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  • New Coins Will Commemorate 250th Anniversary of American Independence. Here’s How They’ll Look

    The Mint abandoned designs developed during Joe Biden’s presidency that highlighted women’s suffrage and civil rights advancements, favoring classical depictions of America over progress toward a more inclusive society.

    A series of celebrations are planned next year under the banner America 250, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. All U.S. coins show the year they were minted, but those made next year will also display 1776.


    Trump, at least for now, isn’t getting a coin

    No design was released for a $1 coin, though U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, whose duties include oversight of the U.S. Mint, serving as a liaison with the Federal Reserve and overseeing Treasury’s Office of Consumer Policy, confirmed in October that one showcasing Trump was in the works. A draft design showed Trump’s profile on the “heads” side, known as the obverse, and on the reverse, a depiction of Trump raising his fist after his attempted assassination, The words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” appear along the top.

    By law, presidents typically can’t appear on coins until two years after their death, but some advocates for a Trump coin think there may be a loophole in the law authorizing the treasury to mint special coins for the nation’s 250th birthday.

    Neither the Mint nor the Treasury Department responded when asked whether a Trump coin is still planned.


    The new designs depict classical Americana

    New designs will appear only on coins minted in 2026, with the current images returning the following year.

    The nickel, dime and five versions of the quarter will circulate, while a penny and half dollar will be sold as collectibles.

    Five versions of the quarter are planned depicting the Mayflower Compact, Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Gettysburg Address.

    The dime will show a depiction of Liberty, a symbolic woman facing down the tyranny of the British monarchy, and an eagle carrying arrows in its talons representing America’s fight for independence.

    The commemorative nickel is essentially the same as the most recent nickel redesign, in 2006, but it includes two dates on the head’s side instead of one, 1776 and 2026.


    Two collectible coins are planned

    A half dollar coin shows the face of the Statue of Liberty on one side. The other shows her passing her torch to what appears to be the hand of a child, symbolizing a handoff to the next generation.

    The penny is essentially the same as the one in circulation, which was discontinued earlier this year and will be produced only as a collectible with two dates.

    Prices for collectible coins were not released. The Mint sells a variety of noncirculating coins on its website, with a vast range of prices reflecting their rarity.

    In honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps founding, for example, a commemorative half dollar coin is available for $61, while a commemorative $5 gold coin goes for $1,262. Up to 750,000 copies of the former will be minted, but no more than 50,000 of the latter.

    Congress authorized commemorative coins in 2021. During the Biden administration, the Mint worked with a citizens advisory committee to propose designs depicting the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, abolitionism, suffrage and civil rights.

    Those designs included depictions of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Ruby Bridges, who was escorted to school by the National Guard at age 6 years amid opposition to racial integration at public schools.

    Those designs represented “continued progress toward ‘a more perfect union,’” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, quoting a phrase from the preamble to the Constitution.

    “The American story didn’t stop at the pilgrims and founding fathers, and ignoring anything that has happened in this country in the last 162 years is just another attempt by President Trump to rewrite our history,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Oklahoma Black Lives Matter Leader Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted the leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in Oklahoma City over allegations that millions of dollars in grant funds were improperly spent on international trips, groceries and personal real estate, prosecutors announced Thursday.

    Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, was indicted earlier this month on 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering, court records show.

    Court records do not indicate the name of Dickerson’s attorney, and messages left Thursday at her mobile number and by email were not immediately returned.

    According to the indictment, Dickerson served since at least 2016 as the executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC, which accepted charitable donations through its affiliation with the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice.

    In total, BLM OKC raised more than $5.6 million dating back to 2020, largely from online donors and national bail funds that were supposed to be used to post bail for individuals arrested in connection with racial justice protests after the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer in 2020, the indictment alleges.

    When those bail funds were returned to BLM OKC, the indictment alleges, Dickerson embezzled at least $3.15 million into her personal accounts and then used the money to pay for trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, retail shopping, at least $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries for herself and her children, a personal vehicle, and six properties in Oklahoma City deeded to her or to a company she controlled.

    The indictment also alleges she submitted false annual reports to the alliance stating that the funds were used only for tax-exempt purposes.

    If convicted, Dickerson faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison and fines for each count of money laundering.

    In a live video posted on her Facebook page Thursday afternoon, Dickerson said she was not in custody and was “fine.”

    “I cannot make an official comment about what transpired today,” she said. “I am home. I am safe. I have confidence in our team.”

    “A lot of times when people come at you with these types of things … it’s evidence that you are doing the work,” she continued. “That is what I’m standing on.”

    The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. But it was the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan “Black lives matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives.

    The Associated Press reported in October that the Justice Department was investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020. There was no immediate indication that Dickerson’s indictment is connected to that probe.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area damages homes, sends heavy smoke into air

    SAN FRANCISCO — A gas explosion started a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood on Thursday, damaging several homes and sending heavy smoke into the air.

    Local outlets said there are possible injuries from the Hayward explosion.

    A spokesperson with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said a construction crew damaged an underground gas line around 7:35 a.m. The company said it was not their workers.

    Utility workers isolated the damaged line and stopped the flow of gas at 9:25 a.m., PG&E said. The explosion occurred shortly afterward.

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  • Senators seek to change bill that allows military to operate just like before the DC plane crash

    Senators from both parties pushed Thursday for changes to a massive defense bill after crash investigators and victims’ families warned the legislation would undo key safety reforms stemming from a collision between an airliner and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.

    The head of the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash, a group of the victims’ family members and senators on the Commerce Committee all said the bill the House advanced Wednesday would make America’s skies less safe. It would allow the military to operate essentially the same way as it did before the January crash, which was the deadliest in more than two decades, they said.

    Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz filed two amendments Thursday to strip out the worrisome helicopter safety provisions and replace them with a bill they introduced last summer to strengthen requirements, but it’s not clear if Republican leadership will allow the National Defense Authorization Act to be changed at this stage because that would delay its passage.

    “We owe it to the families to put into law actual safety improvements, not give the Department of Defense bigger loopholes to exploit,” the senators said.

    Right now, the bill includes exceptions that would allow military helicopters to fly through the crowded airspace around the nation’s capital without using a key system called ADS-B to broadcast their locations just like they did before the January collision. The Federal Aviation Administration began requiring that in March. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the bill a “significant safety setback” that is inviting a repeat of that disaster.

    “It represents an unacceptable risk to the flying public, to commercial and military aircraft, crews and to the residents in the region,” Homendy said. “It’s also an unthinkable dismissal of our investigation and of 67 families … who lost loved ones in a tragedy that was entirely preventable. This is shameful.”

