By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production.

In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign “espionage and intelligence agencies” were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese origin.

In some cases the minerals were falsely declared as non-controlled items, mislabeled as such things as “solder paste,” mixed into other materials like ceramic tiles, or hidden in plastic mannequins or bottled water, it said.

It referred only to an unnamed “certain country” that it said lacked the capacity to make and refine its own rare earths.

A visitor looks at Quantum-X800 infiniBand networking platform at the Nvidia booth during the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo at the China International Exhibition Center, in Beijing, China, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Investigations had found Chinese criminals were involved, exploiting shipping and delivery channels to evade controls on exports of the materials used in many high-tech applications including electric vehicle batteries, it said.

The crackdown followed a report by Reuters earlier this month detailing how rare earths were being transshipped to the U.S. via Thailand and Mexico.

China is the main source for many strategically vital rare earths and it has moved to slow exports of such minerals in retaliation for steep import duties President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods since he returned to the White House and launched his crusade to overturn a global trading system he says is unfair to the United States and its workers.

That followed an earlier series of restrictions by Beijing on exports of such materials as gallium, germanium, antimony and tungsten in response to trade friction with the administration of then-President Joe Biden.

In April, Beijing imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, under a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market.

With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, added to restrictions on exports of advanced technologies to China.

Rare earths have remained at the center of China-U.S. talks aimed at staving off huge tariff increases that were postponed in May to allow time for negotiations on a broader trade agreement. The deadline for reaching a deal is Aug. 12.

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An agreement announced in late June did not remove China’s permitting requirement on rare earths, but Beijing agreed to flexibility in dialing up or down the approval process as needed.

Computer chips are another key bone of contention.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Friday that it had taken note of a decision by the Trump administration to lift restrictions on exports of key semiconductors used in artificial intelligence made by Nvidia and its rival Advanced Micro Devices.

In April, the Trump administration announced it would restrict sales of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China — as well as MI308 chips from AMD.

But Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Wentao said restoring healthy trade ties will require more action by Washington.

U.S. export controls on Ascend chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies have hurt the interests of Chinese companies, Wang told reporters in Beijing.

“We hope that the United States and China will meet each other halfway and correct their wrong practices through equal consultation, create a good environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of both sides, and jointly maintain the stability of the global semiconductor production and supply chain,” he said.

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration insists it hasn’t wavered in its duty to protect the civil rights of America’s children even as it dismantles the Education Department. Yet its own data shows the agency has resolved far fewer civil rights cases than in past years despite families filing more complaints.

The Education Department’s civil rights branch lost nearly half its staff amid mass layoffs in March, raising questions about its ability to address a deep backlog of complaints from students alleging discrimination based on disability, sex or race. Pressed on the issue in June, Education Secretary Linda McMahon denied a slowdown.

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“Not only are we reducing the backlog, but we are keeping up with the current amount with a reduced staff because we are doing it efficiently,” McMahon said at a Senate budget hearing.

By several measures, however, the output of the Office for Civil Rights appears to have fallen sharply in comparison with previous years. A public database of the office’s resolution agreements — cases in which schools or universities voluntarily agreed to address civil rights concerns — suggests the office’s work has slowed.

The database lists just 65 resolutions so far this year, on pace to fall far below previous years’ totals. Last year the office logged 380 resolutions in total, following 561 in 2023. During President Donald Trump’s first term, the office averaged more than 800 resolutions a year, including 1,300 during his first year in office.

Other internal data obtained by The Associated Press show a similar trend. Since Trump took office, the total number of resolved cases is down about 40% from the same time frame last year — including cases that were dismissed, mediated or reached a voluntary resolution. Compared with last year, there also has been a 70% decrease in the number of cases resolved through resolution agreements or action taken by a school to comply with federal law, the internal data shows.

Meanwhile, new complaints have increased 9%. The total number of cases has now climbed beyond 25,000.

An Education Department spokesperson said the Trump administration is fixing a broken system.

“When staff levels were at their peak, OCR’s processes still proved to be ineffective, as evidenced by the chronic backlog of tens of thousands of cases that left students’ discrimination claims languishing over many presidential administrations,” spokesperson Julie Hartman said.

