North Carolina judges weigh GOP law shifting election board control away from Democratic governor

North Carolina judges weigh GOP law shifting election board control away from Democratic governor

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina trial judges heard arguments Monday from attorneys for Republican legislative leaders who insist their latest method to attempt to wrest control of the State Board of Elections from a Democratic governor is lawful — this time giving the job of appointing members to the GOP state auditor.

But lawyers for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who sued to stop the changes approved late last year by the General Assembly and begin in earnest next month, contend the alteration suffers constitutional flaws similar to those that caused courts to strike down previous GOP attempts.

“The General Assembly is on a mission to both enact and execute the state’s elections,” Stein attorney Jim Phillips said while urging Superior Court Judges Edwin Wilson, Andrew Womble and Lori Hamilton to strike down the latest law. The judges didn’t immediately rule after a 2 1/2-hour hearing but have signaled they would act before the chief change starts May 1.

For nearly a decade, the Republican-dominated legislature has sought to erode or eliminate a governor’s authority to appoint the board that administers elections. It’s a practice set in state law over a century ago and results in members of the governor’s party holding three of the five seats. Appointments are made from options provided by the two major political parties.

Republicans have complained that a governor has too much control over elections in the ninth-largest state, resulting in one-party decision-making and a lack of voter confidence. Democrats say the laws are a GOP power grab designed to give Republicans an unfair advantage in elections in the battleground state. The board’s importance has been apparent in the still-unresolved election for a state Supreme Court seat.

Judges have blocked at least four alterations to the board’s composition contained in laws approved by GOP lawmakers since 2016 and successfully challenged by Stein’s predecessor, fellow Democrat Roy Cooper. In addition, voters rejected a 2018 constitutional amendment that would have forced the governor to appoint members recommended by legislative leaders from both parties.

In March 2024, the same three judges — two registered Republicans and a Democrat — struck down the 2023 version of the law that would have moved board appointment authority from the governor to the General Assembly itself.

The fifth attempt to change the law — the subject of Monday’s hearing — moves appointment duties to Republican Dave Boliek, who defeated a Democrat in November to become auditor. The auditor’s position has had nothing to do with elections — it’s best known for issuing reports uncovering waste and fraud in state government.

Stein’s attorneys said the latest law also should be struck down because it interferes with the governor’s ability to carry out his responsibility in the North Carolina Constitution to “take care” that laws are “faithfully executed” through an executive-branch agency like the board.

But an attorney for Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall said shifting the job to a comparatively low-key position like auditor is different. The entire board will continue to be appointed by an executive branch official, and the state constitution says the auditor’s duties are determined by the General Assembly, the legislators’ attorneys wrote in a legal memorandum.

“The people’s representatives have made the policy call,” Matthew Tilley, a lawyer for the legislators, said of shifting the duty to the auditor. “That may result in more fair elections. It may take some of the partisan pressure off the Board of Elections.”

Hamilton, a Republican, said under the lawmakers’ arguments, all gubernatorial powers not specifically named in the constitution could be moved by the General Assembly to other officials.

“If it’s not just a barefaced power grab, why now? Why is this necessary? ” she asked Tilley. “If the General Assembly starts stacking up powers and duties under the auditor’s umbrella, it’s going to become very, very public and very, very contested very, very quickly.”

Cooper and Stein sued GOP legislative leaders in late December over the new law, which also includes changes to how the 100 county elections boards are chosen, which also with Boliek’s involvement, would likely have Republican majorities, too. The county board changes begin in June. Cooper left office at the start of this year.

Boliek, who previously said he didn’t seek the election board appointment duties, joined the lawsuit and sided with GOP lawmakers. His attorneys also argued in court Monday. The judges’ decision will assuredly be appealed.

Stein, the former attorney general, is also suing lawmakers over additional provisions in the wide-ranging law that weaken more powers of the governor and other Democratic officials.

