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China's Xi arrives in Washington, kicking off his state visit with rare planeside welcome from Trump
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from President Donald Trump, who was there to welcome his counterpart instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House.
Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China's leader as he made his first state visit to the U.S. capital in more than a decade.
A 100-foot long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi's plane. A 21-person honor guard was arrayed on the sides of the carpet and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood near a staircase on the side of the plane, where they greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, with handshakes.
Two American children presented bouquets of yellow-colored flowers to Xi and his wife. The welcome ceremony also included a flyover by two B-1 bombers, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries. Trump and his wife spoke to their counterparts, but their words could not be heard. Trump, who wore gloves and an overcoat though it was a relatively warm 63 degrees Fahrenheit outside, removed one of his gloves to shake hands with Xi. At one point, he slapped Xi on the back and said something to him that was inaudible.
"I think they appreciate it, tremendous people," Trump said to reporters after he returned to the White House Wednesday evening.
In a statement marking his arrival in the U.S., China's leader wrote that his country and the U.S. "should be partners, not rivals. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand and the two countries can contribute to each other's success, thereby benefiting the wider world."
The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump's May visit to China.
But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump's war with Iran and China's designs on Taiwan.
Venezuela's acting leader, at UN for first address, praises Trump for 'readiness' to resume ties
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly for the first time since coming to power, Venezuela's acting president said her country is coming back strong after "setbacks" suffered this year and thanked President Donald Trump for being willing to resume relations after the U.S. military spirited her predecessor out of the country.
"Today, Venezuela is being reborn," Delcy Rodriguez said in her remarks to the international forum.
Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
This is the first trip to the United States by a Venezuelan head of state since 2018, when Maduro traveled to New York to participate in the U.N. General Assembly himself. He is currently being held only a few miles from the organization's headquarters as he awaits trial.
"I do not promise you an easy way forward," Rodriguez said, saying she was addressing her people "Rebuilding our national soul will be the priority."
Iowa judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Des Moines Register and pollster
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A judge on Wednesday dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit accusing The Des Moines Register and its former pollster of misrepresenting the state of the 2024 presidential race, rejecting the president's claim that the newspaper's poll coverage violated Iowa's consumer fraud law.
Calling the case extraordinary, Iowa District Judge Scott J. Beattie said that allowing the lawsuit and its "faulty" claims to proceed could have a chilling effect that "can discourage others from reporting on and debating public affairs." He sided with pollster J. Ann Selzer and the newspaper in affirming that the poll and coverage of it were constitutionally protected political speech, not a commercial product.
The ruling Wednesday came hours after a judge heard arguments but did not rule from the bench in a case on Trump's ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds. Trump banned the three outlets last Friday, assailing what he called "fake news."
After the ruling in Iowa Wednesday, a spokesman for Trump's legal team said the president will take his case to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Trump filed the lawsuit against Selzer, The Des Moines Register and the newspaper's parent company in December 2024, accusing them of fraudulently publishing inaccurate poll results to damage him and help Democrats, saying coverage of polls is not protected speech.
Trump and his team have filed several lawsuits against media organizations accusing them of bias, calling into question the boundaries of free speech protections, particularly for the press. Some of those lawsuits have ended in settlements.
Selzer's case was taken up by the free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. She said Wednesday she was grateful for the ruling, which "reaffirms the fundamental freedom to pursue and publish the truth without political interference."
"Polling is a social science, not clairvoyance, and no responsible pollster can guarantee an election outcome," Selzer said in a statement.
Selzer's attorneys at FIRE and her co-defendants also celebrated the ruling.
"Today is a victory for the First Amendment -- and for the essential role of a free press in American democracy," Polly Grunfeld Sack, USA Today Co. chief legal counsel, said in a statement. USA Today Co., formerly known as Gannett, owns The Register.
In dismissing the case, Beattie wrote that Trump's lawsuit sought to "stretch both Iowa statutory and common law beyond their current bounds, turning speech that enjoys the highest category of First Amendment protection into a liability." After hearing the arguments, the judge concluded the constitutional protection "is too great and the reach is too far. The case must therefore be dismissed."
New lawsuits allege Six Flags Magic Mountain's X2 roller coaster caused traumatic brain injuries
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Three people who went to California's Six Flags Magic Mountain have filed lawsuits saying they were left with traumatic brain injuries from the park's famed X2 roller coaster that is advertised as the rite of passage for the "ultimate daredevil."
The filings are the latest against the world-famous amusement park operator and S&S Worldwide, the manufacturer of the X2 roller coaster. Six Flags recently settled a wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022.
According to documents filed Monday, Pamela Guillen and her family visited the park in July for her daughter's 16th birthday and decided to ride the X2 roller coaster. When the ride stopped, her daughter saw her "sitting with a vacant stare and her mouth open," confused and unable to exit the ride.
Shortly after she got out, the previously healthy 39-year-old collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where she underwent emergency brain surgery, according to the lawsuit.
Just five days later, 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson boarded the ride with her siblings. She also collapsed shortly after the ride ended and was taken to a hospital, where she was found to have massive brain bleeding inside the skull that required emergency brain surgery. She remains in a vegetative state in the hospital, unable to speak or move and dependent on a ventilator. Her family filed the lawsuit on her behalf.
