprise\") is 65. Actor Tony Goldwyn (\"Scandal\") is 65. Singer Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 is 64. TV personality Ted Allen (\"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy\") is 60. Actor Mindy Cohn (\"Facts of Life\") is 59. Guitarist Tom Gorman of Belly is 59. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 53. Bassist Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne is 50. Actor Matt Czuchry (\"The Good Wife,\" ″Gilmore Girls\") is 48. Singer-actor Naturi Naughton (3LW) is 41. Country singer Jon Pardi is 40.\n\nMay 21: Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 84. Keyboardist Bill Champlin (Chicago) is 78. Actor Carol Potter (\"Beverly Hills, 90210,\" ″Sunset Beach\") is 77. Singer Leo Sayer is 77. Comedian and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken is 74. Actor Mr. T is 73. Drummer Stan Lynch (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) is 70. Actor Judge Reinhold is 68. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes (\"The Notebook\") is 66. Actor Lisa Edelstein (\"House\") is 59. Actor Fairuza Balk (\"The Waterboy\") is 51. Singer-guitarist Mikel Jollett of Airborne Toxic Event is 51. Rapper Havoc of Mobb Deep is 51. Drummer Tony LoGerfo of Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real is 42. Actor Sunkrish Bala (\"Castle\") is 41. Actor David Ajala (\"Star Trek: Discovery,\" \"Black Box\") is 39. Actor Ashlie Brillault (\"Lizzie McGuire\") is 38. Country singer Cody Johnson is 38. Actor Scott Leavenworth (\"7th Heaven\") is 35. Actor Sarah Ramos (\"Parenthood,\" ″American Dreams\") is 34.\n\nMay 22: Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 87. Actor Frank Converse is 87. Actor Barbara Parkins (\"Peyton Place,\" ″Valley of the Dolls\") is 83. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 75. Actor Al Corley (\"Dynasty\") is 70. Singer Morrissey is 66. Actor Ann Cusack (\"Jeff Foxworthy Show,\" ″A League of Their Own\") is 64. Bassist Dana Williams of Diamond Rio is 64. Guitarist Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms is 63. Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence (\"Chuck\") is 61. Singer Johnny Gill is 59. Bassist Dan Roberts of Crash Test Dummies is 58. Actor Brooke Smith (\"Grey's Anatomy,\" ″The Silence of the Lambs\") is 58. Actor Michael Kelly (\"House of Cards\") is 56. Model Naomi Campbell is 55. Actor Anna Belknap (\"CSI: NY\") is 53. Singer Donell Jones is 52. Actor Sean Gunn (\"Guardians of the Galaxy,\" ″Gilmore Girls\") is 51. Actor A.J. Langer (\"Private Practice\") is 51. Actor Ginnifer Goodwin (\"Once Upon a Time\") is 47. Singer Vivian Green is 46. Actor Maggie Q (\"Insurgent,\" ″Divergent\") is 46. Actor Molly Ephraim (\"Last Man Standing\") is 39. Actor Anna Baryshnikov (\"Superior Donuts\") is 33. Actor Camren Bicondova (\"Gotham\") is 26.\n\nMay 23: Actor Barbara Barrie is 94. Actor Joan Collins is 93. Actor Lauren Chapin (\"Father Knows Best\") is 80. Country singer Judy Rodman is 74. Author Mitch Albom is 67. Comedian Drew Carey is 67. Actor Lea DeLaria (\"Orange Is the New Black\") is 67. Country singer Shelly West is 67. Actor Linden Ashby (\"Melrose Place\") is 65. Actor-model Karen Duffy is 64. Actor Melissa McBride (\"The Walking Dead\") is 60. Drummer Phil Selway of Radiohead is 58. Actor Laurel Holloman (\"The L Word\") is 57. Drummer Matt Flynn of Maroon 5 is 55. Singer Lorenzo is 53. Country singer Brian McComas is 53. Actor-playwright John Pollono (\"This is Us\") is 53. Singer Maxwell is 52. Singer Jewel is 51. Actor LaMonica Garrett (\"Designated Survivor,\" ″Sons of Anarchy\") is 50. Comedian Tim Robinson (\"Saturday Night Live\") is 44. Actor Adam Wylie (\"Picket Fences\") is 41. Director Ryan Coogler (\"Black Panther,\" \"Creed\") is 39. Singer Sarah Jarosz is 34.\n\nMay 24: Musician John Madden of The Serendipity Singers is 88. Jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp is 88. Comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong is 87. Musician Bob Dylan is 84. Actor Gary Burghoff (\"MASH\") is 82. Singer Patti LaBelle is 81. Actor Priscilla Presley is 80. Country singer-songwriter Mike Reid is 78. Actor Jim Broadbent (\"Moulin Rouge,\" ″Iris\") is 76. Actor Alfred Molina is 72. Singer Rosanne Cash is 70. Actor Cliff Parisi (\"Call the Midwife\") is 65. Actor Kristin Scott Thomas is 65. Actor John C. Reilly (\"Chicago,\" \"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story\") is 60. Actor Dana Ashbrook (\"Twin Peaks\") is 58. Actor Eric Close (\"Nashville,\" ″Without a Trace\") is 58. Actor Carl Payne (\"Martin,\" ″The Cosby Show\") is 56. Guitarist Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes is 56. Actor Dash Mihok (\"Silver Linings Playbook\") is 51. Actor Bryan Greenberg (film's \"Bride Wars,\" TV's \"One Tree Hill\") is 47. Actor Billy L. Sullivan (\"Something So Right\") is 45. Actor-rapper Big Tyme is 44. Drummer Cody Hanson of Hinder is 43. Dancer Mark Ballas (\"Dancing With the Stars\") is 39. Country singer Billy Gilman is 37. Rapper G-Eazy is 36. Actor Cayden Boyd (\"The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl\") is 31." } ]
61059a1563a03c453f74d724dde8583421555c34817de33f315ec70492af71c1	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Jose Trevino's 2-run homer sparks Reds to 9-1 victory over Cardinals\n\nBy Jeff Wallner \nMay 1st, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nCINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Trevino hit a two-run homer and Spencer Steer added a solo shot as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Thursday afternoon in a game delayed 1 hour, 37 minutes by rain.\n\nTrevino's two-out, two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore put the Reds ahead 2-0 in the second.\n\nBrendan Donovan scored from first on Nolan Arenado's single when Elly De La Cruz booted the ball in short left field for his major-league leading seventh error, making the score 2-1.\n\nNeither team's starter returned following the rain delay.\n\nLiberatore (2-3) allowed two runs and two hits in three innings for the Cardinals. Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott gave up a run on four hits over four innings.\n\nSteer hit a solo homer, his third of the season, off Riley O'Brien to make the score 5-1 in the sixth.\n\nSantiago Espinal's two-run single in the seventh pushed the Reds' lead to 8-1. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.\n\nReds reliever Graham Ashcraft (2-2) retired nine straight with four Ks to earn the victory and extend his scoreless streak to five innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nMatt Svanson replaced Liberatore in the fourth following the rain delay and allowed two singles and a walk to the first three batters to load the bases. The Reds scored twice in the inning to grab a three-run lead.\n\n## Key stat\n\nTrevino hit eight homers in 73 games last season for the Yankees. He has homered three times in 25 games so far this season.\n\n## Up next\n\nCardinals: RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.60) will start Friday's series opener against the Mets.\n\nReds: RHP Hunter Greene (3-0, 2.70) will start Friday's series opener against the Nationals.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Jose Trevino's 2-run homer sparks Reds to 9-1 victory over Cardinals\n\nBy Jeff Wallner \nMay 1st, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nCINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Trevino hit a two-run homer and Spencer Steer added a solo shot as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Thursday afternoon in a game delayed 1 hour, 37 minutes by rain.\n\nTrevino's two-out, two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore put the Reds ahead 2-0 in the second.\n\nBrendan Donovan scored from first on Nolan Arenado's single when Elly De La Cruz booted the ball in short left field for his major-league leading seventh error, making the score 2-1.\n\nNeither team's starter returned following the rain delay.\n\nLiberatore (2-3) allowed two runs and two hits in three innings for the Cardinals. Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott gave up a run on four hits over four innings.\n\nSteer hit a solo homer, his third of the season, off Riley O'Brien to make the score 5-1 in the sixth.\n\nSantiago Espinal's two-run single in the seventh pushed the Reds' lead to 8-1. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.\n\nReds reliever Graham Ashcraft (2-2) retired nine straight with four Ks to earn the victory and extend his scoreless streak to five innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nMatt Svanson replaced Liberatore in the fourth following the rain delay and allowed two singles and a walk to the first three batters to load the bases. The Reds scored twice in the inning to grab a three-run lead.\n\n## Key stat\n\nTrevino hit eight homers in 73 games last season for the Yankees. He has homered three times in 25 games so far this season.\n\n## Up next\n\nCardinals: RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.60) will start Friday's series opener against the Mets.\n\nReds: RHP Hunter Greene (3-0, 2.70) will start Friday's series opener against the Nationals." } ]
78e8ba3c2b21c80dc74c95d973f9d09ce51a556029c3ae7db95f8abca045bec7	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Pirates Skenes still winless against Cardinals after 2-1 loss\n\nBy Joe Harris \nMay 7th, 2025 03:30 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes still hasn't found what he's looking for against the St. Louis Cardinals — a win.\n\nSkenes fell to 0-4 in five career starts against the Cardinals following a 2-1 loss on Tuesday night. It is the most starts by a Pirates pitcher to begin a career against St. Louis without a win since JT Brubaker went 0-6 in eight starts without a win in 2021 and 2022.\n\nSkenes pitched well enough in his latest start, allowing two runs on three hits in six innings. But one mistake to Alec Burleson, who hit a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning, did him in.\n\n\"Just not executing,\" Skenes said.\n\nBurleson (6 for 15) has more career hits off Skenes than any other major leaguer. Adding to Skenes' frustration is the entire rally in the sixth started with two outs as Nolan Arenado singled and Willson Contreras walked before Burleson came to the plate.\n\n\"There is no secret,\" Burleson said of facing Skenes. \"It takes a little bit of luck I feel like. It's just with a guy like him you have to have a plan and stick to it for three, four at bats. It may not necessarily give you success that night but it gives you the best chance to have success. So that's what I did and it worked out and I had a good time.\"\n\nSkenes, who allowed a season-high five runs in a loss to the Cardinals in Pittsburgh on April 8, has a 2.75 ERA in his five career starts against St. Louis.\n\n\"I feel like we took tough at bats,\" Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. \"Didn't have a ton to show for it, but pitch count, we were able to drive that up, some deep counts. The guys continued to battle. You have to stay short through the middle of the field and battle from pitch one against someone like Skenes. I felt like our guys did that.\"\n\nSkenes pitched around four walks, matching a career high he set in his last outing against the Cubs.\n\n\"There were times where it looked like he lost his command, and then he came back and really executed pitches,\" Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. \"He gave up, what, three hits … and, you know, did a pretty good job. He made a bad pitch on a fastball that leaked out over to Burleson that ended up being the difference in the game.\"\n\nWhile Skenes would like the pitch to Burleson back, he was also the victim of lack of run support once again. In his five starts against the Cardinals spanning 32 2/3 innings, Skenes has received just three total runs of support while he has been in the game.\n\nThe Pirates have lost six straight and nine of their last 10 games.\n\n\"We're not being very consistent right now offensively,\" Shelton said. \"We're not getting things going and, you know, we've tried some different lineups. We've tried lineup changes. We've tried consistency of lineups. So, I think it's something we just got to keep exploring.\"\n\nPitching is not the problem, Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes said.\n\n\"And I mean, we just got to pick them up and score runs. So however, that may be, whether it be drawing walks, getting that big hit, we just got to find a way.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Pirates Skenes still winless against Cardinals after 2-1 loss\n\nBy Joe Harris \nMay 7th, 2025 03:30 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes still hasn't found what he's looking for against the St. Louis Cardinals — a win.\n\nSkenes fell to 0-4 in five career starts against the Cardinals following a 2-1 loss on Tuesday night. It is the most starts by a Pirates pitcher to begin a career against St. Louis without a win since JT Brubaker went 0-6 in eight starts without a win in 2021 and 2022.\n\nSkenes pitched well enough in his latest start, allowing two runs on three hits in six innings. But one mistake to Alec Burleson, who hit a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning, did him in.\n\n\"Just not executing,\" Skenes said.\n\nBurleson (6 for 15) has more career hits off Skenes than any other major leaguer. Adding to Skenes' frustration is the entire rally in the sixth started with two outs as Nolan Arenado singled and Willson Contreras walked before Burleson came to the plate.\n\n\"There is no secret,\" Burleson said of facing Skenes. \"It takes a little bit of luck I feel like. It's just with a guy like him you have to have a plan and stick to it for three, four at bats. It may not necessarily give you success that night but it gives you the best chance to have success. So that's what I did and it worked out and I had a good time.\"\n\nSkenes, who allowed a season-high five runs in a loss to the Cardinals in Pittsburgh on April 8, has a 2.75 ERA in his five career starts against St. Louis.\n\n\"I feel like we took tough at bats,\" Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. \"Didn't have a ton to show for it, but pitch count, we were able to drive that up, some deep counts. The guys continued to battle. You have to stay short through the middle of the field and battle from pitch one against someone like Skenes. I felt like our guys did that.\"\n\nSkenes pitched around four walks, matching a career high he set in his last outing against the Cubs.\n\n\"There were times where it looked like he lost his command, and then he came back and really executed pitches,\" Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. \"He gave up, what, three hits … and, you know, did a pretty good job. He made a bad pitch on a fastball that leaked out over to Burleson that ended up being the difference in the game.\"\n\nWhile Skenes would like the pitch to Burleson back, he was also the victim of lack of run support once again. In his five starts against the Cardinals spanning 32 2/3 innings, Skenes has received just three total runs of support while he has been in the game.\n\nThe Pirates have lost six straight and nine of their last 10 games.\n\n\"We're not being very consistent right now offensively,\" Shelton said. \"We're not getting things going and, you know, we've tried some different lineups. We've tried lineup changes. We've tried consistency of lineups. So, I think it's something we just got to keep exploring.\"\n\nPitching is not the problem, Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes said.\n\n\"And I mean, we just got to pick them up and score runs. So however, that may be, whether it be drawing walks, getting that big hit, we just got to find a way.\"" } ]
824cf651c1ed6a1df73295f09e0db9be1ffd6c892131f44aae52f79838d58850	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# How to make Mom some Challah French toast for Mother's Day\n\nBy Katie Workman \nMay 7th, 2025 12:15 PM\n\n---\n\nCooking for your mom on Mother's Day is probably the Best Gift Ever for a lot of moms. Sure, we're delighted to get flowers, or a lovely box of chocolate, or a new power drill, but what we really want is to be taken care of for one single, blessed day. Just kidding, we know you love us. Now cook something to prove it.\n\nA chill brunchy breakfast is a great way to go. And, by the way, it doesn't have to be in bed. In fact, having balanced a toddler, a mug of hot coffee and a plate of eggs on my lap while lying in bed in years past, I can say that's challenging, even when charming.\n\nThe smell of French toast cooking up on the stove should make a morning person out of anyone. There are few breakfasts that feel as indulgent, but it couldn't be easier to make!\n\nIn some parts of the world, French toast is called \"eggy toast,\" \"Bombay toast,\" \"gypsy toast\" and \"poor nights of Windsor.\" In France, it is actually called \"pain perdu,\" which means \"lost bread,\" as the bread is dunked into an eggy custard to soak for a while. Besides, the name French toast probably has nothing to do with France -– the most reasonable story is that a man named Joseph French invented it.\n\nWhatever you call it, it's a fan favorite.\n\n## For best results, choose an eggy bread\n\nChallah is far and away my favorite bread to use for making French toast. The bread is made with eggs, so it is richer than plain white loaves, and the middle becomes almost custardy in texture when it is soaked in a milk and egg mixture and griddled up on a pan.\n\nBrioche is another egg-based bread that is a great choice. And you can definitely use a plain Pullman loaf, a firm white bread, if you like – just make sure your slices are nice and thick.\n\nUse bread that is a bit on the dry side, meaning it needs to be a few days old. When I have a fresh challah, I simply slice it 3/4-inch thick and leave the slices on the counter for about 24 hours to dry out a bit. Flip them sometime in the middle of the day so both sides have a chance to air dry. Or put them on a wire rack, and then you can just let them dry without having to flip them.\n\nAnd it should be said that French toast leftovers heat up nicely in the microwave, so make a few extra pieces for later in the week.\n\n## Tips for making perfect French toast:\n\n— Mix the custard batter thoroughly so you don't get patches of just egg or milk.\n\n— Use two skillets to make the cooking go faster, especially if you are making it for a crowd.\n\n— Your bread slices should be around ¾-inch thick, and no more than 1-inch thick. Thinner slices might get too soggy in the custard dip and fall apart. Thicker slices are hard to cook through properly.\n\n— Soak the bread for just long enough: too long and it will get soggy and disintegrate, too short and the milk and egg mixture won't penetrate to the center of the bread, offering that custardy texture in the middle.\n\n— Use moderate heat: too high and the bread will burn on the outside, too low and it won't get that nicely browned crusty exterior.\n\n— Preheat the pan. Again, this will allow for the nice browned exterior.\n\n— Use a heavy skillet if possible, which holds heat more evenly. Cast iron is perfect, regular or enameled.\n\nThe recipe:\n\n## Challah French Toast\n\nServes 6\n\n## Ingredients:\n\n3 large eggs\n\n1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract\n\n½ to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)\n\n3 tablespoons sugar\n\n½ teaspoon kosher salt\n\n2 cups milk (I prefer whole)\n\n1 loaf slightly stale challah, sliced ¾ inch thick\n\nAbout 4 tablespoons butter for cooking, divided\n\nFor serving (pick and choose, or combine)\n\nMaple syrup\n\nConfectioners' sugar\n\nBerries or chopped soft fruit, like ripe peaches or nectarines\n\n## Directions:\n\nUse a whisk or a fork to beat the eggs in a wide shallow bowl or baking pan. Beat in the vanilla, cinnamon (if using), sugar and salt. Add the milk and whisk to combine thoroughly.\n\nHeat a very large skillet over medium heat. While the skillet is heating up, place a piece of the challah in the milk mixture and let it sit for about 1 minute. Flip the bread and let soak for another minute. If your bread is very dry, it might need to soak for longer. Take it out when it is soaked through, but not mushy.\n\nWhen the skillet is quite hot, take the bread from the milk mixture, allow any excess to drip back into the bowl, and then melt a tablespoon of the butter in the pan, swirling it to coat the bottom. Place the dipped bread in the skillet, and repeat with more slices, fitting as many pieces in the pan as possible in a single layer. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, then transfer the French toast to a serving plate or platter. Repeat with the remaining butter and dipped bread.\n\nServe the French toast hot with confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, berries or other fruit, and whatever other toppings you like.\n\nFrench toast also goes well with Strawberry Sauce, Fruit Salad and Crispy bacon.\n\n___\n\nKatie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, \"Dinner Solved!\" and \"The Mom 100 Cookbook.\" She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at [email protected].\n\n___\n\nFor more AP food stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/recipes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# How to make Mom some Challah French toast for Mother's Day\n\nBy Katie Workman \nMay 7th, 2025 12:15 PM\n\n---\n\nCooking for your mom on Mother's Day is probably the Best Gift Ever for a lot of moms. Sure, we're delighted to get flowers, or a lovely box of chocolate, or a new power drill, but what we really want is to be taken care of for one single, blessed day. Just kidding, we know you love us. Now cook something to prove it.\n\nA chill brunchy breakfast is a great way to go. And, by the way, it doesn't have to be in bed. In fact, having balanced a toddler, a mug of hot coffee and a plate of eggs on my lap while lying in bed in years past, I can say that's challenging, even when charming.\n\nThe smell of French toast cooking up on the stove should make a morning person out of anyone. There are few breakfasts that feel as indulgent, but it couldn't be easier to make!\n\nIn some parts of the world, French toast is called \"eggy toast,\" \"Bombay toast,\" \"gypsy toast\" and \"poor nights of Windsor.\" In France, it is actually called \"pain perdu,\" which means \"lost bread,\" as the bread is dunked into an eggy custard to soak for a while. Besides, the name French toast probably has nothing to do with France -– the most reasonable story is that a man named Joseph French invented it.\n\nWhatever you call it, it's a fan favorite.\n\n## For best results, choose an eggy bread\n\nChallah is far and away my favorite bread to use for making French toast. The bread is made with eggs, so it is richer than plain white loaves, and the middle becomes almost custardy in texture when it is soaked in a milk and egg mixture and griddled up on a pan.\n\nBrioche is another egg-based bread that is a great choice. And you can definitely use a plain Pullman loaf, a firm white bread, if you like – just make sure your slices are nice and thick.\n\nUse bread that is a bit on the dry side, meaning it needs to be a few days old. When I have a fresh challah, I simply slice it 3/4-inch thick and leave the slices on the counter for about 24 hours to dry out a bit. Flip them sometime in the middle of the day so both sides have a chance to air dry. Or put them on a wire rack, and then you can just let them dry without having to flip them.\n\nAnd it should be said that French toast leftovers heat up nicely in the microwave, so make a few extra pieces for later in the week.\n\n## Tips for making perfect French toast:\n\n— Mix the custard batter thoroughly so you don't get patches of just egg or milk.\n\n— Use two skillets to make the cooking go faster, especially if you are making it for a crowd.\n\n— Your bread slices should be around ¾-inch thick, and no more than 1-inch thick. Thinner slices might get too soggy in the custard dip and fall apart. Thicker slices are hard to cook through properly.\n\n— Soak the bread for just long enough: too long and it will get soggy and disintegrate, too short and the milk and egg mixture won't penetrate to the center of the bread, offering that custardy texture in the middle.\n\n— Use moderate heat: too high and the bread will burn on the outside, too low and it won't get that nicely browned crusty exterior.\n\n— Preheat the pan. Again, this will allow for the nice browned exterior.\n\n— Use a heavy skillet if possible, which holds heat more evenly. Cast iron is perfect, regular or enameled.\n\nThe recipe:\n\n## Challah French Toast\n\nServes 6\n\n## Ingredients:\n\n3 large eggs\n\n1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract\n\n½ to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)\n\n3 tablespoons sugar\n\n½ teaspoon kosher salt\n\n2 cups milk (I prefer whole)\n\n1 loaf slightly stale challah, sliced ¾ inch thick\n\nAbout 4 tablespoons butter for cooking, divided\n\nFor serving (pick and choose, or combine)\n\nMaple syrup\n\nConfectioners' sugar\n\nBerries or chopped soft fruit, like ripe peaches or nectarines\n\n## Directions:\n\nUse a whisk or a fork to beat the eggs in a wide shallow bowl or baking pan. Beat in the vanilla, cinnamon (if using), sugar and salt. Add the milk and whisk to combine thoroughly.\n\nHeat a very large skillet over medium heat. While the skillet is heating up, place a piece of the challah in the milk mixture and let it sit for about 1 minute. Flip the bread and let soak for another minute. If your bread is very dry, it might need to soak for longer. Take it out when it is soaked through, but not mushy.\n\nWhen the skillet is quite hot, take the bread from the milk mixture, allow any excess to drip back into the bowl, and then melt a tablespoon of the butter in the pan, swirling it to coat the bottom. Place the dipped bread in the skillet, and repeat with more slices, fitting as many pieces in the pan as possible in a single layer. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, then transfer the French toast to a serving plate or platter. Repeat with the remaining butter and dipped bread.\n\nServe the French toast hot with confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, berries or other fruit, and whatever other toppings you like.\n\nFrench toast also goes well with Strawberry Sauce, Fruit Salad and Crispy bacon." } ]
2da00d0b56e5c98d3223bbd9b1db274feeafa3851d9841c100fe4767b449c7d5	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Michigan to suspend Sherrone Moore for 2 games, AP sources say\n\nBy Larry Lage \nMay 5th, 2025 03:45 PM\n\n---\n\nANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is expected to suspend coach Sherrone Moore for two games next season to address allegations that he failed to cooperate in the NCAA's sign-stealing investigation that rocked college football during the Wolverines' championship season under Jim Harbaugh in 2023, according to two people familiar with the situation.\n\nMoore is expected to miss the Wolverines' third and fourth games — home against Central Michigan on Sept. 13 and at Nebraska a week later —and all athletic-related duties during those weeks, they said.\n\nThe people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the school's proposed self-imposed sanction has not been announced. It has also not been finalized, according to a third person with knowledge of the situation, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. ESPN was the first to report the expected suspension.\n\nThe NCAA investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing by Michigan hung over the second half of the team's unbeaten season in 2023 and is still looming over college football's winningest program.\n\nThe NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team's signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed former staffer Conor Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.\n\nStalions initially was placed on leave by the school and later resigned. He did not participate in the investigation.\n\nLast August, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to its sign-stealing investigation that Moore violated rules as an assistant under Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two wound up in court.\n\nMoore was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation.\n\nMoore served a one-game suspension during the 2023 season related to recruiting infractions and filled in as head coach for four games last year when Harbaugh was punished by the school and the Big Ten.\n\nThe NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.\n\nMichigan opens the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman.\n\n____\n\nGet poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Michigan to suspend Sherrone Moore for 2 games, AP sources say\n\nBy Larry Lage \nMay 5th, 2025 03:45 PM\n\n---\n\nANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is expected to suspend coach Sherrone Moore for two games next season to address allegations that he failed to cooperate in the NCAA's sign-stealing investigation that rocked college football during the Wolverines' championship season under Jim Harbaugh in 2023, according to two people familiar with the situation.\n\nMoore is expected to miss the Wolverines' third and fourth games — home against Central Michigan on Sept. 13 and at Nebraska a week later —and all athletic-related duties during those weeks, they said.\n\nThe people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the school's proposed self-imposed sanction has not been announced. It has also not been finalized, according to a third person with knowledge of the situation, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. ESPN was the first to report the expected suspension.\n\nThe NCAA investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing by Michigan hung over the second half of the team's unbeaten season in 2023 and is still looming over college football's winningest program.\n\nThe NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team's signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed former staffer Conor Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.\n\nStalions initially was placed on leave by the school and later resigned. He did not participate in the investigation.\n\nLast August, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to its sign-stealing investigation that Moore violated rules as an assistant under Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two wound up in court.\n\nMoore was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation.\n\nMoore served a one-game suspension during the 2023 season related to recruiting infractions and filled in as head coach for four games last year when Harbaugh was punished by the school and the Big Ten.\n\nThe NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.\n\nMichigan opens the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman." } ]
6929ea628e62351334f44b4d499d61eb91c2b6bd5ea8ef6203eef0c281e97a42	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# One Tech Tip: Skype shut down for good, but users still have these alternatives\n\nBy Kelvin Chan \nMay 6th, 2025 03:06 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Skype is dead. What now?\n\nMicrosoft's shutdown of Skype on May 5 sent millions of users scrambling to find an alternative to the pioneering internet phone service.\n\nSkype, which Microsoft bought in 2011, was beloved by a dwindling group of users who appreciated how it let them make cheap long-distance calls as well as communicate with other users through chat messages, voice or video calls.\n\nSome liked its simplicity and ease of use — an advantage, for example, when setting up a communications app for an elderly parent living far away.\n\nOr they just used it out of habit.\n\nSkype was founded in 2003 and was among the first in a wave of communication services that used voice over internet protocol technology (VoIP), which converts audio into a digital signal.\n\nSkype's disappearance also inconveniences Americans and other expatriates living overseas who signed up because they needed an U.S.-based number to receive text authentication codes from, say, a bank back home. It was also handy for calling 800 numbers for free even if you weren't living in North America.\n\nHere is a guide for life after Skype:\n\n## What's happening\n\nMicrosoft announced in late February that it was shutting down Skype on May 5 and shifting some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship office videoconferencing and group collaboration platform.\n\nSkype users can use their existing accounts to log into Teams and have the option to automatically migrate their contacts and chats.\n\nIf you had a Skype number or a calling subscription, it stopped automatically renewing on April 3.\n\nIf your account still has credit, you can access Skype's dial pad from the web portal or Teams to make calls.\n\nSkype numbers won't immediately expire on May 5 so you'll still be able to receive calls until your subscription expires. But you'll have to use Teams or keep the Skype dial pad open on the web portal to receive them.\n\n## Porting your number(s)\n\nIf your Skype number hasn't expired and you don't want to lose it, you should transfer it to another provider.\n\nSkype numbers can be ported to a phone carrier or any number of other VoIP services. But you'll have to start the process through the new provider, not Skype.\n\n## Google Voice\n\nGoogle users can access the online search giant's internet phone service to make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser. You can get your own Google Voice phone number and use features like call forwarding and voicemail. Or you can port your number from another service like Skype, but it will cost $20.\n\nCalls to U.S., Canadian or Puerto Rican numbers are free. Rates for other countries vary.\n\nThe free version of Google Voice is only available to U.S. residents physically located in the 48 contiguous states, so that means expatriate Americans can only use it if they registered before they moved overseas.\n\n\"You cannot sign up for a Google Voice number while outside the USA,\" according to a help page. \"Do not try to circumvent this by using a VPN.\"\n\n## Viber\n\nOwned by Japan's Rakuten, Viber was long considered one of the closest competitors to Skype. One key difference is that Skype users don't need a phone number and are identified by their usernames, while Viber users need a number to register for service.\n\nSimilar to Skype, Viber users can buy credit or packages to call phone numbers around the world but it's no longer possible to get a Viber number to receive calls.\n\n## Zoom\n\nThe videoconferencing service that's become a byword for online company meetings offers a calling service, Zoom Phone, and features like number porting and the ability to send and receive SMS text messages.\n\nTake note that Zoom Phone isn't free. There are various calling plans that involve a monthly subscription cost and extra fees for international calls.\n\n## Teams\n\nMicrosoft users have the option of making calls on Teams, dubbed Teams Phone. Like Zoom Phone, you'll need to buy a subscription and pay extra for international calls.\n\nBut it's not an option for regular people because Microsoft says Teams Phone isn't for consumer use and is only available to small and medium-sized businesses.\n\n## Wireless Carriers\n\nIf you absolutely need a U.S. number but live overseas, sign up for service with a low-cost virtual wireless carrier that offers cheap cellphone plans or pay-as-you-go rates.\n\nOne provider, Tello, offers monthly plans for as little as $5 and says users can activate its service even if they're living outside the U.S.\n\nBecause mobile virtual network operators like Tello are essentially wireless phone companies that piggyback off a bigger carrier's physical network, you can't use it to make calls on a computer or an app.\n\n## VoIP it\n\nThere are a slew of Skype pretenders offering phone calls over the internet, such as Zoiper, VoIP.ms, CallCentric, Mytello, and Virtual Landline. Many are aimed at business users.\n\nSome are capitalizing on Skype's disappearance. Hushed, which started as an anonymous calling app, bills itself as a Skype alternative. Users can buy a phone number from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom or Puerto Rico or port their own number.\n\nIt warns that some of its numbers aren't guaranteed to work with third-party verification text messages.\n\n\"We do not intentionally block anyone from receiving these codes, but it's common that some services will prevent verification texts from being sent to certain phone numbers due to their own security policies,\" Hushed says on its website.\n\n## Park your number\n\nMaybe you can't decide which calling service you want to switch to. If you want to save your current number, there are services to just park your number like NumberBarn.com and Parkmyphone.com.\n\nThey let you store a phone number for a monthly fee while relaying any text messages sent to that number. You can port the number to another service whenever you want.\n\nBeware, you can only port in U.S. or Canadian phone numbers.\n\n## eSIMs\n\nWhat about an international eSIM? They're the virtual version of the mobile phone SIM card that you can buy and add to your phone when you're on a trip to save on roaming fees.\n\nThey offer cheap data access rates so you can use the internet without worrying about racking up a huge bill when you get home.\n\nUnfortunately, you can't port a Skype number to an international eSIM because of \"the fundamental differences\" between VoIP services and traditional mobile networks, said Pedro Maiquez, co-founder of eSIM provider Holafly. \"Skype numbers are not tied to a mobile carrier's physical infrastructure, making them incompatible with mobile eSIM solutions.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# One Tech Tip: Skype shut down for good, but users still have these alternatives\n\nBy Kelvin Chan \nMay 6th, 2025 03:06 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Skype is dead. What now?\n\nMicrosoft's shutdown of Skype on May 5 sent millions of users scrambling to find an alternative to the pioneering internet phone service.\n\nSkype, which Microsoft bought in 2011, was beloved by a dwindling group of users who appreciated how it let them make cheap long-distance calls as well as communicate with other users through chat messages, voice or video calls.\n\nSome liked its simplicity and ease of use — an advantage, for example, when setting up a communications app for an elderly parent living far away.\n\nOr they just used it out of habit.\n\nSkype was founded in 2003 and was among the first in a wave of communication services that used voice over internet protocol technology (VoIP), which converts audio into a digital signal.\n\nSkype's disappearance also inconveniences Americans and other expatriates living overseas who signed up because they needed an U.S.-based number to receive text authentication codes from, say, a bank back home. It was also handy for calling 800 numbers for free even if you weren't living in North America.\n\nHere is a guide for life after Skype:\n\n## What's happening\n\nMicrosoft announced in late February that it was shutting down Skype on May 5 and shifting some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship office videoconferencing and group collaboration platform.\n\nSkype users can use their existing accounts to log into Teams and have the option to automatically migrate their contacts and chats.\n\nIf you had a Skype number or a calling subscription, it stopped automatically renewing on April 3.\n\nIf your account still has credit, you can access Skype's dial pad from the web portal or Teams to make calls.\n\nSkype numbers won't immediately expire on May 5 so you'll still be able to receive calls until your subscription expires. But you'll have to use Teams or keep the Skype dial pad open on the web portal to receive them.\n\n## Porting your number(s)\n\nIf your Skype number hasn't expired and you don't want to lose it, you should transfer it to another provider.\n\nSkype numbers can be ported to a phone carrier or any number of other VoIP services. But you'll have to start the process through the new provider, not Skype.\n\n## Google Voice\n\nGoogle users can access the online search giant's internet phone service to make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser. You can get your own Google Voice phone number and use features like call forwarding and voicemail. Or you can port your number from another service like Skype, but it will cost $20.\n\nCalls to U.S., Canadian or Puerto Rican numbers are free. Rates for other countries vary.\n\nThe free version of Google Voice is only available to U.S. residents physically located in the 48 contiguous states, so that means expatriate Americans can only use it if they registered before they moved overseas.\n\n\"You cannot sign up for a Google Voice number while outside the USA,\" according to a help page. \"Do not try to circumvent this by using a VPN.\"\n\n## Viber\n\nOwned by Japan's Rakuten, Viber was long considered one of the closest competitors to Skype. One key difference is that Skype users don't need a phone number and are identified by their usernames, while Viber users need a number to register for service.\n\nSimilar to Skype, Viber users can buy credit or packages to call phone numbers around the world but it's no longer possible to get a Viber number to receive calls.\n\n## Zoom\n\nThe videoconferencing service that's become a byword for online company meetings offers a calling service, Zoom Phone, and features like number porting and the ability to send and receive SMS text messages.\n\nTake note that Zoom Phone isn't free. There are various calling plans that involve a monthly subscription cost and extra fees for international calls.\n\n## Teams\n\nMicrosoft users have the option of making calls on Teams, dubbed Teams Phone. Like Zoom Phone, you'll need to buy a subscription and pay extra for international calls.\n\nBut it's not an option for regular people because Microsoft says Teams Phone isn't for consumer use and is only available to small and medium-sized businesses.\n\n## Wireless Carriers\n\nIf you absolutely need a U.S. number but live overseas, sign up for service with a low-cost virtual wireless carrier that offers cheap cellphone plans or pay-as-you-go rates.\n\nOne provider, Tello, offers monthly plans for as little as $5 and says users can activate its service even if they're living outside the U.S.\n\nBecause mobile virtual network operators like Tello are essentially wireless phone companies that piggyback off a bigger carrier's physical network, you can't use it to make calls on a computer or an app.\n\n## VoIP it\n\nThere are a slew of Skype pretenders offering phone calls over the internet, such as Zoiper, VoIP.ms, CallCentric, Mytello, and Virtual Landline. Many are aimed at business users.\n\nSome are capitalizing on Skype's disappearance. Hushed, which started as an anonymous calling app, bills itself as a Skype alternative. Users can buy a phone number from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom or Puerto Rico or port their own number.\n\nIt warns that some of its numbers aren't guaranteed to work with third-party verification text messages.\n\n\"We do not intentionally block anyone from receiving these codes, but it's common that some services will prevent verification texts from being sent to certain phone numbers due to their own security policies,\" Hushed says on its website.\n\n## Park your number\n\nMaybe you can't decide which calling service you want to switch to. If you want to save your current number, there are services to just park your number like NumberBarn.com and Parkmyphone.com.\n\nThey let you store a phone number for a monthly fee while relaying any text messages sent to that number. You can port the number to another service whenever you want.\n\nBeware, you can only port in U.S. or Canadian phone numbers.\n\n## eSIMs\n\nWhat about an international eSIM? They're the virtual version of the mobile phone SIM card that you can buy and add to your phone when you're on a trip to save on roaming fees.\n\nThey offer cheap data access rates so you can use the internet without worrying about racking up a huge bill when you get home.\n\nUnfortunately, you can't port a Skype number to an international eSIM because of \"the fundamental differences\" between VoIP services and traditional mobile networks, said Pedro Maiquez, co-founder of eSIM provider Holafly. \"Skype numbers are not tied to a mobile carrier's physical infrastructure, making them incompatible with mobile eSIM solutions.\"" } ]
