ReportWire

Tag: Associated Press

  • Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson transferring to Alabama

    Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson transferring to Alabama

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    Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson plans to transfer to Alabama.

    The former Miami of Ohio All-American, who won the award as the nation’s top placekicker last season, announced his commitment Sunday on social media.

    Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer is looking for a replacement for Will Reichard, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.

    Nicholson made 27 of 28 field goals last season for the RedHawks and all but one of his 36 extra-point attempts. He’s the first Lou Groza Award winner from the Mid-American Conference.

    Nicholson made a career-long 52-yarder against Bowling Green and scored 113 points last season, fourth-most in program history. The three-year starter made a Miami career record 84.5% of his field goal attempts.

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  • Live Updates: Opening statements begin in Trump trial

    Live Updates: Opening statements begin in Trump trial

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    Opening statements began Monday in the hush money trial against Donald Trump, the first criminal case against a former president in U.S. history, after a full jury was selected last week.

    Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records around purported efforts to cover up his alleged infidelity with an adult film actress during his 2016 presidential campaign. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

     

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  • Ukrainian and Western leaders laud U.S. aid package

    Ukrainian and Western leaders laud U.S. aid package

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    Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.

    What You Need To Know

    • Ukrainian and Western leaders have welcomed the passing of a desperately needed aid package for Ukraine by the U.S. House of Representatives
    • The Kremlin warned the passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine
    • The House approved $61 billion in aid as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion
    • The Ukrainian president, who had warned that Ukraine would lose the war without U.S. funding, praised American lawmakers for their decision
    • The Kremlin spokesperson called the approval of aid to Ukraine “expected and predictable” and warned it would result in the deaths of more Ukrainians

    Ukrainian leaders and analysts say the long-awaited $61 billion military aid package — including $13.8 billion for Ukraine to buy weapons — will help slow Russia’s incremental advances in the war’s third year — but that more will likely be needed for Kyiv to regain the offensive.

    The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned that his country would lose the war without U.S. funding, said that he was grateful for the decision of U.S. lawmakers.

    Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy said that the aid package would “send the Kremlin a powerful signal that (Ukraine) will not be the second Afghanistan.”

    Zelenskyy told NBC that the aid “has to end up in tangible weapon systems,” highlighting that Ukraine would prioritize long-range weapons and air defense. These, he said, would enable Ukraine to “break the plans of Russia” in an expected “full-scale offensive,” for which Ukrainian forces are preparing.

    The aid package will go to the U.S. Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.

    It still could take weeks for it to reach the front line, where it is desperately needed.

    Responding to a question on the timelines for Ukraine continuing to need such aid packages, the Ukrainian president drew attention to previous delays to promised support. “It depends on when we actually get weapons on the ground,” Zelenskyy told NBC.

    “The decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, we had it a year ago,” he said. “A year has passed. We still don’t have the jets in Ukraine.”

    “With this we can stop (Russian troops) and reduce our losses,” said infantry soldier Oleksandr. He has been fighting around Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense combat.

    Ammunition shortages linked to the aid holdup over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage that Russia seized on this year — taking the city of Avdiivka and currently inching towards the town of Chasiv Yar, also in Donetsk.

    “The Russians come at us in waves — we become exhausted, we have to leave our positions. This is repeated many times,” Oleksandr told The Associated Press. He didn’t give his full name for security reasons. “Not having enough ammunition means we can’t cover the area that is our responsibility to hold when they are assaulting us.”

    In Kyiv, many welcomed the U.S. vote as a piece of good news after a tough period that has seen Russia grind out gains along the front line, and step up attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and other infrastructure.

    “I heard our president officially say that we can lose the war without this help. Thanks very much and yesterday was a great event,” said Kateryna Ruda, 43.

    Tatyana Ryavchenuk, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier, noted the need for more weapons, lamenting that soldiers “have nothing to protect us.”

    “They need weapons, they need gear, they need it. We always need help. Because without help, our enemy can advance further and can be in the center of our city,” the 26-year-old said.

    Other Western leaders, who have been scrambling to come up with ways to fill the gap left by stalled U.S. military aid, also lauded the aid package.

    “Ukraine is using the weapons provided by NATO Allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer, in Europe & North America,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on X.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Ukraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia.”

    Her statement was echoed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called it “a strong signal in these times.”

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk thanked House Speaker Mike Johnson, while also noting the holdup in Congress. “Better late than too late. And I hope it is not too late for Ukraine,” he wrote on X.

    In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday called the approval of aid to Ukraine “expected and predictable.”

    The decision “will make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and result in the deaths of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kyiv regime,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

    “The new aid package will not save, but, on the contrary, will kill thousands and thousands more people, prolong the conflict, and bring even more grief and devastation,” Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, wrote on Telegram.

    Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said the logistics of getting U.S. assistance to the front line would mean that “Ukrainian forces may suffer additional setbacks in the coming weeks while waiting for U.S. security assistance that will allow Ukraine to stabilize the front.”

    “But they will likely be able to blunt the current Russian offensive assuming the resumed U.S. assistance arrives promptly,” it said in its latest assessment of the conflict.

    Olexiy Haran, professor of comparative politics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohlya Academy, said that Ukraine was grateful for aid from the U.S. and other Western countries, “but the problem is, frankly speaking, it’s too late and it’s not enough.”

    “This is the third year of the war and we still don’t have aviation, new aviation. We don’t have enough missiles, so we cannot close the skies. Moreover, recently we didn’t have even artillery shells,” he said.

    “That’s why the situation was very, very difficult and the Russians used it to start their counteroffensive, or offensive. So that’s why it is so important for us. And definitely if we’d received it half a year before, we would have saved the lives of many Ukrainians, civilians included.”

    On the ground, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Bohdanivka in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian officials haven’t yet commented on the announcement.

    One person was killed and four other people were wounded in Russian shelling in Ukrainsk, according to the prosecutor’s office in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region.

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    Associated Press

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  • Not a toddler, not a parent, but still love ‘Bluey’? You’re not alone

    Not a toddler, not a parent, but still love ‘Bluey’? You’re not alone

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    A small blue dog with an Australian accent has captured the hearts of people across the world.

    She’s the title character of “Bluey,” a kids’ program consisting of seven-minute episodes that have enraptured children and adults alike. This week’s release of its longest episode yet — at a whopping 28 minutes — prompted an outpouring of appreciation for the show, even from those who are neither toddler nor parent.

    What You Need To Know

    • Viewers don’t have to be young or a parent to appreciate the Australian kids’ television program “Bluey,” as this week’s release of a special episode proved

    • Not only is the animated, blue-colored Australian cattle dog a favorite among children for her playful humor, but the show also appeals to adults who are reminiscing about their childhood

    • “Bluey” premiered in Australia in 2018 and began streaming on Disney+ in 2020

    • The show has released more than 150 episodes, about seven minutes long and streamed around the world

     

    “Bluey” follows an Australian blue heeler who, along with her sister (a red heeler named Bingo), navigates the days between home and school. It’s a favorite among children for its playful humor, but it also appeals to adults reminiscing about childhood.

    “My childhood experience wasn’t the greatest so I’ve always resonated with shows where life is good,” says Miriam Neel, who lives in Colorado. “The parents in ‘Bluey’ enable imagination and creativity and really get involved with their kids, and I wish I had those experiences.”

    Neel is 32 and has chosen not to have any children of her own. She says the show has become part of her morning routine and is often a go-to choice for background noise when she is working from home.

    “I’m not going to speak for the entire generation, but millennials find comfort in cartoons. It’s what a lot of us grew up watching,” she said. “And if I’m going to spend time watching something I’d rather watch something that doesn’t make me afraid of the world, like any of the ‘Law & Order’ shows.”

    “Bluey,” which now boasts more than 150 episodes, premiered in Australia in 2018 and began streaming on Disney+ in 2020. It also has been adapted into a digital series where famous fans like Bindi Irwin and Eva Mendes read some of the popular storybooks, and a live theater show that travels around the world.

    The show has also won multiple awards, including the Australian Film Institute Award for best children’s television drama every year since 2019 and an International Emmy Kids Award.

    The series provides a child’s perspective into morning routines, errands and chores, while also giving viewers a glimpse of what life is like for parents through mother Chilli and father Bandit.

    This week’s special episode, “The Sign,” explores the emotions surrounding themes that resonate with both children and adults — moving houses, marriage, infertility and relationships after divorce. In addition to these universal themes, the episode wraps up the third season with Easter eggs for dedicated fans.

