MON ANIO

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures in recent weeks received messages from someone impersonatingSusie Wiles, PresidentDonald Trump's chief of staff. A White House official said Friday the matter is under investigation and the White House takes cybersecurity of its staff seriously. ,The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. TheWall Street Journal reported Thursdaythat senators, governors, business leaders and others began receiving text messages and phone calls from someone who seemed to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles' personal cellphone. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles number, the newspaper reported. It is unclear how the person gained access to Wiles' phone, but the intrusion is the latest security breach for Trump staffers.Last year, Iran hacked into Trump's campaignand sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed, including a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, created before he was selected as Trump's running mate. Wiles, who served as a co-manager of Trump's campaign before taking on the lynchpin role in his new administration, has amassed a powerful network of contacts. Some of those who received calls heard a voice that sounded like Wiles that may have been generated byartificial intelligence, according to the report. Some received text messages that they initially thought were official White House requests but some people reported the messages did not sound like Wiles. ___ Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON − TheSupreme Courton May 30 said theTrump administrationcanrevoke the temporary legal statusof hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans living in the United States. Two of the court's liberal justices – Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor – dissented. The administration wants to cut short a program that provided a two-year haven for immigrants because of economic, security, political and health crises in their home countries. Lawyers for the migrants said half a million people lawfully in the country will become subject to deportation, what it called the "largest mass illegalization event in modern American history." Labor unions and communities that have welcomed the migrants said they've filled gaps in key industries, including healthcare, construction and manufacturing. Nearly 20% of the workers at one automotive parts manufacturer are in the temporary program, according to labor unions. The Trump administration said it's determined the migrants' presence in the United States is "against the national interests" and the courts don't get to decide otherwise. The move is part of the PresidentDonald Trump'scrackdown on immigrationandpush to ramp up deportations, including of noncitizens previously granted a legal right to live and work in the United States. TheBiden administration hoped the programwould deter migrants from those countries from trying to enter the country illegally. But theTrumpadministration cancelled people's work permits and deportation protections, arguing the program failed as a deterrent and makes it harder to enforce immigration laws for those already in the country. Immigrant rights groups challenged the change on behalf of the immigrants and their sponsors. A federal judge in Massachusettssaidthe abrupt curtailing of the program was based on a legal error, as the administration wrongly concluded that letting the temporary status naturally expire would foreclose the Homeland Security Department's ability to legally expedite their deportations. District Judge Indira Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, also said early cancellation of protections requires a case-by-case review for each participant. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of AppealsbackedTalwani's decision to temporarily block mass cancellation. All three judges were appointed by Democratic presidents. The Justice Department argued the lower courts are "undoing democratically approved policies that featured heavily in the November election." Lawyers for a group of cities and counties said the abrupt cancellation of the program "would case severe economic and societal harms." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Supreme Court lets Trump revoke migrants' temporary status

The Chrisley family is set to address reporters on Friday, days after the formerly jailed reality TV starsTodd and Julie Chrisleywerepardoned by President Donald Trumpand released from federal prison. The family will be holding a press conference at 10:30 a.m. CT, 11:30 a.m. ET, at the Kimpton Aertson Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, flanked by their attorneys. It is unclear if Todd and Julie Chrisley will be present. Trump issued pardons to the Chrisleys on Wednesday. The pair, known for their roles on reality TV show "Chrisley Knows Best," were convicted in 2022 of tax evasion and defrauding banks to obtain personal loans worth more than $36 million and fund a lavish lifestyle. Prosecutorssaidthat the Chrisleys submitted false bank statements, audit reports and personal financial statements to Georgia community banks to obtain the loans. They were found guilty by an Atlanta jury in 2022 andconvicted of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracyto defraud the United States. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, was pivotal in getting her parents released. The 27-year-old spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and began petitioning Trump to pardon her parents before the president was inaugurated, according to the Chrisleys' attorney, Alex Little. Little told NBC News on Wednesday that the family did not try to petition the Biden administration for the couple's release. Julie Chrisley made her first public outing on Thursday, to a butcher shop in Nashville, Tennessee. The 52-year-old was sporting her natural hair color, gray. Later that day, Savannah Chrisley also posted selfies with her father on Instagram and captioned the images: "To the paparazzi following us looking to pay your bills… here's your photo." The Chrisleys' pardons were amongseveral presidential clemencies to raise eyebrowsin recent months. Former President Joe Bidenissued a pardonfor his son Hunter Biden on federal gun and tax charges in December, andpre-emptive pardonsfor other members of his family before leaving office. Within his first days of his second term, Trumppardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendantsin connection with the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And on Monday, Trump announced he was pardoningScott Jenkins, a former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia. The former sheriff was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year for acceptingover $75,000in exchange for giving law enforcement authority to local businessmen, in addition to two undercover FBI agents. The Chrisleys' former accountant, who was found guilty in 2022 of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service,told the Atlanta Journal-Constitutionon Wednesday that he also plans to petition the Trump administration for a pardon. The accountant, Peter Tarantino, served three years in prison for the crimes. Chase Chrisley, one of the convicted couple's sons, did not rule out whether his parents would return to reality TV in an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" on Thursday. He cautioned that "there's no deal in place for my parents." Chase added that cameras were rolling when he and his siblings first spoke with their parents by telephone after their pardons were announced. "You guys will see it. And it's just been raw reality and truth of, like, the struggles that we've been going through as a family, as individuals and how to navigate that while still staying together and holding our family together," he said. It is unclear if the reality stars will be filming the press conference on Friday.

