Mizzou infielder Sophie Smith (22) tags out Tennessee outfielder Alannah Leach

(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump's immigration czar Tom Holman is renewing threats to "flood the zone" in New York if state lawmakers approve Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to limit local cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns.

Speaking at a border security expo in Arizona, Homan said he would "flood the streets" with immigration agents in states that take steps to limit cooperation with the federal government. He singled out Hochul's "Local Cops, Local Crimes Act" legislation, which is currently being considered by lawmakers amid snarled negotiations over the state budget.

“We’re gonna flood the zone," Homan said in remarks, highlighting the Trump administration's immigration strategy for the coming year. "You’re gonna see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before ... because you forced us in this position."

Homan said ICE will also be targeting "collaterals" — people who weren’t targets of immigration officers but are still living in the U.S. illegally — as part of the next wave of mass deportations.

"I don’t care how long you’ve been here, if you’re here illegally, entered this country illegally, you cheated," he said in the remarks. "You cheated the system."

In response, Hochul told reporters Tuesday that the state will work with ICE in cases involving dangerous criminals but doesn't want to see a surge of immigration enforcement. 

"All I’ll say to Mr. Homan is that Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask," the Democrat said. "I’m not asking." 

Homan has previously pledged to "flood the zone" in New York City and the state over its sanctuary policies that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns. 

He met with Hochul shortly after making the remarks, and appeared to back away from a crackdown after that encounter and a meeting between Trump and New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office in January. 

New York City saw a surge of hundreds of thousands of migrants during the Biden administration that overwhelmed the city's shelter system. The city has spent billions of dollars over the past several years on housing, food and necessities for the new arrivals, prompting threats from the Trump administration to pull back federal funding. 

But Homan's renewed threats of a crackdown come as state lawmakers in Albany are considering Hochul's proposal to limit cooperation between state and local police with U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement officers by prohibiting the federal agency from deputizing local police to help detain undocumented immigrants. 

Local cops would be barred from acting as federal agents or using taxpayer funds and resources for civil immigration cases, under Hochul's proposal.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Colorado for its ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. 

The lawsuit argues Colorado’s 2013 ban on magazines that the state defines as "large capacity," but are commonly owned by many gun owners across the country, is unconstitutional and violates the Second Amendment.

The lawsuit comes one day after the DOJ filed a separate lawsuit against the city of Denver for its decades-old “assault weapons” ban policy.

The Colorado law, passed in 2013 in the wake of the Aurora movie theater shooting, bans so-called “large-capacity” magazines, which it defines as any detachable magazine holding more than 15 rounds. The standard capacity magazines for commonly-owned AR-15 semiautomatic rifles are manufactured to hold 30 rounds.

“[Colorado] has already admitted that magazines like those it has banned are in common use by law-abiding Americans for lawful purposes, including self-defense,” the lawsuit states. “Therefore, the Magazine Ban — which makes it a crime to sell, transfer, or possess such a magazine — violates the Second Amendment.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, in a written statement called Colorado’s ban “political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

“Under my direction, the Division’s Second Amendment Section will continue to defend law-abiding Americans’ rights against unconstitutional restrictions on their right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens,” she added.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser responded to the lawsuit Wednesday morning in a written statement defending the state law as “common-sense.”

“Using federal civil rights law to put Coloradans at greater risk of gun violence is a dangerous overreach by the Justice Department, and this lawsuit turns the mission of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on its head,” he said. “Large-capacity magazine laws are responsible policies that satisfy Second Amendment protections, decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings and save lives.”

“The state has a duty to protect Colorado residents from gun violence, and I will vigorously defend our state large-capacity magazine limit law from this attack by the Trump Justice Department,” Weiser added.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on Tuesday filed another lawsuit challenging the city of Denver’s so-called “assault rifles” ban that has been in effect since 1989. The ban applies to semiautomatic pistols or rifles that “have a fixed or detachable magazine with a capacity of more than” 15 rounds.

