By KIM COOK, Associated Press

Home decor’s got a split personality this year: Call it “city glow” and “cottage flow.”

At the two international design fairs that I attended — Maison et Objet in France, Ambiente in Germany — acres of exhibition booths were full of Art Deco furnishings, island-vibe rattan seating and lighting, and lots of emphasis on sustainably produced materials.

But a couple of aesthetics drawing crowds were especially interesting.

Capturing the ‘city glow’

One was an exuberant urban vibe I’m nicknaming “city glow.” It’s full of highlighter-hued throw pillows, edgy surrealism, street art and hefty, Brutalist-style furniture — lots of sharp-cornered steel or concrete consoles and lamps that loomed over rooms — as well as rugs and wallcoverings covered in graffiti-style motifs or swaths of vibrant color.

Gretchen Rivera, an interior designer in Washington, D.C., sees it as a look that resonates especially with “younger generations who grew up with digital influences. There’s surrealist art, energetic colors and playful, almost toy-like design.”

Interior designer Anton Liakhov in Nice, France, agrees: “For a generation clamoring for creativity and self-expression, it’s loud and in-your-face.”

For surface colors, look at Benjamin Moore’s spicy orange Bryce Canyon or the bubblegum-pink Springtime Bloom. Daydream Apothecary has a whole collection of neon wall paints for intrepid decorators.

Sisters Ana and Lola Sánchez use art as a bold form of self-expression at their luxe brand Oliver Gal, in South Florida. It’s known for its handcrafted, statement-making pieces — including large acrylic gummy bears, graphic surfboards and wall art inspired by fashion, pop culture and modern surrealism. The result is a vibrant, edgy aesthetic.

A new collection, Rococo Pop, introduces rococo-inspired frames in high-gloss acrylics paired with playful graphic imagery. “We wanted to take the opulence of 18th century rococo,” notes Ana Sánchez, “and give it a cheeky, pop-art punch.”

“These frames are like little rebels in ballgowns — elegant, over-the-top and totally unexpected,” adds Lola Sánchez.

The style, her sister says, “celebrates contrast. Old World charm meets modern mischief.”

Following the ‘cottage flow’

The other impressive decor style at the design fairs was very different from the urban look. I’m calling this one “cottage flow,” and Liakhov describes it as evoking a “peaceful sanctuary, where you can play around with textures that are anchored in, and in tune with, nature.”

Think nubby woolen throws in mossy hues. Softly burnished wooden tables. Vintage quilts, and dishware. Gingham and garden florals. Landscape prints. Imagery of birds and woodland animals on textiles and wallcoverings.

Etsy’s 2025 spring/summer trend report showed that searches for “French cottage decor” were up over 26,000% compared to 2024.

“I see people embracing a slower pace to life where they can,” says New York-based interior and decor designer Kathy Kuo about the country cottage style.

“The past two decades or so were dominated by a glorification of fast-paced ‘hustle culture’ — trends like cottagecore and coastal grandmother are evidence that the pendulum’s swinging toward taking pleasure in simpler, more nature-adjacent things in life, whether or not you actually live in a country cottage,” she says.

Paint colors are also reflecting the trend. A calming sage green called Quietude is HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams’ color of the year. Little-Greene’s collection has names like Rolling Fog, Tea with Florence and Hammock.

Mixing the styles

Watching design show visitors excitedly discovering new finds among the aisles, I thought THIS is what’s fun about home decorating: You can think as creatively as you like when it comes to your own home.

You’re all about high-octane city nightlife? Come this way.

Scottish crofts, Scandi cabins and cozy porches more your thing? Right over here.

And if you want to mix these two aesthetics? Go for it. There’s space to blend elements of both, says Kuo.

“Design trends are so fluid. I absolutely see the potential to merge these into each other,” she says. “Many city dwellers love time in nature and have an affinity for a more rustic look, while still feeling called to honor their urban environment in their home. I see plenty of modern interior design motifs that are sleek and urban on the surface, but in the details, they’re infused with organic textures and biophilic elements.”

“Really, the best designs are the ones that are personal, rather than perfect,” she adds.

You could display an array of contemporary glass bowls on a curvy walnut credenza. Mix botanical patterns in vibrant, unexpected colors. Soften room elements like a sleek table and industrial-style lamp with boucle or velvet cushions and a fluffy rug. Pair polished concrete floors with vintage-inspired wallcovering.

If you don’t want to mix elements in one space, consider using sliding partitions from one room to another. You’ll create a little style “journey.”

If the recent international design fairs are any indication, you’re going to find loads of fun home decor in stores over the coming months. Get ready to flow

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The Associated Press. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

By JESSICA DAMIANO

In the garden, the start of the growing season means the return of dirt under our fingernails, the scent of freshly spread mulch and the first blooming roses. In my neighborhood, and perhaps yours, it also means an audible onslaught of lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other tools of the landscaper’s trade.

From 8 a.m. through at least early afternoon — five or six days every week — the hum of power tools and other machines disrupts my peace. But even more concerning is that my peace pales in importance to that of my property’s other residents.

Birds, squirrels, rabbits, frogs, insects and other wildlife are critically affected by human-made noise. They’re outdoors right in the middle of what must seem to them a war zone — with no escape. And the battleground noises that surround them aren’t merely nuisances; they disrupt the basic instincts the animals’ lives depend on.

Instincts such as those that alert them to the presence of predators become masked under the gas-powered cacophony prevalent throughout most of suburbia.

The unnatural sounds can also force birds, bats and insects into changing their feeding, nesting and mating habits, says Kevin Munroe, Long Island Preserve Director for The Nature Conservancy, based in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

“Quite a few animals communicate primarily through song, and their songs are how they find each other,” Munroe said. Those with soft and quiet songs, like warblers, small species of owls, bats and some species of crickets, for instance, can be so badly drowned out by noise pollution that “they literally cannot build families or reproduce,” he said.

