โŒ

Reading view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.

Police believe explosion at California fertility clinic was intentional

An explosion tore through a fertility clinic in the upscale California city of Palm Springs late Saturday morning, leaving one person believed to be the suspect dead in an attack the FBI characterized as terrorism.

A burned-out vehicle was seen in the parking lot behind the clinic after the blast, which caved in the building's roof, sprayed debris across a five-lane road and shattered windows in businesses blocks away. The clinic was closed for the weekend, and the doctor who leads it told The Associated Press its staffers were safe.

Make no mistake: This is an intentional act of terrorism, Akil Davis, the head of the FBIs Los Angeles field office, told an evening news conference. He declined to say how authorities reached that conclusion.

A law enforcement official said investigators recovered an AK-47-style rifle from the scene. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Authorities were still working to confirm the identity of the person killed, Davis said. Four people were hurt, but authorities provided no details on the severity of those injuries, how they occurred or where. Davis said law enforcement was also looking into the possibility that the explosion was livestreamed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Pakistani man faces new terrorism charge in plot to assassinate a US politician

The act was being investigated as a possible car explosion, according to two other law enforcement officials briefed on the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss preliminary information from an ongoing investigation.

One of the officials told AP that investigators believe the person who died was likely the person who set off the explosion, but they cautioned that the investigation was still in its early stages.

The blast gutted the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic, in a single-story building along a five-lane street lined with palm trees. Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told AP in a phone interview that the explosion damaged the practices office space, where it conducts consultations with patients. The clinic's IVF lab and stored embryos are offsite and were not damaged.

Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients," Abdallah said.

Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Naomi Soto called the clinic a place of hope.

This is a building that people go to to start or expand their families, she said. We acknowledge their pain and concern across the community for the patients and staff."

Rhino Williams, 47, said he was chatting with customers at a hotel restaurant he helps manage just over a block away when he heard a huge boom. Everything rattled, Williams said, and he sprinted to the scene to see if anyone needed help.

Williams covered his nose with his shirt as he smelled burning plastic and rubber. He said he saw a building had blown out into the street, with bricks and debris scattered everywhere, and he spotted a cars front axle on fire in the parking lot.

He said it was the only car in the lot. He ran into the building, calling out and peering behind the counter to see if anyone was inside. He did not hear a response and did not see anyone behind the counter.

Williams then ran around to check on other buildings. Multiple windows of the neighboring liquor store were also blown out, he said. Once he saw authorities arrive, he headed back to the hotel.

Steven Michael Chacon was in his car preparing to turn into a hospital across the street from the clinic when felt and heard a massive boom as the building was torn apart, sending a massive plume of black smoke into the air. Not knowing what happened, he exited his car to flee the scene. Glass was all over the ground.

I got out of my car and then people started screaming, there were people bloody, there was glass everywhere, he said.

Palm Springs, about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles, is known for upscale resorts, golf courses and a history of celebrity residents.

Among those investigating were investigators, bomb technicians and an evidence response team from the FBI as well as investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Trump administration condemned the attack.

The Trump administration understands that women and mothers are the heartbeat of America, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. Violence against a fertility clinic is unforgivable.

Mexican navy training vessel hits New York's Brooklyn Bridge

A Mexican navy ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday during a promotional tour in New York City, the top of its mast brushing the iconic span as it sailed through the East River.

Eyewitness video of the collision that was posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge. The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.

The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in an accident with the Brooklyn Bridge that prevented it from continuing its voyage.

It added that the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.

RELATED STORY | One year after Baltimore disaster, bridges are only getting worse

The Secretary of the Navy renews its commitment to the safety of personnel, transparency in its operations and excellent training for future officers of the Mexican Armada, it said in Spanish.

The Cuauhtemoc is a vessel that sails at the end of classes at the Mexican naval military school to finish cadets' training.

This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6 with 277 people onboard, the Navy said then.

The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.

It had also planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days 170 at sea and 84 in port.

DOJ deal ends a ban on an aftermarket trigger. Gun control advocates are alarmed

The Trump administration will allow the sale of forced-reset triggers, which make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly, with the federal government ending a ban as part of a settlement that also requires it to return seized devices.

The agreement announced Friday by the Justice Department resolves a series of cases over the aftermarket trigger that the government had previously argued qualify as machine guns under federal law. The settlement is a dramatic shift in Second Amendment policy under the Republican administration, which has signaled it may undo many of the regulations that the previous administration of Democratic President Joe Biden had fought to keep in place in an effort to curb gun violence.

This Department of Justice believes that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Gun control advocates said the settlement would worsen gun violence.

RELATED STORY | Father of Parkland shooting victim believes every school should have threat assessments

The Trump administration has just effectively legalized machine guns. Lives will be lost because of his actions, said Vanessa Gonzalez, vice president of government and political affairs at GIFFORDS, a gun control group.

There had been several legal battles over forced-reset triggers, which replace the typical trigger on an AR-15-style rifle. The government for years had argued they are essentially illegal machine gun conversion devices because constant finger pressure on the triggers will keep a rifle firing essentially like an automatic.

The deal announced Friday was between the Justice Department and Rare Breed Triggers, which was previously represented by David Warrington, Trumps current White House counsel. Rare Breed Triggers argued that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was wrong in its classification and ignored demands to stop selling the triggers before being sued by the Biden administration.

