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"value": "# Man United coach Ruben Amorim is embarrassed and has raised doubts about his future\n\nBy James Robson \nMay 11th, 2025 07:34 PM\n\n---\n\nMANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ruben Amorim said he was \"embarrassed\" after Manchester United lost yet again in the Premier League on Sunday.\n\nUnited fell to a club record-extending 17th loss in the modern era after a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham and is languishing at 16th in the 20-team division.\n\nAmorim has already stated this could be the worst team in the club's history.\n\nThe United head coach went further on Sunday, saying he felt \"embarrassed\" and it was \"hard to accept\" the team's woeful domestic campaign.\n\n\"It's my fault, I'm responsible. If we cannot change that really fast, we should give our place to different people,\" he said, raising questions about his own future.\n\nUnited has suffered more defeats this season than in any campaign since the Premier League was launched in 1992. The joint-record 20-time English champion is also certain to record its worst-ever points total in that period, as well as its lowest finish.\n\n\"We need to be more aggressive and we need to feel that it is the end of the world when we are not winning a game,\" said Amorim, who was hired to replace former manager Erik ten Hag last November. \"We are not scared of losing a game as Manchester United. We don't have that fear anymore and that is the most dangerous thing that a big club can have. I think it's a concern.\"\n\nDespite a historically bad league campaign, United can still salvage the season by winning the Europa League later this month, which would also secure qualification to the Champions League.\n\nBut Amorim believes the upcoming final against Tottenham may have played a part in the latest loss at Old Trafford.\n\n\"Everybody is focused on the final. The final is not the biggest thing in our football club,\" he said. \"We need to change a lot of things. If we don't change the way we play and perform and feel this urgency of winning every game, we should not play in the Champions League.\"\n\nAmorim was hired after winning two Portuguese league titles with Sporting Lisbon. But he has not been able to turn United's fortunes around.\n\nTen Hag was fired despite winning a trophy in each of his first two years at Old Trafford — the English League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. He also oversaw United's worst season in 34 years last term — setting a new high for league losses with 14 defeats and a lowest finish of eighth.\n\nUnited's previous worst points total in the Premier League was 58 in the 2021-22 season.\n\nWith two rounds to go, the most it could amass this year is 45.\n\n___\n\nJames Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer"
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"value": "# Man United coach Ruben Amorim is embarrassed and has raised doubts about his future\n\nBy James Robson \nMay 11th, 2025 07:34 PM\n\n---\n\nMANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ruben Amorim said he was \"embarrassed\" after Manchester United lost yet again in the Premier League on Sunday.\n\nUnited fell to a club record-extending 17th loss in the modern era after a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham and is languishing at 16th in the 20-team division.\n\nAmorim has already stated this could be the worst team in the club's history.\n\nThe United head coach went further on Sunday, saying he felt \"embarrassed\" and it was \"hard to accept\" the team's woeful domestic campaign.\n\n\"It's my fault, I'm responsible. If we cannot change that really fast, we should give our place to different people,\" he said, raising questions about his own future.\n\nUnited has suffered more defeats this season than in any campaign since the Premier League was launched in 1992. The joint-record 20-time English champion is also certain to record its worst-ever points total in that period, as well as its lowest finish.\n\n\"We need to be more aggressive and we need to feel that it is the end of the world when we are not winning a game,\" said Amorim, who was hired to replace former manager Erik ten Hag last November. \"We are not scared of losing a game as Manchester United. We don't have that fear anymore and that is the most dangerous thing that a big club can have. I think it's a concern.\"\n\nDespite a historically bad league campaign, United can still salvage the season by winning the Europa League later this month, which would also secure qualification to the Champions League.\n\nBut Amorim believes the upcoming final against Tottenham may have played a part in the latest loss at Old Trafford.\n\n\"Everybody is focused on the final. The final is not the biggest thing in our football club,\" he said. \"We need to change a lot of things. If we don't change the way we play and perform and feel this urgency of winning every game, we should not play in the Champions League.\"\n\nAmorim was hired after winning two Portuguese league titles with Sporting Lisbon. But he has not been able to turn United's fortunes around.\n\nTen Hag was fired despite winning a trophy in each of his first two years at Old Trafford — the English League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. He also oversaw United's worst season in 34 years last term — setting a new high for league losses with 14 defeats and a lowest finish of eighth.\n\nUnited's previous worst points total in the Premier League was 58 in the 2021-22 season.\n\nWith two rounds to go, the most it could amass this year is 45."
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"value": "# Sen. Cornyn of Texas says federal probe started into Muslim-centered community near Dallas\n\nBy Jim Vertuno \nMay 9th, 2025 09:45 PM\n\n---\n\nAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state's largest mosques near Dallas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Friday.\n\nCornyn requested the federal probe of the development last month, citing concerns it could discriminate against Christians and Jews. He announced in a post on X that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had notified him of the investigation.\n\nThe developers of the proposed planned community tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, which has not yet been built, have said they are being bullied because they are Muslim.\n\nThe Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment or to confirm Cornyn's announcement.\n\nA federal probe would further escalate pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which is already facing mounting criticism and multiple investigations from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP state officials who claim the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law on residents.\n\nAmong its chief critics is the state's hard-right Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2026.\n\n\"Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no home in Texas,\" Cornyn, of Texas, wrote in his post on X. \"Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under (President Donald Trump's) administration, they will be.\"\n\nDan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who defended Paxton in his 2023 impeachment trial when he was acquitted by the state Senate, said the developers have \"done nothing illegal and we will cooperate fully with all investigations-regardless of how misguided and unnecessary they are.\"\n\nThe state investigations include whether the development is violating financial and fair housing laws and whether the mosque has conducted illegal funerals.\n\nCogdell has said none of the investigations would be happening if the community was planned around a church or temple.\n\nThe attacks on the project about Islamic law and other claims \"are not only completely without merit and totally misleading but they are dangerous as well,\" Cogdell said Friday. \"These folks are US Citizens, law abiding and Texans.\"\n\nThe Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas area also has criticized the state probes as bullying the Muslim community and a violation of constitutionally protected religious expression.\n\nPlans for the mixed-used development include more than 1,000 homes and apartments, a faith-based school for kindergarten through 12th grade, a community college, assisted living for older residents and athletics fields.\n\nEPIC City would be near the community of Josephine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Dallas."
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"value": "# Sen. Cornyn of Texas says federal probe started into Muslim-centered community near Dallas\n\nBy Jim Vertuno \nMay 9th, 2025 09:45 PM\n\n---\n\nAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state's largest mosques near Dallas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Friday.\n\nCornyn requested the federal probe of the development last month, citing concerns it could discriminate against Christians and Jews. He announced in a post on X that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had notified him of the investigation.\n\nThe developers of the proposed planned community tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, which has not yet been built, have said they are being bullied because they are Muslim.\n\nThe Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment or to confirm Cornyn's announcement.\n\nA federal probe would further escalate pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which is already facing mounting criticism and multiple investigations from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP state officials who claim the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law on residents.\n\nAmong its chief critics is the state's hard-right Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2026.\n\n\"Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no home in Texas,\" Cornyn, of Texas, wrote in his post on X. \"Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under (President Donald Trump's) administration, they will be.\"\n\nDan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who defended Paxton in his 2023 impeachment trial when he was acquitted by the state Senate, said the developers have \"done nothing illegal and we will cooperate fully with all investigations-regardless of how misguided and unnecessary they are.\"\n\nThe state investigations include whether the development is violating financial and fair housing laws and whether the mosque has conducted illegal funerals.\n\nCogdell has said none of the investigations would be happening if the community was planned around a church or temple.\n\nThe attacks on the project about Islamic law and other claims \"are not only completely without merit and totally misleading but they are dangerous as well,\" Cogdell said Friday. \"These folks are US Citizens, law abiding and Texans.\"\n\nThe Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas area also has criticized the state probes as bullying the Muslim community and a violation of constitutionally protected religious expression.\n\nPlans for the mixed-used development include more than 1,000 homes and apartments, a faith-based school for kindergarten through 12th grade, a community college, assisted living for older residents and athletics fields.\n\nEPIC City would be near the community of Josephine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Dallas."
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"value": "# LA Rams announce plans to hold their June minicamp in Maui\n\nMay 7th, 2025 07:48 PM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are moving their minicamp to Maui.\n\nThe Rams announced their plan Wednesday to hold their mandatory minicamp on Hawaii's second-largest island on June 16-19. The camp will feature two days of on-field workouts at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, with one day open to the public.\n\nThe Rams will also host a football clinic for local youth teams, and Rams players and staff will join Habitat for Humanity to rebuild four homes in Lahaina, which was largely destroyed by wildfires in 2023.\n\nThe Rams have a lengthy history of partnerships with the state of Hawaii and its individual islands. They played a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys in Honolulu in August 2019 before the largest crowd in Aloha Stadium's history, and the team did extensive fundraising for Maui wildfire relief two years ago.\n\nThe Rams' international ambitions stretch all around the Pacific Rim. They will play the first regular-season game in Australia in 2026 at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the team also was the first to get NFL marketing rights to Japan last year.\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL"
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"value": "# LA Rams announce plans to hold their June minicamp in Maui\n\nMay 7th, 2025 07:48 PM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are moving their minicamp to Maui.\n\nThe Rams announced their plan Wednesday to hold their mandatory minicamp on Hawaii's second-largest island on June 16-19. The camp will feature two days of on-field workouts at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, with one day open to the public.\n\nThe Rams will also host a football clinic for local youth teams, and Rams players and staff will join Habitat for Humanity to rebuild four homes in Lahaina, which was largely destroyed by wildfires in 2023.\n\nThe Rams have a lengthy history of partnerships with the state of Hawaii and its individual islands. They played a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys in Honolulu in August 2019 before the largest crowd in Aloha Stadium's history, and the team did extensive fundraising for Maui wildfire relief two years ago.\n\nThe Rams' international ambitions stretch all around the Pacific Rim. They will play the first regular-season game in Australia in 2026 at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the team also was the first to get NFL marketing rights to Japan last year."
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"value": "# Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval to face Cory Bowman, JD Vance's half brother, this fall\n\nBy Julie Carr Smyth \nMay 6th, 2025 04:16 AM\n\n---\n\nCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval will face Cory Bowman, the half brother of Vice President JD Vance, this fall after the pair were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday's primary.\n\nPureval placed a dominant first in the nonpartisan three-way contest, in which third-place finisher Republican Brian Frank was eliminated. Under the rules of the southwest Ohio city's nonpartisan primaries, only the top two primary finishers advance to the November general election.\n\nWith nearly all votes counted, Pureval led Bowman by about 70 percentage points Tuesday night, highlighting the uphill fight that Bowman will face in November.\n\nIf Bowman pulls an upset in this predominantly Democratic city, he would be the latest family member of a president or vice president to serve in office. That includes the brother of Mike Pence, President Donald Trump's first vice president, elected to Congress during their previous administration.\n\nIn a statement, Pureval said the city deserves a \"substantive and healthy debate of ideas about the future of our city\" headed into the fall.\n\n\"There is work ahead of us in Cincinnati, but I am incredibly proud of what we've accomplished over the past few years,\" he said. \"We have made meaningful, tangible progress for folks across our community, and this is a moment to keep building on the momentum we've worked so hard to create.\"\n\nBowman did not have an immediate comment. He has said he wants to improve his city, not get involved in national politics.\n\nPureval, 42, is viewed as a Democratic up-and-comer. A former special assistant U.S. attorney, congressional candidate and Hamilton County clerk of courts. He won the 2021 mayor's race with nearly 66% of the vote to lead Ohio's third-largest city.\n\nBowman, 36, co-founded an evangelical church on the city's West End and owns a coffee shop. He has never held public office but says his half brother's inauguration inspired him to enter politics.\n\nVance didn't take an active role in the campaign, but he posted a message of support for Bowman on Tuesday.\n\n\"He's a good guy with a heart for serving his community,\" the vice president wrote on X. \"Get out there and vote for him!\" Bowman thanked Vance in reply: \"Love you brother!\""
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"value": "# Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval to face Cory Bowman, JD Vance's half brother, this fall\n\nBy Julie Carr Smyth \nMay 6th, 2025 04:16 AM\n\n---\n\nCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval will face Cory Bowman, the half brother of Vice President JD Vance, this fall after the pair were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday's primary.\n\nPureval placed a dominant first in the nonpartisan three-way contest, in which third-place finisher Republican Brian Frank was eliminated. Under the rules of the southwest Ohio city's nonpartisan primaries, only the top two primary finishers advance to the November general election.\n\nWith nearly all votes counted, Pureval led Bowman by about 70 percentage points Tuesday night, highlighting the uphill fight that Bowman will face in November.\n\nIf Bowman pulls an upset in this predominantly Democratic city, he would be the latest family member of a president or vice president to serve in office. That includes the brother of Mike Pence, President Donald Trump's first vice president, elected to Congress during their previous administration.\n\nIn a statement, Pureval said the city deserves a \"substantive and healthy debate of ideas about the future of our city\" headed into the fall.\n\n\"There is work ahead of us in Cincinnati, but I am incredibly proud of what we've accomplished over the past few years,\" he said. \"We have made meaningful, tangible progress for folks across our community, and this is a moment to keep building on the momentum we've worked so hard to create.\"\n\nBowman did not have an immediate comment. He has said he wants to improve his city, not get involved in national politics.\n\nPureval, 42, is viewed as a Democratic up-and-comer. A former special assistant U.S. attorney, congressional candidate and Hamilton County clerk of courts. He won the 2021 mayor's race with nearly 66% of the vote to lead Ohio's third-largest city.\n\nBowman, 36, co-founded an evangelical church on the city's West End and owns a coffee shop. He has never held public office but says his half brother's inauguration inspired him to enter politics.\n\nVance didn't take an active role in the campaign, but he posted a message of support for Bowman on Tuesday.\n\n\"He's a good guy with a heart for serving his community,\" the vice president wrote on X. \"Get out there and vote for him!\" Bowman thanked Vance in reply: \"Love you brother!\""
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"value": "# Carson Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup pole and becomes youngest polesitter ever at Texas\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 06:09 PM\n\n---\n\nFORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Carson Hocevar earned his first NASCAR Cup pole with a qualifying lap of 191.659 mph at Texas on Saturday.\n\nThe 22-year-old Hocevar is the youngest pole winner ever at Texas Motor Speedway, which will host its 45th Cup race on Sunday. The Spire Motorsports driver, making his 56th career Cup, is on the front row with Cup points leader William Byron, also in a Chevrolet.\n\nHendrick Motorsports driver Byron turned a qualifying lap of 191.564 mph, just ahead of the 191.523 by Austin Cindric, the Team Penske driver who won in his Ford at Talladega last week.\n\nByron's teammate, Kyle Larson, qualified fourth. Michael McDowell, who drives for Spire with Hocevar, will start fifth.\n\nChase Elliott, last year's winner at Texas, qualified 29th.\n\n___\n\nAP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing"
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"value": "# Carson Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup pole and becomes youngest polesitter ever at Texas\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 06:09 PM\n\n---\n\nFORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Carson Hocevar earned his first NASCAR Cup pole with a qualifying lap of 191.659 mph at Texas on Saturday.\n\nThe 22-year-old Hocevar is the youngest pole winner ever at Texas Motor Speedway, which will host its 45th Cup race on Sunday. The Spire Motorsports driver, making his 56th career Cup, is on the front row with Cup points leader William Byron, also in a Chevrolet.\n\nHendrick Motorsports driver Byron turned a qualifying lap of 191.564 mph, just ahead of the 191.523 by Austin Cindric, the Team Penske driver who won in his Ford at Talladega last week.\n\nByron's teammate, Kyle Larson, qualified fourth. Michael McDowell, who drives for Spire with Hocevar, will start fifth.\n\nChase Elliott, last year's winner at Texas, qualified 29th."
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"value": "# Australian PM Albanese to visit Indonesia in first overseas trip since re-election\n\nBy Rod Mcguirk \nMay 7th, 2025 12:52 PM\n\n---\n\nMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's newly re-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday he would visit Indonesia next a week to underscore a key bilateral relationship.\n\nAlbanese said he would meet with President Prabowo Subianto on May 14, a day after his new government is sworn in.\n\n\"That is … a signal to our region of the importance that we place on this region. We will in the fastest growing region of the world in human history,\" Albanese said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.\n\nAlbanese described Subianto as a \"good friend of mine on a personal level as well as our countries being close.\"\n\n\"We have no more important relationship than Indonesia. We have an important economic relationship with them. They will grow to be the fourth largest economy in the world. We have an important defense and security relationship with them as well,\" Albanese said.\n\nAlbanese's center-left Labor Party won a second three-year term in an emphatic election victory on Saturday.\n\nNewly-elected Australian prime ministers typically make their first bilateral visit to Asia, usually Indonesia. But Albanese's election rival Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative opposition, had proposed breaking from tradition by making his first overseas trip as prime minister to the United States to strike a better tariff deal with President Donald Trump.\n\nAustralia was hit during the election campaign with a global-minimum 10% tariff on exports to the U.S. despite trading with its bilateral free trade partner at a deficit for decades.\n\nMedia reports last month that Russia had told Jakarta it wanted to base long-range warplanes in Papua, the most eastern Indonesian province, were also raised as a security issue during the election campaign. Indonesia has told Australia that no such Russian base would be allowed.\n\nCementing Australia's bilateral relationship with Indonesia is critical, according to Natalie Sambhi, a policy expert with the Sydney-based Asia Society Australia educational institute.\n\n\"Indonesia is our closest strategic partner in the region. Visiting again is just sending that message home that Indonesia really matters to Australia and that we have to work together given our proximity as emerging middle-powers in the region,\" Sambhi said.\n\nAlbanese will travel to Alberta, Canada, in June to attend a Group of 7 summit and is expected to meet Trump during a U.S. bilateral state visit while in North America."
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"value": "# Australian PM Albanese to visit Indonesia in first overseas trip since re-election\n\nBy Rod Mcguirk \nMay 7th, 2025 12:52 PM\n\n---\n\nMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's newly re-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday he would visit Indonesia next a week to underscore a key bilateral relationship.\n\nAlbanese said he would meet with President Prabowo Subianto on May 14, a day after his new government is sworn in.\n\n\"That is … a signal to our region of the importance that we place on this region. We will in the fastest growing region of the world in human history,\" Albanese said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.\n\nAlbanese described Subianto as a \"good friend of mine on a personal level as well as our countries being close.\"\n\n\"We have no more important relationship than Indonesia. We have an important economic relationship with them. They will grow to be the fourth largest economy in the world. We have an important defense and security relationship with them as well,\" Albanese said.\n\nAlbanese's center-left Labor Party won a second three-year term in an emphatic election victory on Saturday.\n\nNewly-elected Australian prime ministers typically make their first bilateral visit to Asia, usually Indonesia. But Albanese's election rival Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative opposition, had proposed breaking from tradition by making his first overseas trip as prime minister to the United States to strike a better tariff deal with President Donald Trump.\n\nAustralia was hit during the election campaign with a global-minimum 10% tariff on exports to the U.S. despite trading with its bilateral free trade partner at a deficit for decades.\n\nMedia reports last month that Russia had told Jakarta it wanted to base long-range warplanes in Papua, the most eastern Indonesian province, were also raised as a security issue during the election campaign. Indonesia has told Australia that no such Russian base would be allowed.\n\nCementing Australia's bilateral relationship with Indonesia is critical, according to Natalie Sambhi, a policy expert with the Sydney-based Asia Society Australia educational institute.\n\n\"Indonesia is our closest strategic partner in the region. Visiting again is just sending that message home that Indonesia really matters to Australia and that we have to work together given our proximity as emerging middle-powers in the region,\" Sambhi said.\n\nAlbanese will travel to Alberta, Canada, in June to attend a Group of 7 summit and is expected to meet Trump during a U.S. bilateral state visit while in North America."
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"value": "# Premier League: New Newcastle beats Chelsea 2-0\n\nBy James Robson \nMay 11th, 2025 01:41 PM\n\n---\n\nArsenal and Newcastle set up a Premier League showdown next weekend as the race for the remaining Champions League spots intensified Sunday.\n\nAfter a weekend of upsets and comebacks in the Premier League, the six-way battle to qualify for European club soccer's top competition looks set to go down to the wire.\n\nWith the top five qualifying for the Champions League next season, just six points separate second-placed Arsenal and seventh-placed Nottingham Forest with two rounds to go. And only two points separate Arsenal and Newcastle in third ahead of their penultimate league game at the Emirates Stadium next Sunday.\n\nArsenal rallied from two goals down against champion Liverpool to draw 2-2 at Anfield on Sunday, and Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-0.\n\nManchester City is a point further back in fourth after being held 0-0 by last-placed Southampton on Saturday.\n\nForest's chances were hit by a 2-2 draw against relegated Leicester on Sunday that led to owner Evangelos Marinakis appearing to remonstrate with manager Nuno Espirito Santo on the field after the match.\n\nEuropa League finalists Manchester United and Tottenham maintained their woeful domestic form — both losing 2-0 at home.\n\nUnited was beaten by West Ham and Spurs lost to FA Cup finalist Crystal Palace.\n\n## Arsenal fightback\n\nDumped out of the Champions League semifinals by Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week, Arsenal's main focus now is ensuring a return.\n\nBut trailing 2-0 after just 21 minutes against Liverpool, it looked like another sobering day for Mikel Arteta's team, which was already on a run of just one win from its last five league games.\n\nNow it's one in six, but Arsenal successfully avoided defeat after a second-half fightback through goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino, who was later sent off.\n\nThe Gunners paid the price for a lackluster start as they conceded twice in quick succession, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz.\n\n\"What we did in the first half is nowhere near the level, so to do it after is too late. We reacted, great, but the standards in those 20 minutes were unacceptable,\" Arteta said.\n\n## Boos for Trent\n\nSix days after confirming that he'll leave Liverpool as a free agent, Trent Alexander-Arnold was given a hostile reception by some Liverpool fans when he was booed when coming on against Arsenal as a second-half substitute.\n\n\"I said to everyone that asked me that question (about the reception) that it is a privilege to live in Europe, where everybody can have his own opinion and everybody can express his own opinion,\" Liverpool manager Arne Slot said. \"A few of them were not happy with him. I think all of them are not happy with him leaving the club. But a few of them showed it in a way that they booed him. And a few of them clapped.\"\n\n## Battle for second\n\nTwo points will guarantee Champions League soccer for Arsenal next season, but a third straight runner-up spot could be in doubt if it fails to beat Newcastle, which will have second place in its sights after victory against 10-man Chelsea at St. James' Park.\n\nSandro Tonali fired the home team ahead from close range in the second minute and Nicolas Jackson was sent off for Chelsea in the 35th, following a VAR review, for a foul on Sven Botman.\n\nChelsea pushed for an equalizer after the break, but Bruno Guimaraes' dipping shot from distance in the 90th killed off the visitors' hopes of a comeback.\n\n\"We still have two games to go and lots of twists and turns that could be around the corner,\" Howe said. \"We have to drive forward, reflect on our next game and make sure we're ready for Arsenal because that is a very, very tough match.\"\n\n## Forest held by Leicester\n\nForest's rise from relegation fighter to Champions League contender has been one of the surprise stories of the season.\n\nBut it looks in danger of falling away in the final weeks of the season after being held at home by relegated Leicester.\n\nWhile a point meant Forest will be playing European soccer of some description next term — in the Europa League or Conference League if it misses out on the big one — owner Marinakis didn't look to be in the mood to celebrate after the final whistle at the City Ground.\n\nApproaching Espirito Santo on the field, the Greek businessman looked frustrated and appeared to remonstrate during a brief exchange before they went their separate ways.\n\n\"It is because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better,\" said Espirito Santo, who explained Marinakis had been frustrated because of a miscommunication between the bench and medical staff after an injury to striker Taiwo Awoniyi late on.\n\nForest had come back from a goal down to lead 2-1 against Midlands rival Leicester, but Facundo Buonanotte leveled the game in the 81st.\n\n## Europa flops\n\nAs well as the top five, England will be represented by a sixth team in the Champions League next season after United and Tottenham advanced to an all-English Europa League final, with the winner also qualifying.\n\nBut based on domestic form, neither team looks like they should be mixing it with Europe's elite.\n\nUnited's latest defeat was a club-record extending 17th loss in the Premier League to leave it languishing in 16th place.\n\n\"Everybody is focused on the final. The final is not the biggest thing in our football club,\" said United coach Ruben Amorim. \"We need to change a lot of things. If we don't change the way we play and perform and feel this urgency of winning every game, we should not play in the Champions League.\"\n\nIt's even worse for Tottenham - now down to 17th with a club record 20th loss in a Premier League campaign.\n\n___\n\nJames Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer"
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"value": "# Premier League: New Newcastle beats Chelsea 2-0\n\nBy James Robson \nMay 11th, 2025 01:41 PM\n\n---\n\nArsenal and Newcastle set up a Premier League showdown next weekend as the race for the remaining Champions League spots intensified Sunday.\n\nAfter a weekend of upsets and comebacks in the Premier League, the six-way battle to qualify for European club soccer's top competition looks set to go down to the wire.\n\nWith the top five qualifying for the Champions League next season, just six points separate second-placed Arsenal and seventh-placed Nottingham Forest with two rounds to go. And only two points separate Arsenal and Newcastle in third ahead of their penultimate league game at the Emirates Stadium next Sunday.\n\nArsenal rallied from two goals down against champion Liverpool to draw 2-2 at Anfield on Sunday, and Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-0.\n\nManchester City is a point further back in fourth after being held 0-0 by last-placed Southampton on Saturday.\n\nForest's chances were hit by a 2-2 draw against relegated Leicester on Sunday that led to owner Evangelos Marinakis appearing to remonstrate with manager Nuno Espirito Santo on the field after the match.\n\nEuropa League finalists Manchester United and Tottenham maintained their woeful domestic form — both losing 2-0 at home.\n\nUnited was beaten by West Ham and Spurs lost to FA Cup finalist Crystal Palace.\n\n## Arsenal fightback\n\nDumped out of the Champions League semifinals by Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week, Arsenal's main focus now is ensuring a return.\n\nBut trailing 2-0 after just 21 minutes against Liverpool, it looked like another sobering day for Mikel Arteta's team, which was already on a run of just one win from its last five league games.\n\nNow it's one in six, but Arsenal successfully avoided defeat after a second-half fightback through goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino, who was later sent off.\n\nThe Gunners paid the price for a lackluster start as they conceded twice in quick succession, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz.\n\n\"What we did in the first half is nowhere near the level, so to do it after is too late. We reacted, great, but the standards in those 20 minutes were unacceptable,\" Arteta said.\n\n## Boos for Trent\n\nSix days after confirming that he'll leave Liverpool as a free agent, Trent Alexander-Arnold was given a hostile reception by some Liverpool fans when he was booed when coming on against Arsenal as a second-half substitute.\n\n\"I said to everyone that asked me that question (about the reception) that it is a privilege to live in Europe, where everybody can have his own opinion and everybody can express his own opinion,\" Liverpool manager Arne Slot said. \"A few of them were not happy with him. I think all of them are not happy with him leaving the club. But a few of them showed it in a way that they booed him. And a few of them clapped.\"\n\n## Battle for second\n\nTwo points will guarantee Champions League soccer for Arsenal next season, but a third straight runner-up spot could be in doubt if it fails to beat Newcastle, which will have second place in its sights after victory against 10-man Chelsea at St. James' Park.\n\nSandro Tonali fired the home team ahead from close range in the second minute and Nicolas Jackson was sent off for Chelsea in the 35th, following a VAR review, for a foul on Sven Botman.\n\nChelsea pushed for an equalizer after the break, but Bruno Guimaraes' dipping shot from distance in the 90th killed off the visitors' hopes of a comeback.\n\n\"We still have two games to go and lots of twists and turns that could be around the corner,\" Howe said. \"We have to drive forward, reflect on our next game and make sure we're ready for Arsenal because that is a very, very tough match.\"\n\n## Forest held by Leicester\n\nForest's rise from relegation fighter to Champions League contender has been one of the surprise stories of the season.\n\nBut it looks in danger of falling away in the final weeks of the season after being held at home by relegated Leicester.\n\nWhile a point meant Forest will be playing European soccer of some description next term — in the Europa League or Conference League if it misses out on the big one — owner Marinakis didn't look to be in the mood to celebrate after the final whistle at the City Ground.\n\nApproaching Espirito Santo on the field, the Greek businessman looked frustrated and appeared to remonstrate during a brief exchange before they went their separate ways.\n\n\"It is because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better,\" said Espirito Santo, who explained Marinakis had been frustrated because of a miscommunication between the bench and medical staff after an injury to striker Taiwo Awoniyi late on.\n\nForest had come back from a goal down to lead 2-1 against Midlands rival Leicester, but Facundo Buonanotte leveled the game in the 81st.\n\n## Europa flops\n\nAs well as the top five, England will be represented by a sixth team in the Champions League next season after United and Tottenham advanced to an all-English Europa League final, with the winner also qualifying.\n\nBut based on domestic form, neither team looks like they should be mixing it with Europe's elite.\n\nUnited's latest defeat was a club-record extending 17th loss in the Premier League to leave it languishing in 16th place.\n\n\"Everybody is focused on the final. The final is not the biggest thing in our football club,\" said United coach Ruben Amorim. \"We need to change a lot of things. If we don't change the way we play and perform and feel this urgency of winning every game, we should not play in the Champions League.\"\n\nIt's even worse for Tottenham - now down to 17th with a club record 20th loss in a Premier League campaign."
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"value": "# South Korea remains confident about $18b nuclear deal put on hold by Czech court\n\nMay 7th, 2025 08:49 AM\n\n---\n\nSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Wednesday downplayed a Czech court's decision to put on hold an $18 billion project for South Korea to build two nuclear reactors in the country, describing it as a temporary setback and expressing confidence that the deal will eventually proceed.\n\nA South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had expected to finalize the deal this week with a subsidiary of CEZ, the Czech Republic's largest electricity supplier. However, a Czech court blocked CEZ from signing the contract while it reviews a complaint from French company EDF, which lost the bid to the South Koreans.\n\nSouth Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun told reporters in Prague that the court's decision would only delay the signing of the official contract, and that all other procedures would proceed on schedule, assuming that the deal goes through. He said that the Czech government clearly didn't anticipate the court's decision to pause the agreement, and that CEZ plans to appeal.\n\nIt is not clear when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court could rule on that appeal.\n\n\"The Czech government did not think of (EDF's claims) as a major problem and invited us for the scheduled\" signing ceremony, Ahn said. \"It seems that the Czech government's judgement did not align with the court's ruling.\"\n\nCzech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday his government respects the court's decision, before adding: \"I believe that the judges and the court realize how important this decision is and its impact on security of the Czech Republic and our national interests.\"\n\nLee Ju-Ho, South Korea's acting president, said that Seoul would communicate closely with the Czech side to ensure that the deal is finalized quickly.\n\nIn July, CEZ selected KHNP over EDF as the preferred bidder to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany plant. EDF filed a court complaint last week after the Czech Republic's competition regulator rejected its appeal over the bidding process.\n\nBefore he was ousted last month over an ill-fated martial law imposition in December, former conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had pledged to boost the country's nuclear power exports, arguing that they had suffered under the previous liberal government's push to reduce domestic reliance on nuclear energy. Yoon's government had set a goal of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030."
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"value": "# South Korea remains confident about $18b nuclear deal put on hold by Czech court\n\nMay 7th, 2025 08:49 AM\n\n---\n\nSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Wednesday downplayed a Czech court's decision to put on hold an $18 billion project for South Korea to build two nuclear reactors in the country, describing it as a temporary setback and expressing confidence that the deal will eventually proceed.\n\nA South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had expected to finalize the deal this week with a subsidiary of CEZ, the Czech Republic's largest electricity supplier. However, a Czech court blocked CEZ from signing the contract while it reviews a complaint from French company EDF, which lost the bid to the South Koreans.\n\nSouth Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun told reporters in Prague that the court's decision would only delay the signing of the official contract, and that all other procedures would proceed on schedule, assuming that the deal goes through. He said that the Czech government clearly didn't anticipate the court's decision to pause the agreement, and that CEZ plans to appeal.\n\nIt is not clear when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court could rule on that appeal.\n\n\"The Czech government did not think of (EDF's claims) as a major problem and invited us for the scheduled\" signing ceremony, Ahn said. \"It seems that the Czech government's judgement did not align with the court's ruling.\"\n\nCzech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday his government respects the court's decision, before adding: \"I believe that the judges and the court realize how important this decision is and its impact on security of the Czech Republic and our national interests.\"\n\nLee Ju-Ho, South Korea's acting president, said that Seoul would communicate closely with the Czech side to ensure that the deal is finalized quickly.\n\nIn July, CEZ selected KHNP over EDF as the preferred bidder to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany plant. EDF filed a court complaint last week after the Czech Republic's competition regulator rejected its appeal over the bidding process.\n\nBefore he was ousted last month over an ill-fated martial law imposition in December, former conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had pledged to boost the country's nuclear power exports, arguing that they had suffered under the previous liberal government's push to reduce domestic reliance on nuclear energy. Yoon's government had set a goal of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030."
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"value": "# Timberwolves don't take playoff success for granted after booking another trip to the 2nd round\n\nBy Greg Beacham \nMay 1st, 2025 10:01 AM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — Playoff success was a largely foreign concept to the Minnesota Timberwolves during their first 34 years of existence. The 2003-04 team led by Kevin Garnett won two postseason rounds, but those were the only two series victories in team history until last spring.\n\nAfter Minnesota knocked off LeBron James and Luka Doncic on Wednesday night to reach the second round in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history, it's safe to say this current pack of Wolves has a bit more playoff tenacity than the teams that came before them.\n\nNow back in the Western Conference semifinals, Minnesota is anticipating an even higher climb.\n\n\"Our guys fought,\" coach Chris Finch said after their 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. \"They fought through it. I'm happy that they are able to achieve something that no other team has been able to do in the history of the franchise, which is go back to the second round two years in a row. Now there's a lot bigger goals out there, but for the moment we'll be pretty happy about that.\"\n\nThe Timberwolves had an outstanding five-game series against the Lakers, demonstrating the team poise necessary to handle the inevitable adversity of a playoff run along with the cool implementation of tactics to slow down elite players — in this case, Doncic and James. After routing the Lakers in Game 1, Minnesota responded to a loss in Game 2 by hanging on for a pair of difficult fourth-quarter victories at home.\n\nThe clincher was a strange game, with the Lakers going fully to a small-ball lineup in an attempt to get scoring against the Wolves' aggressive team defense. That cleared the paint for center Rudy Gobert, who responded with playoff career highs of 27 points and 24 rebounds to keep Minnesota ahead even while his teammates missed 40 of their 47 3-point attempts.\n\n\"When (Gobert) does what he does tonight, you see how good we can be as a team,\" Julius Randle said.\n\nThe Wolves had to survive a nightmare shooting game from leading scorer Anthony Edwards, who missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts and finished 5 for 19 overall. They made up for it with team defense and balanced scoring, getting at least eight points from seven players in Finch's eight-man rotation.\n\nThe relative ugliness of the victory didn't bother the Wolves, who took satisfaction from answering every challenge presented by the star-studded Lakers. After last season's second-round series victory over defending champion Denver and their Western Conference finals loss to Doncic's Dallas Mavericks, the Wolves know they'll have to find previously unimagined ways to win in the postseason, and they're growing comfortable with it.\n\n\"I think what I'm super happy (about) with this team right now is we're not satisfied,\" Finch said. \"We've got a long way to go. We'll regroup, but we are certainly going to celebrate this because this team took a lot of (criticism) throughout the season. That was set against the backdrop of a really good run last year. But every team is different, every team has to come together, every team has to go through pain and every team has to figure it out. This team figured it out.\"\n\nMinnesota could even be the home team in the second round if Golden State takes advantage of its two additional chances to finish off second-seeded Houston after losing Game 5 on Wednesday night. Facing Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler in the postseason might be even more daunting than this showdown with Doncic and James, but the Wolves are ready to keep rolling.\n\n\"It's just a start, but I feel good about it as well,\" Randle said. \"Especially the way we won, and how we were doubted. It just shows we've got a lot of character in the locker room.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA"
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"value": "# Timberwolves don't take playoff success for granted after booking another trip to the 2nd round\n\nBy Greg Beacham \nMay 1st, 2025 10:01 AM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — Playoff success was a largely foreign concept to the Minnesota Timberwolves during their first 34 years of existence. The 2003-04 team led by Kevin Garnett won two postseason rounds, but those were the only two series victories in team history until last spring.\n\nAfter Minnesota knocked off LeBron James and Luka Doncic on Wednesday night to reach the second round in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history, it's safe to say this current pack of Wolves has a bit more playoff tenacity than the teams that came before them.\n\nNow back in the Western Conference semifinals, Minnesota is anticipating an even higher climb.\n\n\"Our guys fought,\" coach Chris Finch said after their 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. \"They fought through it. I'm happy that they are able to achieve something that no other team has been able to do in the history of the franchise, which is go back to the second round two years in a row. Now there's a lot bigger goals out there, but for the moment we'll be pretty happy about that.\"\n\nThe Timberwolves had an outstanding five-game series against the Lakers, demonstrating the team poise necessary to handle the inevitable adversity of a playoff run along with the cool implementation of tactics to slow down elite players — in this case, Doncic and James. After routing the Lakers in Game 1, Minnesota responded to a loss in Game 2 by hanging on for a pair of difficult fourth-quarter victories at home.\n\nThe clincher was a strange game, with the Lakers going fully to a small-ball lineup in an attempt to get scoring against the Wolves' aggressive team defense. That cleared the paint for center Rudy Gobert, who responded with playoff career highs of 27 points and 24 rebounds to keep Minnesota ahead even while his teammates missed 40 of their 47 3-point attempts.\n\n\"When (Gobert) does what he does tonight, you see how good we can be as a team,\" Julius Randle said.\n\nThe Wolves had to survive a nightmare shooting game from leading scorer Anthony Edwards, who missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts and finished 5 for 19 overall. They made up for it with team defense and balanced scoring, getting at least eight points from seven players in Finch's eight-man rotation.\n\nThe relative ugliness of the victory didn't bother the Wolves, who took satisfaction from answering every challenge presented by the star-studded Lakers. After last season's second-round series victory over defending champion Denver and their Western Conference finals loss to Doncic's Dallas Mavericks, the Wolves know they'll have to find previously unimagined ways to win in the postseason, and they're growing comfortable with it.\n\n\"I think what I'm super happy (about) with this team right now is we're not satisfied,\" Finch said. \"We've got a long way to go. We'll regroup, but we are certainly going to celebrate this because this team took a lot of (criticism) throughout the season. That was set against the backdrop of a really good run last year. But every team is different, every team has to come together, every team has to go through pain and every team has to figure it out. This team figured it out.\"\n\nMinnesota could even be the home team in the second round if Golden State takes advantage of its two additional chances to finish off second-seeded Houston after losing Game 5 on Wednesday night. Facing Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler in the postseason might be even more daunting than this showdown with Doncic and James, but the Wolves are ready to keep rolling.\n\n\"It's just a start, but I feel good about it as well,\" Randle said. \"Especially the way we won, and how we were doubted. It just shows we've got a lot of character in the locker room.\""
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"value": "# Sonny Gray stars as the Cardinals beat the sliding Pirates 5-0\n\nMay 7th, 2025 07:53 PM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.\n\nGray (4-1) struck out eight and walked one in his first win since April 14. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in his previous three starts.\n\nThe Cardinals returned to .500 at 19-19, including a 15-6 record at home. They are 4-2 against the Pirates this year after finishing a three-game sweep.\n\nMasyn Winn hit two RBI doubles. Lars Nootbaar had three hits, and Victor Scott II scored all the way from first twice.\n\nThe Pirates (12-26) were shut out for the eighth time. They have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11 overall.\n\nSt. Louis jumped in front with two runs in the third against Mitch Keller (1-4). Scott walked and scored on Nootbaar's hit-and-run single to right. Winn added a bloop RBI double.\n\nScott extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games when he hit a leadoff single in the fifth. He scored on Winn's one-out double.\n\nJordan Walker added a two-run single in the eighth.\n\nKeller allowed seven hits in six-plus innings. He struck out six and walked three.\n\nThe Pirates finished with four hits.\n\nNolan Arenado was scratched from the St. Louis lineup with back spasms.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Pirates put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth. But Kyle Leahy struck out Bryan Reynolds and retired Andrew McCutchen on a bouncer to second.\n\n## Key stat\n\nOneil Cruz, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Reynolds each struck out twice for Pittsburgh.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Pirates return home for three games against the Braves beginning on Friday. The Cardinals begin a nine-game trip at Washington on Friday night. RHP Erick Fedde (2-3, 4.78 ERA) starts the series opener against the Nationals.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Sonny Gray stars as the Cardinals beat the sliding Pirates 5-0\n\nMay 7th, 2025 07:53 PM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.\n\nGray (4-1) struck out eight and walked one in his first win since April 14. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in his previous three starts.\n\nThe Cardinals returned to .500 at 19-19, including a 15-6 record at home. They are 4-2 against the Pirates this year after finishing a three-game sweep.\n\nMasyn Winn hit two RBI doubles. Lars Nootbaar had three hits, and Victor Scott II scored all the way from first twice.\n\nThe Pirates (12-26) were shut out for the eighth time. They have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11 overall.\n\nSt. Louis jumped in front with two runs in the third against Mitch Keller (1-4). Scott walked and scored on Nootbaar's hit-and-run single to right. Winn added a bloop RBI double.\n\nScott extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games when he hit a leadoff single in the fifth. He scored on Winn's one-out double.\n\nJordan Walker added a two-run single in the eighth.\n\nKeller allowed seven hits in six-plus innings. He struck out six and walked three.\n\nThe Pirates finished with four hits.\n\nNolan Arenado was scratched from the St. Louis lineup with back spasms.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Pirates put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth. But Kyle Leahy struck out Bryan Reynolds and retired Andrew McCutchen on a bouncer to second.\n\n## Key stat\n\nOneil Cruz, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Reynolds each struck out twice for Pittsburgh.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Pirates return home for three games against the Braves beginning on Friday. The Cardinals begin a nine-game trip at Washington on Friday night. RHP Erick Fedde (2-3, 4.78 ERA) starts the series opener against the Nationals."
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"value": "# Pacers, Nuggets trying to hold court after swinging playoff series with road victories\n\nBy Michael Marot \nMay 8th, 2025 10:07 PM\n\n---\n\nINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Denver Nuggets accomplished one goal by stealing Game 1 of their second-round playoff series at Oklahoma City.\n\nThe Indiana Pacers were even more productive in Cleveland, sweeping both games.\n\nNow the two lower-seeded teams head home for their respective Game 3s on Friday with a new goal — taking advantage of those early road wins by keeping the upper hand in their series.\n\n\"The series isn't over, it's far from over,\" Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said Thursday. \"This is a team that earned the No. 1 seed for a reason. It's probably rare they lose two games in a row. I don't know the exact number, but it probably doesn't happen often. So we're going to see a desperate team, a team that's coming in here to win two games.\"\n\nActually, the Cavaliers lost three straight during a four-day stretch in late January and four straight during a seven-day stretch in mid-March. Otherwise, they've been dominant on the road where they earned the league's third-best mark at 30-11.\n\nThe Cavs may not even be in this hole if the league's \"Last 2-Minute Report\" is correct.\n\nIt said Aaron Nesmith's late dunk off a missed free throw and Haliburton's final rebound should have been jump balls because of lane violations by both teams in both cases. Haliburton's rebound led to his winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left.\n\nEven Donovan Mitchell's incredible game — 48 points, 17 made free throws and nine assists — wasn't enough to salvage a split. This time, though, Cleveland could be closer to full strength.\n\nNBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and key backup De'Andre Hunter could both return. They both missed Game 2, Mobley with a sprained left ankle and Hunter with a sprained right thumb. The bigger question is starting guard Darius Garland. He's missed four straight games with a sprained left big toe.\n\nAll three are listed as questionable.\n\n\"They all touched the ball. They all got some reps up, but we didn't do anything live,\" Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said after Thursday's practice. \"They kind of participated in the walkthrough and you know, hoping for the best.\"\n\nHaliburton said he intends to play despite with a heavily taped left wrist that he injured in Game 2. He's a perfect 9-0 when appearing in home playoff games.\n\nOne person who won't be at the game is Haliburton's father. This will be Indiana's first home game since John Haliburton confronted Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court moments after Haliburton's winning layup eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5.\n\nOklahoma City's Game 2 performance also shows it can rally in its series.\n\nThe Thunder endured just two two-game skids this season, making sure it didn't happen a third time with a 43-point victory Wednesday in Game 3. The Thunder also went 35-6 on the road, including an early regular-season split in Denver.\n\nWinning the 2023 NBA crown also has given the Nuggets some perspective on how to turn the page after such an embarrassing loss.\n\n\"They were being aggressive, they were hitting us,\" three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic said. \"We weren't disciplined, and everybody was kind of doing their own thing and we can't play like that. Every single person needs to step up and be better.\"\n\nAnd playing at home should help — both the Nuggets and the Pacers.\n\n\"Cleveland's building was so loud,\" Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. \"So we need our fans to bring every ounce of energy and noise and everything they have. Each game going forward is going to be a monumental challenge. Their support has meant a lot to us this year and it's important right now.\n\n## Thunder at Nuggets\n\nWhen/Where to Watch: Game 3, 10 p.m. EDT (ESPN)\n\nSeries: Series tied, 1-1.\n\nBetMGM says: Nuggets by 4.5.\n\nWhat to know: Oklahoma City became the first team to protect its home court in this round after road teams won each of the first five games, and they did it by setting franchise and league records with an 87-point first half. Nothing went right for the Nuggets. They shot 37.9% from the field, had 20 turnovers and never looked like the team that played Game 1. MVP finalist Shea Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 33.5 points to lead the Thunder despite sitting out the fourth quarter Wednesday. Jokic knows what must be done: Watch the tape, learn the lessons and move on to a pivotal game that could swing the series. The Thunder need to replicate their Game 2 performance while the Nuggets need to rediscover their Game 1 form.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA"
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"value": "# Pacers, Nuggets trying to hold court after swinging playoff series with road victories\n\nBy Michael Marot \nMay 8th, 2025 10:07 PM\n\n---\n\nINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Denver Nuggets accomplished one goal by stealing Game 1 of their second-round playoff series at Oklahoma City.\n\nThe Indiana Pacers were even more productive in Cleveland, sweeping both games.\n\nNow the two lower-seeded teams head home for their respective Game 3s on Friday with a new goal — taking advantage of those early road wins by keeping the upper hand in their series.\n\n\"The series isn't over, it's far from over,\" Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said Thursday. \"This is a team that earned the No. 1 seed for a reason. It's probably rare they lose two games in a row. I don't know the exact number, but it probably doesn't happen often. So we're going to see a desperate team, a team that's coming in here to win two games.\"\n\nActually, the Cavaliers lost three straight during a four-day stretch in late January and four straight during a seven-day stretch in mid-March. Otherwise, they've been dominant on the road where they earned the league's third-best mark at 30-11.\n\nThe Cavs may not even be in this hole if the league's \"Last 2-Minute Report\" is correct.\n\nIt said Aaron Nesmith's late dunk off a missed free throw and Haliburton's final rebound should have been jump balls because of lane violations by both teams in both cases. Haliburton's rebound led to his winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left.\n\nEven Donovan Mitchell's incredible game — 48 points, 17 made free throws and nine assists — wasn't enough to salvage a split. This time, though, Cleveland could be closer to full strength.\n\nNBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and key backup De'Andre Hunter could both return. They both missed Game 2, Mobley with a sprained left ankle and Hunter with a sprained right thumb. The bigger question is starting guard Darius Garland. He's missed four straight games with a sprained left big toe.\n\nAll three are listed as questionable.\n\n\"They all touched the ball. They all got some reps up, but we didn't do anything live,\" Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said after Thursday's practice. \"They kind of participated in the walkthrough and you know, hoping for the best.\"\n\nHaliburton said he intends to play despite with a heavily taped left wrist that he injured in Game 2. He's a perfect 9-0 when appearing in home playoff games.\n\nOne person who won't be at the game is Haliburton's father. This will be Indiana's first home game since John Haliburton confronted Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court moments after Haliburton's winning layup eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5.\n\nOklahoma City's Game 2 performance also shows it can rally in its series.\n\nThe Thunder endured just two two-game skids this season, making sure it didn't happen a third time with a 43-point victory Wednesday in Game 3. The Thunder also went 35-6 on the road, including an early regular-season split in Denver.\n\nWinning the 2023 NBA crown also has given the Nuggets some perspective on how to turn the page after such an embarrassing loss.\n\n\"They were being aggressive, they were hitting us,\" three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic said. \"We weren't disciplined, and everybody was kind of doing their own thing and we can't play like that. Every single person needs to step up and be better.\"\n\nAnd playing at home should help — both the Nuggets and the Pacers.\n\n\"Cleveland's building was so loud,\" Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. \"So we need our fans to bring every ounce of energy and noise and everything they have. Each game going forward is going to be a monumental challenge. Their support has meant a lot to us this year and it's important right now.\n\n## Thunder at Nuggets\n\nWhen/Where to Watch: Game 3, 10 p.m. EDT (ESPN)\n\nSeries: Series tied, 1-1.\n\nBetMGM says: Nuggets by 4.5.\n\nWhat to know: Oklahoma City became the first team to protect its home court in this round after road teams won each of the first five games, and they did it by setting franchise and league records with an 87-point first half. Nothing went right for the Nuggets. They shot 37.9% from the field, had 20 turnovers and never looked like the team that played Game 1. MVP finalist Shea Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 33.5 points to lead the Thunder despite sitting out the fourth quarter Wednesday. Jokic knows what must be done: Watch the tape, learn the lessons and move on to a pivotal game that could swing the series. The Thunder need to replicate their Game 2 performance while the Nuggets need to rediscover their Game 1 form."
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"value": "# Leo XIV's brother recalls feeling of 'disbelief' over his sibling becoming pope\n\nBy Obed Lamy and Hallie Golden \nMay 9th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother's name was announced.\n\n\"She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it's too far from what we thought would happen,\" Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.\n\nNext, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first U.S. pope.\n\n\"It's quite an honor; it's quite a once in a lifetime,\" he said. \"But I think it's quite a responsibility and I think it's going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he's doing.\"\n\nRobert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.\n\nJohn Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don't have a voice. He said he expects him to be a \"second Pope Francis.\"\n\n\"He's not going to be real far left and he's not going to be real far right,\" he added. \"Kind of right down the middle.\"\n\nAt one point during the interview, John Prevost realized he had missed several calls from his brother, so he gave the new pope a call back.\n\nLeo told him he wasn't interested in being part of the interview and after a brief message of congratulations and discussion in which they talked like any two brothers about travel arrangements, they hung up.\n\nThe new pope grew up the youngest of three boys. John Prevost, who was only a year older than him, said he remembers Robert Prevost being very good in school as a kid and enjoying playing tag, Monopoly and Risk.\n\nFrom a young age, he said he knew his brother was going to be a priest. Although he didn't expect him to become pope, he recalled a neighbor predicting that very thing when Robert Prevost was only a first grader.\n\n\"She sensed that at 6 years old,\" he said. \"How she did that, who knows. It took this long, but here he is, first American pope.\"\n\nWhen Robert Prevost graduated eighth grade, he left for seminary school, his brother said.\n\n\"There's a whole period there where we didn't really grow up together,\" he said. \"It was just on vacations that we had contact together.\"\n\nThese days, the brothers talk on the phone every day, John Prevost said. Robert Prevost will call him and they'll discuss everything from politics to religion and even play the day's Wordle.\n\nJohn Prevost said he's not sure how much time his brother will have to talk as the new pope and how they'll handle staying in touch in the future.\n\n\"It's already strange not having someone to talk to,\" he said.\n\n___\n\nGolden reported from Seattle."
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"value": "# Leo XIV's brother recalls feeling of 'disbelief' over his sibling becoming pope\n\nBy Obed Lamy and Hallie Golden \nMay 9th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother's name was announced.\n\n\"She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it's too far from what we thought would happen,\" Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.\n\nNext, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first U.S. pope.\n\n\"It's quite an honor; it's quite a once in a lifetime,\" he said. \"But I think it's quite a responsibility and I think it's going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he's doing.\"\n\nRobert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.\n\nJohn Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don't have a voice. He said he expects him to be a \"second Pope Francis.\"\n\n\"He's not going to be real far left and he's not going to be real far right,\" he added. \"Kind of right down the middle.\"\n\nAt one point during the interview, John Prevost realized he had missed several calls from his brother, so he gave the new pope a call back.\n\nLeo told him he wasn't interested in being part of the interview and after a brief message of congratulations and discussion in which they talked like any two brothers about travel arrangements, they hung up.\n\nThe new pope grew up the youngest of three boys. John Prevost, who was only a year older than him, said he remembers Robert Prevost being very good in school as a kid and enjoying playing tag, Monopoly and Risk.\n\nFrom a young age, he said he knew his brother was going to be a priest. Although he didn't expect him to become pope, he recalled a neighbor predicting that very thing when Robert Prevost was only a first grader.\n\n\"She sensed that at 6 years old,\" he said. \"How she did that, who knows. It took this long, but here he is, first American pope.\"\n\nWhen Robert Prevost graduated eighth grade, he left for seminary school, his brother said.\n\n\"There's a whole period there where we didn't really grow up together,\" he said. \"It was just on vacations that we had contact together.\"\n\nThese days, the brothers talk on the phone every day, John Prevost said. Robert Prevost will call him and they'll discuss everything from politics to religion and even play the day's Wordle.\n\nJohn Prevost said he's not sure how much time his brother will have to talk as the new pope and how they'll handle staying in touch in the future.\n\n\"It's already strange not having someone to talk to,\" he said."
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"value": "# Trump lawsuits: A simple guide to common legal jargon\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 7th, 2025 04:03 AM\n\n---\n\nIt may feel like you have to attend law school to understand the American legal system. However, that is not the case. We broke down some of the most common legal terms used in the lawsuits surrounding the Trump administration.\n\n## What's the general process for a lawsuit?\n\nLawsuits are sometimes called \" complaints \" for good reason: They tell a judge about something that allegedly caused you harm, and why you think someone else is to blame. Lawsuits also include a request for the kind of \"relief\" sought, like money or an order stopping the harmful actions.\n\nThe person being sued is always given a chance to respond. They might tell the judge the lawsuit is wrong, argue that someone else is to blame, or say the conduct wasn't actually harmful. Often, the person being sued will file a \" motion to dismiss,\" asking the judge to reject the lawsuit entirely.\n\n## What's a plaintiff?\n\nThe people who file a lawsuit are the \"plaintiffs,\" and the people being sued are the \"defendants.\" If a lawsuit is brought on behalf of a big group of people, it might become a \"class action\" lawsuit.\n\n## What's a TRO? And what's a PI?\n\nResolving a lawsuit can take months, so plaintiffs often ask the judge to temporarily stop the defendants from doing whatever allegedly caused the harm while the case is decided.\n\nA \" temporary restraining order \" or \"TRO\" is a short-term emergency order designed to stop immediate, irreparable harm.\n\nA \" preliminary injunction \" or \"PI\" lasts until the lawsuit is resolved. A PI typically isn't granted unless the plaintiff shows they are likely to \"succeed on the merits,\" or win the case.\n\n## What's the difference between an appeal and a stay?\n\nIf one side thinks the judge made the wrong call, they can \" appeal \" by asking a higher court to decide if the ruling was correct.\n\nThey can also ask for a \" stay,\" which puts a judge's order on pause while a dispute or appeal is worked out.\n\n## What does contempt of court mean?\n\nIf someone disobeys a court order or disrespects the judicial process, the judge might hold them in \" contempt of court.\"\n\nContempt of court convictions can carry big penalties, including fines or imprisonment. The punishments are designed to pressure the troublesome party to comply, so they typically end once the disobedience stops.\n\n## What's 'discovery,' and why is some 'privileged?'\n\n\" Discovery \" happens when both sides request information from each other as they search for facts supporting their side of the case. Discovery can include witness names, documents, or sworn statements from people.\n\nIf one side thinks something should be kept confidential, they might claim \"privilege.\" Attorney-client communications are generally privileged. \" State secrets \" privilege is invoked if the government thinks sharing the information would put national security at risk.\n\n## Why all the jargon?\n\nLegal terms carry very specific definitions. The jargon can feel fussy, but it's all meant to help lawyers and judges avoid any ambiguity.\n\nFor instance, the term \"jurisdiction\" refers to whether a court has the authority to decide a case. It might seem simpler to just use the word \"venue,\" but there are many different types of legal jurisdiction, and the word venue just doesn't cover it all.\n\nJurisdiction can be based on a geographic area or on the subject matter of the lawsuit. It can even be based on timing, or which court gets first dibs on a case."
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"value": "# Trump lawsuits: A simple guide to common legal jargon\n\nBy Rebecca Boone \nMay 7th, 2025 04:03 AM\n\n---\n\nIt may feel like you have to attend law school to understand the American legal system. However, that is not the case. We broke down some of the most common legal terms used in the lawsuits surrounding the Trump administration.\n\n## What's the general process for a lawsuit?\n\nLawsuits are sometimes called \" complaints \" for good reason: They tell a judge about something that allegedly caused you harm, and why you think someone else is to blame. Lawsuits also include a request for the kind of \"relief\" sought, like money or an order stopping the harmful actions.\n\nThe person being sued is always given a chance to respond. They might tell the judge the lawsuit is wrong, argue that someone else is to blame, or say the conduct wasn't actually harmful. Often, the person being sued will file a \" motion to dismiss,\" asking the judge to reject the lawsuit entirely.\n\n## What's a plaintiff?\n\nThe people who file a lawsuit are the \"plaintiffs,\" and the people being sued are the \"defendants.\" If a lawsuit is brought on behalf of a big group of people, it might become a \"class action\" lawsuit.\n\n## What's a TRO? And what's a PI?\n\nResolving a lawsuit can take months, so plaintiffs often ask the judge to temporarily stop the defendants from doing whatever allegedly caused the harm while the case is decided.\n\nA \" temporary restraining order \" or \"TRO\" is a short-term emergency order designed to stop immediate, irreparable harm.\n\nA \" preliminary injunction \" or \"PI\" lasts until the lawsuit is resolved. A PI typically isn't granted unless the plaintiff shows they are likely to \"succeed on the merits,\" or win the case.\n\n## What's the difference between an appeal and a stay?\n\nIf one side thinks the judge made the wrong call, they can \" appeal \" by asking a higher court to decide if the ruling was correct.\n\nThey can also ask for a \" stay,\" which puts a judge's order on pause while a dispute or appeal is worked out.\n\n## What does contempt of court mean?\n\nIf someone disobeys a court order or disrespects the judicial process, the judge might hold them in \" contempt of court.\"\n\nContempt of court convictions can carry big penalties, including fines or imprisonment. The punishments are designed to pressure the troublesome party to comply, so they typically end once the disobedience stops.\n\n## What's 'discovery,' and why is some 'privileged?'\n\n\" Discovery \" happens when both sides request information from each other as they search for facts supporting their side of the case. Discovery can include witness names, documents, or sworn statements from people.\n\nIf one side thinks something should be kept confidential, they might claim \"privilege.\" Attorney-client communications are generally privileged. \" State secrets \" privilege is invoked if the government thinks sharing the information would put national security at risk.\n\n## Why all the jargon?\n\nLegal terms carry very specific definitions. The jargon can feel fussy, but it's all meant to help lawyers and judges avoid any ambiguity.\n\nFor instance, the term \"jurisdiction\" refers to whether a court has the authority to decide a case. It might seem simpler to just use the word \"venue,\" but there are many different types of legal jurisdiction, and the word venue just doesn't cover it all.\n\nJurisdiction can be based on a geographic area or on the subject matter of the lawsuit. It can even be based on timing, or which court gets first dibs on a case."
