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Biden is announcing a new rule to protect consumers who purchase short-term health insurance plans

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new steps to protect consumers who buy short-term health insurance plans that critics say amount to junk.

A new rule finalized by the Democratic president’s administration will limit these plans to just three months. And the plans can only be renewed for a maximum of four months, instead of up to the three years that were allowed under Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.

The Biden administration is also requiring short-term plans to provide consumers with clear explanations of the limits of their benefits.

The White House said the rule is part of Biden’s efforts to reduce costs for consumers, which he has been promoting extensively as he seeks reelection in November.

“The president really believes the American people do not want to be taken for suckers and junk insurance takes them for suckers,” Neera Tanden, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, said during a call the White House arranged to discuss the rule with reporters.

Short-term insurance is meant to be temporary, providing a safety net for consumers as they transition between jobs, for example, or retire before they are eligible for Medicare.

But short-terms plans — critics call them “junk insurance” — too often mislead consumers into thinking they were buying comprehensive health coverage, Tanden said. Consumers would later be surprised to learn when they tried to use the insurance that their benefits were capped or certain coverages were not provided.

Tanden said Trump and other Republican-elected officials undermined the Affordable Care Act by allowing insurance companies to exploit loopholes and sell short-term plans that often leave consumers surprised when confronted by thousands of dollars in medical bills.

The ACA was signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama. Biden and his administration have spent this week marking the 14th anniversary of the landmark law’s enactment.

Short-term plans were expanded in 2018 during the Trump administration as a cheaper alternative to the Affordable Care Act’s costlier comprehensive insurance. Trump, who had promised to repeal and replace the law, has praised short-term plans as “much less expensive health care at a much lower price.”

In 2020, a divided federal appeals court upheld the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term health insurance plans.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Trump administration had the legal authority to increase the duration of the health plans from three to 12 months, with the option of renewing them for 36 months. The plans do not have to cover people with preexisting conditions or provide basic benefits like prescription drugs.


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Stock market today: Asian shares meander after S&P 500 sets another record

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after U.S. stocks broke out of a three-day lull to close at a record.

Oil prices advanced, while U.S. futures edged lower.

The dollar remained strong against the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, a trend that has unsettled regulators in both Tokyo and Beijing.

The dollar rose to 151.39 yen from 151.30 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0803 from $1.0828.

On Wednesday, the yen dipped to its lowest level since 1990, and Japanese officials reiterated their desire for stability in exchange rates.

“As the yen continues to show vulnerability, market participants will be vigilant for any hints of possible intervention in the currency market by Japanese policymakers,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary.

The dollar bought 7.2286 yuan. It also has weakened against the dollar in recent weeks.

“We continue to think that policymakers in China and Japan will do enough to keep their currencies from weakening much further, but the risk of a break lower in one, or both, is increasing,” Jonas Goltermann of Capital Economics said in a report.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% to 40,168.07. The Kospi in Seoul also fell, shedding 0.3% to 2,745.82.

Chinese markets recouped losses from the day before. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.1% to 16,571.35, while the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.6% to 3,010.66.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1% to 7,896.90. India’s Sensex added 1.2% and Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.3%.

In Bangkok, the SET gave up 0.1%.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to a record 5,248.49 in its first gain since setting its last all-time high on March 21.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.2% to 39,760.08, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.5% to 16,399.52. Both finished a bit shy of their own records.

Merck climbed 5% after federal regulators approved its treatment for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare disease where blood vessels in the lungs thicken and narrow.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group rose another 14.2%. The company behind the money-losing Truth Social platform has zoomed well beyond what critics say is rational, as fans of former president Donald Trump keep pushing it higher.

Robinhood Markets climbed 3.7% after unveiling its first credit card, which is reserved for its subscription-paying Gold members, along with other new products.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Nvidia, which slumped to a second straight loss after rocketing 91% higher for the year so far, loosing 2.5%.

GameStop tumbled 15% after delivering a profit for the latest quarter and a drop in revenue from the prior year. It’s the original meme stock, predating Trump Media by years.

This week’s highlight for markets may arrive Friday, when the U.S. government releases the latest monthly update on spending by U.S. consumers. It will include the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve prefers to use as it sets interest rates.

