PARIS (AP) — A 74-year-old former surgeon, who raped hundreds of victims over a period spanning more than two decades, was sentenced on Friday to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison by a French court.

Joël Le Scouarnec was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting 299 children.

Le Scouarnec is already serving a 15-year prison sentence, for a conviction in 2020 for the rape and sexual assault of four children, including two nieces.

The new trial in Brittany, western France, began in February and laid bare a pattern of abuse between 1989 and 2014. Most of the victims were unconscious or sedated hospital patients at the time of the assaults. The average age was 11. Among the victims were 158 boys and 141 girls.

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press Lifestyles Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Krista Vasquez had her heart set on getting married in a body-hugging, halter-style gown from Spain. In April, the Atlanta paramedic learned her dream dress would cost nearly $300 more because of new U.S. tariffs on imported goods.

With little wiggle room in her timing, the bride-to-be quickly checked around for similar styles. The story was the same: any dresses from Europe would come with tariff-driven price increases ranging from $150 to $400. And that was before President Donald Trump said he would increase the tariff on goods produced in the European Union from 10% to 50%.

Vasquez, 33, went with her first choice, fearing shipping delays or additional costs like a rush fee before her October wedding if she placed an order elsewhere.

“It’s already expensive enough to get married,” she said. “It just kind of made me a little sad.”

Wedding cakes, decor, attire, flowers, party favors, photo and video equipment, tableware, wine and Champagne. Not many goods used in the wedding industry remain untouched by the tariffs Trump has imposed since returning to office. How much of the import taxes get passed down to consumers is up to florists, photographers, caterers and myriad other vendors and intermediaries, such as wholesalers.

This April 15, 2023, photos shows a bridal bouquet in Grass Valley, Calif. Wedding vendors and bridal couples this year are being impacted by U.S. tariffs imposed on other countries around the world. (Bryan Gallagher Photo via AP).

Olivia Sever, a 28-year-old online content creator in San Diego, has a lot of wedding shopping ahead of her. Much of what she wants may cost more because of tariffs. An immediate concern is some of her paper goods. Her wedding planner has already flagged a 10% price increase for the menus, place cards and signage she wanted for her September celebration in Hawaii.

Sever said shifting to American goods isn’t always cost-effective. For instance, flowers grown in Hawaii are in high demand, with increased prices to match, in response to 10% tariffs imposed on a large number of imports around the world. That includes flowers from Ecuador, Colombia and other countries that grow the bulk of the flowers the U.S. imports.

“There’s just so many unknowns, but we have our budget and we’re trying to work within our budget,” Sever said. “If that means we can’t get these, you know, specific shell cups I want, then we just won’t get them and we’ll get something else.”

Here’s a look from inside the wedding industry on tariffs.

Tariffs and the wedding cake industry

Clients of Phoenix cake artist Armana Christianson pay roughly $750 to $800 for one of her creations. She spent two years perfecting the 16 flavor combinations she offers.

They range from simple vanilla bean, made with vanilla bean paste imported from Mexico, to dark chocolate raspberry with a whipped hazelnut ganache that’s dependent on chocolates and powders from Belgium.

This March 17, 2025, photo shows Armana Christianson in Mesa, Ariz. with one of her wedding cake creations. Wedding vendors and bridal couples alike are feeling the impact of U.S. tariffs imposed on countries around the globe. (Larisa Kaiser via AP).

Not all of Christianson’s cost woes are tariff-driven. The chocolate industry was already struggling because of a cocoa bean shortage.

“I’m a small business with just myself as my employee. I’ve seen at minimum a 20% increase in just the chocolate I use. It’s a type of chocolate that I’ve built into my recipes. Changing brands isn’t acceptable,” Christianson said.

The imported white chocolate in her white chocolate mud cake, a popular flavor, shot up from $75 or $100 per cake to $150. She used nearly 10 pounds of it in a recent order, a cake that had five tiers.

Christianson may have to come up with new recipes based on less expensive ingredients. In the meantime, she said, she’s eating the cost of tariffs for clients already on her books.

“I don’t have it in my contract where I can raise prices for unexpected events like this,” she said. “Unfortunately, that’s something I have to add to new contracts for my future couples.”

Tariffs and the wedding dress industry

Almost all bridal gowns are made in China or other parts of Asia — and so are many of the fabrics, buttons, zippers and other materials used, according to the National Bridal Retailers Association. Manufacturing in those countries, where labor generally costs less, has put the price of high-quality bridal gowns within reach for many American families.

