More than 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. that train truckers and bus drivers must close after investigators found they employed unqualified instructors, failed to adequately test students and had other safety issues, the federal Transportation Department announced Wednesday.

The move marks the Transportation Department’s latest effort to improve safety in the trucking industry. And unlike its previous actions last fall to decertify up to 7,500 schools that included many defunct operations, this latest step is focused on what it deemed were active schools with significant shortcomings that inspectors identified in 1,426 site visits.

The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have qualified for them ever since a fatal crash in August. A truck driver that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. Other fatal crashes since then, including one in Indiana earlier this month that killed four, have only added to the concerns.

Duffy said 448 schools failed to meet basic safety standards. Inspectors found shortcomings such as employing unqualified instructors, failing to test students’ skills or teach them how to handle hazardous materials and using the wrong equipment to teach drivers. Another 109 schools removed themselves from the registry of schools when they learned that inspectors were planning to visit.

'American families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel,' Duffy said.

The list of schools that officials want to decertify now are generally smaller ones, including a number of programs run by school districts. The bigger, more reputable schools were generally not included in this action. Another 97 schools are currently under investigation for compliance issues.

Part of the problem in the trucking industry is that schools and trucking companies can essentially self certify themselves when they apply to begin operating, observers note, and questionable operations might not be caught until much later when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gets a chance to audit them.

It wasnt immediately clear how many students were enrolled at these schools that are being decertified. But there is some cushion in the industry right now because there are currently more drivers than needed in the midst of a 10% drop in shipments since 2022 because of the economic uncertainty. Although many trucking companies still struggle to find enough well-qualified drivers with clean records.

In addition to threatening to withhold federal funding from states that dont clean up their commercial drivers license programs, the Trump Administration has been focused on making sure truck drivers meet English proficiency standards. California is the only state to lose funding so far with the federal government planning to withhold $160 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' Many Federal Reserve officials want to see inflation fall further before they would support additional interest rate cuts this year, particularly if the job market continues to stabilize, minutes of last months meeting show.

The 'vast majority' of the 19 participants on the Feds rate-setting committee said that there were signs the job market has stabilized, after the unemployment rate rose in late 2025, the minutes said. And most of the officials agreed that the Feds key rate is close to a level that neither stimulates nor restrains the economy. The minutes were released Wednesday, three weeks after the central banks Jan. 27-28 meeting.

Fed officials at that meeting agreed to keep its key rate steady at about 3.6%, after cutting it three times late last year. Two officials ' Fed governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller ' voted instead to cut another quarter-point.

The minutes underscored the deeply divided nature of the committee, with several camps emerging: 'Several' officials said additional cuts will 'likely be appropriate' if inflation continues to decline. But 'some' officials favored keeping rates unchanged 'for some time,' suggesting a longer pause. And several other officials said they could have supported language in the statement issued after the meeting that would signal the next move by the Fed could be either a cut or a rate hike, if inflation remains above their 2% target.

The support for signaling an openness to a potential rate hike appears to be a significant shift from previous meetings. Chair Jerome Powell said after meetings last year that the idea of a rate hike wasnt on the table.

Powell signaled after Januarys meeting that the Fed could wait for a few months before cutting rates again. He said at a news conference that the economy and hiring had improved since the central bank had previously met in December, and added that the Fed was 'well positioned' to evaluate how the economy evolves in the coming months before making any further moves.

The decision to keep rates unchanged defied a stream of demands from President Donald Trump for the Fed to reduce its key rate to as low as 1%, a level few economists endorse. When the Fed cuts its key rate, it can over time lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans, though those rates are also influenced by financial markets.

The minutes said that the 'vast majority' of the 19-person committee agreed that the risks of job losses and a worsening labor market had diminished, likely a key reason that they voted to keep rates unchanged. The Fed typically cuts rates to boost spending, growth, and hiring.

Figures released last week suggest the Fed will be unlikely to cut anytime soon. Inflation remains elevated, according to the Feds preferred measure, and Januarys jobs report showed that hiring picked up last month. Those trends support those Fed officials who argue that the economy doesnt need further rate cuts.

