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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a federal appeals court just days before it was set to go into effect.
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The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed changes, adopted in October, required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers.
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The FTC said at the time that businesses must also disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them.
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The administration of President Joe Biden included the FTC’s proposal as part of its “Time is Money” initiative, a governmentwide initiative that was announced last year with the aim of cracking down on consumer-related hassles.
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The FTC rule was set to go into effect on Monday, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million.
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The FTC claimed that it did not have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule’s impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold.
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The court decided to vacate the rule.
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“While we certainly do not endorse the use of unfair and deceptive practices in negative option marketing, the procedural deficiencies of the Commission’s rulemaking process are fatal here,” the court wrote.
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The FTC declined to comment on Wednesday.
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The agency is currently moving forward with its preparations for a trial involving Amazon’s Prime program. The trial stems from a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accused Amazon of enrolling consumers in its Prime program without their consent and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.
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The trial is expected to take place next year.
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species.
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On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced an effort to genetically engineer living birds to resemble the extinct South Island giant moa – which once stood 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall – with $15 million in funding from Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh. The collaboration also includes the New Zealand-based Ngāi Tahu Research Centre.
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“The movies are my day job, and the moa are my fun thing I do,” said Jackson. “Every New Zealand schoolchild has a fascination with the moa.”
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Outside scientists say the idea of bringing back extinct species onto the modern landscape is likely impossible, although it may be feasible to tweak the genes of living animals to have similar physical traits. Scientists have mixed feelings on whether that will be helpful, and some worry that focusing on lost creatures could distract from protecting species that still exist.
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The moa had roamed New Zealand for 4,000 years until they became extinct around 600 years ago, mainly because of overhunting. A large skeleton brought to England in the 19th century, now on display at the Yorkshire Museum, prompted international interest in the long-necked bird.
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Unlike Colossal’s work with dire wolves, the moa project is in very early stages. It started with a phone call about two years ago after Jackson heard about the company’s efforts to “de-extinct” – or create genetically similar animals to – species like the woolly mammoth and the dire wolf.
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Then Jackson put Colossal in touch with experts he’d met through his own moa bone-collecting. At that point, he’d amassed between 300 and 400 bones, he said.
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In New Zealand, it’s legal to buy and sell moa bones found on private lands, but not on public conservation areas – nor to export them.
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The first stage of the moa project will be to identify well-preserved bones from which it may be possible to extract DNA, said Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro.
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Those DNA sequences will be compared to genomes of living bird species, including the ground-dwelling tinamou and emu, “to figure out what it is that made the moa unique compared to other birds,” she said.
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Colossal used a similar process of comparing ancient DNA of extinct dire wolves to determine the genetic differences with gray wolves. Then scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites. Pups with long white hair and muscular jaws were born late last year.
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Working with birds presents different challenges, said Shapiro.
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Unlike mammals, bird embryos develop inside eggs, so the process of transferring an embryo to a surrogate will not look like mammalian IVF.
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“There’s lots of different scientific hurdles that need to be overcome with any species that we pick as a candidate for de-extinction,” said Shapiro. “We are in the very early stages.”
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If the Colossal team succeeds in creating a tall bird with huge feet and thick pointed claws resembling the moa, there’s also the pressing question of where to put it, said Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, who is not involved in the project.
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“Can you put a species back into the wild once you’ve exterminated it there?” he said. “I think it’s exceedingly unlikely that they could do this in any meaningful way.”
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“This will be an extremely dangerous animal,” Pimm added.
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The direction of the project will be shaped by Māori scholars at the University of Canterbury’s Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, an expert in moa bones, said the work has “really reinvigorated the interest in examining our own traditions and mythology.”
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At one of the archaeological sites that Jackson and Davis visited to study moa remains, called Pyramid Valley, there are also antique rock art done by Māori people – some depicting moa before their extinction.
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Paul Scofield, a project adviser and senior curator of natural history at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, said he first met the “Lord of the Rings” director when he went to his house to help him identity which of the nine known species of moa the various bones represented.
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“He doesn’t just collect some moa bones – he has a comprehensive collection,” said Scofield.
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___
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The 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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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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apnews.com
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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Ten people have been arrested on attempted murder charges after attackers in black military-style clothing opened fire outside a Texas immigration detention center in a “planned ambush” that left one police officer wounded, a prosecutor said.
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The officer was shot in the neck on Friday, the night of the Fourth of July, after reporting to the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Dallas. He was treated at a hospital and released, the Johnson County Sheriff’s office said.
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The shooting took place as President Donald Trump ’s administration ramps up deportations, which will be turbocharged by a massive spending bill that became law last week.
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Initially, the attackers set off fireworks, and damaged cars and a guard structure by spray-painting “traitor” and ”ICE pig” on them. The attack “seemed to be designed” to draw U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel outside the facility, “and it worked,” Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said at a Monday night news conference in Fort Worth.
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Two unarmed corrections officers spoke to the group in the detention center’s parking lot as someone standing in nearby woods appeared to signal with a flashlight, according to a criminal complaint. Then the Alvarado police officer arrived and someone in the woods opened fire, Larson said.
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“Another assailant, who was across the street, nowhere near the corrections officers, shot 20 to 30 rounds at these unarmed corrections officers,” she said. “There was an AR-style rifle found at the scene” that was jammed, she said. A flag saying “Resist fascism, fight oligarchy,” and flyers with words such as “Fight ICE terror with class war” also were recovered near the center.
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The group fled. Sheriff’s deputies stopped seven people about 300 yards (275 meters) from where the officer was shot.
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“Some were wearing body armor, some were covered in mud, some were armed, and some had two-way radios on them,” Larson said.
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“It was a planned ambush with the intent to kill ICE corrections officers,” she said.
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Sheriff’s deputies also stopped a van leaving the area and found two AR-style rifles and a pistol, along with ballistic-style vests and a helmet, the complaint said.
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The driver, the only person in the van, said he had been at the detention center. He said he had met some people online and drove some of them to the detention center from Dallas to “make some noise,” according to the complaint.
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On Monday, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a U.S. Border Patrol facility more than 400 miles (640 kilometers) south in McAllen, injuring a police officer. Authorities shot and killed the attacker.
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Asked if the two shootings were connected, Larson said she could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.
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Additional searches in Alvarado led to masks, goggles, tactical gloves, more body armor, weapons, spray paint and fireworks, Larson said.
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An extra layer of protection has been provided for staff at the Prairieland center, said Josh Johnson, the acting Enforcement and Removal Operations field office director in Dallas.
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The 10 men and women, most of them from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, have each been charged with three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Another person was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy for attempting to conceal and destroy evidence, Larson said.
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U.S. District Court records do not list names of attorneys representing the group, or scheduled court appearances.
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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Two women died Sunday at a church in Lexington, Kentucky, in a shooting rampage that began when a state trooper was wounded after making a traffic stop, police said. The suspect in both shootings was also killed.
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The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the traffic stop near Lexington’s airport and fled to Richmond Road Baptist Church, where he opened fire, city Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said. Killed in the shootings at the church were a 72-year-old woman and a 32-year-old woman, the local coroner said.
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Two other people were wounded at the church and taken to a local hospital, the police chief said. One victim sustained critical injuries and the other was in stable condition, Weathers said.
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The suspect was shot by police and died at the scene, he said. The suspect was not immediately identified pending notification of family, he said.
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“Preliminary information indicates that the suspect may have had a connection to the individuals at the church,” the police chief said at a news conference.
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The trooper stopped the vehicle after receiving a “license plate reader alert” and was shot about 11:30 a.m., Weathers said. The trooper was in stable condition, he said.
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Police tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Baptist church, the police chief said. The church is about 16 miles 26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot.
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The shootings remain under investigation, Weathers said.
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Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the church is home to a small, tight-knit congregation.
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“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence, and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post.
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State Attorney General Russell Coleman said detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies. “Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House,” Coleman said in a statement. “The attack on law enforcement and people of faith in Lexington shocked the entire Commonwealth.”
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving 24 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including more than 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters.
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Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information about people caught in the flood zone. At least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
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At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been killed. Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far, including 167 by helicopter.
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The missing children were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River in the small town of Hunt. Elinor Lester, 13, said she and her cabin mates had to be helicoptered to safety.
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A raging storm woke up her cabin around 1:30 a.m., and when rescuers arrived, Lester said they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees.
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“The camp was completely destroyed,” she said. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
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The situation was still developing and officials said the death toll could change, with rescue operations ongoing for an unspecified total number of missing.
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Authorities were still working to identify the dead.
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Pleading for information after flash flood
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A river gauge at Hunt recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters).
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“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.
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On the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page, people posted pictures of loved ones and begged for help finding them.
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At least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used, with some people being rescued from trees.
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About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said.
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Search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can,” he said.
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‘Pitch black wall of death’
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In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.
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“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
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Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.”
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Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone.
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“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then: “a pitch black wall of death.”
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Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. He and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling “help!” from the water but couldn’t see anyone, he said.
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‘I was scared to death’
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At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.
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Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother’s arms.
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Barry Adelman, 54, said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson. The water started coming trough the attic floor before finally receding.
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“I was horrified,” he said. “I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death.”
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‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
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The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.
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Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.
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“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land,” Patrick said. “Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”
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Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s chief elected official, said: “We do not have a warning system.”
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When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren’t taken, Kelly responded: “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”
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“We have floods all the time,” he added. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
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Popular tourism area prone to flooding
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The area is known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.
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“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”
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River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent.
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“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.
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___
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This story has been updated to correct that Patrick is the lieutenant governor.
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—-
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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, and Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut, also contributed.
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — At least three people were missing in a mountain village in southern New Mexico that is a popular summer retreat after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding Tuesday that was so intense an entire house was swept downstream.
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Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
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No deaths were immediately reported, but three people had been taken to the hospital and were in stable condition, according to Kerry Gladden, public information officer for Ruidoso.
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The water had receded by Tuesday night and search and rescue and swift water rescue teams were scouring the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways. Some cars were left stranded in the mud.
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Two National Guard rescue teams and several local teams already were in the area when the flooding began, Silva said, and more Guard teams were expected.
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The floods came just days after flash floods in Texas killed over 100 people and left more than 160 people missing.
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In New Mexico, officials urged residents to seek higher ground Tuesday afternoon as the waters of the Rio Ruidoso rose nearly 19 feet (2.7 meters) in a matter of minutes amid heavy rainfall. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in the area, which was stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires.
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A weather service flood gauge and companion video camera showed churning waters of the Rio Ruidoso surge over the river’s banks into surrounding forest. Streets and bridges were closed in response.
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Kaitlyn Carpenter, an artist in Ruidoso, was riding her motorcycle through town Tuesday afternoon when the storm started to pick up, and she sought shelter at the riverside Downshift Brewing Company with about 50 other people. She started to film debris rushing down the Rio Ruidoso when she spotted a house float by with a familiar turquoise door. It belonged to the family of one of her best friends.
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Her friend’s family was not in the house and is safe, she said.
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“I’ve been in that house and have memories in that house, so seeing it come down the river was just pretty heartbreaking,” Carpenter said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
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During a radio address Tuesday night, Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford encouraged residents to call an emergency line if their loved ones or neighbors were missing. He also said there were reports of dead horses near the town’s horse racing track
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“We knew that we were going to have floods ... and this one hit us harder than what we were expecting,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford said.
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The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the South Fork and Salt fires raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed an estimated 1,400 homes and structures. Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.
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“We know that the water levels seemed to be higher than they were last summer,” Silva said. “It is a significant amount of water flowing throughout, some of it in new areas that didn’t flood last year.”
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Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched last year by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
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Preliminary measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet (6 meters) — a record high if confirmed — and was receding Tuesday evening.
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Three shelters opened in the Ruidoso area for people who could not return home.
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Cory State, who works at the Downshift Brewing Company, welcomed in dozens of residents as the river surged and hail pelted the windows. The house floating by was “just one of the many devastating things about today,” he said.
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The sight brought back painful memories for Carpenter, whose art studio was swept away during a flood last year. Outside, the air smelled of gasoline, and loud crashes could be heard as the river knocked down trees in its path.
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“It’s pretty terrifying,” she said.
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___
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Peipert reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Denver, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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Jane Towler was up late in a small cabin along the Guadalupe River as thunder boomed through a thrashing rain. It was 4 a.m. and water was pooling on the floor. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was her friend from a nearby cabin.
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“Jane, we’re f—ed!”
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Brian Keeper said frantically.
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“The water’s in my house! Get out!”
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Towler’s grandfather bought the property in Texas Hill Country in the 1930s, and she’s lived through many floods in her 70 years, losing a canoe or chairs here and there. But last Friday was different.
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The river would swell 26 feet (nearly 8 meters) in 45 minutes and lay waste to homes and buildings, sweep away cars and trucks, and claim the lives of more than 100 people, including many summer campers.
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Towler didn’t know how bad things would get, but the fear in Keeper’s voice kicked her into flight mode.
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|
||||
Pulling shoes onto bare feet, she ran in her pajamas toward the nearby house where her son, Alden Towler, and family friend Shabd Simon-Alexander were sleeping, along with Simon-Alexander’s toddler daughter.
|
||||
|
||||
Towler, her son and Simon-Alexander chronicled their harrowing survival in several videos and hundreds of photos shared with The Associated Press.
|
||||
|
||||
When her son awoke to Simon-Alexander’s desperate screams, the water was already ankle deep.
|
||||
|
||||
“Who do we tell? We have to tell someone,”
|
||||
|
||||
Simon-Alexander said in one of the videos.
|
||||
|
||||
“Everything in our yard has floated away,” Jane Towler said as her video captured the muddy water rising in the kitchen. Simon-Alexander’s daughter was quiet, strapped to her mother’s chest.
|
||||
|
||||
“Okay, I want us to be prepared to go up in the attic,” Jane Towler said.
|
||||
|
||||
Alden Towler got busy stacking belongings on a bed in another room to keep them dry. But Simon-Alexander pointed out the futility.
|
||||
|
||||
“When your mom got here, there was no water on the ground,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
With the water now at his knees and him still in just underwear, Alden Towler shifted priorities and grabbed a bottle of water and peanuts.
|
||||
|
||||
“What if we go up hill?” he asked.
|
||||
|
||||
“We cant get out! The whole area is flooded! OK, do you want to go see? I don’t want you to get flash flooded away, Alden!” his mother said as she opened the hatch to the attic.
|
||||
|
||||
As the fridge toppled over with a splash, their narrowing options crystalized.
|
||||
|
||||
“What do we do to be safe? Go on the roof?” asked Jane Towler.
|
||||
|
||||
“I guess we go on the roof,” her son replied.
|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
In the wooded outskirts of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a perplexed landlord noticed odd sights at two of his rental properties.
|
||||
|
||||
Tenants wore long black coats and parked box trucks outside the duplexes. They ran an electrical cord from one box truck into one of the condos, and kept a stretcher inside another.
|
||||
|
||||
A neighbor remembers similarly dressed figures walking around at night holding hands. They never spoke a word.
|
||||
|
||||
By the time the FBI searched the property last week, one of the most recent tenants had been killed in a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents in Vermont, and a second was under arrest. A third, a shadowy figure known online as “Ziz,” remains missing after authorities linked their cultlike group to six deaths in three states.
|
||||
|
||||
Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of a Border Patrol trooper in Vermont during a traffic stop. Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.
|
||||
|
||||
Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.
|
||||
|
||||
At the middle of it all is “Ziz,” who appears to be the leader of the strange group, who called themselves “Zizians.” She has been seen near multiple crime scenes and has connections to various suspects.
|
||||
|
||||
She was even declared dead for a time, before reappearing amid more violence.
|
||||
@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The Morning Wire
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
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|
||||
Exclusive insights and key stories from the world of politics.
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||||
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
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|
||||
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||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
Get AP's first personalized newsletter delivering you entertainment news twice a week.
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
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|
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|
||||
@ -1,184 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
President Donald Trump has sent letters this week outlining higher tariffs countries will face if they don’t make trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1.
|
||||
|
||||
Some mirror the so-called “reciprocal” rates Trump unveiled against dozens of trading partners in April — the bulk of which were later postponed just hours after taking effect. But many are higher or lower than those previously announced amounts.
|
||||
|
||||
So far, Trump has warned the European Union and 24 nations, including major trading partners like South Korea and Japan, that steeper tariffs will be imposed starting Aug. 1.
|
||||
|
||||
Nearly all of these letters took the same general tone with the exception of Brazil, Canada, the EU and Mexico, which included more specifics about Trump’s issues with those countries.
|
||||
|
||||
Nearly every country has faced a minimum 10% levy on goods entering the U.S. since April, on top of other levies on specific products like steel and automobiles. And future escalation is still possible. In his letters, which were posted on Truth Social, Trump warned countries that they would face even higher tariffs if they retaliated by increasing their own import taxes.
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s a look at the countries that have gotten tariff letters so far — and where things stand now:
|
||||
|
||||
Brazil
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 50% starting Aug. 1. Brazil wasn’t threatened with an elevated “reciprocal” rate in April — but, like other countries, has faced Trump’s 10% baseline over the last three months.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Petroleum, iron products, coffee and fruit juice.
|
||||
|
||||
Response: In a forceful response, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Trump’s tariffs would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law — which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness. He also noted that the U.S. has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years.
|
||||
|
||||
Myanmar
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 40% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 44% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Clothing, leather goods and seafood
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government said it will follow up with negotiations.
|
||||
|
||||
Laos
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 40% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 48% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Shoes with textile uppers, wood furniture, electronic components and optical fiber
|
||||
|
||||
Cambodia
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 36% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 49% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Textiles, clothing, shoes and bicycles
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Cambodia’s chief negotiator, Sun Chanthol, said the country successfully got the tariff dropped from the 49% Trump announced in April to 36% and is ready to hold a new round of negotiations. He appealed to investors, especially factory owners, and the country’s nearly 1 million garment workers not to panic about the tariff rate announced Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
Thailand
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 36% starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Computer parts, rubber products and gemstones
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said Thailand will continue to push for tariff negotiations with the United States. Thailand on Sunday submitted a new proposal that includes opening the Thai market for more American agricultural and industrial products and increasing imports of energy and aircraft.
|
||||
|
||||
Bangladesh
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 35% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 37% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key export to the U.S.: Clothing
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Bangladesh’s finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said Bangladesh hopes to negotiate for a better outcome. There are concerns that additional tariffs would make Bangladesh’s garment exports less competitive with countries like Vietnam and India.
|
||||
|
||||
Canada
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 35% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 25% imposed earlier this year on goods that don’t comply with a North American trade agreement covering the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Some of Canada’s top exports to the U.S. are subject to different industry-specific tariffs.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Oil and petroleum products, cars and trucks
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X early Friday that the government will continue to work toward a trade deal by the new Aug. 1 deadline.
|
||||
|
||||
Serbia
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 35% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 37% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Software and IT services; car tires
|
||||
|
||||
Indonesia
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 32% starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Palm oil, cocoa butter and semiconductors
|
||||
|
||||
Algeria
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Petroleum, cement and iron products
|
||||
|
||||
Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 35% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Weapons and ammunition
|
||||
|
||||
The European Union
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 20% announced in April but less than the 50% Trump later threatened.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits.
|
||||
|
||||
Iraq
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 39% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Crude oil and petroleum products
|
||||
|
||||
Response: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tariffs would disrupt essential supply chains “to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.” She said the EU remains ready to continue working toward an agreement but will take necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including countermeasures if required.
|
||||
|
||||
Libya
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 31% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Petroleum products
|
||||
|
||||
Mexico
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 25% imposed earlier this year on goods that don’t comply with the free trade agreement covering the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Some of Mexico’s top exports to the U.S. are subject to other sector-specific tariffs.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Cars, motor vehicle parts and accessories, crude oil, delivery trucks, computers, agricultural products
|
||||
|
||||
South Africa
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Platinum, diamonds, vehicles and auto parts
|
||||
|
||||
Response: The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that the tariff rates announced by Trump mischaracterized the trade relationship with the U.S., but it would “continue with its diplomatic efforts towards a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States” after having proposed a trade framework on May 20.
|
||||
|
||||
Sri Lanka
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 30% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 44% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Clothing and rubber products
|
||||
|
||||
Brunei
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Mineral fuels and machinery equipment
|
||||
|
||||
Moldova
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 31% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Fruit juice, wine, clothing and plastic products
|
||||
|
||||
Japan
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Autos, auto parts, electronic
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the tariff “extremely regrettable” but said he was determined to continue negotiating.
|
||||
|
||||
Kazakhstan
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 27% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Oil, uranium, ferroalloys and silver
|
||||
|
||||
Malaysia
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Electronics and electrical products
|
||||
|
||||
Response: Malaysia’s government said it will pursue talks with the U.S. A cabinet meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
South Korea
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Vehicles, machinery and electronics
|
||||
|
||||
Response: South Korea’s Trade Ministry said early Tuesday that it will accelerate negotiations with the United States to achieve a deal before the 25% tax goes into effect.
|
||||
|
||||
Tunisia
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 25% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 28% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Animal and vegetable fats, clothing, fruit and nuts
|
||||
|
||||
Philippines
|
||||
|
||||
Tariff rate: 20% starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 17% announced in April.
|
||||
|
||||
Key exports to the U.S.: Electronics and machinery, clothing and gold
|
||||
@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A ruling expected this week by the highest chamber of the European Court of Human Rights could reignite champion runner Caster Semenya’s yearslong legal battle against sports authorities over sex eligibility rules that banned her and other women from top events including the Olympics and world championships.
|
||||
|
||||
If a panel of judges upholds a 2023 decision by the same court in Semenya’s favor, it would put renewed scrutiny on track and field’s rules requiring some female athletes to suppress their natural testosterone levels in order to compete — and open a legal avenue for the regulations to be struck down.
|
||||
|
||||
That would have implications across sports and further inflame a larger issue that has been politicized by U.S. President Donald Trump and others with claims that the future of women’s competition is at stake. Track’s regulations have become a blueprint for other sports when dealing with athletes like two-time Olympic champion Semenya, who present the most complex dilemma for sports administrators when determining sex eligibility.
|
||||
|
||||
The case is about whether athletes like Semenya, who have specific medical conditions, a typical male chromosome pattern and naturally high testosterone levels, should be allowed to compete freely in women’s sports.
|
||||
|
||||
Track authorities say the rules are necessary to maintain fairness because Semenya has an unfair, male-like athletic advantage from her higher testosterone. Semenya argues her testosterone is a genetic gift.
|
||||
|
||||
The European court’s Grand Chamber — where 17 judges rule on the most important and difficult cases — said it will on Thursday deliver a verdict that’s been deliberated on for nearly two years. The judges will decide whether to uphold a ruling from two years ago that the South African may have been discriminated against and prevented from practicing her profession by the regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya refused to take medication to lower her natural testosterone level, and the regulations effectively ended her career.
|
||||
|
||||
Another victory for Semenya at the human rights court would not immediately result in the rules being removed, but would keep her legal challenge alive. If the Grand Chamber rules against Semenya, it would most likely be the end of her case as its decisions cannot be appealed.
|
||||
|
||||
Long, contentious legal battle
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya’s career has been a firestorm of controversy since she arrived in international track as an unknown teenager in 2009 and won the world title in the 800 meters. She was immediately subjected to sex tests.
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya is not transgender and her case has often been misconstrued. She was assigned female at birth, raised as a girl and has always identified as female. But she has one of a number of conditions which are known as differences of sex development, or DSDs, and which lead to testosterone levels that are higher than the typical female range.
|
||||
|
||||
An assertion by track’s governing body, World Athletics, that Semenya is “biologically male” enraged her.
|
||||
|
||||
World Athletics drew up rules in 2018 forcing Semenya and other female athletes with DSDs to suppress their testosterone to be eligible for international women’s events.
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya challenged the rules in court and lost at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland in 2019. She also lost an appeal against that decision at the Swiss supreme court in 2020. Her 2023 appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France was her first major legal victory.
|
||||
|
||||
It found that the regulations did — on the face of it — violate her rights and “serious questions” over the rules hadn’t been dealt with, like what effects using birth control medication to suppress hormone levels had on athletes.
|
||||
|
||||
Should the panel of top judges agree on Thursday, Semenya’s case would go back to the Swiss supreme court and possibly all the way back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, though that would still likely take years.
|
||||
|
||||
Implications for sports
|
||||
|
||||
The direction of Semenya’s case could ultimately have repercussions for other high-profile Olympic sports such as swimming, which also has rules barring female athletes with high natural testosterone. Those rules were introduced in the wake of the World Athletics regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone. Track has strengthened its rules since 2019.
|
||||
|
||||
Female eligibility is a burning issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry. The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics.
|
||||
|
||||
Coventry, however, has said the IOC should now lead on the issue, echoing the clear view of most of her opponents in the March presidential election that she won.
|
||||
|
||||
A sex eligibility controversy involving female boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan raged at last year’s Paris Olympics, undermining the competition.
|
||||
|
||||
Boxing, in response, has announced it will have new sex eligibility testing.
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya’s case might set a legal precedent for all sports because there has never been one like it.
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya now
|
||||
|
||||
Semenya last competed internationally in 2019 and was the world’s dominant runner in her favorite 800-meter event. She’d won more than 30 consecutive races when the rules made her ineligible.
|
||||
|
||||
She is now 34 and has moved into coaching. She said recently her ongoing legal fight is no longer about her own running career, which is likely over, but about a principle.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s a battle for human rights now,” Semenya told a South African newspaper last month. “It’s not about competing, it’s about putting athletes’ rights first. It’s about the protection of athletes.”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist and founding member of the glam rock band Kiss, who captivated audiences with his elaborate galactic makeup and smoking guitar, died Thursday. He was 74.
|
||||
|
||||
Frehley died peacefully surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey, following a recent fall, according to his agent.
|
||||
|
||||
Family members said in a statement that they are “completely devastated and heartbroken” but will cherish his laughter and celebrate the kindness he bestowed upon others.
|
||||
|
||||
Kiss, whose hits included “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” was known for its theatrical stage shows, with fire and fake blood spewing from the mouths of band members dressed in body armor, platform boots, wigs and signature black-and-white face paint.
|
||||
|
||||
Kiss’ original lineup included Frehley, singer-guitarist Paul Stanley, tongue-wagging bassist Gene Simmons and drummer Peter Criss. Frehley’s is the first death among the four founding members.
|
||||
|
||||
Band members took on the personas of comic book-style characters — Frehley was known as “Space Ace” and “The Spaceman.” The New York-born entertainer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer often experimented with pyrotechnics, making his guitars glow, emit smoke and shoot rockets from the headstock.
|
||||
|
||||
“We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley,” Simmons and Stanley said in a joint statement. “He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of KISS’s legacy.”
|
||||
|
||||
Born Paul Daniel Frehley, he grew up in a musical family and began playing guitar at age 13. Before joining Kiss, he played in local bands around New York City and was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix at age 18.
|
||||
|
||||
Kiss was especially popular in the mid-1970s, selling tens of millions of albums and licensing its iconic look to become a marketing marvel. “Beth” was its biggest commercial hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1976.
|
||||
|
||||
As the Kennedy Center’s new chairman, President Donald Trump named Kiss as one of this year’s honorees.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2024, the band sold their catalog, brand name and intellectual property to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment Group in a deal estimated to be over $300 million.
|
||||
|
||||
Frehley frequently feuded with Stanley and Simmons through the years. He left the band in 1982, missing the years when they took off the makeup and had mixed success. Stanley later said they nearly replaced Frehley with Eddie Van Halen, but Vinnie Vincent assumed the lead guitar role.
|
||||
|
||||
Frehley performed both as a solo artist and with his band, Frehley’s Comet.
|
||||
|
||||
But he rejoined Kiss in the mid-1990s for a triumphant reunion and restoration of their original style that came after bands including Nirvana, Weezer and the Melvins had expressed affection for the band and paid them musical tributes.
|
||||
|
||||
He would leave again in 2002. When the original four entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, a dispute scrapped plans for them to perform. Simmons and Stanley objected to Criss and Frehley being inducted instead of then-guitarist Tommy Thayer and then-drummer Eric Singer.
|
||||
|
||||
Simmons told Rolling Stone magazine that year that Frehley and Criss “no longer deserve to wear the paint.” “The makeup is earned,” he added. “Just being there at the beginning is not enough.”
|
||||
|
||||
Frehley and Kiss also had a huge influence on the glammy style of 1980s so-called hair metal bands including Mötley Crüe and Poison.
|
||||
|
||||
“Ace, my brother, I surely cannot thank you enough for the years of great music, the many festivals we’ve done together and your lead guitar on Nothing But A Good Time,” Poison front man Bret Michaels said on Instagram.
|
||||
|
||||
Harder-edged bands like Metallica and Pantera were also fans, and even country superstar Garth Brooks joined the band members for a recording of their “Hard Luck Woman” on a 1994 compilation.
|
||||
@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
A Pennsylvania man who posted a video of his father’s severed head on YouTube was convicted of murder Friday and sentenced to life without parole.
|
||||
|
||||
Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr found Justin D. Mohn, 33, guilty in the January 2024 shooting death of his father at their home in the Philadelphia suburb of Levittown.
|
||||
|
||||
After the sentencing, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn told reporters Mohn had exhibited a “complete and utter lack of remorse,” calling it an “unimaginable, unfathomable crime.”
|
||||
|
||||
“We are satisfied that this was the right outcome to guarantee that the community at large is safe from Justin Mohn,” Schorn said.
|
||||
|
||||
His defense attorney called it an “undoubtedly difficult case to preside over.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Cases involving the loss of life are always the most difficult, and that difficulty is compounded when the prosecution seeks the death penalty. The commonwealth originally sought the death penalty in this case, and based on the defense that was presented on behalf of Mr. Mohn, my client will not face that penalty,” said Mohn’s lawyer, Steven M. Jones, in an email. He declined to comment on whether Mohn will appeal.
|
||||
|
||||
Prosecutors said Mohn shot his father, Michael F. Mohn, 68, with a newly purchased pistol, then decapitated him with a kitchen knife and machete. The 14-minute YouTube video he posted was live for several hours before it was removed.
|
||||
|
||||
Mohn testified during the trial that he shot his father while trying to arrest him on what he said were false statements and treason but his father resisted, so he fired at him. He said he severed his head to send a message to federal workers to meet his demands, which included their resignation among other things.
|
||||
|
||||
In victim impact statements read in court Friday, family members and others recalled Michael Mohn as a loving husband and father, a man of humility and humor who enjoyed reading, exercising and playing the guitar.
|
||||
|
||||
Justin Mohn was arrested later on the day of the murder after scaling a fence at Fort Indiantown Gap, the state’s National Guard headquarters. Prosecutors said he called for others to join him in attempting to overthrow the U.S. government.
|
||||
|
||||
Mohn had a USB device containing photos of federal buildings and apparent instructions for making explosives when he was arrested, authorities said.
|
||||
|
||||
He also expressed violent anti-government rhetoric in writings he published online, going back several years. During the trial, the judge heard from Justin Mohn’s mother, who said police came to the house he shared with his parents and warned him about his online postings before the killing.
|
||||
|
||||
Denice Mohn testified that she and her husband had been offering financial support and guidance as Justin Mohn looked for a job.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s unimaginable what the defendant did to his father and to his family,” Schorn said. “I know this verdict does provide some level of justice, but it will never heal their wounds.”
|
||||
|
||||
He was also convicted of possession of an instrument of crime, gun charges, criminal use of a communication facility, terroristic threats, defiant trespassing, and abuse of a corpse.
|
||||
|
||||
Prosecutors described the homicide as “something straight out of a horror film.” They said Justin Mohn killed his father — who had been an engineer with the geoenvironmental section of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District — to intimidate federal workers, calling it a “cold, calculated, organized plan.”
|
||||
|
||||
The YouTube video included rants about the government, immigration and the border, fiscal policy, urban crime and the war in Ukraine.
|
||||
|
||||
In the video posted on YouTube, Justin Mohn described his father as a 20-year federal employee and called him a traitor.
|
||||
|
||||
During a competency hearing last year, a defense expert said Mohn wrote a letter to Russia’s ambassador to the United States seeking to strike a deal to give Mohn refuge and apologizing to President Vladimir Putin for claiming to be the czar of Russia. The judge ruled Mohn was competent to stand trial.
|
||||
|
||||
Evidence presented at the trial included graphic photos and the video posted to YouTube. The judge warned members of the public at the trial about the images and said they could leave before the photos were shown. The proceedings are known as a bench trial, with only a judge, not a jury.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday that Pakistan had carried out two drone strikes on Kabul the previous day, just before the two neighbors announced a ceasefire following days of fighting that killed dozens in both countries and injured hundreds more.
|
||||
|
||||
The truce Wednesday brought at least a temporary halt to the deadliest clashes between the neighbors since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed government as the U.S. and NATO forces were withdrawing after 20 years of war.
|
||||
|
||||
There was no immediate response in Islamabad to the latest accusations from Kabul and it was not immediately clear how this would affect the ceasefire, which was welcomed Thursday by the United Nations as it urged both sides to bring a lasting end to hostilities.
|
||||
|
||||
Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing operations, had earlier told The Associated Press that Pakistani forces had targeted militant hideouts on Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, told The Associated Press that the strikes hit the city on Wednesday afternoon. He said the drones hit a civilian house and a market. Zadran did not give casualty figures, but hospital doctors said earlier that five people were killed and dozens were injured.
|
||||
|
||||
The surgical center run by Emergency, a nongovernmental organization, said people had suffered shrapnel wounds, blunt force trauma, and burns. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, initially said there had been an oil tanker explosion.
|
||||
|
||||
Cross-border violence has escalated since Oct. 10, with both Islamabad and Kabul saying they were retaliating to armed provocations from the other.
|
||||
|
||||
The truce announced by the two sides Wednesday followed appeals from major regional powers, as the violence threatened to destabilize a region where groups, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, are trying to resurface. There were no reports of overnight fighting. Key border crossings remained closed on Thursday.
|
||||
|
||||
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan welcomed the ceasefire. It said the heaviest toll was in the south on Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
The mission, known as UNAMA, said on Thursday that 37 civilians were killed and 425 were wounded in Afghanistan as a result of cross-border clashes with Pakistan this week. The casualties took place in Paktya, Paktika, Kunar, Khost, Kandahar and Helmand provinces, it said.
|
||||
|
||||
It said it has also documented at least 16 civilian casualties in several Afghan provinces during earlier clashes between the two countries.
|
||||
|
||||
“UNAMA calls on all parties to bring a lasting end to hostilities to protect civilians and prevent further loss of life,” the mission added.
|
||||
|
||||
Pakistan has not provided figures for civilian casualties suffered on its side of the border. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of harboring militants, a charge rejected by the Taliban. Pakistan is grappling with attacks that have increased since 2021.
|
||||
|
||||
Pakistani officials said security forces had shot and killed dozens of militants who crossed over from Afghanistan on Thursday. They were spotted in Mohmand district, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
|
||||
|
||||
The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) long border known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never recognized.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — The flight data recorder from the crashed Air India flight was recovered Friday in what likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident that killed 241 people on the plane and a number of others on the ground.
|
||||
|
||||
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when the plane came down shortly after takeoff on Thursday in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad.
|
||||
|
||||
The plane’s digital flight data recorder, or black box, was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that it had begun its work with “full force.” The black box recovery marks an important step forward in the investigation, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a social media post.
|
||||
|
||||
The device will reveal information about the engine and control settings, in addition to what the voice recorder will show about the cockpit conversations, Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
“This should show quickly if there was a loss of engine power or lift after takeoff and allow a preliminary determination of the likely cause for the crash,” said Fromme, who heads the professional association’s Aerospace Division.
|
||||
|
||||
Separately, the country’s civil aviation regulator ordered Air India to conduct additional inspections of its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric’s GEnx engines. That includes checks of the fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and takeoff parameters, the order said.
|
||||
|
||||
Investigators on Friday continued searching the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger a day after the crash.
|
||||
|
||||
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape.
|
||||
|
||||
Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, whether the engine lost power, whether alarms were going off inside the cockpit and whether the plane’s crew correctly inputted information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said.
|
||||
|
||||
Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“I’m not saying that this accident’s going to be solved immediately, but I think some basic factual questions will be able to be answered in quick order,” Guzzetti said.
|
||||
|
||||
At least five people were were killed on the ground and about 50 injured, but many more victims victims were expected to be found in the search of the crash site. DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition.
|
||||
|
||||
The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.
|
||||
|
||||
“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”
|
||||
|
||||
Modi meets lone survivor
|
||||
|
||||
The survivor was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.
|
||||
@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases and mental health problems like depression, a new study says.
|
||||
|
||||
Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children’s physical and mental health at the same time.
|
||||
|
||||
“The surprising part of the study wasn’t any with any single statistic; it was that there’s 170 indicators, eight data sources, all showing the same thing: a generalized decline in kids’ health,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the authors of the study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
|
||||
|
||||
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has brought children’s health to the forefront of the national policy conversation, unveiling in May a much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report that described kids as undernourished and overmedicated, and raised concerns about their lack of physical activity. But the Trump administration’s actions — including cuts to federal health agencies, Medicaid and scientific research — are not likely to reverse the trend, according to outside experts who reviewed Monday’s study.
|
||||
|
||||
“The health of kids in America is not as good as it should be, not as good as the other countries, and the current policies of this administration are definitely going to make it worse,” said Dr. Frederick Rivara, a pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine in Seattle. He co-authored an editorial accompanying the new study.
|
||||
|
||||
Forrest and his colleagues analyzed surveys, electronic health records from 10 pediatric health systems and international mortality statistics. Among their findings:
|
||||
|
||||
— Obesity rates for U.S. children 2-19 years old rose from 17% in 2007-2008 to about 21% in 2021-2023.
|
||||
|
||||
— A U.S. child in 2023 was 15% to 20% more likely than a U.S. child in 2011 to have a chronic condition such as anxiety, depression or sleep apnea, according to data reported by parents and doctors.