This victory is a landmark moment in the fight against unchecked government overreach, Lawrence DeMonico, the group's president, said in a statement. The ATF and DOJ tried to silence and bury us not because we broke the law, but because I refused to bend to the will of a tyrannical administration.

Under the settlement, Rare Breed Triggers has agreed not to develop such devices to be used on handguns, according to the Justice Department. The settlement requires the ATF to return triggers that it had seized or that owners had voluntarily surrendered to the government.

RELATED STORY | Supreme Court upholds rule requiring more regulations for 'ghost guns'

Missing hiker survived for weeks in California wilderness by foraging and drinking melted snow

A 28-year-old woman described Friday how she survived for weeks outdoors in California's eastern Sierra Nevada by foraging for food and drinking melted snow after a solo camping trip went awry during harsh winter weather.

Tiffany Slaton detailed her ordeal during a news conference with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, two days after she was found in a cabin that the owner had left unlocked in case wayward hikers needed shelter. Authorities said she had been there for only eight hours before the cabin's owner arrived and discovered her.

Slaton described being caught in an avalanche at one point, causing her to fall and hurt her leg. She didnt say which day that happened. She had a bicycle, a tent, two sleeping bags and food, she said, but she ended up losing all of her equipment, leaving her with only a lighter, a knife and some snacks. She didnt describe how she lost her tent or other gear.

After she fell, Slaton said she tried calling 911 five times with no success but got a GPS signal on her phone.

I ended up on this very long, arduous journey that I journaled to try and keep sane and eventually managed to get to civilization, she said.

Authorities called her survival stunning given the conditions. The cabin was more than 20 miles from where she had last been seen, and the mountains were covered in up to 12 feet of snow in some areas.

I would have never anticipated her in my wildest dreams being able to get back as far as she did, Sheriff John Zanoni said.

Slaton had been on an extended biking and backpacking trip that also included time in Oregon, department spokesman Tony Botti said. Her journey took her to the Sierras, where she decided to make the trek to the Mono Hot Springs before meeting a friend in mid-April, he said. She was last seen on April 20 by a security camera near Huntington Lake, an unincorporated mountain community, riding on a bicycle and also sitting on a sidewalk with a backpack.

RELATED STORY | Michigan woman overcomes homelessness to earn a college degree

Slatons parents, who live in Georgia, reported her missing on April 29 after they hadn't heard from her in a week.

Slaton, who was a competitive archer in her home country of Bermuda, said her athleticism and foraging knowledge helped her survive. She had some snacks on her but eventually ran out.

The owner of Vermilion Valley Resort, Christopher Gutierrez, said his staff left cabin doors unlocked during the winter in case someone needed shelter during the frequent mountain snowstorms. His backcountry lodge sits in the Sierra Nevada about halfway between Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and is a frequent stop for hikers on the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails.

Slaton found safe haven in one of those cabins during an intense snowstorm, where all she could see was white, she said. It was just eight hours later that Gutierrez arrived to open the cabin for the season, authorities said.

If he hadn't come that day, I think they would have found my body there, Slaton said.

Two days earlier, the Fresno County Sheriffs office called off a search that had covered more than 600 square miles (1,550 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest, with no luck. Searchers were hampered by heavy snow blocking many roads.

Slaton emerged battered and bruised from the cabin on Wednesday.

When she saw Gutierrez, she ran up to him to give him a hug.

I really do have a new faith in humanity, Slaton said of surviving her ordeal.

Biden audio release puts his age and health back in the spotlight

Joe Bidens time in public office is now behind him, but his age and mental acuity have become a litmus test for the next leaders in his party.

Audio was published Friday from portions of interviews Biden gave to federal prosecutors in 2023, the latest in a stream of reports putting questions about Biden's health back in the spotlight. Months after former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump, a new book alleges that White House aides covered up Biden's physical and mental decline.

Several potential Democratic contenders for the 2028 nomination have been asked in recent days whether they believe Biden was declining in office or whether he should have sought reelection before a disastrous debate performance led to his withdrawal.

Many Democrats would prefer to focus on Trump's second term. Trump has done his best to prevent that mentioning Biden's name an average of six times per day during his first 100 days in office, according to an NBC News analysis and Republicans have followed his lead, betting that voters frustrated by Trump's policy moves will still prefer him over memories of an unpopular presidency.

In the race for Virginia governor, one of this year's highest-profile contests, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is running a pair of digital ads tying Democrat Abigail Spanberger to Biden, with images of the two hugging and the former president calling her a friend.

The stench of Joe Biden still lingers on the Democratic Party, Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett said. We have to do the hard work of fixing that, and I think that includes telling the truth, frankly, about when we were wrong.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told Politico this week that theres no doubt that Biden, now 82, experienced cognitive decline as president.

Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary, wasnt nearly as blunt but still stopped short of defending Bidens decision to run. He responded maybe when asked Tuesday whether the Democratic Party would have been better off if Biden hadnt tried to run for a second term.

Right now, with the advantage of hindsight, I think most people would agree that thats the case, Buttigieg told reporters during a stop in Iowa.

RELATED STORY | Trump's tax bill and Biden's health: 'Grounded' podcast host Maritsa Georgiou weighs in

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he didn't see signs of mental or physical decline in his meetings with Biden.

I saw him a few times, he told CNN this week. I certainly went to the White House whenever there was an opportunity for me to make the case for something for people in my state. And I never had the experience of anything other than a guy who brought to the table a lot of good ideas about how to solve problems.