DAMASCUS (AP) — The lifting of economic sanctions onSyriawill allow the government to begin work on daunting tasks that include fighting corruption and bringing millions of refugees home, Hind Kabawat, the minister of social affairs and labor, told The Associated Press on Friday. Kabawat is the only woman and the only Christian in the 23-membercabinet formedin March to steer the country during a transitional period after the ouster of former PresidentBashar Assadin a rebel offensive in December. Her portfolio will be one of the most important as the country begins rebuilding after nearly 14 years of civil war. She saidmoves by the U.S. and the European Unionin the past week to at least temporarily lift most of the sanctions that had been imposed on Syria over decades will allow that work to get started. Before, she said, "we would talk, we would make plans, but nothing could happen on the ground because sanctions were holding everything up and restricting our work." With the lifting of sanctions they can now move to "implementation." One of the first programs the new government is planning to launch is "temporary schools" for the children of refugees and internally displaced people returning to their home areas. Kabawat said that it will take time for the easing of sanctions to show effects on the ground, particularly since unwinding some of the financial restrictions will involve complicated bureaucracy. "We are going step by step," she said. "We are not saying that anything is easy -- we have many challenges — but we can't be pessimistic. We need to be optimistic." The new government's vision is "that we don't want either food baskets or tents after five years," Kabawat said, referring to the country's dependence on humanitarian aid and many displacement camps. That may be an ambitious target, given that 90% of the country's population currently lives below the poverty line, according to theUnited Nations. Thecivil warthat began in 2011 also displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million people. The U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that about half a million havereturned to Syriasince Assad was ousted. But the dire economic situation and battered infrastructure have also dissuaded many refugees from coming back. The widespread poverty also fed into a culture of public corruption that developed in the Assad era, including solicitation of bribes by public employees and shakedowns by security forces at checkpoints. Syria's new rulers have pledged to end the corruption, but they face an uphill battle. Public employees make salaries far below the cost of living, and the new government has so far been unable to make good on a promise to hike public sector wages by 400%. "How can I fight corruption if the monthly salary is $40 and that is not enough to buy food for 10 days?" Kabawat asked. Women and minorities The country's new rulers, led by PresidentAhmad al-Sharaa— the former head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a Sunni Islamist insurgent group that spearheaded the offensive against Assad — have been under scrutiny by western countries over the treatment of Syrian women and religious minorities. In March, clashes between government security forces and pro-Assad armed groups spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks onmembers of the Alawite sectto which Assad belongs. Hundreds ofcivilians were killed. The government formed a committee to investigate the attacks, which has not yet reported its findings. Many also criticized the transitional government as giving only token representation to women and minorities. Apart from Kabawat, the cabinet includes only one member each from the Druze and Alawite sects and one Kurd. "Everywhere I travel… the first and last question is, 'What is the situation of the minorities?'" Kabawat said. "I can understand the worries of the West about the minorities, but they should also be worried about Syrian men and women as a whole." She said the international community's priority should be to help Syria to build its economy and avoid the country falling into "chaos." 'Rebuilding our institutions' Despite being the only woman in the cabinet, Kabawat said "now there is a greater opportunity for women" than under Assad and that "today there is no committee being formed that does not have women in it." "Syrian women have suffered a lot in these 14 years and worked in all areas," she said. "All Syrian men and women need to have a role in rebuilding our institutions." She called for those wary of al-Sharaa to give him a chance. While the West has warmed to the new president -- particularly after his recenthigh-profile meetingwith U.S.President Donald Trump— others have not forgotten that he fought against U.S. forces in Iraq after the invasion of 2003 or that his HTS group was formed as an offshoot of al-Qaida, although it later cut ties. "People used to call (Nelson) Mandela a terrorist, and then he became the first leader among those who freed South Africa, and after that suddenly he was no longer a terrorist," Kabawat said. She urged skeptics to "give us the same chance that you gave to South Africa."

Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan cast the political left as "crazy" and "mean" while he hyped up his colleague, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, at a special meeting of Des Moines' Westside Conservative Club. Jordan, a Republican from Ohio who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, was in Des Moines on Thursday, May 29, supporting Nunn. Nunn is running for reelection to the 3rdCongressional District next year. And the race has begun in earnest as Democrats begin entering the race. Democratic state Reps.Sarah Trone GarriottandJennifer Konfrsthave both announced their candidacies. And national Democrats haveonce again targeted the seat as a prime pickup opportunity. "Thanks for getting off the sidelines and getting in the game," Jordan told the group, which gathered at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale. "I learned a long time ago, good things in life don't just happen. You want to accomplish anything that matters … it takes hard work, it takes sacrifice, but most importantly, it takes a willingness to assume risk." Politics is a risky business, he said, particularly in an age of division. He said the dividing line between the parties currently is one of "common sense." "We're the party of common sense and normal," he said. "You think about the left, it is crazy to defund the police. … It's crazy to not have a border. It is crazy to have men compete against women in sports." He painted Democrats broadly as untrustworthy, pointing to decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic to shut down schools and churches as well as the current conversation about whether former Democratic PresidentJoe Bidenwas mentally fit to serve in office. More:$1,000 to seek asylum? House Republicans propose new immigration fees "The left will tell a lie," Jordan said. "Big media will repeat the lie. Big tech will amplify the lie. And then when you tell the truth, they call you a racist or some other name. They'll attack you. They'll come at you personally because they're mean. Then pretty soon, your position will be proven accurate. So much so, in this example even, Jake Tapper wrote a book to say we were right." Tapper is the co-author of a bookthat suggests aides and confidantes close to Biden shielded him from the public to hide his declining mental state. Nunn said he had recently spoken to Republican PresidentDonald Trumpabout the importance of Iowa's congressional races in the coming midterm elections. "We were just on a conversation with the President, and he said, 'You know what, everybody looks to Iowa, and they might be looking at presidential races coming up in 2028,'" Nunn said. "But the President said, 'I am laser focused on 2026.'" Nunn again touted the tax cut and spending package that recently cleared the House of Representatives. "It adds 10,000 new ICE agents," he said. "But at this point, we almost don't even need them, because the president has been so effective, they've stopped coming over themselves." He said he believes there are people who need access to social safety net programs, but he believes the legislation, which makes massive spending cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are for the best. "There are important things that Washington can do for Americans," Nunn said. "I'll be the first to say, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP do help Americans. But they have to be used in a way to help Americans with a hand up, not a handout." Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her atbpfann@dmreg.comor 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register:US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Zach Nunn ahead of 2026 reelection bid