Retailers and manufacturers say the U.S. lacks enough skilled labor and production of specialized materials to fully serve the market. Skilled seamstresses are hard to find and often come from older generations.

This May 31, 2024, photos shows a bridal gown display at the Urban Set Bride shop in Richmond, Va. Most U.S. bridal gowns are made in China. Wedding vendors like bridal shops, along with bridal couples, are feeling the impact of tariffs imposed by the U.S. on countries around the globe. (Chelsea Diane Photography via AP).

“The materials that we sell in a bridal shop include lace, beadwork, boning for the corsetry. We don’t really make stuff like that in this country. There just aren’t very many designers who create and put their whole looks together in this nation,” said Christine Greenberg, founder and co-owner of the Urban Set Bride boutique in Richmond, Virginia.

“The designs done here are normally very simple designs. You don’t see a lot of American-made gowns that have a lot of detail, a lot of embroidered lace, and that’s a really popular wedding gown style,” she said.

Many designers with gowns labeled made in the U.S. still are using imported materials, Greenberg noted.

If Trump’s highest tariffs on China are reinstated after a current pause, Greenberg said her small business will pay between $85,000 and $100,000 extra in import taxes this year.

“For a small, family-owned business that only hosts one bride at a time, this will absolutely lead us and many others to close for good,” she said. “We can’t buy American when the products don’t exist.”

Tariffs and the cut flower industry

Roughly 80% of cut flowers sold in the U.S. come from other countries. And lots of quality faux flowers are made in China.

Colombia is a large supplier of roses, carnations and spray chrysanthemums. Ecuador is another major rose supplier. The Netherlands produces a huge share of tulips and other flowers. In addition, some of the cut greens used as filler in flower arrangements and bouquets in the U.S. are imported.

“If you’re talking about cars and computer chips, they’ve got inventory that’s sitting there. It’s already stateside. Our inventory turns in days and we saw the impact almost immediately,” said Joan Wyndrum, co-founder of the online floral distributor Blooms by the Box. “We’re all absorbing a little bit, but it’s inevitable that it comes out on the consumer end of it.”

Wyndrum, who works directly with wholesalers and growers, said the U.S. flower industry isn’t capable at the moment of absorbing all the production from elsewhere. She does a lot of business with U.S. suppliers, though, and sees a huge opportunity for growth stateside.

“There’s a benefit to the U.S. bride to have flowers grown here. It’s the simple reason of freshness,” she said.

Tariffs and the wedding industry overall

Jacqueline Vizcaino is a luxury wedding planner and event designer in Atlanta. She’s also national president of the Wedding Industry Professionals Association, a 3,500-member, education-focused trade group whose members include transportation and photo booth providers, makeup artists, caterers, linen distributors and planners.

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Any one wedding may involve 40 or more vendors, Vizcaino said. Huge jumps in costs are already widespread due to tariffs, she said, florals and fabrics among them.

With many weddings planned up to a year or more in advance, she and others in the industry are girding for more bad news.

“We’re going to see a lot of interactions that aren’t so pleasant in the next eight to 12 months,” she said.

Tariffs have delayed decision-making among many couples planning weddings.

“Decisions are taking double the time because of the uncertainty. People are shopping around more and wanting (vendors) to lock in at the lowest price possible,” Vizcaino said.

Said McKenzi Taylor, a planner who coordinates weddings in Las Vegas, San Diego and the Black Hills in South Dakota: “Our inquiry-to-booking window has grown from 40 days to 73. Cancellations are up so far this year, on pace to double from last year, with costs definitely being a concern for couples. My vendors are shaking in their boots.”

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Strongly pro-Taiwan U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is visiting the self-governing island democracy to discuss regional security and relations with the U.S.

Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, will hold a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations during her visit Wednesday and Thursday, said the American Institute in Taiwan, which acts as the de-facto American embassy in Taiwan in liu of formal diplomatic relations.

Trade, investment and “other significant issues of mutual interest” also are on the schedule, the institute said.

“The visit underscores the United States’ commitment to its partnership with Taiwan and reaffirms our shared commitment to strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” the institute said.

China routinely protests such visits, which it views as a violation of U.S. commitments.

Duckworth and her staff are the second U.S. congressional delegation to visit Taiwan in as many days, demonstrating concerns in Washington over the island’s security in the face of Chinese threats to invade, as well as its importance as a trade partner, particularly as the producer of 90% of the world’s most advanced computer chips.