“When the City banned AR-15 style rifles with standard capacity magazines, it banned an arm in common use for lawful purposes by law-abiding citizens,” the lawsuit filed on Tuesday said. “Therefore, the Ordinance violates the Second Amendment, and the United States brings this action to vindicate the rights of Denver citizens whose rights have been — and are continuing to be — violated by Defendants.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was defiant in a statement Tuesday, saying the lawsuit marks “a sweeping overreach of the federal government.”

"Our first job is to keep Denverites safe, and we will not be intimidated out of doing it," Johnston said. "Denver's law has stood for 37 years because it works, it saves lives, and it reflects the values of our community. No demand or lawsuit from Washington is going to change that."

A recent Pew Research Center analysis of national gun deaths found that rifles, which include “assault weapons,” were reportedly involved in 3% of deaths in 2024.

It was the start of a long weekend in South Africa on Friday when Lucille Blumberg received an email from a fellow infectious disease specialist about an unknown illness on a cruise ship.

She would go on to play an instrumental role in getting samples from people who had been on the ship tested for hantavirus, which revealed the rare illness was behind a deadly outbreak that has sparked an international health scare.

Blumberg, who works at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases in an honorary capacity, told AFP it was an email from a "personal contact that started it all off".

The contact, a disease consultant for Britain's overseas territories, told her a patient on a cruise ship with pneumonia-like symptoms had been evacuated to Johannesburg from Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.

She was also told that a Dutch man had died on the MV Hondius ship -- and his wife had collapsed at a Johannesburg airport while in transit to Europe.

The British passenger, who remains in intensive care in Johannesburg, initially tested negative for common illnesses on cruise ships such as influenza and Legionnaires' disease.

Blumberg said she requested a repeat of the test, with a sample "from low down in the lungs".

- 'Oh goodness' -

"I got the call" at 6 pm on Friday, the Workers' Day public holiday, confirming the patient was negative for the more common viruses.

By this time, Blumberg and a couple of others at the institute suspected it could be hantavirus because several of the ship's passengers had travelled to Argentina and Chile, where the virus is endemic.

So first thing Saturday morning, Blumberg requested a hantavirus test. The result came in that afternoon.

"The person doing it was like: oh goodness," Blumberg said. It was positive. They reran the test several times to be sure.

"Then we informed everybody, the hospitals, the WHO," she said. Contact tracing began soon after.

Early Sunday, Blumberg's attention turned to the Dutch woman, who was briefly admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg before she died from what had been thought to have been pneumonia.

"I suddenly thought, gosh, do we have any blood for that patient," she said.

The pathology lab normally only keeps such samples for a week, and it had been more than seven days.

"Please let it be there," Blumberg told herself as she called the lab at 7 am on Sunday morning.

"Fortunately, probably because Friday was a holiday, they did," she said.

The Dutch woman became the second confirmed hantavirus case in the outbreak.

"That was an important link," Blumberg said.

A third confirmed case, who departed the ship two weeks ago, is being treated in Zurich, Swiss authorities said on Wednesday.

According to the World Health Organization, there are five other suspected cases including two deaths, one of which was the Dutch woman's husband.

The WHO has emphasised that the risk to the public is low.

Humans normally catch hantavirus from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.

- First hantavirus on a ship -

The patients in Johannesburg and Zurich both have the Andes species of hantavirus, the South African and Swiss governments said on Wednesday.

This is the only kind of hantavirus known to be capable of spreading between humans. 

However even this is "unusual," Blumberg said, with only two outbreaks reported in medical literature, and requires very close contact.

And there has never been a documented outbreak on a ship before, she added.

Manuel Schibler, the head of the virology lab at Geneva University Hospitals analysing the Swiss patient, told AFP that the "next step is to sequence the entire viral genome".

This could "establish a link with the geographic location of the first person infected by this virus," he said, adding this level of precision was "by no means certain". 

Blumberg urged patience to allow experts to conduct the necessary tests and gather solid information.

