News - Friday, April 11, 2025

JK Willis looks down at the weed-infested ground at his feet, hoe in hand. The clearing in which he’s standing spans about an acre and is nestled within Crabtree Farms, an urban agricultural nook where the songs of the birds in the trees that border the property mingle with the sounds of traffic a few blocks away on Rossville Boulevard.

A slow “swoosh” breaks the silence of morning. As the sun starts to peek over the horizon, wildlife awakens. The Tennessee River has the appearance of glass that only the paddles of those around me on the water break.

Beating the heat of what will be a long summer day, early risers convene at the water’s edge to breathe in the brisk morning air, gather their thoughts for the day and playfully “race” each other to the river’s edge. It’s the start of the flow of my day – a way to escape the hustle and bustle that will follow for the next eight hours.

From prison to Beverly Hills, Dr. Summer Haviland has applied her healing powers in nearly every imaginable scenario.

As a former brigade physical therapist for the California Army National Guard, Haviland has provided curative relief in a skilled nursing setting, an acute hospital, a combat surgical hospital and more.

“Who has trouble asking for help?”

A few dozen hands darted up after Adrienne Koon, director of development for Chattanooga Room in the Inn (www.chattanoogaroomintheinn.com), asked a room of Realtors how they felt about asking for assistance in dire circumstances.

This series of meals-on-wheels events will take place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of each month through June, beginning this week, at Red Bank Park. Food vendors for April 11 include Tata’s Grill, Culture-Licious, The Bistro, Fud Vybez, Chubby Vegan, Street Quesadilla and Clever Creamery. Chattanooga rock band The Essentials will perform.

As a Realtor, I know firsthand that marketing a home isn’t just about getting it listed; it’s also about telling the story of your property in a way that connects with buyers. Whether it’s staging, pricing or hosting open houses, the right approach can make all the difference.

Three new deputies have joined the executive leadership team at Signal Centers. Jenny Wood and Joey Thomas will serve as deputy program officers and Sharon Green will serve as deputy finance officer.

Wood and Thomas will focus on the strategic and operational goals for Signal Centers’ local programs. Green will assist with the management of the accounting department, including supervising staff and overseeing financial processes and reporting.

The Chattanooga Fire Department has formed a 20-person wildland fire team.

Instructors from the Tennessee Division of Forestry taught team members how to cut fire breaks and deal with wind-driven brush fires, as well as survival techniques and other tactics.

Are you concerned about debt? It’s important to recognize this, but, at the same time, you may have more ways of gaining control of your debt situation than you had realized.

To begin with, not all debts are bad. After all, your mortgage provides you with a place to live, a car loan provides transportation and student loans may have helped you get the career you wanted. In fact, the wise use of debt can be a key part of your overall financial strategy.

The Captain Larry L. Taylor Exhibit is open at the Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. Taylor was a Chattanooga native and Vietnam War hero who received the Medal of Honor in 2023 for his heroism during the Battle of Khe Sanh.

It’s been a good month for University of Tennessee baseball pitchers past and present. From no-hitters to historic contracts to big league call-ups to healthy returns, Vols have dominated the headlines.

UT threw a combined no-hitter last weekend in the series opener against Texas A&M, with Liam Doyle and Dylan Loy silencing the A&M bats in a 10-0 seven-inning run-rule win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It was the second combined no-hitter of the season for the Vols, and both were started by Doyle.

When budgets are tight, it’s hard to beat a small sedan for value. Better yet, the modern models in the class are stylish, roomy and technologically advanced.

The Honda Civic is one of the most popular models on sale, and it faces new competition from the Kia K4, which replaces the previous Forte in that automaker’s lineup.

Dancing around, shaking your booty, hanging with your friends and running around the neighborhood – those are the kinds of things you liked to do when you were younger.

You also dreamed of adulthood, thought about the cool car you might someday have and made big plans. You were just a kid then, but, as in the new book “There’s Nothing Like This” by Keven Evers, you saw your future.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee schools would be allowed to turn away or charge students tuition if their families cannot prove their legal residency under a proposal that advanced Thursday out of the GOP-dominated Senate.

