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States dig in against directive on transgender bathroom use
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Politicians in Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere vowed defiance — and other conservative states could follow suit — after the Obama administration told public schools across the U.S. on Friday to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
The federal government’s guidance was met with tearful praise from parents of transgender students.
“It’s heartbreaking that these kids are losing their lives because they can’t be accepted,” Hope Tyler, who has a transgender son at a Raleigh high school, said in reference to suicides among transgender people. “Somebody has to speak for the kids.”
The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.
One by one, conservative political leaders thundered against it and President Barack Obama.
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‘Self-funded’ Donald Trump preparing to seek big-donor money
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The billionaire presidential candidate who prides himself on paying his own way and bashed his competition for relying on political donors now wants their money — and lots of it.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, recently hired a national finance chairman, scheduled his first fundraiser and is on the cusp of signing a deal with the Republican Party that would enable him to solicit donations of more than $300,000 apiece from supporters.
His money-raising begins right away.
The still-forming finance team is planning a dialing-for-dollars event on the fifth floor of Trump Tower in New York, and the campaign is at work on a fundraising website focused on small donations. In addition to a May 25 fundraiser at the Los Angeles home of real estate developer Tom Barrack, he’ll hold another soon thereafter in New York.
The political newcomer faces a gargantuan task: A general election campaign can easily run up a $1 billion tab. For the primary race, Trump spent a tiny fraction of that amount — he’s estimated $50 million of his own money, plus about $12 million from donors who sought his campaign out on their own.
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Pfizer says it’s blocking use of drugs for lethal injections
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer said Friday it was blocking use of its drugs in lethal injections, which means all federally-approved drugmakers whose medications could be used for executions have now put them off limits.
“Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment,” the company said in the statement made public on its website Friday.
The company’s announcement has limited immediate impact. Its action is an enhancement of a previous policy that follows Pfizer’s $15.23 billion purchase of Lake Forest, Illinois-based Hospira Inc. last year. Hospira had previously prohibited the use of its drugs in capital punishment, as have several other drugmakers.
Pfizer shares closed even Friday at $33.19.
The development means the approximately 25 FDA-approved companies worldwide able to manufacture drugs used in executions have now blocked the use of the drugs, according to Reprieve, a New York-based human rights organization opposed to the death penalty.
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Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona found in contempt of court
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge found the longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix in contempt of court Friday for disobeying his orders in a racial profiling case, bringing the lawman who calls himself “America’s Toughest Sheriff” a step closer to a possible criminal contempt case that could expose him to fines and even jail time.
The ruling Friday marked one of the biggest legal defeats in the six-term career of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is known for cracking down on illegal immigration, and was expected to lead to greater court oversight of his office.
U.S. District Judge Murray Snow set a May 31 hearing for attorneys to discuss penalties. Shortly thereafter, Snow said he will issue an order on remedies and whether he will refer the case for criminal contempt.
Two months ago, Arpaio made national news by showering his support on Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, then campaigning for him ahead of Arizona’s primary. Trump even invoked Arpaio’s name in his calls for tougher immigration enforcement.
The 83-year-old Arpaio, who is seeking a seventh term this year, and three of his top aides “have demonstrated a persistent disregard for the orders of this court, as well as an intention to violate and manipulate the laws and policies regulating their conduct,” Snow wrote in a 162-page ruling.
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Obamas welcome leaders, celebrities to Nordic State Dinner
WASHINGTON (AP) — Famous people and people just famous-for-Washington scored coveted invitations to Friday night’s White House state dinner honoring the leaders of Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Norway.
Will Ferrell, who famously parodied past President George W. Bush on “Saturday Night Live,” and Bellamy Young, first lady on the TV show “Scandal,” made the cut, as did recently retired late-night host David Letterman, “Girls” actress Allison Williams and actor-comedian Aziz Ansari.
Ferrell’s wife, Viveca Paulin, was born in Sweden, he told reporters as he arrived for what he said was his first White House dinner.
“I hope we don’t do anything wrong,” Ferrell said.
Other guests with Nordic ties were Marcus Samuelsson, the Sweden-raised chef who was a guest chef for the President Barack Obama’s first state dinner seven years ago, and Joel Kinnaman, a Swedish-American actor who played a politician in “House of Cards.”
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US officials: Venezuelan president’s hold on power weakening
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence analysts are increasingly convinced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is likely to be pushed aside by members of his own socialist movement before finishing his term.
Senior American intelligence officials said Friday that as Venezuela’s economy spins out of control, Maduro’s grip on power is more fragile. They briefed reporters on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss their assessments by name.