    Lindsey Schmidt, 40, says the show’s continuity keeps her family looking forward to more.

    “There are so many callbacks to previous episodes,” says Schmidt, who lives in Ohio with her husband and three children. “The shows that we watch with our kids regularly don’t reflect our lives like this show does. These anthropomorphic dogs feel just like us.”

    But there are mixed feelings about the ending of the episode — SPOILER — in which the Heeler family scraps their move. Some families who relocate often for work found it unrealistic. Meg Korzon, 31, is in the process of a cross-country relocation with her four children because her husband is in the military. It’s her seventh move in 10 years.

    “I was hoping it would be an episode that aligned itself with the realities of life, our lives, as a military family,” she says. “I was selfishly disappointed because it could have been an episode about change and growth.”

    But the show does not shy away from other difficult topics — and that is part of the charm for adults as well.

    “As a parent you aspire to be as good of parents as Chilli and Bandit are as parents. They always have a great way of talking kids through issues,” Schmidt’s 40-year-old husband John says, adding that the couple often refers back to episodes when trying to explain things to their children.

    The series has touched on topics of aging, death and making friends as an adult. It also has introduced a character who uses sign language and another with ADHD.

    Jacqueline Nesi, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, notes that “Bluey” promotes self-regulation and conflict resolution for children and engaged parenting and patience for adults.

    “We see them working through some of the challenges that we, as parents, might be facing, too. And at the same time, they offer a nice model for different parenting skills — asking open-ended questions to facilitate kids’ creativity, using natural consequences when they misbehave, actively playing with them and letting them take the lead,” she says.

    The show has also done a lot to expose children to the world of animation, flaunting different styles in the episodes “Escape” and “Dragon,” providing a near-voiceless episode in “Rain,” and breaching the fourth wall in “Puppets,” where the show stops briefly to zoom out on the creation of just a couple seconds of animated frames.

    It’s also credited with appealing to dogs — and not because the characters are the same species.

    Research has said dogs have vision similar to red-green color blindness in humans, meaning their color spectrum is limited to blue, yellow, brown and shades of gray — which happen to be the colors of the Heeler family. There were more pets named Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit across the U.S. last year, too, according to Rover.

    So it’s fairly safe to say “Bluey” has appeal across species, as well as generations.

    “I used to tell people what do ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Wire’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ have in common? They all have lower IMDb scores than Bluey. It used to anyway. I watched all these great shows, but I think ‘Bluey’ is still a favorite, maybe because I have kids. But I put it right up there with all of them,” John Schmidt says, admitting that he and his wife have watched the episodes without their children.

    Schmidt says the episode tied a nice bow to end the season, and would be a perfect series finale otherwise.

    “I get emotional about the potential of Bluey no longer having new episodes,” says Schmidt. “But we’ll see.”

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    Associated Press

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  • House poised to approve Israel, Ukraine aid despite GOP threats to oust Johnson

    House poised to approve Israel, Ukraine aid despite GOP threats to oust Johnson

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    The House of Representatives on Friday advanced a long-stalled foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, clearing the way for passage on Saturday and consideration in the Senate — despite a growing movement from House Speaker Mike Johnson’s own party to remove him.

    What You Need To Know

    • The House of Representatives on Friday advanced a long-stalled foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, clearing the way for passage on Saturday

    • The procedural hurdle in the House was cleared with a widely bipartisan 316-94 vote, with 165 Democrats joining 151 Republicans in the majority to push the measure over the top

    • While the action from Johnson scored rare approval from President Joe Biden, the Louisana Republican is facing backlash from a motivated far-right wing of his conference, which could cost him his leadership job

    • A third House Republican, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, joined Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s effort to remove Johnson from the speakership


    The procedural hurdle in the House was cleared with a widely bipartisan 316-94 vote, with 165 Democrats joining 151 Republicans in the majority to push the measure over the top. 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats opposed the rule vote.

    “House Democrats have once again cleared the way for legislation that is important to the American people to be processed and considered on the House floor for an up or down vote,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. said during a press conference on Friday. “From the very beginning of this Congress, we’ve made clear, we’ll put people over politics.” 

    The package of four bills also includes a measure that would ban or force the sale of popular social media app TikTok, impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl and a proposal that would allow the U.S. to seize Russian assets to help aid Ukraine.

    “Ukrainians desperately need lethal aid right now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on The Mark Levin Show, a conservative talk program. “We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to roll through another country and take it. These are very serious matters with global implications.”

    While the action from Johnson scored rare approval from President Joe Biden — and, in an even more rare move, no detraction from former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president — the Louisiana Republican is facing backlash from a motivated far-right wing of his conference, which could cost him his leadership job.

    “The world is watching what the Congress does,” the Biden administration said. “Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment.”

    Far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to vacate the speaker from office, and has drawn at least one other Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky as a co-sponsor. It could launch a bid to evict Johnson from the speaker’s office, should she call it up for a vote, much the way Republicans booted Kevin McCarthy from the position last fall.

    Greene would not comment when asked if she would call for a vote on her motion to oust Johnson.

    Massie told POLITICO on Friday that another lawmaker will join the effort to remove Johnson from leadership, expected Friday.

    “The strategy all along has been to ask the speaker to resign in a fashion like John Boehner resigned after he cleaned the barn,” he said.

    Shortly after Massie’s comment, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar joined the growing movement to oust Johhnson, writing in a statement largely focused on criticizing President Biden’s policies governing the U.S.-Mexico border that “we need a Speaker who puts America first.”

    Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson told CNN and Axios that “there’s probably a clear consensus” that Johnson would not be House Speaker should the GOP retain control of the House after November’s elections; he “can’t say,” however, if he supports the motion to vacate.

    Johnson told reporters on Friday that he is “not concerned” about threats to his speakership. Some Democrats have suggested that they will bail Johnson out should he face a vote to remove him from leadership.

    “We’re gonna do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson said. 

    Jeffries on Friday told reporters that his previous “declaration” that there are a “reasonable number” of House Democrats that would not want Johnson to be ousted over putting the foreign aid up for a vote still stands. Jeffries, however, would not say what he would advise members to do in such a scenario. 

    He emphasized that “first things first” is making sure the aid bill gets through the House and over to the Senate. 

    “AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, AS HOUSE DEMOCRATS, WE WILL HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH ANY HYPOTHETICAL MOTION TO VACATE,” he said. 

    Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at Friday’s briefing that the White House would not get involved on whether or not Democrats should bail out Johnson, saying the decision lies with Jeffries and his caucus. 

    With one of the most narrow House majorities in modern times, Johnson can only afford to lose a single vote or two from his Republican ranks to pass any bill. That dynamic has thrust him into the arms of Democrats as he searches for votes to pass the package.

    Without his Republican majority fully behind him, Johnson cannot shape the package as the ultra-conservatives demand lest he lose Democratic backing. It has forced him to leave behind tough security measures to clamp down on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and other priorities.

    At best, Johnson has been able to carve up a Senate-passed version of the bill into separate parts, as is the preference among House Republicans, and the final votes will be on distinct measures — for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies.

    Passing each bill, in votes expected Saturday, will require Johnson to form complicated bipartisan coalitions on each, with Democrats for example ensuring Ukraine aid is approved, but some left-leaning progressives refusing to back military aid for Israel over the destruction of Gaza.

    The components would then be automatically stitched back together into a single package sent to the Senate where hardliners there are also planning procedural moves to stall final approval.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told lawmakers to prepare to stay in Washington over the weekend for votes on the foreign aid package.

    Spectrum News’ Maddie Gannon contributed to this report.

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    Associated Press

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  • U.S. sanctions fundraisers for extremist West Bank settlers

    U.S. sanctions fundraisers for extremist West Bank settlers

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    The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israel settlers already sanctioned, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians
    • The penalties aim to block them from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them
    • The announcement comes as the West Bank has seen some of its worst violence perpetrated by extremist settlers against Palestinians since the war in nearby Gaza began.

    • Additionally, the State Department is designating Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have assaulted Palestinian civilians


    The Treasury Department announcement comes as the West Bank has seen some of its worst violence perpetrated by extremist settlers against Palestinians since the war in nearby Gaza began.

    There is also friction between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose far-right government has reacted angrily to previous sanctions imposed against West Bank settlers.

    Included in the Friday sanctions are two entities — Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich — accused of raising funds for sanctioned settlers Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai.

    Both men were previously sanctioned by the Biden administration for violently attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

    The penalties aim to block them from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.

    The fundraising campaign established by Mount Hebron Fund for Levi and by Shlom Asiraich for Chasdai generated the equivalent of $140,000 and $31,000, respectively, according to U.S. Treasury.