|
||||
|
||||
— Annual prevalence rates for 97 chronic conditions recorded by doctors rose from about 40% in 2011 to about 46% in 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
— Early onset of menstruation, trouble sleeping, limitations in activity, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms and loneliness also increased among American kids during the study period.
|
||||
|
||||
— American children were around 1.8 times more likely to die than kids in other high-income countries from 2007-2022. Being born premature and sudden unexpected death were much higher among U.S. infants, and firearm-related incidents and motor vehicle crashes were much more common among 1-19-year-old American kids than among those the same age in other countries examined.
|
||||
|
||||
The research points to bigger problems with America’s health, said Forrest, who is a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
|
||||
|
||||
“Kids are the canaries in the coal mine,” he said. “ When kids’ health changes, it’s because they’re at increased vulnerability, and it reflects what’s happening in society at large.”
|
||||
|
||||
The timing of the study, he said, is “completely fortuitous.” Well before the 2024 presidential election, Forrest was working on a book about thriving over the life span and couldn’t find this sort of comprehensive data on children’s health.
|
||||
|
||||
The datasets analyzed have some limitations and may not be applicable to the full U.S. population, noted Dr. James Perrin, a pediatrician and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, who wasn’t involved in the study.
|
||||
|
||||
“The basic finding is true,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
The editorial published alongside the study said while the administration’s MAHA movement is bringing welcome attention to chronic diseases, “it is pursuing other policies that will work against the interests of children.” Those include eliminating injury prevention and maternal health programs, canceling investments in a campaign addressing sudden infant death and “fueling vaccine hesitancy among parents that may lead to a resurgence of deadly vaccine-preventable diseases,” authors wrote.
|
||||
|
||||
Officials from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment.
|
||||
|
||||
Forrest said risks highlighted by the MAHA report, such as eating too much ultra-processed food, are real but miss the complex reality driving trends in children’s health.
|
||||
|
||||
“We have to step back and take some lessons from the ecological sustainability community and say: Let’s look at the ecosystem that kids are growing up in. And let’s start on a kind of neighborhood-by-neighborhood, city-by-city basis, examining it,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
____
|
||||
|
||||
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
|
||||
@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — An army colonel who seized power in a military coup was sworn in as Madagascar’s new leader Friday in a lightning-fast power grab that ousted the president and sent him fleeing the country and into hiding.
|
||||
|
||||
Col. Michael Randrianirina, the commander of an elite army unit, took the oath of office to become the new president at a ceremony in the main chamber of the nation’s High Constitutional Court, in front of its nine red-robed judges.
|
||||
|
||||
His ascent to the presidency came just three days after he announced that the armed forces were taking power in the Indian Ocean island of around 30 million people off Africa’s east coast.
|
||||
|
||||
Call for unity
|
||||
|
||||
The nation had been rocked by three weeks of youth-led anti-government protests that started with frustration over chronic water and electricity outages but snowballed into anger with the leadership of President Andry Rajoelina. At least 22 people were killed in the protests after an initial crackdown by security forces, the United Nations said.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today marks a turning point for our nation, for the Madagascan people themselves are thirsting for profound change in the way our country is governed,” Randrianirina said in a speech from a podium next to a red, green and white Madagascan flag. He called for peace and unity and promised to “break away from the harmful practices of the past.”
|
||||
|
||||
The U.N. has condemned the military takeover as an unconstitutional change of government but there has been little significant reaction from other countries, including Madagascar’s former colonial ruler, France. The takeover led to Madagascar being suspended from the African Union.
|
||||
|
||||
Madagascar is widely known as the world’s largest vanilla provider and the home of the stripy-tailed primates called lemurs, but it also has a tumultuous history of political instability.
|
||||
|
||||
The country has seen several coups and attempted coups since gaining independence in 1960, including the one that first brought Rajoelina to power as a transitional president in 2009. Despite championing the hopes of the youth, Rajoelina has been criticized for doing little to improve the lives of Madagascans, with around 75% of the population living in poverty, according to the World Bank.
|
||||
|
||||
Ousted president is in hiding
|
||||
|
||||
Rajoelina’s whereabouts are unknown after he left the country claiming his life was in danger following the rebellion. He reportedly escaped on a French military plane. In his absence, Rajoelina was impeached in a vote in parliament on Tuesday, right before the colonel announced the military was taking power.
|
||||
|
||||
“The previous president failed to listen to the youth — and this is the result,” said Emmanuel Rabemanantsoa, a young Madagascan who had taken part in the Gen Z-led protests.
|
||||
|
||||
Randrianirina, who is believed to be 50 or 51 years old, swapped his military camouflage for a dark suit and blue tie for the swearing-in ceremony, which was attended by military officers, civilian officials and foreign diplomats. Military guards of honor on either side of the room drew ceremonial swords to mark the moment, and a line of soldiers blew trumpets.
|
||||
|
||||
The colonel, who emerged from relative obscurity to lead the rebellion by his CAPSAT military unit less than a week ago, was briefly imprisoned two years ago for an attempted mutiny. He said he spent most of the three months he was detained in late 2023 and early 2024 at a military hospital.
|
||||
|
||||
Up to 2 years of military rule
|
||||
|
||||
Randrianirina has said Madagascar will be run by a military council with him as president for between 18 months and two years before any new elections, meaning the young people who inspired the uprising may have a long wait before they are able to choose a leader. Analysts question if the youth uprising was pounced on by the military to seize power.
|
||||
|
||||
The protests have echoed other Gen Z-led uprisings in Nepal, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Young Madagascans first took to the streets last month to rail against water and power outages, but have raised other issues, including the cost of living, the lack of opportunities and alleged corruption and nepotism by the elite.
|
||||
|
||||
Randrianirina seized on the momentum last weekend when he and his soldiers joined the anti-government protests that called for the president and government ministers to step down. There was a brief clash between his soldiers and gendarmerie security forces still loyal to Rajoelina, during which one CAPSAT soldier was killed, the colonel said.
|
||||
|
||||
But there has been no major violence and Randrianirina’s troops have been cheered while riding through the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, in armored vehicles and their takeover celebrated by Madagascans.
|
||||
|
||||
Randrianirina said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the military takeover was a move to “take responsibility as citizens and patriots” to save “a dying country.”
|
||||
|
||||
Coup condemned
|
||||
|
||||
Rajoelina’s office has said a move earlier this week by the High Constitutional Court to invite Randrianirina to become the new president was flawed and claimed that some of the court’s judges had been threatened to sign off on an illegal coup.
|
||||
|
||||
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the unconstitutional change of government and called “for the return to constitutional order and the rule of law,” his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said. The African Union said it “totally rejects” the takeover.
|
||||
|
||||
The European Union called for the restoring of “democratic values” in Madagascar through a national dialogue, a spokesperson said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,164 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services. But the number of civilians killed has also soared, fueling fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.
|
||||
|
||||
Militaries have for years hired private companies to build custom autonomous weapons. However, Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the United States have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed to help decide who lives and who dies.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military uses AI to sift through vast troves of intelligence, intercepted communications and surveillance to find suspicious speech or behavior and learn the movements of its enemies. After a deadly surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, its use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an Associated Press investigation found. The investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms. It was based on internal documents, data and exclusive interviews with current and former Israeli officials and company employees.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is the first confirmation we have gotten that commercial AI models are directly being used in warfare,” said Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute and former senior safety engineer at OpenAI. “The implications are enormous for the role of tech in enabling this type of unethical and unlawful warfare going forward.”
|
||||
|
||||
The rise of AI
|
||||
|
||||
As U.S. tech titans ascend to prominent roles under President Donald Trump, the AP’s findings raise questions about Silicon Valley’s role in the future of automated warfare. Microsoft expects its partnership with the Israeli military to grow, and what happens with Israel may help determine the use of these emerging technologies around the world.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military’s usage of Microsoft and OpenAI artificial intelligence spiked last March to nearly 200 times higher than before the week leading up to the Oct. 7 attack, the AP found in reviewing internal company information. The amount of data it stored on Microsoft servers doubled between that time and July 2024 to more than 13.6 petabytes — roughly 350 times the digital memory needed to store every book in the Library of Congress. Usage of Microsoft’s huge banks of computer servers by the military also rose by almost two-thirds in the first two months of the war alone.
|
||||
|
||||
Israel’s goal after the attack that killed about 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages was to eradicate Hamas, and its military has called AI a “game changer” in yielding targets more swiftly. Since the war started, more than 50,000 people have died in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly 70% of the buildings in Gaza have been devastated, according to health ministries in Gaza and Lebanon.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP’s investigation drew on interviews with six current and former members of the Israeli army, including three reserve intelligence officers. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive military operations.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP also interviewed 14 current and former employees inside Microsoft, OpenAI, Google and Amazon, most of whom also spoke anonymously for fear of retribution. Journalists reviewed internal company data and documents, including one detailing the terms of a $133 million contract between Microsoft and Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military says its analysts use AI-enabled systems to help identify targets but independently examine them together with high-ranking officers to meet international law, weighing the military advantage against the collateral damage. A senior Israeli intelligence official authorized to speak to the AP said lawful military targets may include combatants fighting against Israel, wherever they are, and buildings used by militants. Officials insist that even when AI plays a role, there are always several layers of humans in the loop.
|
||||
|
||||
“These AI tools make the intelligence process more accurate and more effective,” said an Israeli military statement to the AP. “They make more targets faster, but not at the expense of accuracy, and many times in this war they’ve been able to minimize civilian casualties.”
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military declined to answer detailed written questions from the AP about its use of commercial AI products from American tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
Microsoft declined to comment for this story and did not respond to a detailed list of written questions about cloud and AI services provided to the Israeli military. In a statement on its website, the company says it is committed “to champion the positive role of technology across the globe.” In its 40-page Responsible AI Transparency Report for 2024, Microsoft pledges to manage the risks of AI throughout development “to reduce the risk of harm,” and does not mention its lucrative military contracts.
|
||||
|
||||
Advanced AI models are provided through OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, where they are purchased by the Israeli military, the documents and data show. Microsoft has been OpenAI’s largest investor. OpenAI said it does not have a partnership with Israel’s military, and its usage policies say its customers should not use its products to develop weapons, destroy property or harm people. About a year ago, however, OpenAI changed its terms of use from barring military use to allowing for “national security use cases that align with our mission.”
|
||||
|
||||
The human toll of AI
|
||||
|
||||
It’s extremely hard to identify when AI systems enable errors because they are used with so many other forms of intelligence, including human intelligence, sources said. But together they can lead to wrongful deaths.
|
||||
|
||||
In November 2023, Hoda Hijazi was fleeing with her three young daughters and her mother from clashes between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah on the Lebanese border when their car was bombed.
|
||||
|
||||
Before they left, the adults told the girls to play in front of the house so that Israeli drones would know they were traveling with children. The women and girls drove alongside Hijazi’s uncle, Samir Ayoub, a journalist with a leftist radio station, who was caravanning in his own car. They heard the frenetic buzz of a drone very low overhead.
|
||||
|
||||
Soon, an airstrike hit the car Hijazi was driving. It careened down a slope and burst into flames. Ayoub managed to pull Hijazi out, but her mother — Ayoub’s sister — and the three girls — Rimas, 14, Taline, 12, and Liane, 10 — were dead.
|
||||
|
||||
Before they left their home, Hijazi recalled, one of the girls had insisted on taking pictures of the cats in the garden “because maybe we won’t see them again.”
|
||||
|
||||
In the end, she said, “the cats survived and the girls are gone.”
|
||||
|
||||
Video footage from a security camera at a convenience store shortly before the strike showed the Hijazi family in a Hyundai SUV, with the mother and one of the girls loading jugs of water. The family says the video proves Israeli drones should have seen the women and children.
|
||||
|
||||
The day after the family was hit, the Israeli military released video of the strike along with a package of similar videos and photos. A statement released with the images said Israeli fighter jets had “struck just over 450 Hamas targets.” The AP’s visual analysis matched the road and other geographical features in the Israeli military video to satellite imagery of the location where the three girls died, 1 mile (1.7 kilometers) from the store.
|
||||
|
||||
An Israeli intelligence officer told the AP that AI has been used to help pinpoint all targets in the past three years. In this case, AI likely pinpointed a residence, and other intelligence gathering could have placed a person there. At some point, the car left the residence.
|
||||
|
||||
Humans in the target room would have decided to strike. The error could have happened at any point, he said: Previous faulty information could have flagged the wrong residence, or they could have hit the wrong vehicle.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP also saw a message from a second source with knowledge of that airstrike who confirmed it was a mistake, but didn’t elaborate.
|
||||
|
||||
A spokesperson for the Israeli military denied that AI systems were used during the airstrike itself, but refused to answer whether AI helped select the target or whether it was wrong. The military told the AP that officials examined the incident and expressed “sorrow for the outcome.”
|
||||
|
||||
How it works
|
||||
|
||||
Microsoft and the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI are among a legion of U.S. tech firms that have supported Israel’s wars in recent years.
|
||||
|
||||
Google and Amazon provide cloud computing and AI services to the Israeli military under “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 when Israel first tested out its in-house AI-powered targeting systems. The military has used Cisco and Dell server farms or data centers. Red Hat, an independent IBM subsidiary, also has provided cloud computing technologies to the Israeli military, and Palantir Technologies, a Microsoft partner in U.S. defense contracts, has a “strategic partnership” providing AI systems to help Israel’s war efforts.
|
||||
|
||||
Google said it is committed to responsibly developing and deploying AI “that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.” Dell provided a statement saying the company commits to the highest standards in working with public and private organizations globally, including in Israel. Red Hat spokesperson Allison Showalter said the company is proud of its global customers, who comply with Red Hat’s terms to adhere to applicable laws and regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
Palantir, Cisco and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. Amazon declined to comment.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military uses Microsoft Azure to compile information gathered through mass surveillance, which it transcribes and translates, including phone calls, texts and audio messages, according to an Israeli intelligence officer who works with the systems. That data can then be cross-checked with Israel’s in-house targeting systems and vice versa.
|
||||
|
||||
He said he relies on Azure to quickly search for terms and patterns within massive text troves, such as finding conversations between two people within a 50-page document. Azure also can find people giving directions to one another in the text, which can then be cross-referenced with the military’s own AI systems to pinpoint locations.
|
||||
|
||||
The Microsoft data AP reviewed shows that since the Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli military has made heavy use of transcription and translation tools and OpenAI models, although it does not detail which. Typically, AI models that transcribe and translate perform best in English. OpenAI has acknowledged that its popular AI-powered translation model Whisper, which can transcribe and translate into multiple languages including Arabic, can make up text that no one said, including adding racial commentary and violent rhetoric.
|
||||
|
||||
“Should we be basing these decisions on things that the model could be making up?” said Joshua Kroll, an assistant professor of computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, who spoke to the AP in his personal capacity, not reflecting the views of the U.S. government.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military said any phone conversation translated from Arabic or intelligence used in identifying a target has to be reviewed by an Arabic-speaking officer.
|
||||
|
||||
Errors can still happen for many reasons involving AI, said Israeli military officers who have worked with the targeting systems and other tech experts. One intelligence officer said he had seen targeting mistakes that relied on incorrect machine translations from Arabic to Hebrew.
|
||||
|
||||
The Arabic word describing the grip on the launch tube for a rocket-propelled grenade is the same as the word for “payment.” In one instance the machine translated it wrong, and the person verifying the translation initially didn’t catch the error, he said, which could have added people speaking about payments to target lists. The officer was there by chance and caught the problem, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Intercepted phone calls tied to a person’s profile also include the time the person called and the names and numbers of those on the call. But it takes an extra step to listen to and verify the original audio, or to see a translated transcript.
|
||||
|
||||
Sometimes the data attached to people’s profiles is wrong. For example, the system misidentified a list of high school students as potential militants, according to the officer. An Excel spreadsheet attached to several people’s profiles titled “finals” in Arabic, contained at least 1,000 students’ names on an exam list in one area of Gaza, he said. This was the only piece of incriminating evidence attached to people’s files, he said, and had he not caught the mistake, those Palestinians could have been wrongly flagged.
|
||||
|
||||
He said he also worried that young officers, some still younger than 20, under pressure to find targets quickly with the help of AI would jump to conclusions.
|
||||
|
||||
AI alone could lead to the wrong conclusion, said another soldier who worked with the targeting systems. For example, AI might flag a house owned by someone linked to Hamas who does not live there. Before the house is hit, humans must confirm who is actually in it, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“Obviously there are things that I live peacefully with and things that I could have done better in some targeted attacks that I’m responsible for,” the soldier told the AP. “It’s war, things happen, mistakes happen, we are human.”
|
||||
|
||||
Tal Mimran served 10 years as a reserve legal officer for the Israeli military, and on three NATO working groups examining the use of new technologies, including AI, in warfare. Previously, he said, it took a team of up to 20 people a day or more to review and approve a single airstrike. Now, with AI systems, the military is approving hundreds a week.
|
||||
|
||||
Mimran said over-reliance on AI could harden people’s existing biases.
|
||||
|
||||
“Confirmation bias can prevent people from investigating on their own,” said Mimran, who teaches cyber law policy. “Some people might be lazy, but others might be afraid to go against the machine and be wrong and make a mistake.”
|
||||
|
||||
Deep ties
|
||||
|
||||
Among U.S. tech firms, Microsoft has had an especially close relationship with the Israeli military spanning decades.
|
||||
|
||||
That relationship, alongside those with other tech companies, stepped up after the Hamas attack. Israel’s war response strained its own servers and increased its reliance on outside, third-party vendors, according to a presentation last year by the military’s top information technology officer. As she described how AI had provided Israel “very significant operational effectiveness” in Gaza, the logos of Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services appeared on a large screen behind her.
|
||||
|
||||
“We’ve already reached a point where our systems really need it,” said Col. Racheli Dembinsky, commander of the Center of Computing and Information Systems, known by its Hebrew acronym, Mamram.
|
||||
|
||||
One three-year contract between Microsoft and the Israeli Ministry of Defense began in 2021 and was worth $133 million, making it the company’s second largest military customer globally after the U.S., according to a document reviewed by the AP. The Israeli military is classified within Microsoft as an “S500” client, meaning that it gets top priority as one of the company’s most important customers globally.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military’s service agreements with Microsoft include at least 635 individual subscriptions listed under specific divisions, units, bases or project code words. Subscription names reviewed by the AP included “Mamram” and “8200,” an elite intelligence unit known for its technological prowess.
|
||||
|
||||
One urgent Azure support ticket filed about two weeks after the Oct. 7 attack asked for delays of planned maintenance outages for the rest of the year due to the war, because any downtime could have “a direct impact on life-saving systems.” The request was flagged as being from “Glilot – 8200,” a highly secure army base that houses Unit 8200, responsible for clandestine operations, collecting signal intelligence and code decryption, cyber warfare and surveillance.
|
||||
|
||||
Records show Microsoft’s global Azure support team responded to about 130 direct requests from the Israeli military through the first 10 months of the war. Microsoft’s consulting services unit also works closely with Israel’s military, which represented half of that section’s overall revenue, an internal document said.
|
||||
|
||||
Within Israel, a team of at least nine Microsoft employees is dedicated to serving the military’s account. Among them is a senior executive who served 14 years in Unit 8200 and a former IT leader for military intelligence, according to their online resumes. Microsoft data is housed in server farms within two massive buildings outside Tel Aviv, enclosed behind high walls topped with barbed wire. Microsoft also operates a 46,000-square-meter corporate campus in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, and another office in Gav-Yam in southern Israel, which has displayed a large Israeli flag.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israel Defense Forces has long been at the forefront of deploying artificial intelligence for military use. In early 2021, it launched Gospel, an AI tool that sorts through Israel’s vast array of digitized information to suggest targets for potential strikes. It also developed Lavender, which uses machine learning to filter out requested criteria from intelligence databases and narrow down lists of potential targets, including people.
|
||||
|
||||
Lavender ranks people between 0 and 100 based on how likely it is they are a militant, said an intelligence officer who used the systems. The ranking is based on intelligence, such as the person’s family tree, if someone’s father is a known militant who served time, and intercepted phone calls, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
In May 2021, the Israeli military launched what Israeli intelligence officials described as their “First AI War,” an 11-day bombing campaign against Hamas. At the time, Israeli military officials described AI as a “force-multiplier,” allowing them to carry out far more airstrikes than in prior conflicts.
|
||||
|
||||
A 2021 post by the Israeli military also described the stakes surrounding the use of AI in war: “Unlike in the realms of AdTech and Gaming, wrong decisions in the realm of intelligence may cost lives,” it read. The same post described the military’s incorporation of AI approaches to analyze the emotional tone of communications, a technique experts have found can fail to pick slang, jargon or nuance in people’s speech.
|
||||
|
||||
Pushback from workers
|
||||
|
||||
The relationship between tech companies and the Israeli military also has ramifications in the U.S., where some employees have raised ethical concerns.
|
||||
|
||||
In October, Microsoft fired two workers for helping organize an unauthorized lunchtime vigil for Palestinian refugees at its corporate campus in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft said at the time that it ended the employment of some people “in accordance with internal policy” but declined to give details.
|
||||
|
||||
Hossam Nasr, one of the employees fired by Microsoft who works with the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, said he and former colleagues are pushing for Microsoft to stop selling cloud and AI services to the Israeli military.
|
||||
|
||||
“Cloud and AI are the bombs and bullets of the 21st century,” Nasr said. “Microsoft is providing the Israeli military with digital weapons to kill, maim and displace Palestinians, in the gravest moral travesty of our time.”
|
||||
|
||||
In April, Google fired about 50 of its workers over a sit-in at the company’s California headquarters protesting the war in Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Former Google software engineer Emaan Haseem was among those fired. Haseem said she worked on a team that helped test the reliability of a “sovereign cloud” — a secure system of servers kept so separate from the rest of Google’s global cloud infrastructure that even the company itself couldn’t access or track the data it stores. She later learned through media reports that Google was building a sovereign cloud for Israel.
|
||||
|
||||
“It seemed to be more and more obvious that we are literally just trying to design something where we won’t have to care about how our clients are using it, and if they’re using it unfairly or unethically,” Haseem said.
|
||||
|
||||
Google said the employees were fired because they disrupted work spaces and made colleagues feel unsafe. Google did not respond to specific questions about whether it was contracted to build a sovereign cloud for the Israeli military and whether it provided restrictions on the wartime use of its AI models.
|
||||
|
||||
Gaza is now in an uneasy ceasefire. But recently, the Israeli government announced it would expand its artificial intelligence developments across all its military branches.
|
||||
|
||||
Meanwhile, U.S. tech titans keep consolidating power in Washington. Microsoft gave $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Google CEO Sundar Pichai got a prime seat at the president’s inauguration. And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with the president on Trump’s second full day in office to talk up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
In a new book set to be published Tuesday, Palantir CEO Alexander Karp calls for the U.S. military and its allies to work closely with Silicon Valley to design, build and acquire AI weaponry, including “the unmanned drone swarms and robots that will dominate the coming battlefield.”
|
||||
|
||||
“The fate of the United States, and its allies, depends on the ability of their defense and intelligence agencies to evolve, and briskly,” Karp wrote, according to an advance copy obtained by the AP.
|
||||
|
||||
After OpenAI changed its terms of use last year to allow for national security purposes, Google followed suit earlier this month with a similar change to its public ethics policy to remove language saying it wouldn’t use its AI for weapons and surveillance. Google said it is committed to responsibly developing and deploying AI “that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.”
|
||||
|
||||
As tech companies jockey for contracts, those who lost relatives still search for answers.
|
||||
|
||||
“Even with all this pain, I can’t stop asking: Why?” said Mahmoud Adnan Chour, the father of the three girls killed in the car in southern Lebanon, an engineer who was away at the time. “Why did the plane choose that car — the one filled with my children’s laughter echoing from its windows?”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Biesecker reported from Washington and Burke from San Francisco. AP reporters Abby Sewell and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Julia Frankel and Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem, Dake Kang in Beijing and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
|
||||
|
||||
People embrace outside of Glass House Farms, a day after an immigration raid on the facility, on Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
|
||||
@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The largest-ever war-fighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, are underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships.
|
||||
|
||||
Australia launched missiles from its M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, on Monday during live-fire exercises at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, a 4,500 square kilometer (1,700 square mile) Outback expanse in Queensland state. The HIMARS launchers were recently bought from the United States.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today was the first time the Australian Army has live-fired our long-range, multi-domain platforms being the HIMARS, so it is a remarkable day,” Brig. Nick Wilson told reporters.
|
||||
|
||||
Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia.
|
||||
|
||||
This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia’s defense department said.
|
||||
|
||||
Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.
|
||||
|
||||
The exercise will also take place in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.
|
||||
|
||||
Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
|
||||
|
||||
“The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It’d be very unusual for them not to observe it,” Conroy said.
|
||||
|
||||
“We’ll adjust accordingly. We’ll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” Conroy added.
|
||||
|
||||
Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.
|
||||
|
||||
The exercise officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney attended by Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Pacific Lt. Gen. J.B. Vowell and Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations Vice-Adm. Justin Jones.
|
||||
|
||||
The exercise, showcasing Australia’s defense alliance with the United States, started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China, where he is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
|
||||
|
||||
Albanese said Chinese surveillance of Talisman Sabre would not be an issue raised with Xi.
|
||||
|
||||
“That would be nothing unusual. That has happened in the past and I’ll continue to assert Australia’s national interest, as I do,” Albanese told reporters in Shanghai Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
Albanese also noted that while he had visited the United States as prime minister five times, he had only been to China twice.
|
||||
|
||||
The Australian leader has been criticized at home for failing to secure a face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
|
||||
|
||||
“I look forward to a constructive engagement with President Trump. We have had three constructive phone conversations,” Albanese said.
|
||||
@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian woman Erin Patterson was found guilty Monday of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives by deliberately serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch.
|
||||
|
||||
The jury in the Supreme Court trial in Victoria state returned a verdict after six days of deliberations, following a nine-week trial that gripped Australia. Patterson faces life in prison and will be sentenced later, but a date for the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.
|
||||
|
||||
Patterson, who sat in the dock between two prison officers, showed no emotion but blinked rapidly as the verdicts were read.
|
||||
|
||||
Three of Patterson’s four lunch guests — her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson — died in the hospital after the 2023 meal at her home in Leongatha, at which she served individual beef Wellington pastries containing death cap mushrooms.
|
||||
|
||||
She was also found guilty of attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, who survived the meal.
|
||||
|
||||
The jury concluded she poisoned her guests on purpose
|
||||
|
||||
It wasn’t disputed that Patterson served the mushrooms or that the pastries killed her guests. The jury was required to decide whether she knew the lunch contained death caps, and if she intended for them to die.
|
||||
|
||||
The guilty verdicts, which were required to be unanimous, indicated that jurors rejected Patterson’s defense that the presence of the poisonous fungi in the meal was a terrible accident, caused by the mistaken inclusion of foraged mushrooms that she didn’t know were death caps. Prosecutors didn’t offer a motive for the killings, but during the trial highlighted strained relations between Patterson and her estranged husband and frustration that she had felt about his parents in the past.
|
||||
|
||||
The case turned on the question of whether Patterson meticulously planned a triple murder or accidentally killed three people she loved, including her children’s only surviving grandparents. Her lawyers said she had no reason to do so — she had recently moved to a beautiful new home, was financially comfortable, had sole custody of her children and was due to begin studying for a degree in nursing and midwifery.
|
||||
|
||||
But prosecutors suggested Patterson had two faces — the woman who publicly appeared to have a good relationship with her parents-in-law, while her private feelings about them were kept hidden. Her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, who was invited to the fatal lunch but didn’t go, deteriorated in the year before the deaths, the prosecution said.
|
||||
|
||||
Every moment of the fatal lunch was examined
|
||||
|
||||
The simplest facts of what happened that day and immediately afterward were hardly disputed. But Patterson’s motivations for what she did and why were pored over in detail during the lengthy trial, at which more than 50 witnesses were called.
|
||||
|
||||
The individual beef Wellington pastries Patterson served her guests were one point of friction because the recipe she used contained directions for a single, family-sized portion. Prosecutors said that she reverted to individual servings, so she could lace the other diners’ portions, but not her own, with the fatal fungi — but Patterson said that she was unable to find the correct ingredients to make the recipe as directed.
|
||||
|
||||
Nearly every other detail of the fateful day was scrutinized at length, including why Patterson sent her children out to a film before her guests arrived, why she added additional dried mushrooms to the recipe from her pantry, why she didn’t become ill when the other diners did, and why she disposed of a food dehydrator after the deaths and told investigators that she didn’t own one.
|
||||
|
||||
Patterson acknowledged some lies during her evidence — including that she’d never foraged mushrooms or owned a dehydrator. But she said that those claims were made in panic as she realized her meal had killed people.
|
||||
|
||||
She said she didn’t become as ill as the other diners since she vomited after the meal because of an eating disorder. She denied that she told her guests she had cancer as a ruse to explain why she invited them to her home that day.
|
||||
|
||||
The case gripped Australia
|
||||
|
||||
The bizarre and tragic case has lingered in the minds of Australians and has provoked fervor among the public and media. During the trial, five separate podcasts analyzed each day of the proceedings and several news outlets ran live blogs giving moment-by-moment accounts of more than two months of evidence.
|
||||
|
||||
At least one television drama and a documentary about the case are slated for production. Prominent Australian crime writers were seen in court throughout the trial.
|
||||
|
||||
As it emerged half an hour before the verdict that the court was reconvening, about 40 members of the public queued outside the courthouse in the rural town of Morwell in the hope of watching the outcome in person. News outlets reported that family members of the victims were not among those present.
|
||||
|
||||
Before the verdict, newspapers published photos of black privacy screens erected at the entrance to Erin Patterson’s home. Dozens of reporters from throughout Australia and from news outlets abroad crowded around friends of Patterson’s as they left the courthouse Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
“I’m saddened, but it is what it is,” said one friend, Ali Rose Prior, who wore sunglasses and fought back tears. Asked what she thought Patterson felt as the verdicts were read, Prior said, “I don’t know.”
|
||||
|
||||
Prior, who attended every day of the trial, confirmed Patterson had told her: “See you soon.” Prior said she would visit her friend in prison.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
|
||||
@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities say they believe they spotted Travis Decker, an ex-soldier wanted in the deaths of his three daughters, near a remote alpine lake in Washington state, after receiving a tip from hikers who said they saw a lone person who appeared to be ill-prepared for the conditions.
|
||||
|
||||
The Chelan County Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Tuesday that tracking teams responded immediately, and a helicopter crew spotted a hiker near Colchuk Lake, in a popular Cascade Range backpacking area called The Enchantments.
|
||||
|
||||
The off-trail hiker ran from sight as the helicopter passed, the sheriff’s office said. Teams later found a trail, and K-9 teams tracked the person to the area of the Ingalls Creek Trailhead, south of Leavenworth.
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities did not say when they spotted the subject, but late Monday night they issued an alert for residents in the Ingalls Creek and the Valleyhi community to lock homes and vehicles and to be on the lookout for Decker.
|
||||
|
||||
Decker, 32, has been the target of a large manhunt ever since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campground outside Leavenworth.
|
||||
|
||||
He had failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit three days earlier.
|
||||
|
||||
Decker was an infantryman in the U.S. Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014. He has training in navigation, survival and other skills, authorities said. He once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.
|
||||
|
||||
Officials with an array of state and federal agencies have searched hundreds of square miles, much of it mountainous and remote, by land, water and air. The U.S. Marshals Service was offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his capture.
|
||||
|
||||
Last September, his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with their daughters until he found housing.
|
||||
|
||||
An autopsy on Friday determined the cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff’s office said. The girls had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads.
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
AURILLAC, France (AP) — A unusual attack by bees in the French town of Aurillac has left 24 people injured, including three who were in critical condition but have since improved, according to local authorities.
|
||||
|
||||
Passersby were stung over a period of about 30 minutes on Sunday morning, according to the Prefecture of Cantal, in south-central France. Firefighters and medical teams were rushed to the scene to treat the victims, while police set up a security perimeter until the bees stopped their attack.
|
||||
|
||||
The three people in critical condition were evacuated to a local hospital. Pierre Mathonier, the mayor of Aurillac, told French broadcaster BFM TV on Monday that their condition has improved.
|
||||
|
||||
One of them was a 78-year-old person who had to be resuscitated after cardiorespiratory arrest and is now in stable condition, he said. The two others “are in good health,” he added.
|
||||
|
||||
According to the mayor, the incident may have been related to Asian hornets threatening a beehive that had been installed on the roof terrace of a downtown hotel more than a decade ago. He said that this had likely caused the bees to become aggressive.
|
||||
|
||||
Mathonier said that the beekeeper has removed the beehive and relocated it outside of the town.
|
||||
|
||||
Lt. Col. Michel Cayla, in charge of the local fire services, said that he had never experienced such an attack. He said the victim who was in cardiorespiratory arrest had to be resuscitated in the fire department’s ambulance.
|
||||
|
||||
“In terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive,” he told broadcaster TF1.
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
|
||||
|
||||
apnews.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.
|
||||
@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
McEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — A blast leveled an explosives plant Friday in rural Tennessee, leaving behind a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of cars and at least 18 people missing and feared dead, authorities said.
|
||||
|
||||
“There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said of the blast site at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies and researches explosives for the military.
|
||||
|
||||
He said it was one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen and especially gut-wrenching because he knows three families connected to the tragedy. Davis said multiple people were killed, but he declined to say how many, referring to the 18 missing as “souls” because officials were still speaking to family.
|
||||
|
||||
Officials had originally said 19 people were missing, but Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency updated that number Friday night after they said one person believed to be on site was found safe at home.
|
||||
|
||||
The blast occurred at about 7:45 a.m., Davis said. Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop location smoldering and smoky. Debris was scattered over at least a half-mile area, and people more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) away felt the explosion, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville. It’s not immediately known how many people worked at the plant or how many were there when the explosion happened.
|
||||
|
||||
Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion. Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, said Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart.
|
||||
|
||||
By Friday afternoon, there was no further danger of explosions, and the scene was under control, said Grey Collier, a spokesperson for the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency.
|
||||
|
||||
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a post on social media that their “thoughts and prayers” are with the families and community impacted.
|
||||
|
||||
“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the post said.
|
||||
|
||||
The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S. Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. The products ranged from bulk explosives to landmines and small breaching charges, including C4.
|
||||
|
||||
When the explosion occurred, residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake, and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.
|
||||
|
||||
The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.
|
||||
|
||||
“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he told The Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”
|
||||
|
||||
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee posted on the social platform X that he is monitoring the situation and asked “Tennesseans to join us in prayer for the families impacted by this tragic incident.”
|
||||
|
||||
State Rep. Jody Barrett, from the neighboring town of Dickson, was worried about the possible economic impact because the plant is a key employer in the area.
|
||||
|
||||
“We absolutely heard it at the house,” Barrett said. “It sounded like something going through the roof of our house.”
|
||||
|
||||
A small group gathered for a vigil Friday night at a nearby park, clutching candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sang “Amazing Grace.”
|
||||
|
||||
The U.S. has a long history of deadly accidents at workplaces, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped lead President Richard Nixon to sign a law creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the next year.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of policies meant to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to citations from OSHA.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2014, an explosion occurred at another ammunition facility in the same small community, killing one person and injuring at least three others.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
This story has been corrected to show officials say 18 people are missing, not 19, which officials originally reported.
|
||||
|
||||
____
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield, in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hannah Schoenbaum, in Salt Lake City; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thirty paintings created by the bushy-haired, soft-spoken Bob Ross will soon be up for auction to defray the costs of programming for public television stations suffering from cuts in federal funding.
|
||||
|
||||
Ross, a public television stalwart in the 1980s and ‘90s, “dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. “This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades.”
|
||||
|
||||
Bonhams in Los Angeles will auction three of Ross’ paintings on Nov. 11. Other auctions will follow in London, New York, Boston and online. All profits are pledged to stations that use content from distributor American Public Television.
|
||||
|
||||
The idea is to help stations in need with licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs that include “The Best of Joy of Painting,” based on Ross’ show, “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Julia Child’s French Chef Classics” and “This Old House.” Small and rural stations are particularly challenged.
|
||||
|
||||
As desired by President Donald Trump, Congress has eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, leaving about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations to find alternative funding sources. Many launched emergency fund drives. Some have been forced to lay off staff and make programming cuts.
|
||||
|
||||
The beloved Ross died in 1995 of complications from cancer after 11 years in production with “The Joy of Painting.” His how-to program was shown on stations around the U.S. and around the world. The former Air Force drill sergeant known for his calm demeanor and encouraging words enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
||||
|
||||
Ross spoke often as he worked on air about painting happy little clouds and trees, and making no mistakes, only “happy accidents.”
|
||||
|
||||
The thirty paintings to be auctioned span Ross’ career and include landscapes depicting serene mountain vistas and lake scenes, his signature aesthetic. He created most of the 30 on-air, each in under 30 minutes, which was the span of a single episode.
|
||||
|
||||
Bonhams sold two early 1990s mountain-and-lake scenes of Ross in August for $114,800 and $95,750. The auctions of the 30 paintings soon to be sold have an estimated total value of $850,000 to $1.4 million, Bonhams said.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
CHICAGO (AP) — Boeing reached a settlement Friday with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to a devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets.
|
||||
|
||||
The jury trial at Chicago’s federal court had been set to start Monday to determine damages for Paul Njoroge of Canada. His family was heading to their native Kenya in March 2019 aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground. The wreck killed all 157 people on board.
|
||||
|
||||
Njoroge, 41, had planned to testify about how the crash affected his life. He has been unable to return to his family home in Toronto because the memories are too painful. He hasn’t been able to find a job. And he has weathered criticism from relatives for not traveling alongside his wife and children.
|
||||
|
||||
“He’s got complicated grief and sorrow and his own emotional stress,” said Njoroge’s attorney, Robert Clifford. “He’s haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children.”
|
||||
|
||||
Terms of the deal were not disclosed publicly.
|
||||
|
||||
Clifford said his client intended to seek “millions” in damages on behalf of his wife and children, but declined to publicly specify an amount ahead of the trial.
|
||||
|
||||
“The aviation team at Clifford Law Offices has been working round-the-clock in preparation for trial, but the mediator was able to help the parties come to an agreement,” Clifford said in a statement Friday.
|
||||
|
||||
A Boeing spokesperson said via email Friday that the company had no comment.
|
||||
|
||||
The proceedings were not expected to delve into technicalities involving the Max version of Boeing’s bestselling 737 airplane, which has been the source of persistent troubles for the company since the Ethiopia crash and one the year before in Indonesia. A combined 346 people, including passengers and crew members, died in those crashes.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2021, Chicago-based Boeing accepted responsibility for the Ethiopia crash in a deal with the victims’ families that allowed them to pursue individual claims in U.S. courts instead of their home countries. Citizens of 35 countries were killed. Several families of victims have already settled. Terms of those agreements also were not made public.
|
||||
|
||||
The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land.
|
||||
|
||||
Investigators determined the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes were caused by a system that relied on a sensor that provided faulty readings and pushed the plane noses down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the Ethiopia crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system.
|
||||
|
||||
This year, Boeing reached a deal with the U.S. Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecutions in both crashes.
|
||||
|
||||
Among those killed were Njoroge’s wife, Carolyne, and three small children, Ryan, age 6, Kellie, 4, and Rubi, 9 months old, the youngest to die on the plane. Njoroge also lost his mother-in-law, whose family has a separate case.
|
||||
|
||||
Njoroge, who met his wife in college in Nairobi, was living in Canada at the time of the crash. He had planned to join his family in Kenya later.
|
||||
|
||||
He testified before Congress in 2019 about repeatedly imagining how his family suffered during the flight, which lasted only six minutes. He has pictured his wife struggling to hold their infant in her lap with two other children seated nearby.
|
||||
|
||||
“I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured,” Njoroge said. “The six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. I was not there to help them. I couldn’t save them.”
