Infante, 53, then allegedly told his Miami Southridge Senior High School student that one heart represented her and the other represented him, according to a police report.

“If only I was 30 years younger,” Infante told the student on another occasion, according to the police arrest report.

Infante was on house arrest with total lockdown on Monday after police officers arrested him on Friday, and he appeared in bond court on Saturday, according to Miami-Dade County court records.

Miami-Dade Schools Police assigned a detective the “student-teacher relationship” investigation on Feb. 23 and the student described how Infante’s behavior escalated from August to October.

According to the arrest report, Infante’s behavior included holding “her hand longer than usual,” giving her “side hugs that made her feel uncomfortable,” and taking her phone to type a note with his personal hone number that said, “Call Rudy.”

Infante would allegedly say, “I have been thinking about you” and “I can’t wait to be with you” and he would “touch her shoulder, back, or arm” and “placed his hand on her buttocks.”

The teen told the detective Infante described the boundary crossing as “done out of love and endearment,” and “she stopped asking because she felt he would not listen to her,” according to police.

“Infante grabbed her by the waist while seated in a chair and pulled her toward him, causing her to sit sideways on his lap. While she was seated on his lap, [he] rubbed her back ... leaned forward and kissed her on the chest area between her breasts ... she felt afraid,” the teen said, according to the arrest report.

The student said she was afraid to reject Infante, who is 6 feet tall and weighs about 225 pounds, “is physically larger than her,” according to the police arrest report.

The teacher’s case was assigned to the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Sexual Crimes and Child Abuse unit, according to court records.

Infante faced five charges: Four counts of battery and one count of offenses against students by authority figures. His bond was $14,000. A judge ordered him to stay away from the teenage girl.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools released a statement on Sunday, reporting that the school district had initiated employment termination proceedings against Infante.

“This type of behavior will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees,” a M-DCPS spokesperson wrote without providing specifics.

Miami Southridge Senior High School, at 19355 SW 114 Ave., in the South Miami Heights area, had listed Infante on the faculty directory as a Fine Arts teacher.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Zachary James was set to preside over the case.

Local 10 News Assignment Editors Sofia Mendez and Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Read the arrest report’s narrative:

Watch bond court hearing

Releated report: Miami-Dade schools’ teacher faces prosecution by state attorney’s sexual crimes and child abuse unit

Read M-DCPS complete statement:

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is disturbed by the allegations made against this individual.

Upon learning about this suspected behavior, Miami-Dade Schools Police immediately began their investigation and subsequently made an arrest.

This type of behavior will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees.

The District has initiated employment termination proceedings and will ensure the individual is precluded from seeking future employment with M-DCPS.

Whoever Dallas chooses at No. 1 will see a huge salary bump her first year thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last month. That's nearly seven-times what last season's No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers made. The No. 2 and No. 3 picks will get $466,913 and $436,016, respectively.

Second- and third-round picks will make $270,000 — which is more than the previous maximum salary in the old CBA.

The Wings could take guard Azzi Fudd from UConn, Spanish forward Awa Fam Thiam or UCLA center Lauren Betts on Monday night to complement a talented roster led by Bueckers.

Bueckers and Fudd were teammates at UConn and helped the Huskies win the national championship in 2025. Fam Thiem, who is 19, is a talented Spanish player currently playing in her country's domestic league.

Betts is one of six UCLA players in the draft. The 6-foot-7 center helped the Bruins win their first national championship eight days ago. UCLA has a chance to break UConn's record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002. They also could top Tennessee (2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023), which all had five players drafted in total.

Minnesota picks second with Seattle, Washington and Chicago rounding out the top five. Expansion teams Toronto and Portland pick next. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month.

Golden State is next with Washington owning the ninth and 11th picks. Indiana chooses between them. Connecticut, Atlanta, Seattle and the Sun close out the first round.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

How soon Milwaukee gets back to the playoffs could depend on an offseason that’s shaping up to be among the most critical in franchise history due to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s uncertain future.

Has the two-time MVP played his last game in a Bucks uniform?

“I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said Sunday after a 126-106 loss at Philadelphia that capped the Bucks’ 32-50 season. “It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

Antetokounmpo, 31, has spent his entire 13-year career in Milwaukee, which selected the 6-foot-11 forward with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first title in half a century in 2021, and he owns franchise career records in virtually every major statistical category.

He’s eligible to become a free agent after next season if he doesn’t sign a four-year, $275 million contract extension in October. Or the Bucks could trade him beforehand if they don’t believe he will sign that extension. That uncertainty helps explain why Antetokounmpo was the center of attention at this season's trade deadline though the Bucks ultimately kept him.

Antetokounmpo was asked Sunday whether he’d sign an extension.

“It’s something I have to sit down with my family and see what’s best for me, what’s best for my family,” he replied.

Doc Rivers, who announced Monday that he's stepping down as the Bucks' coach, said he just wants a positive resolution for both parties.

“Giannis and this franchise won a title together, and to me, that should never be lost, no matter how this ends up,” Rivers said. “As I said, Giannis is a fantastic person. I’ve been lucky to coach a lot of stars, and he’s right at the top as far as just good people. I want good people to be taken care of.”

Late-season dispute hinders relationship

This crossroads arrives at a time when the relationship between Antetokounmpo and the front office is at its most fragile.

Antetokounmpo’s final game of the season came March 15 when an awkward fall on a dunk caused him to leave a victory over the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in a career-low 36 games.

He wanted to play the last couple of weeks and believed he was healthy enough to do so. Team officials continued to hold him out while saying he had a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The NBA is investigating the situation.

If the Bucks do lose Antetokounmpo, they could face a long rebuild because of their lack of draft assets.

The Bucks will have a lottery pick this year either in their own spot or in New Orleans’ spot — they’ll pick in the less favorable of those two positions. But they don’t have first-round selections in 2027 or 2029. They’ve agreed to pick swaps that could negatively impact their draft position in 2028 and 2030.

Since winning their 2021 title, the Bucks have made just two first-round picks: MarJon Beauchamp in 2022 and AJ Johnson in 2024. Neither remains with the team.

Antetokounmpo has said repeatedly he likes playing in Milwaukee but wants to be part of a franchise committed to competing for championships. The Bucks haven’t won a playoff series since 2022 and just produced their first losing season since 2015-16.

“We’re the furthest away we’ve been,” Antetokounmpo said. “I didn’t think we were going to be in this position last year, so I don’t know what position we will be in next year.”

Misfortune leads to Bucks' slide

Bad luck has played a role in Milwaukee’s downturn.

Khris Middleton had a knee injury that prevented the three-time All-Star from playing in Milwaukee’s 2022 Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Boston. The Bucks had the NBA’s best record in 2022-23, but a back bruise caused Antetokounmpo to miss 2 ½ playoff games as Miami stunned Milwaukee in the first round.

Antetokounmpo missed the entire 2024 first-round playoff loss to Indiana with a calf strain. Damian Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of another first-round defeat against Indiana last year.

Milwaukee’s injuries this season weren’t limited to Antetokounmpo. Kevin Porter Jr., the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, played in only 36 games.

The Bucks often weren't even competitive this season as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Milwaukee dropped 20 games by at least 20 points. According to Sportradar, they never before had more than 14 losses of at least 20 points in a single season.

The Bucks had 14 losses of at least 25 points — twice the previous franchise single-season high. They had eight defeats of at least 30 points, which also doubled the previous franchise record.

“Obviously when you have injuries to two of your top ball handlers like Giannis and KPJ, it kind of hurt us a lot,” forward Bobby Portis said. “And then all the outside noise as well kind of just took away from the team. Years before, things that were said or things we had internally that were about the team didn’t really get out to the media. There were a lot more dark clouds than in previous years.”

Bucks general manager Jon Horst has taken big swings plenty of times before that helped convince Antetokounmpo to stay.

Antetokounmpo signed an extension in 2021 after Horst added Jrue Holiday. Antetokounmpo signed another extension after the 2023 acquisition of Lillard.

After Lillard tore his Achilles, the Bucks took another gamble by waiving him and stretching out the remaining $113 million on his contract over the next five years. That gave them enough short-term cap flexibility to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

Horst now faces his biggest challenge yet as he tries to put together a roster strong enough to have Antetokounmpo believing he can contend for a title without changing teams.

“Money doesn’t mean nothing to me,” Antetokounmpo said. “Zero. Absolutely zero. What means something to me, it’s winning.”

___

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Super Typhoon Sinlaku is expected to make landfall Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands and bring destructive winds, widespread heavy rain and flooding, the National Weather Service said Monday.

Guam, a U.S. territory with American military installations, also could see damaging winds beginning Monday and is under a tropical storm warning. The U.S. Coast Guard issued flood and high wind warnings over the weekend.

The tropical typhoon — the strongest on Earth so far this year — was producing sustained winds of 173 mph (278 kph) on Monday as it neared the islands of Rota, Tinian and Saipan, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

While it's expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku should cross near the islands as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon.

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to prepare for the storm and shelter in place.

President Donald Trump on Saturday approved emergency disaster declarations for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing for additional help with emergency services.

A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones that brew in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where Earth’s most intense storms usually form.

Monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam, super typhoons are the equivalent of category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified since the warning center started using that name in 1947.

Johnny George Mays, 48, of Cutler Bay, is now facing a first-degree murder charge after being arrested on Thursday and appearing before a judge on Monday morning.

According to the Hialeah Police Department, the deadly shooting happened just after 6:45 a.m. on March 28 outside of a home in the 600 block of West 15th Street.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Mays “staging approximately a block away” for an hour and nine minutes, “waiting for the victim to exit his residence.”

Police said when the victim exited his home, Mays drove up in his getaway vehicle, got out and “(ran) towards the victim with his arms raised in a shooting stance,” shooting him multiple times in his driveway before getting back in the driver’s seat and fleeing.

The report doesn’t identify the victim or state a suspected motive. Local 10 News has contacted HPD seeking additional information.

Police said they were able to identify the getaway vehicle and contacted the owner, who said Mays had used it since late 2025. Investigators said they were eventually able to pin the crime on Mays.

An arrest report states that officers found Mays near his home in the gated Cutler Cay subdivision on Thursday and took him into custody. Authorities said he invoked his right to an attorney and did not speak with investigators.

Records show he wasn’t booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center until Saturday. It appears he had been hospitalized in the interim period; he’s pictured in his booking photo wearing a medical gown and his jail roster information references Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ward D, a lockdown unit for inmates.

Besides first-degree murder, Mays also faces a charge of felon in possession of a firearm. A judge ordered him held without bond Monday morning.

As of Monday morning, Mays remained locked up at TGK, records show.

En declaraciones a la radio Forever de Guayaquil el mandatario ecuatoriano dijo que “estamos siempre abiertos a trabajar con Colombia, son nuestros hermanos, están al lado y siempre hemos tenido buena relación”

Agregó que “esperemos que después de las elecciones nos podamos sentar y darle una solución a largo plazo a este problema que tenemos en la frontera” en referencia a la contienda presidencial en ese país previstas para fines de mayo.

Acerca de una eventual salida inmediata respondió que “no tengo gran esperanza de que Petro cambie ni que haga lo que debería hacer, proteger su frontera sur”.

La relación binacional se ha deteriorado desde enero, cuando Ecuador fijó una tasa del 30% a todos los productos colombianos que desde marzo subió al 50% y en mayo llegará al 100%.

Para justificar la medida Ecuador adujo que Colombia no custodia su frontera, donde de ese lado hay una importante presencia de grupos armados vinculados con la minería ilegal, el tráfico de personas y el narcotráfico, y que su balanza comercial era negativa y cercana a los 1.000 millones de dólares anuales.

El Ministerio de Comercio colombiano respondió que aumentaría el arancel a las importaciones provenientes de Ecuador del 30% al 100%, pero esa propuesta debe pasar a un comité para su aprobación. Petro dijo que excluirá de esta decisión a los productos ecuatorianos que su país necesita.

Ambos países han retirado sus respectivos embajadores en Quito y Bogotá como muestra del deterioro de sus relaciones diplomáticas.

Esta tensión genera graves afectaciones a los sectores productivos de ambos países, especialmente en la zona fronteriza, donde hasta hace unos meses el comercio y el transporte de mercancías eran incesantes.

La Comunidad Andina de Naciones, ha exhortado a Noboa y Petro a retomar el diálogo directo y adelantó la posibilidad de que la banca multilateral apoye con fondos para incrementar “las capacidades de ambos países en las zonas de frontera”.

There were allegations that $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid settlement with Centene Corporation were improperly diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity associated with Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis.

“I don’t think anybody cares about this topic any more than the liberal media,” Uthmeier said during a news conference.

Michael Barfield, the executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, strongly disagreed.

“We think this is the most consequential issue in Florida for decades, in terms of the missing $10 million and how it was spent for political purposes,” Barfield told Local 10 News This Week In South Florida’s Glenna Milberg on Sunday.

Barfield said “sourced material” showed there was a grand jury investigation as the nonprofit organization’s investigators were “dancing in the dark” amid the alleged secrecy.

“The attorney general and the governor refuse to answer the question about whether they are attempting to block it,” Barfield told Milberg. “I would also point out that when we moved to intervene into the proceedings that have been sealed, if there were no proceedings, I doubt the judge would have allowed us to intervene in nonexistent proceedings.”

There were questions about the $10 million directed to political committees that opposed a 2024 recreational marijuana amendment.

Uthmeier served as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff before he replaced Ashley Moody, who replaced Marco Rubio as U.S. senator.

The Florida attorney general post will be up for election on Nov. 3.

Uthmeier has been campaigning to run in the Republican primary election on Aug. 18 to run against Steven Leskovich, a longtime attorney.

Watch the TWISF episode

The teacher’s case was assigned to the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Sexual Crimes and Child Abuse unit, according to court records.

Infante, 53, was on house arrest after a judge ordered him to stay away from all schools and from a teenage girl, according to court records.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools released a statement about the case on Sunday, reporting that the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department investigated him.

M-DCPS also reported that the school district had initiated employment termination proceedings against Infante.

Miami Southridge Senior High School, at 19355 SW 114 Ave., in the South Miami Heights area, listed Infante on the faculty directory as a Fine Arts teacher.

M-DSPD officers arrested Infante on Friday, and he appeared before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Michael G. Barket on Saturday in bond court.

The prosecution requested a total lockdown on house arrest, and the defense asked for leniency. Barket sided with the prosecution and addressed the defense: “If the court doesn’t protect our most vulnerable, who will?”

Infante faced five charges: Four counts of battery and one count of offenses against students by authority figures. Barket set Infante’s bond at $14,000 and ordered the total lockdown.

“This type of behavior will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees,” a M-DCPS spokesperson wrote without providing specifics.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Zachary James was set to preside over the case.

Local 10 News Assignment Editors Sofia Mendez and Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Watch bond court hearing

Read M-DCPS complete statement:

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is disturbed by the allegations made against this individual.

Upon learning about this suspected behavior, Miami-Dade Schools Police immediately began their investigation and subsequently made an arrest.

This type of behavior will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees.

The District has initiated employment termination proceedings and will ensure the individual is precluded from seeking future employment with M-DCPS.

Location

The fire was reported at a home in the 2500 block of Northeast Third Avenue.

The back of the home was apparently fully engulfed in flames.

One witness told Local 10 News that she was watching TV when she saw a red flame outside her window.

She then told her grandmother, who immediately called 911.

Local 10’s Michaila Hightower spoke to a man Monday who lives at the home, who said the water heater blew up.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue officials confirmed that no one was injured in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

The American Red Cross offered to assist the resident, however he has opted to sleep in his car in the driveway out of fear that someone will steal his belongings.

It happened at the intersection of West 68th Street and 17th Court.

Video from Sky 10, taken just before 10:45 a.m., shows the motorcycle and debris in the roadway next to a white Nissan sedan and the motorcyclist’s body, covered by a tarp.

Authorities had not yet released the name of the victim or said whether they’ve determined fault in the crash.

The westbound lanes of West 68th Street remained blocked as of late Monday morning.

Elite company, indeed.

If joining the first group wasn't difficult enough for McIlroy — 11 years of trying to get the final leg of the Grand Slam — then winning his second Masters green jacket was a clear reminder of how hard it was to get there.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam,” McIlroy said. “And then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters.”

So where does he go from here?

McIlroy went into a funk last year after fulfilling a lifelong dream. He became irritated by endless questions about what would motivate him, which mountain was next to scale, when all he wanted to do was soak it all in. He finally got back on track at the Irish Open.

That doesn't sound like it will be a problem this time around.

“I felt like the Grand Slam was the destination, and I realized it wasn't,” McIlroy said after ending another wild Sunday afternoon at Augusta National with a one-shot win over Scottie Scheffler.

“I just won my sixth major, and I feel like I'm in a really good spot with my game and my body,” he said. “I don't want to put a number on it, but I feel like this win is just ... I don't want to say a stop on the journey, it's just part of the journey.”

Trying to put a number on how many majors he will win began long before he won his first Masters, much less the second one. McIlroy won his first major in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional by shattering the 72-hole scoring record at 268.

That prompted Padraig Harrington to say, “If you're going to talk about someone challenging Jack's record, there's your man.”

Nicklaus has the gold standard of 18 majors. Woods is next at 15. McIlroy is at six, tied with Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson.

Fred Couples piled on this week when he said on Thursday, “By the way, Rory may never lose this thing again after last year.” And the following day Couples added, “I mean, he really could win five more of these.”

Easy, right?

“Yeah, I don't make it easy," McIlroy said. “I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots."

He still holds the PGA Championship record for margin of victory when he won at Kiawah Island by eight shots in 2012, the year after his eight-shot victory at Congressional.

“No, it’s just hard. It’s hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here,” he said. “You’ve had maybe a couple of runaway winners over the years, but it always seems to be a very tight finish at this golf course."

It wasn't easy a year ago when he lost a Sunday lead once on the front nine and twice on the back nine before beating Justin Rose in a playoff. And it didn't look that way this time when he lost a six-shot lead on Saturday, and then twice found himself two shots behind different players, Cameron Young on the front nine and Justin Rose on the back.

Scottie Scheffler was in range and had to settle for making 11 straight pars. Young had birdie putts on eight straight holes on the back nine and converted none of them.

And then McIlroy was a whisker away from trouble over the final hour — the wedge that barely cleared the false front on the 15th, a sporty up-and-down from off the 17th green that gave him a two-shot cushion going to the last hole, and a drive so far right McIlroy wasn't sure where it was when he walked off the tee.

It ended with more joy than relief, a big difference from a year ago. The only tears came when he spoke to his parents, who were not at Augusta a year ago and had to be persuaded to come this year because they didn't want to jinx him.

With a bogey on the last hole he could afford, it ended with a one-shot advantage over Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world. This was the first time since the 2002 U.S. Open the top two players in the world — Woods and Phil Mickelson at Bethpage Black — were the top two at a major.

McIlroy and Scheffler have combined to win four of the last five majors. Scheffler is a U.S. Open short of joining the career Grand Slam club, and his position at No. 1 in the world is not threatened even after McIlroy's latest Masters title.

“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said.

McIlroy is the first player since Adam Scott in 2013 to have taken three weeks off before winning the Masters. There's a sense that will be part of his plan going forward when possible. He felt like more than an honorary member as many trips as he took to Augusta in the last few weeks.

“I think it's a good blueprint,” McIlroy said. "I’m not going to take three weeks off before every major. ... When I've talked to Jack Nicklaus over the years how he prepared for majors, and he would go the week before, and he would simulate a tournament.

“I think that’s certainly a good way to prepare going into the next majors.”

The next one starts May 15, another stop in the journey without needing to set a target for how many.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

According to police, a Nissan sedan was seen being used by the suspect while committing multiple lawn equipment thefts in the city last year.

“Through the use of technology, SCU (Street Crime Unit) detectives were able to locate the vehicle as it entered West Park and began canvassing homes,” the police department said in a social media post. “HPD deployed a drone and watched from above as the suspect got out of the vehicle, grabbed multiple pieces of lawn equipment, and drove off.”

Police said they continued watching the vehicle until the Broward Sheriff’s Office Burglary Apprehension Team and the BSO Aviation Unit responded to the area to assist them.

A Plantation police officer assigned to BSO’s BAT “grappled the vehicle” and the suspect was taken into custody, authorities said.

“The use of technology, combined with the coordinated efforts with neighboring law enforcement agencies, led to the successful arrest and a criminal off the streets,” HPD said in their social media post. “We are extremely proud of our SCU detectives who were dedicated to this investigation.”

The suspect’s identity was not immediately released Monday. Local 10 News has requested the suspect’s arrest report and mugshot.

A large swath of the movie industry, including Denis Villeneuve, Kristen Stewart, J.J. Abrams and Joaquin Phoenix came out forcefully against the $111 billion deal that would consolidate two legacy studios into one, arguing that it further reduce jobs and movies in an already downsized Hollywood.

“The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world,” reads the letter, posted on BlocktheMerger.com. “Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”

In late February, David Ellison's Paramount Skydance reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in one of the largest media mergers ever. The deal awaits a shareholder vote later this month and government regulatory approval. Paramount's victory came after months of negotiations and a rival bid by Netflix that ultimately fell short.

The deal was only the latest massive merger to rock Hollywood. In 2019, 20th Century Fox was acquired by The Walt Disney Co. for $71.3 billion.

Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has pledged to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone movie studio operations, and vowed to release a combined 30 movies a year in theaters. Though the merger will result in considerable cuts because of duplication of roles, Paramount has contended the fusion of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery “strengthens the overall job market.”

But many in the film industry believe a merger will mean extensive job losses and a consolidation of power.

“We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good,” read the letter. “The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised.”

A coalition of advocacy groups organized the letter, including the Committee for the First Amendment — a free speech group led by Jane Fonda — as well as the Democracy Defenders Fund and the Future Film Coalition. Other signatories include: Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Javier Bardem, Lily Gladstone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish and Ted Danson.

On Monday, one signee, Damon Lindelof, detailed his decision on Instagram. Lindelof, the creator of “Watchmen” and the co-creator of “Lost,” has an overall deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs,” wrote Lindelof. “When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive — one becomes a Ghost Town. I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost. And a fight is already lost if it’s never fought.”

Representatives for Paramount and Warner Bros. didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter.

Annual domestic box-office grosses are still down about 20% from pre-pandemic levels, competition from streaming has only intensified and there are very real worries about what consolidation might mean for the release schedule as Warner Bros. stares down new ownership under Paramount.

It’s under these precarious conditions that Hollywood executives and movie theater owners are gathering this week in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, the annual exhibition and trade show made famous — or at least slightly less obscure — by Seth Rogen's show “The Studio” and his “old school Hollywood buffet.” Real-life Hollywood executives have bigger concerns than throwing a party, however.

A critical time for movie theaters

As “F1” and “Top Gun: Maverick” producer Jerry Bruckheimer said last week in a statement: “We are at a defining point in the future of this industry.”

Bruckheimer, “Oppenheimer” producer Emma Thomas and “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler are teaming up to do something about it. Just last week, Cinema United, the trade organization representing some 60,000 movie screens in the U.S. and abroad, announced that Bruckheimer would be chairing their newly established filmmaker leadership council, with Thomas as vice chair and Coogler as one of its inaugural members.

Other members include Brad Bird, Celine Song and Jason Reitman, who will advise on issues facing theatrical moviegoing, including windows, referring to the number of days films play exclusively in movie theaters before being available to buy or rent at home, and consolidation.

“Our industry is strongest when it works together to promote the singular experience of seeing a movie on the big screen,” Cinema United president and CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “The importance of having Jerry and Emma at the helm of this initiative, at such a critical time for our industry, cannot be overstated.”

The Paramount and Warner Bros. elephant in the room

Much of the public and private handwringing will revolve around Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Both studios will be hyping their upcoming slates to theater owners, in separate presentations: Warner Bros. is planned for Tuesday and Paramount is on Thursday. The question is how much, if at all, executives from either company will address the elephant in the room from the stage as former 20th Century Fox Chair and CEO Stacey Snider did in 2018 with the Disney acquisition looming.

While Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison has said that he would like to grow the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. slate to more than 30 movies a year, there are lingering concerns from organizations such as Cinema United.

Historically, fewer standalone studios have meant fewer movies made for theaters, and between the pandemic, the strikes, the ramping up of streaming services and general financial instability, the release schedule has taken the hit. In 2019, there were 112 wide releases, or films released in over 2,000 theaters. This year, for the first time since the pandemic, that number is up to 115, according to Comscore.

The show must go on, with stars and footage to help

Doom and gloom is hardly ever the prevailing mood at CinemaCon, however. The studios wouldn’t shell out big bucks to bring out their stars and footage if there weren’t some optimism and excitement about what’s to come.

Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr said he thinks the mood going into the conference is “very optimistic.”

“The first part of the year we’ve seen some extraordinary titles and great business, including our own ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’” Orr said. “I think it should be quite the celebration in Vegas this year.”

This summer has Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a Steven Spielberg sci-fi spectacle, a Star Wars movie, the live-action “Moana,” a fifth Toy Story and a new “Spider-Man.” And later this year there’s a new Marvel movie, “Avengers: Doomsday” and the third “Dune,” both coming out on the same day, December 18. Could Dunesday be the new Barbenheimer?

There have also been bright spots for movie theaters recently, including increased audience interest in premium large formats, like IMAX and 70 mm, and a PG-rating box office boom suggesting that families and younger audiences haven’t entirely abandoned the big screen for the small one.

The recent success of films like “Project Hail Mary,” “Hoppers” and “Wuthering Heights” also show that it’s not just franchises that are bringing people to the theaters — although it’s wrong to underestimate the importance of tentpoles like “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”

“At least from the box-office perspective, we are going in on a very positive note,” said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads marketplace trends for Comscore.

Plus, those inside the industry are often quick to remind that the business has survived its share of existential crises, whether it’s streaming, piracy, VHS or television.