Since December, when the opposition won legislative elections by a landslide, the country has been wracked by growing political confrontation at a time of triple-digit inflation, widespread food shortages and almost daily hours-long blackouts across much of the nation.
On Friday, Maduro decreed a “state of exception and economic emergency” giving him expanded powers to deal with the economic crisis.
In such a combustible environment, the circumstances under which Maduro could be forced to leave office before his six-year term ends in 2019 are varied, according to the officials. One described it as being able to hear the ice cracking without knowing where the floor will collapse.
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Lebanon’s Hezbollah most senior commander killed in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — The top military commander of Lebanon’s Hezbollah was killed in an explosion near the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Shiite guerrilla group said Friday, the highest-level casualty yet in its intervention in the raging civil war next door.
The death of Mustafa Badreddine strikes a heavy blow to the militant group and underscores how its deployment in Syria backing President Bashar Assad has widened its circle of enemies beyond traditional foe Israel to include Sunni extremists and conservative Gulf monarchies.
The 55-year-old Badreddine had directed Hezbollah’s operations in Syria since its fighters joined Assad’s forces in 2012, the group’s biggest ever military intervention outside of Lebanon. Thousands of guerrillas fighting alongside Syria’s military were crucial to tipping the battlefield in the government’s favor on multiple fronts, from the suburbs of Damascus to the northern province of Aleppo.
But it has come at a heavy price, with more than 1,000 Hezbollah fighters killed. Sounding a tone of defiance Friday, the group’s deputy leader said they were undeterred.
“By killing you, they gave a new push to our drive that produces one martyr after another, as well as one commander after another,” Naim Kassem said as the slain military chief was buried in a cemetery in southern Beirut.
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Why Apple plunked $1 billion into Chinese ride-hailing
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Apple new $1 billion investment in the Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing is as much about currying favor with regulators as directly expanding its own business, analysts said. Apple might need the help; it faces slowing iPhone sales and tougher restrictions on its services in the country.
The investment — one of Apple’s largest to date — could serve other purposes as well. It helps the company put some of its giant overseas cash hoard to work without incurring taxes by bringing it back to the U.S. It might also inform Apple’s own interest in the automotive business; several reports suggest it has begun work on its own self-driving car.
“It kills two or three birds with one stone,” said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy.
Just last month, Apple was forced to shutter its iTunes Movies and iBooks Store in China, a company spokesperson confirmed. A few days later, the company reported that sales in mainland China — primarily of iPhones — fell 11 percent in the first quarter, a big contributor to its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years.
“The Chinese government knows what they have is access to this massive market,” Moorhead said. “What they would like is for you to take China more seriously” by making major investments in the country, he said.
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APNewsBreak: Anti-counterfeiting group suspends Alibaba
SHANGHAI (AP) — An anti-counterfeiting group said Friday it was suspending Alibaba’s membership following an uproar by some companies that view the Chinese e-commerce giant as the world’s largest marketplace for fakes.
The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition told members that it had failed to inform the board of directors about conflicts of interest involving the group’s president, Robert Barchiesi.
Earlier Friday, The Associated Press reported that Barchiesi had stock in Alibaba, had close ties to an Alibaba executive and had used family members to help run the coalition.
The coalition, in a letter to members sent after the AP report came out, said conflicts weren’t disclosed to the board “because of a weakness in our corporate governance procedures.” It said the failure was not because of “inaction on Bob’s part,” referring to Barchiesi.
The coalition said that it is hiring an independent firm to review its corporate governance policies.
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Actress agrees to pay $1,000 for carving on red rock wall
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Actress Vanessa Hudgens has paid $1,000 in restitution for carving a heart into a red rock wall during a trip to Sedona, Arizona.
Hudgens posted a photo of the carving bearing the names “Vanessa” and “Austin” on her Instagram page around Valentine’s Day, along with other photos of the couple amid towering red rocks that draw throngs of tourists to northern Arizona.
The payment resolves a citation issued to Hudgens on a misdemeanor count of damaging a natural feature on U.S. Forest Service land. The money was used by a volunteer group called Friends of the Forest to restore the rock wall, which typically is done by scrubbing or sanding the rock.
A federal magistrate in Flagstaff approved the agreement April 19, but it was not made public. The Associated Press obtained a statement of probable cause and the agreement resolving the citation from the federal judiciary under a records request.
A publicist for Hudgens did not immediately respond to a message left Friday. Hudgens is best known for her role as Gabriella Montez in the “High School Musical” TV-movie franchise.