Both the U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed for Good Friday. That could cause some anticipatory trades to bunch up on Thursday, the last trading day of the year’s first quarter.

The S&P 500 is on track for a fifth straight winning month and has been roaring higher since late October. The U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient despite high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. Plus, the Federal Reserve looks set to start lowering interest rates this year because inflation has cooled from its peak.

But critics say a broader range of companies will need to deliver strong profit growth to justify the big moves in prices. Progress on bringing inflation down has also become bumpier recently, with reports this year coming in hotter than expected.

Still, the broad expectation among traders is for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate in June.

Stocks generally tend to do the best when more than half the world’s central banks are easing interest rates, according to Ned Davis Research. The world is not there yet, but several central banks have already begun cutting recently, like Switzerland’s, and it could happen later this year.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 38 cents to $81.73 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 30 cents to $85.71 per barrel.


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U.S. congressional delegation pledges continued defense support for Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation pledged continued support for Taiwan on Thursday, days after Congress approved $300 million in military aid for the self-governed island that’s claimed by China.

Congress also approved $400 million on Saturday to counter the Chinese government’s influence in the region, as part of its Defense Appropriations Act.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be brought under its control, by force if necessary. Beijing sends warships and fighter jets near the island daily, as it ramps up its military pressure.

The United States, like most nations, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country. However, it is bound by U.S. laws to ensure the island can defend itself and considers all threats to Taiwan as a matter of “grave concern.”

The delegation led by Republican Congressman Jack Bergman, who chairs the House Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, sought to reassure Taiwan’s leadership of continued support.

“We will continue to assure our colleagues that the strategic relationship is key for the future security of the region,” Bergman said during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

“This includes a strong Taiwan maritime strategy and how we can work together on shared goals to counter China on their increasingly aggressive actions in the region,” he said.

Tsai thanked the Biden administration and Congress for helping to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense.

“This support will continue to strengthen the Taiwan-U.S. partnership,” she said.

The delegation also includes Democratic Representatives Donald Norcross and Jimmy Panetta. The lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday and are to stay until Friday.

They also met with Taiwanese Vice President and President-elect William Lai and with Vice President-elect Bi-khim Hsiao. Taiwan’s new administration takes office on May 20.

China prohibits countries it has diplomatic relations with from having formal exchanges with Taipei and regularly criticizes U.S. officials’ visits to the island.

A trip by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in 2022 resulted in China dispatching warships and military aircraft around the island and freezing a series of exchanges, including military communications, with the U.S.

Beijing and Washington restored military-to-military contacts after a flurry of diplomatic exchanges in recent months culminated in a meeting between the country’s presidents in San Francisco in November.

Taiwan has expressed concern in recent months about China’s expansion of military bases near the island but says it wants to avoid an escalation in tensions with Beijing.

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Associated Press video journalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.


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Obama, Bill Clinton to join Biden to raise $25 million at event with Queen Latifah and Lizzo

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will get a boost from Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on Thursday at a fundraiser in New York slated to raise more than $25 million and add some oomph to Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.

Biden and the two former commanders-in-chief will take part in a discussion moderated by “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert at Radio City Music Hall in front of thousands of guests at what Biden’s re-election campaign said would be the most successful political fundraiser in history.

Musicians Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele are slated to perform, and some high-paying attendees will get their pictures with the three presidents taken by star photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Biden, 81, has faced concerns about his age and fitness for a second four-year term. Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show his approval rating at 40% and a tight race with Republican challenger Donald Trump, who is 77, ahead of the election on Nov. 5.

Tickets for Thursday’s event are between $250 and $500,000, according to a Democrat familiar with the event. More than 5,000 people were expected to attend. The event will not be televised, but the campaign plans to post content from it on social media. Small-dollar donors can pay $25 to take part in a virtual event with the three men.

Biden has visited all of the top battleground states since a fiery State of the Union address earlier this month, but mostly has spoken to much smaller crowds, part of a deliberate strategy to emphasize interactions with ordinary Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris has crisscrossed the country as well.