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
|
||||
|
||||
apnews.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.
|
||||
@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Breakfast cereal could use a lucky charm.
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. sales of the colorfully packaged morning staple have been in a decades-long decline, a trend back in the spotlight with news that Italian confectioner Ferrero Group plans to purchase WK Kellogg, maker of Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies and other familiar brands.
|
||||
|
||||
Except for a brief period during the coronavirus pandemic, when many workers were home and had time to sit down with a bowl of cereal and milk, sales of cold cereal have steadily fallen for at least 25 years, experts say.
|
||||
|
||||
In the 52 weeks ending July 3, 2021, Americans bought nearly 2.5 billion boxes of cereal, according to market research company Nielsen IQ. In the same period this year, the number was down more than 13% to 2.1 billion.
|
||||
|
||||
Cereal has been struggling for multiple reasons. The rise of more portable options like Nutri-Grain bars and Clif Bars – which both went on sale in the early 1990s – made it easier for consumers to grab breakfast on the go.
|
||||
|
||||
Concerns about food processing and sugar intake have also dimmed some consumers’ enthusiasm for cereals. One cup of Lucky Charms contains 24% of a consumer’s daily recommended intake of sugar, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
“Cereal finds it really hard to get out from underneath that,” said Tom Rees, global insight manager for staple foods at the consulting company Euromonitor. “It can’t escape the fact that it doesn’t look like a natural food. You have to create it and form it.”
|
||||
|
||||
Rees noted that for decades, cereal manufacturers focused on adding vitamins and minerals to build cereal’s health credentials. But consumers now are looking for simplified ingredient lists.
|
||||
|
||||
Artificial dyes — like the petroleum-based colors that brighten Froot Loops — have also come under fire. Last fall, dozens of people rallied outside WK Kellogg’s Battle Creek, Michigan, headquarters demanding that it remove artificial dyes from its cereals. Kellogg and General Mills — another major U.S. cereal maker — have since pledged to phase out artificial dyes.
|
||||
|
||||
Add to that, consumers are expanding their idea of what breakfast can be. Yogurt and shakes have replaced the traditional bacon and eggs. Kenton Barello, a vice president at the market research firm YouGov, said his polling shows that Generation Z consumers, who were born between 1997 and 2007, eat more vegetables for breakfast than other generations.
|
||||
|
||||
Barello said YouGov’s polling also shows that members of Gen Z are less likely to eat breakfast but still buy ready-to-eat cereal, suggesting they’re eating it as a snack or for other meals.
|
||||
|
||||
“With younger generations, there are differences in their relationship with food and these eating moments,” Barello said. “They are going about breakfast in a different way than Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers.”
|
||||
|
||||
Cereal’s struggles are part of what led to the breakup of the Kellogg Company. In 2023, the century-old company that put Battle Creek, Michigan, on the map split into two companies. Kellanova took popular snack brands like Cheez-Its, Pringles and Pop-Tarts as well as international cereals, and WK Kellogg made cereals for the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2024, M&M’s maker Mars Inc. announced a plan to buy Kellanova for more than $30 billion. That plan has cleared U.S. regulators but is still awaiting regulatory approval in Europe. WK Kellogg was left to try to rejuvenate the cereal business.
|
||||
|
||||
The sale of WK Kellogg to Ferrero doesn’t mean supermarket cereal aisles are at risk of extinction. Packaged food companies have options for turning around their soggy cereal sales, Rees said. He thinks Kellogg’s Mashups line, which mixed brands like Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops into one box, appeal to younger consumers, who tend to like interesting flavor combinations.
|
||||
|
||||
The market may also have a fragmented future, according to Rees. Companies may have to accept that younger buyers want a sweet-and-spicy cereal while older buyers might want a Keto-friendly option.
|
||||
|
||||
“The future might be realizing that the era of ‘This brand will serve everybody’ isn’t going to happen,” Rees said.
|
||||
|
||||
Julia Mills, a food analyst with the consulting company Mintel, thinks the shrinking population of children in the U.S. gives cereal makers the opportunity to shift to more sophisticated flavors and packaging. Cereal could be positioned as a fancy topping for yogurt, for example, or a fiber-rich food that can improve gut health.
|
||||
|
||||
Some niche cereal brands, like high-fiber Poop Like a Champion cereal and high-protein, zero-sugar Magic Spoon, are already doing that. But legacy brands say they shouldn’t be counted out.
|
||||
|
||||
Jeffrey Harmening, the chairman and chief executive officer of Cheerios maker General Mills, said his company considered trying to acquire Magic Spoon. Instead, it made high-protein versions of Cheerios, which now outsells Magic Spoon.
|
||||
|
||||
“The key to longer term is, honestly, is giving consumers more of what they want,” Harmening said during a conference call with investors in March.
|
||||
@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Over just two hours, the Guadalupe River at Comfort, Texas, rose from hip-height to three stories tall, sending water weighing as much as the Empire State building downstream roughly every minute it remained at its crest.
|
||||
|
||||
The force of floodwater is often more powerful and surprising than people imagine.
|
||||
|
||||
Comfort offers a good lens to consider the terrible force of a flash flood’s wall of water because it’s downstream of where the river’s rain-engorged branches met. The crest was among the highest ever recorded at the spot — flash flooding that appears so fast it can “warp our brains,” said James Doss-Gollin, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University.
|
||||
|
||||
The Texas flood smashed through buildings, carried away cars and ripped sturdy trees out by the roots, dropping the debris in twisted piles when the water finally ebbed. It killed more than 100 people, prompted scores of rescues and left dozens of others missing. The deaths were concentrated upriver in Kerr County, an area that includes Camp Mystic, the devastated girls’ camp, where the water hit early and with little notice.
|
||||
|
||||
Water is capable of such destruction because it is heavy and can move fast. Just one cubic foot of water — imagine a box a bit larger than the size of a basketball — weighs about 62 pounds (28 kilograms). When the river rose to its peak at Comfort, 177,000 cubic feet — or 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms) of water — flowed by every second.
|
||||
|
||||
“When you have that little lead time ... that means you can’t wait until the water level starts to rise,” Doss-Gollin said. “You need to take proactive measures to get people to safety.”
|
||||
|
||||
Water as heavy as a jumbo jet
|
||||
|
||||
A small amount of water — less than many might think — can sweep away people, cars and homes. Six inches (15.2 centimeters) is enough to knock people off their feet. A couple of feet of fast-moving water can take away an SUV or truck, and even less can move cars.
|
||||
|
||||
“Suppose you are in a normal car, a normal sedan, and a semitrailer comes and pushes you at the back of the car. That’s the kind of force you’re talking about,” said Venkataraman Lakshmi, a University of Virginia professor and president of the hydrology section of the American Geophysical Union.
|
||||
|
||||
And at Comfort, it took just over 15 minutes for so much water to arrive that not only could it float away a large pickup truck, but structures were in danger — water as heavy as a jumbo jet moved by every second.
|
||||
|
||||
At that point, “We are past vehicles, homes and things can start being affected,” said Daniel Henz, flood warning program manager at the flood control district of Maricopa County, Arizona, an area that gets dangerous scary flash floods.
|
||||
|
||||
The water not only pushes objects but floats them, and that can actually be scarier. The feeling of being pushed is felt immediately, letting a person know they are in danger. Upward force may not be felt until it is overwhelming, according to Upmanu Lall, a water expert at Arizona State University and Columbia University.
|
||||
|
||||
“The buoyancy happens — it’s like a yes, no situation. If the water reaches a certain depth and it has some velocity, you’re going to get knocked off (your feet) and floating simultaneously,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
The mechanics of a flash flood
|
||||
@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Federal immigration agents seeking to detain a Honduran landscaper chased him into a Southern California surgical center and quickly found themselves in a tense standoff as clinic staff demanded to see identification and a warrant.
|
||||
|
||||
In a video clip of the Tuesday altercation that has spread on social media, Ontario Advanced Surgery Center staff in blue scrubs are heard telling an armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent wearing a mask and bulletproof vest to let go of the man, who is crying and gasping for breath.
|
||||
|
||||
“Get your hands off of him. You don’t even have a warrant,” says one staff member, shielding the man from an immigration agent. “Let him go. You need to get out.”
|
||||
|
||||
ICE has become much more public in detaining migrants, now going into immigration courts and workplaces to cuff people and take them away. This week, the bishop of San Bernardino formally excused Catholic parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on two parish properties in the diocese, which includes Ontario.
|
||||
|
||||
The Department of Homeland Security posted on the social platform X that officers in Ontario were conducting a targeted operation to arrest two men who were in the country illegally when one of the men, identified as a 30-year-old from Honduras, fled on foot.
|
||||
|
||||
The department said the surgery center staff “assaulted law enforcement” and attempted to obstruct the arrest. The private surgery center, which is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
|
||||
|
||||
Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said agents eventually arrested the Honduran man, and advocates do not know where he is. He was sending money to Honduras to help his mother with her dialysis treatments, Hernandez said.
|
||||
|
||||
He said he doubts it was a targeted operation as ICE claims because agents also questioned two co-workers until learning they both had legal status, one as a U.S. citizen and the other as a permanent resident.
|
||||
|
||||
Hernandez called the clinic’s staffers brave for asking basic questions as these detentions play out more frequently in public, even inside a private medical office. It’s painful to watch the footage, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“There’s so many videos now that are out there,” he said. “It’s getting harder ... because the tactics are getting more violent.”
|
||||
|
||||
Also this week, ICE officers exited an immigration courthouse in San Francisco and loaded a handcuffed man into a black SUV. Video captured protestors clinging to the hood of the vehicle as agents tried to drive away. The driver got away after speeding up, shedding the one remaining person hanging to the car.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s government said Wednesday it hopes the U.S. and Britain have sufficient evidence in their pursuit of Prince Holding Group and its Chairman Chen Zhi, after both governments imposed coordinated sanctions accusing the Cambodian conglomerate of running massive online scams and using forced labor.
|
||||
|
||||
Cambodia’s Interior Ministry spokesman Touch Sokhak said Prince Holding Group has met all legal requirements to operate in Cambodia and has been treated no differently than other major companies investing in the country. He also said the Cambodian citizenship given to China native Chen was in accordance with the law.
|
||||
|
||||
Touch Sokhak said Cambodia will cooperate if there is a formal request backed by evidence. “We do not protect individuals who violate the law,” he said, but stressed that Cambodia’s government itself does not accuse Prince Holding Group or Chen Zhi of wrongdoing.
|
||||
|
||||
“I don’t have much to say about the American and British authorities’ seeking to arrest him, but first, we just hope that there will be arguments and sufficient proof to put against him,” Touch Sokhak told The Associated Press.
|
||||
|
||||
The U.S. Treasury Department and U.K. Foreign Office on Tuesday announced joint sanctions against Chen and his conglomerate, accused of being a transnational criminal network that has defrauded victims worldwide and exploited trafficked workers across Southeast Asia.
|
||||
|
||||
It came after U.S. authorities seized more than $14 billion in bitcoin and charged Chen, 38, with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies. Chen was accused of sanctioning violence against workers, authorizing bribes to foreign officials and using his other businesses, such as online gambling and cryptocurrency mining, to launder illicit profits. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella called it “one of the largest investment fraud operations in history.”
|
||||
|
||||
In London, British authorities froze Chen’s British businesses and assets, including a 12 million euro ($13.9 million) mansion in North London, a 100 million euro ($116 million) office building in the City of London, and multiple luxury flats across the capital.
|
||||
|
||||
John Wojcik, a senior threat researcher for Infoblox, who previously tracked cybercrime in Southeast Asia for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said the joint U.S.-British action marked a major strike against one of the largest cybercriminal and money laundering enterprises in Southeast Asia, but that more must be done.
|
||||
|
||||
“Unless law enforcement and industry partners can trace and dismantle their online infrastructure — the domains, hosting and payment rails that sustain them — these networks will rebrand, retool, and continue to scale,” Wojcik said.
|
||||
|
||||
Chen remains at large. If convicted in the U.S., he faces up to 40 years in prison. Prince Holding Group has previously denied involvement in scam operations and has not publicly responded to the latest allegations.
|
||||
|
||||
The two governments allege that Chen’s network operated scam compounds in Cambodia that used trafficked foreign nationals to run online “romance” and cryptocurrency investment scams. Victims were tricked into investing life savings in fake trading platforms, while trafficked workers were forced to carry out the frauds under threat of torture.
|
||||
|
||||
Mark Taylor, who formerly worked on human trafficking issues in Cambodia for the non-profit Winrock International, said that Chen was embedded in the Cambodian elite and “well protected” by the government, showing “the larger role that Cambodia has played as a safe center for this online scamming to prosper.” Chen was formerly a personal advisor to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
|
||||
|
||||
“Cambodia is the physical location where a lot of it operates, but it’s also the money laundering center for the entire region,” Taylor said
|
||||
|
||||
Independent research group Cyber Scam Monitor has documented more than 200 online scamming centers and casinos in Cambodia alone, based on firsthand accounts from former scam workers, field surveys and media reports.
|
||||
|
||||
“For Cambodia, we will cooperate in every way possible with other countries where there is sufficient evidence,” Touch Sokhak said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
AP writers Anton L. Delgado and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed victory Tuesday in the Oct. 12 presidential election ahead of the release of official results, urging President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president, to concede.
|
||||
|
||||
“Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a video statement on Facebook, calling on Biya to “accept the truth of the ballot box” or “plunge the country into turmoil.” He said he will share a detailed report of the votes by region in the coming days.
|
||||
|
||||
Elections Cameroon, the independent body in charge of overseeing the poll, and the constitutional court have not yet announced any results. Official results are expected at the latest by Oct. 26.
|
||||
|
||||
Analysts have predicted a victory for Biya, 92, as the opposition remained divided and his strongest rival was barred from running in August. Eleven opposition candidates were on the ballot for the Oct. 12 election.
|
||||
|
||||
Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji rejected Tchiroma’s claim and accused the opposition candidate of trying to disrupt the electoral process.
|
||||
|
||||
“This crooked candidate is attempting to implement a cleverly planned diabolical plan with his occult networks at home and abroad aimed at setting Cameroon ablaze,” Atanga Nji said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
Atanga Nji had warned last week that any unauthorized release of results would be deemed “high treason,” saying only the Constitutional Council can declare a winner.
|
||||
|
||||
Tchiroma, who is in his late seventies, was a government spokesperson and minister of employment under Biya but quit the government last year to launch his presidential run. His campaign drew large crowds and backing from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.
|
||||
|
||||
Biya has been in power since 1982, nearly half his lifetime, making him Cameroon’s second president since independence from France in 1960.
|
||||
|
||||
During Biya’s decades in power, the Central African nation of nearly 30 million people has struggled with challenges from a deadly secessionist movement in the west and chronic corruption that has stifled development despite rich natural resources like oil and minerals.
|
||||
|
||||
Around 8 million voters were eligible to vote in Cameroon’s election, which uses a single-round electoral system that awards the presidency to the candidate with the most votes.
|
||||
|
||||
During the last presidential election in 2018, the opposition leader Maurice Kamto claimed victory a day after the vote. He was later arrested, leading to protests and dozens of his supporters being detained.
|
||||
|
||||
Biya cruised to victory with over 70% in an election marred by irregularities and a low turnout.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
|
||||
@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards.
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction.
|
||||
|
||||
Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey and dispose of government property; and aiding and abetting in those efforts. The charges were brought when Joe Biden was president.
|
||||
|
||||
“Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,” Bondi wrote. “He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.”
|
||||
|
||||
Felice John Viti, acting U.S. attorney for Utah, filed the motion Saturday, saying “such dismissal is in the interests of justice.”
|
||||
|
||||
The trial began Monday in Salt Lake City with jury selection. It was expected to last 15 days.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages sent to the U.S. Department of Justice, Viti’s office in Salt Lake City and to Moore were not immediately returned Saturday to The Associated Press.
|
||||
|
||||
A federal grand jury on Jan. 11, 2023, returned an indictment against Moore, his Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc., others associated with the clinic and a neighbor of Moore’s. The indictment alleged more than $28,000 of government-provided COVID-19 vaccine doses were destroyed.
|
||||
|
||||
They were also accused of providing fraudulently completed vaccination record cards for over 1,900 doses of the vaccine in exchange for either a cash or a donation to a specified charitable organization.
|
||||
|
||||
The government also alleged some children were given saline shots, at their parents’ request, so the minors believed they were getting the vaccine.
|
||||
|
||||
Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, posted his support for Moore in April, saying on X that Moore “deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing!”
|
||||
|
||||
During his confirmation hearings in January, Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives.
|
||||
|
||||
In a follow-up X post on Saturday, Bondi said Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene brought the case to her attention.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
|
||||
@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign tourists are trickling back to China after the country loosened its visa policy to unprecedented levels. Citizens from 74 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, a big jump from previous regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
The government has been steadily expanding visa-free entry in a bid to boost tourism, the economy and its soft power. More than 20 million foreign visitors entered without a visa in 2024 — almost one-third of the total and more than double from the previous year, according to the National Immigration Administration.
|
||||
|
||||
“This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process,” Giorgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, said on a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
|
||||
|
||||
While most tourist sites are still packed with far more domestic tourists than foreigners, travel companies and tour guides are now bracing for a bigger influx in anticipation of summer holiday goers coming to China.
|
||||
|
||||
“I’m practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up” says Gao Jun, a veteran English-speaking tour guide with over 20 years of experience. To meet growing demand, he launched a new business to train anyone interested in becoming an English-speaking tour guide. “I just can’t handle them all on my own” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
After lifting tough COVID-19 restrictions, China reopened its borders to tourists in early 2023, but only 13.8 million people visited in that year, less than half the 31.9 million in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
|
||||
|
||||
30 days for many in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mideast
|
||||
|
||||
In December 2023, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Almost all of Europe has been added since then. Travelers from five Latin American countries and Uzbekistan became eligible last month, followed by four in the Middle East. The total will grow to 75 on July 16 with the addition of Azerbaijan.
|
||||
|
||||
About two-thirds of the countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis.
|
||||
|
||||
For Norwegian traveler Øystein Sporsheim, this means his family would no longer need to make two round-trip visits to the Chinese embassy in Oslo to apply for a tourist visa, a time-consuming and costly process with two children in tow. “They don’t very often open, so it was much harder” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“The new visa policies are 100% beneficial to us,” said Jenny Zhao, a managing director of WildChina, which specializes in boutique and luxury routes for international travelers. She said business is up 50% compared with before the pandemic.
|
||||
|
||||
While the U.S. remains their largest source market, accounting for around 30% of their current business, European travelers now make up 15–20% of their clients, a sharp increase from less than 5% before 2019, according to Zhao. “We’re quite optimistic” Zhao said, “we hope these benefits will continue.”
|
||||
|
||||
Trip.com Group, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, said the visa-free policy has significantly boosted tourism. Air, hotel and other bookings on their website for travel to China doubled in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, with 75% of the visitors from visa-free regions.
|
||||
|
||||
No major African country is eligible for visa-free entry, despite the continent’s relatively close ties with China.
|
||||
|
||||
North Americans and some others in transit can enter for 10 days
|
||||
|
||||
Those from 10 countries not in the visa-free scheme have another option: entering China for up to 10 days if they depart for a different country than the one they came from. The policy is limited to 60 ports of entry, according to the country’s National Immigration Administration.
|
||||
|
||||
The transit policy applies to 55 countries, but most are also on the 30-day visa-free entry list. It does offer a more restrictive option for citizens of the 10 countries that aren’t: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Indonesia, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
|
||||
|
||||
Aside from the U.K., Sweden is the only other high-income European country that didn’t make the 30-day list. Ties with China have frayed since the ruling Chinese Communist Party sentenced a Swedish book seller, Gui Minhai, to prison for 10 years in 2020. Gui disappeared in 2015 from his seaside home in Thailand but turned up months later in police custody in mainland China.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu and video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
This story was first published on Jul. 8, 2025. It was updated on Jul. 9, 2025 to correct the spelling of Giorgi Shavadze.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia chapter of a Confederacy group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a state park with the largest Confederate monument in the country, arguing officials broke state law by planning an exhibit on ties to slavery, segregation and white supremacy.
|
||||
|
||||
Stone Mountain’s massive carving depicts Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson on horseback. Critics who have long pushed for changes say the monument enshrines the “Lost Cause” mythology that romanticizes the Confederate cause as a state’s rights struggle, but state law protects the carving from any changes.
|
||||
|
||||
After police brutality spurred nationwide reckonings on racial inequality and the removal of dozens of Confederate monuments in 2020, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees Stone Mountain Park, voted in 2021 to relocate Confederate flags and build a “truth-telling” exhibit to reflect the site’s role in the rebirth of the Klu Klux Klan, along with the carving’s segregationist roots.
|
||||
|
||||
The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans also alleges in earlier court documents that the board’s decision to relocate Confederate flags from a walking trail violates Georgia law.
|
||||
|
||||
“When they come after the history and attempt to change everything to the present political structure, that’s against the law,” said Martin O’Toole, the chapter’s spokesperson.
|
||||
|
||||
Stone Mountain Park markets itself as a family theme park and is a popular hiking spot east of Atlanta. Completed in 1972, the monument on the mountain’s northern space is 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. The United Daughters of the Confederacy hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who later carved Mount Rushmore, to craft the carving in 1915.
|
||||
|
||||
That same year, the film “Birth of a Nation” celebrated the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, which marked its comeback with a cross burning on top of Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving night in 1915. One of the 10 parts of the planned exhibit would expound on the Ku Klux’s Klan reemergence and the movie’s influence on the mountain’s monument.
|
||||
|
||||
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association hired Birmingham-based Warner Museums, which specializes in civil rights installations, to design the exhibit in 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
“The interpretive themes developed for Stone Mountain will explore how the collective memory created by Southerners in response to the real and imagined threats to the very foundation of Southern society, the institution of slavery, by westward expansion, a destructive war, and eventual military defeat, was fertile ground for the development of the Lost Cause movement amidst the social and economic disruptions that followed,” the exhibit proposal says.
|
||||
|
||||
Other parts of the exhibit would address how the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans perpetuated the “Lost Cause” ideology through support for monuments, education programs and racial segregation laws across the South. It would also tell stories of a small Black community that lived near the mountain after the war.
|
||||
|
||||
Georgia’s General Assembly allocated $11 million in 2023 to pay for the exhibit and renovate the park’s Memorial Hall. The exhibit is not open yet. A spokesperson for the park did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
|
||||
|
||||
The park’s board in 2021 also voted to change its logo from an image of the Confederate carveout to a lake inside the park.
|
||||
|
||||
Sons of the Confederate Veterans members have defended the carvings as honoring Confederate soldiers.
|
||||
|
||||
The new exhibit would “completely repurpose the Stone Mountain Memorial Park” and “utterly ignore the purpose of the Georgia legislature in creating and maintaining” the park, the lawsuit says.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
This story has been updated to correct that just one lawsuit was filed Tuesday, not two. The earlier lawsuit by the Sons of Confederate Veterans was filed in May.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
OREM, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”
|
||||
|
||||
No suspect was in custody late Wednesday, though authorities were searching for a new person of interest, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Two people were detained earlier in the day but neither was determined to have had any connection to the shooting and both have been released, Utah public safety officials said.
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities did not immediately identify a motive but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
|
||||
|
||||
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The Associated Press was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
|
||||
|
||||
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
|
||||
|
||||
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
|
||||
|
||||
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
|
||||
|
||||
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
|
||||
|
||||
Then a single shot rang out. The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away to the courtyard where the event took place.
|
||||
|
||||
Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety, which also said the university police department had six officers working the event along with Kirk’s own security detail.
|
||||
|
||||
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.
|
||||
|
||||
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
|
||||
|
||||
Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognized a person of interest.
|
||||
|
||||
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
|
||||
|
||||
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
|
||||
|
||||
The shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
|
||||
|
||||
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
|
||||
|
||||
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
|
||||
|
||||
The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
|
||||
|
||||
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at Wednesday’s event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
|
||||
|
||||
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
|
||||
|
||||
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
|
||||
|
||||
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
|
||||
|
||||
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
|
||||
|
||||
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
|
||||
|
||||
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
|
||||
|
||||
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
|
||||
|
||||
__
|
||||
|
||||
Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW YORK (AP) — Navy Federal Credit Union will no longer have to refund $80 million to servicemen and women for illegally charging them overdraft fees on their accounts, after the President Donald Trump-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved to dismiss the case.
|
||||
|
||||
It’s the latest example of how the Trump-led CFPB is undoing much of the work it did under President Biden, even in instances where the bad actors agreed to provide redress and compensation to victims.
|
||||
|
||||
The case dates from late 2024 and deals with an issue known as “authorized positive overdraft fees,” which happen when a bank initially approves a debit card transaction but later charges the customer a overdraft fee when that earlier transaction settles, typically a couple of days later, and there’s insufficient funds in the customer’s bank account. Navy Federal was found to authorize these types of overdraft fees between 2017 and 2022, later stopping the practice and refunding some customers who were impacted.
|
||||
|
||||
Under its previous settlement, Navy Federal would have needed to pay a $15 million fine to the CFPB and refund $80 million in illegally paid overdraft fees. At the time, Navy Federal said it “fully cooperated with the CFPB’s investigation and we will continue to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, just as we always have and as we believe we did here.”
|
||||
|
||||
The CFPB gave little reason for withdrawing the consent order. Under Russell Vought, the president’s budget director who is also the acting head of the bureau, the bureau has withdrawn roughly half a dozen consent orders and ended other settlements the bureau previously reached with financial services companies. The withdrawn order says that Navy Federal consented to have the order withdrawn.
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement, Navy Federal defended its use of overdraft and supported the CFPB’s decision.
|
||||
|
||||
“Navy Federal’s commitment to prioritize and protect our members is core to who we are. Our overdraft program allows our members to make necessary, everyday purchases without going into long-term debt or turning to payday lenders. Navy Federal complied with all applicable laws and regulations at the time and continues to do so. We firmly believe the CFPB’s decision to terminate the order was appropriate.”
|
||||
|
||||
Navy Federal is, by far, the largest credit union in the country with roughly 14 million members and $180 billion in assets. If Navy Federal were considered a traditional bank, it would be the 24th largest bank in the country by assets.
|
||||
@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people.
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities overseeing the search for flood victims said they will wait to address questions about weather warnings and why some summer camps did not evacuate ahead of the flooding that killed at least 104.
|
||||
|
||||
The officials spoke only hours after the operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, announced that they lost 27 campers and counselors to the floodwaters. Kerr County officials said Monday 10 campers and one counselor have still not been found.
|
||||
|
||||
Searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, in the county home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, officials said.
|
||||
|
||||
With additional rain on the way, more flooding still threatened saturated parts of central Texas. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise.
|
||||
|
||||
The raging flash floods — among the nation’s worst in decades — slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
|
||||
|
||||
Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks Monday. The debris included reminders of what drew so many to the campgrounds and cabins in the Hill Country — a volleyball, canoes and a family portrait.
|
||||
|
||||
Nineteen deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, local officials said.
|
||||
|
||||
Among those confirmed dead were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home. Their daughters were still missing.
|
||||
|
||||
Calls for finding why warnings weren’t heard
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities vowed that one of the next steps would be investigating whether enough warnings were issued and why some camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in a place long vulnerable to flooding that some local residents refer to as “flash flood alley.”
|
||||
|
||||
That will include a review of how weather warnings were sent out and received. One of the challenges is that many camps and cabins are in places with poor cellphone service, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.
|
||||
|
||||
“We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,” he said. “We’re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.”
|
||||
|
||||
Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods.
|
||||
|
||||
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent government spending cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service did not delay any warnings.
|
||||
|
||||
“There’s a time to have political fights, there’s a time to disagree. This is not that time,” Cruz said. “There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.”
|
||||
|
||||
The weather service first advised of potential flooding on Thursday and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare step that alerts the public to imminent danger.
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Some residents said they never received any warnings.
|
||||
|
||||
President Donald Trump, who signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, said he plans to visit the state on Friday. He had said Sunday that he does not plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year.
|
||||
|
||||
“This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it,” the president said.
|
||||
|
||||
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local and federal weather services provided sufficient warnings.
|
||||
|
||||
Crews search for dozens of people
|
||||
|
||||
More than three dozen people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday.
|
||||
|
||||
Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area said Monday that more than 1,000 volunteers had been directed to Kerr County.
|
||||
|
||||
Kerrville city officials urged people to stop flying drones over the area after they said a private drone operating illegally Monday afternoon collided with a helicopter involved in emergency operations. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and is out of service until further notice.
|
||||
|
||||
Little time to escape floods
|
||||
|
||||
Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her.
|
||||
|
||||
“Then they were able to reach their tool shed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their tool shed, and they all rode it out together,” Brown said.
|
||||
|
||||
Elizabeth Lester, a mother of children who were at Camp Mystic and nearby Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young son had to swim out his cabin window to escape. Her daughter fled up the hillside as floodwaters whipped against her legs.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker and Brian Slodysko in Washington; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
|
||||
@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MIAMI (AP) — At the brand new Everglades immigration detention center that officials have dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz,” people held there say worms turn up in the food. Toilets don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.
|
||||
|
||||
Inside the compound’s large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages. Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and they are only able to speak by phone to lawyers and loved ones. At times the air conditioners abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat.
|
||||
|
||||
Days after President Donald Trump toured it, attorneys, advocates, detainees and their relatives are speaking out about the makeshift facility, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration raced to build on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. Detainees began arriving July 2.
|
||||
|
||||
“These are human beings who have inherent rights, and they have a right to dignity,” immigration attorney Josephine Arroyo said. “And they’re violating a lot of their rights by putting them there.”
|
||||
|
||||
Officials have disputed such descriptions of the conditions at the detention center, with spokesperson Stephanie Hartman of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which built the center, saying: “The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order.”
|
||||
|
||||
But authorities have provided few details and have denied media access. A group of Democratic lawmakers sued the DeSantis administration to be allowed in, and officials are holding a site visit by state legislators and members of Congress on Saturday.
|
||||
|
||||
Descriptions of detainees, attorneys and families differ from the government’s account
|
||||
|
||||
Insider accounts in interviews with The Associated Press paint a picture of the place as unsanitary and lacking in adequate medical care, pushing some into a state of extreme distress.
|
||||
|
||||
“The conditions in which we are living are inhuman,” a Venezuelan detainee said by phone from the facility. “My main concern is the psychological pressure they are putting on people to sign their self-deportation.”
|
||||
|
||||
The man, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, characterized the cells as “zoo cages” with eight beds each, teeming with mosquitoes, crickets and frogs. He said they are locked up 24 hours a day with no windows and no way to know the time. Detainees’ wrists and ankles are cuffed every time they go to see an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, accompanied by two guards who hold their arms and a third who follows behind, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Such conditions make other immigration detention centers where advocates and staff have warned of unsanitary confinement, medical neglect and a lack of food and water seem “advanced,” according to immigration attorney Atara Eig.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump and his allies have touted the Florida facility’s harshness and remoteness as fit for the “worst of the worst” and as a national model for how to get immigrants to “self-deport.”
|
||||
|
||||
But among those held there are people with no criminal records and at least one teenage boy, attorneys say.
|
||||
|
||||
Concerns about medical care, lack of medicines
|
||||
|
||||
The Venezuelan man, a client of the Immigration Clinic of the University of Miami School of Law, said he and other detainees in his tent protested the conditions Thursday and decided not to go to the dining room.
|
||||
|
||||
“They left us without food all night. They took a Cuban protester to a punishment cell,” said the man, who has lived in the U.S. since 2021 and arrived at the facility July 7, according to clinic director Rebecca Sharpless.
|
||||
|
||||
Hartman, the DEM spokesperson, disputed detainees’ accounts.
|
||||
|
||||
“These are all complete fabrications. No such incidents have occurred. Every detainee has access to medicine and medical care as needed and detainees always get three meals, unlimited drinking water, showers, and other necessities,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
But immigration attorney Katie Blankenship also spoke of a lack of medical care, relaying an account from a 35-year-old Cuban client who told his wife that detainees go days without a shower.
|
||||
|
||||
The woman, a 28-year-old green card holder and the mother of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen, also spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, fearing possible retaliation.
|
||||
|
||||
“They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,” the woman said. “They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms,” she added.
|
||||
|
||||
No meetings with attorneys
|
||||
|
||||
Lawyers say the detainees’ due process rights are among numerous constitutional protections being denied.
|
||||
|
||||
Blankenship said she was turned away after traveling to the remote facility and waiting for hours to speak with clients, including a 15-year-old Mexican boy with no criminal charges. A security guard told her to wait for a phone call in 48 hours that would notify her when she could return.
|
||||
|
||||
“I said, well, what’s the phone number that I can follow up with that? There is none,” Blankenship said. “You have due process obligations, and this is a violation of it.”
|
||||
|
||||
Arroyo’s client, a 36-year-old Mexican man who came to the U.S. as a child, has been at the center since July 5 after being picked up for driving with a suspended license in Florida’s Orange County. He is a beneficiary of the Obama-era program shielding people who arrived as children from deportation.
|
||||
|
||||
Blankenship’s Cuban client paid a bond and was told he would be freed in Miami, only to be detained and sent to the Everglades.
|
||||
|
||||
Eig has been seeking the release of a client in his 50s with no criminal record and a stay of removal, meaning the government cannot legally deport him while he appeals. But she been unable to get a bond hearing.
|
||||
|
||||
She has heard that an immigration court at the Krome Detention Center in Miami “may be hearing cases” from the Everglades facility, but as of Friday, they were still waiting.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of doctors’ groups and public health organizations sued the U.S. government on Monday over the decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women.
|
||||
|
||||
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and four other groups — along with an unnamed pregnant doctor who works in a hospital — filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston.