Thomas, who is producing “The Odyssey,” emphasized the “profound cultural value in gathering together with a group of strangers and connecting while experiencing something special on the big screen,” in her statement about partnering with the movie theater trade organization.

“That is what this is about: making sure that cinemas of all sizes, around the world, can continue to present our stories in the best possible setting, so movie fans of all ages can enjoy them as they were intended to be seen,” Thomas said.

Existing home sales fell 3.6% last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Sales also fell 1% compared with March last year, weighed down by declines in the Northeast and Midwest. The latest sales figure fell short of the roughly 4.06 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

“Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell 1.7 points to 70.9, remaining well below 80, a marker that can signal a recession ahead. It’s the 14th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80.

Sales have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.

Despite the pullback in sales, home prices continued to rise last month. The national median sales price increased 1.4% in March from a year earlier to $408,800, an all-time high for any March on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 33 months in a row.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows. They have remained sluggish so far this year, declining in January and February versus a year earlier.

The pace of home price growth has slowed or fallen in many metro areas and there are more homes on the market than a year ago.

And until recently, mortgage rates were easing, lowering borrowing costs for homebuyers. Homes purchased last month likely went under contract in January and February, when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 5.98% — its lowest level in three and a half years — to 6.16%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

But mortgage rates have been mostly rising since the war with Iran began, sending energy prices surging and heightening worries about higher inflation. That’s pushed up the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was at 6.37% last week, according to Freddie Mac.

The rise in mortgage rates led Yun to lower his 2026 existing U.S. home sales forecast. He now projects sales will rise 4% this year, down from his previous forecast of a 14% increase.

State records show multiple violations at both locations, including evidence of live rodents and conditions that could lead to contamination.

Below is a list of places inspected and some of their violations.

No establishments in Miami-Dade or Broward were ordered shut last week.

Both places mentioned below were allowed to re-open following an ordered cleanup and then a re-inspection.

**PARTY CAKE BAKERY

103200 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY

KEY LARGO

ORDERED SHUT 4/8

15 VIOLATIONS FOUND

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 12 rodent droppings on top of dishwasher machine located next to cook line. Observed approximately 5 rodent droppings under dishwasher machine. Also observed approximately 8 rodent droppings by back door next to oven at kitchen area.”

“Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”

“Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. Observed prepared ham and cheese sandwiches, Spanish omelet ,egg sandwich, pork sandwiches ham and cheese croissant and mini ham and cheese sandwiches not time marked at front counter, employee discarded during inspection.”

“Time/temperature control for safety food identified in the written procedure as a food held using time as a public health control has no time marking and the time removed from temperature control cannot be determined. See stop sale. Observed prepared ham and cheese sandwiches, Spanish omelet ,egg sandwich, pork sandwiches ham and cheese croissant and mini ham and cheese sandwiches not time marked at front counter, employee discarded during inspection.”

“No currently certified food service manager on duty with four or more employees engaged in food preparation/handling.”

**MEAT EATERY AND TAPROOM

88005 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY

ISLAMORADA

INSPECTION BASED ON COMPLAINT

ORDERED SHUT 4/8

9 VIOLATIONS FOUND

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed 2 rodent droppings in handwashing sink in the back prep/storage room. Observed 3 rodent dropping on the top of the dish machine in the back storage/ prep room.”

“Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed approximately 7 live roaches on the dry food storage shelving in the back room.”

“Tracking powder pesticide used inside establishment.”

“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Slicer blade is soiled.”

“Required employee training expired for some employees.”

“Operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license. Repeat Violation."

“I have truly loved my time in Milwaukee,” Rivers said Monday in a statement released by the team. “Coming back to where I got my start, to a city that has always embraced me, has been a privilege. I am disappointed that things did not turn out the way any of us hoped, but I am deeply grateful for this experience, the relationships built, and unwavering support from our fans and the community. Milwaukee will always mean a lot to me, and this chapter will hold a special place in my heart.”

The announcement comes a day after the Bucks ended a 32-50 season that snapped their run of nine straight playoff appearances. The news release announcing Rivers’ departure as coach didn’t indicate whether he might have any role with the team moving forward.

“It has been an honor to have Doc as our coach and as a leader in our organization and community,” Bucks owners Wes Edens, Jimmy Haslam, Dee Haslam and Jamie Dinan said in a statement. “In addition to his impact on the court, we’re thankful for Doc’s class and professionalism during his tenure in Milwaukee.”

Rivers went 97-103 in 2 1/2 seasons with the Bucks. He owns a 1,194-866 overall record and overtook George Karl for sixth place on the career wins list among NBA coaches this season. The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame announced this month that Rivers would be part of its newest induction class.

The 64-year-old had left little doubt about his future as the season wound down.

“I have seven grandkids now and they’re all 8 years and under,” Rivers said about his future before an April 7 loss at Brooklyn. “And it kills me every time I miss grandparents’ day with each one of them in school. And it’s probably time to go see them more. So, I’ll let you figure out the rest.”

Rivers’ exit comes amid questions surrounding the future of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led Milwaukee to its first title in half a century in 2021 and has set Bucks career records in virtually every major statistical category.

Antetokounmpo’s status dominated league discussions as the trade deadline approached, but he wasn’t dealt. He since has been in a disagreement with team management over his injury status.

The last game Antetokounmpo played was on March 15. He said in the closing weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, while the Bucks continued to rule him out because of a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The NBA is investigating the matter.

Antetokounmpo had two extended absences because of right calf strains and ended up playing in just 36 games. Kevin Porter Jr., the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, appeared in just 38.

“It’s hard,” Rivers said Sunday. “I don’t remember guys being out like this, but it makes sense. I haven’t had a lot of this. It’s no fun. Losing, I don’t give a crap what the reasons are, I’m just too competitive. It’s just no fun not winning. It just isn’t.”

Rivers won a championship with Boston

Rivers won a title with Boston in 2008 and led the Celtics to Game 7 of the NBA Finals two years later, but his teams haven't advanced beyond the regional semifinals since. He owns a career playoff record of 114-112.

This marks the first full season in which Rivers has coached and posted a losing record since 2006-07, when he went 24-58 with Boston.

Rivers came to Milwaukee after head coaching stints with the Orlando Magic, Boston, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. He was working as a broadcaster for ESPN and ABC before the Bucks hired him.

He took over midway through the 2023-24 season after the firing of first-year head coach Adrian Griffin. The move represented a homecoming of sorts for Rivers, who played at Marquette before his 13-year NBA playing career. His No. 31 college jersey hangs from the rafters at Fiserv Forum, the arena that both the Bucks and Marquette call home.

But the Bucks never managed to establish any momentum during Rivers' tenure, with injuries playing a major role.

Bucks struggled with injuries

Milwaukee went 17-19 under Rivers during that 2023-24 season to finish a 49-33 season. They lost to Indiana 4-2 in the opening round of the playoffs, with Antetokounmpo missing the entire series because of a calf strain.

Last season, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton didn’t start playing until early December after offseason surgery to each of his ankles, and he got sent to Washington at the trade deadline. Damian Lillard missed Milwaukee’s final 14 regular-season games because of deep vein thrombosis in his right calf, returned for Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series loss to Indiana but tore his Achilles tendon two games later.

With Lillard unable to play this season, the Bucks waived him and agreed to pay his remaining salary over the next five seasons. That opened up cap space for the Bucks to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

Milwaukee won four of its first five games but struggled the rest of the way while playing much of the season without its superstar.

“I personally have enjoyed the challenge,” Rivers said after Sunday’s game. “It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, obviously. I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things. But I’m not a big guy in looking back. All you can do is look forward.”

___

AP Pro Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, is accused of benefiting from access to multimillion-pound U.K. homes that were paid for and refurnished by energy firms seeking government contracts in Nigeria.

Prosecutors allege that she benefited from private jets, a chauffeur-driven car and shopping trips including 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) spent at Harrods, a famed London department store. They also allege that she received 100,000 pounds in cash while she was Nigerian minister of petroleum resources from April 2010 to May 2015.

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court in London, Alison-Madueke said “I did not abuse my office during that period.” She denies five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, an owner of Nigerian oil companies, denies two charges of bribery. Alison-Madueke’s brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, denies conspiracy to commit bribery.

“I can state categorically at no time did I ask for, take, or seek a bribe or bribes of any sort from any of these persons," Alison-Madueke said.

The former minister had oversight of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and its subsidiaries, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Co. and the Pipelines Product Marketing Co.

Prosecutors allege that she went on paid-for shopping sprees in London, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds at an antiques dealer and a Mayfair homewares shop.

Alison-Madueke told the court that the logistics and financial dealings of her work trips were handled by the Nigerian National Petroleum Co, and insisted that a string of services arranged for her were subsequently reimbursed.

According to online jail records, Angel Mario Vicens, 43, was arrested last Friday on charges of attempted murder and carrying a concealed firearm at specific locations.

Pembroke Park police said the shooting occurred March 16 at Thirsty’s Liquor Bar, located at 4426 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd.

According to police, when officers arrived, they found the victim outside the bar, suffering from several gunshot wounds.

“Indications were that the incident began with an argument inside the bar; the shooter then pulled out a gun and fired multiple times, hitting the victim, and then fled the scene,” PPPD said in a news release.

Police said the victim was transported to a hospital to be treated for his injuries.

Vicens was arrested Friday with assistance from the Broward Sheriff’s Office VIPER Unit, authorities said.

“During the operation, a BSO VIPER Unit detective observed a firearm in plain view inside the defendant’s vehicle,” the news release stated.

According to police, Vicens agreed to speak with detectives and confessed to his involvement in the shooting along with recovering the gun used in the incident.

As of Monday morning, Vicens was being held at the Broward County Main Jail without bond.

It’s unclear what the men were arguing about prior to the shooting.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.

Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

The letter was subsequently released publicly by Congress, which subpoenaed the records from Epstein’s estate. Trump denied writing it, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.”

Attorneys for the newspaper and Murdoch had asked Gayles to rule that the article’s statements were true and therefore couldn’t be defamatory, but the judge wrote that “whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation,” Gayles wrote.

The ruling marks yet another blow in the Trump administration’s efforts to manage fallout over its release of the Epstein files and the president’s attempts to use the legal system to chill reporting he finds critical of him.

Neither the White House nor a spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, immediately responded to requests for comment.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Greier would be worrying less if the solar farm he wanted on his land had come to pass. But local officials blocked it in 2023 under an Ohio state law, and Greier — facing a heavy medical debt — had to sell part of his land to stay afloat. The deal that was killed would have brought him about $540,000 in lease payments every year.

“It was our saving grace,” he said. “It wasn’t a scary picture that everybody likes to paint about solar and the loss of farmland.”

Local opposition to solar has long been an obstacle for green energy developers. But some communities are working to reverse local restrictions, citing the tax benefits and jobs the projects bring and the lease payments from energy companies that can provide stable income to farmers in a volatile industry.

When a solar company approached him wanting to build panels on part of his land, Greier, 42, and a sixth-generation farmer, hesitated. But facing $1 million in medical debt from a long battle with COVID and related complications, he saw a chance to save his farm.

Some in the community thought differently.

Greier said he and his family were ostracized as debate over the project played out in public meetings. His mental health plummeted. And the project was eventually blocked under a state law that allows counties to block construction of wind and solar farms on land they deem “restricted.”

“I was the one that was going to lose the sixth-generation farm. I was the one that couldn’t provide for my family,” he said.

A tough time for renewables

President Donald Trump's hostility to green energy has battered the industry by wiping away subsidies, loans and tax incentives. But even before his return to the White House, local bans on renewable energy were becoming more common. A 2025 study from Columbia University found that from 2023 to 2024, there was a 16% increase in local laws across 44 states that restricted such projects.

“Many communities want to decarbonize and probably theoretically support renewable energy,” said Juniper Katz, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts who focuses on environmental policy. But, she added, “When it’s your community and your backyard, balancing these processes so people feel like they’ve had a say without creating so many veto points that nothing can get done, I think is the trick. And it’s not easy to do.”

In February, Dearborn County, Indiana, officials paused solar development for a year after concern from residents over the proximity of solar panels near homes and potential environmental impact of panel materials.

Bobby Rauen, who lives near part of a proposed 1,200-acre (486-hectare) solar project in that county, is among residents who petitioned for the pause. He said he hopes officials use this time to create better protections for residents living near potential solar projects. He said he was also concerned that farmland may not go back into production if solar panels are eventually removed.

After officials in Mahoning County, Ohio, halted Greier's planned 675-acre (273-hectare), 150-megawatt project, he decided to help others who wanted solar on their land, saying he “didn’t want to be a victim.” As a member of the Renewable Energy Farmers of America, Greier, who primarily farms corn and soybeans, has shared his experience with lawmakers, advocacy groups and in communities debating green energy development.

He recently spoke to government officials at a public meeting in Richland County, Ohio, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) from his home. Advocates there got a referendum on the ballot this May to reverse the county’s ban on wind and solar projects.

Morgan Carroll, a lifelong county resident, has been working since last summer to rally support to drop the ban. Though she is not a farmer or landowner, Carroll said she supports the jobs and tax revenue these projects can bring and thinks the ban takes the decision away from residents — and may someday affect her two young children.

“I want them to be in a county that can provide jobs, can provide a good school for them,” she said. “I don’t want to have to move.”

Federal policy influencing local laws

Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration moved up deadlines for utility-scale solar projects to qualify for tax incentives after the passage of a big tax breaks and spending cuts bill last July. Now, utility-scale solar projects have to be in service by the end of 2027 to qualify.

Last year, Lita Leavell and her husband, Joe, who operate a 1,000-acre (405-hectare) cattle farm in Lancaster, Kentucky, had hoped to host a utility-scale solar project on about half their land that would have brought them an estimated $60,000 per year. Like Greier, the lease payments would have ensured the land could stay in their family.

But after a Garrard County ordinance was passed in 2023 restricting the development of solar, the energy company Leavell was working with decided to end the project.

Part of her county's rationale for the ordinance was the federal government's opposition to solar energy and the Trump administration's desire to stop utility-scale projects on farmland, county leaders said during an August 2025 meeting. Leavell, who said she is a Republican, questioned why lack of federal support for green energy projects should affect her ability to pursue these projects on her own land. She and a group of six other landowners are suing to overturn the ordinance.

“The thing I guess that perplexed me so much is that there’s so many more worse things that could be next to you,” she said.

A property rights issue

Carroll, who helped gather signatures for the referendum in Richland County, Ohio, found that when the debate over solar projects was framed as a property rights issue, people in the community were more receptive.

Greier also focuses on property rights when speaking on the issue. His farm is his retirement plan, and he should have the right to use it to support his family, he said.

“There’s families that are relying on this and looking for this,” he said. “And it’s been taken away, this opportunity.”

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

El 6 de abril de 2024, Onyxia Delinois, de 26 años, trotaba adelante de un grupo de corredores cerca de Miramar Parkway y Southwest 184th Avenue cuando fue atropellada por un conductor que nunca se detuvo.

El choque le causó una lesión craneal grave y requirió cuidados las 24 horas del día.

Su esposo, Roosevelt Delinois, quien era su cuidador principal, pide a cualquier persona que haya visto algo que se presente para que su esposa pueda obtener justicia.

La policía continúa investigando pero no tiene una descripción del vehículo. Hay una recompensa de $15,000 por información que lleve a un arresto.

Según el oficial Mike Vega, el departamento de policía recibió una alerta de ShotSpotter cerca del escenario principal del evento en Northeast 62nd Street y Second Avenue poco antes de las 11:30 p.m.

Dijo que fueron localizadas tres personas baleadas. Cada una fue transportada por Miami Fire Rescue al Centro de Trauma Ryder del Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Según las autoridades, una víctima murió en el hospital y las otras dos se encuentran estables.

La policía no divulgó de inmediato otros detalles sobre el tiroteo.

Según Gerdy St. Louis, portavoz del Departamento del Sheriff del condado de Broward, los agentes respondieron a la cuadra 4100 de Northwest 21st Avenue poco antes de las 5:15 p.m. tras recibir una llamada sobre un intento de secuestro.

Cuando los agentes llegaron, se reunieron con el tutor del niño, quien afirmó que un hombre había intentado llevarse al menor, dijeron las autoridades.

Según St. Louis, el niño les dijo a los detectives que un hombre vestido completamente de negro y montando una bicicleta morada intentó llevárselo después de taparle la boca con la mano.

“Basándose en el relato inicial del menor sobre el incidente, su comportamiento y el nivel de detalles que proporcionó, los agentes encontraron los señalamientos del niño como creíbles”, escribió St. Louis en un comunicado de prensa. “Se peinó el área y se distribuyó una alerta de búsqueda a las agencias cercanas. Los medios de comunicación también fueron contactados de inmediato dada la gravedad del delito”.

Sin embargo, St. Louis dijo que los detectives descubrieron posteriormente que el intento de secuestro no ocurrió, sino que un hombre en el área había asustado al niño, “lo que puede haberlo llevado a esconderse y fabricar el incidente”.

No está claro por qué el niño se asustó del hombre.

St. Louis dijo que los detectives continúan investigando el incidente.

“Los detectives quieren recordarle al público la seriedad de hacer un reporte falso”, escribió en el comunicado. “Hacerlo no solo es ilegal, sino que desperdicia recursos valiosos y los desvía de emergencias legítimas. Se insta a los padres a hablar con sus hijos sobre la seriedad de hacer un reporte falso y el impacto negativo que puede tener en la comunidad”.

Speaking in an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press program, the president said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional security. But should it happen, Díaz-Canel said, Cubans would defend themselves.

“If the time comes, I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel said, speaking through a translator.

He added: “If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live’.”

His comments come as tensions between Cuba and the U.S. remain high despite both sides acknowledging talks, although no details have been shared.

Díaz-Canel has accused the U.S. government of implementing a “hostile policy” against Cuba and said it has “no moral to demand anything from Cuba.” He noted that Cuba is interested in engaging in dialogue and discussing any topic without conditions, “not demanding changes from our political system as we are not demanding change from the American system, about which we have a number of doubts.”

Cuba blames a U.S. energy blockade for its deepening woes, with a lack of petroleum affecting the island’s health system, public transportation and the production of goods and services.

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it consumes, and it stopped receiving key oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. military attacked the South American country in early January, seized President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Then, with cooperation from ruling party leaders, the Trump administration began implementing a phased plan to end Venezuela’s entrenched crisis.

The arrival of a Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil in Cuba in March marked the island’s first oil shipment in three months. Russia has promised to send a second tanker.

Despite threatening tariffs in January on countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, the Trump administration allowed the tanker to proceed.

“Cuba’s finished,” President Donald Trump said at the time. “They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”

Díaz-Canel said his government takes Trump’s words as a warning.

“You hear that Cuba is next, that Cuba is going to be next, that there are, there’s a way out, that they’re going to take over Cuba,” he said. “So, from the position of responsibility within the leadership of the country, that is a warning. And we need to responsibly protect our people, protect our project and protect our country.”

Según la policía de Homestead, el apuñalamiento fue reportado poco después de las 3:30 p.m. en la cuadra 1200 de Southwest Fourth Street.

La policía dijo que la víctima fue transportada en helicóptero al Jackson South Medical Center para recibir tratamiento por múltiples laceraciones.

Según las autoridades, el sospechoso, Artemio Salas, dio una “confesión completa”.

Fue arrestado por cargo de agresión grave.

Hasta el lunes por la mañana, Salas estaba detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight. Los registros carcelarios en línea indicaban su fianza como “por determinar”.

Local 10 News solicitó una copia del informe de arresto de Salas.

Según Hollywood Fire Rescue, el incidente ocurrió cerca de Charleston Street.

Las autoridades dijeron que un salvavidas realizó RCP al hombre después de sacarlo del agua.

Posteriormente fue transportado a un hospital para recibir tratamiento adicional.

No se ha divulgado ninguna otra información.

El tiroteo fue reportado alrededor de la 1:30 a.m. del domingo afuera del Five Stars Banquet Hall en Sunrise. Un sospechoso identificado como Francisco Sánchez fue arrestado, según el Departamento de Policía de Sunrise.

Testigos dijeron que alrededor de 150 invitados celebraban adentro del salón de banquetes en el 6072 de W. Oakland Park Blvd. cuando una persona que usaba silla de ruedas fue baleada afuera.

Eril Jerome, quien celebraba el cumpleaños de su suegro con familiares en el salón, dijo que escucharon aproximadamente cuatro disparos.

Por un tiempo, Jerome y otros invitados no pudieron salir porque sus autos estaban estacionados dentro de la escena del crimen.

La plaza comercial ha reabierto desde entonces.

La identidad de la víctima aún no ha sido divulgada.

Fujimori encabezaba la votación con 16,95%, según el conteo preliminar de la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), pero ese respaldo es insuficiente para asegurarle una victoria en primera vuelta para la que la ley exige el 50% más uno del total de los votos válidos.

Esta es la cuarta vez que busca la presidencia la candidata de Fuerza Popular e hija del fallecido expresidente Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).

López Aliaga, candidato del partido Renovación Popular y exalcalde de Lima, se ubicaba en segundo lugar con 14,55% de apoyo tras una campaña marcada por la alta dispersión del voto entre los 35 postulantes a la presidencia.

En tercer lugar —y a menos de dos puntos porcentuales de López Aliaga— se ubicaba el candidato Jorge Nieto Montesinos con 12,81% de los votos y con chances matemáticas de ingresar a una segunda vuelta prevista para el 7 de junio.

La ONPE mantuvo la publicación del conteo de votos de los comicios del domingo pese que hasta las 18.00 local (2300 GMT) del lunes 52.561 personas podrán votar en Lima.

La elección transcurrió con problemas logísticos y varios centros de votación abrieron sus puertas con retraso porque no había llegado el material electoral. En el caso de Lima, el Tribunal Electoral ordenó que continúe la votación el lunes en 13 colegios públicos que no abrieron la víspera porque no habían recibido las papeletas.

El lunes cientos de peruanos realizaban filas en esas escuelas públicas del sur de la capital.

Iris Valle, de 56 años, dijo a la AP que pese a sufrir de un problema en la rodilla llegó a votar a la escuela Alfonso Ugarte del distrito capitalino de San Juan de Miraflores. La mujer añadió que temía que le hagan un descuento en su trabajo por no asistir temprano a laborar.

Centenares de personas como Valle realizaban filas disgustadas porque algunas mesas electorales no habían abierto para sufragar pasadas las 7 de la mañana.

Según sondeos privados previos, ninguno de los postulantes llegaba a las elecciones con alta intención de voto.

Varias encuestas daban a Fujimori el primer lugar con una intención promedio del 15%. La dirigente política ha prometido combatir la delincuencia con las Fuerzas Armadas y construir nuevas cárceles. Detrás de ella se ubicaban cinco postulantes separados por pocos puntos porcentuales entre sí.

Perú celebró los comicios en medio de una crisis política que ha provocado el desfile de ocho presidentes y tres Congresos en una década y un incremento de la delincuencia que los ciudadanos identifican como su mayor preocupación.

Los electores se quejan además del aumento del costo de vida y de la persistente corrupción.

En el último quinquenio las denuncias por extorsión —un delito que ha provocado protestas y paralizaciones frecuentes del transporte público— se han quintuplicado, mientras que los asesinatos se han duplicado, de acuerdo con datos oficiales.

But no birthday cake, because sugar isn't healthy for the aging primate.

Fatou, a western lowland gorilla, arrived in what was then West Berlin in 1959. She was believed to be about 2 years old at the time, though her exact birthdate isn't known — April 13 is her designated birthday. Gorillas can live for around 35-40 years in the wild and longer in captivity.

Fatou became the zoo’s oldest resident in 2024, following the death of Ingo the flamingo. The bird was believed to be at least 75 and had lived at the zoo since 1955.

Fatou was likely born in the wild in western Africa but the story goes that a French sailor took her out of Africa and bartered her to cover his bar tab in Marseille, France, according to the Guinness World Records. A French animal trader then reportedly sold her to the zoo.

These days, Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age. She's lost her teeth and she suffers from a touch of arthritis and hearing loss.

But Christian Aust, the Berlin Zoo's primate supervisor, said she's friendly with the zookeepers, if still a bit stubborn.

At 69 years old, she's earned it. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Fatou.

More than 100 robots were showcased at two exhibitions starting Monday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The X2 Ultra robot from China’s prominent humanoid robot manufacturer AGIBOT Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co. was among them.

When asked about its hobbies, the robot's list went from doing sports and dancing to studying technology and listening to music. Describing the people in front of it is no challenge either: "a woman holding a phone, a woman holding a bag and a phone, a man holding a camera,” it said at one point.

Calvin Chiu, the chief operating officer of Novautek Autonomous Driving, AGIBOT's agent in Hong Kong, said that the robot can provide emotional satisfaction to humans through conversations and serve as a teacher to older adults and children. Different robots can be programmed with different personalities, too.

“It would be like a friend,” Chiu said.

Chinese manufacturers among leading players

In China, technology has evolved into an area of competition with the U.S., with national security implications. Beijing’s latest five-year plan vows to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Speeding up the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

Official data showed China had more than 140 humanoid-robot manufacturers and more than 330 models in 2025.

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three of them — AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp. — as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment in terms of shipment numbers. They all shipped more than 1,000 units of general-purpose embodied intelligent robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, the report said.

In February, humanoid robots were among the highlights of the CCTV Spring Festival gala in China, a television show celebrating the Lunar New Year. A martial arts performance by children and robots stole the spotlight.

Diverse applications and manufacturing advantages

Some Chinese exhibitors flexed their advances at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Monday, showing robotic capabilities that ranged from talking to humans, punching and sand painting to doing backflips and catching suspects with nets during security patrol demonstrations.

Robert Chan, global strategy officer at EngineAI, based in Shenzhen, brought its PM01 robot to showcase its mobility, including doing a front flip. His company plans to launch two factories in China for mass production this year.

He said that China enjoys advantages in certain areas, such as low-cost engineering. He also pointed to the pattern of sharing know-how between companies, unlike in the United States and Europe, where companies typically shield their own technology.

