The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under U.S. law. But it does change the way it's regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.

Trump told his administration in December to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, as the Republican president signed an unrelated executive order about psychedelics, he seemed to express frustration that it was taking so long.

Blanche said Thursday that the Department of Justice was “delivering on President Trump’s promise” to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,” he said in a statement.

Blanche's action Iargely legitimizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have adopted them. It sets up an expedited system for state-licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors to register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

It makes clear that cannabis researchers won't be penalized for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products for use in their work, and it grants state-licensed medical marijuana companies a windfall by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes.

Any marijuana-derived medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration is similarly listed in Schedule III, it said.

The order represents a major policy shift for the U.S. government, which has continued its longstanding marijuana prohibition — dating to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 — even as nearly all the states have approved cannabis use in some form. Two dozen states plus Washington, D.C., have authorized adult recreational use of marijuana, 40 have medical marijuana systems, and eight others allow low-THC cannabis or CBD oil for medical use. Only Idaho and Kansas ban marijuana outright.

The regulation of medical marijuana has come a long way since California became the first state to adopt it in 1996, Blanche wrote.

“Today the vast majority of States maintain comprehensive licensing frameworks governing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes,” Blanche wrote. “Taken as a whole, they demonstrate a sustained capacity to achieve the public-interest objectives ... including protecting public health and safety and preventing the diversion of controlled substances into illicit channels.”

Marijuana or marijuana-derived products that are not distributed through a state medical marijuana program will continue to be classified in Schedule I. The Trump administration is launching a new administrative hearing process beginning in June to consider the broader rescheduling of marijuana.

Schedule III drugs are defined as having moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Some critics of the industry have suggested that legalization in the states has led to stronger and stronger cannabis products, which need to be researched rather than categorized less strictly than before.

The Justice Department under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had proposed to reclassify marijuana, eliciting nearly 43,000 formal public comments. The Drug Enforcement Administration was still in the review process when Trump succeeded Biden in January, and Trump ordered that process to move along as quickly as legally possible.

Blanche's order sidestepped the review process by relying on a provision of federal law that allows the attorney general to determine the appropriate classification for drugs that the U.S. must regulate pursuant to an international treaty.

It was unclear how the order might affect operations in states where licensed recreational marijuana shops also sell to medical patients. In Washington state, which in 2012 became one of the first states to legalize the adult use of marijuana, 302 of 460 licensed stores have endorsements allowing them to sell tax-free cannabis products to registered patients.

Many Republicans oppose loosening marijuana restrictions. More than 20 Republican senators, several of them staunch Trump allies, signed a letter last year urging the president to keep the current standards.

Trump has made his crusade against other drugs, especially fentanyl, a feature of his second term, ordering U.S. military attacks on Venezuelan and other boats the administration insists are ferrying drugs. He signed another executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.

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Johnson reported from Seattle.

The body was discovered in the 7300 block of Owens Court.

A Local 10 News crew was at the scene as what appeared to be the body of a man was lying in the roadway next to a silver car.

Police were seen taking photos at the scene as they investigated what occurred.

Neighbors told Local 10 News they heard what sounded like gunshots prior to the victim’s body being found.

The medical examiner’s office removed the body from the roadway early Thursday morning.

Further details about what occurred have not yet been released by police.

The Defense Department released video footage of U.S. forces on the deck of the oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

The seizure comes a day after Iran attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them, in a move that intensified its assault on shipping in the key waterway through which 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime.

The Majestic X is a Guyana-flagged oil tanker. It previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.

The conflict has already sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, nosed over $100 per barrel, marking a 35% increase from prewar levels, but stock markets still appear to be shrugging it off.

The European Union energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, warned Wednesday of lasting impact for consumers and businesses, likening it to other major energy crises over the last half-century. He said the disruption is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600 million) each day.

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Keaten reported from Geneva.

The crash was reported in the area of Northwest 199th Street and Seventh Avenue.

The intersection was completely closed off after the crash.

Investigators at the scene told Local 10 News that the young woman was driving a silver Hyundai when she slammed into the bus.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Because the transit buses are equipped with cameras, investigators were able to quickly review footage of the crash to see what occurred.

The driver’s identity has not yet been released.

Investigators said the shooting happened near Southwest 168th Street and Southwest 92nd Avenue, where deputies were called to just after 4:45 p.m. in reference to a reported domestic dispute.

When they arrived, they encountered a man outside the home and detained him.

Investigators said that once deputies entered the home, they found another man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities identified the victim as a 47-year-old man. His father, who is in his 70s, is now in custody.

Officials said they have been called to the home before for mental health-related incidents.

“We definitely wanted the community to know this was an isolated incident,” said MDSO spokesperson Argemis Colome.

Neighbors said they were stunned by the violence in their neighborhood.

“We usually feel really safe here, so something like that happening is concerning,” Gorgas Kollileka said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a tragic incident,” Colome said. “This is a father and son domestic situation. It’s not a good day for that family. But something happened and that’s what they’re going to try to get to.”

The investigation is ongoing.

Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins said the company failed to uphold its commitment and should be held accountable.

“We welcome you to our community and Miami-Dade County,” Higgins said, addressing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. “If you enter into a contract with us, we are going to hold you to account.”

Higgins said the county expects Amazon to honor an agreement requiring a minimum of 325 full-time jobs at the South Dade facility for at least 17 years.

“Honor your contractual obligations, Mr. Bezos — the ask is not an extraordinary one,” she said.

According to Higgins, the closure comes just two years into the agreement.

“We hear, ‘Oh just kidding — we are going to lay off 1,000 hardworking South Florida residents,’ and they said it in a cavalier way,” she said.

According to the WARN filing, the company is terminating employment for 616 employees.

The company says they are working on transferring these employees to nearby sites, adding that employees have the opportunity to transfer to eight nearby facilities, and more than 300 have already accepted transfers.

The commission unanimously approved Higgins’ sponsored resolution directing county administrators to take all necessary steps to enforce the agreement, including potential legal action.

“Listen, this was a no-bid contract. They acquired this land without competition under certain terms and conditions,” Higgins said. “They have to honor those obligations.”

Higgins added, “The county attorneys agree the language is clear — 325 minimum at $32,000 a year. That is their obligation contractually to Miami-Dade, and quite frankly for Amazon, as we know, that is less than a drop in a bucket for them financially. They need to honor their obligations to us.”

In a statement, Amazon said the closure is tied to planned renovations and that employees have the option to transfer.

“Our team is working closely with Miami-Dade County and its attorneys, and we’re hopeful we can find a cooperative path forward,” wrote Amazon spokesperson Amber Plunkett. “More than 300 employees from our facility in Homestead have already accepted transfers to stay with Amazon at other facilities, most of which are based in Miami-Dade County.”

The company said employees will be invited to return when the facility reopens in mid-to-late 2028.

“I think the best indicator of the future is the past,” Higgins said. “If you are not able to honor your contractual obligations that are written and negotiated, it is very hard to honor your verbal representations at this point — the best way for us to have faith in Amazon is to honor your obligations.”

The resolution also requires a report back to the commission within 30 days outlining the status of enforcement efforts.

He was one of the key negotiators of the agreement reached in late 2024 that provisionally comes into force May 1.

“In a moment that the world much needed it, at a time of protectionism, a tough world, this gives a message that it is possible to open markets,” Alckmin said Wednesday during an interview with media, including The Associated Press, at the presidential palace in Brasilia. “It is the biggest deal between trade blocs in the world. A market of $22 trillion and 720 million people.”

Fierce opposition by farmers and environmentalists delayed the deal in December. It then hit another wall after EU lawmakers sent the deal to the bloc’s judiciary. The EU executive responded by saying it would provisionally enact the deal, which sidesteps the European Parliament. After the trade deal is implemented, it will be halted if the European Court of Justice rules against it.

Alckmin said not finishing the deal with the EU would have meant staying behind while other competitors accomplished other agreements.

“It is a win-win. The societies of the Mercosur countries win, and so the 27 countries of the EU,” added Alckmin, who expects a boost in Brazilian exports to the EU of about 13% per year.

The trans-Atlantic trade deal was signed Jan. 17. The European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly paid tribute to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration for its efforts in making the deal happen despite opposition in Europe. Brazil is by far the largest economy of Mercosur, with a gross domestic product estimated at more than $2.3 trillion in 2025.

Alckmin confirmed other potential deals with the United Arab Emirates and Canada are being negotiated.

Change of mind and time

Two decades ago, Alckmin and Lula were on opposite camps in almost every issue, including the negotiations for a deal between the EU and the bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. While the man who was then governor of the powerful Sao Paulo state advocated for a pact with European nations, Lula did not.

Fast forward to 2022, the two gathered forces to unseat then-President Jair Bolsonaro, who they deemed to be a risk to Brazil's democracy. Both gravitated toward the political center. Lula made Alckmin his trade and industry minister, one of the government's key negotiators in any front.

Lula's win in 2022 for a third nonconsecutive term and his bid for reelection this year did not assure the Mercosur-EU trade deal was going ahead, but the conversations gained a new momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump took office last year and imposed tariffs against several countries, including Brazil.

French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the critics of the deal, has demanded safeguards to monitor and stop large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in the Mercosur nations like pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of imports at EU ports.

Alckmin rejected the accusation that Mercosur countries have less concerns about environmental preservations, as some EU farmers have said.

“If there’s one country that is a role model of environmental preservation, that is Brazil … Brazil reduced deforestation in 50%,” Alckmin said.

“So no one is too scared in either side, if there’s an import boom any of the two (blocs) can ask for safeguards,” he added.

The full implementation of the deal might take up to 12 years, which Alckmin sees as key for Mercosur companies to improve productivity and quality of thousands of products. He said the fruit, beef and sugar industries of the South American bloc will be among the first to benefit but many more will over time.

“It is better to do it gradually than not do it at all,” Alckmin said. “This was a very well-built deal.”

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

Unlike Cuba or Venezuela, Iran choked off a crucial trade route for energy shipments, meaning the longer the standoff persists the more the global economy will suffer. Tehran also poses a greater military threat — beyond those posed by the adversaries in America’s own hemisphere — and requires a sustained military presence far from U.S. shores.

Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz gives it power during a shaky ceasefire because the widening economic risks — especially higher U.S. gas prices in an election year — could force Trump's Republican administration to end its blockade on Iran's ports and coastline, experts say.

“It’s really a question now of which country, the U.S. or Iran, has a greater pain tolerance,” said Max Boot, a military historian and senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Iran presents ‘major differences’ from other blockades

The effectiveness of Trump's pressure tactic — using the world’s most powerful navy to block the trade of Iran's sanctioned oil and other goods — is still very much up for debate. Some experts say Trump’s success in Venezuela likely had more to do with the U.S. military raid that captured leader Nicolás Maduro than American warships seizing sanctioned oil tankers to enforce U.S. control over the South American country.

A U.S. oil embargo on Cuba, meanwhile, has caused the island’s most severe economic crisis in decades. While U.S. and Cuban officials have met recently on the island for rare talks, the financial strangulation has failed to produce the Trump administration’s stated goal of leadership change.

“I do think that the success of the Maduro mission in Venezuela has probably emboldened the president,” said Todd Huntley, director of Georgetown University’s National Security Law Program.

That doesn’t make the situations in Venezuela and Iran similar — geographically, militarily or politically. “There are some major differences,” said Huntley, a retired Navy captain and judge advocate general.

While the blockade against Iran has delivered a severe blow to its economy, including stopping freighters from importing various supplies, the country has still been able to move some of its sanctioned oil, ship tracking companies say.

And Iran has rejected Trump’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil normally flows, and it has been firing on ships again this week. Stalled shipments through the strait have sent gasoline prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products, creating a political problem for Trump ahead of the midterm elections in November.

“Blockades are usually just one tool of a mechanism used in a conflict,” said Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime history professor at Campbell University in North Carolina. “They can be important. But it’s only one element. And I don’t think it’s going to be enough to convince the Iranians.”

The effectiveness of the US blockade has been called into question

Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, claimed last week that “no ship has evaded U.S. forces." The command overseeing the Middle East said it has directed 31 ships to turn around or return to port as of Wednesday.

Merchant shipping groups are skeptical. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has passed in and out of the Gulf, including 11 tankers with Iranian cargo that have left the Gulf of Oman outside the strait since April 13.

The maritime intelligence firm Windward said this week that Iranian traffic continues to flow “via deception."

Iranian ships have several ways to sneak through the blockade, including spoofing their location tracking data or traveling through Pakistani territorial waters, Mercogliano said. He also noted that the sheer volume of shipping traffic the military needs to screen is a challenging task.

Blockades require patience to work

The last time the U.S. mounted a blockade similar to the one focused on Iranian ships was during the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s, when the U.S. imposed a blockade on Cuba, Huntley said.

“And it wasn't even called a blockade,” he said. “We called it quarantine.”

Some naval blockades over the course of history have had an impact, such as Britain's blockade on Germany during World War I. "But they tend to be very long-term impacts, whereas Trump is looking for short-term, quick results,” according to Boot, the military historian.

He said Trump probably saw the blockade on sanctioned oil tankers tied to Venezuela as playing a large role in the success of leadership changes in that country. But Boot said it had more to do with the U.S. ousting Maduro and the subsequent cooperation from his vice president and now-acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.

“There is no Delcy Rodríguez in Cuba or Iran,” Boot said. “I think his success in Venezuela led him astray, thinking that this was a template that could be replicated elsewhere. He sees it as a huge success at little cost. And, in fact, it turns out to be a unique set of circumstances.”

According to police, the crash was reported at 11:37 p.m. in the area of Northwest 37^th Avenue and West Flagler Street.

Police said officers arrived at the scene and found a woman in her mid-30s unresponsive in the roadway.

A tourniquet was applied to the victim before Miami Fire Rescue transported her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition, authorities said.

Police said the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision fled the scene.

No other details were immediately released.

Trump’s return to the presidency was fueled by a wide-ranging coalition that built on his loyal base of supporters. Now that Trump has been in the White House for more than a year, the survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that many key groups — including Hispanic adults, younger adults and men — are increasingly dissatisfied with his presidency.

The poll was conducted from April 16 through Monday, as oil prices fluctuated and Americans spent more at the gas pump.

It’s a particularly bad moment for Trump, a Republican whose economic approval slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher. But AP-NORC polls show that discontent has been building among critical segments of the population over the past year.

Trump's overall approval among Hispanic adults has fallen 16 percentage points since March 2025, and his support has declined by 9 percentage points among men.

And while Trump’s base is still largely behind him — most Republicans approve of his performance — there are signs that his second term may not be living up to their expectations.

Here’s what polling shows about Trump’s current status with four important groups:

Hispanic adults

Hispanic Americans have grown increasingly discontented with Trump over the past year.

About one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how he’s handling the presidency in the new poll, down from about 4 in 10 in March 2025.

That decline has been visible since late last year — suggesting that it’s not just the war in Iran or recent spikes in gas prices that are leaving this group unhappy.

Trump’s restrictive immigration approach may be playing a role. Only about one-quarter of Hispanics approve of his handling of immigration, down from 36% at the beginning of his term.

His immigration tactics appear to be particularly unpopular among younger Hispanics — a group with which he made gains in 2024. Only 18% of younger Hispanic adults approve of his performance on immigration, compared with 40% of Americans overall.

There is also broad discontent about the state of the U.S. economy among Hispanics. Only about one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how Trump is handling that issue, and about 2 in 10 say they approve of his approach to the cost of living. Few Hispanic adults, about 2 in 10, describe the nation’s economy as “good.”

Young adults

Trump’s overall approval with Americans under age 45 has slid over the past year, falling from 39% in March 2025 to 28% in the latest poll.

Younger women have a particularly dim view of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Only about 2 in 10 women under age 45 approve of how Trump is handling the economy, including only 7% of younger Hispanic women who approve of his economic approach. More young men, about 3 in 10, approve of him on this issue.

Trump’s struggles among young adults extend to other groups, too. Only about one-third of white adults under age 45 approve of his overall performance, compared with 45% of white adults age 45 or older.

A downtick among men

Trump made broad appeals to men throughout his 2024 campaign, and most male voters backed Trump in the presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris. In particular, he made slight but significant gains with Black and Hispanic men, who were drawn by his vows to revitalize the economy.

Since he reentered office, though, American men have become slightly less likely to approve of his performance, declining from 47% at the start of his second term to 38% in the most recent poll.

There are signs that Black men, in particular, aren’t seeing Trump’s economic promises pan out. Black men are more likely than white or Hispanic men to disapprove of Trump’s approach to the presidency, as well as his approach to the economy, the cost of living and Iran. Only about 1 in 10 Black men say they approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living, and roughly 2 in 10 approve of how he’s handling the economy.

Hispanic men, too, have a relatively dim view of Trump’s overall performance. About 3 in 10 approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, regardless of their age. That support is stronger among white men, with about half approving of Trump.

While young Republicans are frustrated, MAGA still backs Trump

Trump has benefited from Republicans’ loyalty for years, but there are recent signs of frustration even within his base.

Roughly two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance. That is down slightly from 82% near the start of his second term and is generally in line with the GOP low point from his first term.

