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Al Jazeera
CenterQatar Airways announces ‘limited’ flights to and from Doha
Airline says limited number of flights will operate as of March 18 between Qatari capital and dozens of destinations.
Iran officials tout ‘Trump-burning’ celebration amid battle of narratives
Iranian state media calls for turning fire festival into a symbolic protest by burning figures of Trump and Netanyahu.
EU leaders reject military involvement in Strait of Hormuz amid war on Iran
Pushback comes as US President Donald Trump says NATO allies should help secure key waterway amid soaring oil prices.
Associated Press (AP)
CenterUConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina, all No. 1 seeds, top final AP Top 25 before March Madness
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, right, speaks as UConn guards Azzi Fudd, left, Blanca Quinonez, second from left, and associate head coach Chris Dailey, third from left, listen in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Providence, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) 2026-03-16T15:25:12Z UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina were the top four teams in the final regular-season Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 released Monday, matching the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins this week. The No. 1 Huskies were the overall top seed in the NCAA bracket announced Sunday night. The team that was No. 1 in the poll heading into March Madness has won the NCAA championship 17 times out of 43 early March polls dating to 1982, the first year of the women’s tournament. The AP has done a final poll after the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons so there is one more poll this season on April 6. The No. 2 Bruins picked up one more first place vote this week, giving them three from the 31-member national media panel. UConn received the other 28. With so few games last week that involved ranked teams — only UConn and Princeton played and both won — the Top 25 didn’t change much from the week before. LSU, Vanderbilt, Iowa and Duke followed No. 3 Texas and No. 4 South Carolina. Michigan and West Virginia rounded out the top 10 teams. All will host NCAA Tournament games this weekend. West Virginia flipped places with Ohio State, moving up to No. 11. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Conference supremacy The SEC has the most teams in the Top 25 with eight. The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 and ACC each have four. The Ivy League and Big East each have one. Games of the week The NCAA Tournament opens with First Four games taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-baseketball
Oldest known whale recording could unlock mysteries of the ocean
This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale on Feb. 24, 2009, near Maui, Hawaii. (Aran T. Mooney/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) 2026-03-16T12:09:11Z PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it’s the oldest such recording known. The song is that of a humpback whale , a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its docile nature and spectacular leaps from the water, and was recorded by scientists in March 1949 in Bermuda, said researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. (AP Illustration/Marshall Ritzel) (AP Illustration/Marshall Ritzel) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Just as significant is the sound of the surrounding ocean itself, said Peter Tyack, a marine bioacoustician and emeritus research scholar at Woods Hole. The ocean of the late 1940s was much quieter than the ocean of today, providing a different backdrop than scientists are used to hearing for whale song, he said. The recovered recordings “not only allow us to follow whale sounds, but they also tell us what the ocean soundscape was like in the late 1940s,” Tyack said. “That’s very difficult to reconstruct otherwise.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A preserved recording from the 1940s can also help scientists better understand how new human-made sounds, such as increased shipping noise, affect the way whales communicate, Tyack said. Research published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that whales can vary their calling behavior depending on noises in their environment. The recording predates scientist Roger Payne’s discovery of whale song by nearly 20 years. Woods Hole scientists on a research vessel at the time were testing sonar systems and performing acoustic experiments along with the U.S. Office of Naval Research when they captured the sound, said Ashley Jester, director of research data and library services at Woods Hole. The scientists didn’t know what they were hearing, but they decided to record and save the sounds anyway, Jester said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “And they were curious. And so they kept this recorder running, and they even made time to make recordings where they weren’t making any noise from their ships on purpose just to hear as much as they could,” said Jester. “And they kept these recordings.” Woods Hole scientists discovered the song while digitizing old audio recordings last year. The recording was on a well-preserved disc created by a Gray Audograph, a kind of dictation machine used in the 1940s. Jester located the disc. While the early underwater recording equipment used to capture the sound would be considered crude by today’s standards, it was cutting-edge at the time, Jester said. And the fact that the sound is recorded on a plastic disc is significant because most recordings of the time were on tape, which has long since deteriorated, she said. This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a Gray Audograph, a device used to record sound, on Feb. 4, 2026, in Woods Hole, Mass. (Rachel Mann/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a Gray Audograph, a device used to record sound, on Feb. 4, 2026, in Woods Hole, Mass. (Rachel Mann/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Whales’ sound-making ability is critical to their survival and key to how they socialize and communicate. The sounds come in the form of clicks, whistles and calls, according to NOAA scientists who study them. The sounds also allow the whales to find food, navigate, locate each other and understand their surroundings in the vast ocean, scientists say. Several species make repetitive sounds that resemble songs. Humpback whales, which can weigh more than 55,000 pounds (24,947 kilograms), are the ocean’s most renowned singers, capable of complex vocalizations that can sound ethereal or even mournful. Whale Song Frequency and Chromatic Analyzer .disco-export { --bg: #f4f4f4; --panel-bg: #222; --panel-top-bg: #1e1e1e; --panel-footer-bg: #1e1e1e; --toolbar-bg: #2a2a2a; --border: #333; --border2: #444; --accent: #d32f2f; --accent-dk: #b71c1c; --freeze-color: #888; --red: #d32f2f; --green: #2e7d32; --purple: #5c5c5c; --text: #1a1a1a; --text2: #333; --muted: #888; --muted2: #aaa; --panel-text: #ddd; --panel-muted: #999; --caption-text: #dddddd; --mono: 'AP Condensed', 'AP Semi', ui-monospace, monospace; --sans: 'AP', 'AP Semi', system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif; --ease: cubic-bezier(.22,.68,0,1); --ease-out: cubic-bezier(0,0,.2,1); --fs-title: 1.6rem; --fs-desc: 0.84rem; --fs-date: 0.68rem; --fs-panel-label: 0.65rem; --fs-readout: 0.76rem; --fs-caption: 0.78rem; --fs-credit: 0.68rem; --fs-freq-ruler: 0.56rem; --bg: #f4f4f4; --panel-bg: #918c84; --panel-top-bg: #908c84; --panel-footer-bg: #fcf7f1; --toolbar-bg: #fcf7f1; --accent: #85baff; --freeze-color: #6a7b90; --text: #f3f3f3; --text2: #ffffff; 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align-items: center; gap: 18px; padding: 10px 16px; background: var(--panel-footer-bg); border-top: 1px solid var(--border); flex-wrap: wrap; } .disco-export .freeze-btn { padding: 6px 16px; background: transparent; border: 1px solid #666; border-radius: 6px; color: var(--panel-muted); cursor: pointer; font-family: var(--mono); font-size: 0.65rem; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; transition: all 0.2s; } .disco-export .freeze-btn:hover { border-color: #999; background: #2a2a2a; } .disco-export .freeze-btn.frozen { background: var(--freeze-color); color: #fff; border-color: var(--freeze-color); } .disco-export .readout-group { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 7px; } .disco-export .readout-label { font-family: var(--mono); font-size: 0.6rem; color: var(--panel-muted); letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-transform: uppercase; } .disco-export .readout-val { font-family: var(--mono); font-size: var(--fs-readout, 0.76rem); color: var(--panel-text); font-weight: 700; min-width: 80px; } .disco-export .readout-note { font-family: var(--mono); font-size: var(--fs-readout, 0.76rem); color: var(--accent); font-weight: 700; min-width: 44px; } .disco-export .frozen-badge { font-family: var(--mono); font-size: 0.58rem; color: var(--panel-muted); letter-spacing: 0.14em; display: none; } .disco-export .is-frozen .frozen-badge { display: inline; } .disco-export .panel-caption { padding: 8px 4px 0; color: var(--caption-text); border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; line-height: 1.45; } .disco-export .panel-caption .caption-text { font-size: var(--fs-caption, 0.78rem); font-weight: 400; } .disco-export .panel-caption .credit-text { font-size: var(--fs-credit, 0.68rem); font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; opacity: 0.6; } Whale Song Frequency and Chromatic Analyzer Researchers say the recent discovery of the oldest known recordings of whale sounds could open up a new understanding of how the animals communicate. Scientists say the recording is important because it documents whale song from a time when the ocean was quieter. Use this tool to see and hear what whales sounded like in the 1940s and more recently. Audio Options ORIGINAL NOISE REDUCED 2015 whale ▶ Play 40 Hz 100 500 1k 5k 10k 20 kHz FREEZE Frequency — Hz closest Chromatic note — ● FROZEN 1940s whale ▶ Play 40 Hz 100 500 1k 5k 10k 20 kHz FREEZE Frequency — Hz closest Chromatic note — ● FROZEN Analyzer by Marshall Ritzel const FFT_SIZE = 2048, SMOOTHING = 0.5, FADE_TIME = 0.05; const EXPORT_PANELS = [{"id":"A","url":"https://pub-cc7d56cae8794bf183dca7d62ebd0764.r2.dev/1773406980048-humpback_whale_20150529_141010_v384_s2.wav","cleanUrl":"https://pub-cc7d56cae8794bf183dca7d62ebd0764.r2.dev/1773407009238-whales_clean_01_test.wav","label":"2015 whale","caption":"","credit":"","hueShift":0,"satShift":0,"noteThreshold":171,"noteHoldFrames":3000,"velMin":129,"velMax":255},{"id":"B","url":"https://pub-cc7d56cae8794bf183dca7d62ebd0764.r2.dev/1773406934311-old-whale_original.wav","cleanUrl":"https://pub-cc7d56cae8794bf183dca7d62ebd0764.r2.dev/1773406959698-old-whale_original_clean_02.wav","label":"1940s whale","caption":"Analyzer by Marshall Ritzel","credit":"","hueShift":0,"satShift":0,"noteThreshold":106,"noteHoldFrames":5279,"velMin":181,"velMax":255}]; let audioCtx = null, cleanMode = false, panels = [], activePanelId = null; const colorConfig = {"vizBg":"#ffffff","eqBarColor":"#f5f5f5","eqHotColor":"#648fc4","waveformColor":"#1a1a1a","gridColor":"#d6d6d6","pianoHighlight":"#a9bfda","pianoNoteColor":"#648fc4","pianoWhiteKey":"#e5f1ff","pianoBlackKey":"#333333","accent":"#85baff"}; const _panelColors = {}; function _getPanelColors(p) { const ov = _panelColors[p.id]; return ov ? Object.assign({}, colorConfig, ov) : colorConfig; } function hexToRgb(hex) { return { r: parseInt(hex.slice(1,3),16), g: parseInt(hex.slice(3,5),16), b: parseInt(hex.slice(5,7),16) }; } function getCtx() { if (!audioCtx) audioCtx = new (window.AudioContext || window.webkitAudioContext)(); if (audioCtx.state === 'suspended') audioCtx.resume(); return audioCtx; } const NOTE_NAMES = ['C','C#','D','D#','E','F','F#','G','G#','A','A#','B']; function freqToNoteInfo(freq) { if (!freq || freq maxVal) { maxVal = data[i]; maxIdx = i; } } const _t = p ? p.noteThreshold : 20, _mn = p ? p.velMin : 20, _mx = p ? p.velMax : 255; if (maxVal _mx) return { freq: 0, velocity: 0 }; const freq = maxIdx * getCtx().sampleRate / analyser.fftSize; if (freq =0){for(let m=PIANO_LO;m 0; function gc(m,g){if(g { const g=_kg[m]||0, ba=hg?0.25:0.3; c.globalAlpha=Math.max(ba,g); c.fillStyle=gc(m,g)||wkC; c.fillRect(i*wk+1,0,wk-2,H-1); c.globalAlpha=1.0; c.strokeStyle='#555'; c.lineWidth=0.5; c.strokeRect(i*wk+0.5,0.5,wk-1,H-1); }); for (let m=PIANO_LO;m {const x=((Math.log10(f)-lMin)/(lMax-lMin))*W; c.beginPath();c.moveTo(x,0);c.lineTo(x,H);c.stroke();}); const bc=72, bw=W/bc, eqRgb=hexToRgb(cc.eqBarColor), hotRgb=hexToRgb(cc.eqHotColor); for(let i=0;i 0){cv*=VD;if(rv>=cv){sf=rf; const ni=freqToNoteInfo(rf); hf=rf;hn=ni.label;hm=ni.midi;hv=rv;cv=rv;ht=p.noteHoldFrames||900;}} else{if(ht>0)ht--;else{sf=0;hf=0;hn='\u2014';hm=-1;hv=0;cv=0;}} _ukg(ht>0?hm:-1,hv); const fe=document.getElementById('freq-'+p.id),ne=document.getElementById('note-'+p.id); if(fe) fe.textContent=ht>0&&hf>0?hf.toFixed(1)+' Hz':'\u2014 Hz'; if(ne) ne.textContent=ht>0?hn:'\u2014'; drawPiano(p.pianoCanvas,hm,_pc); p.rafId=requestAnimationFrame(tick);})(); } function stopLoop(p) { if(p.rafId){cancelAnimationFrame(p.rafId);p.rafId=null;} } function fadeOutAndStop(p, cb) { if (!p.sourceNode || !p.gainNode) { if (p.sourceNode) { try { p.sourceNode.stop(); } catch(_) {} p.sourceNode = null; } p.gainNode = null; if (cb) cb(); return; } const ctx = getCtx(), g = p.gainNode.gain; g.setValueAtTime(g.value, ctx.currentTime); g.linearRampToValueAtTime(0, ctx.currentTime + FADE_TIME); setTimeout(() => { if (p.sourceNode) { try { p.sourceNode.stop(); } catch(_) {} p.sourceNode = null; } p.gainNode = null; if (cb) cb(); }, FADE_TIME * 1000 + 10); } function stopAll() { const pend = []; panels.forEach(p => { stopLoop(p); _setUI(p,false); document.getElementById('panel-'+p.id)?.classList.remove('is-active'); if (p.sourceNode) pend.push(new Promise(res => fadeOutAndStop(p, res))); }); activePanelId = null; return pend.length ? Promise.all(pend) : Promise.resolve(); } function _setUI(p,on) { const b=document.getElementById('play-btn-'+p.id); if(!b) return; b.textContent=on?'\u25a0 Stop':'\u25b6 Play'; b.classList.toggle('playing',on); } function fixGitHubUrl(url) { let m = url.match(/^https?:\/\/github\.com\/([^/]+)\/([^/]+)\/blob\/(.+)$/); if (m) return 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/'+m[1]+'/'+m[2]+'/'+m[3]; m = url.match(/^https?:\/\/github\.com\/([^/]+)\/([^/]+)\/raw\/(.+)$/); if (m) return 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/'+m[1]+'/'+m[2]+'/'+m[3]; return url; } function setCleanMode(val) { cleanMode = val; document.getElementById('src-original-btn')?.classList.toggle('active', !val); document.getElementById('src-clean-btn')?.classList.toggle('active', val); if (activePanelId) { const p=panels.find(x=>x.id===activePanelId); if(p) playPanel(p); } } async function playPanel(p, offset) { const buf = cleanMode ? (p.bufferClean || p.buffer) : p.buffer; if(!buf){alert('Audio not loaded for Analyzer '+p.id); return;} if(p.frozen) toggleFreeze(p.id); if (offset === undefined && p.sourceNode && p.playStartTime != null) { const elapsed = getCtx().currentTime - p.playStartTime; offset = elapsed % buf.duration; } await stopAll(); const ctx=getCtx(); p.analyserNode=ctx.createAnalyser(); p.analyserNode.fftSize=FFT_SIZE; p.analyserNode.smoothingTimeConstant=SMOOTHING; p.gainNode=ctx.createGain(); p.gainNode.gain.setValueAtTime(0,ctx.currentTime); p.gainNode.gain.linearRampToValueAtTime(1,ctx.currentTime+FADE_TIME); const src=ctx.createBufferSource(); src.buffer=buf; src.loop=true; src.connect(p.analyserNode); p.analyserNode.connect(p.gainNode); p.gainNode.connect(ctx.destination); src.start(0, offset||0); p.sourceNode=src; p.playStartTime=ctx.currentTime-(offset||0); activePanelId=p.id; _setUI(p,true); document.getElementById('panel-'+p.id)?.classList.add('is-active'); startLoop(p); } function togglePlay(id) { const p=panels.find(x=>x.id===id); if(!p) return; activePanelId===id?stopAll():playPanel(p); } function toggleFreeze(id) { const p=panels.find(x=>x.id===id); if(!p) return; p.frozen=!p.frozen; const