Consumer prices grew 2.4% in January compared with a year earlier, the government said last week, not too far from the Feds 2% target.

But the Fed focuses on a different measure of inflation, which is running higher. When the latest figure is released Friday, it is expected to have increased roughly 3% from a year earlier. The Feds preferred measure puts much less weight on housing and apartment rental costs, which have cooled considerably, and as a result it is running above the better-known consumer price index.

Also last week, the government said that hiring improved in January, with employers adding 130,000 jobs, the biggest gain in just over a year, while the unemployment rate slipped to a low 4.3%, down from 4.4%.

Fed Governor Michael Barr on Tuesday pointed to the jobs report as evidence that the labor market is 'stabilizing,' while inflation remains above 2%.

'Based on current conditions and the data in hand, it will likely be appropriate to hold rates steady for some time,' Barr said.

Separately, Austan Goolsbee, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told CNBC Tuesday that the Fed could reduce rates 'several more' times this year, if there is evidence that inflation was moving closer to 2%.

The grandson of the inventor of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reeses brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products.

Hershey acknowledges some recipe changes but said Wednesday that it was trying to meet consumer demand for innovation. High cocoa prices also have led Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in recent years.

Brad Reese, 70, said in a Feb. 14 letter to Hersheys corporate brand manager that for multiple Reeses products, the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème.

'How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reeses as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reeses trust in the first place?' Reese wrote in the letter, which he posted on his LinkedIn profile.

He is the grandson of H.B. Reese, who spent two years at Hershey before forming his own candy company in 1919. H.B. Reese invented Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in 1928; his six sons eventually sold his company to Hershey in 1963.

Hershey said Wednesday that Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the company makes itself from roasted peanuts and a few other ingredients, including sugar and salt. But some Reeses ingredients vary, Hershey said.

'As weve grown and expanded the Reeses product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reeses fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reeses unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter,' the company said.

Brad Reese said he thinks Hershey went too far. He said he recently threw out a bag of Reeses Mini Hearts, which were a new product released for Valentines Day. The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are made from 'chocolate candy and peanut butter crème,' not milk chocolate and peanut butter.

'It was not edible,' Reese told The Associated Press in an interview. 'You have to understand. I used to eat a Reeses product every day. This is very devastating for me.'

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and labeling requirements for chocolate. To be considered milk chocolate, products must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor, which is a paste made from ground cocoa beans and contains no alcohol. Products also must contain at least 12% milk solids and 3.39% milk fat.

Companies can get around those rules by using other wording on their packaging. The wrapper for Hersheys Mr. Goodbar, for example, contains the words 'chocolate candy' instead of 'milk chocolate.'

Reese said Hershey changed the recipes for multiple Reeses products in recent years. Reeses Take5 and Fast Break bars used to be coated with milk chocolate, he said, but now they arent. In the early 2000s, when Hershey released White Reeses, they were made with white chocolate. Now theyre made with a white creme, he said.

Reese said Reeses Peanut Butter Cups sold in Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland are also different than U.S. versions. On Wednesday, a package advertised on the website of British online supermarket Ocado described the candy as 'milk chocolate-flavored coating and peanut butter crème.'

In a conference call with investors last year, Hershey Chief Financial Officer Steven Voskuil said the company made some changes in its formulas. Voskuil did not say for which products but said Hershey was very careful to maintain the 'taste profile and the specialness of our iconic brands.'

'I would say in all the changes that weve made thus far, there has been no consumer impact whatsoever. As you can imagine, even on the smallest brand in the portfolio, if we were to make a change, theres extensive consumer testing,' he said.

But Brad Reese said he often has people tell him that Reeses products dont taste as good as they used to. He said Pennsylvania-based Hershey should keep in mind a famous quote from its founder, Milton Hershey: 'Give them quality, thats the best advertising.'

'I absolutely believe in innovation, but my preference is innovation with quality,' Reese said.

