The fate and fortunes of one of the world’s most powerful tech companies now sit in the hands of a U.S. judge wrestling with whether to impose far-reaching changes upon Google in the wake of its dominant search engine being declared an illegal monopoly.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta heard closing arguments Friday from Justice Department lawyers who argued that a radical shake-up is needed to promote a free and fair market. Their proposed remedies include a ban on Google paying to lock its search engine in as the default on smart devices and an order requiring the company to sell its Chrome browser.

Google’s legal team argued that only minor concessions are needed and urged Mehta not to unduly punish the company with a harsh ruling that could squelch future innovations. Google also argued that upheaval triggered by advances in artificial intelligence already is reshaping the search landscape, as conversational search options are rolling out from AI startups that are hoping to use the Department of Justice’s four-and-half-year-old case to gain the upper hand in the next technological frontier.

It was an argument that Mehta appeared to give serious consideration as he marveled at the speed at which the AI industry was growing. He also indicated he was still undecided on how much AI’s potential to shake up the search market should be incorporated in his forthcoming ruling. “This is what I’ve been struggling with,” Mehta said.

Ukraine accuses Russia of stalling negotiations

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, accused Russia of stalling peace negotiations, saying on Friday that Moscow had yet to share a promised memorandum outlining its peace terms.

He said Kyiv wanted to see that document before sending a delegation to a new round of talks Moscow had proposed for Monday in Istanbul.

Sybiha’s remarks came as both Ukraine and Russia have been maneuvering to set the terms and tempo of peace negotiations, while simultaneously trying to win over the White House, which has threatened to pull out of the talks altogether.

Kyiv’s goal remains to secure a ceasefire first, before moving on to negotiations for a broader peace deal. Russia has shown little interest in a ceasefire.

Instead it repeatedly has said that it wants talks to focus on solving the “root causes” of the war — Kremlin parlance for wide-ranging demands like a commitment not to expand NATO eastward, an objective that Kyiv and its allies see as a way to subjugate Ukraine.

Measles spreads in Texas, Colorado

Measles cases inched up slightly in the U.S. this past week, with a new county impacted in Texas and Colorado reporting a new outbreak.

There are 1,088 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., up 42 from last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Texas, where the nation’s biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, reported 10 additional cases this week for a total of 738.

There are three other major outbreaks in North America.

One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,888 cases from mid-October through May 27. Another in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 628 as of Thursday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,693 measles cases and three deaths as of Wednesday, according to data from the state health ministry.

Since the outbreak in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma began, two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles. All were unvaccinated.

Swift buys back first six albums of catalog

Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work.

In a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”

The pop star said she purchased her catalog of recordings — originally released through Big Machine Records — from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount.

In recent years, Swift has been rerecording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music.

Tainted cucumbers sicken dozens

Nearly four dozen people in 18 states have been sickened in an expanding outbreak of salmonella food poisoning tied to recalled cucumbers sent to restaurants, hospitals, cruise ships and grocery stores, including Target stores, federal health officials said Friday.

At least 16 people have been hospitalized after eating cucumbers produced by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The cucumbers were sold from April 29 through May 19.

Several companies have issued recalls for whole cucumbers and cucumbers used in a range of sandwiches, salsas and other foods linked to the outbreak. Target recalled dozens of products, including whole cucumbers, salads and vegetable rolls.

Torrential floods kill at least 111 in Nigeria

Torrents of predawn rain unleashed flooding that killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south, officials said Friday as they predicted that the death toll would grow.

The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa, which sits in the state of Niger more than 180 miles (300 kilometers) west of Abuja, capital of Africa’s most populous nation.

Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.

Besides the 111 confirmed dead, “more bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted,” Niger State emergency agency spokesman IIbrahim Audu Husseini told The Associated Press.

Armed rebels seize Pakistan city section

Dozens of armed separatists briefly seized control of a high-security area in a city in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a government official and looting a bank before fleeing, police and officials said.

Hidayat Buledi, a local government official, was killed and his home was set on fire in the attack on Sorab, in the Balochistan region, local police chief Hafeez Ullah said.

Ullah said several insurgents were killed in the shootout with police.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which was designated a terror group by the United States in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement, BLA said its fighters had taken control of key government buildings in Sorab.

At least 1 dead in Southeastern storms

The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia on Friday, hours after a harsh storm hit a remote area of central Kentucky, killing one person and injuring seven others.

In Kentucky, Washington County Judge-executive Timothy Graves said two or three houses were destroyed and downed trees temporarily blocked roads.

Gov. Andy Beshear canceled a visit planned for Friday to Pulaski and Laurel counties, which were hit by a tornado earlier this month. That storm left 19 dead in the state.

Brand pleads not guilty to sex charges

Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years.

Brand, who turns 50 next week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. He said “not guilty” after each charge was read in Southwark Crown Court.

His trial was scheduled for June 3, 2026 and is expected to last four to five weeks.

Prosecutors said that the offenses took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in London.

Robinson investigated for sexual assault

Authorities investigated a previous sexual assault allegation against Smokey Robinson in 2015, but no charges were filed because of insufficient evidence, prosecutors said.

Four former housekeepers of the singer-songwriter and Motown music luminary have alleged that he raped and sexually assaulted them between 2007 and 2024. The women filed a lawsuit on May 6, then the following week the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department revealed that its Special Victims Bureau was “actively investigating criminal allegations” against Robinson.

— From news services