But only about half of Republicans overall approve of Trump’s approach to the cost of living, and a majority of Republicans under age 45 disapprove of him on that issue.

Trump is still buoyed by the support of his MAGA base, even as he faces backlash from conservative media figures on some of his recent actions in Iran.

About 9 in 10 MAGA Republicans — those who consider themselves supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement — approve of Trump’s job performance, and a similar share approve of his handling of Iran.

It's a good sign for Trump that his most robust supporters are still in his corner, but not all Republicans identify with MAGA. About half of Republicans, 54%, say they consider themselves MAGA supporters.

Among non-MAGA Republicans, Trump's approval is much lower, at 44%.

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

She's followed by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. That comes as no surprise: In 2025 the artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was named the streaming giant's most played artist of the year for a fourth time, dethroning Swift.

It's a been bit of a cat-and-mouse game for the two: She claimed the top spot the previous two years; he did the same from 2020 to 2023.

Drake is Spotify's third most streamed artist of all time, followed by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Eminem, Kanye West, Travis Scott, BTS, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, J Balvin, Rihanna, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Future and Juice WRLD, in that order.

Spotify did not provide insight into its data collection methodology when asked about it by The Associated Press.

In addition to naming its most streamed artists globally, Spotify compiled its most streamed albums, songs, podcasts and audiobooks to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Streaming accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry — 82% in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Spotify, a Sweden-based company founded in April 2006, is the largest platform of all. It accounts for over 31% of the total market share, with a reported 751 million users and 290 million subscribers in more than 184 markets.

Spotify's most streamed albums of all time

1. Bad Bunny's “Un Verano Sin Ti”

2. The Weeknd's “Starboy”

3. Ed Sheeran's “÷ (Deluxe)”

4. Olivia Rodrigo's “SOUR”

5. The Weeknd's “After Hours”

6. SZA's “SOS”

7. Post Malone's “Hollywood’s Bleeding”

8. Taylor Swift's “Lover”

9. Arctic Monkeys' “AM”

10. Billie Eilish's “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

11. Dua Lipa's “Future Nostalgia”

12. Post Malone's “Beerbongs & Bentleys”

13. XXXTENTACION's “?”

14. Karol G's “Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)”

15. Bad Bunny's “YHLQMDLG”

16. Bruno Mars' “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”

17. Drake's “Views”

18. Taylor Swift's “Midnights”

19. Drake's “Scorpion”

20. The Weeknd's “Beauty Behind The Madness”

Spotify's most streamed songs of all time

1. The Weeknd's “Blinding Lights”

2. Ed Sheeran's “Shape of You”

3. The Neighbourhood's “Sweater Weather”

4. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk's “Starboy”

5. Harry Styles' “As It Was”

6. Lewis Capaldi's “Someone You Loved”

7. Post Malone and Swae Lee's “Sunflower — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

8. Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla's “One Dance”

9. Ed Sheeran's “Perfect”

10. The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber's “Stay”

11. Imagine Dragons' “Believer”

12. Arctic Monkeys' “I Wanna Be Yours”

13. Glass Animals' “Heat Waves”

14. Billie Eilish and Khalid's “Lovely”

15. Coldplay's “Yellow”

16. Lord Huron's “The Night We Met”

17. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey's “Closer”

18. Billie Eilish's “Birds of a Feather”

19. Vance Joy's “Riptide”

20. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' “Die With A Smile”

The senators this week introduced what they're calling the Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act, which would make the supermarket staple an eligible purchase under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

“America’s best (and delicious) affordability play is Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chicken,” said Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who joined Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia and others in sponsoring the bill. “It’s one of my family’s favorites, and I’m proud to join this bill with Sen. Justice for all to try. SNAP funds would be well spent to feed our nation’s families who need it.”

The SNAP program provides a monthly stipend for low-income families to buy groceries, but it doesn't pay for hot prepared foods. The exclusion, which dates back decades, was meant to promote home cooking. But critics say it's outdated and penalizes families that are already struggling to make ends meet, excluding convenient and nutritious options.

Lawmakers at the state and federal level have long debated which foods should be eligible for SNAP benefits. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pressed states to exclude junk food such as soda and candy. Twenty-two states, mostly led by Republicans, have requested or been granted permission to ban certain foods.

SNAP is a major piece of the U.S. social safety net used by nearly 42 million, or about 1 in 8, Americans to help buy groceries. On average, the monthly benefit per household is about $350, and the average benefit per person is about $190.

Besides Fetterman and Justice, the senators introducing the bill are Republican Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado. Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas has pushed for similar legislation in the House.

“We have to give people the option to put a healthy, protein-dense choice on the table that actually tastes good and doesn’t take an hour and a half to cook,” Justice said in a statement.

A powerful rainstorm drenched the Malabo sports stadium and the estimated 30,000 people who gathered before dawn for Leo’s farewell liturgy. But the deluge let up before Leo arrived in his covered popemobile for a romp through the deafening crowd.

Leo was leaving after an 11-day, four-nation voyage that took him from Algeria in the north of Africa to Angola in the south and Cameroon in between.

Over that time, Leo covered more than 17,700 kilometers (about 11,000 miles) on 18 flights, including three on Wednesday alone that saw him crisscross Equatorial Guinea from the west coast to the far east border with Gabon and back again.

Leo gets wild welcome nearly everywhere he goes

Nearly everywhere Leo went, history’s first U.S. pope received a raucous welcome, especially in the farther away places that had never had a pope visit.

Popes have been traveling the world since Pope Paul VI made the first modern foreign visit in 1964 to Jordan and Israel. But it was St. John Paul II who revolutionized the papacy with his globetrotting papacy that took him on 104 foreign trips over a quarter century, many with the multination itinerary on which Leo’s trip seemed modeled.

At Leo’s final Mass on Thursday, Michaela Mecha and her sister, Encarnacion, arrived at the Malabo stadium in the downpour at 4 a.m. They were dressed from head to toe in pope-themed attire, complete with yellow umbrellas decorated with Leo’s face.

“We feel very special and blessed that the pope has chosen our country,” said Michaela, who works as a nurse and brought her two young daughters with her. “This visit is bringing young people closer to God.”

In his homily, Leo referred to the April 17 death of the Rev. Fr. Fortunato Nsue Esono Ayíambeng, a member of the committee that organized the trip and the vicar general of Malabo.

“May full light be shed on the circumstances of his death,” Leo said, in apparent reference to rumors that foul play might have been involved.

A feud with Trump that lasted days

Few people could have expected that Leo’s trip, his first to Africa as pope, would have played out against Trump’s unprecedented attacks over the Iran war. But the timing was such that Leo was already in the media crosshairs when it began, and the exchange didn’t let up for days.

On Day 1, Leo insisted he was just preaching the Gospel of peace and wasn’t afraid of the Trump administration after Trump accused him of being soft on crime and cozy with the left. As the attacks continued and Vice President JD Vance joined the fray, telling Leo he should “be careful” when speaking about theology, Leo tried to de-escalate by blaming the media for taking his words out of context.

The initiative seem to have worked, as both Leo and the Trump administration moved on and the pope could concentrate on his Africa agenda. It was focused on rallying Catholics with a message of hope while also blasting what he called the “colonization” of the continent's natural resources by foreign interests.

A kaleidoscope of moments across four countries

The trip had its high-emotion moments, such as when Leo broke away from a choreographed visit to a psychiatric hospital in Sampaka, Equatorial Guinea, to greet the patients, one by one, and pose for selfies.

Another powerful moment came when Leo, whose ancestors include enslaved persons and slave owners, prayed the rosary in Muxima, Angola. The site of a onetime hub of the African slave trade is now Angola's most popular pilgrimage site after a reported vision of the Virgin Mary around 1833.

There were personal stops, too, such as when Leo visited with nuns of his Augustinian religious order in Bab El Oued, Algeria, and stopped at a table of jewelry made by local women. He picked out a necklace featuring a tree of life design and assured the superior, “It’s not for me, it’s for my niece.”

In Bamenda, Cameroon, he traveled to the epicenter of a nearly decade-long separatist conflict and begged for peace while lashing out at the “handful of tyrants” who were ravaging the Earth. It was that day’s news headlines that prompted Leo to come to the back of the plane a few days later and insist he wasn’t talking about Trump.

One of the most troubling events came in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, when Leo visited a prison. All the inmates, their heads shaved, were dressed in new neon orange or beige uniforms and new Croc-like rubber shoes. The facility had been recently painted salmon pink with fresh saplings planted around the perimeter.

The inmates stood silently in seemingly assigned spots in the open courtyard waiting for Leo. When he arrived, they sang for him a song about their sins. As Leo told them God loves them and spoke of their dignity, they danced for him and waved their Holy See flags in choreographed unison, as the heavens opened and a downpour drenched them.

As soon as Leo left, with the country’s justice minister still in the courtyard, the inmates broke away from their places into a raucous, dancing chant of “Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!” (Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!)

Milestones inside the papal bubble

The trip was so long that several milestones were crossed: Leo marked the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death with an off-the-cuff tribute from the papal plane remembering Francis’ mercy and gestures.

Leo also offered best wishes to the handful of reporters who celebrated birthdays over the course of the trip, which were marked each time with the ITA Airways flight crew passing around birthday cake.

Leo’s mid-trip remarks to the press, as he traveled from country to country, gave the local media in the Vatican pool a chance to ask questions of interest back home. One nugget that certainly gave joy to Angolans was Leo’s revelation that Angola might have its first cardinal, not in the near future but “a bit further on.”

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AP writer Monika Pronczuk contributed.

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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.

Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be confirmed and quite possibly the oldest. Scientists estimate it could be up to 11 billion years old, more than twice as old as the sun.

A team led by the University of Michigan used the ALMA observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert to examine the comet last fall. The errant but harmless iceball was discovered last summer, giving NASA and the European Space Agency plenty of time to aim multiple space telescopes at it as it zoomed past Mars in October and made its closest approach to Earth in December. It's now well past Jupiter on its way out of our solar system for good, still visible only to the professionals.

In the study, scientists said they detected extremely high amounts of deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, in the comet's water. That suggests that the comet originated in a place considerably colder — before the star of this solar system even formed — than our own cosmic neighborhood, said the University of Michigan's Teresa Paneque-Carreno.

While our sun may have been surrounded by other newborn stars as it was forming, she noted, this comet's home star could have been more of a loner, leading to less heating and colder conditions.

The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.

The comet's precise place of origin is still unknown. Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope put the size of its nucleus somewhere between a quarter-mile and 3.5 miles (440 meters and 5.6 kilometers). It's hurtling away at 137,000 mph (220,000 kph).

Linking all these “puzzle pieces together may give an idea to how the planet-forming conditions were at these early times,” Paneque-Carreno said in an email.

The first known interstellar object to stray into our celestial backyard — Oumuamua — was discovered by a telescope in Hawaii in 2017. Comet 2I/Borisov followed in 2019, named for the Crimean amateur astronomer who first spotted it.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Iran’s ability and willingness to go to the World Cup across north America starting June 11 has been unclear since the U.S. and Israel launched military attacks Feb. 28.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports made an announcement about the full preparedness of our national soccer team for presence in the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., by the order of the minister,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohejerani told Iran’s state TV on Wednesday.

FIFA has consistently said Iran will stick to the World Cup game schedule decided last December, and refused to negotiate any suggestion of playing the team’s games in Mexico.

Progress was made March 31 when FIFA President Gianni Infantino went to meet Iranian soccer leaders and players in Turkey where the team had two warmup games.

Though the Iranian soccer league has shut down during the war, the team’s official Instagram account posted photos this week of a practice in Tehran.

Mohejerani added Wednesday “the necessary arrangements that these dear ones need for the team’s proud and successful participation, (have been made).”

Infantino promised the Iranian team three weeks ago he would help find a training camp outside of the country for the team to prepare for the World Cup. That could also be in Turkey, where Iran played warmup games last month in Antalya against Nigeria and Costa Rica.

FIFA did not immediately confirm details Wednesday of a possible camp being organized.

Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games at the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood — against New Zealand and Belgium — then face Egypt in Seattle.

The team is due to arrive at its training camp in Tucson, Arizona no later than June 10, which is at least five days before its first game as required by FIFA’s World Cup rules.

A key issue to be resolved is the U.S. government giving entry visas to the Iranian delegation including soccer federation president Mehdi Taj. He is a vice president of the Asian soccer body who was barred from attending the World Cup draw in December in Washington D.C., where Infantino presented U.S. President Donald Trump with the specially created FIFA Peace Prize.

Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the 48-nation tournament that runs through July 19.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

A three-judge panel found unanimously there were “substantial grounds” to believe the ex-leader was responsible for dozens of murders, first as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later when he was president.

Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in the Philippines last year and flown to the Hague, where the global court is located. He denies the charges against him.

In their 50-page decision, judges found that the evidence shows that Duterte, 81, “developed, disseminated and implemented” a policy “to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals.”

According to prosecutors, police and hit squad members carried out dozens of murders at Duterte’s behest starting in 2011, motivated by the promise of money or to avoid becoming targets themselves.

“For some, killing reached the level of a perverse form of competition,” deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told the court in pretrial hearings in February.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

Prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision “represents a significant milestone” in their effort to bring accountability.

Duterte's lead defense lawyer Nick Kaufman told The Associated Press he was disappointed in the decision, saying it “is based on the uncorroborated statements of vicious self-confessed murderers acting as cooperating witnesses.”

A date for the start of the trial has not yet been set.

Duterte has not been present in the courtroom for any hearings, having waived his right to appear. Last month judges found he was fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about his health.

In the Philippines, families of slain victims in the brutal anti-drugs crackdown rejoiced over the decision, saying it will bring them closer to justice and toward a closure of a tragic chapter in their lives.

“This is for all the victims, who were not even given the chance to be recognized as victims because their stories were twisted in police reports, investigations and findings,” said Randy delos Santos, whose nephew, Kian delos Santos, was gunned down in an alley in August 2017 by three police officers.

“Unlike Kian, most other victims were nameless, voiceless and were just numbers and statistics whose horrific stories were never heard. Now the ICC will give their stories a chance to be told,” delos Santos told The Associated Press.

Human rights groups also praised the decision.

“Duterte’s trial will send a powerful message that no one responsible for grave crimes is above the law, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, and that justice will eventually catch up with them,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said.

ICC prosecutors said in 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the violent drug crackdowns. In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at avoiding accountability, Duterte, who was president at the time, announced a month later that the Philippines would leave the court.

On Tuesday, appeals judges rejected a request from Duterte’s legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because of the Philippine withdrawal.

In October, judges disqualified the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan from the case, citing a “reasonable appearance of bias” because he represented victims of Duterte’s alleged crimes before he took office at the ICC. Khan had already stepped back from his duties pending the outcome of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

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Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.

The meeting between Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter is the second between the two diplomats, days after they held the first such direct talks between the two countries in three decades.

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that contacts are ongoing to extend the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect Friday.

Hamadeh will put forward an extension of the ceasefire during the meeting and ask for an end to ongoing Israeli home demolitions in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war broke out on March 2, Aoun said in comments released by his office.

Preparations are ongoing for wider-reaching negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The aim of the future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the reconstruction process, Aoun said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah ahead of negotiations in Washington.

“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said during Independence Day remarks to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps in which he also described the neighboring country as a “failed state.”

“The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.”

The latest war started after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion in which it captured dozens of towns and villages along the border.

Israel’s military currently occupies a buffer zone stretching as much as 10 kilometers (6 miles) into southern Lebanon. Israel says it aims to remove the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles towards northern Israel.

Despite Hezbollah’s outright rejection, the talks are a major step for two countries with no diplomatic relations that officially have been at war since Israel’s inception in 1948.

The Lebanese government hopes the talks will pave the way to a permanent end to the war. While Iran has set ending the wars in Lebanon and the region as a condition for talks with the U.S., Lebanon insists on representing itself.

Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that the group will not abide by any agreements made during the direct talks, which it opposes.

Since the ceasefire went into effect last week, there have been multiple violations by both side sides.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and displaced over 1 million people.

Last week’s talks were the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Both countries have relied on indirect communication, often brokered by the U.S. or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets toward Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, quickly proposed direct talks in a bid to stop the escalation, hoping Israel would not launch its ground invasion.

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Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.

Nearly a year after his death in South Africa, Lungu’s remains are still unburied, the subject of a macabre fight between his family and the longtime rival who succeeded him.

In a statement Wednesday, Zambia's attorney general said the government had custody of Lungu's remains after a South African court ordered the body be released to them. It said the body had been moved from a private funeral home in the South African capital, Pretoria, to another facility run by the South African government.

A separate urgent order then ruled that the body be returned to the funeral home where it had been since Lungu's death last June.

That order, though, said a date of May 21 had been set for the body to ultimately be handed over to the Zambian government. It wasn't clear Thursday where the body was and if it had been returned to the family.

The bizarre battle revolves around Lungu's relationship with current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. The two were bitter political rivals and the animosity has continued after Lungu's death.

Hichilema's government has said Lungu should have a state funeral at home and be buried at a cemetery set aside for Zambian leaders. Lungu's family claims that he made clear that one of his last wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body and not preside over his funeral.