To illustrate the point, Munroe likens the animals’ songs to navigation systems.

“Imagine these songs are the birds’ roadmaps to each other, and imagine you’re using your GPS to get somewhere and all of a sudden it turns off, and that’s the only way you can find your family. Now, with it turned off, there’s no way you’ll find your family. That’s what song is like for these animals,” he said.

Artificial noises from power equipment, traffic, construction and industrial sources, can also cause stress and hearing loss in animals. A University of Georgia study even found that highway noises can elevate heart rates in monarch caterpillars.

Thoughtful planning can reduce the noise

This may seem like a losing battle in modern society, but there are steps we can take to help.

The Nature Conservancy recommends changes to industrial practices that include accounting for sensitive areas when siting noise-producing facilities, such as access roads and compressor stations, and designing them to include sound barriers such as walls, vegetative screening and noise-absorbing equipment.

Altering the timing and duration of noisy activities during breeding and hibernation periods could also reduce adverse effects on wildlife, the organization said.

What you can do at home

On our own properties, small changes can make a big impact. Because birds do their “most important talking to each other” between dawn and 9 a.m., Munroe recommends shifting noisy yardwork later. Another critical time for many species of wildlife is after dark, he said.

“You can play music and have fun, but try not to make any loud noises,” he said.

In addition, creating sound buffers by planting dense native trees, evergreens or deciduous shrubs, and switching from gas- to battery-powered tools, including leaf blowers, string trimmers and chainsaws, are simple things homeowners can do to avoid causing harm.

Educating and introducing change to local communities is important, too. Munroe suggests working with your homeowners association, schools, businesses and churches to limit loud, destructive activity on their properties.

“Talk to local municipalities about their noise ordinances and (encourage them to) create a sound sanctuary in the neighborhood (to protect) wood thrushes, katydids” and other wildlife, he said.

And always observe noise ordinances at home and in public places, like parks.

Wild animals serve as “pollinators, affect pest control and have a positive effect on our agriculture and our economy,” Munroe said. “We want them in our neighborhoods.”

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

By KATHERINE ROTH, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — My first tip-off were the little things, the high-pitched little things: the doorbell and ringtones my kids could hear but I could not.

Then it was the garbled-sounding conversations, and the accompanying annoyance of having to ask people to repeat themselves. Or worse, giving up and just playing along without being able to follow everything that was being said.

Even then, I stalled for years before finally going through the process of getting a hearing aid. How do you even begin? Will it look clunky and make me feel like a dinosaur? And the cost!

Getting a hearing test, and confirmation that I needed a hearing aid, was just the beginning.

Finding an expert

The doctor handed me a list of places I could go to get fitted. I made some calls and narrowed it down to the places that took my insurance and my zero-interest health care credit card.

The first couple places were demoralizing: I walked in, was told it’d be $7,000 for the “best” option (they mysteriously didn’t happen to have any other options handy), then marched right back out the door, utterly discouraged.

I started asking friends and neighbors whether they wore a hearing aid, or knew anyone at all with a hearing aid, and could point me to a good audiologist.

It took a lot of poking around, but I found one — and it made all the difference.

The joy of reconnecting with the world

I’ve been wearing my hearing aids for several months now, and they are as easy as slipping on a pair of glasses, are almost invisible, have reconnected me with the world, and, as crazy as this may sound, they bring me joy.

After talking with a few audiologists around the country, it turns out that my experience is pretty typical.

“There are a lot of people who stall before getting one,” says Meagan P. Bachmann, director of audiology at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, in North Carolina.

“Hearing is important because it connects us with people,” she says. “Multiple studies show that not hearing can affect your ability to connect with others and participate in life, so you have to think of it in terms of overall health. Maybe you no longer go to family events, or you don’t understand your doctor. People start to withdraw. A lot of people come in because it’s gotten so bad that it is impacting their relationships.”

Steps to take

To speed up the process and make it less frustrating, here’s what the pros recommend:

1. Get tested, take the results seriously, and know that many if not most hearing aids these days are small, nearly invisible, rechargeable, and pretty easy to wear and maintain. And believe it or not, hearing aids can be fun — these days, there are colors to choose from and ways to bejewel them. One company, Deafmetal, makes jazzy-looking “safety rings” to help keep hearing aids in place.

2. Shop for an expert audiologist. Look for someone who takes your insurance or any sort of medical credit card you might have, or has a payment plan of some kind, if needed. This is a world at the awkward juncture of consumerism and medical care, but a good audiologist should come across as a medical provider, not a salesperson. And a good audiologist should take the time to work with you to find a hearing aid that meets your individual needs, and also fits your budget.

A good place to start is often with your doctor; with the American Academy of Audiologists, which lists providers on its website; or by word of mouth.

“Although all hearing aids are amplifiers, not everybody needs the same thing,” says Bachmann. “Fitting a hearing aid is an art. It changes the acoustics, and everyone is different. You want someone who listens to your lifestyle needs. Do you have a lot of difficulty with noise? Are you mostly in quiet situations? How much technology do you need, and what kind?”

Greta Stamper, an audiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, agrees. “Hearing loss is not a one-time thing. It’s a chronic health condition. It should be a partnership between you and your audiologist,” she said. “It’s someone asking you what you’re looking for and how it’s going. You shouldn’t feel pressured or pushed.”