The legislation is designed to directly challenge the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, in which the justices found it unconstitutional to deny children an education based on their immigration status. For decades, the ruling has protected children of families living in the country illegally and granted them the right to attend public school.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's top health agency will undertake a "massive testing and research effort" to determine the cause of autism, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic who has pushed a discredited theory that routine childhood shots cause the developmental disability, said the effort will be completed by September and involve hundreds of scientists. He shared the plans with President Donald Trump during a televised Cabinet meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in the Pacific warned senators Thursday that the military support that China and North Korea are giving Russia in its war on Ukraine is a security risk in his region as Moscow provides critical military assistance to both in return.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the aftermath of this week's tariff whiplash, President Donald Trump is deciding exactly what he wants out of trade talks with as many as 75 nations in the coming weeks.

Trump is also figuring out next steps with China. He upped his tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% after China placed retaliatory taxes of 84% on imports from the U.S. While his 90-day pause on other tariffs caused the stock market to rally on Wednesday, countries still face a baseline 10% import tax instead of the higher rates announced on April 2.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks dove Thursday and surrendered a chunk of their historic gains from the day before as President Donald Trump's trade war continues to threaten the economy.

The S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday's surge of 9.5% following Trump's decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.

NEW YORK (AP) — Publishers Clearing House, a decades-old marketing and sweepstakes company known for doling out large "Prize Patrol" checks, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In an announcement this week, PCH said it was using the bankruptcy process to "finalize a shift away" from its legacy business of direct-mail, retail merchandise and magazine subscriptions. The company is hoping to instead transition to a "pure digital advertising" model, where it will continue to offer free-to-play entertainment and prizes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new tariffs threaten to push up prices on clothes, mobile phones, furniture and many other products in the coming months, possibly ending the era of cheap goods that Americans enjoyed for about a quarter-century before the pandemic.

NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump offered some financial advice Wednesday morning, stocks were wavering between gains and losses.

But that was about to change.

"THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT," he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at 9:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit has grown to more than $1.3 trillion in the first half of the 2025 fiscal year — the second highest six-month deficit on record, according to Treasury Department data released Thursday.

The deficit for October through March spans the administrations of President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. The previous high in the four decades of record keeping was $1.7 trillion in the first half of fiscal year 2021, when the government was tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine is stepping down from her post after nearly three years in Kyiv amid uncertainty over the Trump administration's attempts to broker a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The State Department said Thursday that Bridget Brink will be leaving her post in the near future, although it was not immediately clear exactly when she would depart. Brink assumed the post under former President Joe Biden's administration and has been a staunch advocate for U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework Thursday, a political turnaround after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy GOP holdouts who had refused to advance trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper spending cuts.

The Tennessee Volunteers are trying to put the air back into coach Josh Heupel's offense. Nobody knows better than Nico Iamaleava that he has to be better going into his second season as the starting quarterback.

"We didn't play at our at our full potential man," Iamaleava said. "And yeah, I mean I think it all starts in that offseason and just building rapport with the guys and you know, holding guys accountable. You know, just building that trust with the guys I think it all starts now."

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Filip Forsberg beat Karel Vejmelka with a backhander for the lone shootout goal in the Nashville Predators' 4-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night.

Forsberg, Nick Blankenburg and Ryan O'Reilly scored in regulation, and Juuse Saros made 39 saves and turned aside all three Utah attempts in the tiebreaker.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Attorneys for two Tennessee inmates facing execution this year asked Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday to declare a reprieve until a judge determines the legality of the state's new execution protocol.

Executions have been on hold in Tennessee since April 2022, when Lee halted the execution of Oscar Smith just an hour before it was to be carried out, citing an "oversight" in the preparations. He later revealed that a required purity test for the execution drugs to be used on Smith had never been done.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration must work to bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador, rejecting the administration's emergency appeal.

The court acted in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation to his native country over fears he would face persecution from local gangs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation, in a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants across the country.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Tesla officially launched in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking a new chapter in the company's global expansion after Elon Musk 's troubled relationship with the kingdom — but the Middle East country's extreme heat could pose a challenge for its electric vehicle performance and battery efficiency.

Many of the world's largest shipping nations decided on Friday to impose a minimum fee of $100 for every ton of greenhouse gases emitted by ships above certain thresholds, in what is effectively the first global tax on greenhouse gas emissions.