In June last year, the Zambian government succeeded in getting a court order to stop his funeral service in South Africa as it was taking place, forcing family members to leave the church ceremony and travel to a courthouse.

Lungu, who was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, died of an undisclosed illness in a South African hospital on June 5. He was 68.

When Lungu was president in 2017, Hichilema was arrested, charged with treason and detained for four months, only to be released and the charge dropped after international condemnation.

Lungu lost to Hichilema in a 2021 election, and claimed years later that his movements were being restricted by Zambian police and that he had been effectively placed under house arrest by authorities to prevent any political comeback. Hichilema's government denied the allegations.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Jacob Zimba in Lusaka, Zambia, contributed to this report.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity.

Its passage comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, in a gun attack. Police are investigating the online activity of the perpetrator, who also died, in a bid to uncover his motivation for the attack.

The bill will force social media platforms to install age‑verification systems, provide parental control tools and require companies to rapidly respond to content deemed harmful, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must now accept the bill within 15 days for it to pass into law. He spoke in the wake of the Kahramanmaras killings of the need for to mitigate the online risks to children’s safety and privacy.

“We are living in a period where some digital sharing applications are corrupting our children's minds and social media platforms have, to put it bluntly, become cesspools,” he said in a televised address Monday.

The main opposition party — the Republican People’s Party, or CHP — has criticized the proposal, saying children should be protected “not with bans but with rights-based policies.”

Under the law, digital platforms — such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and others — would have to block children under 15 from opening accounts and introduce parental controls that would manage children’s access.

Online game companies will also be required to appoint a representative in Turkey to ensure they abide by the new regulations. Potential penalties include internet bandwidth reductions and fines imposed by Turkey’s communications watchdog.

The Turkish government has a recent record of restricting online platforms as they have grown as a means of expressing dissent. Online communications were widely restricted during last year’s protests in support of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 first began in December in Australia, where social media companies revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Last month, Indonesia began implementing a new government regulation banning children younger than 16 from access to digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction.

Some other countries — including Spain, France and the United Kingdom — are also taking or considering measures to restrict children’s access to social media amid growing concern that they are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.

China’s profile in international diplomacy has risen in recent years, thanks to active efforts from its diplomats. Long reluctant to get involved in conflicts far from its borders, it has nevertheless emerged as a major player with attempts to mediate conflicts from Southeast Asia to Europe.

With the Iran war, Beijing is not an official mediator, but all parties — including Washington and Tehran — say it has played an important role in trying to de-escalate the conflict.

Experts say Beijing's strategies for diplomacy in multiple conflicts have looked similar and have had mixed success in influencing negotiations, but the efforts come at an opportune time, as U.S. actions under President Donald Trump have increased tensions with traditional diplomatic allies.

In the Iran war, experts say, China's close economic and political ties to Tehran put it in a unique position of influence as the conflict hurts the global energy supply, especially in Asia.

Trump says China encouraged Iran to negotiate ceasefire

Trump has said he believes China helped encourage Iran to negotiate the fragile ceasefire that he has now extended.

Diplomats told The Associated Press that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of sanctioned Iranian oil, used its leverage to urge the Iranians back to the negotiating table for historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan earlier this month.

Beijing has not confirmed that account, likely because it does not want to be seen as part of a U.S.-led security framework, said Yaqi Li, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Still, some saw it as a major moment for Beijing, which has criticized the U.S.' and Israel’s war against Iran.

After the war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with counterparts including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. As of mid-April, he had 30 phone calls with various parties about the war, according to a tally of his calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Wang also hosted his counterpart from close ally Pakistan, which has been acting as the main mediator in the latest talks, to present a five-point proposal calling for an end to hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent days has been uncharacteristically outspoken, warning last week against “the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle.” This week, he called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

China leans on its role as an economic power

George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said China’s role in the Iran situation is irreplaceable. As Tehran's biggest oil buyer, its advice carries weight. China is also one of the few countries that has showed sympathy for Iran's situation at the United Nations, he said.

Further, Iran’s ballistic missile program was built with Chinese technology, and China sells dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.

Although China isn’t as immediately influential as Pakistan or key Arab Gulf states in active mediation, it occupies a unique position as the key economic partner for many of those countries.

Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, said China is uniquely positioned to offer economic incentives that matter to Tehran, especially after the war ends, as Beijing can promise investment in reconstruction and commercial relief in ways few others can.

“It could be one of the few actors capable of giving Tehran both political cover and material incentives to accept constraints and stick to them,” he said.

China's role as a global mediator is growing

One of China's biggest diplomatic wins in recent years came in 2023, when it was among the parties bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran together to restart official engagement.

It was widely seen as a major geopolitical breakthrough that reduced the risk of direct and proxy conflict, said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Indonesia.

But China is choosing when to play a role cautiously, he said, noting that Saudi Arabia and Iran had preexisting incentives to reengage diplomatically. “Its mediation tends to be opportunistic and low-risk, often occurring when conditions are already conducive to agreement," he said.

Beijing also was active during the recent conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, hosting multiple meetings between them and attending initial ceasefire talks alongside the U.S. in Malaysia. When fighting started again in December, China and the U.S. helped broker another ceasefire.

Beijing also has issued peace proposals for the war in Ukraine, hosting the Ukrainian foreign minister at one point, even though it maintains what it calls a “no-limits” friendship with Russia.

Beijing's role remains carefully worded

China's diplomatic efforts tend to follow a pattern, experts say, with Beijing reiterating calls to respect the U.N. charter and national sovereignty.

With the Iran war, Xi last week called for “upholding the principles of peaceful coexistence, upholding national sovereignty, upholding the rule of international law, and coordinating development and security.”

“A lot of the points are remarkably consistent,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor of Chinese foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University.

In conflicts further afield, the stakes for Beijing can be low but benefits can be high as the world tries to come to terms with the Trump administration’s approach to negotiating, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of international relations at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, said.

“What the U.S. is doing is deeply damaging, and everyone suffers from it ... and China is displaying global leadership and exerting its global role by speaking to the rules-based international system,” he said. “It’s an inescapable contrast.”

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Leung reported from Hong Kong.

The latest war in the Middle East has far-reaching effects, including on countries ravaged by conflicts of their own.

After three years of war in Sudan, a public health clinic in Qoz Nafisa village in Khartoum state is struggling to support thousands of people like the 61-year-old Awad.

He said he has been spacing out his medicine for glaucoma, worried he won't be able to find more or afford it when he does. Money was already an issue because of the war at home, he said.

“Now we have the problem of the war in the Middle East. It's just made things worse," he said.

Aid groups say the Iran war has cut off vital shipping routes, upending their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world in need. The standoff between the United States and Iran has essentially shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and other routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai also have been impacted.

Transport costs have spiked with higher fuel and insurance rates, further straining the ability to deliver supplies. The United Nations says there's been up to a 20% cost increase on shipments, along with delays, as goods are rerouted.

The International Rescue Committee, which supports the clinic where Awad gets some of his medicines, said about $130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals intended for Sudan was stranded in Dubai for weeks and only now is making its way there.

The IRC says medicines and supplies such as antibiotics, painkillers and stethoscopes that were supposed to be flown from the United Arab Emirates to Port Sudan were instead transported by road to neighboring Oman and then flown out.

U.S. President Donald Trump this week extended the fragile ceasefire with Iran, but aid groups worry little will change.

“There’s still a real lag in the system. Shipments remain blocked or delayed, and that’s deeply worrying," said Madiha Raza, associate director for global public affairs and communications for IRC.

Sudan has widely been described as facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and Raza said any delay in delivering food, medicine and fuel has devastating consequences.

For the roughly 5,000 people who rely on the public health clinic that the IRC supports in Qoz Nafisa, some now must search at other clinics and spend their own money, which they often don't have.

During a visit by AP journalists on Wednesday, clinic staff said that since the war with Iran began at the end of February they've been struggling to meet demand.

A member of the military media accompanied The Associated Press during the visit for safety reasons. The AP retains full editorial control of its content.

Dr. Amira Sidig, the center's medical director, said the last shipment from the IRC was in December. Ones expected in February and April have not arrived.

Sudan's health ministry tries to fill the gap, but it only accounts for half of what's needed, Sidig said.

“It’s never enough because they also have a shortage, and we’re again out of stock quickly,” she said.

For several days this month, the clinic had no malaria treatment to give the 50% of patients who come in with the disease, Sidig said.

Ahmed Ibrahim, who works at the clinic, said patients are getting frustrated.

“When people come to the window, they say, ‘Why are you here and there is no medicine?’"

———- For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The 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.

Holding signs and waving banners, the workers gathered at a factory compound amid a heavy police presence, shouting “make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses!” Union officials said about 40,000 members participated in the protest. Police did not immediately provide a crowd estimate.

The rally came hours after Samsung’s cross-town rival, SK Hynix, posted an all time high in quarterly revenue and operating profit for the January-March quarter. It attributed the jump to expanding global investments in data centers and other AI infrastructure that drove up the demands for its memory chips.

Samsung, which together with SK Hynix produces about two-thirds of global memory chips, forecast earlier this month that its first-quarter operating profit would reach a record 57.2 trillion won ($38.6 billion). That would be higher than the 37.6 trillion won ($25.4 billion) posted by SK Hynix on Thursday, although Samsung has a more diverse lineup of businesses, including smartphones and consumer electronics.

Samsung’s union, which represents about 74,000 workers, says the company has failed to offer adequate compensation despite its strong performance. It has rejected the management’s proposal for bonuses of restricted stock and has called for removing caps on bonuses.

The union has threatened to stage an 18-day walkout starting May 21 if negotiations with management fail, and claims that such action would cost the company more than 1 trillion won ($676 million) a day.

“We won’t stop this fight until our fair demands are met,” Choi Seung-ho, a union leader, said through a loudspeaker from atop a crane-mounted structure.

While semiconductor makers have benefited from the AI boom, the war in the Middle East has clouded the outlook, disrupting supplies of key materials such as helium that are crucial to chipmaking and pushing up energy costs.

In a conference call Thursday, Woo Hyun Kim, SK Hynix’s chief financial officer, said the company is closely monitoring the conflict but does not expect a meaningful impact on production, saying it has been diversifying its sourcing of helium and bromine beyond the Middle East and has sufficient inventory.

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Kim Tong-hyung reported from Seoul, South Korea. AP writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to the report from Seoul.

The EU also approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine. The measures were prepared early this year and set to be announced in February to mark the fourth anniversary of the conflict, but Hungary and Slovakia opposed the move.

Hungary and Slovakia have been locked in a feud with Ukraine since Russian oil deliveries to the two EU countries were halted in January after a pipeline was damaged. Ukrainian officials blamed the damage on Russian drone attacks.

Ukraine desperately needs the 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) loan package to prop up its war-ravaged economy and help keep Russian forces at bay. Hungary angered its EU partners by reneging on a December deal to provide the funds.

“Today the Council approved the final element needed to allow for the disbursement of the 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine,” Cypriot Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said. “Loan disbursements will start flowing as soon as possible, providing vital support for Ukraine’s most pressing budgetary needs.”

The political greenlight for the loan package came after Russian oil began flowing to Slovakia again through the Druzhba pipeline that crosses Ukraine. Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed that development, calling it “good news.”

“Let’s hope a serious relation between Ukraine and the European Union has been established,” Fico said.

Ukraine and most of its European backers oppose imports of Russian oil which have helped to fund Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year. But unlike the rest of the European Union, Hungary and Slovakia still depend on Russia for their energy needs.

Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was recently defeated in an election, had accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying repairs — an allegation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied.

Fico said Thursday he still didn’t believe the pipeline was damaged at all and alleged that the pipeline and oil “were used in the current geopolitical battle.”

The flow resumed after three months at 2 a.m. Thursday, the Slovak economy ministry said, lifting a major obstacle to approving the EU funds for Ukraine later Thursday, just as EU leaders gather for a summit in Cyprus.

The 27-nation EU had originally intended to use frozen Russian assets as collateral for the loan. But that option was blocked by Belgium, where the bulk of the frozen assets are held.

In December, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed not to stop their EU partners from borrowing the money on international markets as long as the three countries did not have to take part in the scheme.

But Orbán, who has repeatedly blocked EU aid to Ukraine, angered the other 24 countries by later reneging on that deal over the pipeline dispute and as campaigning heated up ahead of the April 12 election that he lost in a landslide.

The EU has also been trying since February to push through a new raft of sanctions against Russia, which Hungary and Slovakia blocked due to the oil feud.

The sanctions approved on Thursday were expected to include a ban on maritime services helping Russia to ship oil and target the country’s financial services and trade sectors. Dozens more ships working in Russia’s shadow fleet transporting oil were also likely to be targeted

Oil revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

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Janicek reported from Prague.

Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.

Pakistan had planned to host another round of talks, but the White House suspended U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Islamabad as Iran rebuffed efforts to restart the discussions.

In southern Lebanon, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least six people and wounded others, according to local authorities. Israel denied carrying out one of the strikes and did not immediately comment on the others.

The attacks came as Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors prepared for a new meeting in Washington toward extending a fragile 10-day ceasefire that began last week.

Here is the latest:

Three killed inside vehicle in central Gaza Strip

An Israeli drone strike killed three men inside a car Thursday in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.

Those killed were taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Two of them were inside the vehicle targeted on Salah al-Din Street near Maghazi camp, while a third was nearby, hospital director Raed Hussein told The Associated Press. Three others were injured.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire has held since October, but renewed strikes have killed 791 people and wounded 2,235, according to the latest figures released by Gaza’s health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll.

US military seizes oil tanker associated with Iran

The U.S. military seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil.

The U.S. Defense Department said it seized the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Defense Department said.

The seizure comes after Iran attacked three cargo ships Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them.

The Defense Department released footage of the seizure of the vessel, showing U.S. troops on the deck of the vessel.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The Majestic X is a Guyana-flagged oil tanker. It previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“Iran relies upon a sprawling network of tankers and ship management firms in multiple jurisdictions to transport its petroleum to overseas customers — using tactics such as false documentation, manipulation of vessel tracking systems, and constant changes to the names and flags of vessels,” the Treasury said at the time.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

Since the start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait, through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.

After the attacks Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Channel that American officials that Iran’s seizure of the ships didn’t violate truce terms because “these were not U.S. or Israeli ships, these were two international vessels.”

However, the ceasefire has been strained by dueling American attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in Islamabad, where Pakistani officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

Iran’s exiled crown prince splattered with red liquid

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid Thursday as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin.

He waved to supporters in the aftermath and got into a car that drove away.

The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

Pahlavi has been in exile for nearly 50 years.

His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

Iran’s exiled crown prince criticizes ceasefire

Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, criticized the ceasefire between the Unites States and Iran.

He argued Thursday that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

“I don’t see that happening,” he said during a news conference in Berlin. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”

Pahlavi has tried to position himself for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.

Pahlavi called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.

He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.

“Will the free world do something or watch the slaughter in silence,” Pahlavi wondered.

Pakistan interior minister meets US official

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement Thursday he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.

The meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.

Naqvi said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.

Naqvi praised U.S. President Donald Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.

Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.

Iran hangs another member of exiled opposition group

Iran said Thursday it hanged another member of the Iranian exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the man as Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr.

It accused him of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, without offering specifics. It also did not say when or where it arrested him.

Iran has accused many it has hanged during the war as having links to Israel. Activists say Iran routinely tries capital cases behind closed doors, uses coerced confessions and doesn’t allow the accused to properly challenge the evidence against them.

This brings to nine the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

The NFL draft is here in the Steel City.

A total of 257 players will live out a dream and hear their name called over the course of the next three days, culminating a long journey that required a ton of hard of work and plenty of sacrifice.

The first round kicks off Thursday night when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell takes the stage inside the main theater outside Acrisure Stadium and announces the Las Vegas Raiders’ selection with the No. 1 pick. Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who quarterbacked Indiana to its first national title, is the consensus favorite for the Raiders. It would be a downright stunner if he’s not headed to Las Vegas.

The poised and polished Mendoza will get a chance to learn from Kirk Cousins and play for part-owner Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion who is ready to impart some of his wisdom.

While 16 other players will enjoy the on-site festivities and have the opportunity to give Goodell a giant hug on stage, Mendoza is spending the night with his family in Miami. His mother, Elsa Mendoza, has multiple sclerosis so traveling is difficult.

“I’ve done so much traveling this year, it’s a lot easier for my mom and her health is at the forefront,” Mendoza said. “We need to hop on a plane the next day for whatever team drafts me and to be there with the village that’s poured into me — friends, family, coaches, mentors — to be there with all of them and to share the start of this NFL journey, it’s going to create the best memory for our family.”

Mendoza would be the fifth No. 1 pick in the last nine in-person drafts - 2020 was held virtually - to skip the spectacle and celebrate privately with family and friends. Travon Walker (2022), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Baker Mayfield (2018) and Myles Garrett (2017) were the others.

The biggest question is who goes No. 2 to the New York Jets. Will it be Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey? They’re considered the two best edge rushers in the draft. Or will the Jets pull off a surprise?

