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  • U.S. citizen children sent with deported parents face major hurdles trying to return, advocates say

    U.S. citizen children sent with deported parents face major hurdles trying to return, advocates say



    Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Denisse Parra Vargas’ three children — two of them American citizens and one born in Mexico — in Texas last week and, because authorities deported their mother, sent them out of the United States too.

    The administration has responded to blowback from the children’s expulsions and those of other U.S. citizen minors, including a child with cancer and one recovering from a rare brain tumor, by saying the mothers were in the U.S. illegally and chose to take their children with them. The families and their attorneys vehemently disagree that the mothers had a choice.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested in an interview April 27 on “Meet the Press” that the children’s situations are easily fixed.

    “If those children are U.S. citizens,” he said, “they can come back into the United States if there’s their father or someone here who wants to assume them.”

    While attorneys, advocates and researchers agree that U.S. citizens generally have the right to return, they said suggestions that the children can just easily come back to the U.S. gloss over the barriers and difficulties of what that would entail.

    There are many hurdles that families would need to overcome for their U.S. citizen children to be able to return, according to Mich P. González, co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, an immigration and LGBTQ civil rights cooperative. His group and its member organizations has been assisting two families whose mothers were deported from Florida and their children, including three U.S. citizens, who were sent with them.

    González said ICE often confiscates identification documents when deporting people. For example, the 2-year-old U.S. citizen daughter of the Honduran mother González represents had her passport taken away before she left, he said. That means the family would have to get the necessary paperwork from the U.S. to prove the child was born there.

    In many cases, U.S. citizen children don’t have passports in the first place, which are required when returning to the U.S. from a foreign country by air. Children younger than 16 arriving from Canada or Mexico, if they don’t have passports, must have original birth certificates or other specific documents to return to the U.S.

    “They don’t have passports, the two children only have their birth certificates,” said Naiara Leite Da Silva, the attorney representing Parra Vargas. “Not sure if mom has the original or a copy, but she only has the birth certificates, so it would entail a long and convoluted process before they could potentially come back.”

    Finding an authorized guardian who is a U.S. citizen and can travel with the child can also be difficult, González said. Families would have to come up with the money to cover the costs of flying their children back to the U.S. or covering the cost of a guardian at a time when they may be financially strained, attorneys said.

    One of the biggest complications right now, according to González, is any potential risk for the U.S.-based guardian to travel outside the country to go get the child. The administration has ratcheted up the power of border authorities to determine who should be admitted back into the country, even those with legal immigration status.

    “You can risk being stranded outside the United States,” González said. 

    Activists and attorneys said that the nation’s focus should be on whether the children should have been expelled in the first place.

    They argue that the parents may have had options for remaining in the U.S. had they been given a chance to consult with an attorney. In some of the recent cases, attorneys have pointed out that parents could have at least settled the question on whether their children should remain in the U.S. and with whom, before their deportation.

    Leite Da Silva said the Parra Vargas’ family “strongly opposes the government narrative that it was the family’s choice to keep the children with them … they never had the choice of leaving their children in the United States.” Because of that, she refers to the children as “forced expatriates.”

    She said Parra Vargas was “entrapped” because the family alleges they were told to come in for an asylum interview where they would get work authorization papers, and they were told to bring the children with them. According to the attorney, once they were at the appointment and were told they were to be deported, they weren’t allowed to communicate with family members who were in the Pflugerville processing center parking lot and who were legal residents and could have kept the children.

    In response to questions from NBC News, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated via email that if an immigrant in the country illegally is subject to detention, they “will almost assuredly be detained.” DHS had previously stated that Parra Vargas had a deportation order after she failed to appear at a 2019 immigration hearing.

    McLaughlin repeated DHS’ previous statements that parents illegally in the country can “take control of their departure” and leave using an app created by the administration and that the administration is offering those who leave $1,000 and a free flight.

    ICE adopted procedures during the Obama administration — Trump border czar Tom Homan was acting ICE director at the time — to give families time to decide what to do about their citizen children, said Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project. She added that one of the mothers deported from Florida had said she didn’t want her U.S. citizen children to have to leave the country.

    The parents’ decision to keep their child with them or send them back to the U.S. is not so easily reached.

    Parents have to consider whether leaving them behind, sending their child back to the U.S. or even the act of traveling without their parent could further traumatize their child, González said.

    One of the children sent out of the country when her mother was deported to Mexico is 11 and is recovering from a brain tumor.