While she has dealt with many outbreaks over her long career, Blumberg said she still had that initial feeling of: "oh, gosh, wow".

She emphasised that identifying hantavirus was a team effort, both inside the South African institutions and across the world.

"You cannot do this alone," she said, praising the WHO for being "instrumental" in bringing together different efforts to track down the virus.

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Malian opposition figures and military personnel have been detained or abducted following large-scale attacks by jihadists and separatists on junta positions, security, legal and family sources told AFP on Wednesday.

The coordinated assaults last month by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), an ethnic Tuareg separatist movement, plunged the west African nation into a security crisis.

Strategic towns, including Kidal in the desert north, and Kati, a garrison town near the capital Bamako, were targeted in the April 25 and 26 offensive.

Kidal and other towns and villages in the north were captured and are now under the control of the FLA and the jihadists, who have since imposed a blockade on Bamako that continued to disrupt transport on Wednesday. 

Defence Minister Sadio Camara, the 47-year-old architect of the ruling junta's military alliance with Russia, was killed by a car bomb at his residence.

At least 23 people were killed in the fighting, according to a hospital source.

Verifying the number or identity of those detained or kidnapped is difficult in the vast Sahel country, which has been under military leadership since a 2020 coup.

- 'Solid evidence' -

Opposition figures Mountaga Tall, Youssouf Daba Diawara and Moussa Djire are among those "abducted", security sources and their allies told AFP.

Tall, a lawyer, was taken on May 2 in Bamako by hooded men, his family said.

He is accused of plotting with opposition figures in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to overthrow the military government, a security source said.

An intelligence services source confirmed the information.

Since his arrest, Tall has been questioned at least once for "attempted destabilisation", sources close to the matter said.

Meanwhile, security sources said that Diawara and Djire were suspected of links with, respectively, the influential imam Mahmoud Dicko and Oumar Mariko, two opposition figures in exile.

At least two other civilians who are close to Mariko were also arrested following the attacks, a judicial source told AFP, without giving further details.

The military prosecutor's office said on May 1 that it had "solid evidence" of the "complicity" of certain military personnel, accusing them of helping with the "planning, coordination and execution" of the attacks. 

"Everything suggests that these events are being used as an opportunity to carry out a purge within the political opposition and the army," a political official told AFP, requesting anonymity for security reasons.

- Blockade chaos -

Imposed since April 30, the jihadist blockade was on Wednesday still causing chaos on essential roads towards Bamako, the capital of a landlocked country dependent on imports by trucks. 

While vehicles were able to leave the city on Wednesday afternoon, those attempting to enter Bamako from the rest of the country were blocked by jihadists, road users told AFP. 

Drivers are refusing to travel between the western Kayes region near Senegal and Bamako without security escorts, with passengers and goods stuck at the border, officials and passengers told AFP on Wednesday. 

The customs office in Kita, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital, was almost deserted on Wednesday due to the blockades, an officer told AFP. 

Leading Danish freight carrier Maersk has suspended transport to Bamako and other parts of Mali from the Senegalese capital Dakar and Ivory Coast's economic powerhouse Abidjan due to the current situation, according to a statement on Monday. 

On the day the blockade came into force, the JNIM jihadists called for a "common front" to "put an end to the junta". 

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GLASGOW, Mont. - The Valley County Sheriff's Office issued a public service announcement on Tuesday after a woman was reportedly cornered by two men at a rest area at mile marker 527 on US Highway 2. The woman said after she displayed a weapon, the men ran off. 

"As [the woman] was coming out of the facilities, she was cornered by two men who were asking her for money," VCSO wrote. "She stated after she told the men she didn't have any money she felt they were not letting her get by them. She pulled her weapon out at which time the men ran away from her." 

The incident reportedly took place between 12:30 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. on May 4. 

The van driven by the two men was described as being two-tone dark blue and blue, older, dirty and "appeared to be in bad shape." 

VCSO said neither men had facial hair or wore glasses. One was around six feet tall with long black hair, the other "well over" six feet tall with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. 

