From birth to death, Black Americans fare worse in measures of health compared to their white counterparts. They have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, higher incidence of asthma during childhood, more difficulty treating mental health as teens, and greater rates of high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses. The Associated Press spent the past year exploring how the legacy of racism in America has laid the foundation for the health inequities that Black people face.

The drivers of the youth mental health crisis for Black children begin early and persist through a lifetime. Black children’s first encounters with racism can start before they are even in school, and Black teenagers report experiencing an average of five instances of racial discrimination per day. Young Black students are often perceived as less innocent and older than their age, leading to disproportionately harsher discipline in schools. Black kids are far less likely than their white peers to seek and find mental health care. In part, that’s because Black families often distrust the medical system after generations of mistreatment.

In a nation plagued by high blood pressure, Black people are more likely to suffer from it. And so, in the time of COVID-19, they are more likely than white people to die. It’s a stark reality. And it has played out in thousands of Black households that have lost mothers and fathers over the past three years, a distinct calamity within the many tragedies of the pandemic. About 56% of Black adults have high blood pressure, compared to 48% of white people. Three in four African Americans are likely to develop the disorder by age 55.

Black children are more likely to have asthma than kids of any other race in America. They’re more likely to live near polluting plants, and in rental housing with mold and other triggers, because of racist housing laws in the nation’s past. Their asthma often is more severe and less likely to be controlled, because of poor medical care and mistrust of doctors. While some of the high rates of asthma among Black children are tied to genetics — family histories of allergies, and frequent respiratory infections — much of the disparity lies in the same racist factors that afflict Black peoples’ health from birth to death.

The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal case is holding a hybrid hearing Tuesday to make sure that the former president is aware of new rules barring him from using evidence to attack witnesses. Trump won’t have to show up to court for the hearing at a Manhattan courthouse. Instead, the Republican will be connected by video conference, with his face beamed onto courtroom TV monitors. His lawyers and prosecutors must still appear in person. The judge agreed to the extra step of personally instructing Trump on the restrictions after listing them May 8 in what’s known as a protective order. Trump pleaded not guilty and says the prosecution is politically motivated.

A judge has rejected Kari Lake’s remaining legal claim challenging her loss in the race for Arizona governor. Judge Peter A. Thompson said in his written ruling Monday night that Lake failed to prove that Maricopa County did not verify signatures on mail ballots as required by law. Lake presented her case in a three-day hearing last week. Witnesses who were called to testify included two lower level screeners of ballot signatures and someone in handwriting forensics. County officials had defended the signature verification efforts and said they had nothing to hide. Lake did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Guam's governor is urging residents to stay home and is warning the island could take a direct hit from Typhoon Mawar. The storm is strengthening on its path toward the U.S. territory in the Pacific. The National Weather Service says that if Guam doesn't take a direct hit, the typhoon will get very close. It's expected to arrive as a Category 4 storm. It could hit the southern part of Guam midday local time Wednesday. The typhoon could be the biggest hit to Guam in two decades. Officials say it could cause extensive damage. Residents are preparing, and emergency shelters are opening.

A man walking on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him. Authorities say 20-year-old Zachary Porter, of Lake Bluff, Illinois, was submerged Sunday evening as the tide came in. His body was recovered Monday. The accident was the latest tragedy at Turnagain Arm, a 48-mile-long glacier-carved estuary that travels southeast from Anchorage. The estuary's dangerous mud flats have claimed at least three other lives over the years, and many more have been rescued.

A school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison. A lawyer for now-21-year-old Jesse Osborne says that would give Osborne some hope of freedom in 50s or 60s and a reason to rehabilitate himself. But five witnesses on Monday asked the judge to keep the life sentence for the 2016 shooting at Townville Elementary. They included the teacher whose class was having recess the school principal and the father of the student celebrating his birthday on the playground when the shooting started.

Lawyers for a columnist who won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation award against former President Donald Trump have filed an amended lawsuit against him, asking for another $10 million for remarks he made after the verdict. The amended lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court Monday by lawyers for E. Jean Carroll. A jury two weeks ago decided that Trump had sexually abused Carroll at an upscale Manhattan department store in early spring 1996. Carroll first revealed in a 2019 book claims that Trump raped her in a store dressing room. The jury rejected that claim. Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina declined to comment on the new claims Monday.

