ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has declined to consider Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others.

Related Articles

Senate approves White House economist to serve on Fed board

Appeals court rejects Trump’s bid to unseat Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook ahead of rate vote

Trump wouldn’t call Minnesota governor after Democrat was slain but now blames him for raised flags

Trump administration joins Republicans’ campaign to police speech in reaction to Kirk’s murder

The Democratic Party is in fits over Mamdani’s bid for NYC mayor. Republicans are loving it

Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case. Willis in January asked the Georgia Supreme Court to review that ruling, and the high court on Tuesday declined to take up the case.

That means it will be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find another prosecutor to take over the case. That person could continue on the track that Willis has taken, decide to pursue only some charges or dismiss the case altogether. It could be difficult to find a prosecutor willing to take the case, given its complex nature and the resources required.

Even if a new prosecutor wants to continue on the path charted by Willis, it seems unlikely that Trump could be prosecuted now that he’s the sitting president. But there are 14 other defendants who still face charges in the case.

A grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia. The alleged scheme included Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to help find enough votes to beat Biden. Four people have pleaded guilty.

By ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces bombarded the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with rockets overnight, wounding 13 people, including two children, officials said Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European leaders to make the continent safe by building an ambitious air defense umbrella.

With the war grinding on since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than 3½ years ago, there has been no let-up in Russian strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine and its army’s push on the roughly 620-mile front line.

In this photo provided by the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, rescuers work on a site of a house destroyed by a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (Zaporizhzhia regional military administration via AP)

A peace settlement appears to be no closer despite months of U.S.-led peace efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump’s ultimatums and deadlines for Putin to engage with proposals to stop the fighting have passed without obvious consequences.

Just over the past two weeks, Zelenskyy said on Telegram, Russia has launched more than 3,500 drones, more than 2,500 powerful glide bombs and almost 200 missiles at targets inside Ukraine.

Russian glide bombs, usually dropped by jets at high altitude and far behind the front line, and drone swarms are a major challenge for Ukrainian defenses. Glide bombs aren’t very accurate, but they leave big craters, and Ukraine has no effective countermeasure against them.

Russian drones also recently landed on Polish soil, prompting NATO to beef up the alliance’s European air defenses as tensions with Moscow mounted.

Related Articles

Today in History: September 16, massacre in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps

Growing protests pose the most serious challenge yet to Serbia’s populist president

Trump says the US military again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela

Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’

Nvidia violated antimonopoly laws, China says

“Now is the time to implement the joint protection of our European skies with a multilayered air defense system. All the technologies for this are available,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “We need investments and desire, we need strong actions and decisions from all our partners.”

In Zaporizhzhia, the Russian barrage struck more than 20 apartment buildings, starting fires, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on national television.

“We hadn’t yet recovered from enemy strikes on Aug. 30. We are currently repairing those buildings, those windows, but now the enemy has added more work for our municipal workers,” Fedorov said.

In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that have hit deep inside Russia, damaging installations vital for Russia’s war effort.

Recent strikes have included oil refineries, depots and terminals. Russia remains the world’s second-largest oil exporter, but a seasonal rise in demand and sustained Ukrainian drone strikes have caused gasoline shortages in recent weeks.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Tuesday that the armed forces struck an oil refinery in the Saratov region of western Russia during the night. Explosions and a fire were reported at the facility, the General Staff said on its Facebook page.

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, issuing a report Tuesday that calls on the international community to end the genocide and take steps to punish those responsible for it.

The deeply-documented findings by the three-member team are the latest accusations of genocide against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by rights advocates as Israeli carries on with its war against Hamas in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people. Israel rejected what it called a “distorted and false” report.

FILE – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (not shown) hold a joint press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office, during Rubio’s visit, in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which was created four years ago, has repeatedly documented alleged human rights abuses and violations both in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel led by Hamas, and other Palestinian areas.

While neither the commission nor the 47-member-country council that it works for within the U.N. system can take action against a country, the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.

The report also amounts to a final message from the team headed by former U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay, who served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. All three of its members announced in July that they would resign, citing personal reasons and a need for change.

The team was commissioned by the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, but it does not speak for the United Nations.

Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission and has accused it and the HRC of anti-Israel bias. Earlier this year, the Trump administration, a key Israeli ally, pulled the United States out of the council.