Their attorney, Gary Dordick, said the firm has been retained by more than 100 clients that suffered brain injuries after riding the X2 roller coaster within the past two years.
"It's inexcusable that more isn't done," Dordick said. "It was known by Magic Mountain that those injuries and deaths occurred and they kept the ride open."
A spokesperson for Six Flags said it's their policy not to comment on pending litigation and the ride has been closed since the evening of July 12.
According to the Six Flags Magic Mountain website, the X2 roller coaster reaches a top speed of 76 mph and has a total length of 3,610 feet. The seats rotate 360 degrees "so your body will be flipping around the entire time," and the ride features two "raven turns" -- half loops that turn into sheer drops midway. It debuted at the park in 2002 as X and reopened in 2008 as X2 with new trains and special effects.
Dolly Parton's estate granted temporary restraining order against singer's nephew
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee judge granted Dolly Parton's estate a temporary restraining order Wednesday against the late singer's nephew Bryan Seaver and his private security company.
She's Alive, the entity founded to manage and protect Parton's estate, had filed the complaint against Seaver and Squadron Augmented Protection Services a day prior. The estate accused Seaver of threatening to commit violence and destroy his aunt's legacy and business empire in court filings.
The order says the court took into account the repeated threats cited in the complaint, as well as the alleged demands for payment and Seaver's "claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate." It describes the communications as "concerning," specifically noting the threat to use force.
As part of the order, Seaver and his company SAPS, which provided Parton's security detail, must refrain from entering any She's Alive property or talking with or being within 1,000 feet of She's Alive employees and business partners. The order is also meant to keep Seaver from interfering with its business relationships.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Seaver, who was handpicked by the star to announce her death from cancer last month, did not respond to an email Wednesday from The Associated Press requesting comment on the order being granted.
Representatives for SAPS also did not respond, and no one was present at their office in downtown Nashville on Wednesday afternoon. No one came to the door at an address listed in court documents for Seaver in the semi-rural Nashville suburb of Fairview. A woman speaking to a reporter through a doorbell camera declined to comment.
In the temporary restraining order request filed by She's Alive and other court documents, Seaver is accused of sending increasingly threatening messages over the last several weeks. She's Alive is run by Danny Nozell, Parton's longtime manager.
Last week, She's Alive terminated Seaver and SAPS, saying his "terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable," according to court documents.
Mississippi police make 2nd arrest in death of Black woman found hanging from tree, seek 3rd suspect
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Police in Mississippi have arrested a second man in the death of a Black woman found hanging from a tree and have issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect.
Jackson police said late Tuesday that they arrested 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr. in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, whose body was found hanging behind an abandoned home in the city on Aug. 3.
Like Fortune and the first man arrested, 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, Lloyd is Black. He appeared at a brief hearing Wednesday, where he was denied bond.
According to local TV station WLBT, investigators said witnesses directed them to Lloyd, who had allegedly had a physical altercation with Fortune days or minutes before she was killed. Police contend that Lloyd hanged Fortune with a black cable cord, and three co-defendants are also suspected of being involved in her death, the station reported.
Police and the court clerk said Wednesday that they didn't know if Lloyd has a lawyer.
Fortune's mother Christy Spivey, who attended the hearing, said afterward that she was ecstatic to see arrests made in her daughter's death. She said neither she nor several of her daughter's friends knew Lloyd, and she cautioned that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
"My family is not the only family that this is affecting," Spivey said of the defendants' families. "I feel for them as well. The only difference is that mine can never come back."
"I'll never truly have peace," she said.
Ratliff was arrested in September on murder charges. He pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bond. His lawyer, Toney Baldwin, hasn't responded to multiple requests for comment.
Police said in a statement that they issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect, but gave no details about that person's identity or alleged link to Fortune's death. They also said they expect to issue additional warrants.
After Ratliff's arrest, Jackson's police chief, RaShall Brackney, said Ratliff had an "association" with Fortune, but she didn't elaborate.
Lionel Richie is taking a break from performing following a heart procedure
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lionel Richie is taking a break from touring as he recovers from a heart procedure, a representative for the singer confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Richie underwent a common procedure for atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, and the "doctor said everything went perfectly," it read. "Lionel is doing great but will take some time off and will be back on stage soon."
A-fib is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that is a worrisome stage-setter for blood clots, stroke and heart failure. Some researchers believe more than 10 million Americans have it -- most of them older.
The 77-year-old singer also postponed two concerts earlier this year, in June, after falling ill. And in August, reports of Richie checking himself into a hospital after a performance in St. Louis made the rounds online.
Richie was scheduled to perform with Earth, Wind & Fire Saturday in San Francisco, Sept. 30 in Chicago and Oct. 3 in Columbus, Ohio.
According to his website, he is currently scheduled to launch his "King of Hearts" residency shows at Las Vegas' the Wynn in October and November.
The Oscar and four-time Grammy Award-winning Richie launched his career with The Commodores before becoming a successful solo artist. In addition to his well-known hits like "Hello," Richie co-wrote the iconic charity single "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson and has sold over 100 million records. He is also a judge on "American Idol."