btn=document.getElementById('freeze-btn-'+id), panel=document.getElementById('panel-'+id); if(p.frozen){if(activePanelId===id){ fadeOutAndStop(p, ()=>{ activePanelId=null; _setUI(p,false); panel?.classList.remove('is-active'); }); } stopLoop(p); btn?.classList.add('frozen'); if(btn) btn.textContent='UNFREEZE'; panel?.classList.add('is-frozen');} else{btn?.classList.remove('frozen'); if(btn) btn.textContent='FREEZE'; panel?.classList.remove('is-frozen'); if(p.loaded) playPanel(p);} } (async function init() { for (const d of EXPORT_PANELS) { const p = { id:d.id, buffer:null, bufferClean:null, sourceNode:null, analyserNode:null, gainNode:null, rafId:null, frozen:false, loaded:false, canvas:null, pianoCanvas:null, playStartTime:null, noteThreshold:d.noteThreshold||20, noteHoldFrames:d.noteHoldFrames||900, velMin:d.velMin||20, velMax:d.velMax||255 }; panels.push(p); setTimeout(() => { const vc = document.getElementById('viz-'+p.id), pc = document.getElementById('piano-'+p.id); if(vc){vc.width=vc.offsetWidth;vc.height=160;p.canvas=vc;drawIdleViz(vc);} if(pc){pc.width=pc.offsetWidth;pc.height=52;p.pianoCanvas=pc;drawPiano(pc,-1);} }, 30); try { const ctx = getCtx(); const resp = await fetch(fixGitHubUrl(d.url)); if (!resp.ok) throw new Error('HTTP '+resp.status); p.buffer = await ctx.decodeAudioData(await resp.arrayBuffer()); p.loaded = true; } catch(e) { console.warn('Failed to load Analyzer '+d.id+':', e.message); } if (d.cleanUrl) { try { const ctx = getCtx(); const resp = await fetch(fixGitHubUrl(d.cleanUrl)); if (!resp.ok) throw new Error('HTTP '+resp.status); p.bufferClean = await ctx.decodeAudioData(await resp.arrayBuffer()); } catch(e) { console.warn('Failed to load clean audio for '+d.id+':', e.message); } } } window.addEventListener('resize', () => { panels.forEach(p => { if(p.canvas){p.canvas.width=p.canvas.offsetWidth; if(!p.frozen&&!p.analyserNode) drawIdleViz(p.canvas);} if(p.pianoCanvas){p.pianoCanvas.width=p.pianoCanvas.offsetWidth; drawPiano(p.pianoCanvas,-1);} }); }); })(); freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The discovery of long-lost whale song from a quieter ocean could be a jumping-off point to better understanding the sounds the animals make today, said Hansen Johnson, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. “And, you know, it’s just beautiful to listen to and has really inspired a lot of people to be curious about the ocean, and care about ocean life in general,” said Johnson, who was not involved in the research. “It’s pretty special.” This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale off the West Antarctica Peninsula on Jan. 4, 2017. (Tyler Rohr/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale off the West Antarctica Peninsula on Jan. 4, 2017. (Tyler Rohr/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___ This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. PATRICK WHITTLE Whittle is an Associated Press reporter based in Portland, Maine. He focuses on the environment and oceans. twitter mailto
Aaron Judge hails World Baseball Classic crowds as ‘bigger and better than the World Series’
The United States team celebrates after defeating the Dominican Republic at a World Baseball Classic semifinal game, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) 2026-03-16T09:25:29Z MIAMI (AP) — On a night when All-Stars and future Hall of Famers thrilled fans and each other until the final out, Aaron Judge proclaimed the World Baseball Classic had grown into the sport’s biggest event. “The World Series I was in, the crowd here, the crowd we had when we played against Mexico, it’s bigger and better than the World Series,” the U.S. captain said after a 2-1 semifinal win over the Dominican Republic that came down to Sunday night’s final pitch . “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.” American tradition emphasizing understatement on a team led by Judge and Bryce Harper was showcased against Latin flair on a side featuring Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When Junior Caminero homered against Paul Skenes to put the Dominicans ahead in the second inning, he celebrated with an overhand bat flip. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In the sixth tournament of an event that started in 2006, the game featured starting lineups featuring 17 All-Stars totaling 56 selections among the 20 starters. They had won five MVP awards, one Cy Young, five Rookies of the Year and three batting titles. Before a crowd of 36,337 at IoanDepot park, the U.S. overcame the deficit on fourth-inning home runs by Gunnar Henderson off Luis Severino and Roman Anthony against Gregory Soto. Anthony, at 21 the youngest American player, had bought a ticket for the 2023 WBC final in Miami and watched from the seats as Japan beat the U.S. 3-2 . “Coming to the WBC here, you dream of representing this country and being here the next time around,” Anthony said. American relievers allowed two hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, capped by Mason Miller topping 100 mph with 13 of 22 pitches. Miller’s last appeared to be low for ball four to Geraldo Perdomo but plate umpire Cory Blaser emphatically signaled strike three. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “Just a game we’ll remember forever, right?” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said. “We understood this was going to be a talked-about game, probably one of the most watched games of all time.” Dynamic defense was commonplace. With the U.S. trailing by a run in the third, Judge threw a 95.7 mph strike from right field to third base to cut down Fernando Tatis Jr. for the inning’s final out. Judge then made a diving backland catch to rob Soto, his former New York Yankees teammate, in the fourth. Julio Rodríguez denied Judge a home run with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the fifth, 407 feet from the plate. “I was like, OK, maybe we got a shot here,” Judge recalled. “But hit it to a guy like J-Rod, who’s one of the best if not the best center fielder in the game, he’s going make exciting plays like that in big moments.” Shortstop Bobby Witt ranged to the right field side of the infield to snag Soto’s slow bouncer in the fifth, scrambled to back to touch second base and made an off-balance throw to first for an inning-ending double play. One inning later, Witt threw out Manny Machado at first from the outfield grass. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Pitching moments were memorable, too. Dominican starter Luis Severino stranded runners at second and third in the third inning when he struck out Judge and Kyle Schwarber, and Skenes escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth when Austin Wells flied out. Wells doubled with one out in the seventh and the relatively slow-footed catcher was held at third on Perdomo’s single to Crow-Armstrong in center. David Bednar then struck out Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte on breaking balls below the strike zone. Before Miller got the strike three call in the ninth, Perdomo had fouled off a pair of full-count pitches. “The whole world saw in two teams some of the best players in the game,” said Dominican manager Albert Pujols, a likely future Hall of Famer. Rosters included 18 of the 41 players who received MVP votes last year. Judge gave a postgame speech to teammates, looking ahead to Tuesday’s championship against Venezuela or Italy. He had perceived a special night Sunday from the start. “You get chills standing there on the line, hearing them announce all the names,” he said. “It was like an All-Star team they got over there.” ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
BBC News - World
Center
Russia agrees to stop using Kenyan recruits in Ukraine conflict, Kenya says
Some 1,000 Kenyans are believed to have recruited to fight in Ukraine - many say they were lured under false pretences.

Iran hits key UAE oil port and Dubai airport
The port of Fujairah plays a crucial role in helping keep global supplies moving when the Strait of Hormuz is blocked.

Ecuador deploys 75,000 soldiers and police to combat drug gangs
Citizens of the most violent-wracked provinces have been warned the government is "at war" with the gangs.