The book Original Sin, by journalists Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, revives a core controversy of Bidens presidency: his decision to run for a second term despite voters, including Democrats, telling pollsters that he should not run again. Biden would have been 86 at the end of a second term had he won in November.

A spokesperson for Biden did not respond to a request for comment.

We continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job, the spokesperson has told many media outlets in response to the book.

Late Friday, Axios published portions from audio recordings of Biden's six hours of interviews with prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents after his term as vice president ended in 2017.

The Biden administration had already released transcripts of the interviews, but the recordings shed light on special counsel Robert Hur's characterization of Biden as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory and appeared to validate his claim that the then-president struggled to recall key dates, including the year his son Beau died of cancer in 2015.

Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against Hur's report, which they characterized as a partisan hit. Biden was at that time early 2024 still planning to run for a second term and fending off accusations that he was too old for another four years in the job.

The recordings released by Axios include Biden's discussion of his son's death. His responses to some of the prosecutors' questions are punctuated by long pauses, and his lawyers at times stepped in to help him recall dates and timelines.

Before he dropped his reelection bid last summer, Biden faced widespread doubts within his own party, even as Democratic leaders dismissed both a series of verbal flubs and Republican allegations about his declining acuity.

In January 2022, just a year into Bidens first term, an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 48% of Democrats wanted him to seek reelection. That fell to 37% of Democrats in an AP-NORC poll conducted in February 2023. Three-quarters of Americans and 69% of Democrats said in August 2023 that they believed Biden was too old to serve as president for another four-year term.

And shortly after his debate flop, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Biden should withdraw from the race.

Biden and former first lady Jill Biden appeared on ABCs The View in a preemptive defense of his health and decision-making before the first excerpts of Original Sin were published.

He said hes responsible for Trumps victory but attributed Harris loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism. He maintained that he would have won had he remained the Democratic nominee. Both Bidens rejected concerns about his cognitive decline.

Patricia McEnerney, a 74-year-old Democrat in Goodyear, Arizona, said Biden should not have tried to run again.

I think its sad the way it ended, she said.

She compared him to Douglas MacArthur, the World War II and Korean War general famously dismissed by President Harry Truman.

I think he needs to stop giving interviews. I think that would help, McEnerney said. Like MacArthur said, generals just fade away.

Janet Stumps, a 66-year-old Democrat also from Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, had a different view.

I dont think its going to hurt the Democrats, Stumps said. I feel badly that he feels he has to defend himself. I dont think he has to. Everybody ages. And the fact that he did what he did at his age, I think he should be commended for it.

Hackett, the Democratic strategist, predicted Biden wont be a major factor in the 2026 midterms or the 2028 presidential primaries. But he said Democrats who want voters to trust them would be well-served by telling the truth about the mistakes that our party made in the run-up to 2024.

Those mistakes were largely driven by Joe Biden, and I think any Democrat not willing to say that is not really prepared to face the voters, who want the truth and they want authenticity, Hackett said.

Rick Wilson, a former GOP strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, said Republicans want to talk about Biden to avoid defending Trump. But he said the strategy is folly.

Besides political nerds, he said, no one else cares.

Moody's strips U.S. government of top credit rating, citing Washington's failure to rein in debt

Moody's Ratings stripped the U.S. government of its top credit rating Friday, citing successive governments' failure to stop a rising tide of debt.

Moody's lowered the rating from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1 but said the United States "retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency.''

Moody's is the last of the three major rating agencies to lower the federal government's credit. Standard & Poor's downgraded federal debt in 2011 and Fitch Ratings followed in 2023.

In a statement, Moody's said: "We expect federal deficits to widen, reaching nearly 9% of (the U.S. economy) by 2035, up from 6.4% in 2024, driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation.''

RELATED STORY | Amid GOP infighting, House committee turns down 'big, beautiful' spending bill

Extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, a priority of the Republican-controlled Congress, Moody's said, would add $4 trillion over the next decade to the federal primary deficit (which does not include interest payments).

A gridlocked political system has been unable to tackle America's huge deficits. Republicans reject tax increases, and Democrats are reluctant to cut spending.

On Friday, House Republicans failed to push a big package of tax breaks and spending cuts through the Budget Committee. A small group of hard-right Republican lawmakers, insisting on steeper cuts to Medicaid and President Joe Bidens green energy tax breaks, joined all Democrats in opposing it.

Jury chosen in Sean โ€˜Diddyโ€™ Combsโ€™ federal sex trafficking trial

Federal prosecutors will begin trying to prove Monday that Sean "Diddy" Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering enterprise that forced women to satisfy his sexual desires for two decades. Testimony in Combs' New York trial could begin as soon as the afternoon, after a final phase of jury selection and opening statements from the lawyers.

Combs, wearing a white sweater and with his formerly jet-black hair now almost completely gray, entered the courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugging lawyers and giving a thumbs up to supporters seated in wooden court benches behind him. Earlier in the morning, a line to get into the courthouse stretched all the way down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children were escorted past the crowd and brought straight into the building.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges including one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Presiding is U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is the lead prosecutor. New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo is leading the defense.

Combs is a cultural icon and a criminal, prosecutor says

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson pointed at Combs as she stood before the jury.

"To the public he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Larger than life," Johnson said. "But there was another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise."

"During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. But he didn't do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up."

Those crimes, she said, included: Kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.

The hip-hop icon leaned back in his chair as she spoke.