The revenue, estimated at around $10 billion annually, will go into the International Maritime Organization's net zero fund to invest in fuels and technologies needed to transition to green shipping. The thresholds set through the agreement will get stricter over time to try to reach the IMO's goal of net zero across the industry by about 2050.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Workers have recovered thousands of gallons of crude oil from an underground pipeline spill on North Dakota farmland, the owner of the line said Thursday, but it remains unclear when oil will again start flowing to refineries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer sentiment plunged in April, the fourth consecutive month of declines, in a seemingly sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump's trade wars that have fueled anxiety over possible job losses and rising inflation.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, fell 11% on a monthly basis to 50.8, the lowest since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, sentiment has tumbled 34%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices fell last month in another sign that inflationary pressures are easing. But President Donald Trump's trade wars cloud the outlook as new, punishing tariffs are launched by Beijing and Washington.

The producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — fell 0.4% from February, first drop since October 2023, the Labor Department said Friday. Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.7%, down from a 3.2% year-over-year gain in February and much lower than the 3.3% economists had forecast. Gasoline prices fell 11.1% from February and egg prices, which had skyrocketed because of bird flu, plummeted 21.3%.

BEIJING (AP) — China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

YIWU, China (AP) — The trade war between the world's two largest economies is escalating as China on Friday slapped a 125% tariff on U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump's 145% tariff on Chinese products.

Caught in the crosshairs are businesses that are part of the more than $582.4 billion trade between the countries, with Chinese exporters making up the bulk of that exchange.

PALACIOS, Texas (AP) — While American consumers and markets wonder and worry about President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs, there's one group cheering him as they hope he'll prop up their sinking business: Gulf coast shrimpers.

American shrimpers have been hammered in recent years by cheap imports flooding the U.S. market and restaurants, driving down prices to the point that profits are razor thin or shrimpers are losing money and struggling to stay afloat.

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan's net income rose 9% to $14.6 billion in the first quarter and the New York bank beat Wall Street's profit and revenue targets, but its chief executive warned of global economic uncertainties ahead due to President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war and other geopolitical tensions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The commander of a U.S. Space Force base in Greenland has been fired after she sent a base-wide email breaking with official messaging following Vice President JD Vance's visit to the Danish territory that President Donald Trump is seeking to annex.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump tries to turn his global trade war into a one-on-one showdown with China, he is finding that he has alienated some key U.S. partners who could boost America's position in a fight between the world's largest and second-largest economies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their Social Security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country, according to two people familiar with the situation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans narrowly got their budget plan over the finish line. Now comes the hard part.

The resolution adopted this week was only a first step that allows Republicans to draft legislation that they can push through Congress without Democratic support. Next, they begin crafting a final bill with enough spending cuts to satisfy those on the right while not jeopardizing the reelection prospects of more vulnerable lawmakers whose constituents rely on key safety net programs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is undergoing his annual physical on Friday, potentially giving the public its first details in years about the health of a man who in January became the oldest in U.S. history to be sworn in as president.

"I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!" Trump, 78, posted on his social media site.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, filling the position almost two months after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor.

Trump nominated Caine to become the top U.S. military officer in February after abruptly firing Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the second Black general to serve as chairman, as part of his administration's campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks. The Senate confirmed Caine 60-25 in an overnight vote before heading home for a two-week recess.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain's defense minister on Thursday urged his counterparts from around 30 countries to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia, as questions remained over whether the United States would provide backup.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced deals Friday with five law firms that will allow them to avoid the prospect of punishing executive orders and require them to together provide hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of free legal services for causes his administration says it supports.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sided with the Trump administration in allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement operations at houses of worship despite a lawsuit filed by religious groups over the new policy.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington refused to grant a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, more than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans.

LONDON (AP) — Ireland's data privacy watchdog said Friday it's investigating Elon Musk's social media platform X over its use of personal data to train his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok.

The Data Protection Commission said it has opened an inquiry into "the processing of personal data comprised in publicly-accessible posts" that European users posted on X.

NEW YORK (AP) — The upheaval in stocks has been grabbing all the headlines, but there is a bigger problem looming in another corner of the financial markets that rarely gets headlines: Investors are dumping U.S. government bonds.

Normally, investors rush into Treasurys at a whiff of economic chaos but now they are selling them as not even the lure of higher interest payments on the bonds is getting them to buy. The freak development has experts worried that big banks, funds and traders are losing faith in America as a good place to store their money.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks jumped in another manic day on Wall Street, but the falling value of the U.S. dollar and other swings in financial markets suggest worries about President Donald Trump's trade war remain high.