4284547346adb6ba9839f840ebf9bff6f6cc0597f6955e65e6000d5c7046cf58	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Judge bars deportations of Venezuelans under 18th-century wartime law\n\nBy Nicholas Riccardi \nMay 1st, 2025 04:13 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Donald Trump's invocation of it was \"unlawful.\"\n\nU.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who, the Republican administration claims, are gang members invading the United States. Rodriguez said he wouldn't interfere with the government's right to deport people in the country illegally through other means, but it could not rely on the 227-year-old law to do so.\n\n\"Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,\" wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, \"the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute's terms.\"\n\nIn March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings.\n\n\"The Court concludes that the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,\" Rodriguez wrote.\n\nIn an interview on Fox News, Vice President JD Vance said the administration will be \"aggressively appealing\" the ruling and others that hem in the president's deportation power.\n\n\"The judge doesn't make that determination, whether the Alien Enemies Act can be deployed,\" Vance said. \"I think the president of the United States is the one who determines whether this country is being invaded.\"\n\nThe chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., said in a statement the judge had made clear \"what we all knew to be true: The Trump administration illegally used the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process.\"\n\nThe Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, most recently during World War II, when it was cited to intern Japanese-Americans.\n\nThe proclamation triggered a flurry of litigation as the administration tried to ship migrants it claimed were gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.\n\nRodriguez's ruling is significant because it is the first formal permanent injunction against the administration using the AEA and contends the president is misusing the law. \"Congress never meant for this law to be used in this manner,\" said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case, in response to the ruling.\n\nRodriguez agreed, noting that the provision has only been used during the two World Wars and the War of 1812. Trump claimed Tren de Aragua was acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government, but Rodriguez found that the activities the administration accused it of did not amount to an invasion or \"predatory incursion,\" as the statute requires.\n\n\"The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation,\" Rodriguez wrote. \"Thus, the Proclamation's language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of 'invasion' for purposes of the AEA.\"\n\nIf the administration appeals, it would go first to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That is among the nation's most conservative appeals courts and it also has ruled against what it saw as overreach on immigration matters by both the Obama and Biden administrations. In those cases, Democratic administrations had sought to make it easier for immigrants to remain in the U.S.\n\nThe administration, as it has in other cases challenging its expansive view of presidential power, could turn to appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, in the form of an emergency motion for a stay pending an appeal.\n\nThe Supreme Court already has weighed in once on the issue of deportations under the AEA. The justices held that migrants alleged to be gang members must be given \"reasonable time\" to contest their removal from the country. The court has not specified the length of time.\n\nIt's possible that the losing side in the 5th Circuit would file an emergency appeal with the justices that also would ask them to short-circuit lower court action in favor of a definitive ruling from the nation's highest court. Such a decision likely would be months away, at least.\n\nThe Texas case is just one piece of a tangle of litigation sparked by Trump's proclamation.\n\nThe ACLU initially filed suit in the nation's capital to block deportations. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a temporary hold on removals and ordered the administration turn around planes that had left with detainees headed to El Salvador, a directive that was apparently ignored. Later, the Supreme Court weighed in.\n\nThe justices stepped in again late last month with an unusual postmidnight order halting deportations from North Texas, where the ACLU contended the administration was preparing for another round of flights to El Salvador.\n\n___\n\nRiccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Mark Sherman contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Judge bars deportations of Venezuelans under 18th-century wartime law\n\nBy Nicholas Riccardi \nMay 1st, 2025 04:13 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Donald Trump's invocation of it was \"unlawful.\"\n\nU.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who, the Republican administration claims, are gang members invading the United States. Rodriguez said he wouldn't interfere with the government's right to deport people in the country illegally through other means, but it could not rely on the 227-year-old law to do so.\n\n\"Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,\" wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, \"the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute's terms.\"\n\nIn March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings.\n\n\"The Court concludes that the President's invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,\" Rodriguez wrote.\n\nIn an interview on Fox News, Vice President JD Vance said the administration will be \"aggressively appealing\" the ruling and others that hem in the president's deportation power.\n\n\"The judge doesn't make that determination, whether the Alien Enemies Act can be deployed,\" Vance said. \"I think the president of the United States is the one who determines whether this country is being invaded.\"\n\nThe chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., said in a statement the judge had made clear \"what we all knew to be true: The Trump administration illegally used the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process.\"\n\nThe Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, most recently during World War II, when it was cited to intern Japanese-Americans.\n\nThe proclamation triggered a flurry of litigation as the administration tried to ship migrants it claimed were gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.\n\nRodriguez's ruling is significant because it is the first formal permanent injunction against the administration using the AEA and contends the president is misusing the law. \"Congress never meant for this law to be used in this manner,\" said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case, in response to the ruling.\n\nRodriguez agreed, noting that the provision has only been used during the two World Wars and the War of 1812. Trump claimed Tren de Aragua was acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government, but Rodriguez found that the activities the administration accused it of did not amount to an invasion or \"predatory incursion,\" as the statute requires.\n\n\"The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation,\" Rodriguez wrote. \"Thus, the Proclamation's language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of 'invasion' for purposes of the AEA.\"\n\nIf the administration appeals, it would go first to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That is among the nation's most conservative appeals courts and it also has ruled against what it saw as overreach on immigration matters by both the Obama and Biden administrations. In those cases, Democratic administrations had sought to make it easier for immigrants to remain in the U.S.\n\nThe administration, as it has in other cases challenging its expansive view of presidential power, could turn to appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, in the form of an emergency motion for a stay pending an appeal.\n\nThe Supreme Court already has weighed in once on the issue of deportations under the AEA. The justices held that migrants alleged to be gang members must be given \"reasonable time\" to contest their removal from the country. The court has not specified the length of time.\n\nIt's possible that the losing side in the 5th Circuit would file an emergency appeal with the justices that also would ask them to short-circuit lower court action in favor of a definitive ruling from the nation's highest court. Such a decision likely would be months away, at least.\n\nThe Texas case is just one piece of a tangle of litigation sparked by Trump's proclamation.\n\nThe ACLU initially filed suit in the nation's capital to block deportations. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a temporary hold on removals and ordered the administration turn around planes that had left with detainees headed to El Salvador, a directive that was apparently ignored. Later, the Supreme Court weighed in.\n\nThe justices stepped in again late last month with an unusual postmidnight order halting deportations from North Texas, where the ACLU contended the administration was preparing for another round of flights to El Salvador." } ]
13eac3dd549a24756c8ecf87044ed7cee8a880b7ef1b2bdbbfd5832292dfa757	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Czech central bank cuts key interest rate to 3.5% as inflation drops more than expected\n\nMay 7th, 2025 12:52 PM\n\n---\n\nPRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic's central bank cut its key interest rate again on Wednesday, with lower-than-expected inflation.\n\nThe cut brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.50%. The bank had kept the rate unchanged at its previous policy meeting in March.\n\nAnalysts predicted the cut was likely, but also said the uncertainty over the tariff policies of U.S. President Donald Trump was an argument in favor of no change.\n\nThe bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, 2023, to boost the economy, and further cut rates by half or a quarter of a percentage point several times last year.\n\nInflation dropped to 1.8% year-on-year in April, the lowest level in seven years, preliminary data by the Czech Statistics Office indicated on Tuesday. It was 2.7% year-on-year in March.\n\nThe size of the Czech economy was up 1% in 2024 compared with the previous year.\n\nThe European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25% on April 17 for the seventh time.\n\nThe U.S. Federal Reserve was expected to keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged at about 4.3% later on Wednesday, despite weeks of harsh criticism and demands from Trump that the Fed reduce borrowing costs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Czech central bank cuts key interest rate to 3.5% as inflation drops more than expected\n\nMay 7th, 2025 12:52 PM\n\n---\n\nPRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic's central bank cut its key interest rate again on Wednesday, with lower-than-expected inflation.\n\nThe cut brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.50%. The bank had kept the rate unchanged at its previous policy meeting in March.\n\nAnalysts predicted the cut was likely, but also said the uncertainty over the tariff policies of U.S. President Donald Trump was an argument in favor of no change.\n\nThe bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, 2023, to boost the economy, and further cut rates by half or a quarter of a percentage point several times last year.\n\nInflation dropped to 1.8% year-on-year in April, the lowest level in seven years, preliminary data by the Czech Statistics Office indicated on Tuesday. It was 2.7% year-on-year in March.\n\nThe size of the Czech economy was up 1% in 2024 compared with the previous year.\n\nThe European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25% on April 17 for the seventh time.\n\nThe U.S. Federal Reserve was expected to keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged at about 4.3% later on Wednesday, despite weeks of harsh criticism and demands from Trump that the Fed reduce borrowing costs." } ]
bc59e5a4cacd95ab2649b0fe6ee87b7a5ff6dea7f54b3fdcc4af1cb9381fc16c	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Goals by Svechnikov, Roslovic jolt the Hurricanes in Game 3 playoff win against the Capitals\n\nBy Aaron Beard \nMay 11th, 2025 03:09 AM\n\n---\n\nRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov gave the Carolina Hurricanes their breakthrough moment to continue his strong postseason, while Jack Roslovic offered his own stay-ready moment after recently being a healthy scratch.\n\nThat pushed the Hurricanes back ahead of the Washington Capitals in their second-round playoff series — along with maybe easing some of the frustration that built amid two games filled with blocked shots and turned-away chances.\n\nSvechnikov pounced on a loose puck immediately after a faceoff to score the game's first goal midway through the second period, while Roslovic followed with a power-play score late in the period. Those marked the start of what turned into Carolina's romp through the final 30 minutes on the way to a 4-0 win on Saturday night in Game 3 after splitting the first two road games in the series.\n\n\"Sometimes you need those individual efforts,\" Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. \"We had that tonight.\"\n\nAnd in this case, they provided the jolt that loosened the Hurricanes' spinning-in-mud wheels.\n\nThe Hurricanes are at their best when they're using their depth to roll lines and pressure opponents with an aggressive forecheck that can keep the puck in the offensive zone for withering stretches and make defenders scrap for clean outlets. Yet they returned home to find the Capitals carrying the action through the first period and into the second, both in generating chances against Frederik Andersen and in keeping the puck moving against Carolina's pressure.\n\nWorse, it came after Carolina had managed just two 5-on-5 goals through Games 1 and 2, a combination of strong play from Logan Thompson in net and skaters repeatedly blocking shots to keep pucks from even getting to him. And the Hurricanes had their close calls, ringing the post four times through the first two games while Svechnikov twice hit the crossbar in Game 1.\n\nIt didn't help, too, that Svechnikov pinged the top left corner of the frame against Thompson again on a first-period charge up the ice that felt familiar as the Capitals carried play.\n\nEventually, though, Svechnikov and Roslovic seemingly pried the lid off the net.\n\nFirst it was Svechnikov springing into the circle to beat John Carlson to the puck, then zipping it past Thompson at 12:34 of the second for the game's first goal.\n\n\"I just saw the puck kind of loose and tried to make the move closer to the puck, and got the puck and shot it,\" Svechnikov said.\n\nThat made the 25-year-old one of four players in this postseason to score at least six goals.\n\nThen there was Roslovic, who scored 22 goals in the regular season and played as the fourth-line center through the first three games of the first-round series against New Jersey. But Brind'Amour shuffled the lineup for Game 4 and went with Mark Jankowski, who held the role for the final two games against the Devils and then for the Game 1 win against Washington before exiting with an undisclosed injury.\n\nRoslovic returned for Thursday's Game 2 loss, then came through in a big way Saturday night with a multipoint night while centering the second line. He broke through on the power play by taking a feed from Brent Burns up top, then sent the puck off skittering through an opening off Thompson's right leg with 1:03 left for the 2-0 lead.\n\nHe also assisted on Eric Robinson's goal early in the third that pushed the margin to 3-0.\n\n\"I don't really want to get too deep into it,\" Roslovic said of the emotions of being a healthy scratch in the playoffs. \"But just always be ready and try to help the team win.\"\n\nAnd just like that, the Hurricanes held a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 looming here Monday night.\n\n___\n\nAP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Goals by Svechnikov, Roslovic jolt the Hurricanes in Game 3 playoff win against the Capitals\n\nBy Aaron Beard \nMay 11th, 2025 03:09 AM\n\n---\n\nRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov gave the Carolina Hurricanes their breakthrough moment to continue his strong postseason, while Jack Roslovic offered his own stay-ready moment after recently being a healthy scratch.\n\nThat pushed the Hurricanes back ahead of the Washington Capitals in their second-round playoff series — along with maybe easing some of the frustration that built amid two games filled with blocked shots and turned-away chances.\n\nSvechnikov pounced on a loose puck immediately after a faceoff to score the game's first goal midway through the second period, while Roslovic followed with a power-play score late in the period. Those marked the start of what turned into Carolina's romp through the final 30 minutes on the way to a 4-0 win on Saturday night in Game 3 after splitting the first two road games in the series.\n\n\"Sometimes you need those individual efforts,\" Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. \"We had that tonight.\"\n\nAnd in this case, they provided the jolt that loosened the Hurricanes' spinning-in-mud wheels.\n\nThe Hurricanes are at their best when they're using their depth to roll lines and pressure opponents with an aggressive forecheck that can keep the puck in the offensive zone for withering stretches and make defenders scrap for clean outlets. Yet they returned home to find the Capitals carrying the action through the first period and into the second, both in generating chances against Frederik Andersen and in keeping the puck moving against Carolina's pressure.\n\nWorse, it came after Carolina had managed just two 5-on-5 goals through Games 1 and 2, a combination of strong play from Logan Thompson in net and skaters repeatedly blocking shots to keep pucks from even getting to him. And the Hurricanes had their close calls, ringing the post four times through the first two games while Svechnikov twice hit the crossbar in Game 1.\n\nIt didn't help, too, that Svechnikov pinged the top left corner of the frame against Thompson again on a first-period charge up the ice that felt familiar as the Capitals carried play.\n\nEventually, though, Svechnikov and Roslovic seemingly pried the lid off the net.\n\nFirst it was Svechnikov springing into the circle to beat John Carlson to the puck, then zipping it past Thompson at 12:34 of the second for the game's first goal.\n\n\"I just saw the puck kind of loose and tried to make the move closer to the puck, and got the puck and shot it,\" Svechnikov said.\n\nThat made the 25-year-old one of four players in this postseason to score at least six goals.\n\nThen there was Roslovic, who scored 22 goals in the regular season and played as the fourth-line center through the first three games of the first-round series against New Jersey. But Brind'Amour shuffled the lineup for Game 4 and went with Mark Jankowski, who held the role for the final two games against the Devils and then for the Game 1 win against Washington before exiting with an undisclosed injury.\n\nRoslovic returned for Thursday's Game 2 loss, then came through in a big way Saturday night with a multipoint night while centering the second line. He broke through on the power play by taking a feed from Brent Burns up top, then sent the puck off skittering through an opening off Thompson's right leg with 1:03 left for the 2-0 lead.\n\nHe also assisted on Eric Robinson's goal early in the third that pushed the margin to 3-0.\n\n\"I don't really want to get too deep into it,\" Roslovic said of the emotions of being a healthy scratch in the playoffs. \"But just always be ready and try to help the team win.\"\n\nAnd just like that, the Hurricanes held a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 looming here Monday night." } ]
611673fc861f5206d88c7447e4b7a329b3cd897e4a59029e71aa08883175d100	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Popovich stepping down means Tomlin becomes the longest-tenured current US major pro coach\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 3rd, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nGregg Popovich stepped down. Mike Tomlin moved up.\n\nThe decision by Popovich to end his run as coach of the San Antonio Spurs — it was announced by the team on Friday, along with the promotion of Mitch Johnson to the job — meant that the longest active tenure by any coach in any of the four U.S. major pro sports had ended.\n\nPopovich lasted nearly 29 years as coach of the Spurs. And now, it's Tomlin's turn.\n\nTomlin, the coach of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, started in his current role in 2007, so he took over for Popovich as the longevity in-one-place leader among the major pro leagues.\n\nMiami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who started in that job in 2008 — now becomes the coach with the longest current tenure with his team in the NBA.\n\nIn the NHL, Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper assumed the role of Lightning head coach in 2013; no other coach in that league has had his current job longer. And in Major League Baseball, the manager with the longest current tenure in one place is Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash — hired by the Rays for that job in December 2014.\n\n## A lot of change\n\nSince Popovich took over as coach of the Spurs in December 1996, there were 303 coaching changes in the NBA.\n\nA handful of those were interims, in place for just a few games. But on average, other teams changed coaches more than 10 times during Popovich's run in San Antonio.\n\nBrooklyn and Memphis changed coaches 17 times during the Popovich coaching era. Sacramento did it 16 times. Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York and Washington all made 15 changes in that span. And when Phoenix hires Mike Budenholzer's replacement, it'll be 15 changes by the Suns as well.\n\nThe pictures of stability in those Popovich years: Miami and Utah have changed coaches four times and Dallas has five times.\n\nAs far as individual coaches themselves, during the Popovich era four different coaches — Alvin Gentry, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown and Mike D'Antoni — all coached for five different franchises.\n\n## NBA coaching wins\n\nPopovich is the career leader in NBA coaching victories with 1,422 in the regular season and 1,592 when adding in the postseason.\n\nThe new leader among active coaches becomes Milwaukee's Rivers (1,162 regular season, 1,277 including playoffs). Rivers' path to catching Popovich for the regular-season record would mean he'd have to average 52 regular-season wins in each of the next five years.\n\nIndiana's Rick Carlisle moves up to No. 2 among active coaches with 993 regular-season wins, followed by Miami's Spoelstra with 787.\n\n## Wins with one team\n\nNobody had more with one team, obviously, and this record is probably very, very safe.\n\nAll 1,422 of Popovich's regular-season wins came with the Spurs and only one other person — Utah's Jerry Sloan, with 1,127 — has won more than 800 with one team.\n\nSpoelstra is 13 wins away from 800 with the Heat (excluding playoffs), so he'll almost certainly join that club next season. But he'd still be at least a decade away from even getting into the neighborhood of Popovich's win number with the Spurs.\n\n## Record vs. other coaches\n\nThere are 24 coaches who went against Popovich at least 30 times, including playoff games.\n\nOf those, only four had winning records against Popovich.\n\nPhil Jackson went 41-30 in their meetings, Steve Kerr went 28-17, Billy Donovan went 19-16 and Spoelstra went 23-22.\n\nThey aren't exactly slouches, of course. Jackson is in the Hall of Fame. Donovan is being enshrined this year. It's reasonable to think Kerr and Spoelstra — coaches who both have multiple NBA championships — will find their way there as well.\n\n## Most vs. Pop\n\nA list of the players who had the most points, rebounds, assists, steals and wins against San Antonio during the Popovich era (including playoffs):\n\nPoints — Kobe Bryant 2,278; Dirk Nowitzki 2,252; Kevin Durant 1,876; LeBron James 1,653; Chris Paul 1,516.\n\nRebounds — Dirk Nowitzki 941; Shaquille O'Neal 769; Shawn Marion 675; Zach Randolph 633; Kevin Garnett 610.\n\nAssists — Steve Nash 720; Chris Paul 685; Russell Westbrook 574; Jason Kidd 560; LeBron James 457.\n\nSteals — Chris Paul 159; Jason Kidd 136; Russell Westbrook 132; Kobe Bryant 124; Shawn Marion 122.\n\nWins played in — Derek Fisher 54; Dirk Nowitzki 44; Kobe Bryant 43; Chris Paul 41; Kevin Durant 41.\n\nLosses played in — Dirk Nowitzki 67; Steve Nash 56; Vince Carter 55; Zach Randolph 53; Shawn Marion 52.\n\n## How many players?\n\nThe Spurs used 222 players during Popovich's tenure with the Spurs, not counting the 77 games he missed at the end of this season.\n\nThe most: As would be expected, it was the Big Three of Tim Duncan (1,643 including playoffs), Tony Parker (1,424) and Manu Ginobili (1,275).\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Popovich stepping down means Tomlin becomes the longest-tenured current US major pro coach\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 3rd, 2025 10:00 AM\n\n---\n\nGregg Popovich stepped down. Mike Tomlin moved up.\n\nThe decision by Popovich to end his run as coach of the San Antonio Spurs — it was announced by the team on Friday, along with the promotion of Mitch Johnson to the job — meant that the longest active tenure by any coach in any of the four U.S. major pro sports had ended.\n\nPopovich lasted nearly 29 years as coach of the Spurs. And now, it's Tomlin's turn.\n\nTomlin, the coach of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, started in his current role in 2007, so he took over for Popovich as the longevity in-one-place leader among the major pro leagues.\n\nMiami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who started in that job in 2008 — now becomes the coach with the longest current tenure with his team in the NBA.\n\nIn the NHL, Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper assumed the role of Lightning head coach in 2013; no other coach in that league has had his current job longer. And in Major League Baseball, the manager with the longest current tenure in one place is Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash — hired by the Rays for that job in December 2014.\n\n## A lot of change\n\nSince Popovich took over as coach of the Spurs in December 1996, there were 303 coaching changes in the NBA.\n\nA handful of those were interims, in place for just a few games. But on average, other teams changed coaches more than 10 times during Popovich's run in San Antonio.\n\nBrooklyn and Memphis changed coaches 17 times during the Popovich coaching era. Sacramento did it 16 times. Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York and Washington all made 15 changes in that span. And when Phoenix hires Mike Budenholzer's replacement, it'll be 15 changes by the Suns as well.\n\nThe pictures of stability in those Popovich years: Miami and Utah have changed coaches four times and Dallas has five times.\n\nAs far as individual coaches themselves, during the Popovich era four different coaches — Alvin Gentry, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown and Mike D'Antoni — all coached for five different franchises.\n\n## NBA coaching wins\n\nPopovich is the career leader in NBA coaching victories with 1,422 in the regular season and 1,592 when adding in the postseason.\n\nThe new leader among active coaches becomes Milwaukee's Rivers (1,162 regular season, 1,277 including playoffs). Rivers' path to catching Popovich for the regular-season record would mean he'd have to average 52 regular-season wins in each of the next five years.\n\nIndiana's Rick Carlisle moves up to No. 2 among active coaches with 993 regular-season wins, followed by Miami's Spoelstra with 787.\n\n## Wins with one team\n\nNobody had more with one team, obviously, and this record is probably very, very safe.\n\nAll 1,422 of Popovich's regular-season wins came with the Spurs and only one other person — Utah's Jerry Sloan, with 1,127 — has won more than 800 with one team.\n\nSpoelstra is 13 wins away from 800 with the Heat (excluding playoffs), so he'll almost certainly join that club next season. But he'd still be at least a decade away from even getting into the neighborhood of Popovich's win number with the Spurs.\n\n## Record vs. other coaches\n\nThere are 24 coaches who went against Popovich at least 30 times, including playoff games.\n\nOf those, only four had winning records against Popovich.\n\nPhil Jackson went 41-30 in their meetings, Steve Kerr went 28-17, Billy Donovan went 19-16 and Spoelstra went 23-22.\n\nThey aren't exactly slouches, of course. Jackson is in the Hall of Fame. Donovan is being enshrined this year. It's reasonable to think Kerr and Spoelstra — coaches who both have multiple NBA championships — will find their way there as well.\n\n## Most vs. Pop\n\nA list of the players who had the most points, rebounds, assists, steals and wins against San Antonio during the Popovich era (including playoffs):\n\nPoints — Kobe Bryant 2,278; Dirk Nowitzki 2,252; Kevin Durant 1,876; LeBron James 1,653; Chris Paul 1,516.\n\nRebounds — Dirk Nowitzki 941; Shaquille O'Neal 769; Shawn Marion 675; Zach Randolph 633; Kevin Garnett 610.\n\nAssists — Steve Nash 720; Chris Paul 685; Russell Westbrook 574; Jason Kidd 560; LeBron James 457.\n\nSteals — Chris Paul 159; Jason Kidd 136; Russell Westbrook 132; Kobe Bryant 124; Shawn Marion 122.\n\nWins played in — Derek Fisher 54; Dirk Nowitzki 44; Kobe Bryant 43; Chris Paul 41; Kevin Durant 41.\n\nLosses played in — Dirk Nowitzki 67; Steve Nash 56; Vince Carter 55; Zach Randolph 53; Shawn Marion 52.\n\n## How many players?\n\nThe Spurs used 222 players during Popovich's tenure with the Spurs, not counting the 77 games he missed at the end of this season.\n\nThe most: As would be expected, it was the Big Three of Tim Duncan (1,643 including playoffs), Tony Parker (1,424) and Manu Ginobili (1,275)." } ]
454d0cb9fa8b0ed83c4653836f9976e5f670adad0e9710b35a7ddea2498e004b	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# South Korea's acting leader Han resigns amid reports he will run for president\n\nBy Hyung-Jin Kim \nMay 1st, 2025 07:20 AM\n\n---\n\nSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on \"heavier responsibility\" as expectation mounted he will run in next month's presidential election.\n\nHan has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party remains in disarray over the recent ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Observers expect Han to officially launch his presidential campaign on Friday.\n\n\"I have two paths ahead of me. One is completing the heavy responsibility that I handle now. The other is putting down that responsibility and taking a heavier responsibility,\" Han said in a nationally televised announcement. \"I've finally determined to put down my post to do what I can and what I have to help overcome the crises facing us.\"\n\nHan, who Yoon had appointed prime minister, the country's No. 2 post, is expected to align with the People Power Party to launch a unified conservative campaign against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, observers say.\n\n## Who is Han?\n\nHan, 75, is a career bureaucrat with about 40 years of public service and a Harvard doctorate in economics. He has held many top posts under both conservative and liberal governments, including trade minister, finance minister and ambassador to the U.S. He's served as prime minister twice, first under liberal President Roh Moo-hyun from 2007 to 2008 and later under Yoon.\n\nHan's supporters say his extensive government experience, especially on economic affairs, would make him the right leader who can deal with President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies and other economic problems. But his critics say Han — who has never had an elected post — has no strong political support base and is too old to become president.\n\nLee's main liberal opposition Democratic Party lambasted Han's move. \"Only the people's severe punishment awaits Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is blind with greed and abandons state affairs,\" party spokesperson Cho Seung-rae said.\n\nHan is to formally end his term at midnight after he signs a related document, according to South Korean media.\n\nWith Han's resignation, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok was supposed to serve as acting leader until a new president is elected on June 3. But Choi resigned Thursday night, after the Democratic Party, which has a majority status at the single-chamber National Assembly, abruptly pushed to pass his impeachment motion. Another Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-Ho is next in line to become acting leader.\n\n## Lee's legal troubles\n\nLee Jae-myung, who won the nomination of the Democratic Party on Sunday, has been favored to win. But his campaign suffered a blow Thursday after the Supreme Court ordered a lower court to review its earlier cancellation of his conviction over election law violation charges.\n\nWhile it's unclear the Seoul High Court will come up with a new ruling on Lee before the June 3 election, the development provided his conservative rivals with fodder for a political offensive. Under South Korean law, anyone who receives a fine exceeding 1 million won ($683) for election law violations is barred from running for elections for five years.\n\nThe Democratic Party condemned the Supreme Court for allegedly trying to interfere in the election.\n\nAfter the liberal opposition-controlled assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14 over his martial law declaration that plunged the country into turmoil, Han began serving as acting leader.\n\nBut Han quickly clashed with Lee's Democratic Party over his refusal to fill three vacant seats on the nine-member Constitutional Court, which was deliberating whether to formally dismiss or reinstate Yoon. A court decision to dismiss Yoon needed support from at least six justices.\n\nIn late December, the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach Han, accusing him of obstructing the restoration of the court's full membership and abetting Yoon's martial law decree. In March, however, the Constitutional Court overturned Han's impeachment, reinstating him as acting president. The court in early April ruled to dismiss Yoon.\n\nYoon separately faces a criminal trial for rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. On Thursday, prosecutors added charges of abuse of power, according to a Seoul prosecutors' office." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# South Korea's acting leader Han resigns amid reports he will run for president\n\nBy Hyung-Jin Kim \nMay 1st, 2025 07:20 AM\n\n---\n\nSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on \"heavier responsibility\" as expectation mounted he will run in next month's presidential election.\n\nHan has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party remains in disarray over the recent ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Observers expect Han to officially launch his presidential campaign on Friday.\n\n\"I have two paths ahead of me. One is completing the heavy responsibility that I handle now. The other is putting down that responsibility and taking a heavier responsibility,\" Han said in a nationally televised announcement. \"I've finally determined to put down my post to do what I can and what I have to help overcome the crises facing us.\"\n\nHan, who Yoon had appointed prime minister, the country's No. 2 post, is expected to align with the People Power Party to launch a unified conservative campaign against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, observers say.\n\n## Who is Han?\n\nHan, 75, is a career bureaucrat with about 40 years of public service and a Harvard doctorate in economics. He has held many top posts under both conservative and liberal governments, including trade minister, finance minister and ambassador to the U.S. He's served as prime minister twice, first under liberal President Roh Moo-hyun from 2007 to 2008 and later under Yoon.\n\nHan's supporters say his extensive government experience, especially on economic affairs, would make him the right leader who can deal with President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies and other economic problems. But his critics say Han — who has never had an elected post — has no strong political support base and is too old to become president.\n\nLee's main liberal opposition Democratic Party lambasted Han's move. \"Only the people's severe punishment awaits Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is blind with greed and abandons state affairs,\" party spokesperson Cho Seung-rae said.\n\nHan is to formally end his term at midnight after he signs a related document, according to South Korean media.\n\nWith Han's resignation, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok was supposed to serve as acting leader until a new president is elected on June 3. But Choi resigned Thursday night, after the Democratic Party, which has a majority status at the single-chamber National Assembly, abruptly pushed to pass his impeachment motion. Another Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-Ho is next in line to become acting leader.\n\n## Lee's legal troubles\n\nLee Jae-myung, who won the nomination of the Democratic Party on Sunday, has been favored to win. But his campaign suffered a blow Thursday after the Supreme Court ordered a lower court to review its earlier cancellation of his conviction over election law violation charges.\n\nWhile it's unclear the Seoul High Court will come up with a new ruling on Lee before the June 3 election, the development provided his conservative rivals with fodder for a political offensive. Under South Korean law, anyone who receives a fine exceeding 1 million won ($683) for election law violations is barred from running for elections for five years.\n\nThe Democratic Party condemned the Supreme Court for allegedly trying to interfere in the election.\n\nAfter the liberal opposition-controlled assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14 over his martial law declaration that plunged the country into turmoil, Han began serving as acting leader.\n\nBut Han quickly clashed with Lee's Democratic Party over his refusal to fill three vacant seats on the nine-member Constitutional Court, which was deliberating whether to formally dismiss or reinstate Yoon. A court decision to dismiss Yoon needed support from at least six justices.\n\nIn late December, the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach Han, accusing him of obstructing the restoration of the court's full membership and abetting Yoon's martial law decree. In March, however, the Constitutional Court overturned Han's impeachment, reinstating him as acting president. The court in early April ruled to dismiss Yoon.\n\nYoon separately faces a criminal trial for rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. On Thursday, prosecutors added charges of abuse of power, according to a Seoul prosecutors' office." } ]
186ef3d50569bfbf00a30235c84a7c7cbb51eec06ea33bdc61fa6512aad39340	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# What to know about Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman\n\nBy Marc Levy \nMay 8th, 2025 05:11 PM\n\n---\n\nHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the lawmaker known for his unconventional and irreverent brand of politics, is in the news again after a blowup at a closed-door meeting with union allies and former staff aides who aired concerns about his mental health.\n\nFetterman's life and political career have been upended the past three years with medical scares, including a stroke he suffered on 2022's campaign trail and a six-week hospital stay to be treated for clinical depression in 2023.\n\nAs Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, the plainspoken Fetterman became a popular campaign surrogate for Democrats in the battleground state and a force in raising small-dollar campaign donations.\n\nFetterman's victory in 2022 's Senate race was cause for celebration for Democrats, flipping a seat that was key to the party holding the Senate majority.\n\nHe ran as a hero to progressives, with a platform ranging from the legalization of marijuana to strengthening union and LGBT rights. But as a senator, he has made a rightward shift on some issues, prompting some former supporters to disavow him.\n\n## Getting his start in a tiny former steel town\n\nLong before that, the Harvard-educated Fetterman, now 55, had made himself into a minor celebrity as the mayor of downtrodden former steel town Braddock, where he settled originally as an AmeriCorps alumni to set up a GED program.\n\nThere's his unusual looks: he's 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head, goatee and glower like a professional wrestler.\n\n\"I don't even look like a typical person,\" Fetterman once joked.\n\nThere's his home: a converted car dealership across the street from U.S. Steel's blast furnace.\n\nThere's his casual dress: as mayor he often wore short-sleeve work shirts and cargo shorts. (As senator, his style evolved to gym shorts and hoodies, causing a stir in the chamber.)\n\nThere was his bare-knuckled politics: In 2010, he was arrested in a protest over the closing of a hospital in Braddock. Later, he performed same-sex marriage ceremonies before it was legal.\n\nHis attention-getting efforts for reviving Braddock helped land profiles in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The New York Times and other news outlets. He appeared on Comedy Central's \"The Colbert Report.\"\n\nHe gave Ted Talks. He has three school-age children and has spoken at length about his wife, Gisele, whose legal status later lapsed after arriving in the U.S. from Brazil as a child.\n\n## Not always playing nice with other politicians\n\nFetterman has long been a wild card in the political realm, forging a career largely on his own, independently from the Democratic Party.\n\nHe endorsed the insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016's presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in Pennsylvania's 2016 Senate primary. He lost.\n\nAs lieutenant governor, Fetterman didn't always shown reverence for job expectations or requirements, skipping Senate voting sessions where he was supposed to preside or getting removed by Republican senators as the presiding officer in partisan disputes over floor rules.\n\nHe curses casually on his social media feeds and, in the 2022 Senate campaign, relentlessly trolled his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, in ground-breaking ways.\n\nBut his time in the Senate has been tumultuous.\n\n## Hospitalized after joining the Senate\n\nFetterman checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center barely a month after he was sworn in to the Senate, amid staff concerns over his isolating and disengaged behavior.\n\nAt the time, he was still suffering from effects of the stroke that he said nearly killed him.\n\nFetterman returned to the Senate a much more outgoing lawmaker, frequently joking with his fellow senators and engaging with reporters in the hallways.\n\nHe has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help.\n\n## Still a something of a loner\n\nTwo years later, Fetterman is still something of a loner in the Senate.\n\nHe has fallen out with progressives over his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza and drawn anger from rank-and-file Democrats for arguing that his party needs to work with, not against, Trump.\n\nIt nevertheless has brought some Fetterman plaudits.\n\nBill Maher, host of the political talk show \"Real Time with Bill Maher,\" urged Fetterman to run for president in 2028 while conservatives — who had long made Fetterman a target for his progressive politics — have sprung to Fetterman's defense.\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.\n\nFollow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# What to know about Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman\n\nBy Marc Levy \nMay 8th, 2025 05:11 PM\n\n---\n\nHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the lawmaker known for his unconventional and irreverent brand of politics, is in the news again after a blowup at a closed-door meeting with union allies and former staff aides who aired concerns about his mental health.\n\nFetterman's life and political career have been upended the past three years with medical scares, including a stroke he suffered on 2022's campaign trail and a six-week hospital stay to be treated for clinical depression in 2023.\n\nAs Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, the plainspoken Fetterman became a popular campaign surrogate for Democrats in the battleground state and a force in raising small-dollar campaign donations.\n\nFetterman's victory in 2022 's Senate race was cause for celebration for Democrats, flipping a seat that was key to the party holding the Senate majority.\n\nHe ran as a hero to progressives, with a platform ranging from the legalization of marijuana to strengthening union and LGBT rights. But as a senator, he has made a rightward shift on some issues, prompting some former supporters to disavow him.\n\n## Getting his start in a tiny former steel town\n\nLong before that, the Harvard-educated Fetterman, now 55, had made himself into a minor celebrity as the mayor of downtrodden former steel town Braddock, where he settled originally as an AmeriCorps alumni to set up a GED program.\n\nThere's his unusual looks: he's 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head, goatee and glower like a professional wrestler.\n\n\"I don't even look like a typical person,\" Fetterman once joked.\n\nThere's his home: a converted car dealership across the street from U.S. Steel's blast furnace.\n\nThere's his casual dress: as mayor he often wore short-sleeve work shirts and cargo shorts. (As senator, his style evolved to gym shorts and hoodies, causing a stir in the chamber.)\n\nThere was his bare-knuckled politics: In 2010, he was arrested in a protest over the closing of a hospital in Braddock. Later, he performed same-sex marriage ceremonies before it was legal.\n\nHis attention-getting efforts for reviving Braddock helped land profiles in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The New York Times and other news outlets. He appeared on Comedy Central's \"The Colbert Report.\"\n\nHe gave Ted Talks. He has three school-age children and has spoken at length about his wife, Gisele, whose legal status later lapsed after arriving in the U.S. from Brazil as a child.\n\n## Not always playing nice with other politicians\n\nFetterman has long been a wild card in the political realm, forging a career largely on his own, independently from the Democratic Party.\n\nHe endorsed the insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016's presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in Pennsylvania's 2016 Senate primary. He lost.\n\nAs lieutenant governor, Fetterman didn't always shown reverence for job expectations or requirements, skipping Senate voting sessions where he was supposed to preside or getting removed by Republican senators as the presiding officer in partisan disputes over floor rules.\n\nHe curses casually on his social media feeds and, in the 2022 Senate campaign, relentlessly trolled his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, in ground-breaking ways.\n\nBut his time in the Senate has been tumultuous.\n\n## Hospitalized after joining the Senate\n\nFetterman checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center barely a month after he was sworn in to the Senate, amid staff concerns over his isolating and disengaged behavior.\n\nAt the time, he was still suffering from effects of the stroke that he said nearly killed him.\n\nFetterman returned to the Senate a much more outgoing lawmaker, frequently joking with his fellow senators and engaging with reporters in the hallways.\n\nHe has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help.\n\n## Still a something of a loner\n\nTwo years later, Fetterman is still something of a loner in the Senate.\n\nHe has fallen out with progressives over his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza and drawn anger from rank-and-file Democrats for arguing that his party needs to work with, not against, Trump.\n\nIt nevertheless has brought some Fetterman plaudits.\n\nBill Maher, host of the political talk show \"Real Time with Bill Maher,\" urged Fetterman to run for president in 2028 while conservatives — who had long made Fetterman a target for his progressive politics — have sprung to Fetterman's defense." } ]
