Why are teen girls in crisis? It's not just social media
Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst.
Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected.
Adults have theories about what is going on, but what do teens themselves say? Is social media the root of their woes? Are their male peers somehow immune, or part of the problem?
The Associated Press interviewed five girls in four states and agreed to publish only their first names because of the sensitive nature of the topics they discussed. The teens offered sobering 鈥� and sometimes surprising 鈥� insight.
鈥淲e are so strong and we go through so, so much," said Amelia, a 16-year-old Illinois girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon.
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Secret Chinese police station in New York leads to arrests
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Two men were arrested Monday on charges that they helped establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China's national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, authorities said Monday.
The cases are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing's policies and to suppress their speech.
One of three cases announced Monday concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security that had operated inside an office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men who were arrested were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official and deleted communication with that official from their phones after learning of the FBI's probe in an apparent effort to obstruct the inquiry, according to the Justice Department.
Though China is believed to be operating secretive police outposts in countries around the globe, Justice Department officials said these arrests were the first of their kind anywhere in the world.
鈥淭his is a blatant violation of our national sovereignty,鈥� Michael Driscoll, the head of New York's FBI field office, said at a news conference announcing the cases.
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Shooting of Black teen who went to wrong house investigated
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) 鈥� A 16-year-old boy was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers last week when he rang the doorbell of the wrong Kansas City, Missouri, house. A man came to the door and shot Ralph Yarl in the head -- then shot him again.
Now community leaders and an attorney for Yarl鈥檚 family are demanding justice for the Black teen, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital on Sunday, and they are questioning whether race played a role in the shooting.
The Kansas City police chief said an investigation is ongoing but that, so far, race does not appear to be a factor. Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson called a 5 p.m. news conference but didn't immediately say if charges would be filed.
The shooter was taken into custody Thursday but released the next day after consultation with the prosecutor鈥檚 office, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference on Sunday. The firearm used was found at the home, she said.
Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said in a statement Monday that the homeowner should immediately be arrested for what he called a 鈥渉einous and hate-filled crime.鈥�
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Ohio officers won鈥檛 be charged in shooting of Jayland Walker
An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired 94 rounds in the shooting death last year of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who fired at least one shot at officers during a car and foot chase, the state's attorney general announced Monday.
Walker was shot 40 times in a hail of gunfire that lasted just under seven seconds after he jumped out of his still-moving car and ran from police, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Walker ignored commands to stop running and show his hands and then reached for his waistband as officers were chasing and raised his hand, Yost said. Some of the officers first used Tasers before firing their guns, he said.
But the officers, not knowing Walker left his gun in the car, believed he was going to fire again at them, Yost said. Yost said it is critical to remember that Walker had fired at police, and that he 鈥渟hot first.鈥�
Walker鈥檚 death last June sparked protests in Akron after police released body camera footage showing him dying in a hail of gunfire. Activists, including from the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, spoke about his death. The NAACP and an attorney for Walker鈥檚 family called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.
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Alabama town mourns after 4 killed at teen birthday party
DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) 鈥� Students in the tiny Alabama town of Dadeville wore their black and gold school colors Monday as they mourned two seniors who were among four young people killed by gunfire at a Sweet 16 birthday party over the weekend.
Less than six weeks from graduation, faculty, staff and students filed past flags at half-staff to meet counselors waiting to talk about the shooting, which also injured 28 at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio off the courthouse square. The school, with its 485 students in grades 6-12, is central to community life in Dadeville, population 3,200, where 鈥淗ome of the Tigers鈥� is painted on the water tower and local businesses sport signs proclaiming 鈥淭his is Tiger Country.鈥�
Investigators were still trying to piece together what happened at the party, where numerous gunshots left the dance studio's windows pocked with bullet holes. While police sought clues, others said they were tending the community鈥檚 heart.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a tough time for graduation and for these kids," said Heidi Smith, a spokesperson for the 46-bed Lake Martin Community Hospital, where a number of victims were treated. "We will be here for them and their families for the duration.鈥�
The weekend was marked by a series of high-profile shootings in the U.S. One left two people dead and four wounded Saturday in Louisville, Missouri; another resulted in four men being shot 鈥� one fatally 鈥� in Los Angeles; and a third left two women wounded at Lincoln University in southeastern Pennsylvania.