By Christian Lowe and Dmitry Antonov KYIV/MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine on Friday resisted pressure from Moscow and Washington to commit itself to attending peace talks with Russia on June 2, saying it first needed to see the proposals Russian negotiators plan to bring to the talks. After U.S. President Donald Trump urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a peace deal to end their three-year-old war, Russia proposed sitting down with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul. Kyiv responded by saying it was committed in principle to the search for peace, but that it was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out their proposals, which it had still not received. "We are ready for dialogue, but we demand clarity - clear and, most importantly, balanced proposals," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in remarks aired on national television. The war, the biggest on the European continent since World War Two, began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Expectations for the talks are modest because the positions staked out so far by the two sides are far apart and work between them has yet to begin in earnest on narrowing the gap. Nevertheless, both Kyiv and Moscow are keen to demonstrate to Trump that they are on board with his efforts to end the conflict. Kyiv is seeking more U.S. military aid, while Moscow hopes he will ease economic sanctions on Russia. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian delegation would be travelling to Istanbul and would be ready for talks with Ukraine on Monday morning. "At the moment, everyone is focused on the direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations. A list of conditions for a temporary truce is being developed," Peskov told reporters. Reuters reported earlier this week that Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards. Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said earlier on Friday that Russia's concern over the eastward enlargement of NATO was fair and the United States did not want to see Ukraine in the U.S.-led military alliance. Commenting on Kellogg's statement, Peskov said: "We are pleased that these explanations by the president are understood, including in Washington." TURKISH HOSTS Turkey's government hosted a previous round of Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul on May 16 -- which ended with no breakthrough -- and has again offered its services as a mediator. Speaking on a visit to Kyiv, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters: "As long as (the sides) remain at the negotiating table, progress can surely be seen." If the talks go ahead in Istanbul, the next step would be to try to host a meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he added. But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who appeared alongside Fidan at a news conference, sounded a note of caution. "In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions," Sybiha said. Sybiha did not spell out what Kyiv would do if it did not receive the Russian document, or set out a deadline for receiving it. "We want to end this war this year, and we are interested in establishing a truce, whether it is for 30 days, or for 50 days, or for 100 days," he said. Zelenskiy was later shown meeting and shaking hands with Fidan in Kyiv in footage released by the Turkish foreign ministry. Russia has said its delegation at the Istanbul talks will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aide who led the Russian team at the previous round of talks. (Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Anna Pruchnicka and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Ros Russell)

U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Credit - Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images The roller coaster that is President Donald Trump's trade war steamed ahead this week. On Wednesday, a federal district court dealt a major blow to Trumpwhen it ruledthat hissweeping global tariffswere illegal. On Thursday, an appeals courtruledthe levies could remain in place for now. And then, on Friday, Trumpaccused Chinaof violating a preliminary trade deal andsuggested he would respond. As all this unfolds and the U.S. legal systemlumbers toward a final verdict, one thing is clear: the White House needs to get a real trade strategy, and fast. Read More:The Five Small Businesses That Helped Block Trump's Tariffs Few issuesare more fundamentalto Trump's worldview than trade. For Trump, trade is not merely an economic issue, but a litmus test of whether America iswinning or losing on the world stage. Even matters of war and peace, such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, have seemingly taken a back seat toTrump's stubborn fixationon China's trade surplus with the U.S. During his first term, Trump launched a trade war against China with a goal, ashe framed it, of punishingChina's unfair trade practices. The trade war ended with aPhase-one dealwherein China promised to increase its future purchases of American products and enact structural reforms. Ultimately, this dealfailed to deliver. The Chinese underperformed on their pledges. Trumpblamedthe Biden Administration for not enforcing the deal. Unbowed by the disappointment of his first trade war with China, Trump launched a second one when he returned to office earlier this year. This time, he surrounded himself with loyalists who supported his instincts for public confrontation and rapid escalation to force China to the negotiating table. Trump's approach appeared to be built on an assumption that China's economy was brittle, and Beijing would buckle under pressure. Read More:Why Trump Will Blink First on China That bet backfired. Chinaretaliatedwith counter-tariffs. Beijing alsoimplementednovel new export controls on critical minerals and magnets upon which U.S. industries depend. Chinese policymakers moved swiftly to shore up China's economy while expanding trade ties with other partners. Rather than fold, China punched back. As the economic costs of the trade war mounted onbothsidesof the Pacific, Trumpdesignatedhis Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to negotiate a90-day truce. The Chinese accepted. Trump's trade war with China is not over. It is merely paused. Trump will continue returning to the well of grievance about America's trade imbalance with China until he can secure a deal that he can sell as a win to the American public. But therein lies the rub. Based on my recent exchanges with Chinese officials and experts, it seems Beijing has taken America's measure in recent weeks and concluded that China has greater capacity to withstand economic pain than the U.S. China's leaders lack confidence that any agreement with the mercurial Trump will last. At a more fundamental level, China's leaders are unclear on what specifically Trump seeks—and what he would offer in return. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Bessent said that U.S.-China talks were "a bit stalled" and suggested Trump and Xi Jinping "have a call." But until the Trump Administration can articulate its concrete objectives, its strategy for achieving them, and its vision of a productive process for doing so, the U.S.-China trade war will stay stalemated. Read More:It's Time for Trump and Xi to Meet To be clear, the Trump Administration has legitimate grievances about China's unfair economic practices. China'smarket access barriers,forced technology transfers, andstate-directed subsidiesto preferred industries and businesses have createdmassive global trade distortions. But grievance is not a strategy. And daily improvisation is not a formula for progress in negotiations. The 90-day trade truce gives the Trump Administration time and space to do its homework. That means discarding the failed assumptions that Xi will cave under pressure and instead doing the hard work of homing in on what specifically Trump is aiming to achieve and what he is prepared to give in return. In the end, trade policy is not about scoring points or undermining competitors. It is about making America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. If Trump wants to succeed, he will need to move beyond theatrics and prepare for the grinding process of negotiating with China that awaits. Contact usatletters@time.com.