8a30c01114cf86a34a28c22dd60123fdc6f93a063ba3648623b48026673b1486	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 15 states sue over Trump's move to fast-track oil and gas projects via his 'energy emergency' order\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 9th, 2025 08:12 PM\n\n---\n\nA coalition of 15 states is suing over President Donald Trump's efforts to fast-track energy-related projects, saying the administration is bypassing environmental protection laws and threatening endangered species, critical habitat and cultural resources.\n\nTrump issued an executive order declaring a \"national energy emergency \" on the first day of his presidency. The order urges oil and gas expansion through federal use of eminent domain and the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to use private land and resources to produce goods deemed to be a national necessity.\n\nThose kinds of steps are supposed to be reserved for actual emergencies, such as projects needed in the aftermath of disasters like hurricanes, flooding or major oil spills, the attorneys general wrote in the lawsuit filed in Washington state on Friday.\n\nBut now, Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown and the other plaintiffs said, agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior are bypassing required reviews under federal laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.\n\n\"The President of the United States has the authority to determine what is a national emergency, not state attorneys or the courts,\" White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in an email. \"President Trump recognizes that unleashing American energy is crucial to both our economic and national security.\"\n\nThe attorneys general said reliable and affordable electricity is of critical importance to the nation, but noted that U.S. energy production is already at an all-time high.\n\n\"The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,\" they wrote in the lawsuit.\n\n\"The shortcuts inherent in rushing through emergency processes fundamentally undermine the rights of States,\" the attorneys general said, noting that the federal Clean Water Act grants states the right to protect water quality within their own borders.\n\nThey want a federal judge to declare the executive order unlawful and bar the agencies from pursuing emergency permitting for non-emergency projects.\n\nBrown and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are leading the lawsuit, and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin have signed on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 15 states sue over Trump's move to fast-track oil and gas projects via his 'energy emergency' order\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 9th, 2025 08:12 PM\n\n---\n\nA coalition of 15 states is suing over President Donald Trump's efforts to fast-track energy-related projects, saying the administration is bypassing environmental protection laws and threatening endangered species, critical habitat and cultural resources.\n\nTrump issued an executive order declaring a \"national energy emergency \" on the first day of his presidency. The order urges oil and gas expansion through federal use of eminent domain and the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to use private land and resources to produce goods deemed to be a national necessity.\n\nThose kinds of steps are supposed to be reserved for actual emergencies, such as projects needed in the aftermath of disasters like hurricanes, flooding or major oil spills, the attorneys general wrote in the lawsuit filed in Washington state on Friday.\n\nBut now, Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown and the other plaintiffs said, agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior are bypassing required reviews under federal laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.\n\n\"The President of the United States has the authority to determine what is a national emergency, not state attorneys or the courts,\" White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in an email. \"President Trump recognizes that unleashing American energy is crucial to both our economic and national security.\"\n\nThe attorneys general said reliable and affordable electricity is of critical importance to the nation, but noted that U.S. energy production is already at an all-time high.\n\n\"The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,\" they wrote in the lawsuit.\n\n\"The shortcuts inherent in rushing through emergency processes fundamentally undermine the rights of States,\" the attorneys general said, noting that the federal Clean Water Act grants states the right to protect water quality within their own borders.\n\nThey want a federal judge to declare the executive order unlawful and bar the agencies from pursuing emergency permitting for non-emergency projects.\n\nBrown and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are leading the lawsuit, and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin have signed on." } ]
ec6736652a524f32292a029de4fa08289ef83064e1b7660e0130e37553486c2d	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Brooks Lee's go-ahead double in 8th leads Twins to 5-2 victory over Orioles for series sweep\n\nMay 8th, 2025 08:24 PM\n\n---\n\nMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Brooks Lee had a tiebreaking two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning to propel the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, completing a three-game sweep with their fifth straight victory.\n\nLee's double came off reliever Gregory Soto, who entered after Yennier Cano (0-2) walked Harrison Bader leading off and Byron Buxton with one out. Soto struck out Trevor Larnach before Lee doubled to center. Ty France followed with an RBI single for a three-run lead.\n\nBuxton went 0 for 2 after homering in three straight games, but he walked twice, scored twice, stole a base and threw a runner out at home.\n\nEmmanuel Rivera and Ramón Laureano had RBI doubles in back-to-back innings off Twins starter Bailey Ober for a 2-1 lead in the third.\n\nBuxton threw out Rivera, who doubled and was trying to score on Gunnar Henderson's single in the sixth.\n\nThe Twins tied it in the bottom half on a leadoff homer by Larnach — his fifth. Kremer has surrendered eight of Baltimore's MLB-high 55 homers.\n\nOber allowed two runs — one earned — on eight hits in five innings. Griffin Jax (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Jhoan Duran earned his sixth save.\n\nKremer went seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts for the Orioles, who have lost five straight and 9 of 11.\n\nMinnesota's Royce Lewis, who returned from a hamstring injury to make his season debut on Tuesday, went 0 for 3 and is in a 0-for-30 slump since last Sept. 24.\n\nOrioles catcher Maverick Handley singled for his first career hit.\n\n## Key moment\n\nBaltimore was 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Ober.\n\n## Key stat\n\nTwins pitchers entered with the fifth-best ERA in the AL (3.48) and fourth-most strikeouts (327). The Orioles were last in both at 5.50 and 247.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Twins will start RHP Chris Paddack Friday to open a three-game series against the Giants. The Orioles end a six-game road trip with three against the Angels beginning Friday.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Brooks Lee's go-ahead double in 8th leads Twins to 5-2 victory over Orioles for series sweep\n\nMay 8th, 2025 08:24 PM\n\n---\n\nMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Brooks Lee had a tiebreaking two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning to propel the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, completing a three-game sweep with their fifth straight victory.\n\nLee's double came off reliever Gregory Soto, who entered after Yennier Cano (0-2) walked Harrison Bader leading off and Byron Buxton with one out. Soto struck out Trevor Larnach before Lee doubled to center. Ty France followed with an RBI single for a three-run lead.\n\nBuxton went 0 for 2 after homering in three straight games, but he walked twice, scored twice, stole a base and threw a runner out at home.\n\nEmmanuel Rivera and Ramón Laureano had RBI doubles in back-to-back innings off Twins starter Bailey Ober for a 2-1 lead in the third.\n\nBuxton threw out Rivera, who doubled and was trying to score on Gunnar Henderson's single in the sixth.\n\nThe Twins tied it in the bottom half on a leadoff homer by Larnach — his fifth. Kremer has surrendered eight of Baltimore's MLB-high 55 homers.\n\nOber allowed two runs — one earned — on eight hits in five innings. Griffin Jax (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Jhoan Duran earned his sixth save.\n\nKremer went seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts for the Orioles, who have lost five straight and 9 of 11.\n\nMinnesota's Royce Lewis, who returned from a hamstring injury to make his season debut on Tuesday, went 0 for 3 and is in a 0-for-30 slump since last Sept. 24.\n\nOrioles catcher Maverick Handley singled for his first career hit.\n\n## Key moment\n\nBaltimore was 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Ober.\n\n## Key stat\n\nTwins pitchers entered with the fifth-best ERA in the AL (3.48) and fourth-most strikeouts (327). The Orioles were last in both at 5.50 and 247.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Twins will start RHP Chris Paddack Friday to open a three-game series against the Giants. The Orioles end a six-game road trip with three against the Angels beginning Friday." } ]
5196b9c3d57be745369d9ba28038a2061caf85b5b0dad2ab3b7c257c87da90a7	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Pedersen wins opening Giro d'Italia stage in Albania and claims pink jersey\n\nMay 9th, 2025 03:28 PM\n\n---\n\nTIRANA, Albania (AP) — Former world champion Mads Pedersen narrowly beat Wout van Aert in a sprint finish to win the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday and claim the first pink jersey of this year's race, which started in Albania for the first time.\n\nPedersen, who won the world title in 2019, edged Van Aert by half a wheel in the hilly 160-kilometer (99-mile) stage from Durrës to Tirana, which had a flat finish.\n\n\"We had a clear plan today and the team was really amazing to put that hard a tempo on the climb. That was exactly what we wanted,\" Pedersen said of how his Lidl-Trek team set the pace on the final third-category climb. \"We made a plan and we fulfilled the plan.\"\n\nIt was Pedersen's second career stage win in the Giro, having also won in Naples two years ago.\n\nPedersen has also won two stages at the Tour de France, and three at the Spanish Vuelta. Giro d'Italia organizers said he will be the first rider from Denmark to wear the pink jersey.\n\n\"To top it off with the pink jersey is absolutely amazing,\" Pedersen said. \"It's my first leader's jersey in a Grand Tour.\"\n\nVenezuelan rider Orluis Aular crossed third.\n\nOverall contender Mikel Landa crashed toward the end of the stage and was carried away on a stretcher, forcing him to abandon the race.\n\nThe Soudal Quick-Step team said that Landa fractured a vertebra, which \"will require Mikel to remain in a stable lying position for an extended period of time.\"\n\nThe race remains in Albania for two more days. Stage 2 on Saturday is a 13.7-kilometer individual time trial in Tirana that will test overall contenders like Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso.\n\nThe three-week Grand Tour returns to Italy for Stage 4 in Puglia — directly across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. The finish is in Rome on June 1.\n\n___\n\nAP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Pedersen wins opening Giro d'Italia stage in Albania and claims pink jersey\n\nMay 9th, 2025 03:28 PM\n\n---\n\nTIRANA, Albania (AP) — Former world champion Mads Pedersen narrowly beat Wout van Aert in a sprint finish to win the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday and claim the first pink jersey of this year's race, which started in Albania for the first time.\n\nPedersen, who won the world title in 2019, edged Van Aert by half a wheel in the hilly 160-kilometer (99-mile) stage from Durrës to Tirana, which had a flat finish.\n\n\"We had a clear plan today and the team was really amazing to put that hard a tempo on the climb. That was exactly what we wanted,\" Pedersen said of how his Lidl-Trek team set the pace on the final third-category climb. \"We made a plan and we fulfilled the plan.\"\n\nIt was Pedersen's second career stage win in the Giro, having also won in Naples two years ago.\n\nPedersen has also won two stages at the Tour de France, and three at the Spanish Vuelta. Giro d'Italia organizers said he will be the first rider from Denmark to wear the pink jersey.\n\n\"To top it off with the pink jersey is absolutely amazing,\" Pedersen said. \"It's my first leader's jersey in a Grand Tour.\"\n\nVenezuelan rider Orluis Aular crossed third.\n\nOverall contender Mikel Landa crashed toward the end of the stage and was carried away on a stretcher, forcing him to abandon the race.\n\nThe Soudal Quick-Step team said that Landa fractured a vertebra, which \"will require Mikel to remain in a stable lying position for an extended period of time.\"\n\nThe race remains in Albania for two more days. Stage 2 on Saturday is a 13.7-kilometer individual time trial in Tirana that will test overall contenders like Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso.\n\nThe three-week Grand Tour returns to Italy for Stage 4 in Puglia — directly across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. The finish is in Rome on June 1." } ]
6e9091f52cd73d36ec9597c7aad7c7d207ab3a78f1a78c0e1ce8ac8a55baef80	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Chido Obi becomes youngest player to start a Premier League match for Man United\n\nMay 4th, 2025 01:01 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Chido Obi became the youngest player to start a Premier League match for Manchester United when he lined up as the team's striker against Brentford on Sunday at the age of 17 years and 156 days.\n\nObi is a Denmark youth international who joined United from Arsenal last year and made five appearances in the league this season, each time as a substitute, before getting his first start.\n\nHe played the full match in United's 4-3 loss and didn't score. Indeed, he has yet to score for the senior team.\n\nWith the game coming in between legs against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semifinals, United rotated heavily and fielded a team against Brentford with an average age of 22 years and 270 days.\n\nAccording to stats supplier Opta, it was the third youngest team — by average age — ever named for a Premier League match.\n\nUnited beat Athletic 3-0 in the first leg in Spain.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Chido Obi becomes youngest player to start a Premier League match for Man United\n\nMay 4th, 2025 01:01 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Chido Obi became the youngest player to start a Premier League match for Manchester United when he lined up as the team's striker against Brentford on Sunday at the age of 17 years and 156 days.\n\nObi is a Denmark youth international who joined United from Arsenal last year and made five appearances in the league this season, each time as a substitute, before getting his first start.\n\nHe played the full match in United's 4-3 loss and didn't score. Indeed, he has yet to score for the senior team.\n\nWith the game coming in between legs against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semifinals, United rotated heavily and fielded a team against Brentford with an average age of 22 years and 270 days.\n\nAccording to stats supplier Opta, it was the third youngest team — by average age — ever named for a Premier League match.\n\nUnited beat Athletic 3-0 in the first leg in Spain." } ]
5026577f34fdf3e19c3c926f2058f678613b27ced13f1a67e9e9fc28291e462e	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# NBA playoffs are seeing close games become the norm. And there have been some heroic moments, too\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 6th, 2025 04:05 PM\n\n---\n\nAaron Gordon went to the postgame interview room after his latest heroic moment for the Denver Nuggets, took a seat with his two nephews on his lap and waited for somebody to say something.\n\nHe finally broke the silence.\n\n\"Any questions?\" he asked.\n\nSeems about right that he would ask that, given that so far in these NBA playoffs Gordon has been one of the players with all the answers in the biggest moments — when games are on the line.\n\nHe is one of the contenders for the unofficial title of Mr. Game Winner of these playoffs, his case built around a no-time-left dunk — believed to be the first of its kind in postseason history — to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in Round 1, then a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.\n\n\"Did I know it was in? I knew it wasn't a miss,\" Gordon said of his latest game winner.\n\nAnd Gordon isn't alone in being part of these down-to-the-wire moments.\n\nTyrese Haliburton — another Mr. Game Winner candidate — now has two such shots as well in these playoffs, the latest coming in the form of a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to beat top-seeded Cleveland 120-119 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 Pacers lead in that series. That one came after he had a layup with 1.4 seconds left in overtime of the Pacers' series-clinching, frantic Game 5 rally in the final moments to oust Milwaukee.\n\n\"Obviously, had to get lucky,\" Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday night after Haliburton's latest heroics led his team's second successful comeback from seven points down and less than a minute left in a three-game span. \"Tyrese hit another amazing shot to win the game. You don't see this very often, let alone twice in one week. We're very fortunate.\"\n\nHe's right. You don't see this very often.\n\nThere are five players — Robert Horry in 2002, LeBron James in 2006 and 2018, Jamal Murray last year, and now Gordon and Haliburton this year — who have hit two go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of wins in the same postseason. That's it. That's the whole list.\n\n\"This is what I do,\" Haliburton said in the on-court interview afterward, still out of breath.\n\nRound 2 is just getting underway in these NBA playoffs and already there have been 15 games decided by three points or fewer, matching or exceeding the total from each of the last 10 playoff years. The New York Knicks have won five games so far in the playoffs, four of them by three points or fewer.\n\n\"We're just going to keep fighting,\" the Knicks' Mikal Bridges said after the Game 1 win at Boston on Monday night. \"That's who we are ... and we keep showing it.\"\n\nThis is not normal: So far, 30% of games in this year's playoffs going into Tuesday have been decided by three points or fewer. It's happening about twice as often as it did last season and about three times as often as it did in other postseason runs over the last decade.\n\nOf those 15 games so far decided by three points or fewer, five of them have had a go-ahead basket in the final 10 seconds. There's the two by Haliburton, the two by Gordon, and the other was New York's Jalen Brunson hitting a 3-pointer to beat Detroit in Round 1.\n\nBrunson was the NBA's top clutch player this season. Haliburton is an Olympic champion. Gordon was part of Denver's run to the NBA title two years ago. In the biggest moments, they know what is required.\n\n\"It's not about putting the team on my back,\" Brunson said. \"I have confidence in them. They have confidence in me. We're going to compete. We're going to find the best way to attack each possession. It may look like I get the credit ... but it's not just me.\"\n\nBrunson had a chance to win Game 1 at Boston with a last-second floater in regulation — \"not clutch enough,\" he mused when asked about it after the Knicks finished off the overtime win — but the Knicks found a way anyway.\n\nNew York was down by 20 in that game and won; Boston was 40-1 this season in games when it had a lead of 20 or more.\n\nDenver was down by 14 at Oklahoma City and won; the Thunder are 64-2 this season in games in which they led by at least 12 points against anybody besides the Nuggets, but they're only 2-3 in such games against Denver.\n\nThe Nuggets now have three wins by three points or fewer so far in these playoffs.\n\n\"We make stupid mistakes,\" Denver star Nikola Jokic, who had a historic 42-point, 22-rebound effort, told Altitude TV after the Game 1 win. \"But we find a way.\"\n\nAt this time of year, finding a way is the only thing that's required. Haliburton, Gordon and Brunson have proven that.\n\n___\n\nOn Basketball analyzes the biggest topics in the NBA. More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# NBA playoffs are seeing close games become the norm. And there have been some heroic moments, too\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 6th, 2025 04:05 PM\n\n---\n\nAaron Gordon went to the postgame interview room after his latest heroic moment for the Denver Nuggets, took a seat with his two nephews on his lap and waited for somebody to say something.\n\nHe finally broke the silence.\n\n\"Any questions?\" he asked.\n\nSeems about right that he would ask that, given that so far in these NBA playoffs Gordon has been one of the players with all the answers in the biggest moments — when games are on the line.\n\nHe is one of the contenders for the unofficial title of Mr. Game Winner of these playoffs, his case built around a no-time-left dunk — believed to be the first of its kind in postseason history — to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in Round 1, then a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.\n\n\"Did I know it was in? I knew it wasn't a miss,\" Gordon said of his latest game winner.\n\nAnd Gordon isn't alone in being part of these down-to-the-wire moments.\n\nTyrese Haliburton — another Mr. Game Winner candidate — now has two such shots as well in these playoffs, the latest coming in the form of a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to beat top-seeded Cleveland 120-119 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 Pacers lead in that series. That one came after he had a layup with 1.4 seconds left in overtime of the Pacers' series-clinching, frantic Game 5 rally in the final moments to oust Milwaukee.\n\n\"Obviously, had to get lucky,\" Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday night after Haliburton's latest heroics led his team's second successful comeback from seven points down and less than a minute left in a three-game span. \"Tyrese hit another amazing shot to win the game. You don't see this very often, let alone twice in one week. We're very fortunate.\"\n\nHe's right. You don't see this very often.\n\nThere are five players — Robert Horry in 2002, LeBron James in 2006 and 2018, Jamal Murray last year, and now Gordon and Haliburton this year — who have hit two go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of wins in the same postseason. That's it. That's the whole list.\n\n\"This is what I do,\" Haliburton said in the on-court interview afterward, still out of breath.\n\nRound 2 is just getting underway in these NBA playoffs and already there have been 15 games decided by three points or fewer, matching or exceeding the total from each of the last 10 playoff years. The New York Knicks have won five games so far in the playoffs, four of them by three points or fewer.\n\n\"We're just going to keep fighting,\" the Knicks' Mikal Bridges said after the Game 1 win at Boston on Monday night. \"That's who we are ... and we keep showing it.\"\n\nThis is not normal: So far, 30% of games in this year's playoffs going into Tuesday have been decided by three points or fewer. It's happening about twice as often as it did last season and about three times as often as it did in other postseason runs over the last decade.\n\nOf those 15 games so far decided by three points or fewer, five of them have had a go-ahead basket in the final 10 seconds. There's the two by Haliburton, the two by Gordon, and the other was New York's Jalen Brunson hitting a 3-pointer to beat Detroit in Round 1.\n\nBrunson was the NBA's top clutch player this season. Haliburton is an Olympic champion. Gordon was part of Denver's run to the NBA title two years ago. In the biggest moments, they know what is required.\n\n\"It's not about putting the team on my back,\" Brunson said. \"I have confidence in them. They have confidence in me. We're going to compete. We're going to find the best way to attack each possession. It may look like I get the credit ... but it's not just me.\"\n\nBrunson had a chance to win Game 1 at Boston with a last-second floater in regulation — \"not clutch enough,\" he mused when asked about it after the Knicks finished off the overtime win — but the Knicks found a way anyway.\n\nNew York was down by 20 in that game and won; Boston was 40-1 this season in games when it had a lead of 20 or more.\n\nDenver was down by 14 at Oklahoma City and won; the Thunder are 64-2 this season in games in which they led by at least 12 points against anybody besides the Nuggets, but they're only 2-3 in such games against Denver.\n\nThe Nuggets now have three wins by three points or fewer so far in these playoffs.\n\n\"We make stupid mistakes,\" Denver star Nikola Jokic, who had a historic 42-point, 22-rebound effort, told Altitude TV after the Game 1 win. \"But we find a way.\"\n\nAt this time of year, finding a way is the only thing that's required. Haliburton, Gordon and Brunson have proven that." } ]
adfc0e5a7c24cdbeaa181bbd8b63dafb179b9e8f2417f9d67259110f4ad6f5ff	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Three climbers fell 400 feet to their death. One climber survived and drove to a pay phone\n\nBy Jesse Bedayn \nMay 13th, 2025 11:27 PM\n\n---\n\nA rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington's North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.\n\nThe surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.\n\nThe climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.\n\nAuthorities haven't yet been able to interview the survivor, who is in a Seattle hospital, said Rodriguez, so much is still unknown of the fall and Tselykh's journey.\n\nFalls like this leading to three deaths are extremely rare, said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team. Seven years ago, two climbers were killed in a fall on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California.\n\nThe group of four were scaling the Early Winters Spires, jagged peaks split by a cleft that is popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Seattle. Tselykh was hospitalized in Seattle.\n\nThe group of four met with disaster that night when the anchor used to secure their ropes was torn from the rock while they were descending, Rodriguez said. The anchor they were using, a metal spike called a piton, appeared to have been placed there by past climbers, he said.\n\nThey plummeted for about 200 feet (60 meters) into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to rest, Yarnell said. Authorities believe the group had been ascending but turned around when they saw a storm approaching.\n\nA three-person search and rescue team reached the site of the fall Sunday, Woodworth said. The team used coordinates from a device the climbers had been carrying, which had been shared by a friend of the men.\n\nOnce they found the site, they called in a helicopter to remove the bodies one at a time because of the rough terrain, Woodworth said.\n\nOn Monday, responders poured over the recovered equipment trying to decipher what caused the fall, Woodworth said. They found a piton — basically a small metal spike that is driven into rock cracks or ice and used as anchors by climbers — that was still clipped into the climbers' ropes.\n\n\"There's no other reason it would be hooked onto the rope unless it pulled out of the rock,\" said Rodriguez, the coroner, noting that pitons are typically stuck fast in the rock. Rodriguez added that when rappelling, all four men would not have be hanging from the one piton at the same time, but taking turns moving down the mountain.\n\nPitons are oftentimes left in walls. They can be there for years or even decades, and they may become less secure over time.\n\n\"It looked old and weathered, and the rest of their equipment looked newer, so we are making the assumption that it was an old piton,\" Woodworth said.\n\nRock climbers secure themselves by ropes to anchors, such as pitons or other climbing equipment. The ropes are intended to arrest their fall if they should slip, and typically climbers use backup anchors, said Joshua Cole, a guide and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, who has been climbing in the area for about 20 years.\n\nGenerally, it would be unusual to rappel off a single piton, said Cole, adding that it is still unknown exactly what happened on the wall that night.\n\n\"We eventually, if possible, would like to get more information from surviving party,\" Woodworth said.\n\nThe spires are a popular climbing spot. The route the climbers were taking, said Cole, was of moderate difficulty, and requires moving between ice, snow and rock.\n\nBut the conditions, the amount of ice versus rock for example, can change rapidly with the weather, he said, even week to week or day to day, changing the route's risks.\n\n___\n\nBedayn reported from Denver." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Three climbers fell 400 feet to their death. One climber survived and drove to a pay phone\n\nBy Jesse Bedayn \nMay 13th, 2025 11:27 PM\n\n---\n\nA rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington's North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.\n\nThe surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.\n\nThe climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.\n\nAuthorities haven't yet been able to interview the survivor, who is in a Seattle hospital, said Rodriguez, so much is still unknown of the fall and Tselykh's journey.\n\nFalls like this leading to three deaths are extremely rare, said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team. Seven years ago, two climbers were killed in a fall on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California.\n\nThe group of four were scaling the Early Winters Spires, jagged peaks split by a cleft that is popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Seattle. Tselykh was hospitalized in Seattle.\n\nThe group of four met with disaster that night when the anchor used to secure their ropes was torn from the rock while they were descending, Rodriguez said. The anchor they were using, a metal spike called a piton, appeared to have been placed there by past climbers, he said.\n\nThey plummeted for about 200 feet (60 meters) into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to rest, Yarnell said. Authorities believe the group had been ascending but turned around when they saw a storm approaching.\n\nA three-person search and rescue team reached the site of the fall Sunday, Woodworth said. The team used coordinates from a device the climbers had been carrying, which had been shared by a friend of the men.\n\nOnce they found the site, they called in a helicopter to remove the bodies one at a time because of the rough terrain, Woodworth said.\n\nOn Monday, responders poured over the recovered equipment trying to decipher what caused the fall, Woodworth said. They found a piton — basically a small metal spike that is driven into rock cracks or ice and used as anchors by climbers — that was still clipped into the climbers' ropes.\n\n\"There's no other reason it would be hooked onto the rope unless it pulled out of the rock,\" said Rodriguez, the coroner, noting that pitons are typically stuck fast in the rock. Rodriguez added that when rappelling, all four men would not have be hanging from the one piton at the same time, but taking turns moving down the mountain.\n\nPitons are oftentimes left in walls. They can be there for years or even decades, and they may become less secure over time.\n\n\"It looked old and weathered, and the rest of their equipment looked newer, so we are making the assumption that it was an old piton,\" Woodworth said.\n\nRock climbers secure themselves by ropes to anchors, such as pitons or other climbing equipment. The ropes are intended to arrest their fall if they should slip, and typically climbers use backup anchors, said Joshua Cole, a guide and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, who has been climbing in the area for about 20 years.\n\nGenerally, it would be unusual to rappel off a single piton, said Cole, adding that it is still unknown exactly what happened on the wall that night.\n\n\"We eventually, if possible, would like to get more information from surviving party,\" Woodworth said.\n\nThe spires are a popular climbing spot. The route the climbers were taking, said Cole, was of moderate difficulty, and requires moving between ice, snow and rock.\n\nBut the conditions, the amount of ice versus rock for example, can change rapidly with the weather, he said, even week to week or day to day, changing the route's risks." } ]
7bfb71d5d4647e889944c7b07711101ae7ab7f0a2115d4a7e46240710e5351d4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Drones strike ship carrying aid to Gaza, organizers say, in latest confrontation over assistance\n\nBy Sam Mednick and Renata Brito \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:11 AM\n\n---\n\nTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza on Friday in international waters off Malta, the group organizing the shipment said, in the latest confrontation over efforts to send assistance to the Palestinian territory devastated by nearly 19 months of war.\n\nA nearby tugboat responded to a distress call from the Conscience, which authorities said experienced a fire that was brought under control. The vessel was carrying 12 crew members and four civilians, the Maltese government said, adding that those aboard refused to leave the ship. The group was safe and no serious injuries were reported, it said.\n\nThe Freedom Flotilla Coalition accused Israel of attacking its ship. The group did not provide evidence for that claim or to show that the fire was caused by drones, but in a video it shared an explosion could be heard. Another video showed a fire blazing.\n\nThe Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment. Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March, leading to what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the war with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.\n\n## Explosions in the night\n\nMecid Bagcivan, an activist from Turkey who was aboard the Conscience, was getting ready for bed when two explosions rocked the ship about two minutes apart, he said. At first it seemed there had been a collision. Then the crew saw fire and realized it was an attack, Bagcivan told The Associated Press.\n\nAs the crew radioed Malta for help, Bagcivan said someone impersonated them on the same channel saying help was no longer needed. Those on board scrambled to fight the fire on their own, leaving some with minor injuries, he said. Help later arrived, and after hours the fire was extinguished.\n\nThe ship was trying to reenter Maltese waters amid fears of a second attack, according to a statement from the crew.\n\n\"We feel like right now we're safe, but we don't know what Israel is going to do,\" Bagcivan said. \"We can't trust no one in this situation after we get bombed in the middle of the night.\"\n\n## Stranded in international waters\n\nVideo taken after the explosions showed two large holes in the ship's deck, with thick smoke surrounding the vessel. The person recording the footage said the ship had been hit twice and was on fire about 14 miles from Malta. The video was provided by Codepink, a grassroots peace and social justice movement.\n\nThe ship's generator was badly damaged and will need to be repaired before continuing, said Charlie Andreasson, who has been involved with the Freedom Flotilla for more than a decade.\n\nIt's unclear where the ship will be able to stop for repairs, said Tighe Barry, a Codepink member who was among a group of activists who took speedboats to the Conscience after the attack. The boats were turned away by Maltese authorities, he said, but one person made it aboard and spoke to the captain.\n\nBarry said the nation of Palau revoked its flag from the Conscience prior to the attack, and authorities in Malta, Greece and Turkey have threatened to confiscate the ship if it comes to port. Barry said the ship is loaded with medicine and food supplies.\n\n\"To get a new flag will take months, so they're just stuck out there,\" Barry said of the crew.\n\n## Conflict over Israel's blockade\n\nIsrael says the blockade is an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages it took during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the conflict. Hamas-led militants assaulted southern Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.\n\nIn response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of the territory and left most of its population homeless.\n\nWhen an aid flotilla attempted to break a blockade of Gaza in 2010, Israeli forces stormed a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, killing nine people on board.\n\nOn Friday, the Conscience was hit about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from Malta, according to the Freedom Flotilla.\n\nPhotos provided by Cypriot authorities showed the ship with damage to its side.\n\n## Ship sailed from Tunisia on route to Gaza\n\nAccording to the ship-monitoring website Marine Traffic, the Conscience left the Tunisian port of Bizerte on Tuesday and arrived Thursday morning in the area where it reported being attacked.\n\nVolunteers who had traveled to Malta were meant to board the ship to go to Gaza, the group said. Andreasson said climate activist Greta Thunberg was supposed to have participated. The organization said Thunberg did not board and was safe.\n\nThe ship's 12 crew members are from Turkey and Azerbaijan, said Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Codepink.\n\nTurkey condemned the attack and pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable.\n\nThe assault \"threatens freedom of navigation and maritime security in international waters,\" Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.\n\nThe attack happened as aid groups have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.\n\nThe International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday that it will not have access to food, medicine and life-saving supplies needed for many of its Gaza programs if aid deliveries don't resume immediately.\n\nPrograms at risk include \"common kitchens\" that often give residents the only meal they receive each day and could be forced to halt operations in a few weeks, the ICRC said.\n\n\"Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected,\" the committee said. \"Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate.\"\n\n___\n\nBrito contributed from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Giada Zampano in Rome; Kevin Schembri Orland in St. Julian's, Malta; Colleen Barry in Soave, Italy; Elena Becatoros and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; Jon Gambrell in Dubai; and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.\n\n___\n\nFollow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Drones strike ship carrying aid to Gaza, organizers say, in latest confrontation over assistance\n\nBy Sam Mednick and Renata Brito \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:11 AM\n\n---\n\nTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza on Friday in international waters off Malta, the group organizing the shipment said, in the latest confrontation over efforts to send assistance to the Palestinian territory devastated by nearly 19 months of war.\n\nA nearby tugboat responded to a distress call from the Conscience, which authorities said experienced a fire that was brought under control. The vessel was carrying 12 crew members and four civilians, the Maltese government said, adding that those aboard refused to leave the ship. The group was safe and no serious injuries were reported, it said.\n\nThe Freedom Flotilla Coalition accused Israel of attacking its ship. The group did not provide evidence for that claim or to show that the fire was caused by drones, but in a video it shared an explosion could be heard. Another video showed a fire blazing.\n\nThe Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment. Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March, leading to what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the war with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.\n\n## Explosions in the night\n\nMecid Bagcivan, an activist from Turkey who was aboard the Conscience, was getting ready for bed when two explosions rocked the ship about two minutes apart, he said. At first it seemed there had been a collision. Then the crew saw fire and realized it was an attack, Bagcivan told The Associated Press.\n\nAs the crew radioed Malta for help, Bagcivan said someone impersonated them on the same channel saying help was no longer needed. Those on board scrambled to fight the fire on their own, leaving some with minor injuries, he said. Help later arrived, and after hours the fire was extinguished.\n\nThe ship was trying to reenter Maltese waters amid fears of a second attack, according to a statement from the crew.\n\n\"We feel like right now we're safe, but we don't know what Israel is going to do,\" Bagcivan said. \"We can't trust no one in this situation after we get bombed in the middle of the night.\"\n\n## Stranded in international waters\n\nVideo taken after the explosions showed two large holes in the ship's deck, with thick smoke surrounding the vessel. The person recording the footage said the ship had been hit twice and was on fire about 14 miles from Malta. The video was provided by Codepink, a grassroots peace and social justice movement.\n\nThe ship's generator was badly damaged and will need to be repaired before continuing, said Charlie Andreasson, who has been involved with the Freedom Flotilla for more than a decade.\n\nIt's unclear where the ship will be able to stop for repairs, said Tighe Barry, a Codepink member who was among a group of activists who took speedboats to the Conscience after the attack. The boats were turned away by Maltese authorities, he said, but one person made it aboard and spoke to the captain.\n\nBarry said the nation of Palau revoked its flag from the Conscience prior to the attack, and authorities in Malta, Greece and Turkey have threatened to confiscate the ship if it comes to port. Barry said the ship is loaded with medicine and food supplies.\n\n\"To get a new flag will take months, so they're just stuck out there,\" Barry said of the crew.\n\n## Conflict over Israel's blockade\n\nIsrael says the blockade is an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages it took during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the conflict. Hamas-led militants assaulted southern Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.\n\nIn response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of the territory and left most of its population homeless.\n\nWhen an aid flotilla attempted to break a blockade of Gaza in 2010, Israeli forces stormed a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, killing nine people on board.\n\nOn Friday, the Conscience was hit about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from Malta, according to the Freedom Flotilla.\n\nPhotos provided by Cypriot authorities showed the ship with damage to its side.\n\n## Ship sailed from Tunisia on route to Gaza\n\nAccording to the ship-monitoring website Marine Traffic, the Conscience left the Tunisian port of Bizerte on Tuesday and arrived Thursday morning in the area where it reported being attacked.\n\nVolunteers who had traveled to Malta were meant to board the ship to go to Gaza, the group said. Andreasson said climate activist Greta Thunberg was supposed to have participated. The organization said Thunberg did not board and was safe.\n\nThe ship's 12 crew members are from Turkey and Azerbaijan, said Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Codepink.\n\nTurkey condemned the attack and pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable.\n\nThe assault \"threatens freedom of navigation and maritime security in international waters,\" Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.\n\nThe attack happened as aid groups have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.\n\nThe International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday that it will not have access to food, medicine and life-saving supplies needed for many of its Gaza programs if aid deliveries don't resume immediately.\n\nPrograms at risk include \"common kitchens\" that often give residents the only meal they receive each day and could be forced to halt operations in a few weeks, the ICRC said.\n\n\"Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected,\" the committee said. \"Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate.\"" } ]