    “Think about yourself when you were 11. Now think if you had a brain tumor and think about whether you could get to another country without your parents. Would that be feasible for you? We should not be asking kids to do something like that,” said Rochelle Garza, chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and president of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

    Advocates and attorneys are working to petition for humanitarian parole to get the family members who are not citizens back in the U.S. with the girl.

    In general, people who have been deported are not allowed to return to the U.S. for a stretch of time from three years to 10 years, depending on how long they were in the U.S. without legal authorization.

    Generally, parents are more willing to allow older U.S. citizen children, more so than younger children, to remain in the U.S., said Wendy Cervantes, director of immigration and immigrant families at the Center for Law and Social Policy, an anti-poverty group.

    In some of those cases, older children become guardians to younger siblings.

    “I’ve seen cases where families are broken up and the older kids stay here and they might stay with an uncle or an aunt and in some cases if they are close to being 18, they actually are the ones left to care for other children, to keep the house that maybe was purchased (by the parents) and they become these super young adult caregivers,” Cervantes said.

    A look into the ‘de facto deported’

    With younger children who are forced to live in their parents’ homeland either by U.S. government policy and their parents’ decisions, a return to the U.S. could be years away. And much can happen in those years.

    U.S. citizen children who have been deported can face some immediate setbacks when they get to their parents’ home country, said Victor Zúñiga González, a professor of sociology at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, who has studied the migration of U.S.-born children to Mexico and Central America for nearly three decades.

    In addition to adjusting to language and cultural issues, U.S.-born children could have their school enrollments delayed by lack of documentation to establish their legal Mexican citizenship, which is needed to attend school. Mexico grants citizenship to children born abroad to Mexican parents, but official certification is required, a process that Zúñiga said takes less time in the U.S. than in Mexico.

    Parents can face similar issues in other countries, Cervantes said. In Guatemala, requirements for notarized school documents — a process that differs than in the U.S. — can delay school enrollment.

    The population of U.S.-born children living in Mexico between 2000 and 2015 doubled, according to Erin Hamilton, a University of California Davis sociology professor.

    In her study of U.S.-born children living in Mexico in 2014 and 2018, she found 1 in 6, or about 80,000 to 100,000, were there because one or both of their parents were deported, which she and her research colleagues termed “de facto deported.”

    Hamilton found the “de facto deported” children were more likely to be economically disadvantaged than U.S.-born children who migrated to Mexico for other reasons. They also were less likely to be enrolled in primary school and 70% children had no health insurance, compared to 53% of the other U.S.-born children.

    Garza, the civil rights commission chair, asked whether “we really want to have the conversation that it’s OK to remove certain U.S. citizens from the country … creating this fiction that they can come back if they want to.”

     




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  • How a Journalist Helped the Black Women Soldiers of the 6888

    How a Journalist Helped the Black Women Soldiers of the 6888



    When Tawanda Scott Sambou was assigned to find a story for a CNN series commemorating the 75th anniversary of World War II, the first thing she asked herself was, “What role did Black women play in the war?”

    She thought she was coming to a dead end in her search until she came across a documentary on the all-women, majority-Black 6888th Battalion. “I was so intrigued,” said Sambou, who is now a senior producer at NBC News. “I just thought, ‘Wow, people don’t know about this troop, this unit. I would really love to share their story.’”

    The 6888’s story is not often told. In 1945, Army officials reported that unreliable mail delivery to U.S. soldiers was hurting morale, so the 6888th Battalion traveled to Europe to sort through a backlog of mail in the millions. Not only did they create their own system to handle the backlog, but they also did it quicker than the Army expected.

    And yet, these 855 women were mostly forgotten in history.

    “For the Six Triple Eight unit, there were no celebratory moments for them,” Sambou said. “It was as if they didn’t exist.”

    That is, until Sambou’s CNN team ran its story on the 6888 in 2020. Four years later, Tyler Perry turned the battalion’s story into a Netflix film starring Kerry Washington. But the women’s long-overdue federal honor came 77 years later, in 2022, when the 6888th Battalion was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The ceremony was held at the Capitol in April.

    “Moments like this remind me of why journalism matters,” Sambou said. “Seeing these women get recognized finally, after all these years, you would think it shouldn’t take that long, but we finally got there.”

    Sambou hopes her reporting and the national recognition the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion has received will help bring more awareness to their role in winning World War II. She sees her work as a public service.

    “What I’d love for young journalists to recognize is the responsibility that we have every day when we decide what stories get to be told and who gets to tell them,” she said. “It’s a responsibility, and it’s also a privilege that we should not take for granted.”