President Donald Trump sent stock futures diving early Friday after he accused China of breaking the handshake pact the two countries made in Geneva earlier this month that had helped reset a trade standoff. In a post on Truth Social just after 8 a.m. ET, Trump wrote China "HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US" and signaled a tough response lay ahead. "So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!" the president said. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell about 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined about 0.4%. The "trade win" announced by the White House May 12 was expected to lead to China removing retaliatory tariffs and a suspension of "non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States." Both sides agreed to lower tariffs on each other by 115% for 90 days. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, speakingon CNBC Friday morningas Trump posted his message, said "this has been something that we've been discussing" since meeting with China in Geneva. "The Chinese are slow rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable," Greer added. "You make every effort to be diplomatic and professional and to do things behind closed doors. But at some point the impact on on the U.S. economy, or the trade relationship, becomes such that it's hard to withhold that anymore," he continued. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China were "a bit stalled." Bessent said he believed there would be more talks in the coming weeks but "given the magnitude of the talks," Trump and Xi would likely need to "weigh in with each other" first. The matter hit a further snag Thursday after an appeals courttemporarily reinstateda set of tariffs a federal trade court had voided just hours earlier, casting fresh doubt on the path forward for Trump's tariffs gambit. The case is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court. There has been almost no resolution in the market fluctuations Trump's trade war has set off. The week's back-and-forth court opinionserasedmost of the stock gains from the first decision. Yet before Trump's Friday post, stocks were poised for a weekly gain. Since Trump took office, the S&P 500 has fallen approximately 2% — a modest decline that masks substantial weekly and even daily swings.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Pam Bondi, speaks before Bondi is sworn in as U.S. Attorney General in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Credit - Andrew Harnik—Getty Images The Department of Justice has announced that it will be curtailing the ability of the American Bar Association (ABA) to rate candidates for tenure in the federal judiciary. This will hinder the ABA's ability to vet nominations put forth by President Donald Trump. Attorney General Pam Bondisaid in a letterto the ABA president William Bay on Thursday, May 29, that she is cutting off the association's access to non-public information about Trump nominees. Bondi referred to the non-partisan membership organization as an "activist" group. "Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees' qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees put forth by Democratic Administrations," said Bondi, accusing the ABA of having "bias" in its ratings process. "There is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so." Bondi went on to say that judicial nominees will no longer need to provide waivers to allow the ABA access to non-public information, nor will they respond to questionnaires or sit for interviews with the association. In a subsequent social media post, Bondi doubled down, saying: "The American Bar Association has lost its way, and we do not believe it serves as a fair arbiter of judicial nominees. The Justice Department will no longer give the ABA the access they've taken for granted." The move against the ABA came a day after Trump announced six new judicial nominees, which included top Justice Department official Emil Bove being put forward to serve as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.In a post on Truth Social, Trump saidthat Bove "will end the weaponization of Justice, restore the rule of law, and do anything else that is necessary to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN." Bove defended Trump during his hush-money trial,during which the President was convicted on 34 counts. Trump also nominatedKyle Dudek,John Guard,Jordan E. Pratt, andAnne-Leigh Gaylord Moeto serve as Judges on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, andEd Artauto serve as a Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The President has previously threatened to revoke the ABA's status as the federally-recognized accreditor of law schools in anExecutive Order signed on April 24. As part of his wide-scale crackdown onDEI efforts, Trump said that the ABA has required law schools to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion, something which he says is a "discriminatory requirement" and that "similar unlawful mandates must be permanently eradicated." Critics have recently raised concerns over current practices at the Department of Justice."I think what's happening in the Department of Justice right now is that it's being transformed into Donald Trump's personal law firm,"said Liz Oyer, the DOJ's former pardon attorney. "The Attorney General has made it clear that directions are coming from the very top, from the President, and she is there to do his bidding." Read More:Democrats Grill AG Pick Pam Bondi Over Whether She Can Defy Trump Founded in 1878, theABA works on the"commitment to set the legal and ethical foundation for the American nation," according to the organization's website. Its main three areas of focus revolve around advocating for the legal profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, as well as advancing the rule of law. It is theABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciarythat typically oversees and conducts the judicial nominee vetting process, something it has done since 1953. According to the ABA, the committee "makes a unique contribution to the vetting process by conducting a thorough peer assessment of each nominee's professional competence, integrity, and judicial temperament." The organization asserts that these assessments are non-partisan, providing the Senate and sitting Administration with "confidential assessments of the nominee's professional qualifications." Contact usatletters@time.com.