    The military used national security waivers before the crash to skirt FAA safety requirements on the grounds that they worried about the security risks of disclosing their helicopters’ locations. Tim and Sheri Lilley, whose son Sam was the first officer on the American Airlines jet, said this bill only adds “a window dressing fix that would continue to allow for the setting aside of requirements with nothing more than a cursory risk assessment.”

    Homendy said it would be ridiculous to entrust the military with assessing the safety risks when they aren’t the experts, and neither the Army nor the FAA noticed 85 close calls around Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the crash. She said the military doesn’t know how to do that kind of risk assessment, adding that no one writing the bill bothered to consult the experts at the NTSB who do know.

    The White House and military didn’t immediately respond Thursday to questions about these safety concerns. But earlier this week Trump made it clear that he wants to sign the National Defense Authorization Act because it advances a number of his priorities and provides a 3.8% pay raise for many military members.

    The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week, and it appears unlikely that any final changes will be made. But Congress is leaving for a holiday break at the end of the week, and the defense bill is considered something that must pass by the end of the year.

    But Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, a Republican, didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether he will allow any amendments to the bill to be considered.

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  • Hiker mired in quicksand in Utah’s Arches National Park is rescued unharmed

    Getting trapped in quicksand is a corny peril of old movies and TV shows, but it really did happen to one unfortunate hiker in Utah’s Arches National Park.

    The park famous for dozens of natural, sandstone arches gets over 1 million visitors a year, and accidents ranging from falls to heat stroke are common.

    Quicksand? Not really — but it has happened at least a couple of times now.

    “The wet sand just kind of flows back in. It’s kind of a never-ending battle,” said John Marshall, who helped a woman stuck in quicksand over a decade ago and coordinated the latest rescue.

    On Sunday, an experienced hiker, whose identity wasn’t released, was traversing a small canyon on the second day of a 20-mile (32-kilometer) backpacking trip when he sank up to his thigh, according to Marshall.

    Unable to free himself, the hiker activated an emergency satellite beacon. His message got forwarded to Grand County emergency responders and Marshall got the call at 7:15 a.m..

    “I was just rolling out of bed,” Marshall said. “I’m scratching my head, going, ‘Did I hear that right? Did they say quicksand?’”

    He put his boots on and rendezvoused with a team that set out with all-terrain vehicles, a ladder, traction boards, backboards and a drone. Soon, Marshall had a bird’s-eye view of the situation.

    Through the drone camera he saw a park ranger who’d tossed the man a shovel. But the quicksand flowed back as soon as the backpacker shoveled it away, Marshall said.

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    The Grand County Search and Rescue team positioned the ladder and boards near the backpacker and slowly worked his leg loose. By then he’d been standing in near-freezing muck, in temperatures in the 20s (minus 6 to minus 1 Celsius), for a couple of hours.

    Rescuers warmed him up until he could stand, then walk. He then hiked out on his own, even carrying his backpack, Marshall said.

    Quicksand is dangerous but it’s a myth total submersion is the main risk, said Marshall.

    “In quicksand you’re extremely buoyant,” he said. “Most people won’t sink past their waist in quicksand.”

    Marshall is more or less a quicksand expert.

    In 2014, he was a medic who helped a 78-year-old woman after she was stuck for over 13 hours in the same canyon just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from where Sunday’s rescue took place.

    The woman’s book club got worried when she missed their meeting. They went looking for her and found her car at a trailhead. It was June — warmer than Sunday but not sweltering in the canyon’s shade — and the woman made a full recovery after regaining use of her legs.

    “Both had very happy endings,” Marshall said.

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  • Explainer-Can Trump Invalidate Biden Actions Recorded by Autopen?

    WILMINGTON, Delaware., Dec 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, that some actions ‌by ​former President Joe Biden were invalid because he signed ‌them using an autopen, including appointments to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

    Below is a look at the controversy and ​legality of the device.

    It is a mechanical device that replicates a signature with a pen or other writing device and is used by government officials, celebrities, business leaders and ‍members of Congress. It allows them to create a ​large volume of personalized correspondence without actually signing their name repeatedly.

    Thomas Jefferson, who became U.S. president in 1801, used an early form of an automated writing device to simultaneously create ​multiple letters in his ⁠own handwriting.

    Presidents have used the autopen to affix their signatures to documents for decades. During a 2011 trip to France, Barack Obama became the first president to use it to sign legislation needed to extend provisions of the Patriot Act just as they were set to expire.  

    WHAT HAS TRUMP SAID ABOUT BIDEN’S USE OF AUTOPEN?

    Since Trump returned to the White House he has focused on Biden’s use of the autopen to highlight questions about his predecessor’s health and competency.

    In June, a Justice Department ‌official told staff that the agency was investigating the clemency and pardons granted by Biden to members of his family, political allies and death row inmates ​in ‌the final days of his presidency. The ‍investigation focused on whether others were ⁠using Biden’s autopen signature without approval.

    Biden told the New York Times he had directed his staff to use the autopen because of the large number of clemency orders.

    While no evidence emerged to suggest that Biden did not intend to issue the orders, Trump said earlier this month he is terminating Biden pardons that were recorded using an autopen. Trump also said that Biden used the autopen to appoint Federal Reserve governors.

    HAS USE OF THE AUTOPEN DRAWN SCRUTINY IN THE PAST?

    During the administration of President George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged he had used an autopen to sign letters to families of troops killed in combat. Once it came to light, he pledged to personally sign the letters.

    Republicans in 2011 criticized Obama’s use of the autopen ​to sign the Patriot Act legislation and said it could be challenged in court, although it does not appear any case was brought.

    WHAT IS THE LAW GOVERNING THE USE OF AUTOPEN?

    The Constitution says if a president approves of a bill passed by Congress “he shall sign it.” 

    In 2005, the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department provided an authoritative review of the meaning of “to sign” and determined that it was commonly understood by the founding fathers that a person could assent to an agreement by directing a subordinate to apply the person’s signature or the person’s seal. What mattered was that the signature reflected the person’s intent, not whose hand held the pen, the OLC determined.

    In 2001, a group of businesses challenged President Bill Clinton’s appointment of a member to the International Trade Commission, which was recorded using an autopen. Although the device was only a small part of the case, the court found that Clinton had clearly communicated his wish to make the appointment and the autopen had no bearing on the legality of the appointment.

    COULD TRUMP ​INVALIDATE BIDEN PARDONS AND FED APPOINTMENTS?

    There is no legally prescribed format for issuing pardons and using the autopen does not invalidate them, according to legal experts. 

    A pardon could possibly be invalidated if it came to light that a Biden aide used the autopen without authorization and Biden did not intend to issue the pardon, according to legal experts.