3. A note on cost. Although hearing aids can be pricey, there are affordable options, and a good audiologist should be able to let you try out options at several price points. Insurance often covers much of the cost, and there are ways to pay for the remaining cost in installments. Also, avoidance has pretty high costs as well, audiologists say, and the longer the wait, the harder it may be to solve the problem with a hearing aid. Although there are cheaper hearing aids at big box stores, Bachmann warns that it’s good to check with your audiologist before taking that route. “Some of those hearing aids are locked, so that you’re not allowed to have them programmed by an outside audiologist,” she says.

Remember, says Stamper, that hearing aids are an investment, and usually last between five and six years.

4. Know your rights. “We select what is the most likely to be successful, and if it doesn’t work out you come back and do something else,” says Stamper. She said most states mandate a trial period. In some cases, hearing-aid companies also cover the cost of multiple visits to your audiologist while you are getting used to your new hearing aid and get training in how to use and maintain it.

5. Embrace the process, and expect it to take a little time and a few expert tweaks. Audiologists say your brain needs time to adjust to a hearing aid, and that hearing-aid settings should be adjusted little by little as your brain adapts to them.

“A big misconception is that you can just wear them a couple hours a day. Your brain does better with it if you use them most of the day. Your brain needs to adapt to hearing sounds it hasn’t heard for a while, and it takes the brain awhile to relearn how to process all those sounds,” says Stamper.

6. Be realistic. “Although hearing aids can be enormously beneficial, they may not give you back your normal hearing,” says Stamper. Depending on the situation, there might be limitations to what a hearing aid can do.

“It might just be lots of improvement in the key areas in which you’re struggling,” said Stamper.

Using hearing aids is a process, the audiologists say, and although it requires some patience, it can be well worth the journey.

By DAN FRIO, Edmunds

If you wanted a midsize truck 10 years ago, your choices included an aging Toyota Tacoma or an even older Nissan Frontier design. Today, renewed versions of the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger and Honda Ridgeline have revitalized the segment enough to have spawned a new compact pickup class, led by the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.

They approach light-duty truck utility from different angles. Although it offers a wildly fuel-efficient hybrid engine, the Maverick, with robust towing and hauling limits, plus its bouncy ride and barren interior, is a more conventional pickup. The Santa Cruz is classier and more comfortable, more SUV than truck. It can tow more than the Ford, but it lacks the heavy hauling strength. The best one for buyers really comes down to intended use.

Power and fuel economy

Both the Maverick and Santa Cruz start with four-cylinder engines rated at 191 horsepower. Neither truck is quick, but both are capable. Importantly, the Maverick is a hybrid that delivers an impressive 38 mpg combined, and we even squeezed out a few extra mpg in our real-world testing. The Santa Cruz isn’t a hybrid but gets up to 25 mpg combined (22 city/30 highway). Adding all-wheel drive shaves the estimates for both trucks by 1 mpg.

Both models offer optional turbo engines for better performance. The Maverick can dash from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds with its 250-horsepower four-cylinder, while the Santa Cruz is nearly as swift (6.8 seconds) with its 281-horsepower engine. The turbo trucks are also more evenly matched at the pump. The turbo Maverick gets an EPA-estimated 23-25 mpg combined, which we confirmed in our real-world testing, while the Santa Cruz actually outperformed its 21-22 mpg combined EPA rating with 29 mpg in our tests.

Winner: Maverick

Towing and payload

Properly equipped, the Maverick can tow up to 4,000 pounds, plenty for a small pop-up or travel trailer, or a couple of dirt bikes with a trailer and fuel, but doing so requires the pricier turbo engine. (The hybrid is limited to 2,000 pounds.) The Santa Cruz is rated at a more robust 5,000 pounds with its turbo engine or 3,500 pounds with its base engine. One thousand pounds isn’t much when comparing big trucks, but it’s a sizable advantage for a compact pickup.

The Maverick’s 1,500-pound payload capacity — fuel, passengers and bed weight combined — edges out the Santa Cruz’s rating of 1,411 pounds, and the Ford’s slightly longer bed improves utility. The Maverick also offers a trailering package — hitch, wiring harness and trailer brake controller — from the factory. For the Santa Cruz, you’d need to source aftermarket components. Since both trucks are capable in different ways, this choice comes down to specific use cases.

Winner: tie

Off-road capability

Neither truck offers serious off-road hardware, although the Maverick comes close. Both can handle a rutted trail or fire road thanks to optional all-wheel drive, a measure of body armor, and roughly 8.5 inches of ground clearance. The Santa Cruz XRT trim includes all-terrain tires, front tow hooks and a surround-view monitor to enhance visibility, but the Maverick Tremor trim is the best choice for dirt work.

The Tremor comes with even higher ground clearance, a specially tuned suspension and locking rear differential, underbody skid plates, and modes that optimize speed and traction for different terrain. But the pricey Tremor ($42,690) isn’t the only way to go off-road. The optional FX4 package for the Maverick XLT trim offers several of the same features for less money.

Winner: Maverick

Comfort, tech and value

If you expect a truck-like ride, the Maverick doesn’t disappoint. It jostles along like a basic work truck, its street-oriented Lobo trim the only exception. The Santa Cruz feels like a Mercedes by comparison, with a softer, controlled ride more typical of a crossover. The theme continues in the cabin, which feels fresher and more upmarket than the Maverick’s plastic expanse.

Both trucks come with large touchscreens — 13.2-inch in the Maverick, 12.3-inch in the Santa Cruz — underpinned by clean user interfaces and responsive software. But the Hyundai’s extra standard and optional driver aids, including adaptive cruise control, give it an edge. You can also get more optional creature comforts with the Santa Cruz, such as ventilated seats and leather upholstery. Both trucks cost nearly the same, with the Maverick starting at $29,840 (including destination) and the Santa Cruz at $30,200. The latter’s classier features give it an edge here.