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"value": "# Two judges rule Trump improperly used Alien Enemies Act for Venezuelan gang\n\nBy Nicholas Riccardi \nMay 6th, 2025 05:08 PM\n\n---\n\nTwo separate federal judges 2,000 miles apart ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump improperly used an 18th century wartime law to try to speed the deportations of people his administration labels members of a Venezuelan gang, adding to mounting judicial skepticism over the president's attempt to avoid deportation hearings by invoking a measure last used in World War II.\n\nFirst, District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in New York found the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 cannot be used against the Tren de Aragua gang because it is not attacking the United States. \"TdA may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion,\" Hellerstein wrote barring deportations from most of New York City and surrounding areas.\n\nHours later, District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney reached a similar conclusion, expanding on an earlier order that barred the removals of Venezuelans accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua from Colorado. She was aghast at administration arguments that no one can second-guess the president's designation of the gang as a foreign invader.\n\nThat contention \"staggers. It is wrong as a matter of law and attempts to read an entire provision out of the Constitution,\" Sweeney wrote.\n\nThe double-barreled rejections of Trump come a week after a Trump-appointed judge in South Texas became the first in the nation to reject the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act, also barring the administration from removing people from that region. None of the orders prevent deportations for reasons other than the act.\n\nThe decisions are the latest in a long line of judicial setbacks for the Trump administration's effort to speed deportations of people in the country illegally. The president and his supporters have increasingly complained about having to provide due process for people they contend didn't follow U.S. immigration laws.\n\nIn his ruling, Hellerstein, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, also ruled that the government cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to shortcut the legal process for deportations that Congress has laid out.\n\nSeveral other judges across the country are hearing cases challenging Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act in their jurisdictions. Those follow a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court last month that challenges to Trump's use of the law have to occur in areas where immigrants are being detained for deportation. The high court unanimously ruled that people held under the Alien Enemies Act had the right to contest their removal in court.\n\nThat led the Supreme Court to have to weigh in a second time, in an unusual post-midnight ruling that barred the deportation of people from northern Texas who, the ACLU argued, were about to be shipped out of the country without adequate chance to appeal their designation.\n\nThe Trump administration has deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where it argues U.S. courts cannot order them freed. Hellerstein referred to the facility as a \"notoriously evil jail.\""
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"value": "# Two judges rule Trump improperly used Alien Enemies Act for Venezuelan gang\n\nBy Nicholas Riccardi \nMay 6th, 2025 05:08 PM\n\n---\n\nTwo separate federal judges 2,000 miles apart ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump improperly used an 18th century wartime law to try to speed the deportations of people his administration labels members of a Venezuelan gang, adding to mounting judicial skepticism over the president's attempt to avoid deportation hearings by invoking a measure last used in World War II.\n\nFirst, District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in New York found the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 cannot be used against the Tren de Aragua gang because it is not attacking the United States. \"TdA may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion,\" Hellerstein wrote barring deportations from most of New York City and surrounding areas.\n\nHours later, District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney reached a similar conclusion, expanding on an earlier order that barred the removals of Venezuelans accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua from Colorado. She was aghast at administration arguments that no one can second-guess the president's designation of the gang as a foreign invader.\n\nThat contention \"staggers. It is wrong as a matter of law and attempts to read an entire provision out of the Constitution,\" Sweeney wrote.\n\nThe double-barreled rejections of Trump come a week after a Trump-appointed judge in South Texas became the first in the nation to reject the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act, also barring the administration from removing people from that region. None of the orders prevent deportations for reasons other than the act.\n\nThe decisions are the latest in a long line of judicial setbacks for the Trump administration's effort to speed deportations of people in the country illegally. The president and his supporters have increasingly complained about having to provide due process for people they contend didn't follow U.S. immigration laws.\n\nIn his ruling, Hellerstein, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, also ruled that the government cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to shortcut the legal process for deportations that Congress has laid out.\n\nSeveral other judges across the country are hearing cases challenging Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act in their jurisdictions. Those follow a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court last month that challenges to Trump's use of the law have to occur in areas where immigrants are being detained for deportation. The high court unanimously ruled that people held under the Alien Enemies Act had the right to contest their removal in court.\n\nThat led the Supreme Court to have to weigh in a second time, in an unusual post-midnight ruling that barred the deportation of people from northern Texas who, the ACLU argued, were about to be shipped out of the country without adequate chance to appeal their designation.\n\nThe Trump administration has deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where it argues U.S. courts cannot order them freed. Hellerstein referred to the facility as a \"notoriously evil jail.\""
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"value": "# Burleson's double lifts Cardinals past Pirates 2-1; Skenes' troubles against St. Louis continue\n\nBy Joe Harris \nMay 7th, 2025 02:12 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Alec Burleson hit a two-run double, Matthew Liberatore struck out eight in a season-high seven innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Tuesday night.\n\nLiberatore (3-3) allowed just one run on three hits and three walks as the Cardinals won a season-high fourth game in a row. Gordon Graceffo earned his first career save with a perfect ninth.\n\nPaul Skenes (3-4) allowed two runs on three hits in six innings, striking out six and walking four as Pittsburgh lost its sixth straight game and for the ninth time in its last 10 games. Skenes fell to 0-4 in five career starts against St. Louis.\n\nBurleson's two-out double in the sixth inning off Skenes scored Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras. Burleson (6 for 15) has more career hits off Skenes than any other major leaguer.\n\nKe'Bryan Hayes' opposite field double scored Oneil Cruz to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. Hayes has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games and it was his third multihit game out of his last four.\n\nHayes' hit snapped a five-inning hitless stretch for Liberatore, who had retired 17 of the previous 19 batters he faced.\n\nContreras, who walked twice, extended his on-base streak to nine games.\n\n## Key moment\n\nAfter the Pirates took the lead in the top of the sixth, Skenes retired the first two batters before running into trouble in the bottom of the frame. Arenado started the rally with a single and Contreras walked before Burleson's double.\n\n## Key stat\n\nIn his five starts against the Cardinals spanning 32 2/3 innings, Skenes has received just three total runs of support.\n\n## Up next\n\nPirates RHP Mitch Keller (1-3, 4.38 ERA) starts Wednesday in the series finale, and RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 4.12 ERA) goes for the Cardinals.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Burleson's double lifts Cardinals past Pirates 2-1; Skenes' troubles against St. Louis continue\n\nBy Joe Harris \nMay 7th, 2025 02:12 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Alec Burleson hit a two-run double, Matthew Liberatore struck out eight in a season-high seven innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Tuesday night.\n\nLiberatore (3-3) allowed just one run on three hits and three walks as the Cardinals won a season-high fourth game in a row. Gordon Graceffo earned his first career save with a perfect ninth.\n\nPaul Skenes (3-4) allowed two runs on three hits in six innings, striking out six and walking four as Pittsburgh lost its sixth straight game and for the ninth time in its last 10 games. Skenes fell to 0-4 in five career starts against St. Louis.\n\nBurleson's two-out double in the sixth inning off Skenes scored Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras. Burleson (6 for 15) has more career hits off Skenes than any other major leaguer.\n\nKe'Bryan Hayes' opposite field double scored Oneil Cruz to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. Hayes has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games and it was his third multihit game out of his last four.\n\nHayes' hit snapped a five-inning hitless stretch for Liberatore, who had retired 17 of the previous 19 batters he faced.\n\nContreras, who walked twice, extended his on-base streak to nine games.\n\n## Key moment\n\nAfter the Pirates took the lead in the top of the sixth, Skenes retired the first two batters before running into trouble in the bottom of the frame. Arenado started the rally with a single and Contreras walked before Burleson's double.\n\n## Key stat\n\nIn his five starts against the Cardinals spanning 32 2/3 innings, Skenes has received just three total runs of support.\n\n## Up next\n\nPirates RHP Mitch Keller (1-3, 4.38 ERA) starts Wednesday in the series finale, and RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 4.12 ERA) goes for the Cardinals."
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"value": "# Red Sox owner flies to KC to meet with disgruntled Devers\n\nBy David Smale \nMay 9th, 2025 11:57 PM\n\n---\n\nKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rafael Devers made his feelings known on Thursday. On Friday, it was Boston Red Sox owner John Henry's turn to share his opinions with the disgruntled slugger.\n\nA day after Devers told reporters about his refusal to play first base, Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.\n\nBoston has an opening at first base after Triston Casas ruptured his left knee tendon and had season-ending surgery. Red Sox management approached Devers — who was moved from third base to designated hitter this spring — about filling in at first, and Devers declined.\n\nAfter he homered and drove in two runs in Thursday's 5-0 win over Texas, Devers said, \"They came to me and talked to me about it. I know I'm a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can't expect me to play every single position out there.\n\n\"In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove. I wasn't going to play another position other than DH. Right now, I don't think it would be an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.\"\n\nDevers declined to comment on the meeting with Henry after Friday's 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Royals.\n\nThe 28-year-old Devers is in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract. He was Boston's regular third baseman before the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, considered a defensive upgrade, in the offseason.\n\nDevers was reluctant to give up third, but was told he didn't have a choice.\n\n\"John spoke directly with Raffy,\" Breslow said before Friday's game. \"(He) felt like it was important, based on the situation that unfolded yesterday. (That included) an honest conversation about what we value as an organization, and that means to be great teammates for each other.\"\n\nBreslow would not give details about the conversation, but said: \"John had a productive conversation, and that's where we stand right now.\"\n\nDevers started at DH on Friday and went 1 for 5 with an RBI grounder in the 11th inning\n\n\"(Where he plays) is kind of secondary, I think, to the other conversations,\" said Breslow, who spent 12 years as a pitcher in the majors, including five with the Red Sox. \"That decision was never going to be made on a couch in an office in Kansas City.\"\n\nCora said it would be an ongoing discussion.\n\n\"Obviously, having everybody here and in the same place, it means a lot, not only for us that are on the ground, but the players and to Raffy too,\" the manager said. \"So I thought it was good.\"\n\nWhen asked if Devers would start taking grounders at first, Cora responded tersely.\n\n\"No, that's not the plan right now. The plan is to keep having conversations,\" he said.\n\nThe question now is whether those conversations will lead to a solution Devers can embrace.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Red Sox owner flies to KC to meet with disgruntled Devers\n\nBy David Smale \nMay 9th, 2025 11:57 PM\n\n---\n\nKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rafael Devers made his feelings known on Thursday. On Friday, it was Boston Red Sox owner John Henry's turn to share his opinions with the disgruntled slugger.\n\nA day after Devers told reporters about his refusal to play first base, Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.\n\nBoston has an opening at first base after Triston Casas ruptured his left knee tendon and had season-ending surgery. Red Sox management approached Devers — who was moved from third base to designated hitter this spring — about filling in at first, and Devers declined.\n\nAfter he homered and drove in two runs in Thursday's 5-0 win over Texas, Devers said, \"They came to me and talked to me about it. I know I'm a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can't expect me to play every single position out there.\n\n\"In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove. I wasn't going to play another position other than DH. Right now, I don't think it would be an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.\"\n\nDevers declined to comment on the meeting with Henry after Friday's 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Royals.\n\nThe 28-year-old Devers is in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract. He was Boston's regular third baseman before the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, considered a defensive upgrade, in the offseason.\n\nDevers was reluctant to give up third, but was told he didn't have a choice.\n\n\"John spoke directly with Raffy,\" Breslow said before Friday's game. \"(He) felt like it was important, based on the situation that unfolded yesterday. (That included) an honest conversation about what we value as an organization, and that means to be great teammates for each other.\"\n\nBreslow would not give details about the conversation, but said: \"John had a productive conversation, and that's where we stand right now.\"\n\nDevers started at DH on Friday and went 1 for 5 with an RBI grounder in the 11th inning\n\n\"(Where he plays) is kind of secondary, I think, to the other conversations,\" said Breslow, who spent 12 years as a pitcher in the majors, including five with the Red Sox. \"That decision was never going to be made on a couch in an office in Kansas City.\"\n\nCora said it would be an ongoing discussion.\n\n\"Obviously, having everybody here and in the same place, it means a lot, not only for us that are on the ground, but the players and to Raffy too,\" the manager said. \"So I thought it was good.\"\n\nWhen asked if Devers would start taking grounders at first, Cora responded tersely.\n\n\"No, that's not the plan right now. The plan is to keep having conversations,\" he said.\n\nThe question now is whether those conversations will lead to a solution Devers can embrace."
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52489a462517b190f408a6b5732c15845f4298c9845ebbace991acaf6edfa86e
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"value": "# Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador\n\nBy Marcos Alemán and Christopher Sherman \nMay 9th, 2025 02:01 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador's government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison.\n\nIn March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them.\n\nSince then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom.\n\n\"These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,\" said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit.\n\nOne of them is Euder José Torres.\n\n## Tattoos flagged\n\nIn September, Torres boarded a Houston-bound flight in Quito, Ecuador with his 21-year-old stepson after successfully completing a monthslong screening process that included health exams and criminal history checks.\n\nThe 41-year-old Venezuelan and the young man he had raised since early childhood had been approved for family reunification through the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration and were headed to the U.S. to join his long-time partner and his stepson's brother.\n\nBut at the airport in Houston, immigration agents saw a tattoo of a compass on the stepson's forearm with the initials of his mother, father and brother in place of the cardinal directions. They said it signaled him as a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The next day he was on a flight back to Ecuador.\n\nBut Torres didn't have an Ecuadorian visa, so agents placed him in immigration detention in Texas. He had tattoos too, the name of his saint Elegua in script on one forearm – he is a practitioner of Santeria, a fusion of African religions and Catholicism – and skull on the other.\n\nTorres sought U.S. asylum and passed his credible fear interview, but at an immigration hearing in January the government lawyer told the judge, without providing evidence, he too was a member of Tren de Aragua. The judge issued a deportation order, according to his longtime partner, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation despite her legal status in the U.S.\n\nIn March, Torres found himself among more than 200 Venezuelans sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.\n\nHis partner questions how the U.S. government could send him to a prison there without any evidence that he had broken the law or has a criminal record.\n\n## Lack of due process\n\nEl Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country's once-powerful street gangs.\n\nThe improvement in El Salvador's security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals.\n\nA spokesperson for Bukele's office declined to comment Friday.\n\nWith the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men's release or return to the U.S.\n\nA judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S.\n\nThe human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases.\n\nSome of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit.\n\nBukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison.\n\n## Legal maneuvers unsuccessful\n\nWhile both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone's detention was justified — in El Salvador's courts, none have advanced.\n\nThe groups are asking the human right commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador's government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly.\n\nThe other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.\n\n____\n\nFollow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america"
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"value": "# Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador\n\nBy Marcos Alemán and Christopher Sherman \nMay 9th, 2025 02:01 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador's government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison.\n\nIn March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them.\n\nSince then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom.\n\n\"These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,\" said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit.\n\nOne of them is Euder José Torres.\n\n## Tattoos flagged\n\nIn September, Torres boarded a Houston-bound flight in Quito, Ecuador with his 21-year-old stepson after successfully completing a monthslong screening process that included health exams and criminal history checks.\n\nThe 41-year-old Venezuelan and the young man he had raised since early childhood had been approved for family reunification through the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration and were headed to the U.S. to join his long-time partner and his stepson's brother.\n\nBut at the airport in Houston, immigration agents saw a tattoo of a compass on the stepson's forearm with the initials of his mother, father and brother in place of the cardinal directions. They said it signaled him as a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The next day he was on a flight back to Ecuador.\n\nBut Torres didn't have an Ecuadorian visa, so agents placed him in immigration detention in Texas. He had tattoos too, the name of his saint Elegua in script on one forearm – he is a practitioner of Santeria, a fusion of African religions and Catholicism – and skull on the other.\n\nTorres sought U.S. asylum and passed his credible fear interview, but at an immigration hearing in January the government lawyer told the judge, without providing evidence, he too was a member of Tren de Aragua. The judge issued a deportation order, according to his longtime partner, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation despite her legal status in the U.S.\n\nIn March, Torres found himself among more than 200 Venezuelans sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.\n\nHis partner questions how the U.S. government could send him to a prison there without any evidence that he had broken the law or has a criminal record.\n\n## Lack of due process\n\nEl Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country's once-powerful street gangs.\n\nThe improvement in El Salvador's security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals.\n\nA spokesperson for Bukele's office declined to comment Friday.\n\nWith the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men's release or return to the U.S.\n\nA judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S.\n\nThe human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases.\n\nSome of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit.\n\nBukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison.\n\n## Legal maneuvers unsuccessful\n\nWhile both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone's detention was justified — in El Salvador's courts, none have advanced.\n\nThe groups are asking the human right commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador's government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly.\n\nThe other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights."
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"value": "# Americans in St. Peter's Square were stunned by choice of new pope\n\nBy Giada Zampano, Trisha Thomas, and Vanessa Gera \nMay 8th, 2025 08:46 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Americans in St. Peter's Square were stunned and joyous when they learned that an American cardinal, Robert Provost, was elected pope Thursday and had taken the name Leo XIV.\n\n\"Who in our lifetime would have thought that we would see a North American Holy Father?\" said Father Thomas Montanaro, an American priest with the Legionaries of Christ.\n\nMontanaro was among the many tens of thousands of people who filled St. Peter's Square for the historic moment.\n\nCheers of \"viva il papa\" and applause rippled across the crowd to celebrate the new pope.\n\nFather Darius Lawrence, a priest from California, said the announcement caught him completely off guard.\n\n\"As an American, it's a huge surprise,\" he said. \"I would have never expected an American to be named as pope. He wasn't on any of the lists I'd seen — and I'd been looking into it a little bit.\"\n\nThe flags of many nations waved. But tellingly there very few American flags.\n\nThe Americans had not come prepared.\n\nThey also did not hear Leo speak to them in their native tongue. He used Italian to greet the crowds before turning to Spanish, using a language he used during years of missionary work in Peru, where he also obtained citizenship.\n\nPast popes have shaped the larger world beyond the Catholic Church, and it was not lost on some that Leo might too.\n\n\"I'm just hoping that the new pope can help steer us in a good direction and in terms of politics, you know, right now it's very complicated,\" said Andrea Gallardo, a Texan. \"I'm just hoping that he's able to rekindle a good relationship with our president and all the government officials so that we can start going into a good route, I would say.\"\n\nIn Washington, President Donald Trump said it was an honor for an American to be chosen.\n\n\"What greater honor can there be?\" Trump said. \"We're a little bit surprised and we're happy.\"\n\nOnce white smoke started billowing out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, \"an extraordinary influx of over 150,000 people\" came from elsewhere in Rome to fill the square, police said in a statement.\n\n\"I was at home, but as soon as the smoke went up, I put on my clothes and I came to the Vatican,\" said Thomas Nicolini, 22, a Peruvian from Lima, who is studying economics in Rome.\n\n\"I'm really happy about this. I know he's American, but he was in Peru for a long time, 20 years. He worked in the region of Chiclayo. That's a beautiful area, but one of the regions that needs lots of hope. So now I'm expecting that the new pope helps as many people as possible, and tries to reignite, let's say, the faith young people have lost.\""
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"value": "# Americans in St. Peter's Square were stunned by choice of new pope\n\nBy Giada Zampano, Trisha Thomas, and Vanessa Gera \nMay 8th, 2025 08:46 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Americans in St. Peter's Square were stunned and joyous when they learned that an American cardinal, Robert Provost, was elected pope Thursday and had taken the name Leo XIV.\n\n\"Who in our lifetime would have thought that we would see a North American Holy Father?\" said Father Thomas Montanaro, an American priest with the Legionaries of Christ.\n\nMontanaro was among the many tens of thousands of people who filled St. Peter's Square for the historic moment.\n\nCheers of \"viva il papa\" and applause rippled across the crowd to celebrate the new pope.\n\nFather Darius Lawrence, a priest from California, said the announcement caught him completely off guard.\n\n\"As an American, it's a huge surprise,\" he said. \"I would have never expected an American to be named as pope. He wasn't on any of the lists I'd seen — and I'd been looking into it a little bit.\"\n\nThe flags of many nations waved. But tellingly there very few American flags.\n\nThe Americans had not come prepared.\n\nThey also did not hear Leo speak to them in their native tongue. He used Italian to greet the crowds before turning to Spanish, using a language he used during years of missionary work in Peru, where he also obtained citizenship.\n\nPast popes have shaped the larger world beyond the Catholic Church, and it was not lost on some that Leo might too.\n\n\"I'm just hoping that the new pope can help steer us in a good direction and in terms of politics, you know, right now it's very complicated,\" said Andrea Gallardo, a Texan. \"I'm just hoping that he's able to rekindle a good relationship with our president and all the government officials so that we can start going into a good route, I would say.\"\n\nIn Washington, President Donald Trump said it was an honor for an American to be chosen.\n\n\"What greater honor can there be?\" Trump said. \"We're a little bit surprised and we're happy.\"\n\nOnce white smoke started billowing out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, \"an extraordinary influx of over 150,000 people\" came from elsewhere in Rome to fill the square, police said in a statement.\n\n\"I was at home, but as soon as the smoke went up, I put on my clothes and I came to the Vatican,\" said Thomas Nicolini, 22, a Peruvian from Lima, who is studying economics in Rome.\n\n\"I'm really happy about this. I know he's American, but he was in Peru for a long time, 20 years. He worked in the region of Chiclayo. That's a beautiful area, but one of the regions that needs lots of hope. So now I'm expecting that the new pope helps as many people as possible, and tries to reignite, let's say, the faith young people have lost.\""
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"value": "# Aid group closes soup kitchens across Gaza due to dwindling supplies\n\nBy Wafaa Shurafa and Kareem Chehayeb \nMay 8th, 2025 08:25 AM\n\n---\n\nDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens Thursday as it faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave.\n\nU.S.-based World Central Kitchen, which was serving 133,000 meals per day, said there is almost no food left in Gaza with which to cook.\n\nThe ongoing hunger is threatening Gaza's population, already battered by 19 months of war. In April, the World Food Program said its food stocks in Gaza had run out under Israel's blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.\n\nA UNICEF spokesperson said most of Gaza's water system is damaged, while fuel shortages make it harder to operate desalination plants or water trucks.\n\n## Shortages due to blockade drive hunger, malnutrition\n\nMalnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Gaza Strip as Israel's total blockade enters its third month, and aid agencies say supplies to treat and prevent malnutrition are running out.\n\nIsrael imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations in the territory on March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure the militant Hamas group to release hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a \"starvation tactic\" and a potential war crime.\n\nWith restaurants and bakeries closed, community kitchens are often the only way for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to eat a daily meal. But a third of those supported by the U.N. have closed in the past 10 days for lack of food or fuel, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, or OCHA, which said more closures could be imminent.\n\n\"The hot meals provided by these kitchens constitute one of the last remaining lifelines\" for Palestinians, OCHA said.\n\nAt those still open, chaotic scenes of desperate men, women and children fighting to get meager rations are common.\n\n## Scarce water supplies\n\nUNICEF spokesperson Jonathan Crickx on Thursday said 65-70% of Gaza's water system is damaged. Aid workers have instead set up water distribution points that rely on trucking.\n\nBut it's difficult to reach people when fuel has become scarce, Crickx told The Associated Press.\n\n\"The children are, of course, bearing the brunt of this war,\" he said.\n\nWater availability has plummeted to an average of 3-5 liters per person per day, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. That's less than the 15 liters that the World Health Organization says people need to survive.\n\nA pipeline operated by Israel had been supplying 70% of Gaza City's water since the war began, but it was damaged with the renewed Israeli offensive in April. Desalination plants had supplied about 7% of Gaza's water needs before the war, until the aquifer became contaminated and depleted.\n\n## Aid is waiting on the borders\n\nSince the start of the war, World Central Kitchen said it has served more than 130 million meals and baked 80 million loaves of bread. On Thursday, the group said it had no flour left in their mobile bakery.\n\n\"Our trucks — loaded with food and supplies — are waiting in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, ready to enter Gaza,\" said José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded the organization. \"But they cannot move without permission. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow.\"\n\nCOGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid to Gaza, said the blockade would continue unless the Israeli government changed its policy.\n\n## 'Hamas is engineering hunger'\n\nIsraeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the government was concerned that Hamas controlled the humanitarian aid, and that Israeli officials were exploring ways to get it only to \"those in need.\"\n\nMencer said the hunger had been \"engineered by Hamas,\" and said the blockade would end when the group lays down its weapons, he said.\n\nHowever, Israel has provided no evidence that Hamas syphons off aid. The U.N and aid workers deny there is significant diversion of aid to militants, saying the U.N. strictly monitors distribution.\n\nSince the start of the year, more than 10,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization. The number climbed dramatically in March, to 3,600 cases from 2,000 the month before, UNICEF reported.\n\nNearly half the 200 nutrition centers around Gaza have shut down because of displacement and bombardment.\n\nWorld Central Kitchen had previously suspended operations in April of last year after seven aid workers were killed in Israeli strikes on their convoy, before resuming weeks later.\n\n## Toll in Gaza continues to rise\n\nThe Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday the bodies of 106 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.\n\nHospitals also received 367 wounded, the ministry said in its daily report.\n\nThe overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war rose to at least 52,760 since Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry said. Another 119,264 have been wounded, it said.\n\nIt said the tally includes 2,651 dead and 7,223 wounded since Israel shattered the nearly two-month ceasefire on March 18.\n\nThe ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the dead were women and children.\n\nThe Israeli military said they are targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. On Wednesday, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told commanders that Israel plans to \"expand and intensify our operations\" in Gaza.\n\n## Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon\n\nAlso on Thursday, a series of Israeli airstrikes hit hilltops in the vicinity of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, killing at least one person and wounding eight others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.\n\nThe Israeli military said it bombed infrastructure that belonged to the Hezbollah militant group and included weapons and tunnels. Israel said that Hezbollah's activities at the site violated a November ceasefire.\n\nHezbollah did not immediately comment on the strikes. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said public institutions in the area were closed after the attacks as families rushed to schools to take their children home.\n\nSince the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November stopped the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon have continued. Hezbollah says its has largely disarmed south of the Litani River, while Israel insists the militants are rearming themselves. Some 4,000 people in Lebanon were killed during the war, including many civilians.\n\n## Journalist from Jenin detained for six months\n\nA renowned Palestinian journalist arrested by the Israeli military and suffering from multiple chronic illnesses has been placed on six months of administrative detention, the Israeli military said.\n\nAli Samoudi, who has worked for international news outlets including CNN and Al Jazeera, was detained late last month by the Israeli military from his family home in the city of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and has spent part of the time in the hospital due to chronic health issues.\n\nThe Israeli military said Samoudi was detained based on involvement in \"actions endangering regional security\" but that a police investigation did not find sufficient evidence against him to issue an arrest. However, on Thursday, a military court decided to place him under administrative detention for six months.\n\nIsraeli authorities can renew administrative detentions indefinitely. Detainees are held without charge or trial. Israel says the controversial tactic is necessary for security reasons, but Palestinians and rights groups say the system denies due process and is widely abused.\n\n___\n\nChehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Lebanon contributed to this report."
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"value": "# Aid group closes soup kitchens across Gaza due to dwindling supplies\n\nBy Wafaa Shurafa and Kareem Chehayeb \nMay 8th, 2025 08:25 AM\n\n---\n\nDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens Thursday as it faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave.\n\nU.S.-based World Central Kitchen, which was serving 133,000 meals per day, said there is almost no food left in Gaza with which to cook.\n\nThe ongoing hunger is threatening Gaza's population, already battered by 19 months of war. In April, the World Food Program said its food stocks in Gaza had run out under Israel's blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.\n\nA UNICEF spokesperson said most of Gaza's water system is damaged, while fuel shortages make it harder to operate desalination plants or water trucks.\n\n## Shortages due to blockade drive hunger, malnutrition\n\nMalnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Gaza Strip as Israel's total blockade enters its third month, and aid agencies say supplies to treat and prevent malnutrition are running out.\n\nIsrael imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations in the territory on March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure the militant Hamas group to release hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a \"starvation tactic\" and a potential war crime.\n\nWith restaurants and bakeries closed, community kitchens are often the only way for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to eat a daily meal. But a third of those supported by the U.N. have closed in the past 10 days for lack of food or fuel, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, or OCHA, which said more closures could be imminent.\n\n\"The hot meals provided by these kitchens constitute one of the last remaining lifelines\" for Palestinians, OCHA said.\n\nAt those still open, chaotic scenes of desperate men, women and children fighting to get meager rations are common.\n\n## Scarce water supplies\n\nUNICEF spokesperson Jonathan Crickx on Thursday said 65-70% of Gaza's water system is damaged. Aid workers have instead set up water distribution points that rely on trucking.\n\nBut it's difficult to reach people when fuel has become scarce, Crickx told The Associated Press.\n\n\"The children are, of course, bearing the brunt of this war,\" he said.\n\nWater availability has plummeted to an average of 3-5 liters per person per day, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. That's less than the 15 liters that the World Health Organization says people need to survive.\n\nA pipeline operated by Israel had been supplying 70% of Gaza City's water since the war began, but it was damaged with the renewed Israeli offensive in April. Desalination plants had supplied about 7% of Gaza's water needs before the war, until the aquifer became contaminated and depleted.\n\n## Aid is waiting on the borders\n\nSince the start of the war, World Central Kitchen said it has served more than 130 million meals and baked 80 million loaves of bread. On Thursday, the group said it had no flour left in their mobile bakery.\n\n\"Our trucks — loaded with food and supplies — are waiting in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, ready to enter Gaza,\" said José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded the organization. \"But they cannot move without permission. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow.\"\n\nCOGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid to Gaza, said the blockade would continue unless the Israeli government changed its policy.\n\n## 'Hamas is engineering hunger'\n\nIsraeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the government was concerned that Hamas controlled the humanitarian aid, and that Israeli officials were exploring ways to get it only to \"those in need.\"\n\nMencer said the hunger had been \"engineered by Hamas,\" and said the blockade would end when the group lays down its weapons, he said.\n\nHowever, Israel has provided no evidence that Hamas syphons off aid. The U.N and aid workers deny there is significant diversion of aid to militants, saying the U.N. strictly monitors distribution.\n\nSince the start of the year, more than 10,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization. The number climbed dramatically in March, to 3,600 cases from 2,000 the month before, UNICEF reported.\n\nNearly half the 200 nutrition centers around Gaza have shut down because of displacement and bombardment.\n\nWorld Central Kitchen had previously suspended operations in April of last year after seven aid workers were killed in Israeli strikes on their convoy, before resuming weeks later.\n\n## Toll in Gaza continues to rise\n\nThe Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday the bodies of 106 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.\n\nHospitals also received 367 wounded, the ministry said in its daily report.\n\nThe overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war rose to at least 52,760 since Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry said. Another 119,264 have been wounded, it said.\n\nIt said the tally includes 2,651 dead and 7,223 wounded since Israel shattered the nearly two-month ceasefire on March 18.\n\nThe ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the dead were women and children.\n\nThe Israeli military said they are targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. On Wednesday, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told commanders that Israel plans to \"expand and intensify our operations\" in Gaza.\n\n## Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon\n\nAlso on Thursday, a series of Israeli airstrikes hit hilltops in the vicinity of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, killing at least one person and wounding eight others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.\n\nThe Israeli military said it bombed infrastructure that belonged to the Hezbollah militant group and included weapons and tunnels. Israel said that Hezbollah's activities at the site violated a November ceasefire.\n\nHezbollah did not immediately comment on the strikes. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said public institutions in the area were closed after the attacks as families rushed to schools to take their children home.\n\nSince the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November stopped the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon have continued. Hezbollah says its has largely disarmed south of the Litani River, while Israel insists the militants are rearming themselves. Some 4,000 people in Lebanon were killed during the war, including many civilians.\n\n## Journalist from Jenin detained for six months\n\nA renowned Palestinian journalist arrested by the Israeli military and suffering from multiple chronic illnesses has been placed on six months of administrative detention, the Israeli military said.\n\nAli Samoudi, who has worked for international news outlets including CNN and Al Jazeera, was detained late last month by the Israeli military from his family home in the city of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and has spent part of the time in the hospital due to chronic health issues.\n\nThe Israeli military said Samoudi was detained based on involvement in \"actions endangering regional security\" but that a police investigation did not find sufficient evidence against him to issue an arrest. However, on Thursday, a military court decided to place him under administrative detention for six months.\n\nIsraeli authorities can renew administrative detentions indefinitely. Detainees are held without charge or trial. Israel says the controversial tactic is necessary for security reasons, but Palestinians and rights groups say the system denies due process and is widely abused."
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"value": "# States compete for top billing on Democrats' 2028 election calendar\n\nBy Hannah Fingerhut, Meg Kinnard, and Holly Ramer \nMay 11th, 2025 11:29 AM\n\n---\n\nDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Before they can name their next presidential nominee, Democrats will have to decide which state will weigh in first.\n\nIn 2022, President Joe Biden forced a shake-up of the 2024 election calendar, moving South Carolina's primary ahead of contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Officials in those traditionally four early-voting states are now positioning themselves to get top billing nearly two years before the Democratic National Committee solidifies the order. Others may make a play, too.\n\nIt's a fraught choice for a party already wrestling with questions about its direction after losing November's White House election to Republican Donald Trump. Each state offers advantages to different candidates and elevates — or diminishes — different parts of the Democratic base.\n\nFor now, 2028 prospects are making early-state visits, giving a glimpse into what they may see as their own path to the nomination.\n\nIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker was the keynote speaker at adinner last month for New Hampshire Democrats, visiting a majority white state known for its engaged electorate and independent streak. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the state's first Black governor, will appear later this month at a similar party event in South Carolina, where Black voters are the party's most influential voting group.\n\nPete Buttigieg will join a VoteVets Action Fund gathering in Iowa on Tuesday, marking the former presidential candidate's first public in-person event since leaving his post as Biden's transportation secretary. Buttigieg performed well in the 2020 caucuses, which were marred by technical glitches that prevented the declaration of a winner.\n\n## Iowa looks past snub for 'fair' shot in 2028\n\nBiden and others pushed to open the 2024 cycle with a more diverse state than traditional leadoff Iowa, which is 90% white, according to census data.\n\nGone was a five-decade institution of Iowa Democrats engaging in a one-night spectacle where community members publicly signaled their support for a candidate. Last year, they held caucuses eight days before any other state's contest, as is required by Iowa law. But Democratic voters had cast their 2024 presidential preference ballots by mail, with results released that March on Super Tuesday alongside other states.\n\nBiden \"picked the calendar that worked for him,\" said Scott Brennan, who serves on the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee and previously chaired the Iowa Democratic Party. \"When you're the president, you can do those things. But I don't know that people in Iowa thought it was very fair.\"\n\nFor now, Iowa Democratic leaders emphasize that their focus is on the 2026 election, when two of Iowa's four congressional districts will be competitive opportunities to unseat Republicans. Democrats have recently struggled on all electoral fronts in Iowa and have significantly diminished party registration numbers, which some blamed on the loss of the caucuses.\n\nBut Brennan said many Iowa Democrats continue to believe that the presidential nominating process is well served by Iowa's early role in it, even if the 2028 format is up in the air.\n\n\"We took everyone at their word that all bets are off for 2028,\" Brennan said. \"We expect that there will be a fair process and that we will be given every consideration to be an early state.\"\n\nFormer U.S. Rep. Dave Nagle was more blunt in proposing that the state party commit to first-in-the-nation status regardless, as he did as chair in 1984 when the national party threatened to upend Iowa and New Hampshire's delegate selection process over noncompliance with timing rules. The two states formed an alliance, getting six of the presidential candidates on their side.\n\n\"All we have to do is look at the Democratic National Committee and say, 'Sorry, we're going first,'\" Nagle said. \"It's ours if we have the courage.\"\n\n## New Hampshire survives threats after rebellion\n\nNew Hampshire rebelled in 2024, holding an unsanctioned primary in January. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in.\n\nThree months later, the DNC dropped its threat to not seat the state's national convention delegates.\n\nUntil Biden's formal request of the DNC to approve his proposed calendar, New Hampshire Democrats thought they were in a good place with work behind the scenes, said the state party chairman, Ray Buckley. He said that effort will continue heading into 2028.\n\n\"This is going to be much more of a level playing field,\" Buckley said. \"There's no reason to come in with a two-ton thumb and put it on the scale.\"\n\nIt does not hurt their case that New Hampshire law requires the primary to be scheduled before any other similar contest.\n\nKathy Sullivan, formerly a state party chair and member of the DNC's rulemaking arm, said it is possible that the \"train has left the station\" for Iowa's hope of returning to its first-place position, given the 2020 problems and the fact that it gave in to the DNC in 2024.\n\n\"I don't know if that helps them in terms of goodwill or hurts them in that they basically gave up the caucuses,\" she said. \"New Hampshire took the opposite tack, we had our primary despite what the DNC said, and our delegates ended up being seated despite the threats.\"\n\n## Never-first Nevada wants top billing\n\nDemocratic leaders in Nevada, which held its 2024 Democratic primary just days after South Carolina's, have also been pushing to keep their state early in the nominating conversation, although the state's location in the West has traditionally made it less-visited by White House hopefuls.\n\nIn a December statement, the state party chair, Daniele Monroe-Moreno, pointed to the state's nonwhite population, union representation and education-level diversity as reasons for Nevada to kick off the 2028 calendar. Nevada is 30% Latino, census data shows, and has significant Black and Asian populations.\n\n\"If Democrats want to win back working class voters and rebuild our broad coalition of voters of color, we should elevate the most working class and most diverse battleground state in the nation to be the first presidential preference primary for the 2028 cycle,\" Monroe-Moreno said.\n\n\"Nevada is the battleground state that best reflects our growing nation,\" she said, and the party \"cannot afford to let overwhelmingly college-educated, white or less competitive states start the process of winnowing the field again in 2028.\"\n\n## South Carolina seeks another go at No. 1\n\nAs the first-in-the-South primary state, where Black voters play a significant role in Democratic voting, South Carolina long promoted its role in picking a nominee after the first set of contests winnowed the field.\n\nBut Christale Spain, who is expected to win her second term as state party chair, said she will make the argument to national Democratic leaders that South Carolina should stay in the No. 1 slot.\n\n\"It's our plan to really work to stay first in the nation,\" Spain said.\n\nAt the end of May, Moore is set to headline the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner, a signature fundraiser that has recently hosted Democratic stars as its keynote speakers, including Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor and Biden energy secretary, and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.\n\nThen-Vice President Kamala Harris used her 2022 speech as an official \"thank you\" to South Carolina for providing the key primary support that revived Biden's flagging 2020 presidential campaign after a series of losses in other early-voting states.\n\nSpain will have to make her argument anew without Biden in the White House and Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina native who recently ended his term as national Democratic chair, helming the party.\n\n\"I think you get what you need from an electorate in South Carolina,\" Spain said. \"All those things matter — the stuff that's happening with the veterans, all our colleges and institutions, the role of Black folks — in a Democratic primary.\n\n\"We have more to offer than other states do,\" she said.\n\n___\n\nKinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and Ramer from Concord, New Hampshire."
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"value": "# States compete for top billing on Democrats' 2028 election calendar\n\nBy Hannah Fingerhut, Meg Kinnard, and Holly Ramer \nMay 11th, 2025 11:29 AM\n\n---\n\nDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Before they can name their next presidential nominee, Democrats will have to decide which state will weigh in first.\n\nIn 2022, President Joe Biden forced a shake-up of the 2024 election calendar, moving South Carolina's primary ahead of contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Officials in those traditionally four early-voting states are now positioning themselves to get top billing nearly two years before the Democratic National Committee solidifies the order. Others may make a play, too.\n\nIt's a fraught choice for a party already wrestling with questions about its direction after losing November's White House election to Republican Donald Trump. Each state offers advantages to different candidates and elevates — or diminishes — different parts of the Democratic base.\n\nFor now, 2028 prospects are making early-state visits, giving a glimpse into what they may see as their own path to the nomination.\n\nIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker was the keynote speaker at adinner last month for New Hampshire Democrats, visiting a majority white state known for its engaged electorate and independent streak. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the state's first Black governor, will appear later this month at a similar party event in South Carolina, where Black voters are the party's most influential voting group.\n\nPete Buttigieg will join a VoteVets Action Fund gathering in Iowa on Tuesday, marking the former presidential candidate's first public in-person event since leaving his post as Biden's transportation secretary. Buttigieg performed well in the 2020 caucuses, which were marred by technical glitches that prevented the declaration of a winner.\n\n## Iowa looks past snub for 'fair' shot in 2028\n\nBiden and others pushed to open the 2024 cycle with a more diverse state than traditional leadoff Iowa, which is 90% white, according to census data.\n\nGone was a five-decade institution of Iowa Democrats engaging in a one-night spectacle where community members publicly signaled their support for a candidate. Last year, they held caucuses eight days before any other state's contest, as is required by Iowa law. But Democratic voters had cast their 2024 presidential preference ballots by mail, with results released that March on Super Tuesday alongside other states.\n\nBiden \"picked the calendar that worked for him,\" said Scott Brennan, who serves on the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee and previously chaired the Iowa Democratic Party. \"When you're the president, you can do those things. But I don't know that people in Iowa thought it was very fair.\"\n\nFor now, Iowa Democratic leaders emphasize that their focus is on the 2026 election, when two of Iowa's four congressional districts will be competitive opportunities to unseat Republicans. Democrats have recently struggled on all electoral fronts in Iowa and have significantly diminished party registration numbers, which some blamed on the loss of the caucuses.\n\nBut Brennan said many Iowa Democrats continue to believe that the presidential nominating process is well served by Iowa's early role in it, even if the 2028 format is up in the air.\n\n\"We took everyone at their word that all bets are off for 2028,\" Brennan said. \"We expect that there will be a fair process and that we will be given every consideration to be an early state.\"\n\nFormer U.S. Rep. Dave Nagle was more blunt in proposing that the state party commit to first-in-the-nation status regardless, as he did as chair in 1984 when the national party threatened to upend Iowa and New Hampshire's delegate selection process over noncompliance with timing rules. The two states formed an alliance, getting six of the presidential candidates on their side.\n\n\"All we have to do is look at the Democratic National Committee and say, 'Sorry, we're going first,'\" Nagle said. \"It's ours if we have the courage.\"\n\n## New Hampshire survives threats after rebellion\n\nNew Hampshire rebelled in 2024, holding an unsanctioned primary in January. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in.\n\nThree months later, the DNC dropped its threat to not seat the state's national convention delegates.\n\nUntil Biden's formal request of the DNC to approve his proposed calendar, New Hampshire Democrats thought they were in a good place with work behind the scenes, said the state party chairman, Ray Buckley. He said that effort will continue heading into 2028.\n\n\"This is going to be much more of a level playing field,\" Buckley said. \"There's no reason to come in with a two-ton thumb and put it on the scale.\"\n\nIt does not hurt their case that New Hampshire law requires the primary to be scheduled before any other similar contest.\n\nKathy Sullivan, formerly a state party chair and member of the DNC's rulemaking arm, said it is possible that the \"train has left the station\" for Iowa's hope of returning to its first-place position, given the 2020 problems and the fact that it gave in to the DNC in 2024.\n\n\"I don't know if that helps them in terms of goodwill or hurts them in that they basically gave up the caucuses,\" she said. \"New Hampshire took the opposite tack, we had our primary despite what the DNC said, and our delegates ended up being seated despite the threats.\"\n\n## Never-first Nevada wants top billing\n\nDemocratic leaders in Nevada, which held its 2024 Democratic primary just days after South Carolina's, have also been pushing to keep their state early in the nominating conversation, although the state's location in the West has traditionally made it less-visited by White House hopefuls.\n\nIn a December statement, the state party chair, Daniele Monroe-Moreno, pointed to the state's nonwhite population, union representation and education-level diversity as reasons for Nevada to kick off the 2028 calendar. Nevada is 30% Latino, census data shows, and has significant Black and Asian populations.\n\n\"If Democrats want to win back working class voters and rebuild our broad coalition of voters of color, we should elevate the most working class and most diverse battleground state in the nation to be the first presidential preference primary for the 2028 cycle,\" Monroe-Moreno said.\n\n\"Nevada is the battleground state that best reflects our growing nation,\" she said, and the party \"cannot afford to let overwhelmingly college-educated, white or less competitive states start the process of winnowing the field again in 2028.\"\n\n## South Carolina seeks another go at No. 1\n\nAs the first-in-the-South primary state, where Black voters play a significant role in Democratic voting, South Carolina long promoted its role in picking a nominee after the first set of contests winnowed the field.\n\nBut Christale Spain, who is expected to win her second term as state party chair, said she will make the argument to national Democratic leaders that South Carolina should stay in the No. 1 slot.\n\n\"It's our plan to really work to stay first in the nation,\" Spain said.\n\nAt the end of May, Moore is set to headline the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner, a signature fundraiser that has recently hosted Democratic stars as its keynote speakers, including Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor and Biden energy secretary, and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.\n\nThen-Vice President Kamala Harris used her 2022 speech as an official \"thank you\" to South Carolina for providing the key primary support that revived Biden's flagging 2020 presidential campaign after a series of losses in other early-voting states.\n\nSpain will have to make her argument anew without Biden in the White House and Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina native who recently ended his term as national Democratic chair, helming the party.\n\n\"I think you get what you need from an electorate in South Carolina,\" Spain said. \"All those things matter — the stuff that's happening with the veterans, all our colleges and institutions, the role of Black folks — in a Democratic primary.\n\n\"We have more to offer than other states do,\" she said."
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"value": "# Japan's finance minister calls US Treasury holdings 'a card' in tariff talks with Trump\n\nBy Yuri Kageyama \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:57 AM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — Japan's massive holdings of U.S. Treasurys can be \"a card on the table\" in negotiations over tariffs with the Trump administration, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.\n\n\"It does exist as a card, but I think whether we choose to use it or not would be a separate decision,\" Kato said during a news show on national broadcaster TV Tokyo.\n\nKato did not elaborate and he did not say Japan would step up sales of its holdings of U.S. government bonds as part of its talks over President Donald Trump's tariffs on exports from Japan.\n\nEarlier, Japanese officials including Kato had ruled out such an option.\n\nJapan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, at $1.13 trillion as of late February. China, also at odds with the Trump administration over trade and tariffs, is the second largest foreign investor in Treasurys.\n\nKato stressed that various factors would be on the negotiating table with Trump, implying that a promise not to sell Treasurys could help coax Washington into an agreement favorable for Japan.\n\nTrump has disrupted decades of American trade policies, including with key security allies like Japan, by i mposing big import taxes, or tariffs, on a wide range of products.\n\nA team of Japanese officials was in Washington this week for talks on the tariffs.\n\nThe U.S. is due to soon begin imposing a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, as well as an overall 10% baseline tariff. The bigger tariffs will hurt at a time when Japanese economic growth is weakening.\n\nAsian holdings of Treasurys have remained relatively steady in recent years, according to the most recent figures.\n\nBut some analysts worry China or other governments could liquidate their U.S. Treasury holdings as trade tensions escalate.\n\nU.S. government bonds are traditionally viewed as a safe financial asset, and recent spikes in yields of those bonds have raised worries that they might be losing that status due to Trump's tariff policies."
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"value": "# Japan's finance minister calls US Treasury holdings 'a card' in tariff talks with Trump\n\nBy Yuri Kageyama \nMay 2nd, 2025 08:57 AM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — Japan's massive holdings of U.S. Treasurys can be \"a card on the table\" in negotiations over tariffs with the Trump administration, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.\n\n\"It does exist as a card, but I think whether we choose to use it or not would be a separate decision,\" Kato said during a news show on national broadcaster TV Tokyo.\n\nKato did not elaborate and he did not say Japan would step up sales of its holdings of U.S. government bonds as part of its talks over President Donald Trump's tariffs on exports from Japan.\n\nEarlier, Japanese officials including Kato had ruled out such an option.\n\nJapan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, at $1.13 trillion as of late February. China, also at odds with the Trump administration over trade and tariffs, is the second largest foreign investor in Treasurys.\n\nKato stressed that various factors would be on the negotiating table with Trump, implying that a promise not to sell Treasurys could help coax Washington into an agreement favorable for Japan.\n\nTrump has disrupted decades of American trade policies, including with key security allies like Japan, by i mposing big import taxes, or tariffs, on a wide range of products.\n\nA team of Japanese officials was in Washington this week for talks on the tariffs.\n\nThe U.S. is due to soon begin imposing a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, as well as an overall 10% baseline tariff. The bigger tariffs will hurt at a time when Japanese economic growth is weakening.\n\nAsian holdings of Treasurys have remained relatively steady in recent years, according to the most recent figures.\n\nBut some analysts worry China or other governments could liquidate their U.S. Treasury holdings as trade tensions escalate.\n\nU.S. government bonds are traditionally viewed as a safe financial asset, and recent spikes in yields of those bonds have raised worries that they might be losing that status due to Trump's tariff policies."
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"value": "# Michigan beats UCLA 2-0, completing improbable run to second straight Big Ten softball championship\n\nMay 10th, 2025 10:22 PM\n\n---\n\nWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Jenissa Conway drove in the first run with a double in the top of the sixth inning and Lauren Derkowski and Erin Hoehn combined on a three-hitter as the eighth-seeded Michigan Wolverines completed an improbable run to the Big Ten Tournament championship with a 2-0 victory over the second-seeded UCLA Bruins on Saturday.\n\nThe Wolverines (38-19) advanced to the title game with a 5-0 victory over the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals and a 4-2 semifinal win over the tournament host and 12th-seeded Purdue Boilermakers. It was Michigan's second straight Big Ten tourney title and its 12th overall.\n\nIndiana Langford started the rally for Michigan when she singled off UCLA starter Addisen Fisher (16-2) and took second on an error by left fielder Rylee Slimp. Conway plated Langford when she doubled to center and Ella Stephenson added an insurance run with a two-out infield single after Conway took third on a groundout.\n\nDerkowski (17-12) allowed three hits and two walks in five innings. Hoehn entered after Derkowski issued a walk to Jordan Woolery leading off the sixth. Hoehn retired all six batters she faced.\n\nThe Bruins advanced to the final after a 4-2 victory over third-seeded Nebraska in the semifinals.\n\nMichigan won its only softball title in 2005. They were runners-up in 2015. The Wolverines have appeared in 12 Women's College World Series in 30 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.\n\nUCLA (49-10) was playing in its third straight conference tournament final in its first season in the Big Ten with the previous two coming while the Bruins were members of the Pac-12.\n\nUCLA has won 13 NCAA softball championships — most recently in 2019 — as well as being runners-up seven times. The Bruins have advanced to the WCWS in 33 of 40 tournament appearances.\n\n___\n\nAP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports"
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"value": "# Michigan beats UCLA 2-0, completing improbable run to second straight Big Ten softball championship\n\nMay 10th, 2025 10:22 PM\n\n---\n\nWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Jenissa Conway drove in the first run with a double in the top of the sixth inning and Lauren Derkowski and Erin Hoehn combined on a three-hitter as the eighth-seeded Michigan Wolverines completed an improbable run to the Big Ten Tournament championship with a 2-0 victory over the second-seeded UCLA Bruins on Saturday.\n\nThe Wolverines (38-19) advanced to the title game with a 5-0 victory over the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals and a 4-2 semifinal win over the tournament host and 12th-seeded Purdue Boilermakers. It was Michigan's second straight Big Ten tourney title and its 12th overall.\n\nIndiana Langford started the rally for Michigan when she singled off UCLA starter Addisen Fisher (16-2) and took second on an error by left fielder Rylee Slimp. Conway plated Langford when she doubled to center and Ella Stephenson added an insurance run with a two-out infield single after Conway took third on a groundout.\n\nDerkowski (17-12) allowed three hits and two walks in five innings. Hoehn entered after Derkowski issued a walk to Jordan Woolery leading off the sixth. Hoehn retired all six batters she faced.\n\nThe Bruins advanced to the final after a 4-2 victory over third-seeded Nebraska in the semifinals.\n\nMichigan won its only softball title in 2005. They were runners-up in 2015. The Wolverines have appeared in 12 Women's College World Series in 30 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.\n\nUCLA (49-10) was playing in its third straight conference tournament final in its first season in the Big Ten with the previous two coming while the Bruins were members of the Pac-12.\n\nUCLA has won 13 NCAA softball championships — most recently in 2019 — as well as being runners-up seven times. The Bruins have advanced to the WCWS in 33 of 40 tournament appearances."
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"value": "# A massive coastal restoration project is in peril amid claims Louisiana concealed a critical report\n\nBy Jack Brook and Jim Mustian \nMay 5th, 2025 04:04 AM\n\n---\n\nBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An ambitious project to restore a rapidly vanishing stretch of Louisiana coast that was devastated by the 2010 Gulf oil spill has been thrown deeper into disarray amid claims by Gov. Jeff Landry that his predecessor concealed an unfavorable study that it was feared could imperil the $3 billion effort.\n\nIt's a controversy that was even predicted by the previous administration as it grappled with how to handle conflicting environmental analyses for the project, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Associated Press.\n\nThe nine-page document, prepared by five attorneys working for then-Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration, sheds new light on a study Landry says was improperly withheld from the public and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as it was approving a permit for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion.\n\nThe stakes were so high the attorneys even weighed whether state officials could face federal charges for withholding from the Corps a report that the diversion would generate significantly less land than another modeling projection used in a federal review.\n\nProsecution seemed \"extremely unlikely,\" the lawyers wrote to the heads of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees the diversion project, but they added that \"the severe consequences and criminalization of the action warranted mention.\"\n\nThe attorneys also warned that the Corps might suspend or revoke the permit if it discovered the study after the fact, the 2022 memo shows, foreshadowing actions taken last month when the Corps cited \"deliberately withheld\" information among its reasons for suspending its permit for the project. The move halts construction despite more than half a billion dollars already spent.\n\n\"They hid the bad stuff and only showed the (Corps) the version they liked,\" Landry wrote in a post on X. \"Science is easy when you just delete the inconvenient parts!\"\n\nEdwards denied his administration withheld information from the Corps and said \"Gov. Landry's accusations are demonstrably false.\"\n\n\"When all the facts are presented, the public will see that his administration has played political games and botched this important project,\" Edwards said in a statement to AP.\n\nLandry countered in his own statement that \"the facts speak for themselves.\"\n\nAmid the finger-pointing, conservation proponents have called the report in question a red herring that Landry is using to tank the project. The diversion, funded mostly from a settlement arising from BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is the largest of its kind in Louisiana's history.\n\n## Confidential memo warns of legal consequences\n\nThe Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion would puncture levees in southeast Louisiana, diverting some of the river's sediment-rich flow to restore wetlands. The long-delayed project was intended to mitigate a disappearing coastline caused by a range of factors such as climate change-induced sea-level rise and the river's vast levee system. Ground was broken in 2023, but state and federal litigation has stalled it.\n\nOpponents have blasted its ballooning cost and crippling effects on the local fishing and oyster industries. Landry has said the project would \"break\" Louisiana's culture of shrimp and oyster harvesting, likening it to government efforts a century ago to punish schoolchildren for speaking Cajun French.\n\nEarlier this year, Landry's administration approached the Corps with a list of concerns about the project, including a 2022 study it said \"does not appear to have been disclosed to the public nor considered by all necessary persons within the Corps.\"\n\nOfficials working for the state at the time defended their handling of the report in question, saying it had been focused on analyzing maintenance and operational costs related to the diversion and was not intended to be part of the federal environmental impact statement process.\n\nThe report, prepared by AECOM Technical Services and a subcontractor, produced \"inconsistent\" results such as a significantly lower projected land creation — as few as 7 square miles (18 square kilometers) compared to the 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) estimated under the primary model, according to the confidential memo.\n\nOfficials familiar with the study said its lower projection resulted from not properly accounting for sea level rise and underestimating the river's flow. The memo also pointed to the need for \"significant dredging\" to maintain the diversion channel, which Landry's administration now says will cost tens of millions of dollars.\n\nIn the memo, the attorneys outlined a series of \"reputational concerns\" about withholding the study and warned it would be more difficult to keep \"controlling the narrative\" if the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority \"is on the defensive.\"\n\n## An informal discussion\n\nThe memo noted the Corps and other federal agencies could delay the project for years if they attempted to integrate the modeling results into their environmental impact analysis. Failing to formally disclose the modeling results to federal agencies like the Corps, the attorneys warned, also would leave the project vulnerable to litigation.\n\nThey suggested the Edwards administration \"informally discuss\" the issue with federal agencies and then strategize the best way to \"formally\" enter it into the public record for the agencies to review.\n\nThe report's findings eventually were verbally communicated to at least one Corps official, who indicated it was insignificant, according to multiple former Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority officials familiar with the exchange. But the complete analysis itself was not submitted into the public record, nor was the official's response at the time, they said.\n\nThe former state officials weren't authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.\n\nCol. Cullen Jones, head of the Corps' New Orleans District, told Landry's administration last month that the Corps recently conducted a \"technical review\" of the modeling analysis in question and concluded it \"would not affect\" the permit.\n\nBut Jones said the Corps suspended the project's permit in part because \"the State deliberately withheld information … that the State knew it should provide.\"\n\n## What does this mean for the future of the project?\n\nThe Corps also pointed to actions taken by Landry's administration, including a 90-day work stoppage announced last month amid plans to study an alternative \"smaller diversion\" and claims the state can't afford the project.\n\nIt's unclear how Landry intends to respond to the permit's suspension. The state has until Monday to take action to dispute the permit suspension. At that point, the Corps could revoke or modify the permit as it sees fit.\n\nLouisiana's coastal agency earmarked about $573 million in its 2025 budget for the project, an amount now being reviewed by the legislature. Last fall, federal agencies tasked with managing Deepwater Horizon settlement money warned that if Louisiana backs out of or alters the Mid-Barataria diversion, money allocated for it would need to be returned.\n\nLauren Bourg, director of the National Audubon Society's Mississippi River Delta program, told lawmakers that ending or altering the project \"sends the message that any infrastructure project in this state may be undone by a few stakeholders who engage in politics with the right people, distorting the scientific and engineering principles upon which all of these projects are grounded.\"\n\nBut many in southeast Louisiana's fishing industry applauded the move to halt the project.\n\n\"If all this water comes down, it's going to kill everything,\" said Mitch Jurisich, chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force.\n\n__ Brook reported from New Orleans. He 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. Follow Brook on X at @jack_brook96"
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"value": "# A massive coastal restoration project is in peril amid claims Louisiana concealed a critical report\n\nBy Jack Brook and Jim Mustian \nMay 5th, 2025 04:04 AM\n\n---\n\nBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An ambitious project to restore a rapidly vanishing stretch of Louisiana coast that was devastated by the 2010 Gulf oil spill has been thrown deeper into disarray amid claims by Gov. Jeff Landry that his predecessor concealed an unfavorable study that it was feared could imperil the $3 billion effort.\n\nIt's a controversy that was even predicted by the previous administration as it grappled with how to handle conflicting environmental analyses for the project, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Associated Press.\n\nThe nine-page document, prepared by five attorneys working for then-Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration, sheds new light on a study Landry says was improperly withheld from the public and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as it was approving a permit for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion.\n\nThe stakes were so high the attorneys even weighed whether state officials could face federal charges for withholding from the Corps a report that the diversion would generate significantly less land than another modeling projection used in a federal review.\n\nProsecution seemed \"extremely unlikely,\" the lawyers wrote to the heads of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees the diversion project, but they added that \"the severe consequences and criminalization of the action warranted mention.\"\n\nThe attorneys also warned that the Corps might suspend or revoke the permit if it discovered the study after the fact, the 2022 memo shows, foreshadowing actions taken last month when the Corps cited \"deliberately withheld\" information among its reasons for suspending its permit for the project. The move halts construction despite more than half a billion dollars already spent.\n\n\"They hid the bad stuff and only showed the (Corps) the version they liked,\" Landry wrote in a post on X. \"Science is easy when you just delete the inconvenient parts!\"\n\nEdwards denied his administration withheld information from the Corps and said \"Gov. Landry's accusations are demonstrably false.\"\n\n\"When all the facts are presented, the public will see that his administration has played political games and botched this important project,\" Edwards said in a statement to AP.\n\nLandry countered in his own statement that \"the facts speak for themselves.\"\n\nAmid the finger-pointing, conservation proponents have called the report in question a red herring that Landry is using to tank the project. The diversion, funded mostly from a settlement arising from BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is the largest of its kind in Louisiana's history.\n\n## Confidential memo warns of legal consequences\n\nThe Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion would puncture levees in southeast Louisiana, diverting some of the river's sediment-rich flow to restore wetlands. The long-delayed project was intended to mitigate a disappearing coastline caused by a range of factors such as climate change-induced sea-level rise and the river's vast levee system. Ground was broken in 2023, but state and federal litigation has stalled it.\n\nOpponents have blasted its ballooning cost and crippling effects on the local fishing and oyster industries. Landry has said the project would \"break\" Louisiana's culture of shrimp and oyster harvesting, likening it to government efforts a century ago to punish schoolchildren for speaking Cajun French.\n\nEarlier this year, Landry's administration approached the Corps with a list of concerns about the project, including a 2022 study it said \"does not appear to have been disclosed to the public nor considered by all necessary persons within the Corps.\"\n\nOfficials working for the state at the time defended their handling of the report in question, saying it had been focused on analyzing maintenance and operational costs related to the diversion and was not intended to be part of the federal environmental impact statement process.\n\nThe report, prepared by AECOM Technical Services and a subcontractor, produced \"inconsistent\" results such as a significantly lower projected land creation — as few as 7 square miles (18 square kilometers) compared to the 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) estimated under the primary model, according to the confidential memo.\n\nOfficials familiar with the study said its lower projection resulted from not properly accounting for sea level rise and underestimating the river's flow. The memo also pointed to the need for \"significant dredging\" to maintain the diversion channel, which Landry's administration now says will cost tens of millions of dollars.\n\nIn the memo, the attorneys outlined a series of \"reputational concerns\" about withholding the study and warned it would be more difficult to keep \"controlling the narrative\" if the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority \"is on the defensive.\"\n\n## An informal discussion\n\nThe memo noted the Corps and other federal agencies could delay the project for years if they attempted to integrate the modeling results into their environmental impact analysis. Failing to formally disclose the modeling results to federal agencies like the Corps, the attorneys warned, also would leave the project vulnerable to litigation.\n\nThey suggested the Edwards administration \"informally discuss\" the issue with federal agencies and then strategize the best way to \"formally\" enter it into the public record for the agencies to review.\n\nThe report's findings eventually were verbally communicated to at least one Corps official, who indicated it was insignificant, according to multiple former Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority officials familiar with the exchange. But the complete analysis itself was not submitted into the public record, nor was the official's response at the time, they said.\n\nThe former state officials weren't authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.\n\nCol. Cullen Jones, head of the Corps' New Orleans District, told Landry's administration last month that the Corps recently conducted a \"technical review\" of the modeling analysis in question and concluded it \"would not affect\" the permit.\n\nBut Jones said the Corps suspended the project's permit in part because \"the State deliberately withheld information … that the State knew it should provide.\"\n\n## What does this mean for the future of the project?\n\nThe Corps also pointed to actions taken by Landry's administration, including a 90-day work stoppage announced last month amid plans to study an alternative \"smaller diversion\" and claims the state can't afford the project.\n\nIt's unclear how Landry intends to respond to the permit's suspension. The state has until Monday to take action to dispute the permit suspension. At that point, the Corps could revoke or modify the permit as it sees fit.\n\nLouisiana's coastal agency earmarked about $573 million in its 2025 budget for the project, an amount now being reviewed by the legislature. Last fall, federal agencies tasked with managing Deepwater Horizon settlement money warned that if Louisiana backs out of or alters the Mid-Barataria diversion, money allocated for it would need to be returned.\n\nLauren Bourg, director of the National Audubon Society's Mississippi River Delta program, told lawmakers that ending or altering the project \"sends the message that any infrastructure project in this state may be undone by a few stakeholders who engage in politics with the right people, distorting the scientific and engineering principles upon which all of these projects are grounded.\"\n\nBut many in southeast Louisiana's fishing industry applauded the move to halt the project.\n\n\"If all this water comes down, it's going to kill everything,\" said Mitch Jurisich, chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force."