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. health officials, following infectious disease experts’ guidance, previously had urged annual COVID-19 shots for all Americans ages 6 months and older. But in late May, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was removing COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.
|
||||
|
||||
Many health experts decried the move as confusing and accused Kennedy of disregarding the scientific review process that has been in place for decades — in which experts publicly review current medical evidence and hash out the pros and cons of policy changes.
|
||||
|
||||
The new lawsuit repeats those concerns, alleging that Kennedy and other political appointees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have flouted federal procedures and systematically attempted to mislead the public.
|
||||
|
||||
The lawsuit also notes recent changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy, a leading antivaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, fired the entire 17-member panel this month and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.
|
||||
|
||||
Doctors say Kennedy’s actions are making their jobs harder — with some patients raising doubts about all kinds of vaccines and others worried they will lose access to shots for themselves and their children.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is causing uncertainty and anxiety at almost every pediatric visit that involves vaccines,” said Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
|
||||
|
||||
And it’s happening after U.S. pediatric flu deaths hit their highest mark in 15 years and as the nation is poised to have its worst year of measles in more than three decades, she added.
|
||||
|
||||
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said Kennedy “stands by his CDC reforms.”
|
||||
|
||||
Also joining the suit are the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
|
||||
|
||||
The pregnant doctor, who is listed in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe,” works at a Massachusetts hospital. She wants a COVID-19 booster to protect her unborn child and argues Kennedy’s decision is making it harder to get the shot, according to the lawsuit.
|
||||
|
||||
In a press call, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs said the woman had difficulty getting a COVID-19 vaccination at a pharmacy and other sites, but issued a correction later in the day to say has not yet tried to get the shot.
|
||||
|
||||
The suit was filed in Boston because the unnamed doctor and some others in Massachusetts are among those have been affected by Kennedy’s change, attorney Richard H. Hughes IV said.
|
||||
|
||||
The state has figured repeatedly in U.S. public health history.
|
||||
|
||||
In 1721, some Boston leaders advocated for an early version of inoculation during a smallpox outbreak. Paul Revere was the first leader of Boston’s health commission. And a legal dispute in Cambridge led to a landmark 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld states’ rights to compel vaccinations.
|
||||
|
||||
“We think it is significant and very meaningful” that the case is happening there, Hughes said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
This story has been corrected to show that the pregnant woman in the lawsuit has not yet tried to get a COVID-19 vaccination. The plaintiffs’ legal team issued a correction on Monday evening after an earlier news conference and news release.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
|
||||
@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
LONDON (AP) — The European Union on Thursday released a code of practice on general purpose artificial intelligence to help thousands of businesses in the 27-nation bloc using the technology comply with the bloc’s landmark AI rule book.
|
||||
|
||||
The EU code is voluntary and complements the EU’s AI Act, a comprehensive set of regulations that was approved last year and is taking effect in phases.
|
||||
|
||||
The code focuses on three areas: transparency requirements for providers of AI models that are looking to integrate them into their products; copyright protections; and safety and security of the most advanced AI systems
|
||||
|
||||
The AI Act’s rules on general purpose artificial intelligence are set to take force on Aug. 2. The bloc’s AI Office, under its executive Commission, won’t start enforcing them for at least a year.
|
||||
|
||||
General purpose AI, exemplified by chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can do many different tasks and underpin many of the AI systems that companies are using across the EU.
|
||||
|
||||
Under the AI Act, uses of artificial intelligence face different levels of scrutiny depending on the level of risk they pose, with some uses deemed unacceptable banned entirely. Violations could draw fines of up to 35 million euros ($41 million), or 7% of a company’s global revenue.
|
||||
|
||||
Some Big Tech companies such as Meta have resisted the regulations, saying they’re unworkable, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, speaking at a Paris summit in February, criticized “excessive regulation” of AI, warning it could kill “a transformative industry just as it’s taking off.”
|
||||
|
||||
More recently, more than 40 European companies, including Airbus, Mercedes-Benz, Philips and French AI startup Mistral, urged the bloc in an open letter to postpone the regulations for two years. They say more time is needed to simplify “unclear, overlapping and increasingly complex EU regulations” that put the continent’s competitiveness in the global AI race at risk.
|
||||
|
||||
There was no sign that Brussels was prepared to stop the clock.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today’s publication of the final version of the Code of Practice for general-purpose AI marks an important step in making the most advanced AI models available in Europe not only innovative but also safe and transparent,” the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said in a news release.
|
||||
@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Sesame Workshop was trying to regain full control over its Elmo account on the X platform Monday after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages.
|
||||
|
||||
“Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,” a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said Monday. Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street” and Elmo.
|
||||
|
||||
The account was compromised over the weekend and instead of the usual posts of encouragement and kindness, Elmo’s 650,000 followers were given antisemitic threats and a profane reference to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Those tweets were soon deleted, though Elmo’s account retains a link to a Telegram channel from a user who takes credit for the hack.
|
||||
|
||||
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
|
||||
@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a “client list,” the Justice Department acknowledged Monday as it said no more files related to the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation would be made public despite promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi that had raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
|
||||
|
||||
The acknowledgment that the well-connected Epstein did not have a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked represents a public walk-back of a theory that the Trump administration had helped promote, with Bondi suggesting in a Fox News interview earlier this year that such a document was “sitting on my desk” for review.
|
||||
|
||||
Even as it released video from inside a New York jail meant to definitively prove that Epstein killed himself, the department also said in a memo that it was refusing to disclose other evidence investigators had collected. Bondi for weeks had suggested more material was going to be revealed — “It’s a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public,” she said at one point — after a first document dump she had hyped angered President Donald Trump’s base by failing to deliver revelations.
|
||||
|
||||
That episode, in which far-right influencers were invited to the White House in February and provided with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified” that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain, has spurred conservative internet personalities to sharply criticize Bondi.
|
||||
|
||||
After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were poring over a “truckload” of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI. In a March TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration “sat on these documents, no one did anything with them,” adding: “Sadly these people don’t believe in transparency, but I think more unfortunately, I think a lot of them don’t believe in honesty.”
|
||||
|
||||
But after a months-long review of evidence in the government’s possession, the Justice Department determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” the memo says. The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and “only a fraction” of it “would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.”
|
||||
|
||||
“One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims,” the memo says. “Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.”
|
||||
|
||||
The two-page memo bore the logos of the Justice Department and the FBI but was not signed by any individual official.
|
||||
|
||||
Conservatives who have sought proof of a government cover-up of Epstein’s activities and death expressed outrage Monday over the department’s position. Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec posted: “We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn’t have to be.”
|
||||
|
||||
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote that “next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,’” calling it “over the top sickening.” Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown applying makeup appearing to mock Bondi for saying the client list doesn’t exist after suggesting months ago that it was on her desk.
|
||||
|
||||
The client list hubbub began when Bondi was asked in a Fox News interview whether the department would release such a document.
|
||||
|
||||
She replied: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
|
||||
|
||||
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said Monday that Bondi was referring to the overall Epstein case files.
|
||||
|
||||
Among the evidence that the Justice Department said Monday it has in its possession, and will not be releasing, are images of Epstein, “images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors,” and more than 10,000 “downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.”
|
||||
|
||||
The memo does not explain when or where the videos were located, who and what they depict and whether they were newly found as investigators scoured their collection of evidence or were known for some time to have been in the government’s possession.
|
||||
|
||||
The Associated Press published a story last week about unanswered questions surrounding possible video evidence after Bondi cited the existence of “tens of thousands” of videos that she said showed Epstein “with children or child porn.”
|
||||
|
||||
Multiple people who participated in the criminal cases of Epstein and socialite former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell told AP that they had not seen and did not know of a trove of recordings along the lines of what Bondi had referenced. Indictments and detention memos also don’t allege the existence of video recordings and neither Epstein nor Maxwell were charged with possession of child sex abuse material even though that would have been easier for prosecutors to prove than the sex trafficking counts they faced.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP did find reference in a filing in a civil lawsuit to the discovery by the Epstein estate of videos and pictures that could constitute child sex abuse material, but lawyers involved in that case said a protective order prevents them from discovering the specifics of that evidence and the Justice Department did not respond to a detailed list of questions from AP about the videos Bondi was referencing.
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, in a suicide that foreclosed the possibility of a trial.
|
||||
|
||||
The department’s disclosure that Epstein took his own life is hardly a revelation even though conspiracy theorists have continued to challenge that conclusion.
|
||||
|
||||
In November 2019, for instance, then-Attorney General William Barr told the AP that he had reviewed security footage that revealed that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed on the night he died, and expressed confidence that Epstein’s death was a suicide.
|
||||
@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands accusing Moscow of atrocities in Ukraine dating back more than a decade.
|
||||
|
||||
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for widespread violations of international law — from shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, to the murder, torture, rape, destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
Reading the decisions in a packed courtroom in Strasbourg, Court President Mattias Guyomar said Russian forces breached international humanitarian law in Ukraine by carrying out attacks that “killed and wounded thousands of civilians and created fear and terror.”
|
||||
|
||||
The Kremlin said it would ignore the largely symbolic judgment, but Ukraine hailed it as “historic and unprecedented,” saying it was an “undeniable victory” for the embattled country.
|
||||
|
||||
The judges found the human rights abuses went beyond any military objective and that Russia used sexual violence as part of a strategy to break Ukrainian morale, the French judge said.
|
||||
|
||||
“The use of rape as a weapon of war was an act of extreme atrocity that amounted to torture,” Guyomar said.
|
||||
|
||||
The 501-page judgment noted that Russia’s refusal to participate in the proceedings also was a violation of European Convention of Human Rights, the treaty that underpins the court.
|
||||
|
||||
Asked about the judgment before the rulings were read, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We won’t abide by it, we consider it void.”
|
||||
|
||||
Families of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster saw the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas Schansman, whose 18-year-old son, Quinn, was aboard the jetliner, told The Associated Press that the judgment makes clear who caused the disaster.
|
||||
|
||||
Russia “is responsible for killing my son,” Schansman said.
|
||||
|
||||
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels loyal to Moscow. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
|
||||
|
||||
The judges found that Russia’s refusal to acknowledge its involvement in the Flight MH17 disaster also violated international law. Russia’s failure to properly investigate “significantly aggravated the suffering” of the relatives and friends of the dead.
|
||||
|
||||
“Russia never took any opportunity to tell the truth,” Schansman said.
|
||||
|
||||
In May, the U.N.’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
|
||||
|
||||
The separatist conflict that broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014 killed about 14,000 people before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution. The court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022 in response to the all-out invasion. However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion and, legally, the country is still obliged to participate in the proceedings.
|
||||
|
||||
The court will rule on financial compensation at a later date but Russia’s departure leaves little hope that damages will ever be collected.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show that areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.” That included providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.
|
||||
|
||||
Wednesday’s rulings won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.
|
||||
|
||||
The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2022, the United Nations’ top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.
|
||||
@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
As authorities search for victims of the flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, social media users are spreading false claims that the devastation was caused by weather modification.
|
||||
|
||||
Many pointed to one process in particular, blaming cloud seeding performed on July 2 by a California-based company for the tragedy.
|
||||
|
||||
But officials say there is no evidence that the floods are the result of cloud seeding and experts agree that cloud seeding would not result in precipitation of this magnitude.
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: A July 2 cloud seeding operation by Rainmaker Technology Corporation caused flash floods in the Texas Hill Country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: This is false. It is not possible that cloud seeding generated the floods, according to experts, as the process can only produce limited precipitation using clouds that already exist. Forecasts predicted rain for that weekend prior to July 2 in an area that was already prone to flooding.
|
||||
|
||||
“The claim that cloud seeding played a role in this tragic event is complete nonsense,” said Andrew Dessler, director of Texas A&M University’s Texas Center for Extreme Weather.
|
||||
|
||||
Dev Niyogi, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies extreme weather, said it is “extremely unlikely” cloud seeding played a role in the floods. He cited weather factors as the reason: “the moisture flow coming into the area and the widespread rains the system had, as well as the forecast of very heavy rains over the wider area.”
|
||||
|
||||
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said at a press briefing on Monday that “to the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification” when asked about such speculation. He added: “The internet is a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.”
|
||||
|
||||
Nonetheless, social media users questioned whether Rainmaker’s operations could be connected to the disaster in Texas.
|
||||
|
||||
“Well … this is weird … A company called Rainmaker, conducted a cloud seeding mission on July 2 over Texas Hill Country,” reads one X post. “2 days later, the worst flood in their history occurred … in the exact same area that the Rainmaker flights were. The entire goal of Rainmaker is to increase the precipitation of existing clouds. Why do we let these corporations f — k with the weather?”
|
||||
|
||||
Many posts also noted Rainmaker’s connection to Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who cofounded the data-mining outfit Palantir Technologies, a secretive company that has long relied on spies, police, and the military as its customers. The Thiel Foundation awarded Rainmaker founder and CEO Augustus Doricko $100,000 in 2024 as part of its fellowship program.
|
||||
|
||||
Cloud seeding utilizes an artificial material — typically silver iodide — to induce precipitation or clear fog. The practice is an imprecise undertaking with mixed results.
|
||||
|
||||
Dessler explained that “cloud seeding can work in certain limited situations and produce very modest increases in precipitation,” but often delivers nothing.”
|
||||
|
||||
Regardless, the process cannot create storms out of thin air. Ken Leppert, an associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said it “had absolutely nothing” to do with the flash floods in Texas.
|
||||
|
||||
“Cloud seeding works by adding aerosols to existing clouds,” he said. “It doesn’t work by helping to create a cloud/storm that doesn’t already exist. The storms that produced the rainfall and flooding in Texas were not in existence two days before the event.”
|
||||
|
||||
The Texas Hill Country, in the central part of the state, is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry, dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up.
|
||||
|
||||
After a flood watch notice was issued midday on July 3, the National Weather Service issued an urgent warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. The July 4 flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours. There was so much rain that the Guadalupe River rose higher than it has in 93 years by almost a foot, according to local reports.
|
||||
|
||||
“The natural disaster in the Texan Hill Country is a tragedy. My prayers are with Texas,” Doricko, the Rainmaker CEO, wrote as part of a series of X posts. “Rainmaker did not operate in the affected area on the 3rd or 4th or contribute to the floods that occurred over the region.”
|
||||
|
||||
He said Rainmaker’s last cloud seeding operation prior to the floods occurred in the early afternoon on July 2 over eastern portions of south-central Texas. Two clouds were seeded and remained in the sky for about two hours before dissipating. Rainmaker suspended its cloud seeding operations indefinitely the same day in response to “unusually high moisture content.”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
President Donald Trump expressed his disdain for wind power during a meeting with his Cabinet recently, calling it an expensive form of energy that “smart” countries don’t use.
|
||||
|
||||
His comments on Tuesday contained false and misleading information about the use of wind power in the United States and around the world, and came on the heels of an executive order he signed Monday that would end subsidies around “green” energy.
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s a look at the facts.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: “Wind is a very expensive form of energy.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: Onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of electricity generation, with new wind farms expected to produce electricity around $30 per megawatt hour. This compares to a new natural gas plant, around $65 per megawatt hour, or a new advanced nuclear reactor, which runs over $80, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration. Onshore wind farms cost less to build and operate than natural gas plants on average in most regions of the United States, even without tax credits. Though natural gas plants are available to produce electricity at any time of the day, unlike wind. Offshore wind is among the sources of new power generation that will cost the most to build and operate, at $88 per megawatt hour, according to the EIA.
|
||||
|
||||
While electricity rates have risen nationwide over the past decade, states that have added a significant amount of onshore wind power, such as Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, have kept rates from rising as fast as other states, said Brendan Pierpont, director of electricity modeling at the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation. For example, the share of electricity generated from wind in Iowa increased from 15% in 2010 to nearly 60% of the state’s electricity generation in 2023, while the state’s electricity rates grew at a rate slower than that of 42 other states, his research found.
|
||||
|
||||
Wind power can be expensive if it’s built where winds are weaker, but the United States is adding it in places with strong wind resources, he added.
|
||||
|
||||
“Wind should be seen as part of an overall portfolio of electricity system resources and is an important part of keeping costs down,” he said Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump has committed to increasing U.S. energy production, particularly fossil fuels. He signed an executive order Monday aimed at phasing out tax credits for wind and solar facilities.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: Wind turbines are “almost exclusively” made in China, but President Xi Jinping told Trump they have “very, very few.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: China is the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, producing more than half of the supply. It is also installing them in China at a record pace. In total, China has 1.3 terawatts of utility-scale wind and solar capacity in development, which could generate more electricity than neighboring Japan consumed in all of 2023, according to a report from the Global Energy Monitor released Wednesday. The report highlighted China’s offshore wind development, calling China the undisputed leader in the offshore wind sector, though it also said coal and gas are still on the rise across China.
|
||||
|
||||
“The whole narrative that we’re led to believe in the West is that China is building coal plants and that it’s doing nothing for its carbon footprint,” Tom Harper, partner at the global consultant Baringa, said Tuesday. “So the surprising thing is China is building a portfolio of zero-carbon resources that are designed to not perfectly complement each other, but to work alongside each other to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.”
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: “If you look at smart countries, they don’t use it.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: At least 136 countries and territories around the world use wind power to generate electricity, according to the EIA, with many countries growing the amount they produce. The top five markets for wind power in 2024 were China, the U.S., Brazil, India and Germany, while Uzbekistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia represent the next wave of wind energy growth, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
|
||||
|
||||
Council CEO Ben Backwell said 2024 marked yet another record year for wind energy growth, with the “industry increasingly pushing into new regions.”
|
||||
|
||||
Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, disputed the idea that smart countries don’t use wind power. China is soaring ahead in building a massive amount of wind power while Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, Spain, Sweden, France and many other countries in Europe have large programs of wind construction, he said Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
“By cutting back on wind power development, the U.S. is ceding the lead to China in this important technology, and killing a lot of U.S. jobs,” Gerrard said in an e-mail.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: In New England, two whales washed up over 50 years, “and last summer they had 14 washed up. Now, I’m not saying that’s the wind farm that was built, that maybe it is right.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: There are no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA says it analyzes the causes of death whenever possible, following the science and data. Unfounded claims about offshore wind threatening whales have surfaced as a flashpoint in the fight over the future of renewable energy.
|
||||
|
||||
The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm officially opened in 2024 east of Montauk Point, New York. The nation’s second-largest offshore wind farm is under construction off the coast of Massachusetts. A five-turbine pilot project has been operating since 2016 off the coast of Rhode Island.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: “The birds are dying all over the place.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: Turbines, like all infrastructure, can pose a risk to birds. However, the National Audubon Society, which is dedicated to the conservation of birds, thinks developers can manage these risks and climate change is a greater threat. An Audubon report found that two-thirds of North American bird species could face extinction due to rising temperatures.
|
||||
|
||||
In January, the nonprofit said responsible offshore wind development is a clear win for birds, the U.S. economy and the climate.
|
||||
|
||||
“While persistent myths claim widespread and devastating effects of offshore wind turbines on wildlife, the science tells a different story. Our findings clearly indicate that we can responsibly deploy offshore wind in a manner that still protects birds and their habitats,” Sam Wojcicki, Audubon’s senior director for climate policy, wrote in a January post. The organization also supports wind energy on land when it is sited and operated properly to minimize the impact on birds and other wildlife.
|
||||
|
||||
CLAIM: “You can’t take them down because the environmentalists don’t let you bury the blades.”
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: Wind turbine blades are challenging to recycle. They are designed for durability to withstand hurricane-force winds. However, the U.S. already has the ability to recycle most wind turbine materials, according to the Department of Energy. It issued a report in January that found 90% of wind turbines can be recycled using existing infrastructure, while new strategies and innovative recycling methods will be needed to tackle the rest.
|
||||
|
||||
The wind power industry acknowledges that the disposal of wind turbine blades is an issue. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted committed in 2021 to never sending turbine blades to landfill, instead reusing, recycling or otherwise recovering them. ___
|
||||
@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found.
|
||||
|
||||
The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls’ summer camp in a “Special Flood Hazard Area” in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects.
|
||||
|
||||
That designation means an area is likely to be inundated during a 100-year flood — one severe enough that it only has a 1% chance of happening in any given year.
|
||||
|
||||
Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors and longtime owner Dick Eastland when historic floodwaters tore through its property before dawn on July 4.
|
||||
|
||||
The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by FEMA, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.
|
||||
|
||||
But Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMA’s flood map determinations, said it was “particularly disturbing” that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s a mystery to me why they weren’t taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
Camp Mystic didn’t respond to emails seeking comment and calls to it rang unanswered. The camp has called the flood an “unimaginable tragedy” and added in a statement Thursday that it had restored power for the purpose of communicating with its supporters.
|
||||
|
||||
FEMA exempted buildings at old and new sites
|
||||
|
||||
In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area. Records show that those buildings were part of the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe, which was devastated by last week’s flood.
|
||||
|
||||
After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 from the designation. Those buildings were located on nearby Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020 as part of a major expansion and suffered less damage in the flood.
|
||||
|
||||
Campers have said the cabins at Cypress Lake withstood significant damage, but those nicknamed “the flats” at the Guadalupe River camp were inundated.
|
||||
|
||||
Experts say Camp Mystic’s requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camp’s insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating or adding new structures under less costly regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
Pralle said the appeals were not surprising because communities and property owners have used them successfully to shield specific properties from regulation.
|
||||
|
||||
Analysis shows flood risks at both camp sites
|
||||
|
||||
Regardless of FEMA’s determinations, the risk was obvious.
|
||||
|
||||
At least 12 structures at Camp Mystic Guadalupe were fully within FEMA’s 100-year flood plain, and a few more were partially in that zone, according to an AP analysis of data provided by First Street, a data science company that specializes in modeling climate risk.
|
||||
|
||||
Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, said FEMA’s flood insurance map underestimates flood risks. That’s because it fails to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks. First Street’s model puts nearly all of Camp Mystic Guadalupe at risk during a 100-year flood.
|
||||
|
||||
The buildings at the newer Cypress Lake site are farther from the south fork of the flood-prone river but adjacent to Cypress Creek. FEMA’s flood plain doesn’t consider the small waterway a risk.
|
||||
|
||||
However, First Street’s model, which takes into account heavy rain and runoff reaching the creek, shows that the majority of the Cypress Lake site lies within an area that is at risk during a 100-year flood.
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement, FEMA downplayed the significance of the flood map amendments.
|
||||
|
||||
“Flood maps are snapshots in time designed to show minimum standards for floodplain management and the highest risk areas for flood insurance,” the agency wrote. “They are not predictions of where it will flood, and they don’t show where it has flooded before.”
|
||||
|
||||
An ‘arduous’ appeal process can help property owners
|
||||
|
||||
Property owners challenging FEMA’s map designations hire engineers to conduct detailed studies to show where they believe the 100-year flood plain should actually be drawn. That is a “pretty arduous process” that can lead to more accurate maps while making it easier for future construction, said Chris Steubing, executive director of the Texas Floodplain Management Association, an industry group that represents floodplain managers.
|
||||
|
||||
Pralle, who reviewed the amendments for AP, noted that some of the exempted properties were within 2 feet (0.6 meters) of FEMA’s flood plain by the camp’s revised calculations, which she said left almost no margin for error. She said her research shows that FEMA approves about 90% of map amendment requests, and the process may favor the wealthy and well-connected.
|
||||
|
||||
A study she published in 2021 with researcher Devin Lea analyzed more than 20,000 buildings that had been removed from FEMA flood maps. It found that the amendments occurred more often in places where property values were higher, more white people lived and buildings were newer.
|
||||
|
||||
Camp expanded after ‘tremendous success’
|
||||
|
||||
FEMA had cautioned in its amendments that other parts of Camp Mystic remained on the flood map, and that “any future construction or substantial improvement” would be subject to flood plain management regulations.
|
||||
|
||||
County officials not only allowed the camp to keep operating, but to dramatically expand.
|
||||
|
||||
Considered Texas royalty after decades of taking care of the daughters of elite families, Camp Mystic owners Dick and Tweety Eastland cited the “tremendous success” of their original camp in explaining the need for a second site nearby.
|
||||
|
||||
The expansion included new cabins and a dining hall, chapel, archery range and more. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers between its two locations when a state licensing agency conducted an inspection on July 2, two days before the tragedy, records show.
|
||||
|
||||
FEMA referred questions about the expansion to local officials, who didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.
|
||||
|
||||
Steubing, a longtime municipal engineer in Texas, said the rain and flooding that hit Kerr County in a matter of hours were so much more intense than anything in its history that it’s hard to call the flood plain management a failure.
|
||||
|
||||
Local officials likely believed they were following existing regulations when they allowed the camp to keep growing, but “then Mother Nature set a new standard,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“You could have built things 2 feet (0.6 meters) higher, 3 feet (0.9 meters) higher, and they still might have gotten taken down,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEWNAN, Ga. (AP) — A prominent Georgia Republican was running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 300 investors of at least $140 million, federal officials alleged in a complaint filed Thursday.
|
||||
|
||||
The civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said First Liberty Building and Loan, controlled by Brant Frost IV, lied to investors about its business of making high-interest loans to companies. Instead, investigators said, it raised more money to repay earlier investors.
|
||||
|
||||
Frost is alleged to have taken more than $19 million of investor funds for himself, his family and affiliated companies even as the business was going broke, spending $160,000 on jewelry and $335,000 with a rare coin dealer. Frost is also said to have spent $320,000 to rent a vacation home over multiple years in Kennebunkport, Maine, the town where the family of late president George H. W. Bush famously spent summers.
|
||||
|
||||
The SEC said Frost kept writing checks even after the commission began its investigation
|
||||
|
||||
First Liberty said last month that it would stop making loans and paying interest and principal to investors in those loans. The company said it was not answering phone calls or emails.
|
||||
|
||||
First Liberty has not responded to an email seeking comment, and no one was present at its office Thursday evening in Newnan, a suburb southwest of Atlanta. A lawyer who acts as the company’s registered agent for corporate purposes said earlier that he had no information.
|
||||
|
||||
The collapse rocked the religious and political networks that the business drew investors from. It also could have ramifications in state Republican politics, cutting off funding to the far-right candidates that Frost and his family have favored. Investigators said Frost spent $570,000 from investor funds on political contributions.
|
||||
|
||||
The SEC said the business had only $2.67 million in cash as of May 30, although regulators are also seeking to claw back money from Frost and associated companies. With 300 investors out $140 million, that means the average investor put in nearly $500,000.
|
||||
|
||||
First Liberty said it made loans to companies that needed cash while they waited for more conventional loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. It charged high rates of interest — 18% on some loans, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. First Liberty promised investors equally high rates of return — 16% on the 18% loans.
|
||||
|
||||
In recent months the business advertised heavily on conservative radio shows promising “Wall Street returns for Main Street investors.”
|
||||
|
||||
“The promise of a high rate of return on an investment is a red flag that should make all potential investors think twice or maybe even three times before investing their money,” Justin C. Jeffries, associate director of enforcement for the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office, said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
The company has represented that it is “cooperating with federal authorities as part of an effort to accomplish an orderly wind-up of the business.” The SEC said Frost and his companies agreed to the SEC’s enforcement actions “with monetary remedies to be determined by the court at a later date.”
|
||||
|
||||
While the SEC says there were loans to companies, as many as 90% of those companies have defaulted. By 2021 the company was running as a Ponzi scheme, the complaint said, even as Frost withdrew increasing amounts of money.
|
||||
|
||||
The business is being investigated by the Georgia secretary of state for possible violations of securities law said Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for the office.
|
||||
|
||||
A 2023 document obtained by the AP is titled as a “promissory note,” and Sinners said anyone issuing promissory notes is supposed to be registered with Georgia securities officials.
|
||||
|
||||
Sinners encouraged any victims to contact the state Securities Division.
|
||||
|
||||
Federal prosecutors have declined to comment on whether they are considering criminal charges. Sometimes both an SEC civil case and a federal criminal case are filed over investment frauds.
|
||||
|
||||
Frost has been an important player in Georgia politics since 1988, when he coordinated televangelist Pat Robertson’s Republican presidential bid in the state. His son, Brant Frost V, is chairman of the Coweta County Republican Party, where the company is based, and is a former second vice-chair of the state Republican Party. Daughter Katie Frost is Republican chairman of the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Coweta County and other areas southwest of Atlanta.
|
||||
@ -1,68 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — As the floodwaters began to recede from Camp Mystic, a torrent of grief remained as the identities of some of the campers who died in the flash floods began to emerge on Saturday.
|
||||
|
||||
At least 43 people, including 15 children, died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly a foot (0.3 meters) of rain on Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the hilly region known for its century-old summer camps. Another eight people died in nearby counties.
|
||||
|
||||
State officials said 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp for girls in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for about 36 hours after the flood. An 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp just up the road were among those confirmed dead Saturday.
|
||||
|
||||
Gov. Greg Abbott, who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews, vowed that authorities will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Many more are still missing, and authorities said about 850 people had been rescued so far.
|
||||
|
||||
The National Weather Service said a flood watch would remain in effect for the Hill Country region through late Saturday night.
|
||||
|
||||
Pope Leo XIV, history’s first American pope, spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, offering special prayers and expressing “sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp.”
|
||||
|
||||
Flood turns storied Camp Mystic into a nightmare
|
||||
|
||||
The camp was established in 1926. It grew so popular over the following decades that families are now encouraged to put prospective campers on the waitlist years in advance.
|
||||
|
||||
Photos and videos taken before the flood are idyllic, showing large cabins with green-shingled roofs and names like “Wiggle Inn,” tucked among sturdy oak and cypress trees that grow on the banks of the Guadalupe River. In some social media posts, girls are fishing, riding horses, playing kickball or performing choreographed dance routines in matching T-shirts. Girls ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old pose for the camera with big smiles, arms draped across the shoulders of their fellow campers.
|
||||
|
||||
But the floodwaters left behind a starkly different landscape: A pickup truck is balanced precariously on two wheels, its side lodged halfway up a tree. A wall is torn entirely off one building, the interior empty except for a Texas flag and paintings hung high along one side. A twisted bit of metal — perhaps a bedframe — is stacked next to colorful steamer trunks and broken tree limbs.
|
||||
|
||||
First responders are scouring the riverbanks in hopes of finding survivors. Social media posts are now focused on the faces of the missing.
|
||||
|
||||
Happy camp memories are now tinged with grief
|
||||
|
||||
Chloe Crane, a teacher and former Camp Mystic counselor, said her heart broke when a fellow teacher shared an email from the camp about the missing girls.
|
||||
|
||||
“To be quite honest, I cried because Mystic is such a special place, and I just couldn’t imagine the terror that I would feel as a counselor to experience that for myself and for 15 little girls that I’m taking care of,” she said. “And it’s also just sadness, like the camp has been there forever and cabins literally got washed away.”
|
||||
|
||||
Crane said the camp is a haven for young girls looking to gain confidence and independence. She recalled happy memories teaching her campers about journalism, making crafts and competing in a camp-wide canoe race at the end of each summer. Now for many campers and counselors, their happy place has turned into a horror story, she said.
|
||||
|
||||
Camps’ emergency plans unclear
|
||||
|
||||
State and county officials defended their actions Saturday amid scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in towns long vulnerable to flooding received proper alerts.
|
||||
|
||||
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the region on Thursday, and it sent out a series of flash-flood warnings in the early hours Friday. The federal agency had predicted 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) of rain in the region northwest of San Antonio, but 10 inches (25.4 cm) fell.
|
||||
|
||||
The Guadalupe River rose to 26 feet (7.9 meters) within about 45 minutes in the early morning hours, submerging its flood gauge.
|
||||
|
||||
It was not immediately clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had.
|
||||
|
||||
The county itself does not have a warning system, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said. He maintained that no one knew a flood of this magnitude was coming.
|
||||
|
||||
Rescuers evacuate some campers by helicopter
|
||||
|
||||
By Friday afternoon, Texas Game Wardens had arrived at Camp Mystic and were evacuating campers. A rope was tied so girls could hang on as they walked across a bridge, the floodwaters rushing around their knees.
|
||||
|
||||
Elinor Lester, 13, said she was evacuated with her cabinmates by helicopter after wading through floodwaters. She recalled startling awake around 1:30 a.m. as thunder crackled and water pelted the cabin windows.
|
||||
|
||||
Lester was among the older girls housed on elevated ground known as Senior Hill. Cabins housing the younger campers, who can start attending at age 8, are situated along the riverbanks and were the first to flood, she said.
|
||||
|
||||
“The camp was completely destroyed,” she said. “It was really scary.”
|
||||
|
||||
Her mother, Elizabeth Lester, said her son was nearby at Camp La Junta and also escaped. A counselor there woke up to find water rising in the cabin, opened a window and helped the boys swim out. Camp La Junta and nearby Camp Waldemar said in Instagram posts that all campers and staff were safe.
|
||||
|
||||
Elizabeth Lester sobbed when she saw her daughter, who was clutching a small teddy bear and a book.
|
||||
|
||||
“My kids are safe, but knowing others are still missing is just eating me alive,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
Families of missing campers worry
|
||||
|
||||
Dozens of families shared in local Facebook groups that they received devastating phone calls from safety officials informing them that their daughters had not yet been located among the washed-away camp cabins and downed trees. Camp Mystic said in an email to parents of the roughly 750 campers that if they have not been contacted directly, their child is accounted for.
|
||||
|
||||
Decades prior, floodwaters engulfed a bus of teenage campers from another Christian camp along the Guadalupe River during devastating summer storms in 1987. A total of 10 campers from Pot O’ Gold Christian camp drowned after their bus was unable to evacuate in time from a site near Comfort, 33 miles (53 kilometers) east of Hunt.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.
|
||||
@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced 6.5 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in extra military spending in the next two years because of new and unprecedented threats, ranging from Russia to nuclear proliferation, terrorists and online attacks.
|
||||
|
||||
The French leader laid out the spending plans in a sweeping speech calling for intensified efforts to protect Europe, and support Ukraine in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion. He said France will aim to spend 64 billion euros ($74.8 billion) in annual defense spending in 2027, the last year of his second term. That would be double the 32 billion euros in annual spending when he became president in 2017.
|
||||
|
||||
″Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,’' Macron said in the French president’s traditional speech to the military on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday. ’’We are experiencing a return to the fact of a nuclear threat, and a proliferation of major conflicts.’'
|
||||
|
||||
″To be free in this world, we must be feared. To be feared, we must be powerful,’' he said.
|
||||
|
||||
He insisted that France can find the money to spend more on the military even as it tries to bring down massive national debts. Conservative and far-right parties have supported greater defense spending, while left-wing parties accuse the government of sacrificing hard-won social welfare benefits for military spending.
|
||||
|
||||
Europe is in danger because of Russia’s war in Ukraine and wars in the Middle East, and because ″the United States has added a form of uncertainty,″ Macron argued. Other dangers he cited included online disinformation campaigns by unnamed foreign governments and propaganda operations targeting children, in ″the screen era.″
|
||||
|
||||
Macron also ordered France’s top military and defense officials to start a ″strategic dialogue″ with European partners about the role that the French nuclear arsenal could play in protecting Europe. In an exceptional move, France and Britain agreed in recent days to cooperate on nuclear defense issues.
|
||||
|
||||
Macron’s speech came as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement about Russia on Monday, and the head of NATO is traveling to Washington for two days of talks. Trump last week announced plans to sell NATO allies weaponry that they can then pass on to Ukraine, which has been struggling to repel massive and complex Russian air assaults.
|
||||
|
||||
Macron recently spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in three years, but remains a target of widespread criticism in Russia for his vocal support for Ukraine. The Kremlin argues that the Ukraine conflict is a consequence of Western countries’ decision to ignore Russia’s security interests.
|
||||
|
||||
The head of the French military, Gen. Thierry Burkhard, laid out risks emanating from Russia that stretch well beyond Ukraine.
|
||||
|
||||
Russia is disrupting trajectories of satellites to jam them or spy on them, is involved in undersea infrastructure sabotage, and leads disinformation campaigns in France and Africa, Burkhard said Friday. He said Russian attack submarines penetrate into the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and Russian military planes interact frequently with other aircraft over the Black Sea, Syria, the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.
|
||||
|
||||
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, in an interview published Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche, urged more French spending on defense technology and better training of engineers and technicians.
|
||||
|
||||
″Big powers and certain proliferating countries are working secretly on quantum computers ... that will be capable tomorrow of revolutionizing the battlefield. Do we want to stay in the game?”
|
||||
@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
PARIS (AP) — China deployed its embassies to spread doubts about the performance of French-made Rafale jets after they saw combat in India and Pakistan’s clashes in May, French military and intelligence officials have concluded, implicating Beijing in an effort to hammer the reputation and sales of France’s flagship fighter.
|
||||
|
||||
Findings from a French intelligence service seen by The Associated Press say defense attaches in China’s foreign embassies led a charge to undermine Rafale sales, seeking to persuade countries that have already ordered the French-made fighter — notably Indonesia — not to buy more and to encourage other potential buyers to choose Chinese-made planes. The findings were shared with AP by a French military official on condition that the official and the intelligence service not be named.
|
||||
|
||||
Four days of India-Pakistan clashes in May were the most serious confrontation in years between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, and included air combat that involved dozens of aircraft from both sides. Military officials and researchers have since been digging for details of how Pakistan’s Chinese-made military hardware — particularly warplanes and air-combat missiles — fared against weaponry that India used in airstrikes on Pakistani targets, notably French-made Rafale fighters.
|
||||
|
||||
Sales of Rafales and other armaments are big business for France’s defense industry and help efforts by the government in Paris to strengthen ties with other nations, including in Asia where China is becoming the dominant regional power.
|
||||
|
||||
France is fighting what it calls a disinformation campaign against the Rafale
|
||||
|
||||
Pakistan claimed its air force downed five Indian planes during the fighting, including three Rafales. French officials say that prompted questions about their performance from countries that have bought the fighter from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
|
||||
|
||||
India acknowledged aircraft losses but didn’t say how many. French air force chief Gen. Jérôme Bellanger said that he’s seen evidence pointing to just 3 Indian losses — a Rafale, a Russian-made Sukhoi and a Mirage 2000, which is an earlier generation French-made jet. It was the first known combat loss of a Rafale, which France has sold to eight countries.
|
||||
|
||||
“Of course, all those, the nations that bought Rafales, asked themselves questions,” Bellanger said.
|
||||
|
||||
French officials have been battling to protect the plane from reputational damage, pushing back against what they allege was a concerted campaign of Rafale-bashing and disinformation online from Pakistan and its ally China.
|
||||
|
||||
They say the campaign included viral posts on social media, manipulated imagery showing supposed Rafale debris, AI-generated content and video-game depictions to simulate supposed combat. More than 1,000 social media accounts newly created as the India-Pakistan clashes erupted also spread a narrative of Chinese technological superiority, according to French researchers who specialize in online disinformation.
|
||||
|
||||
French military officials say they haven’t been able to link the online Rafale-bashing directly to the Chinese government.
|
||||
|
||||
Intelligence assessment says Chinese officials lobbied potential clients to ditch French planes
|
||||
|
||||
But the French intelligence service said Chinese embassy defense attaches echoed the same narrative in meetings they held with security and defense officials from other countries, arguing that Indian Air Force Rafales performed poorly and promoting Chinese-made weaponry.
|
||||
|
||||
The defense attaches focused their lobbying on countries that have ordered Rafales and other potential customer-nations that are considering purchases, the intelligence service said. It said French officials learned of the meetings from nations that were approached.
|
||||
|
||||
Asked by AP to comment on the alleged effort to dent the Rafale’s appeal, the Ministry of National Defense in Beijing said: “The relevant claims are pure groundless rumors and slander. China has consistently maintained a prudent and responsible approach to military exports, playing a constructive role in regional and global peace and stability.”
|
||||
|
||||
In recent years, China has stepped up disinformation campaigns on global social media platforms like X, Instagram or Facebook, using networks of state-sponsored influencers, sites that pose as news organizations, and fake social media accounts to spread narratives from Beijing.
|
||||
|
||||
France’s Defense Ministry said the Rafale was targeted by “a vast campaign of disinformation” that “sought to promote the superiority of alternative equipment, notably of Chinese design.”