A school bus driver strike is over in northwest Georgia, but school bus routes won’t be going back to normal for the last week of school. Unionized bus drivers on Friday voted to accept a new contract with the private company that runs school buses for the Dalton school district after a five-day strike. Members of Local 1212 of the Amalgamated Transit Union say they won higher wages, paid vacation days, a retention bonus, a new grievance procedure and improvements to seniority, The three-year contract is with Cincinnati-based First Student. The 7,500-student district and First Student say a limited system of consolidated bus stops will continue until class ends Friday.

A fake image purportedly showing an explosion near the Pentagon has been widely shared on social media, sending a brief shiver through the stock market. But police and fire officials in Arlington, Virginia, said Monday that the image isn't real and there was no incident at the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters. Misinformation experts say the viral image displayed telltale signs of an AI-generated forgery. Business analysts said the visual hoax underscores the damage that increasingly sophisticated image generating software can inflict.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave final approval Monday to the state's new red flag law during a bill signing just outside of Detroit. The law is expected to take effect next spring and will allow family members, police, mental health professionals, roommates and former dating partners to petition a judge to remove firearms from those they believe pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. Questions remain whether the state will have better success in enforcing the law than others have after multiple Michigan sheriffs told The Associated Press that they won’t enforce the law if they don’t believe it’s constitutional. The law's passage follows a mass shooting in February at Michigan State University that killed three students.

Social media company TikTok has filed a lawsuit to overturn Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban on the video sharing app. The company argues the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech based on “unfounded speculation” that the Chinese government could access users’ data. The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Missoula. That's the same court where content creators filed their lawsuit last week. Both lawsuits also argue that the state of Montana has no authority to take action on matters of national security. Montana's TikTok ban is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.

Despite Russian claims to have captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, top military leaders in Ukraine insist the grinding nine-month battle there is not over. Although Ukraine now controls only a small part of the city, Kyiv says its troops played a key role in the strategy of exhausting Russian forces and will carry on with the fighting. Tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides have died. Satellite imagery shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and buildings reduced to rubble from relentless artillery attacks.

Nebraska’s Republican governor has signed a bill that bans abortion at 12 weeks and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The law was signed Monday by Gov. Jim Pillen. The abortion ban takes effect immediately. The restrictions on gender-affirming care take effect Oct. 1. Nebraska’s conservative-led, unicameral Legislature passed the bill that included the two contentious issues on Friday after hours of heated debate. The law restricting gender-affirming care was the flashpoint of an epic filibuster led by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who slowed the business of passing laws to a crawl.

Arizona, California and Nevada on Monday proposed a deal to significantly cut their water use from the drought-stricken Colorado River over the next three years. It's a potential breakthrough in a stalemate over how to deal with a rising problem that pitted Western states against one another. The plan would conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water from the 1,450-mile river that provides water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, parts of Mexico and more than two dozen Native American tribes. Cities, irrigation districts and Native American tribes in the three states will receive federal funding in exchange for temporarily using less water, but officials did not say how much funding individual users in the states would get.

As Sen. Tim Scott enters the 2024 GOP presidential field, he will be eager to introduce himself to voters who might not know much about him. He will be the first to say his Christian faith is an integral part of his political and personal narrative. He joined the Senate in 2012 after getting appointed by now-rival Nikki Haley and is the only Black Republican in the chamber. And while he often points out that his is the only face of color in a room of conservatives, he also rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory.

A judge has entered not guilty pleas for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. The pleas potentially set the stage for a trial in which he could face the death penalty. Bryan Kohberger declined to enter pleas on his own behalf in Monday's arraignment. He was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings. Prosecutors have 60 days to announce whether they will seek the death penalty. The deaths of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin left the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, reeling. At the time, the 28-year-old Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University.