A combination drug treatment doubled survival time for patients with an aggressive form ofcolorectal cancer, according to late-stage trial data published Friday inThe New England Journal of Medicineand presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago. The three-treatment combination included a standard chemotherapy drug, an antibody drug called cetuximab and a pill from Pfizer called Braftovi, which targets acancer mutation called BRAF V600E. The mutation shows up in about 10% of patients with colorectal cancer, said Dr. Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Patients with the mutation tend to survive for less than a year after diagnosis, and they often don't respond well to standard chemotherapy treatments, said Fonkoua, who wasn't involved with the new trial. According to Pfizer, the risk of death for these patients is more than double compared with those without the mutation. Braftovi was initially approved in 2020 to be used with cetuximab in this group of patients after other treatments had failed. The new trial looked at the drug combination as a so-called first-line therapy. The Food and Drug Administrationgranted the treatment fast-track approval as a first-line approach in Decemberon the condition that Pfizer provide additional data confirming its effectiveness. The agency often grants fast-track approval to treatments that address serious or life-threatening conditions, especially when there's an unmet medical need. Dr. Christopher Lieu, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who wasn't involved with the research, called the results "very impactful." "Patients are clearly living longer, and this represents the new standard of care for this specific subset of patients with this specific mutation," Lieu said. The trial included more than 600 patients with the mutation who had metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients were randomized to get either the three-drug combination treatment or standard chemotherapy alone. Some of the patients in the latter group were also given bevacizumab, a first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. The trial found that patients who got the combination treatment lived, on average, about 30 months, compared with about 15 months for those who got standard chemotherapy, with or without bevacizumab. What's more, 47% of patients who got the combination treatment had no disease progression after two years, meaning their cancer didn't grow or spread. The treatment was well-tolerated, with no unexpected safety concerns that would've caused investigators to stop the trial. "This is a really remarkable finding," said Dr. Scott Kopetz, a professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and a co-principal investigator in the trial. "When we bring this together with standard of care chemotherapy, we get really substantially prolonged survival for these patients that are really unprecedented for this disease type." More than 141,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, making it the fourth most common cancer, according tothe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 52,900 people in the U.S. are expected to die from colorectal cancer this year, according tothe American Cancer Society. Laurie Ritchie, 61, of St. Louis, got the combination treatment in October 2023. Her results weren't included in the clinical trial analysis. Ritchie had been diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer with the BRAF mutation — a diagnosis she describes as "a huge shock." Previous colonoscopies hadn't detected cancer; by the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had already reached Stage 4. It eventually spread to her lungs and ovaries. Since she got the combination treatment, she said her blood tests have consistently shown no trace of cancer. While she still worries about the cancer coming back, she says she's now focused on living fully — including going water skiing and downhill skiing. "I've kind of learned to think of it as something in the trunk, not in the front seat," she said. "It still feels a bit like a ticking time bomb inside me, but I think the work I've done on my mental health has really helped me live with it."

Tropical Storm Alvinis producing large swells that will affect portions of the coasts of west-central and southwestern Mexico and the southern Baja California peninsula in the next couple of days, according to theNational Hurricane Center. These swells are "likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions" and the hurricane center advises people to keep an eye on weather forecasts from their local weather office. TheNHC said Friday morningthe storm is located about 445 miles south-southeast of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula with maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph with higher gusts. Alvin is moving toward the north-northwest, however a turn toward the north is expected Friday. "Gradual weakening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Alvin is expected to degenerate to a remnant low on Saturday," according to the hurricane center. While the 2025 Pacific hurricane season began on May 15, the Atlantic season officially begins on June 1 and will last through the end of November. Active hurricane weather typically peaks between mid-August and mid-October. TheNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationreleased its prediction for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season on Thursday, May 22,predicting an above-average season, with 13 to 19 named storms and six to 10 hurricanes. The hurricane center is also keeping tabs on a disturbance just offshore of Central America and southern Mexico. The NHC said an area of low pressure could form by the middle part of next week and that environmental conditions appear "favorable for some development" while it moves generally westward to west-northwestward. The hurricane center gives the disturbance a 20% chance of formation through the next seven days. This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time. Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts. Hurricanes are born in the tropics, above warm water. Clusters of thunderstorms can develop over the ocean when water temperatures exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a named tropical storm once its sustained wind speeds reaches 39 miles per hour. When its winds reach 74 mph, the storm officially becomes a hurricane. Delaying potentially life-saving preparations could mean waiting until it's too late. "Get your disaster supplies while the shelves are still stocked, and get that insurance checkup early, as flood insurance requires a 30-day waiting period," NOAA recommends. Prepare now for hurricanes:Here's what you should do to stay safe before a storm arrives Develop an evacuation plan: If you are at risk from hurricanes, you need anevacuation plan. Now is the time to begin planning where you would go and how you would get there. Assemble disaster supplies: Whether you're evacuating or sheltering-in-place, you're going to need supplies not just to get through the storm but for the potentially lengthy aftermath,NOAA said. Get an insurance checkup and document your possessions: Contact your insurance company or agent now and ask for aninsurance check-upto make sure you have enough insurance to repair or even replace your home and/or belongings. Remember, home and renters insurance doesn't cover flooding, so you'll need a separate policy for it. Flood insurance is available through your company, agent, or theNational Flood Insurance Program. Act now, as flood insurance requires a 30-day waiting period. Create a family communication plan: NOAA said to take the time now to write down yourhurricane plan, and share it with your family. Determine family meeting places, and make sure to include an out-of-town location in case of evacuation. Strengthen your home: Now is the time to improve your home's ability to withstand hurricane impacts. Trim trees; install storm shutters, accordion shutters, and/or impact glass; seal outside wall openings. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X@GabeHauarior email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tropical Storm Alvin tracker: See projected path, spaghetti models

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said China had violated an agreement on tariffs with the United States. "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson)

Wildfire smoke is pouring into the Midwest from Canada as dozens of fires burn north of the border. Let's get you caught up on all the latest information: Since the upper Midwest is closest to the fires burning in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, upper-level winds are blowing the thick smoke southward. This has prompted air quality alerts for the entire state of Wisconsin on Friday, as well as parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Minnesota. (MORE:Here's What Wildfire Smoke Does To Your Body) Chicago residents could also experience degraded air quality as the smoke pushes southward. From weather.com senior digital meteorologistChris Dolce: The image below shows near-surface smoke on Saturday afternoon – this is the kind of smoke that can be unhealthy to breathe since it's at the lower levels. As you can see, the greatest concentrations of that will be in the Midwest and Northern Plains today through this weekend. However, some of it is modeled in a less concentrated fashion into the South and East this weekend: This animation shows that a much larger area will see smoke aloft that is not necessarily an air quality concern, but will lead to hazy skies and orange/red sunrises and sunsets. That is spreading into the Midwest now and will head into the South and East this weekend. As you can see, this is amuchlarger area, but areas that overlap with near-surface smoke have the greatest air quality concerns in the Midwest and Northern Plains: - Make sure you have the latest version ofThe Weather Channel app– if you don't, head to your phone's app store and download/update it. - Locate the pill that displays lifestyle options like "Allergies," "Cold & Flu" and "Skin Health." Locate the button that says "Breathing" and tap on it to load our Breathing module. - Scroll down to "Today's Biggest Impacts" and the air quality index will load. You'll also find other important information in that module. Some 17,000 residents in Manitoba remain under evacuation orders as wildfires have spread in the province,and also into Saskatchewan, BBC.com reported. "The conditions that our northern residents, communities and wildland firefighters are facing today are as severe or quite likely unlike anything we have faced in quite some time, if not ever," Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan, told BBC.com. A state of emergency is in effect in Manitoba and more than 80 fires have been deemed "out of control" in Canada. The entire town of Flin Flon, Manitoba, was ordered to evacuate; about 5,000 people live in the city. As the fires grew, some residents in Saskatchewan have also been ordered to evacuate their homes. According to the Associated Press: "Canada's wildfire season runs May through September. Its worst-ever wildfire season was in 2023. It choked much of North America with dangerous smoke for months."