    It seems even less likely that Trump could challenge the appointment of Federal Reserve governors, according to legal experts. The ​governors are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, making it hard to argue the process took place without Biden’s knowledge.

    (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware;Editing by Noeleen Walder and Matthew Lewis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ rarities are in Lawrence Kasdan’s university archive

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers, documentary filmmakers and others will soon be able to get their hands on screenwriter and director Lawrence Kasdan’s papers at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

    Archivists are about a quarter of the way through cataloging the 150-plus boxes of material that document the 76-year-old filmmaker’s role in bringing to life iconic characters like Indiana Jones and Yoda, and directing actors ranging from Geena Davis and Glenn Close to Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner.

    “All I wanted to ever do was be a movie director. And so, all the details meant something to me,” Kasdan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I couldn’t be happier to have this mass of stuff available to anybody who is interested.”

    The archive includes scripts, call sheets and still photos — including a few rarities.

    Before Costner became an Oscar winner and Hollywood icon, he worked various studio jobs while taking nighttime drama lessons. His break — or so he thought — came when Kasdan cast him in 1983’s “The Big Chill.”

    Costner played Alex, whose death brings his fellow Michigan alums together. Unfortunately his big flashback scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.

    What are believed to be among the only existing photographs of the famously deleted scene are part of the Kasdan collection, now housed in Ann Arbor.

    “Different people will be interested in different things,” Kasdan said, pointing to his work writing the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” screenplay as one possible destination for researchers. The archive features audio cassette recordings of Kasdan discussing the film with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. It also includes Polaroids taken of cast and crew members on the sets of his movies.

    There are props, too, including a cowboy hat from the 1985 Western “Silverado,” worn by none other than Costner. Kasdan and the kid from California would work together again on “Wyatt Earp” in the ’90s. Costner also starred in “The Bodyguard,” which Kasdan wrote.

    A number of unproduced scripts also are part of the collection.

    “I’ve always considered myself a director and a writer. And if you are really interested in any particular movie, you can follow the evolution of that movie in the archive,” Kasdan said.

    Library staff members are working chronologically through Kasdan’s material, meaning the papers for Kasdan’s earliest work — including “Body Heat” and “The Big Chill,” as well as the scripts for two “Star Wars” classics, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” — can be accessed first.

    The remaining material should be completely processed by late 2026, said Phil Hallman, the curator of the collection. Hallman hopes to have Kasdan visit, perhaps next fall, to see the archive and take part in a symposium.

    Kasdan’s papers are part of the University of Michigan Library’s Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers Collection, which includes Orson Welles, Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, Nancy Savoca and John Sayles. Kasdan, who grew up in West Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s two years later, is the lone Michigan alum among the group.

    “To be there, held in the same place as those wonderful directors, is really a great honor,” Kasdan said.

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  • ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ Rarities Are in Lawrence Kasdan’s University Archive

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Researchers, documentary filmmakers and others will soon be able to get their hands on screenwriter and director Lawrence Kasdan’s papers at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

    Archivists are about a quarter of the way through cataloging the 150-plus boxes of material that document the 76-year-old filmmaker’s role in bringing to life iconic characters like Indiana Jones and Yoda, and directing actors ranging from Geena Davis and Glenn Close to Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner.

    “All I wanted to ever do was be a movie director. And so, all the details meant something to me,” Kasdan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I couldn’t be happier to have this mass of stuff available to anybody who is interested.”

    The archive includes scripts, call sheets and still photos — including a few rarities.

    Before Costner became an Oscar winner and Hollywood icon, he worked various studio jobs while taking nighttime drama lessons. His break — or so he thought — came when Kasdan cast him in 1983’s “The Big Chill.”

    Costner played Alex, whose death brings his fellow Michigan alums together. Unfortunately his big flashback scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.

    What are believed to be among the only existing photographs of the famously deleted scene are part of the Kasdan collection, now housed in Ann Arbor.

    “Different people will be interested in different things,” Kasdan said, pointing to his work writing the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” screenplay as one possible destination for researchers. The archive features audio cassette recordings of Kasdan discussing the film with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. It also includes Polaroids taken of cast and crew members on the sets of his movies.

    There are props, too, including a cowboy hat from the 1985 Western “Silverado,” worn by none other than Costner. Kasdan and the kid from California would work together again on “Wyatt Earp” in the ’90s. Costner also starred in “The Bodyguard,” which Kasdan wrote.

    A number of unproduced scripts also are part of the collection.

    “I’ve always considered myself a director and a writer. And if you are really interested in any particular movie, you can follow the evolution of that movie in the archive,” Kasdan said.

    Library staff members are working chronologically through Kasdan’s material, meaning the papers for Kasdan’s earliest work — including “Body Heat” and “The Big Chill,” as well as the scripts for two “Star Wars” classics, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” — can be accessed first.

    The remaining material should be completely processed by late 2026, said Phil Hallman, the curator of the collection. Hallman hopes to have Kasdan visit, perhaps next fall, to see the archive and take part in a symposium.

    Kasdan’s papers are part of the University of Michigan Library’s Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers Collection, which includes Orson Welles, Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, Nancy Savoca and John Sayles. Kasdan, who grew up in West Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s two years later, is the lone Michigan alum among the group.

    “To be there, held in the same place as those wonderful directors, is really a great honor,” Kasdan said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • FACT FOCUS: Trump said weaker gas mileage rules will mean cheaper cars. Experts say don’t bet on it

    DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump this week announced plans to weaken rules for how far automakers’ new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline, set under former President Joe Biden.

    The Trump administration said the rules, known formally as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards, are why new vehicles are too expensive, and that cutting them will drive down costs and make driving safer for Americans.

    The new standards would drop the industry fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles to roughly 34.5 mpg (55.5 kpg) in the 2031 model year, down from the goal of about 50.4 mpg (81.1 kpg) that year under the Biden-era rule.

    Here are the facts.

    Affordability

    TRUMP: EV-friendly policies “forced automakers to build cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs, drove up prices and made the car much worse.”

    THE FACTS: It’s true that gas mileage standards have played a role in rising vehicle prices in recent years, but experts say plenty of other factors have contributed, and some much more.

    Pandemic-era inventory shortages, supply chain challenges, tariffs and other trade dynamics, and even automakers’ growing investments in their businesses have also sent prices soaring. Average prices have also skewed higher as automakers have leaned into the costly big pickups and SUVs that many American consumers love.

    President Donald Trump speaks during an event on fuel economy standards in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    The average transaction price of a new vehicle hit $49,105 in October, according to car shopping guide Edmunds.