After Mendoza, it could be a while until another quarterback is selected. Alabama’s Ty Simpson is expected to be the next one. He’s among the group of players in attendance and there’s a chance he might have to wait until Round 2 on Friday night.

“I can't control how people think,” Simpson said Wednesday. “All I can control is how I play and how much of a player I can be so wherever I go, whoever gets me, I'm gonna make sure that's what I do wherever that is.”

The first round should be about an hour faster than it's been because the time between picks was shortened from 10 minutes to eight minutes.

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

“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them. In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend,” Vrabel said Wednesday night, according to ESPN. “This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.

“I have always wanted to lead by example, and I believe this is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be. This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.”

The photos of Vrabel and Russini at a Sedona resort were taken before the annual NFL meetings that began in Phoenix on March 29, according to the New York Post, which published the photos this month.

The NFL said last weekend that it is not investigating Vrabel’s behavior.

Vrabel addressed the matter for the first time on Tuesday, telling reporters he’s had “ difficult conversations with people I care about.”

Vrabel and Russini, who are both married, released written statements to the Post after the publication of the story downplaying what the photos depict. But Russini resigned from The Athletic less than a week later, after the Post’s report prompted an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet.

Vrabel said he addressed players about the matter on Monday after they arrived for the start of the voluntary workout program. Two Patriots players were scheduled to be made available to reporters on Tuesday, but Vrabel said he wanted to speak before they did. He also said he didn’t want the interest in the Post photos to take attention away from the NFL draft, which begins Thursday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Over 400 nuclear reactors are operational in 31 countries, while about 70 more are under construction. Nuclear power accounts for producing about 10% of the world’s electricity, equivalent to about a quarter of all sources of low-carbon power.

Nuclear reactors have seen steady improvements, adding more safety features and making them cheaper to build and operate.

While Chernobyl and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan diminished the appetite for such power sources, it was clear years ago that there probably would be a revival, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

With the war in the Middle East, “I am 100% sure nuclear is coming back,” he added.

“It’s seen as a secure electricity generation system, and we will see that the comeback of nuclear will be very strong, both in (the) Americas, in Europe and in Asia,” Birol told The Associated Press.

Nuclear energy reliance stays strong

The United States is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, with 94 operational reactors accounting for about 30% of global generation of nuclear electricity. And it is increasing efforts to develop nuclear energy capacity with a goal to quadruple it by 2050.

“The world cannot power its industries, meet the demands of artificial intelligence, or secure its energy future without nuclear power,” U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas DiNanno said last month.

China operates 61 nuclear reactors and is leading the world in building new units, with nearly 40 under construction with a goal to surpass the U.S. and become the global leader in nuclear capacity.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that it was Europe’s “strategic mistake” to cut nuclear energy and outlined new initiatives to encourage building power plants.

Russia, meanwhile, has taken a strong lead in exporting its nuclear know-how, building 20 reactors worldwide.

Chernobyl’s Reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, while Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. The accident contaminated nearby areas and spewed radiation across Europe.

Ukraine still relies heavily on nuclear plants to generate about half of its electricity. Those plants have played a vital role after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. Moscow's forces have captured Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Kyiv accused Russia of a drone attack on the protective containment structure covering the damaged Chernobyl reactor.

Japan has restarted 15 reactors after reviewing the lessons of the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima plant, and 10 more are in the process of getting approval to restart.

South Africa has the only nuclear power plant on the African continent, although Russia is building one in Egypt, and several other African nations are exploring the technology.

“The momentum we are seeing today is the result of a growing recognition that reliable, low-carbon electricity will be essential to meet the world’s rising energy demand,” said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

EU eyes nuclear expansion

Europe sought to wean itself off Russian energy after the Ukraine conflict, but its dependence on hydrocarbons was underlined by the war in the Middle East.

The European Commission has shifted its perception of nuclear energy and views it as part of clean energy, along with wind and solar power, to achieve climate goals.

In 1990, nuclear energy accounted for about a third of Europe’s electricity; now it's only about 15%, and von der Leyen has acknowledged that its reliance on imported fossil fuels puts it at a disadvantage.

“I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power,” she said recently. “In the last years, we see a global revival of nuclear energy. And Europe wants to be part of it.”

The EU is considering the development of Small Modular Reactors. Expected to become operational in the early 2030s, they are seen as cheaper and faster to build and more flexible than traditional reactors.

France and a few other EU members, including Sweden and Finland, have spearheaded nuclear power. On the other hand, Germany, Austria and Italy are among the EU members that outlawed its use.

In a major policy reversal last year, Belgium repealed a law that demanded the closure of its reactors and extended their lifespan. Spain, meanwhile, still plans to phase out its nuclear capacity and shut down its seven operational reactors between 2027 and 2035.

France remains a nuclear powerhouse

With 57 reactors at 19 plants, France relies on nuclear power for nearly 70% of its electricity.

Successive governments have backed nuclear power as central to France’s energy independence, undeterred by the Chernobyl disaster. In 2022, President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build six new pressurized water reactors, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions and support the transition to low-carbon energy.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the gas supply crunch triggered by the conflict in Ukraine, “revealed the limits of deploying renewable electricity and Europe’s dependence on gas,” said Nicolas Goldberg, a partner at Paris-based Colombus Consulting.

“France has therefore been reinforced in its strategy of maintaining its existing nuclear plants, which means extending their lifespan as much as possible,” he said.

Germany stands firm in phasing it out

Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by past accidents, had pressured successive governments to end using a technology that critics saw as unsafe and unsustainable. Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors in 2023, the final step in plans that had been drawn up by governments of various political stripes over two decades.

A significant nuclear revival in Europe’s biggest economy still looks far-fetched, despite recent talk among some in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right bloc about being open to a possible future generation of small modular reactors.

“The decision is irreversible — I regret it, but that’s how it is,” Merz said, noting the plant operators's "consistent answer was: ’We are too far along with demolition.'”

Russian domestic nuclear expansion and exporting reactors

Russia has aggressively expanded its nuclear power capacity both domestically and internationally.

It has 34 operational reactors, including eight Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors, known as the light water graphite reactors, which account for about a quarter of all nuclear power generation. They have seen extensive modernizations, adding safety features to fix the inherent design flaw that, coupled with human error, triggered the Chernobyl disaster.

Key projects under construction include new units at the Kursk, Leningrad and Smolensk sites, a prospective plant in the Far East, and prospective floating nuclear units.

Russia also is building 20 reactors in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and has signed contracts to launch construction in several other countries.

Russia has built the first nuclear reactor for neighboring ally Belarus, which has seen a third of its territory contaminated from the Chernobyl accident.

“Belarusian authorities are using the changed context and the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’ to claim that we are acting like everyone else in the world, rather than solving the problems of Belarusians in the contaminated territories,” said Irina Sukhiy, founder of the Belarus ecological group Green Network.

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John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa and Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% before the opening bell, a day after hitting a record 7,137.90. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while futures for the Nasdaq, also coming off a record high, dipped 0.4%.

A growing sense of unease over an end to the Iran war, which is in its eighth week, is weighing on investor sentiment as it's unclear when another round of peace talks will take place. Iran has fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz despite the extension of a ceasefire from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Global energy prices have surged on the Iran war energy shock. Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.27 early Thursday at $103.18 per barrel. It was around $70 a barrel before the Iran war began in late February.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.21 to $94.17 per barrel.

As hopes for a resolution between the U.S. and Iran fade and peace talks stall, the oil market “is having to reprice expectations,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a research note.

“If no progress is made, the market will become increasingly numb to the noise and headlines that have dictated price action recently,” they wrote.

Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil normally passed before the war, is still largely halted and the likelihood of its reopening dimmed after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized two of three ships it attacked.

In equities trading, Tesla tumbled more than 3% overnight after Elon Musk's electric car company beat Wall Street's first-quarter expectations but announced a massive $25 billion capital expenditure investment for 2026. Some of that spending to going toward the production ramp up of its Optimus robots, including a new factory in Texas, the company said.

American Airlines on Thursday joined other carriers in cutting performance expectations this year because of soaring jet fuel costs. American’s shares dipped before the opening bell even though its losses were less than expected and it posted strong revenue.

In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX lost 0.5%, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.7%.

Markets in Japan and South Korea briefly touched new records, driven by buying of tech shares. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.8% to 59,140.23 after breaching the 60,000 level for the first time ever.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9% higher at 6,475.81 after briefly surpassing 6,500. The government reported a better-than-expected 1.7% annual economic growth rate for the January-March quarter, boosted by strong exports, particularly of computer chips used in the artificial intelligence boom.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1% to 25,915.20, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3% to 4,093.25.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6% to 8,793.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.4% and the Sensex in India sank 1%.

Matt Duchene tied it for Dallas on a power play midway through the third period, seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy averted a short-handed goal that would’ve put Minnesota up by two.

After the Wild failed to convert two overtime power plays, finishing 1 for 7 with the man advantage, the Stars took advantage of their opportunity after Danila Yurov’s delay-of-game penalty. Miro Heiskanen's shot was knocked in by Johnston for his third goal in three games — and his sixth winning goal in four career postseasons.

“It’s kind of a little blurry, but just trying to get to the net and just trying to get my stick on the puck,” said Johnston, who had a career-high 45 goals during the regular season.

The game ended at 12:54 a.m.

Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime he poked behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but the puck skidded straight across the crease.

Wallstedt polished off the first Stars' power play by snapping his glove around Mikko Rantanen’s shot and smothering Esa Lindell’s bad-angle attempt. Johnston then spoiled a brilliant 32-save performance by Wallstedt with his deflection.

“We definitely played well enough to win," Wallstedt said. "It’s small margins. It’s a ‘D’ shot that double tips and hits twice and goes over my shoulder. Yeah, it’s bounces, but that’s what it is.”

Seconds after the audible thump from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger’s blocker save on Brock Faber’s slap shot, the Wild had another prime opportunity to win it in the first overtime when Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel. But even with Faksa playing most of that penalty kill without a stick, the Wild failed to generate much pressure. Jamie Benn’s holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave them another try to crack Oettinger, who finished with 28 saves.

“I had my head down, looking out of one eye, just like, ’Good Lord, get through this,'” Duchene said.

The Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen’s power play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene’s crowd-quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. That included 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 after Boldy’s delay-of-game penalty late in the second period.

As soon as he left the box, Spurgeon saw an opening to start a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first goal in the NHL playoffs to give the Wild a 3-2 lead.

Jason Robertson scored after a slick stretch pass by Duchene to put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.

Marcus Johansson scored on a power play to start the rally less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tying goal in the second after a brilliant setup by Boldy. The U.S. Olympian, who had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, weaved through four Stars skaters and drew a crowd behind the net before zipping the puck back into the slot for Eriksson Ek to knock in.

Entering these playoffs, the winner of Game 3 after a split of the first two games in a best-of-seven went on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time (245 of 369) in NHL history.

The Wild, who have not advanced in the postseason since 2015, fell on the flip side of that ratio in each of their last three appearances. They won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Vegas last year, on Dallas in 2023 and on St. Louis in 2022, before being eliminated with three straight losses every time.

This was the third time in Wild history they reached double overtime, including a 3-2 win at Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Stars in 2023.

The Wild, who have a 4-14 series record in their underwhelming playoff history, have lost 17 of their last 23 postseason home games.

“Whether we won tonight or lost tonight, this series isn’t over,” Hughes said. “It’s a really good hockey game. We had our looks. They had their looks. Just leave it at that.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points in the series-opening win on Sunday, going 5 for 18 from the field. He bounced back in Game 2 with 13-for-25 shooting after being presented the NBA Clutch Player of the Year trophy before the game.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams each added 19 points for Oklahoma City, though Williams left the game in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and did not return. Williams, an All-Star in 2024-25, missed 30 games this season with a right hamstring injury after missing the first 19 games of the season following surgery on his right wrist.

Five higher-seeded teams had lost home games in the first week of the playoffs before Wednesday, including the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference, Detroit, Boston and New York, and the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the West, San Antonio and Denver. Oklahoma City avoided that fate by shooting 47.3% from the field and forcing 21 turnovers.

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 30 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker scored 22 points and Jalen Green added 21 for Phoenix, which will host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Thunder led 65-57 at halftime. Williams made his first six field goals and had 19 points at the break, while Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

The action picked up early in the second half as Brooks and Oklahoma City's Lu Dort — both members of Canada's national team — got double technical fouls after a brief skirmish following a made free throw.

Holmgren started the second half hot. He scored eight points in just over four minutes to help the Thunder go up 77-63 and force a Phoenix timeout. Oklahoma City extended the lead to 100-77 at the end of the third quarter.

Oklahoma City pushed the lead to 26 points early in the fourth quarter before Phoenix made a final push. Booker made a pull-up jumper and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but he rebounded and made a mid-range jumper to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 110-97 with five minutes to play. The Suns got no closer than 10 points.

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

The election has national implications. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking gains in a state long dominated by a regional opposition party, while a victory for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would bolster her position as a leading opposition figure.

A second phase of polling is scheduled for next week. Voting also was taking place Thursday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The voting was part of a wider round of state elections testing the BJP's reach in opposition strongholds. The results of the latest elections and the earlier polls in Kerala and Assam states and the federally administered territory of Puducherry were expected May 4.

9 million names removed, but voters aren't sure why

The election is taking place after a sweeping revision of electoral rolls by the Election Commission of India aimed at removing duplicate, deceased and ineligible voters. Officials say about 9 million names — roughly 12% of the electorate — were deleted, including 6.3 million listed as deceased or absent and 2.7 million marked “doubtful” and pending verification.

Some affected voters said they had voted in previous elections and hold valid identification but were removed without clear explanation.

Sheikh Najrul Islam, a 53-year-old paramilitary officer on election duty in West Bengal, said he last voted in 2021 and holds valid identification documents, yet his name no longer appears on the voter list.

“The Election Commission has deputed me to ensure free and fair polls. Yet, it does not consider me a citizen of this country,” he said.

In another case, Taibunessa Begum, a 62-year-old retired school administrator, said she was shocked to find her name deleted despite having a passport, pension records and earlier voter registration.

“It felt like being told I don’t exist,” she said.

Polarizing rhetoric deepens the concerns

Opposition leaders allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslims and other marginalized communities.

The Election Commission of India has denied the allegations, saying the exercise eliminated dead, duplicate and fake voters on the electoral roll.

Modi’s party said the revision was a routine administrative exercise carried out across multiple states and argued that any disproportionate impact in West Bengal reflects the presence of undocumented migrants. They say many Hindu voters were also removed.

Critics, however, link the deletions to broader political messaging by Modi and some BJP leaders, who have repeatedly suggested the revisions of the voter lists targeted people who immigrated illegally from neighboring Bangladesh. Opposition leaders said such rhetoric has deepened fears among minority communities, particularly Muslims, that the voter roll revision is being used to exclude them.

Derek O’Brien, of the opposition Trinamool Congress, called the exercise “invisible rigging.”

"The motive is to disenfranchise voters,” he said.

Analysts warn the deletions could fuel fears of longer-term consequences.

“Losing one’s place in the electoral roll can be deeply unsettling. It is not only about voting rights; it is about dignity, recognition, and the assurance that one counts as a citizen,” political analyst Iman Kalyan Lahiri said.

For many affected voters, however, the issue is more immediate.

“This is not just about politics,” said Begum. “It is about identity, about whether we belong to this country.”

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

“I've run out of things to say,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, he continues to put himself in a really good spot to take good swings on good pitches. He's making great swing decisions, making a ton of contact and when he hits it, he hits it really hard.”

He added: “Even the singles he's hitting are hard. The damage is incredible and it's impressive to watch.”

He is the 13th rookie in big-league history to go deep in five straight, according to MLB.com. The Japanese first baseman also tied the team's franchise record, a mark shared by A.J. Pierzynski (2012), Paul Konerko (2011), Carlos Lee (2003), Frank Thomas (twice in 1994), Ron Kittle (1983) and Greg Luzinski (1983).

Murakami's two-run homer came off Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson in the seventh, cutting Arizona's lead to 10-7. His 10 homers are second in the big leagues behind Houston's Yordan Alvarez, who has 11.

Murakami’s 10 homers, eight coming on the road, are the most in MLB history by a Japanese-born player in his first 24 career games.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Colombia is lobbying to become a buyer of Venezuelan gas and last month sought an exemption from U.S. sanctions to invest in Venezuelan electricity projects and natural gas ventures, which could include the reopening of a gas pipeline between the neighboring South American countries.

Petro's administration also reached agreements with Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA to replace the pipeline in the Colombian section.

Petro and Rodríguez are also expected to discuss the presence of illegal armed groups and drug trafficking along their shared border.

“The United States has an interest in Colombia becoming the buyer of Venezuelan gas,” said Ronal Rodríguez Durán, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at the Universidad del Rosario.

“Colombia, by virtue of its geographical nature, would become the client that could quickly bring revenue into Venezuela under U.S. supervision," he added.

The topic was part of the conversation during the nearly two-hour meeting between Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in February. Both said the talks were friendly — a dramatic about-face from weeks earlier, when Trump accused Petro of pumping cocaine into the U.S. and threatened his country with military action.

