WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ views of the Supreme Court have moderated somewhat since the court’s standing dropped sharply after its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to a new poll. But concern that the court has too much power is rising, fueled largely by Democrats.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about a third of U.S. adults have “hardly any confidence at all” in the court, but that’s down from 43% three years ago. As the new AP-NORC polling tracker shows, about half of Americans have “only some confidence” in the court, up from 39% in July 2022, while a relatively small number, about 1 in 5, have “a great deal of confidence,” which hasn’t shifted meaningfully in the past few years.

The moderate increase in confidence is driven by Republicans and independents.

Still, views of the nation’s highest court remain more negative than they were as recently as early 2022, before the high-profile ruling that overturned the constitutional right to abortion. An AP-NORC poll conducted in February 2022 found that only around one-quarter of Americans had hardly any confidence in the court’s justices.

Persistent divide between Republicans and Democrats

The partisan divide has been persistent and stark, particularly since the Dobbs ruling, when Democrats’ confidence in the nine justices plummeted. The survey shows Republicans are happier than Democrats and independents with the conservative-dominated court, which includes three justices appointed by President Donald Trump, a Republican.

Few Republicans, just 8%, view the court dimly, down from about 1 in 5 in July 2022. For independents, the decline was from 45% just after the Dobbs ruling to about 3 in 10 now. The views among Democrats were more static, but they are also slightly less likely to have low confidence in the justices, falling from 64% in summer 2022 to 56% now.

In recent years, the court has produced historic victories for Republican policy priorities. The justices overturned Roe, leading to abortion bans in many Republican-led states, ended affirmative action in college admissions, expanded gun rights, restricted environmental regulations and embraced claims of religious discrimination.

Many of the court’s major decisions from this year are broadly popular, according to a Marquette Law School poll conducted in July. But other polling suggests that most don’t think the justices are ruling neutrally. A recent Fox News poll found that about 8 in 10 registered voters think partisanship plays a role in the justices’ decisions either “frequently” or “sometimes.”

Last year, the conservative majority endorsed a robust view of presidential immunity and allowed Trump to avoid a criminal trial on election interference charges.

In recent months, the justices on the right handed Trump a string of victories, including a ruling that limits federal judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions.

Katharine Stetson, a self-described constitutional conservative from Paradise, Nevada, said she is glad that the court has reined in “the rogue judges, the district judges around the country” who have blocked some Trump initiatives.

Stetson, 79, said she is only disappointed it took so long. “Finally. Why did they allow it get out of hand?” she said.

Growing concerns the court is too powerful

Several recent decisions were accompanied by stinging dissents from liberal justices who complained the court was giving Trump too much leeway and taking power for itself.

“Perhaps the degradation of our rule-of-law regime would happen anyway. But this court’s complicity in the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts, their rulings, and the law (as they interpret it) will surely hasten the downfall of our governing institutions, enabling our collective demise,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote when the court ruled on nationwide injunctions.

The July AP-NORC poll found a growing similar sentiment. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults now say the court has “too much” power in the way the federal government operates these days. In April, about 3 in 10 people were concerned about the court’s power.

The shift is largely due to movement among Democrats, rising from about one-third in April to more than half now.

Debra A. Harris, a 60-year-old retired state government worker who now lives in Winter Haven, Florida, said the court’s decisions in recent years “just disgust me to my soul.”

Harris said the court has changed in recent years, with the addition of the three justices appointed by Trump.

“I find so much of what they’re doing is based so much on the ideology of the Republican ticket,” Harris said, singling out last year’s immunity decision. “We don’t have kings. We don’t have dictators.”

George Millsaps, who flew military helicopters and served in Iraq, said the justices should have stood up to Trump in recent months, including on immigration, reducing the size of the federal workforce and unwinding the Education Department.

“But they’re bowing down, just like Congress apparently is now, too,” said Millsaps, a 67-year-old resident of Floyd County in rural southwest Virginia.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) — Tens of thousands of fans — many in costumes — descended Thursday on Comic-Con International, the four-day pop culture spectacle that will feature updates on the new “Predator” movie, “Alien” series and a special appearance by George Lucas.

Fans packed into the convention’s famed Hall H for updates on Disney+’s “Percy Jackson” series, with updates on the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” sequel and “South Park” expected later in the day.

The convention won’t have major news about any upcoming Marvel movies or what’s next for the hit relaunch of DC’s high-flying “Superman” franchise. Both studios are sitting out Comic-Con 2025, as far as their film slates go.

An estimated 135,000 people will attend the convention, which will greet Lucas on Sunday for his first Comic-Con appearance. The “Star Wars” creator will discuss his new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art that will open next year in Los Angeles.

