AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Elon Musk to buy Twitter for $44B and take it private

Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers.

The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated “spam” accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the 50-year-old Musk said, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis in a tweet that highlighted the statement.

The more hands-off approach to content moderation that Musk envisions has many users concerned that the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation, hate speech and bullying, something it has worked hard in recent years to mitigate. Wall Street analysts said if he goes too far, it could also alienate advertisers.

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The AP Interview: Kyiv wants UN to seek Mariupol evacuation

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign minister on Monday urged the U.N. chief to press Russia for an evacuation of the besieged port of Mariupol, calling it something the world body is capable of achieving.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Associated Press in an interview he was concerned that by visiting Moscow on Tuesday before traveling to Kyiv, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could be vulnerable to falling into a Kremlin “trap” in the war.

“Many other foreign officials were trapped visiting Moscow and played around just to show the supremacy of Russian diplomacy and how great they are and how they dictate the world how to behave,” he said.

Guterres “should focus primarily on one issue: evacuation of Mariupol,” Kuleba said, referring to the the seaside city where an estimated 100,000 people are trapped while a contingent of Ukrainian fighters hold out against Russian forces in a steel mill where hundreds of civilians also are taking shelter.

“This is really something that the U.N. is capable to do. And if he demonstrates political will, character and integrity, I hope that will allow us to make one step forward,” he said.

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Russia hits faraway targets; diplomat warns of risk of WWIII

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed a string of attacks Monday against rail and fuel installations deep inside Ukraine, far from the front lines of Moscow’s new eastern offensive, as Russia’s top diplomat warned against provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.”

The U.S., meanwhile, moved to rush more weaponry to Ukraine and said the assistance from the Western allies is making a difference in the 2-month-old war.

“Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared, a day after he and the U.S. secretary of defense made a bold visit to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Blinken said Washington approveda $165 million sale of ammunition — non-U.S. ammo, mainly if not entirely for Ukraine’s Soviet-era weapons — and will also provide more than $300 million in financing to buy more supplies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took his comments further, saying that while the U.S. wants to see Ukraine remain a sovereign, democratic country, it also wants “to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”

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White House: Without funding US will lose COVID treatments

WASHINGTON (AP) — For much of the past two years, America has been first in line for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Now, as drugmakers develop the next generation of therapies, the White House is warning that if Congress doesn’t act urgently the U.S. will have to take a number.

Already the congressional stalemate over virus funding has forced the federal government to curtail free treatment for the uninsured and to ration monoclonal antibody supplies. And Biden administration officials are expressing increasing alarm that the U.S. is also losing out on critical opportunities to secure booster doses and new antiviral pills that could help the country maintain its reemerging sense of normalcy, even in the face of potential new variants and case spikes.

Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Hong Kong have all placed orders for treatments and vaccine doses that the U.S. can’t yet commit to, according to the White House.

Months ago, the White House began warning that the country had spent through the money in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was dedicated directly to COVID-19 response. It requested an additional $22.5 billion for what it called “urgent” needs in both the U.S. and abroad.

The Senate last month closed in on smaller $10 billion package focused on domestic needs. But even that deal fell apart as lawmakers objected to an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it would end Trump-era border restrictions related to the pandemic.

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Judge finds Donald Trump in contempt in New York legal fight

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court and set in motion $10,000 daily fines Monday for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.

Judge Arthur Engoron said a contempt finding was appropriate because Trump and his lawyers hadn’t shown they had conducted a proper search for records sought by the subpoena.

“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously,” Engoron said in a Manhattan courtroom that was packed with reporters, but absent of Trump. “I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day” until the terms of the subpoena are met.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Trump in contempt after he failed to produce any documents to satisfy a March 31 court-imposed deadline to meet the terms of the subpoena.

Trump, a Republican, has been fighting James in court over her investigation, which he has called a politically motivated “witch hunt.” During oral arguments Monday, Trump attorney Alina Habba said that “Donald Trump does not believe he is above the law.”

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French President Macron reelected: What’s happening next?

PARIS (AP) — After winning another five years in the French presidential palace, Emmanuel Macron intends to go back to work straightaway on domestic and foreign policy — but he will soon face crucial parliamentary elections where he may struggle to keep his majority.

Here’s a look at what comes next for Macron and his leadership of France.