Fox News - World
Center-Right
US warns Iraq must act against Iran-backed militia attacks on American assets
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is facing mounting criticism for his government’s inability to stop pro-Iranian militias and the Islamic Republic of Iran from attacking American, French, Italian and Kurdish military personnel and facilities in Iraq. On Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that all U.S. citizens in Iraq should leave "immediately," as "Iran-aligned terrorist militias have attacked the International Zone in central Baghdad on multiple occasions." The announcement came after a missile reportedly struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad early Saturday. Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "The United States strongly condemns attacks by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias against U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities, civilian targets and energy infrastructure in Iraq, particularly in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region." US EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD TARGETED AS IRAN LAUNCHES ATTACKS DURING OPERATION EPIC FURY The statement added, "As Secretary Rubio has said, the Iraqi government must take all possible measures to safeguard U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities and ensure militia groups cannot use Iraqi territory to threaten the United States or the region. Doing so is in Iraq’s interest," the spokesperson noted, "We retain a range of options to protect our interests. We do not preview sanctions or sanction actions." A Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital that the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq "are paid and armed by the Iraqi government . They are on the Iraqi payroll. This is not the first time they have fired on the U.S., the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] and the energy sector. These PMF have brazenly attacked U.S. military bases." According to the official, "Many of these leaders [from the PMF] are part of al-Sudani’s government and his very coalition." In a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, an official for Iraq’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., flatly denied the allegations against al-Sudani. "We would like to unequivocally confirm that the allegations claiming the Prime Minister granted a ‘green light’ to any armed group to target U.S. or Western interests are completely false. The Iraqi government has repeatedly emphasized its firm rejection of any attacks on diplomatic missions or foreign interests." The representative added, "The Prime Minister has also issued several statements condemning such acts, describing them as terrorist activities, and has directed the relevant authorities to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice." Al-Sudani raised eyebrows last week when he congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran’s selection of its new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei , the son of the assassinated second Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei . "We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this sensitive stage, and continue to strengthen the unity of the Iranian people in facing the current challenges," al-Sudani reportedly said. When asked about the congratulatory statement to Khamenei, the Iraqi Embassy official said, "This action falls within the scope of standard diplomatic practices carried out by many countries, including several Gulf states. Iraq maintains diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, including Iran, while simultaneously ensuring balanced relations with all its regional and international partners." IRAN PROXIES WAGE WAR ON ISRAEL, THREATEN US INTERESTS AS IRAQ SLAMMED FOR NOT DISARMING THEM The intensified attacks on the international anti-jihadi coalition in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Friday resulted in the death of a French soldier and injuries to six other people. According to France 24, the commanding officer, Colonel Francois-Xavier de la Chesnais, said the French soldier, Arnaud Frion, was murdered by an Iranian-designed Shahed lethal drone. The Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Saturday that the "Kurdistan Region was targeted with seven explosive-laden drones early Saturday as Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq continue to target the U.S. consulate in Erbil and other military and civilian sites in the Region." Rudaw said since the start of U.S. Operation Epic Fury the Kurdistan area has been targeted with over 300 drone and missile attacks, resulting in the killing of seven people and 35 injured. The Kurdish official complained that al-Sudani’s "government is not serious about taking on militias because the militias are part of the government." However, the official praised the U.S. "The Americans are going after them aggressively over the last week with attacks on their [PMF] positions." According to a Long War Journal report, "Airstrikes, likely conducted by the U.S. as part of the U.S.-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic, have continued targeting Iran-backed Iraqi militias." Neither the U.S. nor Israel have commented on reports that they are striking the PMF. Fox News Digital secured information in early March from the Israeli Defense Forces that drones have been fired at Israel from Iraqi territory since the start of the war. The PMF told the Iraqi News Agency that American military forces have conducted 32 airstrikes against PMF headquarters since February 28. The Kurdish official urged the Trump administration to "demand that Iraq’s government stop paying and arming the PMF and target their banking system that finances the PMF." The official continued, "We have shared information with the Iraqis and the Americans, who have in turn shared information with the Iraqi government." On the terrorist activities of the PMF the official said, "The al-Sudani government has been unwilling to confront them." TRUMP THREATENS TO END IRAQ SUPPORT OVER AL-MALIKI COMEBACK BID TIED TO IRAN INFLUENCE The official bemoaned that the al-Sudani government initiated a "handful of arrests last year, and they were released on bail and were able to flee to Iran." The Kurdish official said the KRG "provided the information to the Iraqi government about the perpetrators" who fled to the Islamic Republic. An Iraqi official dismissed the reports on PMF terrorists, stating," I have not heard of such a thing. I guess that's not true." The Kurdish official cited two PMF groups as the most bellicose toward the U.S.: Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous) and Kataib Hezbollah. The Trump administration sanctioned Asaib Ahl al Haq in March 2024. The State Department said Asaib Ahl al Haq "and its leaders are violent proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and the group "is extensively funded and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force." The U.S. government sanctioned Kataib Hezbollah in 2023. The Kurdish official also charged the al-Sudani’s government with imposing an embargo on imported goods to Iraqi Kurdistan as a way "to strip away our autonomy and everything we can built over 30 years." The autonomous Kurdish government is widely considered a robust pro-American ally. The Iraqi official denied the embargo, stating, "The federal government does not pursue a policy of ‘embargo’ against the Kurdistan Region. The current measures aim to unify the legal, customs, and trade framework across all Iraqi borders in line with the federal constitution. "No country can afford contradictory internal trade and customs regimes, as this risks harming the national economy as a whole. Our objective is a unified, fair economic framework that protects state revenues while respecting the region’s specificities, and we believe this is best achieved through dialogue and cooperation." Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq, told Fox News Digital that "One could even describe the PMF as the Iraqi branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, effectively functioning as an Iraqi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The PMF operates through a network of militias that frequently attack U.S. forces, foreign interests, and targets in Kurdistan." He argued for "The dismantling of the mother organization — the PMF itself. As long as the PMF exists, militias operating under its umbrella will continue to attack U.S. forces and regional targets." Fox News Digital reporter Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.

Trump warns NATO of 'very bad' future if allies don't help secure Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump sent his clearest warning yet to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Sunday: Stand with the U.S. for defense of the Strait of Hormuz or face a "very bad" future. "It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told The Financial Times in an interview Sunday. "If there’s no response, or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO." Trump echoed those remarks in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, returning to Washington, D.C., from a weekend at Mar-a-Lago, saying it would "be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we'll help – we'll work militarily." "Remember, like as an example of many cases that NATO countries, we're always there for NATO," Trump told reporters, pointing to "helping them with Ukraine" even though "between us, it doesn't affect us." US SIGNALS READINESS TO ESCORT TANKERS THROUGH HORMUZ AS TRAFFIC THINS BUT NO MISSION LAUNCHED "But we've helped them," he added, repeating his comments to the United Nations General Assembly last fall, questioning whether NATO will "always be there for us." Trump is looking for NATO allies' assistance in securing the oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz for the rest of the world. Trump administration officials have been repeating throughout the choking of the strait that the U.S. under Trump is a net exporter of oil and gets only a fraction of its oil from the Middle East – unlike the rest of the world, including NATO allies. "It'd be interesting to see what country wouldn't help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the Strait open, and that, by comparison is a small [ask]," Trump added to reporters on Air Force One. "It's small because Iran has very little firepower ." TRUMP SAYS HE MIGHT HAVE 'FORCED ISRAEL'S HAND' IN IRAN STRIKE DECISION AS CRITICS QUESTION WAR POWERS Trump remained optimistic that NATO allies will ultimately get on board. "We are talking to other countries about working with us about the policing of the strait, and I think we're getting a good response," Trump told reporters on AF1. "If we do, that's great – and if we don't, that's great." NATO has long been a point of contention for Trump, who had to repeatedly call on member organizations to reach even the 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spending threshold during his first administration. Current Trump U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker has hailed this second administration in getting NATO to commit 5% of GDP in defense spending.

Pope Leo urges war leaders to halt fighting after deadly strike on school sparks outrage
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the war involving Iran, delivering his strongest remarks yet on the conflict and urging leaders responsible for the fighting to halt violence after deadly strikes that hit schools and civilian areas. The Associated Press reported the pope made the remarks at the end of his Sunday noon blessing at the Vatican, where he appealed to leaders involved in the conflict to halt the fighting and pursue dialogue instead of continued military escalation. "On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict," Leo said. "Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for." Leo did not cite the U.S. or Israel by name, though he appeared to reference an attack in the opening days of the war that struck a school in Iran and killed more than 165 people, many of them children. IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT U.S. officials said the strike may have been based on outdated intelligence, and an investigation into the incident is underway. The pope said he was particularly close to the families of victims killed in attacks that have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas during the conflict. He also expressed concern about the impact of the fighting in Lebanon , where aid groups have warned the escalating conflict could trigger a humanitarian crisis. IRAN VOWS 'DECISIVE' SELF DEFENSE AT UN AFTER TRUMP KILLS SUPREME LEADER IN OPERATION EPIC FURY Christian communities in southern Lebanon are of particular concern to the Vatican, as they have long been seen as an important presence for Christians across a largely Muslim region. For much of the two weeks since the conflict began, Leo has limited his public comments to broader appeals for peace and dialogue while avoiding direct references to the U.S. or Israel – a stance consistent with the Vatican’s longstanding tradition of diplomatic neutrality . Some Catholic leaders, however, have taken a more direct stance on the conflict. RED CROSS SHARES AUDIO OF IRANIAN CIVILIAN EXPLAINING SITUATION ON THE GROUND IN TEHRAN: 'NO RESPITE' Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, described the war as morally unjustifiable, while Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich criticized the White House for sharing social media posts about the war that included video game-style imagery. Meanwhile, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin rejected Washington’s characterization of the fighting as a "preventive war," but said the Holy See continues to keep lines of communication open with all sides. "The Holy See speaks with everyone," Parolin said. "When necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New York Times - World
Center-LeftEurope Rejects Trump’s Demands for Warships to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
While some European countries said they were discussing ways to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, several rejected President Trump’s calls to send warships.
Fifth Member of Iranian Soccer Team Reverses Decision on Asylum
Five of the seven members of the Iranian women’s national team who originally sought asylum in Australia after a tournament have changed their minds.
With Iran War, Trump Risks Stepping on Gains From His Own Tax Cuts
President Trump’s war in Iran has raised some costs just as many Americans are starting to see savings from last year’s tax cuts.