Mutual supporters of Sen. Tim Scott and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley are in a conundrum now that the two South Carolina natives are both candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The two have a long history: They worked alongside each other in the state House, and then-Gov. Haley appointed Scott to a Senate seat in 2012. For his part, Scott has dismissed any awkwardness, saying they will remain friends. Haley has declined to comment on Scott when asked by The Associated Press.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but artist and baker Jasmine Cho brings attention to AAPIs every month. Her medium? Cookies. The Korean American self-described “cookie activist” has gained fans over the last several years for finely detailed cookie portraits of famous and forgotten figures. Actors Awkwafina, Daniel Dae Kim and Tamlyn Tomita are among those who have gushed about receiving the cookie treatment. Cho's pastries with a purpose have catapulted her into a different level of fame as baker, lecturer and social justice advocate. It all started in 2016 when Cho made a cookie likeness of a friend and discovered a new platform.

The independent bookselling community continues to grow, with membership in the American Booksellers Association reaching its highest levels in more than 20 years. Three years after the pandemic shut down most of the physical bookstores in the U.S. and the independent community feared hundreds might close permanently, the ABA has nearly 300 more members (under stricter rules for membership) than it did in 2019, the last full year before the spread of COVID-19. Allison Hill, CEO of the trade association, says “It speaks to a sea change coming out of the pandemic. Some new owners cite the rise in book bannings as the reason they went into bookstore ownership.

New Mexican Spanish is a unique dialect, a mixture of centuries-old Spanish with Indigenous words that evolved through historical isolation. Traditional prayers are the dialect’s best chance of survival, as younger generations switch to English and to contemporary Spanish forms from Latin America. Catholic brotherhoods that have long served remote northern New Mexico in the absence of priests still use the dialect in their devotions. And even in larger cities, some people request it for special occasions like rosaries for the dead.

A sharp uptick in thefts of Hyundais and Kias over the past two years has been linked to viral videos posted to TikTok and other social media platforms that teach people how to exploit a security vulnerability to steal the cars. Police and others say despite voluntary fixes from the automakers, waves of thefts have continued, illustrating the lingering effects of dangerous content that gains traction with teens looking to go viral. Police departments are frazzled, attorneys generals have urged federal intervention and cities and consumers have resorted to lawsuits to hold car companies accountable. Still, some point the finger at social media platforms unable to remove content at the breakneck speed it appears.

This week’s new entertainment releases include an album from Matchbox Twenty, dinosaurs coming to life in the second season of “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV+ and the action-comedy series “American Born Chinese” on Disney+ with new Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan and Michele Yeoh. The “SmartLess” podcast gets onto the small screen as Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett enjoy the documentary treatment in “Smartless: On the Road.” And why not celebrate the end of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” by singing along with an album of the fifth and final season’s music?

They're known as “family photos,” the images of world leaders posed in faux relaxation during global summits.

U.S. immigration officials say an 8-year-old girl who died last week in Border Patrol custody was seen at least three separate times by medical personnel on the day of her death. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Sunday the girl had complained of vomiting and a stomachache before later suffering what appeared to be a seizure. The girl’s mother had previously told The Associated Press that agents had repeatedly ignored her pleas to hospitalize her medically fragile daughter. CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller says he has ordered several steps be taken to ensure appropriate care for all medically fragile people in his agency's custody.

A weekend celebration at a Southern California dance ballroom was hailed by organizers as the latest sign of healing within the Asian American community following the Lunar New Year shooting that killed 11 people at a nearby dance studio. One of the hosts of Saturday’s event at Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra was Brandon Tsay, who on Jan. 21 famously wrestled a semi-automatic weapon away from the gunman who had earlier shot up Star Ballroom Dance Studio in neighboring Monterey Park. Tsay, whose family has owned Lai Lai Ballroom for years, said the celebration is an example of the community standing strong and moving forward.

SpaceX's next private flight to the International Space Station is awaiting takeoff. The passengers include Saudi Arabia's first astronauts in decades, as well as a Tennessee businessman who started his own sports car racing team. They'll be led by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for the Houston company that arranged the 10-day trip. SpaceX is targeting a liftoff late Sunday afternoon from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ticket price wasn't disclosed, but the passengers on the first private flight paid $55 million each. The first Saudi astronaut flew on the space shuttle.

A delegation of six African leaders set to hold talks with Kyiv and Moscow aim to “initiate a peace process” but also broach the thorny issue of how a heavily-sanctioned Russia can be paid for the fertilizer exports Africa desperately needs, a key mediator in the talks said. Jean-Yves Ollivier told The Associated Press in an interview that the six African presidents would also raise the issue of more prisoner swaps. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have both agreed to separately host the delegation of presidents from South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zambia. Ollivier said the talks will likely happen next month.