Six more space touristsare preparing to join the growing ranks of civilianswho have flown on a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space. The vehicle they'll ride to orbit, Blue Origin's New Shepard, is the same one that58 others have ridden to spaceon 11previous human spaceflightsfrom the company's west Texas facility. The New Shepard's maiden voyage in July 2021 with a creweven included billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the space technology company. New Shepard is composed of both a rocket and a crew capsule, which is outfitted with large windows for its passengers to glimpse spectacular views thatmost of us will never see. The rest of us will instead have to content ourselves with watching the mission on solid ground. Fortunately, Blue Origin will provide a livestream for the launch and spaceflight. Here'severything to know aboutBlue Origin's next human spaceflight and how to watch a livestream. When is the next Blue Origin launch?What to know about New Shepard liftoff, crew Billionaire Jeff Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, is the founder of the private space technology company Blue Origin. Bezos himself even boarded Blue Origin's New Shepardfor its maiden crewed voyage in July 2021, which came after the spacecraft flew on 15 flight tests beginning in 2012. For nearly four years since its first crewed mission, the New Shepard spacecraft has served as a powerful symbol of Blue Origin's commercial spaceflight ambitions amida growing space tourism industry. In addition to sending space tourists on brief joy rides to the edge of space, Blue Origin has also increasingly sought to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket, whichflew on its inaugural flight test in January, is also being developed for future spaceflights. At 320 feet tall, the spacecraft rivalsSpaceX's 400-foot Starshipin size. Blue Origin's next crewed launch, known as NS-32, could get off the ground as early as 9:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. CT) Saturday, May 31, the company announced announced Tuesday, May 27. Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches take place from the company's private ranch facility known asLaunch Site One. The facility is located 30 miles north of the town of Van Horn in Culberson County – more than 140 miles east of El Paso near the U.S.-Mexico border. Blue Origin will provide a webcast of the launch beginning about 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled liftoff on itswebsite. When the New Shepard gets off the ground again, the six people selected to board it will join58 others who have flownon the spacecraft across 11 previous human spaceflights. Here's a look at the passengers: Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, a STEM teacher at Odyssey Academy in Galveston, Texas, who has led more than 60 zero-gravity space experiments. Gretchen Green, a radiologist specializing in women's imaging with more than 20 years of clinical experience. Jaime Alemán, a Panamanian attorney, businessman and former ambassador to the United States. Jesse Williams, a Canadian entrepreneur and adventurer who serves as CEO of Car History Group, which he founded in 2012. Mark Rocket, an entrepreneur from Christchurch, New Zealand, who is CEO of Kea Aerospace, which develops solar-powered UAVs for aerial imaging and monitoring, and president of Aerospace New Zealand. Paul Jeris, a real estate developer and entrepreneur Eachspaceflight on a New Shepard vehiclelasts about 11 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown. Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, the 60-foot-tall New Shepard rocket is topped withthe gum drop-shaped crew capsule. During its ascent, the spacecraft reaches supersonic speeds surpassing 2,000 mph before the rocket booster separates from the crew capsule. At that point, those aboard the capsule become weightless as the spacecraft continues toward its highest point on its brief voyage above the Kármán Line – the 62-mile-high internationally recognized boundary of space. While experiencing a few minutes of microgravity, passengers have the opportunity to unstrap themselves from their seats to gaze out thecapsule's large windowsand take in a stunning view of Earth. Meanwhile, the rocket booster heads back to the ground while firing its engines and using its fins to slow and control its descent to land vertical about two miles from the launchpad. The capsule itself eventually begins what Blue Origin refers to as a "stable freefall" – plummeting back to Earth as three massive parachutes deploy and the capsule makes a soft landing in the desert, sending up plumes of dust. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Blue Origin launch: Date, time, how to watch crewed mission live

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal after giving it an initial cool response. President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week aboutbrokering an agreementthat could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive. Experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade of Gaza —slightly eased in recent days— has pushed the population of roughly 2 million Palestiniansto the brink of famine. Israel's war in Gaza has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, mostlywomen and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead. Here's the latest: At least 14 dead in Gaza strikes, medics say Hospital officials and paramedics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 people and wounded others. Officials at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza said the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two people as well as nine others who were wounded were taken to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. It said one of the wounded is a doctor who works at the same hospital. Hamas reviewing a new ceasefire proposal Hamas said Friday it was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal. The White House said Thursday that Israel accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas officials, however, gave the draft a cool response, saying that it seeks to perpetuate Israel's policies of killing and starving people in Gaza. Still, the group said it was going to thoroughly review it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu undergoes a routine colonoscopy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday morning in Jerusalem, his office said. The office did not provide further information about whether Netanyahu was moderately sedated or under general anesthesia for the procedure. Netanyahu, 75, underwentsuccessful surgery in Decemberto have his prostate removed. Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader, as he manages multiple crises including thewar in Gazaand histrial for alleged corruption, despite a series of recent health setbacks.

