UAE pulls out of OPEC oil cartels citing 'national interests'

Elon Musk showed up for opening remarks Tuesday in a courtroom showdown with OpenAI over whether the artificial intelligence company betrayed its non-profit mission.

The legal clash across the bay from San Francisco pits the world's richest person against a startup Musk once backed and now competes with in the booming AI sector.

Musk appeared at the federal court in Oakland, seen passing through metal detectors, ahead of opening arguments for a trial that could have far-reaching consequences for the future of the AI industry if the Tesla tycoon prevails.

OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman -- once a Musk partner and now widely seen as his nemesis -- was also seen entering the building.

The ChatGPT-maker is a formidable rival to the chatbot Grok, made by Musk's xAI lab.

OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman "are confident in their position and look forward to the facts being known," their attorney, William Savitt, said outside the courthouse after jurors were selected Monday.

While Musk's lawsuit is part of a feud between him and Altman, it spotlights a debate over whether AI should ultimately serve to benefit a privileged few or society as a whole.

Court filings lay out how Altman convinced Musk to back OpenAI in 2015, acting as a co-founder for a non-profit lab whose technology "would belong to the world."

Musk pumped millions of dollars into the group, which he subsequently left.

OpenAI established a commercial subsidiary as it needed hundreds of billions of dollars for data centers to power its technology.

Musk argues in his lawsuit that he was deceived about OpenAI's mission being altruistic.

He is expected to testify in the trial, possibly as early as Tuesday.

- OpenAI slams 'harassment campaign' -

In a social media post on Monday, Musk derisively called the OpenAI chief "Scam Altman."

San Francisco-based OpenAI has countered in court filings that its break-up with Musk was due to the Tesla tycoon's quest for absolute control rather than its nonprofit status.

"His lawsuit remains nothing more than a harassment campaign that's driven by ego, jealousy and a desire to slow down a competitor," OpenAI said of Musk in a recent X post.

The judge presiding over the trial will decide by late May -- guided by an advisory jury's findings -- whether OpenAI broke a promise to Musk in a drive to lead in AI or just smartly rode the technology to glory.

Along with calling for OpenAI to be forced to revert to a pure nonprofit, Musk's suit urges the ouster of co-founders Altman and Brockman, who is the startup's president.

Musk, who had sought as much as $134 billion in damages, has since renounced any personal benefit, pledging to redirect any award to the OpenAI nonprofit.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has reserved the right to determine any remedies herself, without the jury's input.

OpenAI now has a hybrid governance structure giving its nonprofit foundation control over a for-profit arm.

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Concerns are growing that shortages of diesel and jet fuel due to supply problems caused by war between Iran and the United States could ruin summer vacations.

The chief executive of French energy giant Patrick Pouyanne warned last week that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed another two or three months all of the world will face "energy shortages like those certain Asian countries are facing".

- Why a risk of shortages? -

Since the start of the war at the end of February travel through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies normally pass, has been closed by Iran.

Some 11 million barrels of oil per day are thus shut out from the market, according to the International Energy Agency. 

Gulf refineries also produce considerable amounts of diesel and jet fuel.

Pouyanne said the world can't make do without these supplies and not suffer serious consequences.

Several nations in Africa and Asia -- which were more dependent upon Middle East supplies -- have already had to ration fuel or electricity. 

Both the European Commission and member states have sought to reassure consumers about supplies, at least in the short term.

- Why summer worries ? -

Summer is traditionally the peak driving season as families pack their cars to drive to their vacation destinations or hop on a plane.

When supplies dwindle competition for them intensifies between the two major importing regions: Asia and Europe.

This happened in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is shaping up to happen again.

"Asia rations, switches to coal and can experience shortages in places" while "Europe pays very high prices to avoid shortages," said an energy industry insider on condition of anonymity.

That means Europe is first and foremost exposed to the risk of a price shock but shortages could emerge if supplies from the Gulf remain choked off.