Standard instructions take added weight in this celebrity trial

The jury and alternates 12 men and 6 women are now seated in the courtroom. Openings will start after the judge finishes explaining the law as it relates to this trial, along with incidentals such as that a light breakfast will be provided to them in addition to lunch.

The jury is essentially anonymous, meaning their identities are known to the court and the prosecution and defense, but won't be made public.

"We will keep your names and identities in confidence," Subramanian told jurors.

It's a common practice in federal cases to keep juries anonymous, particularly in sensitive, high-profile matters where juror safety can be a concern. Juror names also were kept from the public in Donald Trump's criminal trial last year in state court in New York.

Subramanian tells jurors to judge the case only based on the evidence presented in court. It's a standard instruction, but carries added significance in this high-profile case, which has been the subject of intense media coverage.

"Anything you've seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence," the judge said. "It must be disregarded."

Judge rejects claim of discriminatory jury strikes

The judge rejected the defense's claim that the prosecution's strikes of potential jurors were discriminatory because seven Black individuals were struck from the jury.

The judge said Comey had given "race-neutral reasons" to explain each strike and that the defense had failed to show purposeful discrimination.

Some of the reasons why prosecutors said they excluded some potential jurors

Comey said one juror seemed favorably inclined toward 17 people she learned about by watching Combs' TV show "Making the Band," which Comey said will come up during the trial.

She said another claimed he would lose 30 percent of his income by sitting on the jury, but didn't seem bothered, which "made us worried that he had an agenda and was trying to get on the jury."

Another potential juror, she said, had difficulty speaking English, expressed doubts he could be fair and had a nephew who'd been jailed for shooting at a police officer.

Supreme Court ruled against excluding jurors solely because of their race

In the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky ruling, a Black man was convicted of robbery by an all-white jury after the prosecutor used what are known as peremptory challenges to strike all four prospective Black jurors.

During jury selection, each side is given a limited number of peremptory challenges that allows them to eliminate people from the jury pool without stating a reason.

Since the decision and subsequent rulings that have expanded its scope, the term "Batson challenge" has taken hold to describe an objection raised by one side when it appears the other could be excluding potential jurors based on demographic characteristics, such as race, gender, national origin, religion or sexual orientation.

A jury has been selected in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial

The defense announced its 10 strikes and prosecutors announced their six strikes for the creation of the main panel. Then, they struck jurors from the pool of alternates.

A defense lawyer claimed that prosecutors struck seven Black people from the jury, which he said amounts to a pattern. As a result, Comey gave reasons to explain why prosecutors struck each of the prospective jurors from the jury. She noted that at least one text message to be unveiled during the trial will describe Combs' behavior as "bi-polar or manic."

The witnesses and the evidence:

Without identifying them publicly, prosecutors have said four of Combs' accusers will testify at the trial. The prosecution will be allowed to show the jury security video of Combs beating and kicking one of his accusers, the R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. Diddy's attorneys are expected to argue at trial that the government is demonizing and distorting the sexual activity of consenting adults.

About the defense

Combs' team of seven defense attorneys is sitting in two rows, with others behind them. They're led by New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who along with his wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo is also defending Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

About the prosecution

The team has consisted of eight assistant U.S. attorneys, seven of them women.

The prosecutor who will deliver an opening statement is Emily Johnson. Leading the team is Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. She was among the prosecutors in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

The judge warned a Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the music mogul, to tame his public comments last week, saying it was "outrageous" that he referred to prosecutors during a podcast as a "six-pack of white women."

About the judge

Subramanian is a Columbia Law School graduate and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and was appointed a federal judge by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Proceedings beginning with final stage of jury selection

This is when lawyers on both sides can strike several jurors from the panel.

For this trial, defense lawyers are allowed to eliminate 10 individuals and prosecutors can dismiss six to create a panel of 12 jurors. Each side is allowed to eliminate another three jurors from the group of six alternates. They don't have to explain their reasons unless the opposing lawyers claim they were striking jurors from the panel for inappropriate reasons, such as race.

This phase of jury selection usually takes less than an hour. One of Combs' lawyers claimed on Friday that it could be finished in 10 to 15 minutes. The lawyers are working from a panel of about 45 prospective jurors.

Combs gives a thumbs up

Sean "Diddy" Combs entered the courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugging his lawyers and giving a thumbs up to spectators who will sit on benches behind the well of the courtroom. The audience includes his mother and at least four of his children.

About the courthouse

Subramanian is presiding over the trial at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in lower Manhattan, blocks from City Hall and overlooking the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The courthouse, opened in the mid-1990s, is next to the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, which was built in the 1930s.

Most of the federal judges work out of the newer courthouse. The older one, which was refurbished in the early 2000s, houses the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and several district court judges have their chambers and courtrooms there as well.

The courtroom only seats about 100 people

And journalists probably get two to three dozen. So most of the people in line will end up in overflow rooms.

This courtroom is one of the larger venues in the courthouse that are used for the biggest trials, including when Donald Trump came early last year for E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. The line to get in stretched all the way down the block. One line-sitter was trying to sell his spot for $300 after holding his place overnight.

After a final phase of jury selection in the morning, federal prosecutors will begin trying to prove that Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering enterprise that forced women to satisfy his sexual desires. Combs has pleaded not guilty.

At least 10 people sickened in US listeria outbreak linked to prepared foods

At least 10 people in the U.S. have been sickened in a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat food products, and a producer is voluntarily recalling several products, federal officials said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Saturday that federal, state and local officials are investigating the outbreak linked to foods produced by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC of San Fernando, California. The FDA says the 10 people who fell ill were in California and Nevada, and required hospitalization.