Human-looking robots

Chan foresaw that the next stage of robotics would move toward robots featuring bodies looking like people, with more emotional exchanges and facial expressions, or even looking like they can breathe. That is about plugging the gap in robots' interactions with humans, he said.

“The warmth and emotion exchange with the human being. Besides, helping humans to make the decision and helping humans to complete their task,” he said.

One company in the exhibition appears to be moving toward that direction.

From a distance, three women appear to be greeting guests at an exhibition booth at one corner. Up close, they turn out to be humanoid robots that could be the future of customer service and museum tour guides.

Wang Zuhua, business director at Shenzhen DX Intech Technology Co., said that the company sold more than 400 robots designed with female features and soft synthetic faces. Some are already working in museums and government venues on the mainland, where they can lead guests to washrooms and offices or provide venue tours, he said.

Malaysian visitor Russel Lupang was amazed by their appearances and movements.

“It’s beautiful, but not real feeling,” he said.

According to Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Gerdy St. Louis, deputies responded to the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Avenue just before 5:15 p.m. after receiving a call about an attempted kidnapping.

When deputies arrived, they met with the boy’s guardian, who claimed that a man tried to abduct the boy, authorities said.

According to St. Louis, the boy told detectives that a man who was dressed in all black and was riding a purple bike tried to take him after placing a hand around his mouth.

“Based on the juvenile’s initial account of the incident, his demeanor, and the level of details he provided, deputies found the child’s claims to be credible,” St. Louis wrote in a news release. “The area was canvased, and a BOLO (Be-On-the-Look-Out) was distributed to surrounding agencies. Media was also immediately contacted given the serious nature of the crime.”

But St. Louis said detectives later discovered that an attempted kidnapping did not occur, but a man in the area had frightened the boy, “which may have caused him to hide and fabricate the incident.”

It’s unclear why the child became frightened by the man.

St. Louis said detectives are continuing to investigate the incident.

“Detectives want to remind the public of the seriousness of making a false report,” she wrote in the news release. “Doing so is not only illegal, but it wastes valuable resources and diverts them from legitimate emergencies. Parents are urged to speak to their children about the seriousness of making a false report and the negative impact it can have on the community.”

As of Monday, she was 16 days old after being born here in the mud, said her mother, Haifa Kenjo.

Kenjo, 34, was nine months pregnant when Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh sent her, her husband and their 2-year-old son, Khalid, running for their lives in sandals and pajamas. They had no time to bring anything as explosions shook the house, they said — not clothes, not cash.

They took refuge in a donated tent near downtown Beirut and secured the tarp with rocks as the wind threatened to rip it from the ground.

Of the more than 1 million people uprooted in Lebanon by this latest war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, 13,500 are pregnant and more than 1,500 are expected to deliver in the next month, the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency said this week, warning that many struggle to access adequate maternal care.

When life had been normal, Kenjo pictured giving birth at Beirut's main public hospital, where she delivered Khalid. She is originally from Syria, and although she has spent almost half her life in the Lebanese capital and married a Lebanese man, she must pay to access the country’s public hospitals, where Lebanese mothers can give birth for free.

When her water broke and she went into labor on March 28, she called an ambulance and her husband scraped together the $40 admission fee. But the $500 they needed to deliver Shiman at the hospital was buried in the ruins of their home, razed the week before in an Israeli airstrike.

They returned to the tent, called a midwife and prayed.

Umm Ali, the midwife, said she did her best, but the tent was filthy. The rain seeped inside. They washed tiny Shiman with bottled water.

Kenjo had no milk in her breasts to give her child. Infant formula costs more than her husband makes in a day installing water tanks.

She knows her baby is hungry. Volunteers passing out food in the displacement camp gave her just enough formula for the next few days.

Shiman doesn’t cry like a normal infant. She coughs. Her skin is cold and clammy, pockmarked with insect bites.

“She is so precious,” Kenjo said, stroking her baby girl. “But for her we have nothing. We have less than zero.”

The clashes in the hilly town that overlooks the U.N.-mandated Blue Line dividing the two countries just over 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away have intensified over the past week, after Iran and the United States agreed to a temporary truce. On Tuesday, Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the U.S. are set to meet in Washington for an in-person meeting in a bid to kick off a landmark series of direct negotiations.

Israel has scaled back its attacks in Lebanon, especially in Beirut, after a series of deadly strikes without warning hit the heart of the capital in some of its busiest residential and commercial areas, killing over 350 people.

At the same time, Israel appears to have stepped up strikes and ground invasion in southern Lebanon, where it intends to create a security zone along the Litani River, almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border. Bint Jbeil is among dozens of towns and villages south of the river that Israel called to evacuate early on in the war. The latest round of fighting was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2, in solidarity with Iran.

At least 2,055 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said, among them 252 women, 165 children, and 87 medical workers, while 6,588 were wounded.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency has reported Israeli ground forces making their way into the town with most of the exit roads cut off. Local media reported dozens of Hezbollah gunmen were largely encircled.

Bint Jbeil sits in a strategic position

The Israeli military said its troops surrounded Hezbollah infrastructure and started ground operations in Bint Jbeil and surrounding areas, killing over 100 Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah did not immediately announce any fatalities among its ranks, and Israel did not comment on its military casualties.

Hezbollah on Sunday claimed at least five attacks on Israeli troops in the town and outskirts with rockets, artillery and drones. According to the group’s statements, Israeli troops were positioned near a school, a hospital and juncture that surrounds the heart of Bint Jbeil. That day, Israel said its troops attacked Hezbollah forces surveilling from the Bint Jbeil Government Hospital and found a cache of machine guns and rockets.

When Israel occupied southern Lebanon until its withdrawal in 2000, it had relied on Bint Jbeil and other elevated locations for strategic vantage points. A major turning point was Hezbollah retaking the hilly town, and the victory speech by then-Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in a stadium there. The Israeli military on Monday shared a satellite photo showing the stadium apparently destroyed in a strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting Monday that the military was expanding beyond the five hilltops it controlled in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in 2024, toward a “solid, deeper security zone." He said it was in order to protect northern Israel.

Lebanese Red Cross volunteer laid to rest

Elsewhere, a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer killed in an Israeli strike Sunday while on a mission in the southern village of Beit Yahoun was laid to rest in Choueifat, just south of Beirut.

Hassan Badawi, 31, and a colleague were going to a house that was struck by Israel a short drive from where they were stationed, his colleagues said at the funeral. Their trip was coordinated with the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, which liaises with the Israeli army, and they received the go-ahead, according to his colleagues. They drove in ambulances clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, flashed their emergency lights and wore helmets and flak jackets, they said.

"That is the only protection we have,” said Ahmad Assi, 29, another friend of Badawi and fellow paramedic.

Badawi often relayed the horrors he witnessed to friends and family while on duty. “He said they were bombing everywhere, that he felt stuck, like he had to stay because there were too many wounded people that needed his help,” said Mohammed Cheito, one of Badawi’s friends from Lebanese University, where they studied engineering together a decade ago.

On Monday, an Israeli strike near the entrance to Red Cross offices in the coastal city of Tyre killed a wounded person who was being transported, damaging several Red Cross vehicles. A person familiar with the matter said the strike targeted a man on a motorcycle transporting the wounded. It's unclear who either people were. The person spoke on condition of anonymity they weren't authorized to disclose the information.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged for the protection of humanitarian and medical workers in a statement on Monday.

“Saving lives must never cost a life,” said Agnès Dhur, head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon. “They must be allowed to reach and help the wounded and return unharmed.”

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press when asked for comment.

___

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Choueifat, Lebanon and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

According to Hollywood Fire Rescue, the incident happened near Charleston Street.

Officials said a lifeguard performed CPR on the man after he was pulled from the water.

He was then transported to a hospital for further treatment.

A witness told Local 10 News the victim was floating in the water.

“He was not breathing on his own,” the witness said. “He didn’t have a pulse for a couple minutes. Thankfully, with the help of the wonderful lifeguards and ALS team that came within a minute and a half, they ran through the procedure, got his heart started, got him breathing on his own, cleared his mouth of water and salt. Within five minutes, they got control of his breathing and saved his life. It was phenomenal to watch.”

No other information has been released.

The shooting was reported at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday outside the Five Stars Banquet Hall in Sunrise. A suspect, identified as Francisco Sanchez, was arrested, according to the Sunrise Police Department.

Witnesses said about 150 guests were celebrating inside the banquet hall at 6072 W. Oakland Park Blvd. when a person who was using a wheelchair was shot outside.

Eril Jerome, who was celebrating his father-in-law’s birthday with family at the banquet hall, said they heard about four shots fired.

For a while, Jerome and other party guests couldn’t leave because their cars were parked within the crime scene.

The shopping plaza has since reopened.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released.

Location

According to Homestead police, the stabbing was reported shortly after 3:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of Southwest Fourth Street.

Police said the victim was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center for treatment to multiple lacerations.

According to authorities, the suspect, Artemio Salas, provided a “full confession.”

He was arrested on a felony battery charge.

As of Monday morning, Salas was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Online jail records listed his bond as “to be set.”

Local 10 News has requested a copy of Salas’ arrest report.

Wearing formal office wear, reading glasses and leather shoes, the 68-year-old leader said he did the impromptu workout to ease any worry about his health at a time when people were already beset with problems sparked by the war in the Middle East.

“I challenge anyone who are saying that I am sick, that they come and exercise with me,” Marcos told reporters. “You come to the gym with me. Let’s see who can lift the weights better.”

“Those people who tell you that I’m sick, that I’m paralyzed, they’re all liars,” Marcos said.

Rumors about the president’s deteriorating health and even death have swirled on social media after he briefly vanished from public view in January then later acknowledged in a video message that he was taken to a hospital for an abdominal ailment that he ascribed to stress and age.

Marcos then laughed off rumors of his demise and said he had been diagnosed with diverticulitis. The condition involves inflammation of small pouches in the digestive tract, usually in the colon, that causes pain, fever, nausea or constipation.

His last hospital checkup a couple of months ago showed he had been cured of that ailment, Marcos said, and added that he was back on normal diet and was regularly exercising.

When asked if he was taking any maintenance medicine, Marcos said he was taking medication for gout and for high blood pressure.

Since taking office in mid-2022, Marcos has grappled with multiple complex problems and political dilemmas.

Those include an increasingly hostile territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, devastating earthquakes, typhoons and flooding, economic difficulties, tumultuous relations with his vice president and a corruption scandal involving powerful legislators and allies that has sparked public outrage.

It was a leap of faith, however, that led her to make a change.

Passariello spent years behind the scenes helping build her family’s La Leggenda Pizzeria in Miami Beach.

Passariello and her husband, Giovanni, of more than 30 years, have always been side-by-side.

For years, Giovanni was in the spotlight, winning several awards around the world.

When he decided to step away from competing, it was Passariello’s turn to shine.

She entered a major competition in Las Vegas, competing against top pizza makers from around the world.

In stunning fashion, Passariello won.

“I wanted to validate our shared work and see what those 30 years of working side-by-side with him had truly amounted to. And, quite unexpectedly, I won. I won a very prestigious championship,” Passariello told Local 10’s Alexis Frazier.

Loredana told Frazier that she hopes to keep inspiring girls and women to try something new.

You can get your own taste of their pies on South Beach. Click here for more information.

Harry Truman refused to lend his name to any business, even in retirement. Richard Nixon so feared a brother might profit off their ties, he had his phone tapped. And George W. Bush dumped his individual stock holdings before taking office.

President Donald Trump is taking a different approach.

The family real estate business is undergoing the fastest overseas expansion since its founding a century ago, each deal potentially shaping everything from tariffs to military aid.

Led by Eric, and his brother, Donald Jr., the family business has expanded into cryptocurrencies with ventures that brought in billions of dollars but raised questions about whether some big investors received favorable treatment in return.

The brothers have also joined or invested in a number of companies that aim to do business with the government their father runs. Last month, they struck a deal giving them stakes worth millions in an armed drone maker seeking contracts with the Pentagon and with Gulf states under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father.

The White House and the Trump Organization deny there are any ethical problems. Asked about the issue at a recent crypto conference, Donald Jr. said, “Frankly, it’s gotten old.”

The problem of conflicts of interest goes back a decade to when Trump first ran for office, but some government ethics experts and historians argue it’s more pressing than ever as conflicts pile up in his second term that they consider unprecedented, blatant and dangerous to democracy.

“I don’t think there’s any line right now between policy decisions and political calculations and the interest of the Trump family,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.

Deal-making spree abroad

In Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization did zero deals in foreign countries. In a little over a year into his second term it did eight, all ostensibly complying with the Trump Organization’s self-imposed rule not to do business directly with foreign governments.

But governments in authoritarian and one-party states rarely take a hands-off approach — especially when the business belongs to a sitting president.

In Qatar, a Trump golf club and villa project is being developed in part by a company owned by the Qatari government. In Vietnam, where The New York Times reported the government pushed farmers off their land to make way for a Trump resort, the country’s deputy prime minister signed off on the deal at a ceremony. And in Saudi Arabia, a planned “Trump Plaza” resort on the Red Sea is being built by a Saudi real estate developer close to the ruling family.

Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know but the countries did get what they wanted – access to advanced U.S. technology for Qatar, tariff relief for Vietnam and fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.

And the Trump Organization got something too: Tens of millions in fees.

Asked about those projects, the Trump Organization said it has done no deals with governments so far, noting that the Saudi company was private and has said it is “collaborating” with the Qatari business and had not struck a “partnership” with it that would have broken its self-imposed rules.

The UAE, crypto and Binance

Another deal raising conflicts of interest questions first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article in January — a year after it was struck.

Days before the inauguration, the Trump family sold nearly half of its World Liberty Financial crypto business to a UAE government-linked company run by a member of the UAE royal family for $500 million.

A second UAE entity, a government fund, invested in the offshore cryptocurrency exchange Binance using $2 billion worth of a digital currency called a stablecoin issued by World Liberty. That allowed the Trump company that received the dollars to put it in safe investments such as bonds or money market funds and keep the tens of millions of dollars in interest for itself.

Shortly after, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era restriction and granted the UAE access to advanced U.S. chips. Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, later got a pardon from Trump, despite having pleaded guilty to failing to stop criminals from using his platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

A lawyer for Zhao denied any connection between the Binance’s business with the Trump family and the pardon.

“Any claim of a quid pro quo by Binance or CZ, or preferential financial treatment by Binance, is a clear misstatement of the public record,” said Teresa Goody Guillen in a email to the AP, referring to Zhao by his initials.

Asked about the pardon, the White House said federal authorities had unfairly punished Zhao in what it called “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto.”

World Liberty dismissed the notion of a conflict, saying the UAE deal had no connection to the president’s chips policy.

Crypto billions

World Liberty has also provided a separate income stream to a new Trump limited liability corporation through sales of “governance tokens” that give owners certain voting rights in its business, though not equity stakes, raising $2 billion last year. That translates into hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trumps through their World Liberty ownership stake and a separate side deal allowing them a cut of these sales.

One big token investor was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency billionaire who as a foreign citizen would be banned under U.S. law from making political donations to U.S. politicians. Between Trump’s election and inauguration, Sun spent $75 million on the tokens.

In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging Sun with duping investors was paused before being settled last month for a $10 million fine.

Then there are the souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with Trump’s face that went on sale days before he took the oath of office last year.

Over the next four months, the coins generated $320 million, mostly going to Trump-related entities, according to blockchain tracker Chainalysis. That is more than double the money collected in four years running his Washington D.C. hotel in Trump’s first term.

Unlike the lobbyists or campaign donors trying to influence Trump, the coin buyers can buy anonymously. One who chose to make his purchase public was Sun, who spent $200 million on the coins and got access to Trump at a gala party he held for the biggest buyers.

Another family cryptocurrency business, American Bitcoin went public in September, giving Donald Jr. and Eric about $1 billion in paper wealth at that time. Months earlier, their father announced a new national bitcoin reserve, sending the price for the cryptocurrency soaring to a record.

The Trump businesses aren’t completely immune to crypto’s notorious volatility. The value of bitcoin and other digital tokens have since plunged and rattled investors. Both American Bitcoin stock and the value of Trump’s souvenir meme coins have collapsed 90% from their highs.

Last month, Trump announced he would hold another dinner with new top holders of his meme coins, giving the coin a boost before it fell back again.

“Whatever constraints there were in the first term appear to have completely disappeared,” says Columbia University historian Timothy Naftali. “Do you want future presidents to be open to the highest bidder?”

Trump thinks people don’t care

Asked to comment for this story, the White House said Trump acts in an “ethically-sound manner” and that any suggestion to the contrary is either “ill-informed or malicious.” It reiterated that his assets are in a trust managed by his children and stated he has “no involvement” in family business deals.

“There are no conflicts of interest,” said spokesperson Anna Kelly.

In a separate statement, the Trump Organization said it is “fully compliant with all applicable ethics and conflicts of interest laws” and added, “The implication that politics has enriched the Trump family is unfounded.”

Trump in January told The New York Times that when it comes to potential conflicts of interest, “I found out that nobody cared, and I’m allowed to,” alluding to an exemption the president gets from the federal statute banning federal officials from holding financial interests in businesses impacted by public policy they help shape.

It’s not clear he’s wrong about American attitudes, though they appear to be changing even among Republicans. In a Pew Research Center poll in January, 42% of those voters said they were confident that Trump acts ethically in office, down from 55% at the start of his second term a year ago.

Change of fortune

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth is now $6.3 billion, soaring 60% from before he returned to office, a striking development given how much the Trump Organization struggled before.

The Trump International Hotel in D.C. never turned a profit before being sold. Two Trump hotel chains catering to middle class travelers in his first term shut down for lack of demand. Condominium buildings stripped the Trump name off their facades after discovering that instead of attracting buyers, it was repelling them.

No new U.S. condominiums are putting the Trump name above their entrances in his second term, but his name is prized in Washington where people have business before the federal government.

Donald Jr., Trump’s oldest son, opened a private club in the Georgetown section of Washington that is charging initiation fees as high as $500,000 for founding members.

One of the few clubs with comparable fees, the Yellowstone Club in Montana, offers access to multiple resorts, 50 ski trails and more than a dozen restaurants across a members-only area the size of Manhattan.

Donald Jr.’s club is in the basement of a building but offers something else — proximity to power.

The club’s name is “Executive Branch.”

Bibles, guitars and sneakers

Other presidents and their families have done things in pursuit of profit that stained that high office.

Hunter Biden got paid as a director of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. The Clinton Foundation got foreign donations, though after Bill Clinton had left office. And Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy cashed in on the family name by selling beer.

In Trump’s case, the president himself is hawking goods, including $59.99 “God Bless the USA” Bibles, $399 sneakers stamped “Never Surrender” and electric guitars priced up to $11,500 — shipping not included — for a model autographed by the president.

New year, new profits

In the first months of Trump’s second year back in the White House, the momentum hasn’t let up.

In January, the Trump Organization announced its third deal involving Saudi Arabia in less than a year, this time a “collaboration” with a company more directly tied to the government because it is owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund chaired by its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Asked by the AP whether the project outside Riyadh for Trump mansions, a hotel and golf course violated the company’s pledge not to strike deals with foreign governments, the Trump Organization said it doesn’t “conduct business with any government entity” but didn’t address the project specifically.

Meanwhile, as the two oldest brothers’ new drone company seeks Pentagon contracts, other government contractors in which one or both have gotten ownership stakes this past year are taking in tens of millions of dollars of new taxpayer money. That includes a rocket motor maker, an AI chip supplier and a data analytics company, according to government contracting records.

Asked about potential conflicts after the drone deal was announced, Eric said, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in.” A spokesman for Donald Jr. said he doesn’t “interface” with the government on companies in his portfolio, adding that “the idea that he should cease living his life and making a living to provide for his five kids just because his dad is president, is quite frankly, a laughable and ridiculous standard.”

A new investment firm that the brothers joined as advisers last year has raised $345 million in an initial public offering to buy stakes in U.S. companies designed to help their father revive America’s manufacturing base. After the AP asked Trump’s chief business lawyer about language in a regulatory filing stating the firm would target companies seeking federal grants, tax credits and government contracts, he filed a new document with that language removed.

Zelizer, the Princeton historian, says he expects future presidents will show more restraint in enriching themselves, but worries about the message Trump is sending.

“He has shown politically there is no price to be paid to making money,” he said. “You know you can go there.”

According to Officer Mike Vega, the police department received a ShotSpotter alert near the main stage of the event on Northeast 62^nd Street off Second Avenue shortly before 11:30 p.m.

He said three people who had been shot were located. Each was transported by Miami Fire Rescue to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

According to authorities, one victim died at the hospital and the two others are stable.

No other details about the shooting were immediately released by police.

Watch Local 10 News or refresh this page for updates.

The violence, including a deadly attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia, continued a spike that began following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, the report’s authors said.

“The data raise concern that a high level of antisemitic incidents is becoming a normalized reality,” said Uriya Shavit, the report's chief editor.

Deadly antisemitic attacks were recorded on three continents. Fifteen people were killed at the holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December. There were additional deaths in two antisemitic attacks in the U.S. in Washington, D.C., and Colorado; and in Britain, two people were killed at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Each year, Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Human Rights and Justice releases the report about antisemitism ahead of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The day marks a national memorial for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, which begins Monday evening.

The new report also tracked an increase in antisemitic attacks that resulted in physical harm, including beatings and stone throwing.

It found that 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks since 1994, when the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. An Argentine court has blamed Iran and its Hezbollah proxy for the attack.

According to the report, there was a moderate increase in the overall number of antisemitic incidents last year compared with 2024, but that total represents a huge jump from 2022, before the war in Gaza. The report tracks incidents that range from physical attacks and vandalism to verbal threats and harassment on social media.

“The peak in the number of incidents was recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, after which we began to see a downward trend — but unfortunately, that trend did not continue in 2025,” Shavit said.

In the United Kingdom, there were 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025, up from 3,556 in 2024. In Canada, the number of incidents grew from 6,219 in 2024 to 6,800 in 2025, a number more than three times higher than in 2022.

The report found that even after the Gaza ceasefire took effect last October, antisemitic incidents continued to rise from the same period during the previous year. In Australia, there were 588 antisemitic incidents between October and December 2025, up from 492 during the same period in 2024. There were a total of 472 antisemitic incidents across Australia during all of 2022.

Most physical attacks were carried out by people acting on their own, which is why it is so difficult to try to prevent them, according to Carl Yonker, the study’s director of research. He noted that most attacks were carried out by extremist white Christians devoted to white supremacy or radical Muslims, and often the attackers were unemployed and struggling financially.

The statistics are based on reports from police, national authorities and local Jewish communities.

With an overwhelming new mandate, Magyar pledged to cooperate with other European countries, ending Orbán-era obstruction of Europe-wide policies, while also representing Hungarians’ wishes.

At a news conference Monday in Budapest, he promised to restore rule of law and overhaul government structures to make them more independent and able to fight corruption, and to create new ministries to address acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection and education.

He said he opposes fast-track EU membership for Ukraine while the country is still in a war. But he suggested he wouldn’t veto a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine, as Orbán did, and instead wants Hungary to ″opt out″ of participating in the loan because of its own financial struggles.

He didn’t immediately address his eventual relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who supported Orbán's campaign.

Magyar said his Tisza party received “a never-before-seen mandate,'' a super-majority that would allow it to embark on ambitious program and reforms.

“The Hungarian people didn’t vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change in regime,” he said.

In his campaign, Magyar also pledged to end Hungary’s drift toward Russia. On Monday, Magyar thanked Moscow and Beijing for offering their congratulations and willingness to work with Hungary’s new government.

“Hungarians said yesterday they will write their history, not in Moscow, not in Beijing, not in Washington," he added.

During his long time in office, Orbán ruled with the power of a two-thirds parliamentary majority, allowing him to pass a new constitution, rewrite the electoral system and reshape the judiciary.

Magyar’s party secured exactly such a mandate Sunday when it won 138 of parliament’s 199 seats, giving it broad authority to undo much of the legislation that allowed Orbán to stack the courts, manipulate the electoral system, crack down on press freedom and discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.

Still, there are potential pitfalls that could stand in the way of the radical changes many Hungarians had hoped for.

Historic win

Magyar’s victory was met with jubilation on the streets of Budapest late Sunday with tens of thousands, many of them young people, celebrating what they view as a ray of hope that Orbán’s loss will make Hungary freer, happier and firmly rooted within the fold of European democracies.

On streets and avenues across the capital, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed.

During the celebrations, Adrien Rixer said he’d come back to Hungary from his home in London “because I really wanted to make my vote count, and I’m over the moon.”

“Finally I can say that I’m a proud Hungarian, finally after 16 years,” he said.

Many Hungarians, and others across Europe who were closely watching the election, had feared that a simple majority for Tisza would have been inadequate to truly transform Orbán’s system.

Yet others remain uncertain about what the authority of a two-thirds majority will bring, with some uneasy about taking such a mandate from Orbán and delivering it to his opponent.

“Its hard to see that with two-thirds that it's going to be a fair government, but we will see,” said reveller Dániel Kovács. “Lets hope that it’s going to be a promising four years.”

The election win for Magyar and Tisza was without precedent in Hungary's post-Communist history: They received more votes and more parliamentary seats than any party ever had before.

Bulcsú Hunyadi, an analyst with the Budapest-based think tank Political Capital, said that while Tisza's constitutional majority gives it broad powers to roll back many of Orbán's policies, Hungary's key institutions are “led by people who are cemented in their position for many years.”

As part of his broader effort to consolidate control over Hungary’s democratic system, Orbán installed loyal allies at the helm of key institutions, from the media authority to the public prosecutor’s office and the Constitutional Court.

In several cases, mandates were extended or new appointments pushed through before existing terms had expired — moves that effectively kept loyal leadership locked in place for years, well beyond any potential change in government.