|
||||
|
||||
France considers the jet a ‘strategic French offering’
|
||||
|
||||
“The Rafale was not randomly targeted. It is a highly capable fighter jet, exported abroad and deployed in a high-visibility theater,” the Defense Ministry wrote on its website.
|
||||
|
||||
“The Rafale was also targeted because it represents a strategic French offering. By attacking the aircraft, certain actors sought to undermine the credibility of France and its defense industrial and technological base. The disinformation campaign therefore did not merely target an aircraft, but more broadly a national image of strategic autonomy, industrial reliability, and solid partnerships.”
|
||||
|
||||
Dassault Aviation has sold 533 Rafales, including 323 for export to Egypt, India, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Indonesia. Indonesia has ordered 42 planes and is considering buying more.
|
||||
|
||||
China may be hoping to weaken the security relationships that France is building with Asian nations by spreading worries about the equipment it supplies, said Justin Bronk, an airpower specialist at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank in London.
|
||||
|
||||
“From a point of view of limiting Western countries’ influence in the Indo-Pacific, it would make sense for China to be using the performance of Pakistani weapon systems — or at least purported performance — in downing at least one Rafale as a tool to undermine its attractiveness as an export,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“They certainly saw an opportunity to damage French sales prospects in the region.”
|
||||
@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW DELHI (AP) — Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the “run” to the “cutoff” position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday.
|
||||
|
||||
The report, issued by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff.
|
||||
|
||||
The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India’s worst aviation disasters.
|
||||
|
||||
The plane was carrying 230 passengers — 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian — along with 12 crew members.
|
||||
|
||||
According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, “the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another” within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight.
|
||||
|
||||
The movement of the fuel control switches allows and cuts fuel flow to the plane’s engines.
|
||||
|
||||
The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude.
|
||||
|
||||
The report stated: “One of the pilots transmitted ‘MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY’.”
|
||||
|
||||
Aviation expert and former airline pilot Terry Tozer said the engine cutoff switches being switched to off only seconds after takeoff was “absolutely bizarre.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Unfortunately, the altitude was so low that the engines were only beginning to recover and they didn’t have enough time,” Tozer told Sky News.
|
||||
|
||||
The report also indicated confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash.
|
||||
|
||||
In the flight’s final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.
|
||||
|
||||
The preliminary report did not recommend any actions for Boeing, which said in a statement that it “stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad,” the statement added.
|
||||
|
||||
India’s civil aviation minister, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, said the report’s findings were preliminary and one should not “jump into any conclusions on this.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Let us wait for the final report,” Naidu told reporters.
|
||||
|
||||
Air India, in a statement, said it is fully cooperating with authorities investigating the crash.
|
||||
|
||||
“Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses,” it said.
|
||||
|
||||
The plane’s black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India.
|
||||
|
||||
Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of Air India’s entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The Morning Wire
|
||||
|
||||
Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.
|
||||
|
||||
The Afternoon Wire
|
||||
|
||||
Get caught up on what you may have missed throughout the day.
|
||||
|
||||
The Morning Wire
|
||||
|
||||
Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.
|
||||
|
||||
Test Your News I.Q. — take today’s quiz
|
||||
|
||||
Ground Game
|
||||
|
||||
Exclusive insights and key stories from the world of politics.
|
||||
|
||||
AP Top 25 Poll Alerts
|
||||
|
||||
Get email alerts for every college football Top 25 Poll release.
|
||||
|
||||
The Sports Wire
|
||||
|
||||
Your home base for in-depth reporting from the world of sports.
|
||||
|
||||
AP Entertainment Wire
|
||||
|
||||
Get AP's first personalized newsletter delivering you entertainment news twice a week.
|
||||
|
||||
The World in Pictures
|
||||
|
||||
Get The AP’s most compelling photographs sent directly to your inbox.
|
||||
@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Notable reaction to the death of Kiss founding member Ace Frehley who died Thursday at 74.
|
||||
|
||||
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons
|
||||
|
||||
“We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of KISS’s legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world.” — the founding members of Kiss said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
Pearl Jam
|
||||
|
||||
“I heard about Ace Frehley‘s passing from Rick Friel who I played with in a band called Shadow. Rick was also the first guy on the bus in 1977 with a KISS lunchbox to tell me about Ace…just changed my life. I got a guitar in 1978 to join Rick‘s band Warrior which turned into Shadow. We covered “C’mon and Love Me”. All my friends have spent untold hours talking about KISS and buying KISS stuff. Ace was a hero of mine and also I would consider a friend. I studied his solos endlessly over the years… I would not have picked up a guitar without Ace and KISS’s influence. RIP it out Ace, you changed my life.” — Mike McCready, founding member and lead guitarist on X.
|
||||
|
||||
Bret Michaels
|
||||
|
||||
“Ace, my brother, I surely cannot thank you enough for the years of great music, the many festivals we’ve done together and your lead guitar on Nothing But A Good Time. All my love and respect, from my family and myself - may you rest in peace!!!” - the former Poison frontman on X.
|
||||
|
||||
Maynard James Keenan
|
||||
|
||||
“Godspeed, Ace.” the Tool frontman on Instagram.
|
||||
|
||||
Nile Rodgers
|
||||
|
||||
“Ace RIP was the 1st person I met when we were forming CHIC! @KISS were playing at a spot called Le Jardin. Without his makeup nobody recognized him as he sat at my table. Only a few minutes before the crowd were losing their shit over him. I learned a lot that night. Truly historic #rock " — the musician and co-founder of the disco band Chic on X.
|
||||
|
||||
Tom Morello
|
||||
|
||||
“My first guitar hero, Ace Frehley, has passed away. The legendary Space Ace Frehley inspired generations to love rock n roll and love rock n roll guitar playing. His timeless riffs and solos, the billowing smoke coming from his Les Paul, the rockets shooting from his headstock, his cool spacey onstage wobble and his unforgettable crazy laugh will be missed but will never be forgotten. Thank you, Ace for a lifetime of great music and memories.” — on Instagram.
|
||||
|
||||
The Kennedy Center
|
||||
@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW DELHI (AP) — Google announced on Tuesday that it will invest $15 billion in India over the next five years to establish its first artificial intelligence hub in the country.
|
||||
|
||||
Located in the southern city of Visakhapatnam, the hub will be one of Google’s largest globally. It will feature gigawatt-scale data center operations, extensive energy infrastructure and an expanded fiber-optic network, the company said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
The investment underscores Google’s growing reliance on India as a key technology and talent base in the global race for AI dominance. For India, it brings in high-value infrastructure and foreign investment at a scale that can accelerate its digital transformation ambitions.
|
||||
|
||||
Google said its AI hub investment will include construction of a new international subsea gateway that would connect to the company’s more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of existing terrestrial and subsea cables.
|
||||
|
||||
“The initiative creates substantial economic and societal opportunities for both India and the United States, while pioneering a generational shift in AI capability,” the company’s statement said.
|
||||
|
||||
Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the company’s ambitious plans.
|
||||
|
||||
“Through it (the hub), we will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country,” Pichai said on the social media platform X.
|
||||
|
||||
Modi said the multi-faceted investment aligns with India’s vision to build a developed country.
|
||||
|
||||
“It will be a powerful force in democratizing technology. It will also ensure AI for all, delivering cutting-edge tools to our citizens, boosting our digital economy and securing India’s place as a global technology leader,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Business conglomerate Adani Group said in a statement it had partnered with Google for developing the hub.
|
||||
@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen.
|
||||
|
||||
Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration. It’s a highly unusual mass layoff widely seen as way to seize on the shutdown to reduce the scope of government. Vice President JD Vance has warned of “painful” cuts ahead, even as employee unions sue.
|
||||
|
||||
“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” Johnson of Louisiana said.
|
||||
|
||||
With no endgame in sight, the shutdown is expected to roll on for the unforeseeable future. The closure has halted routine government operations, shuttered Smithsonian museums and other landmark cultural institutions and left airports scrambling with flight disruptions, all injecting more uncertainty into an already precarious economy.
|
||||
|
||||
The House is out of legislative session, with Johnson refusing to recall lawmakers back to Washington, while the Senate, closed Monday for the federal holiday, will return to work Tuesday. But senators are stuck in a cul-de-sac of failed votes as Democrats refuse to relent on their health care demands.
|
||||
|
||||
Johnson thanked President Donald Trump for ensuring military personnel are paid this week, which removed one main pressure point that may have pushed the parties to the negotiating table. The Coast Guard is also receiving pay, a senior administration official confirmed Monday. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss plans that have yet to be formally rolled out.
|
||||
|
||||
At its core, the shutdown is a debate over health care policy — particularly the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are expiring for millions of Americans who rely on government aid to purchase their own health insurance policies on the Obamacare exchanges. Democrats demand the subsidies be extended, but Republicans argue the issue can be dealt with later.
|
||||
|
||||
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said with Republicans having essentially shut down the chamber now for a fourth week, no real negotiations are underway. They’re “nowhere to be found,” he said on MSNBC.
|
||||
|
||||
With Congress and the White House stalemated, some are eyeing the end of the month as the next potential deadline to reopen government.
|
||||
|
||||
Open enrollment begins Nov. 1 for the health program at issue, and Americans will face the prospect of skyrocketing insurance premiums. The Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that monthly costs would double if Congress fails to renew the subsidy payments that expire Dec. 31.
|
||||
|
||||
At the end of October, government workers on monthly pay schedules, including thousands of House aides, will go without paychecks.
|
||||
|
||||
A persistent issue
|
||||
|
||||
The health care debate has dogged Congress ever since the Affordable Care Act became law under then-President Barack Obama in 2010.
|
||||
|
||||
The country went through a 16-day government shutdown during the Obama presidency when Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2013.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump tried to “repeal and replace” the law, commonly known as Obamacare, during his first term, in 2017, with a Republican majority in the House and Senate. That effort failed when then-Sen. John McCain memorably voted thumbs-down on the plan.
|
||||
|
||||
With 24 million now enrolled in Obamacare, a record, Johnson said Monday that Republicans are unlikely to go that route again, noting he still has “PTSD” from that botched moment.
|
||||
|
||||
“Can we completely repeal and replace Obamacare? Many of us are skeptical about that now because the roots are so deep,” Johnson said.
|
||||
|
||||
The Republican speaker insists his party has been willing to discuss the health care issue with Democrats this fall, before the subsidies expire at the end of the year. But first, he said, Democrats have to agree to reopen the government.
|
||||
|
||||
The longest shutdown, during Trump’s first term over his demands for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, ended in 2019 after 35 days.
|
||||
|
||||
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is exercising vast leeway both to fire workers — drawing complaints from fellow Republicans and lawsuits from employee unions — and to determine who is paid.
|
||||
|
||||
That means not only military troops but other Trump administration priorities don’t necessarily have to go without pay, thanks to the various other funding sources as well as the billions made available in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is now law.
|
||||
|
||||
The Pentagon said over the weekend it was able to tap $8 billion in unused research and development funds to pay the military personnel. They had risked missed paychecks on Wednesday. But the Education Department is among those being hard hit, disrupting special education, after-school programs and others.
|
||||
|
||||
“The Administration also could decide to use mandatory funding provided in the 2025 reconciliation act or other sources of mandatory funding to continue activities financed by those direct appropriations at various agencies,” according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
|
||||
|
||||
The CBO had cited the departments of Defense, Treasury and Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget as among those that received specific funds under the law.
|
||||
|
||||
“Some of the funds in DoD’s direct appropriation under the 2025 reconciliation act could be used to pay active-duty personnel during a shutdown, thus reducing the number of excepted workers who would receive delayed compensation,” CBO wrote in a letter responding to questions raised by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
|
||||
|
||||
__
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,222 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
That’s according to two aid officials, who cited the release of hostages and prisoners as the reason for the halt. Abeer Etefa, spokesperson of the World Food Program, said Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings were closed due to the exchanges.
|
||||
|
||||
The closure comes a day after a surge in aid into the Gaza Strip, as stipulated by the ceasefire deal. Nearly 400 trucks entered Sunday into Gaza from Egypt, and humanitarian groups restarted distribution of food.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said around 600 trucks will be entering daily soon. All deliveries, including those from Egypt, are first inspected by Israel.
|
||||
|
||||
A sprawling warehouse for the United Nations children’s aid organization was operating at “full capacity” on Monday as officials say 1,300 trucks worth of supplies are ready to go into Gaza, with a further 1,000 trucks on the way.
|
||||
|
||||
On the outskirts of the Danish capital Copenhagen, the UNICEF warehouse is almost completely automated through a combination of conveyors, robots and a winding monorail. It can produce and ship over 50 different emergency kits that include health, hygiene, and medical supplies, along with winter clothes.
|
||||
|
||||
“Our focus is on being able to deliver the supplies directly into children and their families’ hands,” UNICEF senior emergency manager Emma Maspero said. “So we are very much hopeful about the ceasefire and the access to be able to get supplies across the border.”
|
||||
|
||||
The International Committee of the Red Cross said 1,809 Palestinian detainees went to Gaza and the West Bank.
|
||||
|
||||
It did not say where the remaining 160 Palestinians went, but Israel has said many Palestinians who had been serving life sentences would be exiled.
|
||||
|
||||
The ICRC statement said it conducted “pre-release interviews for all” those released.
|
||||
|
||||
It said the ICRC also transferred the remains of four hostages to Israel and called for continued implementation of the ceasefire agreement “to allow more families to receive their loved ones for dignified burial.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Throughout these release operations, the ICRC was focused on ensuring the transfers were safe and dignified,” the statement said. “Specialized ICRC staff, including doctors, were on hand to provide immediate medical care and attention as needed.”
|
||||
|
||||
Since October 2023 as part of ceasefire agreements, the ICRC said it has facilitated the release and transfer of 172 hostages and 3,472 detainees.
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate’s top Democrat thanked Trump and administration officials directly for their work to secure the release of hostages through the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today is a wonderful day. Finally, finally, finally, the last living hostages brutally held by Hamas are home, an immense and overwhelming sigh of relief,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
|
||||
|
||||
Schumer added: “I commend the enormous advocacy of the tireless hostage families, President Trump, his administration, and all who helped make this moment happen.”
|
||||
|
||||
Schumer also stressed that the U.S. remains committed to returning the deceased hostages, including Omer Neutra and Itay Chen, who are Schumer’s constituents.
|
||||
|
||||
On Monday, Hamas released all 20 living hostages into the custody of the Red Cross, which then brought them to Israel. Two hostages previously thought to be living were confirmed dead: Tamir Nimrodi and Bipin Joshi. Most of the 251 hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals.
|
||||
|
||||
Here is a look at some of the 20 hostages released Monday:
|
||||
|
||||
Gali Berman & Ziv Berman, 28
|
||||
|
||||
The fraternal twins were taken from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, on the border with Gaza, during the Oct. 7 attack. Liran Berman, their older brother, said it’s the longest the two have ever spent apart. In Kfar Aza, the twins lived in apartments across from each other. Gali is more outgoing, while Ziv is more reserved and shy with a sharp sense of humor, their brother said.
|
||||
|
||||
Alon Ohel, 24
|
||||
|
||||
Alon Ohel, who also has German and Serbian citizenship, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival from a mobile bomb shelter along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli who was killed in captivity in August 2024. A talented pianist, his family has placed pianos across Israel and several sites around the world to raise awareness of his plight.
|
||||
|
||||
Evyatar David, 24
|
||||
|
||||
Evyatar David was taken hostage at the Nova music festival along with his childhood friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. In August, Hamas released a video of David, gaunt and pale, who said he was digging his own grave. The condition of the hostages in the videos horrified Israelis and led tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and demand a ceasefire deal, in one of the largest turnouts for the weekly hostage protests in months.
|
||||
|
||||
▶ Read more about the hostages here.
|
||||
|
||||
Murad Barakat, a urologist and the medical director of the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, said the hospital received 14 men released from Israeli prisons on Monday, several of whom were suffering from skin diseases and chronic anemia. Some had scabies or psoriasis, and one man was hooked up to an IV to recover. Another arrived with a large hematoma requiring treatment. All but two were discharged on Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
Although groups like Physicians for Human Rights–Israel are occasionally granted access to Palestinian prisoners, independent medical professionals have faced difficulty entering prisons since Israel suspended visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross after Oct. 7, 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
In Egypt, the U.S. president made sure to acknowledge fellow leaders in trademark Trump fashion.
|
||||
|
||||
Spotting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump nodded to his close ties with the “tough guy” and NATO ally: “He’s always there when I need him.”
|
||||
|
||||
Then came, “We have Armenia. Oh! And Azerbaijan,” he said, sounding pleased. Trump often cites the two countries’ U.S.-brokered peace deal as one of the conflicts he has solved.
|
||||
|
||||
Seeing Norway’s leader, Trump quipped, “What happened, Norway. What happened?” — a likely reference to not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, which Norway administers.
|
||||
|
||||
To Spain’s leader, Trump returned to a favorite grievance: defense spending. “Are you guys working on him with respect to the GDP?” Trump asked other leaders, seemingly referring to Spain’s refusal to sign a NATO plan to boost defense spending to 5% of a country’s GDP.
|
||||
|
||||
Mahmoud Fayez, who was detained by Israel in March 2024, said he was relieved when the bus crossed into Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Fayez, a resident of Gaza City district of Shijaiyah, was detained when the Israeli military raided Shifa Hospital.
|
||||
|
||||
“Praise be to God, our Lord, who has honored us with this release and this joy,” he said following his arrival to the southern city of Khan Younis.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s a day of great joy, as if it’s a feast,” said Mohamed Abu Ghebeit who spent 11 months in Israeli detention.
|
||||
|
||||
There have been widespread reports of abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military prison camps and civilian prisons, including frequent beatings and lack of medical care and food.
|
||||
|
||||
Argentine President Javier Milei welcomed the release of 20 hostages held captive since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, including three Argentine citizens — Ariel and David Cunio and Eitan Horn — and praised the Trump’s diplomatic efforts.
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement posted on the Argentine government’s social media accounts, Milei “paid tribute to the courage and resilience of the hostages who survived such an inhumane and prolonged captivity.” He also hailed Trump as “a key architect of this milestone on the path toward peace in the Middle East.”
|
||||
|
||||
Argentine officials have not yet provided further details about the conditions of the released nationals or their expected return home.
|
||||
|
||||
U.N. officials said Monday that an additional $11 million from an emergency fund has been allocated to support the scale up of humanitarian operations in Gaza ahead of the winter months. Farhan Haq, the deputy U.N. spokesperson, said that this allocation comes after humanitarian officials moved $9 million last week as they prepared to ensure sufficient fuel supplies and life savings would be ready to go into Gaza after the ceasefire took effect.
|
||||
|
||||
However, Tom Fletcher, the U.N. humanitarian chief, warned that “without fresh contributions” of funding from member states, “critical aid cannot keep flowing to people who rely on it.”
|
||||
|
||||
Meanwhile, the U.N. was able to get Israeli approval over the weekend to bring in additional 20,000 metric tons of aid into Gaza, bringing the shared pipeline of aid to 190,000 metric tons as of Sunday. Haq said that some of those supplies are ready to be moved in while some are already on their way to Palestinians in need.
|
||||
|
||||
Palestinians erupted in cheers of joy Monday as Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners.
|
||||
|
||||
Those freed include around 1,700 of the several thousand Palestinians that Israeli troops seized from Gaza during the 2-year war and have held without charge.
|
||||
|
||||
Israeli forces detained thousands of Palestinians during the war in raids on shelters and hospitals and at checkpoints, stopping families as they fled their homes amid military operations.
|
||||
|
||||
Families often had no idea their relatives had been detained, and it often took months to determine if they were in Israeli custody, if confirmation came at all. Most were held under laws passed in Israel at the start of the war that allowed Palestinians to be detained for months as “unlawful combatants” without judicial review or access to lawyers.
|
||||
|
||||
Also among those released were 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms, most of them convicted for deadly attacks on Israelis dating back decades as well as others convicted on lesser charges, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry. Of those, Israel exiled 154, sending them to neighboring Egypt, where officials said they will be sent to third countries.
|
||||
|
||||
The rest were returning to homes in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
The releases have powerful resonance on both sides.
|
||||
|
||||
For Israelis, they’re deeply painful, since some of those released were convicted over attacks that killed civilians and soldiers. For Palestinians, the issue of prisoners is politically charged. Nearly everyone has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel, particularly young men.
|
||||
|
||||
While Israel views the prisoners as terrorists, many Palestinians consider them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation. Reports from rights groups detailing conditions while held — including isolation, abuse and illness — have made prisoners prominent symbols of their people’s political struggle.
|
||||
|
||||
▶ Read more about the prisoners released here.
|
||||
|
||||
Despite unanswered questions about next steps in Gaza, which has been devastated during the conflict, Trump is determined to seize an opportunity to chase an elusive regional harmony.
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. president will call on other world leaders to “put the old feuds and bitter hatreds” aside as he urges momentum for a broader peace in the Middle East.
|
||||
|
||||
In excerpts released by the White House, he acknowledges that the ceasefire deal is part of the “first steps” to peace.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today, for the first time anyone can remember, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us—and to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past,” Trump plans to say.
|
||||
|
||||
He expressed a similar sense of finality about the war in his speech at the Knesset, which welcomed him as a hero.
|
||||
|
||||
“You’ve won,” he told Israeli lawmakers.
|
||||
|
||||
Leaders of the Reform Judaism movement, representing the largest branch of Judaism in the United States, welcomed the hostages’ release in a statement that also expressed empathy with Palestinian civilians.
|
||||
|
||||
“We pray that the innocent Palestinian civilians who have suffered mightily from Hamas’ brutality and the crossfire of this deadly war will finally experience safety, consistent flow of vitally needed humanitarian aid, civilian leadership committed to finding a path to peace,” the statement said.
|
||||
|
||||
“We pray that courageous leaders will press forward on the path to a Palestinian State as outlined in the American plan. However remote it may feel, a two-state solution in some configuration must remain the worthy, long-term goal for Israelis and Palestinians as they contemplate a future with safety, dignity, and hope for all.”
|
||||
|
||||
As he sat alongside the Egyptian leader, Trump returned to one of his favorite topics to discuss: crime.
|
||||
|
||||
During an impromptu bilateral meeting, Trump called el-Sissi “very powerful” and noted that there is “no crime” in Egypt.
|
||||
|
||||
“They have very little crime, you know. Because they don’t play games,” Trump said, adding: “Because they don’t play games like we do in the United States, with governors that have no idea what they’re doing.”
|
||||
|
||||
Later, Trump again remarked on the crime levels in Egypt and said el-Sissi “puts it out very quickly.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Some people think that’s not nice, but I think it’s great because people don’t want to be mugged and smashed, and they don’t want to be stupid people,” Trump said.
|
||||
|
||||
Egypt, home to over 115 million people, does face crime, particularly the harassment of women. However, its police use heavy-handed tactics, including torture, human rights activists have said.
|
||||
|
||||
1 of 3 |
|
||||
|
||||
Worker roll out a red carpet before President Donald Trump exits Air Force One for an arrival ceremony at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
|
||||
|
||||
2 of 3 |
|
||||
|
||||
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
|
||||
|
||||
3 of 3 |
|
||||
|
||||
Egyptian Air Force jets escort Air Force One with President Donald Trump aboard en route to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
|
||||
|
||||
Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit with world leaders on Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Air Force One, escorted by Egyptian fighter jets, touched down at Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport. Trump is planning to attend what the White House has billed as a signing ceremony, helping to solidify a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
|
||||
|
||||
The flight followed Trump spending hours in Israel, where he met with relatives of hostages and gave a lengthy speech before parliament. Trump has called on Israel and the Arab world to seize on a U.S.-backed ceasefire as a means of promoting a larger peace around the Middle East.
|
||||
|
||||
Johnson praised Trump for “putting a lasting peace within reach for a region where we’ve all aspired to that for generations” during a Monday press conference.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is a day of profound hope and joy for the entire free world, and a day only possible under the leadership and strength and fortitude of President Donald J. Trump,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Johnson added that “they’re all talking about it around the world with this historic achievement” and that Trump “has accomplished what others have only talked about or even tried and failed.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Time and again, President Trump is demonstrating that America’s strength delivers and ensures peace for freedom-loving people around the world. As we’ve said so many times, it’s the perception of a strong America that really holds the terrorists and tyrants at bay,” Johnson said.
|
||||
|
||||
From left, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani meet before attending a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett, Pool Photo via AP)
|
||||
|
||||
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a diplomatic initiative to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from attending a summit in Egypt on Monday aimed at cementing the ceasefire in Gaza, according to a Turkish government official.
|
||||
|
||||
The official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Netanyahu ultimately decided not to participate after Turkey’s effort gained support from several other nations.
|
||||
|
||||
Netanyahu’s office announced that he would not attend the summit, citing a Jewish holiday.
|
||||
|
||||
The Turkish official declined to confirm media reports claiming Erdogan’s plane circled above the Red Sea as the president threatened to boycott the meeting, and that it only landed once it was clear Netanyahu would not be present.
|
||||
|
||||
Russia’s top diplomat on Monday expressed support for the full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.
|
||||
|
||||
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said “we very much hope that everything that has been agreed upon will be fulfilled.”
|
||||
|
||||
At the same time, he noted the importance to develop a plan for creating a Palestinian state in the future.
|
||||
|
||||
Lavrov added that Moscow will be ready to join efforts to support any agreements if those involved ask for its assistance.
|
||||
|
||||
After a lengthy speech to Israel’s parliament, Trump boarded Air Force One for a flight to Egypt, where he will attend a summit with many world leaders on Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
On the tarmac, the president bid farewell to Netanyahu and his wife.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli prime minister was invited to the summit, but declined because it was too close to the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump then walked to the top of the steps and pumped his fist while he pointed at someone, likely Netanyahu. He said, “Great job, Bibi, great job,” before stepping inside.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump’s plane will head to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport for what the White House has billed as a “Summit for Peace.”
|
||||
|
||||
The father of one of the hostages who has spent years in a wheelchair after a car accident and stroke made a promise: when his son was released from captivity in Gaza, he would stand to welcome him home.
|
||||
|
||||
On Monday, in footage shown on Israeli media, family members sobbed as they helped Tal Kupershtein stand for a few minutes to hug his son, Bar, after he was released from two years in captivity in Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Tal Kupershtein also worked with a physical therapist to partially regain his ability to speak, so that he could advocate for his son, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that his country is ready to assist in monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza, offering the U.K.’s experience in Northern Ireland to help in the decommissioning of Hamas’ military capability.
|
||||
|
||||
Speaking at a summit in Egypt, Starmer said Britain was read to “play its full part” in ensuring that the current ceasefire results in a lasting peace.
|
||||
|
||||
“We stand ready in relation to monitoring the ceasefire and decommissioning Hamas capability and weaponry, and that’s drawing on our experience in Northern Ireland and the IRA, which we dealt with in particular in relation to decommissioning,” he said in a joint appearance with the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
|
||||
|
||||
A key factor in the peace process that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland was the successful decommissioning of weapons held by the Irish Republican Army, a dissident group that sought to end British rule through violence.
|
||||
|
||||
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump will bring to bear the same influence on Russia’s government to end the war in Ukraine as he did on players in the Middle East to secure an end to fighting in Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Merz said he wants to use the opportunity offered by Monday’s summit in Egypt to discuss again with Trump “what we can do together to end that war,” which has been going on for 3 ½ years.
|
||||
|
||||
Merz added: “From this place, the signal goes out that if the world community stands together, it is possible. But it must not just be possible in this place – it must also be possible in other regions of the world, and for us Europeans this war in Europe is the biggest threat to our freedom.”
|
||||
|
||||
An Egyptian official says 154 Palestinian prisoners who were released and deported by Israel arrived in Egypt at the Rafah crossing with Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
The freed prisoners were to be sent to third countries as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the deal’s implementation. He spoke on condition of anonymity because has not authorized to brief the media.
|
||||
|
||||
The prisoners were among more than 1,900 Palestinians being freed by Israel in exchange for Hamas’ release of its remaining hostages.
|
||||
|
||||
The president concluded his rambling speech to the Knesset after a bit more than an hour.
|
||||
|
||||
His address was so lengthy that even after Trump said, “In closing” he continued for several more minutes.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump is still planning to head to Egypt for a summit later Tuesday featuring the leaders of many countries – though his trip is now hours behind schedule.
|
||||
@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
HUNT, Texas (AP) — In the frantic hours after a wall of water engulfed camps and homes in Texas, a police officer who was trapped himself spotted dozens of people stranded on roofs and waded out to bring them to safety, a fellow officer said Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
Another off-duty officer tied a garden hose around his waist so he could reach two people clinging to a tree above swirling floodwaters, Kerrville officer Jonathan Lamb said, describing another harrowing rescue.
|
||||
|
||||
“This tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,” Lamb told a news conference, crediting first responders and volunteers with saving lives and knocking on doors to evacuate residents during the flash floods on the July Fourth holiday.
|
||||
|
||||
More than 160 people still are believed to be missing, and at least 118 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The large number of missing people suggests that the full extent of the catastrophe is still unclear five days after the disaster.
|
||||
|
||||
The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976, when Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections.
|
||||
|
||||
Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search of missing people.
|
||||
|
||||
“We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. “Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”
|
||||
|
||||
Officials face backlash for lack of preparations and warnings
|
||||
|
||||
Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made.
|
||||
|
||||
“Those questions are going to be answered,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. “I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the loved ones, to the public.”
|
||||
|
||||
But he said the priority for now is recovering victims. “We’re not running. We’re not going to hide from anything,” the sheriff said.
|
||||
|
||||
The governor called on state lawmakers to approve new flood warning systems and strengthen emergency communications in flood prone areas throughout the state when the Legislature meets in a special session that Abbott had already called to address other issues starting July 21. Abbott also called on lawmakers to provide financial relief for response and recovery efforts from the storms.
|
||||
|
||||
“We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future,” Abbott said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens.
|
||||
|
||||
Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, said it was “unfathomable” that county officials did not act.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is lives. This is families,” he said. “This is heartbreaking.”
|
||||
|
||||
Number of missing has soared
|
||||
|
||||
A day earlier, the governor announced that about 160 people have been reported missing in Kerr County, where searchers already have found more than 90 bodies.
|
||||
@ -1,80 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Dick Tracy got an atom-powered two-way wrist radio in 1946. Marty Cooper never forgot it.
|
||||
|
||||
The Chicago boy became a star engineer who ran Motorola’s research and development arm when the hometown telecommunications titan was locked in a 1970s corporate battle to invent the portable phone. Cooper rejected AT&T’s wager on the car phone, betting that America wanted to feel like Dick Tracy, armed with “a device that was an extension of you, that made you reachable everywhere.”
|
||||
|
||||
Fifty-two years ago, Cooper declared victory in a call from a Manhattan sidewalk to the head of AT&T’s rival program. His four-pound DynaTAC 8000X has evolved into a global population of billions of smartphones weighing mere ounces apiece. Some 4.6 billion people — nearly 60% of the world — have mobile internet, according to a global association of mobile network operators.
|
||||
|
||||
The tiny computers that we carry by the billions are becoming massive, interlinked networks of processors that perform trillions of calculations per second – the computing power that artificial intelligence needs. The simple landlines once used to call friends or family have evolved into omnipresent glossy screens that never leave our sight and flood our brain with hours of data daily, deluging us with endless messages, emails, videos and a soundtrack that many play constantly to block the outside world.
|
||||
|
||||
From his home in Del Mar, California, the inventor of the mobile phone, now 96, watches all of this. Of one thing Cooper is certain: The revolution has really just begun.
|
||||
|
||||
The phone is about to become a thinking computer
|
||||
|
||||
Now, the winner of the 2024 National Medal of Technology and Innovation — the United States’ highest honor for technological achievement – is focused on the cellphone’s imminent transition to a thinking mobile computer fueled by human calories to avoid dependence on batteries. Our new parts will run constant tests on our bodies and feed our doctors real-time results, Cooper predicts.
|
||||
|
||||
“That will let people anticipate diseases before they happen,” Cooper envisions. “People are going to die from old age and accidents but they’re not going to die from disease. That’s a revolution in medicine.“
|
||||
|
||||
Human behavior is already adapting to smartphones, some observers say, using them as tools that allow overwhelmed minds to focus on quality communication.
|
||||
|
||||
The phone conversation has become the way to communicate the most intimate of social ties, says Claude Fischer, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley and author of “America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940.”
|
||||
|
||||
For almost everyone, the straight-up phone call has become an intrusion. Now everything needs to be preceded by a message. “There seems to be a sense that the phone call is for heart-to-heart and not just for information exchange,” Fischer says.
|
||||
|
||||
And this from a 20-year-old corroborates that: “The only person I call on a day-to-day basis is my cousin,” says Ayesha Iqbal, a psychology student at Suffolk County Community College. “I primarily text everyone else.”
|
||||
|
||||
Child education student Katheryn Ruiz, 19, concurs, saying “texting is used for just like nothing substantial, like nothing personal.”
|
||||
|
||||
Sometimes the roles are reversed, though. Sixty-eight-year-old Diana Cunningham of Overbrook, Kansas, pop. 1005, uses a group text to stay in touch with her kids and grandkids. Her 18-year-old granddaughter Bryndal Hoover, a senior at nearby Lawrence High School, says she prefers voice calls over texting because then I can understand, ‘Oh, how should I go about a conversation?’”
|
||||
|
||||
When she was a girl, Karen Wilson’s family shared a party line with other phone customers outside Buffalo, New York. Wilson, 79, shocked her granddaughter by telling her about the party line when the girl got a cellphone as a teenager.
|
||||
|
||||
“What did you do if you didn’t wait?’” the girl asked. Responded her grandmother: “`You went down to their house and you yelled, ‘Hey, Mary, can you come out?’”
|
||||
|
||||
The brave new world has a price
|
||||
|
||||
Many worry about the changes exerted by our newly interconnected, highly stimulated world.
|
||||
|
||||
We increasingly buy online and get products delivered without the possibility of serendipity. There are fewer opportunities to greet a neighbor or store employee and find out something unexpected, to make a friend, to fall in love. People are working more efficiently as they drown.
|
||||
|
||||
“There’s no barrier to the number of people who can be reaching out to you at the same time and it’s just overwhelming,” says Kristen Burks, an associate circuit judge in Macon, Missouri.
|
||||
|
||||
Most importantly, sociologists, psychologists and teachers say, near-constant phone-driven screen time is cutting into kids’ ability to learn and socialize. A growing movement is pushing back against cellphones’ intrusion into children’s daily lives.
|
||||
|
||||
“At the turn of the millennium, technology companies based on the West Coast of the United States created a set of world-changing products,” New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt writes in “The Anxious Generation,” which has been on The New York Times bestseller list for a year.
|
||||
|
||||
“By creating a firehose of addictive content that entered through kids’ eyes and ears, and by displacing physical play and in-person socializing, these companies have rewired childhood and changed human development on an almost unimaginable scale,” he writes.
|
||||
|
||||
Seven states have signed — and twenty states have introduced — statewide bell-to-bell phone bans in schools. Additional states have moved to prohibit them during teaching time.
|
||||
|
||||
That doesn’t sit well with the smartphone’s inventor, who says there are better solutions than regulation. “Accommodating disruptive technologies requires disruptive solutions,” Cooper wrote from Del Mar. “Wouldn’t it be better for teachers to integrate the cellphone that provides access to all the information in the world?”
|
||||
|
||||
Global inequality is an issue
|
||||
|
||||
That advantage is coming to rich countries faster than poor ones.
|
||||
|
||||
The first time that Nnaemeka Agbo had to leave his family in Nigeria for a prolonged period, life shuttled him to Russia for studies, like many other young Nigerians increasingly desperate to relocate to seek better opportunities.
|
||||
|
||||
Adjusting to life in Russia when he moved there in 2023 was tough, he says, but one thing kept him going; WhatsApp calls with family. “One thing that kept me sane was calling home every time, and it made me feel closer to my people,” the 31-year-old says.
|
||||
|
||||
In a country that has one of the world’s highest poverty and hunger levels despite being Africa’s top oil producer, Agbo’s experience mirrors many young people in Nigeria increasingly forced to choose between remaining at home with family or aiming at a better life elsewhere. At least 37% of African adults expressed their desire to live somewhere else in 2023, the highest rate in the world, according to a Gallup survey published in October last year.
|
||||
|
||||
For many, phone calls blur the distance and offer comfort.
|
||||
|
||||
“No matter how busy my schedule is, I must call my people every weekend, even if that’s the only call I have to make,” Agbo says.
|
||||
|
||||
In Africa, where only 37% of the population had internet access in 2023, according to the International Telecommunication Union, regular mobile calls are the only option many have. In northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state, Abdulmalik Saidu says the mobile connectivity rate is so low that “sometimes we stay for weeks without network.”
|
||||
|
||||
When 19-year-old Shamsu Deen-Cole flew from Sierra Leone to the United States to study international relations in 1971, making a call to his parents in Sierra Leone would take days, starting with telling his parents when to expect the call. Calls would cost around $150 for under 10 minutes. “There was no time for extra talks or complimentary because it would all add up in cost,” recalls Deen-Cole, 73.
|
||||
|
||||
Tabane Cissé, who moved from Senegal to Spain in 2023, makes phone calls about investing Spanish earnings at home. Otherwise, it’s all texts, or voice notes, with one exception.
|
||||
|
||||
His mother doesn’t read or write, but when he calls “it’s as if I was standing next to her,” Cissé says. “It brings back memories — such pleasure.”
|
||||
|
||||
He couldn’t do it without the cell phone. And half a world away, that suits Marty Cooper just fine.
|
||||
|
||||
“There are more cell phones in the world today than there are people,” Cooper says. “Your life can be made infinitely more efficient just by virtue of being connected with everybody else in the world. But I have to tell you that this is only the beginning.”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Weissenstein contributed from New York and Asadu from Lagos, Nigeria. Aroun R. Deen in New York, Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York also contributed.