"Multiple cases point towards a shortage of diesel and jet fuel in Europe as the summer evolves, as imports from vital supply lines in the Middle East and Asia have waned with the current disruption," said Janiv Shah, vice president of Oil Markets and Downstream Analysis at Rystad Energy.

Airlines have raised ticket prices and cut back on their flight schedules to cope with high jet fuel prices, with warnings of shortages in jet fuel just weeks away.

"Unfortunately, it's very likely that many people's holidays will be affected, either by flight cancellations or very, very expensive tickets," the EU's energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Sky News last week.

- What actions can be taken? -

Most nations have strategic oil reserves and those part of the International Energy Agency have already tapped those reserves to help contain surging prices earlier in the war.

The could do so again in order to ensure no shortages develop.

EU nations are trying to boost refinery production as much as possible, and in some cases boost production of diesel and jet fuel for which the bloc depends on imports.

Encouraging working from home and carpooling are also options to reduce consumption in the short term.

Over the longer-term, the electrification of transport and home heating aim to reduce reliance on imported fuels.

Price also has an impact on consumption.

Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank, said gains in crude oil prices have been limited in part because the high prices are reducing demand.

"Higher prices and shortages have already reduced consumption, with demand destruction estimated at 4 to 5 million barrels per day, or around five percent of global demand, mainly impacting Asia," he said in a recent note to clients.

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Efforts to end the Middle East war appeared at a standstill on Tuesday, with the US considering Tehran's latest offer to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran saying Washington could no longer dictate terms.

Iran has blockaded the waterway -- a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments -- since the start of the US-Israeli offensive two months ago, sending shockwaves through the global economy.

CNN, however, reported that US President Donald Trump was unlikely to accept Iran's proposal to restore traffic in the strait, as Qatar warned of the possibility of a "frozen conflict" if a definitive resolution is not found.

"We do not want to see a return to hostilities in the region anytime soon. We do not want to see a frozen conflict that ends up being thawed every time there is a political reason," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference, calling for a "sustainable" peace. 

While a ceasefire has held so far, diplomacy aimed at permanently ending the war has proven inconclusive.

Trump met with top security advisors on Monday to discuss the Iranian proposal after Tehran passed "written messages" to Washington via Pakistan spelling out its red lines, including on nuclear issues and Hormuz, Iran's Fars news agency reported. 

The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade on Iranian ports while broader negotiations continue, including over the thorny question of Iran's nuclear program.

But CNN, citing two sources familiar with the matter, said Trump had signaled at Monday's meeting that he was reluctant to take Hormuz off the table without resolving the nuclear question, though it was unclear what his next steps would be.

Iranian defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik said on Tuesday that Washington "must abandon its illegal and irrational demands."

"The United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations," he said, according to state TV.

Asked about Iran's proposal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News "it's better than what we thought they were going to submit," but questioned whether it was genuine.

"They're very good negotiators," he said, adding any eventual deal had to be "one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon."

Mediator Pakistan previously hosted an initial, unsuccessful round of US-Iran peace talks, but hopes for a second over the weekend ultimately came to nothing.

Trump has said that if Iran wants talks, "they can call us."

The Islamic republic's blockade of Hormuz has cut off flows of oil, gas and fertilizer and sent prices soaring.

Trump faces domestic pressure to find an off-ramp as prices rise, with midterm elections due in November and polls showing the war is unpopular among Americans.

- 'No trust' -

Tehran would need guarantees that Washington and Israel would not attack again if it was to offer security assurances for the Gulf, Iran's envoy to the UN said. 

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, welcomed Gulf leaders and officials on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing crisis in the region.

An Iranian army spokesman told state TV on Tuesday that "we do not consider the war to be over," saying Tehran had "no trust in America."

"We have many cards that we have not yet used... new tools and methods of fighting based on the experiences of the past two wars, which will definitely allow us to respond to the enemy more decisively" should the fighting resume, Amir Akraminia said in an interview. 

On a visit to Russia, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the war had shown "Iran's true power" and stability, but back home in Tehran, the mood was sober.