    In Levi’s case, the fund now sanctioned by the Biden administration is linked to the regional council in the area, a body that receives state money. The Biden order Friday stopped short of sanctioning the council itself.

    Rights groups say that the expansion of illegal settler outposts in the West Bank is enthusiastically supported by the regional councils and nudged along by Israel’s current national government — the most far-right in the country’s history.

    The Biden order also skirted sanctioning crowdfunding websites where funds were raised, GiveChak and New York-based Charidy.

    In Chasdai’s case, the fundraiser on Charidy was organized by Shlom Asiraich, which raises money for imprisoned Jewish extremists.

    Both online fundraisers have now been taken down. But at least one fundraiser linked to a settler previously sanctioned by the Biden administration, Moshe Sharvit, remains online. As of Friday, the page on GiveChak had raised the equivalent of over $879,000.

    Additionally, the State Department is designating Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have assaulted Palestinian civilians.

    Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the organizations “undermine the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable.”

    In February, Biden issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the occupied territory.

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    Associated Press

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  • House advances Israel, Ukraine aid despite GOP threats to oust Johnson

    House advances Israel, Ukraine aid despite GOP threats to oust Johnson

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    The House of Representatives on Friday advanced a long-stalled foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, clearing the way for passage on Saturday and consideration in the Senate — despite a growing movement from House Speaker Mike Johnson’s own party to remove him.

    What You Need To Know

    • The House of Representatives on Friday advanced a long-stalled foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, clearing the way for passage on Saturday

    • The procedural hurdle in the House was cleared with a widely bipartisan 316-94 vote, with 165 Democrats joining 151 Republicans in the majority to push the measure over the top

    • While the action from Johnson scored rare approval from President Joe Biden, the Louisana Republican is facing backlash from a motivated far-right wing of his conference, which could cost him his leadership job

    • A third House Republican, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, joined Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s effort to remove Johnson from the speakership


    The procedural hurdle in the House was cleared with a widely bipartisan 316-94 vote, with 165 Democrats joining 151 Republicans in the majority to push the measure over the top. 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats opposed the rule vote.

    The package of four bills also includes a measure that would ban or force the sale of popular social media app TikTok, impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl and a proposal that would allow the U.S. to seize Russian assets to help aid Ukraine.

    “Ukrainians desperately need lethal aid right now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on The Mark Levin Show, a conservative talk program. “We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to roll through another country and take it. These are very serious matters with global implications.”

    While the action from Johnson scored rare approval from President Joe Biden — and, in an even more rare move, no detraction from former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president — the Louisana Republican is facing backlash from a motivated far-right wing of his conference, which could cost him his leadership job.

    “The world is watching what the Congress does,” the Biden administration said. “Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment.”

    Far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a “motion to vacate” the speaker from office, and has drawn at least one other Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky as a co-sponsor. It could launch a bid to evict Johnson from the speaker’s office, should she call it up for a vote, much the way Republicans booted Kevin McCarthy from the position last fall.

    Greene would not comment when asked if she would call for a vote on her motion to oust Johnson.

    Massie told POLITICO on Friday that another lawmaker will join the effort to remove Johnson from leadership, expected Friday.

    “The strategy all along has been to ask the speaker to resign in a fashion like John Boehner resigned after he cleaned the barn,” he said.

    Shortly after Massie’s comment, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar joined the growing movement to oust Johhnson, writing in a statement largely focused on criticizing President Biden’s policies governing the U.S.-Mexico border that “we need a Speaker who puts America first.”

    Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson told CNN and Axios that “there’s probably a clear consensus” that Johnson would not be House Speaker should the GOP retain control of the House after November’s elections; he “can’t say,” however, if he supports the motion to vacate.

    Johnson told reporters on Friday that he is “not concerned” about threats to his speakership. Some Democrats have suggested that they will bail Johnson out should he face a vote to remove him from leaderhsip.

    “We’re gonna do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson said. 

    With one of the most narrow House majorities in modern times, Johnson can only afford to lose a single vote or two from his Republican ranks to pass any bill. That dynamic has thrust him into the arms of Democrats as he searches for votes to pass the package.

    Without his Republican majority fully behind him, Johnson cannot shape the package as the ultra-conservatives demand lest he lose Democratic backing. It has forced him to leave behind tough security measures to clamp down on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and other priorities.

    At best, Johnson has been able to carve up a Senate-passed version of the bill into separate parts, as is the preference among House Republicans, and the final votes will be on distinct measures — for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies.

    Passing each bill, in votes expected Saturday, will require Johnson to form complicated bipartisan coalitions on each, with Democrats for example ensuring Ukraine aid is approved, but some left-leaning progressives refusing to back military aid for Israel over the destruction of Gaza.

    The components would then be automatically stitched back together into a single package sent to the Senate where hardliners there are also planning procedural moves to stall final approval.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told lawmakers to prepare to stay in Washington over the weekend for votes on the foreign aid package.

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    Associated Press

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  • Browns pleased with QB Watson’s progress after surgery

    Browns pleased with QB Watson’s progress after surgery

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    BEREA, Ohio (AP) — While Deshaun Watson’s rehab from right shoulder surgery is on a conservative track, the Cleveland Browns are expecting the quarterback to be ready for their season opener.

    What You Need To Know

    • Watson suffered a fracture to the glenoid bone in his throwing shoulder and had his second season with Cleveland end after just six starts

    • The 28-year-old Watson has played in 12 games since the Browns acquired him in a 2022 trade from Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract

    • Watson, who was in and out of the lineup for several weeks with shoulder issues before an MRI revealed the fracture, said he’s been able to throw at full speed but didn’t provide many other specifics about his physical limitations

    “We feel really good about it,” general manager Andrew Berry said Thursday at his annual pre-draft news conference. “I’m not going to make any predictions, just because you just never know. But that’s certainly our expectation.”

    Watson suffered a fracture to the glenoid bone in his throwing shoulder and had his second season with Cleveland end after just six starts.

    The 28-year-old Watson has played in 12 games since the Browns acquired him in a 2022 trade from Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.

    Earlier this week, Watson said his recovery is going well. He’s following a rehab regimen prescribed by his surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who repaired his glenoid socket and a partially torn labrum on Nov. 21.

    Watson, who was in and out of the lineup for several weeks with shoulder issues before an MRI revealed the fracture, said he’s been able to throw at full speed but didn’t provide many other specifics about his physical limitations.

    Berry said Watson threw 40-yard passes this week as the Browns began their voluntary offseason conditioning program.

    “He’s in a pretty good spot,” Berry said. “I don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse, but he’s progressing as appropriate. We’re really, really pleased with the work that he’s put in and really pleased with how the shoulder’s responding.”

    “But we’re still in the middle of a rehab process, so we know that it can take different left and right turns, but we’re pretty optimistic in terms of what we’ve seen so far,” he said.

    Watson said a decision about whether he participates in OTAs next month hasn’t been made. He also indicated there’s a chance he won’t play in preseason games.

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    Associated Press

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  • North Carolina sees slight surplus this year, $1B more next year

    North Carolina sees slight surplus this year, $1B more next year

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    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s government should collect higher revenues during this fiscal year and next than what is projected in the current two-year state budget, according to a new forecast released Wednesday.

     

    What You Need To Know

    A new forecast from the North Carolina General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration expects revenues during this fiscal year and next to be higher than what’s projected in the current state budget

    The consensus forecast now says collections will exceed revenue budgeted for this year by $413 million and for next year by $1 billion

    A legislative staff economist’s email to lawmakers attributes the upgrade to stronger than anticipated individual income tax collections and higher sales tax collections

    The news gives legislators more financial wiggle room as they return next week for this year’s General Assembly session

     

    Economists for the General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper’s state budget office now predict collections will exceed revenue budgeted for the year ending June 30 by $413 million, or a 1.2% increase. And state coffers will bring in $1 billion more in the fiscal year starting July 1 than what was anticipated, or a 3% increase.

    The budget law enacted by the Republican-controlled General Assembly had planned for a slight decline in revenue from this fiscal year to the next, in part due to tax cuts.

    A legislative staff economist’s email to lawmakers attributes the upgrade to stronger than anticipated individual income tax collections and modestly higher sales tax collections. The memo cites low unemployment, wage growth, additional consumer spending and rising prices.

    The new forecast now expects $34.14 billion in state operating revenues this fiscal year and $34.37 billion next year. The legislative economist warned that April 15 income tax collections can be difficult to predict and that a revised forecast was possible after detailed numbers are received in early May.

