The Senate Subcommittee on Ethics on Thursday advised Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion to disclose potential conflicts of interest in future bills he sponsors.

Though in that same motion, the panel made no finding on whether Champion had a conflict of interest when he carried a 2023 bill that gave state money to a nonprofit whose founder he had done free legal work for in the past.

Further, they found no financial conflict in a bill he sponsored this year to bring that organization another $1 million.

The decision was unanimous, though the Ethics Subcommittee has two Democratic-Farmer-Labor and two Republican members and often deadlocks or rules inconclusively.

On May 5, it’s expected to hear a Senate GOP complaint against Champion regarding his relationships with nonprofits he helped fund.

Violence prevention nonprofit

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion.

Champion, a Minneapolis DFLer, has been under scrutiny in recent weeks after reports that he helped the violence prevention nonprofit 21 Days of Peace obtain $3 million in funding, and that he had done pro bono work for its founder, Jerry McAfee.

The senator temporarily stepped down as chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct and asked for an advisory opinion on April 7, and has maintained that his pro bono work did not coincide with his sponsorship of the bills.

‘“I appreciate the conclusion the members of the Ethics Subcommittee, which as expected found that I had not violated Senate rules,” Champion said in a statement. “I sought the advisory opinion from the in full confidence that I have followed the rules of the Senate with regards to conflict of interest, and conducted myself with integrity.”

Minnesota’s ethics rules for legislators are not particularly expansive. Current law bans members from voting on matters that result in a direct financial gain for themselves or their business disproportionate to others in the same field.

Political observers and lawmakers of both parties have noted that Minnesota’s part-time “citizen legislature” naturally lends itself to members voting on issues directly related to their work and communities. Teachers, nurses and business owners often back or carry bills directly related to their lines of work.

Connections may effect work as lawmakers

As the Senate Ethics Subcommittee prepared to pass a motion Thursday, Chair Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who joined the committee after Champion stepped down, reflected on that challenge for Minnesota lawmakers.

“I think that we have to be very careful with this advisory opinion and what we issue, because if we’re doing our job as legislators, as I said, we have a lot of relationships and a lot of people we know in the community, and that informs our work as legislators,” she said. “That should be considered a good thing.”

Pappas said the advisory opinion from the Ethics Subcommittee telling Champion to disclose potential conflicts in the future was a reminder for all members to weigh how their connections might affect their work.

Champion’s connection to nonprofits he helped fund has raised questions in the Legislature about changing state ethics rules.

Senate Republicans have said that regardless of whether Champion violated rules, state lawmakers should hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct.

Privilege rules

Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, who brought the complaint against Champion, has said a big part of his concern is that Champion had interactions with McAfee, which would be private under attorney-client privilege rules.

“The choice to carry legislation that provided funding to an entity with which Champion has a privileged relationship without disclosing the relationship fails to meet those standards,” he said in a Thursday statement. “This opinion from the Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct acknowledges that fact by saying he should make disclosures in the future.”

The Ethics Subcommittee will hear Kreun’s complaint at a meeting where they’ll officially adopt Thursday’s advisory opinion. Kreun’s complaint requests that the subcommittee look into whether Champion violated rules prohibiting actions that discredit the Senate or undermine public trust in government.

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven U.S. Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than $200 million in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against the Iran-backed militants.

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According to defense officials, three of the drones were shot down in the past week — suggesting the militants’ targeting of the unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen has improved. The drones were doing attack runs or conducting surveillance, and they crashed both into the water and onto land, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The U.S. has increased its attacks on the Houthis, launching daily strikes since March 15, when President Donald Trump ordered a new, expanded campaign. He promised to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Houthis cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The U.S. has done more than 750 strikes on the Houthis since that new effort began.

Another defense official said that although hostile fire is likely the cause of the drone losses, the incidents are still under investigation. The official noted that the increase in U.S. strikes can add to the risk to aircraft, but said the U.S. will take every measure possible to protect troops, equipment and interests in the region. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to comment on sensitive military issues.

The sophisticated drones, built by General Atomics, cost about $30 million each, and generally fly at altitudes of more than 40,000 feet (12,100 meters). Houthis leaders have consistently touted the strikes in public statements. One of the defense officials said the U.S. lost Reaper drones on March 31 and on April 3, 9, 13, 18, 19 and 22.

U.S. senators, meanwhile, are raising concerns about civilian casualties caused by the American strikes in Yemen. Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday questioning whether the Trump administration is “abandoning the measures necessary to meet its obligations to reducing civilian harm.”

Specifically, they questioned reports that U.S. strikes at the Ras Isa fuel terminal in Yemen last week potentially killed more than 70 civilians.

“Military leaders agree that ingraining civilian harm mitigation practices within U.S operations leads to better outcomes and that civilian casualties actually undermine the mission that the military has been sent in to do,” their letter said.

In addition to downing the drones, the Houthis have been persistently firing missiles and one-way attack drones at U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. They haven’t hit any.

The U.S. has been using an array of warships, fighter jets, bombers and drones to strike the Houthis, and aircraft can now launch from two Navy carriers in the region.