Winner: Santa Cruz

Edmunds says

Get the Maverick if you need typical truck muscle or excellent fuel economy. Get the Santa Cruz if you want classier crossover comfort or need to tow heavier loads.

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Dan Frio is a contributor at Edmunds.

Today is Sunday, June 8, the 159th day of 2025. There are 206 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On June 8, 2017, former FBI Director James Comey, testifying before Congress, asserted that President Donald Trump fired him to interfere with Comey’s investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign.

Also on this date:

In 1789, in an address to the U.S. House of Representatives, James Madison proposed amending the Constitution to include a Bill of Rights.

In 1949, George Orwell’s novel “1984” was first published.

In 1966, a merger was announced between the National and American Football Leagues, to take effect in 1970.

In 1967, during the Six-Day War, 34 American crew members were killed when Israel attacked the USS Liberty, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship in the Mediterranean Sea. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.)

In 1968, U.S. authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1978, a jury in Clark County, Nevada, ruled the so-called “Mormon Will,” purportedly written by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, was a forgery.

In 1995, U.S. Marines rescued Capt. Scott O’Grady, whose F-16C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2.

In 2009, North Korea’s highest court sentenced American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years’ hard labor for trespassing and “hostile acts.” (The women were pardoned in early August 2009 after a trip to Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton.)

In 2021, Ratko Mladić, the military chief known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” for orchestrating genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Balkan nation’s 1992-95 war, lost his final legal battle when U.N. judges rejected his appeal and affirmed his life sentence.

In 2023, Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Miami on 37 felony counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents that had been moved to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home. (The case against Trump was abandoned following Trump’s November 2024 presidential election victory.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Singer Nancy Sinatra is 85.
• Musician Boz Scaggs is 81.
• Pianist Emanuel Ax is 76.
• Actor Sonia Braga is 75.
• Actor Kathy Baker is 75.
• Singer Bonnie Tyler is 73.
• Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee is 70.
• Actor Griffin Dunne is 70.
• “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams is 68.
• Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is 67.
• Singer Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) is 65.
• Musician Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) is 63.
• Actor Julianna Margulies is 59.
• Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, is 55.
• Tennis Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport is 49.
• TV personality-host Maria Menounos is 47.
• Country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson is 47.
• Guitarist-songwriter Derek Trucks is 46.
• Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters is 42.
• U.S. Olympic track gold medalist Athing Mu-Nikolayev is 23.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration must give migrants sent to an El Salvador prison a chance to challenge their removals.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg said that people who were sent to the prison in March under an 18th-century wartime law haven’t been able to formally contest the removals or allegations that they are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He ordered the administration to work toward giving them a way to file those challenges.

The ruling is the latest milestone in a monthslong legal saga over the fate of deportees imprisoned at El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center.

By JOCELYN GECKER, AP Education Writer

To attract the brightest minds to America, President Donald Trump proposed a novel idea while campaigning: If elected, he would grant green cards to all foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges.

“It’s so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools,” Trump said during a podcast interview last June. “That is going to end on Day One.”

That promise never came to pass. Trump’s stance on welcoming foreign students has shifted dramatically. International students have found themselves at the center of an escalating campaign to kick them out or keep them from coming as his administration merges a crackdown on immigration with an effort to reshape higher education.

An avalanche of policies from the Trump administration — such as terminating students’ ability to study in the U.S., halting all new student visa interviews, moving to block foreign enrollment at Harvard — have triggered lawsuits, countersuits and confusion for international students who say they feel targeted on multiple fronts.

In interviews, students from around the world described how it feels to be an international student today in America. Their accounts highlight pervasive feelings of fear, anxiety and insecurity that have made them more cautious in their daily lives, distracted them from schoolwork and prompted many to cancel trips home because they fear not being allowed to return.

For many, the last few months have forced them to rethink their dreams of building a life in America.

A standout student from Latvia feels ‘expendable’

Markuss Saule, a freshman at Brigham Young University-Idaho, took a recent trip home to Latvia and spent the entire flight back to the U.S. in a state of panic.

For hours, he scrubbed his phone, uninstalling all social media, deleting anything that touched on politics or could be construed as anti-Trump.

“That whole 10-hour flight, where I was debating, ‘Will they let me in?’ — it definitely killed me a little bit,” said Saule, a business analytics major. “It was terrifying.”

Saule is the type of international student the U.S. has coveted. As a high schooler in Latvia, he qualified for a competitive, merit-based exchange program funded by the U.S. State Department. He spent a year of high school in Minnesota, falling in love with America and a classmate who is now his fiancee. He just ended his freshman year in college with a 4.0 GPA.

But the alarm he felt on that flight crushed what was left of his American dream.

“If you had asked me at the end of 2024 what my plans were, it was to get married, find a great job here in the U.S. and start a family,” said Saule, who hopes to work as a business data analyst. “Those plans are not applicable anymore. Ask me now, and the plan to leave this place as soon as possible.”

Saule and his fiancee plan to marry this summer, graduate a year early and move to Europe.

This spring the Trump administration abruptly revoked permission to study in the U.S. for thousands of international students before reversing itself. A federal judge has blocked further status terminations, but for many, the damage is done. Saule has a constant fear he could be next.

As a student in Minnesota just three years ago, he felt like a proud ambassador for his country.

“Now I feel a sense of inferiority. I feel that I am expendable, that I am purely an appendage that is maybe getting cut off soon,” he said. Trump’s policies carry a clear subtext. “The policies, what they tell me is simple. It is one word: Leave.”

From dreaming of working at NASA to ‘doomscrolling’ job listings in India

A concern for attracting the world’s top students was raised in the interview Trump gave last June on the podcast “All-In.” Can you promise, Trump was asked, to give companies more ability “to import the best and brightest” students?

