Venezuelan workers at Disney put on leave from jobs after losing protective status

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Almost four dozen Venezuelan workers who had temporary protected status have been put on leave by Disney after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip them of legal protections.

The move was made to make sure that the employees were not in violation of the law, Disney said in a statement Friday.

The 45 workers across the company who were put on leave will continue to get benefits.

“We are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families,” the statement said.

What issues to watch as ‘big, beautiful bill’ moves to the Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans were jubilant after muscling through President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and immigration package by a single vote. But across the Capitol, senators were more cautious.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune can afford to lose three Republican senators and still pass the bill, and there are more than that, right now, who have problems with it. Like the House, he will have to balance the concerns from moderate and conservative members of his conference.

Republicans’ aspirational deadline is July 4, ahead of a potential debt default. Thune said groups of senators had already been meeting to discuss the legislation and that they would want to take some time to review it. “And then we’ll put our stamp on it,” he said.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Thune said. “What does it take to get to 51?”

A sold-out Indy 500 packed with drama, from firings to Larson’s double to Newgarden threepeat bid

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There has been so much drama ahead of the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 that Kyle Larson's attempt to complete the 1,100-mile NASCAR double doesn't even crack the top attention-getters.

Roger Penske's credibility was tested this week and he fired the top three executives of his IndyCar team because the cars of two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden and Will Power failed inspection. The team had modified a spec safety part — something IndyCar insists provided no competitive advantage — and it forced Penske to act.

The second major infraction in just over a year at Team Penske put The Captain's reputation at stake. He owns his team but also IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 — the most important race in the world to him, and one that the 88-year-old Penske has won a record 20 times.

“We had an organizational failure not once but two times. It hurts me in my gut,” Penske told new TV partner Fox Sports. “There’s a certain amount of credibility you have to have. We let people down. We’ll move on and our goal is to win the race.”

Getting river rehab rolling: Other cities' success in stemming effluent offer splashes of hope for Winnipeg's waterways

From giant cisterns to rain gardens, storage tunnels and parks, cities across Canada — and the rest of the world — have shown there are plenty of options to stop the overflow of sewage into freshwater.

Lebanon starts process to disarm Palestinian factions in refugee camps

BEIRUT (AP) — A group tasked with making a plan to remove weapons held by Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s refugees camps met for the first time Friday to begin hashing out a timetable and mechanism for disarming the groups.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a government body that serves as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, said the meeting was attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and that “participants agreed to launch a process for the disarmament of weapons according to a specific timetable."

The group added that it also aimed to take steps to "enhance the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees.”

A Lebanese official familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said work to remove the weapons would begin within a month.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on EU and 25% penalties on smart phones as his trade war intensifies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well a 25% tariff on smartphones unless those products are made in America.

The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump's ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing, as well as the reality that his tariffs have yet to produce the trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he has promised voters.

The Republican president said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a longstanding US ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations. Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has proposed mutually cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving a baseline 10% tax on most imports.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.”

Homeowners spend on renovations and repairs despite the uncertain economy and higher prices

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. homeowners are spending more on home renovation projects, bucking a broader pullback by consumers amid diminished confidence in the economy.

Sales at building materials and garden supply retailers rose 0.8% last month from March, the biggest gain since 2022, and were up 3.2% from April last year. At the same time, U.S. retail sales overall rose 0.1%, a sharp slowdown from March.

The trend comes even as prices for home improvement products have been rising.

The cost of home repairs and remodeling climbed by nearly 4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to Verisk’s Remodel Index. The strategic data analytics firm tracks costs for more than 10,000 home repair items, from appliances to windows.

Demonstrators demand overpass at dangerous Carberry intersection

CARBERRY — More than 150 people stood near the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 to denounce the preferred option for a redesign of the intersection in response to a collision two years ago that killed 17 people.

They carried signs that read “safety not shortcuts,” and “how many more accidents before they listen.” The group opposes a U-turn option, which is called an RCUT.

Jordan Dickson, 31, one of the organizers, said the RCUT model isn’t safe for the farmers and truckers who live in the area.

“There’s hundreds, if not thousands of trucks … plus all the other everyday passenger traffic coming through here,” she said.

Congo’s ex-President Kabila denounces ‘dictatorship’ after his immunity is lifted in treason probe

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo's former President Joseph Kabila on Friday accused the government of turning into a dictatorship with the backing of the parliament a day after the Senate voted to lift his immunity to pave the way for his prosecution for alleged treason and war crimes.

Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, is accused by the government of supporting the Rwanda-backed rebels that have seized two major cities in the country's conflict-battered east. He had been in self-imposed exile since 2023 until April when he arrived in the key city of Goma in the east.

His arrival, his associates had said, was to help resolve the decades-long conflict in the region which escalated in January when the M23 rebels made an unprecedented advance into the region.

At a hearing on Thursday, Congo’s Senate voted overwhelmingly to grant the government's request and lift the lifetime immunity Kabila had enjoyed because of his honorific title as senator for life.

Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners in first phase of a major exchange

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange Friday, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, including soldiers and civilians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia's Defense Ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine.

“It’s very important to bring everyone home,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, thanking all who worked to secure their return and pledging to continue diplomatic efforts to make more exchanges possible.

Dozens of relatives of prisoners cheered and chanted “Thank you!” as buses carrying the freed captives arrived at a medical facility in Ukraine's Chernihiv region. The men, some with expressionless faces and others unable to contain their emotions, got off the buses wrapped in Ukrainian flags for joyful reunions.

Displaced Chagos islanders fear they will never go home after a UK-Mauritius deal

LONDON (AP) — Bernadette Dugasse was just a toddler when her family was forced to leave her birthplace. She didn’t get a chance to return until she was a grandmother.

Dugasse, 68, has spent most of her life in the Seychelles and the U.K., wondering what it would be like to set foot on the tropical island of Diego Garcia, part of the remote cluster of atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean called the Chagos Islands.

Like hundreds of others native to the islands, Dugasse was kicked out of her homeland more than half a century ago when the British and U.S. governments decided to build an important military base there.

After years of fighting for the right to go home, Dugasse and other displaced islanders watched in despair Thursday as the U.K. government announced it was formally transferring the Chagos Islands’ sovereignty to Mauritius.

‘Under a microscope’: Cottagers call for wildfire management plans after fatal fires

WINNIPEG - Cottage owners and disaster prevention experts in Manitoba are urging governments to develop comprehensive wildfire management plans after a pair of devastating wildfires.

Close to 1,000 people were forced from their homes last week as a wildfire near the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet, spurred by dry, hot and windy conditions, burned nearby.

The quick-moving fire, which is currently being held, destroyed 28 homes and cottages and left two people dead.

"The whole emergency plan for every municipality should be under a microscope review right now," said Brad Wood, a Winnipeg firefighter whose cottage was destroyed.

RCMP, city police brace for ‘largest domestic security operation’ as G7 summit nears

OTTAWA - RCMP and local police say security planning is well underway for next month's G7 summit in Alberta.

Officials told The Canadian Press they're expecting protesters and are taking steps to deal with new technological threats, such as the weaponization of drones.

David Hall, Alberta RCMP superintendent and event security director for the G7 Integrated Safety and Security Group, told The Canadian Press the G7 is "the largest domestic security operation" a country can take on.

"It is a large undertaking in terms of the security footprint," he said, adding that the RCMP is responsible for protecting the heads of the delegations and the safety and security of the summit.

More than half of Canadians say they understand Alberta separatism: poll

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests more than half of Canadians say they understand why Alberta might want to split from Canada — even if almost two-thirds say they don't want that to happen.

The Leger survey, which polled 1,537 Canadians between May 16 and 18, suggests that 55 per cent of Canadians understand Albertans' desire for independence.

Because the poll was conducted online, it can't be assigned a margin of error.

Seventy per cent of Albertans said they understand why their province might want to become an independent country.

‘A political football’: Canadian says his citizenship TV pitch was misrepresented

WASHINGTON - When Rob Worsoff recently dusted off an old idea he had for a reality television show about people on the path to United States citizenship, he had no idea of what he was letting himself in for.

The Canadian-born freelance television producer said he brought his pitch to build a show around aspiring immigrants learning about the culture of their new country to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under both the Obama and Biden administrations. He even brought a version of it to the CBC.

Worsoff then put his idea forward to the new Trump administration — but this time the 49-year-old got caught up in a global media and political backlash.

"The spirit of my pitch was completely misrepresented and it's been used as a political football," the Los Angeles-based producer said.

Crowns to get training to help prosecute hate crimes

Manitoba Crown attorneys will receive enhanced training on the prosecution of hate crimes as part of a national effort to crack down on racism, discrimination and violence against marginalized groups.

The federal and provincial governments are providing $95,000 for the program, which follows the recent arrests of two Winnipeg men charged with separate hate-related offences.

“The impact of a hate crime is significant in a number of different ways. If you are a member of the targeted group, it involves the deep, personal injury of being made to feel this is not a place for you,” said Crown prosecutor Ami Kotler, a member of the working group of provincial attorneys who handle hate crime cases.

“The occurrence of hate crimes… corrodes the bonds that hold communities together; it normalizes perspectives and approaches that can never be allowed.”

Court rules to arrest Georgian opposition leader as anti-government protests continue

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A court in Georgia ordered opposition party leader Zurab Japaridze detained Thursday on charges of failing to appear before a parliamentary inquiry as protests continued against the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Demonstrators waving Georgian and European Union flags blocked the central thoroughfare in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, demanding new elections and the release of dissidents. Demonstrators have gathered there each night since Nov. 28, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted the country's EU integration process.

Ahead of Japaridze's hearing Thursday at a courthouse in Tbilisi, police surrounded the facility to prevent his supporters from entering. Only a handful of people were allowed into the cramped hearing room, angering his supporters.

Two people were arrested, and Japaridze’s lawyers left in protest following a failed motion to move the proceedings to a larger room.