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  • Nvidia says it is not sending GPU designs to China after reports of new Shanghai operation

    Nvidia says it is not sending GPU designs to China after reports of new Shanghai operation



    Nvidia said it won’t be sending graphics processing unit plans to China following a report that the artificial intelligence chipmaker is working on a research and development center in Shanghai in light of recent U.S. export curbs.

    “We are not sending any GPU designs to China to be modified to comply with export controls,” a spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

    The Financial Times was the first to report the news, citing two sources familiar with the matter. CEO Jensen Huang discussed the potential new center with Shanghai’s mayor, Gong Zheng, during a visit last month, the FT reported.

    The center will assess ways to meet U.S. restrictions while catering to the local market, although production and design will continue outside China, according to the report.

    AI chipmakers such as Nvidia have been hit with major China roadblocks since 2022 as the U.S. began cracking down on sending advanced chips to China because of concerns of possible military use.

    Last week, the Trump administration said it would replace restrictions put in place under President Joe Biden with a “much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.” Nvidia said last month that it would take a $5.5 billion charge tied to selling its H20 GPUs in China and other countries.

    Huang has previously commented on the significance of China, which is one of the company’s major market after the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan. He told CNBC this month that getting shut out of the world second-largest economy would be a “tremendous loss,” estimating that China’s AI market could hit $50 billion over the next two to three years.

    “We just have to stay agile,” Huang told CNBC’s Jon Fortt, in an interview alongside ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott. “Whatever the policies are of the government, whatever is in the best interest of our country, we’ll support,” he added.



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  • Military commanders will be told to send transgender troops to medical checks to oust them

    Military commanders will be told to send transgender troops to medical checks to oust them



    WASHINGTON — Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria, then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of the service, officials said Thursday.

    A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s directive to remove transgender service members from the U.S. military.

    The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. Another defense official said the Defense Department has scrapped — for now — plans to go through troops’ health records to identify those with gender dysphoria.

    Instead, transgender troops who do not voluntarily come forward could be outed by commanders or others aware of their medical status. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.

    The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the new policy. The process raises comparisons to the early “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which at times had commanders or other troops outing gay members of the military who — at the time — were not allowed to serve openly.

    Active-duty troops will have until June 6 to voluntarily identify themselves to the Defense Department, and troops in the National Guard and Reserve have until July 7.

    The department is offering a financial incentive to those who volunteer to leave. They will receive roughly double the amount of separation pay than those who don’t come forward.

    Initially, officials said the Defense Department would begin going through medical records to identify anyone who did not come forward voluntarily. That detail was not included in the new guidance released Thursday.

    While the department believes it has the authority to review medical records, it would rather go through a more routine health assessment process, the defense official said. Traditionally, all service members go through a health assessment once a year to determine if they are still medically able to serve.

    A new question about gender dysphoria is being added to that assessment. Active-duty troops who do not voluntarily come forward would have to acknowledge their gender dysphoria during that medical check, which could be scheduled months from now.

    A unit commander could expedite the health assessment.

    Under the new policy, “commanders who are aware of service members in their units with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized medical record reviews of such service members to confirm compliance with medical standards.”

    The defense official said it is the duty of the service member and the commander to comply with the new process. The department is confident and comfortable with commanders implementing the policy, and it does not believe they would use the process to take retribution against a service member, the senior defense official said.

    It comes after the Supreme Court recently ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while other legal challenges proceed. The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.

    Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the active duty, National Guard and Reserve. But they acknowledge the number may be higher.

    There are about 2.1 million total troops serving.

    In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said earlier this month that about 1,000 troops already have identified themselves and “will begin the voluntary separation process” from the military. That can often take weeks.

    Trump tried to ban transgender troops during his first term, while allowing those currently serving to stay on. Then-President Joe Biden overturned the ban.

    The new policy does not grandfather in those currently serving and only allows for limited waivers or exceptions.

    Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allege that troops with gender dysphoria don’t meet military standards. Hegseth has tied his opposition to a campaign to rid the department of “wokeness.”

    “No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. In a recent speech to a special operations conference, he said: “No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s—.”



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  • Trump returns to Washington with investment agreements but no major peace deals

    Trump returns to Washington with investment agreements but no major peace deals


    ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump is returning to Washington on Friday after a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, where he pitched American business and secured investment pledges but failed to reach long-promised peace deals in Gaza and Ukraine.

    Marked by high-level talks and lavish displays of regional hospitality, the trip showcased Trump’s self-styled role as a dealmaker and peacemaker. Still, his loftiest targets — resolving the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine — remain elusive. 