"Everything in the country is up in the air right now. I have not worked for a long time," small business owner Farshad told Paris-based AFP journalists.

"The country is in complete economic collapse."

- Lebanon front -

Violence has continued on the war's Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel.

Israel responded with strikes and a ground invasion.

Israel's military on Tuesday warned residents of more than a dozen villages and towns in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate, saying Hezbollah's "violation of the ceasefire" was compelling it to act.

Despite its occupation of a swath of territory along the border, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country "has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon."

Once Hezbollah and its allies "are dismantled, Israel will have no need to maintain its presence in these areas," he added.

The day before, Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem had vowed that the armed group would "not back down."

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Jihadists and Tuareg separatists were advancing in northern Mali on Tuesday, three days after launching unprecedented attacks against the ruling junta, in what the government's Russian allies said remained a "difficult" situation.

Junta chief Assimi Goita has not appeared or spoken publicly since the coordinated dawn attacks on Saturday on strategic junta positions, including areas around the capital, Bamako.

The attacks were the largest in nearly 15 years and saw two former foes -- Islamist insurgents and Tuareg separatists -- join forces against the military junta and its Russian paramilitary backers, analysts say.

Defence Minister Sadio Camara -- seen as the mastermind behind the junta's pivot to Russia -- was killed in two days of fierce fighting between the army and Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) allied with the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that the rebels, who have captured a key town in the mostly desert north, were "regrouping" and the situation "remains difficult".

The fighting saw "attempts made to seize key facilities in the capital, Bamako -- first and foremost, the presidential palace", the ministry said.

It confirmed that mercenaries from Russia's Africa Corps, controlled by the government in Moscow and sent to back up the Malian junta, had been forced to withdraw from the northern town of Kidal, now under the armed groups' control.

The Kremlin, separately, said it urgently wanted peace and stability in Mali, which has battled more than a decade of jihadist violence and other conflict.

- Abandoned and withdrawn - 

The large-scale attacks at the weekend raise questions about the junta's ability to tackle the armed groups, despite its insistence that its strategy, foreign partnerships and increased military efforts have stemmed the jihadist threat.

The notable absence of Goita, who seized power in 2020 pledging to combat the Islamic militants, has prompted uncertainty about the future of the country's military leaders.

A Malian security source told AFP that Goita was not taking any risks for "security reasons".

"The military leadership is currently drawing lessons from the prevailing situation," an elected official in Bamako said on condition of anonymity.

In a sign of the high tensions in the west African nation, the army has abandoned several positions in the northern Gao region, local sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Gao is the army's second-largest military stronghold after Kati, a garrison town near Bamako which is home to several senior junta officials and was targeted in the weekend attacks.

"The military have abandoned their position in Labbezanga, near the Niger border. They have withdrawn to Ansogo," a local politician told AFP on condition of anonymity.

As well as Kati, the simultaneous weekend attacks targeted the towns of Kidal and Gao in the north, and Sevare in the centre.

Two loud blasts were heard late on Monday near the airport on the outskirts of Bamako, an AFP journalist said.

The cause of the blasts could not immediately be identified. 

"It wasn’t an exchange of gunfire and the explosions were coming from the area of Base 101 at the airport," a resident told AFP.

- Diversion? -

The attacks near the centres of Malian power have been seen by some analysts as a diversion to seize Kidal.

Kidal, a pro-independence stronghold, was controlled by Tuareg rebel groups for years before being retaken in November 2023 in an army offensive, supported by Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps' predecessor, the Wagner Group.

Central Mali, where Mopti is located, was also targeted and the security situation remained unclear on Tuesday.

The attacks are reminiscent of a crisis that rocked Mali in 2012, when Tuareg rebels joined forces with jihadists to capture strategic hubs in the vast, remote north.

That offensive was repelled by forces from former colonial ruler France, who have since left the Sahel country. 

The alliance between the jihadists and Tuareg rebels eventually unravelled when they turned on each other and the jihadists drove the Tuareg separatists out.