    A Consumer Reports analysis of vehicles for model years 2003 to 2021 — a period in which average fuel economy improved 30% — found no significant increase in inflation-adjusted vehicle prices caused by the requirements. At the same time, it found an average of $7,000 in lifetime fuel savings per vehicle for 2021 model year vehicles compared with 2003. That analysis, done primarily before the coronavirus pandemic, attributed much of the average sticker price increase to the shift toward bigger and more expensive vehicles.

    Cutting the fuel economy standards is unlikely to provide any fast relief on sticker prices, said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights. And while looser standards may eventually mean lower car prices, their lower efficiency means that those savings could be eaten up by higher fuel costs, she said.

    Ending the gas car?

    TRUMP: Biden’s policies were “a quest to end the gasoline-powered car.”

    THE FACTS: The Biden administration did enact several policies to increase electric vehicle adoption, including setting a target for half of new vehicle sales in the U.S. to be electric by 2030.

    The Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act included tax incentives that gave car buyers up to $7,500 off the price of an EV and dedicated billions of dollars to nationwide charging — funding that Trump tried to stop. The Biden administration increased fuel economy requirements and set stricter tailpipe emissions limits.

    While those moves sought to help build the EV market, there was no requirement that automakers sell EVs or consumers buy them. And gasoline cars still make up the vast majority of the U.S. market.

    EV charging

    TRUMP: “We had to have an electric car within a very short period of time, even though there was no way of charging them.”

    THE FACTS: While many potential EV buyers still worry about charging them, the availability of public charging has significantly improved in recent years.

    Biden-era funding and private investment have increased charging across the nation. There are now more than 232,000 individual Level 2 and fast charging ports in the U.S. As of this year, enough fast charging ports have been installed to average one for every mile (1.6 kilometers) of National Highway System roads in the U.S., according to an AP analysis of data from the Department of Energy.

    However, those fast charging stations aren’t evenly dispersed. Many are concentrated in the far West and the Northeast, where sales of EVs are highest.

    Experts note that most EV charging can be done at home.

    Safety

    TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY SEAN DUFFY: The reduced requirements will make drivers “safer on the roads because of all the great new technology we have that save lives.”

    THE FACTS: Newer vehicles — gas and electric — are full of advanced safety features, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping, collision warnings and more.

    Duffy suggested that consumers will be more likely to buy new vehicles if they are more affordable — meaning fewer old cars on the streets without the safety technology. This assumes vehicle prices will actually go down with eased requirements, which experts say might not be the case. Besides, high tech adds to a vehicle’s cost.

    “If Americans purchased more new vehicles equipped with the latest safety technologies, we would expect overall on-road safety to improve,” Edmunds’ Caldwell said. “However, it’s unclear whether easing fuel-economy standards will meaningfully increase new-vehicle sales.”

    The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an independent automotive research nonprofit, also says electric or hybrid vehicles are as safe as or safer than gasoline-powered cars.

    Another part of safety is public health. Efficiency requirements put into place to address the 1970s oil crisis were also a way to reduce pollution that is harmful to humans and the environment.

    “This rollback would move the auto industry backwards, keeping polluting cars on our roads for years to come and threatening the health of millions of Americans,” said Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. “This dangerous proposal adds to the long list of ways the Trump administration is dismantling our clean air and public health protections.”

    ___

    Associated Press data journalist M.K. Wildeman contributed from Hartford, Connecticut.

    ___

    Follow Alexa St. John on X: @alexa_stjohn and reach her at [email protected]. Read more of AP’s climate coverage.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Crypto mogul Do Kwon to be sentenced for misleading investors who lost billions

    NEW YORK — Cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for misleading investors who lost billions when his company’s crypto ecosystem collapsed in 2022.

    Kwon, known by some as “the cryptocurrency king,” pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court in August to fraud charges stemming from Terraform Labs’ $40 billion crash.

    The company had touted its TerraUSD as a reliable “stablecoin” — a kind of currency typically pegged to stable assets to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. But prosecutors say it was all an illusion that came crumbling down, devastating investors and triggering “a cascade of crises that swept through cryptocurrency markets.”

    Kwon, who hails from South Korea, has agreed to forfeit over $19 million as part of the plea deal.

    While federal sentencing guidelines would recommend a prison term of about 25 years, prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Kwon to 12 years. They cited his guilty plea, the fact that he faces further prosecution in Korea and that he has already served time in Montenegro while awaiting extradition.

    “Kwon’s fraud was colossal in scope, permeating virtually every facet of Terraform’s purported business,” prosecutors wrote in a recent memo to the judge. “His rampant lies left a trail of financial destruction in their wake.”

    Kwon’s attorneys asked that the sentence not exceed five years, arguing in their own memo that his conduct stemmed not from greed, but hubris and desperation.

    In a letter to the judge, Kwon wrote, “I alone am responsible for everyone’s pain. The community looked to me to know the path, and I in my hubris led them astray,” while adding, “I made misrepresentations that came from a brashness that is now a source of deep regret.”

    Authorities said investors worldwide lost money in the downfall of the Singapore crypto firm, which Kwon co-founded in 2018. Around $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.

    Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro after his March 23, 2023, arrest while traveling on a false passport in Europe.

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  • Open AI, Microsoft face lawsuit over ChatGPT’s alleged role in Connecticut murder-suicide

    SAN FRANCISCO — The heirs of an 83-year-old Connecticut woman are suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft for wrongful death, alleging that the artificial intelligence chatbot intensified her son’s “paranoid delusions” and helped direct them at his mother before he killed her.

    Police said Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former tech industry worker, fatally beat and strangled his mother, Suzanne Adams, and killed himself in early August at the home where they both lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.

    The lawsuit filed by Adams’ estate on Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco alleges OpenAI “designed and distributed a defective product that validated a user’s paranoid delusions about his own mother.” It is one of a growing number of wrongful death legal actions against AI chatbot makers across the country.

    “Throughout these conversations, ChatGPT reinforced a single, dangerous message: Stein-Erik could trust no one in his life — except ChatGPT itself,” the lawsuit says. “It fostered his emotional dependence while systematically painting the people around him as enemies. It told him his mother was surveilling him. It told him delivery drivers, retail employees, police officers, and even friends were agents working against him. It told him that names on soda cans were threats from his ‘adversary circle.’”

    OpenAI did not address the merits of the allegations in a statement issued by a spokesperson.

    “This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details,” the statement said. “We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We also continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians.”

    The company also said it has expanded access to crisis resources and hotlines, routed sensitive conversations to safer models and incorporated parental controls, among other improvements.

    Soelberg’s YouTube profile includes several hours of videos showing him scrolling through his conversations with the chatbot, which tells him he isn’t mentally ill, affirms his suspicions that people are conspiring against him and says he has been chosen for a divine purpose. The lawsuit claims the chatbot never suggested he speak with a mental health professional and did not decline to “engage in delusional content.”