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"value": "# Angel City defender Savy King is stable after collapsing during game against Royals\n\nMay 10th, 2025 05:45 AM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — Angel City defender Savy King was hospitalized in stable condition Saturday, a day after she was stretchered off the field because of what the National Women's Soccer League called a \"medical event\" during a match against the Utah Royals.\n\nThe NWSL released a statement saying King also was stable when she was taken to the hospital after collapsing on the field during Friday night's match. She will undergo further evaluation. Further details were not disclosed.\n\n\"We are grateful to the Angel City medical staff as well as to local paramedics who handled this difficult situation seamlessly,\" the NWSL's statement said.\n\nPlayers on both sides were visibly shaken as trainers rushed to King's side after she went down in the 74th minute. She was attended to for some 10 minutes before she was taken from the field on a cart.\n\nAngel City issued a statement that said King \"was transported by EMS to the hospital following a medical event on the field. She is responsive and undergoing further evaluation. We thank everyone for their concern and support.\"\n\nAfter the match, both teams gathered in a circle at midfield in prayer for King. Some fans questioned why the match continued.\n\nIn an Instagram story, Washington Spirit national team forward Trinity Rodman offered prayers for King and her family, adding \"In no world should that game have continued.\"\n\nThe league said in its statement that it would review its policies to determine if changes need to be made.\n\nNWSL rules for 2025 state that the league \"recognizes that emergencies may arise which make the start or progression of a Game inadvisable or dangerous for participants and spectators. Certain event categories automatically trigger the League Office into an evaluation of whether delay or postponement is necessary.\"\n\nThere were 12 minutes of stoppage time added to the match. Angel City won the game 2-0.\n\nKing, 20, was the second overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft by expansion Bay FC and played 18 games for the club. She was traded to Angel City in February and has started in all eight games for the team this season.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer"
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"value": "# Angel City defender Savy King is stable after collapsing during game against Royals\n\nMay 10th, 2025 05:45 AM\n\n---\n\nLOS ANGELES (AP) — Angel City defender Savy King was hospitalized in stable condition Saturday, a day after she was stretchered off the field because of what the National Women's Soccer League called a \"medical event\" during a match against the Utah Royals.\n\nThe NWSL released a statement saying King also was stable when she was taken to the hospital after collapsing on the field during Friday night's match. She will undergo further evaluation. Further details were not disclosed.\n\n\"We are grateful to the Angel City medical staff as well as to local paramedics who handled this difficult situation seamlessly,\" the NWSL's statement said.\n\nPlayers on both sides were visibly shaken as trainers rushed to King's side after she went down in the 74th minute. She was attended to for some 10 minutes before she was taken from the field on a cart.\n\nAngel City issued a statement that said King \"was transported by EMS to the hospital following a medical event on the field. She is responsive and undergoing further evaluation. We thank everyone for their concern and support.\"\n\nAfter the match, both teams gathered in a circle at midfield in prayer for King. Some fans questioned why the match continued.\n\nIn an Instagram story, Washington Spirit national team forward Trinity Rodman offered prayers for King and her family, adding \"In no world should that game have continued.\"\n\nThe league said in its statement that it would review its policies to determine if changes need to be made.\n\nNWSL rules for 2025 state that the league \"recognizes that emergencies may arise which make the start or progression of a Game inadvisable or dangerous for participants and spectators. Certain event categories automatically trigger the League Office into an evaluation of whether delay or postponement is necessary.\"\n\nThere were 12 minutes of stoppage time added to the match. Angel City won the game 2-0.\n\nKing, 20, was the second overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft by expansion Bay FC and played 18 games for the club. She was traded to Angel City in February and has started in all eight games for the team this season."
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"value": "# What's in Trump and Starmer's US-UK trade deal, and what's not\n\nBy Christopher Rugaber \nMay 8th, 2025 04:56 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom Thursday in grandiose terms, but with only limited details about what it will achieve.\n\nThe agreement will open up the British market to American beef, ethanol, and other agricultural products, the White House said. It will also allow British cars and steel better access to U.S. consumers.\n\nThe pact provides some support for President Donald Trump's arguments that his steep tariffs could lead to agreements that open up overseas markets. But economists' initial reactions were cool, with many noting that the United Kingdom isn't a large enough trading partner for the U.S. to really move the needle for the U.S. economy.\n\n\"It's more symbolic than economic,\" Beata Caranci, chief economist at the bank TD Economics, said in an email. \"What we have learned is that these initial announcements are going to be more fine-tuning around the edges and easing of pain points, rather than an end to the trade war.\"\n\nTrump said in the Oval Office Thursday that additional details will be worked out in the \"coming weeks.\" But in a fact sheet the administration said the deal is \"historic\" and \"a great deal for America.\"\n\nU.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the deal would protect thousands of auto jobs and stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries.\n\nThe U.K. is the United States' fourth largest export market, though has received just 4.5% of U.S. exports this year.\n\n## What's in the deal:\n\n—The United States will maintain the 10% duty on nearly all imports from the U.K., which Trump imposed April 2. Many economists had hoped that the tariff would be dropped as part of any trade deal, but Trump suggested that the 10% universal duty was likely to be a floor in any future talks with other countries.\n\n—The U.S. will cut its tariffs on car imports from the U.K. to 10% from 27.5%, according to the U.K. government, but only up to 100,000 cars. The U.K. exported 92,000 cars to the U.S. in 2024, which means the U.K. auto industry won't be able to boost its shipments without paying higher duties.\n\n—U.K. steel exports will enter the U.S. duty-free, rather than face the 25% tariff the White House has placed on imported steel.\n\n—The two countries have agreed to greater market access for each other's beef, with both nations able to export 13,000 metric tons of beef to each others' countries.\n\n—The U.K. will eliminate its tariff on ethanol from the U.S., up to 1.4 billion liters.\n\n—The U.S. will lift all duties on airplane engines and other aerospace parts from the U.K.'s Rolls Royce. In return, a U.K. airline will soon announce the purchase of $10 billion in planes from Boeing.\n\n—The U.K. will reduce its average tariff on U.S. goods to 1.8%, which would amount to a $200 million cut in duties, the British government said. The U.K. will also lower import taxes on about 2,500 U.S. products including olive oil, wine and sports equipment.\n\n—The U.K. will \"reduce or eliminate\" non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports, the White House said, though it did not provide details. The agreement creates opportunities for $5 billion in new exports of U.S. agricultural and other goods, according to the administration's fact sheet.\n\n## What's not in the deal, at least not yet\n\n—The agreement does not provide U.S. companies any additional access to the U.K.'s government-run national health service.\n\n—There also aren't any changes on the U.K.'s digital services tax, which hits U.S. tech giants such as Amazon, Alphabet's Google, and Facebook parent Meta. Trump has strongly criticized the tax. The U.K. government said, however, that the two nations have agreed to negotiate on a digital trade deal.\n\n—Trump said the deal did not exempt the U.K. from the 100% tariffs on foreign-made films he has proposed.\n\n—Negotiations are still ongoing in areas such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals, copper and lumber, a British trade official said."
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"value": "# What's in Trump and Starmer's US-UK trade deal, and what's not\n\nBy Christopher Rugaber \nMay 8th, 2025 04:56 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom Thursday in grandiose terms, but with only limited details about what it will achieve.\n\nThe agreement will open up the British market to American beef, ethanol, and other agricultural products, the White House said. It will also allow British cars and steel better access to U.S. consumers.\n\nThe pact provides some support for President Donald Trump's arguments that his steep tariffs could lead to agreements that open up overseas markets. But economists' initial reactions were cool, with many noting that the United Kingdom isn't a large enough trading partner for the U.S. to really move the needle for the U.S. economy.\n\n\"It's more symbolic than economic,\" Beata Caranci, chief economist at the bank TD Economics, said in an email. \"What we have learned is that these initial announcements are going to be more fine-tuning around the edges and easing of pain points, rather than an end to the trade war.\"\n\nTrump said in the Oval Office Thursday that additional details will be worked out in the \"coming weeks.\" But in a fact sheet the administration said the deal is \"historic\" and \"a great deal for America.\"\n\nU.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the deal would protect thousands of auto jobs and stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries.\n\nThe U.K. is the United States' fourth largest export market, though has received just 4.5% of U.S. exports this year.\n\n## What's in the deal:\n\n—The United States will maintain the 10% duty on nearly all imports from the U.K., which Trump imposed April 2. Many economists had hoped that the tariff would be dropped as part of any trade deal, but Trump suggested that the 10% universal duty was likely to be a floor in any future talks with other countries.\n\n—The U.S. will cut its tariffs on car imports from the U.K. to 10% from 27.5%, according to the U.K. government, but only up to 100,000 cars. The U.K. exported 92,000 cars to the U.S. in 2024, which means the U.K. auto industry won't be able to boost its shipments without paying higher duties.\n\n—U.K. steel exports will enter the U.S. duty-free, rather than face the 25% tariff the White House has placed on imported steel.\n\n—The two countries have agreed to greater market access for each other's beef, with both nations able to export 13,000 metric tons of beef to each others' countries.\n\n—The U.K. will eliminate its tariff on ethanol from the U.S., up to 1.4 billion liters.\n\n—The U.S. will lift all duties on airplane engines and other aerospace parts from the U.K.'s Rolls Royce. In return, a U.K. airline will soon announce the purchase of $10 billion in planes from Boeing.\n\n—The U.K. will reduce its average tariff on U.S. goods to 1.8%, which would amount to a $200 million cut in duties, the British government said. The U.K. will also lower import taxes on about 2,500 U.S. products including olive oil, wine and sports equipment.\n\n—The U.K. will \"reduce or eliminate\" non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports, the White House said, though it did not provide details. The agreement creates opportunities for $5 billion in new exports of U.S. agricultural and other goods, according to the administration's fact sheet.\n\n## What's not in the deal, at least not yet\n\n—The agreement does not provide U.S. companies any additional access to the U.K.'s government-run national health service.\n\n—There also aren't any changes on the U.K.'s digital services tax, which hits U.S. tech giants such as Amazon, Alphabet's Google, and Facebook parent Meta. Trump has strongly criticized the tax. The U.K. government said, however, that the two nations have agreed to negotiate on a digital trade deal.\n\n—Trump said the deal did not exempt the U.K. from the 100% tariffs on foreign-made films he has proposed.\n\n—Negotiations are still ongoing in areas such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals, copper and lumber, a British trade official said."
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"value": "# The bodies of a Belgian mother and her son were recovered in southern Jordan after flash flooding\n\nMay 5th, 2025 09:20 AM\n\n---\n\nAMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Search and rescue teams recovered the bodies of a Belgian mother and her son on Monday in Jordan, police said a day after the woman and her three children were reported missing in flash flooding. The other two children were found alive.\n\nSunday's flooding in southern Jordan also led to the evacuation of hundreds of tourists from the Petra archaeological site, the country's main tourist attraction.\n\nThe mother and children had been part of a group of 18 tourists who had been on an adventure trip in Wadi al-Nakhil when they were caught up in the flash flood, Ma'an district local governor Hassan al-Jabour told state media broadcaster Al-Mamlaka TV.\n\nFourteen tourists, all Czechs, were rescued on Sunday. Rescue crews located two of the children alive late Sunday, al-Jabour said. The search and rescue operation was suspended at about 2 a.m. because of the complicated weather conditions and terrain. The bodies of the woman and her son were found Monday morning after the search resumed, he said.\n\nFurther details about the family and the ages of the children weren't immediately available.\n\nJordan often experiences flash flooding as heavy seasonal rains send torrents of water through dry desert valleys. At least three people died in 2021 when floodwaters swept away their car, while more than 30 people in the Dead Sea region and other parts of Jordan were killed in flash flooding in 2018."
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"value": "# The bodies of a Belgian mother and her son were recovered in southern Jordan after flash flooding\n\nMay 5th, 2025 09:20 AM\n\n---\n\nAMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Search and rescue teams recovered the bodies of a Belgian mother and her son on Monday in Jordan, police said a day after the woman and her three children were reported missing in flash flooding. The other two children were found alive.\n\nSunday's flooding in southern Jordan also led to the evacuation of hundreds of tourists from the Petra archaeological site, the country's main tourist attraction.\n\nThe mother and children had been part of a group of 18 tourists who had been on an adventure trip in Wadi al-Nakhil when they were caught up in the flash flood, Ma'an district local governor Hassan al-Jabour told state media broadcaster Al-Mamlaka TV.\n\nFourteen tourists, all Czechs, were rescued on Sunday. Rescue crews located two of the children alive late Sunday, al-Jabour said. The search and rescue operation was suspended at about 2 a.m. because of the complicated weather conditions and terrain. The bodies of the woman and her son were found Monday morning after the search resumed, he said.\n\nFurther details about the family and the ages of the children weren't immediately available.\n\nJordan often experiences flash flooding as heavy seasonal rains send torrents of water through dry desert valleys. At least three people died in 2021 when floodwaters swept away their car, while more than 30 people in the Dead Sea region and other parts of Jordan were killed in flash flooding in 2018."
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"value": "# Hundreds of flights delayed by runway equipment issue at Atlanta airport\n\nMay 11th, 2025 05:18 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Hundreds of flights have been delayed at Atlanta's airport — one of the world's busiest — on Sunday because of a runway equipment issue.\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it has temporarily slowed arrivals into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, while technicians work to address the problem.\n\nAs of 1 p.m. EDT, more than 200 departure flights were delayed, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 250 incoming flights were also delayed."
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"value": "# Hundreds of flights delayed by runway equipment issue at Atlanta airport\n\nMay 11th, 2025 05:18 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Hundreds of flights have been delayed at Atlanta's airport — one of the world's busiest — on Sunday because of a runway equipment issue.\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it has temporarily slowed arrivals into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, while technicians work to address the problem.\n\nAs of 1 p.m. EDT, more than 200 departure flights were delayed, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 250 incoming flights were also delayed."
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"value": "# Rubio takes on 2 top national security roles\n\nBy Matthew Lee and Farnoush Amiri \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:07 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been thrown into two top national security jobs at once as President Donald Trump presses forward with his top-to-bottom revamp of U.S. foreign policy, upending not only longstanding policies that the former Florida senator once supported but also the configuration of the executive branch.\n\nTrump's appointment of Rubio to temporarily replace Mike Waltz as national security adviser is the first major leadership shake-up of the nascent administration, but Waltz's removal had been rumored for weeks — ever since he created a Signal group chat and accidentally added a journalist to the conversation where top national security officials shared sensitive military plans.\n\nSo, just over 100 days into his tenure as America's top diplomat, Rubio now becomes just the second person to hold both positions. He follows only the late Henry Kissinger, who served as both secretary of state and national security adviser for two years under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s.\n\nRubio — a one-time Trump rival and hawkish conservative who was derided by the president as \"Little Marco\" during the 2016 presidential campaign — has proven adept at aligning himself with Trump's \"America First\" foreign policy positions. Rubio has largely eschewed his staunch advocacy of providing foreign aid and promoting democracy overseas since taking over the State Department, repeating a refrain that every policy or program should make America safer, stronger or more prosperous.\n\n## Rubio leads during Trump's massive changes\n\nSince being confirmed in a 99-0 Senate floor vote, Rubio has presided over a radical reorganization of the State Department. That includes the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and plans to cut U.S. jobs by 15% while closing or consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide. He has also begun a major cull of the visa system, revoking hundreds, if not thousands, of visas issued to foreign students.\n\nHe has overseen the negotiation of agreements to send immigrants accused of crimes to third countries, most notably to El Salvador, in cases that are now being challenged in federal courts.\n\n\"Marco Rubio, unbelievable,\" Trump said Thursday before announcing on social media that Waltz would be nominated as ambassador to the United Nations and Rubio would take over as national security adviser in the interim. \"When I have a problem, I call up Marco, he gets it solved.\"\n\nThat's a far cry from 2016, when Rubio and Trump were competing for the GOP presidential nomination and Rubio warned that Trump was a threat. After Trump won, the relationship remained contentious, but eight years later, Rubio was an enthusiastic Trump supporter who worked his Florida bona fides to get into the president's inner circle.\n\nYet, even after Rubio was nominated to the top diplomatic job, doubts remained. Many pundits suggested he would last only a short time in office before Trump dismissed him in the same way he did his first-term secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who was fired by tweet in 2018 just 18 months into the job.\n\nYet Rubio has been resilient. And as of Thursday, he oversees both the State Department and the National Security Council, which is responsible for coordinating all executive branch foreign policy functions, ranging from diplomatic to military and intelligence operations.\n\nThomas Wright, an NSC official during the Biden administration who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the national security adviser post alone is \"more than a full-time job.\"\n\n\"It is just very hard to comprehend the idea that you can do this job sort of part time,\" Wright said.\n\nHe said he watched national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy work 14-15 hour days, six to seven days a week: \"I think they felt that they had to do that to do the job properly.\"\n\n## Rubio says little so far on his additional role\n\nAppearing Thursday night on Fox News Channel's \"Hannity,\" Rubio was not asked to weigh in on the president's decision to tap him as national security adviser but did joke that he was barred from adding pope to his list of many jobs because he is married.\n\nBut as he marked the first 100 days of Trump's latest term, Rubio applauded the president for his vision.\n\n\"I am honored by the trust President Trump placed in me and I am proud of the work the Department of State has done over the past hundred days to implement his agenda and put the American people first,\" he wrote Wednesday in a State Department Substack post.\n\nOne of Rubio's former Florida statehouse colleagues, Dan Gelber, a Democrat, said of Rubio's increasing responsibilities that \"Marco is probably, to a certain extent, one of the more reliable Cabinet officers, if not the most reliable.\"\n\n\"And I can only believe those qualities are even more vital to his current confluence of positions and growing portfolio,\" Gelber said. \"He's not a chaos guy, and I've always sort of wondered how he's going to do in an administration where there seems to be so much chaos. And maybe that's why he's getting all these positions.\"\n\nRubio's dual-hatted role comes on top of him serving as acting administrator of the largely shut down USAID and as acting head of the National Archives. It puts him in a similar position to that of Trump's longtime personal friend and golfing buddy Steve Witkoff.\n\nAs a special envoy, Witkoff is the lead U.S. negotiator in the Iran nuclear talks and in administration peace efforts for the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine-Russia war.\n\nIn many ways, Rubio and Witkoff are following in the footsteps of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had multiple roles in the first administration, ranging from the Middle East to Latin America and immigration.\n\n## How Rubio's expanded duties are seen at the State Department\n\nState Department officials appeared taken aback by Trump's appointment of Rubio as acting national security adviser. Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said at a briefing Thursday that she learned the news from a journalist who asked her a question about Trump's post minutes after it appeared on social media.\n\nOfficials, however, have noted that Rubio in recent weeks has spent an increasingly large amount of time at the White House away from his posh seventh-floor State Department office in what is known as \"Mahogany Row,\" a corridor known for its wood paneling.\n\nAt the same time, these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel shift, said they did not expect Rubio's duties as secretary of state to change significantly. He still plans to travel on diplomatic missions abroad and likely will delegate at least some of the NSC management to others, they said.\n\n____\n\nAmiri reported from the United Nations."
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"value": "# Rubio takes on 2 top national security roles\n\nBy Matthew Lee and Farnoush Amiri \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:07 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been thrown into two top national security jobs at once as President Donald Trump presses forward with his top-to-bottom revamp of U.S. foreign policy, upending not only longstanding policies that the former Florida senator once supported but also the configuration of the executive branch.\n\nTrump's appointment of Rubio to temporarily replace Mike Waltz as national security adviser is the first major leadership shake-up of the nascent administration, but Waltz's removal had been rumored for weeks — ever since he created a Signal group chat and accidentally added a journalist to the conversation where top national security officials shared sensitive military plans.\n\nSo, just over 100 days into his tenure as America's top diplomat, Rubio now becomes just the second person to hold both positions. He follows only the late Henry Kissinger, who served as both secretary of state and national security adviser for two years under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s.\n\nRubio — a one-time Trump rival and hawkish conservative who was derided by the president as \"Little Marco\" during the 2016 presidential campaign — has proven adept at aligning himself with Trump's \"America First\" foreign policy positions. Rubio has largely eschewed his staunch advocacy of providing foreign aid and promoting democracy overseas since taking over the State Department, repeating a refrain that every policy or program should make America safer, stronger or more prosperous.\n\n## Rubio leads during Trump's massive changes\n\nSince being confirmed in a 99-0 Senate floor vote, Rubio has presided over a radical reorganization of the State Department. That includes the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and plans to cut U.S. jobs by 15% while closing or consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide. He has also begun a major cull of the visa system, revoking hundreds, if not thousands, of visas issued to foreign students.\n\nHe has overseen the negotiation of agreements to send immigrants accused of crimes to third countries, most notably to El Salvador, in cases that are now being challenged in federal courts.\n\n\"Marco Rubio, unbelievable,\" Trump said Thursday before announcing on social media that Waltz would be nominated as ambassador to the United Nations and Rubio would take over as national security adviser in the interim. \"When I have a problem, I call up Marco, he gets it solved.\"\n\nThat's a far cry from 2016, when Rubio and Trump were competing for the GOP presidential nomination and Rubio warned that Trump was a threat. After Trump won, the relationship remained contentious, but eight years later, Rubio was an enthusiastic Trump supporter who worked his Florida bona fides to get into the president's inner circle.\n\nYet, even after Rubio was nominated to the top diplomatic job, doubts remained. Many pundits suggested he would last only a short time in office before Trump dismissed him in the same way he did his first-term secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who was fired by tweet in 2018 just 18 months into the job.\n\nYet Rubio has been resilient. And as of Thursday, he oversees both the State Department and the National Security Council, which is responsible for coordinating all executive branch foreign policy functions, ranging from diplomatic to military and intelligence operations.\n\nThomas Wright, an NSC official during the Biden administration who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the national security adviser post alone is \"more than a full-time job.\"\n\n\"It is just very hard to comprehend the idea that you can do this job sort of part time,\" Wright said.\n\nHe said he watched national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy work 14-15 hour days, six to seven days a week: \"I think they felt that they had to do that to do the job properly.\"\n\n## Rubio says little so far on his additional role\n\nAppearing Thursday night on Fox News Channel's \"Hannity,\" Rubio was not asked to weigh in on the president's decision to tap him as national security adviser but did joke that he was barred from adding pope to his list of many jobs because he is married.\n\nBut as he marked the first 100 days of Trump's latest term, Rubio applauded the president for his vision.\n\n\"I am honored by the trust President Trump placed in me and I am proud of the work the Department of State has done over the past hundred days to implement his agenda and put the American people first,\" he wrote Wednesday in a State Department Substack post.\n\nOne of Rubio's former Florida statehouse colleagues, Dan Gelber, a Democrat, said of Rubio's increasing responsibilities that \"Marco is probably, to a certain extent, one of the more reliable Cabinet officers, if not the most reliable.\"\n\n\"And I can only believe those qualities are even more vital to his current confluence of positions and growing portfolio,\" Gelber said. \"He's not a chaos guy, and I've always sort of wondered how he's going to do in an administration where there seems to be so much chaos. And maybe that's why he's getting all these positions.\"\n\nRubio's dual-hatted role comes on top of him serving as acting administrator of the largely shut down USAID and as acting head of the National Archives. It puts him in a similar position to that of Trump's longtime personal friend and golfing buddy Steve Witkoff.\n\nAs a special envoy, Witkoff is the lead U.S. negotiator in the Iran nuclear talks and in administration peace efforts for the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine-Russia war.\n\nIn many ways, Rubio and Witkoff are following in the footsteps of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had multiple roles in the first administration, ranging from the Middle East to Latin America and immigration.\n\n## How Rubio's expanded duties are seen at the State Department\n\nState Department officials appeared taken aback by Trump's appointment of Rubio as acting national security adviser. Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said at a briefing Thursday that she learned the news from a journalist who asked her a question about Trump's post minutes after it appeared on social media.\n\nOfficials, however, have noted that Rubio in recent weeks has spent an increasingly large amount of time at the White House away from his posh seventh-floor State Department office in what is known as \"Mahogany Row,\" a corridor known for its wood paneling.\n\nAt the same time, these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel shift, said they did not expect Rubio's duties as secretary of state to change significantly. He still plans to travel on diplomatic missions abroad and likely will delegate at least some of the NSC management to others, they said."
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"value": "# 'Home of the American Circus' review: Allison Larkin's heartfelt story of small-town America\n\nBy Donna Edwards \nMay 12th, 2025 01:57 PM\n\n---\n\nA heartfelt presentation of small-town American life and the joys and struggles that go with it, \"Home of the American Circus\" centers on Freya who, at 30, must move back home and deal with the house her parents left her. As she addresses the neglected property, Freya faces memories of childhood neglect.\n\nAllison Larkin keeps her fifth novel close to home, set mostly in Somers, New York, where she was born. The title refers to the town, which boasts itself as the birthplace of the American circus. The novel is interspersed with snippets from a school paper on the history of Old Bet — the elephant whose statue marks the town center — and the more famous keeper of said elephant.\n\nThese asides challenge the spottiness of the historical record, reflecting the way Freya relates to Bet as someone whom history is not concerned with, when her tormentors get to write their own version of what happened.\n\nFlashbacks reveal a cascade of abuses suffered at the hands of her family, and seemingly gone unnoticed by the community. The present tense helps differentiate current happenings — with the novel starting in 2007 — from trips down memory lane that crop up as the town's people and places are introduced, stirring up the past like mud in a pond.\n\nThe silver lining: Somers has Freya's beloved niece, Aubrey, whom she hasn't seen in a decade since she left town. The exceptionally written, touching connection between these two characters is, by itself, worth picking up the novel.\n\nLarken abandons the typical story arc in favor of a more naturally flowing up-and-down journey that basks in beautiful moments like a slice-of-life story. Whether it's banter at the bar Freya's working or a leaking roof that is simply one more thing than she can possibly handle right now, the characters and their experiences are so real and pure that their joys and sorrows are amplified tenfold.\n\nAs the novel progresses and Freya starts to rebuild her life in Somers, we learn bit by bit the horrific events that led to her departure.\n\nReconnecting with childhood friends, avoiding the demons of her past, and navigating an entirely new level of adulthood via being thrust into homeownership, \"Home of the American Circus\" is Freya's journey of empowerment, to reclaim her life and the people and things she holds most dear; to recognize her own resilience and inherent self-worth. Larken builds a robust picture of Freya's life, her family, and a small American town home to a circus elephant.\n\n___\n\nAP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews"
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"value": "# 'Home of the American Circus' review: Allison Larkin's heartfelt story of small-town America\n\nBy Donna Edwards \nMay 12th, 2025 01:57 PM\n\n---\n\nA heartfelt presentation of small-town American life and the joys and struggles that go with it, \"Home of the American Circus\" centers on Freya who, at 30, must move back home and deal with the house her parents left her. As she addresses the neglected property, Freya faces memories of childhood neglect.\n\nAllison Larkin keeps her fifth novel close to home, set mostly in Somers, New York, where she was born. The title refers to the town, which boasts itself as the birthplace of the American circus. The novel is interspersed with snippets from a school paper on the history of Old Bet — the elephant whose statue marks the town center — and the more famous keeper of said elephant.\n\nThese asides challenge the spottiness of the historical record, reflecting the way Freya relates to Bet as someone whom history is not concerned with, when her tormentors get to write their own version of what happened.\n\nFlashbacks reveal a cascade of abuses suffered at the hands of her family, and seemingly gone unnoticed by the community. The present tense helps differentiate current happenings — with the novel starting in 2007 — from trips down memory lane that crop up as the town's people and places are introduced, stirring up the past like mud in a pond.\n\nThe silver lining: Somers has Freya's beloved niece, Aubrey, whom she hasn't seen in a decade since she left town. The exceptionally written, touching connection between these two characters is, by itself, worth picking up the novel.\n\nLarken abandons the typical story arc in favor of a more naturally flowing up-and-down journey that basks in beautiful moments like a slice-of-life story. Whether it's banter at the bar Freya's working or a leaking roof that is simply one more thing than she can possibly handle right now, the characters and their experiences are so real and pure that their joys and sorrows are amplified tenfold.\n\nAs the novel progresses and Freya starts to rebuild her life in Somers, we learn bit by bit the horrific events that led to her departure.\n\nReconnecting with childhood friends, avoiding the demons of her past, and navigating an entirely new level of adulthood via being thrust into homeownership, \"Home of the American Circus\" is Freya's journey of empowerment, to reclaim her life and the people and things she holds most dear; to recognize her own resilience and inherent self-worth. Larken builds a robust picture of Freya's life, her family, and a small American town home to a circus elephant."
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"value": "# Pennsylvania governor's residence to get an 'anti-climb' fence\n\nBy Mark Scolforo \nMay 6th, 2025 11:02 PM\n\n---\n\nHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A barrier described as an \"anti-climb fence\" is in the works for the Pennsylvania governor's official residence, the state police chief said Tuesday, less than a month after a late-night intruder jumped the existing fence, broke into the home and started a damaging fire.\n\nCol. Christopher Paris' letter to state lawmakers mentioned the fence as part of a series of changes to bolster security at the brick mansion that is the Harrisburg home of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family.\n\nThe alleged intruder, an unemployed welder, faces charges that include attempted homicide and arson for the fire at about 2 a.m. on April 13. Shapiro and family members were awakened and evacuated, hours after participating in a Passover Seder in the residence. No one was hurt but the building's damage has been estimated to total millions of dollars.\n\nParis told lawmakers he does not intend to provide them with a security review conducted by consultant Jeffrey B. Miller, who led the state police about two decades ago.\n\nMiller's findings and his agency's own investigation, Paris told the legislators, have changed procedures, including \"more frequent security assessments,\" the establishment of a uniformed division to oversee building security at the residence and the installation of a no-climb fence.\n\nFences of metal and brick about 7-feet (2-meter) high already circle the residence along the Susquehanna River about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Capitol. Construction on the new fence did not appear to have begun Tuesday afternoon, although small marker flags along the property's perimeter indicated work is underway.\n\n\"While some of those improvements will be clearly visible to the public — such as the new anti-climb fence — many will not be,\" Paris wrote. He said Miller's report contained details about security operations that, if disclosed to the public, \"would obviously risk jeopardizing the safety\" of those the agency protects."
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"value": "# Pennsylvania governor's residence to get an 'anti-climb' fence\n\nBy Mark Scolforo \nMay 6th, 2025 11:02 PM\n\n---\n\nHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A barrier described as an \"anti-climb fence\" is in the works for the Pennsylvania governor's official residence, the state police chief said Tuesday, less than a month after a late-night intruder jumped the existing fence, broke into the home and started a damaging fire.\n\nCol. Christopher Paris' letter to state lawmakers mentioned the fence as part of a series of changes to bolster security at the brick mansion that is the Harrisburg home of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family.\n\nThe alleged intruder, an unemployed welder, faces charges that include attempted homicide and arson for the fire at about 2 a.m. on April 13. Shapiro and family members were awakened and evacuated, hours after participating in a Passover Seder in the residence. No one was hurt but the building's damage has been estimated to total millions of dollars.\n\nParis told lawmakers he does not intend to provide them with a security review conducted by consultant Jeffrey B. Miller, who led the state police about two decades ago.\n\nMiller's findings and his agency's own investigation, Paris told the legislators, have changed procedures, including \"more frequent security assessments,\" the establishment of a uniformed division to oversee building security at the residence and the installation of a no-climb fence.\n\nFences of metal and brick about 7-feet (2-meter) high already circle the residence along the Susquehanna River about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Capitol. Construction on the new fence did not appear to have begun Tuesday afternoon, although small marker flags along the property's perimeter indicated work is underway.\n\n\"While some of those improvements will be clearly visible to the public — such as the new anti-climb fence — many will not be,\" Paris wrote. He said Miller's report contained details about security operations that, if disclosed to the public, \"would obviously risk jeopardizing the safety\" of those the agency protects."
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"value": "# Mariners rally from 5-run deficit to beat Athletics 6-5 and win 9th straight series\n\nMay 7th, 2025 11:22 PM\n\n---\n\nWEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Leody Taveras hit a game-tying two-out single in the eighth inning of his debut with Seattle before scoring the go-ahead run on Dylan Moore's base hit and the Mariners rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Athletics 6-5 on Wednesday and win their ninth straight series.\n\nAndrés Muñoz gave up a leadoff single to Luis Urías in the ninth, before striking out Jacob Wilson looking to earn his 13th save. Muñoz hasn't allowed an earned run in 18 innings.\n\nTaveras drove in pinch runner Miles Mastrobuoni with one out then stole second before scoring on Moore's single off Noah Murdock (1-1).\n\nWilson had two doubles and drove in a run in his first four-hit game to help the Athletics jump to a 5-0 fourth-inning lead off Mariners starter Bryan Woo. JJ Bleday had a two-run double, and Lawrence Butler added a solo homer.\n\nSeattle got a run back in the fifth when Moore singled, stole second and scored on Ben Williamson's double.\n\nGunnar Hoglund left leading 5-1 in his second career start after issuing a one-out walk to Cal Raleigh in the sixth. Mitch Spence entered and issued a walk before Rowdy Tellez hit his fifth homer to get the Mariners within 5-4. Hoglund was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings.\n\nWoo allowed a season-high five runs on eight hits in six innings. Eduard Bazardo (1-0) got four outs for the win.\n\n## Key moment\n\nTaveras struck out twice and flied out before hitting a single to left on a 1-2 pitch to tie it.\n\n## Key stat\n\nSeattle's J.P. Crawford went 1 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Athletics will start RHP Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71 ERA) in the first of three against the Yankees beginning Friday. The Mariners begin a six-game homestand Friday with three against the Blue Jays.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Mariners rally from 5-run deficit to beat Athletics 6-5 and win 9th straight series\n\nMay 7th, 2025 11:22 PM\n\n---\n\nWEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Leody Taveras hit a game-tying two-out single in the eighth inning of his debut with Seattle before scoring the go-ahead run on Dylan Moore's base hit and the Mariners rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Athletics 6-5 on Wednesday and win their ninth straight series.\n\nAndrés Muñoz gave up a leadoff single to Luis Urías in the ninth, before striking out Jacob Wilson looking to earn his 13th save. Muñoz hasn't allowed an earned run in 18 innings.\n\nTaveras drove in pinch runner Miles Mastrobuoni with one out then stole second before scoring on Moore's single off Noah Murdock (1-1).\n\nWilson had two doubles and drove in a run in his first four-hit game to help the Athletics jump to a 5-0 fourth-inning lead off Mariners starter Bryan Woo. JJ Bleday had a two-run double, and Lawrence Butler added a solo homer.\n\nSeattle got a run back in the fifth when Moore singled, stole second and scored on Ben Williamson's double.\n\nGunnar Hoglund left leading 5-1 in his second career start after issuing a one-out walk to Cal Raleigh in the sixth. Mitch Spence entered and issued a walk before Rowdy Tellez hit his fifth homer to get the Mariners within 5-4. Hoglund was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings.\n\nWoo allowed a season-high five runs on eight hits in six innings. Eduard Bazardo (1-0) got four outs for the win.\n\n## Key moment\n\nTaveras struck out twice and flied out before hitting a single to left on a 1-2 pitch to tie it.\n\n## Key stat\n\nSeattle's J.P. Crawford went 1 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.\n\n## Up next\n\nThe Athletics will start RHP Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71 ERA) in the first of three against the Yankees beginning Friday. The Mariners begin a six-game homestand Friday with three against the Blue Jays."
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"value": "# Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell experience same heartbreak in conference semifinals\n\nBy Joe Reedy \nMay 13th, 2025 09:37 PM\n\n---\n\nCLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell thought this Cleveland Cavaliers team would be the one to get him to a conference final for the first time.\n\nInstead, this trip ended with the same heartbreak as his other three to this point in the playoffs.\n\nMitchell started, played 38 minutes and scored 39 points despite a sprained left ankle, but it wasn't enough as the Indiana Pacers wore down the Cavaliers in the second half and eliminated the Eastern Conference's top seed 114-105 on Tuesday night.\n\nAbout 10 minutes after the game ended, Mitchell went back on the court at Rocket Arena and was still shocked over the sudden ending to the season.\n\n\"I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I still don't want to believe it,\" he said.\n\nThe All-Star guard was questionable two hours before tipoff after he did not play the second half of the Cavaliers' 129-109 loss at Indiana on Sunday after he reaggravated the ankle injury.\n\nMitchell provided an early clue about his status three hours before the game when he took to X with the Cavaliers' hashtag theme of #LetEmKnow.\n\nCoach Kenny Atkinson then said during his pregame availability that Mitchell participated in Tuesday morning's shootaround.\n\nAll doubts were then put to rest when Mitchell came out for his usual pregame shooting routine less than an hour before tipoff.\n\nMitchell didn't show any effects from the injury during the first quarter when he aggressively drove to the basket. Of his 13 points in the first 12 minutes, seven were at the foul line.\n\nHowever, Mitchell struggled from the field the entire game. He was 8 for 25, including 4 for 13 on 3-pointers.\n\nMitchell was 15 of 21 at the foul line, but missed all three shots with 1:49 remaining and the Cavs trailing 106-100. He would make a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip down the floor to get Cleveland within three before the Pacers went on an 8-2 run to close the game.\n\n\"We just didn't get the job done. Nothing else needs to be said. … We let the city down. We let each other down,\" he said.\n\nThe Cavaliers easily dispatched of Miami with a four-game sweep in the first round but could never find the answer against an Indiana squad that plays quick and wears teams down.\n\nMitchell thought the decisive moment of the series came in Game 1, when Indiana went on a 15-4 run during the fourth quarter of a 121-112 victory.\n\nCleveland was missing Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter in Game 2, but blew a 20-point in the second half and lost 120-119.\n\n\"I think Game 1 set the tone. And obviously, guys are out for Game 2 and you're fighting an uphill battle,\" said Mitchell, who averaged 34.2 points in the series and 29.6 in the postseason. \"We had some mental lapses. You can't have that because you're fighting an uphill battle against a team with the fastest pace in history.\"\n\nCleveland was second in the league in the regular season with a 38.3% accuracy rate on 3-pointers, but was 29.4% against Indiana, including 9 for 35 on Tuesday night.\n\n\"The season was not a success in terms of where our goal was. Success would be going to the conference finals, but we didn't do that,\" Atkinson said. \"Quite honestly, I expected more coming off the Miami series (a four-game sweep). Now, we've got to figure out the next piece.\"\n\nIt is the second time Mitchell has been on a top-seeded team that didn't make it to the conference finals. In 2021, Utah lost to the LA Clippers in six games.\n\nAfter going 64-18 in the regular season — which included three winning streaks of 12 games or more — Mitchell and the Cavaliers will ponder what might have been in what is an open chase for the NBA title this year.\n\n\"We have a window with this group. I believe in this team. That's what just (stinks). We're a good team, but ultimately for three games, we didn't seem it,\" Mitchell said. \"There is going to be a long of talk (from media). We didn't capitalize, so everyone is going to write us off. It's, 'What are we going to do about it next year?'\"\n\n\"Y'all are going to say a lot of (stuff). And that's what it takes. I've been here.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba"
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"value": "# Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell experience same heartbreak in conference semifinals\n\nBy Joe Reedy \nMay 13th, 2025 09:37 PM\n\n---\n\nCLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell thought this Cleveland Cavaliers team would be the one to get him to a conference final for the first time.\n\nInstead, this trip ended with the same heartbreak as his other three to this point in the playoffs.\n\nMitchell started, played 38 minutes and scored 39 points despite a sprained left ankle, but it wasn't enough as the Indiana Pacers wore down the Cavaliers in the second half and eliminated the Eastern Conference's top seed 114-105 on Tuesday night.\n\nAbout 10 minutes after the game ended, Mitchell went back on the court at Rocket Arena and was still shocked over the sudden ending to the season.\n\n\"I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I still don't want to believe it,\" he said.\n\nThe All-Star guard was questionable two hours before tipoff after he did not play the second half of the Cavaliers' 129-109 loss at Indiana on Sunday after he reaggravated the ankle injury.\n\nMitchell provided an early clue about his status three hours before the game when he took to X with the Cavaliers' hashtag theme of #LetEmKnow.\n\nCoach Kenny Atkinson then said during his pregame availability that Mitchell participated in Tuesday morning's shootaround.\n\nAll doubts were then put to rest when Mitchell came out for his usual pregame shooting routine less than an hour before tipoff.\n\nMitchell didn't show any effects from the injury during the first quarter when he aggressively drove to the basket. Of his 13 points in the first 12 minutes, seven were at the foul line.\n\nHowever, Mitchell struggled from the field the entire game. He was 8 for 25, including 4 for 13 on 3-pointers.\n\nMitchell was 15 of 21 at the foul line, but missed all three shots with 1:49 remaining and the Cavs trailing 106-100. He would make a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip down the floor to get Cleveland within three before the Pacers went on an 8-2 run to close the game.\n\n\"We just didn't get the job done. Nothing else needs to be said. … We let the city down. We let each other down,\" he said.\n\nThe Cavaliers easily dispatched of Miami with a four-game sweep in the first round but could never find the answer against an Indiana squad that plays quick and wears teams down.\n\nMitchell thought the decisive moment of the series came in Game 1, when Indiana went on a 15-4 run during the fourth quarter of a 121-112 victory.\n\nCleveland was missing Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter in Game 2, but blew a 20-point in the second half and lost 120-119.\n\n\"I think Game 1 set the tone. And obviously, guys are out for Game 2 and you're fighting an uphill battle,\" said Mitchell, who averaged 34.2 points in the series and 29.6 in the postseason. \"We had some mental lapses. You can't have that because you're fighting an uphill battle against a team with the fastest pace in history.\"\n\nCleveland was second in the league in the regular season with a 38.3% accuracy rate on 3-pointers, but was 29.4% against Indiana, including 9 for 35 on Tuesday night.\n\n\"The season was not a success in terms of where our goal was. Success would be going to the conference finals, but we didn't do that,\" Atkinson said. \"Quite honestly, I expected more coming off the Miami series (a four-game sweep). Now, we've got to figure out the next piece.\"\n\nIt is the second time Mitchell has been on a top-seeded team that didn't make it to the conference finals. In 2021, Utah lost to the LA Clippers in six games.\n\nAfter going 64-18 in the regular season — which included three winning streaks of 12 games or more — Mitchell and the Cavaliers will ponder what might have been in what is an open chase for the NBA title this year.\n\n\"We have a window with this group. I believe in this team. That's what just (stinks). We're a good team, but ultimately for three games, we didn't seem it,\" Mitchell said. \"There is going to be a long of talk (from media). We didn't capitalize, so everyone is going to write us off. It's, 'What are we going to do about it next year?'\"\n\n\"Y'all are going to say a lot of (stuff). And that's what it takes. I've been here.\""
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"value": "# Burkina Faso forces killed at least 100 civilians in a March attack, Human Rights Watch says\n\nBy Wilson Mcmakin \nMay 12th, 2025 04:22 AM\n\n---\n\nDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 100 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch said Monday.\n\nAccording to victim testimony and videos shared on social media gathered by the rights group, the attackers were Burkina Faso special forces and members of a pro-government militia, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. The victims were all ethnic Fulani, a pastoralist community that is widespread across the region, which the government has long accused of supporting Muslim militants.\n\nAn earlier report from Human Rights Watch stated that the government's involvement was likely, because of video evidence on social media, although the findings were not definitive. The government issued a sharp denial when first reports surfaced, saying in a statement it \"condemned the propagation, on social media, of images inducing hate and community violence, and fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion\" in the country.\n\n\"The viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo sent shock waves through Africa's Sahel region, but they told only part of the story,\" said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. \"Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso's military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group. The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible.\"\n\nBurkina Faso authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the group's new report.\n\nThe landlocked nation of 23 million people has symbolized the security crisis in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the governments fighting them.\n\nThe military junta, which took power in 2022, failed to provide the stability it promised. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.\n\nThe attack in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region, including Solenzo and other towns, began on Feb. 27 and lasted until April 2, involving hundreds of government troops and drones, according to eyewitnesses quoted in the report.\n\n\"The VDPs shot at us like animals, while drones were flying over our heads. Many women and children died because they could not run,\" said a Fulani herder, 44, from Solenzo, referring to the pro-government militias.\n\nAfter the attack, hundreds of Fulani residents fled across the border into neighboring Mali, the report said.\n\n\"Today, in the whole province, there are no more Fulani — they all fled or were killed or taken hostage,\" said a 53-year-old man from Solenzo. \"But the other (ethnic) communities remain.\"\n\nAfter the government forces left, the report said that jihadist fighters from a group known as JNIM reentered the towns and carried out reprisal killings against residents, targeting the men whom it considered to be military collaborators.\n\n\"All the men had been executed in front of the health center,\" said a 60-year-old woman who witnessed JNIM abuses in Tiao village, a town to the northeast of Solenzo on April 5. \"I counted up to 70 bodies.\"\n\nAccording to analysts, the junta's strategy of military escalation, including mass recruitment of civilians for poorly trained militia units, has exacerbated tensions between ethnic groups.\n\nIt it impossible to get an accurate picture of the situation in the country since the military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship, rights groups said, and those daring to speak up can be openly abducted, imprisoned or forcefully drafted into the army."
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"value": "# Burkina Faso forces killed at least 100 civilians in a March attack, Human Rights Watch says\n\nBy Wilson Mcmakin \nMay 12th, 2025 04:22 AM\n\n---\n\nDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 100 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch said Monday.\n\nAccording to victim testimony and videos shared on social media gathered by the rights group, the attackers were Burkina Faso special forces and members of a pro-government militia, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. The victims were all ethnic Fulani, a pastoralist community that is widespread across the region, which the government has long accused of supporting Muslim militants.\n\nAn earlier report from Human Rights Watch stated that the government's involvement was likely, because of video evidence on social media, although the findings were not definitive. The government issued a sharp denial when first reports surfaced, saying in a statement it \"condemned the propagation, on social media, of images inducing hate and community violence, and fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion\" in the country.\n\n\"The viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo sent shock waves through Africa's Sahel region, but they told only part of the story,\" said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. \"Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso's military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group. The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible.\"\n\nBurkina Faso authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the group's new report.\n\nThe landlocked nation of 23 million people has symbolized the security crisis in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the governments fighting them.\n\nThe military junta, which took power in 2022, failed to provide the stability it promised. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.\n\nThe attack in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region, including Solenzo and other towns, began on Feb. 27 and lasted until April 2, involving hundreds of government troops and drones, according to eyewitnesses quoted in the report.\n\n\"The VDPs shot at us like animals, while drones were flying over our heads. Many women and children died because they could not run,\" said a Fulani herder, 44, from Solenzo, referring to the pro-government militias.\n\nAfter the attack, hundreds of Fulani residents fled across the border into neighboring Mali, the report said.\n\n\"Today, in the whole province, there are no more Fulani — they all fled or were killed or taken hostage,\" said a 53-year-old man from Solenzo. \"But the other (ethnic) communities remain.\"\n\nAfter the government forces left, the report said that jihadist fighters from a group known as JNIM reentered the towns and carried out reprisal killings against residents, targeting the men whom it considered to be military collaborators.\n\n\"All the men had been executed in front of the health center,\" said a 60-year-old woman who witnessed JNIM abuses in Tiao village, a town to the northeast of Solenzo on April 5. \"I counted up to 70 bodies.\"\n\nAccording to analysts, the junta's strategy of military escalation, including mass recruitment of civilians for poorly trained militia units, has exacerbated tensions between ethnic groups.\n\nIt it impossible to get an accurate picture of the situation in the country since the military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship, rights groups said, and those daring to speak up can be openly abducted, imprisoned or forcefully drafted into the army."
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"value": "# Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter launches Senate bid\n\nBy Jeff Amy and Russ Bynum \nMay 8th, 2025 01:11 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter on Thursday became the first Republican to jump into the race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026, as other hopefuls maneuver following Gov. Brian Kemp's announcement that he won't seek the seat.\n\nCarter, who has long had his eye on statewide office, released a video ad proclaiming that President Donald Trump \"has a warrior in Buddy Carter\" and attacking Ossoff.\n\nAt least six other Georgia Republicans have said they're considering a run for Senate. Best known among them is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Also included are two other Georgia Republicans in Congress — Mike Collins and Rich McCormick. Other potential candidates include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, state Insurance Commissioner John King and state Sen. Greg Dolezal.\n\nThough not well-known statewide, Carter has been a political fixture along Georgia's coast for nearly three decades. The 67-year-old pharmacist served as mayor of Pooler just outside Savannah and was a lawmaker in the state House and Senate before being elected to Congress in 2014.\n\nEric Johnson, who served as the top Republican in the Georgia Senate before making an unsuccessful run for governor in 2010, said he's backing Carter.\n\n\"He's known for good constituent service, and he's accessible and visible, some of the things other candidates overlook,\" said Johnson, a retired architect who lives in Effingham County west of Savannah.\n\nHe said Carter should also have plenty of money, which he'll need to increase his name-recognition across Georgia's 159 counties. As of March 31, Carter reported having nearly $3.5 million cash on hand to defend his House seat next fall. He could transfer that money to kickstart a Senate race.\n\nAny Republican primary will not only be a race for voters, but for Trump's endorsement. Whoever gets the Trump nod would be stamped as the frontrunner, and an early endorsement could push others away from the race.\n\nKnown for touting bipartisan legislative efforts, particularly around prescription drugs, Carter has sought to move closer to Trump.\n\nCarter cast himself as a \"MAGA Warrior\" in Thursday's announcement. In February, he introduced a House bill that would authorize Trump to acquire Greenland and rename it \"Red, White and Blueland.\"\n\nCarter was more circumspect about Trump when he first entered the White House. At a 2017 town hall in Savannah, Carter told constituents that \"I am not here to tell you Donald Trump is perfect.\" He added: \"God has used imperfect people to do great things.\"\n\nNo serious Democratic challengers have emerged to Ossoff, who launched his reelection campaign in March with sharp attacks on Trump. But Ossoff also says he'll work with Trump to help Georgia and says working with Republicans is the best way to get things done in Washington.\n\nThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in a statement Thursday accused Carter of supporting a \"toxic agenda\" and said it's confident Ossoff will win reelection next year.\n\nNational Republicans have already been advertising against Ossoff's opposition to a bill barring schools from allowing transgender women to participate in women's sports. Ossoff calls that an obsession most voters don't share. They've also attacked Ossoff for saying in a town hall two weeks ago that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses in his second term.\n\nLike the earlier national Republican ad, Carter on Thursday targeted Ossoff on transgender women in women's sports.\n\n\"He fought against President Trump securing our border and voted for men in girls' sports. Jon Ossoff is on the wrong side.\"\n\nAny race will be expensive. Ossoff raised more than $11 million just in the first three months of 2025. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Raphael Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the body to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found.\n\n——\n\nBynum reported from Savannah, Georgia."
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"value": "# Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter launches Senate bid\n\nBy Jeff Amy and Russ Bynum \nMay 8th, 2025 01:11 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter on Thursday became the first Republican to jump into the race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026, as other hopefuls maneuver following Gov. Brian Kemp's announcement that he won't seek the seat.\n\nCarter, who has long had his eye on statewide office, released a video ad proclaiming that President Donald Trump \"has a warrior in Buddy Carter\" and attacking Ossoff.\n\nAt least six other Georgia Republicans have said they're considering a run for Senate. Best known among them is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Also included are two other Georgia Republicans in Congress — Mike Collins and Rich McCormick. Other potential candidates include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, state Insurance Commissioner John King and state Sen. Greg Dolezal.\n\nThough not well-known statewide, Carter has been a political fixture along Georgia's coast for nearly three decades. The 67-year-old pharmacist served as mayor of Pooler just outside Savannah and was a lawmaker in the state House and Senate before being elected to Congress in 2014.\n\nEric Johnson, who served as the top Republican in the Georgia Senate before making an unsuccessful run for governor in 2010, said he's backing Carter.\n\n\"He's known for good constituent service, and he's accessible and visible, some of the things other candidates overlook,\" said Johnson, a retired architect who lives in Effingham County west of Savannah.\n\nHe said Carter should also have plenty of money, which he'll need to increase his name-recognition across Georgia's 159 counties. As of March 31, Carter reported having nearly $3.5 million cash on hand to defend his House seat next fall. He could transfer that money to kickstart a Senate race.\n\nAny Republican primary will not only be a race for voters, but for Trump's endorsement. Whoever gets the Trump nod would be stamped as the frontrunner, and an early endorsement could push others away from the race.\n\nKnown for touting bipartisan legislative efforts, particularly around prescription drugs, Carter has sought to move closer to Trump.\n\nCarter cast himself as a \"MAGA Warrior\" in Thursday's announcement. In February, he introduced a House bill that would authorize Trump to acquire Greenland and rename it \"Red, White and Blueland.\"\n\nCarter was more circumspect about Trump when he first entered the White House. At a 2017 town hall in Savannah, Carter told constituents that \"I am not here to tell you Donald Trump is perfect.\" He added: \"God has used imperfect people to do great things.\"\n\nNo serious Democratic challengers have emerged to Ossoff, who launched his reelection campaign in March with sharp attacks on Trump. But Ossoff also says he'll work with Trump to help Georgia and says working with Republicans is the best way to get things done in Washington.\n\nThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in a statement Thursday accused Carter of supporting a \"toxic agenda\" and said it's confident Ossoff will win reelection next year.\n\nNational Republicans have already been advertising against Ossoff's opposition to a bill barring schools from allowing transgender women to participate in women's sports. Ossoff calls that an obsession most voters don't share. They've also attacked Ossoff for saying in a town hall two weeks ago that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses in his second term.\n\nLike the earlier national Republican ad, Carter on Thursday targeted Ossoff on transgender women in women's sports.\n\n\"He fought against President Trump securing our border and voted for men in girls' sports. Jon Ossoff is on the wrong side.\"\n\nAny race will be expensive. Ossoff raised more than $11 million just in the first three months of 2025. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Raphael Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the body to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found."
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"value": "# Warriors take Game 1 from cold-shooting Wolves 99-88 despite Curry's departure with hamstring strain\n\nBy Dave Campbell \nMay 7th, 2025 04:22 AM\n\n---\n\nMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Stephen Curry was already in the locker room with a bag of ice against his leg when his Golden State teammates arrived for halftime with a comfortable lead.\n\nThe Warriors sure made the best of a bad situation.\n\nBuddy Hield and Draymond Green delivered from 3-point range with Curry suddenly sidelined by a hamstring strain, and Jimmy Butler gave the Warriors a vintage all-around performance in an inspired 99-88 victory over the stumbling Timberwolves that opened the second-round series on Tuesday night.\n\n\"It was beautiful to see,\" Green said. \"Everybody who came into the game gave us something.\"\n\nHield picked up where he left off in the Game 7 win at Houston that finished the first round by scoring 24 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.\n\nButler had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Green had four first-half 3s on his way to 18 points, as the Warriors used 12 players, plenty of hustle and lockdown defense to overcome the concerning departure of the franchise cornerstone Curry.\n\n\"It's about the intensity and the heart and the fight, and if you do that, you give yourself a chance,\" coach Steve Kerr said.\n\nThe home teams have yet to win in the second round of these NBA playoffs. Minnesota has another chance to get one in Game 2 on Thursday.\n\nThe big question: Will Curry will be available? The league's career-leading 3-point shooter and four-time NBA champion exited early in the second quarter after hitting a 14-footer and grabbing the back of his left leg. The Warriors ruled him out for the remainder of the game soon after that.\n\nKerr frequently sent a zone defense at a Wolves team that went 7 for 47 from 3-point range in a convincing win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Game 5 clincher in the first round, and the bricks piled up even higher after nearly a week off.\n\n\"People are going to try to blame whatever, blame whoever,\" said star Anthony Edwards, who had one point in the first half. \"They can blame me. I just didn't play good enough.\"\n\nThe Wolves missed their first 16 shots from 3-point range until they were down by 20 and Naz Reid drained one from the wing with 8:32 left in the third quarter.\n\nEdwards had 23 points and 14 rebounds after the rough start, finishing 9 for 22 from the floor. Reid had 19 points and Julius Randle added 16 points for the Wolves, who finished 5 for 29 from behind the arc and trailed by 23 points late in the third.\n\n\"We had opportunities to run out. Our transition decision making was diabolical,\" coach Chris Finch said. \"Obviously we couldn't hit a shot, but I didn't like the fact that we couldn't repeatedly generate good shots. We should've been able to.\"\n\nButler, Green and the Warriors had a big hand in that.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA"
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"value": "# Warriors take Game 1 from cold-shooting Wolves 99-88 despite Curry's departure with hamstring strain\n\nBy Dave Campbell \nMay 7th, 2025 04:22 AM\n\n---\n\nMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Stephen Curry was already in the locker room with a bag of ice against his leg when his Golden State teammates arrived for halftime with a comfortable lead.\n\nThe Warriors sure made the best of a bad situation.\n\nBuddy Hield and Draymond Green delivered from 3-point range with Curry suddenly sidelined by a hamstring strain, and Jimmy Butler gave the Warriors a vintage all-around performance in an inspired 99-88 victory over the stumbling Timberwolves that opened the second-round series on Tuesday night.\n\n\"It was beautiful to see,\" Green said. \"Everybody who came into the game gave us something.\"\n\nHield picked up where he left off in the Game 7 win at Houston that finished the first round by scoring 24 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.\n\nButler had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Green had four first-half 3s on his way to 18 points, as the Warriors used 12 players, plenty of hustle and lockdown defense to overcome the concerning departure of the franchise cornerstone Curry.\n\n\"It's about the intensity and the heart and the fight, and if you do that, you give yourself a chance,\" coach Steve Kerr said.\n\nThe home teams have yet to win in the second round of these NBA playoffs. Minnesota has another chance to get one in Game 2 on Thursday.\n\nThe big question: Will Curry will be available? The league's career-leading 3-point shooter and four-time NBA champion exited early in the second quarter after hitting a 14-footer and grabbing the back of his left leg. The Warriors ruled him out for the remainder of the game soon after that.\n\nKerr frequently sent a zone defense at a Wolves team that went 7 for 47 from 3-point range in a convincing win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Game 5 clincher in the first round, and the bricks piled up even higher after nearly a week off.\n\n\"People are going to try to blame whatever, blame whoever,\" said star Anthony Edwards, who had one point in the first half. \"They can blame me. I just didn't play good enough.\"\n\nThe Wolves missed their first 16 shots from 3-point range until they were down by 20 and Naz Reid drained one from the wing with 8:32 left in the third quarter.\n\nEdwards had 23 points and 14 rebounds after the rough start, finishing 9 for 22 from the floor. Reid had 19 points and Julius Randle added 16 points for the Wolves, who finished 5 for 29 from behind the arc and trailed by 23 points late in the third.\n\n\"We had opportunities to run out. Our transition decision making was diabolical,\" coach Chris Finch said. \"Obviously we couldn't hit a shot, but I didn't like the fact that we couldn't repeatedly generate good shots. We should've been able to.\"\n\nButler, Green and the Warriors had a big hand in that."