Magyar called for such officials — including Hungary's president — to step down of their own accord. Beyond that, Hunyadi said, “they don’t really have any other tools to remove these people.”

Pressure from the EU

Magyar accuses Orbán and his government of mismanaging Hungary’s economy and social services, and overseeing unchecked corruption he says has led to the accumulation of extreme wealth within a small circle of well-connected insiders while leaving ordinary Hungarians behind.

He’s vowed to hold such abuses to account, and plans to create an Office for the Recovery and Protection of National Assets to reclaim what he says are Orbán’s allies' ill-gotten gains.

Magyar campaigned heavily on a promise to bring home billions of euros in European Union funding that has been frozen over corruption and rule-of-law concerns under Orbán. He’s also pledged to introduce the euro to Hungary by 2030 — something Orbán’s government long resisted.

Hunyadi, the analyst, said Magyar's government will be under “tight pressure” by the EU to quickly carry out reforms in order to get access to those frozen funds that are badly needed by Hungary's faltering economy.

“There are deadlines in terms of unfreezing the funds. They will have to deliver certain laws and reforms by August this year, which is only a few months away,” he said.

Tisza's win raised hopes across the EU that a new government in Budapest would reverse Orbán's antagonistic approach to Ukraine and his obstruction of efforts to assist the war-ravaged country as it defends against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Orbán has used his veto power in the EU to stymie sanctions on Russia and block crucial funding to Kyiv. He's also vowed never to allow talks on Ukraine joining the EU to resume.

In a statement on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Orbán's election campaign, “which unfortunately was marked by manipulative rhetoric about Ukraine, is now behind us.”

“We expect that ... the election results will also contribute to a normalization of political relations,” Sybiha said.

The shooting occurred in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, shortly after Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, according to local police official Mahmood Alam.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and local militant groups, which often carry out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries where polio has not been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization.

First lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated during the weeklong drive, which aims to reach more than 45 million children under 5 across all provinces and regions. She said the campaign will be conducted in coordination with Afghanistan, reflecting a shared commitment to interrupt cross-border transmission and close remaining gaps.

Aseefa is the daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a 2007 gun and bomb attack by militants, and who had personally overseen initiatives aimed at eliminating polio during her tenure. In a statement, she said “Pakistan stands at a crucial moment in the fight against polio.” She said while the country is closer than ever to eradication, “the final stretch remains the most challenging.”

Highlighting recent gains, she said 31 polio cases were reported nationwide in 2025, while only one case has so far been recorded so far this year, but warned against complacency.

While Pakistan primarily uses door-to-door vaccination teams to reach children at their homes, Afghanistan generally relies on fixed vaccination sites and health facilities, where parents are asked to bring their children for immunization.

In Kabul, Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said the first national polio vaccination campaign of the year has begun in Afghanistan in coordination with international partners, aiming to vaccinate around 12.6 million children under the age of 5 across the country. He said the campaign has been delayed in some areas due to cold weather.

Zaman urged parents, religious scholars and community leaders to ensure maximum participation in the campaign, stressing that polio can only be prevented through vaccination.

Pakistan’s polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

Authorities have deployed thousands of police officers to protect workers following intelligence warnings of possible attacks. More than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to guard them have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to officials.

___

Afghan reported from Kabul. Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan.

However, Trump warned on social media that any Iranian ships that come “anywhere close” to the U.S. blockade will be destroyed.

The move sets the stage for a showdown as Iran has responded with threats against ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The war, now in its seventh week, has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets.

Ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend ended without an agreement, raising questions about what happens when the current two-week truce expires on April 22. As the talks wrapped up in the Pakistani capital, both sides blamed each other for the failure.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV is pushing back on Trump’s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. The pope told reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.

Here is the latest:

Trump says Iranian ships that come ‘anywhere close’ to US blockade will be destroyed

The president made the comment on social media just after the blockade of Iran was expected to begin. Trump said Iran has some “fast attack ships” remaining even after much of its navy was destroyed by U.S. strikes.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He added: “It is quick and brutal.”

Germany’s foreign minister says Strait of Hormuz should remain ‘free and open’

Johann Wadephul told reporters in Berlin on Monday it is “urgently necessary to ... ensure that the Strait of Hormuz, which is, after all, an international maritime route, remains free and open.”

The foreign minister said keeping the strait open “is required by international law, and it must be observed by all; making this a reality must be the goal of us all.”

Wadephul did not further elaborate on Trump’s earlier vow to block the strait. He said Germany is focused on helping to resolve the conflict through diplomacy.

Where things stand on ceasefire talks

The current truce between the U.S. and Iran appears to be holding, with no word on whether negotiations will resume before it expires on April 22.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said his country will try to facilitate a new round of dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the coming days. There was no immediate reaction from either side.

A key obstacle seems to be a perception on both sides that they won the war and that each has time on its side.

▶ Read more

Hezbollah keeps up fire on northern Israel ahead of Israel-Lebanon talks

As the Israeli military pushed ahead with its air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese militant group fired more rockets and drones at northern Israel on Monday.

Sirens rang out throughout the day in dozens of Israeli communities along the Lebanese border and in the city of Haifa, some 40 kilometers south, near key energy facilities.

The exchange of fire was taking place a day before Lebanon and Israel, which do not maintain diplomatic relations, were set to begin direct negotiations in the United States for the first time in decades.

The Israeli military said it intercepted more than 10 drones that crossed from Lebanon on Monday. The army says Hezbollah has fired over 250 projectiles since the temporary ceasefire was announced between the U.S., Israel and Iran last week.

Germany’s foreign minister says the world needs US, Israel and Iran to negotiate

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul welcomed that the current truce is holding and urged the warring parties to keep negotiating for a solution to the conflict.(backslash)

“The whole world is suffering from this. Here, we are engaged in crisis negotiations on the need to lower gasoline and diesel prices. On the African continent, there are now fears of widespread famine this summer because the necessary fertilizers cannot be transported. We have an acute shortage of fossil fuels in large parts of Asia,” he said during a joint press conference Monday with the South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola.

Nonetheless, Wadephul said Germany also supports “the American position that we need a credible and robust abandonment of Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.”

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed 2,089 people during the latest Hezbollah-Israel war

That’s an increase of 34 deaths since the previous day’s count, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It said Monday that among those killed were 252 women, 166 children, and 88 medical workers.

The number of wounded has increased to 6,762 people since the war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets towards northern Israel in solidarity with Iran, sparking Israel’s ground invasion and aerial bombardment campaign that has displaced over one million people.

Ahead of anticipated direct talks in Washington on Tuesday, the strikes across both sides of the tense frontier and fierce ground fighting in southern Lebanon have intensified.

Iran war’s global energy crisis sharpens China’s advantage in clean tech

While most of Asia is being hit hard, China will likely benefit from war-related fossil fuel disruptions despite being the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil.

China leads the world in battery, solar and electric vehicle exports, and its industries are forecast to face a rise in demand for renewable products.

Chinese industry giants like vehicle-maker BYD and battery-producer CATL are well-positioned to capitalize on growing interest in low-emissions energy products as the world confronts the fragility of fossil fuels. That contrasts with a more fragmented U.S. approach that has promoted fossil fuels.

“China’s approach to energy sector development and geopolitics has been completely validated by the Iran conflict,” said Sam Reynolds with the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

▶ Read more

Stage is set for an extraordinary showdown over shipping off Iran’s coast

The U.S. military has vowed to blockade all Iranian ports to pressure Tehran into agreeing to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and accepting a peace deal. Iran responded with threats on all the ports of U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The showdown contains serious risks for the global economy and raises the specter that a ceasefire that is currently holding could collapse.

It was not clear if the blockade had started when the designated time of 10 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. GMT) arrived. Minutes earlier, a notice to mariners issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors maritime security, said the restrictions included “the entirety of the Iranian coastline, including ports and energy infrastructure.”

The notice added that transit through the strait “to or from non-Iranian destinations is not reported to be impeded by these measures,” but it added that ships “may encounter military presence” in the strait.

Israeli fire kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say

They were killed in two separate strikes in southern Gaza Monday, according to health officials at Nasser hospital, where the bodies arrived.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Where is the truce? Here is the truce,” said Mahmoud al-Faqaawy as he pointed at the motionless body of his cousin, covered in a white burial shroud in a hospital hallway. “They are saying a ceasefire, where is it?“

The Gaza Strip has seen near-daily Israeli fire and strikes since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October, with more than 750 Palestinians killed since then, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The Israeli military claims its deadly barrage in Lebanon killed 250 Hezbollah militants

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under briefing guidelines, said several senior commanders were among those killed, but provided no further evidence to support the casualty claims.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 357 people were killed, including more than 100 women, children and elderly. Based on those figures, Israel’s claims would require nearly all adult male casualties to be Hezbollah fighters.

The strikes were among the most expansive of the war and came as the United States and Iran entered into a ceasefire Israel said didn’t apply in Lebanon. The destruction and large number of civilian casualties drew condemnation from Lebanon and across the globe and prompted Trump to urge Israel to “dial it back.”

The military official said the timing of the April 8 operation was unrelated to the ceasefire. Israel said the next day that it would open peace talks with Lebanon. Negotiations are expected to begin on Tuesday in Washington, while Israel presses ahead with aerial and ground operations against Hezbollah.

— By Sam Metz

Oil prices hit $100 again as US prepares to blockade Iran's ports

Oil prices have jumped to more than $100 a barrel again and Wall Street appears to be following global markets lower as the U.S. military prepared to blockade traffic to and from Iranian ports. In the Strait of Hormuz, most shipping has been stalled since the start of the war.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.7% before the opening bell. Nasdaq futures slid 1%.

Trump announced the planned blockade after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, and the U.S. military said the blockade involving all Iranian ports would begin Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Iran immediately responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Iranian envoy says Tehran open to US talks if no ‘unlawful demands’

Iran’s ambassador to India said Tehran is open to talks with the United States if Washington refrains from making “unlawful demands.”

Mohammad Fathali was referring to talks held in Islamabad and said the main sticking points were Iran’s nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief.

Asked about the prospects for future negotiations, Fathali told reporters in New Delhi, “If they (the U.S.) accept our conditions, it is possible.”

Russia evacuates almost all of its personnel from Iran’s nuclear power plant

The chief of Russia’s state nuclear corporation said Monday it was pulling nearly all of its personnel from Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant.

Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said 108 workers were leaving the power plant in Bushehr, and only 20 will stay behind to keep watch of the equipment at the plant where Russia is building two more nuclear reactors. Likhachev said that Russia has coordinated the workers’ evacuation with the Iranian authorities. Since the start of the war, Russia has repeatedly voiced concern about projectiles hitting the territory of the plant, some of them landing near its nuclear reactor.

Russia had planned the near complete evacuation long before the ceasefire, removing about 600 personnel in several waves in March and earlier this month.

Spain’s government calls Trump’s naval blockade threat ‘senseless’

Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles condemned Trump’s threatened shipping blockade, saying it “makes no sense.”

“Since the war began, everything has been senseless,” Robles told Spanish broadcaster TVE on Monday. “Nobody knows the reason why this war started, a war that was supposed to be quick. This is just another episode of the downward spiral we have been dragged into, and that they have tried to drag the entire world into.”

Spain under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been Europe’s loudest critic of the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in the Middle East. The NATO member said earlier this month that its airspace was closed to the U.S. planes being used in Iran, and disallowed the U.S. from utilizing jointly operated military bases in southern Spain in the war effort.

Netanyahu says fighting to continue in Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting is continuing in Lebanon on Monday, focused on the Bint Jbeil area, a strategic point that has been the site of fierce battles between Israel and Hezbollah over the years.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel’s military is expanding beyond the five hilltops it controlled in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in 2024 towards a “solid, deeper security zone, which both prevents the danger of invasion and keeps the threat of terrorism away.”

Previously, Netanyahu said Israel wants to control the territory 8-10 kilometers (5-6 miles) from the border in southern Lebanon to remove the threat of short-range rockets or anti-tank missiles targeting Israeli cities and towns on the border.

Iran and Qatari foreign ministers discuss failed Islamabad talks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The ministers discussed the Islamabad talks between Iran and the U.S. which failed to achieve a deal, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

Iran’s Quds Force chief says US will leave Mideast empty-handed

The U.S. will leave the Middle East without any achievements, Iranian media reported on Monday, citing Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, commander of the powerful elite Quds Force.

He noted that the U.S. and Israel should remember how they left Yemen likewise empty-handed in a prior campaign, according to the Tasnim and Mehr semiofficial news agencies.

Qaani suggested that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as they did between 2023 and 2025. The attacks in Bab el-Mandeb prompted the U.S. to launch an air campaign against the Houthis. The rebels stopped attacking ships in the Red Sea after a deal with the Trump administration.

EU chief says bloc’s fuel bill is over $25B higher due to Iran war

The European Union’s fuel bill has risen by more than $25 billion since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran and is likely to mount, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

“Our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over 22 billion euros – 44 days, 22 billion euros,” she said, noting that “the disruption of energy supplies will continue for some time to come.”

Von der Leyen recommended that EU governments start coordinating how they use their oil and natural gas supplies to avoid adding pressure on the market. She proposed easing restrictions on state aid rules while the crisis lasts to help protect vulnerable consumers and sectors from high energy prices.

Trump is ‘bluffing’ over Hormuz threat, Iranian security official says

A U.S. threat to block the Strait of Hormuz is “more bluffing than reality,” according to Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission.

Rezaei warned that Tehran is prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily.

“It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and will further agitate the market he is angry about, and we may also reveal other cards that we have not used in the game,” Rezaei said in a post on X.

Netanyahu spoke with Vance after Pakistan talks ended

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he has spoken with U.S. Vice President JD Vance about the negotiations in Pakistan.

Netanyahu said the pair spoke Sunday while Vance was on a plane returning from the negotiations in Islamabad.

Israel supports Trump’s “strong stance to impose a naval blockade on Iran,” Netanyahu said, and backs the U.S. position that Iran must remove all of its enriched nuclear material and refrain from any more enrichment within Iran for several decades.

Maritime expert previews potential conflict in Strait of Hormuz

The coming days could be a stress test for the rules that are supposed to govern the Strait of Hormuz, according to Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University.

It remains unclear, he added, how the U.S. would track, intercept and board vessels moving from Iranian ports through the strait.

Any U.S. or Iranian attempt to choke off the waterway would run counter to the principle of freedom of navigation, said Mercogliano, who has testified before the U.S. Senate on commercial shipping and written for the U.S. Naval Institute.

“We are challenging the concept of freedom of the seas,” Mercogliano said on his “What’s Going on With Shipping?” podcast, which has more than 600,000 followers on YouTube.

Russia warns blockade of Strait of Hormuz will rattle global markets

Asked to comment on the U.S. announcement of a blockade on Iran’s ports and coastline, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Most likely, such actions will continue to negatively impact international markets, this can be assumed with a high degree of certainty.”

Peskov told reporters: “Many details remain unclear and incomprehensible, so I would refrain from making any substantive comments at this time.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia discuss Islamabad talks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Iranian semiofficial media reported.

The ministers discussed the talks between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan which failed to achieve a deal, Mehr News agency said, without elaborating further.

Israeli strike on Hamas-run security point in Gaza kills 3

An Israeli airstrike killed at least three Palestinians in central Gaza Strip early Monday, hospital authorities said.

The strike hit a Hamas-manned security point just after midnight in the eastern part of Deir al-Balah city, in central Gaza, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital which received the dead men. The strike also wounded one Palestinian.

The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deaths were the latest among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October fragile ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the shaky ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.

US-Iran ceasefire could be extended, Turkey says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could be extended for 45 to 60 days to allow negotiations to continue.

Fidan, whose country has supported mediation efforts, said the U.S. and Iranian delegations presented initial “maximalist” positions during the talks in Pakistan, adding that Iran is expected to review U.S. proposals and respond.

“If the parties make good progress, an additional ceasefire could be introduced — lasting 45 to 60 days — so that negotiations can continue,” he said in an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency. He cautioned however, that Israel remains “a factor” that could disrupt the negotiations. The nuclear issue could also become a sticking point, he said.

“If the nuclear matter turns into an all‑or‑nothing situation, especially regarding enrichment, we could face a serious obstacle,” Fidan said. “But hopefully, with the support of mediators and other countries, we will try to overcome this as well.”

Union sounds alarm over crews stuck in Strait of Hormuz

A labor union said Monday that thousands of crew members stuck on vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz are running short on basics and growing increasingly desperate.

Milind Kandalgaonkar, general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India, said that nearly 20,000 Indian crew members have been stranded in the region.

“Many of these seafarers are reportedly facing acute shortages of food, potable water, and essential medical supplies,” he wrote in a letter to India’s national shipping board. He urged authorities to ensure supplies can reach the vessels, protect seafarers’ welfare and prepare for evacuations if needed.

Tanker owners say the ceasefire has done little to ease conditions for mariners in the strait, where crews report dwindling food and fresh water.

Israel’s military extends ground operations in southern Lebanon

Israel’s military said Monday that its troops have surrounded what they say is Hezbollah military infrastructure and have started ground operations in the strategic southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil and its surrounding areas, killing over 100 Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah did not immediately publicly announce anyone killed among their ranks, and Israel did not immediately acknowledge any fatalities among their forces. Hezbollah has not commented on the developments.

On Sunday Hezbollah claimed at least five attacks on Israeli troops in the town and its outskirts with rockets, artillery, and exploding drones. According to the group’s statements, the Israeli troops were positioned near a school, a hospital, and juncture that surrounds the heart of Bint Jbeil. The Israeli military said it attacked Hezbollah forces.

The town overlooks the UN-mandated Blue Line that divides Israel and Lebanon, just over 2 miles away, making it a strategic point for the Iran-backed group.

Germany’s Merz says US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan were not well prepared

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticized the peace talks between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan last week as not well prepared.

“I was not surprised by the decision to break off the talks in Islamabad,” he told reporters in Berlin on Monday.

“From the very beginning, I didn’t get the impression that they were really well prepared,” the chancellor said without further elaborating who exactly he was referring to with this criticism.

A representative for Spears said in an email to The Associated Press on Sunday that the 44-year-old pop superstar had voluntarily checked herself into the facility.

On March 5, California Highway Patrol officers received a report that a BMW was driving fast and erratically on U.S. 101 in Ventura County near the Los Angeles County line, the CHP said.

Spears, who lives in the area, took a series of field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs, authorities said. She was taken to a county jail and released several hours later.

Investigators turned over the case on March 23 to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, which plans to make a decision on charges against Spears before a scheduled May 4 court date.

A representative at the time called Spears' actions “completely inexcusable” and said it would ideally be “the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.”

Spears has mostly set aside her music career. She has not toured in nearly eight years and has not put out an album in nearly a decade.

In 2021, she regained control of her life decisions and finances when a court-ordered conservatorship was dissolved after nearly 14 years. Two years later, she released a bestselling memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

The diesel-powered bus can accommodate around 60 travelers and their vehicles, making enough trips to transport more than 2,000 people per day. It features a front seating section, but half its metallic frame is an open bay for cargo. Riders enter via a specialized ramp and stay with their vehicles for the duration of the trip, holding onto wall-mounted grab bars for balance. Bicycles, motorcycles and scooters are not allowed in the tunnel.

While the Ciclobús is not new, it has never been as popular — and essential — as Cuba navigates its most severe energy crisis in decades.

The energy blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January has forced the country to ration gasoline to only 20 liters (5 gallons) per vehicle through a cumbersome appointment process that can take weeks, or even months, halting public transportation. These days, the streets of Havana are almost empty of cars but teeming with thousands of bicycles and small electric motorcycles that have become the only way to get around.

“My husband owns a bicycle, so I'm riding as his companion,” said Ingrid Quintana, a resident of East Havana, who works in the old part of Havana, while waiting for the tunnel bus. “It’s an option we have, because there’s no public transportation and we can’t afford to pay for a private taxi, so we ride the Ciclobús."

The Ciclobús is the shortest public transportation route on the island, covering 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) in about 15 minutes.

After boarding near the Havana Bay Tunnel in Old Havana, passengers endure a rattling journey through the darkness of the underwater passage. They emerge in eastern Havana, a sprawling residential zone where hundreds of thousands reside. By contrast, the alternative land route must skirt the massive bay, a 16-kilometer (10-mile) trek through sparsely populated and poorly paved industrial port areas.

The fare for boarding ranges from 2 to 5 Cuban pesos (a tiny fraction of a U.S. dollar on the informal market) depending on whether you are transporting a bicycle or a motorcycle.

In comparison, a ride in a shared taxi from the eastern neighborhoods — passing through the tunnel — costs 1,000 Cuban pesos (about $2). A Cuban worker can earn a monthly salary of 7,000 Cuban pesos (about $14).

Owned by Havana’s state-run transport company, the Ciclobús emerged in the 1990s during the so-called “Special Period,” the crisis triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union that left the island isolated, prompting then-President Fidel Castro to distribute Chinese-made bicycles among the population.

Over time, the service lost some of its appeal as residents turned to regular buses or shared taxis. But it is now seeing a resurgence as fuel shortages force more Cubans to rely on bicycles, electric tricycles, scooters and motorcycles for their daily commutes.

“Most jobs are on the other side, in the city, and that’s why we have to ride it to get across,” said 32-year-old gym teacher Bárbaro Cabral, gripping his bicycle tightly as the Ciclobús began to fill with passengers.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Leo’s arrival in Algiers kicked off an 11-day tour of four African nations — Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea — that will bring history’s first U.S.-born pope deep into the growing heart of the Catholic Church.

Leo is in Algeria to promote Christian-Muslim coexistence in the majority Muslim nation at a time of global conflict and to honor the locally born inspiration of his religious spirituality, St. Augustine.

The trip began, however, against the backdrop of a growing feud between the Chicago-born Leo and Trump over the war. Trump overnight said he didn’t think Leo was doing a good job as pope and suggested he should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”

Leo responded en route to Algeria, saying the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he didn’t fear the Trump administration.

In his first remarks in Algiers, Leo tied his current appeal for peace to Algeria's struggle for independence from France, obtained in 1962. Hundreds of thousands died in the revolution during which French forces tortured detainees, disappeared suspects and devastated villages as part of a strategy to maintain their grip on power.

“God desires peace for every nation, a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict but one that is an expression of justice and dignity,” he told several thousand people at the monument to Algeria’s martyrs.

Later, meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and other government authorities, Leo praised Algerians for their solidarity and respect for one another, which he said provided an important perspective “on the global balance of power.”

“Today, this is more urgent than ever in the face of continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies,” he said. Leo didn't name examples but has previously spoken about Russia's war in Ukraine, the Iran war and Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon.

A message of peace in Algeria

In Algeria, a tiny Catholic community of around 9,000 people made up mostly of foreigners exists alongside the Sunni Muslim majority of about 47 million, according to Vatican statistics.

The archbishop of Algiers, French Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, said on any given day, nine out of 10 people who visit the Our Lady of Africa basilica are Muslim.

“It’s wonderful to be able to show that we can be brothers and sisters together, building a society despite our different religions,” Vesco told The Associated Press. “And that is what our church has been doing since this country gained independence.”

The United States, though, has placed Algeria on its special watch list for “having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom.” The Algerian constitution recognizes “religions other than Islam” and allows individuals to practice their faith if they respect public order and rules.

But proselytizing to Muslims by non-Muslims is a crime, and some other Christian denominations have faced persecution from Algerian authorities, who have closed their churches.

“I imagine it’s a good thing that a pope is visiting Algeria,” said Selma Dénane, a student who lives in Annaba down the coast from Algiers. “But what will it change afterward? Will Christians be able to say, ‘I am a Christian’ without fear or stigmatization?’”

A violent past of martyrs

Three decades after declaring independence from France, Algeria fought a civil war in the 1990s that is known locally as the “black decade,” when some 250,000 people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency.

Among them were 19 Catholics, including seven Trappist monks from the Tibhirine monastery south of Algiers, who were kidnapped and killed in 1996 by Islamic fighters. Also among them were two nuns from Leo’s Augustinian religious family.

On his first day in Algeria, Leo was paying homage to the 19 martyrs and visiting the remaining Augustinian nuns who run a social services project out of the Algiers basilica that helps people of all faiths.

“They gave their lives for God, for Jesus, for the church, for the Algerian people because they didn’t want to leave the country, even in the difficult moments,” said Sister Lourdes Miguelez.

All 19 were beatified in 2018 as martyrs for the faith in what was then the first such beatification ceremony in the Muslim world.

The Algiers archbishop likes to remind audiences that Leo was elected on May 8, the Catholic feast day of the 19 martyrs. Immediately after Leo’s election, Vesco invited him to visit.

Leo has made a mantra out of one of the sayings of the martyred prior of the Tibherine monastery, Christian de Chergé, who spoke of an “unarmed and disarming peace.” Leo has cited the line starting from the night of his election.

A personal and pastoral visit

The visit to Algeria is pastoral but also deeply personal. Leo's Augustinian religious order was inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, the fifth-century theological and philosophical titan of the early Christian church who was born in what is today Algeria and spent all but five years of his life there.

On Tuesday, Leo will visit Annaba, the modern-day Hippo where St. Augustine was bishop for three decades, and will literally walk in the footsteps of the saint.

From his first public words as pope, Leo proclaimed himself a “son of St. Augustine,” and he has repeatedly cited the church father in speeches and homilies.

“I don’t know if I have seen a statement, a homily, an apostolic letter or exhortation that doesn’t reference Augustine,” said Paul Camacho, associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University, Leo’s Augustinian-run alma mater outside Philadelphia.

“The shadow that he casts on Western thought, not just the Roman Catholic Church but on Western thought more broadly, is very, very long indeed,” he said.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The high cost of fuel, equipment, and fertilizer — compounded by the Iran war — and also tariffs, perceived “price gouging” by suppliers, and low soybean prices driven by a global supply glut. All of it weighs on Bartek, who is chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association.

“Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts,” Bartek said. “There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer’s kind of painted in the corner.”