Leo revived the traditional prayer and procession that Pope Francis largely delegated to others in his final years. He walked with dozens of monks, priests, bishops and cardinals from one Roman church to another and then sprinkled ashes on the heads of cardinals during Mass.

Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and reflection, starts a season of self-denial and repentance from sin known as Lent. The 40-day period leads up to observances of Jesus death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter.

In his homily, Leo offered a meditation on sin and said the ashes that Christians receive bear the 'weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war.'

'This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature,' he said.

Leo has spoken out strongly against the collapse of the post-World War II international legal order fueled by Russias war in Ukraine and even the U.S. military incursion into Venezuela to remove its leader.

Just this week, the Holy See confirmed it would not participate in the Trump Administrations Board of Peace for Gaza. The secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the United Nations was the appropriate institution to monitor the currently shaky ceasefire agreement and rebuilding of Gaza.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The leg was discovered just before Christmas in the community of Salton City, and on Feb. 12 the Imperial County Sheriffs Office announced that DNA testing had revealed it was that of TNeya Tovar, a Hemet girl who had gone missing.

The next day ' Friday, Feb. 13 ' a team of officers went to the Salton City home of a 51-year-old man with whom TNeya had reportedly been acquainted. He was apprehended after jumping a fence in an apparent attempt to flee.

The mans home is about half a mile from the vacant lot where the leg was found on Dec. 21, in a scattered residential development on the west shore of the Salton Sea.

TNeyas mother said she last saw the girl on Dec. 1 and reported her missing after she failed to return from what was thought to be a trip to Palm Springs. A flyer circulated by the family identified the Salton City man as a 'person of interest.'

The sheriffs announcement of the DNA result did not say the girl was believed to be dead, but the charges against the suspect include murder. He was being held without bail at the Imperial County Jail, in El Centro.

When the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced his second presidential bid in 1988 in Pittsburgh, he saw the campaign as a chance for the country to realize its highest ideals.

'If I can become president,' said Jackson, who grew up poor and Black in segregated South Carolina, 'every woman can. Every man can. Im giving America a chance to make a choice to fulfill the highest and best of an authentic and honest democracy.'

While unsuccessful, the campaign captured the imaginations of countless Americans who were inspired by Jackson, who died Tuesday at 84.

Decades later, generations of young people who watched his historic campaigns or learned about his career have become veteran activists, clergy members, civic leaders and lawmakers. Many say that his unapologetic message of equality and justice informs their work today.

'Here I was, a kid growing up in public housing, and I got to witness this Black man running for president. He gave me a glimpse of what is possible, and he taught me how to say, ‘I am somebody,' said Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, referring to one of Jacksons slogans adopted from a poem.

Warnock also serves as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the congregation once led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The Georgia Democrat said Jacksons example was 'needed now more than ever' in response to the Trump administrations actions on elections, global affairs and immigration.

'His voice is now silent, but his example is eternal, and that work is left to us,' Warnock said.

A life of advocacy

Jacksons life included work as a globe-trotting humanitarian, a champion for a progressive economic agenda and leadership of the Civil Rights Movement that was once led by King, Jacksons mentor. Jackson was present when King was assassinated at a Memphis hotel.

Jacksons 1988 presidential bid pushed many Americans to contemplate whether, two decades after Kings killing, one of his protégés could be elected to the White House. His message of equality in the Democratic primary resonated with a broad set of voters and blindsided party leaders, who reformed the primary system in response to the surge of engagement.

Strategists credit those reforms with enabling the election of another Black candidate from Illinois to the presidency two decades later.

Barack Obama agreed in a statement praising Jacksons life.

Former first lady Michelle Obama 'got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons kitchen table when she was a teenager,' Obama wrote. 'And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office in the land.'

The connection did not stop Jackson from criticizing Obama or mentoring activists who challenged the first Black presidents administration.