The agency said the products were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington at locations including retailers and food service points of sale, including hospitals, hotels, convenience stores, airports and by airlines.

RELATED STORY | FDA plans to increase surprise inspections at companies outside of the US

Listeria symptoms usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food. Mild cases can include fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhea, while more severe symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.

Federal officials said they started investigating the recent outbreak last year but didn't have enough evidence to identify a source of the infections. They said the investigation was reopened in April when FDA investigators found listeria in samples collected from Fresh & Ready Foods that matched the strain from the outbreak.

Fresh & Ready Foods said in a news release that it took immediate corrective actions, including removing equipment to address the issue.

The FDA found that six of the 10 people who got sick had been hospitalized before becoming ill with listeria. The FDA found that items made by Fresh & Ready Foods had been served in at least three of the health care facilities where the patients had been previously treated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the test samples from sick patients were collected from December 2023 to September 2024.

Fresh & Ready voluntarily recalled several products, which can be identified by "use by" dates ranging from April 22 to May 19 of this year under the brand names Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.

S&P 500 surges 2.7% after the US and China announce a 90-day truce in their trade war

U.S. stocks are leaping Monday after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. They agreed to take down most of their tariffs that economists warned could start a recession and create shortages on U.S. store shelves.

The S&P 500 was 2.6% higher in early trading and back within 5.5% of its all-time high set in February. Since falling nearly 20% below that mark last month, the index has been roaring higher on hopes that President Donald Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with other countries. The index, which sits at the heart of many 401(k) accounts, is back above where it was on April 2, Trump's "Liberation Day," when he announced stiff worldwide tariffs that caused worries to spike about a potentially self-inflicted recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 957 points, or 2.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.6% higher.

It wasn't just stocks surging following what one analyst called a "best case scenario" for US-China tariff talks. Crude oil prices jumped more than 3% because a global economy less weakened by tariffs would be hungrier for fuel. The value of the dollar climbed against everything from the euro to the Japanese yen to the Swiss franc. And Treasury yields jumped on expectations that the Federal Reserve won't have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy from the damage of tariffs.

RELATED STORY | US and China step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to 90-day pause

Of course, conditions could change quickly again, as Wall Street has seen all too often in Trump's on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs. Plus, the reduction in U.S. and China tariffs will last only 90 days. That's to give the world's two largest economies time for more talks, followed last weekend's negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, that the U.S. side said had made " substantial progress."

Until then, a joint statement said the United States will cut tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% from as high as 145%. China said its tariffs on U.S. goods will fall to 10% from 125%. That follows a deal the United States announced last week with the United Kingdom that will bring down tariffs on many U.K. imports to 10%.

Big challenges remain in the negotiations between China and the United States, but the mood nevertheless was ebullient across Wall Street on Monday, and gains were widespread.

Apparel companies jumped to some of the biggest gains because much of their production is often in China and elsewhere in Asia. Lululemon leaped 10%, and Nike rose 7.3%.

Travel companies jumped on hopes that lower tariffs would encourage more customers to fly and feel comfortable enough to spend on trips. Carnival rose 8.9% and Norwegian Cruise Line rose 8%.

Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon jumped because they won't have to pass on high costs caused by tariffs to their own customers. Both rose at least 7%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across most of Europe and Asia, though often by less than the U.S. market.

India's Sensex shot up 3.7% after India and Pakistan agreed to a truce after talks to defuse their most serious military confrontation in decades. The two armies have exchanged gunfire, artillery strikes, missiles and drones that killed dozens of people.

Pakistan's KSE 100 surged more than 9% and trading was halted for one hour following a spike driven by the ceasefire and an International Monetary Fund decision Friday to disburse about $1 billion of a bailout package for its battered economy.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.45% from 4.37% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with interest rates, jumped even more. It rose to 3.99% from 3.88% as traders ratchet back expectations for how many cuts to rates the Fed may deliver this year. Many now see just two cuts this year, according to data from CME Group.

US and China step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to 90-day pause

U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.

Stock markets rose sharply as the globe's two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global economy.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.

Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.

The two officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said at the news briefing after two days of talks that the high tariff levels would have amounted to a complete blockage of each side's goods, an outcome neither side wants.

RELATED STORY | Chinese manufacturers entice Americans to buy directly amid the trade war. But it's not that simple

The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling, Bessent said. And what had occurred with these very high tariff ... was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade."

We want more balanced trade, he said. "And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that."

The delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at a sunbaked 17th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

At times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villas patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.

Chinas Commerce Ministry said the two sides agreed to cancel 91% in tariffs on each others goods and suspend another 24% in tariffs for 90 days, bringing the total reduction to 115 percentage points.

RELATED STORY |ย Trump exempts smartphones, computers from China tariffs

The ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.

This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world, a ministry statement said.

China hopes the U.S will stop the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes and work with China to safeguard the development of their economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.

The joint statement issued by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs.

China has increased export controls on rare earths including some critical to the defense industry and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.

The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension. Bessent said in an interview with CNBC that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet again in a few weeks.

But investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the worlds two biggest economies blinked, finding ways to pull back from potentially massive disruptions to world trade and their own markets.

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel and the U.S. dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.

This is a substantial de-escalation, said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire.

Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, welcomed the news but expressed caution. The tariffs only were suspended for 90 days and there is great uncertainty over what lies ahead, he said in a statement.

Businesses need predictability to maintain normal operations and make investment decisions. The chamber therefore hopes to see both sides continue to engage in dialogue to resolve differences, and avoid taking measures that will disrupt global trade and result in collateral damage for those caught in the cross-fire," Eskelund said.

Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each others products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.

The announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng index surged nearly 3% and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trumps import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts

Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.

The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.

The announcement comes shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.

RELATED STORY | Netanyahu says Israel will establish a new security corridor across Gaza to pressure Hamas

Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the U.S. administration over the past few days.

He said in a statement Hamas is ready to immediately start intensive negotiations to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.

Alexanders parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | A missile from Yemen halts flights in Israel hours before top officials vote on plans for Gaza war

Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.

Every time they say Edans name, its like they didnt forget. They didnt forget hes American, and theyre working on it, Edans mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.

US makes 'substantial progress' in China tariff talks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says

U.S. negotiators said Sunday that substantial progress was made and perhaps the differences weren't so large after two days of negotiations with a high-ranking Chinese delegation on ways to ease a trade war sparked by President Donald Trump's steep tariffs.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the U.S. delegation during talks in Geneva, said there was a great deal of productivity.

Im happy to report that weve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks, Bessent said.

He echoed the positive sentiment of Trump himself, who suggested on social media that GREAT PROGRESS was being made toward what he suggested could be a total reset on tariffs that have put the global economy on edge.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Trump threatens a 100% tariff on foreign-made films

The Chinese delegation did not offer an immediate assessment of what occurred, but Beijing struck a more measured tone about the negotiations' overall direction. China, in an editorial in its state-run news agency, said it would firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.

The discussions were held at a stately villa that serves as the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations, and little information was available on-site or back in Washington as they unfolded. Besseent offered few details on exactly what was discussed but said he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke to Trump on Saturday night.

U.S. officials also planned a briefing with more details on Monday morning.

Its important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as far as maybe thought, said Greer, who did not say what agreement he was referring to. Speaking to reporters near the villa, Greer and Bessent gave statement but did not take questions.

Greer also stressed that a top Trump priority means closing the U.S. trade deficit with China, which came to a record $263 billion last year.

Were confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work towards resolving that national emergency, Greer said.

The discussions could help stabilize world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get final word on tariffs.

Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries boycotting each others products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.

RELATED STORY | President Trump announces trade deal between US and UK

In its editorial, Xinhua said, Talks should never be a pretext for continued coercion or extortion, and China will firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.

Still, top members of the Trump administration were following the president's lead in insisting that a reset of U.S.-China trade relations could be in the offing.

Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who wasn't in Geneva, said on Fox News Sunday. He added that the U.S. and China have both imposed tariffs that are too high to do business, but thats why they are talking right now."

We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here," Lutnick said. So they need to do business with American and were using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters."

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures that whats going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalize things.

Were essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese. Hassett said "and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship thats great for both of us.

The talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. And though prospects for a breakthrough are slight, even a small drop in tariffs, particularly if taken simultaneously, would help restore some confidence.

Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing USChina trade war are badly needed and its a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first, Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump's import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trumps first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.

Trump defends the prospect of Qatar gifting him a plane to use as Air Force One

President Donald Trump is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and U.S. officials say it could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft.

The Qatari government said a final decision hadn't been made. Still, Trump defended the idea what would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government as a fiscally smart move for the country.

So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane, Trump posted on his social media site on Sunday night. Anybody can do that!

ABC News reported that Trump will use the aircraft as his presidential plane until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.

IN OTHER NEWS | The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus. What does that mean?

The gift was expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar, according to ABC's report, as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term.

Before Trump's post trumpeting the idea, Ali Al-Ansari, Qatars media attach, said in a statement that the possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatars Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense."

But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made, the statement added.

Meanwhile, administration officials, anticipating ethics concerns, have prepared an analysis arguing that accepting the plane would be legal, according to ABC. The Constitutions Emoluments Clause bars anyone holding government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any King, Prince, or foreign State, without congressional consent.

One expert on government ethics, Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, accused Trump of being committed to exploiting the federal governments power, not on behalf of policy goals, but for amassing personal wealth.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poked fun at Trump's America first political slogan.

Nothing says America First like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar," the New York Democrat said in a statement. "Its not just bribery, its premium foreign influence with extra legroom.

Even some conservatives expressed dismay online, noting that an aircraft being offered by a foreign government could present security risks if used by a U.S. president.

Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist, and the president flies on both, which are more than 30 years old. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the company has lost billions of dollars on the project.

Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as president, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it. But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, according to a former U.S. official.

The official was briefed about the plane and spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.

The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.

The official told The Associated Press that it would be possible to quickly add some countermeasures and communications systems to the Qatari plane, but that it would be less capable than the existing Air Force One aircraft or long-delayed replacements.

Neither the Qatari plane nor the upcoming VC-25B aircraft will have the air-to-air refueling capabilities of the current VC-25A aircraft, which is the one the president currently flies on, the official said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Trump floats tax increase for the rich to pass 'big, beautiful bill'

Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called such a gift unprecedented."

The totality of gifts given to a president over their term doesnt get close to this level, Libowitz said, adding, You have to ask, if he makes foreign policy especially in regards to the Middle East how much is he being influenced by his gifts and his business deals.