The S&P 500 rose 1.8% Friday after veering between gains and losses, closing a historic week full of monstrous swings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday urged Congress to "push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day" in his latest dig at the semiannual changing of clocks.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media network, said it would be "Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!"

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Noah Hanifin scored the go-ahead goal with 1:55 to play and the Vegas Golden Knights went on to a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday that clinched their fourth Pacific Division title in the team's eight-year history.

NEW YORK (AP) — If your life has been upended by a wildfire, hurricane, flood, tornado, or another disaster this past year, the IRS recognizes that you may need more time to file your taxes and grants you an automatic extension beyond the normal filing deadline, which is Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Taxes may not be the first thing on your mind when you celebrate a joyous occasion like a marriage or a new baby. But once you return from your honeymoon or while your newborn is napping, you'll need to spend some time thinking about them.

BANGKOK (AP) — China's exports jumped 12.4% in March from a year earlier in a last-minute flurry of activity as companies rushed to beat increases in U.S. tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and analysts forecast sharp setbacks ahead.

Imports fell 4.3% to $211.3 billion in March, the customs administration reported, far exceeded by exports worth $313.9 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $102.6 billion.

President Donald Trump bitterly attacked "60 Minutes" shortly after the CBS newsmagazine broadcast stories on Ukraine and Greenland on Sunday, saying the network was out of control and should "pay a big price" for going after him.

"Almost every week, 60 Minutes ... mentions the name 'TRUMP' in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this Weekend's 'BROADCAST' tops them all," the president said on his Truth Social platform. He called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to impose maximum fines and punishment "for their unlawful and illegal behavior."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Community celebrations being planned to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary next year are at risk of being significantly scaled back or canceled because of federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump's administration, according to multiple state humanities councils across the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate, once again, was working into the early morning hours Friday with its new majority leader, Republican John Thune, setting the pace.

It wasn't until just after 2 a.m. that the last of the senators had straggled into the chamber to cast their vote on the confirmation of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vote capped a grinding start to the year for the Senate that included several all-night floor sessions and — importantly for Thune — the quickest top-level Cabinet confirmation process in the past 20 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hosting Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, at the White House on Monday as the small Central American nation becomes a critical linchpin of the U.S. administration's mass deportation operation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Christian world commemorates Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday, the State Department has issued an appeal for its employees to report instances of alleged anti-Christian bias, including formal or informal actions due to opposition to vaccines or personal pronoun choice, that may have occurred during the Biden administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had an annual physical Friday and concluded, "I did well," praising his own heart, soul and cognitive ability while noting medical reports from White House doctors may not be ready until the weekend.

The 78-year-old, who in January became the oldest in U.S. history to be sworn in as president, spent nearly five hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center undergoing what he called "every test you can imagine."

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Quarterback Cam Ward might be the first player off this year's NFL draft board.

Five years ago, he was pretty much off everybody's radar outside of West Columbia, Texas.

Back then, Ward worked behind center in his high school's run-heavy Wing-T offense. His roughly 12 throws per game didn't give him much chance to match the gaudy numbers of top recruits, and not many college coaches were making the one-hour drive from Houston to his hometown of roughly 4,000 people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic antitrust trial began Monday for Meta Platforms Inc. in a case that could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups it bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.

"I'm looking at something to help some of the car companies with it," Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. The Republican president said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places, "And they need a little bit of time because they're going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I'm talking about things like that."

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Kristan Hawkins, president of the national anti-abortion group Students for Life, tours college campuses, she has grown accustomed to counterprotests from abortion rights activists.

But more recently, fellow abortion opponents, who call themselves abortion abolitionists, are showing up to her booths with signs, often screaming "baby killer" at her while she speaks with students. Hawkins has had to send alerts to donors asking them to help pay for increased security.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nvidia announced Monday that it will produce its artificial intelligence super computers in the United States for the first time.

The tech giant said it has commissioned more than one million square feet of manufacturing space to build and test its specialized Blackwell chips in Arizona and AI supercomputers in Texas — part of an investment the company said will produce up to half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure in the next four years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers calling the IRS for help processing their taxes this filing season may find it harder than normal to get someone on the phone, experts say, a problem that is only expected to get worse next year with staffing cuts that could slash the workforce considerably.

Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday with President Donald Trump and his counterpart from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.

Last week's federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump 's top advisers and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said Monday that they have no basis for the small Central American nation to return a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there last month. Bukele called the idea "preposterous" even though the U.S. Supreme Court has called on the administration to "facilitate" Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air Force Gen. Dan Caine has been sworn in as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after a flurry of paperwork was finished to allow him to fill the job nearly two months after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor.

A formal White House ceremony is expected to take place this week.

Confusion over President Donald Trump's tariffs remains following a weekend of questions around trade in consumer electronics.

On Friday the Trump administration paused its new taxes on electronics imported into the U.S. — signaling some relief from trade wars that have particularly escalated with China, a major exporter of technology from smartphones to laptops. But these goods remain subject to other levies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are quick to say that President Donald Trump's tariffs are horrible, awful, terrible. But Democrats are also stressing that they are not inherently anti-tariff.

What Trump's political opponents say they really dislike is the "chaos" he has unleashed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied worldwide after President Donald Trump relaxed some of his tariffs and as stress from within the U.S. bond market seemed to ease.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Clayton Keller had two goals and two assists, and the Utah Hockey Club beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 on Monday night.

Logan Cooley had a goal and two assists, Michael Kesselring had a goal and an assist, and Nick Schmaltz, Nick Bjugstad and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Utah. Alexander Kerfoot had two assists and Matt Villalta finished with 27 saves to get his first career win in his second NHL start.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the witness stand on the first day of a historic antitrust trial to defend his company against allegations it illegally monopolized the social media market.

The trial could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups Meta bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. researchers will soon test whether livers from a gene-edited pig could treat people with sudden liver failure — by temporarily filtering their blood so their own organ can rest and maybe heal.

The first-of-its-kind clinical trial has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, according to pig producer eGenesis, which announced the step Tuesday with its partner OrganOx.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese regulators on Tuesday accused U.S. tech giant Google of violating anti-monopoly laws, echoing similar moves in the U.S. and Europe.

Google Japan said in a statement that it found the action "regrettable." It said it has invested in Japan significantly to promote innovation as a technology leader.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A female Army Ranger for the first time competed in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-soldier team finished the grueling three-day event over the weekend and came in 14th overall.

First Lt. Gabrielle White, and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among the 16 teams that made it through the final events, where Ranger teams compete for accolades as the best of the elite military force. All together, 52 teams competed and all of the others were made up of only male soldiers.

BOSTON (AP) — The federal government says it's freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration's demands to limit activism on campus.

The hold on Harvard's funding marks the seventh time President Donald Trump's administration has taken the step at one of the nation's most elite colleges, in an attempt to force compliance with Trump's political agenda. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several international students who have had their visas revoked in recent weeks have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the U.S.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A recent amendment to Peru's Forestry and Wildlife Law is drawing fierce backlash from environmental groups and Indigenous groups that warn it could accelerate deforestation in the Amazon rainforest under the guise of economic development.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Rancher Brett Kenzy hopes President Donald Trump's tariffs will make imported beef expensive enough that Americans will turn to cattle raised at home for all their hamburgers and steaks.

That might raise prices enough to give Kenzy and others the incentive they need to expand their herds for the first time in decades. But doing that would take at least two years, and it's not clear if Trump's tariffs on most of the world besides China are high enough to make that worth the investment.

BANGKOK (AP) — The Trump administration has taken its next steps toward imposing more tariffs on key imports, launching investigations into imports of computer chips, chip making equipment and pharmaceuticals.

The Department of Commerce posted notices about the probes late Monday on the Federal Register, seeking public comment within three weeks. It had not formally announced them earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has expanded the power of adviser Elon Musk's government-cutting team over the State Department, making a Musk lieutenant acting head of all foreign assistance there.

A senior U.S. official confirmed the new job for Jeremy Lewin, an associate of the Department of Government Efficiency earlier appointed to help finish dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on a personnel matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden returns to the national stage Tuesday to elevate liberal concerns that President Donald Trump's agenda is threatening the health of Social Security.

The 82-year-old Democrat has largely avoided speaking publicly since leaving the White House in January. That's even as Trump frequently blames Biden for many of the nation's problems, often attacking his predecessor by name.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House's Office of Management and Budget has proposed gutting the State Department's budget by almost 50%, closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions, slashing the number of diplomatic staff, and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and for NATO headquarters, officials said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance ended the Ohio State football team's visit to the White House on Monday by fumbling the team's national championship trophy.

After laudatory speeches by President Donald Trump, Buckeye coach Ryan Day and Vance on the South Lawn, the vice president — an Ohio State graduate — tried to hoist aloft the trophy.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Atlantic Sun Conference champion Lipscomb has hired Kevin Carroll as its men's basketball head coach.

Carroll returns to Lipscomb after leading nearby Division II Trevecca Nazarene University to record-breaking success the last two years, including the most wins in program history and the school's first-ever South Region Poll ranking. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Bisons from 2019 to 2023, helping recruit and develop multiple all-conference players.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland questioned the Trump administration Tuesday about its continued refusal to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison, even after the Supreme Court ordered his return to the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two attorneys representing Harvard University in a pitched fight with the Trump administration are no strangers to the spotlight or to Washington investigations that reach into the White House.

One of them, Robert Hur, was a senior Justice Department official during President Donald Trump's first term and served for a time as the top federal prosecutor in Maryland. But he's perhaps best known as the special counsel who investigated President Joe Biden's handling of classified information and produced a report that painted a damaging assessment of Biden's mental acuity months before the Democrat dropped his bid for reelection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sparred Tuesday with a Federal Trade Commission attorney over the meaning of emails the Facebook founder wrote about why he wanted to acquire Instagram, as a historic antitrust trial alleging Meta illegally monopolized the social media market went into its second day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department's request to dismiss the criminal case against the alleged MS-13 gang East Coast leader whom prosecutors say they now intend to deport just weeks after top government officials celebrated his arrest outside of Washington.

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump hinted that he might temporarily relieve the auto industry from "permanent" tariffs he previously imposed on the business. The president didn't specify how long the potential pause would be or what it would entail, but the auto sector is awaiting how rules might change on 25% tariffs based on U.S. parts, if duties remain on assembled vehicles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At first, the bar association for immigration attorneys began receiving inquiries from a couple students a day. These were foreigners studying in the U.S., and they'd discovered in early April their legal status had been terminated with little notice. To their knowledge, none of the students had committed a deportable offense.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Bank of America to pay more than $540 million to resolve long-running litigation from a U.S. regulator that alleged the company underpaid mandatory assessments for deposit insurance.

The order, reached March 31 and published publicly on Monday, arrives over eight years after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sued Bank of America in 2017.

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest government waste touted by billionaire Elon Musk's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency is hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims it purportedly uncovered.

One problem: Federal investigators already found what appears to be the same fraud, years earlier and on a far greater scale.

ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — NATO's support for Ukraine remains "unwavering," the alliance's secretary-general said Tuesday, emphasizing that more than 20 billion euros — over $22 billion — in security assistance has already been pledged by NATO allies in the first three months of the year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Maine for not complying with the government's push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women's sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge said Tuesday that she will order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her orders to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg once considered separating Instagram from its parent company due to worries about antitrust litigation, according to an email shown Tuesday on the second day of an antitrust trial alleging Meta illegally monopolized the social media market.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As measles outbreaks popped up across the U.S. this winter, pediatricians waited for the nation's public health agency to send a routine, but important, letter that outlines how they could help stop the spread of the illness.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

A list quietly posted as of Tuesday on the Environmental Protection Agency's website lists 47 power providers — which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants — that are receiving exemptions from the Biden-era rules under the Clean Air Act, including a regulation limiting air pollution from mercury and other toxins. The actions follow an executive order last week by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that's long been in decline.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army and Air Force libraries have been told to go through their stacks to find books related to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to new memos obtained by The Associated Press.

The orders from service leaders come about two weeks after the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office to get rid of those that promote DEI.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. shoppers stepped up their shopping last month, fueled by a spending spree on big ticket items, particularly cars, before President Donald Trump's expansive new tariffs started kicking in.

But analysts were quick to point out that the data wasn't a sign of strength but underscored the extreme economic uncertainty that shoppers face and how they want to get ahead of higher prices.

SUN CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Susan Hemphill said she's always been frugal with her spending. But the recent volatility in the stock market caused by President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs and an escalating trade war with China have made her even more cautious.

MORGAN, Vt. (AP) — Making maple syrup in New England's fickle spring weather can be an unpredictable business. Now President Donald Trump's ever-changing tariff policies are adding anxiety about an industry that depends on multinational trade.

"Any kind of disruption with our cross border enterprise, we feel it," said Jim Judd, a fourth-generation sugarer who owns Judd's Wayeeses Farms in Morgan, Vermont. "It's uncertain enough making maple syrup."

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China appointed a new trade negotiator Wednesday in the midst of its tariff fight with the United States as the world's two largest economies steadily increase tariffs on each other's goods.

China's government said Li Chenggang replaces Wang Shouwen, who participated in negotiations for the countries' 2020 trade deal.

BANGKOK (AP) — China's economy expanded at a 5.4% annual pace in January-March, the government said Wednesday, supported by strong exports ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's rapid increases in tariffs on Chinese products.

With the trade war clouding the outlook, analysts are forecasting that the world's second largest economy will slow significantly in coming months, however, as tariffs as high as 145% on U.S. imports from China take effect. Beijing has hit back at the U.S. with 125% tariffs on American exports, while also stressing its determination to keep its own markets open to trade and investment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, will travel to Paris this week for talks with European allies on U.S. efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

CHICAGO (AP) — An IRS whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden's taxes is expected to be promoted to IRS acting commissioner, two sources familiar with the plan tell The Associated Press.

Gary Shapley, an IRS employee who testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden's son, said he was retaliated against for cooperating in the investigations. In March, Shapley was promoted to Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations, and another IRS investigator who testified about Biden's taxes, Joseph Ziegler, was assigned to the Treasury Secretary's office as a senior adviser for IRS reform.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he's joining some of his top economic advisers on Wednesday for negotiations at the White House over tariffs and trade with a top Japanese official who is traveling to Washington for the talks.

The Republican president said in a post on his social media platform that he'll attend the meeting alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, top economic advisers with a central role in his trade and tariff policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been placed on administrative leave and was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday, two defense officials said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he wants to give money and an airplane ticket to any immigrant who is in the country illegally who chooses to "self-deport," and work to get those who are "good" back in the U.S., a break from his usual hardline immigration rhetoric.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze will host the 77th Emmy Awards, CBS announced Wednesday.

One of the most popular stand-ups currently working, Bargatze will emcee the Sept. 14 ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday said he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court and warned he could seek officials' prosecution for violating his orders last month to turn around planes carrying deportees to an El Salvador prison.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, challenging the president's authority to impose sweeping tariffs that have set off a global trade war.

The lawsuit argues that President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China or a 10% tariff on all imports is unlawful. The act enables a president to freeze and block transactions in response to foreign threats but doesn't allow the president to adopt tariffs, the suit says.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized in federal court on Wednesday that he bought Instagram and WhatsApp because he saw value in the companies — not to take out competitors, as the Federal Trade Commission alleges in a historic antitrust trial.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The program developed during Joe Biden's presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.

OpenAI has named labor leader Dolores Huerta and three others to a temporary advisory board that will help guide the artificial intelligence company's philanthropy as it attempts to shift itself into a for-profit business.

Huerta, who turned 95 last week, formed the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez in the early 1960s and will now have a say on the direction of philanthropic initiatives that OpenAI says will consider "both the promise and risks of AI."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday on a Chinese refinery accused of purchasing more than $1 billion worth of Iranian oil, saying the proceeds help finance both Tehran's government and Iran's support for militant groups.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve can stay patient and wait to see how tariffs and other economic policies of the Trump administration play out before making any changes to interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell Wednesday after Nvidia warned new restrictions on exports to China will chisel billions of dollars off its results, while companies around the world said President Donald Trump's trade war is clouding forecasts for how they and the economy will do this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has shut down its office that sought to deal with misinformation and disinformation that Russia, China and Iran have been accused of spreading.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Wednesday that he had closed what had been known as the Global Engagement Center because it had taken actions to restrict freedom of speech in the United States and elsewhere.

NEW YORK (AP) — The nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice says staff from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency contacted them to assign a team to the organization and told them they planned to similarly install teams with all nonprofits receiving funds appropriated by Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador Wednesday to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.