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Fox News-Dominion libel case set to begin after brief delay
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) 鈥� The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company鈥檚 $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News delayed the opening of the trial Monday, raising the prospect that the two sides might attempt to settle before the eagerly watched case goes before a jury.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis suggested the sides try to mediate their dispute, according to a person close to Fox who was not authorized to speak publicly about the status of the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides who appeared in court Monday declined to answer reporters' questions about why it was put off, as did representatives for both companies.
Davis gave no explanation for postponing the trial鈥檚 start until Tuesday, although he did note that delays are common and built into the schedule. Jury selection and opening statements were planned for the first day in a trial that, if it happens, is expected to last six weeks.
鈥淭his is not a press conference," Davis said during Monday's brief hearing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 do that.鈥�
A trial would force Fox to answer for its actions in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election and litigate denial about the outcome of the race in general. The case centers on whether Fox defamed Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the election against then-President Donald Trump.
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Families displaced from California neighborhood seek $2B
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) 鈥� As a child, Lawrance W. McFarland lived on a small piece of land on a Native American reservation in Palm Springs he described as a 鈥渓ittle world of its own,鈥� surrounded by the parts of the city that were tourist magnets and depicted in movies.
The retiree, who now lives in Mississippi, recently recalled seeing houses of the diverse, tight-knit community being torn and burned down in the square-mile area known as Section 14.
鈥淲e thought they were just cleaning up some of the old houses,鈥� he said.
But eventually his family was told to vacate their home, and McFarland, his mother and his younger brother hopped around from house to house before leaving the area altogether and moving to Cabazon, a small town about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Palm Springs.
Decades later, Palm Springs鈥� city council is reckoning with those actions, voting in 2021 to issue a formal apology to former residents for the city鈥檚 role in displacing them from the neighborhood that many Black and Mexican American families called home. But the former residents say that is not enough.
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See the EVs eligible for tax credits - and why most aren't
DETROIT (AP) 鈥� Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday.
But under the Treasury Department rules and other provisions of last year's Inflation Reduction Act, most of the more than 60 electric or plug-in hybrids on sale in the U.S. won't get any tax credits.
That could slow acceptance of electric vehicles and could delay reaching President Joe Biden's ambitious goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.
The new rules, which govern how much battery minerals and parts can come from countries that don't have free trade agreements with the U.S., bumped nine vehicles off the tax credit eligibility list that went into effect Jan. 1.
The 10 vehicles eligible for the full $7,500 credit are Tesla's Model 3 Performance model, the Tesla Model Y, Ford's F-150 Lightning pickup, the Chrysler Pacifica and the Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrids. Also, General Motors will have five models eligible this year including its top-selling Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, as well as the Cadillac Lyriq, the Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup and the upcoming Chevy Equinox small SUV.
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While some students skip college, trade programs are booming
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� It鈥檚 almost 4 p.m. at the Nashville branch of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, and the students in the auto collision repair night class are just starting their school day.
One is sanding the seal off the bed of his 1989 Ford F-350. Another is patiently hammering out a banged-up fender. A third, Cheven Jones, is taking a break from working on his 2003 Lexus IS 300 to chat with some classmates.
While almost every sector of higher education has fewer students registering for classes, many trade programs are thriving. Jones and his classmates, seeking certificates and other short-term credentials 鈥� not associate degrees 鈥� are part of that upswing.
Trade programs are often more affordable than a traditional four-year degree, students note, and, for many, skilled trades offer a more obvious path to a job.
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Muslims around the world consider climate during Ramadan
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) 鈥� In the heart of Jakarta, the grand Istiqlal Mosque was built with a vision for it to stand for a thousand years.
The mosque was conceived by Soekarno, Indonesia鈥檚 founding father, and was designed as an impressive symbol for the country's independence. Its seven gates 鈥� representing the seven heavens in Islam 鈥� welcome visitors from across the archipelago and the world into the mosque's lofty interior.
But they don't just see the light here. It fuels them.
A major renovation in 2019 installed upwards of 500 solar panels on the mosque's expansive roof, now a major and clean source of Istiqlal's electricity. And this Ramadan, the mosque has encouraged an energy waqf 鈥� a type of donation in Islam that continues to bear fruit over time 鈥� to grow its capacity to make renewable power.
Her Pramtama, deputy head of the Ri鈥檃yah 鈥� or building management 鈥� division of Istiqlal Mosque, hopes that Islam's holiest month, when the faithful flock to mosques in greater numbers, can provide momentum to Istiqlal's solar project through donations.
The Associated Press