Commission says Israel committed ‘genocidal acts’

After a painstaking legal analysis, examining both actions and intent, the commission said Israel had committed four of the five “genocidal acts” defined under an international convention adopted in 1948 known colloquially as the “Genocide Convention,” three years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Pillay, the commission chair. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”

Related Articles

Today in History: September 16, massacre in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps

Growing protests pose the most serious challenge yet to Serbia’s populist president

Trump says the US military again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela

Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’

Nvidia violated antimonopoly laws, China says

The team based its findings on the convention’s five criteria to assess whether genocide has occurred: killing members of a group; causing its members serious bodily or mental harm; imposing measures aimed to prevent births in the group; deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the “physical destruction” of the group; and forcibly transferring its children to another group.

Under the convention, a genocide determination could be made even if only one of those five criteria are met — and the commission said four have been. Only the criteria on forcible transfer has not been met, it said.

Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief, said “responsibility for the atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons” over the nearly two-year war.

Her commission concluded that Netanyahu, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, had incited the commission of genocide. It hasn’t assessed whether other Israeli leaders had done so too.

Chris Sidoti, one of the commission’s three members, said he hoped that the report would reach people in Israel, insisting they had been “betrayed” by the government in its “abject refusal” to take action to rescue Israeli hostages after 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 two years ago, and its “genocidal war” that has jeopardized Israel’s security.

“We cannot understand how traumatic the 7th of October was for the people of Israel,” he told reporters. “The trauma and their suffering has been ruthlessly manipulated by Netanyahu and his cronies for the last two years — and it’s time that it stopped. And it’s time that those who are responsible for this were held accountable.”

Israel refutes the findings

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued an angry response Tuesday, saying it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report.”

“Three individuals serving as Hamas proxies, notorious for their openly antisemitic positions — and whose horrific statements about Jews have been condemned worldwide — released today another fake ‘report’ about Gaza,” it said.

Genocide accusations are especially sensitive in Israel, which was founded as a haven for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust and where memories of the Holocaust still play an important role in the country’s national identity.

In coming to its conclusion of genocide, the commission said it pored over the conduct of Israeli security forces and “explicit statements” by Israeli civilian and military authorities, among other criteria.

In particular, the experts cited as factors the death toll, Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza and blockade of humanitarian aid that has led to starvation, a policy of “systematically destroying” the health care system, and direct targeting of children.

Commission calls on countries to act

The commission urged other countries to halt weapons transfers to Israel and block individuals or companies from actions that could contribute to genocide in Gaza.

“The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said Pillay, who is a South African jurist. “When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity.”

The current U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has decried Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and spoken out forcefully against alleged crimes, but has not accused Israel of carrying out genocide.

His office, alluding to international law, has argued that only an international court can make a final, formal determination of genocide. Critics counter that could take years and insist that thousands of people, many of them civilians, are being systematically killed in Gaza in the meantime.

The International Court of Justice is hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel. Other countries, including Spain, Mexico and Libya, have asked the U.N. court to join the case.

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Writer

The world’s fondness for matcha is about to be tested by steep price increases.

Global demand for the powdered tea has skyrocketed around the world, fueled by consumer interest in its health benefits and by the bright green matcha lattes bubbling up on social media. In the U.S., retail sales of matcha are up 86% from three years ago, according to NIQ, a market research firm.

But the matcha market is troubled. In Japan, one of the biggest matcha producers, poor weather reduced this year’s harvest. Matcha is still plentiful in China, another major producer, but labor shortages and high demand have also raised prices there.

An iced matcha latte is served at Asha Tea House on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

For Americans, there’s the added impact of tariffs. Imports from China are currently subject to a 37.5% tariff, while the U.S. has a 15% tariff on imports from Japan. It’s not clear if tea will be exempted from tariffs because it’s a natural product that’s not grown in significant quantities in the U.S. — an accommodation that the Trump administration has made for cork from the European Union. The Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t respond to messages left by The Associated Press.

Aaron Vick, a senior tea buyer with California-based tea importer G.S. Haly, says he paid 75% more for the highest-grade 2025 crop of Japanese matcha, which will arrive in the U.S. later this fall. He expects lower grades of matcha to cost 30% to 50% more. Chinese matcha — while generally cheaper than Japanese matcha — is also getting more expensive because of high demand, he said.

