US and Ukraine sign minerals deal after Trump presses Kyiv to pay back US for helping repel Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed off on a deal that will give Washington access to Ukraine's vast critical minerals and natural resources, finalizing an agreement weeks in the making to compensate the U.S. for its help in repelling Russia’s invasion.

The two sides offered only barebone details about the structure of the deal, which they called the United States-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund. But it is expected to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s valuable rare earth minerals while providing Kyiv a measure of assurance about continued American support in its grinding war with Russia.

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.”

The announcement comes at a critical moment in the three-year war as Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with both sides. The signing comes two months after a different but similar agreement was nearly signed before being derailed in a tense Oval Office meeting involving President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump has long criticized Zelenskyy, saying he didn’t “have the cards” to win the war and blaming him for prolonging the killing by not giving up Crimea, but in recent days has rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin as well, saying he was complicating negotiations with “very bad timing” in launching deadly strikes on Kyiv.

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UK military launches airstrikes with US targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The British military launched airstrikes with the United States targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said early Wednesday, their first attack in Washington's new intense campaign targeting the Iran-backed group.

The United Kingdom offered a detailed explanation for launching the strike, in a departure from the U.S., which has offered few details about what it says are more than 1,000 targets it has hit since beginning its campaign on March 15.

The campaign, called “Operation Rough Rider,” has been targeting the rebels as the Trump administration negotiates with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

The U.K. Defense Ministry described the site attacked as “a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of Sanaa.”

Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s took part in the raid, dropping Paveway IV guided bombs, the ministry added.

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Roberts might hold key Supreme Court vote over first publicly funded religious charter school

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts appears to hold the key vote over whether the Supreme Court will allow the nation's first publicly funded religious charter school in Oklahoma.

Roberts was the only justice whose vote seemed in doubt after the court heard more than two hours of arguments Wednesday in a major culture-war clash involving the separation of church and state.

The court seemed otherwise deeply divided.

Four other conservative justices seemed firmly on the side of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School and the state charter school board that approved it.

“They’re not asking for special treatment, not asking for favoritism,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. “They’re just saying, ’Don’t treat us worse because we’re religious.”

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Trump says US kids may get '2 dolls instead of 30,' but China will suffer more in a trade war

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that his tariffs could result in fewer and costlier products in the United States, saying American kids might "have two dolls instead of 30 dolls," but he insisted China will suffer more from his trade war.

The Republican president has tried to reassure a nervous country that his tariffs will not provoke a recession, after a new government report showed the U.S. economy shrank during the first three months of the year.

Trump was quick to blame his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for any setbacks while telling his Cabinet that his tariffs meant China was “having tremendous difficulty because their factories are not doing business,” adding that the U.S. did not really need imports from the world's dominant manufacturer.

“You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” Trump continued, offering a hypothetical. "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”

His remarks followed a defensive morning after the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.3% during the first quarter. Behind the decline was a surge in imports as companies tried to front-run the sweeping tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and almost every country. And even positive signs of increased domestic consumption indicated that purchases might be occurring before the import taxes lead to price increases.

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The Senate votes down resolution to block Trump's global tariffs amid economic turmoil

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic resolution Wednesday that would have blocked global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier this month, giving the president a modest win as lawmakers in both parties have remained skeptical of his trade agenda.

Trump announced the far-reaching tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners April 2 and then reversed himself a few days later after a market meltdown, suspending the import taxes for 90 days. Amid the uncertainty for both U.S. consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years.

The 49-49 vote came weeks after the Senate approved a resolution that would have have thwarted Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada. That measure passed 51-48 with the votes of four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky. But McConnell — who has been sharply critical of the tariffs but had not said how he would vote — and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse were absent Wednesday, denying Democrats the votes for passage.

Democrats said their primary aim was to put Republicans on the record either way and to try to reassert congressional powers.

“The Senate cannot be an idle spectator in the tariff madness,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a lead sponsor of the resolution.

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A Palestinian student at Columbia is freed after his arrest at a citizenship interview

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday released a Palestinian student at Columbia University who led protests against Israel's war in Gaza and was arrested by immigration officials during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship.