7c02627f6eda8e8be83f63d460bdf156bb60b002b30e73b944a6235cd1b7ef86	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Another hat trick by a Finnish player Dallas got in a trade. This time, it's Granlund\n\nBy Stephen Hawkins \nMay 14th, 2025 05:11 AM\n\n---\n\nDALLAS (AP) — Another playoff hat trick for a Finnish forward the Dallas Stars acquired in a trade during the regular season.\n\nThis time, it was a first for Mikael Granlund. Not yet another three-goal game for Mikko Rantanaen, though he did have one of the assists.\n\nGranlund's first career postseason hat trick accounted for all the goals for the Dallas Stars in their 3-1 win Tuesday night that put them up 3-1 in their second-round Western Conference series against the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets.\n\n\"When you pass all the time, you know, you're gonna surprise the goalie maybe once in a while to shoot the puck,\" Granlund said. \"It's good to shoot every once in a while.\"\n\nIt certainly was for the Stars, with Granlund scoring in each period.\n\n\"He's just super responsible, 200-foot player. I think he does more in our end than in the (offensive) zone, which obviously I love as a goalie. The shot blocks, the good sticks,\" said Jake Oettinger, who had 31 saves for Dallas.\n\n\"I think when we focus on that and we take care of that, a guy like that, his skill takes over and I think he gets rewarded for playing good in our end ... Not the most dynamic (scorer) you would think, and then all of a sudden it's in the back of the net.\"\n\nGranlund got his first goal after skating down the middle over both blue lines, and a nifty move around Brandon Tanev near mid-ice, before snapping a 38-foot shot past Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 lead just 8 1/2 minutes into the game.\n\nRantanen upped his NHL-leading playoff total to 19 points (nine goals) with the primary assist on Granlund's goal that broke a 1-1 tie with 2:08 left in the second period. Rantanen had consecutive hat tricks in these playoffs, in the 3-2 win to open this series at Winnipeg, after his three goals and an assist in the third period of their 4-2 win in Game 7 against Colorado to help knock out his former team in the first round.\n\nAfter securing his hat trick, Granlund did a double fist pump from his knees, then popped up to his skates. His fourth goal in this postseason came on a power play with 12:37 left in the game.\n\nThe 33-year-old Granlund, in his 13th NHL season and with his fifth team, had scored multiple goals only one time in his previous 69 playoff games. That was in 2014 for Minnesota, which picked him ninth overall in the 2010 NHL draft.\n\nThe Stars got Granlund from San Jose along with defenseman Cody Ceci on Feb. 1. Rantanen was a deadline acquisition March 7 from Carolina, who had him for only 13 games after getting him from Colorado, the team Dallas beat in seven games in the first round.\n\n\"We were just talking in there ... the Granlund-Ceci trade, both those guys, invaluable contributions. I thought Ceci was outstanding tonight for us. And Granny led the way,\" coach Pete DeBoer said. \"What (Granlund) does on the ice is one thing, but the guy oozes leadership. Our Finnish group there, he's is kind of the elder statesman of that group.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Another hat trick by a Finnish player Dallas got in a trade. This time, it's Granlund\n\nBy Stephen Hawkins \nMay 14th, 2025 05:11 AM\n\n---\n\nDALLAS (AP) — Another playoff hat trick for a Finnish forward the Dallas Stars acquired in a trade during the regular season.\n\nThis time, it was a first for Mikael Granlund. Not yet another three-goal game for Mikko Rantanaen, though he did have one of the assists.\n\nGranlund's first career postseason hat trick accounted for all the goals for the Dallas Stars in their 3-1 win Tuesday night that put them up 3-1 in their second-round Western Conference series against the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets.\n\n\"When you pass all the time, you know, you're gonna surprise the goalie maybe once in a while to shoot the puck,\" Granlund said. \"It's good to shoot every once in a while.\"\n\nIt certainly was for the Stars, with Granlund scoring in each period.\n\n\"He's just super responsible, 200-foot player. I think he does more in our end than in the (offensive) zone, which obviously I love as a goalie. The shot blocks, the good sticks,\" said Jake Oettinger, who had 31 saves for Dallas.\n\n\"I think when we focus on that and we take care of that, a guy like that, his skill takes over and I think he gets rewarded for playing good in our end ... Not the most dynamic (scorer) you would think, and then all of a sudden it's in the back of the net.\"\n\nGranlund got his first goal after skating down the middle over both blue lines, and a nifty move around Brandon Tanev near mid-ice, before snapping a 38-foot shot past Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 lead just 8 1/2 minutes into the game.\n\nRantanen upped his NHL-leading playoff total to 19 points (nine goals) with the primary assist on Granlund's goal that broke a 1-1 tie with 2:08 left in the second period. Rantanen had consecutive hat tricks in these playoffs, in the 3-2 win to open this series at Winnipeg, after his three goals and an assist in the third period of their 4-2 win in Game 7 against Colorado to help knock out his former team in the first round.\n\nAfter securing his hat trick, Granlund did a double fist pump from his knees, then popped up to his skates. His fourth goal in this postseason came on a power play with 12:37 left in the game.\n\nThe 33-year-old Granlund, in his 13th NHL season and with his fifth team, had scored multiple goals only one time in his previous 69 playoff games. That was in 2014 for Minnesota, which picked him ninth overall in the 2010 NHL draft.\n\nThe Stars got Granlund from San Jose along with defenseman Cody Ceci on Feb. 1. Rantanen was a deadline acquisition March 7 from Carolina, who had him for only 13 games after getting him from Colorado, the team Dallas beat in seven games in the first round.\n\n\"We were just talking in there ... the Granlund-Ceci trade, both those guys, invaluable contributions. I thought Ceci was outstanding tonight for us. And Granny led the way,\" coach Pete DeBoer said. \"What (Granlund) does on the ice is one thing, but the guy oozes leadership. Our Finnish group there, he's is kind of the elder statesman of that group.\"" } ]
7cdecc9b8f3c99f5085247feb96e08c644713f30084527df12ccb6677406ce9b	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Palmer dismisses social media 'idiots' after ending goal drought in Chelsea win\n\nMay 4th, 2025 06:49 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer dismissed his critics on social media as \"idiots\" and \"trolls\" after scoring his first goal since January in the 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.\n\nThe England international converted a penalty in stoppage time to end an 18-game scoring drought in all competitions, stretching back to Jan. 14.\n\n\"Obviously I went, what, three months without scoring, but it just gives me more fight and motivation to do well, not just for myself but for my team,\" Palmer said after the game.\n\n\"Social media nowadays is full of idiots, basically. The trolls and whatever. I don't pay any attention to that. To score today, I'm happy, but it's only one and I've got to keep improving and try to reach new levels.\"\n\nPalmer said it hurt him to have been getting chances and not scoring during his scoreless run.\n\n\"You're letting your team down at the end of the day,\" he said. \"Personally, I feel like I am mentally strong anyway. Whatever people say doesn't bother me. I've had it all my life growing up, so I don't really care.\n\n\"But I feel pride helping the team and if I'm not doing that, obviously I'm not happy.\"\n\nPalmer netted 22 Premier League goals last season — his first with Chelsea after a move from Manchester City — to be second on the scoring list behind City's Erling Haaland.\n\nHe has 15 goals now in this campaign.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Palmer dismisses social media 'idiots' after ending goal drought in Chelsea win\n\nMay 4th, 2025 06:49 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer dismissed his critics on social media as \"idiots\" and \"trolls\" after scoring his first goal since January in the 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.\n\nThe England international converted a penalty in stoppage time to end an 18-game scoring drought in all competitions, stretching back to Jan. 14.\n\n\"Obviously I went, what, three months without scoring, but it just gives me more fight and motivation to do well, not just for myself but for my team,\" Palmer said after the game.\n\n\"Social media nowadays is full of idiots, basically. The trolls and whatever. I don't pay any attention to that. To score today, I'm happy, but it's only one and I've got to keep improving and try to reach new levels.\"\n\nPalmer said it hurt him to have been getting chances and not scoring during his scoreless run.\n\n\"You're letting your team down at the end of the day,\" he said. \"Personally, I feel like I am mentally strong anyway. Whatever people say doesn't bother me. I've had it all my life growing up, so I don't really care.\n\n\"But I feel pride helping the team and if I'm not doing that, obviously I'm not happy.\"\n\nPalmer netted 22 Premier League goals last season — his first with Chelsea after a move from Manchester City — to be second on the scoring list behind City's Erling Haaland.\n\nHe has 15 goals now in this campaign." } ]
eaa57fa6907d614ce682246f493573715cbe448899b35e48307ca5c83fec7b23	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Kyle Busch was once kicked out of a track for being too young. Now the NASCAR champ turns 40\n\nBy Jenna Fryer \nMay 1st, 2025 02:56 PM\n\n---\n\nCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch was hyped for NASCAR greatness long before he was a teenager by his Hall of Fame nominee brother, who vowed \"if you think I'm good, wait until you see my little brother.\"\n\nBusch's debut in a NASCAR national series race was delayed, though, when he turned up at California Speedway in 2001 intent to run the Truck Series race. He dominated practice in a race sponsored by Marlboro but, because he was only 16 at the time, was ruled ineligible to compete over NASCAR's interpretation of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.\n\nThe MSA prohibited individuals under 18 from participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. And because NASCAR at the time was sponsored by Winston, the series eventually adopted its own rule six weeks later implementing a minimum age requirement of 18 that began in 2002.\n\nBusch had no choice but to move to the American Speed Association National Tour, and then ARCA after graduating early from his Las Vegas high school.\n\nFast-forward to Friday when Busch celebrates his 40th birthday as a two-time Cup Series champion headed to Texas Motor Speedway with 232 national series victories. Kurt Busch, his older brother by seven years and a nominee last week to next year's Hall of Fame class, has one Cup title and 43 career national series victories.\n\nBusch can now laugh at his experience 24 years ago at California Speedway, where he went on to win five Cup races, including the last one in 2023 before the track was shuttered by NASCAR.\n\n\"Shut that place down,\" he said, noting the irony that he's now sponsored by zone nicotine pouches, which has an additional relationship with online retailer Nicokick. \"Full circle moment.\"\n\nBusch celebrated his birthday early — over the Easter weekend, which was NASCAR's only break of the 38-race schedule — with a vacation with wife, Samantha. They left their two children home and Samantha made a heartfelt social media post honoring her husband.\n\n\"Early celebration for Kyle's big 4-0, love ya babe,\" Samantha wrote, sharing a picture of herself and her husband at dinner on a beachfront. In a separate image, Kyle could also be seen with a small chocolate cake in front of him with a candle burning.\n\nBusch said he and Samantha \"made the most of it\" even though he finds it difficult to unwind.\n\n\"Just a nice little quiet time, tried to disconnect, that's not easy for me to do,\" Busch said. \"So I'm still kind of doing some work from afar, emails and things like that.\"\n\nAnd as for turning 40? Well, he wasn't exactly thrilled. Busch is in his 23rd season in the Cup Series, and although he joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023 and won three races, he went winless in Cup last year for the first time in his career and missed the playoffs. His losing streak headed to Texas is an eye-popping 67 races.\n\n\"I remember turning 30 and thinking that was going to be it,\" Busch said. \"It is what it is. Samantha has made the best of that for me where we celebrated my birthday on that trip. I don't feel much older than I did five, six years ago. So that's the good part of it. And I'm in pretty decent shape, so thankful for all of that.\"\n\nBusch briefly considered retirement at the end of the 2022 season when he parted ways with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he for now is the winningest driver in team history with Denny Hamlin closing in on his mark. Now, he'd like to race at least until his son, Brexton, turns 18 and the two can compete against each other in NASCAR.\n\n___\n\nAP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Kyle Busch was once kicked out of a track for being too young. Now the NASCAR champ turns 40\n\nBy Jenna Fryer \nMay 1st, 2025 02:56 PM\n\n---\n\nCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch was hyped for NASCAR greatness long before he was a teenager by his Hall of Fame nominee brother, who vowed \"if you think I'm good, wait until you see my little brother.\"\n\nBusch's debut in a NASCAR national series race was delayed, though, when he turned up at California Speedway in 2001 intent to run the Truck Series race. He dominated practice in a race sponsored by Marlboro but, because he was only 16 at the time, was ruled ineligible to compete over NASCAR's interpretation of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.\n\nThe MSA prohibited individuals under 18 from participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. And because NASCAR at the time was sponsored by Winston, the series eventually adopted its own rule six weeks later implementing a minimum age requirement of 18 that began in 2002.\n\nBusch had no choice but to move to the American Speed Association National Tour, and then ARCA after graduating early from his Las Vegas high school.\n\nFast-forward to Friday when Busch celebrates his 40th birthday as a two-time Cup Series champion headed to Texas Motor Speedway with 232 national series victories. Kurt Busch, his older brother by seven years and a nominee last week to next year's Hall of Fame class, has one Cup title and 43 career national series victories.\n\nBusch can now laugh at his experience 24 years ago at California Speedway, where he went on to win five Cup races, including the last one in 2023 before the track was shuttered by NASCAR.\n\n\"Shut that place down,\" he said, noting the irony that he's now sponsored by zone nicotine pouches, which has an additional relationship with online retailer Nicokick. \"Full circle moment.\"\n\nBusch celebrated his birthday early — over the Easter weekend, which was NASCAR's only break of the 38-race schedule — with a vacation with wife, Samantha. They left their two children home and Samantha made a heartfelt social media post honoring her husband.\n\n\"Early celebration for Kyle's big 4-0, love ya babe,\" Samantha wrote, sharing a picture of herself and her husband at dinner on a beachfront. In a separate image, Kyle could also be seen with a small chocolate cake in front of him with a candle burning.\n\nBusch said he and Samantha \"made the most of it\" even though he finds it difficult to unwind.\n\n\"Just a nice little quiet time, tried to disconnect, that's not easy for me to do,\" Busch said. \"So I'm still kind of doing some work from afar, emails and things like that.\"\n\nAnd as for turning 40? Well, he wasn't exactly thrilled. Busch is in his 23rd season in the Cup Series, and although he joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023 and won three races, he went winless in Cup last year for the first time in his career and missed the playoffs. His losing streak headed to Texas is an eye-popping 67 races.\n\n\"I remember turning 30 and thinking that was going to be it,\" Busch said. \"It is what it is. Samantha has made the best of that for me where we celebrated my birthday on that trip. I don't feel much older than I did five, six years ago. So that's the good part of it. And I'm in pretty decent shape, so thankful for all of that.\"\n\nBusch briefly considered retirement at the end of the 2022 season when he parted ways with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he for now is the winningest driver in team history with Denny Hamlin closing in on his mark. Now, he'd like to race at least until his son, Brexton, turns 18 and the two can compete against each other in NASCAR." } ]
4ca7c58a2806f109fa22cfe5bf40e7a0083d328f9754a5a369a1289729cc31d5	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes. Here's his history with the festival\n\nMay 9th, 2025 01:48 PM\n\n---\n\nCANNES, France (AP) — Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, a culmination for the 81-year-old actor whose history with the French film festival stretches back half a century.\n\nIn 1976, De Niro starred in two films — Martin Scorsese's \"Taxi Driver\" and Bernardo Bertolucci's \"1900\" — that premiered in competition at Cannes. \"Taxi Driver\" was an immediate sensation, and went home with the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.\n\nSince then, De Niro has been a regular on the Croisette, returning with \"The King of Comedy\" in 1983, Sergio Leone's \"Once Upon a Time in America\" in 1984 and Roland Joffé's \"The Mission\" in 1986. Joffé's film also won the Palme, making De Niro the rare actor to star in two Palme d'Or winners.\n\nThough De Niro helps run his own film festival back in New York, the Tribeca Festival, he has remained a mainstay in Cannes. He presided over the jury in 2011 that selected Terrence Malick's \"The Tree of Life\" for the Palme. Most recently, he and Scorsese returned to premiere \"Killers of the Flower Moon\" in 2023.\n\n\"I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes,\" De Niro said when his honorary Palme d'Or was announced last month. \"Especially now when there's so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It's like coming home.\"\n\nDe Niro is to receive the award in the festival's opening ceremony on May 13.\n\n___\n\nFor more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes. Here's his history with the festival\n\nMay 9th, 2025 01:48 PM\n\n---\n\nCANNES, France (AP) — Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, a culmination for the 81-year-old actor whose history with the French film festival stretches back half a century.\n\nIn 1976, De Niro starred in two films — Martin Scorsese's \"Taxi Driver\" and Bernardo Bertolucci's \"1900\" — that premiered in competition at Cannes. \"Taxi Driver\" was an immediate sensation, and went home with the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.\n\nSince then, De Niro has been a regular on the Croisette, returning with \"The King of Comedy\" in 1983, Sergio Leone's \"Once Upon a Time in America\" in 1984 and Roland Joffé's \"The Mission\" in 1986. Joffé's film also won the Palme, making De Niro the rare actor to star in two Palme d'Or winners.\n\nThough De Niro helps run his own film festival back in New York, the Tribeca Festival, he has remained a mainstay in Cannes. He presided over the jury in 2011 that selected Terrence Malick's \"The Tree of Life\" for the Palme. Most recently, he and Scorsese returned to premiere \"Killers of the Flower Moon\" in 2023.\n\n\"I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes,\" De Niro said when his honorary Palme d'Or was announced last month. \"Especially now when there's so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It's like coming home.\"\n\nDe Niro is to receive the award in the festival's opening ceremony on May 13." } ]
09dec528982c0154e973a226d69c7a5e501e471abf264b6c9d50849bbdbbb926	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Smoke from climate-fueled wildfires contributed to thousands of US deaths over 15 years, study says\n\nBy Dorany Pineda \nMay 7th, 2025 04:53 PM\n\n---\n\nWildfires driven by climate change contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study.\n\nThe paper, published Friday in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, found that from 2006 to 2020, climate change contributed to about 15,000 deaths from exposure to small particulate matter from wildfires and cost about $160 billion. The annual range of deaths was 130 to 5,100, the study showed, with the highest in states such as Oregon and California.\n\n\"We're seeing a lot more of these wildfire smoke events,\" said Nicholas Nassikas, a study author and a physician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. So he and multidisciplinary team of researchers wanted to know: \"What does it really mean in a changing environment for things like mortality, which is kind of the worst possible health outcome?\"\n\nLisa Thompson, a professor at Emory University who studies air pollution and climate change and was not involved in the paper, said it is one of the first studies she has seen to isolate the effect of climate change on mortality. Looking at the impacts across time and space also made it unique, she said.\n\nThe paper's researchers focused on deaths linked to exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5 — the main concern from wildfire smoke.\n\nThese particles can lodge deep into lungs and trigger coughing and itchy eyes with short-term exposure. But longer term they can make existing health problems worse and lead to a range of chronic and deadly health issues. Children, pregnant people, the elderly and outdoor workers are among the most vulnerable. The Health Effects Institute estimated the pollutant caused 4 million deaths worldwide.\n\nEvidence is emerging that PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is more toxic than other pollution sources. When wildfires encroach into cities, burning cars and other toxics-containing materials, it adds to the danger.\n\nNumerous studies have tied human-caused climate change — caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas — to a growth in fires in North America. Global warming is increasing drought, especially in the West, and other extreme weather. Drier conditions suck moisture from plants, which act as fuel for fires. When drier vegetation and seasons are mixed with hotter temperatures, that increases the frequency, extent and severity of wildfires and the smoke they spew.\n\n## Findings dismaying but not surprising, scholar says\n\nJacob Bendix, professor emeritus of geography and environment at Syracuse University, said he was \"dismayed\" by the findings but not surprised.\n\n\"(T) hese numbers are really significant. I think there's a tendency for people outside of the areas actually burning to see increasing fires as a distant inconvenience … This study drives home how far-reaching the impacts are,\" said Bendix in an email. He wasn't involved in the study.\n\nThe study's authors drew on modeled and existing data to reach their findings. First, they sought to understand how much area burned by wildfires was attributable to climate change. They did that by analyzing the real climate conditions — heat and rain, for instance — when wildfires erupted from 2006 to 2020, and compared that to a scenario where weather measurements would be different without climate change.\n\nFrom there, they estimated the levels of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke tied to climate change using the same approach. Lastly, integrating the current understanding of how particulate matter affects mortality based on published research, they quantified the number of deaths related to PM2.5 from wildfires and calculated their economic impact.\n\nThis framework showed that of 164,000 deaths related to wildfire-PM2.5 exposure from 2006 to 2020, 10% were attributable to climate change. The mortalities were 30% to 50% higher in some western states and counties.\n\n## Questions about the study's conclusions\n\nMarshall Burke, global environmental policy professor at Stanford University, said the evidence linking climate change to burned areas was \"rock solid,\" but the subsequent steps were harder.\n\n\"Linking burned area to smoke is trickier because you never know exactly which way the wind's going to blow,\" he said, and he wondered how the death estimates compared to fatalities tied to general air pollution.\n\nStill, their approach was sensible and reasonable, Burke said.\n\nJohns Hopkins University lecturer in climate and energy policy Patrick Brown said he had some concerns about the study. One was conceptual. The study acknowledges the power non-climate drivers have on wildfires, but it doesn't give them proper weight, he said in an email.\n\nBrown, who was not involved in the study, worries decision-makers could wrongly conclude that mitigating planet-warming carbon emissions is the only solution. \"Yet in many regions, the more immediate life‑saving action may be fuel breaks, prescribed burns, ignition‑source regulation, public health efforts, etc.,\" he said.\n\nLand management practices such as prescribed burns can reduce wildfire fuel, Nassikas said. But ultimately, the study notes, the problem of deaths from wildfire smoke will only get worse without the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.\n\n\"Part of the study is raising awareness,\" he said. \"And then once we kind of understand that … now what are the interventions that we can deploy at a personal level, at a community level, and then obviously at a larger level across the country and across the world?\"\n\n———\n\nThe Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Smoke from climate-fueled wildfires contributed to thousands of US deaths over 15 years, study says\n\nBy Dorany Pineda \nMay 7th, 2025 04:53 PM\n\n---\n\nWildfires driven by climate change contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study.\n\nThe paper, published Friday in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, found that from 2006 to 2020, climate change contributed to about 15,000 deaths from exposure to small particulate matter from wildfires and cost about $160 billion. The annual range of deaths was 130 to 5,100, the study showed, with the highest in states such as Oregon and California.\n\n\"We're seeing a lot more of these wildfire smoke events,\" said Nicholas Nassikas, a study author and a physician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. So he and multidisciplinary team of researchers wanted to know: \"What does it really mean in a changing environment for things like mortality, which is kind of the worst possible health outcome?\"\n\nLisa Thompson, a professor at Emory University who studies air pollution and climate change and was not involved in the paper, said it is one of the first studies she has seen to isolate the effect of climate change on mortality. Looking at the impacts across time and space also made it unique, she said.\n\nThe paper's researchers focused on deaths linked to exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5 — the main concern from wildfire smoke.\n\nThese particles can lodge deep into lungs and trigger coughing and itchy eyes with short-term exposure. But longer term they can make existing health problems worse and lead to a range of chronic and deadly health issues. Children, pregnant people, the elderly and outdoor workers are among the most vulnerable. The Health Effects Institute estimated the pollutant caused 4 million deaths worldwide.\n\nEvidence is emerging that PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is more toxic than other pollution sources. When wildfires encroach into cities, burning cars and other toxics-containing materials, it adds to the danger.\n\nNumerous studies have tied human-caused climate change — caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas — to a growth in fires in North America. Global warming is increasing drought, especially in the West, and other extreme weather. Drier conditions suck moisture from plants, which act as fuel for fires. When drier vegetation and seasons are mixed with hotter temperatures, that increases the frequency, extent and severity of wildfires and the smoke they spew.\n\n## Findings dismaying but not surprising, scholar says\n\nJacob Bendix, professor emeritus of geography and environment at Syracuse University, said he was \"dismayed\" by the findings but not surprised.\n\n\"(T) hese numbers are really significant. I think there's a tendency for people outside of the areas actually burning to see increasing fires as a distant inconvenience … This study drives home how far-reaching the impacts are,\" said Bendix in an email. He wasn't involved in the study.\n\nThe study's authors drew on modeled and existing data to reach their findings. First, they sought to understand how much area burned by wildfires was attributable to climate change. They did that by analyzing the real climate conditions — heat and rain, for instance — when wildfires erupted from 2006 to 2020, and compared that to a scenario where weather measurements would be different without climate change.\n\nFrom there, they estimated the levels of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke tied to climate change using the same approach. Lastly, integrating the current understanding of how particulate matter affects mortality based on published research, they quantified the number of deaths related to PM2.5 from wildfires and calculated their economic impact.\n\nThis framework showed that of 164,000 deaths related to wildfire-PM2.5 exposure from 2006 to 2020, 10% were attributable to climate change. The mortalities were 30% to 50% higher in some western states and counties.\n\n## Questions about the study's conclusions\n\nMarshall Burke, global environmental policy professor at Stanford University, said the evidence linking climate change to burned areas was \"rock solid,\" but the subsequent steps were harder.\n\n\"Linking burned area to smoke is trickier because you never know exactly which way the wind's going to blow,\" he said, and he wondered how the death estimates compared to fatalities tied to general air pollution.\n\nStill, their approach was sensible and reasonable, Burke said.\n\nJohns Hopkins University lecturer in climate and energy policy Patrick Brown said he had some concerns about the study. One was conceptual. The study acknowledges the power non-climate drivers have on wildfires, but it doesn't give them proper weight, he said in an email.\n\nBrown, who was not involved in the study, worries decision-makers could wrongly conclude that mitigating planet-warming carbon emissions is the only solution. \"Yet in many regions, the more immediate life‑saving action may be fuel breaks, prescribed burns, ignition‑source regulation, public health efforts, etc.,\" he said.\n\nLand management practices such as prescribed burns can reduce wildfire fuel, Nassikas said. But ultimately, the study notes, the problem of deaths from wildfire smoke will only get worse without the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.\n\n\"Part of the study is raising awareness,\" he said. \"And then once we kind of understand that … now what are the interventions that we can deploy at a personal level, at a community level, and then obviously at a larger level across the country and across the world?\"" } ]
53510b65b8fd9f017239ad00209834052a45a97ecd7b67381c27aaa0665775b4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Late penalty for Torino scuppers Venezia hopes of escaping Serie A drop zone\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nTURIN, Italy (AP) — Kike Pérez's first Serie A goal was not enough to lift Venezia out of the relegation zone after Torino scored late to secure a 1-1 draw at home on Friday.\n\nVisiting Venezia had already seen an early goal disallowed for offside when Pérez put them ahead after 35 minutes, squeezing between two defenders and angling home a low right-foot shot.\n\nHowever, Nikola Vlašić converted a 77th-minute penalty to give the home side a share of the points.\n\nThe result was harsh for Venezia, for which a first away win since February 2022 would have lifted it out of the bottom three.\n\nInstead, it remained third from bottom, one point above Empoli and a point behind Lecce, both of whom have a game in hand.\n\nThe bottom three go down, with last-placed Monza almost certain to drop.\n\nTorino was in 10th.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Late penalty for Torino scuppers Venezia hopes of escaping Serie A drop zone\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 08:59 PM\n\n---\n\nTURIN, Italy (AP) — Kike Pérez's first Serie A goal was not enough to lift Venezia out of the relegation zone after Torino scored late to secure a 1-1 draw at home on Friday.\n\nVisiting Venezia had already seen an early goal disallowed for offside when Pérez put them ahead after 35 minutes, squeezing between two defenders and angling home a low right-foot shot.\n\nHowever, Nikola Vlašić converted a 77th-minute penalty to give the home side a share of the points.\n\nThe result was harsh for Venezia, for which a first away win since February 2022 would have lifted it out of the bottom three.\n\nInstead, it remained third from bottom, one point above Empoli and a point behind Lecce, both of whom have a game in hand.\n\nThe bottom three go down, with last-placed Monza almost certain to drop.\n\nTorino was in 10th." } ]
ec5ad10841d6006d58491a9f913feef8d8452669d97964f2a97ba5ea267f84f0	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Kash Patel says he can achieve FBI's mission with steep budget cuts\n\nBy Eric Tucker \nMay 8th, 2025 08:40 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that he would make the bureau's mission \"work on whatever budget we're given,\" striking a different tone from comments a day earlier in which he called for the agency to be funded at far higher levels than what the Trump administration had proposed.\n\nThe 2026 budget proposal released on Friday calls for a funding cut of about $545 million for the FBI as part of what the White House said was a desire to \"reform and streamline\" the bureau and reduce \"non-law enforcement missions that do not align\" with the priorities of President Donald Trump\n\nPatel told lawmakers at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the FBI needs \"more than what has been proposed\" to operate as it should and that it \"can't do the mission on those 2011 budget levels.\"\n\nBut on Thursday, appearing at a separate hearing of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, he took a different stance when asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about his earlier testimony that the FBI required substantially more money than what the Trump budget plan had called for.\n\n\"My view is that we agree with this budget as it stands and (will) make it work for the operational necessity of the FBI, and as the head of the FBI, I was simply asking for more funds because I can do more with more money,\" he said.\n\nHe added that he would \"make the mission work on whatever budget we're given.\"\n\n__" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Kash Patel says he can achieve FBI's mission with steep budget cuts\n\nBy Eric Tucker \nMay 8th, 2025 08:40 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that he would make the bureau's mission \"work on whatever budget we're given,\" striking a different tone from comments a day earlier in which he called for the agency to be funded at far higher levels than what the Trump administration had proposed.\n\nThe 2026 budget proposal released on Friday calls for a funding cut of about $545 million for the FBI as part of what the White House said was a desire to \"reform and streamline\" the bureau and reduce \"non-law enforcement missions that do not align\" with the priorities of President Donald Trump\n\nPatel told lawmakers at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the FBI needs \"more than what has been proposed\" to operate as it should and that it \"can't do the mission on those 2011 budget levels.\"\n\nBut on Thursday, appearing at a separate hearing of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, he took a different stance when asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about his earlier testimony that the FBI required substantially more money than what the Trump budget plan had called for.\n\n\"My view is that we agree with this budget as it stands and (will) make it work for the operational necessity of the FBI, and as the head of the FBI, I was simply asking for more funds because I can do more with more money,\" he said.\n\nHe added that he would \"make the mission work on whatever budget we're given.\"" } ]
d8d453f95728ee381d44edbdfcbf08fb12096a62d00e5c529dc82f7bc80ee89c	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# There's an environmental crisis left from migrants in the Darien Gap\n\nBy Megan Janetsky and Matias Delacroix \nMay 5th, 2025 04:03 AM\n\n---\n\nVILLA CALETA, Panama (AP) — For centuries, the Comarca Embera people have fished and bathed in the Turquesa River, a jungle waterway flowing out of the Darien Gap. They've long been accustomed to changes in the water — rainy season brings mud and sediment in the faster-flowing river. But now, they're seeing unprecedented change in the wake of a migratory crisis: Trash, gasoline and fecal matter have been left behind from the 1.2 million vulnerable people who trekked through one of the Earth's most biodiverse rainforests.\n\nMigration through the Darien Gap — a remote area along the Colombia-Panama that sat largely untouched until it became the epicenter of 2021's crush of migration — has virtually vanished, but families in the small community of Villa Caleta still fear bathing in the winding river. Fish, their main food source, reek of fuel from boats that carried people down the Turquesa. And deeper in the jungle, criminal groups that pushed into the region to profit off the migratory route are part of illegal gold mining and deforestation operations.\n\nPanamanian authorities and residents say that with the humanitarian crisis came an environmental crisis that will take years to reverse, while local communities suffer the consequences.\n\n\"The water is polluted with garbage,\" said Militza Olea, 43, eyeing the red sores still dotting the skin of her 3-year-old nephew days after he bathed in the Turquesa. \"We have to be careful. Everyone climbs out of the river with hives on their skin, especially the children.\"\n\n## 2,500 tons of trash with a $12 million cleanup cost\n\nIt's been months since migration in the once-untouched jungles and rivers plummeted, but authorities say pollution and other environmental concerns are at a high. They estimate that 2,500 tons of trash were left in the Darien Gap and that just cleaning it up along the migratory route will cost around $12 million.\n\nAt the height of migration, as many as 3,000 people a day floated down the Turquesa past Villa Caleta and other communities on their way out of the jungle.\n\nToday, floating in the water and tangled in trees are foam mats migrants used to sleep, tattered shirts plastered with dirt, backpacks, plastic bottles and more.\n\nPanamanian Environmental Minister Juan Carlos Navarro blames the American government. He said the Trump administration should foot the bill for cleaning because the vast majority of migrants traversing the Darien Gap were headed to the U.S.\n\nNavarro noted Panama's lack of money and resources and said the government was promised $3 million by the outgoing Biden administration in January, but that under President Donald Trump the promised funds haven't arrived.\n\n\"They're not cleaning up their mess,\" he said. \"If the United States is responsible because it opened its borders, then the United States should pay for it.\"\n\nThe White House didn't respond to an emailed request for comment.\n\n## Fecal matter and other contaminants\n\nBeyond the trash that can be seen floating in the river, officials say tests show dangerous levels of contamination.\n\nThe most recent test by government hydrologists, in August, showed high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria in the Turquesa River, typically indicating human waste. Communities also found decomposing bodies floating past their homes, leaders said.\n\nOfficials said they need to carry out more tests on the water's current state. But they believe the issues likely remain, as most of what's leftover from migration remains farther upstream, where border police blocked Associated Press journalists despite permission granted by Panamanian environmental authorities.\n\nOlea and others in the Indigenous Comarca Embera community — consisting of about 12,000 people who long lived off fertile lands deep in Panama's southern jungle, until their territory intersected with the migratory route running from Colombia — attribute the rashes appearing on residents' arms to the pollution.\n\nWhile doctors and officials have made no medical diagnosis, residents say symptoms appeared only when migration began to surge, around 2021.\n\nOlea said her family spends money from its plantain crops for expensive antibiotic creams, brought by family members who travel hours by boat from the closest towns. Not everyone can afford it, and they say their rashes spread.\n\nOlea also worries about water supply. There's fresh drinking water for now, thanks to a small plant installed by an aid organization, but she said their small water stores won't be enough during the summer dry season.\n\n\"When the time comes, the people here are going to need that water,\" she said. \"The river has to be clean.\"\n\nFood scarcity was already an issue, with the economy suffering from the disappearance of the migrants. Many say environmental effects are exacerbating the problem.\n\n\"The fish we catch, they still smell of gasoline,\" community leader Cholino de Gracia said. \"We can't fish anymore because you'd practically be eating a fish full of gasoline.\"\n\n## Deforestation and criminal activity\n\nWith the flow of migrants, the Colombian criminal group known as the Gulf Clan pushed into the region, seizing control of the migration route, said Henry Shuldiner, a researcher with Insight Crime investigating organized crime in the Darien Gap.\n\nThe group has long cultivated coca, the plant used to produce cocaine, and illegally mined gold — a process that uses mercury to extract gold from ore, poisoning lands and waters around the mines.\n\nOn the Colombian side of the Darien Gap, Shuldiner said, the group has taken advantage of its control of large swathes of jungle to expand operations and rake in money from environmental crimes. In some cases, that's included taking a cut from existing illegal logging operations. In others, they've sliced and burnt through dense jungle to replace with fields of coca.\n\n\"We're seeing increased land clearings around these municipalities that bordered the Darien, mostly for coca cultivation,\" Shuldiner said. Along the former migrant trail, \"there are environmental crimes happening, and the (Gulf Clan) is profiting directly.\"\n\nIn some cases, that criminal activity has trickled into Panama as groups set up illegal mining operations in federally protected national parks. In January, authorities said they had dismantled an illegal gold mining network and detained 10 Colombians and Panamanians who left the jungle contaminated with mercury and cyanide.\n\nIn other places, Environmental Minister Navarro and residents said, criminals rent land on Indigenous reservations to launder money earned during the economic boom from migration, and they burn and chop down dense jungle to make way for cattle ranches.\n\nIn 2023, deforestation in the Darien shot up after years of decline, according to the latest data from Global Forest Watch, which monitors deforestation using satellites. Local leaders say that will deal a long-term blow to the communities that have lived off the land for centuries.\n\n## A state of \"environmental anarchy\"\n\nNavarro said Panama's government must try to rescue the jungle from a state of \"environmental anarchy.\"\n\n\"This is a treasure trove of biodiversity,\" Navarro said. \"They've disrupted the whole system of life in this community and damaged some of them forever. ... Now that this disaster has ended, we're going to be able to conserve our forests.\"\n\nBut community leader De Gracia and others in the region say the area has long been neglected. They blame Panama's government for not doing more to clean their waters or develop the region in a way that would allow them to bounce back faster.\n\nOlea, watching her nephew play even with the rash running along his arms, worries most for the children in places like Villa Caleta.\n\n\"Without water, there's no life here,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# There's an environmental crisis left from migrants in the Darien Gap\n\nBy Megan Janetsky and Matias Delacroix \nMay 5th, 2025 04:03 AM\n\n---\n\nVILLA CALETA, Panama (AP) — For centuries, the Comarca Embera people have fished and bathed in the Turquesa River, a jungle waterway flowing out of the Darien Gap. They've long been accustomed to changes in the water — rainy season brings mud and sediment in the faster-flowing river. But now, they're seeing unprecedented change in the wake of a migratory crisis: Trash, gasoline and fecal matter have been left behind from the 1.2 million vulnerable people who trekked through one of the Earth's most biodiverse rainforests.\n\nMigration through the Darien Gap — a remote area along the Colombia-Panama that sat largely untouched until it became the epicenter of 2021's crush of migration — has virtually vanished, but families in the small community of Villa Caleta still fear bathing in the winding river. Fish, their main food source, reek of fuel from boats that carried people down the Turquesa. And deeper in the jungle, criminal groups that pushed into the region to profit off the migratory route are part of illegal gold mining and deforestation operations.\n\nPanamanian authorities and residents say that with the humanitarian crisis came an environmental crisis that will take years to reverse, while local communities suffer the consequences.\n\n\"The water is polluted with garbage,\" said Militza Olea, 43, eyeing the red sores still dotting the skin of her 3-year-old nephew days after he bathed in the Turquesa. \"We have to be careful. Everyone climbs out of the river with hives on their skin, especially the children.\"\n\n## 2,500 tons of trash with a $12 million cleanup cost\n\nIt's been months since migration in the once-untouched jungles and rivers plummeted, but authorities say pollution and other environmental concerns are at a high. They estimate that 2,500 tons of trash were left in the Darien Gap and that just cleaning it up along the migratory route will cost around $12 million.\n\nAt the height of migration, as many as 3,000 people a day floated down the Turquesa past Villa Caleta and other communities on their way out of the jungle.\n\nToday, floating in the water and tangled in trees are foam mats migrants used to sleep, tattered shirts plastered with dirt, backpacks, plastic bottles and more.\n\nPanamanian Environmental Minister Juan Carlos Navarro blames the American government. He said the Trump administration should foot the bill for cleaning because the vast majority of migrants traversing the Darien Gap were headed to the U.S.\n\nNavarro noted Panama's lack of money and resources and said the government was promised $3 million by the outgoing Biden administration in January, but that under President Donald Trump the promised funds haven't arrived.\n\n\"They're not cleaning up their mess,\" he said. \"If the United States is responsible because it opened its borders, then the United States should pay for it.\"\n\nThe White House didn't respond to an emailed request for comment.\n\n## Fecal matter and other contaminants\n\nBeyond the trash that can be seen floating in the river, officials say tests show dangerous levels of contamination.\n\nThe most recent test by government hydrologists, in August, showed high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria in the Turquesa River, typically indicating human waste. Communities also found decomposing bodies floating past their homes, leaders said.\n\nOfficials said they need to carry out more tests on the water's current state. But they believe the issues likely remain, as most of what's leftover from migration remains farther upstream, where border police blocked Associated Press journalists despite permission granted by Panamanian environmental authorities.\n\nOlea and others in the Indigenous Comarca Embera community — consisting of about 12,000 people who long lived off fertile lands deep in Panama's southern jungle, until their territory intersected with the migratory route running from Colombia — attribute the rashes appearing on residents' arms to the pollution.\n\nWhile doctors and officials have made no medical diagnosis, residents say symptoms appeared only when migration began to surge, around 2021.\n\nOlea said her family spends money from its plantain crops for expensive antibiotic creams, brought by family members who travel hours by boat from the closest towns. Not everyone can afford it, and they say their rashes spread.\n\nOlea also worries about water supply. There's fresh drinking water for now, thanks to a small plant installed by an aid organization, but she said their small water stores won't be enough during the summer dry season.\n\n\"When the time comes, the people here are going to need that water,\" she said. \"The river has to be clean.\"\n\nFood scarcity was already an issue, with the economy suffering from the disappearance of the migrants. Many say environmental effects are exacerbating the problem.\n\n\"The fish we catch, they still smell of gasoline,\" community leader Cholino de Gracia said. \"We can't fish anymore because you'd practically be eating a fish full of gasoline.\"\n\n## Deforestation and criminal activity\n\nWith the flow of migrants, the Colombian criminal group known as the Gulf Clan pushed into the region, seizing control of the migration route, said Henry Shuldiner, a researcher with Insight Crime investigating organized crime in the Darien Gap.\n\nThe group has long cultivated coca, the plant used to produce cocaine, and illegally mined gold — a process that uses mercury to extract gold from ore, poisoning lands and waters around the mines.\n\nOn the Colombian side of the Darien Gap, Shuldiner said, the group has taken advantage of its control of large swathes of jungle to expand operations and rake in money from environmental crimes. In some cases, that's included taking a cut from existing illegal logging operations. In others, they've sliced and burnt through dense jungle to replace with fields of coca.\n\n\"We're seeing increased land clearings around these municipalities that bordered the Darien, mostly for coca cultivation,\" Shuldiner said. Along the former migrant trail, \"there are environmental crimes happening, and the (Gulf Clan) is profiting directly.\"\n\nIn some cases, that criminal activity has trickled into Panama as groups set up illegal mining operations in federally protected national parks. In January, authorities said they had dismantled an illegal gold mining network and detained 10 Colombians and Panamanians who left the jungle contaminated with mercury and cyanide.\n\nIn other places, Environmental Minister Navarro and residents said, criminals rent land on Indigenous reservations to launder money earned during the economic boom from migration, and they burn and chop down dense jungle to make way for cattle ranches.\n\nIn 2023, deforestation in the Darien shot up after years of decline, according to the latest data from Global Forest Watch, which monitors deforestation using satellites. Local leaders say that will deal a long-term blow to the communities that have lived off the land for centuries.\n\n## A state of \"environmental anarchy\"\n\nNavarro said Panama's government must try to rescue the jungle from a state of \"environmental anarchy.\"\n\n\"This is a treasure trove of biodiversity,\" Navarro said. \"They've disrupted the whole system of life in this community and damaged some of them forever. ... Now that this disaster has ended, we're going to be able to conserve our forests.\"\n\nBut community leader De Gracia and others in the region say the area has long been neglected. They blame Panama's government for not doing more to clean their waters or develop the region in a way that would allow them to bounce back faster.\n\nOlea, watching her nephew play even with the rash running along his arms, worries most for the children in places like Villa Caleta.\n\n\"Without water, there's no life here,\" she said." } ]