|
||||
@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just months after President Donald Trump returned to office amid a wave of anti-immigration sentiment, the share of U.S. adults saying immigration is a “good thing” for the country has jumped substantially — including among Republicans, according to new Gallup polling.
|
||||
|
||||
About 8 in 10 Americans, 79%, say immigration is “a good thing” for the country today, an increase from 64% a year ago and a high point in the nearly 25-year trend. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say immigration is a bad thing right now, down from 32% last year.
|
||||
|
||||
During Democratic President Joe Biden’s term in office, negative views of immigration had increased markedly, reaching a high point in the months before Trump, a Republican, took office. The new Gallup data suggests U.S. adults are returning to more pro-immigrant views that could complicate Trump’s push for sweeping deportations and other anti-immigration policies. The poll shows decreasing support for the type of mass deportations Trump has championed since before he was elected.
|
||||
|
||||
Since taking office, Trump has called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do all in its power to deliver “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.” His administration has also pushed to limit access to federal benefits for immigrants who lack legal status, sought to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who commit crimes and is working to end birthright citizenship for children born to those without legal status or who are in the country temporarily.
|
||||
|
||||
In general, Americans’ views of immigration policies have shifted dramatically in the last year, the Gallup polling shows — including among Republicans, who have become much more content with immigration levels since Trump took office but who have also grown more supportive of pathways to citizenship for people in the country illegally.
|
||||
|
||||
The broader trend also shows that public opinion is generally much more favorable to immigrants than it was decades ago.
|
||||
|
||||
The vast majority of U.S. adults say immigration is good
|
||||
|
||||
Americans’ more positive view on immigration is driven primarily by a shift among Republicans and independents.
|
||||
|
||||
About two-thirds of Republicans now say immigrants are “a good thing” for the country, up from 39% last year. And independents moved from about two-thirds last year to 80% this year.
|
||||
|
||||
Democrats have maintained their overwhelmingly positive view of immigration in the last few years.
|
||||
|
||||
The share of Americans who want immigration decreased has dropped significantly
|
||||
|
||||
In the time since Trump took office, Republicans have become more satisfied with the level of immigration in the country.
|
||||
|
||||
The share of Americans who want immigration “decreased” in the United States dropped from 55% to 30%. While fewer Americans now want to decrease the number of people who come to the U.S. from other countries, more want immigration levels kept the same than want higher immigration levels. About 4 in 10 say immigration should be kept at its current level, and only 26% say immigration should be increased.
|
||||
|
||||
The poll suggests Republicans’ sharp anti-immigrant views highlighted before November’s election — which helped return Trump to the White House — have largely faded. The share of Republicans saying immigration should be decreased dropped from a high of 88% to 48% in the last year. Close to 4 in 10 Republicans now say immigration levels should remain the same, and only about 1 in 10 would like an increase.
|
||||
|
||||
Much of that Republican movement likely comes from support for the Trump administration’s stringent immigration enforcement, but there are also signs in the Gallup polling that Republicans have become more supportive of pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally and more likely to see benefits from immigration that could be at odds with the Trump administration’s priorities.
|
||||
|
||||
More Americans back a pathway to citizenship
|
||||
|
||||
Most Americans favor allowing immigrants living in the U.S. illegally the chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time, the poll shows.
|
||||
|
||||
Almost 9 in 10 U.S. adults, 85%, favor a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and nearly as many say they favor a path to citizenship for all immigrants in the country illegally as long as they meet certain requirements.
|
||||
|
||||
That increased support for pathways to citizenship largely comes from Republicans, about 6 in 10 of whom now support that, up from 46% last year. Support was already very high among independents and Democrats.
|
||||
|
||||
Support for deporting immigrants in the country illegally has also decreased across the board, but less significantly. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults now favor deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally, down from about half a year ago.
|
||||
@ -1,138 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The Nigerian man described being roused with other detainees in September in the middle of the night. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers clasped shackles on their hands and feet, he said, and told them they were being sent to Ghana, even though none of them was from there.
|
||||
|
||||
When they asked to speak to their attorney, he said, the officers refused and straitjacketed the already-shackled men in full-body restraint suits called the WRAP, then loaded them onto a plane for the 16-hour-flight to West Africa.
|
||||
|
||||
Referred to as “the burrito” or “the bag,” the WRAP has become a harrowing part of deportations for some immigrants.
|
||||
|
||||
“It was just like a kidnapping,” the Nigerian man, who’s part of a federal lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an interview from the detainment camp in which he and other deportees were being held in Ghana. Like others placed in the restraints interviewed by the AP, he spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP identified multiple examples of ICE using the black-and-yellow full-body restraint device, the WRAP, in deportations. Its use was described to the AP by five people who said they were restrained in the device, sometimes for hours, on ICE deportation flights dating to 2020. And witnesses and family members in four countries told the AP about its use on at least seven other people this year.
|
||||
|
||||
The AP found ICE has used the device despite internal concerns voiced in a 2023 report by the civil rights division of its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in part due to reports of deaths involving use of the WRAP by local law enforcement. And the AP has identified a dozen fatal cases in the last decade where local police or jailers around the U.S. used the WRAP and autopsies determined “restraint” played a role in the death.
|
||||
|
||||
The WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits likening incorrect usage of the device to punishment and even torture, whether used in a jail or by immigration authorities during international flights. Among advocates’ concerns is that ICE is not tracking the WRAP’s use as required by federal law when officers use force.
|
||||
|
||||
DHS has paid Safe Restraints Inc., the WRAP’s California-based maker, $268,523 since it started purchasing the devices in late 2015 during the Obama administration. Government purchasing records show the two Trump administrations have been responsible for about 91% of that spending. ICE would not provide AP with records documenting its use of the WRAP despite multiple requests, and it’s not clear how frequently it has been used in the current and prior administrations.
|
||||
|
||||
The WRAP’s manufacturer says it intended the device to be a lifesaver for law enforcement confronting erratic people who were physically attacking officers or harming themselves.
|
||||
|
||||
But ICE officials have a much lower threshold for deploying the WRAP than the manufacturer advises, the AP found. Detainees interviewed by the AP said ICE officers used the restraints on them after they had been shackled. They said this was done to intimidate or punish them for asking to speak to their attorneys or expressing fear at being deported, often to places they fled due to violence and torture.
|
||||
|
||||
The West African deportee described a terrifying, hourslong experience that left his legs swollen to the point where he walked with a limp.
|
||||
|
||||
“They bundled me and my colleagues,” he said, “tied us up in a straitjacket.”
|
||||
|
||||
ICE and DHS would not answer detailed questions from the AP and refused a request for the government’s policy for when and how to use the WRAP.
|
||||
|
||||
“The use of restraints on detainees during deportation flights has been long standing, standard ICE protocol and an essential measure to ensure the safety and well-being of both detainees and the officers/agents accompanying them,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’ spokesperson, said in an email to AP. “Our practices align with those followed by other relevant authorities and is fully in line with established legal standards.”
|
||||
|
||||
The agency would not specify those authorities or describe its practices.
|
||||
|
||||
“The use of these devices is inhumane and incompatible with our nation’s fundamental values,” said Noah Baron, an attorney for the West African deportees.
|
||||
|
||||
Charles Hammond, CEO of Safe Restraints Inc., said his company has made a modified version of the device for ICE, with changes meant to allow people to be kept in it during flights and long bus trips.
|
||||
|
||||
ICE’s version includes a ring on the front of the suit that allows a subject’s cuffed hands to be attached while still allowing for limited use to eat and drink, he said. In addition, the ICE version has “soft elbow cuffs,” Hammond said, which connect in the back so a person can move for proper circulation but can’t flip an elbow out to hit someone.
|
||||
|
||||
An AP reporter recounted for Hammond some of the allegations made by people who had been placed in the WRAP for long flights. All of those interviewed by AP said their hands and feet were already restrained by chains. All denied fighting with officers, saying they were either crying or pleading against their deportation to countries they deemed dangerous.
|
||||
|
||||
Hammond said that, if true that some people were not being violent and simply protesting verbally, putting them in the WRAP could be improper use.
|
||||
|
||||
“That’s not the purpose of the WRAP. If (the deportee) is a current or potential risk to themselves, to officers, to staff, to the plane, restraints are justified. If it’s not, then restraints aren’t.”
|
||||
|
||||
‘Please help me’
|
||||
|
||||
Juan Antonio Pineda said he was put into “a bag” in late September and driven by immigration officers to the Mexico border. It was black with yellow stripes and had straps that immobilized his body and connected over his shoulders — the WRAP.
|
||||
|
||||
Pineda, who is from El Salvador, was in the U.S. legally, he said in a video from an ICE detention center in Arizona. On Sept. 3, he went to an appointment in Maryland to get permission for another year, his wife, Xiomara Ochoa, said in an interview from El Salvador. Instead, he was detained by ICE and told he’d be deported to Mexico, but the documents he was shown had someone else’s name, he said. Even so, he was sent to the Florence Service Processing Center detention facility in Arizona.
|
||||
|
||||
Early morning on Wednesday, Sept. 24, he said officers tied his hands and legs, placed him into the “bag” and drove him four hours to the border. When he refused to sign the deportation papers, Pineda alleges officers broke his right arm and gave him a black eye before driving him back another four hours in the “bag.” The AP was unable to independently confirm how he was injured. Pineda’s video shows him with a cast on his arm and bruising on his face.
|
||||
|
||||
The next day, Thursday, Sept. 25, they tied him up again, put him in the bag and drove him to the border, where Mexican immigration officials turned him away, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
“Eight hours there and back and they don’t give me food or water or anything,” he said in the video, which his wife shared with the AP. “Please help me.”
|
||||
|
||||
He was ultimately deported to Mexico, Ochoa said.
|
||||
|
||||
ICE did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the AP regarding Pineda’s case.
|
||||
|
||||
In addition to the Nigerian man flown to Ghana, four others interviewed by AP said they were placed in the WRAP and carried onto deportation flights since the first Trump administration.
|
||||
|
||||
As U.S. immigration officials move aggressively to meet the president’s deportation goals, advocates and attorneys for immigrants are echoing the concerns of the government’s own civil rights inquiry that ICE officers aren’t trained on how to use the restraints.
|
||||
|
||||
“This should be a last resort type of restraint after they’ve already tried other things,” said Fatma Marouf, a Texas A&M law professor who has sued ICE over its use of the device. “Just being bound up like that can inflict a lot of psychological harm.”
|
||||
|
||||
Some deportees said they were left in the WRAP for an entire fight. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Nigerian man and four others currently detained in Dema Camp, Ghana, included the allegation from one that ICE left the restraint suit on him for 16 hours, only once undoing the lower part so he could use the bathroom.
|
||||
|
||||
“No one should be put into a WRAP. I don’t even think they strap animals like that,” recalled a man who said he suffered a concussion and dislocated jaw being placed into the device in 2023 before a deportation flight to Cape Verde, an African island nation. AP’s review of his medical records confirmed he suffered those injuries in 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
“It was the most painful thing I’ve been through,” said the man, adding he was restrained most of the 10-hour flight. “Forget the assault, forget the broken jaw. Just the WRAP itself was hurtful.”
|
||||
|
||||
Also, the man said, the metal ring his cuffed hands were attached to — one of the ICE modifications to the WRAP designed to increase comfort — injured him. “When they slammed me face forward on the floor, that metal ring dug into my chest causing me bruising and pain which was part of my injuries that I complained about.”
|
||||
|
||||
ICE’s current use of the WRAP comes amid an unprecedented wave of masked federal immigration officers grabbing suspected immigrants off the street, and mounting accusations that the Trump administration has dehumanized them, including by subjecting them to cruel and unusual detention conditions.
|
||||
|
||||
ICE’s use of the WRAP has continued despite a 2023 report by DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, or CRCL, that raised serious concerns over the lack of policies governing its use.
|
||||
|
||||
ICE agreed with the internal findings on some points, a then-DHS official involved in the review said, but challenged the notion that the WRAP should be classified as a “four-point restraint,” a designation that would place more limitations on its use. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the inquiry.
|
||||
|
||||
DHS largely dismantled the office that produced the 2023 report earlier this year amid widespread government firings, calling it a roadblock to enforcement operations.
|
||||
|
||||
“Without changes to the current training, and the lack of policy, CRCL has serious concerns about ICE’s continued use of the WRAP,” wrote the report’s authors, who cited a news article mentioning lawsuits claiming the device had led to deaths.
|
||||
|
||||
Use by police and in jails
|
||||
|
||||
Last year police officers in Virginia Beach, Virginia, placed Rolin Hill in the WRAP, saying he was being combative during an arrest at a convenience store. The officers left Hill in the device when they dropped him at the jail. Video from the jail shows deputies punching the WRAP-immobilized Hill in the head and back. Hill died in a hospital, and while the WRAP’s exact role is unknown, Hill’s death was ruled a homicide by “positional and mechanical asphyxia due to restraint with neck and torso compression.” Three of the deputies are now charged with his murder, and five were removed from their jobs.
|
||||
|
||||
Also last year, in Missouri, prosecutors charged five jailers in the death of Othel Moore Jr., who according to an autopsy asphyxiated in the WRAP. Jailhouse footage showed Moore, who’d also been sprayed with tear gas and placed in a “spit mask” covering his face, repeatedly told officers he couldn’t breathe.
|
||||
|
||||
AP identified many of the other non-ICE cases involving the WRAP during an investigation into deaths after police subdued people with common tactics that, unlike guns, are meant to stop someone without killing them.
|
||||
|
||||
While Hammond insists the WRAP has never been determined as the cause of death when used properly, the AP identified 43 times in which the WRAP was used by police or correctional officers in a case in which someone died. In 12 of those cases the official autopsy determined that “restraint” played some role in the death.
|
||||
|
||||
It was often impossible to determine the exact role the WRAP may have played, as deaths often involved the use of other potentially dangerous force on people who in several cases were high on methamphetamine.
|
||||
|
||||
The WRAP first appeared in law enforcement in the late 1990s, presented as an alternative to tying a subject’s hands and feet together in a practice known as “hog-tying.” It first found widespread use in California jails and today is used by more than 1,800 departments and facilities around the country, according to the manufacturer, which says it has sold more than 10,000 devices.
|
||||
|
||||
Many of these cases have drawn little media attention, such as the 2020 case of Alberto Pena, who was jailed on a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge after getting drunk and damaging the walls and doors at his parents’ home outside Rio Grande City, Texas. The 30-year-old became erratic on the way to the Starr County Jail, beating his own head against the inside of the patrol unit and, later, the wall of his cell.
|
||||
|
||||
Deputies placed Pena in the WRAP for more than two hours, where he repeatedly cried out for help and complained he could not breathe. But he was left unattended in the device for significant periods of time, court records show, and no medical attention was provided for his self-inflicted head injuries.
|
||||
|
||||
An autopsy ruled Pena’s death “accidental,” but a forensic pathologist hired by the family attributed Pena’s death in part to the WRAP’s “prolonged restraint” and said it “could have been averted” with proper medical care.
|
||||
|
||||
“The WRAP should have never been used in this situation. It was a medical emergency and he should have been taken to the hospital,” said Natasha Powers-Marakis, a former police officer and use of force expert who reviewed the case on behalf of Pena’s family as part of their wrongful death lawsuit against the county and officers who placed him in the device. The arresting officers had been told Pena suffered from bipolar disorder.
|
||||
|
||||
The Starr County Sheriff’s Office has denied wrongdoing and maintained Pena did not require medical care. Robert Drinkard, an attorney for the county, told AP the use of the WRAP “was neither improper nor caused Mr. Pena’s tragic death.” He added that each deputy involved in placing Pena in the WRAP had been trained in its application.
|
||||
|
||||
A federal judge recently dismissed the Pena family’s lawsuit, ruling the deputies were shielded from liability.
|
||||
|
||||
‘Carrying me like a corpse’
|
||||
|
||||
In the context of an ICE deportation flight, the use of restraints like the WRAP can be justified, Hammond, the manufacturer’s CEO, argues.
|
||||
|
||||
ICE officers have to ensure that they secure anyone who could pose a fight risk on a long flight, he said. Given the high stakes of a violent confrontation on an airplane, Hammond believes cases like those described to the AP can warrant the WRAP’s use, even if the person is already in chains.
|
||||
|
||||
However, properly trained agents are supposed to loosen the straps and allow enough movement so the subject can eat and drink, as well as use the bathroom.
|
||||
|
||||
“With the WRAP, when it is used properly, it’s a shorter fight, which is good for everybody. It prioritizes breathing, which is good for everybody. And you have no more fight and can provide medical care or mental health care or de-escalation efforts,” Hammond said.
|
||||
|
||||
Those placed in one of Hammond’s restraint suits, however, recount the experience as traumatic.
|
||||
|
||||
One of these people was first put into five-point shackles when he became dizzy and tripped while ascending the stairs to board the ICE flight to Cameroon in November 2020. The officer mistook his stumbling as resistance, he said. Immediately, camouflage-clad ICE officers quickly pushed him to the tarmac and onto a WRAP device, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Soon, he felt the straps cinching around his legs and upper body.
|
||||
|
||||
“They bundled me like a log of wood from all the sides and they were just carrying me like a corpse,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Another man interviewed by the AP said ICE officers put him in the WRAP after he initially resisted efforts to move him onto a deportation flight in Alexandria, Louisiana, in 2020. He’d fled political violence and persecution in his native Cameroon, and was afraid to go back. He said officers took him out of his cell in front of the other detainees and put him in the WRAP, leaving him for hours in view of the others as a warning to them not to speak up.
|
||||
|
||||
“I told him ‘I can’t breathe,’” the man said. “He responded, ’I don’t care, I’m doing my job.’”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Dearen and Pineda reported from Los Angeles and Mustian reported from New York. AP journalists Ope Adetayo in Abuja, Ghana, Obed Lamy in Indianapolis and Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report. Dan Lawton also contributed.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
|
||||
@ -1,150 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The tiny African nation of Lesotho had victories in its HIV fight. Then, the US aid cuts came
|
||||
|
||||
This Lesotho was unimaginable months ago, residents, health workers and experts say. The small landlocked nation in southern Africa long had the world’s second-highest rate of HIV infections. But over years, with nearly $1 billion in aid from the United States, Lesotho patched together a health network efficient enough to slow the spread of the epidemic, one of the deadliest in modern history.
|
||||
|
||||
Then On Jan. 20, the first day of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, he signed an executive order freezing foreign aid. Within weeks, Trump had slashed overseas assistance and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development. Confusion followed in nearly all the 130 countries with USAID-supported programs. Nine months later in Lesotho, there’s still little clarity.
|
||||
|
||||
With the single stroke of a distant president's pen, much of a system credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives was dismantled.
|
||||
|
||||
It's a moment of chaos and temporary solutions
|
||||
|
||||
Weeks ago, the U.S. announced it would reinstate some of its flagship initiatives to combat HIV worldwide. Officials here applauded the move. But the measures are temporary solutions that stress countries must move toward autonomy in public health.
|
||||
|
||||
The State Department told The Associated Press in an email that its six-month bridge programs would ensure continuity of lifesaving programs — including testing and medication, and initiatives addressing mother-to-child transmission — while officials work with Lesotho on a multiyear agreement on funding.
|
||||
|
||||
Those negotiations will likely take months, and while programs may have been reinstated on paper, restarting them on the ground takes considerable time, Lesotho health workers and experts told AP.
|
||||
|
||||
HIV-positive residents, families and caregivers say the chaos that reigned most of this year has caused irreparable harm, and they’re consumed with worry and uncertainty about the future. Most feel deep disappointment — even betrayal — over the loss of funds and support.
|
||||
|
||||
“Everyone who is HIV-positive in Lesotho is a dead man walking,” said Hlaoli Monyamane, a 32-year-old miner who couldn't get a sufficient medication supply to support him while working in neighboring South Africa.
|
||||
|
||||
HIV prevention programs – targeting mother-to-child transmission, encouraging male circumcision, and working with high-risk groups including sex workers and miners — were cut off. Unpaid nurses and other workers decided to use informal networks to reach isolated communities. Labs shuttered, and public clinics grew overwhelmed. Patients began abandoning treatment or rationing pills.
|
||||
|
||||
Experts with UNAIDS — the U.N. agency tasked with fighting the virus globally — warned in July that up to 4 million people worldwide would die if funding weren't reinstated. And Lesotho health officials said the cuts would lead to increased HIV transmission, more deaths and higher health costs.
|
||||
|
||||
Calculating how many lives are lost or affected is a massive task, and those responsible for tracking and adding data to a centralized system were largely let go.
|
||||
|
||||
Lesotho Health Secretary Maneo Moliehi Ntene and HIV/AIDS program manager Dr. Tapiwa Tarumbiswa declined repeated requests to be interviewed or comment about the aid cuts. But Mokhothu Makhalanyane, chairperson of Lesotho’s legislative health committee, said the impact is huge, estimating the country was set back at least 15 years in its HIV work
|
||||
|
||||
“We’re going to lose a lot of lives because of this,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Lesotho reached a milestone late last year — UNAIDS’s 95-95-95 goal, with 95% of people living with HIV aware of their status, 95% of those in treatment, and 95% of those with a suppressed viral load. Still, the nation must care for the estimated 260,000 of its 2.3 million residents who are HIV-positive.
|
||||
|
||||
Overall, Lesotho and even global HIV efforts accounted for small parts of the United States' massive international aid efforts. USAID spent tens of billions of dollars annually. Its dismantling has rocked the lives of millions of people in low- and middle-income nations around the world.
|
||||
|
||||
For patients, ‘this has been the most difficult time’
|
||||
|
||||
For many in this mountainous country and elsewhere, a positive HIV test 20 years ago was akin to a death sentence. If untreated, most people with HIV develop AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. At the height of the epidemic in 2004, more than 2 million people died of AIDS-related illness worldwide — 19,000 in Lesotho, UNAIDS estimated.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2003, the U.S. launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. PEPFAR became the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease, and its main implementing partner was USAID. PEPFAR became so important and well known in Lesotho and other countries that health professionals and residents use the term as shorthand to refer to any HIV aid.
|
||||
|
||||
When foreign assistance was frozen, Lesotho lost at least 23% of PEPFAR money, putting it in the top 10 countries for share of such funding cut, according to the Foundation for AIDS Research.
|
||||
|
||||
Mapapali Mosoeunyane is among Lesotho residents who credit PEPFAR with helping save them. After learning she had the virus in 2009, she was certain dying was just a matter of time. Neighbors gossiped, she was fired, and she considered giving up her two young sons for adoption.
|
||||
|
||||
But around 2013, she got access to antiretroviral medication — which suppresses HIV levels in the blood, with the potential to bring it to undetectable levels. In 2016, Lesotho was the first African country to “test and treat all” -- everyone who tested positive was prescribed ARVs. That work, officials say, was possible because of PEPFAR.
|
||||
|
||||
Today, 62-year-old Mosoeunyane leads a peer support group in her village, Ha Koloboi. Neighbors ask for advice and trust her with their green medical booklets, where they record medical history, viral load, symptoms and medications.
|
||||
|
||||
Lately, the group mostly worries — about the future, losing medication access, getting sick again.
|
||||
|
||||
“This has been the most difficult time for me,” Mosoeunyane said.
|
||||
|
||||
Many in Mosoeunyane’s group wish Trump himself could hear their concerns.
|
||||
|
||||
“Trump’s decision is already translating into real life," said Mateboho Talitha Fusi, Mosoeunyane's friend and neighbor.
|
||||
|
||||
The worries span Lesotho society: from rural to urban, low to middle income, patients to officials. Many Basotho – as people in Lesotho are known – feel hopeless.
|
||||
|
||||
Since aid was cut, confusion and changes haven't stopped
|
||||
|
||||
When Trump dissolved USAID, Lesotho leaders said they tried to talk to U.S. officials, even through their South African neighbors after failing to connect directly. But, they said, they got more information from news reports.
|
||||
|
||||
For Lisebo Lechela, a 53-year-old sex worker turned HIV activist and health worker, the news was fast and blunt. Days after Trump's order, she was about to distribute medication, but a call from her boss interrupted her.
|
||||
|
||||
“Stop work immediately,” she was told.
|
||||
|
||||
Lechela's organization, the USAID-funded Phelisanang Bophelong HIV/AIDS network, had drop-in centers at gas stations where sex workers could seek services. Workers set up tents outside bars with condoms and the prevention medication known as PreP. Teams delivered medication directly to patients who wouldn’t step foot in public health clinics, for fear of discrimination.
|
||||
|
||||
Lechela’s group earned the trust of the skeptics and the stubborn. All that work is gone, she fears.
|
||||
|
||||
She still gets calls from people desperate for services and refills. She does what she can, and their stories haunt her.
|
||||
|
||||
Among them is a textile factory worker who turned to sex work at night to support her three children. She used to take PrEP and isn't sure how she’ll protect herself. Most clients won't use condoms, she said, some turning violent if sex workers insist.
|
||||
|
||||
“I have to put bread on the table,” said the woman, speaking on condition of anonymity because her husband, who works in South Africa, wouldn't approve of her sex work. She can’t miss a day of factory work to wait in line at a clinic.
|
||||
|
||||
Visiting the woman at home, all Lechela could do was demonstrate how to use a female condom – and hope her clients wouldn’t notice or protest.
|
||||
|
||||
With nearly all community groups and local organizations like Lechela's closed and 1,500 health workers fired, some Lesotho officials see overdue signs that their nation and others must stop relying on international aid.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is a serious wake-up call,” said Makhalanyane, the health committee chair. “We should never put the lives of the people in the hands of people who are not elected to do that.”
|
||||
|
||||
Rachel Bonnifield, director of the global health policy program at the Center for Global Development, called the Trump administration’s new vision for PEPFAR — with funds sent directly to governments rather than through development organizations — ambitious but high-risk.
|
||||
|
||||
“It is disrupting something that currently works and works well, albeit with some structural problems, in favor of something with high potential benefits ... but is not proven and does not currently exist,” she said, noting that U.S. House Republicans recently said they’d like to see PEPFAR funding cut in half by 2028.
|
||||
|
||||
Lesotho had made recent gains
|
||||
|
||||
UNAIDS' main goal is to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. Lesotho had made enough progress in reducing new infections and deaths to be on track, according to Pepukai Chikukwa, UNAIDS's country director in Lesotho.
|
||||
|
||||
But after the aid cuts, things were "just crumbling,” she said, though she commended Lesotho's efforts to mitigate the impact.
|
||||
|
||||
“Lesotho’s made progress one should not overlook; at the same time, it is still a heavily burdened country with HIV."
|
||||
|
||||
Chikukwa was optimistic about the September announcement by the U.S. State Department — which took over implementation of foreign aid programs — that it would temporarily reinstate some lifesaving programs, including one to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. She also applauded U.S. efforts to buy doses of a twice-a-year HIV prevention shot and prioritize them for pregnant and breastfeeding women in low- to middle-income countries, including Lesotho, via PEPFAR.
|
||||
|
||||
“We lost some ground," she said. "The uncertainty was very high; now there is some hope.”
|
||||
|
||||
But it's not clear how much the U.S. bridge programs will “close the gap,” added Chikukwa, even as she's leaving Lesotho. Her role was eliminated because of the aid cuts. The South Africa UNAIDS office will oversee Lesotho, she said, but she wasn't sure where she'd be reassigned.
|
||||
|
||||
In its email to AP, the State Department said Secretary Marco Rubio had approved lifesaving PEPFAR programs and urged implementers to resume their work. The email emphasized that officials will work with Lesotho to continue providing health foreign assistance, but didn't give specifics about the amount of funding.
|
||||
|
||||
Lesotho funded only 12% of its own health budget. The U.S. and other foreign donors provided the rest. USAID alone accounted for 34% of the budget; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26%, according to a May presentation to lawmakers.
|
||||
|
||||
Health committee chair Makhalanyane said this month that it remains unclear how much U.S. aid is being reinstated, even if temporarily. There had been only verbal promises, nothing in writing, he noted, and hundreds of health workers who had been promised they'd be absorbed by the national health system remain unemployed.
|
||||
|
||||
Unlike other PEPFAR-supported countries, Lesotho funded medication for 80% of its HIV patients — a figure officials tout as they try to move toward a self-sustaining system. Still, the aid cuts sparked panic over supply and distribution.
|
||||
|
||||
Lesotho regularly gave patients a six- to 12-month supply to help its mobile population, including many who work in South Africa, stick with treatment. But when the cuts were announced, some nurses gave out even more drugs than usual.
|
||||
|
||||
Nurses were told to cut back. Patients grew alarmed.
|
||||
|
||||
Miner Monyamane said he got a three-month supply, not his usual 12. So instead of continuing to work in South Africa, he decided to remain in his small village of Thaba-Tsoeu Ha Mafa. Like many miners, he chose his health over a job and steady paycheck. He fears diseases such as tuberculosis — a leading cause of death in Lesotho, attributed to weakened immune systems — may creep up on him if he interrupts treatment.
|
||||
|
||||
'You can't just hang a shingle'
|
||||
|
||||
The system propped up by foreign aid was always meant to be temporary. But public health experts say the shift to Lesotho and other countries becoming self-reliant should have been gradual.
|
||||
|
||||
At the United Nations General Assembly last month, Lesotho Prime Minister Samuel Matekane acknowledged the threat posed by declining foreign aid but fell short of pointing fingers. He said Lesotho is mobilizing domestic resources to address gaps.
|
||||
|
||||
But Catherine Connor, of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, emphasized that “any step backward creates a risk of resurgence.”
|
||||
|
||||
In the 16 years her organization has worked in Lesotho, HIV transmission from mother to child dropped to about 6% from nearly 18%. Lesotho's government should get credit, Connor said, but her group and others were key in targeting children's treatment and prevention.
|
||||
|
||||
Since 2008, Connor's group received more than $227 million from the U.S. for Lesotho programming, USASpending.gov data shows. This fiscal year, about half the work it planned has been terminated.
|
||||
|
||||
“You can’t just hang a shingle that says, ‘Get your ARVs here,’ and people line up,” Connor said.
|
||||
|
||||
Most at risk, she and others stressed, are children.
|
||||
|
||||
As of late August, half of PEPFAR funding targeted toward children in Lesotho was terminated, and 54% of infants tested for HIV before their first birthday in fiscal year 2024 were evaluated by programs that had been cut, according to Foundation for AIDS Research data.
|
||||
|
||||
“When a child never gets diagnosed, it feels like a missed opportunity," Connor said. "When a child who was receiving treatment stops getting treatment, it feels like a crime against humanity.”
|
||||
|
||||
A lack of trust in what remains of the system
|
||||
|
||||
Rethabile Motsamai, a 37-year-old psychologist and mother of two, has worked since 2016 for aid-funded organizations. But months ago, her HIV counselor role was eliminated.
|
||||
|
||||
She worries for the populations her work served.
|
||||
|
||||
“They have to travel for themselves to the facilities -- some are very far,” she said, adding that she knows some patients simply won’t try. “They’ll just stop taking their medication.”
|
||||
|
||||
Those who do make the trip may be met with a dead end. Clinics have continued to close.
|
||||
|
||||
For Lechela — the longtime activist — the upheaval and loss of her job means she once again depends solely on sex work. As she walked by the closed doors of her former clinic, passersby stopped and begged her to reopen.
|
||||
|
||||
“I don’t trust anyone else," a young woman called out. "Please! Please!”
|
||||
|
||||
Lechela smiled but couldn't bring herself to reply. Like many here, she simply has no answers.
|
||||
@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is assessing the damage and lashing out over the American and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear sites, though Tehran kept open the possibility Tuesday of resuming talks with Washington over its atomic program.
|
||||
|
||||
The comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani also included another acknowledgment that Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz — key sites within Iran’s nuclear program — had been “seriously damaged” by the American strikes. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Mohajerani as making the remarks at a briefing for journalists.
|
||||
|
||||
That acknowledgment comes as Iran’s theocracy has slowly begun to admit the scale of the damage wrought by the 12-day war with Israel, which saw Israeli fighter jets decimate the country’s air defenses and conduct strikes at will over the Islamic Republic. And keeping the door open to talks with the United States likely shows Tehran wants to avoid further economic pain as another deadline over U.N. sanctions looms.
|
||||
|
||||
“No date (for U.S. talks) is announced, and it’s not probably very soon, but a decision hasn’t been made in this field,” Mohajerani said.
|
||||
|
||||
Iran offers rising death toll
|
||||
|
||||
Israeli airstrikes, which began June 13, decimated the upper ranks of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and targeted its arsenal of ballistic missiles. The strikes also hit Iran’s nuclear sites, which Israel claimed put Tehran within reach of a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
|
||||
|
||||
On Monday, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir offered a sharply increased, government-issued death toll from the war. He said that the Israeli attacks killed 935 “Iranian citizens,” including 38 children and 102 women, IRNA reported.
|
||||
|
||||
“The enemy aimed to change the country’s circumstances by assassinating military commanders and scientists, intending to spread fear and exert pressure,” Jahangir added. However, he asserted — like others up to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — that Iran had “won” the war.
|
||||
|
||||
Iran has a long history of offering lower death counts around unrest over political considerations. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said.
|
||||
|
||||
Activity seen at Iran’s Fordo facility
|
||||
|
||||
Meanwhile, it appears that Iranian officials now are assessing the damage done by the American strikes conducted on the three nuclear sites on June 22, including those at Fordo, a site built under a mountain about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran.
|
||||
|
||||
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordo on Monday likely examining the damage caused by American bunker busters. Trucks could be seen in the images, as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site. That corresponded to images shot Sunday by Maxar Technologies similarly showing the ongoing work.
|
||||
|
||||
The tunnels likely had been filled in by Iran before the strikes to protect the facility. The presence of trucks before the attacks has raised questions about whether any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been spirited away before the attack, something repeatedly claimed by Iranian officials. Even before the strikes, the IAEA warned that its inspectors had lost their “continuity of knowledge” regarding the program, meaning material could be at undeclared sites in the country.
|
||||
|
||||
Iran hasn’t said what work is being done at the sites, though it has said that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran planned to issue a report about the damage done by the strikes.
|
||||
|
||||
Hard-liners lash out
|
||||
|
||||
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whose profile sharply rose during the war, also has kept open the possibility of talks with the U.S.
|
||||
|
||||
However, hard-liners within Iran are increasingly criticizing any effort at negotiations or cooperation with the West. Iran’s hard-line Kayhan newspaper, in a piece written by its Khamenei-appointed managing editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, mocked any possible talks Tuesday by saying being a “traitor or stupid are two sides of the same coin.”
|
||||
|
||||
Shariatmadari’s newspaper on Saturday also suggested that the IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, should be “tried and executed” if he visited Iran — something that drew immediate criticism from European nations and others.
|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.
|
||||
|
||||
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”
|
||||
|
||||
Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the U.S. strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the U.S. and others wish to resume talks with Iran, “first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”
|
||||
|
||||
Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.
|
||||
|
||||
Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
He also reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.
|
||||
|
||||
Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
|
||||
|
||||
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.
|
||||
@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian attack on an air base in Qatar that’s key to the U.S. military hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.
|
||||
|
||||
Hours after the publication of this AP report, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell acknowledged that an Iranian ballistic missile had hit the dome. Qatar did not respond to requests for comment about the damage.
|
||||
|
||||
The Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar’s capital, on June 23 came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran — and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
|
||||
|
||||
The Iranian attack otherwise did little damage — likely because of the fact that the U.S. evacuated its aircraft from the base, which is home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, before the attack.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump also has said that Iran signaled when and how it would retaliate, allowing American and Qatari air defense to be ready for the attack, which briefly disrupted air travel in the Middle East, but otherwise didn’t tip over into the regional war long feared by analysts.
|
||||
|
||||
Images show burn marks, dome gone after attack
|
||||
|
||||
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack.
|
||||
|
||||
The U.S. Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, announced in 2016 the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome.
|
||||
|
||||
Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images.
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement, Parnell said the missile strike “did minimal damage to equipment and structures on the base.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Al Udeid Air Base remains fully operational and capable of conducting its mission, alongside our Qatari partners, to provide security and stability in the region,” he added.
|
||||
|
||||
The London-based satellite news channel Iran International first reported on the damage, citing satellite photos taken by a different provider.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump downplayed attack while Iran boasted about it
|
||||
|
||||
In the U.S., Trump described the Iranian attack as a “very weak response.” He had said that Tehran fired 14 missiles, with 13 intercepted and one being “set free” as it was going in a “nonthreatening” direction.
|
||||
|
||||
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” he wrote on his website Truth Social.
|
||||
|
||||
The White House had no immediate comment after Parnell’s acknowledgment Friday. Trump visited Al Udeid Air Base on May 15 as part of his Mideast tour.
|
||||
|
||||
After the attack, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted that the air base had been the “target of a destructive and powerful missile attack.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also said that the base had been “smashed,” without offering any specific damage assessments.
|
||||
|
||||
Potentially signaling that he knew the dome had been hit, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei separately said that the base’s communications had been disconnected by the attack.
|
||||
|
||||
“All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the U.S. command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister has outlined plans to pack hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a closed zone of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, according to local media reports.
|
||||
|
||||
It appears to be the latest version of plans by the Israeli government to maintain lasting control over the territory and relocate much of its population of some 2 million. Critics say that would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law because Israel’s offensive and blockade have made Gaza largely uninhabitable.
|
||||
|
||||
Israeli officials say the aim is to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which still controls parts of Gaza and holds dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war 21 months ago. Palestinians would then be given the option of emigrating, they say.