ProPublica
Center-Left
The Trump Administration’s “Disturbing” New Legal Strategy to Prosecute Border Crossers Is Taxing Courts and Testing the Law
Jose Omar Flores-Penaloza was willing to admit that he had entered the United States illegally. He was ready to be deported, according to his attorneys. But federal prosecutors would not let him go last spring without making him answer for another crime — one he had never heard of. Weeks earlier, President Donald Trump, to address what he called a national emergency, ordered a stretch of borderland transferred to the military so that troops could help apprehend unauthorized migrants. Because prosecutors believed Flores-Penaloza had crossed through that zone, now called a national defense area, they charged him with trespassing on military property under statutes including one enacted in 1909 to keep spies away from arsenals. The added misdemeanors were unlikely to lengthen his sentence; they typically result in time served and deportation. But Flores-Penaloza maintained his innocence in the face of the allegation that could cast him as a national security threat. So he awaited trial in a New Mexico jail. One year into the second Trump administration, federal courts are facing a surge of immigration-related litigation, including a record number of habeas petitions from detainees who say they are being unlawfully held . In Minnesota last month, after a frustrated judge asked why defendants he had ordered released were still in custody, a government attorney blurted out: “What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks.” ProPublica and The Texas Tribune spent four months investigating a persistent source of pressure in border districts — one experts say is taxing the courts and challenging long-standing principles of criminal law. Since last April, at least 4,700 immigrants already charged with entering the country illegally have faced additional misdemeanor counts accusing them of trespassing on military property. Court records reviewed by the news organizations show that more than 90% of cases have been resolved, and that most did not end in convictions on the trespass charges: About 60% were dropped or dismissed. At least nine judges in West Texas and New Mexico have found the prosecutions legally deficient. Citing the basic requirement of mens rea — a guilty mind — many ruled that defendants could not be found guilty because they did not know they were trespassing on military land. Yet prosecutors have continued filing the charges and appealing adverse rulings, arguing that knowingly crossing the border is sufficient to prove criminal intent. More than 20 legal scholars and former prosecutors told reporters they could not identify a conventional law-enforcement or military goal that would justify their persistence. A sign warning people that they are entering a military area is posted next to a stretch of border wall in Texas. The strain has been visible in crowded federal dockets. “We would do jury selection and trial on a misdemeanor case that would have no bearing on the sentence whatsoever?” West Texas District Judge Leon Schydlower asked a prosecutor in June. He noted that there were about 40 similar cases on his docket and asked the prosecutor what she would do if he scheduled all the trials on the same day. “We would have to be prepared to move to go forward on all 40, Your Honor,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia “Patti” Aguayo replied, prefacing her position by saying she had no choice in the matter. “We have not been allowed to do anything but move forward.” Prosecutors were operating under a directive issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi mandating “zealous advocacy” of the administration’s priorities and warning that attorneys who declined to advance them could face discipline or termination. Military Trespass Cases Under Trump Administration Skyrocket Note: Counts are of unique cases in which charges were filed under 50:797 (“Penalty for violation of security regulations and orders”) and 18:1382 (“Entering military, naval, or Coast Guard property”). Source: Federal Justice Center’s Integrated Database. Agnel Philip/ProPublica Senior officials in the U.S. attorney’s offices handling trespass cases declined repeated interview requests, and a spokesperson in the West Texas office asked reporters to stop contacting prosecutors directly. A Justice Department spokesperson noted that one of the charges carries a longer sentence and claimed the prosecutions have “proven to be a significant deterrent to both illegal crossings and cartel activity along the border,” though the department did not provide supporting documentation. Had prosecutors accepted his offer to plead guilty to illegal entry in exchange for dropping the trespass charge, Flores-Penaloza would have been processed for deportation to Mexico, his public defenders Amanda Skinner and Victoria Trull said. Instead, he remained in custody for more than a month, in a county jail where guards have been accused of threatening to use Tasers on inmates’ genitals and bursting into sleeping areas with flash-bangs . (In a court filing, attorneys for Doña Ana County denied the first allegation and wrote, about the second, that guards used “specialized equipment during operations” but disputed they were “terrorizing vulnerable detainees.”) Hours into Flores-Penaloza’s June 17 bench trial before Chief Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth, prosecutors could not pinpoint exactly where he had crossed the border or produce a clear map showing the boundaries of the military zone. “I also don’t dispute,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Castellano conceded, “that we don’t meet the mens rea requirement the court has indicated in a prior opinion.” Wormuth, who had dismissed dozens of similar charges, grew frustrated. He noted that Flores-Penaloza had been in custody for 40 days largely because of the unproven allegation. “The United States has come in here and put not a single bit of evidence that would allow me to find that he even entered the national defense area,” Wormuth said. “It is very, very disturbing.” He acquitted Flores-Penaloza on the trespass counts while finding him guilty of illegal entry. The young man was deported. But more cases were coming. Detained migrants have said they didn’t see the posted signs and had no way of knowing they had crossed military land. Federal law generally bars the military from detaining civilians on domestic soil. But there was a workaround: Troops could capture intruders on their own bases. Under orders from Trump last April, federal agencies including the Department of the Interior transferred more than 200 miles of riverbank and desert scrub in West Texas and New Mexico to the armed forces, converting the terrain into extensions of Army installations. Speaking to troops deployed to one of the new national defense areas, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that anyone entering them would be on notice . “You’ve got signs like this one all across the border wall facing into Mexico,” he said — “clear English, clear Spanish.” The plan appeared straightforward. But once cases reached courtrooms, that clarity evaporated. Detained migrants said they hadn’t seen signs and had no way of knowing they had crossed military land. Prosecutors often couldn’t prove otherwise. ProPublica and the Tribune identified 1,300 New Mexico district court records in which the government stated how far from these signs migrants crossed the border or were apprehended. The news organizations found that some were arrested more than 20 miles away from a sign, and that most didn’t come within 1,000 feet of any posting. In at least one Texas case , defense attorneys demonstrated how difficult it was to read the 12-by-18-inch sign from about 10 feet away. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico said what matters is not where a defendant was apprehended but where they entered the country. In some cases, such as Flores-Penaloza’s, prosecutors lacked evidence of that as well. These evidentiary gaps snagged most of the cases that reached judges, underscoring an existential question: “What is your evidence that he knew he was accessing a restricted national defense area?” a federal magistrate judge, Miguel Torres, asked during an El Paso, Texas, jury trial . Adequate notice was essential, he said, “so that we don’t ensnare innocent people that do not know they are violating this specific law.” Torres ruled against the government at trial, but many cases didn’t make it that far. Two U.S. Army vehicles, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, park along the border. In Texas, many defendants pleaded guilty. To fight the trespass charges meant waiting in jail possibly for weeks or months. They chose to go home instead. But in New Mexico, within weeks of the first cases, judges began throwing out the trespass charges as soon as they were filed for lack of probable cause. Prosecutors responded with an unusual maneuver. Rather than abandon the cases, they refiled them using a charging document called an information — a tool commonly used for misdemeanors but, according to the legal experts consulted by ProPublica and the Tribune, rarely deployed to revive cases judges had already deemed unsupported. Prosecutors used informations to resurrect more than 1,600 military trespass cases, the news organizations found. “If there is no probable cause, the case is supposed to end,” said Meghan Skelton, a former assistant federal public defender and prosecutor. “They are trying to circumvent that in a way that has not been done in the 30 years I’ve been practicing law.” In a criminal complaint issued in New Mexico and reviewed by ProPublica, a judge crossed out two of the three counts, noting they did not have “PC,” or probable cause. Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune The tactic kicked off what one defense attorney called a “ridiculous dance.” Judges would separate the immigration and trespass charges, accept guilty pleas on illegal entry and reiterate that there was no probable cause to detain defendants on the military counts. With deportation imminent, prosecutors would then move to dismiss the trespass charges themselves. Prosecutors who left the U.S. attorney’s offices in the early months of the second Trump administration told reporters they were alarmed to see the lengths their former colleagues were going to pursue dubious cases. “You’re just losing credibility with the court, and on a bigger picture, credibility with the public,” said Marisa Ong, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Las Cruces. It was the kind of outcome Matilda “Tilli” Villalobos sought to avoid when she saw the zealous advocacy mandate last February and left the district for private practice. “I don’t want to be the one standing up in court in front of a judge advocating for something that I don’t believe is even legal,” said the decorated former sex crimes prosecutor, who now defends immigrants charged with criminal offenses. Alex Uballez, who served as U.S. attorney in New Mexico before being fired by Trump last year, called the prosecutions a “flustering attempt to create fear and chaos by whatever means necessary.” “It would be laughable if it wasn’t so cruel and chaotic and dangerous,” he added, “both for the people involved and for the justice system as a whole.” Matilda “Tilli” Villalobos left her position in the U.S. attorney’s office in Las Cruces, New Mexico, last February. The national defense areas were supposed to allow active-duty troops to apprehend unlawful border crossers for the first time. So far, that outcome has largely failed to materialize. According to a spokesperson for Joint Task Force-Southern Border, about 1,500 deployed troops had made just 68 apprehensions as of last week, leaving the Border Patrol still responsible for the vast majority of detentions. Even so, the administration has continued expanding the zones from California to Texas. Prosecutors began filing military trespass charges in South Texas last month, starting with a man caught crossing the Rio Grande, in an area