2f5db84d177a14984d51f1c5756f40ca1c84dcac465fafdfedd0471525cb9449	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/1/2025\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 1st, 2025 08:19 PM\n\n---\n\nMicrosoft and Meta Platforms drove Wall Street higher after delivering profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected.\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 0.6% Thursday and was back within 8.8% of its record set earlier this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%.\n\nTreasury yields swiveled in the bond market following some mixed reports on the economy. Yields initially sank after a report showed more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, but they later recovered following a better-than-feared update on U.S. manufacturing.\n\nOn Thursday:\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 35.08 points, or 0.6%, to 5,604.14.\n\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.60 points, or 0.2%, to 40,752.96.\n\nThe Nasdaq composite rose 264.40 points, or 1.5%, to 17,710.74.\n\nThe Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.74 points, or 0.6%, to 1,975.86.\n\nFor the week:\n\nThe S&P 500 is up 78.93 points, or 1.4%.\n\nThe Dow is up 639.46 points, or 1.6%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is up 327.80, or 1.9%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is up 18.25 points, or 0.9%.\n\nFor the year:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 277.49 points, or 4.7%.\n\nThe Dow is down 1,791.26 points, or 4.2%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 1,600.05, or 8.3%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is down 254.30 points, or 11.4%." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/1/2025\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 1st, 2025 08:19 PM\n\n---\n\nMicrosoft and Meta Platforms drove Wall Street higher after delivering profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected.\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 0.6% Thursday and was back within 8.8% of its record set earlier this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%.\n\nTreasury yields swiveled in the bond market following some mixed reports on the economy. Yields initially sank after a report showed more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, but they later recovered following a better-than-feared update on U.S. manufacturing.\n\nOn Thursday:\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 35.08 points, or 0.6%, to 5,604.14.\n\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.60 points, or 0.2%, to 40,752.96.\n\nThe Nasdaq composite rose 264.40 points, or 1.5%, to 17,710.74.\n\nThe Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.74 points, or 0.6%, to 1,975.86.\n\nFor the week:\n\nThe S&P 500 is up 78.93 points, or 1.4%.\n\nThe Dow is up 639.46 points, or 1.6%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is up 327.80, or 1.9%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is up 18.25 points, or 0.9%.\n\nFor the year:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 277.49 points, or 4.7%.\n\nThe Dow is down 1,791.26 points, or 4.2%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 1,600.05, or 8.3%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is down 254.30 points, or 11.4%." } ]
f19afc04ef844f0d3616121fac092c95d1e3a5dce6434864f538701fa845140c	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# People moving into the South change the famous US dialect\n\nBy Mike Schneider \nMay 10th, 2025 04:07 AM\n\n---\n\nGrowing up in Atlanta in the 1940s and 1950s, Susan Levine's visits to New York City relatives included being the star of an impromptu novelty show: Her cousin invited over friends and charged 25 cents a pop for them to listen to Levine's Southern accent.\n\nEven though they too grew up in Atlanta, Levine's two sons, born more than a quarter century after her, never spoke with the accent that is perhaps the most famous regional dialect in the United States, with its elongated vowels and soft \"r\" sounds.\n\n\"My accent is nonexistent,\" said Ira Levine, her oldest son. \"People I work with, and even in school, people didn't believe I was from Atlanta.\"\n\nThe Southern accent, which has many variations, is fading in some areas of the South as people migrate to the region from other parts of the U.S. and around the world. A series of research papers published in December documented the diminishment of the regional accent among Black residents of the Atlanta area, white working-class people in the New Orleans area and people who grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina.\n\nMore than 5.8 million people have moved into the U.S. South so far in the 2020s, more than four times the combined total of the nation's three other regions. Linguists don't believe mass media has played a significant role in the language change, which tends to start in urban areas and radiate out to more rural places.\n\n## Late 20th century migration surge affects accents\n\nThe classical white Southern accent in the Atlanta area and other parts of the urban South peaked with baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 and then dropped off with Gen Xers born between 1965 and 1980 and subsequent generations, in large part because of the tremendous in-migration of people in the second half of the 20th century.\n\nIt has been replaced among the youngest speakers in the 21st century with a dialect that was first noticed in California in the late 1980s, according to recent research from linguists at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Brigham Young University. That dialect, which also was detected in Canada, has become a pan-regional accent as it has spread to other parts of the U.S., including Boston, New York and Michigan, contributing to the diminishment of their regional accents.\n\nIn Raleigh, North Carolina, the trigger point in the decline of the Southern accent was the opening in 1959 of the Research Triangle Park, a sprawling complex of research and technology firms that attracted tens of thousands of highly educated workers from outside the South. White residents born after 1979, a generation after the Research Triangle's establishment, typically don't talk with a Southern accent, linguist Sean Lundergan wrote in a paper published in December.\n\nOften, outsiders wrongly associate a Southern accent with a lack of education, and some younger people may be trying to distance themselves from that stereotype.\n\n\"Young people today, especially the educated young people, they don't want to sound too much like they are from a specific hometown,\" said Georgia Tech linguist Lelia Glass, who co-wrote the Atlanta study. \"They want to sound more kind of, nonlocal and geographically mobile.\"\n\n## Accents change for younger people\n\nThe Southern dialect among Black people in Atlanta has dropped off in recent decades mainly because of an influx of African Americans from northern U.S. cities in what has been described as the \"Reverse Great Migration.\"\n\nDuring the Great Migration, from roughly 1910 to 1970, African Americans from the South moved to cities in the North like New York, Detroit and Chicago. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren have moved back South in large numbers to places like Atlanta during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and are more likely to be college-educated.\n\nResearchers found Southern accents among African Americans dropped off with Gen Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, according to a study published in December. The same researchers previously studied Southern accents among white people in Atlanta.\n\nMichelle and Richard Beck, Gen Xers living in the Atlanta area, have Southern accents, but it's missing in their two sons born in 1998 and 2001.\n\n\"I think they speak clearer than I do,\" Richard Beck, a law enforcement officer, said of his sons. \"They don't sound as country as I do when it comes to the Southern drawl.\"\n\n## New Orleans 'yat' accent diminished\n\nUnlike other accents that have changed because of an influx of new residents, the distinctive, white working-class \"yat\" accent of New Orleans has declined as many locals left following the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The accent is distinct from other regional accents in the South and often described as sounding as much like Brooklynese as Southern.\n\nThe hurricane was a \"catastrophic\" language change event for New Orleans since it displaced around a quarter million residents in the first year after the storm and brought in tens of thousands of outsiders in the following decade.\n\nThe diminishment of the \"yat\" accent is most noticeable in millennials, who were adolescents when Katrina hit, since they were exposed to other ways of speaking during a key time for linguistic development, Virginia Tech sociolinguist Katie Carmichael said in a paper published in December.\n\nCheryl Wilson Lanier, a 64-year-old who grew up in Chalmette, Louisiana, one of the New Orleans suburbs where the accent was most prevalent, worries that part of the region's uniqueness will be lost if the accent disappears.\n\n\"It's kind of like we're losing our distinct personality,\" she said.\n\n## Southern identity changing\n\nWhile it is diminishing in many urban areas, the Southern accent is unlikely to disappear completely because \"accents are an incredibly straightforward way of showing other people something about ourselves,\" said University of Georgia linguist Margaret Renwick, one of the authors of the Atlanta studies.\n\nIt may instead reflect a change in how younger speakers view Southern identity, with a regional accent not as closely associated with what is considered Southern as in previous generations, and linguistic boundaries less important than other factors, she said.\n\n\"So young people in the Atlanta area or Raleigh area have a different vision of what life is in the South,\" Renwick said. \"And it's not the same as the one that their parents or grandparents grew up with.\"\n\n___\n\nFollow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# People moving into the South change the famous US dialect\n\nBy Mike Schneider \nMay 10th, 2025 04:07 AM\n\n---\n\nGrowing up in Atlanta in the 1940s and 1950s, Susan Levine's visits to New York City relatives included being the star of an impromptu novelty show: Her cousin invited over friends and charged 25 cents a pop for them to listen to Levine's Southern accent.\n\nEven though they too grew up in Atlanta, Levine's two sons, born more than a quarter century after her, never spoke with the accent that is perhaps the most famous regional dialect in the United States, with its elongated vowels and soft \"r\" sounds.\n\n\"My accent is nonexistent,\" said Ira Levine, her oldest son. \"People I work with, and even in school, people didn't believe I was from Atlanta.\"\n\nThe Southern accent, which has many variations, is fading in some areas of the South as people migrate to the region from other parts of the U.S. and around the world. A series of research papers published in December documented the diminishment of the regional accent among Black residents of the Atlanta area, white working-class people in the New Orleans area and people who grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina.\n\nMore than 5.8 million people have moved into the U.S. South so far in the 2020s, more than four times the combined total of the nation's three other regions. Linguists don't believe mass media has played a significant role in the language change, which tends to start in urban areas and radiate out to more rural places.\n\n## Late 20th century migration surge affects accents\n\nThe classical white Southern accent in the Atlanta area and other parts of the urban South peaked with baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 and then dropped off with Gen Xers born between 1965 and 1980 and subsequent generations, in large part because of the tremendous in-migration of people in the second half of the 20th century.\n\nIt has been replaced among the youngest speakers in the 21st century with a dialect that was first noticed in California in the late 1980s, according to recent research from linguists at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Brigham Young University. That dialect, which also was detected in Canada, has become a pan-regional accent as it has spread to other parts of the U.S., including Boston, New York and Michigan, contributing to the diminishment of their regional accents.\n\nIn Raleigh, North Carolina, the trigger point in the decline of the Southern accent was the opening in 1959 of the Research Triangle Park, a sprawling complex of research and technology firms that attracted tens of thousands of highly educated workers from outside the South. White residents born after 1979, a generation after the Research Triangle's establishment, typically don't talk with a Southern accent, linguist Sean Lundergan wrote in a paper published in December.\n\nOften, outsiders wrongly associate a Southern accent with a lack of education, and some younger people may be trying to distance themselves from that stereotype.\n\n\"Young people today, especially the educated young people, they don't want to sound too much like they are from a specific hometown,\" said Georgia Tech linguist Lelia Glass, who co-wrote the Atlanta study. \"They want to sound more kind of, nonlocal and geographically mobile.\"\n\n## Accents change for younger people\n\nThe Southern dialect among Black people in Atlanta has dropped off in recent decades mainly because of an influx of African Americans from northern U.S. cities in what has been described as the \"Reverse Great Migration.\"\n\nDuring the Great Migration, from roughly 1910 to 1970, African Americans from the South moved to cities in the North like New York, Detroit and Chicago. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren have moved back South in large numbers to places like Atlanta during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and are more likely to be college-educated.\n\nResearchers found Southern accents among African Americans dropped off with Gen Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, according to a study published in December. The same researchers previously studied Southern accents among white people in Atlanta.\n\nMichelle and Richard Beck, Gen Xers living in the Atlanta area, have Southern accents, but it's missing in their two sons born in 1998 and 2001.\n\n\"I think they speak clearer than I do,\" Richard Beck, a law enforcement officer, said of his sons. \"They don't sound as country as I do when it comes to the Southern drawl.\"\n\n## New Orleans 'yat' accent diminished\n\nUnlike other accents that have changed because of an influx of new residents, the distinctive, white working-class \"yat\" accent of New Orleans has declined as many locals left following the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The accent is distinct from other regional accents in the South and often described as sounding as much like Brooklynese as Southern.\n\nThe hurricane was a \"catastrophic\" language change event for New Orleans since it displaced around a quarter million residents in the first year after the storm and brought in tens of thousands of outsiders in the following decade.\n\nThe diminishment of the \"yat\" accent is most noticeable in millennials, who were adolescents when Katrina hit, since they were exposed to other ways of speaking during a key time for linguistic development, Virginia Tech sociolinguist Katie Carmichael said in a paper published in December.\n\nCheryl Wilson Lanier, a 64-year-old who grew up in Chalmette, Louisiana, one of the New Orleans suburbs where the accent was most prevalent, worries that part of the region's uniqueness will be lost if the accent disappears.\n\n\"It's kind of like we're losing our distinct personality,\" she said.\n\n## Southern identity changing\n\nWhile it is diminishing in many urban areas, the Southern accent is unlikely to disappear completely because \"accents are an incredibly straightforward way of showing other people something about ourselves,\" said University of Georgia linguist Margaret Renwick, one of the authors of the Atlanta studies.\n\nIt may instead reflect a change in how younger speakers view Southern identity, with a regional accent not as closely associated with what is considered Southern as in previous generations, and linguistic boundaries less important than other factors, she said.\n\n\"So young people in the Atlanta area or Raleigh area have a different vision of what life is in the South,\" Renwick said. \"And it's not the same as the one that their parents or grandparents grew up with.\"" } ]
55e5cf642d6186adc46e667f8aac1be6ded85a4a4f73cf2b3c318672671f05b4	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Tony Gonsolin, Freddie Freeman lead Dodgers past Diamondbacks 8-1\n\nBy Jack Thompson \nMay 11th, 2025 11:19 PM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — Tony Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings and Freddie Freeman homered on a 4-for-4 day to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.\n\nMookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who had 18 hits and salvaged a four-game split with their National League West rivals. With San Diego's 9-3 loss at Colorado, Los Angeles regained the division lead by one game over the Padres.\n\nGonsolin (2-0), making his third start after missing all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery, threw 84 pitches, walking two and striking out four. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.81, giving a boost to a Dodgers staff missing injured starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.\n\nFreeman raised his NL-leading batting average to .376. He doubled in Mookie Betts in the first off Zac Gallen (3-5), doubled again in the third and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added his ninth homer, off Joe Mantiply, in the seventh, and singled against José Castillo in the ninth.\n\nBetts' homer, his sixth, came off Castillo in the ninth.\n\nGallen lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out five.\n\nArizona's José Herrera doubled off Ben Casparius in the seventh, scoring Alec Thomas from first.\n\n## Key moment\n\nWill Smith's sharp single past Gallen in the fourth scored Betts to make it 3-0.\n\n## Key stat\n\nCastillo committed three balks in two innings of relief. The major league record for a game is five by the Braves' Bob Shaw in 1963.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Dodgers return home to face the Athletics. Landon Knack (2-0, 4.61 ERA) starts against Jeffrey Springs (4-3, 4.81) on Tuesday. The Diamondbacks play at San Francisco Monday, with Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09) facing Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.50).\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Tony Gonsolin, Freddie Freeman lead Dodgers past Diamondbacks 8-1\n\nBy Jack Thompson \nMay 11th, 2025 11:19 PM\n\n---\n\nPHOENIX (AP) — Tony Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings and Freddie Freeman homered on a 4-for-4 day to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.\n\nMookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who had 18 hits and salvaged a four-game split with their National League West rivals. With San Diego's 9-3 loss at Colorado, Los Angeles regained the division lead by one game over the Padres.\n\nGonsolin (2-0), making his third start after missing all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery, threw 84 pitches, walking two and striking out four. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.81, giving a boost to a Dodgers staff missing injured starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.\n\nFreeman raised his NL-leading batting average to .376. He doubled in Mookie Betts in the first off Zac Gallen (3-5), doubled again in the third and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added his ninth homer, off Joe Mantiply, in the seventh, and singled against José Castillo in the ninth.\n\nBetts' homer, his sixth, came off Castillo in the ninth.\n\nGallen lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out five.\n\nArizona's José Herrera doubled off Ben Casparius in the seventh, scoring Alec Thomas from first.\n\n## Key moment\n\nWill Smith's sharp single past Gallen in the fourth scored Betts to make it 3-0.\n\n## Key stat\n\nCastillo committed three balks in two innings of relief. The major league record for a game is five by the Braves' Bob Shaw in 1963.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Dodgers return home to face the Athletics. Landon Knack (2-0, 4.61 ERA) starts against Jeffrey Springs (4-3, 4.81) on Tuesday. The Diamondbacks play at San Francisco Monday, with Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09) facing Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.50)." } ]
6fb0c897ec2bc71cd2fede3d88ea8ace692258de36a1e5ebe2e1cb44c42ff40c	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Swiatek gets back on track in Rome after being routed by Gauff in Madrid\n\nMay 8th, 2025 01:06 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Iga Swiatek bounced back from one of the worst losses of her career with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 rout of home player Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round of the Italian Open on Thursday.\n\nSwiatek said she was dealing with \"personal stuff\" when she was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semifinals last week.\n\nThe second-ranked Swiatek is a three-time Rome champion but has not reached a final on tour this year. She improved to 21-2 in Rome since 2021.\n\nThe Italian Open is the last big clay-court warmup before the French Open, which starts on May 25. Swiatek has won four of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.\n\nSwiatek next faces Danielle Collins or Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who were playing later at the Foro Italico.\n\n___\n\nAP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Swiatek gets back on track in Rome after being routed by Gauff in Madrid\n\nMay 8th, 2025 01:06 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Iga Swiatek bounced back from one of the worst losses of her career with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 rout of home player Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round of the Italian Open on Thursday.\n\nSwiatek said she was dealing with \"personal stuff\" when she was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semifinals last week.\n\nThe second-ranked Swiatek is a three-time Rome champion but has not reached a final on tour this year. She improved to 21-2 in Rome since 2021.\n\nThe Italian Open is the last big clay-court warmup before the French Open, which starts on May 25. Swiatek has won four of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.\n\nSwiatek next faces Danielle Collins or Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who were playing later at the Foro Italico." } ]
6015e70ec5f8273dbe5b84044ae83d4f8f4fc3f12c3d53758442b56121346d4a	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 3 Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand for over a decade have been resettled in Canada\n\nBy Huizhong Wu \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:23 AM\n\n---\n\nBANGKOK (AP) — Three Uyghur men who spent over a decade in Thai detention were resettled in Canada in April, Thai lawmakers and activists confirmed, months after Thailand drew international condemnation for sending 40 other Uyghurs back to China, where they feared further detention, torture and even death.\n\nThe three made their way to Canada during Thailand's Songkran festival weekend in April, said Kannavee Suebsang, a lawmaker who has advocated on behalf of the Uyghurs, and Chalida Tajaroensuk, president of the People's Empowerment Foundation, a Thai human rights group that works closely with migrants and refugees.\n\nThe Uyghurs are a Turkic, majority Muslim ethnicity from China's northwestern Xinjiang region. After decades of conflict over suppression of their cultural identity, Beijing launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments have called a genocide. China has accused the Uyghurs held in Thailand of being terrorists without providing evidence.\n\nThe men had been in detention since 2014 as part of a group of 300 Uyghurs who were caught near Thailand's border with Malaysia after having fled China. For more than a decade, the fate of this group kept Thailand in a tense push-and-pull between China and the U.S.\n\nThailand deported 109 detainees to China against their will, prompting an international outcry that saw violent demonstrations against Thailand in 2015. Another group of 173 Uyghurs, mostly women and children, were sent to Turkey, leaving 53 Uyghurs in Thai detention. Five of this group died while waiting, including children.\n\nThai officials began secretly discussing plans to deport the Uyghurs as early as December last year, while publicly denying any such plans up until just days before 40 were sent back in February. The deportation prompted outrage, and led U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to issue a strong condemnation and place travel restrictions on top Thai officials.\n\nThe three men were likely spared from forced repatriation because they were dual citizens of Kyrgyzstan and China, said Suebsang. Since they did not have any Chinese identification on them when they were initially detained, Thai immigration authorities held them separately from the larger group.\n\nThe Canadian embassy in Bangkok did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nWhen asked by reporters whether Thailand had sent any Uyghurs to Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Monday he would need to check with relevant authorities. He said all Chinese Uyghurs had already been sent back to China, except those who are serving their jail terms in Thailand.\n\nThere remain five Uyghurs in Thailand, who are serving out jail sentences for an attempt to escape. An activist with knowledge of the situation, who asked to be anonymous out of fear of retribution, said they are concerned the Thai government could grant the men early release to speed up their return to China.\n\nPhumtham also said if the remaining Uyghurs have a refugee status, and there is a third country willing to accept them, Thailand can send them there.\n\nChalida, the advocate who works closely with the Uyghurs, said they are pushing for the men to be recognized as refugees by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and resettled in a third country.\n\n\"The Uyghurs are extremely at risk if they are sent back,\" she said. \"I'd like to call on the Thai government to facilitate the process and allow them to meet with UNHCR.\"\n\nDuring their years in detention, advocates and relatives said the men were fed poorly, kept in overcrowded concrete cells with few toilets, and denied sanitary goods like toothbrushes or razors. They were forbidden direct contact with relatives, lawyers and international organizations, and received visits from Sheikhul Islam, an official Islamic organization close to the Thai authorities. United Nations human rights experts said that the treatment of the detainees may have violated international law in a February 2024 letter sent to the Thai government.\n\n___\n\nAP reporter Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 3 Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand for over a decade have been resettled in Canada\n\nBy Huizhong Wu \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:23 AM\n\n---\n\nBANGKOK (AP) — Three Uyghur men who spent over a decade in Thai detention were resettled in Canada in April, Thai lawmakers and activists confirmed, months after Thailand drew international condemnation for sending 40 other Uyghurs back to China, where they feared further detention, torture and even death.\n\nThe three made their way to Canada during Thailand's Songkran festival weekend in April, said Kannavee Suebsang, a lawmaker who has advocated on behalf of the Uyghurs, and Chalida Tajaroensuk, president of the People's Empowerment Foundation, a Thai human rights group that works closely with migrants and refugees.\n\nThe Uyghurs are a Turkic, majority Muslim ethnicity from China's northwestern Xinjiang region. After decades of conflict over suppression of their cultural identity, Beijing launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments have called a genocide. China has accused the Uyghurs held in Thailand of being terrorists without providing evidence.\n\nThe men had been in detention since 2014 as part of a group of 300 Uyghurs who were caught near Thailand's border with Malaysia after having fled China. For more than a decade, the fate of this group kept Thailand in a tense push-and-pull between China and the U.S.\n\nThailand deported 109 detainees to China against their will, prompting an international outcry that saw violent demonstrations against Thailand in 2015. Another group of 173 Uyghurs, mostly women and children, were sent to Turkey, leaving 53 Uyghurs in Thai detention. Five of this group died while waiting, including children.\n\nThai officials began secretly discussing plans to deport the Uyghurs as early as December last year, while publicly denying any such plans up until just days before 40 were sent back in February. The deportation prompted outrage, and led U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to issue a strong condemnation and place travel restrictions on top Thai officials.\n\nThe three men were likely spared from forced repatriation because they were dual citizens of Kyrgyzstan and China, said Suebsang. Since they did not have any Chinese identification on them when they were initially detained, Thai immigration authorities held them separately from the larger group.\n\nThe Canadian embassy in Bangkok did not respond to a request for comment.\n\nWhen asked by reporters whether Thailand had sent any Uyghurs to Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Monday he would need to check with relevant authorities. He said all Chinese Uyghurs had already been sent back to China, except those who are serving their jail terms in Thailand.\n\nThere remain five Uyghurs in Thailand, who are serving out jail sentences for an attempt to escape. An activist with knowledge of the situation, who asked to be anonymous out of fear of retribution, said they are concerned the Thai government could grant the men early release to speed up their return to China.\n\nPhumtham also said if the remaining Uyghurs have a refugee status, and there is a third country willing to accept them, Thailand can send them there.\n\nChalida, the advocate who works closely with the Uyghurs, said they are pushing for the men to be recognized as refugees by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and resettled in a third country.\n\n\"The Uyghurs are extremely at risk if they are sent back,\" she said. \"I'd like to call on the Thai government to facilitate the process and allow them to meet with UNHCR.\"\n\nDuring their years in detention, advocates and relatives said the men were fed poorly, kept in overcrowded concrete cells with few toilets, and denied sanitary goods like toothbrushes or razors. They were forbidden direct contact with relatives, lawyers and international organizations, and received visits from Sheikhul Islam, an official Islamic organization close to the Thai authorities. United Nations human rights experts said that the treatment of the detainees may have violated international law in a February 2024 letter sent to the Thai government." } ]
0d442fe5928a1157b3d1378896922e5f73be6a25338216dbb6cea01363c7e925	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Super Sommer enjoying his moment in the sun after helping Inter reach Champions League final\n\nBy Daniella Matar \nMay 7th, 2025 11:25 AM\n\n---\n\nMILAN (AP) — It is rare that a goalkeeper is named player of the match, even rarer when he has conceded three goals.\n\nBut Inter Milan's Yann Sommer was given that honor following an astonishing 4-3 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday that sent the Italian team through to the Champions League final 7-6 on aggregate after extra time.\n\nSommer's saves against Barcelona beggared belief in a rollercoaster match that at times went beyond insanity as it somehow managed to be even more drama packed than the 3-3 draw the previous week, with his team truly living up to its \"pazza (mad) Inter\" nickname.\n\nThere was his sensational reaction save on Eric García early in the second half, between Barcelona's quickfire double that saw the visitors come back from two goals down, and a flying leap to fingertip a Lamine Yamal curler away from the top corner with the score at 2-2.\n\nSommer saved the best almost for last, however, when he again flew to fingertip another shot from the precocious Barcelona teen around his post. There were just seven minutes of extra time remaining at that point, with Inter leading 4-3, and his teammates celebrated as if they had scored again.\n\n\"I'm very happy. It was an amazing match, and the team has gone on an extraordinary journey,\" Sommer said. \"The toughest save was the last one, because Yamal is really strong and always comes inside to shoot.\n\n\"It was also maybe the most important one … because it gave us a little bit power, it gave us the confidence back for these last minutes.\"\n\nAt the age of 36, Sommer is revelling in his time in the spotlight in perhaps his biggest moment since saving a Kylian Mbappé spotkick to help Switzerland beat France in a penalty shootout in the 2020 European Championship.\n\nAnd he could even be in line for a much more prestigious acclaim, with Spanish sports newspaper Marca naming him as a strong candidate for the Ballon d'Or award as the world's best soccer player.\n\n\"I could not be happier than now,\" Sommer said. \"We as a team and as well me, I worked hard for these kind of moments, for these situations, for these games, to be in a club like this.\n\n\"In the end I'm here with this beautiful team and we are in the Champions League final.\"\n\nIt will be Inter's second final in three years and, having almost defied the odds to get there, Simone Inzaghi's team might very well be the favorite against either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31.\n\nTwo years ago nobody expected much against Manchester City but Inter only lost 1-0. This time even Inzaghi almost conceded Inter would be favored after eliminating not only Barcelona but Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.\n\n\"We have grown since then,\" he said. \"These guys have been extraordinary, we have to continue.\n\n\"The final will be played against a really great team, whether it's Arsenal or PSG. It will be difficult but after beating Barcelona and Bayern … well they're probably the best teams in Europe at the moment.\"\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Super Sommer enjoying his moment in the sun after helping Inter reach Champions League final\n\nBy Daniella Matar \nMay 7th, 2025 11:25 AM\n\n---\n\nMILAN (AP) — It is rare that a goalkeeper is named player of the match, even rarer when he has conceded three goals.\n\nBut Inter Milan's Yann Sommer was given that honor following an astonishing 4-3 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday that sent the Italian team through to the Champions League final 7-6 on aggregate after extra time.\n\nSommer's saves against Barcelona beggared belief in a rollercoaster match that at times went beyond insanity as it somehow managed to be even more drama packed than the 3-3 draw the previous week, with his team truly living up to its \"pazza (mad) Inter\" nickname.\n\nThere was his sensational reaction save on Eric García early in the second half, between Barcelona's quickfire double that saw the visitors come back from two goals down, and a flying leap to fingertip a Lamine Yamal curler away from the top corner with the score at 2-2.\n\nSommer saved the best almost for last, however, when he again flew to fingertip another shot from the precocious Barcelona teen around his post. There were just seven minutes of extra time remaining at that point, with Inter leading 4-3, and his teammates celebrated as if they had scored again.\n\n\"I'm very happy. It was an amazing match, and the team has gone on an extraordinary journey,\" Sommer said. \"The toughest save was the last one, because Yamal is really strong and always comes inside to shoot.\n\n\"It was also maybe the most important one … because it gave us a little bit power, it gave us the confidence back for these last minutes.\"\n\nAt the age of 36, Sommer is revelling in his time in the spotlight in perhaps his biggest moment since saving a Kylian Mbappé spotkick to help Switzerland beat France in a penalty shootout in the 2020 European Championship.\n\nAnd he could even be in line for a much more prestigious acclaim, with Spanish sports newspaper Marca naming him as a strong candidate for the Ballon d'Or award as the world's best soccer player.\n\n\"I could not be happier than now,\" Sommer said. \"We as a team and as well me, I worked hard for these kind of moments, for these situations, for these games, to be in a club like this.\n\n\"In the end I'm here with this beautiful team and we are in the Champions League final.\"\n\nIt will be Inter's second final in three years and, having almost defied the odds to get there, Simone Inzaghi's team might very well be the favorite against either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31.\n\nTwo years ago nobody expected much against Manchester City but Inter only lost 1-0. This time even Inzaghi almost conceded Inter would be favored after eliminating not only Barcelona but Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.\n\n\"We have grown since then,\" he said. \"These guys have been extraordinary, we have to continue.\n\n\"The final will be played against a really great team, whether it's Arsenal or PSG. It will be difficult but after beating Barcelona and Bayern … well they're probably the best teams in Europe at the moment.\"" } ]