According to Petro, they discussed how to revitalize the Venezuelan economy with Colombia’s assistance, as well as the role of the U.S., which the Colombian leader said should “lift sanctions” on Venezuela.

The Trump administration is aiming to revive the Venezuelan economy by drawing foreign investment toward its vast natural resources, particularly oil, following years of decline under the Maduro government, which saw the country crumble and forced at least 7.7 million people to migrate.

Petro's leverage as mediator in Venezuela is limited

Ahead of Friday's meeting, Petro announced that his delegation, which includes top military and police officials, will tackle border security with Rodríguez.

The focus remains on the Catatumbo region, where rival armed groups fight for territorial control and Petro stressed the necessity of “close collaboration on intelligence,” warning that without it, “bombs land in the wrong places ... and end up killing civilians.”

Colombia-Venezuela ties have long been on the rocks. Petro did not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president in the wake of the contested July 2024 elections that triggered protests, which sparked widespread repression. Still, he maintained diplomatic ties with Caracas.

Colombia's government has said that the Petro-Rodríguez meeting on Friday aims to “contribute to a resolution of Venezuela’s political crisis.”

However, it's unclear how this can be achieved.

Rodríguez Durán, the university researcher, said Petro’s leverage is limited regarding any potential mediation, given that his term ends in August. Future ties with Venezuela will likely also be influenced by who takes power next in Colombia.

Petro and Rodríguez were expected to meet last month at their shared border, but their respective governments abruptly canceled the meeting citing “force majeure,” which they did not explain, and simply said it would take place at a later time.

Before that canceled meeting, several Venezuelan nongovernmental organizations had addressed an open letter to Petro, urging Colombia to contribute to the “promotion of democratic principles and human rights,” including the release of “all political prisoners” and an end to “persecution.”

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Suárez reported from Bogota, Colombia.

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

Officials plan to unveil the marker Thursday in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimoff lived on a ranch just outside town.

Andre was billed at 7-foot-4 (2.24 meters) and 520 pounds (236 kilograms) during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger than life villain, Roussimoff was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimoff appeared on film as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.

Roussimoff was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive landfill nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.

Roussimoff died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funeral. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

The Richmond County marker at NC Highway 72 and Old NC Highway 220 simply says “Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimoff. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

“They were demolishing it gradually until they reached the main square and now, as you can see, there are no more houses,” said Hassan Sweidan, a resident of a neighboring village looking across at Beit Lif — about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Lebanon’s border with Israel — from a nearby hill.

Since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group.

But in many cases, like Beit Lif, the demolition is almost complete. The wide scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents increasingly worried that large numbers of people displaced by the latest war will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.

Because of security concerns and limited access, neither U.N. peacekeepers nor Lebanese officials have been able to conduct a detailed survey of the villages where demolitions are taking place. But observers have described entire residential neighborhoods in multiple villages being systematically destroyed.

The demolitions mirror what has happened in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli bulldozers and controlled explosions have almost entirely razed the city of Rafah and other towns under Israeli control. There, Israel says it is removing structures used by Hamas.

Lebanese officials plan to raise the issue of widespread demolitions on Thursday when they hold ceasefire talks with their Israeli counterparts in Washington — part of the first direct negotiations between the two countries in decades.

A 10-day ceasefire is shaky

On March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran, Hezbollah entered the fray by firing missiles into northern Israel. The group had been under pressure by the Lebanese government to disarm following its previous war with Israel in 2024, but refused to do so.

Israel responded with an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon that prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the southern part of the country. The fighting has killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children.

The fighting was mostly halted by a 10-day ceasefire that began Friday. But both sides have carried out strikes since then. Hezbollah has justified its attacks in part by pointing to the Israeli military’s destruction of houses.

Israeli officials have said they intend to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, and the military has issued maps of a “forward defense line” that extends several miles into Lebanon and encompasses dozens of villages whose residents have not been allowed to return.

Following the announcement of the ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this area had been "cleared of terrorists and weapons and is empty of citizens, and will continue to be cleared of terrorists' infrastructure, including the destruction of houses in Lebanese villages that border (Israel) and have become terrorists outposts in every sense.”

‘There are no more houses’

After the ceasefire went into effect, Sweidan returned to check on his home in the southern Lebanese village of Yater. It is still intact.

Because Sweidan's village overlooks neighboring Beit Lif, he has been able to observe Israeli army operations there. Despite damage from Israeli airstrikes during the war, most of Beit Lif was still standing on the first day of the ceasefire, he said.

But on the second day, Israeli forces arrived with bulldozers, jackhammers and tanks.

“We would come each day to see how much of the village was demolished," he said.

Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL, said that peacekeepers “have observed demolitions taking place in several areas” since the truce.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the target of the demolition work is Hezbollah, not Lebanon or its civilians, and that it "operates in accordance with international law and does not destroy civilian property unless required by imperative military necessity.”

New demolitions come on top of existing destruction

There was already widespread destruction in border areas after the previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024. Some homeowners could afford repairs, but there was no large-scale reconstruction.

Demolition also took place during the most recent war. Photographs taken on April 12 by AP from the towns of Menara and Misgav Am in northern Israel show excavators and bulldozers destroying homes on the Lebanese side of the border.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday that Israeli bulldozers were destroying neighborhoods, roads and infrastructure in the town of Khiam, a battleground in the Israel-Hezbollah fighting, “in a scene that suggests an attempt to completely erase the town’s identity.”

The news agency also reported “systematic bombing operations" Wednesday affecting residential neighborhoods in the city of Bint Jbeil — another flashpoint in the fighting — and in the villages of Beit Lif, Shamaa, Tair Harfa and Hanine.

Hezbollah said Tuesday it had launched drone and rocket attacks, the first since the ceasefire, in response to Israeli “attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages in southern Lebanon.”

As Lebanese officials scramble to keep the ceasefire in place, President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that “halting Israel’s demolition operations in southern villages and towns” is something Lebanese ambassadors in the United States will raise with their Israeli counterparts during ceasefire talks on Thursday.

The talks were expected to focus on a potential extension of the 10-day truce and establishing a framework for future talks aimed at a lasting a peace between the two countries.

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This story has been updated to correct that UNIFIL is a U.N. peacekeeping force, not a U.S. peacekeeping force.

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Associated Press journalists Malak Harb in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

For people like Zack Loud of Farmington, Minnesota, it was a surprise to learn that under a new law, Canada already considered him and his siblings citizens because their grandmother is Canadian.

“My wife and I were already talking about potentially looking at jobs outside the country, but citizenship pushed Canada way up on our list,” he said.

Since the new law took effect on Dec. 15, 2025, immigration lawyers in the United States and Canada say they have been overwhelmed by clients seeking help submitting proof of citizenship applications. Driven by politics, family heritage, job opportunities and other factors, thousands of Americans are exploring whether the easier process makes now the right time to gain dual citizenship.

Nicholas Berning, an immigration attorney at Boundary Bay Law in Bellingham, Washington, said his practice is “pretty much flooded with this.”

“We’ve kind of shifted a lot of other work away in order to push these cases through,” he said.

And immigration attorney Amandeep Hayer said his Vancouver, B.C., area practice went from about 200 citizenship cases a year to more than 20 consults per day.

How the new law works

Canada has been changing its citizenship laws for decades, whether to update historic interpretations of law or to address discrimination issues.

Previously, Canadian citizenship by descent could only be passed down to one generation, from a parent to a child. That changed when Canadian bill C-3 took effect Dec. 15, 2025, and opened up citizenship to anyone born before that date who could prove they have a direct Canadian ancestor — a grandparent, great-grandparent or even more distant ancestor.

Those born on or after Dec. 15 need to show their parent met a residency requirement of 1,095 days.

Under the new law, descendants of Canadians already are considered citizens, but they must provide proof to obtain a certificate of citizenship. Hayer estimated that there are millions of Americans who are Canadian descendants.

“You are Canadian, and you’re considered to be one your whole life,” said Hayer, who advocated for the new law in the Parliament of Canada. “That’s really what you’re applying for, the recognition of a right you already have vested.”

“The best way I can put it is like, if a baby’s born tomorrow in Canada, the baby’s Canadian even though they don’t have the birth certificate,” he said.

Americans interested in dual citizenship

American applicants have different motivations, but many say President Donald Trump's efforts on immigration and other topics have led them to seek dual citizenship.

Michelle Cunha, of Bedford, Massachusetts, said she decided to move to Canada after reflecting on decades of political activism and deciding she had “nothing left to give.”

“I put in my best effort for 30 years. I have done everything that I possibly can to make the United States what it promises the world to be, a place of freedom, a place of equality,” Cunha said. “But clearly we’re not there and we’re not going to get there anytime soon.”

Troy Hicks, who had a great-grandfather born in Canada, said he was spurred by an international trip.

“I recently went to Australia and you know, first words out of the first person I talked to in Australia was basically an expletive about Trump and the U.S.,” said Hicks, of Pahrump, Nevada. “It was just like, whoa, I walked off a 20-hour flight and literally the first words of somebody’s mouth to me were that. ... So the idea of doing that with a Canadian passport just seemed easier, better, more palatable.”

Maureen Sullivan, of Naples, Florida, said she was motivated by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which hit home when her teenage nephew encountered federal officers near his high school in St. Paul. Sullivan, whose grandmother was Canadian, said she sees citizenship in Canada as an option in case things in the U.S. “really go south.”

“When I first heard about the bill, I couldn’t believe it. It was like this little gift that fell in my lap,” Sullivan said. “There was kind of this collective excitement amongst the (family) who just felt like, we wanted to feel like we were doing something to take care of our security in the future if needed.”

How much will Canadian citizenship cost?

For those with documentation ready at hand, the proof of citizenship application fee is a relatively inexpensive 75 Canadian dollars ($55).

But costs will climb for those seeking help from an attorney or genealogist.

Cunha said she used an attorney and estimates the cost will be about $6,500.

However, Mary Mangan, of Somerville, Massachusetts, filed her application in January using advice from online forums.

“There are some situations where a lawyer might be the right thing, but for many people, I would guess 90% of people can probably do this on their own,” Mangan said.

The website for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office, which processes applications, says processing times for a certificate is around 10 months, with more 56,000 people awaiting a decision.

The agency said that from Dec. 15 to Jan. 31, it confirmed citizenship by descent for 1,480 people, though not all were Americans. Last year, 24,500 Americans gained dual US-Canada citizenship.

What do Canadians think?

Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, said Canadians are generally a “welcoming people.”

“I think where people start looking askance is someone who’s never been to Canada, who has very thin ties. They can get a passport, becoming Canadians of convenience. People don’t like that,” he said.

Hampson said some also worry a surge of interest from Americans could delay efforts by refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing vulnerable situations.

“Canadians don’t like queue jumpers,” Hampson said.

The 21-year-old whose legal name is David Burke returns to a Los Angeles court for a hearing Thursday, just three days after he was charged and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and seven months after the girl's dismembered body was found in his Tesla in the Hollywood Hills.

In a rare move, he is exercising his right in California to have a judge decide within 10 court days of his arraignment whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Nearly all defendants waive this right, slow-pedal this part of the process and wait months to reach this stage.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” lead defense attorney Blair Berk told a judge Monday.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said in court that the prosecution would be “very happy” to present their evidence, and that “40 terabytes” of it have been collected and can be shared.

One key set of evidence became public Wednesday with the release of the months-old autopsy report from the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office. It said Rivas Hernandez’s death was caused by two penetrating wounds to the upper body.

Burke, who is being held without bail, also pleaded not guilty to lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. Prosecutors allege he had been sexually abusing Rivas Hernandez for at least a year starting when she was 13, killed her when she threatened to report the relationship and dismembered her body about two weeks later.

Thursday's hearing comes exactly one year after the day authorities say she was last known to be alive and went to Burke's house.

A secret grand jury heard months of testimony in the case. But it had not issued an indictment when the singer was arrested last week. Its existence became public in a February court filing in Texas where Burke’s relatives sought to reject subpoenas that they testify.

His attorney told the judge Monday that it was this secret testimony that was prompting the defense to attempt to have the evidence be seen.

It is not clear whether the presentation of evidence would begin at Thursday's hearing or whether the proceedings will be used to schedule witnesses for the coming days.

The girl's parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, made their first public statement in the case on Tuesday, calling their daughter “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”

“We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us," they said. "We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among young fans for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.

His debut full-length album, “Withered,” was released one year ago, two days after the date prosecutors estimate that Rivas Hernandez was killed.

“I'm sure they appreciated it,” Pistons power forward Isaiah Stewart said.

Wallace, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Mahorn, an enforcer for the Bad Boys, helped the Pistons win a lot of games that looked like Wednesday night's slugfest.

Stewart had two blocks, including one that denied Paolo Banchero a dunk.

“I’m willing to lay my body on the line to make those plays for the energy,” Stewart said.

Top-seeded Detroit held eighth-seeded Orlando to 33% shooting and season lows in points and field goals. The Pistons forced 19 turnovers and blocked 11 shots.

“When we play defense at the level we’re capable of, it triggers everything for us,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We can be an elite defensive team, a disruptive defense. It's Pistons basketball. That’s what it looks like.

“We had one off night and it came at a bad time.”

In Game 1, the Pistons had a sluggish start in each half and allowed the Magic to make almost half their shots All five Orlando starters scored at least 16 points in a 112-101 win.

The Pistons were the aggressors in Game 2, blocking seven shots in the opening 12 minutes to tie a franchise playoff record for blocks in a quarter.

In the third, they went on a 30-3 run and outscored the Magic 38-16.

Detroit coasted in the fourth quarter, winning a playoff game for the first time at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons ended an NBA-record, 11-game home losing streak in the playoffs that dates to 2008, when the franchise played at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

“Obviously, we've heard it,” Tobias Harris said after scoring 16 points, blocking two shots and making two steals.

The Magic, a little reluctantly, gave the Pistons some credit for their defense.

“They did a heck of a job of reaching, grabbing and holding,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They protected that paint and our ability to get downhill.”

Jalen Suggs scored 19 and Banchero had 18 for the Magic. They combined to make just 14 of 35 shots.

“They met us at the rim a few times, and they brought the intensity on defense,” Banchero said. “But we got good looks, and nobody really had a great night shooting the ball.”

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

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Scott Nelson Nida, 55, of Pompano Beach, was arrested Tuesday and is facing charges including false imprisonment of a person, robbery without a firearm or weapon, domestic violence battery and grand theft auto, according to jail records.

Deputies said just before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, they responded to the intersection of Southeast 54th Street and 19th Terrace in Pompano Beach after a bystander called 911 reporting that Nida had battered the victim and taken her vehicle.

When deputies arrived, they spoke with the victim, who “appeared to have a bloody and bruised face, and was not wearing any shoes,” according to the report.

The report states that the victim told deputies she wanted to press charges against Nida.

Investigators said the victim and Nida have been in a relationship for about 16 years and previously lived together. They have no children in common.

According to deputies, the incident began earlier that morning when the victim took her daughter to school in Boca Raton.

Before leaving, they said she was speaking with Nida, who had asked her to print a child support document related to a child from another relationship. She agreed and planned to meet him after the school drop-off.

During the drive, deputies said the victim received multiple calls from Nida demanding to know her location.

As she turned near his Pompano Beach home, she saw Nida standing nearby, then pulled over after telling him she was on the phone with her father, according to the report.

Once inside the vehicle, Nida became “very agitated” and instructed her to drive to his home, the report states.

After she provided the documents, deputies said he began questioning her about the previous night and accused her of infidelity.

While the victim was driving westbound on Southeast 15th Street, deputies said Nida “forcibly grabbed the back of her head and began to punch her face and head multiple times.”

The victim then honked the horn in an attempt to get attention and tried to escape, but deputies said Nida grabbed the steering wheel and tried to take her phone.

Shortly after, they said Nida then pulled her back into the vehicle and continued the attack.

The victim eventually escaped, ran down Southeast 54th Street and flagged down a passerby, who called 911 after seeing Nida drive away in her vehicle with her belongings and cellphone inside, according to the report.

Authorities said Nida did not have permission to take the vehicle. The victim later told deputies she was “extremely in fear” of Nida and feared for her life, the report states.

After Tuesday’s arrest, deputies said Nida admitted that a domestic violence incident occurred inside the vehicle but denied striking the victim, claiming she was “erratic.”

He acknowledged she was bleeding but could not explain how she sustained her injuries. He also denied taking her phone or vehicle, though deputies said he admitted driving away in the victim’s car and hearing her call for help.

In a prior January arrest, Nida faced charges of domestic battery by strangulation and false imprisonment after deputies said he attacked the same victim during an argument over infidelity.

According to deputies, the victim said Nida grabbed her by the neck and face, pushed her to the ground, dragged her across a lawn and forced her into a vehicle before driving away.

The victim later waived prosecution, and the no-contact order was dismissed. She told investigators she “felt coerced into dropping the charges” because Nida allegedly said he would “lose his job and pension.”

Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony released a statement to Local 10 News back in January in regard to Nida’s first arrest.

“Domestic violence is unacceptable especially from someone who is sworn to uphold the law,” Tony wrote at the time. “When a sworn member is accused of this type of crime, they are held to the same standards as any member of the public.”