now designated an extension of the Joint Base San Antonio. Along the river, warnings of prosecution are written across floating buoys and blared in Spanish from loudspeakers that can be heard in Mexico . Border Patrol agents ask migrants detained in national defense areas to sign a form acknowledging they entered without permission, placing the documents in their immigration files, then-interim El Paso Border Patrol Sector Chief Walter Slosar said in a news conference last June. “And so the next time they cross the border unlawfully, there’s going to be no issue” about notice. In New Mexico, prosecutors have used that written notice and previous military trespass charges to help secure 20 guilty pleas from defendants who reentered. Still, the news organizations’ analysis of court records found that nearly every trespassing charge in the state has been dismissed or dropped. The Justice Department continues to press its legal theory in appellate court. In May, prosecutors filed trespass charges against Komiljon Toirov , a man from Uzbekistan detained in New Mexico. Toirov does not speak English or Spanish and could not have understood posted warnings. Prosecutors maintain that does not matter. They wanted him held in jail for trial, but a judge released him. For months since then, prosecutors have fought that decision. As the case bounced between the district court and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, judges openly bristled at the government’s persistence. A bus used to transport migrants to their federal court hearings parked near the U.S. district court in Las Cruces. The federal courthouse in downtown El Paso, Texas, with the border and Ciudad Juarez in the distance. “The defense bar and every judge in the Las Cruces district courthouse disagrees with the government,” U.S. District Judge Sarah Davenport wrote in October. A three-judge appellate panel in December noted that prosecutors had produced “little to no evidence” to support their case for jailing Toirov. The government has now filed notice that it plans to appeal again, indicating that it will seek a higher court ruling supporting its argument that Toirov didn’t need to know about the military zone in order to trespass onto it. “We remain confident that our interpretation is consistent with the law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in an email. Ryan Goodman, a national security law professor at New York University, said the government’s persistence was “jaw-dropping.” “It appears to be prosecutorial abuse by continuing to bring fatally flawed cases,” he said in an email. “This kind of abuse of the Justice Department’s powers has very significant repercussions for the ability of our democracy to survive.” Meanwhile, the El Paso courthouse has eased into a new normal. On many mornings, shackled migrants plead guilty to military trespass charges rather than remain jailed awaiting trial. Occasionally, the routine falters. On Nov. 3, a young man named Brandon David Munoz-Luna spoke up during his plea hearing. “In my case, I did not know that I was entering a military reservation,” he said through an interpreter. Federal Magistrate Judge Robert Castañeda turned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian Gallegos. He asked, “Does the government insist on making this a charge you’re pursuing?” “Yes, Judge,” the prosecutor replied. “Pursuant to DOJ policy.” Minutes later, Munoz-Luna pleaded no contest , and the court moved on. The vast expanse of land along the southern border makes proving migrants knowingly trespassed through the new national defense area difficult to prosecute in federal court. The post The Trump Administration’s “Disturbing” New Legal Strategy to Prosecute Border Crossers Is Taxing Courts and Testing the Law appeared first on ProPublica .

This DHS Official Oversees the Security of Federal Elections. He Wants to Ban Voting Machines.
In his top post at the Department of Homeland Security, David Harvilicz sets policy on protecting the nation’s elections infrastructure, including voting machines. He’s also the co-founder of a company with James Penrose, who helped hatch debunked conspiracy theories blaming hacked voting machines for Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election. Penrose assisted in a push to seize voting machines to overturn Trump’s defeat. On social media , Harvilicz has called for doing away with voting machines , saying they are “eminently vulnerable to exploitation.” In a March post , he wrote that “DHS needs to ban voting machines for all federal elections. The time is now.” He also has repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic electoral victories and pushed for Republicans to overhaul electoral systems to their advantage . David Harvilicz in 2015 Sam Comen/The New York Times/Redux Election experts as well as current and former DHS officials say Harvilicz’s central role in overseeing the security of electoral systems and voting machines is especially concerning at a time when the administration is taking unprecedented steps to relitigate Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That includes the FBI’s seizure of 2020 voting records from Fulton County, Georgia, and having a team working for Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, take custody of voting machines used in Puerto Rico in 2020. “The security of our election infrastructure depends on leadership that is trusted, impartial and grounded in evidence — not individuals who have promoted conspiracy theories about the very systems they are now responsible for protecting,” said Danielle Lang, vice president for voting rights and the rule of law at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization. “Placing someone with that background in charge of policies affecting election security can undermine public confidence in our elections at a time when trust is already fragile.” DHS didn’t answer detailed questions about Harvilicz or his team, providing a more general statement about the work done by the agency. “DHS and its employees are focused on keeping our elections safe, secure, and free,” it said. “Every single day appointees at the Department of Homeland Security work to implement the President’s policies and keep our Homeland safe.” Harvilicz didn’t respond to questions about his DHS role. Harvilicz’s X account notes his post as DHS’ assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, risk and resilience policy but says he’s been detailed to the Defense Department. (Such temporary assignments are typically done in 120-day increments .) Get Involved Do you have information you can share about David Harvilicz or other federal officials working on elections or any of the other individuals named in this article? Contact reporter Doug Bock Clark at doug.clark@propublica.org or on Signal at 678-243-0784. If you’re concerned about confidentiality, check out our advice on the most secure ways to share tips . Harvilicz was appointed to the DHS job around July , taking on a role that in the past has largely focused on shaping policy to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure , including its election systems. But current and former DHS officials say Harvilicz and his team have transformed their functions to become more hands-on. They’ve been deeply engaged with facilitating multiple administration data-gathering efforts aimed at scouring voter rolls for noncitizens, the officials said. ProPublica has reported on one such effort, which has led to hundreds of citizens being incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens. Harvilicz’s team includes Heather Honey, the deputy assistant secretary of election integrity. ProPublica has reported that Honey was previously a leader in the Election Integrity Network , a conservative group that has challenged the legitimacy of American election systems. Honey worked closely with Cleta Mitchell, the network’s leader, who played a prominent role in helping Trump try to overturn his 2020 loss. Also reporting directly to Harvilicz is Samantha Anderson , a data specialist who previously worked to elect Trump through the advocacy arm of the America First Policy Institute , a think tank closely associated with the president. Multiple officials and elections experts said they were worried that Harvilicz and Honey would have prominent parts in assessing and describing the cybersecurity of the coming election, both to the public and to administration leaders. They also expressed concern that if Trump again wanted to get control of voting machines after the election, perhaps if Republicans lose seats in the midterms, that Harvilicz is ideally positioned to help them do so. “It would be super easy for them to get the voting machines,” a current DHS official said, adding they can “describe it as they want, if they don’t like the results.” Harvilicz co-founded Tranquility AI , which has developed an artificial intelligence tool for law enforcement, with Penrose, and they are listed on its 2025 patents as developing its systems together . Penrose, a former intelligence officer, played a leading role in the campaign to help Trump in his failed bid to overturn the 2020 election, ProPublica has reported . Penrose also participated in multiple attempts to clandestinely seize voting machines, including in Michigan , where prosecutors accused him of breaking into some of the machines. (Penrose wasn’t charged in the case.) He appeared to be an unindicted co-conspirator in the failed Georgia prosecution in which Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the election results, according to The Washington Post . Penrose didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article. One of the purported uses of Tranquility AI’s product is for “ election integrity ,” according to the company’s website. It didn’t provide more details in response to a question from ProPublica. Tranquility AI’s tools, which help law enforcement agents process data and assemble cases, have been employed by New Orleans’ district attorney, and the company says it has partnered with dozens of law enforcement agencies nationwide. In July 2025, a large government IT contractor announced a partnership with Tranquility AI. Harvilicz started his career working at law firms on Wall Street and in tech. Then, in 2004, when he was 29, he launched a losing bid for a Maryland congressional seat. After that, he helped lead a crowdfunding company , a movie marketing business , a film production business that worked with former intelligence officers and several cyber security ventures (including one at which he worked with Penrose). He also did a stint in the first Trump administration , serving as cybersecurity official in the Department of Energy. In advance of Harvilicz getting the DHS position, Tranquility AI made a $100,000 donation to Trump’s inaugural fund through a newly created nonprofit based at Harvilicz’s home address, according to The Intercept . In response to questions from The Intercept, Harvilicz said the donation was designed to help them meet administration policymakers. The Intercept first reported his ties to Penrose in connection with the donation. Harvilicz has posted prolifically to social media, sharing hundreds of posts of conservative content. After Trump won a second presidential term, he wrote : “We will now dismantle the near communist takeover of America and return her to greatness.” In 2020, Harvilicz purchased a $3.3 million home outside of Los Angeles. After the Palisades Fire destroyed it around the beginning of Trump’s second term, Harvilicz stood on a roadside to greet the president’s tour of the disaster area with his young son on his shoulders. His son held aloft a picture of a bloodied Trump punching the air after surviving an assassin’s bullet. Even then, elections were not far from his mind. He told a reporter for the Los Angeles Times that he supported Trump making disaster aid conditional on the Democratic state implementing voter ID. “I hope he saw us,” Harvilicz told the Times reporter. The post This DHS Official Oversees the Security of Federal Elections. He Wants to Ban Voting Machines. appeared first on ProPublica .