Peru court rules in favor of Kichwa territorial rights in the Amazon

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A civil court in Peru has issued a landmark ruling recognizing the territorial rights of the Kichwa people within a protected area in the Amazon — marking a major breakthrough for Indigenous land claims.

The decision affirms that Indigenous stewardship is fully compatible with conservation goals, setting a powerful precedent for rights-based forest protection in Peru, according to the Kichwa people and lawyers involved in the case.

The ruling, issued on May 15 but made public on Wednesday, came after a legal challenge by four Indigenous organizations on behalf of Kichwa communities in the San Martín region. The communities say the state denied their ancestral presence for decades, creating protected areas without consultation or consent.

“The ruling validates their historical presence and their right to demand respect for those territories,” Cristina Gavancho, legal adviser to the plaintiff organizations, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “It recognizes that in doing so, they not only contribute to conservation but must be involved in any state-led measures to implement it.”

Kashmir tourism bears the brunt after tourist massacre and India-Pakistan military strikes

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — There are hardly any tourists in the scenic Himalayan region of Kashmir. Most of the hotels and ornate pinewood houseboats are empty. Resorts in the snowclad mountains have fallen silent. Hundreds of cabs are parked and idle.

It’s the fallout of last month’s gun massacre that left 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir followed by tit-for-tat military strikes by India and Pakistan, bringing the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of their third war over the region.

“There might be some tourist arrivals, but it counts almost negligible. It is almost a zero footfall right now,” said Yaseen Tuman, who operates multiple houseboats in the region’s main city of Srinagar. “There is a haunting silence now.”

Tens of thousands of panicked tourists left Kashmir within days after the rare killings of tourists on April 22 at a picture-perfect meadow in southern resort town of Pahalgam. Following the attack, authorities temporarily closed dozens of tourist resorts in the region, adding to fear and causing occupancy rates to plummet.

Trump hosts top crypto investors as some industry leaders fear he’s putting personal profits first

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump rewarded top investors in one of his cryptocurrency projects with a swanky dinner on Thursday night, an event that showed the ascendance of an emerging financial industry — and also the president's willingness to mix public office with personal profit.

Some 220 of the biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin were invited to Trump's luxury golf club in Northern Virginia, where they dined on filet mignon and halibut. According to participants' posts on social media, Trump spoke for about half an hour before dancing to the song “YMCA.”

Despite the White House insisting that Trump would be attending the event “in his personal time,” he stood behind a lectern with the presidential seal as he touted an industry that's generating profits for his family business.

After feeling unfairly targeted under President Joe Biden, the crypto industry has quickly become a powerful political force, donating huge sums to help Trump and friendly lawmakers. The U.S. Senate is advancing key pro-crypto legislation while bitcoin prices soar.

Kenyans worry a US duty-free trade deal might end and expose them to Trump’s tariffs

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — It's crunch time for the maker of Levi's and Wrangler jeans in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Hundreds of sewing machines whir in a crowded, air-conditioned factory. On another floor, workers pack clothes destined for the U.S. market.

The fate of about 16,000 workers in the factory at the United Aryan export processing zone hangs in the balance. In September, a duty-free trade agreement between Kenya and the United States could expire under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA.

The factory's founder, Pankaj Bedi, said manufacturers would be unable to compete well in the U.S. market if the AGOA agreement is not renewed, due to the difficult business environment in sub-Saharan Africa.

Without AGOA — meant to benefit African nations that meet certain U.S. expectations in areas including governance and human rights — many Kenyan goods would no longer have duty-free access to the U.S. market. And they would be exposed to the uncertainty of the Trump administration’s global tariff campaign.

Christian Monnin, ou la chance d’un esprit de famille

Christian Monnin a été nommé juge à la Cour du Banc du Roi pour le Manitoba au début du mois de mars, un évènement fortement symbolique au regard de son histoire familiale.

Symbolique, et sûrement unique au Manitoba. Comme son grand-père, Alfred, mais aussi son père, Michel, et également son oncle, Marc, Christian Monnin, ancien président de la Société de la francophonie manitobaine (SFM), est devenu lui aussi juge à la Cour du Banc du Roi.

Si c’est une fonction sur laquelle il serait pour lui difficile de se prononcer en début de carrière, une question s’avère pourtant légitime: le monde dans lequel a grandi Christian Monnin a-t-il pu influer sur ses envies et ses aspirations?

“Il y a d’évidence une question de socialisation, qui s’applique à toutes les familles,” note tout d’abord Christian Monnin. “La première fois que j’ai assisté à une cérémonie d’assermentation, c’était celle de mon grand-père il y a 42 ans, quand il est devenu juge en chef du Manitoba. Je devais avoir 8 ou 9 ans. Ça a été impressionnant, en tant que jeune, de voir cette cérémonie, tout ce monde qui était présent. Je n’ai bien sûr rien décidé à ce moment-là, mais la carrière de juriste a toujours été quelque chose qui mijotait en moi.”