Fans of the “Alien” and “Predator” franchises will have plenty to cheer. Elle Fanning, star of “Predator: Badlands,” will discuss the film this week. FX will also bring the stars and creators of “Alien: Earth,” a series that will unleash the Xenomorph species on Earth next month.

“Alien: Earth” will be one of the projects that brings a massive interactive experience to San Diego, with a replica of spacecraft from the series. The attraction will feature what’s described as a terrifying mission at night.

Marvel may not be presenting new movies, but it will have a “Fantastic Four: First Steps” attraction near the convention, a tie-in to Friday’s release of the latest attempt to successfully launch its “first family” in theaters.

A main feature of the convention is its 460,000-square-foot (42,700-square-meter) exhibitor section, which features exclusive merchandise, comic book art and exhibits from brands like Star Wars, Lego, Nickelodeon, Paramount and more.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2′: More pizzerias and murderous bots

No animatronics — or humans — were harmed when “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” came to Comic-Con.

That wasn’t necessarily the case on the movie set for the robots.

“They’re there, you can actually hug them,” star Piper Rubio said. But she noted that the animatronics sometimes malfunctioned, whether it was odd facial expressions, “fingers falling off or the occasional foxes catching on fire.”

The movies are based on the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s video game about a cursed pizza restaurant with possessed, murderous animatronic characters.

The first film was Blumhouse’s biggest opening when it dual-launched in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service in 2023, earning $130.6 million globally in its first weekend.

Director Emma Tammi said the second movie has three times the number of animatronics as the first. Star Josh Hutcherson said the movie also features multiple Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza franchises and new animatronic characters, like Mangle.

Teo Briones, who’s starred in “Final Destination Bloodlines” and “Chucky,” is a newcomer to the series and said he was immediately excited to be part of a movie based on a game he played as a child.

“It’s really special to be a part of something that has been such an important cultural thing for my generation,” he said.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” will be released Dec. 5.

Comedy takes over Hall H

Comedians Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias and Jo Koy whipped Hall H into a frenzy during a mostly-packed session to promote their massive 2026 comedy show at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium.

The pair traded light — and mostly family-suitable — banter about their inspirations and heroes (Iglesias cited his mother, which led Koy to want to change his answer from Eddie Murphy) and their passionate fan bases.

They said their show would involve each doing at least 90-minute sets, special guests and befitting a show at a football stadium, probably some tailgating. They said fans should expect to be there all day.

Koy joked that it was “challenging to get back here” and that he was ignoring calls from family and friends to get them passes to the convention.

They ended the session handing out autographed Funko collective figures of their likenesses and a selfie with the crowd. They warned anyone who was there with someone they shouldn’t be to take cover. “We’re not Coldplay,” Iglesias joked, citing the viral kiss cam saga involving a tech company CEO captured embracing an employee at one of the band’s concerts.

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors in England’s state-funded health system walked off the job Friday in a five-day strike over pay that the government says will disrupt care for patients across the country.

Resident doctors, those early in their careers who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care, took to picket lines outside hospitals after talks with the government broke down.

The National Health Service said emergency departments would be open and hospitals and clinics would try to carry out as many scheduled appointments as possible.

The doctors are seeking a pay raise to make up for what their union, the British Medical Association, says is a 20% real-terms pay cut since 2008.

“When doctors decide to take strike action it’s always portrayed as though we’re being selfish, but we’re here as a body to help the public day in, day out, to work hours that don’t even end sometimes,” said Kelly Johnson, a doctor on the picket line outside St. Thomas’ Hospital in central London,

“Here we are just trying to get what’s right for us so we can do our best to serve the public.”

The government says doctors have received an average 28.9% increase as part of a deal to settle previous strikes and it will not offer more, but is willing to discuss improved working conditions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the doctors to go back to work.

“Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage,” he wrote in The Times newspaper.

“Behind the headlines are the patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health,” Starmer wrote.

Health sector staff staged a series of rolling strikes over more than a year in 2023-24, seeking pay rises to offset the rising cost of living. The strikes forced tens of thousands of appointments and procedures to be postponed.

The strikes hit efforts by the National Health Service to dig out of an appointment backlog that ballooned after the COVID-19 pandemic and led to longer waiting times to see a doctor.

The strikes stopped after the Labour government elected in July 2024 gave doctors a raise, but the union held a new strike vote last month.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian parliament’s upper house on Friday quickly approved a bill that punishes online searches for information officially branded “extremist,” the latest in a series of moves by authorities to tighten control of the internet.

The legislation makes what it describes as “deliberately searching for and accessing extremist materials” online punishable by a fine of up to the equivalent of $64.