They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.
On the afternoon of Sept. 9, 2024, Cherise Doyley was in her 12th hour of contractions at University of Florida Health in downtown Jacksonville when a nurse came in with a bedsheet and told her to cover up. A supervisor brought a tablet to Doyley’s bedside. Gathered on the screen were a judge in a black robe and several lawyers, doctors and hospital staff. “It’s a real judge in there?” Doyley asked the nurse at the beginning of what would be a three-hour hearing. “Now this is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.” Doyley hadn’t asked for the hearing. The hospital had sought it. Doyley had mere minutes to prepare. She had no lawyer and no advocate — no one to explain to her what, exactly, was going on. Judge Michael Kalil informed her that the state had filed an emergency petition at the hospital’s behest — not out of concern for Doyley, per se, but in the interest of her unborn child. He described the circumstances as “extraordinary.” The hospital and state attorney’s office wanted to force Doyley to undergo a cesarean section. Doyley, a professional birthing doula, didn’t want that and had been firm about it. She’d had three prior C-sections, one that resulted in a hemorrhage, and hoped to avoid another serious complication and lengthy recovery. She was aware that doctors were concerned about the risk of uterine rupture, a potentially deadly complication for her and her baby. She would say during the hearing that she understood the risk to be less than 2% and didn’t want to agree to a C-section unless there was an emergency. But the choice would not be hers. The judge would decide how she would give birth. Watch How a Court Hearing Was Convened in Cherise Doyley’s Hospital Room Obtained by ProPublica Mentally competent patients typically have the right to choose their medical care — or refuse it. But there is one notable exception: pregnant patients. That inconsistency is particularly striking in Florida, a state that has pushed to expand medical freedom for those who wish to avoid vaccines or fluoridated water, while constricting the rights of people in various stages of pregnancy. “There aren’t any other instances where you would invade the body of one person in order to save the life of another,” said Lois Shepherd, a bioethics expert at the University of Virginia School of Law. In Florida and many other states, court-ordered medical procedures are just one of the ways pregnant patients’ rights are restricted. The effort to chip away at those rights is rooted in the concept of fetal personhood — that a fetus has equal and, in some cases, more rights than the woman sustaining it. The link between fetal personhood and court-ordered C-sections dates back to the 1980s, when courts started ruling that hospitals can override patients’ decisions in favor of the health of unborn children. In the years since, proponents of fetal personhood began to push for even broader legal protections. In 1986, Minnesota was the first state to recognize fetuses as victims in homicide cases. Some states have imprisoned pregnant women for exposing their fetuses to drugs. Nearly 30 states have passed laws that allow hospitals to invalidate pregnant patients’ advance directives, which outline the kinds of life-sustaining treatment a person wants after a catastrophic illness or accident. At least one, Alabama, extended the concept of personhood all the way to the earliest stages of fertilization and conception by giving frozen embryos the same legal status as children, though the Legislature later said the law couldn’t be enforced. And the fetal personhood movement has accelerated in the past several years, supercharged by the U.S. Supreme Court decision to reverse the abortion rights that had been protected by Roe v. Wade. Florida has long been at the forefront of fetal personhood policies. The state was one of the first in the country to prosecute a woman for “delivering” drugs to her fetus during pregnancy in 1989, although the Florida Supreme Court later overturned her conviction. And after advocates twice failed to get a fetal personhood amendment on the state ballot, the Legislature is now considering a bill that would enshrine the concept in state law by giving embryos and fetuses the same legal status as people in wrongful death suits. For women in labor, the potential impact of the bill is clear: Experts anticipate their medical needs could be further diminished in favor of the fetuses’. Several legal experts told ProPublica they are alarmed by Doyley’s case and the legislation’s potential to allow for more court interventions during childbirth. Lawyers who represent women in fetal personhood cases already have identified a higher number of forced C-sections in Florida than other states. The state attorney’s office for the 4th Judicial Circuit declined to comment on Doyley’s case, saying a response would violate her medical privacy. But in an email, a spokesperson noted why, in general, the office would intervene: “The courts have held that the State has a compelling interest in the preservation of the life of an unborn child and the protection of innocent third parties who may be harmed by the parental refusal to allow or consent to life-saving medical treatment.” C-sections account for nearly a third of all deliveries in the United States. They can be necessary when babies are breech, or in the wrong position for birth, as well as in cases of maternal or fetal emergency. But in other cases, such as slow laboring or prior C-sections, the need for the surgery is less clear. Surveys have found that more than 10% of women feel pressured into C-sections and other procedures by doctors worried about injuries to the baby. Patients generally don’t challenge doctors who say they’re necessary, and it is uncommon for someone to hold out and for the hospital to turn to the courts. It is so rare, in fact, that advocates for the rights of pregnant women were shocked to discover that the same thing that happened to Doyley had happened to another Florida woman just a year and a half earlier. The similarities in their cases were striking. Both women had three prior C-sections. They had questioned the need for their previous surgeries and arrived prepared to fight for vaginal births. And both women are Black. They had argued that compelling them to have C-sections violated their rights to make medical decisions. Hospital staff said their medical decisions threatened the health of the fetus. It would be up to the courts to decide which one mattered more. Doyley enjoys time with her 1-year-old daughter, Arewa, on their porch. Brianna Bennett with her 2-year-old daughter, Aubree. Like Doyley, Bennett was forced to have a court-ordered C-section. Asked to consider the constitutionality of court-ordered C-sections, the U.S. Supreme Court declined in 1994, leaving a patchwork of decisions that vary by state. In the early 1980s, a hospital in Georgia won a court order to force a woman with a dangerous pregnancy complication to have a C-section. Then, in 1987, a judge in Washington, D.C., approved a request to perform surgery on a pregnant woman dying from cancer without her consent. Later, a higher court reversed that ruling and held that hospitals should not override medical decisions. An Illinois appellate court in 1993 refused to order a woman to undergo a C-section. Not long after, a patient named Laura Pemberton, who did not want a C-section, left a hospital in Tallahassee, Florida, against medical advice. A local judge sent law enforcement to her house to bring her back. Once she returned to the hospital, the judge ordered her to have a C-section, which doctors carried out. She later sued in federal court and lost. The 1999 decision by a federal district judge found that the state had a right to override her wishes. “Whatever the scope of Ms. Pemberton’s personal Constitutional rights in this situation, they clearly did not outweigh the interests of the State of Florida in preserving the life of the unborn child,” the decision said. The decision marked a legal turning point in prioritizing fetal rights over the religious freedom and bodily autonomy of the mother. In 2009, Samantha Burton arrived at the same hospital at 25 weeks pregnant, after going into premature labor. Doctors told her she needed to remain on bed rest, but she wanted to leave and go home to her children. The hospital got a court order for her to remain in the hospital and undergo any treatment doctors deemed necessary to save the fetus. She had an emergency C-section, and the baby was stillborn. She appealed the ruling granting the emergency order, and a Florida appeals court ruled in her favor. They said the circuit judge should have required the hospital to prove the baby was viable before imposing unwanted treatment, but the court stopped short of saying it was unacceptable to override the medical decisions of pregnant women in all situations. Pregnancy is the only condition where Florida courts have ruled that a patient can be forced to undergo unwanted treatment. Even a state prisoner on a hunger strike has more rights to make medical decisions. Those rulings give the state vast control over pregnant women. “All of it essentially is about the state’s ability to decide that a fetus, at any point during a pregnancy, is more important than the person who’s pregnant,” said Rutgers University law professor Kimberly Mutcherson. Doyley decorates her home with decals of butterflies. She says she likes how they represent transformation. One-year-old Arewa plays on the family porch. Bennett’s 2-year-old daughter, Aubree, pretends the floor is lava. In March 2023, more than a year before Doyley’s court-ordered C-section, Brianna Bennett arrived in labor at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital — the same hospital where the women in the 1999 and 2009 lawsuits had given birth. Over the preceding years, Bennett had come to question the medical reasoning behind her three prior C-sections. Each recovery had been harder than the last, leaving her so incapacitated after the third that for two weeks she couldn’t even go to the bathroom without help. At the time Bennett went into labor with her fourth, her mother’s hip problems had gotten so bad that she needed a wheelchair and required some help from Bennett to function. Bennett did not think she could care for all her family members while in recovery from abdominal surgery, so