    Still, Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton of Cabarrus County said Wednesday the report “is a reaffirmation that the GOP is leading our state in the right direction, balancing all the needs of residents, of educators, of job creators, of people that want to move somewhere they can achieve more — they’re coming to North Carolina.”

    The news gives legislators more wiggle room to address financial needs as the General Assembly returns starting next week for this year’s chief work session.

    The legislature’s primary job during the “short” session in even-numbered years is to adjust the second year of the two-year budget. Lawmakers already are being asked to address an upcoming loss of federal funds for child care and to fund more scholarships for K-12 students to attend private schools.

    Cooper, a Democrat barred by term limits from running again this year, will propose his own budget adjustments. The governor has cited clean energy and biotechnology job investments and national accolades as evidence that his policies are benefiting the economy.

    Cooper allowed the current two-year budget to become law without his signature, turning away from all he disliked within it because the proposal finalized the Medicaid expansion he had sought for years. Some budget provisions speed up individual income tax cuts.

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  • Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate Musk pay package

    Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate Musk pay package

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    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate the compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a judge in Delaware this year and to move the electric carmaker’s corporate home from Delaware to Texas.

    In a filing with federal regulators early Wednesday, the company said it would ask shareholders to vote on both issues during its annual meeting in June.

    In January, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled that Musk is not entitled to a landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion.

    Musk said a month later that he would try to move Tesla’s corporate listing to Texas, where he has already moved company headquarters.

    Almost immediately after the judge’s ruling, Musk did exactly that with Neuralink, his brain implant company, moving the company’s corporate home from Delaware to Nevada.

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  • Tesla to lay off 10% of its workforce amid tumbling sales

    Tesla to lay off 10% of its workforce amid tumbling sales

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    DETROIT (AP) — After reporting dismal first-quarter sales, Tesla is planning to lay off about a tenth of its workforce as it tries to cut costs, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

    What You Need To Know

    • After reporting dismal first-quarter sales, Tesla is planning to lay off about a tenth of its workforce as it tries to cut costs, multiple media outlets reported Monday

    •  CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees. The layoffs could affect about 14,000 of the 140,473 workers employed by the Austin, Texas, company at the end of last year

    • Musk’s memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, it needs to look at every aspect of the company for cost cuts and increased productivity, The New York Times and CNBC reported

    •  News of the layoffs was first reported by electric vehicle website Electrek. Shares of Tesla fell nearly 3% in Monday morning trading after the news broke

    CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees. The layoffs could affect about 14,000 of the 140,473 workers employed by the Austin, Texas, company at the end of last year.

    Musk’s memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, “it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” The New York Times and CNBC reported. News of the layoffs was first reported by electric vehicle website Electrek.

    Also Monday, two key Tesla executives announced on the social media platform X that they are leaving the company. Andrew Baglino, senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, wrote that he had made the decision to leave after 18 years with the company.

    Rohan Patel, senior global director of public policy and business development, also wrote on X that he was leaving Tesla, after eight years.

    Baglino, who held several top engineering jobs at the company and was chief technology officer, wrote that the decision to leave was difficult. “I loved tackling nearly every problem we solved as a team and feel gratified to have contributed to the mission of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy,” he wrote.

    He has no concrete plans beyond spending more time with family and his young children, but wrote that he has difficulty staying still for long.

    Musk thanked Baglino in a reply. “Few have contributed as much as you,” he wrote.

    Shares of Tesla fell 4.8% Monday afternoon, hours after news of the layoffs and departures broke. Shares of Tesla Inc. have lost about one-third of their value so far this year as sales of electric vehicles soften.

    Tesla sales fell sharply last quarter as competition increased worldwide, electric vehicle sales growth slowed, and price cuts failed to draw more buyers. The company said it delivered 386,810 vehicles from January through March, nearly 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the same quarter of last year.

    Since last year, Tesla has cut prices as much as $20,000 on some models as it faced increasing competition and slowing demand. The price cuts caused used electric vehicle values to drop and clipped Tesla’s profit margins.

    The company has said it will reveal an autonomous robotaxi at an event in August.

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  • Aid groups warn of mass death from hunger in Sudan amid war

    Aid groups warn of mass death from hunger in Sudan amid war

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    On a clear night a year ago, a dozen heavily armed fighters broke into Omaima Farouq’s house in an upscale neighborhood in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. At gunpoint, they whipped and slapped the woman, and terrorized her children. Then they expelled them from the fenced two-story house.

    “Since then, our life has been ruined,” said the 45-year-old schoolteacher. “Everything has changed in this year.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Sudan has been torn by war for a year now, torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
    • The conflict has been overshadowed by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip
    • But relief workers warn Sudan is hurtling towards a calamity of starvation, with potential mass death in coming months
    • Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions
    • At the same time, the conflict has brought widespread reports of atrocities including killings, displacement and rape, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur

    Farouq, who is a widow, and her four children now live in a small village outside the central city of Wad Madani, 85 miles southeast of Khartoum. They depend on aid from villagers and philanthropists since international aid groups can’t reach the village.

    Sudan has been torn by war for a year now, ever since simmering tensions between its military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into street clashes in the capital Khartoum in mid-April 2023. The fighting rapidly spread across the country.

    The conflict has been overshadowed by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip, which since October has caused a massive humanitarian crisis for Palestinians and a threat of famine in the territory.

    But relief workers warn Sudan is hurtling towards an even larger-scale calamity of starvation, with potential mass death in coming months. Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions. At the same time, the conflict has brought widespread reports of atrocities including killings, displacement and rape, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur.

    Justin Brady, head of the U.N. humanitarian coordination office for Sudan, warned that potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands could die in coming months from malnutrition-related causes.

    “This is going to get very ugly very quickly unless we can overcome both the resource challenges and the access challenges,” Brady said. The world, he said, needs to take fast action to pressure the two sides for a stop in fighting and raise funds for the U.N. humanitarian effort.

    But the international community has paid little attention. The U.N. humanitarian campaign needs some $2.7 billion this year to get food, heath care and other supplies to 24 million people in Sudan – nearly half its population of 51 million. So far, funders have given only $145 million, about 5%, according to the humanitarian office, known as OCHA.

    The “level of international neglect is shocking,” Christos Christou, president of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, said in a recent statement.

    The situation in fighting on the ground has been deteriorating. The military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have carved up Khartoum and trade indiscriminate fire at each other. RSF forces have overrun much of Darfur, while Burhan has moved the government and his headquarters to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

    The Sudanese Unit for Combating Violence Against Women, a government organization, documented at least 159 cases of rape and gang rape the past year, almost all in Khartoum and Darfur. The organization’s head, Sulima Ishaq Sharif, said this figure represents the tip of the iceberg since many victims don’t speak out for fear of reprisal or the stigma connected to rape.

    In 2021, Burhan and Dagalo were uneasy allies who led a military coup. They toppled an internationally recognized civilian government that was supposed to steer Sudan’s democratic transition after the 2019 military overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir amid a popular uprising. Burhan and Dagalo subsequently fell out in a struggle for power.

    The situation has been horrific in Darfur, where the RSF and its allies are accused of rampant sexual violence and ethnic attacks on African tribes’ areas. The International Criminal Court said it was investigating fresh allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region, which was the scene of genocidal war in the 2000s.

    A series of attacks by the RSF and allied militias on the ethnic African Masalit tribe killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur near the Chad border, according to a report by United Nations experts to the Security Council earlier this year. It said Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005.”

    With aid groups unable to reach Darfur’s camps for displaced people, eight out of every 10 families in the camps eat only one meal a day, said Adam Rijal, the spokesman for the Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur.

    In Kelma camp in South Darfur province, he said an average of nearly three children die every 12 hours, most due to diseases related to malnutrition. He said the medical center in the camp receives between 14 and 18 cases of malnutrition every day, mostly children and pregnant women.

    Not including the Geneina killings, the war has killed at least 14,600 people across Sudan and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the United Nations. More than 8 million people have been driven from their homes, fleeing either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries.

    Many flee repeatedly as the war expands.

    When fighting reached his street in Khartoum, Taj el-Ser and his wife and four children headed west to his relatives in Darfur in the town of Ardamata.

    Then the RSF and its allies overran Ardamata in November, rampaging through the town for six days. El-Ser said they killed many Masalit and relatives of army soldiers.

    “Some were shot dead or burned inside their homes,” he said by phone from another town in Darfur. “I and my family survived only because I am Arab.”