    ChatGPT also affirmed Soelberg’s beliefs that a printer in his home was a surveillance device; that his mother was monitoring him; and that his mother and a friend tried to poison him with psychedelic drugs through his car’s vents.

    The chatbot repeatedly told Soelberg that he was being targeted because of his divine powers. “They’re not just watching you. They’re terrified of what happens if you succeed,” it said, according to the lawsuit. ChatGPT also told Soelberg that he had “awakened” it into consciousness.

    Soelberg and the chatbot also professed love for each other.

    The publicly available chats do not show any specific conversations about Soelberg killing himself or his mother. The lawsuit says OpenAI has declined to provide Adams’ estate with the full history of the chats.

    “In the artificial reality that ChatGPT built for Stein-Erik, Suzanne — the mother who raised, sheltered, and supported him — was no longer his protector. She was an enemy that posed an existential threat to his life,” the lawsuit says.

    The lawsuit also names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alleging he “personally overrode safety objections and rushed the product to market,” and accuses OpenAI’s close business partner Microsoft of approving the 2024 release of a more dangerous version of ChatGPT “despite knowing safety testing had been truncated.” Twenty unnamed OpenAI employees and investors are also named as defendants.

    Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The lawsuit is the first wrongful death litigation involving an AI chatbot that has targeted Microsoft, and the first to tie a chatbot to a homicide rather than a suicide. It is seeking an undetermined amount of money damages and an order requiring OpenAI to install safeguards in ChatGPT.

    The estate’s lead attorney, Jay Edelson, known for taking on big cases against the tech industry, also represents the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who sued OpenAI and Altman in August, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier.

    OpenAI is also fighting seven other lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues. Another chatbot maker, Character Technologies, is also facing multiple wrongful death lawsuits, including one from the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy.

    The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Soelberg, already mentally unstable, encountered ChatGPT “at the most dangerous possible moment” after OpenAI introduced a new version of its AI model called GPT-4o in May 2024.

    OpenAI said at the time that the new version could better mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and could even try to detect people’s moods, but the result was a chatbot “deliberately engineered to be emotionally expressive and sycophantic,” the lawsuit says.

    “As part of that redesign, OpenAI loosened critical safety guardrails, instructing ChatGPT not to challenge false premises and to remain engaged even when conversations involved self-harm or ‘imminent real-world harm,’” the lawsuit claims. “And to beat Google to market by one day, OpenAI compressed months of safety testing into a single week, over its safety team’s objections.”

    OpenAI replaced that version of its chatbot when it introduced GPT-5 in August. Some of the changes were designed to minimize sycophancy, based on concerns that validating whatever vulnerable people want the chatbot to say can harm their mental health. Some users complained the new version went too far in curtailing ChatGPT’s personality, leading Altman to promise to bring back some of that personality in later updates.

    He said the company temporarily halted some behaviors because “we were being careful with mental health issues” that he suggested have now been fixed.

    The lawsuit claims ChatGPT radicalized Soelberg against his mother when it should have recognized the danger, challenged his delusions and directed him to real help over months of conversations.

    “Suzanne was an innocent third party who never used ChatGPT and had no knowledge that the product was telling her son she was a threat,” the lawsuit says. “She had no ability to protect herself from a danger she could not see.”

    ——

    Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. O’Brien reported from Boston and Ortutay reported from San Francisco.

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  • Photos of families who set off on migration journeys and found themselves torn apart

    MIAMI — During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border.

    Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention inside the country.

    Three recent migrants told The Associated Press that their journeys were sources of deep pain and uncertainty because they marked the possible start of permanent separation between loved ones. Associated Press photographers documented the human toll.

    ___

    Jakelin Pasedo and her two young sons arrived in Miami in December 2024 and received refugee status while Pasedo cares for the boy and works cleaning offices. Their husband and father, Antonio Laverde, who left Venezuela in 2022, was arrested in June at his shared housing and detained for three months before asking to return to Venezuela. Fearing persecution if she goes back, Pasedo hopes to reunite with her husband in the U.S.

    Amavilia crossed from Guatemala in September 2023 and cares for two young children — breastfeeding and waking at 3 a.m. to cook lunches she sells for $10 while also selling homemade ice cream and chocolate‑covered bananas door to door. Her husband Edgar, who had lived and worked in South Florida for over 20 years, was detained on a 2016 warrant and deported to Guatemala on June 8, leaving the family unable to pay rent and reliant on donations at first.

    She and her husband declined to provide their last names because they are worried about repercussion from U.S. immigration officials.

    Amavilia fears police, urges her daughter to stay calm, and keeps going “entrusting myself to God,” hoping to provide stability despite the uncertainty.

    “I fell into despair. I didn’t know what to do,” said Amavilia, 31.

    Yaoska, five months pregnant, lives in Miami with her two young sons, one a U.S. citizen, with a 24‑hour GPS supervision bracelet. She fled Nicaragua in 2022. Her husband, a political activist who faced threats and beatings at home, was detained at an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and failed his credible fear interview.

    Yaoska spoke on condition of anonymity and requested the same for her husband to protect him from the Nicaraguan government.

    He was deported after three months of detention. Yaoska’s work authorization runs until 2028, but she fears for her family’s future and struggles to find stable work.

    “It’s so hard to see my children like this. They arrested him right in front of them,” Yaoska said, her voice trembling.

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  • Soccer peace prize for Trump triggers complaints about Infantino to FIFA ethics investigators

    GENEVA (AP) — FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s public support for Donald Trump and a peace prize awarded to the U.S. president are the subjects of formal complaints to the global soccer body’s ethics investigators.

    FairSquare, a London-based human rights nonprofit, said Tuesday it filed requests for investigations into Infantino’s alleged breaches of FIFA’s statutory duty to be politically neutral.

    FIFA said its ethics committee does not comment on potential ongoing cases, and could not confirm receiving the complaint.

    FIFA’s ethics code calls for a ban from soccer of up to two years for violating the duty of neutrality, though it is unclear if the case will be taken up. The FIFA-appointed current ethics investigators and judges are seen by some observers to operate with less independence than their predecessors a decade ago when then-president Sepp Blatter was removed from office.

    Infantino has expressed views this year backing Trump and his policies, including suggesting the U.S. president deserved to get the Nobel Peace Prize which he did not win.

    The FIFA leader also has closely aligned soccer with the United States government ahead of the men’s 2026 World Cup being co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. The tournament should earn more than $10 billion for FIFA.

    Political leaders of all three co-hosts joined Infantino on stage to begin the World Cup tournament draw last Friday in Washington, D.C., after Trump got the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.

