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Pope set for historic apology for school abuses in Canada

MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis has arrived at the site of a former Indigenous residential school to deliver a long-awaited apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s policy of forcibly assimilating Native peoples into Christian society that led to generations of trauma and abuse. Francis is to pray at a cemetery near the Ermineskin Indian Residential School, now largely torn down, and then deliver remarks to school survivors, their families and other community members who gathered under a drizzling rain for the historic apology. Thousands of survivors, Indigenous elders and their family members are attending.

'The money is gone': Evacuated Ukrainians forced to return

POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Tens of thousands of people who evacuated from Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region are returning to homes close to the front line because they can’t afford to live in safer places. They are risking their lives. One woman was killed by a missile outside her home just two days after returning. Ukrainian authorities are frustrated as some civilians remain in the path of war, but the region's residents are frustrated, too. Some described feeling unwelcome as Russian speakers among Ukrainian speakers in some parts of the country. But more often, the problem is the lack of money to start anew. The mayor's office in one small Donetsk city estimates that 70% of evacuated residents have come back.

Russia says it wants to end Ukraine's `unacceptable regime'

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat says Moscow’s overarching goal in Ukraine is to free its people from its “unacceptable regime,” expressing the Kremlin’s war aims in some of the bluntest terms yet. Moscow's forces, meanwhile, continue to pummel the country with artillery barrages and airstrikes. The remark from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov comes amid Ukraine’s efforts to resume grain exports from its Black Sea ports, something that would help ease global food shortages, under a new deal tested by a Russian strike on Odesa over the weekend.

AP-NORC poll: 2 in 3 in US favor term limits for justices

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 2 in 3 Americans say they favor term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices. That's according to a new poll that finds a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans saying they have “hardly any” confidence in the court. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 67% of Americans support a proposal to set a specific number of years that justices serve instead of life terms, including 82% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans. The poll was conducted just weeks after the high court issued high-profile rulings stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion and expanding gun rights.

How an AP reporter broke the Tuskegee syphilis story

SOUTHPORT, N.C. (AP) — For four decades, the United States government enrolled hundreds of Black men in Alabama in a study on syphilis, just so they could document the disease’s ravages on the human body. On July 25, 1972, Jean Heller, a then 29-year-old investigative reporter at The Associated Press shocked the world with a story of what is now known as the “Tuskegee Study.” Within four months, the U.S. Public Health Service would end the study, but dozens had already died. Even now, 50 years after it was revealed, the study casts a long shadow over the nation, as some African Americans cite Tuskegee in refusing to seek medical treatment or participate in clinical trials.

Myanmar executes ex-lawmaker, 3 other political prisoners

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar has carried out its first executions in nearly 50 years, hanging a former lawmaker, a democracy activist and two other political prisoners who had been accused of a targeted killing after the country’s military takeover last year. The executions announced Monday were carried out despite worldwide pleas for clemency for the four men. State media said the four planned, directed and organized terrorist killings. Opposition figures and rights activists say their convictions were politically motivated and condemned the executions while Myanmar rejected all criticism. The wife of one of the prisoners urged the world to hold Myanmar's military leadership accountable. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was dismayed by “this cruel and regressive step.”

Is $810 million worth a $2 Mega Millions ticket? It depends

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Is $810 million worth $2? That’s a good question, given it costs $2 to buy a Mega Millions lottery ticket that could pay off with an estimated $810 million prize, the nation’s fourth-largest jackpot. The game’s next drawing is Tuesday night. Before plunking down $2 for a ticket, it's good to remember your chance of winning the grand prize is minuscule, at one in 302.5 million. And keep in mind that the $810 million prize is for those who take the annuity option, paid over 30 annual payments. Winners nearly always opt for cash, which for this drawing would pay out an estimated $470.1 million. Also, there are taxes to consider.

Feds sue poultry producers, alleging unfair worker practices

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against some of the largest poultry producers in the United States. It’s part of an effort to end what the government says are longstanding deceptive and abusive practices for workers. The suit names Cargill, Sanderson Farms and Wayne Farms, along with a data consulting company. The Justice Department alleges the companies have been engaged in a multiyear conspiracy to exchange information about the wages and benefits of poultry plant workers to suppress competition for those workers. The companies haven't responded to messages seeking comment.

Rents spike as big-pocketed investors buy mobile home parks

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — Investors are buying up mobile home parks across the country, leading to significant rent increases and complaints of neglect from residents. The parks, which for decades were mostly owned and operated like small businesses, have proven an attractive investment for private equity firms and large real estate companies. They offer some of the best returns in the property sector, money that is made by raising rent and saddling tenants with a myriad of fees. The industry argues these investments are making parks more livable, but residents, many on fixed incomes, say they can't afford the rent increases and improvements often don't come.

For once, Cherokee actor Wes Studi cast as romantic co-star

NEW YORK (AP) — In Wes Studi’s potent and pioneering acting career, he has played vengeful warriors, dying prisoners and impassioned resistance leaders. For three decades, he has arrestingly crafted wide-ranging portraits of the Native American experience. But one thing he had never done in a movie is give someone a kiss. In “A Love Song,” a tender indie film starring Dale Dickey, Studi is for the first time cast as a romantic co-star. For Studi, the standout of “The Last of the Mohicans," it was a long overdue deviation to rom-com territory. “A Love Song” opens in select theaters Friday.

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