    In Abu Dhabi, Trump capped his weeklong tour with a visit to Qasr Al Watan, the emirate’s presidential palace, where he toured exhibits showcasing investments in energy, health care and aviation. Accompanied by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the president met with business leaders and took shots at his predecessor.

    “I’m just thinking, we have a president of the United States doing the selling,” Trump said, taking a swipe at former President Joe Biden. “You think Biden would be doing this? I don’t think so.” A large screen at the event repurposed his campaign slogan to proclaim “Making Energy Great Again,” a nod to the economic focus of the trip.

    President Donald Trump is accompanied by his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he prepares to board Air Force One in Abu Dhabi at the end of his Middle East tour on May 16, 2025.
    Trump is accompanied by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he prepares to board Air Force One on Friday.Brendan Smialowski / AFP – Getty Images

    Throughout the week, Trump announced major investments by Middle Eastern nations in American businesses, including a $600 billion investment deal from Saudi Arabia and an agreement with Qatar Airways to buy hundreds of planes from Boeing and GE Aerospace.

    The visit came amid controversy over Trump’s eagerness to accept a planned gift from the Qatari government: a $400 million luxury plane which he hopes to use as Air Force One. The offer has drawn backlash from Democrats and some Republicans back home over potential ethical, security and financial challenges.

    Trump repeatedly dismissed concerns about the plane, saying he “thought it was a great gesture.” He also brushed off accusations that the trip, which came as his namesake company expands into the Middle East, created a potential conflict of interest.

    Yet, even as he celebrated his economic victories, the president faced the reality upon departure of the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine, conflicts he has vowed to resolve. 

    The president has made ending some of the world’s thorniest conflicts a top priority of his administration, vowing to stop the bloodshed and bring about a lasting peace. And in a show of strong commitment, he has dispatched top aides to the cause, with special envoy Steve Witkoff hopscotching the globe in pursuit of the president’s goal. Before departing Washington, Trump announced the release of Edan Alexander, an American held by Hamas, with Qatar playing a central role in the negotiations.

    However, the president acknowledged that significant challenges remain. “We’re looking at Gaza,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he left Abu Dhabi. “And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.”

    As Trump concluded his trip Friday, Israeli airstrikes had killed more than 100 people in the last 24 hours, according to local health authorities.

    President Donald J. Trump tours the Abrahamic Family House
    Trump tours a synagogue Friday at the Abrahamic Family House, home to three houses of worship, Win McNamee / Getty Images

    On Friday, asked about future opportunities for face-to-face diplomacy between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump responded: “We have to meet. He and I will meet. I think we’ll solve it, or maybe not.”

    Earlier, Trump had expressed disappointment but not surprise when Putin failed to attend a planned meeting in Turkey. “I didn’t think it was possible for him to go if I didn’t go,” Trump said, noting that his schedule had made the trip untenable.

    Instead, he teased the near possibility of a breakthrough in nuclear talks with Iran. Trump told reporters Friday that his administration had submitted a proposal for a deal with Tehran, after describing earlier their efforts “in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace.” Earlier in the week, Trump hinted that he hoped an agreement was near, stating that “we’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.” 

    He said Friday that recognizing the new Syrian government — and lifting what he called “brutal” and “biting” sanctions — was “the right thing to do” as the new leadership cements its control.

    Trump said Wednesday that the trip did not sideline Benjamin Netanyahu by forgoing a visit with the Israeli prime minister, explaining that his relationships with Arab leaders are “very good for Israel.” He also said he reached out to Netanyahu on the decision to lift sanctions on Syria.

    Analysts see parallels between this trip and Trump’s 2017 Middle East tour.

    “The key thing to watch is what comes next in the region and what big steps his administration takes,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. After 2017, the Gulf region saw a rift that isolated Qatar for three years and a U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran that he said failed to deliver lasting results. Yet, the trip also laid the groundwork for the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreement normalizing ties between Israel and several Arab states, which remains Trump’s signature foreign policy achievement and which Biden sought to continue.

    Trump is aiming higher. “This time around, Trump is looking for a historic breakthrough with Iran on the nuclear talks and also dreams of getting a Nobel Prize if he gets that Iran deal or expands the Abraham Accords to include a Saudi-Israeli normalization accord,” Katulis said. 

    Trump’s hosts this week have also played important roles in these efforts, helping to mediate the conflicts and offering support to negotiations, and the president acknowledged there was more to do as he departed Abu Dhabi.

    “Unexpected surprises and events have a way of knocking U.S. administrations off balance,” Katulis said. “The ongoing war in Gaza and the growing misery of Palestinians living there will be a critical test.”