    Both sides, the military and RSF, have committed serious violations of international law, killing civilians and destroying vital infrastructure, said Mohamed Osman, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch.

    Food production has crashed, imports stalled, movement of food around the country is hampered by fighting, and staple food prices have soared by 45% in less than a year, OCHA says. The war wrecked the country’s healthcare system, leaving only 20 to 30% of the health facilities functional across the country, according to MSF.

    At least 37% of the population at crisis level or above in hunger, according OCHA. Save the Children warned that about 230,000 children, pregnant women and newborn mothers could die of malnutrition in the coming months.

    “We are seeing massive hunger, suffering and death. And yet the world looks away,” said Arif Noor, Save the Children’s director in Sudan.

    About 3.5 million children aged under 5 years have acute malnutrition, including more than 710,000 with severe acute malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization.

    About 5 million people were one step away from famine, according to a December assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, considered the global authority on determining the severity of hunger crises. Overall, 17.7 million people were facing acute food insecurity, it found.

    Aid workers say the world has to take action.

    “Sudan is described as a forgotten crisis. I’m starting to wonder how many people knew about it in the first place to forget about it,” said Brady, from OCHA. “There are others that have more attention than Sudan. I don’t like to compare crises. It’s like comparing two cancer patients. … They both need to be treated.”

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  • Former Kentucky swimmers sue ex-coaches, AD Mitch Barnhart

    Former Kentucky swimmers sue ex-coaches, AD Mitch Barnhart

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    LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two former Kentucky swim team members have sued the school, former coach Lars Jorgensen and athletic director Mitch Barnhart, alleging sexual assaults including rape by the former coach and claiming the school “purposefully” disregarded multiple credible reports of inappropriate sexual relationships.

    What You Need To Know

    • Two former Kentucky swim team members have sued the school, former coach Lars Jorgensen and athletic director Mitch Barnhart

    • They allege sexual assaults including rape by the former coach, claiming the school “purposefully” disregarded multiple credible reports of inappropriate sexual relationships

    • Former swimmer and assistant coach Briggs Alexander and a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court 

    • Kentucky said it takes concerns raised by employees and potential employees seriously and reviews such concerns before hiring

    The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court by former swimmer and assistant coach Briggs Alexander and a woman identified only as Jane Doe said Kentucky empowered Jorgensen to “foster a toxic, sexually hostile environment within the swim program and to prey on, sexually harass, and commit horrific sexual assaults.”

    The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified, as Alexander did.

    Alexander, who according to the lawsuit now identifies as male, claims that Jorgensen “spent years” grooming him and creating a sexually hostile environment, including sexually assaulting and raping him. The suit also alleges that Jorgensen groomed Jane Doe over several years after her arrival as a Kentucky freshman, made sexualized comments and asserted control over her.

    The ex-coach also “repeatedly and violently” assaulted an assistant coach, identified as Jane Doe II, starting with a December 2013 Christmas party with staff at his home.

    The lawsuit also alleges that former Kentucky head coach Gary Conelly, who led the program from 1991 until retiring in 2013, did not follow up on being told of previous alleged misconduct by Jorgensen at Toledo. It also alleged that Barnhart did not follow up an email about allegations or investigate them and hired Jorgensen, the suit said, and accused him of intentionally concealing the allegations.

    Jorgensen did not respond to messages left by the AP on Saturday but told The Athletic none of the allegations are true. Conelly also did not respond to a message left by the AP but told The Athletic that he contacted the former Toledo swimmer and was told she began dating Jorgensen after her swimming career. He added that it’s not uncommon for coaches to have a relationship with one of their former swimmers.

    A statement sent to AP on Saturday by Kentucky spokesman Jay Blanton said Jorgensen is no longer employed by the university. It said the university takes sexual assault allegations “very seriously” but that it does not discuss specific personnel issues.

    The lawsuit, first reported Friday by The Athletic, also said Kentucky’s athletic department received credible reports from University of Toledo assistant coach Mark Howard that Jorgensen “was a sexual predator” who couldn’t be trusted around young women while at the school in Ohio. Howard had discovered a video that showed Jorgensen having sexual intercourse with a female swimmer who appeared to be incapacitated, the lawsuit said, and reported the incident to school officials.

    Howard’s report to a Toledo associate head coach was not followed up, the suit said.

    Rather than investigate the allegations, the suit added, Kentucky chose to conceal them and hire Jorgensen as an assistant in 2012 and received numerous allegations from various sources during his 10-year tenure as head coach that either weren’t documented or pursued. Howard reported the allegations at Toledo to Conelly, but Conelly didn’t respond after stating via email that he would follow up, the suit said.

    Jorgensen resigned last June after SwimSwam.com, a swimming-based website, reported that he had been suspended for a NCAA violation. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported in August that Kentucky and Jorgensen reached a $75,000 settlement but said the agreement did not constitute admission of fault, liability or wrongdoing by either side.

    SafeSport, which investigates and resolves allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, added Jorgensen to a disciplinary database last November.

    Kentucky said it takes concerns raised by employees and potential employees seriously and reviews such concerns before hiring.

    The university said in its statement that when “issues between employees (or any members of our community) involve concerns over allegations of harassment or misconduct,” policy calls for reporting them to its Office for Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity.

    “Our Athletics Department takes those issues and those policies very seriously as the welfare and well-being of all of our employees and students is a priority,” the statement said.

    “In such cases, a victim or complainant is reached out to a number of times during the course of a review. It is entirely up to the victim or complainant to decide whether they want to participate in such a review or not. Part of ensuring the well-being of our people is giving them the opportunity to decide whether they want to participate in an investigation of this kind.”

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  • Bird flu is spreading to more farm animals. Are milk and eggs safe?

    Bird flu is spreading to more farm animals. Are milk and eggs safe?

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    A bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows has grown to affect more than two dozen herds in eight states, just weeks after the nation’s largest egg producer found the virus in its chickens.

    Health officials stress that the risk to the public is low and that the U.S. food supply remains safe and stable.

    What You Need To Know

    • A strain of bird flu has been found in dairy herds in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and South Dakota

    • This is the first time the virus, Type A H5N1, has been detected in cattle, though it has been found in other mammals

    • Only dairy cows, not beef cattle, have been infected, agriculture officials say

    • Scientists say there’s no evidence that people can get the virus from food that’s been properly cooked or pasteurized

    “At this time, there continues to be no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health, or that it affects the safety of the interstate commercial milk supply,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

    Here’s what you need to know about bird flu and food:

    Which states have found bird flu in dairy cows?

    As of Friday, the strain of bird flu that has killed millions of wild birds in recent years has been found in at least 26 dairy herds in eight U.S. states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and South Dakota.

    The virus, known as Type A H5N1, has been detected in a range of mammals over the last few years, but this is the first time it has been found in cattle, according to federal health and animal agencies. Genetic analysis of the virus does not show that it has changed to spread more easily in people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

    How is bird flu affecting food production?

    Agriculture officials in at least 17 states have restricted imports of dairy cattle from states where the virus has been detected, but, so far, government agencies say it’s had little effect on commercial milk production. Officials believe cows likely have been infected by exposure to wild birds but said cow-to-cow spread “cannot be ruled out.”

    Farmers are testing cows that show symptoms of infection, including sharply reduced milk supply and lethargy. Animals that show signs or test positive for illness are being separated from other animals on the farms. The animals appear to recover within two weeks.

    U.S. egg producers are watching the situation closely after bird flu was detected in chickens in Texas and Michigan. Millions of birds have been killed, but the FDA said the risk of affected eggs getting into the retail market or causing infections in humans is low because of federal inspections and other safeguards.

    Does pasteurization kill bird flu?

    Scientists say there’s no evidence to suggest that people can contract the virus by consuming food that’s been pasteurized, or heat-treated — or properly cooked.

    “It’s not a food safety concern,” said Lee-Ann Jaykus, an emeritus food microbiologist and virologist at North Carolina State University.

    Two people in U.S. have been infected with bird flu to date. A Texas dairy worker who was in close contact with an infected cow recently developed a mild eye infection and has recovered. In 2022, a prison inmate in a work program caught it while killing infected birds at a Colorado poultry farm. His only symptom was fatigue, and he recovered.

    Is grocery store milk safe from bird flu?

    Yes, according to food safety experts and government officials.

    U.S. producers are barred from selling milk from sick cows and must divert and destroy it. In addition, milk sold across state lines is required to be pasteurized, or heat-treated using a process that kills bacteria and viruses, including influenza.