Massive wildfires burning out of control in western and central Canada are forcing thousands to flee as dire forecasts for the country's fire season come to fruition. The intensifying blazes are also beginning to send hazardous smoke toward major cities in the United States. The premiers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have declared states of emergency and much of Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Quebec, are at "extreme" risk of wildfires on Thursday—the highest level onEnvironment Canada's fire risk scale. There are just over 160 wildfires burning across Canada as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, and about half are uncontrolled. The country raised itsNational Preparedness Levelto level 5 of 5 on Thursday, which is unusually high for this early in the fire season. Last year, Canada didn't reach that level until July 15. In Manitoba, around 17,000 people are under evacuation orders, including the city of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and the northern community of Cross Lake, along with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, according to CNN's Canadian news partnerCBC News. The province's state of emergency will remain in effect for a month and may be extended if conditions warrant, said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. "This is a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is a moment of concern," Kinew said, acknowledging this is the largest evacuation order in "in most people's living memory." "But I want to tell you that your fellow Manitobans will welcome you. We will get through this difficult period, and we'll get through this trying period the way that we always do: by working together." Wildfires have forced thousands of evacuations in neighboring Saskatchewan as well, CBC reported, and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moedeclared a 30-day provincial emergencyThursday. It followed calls from First Nations leaders to take that step, noting "deep concerns" over resources to battle the fires. "It's a very serious situation that we're faced with in Saskatchewan. We do need some rainfall and we need that sooner rather than later," Moe said at a news conference. Climate change is leading to anincrease in wildfire risk days, as well as more frequent andlarger firesthat exhibitmore extreme wildfire behavior. Canada had its worst wildfire season on record in 2023, when extreme heat and drought helped propel blazes thatburned more than 45 million acres. Last year's fire season was Canada's second-worst of the century. Some of those blazes also sent thick, hazardous smoke into US cities. This year, wildfires have burned more than 1.58 million acres in Canada so far, about 40% above the 10-year average for this point in the year. Nearly 90% of the acreage burned has been in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, though there are many ongoing blazes in British Columbia and Alberta as well, where some evacuations are underway. Fires this year have burned 490,000 acres burned in Manitoba, which is about four times the average for this time of year, according to theCanadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Computer models show that smoke from the western Canadian blazes will reach the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Thursday and Friday, potentially affecting the cities of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit. The smoke will likely be in the lower to middle levels of the atmosphere, which could lower visibility and crater air quality in some areas. Authorities in Minnesota have already issued anair quality alertbeginning Thursday for northeastern parts of the state, warning that fine particle levels are expected to reach "a level considered unhealthy for everyone." A similar alert is in effect in northern Michigan for Friday. Some of the mid-and-low-level smoke could linger through the weekend in parts of the Midwest, according to the National Weather Service, while projections show a high-level smoke plume plunging even further south across the Plains. High-level smoke – which doesn't affect air quality – is beginning to spread across the Northern Plains, shielding the sun slightly and potentially creating vibrant sunrises and sunsets. More smoky days could be ahead for millions this summer. Canada'sseasonal wildfire forecastcalled for well above-average blazes, and much of the western US, too, will have above-normal wildfire potential by July, according to National Interagency Fire Centerforecasts. CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -The sweeping tax-and-spending bill that would enact President Donald Trump's policy agenda includes a provision that critics said would weaken the power of U.S. judges to enforce contempt when the government defies court orders. The one-sentence provision in the 1,100-page bill prevents federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from enforcing contempt orders unless the plaintiffs have posted a monetary bond, which rarely happens in cases against the government. "No court of the United States may enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued," the provision says. It applies retroactively. "Security" refers to monetary bonds that can be used in private litigation when one party seeks to ask a judge to issue an injunction blocking the actions of another party, such as a company trying to prevent a rival from selling a product. If it turns out the injunction is later reversed, the bond helps cover the defendant's losses. The provision follows a White House memo in March that directed heads of government agencies to request that plaintiffs post a bond if they are seeking an injunction against an agency policy. The Trump administration said the measure would deter frivolous lawsuits. The Trump administration and the House Judiciary Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has attacked judges who ruled against his government but he has also said he would obey the Supreme Court. Judges often don't require bonds in cases against the government. In a case by two small toymakers against the Trump administration tariffs, the plaintiffs said the bond that had been requested by the government would be more costly than tariffs and would nullify the benefit of an injunction. The judge on Thursday set the bond at $100 and blocked the tariffs against the two companies. Federal courts have been a major check on Trump in his second term, as plaintiffs in dozens of cases have gotten judges to block White House policies. Bonds were not required in the vast majority of those cases, so if the House bill provision became law, judges would be unable to enforce contempt orders. While no judge has issued a contempt order, several federal judges have said Trump administration officials appeared to be defying court orders and are at risk of being held in contempt. Judges use contempt to bring a party into compliance, usually by ratcheting up measures from fines to jail. Once the party complies, the penalties cease. In 2022, when Trump was out of office, he was held in contempt and fined $10,000 by a New York state judge for each day that he failed to produce documents that were subpoenaed in a civil probe of his private business practices that was led by New York's attorney general. Trump eventually complied after paying $110,000. The House passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" on May 22 by a one-vote margin, without any votes from Democrats. The bill is now heading to the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 vote margin. Several Republicans said they will seek to modify the bill. Twenty-one Democrats from the House wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson on May 20 and urged him to strike the provision from the bill. "This provision would neutralize valid injunctions and leave courts powerless to act in the face of open defiance," said the letter. Eric Kashdan, senior legal counsel with the Campaign Legal Center, said judges could comply with the provision by setting bonds at a nominal amount and old cases could be reopened, but he said it would be time-consuming and burdensome. "You know what the government is going to do in the meantime? It's free to ignore those orders," said Kashdan, whose organization has sued the Trump administration over a voting policy. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Alistair Bell)

By Julie Steenhuysen and Deena Beasley (Reuters) -Gilead Sciences says it still plans to supply its twice-yearly injection for preventing HIV infection in low-income countries if it wins U.S. approval despite funding uncertainty over the Trump Administration's pullback in aid spending. Some AIDS experts, including activists and doctors, say the Gilead drug, lenacapavir, could help end the 44-year-old epidemic that infects 1.3 million people a year and is estimated by the World Health Organization to have killed more than 42 million. An FDA approval decision is expected by June 19 for lenacapavir, which proved to be nearly 100% effective at preventing HIV in large trials. If the Food and Drug Administration green lights the drug, and its view is seconded by the WHO, the shots could start to roll out early in 2026 to at least 2 million people in 18 low-income countries based on Gilead's agreement with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund, a worldwide partnership targeting HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Gilead agreed to provide lenacapavir at cost for two-to-three years while six generic drugmakers, which were granted licenses to make the medicine for low-income countries, ramp up production. Experts said a successful launch of a long-acting HIV prevention drug could help stall the epidemic. Until recently, the only pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) options for people at high risk of infection were daily pills, requiring careful adherence to be effective. "You can foresee a day where there are no new HIV diagnoses. It doesn't happen if we only do this in the U.S.," Gilead Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier said. "We need to make sure we have a global approach to this launch." PEPFAR being part of the effort is Gilead's intent and goal, Mercier said. "Unfortunately, if they're not part of that mix, our goal is still to meet that objective of 2 million people getting access." Wall Street has a close eye on lenacapavir, one of the highest-profile drugs to undergo FDA review since President Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and promised to upend the status quo. Most of the drug's profits are expected in the U.S., with annual sales reaching $1 billion by next year, according to analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG. 'INCREDIBLE DISMAY' Whether all of the agreed funding for low-income countries - most of which are in Africa - will come through is unclear. Countries that rely on aid are already reeling from funding cuts by the Trump Administration, including to PEPFAR, and AIDS researchers are bracing for the worst. The United Nations program on HIV/AIDS earlier this month said many HIV prevention programs supported by PEPFAR were stalled, although services for pregnant and breastfeeding women were technically exempt from the cuts. Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, told Reuters the group intends to fund as much of the lenacapavir rollout as possible, but it will need to start slowly. "It's not just the uncertainty over PEPFAR's funding that's an issue, but the uncertainty over our funding," Sands said, adding that the group's first priority is treating people already infected with the deadly virus. Much will depend on the success of the Global Fund's effort to raise $18 billion to fund its work from 2027-2029. The U.S. is its largest donor, committing $6 billion in the previous funding round. It is unclear what the U.S. may provide this round, or whether other big governments will step up. UNAIDS estimates that the permanent discontinuation of HIV prevention and treatment programs supported by PEPFAR would lead to an additional 6.6 million new HIV infections between 2025 and 2029. The U.S. State Department, which oversees PEPFAR, did not respond to a request for comment. Gilead declined to comment on its manufacturing cost for lenacapavir, whose U.S. price is likely to be on par with current preventive medications at around $25,000 per year. ViiV Healthcare's Apretude, an injection given every two months, costs about 124.20 pounds ($168) in low- and middle-income countries. Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS nonprofit AVAC, estimates the eventual annual cost at $100-$120. The lower the price, the more people who could receive it, he said. Warren said PEPFAR could still participate, and others may come forward. The Gates Foundation and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation are "actively involved in all of these conversations," he said, as is the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Linda-Gail Bekker of the University of Cape Town, who led lenacapavir clinical trials in South Africa and Uganda, said she was elated when she first saw the findings. "The huge feeling I have now is one of incredible dismay," said Bekker of uncertainty over the Trump administration's commitment to PEPFAR and HIV prevention in poor nations. "It felt like the stars were aligning, and one of the stars has fallen out of the sky." (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London; editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

By Jody Godoy WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google and U.S. antitrust enforcers will make their final arguments on whether the tech giant should be forced to sell its Chrome browser or adopt other measures to restore competition in online search, as the blockbuster antitrust trial concludes on Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states are pressing to make Google not only sell Chrome, but also share search data and cease multibillion-dollar payments to Apple and other smartphone makers and wireless carriers that set Google as the default search engine on new devices. The proposals aim to restore competition after a judge found last year that Google illegally dominates the online search and related advertising markets. Artificial intelligence companies could get a boost after already rattling Google's status as the go-to tool to find information online. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is overseeing the trial, which began in April. He has said he aims to rule on the proposals by August. If the judge does require Google to sell off Chrome, OpenAI would be interested in buying it, Nick Turley, OpenAI's product head for ChatGPT, said at the trial. OpenAI would also benefit from access to Google's search data, which would help it make responses to user inquiries more accurate and up to date, Turley said. Google says the proposals go far beyond what is legally justified by the court's ruling, and would give away its technology to competitors. The company has already begun loosening agreements with smartphone makers including Samsung Electronics to allow them to load rival search and AI products. The DOJ wants the judge to go farther, banning Google from making lucrative payments in exchange for installation of its search app. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in Washington; Editing by Richard Chang)

BEIJING (Reuters) -Sales of foreign-branded mobile phones in China, including Apple Inc's iPhones, edged up in April, according to data released by a government-affiliated research company on Friday. Calculations based on the data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that April shipments of foreign-branded phones in China rose to 3.52 million units from 3.50 million a year earlier. As the largest foreign mobile phone maker in China's smartphone-dominated market, Apple's performance plays a significant role in the overall data on foreign-branded phone sales in the country. The uptick in April comes after a sluggish first quarter in which Apple's phone sales in China dropped 9%. Apple has faced increased competition from domestic rivals and has resorted to price cuts to stay competitive. Chinese e-commerce platforms are offering discounts of up to 2,530 yuan ($351) on Apple's latest iPhone 16 models earlier this month. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)