Anyone who sees the van described or the men in question are urged not to approach them and call 911. 

(The Center Square) – While those supporting sales tax breaks for data center projects say they believe the breaks are necessary to compete for projects amongst the 38 states that currently offer the incentives, a growing number of state Legislatures are considering whether the tax breaks are worth the benefits.

Wisconsin congressman and candidate for governor Tom Tiffany has declared that he intends to end data center tax breaks if elected. A recent report from Wisconsin’s Legislative Audit Bureau shows that the state will forego $1.5 billion in sales tax to four data center projects in initially construction and then $369 million more annually once the projects are completed.

Wisconsin’s exemption, enacted in the 2023-25 budget, applies to everything from property purchases to computer servers and energy systems at the site to electricity and cooling systems.

The exemptions apply to Microsoft’s $20.6 billion in data centers in Wisconsin along with OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage Data Centers’ $15 billion in data center investments in Port Washington. Epic Hosting’s $347 million project in Verona and Meta’s $1 billion project in Beaver Dam are also included.

Virginia sales tax breaks, estimated to be worth $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion annually, are currently at the center of budget discussions in the state while a new Pennsylvania bill would end the sales tax breaks in the state, expected to reach $517.2 million annually in 2030-31.

Minnesota ended its sales tax exemption on electricity for data centers last year while other states, such as North Carolina, are considering an end to the exemptions.

“If all planned data centers in North Carolina are built, developers would receive an estimated $450 million in sales tax exemptions each and every year,” Gov. Josh Stern wrote on social media last month. “And with the state’s impending fiscal cliff and the federal government retreating on longstanding commitments, state revenue is especially precious.

“We should spend taxpayer dollars only when it adds value to our people. And do we really want to subsidize energy consumption by data centers when they are making everyone else’s power bills go up? It doesn’t make much sense to me.”

Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Dale Kooyenga has advocated for the continued use of data center sales tax exemptions in Wisconsin, saying that construction workers on the projects are paying income and property taxes that exceed the value of the sales tax exemptions and the projects would not come to the state without the sales tax break.

“As a CPA, it is not a ‘cost’ if you never had the revenue or expense,” Kooyenga wrote. “There is no hole in the budget; in fact, there are more state resources because the policy brought economic activity to WI, and an existing funding stream or expenditure didn't have to be cut.

“Ratepayers will not subsidize electrical rates, property taxpayers do not subsidize TIFs and a sales tax exemption does not mean that this is ‘costing’ WI taxpayers.”

A group representing Chinese companies warned Wednesday the EU would suffer hundreds of billions of euros in losses if Chinese telecoms suppliers are banned in the bloc over cybersecurity concerns.

The European Union in January proposed banning foreign telecoms equipment-makers over network access concerns that could pose risks to national security.

Although the EU never named any companies, officials said the targets included Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE.

Now the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) in a report jointly prepared with consultancy KPMG said if the proposal becomes law, the bloc would lose "367.8 billion euros ($432.2 billion) over five years".

There would be additional costs for companies beyond telecoms operators, the report said, including the need to replace already purchased equipment.

There would also be greater administrative and legal expenses, and delays.

The report estimated Germany would suffer the biggest loss, with a bill of more than 170 billion euros, while France would lose around 46.3 billion euros.

"Strengthening cybersecurity and protecting critical infrastructure is a legitimate and widely shared objective," CCCEU president Liu Jiandong said.

"The question is how to get the balance right," he told reporters, criticising the "politically targeted" criteria for identifying "high-risk" suppliers.

Brussels has sought to exclude certain suppliers after less than half of the EU's 27 member states implemented its 2023 recommendation to exclude Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks.

The EU's cybersecurity rules will become law once they are approved by member states and the European Parliament.

China has threatened to retaliate if the rules are adopted.

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The trade ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations Wednesday criticised "economic coercion" by powers placing arbitrary restrictions on exports, particularly critical minerals, in a clear swipe at China.