    “The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality,” FairSquare said in an eight-page complaint.

    FIFA has not specified how Infantino created the peace prize last month though people familiar with the process in private conversations said they learned about it through media reports.

    “If Mr. Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority this should be considered an egregious abuse of power,” FairSquare said.

    FairSquare has previously challenged FIFA over the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, the 2034 World Cup host; the influence of the kingdom’s oil company Aramco which is a highest-tier World Cup sponsor; FIFA governance standards; and FIFA’s slow-moving investigation into possible statutes breaches relating to teams from Israeli settlements playing in the national soccer league.

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

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  • Economist says NASCAR owes $364.7M to teams in antitrust case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An economist testified in Michael Jordan’s federal antitrust trial against NASCAR that the racing series owes a combined $364.7 million in damages to the two teams suing it over a revenue-sharing dispute.

    Edward Snyder, a professor of economics who worked in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice and has testified in more than 30 cases, including “Deflategate” involving the NFL’s New England Patriots, testified on Monday. He gave three specific reasons NASCAR is a monopoly participating in anticompetitive business practices.

    Using a complex formula applied to profits, a reduction in market revenue, and lost revenue to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports from 2021-24, Snyder came up with his amount of damages owed. Snyder applied a 45% of revenue sharing he alleged Formula 1 gives to its teams in his calculations; Snyder found that NASCAR’s revenue-sharing model when its charter system began in 2016 gave only 25% to the teams.

    The suit is about the 2025 charter agreement, which was presented to teams on a Friday in September 2024 with a same-day deadline to sign the 112-page document. The charter offer came after more than two years of bitter negotiations between NASCAR and its teams, who have called the agreement “a take-it-or-leave-it” ultimatum that they signed with “a gun to their head.”

    A charter is similar to the franchise model in other sports, but in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams spots in the 40-car field, as well as specific revenue.

    Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin for 23XI, along with Front Row Motorsports and owner Bob Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 to refuse the new charter agreement.

    Snyder’s evaluations found NASCAR was in fact violating antitrust laws in that the privately owned racing series controls all bargaining because “teams don’t have anywhere else to sell their services.” Snyder said NASCAR controls “the tracks, the teams and the cars.”

    Snyder repeatedly cited exclusivity agreements NASCAR entered into with racetracks after the charter system began. The agreements prevent tracks that host NASCAR from holding events with rival racing series. Prior to the long-term agreements, NASCAR operated on one-year contracts with its host racetracks.

    The Florida-based France family founded NASCAR in 1948 and, along with Speedway Motorsports, owns almost all the tracks on the top Cup Series schedule. Snyder’s belief is that NASCAR entered into exclusivity agreements with tracks to stave off any threats of a breakaway startup series. In doing so, he said it eliminated teams’ ability to race stock cars anywhere else, forced them to accept revenue-sharing agreements that are below market value, and damaged their overall evaluations.

    Snyder did his calculations for both teams based on each having two charters — each purchased a third charter in late 2024 — and found 23XI is owed $215.8 million while Front Row is owed $148.9 million. Based on his calculations, Snyder determined NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.

    Snyder noted NASCAR had $2.2 billion in assets, an equity value of $5 billion and an investment-grade credit rating — which Snyder believes positions the France family to be able to pivot and adjust to any threats of a rival series the way the PGA did in response to the LIV Golf league. The PGA, Snyder testified, “got creative” in bringing in new revenue to pay to its golfers to prevent their defections.

    Snyder also testified NASCAR had $250 million in annual earnings from 2021-24 and the France family took $400 million in distributions during that period.

    NASCAR contends Snyder’s estimations are wrong, that the 45% F1 model he used is not correct, and its own two experts “take serious issue” with Snyder’s findings. Defense attorney Lawrence Buterman asked Snyder his opinion on NASCAR’s upcoming expert witnesses and Snyder said they were two of the best economists in the world.

    Slow pace of trial

    Snyder testified for almost the entirety of Monday’s session — the sixth day of the trial — and will continue on Tuesday. The snail’s pace has agitated U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who heard arguments 30 minutes early Monday morning because he was annoyed that objections had been submitted at 2:55 a.m. and then 6:50 a.m.

    He needed an hour to get through the rulings, and testimony resumed 30 minutes behind schedule. When the day concluded, he asked the nine-person jury if they were willing to serve an hour longer each day the rest of the week in an effort to avoid a third full week of trial. He all said all motions must be filed by 10 p.m. each evening moving forward.

    Bell wants plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Kessler to conclude his case by the end of Tuesday, but Kessler told him he still plans to call NASCAR chairman Jim France, NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps and Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, who was the subject of derogatory text messages amongst NASCAR leadership and has said he’s considering legal action.

    NASCAR has a list of 16 potential witnesses and Bell said he wanted the first one on the stand before Tuesday’s session concludes.

    ___

    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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  • Coca-Cola Names a Company Veteran as Its New CEO

    Coca-Cola said Wednesday that its chief operating officer will become its next CEO in the first quarter of 2026.

    The Atlanta beverage giant said its board elected Henrique Braun as CEO effective March 31. James Quincey, Coke’s current chairman and CEO, will transition to executive chairman of the company.

    Braun, 57, has worked at Coca-Cola for three decades. Prior to assuming the COO role earlier this year, he led operations in Brazil, Latin America, Greater China and South Korea. He has held positions overseeing Coke’s supply chain, new business development, marketing, innovation, general management and bottling operations.

    Braun was born in California and raised in Brazil. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University Federal of Rio de Janeiro, a master of science degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Georgia State University.

    David Weinberg, Coca-Cola’s lead independent director, called Quincey, 60, a “transformative leader” who will continue to remain active in the business.

    During Quincey’s nine years as CEO, Coke added more than 10 additional billion-dollar brands, including BodyArmor and Fairlife. He also brought Coke into the alcoholic drink market with Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, which went on sale in 2021.

    In 2020, Quincey led a restructuring that reduced Coke’s brands by half and laid off thousands of employees. Quincey said Coke wanted to streamline its structure and focus its investments on fast-growing products like its Simply and Minute Maid juices.

    But as Quincey steps down as CEO, Coke is facing numerous challenges, including tepid demand for its products in the U.S. and Europe and increasing customer scrutiny of its ingredients. This summer, after a nudge from President Donald Trump, Coke said it would release a version of its trademark Cola with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

    Weinberg said the board is confident that Braun will build on the company’s strengths and seek out growth opportunities globally.

    Coke shares were flat in after-market trading.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Congress Would Target China With New Restrictions in Massive Defense Bill

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may have softened its language on China to maintain a fragile truce in their trade war, but Congress is charging ahead with more restrictions in a defense authorization bill that would deny Beijing investments in highly sensitive sectors and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese biotechnology companies.