“I do promise,” Trump answered. Green cards, he said, would be handed out with diplomas to any foreign student who gets a college or graduate degree.

Trump said he knew stories of “brilliant” graduates who wanted to stay in the U.S. to work but couldn’t. “They go back to India, they go back to China” and become multi-billionaires, employing thousands of people. “That is going to end on Day One.”

Had Trump followed through with that pledge, a 24-year-old Indian physics major named Avi would not be afraid of losing everything he has worked toward.

After six years in Arizona, where Avi attended college and is now working as an engineer, the U.S. feels like a second home. He dreams of working at NASA or in a national lab and staying in America where he has several relatives.

But now he is too afraid to fly to Chicago to see them, rattled by news of foreigners being harassed at immigration centers and airports.

“Do I risk seeing my family or risk deportation?” said Avi, who asked to be identified by his first name, fearing retribution.

Avi is one of about 240,000 people on student visas in the U.S. on Optional Practical Training — a postgraduation period where students are authorized to work in fields related to their degrees for up to three years. A key Trump nominee has said he would like to see an end to postgraduate work authorization for international students.

Avi’s visa is valid until next year but he feels “a massive amount of uncertainty.”

He wonders if he can sign a lease on a new apartment. Even his daily commute feels different.

“I drive to work every morning, 10 miles an hour under speed limit to avoid getting pulled over,” said Avi, who hopes to stay in the U.S. but is casting a wider net. “I spend a lot of time doomscrolling job listings in India and other places.”

A Ukrainian chose college in America over joining the fight at home — for now

Vladyslav Plyaka came to the U.S. from Ukraine as an exchange student in high school. As war broke out at home, he stayed to attend the University of Wisconsin.

He was planning to visit Poland to see his mother but if he leaves the U.S., he would need to reapply for a visa. He doesn’t know when that will be possible now that visa appointments are suspended, and he doesn’t feel safe leaving the country anyway.

He feels grateful for the education, but without renewing his visa, he’ll be stuck in the U.S. at least two more years while he finishes his degree. He sometimes wonders if he would be willing to risk leaving his education in the United States — something he worked for years to achieve — if something happened to his family.

“It’s hard because every day I have to think about my family, if everything is going to be all right,” he said.

It took him three tries to win a scholarship to study in the U.S. Having that cut short because of visa problems would undermine the sacrifice he made to be here. He sometimes feels guilty that he isn’t at home fighting for his country, but he knows there’s value in gaining an education in America.

“I decided to stay here just because of how good the college education is,” he said. “If it was not good, I probably would be on the front lines.”

AP Education Writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael Wacha said he had plenty left if needed.

Wacha had the fourth-longest no-hit bid of his career Saturday before yielding a one-out hit to Colt Keith in the seventh inning of the Kansas City Royals’ 1-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Wacha did not factor in the decision, but he had his best outing of his two seasons with the Royals.

When asked if he would have given Wacha a chance to complete the game if the no-hitter was intact, Quatraro said, “I was hoping he would do it. He had six days off between his last outing and this one. He’s got some extra rest before the next one, if everything stays the way it is. So I was hoping we’d get to go for it.”

Before Keith’s hit, Wacha allowed only one baserunner on a fourth-inning walk to Gleyber Torres. He did not allow a runner to reach second base in seven innings.

“Obviously, I knew what was going on,” Wacha said of his no-hit bid. “I was just continuing to try to keep taking it to another level and keep making my pitches, and keep executing like I had been pretty much all day. I was just try to push it to the back of my mind and keep making quality pitches.”

Quatraro said he allowed himself to enjoy the effort of both pitchers, in spite of the scoreless game.

“You can appreciate the game, right?” he said. “I mean, you’ve got two really good pitchers out there, two good teams, and that’s a fun game. Sure, I would have rather been up 7-0 and not had to worry about it, but I did appreciate what was going on.”

Vinnie Pasquantino’s eighth-inning single drove in Nick Loftin from second for the game’s only run, as Wacha and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal both spun gems.

Loftin one-hopped the wall with what he originally thought was a homer.

“I just probably one of my better balls that I’ve hit here,” said Loftin, who had two of Kansas City’s four hits. “Quite frankly, I didn’t realize how big that ballpark was.”

Wacha has never thrown a no-hitter in his professional career, but he was ready to give it a try if he still had a chance.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I would not want to leave a game like that for sure. But unfortunately, I gave up a hit. That made it a little easier for Q.”

— By DAVID SMALE, Associated Press

A Michigan man who had a key role in building one of the longest bridges in the United States has been buried 15 years after his death after a funeral home near the iconic structure surprised the public by saying it still had his ashes.

Larry Rubin was laid to rest Wednesday in Petoskey, 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's two peninsulas.

For decades, Rubin was the senior staff member at the Mackinac Bridge Authority, which manages the bridge, a 5-mile (8 km) span over the Straits of Mackinac that is considered the third-longest suspension bridge in the U.S. It opened in 1957.

When the bridge was built, "he had an important role because the Authority needed someone to carry out their decisions. He served with excellence, Barbara Brown, a former board member, said Friday.

Brown said she was just shocked when she saw Rubin's name listed in the St. Ignace newspaper. A funeral home was informing the public that it had many unclaimed cremains. His family apparently didn't pick them up after he died at age 97 in 2010.

Val Meyerson of Temple Bnai Israel in Petoskey was familiar with the Jewish section of Greenwood Cemetery and aware that Rubin's first wife, Olga, was buried there in 1990. His name was already on the headstone in anticipation of eventual death.

Meyerson said friends from the Bridge Authority helped pay for Rubin's interment. About two dozen people attended a graveside service led by a rabbi.

We all took turns filling in the grave, which was quite an honor," Brown said. To have been neglected and forgotten for so long it was moving."