Bartek’s concerns are shared by many Midwest soybean producers. Costs, such as equipment, have crept up over time while soybean prices have stayed low. Tariffs levied by the Trump administration last year and the resulting monthslong trade war with China only made things worse, they say. Then the Iran war bottled up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, restricting global fertilizer supplies and sending fertilizer prices sky high. A ceasefire deal announced April 7 raised hope that bottlenecks in the strait would abate, but the future of the agreement was uncertain.

“A lot of producers are pretty nervous going into this year,” said Justin Sherlock, a soybean farmer and president of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. “It looks like we’re going to have another year of negative returns.”

Years of rising costs, low soybean prices

Soybeans, which are used for livestock feed, food and biofuels, are among the top U.S. agricultural exports. That hasn’t always been the case. Before the 1960s soybeans weren’t a major crop in the U.S, according to Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. It wasn’t until the 1990s that soybean production accelerated due to international demand — primarily from China — and soybeans and corn are now dominant in U.S. agriculture.

But U.S. soybean farmers, who typically also grow corn, have been facing financial issues for years even before the onset of the Iran war. Soybean prices have been persistently low in recent years. The global market has been awash in soybeans, driven in part by Brazil, which surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest soybean producer years ago.

“If we look at global soybean production over the past several years, it continues to set record, after record, after record,” Hart said. “There’s been just large supplies globally, and that has led to depressed prices.”

Meanwhile, Midwest soybean farmers’ costs have risen. Overall farm production expenses, including seed and pesticide, have increased over time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Operating costs for soybean production have stayed elevated since 2020 and are projected to increase again in 2026, according to the agency.

The cost of land also is a major issue for farmers, experts say. Midwest crop land values have increased. And most regional farmers rent some of their land, according to Joana Colussi, research assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

Bartek, who rents three-quarters of his land, said landowners are increasing rents, causing further financial strain.

“There’s a lot of what I call absentee landowners that have absolutely no idea what goes on on the farm,” he said. “All they know is their taxes went up and you get to make up the difference, some way, somehow.”

“They’re very concerned about negative margins driven by low prices and high cost,” said Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, of farmers. “There’s just a liquidity cash crunch for a lot of them and they’re just trying to figure out how to deal with everything.”

The number of farms in the U.S. has shrunk over time and consolidation in farming is a long-term trend, though farmers’ financial pressures wrought by high input costs and low commodity prices have contributed, Hart said. Larger farms tend to be more competitive and depend on large, expensive machinery.

“The financial reserves need(ed) on a farm are much greater than they used to be,” Hart said. “We’re a bit more sensitive to the financial conditions these days because so much capital is being utilized within the farm business.”

Tariffs, trade war have lasting impacts

Market forces aren’t the only issue weighing on farmers. Sweeping tariffs levied by President Donald Trump in April 2025 exacerbated a trade war with China, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. China responded with retaliatory tariffs and effectively boycotted U.S. soybeans, cutting off a major export market for Midwest farmers and driving the price of soybeans even lower.

“When that was announced and soybean prices basically collapsed, if you could afford to hold on to your beans and wait for better times, you were OK,” said Mike Cerny, a soybean, and winter wheat corn farmer in Sharon, Wisconsin. “If you had a mortgage due or payments due or cash flow needs and you had to sell at that point, you were taking it pretty rough.”

The U.S. and China eventually reached a deal in late 2025. Beijing committed to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years. China has since met its initial soybean purchase goal and the Trump administration also rolled out a $12 billion temporary aid package in December to boost farmers affected by the trade war.

But the damage is already done, experts and farmers say. While China’s renewed purchases and the federal payments are helping, it’s not enough to recover farmers’ losses. Even after federal assistance, farmers still lost almost $75 per harvested acre of soybeans in the 2025 crop, according to the American Soybean Association. And the trade war further pushed China toward competing soybean exporters, such as Brazil — accelerating a trend of declining U.S. soybean exports to China.

“When China decided to stop purchasing, we couldn’t find enough other markets to replace those sales,” Hart said. “We’re still feeling the impacts today. When you look at where soybean exports are today versus where we would normally expect them to be, we’re still running anywhere from 15% to 20% behind normal.”

Joseph Glauber, former chief economist at the Department of Agriculture between 2008 and 2014, said global competitors to U.S. soybean farmers gained from the trade war.

“When China has put on tariffs against the U.S. they’ve tended to buy then from Brazil or Argentina, largely Brazil,” Glauber added. “We’re not nearly as dominant in the world as we used to be in terms of the global export market for soybeans.”

Iran war drove up fuel, fertilizer costs

After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, a severe slowdown in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sent the price of oil soaring. The shipping disruption also largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients. The price of urea, the most widely traded nitrogen fertilizer, skyrocketed.

Soybeans don’t require nitrogen fertilizer, but it’s vital for corn and most soybean farmers also grow corn. About half the global supply of urea comes from the Middle East, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia are two of the top sources of U.S. fertilizer imports, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire last week that included reopening the strait of Hormuz, but traffic remained slowed amid disagreements over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and the price of urea remains elevated.

Many Midwest farmers bought their fertilizer well in advance of the spring planting season. But some farmers who didn’t buy early face elevated prices. Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.

The war also caused gasoline and diesel prices to surge, causing further headaches for farmers. Oil prices dropped following the ceasefire announcement, but the war and the closure of the strait will have lasting impacts on farmers, said Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, an investment research company. Facilities in the Middle East that are critical for exporting chemicals, oil and other commodities were damaged or destroyed during the war and it will take time for supply chains to recover, he said.

“Facilities have been hit, like liquid natural gas plants,” Goldstein added. “You are also looking at a big supply crunch in commodity chemicals, which are the inputs for crop chemicals.”

“We burn a lot of diesel fuel,” said Chris Gould, a corn and soybean farmer in Maple Park, Illinois. “It’s hard to say if I’m gonna come out ahead or behind on this whole deal. But I suspect I’m going to come out behind.”

Concerns about the future

Farmers’ financial problems are showing up in some measures. Farm bankruptcies, while still relatively low, continued to climb in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In a survey of 400 farmers conducted by researchers at the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture in late March, almost half said their farm operation is financially worse off than it was a year ago.

Goldstein, the Morningstar analyst, said farmers’ high costs and low revenues contributed to the spike in bankruptcies between 2024 and 2025. If costs rise faster than crop prices going forward, he added, that “would strain farmers again and likely lead to more bankruptcies.”

After 43 years of farming, Bartek said the smell of fresh dirt still gets him excited for spring planting. But he’s also heard of farmer suicides, bankruptcies and “retirement sales” where farmers are forced to auction off their operations due to financial problems. Bartek compares farmers to gamblers who put “millions of dollars in the dirt” hoping for returns.

At times, Bartek doubts his own decision to go into farming. He’s also worried about his son, who purchased a farm a few years ago.

Bartek wonders: “Did I do the right thing helping him get into farming?”

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Kelety reported from Phoenix.

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This story is a collaboration between Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press.

Swalwell’s decision to suspend his campaign Sunday followed allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him, that were published Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle and later by CNN. While pulling out of the race he remained defiant in a post on the social platform X, saying, “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

For rival candidates in a wide-open race, the key issue is where Swalwell’s supporters will go. He was among the most prominent Democrats in the contest, with mail ballots scheduled to go to voters in early May in advance of the June 2 primary election.

Katie Porter, one of the leading Democrats, posted a line from a San Francisco Chronicle column on X, "Democrats can pull victory from the jaws of defeat by coalescing around Porter.” Billionaire hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist Tom Steyer said he secured the support of Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat whose coastal district runs north of San Francisco, not far from Swalwell's home turf. Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor, pitched a new ad promising to lower gas and grocery costs in a state known for its punishing cost of living.

“As governor, I’ll do everything I can to bring costs down,” he said.

With seven established Democrats and two leading Republicans on a primary ballot with more than 50 candidates, the race remains fluid. While Swalwell has suspended his campaign, his name cannot be removed from the ballot.

“Nobody has really caught fire,” said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta, who is not involved in the campaign. Swalwell's supporters “will scatter out to other candidates.”

Many voters remain distant from governor's race

Swalwell is perhaps best known nationally as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial during his first term in early 2021. But in a media environment dominated by Trump, the race remains distant from many California voters.

After the publicity about sexual misconduct allegations, “I think there are probably more people who know who Eric Swalwell is than can articulate a Tom Steyer position paper,” Acosta added.

Swalwell was considered a leading contender along with fellow Democrats Steyer and Porter and two Republicans, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton, who landed Trump's endorsement.

The 48-hour period marked a rapid reversal for a candidate who appeared to be gaining momentum in the packed field to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is barred by law from seeking a third term.

Though Swalwell has denied the allegations, he has appeared to reference infidelity in multiple statements.

“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he wrote. That followed a video post on Friday where he apologized to his wife.

Swalwell’s exit shakes up campaign

The accusations reordered a wide-open gubernatorial race that had Democrats fretting the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a top-two primary system in which two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party.

Swalwell had become a clear target for his Democratic rivals as he began to lock up institutional support. Some had seized on rumors of sexual misconduct that circulated on social media for weeks before the Chronicle’s report.

The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to a woman who alleged Swalwell sexually assaulted her in 2019, when she worked for him, and again in 2024. The woman said she did not go to police at the time of the assaults because she was afraid she would not be believed. In both cases the woman said she was too intoxicated to consent to sex. CNN reported on allegations that appeared to come from the same woman, and spoke to several other women who accused Swalwell of other sexual misconduct.

Neither outlet named the woman, and The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify her account and identity. Her lawyer declined to comment.

The alleged 2024 incident occurred in New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it’s investigating. That office urged anyone with knowledge to contact its special victims division.

House colleagues call for Swalwell to resign

As Swalwell’s campaign flailed over the weekend, fellow California Reps. Jared Huffman, Ro Khanna and Sam Liccardo said Swalwell should resign, as did Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Jayapal said Sunday. “This cuts across party lines. And it is depravity of the way that women have been treated.”

Some representatives said they would support the rare step of expelling him from the U.S. House should he refuse to step aside.

It all added to the mounting political pressure on Swalwell, which began with allies like Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jimmy Gomez cutting their support. Gomez had helped run Swalwell’s campaign and said he was immediately ending his role.

With the House returning to session Tuesday, the question of whether to expel Swalwell could come to a head quickly. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said Saturday that she would be filing a motion to start the process.

Expulsion votes in the House are rare and require a two-thirds majority, but there is recent precedent for taking the step. Republican George Santos of New York in 2023 became just the sixth member in House history to be ousted by colleagues for his conduct.

Huffman, Jayapal and Leger Fernández said they would vote to expel Swalwell from the House, though they said they also support expelling Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who admitted to an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.

Swalwell, who is originally from Iowa, was elected in 2012 and represents a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but shuttered it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

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Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

New Gallup polling finds that while more employees are using AI frequently in their work, there’s been an uptick in alarm that new technologies will replace their jobs. Many workers who are not using AI say they prefer to work without it, have ethical oppositions to the technology or worry about data privacy.

The poll, conducted in February, points to a divergence in how AI is reshaping American workplaces. Some find it to be a gamechanger for productivity and efficiency, while others are concerned about its potentially negative impacts.

Social worker Scott Segal said he regularly uses AI to find information that will help connect his elderly and vulnerable patients to health care resources in northern Virginia. While he knows that the human connection and care he brings to that work is important, he also believes that AI could soon replace him.

“I’m planning ahead,” said Segal, 53. “I think everyone who works in a replaceable field or trade should be planning ahead.”

Most workers using AI report productivity boosts

Roughly 3 in 10 employees are frequent users of AI in their jobs, meaning they use it daily or a few times a week. About 2 in 10 are infrequent users, using AI tools at work a few times a month or a few times a year.

The Gallup poll found that about 4 in 10 workers say their organization has adopted AI tools or technology to improve organizational practices. About two-thirds of those workers say AI has had an “extremely” or “somewhat” positive impact on their individual productivity and efficiency at work.

Workers using AI in management roles are more likely to say the technology has been at least “somewhat" positive for their productivity, compared with individual contributors. About 7 in 10 leaders using AI at least a few times a year say AI has made them more efficient at work, compared with just over half of individual contributors.

Labor and employment attorney Elizabeth Bloch of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said she uses ChatGPT to help “draft letters or emails in a diplomatic way because it’s a very adversarial profession and sometimes you get heated.”

AI tools appear to have a greater benefit for workers in managerial, health care and technology roles than in service jobs. About 6 in 10 employees in those fields who are using AI say it's boosted their productivity at least “somewhat,” compared with 45% of those using it in service jobs.

Why some employees don’t use AI

Even when companies make AI tools available, there’s no guarantee employees will adopt them. About half of U.S. employees use AI only once a year or not at all, according to the Gallup study.

Bloch said she's tried using AI for legal research but finds it is prone to hallucinations, or making up false information, even when using AI tools custom-built for legal work. She's worried other lawyers who were already bad at finding and citing relevant case law are “going to be bad at using AI, because you’re not using the right prompts," leading judges to sanction them for false citations.

Among workers who have AI tools available at their company and don’t use them, 46% say it’s because they prefer to keep doing their work the way they do it now. About 4 in 10 non-users who have AI available to them report that they are ethically opposed to AI, are concerned about data privacy or don’t believe AI can be helpful for the work they do.

About one-quarter of these non-users who have AI tools available say they have used AI at work and don’t find it helpful, while about 2 in 10 say they do not feel prepared to use AI effectively.

Thuy Pisone, a contract administrator in Maryland for a company that works with the federal government, said she uses AI weekly for mundane tasks but has avoided it for things she already can do just fine.

“I have heard from my colleagues that we could use AI to put together our PowerPoint slides,” Pisone said. “I’m a little biased in that, well, I could put my own PowerPoints together. I don’t need help because it took me time to hone up my skill.”

More workers are concerned about new technology taking jobs

While this was less of a reason for forgoing AI at work, the poll also found U.S. workers are increasingly concerned about being driven out of a job by new technologies.

About 2 in 10 — 18% — of U.S. workers say it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that their current job will be eliminated within the next five years because of new technology, automation, robots or AI. That’s up from 15% in 2025. People working at companies that have adopted AI are even more likely to be concerned that their job will be eliminated: 23% call this at least “somewhat” likely in the next few years.

A Fox News poll conducted in March found that about 6 in 10 registered voters believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates over the next five years. Only about 1 in 10 expect it will create more positions, and about one-third say it’s too soon to say. About 7 in 10 employed voters say they are “not very” or “not at all” concerned their current job could be eliminated by AI.

Segal, the social worker in Virginia, said his alternative plan if AI replaces him is to start a new “health care chaperone service” that physically escorts patients from one appointment to another, especially when they've been sedated and don't have family or others to pick them up.

“I don’t think that’s something that will be replaced for another maybe 10 or 15 years, until robots are embodied with AI," Segal said. “I do believe that AI is going to displace most people’s employment functions and I question what people will do for livelihood at that point.”

In the meantime, he's been asking AI chatbots to help him strategize on saving for his retirement.

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Gallup’s quarterly workforce surveys were conducted with a random sample of adults age 18 and older who work full time and part time for organizations in the United States and are members of Gallup’s probability-based Gallup Panel. The most recent survey of 23,717 employed U.S. adults was conducted Feb. 4-19, 2026. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 0.9 percentage points.

That's because President Donald Trump and many U.S. conservatives have long embraced Orbán, who has become an icon among the global right for his anti-immigrant stance. The American president's agenda has striking parallels with the way the Hungarian leader used the levers of government to tilt the media, judiciary and electoral system to keep his party in power for 16 years.

Trump supported Orbán’s reelection bid and even dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week — in the midst of the Iran war — to stump for the incumbent.

Orbán's loss was a reminder of how the war has diminished Trump's ability to help allied politicians overseas, as well as of the limited ability of leaders to use their power to tilt voting in their direction in an age of worldwide discontent over incumbents of all ideological stripes.

“Oppositions can win despite a tilted playing field,” said Steven Levitsky, a politics professor at Harvard and coauthor of the book “How Democracies Die.” “Democracies are facing many challenges in many parts of the world, but so are autocracies.”

Orbán’s defeat has immediate global implications because he was the European leader closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin and had blocked European Union aid to Ukraine, which is defending itself after Russian's 2022 invasion.

His fall was celebrated on Sunday by both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom criticized their own administration for such overt support for the Hungarian leader.

“Don’t fiddle-paddle in other democracies’ elections,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said on the social media site X.

“The freedom-loving people of Hungary have voted decisively in favor of democracy and the rule of law,” posted Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is part of the wing of the American right that embraced Orbán. The Conservative Political Action Conference, which Schlapp's group hosts, held its first European session in Budapest and has made Hungary a regular destination.

Orban was a featured speaker at the group's conference in Dallas in 2022.

Schlapp said there's an easy explanation for Orbán's loss.

“Eventually, democracies just want change,” he said. “In democracies, you don't have kings, and the people in the end speak.”

"The people of Hungary were saying, 'We're having a difficult time with inflation, the economy and the war. Let's try the new guy,'” Schlapp said, noting that he backs Trump's Iran war but the turmoil it's created, especially in European energy markets, hurt Orbán.

Diana Sosoaca, a far-right member of the European Parliament from Romania, on Sunday called Vance's Hungarian visit “a big mistake” given widespread revulsion at the Iran war on the continent.

“You invite a representative of the United States of America, who created the big disorder in this world?” Sosoaca said in an interview posted by the Kremlin-controlled network RT, formerly known as Russia Today. “It was the biggest mistake he could do before the elections.”

How Orbán consolidated power

An anti-communist activist in his youth, Orbán was initially elected prime minister in 1998 but took a turn to the right after being voted out in 2002. Upon returning to office in 2010, Orbán and his Fidesz party implemented a legal framework to consolidate authority that he and his allies developed while he was out of power.

Orbán embraced what he dubbed “illiberal democracy,” building a barrier on Hungary's southern border to block migrants from Africa and Asia who were moving northward through Europe. He and his party stifled LGBTQ+ rights, cracked down on freedom of the press and undermined judicial independence.

Orbán cemented his power when his Fidesz party won enough seats in Parliament during the 2010 global recession to rewrite the country's constitution. They restructured the judiciary to funnel appointments to the bench through party loyalists, redrew legislative districts to make it much harder for Fidesz members to lose elections and helped push Hungary's media companies to be sold to tycoons allied with Orban.

The European Union has declared Hungary an “electoral autocracy.”

Orbán backers have scoffed at suggestions that the Hungarian leader is an enemy of democracy, and on Sunday he quickly conceded his loss. Democrats have worried that Trump will try to use his own executive power to tilt November's midterm elections or the 2028 presidential vote to his party, much as Trump tried to use his official powers to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election.

“Most importantly for American voters, even a guy who rigs the system can be defeated when the people unite and turn out against him,” said Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan group that says it combats authoritarianism.

Democrats weigh in

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California took the opportunity to jab at Vance: “Your ally Orban conceded. In 2028, will you @JDVance follow suit if you lose?” he posted on X.

Levitsky said defenders of democracy shouldn’t take too much comfort from Orbán’s loss, noting that in some ways Trump has been more oppressive. He cited Trump’s use of the Justice Department to investigate political opponents and the shooting deaths of protesters by immigration officers -- steps that Orban’s government never took, Levitsky said.

But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said he sees parallels between Trump's and Orban’s political projects, as well as the potential fate of their parties at the polls.

“He was essentially doing what Donald Trump is trying to do here in the United States,” Van Hollen said of Orban. “My read of the election is that the people of Hungary rejected that, just like people in the United States are rejecting that here at home.”

Trump made no public comments Sunday about the election results in Hungary.

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Riccardi reported from Denver.

That set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that posed serious risks for the global economy and raised the specter that a ceasefire that is currently holding could collapse and the war could resume. Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict — which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — failed to reach an agreement this past weekend, and there has been no word on whether negotiations will resume.

It was not clear if the blockade had started when the designated time of 10 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. GMT) arrived. Minutes earlier, a notice to mariners issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors maritime security, said the restrictions included “the entirety of the Iranian coastline, including ports and energy infrastructure.”

The notice added that transit through the strait “to or from non-Iranian destinations is not reported to be impeded by these measures,” but it added that ships “may encounter military presence” in the strait.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which 20% of traded oil passes in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East. Tehran has allowed some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging considerable fees, leading to accusations it is holding the global economy hostage.

Some analysts are doubtful that the U.S. can restore normal shipping through force alone — and it’s not clear how a blockade would work or what the dangers might be to U.S. forces. The question is essentially who can endure the most pain: Could a blockade make Iran’s economic situation untenable and force it to concede? Or will it drive global oil and other prices so high that U.S. President Donald Trump is forced to back down?

The blockade could have far-reaching effects

The U.S. military's Central Command announced that the blockade would be enforced “against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.” It said that would include all of Iran’s ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

CENTCOM's decision to allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait was a step down from Trump’s earlier threat to blockade the waterway.

In a social media message posted shortly after the blockade was due to begin, Trump said Iran’s navy was “laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated,” but he added that Tehran still has “fast attack ships,” and warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED."

Iran issued threats of its own.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “NO PORT in the region will be safe,” read a statement from the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guard.

The threats halted the limited ship traffic that resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, according to a report from Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire last week, down from roughly 100 to 135 vessel passages per day before the war.

The blockade is likely intended to pile pressure on Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by so-called dark transits that evade Western sanctions and oversight.

But the effects will be felt far beyond Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to hover around $102 per barrel on Monday. It cost roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under domestic criticism for the inconclusive outcome of the war, expressed support Monday for Trump’s “strong stance to impose a naval blockade on Iran.”

In Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been Europe’s loudest critic of U.S. and Israeli military actions in the Middle East, Defense Minister Margarita Robles slammed the blockade.

“Since the war began, everything has been senseless,” Robles told Spanish broadcaster TVE on Monday. She said the threatened blockade “is just another episode of the downward spiral we have been dragged into.”

Iran says ‘if you fight, we will fight'

Top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation.

Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed U.S. warnings of a potential blockade as “more bluffing than reality,” while warning that Tehran was prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily.

“It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and makes the market — which he is angry about — more turbulent. And we may also reveal other cards that we have not used in the game,” he said in a post on X.

The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, addressed Trump in a statement: “If you fight, we will fight.”

Ceasefire is holding but shaky after talks end without agreement

The blockade threat came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement on Saturday.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the talks stalled after Iran refused to accept American terms on refraining from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, it has pushed forward with steps that could give it the ability to build a nuclear weapon, including enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels and developing long-range missiles potentially capable of delivering a bomb.

Iranian negotiators could not agree to all U.S. “red lines,” said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe positions on the record. Those red lines included never obtaining a nuclear weapon, ending uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities and allowing retrieval of its highly enriched uranium, along with opening the strait and ending funding for its armed proxies in the region: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said the main sticking points for Tehran were its nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief.

Neither Iran nor the U.S. have indicated what will happen after the ceasefire expires on April 22. The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,055 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and damaged infrastructure in half a dozen countries.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has supported mediation efforts, suggested that the ceasefire could be extended for 45 to 60 days to allow for more negotiations.

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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, Frankel from New York. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Jill Lawless in London; and Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunis, Tunisia, contributed to this report.

But the moves are more modest than many of the extreme swings that have rocked financial markets since the start of the war in late February. Analysts said that suggests Wall Street still hopes both sides will ultimately avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and gave back only a bit of its gains from the prior week, which had built on hopes about the weekend’s U.S.-Iran talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 361 points, or 0.8%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.

The moves were sharper in the oil market, where prices jumped roughly 7%. After the weekend’s talks failed, President Donald Trump threatened a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that raises the pressure on Iran by trying to prevent it from making money by selling oil.

A blockade would keep even more oil off the global market, after prices already jumped for everyone because of shortfalls due to Iran’s restrictions on traffic in the important strait. That narrow waterway is how much of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf area reaches customers worldwide.

Iran responded by threatening all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “NO PORT in the region will be safe,” according to a statement from the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guards.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose back toward $102 per barrel and is well above its roughly $70 price from before the war. But it remains below the $119 peak it’s touched at times when worries about the U.S.-Iran war have been at their heights.

“Markets are taking some encouragement from the fact that the two sides are talking and that the broader ceasefire seems to be holding, for now,” according to Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

And, as with so many pronouncements made so far in the U.S.-Iran war, much will depend on the details of the blockade and exactly what gets restricted.

“Not all blockades are created the same,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

“The developments over the weekend might not be as negative for the markets as many fear.”

In the meantime, big U.S. companies are beginning to tell investors how much money they made during the first three months of the year.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, said it made $5.63 billion in profit during the quarter, more than investors expected. But financial analysts pointed to some potentially concerning signals underneath the surface, including lower revenue from the trading of fixed income, commodities and currencies. Its stock fell 3.8%.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America all report later this week, as do Johnson & Johnson, Netflix and PepsiCo.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.32% from 4.31% late Friday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Germany’s DAX lost 1%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% for two of the world’s larger losses.

“The outcome of the talks was not really what people were hoping for, that’s for certain,” Neil Newman, Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said in Hong Kong about the U.S.-Iran negotiations.

“As we stand here at the moment, it doesn’t look very nice. Certainly, the oil prices are a big concern.”

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AP journalists Yuri Kageyama, Matt Ott and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

On April 6, 2024, 26-year-old Onyxia Delinois was jogging ahead of a running group near Miramar Parkway and Southwest 184th Avenue when she was hit by a driver who never stopped.

The crash left her with a critical head injury, and she required around-the-clock care.

Her husband, Roosevelt Delinois, who was her primary caretaker, is urging anyone who may have seen anything to come forward so his wife can have justice.

Police continue to investigate but do not have a vehicle description. There is a $15,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

According to investigators, the incident happened around 5:12 p.m. near the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Avenue.

The victim told investigators a man dressed in all black placed his hand over the boy’s mouth and grabbed him. The man then walked with the child, but the boy was able to escape.