Authorities said Nida was hired by BSO on Jan. 18, 2005. He was then placed on administrative investigative leave without pay.

A BSO spokesperson responded to Nida latest arrest in a statement to Local 10 News on Wednesday.

“Sgt. Scott Nida is currently on administrative investigative leave with pay, and he was first placed on administrative leave following his arrest on Jan. 7, 2026. The BSO internal investigation is ongoing. He was hired on Jan. 18, 2005,” the statement read.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held on a $47,500 bond at the Broward County Main Jail.

Nida bonded out of jail Wednesday night.

He was also ordered to wear a GPS monitor, have no victim contact, must stay away from anywhere the victim frequents, no firearms, weapons, or ammunition, and must have a third party surrender any guns within 24 hours of release.

Domestic violence victims can contact BSO Victim Services at 954-321-4200, Women in Distress at 954-761-1133 or the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119.

What began as a protest outside a controversial breeding facility escalated into a chaotic confrontation.

Nearly 1,000 animal welfare activists gathered over the weekend at Ridglan Farms, a beagle breeding and research facility under scrutiny for raising animals used in scientific and medical research.

Among them was Ella Magers, who made the 1,500-mile trip from Miami.

When asked if she planned to break into the facility, Magers said she saw it as necessary.

“Well again, we looked at it as doing what needed to be done to save dogs that are criminally abused,” she said.

Momentum has been building since March, when protesters broke into the facility and took 30 dogs. More than two dozen people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.

Ridglan Farms described this past weekend’s encounter as “an assault,” posting a statement on its website accusing activists of spreading false and misleading claims about its research and commitment to animal welfare.

The facility also shared video it says shows a participant crashing a vehicle through a gate during the protest.

Meanwhile, Magers said she remains focused on finding homes for the beagles.

“I’m still on a mission here because we’re not going to stop fighting until these dogs are free,” she said.

But as the crisis unfolds underwater, researchers are turning to an unlikely ally: artificial intelligence.

A record ocean heat wave in 2023 proved deadly for corals on Florida’s reefs.

“We’re seeing 100% bleaching. That’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy,” said Ian Enochs with NOAA’s coral program.

Ocean temperatures around the Caribbean and Florida rose rapidly, triggering widespread bleaching across multiple coral species.

“I have not seen a coral out there that is not affected by bleaching,” Enochs said.

The fast-moving die-off, with little warning, pushed scientists to look for new solutions.

“During that summer, we saw three times the amount of heat stress in the region than had previously been recorded,” said Dr. Marybeth Arcodia. “This really led to our motivation for the early warning component here to actually give more lead time for preparation for heat stress or a bleaching event.”

Arcodia and her team at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School began developing a model powered by AI.

“The idea is predicting if and when the corals right here off the coast of Miami can experience heat stress,” Arcodia said.

The model pulls data from a wide range of public sources to predict heat stress events at specific reef sites -- a shift from broader regional forecasts.

“Instead of looking at sea surface temperatures across the region -- we’re predicting when we can expect that stress at a specific reef site,” Arcodia said.

While NOAA has long forecasted potential bleaching events, AI now offers scientists the ability to predict heat stress up to six weeks in advance.

“As a scientist and as a conservationist, it’s really nice to know when bleaching events might be happening, it helps everyone working on corals reprioritize what they’re doing,” said coral researcher Rich Karp.

During the 2023 bleaching event, scientists rushed to save what they could -- removing vulnerable corals from the ocean and placing them in tanks on land until conditions improved.

“We went out there and recovered as many of our vulnerable corals as we could,” said Dalton Hesley, a senior research associate at the Rosenstiel School.

Researchers say the AI model could be a game changer.

“You can ensure that your genetic diversity, that you have in the nurseries is all backed up on land-based areas or in deeper water nurseries,” Karp said. “It gives you time to kind of set up and move corals to deeper water where there might be less light stress that would cause them to bleach and bleach so quickly.”

Karp and Arcodia, who are married, combined their expertise -- coding and biology -- to build the system.

The model can also help guide restoration efforts, like avoiding coral out planting during extreme heat.

As ocean temperatures begin rising again heading into summer, scientists say the AI-powered system could provide critical protection to an ecosystem already on the brink.

“I really like to see them thrive in the wild and so spending as much time to try to help conserve them and figure out, understand these mechanisms that will allow, you know, the future generations to continue to see them,” Karp said.

Right now, the model focuses on a handful of local reef sites, but the team hopes to expand it in the coming years -- aiming to protect more of Florida’s coral reefs before it’s too late.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded just before 2:30 p.m. to a shooting near Northeast 41st Street in Deerfield Beach. Authorities said the shooters fled the scene.

When deputies arrived, they learned a man had been shot and drove himself to Broward Health North.

One resident, Brian Lora, said a bullet struck the building where he lives.

“While sleeping with the bullet hole, it was literally, it was just down by the window. Probably would have been shot. Yeah, I would have been shot,” Lora said.

Lora also said neighbors were shaken by the incident.

“I know my neighbors and everybody else. They are probably traumatized because they ain’t never really experienced stuff like this before, so hopefully they good. There’s a lot of kids in this building as well,” he said.

At the hospital, a coworker from the victim’s parks and recreation job told Local 10 News the man was caught in the crossfire while working at a nature preserve.

Back at the scene, investigators found shell casings as they worked to piece together what happened and who was responsible.

Officials later said the victim is expected to be okay and that his injuries are not life-threatening.

The investigation is ongoing.

Marcelo Blanco Quintanilla, quien fungía como viceministro de Electricidad y Energías Renovables, asumió el cargo en lugar de Mauricio Medinaceli, quien estuvo en el gabinete desde noviembre del año pasado y había anunciado el esperado proyecto de ley de hidrocarburos.

“Él (Blanco) tiene el mandato de no solo llevar adelante estas normas, especialmente la Ley de Hidrocarburos, sino también bajo su experiencia, sumar el esfuerzo en toda el área de conocimiento que tiene”, dijo Paz al anunciar el cambio en el Palacio de Gobierno.

El cambio se da horas antes que en los medios locales se filtró una supuesta carta de renuncia de Claudia Cronenbold a su cargo de presidenta de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales de Bolivia (YPFB). La funcionaria no ha confirmado de momento esa misiva, mientras que Paz no se refirió a ese tema el miércoles.

Los transportistas y otros sectores venían pidiendo un cambio en la petrolera estatal que se encarga de importar gasolina y diésel, luego que en los últimos meses se registraron quejas por la mala calidad del combustible que dañó a sus automóviles. La empresa está realizando una indeminización aunque los conductores se quejan de que es lenta.

Bolivia para por su peor crisis economica en cuatro décadas con las reservas internacionales casi agotadas, escasez de dólares y sin dinero para importar combustibles, que el país andino no produce.

The entire department has been shut down since mid-February as Democrats have demanded policy changes in the wake of fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents. Republicans are now trying to fund the two immigration enforcement agencies through the complicated, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation, a maneuver that they also used to pass President Donald Trump’s package of tax and spending cuts last year with no Democratic votes.

“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America's borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

The budget process only requires a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing filibuster rules that require Republicans to find 60 votes on most bills when they only hold 53 seats. But it also comes with increased scrutiny from the Senate parliamentarian and a long, open-ended series of amendment votes at the beginning and the end of the process.

The Senate held the first series of votes through the night, starting Wednesday evening and into early Thursday morning, with Democrats proposing amendments to lower health care expenses and other costs in an effort to contrast with Republicans’ focus on Trump’s campaign of immigration enforcement.

“Instead of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans should be working with Democrats to lower out-of-pocket costs,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The Senate adopted the final resolution 50-48, just past 3:30 a.m.

A lengthy effort to reopen Homeland Security

Once the House approves the framework and the Senate Parliamentarian approves it, the two chambers can then move to pass the measure.

The Senate has already voted on a bipartisan basis to reopen the rest of the department, but Republican leaders in the House say they won’t take that bill up until the Senate shows progress toward funding ICE and Border Patrol, as well.

The $70 billion budget resolution would fund the two agencies for three years, through the rest of Trump’s term. Thune and other GOP leaders say they hope to keep the bill narrowly focused on ICE and Border Patrol and get it to Trump’s desk in the coming weeks, along with the rest of Homeland Security Department funding that has already passed the Senate.

But that could prove difficult as many in the party see the budget bill as the last real chance this year to enact their priorities. Republicans in both the Senate and House have pushed to add other items, including money for farmers and Trump’s proof of citizenship voting bill, called the SAVE America Act.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., briefly held up the vote series late Wednesday, frustrated that the bill would not include parts of the SAVE America Act or other legislation.

“This is the last train leaving the station,” Kennedy said, predicting they would not be able to pass any other major bills ahead of November's midterm elections. But he withdrew his objections and allowed the voting to proceed.

Democrats say reform needed at ICE and Border Patrol after shootings

Democrats say any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department should place restraints on federal immigration authorities, including better identification for federal officers and more use of judicial warrants, among other asks.

After federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, Trump agreed to a Democratic request that the Homeland Security bill be separated from a larger spending measure that became law. But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, and the DHS funding lapsed with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

In March, the Senate passed the legislation by voice vote that would separate out ICE and Border Patrol and fund the rest of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration as security lines grew long at some airports. But Republicans in the House refused to consider it, saying they wouldn’t support any bill that didn’t include money for immigration enforcement.

Congress then left town for a two-week recess, leaving the issue unresolved. Trump has used executive orders to pay some department salaries in the meantime, but the future of those paychecks is uncertain.

Potential roadblocks in the House

During the recess, Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that they would pursue a two-track approach — pass the Senate bill that includes most of the department’s funding through regular order and use the party-line bill to pass ICE and CBP funding.

Weeks later, though, Johnson has still not said when the House will take up the Senate’s legislation that would fund the rest of the department. And it is unclear if members of his GOP conference will unite behind the narrowed budget bill as some House Republicans have argued, like Sen. Kennedy, that they should add other priorities to the legislation.

Johnson said this week that the sequencing of the two bills is important. House lawmakers don’t want to see the rest of the department funded without ICE and Border Patrol, he said.

But Thune warned after the Senate vote that other parts of the Homeland Security Department may run out of money before they are able to finish the winding budget process and fund those two agencies. He said he hopes the adoption of the budget resolution is a signal to the House that “we're going to be following through."

“We'll see what they can do with it," Thune said. “And if they can't, I guess we will go to the next plan.”

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Juan Soto went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk in his return from a strained right calf, but shortstop Francisco Lindor was removed with left calf tightness after laboring around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez's go-ahead double in the fourth.

Byron Buxton tied it 2-all with a leadoff homer in the sixth against Clay Holmes, his second longball in two nights.

Brett Baty, who came off the bench to replace Lindor in the lineup, drew his second walk of the game with two outs in the eighth against Taylor Rogers (0-1). Alvarez coaxed a nine-pitch walk from Justin Topa before Vientos dumped an RBI single into shallow right field.

In the sixth, Vientos blatantly ran through a stop sign rounding third and was easily thrown out at home plate for the final out of the inning.

Luke Weaver (2-0) retired Luke Keaschall with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth and struck out three batters in a one-hit ninth to secure New York's first victory since April 7 at home against Arizona.

The 12-game skid was the team's longest since August 2002.

Connor Prielipp, the Twins' top pitching prospect, needed 82 pitches to get through four innings in his major league debut. But the 25-year-old left-hander showcased a good slider and limited a slumping New York lineup to two runs and four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

Holmes allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Batting cleanup, Lindor drove in a run by legging out an infield single with two outs in the first. Victor Caratini's sacrifice fly tied the score in the fourth.

Up next

All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.29 ERA) pitches Thursday night for Minnesota in the series finale against RHP Christian Scott, who will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse to make his first major league start since Tommy John surgery in 2024.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The Pistons had lost 11 straight home postseason games, a drought that started in 2008.

Game 3 is Saturday in Orlando.

Detroit dominated the third quarter, turning a tie game into a rout by outscoring the Magic 38-16 in the period with six players scoring at least five points.

After Cunningham scored a career playoff-high 39 points in Game 1 and didn’t get much help, the All-Star guard had plenty of support, with five teammates scoring in double figures.

Jalen Suggs scored 19 points and Paolo Banchero had 18 for the Magic. They combined to miss 14 of 25 shots as the team shot 33% and was held to a season low in points.

Detroit’s Tobias Harris scored 16 points, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson had 11 each, and Duncan Robertson and Isaiah Stewart each scored 10. Robinson made three much-needed 3-pointers for a team that struggles with outside shooting.

Orlando’s Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane had 12 points apiece and Wendell Carter Jr. was limited to three points on 1-of-6 shooting after he scored 17 in the opener.

The Magic did not trail in the opener as their starters scored at least 16 points apiece and the Pistons had just two players in double figures.

Detroit took its first lead of the series on the opening possession of Game 2 and jumped to a 14-7 lead with a desperately needed strong start after coming out sluggish in Game 1.

The Pistons led by four points after the opening quarter and the game was tied at 46 entering the third period, when Detroit looked like the defensive-minded team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Both teams will have two days to make adjustments for Game 3.

Detroit hasn't advanced beyond the first playoff round in 18 years and Orlando hasn’t reached the second round in 16 years.

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

The FBI said Wednesday that its agents interviewed Patel's girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, when she expressed concern about a death threat received after Williamson's article was published, but took no further action.

The Times, in an article posted online Wednesday, said that the FBI looked on federal databases for information about Williamson and recommended pursuing it further, but was blocked by the Justice Department.

The newspaper said it learned about all of this only through a tip given to reporter Michael S. Schmidt. The paper called the action alarming.

“The FBI's attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth's First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions,” said Joseph Kahn, the newspaper's executive editor. “It's alarming. It's unconstitutional. And it's wrong.”

It's not clear whether The Times has any recourse other than asking a federal inspector general to review whether the actions were improper.

Williamson briefly interviewed Wilkins when reporting, but the singer insisted the conversation be off the record. The reporter also spoke to people who knew Wilkins or had worked with her, the newspaper said.

The original piece, published on Feb. 28, looked at the use of federal officials called upon to perform personal duties for an administration figure. She wrote that Patel had assigned four agents to protect Wilkins full time, and that they had ferried her to appearances in Britain, Illinois and Nashville.

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson, in a statement posted on social media, said that while investigators “were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking, no further action regarding Williamson or the reporting was ever pursued by the FBI.”

Patel hasn't been reluctant to fight back against reporting that displeases him. On Monday, he filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic for its article that discussed allegations about his excessive drinking and mismanagement at the law enforcement agency.

Al final de su visita de cuatro días a la capital mexicana, Türk manifestó preocupación por la creciente cifra de personas desaparecidas, que ya supera los 133.000 casos, y planteó en una conferencia de prensa que es fundamental que el Estado mexicano refuerce los mecanismos de búsqueda, los procesos de identificación forense y las capacidades de investigación para hacer frente a la compleja situación.

El alto comisionado fue invitado por el gobierno para reunirse con diferentes organizaciones humanitarias, activistas y autoridades, incluida la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum con quien sostuvo el miércoles un encuentro en el palacio de gobierno.

La visita de Türk se dio tras las tensiones que surgieron entre el gobierno de Sheinbaum y el Comité de la ONU contra la Desaparición Forzada (CED, por sus siglas en inglés) por el informe en el que solicitó, en una decisión sin precedentes, que se lleve el caso México a la Asamblea General para que sopese medidas de prevención, investigación, castigo y erradicación de las desapariciones forzadas.

En su reporte del 2 de abril el CED reconoció que existen “indicios fundados” de que en México se han cometido y se siguen cometiendo desapariciones forzadas como “crímenes de lesa humanidad”.

La dolorosa realidad

“Las desapariciones siguen siendo uno de los desafíos más graves y dolorosos en materia de derechos humanos en México”, dijo el alto comisionado al reconocer que ese problema - que ha enfrentado por décadas el país latinoamericano - ha provocado “un sufrimiento inimaginable y prolongado para las familias” y “erosiona profundamente la confianza entre la población y el Estado, responsable de prevenir, investigar, juzgar y condenar a los responsables”.

Türk no pudo evitar conmoverse por los relatos que escuchó de las activistas, en su mayoría mujeres, que buscan por su cuenta en México a sus seres queridos, y admitió que “fue doloroso escuchar testimonios que reflejan la magnitud de esta tragedia”.

El problema de desaparecidos en México se remonta al último tercio del siglo XX, pero a partir de 2006, cuando se inició la guerra frontal contra el crimen organizado, las cifras se dispararon, sin que se haya logrado contener hasta la fecha.

Para hacer frente a la crisis, el alto comisionado planteó que debe darse un “compromiso nacional que vaya más allá de posiciones políticas”, y que implique el “reconocimiento del dolor y la labor de las personas buscadoras” y un “compromiso serio del Estado”. Ofreció el apoyo de la instancia que dirige para erradicar el fenómeno.

Türk también se refirió a la situación de la impunidad que enfrenta México y afirmó que fue un reclamo recurrente que tuvo de las víctimas, activistas de derechos humanos y organizaciones de la sociedad civil.

Según un informe del centro de pensamiento local México Evalúa para 2024 la impunidad alcanzó 89% de los casos.

