AP-Newswatch

Repelled by high car prices, Americans are holding on to their vehicles longer than ever

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever. The average age of a passenger vehicle on U.S. roads hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. Sedans are even older, on average — 13.6 years. Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which triggered a shortage of automotive computer chips, the vital component that runs everything from radios to gas pedals to transmissions. The shortage drastically slowed assembly lines, making new vehicles scarce just when consumers were increasingly eager to buy. Prices surged to record highs. And though they’ve eased somewhat, the cost of a vehicle still feels punishingly expensive to many Americans, especially when coupled with now much-higher loan rates.

GOP state lawmakers try to restrict ballot initiatives, partly to thwart abortion protections

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has joined a growing number of Republican-led states moving to restrict citizens’ ability to bypass lawmakers through ballot initiatives. A resolution passed last week will ask Ohio voters in August to boost the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% instead of a simple majority. Voters in Idaho, Missouri and North Dakota also could see Republican-backed ballot questions that seek to limit direct democracy next year. It’s part of a trend that took off as left-leaning groups began increasingly using the initiative process to force public votes on issues opposed by GOP lawmakers but popular with voters, such as ensuring abortion rights.

China sentences 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on spying charges

BEIJING (AP) — China has sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison on spying charges. John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained in 2021 by the counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou. The city’s intermediate court announced Leung’s sentencing Monday but gave no details of the charges. Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little or no information is generally made public. Relations between Washington and Beijing have hit a historical low amid disputes over trade, human rights and territorial disputes. The U.S. Embassy says it is aware of the case but wouldn’t comment further due to privacy concerns.

A Texas woman was fatally shot by her boyfriend after she got an abortion, police say

DALLAS (AP) — Police say a man who didn’t want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Gabriella Gonzalez was with her boyfriend on Wednesday. She had returned from Colorado, where she had gone to get an abortion, the night before. Police say 22-year-old Harold Thompson tried to put her in a chokehold, then shot her in the head. Police believe he was the father of the child and did not want her to get an abortion. As of Friday he was jailed on a murder charge. Court records don’t list an attorney.

Turkey’s longtime president to face down main rival in runoff as uncertainty looms

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Conservative Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a runoff with his main rival in two weeks that will decide who leads a country struggling with sky-high inflation and hosting Syrian refugees as it plays a key role in the Middle East, and NATO expansion. Election officials said Monday that the May 28 second round will allow Turks to decide if their nation remains under the increasingly authoritarian president’s firm grip for a third decade, or if it can embark on the more democratic course promised by Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The vote shows how Turkey has become extremely polarized, some voters commented.

Stained glass window shows Jesus Christ with dark skin, stirring questions about race in New England

WARREN, R.I. (AP) — A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window showing a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women has been rediscovered in a Rhode Island church. The artwork is stirring questions about race, the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society. Experts say the window installed in 1878 in the long-closed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren is one of the earliest public examples of Christ portrayed as a person of color. It also shows Christ interacting with women as equals. An architect turning the church into a private home hopes the window can be put on display in a museum.

A Florida man living underwater won’t resurface even after breaking the record

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A university professor broke a record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization this weekend at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers. University of South Florida professor Joseph Dituri spent his 74th day underwater Saturday in a Key Largo lodge for scuba divers. He submerged March 1 and doesn’t plan to resurface until June 9, when his mission reaches 100 days. He spent the record-breaking day at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Key Largo much like the previous days, eating eggs and salmon prepared with a microwave, exercising with resistance bands and doing his daily pushups. The Project Neptune 100 mission combines medical and ocean research with educational outreach.

Luxury brand Cartier criticized for using images of Amazon tribe devastated by gold mining

BOA VISTA, Brazil (AP) — Until two months ago, Cartier’s website showed Indigenous children playing in a field of tall, green grass. The French luxury jewelry brand said it was working to promote the culture of the Indigenous people and protect the rainforest. But the project that the site described never took place, and Cartier took down the photo when contacted by The Associated Press. This incident aside, some of the Yanomami and their defenders praise Cartier’s promotion of Yanomami causes. But that one of the world’s biggest jewelers would advertise with images of an Indigenous people devastated by illegal gold mining has some complaining of greenwashing, a corporation promoting its own image by supporting a cause.

More dogs could show up in outdoor dining spaces. Not everyone is happy about it

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces. It better reflects reality; nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors. Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that states began allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces. Late last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance saying restaurants can welcome dogs as long as they get permission from a local authority. The FDA suggests they also require leashes and develop plans to handle dog waste.

Linda Yaccarino may be “exactly what Twitter needs.” But is the new CEO being set up to fail?

Less than two months into his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, Elon Musk declared that whoever took over as the company’s CEO “must like pain a lot.” Then he promised he’d step down as soon as he found a replacement “foolish enough” to want the job. That person is Linda Yaccarino, a highly-regarded advertising executive with NBCUniversal. Musk has women in top positions at his other companies, including Gwynne Shotwell, the chief operating officer of SpaceX. But it is also true that women are often more likely to be hired for leadership jobs when there’s a crisis — the so-called “glass cliff.” Could Yaccarino be headed toward it?