The show of support from Obama, who is still enormously popular with Democrats, could bolster enthusiasm from some young voters and other progressives who voted for Biden in 2020 but are furious about his staunch backing of Israel in its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

“The numbers don’t lie: today’s event is a massive show of force and a true reflection of the momentum to reelect the Biden-Harris ticket,” campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement.

Biden’s re-election effort raised more than $53 million in February and $10 million in the 24 hours following his March 7 address to Congress. Biden has been routinely outraising Trump.

Obama has voiced concerns to Biden that Trump could win, ahead of a shakeup of Biden’s team that sent two top White House aides to the Wilmington, Delaware-based campaign.

The former president spent time at the White House recently putting together a video highlighting the anniversary of his signature Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Biden is campaigning hard on his efforts to strengthen the law and accuses Republicans of seeking to end it.

Trump used Biden’s event with Obama and Clinton to appeal to his own supporters as well. “The Obama-Clinton cartel thinks they will beat us tomorrow, but I have something they’ll NEVER have,” he said in a fundraising appeal on Wednesday, referring to his supporters.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons and Leslie Adler)


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Biden administration cracks down on so-called junk insurance

By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday will finalize a rule aimed at cracking down on short-term health insurance plans and surprise medical bills, the latest steps in its effort to lower consumer costs across a broad range of industries.

The rule, first introduced last July, places tighter restrictions on short-term insurance products that are supposed to serve as a lifeline for more than 1 million Americans who rely on stop-gap insurance, such as when switching jobs.

The Biden administration says companies exploited changes made under former President Donald Trump that allowed watered-down insurance plans to be offered for a much longer period, up to three years, often resulting in surprise medical bills,

Short-term insurance plans misled consumers into thinking they were buying comprehensive health insurance, but included things like low caps on benefits and no coverage for pre-existing conditions, said Neera Tanden, who serves as the domestic policy adviser to President Joe Biden.

“That’s not really insurance. That’s a scam and the president really believes that the American people do not want to be taken for suckers,” Tanden said.

The administration of Barack Obama in 2016 limited short-term insurance plans to three months to try to get more people on year-round plans, but regulations adopted by the Trump administration in 2018 allowed people to stay on such plans for 12 months and renew them for three years.

The final rule finalized on Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services would restrict plans to three months, with only a short extension, Tanden said. It would also require companies to explicitly and more clearly disclose what’s covered and what’s not, she added.

U.S. inflation has fallen, job growth and spending continue to be strong and overall the U.S. economy is performing better than expected. But the high cost of consumer items from groceries to housing is contributing to American voters’ concerns about Biden’s economic policies.

Biden has successfully pressured companies such as Airbnb and Live Nation to limit junk fees, or extra charges, that customers pay when booking concert tickets, hotels and airfares. The administration has also forced credit card customers to slash late fees, from an average of $31 down to $8.

The White House Council of Economic advisers estimates that the administration’s actions will eliminate more than $20 billion in junk fees annually.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Bill Berkrot)


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Republican committee to select Buck’s likely replacement, adding a challenge to Boebert’s campaign

DENVER (AP) — A panel of Colorado Republicans will select a candidate Thursday who will likely serve out the final months of U.S. Rep. Ken Buck ’s term — and could pose a challenge to Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bid for another term in Congress.

It’s an unusual and confusing twist in a closely watched primary race for a district the far-right Republican Boebert has not represented previously. Whoever the committee chooses is expected to prevail in the special election against the Democratic nominee, finish Buck’s term and reinforce Republicans’ slim majority in the U.S. House.

But the decision could have farther-reaching consequences. The committee is expected to pick one of the current Republican primary candidates competing for the same seat. Boebert opted to finish her current term in her old district, and the committee will likely select one of her rivals.

Whoever is picked would be running in two separate races for the same seat until the June election, giving them greater notoriety, media coverage and expanded fundraising opportunities — a boon for most of the candidates who fall far short of Boebert’s national name brand and campaign chest.

“Ken Buck really threw a wrench into the whole thing,” said Seth Masket, director at the Center on American Politics in Denver, who noted that it’s unclear what Buck’s intentions are. “It was already a fairly topsy-turvy race, but I think this does make it a little bit harder for her.”

Boebert said in a recent statement that the move was interference: “The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election.”