Al ser preguntado sobre la solicitud que hizo el CED de llevar los casos de desapariciones forzadas de México a la Asamblea General de la ONU, Türk se manejó con prudencia y admitió que en la reunión que tuvo con Sheinbaum se abordó el tema y que “hubo una apertura para poder encontrar el trabajo conjunto que podamos ofrecer para que nosotros aportemos experiencia internacional”.

La oficina del alto comisionado de los derechos humanos y el CED forman parte del sistema de la ONU, pero responden a mandos distintos y tienen plena independencia, por lo que no se prevé que la visita de Türk pueda influir en la postura del comité sobre la situación de México.

Sobre su encuentro con el alto comisionado, Sheinbaum informó brevemente en su cuenta de X que tuvo una “muy buena conversación” y que se acordaron “vías de colaboración”, pero no ofreció detalles. “El respeto y promoción de los derechos humanos en nuestro país es un objetivo común”, agregó.

It's something only Ohtani could achieve, but the two-way superstar could be having games like that a little bit less often.

“I’m focused, as a leadoff hitter, to get on base. As long as I feel good overall, the result will follow," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "It hasn’t been the case (lately).”

Before Wednesday's loss to San Francisco, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear he's committed to Ohtani's health and keeping him fresh to perform both on the mound and at the plate for the long haul.

And that may look different by the day or week, depending how Ohtani is feeling.

“I'll always let the manager make that final decision and I'm always going to be prepared when I'm starting that I'm hitting,” Ohtani said. “But if it makes sense as a team to occasionally put a guy in as a DH or hit later that's fine as well. I wouldn't want to same more aside from that.”

For some games, that could mean Ohtani pitches but doesn't bat as the designated hitter — and Roberts plans to keep his options open.

Ohtani was solid on the mound again for the Dodgers in a 3-0 loss to the Giants, allowing no earned runs for the third time in four starts this season. A week earlier, Ohtani was held out of the lineup while pitching for the first time since 2021 because he was still sore from getting hit by a pitch.

Ohtani batted in his customary leadoff spot and went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, hitting a fly ball to left in his last at-bat. That ended an on-base streak that matched Shawn Green for the second-longest in Dodgers history. Duke Snider owns the team record at 58 games from May 13-July 11, 1954. Ohtani’s streak was the longest in the majors since Orlando Cabrera reached base in 63 straight from April 25-July 6, 2006.

“The season’s not over, and I could start another streak and that would be great," Ohtani said. "We’ll see how it goes.”

The 31-year-old Ohtani saw his batting average drop from .271 to .258. He has allowed one earned run over 24 innings for an ERA of 0.38 and a 2-0 record, surrendering 15 hits with 25 strikeouts and six walks.

“I think if you look at the overall numbers it's certainly something. I still feel really good about putting his name in the lineup,” Roberts said. “I know the last start I chose not to have him hit and just pitch. I am open to it. We'll see. It's something that we've certainly flagged, and also you have to look at what's the option. In years past or last year, you've got to kind of weigh, who's a different option?”

Catcher Dalton Rushing has become a capable fill-in at DH. He's hitting .414 with seven homers and 13 RBIs.

The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers have dropped four of five. They lost 3-1 in Tuesday night's series opener at rival San Francisco.

Roberts had yet to decide whether Ohtani would play the series finale Thursday. He said beforehand he had no qualms about giving Ohtani five at-bats on a day he’s pitching but would consider moving him down in the batting order if that makes sense.

“I think everything should be on the table,” Roberts said.

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

Francisco Lindor was removed Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins with left calf tightness, just hours after teammate Juan Soto came off the injured list. The switch-hitting shortstop will have an MRI on Thursday, putting the top of New York's punchless batting order in flux once more.

“Here we go again," manager Carlos Mendoza said.

New York (8-16) ended its 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Minnesota, but it might have come at a cost.

“We’ve got to wait and see what we’re dealing with,” Mendoza said.

Lindor labored around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez's one-out double up the right-center alley in the fourth inning. He grimaced as he rounded third and paused for a bit from the seat of his pants after beating the relay throw with a feetfirst slide.

“I knew right away when he was rounding third base that something wasn’t right there. So, we’ll see what we’ve got,” Mendoza said. "Right away, he scores and you could see his face. Looking from the dugout, I knew something wasn’t right.”

Lindor headed down the dugout tunnel with an athletic trainer and was replaced in the lineup by Brett Baty, who entered at third base in the top of the fifth. Bo Bichette slid over from third base to shortstop.

Batting cleanup, Lindor knocked in a run when he legged out an infield single with two outs in the first. Moments earlier, he made an outstanding leaping grab at shortstop for the second out of the game.

Soto was reinstated from the 10-day IL earlier in the day. The slugging outfielder had been sidelined since straining his right calf while running from first to third on April 3 in San Francisco.

“We got good news, relatively good news with Soto, and it was still three weeks,” Mendoza said. "So, we’ll see what we’re dealing with.”

After a slow start this season, Lindor was starting to come on recently. He launched a three-run homer Tuesday night and is hitting .226 with two home runs and five RBIs.

“Can’t sit here and make excuses. It’s all part of it. We lost Soto, and we had a hard time," Mendoza said. “Another really good player, and we’ve got to figure it out.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Edwards contributed 30 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a loud voice of encouragement for his teammates. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch had already been reassured by Edwards' influence as the four-time All-Star left the court following a lackluster performance in Game 1.

“He was calm and gave confidence to the guys,” Finch said, reflecting on the series opener after practice on Wednesday. “When we were down early and big, he was really into them with the right messages, to stay calm but to do the things that were asked to be done — put a little bit more work in, be a little smarter with the fouling, all that kind of stuff. So I thought that was really key.”

Edwards was instrumental in urging Rudy Gobert on to a dominant defensive effort against Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. He has also demonstrated his leadership by playing through the right knee pain that sidelined him for 11 of the last 13 regular-season games.

“It definitely uplifts me. I feel like I can’t let him down. If he’s out there battling, then there’s no excuse why I can’t give my best and make the extra effort plays and just go out there and compete at the highest level,” teammate Julius Randle said.

For the Timberwolves to beat the team that has recently become their biggest rival three more times and reach the second round, they will need a steady supply of Edwards' energy on both ends of the court, on the bench and in the locker room.

The Nuggets are sure to bring their own moxie on the road to Minnesota for Game 3 between these well-matched opponents on Thursday. The other Game 3s on Thursday are New York at Atlanta and Cleveland at Toronto.

Over the last four years, including the regular season and playoffs, the Timberwolves and Nuggets have each won 15 of their last 30 meetings.

“Who doesn’t love a big game? Who doesn’t want to wake up for a game with a lot of excitement, a lot of back and forth in it?” Timberwolves sixth man Naz Reid said.

New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 7 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Betting line: Knicks by 1 1/2.

What to know: The Knicks were outscored 28-15 by the upstart Hawks in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden in Game 2, a one-point loss to stew on as they seek to regain home-court advantage in the series. Even in the Game 1 win, the Knicks saw a 19-point lead with a little more than three minutes left shrink to eight in the closing seconds. “We've got to play better with the lead,” point guard Jalen Brunson said. The Hawks have plenty of reason for optimism as they come home, considering they split the first two games with little beyond the clutch play of veteran C.J. McCollum to relish from their performance.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 8 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Cavaliers lead 2-0.

Betting line: Cavaliers by 3 1/2.

What to Know: The Cavs are seeking a 3-0 lead in a first-round series for the second straight year. If they get there, they would set an NBA postseason opponent record with a 13th straight playoff win over the Raptors. Donovan Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in six of his last seven playoff games, averaging 33.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists during that span. Cleveland is 21-7 when its lineup includes James Harden, who became the second player in franchise history with at least 28 points and five steals in the 115-105 win in Game 2 on Monday. Toronto point guard Immanuel Quickley has missed the first two games with a left hamstring strain and remains questionable. Raptors All-Star Brandon Ingram is aiming to bounce back after going 3 of 15 from the field and only scoring seven points in Game 2. “He’s our go-guy guy. We trust him and believe in him. We know he’s going to get shots to drop,” Scottie Barnes said.

Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Betting line: Nuggets by 2 1/2.

What to know: With so much recent drama between these division rivals — who are facing off in the postseason for the third time in four years — and plenty of chippy play on the court over the first two games, this series is just getting started. After erasing a 19-point deficit early in the second quarter to win 119-114 in Game 2, Minnesota took some momentum home from the Mile High City. Edwards recorded his sixth 30-point game against Denver in 14 playoff meetings, and guard Donte DiVincenzo was all over the court with a game-high plus-20 rating and 16 points. He's 10 for 16 from 3-point range in the series. The Nuggets claimed to be unbothered by the postgame barb from Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who said Minnesota's best offensive strategy was to continue to directly attack the Nuggets because they're “all bad defenders.”

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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.

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

League officials requested the meeting, which took place last Friday in Washington. The FCC recently sought public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services. As of Wednesday, nearly 8,700 comments have been logged.

The NFL's letter about the meeting and its PowerPoint presentation to the FCC were posted to the FCC's public comment section on sports broadcasting on Wednesday.

The NFL is not alone in creating packages for streamers. Its standing as the most popular league and the revenue it receives from media rights, however, put it front and center in a changing landscape.

The NFL reiterated the benefits of its distribution strategy, including the fact that more than 87% of all games last season were on broadcast television. All games in a team’s home market air on a broadcast network.

“This distribution model is good for our fans, for local television broadcasters, for our 32 clubs in small and large markets alike, and for the competitiveness of the game itself. The success of our fan- and broadcast-friendly strategy is evident as the 2025 season was the most viewed since 1989 and one of the most competitive in League history,” Brendon Plack, the NFL's senior vice president of public policy and government affairs, wrote in a filing recapping the meeting.

Plack was among the officials who represented the NFL at the meeting, a group that also included Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of media distribution.

The FCC officials included Greg Watson, chief of staff for Chairman Brendan Carr. Carr had used an illustration of a fan watching a Green Bay Packers game when he announced the public comment period on Feb. 25.

Games aired last season on CBS, NBC/Peacock, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.

The league is expected to move at least three more games to streaming as part of a five-game package next season. That would include games on Thanksgiving Eve, a second on Black Friday and Christmas Eve. The Week 1 game between San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams in Australia on Sept. 10 would also be offered via streaming. The Week 1 games from Brazil the past two seasons were also streamed.

A five-game package could bring the league at least $250 million.

The league averages nearly $11 billion in revenue per season from its media deals. That could increase since the sale of Paramount to Skydance Media allows the league to renegotiate its deal with CBS.

Besides the FCC scrutiny, the Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential anticompetitive practices.

Congress and other federal agencies have also discussed changes to the Sports Broadcasting Act. Passed by Congress in 1961, it grants professional sports leagues limited antitrust immunity, allowing them to pool their media rights and negotiate as a single entity while protecting them from antitrust lawsuits.

The act applies only to broadcast networks. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. There has been bipartisan sentiment in favor of updating the law.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Kindergarteners from Bob Graham Education Center opened a council meeting with a proud performance.

Among them was the daughter of a Local 10 News producer.

And just when it couldn’t get any sweeter, the night took a heartfelt turn.

Beloved teacher Pablo Millares was surprised with a proclamation honoring his 36 years in the classroom as he prepares to retire.

The room filled with generations of students, past and present.

It was a sendoff for a teacher who helped shape an entire community.

La propuesta llega en momentos en que arrecian las críticas de la oposición por resultados negativos de la economía.

Entre los principales puntos de la iniciativa figura la reforma electoral para suprimir las primarias abiertas, simultáneas y obligatorias (PASO), la instancia previa a las elecciones generales en la que los partidos definen sus candidaturas y los ciudadanos eligen a los postulantes que competirán en los comicios siguientes.

El gobierno sostiene que la medida responde a motivos presupuestarios y asegura que las PASO de 2023 costaron al Estado 45.000 millones de pesos ( algo más de 32 millones de dólares).

“De acá en adelante, las primarias vuelven a ser un asunto interno de los partidos, no del Estado. Los argentinos no tienen por qué pagar las diferencias internas de los políticos”, dice un comunicado enviado por la oficina del presidente el miércoles.

El presidente Milei busca retomar la iniciativa política en momentos en que la atención está centrada en la economía. Milei, quien llegó al poder con la promesa de “exterminar” la inflación y estabilizar el país, enfrenta nuevos cuestionamientos después de que en marzo la inflación interanual alcanzara el 3,4%, su nivel más alto de los últimos 12 meses.

“El gobierno lo que busca es entorpecer las chances de la oposición de conformar una coalición utilizando las PASO como mecanismo de selección”, apuntó el analista político Sergio Berensztein a The Associated Press.

El analista agregó que existe la percepción de que las primarias facilitan parcialmente la tarea de la oposición para formar una fórmula efectiva y competitiva y que “el gobierno busca removerlo con la excusa del gasto”.

Las PASO se implementaron en 2009 y se realizan cada dos años para definir las listas de diputados y senadores, así como las fórmulas presidenciales para las elecciones generales. Con el paso de los años, su utilidad ha sido cuestionada porque en muchos casos no hay competencia interna, además del gasto público que implica organizarlas.

El proyecto presentado por el oficialismo también propone incorporar lo que denomina Ficha Limpia, una medida que impediría que quienes hayan sido condenados por delitos contra la administración pública sean candidatos u ocupen cargos públicos.

La reforma, además, plantea eliminar la obligación de los medios de comunicación de ceder espacios gratuitos para publicidad electoral durante las campañas. También busca transparentar el financiamiento de los partidos políticos, ya que, según el gobierno, solo el 10% de los fondos está registrado, mientras que el 90% permanece sin declarar.

Para convertirse en ley, el proyecto deberá contar con 129 votos en la Cámara de Diputados y 37 en el Senado.

El año pasado, el Congreso aprobó la iniciativa impulsada por Milei para suspender las primarias como parte de su plan “motosierra” para reducir el gasto público. El gobierno argumentó entonces que la organización de esos comicios costaba unos 150 millones de dólares y que no cumplía con el objetivo para el que había sido creada: democratizar las fuerzas políticas.

The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans.

San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries.

Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic’s request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case.

Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing.

Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings.

But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.

Mother elephant Nhi Linh gave birth to Linh Mai on Feb. 2 after nearly two years of pregnancy.

Robbie Clark, the zoo's elephant manager, said, “Linh Mai is a hoot, she's a fantastic little elephant to get to know.”

“She's very curious,” Clark added. “She's learning how to be quite playful with the enrichment and the environment that she's living in, and she's confident.”

The Asian elephants at the National Zoo live in an expansive area called Elephant Trails, which contains outdoor walkways and pools. Fans who can't visit Washington can check out Linh Mai on the zoo's elephant cam.

The fire started on Tuesday and burned just west of U.S. Highway 27. It expanded on a dry Wednesday, as the National Guard joined the fight.

With crews flying and navigating tough terrain, the Florida Forest Service and the Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue contained about 50% of the fire.

The massive fire’s smoke was moving west. It was set to affect air quality in the area of Naples, Marco Island, and Fort Myers.

“It’s probably the worst drought we have had in 15 years, and we probably have another 6 to 8 weeks of this,” Kevin MacEwen, of the Florida Forest Service, said.

Related stories

• Fire burns over 6,500 acres of wildland in western Broward
• Brush fires join near U.S. Highway 27 in Broward

Paramount wants to buy all of Warner. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter” and CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof as Paramount’s CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service. And a greenlight from shareholders would bring the acquisition closer to the finish line.

Shareholders are expected to meet at 10 a.m. ET to vote on the deal, which is valued at nearly $111 billion, including debt, based on Warner's current outstanding shares.

Even if approved, a Paramount-Warner combo would still face ongoing regulatory reviews, including from the U.S. Department of Justice. Warner has said it expects to close the deal sometime in the third fiscal quarter.

Paramount’s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing. And while Warner's board now endorses the Paramount merger, it wasn’t always eager to enter this particular marriage.

Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount’s overtures to instead strike a $72 billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want.

All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table. Warner’s board repeatedly backed Netflix’s bid. But eventually, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly bowed out of the race rather than prolonging the fight.

That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers.

Some lawmakers are also sounding the alarm.

“What is at stake is clearly not just a corporate deal, but who controls news, who controls entertainment, who controls storytelling,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said in a “spotlight” hearing on the merger held in Washington last week. “It’s about the concentration and consolidation of cultural power."

The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms — Paramount+ and HBO Max — and two big names in America's TV news landscape — CBS and CNN — as well as a heap of other brands and entertainment networks.

Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, who they say will have access to bigger content libraries, particularly if HBO Max and Paramount+ become one streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to assure filmmakers with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and goal to release 30 movies a year between Paramount and Warner, which he's said will remain stand-alone operations under a combined company.

“I love cinema and I love film,” Ellison said at CinemaCon last week. "You can count on our complete commitment.”

But the new owner will also be looking to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that would include layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about consumer benefits — warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming, and potentially less diversity in content down the road.

Then there’s the news. Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. If the Warner takeover goes through, many are expecting similar changes at CNN, which has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump.