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"value": "# Where things stand with US-led talks to end Russia-Ukraine war\n\nBy Dasha Litvinova \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:04 AM\n\n---\n\nTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter's Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House.\n\nWhat's emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia: President Donald Trump has sharply rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoed Kremlin talking points, and indicated Kyiv would have to surrender territory and forego NATO membership. What's more, he has engaged in a rapprochement with Moscow that was unthinkable months ago.\n\nMore recently, Trump has offered mixed signals — social media posts that perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is stringing him along — and a deal has yet to materialize.\n\nWhile the optics so far have been in the Kremlin's favor, no proposals that were put forth have been cemented.\n\nAnd on Wednesday, Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources that could enable continued military aid to the country under ongoing attacks from Russia.\n\nZelenskyy said Thursday the deal was the first result of his \"truly historic\" meeting with Trump at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis.\n\n## Dialogue and aligned vision\n\nOne gain for the Kremlin is that Washington is talking again to Moscow after years of extremely strained ties following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and not just about the war, said Nikolay Petrov, senior research fellow with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre think tank.\n\nRussian officials and state media from the very start of discussions with Trump's officials sought to underscore that Ukraine was only one item on the vast agenda of the \"two superpowers.\" Trump and Putin talked in March about Ukraine but also the Middle East, stopping the proliferation of strategic weapons and even organizing hockey games between the countries.\n\nRussia's main state TV channel reported that the meeting between Putin and Trump envoy Steve-Witkoff showed that Moscow and Washington were building \"a new structure of the world\" together.\n\nIn this sense, \"Putin already got a part of what he sought\" — the optics of Russia as a country that is on par with the U.S., Petrov said.\n\nTrump has said Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, \"will stay with Russia,\" and outlines of a peace proposal his team reportedly presented to Kyiv last month apparently included allowing Russia to keep control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. Trump, who had a contentious meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, lashed out at him for publicly rejecting the idea of ceding land, and also said that Kyiv was unlikely to ever join NATO.\n\nAll of these reflect Moscow's long-held positions, and Trump's echoing of them suggested his administration's vision was aligned with the Kremlin's.\n\nTrump also seemingly puts more pressure on Kyiv than Moscow in trying to reach a peace deal and appears eager to return to a more normal relationship with Russia and its \"big business opportunities,\" said Sam Greene of King's College London.\n\n\"Is there any part of this that doesn't look like a win for Russia? No,\" Greene adds.\n\n## So far, it's only talk\n\nBut so far, all of this has remained nothing but rhetoric, with terms of a possible settlement still very much \"in the air,\" says Sergey Radchenko, a historian and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.\n\nMoreover, there are still demands by both Russia and Ukraine that would be hard to reconcile in any kind of peace settlement.\n\nUkraine refuses to cede any land and wants robust security guarantees against future aggression, possibly involving a contingent of peacekeepers -– something a handful of European nations have been discussing and Russia publicly rejects as a nonstarter.\n\nRussia, in turn, demands that it holds onto the territory it has seized as well as no NATO membership for Ukraine. It also wants Kyiv to \"demilitarize,\" or significantly reduce its armed force.\n\nRadchenko sees the latter as a major sticking point in peace talks, because a strong, viable army is important for Ukraine to defend itself.\n\n\"If there are restrictions on the kinds of weapons Ukraine can receive (from the West) or the size of the army, then it will be very difficult to get them to accept this sort of agreement,\" he said.\n\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemingly raised the stakes further this week by saying that international recognition of regions annexed from Ukraine by Russia was \"imperative\" for a peace deal.\n\nAchieving that remains unclear, given that dozens of countries have decried the annexations as violating international law.\n\n## What if the US walks away?\n\nSome analysts believe it is in Putin's interest to prolong the war and keep making gains on the battlefield.\n\nTrump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have threatened to wash their hands of the peace effort if there is no progress soon.\n\nPutin, in an apparent gesture of willingness to keep talking, announced this week a 72-hour ceasefire starting May 8 for Russia's Victory Day holiday that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.\n\nZelenskyy dismissed the gesture as a further attempt by Putin at \"manipulation\" to string along the U.S., saying a ceasefire should begin immediately and last longer.\n\nGreene noted that the Russian ruble and markets have been doing better recently over expectations of a peace deal and U.S. businesses and investors coming back, \"and there may be a price to be paid\" for pulling out the rug from under that.\n\nThe larger question is what happens on the battlefield if the Trump administration withdraws from the peace effort.\n\n\"When the Trump administration says they'll walk away, we don't know what that means. Does that mean they walk away from negotiations and keep supporting Ukraine?\" Greene said.\n\nGreene says that Ukraine probably doesn't feel confident that the U.S. stepping back from the process means that Washington will keep supporting Kyiv, adding that Russia may not be sure of the Trump administration ending aid, either.\n\n\"I think it's very difficult for the Kremlin to calculate the risks of dragging this out,\" he said.\n\nAnd U.S. Treasury Secretary Sctott Bessent said the mineral deal \"signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.\"\n\nA lot depends on whether Europe can step up and fill any gaps in U.S. aid.\n\nIf Trump walks away from the peace effort and still pursues normalizing relations with Russia, lifting sanctions, \"this will amount to a major breakthrough\" for Putin, but it's not a given, Radchenko says.\n\nThat would be an uphill battle for Trump as \"there's a lot of congressional sanctions that are predicated on the war in Ukraine,\" Greene notes."
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"value": "# Where things stand with US-led talks to end Russia-Ukraine war\n\nBy Dasha Litvinova \nMay 2nd, 2025 05:04 AM\n\n---\n\nTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter's Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House.\n\nWhat's emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia: President Donald Trump has sharply rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoed Kremlin talking points, and indicated Kyiv would have to surrender territory and forego NATO membership. What's more, he has engaged in a rapprochement with Moscow that was unthinkable months ago.\n\nMore recently, Trump has offered mixed signals — social media posts that perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is stringing him along — and a deal has yet to materialize.\n\nWhile the optics so far have been in the Kremlin's favor, no proposals that were put forth have been cemented.\n\nAnd on Wednesday, Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources that could enable continued military aid to the country under ongoing attacks from Russia.\n\nZelenskyy said Thursday the deal was the first result of his \"truly historic\" meeting with Trump at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis.\n\n## Dialogue and aligned vision\n\nOne gain for the Kremlin is that Washington is talking again to Moscow after years of extremely strained ties following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and not just about the war, said Nikolay Petrov, senior research fellow with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre think tank.\n\nRussian officials and state media from the very start of discussions with Trump's officials sought to underscore that Ukraine was only one item on the vast agenda of the \"two superpowers.\" Trump and Putin talked in March about Ukraine but also the Middle East, stopping the proliferation of strategic weapons and even organizing hockey games between the countries.\n\nRussia's main state TV channel reported that the meeting between Putin and Trump envoy Steve-Witkoff showed that Moscow and Washington were building \"a new structure of the world\" together.\n\nIn this sense, \"Putin already got a part of what he sought\" — the optics of Russia as a country that is on par with the U.S., Petrov said.\n\nTrump has said Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, \"will stay with Russia,\" and outlines of a peace proposal his team reportedly presented to Kyiv last month apparently included allowing Russia to keep control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. Trump, who had a contentious meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, lashed out at him for publicly rejecting the idea of ceding land, and also said that Kyiv was unlikely to ever join NATO.\n\nAll of these reflect Moscow's long-held positions, and Trump's echoing of them suggested his administration's vision was aligned with the Kremlin's.\n\nTrump also seemingly puts more pressure on Kyiv than Moscow in trying to reach a peace deal and appears eager to return to a more normal relationship with Russia and its \"big business opportunities,\" said Sam Greene of King's College London.\n\n\"Is there any part of this that doesn't look like a win for Russia? No,\" Greene adds.\n\n## So far, it's only talk\n\nBut so far, all of this has remained nothing but rhetoric, with terms of a possible settlement still very much \"in the air,\" says Sergey Radchenko, a historian and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.\n\nMoreover, there are still demands by both Russia and Ukraine that would be hard to reconcile in any kind of peace settlement.\n\nUkraine refuses to cede any land and wants robust security guarantees against future aggression, possibly involving a contingent of peacekeepers -– something a handful of European nations have been discussing and Russia publicly rejects as a nonstarter.\n\nRussia, in turn, demands that it holds onto the territory it has seized as well as no NATO membership for Ukraine. It also wants Kyiv to \"demilitarize,\" or significantly reduce its armed force.\n\nRadchenko sees the latter as a major sticking point in peace talks, because a strong, viable army is important for Ukraine to defend itself.\n\n\"If there are restrictions on the kinds of weapons Ukraine can receive (from the West) or the size of the army, then it will be very difficult to get them to accept this sort of agreement,\" he said.\n\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemingly raised the stakes further this week by saying that international recognition of regions annexed from Ukraine by Russia was \"imperative\" for a peace deal.\n\nAchieving that remains unclear, given that dozens of countries have decried the annexations as violating international law.\n\n## What if the US walks away?\n\nSome analysts believe it is in Putin's interest to prolong the war and keep making gains on the battlefield.\n\nTrump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have threatened to wash their hands of the peace effort if there is no progress soon.\n\nPutin, in an apparent gesture of willingness to keep talking, announced this week a 72-hour ceasefire starting May 8 for Russia's Victory Day holiday that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.\n\nZelenskyy dismissed the gesture as a further attempt by Putin at \"manipulation\" to string along the U.S., saying a ceasefire should begin immediately and last longer.\n\nGreene noted that the Russian ruble and markets have been doing better recently over expectations of a peace deal and U.S. businesses and investors coming back, \"and there may be a price to be paid\" for pulling out the rug from under that.\n\nThe larger question is what happens on the battlefield if the Trump administration withdraws from the peace effort.\n\n\"When the Trump administration says they'll walk away, we don't know what that means. Does that mean they walk away from negotiations and keep supporting Ukraine?\" Greene said.\n\nGreene says that Ukraine probably doesn't feel confident that the U.S. stepping back from the process means that Washington will keep supporting Kyiv, adding that Russia may not be sure of the Trump administration ending aid, either.\n\n\"I think it's very difficult for the Kremlin to calculate the risks of dragging this out,\" he said.\n\nAnd U.S. Treasury Secretary Sctott Bessent said the mineral deal \"signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.\"\n\nA lot depends on whether Europe can step up and fill any gaps in U.S. aid.\n\nIf Trump walks away from the peace effort and still pursues normalizing relations with Russia, lifting sanctions, \"this will amount to a major breakthrough\" for Putin, but it's not a given, Radchenko says.\n\nThat would be an uphill battle for Trump as \"there's a lot of congressional sanctions that are predicated on the war in Ukraine,\" Greene notes."
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"value": "# Dominican court bans public use of nicknames for police operations and cases\n\nMay 1st, 2025 04:45 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court has banned law enforcement in the Caribbean country from publicly bestowing nicknames on police operations or court cases, a common practice in the region.\n\nUntil recently, Dominican officials had used an array of colorful words to describe such cases in public: larva, medusa, falcon, chameleon and anti-octopus.\n\nThe name of the so-called \"anti-octopus\" case was born after a prosecutor investigating government corruption suggested that the brother of a former president had tentacles reaching into all government agencies.\n\nThe so-called \"larva\" and \"falcon\" operations centered around drug trafficking, while the case nicknamed \"chameleon\" was an investigation into allegations including fraud, embezzlement and identity theft.\n\nMeanwhile, an operation nicknamed \"medusa\" focused on officials accused of corruption, including the country's former attorney general, Jean Alain Rodríguez.\n\nAttorneys for Rodríguez recently asked that the court ban the public use of nicknames for cases and police operations, saying that it violated his dignity.\n\nThe Constitutional Court agreed in a ruling Wednesday, saying such nicknames should only be used as a secret strategy and not for public knowledge, adding that they violate a suspect's presumption of innocence and could affect a judge's impartiality.\n\n____\n\nFollow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america"
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"value": "# Dominican court bans public use of nicknames for police operations and cases\n\nMay 1st, 2025 04:45 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court has banned law enforcement in the Caribbean country from publicly bestowing nicknames on police operations or court cases, a common practice in the region.\n\nUntil recently, Dominican officials had used an array of colorful words to describe such cases in public: larva, medusa, falcon, chameleon and anti-octopus.\n\nThe name of the so-called \"anti-octopus\" case was born after a prosecutor investigating government corruption suggested that the brother of a former president had tentacles reaching into all government agencies.\n\nThe so-called \"larva\" and \"falcon\" operations centered around drug trafficking, while the case nicknamed \"chameleon\" was an investigation into allegations including fraud, embezzlement and identity theft.\n\nMeanwhile, an operation nicknamed \"medusa\" focused on officials accused of corruption, including the country's former attorney general, Jean Alain Rodríguez.\n\nAttorneys for Rodríguez recently asked that the court ban the public use of nicknames for cases and police operations, saying that it violated his dignity.\n\nThe Constitutional Court agreed in a ruling Wednesday, saying such nicknames should only be used as a secret strategy and not for public knowledge, adding that they violate a suspect's presumption of innocence and could affect a judge's impartiality."
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"value": "# US touts 'substantial progress' in tariff talks with China\n\nBy Jamey Keaten, Christopher Bodeen, and Will Weissert \nMay 11th, 2025 09:30 AM\n\n---\n\nGENEVA (AP) — The lead U.S. negotiator in trade talks with China cheered \"a great deal of productivity\" in resolving differences between the world's two leading economic powers, after officials wrapped two days of bargaining in Switzerland following President Donald Trump imposing steep tariffs and Beijing retaliating.\n\nU.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday there was \"substantial progress\" in the weekend sessions but offered scant information on exactly what negotiations entailed. He said more details would come at a briefing Monday.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer suggested that an agreement had been reached but provided no details. He and Bessent briefly addressed reporters once talks had wrapped at the stately villa that serves as the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, but did not take questions.\n\n\"It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as far as maybe thought,\" Greer said. But he also stressed that a top Trump priority means closing the U.S. trade deficit with China, which came to a record $263 billion last year.\n\n\"We're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work towards resolving that national emergency,\" Greer said.\n\nThe White House subsequently issued a statement titled, \"U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva\" but offering only the same quotes by Bessent and Greer.\n\nThe Chinese delegation held a subsequent news conference where it described what occurred as \"candid, in-depth and constructive dialogue.\" Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to \"establishing a consultation mechanism\" for further discussions on trade and economic issues.\n\nChina's negotiators also said that they and the U.S. team would be releasing a joint statement on Monday — though the timing was still uncertain.\n\n\"I think, no matter when this statement is released, it's going to be good news for the world,\" said Li Chenggang, the Chinese ambassador to the World Trade Organization.\n\nTrump was anxious to declare the sessions a win. Even before the final day of talks opened on Sunday, the president posed on his social media site that \"GREAT PROGRESS\" was being made toward what he suggested could be a \"total reset\" on the tariffs that have put the global economy on edge.\n\nBeijing, however, appeared largely more measured about the negotiations' overall direction, noting in a Saturday night editorial published before the second day of negotiations kicked off, that it would \"firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.\"\n\nDuring the Sunday evening news conference, He said \"global trade wars that were provoked or initiated by the U.S. have captured global attention\" but \"China's position towards this trade war has been clear and consistent, and that is: China doesn't want to fight a trade war, because trade wars produce no winners.\"\n\n\"But if the U.S. insists on forcing this war upon us, China will not be afraid of it and will fight to the end,\" the vice premier said, before adding: \"We are ready to work together.\"\n\nNegotiations could go a long way toward stabilizing world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get final word on tariffs.\n\nTrump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries' boycotting each other's products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.\n\nStill, top members of the Trump administration were following the president's lead in insisting that a hard reset of U.S.-China trade relations could be in the offing.\n\n\"Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate,\" U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who wasn't in Geneva, said on \"Fox News Sunday.\" He added that the U.S. and China have both imposed tariffs that are \"too high to do business, but that's why they are talking right now.\"\n\n\"We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here,\" Lutnick said. So they need to do business with America and we're using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters.\"\n\nKevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channel's \"Sunday Morning Futures\" that \"what's going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalize things.\"\n\n\"We're essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese,\" Hassett said \"and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship that's great for both of us.\"\n\nThe talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. The prospects for a major breakthrough still appear slight, but even a small drop in tariffs — particularly if taken simultaneously — could help restore some confidence.\n\n\"Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing US–China trade war are badly needed and it's a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first,\" Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email.\n\nThe Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump's import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.\n\nThe remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trump's first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.\n\n___\n\nBodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan, and Weissert from Washington."
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"value": "# US touts 'substantial progress' in tariff talks with China\n\nBy Jamey Keaten, Christopher Bodeen, and Will Weissert \nMay 11th, 2025 09:30 AM\n\n---\n\nGENEVA (AP) — The lead U.S. negotiator in trade talks with China cheered \"a great deal of productivity\" in resolving differences between the world's two leading economic powers, after officials wrapped two days of bargaining in Switzerland following President Donald Trump imposing steep tariffs and Beijing retaliating.\n\nU.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday there was \"substantial progress\" in the weekend sessions but offered scant information on exactly what negotiations entailed. He said more details would come at a briefing Monday.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer suggested that an agreement had been reached but provided no details. He and Bessent briefly addressed reporters once talks had wrapped at the stately villa that serves as the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, but did not take questions.\n\n\"It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as far as maybe thought,\" Greer said. But he also stressed that a top Trump priority means closing the U.S. trade deficit with China, which came to a record $263 billion last year.\n\n\"We're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work towards resolving that national emergency,\" Greer said.\n\nThe White House subsequently issued a statement titled, \"U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva\" but offering only the same quotes by Bessent and Greer.\n\nThe Chinese delegation held a subsequent news conference where it described what occurred as \"candid, in-depth and constructive dialogue.\" Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to \"establishing a consultation mechanism\" for further discussions on trade and economic issues.\n\nChina's negotiators also said that they and the U.S. team would be releasing a joint statement on Monday — though the timing was still uncertain.\n\n\"I think, no matter when this statement is released, it's going to be good news for the world,\" said Li Chenggang, the Chinese ambassador to the World Trade Organization.\n\nTrump was anxious to declare the sessions a win. Even before the final day of talks opened on Sunday, the president posed on his social media site that \"GREAT PROGRESS\" was being made toward what he suggested could be a \"total reset\" on the tariffs that have put the global economy on edge.\n\nBeijing, however, appeared largely more measured about the negotiations' overall direction, noting in a Saturday night editorial published before the second day of negotiations kicked off, that it would \"firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.\"\n\nDuring the Sunday evening news conference, He said \"global trade wars that were provoked or initiated by the U.S. have captured global attention\" but \"China's position towards this trade war has been clear and consistent, and that is: China doesn't want to fight a trade war, because trade wars produce no winners.\"\n\n\"But if the U.S. insists on forcing this war upon us, China will not be afraid of it and will fight to the end,\" the vice premier said, before adding: \"We are ready to work together.\"\n\nNegotiations could go a long way toward stabilizing world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get final word on tariffs.\n\nTrump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries' boycotting each other's products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.\n\nStill, top members of the Trump administration were following the president's lead in insisting that a hard reset of U.S.-China trade relations could be in the offing.\n\n\"Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate,\" U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who wasn't in Geneva, said on \"Fox News Sunday.\" He added that the U.S. and China have both imposed tariffs that are \"too high to do business, but that's why they are talking right now.\"\n\n\"We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here,\" Lutnick said. So they need to do business with America and we're using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters.\"\n\nKevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channel's \"Sunday Morning Futures\" that \"what's going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalize things.\"\n\n\"We're essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese,\" Hassett said \"and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship that's great for both of us.\"\n\nThe talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. The prospects for a major breakthrough still appear slight, but even a small drop in tariffs — particularly if taken simultaneously — could help restore some confidence.\n\n\"Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing US–China trade war are badly needed and it's a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first,\" Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email.\n\nThe Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump's import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.\n\nThe remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trump's first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%."
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"value": "# Nintendo promises stronger results with Switch 2 console going on sale in June\n\nBy Yuri Kageyama \nMay 8th, 2025 07:47 AM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — Japanese video-game maker Nintendo on Thursday reported a 43% decline in profit for the fiscal year through March, but promised a turnaround as its Switch console upgrade goes on sale in June.\n\nNintendo Co.'s profit for the fiscal year through March totaled 278.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion), down from 490 billion yen the previous fiscal year.\n\nAnnual sales slipped 30% to 1.16 trillion yen ($8 billion) from 1.67 trillion yen, according to the Kyoto-based maker of the Super Mario and Donkey Kong games.\n\nThe fortunes of game companies tend to decline somewhat as time passes after a new game machine goes on sale since many people have already bought the machine, although new hit software helps boost the results.\n\nMuch anticipation has been building over the rollout of the so-called Switch 2, which goes on sale June 5.\n\nNintendo said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.\n\nDemand has dwindled for the current Switch, now in its eighth year after its debut. The number of Switch players around the world remains above 128 million people, according to Nintendo.\n\nNintendo said attractive software was coming for the Switch 2 later this year, including \"The Legend of Zelda\" games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.\n\nAlso adding to the momentum is the opening of a Nintendo store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility opening in Orlando, both set for this month, according to Nintendo.\n\nNintendo is projecting a 300 billion yen ($2.1 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending in March next year, a nearly 8% improvement from the fiscal year just ended, on sales of 1.9 trillion yen ($13 billion), up 63% on-year.\n\n___\n\nYuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama"
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"value": "# Nintendo promises stronger results with Switch 2 console going on sale in June\n\nBy Yuri Kageyama \nMay 8th, 2025 07:47 AM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — Japanese video-game maker Nintendo on Thursday reported a 43% decline in profit for the fiscal year through March, but promised a turnaround as its Switch console upgrade goes on sale in June.\n\nNintendo Co.'s profit for the fiscal year through March totaled 278.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion), down from 490 billion yen the previous fiscal year.\n\nAnnual sales slipped 30% to 1.16 trillion yen ($8 billion) from 1.67 trillion yen, according to the Kyoto-based maker of the Super Mario and Donkey Kong games.\n\nThe fortunes of game companies tend to decline somewhat as time passes after a new game machine goes on sale since many people have already bought the machine, although new hit software helps boost the results.\n\nMuch anticipation has been building over the rollout of the so-called Switch 2, which goes on sale June 5.\n\nNintendo said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.\n\nDemand has dwindled for the current Switch, now in its eighth year after its debut. The number of Switch players around the world remains above 128 million people, according to Nintendo.\n\nNintendo said attractive software was coming for the Switch 2 later this year, including \"The Legend of Zelda\" games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.\n\nAlso adding to the momentum is the opening of a Nintendo store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility opening in Orlando, both set for this month, according to Nintendo.\n\nNintendo is projecting a 300 billion yen ($2.1 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending in March next year, a nearly 8% improvement from the fiscal year just ended, on sales of 1.9 trillion yen ($13 billion), up 63% on-year."
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"value": "# Alcaraz beats Lajovic in return from injury at Italian Open; Sabalenka and Gauff advance\n\nBy Andrew Dampf \nMay 9th, 2025 12:42 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz returned from a brief injury layoff and didn't appear to have any issues during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic at the Italian Open on Friday.\n\nThe third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.\n\nAgainst Lajovic, Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.\n\n\"The body felt great,\" Alcaraz said. \"I just moved well. I made a few good sprints today without any pain. ... It was a test for me so I think I passed the test today.\"\n\n\"It was a great performance, great level, which was surprising for me a little bit, but just really happy for that,\" Alcaraz added.\n\nAlcaraz won the opening four games but dropped his serve when he served for the first set at 5-2. The Spaniard broke back in the next game to close it out, showing off his speed on the clay court at the Foro Italico when he ran down a drop shot and produced a backhand winner on one key point.\n\nAlcaraz also went ahead early in the second set. He finished with the same number of winners as unforced errors — 24.\n\nAlcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 10-1 on clay this season. He'll next face either 31st-seeded Alex Michelsen or Laslo Djere.\n\nA four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 25.\n\nThe Rome tournament also marks the return of top-ranked Jannik Sinner from a three-month doping ban.\n\nSinner and Alcaraz are in opposite sides of the draw.\n\nSinner opens against 99th-ranked Mariano Navone on Saturday.\n\nIn the women's tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka opened with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova.\n\nSabalenka beat Coco Gauff in the Madrid final last weekend.\n\nIn a night match, Gauff needed to rally for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over 156th-ranked Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.\n\nThe 18-year-old Mboko, a semifinalist at the Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior tournaments in 2022, gave Gauff trouble at the start with her solid baseline game.\n\n___\n\nAP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis"
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"value": "# Alcaraz beats Lajovic in return from injury at Italian Open; Sabalenka and Gauff advance\n\nBy Andrew Dampf \nMay 9th, 2025 12:42 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz returned from a brief injury layoff and didn't appear to have any issues during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic at the Italian Open on Friday.\n\nThe third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.\n\nAgainst Lajovic, Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.\n\n\"The body felt great,\" Alcaraz said. \"I just moved well. I made a few good sprints today without any pain. ... It was a test for me so I think I passed the test today.\"\n\n\"It was a great performance, great level, which was surprising for me a little bit, but just really happy for that,\" Alcaraz added.\n\nAlcaraz won the opening four games but dropped his serve when he served for the first set at 5-2. The Spaniard broke back in the next game to close it out, showing off his speed on the clay court at the Foro Italico when he ran down a drop shot and produced a backhand winner on one key point.\n\nAlcaraz also went ahead early in the second set. He finished with the same number of winners as unforced errors — 24.\n\nAlcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 10-1 on clay this season. He'll next face either 31st-seeded Alex Michelsen or Laslo Djere.\n\nA four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 25.\n\nThe Rome tournament also marks the return of top-ranked Jannik Sinner from a three-month doping ban.\n\nSinner and Alcaraz are in opposite sides of the draw.\n\nSinner opens against 99th-ranked Mariano Navone on Saturday.\n\nIn the women's tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka opened with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova.\n\nSabalenka beat Coco Gauff in the Madrid final last weekend.\n\nIn a night match, Gauff needed to rally for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over 156th-ranked Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.\n\nThe 18-year-old Mboko, a semifinalist at the Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior tournaments in 2022, gave Gauff trouble at the start with her solid baseline game."
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"value": "# Defending PWHL champion Minnesota opens playoffs in rematch vs. Toronto; Montreal faces Ottawa\n\nBy John Wawrow \nMay 6th, 2025 09:03 PM\n\n---\n\nFeelings of relief quickly gave way to pride as Kendall Coyne Schofield assessed how the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost refused to let their PWHL season end with a whimper.\n\nThe Frost earned a return to the postseason by winning their final two games to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth by the slimmest of margins in a race Minnesota, Ottawa and Boston — the odd-team out by tiebreaker — finished with 44 points apiece.\n\nFor Coyne Schofield, Minnesota's closing flourish, capped by an 8-1 win at Boston on Saturday, was a reflection of the championship resolve the Frost showed in winning two decisive Game 5s to take the inaugural title.\n\n\"We needed to win two games in regulation to get to where we're at today, and we did that,\" Coyne Schofield said. \"So I think when I look back to last year, it's just how hard it is to win a five-game series. And to do it twice, I think that for me was unique in itself.\"\n\nThe Frost have the championship pedigree entering their semifinal series rematch against Toronto opening on Wednesday. The Sceptres as well as the Montreal Victoire, who open against Ottawa on Thursday, carry over the weight of unfinished business following semifinal series losses last year.\n\nAnd welcome the Charge to the postseason after clinching their first playoff spot on Katerina Mrazova's overtime goal on the last day of the regular season.\n\nAs if there wasn't enough intrigue, the regular-season champion Victoire added another subplot in opting to face third-seeded and regional rival Ottawa rather than the Frost.\n\n\"I think there's a lot of spice already. I don't know if we needed more motivation,\" Charge captain Brianne Jenner said. \"Yeah, I think it maybe adds a little chip on our shoulder.\"\n\nThe Victoire reached their decision by consulting with staff and players. One determining factor was geography with Ottawa a mere two-hour drive as opposed to a two-plus-hour flight to St. Paul.\n\nLast year's playoffs proved seedings don't matter. Both lower seeds won their semifinal series, with fourth-seeded Minnesota defeating Boston for the title.\n\nWhat stands out in Montreal are the difficult memories of last year's playoffs, in which Boston swept the semis by winning all three games decided in overtime.\n\n\"We can talk about last year all we want. Honestly, it was a lesson for all of us,\" Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin said. \"Series are hard and that was hard last year. It's going to be harder even this year.\"\n\nThere's a similar lament in Toronto, with the Sceptres cognizant of how they squandered a 2-0 series lead to Minnesota, which coincided with losing leading scorer and eventual league MVP Natalie Spooner to a knee injury.\n\n\"Losing to Minnesota last year in five games is part of what motivated me and makes me even more excited to get this series started,\" Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said.\n\n## Montreal vs. Ottawa\n\nMontreal won the season series 4-2, but lost the final two meetings, including a 3-2 loss on April 26.\n\nThe Victoire feature the PWHL's leading goal-scorer in Poulin (19 goals) and top goalie in Ann-Renee Desbiens, who led the league in wins (15-2-2), a 1.86 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. They also allowed the fewest goals (67), while going 14-2-1 in one-goal games. Montreal was the first team to clinch a playoff berth, but didn't secure first place until Toronto's 2-1 OT loss to Ottawa on Saturday.\n\nOttawa went 4-1 to close the season, and did so without starting goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who remains sidelined by a lower body injury sustained mid-March. Rookie Gwyneth Philips went 5-3 down the stretch, including a 4-1 closing run in which she allowed just six goals.\n\nThe Charge rely on balanced scoring, and were led by Tereza Vanisova, who had 15 goals, including four game-winners, and 22 points. Ottawa finished tied for last with 71 goals for, and tied for last with 80 goals against.\n\n## Toronto vs. Minnesota\n\nThe Sceptres went 2-2-2 against the Frost, including a 5-2 loss in their most recent meeting on March 30.\n\nToronto still finished second in the standings while overcoming injuries to Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Hannah Miller. The injuries led to others stepping up with Daryl Watts leading the team with 12 goals and 27 points. Blueliner Renata Fast continued making her case as one of the PWHL's best defenders with six goals and 22 points while leading all skaters with 739:14 of ice time.\n\nThe Sceptres finished fifth with 73 goals scored, 24 coming on their league-leading power play, which converted 26% of its opportunities.\n\nMinnesota closed the season by winning three of four, and was led by Coyne Schofield's 12 goals and 24 points. The Frost led the league with 85 goals, and have a solid D-core that includes offensive-minded Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson, and a shutdown defender in Lee Stecklein.\n\nAs last year, coach Ken Klee split the goaltending duties with Maddie Rooney going 8-7-3 and Nicole Hensley finishing 7-3-1. After closing with two road games, Minnesota elected to stay in Boston in awaiting its semifinal opponent.\n\n___\n\nAP Women's Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey"
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"value": "# Defending PWHL champion Minnesota opens playoffs in rematch vs. Toronto; Montreal faces Ottawa\n\nBy John Wawrow \nMay 6th, 2025 09:03 PM\n\n---\n\nFeelings of relief quickly gave way to pride as Kendall Coyne Schofield assessed how the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost refused to let their PWHL season end with a whimper.\n\nThe Frost earned a return to the postseason by winning their final two games to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth by the slimmest of margins in a race Minnesota, Ottawa and Boston — the odd-team out by tiebreaker — finished with 44 points apiece.\n\nFor Coyne Schofield, Minnesota's closing flourish, capped by an 8-1 win at Boston on Saturday, was a reflection of the championship resolve the Frost showed in winning two decisive Game 5s to take the inaugural title.\n\n\"We needed to win two games in regulation to get to where we're at today, and we did that,\" Coyne Schofield said. \"So I think when I look back to last year, it's just how hard it is to win a five-game series. And to do it twice, I think that for me was unique in itself.\"\n\nThe Frost have the championship pedigree entering their semifinal series rematch against Toronto opening on Wednesday. The Sceptres as well as the Montreal Victoire, who open against Ottawa on Thursday, carry over the weight of unfinished business following semifinal series losses last year.\n\nAnd welcome the Charge to the postseason after clinching their first playoff spot on Katerina Mrazova's overtime goal on the last day of the regular season.\n\nAs if there wasn't enough intrigue, the regular-season champion Victoire added another subplot in opting to face third-seeded and regional rival Ottawa rather than the Frost.\n\n\"I think there's a lot of spice already. I don't know if we needed more motivation,\" Charge captain Brianne Jenner said. \"Yeah, I think it maybe adds a little chip on our shoulder.\"\n\nThe Victoire reached their decision by consulting with staff and players. One determining factor was geography with Ottawa a mere two-hour drive as opposed to a two-plus-hour flight to St. Paul.\n\nLast year's playoffs proved seedings don't matter. Both lower seeds won their semifinal series, with fourth-seeded Minnesota defeating Boston for the title.\n\nWhat stands out in Montreal are the difficult memories of last year's playoffs, in which Boston swept the semis by winning all three games decided in overtime.\n\n\"We can talk about last year all we want. Honestly, it was a lesson for all of us,\" Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin said. \"Series are hard and that was hard last year. It's going to be harder even this year.\"\n\nThere's a similar lament in Toronto, with the Sceptres cognizant of how they squandered a 2-0 series lead to Minnesota, which coincided with losing leading scorer and eventual league MVP Natalie Spooner to a knee injury.\n\n\"Losing to Minnesota last year in five games is part of what motivated me and makes me even more excited to get this series started,\" Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said.\n\n## Montreal vs. Ottawa\n\nMontreal won the season series 4-2, but lost the final two meetings, including a 3-2 loss on April 26.\n\nThe Victoire feature the PWHL's leading goal-scorer in Poulin (19 goals) and top goalie in Ann-Renee Desbiens, who led the league in wins (15-2-2), a 1.86 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. They also allowed the fewest goals (67), while going 14-2-1 in one-goal games. Montreal was the first team to clinch a playoff berth, but didn't secure first place until Toronto's 2-1 OT loss to Ottawa on Saturday.\n\nOttawa went 4-1 to close the season, and did so without starting goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who remains sidelined by a lower body injury sustained mid-March. Rookie Gwyneth Philips went 5-3 down the stretch, including a 4-1 closing run in which she allowed just six goals.\n\nThe Charge rely on balanced scoring, and were led by Tereza Vanisova, who had 15 goals, including four game-winners, and 22 points. Ottawa finished tied for last with 71 goals for, and tied for last with 80 goals against.\n\n## Toronto vs. Minnesota\n\nThe Sceptres went 2-2-2 against the Frost, including a 5-2 loss in their most recent meeting on March 30.\n\nToronto still finished second in the standings while overcoming injuries to Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Hannah Miller. The injuries led to others stepping up with Daryl Watts leading the team with 12 goals and 27 points. Blueliner Renata Fast continued making her case as one of the PWHL's best defenders with six goals and 22 points while leading all skaters with 739:14 of ice time.\n\nThe Sceptres finished fifth with 73 goals scored, 24 coming on their league-leading power play, which converted 26% of its opportunities.\n\nMinnesota closed the season by winning three of four, and was led by Coyne Schofield's 12 goals and 24 points. The Frost led the league with 85 goals, and have a solid D-core that includes offensive-minded Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson, and a shutdown defender in Lee Stecklein.\n\nAs last year, coach Ken Klee split the goaltending duties with Maddie Rooney going 8-7-3 and Nicole Hensley finishing 7-3-1. After closing with two road games, Minnesota elected to stay in Boston in awaiting its semifinal opponent."
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"value": "# Quite a spectacle: Padres manager Mike Shildt got so mad he threw his glasses at Yankee Stadium\n\nBy Ronald Blum \nMay 6th, 2025 05:24 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Mike Shildt had seen enough, and he was so angry with plate umpire Adrian Johnson that he made a spectacle by tossing his spectacles.\n\nA tantrum by San Diego's manager following the first major league ejection of star slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. fired up the Padres, who overcame a three-run deficit in the eighth inning to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on a soggy Monday night and extend their winning streak to six.\n\n\"Shilty came down the tunnel and he was still chirping,\" said Xander Bogaerts, who hit a go-ahead, two-run single off Luke Weaver that followed Manny Machado's two-run double. \"I think he was ready to fight.\"\n\nTatis was ejected after a strikeout, causing Shildt to rush out onto the field, throwing his lineup card and then his glasses. He argued so vociferously with Johnson and first base ump Quinn Wolcott that third base coach Tim Leiper ran over in case intervention was needed.\n\n\"My glasses made it. I did have my head about me to make sure,\" Shildt said after the game. \"I got some — a lot of BPs on my shoulders — not as operable as I'd like but it came into play, and I made sure it stayed in the grass. I didn't want them scratched. I like these glasses a lot.\"\n\nDevin Williams entered with a 3-0 lead and walked Tyler Wade with one out in the eighth, then allowed a single to Brandon Lockridge. Williams threw four straight changeups, his famous Airbender, to Tatis. The two-time All-Star took the third at the bottom of the strike zone for strike two, then swung over an even lower pitch.\n\nHe said something in Johnson's left ear before taking a turn to the dugout and was immediately tossed. Tatis said it was his first ejection since winter ball as an 18-year-old.\n\n\"Ah, what did I say? I forgot,\" Tatis said, laughing. \"I'm just happy I got the boys hyped.\"\n\n\"I'd just been complaining all game. It was a rough night,\" he added. \"After the strikeout I just let him know what I thought.\"\n\nSan Diego's players were invigorated by the emotion.\n\n\"You can feel it. It's energy,\" Wade said.\n\nThree-time batting champion Luis Arraez then walked on four straight fastballs.\n\n\"Tatis made me hot,\" Arraez said. \"I love Mike Shildt. He supports his players, and when I saw that thing, I said: `We come back!'\"\n\nYankees manager Aaron Boone brought in Weaver, who had not allowed a run in 13 prior appearances this year. Machado doubled on a 1-1 fastball, cutting the deficit to 3-2, and Bogaerts singled on a first-pitch cutter.\n\n\"Tati had some pitches that (he) didn't agree with — I didn't agree with earlier and made my comments from the dugout known, which I don't do a ton,\" Shildt said. \"Did it. Walks away, hand over his mouth, and next thing you know he's ejected walking away with his back turned for his first major league ejection.\"\n\nShildt's ejection was the 15th of his six-season big league managerial career.\n\n\"I probably have the fewest amount of player ejections in my time managing, so our players play, they stay in the game, they're very respectful, rightfully so, to the umpires,\" he said. \"I'll let the body of the work for the umpire grade speak for itself, and we'll leave it at that.\"\n\nA two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in December, Williams has a 10.03 ERA in 14 games with the Yankees, walking 10 in 11 2/3 innings. On a night with near-constant rain that caused a pair of 28-minute delays, Williams said he had trouble with his landing spot.\n\n\"I couldn't figure it out with the release point on my fastball,\" he said.\n\nHe had pitched three hitless innings in his three prior appearances since losing his closer role and felt he had turned around his season.\n\n\"I feel like I still have,\" he said.\n\nYankees fans booed Williams as soon as he fell behind hitters.\n\n\"It's part of the business. It's part of being in New York,\" said starter Carlos Rodón, booed during a poor first season with the Yankees in 2023. \"If you don't pitch well, you're going to be get booed but if you pitch well, they're going to praise you. They're going to love you.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Quite a spectacle: Padres manager Mike Shildt got so mad he threw his glasses at Yankee Stadium\n\nBy Ronald Blum \nMay 6th, 2025 05:24 AM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Mike Shildt had seen enough, and he was so angry with plate umpire Adrian Johnson that he made a spectacle by tossing his spectacles.\n\nA tantrum by San Diego's manager following the first major league ejection of star slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. fired up the Padres, who overcame a three-run deficit in the eighth inning to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on a soggy Monday night and extend their winning streak to six.\n\n\"Shilty came down the tunnel and he was still chirping,\" said Xander Bogaerts, who hit a go-ahead, two-run single off Luke Weaver that followed Manny Machado's two-run double. \"I think he was ready to fight.\"\n\nTatis was ejected after a strikeout, causing Shildt to rush out onto the field, throwing his lineup card and then his glasses. He argued so vociferously with Johnson and first base ump Quinn Wolcott that third base coach Tim Leiper ran over in case intervention was needed.\n\n\"My glasses made it. I did have my head about me to make sure,\" Shildt said after the game. \"I got some — a lot of BPs on my shoulders — not as operable as I'd like but it came into play, and I made sure it stayed in the grass. I didn't want them scratched. I like these glasses a lot.\"\n\nDevin Williams entered with a 3-0 lead and walked Tyler Wade with one out in the eighth, then allowed a single to Brandon Lockridge. Williams threw four straight changeups, his famous Airbender, to Tatis. The two-time All-Star took the third at the bottom of the strike zone for strike two, then swung over an even lower pitch.\n\nHe said something in Johnson's left ear before taking a turn to the dugout and was immediately tossed. Tatis said it was his first ejection since winter ball as an 18-year-old.\n\n\"Ah, what did I say? I forgot,\" Tatis said, laughing. \"I'm just happy I got the boys hyped.\"\n\n\"I'd just been complaining all game. It was a rough night,\" he added. \"After the strikeout I just let him know what I thought.\"\n\nSan Diego's players were invigorated by the emotion.\n\n\"You can feel it. It's energy,\" Wade said.\n\nThree-time batting champion Luis Arraez then walked on four straight fastballs.\n\n\"Tatis made me hot,\" Arraez said. \"I love Mike Shildt. He supports his players, and when I saw that thing, I said: `We come back!'\"\n\nYankees manager Aaron Boone brought in Weaver, who had not allowed a run in 13 prior appearances this year. Machado doubled on a 1-1 fastball, cutting the deficit to 3-2, and Bogaerts singled on a first-pitch cutter.\n\n\"Tati had some pitches that (he) didn't agree with — I didn't agree with earlier and made my comments from the dugout known, which I don't do a ton,\" Shildt said. \"Did it. Walks away, hand over his mouth, and next thing you know he's ejected walking away with his back turned for his first major league ejection.\"\n\nShildt's ejection was the 15th of his six-season big league managerial career.\n\n\"I probably have the fewest amount of player ejections in my time managing, so our players play, they stay in the game, they're very respectful, rightfully so, to the umpires,\" he said. \"I'll let the body of the work for the umpire grade speak for itself, and we'll leave it at that.\"\n\nA two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in December, Williams has a 10.03 ERA in 14 games with the Yankees, walking 10 in 11 2/3 innings. On a night with near-constant rain that caused a pair of 28-minute delays, Williams said he had trouble with his landing spot.\n\n\"I couldn't figure it out with the release point on my fastball,\" he said.\n\nHe had pitched three hitless innings in his three prior appearances since losing his closer role and felt he had turned around his season.\n\n\"I feel like I still have,\" he said.\n\nYankees fans booed Williams as soon as he fell behind hitters.\n\n\"It's part of the business. It's part of being in New York,\" said starter Carlos Rodón, booed during a poor first season with the Yankees in 2023. \"If you don't pitch well, you're going to be get booed but if you pitch well, they're going to praise you. They're going to love you.\""
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"value": "# Asbestos clinic forced to close in Montana town where thousands have been sickened by dust\n\nBy Matthew Brown \nMay 8th, 2025 11:43 PM\n\n---\n\nBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An asbestos screening clinic in a small Montana town where thousands have been sickened by toxic dust from a nearby mine has been abruptly shuttered by authorities following a court order to seize the clinic's assets to pay off a judgment to the railroad BNSF.\n\nThe Lincoln County Sheriff's Office closed on Wednesday the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canada border. The town of about 3,000 people is near a mine that produced asbestos dust for decades, and the clinic has been at the forefront of efforts to help victims.\n\nCourts in Montana have said BNSF contributed to the pollution when it brought contaminated material from the mine through town, and the railway separately faces numerous lawsuits from asbestos victims in Libby and surrounding communities.\n\nBut the Texas-based railway prevailed in a 2023 lawsuit alleging the clinic fraudulently made some patients eligible for government benefits when it knew they were not sick. The railway challenged the validity of over 2,000 diagnoses by the clinic and 337 were ruled false.\n\nThe railway brought the lawsuit on behalf of the federal government, which provides specialized Medicare services to Libby's asbestos victims. BNSF was entitled to a share of the $6 million judgment against the clinic, and after adding in attorney fees, court costs and interest, the railway says it's now owed $3.1 million.\n\n\"The judge determined the amount of damages to be repaid, and the process for recovery is set by law,\" BNSF spokesperson Kendall Kirkham Sloan said in a statement.\n\nClinic Executive Director Tracy McNew said the closure would have a broad impact on public health in the Libby area as fewer people are screened for asbestos-related health problems.\n\n\"CARD remains committed to its patients and the Libby community and will fight to reopen as soon as possible,\" McNew said in a statement.\n\nThe clinic for more than 20 years has provided health screenings, monitoring and treatment of patients with problems caused by asbestos exposure. It declared bankruptcy after the judgment in the fraud case was handed down. It kept operating and didn't pay the money under a settlement reached in bankruptcy court with the federal government that included BNSF.\n\nCARD bankruptcy attorney James \"Andy\" Patten said the railway's attempts to collect on the fraud judgment violated the bankruptcy settlement, which was approved by a federal court.\n\nSloan declined to comment on the bankruptcy settlement."
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"value": "# Asbestos clinic forced to close in Montana town where thousands have been sickened by dust\n\nBy Matthew Brown \nMay 8th, 2025 11:43 PM\n\n---\n\nBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An asbestos screening clinic in a small Montana town where thousands have been sickened by toxic dust from a nearby mine has been abruptly shuttered by authorities following a court order to seize the clinic's assets to pay off a judgment to the railroad BNSF.\n\nThe Lincoln County Sheriff's Office closed on Wednesday the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canada border. The town of about 3,000 people is near a mine that produced asbestos dust for decades, and the clinic has been at the forefront of efforts to help victims.\n\nCourts in Montana have said BNSF contributed to the pollution when it brought contaminated material from the mine through town, and the railway separately faces numerous lawsuits from asbestos victims in Libby and surrounding communities.\n\nBut the Texas-based railway prevailed in a 2023 lawsuit alleging the clinic fraudulently made some patients eligible for government benefits when it knew they were not sick. The railway challenged the validity of over 2,000 diagnoses by the clinic and 337 were ruled false.\n\nThe railway brought the lawsuit on behalf of the federal government, which provides specialized Medicare services to Libby's asbestos victims. BNSF was entitled to a share of the $6 million judgment against the clinic, and after adding in attorney fees, court costs and interest, the railway says it's now owed $3.1 million.\n\n\"The judge determined the amount of damages to be repaid, and the process for recovery is set by law,\" BNSF spokesperson Kendall Kirkham Sloan said in a statement.\n\nClinic Executive Director Tracy McNew said the closure would have a broad impact on public health in the Libby area as fewer people are screened for asbestos-related health problems.\n\n\"CARD remains committed to its patients and the Libby community and will fight to reopen as soon as possible,\" McNew said in a statement.\n\nThe clinic for more than 20 years has provided health screenings, monitoring and treatment of patients with problems caused by asbestos exposure. It declared bankruptcy after the judgment in the fraud case was handed down. It kept operating and didn't pay the money under a settlement reached in bankruptcy court with the federal government that included BNSF.\n\nCARD bankruptcy attorney James \"Andy\" Patten said the railway's attempts to collect on the fraud judgment violated the bankruptcy settlement, which was approved by a federal court.\n\nSloan declined to comment on the bankruptcy settlement."
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"value": "# President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden\n\nBy Seung Min Kim, Zeke Miller, and Lisa Mascaro \nMay 9th, 2025 01:19 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.\n\nHayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.\n\n\"Carla,\" the email began. \"On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.\" A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.\n\nHayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump's agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children's books with \"radical\" content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.\n\n\"The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids,\" AAF said on its X account earlier Thursday, just hours before the firing was made public. \"It's time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!\"\n\nAll around the government, Trump has been weeding out officials who he believes don't align with his agenda, from the Justice Department to the Pentagon and beyond. At times, the firings come after conservative voices single out officials for criticism.\n\nEarlier Thursday, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was pushed out one day after he had testified that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the organization. Trump has suggested that individual states, not FEMA, should take the lead on responding to hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises.\n\nAt the Pentagon, more than a half-dozen top general officers have been fired since January, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. The only two women serving as four-star officers, as well as a disproportionate number of other senior female officers, have also been fired.\n\nThe unexpected move Thursday against Hayden infuriated congressional Democrats, who initially disclosed the firing.\n\n\"Enough is enough,\" said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called Hayden \"a \"trailblazer, a scholar, and a public servant of the highest order.\"\n\nConnecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Hayden was \"callously fired\" by Trump and demanded an explanation from the administration as to why she was dismissed.\n\n\"Hayden, has spent her entire career serving people — from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation's most precious treasures,\" said Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library.\n\n\"She is an American hero,\" he said.\n\nThe Library of Congress, with its stately buildings across from the U.S. Capitol, holds a vast collection of the nation's books and history, which it makes available to the public and lawmakers. It houses the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices.\n\nIt also has collections of rare books, prints and photographs, as well as troves of music and valuable artifacts — like a flute owned by President James Madison, which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a 2022 performance arranged by Hayden.\n\nThe Democratic leaders praised Hayden, who had been the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system, for a tenure that helped modernize the Library and make it more accessible with initiatives into rural communities and online. She is a graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago.\n\nHouse Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., applauded Hayden as \"an accomplished, principled and distinguished Librarian of Congress.\"\n\n\"Donald Trump's unjust decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock,\" Jeffries said.\n\n\"The Library of Congress is the People's Library. There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later,\" he said.\n\nNew Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees funding for the library, said the firing, which he said came at 6:56 p.m., was \"taking his assault on America's libraries to a new level.\"\n\n\"Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone,\" he said.\n\nRobert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian, said he would serve as acting librarian of Congress \"until further instruction\" in a separate email seen by the AP.\n\n\"I promise to keep everyone informed,\" he wrote to colleagues.\n\nHayden spoke recently of how libraries changed her own life, and opened her to the world.\n\n\"Libraries are the great equalizer,\" she posted on X during National Library Week last month.\n\n\"And when you have a free public library in particular,\" she said, it's an \"opportunity center for people all walks of life, and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information, entertainment and inspiration means the most to them.\""
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"value": "# President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden\n\nBy Seung Min Kim, Zeke Miller, and Lisa Mascaro \nMay 9th, 2025 01:19 AM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.\n\nHayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.\n\n\"Carla,\" the email began. \"On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.\" A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.\n\nHayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump's agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children's books with \"radical\" content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.\n\n\"The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids,\" AAF said on its X account earlier Thursday, just hours before the firing was made public. \"It's time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!\"\n\nAll around the government, Trump has been weeding out officials who he believes don't align with his agenda, from the Justice Department to the Pentagon and beyond. At times, the firings come after conservative voices single out officials for criticism.\n\nEarlier Thursday, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was pushed out one day after he had testified that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the organization. Trump has suggested that individual states, not FEMA, should take the lead on responding to hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises.\n\nAt the Pentagon, more than a half-dozen top general officers have been fired since January, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. The only two women serving as four-star officers, as well as a disproportionate number of other senior female officers, have also been fired.\n\nThe unexpected move Thursday against Hayden infuriated congressional Democrats, who initially disclosed the firing.\n\n\"Enough is enough,\" said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called Hayden \"a \"trailblazer, a scholar, and a public servant of the highest order.\"\n\nConnecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Hayden was \"callously fired\" by Trump and demanded an explanation from the administration as to why she was dismissed.\n\n\"Hayden, has spent her entire career serving people — from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation's most precious treasures,\" said Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library.\n\n\"She is an American hero,\" he said.\n\nThe Library of Congress, with its stately buildings across from the U.S. Capitol, holds a vast collection of the nation's books and history, which it makes available to the public and lawmakers. It houses the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices.\n\nIt also has collections of rare books, prints and photographs, as well as troves of music and valuable artifacts — like a flute owned by President James Madison, which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a 2022 performance arranged by Hayden.\n\nThe Democratic leaders praised Hayden, who had been the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system, for a tenure that helped modernize the Library and make it more accessible with initiatives into rural communities and online. She is a graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago.\n\nHouse Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., applauded Hayden as \"an accomplished, principled and distinguished Librarian of Congress.\"\n\n\"Donald Trump's unjust decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock,\" Jeffries said.\n\n\"The Library of Congress is the People's Library. There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later,\" he said.\n\nNew Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees funding for the library, said the firing, which he said came at 6:56 p.m., was \"taking his assault on America's libraries to a new level.\"\n\n\"Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone,\" he said.\n\nRobert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian, said he would serve as acting librarian of Congress \"until further instruction\" in a separate email seen by the AP.\n\n\"I promise to keep everyone informed,\" he wrote to colleagues.\n\nHayden spoke recently of how libraries changed her own life, and opened her to the world.\n\n\"Libraries are the great equalizer,\" she posted on X during National Library Week last month.\n\n\"And when you have a free public library in particular,\" she said, it's an \"opportunity center for people all walks of life, and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information, entertainment and inspiration means the most to them.\""
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"value": "# A man with a knife slashes 2 people at a Tokyo subway station and is arrested\n\nBy Associated Press \nMay 7th, 2025 12:03 PM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — A man with a knife slashed two passengers on a train stopping at a Tokyo subway station during the evening rush on Wednesday, and their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Japanese police and media reported.\n\nThe 43-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, Tokyo's metropolitan police said. The suspect's motives and other details were not immediately known.\n\nThe suspect slashed a man in his 20s in the head as he got on a subway car. A passenger in his 30s had his finger slashed while he and nearby passengers seized the attacker, Japan 's NHK television reported.\n\nA witness told NHK he saw the suspect brandishing a knife inside the car, but he did not resist when he was seized by other passengers. As the witness returned to the platform, the first victim, bleeding and slumped to the floor, asked for an ambulance, NHK said.\n\nTrains on the line were temporarily suspended for \"inspection\" of subway cars, operator Tokyo Metro Co. said.\n\nThough Japan is known for its safety, there has been a growing number of random attacks in public places using knives or homemade explosives in recent years."
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"value": "# A man with a knife slashes 2 people at a Tokyo subway station and is arrested\n\nBy Associated Press \nMay 7th, 2025 12:03 PM\n\n---\n\nTOKYO (AP) — A man with a knife slashed two passengers on a train stopping at a Tokyo subway station during the evening rush on Wednesday, and their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Japanese police and media reported.\n\nThe 43-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, Tokyo's metropolitan police said. The suspect's motives and other details were not immediately known.\n\nThe suspect slashed a man in his 20s in the head as he got on a subway car. A passenger in his 30s had his finger slashed while he and nearby passengers seized the attacker, Japan 's NHK television reported.\n\nA witness told NHK he saw the suspect brandishing a knife inside the car, but he did not resist when he was seized by other passengers. As the witness returned to the platform, the first victim, bleeding and slumped to the floor, asked for an ambulance, NHK said.\n\nTrains on the line were temporarily suspended for \"inspection\" of subway cars, operator Tokyo Metro Co. said.\n\nThough Japan is known for its safety, there has been a growing number of random attacks in public places using knives or homemade explosives in recent years."
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"value": "# Koss hits grand slam for first homer in the majors as Giants beat Diamondbacks 10-6\n\nBy Michael Wagaman \nMay 14th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Christian Koss hit a grand slam for his first home run in the majors, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-6 on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.\n\nJung Hoo Lee added a three-run drive and Willy Adames had a two-run homer to pace the Giants in their opener of a season-high, nine-game homestand.\n\nRobbie Ray (6-0) had a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs to remain unbeaten. The 33-year-old left-hander, who pitched for the Diamondbacks from 2015-20, faced his former team for the first time.\n\nKyle Harrison, Camilo Doval and Spencer Bivens each retired three batters to complete the win.\n\nCorbin Carroll hit his third home run in two days for the Diamondbacks, tying him for the major league lead with 14. Josh Naylor also homered and had four RBIs.\n\nArizona loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Doval got Ketel Marte to hit into a 1-2-3 double play.\n\nTrailing 3-0, the Giants loaded the bases in the second inning on two walks and a single. Koss, a rookie infielder who made his major league debut in April, then homered off Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt (6-3).\n\nAdames homered off Juan Morillo in the fifth. Lee hit his fifth home run of the season in the ninth off Joe Mantiply.\n\nPfaadt, whose six wins were tied for most in the majors going into the game, allowed four runs and six hits in four innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nKoss's grand slam immediately swung momentum into the Giants' favor.\n\n## Key stat\n\nKoss is the 17th player in Giants history to hit a grand slam for his first career home run.\n\n## Up next\n\nDiamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 6.86 ERA) opposes Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (1-4, 5.82) on Wednesday.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB"
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"value": "# Koss hits grand slam for first homer in the majors as Giants beat Diamondbacks 10-6\n\nBy Michael Wagaman \nMay 14th, 2025 05:00 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Christian Koss hit a grand slam for his first home run in the majors, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-6 on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.\n\nJung Hoo Lee added a three-run drive and Willy Adames had a two-run homer to pace the Giants in their opener of a season-high, nine-game homestand.\n\nRobbie Ray (6-0) had a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs to remain unbeaten. The 33-year-old left-hander, who pitched for the Diamondbacks from 2015-20, faced his former team for the first time.\n\nKyle Harrison, Camilo Doval and Spencer Bivens each retired three batters to complete the win.\n\nCorbin Carroll hit his third home run in two days for the Diamondbacks, tying him for the major league lead with 14. Josh Naylor also homered and had four RBIs.\n\nArizona loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Doval got Ketel Marte to hit into a 1-2-3 double play.\n\nTrailing 3-0, the Giants loaded the bases in the second inning on two walks and a single. Koss, a rookie infielder who made his major league debut in April, then homered off Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt (6-3).\n\nAdames homered off Juan Morillo in the fifth. Lee hit his fifth home run of the season in the ninth off Joe Mantiply.\n\nPfaadt, whose six wins were tied for most in the majors going into the game, allowed four runs and six hits in four innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nKoss's grand slam immediately swung momentum into the Giants' favor.\n\n## Key stat\n\nKoss is the 17th player in Giants history to hit a grand slam for his first career home run.\n\n## Up next\n\nDiamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 6.86 ERA) opposes Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (1-4, 5.82) on Wednesday."
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"value": "# Victory Day parade in Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany\n\nMay 9th, 2025 07:06 AM\n\n---\n\nMOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.\n\nVictory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country's most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow's efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.\n\nFriday's parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah.\n\n\"It's again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,\" said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.\n\n\"Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,\" Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that \"Russia has allies even within the Western camp\" and marked a major public relations victory for Putin.\n\nWorld War II is a rare event in the nation's divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia's position as a global power.\n\nThe Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.\n\nAddressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that \"we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.\"\n\nPutin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.\n\nFor Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become \"a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia's increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors,\" Gabuev said.\n\nThe parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia's nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Also among the weaponry on display were drones carried on military trucks, a tribute to their pivotal role in the conflict.\n\nFighter jets of Russian air force's aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag.\n\nAfterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.\n\nLast month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.\n\nThe Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding military partnership, especially after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian forces seized last year. Ukraine denied the Russian claim.\n\nAfter the parade, Putin hosted foreign leaders at a Kremlin reception. He also held a number of bilateral meetings with some of them, including Brazil's Lula, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has openly challenged the European Union's policies over Ukraine.\n\nPutin and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged \"warm words\" and \"congratulations on the occasion of our common holiday\" through their aides, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told state Channel One TV.\n\nVictory Day festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital's airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.\n\nRussian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.\n\nMilitary parades and other festivities were also held in scores of other cities across Russia amid tight security. As a historic tribute, Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era name of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd temporarily reverted to Stalingrad, as it was known during World War II. In the evening, massive fireworks lit the sky in multiple cities across Russia's 11 time zones.\n\nPutin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks. Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv's mobilization effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.\n\nUkrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings. A Russian drone also struck a civilian vehicle in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a man and also wounding his wife.\n\nThe Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said Kyiv's forces continued operations against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, as well as conducting shelling and drone strikes on the battlefield. It also accused Ukraine of attempted cross-border attacks into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.\n\nAs the parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.\n\n\"Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength,\" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, addressing the Lviv meeting. He emphasized the need for Russia to be held accountable, adding that \"this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life.\"\n\n\"I'm sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine,\" said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.\n\nRussian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of war crimes. Asked about the tribunal on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow \"will not be reacting to this.\"\n\nBarrot also said European allies have agreed on another package of sanctions against Russia.\n\nStanding alongside top Ukrainian government officials in Lviv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the tribunal's launch will mean that \"nobody can be left unpunished for the crimes committed.\"\n\nMost of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8."
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"value": "# Victory Day parade in Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany\n\nMay 9th, 2025 07:06 AM\n\n---\n\nMOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.\n\nVictory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country's most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow's efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.\n\nFriday's parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah.\n\n\"It's again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,\" said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.\n\n\"Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,\" Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that \"Russia has allies even within the Western camp\" and marked a major public relations victory for Putin.\n\nWorld War II is a rare event in the nation's divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia's position as a global power.\n\nThe Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.\n\nAddressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that \"we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.\"\n\nPutin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.\n\nFor Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become \"a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia's increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors,\" Gabuev said.\n\nThe parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia's nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Also among the weaponry on display were drones carried on military trucks, a tribute to their pivotal role in the conflict.\n\nFighter jets of Russian air force's aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag.\n\nAfterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.\n\nLast month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.\n\nThe Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding military partnership, especially after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian forces seized last year. Ukraine denied the Russian claim.\n\nAfter the parade, Putin hosted foreign leaders at a Kremlin reception. He also held a number of bilateral meetings with some of them, including Brazil's Lula, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has openly challenged the European Union's policies over Ukraine.\n\nPutin and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged \"warm words\" and \"congratulations on the occasion of our common holiday\" through their aides, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told state Channel One TV.\n\nVictory Day festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital's airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.\n\nRussian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.\n\nMilitary parades and other festivities were also held in scores of other cities across Russia amid tight security. As a historic tribute, Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era name of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd temporarily reverted to Stalingrad, as it was known during World War II. In the evening, massive fireworks lit the sky in multiple cities across Russia's 11 time zones.\n\nPutin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks. Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv's mobilization effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.\n\nUkrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings. A Russian drone also struck a civilian vehicle in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a man and also wounding his wife.\n\nThe Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said Kyiv's forces continued operations against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, as well as conducting shelling and drone strikes on the battlefield. It also accused Ukraine of attempted cross-border attacks into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.\n\nAs the parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.\n\n\"Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength,\" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, addressing the Lviv meeting. He emphasized the need for Russia to be held accountable, adding that \"this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life.\"\n\n\"I'm sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine,\" said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.\n\nRussian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of war crimes. Asked about the tribunal on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow \"will not be reacting to this.\"\n\nBarrot also said European allies have agreed on another package of sanctions against Russia.\n\nStanding alongside top Ukrainian government officials in Lviv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the tribunal's launch will mean that \"nobody can be left unpunished for the crimes committed.\"\n\nMost of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8."