Detectives said the suspect was last seen riding a purple bike.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Special Victims Unit Detective Eric Wilson at 954-321-4460 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) for a possible cash reward.

Some continue to feel the effects.

On April 12, 2023, an unprecedented 26 inches of rain fell in just five hours, causing widespread damage. One woman down the street said her home is still under construction from the water damage.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has since launched a massive stormwater improvement project dubbed Fortify Fort Lauderdale. Crews have installed thousands of feet of pipes underground in vulnerable communities.

The city invested about $14.5 million in the Edgewood neighborhood alone to reduce flooding and improve drainage. A neighbor showed a new storm drain placed in his front yard.

On Southwest 32nd Street, many families have recovered, but they still get nervous every time it rains hard.

“I know my grandmother gets very, very on edge about it,” said Matt Anderson. “I’m a little bit more relaxed. I have generators, pumps for the water. I’m prepared for it in case it happens again.”

“Yes, that was horrific,” said Sharon Dolan. “When it rains, that was the first and only time I’ve gotten PTSD.”

“I think there needs to be a lot more work with drainage, a lot more work,” Dolan added.

In total, Fortify Fort Lauderdale has targeted more than 25 neighborhoods, costing around $1.6 billion.

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP who led Milwaukee to its first title in a half century in 2021, said after Sunday's season-ending loss to Philadelphia that he learned that he had no control over his playing status as the Bucks limped to the finish.

Antetokounmpo was the subject of trade speculation as the deadline approached, but he wasn’t dealt. He since has been in a dispute with team management over his injury status.

The 31-year-old Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since landing awkwardly after a dunk on March 15. Antetokounmpo said in the closing weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, but the Bucks continued to rule him out with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise.

Antetokounmpo did not play Sunday at Philadelphia in what was also likely the final game of Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers' career.

“Being cleared to play, I don’t understand. I’ve never in my life denied participation in practice,” Antetokounmpo said. “Whoever came up with that is disrespectful towards what I’ve done for this team and the way I carry myself.

“I did what I was supposed to do. I wasn’t able to come on the court now. Who has that say? It comes from above. I thought I had control. OK, if I’m healthy, I’m going to play. This just shows me that not just me, players in general, don’t have no control. No, I didn’t feel like I had control.”

Antetokounmpo had participated in recent pregame warmups, showing no sign of injury.

“It was draining for me, for sure,” Antetokounmpo said. “If it was draining for me, it was definitely draining for me and the organization.”

Antetokounmpo said he planned to put his phone on “do not disturb” and try to avoid the distractions that plagued the end of his season.

The Bucks could look to trade Antetokounmpo in the offseason, or he could sign a four-year, $275 million extension in October.

Antetokounmpo said he had yet to be formally offered the extension — no surprise given that it could not be finalized for months.

“That’s too far away. It’s something I have to sit down with my family and see what’s best for me, what’s best for my family,” Antetokounmpo said. “Money doesn’t mean nothing do me. Zero. Absolutely zero. What means something to me, it’s winning.”

The Bucks put Rivers' job in jeopardy with a dismal 32-50 season that ended the Bucks’ streak of nine straight playoff berths.

Rivers had said he has a “great relationship” with Antetokounmpo and that he often talks to the superstar about what to work on and what to add to his game.

“I just want to see it end well for him and for the franchise. I think they both deserve it,” Rivers said. “Giannis is a fantastic person. I’ve been lucky to coach a lot of stars, and he’s right at the top as far as good people. I want good people to be taken care of.”

The Bucks reached the East finals during Antetokounmpo's first MVP season in 2019 — ending an 18-year stretch without a playoff series win. They won the title two years later. But they haven't won a playoff series since 2022.

“We’re the furthest away we’ve been,” Antetokounmpo said. “I didn’t think we were going to be in this position last year, so I don’t know what position we will be in next year.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Electoral authorities granted the one-day extension to more than 52,000 voters in Peru’s capital, Lima. Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey, were also allowed to vote Monday for similar reasons.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. Failure to do so comes with a fine of up to $32.

A former minister, a comedian and a political dynasty heiress are among 35 candidates vying to become Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

The election comes as a surge in violent crime and corruption has fueled widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency. Many of the contenders have responded to the crime concerns with wide-ranging proposals, including building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes.

Nurse Heidy Justiniano had not decided who to vote for while already in line outside a public school in Lima.

“There’s so much crime, so many robberies on every corner; a bus driver was killed. What matters most to us right now is safety, the lives of every person,” Justiniano, 33, said. “Politicians don’t always keep their promises. This time, we have to choose our president wisely so that he can improve Peru.”

More than 27 million people are registered to vote. Of those, about 1.2 million cast ballots abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. However, a runoff in June is virtually assured given the deeply divided electorate and the pool of candidates, the largest in the Andean country’s history.

Voters are also being asked to choose the members of a bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, following recent legislative reforms that concentrate significant power in the new upper chamber.

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Associated Press writer Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Swire Properties, a real estate developer, worked with BG Group personnel and Miami police officers to close the Brickell Key Bridge, which connects the man-made, triangular-shaped island to Brickell.

The bridge will reopen at 1:30 p.m. The deadline for residents to leave Brickell Key was 7 a.m. The BG Group personnel asked residents to keep windows closed and turn off their air conditioning units during the implosion.

“We are very grateful for the city of Miami and all of their assistance, the building department, the fire department, the police department, there was such close coordination again 2 years in the making that went off in 20 seconds,” said Jessica Chen, a member of the developer team.

Emergency vehicles were staged at 6:30 a.m. near 500 Brickell Key Drive. The vibration monitors were installed at 6 a.m.

The final setup of barricades and signage to secure the “exclusion zone” on both land and water was at 4 a.m.

The implosion will make way for the two-story The Residences at Mandarin Oriental that Swire Properties expects to complete in 2030.

Rubble remains where hotel once stood

Crowd gets last pictures of building

Location

The event gives a taste of Caribbean carnival celebrations through dance, music genres like kompa, reggae, soca and Afrobeats, along with food.

The street festival draws people from Caribbean nations to Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Northeast Second Avenue is shut down from Northeast 54th Street to Northeast 62nd Street for the event.

Hosting again this year is Supa Cindy, who spoke ahead of the festivities.

“It’s our celebration. We do so much. All the Caribbean just unite together in Little Haiti, and so the Zoes, the Haitians, but it’s all about the Caribbean in general,” she said.

At some point, the floats are expected to reach the stage area, where the celebration will continue into the night.

Knox is taking on “Wheels of Grit,” a 2,000-mile cycling journey up the East Coast.

“They’re incredible people who have done amazing things for their country,” Knox said.

“I kind of just get in the mindset of this is all I have to do today, this is it, so just think about it one minute at a time,” she added.

A few years ago, Knox, who lives in Washington, D.C., suffered a serious accident on her bicycle. Spending months in the hospital, she saw the challenges disabled veterans face up close.

She’s a Coast Guard veteran herself.

“I just felt inspired by the people I met and their determination to embrace life and do the best with what they’ve got now,” Knox said.

Her sendoff was in Key West on Thursday alongside two American Legion posts.

By Saturday, she made it to downtown Miami. On Sunday, she reached Fort Lauderdale.

“Part of my journey is to hit American Legions and VFW posts at the end of every ride each day,” she said.

The goal is to finish the journey in southern Maine.

She expects the trip to take 42 days, riding more than 60 miles a day.

No matter the distance or how long it takes, Knox hopes this helps people believe they can go after their goals.

“I really hope to inspire people who watch this stuff to think about something that feels impossible to them,” she said.

She has already raised more than $8,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project and another $2,000 for Achilles International, which helps people with disabilities.

For more information on her journey, visit her Instagram page.

The attacks on Saturday bring the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 168 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As with most of the military’s statements on the dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. Videos posted on X showed small boats moving across the water before they each were engulfed in a bright explosion.

U.S. Southern Command stated on X that it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the search-and-rescue system for the survivor. The Coast Guard confirmed it was coordinating the search and said updates would be provided when available.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

The boat strikes have continued in Latin America even as the U.S. military has focused on operations in the Middle East, where the U.S. was engaged in a war with Iran for several weeks.

Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement. Trump wants to weaken Iran’s key leverage in the war after demanding that it reopen the crucial waterway through which 20% of global oil normally passes. U.S. Central Command said the blockade would involve Iranian ports.

Flagg winced as he left the court favoring his left ankle in the second quarter, and the Mavs soon said he wouldn't return. The 19-year-old is in a tight race with former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year.

It wasn't immediately clear how Flagg was injured. He had 10 points and four rebounds in 10 minutes before leaving the game. He will finish the season averaging 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games.

The Mavericks have been out of the playoff race for weeks in a season that started with high expectations but crumbled with Anthony Davis' continuing injury issues and eventual trade to Washington. Davis' absence led to the team keeping Kyrie Irving sidelined the entire season after the star guard tore the ACL in his left knee in March 2025.

Despite the steady slide in the standings, Flagg kept making history, capped by a 96-point outburst in two games over the second-to-last weekend, including the 51 against Orlando that made him the first NBA teenager to score at least 50 in a game. He broke his own record of 49 for a teenager.

Flagg led Duke to the Final Four a year ago as just the fourth freshman to be named The Associated Press men's basketball player of the year.

The accolades kept rolling in after the Mavs converted just a 1.8% chance to win the lottery and won the rights to draft him.

Flagg and Michael Jordan are the only two rookies to record multiple games of at least 45 points since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

Flagg was playing against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month when he scored 45 points and passed the 41-year-old for the most 40-point games by a teenager with his fourth.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

First up: an elimination game in Charlotte. The ninth-place Hornets will take on the 10th-place Miami Heat on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. Eastern) in a win-or-go-home game to open the play-in tournament.

The rest of the play-in schedule:

— West No. 7 Phoenix meets West No. 8 Portland on Tuesday (10 p.m. Eastern), with the winner moving on to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Round 1.

— East No. 7 Philadelphia plays host to East No. 8 Orlando on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. Eastern), with the winner of that game set to meet the Boston Celtics in Round 1.

— The Los Angeles Clippers, No. 9 in the West, play host to No. 10 Golden State on Wednesday (10 p.m. Eastern) in an elimination game. The winner will play the Suns-Trail Blazers loser on Friday for the right to meet No. 1 Oklahoma City in Round 1.

— Also Friday, the Hornets-Heat winner will visit the 76ers-Magic loser to decide which team advances to face No. 1 Detroit in Round 1.

“Our group understands what wins and loses for us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that’s the most important thing.”

Rest of Round 1 schedule

The top two seeds in each conference — Detroit, Boston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio — will wait until either Tuesday or Friday to find out their Round 1 opponents.

Some teams already know. The 3-vs.-6 and 4-vs.-5 Round 1 matchups are set.

In the East, No. 3 New York will play No. 6 Atlanta, and No. 4 Cleveland takes on No. 5 Toronto. In the West, No. 3 Denver will play No. 6 Minnesota — the third time in four years those teams have met in the postseason — while the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers will face No. 5 Houston.

How Sunday went down

Inside the Heat locker room on Sunday night, everybody's eyes were on a giant television set showing the end of the Orlando-Boston game.

With good reason. It decided a whole lot in the East.

The Celtics beat the Magic, which dropped Orlando into the No. 8 spot for the play-in. It also ensured the Miami-Charlotte game would be played Tuesday, since Philadelphia cannot host basketball games Monday or Tuesday because of arena scheduling conflicts with the NHL’s Flyers.

“This one is done,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said after the loss in Boston. “You've got to make sure you focus your time and your attention and your energy all on the Philadelphia 76ers right now.”

Portland beat Sacramento to earn the No. 8 spot in the West going into the play-in, and therefore will have two chances to win one game and earn a playoff berth. The Clippers beat Golden State in their finale, and now those teams will play again in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday in an elimination game.

“Each team knows the other pretty well, just from playing against them a lot over the years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Denver — which ended the regular season on a 12-game winning streak — topped San Antonio to lock up the No. 3 seed. The Lakers beat Utah, and that result means LeBron James will be taking on Kevin Durant in their first postseason meeting since the 2018 NBA Finals.

Points record falls

More points were scored this season than in any other in NBA history, with the previous record of 282,127 points getting passed Sunday evening — with about seven games left to be played on the schedule.

The final total for the season: 284,395 points.

It wasn't a record for points per game; that mark of 118.8 points per team, per game, has stood since 1961-62. This season's pace of 115.6 points per team was sixth-best in NBA history.

Jokic plays, will be award eligible

Denver's Nikola Jokic appeared in the Nuggets' game against San Antonio on Sunday night, which pushed his total to 65 games for the season — and therefore got him eligibility on the NBA's award ballots that will be sent out later this week.

Jokic was second in last year’s MVP balloting behind only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, That made Jokic just the third player in NBA history with a top-two finish in five or more consecutive seasons, joining Bill Russell and Larry Bird.

Jokic won MVP in 2021, 2023 and 2024, plus was second in 2022 and again last year.

Russell and Bird, a pair of Boston Celtics greats, each were first or second in the balloting in six consecutive seasons.

Stat notes

The league's statistical champions have been known for some time, but now they're officially official.

The Lakers' Luka Doncic (33.5 points per game) won the scoring title, while Jokic won both the rebounding (12.9 per game) and assist (10.7 per game) titles to complete another season in which he averaged a triple-double.

Other stat items of note:

— The league finished with 96 games decided by 30 points or more, 16 more than the previous record (set last season).

— The average margin of victory this season was 13.3 points, another record (previous was 12.7, set last season).

— This one is wild. Last season in the NBA, teams listed as favorites by BetMGM Sportsbook went 853-377. This season, they went ... 853-377.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

History’s first U.S.-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the Iran war and other conflicts around the world.

“I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” Leo said.

“I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”

Speaking to other reporters, he added: “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.''

“We are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have,'' the pope said, adding, ”I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.

"Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way,'' he said.

Trump says Leo is not ‘doing a very good job’

Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Leo on Sunday night, saying he didn't think the U.S.-born global leader of the Catholic Church is “doing a very good job” and that “he's a very liberal person," while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”

Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticize Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.

“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.

Trump's comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. While it’s not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it’s exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticize a U.S. leader — and Trump’s stinging response is equally uncommon, if not more so.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."

Italian politicians across the spectrum showed their solidarity with Leo. Premier Giorgia Meloni sent a message of support for his peace mission while the leader of the main opposition party, Elly Schlein, was more direct, calling Trump’s attacks “extremely serious.”

Trump repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying, “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.”

Later, Trump posted a picture suggesting he had saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ. Wearing a biblical-style robe, Trump is seen laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers, while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on admiringly. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and vaporous images.

Leo's opposition to war irked Trump

All of that came after Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire, with Vice President JD Vance leading the U.S. delegation. Vance is Catholic and recently released a book about his faith.

During his evening prayer service, the pope didn’t mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.

Leo, who is on an 11-day trip to Africa starting Monday — has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He's also referenced an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood.”

Before the ceasefire, when Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and other infrastructure and that “an entire civilization will die tonight,” Leo described such sentiments as “truly unacceptable.”

In his social media post on Sunday night, however, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.

The president wrote, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States.” That was a reference to the Trump administration having ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” Trump added, referencing his 2024 election victory.

He also suggested in the post that Leo only got his position “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”

In his subsequent comments to reporters, Trump remained highly critical, saying of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess” and adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”

Bishops say the pope is not a politician

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying he was “disheartened” by Trump's comments.

“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” Coakley said.

The Italian Bishops' Conference expressed regret over Trump's words, and underlined that the pope "is not a political counterpart, but the successor of Peter, called to serve the Gospel, truth and peace.''

In the 2024 election, Trump won 55% of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. But Trump's administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly endorsement for the war on Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.” And, when Trump was asked whether he thought God approved of the war, he said, “I do, because God is good — because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.”

——

Winfield reported from aboard the papal plane.

Temperatures will reach the lower 80s all the while staying mostly dry.Plan for mostly dry conditions all week long. The lack of rainfall could intensify drought conditions across our region.

In front of a crowd just days after reaching an early milestone of his first term, Mamdani said he took office promising “that City Hall would hold a singular purpose, to make this city belong to more of its people than it did the day before.”

“For 102 days, we have endeavored to do exactly that,” he said.

After highlighting the early accomplishments of his administration, he then turned to a few new plans.

The first, he said, would be to inch toward one of his major campaign promises: opening a slate of city-run grocery stores. The initial store, he said, would open next year, with the remaining shops — eventually one in each of the city's five boroughs — opening by the end of his four-year term.

“At our stores, eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation,” said Mamdani, a Democrat.

In addition, the mayor announced plans to expand the city's covered trash bin program — “Say goodbye to black bags and say hello to the bins,” he said, vowing to spread the initiative citywide by the end of 2031.

And he reiterated his campaign promise to make buses faster and free of cost, saying he would move to speed up bus services along some routes. It remains unclear how he would make good on eliminating bus fares.

“Tonight, we're delivering the fast, and we're excited to keep working with Albany to deliver the free,” he said, referencing the governor and the state Legislature, which hold considerable sway over parts of his agenda.

Before Mamdani spoke, the crowd heard from a city transportation department staffer to hear about Mamdani’s pothole filling blitz; a tenant organizer who praised the mayor’s focus on renters; and a mother who boosted his push to expand child care programs in the city.

“No longer will city government be afraid of its own shadow,” Mamdani told the crowd shortly after taking the stage. “If anyone should be afraid it is those who take advantage of working people.”

Mamdani, 34, took office in January after a campaign centered on making New York City a more affordable place to live, centering his agenda on refocusing the vast power of government toward helping the city's struggling working class.

It wasn't quite enough.

Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday at Augusta National and finished one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy. Now McIlroy and Scheffler are even with two Masters titles each. Scheffler was trying to pull off what would have been an unprecedented comeback from 12 strokes down after 36 holes.

“I always felt like I was a couple shots out of it, but I was ahead of those guys (on the course), so I felt like if I could make a few birdies and post a score I’d be in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “Just wasn’t able to make enough birdies on the back.”

Scheffler shot a 65 on Saturday to pull within four, and he was in the mix during the final round, becoming the first player since World War II to play the last two rounds of the Masters without a bogey.

What he needed, however, was at least one more birdie. After making one on No. 1 and another on No. 3, a streak of 11 straight pars stalled his progress at a time when he was very much within striking distance.

On the par-5 15th, his tee shot went to the right into the trees, and his second shot caromed off one of them, leaving him still 189 yards out. He had a gap between two tree trunks but needed to clear water to reach the green.

He somehow pulled that off and rolled in the putt for a birdie to move to 10 under. Problem was, at around the same moment, McIlroy birdied No. 13 to go to 13 under. Then Scheffler answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th to pull within two.

And that's where it stayed until the 18th, when McIlroy's bogey was enough to win him the tournament.

Scheffler's last good chance to apply pressure on McIlroy came when he stood over an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. It was a similar putt to the one Jack Nicklaus made on his way to a sixth Masters title 40 years ago.

For Scheffler, the putt stayed just to the left of the hole.

“The putt I hit on 17 I really thought I made,” he said. “The shot into 18 I hit it exactly how I wanted to. I think we just lost the wind, and it got right up to the edge and came all the way back down. Would’ve been nice to give myself an opportunity there on 18, but I always talk about how I try to be focused on controlling the things that I can control and yesterday and today was some of the best that I’ve felt like I’ve been mentally all year.”

There were other missed opportunities. The par-4 seventh was yielding birdies left and right — and even a couple of eagles — on Sunday. But after an errant tee shot, Scheffler's approach missed the green to the left.

He went over the green from 95 yards on the par-5 eighth, costing himself another good birdie chance.

Scheffler's son Remy was born late last month, and he hadn't played since The Players Championship in the middle of March. This was his first top-five finish since Pebble Beach in mid-February.

Scheffler has won four major titles and now has three runner-up finishes. He tied for second at the 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 PGA Championship. This time he ended up alone in second, proving to be the biggest threat to McIlroy on a crowded leaderboard.

Scheffler and McIlroy have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy winning the 2025 and 2026 Masters and Scheffler taking the PGA Championship and British Open last year. They are ranked 1-2 in the world, making this the first major since the 2002 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods over Phil Mickelson) in which the top two players in the ranking were the top two finishers in some order.

Scheffler ultimately put himself in too big of a hole when he shot 70 in the first round and 74 in the second. And he didn't take advantage of the two par 5s on the back nine — Nos. 13 and 15. His remarkable up-and-down on the 15th hole Sunday was his only birdie on either of those holes, and he bogeyed both Friday.

McIlroy, meanwhile, played those holes in 6 under over the four days. And he had the fortitude to win Sunday after he lost a six-stroke lead Saturday.

“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said. “Having a six-shot lead at Augusta is never easy, and losing that is obviously something difficult. But at the end of the day when you tee it up here on Sunday, he’s tied for the lead to start the day and had a solid round and did what he needed to do.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Jokic had 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot while playing 18 minutes, 15 seconds in the first half of Denver's regular-season finale.

“I think he embraced it because how hard those guys were playing with him,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “There is a respect value there when he sees guys playing for opportunities. A guy like him who has done everything in this game, I think he respects that. I heard the ‘overrated’ (chant by Spurs fans). I don’t know about the overrated thing. He was on pace for 46 and 16, but anyway, it seemed like he had a good time out there.”

The NBA requires players to participate in 65 games to be eligible for MVP, All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year honors. The NBA allows two exemptions of 15 to 19:59 minutes played to count as an official game. Jokic had one exemption remaining.

Jokic was listed as questionable with an injured right wrist, but entered the finale having played in 64 games.

Jokic did not speak to reporters after the game, exiting the locker room after grabbing his belongings.

Denver secured the No. 3 seed and will host Minnesota at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Nuggets set a franchise record with their 26th road victory and did so while executing their game plan for Jokic.

“Yeah, he’ll play the first half,” Adelman said before tipoff. “Then we’ll reconvene at halftime and see where he’s at, where the game’s at. It’s what the rules provide. So we’ll follow the rules.”

Jokic, who won MVP in 2021, 2022 and 2024, has been named to the All-NBA Team in seven of his 11 seasons.

Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama sat out after reaching eligibility in his previous game.

Wembanyama qualified for award eligibility by playing in his 65th game Friday, in San Antonio's 139-120 victory over Dallas.

Wembanyama competed in 64 regular-season games in addition to the NBA Cup Final, which does not count toward regular-season record or statistics, but does qualify as a game played.

Wembanyama suffered a left rib contusion and missed the second half of Monday's 115-102 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. He returned Friday to post 40 points and 13 rebounds in 26:13 minutes against Dallas.

He was listed as questionable due to injury management and was ruled out after the Spurs' afternoon walkthrough.

“Yeah, he’s doing well, but just a little sore and felt it was the appropriate decision,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “He was probably, to be honest, the closest call of the group, but just right in that kind of in between.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

He finished in a four-way tie for third.

The popular 45-year-old Englishman, who lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy last year, ended up two shots behind him on Sunday. For a brief moment, it was Rose with a two-shot lead in the final round at Augusta National, until a series of mistakes through Amen Corner and a couple of birdies by the defending champ through the same stretch of holes dealt Rose another dose of disappointment.

Two-time champion Scottie Scheffler made a late charge to finish second at 11 under, and Rose was another shot back, along with Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley and Cameron Young, who played in the final group with McIlroy but never got anything going.

“Just a chance that got away,” Rose lamented afterward.

He's had a lot of them on the picturesque grounds of Augusta National.

Rose has finished second three times, including another playoff loss to Sergio Garcia. The only players to be runner-up more often in the Masters are Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Tom Weiskopf — and Nicklaus and Hogan each won more than one green jacket.

“I feel like with a sudden-death loss,” Rose said, “you kind of know you got to the house. You've done everything it took to win. Then it comes down to a flick of a coin at times. Whereas today I felt like, yeah, there was an opportunity to do better.”

Rose began the day three shots back of McIlroy and Young, but by the time he made the turn, he had reached 12 under and was back in contention. McIlroy and Young had started to falter, and Scheffler had yet to make his move, and that left Rose in the middle of the fairway at the long, par-4 11th with a two-shot lead in the final round of the Masters.

He proceeded to hang his approach shot so far right that it ended up wide of the greenside bunker, the first ominous sign of trouble. Rose followed with a good pitch, but he missed the 15-footer for par and his lead was trimmed in half.

Then, at the par-3 12th — perhaps the most famous par 3 in the world — Rose flew the green from 155 yards. His ball came to rest on a slight downhill lie, and he left the ensuing chip short of the green, leading to a second consecutive bogey.

“You get on the 12th tee, you've got to be 100 percent in the moment,” Rose said. “Landed two yards too far and kind of put me in a funny spot where I had a pine cone right next to my ball that I wanted to move. It kind of made me try to chip that a bit of a different way, because I kind of had to use the toe of the club and hit a bit of a hook-chip.”

Yet it may have been the final hole of Amen Corner that Rose will regret most. He gave himself a 40-footer for eagle at the par-5 13th, which would have pulled him alongside McIlroy at 12 under. Instead of making it, a three-putt par further zapped his momentum.

Rose did get up-and-down for birdie at the par-5 15th, but he missed a 3-footer at 17, and his chances of winning were over.

“I was by no means free and clear, and was nowhere kind of close to having the job done, but I was right in position,” Rose said. “I was really in control. First 10 holes I felt like I was — yeah, I was. And the mentality was to run through the finish line, not just try and get it done. I was playing great, but just momentum shifted for me around the Amen Corner.”

The majors have caused Rose plenty of heartache over the years. He was second at the British Open in 2024, and third at the PGA Championship earlier in his career. The three runner-up finishes in the Masters have put his name on the large, silver trophy depicting the Augusta National clubhouse, but not in the column that belongs to the winners.

His only major title remains the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion.

Rose isn't giving up, though. Far from it.

