Kardashian testifies that she feared rape and murder during 2016 heist

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By THOMAS ADAMSON, JOHN LEICESTER and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Kim Kardashian testified Tuesday that she feared she would be raped and killed during a 2016 armed robbery in Paris, describing the ordeal in stark, emotional terms.

“I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” Kardashian told a French court, recalling how one robber pulled her toward him while she was wearing only a bathrobe. “I absolutely did think I was going to die,” she added.

It marked the first time Kardashian has confronted the men accused of tying her up at gunpoint in her hotel suite during Fashion Week and stealing more than $6 million in jewelry.

Her appearance is the emotional peak of a trial that has gripped France and reignited global debates over celebrity, privacy, and digital-age exposure.

UnitedHealth Group CEO steps down; suspends 2025 outlook on higher-than-expected medical costs

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By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business Writer

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for personal reasons and the nation’s largest health insurer suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs.

Chairman Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, effective immediately, the Minnesota company said.

Hemsley was UnitedHealth Group CEO from 2006 to 2017. He will remain chairman of the company’s board. Witty will serve as a senior adviser to Hemsley.

“Leading the people of UnitedHealth Group has been a tremendous honor as they work every day to improve the health system, and they will continue to inspire me,” Witty said.

Witty joined the company in 2018 after serving about nine years as CEO of the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. He was named UnitedHealth’s CEO in February 2021, replacing Dave Wichmann.

UnitedHealth became one of the nation’s largest companies under Witty’s leadership. Total revenue topped $400 billion last year, a 55% increase from the $257 billion UnitedHealth brought in the year before Witty became CEO.

Shares of UnitedHealth rocketed higher under Witty, up 60.5% since he took the company’s top job.

Yet in the past five months, that stock performance reversed sharply, coinciding with the fatal shooting of company executive Brian Thompson in front of a New York City hotel late last year.

FILE – Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, appears in Manhattan state court in New York, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP, File

The company has wrestled with the attention on Luigi Mangione, who was indicted last month on a federal murder charge in the killing of Thompson.

The case has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.

UnitedHealth cut its 2025 forecast last month following its first quarterly earnings miss in more than a decade. Shares of UnitedHealth, which have plummeted 38% since the deadly Dec. 4 ambush of Thompson in midtown Manhattan, fell more than 8% before the opening bell on Tuesday.

UnitedHealth said Tuesday that it suspended its 2025 outlook as medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare were higher than expected.

More than 50 million people have health insurance under UnitedHealth Group Inc. It also has a large pharmacy benefit manager that runs prescription drug coverage and a growing Optum segment that delivers care and provides technical support.

UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, with more than 8 million customers. Those are privately run versions of the federal government coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and older.

AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report.

French actor Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault and given 18-month suspended sentence

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By SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French movie star Gérard Depardieu ’s fall from grace is now complete.

Depardieu further moved down from the pinnacle of French cinema Tuesday as he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. He was also fined a total of around $32,350, and the court requested that he be registered in the national sex offender database.

The actor, 76, has been convicted of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”). The case was widely seen as a key post-#MeToo test of how French society and its film industry address allegations of sexual misconduct involving prominent figures.

Depardieu, who has denied the accusations, didn’t attend the hearing in Paris. Depardieu’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, said that his client would appeal the decision.

“It is the victory of two women, but it is the victory of all the women beyond this trial,” said Carine Durrieu Diebolt, the set dresser’s lawyer. “Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema. I think that with this decision we can no longer say that he is not a sexual abuser. And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I’d like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu’s victims.”

Accused by more than 20 women

Depardieu’s long and storied career — he told the court that he’s made more than 250 films — has turned him into a French movie giant. He was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

In recent years, the actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

During the four-day trial in March, Depardieu rejected the accusations, saying he’s “not like that.” He acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language on the film set and that he grabbed the set dresser’s hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual.

The court, composed of a panel of three judges, concluded that Depardieu’s explanations in court were “unpersuasive” and “not credible” and stressed both accusers’ “constant, reiterated and substantiated declarations.”

The court also said that both plaintiffs have been faced with an “aggressive” defense strategy “based on comments meant to offend them.” The judges therefore considered that Depardieu’s lawyer comments in court aggravated the harm to the accusers and justified higher fines.

The two accusers testified in court

The set dresser described the alleged assault, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.

From left, a plaintiff’s lawyer Claude Vincent, lawyer Catherine Le Magueresse, a plaintiff, a plaintiff’s lawyer Carine Durrieu Diebolt speak with the media outside a Paris court, after a verdict was delivered on accusations that French actor Gerard Depardieu sexually assaulted two women who were working on a film with him in 2021, in Paris, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and “in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then grabbed her chest.