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te meets with Rep. Bruce Westerman, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

Taiwan also faces 32% tariffs under the Trump administration, a figure the government in Taiwan is attempting to negotiate to a lower level without angering sectors such as agriculture that fear lower tariffs could open their markets to heightened competition from abroad.

Duckworth is visiting at the same time as Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, the governor of Guam, the U.S. Pacific territory that would almost certainly be a key player in any Chinese military moves against Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split during a civil war in 1949 and Beijing still considers the island its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. China refuses all contact with the government of President Lai Ching-te, whom China brands as a separatist, and seeks to maximize diplomatic pressure on Taiwan.

While China sends military aircraft, ships and spy balloons near Taiwan as part of a campaign of daily harassment, special attention has been given this week to the location of the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, whose hull was bought from Ukraine and then fitted out by China more than a decade ago. China has two aircraft carriers including the Liaoning, a third undergoing sea trials and a fourth under construction.

“What I can tell you is that the activities of the Chinese warship in the relevant waters are fully in line with international law and the basic norms of international relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

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Col. Hu Chung-hua of the Taiwanese Defense Ministry’s’ intelligence department told reporters Wednesday that the carrier was currently in waters southeast of Taiwan and has been under close surveillance by Taiwan’s monitoring stations since leaving its home port in China.

There are concerns the carrier might stage military drills close to Taiwan that could be a further step toward a blockade, an act the U.S. would be required to respond to under its own laws. While the U.S. provides much of Taiwan’s high-tech military hardware, the law is unclear whether it would send forces to aid Taiwan in the event of a conflict.

Hu said the ministry would not comment on the possibility of drills near Taiwan, but considers all options while monitoring the Chinese military.

The ministry “anticipates the enemy as broadly as possible and defends against the enemy strictly. We also carefully evaluate and act accordingly,” Hu said.

China is considered a master of “grey-zone encounters” that bring tensions just to the point of breaking out into open conflict.

Col. Su Tong-wei of the ministry’s operation of planning said the armed forces were constantly evaluating threat levels to consider whether to “activate a response center, or to increase our defense readiness to perform an immediate readiness drill.”

“We will also react accordingly to safeguard national security,” Su said.

By MARCIA DUNN, Associated Press Aerospace Writer

After back-to-back explosions, SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship again on Tuesday evening, but fell short of the main objectives when the spacecraft tumbled out of control and broke apart.

The 403-foot rocket blasted off on its ninth demo from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. Residents voted this month to organize as an official city.

CEO Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX hoped to release a series of mock satellites following liftoff, but that got nixed because the door failed to open all the way. Then the spacecraft began spinning as it skimmed space toward an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” or burst apart. “Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,” the company said in an online statement.

Musk noted in a post on X it was a “big improvement” from the two previous demos, which ended in flaming debris over the Atlantic. Despite the latest setback, he promised a faster launch pace moving forward, with a Starship soaring every three to four weeks for the next three flights.

It was the first time one of Musk’s Starships — intended for moon and Mars travel — flew with a recycled booster. There were no plans to catch the booster with giant chopsticks back at the launch pad, with the company instead pushing it to its limits. Contact with the booster was lost at one point, and it slammed into the Gulf of Mexico in pieces as the spacecraft continued toward the Indian Ocean.

Then the spacecraft went out of control, apparently due to fuel leaks.

“Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today,” said SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot. The company had been looking to test the spacecraft’s heat shield during a controlled reentry.

Communication ceased before the spacecraft came down, and SpaceX ended its webcast soon afterward.

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The previous two Starships never made it past the Caribbean. The demos earlier this year ended just minutes after liftoff, raining wreckage into the ocean. No injuries or serious damage were reported, although airline travel was disrupted. The Federal Aviation Administration last week cleared Starship for another flight, expanding the hazard area and pushing the liftoff outside peak air travel times.

Besides taking corrective action and making upgrades, SpaceX modified the latest spacecraft’s thermal tiles and installed special catch fittings. This one was meant to sink in the Indian Ocean, but the company wanted to test the add-ons for capturing future versions back at the pad, just like the boosters.

NASA needs SpaceX to make major strides over the next year with Starship — the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built — in order to land astronauts back on the moon. Next year’s moonshot with four astronauts will fly around the moon, but will not land. That will happen in 2027 at the earliest and require a Starship to get two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back off again.

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.