The bill, which was endorsed by the lower house earlier this week, is now set to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The official definition of extremist activity is extremely broad and includes opposition groups like the Anti-Corruption Foundation, created by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the “international LGBT movement.”

It’s not clear how authorities will track down violators.

Officials and lawmakers said ordinary internet users won’t be affected and only those who methodically seek outlawed content will be targeted. They didn’t explain how authorities would differentiate between them.

Russians widely use VPN services for access to banned content, but authorities have sought to tighten restrictions and close the loopholes. The state communications watchdog has increasingly used technology to analyze traffic and block specific VPN protocols.

Russian authorities have ramped up their multipronged crackdown on dissent after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Since then, online censorship and prosecutions for social media posts and comments have soared.

Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as “foreign agents” or outlawed as “undesirable.” Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges.

Striking doctors have told of difficult working conditions as they manned picket lines across England.

Resident doctor Kelly Johnson said Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s opposition to the strikes felt like “a slap in the face”.

Speaking outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she works, she told the PA news agency: “Every union has the right to strike. It feels like a slap in the face to say that we are doing something that is unjust.

“Just because we’re doctors doesn’t mean we can’t come out and strike and protest for what we think is right.

“When doctors decide to take strike action it’s always portrayed as though we’re being selfish, but we’re here as a body to help the public day in, day out, to work hours that don’t even end sometimes.

“Here we are just trying to get what’s right for us so we can do our best to serve the public.”

Around 30 doctors and supporters gathered outside Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) on Friday morning, waving placards and cheering as passing cars beeped horns in support.

Cristina Costache, who is a paediatrics registrar at LGI and a PhD student, said: “It’s a very difficult decision to make always, because I love my job and that’s the reason I went into it. I get depressed if I’m not in work. My heart is always at work.

“But I also care about my colleagues and my profession.

“I’m seeing more and more gaps as registrars. There’s always a gap on the paediatric registrar rota. We end up having to cover the job of another paediatric registrar, of even two other paediatric registrars.

A picket line outside Leeds General Infirmary as resident doctors stage a strike (Dave Higgens/PA)

“My SHOs (senior house officers) also have gaps, so I sometimes have to cover their job as well as my registrar job. That’s not safe and that’s not okay.

“The reason that happens is that they’re poorly paid. If you’re poorly paid, why would you want to come in on your free time when you know you’re going to be on nights the next day and then so three or four nights in a row?”

Dr Costache said she left Romania due to the poor health infrastructure and lack of investment.

She said: “It’s really sad to have seen in the last nine years, since being here, how the NHS is heading that way. Hence, I’m a trade unionist because I feel like I want to tell people, please don’t do what has happened there.

“It can be really scary and really bad, and you don’t want to be in that place.”

Dave Bell, a retired nurse and member of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public, stood in solidarity with striking doctors outside St Thomas’ Hospital.

“Britain’s doctors are the backbone of our NHS,” he said. “If you ask anyone who’s been to a hospital, they’ll tell you those staff work their socks off.”

He called for urgent “pay restoration”, adding: “We need to value those doctors and restore their pay to what it was 15 years ago.”

But he acknowledged the difficulty of strike action within NHS teams.

“I took strike action once when I was a nurse – of course it causes tensions. You’re working hard, and if medical staff walk out, it gets even harder for those still in.”

Despite this, he said unity is crucial, adding: “In the long run, people have got to work together – the unions too. It can be overcome.”

Some patients at St Thomas’ Hospital voiced their support for the doctors.

Jo Irwin, 72, who was attending the London hospital for a blood test before surgery for a hernia, said she had “no hesitation” in backing the walkout.

“I am fully behind the strikes and the public should be as well,” she said.

“Without these doctors I would be dead. They are looking after sick people. I am very angry about it.

“They should get all the money they want and more than (Prime Minister Sir) Keir Starmer and his cronies.”

Mohammed Dinee, 42, from Brixton, also backed the industrial action after being admitted recently with back pain.

“Today I had a physiotherapy appointment, it was fine, no complaints,” he said.

“But I got admitted the other day for back pain – you could feel it. It was difficult to get an MRI scan.

“They’re strained, being inside St Thomas’ you can see it. I fully support them.”

Speaking outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Dr Fareed Al-Qusous, 26, a year three academic foundation doctor, said resident doctors had “the most severe pay erosion compared to all the other sectors”.

“The private sector’s pay has caught up with 2008 levels, the finance sector has gone up by 4%, whereas doctors’ pay has gone down by 21%,” he said.

“We want to be realistic about things, we want to be pragmatic, we don’t want it all in one year, we don’t want it over two years.

“We want a multi-year pay deal, a guarantee that pay will be restored.”