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By MARI YAMAGUCHI and AYAKA MCGILL, Associated Press NINOSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Baumkuchen originated in Germany but has become a wildly popular sweet in Japan, where a prisoner of war on a small western island started making the treat that has thrived in its new homeland. Today, the confectionery known as “tree cake” because of the resemblance to a trunk with rings is considered a symbol of longevity and prosperity in Japan, where Baumkuchen festivals are regularly held. Staff make Baumkuchen, a German layered cake, during a workshop of Juchheim Ninoshima Welcome Center and Outdoor Activity Camp Monday, July 7, 2025, at Ninoshima island in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) Japanese adaptations, including those using maccha and sweet potatoes, are popular gifts at weddings and birthdays. Baumkuchen is sold in gift boxes at luxury department stores and individually wrapped, smaller versions can be found at convenience stores. The sweet’s early years, however, are associated with a catastrophic earthquake and two world wars. A vendor sorts articles at a baumkuchen store on its opening day in Tokyo, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte) Making Baumkuchen is one of most popular activities on Ninoshima, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Hiroshima. But visitors also must learn the sleepy island’s role in Japan’s wartime history, according to Kazuaki Otani, head of the Juccheim Ninoshima Welcome Center. At the outdoor center built over the site of a prisoner of war camp, amateur bakers pour batter on a bamboo pole and roast the mixture over a charcoal fire. As the surface turns light brown, a new layer is poured, creating brown rings as the cake grows thicker and the sweet smell wafts through the picnic area. This undated photo shows Karl Juchheim, the German who introduced Baumkuchen to Japan. (Juchheim via AP) This is how a German confectioner named Karl Juchheim baked Baumkuchen while he was imprisoned on the island more than 100 years ago. During Japan’s militarist expansion period beginning in the late 1890s, Ninoshima served as a military quarantine station as nearby Hiroshima developed into a major military hub. About 4,700 mostly German civilians and servicemembers were kept at 16 camps across Japan during World War I. The German prisoners at Ninoshima were given “a certain degree of freedom” and allowed to cook, Otani said. Juchheim was running a bakery in Qingdao, China, then a German territory, when he was captured by the Japanese in 1915. He arrived on Ninoshima in 1917 with some 500 German POWs and is believed to have tested his Baumkuchen recipe there, Otani said. Staff and participants try out baked Baumkuchen, a German layered cake, during a workshop of Juchheim Ninoshima Welcome Center and Outdoor Activity Camp Monday, July 7, 2025, at Ninoshima island in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) When the war ended in 1918, Juchheim and about 200 fellow POWs stayed in Japan. In March 1919, Juchheim’s Baumkuchen commercially debuted in Japan at the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition. His handmade cake was hugely popular and attracted a big crowd of Japanese visitors, historical documents show. The confectioner opened a pastry shop in Yokohama, near Tokyo, in 1922. The 1923 Great Kanto quake destroyed the business and forced Juchheim to move his family to the western port city of Kobe, where he opened a coffee shop serving Baumkuchen. That store was leveled by U.S. firebombings on Kobe two months before the end of World War II. Related Articles Preparing to study abroad requires knowing what might go wrong during and after the trip Cruise lines unveil Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals Inside Joshua Tree’s exclusive sexual wellness retreat: ‘I’ve seen women changing’ Lake Tahoe resort ranked among best in world. What makes it a top place to stay? Travel: This hotel floats — and it’s the best way to see Palau Yet he remained and grew the business in Kobe, where Juchheim Co.,…

By COLLIN BINKLEY and BEN FINLEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The charges against the man who authorities say shot two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia announced Friday. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting in the nation’s capital. President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, now include one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. In an interview on Fox News, Pirro said there are “many charges to come” beyond the upgraded murder charge. She said her heart goes out to the family of Beckstrom, who volunteered to serve and “ended up being shot ambush-style on the cold streets of Washington, D.C., by an individual who will now be charged with murder in the first degree.” Pirro declined to discuss the suspect’s motive, saying officials have been working around the clock on that question. Investigators are continuing to execute warrants in the state of Washington, where the suspect lived, and other parts of the country, she said. Wolfe remains in “very critical condition,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Friday. He ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in recognition of Beckstrom’s death. This photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, shows National Guard member Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. (U.S. Attorney’s Office via AP) “These two West Virginia heroes were serving our country and protecting our nation’s capital when they were maliciously attacked,” Morrisey said. “Their courage and commitment to duty represent the very best of our state.” People who knew the Lakanwal say he served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before immigrating to the United States. Lakanwal worked in one of the special Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar, according to a resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin. He said Lakanwal was originally from the province and that his brother had worked in the unit as well. The cousin spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said Lakanwal had started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012 and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist. A former official from the unit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal’s brother was a platoon leader. Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said. Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement. Lakanwal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman. In his address to the troops Thursday, Trump said that Lakanwal “went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts.” The president called Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.” The White House said he spoke to her parents after his remarks. Related Articles US stocks rise on last trading day of November Here’s what to know about the federal ban threatening the market for THC-infused drinks and snacks US retailers are about to see if Black Friday benefits from a holiday halo effect Today in History: November 28, Boston nightclub fire kills 492 people ‘Prayers’ for DC National Guard as female soldier dies Beckstrom had enlisted in 2023, the same year she…