ffc7313773522aa43143724d09f4eaa5a64473e58069ade648ba6a3c2da5ba0d	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Federal Bureau of Prisons faces tough task in reopening Alcatraz\n\nBy Michael R. Sisak and Michael Balsamo \nMay 6th, 2025 01:12 AM\n\n---\n\nEleven inmate deaths in less than two months. More than 4,000 staff vacancies. A $3 billion repair backlog.\n\nAnd now, a stunning directive from President Donald Trump for the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons to \"REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!\" — the notorious penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay that last held inmates more than 60 years ago.\n\nEven as the Bureau of Prisons struggles with short staffing, chronic violence and crumbling infrastructure at its current facilities, Trump is counting on the agency to fulfill his vision of rebooting the infamously inescapable prison known in movies and pop culture as \"The Rock.\"\n\nTrump declared in a social media post Sunday that a \"substantially enlarged and rebuilt\" Alcatraz will house the nation's \"most ruthless and violent Offenders.\" It will \"serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE,\" he wrote on Truth Social.\n\nNewly appointed Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III said Monday that the agency \"will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President's agenda\" and that he has ordered \"an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps.\"\n\n\"USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice,\" Marshall said in a statement, echoing Trump's post. \"We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.\"\n\n## Alcatraz was once an exemplar\n\nAlcatraz, a 22-acre (8.9 hectare) islet with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline, was once the crown jewel of the federal prison system and home to some of the nation's most notorious criminals, including gangsters Al Capone and George \"Machine Gun\" Kelly.\n\nBut skyrocketing repair and supply costs compelled the Justice Department to close the prison in 1963, just 29 years after it opened, and the Bureau of Prisons has long since replaced Alcatraz with modern penitentiaries, including a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado.\n\nThe former and perhaps future penitentiary is now a popular tourist attraction and a national historic landmark. It's controlled by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, meaning the Bureau of Prisons could be in for an interagency tug of war if it tries to wrest away control of the island.\n\nTrump's Alcatraz directive is yet another challenge for the Bureau of Prisons as it struggles to fix lingering problems while responding to the president's priorities on incarceration and immigrant detention. The agency's mission, as redefined under Trump, includes taking in thousands of immigration detainees under an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.\n\nThe problems at the Bureau of Prisons transcend administrations and facilities.\n\nAn ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons over the last few years, including widespread criminal activity by employees, dozens of escapes, the free flow of guns, drugs and other contraband, and severe understaffing that has hampered responses to emergencies.\n\nLast year, then-President Joe Biden signed a law strengthening oversight of the agency. It remains the Justice Department's largest agency, with more than 30,000 employees, 155,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion, but the Trump administration's cost-cutting measures have eliminated some pay bonuses that were credited with retaining and attracting new staff.\n\nThat has resulted in long overtime shifts for some workers and the continued use of a policy known as augmentation, where prison nurses, cooks, teachers and other workers are pressed into duty to guard inmates.\n\nInfrastructure is buckling, too. A Bureau of Prisons official told Congress at a hearing in February that more than 4,000 beds within the system — the equivalent of at least two full prisons — are unusable because of dangerous conditions like leaking or failing roofs, mold, asbestos or lead.\n\n## Deaths have plagued the federal prison system\n\nSince mid-March, 11 federal prison inmates have died. They include David Knezevich, a 37-year-old Florida businessman who was found dead April 28 in a suspected suicide at a federal jail in Miami. He was awaiting trial on charges he kidnapped and killed his estranged wife in Spain.\n\nAnd on April 24, inmate Ramadhan Jaabir Justice was killed in a fight at the federal penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, where he was serving a nearly 11-year sentence for a conviction related to an armed robbery.\n\nAs Trump was ordering Alcatraz's reopening Sunday, correctional officers at the same Miami jail were fighting to curb the spread of tuberculosis and COVID-19, isolating inmates after they tested positive for the diseases. Last month, immigration detainees at the facility ripped out a fire sprinkler and flooded a holding cell during a lengthy intake process.\n\nMeanwhile, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Alcatraz, the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, has sat idle for more than a year after the Bureau of Prisons cleared it of inmates in the wake of rampant sexual abuse by employees, including the warden.\n\nIn December, the agency made the closure permanent and idled six prison camps across the country to address \"significant challenges, including a critical staffing shortage, crumbling infrastructure and limited budgetary resources.\"\n\nWhile Trump hails Alcatraz as a paragon of the federal prison system's cherished past, other facilities stand as reminders of its recent troubles.\n\nThey include the federal jail in Manhattan, which remains idle after Jeffrey Epstein's suicide there in 2019 exposed deep flaws in its operations, and a troubled federal lockup in Brooklyn, where 23 inmates have been charged in recent months with crimes ranging from smuggling weapons in a Doritos bag to the stabbing last month of a man convicted in the killing of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Federal Bureau of Prisons faces tough task in reopening Alcatraz\n\nBy Michael R. Sisak and Michael Balsamo \nMay 6th, 2025 01:12 AM\n\n---\n\nEleven inmate deaths in less than two months. More than 4,000 staff vacancies. A $3 billion repair backlog.\n\nAnd now, a stunning directive from President Donald Trump for the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons to \"REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!\" — the notorious penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay that last held inmates more than 60 years ago.\n\nEven as the Bureau of Prisons struggles with short staffing, chronic violence and crumbling infrastructure at its current facilities, Trump is counting on the agency to fulfill his vision of rebooting the infamously inescapable prison known in movies and pop culture as \"The Rock.\"\n\nTrump declared in a social media post Sunday that a \"substantially enlarged and rebuilt\" Alcatraz will house the nation's \"most ruthless and violent Offenders.\" It will \"serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE,\" he wrote on Truth Social.\n\nNewly appointed Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III said Monday that the agency \"will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President's agenda\" and that he has ordered \"an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps.\"\n\n\"USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice,\" Marshall said in a statement, echoing Trump's post. \"We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.\"\n\n## Alcatraz was once an exemplar\n\nAlcatraz, a 22-acre (8.9 hectare) islet with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline, was once the crown jewel of the federal prison system and home to some of the nation's most notorious criminals, including gangsters Al Capone and George \"Machine Gun\" Kelly.\n\nBut skyrocketing repair and supply costs compelled the Justice Department to close the prison in 1963, just 29 years after it opened, and the Bureau of Prisons has long since replaced Alcatraz with modern penitentiaries, including a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado.\n\nThe former and perhaps future penitentiary is now a popular tourist attraction and a national historic landmark. It's controlled by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, meaning the Bureau of Prisons could be in for an interagency tug of war if it tries to wrest away control of the island.\n\nTrump's Alcatraz directive is yet another challenge for the Bureau of Prisons as it struggles to fix lingering problems while responding to the president's priorities on incarceration and immigrant detention. The agency's mission, as redefined under Trump, includes taking in thousands of immigration detainees under an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.\n\nThe problems at the Bureau of Prisons transcend administrations and facilities.\n\nAn ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons over the last few years, including widespread criminal activity by employees, dozens of escapes, the free flow of guns, drugs and other contraband, and severe understaffing that has hampered responses to emergencies.\n\nLast year, then-President Joe Biden signed a law strengthening oversight of the agency. It remains the Justice Department's largest agency, with more than 30,000 employees, 155,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion, but the Trump administration's cost-cutting measures have eliminated some pay bonuses that were credited with retaining and attracting new staff.\n\nThat has resulted in long overtime shifts for some workers and the continued use of a policy known as augmentation, where prison nurses, cooks, teachers and other workers are pressed into duty to guard inmates.\n\nInfrastructure is buckling, too. A Bureau of Prisons official told Congress at a hearing in February that more than 4,000 beds within the system — the equivalent of at least two full prisons — are unusable because of dangerous conditions like leaking or failing roofs, mold, asbestos or lead.\n\n## Deaths have plagued the federal prison system\n\nSince mid-March, 11 federal prison inmates have died. They include David Knezevich, a 37-year-old Florida businessman who was found dead April 28 in a suspected suicide at a federal jail in Miami. He was awaiting trial on charges he kidnapped and killed his estranged wife in Spain.\n\nAnd on April 24, inmate Ramadhan Jaabir Justice was killed in a fight at the federal penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, where he was serving a nearly 11-year sentence for a conviction related to an armed robbery.\n\nAs Trump was ordering Alcatraz's reopening Sunday, correctional officers at the same Miami jail were fighting to curb the spread of tuberculosis and COVID-19, isolating inmates after they tested positive for the diseases. Last month, immigration detainees at the facility ripped out a fire sprinkler and flooded a holding cell during a lengthy intake process.\n\nMeanwhile, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Alcatraz, the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, has sat idle for more than a year after the Bureau of Prisons cleared it of inmates in the wake of rampant sexual abuse by employees, including the warden.\n\nIn December, the agency made the closure permanent and idled six prison camps across the country to address \"significant challenges, including a critical staffing shortage, crumbling infrastructure and limited budgetary resources.\"\n\nWhile Trump hails Alcatraz as a paragon of the federal prison system's cherished past, other facilities stand as reminders of its recent troubles.\n\nThey include the federal jail in Manhattan, which remains idle after Jeffrey Epstein's suicide there in 2019 exposed deep flaws in its operations, and a troubled federal lockup in Brooklyn, where 23 inmates have been charged in recent months with crimes ranging from smuggling weapons in a Doritos bag to the stabbing last month of a man convicted in the killing of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay." } ]
162e8a34b32ee03cecab82ef097735a20aeacc3899d4726108a3201e87470b3b	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Brazilian police arrest 2 people over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in Rio\n\nMay 4th, 2025 03:18 PM\n\n---\n\nRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police in Brazil said on Sunday that two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro.\n\nThe Rio event on Saturday was the biggest show of the pop star's career that attracted an estimated 2.5 million fans to Copacabana Beach and had crowds screaming and dancing along.\n\nFelipe Cury, secretary of the Rio police, said authorities believed the suspects sought to target Brazil's LGBTQ community.\n\n\"They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga's concert motivated by sexual orientation,\" Cury told a press conference on Sunday.\n\nRio Police chief Luiz Lima said the group disseminated hate speech and violent content online \"aimed at gaining notoriety in order to attract more viewers, more participants — most of them teenagers, many of them children.\"\n\nEven as Brazilian authorities said they arrested suspects in the hours before Lady Gaga's show, the event went ahead without disruption — leading some to question the seriousness of the threat. Serious security concerns typically lead organizers to cancel such massive events — as happened with Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna last year.\n\nPolice said said nothing about the alleged plot at the time to in an effort to \"avoid panic\" and \"the distortion of information.\"\n\nA spokesperson for Lady Gaga said the pop star and her team \"learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning. Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks.\"\n\nThe statement added: \"Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.\"\n\nSecurity was tight at Saturday's concert, with 5,200 military and police officers deployed to the beach where fans were reveling in the pop singer's classic hits like \"Born This Way,\" which became something of an LGBTQ anthem after its 2011 release.\n\n## Homes in several states raided\n\nAuthorities arrested two people in connection with the alleged plot — a man described as the group's leader in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on illegal weapons possession charges, and a teenager in Rio on child pornography charges. Police did not elaborate on their exact roles in the plot or on how the group came to target Lady Gaga's free concert.\n\n\"Those involved were recruiting participants, including teenagers, to carry out integrated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails,\" police said.\n\nThe Justice Ministry said that it determined the group posed a \"risk to public order.\" It said the group falsely presented themselves online as \"Little Monsters\" — Lady Gaga's nickname for her fans — in order to lure teeangers into \"networks with violent and self-destructive content.\"\n\nDuring a series of raids on the homes of 15 suspects across several Brazilian states, authorities confiscated phones and other electronic devices. Although police said they believed homemade bombs were intended for use in the planned attack, there was no mention of the raids turning up any weapons or explosive material.\n\nCury said one of the suspects whose home was raided in the city of Macaé, near Rio, \"had a religious motivation\" and \"claimed the singer (Lady Gaga) was a Satanist.\"\n\n## 'Historical moment'\n\nLady Gaga has expressed gratitude for the enormous crowd in an Instagram post that said nothing of the alleged plot.\n\n\"Nothing could prepare me for the feeling I had during last night's show — the absolute pride and joy I felt singing for the people of Brazil,\" she wrote. \"The sight of the crowd during my opening songs took my breath away. Your heart shines so bright, your culture is so vibrant and special, I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historical moment with you.\"\n\nHer free beach concert stood out at a time of surging ticket prices for live music around the world as concert-goers pay budget-busting costs to see their favorite artists. Last month she performed at Coachella Valley music festival in California, where tickets fetched upwards of $600 for one weekend.\n\nRio has done this before — last May, superstar Madonna performed the finale to her latest world tower for some 1.6 million fans on the sprawling sands of Copacabana Beach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Brazilian police arrest 2 people over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in Rio\n\nMay 4th, 2025 03:18 PM\n\n---\n\nRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police in Brazil said on Sunday that two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro.\n\nThe Rio event on Saturday was the biggest show of the pop star's career that attracted an estimated 2.5 million fans to Copacabana Beach and had crowds screaming and dancing along.\n\nFelipe Cury, secretary of the Rio police, said authorities believed the suspects sought to target Brazil's LGBTQ community.\n\n\"They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga's concert motivated by sexual orientation,\" Cury told a press conference on Sunday.\n\nRio Police chief Luiz Lima said the group disseminated hate speech and violent content online \"aimed at gaining notoriety in order to attract more viewers, more participants — most of them teenagers, many of them children.\"\n\nEven as Brazilian authorities said they arrested suspects in the hours before Lady Gaga's show, the event went ahead without disruption — leading some to question the seriousness of the threat. Serious security concerns typically lead organizers to cancel such massive events — as happened with Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna last year.\n\nPolice said said nothing about the alleged plot at the time to in an effort to \"avoid panic\" and \"the distortion of information.\"\n\nA spokesperson for Lady Gaga said the pop star and her team \"learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning. Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks.\"\n\nThe statement added: \"Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.\"\n\nSecurity was tight at Saturday's concert, with 5,200 military and police officers deployed to the beach where fans were reveling in the pop singer's classic hits like \"Born This Way,\" which became something of an LGBTQ anthem after its 2011 release.\n\n## Homes in several states raided\n\nAuthorities arrested two people in connection with the alleged plot — a man described as the group's leader in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on illegal weapons possession charges, and a teenager in Rio on child pornography charges. Police did not elaborate on their exact roles in the plot or on how the group came to target Lady Gaga's free concert.\n\n\"Those involved were recruiting participants, including teenagers, to carry out integrated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails,\" police said.\n\nThe Justice Ministry said that it determined the group posed a \"risk to public order.\" It said the group falsely presented themselves online as \"Little Monsters\" — Lady Gaga's nickname for her fans — in order to lure teeangers into \"networks with violent and self-destructive content.\"\n\nDuring a series of raids on the homes of 15 suspects across several Brazilian states, authorities confiscated phones and other electronic devices. Although police said they believed homemade bombs were intended for use in the planned attack, there was no mention of the raids turning up any weapons or explosive material.\n\nCury said one of the suspects whose home was raided in the city of Macaé, near Rio, \"had a religious motivation\" and \"claimed the singer (Lady Gaga) was a Satanist.\"\n\n## 'Historical moment'\n\nLady Gaga has expressed gratitude for the enormous crowd in an Instagram post that said nothing of the alleged plot.\n\n\"Nothing could prepare me for the feeling I had during last night's show — the absolute pride and joy I felt singing for the people of Brazil,\" she wrote. \"The sight of the crowd during my opening songs took my breath away. Your heart shines so bright, your culture is so vibrant and special, I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historical moment with you.\"\n\nHer free beach concert stood out at a time of surging ticket prices for live music around the world as concert-goers pay budget-busting costs to see their favorite artists. Last month she performed at Coachella Valley music festival in California, where tickets fetched upwards of $600 for one weekend.\n\nRio has done this before — last May, superstar Madonna performed the finale to her latest world tower for some 1.6 million fans on the sprawling sands of Copacabana Beach." } ]
a2eb2450f0520017f17ca44b4b9e61543bb2b122ce172badf759939a8b24e275	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Brewers' Sal Frelick remains out of lineup with knee issue but says he should return later this week\n\nBy Steve Megargee \nMay 6th, 2025 10:30 PM\n\n---\n\nMILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick was out of the lineup for a second straight night with a knee issue but believes he should be ready to play again later this week.\n\nFrelick had left the Brewers' 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday with discomfort in his left knee after hurting it while taking a swing. Frelick underwent an MRI that showed no major damage, and the 2024 NL Gold Glove right fielder said he felt much better when he woke up Tuesday.\n\n\"From what the trainers are saying, it seems like they'll try to keep me out until the off day to get an extra day and be ready to go on Friday,\" Frelick said before the Brewers' 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.\n\nThe Brewers complete a three-game series with the Astros on Wednesday afternoon before beginning a six-game trip Friday at Tampa Bay.\n\nFrelick isn't the only Brewer dealing with an injury this week.\n\nBrewers manager Pat Murphy said after Tuesday's game that catcher William Contreras was getting an X-ray on his finger. Murphy said the injury was affecting Contreras' swing.\n\n\"He's dealing with probably a fracture,\" Murphy said. \"He had it last year, too.\"\n\nFrelick said he felt a grab behind his left knee after swinging the bat in the second inning of Sunday's game. He briefly stayed in the game before getting removed in the fourth inning.\n\n\"My whole body rotated, but the spike on my toe staying in the dirt. My foot almost came out of my shoe,\" he said. \"I tried to play another inning, but my knee was blowing up on me. ... Based on my previous meniscus stuff, I think we dodged a bullet there.\"\n\nThe 2021 first-round draft pick said he underwent two meniscus surgeries on that knee while playing for Boston College, but he hadn't had any other issues with it until Sunday.\n\nFrelick said the MRI he underwent showed no tear but \"just a ton of inflammation in there.\" But he says he's feeling better now.\n\n\"Yesterday I came in and was not too much better,\" Frelick said. \"This morning I woke up and it was like unbelievable.\"\n\nFrelick, 25, is batting .297 with a .381 on-base percentage, one homer, nine RBIs and seven steals in 35 games. That follows a 2024 season in which he hit .259 with a .320 on-base percentage, two homers, 32 RBIs and 18 steals in 145 games.\n\nHis absence has tested the depth of an outfield that already has Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins on the injured list. Mitchell last played April 25 as he deals with a left oblique strain. Perkins still hasn't made his 2025 debut as he recovers from a fractured right shin.\n\nMilwaukee's injuries have caused Jake Bauers, who primarily is a first baseman, to start at right field each of the last two nights. Bauers has responded by going 2 for 4 with an RBI in a 5-1 victory over the Astros on Monday and hitting a two-run homer Tuesday.\n\n\"I think I'm just grateful for any opportunity I get to play this game and play for the Brewers,\" Bauers said. \"I love being here, so anytime I can get on the field and just do my best to contribute and do my best to help the team get a win, that's kind of been my mentality throughout the course of the season so far.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Brewers' Sal Frelick remains out of lineup with knee issue but says he should return later this week\n\nBy Steve Megargee \nMay 6th, 2025 10:30 PM\n\n---\n\nMILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick was out of the lineup for a second straight night with a knee issue but believes he should be ready to play again later this week.\n\nFrelick had left the Brewers' 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday with discomfort in his left knee after hurting it while taking a swing. Frelick underwent an MRI that showed no major damage, and the 2024 NL Gold Glove right fielder said he felt much better when he woke up Tuesday.\n\n\"From what the trainers are saying, it seems like they'll try to keep me out until the off day to get an extra day and be ready to go on Friday,\" Frelick said before the Brewers' 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.\n\nThe Brewers complete a three-game series with the Astros on Wednesday afternoon before beginning a six-game trip Friday at Tampa Bay.\n\nFrelick isn't the only Brewer dealing with an injury this week.\n\nBrewers manager Pat Murphy said after Tuesday's game that catcher William Contreras was getting an X-ray on his finger. Murphy said the injury was affecting Contreras' swing.\n\n\"He's dealing with probably a fracture,\" Murphy said. \"He had it last year, too.\"\n\nFrelick said he felt a grab behind his left knee after swinging the bat in the second inning of Sunday's game. He briefly stayed in the game before getting removed in the fourth inning.\n\n\"My whole body rotated, but the spike on my toe staying in the dirt. My foot almost came out of my shoe,\" he said. \"I tried to play another inning, but my knee was blowing up on me. ... Based on my previous meniscus stuff, I think we dodged a bullet there.\"\n\nThe 2021 first-round draft pick said he underwent two meniscus surgeries on that knee while playing for Boston College, but he hadn't had any other issues with it until Sunday.\n\nFrelick said the MRI he underwent showed no tear but \"just a ton of inflammation in there.\" But he says he's feeling better now.\n\n\"Yesterday I came in and was not too much better,\" Frelick said. \"This morning I woke up and it was like unbelievable.\"\n\nFrelick, 25, is batting .297 with a .381 on-base percentage, one homer, nine RBIs and seven steals in 35 games. That follows a 2024 season in which he hit .259 with a .320 on-base percentage, two homers, 32 RBIs and 18 steals in 145 games.\n\nHis absence has tested the depth of an outfield that already has Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins on the injured list. Mitchell last played April 25 as he deals with a left oblique strain. Perkins still hasn't made his 2025 debut as he recovers from a fractured right shin.\n\nMilwaukee's injuries have caused Jake Bauers, who primarily is a first baseman, to start at right field each of the last two nights. Bauers has responded by going 2 for 4 with an RBI in a 5-1 victory over the Astros on Monday and hitting a two-run homer Tuesday.\n\n\"I think I'm just grateful for any opportunity I get to play this game and play for the Brewers,\" Bauers said. \"I love being here, so anytime I can get on the field and just do my best to contribute and do my best to help the team get a win, that's kind of been my mentality throughout the course of the season so far.\"" } ]
cf9b04716620ddbffafedcb210a31f63b875c45e0e63ab1e61c5d18986e61982	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# FedEx board member David Steiner is picked as next USPS postmaster general\n\nBy Susan Haigh \nMay 9th, 2025 03:49 PM\n\n---\n\nDavid Steiner, a former CEO of the nation's largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation's 76th postmaster general.\n\nThe announcement of Steiner's appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS' Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service.\n\n\"We anticipate that Mr. Steiner will join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance processes that are currently underway,\" McReynolds said.\n\nFriday's announcement by the the Board of Governors comes as President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have raised the idea of privatizing the nearly 250-year-old Postal Service, which has faced financial challenges amid a changing mail mix and other issues.\n\nThe choice of Steiner has been seen by the postal unions as a harbinger for possible privatization of some or all of the venerable quasi-public institution, which is largely self-funded and has a mission to serve every address in the country — nearly 167 million residences, businesses and post office boxes.\n\nPostal unions have held protests throughout the country over potential privatization, job cuts and possibly ending the universal service obligation.\n\nBrian L. Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Steiner is not just any executive from the private sector but someone who sits on the board of one of the Postal Service's top competitors.\n\n\"His selection isn't just a conflict of interest — it's an aggressive step toward handing America's mail system over to corporate interests,\" Renfroe said in a statement. \"Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner's selection is an open invitation to do just that.\"\n\nRenfroe's union represents 205,000 active city letter carriers and around 90,000 retirees.\n\nMark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 220,000 USPS employees and retirees, likened the appointment of Steiner to a fox guarding a hen house.\n\n\"FedEx has a very different agenda than the public postal service. And they're a major competitor of the United States Postal Service,\" he said. \"I'm not talking about any attributes of an individual, but to me, that's the last type of person you will put in charge of the public institution as the anchor of the mailing package industry in the country.\"\n\nDon Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, urged Steiner to \"embrace the legacy\" of \"one of our nation's oldest and most trusted institutions\" and its values to serve the entire country.\n\n\"The Postal Service is not a business in the traditional sense — it is a national network that binds the country together, serving every American, no matter how remote their address,\" he said in statement.\n\nSteiner, who will leave the FedEx board, said in a written statement that he admires the public service and business missions of the USPS and called it \"an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world's greatest postal organization.\"\n\n\"I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch,\" said Steiner, who served as CEO of Waste Management Inc. from 2004 through October 2016.\n\nIn a written statement, McReynolds called Steiner \"the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future.\"\n\n\"Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service,\" she added. \"Our Board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.\"\n\nDimondstein questioned Trump's possible influence on the decision to appoint Steiner, saying the board may have \"shamelessly and outrageously abdicated their independent responsibility in selecting a new PMG.\"\n\nA message was left with a USPS spokesperson, seeking comment about his accusations. A statement from the board noted the selection of the postmaster general \"rests solely\" with the board, whose members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. McReynolds said the board hired Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm, to conduct an executive search to find candidates for the job.\n\nThe Postal Service is in the midst of a 10-year modernization and cost-cutting plan that began in 2021 under Postmaster Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March. The plan is an attempt to stop losses at the agency, which has a budget of about $78 billion a year and is mostly self-funded, including through stamps and packages.\n\nKnown as \"Deliver for America,\" the initiative has received markedly mixed reviews. While postal officials contend it has led to major efficiency improvements, some members of Congress have criticized it for leading to mail delays, unsustainable postage increases and declines in business.\n\nA financial report released Friday revealed the Postal Service lost $3.3 billion in the last quarter, $2.5 billion of which is considered \"uncontrollable\" costs, such as adjustments to workers' compensation premiums. However, it noted continued revenue growth from package deliveries, coupled with lower transportation costs and work hour reductions.\n\nBesides privatization, there's also been talk of possibly moving the USPS under the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce.\n\nThe choice of Steiner was first reported by The Washington Post." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# FedEx board member David Steiner is picked as next USPS postmaster general\n\nBy Susan Haigh \nMay 9th, 2025 03:49 PM\n\n---\n\nDavid Steiner, a former CEO of the nation's largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation's 76th postmaster general.\n\nThe announcement of Steiner's appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS' Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service.\n\n\"We anticipate that Mr. Steiner will join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance processes that are currently underway,\" McReynolds said.\n\nFriday's announcement by the the Board of Governors comes as President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have raised the idea of privatizing the nearly 250-year-old Postal Service, which has faced financial challenges amid a changing mail mix and other issues.\n\nThe choice of Steiner has been seen by the postal unions as a harbinger for possible privatization of some or all of the venerable quasi-public institution, which is largely self-funded and has a mission to serve every address in the country — nearly 167 million residences, businesses and post office boxes.\n\nPostal unions have held protests throughout the country over potential privatization, job cuts and possibly ending the universal service obligation.\n\nBrian L. Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Steiner is not just any executive from the private sector but someone who sits on the board of one of the Postal Service's top competitors.\n\n\"His selection isn't just a conflict of interest — it's an aggressive step toward handing America's mail system over to corporate interests,\" Renfroe said in a statement. \"Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner's selection is an open invitation to do just that.\"\n\nRenfroe's union represents 205,000 active city letter carriers and around 90,000 retirees.\n\nMark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 220,000 USPS employees and retirees, likened the appointment of Steiner to a fox guarding a hen house.\n\n\"FedEx has a very different agenda than the public postal service. And they're a major competitor of the United States Postal Service,\" he said. \"I'm not talking about any attributes of an individual, but to me, that's the last type of person you will put in charge of the public institution as the anchor of the mailing package industry in the country.\"\n\nDon Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, urged Steiner to \"embrace the legacy\" of \"one of our nation's oldest and most trusted institutions\" and its values to serve the entire country.\n\n\"The Postal Service is not a business in the traditional sense — it is a national network that binds the country together, serving every American, no matter how remote their address,\" he said in statement.\n\nSteiner, who will leave the FedEx board, said in a written statement that he admires the public service and business missions of the USPS and called it \"an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world's greatest postal organization.\"\n\n\"I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch,\" said Steiner, who served as CEO of Waste Management Inc. from 2004 through October 2016.\n\nIn a written statement, McReynolds called Steiner \"the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future.\"\n\n\"Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service,\" she added. \"Our Board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.\"\n\nDimondstein questioned Trump's possible influence on the decision to appoint Steiner, saying the board may have \"shamelessly and outrageously abdicated their independent responsibility in selecting a new PMG.\"\n\nA message was left with a USPS spokesperson, seeking comment about his accusations. A statement from the board noted the selection of the postmaster general \"rests solely\" with the board, whose members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. McReynolds said the board hired Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm, to conduct an executive search to find candidates for the job.\n\nThe Postal Service is in the midst of a 10-year modernization and cost-cutting plan that began in 2021 under Postmaster Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March. The plan is an attempt to stop losses at the agency, which has a budget of about $78 billion a year and is mostly self-funded, including through stamps and packages.\n\nKnown as \"Deliver for America,\" the initiative has received markedly mixed reviews. While postal officials contend it has led to major efficiency improvements, some members of Congress have criticized it for leading to mail delays, unsustainable postage increases and declines in business.\n\nA financial report released Friday revealed the Postal Service lost $3.3 billion in the last quarter, $2.5 billion of which is considered \"uncontrollable\" costs, such as adjustments to workers' compensation premiums. However, it noted continued revenue growth from package deliveries, coupled with lower transportation costs and work hour reductions.\n\nBesides privatization, there's also been talk of possibly moving the USPS under the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce.\n\nThe choice of Steiner was first reported by The Washington Post." } ]
33060de0fcf2320e0e1497cadb005c1b6dc30e82a6b331ba7c463167517d03c9	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Detroit's Cade Cunningham hopes tough playoff lessons pay off next season and beyond\n\nBy Dave Hogg \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:00 AM\n\n---\n\nDETROIT (AP) — Earlier this week, Cade Cunningham said he had learned more in four playoff games than he had picked up in the entire regular season.\n\nTwo games later, the lessons have only gotten tougher.\n\nOn Tuesday, the Pistons went into Madison Square Garden for Game 5 and kept their season alive with a 106-103 victory. It was Detroit's second win in New York.\n\nOn Thursday, though, it was another crushing last-second loss that ended Detroit's postseason run. Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to put the Knicks up 116-113 and Cunningham's pass to Malik Beasley sailed out of bounds as time expired.\n\n\"The biggest thing I've learned about the playoffs is that you have to raise your attention to details,\" Cunningham said. \"Every possession means so much more than it does during the regular season, so you have to do everything stronger, faster and a little more together.\"\n\nCunningham didn't have his best game on Thursday. He finished with 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but he missed all eight 3-point attempts and turned the ball over three times.\n\n\"There are so many plays that I would love to have back,\" he said. \"The turnovers, but there are so many little things that we could have done better.\"\n\nIn the long run, the Pistons had a successful season by any reasonable standard. A franchise that hadn't broken 25 wins in the last five seasons jumped from 14-68 to 44-38 and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.\n\nThey didn't beat the Knicks, but they took them to six games in only the second NBA postseason series to have four straight games decided by three points or less. Three of them were Detroit home losses by 2, 1 and 3 points.\n\n\"This was an amazing atmosphere and the crowd was hype,\" Beasley said. \"Next year, we have to make sure we protect home court. We got two wins at the Garden, and if we could have gotten one here, we could be closing this out.\"\n\nThe Pistons have a lot of work to do before they take another major step. They aren't consistent enough shooting 3-pointers — the starters went 2-17 in Game 6 — and they struggle to keep teams off the offensive glass. The Knicks turned 13 offensive rebounds into 18 points on Thursday.\n\nBut those plans can wait for a few weeks.\n\n\"There's disappointment right now, because these guys don't have an opportunity to keep doing what they've been doing this season,\" Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \"But this is great experience, because you can't get playoff experience without getting playoff experience, and these guys did a tremendous job of learning from moment to moment and game to game.\n\n\"They've learned what impacts winning.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Detroit's Cade Cunningham hopes tough playoff lessons pay off next season and beyond\n\nBy Dave Hogg \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:00 AM\n\n---\n\nDETROIT (AP) — Earlier this week, Cade Cunningham said he had learned more in four playoff games than he had picked up in the entire regular season.\n\nTwo games later, the lessons have only gotten tougher.\n\nOn Tuesday, the Pistons went into Madison Square Garden for Game 5 and kept their season alive with a 106-103 victory. It was Detroit's second win in New York.\n\nOn Thursday, though, it was another crushing last-second loss that ended Detroit's postseason run. Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to put the Knicks up 116-113 and Cunningham's pass to Malik Beasley sailed out of bounds as time expired.\n\n\"The biggest thing I've learned about the playoffs is that you have to raise your attention to details,\" Cunningham said. \"Every possession means so much more than it does during the regular season, so you have to do everything stronger, faster and a little more together.\"\n\nCunningham didn't have his best game on Thursday. He finished with 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but he missed all eight 3-point attempts and turned the ball over three times.\n\n\"There are so many plays that I would love to have back,\" he said. \"The turnovers, but there are so many little things that we could have done better.\"\n\nIn the long run, the Pistons had a successful season by any reasonable standard. A franchise that hadn't broken 25 wins in the last five seasons jumped from 14-68 to 44-38 and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.\n\nThey didn't beat the Knicks, but they took them to six games in only the second NBA postseason series to have four straight games decided by three points or less. Three of them were Detroit home losses by 2, 1 and 3 points.\n\n\"This was an amazing atmosphere and the crowd was hype,\" Beasley said. \"Next year, we have to make sure we protect home court. We got two wins at the Garden, and if we could have gotten one here, we could be closing this out.\"\n\nThe Pistons have a lot of work to do before they take another major step. They aren't consistent enough shooting 3-pointers — the starters went 2-17 in Game 6 — and they struggle to keep teams off the offensive glass. The Knicks turned 13 offensive rebounds into 18 points on Thursday.\n\nBut those plans can wait for a few weeks.\n\n\"There's disappointment right now, because these guys don't have an opportunity to keep doing what they've been doing this season,\" Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \"But this is great experience, because you can't get playoff experience without getting playoff experience, and these guys did a tremendous job of learning from moment to moment and game to game.\n\n\"They've learned what impacts winning.\"" } ]