Hegseth decided in March to beef up the Navy warship presence in the Middle East, ordering the USS Harry S. Truman to extend its deployment there, as the USS Carl Vinson steamed toward the area.

The Truman, along with two of the destroyers and a cruiser in its strike group, is now in the Red Sea. And the Vinson, along with two destroyers and a cruiser, is in the Gulf of Aden.

In this photo taken from video released by Al Masirah TV channel shows a burning oil tanker after U.S. airstrikes targeted the Ras Isa oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in Hodeida, Yemen, Friday, April 18, 2025.( Al Masirah TV via AP)

The third destroyer assigned to the Truman is in the Mediterranean Sea. And two other U.S. Navy destroyers are in the Red Sea, but aren’t part of the Truman’s group.

Hegseth is weighing whether to grant a request by U.S. Central Command to once again extend the Truman’s deployment. A decision to do that could keep the Truman and at least some of its strike group in the region for several more weeks.

It has been rare in recent years for the U.S. to have two aircraft carriers in the Middle East at the same time. Navy leaders have generally been opposed to the idea because it disrupts ship maintenance schedules and delays time at home for sailors strained by the unusually high combat tempo.

Last year, the Biden administration ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier to remain in the Red Sea for an extended time, as U.S. warships waged the most intense running sea battle since World War II.

Prior to that it had been years since the U.S. had committed that much warship power to the Middle East.

The Houthis have been waging persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN

NEW YORK (AP) — Female bonobos find strength in numbers, teaming up to fend off males in the wild, a new study finds.

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Along with chimpanzees, bonobos are among humans’ closest relatives. Scientists have long wondered why bonobos live in generally female-dominated societies since the males are physically bigger and stronger.

Three decades of observations in Congo — the only place the endangered bonobos are found in the wild — lend support to the idea of a sisterhood where female bonobos band together to assert their power.

These girl groups chased male bonobos out of trees, securing food for themselves, and females that grouped more ranked higher in their community’s social ladder, researchers found.

This image provided by Martin Surbeck shows bonobos lounging on a fallen tree in the Congo in 2020. (Martin Surbeck/Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project via AP)

“It’s very clear that you don’t want to overstep as a male bonobo,” said study author Martin Surbeck from Harvard University.

Findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

Female bonobos’ combined numbers seem to turn the tide against a male’s physical strength, Surbeck said. It’s one of the rare times such a strategy has allowed females to come out on top in the animal kingdom. Spotted hyenas similarly find power in groups.

Female bonobos linked up even when they didn’t have close ties, supporting one another against the males and cementing their social standing. The observations show how female bonobos work together to protect themselves from male violence, said biological anthropologist Laura Lewis with the University of California, Berkeley.

This image provided by Martin Surbeck shows bonobos resting and socializing on a fallen tree in the Congo in 2020. (Martin Surbeck/Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project via AP)

The findings support “the idea that humans and our ancestors have likely used coalitions to build and maintain power for millions of years,” Lewis, who was not involved with the research, said in an email.

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.

DETROIT (AP) — A former executive at a major Detroit nonprofit was sentenced Thursday to 19 years in prison for stealing more than $40 million meant to help beautify the city’s riverfront.

Investigators said William Smith routinely used Detroit Riverfront Conservancy money for travel, hotels, limousines, household goods, clothing and jewelry. He had side gigs in real estate, a nightclub and amateur basketball.

Smith, 52, was fired as chief financial officer last May and arrested the following month. He pleaded guilty in November to wire fraud and money laundering. A federal judge in Detroit also ordered Smith to pay back the $44.3 million he stole.

Funding for the conservancy comes from private donors and public grants, and the nonprofit says Smith’s theft forced the delay of portions of a popular riverwalk project.

Smith on Thursday called his actions “wrong, plain and simple.”

“I recognize I allowed selfishness, pride and poor judgment to lead me down a destructive path,” he told the court prior to sentencing.

The conservancy is transforming miles of shoreline along the Detroit River into recreation space, with plazas, pavilions and parks. It has been the driving force behind the city’s Riverwalk.

“Every dollar that Smith spent on luxury goods for himself is a dollar that the conservancy could not spend beautifying and improving our city’s riverfront,” acting United States Attorney Julie Beck said in a release.

Smith controlled the money for waterfront projects as chief financial officer from 2011 to May 2024.

After the theft was uncovered, then-conservancy chief executive Mark Wallace resigned and the nonprofit’s auditing firm was replaced, according to The Detroit News.

The Riverfront Conservancy said he stole the money “through a complex web of deception” and is grateful he’s being punished.

“The U.S. government accurately described him as a man of ‘corrupt and depraved character,’” the conservancy said in a statement following the sentencing.

Conservancy attorney Matthew Schneider said in a victim-impact statement that Smith chose greed over Detroit’s prosperity.

“As much as Smith may wish to mask himself as a professional, upstanding Dr. Jekyll, the reality is he was embezzling in the shadows as a cunning and calculating Mr. Hyde,” Schneider wrote.