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  • 2025 Preakness Stakes guide: Date, location, time, TV channels, betting favorites and more

    2025 Preakness Stakes guide: Date, location, time, TV channels, betting favorites and more




    Learn more about the upcoming Preakness Stakes race, including what the betting odds look like, when it is, which channel to watch, what horses will be running and more.



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  • Charter and Cox to merge in major cable deal

    Charter and Cox to merge in major cable deal



    Charter Communications and Cox Communications, two of the largest cable companies in the U.S., have agreed to merge. 

    The deal would be one of the largest in the industry — and across corporate America — in the last year. 

    The agreement values Cox at $34.5 billion on an enterprise basis — comprised of $21.9 billion of equity and $12.6 billion of net debt and other obligations — in line with Charter’s recent enterprise value based on 2025 estimated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization multiple, according to a Friday news release. 

    Charter, the second largest publicly traded cable company behind Comcast, was up roughly 8% in premarket trading from its previous close of $419.57. Still privately run by the Cox family, Cox is among the biggest cable providers, too. 

    The broadband industry has been contending with heated competition from wireless competitors in recent years as there’s been a rise in alternate home internet options like 5G, or so-called fixed wireless. This follows the continued loss of customers from the traditional cable TV bundle.

    Charter had 30 million broadband customers at the end of the first quarter, a decline of 60,000 from the prior period. It had about 12.7 million cable TV customers, with 181,000 losses during the quarter.

    Cable companies have begun to lean on their mobile businesses to retain customers, and Charter has been aggressive in its pricing and bundling mobile lines. Charter said it had 10.5 million mobile lines as of the first quarter after reporting another quarter of growth.

    The company provides its services in 41 states, and is available to more than 57 million homes and businesses. As of March 31, Charter said it had a total of 31.4 million customer relationships.

    Cox Communications — a division of Cox Enterprises — counts itself as the largest privately held broadband company in the U.S., and has approximately 6.5 million total residential and commercial customers, per its website.

    The company’s services are available to 7 million homes across 18 states, and it said it had $12.6 billion in total revenue as of 2020. Cox began offering mobile in 2023.

    Upon closing of the merger, Cox Enterprises will own roughly 23% of the combined company’s fully diluted shares outstanding, according to the release. 

    The transaction will see the combined company change its name to Cox Communications within a year after the deal closes. Charter’s Spectrum, the brand on its cable, broadband, mobile and other services, will become the consumer-facing brand across all customers.

    The combined company will take on Charter’s current headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, although it will keep a significant presence in Cox’s home base in Atlanta after the closing. 

    Charter CEO Chris Winfrey will remain at the helm as president and CEO following the close of the deal. Meanwhile Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, will become chairman of the combined company’s board. Another Cox executive will join the board, and the Cox family will have the right to retain two board members. 

    The merger with Cox comes months after Charter announced it would acquire Liberty Broadband in an all-stock deal that simplifies cable scion John Malone’s portfolio. In February Charter and Liberty Broadband stockholders approved the proposed deal. 

    Charter expects there to be about $500 million in annualized cost synergies within three years of closing, according to the release.

    The merger agreement with Cox is expected to close at the same time as the Liberty Broadband merger, the company said Friday.

    Disclosure: Comcast, which competes with Charter and Cox, is the parent company of CNBC and NBC News.



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  • Ukraine and Russia finally begin direct talks after false start

    Ukraine and Russia finally begin direct talks after false start


    ISTANBUL — A diplomatic frenzy consumed Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace on Friday, as Russia and Ukraine sat down to hold their first direct peace talks since the early months of this three-year war.

    Amid repeatedly changing plans, diplomats from Moscow, Kyiv, Washington, London, Paris and Berlin were attempting to navigate the chaos and confusion ahead of what could either be a historic moment — or a looming anti-climax.

    Before the talks even began, President Donald Trump predicted there would be no progress unless he and President Vladimir Putin were involved.

    “I don’t believe anything’s going to happen whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” Trump said of his Russian counterpart while speaking with journalists late Thursday aboard an Air Force One flight to Abu Dhabi. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”

    Firefighters extinguish a fire at a plastic tableware business damaged by Russian drone attack
    Firefighters extinguish a fire at a plastic tableware business damaged by Russian drones Thursday in Sumy, Ukraine. Oleksandr Oleksiienko / Getty Images

    Trump said Thursday he wanted to meet his Kremlin counterpart “as soon as we can set it up.” Asked what stood in the way, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that “such a meeting is certainly necessary” but that first there must be “expert negotiations, consultations and long, intense preparation.”