596e06e67cbbea885ae472940e78bdc0e8231000a6d5cedb45e1ee68da7180ea	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 2 men convicted in chainsaw massacre of UK's beloved Sycamore Gap tree\n\nBy Brian Melley \nMay 9th, 2025 09:52 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — In late September 2023, as the first big storm of the fall was kicking up in the U.K., a malicious plan was hatched to take down one of England's favorite trees.\n\nDaniel Graham sent a message to his buddy, Adam Carruthers, telling him to \"get the saws warmed up,\" suggesting they might get some work clearing fallen trees.\n\nBut it wasn't high winds that brought down the famous Sycamore Gap tree that night, jurors determined Friday. It was Graham and Carruthers — not cleaning up damage from the storm, but creating a mess of their own.\n\nThe pair were convicted of two counts each of criminal damage by a jury in Newcastle Crown Court after little more than five hours of deliberations over two days.\n\nEven without the smoking chainsaw, prosecutors were able to prove the case through a trove of digital evidence that either put the men near the tree at the time it was felled or showed them excitedly discussing it the next day as the story of the tree's demise went viral.\n\n## Crime caught in the act\n\nThe prime piece of evidence was a grainy video on Graham's phone of the crime being committed on the dark and stormy night.\n\nFootage of the tree's last stand showed a solitary figure silhouetted beneath the towering canopy in a struggle with the trunk as the unmistakable sound of the chainsaw whined above the wind. With a single crack, the buzz of the saw died down, the person stepped back and the tree that had stood about 150 years crashed to earth.\n\nMetadata pinpointed the location of the video at the tree's location in Northumberland National Park. Other data showed Graham's Range Rover had traveled there.\n\nThe Sycamore Gap tree was not Britain's biggest or oldest sycamore, but it was prized for its picturesque setting, symmetrically planted between two hills along the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire, and had attracted generations of followers.\n\nThe tree had long been known to locals but received international attention in Kevin Costner's 1991 film \"Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.\" It drew tourists, lovers, landscape photographers and even those who spread the ashes of loved ones.\n\n\"For over a century, Sycamore Gap has been an iconic natural landmark in the northeast of England, bringing immeasurable joy to those visiting the area,\" Gale Gilchrist, chief prosecutor for the region, said in a statement after the verdict. \"In just under three minutes, Graham and Carruthers ended its historic legacy in a deliberate and mindless act of destruction.\"\n\n## Convicts could face 'lengthy' sentences\n\nNeither Graham, who had a small construction business, nor Carruthers, a mechanic who sometimes worked with him, showed any visible reaction as the verdicts were read.\n\nJustice Christina Lambert ordered both men held in custody until sentencing on July 15 and said they could face \"a lengthy period in custody.\" The maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years in prison.\n\nThe defendants, once close friends, both testified that they were at their respective homes that night and had nothing to do with the crime.\n\nGraham pointed the finger at Carruthers, saying he was obsessed with the tree. Graham said his friend and another man had taken his Range Rover and phone to the site to frame him.\n\nCarruthers said he didn't understand why people were so upset about \"just a tree,\" saying it was \"almost as if someone had been murdered.\" His lawyer suggested Graham told a desperate lie after being caught.\n\nProsecutor Richard Wright said the two men were in on it together from the start, with evidence showing Carruthers had gone far out of his way earlier in the day to go near the tree on a reconnaissance mission.\n\nWright said he couldn't say who cut the tree and who held the phone, but the two men were the only people in the world with the video on their devices.\n\nAs Graham's vehicle was tracked on its way back toward his home in Carlisle — about 40 minutes away — Carruthers received a video from his partner of their infant and replied, \"I've got a better video than that,\" Wright said.\n\n\"At the time of that text conversation, the only people in the world who knew the tree had been felled were the men who had had cut it down,\" Wright said. \"And the only people in the world who had access to the video were the men who had filmed themselves in the act of cutting down the tree: the defendants Graham and Carruthers.\"\n\n## Missing: one chainsaw and a 'trophy' wedge of wood\n\nThe next day, the two feverishly exchanged messages after the tree was discovered.\n\n\"It's gone viral. It is worldwide,\" Graham said.\n\nCarruthers forwarded a Facebook comment by a man who criticized the \"disgusting behavior\" of the \"weak\" vandals.\n\nCarruthers said he'd like to see the man \"launch an operation like we did last night.\"\n\nWright said police never located the chainsaw used to fell the tree, but each man had access to plenty of saws — a fact they both tried to downplay. Investigators also couldn't find a wedge of wood cut from the trunk to drop the tree in the right direction.\n\nBut images on Graham's phone showed a slice of wood and a chainsaw in the back of his vehicle at his home. A forensic botanist said there was \"very strong evidence\" it was the missing wedge that Wright suggested had been taken as a trophy.\n\nProsecutors offered no evidence of a motive for the crime other than calling it senseless vandalism. But Wright suggested to jurors in his closing argument that the men cut the tree down for \"a bit of a laugh\" but had failed to realize the anger they would spark in the \"arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery.\"\n\nThe tree was originally valued at more than 620,000 pounds (around $830,000) and damage to the wall was estimated at 1,100 pounds (nearly $1,500).\n\nBut on Friday prosecutor Rebecca Brown said those figures are in dispute and are likely lower, but would still easily fit in the top category of harm for sentencing purposes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 2 men convicted in chainsaw massacre of UK's beloved Sycamore Gap tree\n\nBy Brian Melley \nMay 9th, 2025 09:52 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — In late September 2023, as the first big storm of the fall was kicking up in the U.K., a malicious plan was hatched to take down one of England's favorite trees.\n\nDaniel Graham sent a message to his buddy, Adam Carruthers, telling him to \"get the saws warmed up,\" suggesting they might get some work clearing fallen trees.\n\nBut it wasn't high winds that brought down the famous Sycamore Gap tree that night, jurors determined Friday. It was Graham and Carruthers — not cleaning up damage from the storm, but creating a mess of their own.\n\nThe pair were convicted of two counts each of criminal damage by a jury in Newcastle Crown Court after little more than five hours of deliberations over two days.\n\nEven without the smoking chainsaw, prosecutors were able to prove the case through a trove of digital evidence that either put the men near the tree at the time it was felled or showed them excitedly discussing it the next day as the story of the tree's demise went viral.\n\n## Crime caught in the act\n\nThe prime piece of evidence was a grainy video on Graham's phone of the crime being committed on the dark and stormy night.\n\nFootage of the tree's last stand showed a solitary figure silhouetted beneath the towering canopy in a struggle with the trunk as the unmistakable sound of the chainsaw whined above the wind. With a single crack, the buzz of the saw died down, the person stepped back and the tree that had stood about 150 years crashed to earth.\n\nMetadata pinpointed the location of the video at the tree's location in Northumberland National Park. Other data showed Graham's Range Rover had traveled there.\n\nThe Sycamore Gap tree was not Britain's biggest or oldest sycamore, but it was prized for its picturesque setting, symmetrically planted between two hills along the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire, and had attracted generations of followers.\n\nThe tree had long been known to locals but received international attention in Kevin Costner's 1991 film \"Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.\" It drew tourists, lovers, landscape photographers and even those who spread the ashes of loved ones.\n\n\"For over a century, Sycamore Gap has been an iconic natural landmark in the northeast of England, bringing immeasurable joy to those visiting the area,\" Gale Gilchrist, chief prosecutor for the region, said in a statement after the verdict. \"In just under three minutes, Graham and Carruthers ended its historic legacy in a deliberate and mindless act of destruction.\"\n\n## Convicts could face 'lengthy' sentences\n\nNeither Graham, who had a small construction business, nor Carruthers, a mechanic who sometimes worked with him, showed any visible reaction as the verdicts were read.\n\nJustice Christina Lambert ordered both men held in custody until sentencing on July 15 and said they could face \"a lengthy period in custody.\" The maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years in prison.\n\nThe defendants, once close friends, both testified that they were at their respective homes that night and had nothing to do with the crime.\n\nGraham pointed the finger at Carruthers, saying he was obsessed with the tree. Graham said his friend and another man had taken his Range Rover and phone to the site to frame him.\n\nCarruthers said he didn't understand why people were so upset about \"just a tree,\" saying it was \"almost as if someone had been murdered.\" His lawyer suggested Graham told a desperate lie after being caught.\n\nProsecutor Richard Wright said the two men were in on it together from the start, with evidence showing Carruthers had gone far out of his way earlier in the day to go near the tree on a reconnaissance mission.\n\nWright said he couldn't say who cut the tree and who held the phone, but the two men were the only people in the world with the video on their devices.\n\nAs Graham's vehicle was tracked on its way back toward his home in Carlisle — about 40 minutes away — Carruthers received a video from his partner of their infant and replied, \"I've got a better video than that,\" Wright said.\n\n\"At the time of that text conversation, the only people in the world who knew the tree had been felled were the men who had had cut it down,\" Wright said. \"And the only people in the world who had access to the video were the men who had filmed themselves in the act of cutting down the tree: the defendants Graham and Carruthers.\"\n\n## Missing: one chainsaw and a 'trophy' wedge of wood\n\nThe next day, the two feverishly exchanged messages after the tree was discovered.\n\n\"It's gone viral. It is worldwide,\" Graham said.\n\nCarruthers forwarded a Facebook comment by a man who criticized the \"disgusting behavior\" of the \"weak\" vandals.\n\nCarruthers said he'd like to see the man \"launch an operation like we did last night.\"\n\nWright said police never located the chainsaw used to fell the tree, but each man had access to plenty of saws — a fact they both tried to downplay. Investigators also couldn't find a wedge of wood cut from the trunk to drop the tree in the right direction.\n\nBut images on Graham's phone showed a slice of wood and a chainsaw in the back of his vehicle at his home. A forensic botanist said there was \"very strong evidence\" it was the missing wedge that Wright suggested had been taken as a trophy.\n\nProsecutors offered no evidence of a motive for the crime other than calling it senseless vandalism. But Wright suggested to jurors in his closing argument that the men cut the tree down for \"a bit of a laugh\" but had failed to realize the anger they would spark in the \"arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery.\"\n\nThe tree was originally valued at more than 620,000 pounds (around $830,000) and damage to the wall was estimated at 1,100 pounds (nearly $1,500).\n\nBut on Friday prosecutor Rebecca Brown said those figures are in dispute and are likely lower, but would still easily fit in the top category of harm for sentencing purposes." } ]
59e7175c7e82ef6b6040d9ba46c33de8723f17479ace68e9a3d426fa15a823eb	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Curry and Hield lead Warriors to Game 7 win over Rockets\n\nBy Kristie Rieken \nMay 5th, 2025 03:15 AM\n\n---\n\nHOUSTON (AP) — Buddy Hield became an unlikely playoff hero for the Golden State Warriors, leading the team early in Game 7 against the Houston Rockets before Stephen Curry took over late.\n\nCurry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Hield made nine 3-pointers and scored 33 points, and the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.\n\n\"We were lucky to get out of this series,\" Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. \"That was an incredibly impressive display of resolve.\"\n\nThe Warriors will face the Timberwolves Tuesday night in Minnesota.\n\nAfter not scoring in Game 6, Hield had a scorching first half with six 3-pointers and 22 points to carry the Warriors to a 12-point lead, with Curry scoring just three points before the break. Then Curry took over in the closing minutes and performed his signature \"night night\" gesture as the Warriors put the Rockets away.\n\n\"This was not just a lights-out shooting performance for Buddy,\" Kerr said. \"It was a two-way performance. I thought his defense was fantastic.\"\n\nThe Warriors became the seventh No. 7 seed in NBA history to advance to the semifinals and eliminated Houston in the playoffs for a fifth time. They sent the James Harden-led Rockets packing four times between 2015 and 2019.\n\nNone of the players from those teams remain with Houston, leading Fred VanVleet to say before the series that \"this ain't that team.\"\n\nDraymond Green, who helped beat the Rockets in Game 7 in 2018 to advance to the NBA Finals, mentioned VanVleet's quote before continuing.\n\n\"It's that organization though,\" he said. \"We like coming to the city playing in these situations. It's been good to us.\"\n\nHield was 9 of 11 from 3-point range, setting an NBA record for a Game 7 and making more 3s than the Rockets, who were 6 of 18 from long range.\n\n\"Just trying to seize the moment and relish the moment and just be in the moment at the same time,\" Hield said. \"Just trying to be myself. But tonight was fun.\"\n\nCurry added 10 rebounds and seven assists.\n\nAmen Thompson scored 24 points to lead Houston, which forced Game 7 with two straight wins but couldn't put away the experienced Warriors.\n\n\"We had our chances in this series,\" Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. \"We all expected to continue to be playing, so it's a letdown. It's going to sting now, but use it as motivation and let's all come back better.\"\n\nGolden State led by eight entering the fourth and opened the quarter with a 5-0 run, capped by a 3 from Curry, to make it 75-62.\n\nHouston scored the next six points, but the Warriors used a 7-2 spurt with four points from Curry to make it 82-70 with about seven minutes left.\n\nCurry made a contested 3, rebounded a missed jumper by Thompson and found Hield for an open corner 3 that made it 94-74 with 2:31 remaining.\n\nThat sent many of the red-clad Rockets fans streaming for the exits.\n\nJimmy Butler added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who improved to 28-11 since his debut on Feb. 8 after a trade from Miami.\n\nVanVleet scored a combined 55 points in the last two games to help Houston extend the series. But he was limited to 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting Sunday to send the second-seeded Rockets home early in their first trip to the playoffs since 2020.\n\nHe was far from the only Rocket who struggled. Big man Alperen Sengun had 21 points and 14 rebounds. But he missed several easy shots on a 9-of-23 night.\n\nJalen Green, who had 38 points to lead Houston to a Game 2 win, finished with eight points.\n\n\"First playoffs is no excuse,\" he said. \"I've got to be better.\"\n\nThe Warriors played without key reserve Gary Payton II, who sat out with an illness that coach Steve Kerr said had him \"sick as a dog.\"\n\nDraymond Green added 16 points for the Warriors, who had four starters score in double figures.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Curry and Hield lead Warriors to Game 7 win over Rockets\n\nBy Kristie Rieken \nMay 5th, 2025 03:15 AM\n\n---\n\nHOUSTON (AP) — Buddy Hield became an unlikely playoff hero for the Golden State Warriors, leading the team early in Game 7 against the Houston Rockets before Stephen Curry took over late.\n\nCurry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Hield made nine 3-pointers and scored 33 points, and the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.\n\n\"We were lucky to get out of this series,\" Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. \"That was an incredibly impressive display of resolve.\"\n\nThe Warriors will face the Timberwolves Tuesday night in Minnesota.\n\nAfter not scoring in Game 6, Hield had a scorching first half with six 3-pointers and 22 points to carry the Warriors to a 12-point lead, with Curry scoring just three points before the break. Then Curry took over in the closing minutes and performed his signature \"night night\" gesture as the Warriors put the Rockets away.\n\n\"This was not just a lights-out shooting performance for Buddy,\" Kerr said. \"It was a two-way performance. I thought his defense was fantastic.\"\n\nThe Warriors became the seventh No. 7 seed in NBA history to advance to the semifinals and eliminated Houston in the playoffs for a fifth time. They sent the James Harden-led Rockets packing four times between 2015 and 2019.\n\nNone of the players from those teams remain with Houston, leading Fred VanVleet to say before the series that \"this ain't that team.\"\n\nDraymond Green, who helped beat the Rockets in Game 7 in 2018 to advance to the NBA Finals, mentioned VanVleet's quote before continuing.\n\n\"It's that organization though,\" he said. \"We like coming to the city playing in these situations. It's been good to us.\"\n\nHield was 9 of 11 from 3-point range, setting an NBA record for a Game 7 and making more 3s than the Rockets, who were 6 of 18 from long range.\n\n\"Just trying to seize the moment and relish the moment and just be in the moment at the same time,\" Hield said. \"Just trying to be myself. But tonight was fun.\"\n\nCurry added 10 rebounds and seven assists.\n\nAmen Thompson scored 24 points to lead Houston, which forced Game 7 with two straight wins but couldn't put away the experienced Warriors.\n\n\"We had our chances in this series,\" Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. \"We all expected to continue to be playing, so it's a letdown. It's going to sting now, but use it as motivation and let's all come back better.\"\n\nGolden State led by eight entering the fourth and opened the quarter with a 5-0 run, capped by a 3 from Curry, to make it 75-62.\n\nHouston scored the next six points, but the Warriors used a 7-2 spurt with four points from Curry to make it 82-70 with about seven minutes left.\n\nCurry made a contested 3, rebounded a missed jumper by Thompson and found Hield for an open corner 3 that made it 94-74 with 2:31 remaining.\n\nThat sent many of the red-clad Rockets fans streaming for the exits.\n\nJimmy Butler added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who improved to 28-11 since his debut on Feb. 8 after a trade from Miami.\n\nVanVleet scored a combined 55 points in the last two games to help Houston extend the series. But he was limited to 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting Sunday to send the second-seeded Rockets home early in their first trip to the playoffs since 2020.\n\nHe was far from the only Rocket who struggled. Big man Alperen Sengun had 21 points and 14 rebounds. But he missed several easy shots on a 9-of-23 night.\n\nJalen Green, who had 38 points to lead Houston to a Game 2 win, finished with eight points.\n\n\"First playoffs is no excuse,\" he said. \"I've got to be better.\"\n\nThe Warriors played without key reserve Gary Payton II, who sat out with an illness that coach Steve Kerr said had him \"sick as a dog.\"\n\nDraymond Green added 16 points for the Warriors, who had four starters score in double figures." } ]
46ea3330e4015d95ad2d735f52aafeb5657842399efea21caa3769d13a294957	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Federal worker union leader says Trump downsizing will 'be devastating'\n\nBy Ryan J. Foley \nMay 5th, 2025 06:43 PM\n\n---\n\nIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The president of the nation's largest union for federal workers said Monday the organization's ongoing staff downsizing will devastate the services it provides members and threatens the group's survival.\n\nEverett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March removed over 200,000 of its dues-paying members, or about two-thirds of the total.\n\nThe order stripped union rights from employees in several executive branch agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.\n\nAFGE and other unions are fighting the order in court as illegal and retaliatory. But Kelley said the order has already taken a \"very direct hit\" on the group's finances because agencies stopped collecting union dues from paychecks.\n\nSaying it had lost over half of its dues revenue and faced a major budget shortfall, AFGE's National Executive Council last month approved a plan to slash its staffing levels from 355 to 151. The union has offered early retirements and buyouts to some staff, and employees are anticipating layoffs in the coming days.\n\n\"It's going to be devastating,\" Kelley told reporters on a Zoom conference celebrating Public Service Recognition Week. \"I don't know if we'll overcome it, to be honest with you, because members have joined this union because they expect us to provide a certain amount of services.\"\n\nLocal unions have already been warned that they will face longer response times from national staff members and less legal help on non-essential matters.\n\nKelley said AFGE is pushing its remaining members to sign up to have their dues withdrawn automatically from their bank accounts. The union said Monday that about 120,000 of its members have signed up. In all, the union represents about 820,000 federal workers.\n\nKelley said the group had been successful in pushing back against Trump's dramatic downsizing and reshaping of the federal government, filing nine lawsuits and rallying the public to its cause.\n\n\"We've been beating him in the court of law and also in the court of public opinion,\" he said. \"But he wants AFGE silent.\"\n\nWhite House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump issued the order to cancel collective bargaining agreements that he believed risked national security interests.\n\n\"He will always prioritize public safety for the American people,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Federal worker union leader says Trump downsizing will 'be devastating'\n\nBy Ryan J. Foley \nMay 5th, 2025 06:43 PM\n\n---\n\nIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The president of the nation's largest union for federal workers said Monday the organization's ongoing staff downsizing will devastate the services it provides members and threatens the group's survival.\n\nEverett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March removed over 200,000 of its dues-paying members, or about two-thirds of the total.\n\nThe order stripped union rights from employees in several executive branch agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.\n\nAFGE and other unions are fighting the order in court as illegal and retaliatory. But Kelley said the order has already taken a \"very direct hit\" on the group's finances because agencies stopped collecting union dues from paychecks.\n\nSaying it had lost over half of its dues revenue and faced a major budget shortfall, AFGE's National Executive Council last month approved a plan to slash its staffing levels from 355 to 151. The union has offered early retirements and buyouts to some staff, and employees are anticipating layoffs in the coming days.\n\n\"It's going to be devastating,\" Kelley told reporters on a Zoom conference celebrating Public Service Recognition Week. \"I don't know if we'll overcome it, to be honest with you, because members have joined this union because they expect us to provide a certain amount of services.\"\n\nLocal unions have already been warned that they will face longer response times from national staff members and less legal help on non-essential matters.\n\nKelley said AFGE is pushing its remaining members to sign up to have their dues withdrawn automatically from their bank accounts. The union said Monday that about 120,000 of its members have signed up. In all, the union represents about 820,000 federal workers.\n\nKelley said the group had been successful in pushing back against Trump's dramatic downsizing and reshaping of the federal government, filing nine lawsuits and rallying the public to its cause.\n\n\"We've been beating him in the court of law and also in the court of public opinion,\" he said. \"But he wants AFGE silent.\"\n\nWhite House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump issued the order to cancel collective bargaining agreements that he believed risked national security interests.\n\n\"He will always prioritize public safety for the American people,\" she said." } ]
f2e344ed1c5f85c7c840cf1cb43aebcaa93eb7226b26ed51710b107d4845bfa8	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Frederik Andersen returns from missing end of 1st round to help Hurricanes beat Capitals in Game 1\n\nBy Stephen Whyno \nMay 7th, 2025 03:29 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Frederik Andersen had no choice but to sit and watch his Carolina Hurricanes teammates clinch their first-round series victory and move on in the NHL playoffs.\n\nA week later, he was back in net and delivered the kind of quality goaltending they've gotten from him whenever he has been healthy. Andersen stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced as the Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime in Game 1 of their second-round series.\n\n\"Just really been looking forward to this for a while,\" Andersen said. \"Happy we could start off on the right foot.\"\n\nAndersen was Carolina's starter to begin the postseason and turned aside 88 of 94 shots before getting injured when New Jersey forward Timo Meier barreled into him in the second period of Game 4 last round. He gave way to backup Pyotr Kotchekov, who finished the job that night and did enough to advance with an overtime victory in Game 5.\n\nExtra time off allowed Andersen, a 35-year-old Dane in his 12th season in the league, to heal up. He was not tested much in the opener at Washington, but even the lack of action he had made it more challenging for a veteran coming off a long layoff.\n\n\"Well that's tough — it seems easy,\" coach Rod Brind'Amour said. \"He's been here long enough (to know) you got to stay focused. And I thought he did a good job.\"\n\nThe Hurricanes pummeled the Capitals with 94 shots attempts: 33 that got on net — two of which went in past Logan Thompson — and 36 that got blocked before reaching him. After Logan Stankoven tied it midway through the third period, Andersen took space away on Ryan Leonard's breakaway with just under six minutes, a play that did not count as a save but contributed to sending the game to overtime.\n\n\"You could tell he was on it,\" Brind'Amour said. \"That was a huge one for us.\"\n\nCarolina has been used to playing without Andersen, who missed half of 2023-24 getting treatment for blood clots and was out for a few months this season after knee surgery. But the organization showed how important Andersen is, signing him between rounds to a contract for next season, one that could see him earn up to $3.5 million.\n\nIn his first game since getting that deal, Andersen rewarded the Hurricanes by making the saves he needed to make to give them a series led.\n\n\"He's huge for us,\" Stankoven said. \"We're trying at the other end to create offense, and when we do give up chances or there are breakdowns, he's there for us. And he's been great all playoffs for us, so we're going to need him to keep playing like that.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Frederik Andersen returns from missing end of 1st round to help Hurricanes beat Capitals in Game 1\n\nBy Stephen Whyno \nMay 7th, 2025 03:29 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Frederik Andersen had no choice but to sit and watch his Carolina Hurricanes teammates clinch their first-round series victory and move on in the NHL playoffs.\n\nA week later, he was back in net and delivered the kind of quality goaltending they've gotten from him whenever he has been healthy. Andersen stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced as the Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime in Game 1 of their second-round series.\n\n\"Just really been looking forward to this for a while,\" Andersen said. \"Happy we could start off on the right foot.\"\n\nAndersen was Carolina's starter to begin the postseason and turned aside 88 of 94 shots before getting injured when New Jersey forward Timo Meier barreled into him in the second period of Game 4 last round. He gave way to backup Pyotr Kotchekov, who finished the job that night and did enough to advance with an overtime victory in Game 5.\n\nExtra time off allowed Andersen, a 35-year-old Dane in his 12th season in the league, to heal up. He was not tested much in the opener at Washington, but even the lack of action he had made it more challenging for a veteran coming off a long layoff.\n\n\"Well that's tough — it seems easy,\" coach Rod Brind'Amour said. \"He's been here long enough (to know) you got to stay focused. And I thought he did a good job.\"\n\nThe Hurricanes pummeled the Capitals with 94 shots attempts: 33 that got on net — two of which went in past Logan Thompson — and 36 that got blocked before reaching him. After Logan Stankoven tied it midway through the third period, Andersen took space away on Ryan Leonard's breakaway with just under six minutes, a play that did not count as a save but contributed to sending the game to overtime.\n\n\"You could tell he was on it,\" Brind'Amour said. \"That was a huge one for us.\"\n\nCarolina has been used to playing without Andersen, who missed half of 2023-24 getting treatment for blood clots and was out for a few months this season after knee surgery. But the organization showed how important Andersen is, signing him between rounds to a contract for next season, one that could see him earn up to $3.5 million.\n\nIn his first game since getting that deal, Andersen rewarded the Hurricanes by making the saves he needed to make to give them a series led.\n\n\"He's huge for us,\" Stankoven said. \"We're trying at the other end to create offense, and when we do give up chances or there are breakdowns, he's there for us. And he's been great all playoffs for us, so we're going to need him to keep playing like that.\"" } ]
b8a003d3af6ee429e6eb8ebd98f595dbeed15652608d936468aeb7715482e6ce	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Barcelona's women's team routs Real Betis 9-0 to win its 6th straight league title\n\nMay 11th, 2025 10:09 PM\n\n---\n\nBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona women's team won its sixth straight Spanish league title by routing Real Betis 9-0 on Sunday.\n\nClaudia Pina scored a hat trick and Ewa Pajor added two goals for Barcelona as it clinched its 10th league title with one round to go. Pajor is the league's top scorer with 23 goals.\n\nBarcelona has 27 wins and only two defeats. Real Madrid is second in the league, six points behind Barcelona.\n\nIt was Barcelona's second trophy this season following the Spanish Super Cup victory in January.\n\nBarcelona will face Arsenal in the Women's Champions League final on May 24, and Atletico Madrid in the Copa de la Reina final on June 7.\n\nBetis was relegated with the defeat.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Barcelona's women's team routs Real Betis 9-0 to win its 6th straight league title\n\nMay 11th, 2025 10:09 PM\n\n---\n\nBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona women's team won its sixth straight Spanish league title by routing Real Betis 9-0 on Sunday.\n\nClaudia Pina scored a hat trick and Ewa Pajor added two goals for Barcelona as it clinched its 10th league title with one round to go. Pajor is the league's top scorer with 23 goals.\n\nBarcelona has 27 wins and only two defeats. Real Madrid is second in the league, six points behind Barcelona.\n\nIt was Barcelona's second trophy this season following the Spanish Super Cup victory in January.\n\nBarcelona will face Arsenal in the Women's Champions League final on May 24, and Atletico Madrid in the Copa de la Reina final on June 7.\n\nBetis was relegated with the defeat." } ]
9a34c2ba9b728a6a292dbbbc87f0a558d2f443ae6a887ab62e5fba4185d236cd	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Australia election: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins second three-year term\n\nBy Rod Mcguirk and Tristan Lavelette \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:04 PM\n\n---\n\nMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Anthony Albanese claimed victory as the first Australian prime minister to clinch a second consecutive term in 21 years on Saturday and suggested his government had increased its majority by not modeling itself on U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.\n\n\"Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,\" Albanese told supporters in a victory speech in Sydney.\n\n\"We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people,\" he added.\n\nHis center-left Labor Party had branded Albanese's rival Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, \"DOGE-y Dutton\" and accused his conservative Liberal Party of mimicking Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.\n\nDutton had earlier conceded his alliance of conservative parties had been defeated at the election and that he had lost his own parliamentary seat that he had held for 24 years.\n\nDutton's plight parallels that of Canada's opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat after Trump declared economic war on the U.S. neighbor to the north. Poilievre had previously been regarded as a shoo-in to become Canada's next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade.\n\nAnalysts argue that mirroring Trump switched from a political positive for Australian conservatives to a negative after Trump imposed global tariffs.\n\nTrumpet of Patriots, a minor party inspired by Trump policies with an advertising budget funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer that eclipsed the major parties, attracted only 2% of the vote.\n\nZareh Ghazarian, a lecturer in politics at Monash University, in Melbourne, questioned the significance of the \"DOGE-y Dutton\" lable in the election result.\n\n\"We won't know. But I'm not sure it had a massive impact,\" Ghazarian said. \"It is a huge win for Labor and it's a massive rebuke for the Liberal Party.\"\n\n## US congratulates Albanese on re-election\n\nU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Albanese on his election to a second three-year term.\n\n\"Australia is a valued ally, partner, and friend of the United States. Our shared values and democratic traditions provide the bedrock for an enduring alliance and for the deep ties between our peoples,' Rubio said in a statement.\n\n\"The United States looks forward to deepening its relationship with Australia to advance our common interests and promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific and globally,\" he added.\n\nBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a fellow center-left leader, congratulated Albanese on his victory.\n\n\"The U.K. and Australia are as close as ever – which goes to show that long-distance friendships can be the strongest,\" Starmer said. \"I know that we will continue to work together on our shared ambitions, including on trade, investment and energy, working towards a better life for working people in the U.K. and Australia.\"\n\nLabor had held a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat house House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments.\n\nAustralian governments are usually elected for at least a second term, but are expected to lose seats at the second election. But Labor is on track to increase its majority in its second term.\n\n## High prices are a major election issue\n\nEnergy policy and inflation have been major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost of living crisis.\n\nThe Liberal Party blamed government waste for fueling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to ax more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.\n\nWhile both said the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.\n\nLabor argued Dutton's administration would slash services to pay for its ambitions to build seven government-funded nuclear generators. Australia currently has no nuclear power.\n\nOpposition senator Jacinta Nampijnpa Price would have been responsible for cutting 41,000 public service jobs in Dutton's administration. She attracted media attention last month when she told supporters her government would \"make Australia great again.\"\n\n## Echoes of Trump\n\nPrice told reporters at the time she didn't recall using the words reminiscent of the Republicans' \"Make America Great Again\" slogan.\n\nPrice, who said she was photographed wearing a MAGA cap \"in jest at Christmas time,\" on Saturday blamed the news media for focusing on Trump in the election campaign.\n\n\"You made it all about Donald Trump,\" Price told Australian Broadcasting Corp. \"We really couldn't care less about the way Donald Trump is governing for America. We were concerned with the way Australia is being governed under an Albanese government.\"\n\nThe election took place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis.\n\nFoodbank Australia, the nation's largest food relief charity, reported 3.4 million households in the country of 27 million people experienced food insecurity last year. That meant Australians were skipping meals, eating less or worrying about running out of food before they could afford to buy more.\n\nThe central bank reduced its benchmark cash interest rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1% in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank's next board meeting on May 20, this time to encourage investment amid the international economic uncertainty generated by Trump's tariff policies.\n\n____\n\nLavalette reported from Perth, Australia" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Australia election: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins second three-year term\n\nBy Rod Mcguirk and Tristan Lavelette \nMay 2nd, 2025 10:04 PM\n\n---\n\nMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Anthony Albanese claimed victory as the first Australian prime minister to clinch a second consecutive term in 21 years on Saturday and suggested his government had increased its majority by not modeling itself on U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.\n\n\"Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,\" Albanese told supporters in a victory speech in Sydney.\n\n\"We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people,\" he added.\n\nHis center-left Labor Party had branded Albanese's rival Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, \"DOGE-y Dutton\" and accused his conservative Liberal Party of mimicking Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.\n\nDutton had earlier conceded his alliance of conservative parties had been defeated at the election and that he had lost his own parliamentary seat that he had held for 24 years.\n\nDutton's plight parallels that of Canada's opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat after Trump declared economic war on the U.S. neighbor to the north. Poilievre had previously been regarded as a shoo-in to become Canada's next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade.\n\nAnalysts argue that mirroring Trump switched from a political positive for Australian conservatives to a negative after Trump imposed global tariffs.\n\nTrumpet of Patriots, a minor party inspired by Trump policies with an advertising budget funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer that eclipsed the major parties, attracted only 2% of the vote.\n\nZareh Ghazarian, a lecturer in politics at Monash University, in Melbourne, questioned the significance of the \"DOGE-y Dutton\" lable in the election result.\n\n\"We won't know. But I'm not sure it had a massive impact,\" Ghazarian said. \"It is a huge win for Labor and it's a massive rebuke for the Liberal Party.\"\n\n## US congratulates Albanese on re-election\n\nU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Albanese on his election to a second three-year term.\n\n\"Australia is a valued ally, partner, and friend of the United States. Our shared values and democratic traditions provide the bedrock for an enduring alliance and for the deep ties between our peoples,' Rubio said in a statement.\n\n\"The United States looks forward to deepening its relationship with Australia to advance our common interests and promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific and globally,\" he added.\n\nBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a fellow center-left leader, congratulated Albanese on his victory.\n\n\"The U.K. and Australia are as close as ever – which goes to show that long-distance friendships can be the strongest,\" Starmer said. \"I know that we will continue to work together on our shared ambitions, including on trade, investment and energy, working towards a better life for working people in the U.K. and Australia.\"\n\nLabor had held a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat house House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments.\n\nAustralian governments are usually elected for at least a second term, but are expected to lose seats at the second election. But Labor is on track to increase its majority in its second term.\n\n## High prices are a major election issue\n\nEnergy policy and inflation have been major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost of living crisis.\n\nThe Liberal Party blamed government waste for fueling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to ax more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.\n\nWhile both said the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.\n\nLabor argued Dutton's administration would slash services to pay for its ambitions to build seven government-funded nuclear generators. Australia currently has no nuclear power.\n\nOpposition senator Jacinta Nampijnpa Price would have been responsible for cutting 41,000 public service jobs in Dutton's administration. She attracted media attention last month when she told supporters her government would \"make Australia great again.\"\n\n## Echoes of Trump\n\nPrice told reporters at the time she didn't recall using the words reminiscent of the Republicans' \"Make America Great Again\" slogan.\n\nPrice, who said she was photographed wearing a MAGA cap \"in jest at Christmas time,\" on Saturday blamed the news media for focusing on Trump in the election campaign.\n\n\"You made it all about Donald Trump,\" Price told Australian Broadcasting Corp. \"We really couldn't care less about the way Donald Trump is governing for America. We were concerned with the way Australia is being governed under an Albanese government.\"\n\nThe election took place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis.\n\nFoodbank Australia, the nation's largest food relief charity, reported 3.4 million households in the country of 27 million people experienced food insecurity last year. That meant Australians were skipping meals, eating less or worrying about running out of food before they could afford to buy more.\n\nThe central bank reduced its benchmark cash interest rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1% in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank's next board meeting on May 20, this time to encourage investment amid the international economic uncertainty generated by Trump's tariff policies." } ]
91e750c388e9456927af5225737501aa8790bb5231f59bdc8e629353f70d1e86	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Haeran Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn shake off major doldrums and have solid start on LPGA in Utah\n\nMay 1st, 2025 11:06 PM\n\n---\n\nIVINS, Utah (AP) — Haeran Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn didn't waste time moving on from the disappointment of the first LPGA major behind them, both opening with bogey-free rounds Thursday for an ideal start in the inaugural Black Desert Championship.\n\nRyu missed only one fairway, one green and took 27 putts in her round of 9-under 63, giving her a one-shot lead over Jutanugarn and Wei-Ling Hsu in the LPGA's return to Utah for the first time in just over 60 years.\n\nRyu shared the 54-hole lead last week in the Chevron Championship when nothing went right for her the final round. Even with an eagle on the final hole, she shot 76 and missed the playoff by two shots.\n\n\"I'm not change something from my mind, because last week it was tough golf course and this week it's tough, too,\" Ryu said. \"Just thinking more accuracy for my shot, and I think same as last week.\"\n\nJutanugarn had a rougher finish. She needed par on the last hole to win when the Thai stubbed a chip behind the green and wound up making bogey. In the five-player playoff, Jutanugarn lipped out on a 7-foot birdie putt as Mao Saigo won.\n\n\"I would say when I got here I felt like the course is really tough because like it's kind of new. It's different, really unique, really beautiful,\" Jutanugarn said. \"But of course last week I didn't finish the way I want, but it's so many thing going on — like good things — and I just want to carry on from that and keep working as hard as I can.\"\n\nJutanugarn, a former No. 1 player in women's golf, has gone four years without winning.\n\nSaigo was 2 over through four holes and then steadied herself by playing bogey-free the rest of the way with four birdies to salvage a 70. She was among the late starters at Black Desert, a Tom Weiskopf design carved from a massive field of black lava amid red rock mountains, some 30 miles from Zion National Park.\n\nIt is the only golf course that hosts an official PGA Tour and LPGA Tour event. Black Desert hosted a PGA Tour event last fall.\n\nLucy Li birdied her last two holes for a 64 and was part of a six-way tie for fourth that included Carlota Ciganda. Celine Boutier was among the group at 65.\n\n\"It's an amazing place. I've really enjoyed my past few days here. It's beautiful. It was kind of just the focus on refreshing and recharging after the major last week,\" Henseleit said.\n\nThe scoring was low without much wind and relatively soft conditions, with nearly 60% of the 144-player field breaking par.\n\nHenseleit said it was more about picking targets and being aggressive. Even so, there is enough rock framing the fairways to make targets appear smaller than they are. And it doesn't take much to get in trouble.\n\n\"I would say this course can be really stressful because you kind of have to plan everything, every shot — tee shot, second shot, where to finish the ball,\" Jutanugarn said. \"I'm very lucky this morning — no wind, so got a bit easier to finish the ball where I want to finish.\"\n\n___\n\nThis version corrects Ryu's score to 9-under 63\n\n___\n\nAP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Haeran Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn shake off major doldrums and have solid start on LPGA in Utah\n\nMay 1st, 2025 11:06 PM\n\n---\n\nIVINS, Utah (AP) — Haeran Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn didn't waste time moving on from the disappointment of the first LPGA major behind them, both opening with bogey-free rounds Thursday for an ideal start in the inaugural Black Desert Championship.\n\nRyu missed only one fairway, one green and took 27 putts in her round of 9-under 63, giving her a one-shot lead over Jutanugarn and Wei-Ling Hsu in the LPGA's return to Utah for the first time in just over 60 years.\n\nRyu shared the 54-hole lead last week in the Chevron Championship when nothing went right for her the final round. Even with an eagle on the final hole, she shot 76 and missed the playoff by two shots.\n\n\"I'm not change something from my mind, because last week it was tough golf course and this week it's tough, too,\" Ryu said. \"Just thinking more accuracy for my shot, and I think same as last week.\"\n\nJutanugarn had a rougher finish. She needed par on the last hole to win when the Thai stubbed a chip behind the green and wound up making bogey. In the five-player playoff, Jutanugarn lipped out on a 7-foot birdie putt as Mao Saigo won.\n\n\"I would say when I got here I felt like the course is really tough because like it's kind of new. It's different, really unique, really beautiful,\" Jutanugarn said. \"But of course last week I didn't finish the way I want, but it's so many thing going on — like good things — and I just want to carry on from that and keep working as hard as I can.\"\n\nJutanugarn, a former No. 1 player in women's golf, has gone four years without winning.\n\nSaigo was 2 over through four holes and then steadied herself by playing bogey-free the rest of the way with four birdies to salvage a 70. She was among the late starters at Black Desert, a Tom Weiskopf design carved from a massive field of black lava amid red rock mountains, some 30 miles from Zion National Park.\n\nIt is the only golf course that hosts an official PGA Tour and LPGA Tour event. Black Desert hosted a PGA Tour event last fall.\n\nLucy Li birdied her last two holes for a 64 and was part of a six-way tie for fourth that included Carlota Ciganda. Celine Boutier was among the group at 65.\n\n\"It's an amazing place. I've really enjoyed my past few days here. It's beautiful. It was kind of just the focus on refreshing and recharging after the major last week,\" Henseleit said.\n\nThe scoring was low without much wind and relatively soft conditions, with nearly 60% of the 144-player field breaking par.\n\nHenseleit said it was more about picking targets and being aggressive. Even so, there is enough rock framing the fairways to make targets appear smaller than they are. And it doesn't take much to get in trouble.\n\n\"I would say this course can be really stressful because you kind of have to plan everything, every shot — tee shot, second shot, where to finish the ball,\" Jutanugarn said. \"I'm very lucky this morning — no wind, so got a bit easier to finish the ball where I want to finish.\"" } ]