“I’ve really kind of re-kicked on and re-energized my career and myself, and have a lot of belief in myself that there is a lot of runway ahead,” he said. “These are the tournaments I focus on. These are the tournaments why I practice. These are the tournaments that get me going that sort of extra mile to sort of have to show up and keep being in these great arenas.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

La Defensoría del Pueblo advirtió sobre las muestras de violencia política y pidió garantías para todos los aspirantes en la contienda presidencial.

Colombia asistirá a las urnas el 31 de mayo para elegir al sucesor del presidente Gustavo Petro, el primer mandatario de izquierda en la historia del país.

El expresidente Álvaro Uribe, líder del opositor Centro Democrático, dio a conocer la amenaza contra su candidata, la senadora Valencia, con una publicación en la red social X, donde hizo un llamado para “cuidar a Paloma”. Adjuntó una imagen que circula en redes sociales de una corona fúnebre adornada con una imagen de Valencia y el mensaje “descansa en paz”.

La candidata también condenó los actos de vandalismo contra la sede de su partido en Bucaramanga durante la jornada.

Horas más tarde comenzó a circular en redes sociales la misma imagen amenazante, ahora con la fotografía del candidato derechista Abelardo de la Espriella, del movimiento Defensores de la Patria., desatando el rechazo de varios sectores.

“Quien amenaza a un candidato, amenaza a la democracia y a Colombia. No lo toleraremos”, escribió el ministro de Defensa, Pedro Sánchez, en X y aseguró que se ha desplegado a la Fuerza Pública para “proteger a todos los candidatos, sin distinción alguna”.

Sánchez ofreció una recompensa económica por información que permita evitar cualquier atentado contra los aspirantes presidenciales.

En tanto, la defensora del Pueblo, Iris Marín, rechazó en redes sociales “las amenazas y hostigamientos contra la candidata” Valencia y aplaudió el pronunciamiento del gobierno y otros sectores que permitirían que se realice un proceso electoral “libre y en paz”.

La Defensoría del Pueblo había emitido un comunicado previo en el que solicitaba a la Fiscalía iniciar una investigación expedita de los hechos para determinar responsabilidades y establecer “los riesgos contra la vida y la integridad de la candidata”.

Iván Cepeda, candidato del oficialista Pacto Histórico que llevó a Petro a la presidencia, se sumó a la condena de “cualquier forma de agresión o violencia política contra mis adversarios”. De la Espriella también se solidarizó con Valencia.

La escena política de Colombia quedó sacudida el año pasado cuando el legislador y precandidato Miguel Uribe Turbay fue asesinado en un acto político que, de acuerdo con la Fiscalía, fue ordenado por disidencias de las extintas Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Uribe Turbay pertenecía al mismo partido de Valencia.

Los candidatos para el Congreso María Bolívar Maury y Mauricio Martínez denunciaron el mes pasado ataques frustrados en su contra, los cuales fueron confirmados por las autoridades. Además, la senadora indígena Aida Quilcué fue localizada con vida en febrero pasado luego de haber sido secuestrada en un país que lidia con la violencia y el asedio de grupos armados.

The Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, will immediately return to normal operations after weeks of uncertainty, JBS USA said in a statement.

The agreement comes after thousands of workers at the meat processing plant led a three-week strike with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 Union in a bid for higher wages and better health care. The strike ended April 4 after JBS USA agreed to resume negotiations.

Workers and JBS USA agreed to wage increases over the next two years and a $750 one-time bonus. The tentative agreement represents a contract with “all gains, countless improvements, and not a single concession," the union said.

The contract requires the company to pay for personal protective equipment and defends workers against increases in health care costs, according to the union.

Local union president Kim Cordova said workers picketed through extreme weather “because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected. Today, that sacrifice has been rewarded.”

“This is what union power looks like,” Cordova said in the statement.

The union did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for further details.

JBS USA said it is pleased an agreement has been reached, but expressed disappointment that union leadership chose to eliminate pension benefits that were negotiated last year. The company said the pension was designed to strengthen long-term retirement security and argued the union chose to shift those dollars into short-term wage increases rather than into the long-term financial future of workers.

The union will also withdraw seven alleged unfair labor practice charges, according to JBS USA.

“With the agreement now finalized, JBS USA looks forward to restoring stability, supporting its workforce, and continuing to invest in the Greeley facility for the future,” the company said in its statement.

The strike at Greeley was the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985. That strike lasted more than a year and was marked by violent confrontations between police and protesters.

JBS is the world’s largest meatpacking company with a market capitalization of $17 billion. It is the top employer in Greeley, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Denver with a population of about 114,000 people.

From the opening faceoff to the celebratory post-game skate in which he waved gratefully to the adoring fans, Ovechkin enjoyed one heck of a day, Best of all, the Capitals won Sunday to remain in the playoff hunt.

Playing in front of an appreciative sellout crowd, the Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0. Ovechkin will wait until the offseason to decide whether to retire or return for a 22nd NHL season, but the fans weighed in early in the game by chanting, “One more year!”

Afterward, surrounded by his two young sons, Ovechkin had this response to that request: “I'll think about it,” he said with a wry smile.

Ovechkin turns 41 in September, but the league's all-time leading goal scorer with 929 isn't exactly limping to the end of his brilliant career. He leads the Capitals with 32 goals and 63 points, and he received an assist on the empty-net goal that clinched Sunday's pivotal win.

“It's a big moment for us right now,” he said. “Everybody was dialed in.”

The Capitals must win their regular-season finale in Columbus on Tuesday night and hope Philadelphia fails to win either of its remaining two games. No matter how it plays out, and regardless of whether he decides to come back or not, Ovechkin will always have this day to savor.

“I'll remember this moment, the atmosphere that was tonight,” he said.

It was no ordinary afternoon, and the Capitals knew it.

“You could tell, the game felt different and the night felt different,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “A lot of great moments.”

It was an unusual game right from the start, when Ovechkin joined Pittsburgh great Sidney Crosby at center ice for the opening faceoff.

“The opening draw, I got a kick out of that,” Carbery said, before adding,. “I just caught myself watching in certain moments, taking it all in.”

It was the 100th meeting between Crosby and Ovechkin. Crosby and the Penguins have won more times than not, but Ovi has certainly made an impression on Sid the Kid.

“He came in with such high expectations, and he passed them,” Crosby said. “To be the greatest goal scorer of all time and to do what he's done, its impressive.”

Carbery hopes that Ovechkin will add to his lofty goal total in 2026-27, but regardless, the coach is thankful to have been associated with The Great 8.

“If it is the end of his career, I smile thinking of those moments because been blessed to be his coach when he broke the all-time goals record and I was the coach that was with him at the end,” Carbery said. “I don't take that for granted one minute.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

“If Vladimir Putin calls, I’ll pick up the phone,” he said at his first news conference after his landslide win against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a Putin-ally. “If we did talk, I could tell him that it would be nice to end the killing after four years and end the war.”

“It would probably be a short phone conversation and I don’t think he would end the war on my advice,” he said.

Magyar's statement was likely greeted with pleasure by many across the European Union, who had grown accustomed to Orbán's conciliatory tone when discussing the war or Putin.

From the jubilant crowds along the Danube in Budapest to executive offices in Brussels, praise and even glee abounded for Hungary’s next leader after he won Sunday's election in a landslide. But the outpouring after his victory focused mainly on the prospect of no longer having to deal with Orbán, who many saw as a threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity.

From Madrid to Helsinki, many hope that Magyar's win will help unshackle the 27-nation European Union as it faces hybrid warfare attacks from Moscow, an antagonistic Washington and Beijing's economic pressure. EU leaders had been increasingly frustrated with Orbán over his takeover of democratic institutions and vetoing of strategic action like a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine.

It remains to be seen whether those hopes will be fulfilled. Magyar avoided talking about Ukraine or divisive issues like LGTBQ rights on the campaign trail, and was previously a longtime conservative insider in Orbán's party. He told The Associated Press that he would work more closely with the EU and the 32-nation NATO military alliance that was forged to thwart aggression from Moscow.

“All Hungarians know that this is a shared victory. Our homeland made up its mind. It wants to live again. It wants to be a European country,” Magyar said during his victory speech on Sunday.

Olga Oliker, the director of European Security at the International Crisis Group, said that "where Orbán slowed actions and blocked consensus, Magyar, as he defines Hungary’s relationships with its European allies, to say nothing of those with Ukraine, Russia and the United States, can help shape the future of Europe.”

Unlocking EU funds for Ukraine

After Magyar takes his oath of office in May, the new prime minister could potentially lift Hungary's veto and enable the European Commission to provide Ukraine with the 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan that Orbán had agreed to in December and then backtracked on, enraging his fellow leaders.

EU diplomats will discuss Wednesday how best to fast-track the funds to Kyiv, a Cypriot official said on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to be named. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Hungary borders Ukraine, and the pro-Russia Orbán had long demonized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While congratulating Magyar on X, Zelenskyy said that “we are ready for meetings and joint constructive work for the benefit of both nations, as well as for the sake of Europe’s peace, security, and stability.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia respects the outcome of the Hungarian vote and expects to maintain contacts with the country’s new leadership.

He said that “as for what action Hungary’s new leadership will take, we probably need to be patient and see what happens.”

European institutions hope Orbán problem is over

The prospect of a nimbler, faster-acting Europe drove widespread praise for Magyar from several European leaders. EU negotiators had to increasingly find workarounds when Orbán blocked policy decisions. He also held up Sweden's accession to NATO.

Magyar said that he received calls on Sunday night — before he even took the stage to announce his victory — from French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was frequently vilified by Orbán during his campaign.

“Today, Europe is Hungarian," von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels on Monday. "The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European path.”

“Today Europe wins and European values win,” said Spain’s left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in a post on X on Sunday night. Poland’s center-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk exclaimed on social media: “Back together! Glorious victory, dear friends!”

Setback for Europe's populist right

Orbán's defeat has reverberated across the world, including across the Atlantic where U.S. President Donald Trump supported Orbán’s reelection bid and even dispatched U.S. Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week to stump for the incumbent.

Magyar's victory might signal a shift in European politics that has been dominated by a far-right shift over the past decade. Magyar comes from a right-wing background but distanced himself from Orbán’s leadership.

With nationalist parties making headways in Germany and France, the electoral earthquake in Hungary shows that “Hungarians are sending a signal to the world,” German lawmaker Daniel Freund said.

“The icon of illiberal anti-European forces has now failed — brought down by a disastrous economy, corruption and his own unfair electoral system,” he said.

Orbán's populist allies in the EU, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, congratulated Magyar, while praising the ousted strongman. But Fico also brought up the Druzhba pipeline, shuttered since an attack in Ukraine — an issue Orbán campaigned on and one exacerbated by rising energy prices over the Iran war.

Magyar has criticized Orbán’s government for failing to diversify its energy mix, and advocated for reaching new agreements and constructing new infrastructure to bring oil and gas from other sources into landlocked Hungary.

Both Babiš and Fico pledged to work with Hungary's next leader.

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Jill Lawless in London, Karel Janicek in Prague, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

The win came in the 131st Cup start for the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner and former Super Bowl-winning coach Joe Gibbs.

Ty Gibbs also is the son of the late Coy Gibbs, who also helped run his father’s team before unexpectedly dying in his sleep on Nov. 6, 2022 – the day after his son won the championship in NASCAR’s second-highest division.

Ty Gibbs, 23, moved to the Cup series the next year and had multiple near-misses (runner-up finishes at Darlington in 2024 and Chicago last year) before reaching victory lane in his fourth season.

“This is one of my best experiences” Joe Gibbs said. “When I think about Coy, he brought Ty up the entire time. I know he’s probably watching.”

Ty Gibbs interrupted his grandfather’s postrace interview in the pits with a hug.

“This is the man right here,” said Ty, whose mother, Heather, also is a co-owner of JGR. “I’ve never seen somebody work so hard in my life, him and my mom. I come to the shop at 6 a.m. or 7 p.m., and there’s nobody there, but they are always there. They work their (butts) off. He’s a great role model. I wouldn’t be here unless it was for him.”

Gibbs led the final 25 laps at Bristol, inheriting first place under caution on a strategy gamble by staying on track in his No. 54 Toyota while Ryan Blaney pitted from the lead along with Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 284 of 505 laps.

Blaney and Larson both restarted outside the top five, and Gibbs was cruising toward a win before the yellow flew again on the 498th lap to set up the first overtime restart at Bristol in 11 years.

Despite Blaney and Larson having tires that were nearly 100 laps fresher, Gibbs fended off the star drivers on a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.

“Honestly, I didn’t really know or care if I was going to win or not,” Gibbs said. “I thought the race was awesome. I really appreciate always racing Ryan Blaney and Kyle, too. Those guys always run me really well.”

Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion who started from the pole position, finished second after leading 190 laps in the No. 12 Ford.

“Yeah, great battle for sure,” he said. “ I fought a lot of different cars. Gave it my best shot on the last restart. Was close but just couldn’t get it done.”

Larson, the defending Cup Series champion who won the first two stages, finished third and remained winless in the past 32 races with his No. 5 Chevrolet.

The Toyotas of Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top five.

“Super happy for Ty,” Briscoe said of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. “It’s been a long time coming. To do it the way he did it, on old tires, to beat the two guys that dominated all day long, that was impressive. Just super happy for him and the whole family.”

Gibbs became the sixth NASCAR driver to earn his first Cup victory at Bristol, joining Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1986), Ernie Irvan (1990), Elliott Sadler (2001) and Kurt Busch (2002).

“It’s awesome to be with great people,” the younger Gibbs said. “To be in this position is great. I’d love for my father to have seen this. I know he knew it was going to happen and expected it as well. Yeah, it was a great day for us. This is our family, so it’s just such a great deal.”

Hendrick woes

While Larson excelled at the front, two of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates were struggling mightily.

William Byron started from the rear because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 24 Chevrolet, which had steering problems in practice and qualifying Saturday. Byron, who has led at every active track but Bristol, was off the pace from the start and finished five laps down.

Returning frommissing four races because of vertigo, Alex Bowman started 27th and finished last after being involved in a multicar crash started by Shane van Gisbergen.

“I was fine, just a frustrating day,” Bowman said. “Thought we were OK in practice and then obviously qualified bad and then just really struggled with the handling today. Bummer. Hate that we didn’t get a chance to work on it and make it better and finish the race, but it’s kind of outside our control. When you run that bad, stuff can happen, and it happened to us.”

Up next

The NASCAR Cup Series will race April 19 at Kansas Speedway, the first of three consecutive tracks 1.5 miles and longer. Hendrick Motorsports has won three of the past four races at Kansas with Kyle Larsonand Chase Elliott winning last year at the oval in Kansas City, Kansas.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Boston Athletic Association said on Sunday that Hall's family confirmed his death after a long illness.

In 1975, Hall convinced Boston Marathon organizers to let him into the race and was promised a finishers’ certificate like the one the runners got if he completed the 26.2-mile distance in under 3 hours. (In 1970, Vietnam War veteran Eugene Roberts, who had lost both of his legs in the war, needed more than six hours to finish.)

Hall crossed the line in 2:58.

“It had nothing to do with, per se, the marathon, but it was about the inclusion,” Hall said last year, when he served as the grand marshal in Boston on the 50th anniversary of his pioneering ride. “It was that I was bringing people along.”

Hall returned to the Boston race in 1977, when it was designated as the site for the National Wheelchair Championship, and prevailed in a field of seven. As they crested Heartbreak Hill, eventual men's winner Bill Rodgers and fifth-place finisher Tom Fleming slowed to encourage him.

“The interaction was a sign that we were fully accepted as athletes,” Hall said.

Hall, who lost the use of both legs from childhood polio, sued in 1978 to have wheelchair racers admitted into the New York Marathon, a fight that wasn’t settled until the race created men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions in 2000.

“Bob Hall is an incredible man,” five-time Boston winner and eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Tatyana McFadden said last year. “I’m so thankful for him. And I think we all are, as wheelchair racers, because he really paved the way.”

Hall finished in the top three in Boston three other times, and remained active with the race. More than 1,900 wheelchair racers have followed him from Hopkinton to Boston; this year’s race on April 20 will include 50 more, along with 50 others in eight para divisions competing for more than $300,000 in prize money.

The BAA said that Hall taught “how we can continue to ensure athletes of all abilities have competitive opportunities on the highest stage here in Boston.”

“Bob designed innovative wheelchair equipment, raced with courage, and was proud to be a two-time Boston Marathon champion,” the BAA said. “He helped lead a technological change, transforming simple wheelchairs into racing chairs built for peak athletic performance. Bob’s influence and effort five decades ago led to the global circuit of wheelchair racing today.”

Many of the competitors — including McFadden and seven-time Boston winner Marcel Hug — learned to race in chairs built by Hall.

“Because of him crossing that finish line, we’re able to race today. And it’s evolved so much since then,” McFadden said last year. “It was him. It was him being brave and saying, ‘I’m going to go out and do this because I believe that we should be able to race Boston Marathon just like everyone else.’ So he had the courage to do that.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

The price of U.S. crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to $102.29.

Brent crude has swung dramatically during the Iran war, rising from roughly $70 per barrel before the war in late February to more than $119 at times. On Friday, ahead of the peace talks, Brent for June delivery fell 0.8% to $95.20 per barrel.

Iran has been effectively controlling the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil shipping.

U.S. Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

It said it would still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil typically flows through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iran are all major exporters.

Traffic in the Strait has been limited even in the days since the ceasefire. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire.

Claudio Galimberti, chief economist of Rystad Energy, said the blockade will raise prices but might move the needle on talks.

“It means the oil markets will be even tighter than before,” he said. “However, I think this is a negotiation tactic, which eventually resolves into a full opening of Hormuz. So, more pain now, but more gain later.”

However, Jim Krane, Energy Research Fellow at Rice University, said the blockade might be effective as a long-term strategy to impose pain on the Iranian economy, but it isn't a good short-term negotiating tactic when the oil market is already under strain.

“If the deficit to the oil market takes another jump it is going to impose pain on every person on Earth that’s subject to market oil prices,” he said.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement about Rivers' decision has been made.

There has been some discussion about whether Rivers will stay with the organization in some capacity. Those talks are ongoing, the person said.

ESPN first reported that Rivers won't be back as Milwaukee's coach next season.

The news caps a tumultuous season in which Rivers was selected to the Hall of Fame while leading a Bucks team that was among the most disappointing in the NBA. The Bucks went 32-50 amid a series of injuries, snapping a string of nine straight playoff appearances.

The 64-year-old Rivers had left little doubt about his future plans as the season wound down. He said after a 126-106 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday that “I think you guys pretty much know” his intentions and that an announcement was expected soon.

“I have seven grandkids now and they’re all 8 years and under,” Rivers had said about his future before an April 7 loss at Brooklyn. “And it kills me every time I miss grandparents’ day with each one of them in school. And it’s probably time to go see them more. So, I’ll let you figure out the rest.”

Rivers went 97-103 in 2 1/2 seasons with the Bucks. He owns a 1,194-866 overall record and overtook George Karl for sixth place on the career wins list among NBA coaches earlier this season.

Only Gregg Popovich, Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan and Pat Riley have more coaching wins than Rivers.

Bucks' unsettled future

Rivers’ exit comes amid all sorts of speculation regarding two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led Milwaukee to its first title in half a century in 2021 and has set Bucks career records in virtually every major statistical category.

Antetokounmpo’s status dominated league discussions as the trade deadline approached, but he wasn’t dealt. He since has been in a disagreement with team management over his injury status.

The last game Antetokounmpo played this season was on March 15. Antetokounmpo said in the closing weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, as the Bucks continued to rule him out due to a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The NBA is investigating the matter.

Antetokounmpo had two extended absences due to right calf strains and ended up playing in just 36 games. Kevin Porter Jr., the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, appeared in just 38 games.

“It’s hard,” Rivers said Sunday. “I don’t remember guys being out like this, but it makes sense. I haven’t had a lot of this. It’s no fun. Losing, I don’t give a crap what the reasons are, I’m just too competitive. It’s just no fun not winning. It just isn’t.”

Injuries hindered Rivers' tenure

Rivers took over the Bucks midway through the 2023-24 season after the firing of first-year head coach Adrian Griffin. Although the Bucks had gone 30-13 under Griffin, they’d posted some uncomfortably close wins over inferior teams and team officials believed a more experienced coach was needed to guide a roster that now featured seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard, as well as Antetokounmpo.

This move also represented a homecoming of sorts for Rivers, who played at Marquette before his 13-year NBA playing career. His No. 31 college jersey hangs from the rafters at Fiserv Forum, the arena that serves as the site for Bucks and Marquette home games.

But the Bucks backslid during Rivers’ tenure as they continually dealt with injuries to key players.

Milwaukee finished 17-19 under Rivers during that 2023-24 season, entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and lost to Indiana 4-2 in the opening round, with Antetokounmpo missing the entire series due to a calf strain.

Last season, three-time All-Star wing Khris Middleton didn’t start playing until early December after recovering from offseason surgery to each of his ankles, and he got sent to Washington at the trade deadline. Lillard missed Milwaukee’s final 14 regular-season games due to deep vein thrombosis in his right calf, returned for Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series loss to Indiana but tore his Achilles tendon two games later.

With an injured Lillard unable to play this season, the Bucks waived him and agreed to pay his remaining salary over the next five seasons. That opened up cap space for the Bucks to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

The roster overhaul didn’t work out.

“I personally have enjoyed the challenge,” Rivers said after Sunday’s game. “It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, obviously. I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things. But I’m not a big guy in looking back. All you can do is look forward.”

Rivers won a title with Boston in 2008 and led the Celtics to Game 7 of the NBA Finals two years later, but he hasn’t advanced a team beyond the regional semifinals since. He owns a career playoff record of 114-112.

This marks the first full season in which Rivers has coached and posted a losing record since 2006-07, when he went 24-58 with Boston.

Rivers came to Milwaukee after head coaching stints with the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. He was working as a broadcaster for ESPN and ABC before the Bucks hired him.

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AP Pro Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

The decision by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to allow limited commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast is a win for the state's salmon fishing industry, which has grappled with years of season closures due to dwindling fish stocks. The council, which manages fisheries off the West Coast, barred commercial salmon fishing off California for the past three years. It voted last year to allow some recreational fishing for the first time since 2022.

The council is an advisory group to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, which makes the final decision but historically has followed the council’s rulings. The secretary’s decision will be posted in the Federal Register within days.

“It is great news for everyone — for the fishermen, for seafood lovers and the environment because it means that salmon populations are back to a much healthier state,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said ahead of the decision.

The federal council has said forecasts for Chinook and coho salmon off the West Coast look promising this year, though the season will open with some restrictions.

Recreational fishing along a stretch of the coast spanning about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of San Francisco to the Mexican border already began this month, according to the Golden State Salmon Association. Sportfishing to the north, including in waters off San Francisco, will begin in June. Commercial fishing along the coast will begin in May.

The council voted to limit commercial fishing to only a few days and set quotas for the number of salmon that can be caught.

Biologists say the Chinook salmon population declined dramatically after years of drought, disrupting the fish's migration upstream to lay their eggs. Many in the fishing industry say rules from the first Trump administration also allowed more water to be diverted from the Sacramento River Basin to agriculture. That caused even more harm by increasing river temperatures and dropping water levels when baby salmon were trying to make it from their spawning beds to the ocean.

But recent wet winters have brought in more cold water, which the fish need to spawn.

Salmon populations have also bounced back in areas where they were long absent due to river restoration efforts, Crowfoot said.

After four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River were removed in 2024, salmon returned to spawn in waters along the Oregon-California border where they hadn't for decades. The state has since removed barriers that prevented the passage of salmon in other waterways, including on Alameda Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, Crowfoot said.

Much of the salmon caught in the ocean originate in California’s Klamath and Sacramento rivers. After hatching in freshwater, they spend three years on average maturing in the Pacific, where many are caught by commercial fishermen, before migrating back to their spawning grounds, where conditions are more ideal to give birth. After laying eggs, they die.

Preserving a healthy salmon population is crucial for the environment and the state's economy, Crowfoot said.

“Salmon are an iconic species in California and critically important to our tribal communities and our fishing sector,” he said.

Vance Staplin, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, largely blamed state and federal water management policies for low salmon stocks in recent years. The fishing season closures had a large impact on the state’s fishermen, bait shops and companies that make fishing equipment, he said.

“People don’t understand how big of an industry salmon is to California,” he said.

To reach the postseason, the Capitals must defeat Columbus in the season finale Tuesday night and hope Philadelphia fails to win either of its last two games.

The 40-year-old Ovechkin intends to wait until the offseason to decide whether to retire or return for a 22nd season. The all-time NHL leader in goals with 929, Ovechkin has played in every game this season and leads the Capitals in goals (32) and points (63).

The spirited, sellout crowd saluted Ovechkin during the game with chants of “One more year!” and “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi!”

Ovechkin helped seal the victory by picking up an assist on an empty-net goal by Connor McMichael, who scored earlier in the third period.

Pittsburgh last week clinched a postseason berth and home-ice advantage in the opening round. But the rivalry between these teams runs deep, and the Penguins tried hard to throw a wet blanket on the Capitals' playoff hopes and Ovechkin's big day.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was back on the ice after he and several teammates received a day off Saturday when Washington won in Pittsburgh 6-3. This was the 100th — and perhaps final — matchup between Ovechkin and Crosby, two of the game's biggest names.

To mark the occasion, the two stars lined up at center ice for the opening faceoff. It was only the 175th career faceoff for Ovechkin, counting playoffs, compared to No. 32,131 for Crosby.

The game was scoreless until Trevor van Riemsdyk jammed the puck under Pittsburgh goalie Stuart Skinner's right leg at 12:22 of the second period.

That was enough offense for Thompson, who notched his fourth shutout of the season.

Up next

Penguins: Close the regular season at St. Louis on Tuesday night.

Capitals: At Columbus on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

“I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” Swalwell said in a social media post.

Democrats quickly abandoned him after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him, were published Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle and later by CNN. The reports came as Swalwell began to emerge as a leader contender in the crowded race.