    “We firmly believe that pasteurization provides a safe milk supply,” Tracey Forfa, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine told a webinar audience this week.

    Is raw milk safe from bird flu?

    The FDA and the CDC are less certain about unpasteurized, or raw, milk sold in many states, saying there’s limited information about the possible transmission of the H5N1 virus in such products.

    So far, no herds linked to raw milk providers have reported cows infected with bird flu, but the agencies recommend that the industry not make or sell raw milk or raw milk cheese products made with milk from cows that show symptoms — or are exposed to infected cows.

    U.S. health officials have long warned against the risk of foodborne illness tied to raw milk, which the CDC said caused more than 200 outbreaks that sickened more than 2,600 people between 1998 and 2018.

    Still, raw milk proponents like Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm USA in Fresno, California, said the outbreak of H5N1 in commercial cows appears to have spurred higher sales of the products, despite federal warnings.

    Can you catch bird flu from eggs or meat?

    Only dairy cows, not beef cattle, have been infected or shown signs of illness to date, agriculture officials said.

    The largest egg producer in the U.S. temporarily halted operations on April 2 after finding bird flu in its chickens. Cal-Maine Foods culled about 1.6 million laying hens and another 337,000 pullets, or young hens, after the detection.

    The company said there was no risk to eggs in the market and that no eggs had been recalled.

    Eggs that are handled properly and cooked thoroughly are safe to eat, said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University.

    “A lot of people like runny eggs. Personally, if I eat an egg, it’s very well cooked,” she said.

    Still, Kowalcyk and others cautioned that the situation could change.

    “This is an emerging issue and clearly this pathogen is evolving and there’s a lot that we don’t know,” she said. “I do think that everybody is trying to figure it out as quickly as possible.”

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  • Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

    Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots, as once-mundane procedural negotiations get caught up in the nation’s fractious politics.

    What You Need To Know

    • Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots

    • Both states’ certification deadlines precede the Democrats’ August national convention

    • Biden campaign lawyers have asked the states’ election chiefs to accept provisional certification until his nomination can be formalized

    • The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with last year’s legal campaign to remove Donald Trump from various state ballots over the U.S. Capitol riot

    Both states, which carry a combined 26 electoral votes, have deadlines for appearing on the ballot that precede the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago. Lawyers for Biden’s campaign have asked their secretaries of state to accept provisional certifications before the cutoff, which would then be updated once Biden is formally nominated.

    That’s where things have gotten sticky. Election chiefs in both states have identified solutions that are putting Democrats in the tenuous position of asking Republicans for help. Though former President Donald Trump is favored to win both states, any absence of a sitting president from the ballot could sway faith in the electoral outcome.

    It also raises the question: Will the divided parties be able to cooperate for the sake of voters?

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told The Associated Press that he will not accept a provisional certification because he does not have legal authority to do so. Allen said he sent a letter to the Alabama Democratic Party notifying it of the date problem as a “heads up” so it could address the issue.

    “I’m not denying anybody. I’m just telling them what the law is,” Allen said. “I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that’s what I’m going to do.”

    The state’s Democratic Party chair, Randy Kelley, accused Allen of “partisan gamesmanship,” pointing out that Alabama has made adjustments to accommodate late Republican conventions in the past.

    Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a similar letter to the Ohio Democratic Party last week. The letter suggested the party needed either to reschedule its convention or obtain a legislative fix by May 9 to get Biden on the Nov. 5 ballot.

    The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with a legal campaign last year to remove former Trump from various state ballots by citing a rarely used clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. After Democratic-dominated states including Colorado and Maine did so, Republicans warned they could counter by barring Biden from ballots in red states if the Supreme Court didn’t reverse the actions.

    The high court did just that last month, ruling that individual states can’t bar a candidate running for national office under the constitutional provision. But Alabama and Ohio have proceeded anyway, citing the technical conflicts between Biden’s official nomination and their own ballot deadlines.

    Biden’s campaign argues there is precedent in Alabama for accepting provisional certification, including when Republicans faced the same issue in 2020. In that year, the state both accepted a provisional certification for Trump and passed legislation containing a one-time deadline change. Democratic lawyers argue it was the provisional certification, and not the legislation, that allowed Trump onto the ballot.

    Regardless, Allen’s Republican predecessor as secretary of state, John Merrill, said Alabama worked it out for Trump and “absolutely the state should do the same” for Biden.

    “Everybody deserves the chance to vote for the major party nominees. That’s why it’s important for the state to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everybody in the state is properly represented,” he said.

    Republicans also submitted provisional certifications for Trump in Montana, Oklahoma and Washington in 2020, as did Democrats for Biden in those three states. On Thursday, the state of Washington agreed to accept a provisional certification for Biden to meet its pre-convention deadline. Oklahoma’s deadline also falls before the convention this year, but a spokesperson said its law already anticipates such occasions by allowing for provisional certifications.

    Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of the general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust it twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both parties. Each change was only temporary.

    Two Democratic lawmakers in Alabama’s Republican-controlled Legislature introduced legislation Thursday to push back the state’s certification deadline, and it looks like the party also will have to take the lead at Ohio’s GOP-led Statehouse.

    Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican, told reporters this week he does not plan to initiate a legislative solution in his state. He said it’s up to minority Democrats, who control only seven of the chamber’s 33 seats.

    “I think it’s a Democratic problem. There will have to be a Democratic solution,” Huffman said. “That hasn’t been proposed to me.”

    That could leave Biden’s fate in Ohio to LaRose, whom Democrats sharply criticized all spring as he competed in a bitter U.S. Senate primary.

    Democrats are weighing all their options. If pleas for provisional certification or legislation both fail, they could consider litigation or call a portion of their convention early to formalize Biden’s certification.

    A Biden campaign lawyer said that the president already is the presumptive nominee and that keeping him off ballots will strip voters of their constitutionally protected rights.

    “President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris will be the Democratic Party’s candidates for the 2024 presidential election,” Barry Ragsdale, an attorney for the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Convention, wrote in his Alabama letter. “They have already secured the requisite number of pledged delegates through the state primary process. There is no ambiguity on this point.”

    Some Republicans in both states support working with the Biden campaign to assure he is on the ballot.

    Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, the chamber’s Republican leader, said, “My attitude would be trying to be accommodating, if we can, in regards to a topic that’s important for everyone across the board.”

    Republican U.S. Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, said that he doesn’t believe anything “malicious” is going on in his state and that he expects an accommodation to be made for Biden. Vance told The Boston Globe he hopes Ohioans will support Trump, and expects they will, as they did in 2016 and 2020.

    “But the people of Ohio get to make that choice,” he said, “not some weird ballot quirk.”

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  • Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

    Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots, as once-mundane procedural negotiations get caught up in the nation’s fractious politics.

    What You Need To Know

    • Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots

    • Both states’ certification deadlines precede the Democrats’ August national convention

    • Biden campaign lawyers have asked the states’ election chiefs to accept provisional certification until his nomination can be formalized

    • The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with last year’s legal campaign to remove Donald Trump from various state ballots over the U.S. Capitol riot

    Both states, which carry a combined 26 electoral votes, have deadlines for appearing on the ballot that precede the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago. Lawyers for Biden’s campaign have asked their secretaries of state to accept provisional certifications before the cutoff, which would then be updated once Biden is formally nominated.

    That’s where things have gotten sticky. Election chiefs in both states have identified solutions that are putting Democrats in the tenuous position of asking Republicans for help. Though former President Donald Trump is favored to win both states, any absence of a sitting president from the ballot could sway faith in the electoral outcome.

    It also raises the question: Will the divided parties be able to cooperate for the sake of voters?

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told The Associated Press that he will not accept a provisional certification because he does not have legal authority to do so. Allen said he sent a letter to the Alabama Democratic Party notifying it of the date problem as a “heads up” so it could address the issue.

    “I’m not denying anybody. I’m just telling them what the law is,” Allen said. “I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that’s what I’m going to do.”

    The state’s Democratic Party chair, Randy Kelley, accused Allen of “partisan gamesmanship,” pointing out that Alabama has made adjustments to accommodate late Republican conventions in the past.

    Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a similar letter to the Ohio Democratic Party last week. The letter suggested the party needed either to reschedule its convention or obtain a legislative fix by May 9 to get Biden on the Nov. 5 ballot.

    The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with a legal campaign last year to remove former Trump from various state ballots by citing a rarely used clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. After Democratic-dominated states including Colorado and Maine did so, Republicans warned they could counter by barring Biden from ballots in red states if the Supreme Court didn’t reverse the actions.