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"value": "# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/8/2025\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 8th, 2025 08:15 PM\n\n---\n\nU.S. stocks rose after the United States and United Kingdom announced a deal on trade that would lower some tariffs and restrictions between the two countries.\n\nThe S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Thursday, marking its 11th gain in the last 13 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.\n\nStocks got a boost after President Donald Trump gave potentially encouraging updates on upcoming talks with China, but some of the gains faded late in the day. Bitcoin jumped above $101,000, crude oil prices climbed and the price of gold eased back as investors felt less need for safety.\n\nOn Thursday:\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 32.66 points, or 0.6%, to 5,663.94.\n\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.48 points, or 0.6%, to 41,368.45.\n\nThe Nasdaq composite rose 189.98 points, or 1.1%, to 17,928.14.\n\nThe Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 36.75 points, or 1.8%, to 2,026.41.\n\nFor the week:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 22.73 points, or 0.4%.\n\nThe Dow is up 51.02 points, or 0.1%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 49.59 or 0.3%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is up 5.68 points, or 0.3%.\n\nFor the year:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 217.69 points, or 3.7%.\n\nThe Dow is down 1,175.77 points, or 2.8%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 1,382.65 or 7.2%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is down 203.74 points, or 9.1%."
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"value": "# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/8/2025\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 8th, 2025 08:15 PM\n\n---\n\nU.S. stocks rose after the United States and United Kingdom announced a deal on trade that would lower some tariffs and restrictions between the two countries.\n\nThe S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Thursday, marking its 11th gain in the last 13 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.\n\nStocks got a boost after President Donald Trump gave potentially encouraging updates on upcoming talks with China, but some of the gains faded late in the day. Bitcoin jumped above $101,000, crude oil prices climbed and the price of gold eased back as investors felt less need for safety.\n\nOn Thursday:\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 32.66 points, or 0.6%, to 5,663.94.\n\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.48 points, or 0.6%, to 41,368.45.\n\nThe Nasdaq composite rose 189.98 points, or 1.1%, to 17,928.14.\n\nThe Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 36.75 points, or 1.8%, to 2,026.41.\n\nFor the week:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 22.73 points, or 0.4%.\n\nThe Dow is up 51.02 points, or 0.1%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 49.59 or 0.3%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is up 5.68 points, or 0.3%.\n\nFor the year:\n\nThe S&P 500 is down 217.69 points, or 3.7%.\n\nThe Dow is down 1,175.77 points, or 2.8%.\n\nThe Nasdaq is down 1,382.65 or 7.2%.\n\nThe Russell 2000 is down 203.74 points, or 9.1%."
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"value": "# Ravens release Tucker after accusations by massage therapists of inappropriate behavior\n\nBy Noah Trister \nMay 5th, 2025 09:33 PM\n\n---\n\nThe Baltimore Ravens are describing it as a football decision, and it came before the NFL completed its investigation into Justin Tucker.\n\nWhatever the underlying reasons, the team is moving on from its star kicker.\n\nThe Ravens announced Monday they've decided to release Tucker, months after reports that he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by massage therapists. A five-time All-Pro, the 35-year-old Tucker has played his entire 13-year career with Baltimore. He's considered one of the best kickers in NFL history, although 2024 was his worst season.\n\nThe Baltimore Banner has reported that over a dozen massage therapists have accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior. The NFL said it would investigate, and the Ravens drafted kicker Tyler Loop late last month.\n\n\"Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,\" Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement issued by the club. \"Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker.\"\n\nThat comment was consistent with what coach John Harbaugh said at rookie camp Sunday, when he indicated a decision on Tucker might come before the NFL completed its investigation.\n\n\"Every decision we make has to be based on football,\" Harbaugh said. \"You've got a rookie kicker in here. You took him in the sixth round, early in the sixth round. He's a talented guy. Just from a football standpoint — salary cap, all the different things that you just take into consideration — whatever we decide to do over the next few weeks will be based on football.\"\n\nTucker has maintained he did not act inappropriately while receiving professional treatment. A message seeking comment was left with his publicist Monday.\n\nTucker holds the record for the longest kick in NFL history at 66 yards, and his success rate of 89.1% on field goals is the best all-time among players with at least 100 attempts. He was the last remaining player on the Ravens from their most recent Super Bowl title, which occurred when he was a rookie.\n\nIn 2022, he agreed to a four-year contract extension through the 2027 season. That deal included $17.5 million guaranteed.\n\nTucker missed a career-high eight field goal attempts last season, although he rebounded a bit down the stretch. Then came the Banner's report in January that left his future in doubt.\n\n\"Justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in Ravens history,\" DeCosta said. \"His reliability, focus, drive, resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the league's best kickers for over a decade. We are grateful for Justin's many contributions while playing for the Ravens. We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL"
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"value": "# Ravens release Tucker after accusations by massage therapists of inappropriate behavior\n\nBy Noah Trister \nMay 5th, 2025 09:33 PM\n\n---\n\nThe Baltimore Ravens are describing it as a football decision, and it came before the NFL completed its investigation into Justin Tucker.\n\nWhatever the underlying reasons, the team is moving on from its star kicker.\n\nThe Ravens announced Monday they've decided to release Tucker, months after reports that he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by massage therapists. A five-time All-Pro, the 35-year-old Tucker has played his entire 13-year career with Baltimore. He's considered one of the best kickers in NFL history, although 2024 was his worst season.\n\nThe Baltimore Banner has reported that over a dozen massage therapists have accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior. The NFL said it would investigate, and the Ravens drafted kicker Tyler Loop late last month.\n\n\"Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,\" Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement issued by the club. \"Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker.\"\n\nThat comment was consistent with what coach John Harbaugh said at rookie camp Sunday, when he indicated a decision on Tucker might come before the NFL completed its investigation.\n\n\"Every decision we make has to be based on football,\" Harbaugh said. \"You've got a rookie kicker in here. You took him in the sixth round, early in the sixth round. He's a talented guy. Just from a football standpoint — salary cap, all the different things that you just take into consideration — whatever we decide to do over the next few weeks will be based on football.\"\n\nTucker has maintained he did not act inappropriately while receiving professional treatment. A message seeking comment was left with his publicist Monday.\n\nTucker holds the record for the longest kick in NFL history at 66 yards, and his success rate of 89.1% on field goals is the best all-time among players with at least 100 attempts. He was the last remaining player on the Ravens from their most recent Super Bowl title, which occurred when he was a rookie.\n\nIn 2022, he agreed to a four-year contract extension through the 2027 season. That deal included $17.5 million guaranteed.\n\nTucker missed a career-high eight field goal attempts last season, although he rebounded a bit down the stretch. Then came the Banner's report in January that left his future in doubt.\n\n\"Justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in Ravens history,\" DeCosta said. \"His reliability, focus, drive, resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the league's best kickers for over a decade. We are grateful for Justin's many contributions while playing for the Ravens. We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives.\""
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"value": "# US and China reach deal to roll back most tariffs for 90 days\n\nBy Jamey Keaten, David Mchugh, Elaine Kurtenbach, and Ken Moritsugu \nMay 12th, 2025 08:10 AM\n\n---\n\nGENEVA (AP) — The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets.\n\nBut the de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.\n\n## A deal averts a total blockade\n\nGreer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.\n\nThe officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said that the triple-digit tariffs the two countries imposed on each other last month — in an escalation of tensions Trump started — amounted to \"the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that. We do want trade.''\n\nThe delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at a sunbaked 18th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.\n\nAt times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villa's patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.\n\n## Finally, a deal\n\nThe 30% levy that America is now imposing on Chinese goods includes an existing 20% tariff intended to pressure China into doing more to prevent the the synthetic opioid fentanyl from entering the United States. It also includes the same 10% \"baseline'' tariff Trump has slapped on imports from most of the world's countries. The 30% tax comes on top of other levies on China, including some left over from Trump's first term and kept by former President Joe Biden.\n\nTrump had ratcheted the combined tariff to 145% last month, furious that China was retaliating, before backing down Monday.\n\nChina's Commerce Ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries' differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.\n\n\"This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world,\" a ministry statement said.\n\nChina hopes the U.S. will stop \"the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes\" and work with China to safeguard the development of economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.\n\nThe joint statement by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs. China has increased export controls on rare earths, including some critical to the defense industry, and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.\n\n## Markets rally as two sides de-escalate\n\nThe full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension.\n\nBessent said in an interview with CNBC that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet again in a few weeks.\n\nBut investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the world's two biggest economies blinked.\n\nFutures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel, and the dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.\n\n\"This is a substantial de-escalation,\" said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned \"there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire.\"\n\nDani Rodrik, an economist at Harvard University, said that the two countries had stepped back \"from a needless trade war'' but that U.S. tariffs on China remain high at 30% \"and will mainly hurt U.S. consumers.''\n\n\"Trump has obtained absolutely nothing from China for all the chaos he generated. Zilch,'' Rodrik wrote, posting on Bluesky.\n\nCraig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the speed at which the agreement came about suggested that \"both sides were more economically boxed in than they let on.\"\n\n\"For China, the economic pain was real: Rising unemployment, capital flight, and export orders falling at their fastest rate in nearly two years,\" Singleton said. \"For Trump, markets mattered, and this deal gives him a win without abandoning leverage.\"\n\nThe announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged nearly 3%, and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%\n\n\"The drop from sky-high to merely high tariffs, along with the uncertainty about the path of future tariffs, will still serve as a constraint on trade and investment flows between the two economies,\" said Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University.\n\n\"Nevertheless, it is a positive omen for the world economy that U.S. tariffs might eventually end up as significant trade barriers but not unsurmountable walls,'' he said.\n\nJay Foreman — CEO of Basic Fun, the Florida-based company behind such toys as Care Bears and Tonka trucks — said he was relieved to see the tariff rate on Chinese goods now down to 30%. But he wants that to drop to 10%.\n\nForeman said he'd just advised his team in China to release its toy shipments, which had been paused since early April. Before Monday's deal, he said, he thought he'd have to double prices — but they'll still go up, by 10% to 15% for the third and fourth quarters.\n\n\"It's like they tried to feed us a rotten egg sandwich and hope we're happy to drink spoiled milk instead,\" Foreman said.\n\n___\n\nMcHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany; Kurtenbach from Mito, Japan; and Moritsugu from Beijing. AP Writers Paul Wiseman and Didi Tang in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed."
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"value": "# US and China reach deal to roll back most tariffs for 90 days\n\nBy Jamey Keaten, David Mchugh, Elaine Kurtenbach, and Ken Moritsugu \nMay 12th, 2025 08:10 AM\n\n---\n\nGENEVA (AP) — The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets.\n\nBut the de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.\n\n## A deal averts a total blockade\n\nGreer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.\n\nThe officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said that the triple-digit tariffs the two countries imposed on each other last month — in an escalation of tensions Trump started — amounted to \"the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that. We do want trade.''\n\nThe delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at a sunbaked 18th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.\n\nAt times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villa's patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.\n\n## Finally, a deal\n\nThe 30% levy that America is now imposing on Chinese goods includes an existing 20% tariff intended to pressure China into doing more to prevent the the synthetic opioid fentanyl from entering the United States. It also includes the same 10% \"baseline'' tariff Trump has slapped on imports from most of the world's countries. The 30% tax comes on top of other levies on China, including some left over from Trump's first term and kept by former President Joe Biden.\n\nTrump had ratcheted the combined tariff to 145% last month, furious that China was retaliating, before backing down Monday.\n\nChina's Commerce Ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries' differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.\n\n\"This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world,\" a ministry statement said.\n\nChina hopes the U.S. will stop \"the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes\" and work with China to safeguard the development of economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.\n\nThe joint statement by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs. China has increased export controls on rare earths, including some critical to the defense industry, and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.\n\n## Markets rally as two sides de-escalate\n\nThe full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension.\n\nBessent said in an interview with CNBC that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet again in a few weeks.\n\nBut investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the world's two biggest economies blinked.\n\nFutures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel, and the dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.\n\n\"This is a substantial de-escalation,\" said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned \"there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire.\"\n\nDani Rodrik, an economist at Harvard University, said that the two countries had stepped back \"from a needless trade war'' but that U.S. tariffs on China remain high at 30% \"and will mainly hurt U.S. consumers.''\n\n\"Trump has obtained absolutely nothing from China for all the chaos he generated. Zilch,'' Rodrik wrote, posting on Bluesky.\n\nCraig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the speed at which the agreement came about suggested that \"both sides were more economically boxed in than they let on.\"\n\n\"For China, the economic pain was real: Rising unemployment, capital flight, and export orders falling at their fastest rate in nearly two years,\" Singleton said. \"For Trump, markets mattered, and this deal gives him a win without abandoning leverage.\"\n\nThe announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged nearly 3%, and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%\n\n\"The drop from sky-high to merely high tariffs, along with the uncertainty about the path of future tariffs, will still serve as a constraint on trade and investment flows between the two economies,\" said Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University.\n\n\"Nevertheless, it is a positive omen for the world economy that U.S. tariffs might eventually end up as significant trade barriers but not unsurmountable walls,'' he said.\n\nJay Foreman — CEO of Basic Fun, the Florida-based company behind such toys as Care Bears and Tonka trucks — said he was relieved to see the tariff rate on Chinese goods now down to 30%. But he wants that to drop to 10%.\n\nForeman said he'd just advised his team in China to release its toy shipments, which had been paused since early April. Before Monday's deal, he said, he thought he'd have to double prices — but they'll still go up, by 10% to 15% for the third and fourth quarters.\n\n\"It's like they tried to feed us a rotten egg sandwich and hope we're happy to drink spoiled milk instead,\" Foreman said."
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"value": "# Oakes' resignation from F1 team Alpine came days after police charged brother\n\nMay 8th, 2025 10:19 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Oliver Oakes' resignation as team principal of F1 team Alpine this week came several days after UK police charged his brother with transferring criminal property.\n\nMetropolitan Police said William Oakes, 31, was charged last Friday after being stopped the day before in the Silverstone Park area \"in possession of a large amount of cash.\"\n\nPolice said he was remanded in custody after an appearance before the Northampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday. It wasn't clear who his attorney is to seek comment.\n\nOliver Oakes had joined Alpine from his junior team, Hitech Grand Prix, where William Oakes also was listed as a director. Hitech did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.\n\nOliver Oakes, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, had been Alpine's team principal for less than a year when his resignation was announced on Tuesday.\n\nA day later, the team confirmed it had changed its driver lineup to promote Franco Colapinto for at least the next five Grand Prix races at the expense of Jack Doohan.\n\nAlpine is ninth in the F1 constructors' standings after six rounds. The next race weekend is May 16-18 at Imola.\n\n___\n\nAP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing"
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"value": "# Oakes' resignation from F1 team Alpine came days after police charged brother\n\nMay 8th, 2025 10:19 PM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Oliver Oakes' resignation as team principal of F1 team Alpine this week came several days after UK police charged his brother with transferring criminal property.\n\nMetropolitan Police said William Oakes, 31, was charged last Friday after being stopped the day before in the Silverstone Park area \"in possession of a large amount of cash.\"\n\nPolice said he was remanded in custody after an appearance before the Northampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday. It wasn't clear who his attorney is to seek comment.\n\nOliver Oakes had joined Alpine from his junior team, Hitech Grand Prix, where William Oakes also was listed as a director. Hitech did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.\n\nOliver Oakes, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, had been Alpine's team principal for less than a year when his resignation was announced on Tuesday.\n\nA day later, the team confirmed it had changed its driver lineup to promote Franco Colapinto for at least the next five Grand Prix races at the expense of Jack Doohan.\n\nAlpine is ninth in the F1 constructors' standings after six rounds. The next race weekend is May 16-18 at Imola."
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"value": "# Alabama lawmakers approve bill to let Alfa sell health benefit plans\n\nMay 1st, 2025 06:47 PM\n\n---\n\nMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — State lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that will allow the Alabama Farmers Federation to sell health care plans to their members that can bypass federal requirements and turn people away for preexisting conditions.\n\nThe Alabama Senate voted 30-2 for the bill. The legislation now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature.\n\nThe bill would allow the Alabama Farmers Federation (Alfa) to sell health plans to farmers and anyone else who joins the organization. The bill specifies that the plans, even though they would provide benefits to pay for medical visits, hospitalizations, and other costs, are not classified as health insurance.\n\nThe plans would not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act requirements and could deny coverage to people because of preexisting conditions.\n\nRepublican Sen. Arthur Orr said the proposal provides an option for people who want to participate.\n\n\"Folks, for me this is a freedom of contract issue. This is for individuals and an organization being able to engage in a contract for health care and the government has no role, or a very limited role in that,\" Orr said.\n\nOrr said 11 other states including Tennessee and Iowa have similar laws in place.\n\nSimilar legislation passed the Missouri Senate in March and is now pending in its House, with two weeks remaining in the legislative session.\n\nMissouri Republican Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer on Thursday touted the legislation as \"a common sense health care solution\" for organizations such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, which is backing the effort.\n\n\"It will be especially valuable for rural families who are self-employed in Missouri – small business owners who have been struggling with skyrocketing premiums,\" Luetkemeyer said.\n\nSupporters said the bill provides a needed and less expensive option to farmers and others who are struggling with high health care costs. Opponents argued the plans will skirt federal requirements and create an unlevel playing field by allowing the group to refuse to sell plans to people with expensive medical conditions— something that traditional insurance plans cannot do.\n\nSenate Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for amendments that would require Alfa to accept people with preexisting conditions and to give the Alabama Department of Insurance oversight over the plans.\n\nSenate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton said the changes would ensure farmers get a health plan that will \"really benefit them.\"\n\n\"We need to protect people on their preexisting conditions. These farmers work in dangerous conditions on a daily basis. Every farmer handles chemicals on a daily basis,\" Singleton said.\n\nOrr countered that people will leave the plan if they are unhappy with the coverage. People who enroll would be required to sign a notice that the benefits \"are not provided through an insurance policy.\"\n\nRepublican Sen. Jack Williams said farmers are struggling with insurance costs on top of the other financial pressures of running a farm. He said his 27-year-old grandson pays $2,400 monthly to buy insurance for his family.\n\n\"If we don't do something to help our young farmers out, we're not going to have any because they have to go to work somewhere else just to get insurance,\" Williams said.\n\nLawmakers earlier added several changes to the bill they said were aimed at boosting protections for consumers. Any monetary cap on benefits could not be less than $2 million per enrollee. The plans, while they could deny coverage to new applicants because of their health history, could not kick people off the plan or increase premiums because of an illness or medical event. People who have access to employer-sponsored plans would be ineligible to buy the plans."
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"value": "# Alabama lawmakers approve bill to let Alfa sell health benefit plans\n\nMay 1st, 2025 06:47 PM\n\n---\n\nMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — State lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that will allow the Alabama Farmers Federation to sell health care plans to their members that can bypass federal requirements and turn people away for preexisting conditions.\n\nThe Alabama Senate voted 30-2 for the bill. The legislation now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature.\n\nThe bill would allow the Alabama Farmers Federation (Alfa) to sell health plans to farmers and anyone else who joins the organization. The bill specifies that the plans, even though they would provide benefits to pay for medical visits, hospitalizations, and other costs, are not classified as health insurance.\n\nThe plans would not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act requirements and could deny coverage to people because of preexisting conditions.\n\nRepublican Sen. Arthur Orr said the proposal provides an option for people who want to participate.\n\n\"Folks, for me this is a freedom of contract issue. This is for individuals and an organization being able to engage in a contract for health care and the government has no role, or a very limited role in that,\" Orr said.\n\nOrr said 11 other states including Tennessee and Iowa have similar laws in place.\n\nSimilar legislation passed the Missouri Senate in March and is now pending in its House, with two weeks remaining in the legislative session.\n\nMissouri Republican Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer on Thursday touted the legislation as \"a common sense health care solution\" for organizations such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, which is backing the effort.\n\n\"It will be especially valuable for rural families who are self-employed in Missouri – small business owners who have been struggling with skyrocketing premiums,\" Luetkemeyer said.\n\nSupporters said the bill provides a needed and less expensive option to farmers and others who are struggling with high health care costs. Opponents argued the plans will skirt federal requirements and create an unlevel playing field by allowing the group to refuse to sell plans to people with expensive medical conditions— something that traditional insurance plans cannot do.\n\nSenate Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for amendments that would require Alfa to accept people with preexisting conditions and to give the Alabama Department of Insurance oversight over the plans.\n\nSenate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton said the changes would ensure farmers get a health plan that will \"really benefit them.\"\n\n\"We need to protect people on their preexisting conditions. These farmers work in dangerous conditions on a daily basis. Every farmer handles chemicals on a daily basis,\" Singleton said.\n\nOrr countered that people will leave the plan if they are unhappy with the coverage. People who enroll would be required to sign a notice that the benefits \"are not provided through an insurance policy.\"\n\nRepublican Sen. Jack Williams said farmers are struggling with insurance costs on top of the other financial pressures of running a farm. He said his 27-year-old grandson pays $2,400 monthly to buy insurance for his family.\n\n\"If we don't do something to help our young farmers out, we're not going to have any because they have to go to work somewhere else just to get insurance,\" Williams said.\n\nLawmakers earlier added several changes to the bill they said were aimed at boosting protections for consumers. Any monetary cap on benefits could not be less than $2 million per enrollee. The plans, while they could deny coverage to new applicants because of their health history, could not kick people off the plan or increase premiums because of an illness or medical event. People who have access to employer-sponsored plans would be ineligible to buy the plans."
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"value": "# Alonso and Nimmo homer, Mets beat Cardinals 9-3 for ninth straight win over St. Louis\n\nBy Jeff Latzke \nMay 3rd, 2025 03:32 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo homered and the New York Mets beat St. Louis 9-3 on Friday night to avoid their first three-game losing streak this season and win their ninth straight game against the Cardinals.\n\nFrancisco Alvarez added three singles and three RBIs to back Clay Holmes (4-1), and New York got its first win over Sonny Gray (3-1), who had been 4-0 against the Mets.\n\nAlonso put the Mets ahead 4-3 with his eighth homer, a two-run drive on an 0-2 changeup he drove 417 feet into the center-field bleachers.\n\nNimmo homered leading off the seventh against John King, his seventh home run, and the Mets finished with 17 hits for their second-highest total this season.\n\nNew York swept a four-game series from the Cardinals at home last month. The Mets' previous best streak against the Cardinals was an eight-game run in 1986.\n\nHolmes allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He was struck on the right ankle by Alec Burleson's comebacker in the second inning.\n\nGray gave up five runs — four earned — nine hits and three walks in a season-low 4 1/3 innings.\n\nMasyn Winn had three hits, an RBI. He scored on Willson Contreras' third-inning single to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Holmes retired his next eight batters.\n\n## Key moment\n\nContreras couldn't handle the relay throw for a potential inning-ending double play in the fifth, and Nimmo sped home on the first baseman's error when the ball rolled away. Alvarez followed with an RBI single for a 6-3 lead.\n\n## Key stat\n\nAlonso has 13 homers in 135 at-bats against St. Louis. His average of one per 10.4 at-bats is the second-highest among players with 100 or more at-bats vs. the Cardinals behind 5.6 for Hall of Famer Jim Thome.\n\n## Up next\n\nMets RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA), who hasn't allowed an earned run in his last two starts, starts Saturday against Cardinals RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68).\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Alonso and Nimmo homer, Mets beat Cardinals 9-3 for ninth straight win over St. Louis\n\nBy Jeff Latzke \nMay 3rd, 2025 03:32 AM\n\n---\n\nST. LOUIS (AP) — Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo homered and the New York Mets beat St. Louis 9-3 on Friday night to avoid their first three-game losing streak this season and win their ninth straight game against the Cardinals.\n\nFrancisco Alvarez added three singles and three RBIs to back Clay Holmes (4-1), and New York got its first win over Sonny Gray (3-1), who had been 4-0 against the Mets.\n\nAlonso put the Mets ahead 4-3 with his eighth homer, a two-run drive on an 0-2 changeup he drove 417 feet into the center-field bleachers.\n\nNimmo homered leading off the seventh against John King, his seventh home run, and the Mets finished with 17 hits for their second-highest total this season.\n\nNew York swept a four-game series from the Cardinals at home last month. The Mets' previous best streak against the Cardinals was an eight-game run in 1986.\n\nHolmes allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He was struck on the right ankle by Alec Burleson's comebacker in the second inning.\n\nGray gave up five runs — four earned — nine hits and three walks in a season-low 4 1/3 innings.\n\nMasyn Winn had three hits, an RBI. He scored on Willson Contreras' third-inning single to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Holmes retired his next eight batters.\n\n## Key moment\n\nContreras couldn't handle the relay throw for a potential inning-ending double play in the fifth, and Nimmo sped home on the first baseman's error when the ball rolled away. Alvarez followed with an RBI single for a 6-3 lead.\n\n## Key stat\n\nAlonso has 13 homers in 135 at-bats against St. Louis. His average of one per 10.4 at-bats is the second-highest among players with 100 or more at-bats vs. the Cardinals behind 5.6 for Hall of Famer Jim Thome.\n\n## Up next\n\nMets RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA), who hasn't allowed an earned run in his last two starts, starts Saturday against Cardinals RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68)."
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"value": "# Pilot of small plane reported a rudder problem before crash that killed 3\n\nMay 8th, 2025 03:12 PM\n\n---\n\nBOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — One of the pilots of a small plane that crashed last month in South Florida, killing all three people on board, reported only being able to make left turns with the rudder before the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, according to federal investigators.\n\nThe Cessna 310 veered to the left after taking off from Boca Raton Airport and then made up to nine full-circle turns to the left before crashing into trees in the middle of a road. The Tallahassee-bound plane burst into flames and then skidded 370 feet (115 meters) until it rested on railroad tracks, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday from the National Transportation Safety Board.\n\nIt was the first flight after the airplane's annual inspection had been completed.\n\nNews outlets reported that 17-year-old Delray Beach high school student Brooke Stark; her 54-year-old father, Stephen Stark; and her 81-year-old grandfather, Robert Stark, were killed in the April 11 crash. Both Stephen and Robert Stark were certified pilots, authorities said.\n\nA person in a car on the ground suffered a minor injury."
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"value": "# Pilot of small plane reported a rudder problem before crash that killed 3\n\nMay 8th, 2025 03:12 PM\n\n---\n\nBOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — One of the pilots of a small plane that crashed last month in South Florida, killing all three people on board, reported only being able to make left turns with the rudder before the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, according to federal investigators.\n\nThe Cessna 310 veered to the left after taking off from Boca Raton Airport and then made up to nine full-circle turns to the left before crashing into trees in the middle of a road. The Tallahassee-bound plane burst into flames and then skidded 370 feet (115 meters) until it rested on railroad tracks, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday from the National Transportation Safety Board.\n\nIt was the first flight after the airplane's annual inspection had been completed.\n\nNews outlets reported that 17-year-old Delray Beach high school student Brooke Stark; her 54-year-old father, Stephen Stark; and her 81-year-old grandfather, Robert Stark, were killed in the April 11 crash. Both Stephen and Robert Stark were certified pilots, authorities said.\n\nA person in a car on the ground suffered a minor injury."
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"value": "# Transgender women banned from women's cricket in England and Wales\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 11:56 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Transgender women are to be banned outright from women's and girls' cricket in England and Wales.\n\nThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Friday it had updated its previous restrictions following a U.K. Supreme Court ruling last month.\n\n\"With immediate effect, only those whose biological sex is female will be eligible to play in women's cricket and girls' cricket matches\", the ECB said Friday. \"Transgender women and girls can continue playing in open and mixed cricket.\"\n\nThe announcement comes a day after transgender athletes were banned from playing on women's soccer teams in England and Scotland by the Football Association.\n\nTransgender women were already banned from the top two tiers of elite women's cricket from the start of this year but had been permitted to compete in the women's game at lower levels including recreational cricket.\n\nNo longer.\n\nThe U.K.'s highest court issued a ruling two weeks ago that defined a woman for anti-discrimination purposes as someone born biologically female. The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said after the ruling that transgender women would be excluded from women's toilets, hospital wards and sports teams.\n\nWhile the ruling was cheered by some feminist groups, it has been condemned by trans-rights groups who said it would have a broad and detrimental impact on daily life.\n\nThe issue has been polarizing in the U.K. and beyond, particularly in the United States, where President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to prohibit participation of transgender athletes in sports and to use a rigid definition of the sexes, rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are being challenged in court.\n\n## Reactions to cricket ban\n\nFiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters charity, said: \"The ECB's two-tier policy was never coherent. Restricting the top end of the women's game to female-only showed that it understood men's size and strength confer an unfair advantage in women's sport.\n\n\"But protecting around 300 women in England and Wales while leaving the other 33,000 female cricketers to face male bowling and batting was indefensible.\"\n\nA spokesperson for Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity, said: \"The recent decisions of sporting bodies to ban trans women from women's sport have been made too soon, before the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling have been worked through by lawyers and politicians or before statutory guidance has been issued.\n\n\"It is very disappointing as several of them have been long term and vocal supporters of our Rainbow Laces campaign, advocating for inclusion in sport for all ages and at all levels.\"\n\n___\n\nAP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports"
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"value": "# Transgender women banned from women's cricket in England and Wales\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 11:56 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — Transgender women are to be banned outright from women's and girls' cricket in England and Wales.\n\nThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Friday it had updated its previous restrictions following a U.K. Supreme Court ruling last month.\n\n\"With immediate effect, only those whose biological sex is female will be eligible to play in women's cricket and girls' cricket matches\", the ECB said Friday. \"Transgender women and girls can continue playing in open and mixed cricket.\"\n\nThe announcement comes a day after transgender athletes were banned from playing on women's soccer teams in England and Scotland by the Football Association.\n\nTransgender women were already banned from the top two tiers of elite women's cricket from the start of this year but had been permitted to compete in the women's game at lower levels including recreational cricket.\n\nNo longer.\n\nThe U.K.'s highest court issued a ruling two weeks ago that defined a woman for anti-discrimination purposes as someone born biologically female. The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said after the ruling that transgender women would be excluded from women's toilets, hospital wards and sports teams.\n\nWhile the ruling was cheered by some feminist groups, it has been condemned by trans-rights groups who said it would have a broad and detrimental impact on daily life.\n\nThe issue has been polarizing in the U.K. and beyond, particularly in the United States, where President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to prohibit participation of transgender athletes in sports and to use a rigid definition of the sexes, rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are being challenged in court.\n\n## Reactions to cricket ban\n\nFiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters charity, said: \"The ECB's two-tier policy was never coherent. Restricting the top end of the women's game to female-only showed that it understood men's size and strength confer an unfair advantage in women's sport.\n\n\"But protecting around 300 women in England and Wales while leaving the other 33,000 female cricketers to face male bowling and batting was indefensible.\"\n\nA spokesperson for Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity, said: \"The recent decisions of sporting bodies to ban trans women from women's sport have been made too soon, before the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling have been worked through by lawyers and politicians or before statutory guidance has been issued.\n\n\"It is very disappointing as several of them have been long term and vocal supporters of our Rainbow Laces campaign, advocating for inclusion in sport for all ages and at all levels.\""
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"value": "# Second person charged with arson in New Jersey Pine Barrens fire\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 07:48 PM\n\n---\n\nA second person has been charged with arson in the wildfire in New Jersey's Pine Barrens that has grown into the state's second-largest fire in nearly two decades.\n\nProsecutors said Friday that a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with arson, aggravated arson and hindering apprehension. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.\n\nThe fire that has been burning for nearly two weeks is 80% contained, according to the state Forest Fire Service. The blaze in southern New Jersey's Ocean County has spread across 24 square miles (62 square kilometers). No injuries have been reported.\n\nA 19-year-old man from Waretown was charged with arson a week ago. Prosecutors say Joseph Kling set wood pallets on fire and left the area. On Friday, prosecutors said Kling and a few other people took the pallets from a recycling center, drove to a heavily wooded area and used gasoline to start the fire.\n\nKling's attorney said at a detention hearing Friday that Kling did not intend to set the wildfire or destroy any property.\n\nThe Pine Barrens sit between Philadelphia and the Atlantic coast, a region with quick-draining sandy soil and trees with still-developing leaves where winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.\n\nFirefighters have been contending with low humidity and the aftermath of a monthslong drought."
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"value": "# Second person charged with arson in New Jersey Pine Barrens fire\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 07:48 PM\n\n---\n\nA second person has been charged with arson in the wildfire in New Jersey's Pine Barrens that has grown into the state's second-largest fire in nearly two decades.\n\nProsecutors said Friday that a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with arson, aggravated arson and hindering apprehension. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.\n\nThe fire that has been burning for nearly two weeks is 80% contained, according to the state Forest Fire Service. The blaze in southern New Jersey's Ocean County has spread across 24 square miles (62 square kilometers). No injuries have been reported.\n\nA 19-year-old man from Waretown was charged with arson a week ago. Prosecutors say Joseph Kling set wood pallets on fire and left the area. On Friday, prosecutors said Kling and a few other people took the pallets from a recycling center, drove to a heavily wooded area and used gasoline to start the fire.\n\nKling's attorney said at a detention hearing Friday that Kling did not intend to set the wildfire or destroy any property.\n\nThe Pine Barrens sit between Philadelphia and the Atlantic coast, a region with quick-draining sandy soil and trees with still-developing leaves where winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.\n\nFirefighters have been contending with low humidity and the aftermath of a monthslong drought."
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"value": "# Mother of dead inmate sues troubled Wisconsin prison where 7 have died since 2023\n\nBy Todd Richmond \nMay 1st, 2025 05:03 PM\n\n---\n\nMADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mother of an inmate who died of dehydration and malnutrition at Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison last year has filed a federal lawsuit, marking the fourth action brought by relatives of inmates who have died at the troubled institution since 2023.\n\nDonald Maier's mother, Jeanette Maier, filed her lawsuit Monday in federal court in Milwaukee alleging her son was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment at Waupun Correctional Institution. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names state Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy, former Waupun Warden Randall Hepp and multiple Waupun staffers as defendants.\n\nCorrections spokesperson Kevin Hoffman declined to comment, saying the agency typically doesn't speak publicly about pending litigation. Hepp's attorney, Michael Steinle, didn't return an email Thursday.\n\nDonald Maier, 62, was found dead in his cell in February 2024 at Waupun. The Dodge County medical examiner determined he died of dehydration and failure to thrive due to malnutrition. Investigators found that guards had repeatedly shut off the water to his cell during the week leading up to Maier's death after he flooded his cell, according to court documents.\n\nJeanette Maier's lawsuit alleges that Waupun staff failed to document the water shut-offs in violation of prison protocol, didn't tell him when the water was back on and didn't offer to get him any water themselves. He also didn't receive medication at Waupun, even though the state Corrections Department had designated him as suffering from a serious mental illness, according to the lawsuit.\n\nThe filing also alleges that staff shortages at Waupun have left workers exhausted and extra shifts have left them resentful of inmates who need help.\n\nWaupun opened in 1854, making it Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison. It's been plagued by a litany of problems in recent years.\n\nInmates filed a federal class-action lawsuit in October 2023 alleging inhumane conditions at the prison, but dropped it in August 2024 after a judge found eight of 10 plaintiff inmates hadn't exhausted an internal complaint process.\n\nSeven inmates, including Maier, have died at the prison since 2023. Family members of three of them — Cameron Williams, Dean Hoffman and Tyshun Lemons — filed federal lawsuits last year. Those case are still pending.\n\nWilliams was found dead of a stroke in his cell in October 2023. His mother alleges no one helped him, even though he'd been throwing up blood and begging to go to the emergency room for head pain in the days before he died.\n\nHoffmann killed himself at the prison in June 2023. His daughter contends he went weeks without seeing any mental health care providers due to a lockdown and received medication only sporadically.\n\nLemons died of a fentanyl overdose at the prison in October 2023. His sister maintains that Corrections failed to prevent illegal drugs from entering the prison.\n\nFederal investigators have been probing alleged smuggling at Waupun. The investigation has netted at least one former employee who pleaded guilty to smuggling cellphones and drugs in exchange for money.\n\nHepp, the former warden, was charged in June with felony misconduct in connection with Maier's death after investigators concluded that he failed to ensure his staff followed policy. He pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor count of violating laws governing state or county institutions in a deal with prosecutors and walked away with a $500 fine.\n\nEight Waupun staffers were charged in June with abuse or misconduct in connection with either Maier or Williams' death. Charges have been dismissed against one of them and another was fined $250. The remaining cases are pending."
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"value": "# Mother of dead inmate sues troubled Wisconsin prison where 7 have died since 2023\n\nBy Todd Richmond \nMay 1st, 2025 05:03 PM\n\n---\n\nMADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mother of an inmate who died of dehydration and malnutrition at Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison last year has filed a federal lawsuit, marking the fourth action brought by relatives of inmates who have died at the troubled institution since 2023.\n\nDonald Maier's mother, Jeanette Maier, filed her lawsuit Monday in federal court in Milwaukee alleging her son was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment at Waupun Correctional Institution. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names state Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy, former Waupun Warden Randall Hepp and multiple Waupun staffers as defendants.\n\nCorrections spokesperson Kevin Hoffman declined to comment, saying the agency typically doesn't speak publicly about pending litigation. Hepp's attorney, Michael Steinle, didn't return an email Thursday.\n\nDonald Maier, 62, was found dead in his cell in February 2024 at Waupun. The Dodge County medical examiner determined he died of dehydration and failure to thrive due to malnutrition. Investigators found that guards had repeatedly shut off the water to his cell during the week leading up to Maier's death after he flooded his cell, according to court documents.\n\nJeanette Maier's lawsuit alleges that Waupun staff failed to document the water shut-offs in violation of prison protocol, didn't tell him when the water was back on and didn't offer to get him any water themselves. He also didn't receive medication at Waupun, even though the state Corrections Department had designated him as suffering from a serious mental illness, according to the lawsuit.\n\nThe filing also alleges that staff shortages at Waupun have left workers exhausted and extra shifts have left them resentful of inmates who need help.\n\nWaupun opened in 1854, making it Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison. It's been plagued by a litany of problems in recent years.\n\nInmates filed a federal class-action lawsuit in October 2023 alleging inhumane conditions at the prison, but dropped it in August 2024 after a judge found eight of 10 plaintiff inmates hadn't exhausted an internal complaint process.\n\nSeven inmates, including Maier, have died at the prison since 2023. Family members of three of them — Cameron Williams, Dean Hoffman and Tyshun Lemons — filed federal lawsuits last year. Those case are still pending.\n\nWilliams was found dead of a stroke in his cell in October 2023. His mother alleges no one helped him, even though he'd been throwing up blood and begging to go to the emergency room for head pain in the days before he died.\n\nHoffmann killed himself at the prison in June 2023. His daughter contends he went weeks without seeing any mental health care providers due to a lockdown and received medication only sporadically.\n\nLemons died of a fentanyl overdose at the prison in October 2023. His sister maintains that Corrections failed to prevent illegal drugs from entering the prison.\n\nFederal investigators have been probing alleged smuggling at Waupun. The investigation has netted at least one former employee who pleaded guilty to smuggling cellphones and drugs in exchange for money.\n\nHepp, the former warden, was charged in June with felony misconduct in connection with Maier's death after investigators concluded that he failed to ensure his staff followed policy. He pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor count of violating laws governing state or county institutions in a deal with prosecutors and walked away with a $500 fine.\n\nEight Waupun staffers were charged in June with abuse or misconduct in connection with either Maier or Williams' death. Charges have been dismissed against one of them and another was fined $250. The remaining cases are pending."
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"value": "# Montero, Keith lead Tigers over slumping Rockies 11-1 to sweep doubleheader\n\nBy Michael Kelly \nMay 9th, 2025 12:54 AM\n\n---\n\nDENVER (AP) — Keider Montero pitched eight strong innings, Colt Keith homered, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-1 in the second game on Thursday to sweep their doubleheader.\n\nSpencer Torkelson had three hits and Brewer Hicklen singled in the third for his first career hit for Detroit. The Tigers won the first game 10-2 and finished 7-3 on their 10-game road trip.\n\nMontero (1-1) allowed a run and five hits to earn his first victory since Sept. 15, 2024. Two of Montero's seven career wins have come against the Rockies. He blanked them on Sept. 10, 2024, for his only complete game and has a 0.53 ERA against them.\n\nColorado has lost six in a row and is a major league-worst 6-31.\n\nThe Tigers trailed 1-0 but rallied in the third against Tanner Gordon (0-1), who was making his first start of the season.\n\nWith bases loaded and no outs, Kerry Carpenter hit a grounder to Ryan McMahon at third base. The ball went through the webbing of McMahon's glove for a base hit, and Gleyber Torres followed with his three-run double.\n\nTorkelson doubled and Jace Jung singled to drive in two more and make it a six-run inning.\n\nKeith homered off Tyler Kinley in the seventh, his fourth of the season.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Rockies had bases loaded and one out in the third when Michael Toglia topped a ball right in front of the plate. Catcher Dillon Dingler picked it up, stepped on home and threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.\n\n## Key stats\n\nTrey Sweeney went 12 for 17 in the last four games of the road trip to raise his average 63 points to .269.\n\n## Up next\n\nTigers RHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.21) will open a three-game series against Texas on Friday night. Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (1-5, 5.50) opens a three-game series against San Diego.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB"
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"value": "# Montero, Keith lead Tigers over slumping Rockies 11-1 to sweep doubleheader\n\nBy Michael Kelly \nMay 9th, 2025 12:54 AM\n\n---\n\nDENVER (AP) — Keider Montero pitched eight strong innings, Colt Keith homered, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-1 in the second game on Thursday to sweep their doubleheader.\n\nSpencer Torkelson had three hits and Brewer Hicklen singled in the third for his first career hit for Detroit. The Tigers won the first game 10-2 and finished 7-3 on their 10-game road trip.\n\nMontero (1-1) allowed a run and five hits to earn his first victory since Sept. 15, 2024. Two of Montero's seven career wins have come against the Rockies. He blanked them on Sept. 10, 2024, for his only complete game and has a 0.53 ERA against them.\n\nColorado has lost six in a row and is a major league-worst 6-31.\n\nThe Tigers trailed 1-0 but rallied in the third against Tanner Gordon (0-1), who was making his first start of the season.\n\nWith bases loaded and no outs, Kerry Carpenter hit a grounder to Ryan McMahon at third base. The ball went through the webbing of McMahon's glove for a base hit, and Gleyber Torres followed with his three-run double.\n\nTorkelson doubled and Jace Jung singled to drive in two more and make it a six-run inning.\n\nKeith homered off Tyler Kinley in the seventh, his fourth of the season.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Rockies had bases loaded and one out in the third when Michael Toglia topped a ball right in front of the plate. Catcher Dillon Dingler picked it up, stepped on home and threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.\n\n## Key stats\n\nTrey Sweeney went 12 for 17 in the last four games of the road trip to raise his average 63 points to .269.\n\n## Up next\n\nTigers RHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.21) will open a three-game series against Texas on Friday night. Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (1-5, 5.50) opens a three-game series against San Diego."
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"value": "# Mumbai's big win ends Rajasthan IPL playoffs bid, 14-year-old Suryavanshi dismissed for 0 runs\n\nMay 1st, 2025 05:56 PM\n\n---\n\nJAIPUR, India (AP) — Cricket's 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi was out for a two-ball duck as the Mumbai Indians won their first Indian Premier League game in Jaipur since 2012 and ended the Rajasthan Royals' hopes of qualifying for the playoffs on Thursday.\n\nMumbai top-order batters, led by half-centuries from opening pair of Ryan Rickelton (61) and Rohit Sharma (53), carried the five-time champion to 217-2 after Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to field.\n\nSuryavanshi, who made headlines with his scintillating 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans last Monday, was caught off the second ball he faced from fast bowler Deepak Chahar and Rajasthan folded for 117 to lose by 100 runs.\n\nWith its sixth straight victory, Mumbai displaced Royal Challengers atop the table on a better net run-rate with both teams having 14 points.\n\nRajasthan's eight defeats in 11 games has put them out of contention for the playoffs.\n\n## Mumbai rattles Rajasthan batters\n\nRajasthan couldn't recover from 47-5 inside the batting powerplay when Trent Boult (3-28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-15) picked up two wickets each before Impact Player Karn Sharma spun the lower order to finish with 3-23.\n\nYashasvi Jaiswal (13) smacked two sixes against Boult's first three deliveries before the left-arm New Zealand fast bowler hit the right length and shattered the stumps.\n\nBoult then had Nitish Rana caught at deep square leg before Bumrah struck twice in his first over when Prag and Shimron Hetmyer both got undone by fast bowler's short pitch deliveries as Rajasthan lost half of its side in space of first 29 balls.\n\nSharma then took three wickets in space of his seven balls and Rajasthan was in danger to fold for less than 100 before Archer made top-scored with 30 off 27 balls. Boult then finished off the game when he beat Archer with a slower bouncer and was had him caught at fine leg.\n\n## Mumbai posts big total\n\nLeft-hander Rickelton and Sharma laid a solid platform of a big total as they stitched Mumbai's first century opening wicket partnership in IPL outside home since 2020 by combining in a 116-run stand.\n\nSharma successfully overturned onfield lbw decision against him of left-arm fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi early in the powerplay with Rajasthan bowlers getting some early swing. After a cautious start in the first three overs both batters smashed 42 runs in the next three overs to get Mumbai going.\n\nRickelton hit seven fours and three sixes before he played across the line and was clean bowled by Maheesh Theekshana (1-47) and Sharma, who made his rare half-century in T20s without a six, holed out in the outfield of Parag (1-12) while searching for his first six.\n\nYadav attacked from the onset and created a new IPL record of 11 consecutive scores of 25 or more as he showed plenty of intent against spinners and fast bowlers. Yadav hit four boundaries and three sixes as Rajasthan bowlers, including Jofra Archer tried to bowl yorkers but missed their lengths frequently.\n\nPandya too manipulated the field well by staying deep in his crease and hit six fours and a six as both batters scored at more than 12 an over in the last seven overs.\n\nFarooqi and Archer were smashed for 96 runs of their combined eight overs while fast bowler Akash Madhwal, who made his IPL debut after Sandeep Sharma was ruled out due to broken finger, returned with figures of 0-39.\n\n___\n\nAP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket"
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"value": "# Mumbai's big win ends Rajasthan IPL playoffs bid, 14-year-old Suryavanshi dismissed for 0 runs\n\nMay 1st, 2025 05:56 PM\n\n---\n\nJAIPUR, India (AP) — Cricket's 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi was out for a two-ball duck as the Mumbai Indians won their first Indian Premier League game in Jaipur since 2012 and ended the Rajasthan Royals' hopes of qualifying for the playoffs on Thursday.\n\nMumbai top-order batters, led by half-centuries from opening pair of Ryan Rickelton (61) and Rohit Sharma (53), carried the five-time champion to 217-2 after Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to field.\n\nSuryavanshi, who made headlines with his scintillating 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans last Monday, was caught off the second ball he faced from fast bowler Deepak Chahar and Rajasthan folded for 117 to lose by 100 runs.\n\nWith its sixth straight victory, Mumbai displaced Royal Challengers atop the table on a better net run-rate with both teams having 14 points.\n\nRajasthan's eight defeats in 11 games has put them out of contention for the playoffs.\n\n## Mumbai rattles Rajasthan batters\n\nRajasthan couldn't recover from 47-5 inside the batting powerplay when Trent Boult (3-28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-15) picked up two wickets each before Impact Player Karn Sharma spun the lower order to finish with 3-23.\n\nYashasvi Jaiswal (13) smacked two sixes against Boult's first three deliveries before the left-arm New Zealand fast bowler hit the right length and shattered the stumps.\n\nBoult then had Nitish Rana caught at deep square leg before Bumrah struck twice in his first over when Prag and Shimron Hetmyer both got undone by fast bowler's short pitch deliveries as Rajasthan lost half of its side in space of first 29 balls.\n\nSharma then took three wickets in space of his seven balls and Rajasthan was in danger to fold for less than 100 before Archer made top-scored with 30 off 27 balls. Boult then finished off the game when he beat Archer with a slower bouncer and was had him caught at fine leg.\n\n## Mumbai posts big total\n\nLeft-hander Rickelton and Sharma laid a solid platform of a big total as they stitched Mumbai's first century opening wicket partnership in IPL outside home since 2020 by combining in a 116-run stand.\n\nSharma successfully overturned onfield lbw decision against him of left-arm fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi early in the powerplay with Rajasthan bowlers getting some early swing. After a cautious start in the first three overs both batters smashed 42 runs in the next three overs to get Mumbai going.\n\nRickelton hit seven fours and three sixes before he played across the line and was clean bowled by Maheesh Theekshana (1-47) and Sharma, who made his rare half-century in T20s without a six, holed out in the outfield of Parag (1-12) while searching for his first six.\n\nYadav attacked from the onset and created a new IPL record of 11 consecutive scores of 25 or more as he showed plenty of intent against spinners and fast bowlers. Yadav hit four boundaries and three sixes as Rajasthan bowlers, including Jofra Archer tried to bowl yorkers but missed their lengths frequently.\n\nPandya too manipulated the field well by staying deep in his crease and hit six fours and a six as both batters scored at more than 12 an over in the last seven overs.\n\nFarooqi and Archer were smashed for 96 runs of their combined eight overs while fast bowler Akash Madhwal, who made his IPL debut after Sandeep Sharma was ruled out due to broken finger, returned with figures of 0-39."
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"value": "# War of words highlights buildup to UFC 315 in Montreal where political hostilities could overflow\n\nMay 8th, 2025 10:48 PM\n\n---\n\nMONTREAL (AP) — The verbal gloves are off when it comes to the buildup to UFC 315, with the tension between the U.S. and Canada spilling into the card.\n\nEven the style of trash talk came up for debate in the headline event between welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and challenger Jack Della Maddalena.\n\nAfter Maddalena said it was time for Muhammad to retire, the champ countered that his Australian opponent isn't \"really good at trash talk.\"\n\n\"I just can't wait for him to eat his words and eat these fists,\" Muhammad said.\n\nMuhammad (24-3-0 with one no-contest) will put his championship on the line for the first time and is one of two title fights. Kyrgyz-Peruvian champion Valentina Shevchenko defends her flyweight crown against Manon Fiorot of France in the co-main event.\n\nMuhammad walked into the news conference room with his championship belt, wearing shades and a black basketball jersey with \"Bully\" written across the chest — a nod to his \"Bully B\" nickname.\n\n\"I do see myself as a bully,\" he said. \"I bully all these guys in the cage.\"\n\nThe 36-year-old from Chicago is aiming for his 12th straight win after snatching the welterweight crown off England's Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July.\n\nDoing so in front of Canadian and mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre — a three-time welterweight champion — would be a cherry on top.\n\n\"He's on everybody's Mount Rushmore, a guy that I looked up to,\" Muhammad said. \"That's what I'm trying to chase, right?\n\n\"My first goal was the gold. Now my next goal is the GOAT. So I'm chasing him, and to be chasing him starting here in Montreal and in front of him is going to be great.\"\n\nDella Maddalena (17-2-0), meanwhile, is on a 17-fight win streak — including seven straight in the UFC — since dropping his first two bouts as a pro.\n\nA +145 underdog at BetMGM Sportsbook, he faces his stiffest test yet in Muhammad, but the calm-as-can-be 28-year-old doesn't expect the winning to stop in Montreal.\n\n\"You learn a lot from losses. I learned a lot from both those ones, skill-wise and then mentally as well, and just been on a tear ever since,\" he said. \"I'm glad to have got the losses behind me and all wins going forward.\"\n\nShevchenko (24-4-1) is facing a new opponent for the first time in two years after three consecutive title bouts against Mexico's Alexa Grasso, having reclaimed the flyweight crown in September.\n\nFiorot (12-1-0) is undefeated in seven UFC fights and trending as the slight -135 favorite to dethrone Shevchenko.\n\n\"It's because my past three fights have been total domination compared to her, who's had closer and tougher fights,\" Fiorot said.\n\nShevchenko, 37, said she's never felt better.\n\n\"If compared myself to like (a) few years ago, I'm a better version of myself — faster, stronger, more confident,\" she said. \"I feel the best shape that I've been in my entire career.\"\n\nIt's the UFC's eighth event in Montreal and first since 2015. It's also the 35th overall in Canada.\n\nSaturday's card is the first in Canada since Donald Trump was re-elected American president in November. It comes amid growing political tensions between Canada and the United States, as Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.\n\n\"I don't even think about that at all,\" UFC President and CEO Dana White said. \"That doesn't have an impact on what we do.\"\n\nMuch like the 4 Nations Face-Off, however, political tensions between Canada and the U.S. could spill over into the arena. Bell Centre also was the site of three hockey fights in nine seconds when nations met at February's 4 Nations Face-Off.\n\nAt least, that's how American welterweight Charles Radtke views his bout with Ontario's Mike Malott — especially amid the widespread booing of \"The Star-Spangled Banner\" at Canadian sports events.\n\n\"I don't (care) about hockey. That's not my gig,\" Radtke said. \"But what I do hold dear is I grew up on a bison ranch with my grandfather, who was a sergeant major in the Marine Corps, and when you all boo the national anthem, somebody's gonna have to pay for that.\"\n\nRadtke has in recent months promoted Trump's \"51st State\" rhetoric — the source of many boos during performances of the American national anthem north of the border — and spent much of his news conference trash-talking Canada.\n\nWhen asked about his message to the more than 20,000 Canadian fans likely to fill the building with jeers when he steps into the arena, he responded with an expletive.\n\nMallott said he doesn't need to draw extra motivation from Radtke's \"noise.\"\n\n\"If that's where you want to put your energy, go for it,\" he said ahead of their preliminary card bout. \"That's not where I'm putting my energy. I'm putting my energy into the octagon.\n\n\"It seems like we're both really focused on me. That's what I think about that. I don't care what this guy's doing.\"\n\n___\n\nAP sports: https://apnews.com/sports"
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"value": "# War of words highlights buildup to UFC 315 in Montreal where political hostilities could overflow\n\nMay 8th, 2025 10:48 PM\n\n---\n\nMONTREAL (AP) — The verbal gloves are off when it comes to the buildup to UFC 315, with the tension between the U.S. and Canada spilling into the card.\n\nEven the style of trash talk came up for debate in the headline event between welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and challenger Jack Della Maddalena.\n\nAfter Maddalena said it was time for Muhammad to retire, the champ countered that his Australian opponent isn't \"really good at trash talk.\"\n\n\"I just can't wait for him to eat his words and eat these fists,\" Muhammad said.\n\nMuhammad (24-3-0 with one no-contest) will put his championship on the line for the first time and is one of two title fights. Kyrgyz-Peruvian champion Valentina Shevchenko defends her flyweight crown against Manon Fiorot of France in the co-main event.\n\nMuhammad walked into the news conference room with his championship belt, wearing shades and a black basketball jersey with \"Bully\" written across the chest — a nod to his \"Bully B\" nickname.\n\n\"I do see myself as a bully,\" he said. \"I bully all these guys in the cage.\"\n\nThe 36-year-old from Chicago is aiming for his 12th straight win after snatching the welterweight crown off England's Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July.\n\nDoing so in front of Canadian and mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre — a three-time welterweight champion — would be a cherry on top.\n\n\"He's on everybody's Mount Rushmore, a guy that I looked up to,\" Muhammad said. \"That's what I'm trying to chase, right?\n\n\"My first goal was the gold. Now my next goal is the GOAT. So I'm chasing him, and to be chasing him starting here in Montreal and in front of him is going to be great.\"\n\nDella Maddalena (17-2-0), meanwhile, is on a 17-fight win streak — including seven straight in the UFC — since dropping his first two bouts as a pro.\n\nA +145 underdog at BetMGM Sportsbook, he faces his stiffest test yet in Muhammad, but the calm-as-can-be 28-year-old doesn't expect the winning to stop in Montreal.\n\n\"You learn a lot from losses. I learned a lot from both those ones, skill-wise and then mentally as well, and just been on a tear ever since,\" he said. \"I'm glad to have got the losses behind me and all wins going forward.\"\n\nShevchenko (24-4-1) is facing a new opponent for the first time in two years after three consecutive title bouts against Mexico's Alexa Grasso, having reclaimed the flyweight crown in September.\n\nFiorot (12-1-0) is undefeated in seven UFC fights and trending as the slight -135 favorite to dethrone Shevchenko.\n\n\"It's because my past three fights have been total domination compared to her, who's had closer and tougher fights,\" Fiorot said.\n\nShevchenko, 37, said she's never felt better.\n\n\"If compared myself to like (a) few years ago, I'm a better version of myself — faster, stronger, more confident,\" she said. \"I feel the best shape that I've been in my entire career.\"\n\nIt's the UFC's eighth event in Montreal and first since 2015. It's also the 35th overall in Canada.\n\nSaturday's card is the first in Canada since Donald Trump was re-elected American president in November. It comes amid growing political tensions between Canada and the United States, as Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.\n\n\"I don't even think about that at all,\" UFC President and CEO Dana White said. \"That doesn't have an impact on what we do.\"\n\nMuch like the 4 Nations Face-Off, however, political tensions between Canada and the U.S. could spill over into the arena. Bell Centre also was the site of three hockey fights in nine seconds when nations met at February's 4 Nations Face-Off.\n\nAt least, that's how American welterweight Charles Radtke views his bout with Ontario's Mike Malott — especially amid the widespread booing of \"The Star-Spangled Banner\" at Canadian sports events.\n\n\"I don't (care) about hockey. That's not my gig,\" Radtke said. \"But what I do hold dear is I grew up on a bison ranch with my grandfather, who was a sergeant major in the Marine Corps, and when you all boo the national anthem, somebody's gonna have to pay for that.\"\n\nRadtke has in recent months promoted Trump's \"51st State\" rhetoric — the source of many boos during performances of the American national anthem north of the border — and spent much of his news conference trash-talking Canada.\n\nWhen asked about his message to the more than 20,000 Canadian fans likely to fill the building with jeers when he steps into the arena, he responded with an expletive.\n\nMallott said he doesn't need to draw extra motivation from Radtke's \"noise.\"\n\n\"If that's where you want to put your energy, go for it,\" he said ahead of their preliminary card bout. \"That's not where I'm putting my energy. I'm putting my energy into the octagon.\n\n\"It seems like we're both really focused on me. That's what I think about that. I don't care what this guy's doing.\""
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"value": "# Highlights from Pope Leo XIV's first homily\n\nBy Vanessa Gera \nMay 9th, 2025 12:16 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV touched on faith, power and corruption in the homily of the first Mass he celebrated after being elected pontiff.\n\nHere are some highlights.\n\n## His first words in English as a pope\n\nThe first U.S.-born pope in history used Italian and Spanish in his blessing to the crowd on Thursday from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.\n\nBut at the start of his first Mass on Friday morning, he turned briefly to his native English to address the cardinals who elected him as the leader of the Catholic Church the day before. He began by quoting the responsorial psalm about praising the Lord for his wondrous works.\n\n\"I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out upon all of us,\" Leo told them. \"Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission.\"\n\n## On faith and missionary work\n\nAs Cardinal Robert Provost, the new pope did years of missionary work in Peru and he addressed the significance of missionary work in his homily.\n\nIn impeccable Italian, Leo decried that in today's world \"there are many contexts in which the Christian faith is considered something absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Contexts where other certainties are preferred, such as technology, money, success, power, pleasure.\n\n\"These are environments where it is not easy to bear witness to, and announce, the Gospel, and where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where mission is urgently needed. Because the lack of faith often carries with it tragedies such as the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, violations of human dignity in the most dramatic manners, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.\"\n\n## On Jesus as Savior, not superman\n\nIn another reference to the ills of today's world, Leo said: \"Today, too, there are many contexts in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.\"\n\n\"This is true not only among non-believers but also among many of the baptized, who thus end up living at this level, in a state of practical atheism. This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to joyful faith in Christ the Savior.\"\n\n## On being called by God to help make the church 'an ark of salvation'\n\nLeo told the cardinals that he felt he was called by God to become pope in order to be a \"faithful administrator\" to the Catholic church.\n\n\"He has done so in order that she (the church) may be ever more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation sailing through the waves of history and a beacon that illumines the nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings — like the monuments in which we find ourselves — but rather through the holiness of her members.\""
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"value": "# Highlights from Pope Leo XIV's first homily\n\nBy Vanessa Gera \nMay 9th, 2025 12:16 PM\n\n---\n\nVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV touched on faith, power and corruption in the homily of the first Mass he celebrated after being elected pontiff.\n\nHere are some highlights.\n\n## His first words in English as a pope\n\nThe first U.S.-born pope in history used Italian and Spanish in his blessing to the crowd on Thursday from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.\n\nBut at the start of his first Mass on Friday morning, he turned briefly to his native English to address the cardinals who elected him as the leader of the Catholic Church the day before. He began by quoting the responsorial psalm about praising the Lord for his wondrous works.\n\n\"I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out upon all of us,\" Leo told them. \"Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission.\"\n\n## On faith and missionary work\n\nAs Cardinal Robert Provost, the new pope did years of missionary work in Peru and he addressed the significance of missionary work in his homily.\n\nIn impeccable Italian, Leo decried that in today's world \"there are many contexts in which the Christian faith is considered something absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Contexts where other certainties are preferred, such as technology, money, success, power, pleasure.\n\n\"These are environments where it is not easy to bear witness to, and announce, the Gospel, and where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where mission is urgently needed. Because the lack of faith often carries with it tragedies such as the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, violations of human dignity in the most dramatic manners, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.\"\n\n## On Jesus as Savior, not superman\n\nIn another reference to the ills of today's world, Leo said: \"Today, too, there are many contexts in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.\"\n\n\"This is true not only among non-believers but also among many of the baptized, who thus end up living at this level, in a state of practical atheism. This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to joyful faith in Christ the Savior.\"\n\n## On being called by God to help make the church 'an ark of salvation'\n\nLeo told the cardinals that he felt he was called by God to become pope in order to be a \"faithful administrator\" to the Catholic church.\n\n\"He has done so in order that she (the church) may be ever more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation sailing through the waves of history and a beacon that illumines the nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings — like the monuments in which we find ourselves — but rather through the holiness of her members.\""
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"value": "# Stowers hits a game-ending grand slam as the Marlins beat the Athletics 9-6\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 11:24 PM\n\n---\n\nMIAMI (AP) — Kyle Stowers hit a game-ending grand slam for his second homer of the day, sending the Miami Marlins to a 9-6 victory over Mason Miller and the Athletics on Saturday.\n\nThe Marlins were down to their last out when Stowers drove a 101.7 mph fastball from Miller deep to left-center for his sixth homer of the season. He also hit a tying two-run shot in the third against Osvaldo Bido.\n\nIt was Stowers' second multihomer performance in the last three games. He also went deep twice in a 12-7 loss at the Dodgers on Wednesday.\n\nJavier Sanoja had two hits and scored two runs for Miami, which had lost six in a row. Lake Bachar (2-0) pitched two innings for the win.\n\nBrent Rooker, JJ Bleday and Luis Urías homered for the A's, who had won five of six. Jacob Wilson had two hits and scored twice.\n\nThe A's grabbed a 5-4 lead on Nick Kurtz's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Gio Urshela added an RBI double in the eighth.\n\nMiller (0-1) came in to pitch the ninth and hit leadoff batter Matt Mervis. Connor Norby and Dane Myers struck out before Mervis advanced to third on Sanoja's double.\n\nMiller uncorked a wild pitch on a full-count offering to Ronny Simon, scoring Mervis. The closer then walked Xavier Edwards before Stowers went deep.\n\nThe A's opened a 4-2 lead on Urías' two-run homer off Max Meyer in the fourth. The Marlins responded with two in the fifth on Sanoja's double and Xavier Edwards' sacrifice fly in the fifth.\n\nMeyer was charged with five runs and 10 hits over five-plus innings.\n\nBido allowed four runs and three hits in five innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nBachar struck out the side in a perfect ninth.\n\n## Key stat\n\nMeyer had no strikeouts in his first home start since he had a career-high 14 Ks against Cincinnati on April 21.\n\n## Up next\n\nLHP JP Sears (4-2, 2.94 ERA) will start the series finale for the Athletics on Sunday. RHP Edward Cabrera (0-1, 7.23 ERA) pitches for the Marlins.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Stowers hits a game-ending grand slam as the Marlins beat the Athletics 9-6\n\nMay 3rd, 2025 11:24 PM\n\n---\n\nMIAMI (AP) — Kyle Stowers hit a game-ending grand slam for his second homer of the day, sending the Miami Marlins to a 9-6 victory over Mason Miller and the Athletics on Saturday.\n\nThe Marlins were down to their last out when Stowers drove a 101.7 mph fastball from Miller deep to left-center for his sixth homer of the season. He also hit a tying two-run shot in the third against Osvaldo Bido.\n\nIt was Stowers' second multihomer performance in the last three games. He also went deep twice in a 12-7 loss at the Dodgers on Wednesday.\n\nJavier Sanoja had two hits and scored two runs for Miami, which had lost six in a row. Lake Bachar (2-0) pitched two innings for the win.\n\nBrent Rooker, JJ Bleday and Luis Urías homered for the A's, who had won five of six. Jacob Wilson had two hits and scored twice.\n\nThe A's grabbed a 5-4 lead on Nick Kurtz's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Gio Urshela added an RBI double in the eighth.\n\nMiller (0-1) came in to pitch the ninth and hit leadoff batter Matt Mervis. Connor Norby and Dane Myers struck out before Mervis advanced to third on Sanoja's double.\n\nMiller uncorked a wild pitch on a full-count offering to Ronny Simon, scoring Mervis. The closer then walked Xavier Edwards before Stowers went deep.\n\nThe A's opened a 4-2 lead on Urías' two-run homer off Max Meyer in the fourth. The Marlins responded with two in the fifth on Sanoja's double and Xavier Edwards' sacrifice fly in the fifth.\n\nMeyer was charged with five runs and 10 hits over five-plus innings.\n\nBido allowed four runs and three hits in five innings.\n\n## Key moment\n\nBachar struck out the side in a perfect ninth.\n\n## Key stat\n\nMeyer had no strikeouts in his first home start since he had a career-high 14 Ks against Cincinnati on April 21.\n\n## Up next\n\nLHP JP Sears (4-2, 2.94 ERA) will start the series finale for the Athletics on Sunday. RHP Edward Cabrera (0-1, 7.23 ERA) pitches for the Marlins."