ABC said the new plane is similar to a 13-year-old Boeing aircraft Trump toured in February, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport and he was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Trump faced lawsuits for violating the Emoluments Clause during his first term, but those were ended by the Supreme Court in 2021, which found the cases moot because the Republican had left office.

Trump's family business, the Trump Organization, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that countrys sovereign wealth fund.

Qatar, which is ruled by the Al Thani family, is home to the state-owned airline Qatar Airways. The country also has worked to have a close relationship to Trump after he apparently backed a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations in his first term. Trump later in his term applauded Qatar.

Administration officials have brushed off concerns about the presidents policy interests blurring with family's business profits. They note that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that a voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organization in January bars the company from striking deals directly with foreign governments.

But that same agreement allows deals with private companies abroad. That is a departure from Trumps first term, when the organization released an ethics pact prohibiting both foreign government and foreign company deals.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Friday if the president might meet with people who have ties to his familys business, said it was ridiculous to suggest Trump "is doing anything for his own benefit.

Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine and Gaza in first Sunday blessing, saying 'never again war'

Pope Leo XIV called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff that featured some symbolic gestures suggesting a message of unity in a polarized Catholic Church.

I too address the world's great powers by repeating the ever-present call never again war, Leo said from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica to an estimated 100,000 people below.

It was the first time that Leo had returned to the loggia since he first appeared to the world on Thursday evening following his remarkable election as pope, the first from the United States. Then too he delivered a message of peace.

Leo was picking up the papal tradition of offering a Sunday blessing at noon, but with several twists. Whereas his predecessors delivered the greeting from the studio window of the Apostolic Palace, off to the side of the piazza, Leo went to the very center of the square and the heart of the church.

He also offered a novelty by singing the Regina Caeli prayer, a Latin prayer said during the Easter season which recent popes would usually just recite.

Traditionalists and conservatives, many of whom felt alienated by Pope Francis' reforms and loose liturgical style, have been looking for gestures hinting at Leo's priorities. Some have expressed cautious optimism at the very least with a return to a traditional style that Leo exhibited on Thursday night, when he wore the formal red cape of the papacy that Francis had eschewed.

On hand in the square on Sunday for Leo's first noon prayer were two of Europe's more firebrand conservatives, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini. The Italian minister has highlighted his Catholic faith in his political messaging.

On Sunday Leo wore the simple white cassock of the papacy and had reverted back to wearing his silver pectoral cross. He had worn a more ornate one that contains the relics of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, on Thursday night that had been given to him by his Augustinian religious order.

Beloved Ukrainian people

Leo quoted Pope Francis in denouncing the number of conflicts ravaging the globe today, saying it was a third world war in pieces.

I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people," he said. Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.

He called for the release of war prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children to their families, and welcomed the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for humanitarian relief to be provided to the exhausted civilian population and all hostages be freed.

Leo also noted that Sunday was Mothers Day in many countries and wished all mothers, including those in heaven a Happy Mothers Day.

The crowd, filled with marching bands in town for a special Jubilee weekend, erupted in cheers and music as the bells of St. Peters Basilica tolled.

Angela Gentile of Bari arrived in the square three hours early to be in place. Nonplussed that cardinals had elected yet another non-Italian pope, she said she was happy Leo came to the central balcony of the basilica, so the crowd could see him face-to-face. Whats good for the Holy Spirit works for me, she said. I have trust.

More than 50 pilgrims from Houston, Texas, were in the square too, waving three large American flags. They were in Rome on a pre-planned Holy Year pilgrimage and said they were proud to be part of this historic occasion.

Words cannot express my admiration and gratitude to God, said the Rev. Dominic Nguyen, who led the Vietnamese American group. He said he hoped the pope would be happy to see the Stars and Stripes but also Peruvian flags and all other countries, showing the universality of the church.

Leo's Peruvian roots

Leo, the former Robert Prevost, spent most of his priestly life as a missionary then bishop in Peru, an experience he recalled on Thursday night in offering a special greeting to his former diocese in Chiclayo in Spanish.

Bertha Santander of Peru had come five hours early on Sunday to unfurl her huge Peruvian flag in the piazza, recalling the emotion of that night when the piazza erupted in cheers as Leo first appeared.

Its such happiness, she said. Already when I heard the last name I started crying and when he addressed a greeting in Spanish I was a sea of tears, said the Peruvian woman who has lived in Italy for more than 40 years.

Earlier Sunday, Leo celebrated a private Mass near the tomb of St. Peter and prayed at the tombs of several past popes. Vatican Media filmed him praying before a mix of more progressive and tradition-minded popes: Pope Paul VI, who closed out the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, and Popes Pius XII and Benedict XVI, on the more conservative end of the spectrum.

He celebrated the Mass with the head of his Augustinian order, the Rev. Alejandro Moral Anton, and Leo's brother in the pews. The Mass occurred in the grottoes underneath St. Peters, the traditional burial place of St. Peter, the apostle who is considered the be the first pope.

Leo on Saturday prayed before the tomb of Francis, located across town at the St. Mary Major Basilica.

The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary was elected 267th pope on Thursday following the April 21 death of Francis.

He has a busy week of audiences before his formal installation Mass next Sunday.

Soviet-era spacecraft plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit

A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus.

Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agencys space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station.

It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar systems hottest planet.

The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said.

RELATED STORY | Scientists find 'strongest hints yet' of life on another planet called K2-18b

Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.

Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravitys tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms).

Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty.

After following the spacecrafts downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecrafts deteriorating condition after so long in space.

After so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecrafts grave.

If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it, Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X.

As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit.

The U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials.

It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris.

RELATED STORY | Astronauts won't get overtime for their extended stay aboard the Space Station

Trump says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire

U.S. President Donald Trump says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire after U.S.-mediated talks, but neither country has immediately confirmed a deal.

It follows weeks of hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have traded missile strikes, drone attacks and artillery fire and is their most serious confrontation in decades. Tensions have flared since a gun massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan.

Pakistans foreign minister said his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks. However, Ishaq Dar warned that if India launched any strikes, our response will follow.

Dar told Pakistans Geo News that he also conveyed this message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who contacted him after Rubio spoke to New Delhi earlier.

RELATED STORY | Pakistan says it shot down 12 Indian drones amid fears of growing conflict

We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping, Dar added.

India said it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the countrys Punjab state early Saturday.

Pakistan earlier said it intercepted most missiles and responded with retaliatory strikes on India.

Rubio spoke to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and reestablish direct communication to avoid miscalculation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Saturday, and offered U.S. support to facilitate productive discussion.

Judge pauses much of Trump administration's massive downsizing of federal agencies

The Trump administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday.

Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed last week by labor unions and cities, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trumps efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.

The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime, Illston wrote in her order.

The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the presidents workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management.

RELATED STORY | Supreme Court blocks order to reinstate thousands of federal workers

The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing the executive order, including taking any further action.

They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already underway or poised to be underway, including at the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in Marchit will lay off 10,000 workers and centralize divisions.

Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has the authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and agencies created by Congress.

But he must do so in lawful ways, she said. He must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way.

Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE.

Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a result of Trumps government-shrinking efforts. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.

In her order, Illston gave several examples to show the impact of the downsizing. One union that represents federal workers who research health hazards faced by mineworkers said it was poised to lose 221 of 222 workers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office; a Vermont farmer didnt receive a timely inspection on his property to receive disaster aid after flooding and missed an important planting window; a reduction in Social Security Administration workers has led to longer wait times for recipients.

All the agencies impacted were created by Congress, she noted.

Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies should follow in exercising their own decision-making process.

It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to implement, Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said of the memo. It is setting out guidance.

But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies.

They are not waiting for these planning documents" to go through long processes, she said. Theyre not asking for approval, and theyre not waiting for it.

RELATED STORY | The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus

The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.

It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.

Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the U.S. Supreme Court later blocked his order.

Treasury secretary calls on Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling by mid-July

The U.S. is on track to run out of money to pay its bills as early as August without congressional action, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Friday.

He is calling on Congress to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling by mid-July.

"A failure to suspend or increase the debt limit would wreak havoc on our financial system and diminish America's security and global leadership position," Bessent wrote in the letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson. "Prior episodes have shown that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can have serious adverse consequences for financial markets, businesses and the federal government."

Earlier this week, Bessent twice testified in front of congressional committees that the Treasury's debt ceiling is "on the warning track."

After the debt limit was reinstated in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in one of her last acts in the position said the agency would institute "extraordinary measures" intended to prevent the U.S. from reaching the debt ceiling.

Since then, the Treasury Department has stopped paying into certain accounts, including a slew of federal worker pension and disability funds, to make up for the shortfall in money. Bessent has continued to notify Congress about the use of extraordinary measures in an effort to prevent a breach of the debt ceiling. In his latest letter, Bessent attributed the August deadline, known as the "X-date," in part to receipts from the latest tax filing season.

A Bipartisan Policy Center analysis released in March estimated that the U.S. could run out of cash by mid-July if Congress did not raise or suspend the nation's debt limit.

President Donald Trump had previously demanded that a provision raising or suspending the debt limit something his own Republican Party routinely resists be included in legislation to avert the last potential government shutdown under his Democratic predecessor, President joe Biden.

"Anything else is a betrayal of our country," Trump said in a statement in December. That deal did not ultimately address the debt limit.

The letter to Johnson comes as Republicans consider a massive tax cut and border security package that includes an increase in the debt limit. Bessent's request could give GOP lawmakers greater incentive to reach an agreement.

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, released after arrest at immigration detention center

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was released after spending several hours in custody following his arrest at a new federal immigration detention center he has been protesting against.

Baraka was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility and was finally released around 8 p.m. Friday. Stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, he told waiting supporters: The reality is this: I didn't do anything wrong.

The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included.

All of us here, every last one of us, I dont care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak, Baraka said, at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.

Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration.

He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

Linda Baraka, the mayors wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.

They didnt arrest anyone else. They didnt ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor, she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him.

Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.

Habba said Baraka had chosen to disregard the law.

Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility.

Witnesses describe a heated argument

Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jerseys congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.

When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.

There was yelling and pushing, Martinez said. Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.

Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.

They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority, he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 and 4 p.m.

Watson Coleman later said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit.

Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not storm the detention center, she wrote. The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didnt even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.

Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gate

In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because you are not a congress member.

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: Theyre talking about coming back to arrest you.

Im not on their property. They cant come out on the street and arrest me, Baraka replied.

Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, Shame, Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.

Several civil rights and immigration reform advocates, as well as government officials, condemned Barakas arrest. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, whose office is defending a state law barring private immigration detention facilities, criticized the arrest during a seemingly peaceful protest and said no state or local law enforcement agencies were involved.

โŒ