INAUGURATION CEREMONY

The Constitutional Council will publish the presidential election’s official results on Wednesday and Macron will hold a Cabinet meeting.

Macron will then need to set a date for his inauguration ceremony, which must be held by May 13, at the Elysee Palace. He will receive the National Guards’ honors and make a speech.

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Michigan chief IDs officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoyawith a shot to the headhas been with the Grand Rapids department for seven years, after starring as a pole vaulter at a small college and marrying his longtime girlfriend during a church mission trip to Africa.

Christopher Schurr’s name had been circulating since his face was seen in videos of the April 4 confrontation with Lyoya, a Black man. But his identity wasn’t publicly acknowledged until Monday when the police chief changed course and released it, three days after passionate demands at the funeral of the 26-year-old native of Congo.

Chief Eric Winstrom said he was acting “in the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion,” though no other information about Schurr’s service with the department was released.

Lyoya, who was unarmed, was face down on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head, moments after a traffic stop in Michigan’s second-largest city. Schurr was on top of him and can be heard on video demanding that he take his hand off the white officer’s Taser.

A forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy at the family’s request said the gun was pressed to Lyoya’s head when he was shot.

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Melissa Lucio’s execution delayed by Texas appeals court

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas appeals court on Monday delayed the execution of Melissa Lucio amid growing doubts about whether she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter in a case that has garnered the support of lawmakers, celebrities and even some jurors who sentenced her to death.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request by Lucio’s lawyers for a stay of execution so a lower court can reviewher claims that new evidence would exonerate her.

Lucio had been set for lethal injection Wednesday for the 2007 death of her daughter Mariah in Harlingen, a city of about 75,000 in Texas’ southern tip.

Prosecutors have maintained that the girl was the victim of abuse and noted that her body was covered in bruises. Lucio’s lawyers say Mariah died from injuries she sustained in a fall down a steep staircase several days before she died.

“I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence,” Lucio said in a statement provided by her lawyers. “Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren. I will use my time to help bring them to Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf.”

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Parents sue after death of teen from Florida drop-tower ride

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from a 430-foot (131-meter) drop-tower ride in central Florida’s tourist district sued its owner, manufacturer and landlord on Monday, claiming they were negligent and failed to provide a safe amusement ride.

The parents of Tyre Sampson said in the lawsuit filed in state court in Orlando that the defendants failed to warn their 6-foot-2-inch (188-centimeter), 380-pound (172-kilogram) son about the risks of someone of his size going on the ride and didn’t provide an appropriate restraint system on the ride.

While most free-fall rides have a shoulder harness and a seatbelt, the Orlando Free Fall ride had only an over-the-shoulder harness. Adding seatbelts to the ride’s 30 seats would have cost $660, the lawsuit said.

At the time of the accident last month, Sampson was on spring break, visiting from the St. Louis area.

“The defendants in Tyre’s case showed negligence in a multitude of ways,” said attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Sampson’s family. “From the ride and seat manufacturers and the installer to the owners and operators, the defendants had more than enough chances to enact safeguards, such as seatbelts, that could have prevented Tyre’s death.”

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Weary of many disasters? UN says worse to come

A disaster-weary globe will be hit harder in the coming years by even more catastrophes colliding in an interconnected world, a United Nations report issued Monday says.

If current trends continue the world will go from around 400 disasters per year in 2015 to an onslaught of about 560 catastrophes a year by 2030, the scientific report by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reductionsaid. By comparison from 1970 to 2000, the world suffered just 90 to 100 medium to large scale disasters a year, the report said.

The number of extreme heat waves in 2030 will be three times what it was in 2001 and there will be 30% more droughts, the report predicted. It’s not just natural disasters amplified by climate change, it’s COVID-19, economic meltdowns and food shortages. Climate change has a huge footprint in the number of disasters, report authors said.

People have not grasped how much disasters already cost today, said Mami Mizutori, chief of the UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction, “If we don’t get ahead of the curve it will reach a point where we cannot manage the consequences of disaster,” she said. “We’re just in this vicious cycle.”

That means society needs to rethink how it finances, handles and talks about the risk of disasters and what it values the most, the report said. About 90% of the spending on disasters currently is emergency relief with only 6% on reconstruction and 4% on prevention, Mizutori said in an interview Monday.