The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor’s calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.

The other plaintiff, an assistant, said that Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set.

The Associated Press doesn’t identify by name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to be named. Neither women has done so in this case.

“I’m very moved,” one of the plaintiffs, the set dresser, told reporters after the verdict. “I’m very very much satisfied with the decision, that’s a victory for me, really, and a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.”

Some expressed support for Depardieu

Some figures in the French cinema world have expressed their support for Depardieu. Actors Vincent Perez and Fanny Ardant were among those who took seats on his side of the courtroom.

French media reported last week that Depardieu was shooting a film directed by Ardant in the Azores archipelago, in Portugal.

The actor may have to face other legal proceedings soon.

In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial.

For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility.

A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures.

In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under renewed scrutiny, including after a documentary showed him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.

Tariffs may have pushed up inflation a bit in April, government report to show

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By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation may have picked up slightly last month as President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs kicked in, a trend economists expect will become more visible in the coming months.

Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 2.4% in April compared with a year earlier, according to data provider FactSet, the same as in March and down from 3% at the start of the year. Still, on a monthly basis, economists expect that the consumer price index rose 0.3% from March to April, a pace that would worsen inflation if it continued, after it fell for the first time in nearly five years the previous month.

Tuesday’s report could provide an early read on how Trump’s duties will affect the prices Americans pay for necessities and other goods such as clothing, shoes, furniture and even groceries. Duties on many goods from Mexico and Canada took effect in February and could have impacted prices last month. Still, economists forecast the impact from duties to be modest.

A worker installs a platform near a Nike store outside a shopping mall in Beijing, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

“Firms have indicated … that they are unsure how much of the tariff cost increase they can pass through to consumers without denting demand, and we expect some testing of the waters and a staggered pattern of price increases,” Laura Rosner-Warburton, cofounder of Macro Policy Perspectives, wrote in note to clients.

The Trump administration said early Monday that it had reached a deal with China to sharply reduce its tariffs on imports from that country. But even taking that agreement into account, U.S. average import taxes remain at 90-year highs, economists said, which could worsen inflation in the coming months.

Tariffs on furniture, agricultural goods from Mexico, and on clothes and shoes may have boosted prices last month. Auto prices may have risen because car sales surged as Americans sought to get ahead of duties on new cars and car parts, reducing the need for dealers to offer discounts.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices are forecast to have risen 2.8% last month compared to a year earlier, the same as in March. On a monthly basis, they are expected to rise 0.3%, up from just 0.1% the previous month.

It will likely take more time for the full impact of the duties to be reflected in prices across U.S. businesses, economists say. Items that were already in transit when the tariffs were imposed won’t have to pay the duties, while many companies have built a stockpile of goods and could hold off on price hikes in hopes that tariffs will ultimately be reduced.

Consumers, at least those outside the top one-fifth in incomes, are also more stretched financially than a few years ago and are more likely to resist price hikes, which could push firms to delay raising prices as long as possible.

Consumer prices cooled noticeably in February and March, prompting Trump to claim repeatedly on social media that there is “NO INFLATION.” Inflation has fallen to nearly the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve, the agency charged with fighting higher prices.

Yet grocery prices have jumped in two out of the past three months, despite Trump’s claims. He has also said gas has fallen to $1.98 a gallon, which is below the measured average in any state. AAA said Monday that gas costs an average $3.14 a gallon nationwide.

On Monday, the White House said it has cut the tariff it imposed on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China also sharply reduced its duties on U.S. goods. Both sides could add 24% tariffs after 90 days if they don’t reach a broader agreement.

The smaller import taxes will limit the damage to the U.S. economy, but combined with a 10% universal tariff already in place, plus larger import taxes on autos, steel, and aluminum, economists forecast they will still slow growth this year and worsen inflation.

The Yale Budget Lab, for example, estimates that the average U.S. tariff will be nearly 18% even including the deal reached Monday between the U.S. and China. At that level, U.S. duties will be the highest since 1934. The Budget Lab calculates the tariffs will lift prices 1.7% and cost the average household about $2,800.

And while Trump may tout his trade deals — such as the one with the United Kingdom reached last week — he has also said “tariffs is the most beautiful word” in the dictionary, and is counting on revenue from duties to narrow the budget deficit, suggesting tariffs will likely remain high.

The tariffs have also put the Federal Reserve in an exceedingly difficult spot, as Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged in a news conference last week. Powell said the duties have raised the risk of both higher inflation and higher unemployment, two challenges that rarely occur simultaneously. If unemployment rose, the Fed would typically cut rates to boost the economy, while if inflation worsened, the central bank would usually raise rates or leave them elevated.