While never mentioning China by name, the ministers clearly took aim at Beijing and its stringent export controls on rare earths in their statement, after two days of meetings in France.

"We express our grave concerns regarding economic coercion, including coercion through arbitrary export restrictions that may lead to supply chain disruptions, notably for critical minerals, and undermine economic security and resilience," the ministers said.

China dominates the global industry for rare earths, which are critical for making a wide range of products -- from everyday consumer electronics to equipment used in the defence sector.

The country's leaders leveraged that strength in spectacular fashion last year, reaching a deal with Washington in October to pause a blistering trade war after Beijing's curbs on their exports sent shockwaves across supply chains.

Despite resuming exports, the approvals process has been causing headaches for many foreign firms seeking to move supplies and products abroad.

The G7 ministers vowed to work with partners to not only reduce their dependency upon rare earths, but to "ensure that attempts or threats to weaponize economic dependencies will fail.

"We seek to deter and stand ready to take actions, where necessary, against economic coercion," they added.

Supply of rare earths is expected to be a key discussion point at the summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing next week.

China has repeatedly used export controls as well halting imports to put pressure on trading partners.

The trade ministers of the Group of Seven nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- gathered as part of preparations for a summit next month in the eastern French city of Evian along the shore of Lake Geneva.

They also spoke out against "pervasive, opaque and harmful industrial subsidies, market-distortive practices of state-owned enterprises, and all forms of forced technology transfer".

China's subsidising of certain sectors such as steel, solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles has created trade tensions for years.

- Small parcels, big challenge -

The ministers also discussed the rapid growth of cross-border trade driven by e-commerce sites "which raises increasing challenges".

This has generated huge volumes of small parcels that they say escape customs duties and pose unfair competition to local retailers.

The US last year suspended the tariff exemption on small parcels valued at less than $800 and the EU will this summer put in place a flat-rate customs duty on packages valued at under 150 euros.

While emphasising the importance of engaging private sector shareholders, the ministers called for strengthening cooperation to promote fair competition and ensure product safety.

The ministers also touched on the failure in March of the latest round of World Trade Organization negotiations, with the body's role as a trade referee having been paralyzed by the United States for years.

"We acknowledge the agreed upon rules in the WTO are key to facilitating global trade," the ministers said.

However, they also underlined "the valuable role plurilateral initiatives can play in advancing progress on issues relevant to members".

The WTO's forerunner was responsible for negotiating the global agreements that reduced tariffs on trade in goods that helped bring about post-WWII prosperity.

However, WTO members have had difficulty in expanding trade agreements, with regional free trade deals having become the main driver of boosting trade in recent decades.

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Ted Turner, the flamboyant US entrepreneur who transformed television news with the creation of CNN in 1980, has died at the age of 87, the network said Wednesday.

The mustached southerner, yachting enthusiast and philanthropist, whose empire also included sports clubs, had been suffering from the degenerative disease Lewy Body Dementia.

Cable News Network upended established broadcasting with its dedication to around-the-clock breaking news and shot to global recognition with its coverage of the Gulf War in 1990-91.

The 24-hour network was the first in the United States to run non-stop news and quickly built a worldwide footprint.

Correspondents brought live coverage from major events ranging from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the Chinese crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests. CNN's decision to keep reporters in Baghdad amid US bombing on the Iraqi capital cemented the network's reputation as an indispensable source of breaking news.

"Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world," Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement.

"He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN."

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in November 1938, Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee, and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.

Turner took over a faltering family advertising business after his father, despondent over financial problems, committed suicide.

After buying a number of radio stations, Turner's purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970 was his first move into television. 

Ten years later, that became the flagship of his nationwide Turner Broadcasting System, the profits from which he parlayed into the launch of CNN.

CNN's success inspired the creation of other 24-hour news channels including Fox News by longtime Turner rival Rupert Murdoch, MSNBC and countless networks worldwide.

Turner's television empire expanded beyond CNN and included TBS and TNT channels for sports and entertainment, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, among others.