Immigration authorities have arrested and detained college students from around the country since the first days of the Trump administration, many of whom participated in campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians.

Mohsen Mahdawi is among the first of those students to win his freedom after challenging an arrest. He walked out of a Vermont courthouse Wednesday and led hundreds of supporters in chants including “No fear” and “Free Palestine.” He said people must come together to defend both democracy and humanity.

“Never give up on the idea that justice will prevail,” he said. “We want to stand up for humanity, because the rest of the world — not only Palestine — is watching us. And what is going to happen in America is going to affect the rest of the world.”

Mahdawi, 34, has been a legal permanent resident for 10 years. He was in a Vermont state prison since April 14. In his release order, U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Mahdawi has raised a “substantial claim that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees.”

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2 dead as slow-moving storms flood roads across Oklahoma and Texas

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A least two people drowned when their vehicles were caught in floodwaters in Oklahoma on Wednesday as slow-moving thunderstorms inundated roads across parts of that state and Texas, authorities said, while Pennsylvania residents picked up from a powerful storm that left three people dead.

Heavy rains and severe thunderstorms will mean a heightened risk of flash flooding across the south-central U.S. through early Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The storms drenched much of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, flooding and washing out roads and causing hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed at major airports.

One man drowned in Oklahoma after his vehicle got swept off a Pottawatomie County highway, said Sheriff Freeland Wood.

“My deputy went in to try and save him, and he got caught up in the same mess,” Wood said.

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Kamala Harris plans a speech sharply criticizing Donald Trump's policies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris plans to use a high-profile speech Wednesday to sharply criticize President Donald Trump amid speculation about whether she will mount another presidential campaign or opt to run for California governor.

Harris will address the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America, an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office that grew in part from Harris’ run for San Francisco district attorney in the early 2000s.

Her speech comes the day after Trump reached 100 days in office. It is expected to be her most extensive public remarks since leaving office in January following her defeat to Trump, with planned critiques of the Republican president's handling of the economy, U.S. institutions and foreign policy.

Harris has barely mentioned Trump by name since she conceded defeat to him in November, but she recently addressed the anxiety and confusion that have gripped many of her supporters since Trump took office.

“Fear has a way of being contagious, and we are witnessing that, no doubt,” she said at the Leading Women Defined Summit in early April, a forum for Black women leaders.

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Kuwait frees 10 more Americans in the second release in as many months

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kuwait has released an additional 10 American detainees, bringing to nearly two dozen the total number freed by the country in the past two months, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The pardons of 23 Americans, done as a goodwill gesture by a U.S. ally, have yielded a quick succession of prisoner releases in the early months of a Trump administration that has sought to make hostage and detainee issues a foreign policy priority.

The prisoners, both men and women, include military contractors and veterans held for years on drug charges and other offenses by the small, oil-rich nation. One of them was said by supporters to have been coerced into signing a false confession and endured physical violence and threats against his wife and daughter.

Ten others were released in March, weeks after a visit to Kuwait by Adam Boehler, who is serving as the Trump administration’s envoy for hostage affairs. Other countries, including Venezuela, have released large numbers of Americans over a period of years, but it's unusual for so many U.S. citizens to be freed by a foreign nation in such a short period of time as Kuwait has done.

“We flew out, we sat down with the Kuwaitis, and they said, 'Listen, no one’s ever asked before at this level” for the release of the Americans, Boehler told the AP.

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'The unthinkable was happening,' Weinstein accuser says of alleged 2006 sex assault

NEW YORK (AP) — Five years after she first told her story to a jury, one of Harvey Weinstein 's accusers testified anew Wednesday that he held her down on a bed and forced oral sex on her after she told him: “No, no — it’s not going to happen.”

“The unthinkable was happening," Miriam Haley testified, dabbing her eyes as she recalled the alleged July 2006 assault.

Weinstein, sitting between his lawyers, shook his head as she spoke. The 73-year-old former Hollywood honcho has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone.

Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is the first of Weinstein's accusers to testify at his rape retrial. It's happening because New York's highest court overturned his 2020 conviction.

Haley testified at the original trial, sometimes breaking into sobs. Her demeanor Wednesday was calm, if briefly tearful, as she answered prosecutors’ graphic questions about the alleged assault.

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