The latest attacks are the result of a new alliance forged a year ago.

Although the two groups have different goals, according to experts, they are united against a common enemy -- the military junta that has ruled since 2020 and its Russian paramilitary backers.

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French President Emmanuel Macron called on Andorra Tuesday to "move forwards" on decriminalising abortion during a visit to the principality, which maintains one of Europe's last total bans on abortion.

His comments come as the micro-state, nestled in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, is considering reforming its abortion laws which currently ban the procedure in all cases.

"I hope this debate moves forward," Macron said during a visit to Andorra, where he shares the symbolic title of "co-prince" with a Catholic bishop.

In a world first, France in 2024 enshrined the right to terminate a pregnancy in its constitution, and Macron has since pledged to make the procedure a European basic right.

Women in Andorra have no legal right to abortion -- even in cases of rape, incest, or danger to their life -- and the procedure remains punishable by prison for both patients and doctors, though no trials have ever been held.

The Andorran head of government, Xavier Espot Zamora, on Tuesday acknowledged there was "demand" to reform the micro-state's abortion laws, stating that his government is working toward a "negotiated solution".

Zamora in March voiced hope that abortion would be decriminalised within a year in the non-EU state, though he clarified there were no plans for full legalisation.

But any such reform would require negotiations with the Vatican, which enforces Europe's only other ban on abortions in all cases.

Pregnancy termination is legal in almost all European countries, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) advocacy group says.

A handful of countries have near-total bans, broadly only allowing it when a woman's life is in danger, it says.

The latter include the principalities of Monaco and Liechtenstein, as well as EU states Malta and Poland.

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A saffron-robed Buddhist monk ended a gruelling barefoot walk across Sri Lanka on Tuesday with an impassioned appeal for world peace and kindness towards animals.

Accompanied by a rescued stray dog, Texas-based Vietnamese monk Pannakara walked 210 kilometres (131 miles) to reach the capital Colombo, where he was received by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans lined the route from the north-central town of Dambulla during the week-long walk to offer Pannakara and his 12 fellow monks flowers and gifts.

They were accompanied by their mascot, a stray named Aloka, meaning "light" in Sanskrit.

"If we cannot govern our own inner world with wisdom, how can we expect the outer world to remain peaceful?" Pannakara said at a ceremony at Colombo's Independence Square.

The foreign monks were also presented with a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi, which according to tradition has grown from a cutting of the original tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in India.

The Vietnamese monks had attracted international attention during a longer 108-day walk of 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) from Texas to Washington, travelling through freezing temperatures and along ice-covered roads and ending on February 10.

In sharp contrast, they walked on Sri Lanka's roads at the hottest time of the year, when temperatures reached 40C.

Devotees sprayed water on asphalt roads and placed banana leaves and flowers for them to step on, helping them avoid the sweltering heat of the tarmac.

Elite army and police commandos were deployed to protect the group, and veterinarians were placed on standby to care for Aloka, who was kept on a leash held by security personnel taking turns.

"Aloka has no voice to speak our language. Yet he has communicated something very profound to all of us," Pannakara said.

"Through his presence, we were reminded that loving kindness and compassion must not be limited. It must extend to all living beings."

Aloka had followed the monks in India and remained with them even after being hit by a car.

The monks then brought the dog to the United States, where it accompanied them on their peace walk, drawing global attention and donations that helped fund its travels.

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A US judge ruled Tuesday that Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who alleges her firing was politically motivated, can proceed with a lawsuit against the Trump administration despite government objections.

Comey is the daughter of former FBI director James Comey -- a prominent critic of US President Donald Trump -- and was summarily dismissed in July as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan.

She was fired a week after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into her father.

Judge Jesse Furman overruled an attempt by the Trump administration to block Comey from pursuing in federal court a lawsuit which claims her dismissal was "unlawful and unconstitutional."

Furman scheduled a pretrial hearing at a Manhattan courthouse for May 28. 