Many families are waiting for US intervention to address complaints

Parents and advocates say they’ve noticed a difference.

Adrienne Hazel filed a complaint in April after her 20-year-old son Ricky, who has autism, was placed in a public school program without a certified teacher and was not given an individual learning plan. Hazel, of Southfield, Michigan, has not heard from the federal office after receiving an automatic reply when she filed the complaint.

Things moved faster last year when Hazel filed a separate complaint for her son. The office notified Ricky’s school, which Hazel says spurred the district to reach an agreement with her within about three months. This time, she said, it feels like she’s on her own.

Adrienne Hazel, right, hugs her son Ricky on Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Southfield, Mich. (AP Photo/Sylvia Jarrus)

“There has been zero response to this,” she said. “He’s basically going into a babysitting situation. He’s not getting the things that he needs to grow into independence. And he’ll just be aging without getting an education.”

Marcie Lipsitt, a special education advocate in Michigan who worked with Hazel, said such stories are common. She helps families file complaints but warns it could take at least a year before an investigation opens. Some schools have backtracked on previous agreements, she said, yet parents can’t get a response from the federal office.

“It’s horrible. I’m watching children suffer like they’ve never suffered,” she said. “There is no accountability.”

The fate of the Education Department itself is in question as the Trump administration moves ahead with a plan to wind down the agency. A Supreme Court decision Monday cleared the way for the agency to continue mass layoffs and outsource some functions to other agencies. McMahon previously suggested the civil rights work could be managed by the Justice Department.

Still, McMahon said in June that the office was making headway after inheriting a backlog of 20,000 cases from the Biden administration. She told senators the office was catching up on the backlog and keeping up with new complaints.

With half the staff, many question how that’s possible. In a June court order pausing the termination of Office for Civil Rights employees, a federal judge in Boston said the branch is “currently incapable of addressing the vast majority” of complaints. More than 200 of the office’s employees remain on leave while that case is decided.

Caseloads have grown for remaining Office for Civil Rights staffers

The Office for Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws across the nation’s schools and is often a last resort for parents and students facing discrimination from schools. The office reviews complaints and, for those that meet certain criteria, opens investigations. Others are dismissed or move to a mediation process.

Of the 65 resolution agreements reported this year, 57 were signed after Trump took office. Of those, the vast majority involve complaints of discrimination based on disability, with smaller numbers based on sex or race. Most of the sex discrimination findings deal with keeping transgender athletes out of women’s sports, one of Trump’s campaign promises.

“OCR will continue to meet its statutory responsibilities while driving to improve efficiency and resolve the longstanding backlog,“ Hartman said.

Multiple workers in the office who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation said caseloads have grown too big to manage. In last year’s budget request, the office said it was becoming difficult to keep up when investigative staff averaged 42 cases per person. Some estimates put the current caseload beyond 200.

The employees said it means more cases will languish.

Another parent in Michigan, Casie Clouse, hasn’t heard from the department since she filed a complaint in May. Her son, Brady, who is blind in one eye and has a learning disability, wasn’t getting the type of help his school promised, including access to teachers’ notes and reduced coursework. Brady, 14, made no academic progress in eighth grade, and he’s now heading to high school without the support he needs, his mother said.

“It’s been so frustrating not to even have an update at all,” said Clouse, of Ann Arbor. “He is going to go to high school and fail. I feel like my child will not get a high school diploma if he stays in Ann Arbor Public Schools.”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration’s handling of records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency.

The House resolution, which could potentially be voted on next week, will do practically nothing to force the Justice Department to release more records in the case. Still, it showed how backlash from the Republican base is putting pressure on the Trump administration and roiling GOP lawmakers.

The House was held up for hours Thursday from final consideration of President Donald Trump’s request for about $9 billion in government funding cuts because GOP leaders were trying to respond to demands from their own ranks that they weigh in on the Epstein files. In the late evening they settled on the resolution as an attempt to simultaneously placate calls from the far-right for greater transparency and satisfy Trump, who has called the issue a “hoax” that his supporters should forget about.