'He continued to reach out to young Black activists throughout the protests that started in 2014,' said DeRay McKesson, a racial justice activist who organized in Ferguson, Missouri, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. 'As an activist and organizer, I appreciate that Jesse, just like the generation of people he came up with, had a deep understanding of structural change.'

Jackson remained a political force after his presidential bids. From the Chicago headquarters of his organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he mentored leaders for decades. After his death, scores of activists, political operatives and members of Congress credited their careers to Jackson.

Democratic Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana was a young staffer to New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy when he first met Jackson.

'Over the years, since our first meeting, he encouraged me in every step of my political career. His legacy will endure in every life he inspired,' Carter said.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris eulogized Jackson in a statement that remembered how his 1988 presidential run built a sense of community among supporters. When she was a law student in San Francisco, she recalled, people 'from every walk of life would give me a thumbs-up or honk of support' upon seeing her cars 'Jesse Jackson for President' bumper sticker.

'They were small interactions, but they exemplified Reverend Jacksons life work ' lifting up the dignity of working people, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and nation,' wrote Harris, who went on to become the first Black woman to be nominated by a major political party for president.

Even people with opposing views acknowledged Jacksons impact as a civil rights giant and a stalwart force for progressive, humanitarian values.

'I dont have to agree with someone politically to deeply respect the role Jesse Jackson, a South Carolina native, played in uplifting Black voices and inspiring young folks to believe their voices mattered,' Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, wrote on social media. 'Those that empower people to stand taller always leave a lasting mark.'

A mentor to a new generation

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson was 8 years old when he first learned about Jackson from a picture book on Black history that his mother gave him. Jacksons face was on the cover.

Pearson, 31, thanked Jackson for 'creating space for people like me to be where I am.' He met Jackson after Republicans expelled him and another Black Democratic lawmaker after they joined a protest for gun control at the Tennessee Statehouse.

Pearson, who represents Memphis in the statehouse, later joined Jackson on a trip to lay a wreath at the site where King was killed. Pearson has appeared alongside Jackson at other civil rights events throughout the South. Even at memorials filled with towering figures, he said, Jackson stood out.

'You have a lot of civil rights elders who you read about, but it means something different when you have somebody who you can talk to, who can be present, who is there physically,' said Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, the other lawmaker who met Jackson after being expelled. Both men were later reelected to their seats.

Jackson 'was committed to raising the rising generation of civil rights voices and leaders and legislators, and somebody who has a whole movement that is standing on his shoulders,' said Jones, 30.

Stacey Abrams was 10 years old in Gulfport, Mississippi, during Jacksons first presidential bid. The daughter of ministers, Abrams remembers being 'transfixed' by a 'larger than life figure who did not look like everyone else.'

Now a former minority leader of the Georgia House, Abrams mounted two unsuccessful bids for governor. Each time, she sought to rally a wide range of voters, including voters of color and lower-income voters, in a strategy that emulated Jacksons political philosophy. Jackson advised her throughout both bids.

'Ive been one of, I would say, thousands of people who received counsel and support from Jackson, but also got a phone call that said, ‘Im thinking about you, or an offer to come and be a part of something he was doing,' Abrams said.

'I think thats the legacy thats most important, that he didnt stand as a single figure who wanted to be alone. He built community.'

Its the rare policy question that unites Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Democratic-led Maryland government against President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California: How should health insurers use AI?

Regulating artificial intelligence, especially its use by health insurers, is becoming a politically divisive topic, and its scrambling traditional partisan lines.

Boosters, led by Trump, are not only pushing its integration into government, as in Medicares experiment using AI in prior authorization, but also trying to stop others from building curbs and guardrails. A December executive order seeks to preempt most state efforts to govern AI, describing 'a race with adversaries for supremacy' in a new 'technological revolution.'

'To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,' Trumps order said. 'But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.'

Across the nation, states are in revolt. At least four ' Arizona, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas ' enacted legislation last year reining in the use of AI in health insurance. Two others, Illinois and California, enacted bills the year before.