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"value": "# LA Kings president expects coach Jim Hiller to remain in charge after GM Blake's replacement hired\n\nBy Greg Beacham \nMay 7th, 2025 12:34 AM\n\n---\n\nEL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Kings president Luc Robitaille expects coach Jim Hiller to remain in charge after the team selects its new general manager.\n\nRobitaille expressed strong support for Hiller on Tuesday, one day after GM Rob Blake and the Kings mutually agreed to end Blake's eight-year tenure.\n\n\"Your general manager, you want to give him the freedom, you don't want to lock up a new person that's coming in, but the record of what Jimmy has done this year is really, really good,\" Robitaille said at the Kings' training complex. \"It would be really hard for any GM to say, 'Well, this guy shouldn't come back.' He's been really good. I think Jimmy's a great coach, and I fully think that this guy is coming back, for sure.\"\n\nHiller has been in charge of the Kings' bench since February 2024, when the former assistant took over for the fired Todd McLellan. The Kings are 69-37-10 in Hiller's first job as an NHL head coach, and they matched franchise records with 48 victories and 105 points this season before losing to Edmonton in the first round for the fourth consecutive postseason.\n\nRobitaille emphasized that the new GM would have the final say on the coaching staff, but the longtime team president reiterated his overall happiness with the state of the Kings' roster, their coaching staff and even their style of play despite their repeated playoff disappointments.\n\nRobitaille made it clear that Blake supported the decision to seek new team leadership. Robitaille plans to hire a general manager who can provide a fresh perspective on how to change a talent-filled roster that can't get it done in the postseason.\n\n\"Blakey and I have been talking about it for probably a year,\" Robitaille said. \"He always said he wanted to wait to sign (a contract extension). I'm not going to get into detail about our conversation, but it's something we talked about ... and we both agreed this was better for the franchise.\"\n\nThe former Kings teammates agreed that \"it was time to probably bring a new voice just to get us to that next level,\" Robitaille added.\n\nLos Angeles hasn't won a playoff series since raising the Stanley Cup in 2014, and the Oilers have bounced the Kings in four straight springs. Los Angeles has won only eight total games in those four first-round series, and Hiller's club lost its final four in a row last week after winning the first two at home.\n\nRobitaille didn't sound close to hiring Blake's replacement. He plans to examine multiple candidates, including Marc Bergevin, the former Montreal GM who was a senior adviser to Blake for the past 3 1/2 years.\n\nRobitaille isn't waiting until he hires a new GM to begin preparations for next season. Working with assistant general manager Nelson Emerson, Robitaille has already spoken to pending unrestricted free agents Andrei Kuzmenko and Vladislav Gavrikov, who both played significant roles in Los Angeles' late-season success.\n\nWhen asked what he sought in a replacement for a general manager of a team coming off one of the best regular seasons in franchise history, Robitaille emphasized the importance of evaluating the Kings' roster with fresh eyes.\n\n\"We had a good year ... but it's sports, and you want to win the last game of the season,\" Robitaille said. \"That's our goal.\"\n\nRobitaille doesn't necessarily want to see the Kings abandon their regimented, defense-oriented style of play under McLellan and Hiller, however.\n\nFans often criticize Los Angeles' style as old-fashioned and not offense-forward, but Robitaille offered a passionate defense of a team that stopped relying so heavily on the neutral-zone trap this season and finished 14th in the NHL in goals scored (249).\n\n\"We had three of the best lines in hockey,\" Robitaille said. \"We scored goals. We had a 40% power play (at the end of the season). We felt like we needed to tweak our power play, and credit to our guys, they figured it out. Some teams have a 60-goal scorer. We don't, but we have a lot of guys that can score goals. We play hard. We forecheck. We don't sit back. ... We want to push.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL"
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"value": "# LA Kings president expects coach Jim Hiller to remain in charge after GM Blake's replacement hired\n\nBy Greg Beacham \nMay 7th, 2025 12:34 AM\n\n---\n\nEL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Kings president Luc Robitaille expects coach Jim Hiller to remain in charge after the team selects its new general manager.\n\nRobitaille expressed strong support for Hiller on Tuesday, one day after GM Rob Blake and the Kings mutually agreed to end Blake's eight-year tenure.\n\n\"Your general manager, you want to give him the freedom, you don't want to lock up a new person that's coming in, but the record of what Jimmy has done this year is really, really good,\" Robitaille said at the Kings' training complex. \"It would be really hard for any GM to say, 'Well, this guy shouldn't come back.' He's been really good. I think Jimmy's a great coach, and I fully think that this guy is coming back, for sure.\"\n\nHiller has been in charge of the Kings' bench since February 2024, when the former assistant took over for the fired Todd McLellan. The Kings are 69-37-10 in Hiller's first job as an NHL head coach, and they matched franchise records with 48 victories and 105 points this season before losing to Edmonton in the first round for the fourth consecutive postseason.\n\nRobitaille emphasized that the new GM would have the final say on the coaching staff, but the longtime team president reiterated his overall happiness with the state of the Kings' roster, their coaching staff and even their style of play despite their repeated playoff disappointments.\n\nRobitaille made it clear that Blake supported the decision to seek new team leadership. Robitaille plans to hire a general manager who can provide a fresh perspective on how to change a talent-filled roster that can't get it done in the postseason.\n\n\"Blakey and I have been talking about it for probably a year,\" Robitaille said. \"He always said he wanted to wait to sign (a contract extension). I'm not going to get into detail about our conversation, but it's something we talked about ... and we both agreed this was better for the franchise.\"\n\nThe former Kings teammates agreed that \"it was time to probably bring a new voice just to get us to that next level,\" Robitaille added.\n\nLos Angeles hasn't won a playoff series since raising the Stanley Cup in 2014, and the Oilers have bounced the Kings in four straight springs. Los Angeles has won only eight total games in those four first-round series, and Hiller's club lost its final four in a row last week after winning the first two at home.\n\nRobitaille didn't sound close to hiring Blake's replacement. He plans to examine multiple candidates, including Marc Bergevin, the former Montreal GM who was a senior adviser to Blake for the past 3 1/2 years.\n\nRobitaille isn't waiting until he hires a new GM to begin preparations for next season. Working with assistant general manager Nelson Emerson, Robitaille has already spoken to pending unrestricted free agents Andrei Kuzmenko and Vladislav Gavrikov, who both played significant roles in Los Angeles' late-season success.\n\nWhen asked what he sought in a replacement for a general manager of a team coming off one of the best regular seasons in franchise history, Robitaille emphasized the importance of evaluating the Kings' roster with fresh eyes.\n\n\"We had a good year ... but it's sports, and you want to win the last game of the season,\" Robitaille said. \"That's our goal.\"\n\nRobitaille doesn't necessarily want to see the Kings abandon their regimented, defense-oriented style of play under McLellan and Hiller, however.\n\nFans often criticize Los Angeles' style as old-fashioned and not offense-forward, but Robitaille offered a passionate defense of a team that stopped relying so heavily on the neutral-zone trap this season and finished 14th in the NHL in goals scored (249).\n\n\"We had three of the best lines in hockey,\" Robitaille said. \"We scored goals. We had a 40% power play (at the end of the season). We felt like we needed to tweak our power play, and credit to our guys, they figured it out. Some teams have a 60-goal scorer. We don't, but we have a lot of guys that can score goals. We play hard. We forecheck. We don't sit back. ... We want to push.\""
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"value": "# Bill Gates pledges his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation by 2045\n\nBy Thalia Beaty \nMay 8th, 2025 12:03 PM\n\n---\n\nSEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion.\n\nThe pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett's pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.\n\nGates' donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation already has an endowment of $77 billion built from donations from Gates, Melinda French Gates and Buffett.\n\n\"It's kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,\" Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.\n\nHis announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation's immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation's closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.\n\n\"I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,\" Gates said.\n\n## In a league of its own\n\nThe pledge is \"a welcome bit of boldness,\" at a time when optimism is in short supply said, Rhodri Davies, a philanthropy expert and author of the publication, \"Public Good by Private Means.\"\n\n\"This announcement seems like yet more evidence that norms in foundation philanthropy might be shifting\" away from a default of operating in perpetuity, he said.\n\nThe Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.\n\nIn addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.\n\nAbout 41% of the foundation's money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.\n\nStarted by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.\n\n\"The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected,\" Gates said, calling it his second and final career.\n\nThe foundation's influence on global health — from the World Health Organization to research agendas — is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves people's health and responds to crises.\n\nGates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.\n\n\"Is that a bad thing? It's not an important cause? People can criticize it,\" he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.\n\nThe Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures.\n\n## Major ambitions for the remaining 20 years\n\nThe foundation's most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation's CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a \"catalytic role\" — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.\n\nThe foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.\n\nGates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.\n\nThe Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates' death, meaning today's announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.\n\nIn its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.\n\nSuzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities.\n\n\"Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, 'Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?'\" Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue.\n\n## Gates is the only remaining founder\n\nMajor changes preceded the foundation's 25th year.\n\nIn 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation's trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.\n\nFrench Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women's rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.\n\n\"I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO,\" she said. \"We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values.\"\n\nEven as the foundation's governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.\n\n\"The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health,\" Gates said. \"Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be?\"\n\nEven facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations they've funded or ways they've helped reduce the cost of care.\n\n\"It's incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can't get them out to everyone who needs them,\" Gates said. \"So it's going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need.\"\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy."
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"value": "# Bill Gates pledges his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation by 2045\n\nBy Thalia Beaty \nMay 8th, 2025 12:03 PM\n\n---\n\nSEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion.\n\nThe pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett's pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.\n\nGates' donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation already has an endowment of $77 billion built from donations from Gates, Melinda French Gates and Buffett.\n\n\"It's kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,\" Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.\n\nHis announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation's immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation's closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.\n\n\"I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,\" Gates said.\n\n## In a league of its own\n\nThe pledge is \"a welcome bit of boldness,\" at a time when optimism is in short supply said, Rhodri Davies, a philanthropy expert and author of the publication, \"Public Good by Private Means.\"\n\n\"This announcement seems like yet more evidence that norms in foundation philanthropy might be shifting\" away from a default of operating in perpetuity, he said.\n\nThe Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.\n\nIn addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.\n\nAbout 41% of the foundation's money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.\n\nStarted by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.\n\n\"The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected,\" Gates said, calling it his second and final career.\n\nThe foundation's influence on global health — from the World Health Organization to research agendas — is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves people's health and responds to crises.\n\nGates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.\n\n\"Is that a bad thing? It's not an important cause? People can criticize it,\" he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.\n\nThe Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures.\n\n## Major ambitions for the remaining 20 years\n\nThe foundation's most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation's CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a \"catalytic role\" — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.\n\nThe foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.\n\nGates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.\n\nThe Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates' death, meaning today's announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.\n\nIn its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.\n\nSuzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities.\n\n\"Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, 'Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?'\" Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue.\n\n## Gates is the only remaining founder\n\nMajor changes preceded the foundation's 25th year.\n\nIn 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation's trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.\n\nFrench Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women's rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.\n\n\"I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO,\" she said. \"We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values.\"\n\nEven as the foundation's governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.\n\n\"The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health,\" Gates said. \"Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be?\"\n\nEven facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations they've funded or ways they've helped reduce the cost of care.\n\n\"It's incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can't get them out to everyone who needs them,\" Gates said. \"So it's going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need.\""
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"value": "# Vegas moves on with 3-2 win in series clincher, as Wild go 1-and-done yet again\n\nBy Dave Campbell \nMay 2nd, 2025 02:22 AM\n\n---\n\nST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Eichel and Mark Stone made clear they belong together, on a Vegas first line that can be one of the most potent in these NHL playoffs.\n\nEichel and Stone each had a goal and an assist and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who became the first Western Conference team to reach the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.\n\n\"They gave us everything we could handle,\" Eichel said. \"They played so hard.\"\n\nShea Theodore scored on a power play early in the first period, Eichel got his first goal of the series late in the second period and Stone had the critical late score for Vegas, which will face Edmonton in the second round. The Oilers beat Los Angeles in six games.\n\nThe Wild have lost nine consecutive series, tied for the third-longest streak in NHL history, according to Sportradar. Their skid of eight straight one-and-done appearances is tied for the second-longest in the Stanley Cup playoffs.\n\nThe Wild, who last made it out of the first round 10 years ago, got two goals from Ryan Hartman, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.\n\nStone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway that beat goalie Filip Gustavsson, had four points in the last three games.\n\n\"Everyone stepped up at different parts of the series and found ways to contribute,\" Eichel said. \"That's how you win this time of year.\"\n\nNeither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games, thanks in part to the bruising Wild who frequently took away the middle of the ice and most of the Golden Knights' opportunities to use their speed.\n\nCoach Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines for Game 4, which helped ignite more of an attack. The absence of Pavel Dorofeyev in Game 6 prompted Cassidy to reunite Eichel and Stone in the top trio alongside William Karlsson.\n\n\"They got better as the series went on,\" Cassidy said.\n\nHartman tied the game for the Wild with 4 seconds left in the first period, a goal safe from replay review unlike his go-ahead score in Game 5 with 1:15 remaining in regulation that was revoked for an offside call after Vegas challenged.\n\nThe Golden Knights went on to win their second straight overtime decision, before finishing off the Wild with a third consecutive one-goal win.\n\n\"We hear the noise of getting by the first round. We understand it,\" Wild left wing Marcus Foligno said. \"We really felt like we could've done it this year, and that's the disappointing part, right?\"\n\n___\n\nAP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL"
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"value": "# Vegas moves on with 3-2 win in series clincher, as Wild go 1-and-done yet again\n\nBy Dave Campbell \nMay 2nd, 2025 02:22 AM\n\n---\n\nST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Eichel and Mark Stone made clear they belong together, on a Vegas first line that can be one of the most potent in these NHL playoffs.\n\nEichel and Stone each had a goal and an assist and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who became the first Western Conference team to reach the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.\n\n\"They gave us everything we could handle,\" Eichel said. \"They played so hard.\"\n\nShea Theodore scored on a power play early in the first period, Eichel got his first goal of the series late in the second period and Stone had the critical late score for Vegas, which will face Edmonton in the second round. The Oilers beat Los Angeles in six games.\n\nThe Wild have lost nine consecutive series, tied for the third-longest streak in NHL history, according to Sportradar. Their skid of eight straight one-and-done appearances is tied for the second-longest in the Stanley Cup playoffs.\n\nThe Wild, who last made it out of the first round 10 years ago, got two goals from Ryan Hartman, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.\n\nStone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway that beat goalie Filip Gustavsson, had four points in the last three games.\n\n\"Everyone stepped up at different parts of the series and found ways to contribute,\" Eichel said. \"That's how you win this time of year.\"\n\nNeither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games, thanks in part to the bruising Wild who frequently took away the middle of the ice and most of the Golden Knights' opportunities to use their speed.\n\nCoach Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines for Game 4, which helped ignite more of an attack. The absence of Pavel Dorofeyev in Game 6 prompted Cassidy to reunite Eichel and Stone in the top trio alongside William Karlsson.\n\n\"They got better as the series went on,\" Cassidy said.\n\nHartman tied the game for the Wild with 4 seconds left in the first period, a goal safe from replay review unlike his go-ahead score in Game 5 with 1:15 remaining in regulation that was revoked for an offside call after Vegas challenged.\n\nThe Golden Knights went on to win their second straight overtime decision, before finishing off the Wild with a third consecutive one-goal win.\n\n\"We hear the noise of getting by the first round. We understand it,\" Wild left wing Marcus Foligno said. \"We really felt like we could've done it this year, and that's the disappointing part, right?\""
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"value": "# Experts start complex recovery of a superyacht that sank off Sicily, killing 7\n\nBy Giada Zampano and Francesco Sportelli \nMay 4th, 2025 03:57 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Marine salvage experts on Sunday began operations to recover from the seabed off Italy's Sicilian coast the British-flagged superyacht \"Bayesian,\" which sank last summer, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.\n\nOperations will be conducted by two floating cranes: \"Hebo Lift 2,\" which has remotely operated underwater equipment and vehicles, and \"Hebo Lift 10,\" one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe, which docked Saturday in the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese after arriving from Rotterdam.\n\nThe Italian coast guard is supervising operations and patrolling the security perimeter to ensure the safety of personnel working on the recovery. It said that the overall operation to retrieve the Bayesian could take from 20 to 25 days. After the wreck is brought ashore, judicial authorities investigating the sinking will examine it.\n\nProsecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the Aug. 19, 2024, sinking. The 56-meter (183-foot)-long, 473-ton yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localized powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface.\n\nThe yacht's 75-meter (246-foot) aluminum mast -- the second tallest in the world — will be cut to allow the hull, which lies 49 meters (160 feet) below the surface, to be brought to the surface more easily, said coast guard Capt. Nicola Silvestri.\n\nIn addition to Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and wife Judy, attorney Chris Morvillo and wife Neda, and ship's cook Recaldo Thomas died in the shipwreck.\n\nWith the help of nearby vessels, 15 of the 22 people were rescued in the initial phase, one body was recovered, and six others reported missing. The bodies of the six missing people were found following long and complex search efforts, which continued until Aug. 23."
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"value": "# Experts start complex recovery of a superyacht that sank off Sicily, killing 7\n\nBy Giada Zampano and Francesco Sportelli \nMay 4th, 2025 03:57 PM\n\n---\n\nROME (AP) — Marine salvage experts on Sunday began operations to recover from the seabed off Italy's Sicilian coast the British-flagged superyacht \"Bayesian,\" which sank last summer, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.\n\nOperations will be conducted by two floating cranes: \"Hebo Lift 2,\" which has remotely operated underwater equipment and vehicles, and \"Hebo Lift 10,\" one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe, which docked Saturday in the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese after arriving from Rotterdam.\n\nThe Italian coast guard is supervising operations and patrolling the security perimeter to ensure the safety of personnel working on the recovery. It said that the overall operation to retrieve the Bayesian could take from 20 to 25 days. After the wreck is brought ashore, judicial authorities investigating the sinking will examine it.\n\nProsecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the Aug. 19, 2024, sinking. The 56-meter (183-foot)-long, 473-ton yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localized powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface.\n\nThe yacht's 75-meter (246-foot) aluminum mast -- the second tallest in the world — will be cut to allow the hull, which lies 49 meters (160 feet) below the surface, to be brought to the surface more easily, said coast guard Capt. Nicola Silvestri.\n\nIn addition to Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and wife Judy, attorney Chris Morvillo and wife Neda, and ship's cook Recaldo Thomas died in the shipwreck.\n\nWith the help of nearby vessels, 15 of the 22 people were rescued in the initial phase, one body was recovered, and six others reported missing. The bodies of the six missing people were found following long and complex search efforts, which continued until Aug. 23."
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"value": "# IPL suspended for a week amid military tensions with Pakistan\n\nBy Chetan Narula \nMay 9th, 2025 09:23 AM\n\n---\n\nMUMBAI, India (AP) — India's biggest domestic cricket tournament was suspended for one week on Friday following the escalating military tensions with Pakistan.\n\nThe Indian Premier League, which features top players from around the world and attracts hundreds of millions of TV viewers, was halted with immediate effect, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.\n\n\"Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders,\" the BCCI said in a statement.\n\nThe decision came after a night of artillery exchanges between Indian and Pakistani soldiers across their frontier in Kashmir, amid a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region.\n\nThe IPL is the most popular cricket tournament in the world and runs between March and May. This year it has featured 65 international cricketers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and Afghanistan.\n\nThe 10-team competition still has 12 games to be played in the group stage before the knockout rounds. The final had been scheduled for May 25 in Kolkata.\n\nOn Friday night and Saturday, overseas cricketers and broadcast staff were given permission to fly out to their respective home countries, reducing the chance that the tournament would be resumed. There about 70 overseas players in the IPL this season.\n\nThe BCCI said the decision to suspend the tournament was made \"in the collective interest of all stakeholders.\"\n\n\"While cricket remains a national passion, there is nothing greater than the Nation and its sovereignty, integrity, and security of our country,\" the BCCI statement said.\n\nThe suspension comes after the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala in northern India was abandoned on Thursday evening when the power went out during a government-mandated blackout. Players from both teams returned by train late Friday to New Delhi.\n\nPunjab's next game against Mumbai Indians had already been moved from Dharamsala to Mumbai because of the closure of several airports in the Indian northwestern corridor.\n\nPakistan had earlier said it was moving its own domestic T20 tournament — the Pakistan Super League — to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions, citing growing concerns among overseas players and the need to prioritize their safety. But later Friday, the Pakistan Cricket Board said that the PSL would now be postponed — and not moved to Dubai — with the announcement giving no indication whether this year's edition would resume.\n\n___\n\nAP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket"
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"value": "# IPL suspended for a week amid military tensions with Pakistan\n\nBy Chetan Narula \nMay 9th, 2025 09:23 AM\n\n---\n\nMUMBAI, India (AP) — India's biggest domestic cricket tournament was suspended for one week on Friday following the escalating military tensions with Pakistan.\n\nThe Indian Premier League, which features top players from around the world and attracts hundreds of millions of TV viewers, was halted with immediate effect, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.\n\n\"Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders,\" the BCCI said in a statement.\n\nThe decision came after a night of artillery exchanges between Indian and Pakistani soldiers across their frontier in Kashmir, amid a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region.\n\nThe IPL is the most popular cricket tournament in the world and runs between March and May. This year it has featured 65 international cricketers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and Afghanistan.\n\nThe 10-team competition still has 12 games to be played in the group stage before the knockout rounds. The final had been scheduled for May 25 in Kolkata.\n\nOn Friday night and Saturday, overseas cricketers and broadcast staff were given permission to fly out to their respective home countries, reducing the chance that the tournament would be resumed. There about 70 overseas players in the IPL this season.\n\nThe BCCI said the decision to suspend the tournament was made \"in the collective interest of all stakeholders.\"\n\n\"While cricket remains a national passion, there is nothing greater than the Nation and its sovereignty, integrity, and security of our country,\" the BCCI statement said.\n\nThe suspension comes after the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala in northern India was abandoned on Thursday evening when the power went out during a government-mandated blackout. Players from both teams returned by train late Friday to New Delhi.\n\nPunjab's next game against Mumbai Indians had already been moved from Dharamsala to Mumbai because of the closure of several airports in the Indian northwestern corridor.\n\nPakistan had earlier said it was moving its own domestic T20 tournament — the Pakistan Super League — to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions, citing growing concerns among overseas players and the need to prioritize their safety. But later Friday, the Pakistan Cricket Board said that the PSL would now be postponed — and not moved to Dubai — with the announcement giving no indication whether this year's edition would resume."
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"value": "# Tariff turmoil prompts cloudy forecasts from General Motors, Harley-Davidson for the year ahead\n\nBy Damian J. Troise \nMay 1st, 2025 04:40 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty continues to hang over the latest round of financial results and forecasts for companies both big and small as they try to navigate a global trade system severely shaken by a shift in U.S. policy.\n\nRoughly half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest quarterly financial results, but the focus has been on how they will adjust to tariffs and any change in consumers' behavior. Here's a look a what companies are saying about tariffs and the potential impact:\n\n## General Motors\n\nGeneral Motors expects tariffs to inflict between $4 billion and $5 billion in damage to its revenue for the year.\n\nAuto companies like General Motors have operations spread out throughout North America, with auto parts and assembly steps often crossing multiple borders before a car is produced.\n\nThe company said that it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $10 billion to $12.5 billion. That's down from a previous range of $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion.\n\nPresident Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.\n\n## Harley-Davidson\n\nHarley-Davidson withdrew its financial forecast for the year because of uncertainty over tariffs and the economy.\n\nThe iconic motorcycle maker is facing an impact from 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with other broader tariffs. It said it is focusing on productivity measures, supply chain management and cost controls to help deal with the impact from tariffs. The company gets just under 70% of its revenue from within the U.S., according to FactSet. That leaves a large chunk of its revenue exposed to retaliatory tariffs from other nations.\n\n## U.S. Chamber of Commerce\n\nThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking the Trump administration for some relief on tariffs, particularly for small businesses that are the most affected.\n\nThe group is the world's largest business federation and represents 3 million businesses of all sizes. In a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark said the group agrees with many of President Trump's policy goals, but said tariffs take time to work, and in the interim small businesses are being endangered by higher costs and a disrupted supply chain.\n\nThe Chamber is calling for automatic exclusions for any small business importer. It also wants to establish a process for businesses to apply for exclusions if they can show American employment is at risk from the tariffs, and asking for exclusions for all products that cannot be produced in the United States or are not readily available.\n\n\"Whether it is coffee, bananas, cocoa, minerals or numerous other products, the reality is certain things just can't be produced in the United States,\" said Clark. Providing some exclusions could help \"stave off a recession,\" she added.\n\n## Hershey\n\nHershey reaffirmed its financial forecasts for the year, which include assessments for tariff expenses as they currently stand.\n\nThe chocolate maker estimates the current tariff expenses to range from about $15 million to $20 million in the second quarter. Hershey and other chocolate makers are already dealing with cocoa supply issues that have helped push prices higher. More than 70% of the global cocoa supply comes from West Africa and the region has been dealing with stressed and damaged crops for years.\n\n## Church & Dwight\n\nChurch & Dwight slashed its financial forecasts for the year as it faces the impact from tariffs and a potential slowdown in consumer spending.\n\nThe maker of Arm & Hammer and other household and personal care products now expects earnings to range from flat to 2% growth. It previously forecast earnings growth of up to 8%.\n\nIt estimated that its tariff exposure over the next 12 months is about $190 million. The company hopes to reduce that exposure by up to 80% with several measures, including no longer sourcing Waterpik flossers from China for the U.S. market. It will also potentially shut down or sell some of its brands.\n\n## Becton Dickinson,\n\nBecton Dickinson trimmed its earnings forecast for the year to account for a tariffs currently in effect.\n\nThe medical device maker and supplies company expects earnings between $14.06 and $14.34 per share and that includes a 25 cents-per-share tariff impact. But the company has not estimated the potential costs of any delayed or threatened tariffs.\n\n\"Obviously, the situation remains extremely fluid,\" said Chief Financial Officer Christopher DelOrefice, in a conference call with analysts. \"We will see how the next few months play out as it relates to further tariff rates.\"\n\n## McDonald's\n\nMcDonald's, like other fast-food operations and restaurants, is dealing with the economic uncertainty fueled by the tariffs.\n\nThe company reported that store traffic fell further than expected during the first quarter. Sales at locations open at least a year in the U.S. slumped 3.6%, marking the biggest decline for the company since 2020, when a pandemic shuttered stores and restaurants.\n\n\"We believe McDonald's can weather these difficult conditions better than most,\" said CEO Chris Kempczinski, in a conference call with investors. \"However, we're not immune to the volatility in the industry or the pressures that our consumers are facing.\"\n\n___\n\nAP writers Michelle Chapman, Mae Anderson and Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report."
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"value": "# Tariff turmoil prompts cloudy forecasts from General Motors, Harley-Davidson for the year ahead\n\nBy Damian J. Troise \nMay 1st, 2025 04:40 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty continues to hang over the latest round of financial results and forecasts for companies both big and small as they try to navigate a global trade system severely shaken by a shift in U.S. policy.\n\nRoughly half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest quarterly financial results, but the focus has been on how they will adjust to tariffs and any change in consumers' behavior. Here's a look a what companies are saying about tariffs and the potential impact:\n\n## General Motors\n\nGeneral Motors expects tariffs to inflict between $4 billion and $5 billion in damage to its revenue for the year.\n\nAuto companies like General Motors have operations spread out throughout North America, with auto parts and assembly steps often crossing multiple borders before a car is produced.\n\nThe company said that it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $10 billion to $12.5 billion. That's down from a previous range of $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion.\n\nPresident Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.\n\n## Harley-Davidson\n\nHarley-Davidson withdrew its financial forecast for the year because of uncertainty over tariffs and the economy.\n\nThe iconic motorcycle maker is facing an impact from 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with other broader tariffs. It said it is focusing on productivity measures, supply chain management and cost controls to help deal with the impact from tariffs. The company gets just under 70% of its revenue from within the U.S., according to FactSet. That leaves a large chunk of its revenue exposed to retaliatory tariffs from other nations.\n\n## U.S. Chamber of Commerce\n\nThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking the Trump administration for some relief on tariffs, particularly for small businesses that are the most affected.\n\nThe group is the world's largest business federation and represents 3 million businesses of all sizes. In a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark said the group agrees with many of President Trump's policy goals, but said tariffs take time to work, and in the interim small businesses are being endangered by higher costs and a disrupted supply chain.\n\nThe Chamber is calling for automatic exclusions for any small business importer. It also wants to establish a process for businesses to apply for exclusions if they can show American employment is at risk from the tariffs, and asking for exclusions for all products that cannot be produced in the United States or are not readily available.\n\n\"Whether it is coffee, bananas, cocoa, minerals or numerous other products, the reality is certain things just can't be produced in the United States,\" said Clark. Providing some exclusions could help \"stave off a recession,\" she added.\n\n## Hershey\n\nHershey reaffirmed its financial forecasts for the year, which include assessments for tariff expenses as they currently stand.\n\nThe chocolate maker estimates the current tariff expenses to range from about $15 million to $20 million in the second quarter. Hershey and other chocolate makers are already dealing with cocoa supply issues that have helped push prices higher. More than 70% of the global cocoa supply comes from West Africa and the region has been dealing with stressed and damaged crops for years.\n\n## Church & Dwight\n\nChurch & Dwight slashed its financial forecasts for the year as it faces the impact from tariffs and a potential slowdown in consumer spending.\n\nThe maker of Arm & Hammer and other household and personal care products now expects earnings to range from flat to 2% growth. It previously forecast earnings growth of up to 8%.\n\nIt estimated that its tariff exposure over the next 12 months is about $190 million. The company hopes to reduce that exposure by up to 80% with several measures, including no longer sourcing Waterpik flossers from China for the U.S. market. It will also potentially shut down or sell some of its brands.\n\n## Becton Dickinson,\n\nBecton Dickinson trimmed its earnings forecast for the year to account for a tariffs currently in effect.\n\nThe medical device maker and supplies company expects earnings between $14.06 and $14.34 per share and that includes a 25 cents-per-share tariff impact. But the company has not estimated the potential costs of any delayed or threatened tariffs.\n\n\"Obviously, the situation remains extremely fluid,\" said Chief Financial Officer Christopher DelOrefice, in a conference call with analysts. \"We will see how the next few months play out as it relates to further tariff rates.\"\n\n## McDonald's\n\nMcDonald's, like other fast-food operations and restaurants, is dealing with the economic uncertainty fueled by the tariffs.\n\nThe company reported that store traffic fell further than expected during the first quarter. Sales at locations open at least a year in the U.S. slumped 3.6%, marking the biggest decline for the company since 2020, when a pandemic shuttered stores and restaurants.\n\n\"We believe McDonald's can weather these difficult conditions better than most,\" said CEO Chris Kempczinski, in a conference call with investors. \"However, we're not immune to the volatility in the industry or the pressures that our consumers are facing.\""
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"value": "# Celtics' Jrue Holiday wins NBA's sportsmanship award, becomes 5th player to win it more than once\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 1st, 2025 04:39 PM\n\n---\n\nJrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics has won the NBA's sportsmanship award for the second time, making him the fifth player in league history to win that trophy in multiple years.\n\nHoliday received about 34% of the first-place votes cast by nearly 400 current NBA players to decide the award winner.\n\nCleveland's Jarrett Allen finished second, Dallas' Kyrie Irving was third, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was fourth, the Los Angeles Lakers' Dorian Finney-Smith was fifth and Orlando's Franz Wagner was sixth.\n\n\"In my experience, some of the best competitors are those who pair a quiet confidence with humility, show respect for the competition with their own preparation and work, and have the stamina to navigate the ups and downs of a season with grit and perspective,\" Celtics President Brad Stevens said. \"There is no better example of this than Jrue. He is the ultimate teammate and sets a great example for those striving to compete with integrity. His game does his talking, and his impact, on and off the court, goes well beyond his game.\"\n\nHoliday joins four-time winner Mike Conley, three-time winner Grant Hill and two-time winners Jason Kidd and Kemba Walker as people to win the award more than once. Holiday will receive the Joe Dumars Trophy, named for the Basketball Hall of Famer, a two-time champion and the inaugural winner of the sportsmanship award after the 1995-96 season.\n\nDumars recently left his role as an NBA executive to return to his native Louisiana as executive vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans.\n\nEach of the NBA's 30 teams nominated one player for the sportsmanship award, and league executives narrowed that list down to six finalists — one from each division.\n\nHoliday is also a three-time recipient of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award and is a finalist again this season for the NBA's Social Justice Champion Award. That award has been in existence for five years; Holiday has been a finalist in three of them.\n\nHe is a two-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time All-Defensive team selection.\n\nThe sportsmanship award is the eighth award to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award and his Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award; those awards, like the sportsmanship one, are not selected by the panel of 100 global reporters and broadcasters who vote for other top NBA season honors.\n\nOther award winners so far this season: Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player, San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year, Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year, New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year and Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.\n\nAwards that will be announced later in the playoffs include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo), coach of the year (either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson or Houston's Ime Udoka), plus the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba"
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"value": "# Celtics' Jrue Holiday wins NBA's sportsmanship award, becomes 5th player to win it more than once\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 1st, 2025 04:39 PM\n\n---\n\nJrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics has won the NBA's sportsmanship award for the second time, making him the fifth player in league history to win that trophy in multiple years.\n\nHoliday received about 34% of the first-place votes cast by nearly 400 current NBA players to decide the award winner.\n\nCleveland's Jarrett Allen finished second, Dallas' Kyrie Irving was third, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was fourth, the Los Angeles Lakers' Dorian Finney-Smith was fifth and Orlando's Franz Wagner was sixth.\n\n\"In my experience, some of the best competitors are those who pair a quiet confidence with humility, show respect for the competition with their own preparation and work, and have the stamina to navigate the ups and downs of a season with grit and perspective,\" Celtics President Brad Stevens said. \"There is no better example of this than Jrue. He is the ultimate teammate and sets a great example for those striving to compete with integrity. His game does his talking, and his impact, on and off the court, goes well beyond his game.\"\n\nHoliday joins four-time winner Mike Conley, three-time winner Grant Hill and two-time winners Jason Kidd and Kemba Walker as people to win the award more than once. Holiday will receive the Joe Dumars Trophy, named for the Basketball Hall of Famer, a two-time champion and the inaugural winner of the sportsmanship award after the 1995-96 season.\n\nDumars recently left his role as an NBA executive to return to his native Louisiana as executive vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans.\n\nEach of the NBA's 30 teams nominated one player for the sportsmanship award, and league executives narrowed that list down to six finalists — one from each division.\n\nHoliday is also a three-time recipient of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award and is a finalist again this season for the NBA's Social Justice Champion Award. That award has been in existence for five years; Holiday has been a finalist in three of them.\n\nHe is a two-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time All-Defensive team selection.\n\nThe sportsmanship award is the eighth award to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award and his Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award; those awards, like the sportsmanship one, are not selected by the panel of 100 global reporters and broadcasters who vote for other top NBA season honors.\n\nOther award winners so far this season: Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player, San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year, Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year, New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year and Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.\n\nAwards that will be announced later in the playoffs include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo), coach of the year (either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson or Houston's Ime Udoka), plus the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams."
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"value": "# Shedeur Sanders is trying to block out noise and focus on the Browns' playbook\n\nBy Joe Reedy \nMay 10th, 2025 08:23 PM\n\n---\n\nBEREA, Ohio (AP) — Trying to get his jersey number back is the least of Shedeur Sanders' worries.\n\nWith a playbook to learn and trying to prove critics wrong after sliding to the fifth round in the NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback knows he has a long way to go before he even considers making an offer to receiver DeAndre Carter to wear No. 2.\n\n\"I'm not trying to buy anything. My signing bonus ain't that high right now,\" Sanders said at the end of his 13-minute availability with the media before Saturday's practice at rookie minicamp.\n\nSanders took No. 12 because he said it was the best number available. It also doesn't hurt that it was the number Tom Brady wore en route to seven Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.\n\nBrady said during a podcast appearance earlier this week that he texted Sanders after the draft and told him to use his slide to the 144th overall pick as motivation. Brady was the 199th pick in the 2000 draft.\n\n\"There were a lot of fans of me, my craft and my family that was there to support (me). I was just thankful that I have that foundation overall,\" Sanders said.\n\nWhile Sanders' fall in the draft could be attributed to some of the comments from his father — Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders — he knows that everything from here on out is up to him.\n\n\"I'm taking every snap out there; I'm getting up after these hits. I'm the one throwing touchdowns. I'm the one that got to live it day by day. So all he gave us was the opportunity, and we had to navigate and see what we liked,\" Sanders said. \"And especially coming to this building, we have great coaches in the building able to keep me focused, keep me in a straight and narrow line.\"\n\nWhen it comes to the negative comments, Sanders did add that he feels most of it comes from older fans instead of those his own age or younger, and that most of it is because of his famous father.\n\n\"Ninety-nine percent of hatred is towards pops and then I'm just his son, so it really just comes from that. And I've told him that too,\" he said. \"It's the older generation that do it to me rather than the younger people because when I come in person there's no negativity I see. But it's all over online.\"\n\nSanders and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel got plenty of snaps over the two days of practices. Besides trying to learn the playbook, there is refining technique and also trying to learn how to take snaps under center regularly.\n\nBecause the veterans have not had a chance to do any 11-on-11 drills yet during their offseason program, head coach Kevin Stefanski said some of the plays installed for the rookies were to get an on-field look and assess for the first time.\n\nGabriel said he is not trying to get caught up in any distractions, and is welcoming the chance to compete with Sanders through the offseason program and training camp.\n\n\"I love it because of who it is. I think just for us both, you can learn from one another,\" Gabriel said. \"But also, it's not just us two in the room. At least for right now it is. But going into the year, Kenny (Pickett), Joe (Flacco) and even Deshaun (Watson), just a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball that we can all learn from one another.\"\n\nThe rookies will join the veterans on Monday but won't take the field for a couple of days as the workload increases. With a four-way competition between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders, Stefanski left open the possibility of one or two more receivers than usual being on the 90-man roster for training camp.\n\nEven though DeShaun Watson is expected to miss the season as he recovers from tearing his Achilles twice, Stefanski said Watson is out of his walking boot, continues to rehab, and has been in the meeting room with Pickett and Flacco.\n\n\"There's no easy way to just pour an install into a person and say, 'Here's our offense, here's our playbook, figure it out.' It just takes time,\" Stefanski said. \"This's just not something that you can just pick up and snap your fingers. I wish it was so; there's just a lot of meetings. You're going to make mistakes — both physical and mental — and what we're trying to do is coach off of those and learn from those.\"\n\nSanders said the important thing he will focus on over the next couple of months is trying to improve daily.\n\n\"I just find something I want to perfect and just perfect it to the best of my abilities,\" he said. \"I'm just thankful for an opportunity. Things could have been a lot worse, but I'm here smiling in front of you all at this facility right now.\"\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl"
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"value": "# Shedeur Sanders is trying to block out noise and focus on the Browns' playbook\n\nBy Joe Reedy \nMay 10th, 2025 08:23 PM\n\n---\n\nBEREA, Ohio (AP) — Trying to get his jersey number back is the least of Shedeur Sanders' worries.\n\nWith a playbook to learn and trying to prove critics wrong after sliding to the fifth round in the NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback knows he has a long way to go before he even considers making an offer to receiver DeAndre Carter to wear No. 2.\n\n\"I'm not trying to buy anything. My signing bonus ain't that high right now,\" Sanders said at the end of his 13-minute availability with the media before Saturday's practice at rookie minicamp.\n\nSanders took No. 12 because he said it was the best number available. It also doesn't hurt that it was the number Tom Brady wore en route to seven Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.\n\nBrady said during a podcast appearance earlier this week that he texted Sanders after the draft and told him to use his slide to the 144th overall pick as motivation. Brady was the 199th pick in the 2000 draft.\n\n\"There were a lot of fans of me, my craft and my family that was there to support (me). I was just thankful that I have that foundation overall,\" Sanders said.\n\nWhile Sanders' fall in the draft could be attributed to some of the comments from his father — Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders — he knows that everything from here on out is up to him.\n\n\"I'm taking every snap out there; I'm getting up after these hits. I'm the one throwing touchdowns. I'm the one that got to live it day by day. So all he gave us was the opportunity, and we had to navigate and see what we liked,\" Sanders said. \"And especially coming to this building, we have great coaches in the building able to keep me focused, keep me in a straight and narrow line.\"\n\nWhen it comes to the negative comments, Sanders did add that he feels most of it comes from older fans instead of those his own age or younger, and that most of it is because of his famous father.\n\n\"Ninety-nine percent of hatred is towards pops and then I'm just his son, so it really just comes from that. And I've told him that too,\" he said. \"It's the older generation that do it to me rather than the younger people because when I come in person there's no negativity I see. But it's all over online.\"\n\nSanders and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel got plenty of snaps over the two days of practices. Besides trying to learn the playbook, there is refining technique and also trying to learn how to take snaps under center regularly.\n\nBecause the veterans have not had a chance to do any 11-on-11 drills yet during their offseason program, head coach Kevin Stefanski said some of the plays installed for the rookies were to get an on-field look and assess for the first time.\n\nGabriel said he is not trying to get caught up in any distractions, and is welcoming the chance to compete with Sanders through the offseason program and training camp.\n\n\"I love it because of who it is. I think just for us both, you can learn from one another,\" Gabriel said. \"But also, it's not just us two in the room. At least for right now it is. But going into the year, Kenny (Pickett), Joe (Flacco) and even Deshaun (Watson), just a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball that we can all learn from one another.\"\n\nThe rookies will join the veterans on Monday but won't take the field for a couple of days as the workload increases. With a four-way competition between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders, Stefanski left open the possibility of one or two more receivers than usual being on the 90-man roster for training camp.\n\nEven though DeShaun Watson is expected to miss the season as he recovers from tearing his Achilles twice, Stefanski said Watson is out of his walking boot, continues to rehab, and has been in the meeting room with Pickett and Flacco.\n\n\"There's no easy way to just pour an install into a person and say, 'Here's our offense, here's our playbook, figure it out.' It just takes time,\" Stefanski said. \"This's just not something that you can just pick up and snap your fingers. I wish it was so; there's just a lot of meetings. You're going to make mistakes — both physical and mental — and what we're trying to do is coach off of those and learn from those.\"\n\nSanders said the important thing he will focus on over the next couple of months is trying to improve daily.\n\n\"I just find something I want to perfect and just perfect it to the best of my abilities,\" he said. \"I'm just thankful for an opportunity. Things could have been a lot worse, but I'm here smiling in front of you all at this facility right now.\""
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"value": "# Melinda French Gates reflects on legacy of Gates Foundation as it announces it will close in 2045\n\nBy Thalia Beaty \nMay 8th, 2025 12:07 PM\n\n---\n\nMelinda French Gates entered some of the most powerful circles while leading the foundation she co-founded with her ex-husband, Bill Gates.\n\nShe petitioned heads of state and convened other billionaires. Along with Gates, she won the trust of one of America's most admired investors, Warren Buffett, who has given more than $43 billion to the former couple's foundation.\n\nFrench Gates, who studied computer science and worked at Microsoft, the company Gates created, exited the Gates Foundation last year to pursue philanthropy and investment through her own organization, Pivotal Ventures, which she started in 2015. The foundation changed its name from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after her departure.\n\nAt an ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, which also launched her new memoir, French Gates said she left, in part, to respond to the U.S. rollback of women's rights.\n\n\"I thought, I want to be much more nimble than this, and I want to be able to set the agenda by myself without having to ask anybody else, and do it with my partners,\" she said.\n\nFrench Gates offered written responses to The Associated Press' questions about the foundation's 25th anniversary and its decision to close in 2045. She said the former couple had always intended to spend down their resources.\n\n\"Ultimately, though,\" she wrote, \"the timeline was Bill's decision to make with the board of trustees.\"\n\nThe following responses have been edited for length.\n\n## Q: What do you hope the foundation's legacy will be?\n\nA: To me, the greatest measure of success would be if long after the foundation closed, someone, somewhere, was living a life that looked different because we existed. We talked a lot there about unlocking virtuous cycles. I like to think that right now, the foundation's work is contributing to a child getting a vaccine or a woman opening her first bank account — and that decades from now, their families and communities are going to continue to look different, because of what that child and that woman unlocked for the people around them.\n\n## Q: What specific areas did you influence at the foundation?\n\nA: I was excited for us to launch the Giving Pledge because I believe that the most responsible thing to do with great wealth is give it away — and that you have an obligation to society to give it away as effectively as possible. I think it's important for people in that position to set norms around giving generously and to learn as much as possible from each other about how to be effective in their philanthropy.\n\n(As for gender), for too long, global health and development efforts treated women and girls as secondary — if they were considered at all. Data wasn't collected on their experiences. Their specific health needs were often ignored.\n\nThere were so many questions that needed to be asked: What is the cost of all the unpaid labor women do at home? Will mobile banking make a difference if women don't have equal access to cellphones? Why are so many infectious diseases especially dangerous for women?\n\nWe opened a gender equality division, but not just that — we made gender equality a priority across all of our work. And we put a lot of resources into expanding access to contraception, starting with a big commitment we made in 2012.\n\n## Q: Why did you invest in opening more offices in other countries?\n\nA: When you're doing this kind of work, it doesn't take long to see that solutions that seem great on paper may not work in reality. We funded community toilets in India that people — especially women —wouldn't use because they were dangerous to go to at night. We funded vaccines in Vietnam that had to be kept cold, but came in packaging that didn't fit into the small refrigerators most people had there. We funded a simple pump to help East African farmers irrigate their land, but women — who account for half of all smallholder farmers — wouldn't buy it, because they didn't want to be seen swaying their hips in the way the pump required.\n\nThere are many ways to learn about the cultural norms and logistical issues that determine whether a solution is feasible — and they all boil down to engaging people with local knowledge and lived experience, and trusting what they tell you.\n\n## Q: Some foundation goals — like eradicating polio and controlling malaria — depend on the generosity of other countries and donors. How can you accomplish those goals given recent cuts to international aid?\n\nA: It's easy for people to forget — or maybe they didn't ever know — how hopeless the situation seemed around the year 2000, when malaria, tuberculosis and HIV were totally out of control. Since then, efforts funded, in large part, by development aid have saved more than 65 million lives from those diseases alone.\n\nNo doubt the work has just gotten a lot harder, but we never thought it was going to be easy. And we still have the key ingredients of success. The pipeline of innovations has never been stronger. More lower-income countries are taking a leading role. As some donors announce cuts, others are stepping up.\n\n____\n\nThe Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures.\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy."
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"value": "# Melinda French Gates reflects on legacy of Gates Foundation as it announces it will close in 2045\n\nBy Thalia Beaty \nMay 8th, 2025 12:07 PM\n\n---\n\nMelinda French Gates entered some of the most powerful circles while leading the foundation she co-founded with her ex-husband, Bill Gates.\n\nShe petitioned heads of state and convened other billionaires. Along with Gates, she won the trust of one of America's most admired investors, Warren Buffett, who has given more than $43 billion to the former couple's foundation.\n\nFrench Gates, who studied computer science and worked at Microsoft, the company Gates created, exited the Gates Foundation last year to pursue philanthropy and investment through her own organization, Pivotal Ventures, which she started in 2015. The foundation changed its name from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after her departure.\n\nAt an ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, which also launched her new memoir, French Gates said she left, in part, to respond to the U.S. rollback of women's rights.\n\n\"I thought, I want to be much more nimble than this, and I want to be able to set the agenda by myself without having to ask anybody else, and do it with my partners,\" she said.\n\nFrench Gates offered written responses to The Associated Press' questions about the foundation's 25th anniversary and its decision to close in 2045. She said the former couple had always intended to spend down their resources.\n\n\"Ultimately, though,\" she wrote, \"the timeline was Bill's decision to make with the board of trustees.\"\n\nThe following responses have been edited for length.\n\n## Q: What do you hope the foundation's legacy will be?\n\nA: To me, the greatest measure of success would be if long after the foundation closed, someone, somewhere, was living a life that looked different because we existed. We talked a lot there about unlocking virtuous cycles. I like to think that right now, the foundation's work is contributing to a child getting a vaccine or a woman opening her first bank account — and that decades from now, their families and communities are going to continue to look different, because of what that child and that woman unlocked for the people around them.\n\n## Q: What specific areas did you influence at the foundation?\n\nA: I was excited for us to launch the Giving Pledge because I believe that the most responsible thing to do with great wealth is give it away — and that you have an obligation to society to give it away as effectively as possible. I think it's important for people in that position to set norms around giving generously and to learn as much as possible from each other about how to be effective in their philanthropy.\n\n(As for gender), for too long, global health and development efforts treated women and girls as secondary — if they were considered at all. Data wasn't collected on their experiences. Their specific health needs were often ignored.\n\nThere were so many questions that needed to be asked: What is the cost of all the unpaid labor women do at home? Will mobile banking make a difference if women don't have equal access to cellphones? Why are so many infectious diseases especially dangerous for women?\n\nWe opened a gender equality division, but not just that — we made gender equality a priority across all of our work. And we put a lot of resources into expanding access to contraception, starting with a big commitment we made in 2012.\n\n## Q: Why did you invest in opening more offices in other countries?\n\nA: When you're doing this kind of work, it doesn't take long to see that solutions that seem great on paper may not work in reality. We funded community toilets in India that people — especially women —wouldn't use because they were dangerous to go to at night. We funded vaccines in Vietnam that had to be kept cold, but came in packaging that didn't fit into the small refrigerators most people had there. We funded a simple pump to help East African farmers irrigate their land, but women — who account for half of all smallholder farmers — wouldn't buy it, because they didn't want to be seen swaying their hips in the way the pump required.\n\nThere are many ways to learn about the cultural norms and logistical issues that determine whether a solution is feasible — and they all boil down to engaging people with local knowledge and lived experience, and trusting what they tell you.\n\n## Q: Some foundation goals — like eradicating polio and controlling malaria — depend on the generosity of other countries and donors. How can you accomplish those goals given recent cuts to international aid?\n\nA: It's easy for people to forget — or maybe they didn't ever know — how hopeless the situation seemed around the year 2000, when malaria, tuberculosis and HIV were totally out of control. Since then, efforts funded, in large part, by development aid have saved more than 65 million lives from those diseases alone.\n\nNo doubt the work has just gotten a lot harder, but we never thought it was going to be easy. And we still have the key ingredients of success. The pipeline of innovations has never been stronger. More lower-income countries are taking a leading role. As some donors announce cuts, others are stepping up."
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"value": "# State of emergency extended in Puerto Rico following deadly rainfall\n\nMay 5th, 2025 05:39 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ten towns and cities across Puerto Rico are under a state of emergency following two weeks of heavy rain, with two people killed.\n\nThree cities — Caguas, Lares and Vega Alta — were added to the list on Monday, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety.\n\nThe 10 municipalities are expected to receive $100,000 each to help repair damaged infrastructure. The amount barely covers the estimated damage in some areas.\n\nOfficials have said the rain inflicted $7 million worth of damage in Vega Alta and $3 million in the town of Cidra.\n\nThe rains, which began on April 18, have caused landslides and widespread flooding.\n\nLast week, a man died after trying to cross floodwaters in his car and was swept away. On Saturday, a tree fell in the town of Toa Baja, killing a 44-year-old man driving through the area."
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"value": "# State of emergency extended in Puerto Rico following deadly rainfall\n\nMay 5th, 2025 05:39 PM\n\n---\n\nSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ten towns and cities across Puerto Rico are under a state of emergency following two weeks of heavy rain, with two people killed.\n\nThree cities — Caguas, Lares and Vega Alta — were added to the list on Monday, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety.\n\nThe 10 municipalities are expected to receive $100,000 each to help repair damaged infrastructure. The amount barely covers the estimated damage in some areas.\n\nOfficials have said the rain inflicted $7 million worth of damage in Vega Alta and $3 million in the town of Cidra.\n\nThe rains, which began on April 18, have caused landslides and widespread flooding.\n\nLast week, a man died after trying to cross floodwaters in his car and was swept away. On Saturday, a tree fell in the town of Toa Baja, killing a 44-year-old man driving through the area."
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"value": "# Cardinals activate catcher Iván Herrera from injured list\n\nMay 9th, 2025 10:04 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals activated catcher Iván Herrera from the 10-day injured list on Friday and optioned first baseman/designated hitter Luken Baker to Triple-A Memphis.\n\nThe 24-year-old Herrera batted .381 (8 for 21) with four homers and 11 RBIs in seven games before suffering a bone bruise in his left knee.\n\nHerrera was in the lineup at DH on Friday night, batting sixth. St. Louis will keep three catchers for now, with Herrera joined by Pedro Pagés and Yohel Pozo.\n\n\"For the next couple of weeks, we can ease our way into DH'ing him, catch him, DH him,\" manager Oliver Marmol said.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Cardinals activate catcher Iván Herrera from injured list\n\nMay 9th, 2025 10:04 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals activated catcher Iván Herrera from the 10-day injured list on Friday and optioned first baseman/designated hitter Luken Baker to Triple-A Memphis.\n\nThe 24-year-old Herrera batted .381 (8 for 21) with four homers and 11 RBIs in seven games before suffering a bone bruise in his left knee.\n\nHerrera was in the lineup at DH on Friday night, batting sixth. St. Louis will keep three catchers for now, with Herrera joined by Pedro Pagés and Yohel Pozo.\n\n\"For the next couple of weeks, we can ease our way into DH'ing him, catch him, DH him,\" manager Oliver Marmol said."