In her lawsuit filed against the office of the president, the Justice Department and others, Comey said she had an "exemplary" record.

"In truth, there is no legitimate explanation," the lawsuit said. "Rather, Defendants fired Ms Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both."

Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies, purging government officials deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him and pulling federal funding from universities.

Comey's firing also came amid mounting pressure on Trump to release material from the probe into Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking.

Comey was among the prosecutors who handled the case involving the wealthy financier, but it never went to trial because of his death.

She also prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate who was criminally charged in connection with his activities.

Comey's father has had a contentious history with Trump dating back to his first term in the White House.

Trump fired the elder Comey in 2017, as the then-FBI chief was leading an investigation into whether any members of the president's campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 election, in which the Republican beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

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German rescuers on Tuesday hauled a stranded humpback whale into a special boat due to carry it to deeper waters, in the latest attempt to free the cetacean whose ordeal has captured hearts in Germany for weeks.

The whale, dubbed "Timmy" by German media, and its struggle for survival have gripped the country since it beached on a sandbank near the city of Luebeck, far from its natural habitat in late March.

The latest rescue effort -- financed by two entrepreneurs -- involves transporting the sea mammal in a barge, which has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boats, from Germany's Baltic Sea coast to deeper waters. 

Starting earlier Tuesday, rescuers attached straps to the whale and heaved the creature down a channel that had been specially dug in the sand to allow it to reach the barge, close to the island of Poel.

After some distance, the whale, with rescuers swimming alongside it, sped up and then swam into the barge, sparking cheers of delight from the rescue team and others watching from the shore.

"I can't even say how happy I am," Karin Walter-Mommert, one of the entrepreneurs financing the rescue bid, told the Bild daily. 

"You could see that the whale fought and wanted to live. Knowing he's now in the barge is simply wonderful and shows that the fight for Timmy was worth it."

The plan is now for the barge to be transported to the North Sea, and hopefully for the whale to be released if it is strong enough.

A piece of green netting will be used to close the entrance to the barge so the mammal does not swim out. 

- Media frenzy -

Till Backhaus, environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, earlier gave the green light for the mission to proceed after vets said the whale was fit to be transported.

The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times.

Several attempts were initially made to free the sea mammal, including by digging channels for it to swim down, but all failed. 

At the start of April, officials gave up on the animal, saying they believed it could not be saved. 

But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to let the entrepreneurs come up with a rescue plan.

Some scientists have strongly criticised the decision to allow further rescue bids, believing they will be too risky for the whale and estimating the chances of success as low.

Backhaus defended the latest attempt, saying it was "definitely worth it".

"I've always said, those who do nothing make no mistakes," he added.

The saga has sparked a media frenzy -- with non-stop coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers -- but has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories.

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The US Federal Reserve opened its two-day meeting on Tuesday with policymakers expected to keep interest rates steady, as the war on Iran's effects on energy prices and supply chains ripple through the world's largest economy.

The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) began its gathering at 10:00 am Eastern time (14:00 GMT), a spokesperson said.

Fed officials are set to keep rates steady at a range between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent, extending their pause on rate cuts since the start of the year. Their decision will be announced on Wednesday.

The US central bank has a dual mandate to keep inflation to its long-term two-percent target and to ensure maximum employment.

US inflation, however, has soared well above that level for years. It initially spiked in the pandemic but prices have not stabilized since, leaving consumers battered by years of higher-than-expected price increases.

In March, consumer inflation rose sharply to 3.3 percent year-on-year, driven by higher energy prices as a result of the Iran war.

The Middle East has been plunged into violence since the United States and Israel launched the war on February 28 with wide-ranging airstrikes, prompting Iranian retaliatory action.

Iran has virtually blocked the key Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas normally flows, spiking energy prices and leading to widespread supply shortages.

Fed policymakers have signalled that they are concerned about the knock-on effects of the energy price increases, fuelling overall inflation and potentially slowing the economy due to production cost increases.

Markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged, however, as the central banks waits to see on which side of its mandate it will need to intervene.