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Ted Turner created CNN in 1980, revolutionizing the way America, and the world, got their news, and then went on to become one of the most prominent business leaders and philanthropists of his era.

A brash risk taker, Turner -- whose death aged 87 was announced on Wednesday -- helped reshape the television industry in the late 20th century.

He also made a name for himself with spectacular business deals, his ownership of professional sports clubs, a marriage to actress Jane Fonda, his leadership of a competitive yachting team and then a devotion to charitable and environmental causes.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in November 1938, Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee, and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.

Turner took over a faltering family advertising business after his father, despondent over financial problems, committed suicide.

After buying a number of radio stations, Turner's purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970 was his first move into television. 

Ten years later, that became the flagship of his nationwide Turner Broadcasting System, the profits from which he parlayed into the launch of CNN.

CNN launched in 1980 as the first 24-hour cable news network, gaining traction in the United States and later internationally.

The launch came as viewers were shifting from broadcast to cable and CNN became a key source of news during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, delivering extensive live coverage using satellite technology.

CNN's success inspired the creation of other 24-hour news channels including Fox News by longtime Turner rival Rupert Murdoch, MSNBC and countless station worldwide.

Turner's television empire expanded beyond CNN and included TBS and TNT channels for sports and entertainment, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, among others.

As his television empire expanded, Turner made a failed bid to acquire CBS in the 1980s and then briefly acquired MGM/UA Entertainment Co. studios.  

Turner sold the Hollywood group back months later, while keeping the rights to large portions of its catalog including films from MGM.

- Blockbuster deals -

His deals got bigger in the 1990s when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996, making him vice chairman of the media-entertainment powerhouse.

In 2001, AOL (previously America Online) completed its purchase of Time Warner for $165 billion in the biggest merger in corporate history. 

But the deal had to be unwound within a decade with the falling fortunes of AOL, which used an inflated share price for the deal. Turner, the biggest shareholder of Time Warner, lost billions from the deal.

- Sports figure -

Turner bought the Atlanta Braves baseball team in 1976 and the team made several World Series appearances, winning in 1995. He sold his interest as part of the Time Warner deal, but the team continued to play on Turner Field until 2016.

He also owned the Atlanta Hawks NBA team and Atlanta Thrashers NHL team, both of which were transferred to Time Warner as part of the 1996 megadeal.

In other sports endeavors, Turner successfully skippered the US yacht Courageous to win the 1977 America's Cup.

A yachting incident intensified the rivalry between Turner and Murdoch in 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with Turner's in the Sydney-Hobart race, sinking Turner's schooner.

Afterwards, Turner challenged Murdoch to a fistfight and the two media icons continued to play out their rivalry in the business world.

Turner created the Goodwill Games in the 1980s as part of an effort to ease international tensions during the Cold War, amid Olympic boycotts led by the United States and Soviet Union. The last events were held in 2001.

- Attention getter -

Aside from his business and sports deals, Turner gained attention for his personal life and his later ventures focused on philanthropy and the environment.

In 1996, he complained to The New York Times that "all the money is in the hands of these few rich people, and none of them give any away."

He was Time magazine's man of the year in 1991, the same year he married, actress Jane Fonda, his third wife. They divorced a decade later, and he blamed their marital woes on her conversion to Christianity.

Her version: "He needs somebody there for him 100 percent of the time ... That's not love, it's babysitting."

In 1998, he donated a billion dollars to the United Nations to create the UN Foundation, which has focused on climate change, sustainable development, technology and health initiatives.

Turner announced his departure from his post at Time Warner in 2003 to devote his energy to his other interests.

These include the Turner Foundation, founded in 1990, which supports efforts to fight climate change and improve air and water quality and has given away some $380 million.

His Turner Endangered Species Fund, launched in June 1997, has worked to save gopher tortoises, monarch butterflies and leopard frogs, working mainly with private landowners.

In 2015, he launched the eco-tourism venture Ted Turner Reserves, which enables tourists to visit his four properties in New Mexico and learn about conservation efforts.

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