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"value": "# Amid Cinco de Mayo celebrations, a tax on Mexican tomatoes looms\n\nBy Dee-Ann Durbin \nMay 4th, 2025 12:00 PM\n\n---\n\nGuacamole has been spared from tariffs for now. But salsa may not be so lucky.\n\nWhile President Donald Trump put threatened tariffs on Mexican avocados on pause, the U.S. government plans to put a nearly 21% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes starting July 14. A duty — like a tariff — is a tax on imports, and this one would impact the 4 billion pounds of tomatoes the U.S. imports from Mexico each year.\n\nProponents say the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure the produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange.\n\n\"Unless we even the playing field in terms of fair pricing, you're not going to have a domestic industry for fresh tomatoes in the very near future,\" Robert Guenther, the trade group's executive vice president, said. Florida and California are the top U.S. producers of tomatoes, but most of California's crop is turned into sauces and other products.\n\nOpponents say the duty will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. NatureSweet, a San Antonio-based company that grows tomatoes in Mexico as well as the U.S., said it will be paying millions of dollars each month in duties if the decision isn't reversed.\n\n\"We will look for ways to adapt or streamline our operations, but the truth is, we are always doing that so we run an efficient business already,\" said Skip Hulett, NatureSweet's chief legal officer. \"Produce is not a large-margin business. We're determining what portion of the cost we could absorb, but these added costs will most certainly need to be passed on to the consumer.\"\n\nTim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, expects U.S. retail prices for tomatoes to rise by around 10.5% if the duty goes through.\n\nMexico's government said last month it was convinced it could negotiate over the issue. But if the tomato tax takes effect, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has hinted her country may impose duties on chicken and pork legs imported from the U.S.\n\nThe tug-of-war over tomatoes has a long history. In 1996, shortly after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, the U.S. Department of Commerce investigated allegations that Mexico was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping.\n\nThe U.S. government agreed to suspend the investigation if Mexico met certain rules, including selling its tomatoes at a minimum price. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties.\n\nBut last month, the Commerce Department announced its withdrawal from the latest agreement, saying it had been \"flooded with comments\" from U.S. tomato growers who want better protection from Mexican imports.\n\nGuenther, of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said even though Mexican exporters are required to charge a minimum price, shipments are only spot-checked, so exporters can get around that. But more generally, Mexico hurts the U.S. industry because it costs 40% to 50% less to grow tomatoes there, Guenther said. Land is cheaper, labor is cheaper and inputs like seeds and fertilizer cost less, he said.\n\nTomatoes are a labor-intensive crop, Guenther said, and the U.S. industry typically relies on immigrant workers through the H-2A visa program. That program required farmers to pay workers an average of $16.98 per hour last year, an amount that has jumped as labor has become harder to find. Richards estimates that workers on Mexican tomato farms earn about one-tenth that rate.\n\nNatureSweet acknowledges that it's more cost-effective to grow tomatoes in Mexico, but says climate is one of the biggest reasons. The company's Mexican greenhouses don't need lighting, heating or cooling systems because of the year-round weather conditions.\n\n\"You can relocate some industries, but you can't relocate climate agriculture,\" Hulett said.\n\nLance Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, which represents importers of Mexican tomatoes, said Florida doesn't produce the vine-ripened tomatoes that U.S. consumers increasingly favor. Florida tomatoes are picked when they're green and shipped to warehouses to ripen, he said.\n\n\"Florida doesn't grow the kinds of specialty tomatoes that have taken off, but they want to get protection,\" Jungmeyer said. \"Their market share is dropping for reasons of their own choice.\"\n\nGuenther disagrees. \"If you put a Florida tomato up against a Mexican tomato, I think it would do very well in taste test,\" he said.\n\nAdrian Burciaga, co-owner of Don Artemio, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, wouldn't want to switch to a U.S. producer. He compares it to fine wine; if he wants a good cabernet sauvignon, he gets it from Napa, California. If he wants a good tomato that reminds him of his childhood, he gets it from Mexico.\n\n\"We know the flavors they are going to bring to the salsas and moles. We don't want to compromise flavors,\" Burciaga said.\n\nBurciaga said his restaurant uses 300 to 400 pounds of Roma tomatoes from Mexico every week. He currently pays $19 for a 25-pound crate of tomatoes. He doesn't relish paying the additional cost, but he feels he has no choice.\n\nBurciaga said the tomato duty — and the threat of Trump implementing the paused 25% tariff on many other products from Mexico — are making it difficult to run his business.\n\n\"The uncertainty part concerns us. A small or medium restaurant budgets things out. We know in advance that in six months things will increase, so we're able to adjust,\" he said. \"But we don't know these things in advance. How do you plan and how do you react?\"\n\n___\n\nAP Reporter Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed."
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"value": "# Amid Cinco de Mayo celebrations, a tax on Mexican tomatoes looms\n\nBy Dee-Ann Durbin \nMay 4th, 2025 12:00 PM\n\n---\n\nGuacamole has been spared from tariffs for now. But salsa may not be so lucky.\n\nWhile President Donald Trump put threatened tariffs on Mexican avocados on pause, the U.S. government plans to put a nearly 21% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes starting July 14. A duty — like a tariff — is a tax on imports, and this one would impact the 4 billion pounds of tomatoes the U.S. imports from Mexico each year.\n\nProponents say the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure the produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange.\n\n\"Unless we even the playing field in terms of fair pricing, you're not going to have a domestic industry for fresh tomatoes in the very near future,\" Robert Guenther, the trade group's executive vice president, said. Florida and California are the top U.S. producers of tomatoes, but most of California's crop is turned into sauces and other products.\n\nOpponents say the duty will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. NatureSweet, a San Antonio-based company that grows tomatoes in Mexico as well as the U.S., said it will be paying millions of dollars each month in duties if the decision isn't reversed.\n\n\"We will look for ways to adapt or streamline our operations, but the truth is, we are always doing that so we run an efficient business already,\" said Skip Hulett, NatureSweet's chief legal officer. \"Produce is not a large-margin business. We're determining what portion of the cost we could absorb, but these added costs will most certainly need to be passed on to the consumer.\"\n\nTim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, expects U.S. retail prices for tomatoes to rise by around 10.5% if the duty goes through.\n\nMexico's government said last month it was convinced it could negotiate over the issue. But if the tomato tax takes effect, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has hinted her country may impose duties on chicken and pork legs imported from the U.S.\n\nThe tug-of-war over tomatoes has a long history. In 1996, shortly after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, the U.S. Department of Commerce investigated allegations that Mexico was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping.\n\nThe U.S. government agreed to suspend the investigation if Mexico met certain rules, including selling its tomatoes at a minimum price. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties.\n\nBut last month, the Commerce Department announced its withdrawal from the latest agreement, saying it had been \"flooded with comments\" from U.S. tomato growers who want better protection from Mexican imports.\n\nGuenther, of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said even though Mexican exporters are required to charge a minimum price, shipments are only spot-checked, so exporters can get around that. But more generally, Mexico hurts the U.S. industry because it costs 40% to 50% less to grow tomatoes there, Guenther said. Land is cheaper, labor is cheaper and inputs like seeds and fertilizer cost less, he said.\n\nTomatoes are a labor-intensive crop, Guenther said, and the U.S. industry typically relies on immigrant workers through the H-2A visa program. That program required farmers to pay workers an average of $16.98 per hour last year, an amount that has jumped as labor has become harder to find. Richards estimates that workers on Mexican tomato farms earn about one-tenth that rate.\n\nNatureSweet acknowledges that it's more cost-effective to grow tomatoes in Mexico, but says climate is one of the biggest reasons. The company's Mexican greenhouses don't need lighting, heating or cooling systems because of the year-round weather conditions.\n\n\"You can relocate some industries, but you can't relocate climate agriculture,\" Hulett said.\n\nLance Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, which represents importers of Mexican tomatoes, said Florida doesn't produce the vine-ripened tomatoes that U.S. consumers increasingly favor. Florida tomatoes are picked when they're green and shipped to warehouses to ripen, he said.\n\n\"Florida doesn't grow the kinds of specialty tomatoes that have taken off, but they want to get protection,\" Jungmeyer said. \"Their market share is dropping for reasons of their own choice.\"\n\nGuenther disagrees. \"If you put a Florida tomato up against a Mexican tomato, I think it would do very well in taste test,\" he said.\n\nAdrian Burciaga, co-owner of Don Artemio, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, wouldn't want to switch to a U.S. producer. He compares it to fine wine; if he wants a good cabernet sauvignon, he gets it from Napa, California. If he wants a good tomato that reminds him of his childhood, he gets it from Mexico.\n\n\"We know the flavors they are going to bring to the salsas and moles. We don't want to compromise flavors,\" Burciaga said.\n\nBurciaga said his restaurant uses 300 to 400 pounds of Roma tomatoes from Mexico every week. He currently pays $19 for a 25-pound crate of tomatoes. He doesn't relish paying the additional cost, but he feels he has no choice.\n\nBurciaga said the tomato duty — and the threat of Trump implementing the paused 25% tariff on many other products from Mexico — are making it difficult to run his business.\n\n\"The uncertainty part concerns us. A small or medium restaurant budgets things out. We know in advance that in six months things will increase, so we're able to adjust,\" he said. \"But we don't know these things in advance. How do you plan and how do you react?\""
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"value": "# Editorial cartoonist who quit Washington Post wins Pulitzer\n\nBy Lisa Baumann \nMay 5th, 2025 10:05 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest early this year after editors killed her sketch criticizing the Post owner and other media chief executives working to curry favor with Trump has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary.\n\nAnn Telnaes won for \"delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years,\" according to the Pulitzer announcement on Monday.\n\nHer cartoon showed a group of media executives bowing before then President-elect Donald Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.\n\nSeveral executives, Bezos among them, had been spotted around that time at Trump's Florida club Mar-a-Lago. Telnaes accused them of having lucrative government contracts and working to eliminate regulations. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.\n\nWhen she quit the newspaper earlier this year, Telnaes that she'd never before had a sketch killed because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon's commentary. She called that a game-changer and dangerous for a free press.\n\n\"As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable,\" Telnaes wrote on the online platform Substack in early January. \"For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I'm just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say 'Democracy dies in darkness.'\"\n\nDavid Shipley, the newspaper's editorial page editor at the time, said in a statement after Telnaes quit that he decided to nix the cartoon because the paper had just published a column on the same topic. Shipley then resigned in late February after Bezos, in a major shift, directed that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market.\n\nThe fallout continued in March when a longtime columnist, Ruth Marcus, quit after she said the newspaper's management decided not to run her commentary critical of Bezos' policy.\n\nThe Post, which made money during the first Trump administration, has been losing money in recent years, Its internal strife largely began last June when Sally Buzbee resigned as executive editor rather than accept a newsroom reorganization. Several prominent Post journalists have since left for other jobs.\n\nBezos' decision last fall that the Post would not endorse a presidential candidate — after the editorial staff had prepared to support Democrat Kamala Harris — led to an exodus of subscribers."
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"value": "# Editorial cartoonist who quit Washington Post wins Pulitzer\n\nBy Lisa Baumann \nMay 5th, 2025 10:05 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest early this year after editors killed her sketch criticizing the Post owner and other media chief executives working to curry favor with Trump has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary.\n\nAnn Telnaes won for \"delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years,\" according to the Pulitzer announcement on Monday.\n\nHer cartoon showed a group of media executives bowing before then President-elect Donald Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.\n\nSeveral executives, Bezos among them, had been spotted around that time at Trump's Florida club Mar-a-Lago. Telnaes accused them of having lucrative government contracts and working to eliminate regulations. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.\n\nWhen she quit the newspaper earlier this year, Telnaes that she'd never before had a sketch killed because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon's commentary. She called that a game-changer and dangerous for a free press.\n\n\"As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable,\" Telnaes wrote on the online platform Substack in early January. \"For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I'm just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say 'Democracy dies in darkness.'\"\n\nDavid Shipley, the newspaper's editorial page editor at the time, said in a statement after Telnaes quit that he decided to nix the cartoon because the paper had just published a column on the same topic. Shipley then resigned in late February after Bezos, in a major shift, directed that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market.\n\nThe fallout continued in March when a longtime columnist, Ruth Marcus, quit after she said the newspaper's management decided not to run her commentary critical of Bezos' policy.\n\nThe Post, which made money during the first Trump administration, has been losing money in recent years, Its internal strife largely began last June when Sally Buzbee resigned as executive editor rather than accept a newsroom reorganization. Several prominent Post journalists have since left for other jobs.\n\nBezos' decision last fall that the Post would not endorse a presidential candidate — after the editorial staff had prepared to support Democrat Kamala Harris — led to an exodus of subscribers."
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"value": "# De Bruyne not finished yet as he gives Man City crucial win over Wolves\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nMANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne scored and gave Manchester City a crucial but barely deserved 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and a lift into third place in the Premier League on Friday.\n\nThe Belgian is leaving City at the end of the season and still providing good memories thanks to his goal against a team that won its last six league encounters.\n\nWith three games left, City was a firm favourite to take one of the Champions League places.\n\nSlightly against the run of play, De Bruyne side-footed home a cut back from Jeremy Doku 10 minutes before halftime in his second-to-last appearance at Etihad Stadium.\n\nWolves will be aggrieved at not taking something from the game but were undone by poor finishing and the City goalposts.\n\nIn the 22nd, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde opted to pass when it looked easier to shoot but Marshall Munetsi at full stretch could not get on the end of his inviting cross.\n\nFive minutes later, Rayan Ait-Nouri hit the post then saw his rebound cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol.\n\nThe woodwork saved City again in the second half when a Matheus Cunha strike crashed off the post.\n\nCity coach Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, scotched rumors he's about to leave the club. He recently signed a contract extension until June 2027.\n\nGuardiola said he will take a break from management when he leaves City but he told Sky Sports he did not know when that would be.\n\n\"I didn't say I'm leaving now, or the end of season, or the end of contract, I said when I finish my time here, be it one, two, three, four, five years,\" the Catalan said. \"What I am saying is when I am finished here I will take a break.\"\n\nSome Manchester City fans protested the club's season ticket pricing and policies before the game, taking their seats only after the match kicked off.\n\n___\n\nAP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer"
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"value": "# De Bruyne not finished yet as he gives Man City crucial win over Wolves\n\nMay 2nd, 2025 09:20 PM\n\n---\n\nMANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne scored and gave Manchester City a crucial but barely deserved 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and a lift into third place in the Premier League on Friday.\n\nThe Belgian is leaving City at the end of the season and still providing good memories thanks to his goal against a team that won its last six league encounters.\n\nWith three games left, City was a firm favourite to take one of the Champions League places.\n\nSlightly against the run of play, De Bruyne side-footed home a cut back from Jeremy Doku 10 minutes before halftime in his second-to-last appearance at Etihad Stadium.\n\nWolves will be aggrieved at not taking something from the game but were undone by poor finishing and the City goalposts.\n\nIn the 22nd, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde opted to pass when it looked easier to shoot but Marshall Munetsi at full stretch could not get on the end of his inviting cross.\n\nFive minutes later, Rayan Ait-Nouri hit the post then saw his rebound cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol.\n\nThe woodwork saved City again in the second half when a Matheus Cunha strike crashed off the post.\n\nCity coach Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, scotched rumors he's about to leave the club. He recently signed a contract extension until June 2027.\n\nGuardiola said he will take a break from management when he leaves City but he told Sky Sports he did not know when that would be.\n\n\"I didn't say I'm leaving now, or the end of season, or the end of contract, I said when I finish my time here, be it one, two, three, four, five years,\" the Catalan said. \"What I am saying is when I am finished here I will take a break.\"\n\nSome Manchester City fans protested the club's season ticket pricing and policies before the game, taking their seats only after the match kicked off."
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"value": "# NASCAR star Kyle Larson is ready to focus on the Indianapolis 500 — after a sprint car race\n\nBy Dave Skretta \nMay 12th, 2025 12:45 PM\n\n---\n\nKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Larson said he would turn his attention to the Indianapolis 500, and a second crack at racing immortality, the moment he stepped out of his car following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.\n\nThe only problem with that? He wasn't due for practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway until Tuesday.\n\nPlenty of time to squeeze in another race.\n\nSo even as Larson was basking in the glow of a third Cup Series win of the season while flying to Indianapolis on Sunday night, he wasn't quite ready to fully focus on the 500. The plan was to hop in a car and drive to Kokomo, Indiana, for a sprint car race on Monday night, and only then turn his focus to the \"Greatest Spectacle in Racing.\"\n\n\"He just goes and goes and goes,\" marveled Chad Knaus, the vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports, which fields his No. 5 car in the Cup Series and is working with Arrow McLaren to field Larson's car for the Indy 500.\n\nThe reality is that Larson would rather be behind the wheel of a race car than behind a TV screen, or a bar, or just about anywhere else. His priority every year may be the Cup Series, and winning a second championship, but that leaves plenty of open dates on the schedule where he can sprinkle in an Xfinity Series race, or Truck Series race, or run at a local dirt track.\n\nHe happened to do that Friday night at Lakeside Speedway, just down the road from Kansas Speedway, where his High Limit Racing series was running. Larson nearly had a sprint car land in his lap during a scary wreck that tore up his car. But he simply shrugged it off as part of racing, and he was back at the track the next morning.\n\n\"The thing that I've always been impressed with Kyle since he showed up at Hendrick Motorsports is that he is unfazed,\" Knaus said. \"Like, nothing gets under his skin. He doesn't get wound up. He doesn't get emotional about maybe something that happens on the race track. He doesn't get emotional and carry weight on his shoulders.\n\n\"He just rolls with it,\" Knaus said, \"and he goes and he continues to drive.\"\n\nThat preternaturally placid demeanor was stretched nearly to a breaking point at last year's Indy 500, though.\n\nLarson was taking his first shot at \"the Double,\" trying to run every lap of the 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte the same day Memorial Day weekend. Many have tried but only Tony Stewart in 1999 has managed to pull it off.\n\nBut while Larson was able to overcome every problem lobbed at him on the track — aside from a speeding penalty on pit road in the 500 that took him out of contention for the win — he was powerless when it came to dealing with the weather.\n\nHe doesn't like being powerless.\n\nOn race day, rain swept through Indianapolis Motor Speedway and soaked the track, leaving Larson to wait in Gasoline Alley to see whether the race would even take place that Sunday. And if it did take place, would he stay and run the 500 or be forced to withdraw so that he could head to Charlotte and fulfill his obligations in the Cup Series race that night?\n\nHe stuck around and ran every lap of the Indy 500, and was chosen rookie of the year afterward. But the delay kept him from starting the Coca-Cola 600, and by the time his helicopter-plane-helicopter trip from Indiana to North Carolina had deposited him at the track, more rain in Charlotte kept him from ever climbing into his car there and completing a lap.\n\n\"Unfortunately once Mother Nature stepped in,\" Knaus said, \"we didn't have a whole lot that we could do.\"\n\nThe long-range forecast for the Indianapolis 500 looks much better this year.\n\nAnd once again, Larson is heading into perhaps the busiest month of his calendar year riding a wave of on-track momentum.\n\nHis dominating victory at Kansas Speedway, where he led 221 of 267 laps on Sunday, was his third Cup Series win of the season, and it moved him into first place in the points standings. Larson also has won two of his three Xfinity starts, one of his two Truck races, and he has a win and three top-five finishes in five sprint car features in the High Limit series.\n\nThen again, all that success doesn't seem to matter much to him.\n\n\"I don't really let a race affect the next day of my life,\" Larson explained Sunday night. \"I would rather win leading into these next couple of weeks than have a DNF or something. But I don't really think it matters.\"\n\nWhat happens the next couple of weeks matters a lot, though. He's been waiting a whole year to try \"the Double\" again.\n\n\"Yeah, it's going to be a fun two weeks,\" Larson said. \"I look forward to working together with the team, Arrow McLaren, and learning the car more, trying to narrow in on our balance, and just trying to have a smooth couple weeks like we had last year, and execute like you would in any race and try to be in the hunt at the end.\"\n\n___\n\nAP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing"
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"value": "# NASCAR star Kyle Larson is ready to focus on the Indianapolis 500 — after a sprint car race\n\nBy Dave Skretta \nMay 12th, 2025 12:45 PM\n\n---\n\nKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Larson said he would turn his attention to the Indianapolis 500, and a second crack at racing immortality, the moment he stepped out of his car following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.\n\nThe only problem with that? He wasn't due for practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway until Tuesday.\n\nPlenty of time to squeeze in another race.\n\nSo even as Larson was basking in the glow of a third Cup Series win of the season while flying to Indianapolis on Sunday night, he wasn't quite ready to fully focus on the 500. The plan was to hop in a car and drive to Kokomo, Indiana, for a sprint car race on Monday night, and only then turn his focus to the \"Greatest Spectacle in Racing.\"\n\n\"He just goes and goes and goes,\" marveled Chad Knaus, the vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports, which fields his No. 5 car in the Cup Series and is working with Arrow McLaren to field Larson's car for the Indy 500.\n\nThe reality is that Larson would rather be behind the wheel of a race car than behind a TV screen, or a bar, or just about anywhere else. His priority every year may be the Cup Series, and winning a second championship, but that leaves plenty of open dates on the schedule where he can sprinkle in an Xfinity Series race, or Truck Series race, or run at a local dirt track.\n\nHe happened to do that Friday night at Lakeside Speedway, just down the road from Kansas Speedway, where his High Limit Racing series was running. Larson nearly had a sprint car land in his lap during a scary wreck that tore up his car. But he simply shrugged it off as part of racing, and he was back at the track the next morning.\n\n\"The thing that I've always been impressed with Kyle since he showed up at Hendrick Motorsports is that he is unfazed,\" Knaus said. \"Like, nothing gets under his skin. He doesn't get wound up. He doesn't get emotional about maybe something that happens on the race track. He doesn't get emotional and carry weight on his shoulders.\n\n\"He just rolls with it,\" Knaus said, \"and he goes and he continues to drive.\"\n\nThat preternaturally placid demeanor was stretched nearly to a breaking point at last year's Indy 500, though.\n\nLarson was taking his first shot at \"the Double,\" trying to run every lap of the 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte the same day Memorial Day weekend. Many have tried but only Tony Stewart in 1999 has managed to pull it off.\n\nBut while Larson was able to overcome every problem lobbed at him on the track — aside from a speeding penalty on pit road in the 500 that took him out of contention for the win — he was powerless when it came to dealing with the weather.\n\nHe doesn't like being powerless.\n\nOn race day, rain swept through Indianapolis Motor Speedway and soaked the track, leaving Larson to wait in Gasoline Alley to see whether the race would even take place that Sunday. And if it did take place, would he stay and run the 500 or be forced to withdraw so that he could head to Charlotte and fulfill his obligations in the Cup Series race that night?\n\nHe stuck around and ran every lap of the Indy 500, and was chosen rookie of the year afterward. But the delay kept him from starting the Coca-Cola 600, and by the time his helicopter-plane-helicopter trip from Indiana to North Carolina had deposited him at the track, more rain in Charlotte kept him from ever climbing into his car there and completing a lap.\n\n\"Unfortunately once Mother Nature stepped in,\" Knaus said, \"we didn't have a whole lot that we could do.\"\n\nThe long-range forecast for the Indianapolis 500 looks much better this year.\n\nAnd once again, Larson is heading into perhaps the busiest month of his calendar year riding a wave of on-track momentum.\n\nHis dominating victory at Kansas Speedway, where he led 221 of 267 laps on Sunday, was his third Cup Series win of the season, and it moved him into first place in the points standings. Larson also has won two of his three Xfinity starts, one of his two Truck races, and he has a win and three top-five finishes in five sprint car features in the High Limit series.\n\nThen again, all that success doesn't seem to matter much to him.\n\n\"I don't really let a race affect the next day of my life,\" Larson explained Sunday night. \"I would rather win leading into these next couple of weeks than have a DNF or something. But I don't really think it matters.\"\n\nWhat happens the next couple of weeks matters a lot, though. He's been waiting a whole year to try \"the Double\" again.\n\n\"Yeah, it's going to be a fun two weeks,\" Larson said. \"I look forward to working together with the team, Arrow McLaren, and learning the car more, trying to narrow in on our balance, and just trying to have a smooth couple weeks like we had last year, and execute like you would in any race and try to be in the hunt at the end.\""
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"value": "# UK sees hottest start to May, prompting warnings about open-water swimming after boy dies\n\nBy Pan Pylas \nMay 1st, 2025 11:17 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — The U.K. saw its hottest start to May on record Thursday, prompting authorities to warn of the dangers of swimming in still-cold waters following the death of a 16-year-old boy in a lake.\n\nThe high was recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London where the temperature hit 29.3 degrees Celsius (84.7 Fahrenheit). That beat the previous May 1 record high temperature of 27.4 C (81.3 F) in Moray in the northeast of Scotland in 1990.\n\nThe heat isn't expected to last, with cooler weather starting to drift in from the north on Friday — bad timing for those looking to bask in the sunshine over the coming three-day weekend. Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.\n\nForecasters said that the hot spell, which followed one of the warmest and driest Aprils on record, has been a result of the jet stream — which is hugely influential in determining U.K. weather — remaining stuck north of the country, allowing high pressure to settle.\n\nAuthorities urged people to be cautious if choosing to go swimming as the water temperature in lakes and the sea remains cold given the time of the year.\n\nThe warning came as the body of a 16-year-old boy was found in a lake late Wednesday in Nottingham.\n\n\"While work is now underway to understand how the boy came into difficulty, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight this case as a reminder of the devastating consequences of entering open water, regardless of whether people do so deliberately or inadvertently,\" Chief Inspector David Mather of Nottinghamshire Police said.\n\nThe London Fire Brigade also urged caution around open-water swimming after a 32% increase in water-related incidents last month compared with the same period last year.\n\n\"Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold,\" said Craig Carter, its assistant commissioner for prevention and protection. \"Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are.\""
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"value": "# UK sees hottest start to May, prompting warnings about open-water swimming after boy dies\n\nBy Pan Pylas \nMay 1st, 2025 11:17 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — The U.K. saw its hottest start to May on record Thursday, prompting authorities to warn of the dangers of swimming in still-cold waters following the death of a 16-year-old boy in a lake.\n\nThe high was recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London where the temperature hit 29.3 degrees Celsius (84.7 Fahrenheit). That beat the previous May 1 record high temperature of 27.4 C (81.3 F) in Moray in the northeast of Scotland in 1990.\n\nThe heat isn't expected to last, with cooler weather starting to drift in from the north on Friday — bad timing for those looking to bask in the sunshine over the coming three-day weekend. Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.\n\nForecasters said that the hot spell, which followed one of the warmest and driest Aprils on record, has been a result of the jet stream — which is hugely influential in determining U.K. weather — remaining stuck north of the country, allowing high pressure to settle.\n\nAuthorities urged people to be cautious if choosing to go swimming as the water temperature in lakes and the sea remains cold given the time of the year.\n\nThe warning came as the body of a 16-year-old boy was found in a lake late Wednesday in Nottingham.\n\n\"While work is now underway to understand how the boy came into difficulty, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight this case as a reminder of the devastating consequences of entering open water, regardless of whether people do so deliberately or inadvertently,\" Chief Inspector David Mather of Nottinghamshire Police said.\n\nThe London Fire Brigade also urged caution around open-water swimming after a 32% increase in water-related incidents last month compared with the same period last year.\n\n\"Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold,\" said Craig Carter, its assistant commissioner for prevention and protection. \"Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are.\""
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"value": "# A community rallied to share flu shot experiences. Then the government stopped the study\n\nBy Lauran Neergaard \nMay 3rd, 2025 01:00 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community.\n\nBut no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset.\n\n\"For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice,\" said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. \"Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter.\"\n\nHow to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too.\n\nAt the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy.\n\n\"We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,\" said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering \"scientific dark ages.\"\n\nAt Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations.\n\nNope, Williams says: Building trust takes time.\n\n\"The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,\" he said.\n\nBut in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza.\n\nWith a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos.\n\nAfter two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics.\n\nIn one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship.\n\nIn another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu.\n\nSeeing \"people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'\" is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups.\n\nThe study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination.\n\nWilliams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed.\n\n\"We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community,\" Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. \"I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.\"\n\n—-\n\nAP video journalist Thomas Peipert contributed to this report.\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."
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"value": "# A community rallied to share flu shot experiences. Then the government stopped the study\n\nBy Lauran Neergaard \nMay 3rd, 2025 01:00 PM\n\n---\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community.\n\nBut no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset.\n\n\"For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice,\" said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. \"Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter.\"\n\nHow to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too.\n\nAt the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy.\n\n\"We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,\" said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering \"scientific dark ages.\"\n\nAt Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations.\n\nNope, Williams says: Building trust takes time.\n\n\"The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,\" he said.\n\nBut in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza.\n\nWith a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos.\n\nAfter two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics.\n\nIn one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship.\n\nIn another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu.\n\nSeeing \"people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'\" is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups.\n\nThe study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination.\n\nWilliams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed.\n\n\"We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community,\" Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. \"I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.\""
}
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"value": "# Stephen Kolek pitches into the 6th in first MLB start as Padres blank Pirates for 5th straight win\n\nBy John Perrotto \nMay 4th, 2025 08:37 PM\n\n---\n\nPITTSBURGH (AP) — Stephen Kolek pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his first major league start and combined with four relievers for the San Diego Padres' eighth shutout of the season, a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday for their fifth straight win.\n\nKolek was recalled from Triple-A El Paso before the game. He made 42 relief appearances for the Padres last season as a rookie after being selected from Seattle in the Rule 5 draft.\n\nKolek, who had a 6.38 ERA in five starts for El Paso this season, allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two.\n\nJeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Jason Adam followed Kolek. The eight shutouts are the most in the majors.\n\nXander Bogaerts had three RBIs for the Padres, who scored all their runs in the first two innings off Andrew Heaney (2-3), who was pulled with two outs in the fourth.\n\nManny Machado doubled and scored on Bogaerts' single in the first inning. In the second, Elias Diaz led off with his third home run of the season and Bogaerts hit a two-run double to make it 4-0.\n\nHeaney allowed eight hits and four walks while striking out three. The Pirates have lost four games in a row and seven of their last eight.\n\nMachado had three hits and Bogaerts, Diaz and Luis Arraez added two apiece. The Pirates' Joey Bart, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Matt Gorski and Tommy Pham had two hits each.\n\n## Key Moment\n\nDown 4-0 in the second, the Pirates put two runners on with one out, but Adam Frazier struck out and Hayes was picked off at second base.\n\n## Key Stat\n\nThe Padres' relievers' 1.73 ERA is the best in the big leagues.\n\n## Up Next\n\nPadres: Open a three-game series against the Yankees on Monday night in New York with RHP Nick Pivetta (5-1, 1.78) facing LHP Carlos Rodon (4-3, 3.43).\n\nPirates: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 6.58) starts Monday night against Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (1-2, 4.66) to begin a three-game series in St. Louis.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Stephen Kolek pitches into the 6th in first MLB start as Padres blank Pirates for 5th straight win\n\nBy John Perrotto \nMay 4th, 2025 08:37 PM\n\n---\n\nPITTSBURGH (AP) — Stephen Kolek pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his first major league start and combined with four relievers for the San Diego Padres' eighth shutout of the season, a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday for their fifth straight win.\n\nKolek was recalled from Triple-A El Paso before the game. He made 42 relief appearances for the Padres last season as a rookie after being selected from Seattle in the Rule 5 draft.\n\nKolek, who had a 6.38 ERA in five starts for El Paso this season, allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two.\n\nJeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Jason Adam followed Kolek. The eight shutouts are the most in the majors.\n\nXander Bogaerts had three RBIs for the Padres, who scored all their runs in the first two innings off Andrew Heaney (2-3), who was pulled with two outs in the fourth.\n\nManny Machado doubled and scored on Bogaerts' single in the first inning. In the second, Elias Diaz led off with his third home run of the season and Bogaerts hit a two-run double to make it 4-0.\n\nHeaney allowed eight hits and four walks while striking out three. The Pirates have lost four games in a row and seven of their last eight.\n\nMachado had three hits and Bogaerts, Diaz and Luis Arraez added two apiece. The Pirates' Joey Bart, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Matt Gorski and Tommy Pham had two hits each.\n\n## Key Moment\n\nDown 4-0 in the second, the Pirates put two runners on with one out, but Adam Frazier struck out and Hayes was picked off at second base.\n\n## Key Stat\n\nThe Padres' relievers' 1.73 ERA is the best in the big leagues.\n\n## Up Next\n\nPadres: Open a three-game series against the Yankees on Monday night in New York with RHP Nick Pivetta (5-1, 1.78) facing LHP Carlos Rodon (4-3, 3.43).\n\nPirates: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 6.58) starts Monday night against Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (1-2, 4.66) to begin a three-game series in St. Louis."
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"value": "# Rockies rally past Giants 4-3, denying Justin Verlander his 1st win since joining San Francisco\n\nBy Janie Mccauley \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:23 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Beck hit a tying double in the eighth inning and Hunter Goodman singled home the go-ahead run two batters later as the Colorado Rockies rallied past San Francisco 4-3 on Thursday night to deny Justin Verlander his first win with the Giants.\n\nColorado came back against reliever Tyler Rogers (2-1) and snapped a 12-game skid at Oracle Park, where San Francisco had owned the longest active home winning streak against one opponent.\n\nAngel Chivilli (1-2) got four outs for the win and Zach Agnos worked a perfect ninth for his second save.\n\nVerlander struck out four and pitched into the seventh but remains without a win since joining San Francisco. Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski each hit an RBI double in the sixth to put San Francisco ahead 3-1.\n\nThe Giants have their first three-game losing streak this year, leaving the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets as the only teams not to drop three straight.\n\nThe 42-year-old Verlander, who signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January determined to show he can still pitch at an elite level, has made seven starts for the Giants. But the three-time Cy Young Award winner and nine-time All-Star is yet to reach the win column.\n\nHe didn't come through in the home opener April 4 and has struggled to get run support.\n\nHeliot Ramos hit his first career leadoff homer against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, but Colorado tied it on an RBI single by Brenton Doyle in the third.\n\nSan Francisco placed infielder Tyler Fitzgerald on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left rib and recalled infielder Brett Wisely from Triple-A Sacramento.\n\n## Key moment\n\nColorado's Ryan McMahon homered in the seventh to make it a one-run game. Camilo Doval relieved Verlander one out later and retired the next two batters.\n\n## Key stat\n\nThe Giants have lost five of Verlander's seven starts, scoring 13 total runs in those defeats and only 15 in all his outings combined.\n\n## Up next\n\nRHP Antonio Senzatela (1-4, 5.22 ERA) pitches Friday night for Colorado opposite Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-0, 3.73).\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB"
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"value": "# Rockies rally past Giants 4-3, denying Justin Verlander his 1st win since joining San Francisco\n\nBy Janie Mccauley \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:23 AM\n\n---\n\nSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Beck hit a tying double in the eighth inning and Hunter Goodman singled home the go-ahead run two batters later as the Colorado Rockies rallied past San Francisco 4-3 on Thursday night to deny Justin Verlander his first win with the Giants.\n\nColorado came back against reliever Tyler Rogers (2-1) and snapped a 12-game skid at Oracle Park, where San Francisco had owned the longest active home winning streak against one opponent.\n\nAngel Chivilli (1-2) got four outs for the win and Zach Agnos worked a perfect ninth for his second save.\n\nVerlander struck out four and pitched into the seventh but remains without a win since joining San Francisco. Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski each hit an RBI double in the sixth to put San Francisco ahead 3-1.\n\nThe Giants have their first three-game losing streak this year, leaving the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets as the only teams not to drop three straight.\n\nThe 42-year-old Verlander, who signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January determined to show he can still pitch at an elite level, has made seven starts for the Giants. But the three-time Cy Young Award winner and nine-time All-Star is yet to reach the win column.\n\nHe didn't come through in the home opener April 4 and has struggled to get run support.\n\nHeliot Ramos hit his first career leadoff homer against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, but Colorado tied it on an RBI single by Brenton Doyle in the third.\n\nSan Francisco placed infielder Tyler Fitzgerald on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left rib and recalled infielder Brett Wisely from Triple-A Sacramento.\n\n## Key moment\n\nColorado's Ryan McMahon homered in the seventh to make it a one-run game. Camilo Doval relieved Verlander one out later and retired the next two batters.\n\n## Key stat\n\nThe Giants have lost five of Verlander's seven starts, scoring 13 total runs in those defeats and only 15 in all his outings combined.\n\n## Up next\n\nRHP Antonio Senzatela (1-4, 5.22 ERA) pitches Friday night for Colorado opposite Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-0, 3.73)."
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"value": "# UK counterterror police say they will investigate comments by Irish rap group Kneecap\n\nBy Jill Lawless \nMay 1st, 2025 09:52 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — British counterterrorism detectives will investigate comments by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which has been criticized by U.K. politicians over statements about the Middle East and British politics, police said Thursday.\n\nThe Irish-language rappers from Northern Ireland were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: \"The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.\" Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting \"up Hamas, up Hezbollah\" – both banned organizations in the U.K.\n\nLondon's Metropolitan Police force said officers had concluded that \"there are grounds for further investigation into potential offenses linked to both videos.\n\n\"The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time,\" the force said in a statement.\n\nThe Belfast trio is known for satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland.\n\nMore than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the U.K. security forces. Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment, shooting in the leg, that was dealt out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.\n\nThe band has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between British unionist and Irish nationalist communities. It has also been criticized for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references.\n\nKneecap was not well known outside Northern Ireland before the release of a raucous feature film loosely based on the band's origins and fueled by a heavy mix of drugs, sex, violence, politics and humor. The group's members played themselves in \"Kneecap,\" which won an audience award when it was screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It was shortlisted for best foreign-language picture and best original song at this year's Academy Awards, though it didn't make the final cut.\n\nIts success led to shows in the United States, including performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the California desert last month.\n\nDuring a show there the band projected criticism of Israel on a screen behind them, accusing the country of committing genocide against the Palestinians, enabled by the U.S. government. The band led the audience in chants of \"Free Palestine.\"\n\nKneecap was the subject of a heated debate in Britain's House of Commons this week, where government and opposition lawmakers criticized its comments and noted that two members of Parliament have been murdered since 2016.\n\nPrime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, said Thursday it was right that the \"deeply offensive\" comments were investigated.\n\n\"Political intimidation and abuse have no part in our society,\" he said.\n\nIn a statement on Instagram, band members Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh apologized to the families of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who was killed in by a far-right attacker in 2016, and Conservative legislator David Amess, murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State supporter.\n\nThe group said \"we never intended to cause you hurt.\"\n\nKneecap said it had \"never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,\" and accused \"establishment figures\" of taking comments out of context to \"manufacture moral hysteria\" because of the band's criticism of Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.\n\nSeveral Kneecap gigs have been canceled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organizers of June's Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group.\n\nFellow musicians have come to the rappers' defense. Several dozen performers, including British rock group Primal Scream, Irish band Fontaines D.C. and mod singer Paul Weller have signed an open letter criticizing a \"clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform\" Kneecap and opposing \"political repression of artistic freedom.\"\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press writer Brian Melley contributed to this story."
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"value": "# UK counterterror police say they will investigate comments by Irish rap group Kneecap\n\nBy Jill Lawless \nMay 1st, 2025 09:52 AM\n\n---\n\nLONDON (AP) — British counterterrorism detectives will investigate comments by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which has been criticized by U.K. politicians over statements about the Middle East and British politics, police said Thursday.\n\nThe Irish-language rappers from Northern Ireland were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: \"The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.\" Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting \"up Hamas, up Hezbollah\" – both banned organizations in the U.K.\n\nLondon's Metropolitan Police force said officers had concluded that \"there are grounds for further investigation into potential offenses linked to both videos.\n\n\"The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time,\" the force said in a statement.\n\nThe Belfast trio is known for satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland.\n\nMore than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the U.K. security forces. Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment, shooting in the leg, that was dealt out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.\n\nThe band has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between British unionist and Irish nationalist communities. It has also been criticized for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references.\n\nKneecap was not well known outside Northern Ireland before the release of a raucous feature film loosely based on the band's origins and fueled by a heavy mix of drugs, sex, violence, politics and humor. The group's members played themselves in \"Kneecap,\" which won an audience award when it was screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It was shortlisted for best foreign-language picture and best original song at this year's Academy Awards, though it didn't make the final cut.\n\nIts success led to shows in the United States, including performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the California desert last month.\n\nDuring a show there the band projected criticism of Israel on a screen behind them, accusing the country of committing genocide against the Palestinians, enabled by the U.S. government. The band led the audience in chants of \"Free Palestine.\"\n\nKneecap was the subject of a heated debate in Britain's House of Commons this week, where government and opposition lawmakers criticized its comments and noted that two members of Parliament have been murdered since 2016.\n\nPrime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, said Thursday it was right that the \"deeply offensive\" comments were investigated.\n\n\"Political intimidation and abuse have no part in our society,\" he said.\n\nIn a statement on Instagram, band members Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh apologized to the families of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who was killed in by a far-right attacker in 2016, and Conservative legislator David Amess, murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State supporter.\n\nThe group said \"we never intended to cause you hurt.\"\n\nKneecap said it had \"never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,\" and accused \"establishment figures\" of taking comments out of context to \"manufacture moral hysteria\" because of the band's criticism of Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.\n\nSeveral Kneecap gigs have been canceled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organizers of June's Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group.\n\nFellow musicians have come to the rappers' defense. Several dozen performers, including British rock group Primal Scream, Irish band Fontaines D.C. and mod singer Paul Weller have signed an open letter criticizing a \"clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform\" Kneecap and opposing \"political repression of artistic freedom.\""
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"value": "# Bangladesh's former ruling party slams government decision to ban all its activities\n\nBy Julhas Alam \nMay 11th, 2025 11:18 AM\n\n---\n\nDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's former ruling party accused Sunday the interim government of \"stoking division\" and trampling on \"democratic norms\" by banning all of its activities.\n\nThe government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following a deadly mass uprising, announced late Saturday the Awami League party can no longer be active online and elsewhere in the South Asian country under the Anti-Terrorism Act.\n\nThe law affairs adviser, Asif Nazrul, said the ban would remain until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of students and other protesters during an anti-government uprising in July and August last year.\n\nHe also said the government has empowered the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal to try any political party for serious crimes.\n\nThe Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's other main political party that is headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, had previously opposed the proposal to ban the Awami League party.\n\nHowever, Salahuddin Ahmed, a senior BNP leader, welcomed on Sunday the Awami League trial over the protesters' death, calling it a \"delayed but timely\" response to a long-standing demand by his party, reported the English-language Daily Star newspaper.\n\nThe ban is expected to formally come into effect on Monday.\n\nThe Awami League's official account on X said Sunday: \"People no more feel safe under Yunus,\" denouncing the ban that \"stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps under pretext of making trial of July-August violence and reform scheme.\"\n\nThe party also condemned the thousands who took to the streets for two days, including supporters of a newly formed political party by students and Islamists from various groups who later joined the protests, who called for the Awami League to be banned. It accused the gatherings of being \"state-sponsored.\"\n\nThousands of protesters had issued an ultimatum to the government to ban the Awami League party by Saturday night.\n\nHasina, in exile in India since Aug. 5, and many of her senior party colleagues have been accused of murdering protesters after her ouster.\n\nThe United Nations human rights office said in a report in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protests. In the report of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights recommended to \"refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate.\"\n\nThe student-led uprising ended Hasina's 15 years of rule.\n\nBangladesh's politics is now at a crossroads.\n\nThe BNP wants an election in December and has demanded a clear-cut roadmap from the interim government, which has said the election would be held either in December or June next year, depending on the extent of reforms the government has taken up."
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"value": "# Bangladesh's former ruling party slams government decision to ban all its activities\n\nBy Julhas Alam \nMay 11th, 2025 11:18 AM\n\n---\n\nDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's former ruling party accused Sunday the interim government of \"stoking division\" and trampling on \"democratic norms\" by banning all of its activities.\n\nThe government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following a deadly mass uprising, announced late Saturday the Awami League party can no longer be active online and elsewhere in the South Asian country under the Anti-Terrorism Act.\n\nThe law affairs adviser, Asif Nazrul, said the ban would remain until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of students and other protesters during an anti-government uprising in July and August last year.\n\nHe also said the government has empowered the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal to try any political party for serious crimes.\n\nThe Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's other main political party that is headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, had previously opposed the proposal to ban the Awami League party.\n\nHowever, Salahuddin Ahmed, a senior BNP leader, welcomed on Sunday the Awami League trial over the protesters' death, calling it a \"delayed but timely\" response to a long-standing demand by his party, reported the English-language Daily Star newspaper.\n\nThe ban is expected to formally come into effect on Monday.\n\nThe Awami League's official account on X said Sunday: \"People no more feel safe under Yunus,\" denouncing the ban that \"stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps under pretext of making trial of July-August violence and reform scheme.\"\n\nThe party also condemned the thousands who took to the streets for two days, including supporters of a newly formed political party by students and Islamists from various groups who later joined the protests, who called for the Awami League to be banned. It accused the gatherings of being \"state-sponsored.\"\n\nThousands of protesters had issued an ultimatum to the government to ban the Awami League party by Saturday night.\n\nHasina, in exile in India since Aug. 5, and many of her senior party colleagues have been accused of murdering protesters after her ouster.\n\nThe United Nations human rights office said in a report in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protests. In the report of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights recommended to \"refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate.\"\n\nThe student-led uprising ended Hasina's 15 years of rule.\n\nBangladesh's politics is now at a crossroads.\n\nThe BNP wants an election in December and has demanded a clear-cut roadmap from the interim government, which has said the election would be held either in December or June next year, depending on the extent of reforms the government has taken up."
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"value": "# Mother of Gaza hostage is furious over mixed signals on how many captives are dead\n\nBy Melanie Lidman \nMay 7th, 2025 06:25 PM\n\n---\n\nJERUSALEM (AP) — Ruhama Bohbot was at home watching the news when she heard U.S. President Donald Trump say something new: Three of the 24 hostages Israel considered to be alive in Gaza had probably died.\n\n\"As of today, it's 21, three have died,\" Trump said during a swearing-in ceremony for his special envoy to the Middle East.\n\nBohbot, who lives outside of Jerusalem, froze in terror — and then fury. Her 36-year-old son, Elkana, has been captive in Gaza since being abducted by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023.\n\nNo Israeli officials have reached out to the Bohbot family to say the number of hostages believed to be alive had changed. Yet Bohbot thought back to a public event last week, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 24 of the hostages still in Gaza were alive. A mic picked up his wife, Sara, as she quietly said, \"fewer.\"\n\nLater, Netanyahu's office dismissed the moment as a slip of the tongue.\n\n\"So we're just continuing to live in hope that everything will be OK ... even amidst all of the things that are not OK. Because it's impossible to know,\" Bohbot said.\n\nNetanyahu said late Wednesday Israel was confident that 21 of the 59 remaining hostages are still alive but that there was \"doubt\" about three others. An Israeli official said the three, who he did not identify, are considered alive until there is evidence proving otherwise. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.\n\nIf there is \"new information being kept from us, give it to us immediately,\" the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group, said Wednesday.\n\nHamas militants killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 during their cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Elkana Bohbot and dozens of others were captured from a music festival, where more than 300 people were killed.\n\nIsrael's offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.\n\nHamas has published three videos of Elkana Bohbot in the past months which were filmed under duress. In the most recent video, from mid-April, Elkana holds a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Raem; his mother; and his brother — pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza.\n\nWhile the videos were a sign of life, Bohbot knows that they don't guarantee that her son is still alive. Hearing the government's approval this week to expand operations in Gaza deepened her concern about the fate of her son and the other hostages. Israel is \"failing so utterly\" to rescue the hostages, she said.\n\nIsrael's decision to freeze all humanitarian aid likely meant her son also wasn't getting food, she said. Humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of Palestinians in Gaza, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April, though that figure has likely risen in the past month.\n\nIsrael stopped all humanitarian aid in March, the longest period there has been a freeze on humanitarian aid during the war, leading many organizations to warn of severe malnutrition and hunger in Gaza.\n\n\"I just want to imagine that he's holding on and that he's okay for now, that's my hope and that's my belief right now,\" she said.\n\nBohbot is desperately hoping that Trump's visit to the region next week may bring a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations. Her family is still paying rent on a stall at a market in Tel Aviv, where Elkana had been planning to open a gourmet ice cream shop.\n\nThe family will mark Raem's fifth birthday next month – his second during his father's captivity. Raem has started saying things like \"if my daddy comes home,\" to which the family gently corrects him – \"your daddy is coming home, just wait a little bit longer,\" Bohbot said.\n\n\"He has binoculars that he made in kindergarten, he goes out occasionally and takes a look in the binoculars to look for his father,\" Bohbot said."
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"value": "# Mother of Gaza hostage is furious over mixed signals on how many captives are dead\n\nBy Melanie Lidman \nMay 7th, 2025 06:25 PM\n\n---\n\nJERUSALEM (AP) — Ruhama Bohbot was at home watching the news when she heard U.S. President Donald Trump say something new: Three of the 24 hostages Israel considered to be alive in Gaza had probably died.\n\n\"As of today, it's 21, three have died,\" Trump said during a swearing-in ceremony for his special envoy to the Middle East.\n\nBohbot, who lives outside of Jerusalem, froze in terror — and then fury. Her 36-year-old son, Elkana, has been captive in Gaza since being abducted by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023.\n\nNo Israeli officials have reached out to the Bohbot family to say the number of hostages believed to be alive had changed. Yet Bohbot thought back to a public event last week, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 24 of the hostages still in Gaza were alive. A mic picked up his wife, Sara, as she quietly said, \"fewer.\"\n\nLater, Netanyahu's office dismissed the moment as a slip of the tongue.\n\n\"So we're just continuing to live in hope that everything will be OK ... even amidst all of the things that are not OK. Because it's impossible to know,\" Bohbot said.\n\nNetanyahu said late Wednesday Israel was confident that 21 of the 59 remaining hostages are still alive but that there was \"doubt\" about three others. An Israeli official said the three, who he did not identify, are considered alive until there is evidence proving otherwise. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.\n\nIf there is \"new information being kept from us, give it to us immediately,\" the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group, said Wednesday.\n\nHamas militants killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 during their cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Elkana Bohbot and dozens of others were captured from a music festival, where more than 300 people were killed.\n\nIsrael's offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.\n\nHamas has published three videos of Elkana Bohbot in the past months which were filmed under duress. In the most recent video, from mid-April, Elkana holds a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Raem; his mother; and his brother — pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza.\n\nWhile the videos were a sign of life, Bohbot knows that they don't guarantee that her son is still alive. Hearing the government's approval this week to expand operations in Gaza deepened her concern about the fate of her son and the other hostages. Israel is \"failing so utterly\" to rescue the hostages, she said.\n\nIsrael's decision to freeze all humanitarian aid likely meant her son also wasn't getting food, she said. Humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of Palestinians in Gaza, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April, though that figure has likely risen in the past month.\n\nIsrael stopped all humanitarian aid in March, the longest period there has been a freeze on humanitarian aid during the war, leading many organizations to warn of severe malnutrition and hunger in Gaza.\n\n\"I just want to imagine that he's holding on and that he's okay for now, that's my hope and that's my belief right now,\" she said.\n\nBohbot is desperately hoping that Trump's visit to the region next week may bring a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations. Her family is still paying rent on a stall at a market in Tel Aviv, where Elkana had been planning to open a gourmet ice cream shop.\n\nThe family will mark Raem's fifth birthday next month – his second during his father's captivity. Raem has started saying things like \"if my daddy comes home,\" to which the family gently corrects him – \"your daddy is coming home, just wait a little bit longer,\" Bohbot said.\n\n\"He has binoculars that he made in kindergarten, he goes out occasionally and takes a look in the binoculars to look for his father,\" Bohbot said."
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"value": "# Another issue disrupts Newark's airport\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 11th, 2025 01:01 PM\n\n---\n\nTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark's airport for the \"next several weeks\" as it struggles with radar outages and other issues, including another Sunday that again slowed air traffic.\n\nSpeaking on NBC's \"Meet the Press\" that aired Sunday, Duffy said he will meet this week with all major carriers flying through Newark Liberty International, New Jersey's largest airport. He said the number of flight cutbacks would fluctuate by time of day with most targeting afternoon hours when international arrivals make the airport busier.\n\nIn addition to equipment outages, the airport has been been beset by flight delays and cancellations brought on by a shortage of air traffic controllers.\n\n\"We want to have a number of flights that if you book your flight, you know it's going to fly, right?\" he said. \"That is the priority. So you don't get to the airport, wait four hours, and then get delayed.\"\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration reported a \"telecommunications issue\" as the latest setback Sunday, impacting a facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport. An FAA statement said the agency briefly slowed air traffic to and from the airport while ensuring \"redundancies were working as designed\" before normal operations resumed.\n\nInfrastructure issues are increasingly a key concern at airports around the country.\n\nIn an unrelated incident, hundreds of flights were delayed Sunday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — one of the world's busiest — because of a runway equipment issue. The FAA said in a statement that it temporarily slowed arrivals into Atlanta while technicians worked to address the problem.\n\nIn Newark, Sunday's disruptions came two days after radar at the Philadelphia facility went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday, an episode that was similar to an incident on April 28.\n\nThe Trump administration recently proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system, envisioning six new air traffic control centers and technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation's air traffic facilities over the next three or four years.\n\nThe FAA said last week that it slows the rate of arrivals into Newark to ensure safety whenever staffing or equipment issues arise. The agency also noted that frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful, prompting some air traffic controllers to take time off \"to recover from the stress.\"\n\n\"While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,\" the FAA said in a May 5 statement.\n\nOn average, there had been 34 arrival cancellations per day since mid-April at Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays increasing throughout the day from an average of five in the mornings to 16 by the evening. The delays tended to last 85 to 137 minutes on average.\n\nDuffy said in his TV appearance Sunday that he wants to raise the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61, as he tries to navigate a shortage of about 3,000 people in that specialized position.\n\nAnd he also spoke of wanting to give those air traffic controllers a 20% upfront bonus to stay on the job. However, he says many air traffic controllers choose to retire after 25 years of service, which means many retire around the age of 50.\n\n\"These are not overnight fixes,\" Duffy said. \"But as we go up — one, two years, older guys on the job, younger guys coming in, men and women — we can make up that 3,000-person difference.\"\n\nAdding more air traffic controllers is in contrast to a top priority of the Trump administration — slashing jobs in nearly all other federal agencies.\n\nHowever, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on CBS' \"Face the Nation\" that Duffy deserves credit for putting \"caution tape\" around FAA safety functions and separating those personnel from cost-cutting by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE.\n\nKirby said United has already reduced its schedule at Newark and will meet with Duffy later this week. He expects a deeper cut in capacity to last until June 15 when construction work on one of Newark's runways is expected to be complete, though he thinks some reductions will last throughout the summer.\n\n\"We have fewer flights, but we keep everything safe, and we get the airplane safely on the ground,\" Kirby said. \"Safety is number one, and so I'm not worried about safety. I am worried about customer delays and impacts.\""
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"value": "# Another issue disrupts Newark's airport\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 11th, 2025 01:01 PM\n\n---\n\nTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark's airport for the \"next several weeks\" as it struggles with radar outages and other issues, including another Sunday that again slowed air traffic.\n\nSpeaking on NBC's \"Meet the Press\" that aired Sunday, Duffy said he will meet this week with all major carriers flying through Newark Liberty International, New Jersey's largest airport. He said the number of flight cutbacks would fluctuate by time of day with most targeting afternoon hours when international arrivals make the airport busier.\n\nIn addition to equipment outages, the airport has been been beset by flight delays and cancellations brought on by a shortage of air traffic controllers.\n\n\"We want to have a number of flights that if you book your flight, you know it's going to fly, right?\" he said. \"That is the priority. So you don't get to the airport, wait four hours, and then get delayed.\"\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration reported a \"telecommunications issue\" as the latest setback Sunday, impacting a facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport. An FAA statement said the agency briefly slowed air traffic to and from the airport while ensuring \"redundancies were working as designed\" before normal operations resumed.\n\nInfrastructure issues are increasingly a key concern at airports around the country.\n\nIn an unrelated incident, hundreds of flights were delayed Sunday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — one of the world's busiest — because of a runway equipment issue. The FAA said in a statement that it temporarily slowed arrivals into Atlanta while technicians worked to address the problem.\n\nIn Newark, Sunday's disruptions came two days after radar at the Philadelphia facility went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday, an episode that was similar to an incident on April 28.\n\nThe Trump administration recently proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system, envisioning six new air traffic control centers and technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation's air traffic facilities over the next three or four years.\n\nThe FAA said last week that it slows the rate of arrivals into Newark to ensure safety whenever staffing or equipment issues arise. The agency also noted that frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful, prompting some air traffic controllers to take time off \"to recover from the stress.\"\n\n\"While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,\" the FAA said in a May 5 statement.\n\nOn average, there had been 34 arrival cancellations per day since mid-April at Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays increasing throughout the day from an average of five in the mornings to 16 by the evening. The delays tended to last 85 to 137 minutes on average.\n\nDuffy said in his TV appearance Sunday that he wants to raise the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61, as he tries to navigate a shortage of about 3,000 people in that specialized position.\n\nAnd he also spoke of wanting to give those air traffic controllers a 20% upfront bonus to stay on the job. However, he says many air traffic controllers choose to retire after 25 years of service, which means many retire around the age of 50.\n\n\"These are not overnight fixes,\" Duffy said. \"But as we go up — one, two years, older guys on the job, younger guys coming in, men and women — we can make up that 3,000-person difference.\"\n\nAdding more air traffic controllers is in contrast to a top priority of the Trump administration — slashing jobs in nearly all other federal agencies.\n\nHowever, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on CBS' \"Face the Nation\" that Duffy deserves credit for putting \"caution tape\" around FAA safety functions and separating those personnel from cost-cutting by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE.\n\nKirby said United has already reduced its schedule at Newark and will meet with Duffy later this week. He expects a deeper cut in capacity to last until June 15 when construction work on one of Newark's runways is expected to be complete, though he thinks some reductions will last throughout the summer.\n\n\"We have fewer flights, but we keep everything safe, and we get the airplane safely on the ground,\" Kirby said. \"Safety is number one, and so I'm not worried about safety. I am worried about customer delays and impacts.\""
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"value": "# Lab tests connect black bear killed by Florida wildlife officers to fatal attack on man and his dog\n\nMay 9th, 2025 10:08 PM\n\n---\n\nJEROME, Fla. (AP) — Lab results have connected one of three black bears killed by wildlife officers in southwest Florida to a fatal attack on a man and his dog a day earlier, officials said Friday.\n\nNecropsy results revealed that a 263-pound (119-kilogram) male bear contained the partial remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. Testing showed that same bear's DNA was present on Markel's body, inside his home and on the dog's body.\n\nWildlife officials have not explicitly said that bear is the one that killed Markel, but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Medical Examiner found that Markel's cause of death is consistent with a bear attack.\n\nMarkel was attacked early Monday near his home in a rural area east of Naples, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.\n\nWildlife officers set several traps and cameras. They killed three black bears in the area and sent their remains to a Gainesville lab. None of the animals tested positive for rabies, officials said.\n\nWildlife officials are still investigating the events that led to the attack.\n\nFlorida's black bears, which were once threatened, have increasingly wandered into neighborhoods and private property in recent years, especially in more rural areas of north and central Florida."
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"value": "# Lab tests connect black bear killed by Florida wildlife officers to fatal attack on man and his dog\n\nMay 9th, 2025 10:08 PM\n\n---\n\nJEROME, Fla. (AP) — Lab results have connected one of three black bears killed by wildlife officers in southwest Florida to a fatal attack on a man and his dog a day earlier, officials said Friday.\n\nNecropsy results revealed that a 263-pound (119-kilogram) male bear contained the partial remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. Testing showed that same bear's DNA was present on Markel's body, inside his home and on the dog's body.\n\nWildlife officials have not explicitly said that bear is the one that killed Markel, but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Medical Examiner found that Markel's cause of death is consistent with a bear attack.\n\nMarkel was attacked early Monday near his home in a rural area east of Naples, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.\n\nWildlife officers set several traps and cameras. They killed three black bears in the area and sent their remains to a Gainesville lab. None of the animals tested positive for rabies, officials said.\n\nWildlife officials are still investigating the events that led to the attack.\n\nFlorida's black bears, which were once threatened, have increasingly wandered into neighborhoods and private property in recent years, especially in more rural areas of north and central Florida."
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"value": "# Bubic leads Kansas City to its 4th shutout in the last 8 games, 4-0 over the Orioles\n\nBy Noah Trister \nMay 4th, 2025 02:40 AM\n\n---\n\nBALTIMORE (AP) — Kris Bubic made it through five innings despite an early rain delay, and the Kansas City Royals hit three solo homers in a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.\n\nCavan Biggio, Kyle Isbel and Vinnie Pasquantino went deep for Kansas City, which has won 10 of its last 12. The Royals have pitched four shutouts in their last eight games.\n\nThe game was delayed 57 minutes because of a thunderstorm after the first inning. Both starters stayed in the game anyway. Bubic (3-2) allowed four hits before three Royals relievers closed out the game.\n\nTomoyuki Sugano (3-2) permitted two runs and four hits in six innings.\n\nJonathan India led off the fourth with a double and eventually came home on Maikel Garcia's two-out single. Biggio's drive — his first homer of the year — made it 2-0 the following inning. Isbel and Pasquantino went deep in the eighth off Seranthony Domínguez.\n\nGarcia had three hits, as did Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Orioles only had one runner reach scoring position, and that was in the first with one out. Bubic then struck out Ryan Mountcastle and retired Ryan O'Hearn on a flyout.\n\n## Key stats\n\nThe Orioles fell to 2-9 in games against left-handed starters this season. They're batting a major league-worst .174 against southpaws, a number that actually improved when they went 5 for 25 against Bubic and reliever Daniel Lynch IV on Saturday. Lynch worked two innings.\n\n## Up next\n\nIn the final scheduled game between these teams this season, Baltimore's Kyle Gibson (0-1) starts against Kansas City's Michael Lorenzen (3-3) on Sunday.\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Bubic leads Kansas City to its 4th shutout in the last 8 games, 4-0 over the Orioles\n\nBy Noah Trister \nMay 4th, 2025 02:40 AM\n\n---\n\nBALTIMORE (AP) — Kris Bubic made it through five innings despite an early rain delay, and the Kansas City Royals hit three solo homers in a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.\n\nCavan Biggio, Kyle Isbel and Vinnie Pasquantino went deep for Kansas City, which has won 10 of its last 12. The Royals have pitched four shutouts in their last eight games.\n\nThe game was delayed 57 minutes because of a thunderstorm after the first inning. Both starters stayed in the game anyway. Bubic (3-2) allowed four hits before three Royals relievers closed out the game.\n\nTomoyuki Sugano (3-2) permitted two runs and four hits in six innings.\n\nJonathan India led off the fourth with a double and eventually came home on Maikel Garcia's two-out single. Biggio's drive — his first homer of the year — made it 2-0 the following inning. Isbel and Pasquantino went deep in the eighth off Seranthony Domínguez.\n\nGarcia had three hits, as did Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson.\n\n## Key moment\n\nThe Orioles only had one runner reach scoring position, and that was in the first with one out. Bubic then struck out Ryan Mountcastle and retired Ryan O'Hearn on a flyout.\n\n## Key stats\n\nThe Orioles fell to 2-9 in games against left-handed starters this season. They're batting a major league-worst .174 against southpaws, a number that actually improved when they went 5 for 25 against Bubic and reliever Daniel Lynch IV on Saturday. Lynch worked two innings.\n\n## Up next\n\nIn the final scheduled game between these teams this season, Baltimore's Kyle Gibson (0-1) starts against Kansas City's Michael Lorenzen (3-3) on Sunday."