The congresswoman has built a far-right name with a ferocious political style, in step with the accusation of election rigging, and remains a known, if divisive, quantity among conservatives nationwide.

While Boebert has made headlines with scandals, including a tape of her groping and vaping with a date in a Denver theater, she’s also garnered endorsements from former President Donald Trump and current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Those votes of confidence will likely go far for Boebert in the new district, where voters overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2020 and where her opponents are lesser known, local Republicans.

While it would be hard for the other candidates to match Boebert’s national conservative clout, the special election shakeup could give one of them an opportunity to make up some ground.

“Whoever it is, they are going to be much more well known come June,” said Conor Dowling, a professor of political science at the University of Buffalo.

Boebert nearly lost her old, Republican-leaning district to a Democratic candidate in 2022.

The slim margin raised questions of whether her Trumpian style still had purchase among GOP voters. After the Democrat who nearly beat her went on to far outraise her for an expected 2024 rematch, the congresswoman switched districts.

The move incited grumblings about political maneuvering, with some of Boebert’s homegrown primary opponents accusing her of “carpetbagging.”

She defended the move by saying her voice is still needed in Congress, and that her exodus from the old district makes it easier for Republicans to retain the seat, and therefore their majority in the U.S. House.

The option to district hop was opened to Boebert after Buck announced he wouldn’t run for reelection last year, citing his party’s handling of Trump.

Then, earlier this month, Buck abruptly resigned, pointing to the “bickering and nonsense” he said now pervades the U.S. Capitol. Buck left Congress on March 22.

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Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.


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Venezuelans are increasingly stuck in Mexico, explaining drop in illegal crossings to US

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuelan migrants often have a quick answer when asked to name the most difficult stretch of their eight-country journey to the U.S. border, and it’s not the dayslong jungle trek through Colombia and Panama with its venomous vipers, giant spiders and scorpions. It’s Mexico.

“In the jungle, you have to prepare for animals. In Mexico, you have to prepare for humans,” Daniel Ventura, 37, said after three days walking through the Darien Gap and four months waiting in Mexico to enter the U.S. legally using the government’s online appointment system, called CBP One. He and his family of six were headed to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where he has a relative.

Mexico’s crackdown on immigration in recent months — at the urging of the Biden administration — has hit Venezuelans especially hard. The development highlights how much the U.S. depends on Mexico to control migration, which has reached unprecedented levels and is a top issue for voters as President Joe Biden seeks reelection.

Arrests of migrants for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped so this year after a record high in December. The biggest decline was among Venezuelans, whose arrests plummeted to 3,184 in February and 4,422 in January from 49,717 in December.

While two months do not make a trend and illegal crossings remain high by historical standards, Mexico’s strategy to keep migrants closer to its border with Guatemala than the U.S. is at least temporary relief for the Biden administration.

Large numbers of Venezuelans began reaching the U.S. in 2021, first by flying to Mexico and then on foot and by bus after Mexico imposed visa restrictions. In September, Venezuelans briefly replaced Mexicans as the largest nationality crossing the border.

Mexico’s efforts have included forcing migrants from trains, flying and busing them to the southern part of the country, and flying some home to Venezuela.

Last week, Mexico said it would give about $110 a month for six months to each Venezuelan it deports, hoping they won’t come back. Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador extended the offer Tuesday to Ecuadorians and Colombians.

“If you support people in their places of origin, the migratory flow reduces considerably, but that requires resources and that is what the United States government has not wanted to do,” said López Obrador, who is barred by term limits from running in June elections.

Migrants say they must pay corrupt officials at Mexico’s frequent government checkpoints to avoid being sent back to southern cities. Each setback is costly and frustrating.

“In the end, it is a business because wherever you get to, they want to take the last of what you have,” said Yessica Gutierrez, 30, who left Venezuela in January in a group of 15 family members that includes young children. They avoided some checkpoints by hiking through brush.

The group is now waiting in Mexico City to get an appointment so they can legally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. To use the CBP One app, applicants must be in central or northern Mexico. So Gutierrez’s group sleeps in two donated tents across the street from a migrant shelter and check the app daily.