23a73e65b735d24a7feebc21ad4a2e24d6daed36019097998de41dd585f42a18	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Rays overcome Judge's 11th homer, steal 6 bases and rally past Yankees 3-2 to stop 4-game skid\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 07:58 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Curtis Mead and José Caballero had RBIs in a two-run eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays overcame Aaron Judge's 11th home run to beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Saturday and stop a four-game losing streak.\n\nJudge homered in the first against Zack Littell (2-5), who retired his next 11 batters before Austin Wells started the fifth with his sixth homer for a 2-1 lead.\n\nJudge has four homers in his last six games. The two-time AL MVP is hitting a major league-leading .432 and has a 29-game on-base streak. He is 26 for 52 during a 13-game hitting streak.\n\nTaylor Walls hit a second-inning sacrifice fly against emergency starter Ryan Yarbrough, facing his former team because Clarke Schmidt was scratched with soreness in his left side.\n\nYankees shortstop Anthony Volpe landed hard on his left shoulder trying for a diving backhand stop on Christopher Morel's grounder in the eighth, which went for an infield single.\n\nAfter a walk and three stolen bases, Mead hit a tying single off Mark Leiter Jr. (2-3) for his third RBI this season. Caballero followed with a grounder up the middle that Volpe allowed to pop out of his glove for his fourth error as he started toward second in a try for an inning-ending double play.\n\nEdwin Uceta got Judge to ground out with runners at the corners for the final out of the eighth, and Pete Fairbanks got three straight outs to remain perfect in seven save chances.\n\nYankees pitchers walked at least six for the fifth time this season. The Rays finished with six steals.\n\n## Key moment\n\nMoved to left field in a defensive shift, New York's Cody Bellinger made an off-balance leaping catch on Kameron Misner in the eighth, saving two runs.\n\n## Key stat\n\nNew York has 16 first-inning homers — one more than Kansas City had in all innings entering Saturday. Judge has six first-inning homers.\n\n## Up next\n\nYankees RHP Will Warren (1-1, 5.63 ERA) and Rays RHP Taj Bradley (2-2, 4.58 ERA) start Sunday's series finale.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Rays overcome Judge's 11th homer, steal 6 bases and rally past Yankees 3-2 to stop 4-game skid\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 07:58 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Curtis Mead and José Caballero had RBIs in a two-run eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays overcame Aaron Judge's 11th home run to beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Saturday and stop a four-game losing streak.\n\nJudge homered in the first against Zack Littell (2-5), who retired his next 11 batters before Austin Wells started the fifth with his sixth homer for a 2-1 lead.\n\nJudge has four homers in his last six games. The two-time AL MVP is hitting a major league-leading .432 and has a 29-game on-base streak. He is 26 for 52 during a 13-game hitting streak.\n\nTaylor Walls hit a second-inning sacrifice fly against emergency starter Ryan Yarbrough, facing his former team because Clarke Schmidt was scratched with soreness in his left side.\n\nYankees shortstop Anthony Volpe landed hard on his left shoulder trying for a diving backhand stop on Christopher Morel's grounder in the eighth, which went for an infield single.\n\nAfter a walk and three stolen bases, Mead hit a tying single off Mark Leiter Jr. (2-3) for his third RBI this season. Caballero followed with a grounder up the middle that Volpe allowed to pop out of his glove for his fourth error as he started toward second in a try for an inning-ending double play.\n\nEdwin Uceta got Judge to ground out with runners at the corners for the final out of the eighth, and Pete Fairbanks got three straight outs to remain perfect in seven save chances.\n\nYankees pitchers walked at least six for the fifth time this season. The Rays finished with six steals.\n\n## Key moment\n\nMoved to left field in a defensive shift, New York's Cody Bellinger made an off-balance leaping catch on Kameron Misner in the eighth, saving two runs.\n\n## Key stat\n\nNew York has 16 first-inning homers — one more than Kansas City had in all innings entering Saturday. Judge has six first-inning homers.\n\n## Up next\n\nYankees RHP Will Warren (1-1, 5.63 ERA) and Rays RHP Taj Bradley (2-2, 4.58 ERA) start Sunday's series finale." } ]
aa2ab5ef8d32924e1d99485c732ec21db9078caac597071f828c71d9d08040d8	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# Iran's top diplomat in Pakistan to mediate in the escalation with India over the Kashmir attack\n\nBy Munir Ahmed and Muhammad Yousaf \nMay 5th, 2025 05:44 AM\n\n---\n\nISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran's foreign minister held talks with top Pakistani officials on Monday to try and mediate in the escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi after last month's deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, as the United Nations urged both sides to exercise restraint.\n\nAbbas Araghchi's visit to Islamabad was the first by a foreign dignitary since tensions flared in the wake of the April 22 massacre of 26 people, most of them Indian Hindu tourists, in the town of Pahalgam, which India blames on Pakistan. Islamabad denies the accusation.\n\n## A call for restraint\n\nTehran has offered to help ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.\n\nAraghchi held separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who thanked him for his peace efforts, according to government statements. Araghchi will visit India this week, according to Pakistani state-run media.\n\nAntonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, also urged both sides later Monday to exercise restraint: \"Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution,\" he told reporters.\n\n\"Now is the time for maximum restraint and stepping back from the brink,\" Guterres said. \"The United Nations stands ready to support any initiative that promotes de-escalation, diplomacy, and a renewed commitment to peace.\"\n\nIslamabad has offered to cooperate with an international investigation. India hasn't accepted the offer so far, and several world leaders have urged both sides to show restraint and avoid further escalation.\n\n## Trading accusations\n\nPakistan's military has been on high alert after Cabinet Minister Attaullah Tarar cited intelligence indicating that India could attack.\n\nForeign Minister Ishaq Dar said in televised remarks Monday that Pakistan \"will exercise full restraint, but if India takes any adventurous step, then we will give a befitting response.\"\n\nAccording to a ministry statement, Dar, in talks with Araghchi, rejected what he described as India's attempts to implicate Pakistan in the Kashmir attack.\n\nDar had earlier welcomed mediation to defuse the tensions with India. Since last week, he said that he's spoken to more than a dozen foreign dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.\n\n\"We will not be the first to take any escalatory step,\" Dar said, adding that he had warned the international community should there be \"any act of aggression by India, Pakistan will resolutely defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.\"\n\nHe also accused the Indian air force of attempting to breach Pakistani airspace on April 29. Pakistan scrambled aircraft and forced Indian jets to turn back, he said. There was no immediate comment from India on those claims.\n\nPakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar led Monday a group of journalists to the mountain village of Bella Noor Shah, near Muzaffarabad — the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — where he said that New Delhi had falsely claimed the presence of a militant training camp.\n\nResidents of the village told reporters they had never seen any such camp in the area.\n\nMeanwhile, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and \"strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam.\"\n\n## Pakistan test fires another short-range missile\n\nPakistan's military said Monday that it test fired a short-range missile, the second such test launch after a medium-range missile on Saturday.\n\nThe military said that the Fatah surface-to-surface missile has a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and was launched from an undisclosed location. Such missiles are never fired toward India, and usually end up reaching the Arabian Sea or the deserts of southern Balochistan province\n\n## A region split between nuclear-armed rivals\n\nKashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly because of their competing claims over Kashmir.\n\nMilitants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.\n\nMushaal Hussein, the wife of a top Kashmiri rebel leader, Mohammed Yasin Malik, accused India of falsely implicating Pakistan in the attack on tourists. She made her remarks Monday after attending a flag-lowering ceremony, a dramatic daily show of strength on both sides of the border. Malik, who is imprisoned in India on terror charges, married her in Pakistan in 2009.\n\n## A diplomatic tit-for-tat\n\nThe latest flare-up led the two countries to expel each other's diplomats and nationals, as well as the shuttering of airspace.\n\nDar, Pakistan's foreign minister, denounced India's unilateral decision to suspend a water-sharing treaty.\n\nIn the town of Akhnoor in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where the Chenab River flows into Pakistan, residents said that water levels were so low, people could walk across the river on Monday.\n\n\"I have never seen this river dry in my life,\" said 55-year-old farmer Bal Krishan, adding that he agreed with \"Modi's decision to suspend the treaty and punish\" Pakistan.\n\nThere was no immediate comment from officials.\n\n___\n\nMuhammad Yousaf reported from Muzaffarabad. Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, Channi Anand in Akhnoor, India, and Ishfaq Hussain in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# Iran's top diplomat in Pakistan to mediate in the escalation with India over the Kashmir attack\n\nBy Munir Ahmed and Muhammad Yousaf \nMay 5th, 2025 05:44 AM\n\n---\n\nISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran's foreign minister held talks with top Pakistani officials on Monday to try and mediate in the escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi after last month's deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, as the United Nations urged both sides to exercise restraint.\n\nAbbas Araghchi's visit to Islamabad was the first by a foreign dignitary since tensions flared in the wake of the April 22 massacre of 26 people, most of them Indian Hindu tourists, in the town of Pahalgam, which India blames on Pakistan. Islamabad denies the accusation.\n\n## A call for restraint\n\nTehran has offered to help ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.\n\nAraghchi held separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who thanked him for his peace efforts, according to government statements. Araghchi will visit India this week, according to Pakistani state-run media.\n\nAntonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, also urged both sides later Monday to exercise restraint: \"Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution,\" he told reporters.\n\n\"Now is the time for maximum restraint and stepping back from the brink,\" Guterres said. \"The United Nations stands ready to support any initiative that promotes de-escalation, diplomacy, and a renewed commitment to peace.\"\n\nIslamabad has offered to cooperate with an international investigation. India hasn't accepted the offer so far, and several world leaders have urged both sides to show restraint and avoid further escalation.\n\n## Trading accusations\n\nPakistan's military has been on high alert after Cabinet Minister Attaullah Tarar cited intelligence indicating that India could attack.\n\nForeign Minister Ishaq Dar said in televised remarks Monday that Pakistan \"will exercise full restraint, but if India takes any adventurous step, then we will give a befitting response.\"\n\nAccording to a ministry statement, Dar, in talks with Araghchi, rejected what he described as India's attempts to implicate Pakistan in the Kashmir attack.\n\nDar had earlier welcomed mediation to defuse the tensions with India. Since last week, he said that he's spoken to more than a dozen foreign dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.\n\n\"We will not be the first to take any escalatory step,\" Dar said, adding that he had warned the international community should there be \"any act of aggression by India, Pakistan will resolutely defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.\"\n\nHe also accused the Indian air force of attempting to breach Pakistani airspace on April 29. Pakistan scrambled aircraft and forced Indian jets to turn back, he said. There was no immediate comment from India on those claims.\n\nPakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar led Monday a group of journalists to the mountain village of Bella Noor Shah, near Muzaffarabad — the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — where he said that New Delhi had falsely claimed the presence of a militant training camp.\n\nResidents of the village told reporters they had never seen any such camp in the area.\n\nMeanwhile, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and \"strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam.\"\n\n## Pakistan test fires another short-range missile\n\nPakistan's military said Monday that it test fired a short-range missile, the second such test launch after a medium-range missile on Saturday.\n\nThe military said that the Fatah surface-to-surface missile has a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and was launched from an undisclosed location. Such missiles are never fired toward India, and usually end up reaching the Arabian Sea or the deserts of southern Balochistan province\n\n## A region split between nuclear-armed rivals\n\nKashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly because of their competing claims over Kashmir.\n\nMilitants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.\n\nMushaal Hussein, the wife of a top Kashmiri rebel leader, Mohammed Yasin Malik, accused India of falsely implicating Pakistan in the attack on tourists. She made her remarks Monday after attending a flag-lowering ceremony, a dramatic daily show of strength on both sides of the border. Malik, who is imprisoned in India on terror charges, married her in Pakistan in 2009.\n\n## A diplomatic tit-for-tat\n\nThe latest flare-up led the two countries to expel each other's diplomats and nationals, as well as the shuttering of airspace.\n\nDar, Pakistan's foreign minister, denounced India's unilateral decision to suspend a water-sharing treaty.\n\nIn the town of Akhnoor in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where the Chenab River flows into Pakistan, residents said that water levels were so low, people could walk across the river on Monday.\n\n\"I have never seen this river dry in my life,\" said 55-year-old farmer Bal Krishan, adding that he agreed with \"Modi's decision to suspend the treaty and punish\" Pakistan.\n\nThere was no immediate comment from officials." } ]
75c4675d83b3e03476e7356a0dc6c141d7ec4bcce1002dc08f0b0987d2b74454	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# How the Trump administration plans to keep tabs on 450,000 migrant kids\n\nBy Amanda Seitz and Alanna Durkin Richer \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:24 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is conducting a nationwide, multi-agency review of 450,000 migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents during President Joe Biden's term.\n\nTrump officials say they want to track down those children and ensure their safety. Many of the children came to the U.S. during surges at the border in recent years and were later placed in homes with adult sponsors, typically parents, relatives or family friends.\n\nMigrant advocates are dubious of the Republican administration's tactics, which include dispatching Homeland Security and FBI agents to visit the children. Trump's zero-tolerance approach to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, which has resulted in small children being flown out of the country, has raised deep suspicion his administration may use the review to deport any sponsors or children who are not living in the country legally.\n\nTrump officials say the adult sponsors who took in migrant children were not always properly vetted, leaving some at risk for exploitation. The Department of Justice has indicted a man on allegations he enticed a 14-year-old girl to travel from Guatemala to the U.S. and then falsely claimed she was his sister to gain custody as her sponsor.\n\n## Trump officials will do house checks and interviews\n\nTrump officials expect more problematic sponsors will surface as the administration conducts door knocks and interviews to check on cases in which complaints — about 65,000 of them since 2023 — have been filed. This year, about 450 cases with complaints have been referred to federal law enforcement officials, according to a senior Health and Human Services official who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the review and spoke on the condition of anonymity.\n\n\"We're combing through every report, every detail — because protecting children isn't optional,\" HHS said in a social media post on X. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to reference the review during a Cabinet meeting with Trump on Wednesday, saying his agency was trying to \"find the children.\"\n\nFor at least a decade, the federal government has allowed adults to apply to house migrant children who crossed the border without a parent or legal guardian. The program, however, was plagued with problems during the Democratic Biden administration years as officials struggled to process an influx of thousands of children. Federal officials failed to conduct background or address checks in some cases before placing children with sponsors. In other instances, sponsors provided plainly false identification, a federal watchdog report last year concluded.\n\nAfter that report was issued, the Biden administration said it had already worked to improve the issues through \"training, monitoring, technology and evaluation.\"\n\n## Thousands of kids were placed with legitimate sponsors\n\nBut thousands of children were also placed with legitimate families, some of whom now fear they'll be swept up in the Trump administration's review and targeted for deportation, said Mary Miller Flowers, the policy director of the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights.\n\nThe center is assigned to work with some of the most vulnerable children who cross the border. Flowers said that many children have been placed with their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles.\n\nIn some cases, children may arrive at the border separately from their parents who already live in the U.S. and reunite with them through the program.\n\n\"Now you have a situation where the government is checking on the wellness of children and encountering their undocumented parents and deporting their parents,\" Flowers said. \"I don't know what about that is good for children.\"\n\n## Government has taken custody of 100 kids\n\nSo far, about 100 kids in the past two months have been removed from their sponsors and put back into custody of the federal government, typically in private shelters, according to the health department official.\n\nIn Cleveland, federal prosecutors allege that one man, who was living in the U.S. illegally, arranged for the 14-year-old girl to get a copy of his sister's birth certificate and then coordinated her journey from Guatemala to the U.S. He claimed to be her brother, but no fingerprinting or DNA testing was done to verify his claim, according to a senior Justice Department official who could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke on condition of anonymity.\n\nThe man pleaded guilty to sexual battery of the child in Ohio state court in 2024 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, the official said. The man now faces federal charges including inducing illegal entry for financial gain and aggravated identity theft. Attorneys for the man declined to comment.\n\nAs part of the review, the Trump administration is working to identify the location of every child who has been placed with a sponsor, according to the Justice Department official. Investigators are going through suspicious sponsorship applications, like so-called \"super sponsors,\" who have claimed to have family relationships with, in some cases, more than a dozen unaccompanied children, the official said.\n\nVideos and reports of armed law enforcement officers showing up to conduct wellness checks at the doorsteps of unaccompanied minors and their sponsors have surfaced from across the country.\n\nIn an emailed statement, the FBI said that it is conducting \"nationwide\" welfare checks because \"protecting children is a critical mission,\" adding that it would continue to work with its \"federal, state and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.\"\n\nBut advocates have raised doubts that children will open up about abuse or other concerns about their sponsors to armed law enforcement officers from federal agencies who are simultaneously executing mass deportation campaigns.\n\n## The search for kids has resulted in deportation of some adults\n\nIn Hawaii, homeland security agents have been scouring Kona for unaccompanied minors and their sponsors, with two families deported as a result and another child put back into federal custody, according to a news report from Honolulu Civil Beat. Last month, a northern Virginia attorney posted video of five federal agents visiting the home of his client, who is awaiting a green card, for a welfare check. And in Omaha, a 10-year-old who came to the U.S. unaccompanied about three years ago and was placed with his uncle was visited by armed agents in \"black, tactical gear\" two weeks ago, according to his attorney. He was asked a series of questions, including the status of his case and the whereabouts of his sponsor, according to his attorney Julia Cryne.\n\n\"They're using this as a way to go after the kids,\" Cryne said. Her client, she added, has recently had his application for a green card approved.\n\n## New rules make it more difficult for sponsors\n\nThe Trump administration has dramatically altered the way the sponsorship program works. It's cut funding for the attorneys who represented the most vulnerable migrant children, leaving even toddlers or preschool aged-children with no federally-funded representation.\n\nThe administration has also rolled out a number of new rules for adults who want to sponsor a migrant child, according to guidance obtained by the Associated Press. In recent weeks, the office began requiring sponsors to submit fingerprinting, DNA testing and income verification to strengthen its screening procedures.\n\nThat could be a hurdle for many sponsors who may not have an income or might be undocumented, Flowers said. Children cannot leave federal custody until they are released to a sponsor.\n\n\"They have put in a trifecta of policies that essentially make it impossible for them to leave federal detention,\" Flowers said.\n\n—\n\nBeatrice Dupuy in New York contributed.\n\n__\n\nThis story was first published May 2, 2025. It was updated May 5, 2025,, to correct the name of Honolulu Civil Beat, not the Honolulu Civil Report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# How the Trump administration plans to keep tabs on 450,000 migrant kids\n\nBy Amanda Seitz and Alanna Durkin Richer \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:24 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is conducting a nationwide, multi-agency review of 450,000 migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents during President Joe Biden's term.\n\nTrump officials say they want to track down those children and ensure their safety. Many of the children came to the U.S. during surges at the border in recent years and were later placed in homes with adult sponsors, typically parents, relatives or family friends.\n\nMigrant advocates are dubious of the Republican administration's tactics, which include dispatching Homeland Security and FBI agents to visit the children. Trump's zero-tolerance approach to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, which has resulted in small children being flown out of the country, has raised deep suspicion his administration may use the review to deport any sponsors or children who are not living in the country legally.\n\nTrump officials say the adult sponsors who took in migrant children were not always properly vetted, leaving some at risk for exploitation. The Department of Justice has indicted a man on allegations he enticed a 14-year-old girl to travel from Guatemala to the U.S. and then falsely claimed she was his sister to gain custody as her sponsor.\n\n## Trump officials will do house checks and interviews\n\nTrump officials expect more problematic sponsors will surface as the administration conducts door knocks and interviews to check on cases in which complaints — about 65,000 of them since 2023 — have been filed. This year, about 450 cases with complaints have been referred to federal law enforcement officials, according to a senior Health and Human Services official who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the review and spoke on the condition of anonymity.\n\n\"We're combing through every report, every detail — because protecting children isn't optional,\" HHS said in a social media post on X. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to reference the review during a Cabinet meeting with Trump on Wednesday, saying his agency was trying to \"find the children.\"\n\nFor at least a decade, the federal government has allowed adults to apply to house migrant children who crossed the border without a parent or legal guardian. The program, however, was plagued with problems during the Democratic Biden administration years as officials struggled to process an influx of thousands of children. Federal officials failed to conduct background or address checks in some cases before placing children with sponsors. In other instances, sponsors provided plainly false identification, a federal watchdog report last year concluded.\n\nAfter that report was issued, the Biden administration said it had already worked to improve the issues through \"training, monitoring, technology and evaluation.\"\n\n## Thousands of kids were placed with legitimate sponsors\n\nBut thousands of children were also placed with legitimate families, some of whom now fear they'll be swept up in the Trump administration's review and targeted for deportation, said Mary Miller Flowers, the policy director of the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights.\n\nThe center is assigned to work with some of the most vulnerable children who cross the border. Flowers said that many children have been placed with their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles.\n\nIn some cases, children may arrive at the border separately from their parents who already live in the U.S. and reunite with them through the program.\n\n\"Now you have a situation where the government is checking on the wellness of children and encountering their undocumented parents and deporting their parents,\" Flowers said. \"I don't know what about that is good for children.\"\n\n## Government has taken custody of 100 kids\n\nSo far, about 100 kids in the past two months have been removed from their sponsors and put back into custody of the federal government, typically in private shelters, according to the health department official.\n\nIn Cleveland, federal prosecutors allege that one man, who was living in the U.S. illegally, arranged for the 14-year-old girl to get a copy of his sister's birth certificate and then coordinated her journey from Guatemala to the U.S. He claimed to be her brother, but no fingerprinting or DNA testing was done to verify his claim, according to a senior Justice Department official who could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke on condition of anonymity.\n\nThe man pleaded guilty to sexual battery of the child in Ohio state court in 2024 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, the official said. The man now faces federal charges including inducing illegal entry for financial gain and aggravated identity theft. Attorneys for the man declined to comment.\n\nAs part of the review, the Trump administration is working to identify the location of every child who has been placed with a sponsor, according to the Justice Department official. Investigators are going through suspicious sponsorship applications, like so-called \"super sponsors,\" who have claimed to have family relationships with, in some cases, more than a dozen unaccompanied children, the official said.\n\nVideos and reports of armed law enforcement officers showing up to conduct wellness checks at the doorsteps of unaccompanied minors and their sponsors have surfaced from across the country.\n\nIn an emailed statement, the FBI said that it is conducting \"nationwide\" welfare checks because \"protecting children is a critical mission,\" adding that it would continue to work with its \"federal, state and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.\"\n\nBut advocates have raised doubts that children will open up about abuse or other concerns about their sponsors to armed law enforcement officers from federal agencies who are simultaneously executing mass deportation campaigns.\n\n## The search for kids has resulted in deportation of some adults\n\nIn Hawaii, homeland security agents have been scouring Kona for unaccompanied minors and their sponsors, with two families deported as a result and another child put back into federal custody, according to a news report from Honolulu Civil Beat. Last month, a northern Virginia attorney posted video of five federal agents visiting the home of his client, who is awaiting a green card, for a welfare check. And in Omaha, a 10-year-old who came to the U.S. unaccompanied about three years ago and was placed with his uncle was visited by armed agents in \"black, tactical gear\" two weeks ago, according to his attorney. He was asked a series of questions, including the status of his case and the whereabouts of his sponsor, according to his attorney Julia Cryne.\n\n\"They're using this as a way to go after the kids,\" Cryne said. Her client, she added, has recently had his application for a green card approved.\n\n## New rules make it more difficult for sponsors\n\nThe Trump administration has dramatically altered the way the sponsorship program works. It's cut funding for the attorneys who represented the most vulnerable migrant children, leaving even toddlers or preschool aged-children with no federally-funded representation.\n\nThe administration has also rolled out a number of new rules for adults who want to sponsor a migrant child, according to guidance obtained by the Associated Press. In recent weeks, the office began requiring sponsors to submit fingerprinting, DNA testing and income verification to strengthen its screening procedures.\n\nThat could be a hurdle for many sponsors who may not have an income or might be undocumented, Flowers said. Children cannot leave federal custody until they are released to a sponsor.\n\n\"They have put in a trifecta of policies that essentially make it impossible for them to leave federal detention,\" Flowers said." } ]
5bfb881263262001ccabbecbcd429e69acc2ac4094c4075769feff473f4e069a	true	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 6 people are charged in a Texas elections investigation involving 'vote harvesting'\n\nBy Nadia Lathan and Juan Lozano \nMay 7th, 2025 10:36 PM\n\n---\n\nAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Six people in a rural Texas county, including two City Council members and a school board trustee, have been indicted in a widening elections investigation led by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, bringing felony charges to a case that Latino rights activists have criticized as politically driven.\n\nThe top executive in Frio County, home to about 18,000 residents, a county elections worker and a local resident were also among those indicted on May 1, Paxton said Wednesday. The charges expand an investigation that included raids last year on the homes of Latino campaign volunteers near San Antonio, including an 87-year-old woman, although none of them have been indicted.\n\nMost of the six are charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people's absentee ballots. Several of the officials indicted in Frio County are accused of using Cash App to pay for vote harvesting services.\n\n\"The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable,\" Paxton said in a statement.\n\nThe League of United Latin American Citizens last year called for a federal investigation into Texas authorities after its members' homes were raided. No charges have been filed against any targets of those searches, according to spokesperson David Cruz, and the organization said it had not made decisions on whether to represent those who were indicted.\n\nGabriel Rosales, the Texas director for LULAC, called the charges unsubstantiated.\n\n\"This is voter suppression 101,\" he said. \"There's no vote harvesting going on. There's nobody creating these ballots. That's a lie.\"\n\nThe vote harvesting charges are third-degree felonies and carry up to 10 years in prison. Those accused are Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, the county's top official; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza; Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez; and Frio County resident Rosa Rodriguez.\n\nAnother official, former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura, is charged with tampering with evidence.\n\n\"The only word I have right now is that it's ridiculous,\" Segura said. He added that his lawyer advised him not to speak further.\n\nCamacho, Trevino, Garza and Ramirez did not immediately respond to phone calls or an email requesting comment. A number could not be found for Rodriguez.\n\nThe indictments were the latest development in an investigation that Paxton started after the 2020 election to root out voter fraud, which is rare and typically occurs in isolated instances. Texas has tightened its voter laws in recent years and increased penalties that Democrats and opponents say are attempts to suppress turnout among Black and Latino voters.\n\nInvestigators with the Texas Attorney General's Office were first told of allegations of vote harvesting by Mary Moore, who was Camacho's opponent in the March 2022 Democratic primary for county judge, according to search warrant affidavits.\n\nMoore accused Camacho of hiring a woman who had been collecting mail ballots for candidates in Frio County for nearly three decades. Moore alleged that the woman charged candidates anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 to collect mail ballots, applications for ballot by mail and to even drive people to vote curbside, according to the affidavit.\n\nInvestigators allege that the vote harvesting scheme targeted elderly people at a Pearsall subdivision. Camacho and Ramirez, who were identified in court documents as sisters, allegedly took part in an effort in October 2022 to gather mail-in ballots from residents there, according to the affidavit.\n\nInvestigators allege the woman who was Camacho's main vote harvester hid ballots underneath her shirt and used different vehicles \"to throw off investigators.\"\n\nSegura would provide the woman with information on when ballots were mailed and delivered, investigators allege.\n\nA federal appeals court last year upheld the state's law that tightened voter restrictions and increased penalties for vote harvesting.\n\n___\n\nLozano contributed from Houston. Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 6 people are charged in a Texas elections investigation involving 'vote harvesting'\n\nBy Nadia Lathan and Juan Lozano \nMay 7th, 2025 10:36 PM\n\n---\n\nAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Six people in a rural Texas county, including two City Council members and a school board trustee, have been indicted in a widening elections investigation led by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, bringing felony charges to a case that Latino rights activists have criticized as politically driven.\n\nThe top executive in Frio County, home to about 18,000 residents, a county elections worker and a local resident were also among those indicted on May 1, Paxton said Wednesday. The charges expand an investigation that included raids last year on the homes of Latino campaign volunteers near San Antonio, including an 87-year-old woman, although none of them have been indicted.\n\nMost of the six are charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people's absentee ballots. Several of the officials indicted in Frio County are accused of using Cash App to pay for vote harvesting services.\n\n\"The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable,\" Paxton said in a statement.\n\nThe League of United Latin American Citizens last year called for a federal investigation into Texas authorities after its members' homes were raided. No charges have been filed against any targets of those searches, according to spokesperson David Cruz, and the organization said it had not made decisions on whether to represent those who were indicted.\n\nGabriel Rosales, the Texas director for LULAC, called the charges unsubstantiated.\n\n\"This is voter suppression 101,\" he said. \"There's no vote harvesting going on. There's nobody creating these ballots. That's a lie.\"\n\nThe vote harvesting charges are third-degree felonies and carry up to 10 years in prison. Those accused are Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, the county's top official; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza; Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez; and Frio County resident Rosa Rodriguez.\n\nAnother official, former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura, is charged with tampering with evidence.\n\n\"The only word I have right now is that it's ridiculous,\" Segura said. He added that his lawyer advised him not to speak further.\n\nCamacho, Trevino, Garza and Ramirez did not immediately respond to phone calls or an email requesting comment. A number could not be found for Rodriguez.\n\nThe indictments were the latest development in an investigation that Paxton started after the 2020 election to root out voter fraud, which is rare and typically occurs in isolated instances. Texas has tightened its voter laws in recent years and increased penalties that Democrats and opponents say are attempts to suppress turnout among Black and Latino voters.\n\nInvestigators with the Texas Attorney General's Office were first told of allegations of vote harvesting by Mary Moore, who was Camacho's opponent in the March 2022 Democratic primary for county judge, according to search warrant affidavits.\n\nMoore accused Camacho of hiring a woman who had been collecting mail ballots for candidates in Frio County for nearly three decades. Moore alleged that the woman charged candidates anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 to collect mail ballots, applications for ballot by mail and to even drive people to vote curbside, according to the affidavit.\n\nInvestigators allege that the vote harvesting scheme targeted elderly people at a Pearsall subdivision. Camacho and Ramirez, who were identified in court documents as sisters, allegedly took part in an effort in October 2022 to gather mail-in ballots from residents there, according to the affidavit.\n\nInvestigators allege the woman who was Camacho's main vote harvester hid ballots underneath her shirt and used different vehicles \"to throw off investigators.\"\n\nSegura would provide the woman with information on when ballots were mailed and delivered, investigators allege.\n\nA federal appeals court last year upheld the state's law that tightened voter restrictions and increased penalties for vote harvesting." } ]
6924ba3a21309efbbb032c212522bbcd6b7117acacb774849ff4e1b649e6be93	false	[ { "from": "human", "value": "# 100-year-old veteran kicks off V-E Day events as Britain thanks those who saved it during WWII\n\nBy Danica Kirka \nMay 5th, 2025 12:07 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — A 100-year-old Royal Air Force veteran accepted the thanks of a nation Monday as Britain paused to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and honor the men and women who fought to save the country during World War II.\n\nThe day featured a procession by 1,300 members of the British armed forces, accompanied by troops from Ukraine and the U.K.'s NATO allies. The parade didn't begin until Alan Kennett, who landed in northern France on D-Day, accepted the salute from Garrison Sgt. Major Andrew Stokes in front of an audience that included King Charles III.\n\n\"Thank you and your generation for securing our freedom 80 years ago,\" Stokes, in scarlet tunic and bearskin hat, said before saluting the RAF veteran, wearing a navy blue blazer with his medals pinned on the left breast.\n\nThis year's V-E Day events have taken on increased significance because they are likely to be the last major observance to include significant numbers of World War II veterans.\n\nAfter Big Ben tolled at noon, actor Timothy Spall recited the victory speech wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered to a roaring crowd in central London on May 8, 1945. Britain started its V-E Day ceremonies three days early because Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.\n\n\"I think we've been very lucky that we've had 80 years of peace … and we've got to think about all those that have (made) the ultimate sacrifice, and there's very few of them left now because they're all over 100,″ said Michael Burn, 67, who wore a suit patterned after Britain's red, white and blue Union flag. \"This is the last time we will celebrate the day in this sort of scale.\"\n\nThen it was time for the parade from the Houses of Parliament, through Trafalgar Square and down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. The Ukrainian contingent, though small, won a huge round of applause as their flag swept past the royal viewing platform.\n\nThe event ended with a flyover by British military aircraft, including a wartime Lancaster bomber and the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatic team.\n\nIn the down moments, the Princess of Wales chatted amiably with Bernard Morgan, 101, a veteran who worked as a code breaker during the conflict. Afterward, she introduced Morgan to her children, George, 11, Charlotte, 10 and Louis, 7.\n\nTheir place in the front row was a reminder of the gulf between those who fought in World War II and the present generation. With even the youngest of those men and women nearing their 100th birthdays and their ranks dwindling rapidly, many have said they feel a special imperative to tell their stories and attend events that honor their fallen comrades.\n\nKennett, a mechanic who landed in Normandy to set up an airfield, said he was proud to represent the veterans.\n\n\"I just remember those that didn't come back,\" he said. \"That's the thing that sticks in my mind. I'm lucky. I got out. There's a lot that didn't, believe me. Luck of the draw. It shouldn't be forgotten.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "# 100-year-old veteran kicks off V-E Day events as Britain thanks those who saved it during WWII\n\nBy Danica Kirka \nMay 5th, 2025 12:07 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — A 100-year-old Royal Air Force veteran accepted the thanks of a nation Monday as Britain paused to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and honor the men and women who fought to save the country during World War II.\n\nThe day featured a procession by 1,300 members of the British armed forces, accompanied by troops from Ukraine and the U.K.'s NATO allies. The parade didn't begin until Alan Kennett, who landed in northern France on D-Day, accepted the salute from Garrison Sgt. Major Andrew Stokes in front of an audience that included King Charles III.\n\n\"Thank you and your generation for securing our freedom 80 years ago,\" Stokes, in scarlet tunic and bearskin hat, said before saluting the RAF veteran, wearing a navy blue blazer with his medals pinned on the left breast.\n\nThis year's V-E Day events have taken on increased significance because they are likely to be the last major observance to include significant numbers of World War II veterans.\n\nAfter Big Ben tolled at noon, actor Timothy Spall recited the victory speech wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered to a roaring crowd in central London on May 8, 1945. Britain started its V-E Day ceremonies three days early because Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.\n\n\"I think we've been very lucky that we've had 80 years of peace … and we've got to think about all those that have (made) the ultimate sacrifice, and there's very few of them left now because they're all over 100,″ said Michael Burn, 67, who wore a suit patterned after Britain's red, white and blue Union flag. \"This is the last time we will celebrate the day in this sort of scale.\"\n\nThen it was time for the parade from the Houses of Parliament, through Trafalgar Square and down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. The Ukrainian contingent, though small, won a huge round of applause as their flag swept past the royal viewing platform.\n\nThe event ended with a flyover by British military aircraft, including a wartime Lancaster bomber and the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatic team.\n\nIn the down moments, the Princess of Wales chatted amiably with Bernard Morgan, 101, a veteran who worked as a code breaker during the conflict. Afterward, she introduced Morgan to her children, George, 11, Charlotte, 10 and Louis, 7.\n\nTheir place in the front row was a reminder of the gulf between those who fought in World War II and the present generation. With even the youngest of those men and women nearing their 100th birthdays and their ranks dwindling rapidly, many have said they feel a special imperative to tell their stories and attend events that honor their fallen comrades.\n\nKennett, a mechanic who landed in Normandy to set up an airfield, said he was proud to represent the veterans.\n\n\"I just remember those that didn't come back,\" he said. \"That's the thing that sticks in my mind. I'm lucky. I got out. There's a lot that didn't, believe me. Luck of the draw. It shouldn't be forgotten.\"" } ]

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