Yet the House resolution was the latest demonstration of how practically no one is moving on from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s promises to publicly release documents related to Epstein. Since he was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019 following his arrest on sex trafficking charges, the well-connected financier has loomed large among conservatives and conspiracy theorists who have now lashed out at Trump and Bondi for declining to release more files in the case.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to the media, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, as President Trump looks on. (AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)

“The House Republicans are for transparency, and they’re looking for a way to say that they agree with the White House. We agree with the president. Everything he said about that, all the credible evidence should come out,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday afternoon.

Democrats vehemently decried the resolution’s lack of force. They have advanced their own legislation, with support from nine Republicans, that would require the Justice Department to release more information on the case.

Rep. Jim McGovern, who led the Democrats’ debate against the Republican resolution Thursday night, called it a “glorified press release” and “a fig leaf so they can move on from this issue.”

Under pressure from his own GOP members, Johnson had to demonstrate action on the Epstein files or risk having Republicans support the Democratic measures that would force the release of nearly all documents.

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“The American people simply need to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference. “Democrats didn’t put this into the public domain. The conspiracy theory provocateur-in-chief Donald Trump is the one, along with his extreme MAGA Republican associates, who put this whole thing into the public domain for years. And now they are reaping what they have sown.”

Still, Democrats, who hold minorities in both chambers, have relished the opportunity to make Republicans repeatedly block their attempts to force the Justice Department to release the documents.

Trump in recent years has suggested he would release more information about the investigation into Epstein, especially amid speculation over a supposed list of Epstein’s clients.

In February, the Justice Department released some government documents regarding the case, but there were no new revelations. After a months-long review of additional evidence, the department earlier this month released a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself, but said no other files related to the case would be made public.

A White House spokeswoman said Thursday that Trump would not recommend a special counsel in the case. But later Thursday, the president said he had asked Bondi to seek the release of testimony from grand jury proceedings in the case.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said that process would likely only produce limited information, but added that it showed that “the president is hearing the American people.”

Today is Friday, July 18, the 199th day of 2025. There are 166 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 18, 1976, at the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci of Romania became the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10 from Olympic judges for her performance on the uneven bars.

Also on this date:

In 1536, the English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.

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In 1863, during the Civil War, Union troops spearheaded by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of Black soldiers, charged Confederate-held Fort Wagner on Morris Island, S.C. The Confederates were able to repel the Northerners, who suffered heavy losses; the 54th’s commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, was among those who were killed.

In 1918, South African anti-apartheid leader and president Nelson Mandela was born in the village of Mvezo.

In 1925, Adolf Hitler published the first volume of his autobiographical manifesto, “Mein Kampf (My Struggle).”

In 1944, Hideki Tojo was removed as Japanese premier and war minister because of setbacks suffered by his country in World War II.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act which placed the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.

In 1964, nearly a week of rioting erupted in New York’s Harlem neighborhood following the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager, James Powell, two days earlier.

In 1994, a bomb hidden in a van destroyed a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85.

In 2005, an unrepentant Eric Rudolph was sentenced in Birmingham, Alabama, to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.

In 2013, Detroit became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, its finances ravaged and its neighborhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.

Today’s Birthdays:

Olympic gold medal figure skater Tenley Albright is 90.
Movie director Paul Verhoeven is 87.
Singer Dion DiMucci is 86.
Actor James Brolin is 85.
Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Torre is 85.
Singer Martha Reeves is 84.
Business mogul Richard Branson is 75.
Actor Margo Martindale is 74.
Musician Ricky Skaggs is 71.
World Golf Hall of Famer Nick Faldo is 68.
Actor Elizabeth McGovern is 64.
Actor Vin Diesel is 58.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert is 56.
Retired NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway is 54.
Singer-songwriter M.I.A. is 50.
Actor Elsa Pataky (“The Fast and the Furious” films) is 49.
Movie director Jared Hess is 46.
Actor Kristen Bell is 45.
Actor Priyanka Chopra is 43.
Actor Chace Crawford is 40.
Boxer Canelo Alvarez is 35.
Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles is 28.