BOHEMIA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York school district is “erasing its Native American heritage” and violating civil rights law by changing its team name from the “Thunderbirds” to the “T-Birds,” federal education officials say.
The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday that the Connetquot Central School District can voluntarily resolve the federal law violation by restoring the “rightful” Thunderbirds’ name.
The Long Island district, like others in the state, changed its team name in order to comply with state regulations banning Native American sports names and mascots.
But federal education officials argue the state mandate violates civil rights law because it allows schools to continue using names derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the “Dutchmen” and “Huguenots.”
“We will not allow ideologues to decide that some mascots based on national origin are acceptable while others are banned,” said Kimberly Richey, who heads the Education Department’s civil rights office. “The Trump Administration will not relent in ensuring that every community is treated equally under the law.”
The school district said it is reviewing the federal finding, but state education officials excoriated it, saying the conclusion “makes a mockery” of the nation’s civil rights laws.
“USDOE has offered no explanation as to whose civil rights were violated by changing a team name from Thunderbirds to T-birds,” JP O’Hare, spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement Friday. “NYSED remains committed to ending the use of harmful, outdated, and offensive depictions of Indigenous people.”
The state education department and the school district reached an agreement last year in which Connetquot would be allowed to use the “T-Birds” name and related imagery such as an eagle, thunderbolt or lightning bolt, in exchange for dropping its legal challenge to the state’s Native American mascot ban.
Native American advocates say the “Thunderbird” is a mythical creature often depicted as a powerful spirit and benevolent protector in many indigenous traditions.
FILE - An electronic display shows the new mascot name, T-Birds, outside Connetquot High School in Bohemia, N.Y., Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Philip Marcelo, File)
PARIS (AP) — The International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects on energy markets of the war in the Middle East.
The Paris-based organization said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves. It’s a larger stock than the 182.7 million barrels that were released in 2022 by the IEA's 32 member countries in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Without sufficient routes to market and with no more available storage, Middle East oil producers have started to reduce production," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said. "And we have seen further attacks and damage to energy and energy-related infrastructure. Refinery operations have also been disrupted, with major implications for jet fuel and diesel supplies in particular.”
IEA member countries currently hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
In response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, Iran has attacked commercial ships across the Persian Gulf, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mount.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.
Germany and Austria said earlier Wednesday they would release parts of their oil reserves following an IEA request for members to release the record 400 million barrels to help temper energy price spikes due to the Iran war. Japan also said it will release some of its reserves starting Monday.
Group of Seven energy ministers met Tuesday at IEA headquarters in Paris to look at ways to bring down prices. Birol said afterward that they discussed all available options, including making IEA emergency oil stocks available to the market.
The IEA reserves were established in 1974 following the Arab oil embargo.
“This is a major action aiming to alleviate the immediate impacts of the disruption in markets,” Birol added. "But, to be clear, the most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The G7 is comprised of the leading industrialized nations of Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain. Austria is not a member.
The group's leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, met Wednesday via videoconference to discuss energy issues.
During his introductory remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the IEA decision to release emergency oil stocks, saying it amounted to the equivalent of “20 days of the volume being exported through the Strait of Hormuz." The amount being released by G7 nations, alone, comprises 70% of the total, he said.
“I think it’s very important to see as well everything we can do in order to increase our global production,” Macron added.
Germany's economy ministry, Katherina Reiche, said the IEA asked Germany to release 2.64 million tons of its oil reserves. It was not immediately clear how much Austria was releasing.
She said it would take a couple of days before the delivery of the first quantities.
“Germany stands behind the IEA’s most important principle of mutual solidarity," Reiche said.
The G7 energy ministers announced Tuesday that they supported in principle “the implementation of proactive measures to address the situation, including the use of strategic reserves.”
According to the IEA, export volumes of crude and refined products are currently at less than 10% of prewar levels.
Austrian Economy Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer said his country was releasing part of the emergency oil reserve and extending the national strategic gas reserve, adding: “One thing is clear: in a crisis, there must be no crisis winners at the expense of commuters and businesses.”
The German government also said it will introduce a measure to allow gas stations in Germany to raise fuel prices no more than once a day. The federal government wants to introduce this as quickly as possible, Reiche said.
In Austria, starting Monday, price increases at gas stations will be allowed only three times a week, the country’s economy minister said.
IEA nations have released emergency stocks on five previous occasions: During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, during the Libyan civil war in 2011, and twice after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Associated Press reporters John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
Big oil tanks are pictured in front the BP refinery in Gelsenkirchen, one of the biggest fuel producers in Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Big oil tanks are pictured in front of the BP refinery in Gelsenkirchen, one of the biggest fuel producers in Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - Fishermen work in front of oil tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz Jan. 19, 2012, offshore the town of Ras Al Khaimah in United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
Smoke rises from a building following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Signs show the gas prices at a gas station, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