“People should expect an enormous increase in the price of matcha this year,” Vick said. “It’s going to be a bit of a tough ride for matcha devotees. They will have to show the depth of their commitment at the cash register.”

Senior Tea Buyer Aaron Vick uses a whisk to make a matcha drink inside The G.S. Haly Company’s tea tasting room in Redwood City, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

Even before this year’s harvest, growing demand was straining matcha supplies. Making matcha is precise and labor intensive. Farmers grow tencha — a green tea leaf — in the shade. In the spring, the leaves are harvested, steamed, de-stemmed and de-veined and then stone ground into a fine powder. Tencha can be harvested again in the summer and fall, but the later harvests are generally of lower quality.

There are ways to cut corners, like using a jet mill, which grinds the leaves with high pressure air. But Japan has other issues, including a rapidly aging workforce and limited tencha production. And despite Japanese agricultural ministry trying to coax tea growers to switch to tencha from regular green tea, many are reluctant to do so, concerned that the matcha boom will fade.

That’s giving an opening to China, where matcha originated but fell out of favor in the 14th century. Chinese matcha production has been growing in recent years to meet both domestic and international demand.

Chinese matcha has historically been considered inferior to Japanese matcha and used as a flavoring for things like matcha-flavored KitKat bars instead of as a drinking tea. But the quality is improving, according to Jason Walker, the marketing director at Firsd Tea, the New Jersey-based U.S. subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group, China’s largest tea exporter.

“We are seeing more and more interest in Chinese matcha because of capacity issues and changing perception,” Walker said. “It used to be the idea that it has to be Japanese matcha or nothing. But we have a good product too.”

Starbucks is among the companies using matcha from China for its lattes. The company said it also sources matcha from Japan and South Korea. Dunkin’ and Dutch Bros. didn’t respond when asked where they source the matcha.

Josh Mordecai, the supply chain director for London-based tea supplier Good & Proper Tea, said he is approached almost daily by Chinese matcha suppliers. For now, he only buys matcha from Japan, but the cost to acquire it has risen 40% so he’ll have to raise prices, he said.

Mordecai said he saw more demand for matcha in the last year than in the previous nine years combined. If matcha prices continue to rise, he wonders if consumers will switch to other tea varieties like hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea.

“We’ll see if this is a bubble or not. Nothing stays on social media that long,” Mordecai said.

Julia Mills, a food and drink analyst for the market research company Mintel, expects the social media interest in matcha to die down. But she thinks matcha will remain on menus for a while.

Related Articles

What to know after US says it has reached framework deal with China to keep TikTok in operation

McDonald’s plans $200 million investment to promote regenerative practices on US cattle ranches

Nvidia violated antimonopoly laws, China says

Shipping companies support a first-ever global fee on greenhouse gases, opposed by Trump officials

Now summer’s over, here’s what to do with all those photos on your camera roll

Mills said matcha appeals to customers interested in wellness, since it contains antioxidants and l-theanine, an amino acid known for its calming effects, and it’s less caffeinated than coffee. Millennials and Generation Z customers are more likely to have tried matcha than others, Mills said.

The traditional way of preparing it, whisking the powder together with hot water in a small bowl, also appeals to drinkers who want to slow down and be more intentional, Mills said.

That’s true for Melissa Lindsay of San Francisco, who whisks up some matcha for herself every morning. Lindsay has noticed prices rising for her high-end matcha, but it’s a habit she’d find hard to quit.

“It’s not just a tea bag in water,” Lindsay said. “It’s a whole experience of making it to your liking.”

David Lau, the owner of Asha Tea House in San Francisco, hopes to keep customers drinking matcha by limiting price increases. Lau raised the price of his matcha latte by 50 cents after the cost the matcha he buys from Japan more than doubled. He’s also looking into alternate suppliers from China and elsewhere.

“We’re in the affordable luxury business, you know, just like any other specialty cafe. We want people to be able to come every day, and once you reach a certain price level, you start to price people out,” he said. “We want to be really cognizant and aware of not doing that.

AP Video Journalist Haven Daley contributed from San Francisco.