NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday at an federal immigration detention center where he was protesting its opening, a federal prosecutor said.

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Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka committed trespass and ignored warnings from Homeland Security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, an detention facility run by private prison operator GEO Group.

The mayor has been protesting the opening of the facility throughout this week, saying its operators did not get proper permits.

In her social media post, Habba said Baraka had “chosen to disregard the law.” She added that he was taken into custody.

Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join a scheduled tour of the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.

“The agents started intimidating and putting their hands on the congresswomen. There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”

An email and phone message left with the mayor’s communications office were not immediately answered Friday afternoon.

Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration.

He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

The two-story building next to a county prison operated as a halfway house before a February announcement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention center there.

Baraka sued GEO Group soon after the deal was announced.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have approved the first cervical cancer testing kit that allows women to collect their own sample at home before shipping it to a laboratory, according to a medical device company.

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Teal Health said Friday the Food and Drug Administration approved its Teal Wand for home use, offering a new way to collect vaginal samples that can detect the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer. Currently, HPV tests and Pap smears are performed at a health clinic or doctor’s office.

An influential federal panel recommended last year the use of self-collection of HPV samples to boost screening. The FDA also recently expanded the use of two older HPV tests for self-collection, but those must be done at a medical office or mobile clinic.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is very common and is spread through sex. Most HPV infections clear up on their own, but persistent infection can lead to cancer of the cervix. Most cervical cancers occur in women who are inadequately screened, diagnosed or treated.

To collect a sample, a swab or brush is inserted into the vagina and rotated, then the swab is put into a tube or container and processed at a lab.

Teal Health’s kit requires a prescription, which customers can obtain through one of the company’s online health providers. The San Francisco-based company said it will initially beginning selling the kits in California next month before expanding to other states. The company also said it is working with insurers on health coverage for the test.

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.

By COLLEEN BARRY, DAVID CRARY and GIADA ZAMPANO

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, in remarks in 2012 when he was the Augustinian prior general in Chicago, made comments critical of what he called the “homosexual lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.

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Reports about the 2012 comments emerged after Thursday’s election of U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost to succeed Pope Francis; he took the name Leo XIV.

The remarks were “disappointing,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, a U.S.-based group that advocates for greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church.

“We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that his (Leo’s) heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened,” DeBernardo said in a statement.

A 2012 video provided to Catholic News Service, the news agency of the U.S. bishops conference, featured Prevost’s address to the world Synod of Bishops against the backdrop of images from popular TV series and movies.

“Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel, for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia,” Prevost said.

He singled out “how alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed in television programs and cinema today.”

When he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked him if his views had changed. He acknowledged Pope Francis’ call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis “made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.”

But he underlined that doctrine had not changed, in line with Francis. “And people haven’t said yet (that) we’re looking for that kind of change,” Prevost said. “But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church.”

In his first remarks as pope on Thursday night, Leo spoke about building bridges and God’s love for all.

The Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit who founded an LGBTQ+ outreach ministry, said such an invitation to inclusiveness and welcome was important and he considered the cardinals’ choice of Prevost “brilliant.”

FILE – A public blessing ceremony with hundreds of believers takes place in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, on Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

“He is humble, reserved, straightforward, trustworthy. I think he brings a wealth of experience not only (from) his long time in Peru working with the poor, but also in the Vatican,” Martin said. “It’s rare to come in contact with someone who is actually humble and not pretending to be humble. And he’s the real deal. And that really cemented my respect for him. He always treated me with great respect, dignity, friendship. He’s a man of few words, and I’ll say that when he talked, people listened.”

Francis, more than any of his predecessors, incrementally conveyed through his actions, formal statements and occasional casual remarks that he wanted the church to be a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people. Yet his papacy ended with the same core doctrine for LGBTQ+ people that he inherited: The Catholic Church still rejected same-sex marriage and condemned any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.”

The U.S.-based LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD called on the new pontiff to “build on the progress” made by his predecessor.

“The Roman Catholic Church stands on the threshold of a hopeful and inclusive new chapter. With Pope Leo XIV’s leadership, there is an extraordinary opportunity to inspire billions around the world and further embrace LGBTQ people with compassion, dignity, and love,” GLADD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.

Crary reported from New York. Barry reported from Soave, Italy. Nicole Winfield contributed.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker had struggled mightily through Minnesota’s first six playoff games. One or two bad games? That happens. But such a sustained stretch of struggles isn’t acceptable for one of the Timberwolves’ most consistent players during the regular season.

So on Wednesday, after Alexander-Walker tallied just one steal and no other helpful counting stats in 14 minutes of play in Game 1, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and Co. challenged the two-way reserve wing to be the player he’d been all season for Minnesota.

The 26 year old responded with a 20-point showing in the Wolves’ Game 2 win over Golden State, a bout in which he was sound defensively while knocking down four triples.

“Nickeil was huge,” Finch said. ““We need him. We need his ability to guard multiple guys. We need his size, length, toughness. It was really important to get him a game like this (on Thursday).”

Alexander-Walker said he “embraced” the off-day message from the coaching staff, noting they wouldn’t get on him if they didn’t believe in his abilities.

“You can’t run away from a challenge,” he said. “If God is willing years from now, I can show my son what I was able to do and just a life lesson. When you face adversity, you’ve got to step up to it. You can’t back down.”

All while not allowing the struggles to occupy too much of his mind. Alexander-Walker was 10 for 46 (22%) from distance over his previous 11 games prior to Thursday’s victory. But you can’t will yourself out of a shooting slump.

Alexander-Walker said he had to trust the law of averages to eventually prevail.

“The more that I stress it, the more that I worry about finding it the more that I get in my head about, ‘Oh what do I need to do to get it going,’ the further I get to actually doing so,” he said. “You know, I read a bible sermon that just talked about having opportunity and talent, so to speak, is all God’s given blessing. So you know, he takes and he gives.”

All Alexander-Walker could do was continue to put in the work and trust his game. So, regardless of the results, he remained committed to being on the training table at 7:30 a.m. each day, getting in his treatment and a shooting session, then returning to the facility later in the day to lift weights and shoot again.

Rinse, repeat.

“He works his butt off every single day. He’s the first one in the gym every single day,” Wolves forward Julius Randle said. “So when somebody works like that, it’s only a matter of time before things turn around. He stays true to who he is, and continues to work and has a game like he had (Thursday). So hopefully he can keep building on it, because when he does that, it’s huge for our team.”

In the past, struggles would snowball on Alexander-Walker, who was susceptible to get into his own head at the first sign of struggles. But in these playoffs, he felt optimism was his biggest enemy. He was convincing himself that every single game was going to be ‘the game’ in which he broke through.

But he changed his approach on Thursday, instead focusing on the controllables. He was going to rebound and inject pace into the game, two facets that have nothing to do with making shots.

“I think that’s why it opened everything up, because I was able to kind of take that pressure off of being good on that side and just doing what my team needs me to do outside of just trying to score,” Alexander-Walker said.

That’s part of his magic. Alexander-Walker is a do-it-all guy for Minnesota. His value extends far beyond his shotmaking. Realizing as much unlocks his full potential.

“We needed him to take a deep breath and just kind of stay ready and confident. I thought he had turned down some shots over the last few games. We can’t have that. Everything flows from there for him. His creation and ability to attack the basket. All that,” Finch said. “After he makes a few plays he can be a little bit more aggressive for himself. You see that. … I think he definitely plays better when we have a good flow and he’s not looking to have to force himself into the offense.”