    Putin declined to be part of Russia’s delegation — a downgraded mission that has angered the Ukrainians and American envoys who have traveled here.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pointed out that the Russian team does not contain “anyone who actually makes decisions.” His own emissaries will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

    “We are ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire,” Umerov said in a statement Friday. Adding that “peace is only possible if Russia demonstrates readiness for concrete actions.”

    The lopsided face-off saw Secretary of State Rubio arriving at the palace despite a no-show from his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was unable to hide his anger and looked furious as officials swarmed about this Ottoman-era mansion.

    Russia has denied accusations that it is sending a weakened roster.

    “Our official delegation was approved by the presidential decree and it has all the necessary competencies and powers to conduct negotiations,” the head of its delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said Thursday at the Russian consulate in Istanbul.

    It was the first face-to-face meeting between Russia and Ukraine since the failed talks of April 2022, two months after Russia rolled its tanks across the border.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves before boarding a plane
    Secretary of State Marco Rubio departing Antalya, Turkey today.Khalil Hamra / AFP via Getty Images

    Today, the gulf between the two sides’ demands remains as wide as the Bosphorus River that cleaves Istanbul in two. 

    Russian officials say they see the talks as a chance to restart what they call “peace negotiations.” In reality, their conditions for peace — halting the war it started by invading Ukraine in Feb. 2022 — are tantamount to a Ukrainian surrender. Kyiv has said it will never accept these terms, which include agreeing never to join NATO and agreeing to permanent “neutrality” between Moscow and the West.

    NBC News asked the Russians on Thursday whether Putin is prepared to compromise — there was no answer

    Ukraine instead wants a 30-ceasefire as a basis on which to build future diplomatic wins. Its European supporters say that they will hit Russia with further sanctions if it does not agree. Though often accused of being far softer on Russia than Ukraine, Trump has also suggested he could hit Putin with sanctions if he feels not enough progress is being made.

    The talks in Istanbul are shrouded in “smoke and mirrors,” said Jonathan Eyal, international director at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank.

    “These are not negotiations between two sides willing to explore a real ceasefire,” Eyal said. Rather, the parties “are trying to capture the public narrative of who is the obstacle to these discussions — and to avoid the wrath and anger of President Trump.”

    Eyal likens the negotiations to “a game of musical chairs — when the music stops, who remains standing?” That is to say: “When Mr. Trump finally loses patience, who does he blame for failing to achieve a ceasefire? That’s the whole game.”

    Friday kicked off with a meeting between officials from Ukraine, the U.S., Britain, Germany and France. These parties “coordinated our positions” ahead of the key meeting with Russia set for later in the day, Umerov said.

    While the suits talked in Turkey, across the Black Sea the violence continued in Ukraine.

    Russia fired 112 drones at Kyiv, Odessa, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Most of these were shot down, but a small number got through and caused unspecified damage, it said.

    Keir Simmons reported from Istanbul and Alexander Smith reported from London.



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  • Steve Kornacki’s guide to the Preakness Stakes: Biggest storylines, best bets

    Steve Kornacki’s guide to the Preakness Stakes: Biggest storylines, best bets



    There’s no sense in wallowing in disappointment over the absence of Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, from Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes. His ownership and training team made it clear that they don’t consider the Triple Crown a prize worth chasing and instead are content to target the Belmont Stakes in early June. 

    Fortunately, this year’s Preakness is still an appealing race with a mix of returnees from the Derby and promising newcomers that could be poised for stardom. The winning horse will likely earn a trip to the Belmont for a rendezvous with Sovereignty — and a chance to claim supremacy in the three-year-old division.

    Here’s what I’m watching for ahead of Saturday’s race from Baltimore. 

    Redemption in Baltimore?

    Journalism, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, is the morning line favorite again in the Preakness. He outran 17 of his 18 rivals in the Derby, only finishing behind Sovereignty. On Saturday Journalism will face a field that is much smaller (eight horses) and full of question marks. 

    The question for bettors, though, is what constitutes value with him. He’s listed at 8-5 in the morning line, which could be a steal on a horse of his caliber. But will those odds actually hold up or will the public all be thinking the same thing? The lower the odds, the greater the incentive to look elsewhere, especially when you consider the history of horses in this same spot: Nine beaten Derby favorites this century have turned around and contested the Preakness, but only two of them won. 

    Kings of Baltimore

    Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas are two of the most decorated trainers in the sport, and they’ve both excelled in this race like no one else. Baffert’s eight Preakness wins are the most all-time, and Lukas is right behind him with seven. Between them, they’ve won the last two editions and one-third of all Preaknesses since 1980, a nearly half-century span. 