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"value": "# Some key moments in the career of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:18 PM\n\n---\n\nSome of the key moments in the career of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who stepped down as coach Friday:\n\n## Dec. 10, 1996: The beginning\n\nSaying the team needed a change in direction, general manager Gregg Popovich fired coach Bob Hill and named himself coach on the same day that star center David Robinson was returning to the lineup. The Spurs were 3-15 at the time.\n\n## June 25, 1997: Tim Duncan gets drafted\n\nAfter winning the draft lottery, the Spurs get the chance to take Tim Duncan No. 1 overall in the 1997 draft. The team immediately becomes a contender, and Popovich and Duncan become joined at the hip for the better part of the next two decades.\n\n## June 25, 1999: Championship No. 1\n\nTwo years to the day after Duncan got drafted, the Spurs beat New York 78-77 to win the NBA Finals in five games.\n\n## June 15, 2003: Championship No. 2\n\nPopovich wins coach of the year in a season where the Spurs sent David Robinson into retirement as a champion, beating New Jersey in six games for the franchise's second title.\n\n## June 23, 2005: Championship No. 3\n\nTied going into the fourth quarter, the Spurs never trail in the final 12 minutes and Popovich wins his third title. San Antonio beats Detroit 81-74 in Game 7.\n\n## June 14, 2007: Championship No. 4\n\nPopovich and the Spurs sweep LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning the four games by an average of 6.0 points.\n\n## March 16, 2009: Pop reaches 1,000\n\nIn a game at Oklahoma City, Popovich becomes the 24th coach in NBA history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. The only coaches with better records after 1,000 games were Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.\n\n## April 6, 2011: Pop passes Red\n\nThe Spurs beat Sacramento for Popovich's 797th career win, one that allowed him to pass Boston's Red Auerbach for the second-most wins with a single team.\n\n## June 15, 2014: Championship No. 5\n\nPopovich becomes the fifth coach in NBA history with five championships, the Spurs beating Miami 104-87 to win that title in five games.\n\n## Feb. 4, 2017: The most wins with one team\n\nThe Spurs defeat Denver and Popovich gets career win No. 1,128, passing Utah's Jerry Sloan for the most by a coach with one team.\n\n## Aug. 7, 2021: USA Basketball wins Olympic gold\n\nPopovich leads the U.S. to its fourth consecutive gold medal in men's basketball, with the Americans beating France 87-82 at the Tokyo Olympics. \"Every championship is special, and the group you're with is special, but I can be honest and say this is the most responsibility I've ever felt,\" Popovich said.\n\n## March 11, 2022: The winningest coach ever\n\nPopovich becomes the NBA's all-time coaching win leader, with the Spurs beating Utah 104-102 for the 1,336th victory of his career — one more than Don Nelson's previous mark.\n\n## Aug. 12, 2023: Pop enters the Hall\n\nPopovich, after years of resisting because he wanted more of his former players to be enshrined before him, enters the Basketball Hall of Fame. \"It's unimaginable,\" Popovich said.\n\n## Nov. 2, 2024: Popovich suffers stroke\n\nPopovich had a stroke at the team's arena in San Antonio a couple of hours before the game that night against Minnesota. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over as acting head coach that night and wound up coaching the team's final 77 games of the season.\n\n## Feb. 27, 2025: Popovich updates his status\n\nPopovich released a statement saying Johnson will finish the season. \"Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown, sticking together during a challenging season, has been outstanding,\" Popovich said in the statement distributed by the Spurs. \"I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.\"\n\n## May 2, 2025: Popovich steps down as coach\n\nPopovich stepped down as coach of the Spurs. \"While my love and passion for the game remain, I've decided it's time to step away as head coach. I'm forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me,\" he said. Later that day, the Spurs promoted Johnson to the head coach role.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba"
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"value": "# Some key moments in the career of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:18 PM\n\n---\n\nSome of the key moments in the career of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who stepped down as coach Friday:\n\n## Dec. 10, 1996: The beginning\n\nSaying the team needed a change in direction, general manager Gregg Popovich fired coach Bob Hill and named himself coach on the same day that star center David Robinson was returning to the lineup. The Spurs were 3-15 at the time.\n\n## June 25, 1997: Tim Duncan gets drafted\n\nAfter winning the draft lottery, the Spurs get the chance to take Tim Duncan No. 1 overall in the 1997 draft. The team immediately becomes a contender, and Popovich and Duncan become joined at the hip for the better part of the next two decades.\n\n## June 25, 1999: Championship No. 1\n\nTwo years to the day after Duncan got drafted, the Spurs beat New York 78-77 to win the NBA Finals in five games.\n\n## June 15, 2003: Championship No. 2\n\nPopovich wins coach of the year in a season where the Spurs sent David Robinson into retirement as a champion, beating New Jersey in six games for the franchise's second title.\n\n## June 23, 2005: Championship No. 3\n\nTied going into the fourth quarter, the Spurs never trail in the final 12 minutes and Popovich wins his third title. San Antonio beats Detroit 81-74 in Game 7.\n\n## June 14, 2007: Championship No. 4\n\nPopovich and the Spurs sweep LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning the four games by an average of 6.0 points.\n\n## March 16, 2009: Pop reaches 1,000\n\nIn a game at Oklahoma City, Popovich becomes the 24th coach in NBA history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. The only coaches with better records after 1,000 games were Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.\n\n## April 6, 2011: Pop passes Red\n\nThe Spurs beat Sacramento for Popovich's 797th career win, one that allowed him to pass Boston's Red Auerbach for the second-most wins with a single team.\n\n## June 15, 2014: Championship No. 5\n\nPopovich becomes the fifth coach in NBA history with five championships, the Spurs beating Miami 104-87 to win that title in five games.\n\n## Feb. 4, 2017: The most wins with one team\n\nThe Spurs defeat Denver and Popovich gets career win No. 1,128, passing Utah's Jerry Sloan for the most by a coach with one team.\n\n## Aug. 7, 2021: USA Basketball wins Olympic gold\n\nPopovich leads the U.S. to its fourth consecutive gold medal in men's basketball, with the Americans beating France 87-82 at the Tokyo Olympics. \"Every championship is special, and the group you're with is special, but I can be honest and say this is the most responsibility I've ever felt,\" Popovich said.\n\n## March 11, 2022: The winningest coach ever\n\nPopovich becomes the NBA's all-time coaching win leader, with the Spurs beating Utah 104-102 for the 1,336th victory of his career — one more than Don Nelson's previous mark.\n\n## Aug. 12, 2023: Pop enters the Hall\n\nPopovich, after years of resisting because he wanted more of his former players to be enshrined before him, enters the Basketball Hall of Fame. \"It's unimaginable,\" Popovich said.\n\n## Nov. 2, 2024: Popovich suffers stroke\n\nPopovich had a stroke at the team's arena in San Antonio a couple of hours before the game that night against Minnesota. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over as acting head coach that night and wound up coaching the team's final 77 games of the season.\n\n## Feb. 27, 2025: Popovich updates his status\n\nPopovich released a statement saying Johnson will finish the season. \"Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown, sticking together during a challenging season, has been outstanding,\" Popovich said in the statement distributed by the Spurs. \"I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.\"\n\n## May 2, 2025: Popovich steps down as coach\n\nPopovich stepped down as coach of the Spurs. \"While my love and passion for the game remain, I've decided it's time to step away as head coach. I'm forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me,\" he said. Later that day, the Spurs promoted Johnson to the head coach role."
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"value": "# Appeals court orders ICE to return detained Turkish Tufts University student to Vermont\n\nBy Kathy Mccormack \nMay 7th, 2025 03:24 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge's order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated and if she should be released.\n\nDenying a government request for a delay, the three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Rumeysa Ozturk after hearing arguments at a hearing Tuesday. Ozturk has been in Louisiana for over six weeks following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.\n\nThe court ordered Ozturk to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont no later than May 14.\n\nImmigration court proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said.\n\nA district court judge in Vermont had ordered that the 30-year-old doctoral student be brought to the state for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Ozturk's lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.\n\nThe original deadline was May 1. A hearing on her motion to be released on bail was scheduled in Burlington for Friday, followed by another hearing on May 22.\n\nThe Justice Department, which appealed that ruling, said that the immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over Ozturk's case. The appeals court paused the transfer order last week as it considered an emergency motion filed by the government. But on Wednesday, the court did not agree to the request for a longer delay.\n\nThe appeals court disagreed that the Vermont court was the wrong place to handle Ozturk's plea for release. It also said the government didn't show \"irreparable injury.\" It said Ozturk's interest in participating in person in the Vermont hearings outweighs administrative and logistical costs to the government.\n\n\"The government asserts that it would face difficulties in arranging for Ozturk to appear for her immigration proceedings in Louisiana remotely. But the government has not disputed that it is legally and practically possible for Ozturk to attend removal proceedings remotely,\" it said.\n\nA message seeking comment was emailed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.\n\nImmigration officials surrounded Ozturk as she walked along a street in a Boston suburb March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.\n\nOzturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.\n\n\"The government now argues that this transfer was improper. The government is wrong,\" the appeals court wrote.\n\nOzturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts \"acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,\" disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.\n\nA State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions \"'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.\"\n\nA Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.\n\n\"No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views,\" Esha Bhandari, one of Ozturk's attorneys, said in a statement. \"Every day that Rumeysa Ozturk remains in detention is a day too long. We're grateful the court refused the government's attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release.\""
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"value": "# Appeals court orders ICE to return detained Turkish Tufts University student to Vermont\n\nBy Kathy Mccormack \nMay 7th, 2025 03:24 PM\n\n---\n\nA federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge's order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated and if she should be released.\n\nDenying a government request for a delay, the three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Rumeysa Ozturk after hearing arguments at a hearing Tuesday. Ozturk has been in Louisiana for over six weeks following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.\n\nThe court ordered Ozturk to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont no later than May 14.\n\nImmigration court proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said.\n\nA district court judge in Vermont had ordered that the 30-year-old doctoral student be brought to the state for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Ozturk's lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.\n\nThe original deadline was May 1. A hearing on her motion to be released on bail was scheduled in Burlington for Friday, followed by another hearing on May 22.\n\nThe Justice Department, which appealed that ruling, said that the immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over Ozturk's case. The appeals court paused the transfer order last week as it considered an emergency motion filed by the government. But on Wednesday, the court did not agree to the request for a longer delay.\n\nThe appeals court disagreed that the Vermont court was the wrong place to handle Ozturk's plea for release. It also said the government didn't show \"irreparable injury.\" It said Ozturk's interest in participating in person in the Vermont hearings outweighs administrative and logistical costs to the government.\n\n\"The government asserts that it would face difficulties in arranging for Ozturk to appear for her immigration proceedings in Louisiana remotely. But the government has not disputed that it is legally and practically possible for Ozturk to attend removal proceedings remotely,\" it said.\n\nA message seeking comment was emailed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.\n\nImmigration officials surrounded Ozturk as she walked along a street in a Boston suburb March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.\n\nOzturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.\n\n\"The government now argues that this transfer was improper. The government is wrong,\" the appeals court wrote.\n\nOzturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts \"acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,\" disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.\n\nA State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions \"'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.\"\n\nA Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.\n\n\"No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views,\" Esha Bhandari, one of Ozturk's attorneys, said in a statement. \"Every day that Rumeysa Ozturk remains in detention is a day too long. We're grateful the court refused the government's attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release.\""
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"value": "# New charges brought against real estate brothers in sex trafficking case\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:53 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Additional sex trafficking charges were brought Thursday in a New York court against two luxury real estate brokers and their brother.\n\nThe charges were contained in a rewritten indictment filed by federal prosecutors against Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander.\n\nThe three brothers are being held without bail in a case in which prosecutors in Manhattan have alleged that they have spoken to more than 60 people who allege they were raped by at least one of the brothers.\n\nOren Alexander and Tal Alexander were already charged with using their wealth and influence that they accumulated while selling high-end properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles to make it possible to rape and sexually abuse women from 2002 to 2021.\n\nNo date was immediately set for the men to be arraigned. They previously had pleaded not guilty.\n\nThe superseding indictment filed Thursday adds five new charges related to four alleged victims, including one female who had not yet reached adulthood when the offenses allegedly occurred.\n\nAttorney Richard Klugh said in an email that the \"new charges, like the government's first two factually and legally unfounded efforts, show nothing but prosecutorial overreach. It is simply another swing-and-a-miss by a government that has gone off the rails in an overzealous, unwarranted pursuit.\"\n\nNicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, said: \"We will decline to comment beyond our filings to the court. This is an ongoing investigation, anyone who may have information related to this case can please contact 1-800 CALL FBI or [email protected].\""
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"value": "# New charges brought against real estate brothers in sex trafficking case\n\nMay 8th, 2025 09:53 PM\n\n---\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — Additional sex trafficking charges were brought Thursday in a New York court against two luxury real estate brokers and their brother.\n\nThe charges were contained in a rewritten indictment filed by federal prosecutors against Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander.\n\nThe three brothers are being held without bail in a case in which prosecutors in Manhattan have alleged that they have spoken to more than 60 people who allege they were raped by at least one of the brothers.\n\nOren Alexander and Tal Alexander were already charged with using their wealth and influence that they accumulated while selling high-end properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles to make it possible to rape and sexually abuse women from 2002 to 2021.\n\nNo date was immediately set for the men to be arraigned. They previously had pleaded not guilty.\n\nThe superseding indictment filed Thursday adds five new charges related to four alleged victims, including one female who had not yet reached adulthood when the offenses allegedly occurred.\n\nAttorney Richard Klugh said in an email that the \"new charges, like the government's first two factually and legally unfounded efforts, show nothing but prosecutorial overreach. It is simply another swing-and-a-miss by a government that has gone off the rails in an overzealous, unwarranted pursuit.\"\n\nNicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, said: \"We will decline to comment beyond our filings to the court. This is an ongoing investigation, anyone who may have information related to this case can please contact 1-800 CALL FBI or [email protected].\""
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"value": "# Pitcher Ross Stripling, aka 'Chicken Strip,' is retiring after nearly a decade in the majors\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 5th, 2025 08:45 PM\n\n---\n\nRoss Stripling is calling it a career.\n\nThe veteran pitcher announced his retirement on Monday, about six weeks after the Kansas City Royals released him following a monthlong tryout during spring training.\n\nStripling went 40-54 with a 4.17 ERA and four saves in 248 appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto, San Francisco and Oakland. The right-hander was an All-Star for the Dodgers in 2018, going 8-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 122 innings while bouncing between the starting rotation and the bullpen.\n\n\"I never imagined the experiences and memories I'd be a part of,\" Stripling wrote. \"They exceeded every hope that my younger self could have dreamt for my baseball career.\"\n\nThe former Texas A&M star spent four-plus seasons with the Dodgers before being traded to Toronto during the 2020 season. He had the best season of his career with the Blue Jays in 2022. He posted career highs in wins (10) and innings pitched (134 1/3) and a career low in ERA (3.01). He moved on to San Francisco in 2023 and moved across the bay to Oakland in 2024.\n\nThe Royals gave him an opportunity when he signed in late February. He struggled in five spring training appearances with Kansas City, allowing 14 runs (13 earned) in eight innings of work before being released on March 23.\n\nStripling, selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2012 amateur draft, earned the nickname \"Chicken Strip\" because he used it — thanks to the urging of a teammate — on the back of his jersey during MLB Players Weekend in 2017.\n\nThe name stuck so much so that Stripling signed his retirement announcement \"with love, Chicken Strip.\"\n\n___\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB"
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"value": "# Pitcher Ross Stripling, aka 'Chicken Strip,' is retiring after nearly a decade in the majors\n\nBy The Associated Press \nMay 5th, 2025 08:45 PM\n\n---\n\nRoss Stripling is calling it a career.\n\nThe veteran pitcher announced his retirement on Monday, about six weeks after the Kansas City Royals released him following a monthlong tryout during spring training.\n\nStripling went 40-54 with a 4.17 ERA and four saves in 248 appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto, San Francisco and Oakland. The right-hander was an All-Star for the Dodgers in 2018, going 8-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 122 innings while bouncing between the starting rotation and the bullpen.\n\n\"I never imagined the experiences and memories I'd be a part of,\" Stripling wrote. \"They exceeded every hope that my younger self could have dreamt for my baseball career.\"\n\nThe former Texas A&M star spent four-plus seasons with the Dodgers before being traded to Toronto during the 2020 season. He had the best season of his career with the Blue Jays in 2022. He posted career highs in wins (10) and innings pitched (134 1/3) and a career low in ERA (3.01). He moved on to San Francisco in 2023 and moved across the bay to Oakland in 2024.\n\nThe Royals gave him an opportunity when he signed in late February. He struggled in five spring training appearances with Kansas City, allowing 14 runs (13 earned) in eight innings of work before being released on March 23.\n\nStripling, selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2012 amateur draft, earned the nickname \"Chicken Strip\" because he used it — thanks to the urging of a teammate — on the back of his jersey during MLB Players Weekend in 2017.\n\nThe name stuck so much so that Stripling signed his retirement announcement \"with love, Chicken Strip.\""
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"value": "# Congo seeks to lift former President Kabila's immunity over war crimes allegations\n\nBy Mark Banchereau and Saleh Mwanamilongo \nMay 1st, 2025 12:49 PM\n\n---\n\nDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Authorities in Congo have asked the country's Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila so that he can face trial on charges of supporting a rebel insurgency in the country's east, the justice minister said.\n\nJustice Minister Constant Mutamba told reporters in the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday evening that Congo has amassed clear evidence implicating the former president in \"war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel\" in the country's east.\n\nMutamba said the attorney general of Congo's army has asked the Senate to revoke the lifetime immunity from prosecution that Kabila enjoys as an ex-president and senator.\n\nThe former president is accused of \"treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement,\" the justice minister added.\n\nCongolese President Felix Tshisekedi last year alleged Kabila was supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and \"preparing an insurrection\" in eastern Congo with them, a claim Kabila denies.\n\nKabila led Congo from 2001 to 2019, taking office at the age of 29 and extending his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2016. His father, former President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.\n\nLast month he returned to Congo after having left in 2023, in part due to deteriorating relations with the government of President Tshisekedi. He arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma, where he was planning to \"to participate in peace efforts,\" according to one of his associates.\n\nCongo's decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu, which they took in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and worsened what was already one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displace.\n\nM23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.\n\nDespite Congo's army and M23 having agreed to work toward a truce earlier this month, fighting continues in the eastern province of South-Kivu.\n\nFerdinand Kambere, the deputy secretary-general of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, said the justice minister's actions amount to \"relentless persecution.\"\n\n\"For us, these mistakes that those in power keep making against the former president — thinking they are humiliating or intimidating him — actually show that the regime is nearing its end. They have nothing left to use against Kabila,\" Kambere told The Associated Press."
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"value": "# Congo seeks to lift former President Kabila's immunity over war crimes allegations\n\nBy Mark Banchereau and Saleh Mwanamilongo \nMay 1st, 2025 12:49 PM\n\n---\n\nDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Authorities in Congo have asked the country's Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila so that he can face trial on charges of supporting a rebel insurgency in the country's east, the justice minister said.\n\nJustice Minister Constant Mutamba told reporters in the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday evening that Congo has amassed clear evidence implicating the former president in \"war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel\" in the country's east.\n\nMutamba said the attorney general of Congo's army has asked the Senate to revoke the lifetime immunity from prosecution that Kabila enjoys as an ex-president and senator.\n\nThe former president is accused of \"treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement,\" the justice minister added.\n\nCongolese President Felix Tshisekedi last year alleged Kabila was supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and \"preparing an insurrection\" in eastern Congo with them, a claim Kabila denies.\n\nKabila led Congo from 2001 to 2019, taking office at the age of 29 and extending his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2016. His father, former President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.\n\nLast month he returned to Congo after having left in 2023, in part due to deteriorating relations with the government of President Tshisekedi. He arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma, where he was planning to \"to participate in peace efforts,\" according to one of his associates.\n\nCongo's decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu, which they took in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and worsened what was already one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displace.\n\nM23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.\n\nDespite Congo's army and M23 having agreed to work toward a truce earlier this month, fighting continues in the eastern province of South-Kivu.\n\nFerdinand Kambere, the deputy secretary-general of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, said the justice minister's actions amount to \"relentless persecution.\"\n\n\"For us, these mistakes that those in power keep making against the former president — thinking they are humiliating or intimidating him — actually show that the regime is nearing its end. They have nothing left to use against Kabila,\" Kambere told The Associated Press."
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"value": "# Ukraine expels 2 Hungarian diplomats over alleged espionage. Budapest responds in a tit-for-tat move\n\nBy Justin Spike and Illia Novikov \nMay 9th, 2025 09:15 AM\n\n---\n\nKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said that it has expelled two Hungarian diplomats on Friday, hours after the country's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military in the west of the country.\n\nThe allegations of spying were met with anger in Budapest, where Hungary's Foreign Ministry expelled two Ukrainian diplomats for what it said were Ukraine's own espionage activities.\n\nThe Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, said in a statement that two suspects, both former members of the Ukrainian military, had been detained as members of a spying network, and that they each face charges of treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later said that two Hungarian diplomats were expelled.\n\nIt was the first time in Ukraine's history that a Hungarian espionage operation had been discovered, the statement said.\n\nThe activities of the suspected spies were focused on the western Ukraine region of Zakarpattia, which borders Hungary and is home to a sizeable Hungarian ethnic minority. Budapest and Kyiv have clashed over the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia, most of which was part of Hungary until the end of World War I.\n\nSybiha said in a statement that the spy network was tasked with collecting information about the military security of the region, search for vulnerabilities in the region's ground and air defenses and \"study the sociopolitical views of local residents, in particular scenarios of their behavior if Hungarian troops enter the region.\"\n\nHungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó didn't directly deny the allegations of a Hungarian espionage cell operating in the neighboring country, but stated that the SBU's claims could be classified as \"anti-Hungarian propaganda\" launched by Kyiv in retaliation for Hungary's refusal to assist Ukraine in its fight against Russia.\n\n\"We do not tolerate Ukraine's continuous launching of such defamatory actions against Hungary and the Hungarian people,\" Szijjártó said, adding that he had expelled \"two spies working under diplomatic cover at the Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest\" in response.\n\nHungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has taken an adversarial approach to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion launched on Feb. 24, 2022, refusing to supply Kyiv with weaponry or to allow its transfer across Hungarian territory.\n\nHungary's government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has also threatened to block EU financial assistance to Ukraine, argued against sanctions on Russia and opposed Ukraine's EU membership hopes.\n\nOrbán is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin among EU leaders, though he has acknowledged that the war was a result of Russian aggression.\n\nThe SBU said that both suspected spies were overseen by a career officer of Hungarian military intelligence, whose identity also had been established. That officer supplied the network with cash and a special device for covert communication to support the operation, and had attempted to recruit other individuals into the network, the SBU said.\n\nThe Hungarian Defense Ministry and Military National Security Service didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.\n\n___\n\nJustin Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary."
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"value": "# Ukraine expels 2 Hungarian diplomats over alleged espionage. Budapest responds in a tit-for-tat move\n\nBy Justin Spike and Illia Novikov \nMay 9th, 2025 09:15 AM\n\n---\n\nKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said that it has expelled two Hungarian diplomats on Friday, hours after the country's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military in the west of the country.\n\nThe allegations of spying were met with anger in Budapest, where Hungary's Foreign Ministry expelled two Ukrainian diplomats for what it said were Ukraine's own espionage activities.\n\nThe Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, said in a statement that two suspects, both former members of the Ukrainian military, had been detained as members of a spying network, and that they each face charges of treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later said that two Hungarian diplomats were expelled.\n\nIt was the first time in Ukraine's history that a Hungarian espionage operation had been discovered, the statement said.\n\nThe activities of the suspected spies were focused on the western Ukraine region of Zakarpattia, which borders Hungary and is home to a sizeable Hungarian ethnic minority. Budapest and Kyiv have clashed over the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia, most of which was part of Hungary until the end of World War I.\n\nSybiha said in a statement that the spy network was tasked with collecting information about the military security of the region, search for vulnerabilities in the region's ground and air defenses and \"study the sociopolitical views of local residents, in particular scenarios of their behavior if Hungarian troops enter the region.\"\n\nHungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó didn't directly deny the allegations of a Hungarian espionage cell operating in the neighboring country, but stated that the SBU's claims could be classified as \"anti-Hungarian propaganda\" launched by Kyiv in retaliation for Hungary's refusal to assist Ukraine in its fight against Russia.\n\n\"We do not tolerate Ukraine's continuous launching of such defamatory actions against Hungary and the Hungarian people,\" Szijjártó said, adding that he had expelled \"two spies working under diplomatic cover at the Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest\" in response.\n\nHungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has taken an adversarial approach to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion launched on Feb. 24, 2022, refusing to supply Kyiv with weaponry or to allow its transfer across Hungarian territory.\n\nHungary's government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has also threatened to block EU financial assistance to Ukraine, argued against sanctions on Russia and opposed Ukraine's EU membership hopes.\n\nOrbán is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin among EU leaders, though he has acknowledged that the war was a result of Russian aggression.\n\nThe SBU said that both suspected spies were overseen by a career officer of Hungarian military intelligence, whose identity also had been established. That officer supplied the network with cash and a special device for covert communication to support the operation, and had attempted to recruit other individuals into the network, the SBU said.\n\nThe Hungarian Defense Ministry and Military National Security Service didn't immediately respond to requests for comment."
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"value": "# Marchand scores in OT, Panthers top Maple Leafs 5-4 to cut series deficit to 2-1\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 10th, 2025 02:45 AM\n\n---\n\nSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The night's last ricochet became a goal for Brad Marchand. It also became the biggest score of Florida's season.\n\nMarchand scored on a deflected shot at 15:27 of overtime and the Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night, cutting their deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.\n\n\"We just competed the way that we know that we can,\" Marchand said.\n\nMarchand's shot hit Toronto's Morgan Rielly and sailed over goalie Joseph Woll. It was one of four goals — two for each team — that struck an opposing player en route to the net.\n\nAleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich scored for Florida, which got 27 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Evan Rodrigues had two assists for the Panthers, who are 13-2 in their last 15 playoff overtime games.\n\nJohn Tavares scored twice, while Matthew Knies and Rielly also had goals for the Maple Leafs. Woll stopped 32 shots.\n\nGame 4 is in Sunrise on Sunday night.\n\n\"Overtime, we had our opportunities,\" Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. \"It's a bounce. That's what happens in overtime a lot of times.\"\n\nFlorida erased 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, a rarity against Toronto this season.\n\n— The Leafs were 30-3-0 when leading after the first period, including playoffs, the second-best record in the league.\n\n— They were 38-8-2 when scoring first, the league's third-best record.\n\n— They had blown only 11 leads all season, none in the playoffs.\n\n— They were 44-3-1 in games where they led by two goals or more.\n\nBut Marchand has never lost a series to Toronto — he's 4-0 from his Boston days — and his goal gave the Panthers hope.\n\n\"It's one second of a game,\" Marchand said after his fourth overtime playoff goal, tying him for seventh-most in NHL history. \"It could be anybody. ... The details that go into making those plays happen is where the work is done.\"\n\nThe Leafs got two goals that deflected in off of Panthers defensemen: Tavares' second goal nicked the glove of Gustav Forsling on its way past Bobrovsky for a 3-1 lead, and Rielly's goal redirected off Seth Jones' leg to tie it with 9:04 left in the third.\n\n\"You just control what you can control,\" Bobrovsky said.\n\nA diving Barkov threw the puck at the net and saw it carom in off a Toronto stick to get Florida on the board, the first of the wave of deflection goals. Marchand's was the last, and biggest, of those.\n\nDown 3-1, Florida needed a break. It came.\n\nReinhart was credited with a goal after Woll thought he covered up the puck following a scrum in front of the net. But after review, it was determined the puck had crossed the line. Florida had life, the building was loud again and about a minute later, Verhaeghe tied it at 3.\n\nGadjovich made it 4-3 late in the second, before Rielly tied it midway through the third.\n\n___\n\nAP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl"
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"value": "# Marchand scores in OT, Panthers top Maple Leafs 5-4 to cut series deficit to 2-1\n\nBy Tim Reynolds \nMay 10th, 2025 02:45 AM\n\n---\n\nSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The night's last ricochet became a goal for Brad Marchand. It also became the biggest score of Florida's season.\n\nMarchand scored on a deflected shot at 15:27 of overtime and the Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night, cutting their deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.\n\n\"We just competed the way that we know that we can,\" Marchand said.\n\nMarchand's shot hit Toronto's Morgan Rielly and sailed over goalie Joseph Woll. It was one of four goals — two for each team — that struck an opposing player en route to the net.\n\nAleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich scored for Florida, which got 27 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Evan Rodrigues had two assists for the Panthers, who are 13-2 in their last 15 playoff overtime games.\n\nJohn Tavares scored twice, while Matthew Knies and Rielly also had goals for the Maple Leafs. Woll stopped 32 shots.\n\nGame 4 is in Sunrise on Sunday night.\n\n\"Overtime, we had our opportunities,\" Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. \"It's a bounce. That's what happens in overtime a lot of times.\"\n\nFlorida erased 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, a rarity against Toronto this season.\n\n— The Leafs were 30-3-0 when leading after the first period, including playoffs, the second-best record in the league.\n\n— They were 38-8-2 when scoring first, the league's third-best record.\n\n— They had blown only 11 leads all season, none in the playoffs.\n\n— They were 44-3-1 in games where they led by two goals or more.\n\nBut Marchand has never lost a series to Toronto — he's 4-0 from his Boston days — and his goal gave the Panthers hope.\n\n\"It's one second of a game,\" Marchand said after his fourth overtime playoff goal, tying him for seventh-most in NHL history. \"It could be anybody. ... The details that go into making those plays happen is where the work is done.\"\n\nThe Leafs got two goals that deflected in off of Panthers defensemen: Tavares' second goal nicked the glove of Gustav Forsling on its way past Bobrovsky for a 3-1 lead, and Rielly's goal redirected off Seth Jones' leg to tie it with 9:04 left in the third.\n\n\"You just control what you can control,\" Bobrovsky said.\n\nA diving Barkov threw the puck at the net and saw it carom in off a Toronto stick to get Florida on the board, the first of the wave of deflection goals. Marchand's was the last, and biggest, of those.\n\nDown 3-1, Florida needed a break. It came.\n\nReinhart was credited with a goal after Woll thought he covered up the puck following a scrum in front of the net. But after review, it was determined the puck had crossed the line. Florida had life, the building was loud again and about a minute later, Verhaeghe tied it at 3.\n\nGadjovich made it 4-3 late in the second, before Rielly tied it midway through the third."
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"value": "# Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández will have MRI on Tuesday after leaving vs. Marlins with tight hamstring\n\nMay 6th, 2025 12:51 AM\n\n---\n\nMIAMI (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Teoscar Hernández will have an MRI on Tuesday on his left hamstring after he left in the fourth inning of the 7-4 victory against the Miami Marlins on Monday night with tightness in his leg.\n\n\"I got word that it was tight — whether it was a hamstring, abductor,\" Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. \"He's a guy that just doesn't come out of games by way of injury. That's a little concerning, given the person.\"\n\nHernández hit an RBI double for the Dodgers' first run in the first inning and singled to right in the third. When Hernández returned to the dugout for the fourth, he was replaced by Chris Taylor.\n\nRoberts said Hernández first experienced tightness after he chased and caught a ball hit in the gap by Javier Sanoja in the third.\n\nWith the possibility of Hernández landing on the injured list, Roberts said the team is discussing bringing up a player from the minors.\n\n\"(Tuesday) will be telling,\" Roberts said.\n\nIn his second season with the Dodgers, Hernández began Monday with a team-leading nine homers that was tied after Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run shot in the fifth to give Los Angeles a 5-0 lead against Miami.\n\nHernández is hitting .315 with 34 RBIs and 10 doubles with a .933 OPS this season.\n\n—\n\nAP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb"
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"value": "# Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández will have MRI on Tuesday after leaving vs. Marlins with tight hamstring\n\nMay 6th, 2025 12:51 AM\n\n---\n\nMIAMI (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Teoscar Hernández will have an MRI on Tuesday on his left hamstring after he left in the fourth inning of the 7-4 victory against the Miami Marlins on Monday night with tightness in his leg.\n\n\"I got word that it was tight — whether it was a hamstring, abductor,\" Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. \"He's a guy that just doesn't come out of games by way of injury. That's a little concerning, given the person.\"\n\nHernández hit an RBI double for the Dodgers' first run in the first inning and singled to right in the third. When Hernández returned to the dugout for the fourth, he was replaced by Chris Taylor.\n\nRoberts said Hernández first experienced tightness after he chased and caught a ball hit in the gap by Javier Sanoja in the third.\n\nWith the possibility of Hernández landing on the injured list, Roberts said the team is discussing bringing up a player from the minors.\n\n\"(Tuesday) will be telling,\" Roberts said.\n\nIn his second season with the Dodgers, Hernández began Monday with a team-leading nine homers that was tied after Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run shot in the fifth to give Los Angeles a 5-0 lead against Miami.\n\nHernández is hitting .315 with 34 RBIs and 10 doubles with a .933 OPS this season."
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"value": "# India's clash with Pakistan sees use of Chinese missiles, French jets, Israeli drones and more\n\nBy David Rising \nMay 9th, 2025 10:26 AM\n\n---\n\nBANGKOK (AP) — India's missile and bomb strikes on targets in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir have spiked tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with Pakistan's leader calling the attacks an act of war.\n\nClaims about the initial attack and the aftermath have differed widely, with neither India nor Pakistan releasing many specific details. Making the ongoing conflict even more confusing, the internet has been \"flooded with disinformation, false claims, and manipulated photos and videos,\" the Soufan Center think tank said.\n\n\"This information warfare is compounded by both sides' commitment to save face,\" it said.\n\nWith ongoing fighting, it has been impossible to independently verify many of the claims, but some information can be gleaned from official statements and paired with what is known to gain greater insight into the clash:\n\n## Chinese aircraft, Russian defenses and rampant disinformation\n\nPakistan on Saturday said it launched hypersonic missiles from a JF-17 Thunder jet, an aircraft built by China in collaboration with Pakistan, and destroyed a Russian-built S-400 air defense system in India's border Punjab state.\n\nIndia denied the site was hit, saying it would provide evidence later.\n\nPraveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the two sides are \"effectively at war\" even though they have not yet called it that, and an \"explosion of disinformation stemming from a lack of official confirmation\" is causing panic among civilians, particularly among those living in border areas.\n\n\"It's become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship,\" he said.\n\nPakistan also said Saturday it used its Fatah-II missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and two airbases, an attack acknowledged by Indian officials who said they targeted Pakistani military bases in retaliation.\n\nIt was not clear what damage was caused in either attack, though Pakistan claimed to have intercepted most of the Indian missiles and was, in turn, retaliating for India's retaliatory strike.\n\n## Pakistan says it shot down 5 Indian planes involved in initial attack\n\nHours after India's attack early Wednesday, in retaliation for last month's massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan's military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif claimed the Pakistan air force had shot down five Indian attack aircraft: three French-made Rafales, a Russian-made SU30MKI and a Russian-made MiG-29.\n\nPakistan's air force suffered no casualties, and that all of its aircraft returned safely to base, he said.\n\nPakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeated the claim, saying the Pakistan air force had the opportunity to shoot down 10 Indian planes, but exercised restraint and downed only the five that had fired on Pakistani targets.\n\nHe told Parliament that overall 80 Indian planes had been involved in the attack.\n\nIndia, meantime, has not acknowledged any losses, though debris from three aircraft came down in at least three areas.\n\n## Events remain unclear without witness reports or video\n\nIndia has all three types of jets among its more-than 700 combat capable fighter aircraft, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report.\n\nAll three aircraft are fighters with the capability of carrying bombs or missiles for ground attacks.\n\nPakistan and India have both said their planes did not leave their home airspace, suggesting that if Pakistan's account is accurate, rather than a dogfight in the skies over Kashmir, Pakistani pilots fired multiple air-to-air missiles over a long distance to take down Indian planes.\n\nPresuming India fired back, even though Pakistan said none of its planes were hit, the aerial skirmish would have been quite the show. But there have been no eyewitness reports or video to emerge on social media.\n\nWhat is known for sure is that Indian planes were in the air and attacked at least nine targets and debris from three has been found.\n\nIt's also plausible Pakistan used surface to air missiles to hit Indian planes, which the war in Ukraine has shown to be very effective and would not have meant risking any of its own planes.\n\nPakistan has a wide range of such missiles, primarily Chinese-made.\n\n## Events put Chinese tech to the test\n\nPakistan's air force includes U.S.-made F-16s, the French Mirage and the new Chinese-built J-10C, as well as the JF-17.\n\nIn addition to American air-to-air missiles, Pakistan also has several Chinese products in its arsenal, including the PL-12 and PL-15, both of which can be used to fire at targets beyond visual range.\n\nPakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers it was the J-10C that shot down the Indian aircraft, raising the likelihood that Chinese-built missiles were also employed.\n\n\"It's interesting that Pakistan is saying it is using Chinese jets that it has imported from China to shoot down Indian aircraft,\" said Lisa Curtis, director of the Indo-Pacific security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.\n\nIn 2019, during the rivals' previous military confrontation, \"it was a Pakistani F-16 provided by the United States that was used to shoot down an Indian aircraft,\" Curtis said in a conference call. \"It's interesting to see that Pakistan is relying more on its Chinese equipment than it did six years ago.\"\n\nThe news convinced traders with shares in AVIC Chengdu Aircraft, which builds both the J-10C and J-17, to post large gains Wednesday and Thursday on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.\n\nThe stock of Dassault Aviation, the maker of the Rafale jet, which is among those Pakistan claims to have shot down, dropped sharply on Wednesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, though it had recovered by close on Thursday.\n\n## Pieces of information issued by each country\n\nIndia hasn't talked about what assets were involved in the attacks. The Indian Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites \"where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.\"\n\nIndia showed video of eight of the strikes at a briefing on Wednesday, four in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and four in Pakistan.\n\nPakistan has said 31 civilians were killed, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country's Punjab province, and that buildings hit included two mosques.\n\nBoth sides have talked about missile strikes, but it was clear from the video that bombs also were dropped on some targets, possibly from drones. In addition to claiming the five Indian aircraft shot down, Pakistan also said it downed an unspecified number of drones on Wednesday.\n\nIndian officials said the strikes were precision attacks, and from the videos shown it appeared specific areas of installations were targeted with individual missiles or bombs, rather than widespread areas.\n\n___\n\nAssociated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Aijaz Hussain and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report."
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"value": "# India's clash with Pakistan sees use of Chinese missiles, French jets, Israeli drones and more\n\nBy David Rising \nMay 9th, 2025 10:26 AM\n\n---\n\nBANGKOK (AP) — India's missile and bomb strikes on targets in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir have spiked tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with Pakistan's leader calling the attacks an act of war.\n\nClaims about the initial attack and the aftermath have differed widely, with neither India nor Pakistan releasing many specific details. Making the ongoing conflict even more confusing, the internet has been \"flooded with disinformation, false claims, and manipulated photos and videos,\" the Soufan Center think tank said.\n\n\"This information warfare is compounded by both sides' commitment to save face,\" it said.\n\nWith ongoing fighting, it has been impossible to independently verify many of the claims, but some information can be gleaned from official statements and paired with what is known to gain greater insight into the clash:\n\n## Chinese aircraft, Russian defenses and rampant disinformation\n\nPakistan on Saturday said it launched hypersonic missiles from a JF-17 Thunder jet, an aircraft built by China in collaboration with Pakistan, and destroyed a Russian-built S-400 air defense system in India's border Punjab state.\n\nIndia denied the site was hit, saying it would provide evidence later.\n\nPraveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the two sides are \"effectively at war\" even though they have not yet called it that, and an \"explosion of disinformation stemming from a lack of official confirmation\" is causing panic among civilians, particularly among those living in border areas.\n\n\"It's become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship,\" he said.\n\nPakistan also said Saturday it used its Fatah-II missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and two airbases, an attack acknowledged by Indian officials who said they targeted Pakistani military bases in retaliation.\n\nIt was not clear what damage was caused in either attack, though Pakistan claimed to have intercepted most of the Indian missiles and was, in turn, retaliating for India's retaliatory strike.\n\n## Pakistan says it shot down 5 Indian planes involved in initial attack\n\nHours after India's attack early Wednesday, in retaliation for last month's massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan's military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif claimed the Pakistan air force had shot down five Indian attack aircraft: three French-made Rafales, a Russian-made SU30MKI and a Russian-made MiG-29.\n\nPakistan's air force suffered no casualties, and that all of its aircraft returned safely to base, he said.\n\nPakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeated the claim, saying the Pakistan air force had the opportunity to shoot down 10 Indian planes, but exercised restraint and downed only the five that had fired on Pakistani targets.\n\nHe told Parliament that overall 80 Indian planes had been involved in the attack.\n\nIndia, meantime, has not acknowledged any losses, though debris from three aircraft came down in at least three areas.\n\n## Events remain unclear without witness reports or video\n\nIndia has all three types of jets among its more-than 700 combat capable fighter aircraft, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report.\n\nAll three aircraft are fighters with the capability of carrying bombs or missiles for ground attacks.\n\nPakistan and India have both said their planes did not leave their home airspace, suggesting that if Pakistan's account is accurate, rather than a dogfight in the skies over Kashmir, Pakistani pilots fired multiple air-to-air missiles over a long distance to take down Indian planes.\n\nPresuming India fired back, even though Pakistan said none of its planes were hit, the aerial skirmish would have been quite the show. But there have been no eyewitness reports or video to emerge on social media.\n\nWhat is known for sure is that Indian planes were in the air and attacked at least nine targets and debris from three has been found.\n\nIt's also plausible Pakistan used surface to air missiles to hit Indian planes, which the war in Ukraine has shown to be very effective and would not have meant risking any of its own planes.\n\nPakistan has a wide range of such missiles, primarily Chinese-made.\n\n## Events put Chinese tech to the test\n\nPakistan's air force includes U.S.-made F-16s, the French Mirage and the new Chinese-built J-10C, as well as the JF-17.\n\nIn addition to American air-to-air missiles, Pakistan also has several Chinese products in its arsenal, including the PL-12 and PL-15, both of which can be used to fire at targets beyond visual range.\n\nPakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers it was the J-10C that shot down the Indian aircraft, raising the likelihood that Chinese-built missiles were also employed.\n\n\"It's interesting that Pakistan is saying it is using Chinese jets that it has imported from China to shoot down Indian aircraft,\" said Lisa Curtis, director of the Indo-Pacific security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.\n\nIn 2019, during the rivals' previous military confrontation, \"it was a Pakistani F-16 provided by the United States that was used to shoot down an Indian aircraft,\" Curtis said in a conference call. \"It's interesting to see that Pakistan is relying more on its Chinese equipment than it did six years ago.\"\n\nThe news convinced traders with shares in AVIC Chengdu Aircraft, which builds both the J-10C and J-17, to post large gains Wednesday and Thursday on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.\n\nThe stock of Dassault Aviation, the maker of the Rafale jet, which is among those Pakistan claims to have shot down, dropped sharply on Wednesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, though it had recovered by close on Thursday.\n\n## Pieces of information issued by each country\n\nIndia hasn't talked about what assets were involved in the attacks. The Indian Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites \"where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.\"\n\nIndia showed video of eight of the strikes at a briefing on Wednesday, four in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and four in Pakistan.\n\nPakistan has said 31 civilians were killed, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country's Punjab province, and that buildings hit included two mosques.\n\nBoth sides have talked about missile strikes, but it was clear from the video that bombs also were dropped on some targets, possibly from drones. In addition to claiming the five Indian aircraft shot down, Pakistan also said it downed an unspecified number of drones on Wednesday.\n\nIndian officials said the strikes were precision attacks, and from the videos shown it appeared specific areas of installations were targeted with individual missiles or bombs, rather than widespread areas."
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"value": "# Deadly April rainfall in US South and Midwest was intensified by climate change, scientists say\n\nBy Isabella O'Malley \nMay 8th, 2025 10:13 AM\n\n---\n\nHuman-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists.\n\nThe series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods.\n\nThe WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such events in the pre-industrial age climate.\n\nSome of the moisture that fueled the storms came from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were abnormally warm by 1.2°C (2.2°F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures. That warming was made 14 times more likely due to climate change, according to the researchers from universities and meteorological agencies in the United States and Europe.\n\nRapid analyses from the WWA use peer-reviewed methods to study an extreme weather event and distill it down to the factors that caused it. This approach lets scientists analyze which contributing factors had the biggest influence and how the event could have played out in a world without climate change.\n\nThe analysis found a rainfall event of April's intensity could occur in the central Mississippi Valley region about once every 100 years. Even heavier downpours are expected to hit the region in the future unless the world rapidly slashes emissions of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that causes temperatures to rise, the study said.\n\n\"That one in 100 years … is likely to go down to once every few decades,\" said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and the study's lead author. \"If we continue to burn fossil fuels, events like this will not only continue to occur, but they'll keep getting more dangerous.\"\n\nHeavier and more persistent rainfall is expected with climate change because the atmosphere holds more moisture as it warms. Warming ocean temperatures result in higher evaporation rates, which means more moisture is available to fuel storms.\n\nForecast information and weather alerts from the National Weather Service communicated the risks of the April heavy rain days in advance, which the WWA says likely reduced the death toll. But workforce and budget cuts made by the Trump administration have left nearly half of NWS offices with 20% vacancy rates or higher, raising concerns for public safety during future extreme weather events and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins June 1.\n\n\"If we start cutting back on these offices or reducing the staff ... the unfortunate result is going to be more death. We're going to have more people dying because the warnings are not going to get out, the warnings are not going to be as fine-tuned as they are today,\" said Randall Cerveny, a climate professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study.\n\n___\n\nThe Associated Press' climate and environmental 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."
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"value": "# Deadly April rainfall in US South and Midwest was intensified by climate change, scientists say\n\nBy Isabella O'Malley \nMay 8th, 2025 10:13 AM\n\n---\n\nHuman-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists.\n\nThe series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods.\n\nThe WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such events in the pre-industrial age climate.\n\nSome of the moisture that fueled the storms came from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were abnormally warm by 1.2°C (2.2°F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures. That warming was made 14 times more likely due to climate change, according to the researchers from universities and meteorological agencies in the United States and Europe.\n\nRapid analyses from the WWA use peer-reviewed methods to study an extreme weather event and distill it down to the factors that caused it. This approach lets scientists analyze which contributing factors had the biggest influence and how the event could have played out in a world without climate change.\n\nThe analysis found a rainfall event of April's intensity could occur in the central Mississippi Valley region about once every 100 years. Even heavier downpours are expected to hit the region in the future unless the world rapidly slashes emissions of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that causes temperatures to rise, the study said.\n\n\"That one in 100 years … is likely to go down to once every few decades,\" said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and the study's lead author. \"If we continue to burn fossil fuels, events like this will not only continue to occur, but they'll keep getting more dangerous.\"\n\nHeavier and more persistent rainfall is expected with climate change because the atmosphere holds more moisture as it warms. Warming ocean temperatures result in higher evaporation rates, which means more moisture is available to fuel storms.\n\nForecast information and weather alerts from the National Weather Service communicated the risks of the April heavy rain days in advance, which the WWA says likely reduced the death toll. But workforce and budget cuts made by the Trump administration have left nearly half of NWS offices with 20% vacancy rates or higher, raising concerns for public safety during future extreme weather events and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins June 1.\n\n\"If we start cutting back on these offices or reducing the staff ... the unfortunate result is going to be more death. We're going to have more people dying because the warnings are not going to get out, the warnings are not going to be as fine-tuned as they are today,\" said Randall Cerveny, a climate professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study."
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"value": "# Disney to build its 7th theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates\n\nBy Michelle Chapman \nMay 7th, 2025 02:30 PM\n\n---\n\nDisney will build its seventh theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates, the entertainment company said Wednesday.\n\nThe waterfront resort will be built on Yas Island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, already home to Formula One's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari and Warner Bros. amusement parks, SeaWorld and a waterpark.\n\nAbu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Home to 9 million people, it has leveraged its long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways to bring in more tourists over the years. A real-estate boom and the city's highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover.\n\nDisney and Miral, the Abu Dhabi developer overseeing the project, hope to capitalize on the 120 million airline passengers that travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.\n\nWhile long viewed as more buttoned up than the beaches and raucous nightlife in neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi also is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and there are more museums currently under construction.\n\nThe theme park announcement is being made ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the region next week. Trump has promised a series of business deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.\n\nThe theme park will be built and operated by Miral, but Disney will handle the design and development. Disney will also license its intellectual property and provide development and management services, according to a regulatory filing.\n\nThe California company will not be providing any capital for the project. It will earn royalties based on the resort's revenues. It will also earn service fees.\n\nMiral has been involved in the development of almost all of the entertainment complexes built on the island.\n\nA projected opening date has not been announced.\n\nShares of Disney, which also reported second-quarter financial results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street's expectations, jumped more than 9% in morning trading."
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"value": "# Disney to build its 7th theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates\n\nBy Michelle Chapman \nMay 7th, 2025 02:30 PM\n\n---\n\nDisney will build its seventh theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates, the entertainment company said Wednesday.\n\nThe waterfront resort will be built on Yas Island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, already home to Formula One's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari and Warner Bros. amusement parks, SeaWorld and a waterpark.\n\nAbu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Home to 9 million people, it has leveraged its long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways to bring in more tourists over the years. A real-estate boom and the city's highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover.\n\nDisney and Miral, the Abu Dhabi developer overseeing the project, hope to capitalize on the 120 million airline passengers that travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.\n\nWhile long viewed as more buttoned up than the beaches and raucous nightlife in neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi also is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and there are more museums currently under construction.\n\nThe theme park announcement is being made ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the region next week. Trump has promised a series of business deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.\n\nThe theme park will be built and operated by Miral, but Disney will handle the design and development. Disney will also license its intellectual property and provide development and management services, according to a regulatory filing.\n\nThe California company will not be providing any capital for the project. It will earn royalties based on the resort's revenues. It will also earn service fees.\n\nMiral has been involved in the development of almost all of the entertainment complexes built on the island.\n\nA projected opening date has not been announced.\n\nShares of Disney, which also reported second-quarter financial results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street's expectations, jumped more than 9% in morning trading."
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"value": "# Georgia Republican Brian Kemp will not run for Senate against Jon Ossoff\n\nBy Jeff Amy \nMay 5th, 2025 07:00 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican governor, announced Monday that he's not running for U.S. Senate in 2026 against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.\n\nKemp, who will leave the governor's chair in 2027 after eight years due to term limits, has long been at the top of the GOP's wish list to challenge Ossoff, whom Republican leaders have made their biggest target in next year's midterm elections. His decision not to run will likely result in a competitive primary among candidates who have never won a top statewide race.\n\n\"I spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the US Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first,\" Kemp said in a statement.\n\nU.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on Georgia's coast, is itching to run and is likely to jump in. Other possibilities could include U.S. Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, state Insurance Commissioner John King and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.\n\nA possible candidate with massive name recognition is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prolific fundraiser who may have gone as far as she can go in the House and was passed over for a position in the Trump administration. She has said she's considering running for Senate or governor in 2026, but her entry into either race would likely prompt internal opposition from more traditional Republicans, including those aligned with Kemp.\n\nSome Democrats are eager for her to run, believing she's poison to a majority of voters. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, told reporters Monday that Republicans were \"stuck\" with Greene as their nominee.\n\nAlec Ernst, a spokesperson for Greene, said he didn't know her future plans but \"she is honored to have such positive support from the people of Georgia.\"\n\nA number of top-tier Republicans appear to have excluded themselves by taking top positions in President Donald Trump's administration, including former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, currently secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration; and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, ambassador to China.\n\nRaffensperger, long a target of Trump because of his unwillingness to overturn Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in Georgia, was noncommittal on Monday.\n\n\"All options are on the table,\" said Jordan Fuchs, a spokesperson for Raffensperger.\n\nMike Collins told The Associated Press he would defer to Trump.\n\n\"He'll pick the right person to get this thing done, and I'll be standing right behind,\" Collins said.\n\nKing, who was appointed by Kemp and has been a close ally, heaped praise on Kemp, calling him \"the best governor in America\" in a statement. Carter likewise praised Kemp, saying Georgia voters who backed Trump \"deserve someone who is going to support him, and the will of the people, in the Senate.\"\n\nRyan Mahoney, a political adviser to McCormick, said \"it's no surprise that hardworking Georgians from across the state are urging him to run for the United States Senate,\" adding that McCormick would decide \"at the appropriate time.\"\n\nNational Republicans have already been advertising against Ossoff, who launched his reelection bid at a March rally where he proclaimed his defiance to Trump. They've also attacked Ossoff for saying in a town hall two weeks ago that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses in his second term.\n\n\"While Jon Ossoff is running to impeach President Trump, Republicans have a number of candidates who can build a winning coalition to add this seat to President Trump's Senate majority,\" Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a statement.\n\nDemocrats were gleeful at Kemp's exit.\n\n\"Brian Kemp's decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump's harmful agenda,\" Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement.\n\nThe 61-year-old Kemp hesitated for months about entering the race, seemingly reluctant to become one of 100 senators after years of charting his own course in executive office. That's especially true as Trump, who once regarded Kemp as an enemy, stands astride the Republican Party.\n\nKemp has harbored ambitions to run for president and had faced questions about whether it would be better to do so as a senator or to follow in the footsteps of fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter and run as a successful former governor. Losing a Senate race would probably extinguish such hopes, but staying out could leave the door open to run directly for the White House after he leaves office.\n\nThe election is likely to be closely contested and fantastically expensive. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Raphael Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the body to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found.\n\n—-\n\nAssociated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed from Washington."
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"value": "# Georgia Republican Brian Kemp will not run for Senate against Jon Ossoff\n\nBy Jeff Amy \nMay 5th, 2025 07:00 PM\n\n---\n\nATLANTA (AP) — Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican governor, announced Monday that he's not running for U.S. Senate in 2026 against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.\n\nKemp, who will leave the governor's chair in 2027 after eight years due to term limits, has long been at the top of the GOP's wish list to challenge Ossoff, whom Republican leaders have made their biggest target in next year's midterm elections. His decision not to run will likely result in a competitive primary among candidates who have never won a top statewide race.\n\n\"I spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the US Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first,\" Kemp said in a statement.\n\nU.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on Georgia's coast, is itching to run and is likely to jump in. Other possibilities could include U.S. Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, state Insurance Commissioner John King and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.\n\nA possible candidate with massive name recognition is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prolific fundraiser who may have gone as far as she can go in the House and was passed over for a position in the Trump administration. She has said she's considering running for Senate or governor in 2026, but her entry into either race would likely prompt internal opposition from more traditional Republicans, including those aligned with Kemp.\n\nSome Democrats are eager for her to run, believing she's poison to a majority of voters. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, told reporters Monday that Republicans were \"stuck\" with Greene as their nominee.\n\nAlec Ernst, a spokesperson for Greene, said he didn't know her future plans but \"she is honored to have such positive support from the people of Georgia.\"\n\nA number of top-tier Republicans appear to have excluded themselves by taking top positions in President Donald Trump's administration, including former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, currently secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration; and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, ambassador to China.\n\nRaffensperger, long a target of Trump because of his unwillingness to overturn Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in Georgia, was noncommittal on Monday.\n\n\"All options are on the table,\" said Jordan Fuchs, a spokesperson for Raffensperger.\n\nMike Collins told The Associated Press he would defer to Trump.\n\n\"He'll pick the right person to get this thing done, and I'll be standing right behind,\" Collins said.\n\nKing, who was appointed by Kemp and has been a close ally, heaped praise on Kemp, calling him \"the best governor in America\" in a statement. Carter likewise praised Kemp, saying Georgia voters who backed Trump \"deserve someone who is going to support him, and the will of the people, in the Senate.\"\n\nRyan Mahoney, a political adviser to McCormick, said \"it's no surprise that hardworking Georgians from across the state are urging him to run for the United States Senate,\" adding that McCormick would decide \"at the appropriate time.\"\n\nNational Republicans have already been advertising against Ossoff, who launched his reelection bid at a March rally where he proclaimed his defiance to Trump. They've also attacked Ossoff for saying in a town hall two weeks ago that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses in his second term.\n\n\"While Jon Ossoff is running to impeach President Trump, Republicans have a number of candidates who can build a winning coalition to add this seat to President Trump's Senate majority,\" Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a statement.\n\nDemocrats were gleeful at Kemp's exit.\n\n\"Brian Kemp's decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump's harmful agenda,\" Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement.\n\nThe 61-year-old Kemp hesitated for months about entering the race, seemingly reluctant to become one of 100 senators after years of charting his own course in executive office. That's especially true as Trump, who once regarded Kemp as an enemy, stands astride the Republican Party.\n\nKemp has harbored ambitions to run for president and had faced questions about whether it would be better to do so as a senator or to follow in the footsteps of fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter and run as a successful former governor. Losing a Senate race would probably extinguish such hopes, but staying out could leave the door open to run directly for the White House after he leaves office.\n\nThe election is likely to be closely contested and fantastically expensive. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Raphael Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the body to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found."
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"value": "# Man sentenced to 53 years in prison in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American boy, mother\n\nBy Associated Press \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:04 AM\n\n---\n\nJOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.\n\nJoseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.\n\nJudge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.\n\n\"No sentence can restore what was taken, but today's outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice,\" said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. \"Wadee was an innocent child. He was targeted because of who he was—Muslim, Palestinian, and loved.\"\n\nCzuba did not speak during the sentencing. Czuba's attorney, Lenard, declined comment. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow's office issued a statement calling Czuba a \"morally reprehensible killer\" and the impact of his actions \"truly unfathomable.\"\n\nThe boy's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.\n\nYousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.\n\nCzuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, prosecutors said during the trial.\n\nEvidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.\n\nThe family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.\n\nCentral to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.\n\nPolice said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.\n\n\"He could not escape,\" Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state's attorney, told jurors at trial. \"If it wasn't enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy's body.\"\n\nThe jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.\n\nThe attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.\n\nShaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.\n\nShe said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.\n\n\"He told me 'You, as a Muslim, must die,'\" said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.\n\nPolice testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.\n\nSeparately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy's death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.\n\nYousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn't understand what \"fake news\" Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.\n\n\"Some people are bringing this war to this country,\" Yousef said. \"We cannot do that. We can't bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.\"\n\n___\n\nThis story has been updated to correct the spelling of 'Mahmoud.'"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "# Man sentenced to 53 years in prison in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American boy, mother\n\nBy Associated Press \nMay 2nd, 2025 04:04 AM\n\n---\n\nJOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.\n\nJoseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.\n\nJudge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.\n\n\"No sentence can restore what was taken, but today's outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice,\" said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. \"Wadee was an innocent child. He was targeted because of who he was—Muslim, Palestinian, and loved.\"\n\nCzuba did not speak during the sentencing. Czuba's attorney, Lenard, declined comment. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow's office issued a statement calling Czuba a \"morally reprehensible killer\" and the impact of his actions \"truly unfathomable.\"\n\nThe boy's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.\n\nYousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.\n\nCzuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, prosecutors said during the trial.\n\nEvidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.\n\nThe family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.\n\nCentral to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.\n\nPolice said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.\n\n\"He could not escape,\" Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state's attorney, told jurors at trial. \"If it wasn't enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy's body.\"\n\nThe jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.\n\nThe attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.\n\nShaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.\n\nShe said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.\n\n\"He told me 'You, as a Muslim, must die,'\" said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.\n\nPolice testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.\n\nSeparately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy's death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.\n\nYousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn't understand what \"fake news\" Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.\n\n\"Some people are bringing this war to this country,\" Yousef said. \"We cannot do that. We can't bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.\""
}
] |
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