Legislators in Rhode Island plan to try again this year after a bill requiring regulators to collect data on technology use failed to clear both chambers last year. A bill in North Carolina requiring insurers not to use AI as the sole basis of a coverage decision attracted significant interest from Republican legislators last year.

DeSantis, a former GOP presidential candidate, has rolled out an 'AI Bill of Rights,' whose provisions include restrictions on its use in processing insurance claims and a requirement allowing a state regulatory body to inspect algorithms.

'We have a responsibility to ensure that new technologies develop in ways that are moral and ethical, in ways that reinforce our American values, not in ways that erode them,' DeSantis said during his State of the State address in January.

Ripe for regulation

Polling shows Americans are skeptical of AI. A December poll from Fox News found 63% of voters describe themselves as 'very' or 'extremely' concerned about artificial intelligence, including majorities across the political spectrum. Nearly two-thirds of Democrats and just over 3 in 5 Republicans said they had qualms about AI.

Health insurers tactics to hold down costs also trouble the public; a January poll from KFF found widespread discontent over issues like prior authorization. (KFF is a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.) Reporting from ProPublica and other news outlets in recent years has highlighted the use of algorithms to rapidly deny insurance claims or prior authorization requests, apparently with little review by a doctor.

Last month, the House Ways and Means Committee hauled in executives from Cigna, UnitedHealth Group, and other major health insurers to address concerns about affordability. When pressed, the executives either denied or avoided talking about using the most advanced technology to reject authorization requests or toss out claims.

AI is 'never used for a denial,' Cigna CEO David Cordani told lawmakers. Like others in the health insurance industry, the company is being sued for its methods of denying claims, as spotlighted by ProPublica. Cigna spokesperson Justine Sessions said the companys claims-denial process 'is not powered by AI.'

Indeed, companies are at pains to frame AI as a loyal servant. Optum, part of health giant UnitedHealth Group, announced Feb. 4 that it was rolling out tech-powered prior authorization, with plenty of mentions of speedier approvals.

'Were transforming the prior authorization process to address the friction it causes,' John Kontor, a senior vice president at Optum, said in a press release.

Still, Alex Bores, a computer scientist and New York Assembly member prominent in the states legislative debate over AI, which culminated in a comprehensive bill governing the technology, said AI is a natural field to regulate.

'So many people already find the answers that theyre getting from their insurance companies to be inscrutable,' said Bores, a Democrat who is running for Congress. 'Adding in a layer that cannot by its nature explain itself doesnt seem like itll be helpful there.'

At least some people in medicine ' doctors, for example ' are cheering legislators and regulators on. The American Medical Association 'supports state regulations seeking greater accountability and transparency from commercial health insurers that use AI and machine learning tools to review prior authorization requests,' said John Whyte, the organizations CEO.

Whyte said insurers already use AI and 'doctors still face delayed patient care, opaque insurer decisions, inconsistent authorization rules, and crushing administrative work.'

Insurers push back

With legislation approved or pending in at least nine states, its unclear how much of an effect the state laws will have, said University of Minnesota law professor Daniel Schwarcz. States cant regulate 'self-insured' plans, which are used by many employers; only the federal government has that power.

But there are deeper issues, Schwarcz said: Most of the state legislation hes seen would require a human to sign off on any decision proposed by AI but doesnt specify what that means.

The laws dont offer a clear framework for understanding how much review is enough, and over time humans tend to become a little lazy and simply sign off on any suggestions by a computer, he said.

Still, insurers view the spate of bills as a problem. 'Broadly speaking, regulatory burden is real,' said Dan Jones, senior vice president for federal affairs at the Alliance of Community Health Plans, a trade group for some nonprofit health insurers. If insurers spend more time working through a patchwork of state and federal laws, he continued, that means 'less time that can be spent and invested into what were intended to be doing, which is focusing on making sure that patients are getting the right access to care.'

Linda Ujifusa, a Democratic state senator in Rhode Island, said insurers came out last year against the bill she sponsored to restrict AI use in coverage denials. It passed in one chamber, though not the other.