    Baffert will send out Goal Oriented this weekend. With just two career starts, neither in a stakes race, this is not your typical Baffert entry. There is clear upside potential, however. Goal Oriented won both races he’s run in and does have early speed, which can be beneficial in the Preakness. But this is a big step up in terms of competition level, and with such a thin resume the unknowns are plentiful. And with Baffert’s name attached, he’s likely to get a good amount of betting attention, driving down his price. None of Baffert’s wins in this race have been with a horse like this — but maybe that’s just a reflection of how confident he is in this one?

    Lukas, meanwhile, is running American Promise, who was last seen finishing up the track in the Derby. His jockey, Nik Juarez, attempted a middle move in that race, but ended up squeezed tight between two others and then hastily retreated from contention. That performance is a lot to consider, especially given that American Promise’s only wins have been against much lesser competition than this. The best argument for him in this race is probably Lukas himself, who has won it with long shots before, including Seize the Grey at 9-1 last year.

    The other Derby returnee

    Sandman rounds out the horses that are here after running in the Derby. He was very popular with the betting public that day, going off as the second choice, but never got into the race and finished a well-beaten seventh. His team made a late and surprising decision to run here. His style as a deep-closing horse has not generally fared well in the Preakness, so he’ll either need to change things up and be closer to the pace, or he’ll be reliant on the front-runners going too fast and burning out. His Metallica-inspired name and celebrity ownership figure again to attract a lot of support at the windows.

    The Derby-skippers

    It used to be almost automatic that the Preakness would be won by a horse coming out of the Kentucky Derby. From 1984 to 2016, 30 of 33 winners had run in Louisville. But since then, we seem to have entered a new era. 

    Modern trainers are increasingly reluctant to run their horses frequently; attempting the two-week turnaround between Louisville and Baltimore is simply unthinkable to many of them. This has opened the door to Derby-skippers, horses that sit out the Run for the Roses and aim for the Preakness instead. They’ve now won six of the last eight.

    Baffert’s Goal Oriented is one of them, but the most highly regarded may be Clever Again, who has flashed signs of brilliance in his three career races. In his most recent, a stakes win at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, he posted a Beyer speed rating of 101 — making him the only horse here besides Journalism that has put up a triple-digit figure.

    River Thames looms large as well. Back in March, he ran against Sovereignty in a stakes race and lost by just a neck. He could be sitting in a good position on Saturday too, just off the speediest horses and poised to take over late. Somehow, his trainer, Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is 0-for-10 in this race, although he’s often bypassed it with his top horses. The more money that Journalism, Sandman and Goal Oriented take, the more Clever Again and River Thames could emerge as value plays.

    The other Derby skippers are deserving long shots. Heart of Honor is here following a protracted journey from the Middle East, where he finished second in a stakes race to Admire Daytona (who then ran dead last in the Derby). Pay Billy, who has won big on the lower-tier Maryland circuit, takes the customary local slot on the race; it’s been 42 years since a horse took that route to a Preakness victory. And Gosger’s time and speed rating were both ho-hum in the race he won to get here.

    My bet

    I went with my heart in the Derby, picking the feel-good story of Lukas and American Promise, and I’ve got the depleted bank account to show for it. Don’t think I’m not tempted to forgive that 16th-place Derby finish and take another shot with him here and, who knows, maybe I’ll lull myself into doing just that. But as much of a sucker as I am for Lukas horses in Triple Crown races, I do have my eyes on some other possibilities.

    Along with the rest of the NBC team, I’ll tell you what I’ve come up with just before the race on Saturday. (Don’t worry, with plenty of time for you to cancel your bet if I curse your horse by picking it.)



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  • How to watch, Céline Dion rumors, predictions, time, channel and controversies

    How to watch, Céline Dion rumors, predictions, time, channel and controversies



    BASEL, Switzerland — Fans from around the world have descended upon the 69th Eurovision Song Contest to rally behind performers from their home countries who have been battling it out onstage all week.

    In total, there are 26 performances in the grand final: the countries that got through the semifinals, plus the host country (this year, Switzerland) and a group called the Big Five — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — which enter the final automatically because their countries make the biggest financial contributions to Eurovision.

    As the artists gear up for an extravagant, glitter-dusted pop song contest featuring their wildly over-the-top performances, thousands of spectators gather at Eurovision Village, a convention center that’s been turned into a hub for fans. Some drape national flags on their backs, others paint the flags on their faces. Many find themselves dancing until the early hours at the EuroClub, which plays nothing but Eurovision hits.