NC Attorney General settles with major landlord over AI-powered rent fixing

NC Attorney General settles with major landlord over AI-powered rent fixing

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced a settlement with a major landlord accused of illegally fixing rent prices using cutting edge technology. Landlords were using RealPage, a property management software provider known for AI-powered solutions and services that has allegedly exploited landlords’ competitively sensitive information creating a pricing algorithm that inflated rent prices and violated antitrust laws

A settlement was reached with Cortland Management LLC, which is the second-largest landlord in North Carolina with over 5,000 units statewide, including Charlotte and Raleigh. Under the settlement, Cortland agreed to stop using sensitive data from its competitors to inform its pricing model. It must also submit to regular compliance inspections.

“[Landlords] are not allowed to meet in the back of a restaurant and decide what rates to charge,” said Jackson. “They were essentially using artificial intelligence as a stand-in for that type of in-person meeting allowing them to share proprietary information to the detriment of renters.”

Rent prices are meant to be decided based on a number of factors including market analysis, property features, operating expenses, and through other professional advice. In a press release, Jackson stated this alleged illegal conduct not only harms landlords trying to follow the rules, but also North Carolinians who struggle to pay rent and keep their homes with increasing rent prices.

Jackson also said the technology is being used for other illegal purposes such as fraud, deepfakes and other financial crimes.

“Folks are getting a call from someone who sounds exactly like their grandson saying ‘Grandpa, I was just arrested and I need you to send me some bail money and I need it to be in crypto-currency’ or something like that,” said Jackson. “It’s a combination of AI plus crypto-currency that’s opened up a new tsunami for scams.”

“Sober Operative Act” aims to cut drunk driving with tougher laws and lower BAC limits

“Sober Operative Act” aims to cut drunk driving with tougher laws and lower BAC limits

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – A bill in the legislature seeks to crack down on drunk driving — in an effort to make driving safer.

At a Legislative Building press conference, Ellen Pitt with the Western North Carolina regional DWI task force explained one key part of the bill would lower the legal limit for blood alcohol while driving. “We can prevent the needless death and destruction, the endless waste of tax dollars, the morale killing frustration of law enforcement officers by passing North Carolina House Bill 108, the Sober Operative Act of 2025,” said Pitt.

Peggy Jean Dodson-Harris, who lost relatives in a drunk driving crash, says this bill is personal for her.

“There is no reason why anyone would not back this. None. Except for the fact that you could care less that my family was murdered, or anyone else’s family could be murdered,” added Dodson-Harris.

One key part of the bill would lower the legal blood alcohol limit while driving from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. The measure also deals with increased enforcement and follow up for multiple offenders. In addition, the proposal would create a Class F felony charge, which is typically punishable by one to three years in prison. State Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico) says they want to send a message that driving while impaired is wrong.

“In my opinion, is too high. It’s a number that’s out there that many people are actually intoxicated because depending on your particular reaction to alcohol, it could change whether .05 or .08 actually makes you literally intoxicated and impaired,” said Kidwell. “Too many people feel its okay to go out to dinner and have a few drinks and then get behind a several thousand pound vehicle and take the lives of — not just those in their car but, the lives of everybody else on the highway in their hands.”

Autism rates in US rise again to 1 in 31 kids, CDC says

Autism rates in US rise again to 1 in 31 kids, CDC says

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — An estimated 1 in 31 U.S. children have autism, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday, marking another jump in a long string of increases.

The CDC’s data was from 14 states and Puerto Rico in 2022. The previous estimate — from 2020 — was 1 in 36.

Boys continue to be diagnosed more than girls, and the highest rates are among children who are Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black.

To estimate how common autism is, the CDC checked health and school records for 8-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age. Other researchers have their own estimates, but experts say the CDC’s estimate is the most rigorous and the gold standard.

Here’s what you need to know about the new numbers, as well as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to do a “massive testing and research effort” around autism.

What is autism?

Autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. There are many possible symptoms, many of which overlap with other diagnoses. They can include delays in language and learning, social and emotional withdrawal and an unusual need for routine.

For decades, the diagnosis was rare, given only to kids with severe problems communicating or socializing and those with unusual, repetitive behaviors.

As late as the early 1990s, only 1 in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism. Around that time, the term became a shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions known as ″autism spectrum disorders,” and the number of kids labeled as having some form of autism began to balloon.

In the first decade of this century, the estimate rose to 1 in 150. In 2018, it was 1 in 44. In 2020, it was up to 1 in 36.

Why are autism numbers rising?