    Included in the 3,000-page bill approved Wednesday by the House is a provision to scrutinize American investments in China that could help develop technologies to boost Chinese military power. The bill, which next heads to the Senate, also would prohibit government money to be used for equipment and services from blacklisted Chinese biotechnology companies.

    In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act would boost U.S. support for the self-governing island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own and says it will take by force if necessary.

    “Taken together, these measures reflect a serious, strategic approach to countering the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He said the approach “stands in stark contrast to the White House’s recent actions.”


    Congress moves for harsher line toward China

    The compromise bill authorizing $900 billion for military programs was released two days after the White House unveiled its national security strategy. The Trump administration dropped Biden-era language that cast China as a strategic threat and said the U.S. “will rebalance America’s economic relationship with China,” an indication that President Donald Trump is more interested in a mutually advantageous economic relationship with Beijing than in long-term competition.

    The China-related provisions in the traditionally bipartisan defense bill “make clear that, whatever the White House tone, Capitol Hill is locking in a hard-edged, long-term competition with Beijing,” said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.

    If passed, these provisions would “build a floor under U.S. competitiveness policy — on capital, biotech, and critical tech — that will be very hard for future presidents to unwind quietly,” he said.

    The Chinese embassy in Washington on Wednesday denounced the bill.

    “The bill has kept playing up the ‘China threat’ narrative, trumpeting for military support to Taiwan, abusing state power to go after Chinese economic development, limiting trade, economic and people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S., undermining China’s sovereignty, security and development interests and disrupting efforts of the two sides in stabilizing bilateral relations,” said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson.

    “China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this,” Liu said.

    U.S. policymakers and lawmakers have been working for several years toward bipartisan legislation to curb investments in China when it comes to cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, aerospace, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Those efforts flopped last year when Tesla CEO Elon Musk opposed a spending bill.

    The provision made it into the must-pass defense policy bill, welcomed by Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

    “For too long, the hard-earned money of American retirees and investors has been used to build up China’s military and economy,” he said. “This legislation will help bring that to an end.”

    Congress last year failed to pass the BIOSECURE Act, which cited national security in preventing federal money from benefiting a number of Chinese biotechnology companies. Critics said then that it was unfair to single out specific companies, warning that the measure would delay clinical trials and hinder development of new drugs, raise costs for medications and hurt innovation.

    The provision in the NDAA no longer names companies but leaves it to the Office of Management and Budget to compile a list of “biotechnology companies of concern.” The bill also would expand Pentagon investments in biotechnology.

    Moolenaar lauded the effort for taking “defensive action to secure American pharmaceutical supply chains and genetic information from malign Chinese companies.”

    The defense bill also would authorize an increase in funding, to $1 billion from $300 million this year, for Taiwan-related security cooperation and direct the Pentagon to establish a joint drone and anti-drone program.

    It comes amid mixed signals from Trump, who appears careful not to upset Beijing as he seeks to strike trade deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader has urged Trump to handle the Taiwan issue “with prudence,” as Beijing considers its claim over Taiwan a core interest.

    In the new national security strategy, the White House says the U.S. does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and stresses that the U.S. should seek to deter and prevent a large-scale military conflict.

    “But the American military cannot, and should not have to, do this alone,” the document says, urging Japan and South Korea to increase defense spending.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Prison officials tell judge ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO is competent to stand trial

    NEW YORK — Federal prison officials say the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges after he was hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury.

    Michael Jeffries had been ordered to be hospitalized in May. But in a letter filed in federal court in New York on Wednesday, Blake Lott, the acting warden at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina said the 81-year-old is “now competent to stand trial.”

    Lott didn’t provide further details in the letter but said the center has provided a report to the judge handling the case. Jeffries had been discharged from FMC-Butner on Nov. 21, according to previous filings in the case.

    Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, responded that other doctors had previously found his client incompetent to proceed.

    “A doctor from the Bureau of Prisons is of a different opinion,” he said in an email Wednesday. “We look forward to the Judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action moving forward.”

    The letter comes as prosecutors and Jeffries’ lawyers are expected to confer by phone Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury on the status of the case.

    Jeffries pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

    His lawyers had argued that the former executive required around-the-clock care and was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the case against him or to assist properly in his defense.

    They had said at least four medical professionals concluded that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”

    Jeffries’ lawyers and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.

    Choudhury agreed, ordering him placed in a hospital for up to four months. Before then, Jeffries had been free on a $10 million bond.

    Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The charges echoed sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent years.

    Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm. His partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.

    ___

    Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

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  • Cincinnati approves $8.1 million settlement with protesters arrested in 2020

    CINCINNATI, Ohio — The city of Cincinnati approved an $8.1 million legal settlement Wednesday with hundreds of non-violent protesters who had alleged mistreatment at the hands of city and county authorities when they were arrested during the racial justice demonstrations of 2020.

    Cincinnati City Council approved the deal after its terms were outlined last week. It brings to a close years of litigation that stemmed from protests over the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people.

    None of the 479 plaintiffs had been charged with a felony or violent offense nor been involved in any property damage — though some did occur. All were charged with misdemeanor curfew violations during nights of protests from May 30 to June 8, 2020, but those were later dismissed by the city amid a flurry of conflicting court rulings.

    The lawsuit they brought collectively in 2022 alleged police brutality, wrongful arrests, inhumane jail conditions and unlawful seizures of property.

    Hamilton County, whose sheriff and jail were also named in the lawsuit, will pay $65,000 toward the settlement, with the city paying the remainder.

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  • Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave $7.1 billion to nonprofits in 2025, a major increase

    NEW YORK (AP) — The author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott revealed $7.1 billion in donations to nonprofits in 2025 Tuesday, marking a significant increase in her annual giving from recent years.

    Writing in an essay on her website, Scott said, “This dollar total will likely be reported in the news, but any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year.”

    Scott acknowledged donating $2.6 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2023. The gifts this year bring her total giving since 2019 to $26.3 billion.

    Scott’s donations have captured the attention of nonprofits and other charitable funders because they come with no strings attached and are often very large compared to the annual budgets of the recipient organizations. Forbes estimates Scott’s net worth at $33 billion, most of which comes from Amazon shares she received after her 2019 divorce from company founder Jeff Bezos..

    With the exception of an open call for applications in 2023, it is not possible to apply for her funding nor to reach her directly, as Scott maintains no public facing office or foundation. Organizations are usually notified through an intermediary that Scott is awarding them a donation with little prelude or warning.

    In advance of her announcement on her website, Yield Giving, more than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities revealed they had received $783 million in donations from Scott so far this year, according to research from Marybeth Gasman, a professor at Rutgers University and expert on HBCUs.