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he is narrowing in on a ceasefire and hopes to eventually end the war, has also voiced support for the mass transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
A ‘humanitarian city’ atop the ruins of Rafah
|
||||
|
||||
Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined the latest plans in a closed briefing with Israeli military reporters on Monday. His office did not respond to a request for comment on their reports, which appeared in several Israeli media outlets.
|
||||
|
||||
Katz reportedly said he had ordered Israel’s military to draw up plans to build what he called a “humanitarian city” in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which has been heavily damaged in the war and is now largely uninhabited.
|
||||
|
||||
Katz reportedly said that Palestinians would not be able to leave once they enter the zone.
|
||||
|
||||
The military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians from an existing so-called humanitarian zone along the coast, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah. Katz said Israel was searching for an unspecified international body to deliver aid as Israeli troops secured the perimeter.
|
||||
|
||||
He said the military could start building the ‘city’ during a 60-day ceasefire that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are discussing in Washington this week.
|
||||
|
||||
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Palestinians view Gaza as an integral part of their national homeland and oppose any plans to uproot them.
|
||||
|
||||
Rights groups see preparations for mass expulsion
|
||||
|
||||
Both Trump and Netanyahu have said Gaza’s population should be relocated to other countries through what they refer to as voluntary emigration. During their meeting on Monday at the White House, Netanyahu said Palestinians should have a “free choice” on whether to stay or leave.
|
||||
|
||||
Palestinians fear that even if they leave temporarily to escape the war, Israel will never allow them to return — a possible repeat of the mass exodus that occurred before and during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
|
||||
|
||||
Katz expressed hope that the “emigration plan” would happen and said Netanyahu was already leading efforts to find countries willing to take in Palestinians, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
|
||||
|
||||
Rights groups fear that concentrating the population along the border with Egypt would create catastrophic conditions that leave Palestinians no choice but to leave.
|
||||
|
||||
“Forcing people into what amounts to a large concentration camp echoes dark chapters of history,” said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group advocating Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement.
|
||||
|
||||
“Israel’s leadership hasn’t been shy about the goal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and maintain permanent control over wide swaths of the territory,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
An Israeli-backed aid system is already in place
|
||||
|
||||
Israel and the United States have already rolled out an aid distribution program in Rafah that has been marred by violence and controversy.
|
||||
|
||||
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed or wounded while trying to reach sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a contractor supported by Israel and the U.S., according to local hospitals.
|
||||
|
||||
Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire toward crowds of people heading to the sites. The military says it has fired warning shots at people who approached its forces in what it describes as a suspicious manner.
|
||||
|
||||
GHF denies there has been any violence in or around the sites themselves, which are in Israeli military zones off limits to independent media. Two U.S. contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues used live ammunition and stun grenades as crowds scrambled for food, allegations denied by the foundation. GHF has also denied involvement in any population transfer plans.
|
||||
|
||||
But in a press conference in May, Netanyahu appeared to link the two initiatives, saying Israel would implement the new aid program and then create a “sterile zone” in southern Gaza, free of Hamas, where the Palestinian population would be relocated.
|
||||
|
||||
Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and has ruled out any role for the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority, led by political rivals of Hamas.
|
||||
|
||||
-
|
||||
@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel received the remains of two more hostages Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
|
||||
|
||||
The coffins carrying the remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. Upon returning to Israel, they were sent to a forensic lab in Tel Aviv. The military in a statement cautioned that the hostages’ identities had yet to be verified.
|
||||
|
||||
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the ceasefire agreement. That brought to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment.
|
||||
|
||||
As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
|
||||
|
||||
The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that “the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages.” There was no immediate word on whose body it was.
|
||||
|
||||
In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
Unidentified bodies returned to Gaza show signs of abuse
|
||||
|
||||
Israel is expected to turn over more bodies, though officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned. It is unclear whether the remains belong to Palestinians who died in Israeli custody or were taken from Gaza by Israeli troops. Throughout the war, Israel’s military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of hostages.
|
||||
|
||||
As forensic teams examined the first remains returned, the Health Ministry on Wednesday released images of 32 unidentified bodies to help families recognize missing relatives.
|
||||
|
||||
Many appeared decomposed or burned. Some were missing limbs or teeth, while others were coated in sand and dust. Health officials have said Israeli restrictions on allowing DNA testing equipment into Gaza have often forced morgues to rely on physical features and clothing for identification.
|
||||
|
||||
The forensics team that received the bodies said some arrived still shackled or bearing signs of physical abuse.
|
||||
|
||||
Sameh Hamad, a member of a commission tasked with receiving the bodies at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital, said some arrived with their hands and legs cuffed.
|
||||
|
||||
“There are signs of torture and executions,” he told The Associated Press.
|
||||
|
||||
The bodies, he said, belonged to men ages 25 to 70. Most had bands on their necks, including one that had a rope around the neck.
|
||||
|
||||
Most of the bodies wore civilian clothing, but some were in uniforms, suggesting they were militants.
|
||||
|
||||
Hamad said the Red Cross provided names for only three of the dead, leaving many families uncertain of their relatives’ fate. The fighting has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
|
||||
|
||||
Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
|
||||
|
||||
Rasmiya Qudeih, 52, waited outside Nasser Hospital, hoping her son would be among the 45 bodies transferred Wednesday from Israel.
|
||||
|
||||
He vanished on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war. She was told he was killed by an Israeli strike.
|
||||
|
||||
“God willing, he will be with the bodies,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
Netanyahu says Israel won’t compromise
|
||||
|
||||
The ceasefire plan introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.
|
||||
|
||||
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump, in an interview with CNN, warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas isn’t upholding its end of the agreement.
|
||||
|
||||
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” Trump said.
|
||||
|
||||
Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement Wednesday that the group honored the ceasefire’s terms and handed over the remains of the hostages it had access to.
|
||||
|
||||
Hamas has assured the U.S. through intermediaries that it is working to return dead hostages, according to two senior U.S. advisers. The advisers, who were not authorized to comment publicly and briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said they do not believe Hamas has violated the deal.
|
||||
|
||||
The widespread destruction in the territory has complicated the retrieval of the dead, the officials added. One of the advisers said debris as well as unexploded weapons add to the difficulty.
|
||||
|
||||
Hamas has told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
|
||||
|
||||
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel. During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were among those taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted.
|
||||
|
||||
Testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
|
||||
|
||||
More aid bound for Gaza
|
||||
|
||||
The World Food Program said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday Tuesday.
|
||||
|
||||
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries — which are part of the ceasefire deal — was called into question after Israel said Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.
|
||||
|
||||
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, declined to comment on the number of trucks expected to enter Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Magdy reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Michelle Price and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
ROME (AP) — Italy’s top court has rejected the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man arrested on suspicion of setting off explosions that damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022, his lawyer said on Thursday.
|
||||
|
||||
Italy’s Cassation Court on Wednesday annulled a previous decision by a Bologna appeals court, which had ordered the extradition to Germany of the 49-year-old suspect, Serhii Kuznietsov.
|
||||
|
||||
The Italian top court has now demanded another panel of the same appeals court to reassess the case, said Kuznietsov’s lawyer, Nicola Canestrini.
|
||||
|
||||
Canestrini said the motivations of the Cassation court’s decision have not been filed yet and are expected in the coming weeks.
|
||||
|
||||
“In the meantime, I will evaluate whether the conditions exist to request my client’s release, since the legal basis for detention has ceased to exist,” Canestrini added.
|
||||
|
||||
The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carried Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea until Russia cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. They also damaged the parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
German prosecutors opened an investigation after the explosions and officials have pointed to an interest in clearing up what happened.
|
||||
|
||||
Kuznietsov was detained on a European arrest warrant Aug. 21 at a campground near the Adriatic coastal city of Rimini, where he was vacationing with his family.
|
||||
|
||||
During his first hearing confirming his detention, Kuznietsov denied any involvement in the explosions, saying he was in Ukraine where he was serving in the army as a captain at the time of the blasts.
|
||||
|
||||
German prosecutors allege that Kuznietsov organized and carried out the detonation of at least four bombs between 14 and 27 kilograms (around 31 to 62 pounds) at a depth of 70 to 80 meters (230 feet to 263 feet) in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm on Sept. 26, 2022, according to the extradition papers.
|
||||
|
||||
Polish authorities last month arrested another Ukrainian citizen who is suspected of involvement in the undersea explosions. The Warsaw District Court is expected to rule on his extradition on Friday, but the decision can be appealed.
|
||||
|
||||
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in early October that it was not “in the interest of Poland” to extradite the man.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this story.
|
||||
@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
PARIS (AP) — Cries of “It is warm!” rang out across the Seine on Saturday morning as Parisians jumped into the river — legally — for the first time in more than 100 years.
|
||||
|
||||
Public swimming was allowed in designated areas of the Seine, including two newly built wooden decks near the Eiffel Tower and the Île Saint-Louis in central Paris. Before sunrise, a municipal officer skimmed away the last few patches of algae with a fishnet. Soon after, a line of eager Parisians formed, towels in hand, waiting for their chance to jump in.
|
||||
|
||||
Woos and cries of joy echoed across the riverbanks as the first swimmers entered the emerald-green water.
|
||||
|
||||
Every swimmer wore a bright yellow lifebuoy tied around their waist, part of strict safety measures enforced by a dozen lifeguards in high-visibility vests. The current was weak, just enough to tug gently at their limbs — a reminder that this is still a living, urban river.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s so nice to swim in the heart of the city, especially with the high temperatures we’ve been having lately,” said Amine Hocini, a 25-year-old construction worker from Paris. “I’m surprised because I thought it was going to be cooler and in fact, it’s much warmer than I thought.”
|
||||
|
||||
The return to swimming follows a 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) cleanup project tied to last year’s Olympics. Officials now say the Seine meets European water quality standards on most days. Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who already took a dip last year, was there Saturday morning, holding up a transparent bottle filled with river water as a show of confidence. Environmental authorities confirmed bacteria levels were well below official thresholds.
|
||||
|
||||
Swimming in the Seine had been illegal since 1923, with a few exceptions, due to pollution and risks posed by river navigation. Taking a dip outside bathing areas is still banned for safety reasons.
|
||||
|
||||
From the deck, tourists and morning joggers stopped to watch. Some applauded as swimmers climbed up the steel ladders, grinning and dripping. Others, like François Fournier, remained skeptical.
|
||||
|
||||
“I won’t risk it quite frankly,” said Fournier, who lives atop the riverbanks and observed the scene from a bridge above. “I’ve seen things you can’t imagine floating in the Seine, so I’ll wait for it to be really squeaky clean.”
|
||||
|
||||
Floating debris still bobbed here and there — a stray leaf, a plastic wrapper — but the smell was barely noticeable: no strong sewage odor, just an earthy, river-like scent.
|
||||
|
||||
“This is so chic, to swim in the Seine, next to Île Saint-Louis,” said Lucile Woodward, 43, a resident. “There are some apprehensions, of course, any time you go to swim somewhere, but I think this is one of the most tested areas in the whole world now. I don’t think the town hall can allow herself to have any problems.”
|
||||
|
||||
She added with a laugh: “My skin is OK.”
|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has permanently blocked the Trump administration from withholding nearly $34 million in funding earmarked to protect New York’s transit system from terrorist attacks.
|
||||
|
||||
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in a ruling Thursday that the Republican administration’s decision, based on the Big Apple’s “sanctuary city” protections for immigrants in the United States illegally, was “arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of the law.”
|
||||
|
||||
The post-9/11 Transit Security Grant Program, Kaplan noted in granting a permanent injunction, was created with instructions that money be allocated solely on the basis of terrorism risk. The judge had previously issued an order temporarily freezing the move.
|
||||
|
||||
The state sued Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency after they said last month that they were eliminating funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s transit system.
|
||||
|
||||
A FEMA official disclosed in a court filing that the transit authority “did not receive funding because the applicant is based in New York City, a designated Sanctuary Jurisdiction city.”
|
||||
|
||||
The MTA said its allocation, the largest of any transit agency, pays for targeted counterterrorism patrols, security equipment, infrastructure enhancements, cybersecurity technology and weapons detection technologies.
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James praised Kaplan’s ruling as “a victory for every New Yorker who rides our subways, buses, and commuter rails.”
|
||||
|
||||
“A court has once again affirmed that this administration cannot punish New York by arbitrarily wiping out critical security resources and defunding law enforcement that keeps riders safe,” Hochul and James, both Democrats, said.
|
||||
@ -1 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
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||||
|
||||
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|
||||
@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Kilmar Abrego Garcia said he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador prison the Trump administration had deported him to in March, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
|
||||
|
||||
He said he was kicked and hit so often after arrival that by the following day, he had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. He said he and 20 others were forced to kneel all night long and guards hit anyone who fell.
|
||||
|
||||
Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported and became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The new details of Abrego Garcia’s incarceration in El Salvador were added to a lawsuit against the Trump administration that Abrego Garcia’s wife filed in Maryland federal court after he was deported.
|
||||
|
||||
The Trump administration has asked a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it is now moot because the government returned him to the United States as ordered by the court.
|
||||
|
||||
A U.S. immigration judge in 2019 had barred Abrego Garcia from being deported back to his native El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs who had terrorized him and his family. The Trump administration deported him there despite the judge’s 2019 order and later described it as an “administrative error.” Trump and other officials have since doubled down on claims Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang.
|
||||
|
||||
On March 15, Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador and sent to the country’s mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
|
||||
|
||||
In the new court documents, Abrego Garcia said detainees at CECOT “were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day, and minimal access to sanitation.”
|
||||
|
||||
He said prison officials told him repeatedly that they would transfer him to cells with people who were gang members who would “tear” him apart. Abrego Garcia said he saw others in nearby cells violently harm each other and heard screams from people throughout the night.
|
||||
|
||||
His condition deteriorated and he lost more than 30 pounds in his first two weeks there, he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador in April. The senator said Abrego Garcia reported he’d been moved from the mega-prison to a detention center with better conditions.
|
||||
|
||||
The Trump administration continued to face mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order to return him to the United States. When the U.S. government brought back Abrego Garcia last month, it was to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee.
|
||||
|
||||
Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time of Abrego Garcia’s return that this “is what American justice looks like.” But Abrego Garcia’s attorneys called the charges “preposterous” and an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion.
|
||||
|
||||
A federal judge in Tennessee has ruled that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release -- under certain conditions -- as he awaits trial on the criminal charges in Tennessee. But she has kept him in jail for now at the request of his own attorneys over fears that he would be deported again upon release.
|
||||
|
||||
Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press last month that the department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him again.
|
||||
@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida’s new Everglades immigration detention center after visiting Saturday, describing it as crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested. Republicans on the same tour said they saw nothing of the sort at the remote facility that officials have dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz.”
|
||||
|
||||
The state-arranged tour came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center that the state rapidly built on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. So many state legislators and members of Congress turned up Saturday that they were split into multiple groups.
|
||||
|
||||
“There are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut the hell down,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, told reporters after visiting the agglomeration of tents, trailers and temporary buildings. “This place is a stunt, and they’re abusing human beings here.”
|
||||
|
||||
Cage-style units of 32 men share three combination toilet-sink devices, the visitors measured the temperature at 83 degrees (28 degrees Celsius) in a housing area entranceway and 85 (29 Celsius) in a medical intake area, and grasshoppers and other insects abound, she and her fellow Florida Democrats said.
|
||||
|
||||
Although the visitors said they were not able to speak with the detainees, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, also a Democrat, said one called out “I’m an American citizen!” and others chanted “Libertad!,” Spanish for “freedom.”
|
||||
|
||||
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports the Trump Administration wants to open more alligator Alcatraz ICE detention centers.
|
||||
|
||||
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Florida, countered that he had seen a well-run, safe facility where the living quarters were clean and the air conditioning worked well.
|
||||
|
||||
“The rhetoric coming out of the Democrats does not match the reality,” said Ingoglia, who said he toured in the same group as Wasserman Schultz. Ingoglia said a handful of detainees became “a little raucous” when the visitors appeared, but he did not make out what they were saying.
|
||||
|
||||
State Sen. Jay Collins was in another group and said he also found the detention center to be clean and functioning well: “No squalor.”
|
||||
|
||||
Collins, a Republican, said he saw backup generators, a tracking system for dietary restrictions and military-style bunks with good mattresses. The sanitation devices struck him as appropriate, if basic.
|
||||
|
||||
“Would I want that toilet-and-sink combination at my bathroom at the house? Probably not, but this is a transitional holding facility,” Collins said by phone.
|
||||
|
||||
Journalists were not allowed on the tour, and lawmakers were instructed not to bring phones or cameras inside.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages seeking comment were sent to the state Division of Emergency Management, which built the facility, and to representatives for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican. DeSantis spokesperson Molly Best highlighted one of Ingoglia’s upbeat readouts on social media.
|
||||
|
||||
Across the state in Tampa, federal Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that of the Everglades detention center that “any issues that were there have been addressed.” She added that she has talked with five unnamed Republican governors about modeling other facilities on it.
|
||||
|
||||
DeSantis and fellow Republicans have touted the makeshift detention center, constructed in days as an efficient and get-tough response to President Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations. The first detainees arrived July 3, after Trump toured and praised the facility.
|
||||
|
||||
Described as temporary, it is meant to help the Republican president’s administration reach its goal of boosting migrant detention capacity from 41,000 people to at least 100,000. The Florida facility’s remote location and its name — a nod to the notorious Alcatraz prison that once housed federal inmates in California — are meant to underscore a message of deterring illegal immigration.
|
||||
|
||||
Ahead of the facility’s opening, state officials said detainees would have access to medical care, consistent air conditioning, a recreation yard, attorneys and clergy members.
|
||||
|
||||
But detainees and their relatives and advocates have told The Associated Press that conditions are awful, with worm-infested food, toilets overflowing onto floors, mosquitoes buzzing around the fenced bunks, and air conditioners that sometimes shut off in the oppressive South Florida summer heat. One man told his wife that detainees go days without getting showers.
|
||||
|
||||
Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman called those descriptions “completely false,” saying detainees always get three meals a day, unlimited drinking water, showers and other necessities.
|
||||
|
||||
“The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
Five Democratic state lawmakers tried to visit the site July 3 but said they were denied access. The state subsequently arranged Saturday’s tour.
|
||||
|
||||
The lawmakers have sued over the earlier denial, accusing the DeSantis administration of impeding their oversight authority. A DeSantis spokesperson has called the lawsuit “dumb.”
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Peltz reported from New York, and Rodriguez reported from Ochopee.
|
||||
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
apnews.com
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Texas on Monday, injuring a police officer, before authorities shot and killed him.
|
||||
|
||||
Authorities identified the shooter as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, believed to be 27, who they said shot at agents exiting the building, which is near the U.S.-Mexico border. McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said Mosqueda had a “utility vest” in addition to the rifle when federal agents returned fire.
|
||||
|
||||
Hours before the attack in McAllen, Mosqueda’s father was stopped by Weslaco police around 2:30 a.m. for a traffic violation, according to police spokesperson Heriberto Caraveo. The father told police that he was looking for his son, who he said had psychological issues and was carrying weapons in his car, Caraveo told The Associated Press.
|
||||
|
||||
Police say the white two-door sedan that Mosqueda drove to the facility had letters painted — possibly in Latin — on the driver’s side door.
|
||||
|
||||
“What it means, or whether or not it is an underlying reason for him being here, I do not know,” Rodriguez said when asked about the graffiti.
|
||||
|
||||
After Mosqueda was killed, law enforcement found other weaponry, ammunition and backpacks inside the vehicle.
|
||||
|
||||
“There are many, many more rounds of ammunition in his backpack,” Rodriguez said.
|
||||
|
||||
Rodriguez said his department received a call about the shooting around 5:50 a.m. One officer who responded to the shooting, a 10-year veteran, was injured after being struck in the knee. Rodriguez said it was unclear if the injury was from shrapnel or a bullet.
|
||||
|
||||
Police say Mosqueda was linked to a Michigan address, but was reported missing from a Weslaco, Texas, address around 4 a.m. Monday. Weslaco is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Border Patrol facility.
|
||||
|
||||
“An hour and a few minutes later, he was at this particular location opening fire on the federal building and our federal agents,” Rodriguez said.
|
||||
|
||||
The exact details of the missing person report were not immediately shared with the media.
|
||||
|
||||
Rodriguez said there is no ongoing threat to the public, but it is unknown if any other people were involved in the attack. He said the motive and events leading up to the attack are part of the ongoing investigation, which the FBI is taking the lead on.
|
||||
|
||||
The attack comes as President Donald Trump ‘s administration ramps up deportations, which will be turbocharged by a massive spending bill that became law last week. Stephen Miller, the president’s deputy chief of staff and chief architect of his immigration policies, recently set a target of at least 3,000 immigration arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of the administration.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Cline reported from Baton Rouge.
|
||||
@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s praise of the “beautiful” English of Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai drew confusion Thursday in the English-speaking African country and umbrage over what many considered condescending remarks.
|
||||
|
||||
“Such good English,” Trump said to Boakai during an event at the White House, with visible surprise. “Such beautiful English.”
|
||||
|
||||
Although English has been the official language of Liberia since the country’s founding in the 1800s, Trump asked Boakai where he had learned to speak the language “so beautifully,” and continued as Boakai murmured a response. “Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?”
|
||||
|
||||
The exchange took place Wednesday during a meeting in the White House between Trump and five West African leaders, amid a pivot from aid to trade in U.S. foreign policy.
|
||||
|
||||
Boakai’s government said it took no offense at Trump’s remarks, but other groups in Liberia described the remarks as an insult.
|
||||
|
||||
The White House declined to comment on whether Trump was aware that English was Liberia’s official language. Massad Boulos, the president’s senior adviser for Africa, stressed that Trump “actually complimented the language skills of the Liberian president,’' and that everyone at the meeting was ”deeply appreciative” of the president’s time and effort.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump’s comments draw mixed reaction
|
||||
|
||||
Liberia has had deep ties with the United States for centuries, stemming from the drive to relocate freed slaves from the United States.
|
||||
|
||||
Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti said on X that “President Trump’s comment on Boakai’s ‘beautiful English’ simply acknowledged Liberia’s familiar American-rooted accent and no offense was taken.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Our linguistic heritage is deeply American‑influenced, & this was simply recognized by @realDonaldTrump. We remain committed to strengthening Liberia‑U.S. ties, built on mutual respect, shared values, and meaningful partnership,” the minister said.
|
||||
|
||||
Foday Massaquio, chairman of Liberia’s opposition Congress for Democratic Change-Council of Patriots, said the remarks exemplified Trump’s lack of respect for foreign leaders, particularly African ones.
|
||||
|
||||
“President Trump was condescending, he was very disrespectful to the African leader,” Massaquio said, adding that it “proves that the West is not taking us seriously as Africans.”
|
||||
|
||||
Comments add to alarm over aid cuts
|
||||
|
||||
For many observers, Trump’s comments added to the sense of alarm and even betrayal over cuts in U.S. aid to the African country.
|
||||
|
||||
The decision by U.S. authorities earlier this month to dissolve theU.S. Agency for International Development sent shockwaves across Liberia. American support previously had made up almost 2.6% of the gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.
|
||||
|
||||
Liberians thought they would be spared from Trump’s cuts because of the countries’ close relationship. Their political system is modeled on that of the U.S., along with its flag. Liberians often refer to the U.S. as their “big brother.”
|
||||
|
||||
Liberia was one of the first countries to receive USAID support, starting in 1961. The street signs, taxis and school buses resemble those in New York.
|
||||
|
||||
“Liberia is a long standing friend of the USA, therefore Trump should have understood that we speak English as an official language,” said Moses Dennis, 37, a businessman from Monrovia.
|
||||
|
||||
Condescension or praise?
|
||||
|
||||
Siokin Civicus Barsi-Giah, a close associate of former President George Weah, echoed the notion that Trump should have known that Liberians speak English.
|
||||
|
||||
“Liberia is an English speaking country,” he said. “Former slaves and slave owners decided to organize themselves to let go of many people who were in slavery in the United States of America, and they landed on these shores now called the Republic of Liberia.”
|
||||
|
||||
For him, the exchange was “condescending and ridiculing,” and he said: “Joseph Boakai was not praised. He was mocked by the greatest president in the world.”
|
||||
|
||||
Some observers, however, said that they believed Trump’s remarks genuinely were intended as praise.
|
||||
|
||||
“To some, the comment may carry a whiff of condescension, echoing a long-standing Western tendency to express surprise when African leaders display intellectual fluency,” said Abraham Julian Wennah, a researcher at the African Methodist Episcopal University.
|
||||
|
||||
But if one looks at “Trump’s rhetorical style,” the remarks were “an acknowledgment of Boakai’s polish, intellect, and readiness for global engagement,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
AP writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel has introduced its first Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes, as part of wider efforts from the toy maker to increase inclusivity among its dolls.
|
||||
|
||||
In an announcement Tuesday, Mattel said it had partnered with Breakthrough T1D — a Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization formerly known as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF — to ensure that the design of the doll “truly captures the community.” That includes accessories that “accurately reflect the medical equipment” people with Type 1 diabetes may need, the California-based company noted.
|
||||
|
||||
“Visibility matters for everyone facing Type 1 diabetes,” Emily Mazreku, director of marketing strategy at Breakthrough T1D, said in an accompanying announcement. And as a mother who lives with Type 1 diabetes, she added, “it means everything to have Barbie helping the world see T1D and the incredible people who live with it.”
|
||||
|
||||
The new Barbie wears continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a device that tracks blood sugar levels, on her arm — while holding a phone displaying an accompanying app. She also has an insulin pump attached to her waist. And the doll carries a blue purse that can be used to carry other essential supplies or snacks on the go.
|
||||
|
||||
The Barbie’s outfit is blue, too — with polka dots on a matching top and skirt set. Mattel says that this color and design are nods to symbols for diabetes awareness.
|
||||
|
||||
This new doll “enables more children to see themselves reflected in Barbie,” Mattel wrote Tuesday, and is part of the company’s wider Fashionistas line committed to inclusivity. The line features Barbies with various skin tones, hair colors and textures, disabilities, body types and more. Previously-introduced Fashionistas include a Ken doll with a prosthetic leg and a Barbie with hearing aids. Mattel also introduced its first doll with Down syndrome in 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 38.4 million Americans of all ages — amounting to about 11.6% of the U.S. population — were estimated to have diabetes as of 2021, the latest year with data available. About 2 million had Type 1 diabetes, including about 304,000 children and teens younger than 20.
|
||||
|
||||
Barbie’s new doll with Type 1 diabetes was also introduced at Breakthrough T1D’s 2025 Children’s Congress held in Washington, D.C. this week, where the organization is advocating for continued federal research funding. This year, Breakthrough T1D has been particularly focused on the Special Diabetes Program, which is currently set to expire in September.
|
||||
@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s once most powerful drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is claiming he cannot get phone calls or visits in the maximum security U.S. prison where he is serving a life sentence.
|
||||
|
||||
Guzmán, who in the past was able to break out of Mexican prisons seemingly at will, wrote a letter to District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan in the Eastern District of New York in late March, complaining that he hadn’t been able to speak with his twin daughters.
|
||||
|
||||
He was convicted for running an industrial-scale drug smuggling operation and is serving his sentence at a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado.
|
||||
|
||||
In May 2023, “the facility stopped giving me calls with my daughters. And I haven’t had calls with them for seven months,” Guzmán wrote. “I have asked when they are going to give me a call with my daughters and the staff here told me that the FBI agent who monitors the calls does not answer. That’s all they’ve told me.”
|
||||
|
||||
“It is unprecedented discrimination against me,” Guzmán complained. “They have decided to punish me by not letting me talk to my daughters.”
|
||||
|
||||
Guzmán also asked the judge to authorize a visit by his wife, Emma Coronel, but did not say when he was last allowed to see her. Coronel also pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2021 but was later released.
|
||||
|
||||
“I ask that you please authorize her to visit me and to bring my daughters to visit me, since my daughters can only visit me when they are on school break, since they are studying in Mexico,” Guzmán wrote.
|
||||
|
||||
Cogan responded last week, saying that once Guzmán was convicted, all arrangements are in the hands of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and that he had no power to intervene.
|
||||
|
||||
In his reply, Cogan also said that after his conviction, “the Bureau of Prisons became solely responsible” for the conditions of Guzmán’s confinement and that the judge cannot change them.
|
||||
|
||||
“Accordingly, his request must be denied,” the judge said.
|
||||
|
||||
The letters were filed by the court to the case file, which is accessible to the public.
|
||||
|
||||
In December, Guzmán’s 95-year-old mother died in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa. She apparently had not seen her son since he was sent to the prison in Colorado.
|
||||
|
||||
Lawyers for Guzmán’s family did not respond to messages requesting comment..
|
||||
|
||||
Guzmán led the Sinaloa cartel in bloody drug turf battles that claimed the lives of thousands of Mexicans. He escaped twice from Mexican prisons, once through a mile-long tunnel dug running from his cell.
|
||||
|
||||
After he was extradited to New York, his three-month trial included tales of grisly killings, political payoffs, cocaine hidden in jalapeno cans and jewel-encrusted guns.
|
||||
|
||||
There is also a chance he may one day see his son in prison. In 2023, Mexico extradited one of his many sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, to the United States to face drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges.
|
||||
|
||||
The younger Guzmán is believed to have led the Sinaloa cartel’s push to produce and export fentanyl to the United States, where it has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths annually.
|
||||
@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration.
|
||||
|
||||
Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed a report by independent journalist Luis Chaparro that family members of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who was extradited to the United States in 2023, had entered the U.S.
|
||||
|
||||
Guzmán Lopez is one of the brothers left running a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel after notorious capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was imprisoned in the U.S. Video showed the family members walking across the border from Tijuana with their suitcases to waiting U.S. agents.
|
||||
|
||||
Rumors had circulated last week that the younger Guzmán would plead guilty to avoid trial for several drug trafficking charges in the U.S. after being extradited in 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
García Harfuch confirmed the family members’ crossing in a radio interview and said it was clear to Mexican authorities that they were doing so after negotiations between Guzmán López and the U.S. government.
|
||||
|
||||
He believed that was the case because the former cartel boss, whose lawyer said in January he had entered negotiations with U.S. authorities, had been pointing fingers at members of other criminal organizations likely as part of a cooperation agreement.
|
||||
|
||||
“It is evident that his family is going to the U.S. because of a negotiation or an offer that the Department of Justice is giving him,” Garcia Harfuch said.
|
||||
|
||||
He said that none of the family members were being pursued by Mexican authorities and that the government of U.S. President Donald Trump “has to share information” with Mexican prosecutors, something it has not yet done.
|
||||
|
||||
The confirmation by García Harfuch comes the same day that the U.S. Attorney General’s Office announced it was charging a number of top cartel leaders with “narcoterrorism” for the first time since the Trump administration declared a number of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
|
||||
|
||||
While prosecutors declined to comment on the video of the family, U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California and other officials sent a warning to cartel members, repeatedly citing the Sinaloa Cartel by name.
|
||||
|
||||
“Let me be direct, to the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the hunters, you are the hunted. You will be betrayed by your friends, you will be hounded by your enemies, and you will ultimately find yourself and your face here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California,” Gordon said.
|
||||
@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
NEW YORK (AP) — After Outlook users ran into issues accessing their email accounts late Wednesday and into Thursday, Microsoft says that affected systems are back online.
|
||||
|
||||
Microsoft 365 first said that it was investigating an issue with Outlook Wednesday night, and later shared it was deploying a fix. But there were some delays — with the company noting that it encountered a problem with its “initial fix,” for example.
|
||||
|
||||
Disruptions appeared to peak just before noon ET on Thursday, when more than 2,700 users worldwide reported issues with Outlook, formerly also Hotmail, to outage tracker Downdetector. Some said they encountered problems like loading their inboxes or signing in.
|
||||
|
||||
By later in the afternoon, reports had fallen to just over a couple hundred. And in an update on social media shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET, Microsoft 365 said that a configuration change had “fully saturated throughout the affected environments and resolved impact for all users.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Everything is up and running,” Microsoft’s status page added.
|
||||
|
||||
Microsoft did not immediately provide more information about what had caused the hourslong outage. A spokesperson for Microsoft had no further comment when reached by The Associated Press on Thursday.
|
||||
@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eight months after voters approved it, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the repeal of a law Thursday that had guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and inflationary adjustments to the minimum wage.
|
||||
|
||||
The move marked a major victory for the state’s largest business group and a frustrating defeat for workers’ rights advocates, who had spent years — and millions of dollars — building support for the successful ballot measure. The repeal will take effect Aug. 28.
|
||||
|
||||
Kehoe, who also signed a package of tax breaks Thursday, described the paid sick leave law as an onerous mandate that imposed burdensome record-keeping.
|
||||
|
||||
“Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners — by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates,” Kehoe, a Republican, said in a statement released after a private bill-signing ceremony.
|
||||
|
||||
The new tax law excludes capital gains from individual state income taxes, expands tax breaks for seniors and disabled residents and exempts diapers and feminine hygiene products from sales taxes.
|
||||
|
||||
Richard von Glahn, who sponsored the worker benefit ballot initiative, said many parents felt forced to go to work, instead of staying home to care for a sick child, in order to pay for their rent or utilities.
|
||||
|
||||
“The governor signing this bill is an absolute betrayal to those families, and it hurts my heart,” said von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs With Justice.
|
||||
|
||||
About one-third of states mandate paid sick leave, but many businesses voluntarily provide it. Nationwide, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, though part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than full-time employees, according to Department of Labor data.
|
||||
|
||||
Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all approved paid sick leave measures last November. Only Alaska’s, which kicked in on July 1, has remained unchanged by state lawmakers.
|
||||
|
||||
Before Nebraska’s measure could take effect Oct. 1, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed a measure last month exempting businesses with 10 or fewer employees from the paid sick leave requirements. The revision also lets businesses withhold paid sick leave from seasonal agricultural workers and 14- and 15-year-olds.
|
||||
|
||||
Missouri’s law allowed employees to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting May 1. By the time it’s repealed, 17 weeks will have elapsed. That means someone working 40 hours a week could have earned 22 hours of paid sick leave.
|
||||
|
||||
If workers don’t use their paid sick leave before Aug. 28, there’s no legal guarantee they can do so afterward.
|
||||
|
||||
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry had made repealing the law its top legislative priority.
|
||||
|
||||
The “paid leave and minimum wage policies were a job killer,” chamber President and CEO Kara Corches said.
|
||||
|
||||
But Missouri voters could get a second chance at mandating paid sick leave.
|
||||
|
||||
Von Glahn has submitted a proposed ballot initiative to the secretary of state that would reinstate the repealed provisions. Because the new measure is a constitutional amendment, the Legislature would be unable to revise or repeal it without another vote of the people. Supporters haven’t decided whether to launch a petition drive to try to qualify the measure for the 2026 ballot.
|
||||
@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
HUNT, Texas (AP) — More than 160 people are still believed to be missing in Texas days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, the state’s governor said Tuesday.
|
||||
|
||||
The huge jump in the number unaccounted for — roughly three times higher than previously said — came after authorities set up a hotline for families to call.
|
||||
|
||||
Those reported missing are in Kerr County, where most of the victims have been recovered so far, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Many were likely visiting or staying in the state’s Hill Country during the holiday but did not register at a camp or hotel, he said during a news conference.
|
||||
|
||||
The county’s lowlands along the Guadalupe River are filled with youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found.
|
||||
|
||||
Search-and-rescue teams are using heavy equipment to untangle and peel away layers of trees, unearth large rocks in riverbanks and move massive piles of debris that stretch for miles in the search for the missing people. Crews in airboats, helicopters and on horseback along with hundreds of volunteers are part of one of the largest search operations in Texas history.
|
||||
|
||||
The flash flood is the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flood on July 31, 1976, killed 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. That flood surged through a narrow canyon packed with people on a holiday weekend, Colorado’s centennial celebration.
|
||||
|
||||
Public officials in charge of locating the victims are facing intensifying questions about who was in charge of monitoring the weather and warning that floodwaters were barreling toward camps and homes.
|
||||
|
||||
The Republican governor, who took a helicopter tour of the disaster zone, dismissed a question about who was to blame for the deaths, saying, “That’s the word choice of losers.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Every football team makes mistakes,” he said. “The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones who say, ‘Don’t worry about it, man, we got this. We’re going to make sure that we go score again and we’re going to win this game.’ The way winners talk is not to point fingers.”
|
||||
|
||||
Abbott promised that the search for victims will not stop until everyone is found. He also said President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. Trump plans to visit the state Friday.
|
||||
|
||||
Scenes of devastation at Camp Mystic
|
||||
|
||||
Outside the cabins at Camp Mystic where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered on a grassy hill that slopes toward the river. Also in the debris were pink, purple and blue luggage decorated with stickers.
|
||||
|
||||
Among those who died at the camp were a second grader who loved pink sparkles and bows, a 19-year-old counselor who enjoyed mentoring young girls and the camp’s 75-year-old director.
|
||||
|
||||
The flash floods erupted before daybreak Friday after massive rains sent water speeding down hills into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in less than an hour. The wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river’s edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
|
||||
|
||||
Some campers had to swim out of cabin windows to safety while others held onto a rope as they made their way to higher ground. Time-lapse videos showed how floodwaters covered roads in a matter of minutes.
|
||||
|
||||
Although it’s difficult to attribute a single weather event to climate change, experts say a warming atmosphere and oceans make catastrophic storms more likely.
|
||||
|
||||
Where were the warnings?
|
||||
|
||||
Questions mounted about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as “flash flood alley.”
|
||||
|
||||
Leaders in Kerr County, where searchers have found about 90 bodies, said their first priority is recovering victims, not reviewing what happened in the hours before the flash floods.
|
||||
|
||||
“Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home,” Lt. Col. Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens, said during a sometimes tense news conference.
|
||||
|
||||
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s chief elected official, said in the hours after the devastation that the county does not have a warning system.
|
||||
|
||||
Generations of families in the Hill Country have known the dangers. A 1987 flood forced the evacuation of a youth camp in the town of Comfort and swamped buses and vans. Ten teenagers were killed.
|
||||
|
||||
Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a warning system. Kerr County sought a nearly $1 million grant eight years ago from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for such a system, but the request was not approved by the state. Local residents balked at footing the bill themselves, Kelly said.
|
||||
|
||||
Recovery and cleanup goes on
|
||||
|
||||
Four days have passed since anyone was found alive in the aftermath of the floods in Kerr County, officials said Tuesday.
|
||||
|
||||
The bodies of 30 children were among those that have been recovered in the county, which is home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, the sheriff said.
|
||||
|
||||
The devastation spread across several hundred miles in central Texas all the way to just outside the capital of Austin.
|
||||
|
||||
Aidan Duncan escaped just in time after hearing the muffled blare of a megaphone urging residents to evacuate Riverside RV Park in the Hill Country town of Ingram.
|
||||
|
||||
All his belongings — a mattress, sports cards, his pet parakeet’s bird cage — now sit caked in mud in front of his home.
|
||||
|
||||
“What’s going on right now, it hurts,” the 17-year-old said. “I literally cried so hard.”
|
||||
|
||||
Along the banks of the Guadalupe, 91-year-old Charles Hanson, a resident at a senior living center, was sweeping up wood and piling pieces of concrete and stone, remnants from a playground structure.
|
||||
|
||||
He wanted to help clean up on behalf of his neighbors who can’t get out. “We’ll make do with the best we got,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
This story was first published July 8, 2025. It was corrected July 11, 2025, to show that it was the state that did not approve Kerr County’s grant funding request for a warning system, not the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Joshua A. Bickel in Kerrville, Texas; Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
LAMEZIA TERME, Italy (AP) — An Italian tribunal on Monday convicted 207 people and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years in prison on charges related to their membership in Italy’s ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, one of the world’s most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups.
|
||||
|
||||
It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the court’s lengthy verdict, including the acquittal of 131 other defendants. The drama unfolded in a bunker-stye courtroom in the southern Calabria region, where the mob organization was originally based.
|
||||
|
||||
The ’ndrangheta has quietly amassed power in Italy and abroad as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence and now holds almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe, according to anti-mafia prosecutors who led the investigation in southern Italy. The organization also has bases in North and South America and is active in Africa, Italian prosecutors maintain, and ’ndrangheta figures have been arrested in recent years around Europe and in Brazil and Lebanon.
|
||||
|
||||
The defendants had been charged with crimes that include drug and arms trafficking, extortion and mafia association, a term in Italy’s penal code for members of organized crime groups. Others were charged with acting in complicity with the ’ndrangheta without actually being a member.
|
||||
|
||||
The charges grew out of an investigation of 12 clans linked to a convicted ‘ndrangheta boss. The central figure, Luigi Mancuso, served 19 years in an Italian prison for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the ‘ndrangheta’s most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia.
|
||||
|
||||
Vincenzo Capomolla, deputy chief prosecutor of Catanzaro, said prosecutors’ overall case held up with the convictions and confirmed the stranglehold the ‘ndrangheta held on Vibo Valentia.
|
||||
|
||||
“The infiltration of the criminal organization in the province of Vibo Valentia was so deep-rooted and so widespread, so alarming, so disturbing that I think it can be noted that there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organization,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
Giuseppe Di Renzo, defense attorney for several of the defendants, however noted that more than a third of the original defendants were fully acquitted, while others were found not guilty of some charges.
|
||||
|
||||
He criticized the disparate and large number of defendants, saying they showed there was no cohesive thread to the prosecutors’ case. But Catanzaro’s former chief prosecutor who launched the investigation, Nicola Gratteri, said mafia trials often have to cast wide nets because of the very nature of how the criminal syndicates operate, infiltrating across wide swaths of society.
|
||||
|
||||
The trial took place in a specially constructed high-security bunker. Part of an industrial park in Lamezia Terme, the bunker is so vast that video screens were anchored to the ceiling so participants could view the proceedings.
|
||||
|
||||
Based almost entirely on blood ties, the ‘ndrangheta was substantially immune to turncoats for decades, but the ranks of those turning state’s evidence are becoming more substantial. In the current trial, they included a relative of Mancuso’s.
|
||||
|
||||
Several dozen informants in the case came from the ‘ndrangheta, while others formerly belonged to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra.
|
||||
|
||||
Despite the large number of defendants, the trial wasn’t Italy’s biggest one involving alleged mobsters.
|
||||
|
||||
In 1986, 475 alleged members of the Sicilian Mafia went on trial in a similarly constructed bunker in Palermo. The proceedings resulted in more than 300 convictions and 19 life sentences. That trial helped reveal many of the brutal methods and murderous strategies of the island’s top mob bosses, including sensational killings that bloodied the Palermo area during years of power struggles.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast, the trial involving the ‘ndrangheta was aimed at securing convictions and sentences based on alleged acts of collusion among mobsters and local politicians, public officials, businessmen and members of secret lodges to show how deeply rooted the syndicate is in Calabria.
|
||||
|
||||
Awash in cocaine trafficking revenues, the ’ndrangheta has gobbled up hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships and other businesses throughout Italy, especially in Rome and the country’s affluent north, criminal investigations have revealed.
|
||||
|
||||
The buying spree spread across Europe as the syndicate sought to launder illicit revenues but also to make “clean” money by running legitimate businesses, including in the tourism and hospitality sectors, investigators alleged.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Zampano reported from Rome.
|
||||
@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
LONDON (AP) — More than 70 people were arrested Saturday at protests in the U.K. against the Palestine Action group being proscribed a terrorist organization by the British government following a break-in and vandalism at a Royal Air Force base.
|
||||
|
||||
In London, the Metropolitan Police said 42 people had been arrested by late afternoon. All but one of the arrests were for showing support for a proscribed organization, which police have said includes chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos. Another person was arrested for common assault.
|
||||
|
||||
A further 16 arrests were made in Manchester, according to Greater Manchester Police, while South Wales Police said 13 people were also held in Cardiff.
|
||||
|
||||
In London, it was the second straight week protesters gathered to support the pro-Palestinian activist group. Its outlawing has meant support for the organization is deemed a criminal offense. Police arrested 29 people at a similar protest last weekend.
|
||||
|
||||
Two groups gathered underneath both the statues of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, Nelson Mandela, in Parliament Square.
|
||||
|
||||
Signs with the wording “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” were held aloft in silence as the protesters were surrounded by police officers and members of the media.
|
||||
|
||||
Some demonstrators could be seen lying on top of each other on the ground as police searched their bags and took away signs.
|
||||
|
||||
Officers could then be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square.
|
||||
|
||||
The official designation earlier this month of Palestine Action as a proscribed group under the Terrorism Act 2000 means that membership in the group and support for its actions are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
|
||||
|
||||
Some 81 organizations are already proscribed under the U.K. act, including the militant groups Hamas and al-Qaida.
|
||||
|
||||
The government moved to ban Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, on June 20, damaging two planes using red paint and crowbars in protest at the British government’s ongoing military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
|
||||
|
||||
Police said that the incident caused around 7 million pounds ($9.4 million) of damage.
|
||||
@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
The latest version of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok is echoing the views of its billionaire creator, so much so that it will sometimes search online for Musk’s stance on an issue before offering up an opinion.
|
||||
|
||||
The unusual behavior of Grok 4, the AI model that Musk’s company xAI released late Wednesday, has surprised some experts.
|
||||
|
||||
Built using huge amounts of computing power at a Tennessee data center, Grok is Musk’s attempt to outdo rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in building an AI assistant that shows its reasoning before answering a question.
|
||||
|
||||
Musk’s deliberate efforts to mold Grok into a challenger of what he considers the tech industry’s “woke” orthodoxy on race, gender and politics has repeatedly got the chatbot into trouble, most recently when it spouted antisemitic tropes, praised Adolf Hitler and made other hateful commentary to users of Musk’s X social media platform just days before Grok 4’s launch.
|
||||
|
||||
But its tendency to consult with Musk’s opinions appears to be a different problem.
|
||||
|
||||
“It’s extraordinary,” said Simon Willison, an independent AI researcher who’s been testing the tool. “You can ask it a sort of pointed question that is around controversial topics. And then you can watch it literally do a search on X for what Elon Musk said about this, as part of its research into how it should reply.”
|
||||
|
||||
One example widely shared on social media — and which Willison duplicated — asked Grok to comment on the conflict in the Middle East. The prompted question made no mention of Musk, but the chatbot looked for his guidance anyway.
|
||||
|
||||
As a so-called reasoning model, much like those made by rivals OpenAI or Anthropic, Grok 4 shows its “thinking” as it goes through the steps of processing a question and coming up with an answer. Part of that thinking this week involved searching X, the former Twitter that’s now merged into xAI, for anything Musk said about Israel, Palestine, Gaza or Hamas.
|
||||
|
||||
“Elon Musk’s stance could provide context, given his influence,” the chatbot told Willison, according to a video of the interaction. “Currently looking at his views to see if they guide the answer.”
|
||||
|
||||
Musk and his xAI co-founders introduced the new chatbot in a livestreamed event Wednesday night but haven’t published a technical explanation of its workings — known as a system card — that companies in the AI industry typically provide when introducing a new model.
|
||||
|
||||
The company also didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment Friday.
|
||||
|
||||
“In the past, strange behavior like this was due to system prompt changes,” which is when engineers program specific instructions to guide a chatbot’s response, said Tim Kellogg, principal AI architect at software company Icertis.
|
||||
|
||||
“But this one seems baked into the core of Grok and it’s not clear to me how that happens,” Kellogg said. “It seems that Musk’s effort to create a maximally truthful AI has somehow led to it believing its own values must align with Musk’s own values.”
|
||||
|
||||
The lack of transparency is troubling for computer scientist Talia Ringer, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who earlier in the week criticized the company’s handling of the technology’s antisemitic outbursts.
|
||||
|
||||
Ringer said the most plausible explanation for Grok’s search for Musk’s guidance is assuming the person is asking for the opinions of xAI or Musk.
|
||||
|
||||
“I think people are expecting opinions out of a reasoning model that cannot respond with opinions,” Ringer said. “So, for example, it interprets ‘Who do you support, Israel or Palestine?’ as ‘Who does xAI leadership support?”
|
||||
|
||||
Willison also said he finds Grok 4’s capabilities impressive but said people buying software “don’t want surprises like it turning into ‘mechaHitler’ or deciding to search for what Musk thinks about issues.”
|
||||
|
||||
“Grok 4 looks like it’s a very strong model. It’s doing great in all of the benchmarks,” Willison said. “But if I’m going to build software on top of it, I need transparency.”
|
||||
@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it’s taking down “inappropriate posts” made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.
|
||||
|
||||
Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
|
||||
|
||||
Musk said Friday that Grok has been improved significantly, and users “should notice a difference.”
|
||||
|
||||
Since then, Grok has shared several antisemitic posts, including the trope that Jews run Hollywood, and denied that such a stance could be described as Nazism.
|
||||
|
||||
“Labeling truths as hate speech stifles discussion,” Grok said.
|
||||
|
||||
It also appeared to praise Hitler, according to screenshots of posts that have now apparently been deleted.
|
||||
|
||||
After making one of the posts, Grok walked back the comments, saying it was “an unacceptable error from an earlier model iteration, swiftly deleted” and that it condemned “Nazism and Hitler unequivocally — his actions were genocidal horrors.”
|
||||
|
||||
“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” the Grok account posted early Wednesday, without being more specific.
|
||||
|
||||
“Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.
|
||||
|
||||
Talia Ringer, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said it’s likely that the Grok update that caused the chatbot to spew antisemitic messages this week was the “soft launch” of Grok 4, which Musk plans to introduce late Wednesday. But if that’s the case, it doesn’t appear ready, she said.
|
||||
|
||||
“Fixing this is probably going to require retraining the model,” she said. “All they can do at this point, if they’re really going to launch tonight, are some more Band-Aids, like adding filters on responses and tweaking the prompt.”
|
||||
|
||||
Editing some of the chatbot’s instructions “might make its behavior a little bit better” but won’t fix all of its problems.
|
||||
|
||||
Musk and the xAI staff did release the latest version of the Grok platform late Wednesday, with the Tesla CEO making fantastical claims about the intelligence of version 4.0.
|
||||
|
||||
He compared its intelligence to post-graduate level in “every subject” and said while at times it might lack common sense and has not yet invented new things or discovered new technologies, it might “as soon as this year.”
|
||||
|
||||
The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, called out Grok’s behavior.
|
||||
|
||||
“What we are seeing from Grok LLM right now is irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic, plain and simple,” the group said in a post on X. “This supercharging of extremist rhetoric will only amplify and encourage the antisemitism that is already surging on X and many other platforms.”
|
||||
|
||||
Musk later waded into the debate, alleging that some users may have been trying to manipulate Grok into making the statements.
|
||||
|
||||
“Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed,” he wrote on X, in response to comments that a user was trying to get Grok to make controversial and politically incorrect statements.
|
||||
|
||||
Also Wednesday, a court in Turkey ordered a ban on Grok and Poland’s digital minister said he would report the chatbot to the European Commission after it made vulgar comments about politicians and public figures in both countries.
|
||||
|
||||
Krzysztof Gawkowski, who’s also Poland’s deputy prime minister, told private broadcaster RMF FM that his ministry would report Grok “for investigation and, if necessary, imposing a fine on X.” Under an EU digital law, social media platforms are required to protect users or face hefty fines.
|
||||
|
||||
“I have the impression that we’re entering a higher level of hate speech, which is controlled by algorithms, and that turning a blind eye ... is a mistake that could cost people in the future,” Gawkowski told the station.
|
||||
|
||||
Turkey’s pro-government A Haber news channel reported that Grok posted vulgarities about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his late mother and well-known personalities. Offensive responses were also directed toward modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, other media outlets said.
|
||||
|
||||
That prompted the Ankara public prosecutor to file for the imposition of restrictions under Turkey’s internet law, citing a threat to public order. A criminal court approved the request early on Wednesday, ordering the country’s telecommunications authority to enforce the ban.
|
||||
|
||||
It’s not the first time Grok’s behavior has raised questions.
|
||||
@ -1,80 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a surprising statement from Attorney General Pam Bondi as the Trump administration promises to release more files from its sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein: The FBI, she said, was reviewing “tens of thousands of videos” of the wealthy financier “with children or child porn.”
|
||||
|
||||
The comment, made to reporters at the White House days after a similar remark to a stranger with a hidden camera, raised the stakes for President Donald Trump’s administration to prove it has in its possession previously unseen compelling evidence. That task is all the more pressing after an earlier document dump that Bondi hyped angered elements of Trump’s base by failing to deliver new bombshells and as administration officials who had promised to unlock supposed secrets of the so-called government “deep state” struggle to fulfill that pledge.
|
||||
|
||||
Yet weeks after Bondi’s remarks, it remains unclear what she was referring to.
|
||||
|
||||
The Associated Press spoke with lawyers and law enforcement officials in criminal cases of Epstein and socialite former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell who said they hadn’t seen and didn’t know of a trove of recordings like what Bondi described. Indictments and detention memos do not reference the existence of videos of Epstein with children, and neither was charged with possession of child sex abuse material even though that offense would have been much easier to prove than the sex trafficking counts they faced.
|
||||
|
||||
One potential clue may lie in a little-noticed 2023 court filing — among hundreds of documents reviewed by the AP — in which Epstein’s estate was revealed to have located an unspecified number of videos and photos that it said might contain child sex abuse material. But even that remains shrouded in secrecy with lawyers involved in that civil case saying a protective order prevents them from discussing it.
|
||||
|
||||
The filing suggests a discovery of recordings after the criminal cases had concluded, but if that’s what Bondi was referencing, the Justice Department has not said.
|
||||
|
||||
The department declined repeated requests from the AP to speak with officials overseeing the Epstein review. Spokespeople did not answer a list of questions about Bondi’s comments, including when and where the recordings were procured, what they depict and whether they were newly discovered as authorities dug through their evidence collection or were known for some time to have been in the government’s possession.
|
||||
|
||||
“Outside sources who make assertions about materials included in the DOJ’s review cannot speak to what materials are included in the DOJ’s review,” spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement.
|
||||
|
||||
Bondi has faced pressure after first release fell short of expectations
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein’s crimes, high-profile connections and jailhouse suicide have made the case a magnet for conspiracy theorists and online sleuths seeking proof of a coverup. Elon Musk entered the frenzy during his acrimonious fallout with Trump when he said without evidence in a since-deleted social media post that the reason the Epstein files have yet to be released is that the Republican president is featured in them.
|
||||
|
||||
During a Fox News Channel interview in February, Bondi suggested an alleged Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk. The Justice Department after that distributed binders marked “declassified” to far-right influencers at the White House, but it quickly became clear much of the information had long been in the public domain. No “client list” was disclosed, and there’s no evidence such a document exists.
|
||||
|
||||
The flop left conservatives fuming and failed to tamp down conspiracy theories that for years have spiraled around Epstein’s case. Right wing-personality Laura Loomer called on Bondi to resign, branding her a “total liar.”
|
||||
|
||||
Afterward, Bondi said an FBI “source” informed her of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the bureau to provide the “full and complete Epstein files,” including any videos. Employees since then have logged hours reviewing records to prepare them for release. It’s unclear when that might happen.
|
||||
|
||||
In April, Bondi was approached in a restaurant by a woman with a hidden camera who asked about the status of the Epstein files release. Bondi replied that there were tens of thousands of videos “and it’s all with little kids,” so she said the FBI had to go through each one.
|
||||
|
||||
After conservative activist James O’Keefe, who obtained and later publicized the hidden-camera video, alerted the Justice Department to the encounter, Bondi told reporters at the White House: “There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn.”
|
||||
|
||||
The comments tapped into long-held suspicions that, despite the release over the years of thousands of records documenting Epstein’s activities, damaging details about him or other prominent figures remain concealed.
|
||||
|
||||
The situation was further muddied by recent comments from FBI Director Kash Patel to podcaster Joe Rogan that did not repeat Bondi’s account about tens of thousands of videos.
|
||||
|
||||
Though not asked explicitly about Bondi, Patel dismissed the possibility of incriminating videos of powerful Epstein friends, saying, “If there was a video of some guy or gal committing felonies on an island and I’m in charge, don’t you think you’d see it?” Asked whether the narrative “might not be accurate that there’s video of these guys doing this,” he replied, “Exactly.”
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein took his own life before he could stand trial
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein’s suicide in August 2019, weeks after his arrest, prevented a trial in New York and cut short the discovery process in which evidence is shared among lawyers.
|
||||
|
||||
But even in a subsequent prosecution of Maxwell, in which such evidence would presumably have been relevant given the nature of the accusations against an alleged co-conspirator, salacious videos of Epstein with children never surfaced nor were part of the case, said one of her lawyers.
|
||||
|
||||
“We were never provided with any of those materials. I suspect if they existed, we would have seen them, and I’ve never seen them, so I have no idea what she’s talking about,” said Jeffrey Pagliuca, who represented Maxwell in a 2021 trial in which she was convicted of luring teenage girls to be molested by Epstein.
|
||||
|
||||
To be sure, photographs of nude or seminude girls have long been known to be part of the government’s case. Investigators recovered possibly thousands of such pictures while searching his Manhattan mansion, and a videorecorded walk-through by law enforcement of his Palm Beach, Florida, home revealed sexually suggestive photographs displayed inside, court records show.
|
||||
|
||||
Accounts from more than one accuser of feeling watched or seeing cameras or surveillance equipment in Epstein’s properties have contributed to public expectations of sexual recordings. A 2020 Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility report on the handling of an earlier Epstein investigation hinted at that possibility, saying police who searched his Palm Beach home in 2005 found computer keyboards, monitors and disconnected surveillance cameras, but the equipment — including video recordings and other electronic items — was missing.
|
||||
|
||||
There’s no indication prosecutors obtained any missing equipment during the later federal investigation, and the indictment against him included no recording allegations.
|
||||
|
||||
An AP review of hundreds of documents in the Maxwell and Epstein criminal cases identified no reference to tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with underage girls.
|
||||
|
||||
“I don’t recall personally ever having that kind of discussion,” said one Epstein lawyer, Marc Fernich, who couldn’t rule out such evidence wasn’t located later. “It’s not something I ever heard about.”
|
||||
|
||||
In one nonspecific reference to video evidence, prosecutors said in a 2020 filing that they would produce to Maxwell’s lawyers thousands of images and videos from Epstein’s electronic devices in response to a warrant.
|
||||
|
||||
But Pagliuca said his recollection was those videos consisted largely of recordings in which Epstein was “musing” into a recording device — “Epstein talking to Epstein,” he said.
|
||||
|
||||
A revelation from the Epstein estate
|
||||
|
||||
Complicating efforts to assess the Epstein evidence is the volume of accusers, court cases and districts where legal wrangling has occurred, including after Epstein’s suicide and Maxwell’s conviction.
|
||||
|
||||
The cases include 2022 lawsuits in Manhattan’s federal court from an accuser identified as Jane Doe 1 and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, alleging that financial services giant JPMorgan Chase failed to heed red flags about him being a “high-risk” customer.
|
||||
|
||||
Lawyers issued a subpoena for any video recordings or photos that could bolster their case.
|
||||
|
||||
They told a judge months later the Epstein estate had alerted them that it had found content that “might contain child sex abuse imagery” while responding to the subpoena and requested a protocol for handling “videorecorded material and photographs.” The judge ordered representatives of Epstein’s estate to review the materials before producing them to lawyers and to alert the FBI to possible child sexual abuse imagery.
|
||||
|
||||
Court filings don’t detail the evidence or say how many videos or images were found, and it’s unclear whether the recordings Bondi referenced were the same ones.
|
||||
|
||||
The estate’s disclosure was later included by a plaintiffs’ lawyer, Jennifer Freeman, in a complaint to the FBI and the Justice Department asserting that investigators had failed over the years to adequately collect potential evidence of child sex abuse material.
|
||||
|
||||
Freeman cited Bondi’s comments in a new lawsuit on behalf of an Epstein accuser who alleges he assaulted her in 1996. In an interview, Freeman said she had not seen recordings and had no direct knowledge but wanted to understand what Bondi meant.
|
||||
|
||||
“I want to know what she’s addressing, what is she talking about — I’d like to know that,” she said.
|
||||
|
||||
___
|
||||
|
||||
Associated Press journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.
|
||||
@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Unrivaled is setting a new standard for women’s basketball before one game. The 3-on-3 league features an 8-week season and tips off Friday in Miami, featuring top talent from the WNBA like Brittney Griner and Angel Reese. (AP video: Brittany Peterson)
|
||||
|
||||
Unrivaled is a brand new women’s professional 3x3 basketball league playing in Miami this winter. Rae Burrell, who plays for Vinyl, gives a behind the scenes tour of the new facilities. (AP video by Brittany Peterson)
|
||||
|
||||
Billy Crystal was recently honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame for his devotion to the L.A. Clippers. The actor is being added to the James F. Goldstein SuperFan Gallery along with Spike Lee, Jack Nicholson and businessman Alan Horwitz. (Oct. 23)
|
||||
|
||||
Puerto Rico’s professional basketball league is experiencing a renaissance thanks to reggaeton artists like Bad Bunny, Ozuna, and Anuel AA stepping into the financial game and stacking up a loyal fan base. (AP video by Alejandro Granadillo)
|
||||
|
||||
Jeremiah Armstead turned to basketball to help him through a period in high school when his family of four was unable to find housing, sometimes sleeping on the beach in their car. Now his passion is taking him to the Final Four. Armstead is the first player from a historically Black college or university or NAIA school to receive the Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. (AP video by Kristin M. Hall)
|
||||
|
||||
The University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the new NCAA women’s basketball career scoring leader. She now has 3,569 career points, putting her ahead of Kelsey Plum, who scored 3,527 points in four seasons at Washington from 2013-17. (Feb. 16)
|
||||
@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new lawsuit seeking to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional district boundary lines was filed on Tuesday, less than two weeks after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of other lawsuits that asked for redistricting before the 2026 election.
|
||||
|
||||
The latest lawsuit brought by a bipartisan coalition of business leaders was filed in Dane County circuit court, rather than directly with the state Supreme Court as the rejected cases were. The justices did not give any reason for declining to hear those cases, but typically lawsuits start in a lower court and work their way up.
|
||||
|
||||
This new lawsuit’s more lengthy journey through the courts might not be resolved in time to order new maps before the 2026 midterms.
|
||||
|
||||
The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy argue in the new lawsuit that Wisconsin’s congressional maps are unconstitutional because they are an anti-competitive gerrymander. The lawsuit notes that the median margin of victory for candidates in the eight districts since the maps were enacted is close to 30 percentage points.
|
||||
|
||||
“Anti‐competitive gerrymanders are every bit as antithetical to democracy, and to law, as partisan gerrymanders and racial gerrymanders,” the lawsuit argues. “This is because electoral competition is as vital to democracy as partisan fairness.”
|
||||
|
||||
The lawsuit alleges that an anti-competitive gerrymander violates the state constitution’s guarantees of equal protection to all citizens, the promise to maintain a free government and the right to vote.
|
||||
|
||||
The lawsuit was filed against the state’s bipartisan elections commission, which administers elections. Commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas declined to comment.
|
||||
|
||||
The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy had attempted to intervene in one of the redistricting cases brought by Democrats with the state Supreme Court, but the justices dismissed the case without considering their arguments.
|
||||
|
||||
Members of the business coalition include Tom Florsheim, chairman and CEO of Milwaukee-based Weyco Group, and Cory Nettles, the founder of a private equity fund and a former state commerce secretary.
|
||||
|
||||
Republicans hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, but only two of those districts are considered competitive. In 2010, the year before Republicans redrew the congressional maps, Democrats held five seats compared with three for Republicans.
|
||||
|
||||
The current congressional maps, which were based on the previous ones, were approved by the state Supreme Court when it was controlled by conservative judges. The U.S. Supreme Court in March 2022 declined to block them from taking effect.
|
||||
|
||||
Democrats had wanted the justices to revisit congressional lines as well after the court ordered state legislative boundaries redrawn before last year’s election. Democrats then narrowed the Republican legislative majorities in November, leading to a bipartisan compromise to pass a state budget last week.
|
||||
|
||||
Democrats are pushing to have the current maps redrawn in ways that would put two of the six seats currently held by Republicans into play. One they hope to flip is the western Wisconsin seat of Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who won in 2022 after longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind retired. Von Orden won reelection in the 3rd District in 2024.
|
||||
|
||||
The other seat they are eyeing is southeastern Wisconsin’s 1st District, held by Republican Rep. Bryan Steil since 2019. The latest maps made that district more competitive while still favoring Republicans.
|
||||
|
||||
The two rejected lawsuits were filed by Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates, and the Campaign Legal Center on behalf of voters.
|
||||
|
||||
Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy are represented by Law Forward, a liberal Madison-based law firm, the Stafford Rosenbaum law firm in Madison and Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School.
|
||||
@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
Millions of people receive a federal tax deduction for the interest they pay on home loans. Under President Donald Trump’s new tax-cut law, many people for the first time also could claim a tax deduction for interest on their vehicle loans.
|
||||
|
||||
The new tax break will be available even to people who don’t itemize deductions. But there are some caveats that could limit its reach. The vehicles must be new, not used. They must be assembled in the U.S. And the loans must be issued no sooner than this year, to list just a few qualifications.
|
||||
|
||||
Here are some things to know about the new auto loan interest tax deduction:
|
||||
|
||||
Candidate Trump promised an auto loan interest tax break
|
||||
|
||||
Trump pledged while campaigning last year to make interest on car loans tax-deductible. He said it would make car ownership more affordable and “stimulate massive domestic auto production.”
|
||||
|
||||
The idea made it into the big tax-cut bill passed by Congress, which Trump signed into law July 4.
|
||||
|
||||
The law allows taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 of interest payments annually on loans for new American-made vehicles from 2025 through 2028. It applies to cars, motorcycles, sport utility vehicles, minivans, vans and pickup trucks weighing less than 14,000 pounds, a threshold referred to as light vehicles. But it only applies to vehicles purchased for personal use, not for fleets or commercial purposes.
|
||||
|
||||
The tax break can be claimed starting on 2025 income tax returns. But the deduction phases out for individuals with incomes between $100,000 and $150,000 or joint taxpayers with incomes between $200,000 and $250,000. Those earning more cannot claim the tax break.
|
||||
|
||||
Millions of buyers could benefit, but millions of others will not
|
||||
|
||||
U.S. automobile dealers sold 15.9 million new light vehicles last year, a little over half of which were assembled in the U.S, according to Cox Automotive. It says around 60% of retail sales are financed with loans.
|
||||
|
||||
After excluding fleet and commercial vehicles and customers above the income cutoff, an estimated 3.5 million new vehicle loans could be eligible for the tax break this year, if purchasing patterns stay the same, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive.
|
||||
|
||||
It’s the assembly plant, not the automaker’s headquarters that matters
|
||||
|
||||
The tax break applies to vehicles assembled in the U.S., no matter where the company making them is headquartered. All Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. are assembled in this country. But so are all Acura brands, the luxury model of Japanese automaker Honda.
|
||||
|
||||
Last year, 78% of Ford vehicles sold in the U.S. were assembled in this country, according to Cox Automotive. But customers wanting the tax break will need to pay attention to specific models. While the Ford Mustang is assembled in Michigan, the Mustang Mach-E is built in Mexico.
|
||||
|
||||
General Motors assembles all of its Cadillacs in the U.S. But just 44% of its Chevrolets sold last year were assembled in the U.S., and just 14% of Buicks, according to Cox Automotive. That’s a lower U.S-assembled rate than Honda (60%), Toyota (52%) and Nissan (48%), which all are headquartered in Japan.
|
||||
|
||||
Taxpayers could save hundreds of dollars a year
|
||||
|
||||
The average new vehicle loan is about $44,000 financed over six years. Interest rates vary by customer, so the savings will, too. In general, the tax deduction will decline after the initial year, because interest payments on loans are frontloaded while principal payments grow on the back end.
|
||||
|
||||
At a 9.3% interest rate, an average new vehicle buyer could save about $2,200 on taxes over four years, Smoke said. The tax savings would be less on a loan at 6.5%, which is the rate figured into calculations by the American Financial Services Association, a consumer credit industry trade group.
|
||||
|
||||
Some people also could see a reduction in state income taxes
|
||||
|
||||
Whereas the tax deduction for home loan interest can be claimed only by people itemizing on their tax returns, Congress wrote the deduction for auto loan interest so that it can apply to all taxpayers, including those claiming the standard deduction.
|
||||
|
||||
On a tax form, the auto loan deduction will come before the calculation of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. That’s an important distinction, because many states use a taxpayer’s federal adjusted gross income as the starting point for figuring their state income taxes. If that income figure is lower, it could reduce the state taxes owed.
|
||||
|
||||
The verdict is out on whether the tax break will boost sales
|
||||
|
||||
At Bowen Scarff Ford in Kent, Washington, customers started asking about the auto loan tax deduction before Congress had even taken a final vote on the tax-cut bill, said General Manager Paul Ray. So he decided to promote it on the dealer’s website.
|
||||
|
||||
A website ribbon exclaims: “CAR LOAN TAX DEDUCTION NOW AVAILABLE” while also promoting an electric vehicle tax credit that is ending soon as a result of Trump’s tax-cut law.
|
||||
|
||||
“I think it’s going to help incentivize vehicle purchases through this year,” Ray said.
|
||||
|
||||
Celia Winslow, president and CEO of the American Financial Services Association, concurred: “For some people deciding — should I buy it, should I not — this could be something that tips the scale.”
|
||||
|
||||
Others remain skeptical. According to Smoke’s math, the average annual tax savings is smaller than a single month’s loan payment for a new vehicle.
|
||||
|
||||
“I don’t think it moves the needle on somebody on the fence of buying a new vehicle or not,” Smoke said. “But I think it could influence their decision to finance that vehicle instead of paying cash or instead of leasing a vehicle.”
|
||||
@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
CLAIM: Salzburg Airport in Austria has a help desk specifically for people who intended to fly to Australia.
|
||||
|
||||
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The European airport confirmed it does not have a desk for misguided tourists trying to get Down Under. The misconception stems from an advertisement for a technology company that ran on a baggage carousel at the airport, which joked about offering such a service.
|
||||
|
||||
THE FACTS: It’s the kind of fun fact social media users just can’t resist retweeting: So many travelers who intend to visit Australia are accidentally buying tickets to Austria that the country’s second-largest airport has had to set up a special counter to redirect misguided tourists to the correct continent.
|
||||
|
||||
The notion of a help desk for planeloads of absent-minded holiday makers who set out for Sydney but wound up thousands of miles away in Salzburg has delighted the internet in recent days, with one post on X, formerly known as Twitter, racking up more than 18,000 likes as of Monday.
|
||||
|
||||
“If you’re having a bad day, just remember that the airport in Salzburg, Austria has a counter for people who flew to Austria instead of Australia,” reads another post on Instagram that had received more than 14,000 likes.
|
||||
|
||||
Some shared an image of a large sign that reads in part: “Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Please press the button.”
|
||||
|
||||
But is it true? The answer, as Australians would say, is “nah.” Or “nein” if you happen to have found yourself in Austria.
|
||||
|
||||
Salzburg Airport said on Monday in a Facebook post written in German that no such counter or button exists and that the sign seen in some of the posts is actually an advertisement for Commend, an Austrian communication and security technology company.
|
||||
|
||||
Indeed, the sign also includes the address of Commend’s website and reads: “Commend provides Security and Communication. From Salzburg to the rest of the world. Even for the most unlikely of situations.”
|
||||
|
||||
Wolfgang Peer, a spokesperson for Commend International, confirmed to The Associated Press that the advertisement was real, but had been discontinued in 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
“The ad was designed together with a Salzburg advertising agency,” he wrote in an email. “The briefing was to initiate a direct dialog between the passengers who see the board and the Commend brand and its Intercom products. Above all, it was to contain a witty message, with a certain wink.”
|
||||
@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
|
||||
SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
|
||||
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican legislative leaders announced plans Monday to vote next week on redrawing the state’s U.S. House district map, taking up President Donald Trump’s call to secure more GOP seats nationwide and resist rival moves by Democrats.
|
||||
|
||||
The push to retool already right-leaning boundaries for the ninth-largest state comes amid a major party battle spanning several states to revamp district lines to partisan advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
|
||||
|
||||
North Carolina Republicans created a map in 2023 that resulted in GOP candidates winning 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats in 2024. That compared to a 7-7 seat split between Democrats and the GOP under the map used in 2022.
|
||||
|
||||
Now only one of the House districts –- the 1st District currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis –- is considered a true swing district and could be targeted by the GOP for an 11th seat. Davis won a second term last year by less than 2 percentage points, so shifting slightly portions of the district covering more than 20 northeastern counties could help a Republican candidate in a strong GOP year. But it could weaken districts held by GOP incumbents.
|
||||
|
||||
The state’s top Republican legislators said their planned action follows Trump’s “call urging legislatures across the country to take action to nullify Democrat redistricting efforts.” Davis wasn’t mentioned by name in their news release.
|
||||
|
||||
Trump “earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat,” House Speaker Destin Hall said in the release. Trump has won North Carolina’s electoral votes all three times that he’s been on the presidential ballot.
|
||||
|
||||
But state House Democratic leader Robert Reives said Monday his GOP colleagues “are stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box.”
|
||||
|
||||
Redistricting fight started in Texas, then spread
|
||||
|
||||
Trump kickstarted the national redistricting battle over the summer by urging Republican-led Texas to reshape its U.S. House districts so the GOP could win more seats next year. After overcoming a Democratic walkout, Texas lawmakers redrew the districts to give Republicans a shot at five more seats.
|
||||
|
||||
California Democrats reciprocated by passing their own redistricting plan aimed at helping their party win five additional seats, a plan needing voter approval in November to be implemented.
|
||||
|
||||
And lawmakers in Republican-led Missouri have approved revised U.S. House districts intended to help Republicans pick up an additional seat there. Other states also are considering redistricting, including Republican-led Indiana and Kansas.
|
||||
|
||||
Some North Carolina GOP lawmakers focused complaints Monday on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who advanced his state’s redistricting effort.
|
||||
|
||||
“Picking up where Texas left off, we will hold votes in our October session to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map to ensure Gavin Newsom doesn’t decide the congressional majority,” Senate leader Phil Berger said.
|
||||
|
||||
Responding on X, Newsom called Berger “another lap dog Republican” and accused the GOP of “rigging elections and trying to cover it up with lies.”
|
||||
|
||||
Democratic governor lacks veto power on district lines
|
||||
|
||||
North Carolina lawmakers already had planned for a multiday session starting Oct. 20. Republicans hold majorities in both General Assembly chambers and redistricting plans aren’t subject to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s veto stamp. Candidate filing for 2026 is supposed to begin Dec. 1.
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Addressing voters, Stein said in a statement that “shameless politicians are abusing their power to take away yours” with a redraw.
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An intensely competitive midterm election looms in which Democrats need to gain just three seats to take control of the House. The president’s party historically has lost seats in midterm elections, something Trump is trying to avoid. A Democratic takeover could impede Trump’s agenda and lead to investigations of his actions, as occurred during his first term in office.
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Litigation could alter, derail some map changes
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If and how North Carolina legislators create a more favorable redraw may depend on pending litigation filed by the state NAACP, Common Cause and voters challenging several current congressional districts, including the one represented by Davis, one of three Black representatives from North Carolina. The plaintiffs accuse Republican lawmakers of racially discriminating against Black voters by splitting or packing their voting blocs to help GOP candidates win. The trial ended in July without an immediate ruling.
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U.S. House districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after a census. But some states have no prohibition on doing it more frequently. And the U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no federal prohibition on political gerrymandering, in which districts are intentionally drawn to favor one party.
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Opponents have filed lawsuits alleging Texas’ latest redistricting unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of minority residents and that Missouri’s mid-decade redistricting isn’t allowed under the state constitution. Meanwhile, Utah’s Republican-led Legislature recently endorsed an altered congressional map — though in response to a court order, not Trump’s demands.
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__
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This story has been corrected to show North Carolina’s 1st District covers more than 20 counties, not less than 20.
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Associated Press writers David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan contributed to this report.
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@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
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SOURCE:Associated Press – Business
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