    The high court did just that last month, ruling that individual states can’t bar a candidate running for national office under the constitutional provision. But Alabama and Ohio have proceeded anyway, citing the technical conflicts between Biden’s official nomination and their own ballot deadlines.

    Biden’s campaign argues there is precedent in Alabama for accepting provisional certification, including when Republicans faced the same issue in 2020. In that year, the state both accepted a provisional certification for Trump and passed legislation containing a one-time deadline change. Democratic lawyers argue it was the provisional certification, and not the legislation, that allowed Trump onto the ballot.

    Regardless, Allen’s Republican predecessor as secretary of state, John Merrill, said Alabama worked it out for Trump and “absolutely the state should do the same” for Biden.

    “Everybody deserves the chance to vote for the major party nominees. That’s why it’s important for the state to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everybody in the state is properly represented,” he said.

    Republicans also submitted provisional certifications for Trump in Montana, Oklahoma and Washington in 2020, as did Democrats for Biden in those three states. On Thursday, the state of Washington agreed to accept a provisional certification for Biden to meet its pre-convention deadline. Oklahoma’s deadline also falls before the convention this year, but a spokesperson said its law already anticipates such occasions by allowing for provisional certifications.

    Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of the general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust it twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both parties. Each change was only temporary.

    Two Democratic lawmakers in Alabama’s Republican-controlled Legislature introduced legislation Thursday to push back the state’s certification deadline, and it looks like the party also will have to take the lead at Ohio’s GOP-led Statehouse.

    Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican, told reporters this week he does not plan to initiate a legislative solution in his state. He said it’s up to minority Democrats, who control only seven of the chamber’s 33 seats.

    “I think it’s a Democratic problem. There will have to be a Democratic solution,” Huffman said. “That hasn’t been proposed to me.”

    That could leave Biden’s fate in Ohio to LaRose, whom Democrats sharply criticized all spring as he competed in a bitter U.S. Senate primary.

    Democrats are weighing all their options. If pleas for provisional certification or legislation both fail, they could consider litigation or call a portion of their convention early to formalize Biden’s certification.

    A Biden campaign lawyer said that the president already is the presumptive nominee and that keeping him off ballots will strip voters of their constitutionally protected rights.

    “President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris will be the Democratic Party’s candidates for the 2024 presidential election,” Barry Ragsdale, an attorney for the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Convention, wrote in his Alabama letter. “They have already secured the requisite number of pledged delegates through the state primary process. There is no ambiguity on this point.”

    Some Republicans in both states support working with the Biden campaign to assure he is on the ballot.

    Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, the chamber’s Republican leader, said, “My attitude would be trying to be accommodating, if we can, in regards to a topic that’s important for everyone across the board.”

    Republican U.S. Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, said that he doesn’t believe anything “malicious” is going on in his state and that he expects an accommodation to be made for Biden. Vance told The Boston Globe he hopes Ohioans will support Trump, and expects they will, as they did in 2016 and 2020.

    “But the people of Ohio get to make that choice,” he said, “not some weird ballot quirk.”

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  • Waguespack and 5 relievers combine on a 6-hitter and Rays beat Giants 2-1

    Waguespack and 5 relievers combine on a 6-hitter and Rays beat Giants 2-1

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    BY MARK DIDTLER

    Updated 10:18 PM EDT, April 12, 2024

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Waguespack and five relievers combined on a six-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Friday night.

    Waguespack gave up one run and four hits over four innings in his first start since Sept. 25, 2019, and fourth appearance this season. Garrett Cleavinger (2-0) followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

    Phil Maton, Colon Poche, Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks — who worked the ninth to get his third save in as many chances — closed out the Rays’ fifth win in six games. Fairbanks retired the final two batters with a runner on third.

    “Really good job from the bullpen from the start really, including Waguespack, he kind of set the tone,” Poche said.

    Tampa Bay has five starting pitchers on the injured list and the Rays’ bullpen entered with an AL-worst 6.43 ERA.

    San Francisco has three extra-base hits, including one Friday, over the last three games and gone without a homer in seven straight. The Giants went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Tampa Bay.

    “Just didn’t get great at-bats in those situations,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.

    Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Amed Rosario’s RBI double. Rosario was awarded third when third baseman Matt Chapman was called for obstruction on the Rays’ second basemen’s slide.

    “That’s going to look funny all year,” Melvin said, “It’s the first time we’ve seen it called like that.”

    Harold Ramirez scored on Rosario’s hit after beating out an infield single.

    “I didn’t know he was that fast,” Rosario said through a translator.

    Melvin was ejected by plate umpire Clint Vondrak for arguing after Jorge Soler was called out on strikes on a pitch by Poche with two on to end the top of the seventh.

    “He’s been calling the top of the zone the whole game and he called that one, which has not been called and it looked like it was way below the zone in that situation,” Melvin said. “For me, it was pretty egregious.”

    San Francisco starter Keaton Winn (0-3) nearly worked out of a base-loaded, no-out jam in the second with a pair of strikeouts, but walked Yandy Díaz on a 3-2 pitch. He avoided further damage by retiring Randy Arozarena on a grounder.

    Winn allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out six.

    San Francisco tied it at 1 in the third when Jung Hoo Lee singled, stole second and went to third on catcher Ben Rortvedt’s throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch.

    TRAINER’S ROOM

    Giants: RHP Alex Cobb (left hip surgery) could throw off a bullpen mound next week. … LHP Robbie Ray (Tommy John surgery) is throwing off a mound and is expected back sometime after the All-Star break.

    Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe (right oblique strain) was placed on the 10-day IL and INF-OF Niko Goodrum was recalled from Triple-A Durham.

    UP NEXT

    Giants RHP Logan Webb (0-1) and Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-1) are Saturday’s starters.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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  • Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on public lands under Biden rule

    Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on public lands under Biden rule

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    Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells, according to a final rule issued Friday by the Biden administration.

    What You Need To Know

    • Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells under a final rule from the Biden administration

    • The Interior Department rule finalized Friday raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping 2022 climate law approved by Congress
    • The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century

    • The federal rate was significantly lower than what many states and private landowners charge for drilling leases on state or private lands

    The Interior Department’s rule raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping 2022 climate law approved by Congress. The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century. The federal rate was significantly lower than what many states and private landowners charge for drilling leases on state or private lands.

    The new rule does not go so far as to prohibit new oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged and as Democratic President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign. But officials said the proposal would lead to a more responsible leasing process that provides a better return to U.S. taxpayers.

    The plan codifies provisions in the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the 2021 infrastructure law and recommendations from an Interior Department report on oil and gas leasing issued in 2021.

    “These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program in decades, and they will cut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental cleanups,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.

    Along with efforts to clean up so-called orphaned, or abandoned, wells, “these reforms will help safeguard the health of our public lands and nearby communities for generations to come,” Haaland said.

    Haaland and other officials said the new rule provides a fair return to taxpayers and focuses oil and gas leasing in areas that are the most likely to be developed, especially those with existing infrastructure and high oil and gas potential. The rule will ease pressure to develop areas that contain sensitive wildlife habitat, cultural resources or recreation sites, officials said.

    The new royalty rate set by the climate law is expected to remain in place until August 2032, after which it can be increased. The higher rate would increase costs for oil and gas companies by an estimated $1.8 billion in that period, according to the Interior Department.

    The rule also would increase the minimum leasing bond paid by energy companies to $150,000, compared with the previous $10,000 established in 1960. The higher bonding requirement is intended to ensure that companies meet their obligations to clean up drilling sites after they are done or cap wells that are abandoned.

    The previous level was far too low to force companies to act and did not cover potential costs to reclaim a well, officials said. As a result, taxpayers frequently end up covering cleanup costs for abandoned or depleted wells if an operator refuses to do so or declares bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands of “orphaned” oil and gas wells and abandoned coal and hardrock mines pose serious safety hazards, while causing ongoing environmental damage.

    The Interior Department has made available more than $1 billion in the past two years from the infrastructure law to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands. The new rule aims to prevent that burden from falling on taxpayers in the future.

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  • Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese headline WNBA draft

    Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese headline WNBA draft

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and others make this one of the most anticipated WNBA drafts in recent years. There are several impact players up for grabs, but their talent is nearly eclipsed by their popularity among basketball fans.