The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The NAACP has long been an advocate for Black Americans. It joins the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State. Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries.

Conservative groups that have targeted and won majorities on local boards and commissions across the United States over the past couple years are now pressing agendas that include election distrust, skepticism of government and a desire to have religion play a greater role in public decision-making. The consequences are becoming apparent in places such as Sumner County, Tennessee, where a local Constitutional Republicans group won a majority last year on the county commission. Members have waged a political war on fellow Republicans they view as insufficiently conservative and are feuding with the county’s election commission in ways that could affect preparations for the 2024 presidential election.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — One student marveled at the size of the jawbreaker, a mainstay of candy stores and Civil War soldiers’ rations bags alike.

Democratic leaders in major U.S. cities are finding themselves politically squeezed when it comes to addressing homelessness. Their constituents are tiring of seeing homeless encampments sprouting across communities. Advocates for homeless people are denouncing the hardline approaches being taken in large cities including New York and Los Angeles. A unanimous New York City Council has passed a “Homeless Bill of Rights." It not only codifies a long-standing right to shelter but would establish the right to sleep outside. New York would be the first big U.S. city to establish the right if Adams allows the measure to become law.

As the number of people who die in mass killings in the U.S. continues to rise, thousands more are left to handle the trauma of losing someone they love. One of the hardest days they confront each year is the anniversary of the killing. They grapple with the same question, sometimes after many years have passed: What do I do with myself on the date that changed everything? Some people throw a party to get through the pain. Others prefer to be completely alone. Many fall somewhere in the middle, adopting little rituals to help them get through the day.

Unfounded claims about Indiana University’s sex research institute, its founder and child sex abuse have been so persistent over the years that when the Legislature prohibited the institute from using state dollars, one lawmaker hailed the move as “long overdue.” Now, funding from the university remains unclear, but the largely symbolic move does not halt the Kinsey Institute’s work, which ranges from studies on sexual assault prevention to contraception use among women. Researchers tell The Associated Press the Republican-dominated Legislature’s February decision is based on an enduring, fundamental misunderstanding of their work. They say it's a false narrative they cannot shake despite efforts to correct such misinformation.

British novelist Martin Amis, who brought a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility to his stories and lifestyle, has died. He was 73. His death, from cancer of the esophagus, was confirmed by his agent, Andrew Wylie, on Saturday. Amis was the son of another British writer, Kingsley Amis. Martin Amis was a leading voice among a generation of writers that included his good friend, the late Christopher Hitchens, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie. Among his best-known works were “Money,” a satire about consumerism in London, “The Information” and “London Fields,” along with his 2000 memoir, “Experience.”

An Oregon union says the victims of one of the state's deadliest highway crashes were farmworkers traveling in a van at an hour when agricultural laborers typically commute home after toiling in the harvest. Authorities have not yet released the names of the seven who died or the four who were injured in Thursday's crash on I-5 near Albany. But the PCUN union says all 11 were farmworkers. It is expressing condolences to those affected by the tragedy and says it has been in contact with some of the families to help support them. The driver of the semitruck that struck the van was arrested Friday on suspicion of manslaughter, DUI and other charges.

The week in May when ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox traditionally unveiled programming plans in glitzy presentations to advertisers has always spoken to the networks' power over popular culture. It was decidedly muted this year, both to the continued growth of streaming and uncertainties caused by the Hollywood writers strike. Picketers marched this week in front of the Manhattan venues where the annual presentations took place, and stars stayed away. More importantly, the strike lends mystery to whether TV will have much of a fall season at all. Some of the broadcast networks took strikingly different tacks in how they approach a future that is in shadows.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees. The DeSantis motion filed Friday claims U.S. District Judge Mark Walker's prior statements have raised questions about his impartiality on the state’s efforts to take over Disney World’s governing body. Disney's lawsuit alleges the Republican governor and his appointees violated the company’s right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters. Walker was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — When Horatio Sharpe, the colonial governor of Maryland, started work on Whitehall in the 18th century, the story goes th…

A new batch of states are looking to legislate the level of informed consent when it comes to medical students performing pelvic exams for educational purposes on unconscious patients. At least 20 states already have consent laws for this practice. Montana’s governor signed a bill in April, Missouri has legislation that needs the governor’s signature to become law and Ohio lawmakers are also considering it. Colorado lawmakers want to go a step further. That state's bill would require naming the involved students ahead of time and introducing them to the patients. Colorado’s proposed law wouldn’t allow others to step in if the other students were not available.