- Powell's last meeting? -

While the rate decision has not drawn much speculation this month, all eyes on Wednesday will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference, likely his last in this role.

US President Donald Trump has frequently criticized and insulted Powell in the former's second term in the White House, making clear his desire for the independent Fed to lower interest rates.

Powell's term as chair ends in May, and his successor -- Trump nominee Kevin Warsh -- has faced a rocky road to confirmation.

On Friday, a key obstacle on that road was removed when the US Justice Department said it was dropping -- for now -- a criminal probe into Powell over cost overruns on a building renovation project.

Days later, Republican Thom Tillis -- who had vowed to hold up Warsh's nomination while the probe against Powell was ongoing -- said he would support the confirmation.

If Warsh is confirmed he would succeed Powell in May as chair. The outgoing Fed chief could, however, stay on as a member of the board, in what would be an unusual but not unprecedented move.

Powell's term on the board ends in January 2028. 

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(The Center Square) – An Illinois-based parental rights group sent an open letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center requesting that it remove parental rights organizations from its “hate map,” where they are placed right alongside the Klu Klux Klan. 

Founder and president of parental rights group Awake Illinois Shannon Adcock told The Center Square that her organization’s letter “is about accountability.”

“The SPLC has spent four years trying to destroy us,” Adcock said. “With their federal indictment now public, the moment has arrived for them to clean up the mess they made or stand exposed as a discredited smear machine.” 

Adcock told The Center Square that the Southern Law Poverty Center’s (SPLC) hate map is “deliberately harmful.”

“The Hate Map is not a public service; it’s a partisan weapon,” Adcock said. “It brands peaceful, law-abiding parents as ‘hate groups’ right alongside the KKK, then legacy media, school administrators, and politicians treat that label as gospel.”  

The SPLC’s hate map “has triggered doxxing, death threats, job losses, frivolous lawsuits, and reluctant donors. It triggered mass legacy media smears,” Adcock said. 

“In Naperville, it stopped the City Council from even giving me a vote for a volunteer, unpaid committee role,” Adcock said.

Awake Illinois is based out of Naperville.

Adcock told The Center Square that the SPLC "came after Awake Illinois before the ink was even dry on our founding documents because our message threatens their far-left, anti-American agenda.”

“While they poured resources into tracking hundreds of parental-rights chapters, they listed only 14 KKK groups, zero Antifa networks, and zero Islamist extremists,” Adcock said.

“That selective blindness isn’t oversight – it’s a strategy,” Adcock said. “The map doesn’t protect anyone; it silences dissent and turns ordinary moms and dads into targets.”

Adcock told The Center Square that “parents are fierce” but the attacks on them have been “absolute hell.” 

“Nonstop harassment, employers getting called, cars driving down our streets yelling that we’re Nazis,” Adcock said. “The SPLC’s smear turned everyday families into villains.”

Adcock noted that “at the exact same time [the SPLC was] defaming us, a federal grand jury just indicted [them] for secretly funneling millions to the very extremists it claims to oppose.”

“The irony is damning,” Adcock said.

The SPLC was indicted by the Department of Justice on charges it “secretly" funneled "more than $3 million in funds to members of white supremacist and extremist groups," as The Center Square reported.

A few of the groups the SPLC was accused of funding are the Klu Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance.

Adcock told The Center Square that the SPLC can “smear” parent rights groups “all it wants but the civil rights warriors of our era are uncancellable.”

“Their hate map failed,” Adcock said. “None of us will bow to their anarchy.” 

In her organization’s letter to the SPLC, Adcock called on the center to remove parental rights organizations from the hate map, to issue a public retraction and apologize for its reckless designations, as well as to adopt “verifiable standards that separate actual hate groups from citizens peacefully and lawfully advocating for their children.” 

“Cease treating parental advocacy as extremism,” Adcock wrote in the letter. “Parents are not the enemy; the real extremists are those erasing biological reality in classrooms and silencing dissent through defamation.”