More than 500,000 migrants have used the app to enter the U.S. at land crossings with Mexico since its introduction in January 2023. They can stay in the U.S. for two years under a presidential authority called parole, which entitles them to work.

“I would rather cross the jungle 10 times than pass through Mexico once,” said Jose Alberto Uzcategui, who left a construction job in the Venezuelan city of Trujillo with his wife and sons, ages 5 and 7, in a family group of 11. They are biding time in Mexico City until they have enough money for a phone so they can use CBP One.

Venezuelans account for the vast majority of 73,166 migrants who crossed the Darien Gap in January and February, which is on pace to pass last year’s record of more than 500,000, according to the Panamanian government, suggesting Venezuelans are still fleeing a country that has lost more than 7 million people amid political turmoil and economic decline. Mexican authorities stopped Venezuelan migrants more than 56,000 times in February, about twice as much as the previous two months, according to government figures.

“The underlying question here is: Where are the Venezuelans? They’re in Mexico, but where are they?” said Stephanie Brewer, who covers Mexico for the Washington Office on Latin America, a group that monitors human rights abuses.

Mexico deported only about 429 Venezuelans during the first two months of 2024, meaning nearly all are waiting in Mexico.

Many fear that venturing north of Mexico City will get them fleeced or returned to southern Mexico. The U.S. admits 1,450 people a day through CBP One with appointments that are granted two weeks out.

Even if they evade Mexican authorities, migrants feel threatened by gangs who kidnap, extort and commit other violent crimes.

“You have to go town by town because the cartels need to put food on their plates,” said Maria Victoria Colmenares, 27, who waited seven months in Mexico City for a CBP One appointment, supporting her family by working as a waitress while her husband worked at a car wash.

“It’s worth the wait because it brings a reward,” said Colmenares, who took a taxi from the Tijuana airport to the border crossing with San Diego, hours before her Tuesday appointment.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has touted his own efforts to explain the recent reduction in illegal crossings in his state, where at least 95% of Border Patrol arrests of Venezuelans occur. Those have included installing razor wire, putting a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and making plans to build a new base for members of the National Guard.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has mostly credited Mexico for the drop in border arrests.

Some Venezuelans still come north despite the perils.

Marbelis Torrealba, 35, arrived in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, with her sister and niece this week, carrying ashes of her daughter who drowned in a boat that capsized in Nicaragua. She said they were robbed by Mexican officials and gangs and returned several times to southern Mexico.

A shelter arranged for them to enter the U.S. legally on emergency humanitarian grounds, but she was prepared to cross illegally.

“I already experienced the worst: Seeing your child die in front of you and not being able to do anything.”

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Spagat reported from Tijuana, Mexico, and Gonzalez reported from Matamoros. Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., also contributed.


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Schools in the path of April’s total solar eclipse prepare for a natural teaching moment

CLEVELAND (AP) — Seventh-grade student Henry Cohen bounced side to side in time to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” playing in teacher Nancy Morris’ classroom, swinging his arms open and closed across the planets pictured on his T-shirt.

Henry and other classmates at Cleveland’s Riverside School were on their feet, dancing during a session of activities tied to April’s total solar eclipse. Second-graders invited in for the lessons sat cross-legged on the floor, laughing as they modeled newly decorated eclipse viewing glasses. Dioramas with softball-sized model earths and moons and flashlight “suns” occupied desks and shelves around the room.

Henry said his shirt reflected his love of space, which he called “a cool mystery.” The eclipse, he said, “is a one in a million chance and I’m glad I get to be here for it.”

For schools in or near the path of totality of the April 8 eclipse, the event has inspired lessons in science, literacy and culture. Some schools also are organizing group viewings for students to experience the awe of daytime darkness and learn about the astronomy behind it together.

A hair out of the path of totality, the school system in Portville, New York, near the Pennsylvania line, plans to load its 500 seventh- through 12th-grade students onto buses and drive about 15 minutes into the path, to an old horse barn overlooking a valley. There, they will be able to trace the shadow of the eclipse as it arrives around 3:20 p.m. EST.

It required rearranging the hours of the school day to remain in session, but Superintendent Thomas Simon said staff did not want to miss out on the learning opportunity, especially at a time when when students experience so much of life through screens.