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) A Chinese national who was charged with voting illegally in Michigan last fall has fled the U.S., federal authorities said Friday.

The man, who is not a U.S. citizen, had surrendered his Chinese passport in November and was told not to leave Michigan. But he traveled to China from Detroit in January by showing another passport, the FBI said in a court filing.

An arrest warrant was issued in April after he failed to appear at two court hearings in Ann Arbor, where he had been a student at the University of Michigan. He was facing charges of perjury and attempting to vote as an unauthorized elector, a felony.

Only citizens can vote in federal elections, and every voter must attest to U.S. citizenship when registering. The student was accused of lying about his citizenship when he registered to vote and then casting a ballot during an early voting period.

He now faces a federal charge, though the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China.

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says President Donald Trump would be going back on his word to her if he pardoned two men who are serving prison sentences for leading a 2020 plot to kidnap her.

Whitmer, a Democrat, told Michigan Public Radio on Thursday that Trump asked her about a month ago how she would feel if he pardoned the two men.

I said, I think it would be the wrong decision, Whitmer recounted. I would oppose it and he said, OK, Ill drop it.

Whitmer, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, recounted the conversation one day after Trump said he was considering a pardon for the men, saying, I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention.

The Republican president said he followed the men's trial and it looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job. He said the men were drinking and I think they said stupid things.

The U.S. Justice Departments new pardon attorney also said this month he would take a hard look at pardoning Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox.

Croft, 49, and Fox, 42, were portrayed as leaders of the kidnapping scheme. They were convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty of a weapons charge.

Croft was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Fox, a Grand Rapids man, got a 16-year term. They are being held at a prison in Colorado the most secure in the federal system.

Whitmer later told an audience following a speech at the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference that she plans to talk to Trump again about the pardoning matter.

We have an ongoing dialogue now ... very different from the first term, she said about Trump and turned to smile at the audience.

A spokesperson said the White House cannot confirm nor deny any upcoming actions.

The White House does not comment on the Presidents private meetings, and any speculation about future pardons is just thatspeculation," principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement.

Whitmer and Trump clashed publicly during his first term, with Trump referring to her as that woman from Michigan. She has blamed Trump for the political anger that motivated the plot to kidnap her right before the 2020 presidential election.

Whitmer also hinted Thursday at anger over the possibility of pardons, saying she was disappointed to hear the news he was considering it.

No one should hesitate to condemn political violence, she said, noting the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiros residence and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last year.

Whitmer has faced scrutiny from some Democrats for taking a more collaborative approach to the Trump administration in his second term.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who has criticized Whitmer for working with and appearing with Trump, said releasing the convicted men is no laughing matter.

The reward you get for cozying up to Trump is him threatening to pardon the terrorists who plotted to kidnap and murder you, she said on social media.

Whitmer's collaboration with Trump has come with several awkward moments for her this year, including when she was unexpectedly in the Oval Office during a press conference as Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate two former members of his previous administration who had publicly criticized him.

Their new dynamic also led to some wins for her administration, including securing new jets at a military air base in Michigan and a commitment from Trump to fund a project to protect Lake Michigan from invasive carp.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures in recent weeks received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.

A White House official confirmed the investigation Friday and said the White House takes cybersecurity of its staff seriously. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that senators, governors, business leaders and others began receiving text messages and phone calls from someone who seemed to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles’ personal cellphone. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles number, the newspaper reported.

Some of those who received calls heard a voice that sounded like Wiles that may have been generated by artificial intelligence, according to the report. Some received text messages that they initially thought were official White House requests but some people reported the messages did not sound like Wiles.

The FBI warned in a public service announcement this month of a “malicious text and voice messaging campaign” in which unidentified “malicious actors” have been impersonating senior U.S. government officials.

The scheme, according to the FBI, has relied on text messages and AI-generated voice messages that purport to come from a senior U.S. official and that aim to dupe other government officials as well as the victim’s associates and contacts.

“Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement Friday.

It is unclear how someone gained access to Wiles’ phone, but the intrusion is the latest security breach for Trump staffers. Last year, Iran hacked into Trump’s campaign and sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed, including a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, created before he was selected as Trump’s running mate.

Wiles, who served as a co-manager of Trump’s campaign before taking on the lynchpin role in his new administration, has amassed a powerful network of contacts.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

By JESSICA DAMIANO

What’s the deal with the Chelsea Chop? Are you gardeners familiar with it?

After hearing about it recently, I did a bit of research. The earliest reference I could find dates back to the early 2000s, so it might appear I’m late to the party, but I’m not — and you might not be, either.

After all, the pruning method, named for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, which is held every May in the U.K., is one I’ve been practicing and advocating for all along, without the garden show tie-in. But things with catchy names tend to take on a life of their own, as the Chelsea Chop has on social media.

And that’s a good thing because it popularizes a useful technique.

What’s involved in the chop

The method involves pruning certain perennials — those with clumping roots, like coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago), sneezeweed (Helenium), Salvia and yarrow (Achillea) — by cutting each stem back by one-third to one-half its height in spring. Cuts should be made on the diagonal, just above a leaf node.

The “chop” forces plants to produce bushier growth, resulting in sturdier, tighter and fuller plants that aren’t as likely to grow leggy, require staking or flop over by the end of the season. It also delays blooming, which can benefit the late-summer garden.

You might get creative and prune only alternate stems so that some bloom earlier and others later — or prune only half of your plants — to extend the blooming season.

Do not attempt this with one-time bloomers, single-stemmed plants or those with woody stems; the amputations would be homicidal to the current season’s flowers.

When should you chop?