'Theres tremendous opposition' to anything that regulates tactics such as prior authorization, she said, and 'tremendous opposition' to identifying intermediaries such as private insurers or pharmacy benefit managers 'as a problem.'

In a letter criticizing the bill, AHIP, an insurer trade group, advocated for 'balanced policies that promote innovation while protecting patients.'

'Health plans recognize that AI has the potential to drive better health care outcomes ' enhancing patient experience, closing gaps in care, accelerating innovation, and reducing administrative burden and costs to improve the focus on patient care,' Chris Bond, an AHIP spokesperson, told KFF Health News. And, he continued, they need a 'consistent, national approach anchored in a comprehensive federal AI policy framework.'

Seeking balance

In California, Newsom has signed some laws regulating AI, including one requiring health insurers to ensure their algorithms are fairly and equitably applied. But the Democratic governor has vetoed others with a broader approach, such as a bill including more mandates about how the technology must work and requirements to disclose its use to regulators, clinicians, and patients upon request.

Chris Micheli, a Sacramento-based lobbyist, said the governor likely wants to ensure the state budget ' consistently powered by outsize stock market gains, especially from tech companies ' stays flush. That necessitates balance.

Newsom is trying to 'ensure that financial spigot continues, and at the same time ensure that there are some protections for California consumers,' he said. He added insurers believe theyre subject to a welter of regulations already.

The Trump administration seems persuaded. The presidents recent executive order proposed to sue and restrict certain federal funding for any state that enacts what it characterized as 'excessive' state regulation ' with some exceptions, including for policies that protect children.

That order is possibly unconstitutional, said Carmel Shachar, a health policy scholar at Harvard Law School. The source of preemption authority is generally Congress, she said, and federal lawmakers twice took up, but ultimately declined to pass, a provision barring states from regulating AI.

'Based on our previous understanding of federalism and the balance of powers between Congress and the executive, a challenge here would be very likely to succeed,' Shachar said.

Some lawmakers view Trumps order skeptically at best, noting the administration has been removing guardrails, and preventing others from erecting them, to an extreme degree.

'There isnt really a question of, should it be federal or should it be state right now?' Bores said. 'The question is, should it be state or not at all?'

Do you have an experience navigating prior authorization to get medical treatment that youd like to share with us for our reporting? Share it with us here.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF'an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Westminster investigators previously identified Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, of Anaheim as the suspected kidnapper and rapist. With the help of the FBI, Verbena-Martinez was tracked to Guatemala and taken into custody last week, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

'The pursuit of justice knows no borders, and we will continue to go to the very ends of the earth to carry out our mission to secure accountability and safeguard public safety,' Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement.

The 13-year-old was walking along a Westminster street on Dec. 5, 2025, when, authorities said, Verbena-Martinez drove up next to her and asked if she needed a ride. Prosecutors say Verbena-Martinez got “more and more aggressive” until persuading the girl to get in his car.

Over several hours, prosecutors allege, Verbena-Martinez sexually assaulted the girl in several parking lots and his apartment while other children were in that residence. He eventually dropped the girl off at her friend’s home in Garden Grove, prosecutors say.

Verbena-Martinez was convicted in 2019 of meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct. As a result of that Los Angeles County conviction, Verbena-Martinez was ordered to register as a sex offender.

After the kidnapping and rape last year, authorities say, Verbena-Martinez fled the country before investigators could take him into custody.

'Our message is clear: If you commit a serious crime in our city, you will be pursued and held accountable,” Westminster police Chief Darin Lenyi said. “We will work hand in hand with our law enforcement partners to find you, no matter where you go, and bring you to justice.'

Along with Westminster police and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, Anaheim police and Guatemala officials assisted in the investigation and search for Verbena-Martinez.

'The crimes alleged against Verbena-Martinez are beyond horrific and something the young victim in this case must tragically endure,' said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBIs Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement.

Verbena-Martinez has been charged with felony counts of kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, forcible rape, and other sexual assault-related crimes. If convicted as charged, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ' An organization in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is urging fishermen to take certain precautions after decrying a recent U.S. strike in the eastern Caribbean that killed three people aboard a suspected drug boat.