she insisted on trying for a vaginal birth. Bennett researched and weighed birthing options before going into labor. Tallahassee Memorial Hospital had specialists on staff and a neonatal intensive care unit equipped to serve critically ill babies. Bennett believed it offered the kind of support she needed to be able to follow her birth plan. The hospital has handled a lot of high-risk pregnancies. As Bennett’s labor stretched past 24 hours, a doctor confronted her about agreeing to a C-section, Bennett said. She continued to refuse, so the hospital reached out to the state attorney. In an email, Jack Campbell, state attorney for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, responded that the court needed to act quickly. “I plan to file an emergency motion with the Court to allow TMH to take whatever steps medically necessary to protect the life of the child and mother,” he wrote. Bennett, in the red dress, prepares lunch with her children, from left, Alannah, 16, Aubree, 2, Ayden, 11, and Ava, 7. After her three prior C-sections, she was worried about recovering from a fourth while taking care of a newborn and other family members. During the hearing, 15 to 20 people squeezed into Bennett’s hospital room. As would later happen with Doyley, she found herself in front of a tablet with a judge on the screen. Bennett said she found it offensive that so many people were concerned about the method of her delivery without taking into consideration how difficult it would be to take care of both herself and her baby while recovering from a C-section. “Are any of you gonna help me bathe or shower? Are you gonna help change my pad? Are you gonna help lift the baby out of the bed and put me in the bed because I can’t lift my legs? Is anyone going to help me?” Campbell told ProPublica that he felt the hearing was necessary to save two lives, Bennett’s and her baby’s. “I’m real comfortable with what we did here,” Campbell said. “I hate the fact that she’s upset about it.” A spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial Hospital declined to comment on Bennett’s case, even though she signed a waiver allowing the hospital to do so. “We will not be able to discuss specific patients or cases,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. The hospital did not respond to questions about its history of seeking court intervention in multiple women’s medical decisions while giving birth. Bennett said she tried to remain calm, but inside she was panicking. During the hearing, her baby’s heart rate spiked. The judge ordered her to have a C-section, and doctors wheeled her into surgery. The operation lasted two and a half hours and the surgical team had to cut around existing scar tissue and avoid her bladder. Her incision looked like an upside-down T and required a wound vac, a portable machine that helps incisions close more quickly. She said a doctor who visited her room during recovery told her she should never get pregnant again, according to a civil rights complaint filed with federal regulators.The complaint is still under investigation, but lawyers for Bennett said they haven’t heard from investigators in more than a year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not comment on the complaint. “I cried every single day,” Bennett said. “I felt like I was supposed to be happy. I’m supposed to be thankful that I have a new life and that the Lord has blessed me to see this new baby. And I’m not even happy.” Bennett’s daughters Aubree and Ava play on a swing set. Aubree looks at a photo of her mother holding her after a court-ordered C-section. A year and a half later in Jacksonville, Doyley faced a situation eerily similar to Bennett’s. She noted as her hearing began that she was the only Black person on the screen. About a dozen faces, most of them white, had gathered to challenge her medical decisions. She said it made her feel as if her race had something to do with the fact that she was thrust into the intrusive hearing. “I have 20 white people against me, and because I am informed and I am making an informed decision, they are trying to take my rights away from me by force,” Doyley told the people on the screen, requesting a Black nurse or doctor. “I don’t find that race really has much to do with this, ma’am,” the judge responded. Dr. Erin Burnett said during the hearing that she did not think Doyley could successfully give birth vaginally because she had a history of stalled labors. A long labor after prior C-sections could increase the risk of uterine rupture, which could kill Doyley and the child, she said. She said the baby’s heart rate showed some signs of distress and told Doyley it would be better to have a C-section before it became an emergency. If the baby’s heart stopped or if she lost oxygen during delivery, the baby could suffer a brain injury or death. Dr. John Davis, the chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department, testified that the hospital had been recognized for its low C-section rate and did not perform unnecessary surgeries. Doyley’s condition required intervention, he said. Burnett and Davis did not respond to requests for comment, and the hospital declined ProPublica’s requests to interview them and others involved in Doyley’s care. Doyley signed a waiver allowing the hospital to discuss her case with ProPublica, but a spokesperson for University of Florida Health in Jacksonville would not comment, citing patient privacy. Nor did the hospital respond to questions about Doyley’s claim that race played a role in the decision to involve the court. The research on the risks of uterine rupture after prior C-sections is unclear. Studies have found that 0.15% to 2.3% of these labors resulted in a rupture, depending on a number of factors such as body mass, a history of successful vaginal births and whether the labor was spontaneous or had to be induced. Doyley, who felt comfortable with her odds and wanted to continue laboring, argued during the hearing that C-sections carry their own dangers — including a risk of death. “A lot of that comes from medical negligence and medical racism, where we have a group of white doctors that think that they know what is best for Black bodies and Black babies,” Doyley said in the hearing. Doyley’s children — from left, Aganju, 7, Akilah, 11, and Arewa, 1 — sit on the porch at their home. Both the doctors and Doyley mentioned recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. However, neither one cited the organization’s stance on court-ordered C-sections, which the group has deemed to be “ethically impermissible.” After three hours of testimony — all while Doyley lay in her hospital bed — the judge ruled that she could keep laboring unless there was an emergency. If that happened, the hospital could operate, whether she wanted it or not. The judge would reconvene the hearing in the morning. In response to questions from ProPublica, Kalil wrote in an email that the judicial code of conduct prohibits judges from commenting on cases. “These ethical standards exist to protect the integrity of the judicial process, ensure fairness to all parties, and preserve the Court’s neutrality,” he wrote. Overnight, doctors said the baby’s heart rate dropped for seven minutes. Doyley woke to her hospital bed being wheeled into surgery. She called out to her sister who was asleep in the hospital room. “I had to tell her, ‘Hey, wake up,’” Doyley said. “‘Something is going on.’ She’s trying to put on her shoes. I’m like, ‘Girl, leave the shoes. Let’s go.’” Doyley recalled reciting a short prayer as her sister scrambled into the operating room. The baby was delivered by C-section. Although Doyley’s daughter was initially limp, she perked up and became responsive within a few minutes. Doctors took her to the NICU while Doyley went to recover. And to get ready to face the judge again. At the 8 a.m. hearing, Doyley looked pained and groggy. She told the judge she still hadn’t been allowed to see her daughter and asked if he could help. A doctor testified that the baby had been brought to the NICU in respiratory distress and placed on a continuous positive airway pressure machine to help with her breathing. Kalil said he couldn’t order the hospital to do anything. The matter he had been appointed to hear involved only her unborn baby. He had no authority over the child in the nursery. Kalil wished her well and quickly closed the case. Doyley in her home. In Florida and many other states, court-ordered C-sections are just one way in which pregnant women’s rights are eroded. The post They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth. appeared first on ProPublica .
South China Morning Post
Center-RightEmirates flies full flights out of Dubai, near-empty ones back
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China under pressure as Trump ties high-stakes summit to Strait of Hormuz crisis
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Nepal’s LGBTQ community celebrates first transgender woman lawmaker
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The Guardian - World News
Center-LeftTate Modern Turbine Hall to showcase David Hockney opera sets
Immersive exhibition will form the centrepiece of the celebration of the artist’s 90th birthday next year Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall will be transformed into an immersive opera house as it plays host to an exhibition featuring the sets David Hockney designed for productions of works by Mozart, Wagner and Stravinsky dating back to the 1970s. The art form might be considered passé by Timothée Chalamet, but Tate is to use the sets as the centrepiece of its celebration of Hockney’s 90th birthday in 2027. Continue reading...
Labour MPs have no reason to oppose new welfare reforms, says minister
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US judge dismisses $100,000 suit over spiciness of New York taqueria’s sauce
A German tourist filed a lawsuit claiming he felt unpleasant symptoms after eating tacos with salsa at Los Tacos No 1 A German tourist’s attempt to pursue $100,000 in damages from a New York City taqueria whose salsa he found to be too spicy has failed after a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. In a complaint filed in October 2024, German national Faycal Manz said he was visiting New York City two months earlier when he stopped at the Times Square location of Los Tacos No 1. Continue reading...
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