His exit from the race comes less than a month before ballots go out in advance of the June 2 primary and as Democrats have been engaged in a messy primary campaign. Swalwell's Democratic rivals were among those who swiftly urged him to exit the race, but his support also cratered among allies in Congress and labor unions who had endorsed him.

Some Democrats also urged Swalwell to resign his seat in Congress, but he made no mention of that Sunday.

The 48-hour period marked a rapid reversal for a candidate who appeared to be gaining momentum in the packed field to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can’t seek a third term.

Though Swalwell has denied the allegations, he has seemingly referenced infidelity in multiple statements.

“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he wrote. That followed a video post on Friday where he apologized to his wife.

Swalwell's exit shakes up campaign

The accusations reordered a wide-open gubernatorial race that had Democrats fretting the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a top-two primary system in which two candidates advance regardless of party.

Swalwell had become a clear target for his Democratic rivals as he began to lock up institutional support. Some had seized on rumors of sexual misconduct that circulated on social media for weeks before the Chronicle's report.

His departure from the race will leave his rivals scrambling to win over his supporters and donors. Other prominent Democrats in the race include billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter. The major Republican contenders are former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who has Trump’s backing, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to a woman who alleged Swalwell sexually assaulted her in 2019, when she worked for him, and again in 2024. The woman said she did not go to police at the time of the assaults because she was afraid she would not be believed. In both cases the woman said she was too intoxicated to consent to sex. CNN reported on allegations that appeared to come from the same woman, and spoke to several other women who accused Swalwell of other sexual misconduct.

Neither outlet named the woman, and The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify her account and identity. Her lawyer declined to comment.

The alleged 2024 incident occurred in New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it's investigating. That office urged anyone with knowledge to contact its special victims division.

House colleagues call for Swalwell to resign

As Swalwell's campaign flailed over the weekend, fellow California Reps. Jared Huffman, Ro Khanna and Sam Liccardo said Swalwell should resign, as did Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Jayapal said Sunday. “This cuts across party lines. And it is depravity of the way that women have been treated.”

Some representative said they would support the rare step of expelling him should he refuse to step aside.

It all added to the mounting political pressure on Swalwell, which began with allies like Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jimmy Gomez cutting their support. Gomez had helped run Swalwell’s campaign and said he was immediately ending his role.

With the House returning to session Tuesday, the question of whether to expel Swalwell could come to a head quickly. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said Saturday that she would be filing a motion to start the process.

Expulsion votes in the House are rare and require a two-thirds majority, but there is recent precedent for taking the step. Republican George Santos of New York in 2023 became just the sixth member in House history to be ousted by colleagues for his conduct.

Huffman, Jayapal and Leger Fernández said they would vote to expel Swalwell from the House, though they said they also support expelling Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who admitted to an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.

Swalwell, who is originally from Iowa, was elected in 2012 and represents a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but shuttered it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters. He is perhaps best known nationally as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial during his first term in early 2021.

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Associated Press journalists Sophie Austin in Sacramento, Calif., and Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Finley reported from Washington.

New Musical: “Paddington The Musical”

New Play: “Punch”

New Entertainment or Comedy: “Oh, Mary!”

Family Show: “The Boy at the Back of the Class”

Revival: “All My Sons”

Musical Revival: “Into The Woods”

Actress-Play: Rosamund Pike, “Inter Alia”

Actor-Play: Jack Holden, “Kenrex”

Actress-Musical: Rachel Zegler, “Evita”

Actor-Musical: James Hameed and Arti Shah, “Paddington The Musical”

Supporting Actor-Play: Paapa Essiedu, “All My Sons”

Supporting Actress-Play: Julie Hesmondhalgh, “Punch”

Supporting Actress-Musical: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, “Paddington The Musical”

Supporting Actor-Musical: Tom Edden, “Paddington The Musical”

Director: Luke Sheppard, “Paddington the Musical”

Outstanding Musical Contribution: Chris Fenwick and Sean Hayes, “Goodnight Oscar”

Theater Choreography: “Evita”

New Opera Production: “Dead Man Walking”

New Dance Production: “Into the Hairy”

Set Design: “Paddington The Musical”

Lighting Design: “Into The Woods”

Sound Design: “Kenrex”

Costume Design: “Paddington The Musical”

Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theater: “The Glass Menagerie” at the Yard Theatre

Special Award: Elaine Paige

The primary elections are on Aug. 18, and the Florida gubernatorial election is on Nov. 3.

Watch the TWISF episode

The primary election is on Aug. 18, and the Florida general election is on Nov. 3.

Watch the TWISF episode

The 51-year-old rapper from Los Angeles was at the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale Beach to perform the music inspired by the 2022 law enforcement raid at his home in Ohio.

“If you look through the lens of positivity, when they kicked down my door, money kicked down my door, fame kicked down my door,” Foreman told Milberg. “It was a blessing in disguise. These were the cards I was dealt, and I played them the best I could.”

Foreman accused Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies of taking $400 while raiding his home with a search warrant based on an informant’s lies, while his wife and kids, aged 10 and 12, were home.

“They chose not to be humane. They chose to be unapologetic, arrogant, mean,” said Foreman, best known for his hits “Because I Got High” and “Crazy Rap (Colt 45 and 2 Zig-Zags).”

The ACSO deputies did not report finding evidence of a crime, and Foreman used his surveillance videos of the raid for his comedic music release of “Lemon Pound Cake” in 2023.

“Sometimes for humorous purposes I will exaggerate, but it’s based on a true story ... it’s entertainment ... I’m singing. I’ve gotta make this song marketable for a person who doesn’t care about my story,” Foreman told Milberg.

The album’s 14 songs satirizing the raid included “The Police Raid,” “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door.”

A group of seven deputies sued Foreman for defamation and invasion of privacy, accusing him of hurting their reputations through the unauthorized use of their likenesses and demanding $3.9 million in damages.

After a three-day trial, the jury sided with Foreman, who wore a U.S. flag-patterned suit to court and quickly went viral. As of Sunday, the video of “Lemon Pound Cake” had nearly 9 million views on YouTube.

“I am going to start my own line of lemon pound cakes, I’ve got the Freedom of Speech, God Bless America clothing line coming ... I have a new album that’s called ‘Freedom of Speech.’ It’s available right now ... The sky is the limit, ” Foreman told Milberg.

Watch the TWISF episode

Investigators do not believe the attack at about 9 p.m. Saturday was random, according to a press release issued Sunday from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. No arrests have been made, but the office said “there is no immediate ongoing threat to the general public.”

The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, the release said.

A ride share driver told WABC that he heard more than seven shots from close range as he approached the restaurant.

The Homicide Task Force at the county prosecutor’s office is investigating.

A person familiar with the decision said Sunday that Christie will return next season for the second year of a contract that also has a team option for 2027-28. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't announced the decision, which The Athletic was first to report.

Christie was initially hired on an interim basis after Mike Brown was fired early in the 2024-25 season. Sacramento went 27-24 the rest of the season before getting knocked out in the play-in tournament.

The Kings hired Scott Perry as general manager after last season and made the decision to retain Christie. This season didn't go nearly as well, with injuries to key veterans like Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and DeAndre Hunter derailing the campaign almost from the start.

Sacramento had a league-worst 12-46 record in mid-February following a 16-game losing streak. The team showed some life late in the season, going 10-14 the rest of the way to harm their position in the draft lottery. The Kings finished tied with Utah for the fourth-worst record in the league and have a 45.2% chance of picking in the top four of the draft in June.

The 60 losses for Sacramento are the second-most in franchise history, behind the 65 the team had in 2008-09. The Kings have gotten solid contributions from rookies Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell, but are hoping for good fortune in the lottery to find a player to build around after the team traded away star De'Aaron Fox last season.

The Kings have made the playoffs just once in the past 20 seasons, losing in the first round to Golden State in 2023 in Brown’s first season as coach.

Sacramento has the fourth-worst record in the NBA since Vivek Ranadive took over as owner in 2013. The team has had five lead executives and nine head coaches — including interims — in that span.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

“Live music nourishes your soul and makes you feel truly alive,” says Chris Bro, host of the “Next” radio show in Maryland and a longtime fan of music festivals.

Making the most of the experience also means planning ahead for potential hazards like heat, dehydration and more, say regular festivalgoers and the medical pros who care for them.

The good news is music festivals are safer than ever, thanks to increased focus on on-site medical staff and equipment, says Matt Friedman, national medical director at CrowdRx, which provides medical care at over 20 major music festivals around the country each year.

Different festivals, different risks

Different types of festivals tend to have different types of medical emergencies, Friedman says. Much depends on the type of music, the length of the festival and the heat.

"Jazz music festivals tend have a low medical-usage rate, whereas a heavy metal event will have more blunt traumas from mosh pits and alcohol-related incidents,” he says.

Electronic dance music festivals tend to have friendly crowds, some of whom "occasionally overindulge or make poor decisions regarding stimulant drugs,” Friedman says. Classical music festivals, meanwhile, tend to have more cardiac events, given the older average age of attendees.

“You want to have fun, but it’s really important to stay aware,” says Armelle Gloaguen, a musician who attended classic festivals like Clearwater, founded by Pete Seeger, and Woodstock ’94.

“Be there for the music, not the drugs and alcohol, if you want to remember any of it. Don’t accept food or drinks from strangers, and be aware of your limits,” advises Gloaguen, who owns “Armelle for Kids,” which seeks to bridge cultures through music.

Know the rules, and download the app

Festivals' rules vary, so before you head out, check the parking situation and the list of what you can bring.

For instance, Coachella, the annual festival in Indio, California, doesn’t allow chairs, outside food or umbrellas. At Tanglewood, in western Massachusetts, attendees are welcome to bring chairs and picnics, and umbrellas are fine; they just can’t be over 6 feet across.

Download a festival's app and bring a portable phone charger.

Once there, scope out the terrain. Keep an eye out for the nearest cooling station and medical tent as you figure out where to sit.

Handling the heat

“First and foremost, we see a lot of heat-related illnesses, since temperatures in the desert can get pretty high and rise quickly,” says Julie Puzzo, assistant medical director of the emergency department at JFK Memorial Hospital, near Coachella.

“We see everything from heat cramps to heat stroke, which can be life threatening,” she says.

Hydrate consistently with electrolyte-containing beverages, she says.

Wear layers, a hat and other protective clothing, and avoid excessive alcohol. Opt for non-aerosol sunscreen, since many festival venues ban aerosol sprays.

Festivals where heat is an issue are sometimes equipped with mobile cold-water immersion tanks to cool people down quickly, Friedman says.

At multiday festivals, malnutrition can also be an issue, he says. “People are running on adrenaline for the first two days, but by day three they realize they are dehydrated and exhausted and haven’t eaten nutritious food since they arrived, and this exacerbates any other conditions they might have.”

His top safety tip: Stick with your friends so you can watch out for one another.

Leave sandals, heels and flip-flops at home

Both doctors urge attendees to wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes, since attending a festival can involve more walking that you might expect. And it’s easy to happen upon small stones or other sharp objects on the grounds.

“Trips and falls are common, and we see a lot of sprains and foot contusions,” says Friedman.

Glasses, ear plugs, maybe an inhaler

For anyone susceptible to respiratory problems, it’s a good idea to bring a backup inhaler, since dust-filled wind gusts can exacerbate breathing issues, Puzzo says.

Eye problems like corneal abrasions are not uncommon at festivals, says Friedman, who recommends bringing large sunglasses or even goggles if it’s likely to be dusty.

Outdoor venues can get buggy, too, so consider insect repellent.

Protect your ears by not standing too close to speakers, and bring earplugs, says Greta Stamper, an audiologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

“It is also helpful to take listening pauses during festivals to allow your ears an opportunity to take a break. Having some quieter moments during the day can help your ears recover,” she says.

If you notice that your hearing is muffled or your ears start ringing, your ears are telling you it's too loud, Stamper says.

And if you’re coming with kids, give them added protection with over-the-ear headphones, not just earplugs, Friedman says.

Pace yourself

“Musical festivals are a marathon, not a sprint, so be sensible and take care of yourself,” Friedman says.

As you kick back with friends, it’s easy to have a few drinks too many as the day wears on. Puzzo warns that drugs acquired at some big events might not contain what people think they do. This can be dangerous in any case, and is even more so if combined with extreme heat and alcohol.

Embrace the moment

Don't forget, though, to find joy in the music and the scene.

Enjoy the unexpected, and making connections.

“If you want to talk to your favorite musician, the most meaningful thing you can do is to thank them and talk about a specific song you love and why,” says Gloaguen.

Garner's family issued a statement Sunday saying Garner died Saturday after a two-plus-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Phil never lost his signature spark of life,” Garner's son, Ty, said in a statement. “He was so well known for his love for baseball, which was with him until the end.”

Nicknamed “Scrap Iron” for his blue-collar approach to the game, Garner had a 16-year playing career with the Oakland Athletics (1973-76), Pittsburgh Pirates (1977-81), Astros (1981-87), Los Angeles Dodgers (1987) and San Francisco Giants (1988).

He played 150 games and had an .800 OPS for Pittsburgh during the Pirates’ 1979 World Series championship season. He batted .417 in the NL Championship Series sweep of Cincinnati and hit .500 (12 for 24) in the World Series as the Pirates rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Baltimore.

Garner made All-Star teams with Oakland in 1976 and with Pittsburgh in 1980 and 1981.

“Phil Garner was a fierce competitor, a respected leader, and a cherished part of the Pirates family,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “His contributions to the 1979 World Series championship team will forever be part of Pirates history. We always appreciated welcoming Phil back to Pittsburgh, and it was evident how deeply this city, this team, his teammates, and our fans meant to him.

“He will be remembered not only for the grit, passion, and heart he brought to the game, but also for the way he carried himself as a devoted family man and respected member of the baseball community.”

Garner hit .260 with 109 homers, 738 RBIs and 225 steals in 1,860 regular-season games while being versatile enough to make more than 700 starts at both second base and third base.

Garner managed in the majors for 15 years, compiling a 985-1,054 record with Milwaukee (1992-99), Detroit (2000-02) and Houston (2004-07).

“When I got back into managing, he was the first person that I met in Houston and has introduced me to so many of my close friends,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who dedicated an 8-2 win over Miami to Garner and his family on Sunday. “When I got the job in Detroit, he reached out and talked to me about the city of Detroit and the fan base. Even though his time here didn’t go great, he was a big advocate for Detroit.”

Garner held the Brewers record for managerial wins until Craig Counsell surpassed him in 2022.

“He was a very highly respected and beloved individual who was known for his caring nature, wisdom and sense of humor," the Brewers said in a statement.

Garner took over the Astros midway through the 2004 season after the firing of Jimy Williams and led them to a 48-26 record the rest of the way. They finished 92-70, beat Atlanta in the NL Division Series and wasted a 3-2 lead over St. Louis in the NL Championship Series.

Garner got the Astros to the World Series the following year. They bounced back from a 15-30 start to finish 89-73 and beat Atlanta in the NLDS and St. Louis in the NLCS before the Chicago White Sox swept them.

“Phil Garner’s contributions to the Houston Astros, the city of Houston and to the game of baseball will not be forgotten," Astros owner and chairman Jim Crane said in a statement.

Garner was a Tennessee native who starred at the University of Tennessee, which retired his No. 18 in 2009.

“I genuinely appreciated Garner as a manager!!” former Tiger Brandon Inge wrote in a text message. “He really taught us how to play with a chip on our shoulders and not to back down to anyone or anything, no matter the circumstance!!! Thinking of his family, he’ll be missed!”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Infante, de 53 años y residente de Homestead, se encontraba bajo arresto domiciliario después de que un juez le ordenara mantenerse alejado de todas las escuelas y de la menor, según registros judiciales.

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Miami-Dade (M-DCPS) emitieron un comunicado sobre el caso el domingo, informando que el Departamento de Policía Escolar de Miami-Dade lo había investigado.

M-DCPS también informó que el distrito escolar había iniciado los trámites para terminar el contrato de empleo de Infante.

La Miami Southridge Senior High School, ubicada en el 19355 de SW 114 Ave., en el área de South Miami Heights, tenía a Infante en su directorio de personal como maestro de Bellas Artes.

Agentes del M-DSPD arrestaron a Infante el viernes, y compareció ante el tribunal de fianzas el sábado, según registros judiciales.

Infante enfrentó cinco cargos: cuatro por agresión sexual y uno por delitos contra estudiantes cometidos por figuras de autoridad. Su fianza fue de $14,000.

“Este tipo de comportamiento no será tolerado, ya que va en contra de la conducta profesional que esperamos de todos nuestros empleados”, escribió un portavoz de M-DCPS sin ofrecer detalles específicos.

El juez del Circuito de Miami-Dade, Zachary James, estaba programado para presidir el caso.

Los editores de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Sofia Méndez y Mariana Ortiz, contribuyeron a este informe.

Comunicado completo de M-DCPS:

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Miami-Dade (M-DCPS) están perturbadas por las acusaciones formuladas contra este individuo.

Al tener conocimiento de este presunto comportamiento, la Policía Escolar de Miami-Dade inició de inmediato su investigación y procedió a realizar el arresto.

Este tipo de comportamiento no será tolerado, ya que va en contra de la conducta profesional que esperamos de todos nuestros empleados.

El distrito ha iniciado los trámites de terminación de empleo y garantizará que el individuo no pueda buscar empleo futuro en M-DCPS.

“The result is amazing,” Sinner said. “Getting back to No. 1 means a lot for me.”

Four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner met seven-time major winner Alcaraz in their ninth final in what is often called the “Sincaraz” rivalry.

Sinner trimmed Alcaraz’s head-to-head lead to 10-7 in clinching his 27th career title overall and his first Masters title on clay. The 24-year-old Italian will return to No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday.

Sinner rallied from 3-1 down in the second set amid blustery conditions at the Monte Carlo Country Club and served out the match, clinching it on his first match point when Alcaraz returned a forehand long.

“It was a bit windy, a bit breezy. Different conditions from what the tournament has brought," Sinner said. "I am very happy to win a big title on this surface, I haven’t done it before and it means a lot to me.”

Alcaraz had won his last 17 matches on clay but struggled Sunday with 45 unforced errors.

However, he praised Sinner.

“It is impressive what you are achieving right now,” Alcaraz said. "Congratulations for everything.”

Sinner dropped to his knees after Alcaraz's shot landed out and then jogged over to celebrate with his box.

“I felt a bit tired, so I tried to keep the right mentality,” Sinner said. "Having this trophy means a lot to me.”

It was Sinner's third title of the year after sweeping Indian Wells and Miami — also winning those finals in straight sets — to become only the fourth man to reach the final at the first three Masters of the season. Sinner joined tennis great Novak Djokovic (in 2015) as the only one to win the first three Masters tournaments.

Alcaraz’s two titles this year include the Australian Open, where the 22-year-old Spaniard became the youngest man to win all four tennis majors.

He produced a stunning comeback to beat Sinner in last year's French Open final, then lost the Wimbledon final to Sinner before beating him again in the U.S. Open final. ___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Los agentes de policía describieron a dos de los tres heridos como sospechosos del tiroteo, registrado a las 10:30 p.m. afuera del Checkers ubicado en el 2645 de NW 183 St., en Miami Gardens.

La tercera persona herida llegó por su cuenta a un hospital cercano después de que los agentes respondieran a la alerta de ShotSpotter, según la policía.

Rory McIlroy becomes 4th player to repeat at Masters

McIlroy is just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.

Tiger Woods (2001-02), Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) and Nick Faldo (1989-90) are the other repeat champions.

After a slow start, McIlroy played the final 12 holes in 3-under par to finish with a one-stroke victory over Scottie Scheffler to earn his second green jacket and a $4.5 million prize.

After surrendering all of his six-shot 36-hole lead on Saturday, McIlroy started the final round by playing the first six holes in 3 over. He turned things around on the seventh hole when he hit his iron to 7 feet.

McIlroy was strong until the 18th hole, when his tee shot found the woods. He managed to make bogey to seal the win.

Rory McIlroy closing in on back-to-back Masters wins

McIlroy is at 13 under and holds a two-shot lead over Scheffler and Rose with two holes left to play.

Rory McIlroy back in the lead at the Masters

The pressure of the Masters might be starting to get to Rose.

He missed the green on No. 12 after his chip shot failed to reach the putting surface. It resulted in his second straight bogey, allowing McIlroy to regain the lead.

McIlroy is at 11 under while Rose dropped into a second-place tie with Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley and Cameron Young at 10 under.

Rory McIlroy misses opportunity to tie Justin Rose

McIlroy missed a makeable put on the ninth hole that would have tied him with Rose at 12 under.

He remains one back of the lead heading into the 10th.

Justin Rose has taken sole possession of the lead at the Masters

The Masters leaderboard is changing at breakneck speed — and we’re not even to the back nine.

Rose made birdie at the eighth hole and now has sole possession of the lead after Young made bogey at the seventh.

Rose lost in a playoff to McIlroy last year.

Does winning the Players Championship = winning the Masters?

Cameron Young holds a two-shot lead at the Masters after five holes as he seeks to become the third straight player to follow up a win at the Players Championship with a victory at Augusta National.

Scottie Scheffler won both tournaments in 2024 and Rory McIlroy matched that feat last year.

Young’s best finish at the Masters came in 2023 when he finished tied for seventh.

McIlroy breaks down, Young takes 2-shot lead at Masters

Young has taken sole possession of the lead at the Masters after McIlroy double-bogeyed the fourth hole. Young is at 12 under and leads by two.

Rory McIlroy moves back into a tie for 1st at Masters

McIlroy isn’t going to let Young run away with a green jacket.

The defending Masters champion birdied the par-5 third hole to reach 12 under on Sunday, while Young had to make a nervy 6-footer to save par on the same hole and remain tied with the Northern Irishman after briefly taking a one-shot lead.

They have a three-shot cushion on Scheffler, who has birdied two of his first six holes to reach 9 under. The world No. 1 is trying to become the first player since Danny Willett in 2016 to come from outside the final group and win the Masters.

▶ Here’s the leaderboard

Leaders tee off at the final round of the Masters

McIlroy and Young have teed off at the Masters, which means everyone is out on the course for the final round.

McIlroy blew a record 36-hole lead of six shots on Saturday with a round of 73, which allowed Young to pull into a tie with him at 11 under following his 65 — tied for the low round of the tournament. They had a one-shot lead over Sam Burns, though Scottie Scheffler and a host of other big names were ready to give chase.

Scheffler began the day at 7 under and promptly birdied the difficult par-4 first hole to start his round in style.

Scottie Scheffler begins hunt for a 3rd green jacket

The world’s No. 1 made up a lot of ground on Saturday, when his second-round 65 matched co-leader Young for the best of the day. It left Scheffler at 7 under for the tournament, four shots behind Young and McIlroy.

This would be the first time Scheffler has come from behind at Augusta National to win on Sunday. In 2022, he had a three-shot lead after the third round and won by the same margin. Two years ago, he led by one going into Sunday and won by four.

There’s reason to believe that Scheffler can make up the ground, though.

Through the first three rounds, the four-time major champion ranks first from tee-to-green and first in ballstriking. So, why isn’t he in the lead? Scheffler is nearly last in putting. If he can get a few to drop, watch out.

▶ Here’s the leaderboard

Leaders’ tee times for the final round of the Masters

Rory McIlroy lost a six-shot lead during the third round of the Masters, so it makes sense that anyone within six shots of the lead has at least a shot at the green jacket.

Those at 5 under were scheduled to go off shortly after 1 p.m. EDT, beginning with Ben Griffin and Jake Knapp. They were followed at 1:30 p.m. by Collin Morikawa (-5) and Patrick Reed (-6), with Patrick Cantlay (-6) and Russell Henley (-6) going off at 1:41 p.m.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li, both at 7 under, were paired together at 1:52 p.m.

Justin Rose, who lost in a playoff to McIlroy last year, was at 8 under along with Jason Day. They were due off at 2:03 p.m. Sam Burns (-10) and Shane Lowry (-9) were in the penultimate group at 2:14 p.m. before McIlroy and Cameron Young strike their opening tee shots at 2:25 p.m. on Tea Olive, the 445-yard par-4 first hole at Augusta National.

Sergio didn’t need that driver anyway

Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion, will be playing the remainder of the final round without his driver after snapping off the head of it following an angry outburst on the second tee box. After sending his tee shot into a bunker, Garcia took a swipe at a table with a green cooler on it and severed the head of the driver. It was left briefly dangling from the shaft before Garcia grabbed it and ripped it off completely. Geoff Yang, the chairman of the Masters competitions committee, met up with Garcia on the fourth tee box and issued him a code of conduct warning, according to club officials.

Setting up Sunday at the Masters

The forecast for the final round of the Masters is much like it has been all week at Augusta National: hot, dry and sunny.

That’s good news for the thousands of patrons. But it could be bad news for those trying to navigate 18 holes. The weather has been such that club officials can set up the course just about anyway they want. They seemed to give players a reprieve with easier hole locations and softer conditions on Friday and Saturday, but chances are they will want it difficult on Sunday.

That means hard, fast greens that reject wayward approach shots into difficult pin placements.

“When greens are firm and targets are tight, even a light wind can add another layer of difficulty,” said John Feerick, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “Players who manage launch, spin and landing spot most effectively may have the clearest edge.”

Masters’ gnomes coming to an end?

The Masters gnome has grown increasingly popular — and valuable — over the last 10 years. But this year’s gnome has become especially sought after on re-sale markets amid speculation this will be the final year they’ll be produced.

Masters chairman Fred Ridley has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors.

The 13 1/2-inch gnome features the traditional old man with a white beard dressed in golf attire and holding an umbrella and Masters-themed cup. It is only available for purchase at Augusta National (not online) and is selling for $59.50.

However, some are taking the gnome home and using it to help pay for their Masters expenses. The gnome is commanding more than $600 on eBay and Marketplace. With only 1,000 gnomes available per day and regularly selling out within an hour, fans are lining up early in the morning to get one.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf