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Today โ€” 26 April 2025Main stream

Steelers first-round pick Derrick Harmon's mother, Tiffany Saine, dies shortly after his selection

26 April 2025 at 00:49

Steelers first-round draft pick Derrick Harmon's mother, Tiffany Saine, died late Thursday night shortly after Pittsburgh selected the defensive lineman from Oregon with the 21st overall pick.

Harmon said after he was drafted that he planned to visit his mother, who he said was on life support at a hospital in the Detroit suburbs. Saine had endured several brain surgeries and a stroke in recent years. Harmon, 21, pointed to his mother as an inspiration for him to keep going as he made his way from Michigan State to Oregon.

Steelers President Art Rooney II extended the team's condolences to their newest star.

Though we are excited to select Derrick in the first round of the NFL Draft, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the death of his mother, Tiffany Saine, Rooney said in a statement. We will support Derrick and his family however we can as he navigates this period of grief. In times like this, we hope Derrick finds comfort in the love and support from the organization and Steelers fans around the world.

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ICE reinstating international student visas after lawsuits, lawyer says

25 April 2025 at 17:42

The federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students after many filed court challenges around the U.S., a government lawyer said Friday.

Judges around the country had already issued temporary orders restoring the students' records in a federal database of international students maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The records had been suddenly terminated in recent weeks, often without the students or their schools being notified.

A lawyer for the government read a statement in federal court in Oakland that said ICE was manually restoring the student status for people whose records were terminated in recent weeks. A similar statement was read by a government attorney in a separate case in Washington on Friday, said lawyer Brian Green, who represents the plaintiff in that case. Green provided The Associated Press with a copy of the statement that the government lawyer emailed to him.

RELATED STORY | More than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked

It says: ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be re-activated if not currently active and ICE will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination."

Green said that the government lawyer said it would apply to all students in the same situation, not just those who had filed lawsuits.

SEVIS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems database that tracks international students' compliance with their visa status. NCIC is the National Crime Information Center, which is maintained by the FBI. Many of the students whose records were terminated were told that their status was terminated as a result of a criminal records check or that their visa had been revoked.

International students and their schools were caught off guard by the terminations of the students' records. Many of the terminations were discovered when school officials were doing routine checks of the international student database or when they checked specifically after hearing about other terminations.

Russian general killed by a car bomb just outside Moscow

25 April 2025 at 16:09

A Russian general was killed by a car bomb on Friday, Russia's top criminal investigation agency said, in the second such attack on a top Russian military officer in four months that Moscow blamed on Ukraine.

The Investigative Committee said that Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow.

The committee's spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said that the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel. She said that investigators were at the scene.

Russian media ran videos of a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building.

RELATED STORY | Trump says 'Crimea will stay with Russia' as he seeks end to war in Ukraine

The committee did not immediately mention possible suspects, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared without offering evidence that "there are reasons to believe that Ukrainian special services were involved in the killing."

Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the attack.

"If the investigation confirms the Ukrainian trace in this case, this will once again demonstrate to the world community the barbaric and treacherous nature of the Kyiv regime, which is betting on an escalation of military confrontation with Russia and irresponsibly ignoring constructive proposals aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict," Zakharova said.

The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov on Dec. 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. Russian authorities also blamed Ukraine and Ukraine's security agency acknowledged it was behind the attack.

Kirillov was the chief of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, the special troops tasked with protecting the military from the enemy's use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment. Kirillov's assistant also died in the attack.

Friday's bombing came as U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin on a U.S.-brokered peace plan for Ukraine. The meeting was their fourth encounter since February.

Book publishers see surging interest in the US Constitution and print new editions

25 April 2025 at 14:29

When Random House Publisher Andrew Ward met recently with staff editors to discuss potential book projects, conversation inevitably turned to current events and the Trump administration.

"It seemed obvious that we needed to look back to the country's core documents," Ward said. "And that we wanted to get them out quickly."

On Wednesday, Random House announced that it would publish a hardcover book in July combining the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, followed in November by a hardcover edition of the Federalist Papers. Both books include introductions by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, who has written biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson among others.

The Random House volumes, released through its Modern Library imprint, will join a prolific market that has surged in recent months. According to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print retail market, editions of the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and the U.S. Constitution are selling at their fastest pace since Circana began compiling numbers in 2004.

Around 162,000 combined copies have been sold through mid-April, compared to 58,000 during the same time period the year before and around 33,000 in 2023. Sales were around 92,000 in the early months of Trump's first term, in 2017, more than double the pace of 2016.

RELATED STORY | Librarians aren't being quiet when it comes to the Trump administration's funding cuts

Brenna Connor, a book industry analyst for Circana, said the jump "is likely in response to the recent change of administration" and cited increased interest in other books about democracy and government, among them Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny" and the Michael Lewis-edited "Who Is Government?" a collection of essays about civil servants by Dave Eggers, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell and others.

"This pursual of political understanding is playing out in a few different areas," Connor added.

Meacham, during a recent phone interview with The Associated Press, said that the founders had sought to make sense of a revolutionary era whether breaking with England or debating how to form a federal government with enough power to rule effectively, without giving it the kind of monarchical authority that enraged the colonies.

Reading the Declaration and other texts, he believes, can give today's public a similar sense of mission and guiding principles.

"It is a tumultuous moment ... to put it kindly," Meacham said. "One way to address the chaos of the present time, what Saint Paul would call the 'tribulations' of the present time, is to re-engage with the essential texts that are about creating a system that is still worth defending."

The Modern Library books will have many competitors. The 18th century documents all are in the public domain, can be read for free online and anyone can publish them. According to Circana, popular editions have been released by Skyhorse, Penguin, Barnes & Noble and others.

"We generally see increased sales of editions of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution every election cycle, but particularly this year," said Shannon DeVito, Barnes & Noble's senior director of book strategy. "This could be because next year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence," she said, "or the fast and furious current political conversations and policy changes."

Judge says death penalty remains an option for Idaho murder suspect with autism

25 April 2025 at 13:58

A judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors can pursue the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger if he is convicted of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, despite the defendant's recent autism diagnosis.

Kohberger, 30, is charged in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.

Prosecutors have said they intended to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted at his trial, which is set to begin in August.

But his attorneys asked Judge Steven Hippler to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment, citing Kohbergers diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. They have also filed several other motions challenging the death penalty, including one based on purported violations by the state in providing evidence.

Mr. Kohbergers autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, defense attorneys wrote in court papers.

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They argued that executing someone with autism would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Prosecutors argued that under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the only mental disability that precludes imposition of the death penalty is an intellectual disability and Kohbergers diagnosis was of mild autism without accompanying intellectual ... impairment.

The judge agreed.

Not only has Defendant failed to show that ASD is equivalent to an intellectual disability for death penalty exemption purposes, he has not shown there is national consensus against subjecting individuals with ASD to capital punishment, Hippler wrote. ASD may be mitigating factor to be weighed against the aggravating factors in determining if defendant should receive the death penalty, but it is not (a) death-penalty disqualifier.

Kohberger was a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University, in Pullman, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Moscow, at the time of the killings. He was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks later. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.

Autopsies showed the four victims were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.

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Following Kohberger's arrest, his attorneys had him examined by a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Rachel Orr, who diagnosed him with with Autism Spectrum Disorder, level 1, without accompanying intellectual or language impairment.

In a separate ruling Thursday, the judge agreed that jurors will likely be able to hear much of the 911 call made from outside the house by two surviving roommates roughly eight hours after the killings, as they realized one of their roommates wasnt waking up.

However, statements made during that call by an unidentified woman who relayed information she had not observed first-hand will be barred from the trial, Hippler said.

Jurors will also be able to see text messages the two surviving roommates sent around the time of the attack, after 4 a.m., when one reported seeing a masked man in the house, the judge said, assuming prosecutors can lay a foundation for the admission of the evidence.

Trump says 'Crimea will stay with Russia' as he seeks end to war in Ukraine

25 April 2025 at 12:13

President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Friday that Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege.

Zelenskyy understands that, Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and everybody understands that its been with them for a long time."

The U.S. president made the comments in a Time magazine interview conducted on Tuesday. Trump has been accusing Zelenskyy of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Crimea is a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It was seized by Russia in 2014, while President Barack Obama was in office, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.

Theyve had their submarines there for long before any period that were talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea, Trump said. But this was given by Obama. This wasnt given by Trump.

RELATED STORY | Trump urges Putin to 'STOP!' after attack on Kyiv kills at least 12

Meanwhile, Russia has continued its bombardment. A drone struck an apartment building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said Friday, a day after Trump rebuked Russias leader for a deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv.

A child and a 76-year-old woman were among the civilians killed in the nighttime drone strike in Pavlohrad, in Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram.

Russian forces fired 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraines air force reported. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions reported damage to civilian infrastructure but no casualties.

The war could be approaching a pivotal moment as the Trump administration weighs its options. Senior U.S. officials have warned that the administration could soon give up attempts to stop the war if the two sides do not come to an agreement. That could potentially mean a halt of U.S. military aid for Ukraine.

Amid the peace efforts, Russia pounded Kyiv in an hourslong barrage Thursday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 87 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since July.

RELATED STORY |ย Trump admin threatens to 'walk away' from peace negotiations with Ukraine, Russia

The attack drew a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin from Trump, who has said that a push to end the war is coming to a head.

I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!

Trumps frustration is growing as his effort to forge a deal between Ukraine and Russia has failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday, their second meeting this month and the fourth since February.

Trump accused Zelenskyy on Wednesday of prolonging the killing field by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal. Russia illegally annexed that area in 2014. Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plan to arrive in Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vaticans St. Peters Square on Saturday. It wasnt immediately clear if they would meet separately.

An explosion in Moscow targets a senior officer

Meanwhile, a senior Russian military officer was killed by a car bomb near Moscow on Friday, Russias top criminal investigation agency said.

The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov on Dec. 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov.

Since Russia invaded, several prominent figures have been killed in targeted attacks believed to have been carried out by Ukraine.

Russian forces used Thursday's attack on Kyiv as cover to launch almost 150 assaults on Ukrainian positions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Zelenskyy said late Thursday.

When the maximum of our forces was focused on defense against missiles and drones, the Russians went on to significantly intensify their ground attacks, he wrote on Telegram.

Western European leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in the negotiations and seeking to grab more Ukrainian land while his army has battlefield momentum.

Zelenskyy noted Thursday that Ukraine agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russian attacks continued.

During recent talks, Russia hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.

Before yesterdayMain stream

From Buenos Aires to Rome: The life of Pope Francis

21 April 2025 at 08:33

Pope Francis, historys first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement, which was read out by Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.

At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church, Ferrell said.

Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.

But he emerged on Easter Sunday a day before his death to bless thousands of people in St. Peters Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile romp through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause.

From his first greeting as pope a remarkably normal Buonasera (Good evening) to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference.

After that rainy night on March 13, 2013, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis election.

But Francis soon invited troubles of his own, and conservatives grew increasingly upset with his progressive bent, outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and crackdown on traditionalists. His greatest test came in 2018 when he botched a notorious case of clergy sexual abuse in Chile, and the scandal that festered under his predecessors erupted anew on his watch.

And then Francis, the crowd-loving, globe-trotting pope of the peripheries, navigated the unprecedented reality of leading a universal religion through the coronavirus pandemic from a locked-down Vatican City.

He implored the world to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to rethink the economic and political framework that he said had turned rich against poor.

We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, Francis told an empty St. Peters Square in March 2020. But he also stressed the pandemic showed the need for all of us to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.

Reforming the Vatican

Francis was elected on a mandate to reform the Vatican bureaucracy and finances but went further in shaking up the church without changing its core doctrine. Who am I to judge? he replied when asked about a purportedly gay priest.

The comment sent a message of welcome to the LGBTQ+ community and those who felt shunned by a church that had stressed sexual propriety over unconditional love. Being homosexual is not a crime, he told The Associated Press in 2023, urging an end to civil laws that criminalize it.

Stressing mercy, Francis changed the churchs position on the death penalty, calling it inadmissible in all circumstances. He also declared the possession of nuclear weapons, not just their use, was immoral.

In other firsts, he approved an agreement with China over bishop nominations that had vexed the Vatican for decades, met the Russian patriarch and charted new relations with the Muslim world by visiting the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq.

He reaffirmed the all-male, celibate priesthood and upheld the churchs opposition to abortion, equating it to hiring a hitman to solve a problem.

Roles for women

But he added women to important decision-making roles and allowed them to serve as lectors and acolytes in parishes. He let women vote alongside bishops in periodic Vatican meetings, following longstanding complaints that women do much of the churchs work but are barred from power.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, whom Francis named to one of the highest Vatican jobs, said his legacy was a vision of a church where men and women existed in a relationship of reciprocity and respect.

It was about shifting a pattern of domination from human being to the creation, from men to women to a pattern of cooperation, said Becquart, the first woman to hold a voting position in a Vatican synod.

The church as refuge

While Francis did not allow women to be ordained, the voting reform was part of a revolutionary change in emphasizing what the church should be: a refuge for everyone todos, todos, todos (everyone, everyone, everyone) not for the privileged few. Migrants, the poor, prisoners and outcasts were invited to his table far more than presidents or powerful CEOs.

For Pope Francis, it was always to extend the arms of the church to embrace all people, not to exclude anyone, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, whom Francis named as camerlengo, taking charge after a pontiffs death or retirement.

Francis demanded his bishops apply mercy and charity to their flocks, pressed the world to protect Gods creation from climate disaster, and challenged countries to welcome those fleeing war, poverty and oppression.

After visiting Mexico in 2016, Francis said of then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump that anyone building a wall to keep migrants out is not Christian.

While progressives were thrilled with Francis radical focus on Jesus message of mercy and inclusion, it troubled conservatives who feared he watered down Catholic teaching and threatened the very Christian identity of the West. Some even called him a heretic.

A few cardinals openly challenged him. Francis usually responded with his typical answer to conflict: silence.

He made it easier for married Catholics to get an annulment, allowed priests to absolve women who had had abortions and decreed that priests could bless same-sex couples. He opened debate on issues like homosexuality and divorce, giving pastors wiggle room to discern how to accompany their flocks, rather than handing them strict rules to apply.

St. Francis of Assisi as a model

Francis lived in the Vatican hotel instead of the Apostolic Palace, wore his old orthotic shoes and not the red loafers of the papacy, and rode in compact cars. It wasnt a gimmick.

I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful, he told a Jesuit journal in 2013. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.

If becoming the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope wasnt enough, Francis was also the first to name himself after St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th century friar known for personal simplicity, a message of peace, and care for nature and societys outcasts.

Francis sought out the unemployed, the sick, the disabled and the homeless. He formally apologized to Indigenous peoples for the crimes of the church from colonial times onward.

And he himself suffered: He had part of his colon removed in 2021, then needed more surgery in 2023 to repair a painful hernia and remove intestinal scar tissue. Starting in 2022 he regularly used a wheelchair or cane because of bad knees, and endured bouts of bronchitis.

He went to societys fringes to minister with mercy: caressing the grossly deformed head of a man in St. Peters Square, kissing the tattoo of a Holocaust survivor, or inviting Argentinas garbage scavengers to join him onstage in Rio de Janeiro.

We have always been marginalized, but Pope Francis always helped us, said Coqui Vargas, a transgender woman whose Roman community forged a unique relationship with Francis during the pandemic.

His first trip as pope was to the island of Lampedusa, then the epicenter of Europes migration crisis. He consistently chose to visit poor countries where Christians were often persecuted minorities, rather than the centers of global Catholicism.

Friend and fellow Argentine, Bishop Marcelo Snchez Sorondo, said his concern for the poor and disenfranchised was based on the Beatitudes -- the eight blessings Jesus delivered in the Sermon on the Mount for the meek, the merciful, the poor in spirit and others.

Why are the Beatitudes the program of this pontificate? Because they were the basis of Jesus Christs own program, Snchez said.

Missteps on sexual abuse scandal

But more than a year passed before Francis met with survivors of priestly sexual abuse, and victims groups initially questioned whether he really understood the scope of the problem.

Francis did create a sex abuse commission to advise the church on best practices, but it lost its influence after a few years and its recommendation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests went nowhere.

And then came the greatest crisis of his papacy, when he discredited Chilean abuse victims in 2018 and stood by a controversial bishop linked to their abuser. Realizing his error, Francis invited the victims to the Vatican for a personal mea culpa and summoned the leadership of the Chilean church to resign en masse.

As that crisis concluded, a new one erupted over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington and a counselor to three popes.

Francis had actually moved swiftly to sideline McCarrick amid an accusation he had molested a teenage altar boy in the 1970s. But Francis nevertheless was accused by the Vaticans one-time U.S. ambassador of having rehabilitated McCarrick early in his papacy.

Francis eventually defrocked McCarrick after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused adults as well as minors. He changed church law to remove the pontifical secret surrounding abuse cases and enacted procedures to investigate bishops who abused or covered for their pedophile priests, seeking to end impunity for the hierarchy.

He sincerely wanted to do something and he transmitted that, said Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean abuse survivor Francis discredited who later developed a close friendship with the pontiff.

A change from Benedict

The road to Francis 2013 election was paved by Pope Benedict XVIs decision to resign and retire the first in 600 years and it created the unprecedented reality of two popes living in the Vatican.

Francis didnt shy from Benedicts potentially uncomfortable shadow. He embraced him as an elder statesman and adviser, coaxing him out of his cloistered retirement to participate in the public life of the church.

Its like having your grandfather in the house, a wise grandfather, Francis said.

Francis praised Benedict by saying he opened the door to others following suit, fueling speculation that Francis also might retire. But after Benedicts death on Dec. 31, 2022, he asserted that in principle the papacy is a job for life.

Francis looser liturgical style and pastoral priorities made clear he and the German-born theologian came from very different religious traditions, and Francis directly overturned several decisions of his predecessor.

He made sure Salvadoran Archbishop scar Romero, a hero to the liberation theology movement in Latin America, was canonized after his case languished under Benedict over concerns about the credos Marxist bent.

Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed, arguing the spread of the Tridentine Rite was divisive. The move riled Francis traditionalist critics and opened sustained conflict between right-wing Catholics, particularly in the U.S., and the Argentine pope.

Conservatives oppose Francis

By then, conservatives had already turned away from Francis, betrayed after he opened debate on allowing remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments if they didnt get an annulment a church ruling that their first marriage was invalid.

We dont like this pope, headlined Italys conservative daily Il Foglio a few months into the papacy, reflecting the unease of the small but vocal traditionalist Catholic movement that was coddled under Benedict.

Those same critics amplified their complaints after Francis approved church blessings for same-sex couples, and a controversial accord with China over nominating bishops.

Its details were never released, but conservative critics bashed it as a sellout to communist China, while the Vatican defended it as the best deal it could get with Beijing.

U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a figurehead in the anti-Francis opposition, said the church had become like a ship without a rudder.

Burke waged his opposition campaign for years, starting when Francis fired him as the Vaticans supreme court justice and culminating with his vocal opposition to Francis 2023 synod on the churchs future.

Twice, he joined other conservative cardinals in formally asking Francis to explain himself on doctrine issues reflecting a more progressive bent, including on the possibility of same-sex blessings and his outreach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.

Francis eventually sanctioned Burke financially, accusing him of sowing disunity. It was one of several personnel moves he made in both the Vatican and around the world to shift the balance of power from doctrinaire leaders to more pastoral ones.

Francis insisted his bishops and cardinals imbue themselves with the odor of their flock and minister to the faithful, voicing displeasure when they didnt.

His 2014 Christmas address to the Vatican Curia was one of the greatest public papal reprimands ever: Standing in the marbled Apostolic Palace, Francis ticked off 15 ailments that he said can afflict his closest collaborators, including spiritual Alzheimers, lusting for power and the terrorism of gossip.

Trying to eliminate corruption, Francis oversaw the reform of the scandal-marred Vatican bank and sought to wrestle Vatican bureaucrats into financial line, limiting their compensation and ability to receive gifts or award public contracts.

He authorized Vatican police to raid his own secretariat of state and the Vaticans financial watchdog agency amid suspicions about a 350 million euro investment in a London real estate venture. After a 2 1/2-year trial, the Vatican tribunal convicted a once-powerful cardinal, Angelo Becciu, of embezzlement and returned mixed verdicts to nine others, acquitting one.

The trial, though, proved to be a reputational boomerang for the Holy See, showing deficiencies in the Vaticans legal system, unseemly turf battles among monsignors, and how the pope had intervened on behalf of prosecutors.

While earning praise for trying to turn the Vaticans finances around, Francis angered U.S. conservatives for his frequent excoriation of the global financial market that favors the rich over the poor.

Economic justice was an important themes of his papacy, and he didnt hide it in his first meeting with journalists when he said he wanted a poor church that is for the poor.

In his first major teaching document, The Joy of the Gospel, Francis denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naive, based on a mentality where the powerful feed upon the powerless with no regard for ethics, the environment or even God.

Money must serve, not rule! he said in urging political reforms.

He elaborated on that in his major eco-encyclical Praised Be, denouncing the structurally perverse global economic system that he said exploited the poor and risked turning Earth into an immense pile of filth.

Some U.S. conservatives branded Francis a Marxist. He jabbed back by saying he had many friends who were Marxists.

Soccer, opera and prayer

Born Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the eldest of five children of Italian immigrants.

He credited his devout grandmother Rosa with teaching him how to pray. Weekends were spent listening to opera on the radio, going to Mass and attending matches of the familys beloved San Lorenzo soccer club. As pope, his love of soccer brought him a huge collection of jerseys from visitors.

He said he received his religious calling at 17 while going to confession, recounting in a 2010 biography that, I dont know what it was, but it changed my life. ... I realized that they were waiting for me.

He entered the diocesan seminary but switched to the Jesuit order in 1958, attracted to its missionary tradition and militancy.

Around this time, he suffered from pneumonia, which led to the removal of the upper part of his right lung. His frail health prevented him from becoming a missionary, and his less-than-robust lung capacity was perhaps responsible for his whisper of a voice and reluctance to sing at Mass.

On Dec. 13, 1969, he was ordained a priest, and immediately began teaching. In 1973, he was named head of the Jesuits in Argentina, an appointment he later acknowledged was crazy given he was only 36. My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative, he admitted in his Civilta Cattolica interview.

Life under Argentinas dictatorship

His six-year tenure as provincial coincided with Argentinas murderous 1976-83 dictatorship, when the military launched a campaign against left-wing guerrillas and other regime opponents.

Bergoglio didnt publicly confront the junta and was accused of effectively allowing two slum priests to be kidnapped and tortured by not publicly endorsing their work.

He refused for decades to counter that version of events. Only in a 2010 authorized biography did he finally recount the behind-the-scenes lengths he used to save them, persuading the family priest of feared dictator Jorge Videla to call in sick so he could say Mass instead. Once in the junta leaders home, Bergoglio privately appealed for mercy. Both priests were eventually released, among the few to have survived prison.

As pope, accounts began to emerge of the many people -- priests, seminarians and political dissidents -- whom Bergoglio actually saved during the dirty war, letting them stay incognito at the seminary or helping them escape the country.

Bergoglio went to Germany in 1986 to research a never-finished thesis. Returning to Argentina, he was stationed in Cordoba during a period he described as a time of great interior crisis. Out of favor with more progressive Jesuit leaders, he was eventually rescued from obscurity in 1992 by St. John Paul II, who named him an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He became archbishop six years later, and was made a cardinal in 2001.

He came close to becoming pope in 2005 when Benedict was elected, gaining the second-most votes in several rounds of balloting before bowing out.

Tornado-producing storm deals deadly flooding and large hail to Oklahoma and Texas

20 April 2025 at 20:01

A slow-moving, active storm system brought heavy rain, large hail and tornadoes to parts of Texas and Oklahoma and left two people dead as severe weather warnings Sunday continue to threaten parts of the south-central and Midwest U.S.

On Easter Sunday, communities in Texas and Oklahoma were beginning to assess the damage wreaked by tornadoes. There were 17 reported events Saturday, according to Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Five were confirmed in south-central Oklahoma, including one that inflicted at least EF1 damage on a small town that was still recovering from a March tornado.

The storm also brought heavy rain to a broad swath of north-central Texas across central-eastern Oklahoma, which saw 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) accumulate Saturday into Sunday.

Police in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, received dozens of reports of high-water incidents over the weekend, including two cars stranded in flood waters Saturday evening. One car was swept away under a bridge, and police said they were able to rescue some people, but a woman and 12-year-old boy were found dead.

This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city, Moore police said in a statement Sunday. Moore has a about 63,000 residents.

Oravec said the system wasn't moving much over Texas and Oklahoma Saturday, leaving the area stuck under a very active thunderstorm pattern that produced large hail, flash flooding and tornadoes.

Bill Macon, emergency management director in Oklahoma's Marshall County, said their early assessments show a tornado skipped and jumped around over a path of 6 to 7 miles in the rural area that left at least 20 homes damaged, with some destroyed completely.

Macon said people were mostly home when the late night tornado came through, downing huge trees and dozens of electric poles and power lines, but there had not been reports of injuries or fatalities.

We take those things pretty serious down here in Oklahoma, Macon said of the National Weather Service's warnings.

One Oklahoma town that was still rebuilding from an early March tornado was hit again late Saturday. The north side of Ada, a town home to about 16,000 people, sustained damage that the weather service said indicated at least an EF1 tornado based on a preliminary survey.

In a video posted to Facebook, Jason Keck, Ada director of emergency management, said the tornado seemed to track across the north side of town, leaving a lot of damage to buildings, power lines and trees.

Other social media posts showed roofs ripped off businesses in town, storefront windows blown in and billboards knocked sideways.

At least two tornadoes crossed west Parker County, Texas, on Saturday, the countys emergency services said on Facebook, causing significant damage and power outages.

The whole storm system is moving northeast into Arkansas, Missouri and southeastern Iowa, Oravec said. While it's moving faster, he said, the active system still carries the threat of large hail, high winds and tornadoes to the region.

While heavy rain was subsiding in Texas and Oklahoma by late Sunday afternoon, additional heavy rain is expected across parts of the Plains this week, Oravec said. With streams already swollen and the ground saturated, that leaves the area at risk of additional flooding.

Zelenskyy says Russia is trying to create an 'impression of a ceasefire' as attacks continue

20 April 2025 at 14:24

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce.

As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Putin announces an Easter ceasefire as Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of POWs

Despite Putins declaration of an Easter ceasefire on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Sunday morning that Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units along the front line, as well as dozens of drone strikes.

In a later update, Zelenskyy said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, there had been an increase in Russian shelling and drone attacks since 10 a.m. He said, however, that it was a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens.

In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage, he wrote.

Zelenskyy said that Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraines offer to extend the truce for 30 days, starting midnight Sunday. He said the proposal remains on the table and added: "We will act in accordance with the actual situation on the ground.

Zelenskyy said Saturday night that some areas were quieter since the ceasefire was announced, which he claimed showed Putin to be the true cause of the war. As soon as Putin gave an order to scale back the attacks, the intensity of strikes and killings dropped. The only source of this war and its prolongation is in Russia, he wrote on X.

RELATED STORY | Amid doubts, Rubio signals US might abandon Ukraine-Russia peace talks

Russias Defense Ministry said Sunday that Ukrainian forces launched overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire, and had sent 48 drones into Russian territory. According to the ministry, there were dead and wounded among the civilian population, without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the ceasefire.

Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said that Ukrainian forces continued their attacks.

Just hours after announcing the ceasefire, Putin attended an Easter service late Saturday at Moscows Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a vocal supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday to midnight following Easter Sunday.

Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.

His announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are coming to a head and insisted that neither side is playing him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.

Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday after tangle over migration, gets chocolate eggs for kids

20 April 2025 at 13:33

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met briefly with Pope Francis on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings, after they got into a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration's migrant deportation plans.

Francis, who is recovering from a near-fatal bout of pneumonia, received Vance in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel where he lives. The 88-year-old pope offered the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance's three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

I know you have not been feeling great but it's good to see you in better health, Vance told the pope. Thank you for seeing me.

Vances motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St. Peters Square. Francis had delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Pope arrives home at Vatican after 5-week hospital stay to beat life-threatening bout of pneumonia

The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta to exchange Easter greetings. Vance's office said that they met, but provided no further details. In all, Vance's motorcade was on Vatican territory for 17 minutes.

He later joined his family for Easter Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of the four pontifical basilicas in Rome. The Vances visited the tomb of the apostle St. Paul that is said to be located there.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, and the pope have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administrations plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy.

Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.

Vance has acknowledged Francis criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views. During a Feb. 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Vance didnt address the issue specifically but called himself a baby Catholic and acknowledged there are things about the faith that I dont know.

Vance met Saturday with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

Vances office said he and Parolin discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trumps commitment to restoring world peace.

The Vatican, for its part, said there was an exchange of opinions including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality. It has expressed alarm over the administrations crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Anti-Trump protesters turn out to rallies in New York, Washington and other cities across country

19 April 2025 at 19:33

Opponents of President Donald Trump's administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation's democratic ideals.

The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration marking the start of the American Revolutionary War 250 years ago. In San Francisco, protesters formed a human banner reading "Impeach & Remove" on the sands of Ocean Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Thomas Bassford was among those who joined demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside of Boston. "The shot heard 'round the world" on April 19, 1775, heralded the start of the nation's war for independence from Britain.

The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believed Americans today are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.

"This is a very perilous time in America for liberty," Bassford said, as he attended the event with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. "I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom."

Elsewhere, protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community-service events, such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.

The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide protests against the Trump administration drew thousands to the streets across the country.

Organizers say they're protesting what they call Trump's civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shutter entire agencies.

Some of the events drew on the spirit of the American Revolutionary War, calling for "no kings" and resistance to tyranny.

Boston resident George Bryant, who was among those protesting in Concord, Massachusetts, said he was concerned Trump was creating a "police state" in America as he held up a sign saying, "Trump fascist regime must go now!"

"He's defying the courts. He's kidnapping students. He's eviscerating the checks and balances," Bryant said. "This is fascism."

In Washington, Bob Fasick said he came out to the rally by the White House out of concern about threats to constitutionally protected due process rights, as well as Social Security and other federal safety-net programs.

The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.

"I cannot sit still knowing that if I don't do anything and everybody doesn't do something to change this, that the world that we collectively are leaving for the little children, for our neighbors is simply not one that I would want to live," said the 76-year-old retired federal employee from Springfield, Virginia.

And in Manhattan, protesters rallied against continued deportations of immigrants as they marched from the New York Public Library north towards Central Park past Trump Tower.

"No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state," they chanted to the steady beat of drums, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Marshall Green, who was among the protesters, said he was most concerned that Trump has invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by claiming the country is at war with Venezuelan gangs linked to the South American nation's government.

"Congress should be stepping up and saying no, we are not at war. You cannot use that," said the 61-year-old from Morristown, New Jersey. "You cannot deport people without due process, and everyone in this country has the right to due process no matter what."

Meanwhile, Melinda Charles, of Connecticut, said she worried about Trump's "executive overreach," citing clashes with the federal courts to Harvard University and other elite colleges.

"We're supposed to have three equal branches of government and to have the executive branch become so strong," she said. "I mean, it's just unbelievable."

Go inside the factory where Peeps are made

19 April 2025 at 17:33

Love them or hate them, those marshmallow Peeps that come in blindingly bright colors and an array of flavors are inescapable around the Easter holiday.

Millions are made daily in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by Just Born Quality Confections, a family-owned candy manufacturer that also churns out Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike fruit chews and Goldenberg's Peanut Chews.

Peeps is Just Born's most recognizable brand and one of a handful of candies that evoke strong reactions good and bad. Some say an Easter basket isn't complete without Peeps while others deride them as being indestructible. Some use them in recipes or even artwork.

"Even if you're not usually one to gravitate to eating the Peeps, there's always so many other fun ways to include them in your celebrations," said Caitlin Servian, brand manager for Peeps.

How many Peeps are made each year?

On average, about 5.5 million are made each day.

That adds up to 2 billion a year or roughly 6 Peeps for every man, woman and child across the U.S.

How many different varieties and colors are there?

First hatched in yellow, the sugary chicks and bunnies come in nine colors for this Easter season, including pink, blue and lavender. And there are even more flavors 14 for Easter from cookies and cream, to fruit punch and sour watermelon. The varieties and colors vary throughout the year with different holiday seasons.

How long does it take to make a Peep?

Before the early 1950s, making the candies by hand took 27 hours.

Bob Born, who became known as the "Father of Peeps," came up with a way to speed up the process. He and a company engineer designed a machine to make them in less than six minutes. The same process is used today.

How are they made?

The main ingredients sugar, corn syrup and gelatin are cooked and combined to create marshmallows, which are then shaped and sent through a "sugar shower."

A whopping 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of sugar is used per batch for Peeps' colored sugars.

Freshly made Peeps each chick weighs one-third of an ounce then move along a conveyor so that they can cool before being packaged.

Boston Marathon and city insist all are welcome. But some runners say politics will keep them home

19 April 2025 at 17:05

The Boston Marathon and Mayor Michelle Wu insisted on Friday that international runners and other foreign visitors remain welcome in the city and said there is no evidence that travel for this year's race has fallen off in the face of increased border scrutiny.

"Regardless of what's happening at other levels, and particularly now at the federal level, in Boston we welcome everyone," Wu said at a public safety media briefing not far from the finish line. "We seek to be a home for everyone."

A cherished event for runners and spectators alike, staged on the state holiday of Patriots' Day, commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord that sparked the American Revolution 250 years ago, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest and most prestigious annual 26.2-mile race.

It has taken on even greater significance and popularity since 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and wounding hundreds more. (Allen Davis, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, said at the briefing that there were "no credible or specific threats" to Monday's race.)

This year's marathon has more than 30,000 entrants from 128 countries. Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said the 129th edition of the race was full thousands more are turned away and there's been no indication that those registered are staying home.

"We have a lot of demand this year, as we do every year," he said.

But as U.S. officials track plummeting tourism numbers, with many would-be visitors angered by President Donald Trump's tariffs and rhetoric and alarmed by stories about tourists being arrested at the border, reports say at least some potential marathon attendees have decided to skip the race.

Canadians have been especially put off by Trump's talk of making the country the 51st U.S. state. Paula Roberts-Banks, a writer and photographer from Rosseau, Ontario, who has run Boston 12 times, wrote in Canadian Running magazine that she earned a coveted bib for this year's race but decided not to run because she has "soured" on the U.S.

"I simply don't want to go there," she said. "It feels like a breakup."

British runner Calli Hauger-Thackery, a 2024 Olympian who is entered in the women's professional field, said she has never experienced a problem coming to the U.S. but she worries now that that might change.

"It does scare me traveling a little bit, at the moment," she said, adding that she is married to an American and has a visa. "I hope it's enough for them to not flag me or anything coming in and out of the States."

Most of the 31,941 entrants in Monday's race were required to qualify at another marathon, and many of them view running Boston as a lifelong athletic goal. Still, about 10% of the field typically does not toe the starting line in Hopkinton for reasons that range from injuries to weather to the 2010 eruption of a volcano in Iceland that halted flights and prevented hundreds of Europeans from traveling to Boston.

In last year's field of 29,333 entrants, there were 2,838 who failed to start. Race officials say they will not know how many no-shows there are this year until Monday; even then, they won't know why.

"We do not have data as to why people may or may not be coming to Boston," Fleming said. "At the BAA, our goal is to create a marathon experience that is very welcoming and joyous. Every year, we focus on that goal and we are confident that we have done everything in our power to achieve that this year."

Wu said she hoped visitors would look past the geopolitical climate and "participate in this very, very important global tradition that should transcend politics and should transcend the issues of the day."

And that's just what Australian Patrick Tiernan plans to do.

"There are some unfortunate situations going on in the U.S. right now, but I don't think that should have to taint what's happening here, and the history of this race," said the two-time Olympian, who was an NCAA cross country champion at Villanova. "I think everybody's very excited to be here and excited to compete on Monday."

Questions emerge about how a deputy's stepson became the accused gunman in deadly FSU shooting

19 April 2025 at 15:59

Amid the abandoned chemistry notes and other debris left behind after a deadly shooting at Florida State University are lingering questions about how the stepson of a beloved sheriff's deputy tasked with school safety at a middle school became the accused gunman.

Political science student Phoenix Ikner was a long-standing member of a sheriff's office youth advisory council and was steeped in the family-like culture of the agency. When officers rushed to the university's student union on reports of gunfire, authorities say it was the 20-year-old who used his stepmother's former service weapon to open fire, killing two men and wounding six others.

As people fled in terror, Ikner was shot and taken into custody. He invoked his right not to speak to investigators, and his motive remains unknown as he lies in a hospital bed.

The prosecutor's office is weighing possible charges as stories emerge about a darker side. One classmate recalled him being kicked out of a student club over comments that other members found troubling.

RELATED STORY | Florida State University shooting victims expected to recover, doctor says

"This is horrific," Jimmy Williams, the chief of safety for Leon County Schools, said of the shooting. "This is a horrible, horrible event."

Williams, who has known Ikner's stepmother, Jessica Ikner, for a decade, said the allegations underscore that "none of us are immune to tragedy."

Classes and business operations will resume Monday, Florida State announced over the weekend.

"I know it won't feel like a normal week," FSU President Richard McCullough said in message to students and employees Saturday. "It's the last one before finals, and many of you are still processing what happened. Please take care of yourself."

Suspect is the stepson of a beloved deputy

His stepmother, whose own alma mater is Florida State, was reassigned from her position as a school resource officer Friday and granted the personal leave she requested, a sheriff's office spokesperson told The Associated Press.

When the alert went out of an active shooter at Florida State University, Jessica Ikner was on duty around 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away at Raa Middle School. A sheriff's office spokesperson said Jessica Ikner worked to secure the campus to prevent anyone from entering as Raa went into "lockout mode," along with all of the county's public schools. She was practiced at this work.

Last year, she was named an "employee of the month" by the sheriff's office, where she has worked for 18 years.

Police said they believed Phoenix Ikner shot the victims using his stepmother's former service handgun, which she had kept for personal use after the force upgraded its weapons.

Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil described Phoenix Ikner on Thursday as having been "steeped in the Leon County Sheriff's Office family" and engaged in a number of sheriff's office training programs, adding that it wasn't a surprise that he would have access to guns.

There was no record of him having a criminal record. And in Florida, training and a background check are not required to carry concealed guns in public.

RELATED STORY |ย Lawmakers react after deadly shooting at Florida State University

Custody disputes and name change in his childhood

When Ikner was a child, his parents were involved in several custody disputes with his biological mother, court records show.

In 2015, when he was 10, his biological mother, Anne-Mari Eriksen, said she was taking him to South Florida for spring break in 2015 but instead traveled to Norway. After returning to the U.S., she pleaded no contest to removing a minor from the state against a court order and was sentenced to 200 days in jail. She later moved to vacate her plea, but that was denied.

In the fall of that same year, Eriksen filed a civil libel-slander complaint against Jessica Ikner, along with several other family members. The complaint, which was later dismissed, accused them of harassing Eriksen and abusing Ikner's position at the sheriff's office.

In 2020, at age 15, the suspect received court approval to change his name from Christian Eriksen to Phoenix Ikner, court documents show. His old name was a constant reminder of a "tragedy" he suffered, in the words of administrative magistrate James Banks, who approved the request, NBC News reported.

Banks observed that Ikner was a "mentally, emotionally and physically mature young adult who is very articulate" and "very polite" and he chose the new name as a representation of "rising from the ashes anew."

Classmate says there were concerns about the accused shooter

Reid Seybold and his classmates were working on a group project in a building located a short, three-minute walk from the student union when someone ran in and warned them about the gunfire. They huddled together, the 22-year-old said, frantically firing off what they thought might be their final text messages to loved ones.

When Seybold found out who the suspect in the shooting was that it was someone he knows he was overcome with anger. Seybold was the president of a club that Phoenix Ikner joined when they were both studying at the local community college, now called Tallahassee State College.

Seybold said Ikner was known for espousing racist and white supremacist views that so alienated other members that the club asked him to leave the group.

"He made people that uncomfortable," said Seybold, who is now also studying political science at Florida State. "I personally know him to have complained about how multiculturalism and communism are ruining America."

Accused shooter transferred to Florida State from community college

Ikner transferred to Florida State after earning an associate degree at the community college, school officials said.

He didn't attract the attention of the school paper, other than commenting in an FSU story about a rally on campus against President Donald Trump.

Ikner, a registered Republican, described the protesters as "entertaining" because Trump was already set to be inaugurated. The comments have since been removed from the story, an editor's note saying the move was to "avoid amplifying the voice of an individual responsible for violence."

Before Ikner's Instagram was taken down, his bio quoted a verse from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. "Thou art my battle ax and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms," reads Jeremiah 51:20, which scholars have interpreted to depict God's judgment on Babylon. The empire is a symbol in the Bible of sinfulness and immorality.

Deputy's family has stayed quiet for now

A Tallahassee Police Department patrol car was stationed Thursday evening near the street where the family lives, blocking reporters from approaching the family's home in a well-kept suburban neighborhood on the city's east side.

Phone messages left for Jessica Ikner at a number listed for her on a school resource website and another phone connected to her through public records were not immediately returned Friday. And a sheriff's office spokeswoman said she is not aware of the family putting out a statement or having a family spokesperson.

The only insight comes from the past statements. Nearly a decade ago, Jessica Ikner wrote a story posted on the Tallahassee Family Magazine website about children's safety while surfing the internet, including tips to strengthen family bonds.

"Build a trusting relationship with your child," she wrote. "Let them know that if they do make a mistake they can still come to you about anything."

Putin announces an Easter ceasefire as Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of POWs

19 April 2025 at 14:59

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons, as Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds of captured soldiers in the largest exchange since Moscow's full-scale invasion started over three years ago.

According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.

"We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions," Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin's Press Service.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire "another attempt by Putin to play with human lives." He wrote on X that "air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine," and "Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin's true attitude toward Easter and toward human life."

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Largest POW exchange so far

The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday. Russia's Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that "as a gesture of goodwill" 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.

Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian "warriors" have returned home from Russian captivity.

Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.

Putin's ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are "coming to a head" and insisted that neither side is "playing" him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.

Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may "move on" from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.

In January 2023, Putin had ordered his forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stopped short of stating his forces would reject Putin's request, but dismissed the Russian move as playing for time to regroup its invasion forces and prepare additional attacks.

Russia says its forces have retaken nearly all of Kursk

Russia's Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia's Kursk region where the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion last year.

Gerasimov said Saturday in a report to Putin, quoted by Russian state media, that Russia had retaken nearly all of the territory from Ukrainian forces.

"The main part of the region's territory, where the invasion took place, has now been liberated. This is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%," Gerasimov said.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces "continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions."

The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the claim by Russia. Russian and North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking most of the region.

According to Russian state news agency Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.

"The Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian armed forces out of Gornal ... in order to completely liberate the Kursk region. Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement," the agency reported, citing Russia security agencies.

In other developments, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.

Russia's Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.

Supreme Court blocks deportations of Venezuelans under 18th-century wartime law โ€” for now

19 April 2025 at 06:28

The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked, for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law.

In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center "until further order of this court."

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union, contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Supreme Court had said earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given "a reasonable time" to contest their pending removals.

"We are deeply relieved that the Court has temporarily blocked the removals. These individuals were in imminent danger of spending the rest of their lives in a brutal Salvadoran prison without ever having had any due process," ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in an email.

On Friday, two federal judges refused to step in as lawyers for the men launched a desperate legal campaign to prevent their deportation, even as one judge said the case raised legitimate concerns. Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.

The administration is expected to return to the Supreme Court quickly in an effort to persuade the justices to lift their temporary order.

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The ACLU had already sued to block deportations of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet facility and sought an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the Alien Enemies Act.

In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which would make them subject to President Donald Trump's use of the act.

The act has only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration contended it gave them power to swiftly remove immigrants they identified as members of the gang, regardless of their immigration status.

Following the unanimous high court order on April 9, federal judges in Colorado, New York and southern Texas promptly issued orders barring removal of detainees under the AEA until the administration provides a process for them to make claims in court.

But there had been no such order issued in the area of Texas that covers Bluebonnet, which is located 24 miles north of Abilene in the far northern end of the state.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, this week declined to bar the administration from removing the two men identified in the ACLU lawsuit because Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed sworn declarations that they would not be immediately deported. He also balked at issuing a broader order prohibiting removal of all Venezuelans in the area under the act because he said removals hadn't started yet.

But the ACLU's Friday filing included sworn declarations from three separate immigration lawyers who said their clients in Bluebonnet were given paperwork indicating they were members of Tren de Aragua and could be deported by Saturday. In one case, immigration lawyer Karene Brown said her client, identified by initials, was told to sign papers in English even though the client only spoke Spanish.

"ICE informed F.G.M. that these papers were coming from the President, and that he will be deported even if he did not sign it," Brown wrote.

Gelernt said in a Friday evening hearing before District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, D.C., that the administration initially moved Venezuelans to its south Texas immigration facility for deportation. But since a judge banned deportations in that area, it has funneled them to the Bluebonnet facility, where no such order exists. He said witnesses reported the men were being loaded on buses Friday evening to be taken to the airport.

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With Hendrix not agreeing to the ACLU's request for an emergency order, the group turned to Boasberg, who initially halted deportations in March. The Supreme Court ruled the orders against deportation could only come from judges in jurisdictions where immigrants were held, which Boasberg said made him powerless Friday.

"I'm sympathetic to everything you're saying," Boasberg told Gelernt. "I just don't think I have the power to do anything about it."

Boasberg this week found there's probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by disobeying his initial deportation ban. He was concerned that the paper that ICE was giving those held did not make clear they had a right to challenge their removal in court, which he believed the Supreme Court mandated.

Drew Ensign, an attorney for the Justice Department, disagreed, saying that people slated for deportation would have a "minimum" of 24 hours to challenge their removal in court. He said no flights were scheduled for Friday night and he was unaware of any Saturday, but the Department of Homeland Security said it reserved the right to remove people then.

ICE said it would not comment on the litigation.

Also Friday, a Massachusetts judge made permanent his temporary ban on the administration deporting immigrants who have exhausted their appeals to countries other than their home countries unless they are informed of their destination and given a chance to object if they'd face torture or death there.

Some Venezuelans subject to Trump's Alien Enemies Act have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison.

IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden is out as acting commissioner just days after getting the job

18 April 2025 at 21:59

Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Bidens taxes is out of the job, according to three people familiar with the decision.

Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Bidens son, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, according to the three people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Faulkender will be the fourth IRS leader since President Donald Trump took office in January, a sign of the turmoil within the agency in the early months of the president's second term in the White House.

Shapley's short-lived tenure comes as a stream of high-ranking officials have exited the federal tax collection agency via a mix of resignations over Trump's policy decisions, layoffs and demotions.

Shapley's ouster and subsequent replacement were first reported by The New York Times, which said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had complained to Trump that Shapley had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has butted heads with Cabinet officials in his role spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency.

Late Thursday night, Musk shared an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has criticized certain administration officials for a lack of loyalty to Trump, a Republican.

Loomer accused Bessent of inviting a Trump hater to work with him on financial literacy efforts. I am going to personally tell President Trump and personally show him these receipts, Loomer wrote, adding shame on Bessent.

Musk responded, troubling.

Bessent said in an emailed statement that trust must be brought back to the IRS and that he is confident that Faulkender is the right man for the moment. He added that Shapley remains among my most important senior advisors at the U.S. Treasury as we work together to rethink and reform the IRS.

RELATED STORY | Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, AP sources say

As a result of the latest upheaval, the IRS has put a temporary pause on its reduction in force plan, according to two of the people also familiar with Shapleys ouster. The pause in layoffs is due to the whiplash changes in leadership at the tax collection agency, the people said.

Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers up to 25% of the total workforce.

Shapley had been installed to replace Melanie Krause, who resigned from her role as acting IRS commissioner over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help it identify and deport people illegally in the U.S.

Krause had replaced acting Commissioner Douglas ODonnell, who announced his retirement from the agency after roughly 40 years of service in February as furor spread over DOGE gaining access to IRS taxpayer data.

Trump's nominee to head the IRS, former U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, has not yet been confirmed.

Judge pauses Trump administration's plans for mass layoffs at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

18 April 2025 at 16:41

A federal judge who blocked President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruled Friday that the bureau can't go forward immediately with plans to mass fire hundreds of employees.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she is "deeply concerned" that Trump administration officials aren't complying with her earlier order that maintains the bureau's existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve it.

During a hearing, Jackson said she will bar officials from carrying out any mass firings or cutting off employees' access to bureau computer systems on Friday.

RELATED STORY | Trump fires the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Jackson scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials who were working on the reduction in force, or RIF, procedures.

"I'm willing to resolve it quickly, but I'm not going to let this RIF go forward until I have," she said.

Roughly 1,500 employees are slated to be cut, leaving around 200 people.

Trump, a Republican, has sought to reshape the federal government, saying it's rife with fraud, waste and abuse. Conservatives and businesses have often chafed at the bureau's oversight and investigations, and Trump adviser Elon Musk made it a top target of his Department of Government Efficiency.

RELATED STORY | Federal judge blocks Trump from dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

More than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked

18 April 2025 at 15:05

More than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked in recent weeks, and several have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the U.S.

The actions by the federal government to terminate students' legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation. Their schools range from private universities like Harvard and Stanford to large public institutions like the University of Maryland and Ohio State University to some small liberal arts colleges.

At least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records.

In lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, students have argued the government lacked justification to cancel their visa or terminate their legal status.

Why is the government canceling international students' visas?

Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but colleges say some students are being singled out over infractions as minor as traffic violations, including some long in the past. In some cases, students say it's unclear why they were targeted.

"The timing and uniformity of these terminations leave little question that DHS has adopted a nationwide policy, whether written or not, of mass termination of student (legal) status," ACLU of Michigan attorneys wrote in a lawsuit on behalf of students at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan.

In New Hampshire, a federal judge last week issued a restraining order in the case of a Dartmouth College computer science student from China, Xiaotian Liu, who had his status terminated by the government. Attorneys have filed similar challenges in federal court in Georgia and California.

Homeland Security officials did not respond to a message seeking comment.

In some high-profile cases, including the detention of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, President Donald Trump's administration has argued it should be allowed to deport noncitizens over involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. But in the vast majority of visa revocations, colleges say there is no indication affected students had a role in protests.

"What you're seeing happening with international students is really a piece of the much greater scrutiny that the Trump administration is bringing to bear on immigrants of all different categories," said Michelle Mittelstadt, director of public affairs at the Migration Policy Institute.

How do student visas work?

Students in other countries must meet a series of requirements to obtain a student visa, usually an F-1. After gaining admission to a school in the U.S., students go through an application and interview process at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

Students on an F-1 visa must show they have enough financial support for their course of study in the U.S. They have to remain in good standing with their academic program and are generally limited in their ability to work off-campus during their academic program.

Entry visas are managed by the State Department. Once they're in the U.S., international students' legal status is overseen by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under the Department of Homeland Security.

In recent weeks, leaders at many colleges learned the legal residency status of some of their international students had been terminated when college staff checked a database managed by Homeland Security. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school.

After losing legal residency, students are told to leave the country

Historically, students who had their visas revoked were allowed to keep their legal residency status and complete their studies.

The lack of a valid entry visa only limited their ability to leave the U.S. and return, something they could reapply for with the State Department. But if a student has lost legal residency status, they risk detention by immigration authorities. Some students already have left the country, abandoning their studies to avoid being arrested.

Higher education leaders worry the arrests and visa revocations could discourage students overseas from pursuing higher education in the United States.

The lack of clarity of what is leading to revocations can create a sense of fear among students, said Sarah Spreitzer, vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education.

"The very public actions that are being taken by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security around some of these students, where they are removing these students from their homes or from their streets, that's not usually done unless there is a security issue when a student visa is revoked," she said. "The threat of this very quick removal is something that's new."

Colleges are trying to reassure students

In messages to their campuses, colleges have said they are asking the federal government for answers on what led to the terminations. Others have re-emphasized travel precautions to students, recommending they carry their passports and other immigration documents with them.

College leaders spoke of a growing sense of uncertainty and anxiety.

"These are unprecedented times, and our normal guiding principles for living in a democratic society are being challenged," University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor Marcelo Surez-Orozco wrote in an email. "With the rate and depth of changes occurring, we must be thoughtful in how we best prepare, protect, and respond."

Surez-Orozco said the legal residency status had been canceled for two students and "five other members of our university community including recent graduates participating in training programs."

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