“We want them to leave here that day feeling they’re a very small part of a pretty magnificent planet that we live on, and world that we live in, and that there’s some real amazing things that we can experience in the natural world,” Simon said.

Schools in Cleveland and some other cities in the eclipse’s path will be closed that day so that students aren’t stuck on buses or in crowds of people expected to converge. At Riverside, Morris came up with a mix of crafts, games and models to educate and engage her students ahead of time.

“They really were not realizing what a big deal this was until we really started talking about it,” Morris said.

Learning about phases of the moon and eclipses is built into every state’s science standards, said Dennis Schatz, past president of the National Science Teaching Association. Some school systems have their own planetariums — relics of the 1960s space race — where students can take in educational shows about astronomy.

But there is no better lesson than the real thing, said Schatz, who encourages educators to use the eclipse as “a teachable moment.”

Dallas science teachers Anita Orozco and Katherine Roberts plan to do just that at the Lamplighter School, arranging for the entire pre-K- through fourth-grade student body to watch it together outdoors. The teachers spent a Saturday in March at a teaching workshop at the University of Texas at Dallas where they were told it would be “almost criminal” to keep students inside.

“We want our students to love science as much as we do,” Roberts said, “and we just want them understanding and also having the awe of how crazy this event is.”

Wrangling young children may be a challenge, Orozco said, but “we want it to be an event.”

In training future science teachers, University at Buffalo professor Noemi Waight has encouraged her student teachers to incorporate how culture shapes the way people experience an eclipse. Native Americans, for example, may view the total eclipse as something sacred, she said.

“This is important for our teachers to understand,” she said, “so when they’re teaching, they can address all of these elements.”

The STEM Friends Club from the State University of New York Brockport planned eclipse-related activities with fourth-grade students at teacher Christopher Albrecht’s class, hoping to pass along their passion for science, technology, engineering and math to younger students.

“I want to show students what is possible,” said Allison Blum, 20, a physics major focused on astrophysics. “You know those big mainstream jobs, like astronaut, but you don’t really know what’s possible with the different fields.”

Albrecht sees his fourth-grade students’ interest in the eclipse as a chance to incorporate literacy into lessons, too — maybe even spark a love of reading.

“This is is a great opportunity to read a lot with them,” Albrecht said. He has picked “What Is a Solar Eclipse?” by Dana Meachen Rau and ”A Few Beautiful Minutes” by Kate Allen Fox for his class at Hill Elementary School in Brockport, New York.

“It’s capturing their interest,” he said, “and at the same time, their imagination, too.”

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Associated Press writer Patrick Orsagos contributed to this report.


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Judge forges ahead with pretrial motions in Georgia election interference case

ATLANTA (AP) — The charges against former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case seek to criminalize political speech and advocacy conduct that the First Amendment protects, his lawyers argued in a court filing challenging the indictment.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee plans to hear arguments on that filing and on two pretrial motions filed by former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer during a hearing set for Thursday. Lawyers for Shafer argue that he acted legally when he and other state Republicans signed a certificate asserting that Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

McAfee is forging ahead with the case even as Trump and other defendants have said they plan to seek a ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis. The judge earlier this month rejected defense efforts to remove Willis and her office over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, but he did give the defendants permission to seek a review of his decision from the appeals court.

Willis in August obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to try to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which the Republican incumbent narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden. All of the defendants were charged with violating Georgia’s expansive anti-racketeering law, along with other alleged crimes.

Four people have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set, though Willis has asked that it begin in August.

Trump’s lawyers wrote in their filing that the crimes their client is charged with fall into five separate areas: Republican elector certificates submitted by Georgia Republicans; a request to the Georgia House speaker to call a special legislative session; a filing in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election; a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; and a letter sent to Raffensperger in September 2021.

“The First Amendment, in affording the broadest protection to political speech and discussion regarding governmental affairs, not only embraces but encourages exactly the kind of behavior under attack in this Indictment,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors argued in response that the indictment “is based on criminal acts, not speech.” Wherever speech is involved, they wrote, it is “speech integral to criminal conduct, fraud, perjury, threats, criminal solicitation, or lies that threaten to deceive and harm the government.”