Health officials largely attribute growing autism numbers to better recognition of cases through wide screening and better diagnosis.

There are no blood or biologic tests for autism. It’s diagnosed by making judgments about a child’s behavior, and there’s been an explosion in autism-related treatment and services for children.

Roughly two decades ago, studies by the CDC and others ruled out childhood vaccines as a cause of autism. Since then, a lot of research has looked at variety of other possible explanations, including genetics, the age of the father, the weight of the mother and whether she had diabetes and exposure to certain chemicals.

Some researchers have theorized it may be a series of things — perhaps a biological predisposition set off by some sort of toxic exposure.

Vaccines and autism

Kennedy and anti-vaccine advocates have remained fixated on childhood vaccines, pointing at a preservative called thimerosal that is no longer in most childhood vaccines or theorizing that autism may be the cumulative effect of multiple vaccinations. A number of studies, including some with CDC authors, have not found such links.

Last week, Kennedy said HHS was launching “a massive testing and research effort that’s going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world” and identify what causes autism in less than six months. He also promised “we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”

Kennedy and President Donald Trump both referred to the 1-in-31 estimate that CDC released Tuesday during last week’s White House meeting, and Kennedy also repeated the statistic at a meeting with FDA officials on Friday,

Kennedy’s statement followed reports that he had hired David Geier, a man who has repeatedly claimed a link between vaccines and autism, to lead the autism research effort. The hiring of Geier, whom Maryland found was practicing medicine on a child without a doctor’s license, was first reported by The Washington Post.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Proposed bill could remove thousands of books from NC public schools

Proposed bill could remove thousands of books from NC public schools

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – What is your child reading? Lawmakers in Raleigh are rolling out a bill that could affect what your student reads. At a Legislative Building press conference this week, State Rep. Neal Jackson (R-Moore, Randolph) says the bill is about protecting children from accessing inappropriate material based on their age.

“It’s not about fiction, it’s not about nonfiction, its not about novels, its not about comics, its not about textbooks, and its not about public libraries. Its about exposing children to sexual images and concepts that are morally wrong,” said Jackson.

The bill will require the removal of books from public schools that contain material that is “harmful to minors,” including material that “depicts or describes sexual activity.” Jackson says that most parents agree about protecting children from accessing inappropriate material.

“69 percent of parents believe that books containing pornography should not be present in high school libraries. That number jumps to 79 percent of parents believe this when it’s middle school libraries, and that number jumps to 89% when its elementary school libraries,” added Jackson.

The bill would create committees and processes to review existing and future library books down to the school level and require reviews of all materials at book fairs — a major funder of school library collections. It would also allow people to sue schools for damages and other remedies for alleged violations. State Rep. David Willis (R-Union) says there are some books that should never be allowed near children.

“If I were to pick up one of these books and walk across the street to the bicentennial plaza, sit down while a group of school kids on one of their daily tours and began to read aloud from one of these books; it would not take very long for someone to report me and for me to likely be arrested for contributing to the indecency of a minor,” said Willis.

The books will be chosen and removed based on eight criteria, including that the materials must be age appropriate and must not be vulgar or contain visual depictions or descriptions of sexual activity. The legislation also applies to donated material, which will need to be screened before being placed on school library shelves. Pastor John K Amanchukwu argues that this material “assaults the soul, stains the brain, and robs children of their innocence.”

“Once a child has caught a glimpse of these pornographic materials, they will never be able to un-see what they have seen.,” said Amanchukwu.

A look at the universities with federal funding targeted by the Trump administration

A look at the universities with federal funding targeted by the Trump administration

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press

Harvard University is the latest in a growing list of higher education institutions that had its federal funding targeted by the government in order to comply with the Trump administration’s political agenda.

The series of threats — and subsequent pauses in funding — to some of the top U.S. universities have become an unprecedented tool for the administration to exert influence on college campuses. Six of the seven universities impacted are Ivy League schools.

President Donald Trump vowed to pursue these federal cuts on the campaign trail last year, saying he would focus on schools that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content.” Public school systems are targets for cuts too.

Here’s a look at which universities have been pressured by the administration’s funding cuts so far.

Harvard University

The administration announced its antisemitism task force would conduct a “ comprehensive review ” of the Massachusetts university on March 31. The government was set to review nearly $9 billion of federal grants and contracts.

Harvard is among universities across the country where pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus amid the war in Gaza last year. Republican officials have since heavily scrutinized those universities, and several Ivy League presidents testified before Congress to discuss antisemitism allegations.

The administration issued its list of demands to Harvard in a letter on April 3. The demands included a ban on face masks, limitations on campus protests and a review of academic departments’ biases.

About a week later, those demands were expanded to include leadership reforms, admission policy changes and stopping the university’s recognition of certain student organizations.

Then, on Monday, Harvard President Alan Gerber refused to comply, saying in a letter that the university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

Hours later, the administration announced it froze more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to the university.

Cornell University

The White House announced last week that it froze more than $1 billion of Cornell’s federal funding. The administration said the freeze came as it investigated alleged civil rights violations at the university.

The New York university was among a group of more than 60 universities that received a letter from the Education Department on March 10 urging them to take steps to protect Jewish students or else face “potential enforcement actions.”

The Defense Department issued more than 75 stop-work orders for research, Cornell said in a statement, but that the federal government hadn’t confirmed if the total funding freeze totaled $1 billion.

Northwestern University

Like Cornell, Northwestern also saw a halt in some of its federal funding last week. The amount was about $790 million, according to the Trump administration.

The Illinois university did not receive an official message from the White House on the freeze despite its cooperation with civil rights investigations, according to Northwestern officials at the time.

University spokesperson Jon Yates said Northwestern’s scientific research was “at jeopardy” because of the freeze — a widespread issue for universities facing research cuts from the National Institutes of Health.

Brown University

The Trump administration was anticipated to pause federal grants and contracts at Brown University because of the Rhode Island school’s response to alleged antisemitism on campus, according to a White House official on April 3.

The total was expected to be about $510 million in funding, according to the official.

Princeton University

Dozens of research grants were suspended at Princeton University without a clear rationale, according to an April 1 campus message from university president Christopher Eisgruber. The grants came from federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, NASA and the Defense Department.

Before the funding pause, Eisgruber had expressed his opposition to Trump’s threatened cuts at Columbia University in an essay in The Atlantic magazine. He called the administration’s move a “radical threat to scholarly excellence and to America’s leadership in research.”

University of Pennsylvania

Unlike the other targeted universities, the University of Pennsylvania saw funding cuts because of a transgender athlete who competed in Penn’s swimming program, according to the Trump administration.

After a Feb. 5 executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, the Education Department launched an investigation a day later into athletics programs at Penn and San Jose State University. The Penn investigation centered on Lia Thomas, who is the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title and graduated from the university in 2022.

Over a month later, the White House announced the suspension of about $175 million in federal funding from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. The administration said the halt in funding on March 19 came after a separate discretionary federal money review.

The university said at the time that it wasn’t directly notified of the action.

Columbia University

Columbia University was the first major institution that had its funding singled out by the Trump administration.

At first, federal agencies declared they were considering stop-work orders for about $51 million of contracts with Columbia on March 3. Trump had also said on social media that schools that allow “illegal protests” would see funding cuts.

Last year, Columbia student protesters started a wave of campus demonstrations against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The protests led to tense faceoffs with police at the New York City university and the arrests of more than 100 demonstrators.

University leadership faced scathing condemnations from Republicans on the protests’ proliferation, leading former president Minouche Shafik to step down. Columbia also began investigating pro-Palestinian student activists, such as Mahmoud Khalil, who was later arrested and is at threat of deportation.

On March 7, the Trump administration cancelled about $400 million of Columbia’s federal funding. Columbia took some action afterward, such as expelling and suspending some student protesters who occupied a campus building during demonstrations.

The university announced March 21 that it had agreed to make even more sweeping policy changes that the Trump administration had demanded.

The changes included placing the Middle East studies department under supervision, hiring new safety personnel who can make arrests, and banning face masks “for the purposes of concealing one’s identity.” The university also agreed to appoint a senior provost tasked with reviewing several international studies departments’ leadership and curriculum.

Armstrong resigned from her post the following week. The decision was met with dissatisfaction among some faculty members and a lawsuit against the cuts.

But following Harvard’s defiance of the Trump administration’s demands, Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, had a new message Monday. She said that while she agrees with some of the administration’s requests, the university would reject “heavy-handed orchestration” that would “require us to relinquish our independence and autonomy as an educational institution.”

Discussions were still ongoing between the federal government and Columbia as of Monday, according to Shipman’s campus letter.

Easter Brunch Punch

Easter Brunch Punch

Easter Brunch Punch

Photo by Getty Images

Easter Brunch Punch Recipe from Southern Living

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes – 2 hours

Serving size: 12 – 15 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 (52-oz.) bottle refrigerated strawberry lemonade, such as Simply Lemonade brand 
  • 1 lb. fresh or frozen rhubarb, trimmed and cut into large chunks
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 (1-liter) bottle club soda, chilled
  • Garnishes: strawberries, mint sprigs, and lemon slices

Directions

  1. Prepare ice ring (optional):The night before you plan to serve the punch, freeze roughly a 1/3 to 1/2 of the strawberry lemonade in one standard or a few mini Bundt pans. (This step makes an extra pretty presentation, and prevents the punch from getting watered down. But if you’d rather skip it, just save all of the strawberry lemonade for step 3, and serve the punch with a bucket of regular ice).
  2. Make rhubarb syrup:Stir together the rhubarb, sugar, and 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Simmer until rhubarb is completely broken down, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool, strain, and chill until ready to use. (You can make and chill the simple syrup overnight if desired).
  3. Make punch:Just before serving, combine the remaining strawberry lemonade, club soda, and about half of the rhubarb simple syrup in a punch bowl. Taste it for sweetness and add more syrup if desired.
  4. Add garnishes:Add the strawberry lemonade ice rings to the punch bowl, if using. Garnish with strawberries, mint sprigs, and lemon slices.
El Salvador President Bukele says he won’t be releasing a Maryland man back to the US

El Salvador President Bukele says he won’t be releasing a Maryland man back to the US

By SEUNG MIN KIM and MARCOS ALEMÁN Associated Press

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

Trump administration officials emphasized that Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and that the U.S. has no say in his future. And Bukele, who has been a vital partner for the Trump administration in its deportation efforts, said “of course” he would not release him back to U.S. soil.

“The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele, seated alongside Trump, told reporters in the Oval Office Monday. “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

Should El Salvador want to return Abrego Garcia, the U.S. would “facilitate it, meaning provide a plane,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

But “first and foremost, he was illegally in our country, and he had been illegally in our country,” she said. “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.”

The refusal of both countries to allow the return of Abrego Garcia, who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation over fears of gang persecution, is intensifying the battle over the Maryland resident’s future. It has also played out in contentious court filings, with repeated refusals from the government to tell a judge what it plans to do, if anything, to repatriate him.

The judge handling the case, Paula Xinis, is now considering whether to grant a request from the man’s legal team to compel the government to explain why it should not be held in contempt.

The fight over Abrego Garcia also underscores how critical El Salvador has been as a linchpin of the U.S. administration’s mass deportation operation.

How Bukele is helping with Trump’s immigration crackdown

Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom Trump administration officials have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country’s maximum-security gang prison just outside of the capital, San Salvador. That prison is part of Bukele’s broader effort to crack down on the country’s powerful street gangs, which has put 84,000 people behind bars and made Bukele extremely popular at home.

“I want to just say hello to the people of El Salvador and say they have one hell of a president,” Trump said as he greeted Bukele, who was wearing a black mock turtleneck sans tie.

Bukele struck a deal under which the U.S. will pay about $6 million for El Salvador to imprison the Venezuelan immigrants for a year.

But Democrats have raised alarm about the treatment of Abrego Garcia and other migrants who may be wrongfully detained in El Salvador. Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is pushing for a meeting with Bukele while he is in Washington to discuss Abrego Garcia’s potential return, and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the administration to release Abrego Garcia and others “with no credible criminal record” who were deported to the maximum-security prison.

“Disregarding the rule of law, ignoring unanimous rulings by the Supreme Court and subjecting individuals to detention and deportation without due process makes us less safe as a country,” Shaheen said.

Though other judges had ruled against the Trump administration, this month the Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump to use the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th century wartime law, to deport the immigrants. The justices did insist that the immigrants get a court hearing before being removed from the U.S. Over the weekend, 10 more people who the administration claims are members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs arrived in El Salvador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.

Trump wants to expand his deportation plans

The president has said openly that he would also favor El Salvador taking custody of American citizens who have committed violent crimes, a view he repeated Monday.

“We have bad ones too, and I’m all for it because we can do things with the president for less money and have great security,” Trump said during the meeting. “And we have a huge prison population.” It is unclear how lawful U.S. citizens could be deported elsewhere in the world.

Before the press entered the Oval Office, Trump said in a video posted on social media by Bukele that he wanted to send “homegrowns” to be incarcerated in El Salvador, and added that “you’ve got to build five more places,” suggesting Bukele doesn’t have enough prison capacity for all of the U.S. citizens that Trump would like to send there.

The high court weighs in, and the administration response

The Supreme Court has called for the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia.

Trump indicated over the weekend that he would return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. if the high court’s justices said to bring him back, saying “I have great respect for the Supreme Court.” But the tone from top administration officials was sharply different on Monday,

“He’s a citizen of El Salvador,” said Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff. “So it’s very arrogant, even for American media, to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens.”

Bondi asserted that two immigration court judges — who are under Justice Department purview — found that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13, although the man’s attorneys say the government has provided no evidence that he was affiliated with MS-13 or any other gang. The allegation is based on a confidential informant’s claim in 2019 that Abrego Garcia was a member of a chapter in New York, where he has never lived.

How Bukele is viewed back home

While Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has popular support, the country has lived under a state of emergency that suspends some basic rights for three years. He built the massive prison, located just outside San Salvador in the town of Tecoluca, to hold those accused of gang affiliation under his crackdown.

Part of his offer to receive the Venezuelans there was that the U.S. also send back some Salvadoran gang leaders. In February, his ambassador to the U.S., Milena Mayorga, said on a radio program that having gang leaders face justice in El Salvador was “an issue of honor.”

Populists who have successfully crafted their images through media, Bukele and Trump are of different generations but display similar tendencies in how they relate to the press, political opposition and justice systems in their respective countries.

The Trump-Bukele relationship

Bukele came to power in the middle of Trump’s first term and had a straightforward relationship with the U.S. leader. Trump was most concerned with immigration and, under Bukele, the number of Salvadorans heading for the U.S. border declined.

Bukele’s relationship with the U.S. grew more complicated at the start of the Biden administration, which was openly critical of some of his antidemocratic actions. Trump has also shown some irritation with Bukele in the past, accusing El Salvador of lowering its crime rate by sending people to the U.S.

“He’s just, ‘we’re working with our people that are causing problems and crime,’” Trump said of Bukele at a campaign rally last year. “He’s not working with them. He’s dumping them in the United States and their crime rate, their murder rate, is down 72%.”

Just before Bukele’s arrival in Washington, the State Department updated its travel advisory for El Salvador to Level 1, which is for countries that are considered the safest to visit for U.S. citizens. The advisory notes that gang activity, and the accompanying murders and other violent crimes, has declined in the past three years.

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Alemán reported from San Salvador, El Salvador. Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Chris Megerian in Washington, and Darlene Superville in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed reporting.

Supporters rally for Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs amid legal battle

Supporters rally for Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs amid legal battle

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – Supporters of Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs held a rally near the Legislative Building to criticize the ongoing legal effort to overturn Riggs’ less than 800 vote lead over Jefferson Griffin. Riggs spoke at the rally, criticizing the ongoing legal battle over overseas and military votes.

“Those who raise their hand and get first in line to serve our country should not now be first in line to have their votes tossed.,” said Riggs.

The justices ruled that about 5,000 military and overseas voters must prove their identity within 30 days or risk having their ballots invalidated. A vast majority of 60,000 votes were allowed to stand. Riggs says she will take the issue to Federal Court.

“There are thousands of men and women overseas who voted in 2024 who received their ballots, obeyed the instructions on the ballots, and submitted their ballots on time. And yet, five months after the vote, which he lost, Jefferson Griffin is trying to politicize and throw out their votes.,” said Air Force veteran Alex Rich, who voted when he was stationed far from home.

However, a majority of Republican justices minimized the court’s discovery that additional ballots from two other categories that Griffin contested were wrongly included in the tally. The court’s prevailing order claims that some of these votes — possibly thousands who live overseas or serve in the military — still have the opportunity to turn in a photo identification or ID exception form for their vote to remain in the court.

“It is no more acceptable to only disenfranchise a few thousand people, instead of 65,000 people, right?” said Riggs.

State Sen. Val Applewhite represents the area that includes Fort Bragg and other installations and says attacks on military votes are not fair.

“Stand with our troops, stand with democracy, and let’s remind them that when you mess with our votes, their votes, you mess with all of us.,” said Applewhite.

Stocks rally worldwide after Trump eases some of his tariffs on electronics, for now

Stocks rally worldwide after Trump eases some of his tariffs on electronics, for now

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising worldwide Monday after President Donald Trump relaxed some of his tariffs, for now at least, and as stress from within the U.S. bond market seems to be easing.

The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in midday trading, though trading is still shaky, and it gave back most of its bigger, early gain of 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 154 points, or 0.4%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Apple and other technology companies helped lift Wall Street after Trump said he was exempting smartphones, computers and some other electronics from some of his stiff tariffs, which could ultimately more than double prices for U.S. customers of many goods coming from China. Such an exemption should help U.S. importers, which would not have to choose between passing on the higher costs to their customers or taking a hit to their own profits.

Apple climbed 2.1%, and Dell Technologies rose 3.4%.

Stock markets in other countries likewise bounced following the cooldown in Trump’s trade war with China, the world’s second-largest economy. Indexes climbed 2.3% in France, 2.6% in Germany, 1.2% in Japan and 1% in South Korea.

But the relief may prove fleeting, helping to lead to Monday morning’s swings. Trump’s tariff rollout broadly has been full of fits and starts, and officials in his administration said this most recent exemption on electronics is only temporary.

That could keep uncertainty high for companies, which are trying to make long-term plans when conditions seem to change by the day. Such uncertainty sent the U.S. stock market last week to chaotic and historic swings, as investors struggled to catch up with Trump’s moves on tariffs, which could ultimately lead to a recession if not reduced.

China’s commerce ministry nevertheless welcomed the change in a Sunday statement as a small step even as it called for the U.S. to completely cancel the rest of its tariffs. China’s leader Xi Jinping on Monday said no one wins in a trade war as he kicked off a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia, hoping to present China as a force for stability in contrast with Trump’s frenetic moves on tariffs.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs rose 0.9% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. It joined other big banks in doing so, such as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.

Perhaps more encouragingly for Wall Street, the bond market was also showing some signs of increasing calm. Treasury yields eased following their sudden and scary rise last week, which seemed to rattle not only investors but also Trump.

Treasury yields usually drop when fear is high in the market because U.S. government bonds have historically been seen as some of the world’s safest investments, if not the safest. But last week, yields rose sharply for Treasury bonds in an usual move. The value of the U.S. dollar also fell against other currencies in another move suggesting investors may no longer see the United States as the best place to keep their cash during moments of stress.

Trump noted the moves in the bond market, which suggested investors “were getting a little queasy,” when he announced a 90-day pause on many of his tariffs last week.

That Trump acted only after the bond market made its scary move, but not after U.S. stock market began trembling, “reveals this administration’s Achilles’ heel,” according to Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased back to 4.40%. It had jumped to 4.48% on Friday from 4.01% the week before. It got an encouraging update in the morning on expectations for inflation among U.S. consumers.

While U.S. households raised their expectations for inflation in the year ahead, their expectations for inflation three and five years in the future were either unchanged or lower, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

That’s potentially good news for the Federal Reserve, which hates to see fast-rising expectations for longer-term inflation. Such expectations could kick off a feedback loop that drives behavior among consumers that only worsens inflation.

The value of the U.S. dollar, though, remained under pressure. It slipped against the euro and Japanese yen, while rising a bit against the Canadian dollar.

In China, stock indexes rose 2.4% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai after the government reported that China’s exports surged 12.4% in March from a year earlier in a last-minute flurry of activity as companies rushed to beat increases in U.S. tariffs imposed by Trump.

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AP Writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.

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