A nonprofit that describes itself as a collection of doctors and others uniting to “protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology” has become a significant presence in statehouses. Do No Harm got its start in early 2022 by focusing its criticisms of diversity initiatives in medicine before branching out to transgender health. And despite a nonprofit tax status that limited its involvement in legislation, it created an initiative to restrict gender-affirming care for youths, offered a model bill that an AP analysis found has been used in at least three states, and has sent people to testify in statehouses.

The super political action committee promoting Ron DeSantis plans to shoulder the load of organizing support for him in Iowa while the Florida governor moves toward launching a 2024 presidential campaign. It's a strategy aimed at making the most of the unlimited sums from wealthy donors that the political group, Never Back Down, can receive. The money is intended to be pumped into the labor-intensive work of canvassing neighborhoods and signing up supporters. The stakes are high in early-voting Iowa, where DeSantis would need to show strength against former President Donald Trump. The PAC must essentially build a separate grassroots network to win commitments from Iowans to back DeSantis, and do that without coordinating with him.

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — Raleigh County Schools Superintendent David Price comes from a long line of educators.

The political divide affecting the United States is hitting Oregon hard. The Legislature is in gridlock and Republican senators are in a prolonged walkout. Oregonians are wistfully recalling “The Oregon Way,” when politicians of different stripes forged agreements for the common good. The gridlock in the state Capitol in Salem comes as Oregon grapples with homelessness, mental health issues, a fetid open-air drug market in Portland and gun violence in the state’s main city. Some businesses are fleeing, including REI. The boycott threatens to derail hundreds of pending bills, approval of a biennial state budget and the boycotters’ own political futures.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker is expected to formally join next year’s race for North Carolina governor this weekend. Walker scheduled a Saturday announcement at a Christian K-12 school in Kernersville to reveal his plans. Walker served three terms in Congress through 2020, then lost the 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary to eventual general election winner Ted Budd. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced their gubernatorial bids earlier in the spring. Attorney General Josh Stein is running on the Democratic side. Primaries are in March. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred by term limits from running again.

Legislation to restrict gender-affirming care is often pre-written and shopped out by a handful of interest groups. So-called model legislation has been used in statehouses for decades. Critics say model legislation allows a handful of far-right groups to create a false narrative around gender-affirming care for minors that is based on distorted science. Political observers say Republicans’ recent focus on such legislation is a “wedge issue” to motivate their voting base. The AP obtained the texts of more than 130 bills in 40 state legislatures and analyzed them for similarities to model bills peddled by the groups Do No Harm and the Family Research Council.

Families in Uvalde, Texas, are digging in for a new test of legal protections for the gun industry as they mark one year since the Robb Elementary School shooting. Both the U.S. government and gun manufacturers in recent years have reached large settlements following some of the nation’s worst mass shootings. Gun control supporters say other cases have created roadmaps for victims and relatives to sue. But high hurdles remain for lawsuits to succeed. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill this week that further shields gun manufacturers, which are already largely protected from lawsuits under federal laws.

An Associated Press analysis has found that many of this year’s statehouse proposals to restrict gender-affirming care for youths are identical or very similar to some model legislation. The AP obtained the texts of more than 130 bills in 40 state legislatures from the public policy software company Plural and analyzed them for similarities to model bills touted by the conservative groups Do No Harm and the Family Research Council. The most notable similarities found in the AP's analysis were in bills in Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire and West Virginia.

Mobile home parks are among the few affordable options that remain for extremely low-income people. But many older, dilapidated parks are disappearing as the land is razed for more modern uses. The move worries housing advocates who say the working poor and their children evicted from the more decrepit parks may have to double up with relatives or wind up homeless in the current housing crunch. One dusty park in Phoenix will become the latest to disappear at month's end after residents clear out for a new student housing project, many abandoning rusty metal homes too old to move.