Gardeners should consider their climate and prune when their plants have grown to half their expected seasonal height, whenever that may be. (The Chelsea Chop is done at different times in different places, depending on plant emergence and growth.)

A variation for late-summer and fall bloomers

To take things a step further, some late-summer and fall bloomers, like Joe Pye weed, chrysanthemum and aster, would benefit from three annual chops.

In my zone 7, suburban New York garden, that means cutting them back by one-third each in the beginning of June, middle of June and middle of July. Customize the schedule for your garden by shifting one or two weeks earlier per warmer zone and later per cooler zone, taking the season’s growth and size of your plants into account. Make the first cuts when plants reach half their expected size, the second two weeks later and the third about a month after that.

I’d like this fall-plant pruning tip to catch on as well as the Chelsea Chop has. Maybe I should call it the Damiano Downsize and see what happens.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

By TERRY TANG

Chef Phila Lorn was not necessarily aiming for “quote-unquote authentic” Cambodian food when he opened Mawn in his native Philadelphia two years ago. So when he approached some Cambodian teen patrons, he braced himself for questioning.

“Someone’s going to say something like, ‘That’s not how my mom makes her oxtail soup,’” Lorn said. “So I walk up to the table. I’m like, ‘How is everything?’ And the kid looks up to me and he goes, ‘It doesn’t even matter, dude. So glad you’re here.’”

It was at that moment that Lorn realized Mawn — the phonetic spelling of the Khmer word for “chicken” — was more than a noodle shop. It meant representation.

In June, he will be representing his dual cultures — Cambodian and Philly — at his first James Beard Awards, as a nominee for Best Emerging Chef. In the food world, it’s akin to getting nominated for the Academy Awards.

Cambodian restaurants may not be as commonplace in the U.S. as Chinese takeout or sushi spots. And Cambodian food is often lazily lumped in with the food of its Southeast Asian neighbors, despite its own distinctness. But in recent years, enterprising Cambodian American chefs have come into their own, introducing traditional dishes or putting their own twist on them.

Many of them were raised in families who fled the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror, which began 50 years ago and killed about 1.7 million people. Since then, the Cambodian community in the U.S. has grown and set down roots.

Through food, these chefs are putting the attention back on Cambodian heritage and culture, rather than that traumatic history.

Dr. Leakhena Nou, a sociology professor at California State University, Long Beach who has studied social anxiety among post-Khmer Rouge generations, says the Cambodian diaspora is often seen by others too narrowly through the lens of victimhood. In 2022, she publicly opposed California legislation that focused only on genocide for a K-12 curriculum on Cambodian culture.

“It’s a part of their history so they shouldn’t run away from it but at the same time they should force others to understand that that’s not the only part of their heritage, their historical identity,” she said.

What is Cambodian cuisine?

Cambodian food has sometimes been hastily labeled as a mild mix of Thai and Vietnamese with some Chinese and Indian influence. But, it has its own native spices and flavors that have been used throughout Southeast Asia. Khmer food emphasizes seafood and meats, vegetables, noodles, rice and fermentation. Salty and sour are prevalent tastes, Nou says.

“It’s actually a very healthy diet for the most part in terms of fresh vegetables. Cambodians love to eat fresh vegetables dipped with some sauce,” Nou said.

Signature dishes include amok, a fish curry; lok lak, stir-fried marinated beef; and samlar koko, a soup made using seasonal produce. Nou recalls her father making it with pork bone broth, fish, fresh coconut milk, lemongrass, vegetables and even wildflowers.

Cambodian migration to the U.S.

It was a half-century ago, on April 15, 1975, that the communist Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. For the next four years, an estimated one-quarter of the population was wiped out due to starvation, execution and illness.

Refugees came in waves to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. Most took on low-level entry jobs with few language barriers, Nou said. These included manufacturing, meatpacking and agricultural labor. Many worked in Chinese restaurants and doughnut shops.

The U.S. Cambodian population has jumped 50% in the last 20 years to an estimated 360,000 people, according to the Census 2023 American Community Survey.

Cooking Cambodian American

Lorn’s family settled in Philadelphia in 1985. The only child born in the U.S., he was named after the city (but pronounced pee-LAH’). Like a lot of Asian American kids, Lorn was “the smelly kid” teased for not-American food in his lunch. But, he said, defending his lunchbox made him stronger. And he got the last laugh.

“It’s cool now to be 38 and have that same lunchbox (food) but on plates and we’re selling it for $50 a plate,” said Lorn, who opened Mawn with wife Rachel after they both had worked at other restaurants.

Indeed, besides popular noodle soups, Mawn has plates like the $60 steak and prohok, a 20-ounce ribeye with Cambodian chimichurri. Prohok is Cambodian fermented fish paste. Lorn’s version has lime juice, kulantro, Thai eggplants and roasted mudfish.

It sounds unappetizing, Lorn admits, “but everyone who takes a piece of rare steak, dips and eats it is just like, ‘OK, so let me know more about this food.’”

May, which is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and when Cambodia conducts a Day of Remembrance, is also when Long Beach has Cambodian Restaurant Week. The city is home to the largest concentration of Cambodians outside of Cambodia.

Chad Phuong, operator of Battambong BBQ pop-up, was a participant.

Phuong came to Long Beach as a child after fleeing the Khmer Rouge, which murdered his father. After high school, he worked at a Texas slaughterhouse and learned about cutting meats and barbecue. In 2020, he pivoted from working in the medical field to grilling.

Known as “Cambodian Cowboy,” he has been profiled locally and nationally for brisket, ribs and other meats using a dry rub with Cambodian Kampot pepper, “one of the most expensive black peppers in the world.” There’s also sausage with fermented rice and sides like coconut corn.

The pitmaster recently started mentoring younger vendors. Contributing to the community feels like building a legacy.