    The event is what members of the Remember Monday group representing the U.K. called a cultural phenomenon, likening it to the Super Bowl in the U.S.

    “Everyone knows what it is,” Holly-Anne Hull said. “And everyone, whether they like it or not, is aware of who’s won it every year.”

    Here’s what else to know. 

    How to watch and vote

    Performers will battle it out during Saturday’s grand final, which airs at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock for viewers in the U.S.

    The winner of the contest is decided by a mix of votes from national juries of music professionals and viewers watching at home. People all around the world can vote for the winner using the contest’s app or online.

    Who are this year’s favorites?

    Gambling on Eurovision is big business, and sports betting firms — who give their two cents on the odds of each contender — have a decent track record of identifying which songs will do well at Saturday’s grand final.

    This year, the favorites include Sweden, which has won the contest seven times since the first Eurovision in 1956. The group KAJ, a trio of Swedish-speaking Finns, is entering this year with “Bara Bada Bastu,” an ode to the Nordic tradition of going to the sauna. The song, which features staging re-creating a sauna complete with dancers in towels, is the most-streamed song by far from this year’s contest, according to Spotify.

    Another top contender is Austria. Singer JJ, an opera singer, uses extraordinary vocal range to hit high notes throughout his song, “Wasted Love.”

    The Dutch entry is also considered a front-runner. Singer Claude’s “C’est La Vie” has a mixture of French and English lyrics, and it’s this year’s third most-streamed song of the nominees on Spotify. 

    Other eye-catching numbers to watch for

    Eurovision songs cut across genres, and while many wouldn’t be out of place on a Top 40 radio playlist, sometimes they stand out for wild lyrics or eye-popping staging.

    In addition to the Swedish sauna song, this year’s entries include Icelandic act Væb. The blond brothers don oversized silver outfits and jewel-encrusted sunglasses and energetically jump around the stage during their song “Róa,” which is about rowing a boat.

    Finland’s Erika Vikman singing about a “lust trance” while wearing thigh-high leather boots in “Ich Komme.” The song reaches its climax with Vikman on a giant microphone suspended in the air with sparks flying out of it.

    Being weird doesn’t guarantee a spot in the final, though. This year’s Irish entry was a dance anthem imagining a world in which Laika, the Soviet dog who died after being sent to space, not only lived but “has a party in the air” and “is dancing every night among the stars.” It didn’t make it past Thursday’s semifinal.

    Have there been any controversies?

    As was the case last year, Israel’s participation has drawn protests over the country’s war in the Gaza Strip. This year’s contestant, Yuval Raphael, survived the Hamas-led terror attack on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) bars lyrics it views as political and last year forced Israel’s entry to change lyrics that referenced the attacks.

    Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, said in a statement that the EBU, which organizes the contest, “is not immune to global events but, together with our Members, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains — at its heart — a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.”

    “It is not our role to make comparisons between conflicts,” he added, noting that the EBU “remains aligned with other international organizations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”

    The entry from Malta also prompted controversy for its lyrics to Miriana Conte’s song, “Serving.” The original version featured the Maltese word for “singing,” which sounds like a vulgar word in English. That word has been omitted in the reworked version. The singer posted on her Instagram that the EBU had made her change the words.

    In a statement to Sky News, NBC’s British partner, at the time, the EBU said that “if a song is deemed unacceptable for any reason, broadcasters are given the opportunity to modify it, or select a new one, before the deadline as per the rules of the Contest.”

    The Italian consumer group Codacons also filed a complaint over offensive stereotypes in Estonian Tommy Cash’s “Espresso Macchiato,” which includes lyrics that reference “sweating like a mafioso” and being “addicted to tobacco.”

    A spokesperson for Eurovision did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Estonia’s entry. 

    A major surprise appearance could be in store

    A question on many people’s minds is whether Céline Dion — yes the Céline Dion — will make an appearance.

    The award-winning artist was 20 years old when she won the competition for Switzerland back in 1988. (Although she is Canadian, artists don’t need to be from the country they represent. For example, this year, the Swedish entry is from Finland and the Irish entry is from Norway.)

    Dion appeared in a video at Tuesday’s semifinal saying she “would love nothing more” than to appear at the contest. The singer has been public about her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis and gave an emotional performance at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris last year.

    Asked via email by NBC News about the possibility of Dion appearing in person at Saturday’s final, Eurovision spokesperson Sibylle Tornay said, “There are currently no changes regarding Céline Dion — we are still in close contact with her, of course her health is the most important thing and comes first.”



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