A top Qatari official urges Israel and Hamas to do more to reach a cease-fire deal
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A senior Qatari official has urged both Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness” in cease-fire negotiations. In a pair of interviews with Israeli media published and aired Saturday evening, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari expressed disappointment in both Hamas and Israel. He said each side has made its decisions based on political interests and not with the good of civilians in mind. Pressure is building on both sides to move toward a deal that would set hostages free and bring potential respite in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
Campus anti-war protesters dig in from New York to California as universities and police take action
NEW YORK (AP) — Student anti-war protesters at U.S. college campuses are digging in and vowing to keep their demonstrations going, while some universities have moved to shut down encampments and protests. Washington University in St. Louis locked some campus buildings and arrested protesters Saturday, including Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein. The University of Southern California says it has temporarily closed its University Park Campus to nonresidents. Police in riot gear cleared an encampment at Northeastern University in Boston, Arizona State University says 69 people were arrested and 23 people were arrested at Indiana University. Columbia University in New York City says students and administrators have engaged in negotiations.
Chants of ‘shame on you’ greet guests at White House correspondents’ dinner shadowed by war in Gaza
WASHINGTON (AP) — A glitzy election-year roast by President Joe Biden drew journalists, celebrities and politicians — but also hundreds of protesters against the war in Gaza. The annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner took place in Washington Saturday. This year’s dinner was held in the face of a call for journalists to boycott it, given the killings of Arab journalists covering the war in Gaza. Protesters ran after guests in tuxes and long dresses hurrying into the dinner, chanting, “Shame on you!” Biden’s speech, which lasted around 10 minutes, made no mention of the ongoing war or the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
From New York to Arizona: Inside the head-spinning week of Trump’s legal drama
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s criminal trial began in earnest with opening statements and testimony. But the unprecedented moment of a former president standing trial unfolded this past week amid a crescendo of developments in other legal cases involving the former Republican president. Even by Trump’s standards, it was a dizzying amount of legal work that involved more than half a dozen cases in four states and the nation’s capital. Twice during the week, lawyers for the argument were simultaneously appearing in different courtrooms. The collision of so many cases within a five-day span underscores the challenges Trump will face as he campaigns again for the White House while his legal matters intensify.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after his return to New York from upstate prison
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer says the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction. Attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein was moved to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after his arrival on Friday to city jails. On Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals vacated his conviction after concluding that a trial judge permitted too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced. The 72-year-old Weinstein has been ailing with a variety of afflictions, including cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems.
African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking both to the past and future to respond to climate change. Africa has the world’s youngest population. It is seeing the worst effects of a warming planet while contributing the least to the problem. Farmers are scrambling to make sure the booming population is fed. Some are turning to traditional foods that had been long dismissed as weeds or neglected in favor of imports. Others embrace new planting methods and varieties. One new bean’s side benefit is less flatulence.
Pope visits Venice to speak to the artists and inmates behind the Biennale’s must-see prison show
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis has met with women prisoners in Venice who are the protagonists of the Vatican pavilion at the Venice Biennale art fair. He has urged them to use their time in prison as a chance for “moral and material rebirth.” Francis is in Venice for the morning to meet with the inmates and artists of this year’s Biennale. The Vatican chose to stage its pavilion inside Venice’s women’s prison, and through a deal with the Italian Justice Ministry, invited inmates to work alongside the artists.
A Hawaii military family avoids tap water at home. They’re among those suing over 2021 jet fuel leak
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AP) — Richelle Dietz is a mother of two and wife of a U.S. Navy officer living on a Hawaii military base who often thinks about water. The family has been using bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth ever since 2021, when leaking jet fuel infiltrated the water system on their military base. Dietz is among 17 people suing the United States over the leak and continuing health problems they argue are tied to the tainted water. Dietz’s case goes to trial Monday. The outcome could help determine the success of several cases that include more than 7,500 people.
A munitions explosion at a Cambodian army base kills 20 soldiers, but its cause is unclear
CHBAR MON, Cambodia (AP) — Security is tight around a military base in southwestern Cambodia, a day after a huge explosion there killed 20 soldiers, wounded others and damaged nearby houses. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of the blast in Kampong Speu province, and ordered compensation to be paid to the victims’ families. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion. Images from the scene showed a destroyed building still smoldering, and soldiers receiving treatment in a hospital. Nearby residents reported damage to their homes but no casualties.
Wild onion dinners mark the turn of the season in Indian Country
OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) — Wild onions are among the first foods to grow at the tail end of winter in the South, and generations of Indigenous people place the alliums at the center of an annual communal event. From February through May, there’s a wild onion dinner every Saturday somewhere in Oklahoma. The wild onions are typically cooked for large gatherings. It’s a side dish of greens with a familiar peppery bite, served alongside fried pork, beans, frybread, chicken dumplings, cornbread and soup. The food is familiar among tribal nations in the southeast, including the Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee and Seminole, and people travel from as far as Arkansas, Kansas or Texas, because the Saturday dinners are part of their heritage.