Winsbert Harry, president of the National Fisherfolk Organization, told St. Vincents state television station SVG-TV late Tuesday that he was concerned about the safety of fishermen in the Caribbean.

On Tuesday, the U.S. government announced that it had carried out strikes on three boats including one in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people. Officials did not provide evidence that the boats were ferrying drugs.

St. Lucian Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre said Monday that his government 'is actively engaging through established diplomatic and security channels to verify the facts' after confirming that 'people lost their lives.' He declined further comment, including whether at least one of the victims was a fisherman from St. Lucia.

'We will communicate confirmed information to the public promptly and responsibly,' he wrote in a social media post.

Meanwhile, former St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves criticized the strike during his radio show Monday and called on the archipelagos current leader to make a public statement.

'Even if these persons were involved in drug trafficking, you cant just kill them,' he said on Star FM. 'Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. You cannot be judge, jury and executioner without giving people an opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law.'

Harry, of the fisherfolk organization, noted that the strike comes as the eastern Caribbean prepares for the peak of tuna season, with many fishermen depending on catches for their livelihoods.

He said fishermen should clearly identify their boats and constantly monitor surrounding vessels, especially when theyre at high sea. Harry also warned that visibility is lowest during pre-dawn hours, when fishermen typically set out.

'You never know what could happen,' he said, adding that he and others are fearful about going out.

The U.S. strikes that began in September have killed at least 145 people and rankled some officials in the Caribbean, where many of the strikes have occurred.

One of those strikes killed two fishermen from Trinidad and Tobago in mid-October.

Late last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts announced that relatives of the two fishermen killed were suing the U.S. government 'for wrongful death and extrajudicial killing.' It is believed to be the first such wrongful death case since the strikes began last year.

The ACLU said that 26-year-old Chad Joseph and 41-year-old Rishi Samaroo were among the six people killed that day as they returned from Venezuela to their home in Trinidad and Tobago.

'If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged and detained him, not murdered him. They must be held accountable,' said Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroos sister, in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. is in 'armed conflict' with drug cartels in Latin America and has justified the ongoing attacks, saying theyre needed to stop the flow of drugs.

Meanwhile critics have questioned the legality of the strikes.

'It is absurd and dangerous for any state to just unilaterally proclaim that a ‘war exists in order to deploy lethal military force,' said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a recent statement. 'These are lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theater, which is why we need a court of law to proclaim what is true and constrain what is lawless.'

CORTINA DAMPEZZO, Italy (AP) ' Team USA skiers Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, along with Italys Federica Brignone, are among the many skiers who have expressed concern during these Olympic Games about the accelerating melt of the worlds glaciers.

And Olympic host city Cortina is a fitting place for them to be talking about climate change: Glaciers once visible from town have dramatically shrunk. Many have been reduced to tiny glaciers or residual ice patches at high elevations among the jagged peaks of the Dolomites. Any Olympian or spectator wishing to lay eyes on a major glacier would have to take a long drive on winding mountain roads to the Marmolada. Its melting rapidly, too.

The worlds top skiers train on glaciers because of the high-quality snow there, and a warming world jeopardizes the future of their sport. Vonn started skiing on glaciers in Austria when she was just 9 years old.

'Most of the glaciers that I used to ski on are pretty much gone,' 41-year-old Vonn said Feb. 3 in response to a question from The Associated Press at a prerace press conference in Cortina before she crashed on the Olympic downhill course. 'So thats very real and its very apparent to us.'

As athletes in snow sports, Shiffrin said, they 'get a real front-row view' to the monumental changes underway atop some of the worlds highest, coldest peaks.

'It is something thats very close to our heart, because it is the heart and soul of what we do,' Shiffrin told AP after racing Sunday. 'I would really, really like to believe and hope that with strong voices and sort of broader policy changes within companies and governments, there is a hope for a future of our sport. But I think right now, its a little bit of a … its a question.'