“It just gives me a lot of courage to present my food,” Phuong said. “We don’t need to talk about the past or the trauma. Yes, it happened, but we’re moving on. We want something better.”

More Cambodian-run establishments have flourished. In 2023, Lowell, Massachusetts, mayor Sokhary Chau, the country’s first Cambodian American mayor, awarded a citation to Red Rose restaurant for being a Beard semifinalist. This year, Koffeteria bakery in Houston, Sophon restaurant in Seattle and chef Nite Yun of San Francisco’s Lunette Cambodia earned semifinalist nods.

Lorn, an admirer of San Francisco’s Yun, says he still feels imposter syndrome.

“I feel like I’m more Ray Liotta than Nite Yun,” said Lorn. “Whether we win or not, to me, honestly, I won already.”

Meanwhile, he is preparing to open a Southeast Asian oyster bar called Sao. It’s not intended to be Cambodian, just a reflection of him.

“I don’t want to be pigeonholed,” Lorn said. “And it’s not me turning from my people. It’s just me keeping it real for my people.”

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and MARC LEVY

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.

Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.

Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country’s supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security.

Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U.S. since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect U.S. manufacturing.

U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed “partnership” but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.

State and federal lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter describe a deal in which Nippon will buy U.S. Steel and spend billions on U.S. Steel facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota. The company would be overseen by an executive suite and board made up mostly of Americans and protected by the U.S. government’s veto power in the form of a “golden share.”

In the absence of clear details or affirmation from the companies involved, the United Steelworkers union, which has long opposed the deal, this week questioned whether the new arrangement makes “any meaningful change” from the initial proposal.

“Nippon has maintained consistently that it would only invest in U.S. Steel’s facilities if it owned the company outright,” the union said in a statement. “We’ve seen nothing in the reporting over the past few days suggesting that Nippon has walked back from this position.”

The White House did not offer any new details Thursday. U.S. Steel did not respond to messages seeking information. Nippon Steel also declined to comment.

No matter the terms, the issue has outsized importance for Trump, who last year repeatedly said he would block the deal and foreign ownership of U.S. Steel, as did former President Joe Biden.

Trump promised during the campaign to make the revitalization of American manufacturing a priority of his second term in office. And the fate of U.S. Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, could become a political liability in the midterm elections for his Republican Party in the swing state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states dependent on industrial manufacturing.

Trump said Sunday he wouldn’t approve the deal if U.S. Steel did not remain under U.S. control and said it will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh.

In an interview on Fox News Channel on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Dan Meuser called the arrangement “strictly an investment, a strategic partnership where it’s American-owned, American run and remains in America.”

However, Meuser said he hadn’t seen the deal and added that “it’s still being structured.”

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. David McCormick came out in favor of the plan, calling it “great” for the domestic steel industry, Pennsylvania, national security and U.S. Steel’s employees. A bipartisan group of senators, joined by then-Senate candidate McCormick, had opposed Nippon Steel’s initial proposed purchase of U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion after it was announced in late 2023.

In recent days, Trump and other American officials began touting Nippon Steel’s new commitment to invest $14 billion on top of its $14.9 billion bid, including building a new electric arc furnace steel mill somewhere in the U.S.

Pennsylvania’s other senator, Democrat John Fetterman — who lives across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Steel Works blast furnace — didn’t explicitly endorse the new proposal. But he said he had helped jam up Nippon Steel’s original bid until “Nippon coughed up an extra $14B.”

The planned “golden share” for the U.S. amounts to three board members approved by the U.S. government, which will essentially ensure that U.S. Steel can only make decisions that’ll be in the best interests of the United States, McCormick said Tuesday on Fox News.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is seen as a potential presidential candidate, had largely refrained from publicly endorsing a deal but said at a news conference this week that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the arrangement.

In an interview published Thursday in the conservative Washington Examiner, Shapiro said: “The deal has gotten better. The prospects for the future of steelmaking have gotten better.”

Chris Kelly, the mayor of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel’s Irvin finishing plant is located, said he was “ecstatic” about the deal, though he acknowledged some details were unknown. He said it will save thousands of jobs for his community.

“It’s like a reprieve from taking steel out of Pittsburgh,” he said.

Price reported from Washington. AP writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency posted new recommendations that say healthy children may get COVID-19 vaccinations, removing language that said kids should get the shots.

The change comes days after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.

But the updated guidance on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website does not appear to end recommendations for vaccination of pregnant women, a change that was heavily criticized by medical and public health experts.

CDC and HHS officials did not immediately respond to questions about the new guidance.

Kennedy announced the coming changes in a 58-second video posted on the social media site X on Tuesday. No one from the CDC was in the video, and CDC officials referred questions about the announcement to Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

On Thursday, the CDC updated its website. The agency said that shots may be given to children ages 6 months to 17 years who do not have moderate or severe problems with their immune systems. Instead of recommending the shots, the CDC page now says parents may decide to get their children vaccinated in consultation with a doctor.

That kind of recommendation, known as shared decision-making, still means health insurers must pay for the vaccinations, according to the CDC. However, experts say vaccination rates tend to be lower when health authorities use that language and doctors are less emphatic with patients about getting shots.

Childhood vaccination rates for COVID-19 are already low — just 13% of children and 23% of adults have received the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data.

Talk of changing the recommendations has been brewing. As the COVID-19 pandemic has waned, experts have discussed the possibility of focusing vaccination efforts on people 65 and older — who are among those most as risk for death and hospitalization.

A CDC advisory panel is set to meet in June to make recommendations about the fall shots. Among its options are suggesting shots for high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice to get vaccinated. A committee work group has endorsed the idea.

But Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine advocate before becoming health secretary, decided not to wait for the scientific panel’s review.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.