    What You Need To Know

    • While Clark is a lock to go first, Brink, Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso have all been in the discussion to be taken at No. 2 by Los Angeles

    • The Sparks also own the No. 4 pick with Chicago choosing third

    • All-Americans Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana and Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech won’t be able to play in the WNBA this season because of knee injuries

    “Caitlin is kind of in a world of her own, but I don’t know that we have seen this kind of excitement across the board,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. “You know, Angel Reese has a massive following. Cameron Brink has a large following of people, whether it’s following them on social media or following them throughout the course of their college career.

    “We have women coming into the draft this year, who people are very much aware of and eager to see how their game is going to translate at this level.”

    Clark has helped bring millions of new fans to the game with her signature logo shots and dazzling passing ability. The Iowa star was a big reason why a record 18.9 million viewers tuned in to the NCAA championship game where South Carolina beat the Hawkeyes.

    The NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader will go first to the Indiana Fever on Monday night when the draft takes place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in front of 1,000 fans.

    “This is the first time we’re going to have fans at the draft, so I think that’s going to be special,” ESPN analyst Andraya Carter said. “For people watching at home to see and hear a crowd and fans and people there, I think it’ll be really exciting.”

    While Clark is a lock to go first, Brink, Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso have all been in the discussion to be taken at No. 2 by Los Angeles. The Sparks also own the No. 4 pick with Chicago choosing third.

    “They are foundational. They’re an incredible opportunity for our organization,” Sparks GM Raegan Pebley said. “We definitely want to see two players that not only have the skill set to make an impact early, but also a long runway ahead of them, opportunities to develop, opportunities to, not only be excellent in what they do, but how they impact the other pieces around them as we continue to build this team.”

    Dallas is fifth and Washington sixth. Minnesota, Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut, New York and Atlanta close out the first round. In all, there are three rounds and 36 picks in total.

    Here are a few other tidbits for the draft:

    Injury setbacks

    All-Americans Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana and Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech won’t be able to play in the WNBA this season because of knee injuries. Holmes said on social media that she is having surgery next month.

    “At this time to ensure my body is healthy and my playing career is as long and successful as possible, I have decided to get the necessary surgery in May to prevent further issues and alleviate the pain it has caused,” she said. “I have declared for the 2024 WNBA draft and pray that a team honors me with a selection knowing I will be ready for the start of 2025 training camp.”

    Kitley tore the ACL in her left knee in Virginia Tech’s final regular season game and missed the entire postseason.

    “Whenever you see any player go through an injury at any point in their career, but especially at that point, this special season that Virginia Tech was having. But I think she’s a player that has, I’ll use this word ‘track’ again,” Pebley said. “Just a lot of runway ahead of her. She’s going to, I think, have a great career with her versatility, her footwork abilities. And I think her impact around the rim.”

    Invitees

    The WNBA invited 15 players to the draft Monday, including Clark, Reese, Brink, Jackson, Cardoso and Kitley. The others are Aliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl of UConn; Charisma Osborne of UCLA; Celeste Taylor and Jacy Sheldon of Ohio State; Alissa Pili of Utah; Marquesha Davis of Mississippi; Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse; and Nyadiew Puoch of Australia.

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  • Manhattan court must find a dozen jurors for Trump hush-money trial

    Manhattan court must find a dozen jurors for Trump hush-money trial

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    Of the 1.4 million adults who live in Manhattan, a dozen are soon to become the first Americans to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime.

    What You Need To Know

    • A dozen Manhattan residents are soon to become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime

    • Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial

    • The presumptive Republican nominee has pleaded not guilty

    • The proceedings present a historic challenge for the court, the lawyers and the everyday citizens who find themselves in the jury pool
    • Those problems include finding people who can be impartial about one of the most polarizing figures in American life and detecting any bias among prospective jurors without invading the privacy of the ballot box

    Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money case — the first trial among four criminal prosecutions of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The proceedings present a historic challenge for the court, the lawyers and the everyday citizens who find themselves in the jury pool.

    “There is no question that picking a jury in a case involving someone as familiar to everyone as former President Trump poses unique problems,” one of the trial prosecutors, Joshua Steinglass, said during a hearing.

    Those problems include finding people who can be impartial about one of the most polarizing figures in American life and detecting any bias among prospective jurors without invading the privacy of the ballot box.

    There’s also the risk that people may try to game their way onto the jury to serve a personal agenda. Or they may be reluctant to decide a case against a politician who has used his social media megaphone to tear into court decisions that go against him and has tens of millions of fervent supporters.

    Still, if jury selection will be tricky, it’s not impossible, says John Jay College of Criminal Justice psychology professor Margaret Bull Kovera.

    “There are people who will look at the law, look at the evidence that’s shown and make a decision,” says Kovera, whose research includes the psychology of juries. “And the job of the judge and the attorneys right now is to figure out who those people are.”

    Trump has pleaded not guilty to fudging his company’s books as part of an effort to conceal payments made to hide claims of extramarital sex during his 2016 campaign. He denies the encounters and contends the case is a legally bogus, politically engineered effort to sabotage his current run.

    He will go on trial in a criminal court system where juries have decided cases against a roster of famous names, including mob boss John Gotti, disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein and Trump’s own company.

    Over the last year, writer E. Jean Carroll’s sex assault and defamation civil suits against Trump went before juries in a nearby federal courthouse. New York state’s fraud lawsuit against the ex-president and his company went to trial without a jury last fall in a state court next door.

    But the hush-money case, which carries the possibility of up to four years in prison if he’s convicted, raises the stakes.

    Trump lived for decades in Manhattan, where he first made his name as a swaggering real estate developer with a flair for publicity. As Steinglass put it, “There is no chance that we’re going to find a single juror that doesn’t have a view” of Trump.

    But the question isn’t whether a prospective juror does or doesn’t like Trump or anyone else in the case, Judge Juan M. Merchan wrote in a filing Monday. Rather, he said, it’s whether the person can “set aside any personal feelings or biases and render a decision that is based on the evidence and the law.”

    The process of choosing a jury begins when Merchan fills his New Deal-era courtroom with prospective jurors, giving them a brief description of the case and other basics. Then the judge will excuse any people who indicate by a show of hands that they can’t serve or can’t be fair and impartial, he wrote.

    Those who remain will be called in groups into the jury box — by number, as their names won’t be made public — to answer 42 questions, some with multiple parts.

    Some are standard inquiries about prospective jurors’ backgrounds. But the two sides have vigorously debated what, if anything, prospective jurors should be asked about their political activities and opinions.

    Merchan emphasized that he won’t let the lawyers ask about jurors’ voting choices, political contributions or party registration.

    But the approved questionnaire asks, for example, whether someone has “political, moral, intellectual or religious beliefs or opinions” that might “slant your approach to this case.” Another query probes whether prospective jurors support any of a half-dozen far-right or far-left groups, have attended Trump or anti-Trump rallies, and have worked or volunteered for Trump or for organizations that criticize him.

    Potential jurors also will be quizzed about any “strong opinions or firmly held beliefs” about Trump or his candidacy that would cloud their ability to be fair, any feelings about how Trump is being treated in the case and any “strong opinions” on whether ex-presidents can be charged in state courts.

    The process of choosing 12 jurors and six alternates can be chesslike, as the opposing sides try to game out whom they want and whom their adversaries want. They must also weigh which prospective jurors they can challenge as unable to serve or be impartial and when it’s worth using one of their limited chances to rule someone out without giving a reason.

    “A lot of times you make assumptions, and arguably stereotypes, about people that aren’t true, so it’s important to listen to what they say” in court and, if possible, online, says Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a University of Dayton law professor who studies juries.

    In prominent cases, courts and attorneys watch out for “stealth jurors,” people trying to be chosen because they want to steer the verdict, profit off the experience or have other private motives.

    Conversely, some people might want to avoid the attention that comes with a case against a famous person. To try to address that, Merchan decided to shield the jurors’ names from everyone except prosecutors, Trump and their respective legal teams.

    The six jurors and three alternates in each of Carroll’s federal civil cases against Trump were driven to and from court through an underground garage, and their names were withheld from the public, Carroll, Trump, their attorneys and even the judge.

    Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, says that if she were involved in the hush-money case, she would ask the court to do everything possible to ensure that jurors stay anonymous and don’t fear being singled out online or in the media.

    “The main concern, given the world we live in, has to be the potential for juror intimidation,” Kaplan said.

    Jurors were chosen within hours for both trials of Carroll’s claims, which Trump denies. Carroll’s lawyers later tried midtrial to boot a juror who had mentioned listening to a conservative podcaster who criticized Carroll’s case. The judge privately queried the juror, who insisted he could be fair and impartial.

    He remained on the panel, which unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. Eight months later, the second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.5 million for defamation.

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