Italys glaciers are disappearing

Italian glaciologist Antonella Senese said Italy has lost more than 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of glacier area since the late 1950s.

'We are observing a continuous and uninterrupted decrease in glacier area and volume. In the last one to two decades, this reduction has clearly accelerated,' Senese, associate professor of physical geography in the University of Milans environmental science and policy department, said in an interview.

Among the peaks surrounding Cortina dAmpezzo, there are glaciers on the slopes of the Cristallo and Sorapiss mountains. The 2015 New Italian Glacier Inventory found these glaciers shrunk by about one-third since the 1959-1962 inventory.

Shortly after winning a second gold Sunday at her home Winter Olympics, Brignone told AP that skiing is 'totally different' now than when she was younger. Brignone lives in the Valle dAosta, about six hours away.

When she sees how glaciers are retreating to higher elevations, Brignone said shes not thinking about the future of skiing ' shes concerned for the future of the planet.

'There we have a lot of glaciers, but they are going up and up, every year, more and more,' she told AP.

Yet many people who dont frequent the mountains remain unaware of whats at stake, so the University of Innsbruck created the Goodbye Glaciers Project. The loss of glaciers has far-reaching consequences, threatening water sources, increasing mountain hazards and contributing to sea level rise.

The project shows how different warming levels change the amount of ice left on selected glaciers around the world. To be included, glaciers must have an estimated 2020 volume of at least 0.01 cubic kilometers. The Cristallo and Sorapiss glaciers no longer meet that threshold, said Patrick Schmitt, a doctoral student at the University of Innsbruck.

Preserving glaciers

Some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Cortina is the Marmolada glacier, one of the largest glaciers in Italy and the largest in the Dolomites. An apartment building-sized chunk of the glacier detached in July 2022, sparking an avalanche of debris that killed 11 hikers. The mountain is popular for hiking in summer and skiing in winter.

The University of Padua said in 2023 the glacier had been halved over 25 years.

Its expected to be mostly gone by 2034 if the world warms 2.7 Celsius (4.9 Fahrenheit), according to the Goodbye Glaciers Project. But if warming is limited to 1.5 C (2.7 F ' the international goal ' the glaciers life could be extended by another six years, and around 100 glaciers in the Alps can be saved, Schmitt said.

'Cutting greenhouse gas emissions now will reduce future ice loss and soften the impacts on people and nature,' Schmitt wrote in an email. 'The choices we make in this decade will decide how much ice remains in the Dolomites, across the Alps, and around the world.'

Globally, more than 7 trillion tons of ice (6.5 trillion metric tons) has been lost since 2000, according to a study last year. And the prospective impact of climate change on Olympic sport is enormous; the list of places that could host Winter Games is projected to shrink substantially in the coming years.

Its not just Vonn, Shiffrin and Brignone ' many Olympic skiers are concerned

In Cortina, Noa Szollos, who is competing for Israel, said in an interview the state of the nearby glaciers speaks to the condition of glaciers around the world.

'I hope we can do something about it,' she said, 'but its a hard time.'

Silja Koskinen of Finland said in an interview she cant train on some of the glaciers she used to because of crevices, rocks and flowing water. Team USA skier AJ Hurt talked about starting the season in October on glaciers in Sölden, Austria.

'Every year, I feel like we come and theres a little less snow. And every time, were like, are we really going to start in October? Theres no snow here,' Hurt told the AP. 'It is really sad and its hard to ignore in this sport, definitely, when were around it so much and it is so clear.'

Norwegian skier Nikolai Schirmer is leading an effort to stop fossil fuel companies from sponsoring winter sports. Burning coal, oil and gas is the largest contributor to global climate change by far.

In Bormio, Italy, Team USA skier River Radamus said athletes ' as stewards of outdoor winter sports' should be on the forefront of trying to defend the environment as best they can.

'Its always present in our mind that were on a dangerous trend unless we do something right,' Radamus said.

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed from Bormio, Italy.

AP Winter Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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