Most of the charges against Shafer have to do with his involvement in helping to organize a group of Georgia Republicans to cast Electoral College votes for Trump even though the state’s election had been certified in favor of Biden. The charges against him include impersonating a public officer, forgery, false statements and writings, and attempting to file false documents.

His lawyers wrote in a filing that prosecutors are seeking “to punish as criminal conduct by Mr. Shafer which was lawful at the time.” They argued that Shafer “was attempting to comply with the advice of legal counsel” and the requirements of the Electoral Count Act.

Shafer’s lawyers also ask that three phrases be struck from the indictment: “duly elected and qualified presidential electors,” “false Electoral College votes” and “lawful electoral votes.” They argue that those phrases are used to assert that the Democratic slate of electors was valid and the Republican slate of electors in which Shafer participated was not. They argue that those are “prejudicial legal conclusions” about issues that should be decided by the judge or by the jury at trial.

Prosecutors argue that Shafer is using “incorrect, extrinsic facts and legal conclusions … to somehow suggest that he was or may have been a lawful presidential elector at the time of the charged conduct.” They agreed that the indictment includes “disputed” and “unproven” allegations but said “that is not and never has been grounds for the dismissal of an indictment.”

Willis and her team experienced several setbacks in March. Although McAfee did not grant defense requests to remove her from the case, he was sharply critical of her actions and said Wade, her hand-picked lead prosecutor on the case, must step aside for Willis to continue the prosecution. Just days earlier, the judge dismissed six of the 41 counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, finding that prosecutors failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crimes.


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What to know about the cargo ship Dali, a mid-sized ocean monster that took down a Baltimore bridge

Here’s what to know about the cargo ship Dali that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six bridge construction workers presumed dead.

If stood upright, the Dali would reach almost to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris or about two-thirds of the way up the Empire State Building in New York.

It can carry the equivalent of almost 10,000 standard-sized metal shipping containers, and at the time of the accident was carrying nearly 4,700 containers. But while those figures are impressive, the Dali pales in comparison to the world’s largest container ships, which can carry more than 24,000 containers. There are environmental and economic advantages to operating giant container ships, but their sheer size and weight make them difficult to maneuver and stop — especially when something goes wrong.

Dali length: 984 feet (300 meters). Weight: 95,000 tons when empty.

Capacity: 10,000 20-foot (6-meter) containers.

The ship shares a name with one of history’s most celebrated artists, Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali.

Built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, the Dali was launched in late 2014. It’s owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd, flies a Singapore flag and is powered by diesel engines.

Danish shipping giant Maersk had chartered the Dali for a planned trip from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the ship didn’t get far, with the crew sending a mayday call early Tuesday saying they had lost power and had no control of the steering system. Minutes later, the ship rammed one of the bridge’s columns, causing the entire structure to collapse within seconds.

The ship was moving at about 8 knots, or 9 mph (15 kph). The mayday gave just enough time for authorities to stop bridge traffic and likely prevent more deaths, but not enough time to clear the construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge. Divers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of two of the workers.

All of the nearly two dozen crew members from the Dali were accounted for after the accident, with one taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The Dali passed a June 2023 inspection in Chile. A faulty pressure gauge for the fuel heaters was identified but fixed before the vessel left the port, according to authorities. The Dali was then inspected in September by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York, and no problems were found. Before it left Baltimore, the ship underwent routine engine maintenance, according to the Coast Guard.

Federal and state officials say the crash appears to be an accident.

The Coast Guard has downloaded the voyage data recorder and sent it to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is building a timeline of what led to the crash, and a preliminary report is expected in the coming weeks. Singapore also plans to carry out its own investigation, which it says will be to identify lessons for the future rather than determine liability.

In addition to trying to clear the channel floor of the bridge debris, officials will need to assess the damage to the Dali and make sure it doesn’t leak fuel or sink. Investigators found damage to at least 13 containers on the ship.

The Dali will then likely be towed back to the port and the cargo offloaded.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says it’s too early to say how long it will take to reopen the Port of Baltimore or replace the destroyed bridge. He noted it initially took five years to build the bridge.


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