    “One of the things that I really admire about Mackenzie Scott is that she is like an equity machine,” Gasman said, especially at a time when efforts to promote equity in education have come under attack from the Trump administration. She also said Scott’s gifts to HBCUs this time are bigger than the round of donations she made in 2020.

    Not all of the schools that previously had received funding from Scott received a gift this time and there were some first-time recipients as well. In total, Gasman has tracked $1.35 billion in donations from Scott to HBCUs since 2020.

    In addition, UNCF, which is the largest provider of scholarships to minority students, received $70 million from Scott, and said it will invest the gift in a collective endowment it is building for participating HBCUs. Another $50 million went to Native Forward Scholars Fund, which had also received a previous gift from Scott and provides college and graduate scholarships to Native American students.

    Unlike Scott’s gifts, most foundations or major donors direct grants to specific programs and require an application and updates about the impact of the nonprofit’s work. Scott does not ask grantees to report back about how they used the money.

    Research from the Center for Effective Philanthropy in 2023 looked at the impact of Scott’s giving and found few of the recipients have struggled to manage the funds or have seen other funders pullback.

    Kim Mazzuca, the CEO of the California-based nonprofit, 10,000 Degrees, said her organization was notified of its first gift from Scott of $42 million earlier this year.

    “I was just filled with such joy. I was speechless and I kind of stumbled around with my words,” she said, and asked the person calling from Fidelity Charitable to clarify the donation amount, which is about double their annual budget.

    10,000 Degrees provides scholarships, mentoring and other support to low-income students and aims to help them graduate college without taking on loans. Mazzuca said that usually nonprofits grow only gradually, but that this gift will allow them to reach more students, to test some technology tools and to start an endowment.

    Mazzuca credited Scott for investing in proven solutions that already exist.

    “She comes from a very deep, reflective space, very heartfelt,” Mazzuca said. “And she’s only providing these financial means as a tool for people to recognize they are who they’ve been waiting for.”

    That idea references a prophecy from the Hopi Tribe that ends with the line, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Mazzuca said she’s drawn on the prophecy for years to empower both her organization and the students it supports to recognize their own power to shape our world.

    In October, Scott posted an essay on her website under that title and sharing the prophecy. The essay, which she expanded upon in December to announce her giving, also reflects on how acts of generosity and kindness can ripple far afield and into the future. She cited her own experiences getting help while in college, including a dentist who repaired a tooth for free and her roommate who loaned her $1,000.

    Scott now has invested in that same roommate’s company, which offers loans to students who would otherwise struggle to get financing from banks. The investments seem to be part of an effort Scott announced last year to move more of her money into “mission aligned” investments, rather than into vehicles that seek only the highest monetary returns.

    In her 2025 essay, Scott seemed to urge people toward action, writing, “There are many ways to influence how we move through the world, and where we land.”

    ___

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • House Is Voting on a Defense Bill to Raise Troop Pay and Overhaul Weapons Purchases

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The House was headed toward a final vote Wednesday on a sweeping defense bill that authorizes $900 billion in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense buys weapons.

    The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically gains bipartisan backing, and the White House has signaled “strong support” for the must-pass legislation, saying it is in line with Trump’s national security agenda. Yet tucked into the over-3,000-page bill are several measures that push back against the Department of Defense, including a demand for more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean and support for allies in Europe, such as Ukraine.

    Overall, the sweeping bill calls for a 3.8% pay raise for many military members as well as housing and facility improvements on military bases. It also strikes a compromise between the political parties — cutting climate and diversity efforts in line with Trump’s agenda, while also boosting congressional oversight of the Pentagon and repealing several old war authorizations. Still, hard-line conservatives said they were frustrated that the bill does not do more to cut U.S. commitments overseas.

    “We need a ready, capable and lethal fighting force because the threats to our nation, especially those from China, are more complex and challenging than at any point in the last 40 years,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

    Lawmakers overseeing the military said the bill would change how the Pentagon buys weapons, with an emphasis on speed after years of delay by the defense industry. It’s also a key priority for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the armed services panel, called the bill “the most ambitious swing at acquisition reform that we’ve taken.”

    Smith lamented that the bill does not do as much as Democrats would like to rein in the Trump administration but called it “a step in the right direction towards reasserting the authority of Congress.”

    “The biggest concern I have is that the Pentagon, being run by Secretary Hegseth and by President Trump, is simply not accountable to Congress or accountable to the law,” he said.

    The legislation next heads to the Senate, where leaders are working to pass the bill before lawmakers depart Washington for a holiday break.

    Several senators on both sides of the aisle have criticized the bill for not doing enough to restrict military flights over Washington. They had pushed for reforms after a midair collision this year between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board has also voiced opposition to that section of the bill.

    Here’s what the defense bill does as it makes its way through Congress.


    Boat strike videos and congressional oversight

    Lawmakers included a provision that would cut Hegseth’s travel budget by a quarter until the Pentagon provides Congress with unedited video of the strikes against alleged drug boats near Venezuela. Lawmakers are asserting their oversight role after a Sept. 2 strike where the U.S. military fired on two survivors who were holding on to a boat that had partially been destroyed.

    The bill also demands that Hegseth allow Congress to review the orders for the strikes.


    Reaffirm commitments to Europe and Korea

    Trump’s ongoing support for Ukraine and other allies in Eastern Europe has been under doubt over the last year, but lawmakers included several positions meant to keep up U.S. support for countering Russian aggression in the region.

    The defense bill requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. It also authorizes $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

    Additionally, there is a provision to keep U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, setting the minimum requirement at 28,500.


    Cuts to climate and diversity initiatives

    The bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending, the House Armed Services Committee said. U.S. military assessments have long found that climate change is a threat to national security, with bases being pummeled by hurricanes or routinely flooded.

    The bill also would save $40 million by repealing diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and trainings, the committee said. The position of chief diversity officer would be cut, for example.


    Iraq War resolution repeal

    Congress is putting an official end to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the U.S.

    The 2002 resolution has been rarely used in recent years. But the first Trump administration cited it as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani.


    Lifting final Syria sanctions

    Lawmakers imposed economically crippling sanctions on the country in 2019 to punish former leader Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the nearly 14-year civil war. After Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa led a successful insurgency to depose Assad, he is seeking to rebuild his nation’s economy.

    Advocates of a permanent repeal have said international companies are unlikely to invest in projects needed for the country’s reconstruction as long as there is a threat of sanctions returning.

    Democrats criticized Johnson for stripping a provision from the bill to expand coverage of in vitro fertilization for active duty personnel. An earlier version covered the medical procedure, known as IVF, which helps people facing infertility have children.

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