Other questions of political influence have piled up. The Justice Department and company leadership have maintained politics will not play a role in the regulatory process — but Trump himself has publicly waded into Warner’s future at times, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be. Trump also has a close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting billions of dollars on the table to back the bid for his son’s company.

Meanwhile, Paramount has secured money from several sovereign investment funds — including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as well as funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, per regulatory filings. But such investors will not have voting rights in a future Paramount-Warner combo, the filings noted. Paramount has not publicly specified how much they’re contributing.

Other countries, including European regulators, are looking the deal — and states could try to challenge it, too. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been particularly vocal about the transaction, and said his state is investigating it.

El diputado Jorge Arreaza, presidente de la comisión que establece mecanismos para asegurar el cumplimiento de la ley, indicó en X que se ha otorgado “libertad plena“ a 8.302 personas que ya tenían una medida cautelar de presentación o de arresto domiciliario. Otras 314 que estaban en prisión —cuatro más desde el 26 de marzo— también han recuperado su libertad plena.

Arreaza comentó que hasta el momento se han proceso 12.187 solicitudes de libertad válidas. El legislador además resaltó que se siguen "recibiendo solicitudes” de venezolanos que viven dentro y fuera del país.

El anuncio de Arreaza se produjo en momentos que organizaciones de derechos humanos denuncian que las excarcelaciones se han “ralentizado” en semanas recientes.

Foro Penal —un organismo civil que vela por los derechos de los prisioneros en el país sudamericano— asegura que cerca de 473 personas permanecían detenidas por motivos políticos, de ellas 43 son extranjeras.

“De acuerdo a nuestros registros, sólo el 24,21% de las excarcelaciones desde el 8 de enero de 2026 han sido por amnistía", dijo en X Gonzalo Himiob, vicepresidente del Foro Penal, en referencia a cuando la presidenta encargada Delcy Rodríguez ofreció liberar a un número importante de encarcelados como una señal para consolidar la paz y convivencia.

"Si el gobierno tiene otros datos con gusto los verificamos, pero no se ha publicado un informe oficial con la lista de los favorecidos por la amnistía”, agregó Himiob.

La ley está concebida para aplicarse a dirigentes opositores, sindicalistas, activistas de derechos humanos, estudiantes, académicos y periodistas, entre otros. Excluye a los condenados por homicidio, narcotráfico, violaciones graves de derechos humanos y rebelión militar.

Se aplica a los detenidos durante los mandatos de Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) y Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) en 12 momentos específicos, entre ellos las protestas de 2017 y 2024, éstas últimas cuando el organismo electoral, leal al partido gobernante, declaró a Maduro ganador de la elección presidencial pese a que la oposición presentó pruebas creíbles de que su candidato había sido el triunfador.

La ley fue sancionada el 19 de febrero, apenas 20 días después de que Rodríguez la presentara en el Poder Legislativo. Rodríguez fue juramentada el 5 de enero, dos días después de una operación militar estadounidense que depuso y capturó al entonces presidente Nicolás Maduro y su esposa. La vicepresidenta en aquel momento era la primera en la línea de sucesión.

Pimental learned last June that he needs not one, but two organ transplants: a kidney and a pancreas.

After getting the news, he drove back to work, unsure of what came next.

His first conversation was with team president Pat Riley.

His second was with Alonzo Mourning, who has been thriving for more than two decades after receiving a kidney transplant himself.

While undergoing dialysis and taking medication, Pimental has continued working, balancing his responsibilities with the team along with his roles as a father and husband.

It’s part of a playbook Mourning has helped him build as he waits for what he calls the most important call of his life.

Pimental and Mourning say the message goes beyond one person’s journey.

With April marking National Donate Life Month, they’re urging people to consider becoming organ donors, highlighting a critical need nationwide.

You can register to donate here.

The lawsuit, filed by Lorrayne Mavromatis in federal court in North Carolina on Wednesday, accuses MrBeastYouTube, LLC and GameChanger 24/7, LLC of violating federal law that entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family and medical reasons, including childbirth. Mavromatis also filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy, and retaliation.

Mavromatis claims that she worked “nonstop” following her baby's birth as well as while in the delivery room. “I was still bleeding, and I just had to show up,” Mavromatis told The Associated Press in an interview.

Less than three weeks after she returned to work full time, she said she was fired.

A Beast Industries spokesperson called the lawsuit a “clout-chasing complaint” built on “deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements” in an emailed statement. Mavromatis's position was eliminated, according to the spokesperson, when the new head of ecommerce reorganized her team.

The company shared a March 31, 2025 exchange on the workplace messaging app Slack, in which a coworker told Mavromatis that she “shouldn't even be checking” her messages after Mavromatis canceled a meeting because she wrote she was “actually in labor at the hospital as we speak.” In response to allegations that MrBeast failed to inform her of her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company shared a screenshot of her signature confirming receipt of the employee handbook including FMLA policies.

“We will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us,” the statement said.

Company culture once again under scrutiny

Mavromatis's lawsuit raises disturbing allegations about the culture behind YouTube’s most popular creator as new company leaders seek to rapidly expand the media empire founded by Jimmy Donaldson under his MrBeast alias.

It portrays a toxic, misogynistic workplace that Beast Industries has recently tried to clean up as Donaldson’s media empire launches ambitious ventures into television and financial services. His “Beast Games” Amazon Prime reality competition show is two seasons deep and the company recently acquired the teenager-focused banking app Step.

Questions about Beast Industries’ internal culture surfaced two years ago after a social media firestorm over Donaldson’s past racist and homophobic language coincided with accusations that a longtime collaborator shared inappropriate sexual messages with minors. In an August 2024 email to employees, Donaldson said he recognized that he must “create a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work.”

Beast Industries fired several employees following a third-party investigation that identified “isolated instances” of workplace harassment and misconduct.

Donaldson has since become a growing presence in American entertainment outside of YouTube. He appeared at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, advertised for business software maker Salesforce in a Super Bowl commercial and joined the cast of the upcoming “Angry Birds Movie 3.”

Beast Industries — which employs about 700 people, according to chief communication officer Gaude Paez — continues to expand. The company has been on a hiring spree of late, landing executives from the likes of NBCUniversal and TikTok as the brand tries to find success beyond Donaldson’s name and image.

Mavromatis’s lawsuit was filed ahead of Thursday’s TIME100 celebration in New York City, where Donaldson is scheduled to be honored as one of the magazine’s most influential people, along with Pope Leo XIV, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

A high intensity workplace

Beast Industries encouraged employees to “go to great lengths” to get the job done, according to Mavromatis’s lawsuit, which refers to a 36-page “HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION” guide circulated among employees at the time of her employment. The guide included sections saying, “It’s okay for the boys to be childish" and “The Amount of hours you work is irrelevant.”

It was against that backdrop that Mavromatis said she joined a team meeting from her hospital bed in the throes of labor, afraid she would be fired if she refused.

“I actually had to hold my breath in between talks because of how hard the contractions were,” she said.

Mavromatis, now 34, was hired in August 2022 as MrBeast’s head of Instagram, and was promoted twice within a year. Between June 2023 and January 2024, she oversaw operations for the company's verticals division, which she described as an executive position, but Beast Industries' Paez called mid-level.

A few months after she started at the company, she asked James Warren — Donaldson's cousin and CEO at that time— for advice when she noticed Donaldson would not make eye-contact with her.

According to the complaint, Warren responded: "Jimmy gets really awkward around beautiful women. Let’s just say that when you’re around and he goes to the restroom, he’s not actually using the restroom.”

The company attributed Donaldson's bathroom trips to his Crohn's disease.

The lawsuit said that after Mavromatis reported sexual harassment issues as well as a hostile work environment to human resources, which was headed by Donaldson's mother, she was transferred and demoted to “an obscure role." The company refuted that claim, calling it “false and inaccurate.”

TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center, which was founded during the early days of the #MeToo reckoning against sexual misconduct, says it is supporting Mavromatis's case.

“Abusive workplaces rely on a persistent lack of accountability. We see this pattern frequently, where those with influence and power are allowed to harm others and retaliate against those who decide to speak up,” said senior director Jennifer Mondino. “We are in a collective fight to address a longstanding culture of harassment that relies on entrenched silence and shame.”

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The Associated Press’ women in the workforce coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. 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.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper says its reporter Amal Khalil was killed in the southern village of al-Tiri.

Khalil had been covering the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group that resumed in early March, in the shadow of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. She took cover in the house in al-Tiri after an earlier Israeli airstrike hit near the car she was traveling in with another colleague.

The Lebanese health ministry said the first strike killed two people. A second Israeli strike then hit the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover.

At first, rescue workers were able to get to Faraj, who was seriously wounded, and retrieve the bodies of two killed in the first airstrike. But they were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, the ministry said.

Khalil remained under the rubble for hours before the Lebanese army, civil defense and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to get to the scene hours later. Khalil's body was retrieved shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike.

Israel’s military said individuals in the village had violated the ceasefire, endangering its troops. Israel denied that it targets journalists or that it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area. It said the incident was under review.

"Killing of journalists is a crime and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law,” said Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos.

Khalil's death comes on the eve of the second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington on extending the ceasefire that went into effect last Friday.

Khalil, who was from southern Lebanon, had been covering the area since 2006 for al-Akhbar. Her latest reporting was about Israeli demolitions of Lebanese homes in villages where Israeli troops are now positioned inside Lebanon.

Her death brings to nine the number of journalists killed in Lebanon so far this year. At least 2,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 1 million displaced since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders called for international pressure on the Israeli army to allow Khalil's rescue. Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its “outrage” at the apparent targeting of the two journalists and warned the obstruction of rescue efforts “may amount to a war crime.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun asked the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation" as quickly as possible.

In late March, an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed three journalists covering the war. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said its longtime correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed. Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence.

Also killed in the same strike was reporter Fatima Ftouni, who worked for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV along with her brother Mohammed Ftouni, a video journalist.

Days earlier, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at Hezbollah’s at Al-Manar TV, along with his wife.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

The free-flowing sections of the David Geffen Galleries housing the museum's permanent collection are named for the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and they're meant to run together physically and culturally in the way bodies of water do.

Technically, the Geffen Galleries represent the third phase of a two-decade series of renovations. But the opening of this space to the public on May 4 is the truly huge moment of reinvention for the institution known to locals and the broader art world by the acronym LACMA.

It's a $724 million, 347,600 square-foot (32,293 square-meter) monument designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor that gives the museum an entirely new orientation, footprint, feeling and, ideally, an identity that it has largely lacked to the outside world.

The space — all on a single second-story floor — offers broad-windowed views of the surrounding city. There is no main entrance or central atrium. It's made to wander into, and through, and to encourage accidental interactions with paintings, sculptures and the kinds of work, like ancient pottery or textiles, that visitors often ignore.

LACMA's CEO and director Michael Govan, who oversaw the project from its origins, calls it “a machine of discovery.”

“I am a student for decades of museumgoer psychology,” Govan told The Associated Press in an interview inside the new building. “And one of the things you know in these museums is if you don’t like something or know something, you’re not going up an elevator and across to go see it. But a lot of times, that thing is what you will love if you see it.”

He added, “this chance of experiencing something accidentally and falling in love is part of the idea.”

The art is grouped as much for vibes as for any formal categories. Sculptures and photographs from modern artists are mixed in and matched with works that are centuries old.

The excess of natural light and views of the city that run throughout almost threaten to overshadow the art. But curtains — a staple of Zumthor’s architecture — are strategically used to alter light both for viewing and for preservation of work that can be drained by the sunlight.

Zumthor relishes the way the time of day, the placement of the curtains and the arrangement of the artwork work together in the space.

“Nothing is more beautiful to me than this play of shadow,” he told the AP.

Zumthor's previous work includes the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, Germany, run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne.

Since 1961, LACMA has sat on, and now across, Wilshire in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles, roughly halfway between downtown LA and the Pacific, next to the La Brea Tar Pits. (As with other projects on the site, the constant discovery of valuable fossils slowed work on the new building.)

For visitors who faithfully kept coming for its open-during-remodeling years, and for drivers navigating the construction, it felt like the opening would never come. Construction began in 2019, with the county footing $125 million of the bill. The rest was raised from private donors, including the 83-year-old entertainment mogul Geffen, who is one of LA’s biggest art benefactors.

Its 1988 Pavilion for Japanese Art is now LACMA's oldest section. The Broad Contemporary Art Museum (not to be confused with the stand-alone Broad downtown) was added in 2008, and the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion joined LACMA in 2010.

Other relatively recent additions have helped with LACMA's relevance. Two permanent sculpture-installations — Urban Light (artist Chris Burden's forest of street lamps) and Levitated Mass (artist Michael Heizer's giant suspended boulder) are among the city's most Instagrammed images.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures next door is a separate entity but feels contiguous. Together, the two institutions represent the popular art that defines the region and its fine art that has often been ignored.

“Spirit’s in trouble and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs,” Trump said in a CNBC interview. “And maybe the federal government should help that one out.”

The ultra low-cost carrier filed for bankruptcy protection in August for the second time in less than a year and was aiming to exit in late spring or early summer after striking a preliminary deal with lenders. That plan was quickly disrupted when U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran sent oil prices soaring above $100 a barrel, with jet fuel costs doubling in some markets as the fighting in the Middle East continues to disrupt global oil supplies.

Spirit’s relatively young fleet has made it an attractive acquisition target. But previous buyout attempts from budget rivals like JetBlue and Frontier were unsuccessful both before and during Spirit’s first bankruptcy.

Trump did not offer details on what type of government aid could be provided. But asked separately on Tuesday about potential government relief, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters that the president had directed the department to review possible options.

“He’s directed us to take a look. I’ll have a conversation with the president later today,” Duffy said, adding that he was also meeting with some of the budget carriers later Tuesday.

The Associated Press sent emailed requests for comment to Spirit.

Congress has stepped in to authorize federal support for airlines before, most notably after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Already weakened by soft domestic demand and persistent losses, especially since the pandemic, Spirit has come under growing financial strain as the higher fuel costs have added fresh uncertainty about its ability to continue operating.

Against that backdrop, the union representing Spirit flight attendants sought to address growing concerns in a memo sent last Thursday to members.

“There have been speculative reports of liquidation. While we want to make it clear that conditions have worsened, at this time there are ongoing efforts to keep Spirit operating,” the Association of Flight Attendants said. ”We know you need the best possible information on this and we will keep you closely advised. But to be clear, at this time there is no definitive decision to halt operations.”

Budget carriers like Spirit — known for its bright yellow planes and no-frills service — have been under pressure by bigger airlines, which have rolled out their own low-cost offerings. By the time of its first Chapter 11 filing in November 2024, the Florida company had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.

It is the latest high-profile case of alleged insider trading on prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket, which have brought bipartisan scrutiny from Congress and calls for stricter regulations of the websites where people can put money on just about anything.

Kalshi's disciplinary documents named Mark Moran, who is running as an independent in Virginia's U.S. Senate race; Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran in a Texas Republican primary for a U.S. House seat; and Matt Klein, a Democratic state senator running for a U.S. House seat in Minnesota.

Klein and Enriquez both placed bets less than $100 related to their “own candidacy,” Kalshi said. Moran said on social media that he “traded $100 on myself.”

These relatively small bets follow mammoth wagers on prediction markets earlier this year that raised eyebrows. In one case, an anonymous Polymarket user made a $400,000 profit in January on a wager that former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would soon be out of office.

In March, after two U.S. senators announced legislation that threatened prediction markets, Kalshi and Polymarket highlighted new rules, including against political candidates trading on their own campaigns.

Moran refused to reach an agreement with Kalshi and was fined the most at more than $6,200, while Klein and Enriquez did reach agreements and face penalties of over $530 and $780, respectively, the company said. All were suspended from Kalshi for five years.

Some politicians said the punishments didn't go far enough. U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat, slammed the repercussions on social media, saying, “That’s not a punishment. That’s a parking ticket.”

The agreements are with the company, and not with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates predication markets. The agency is chaired by Michael Selig, who is considered friendly to the burgeoning industry.

Far from denying the allegations, Moran told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he placed the bets intending to draw attention to what he said was unjust sway that platforms like Kalshi have on elections. Moran added that he'd met with the company and had asked for his name to appear on its website.

Moran said he was fined more than the other candidates because he refused to sign a settlement that would've required him to post a statement on X. He said he felt that the stunt was successful.

“When I piss people off, when I upset people, and when I captivate their attention, that’s when they have to start listening,” he said.

Klein also confirmed Kalshi's findings in a post on social media on Wednesday. The $50 wager he placed in October was the first time he had used a predictions market, he said in a statement on X, and he was “curious about how it worked.”

“This was a mistake and I apologize,” he wrote, saying that the experience made it clear that the markets need more regulation.

Klein is a cosponsor of a bill working its way through the Minnesota Legislature to ban most wagering on predictive markets, including the outcome of elections. In an interview, he said he didn’t think there was an inconsistency between his betting $50 on himself to win his primary and his sponsorship of legislation.

Klein said he spent the winter learning about predictive markets and signed onto the bill well before he learned that his bet violated Kalshi’s rules.

Enriquez, known as Zeke, lost his House race in the beginning of March with less than two percent of the vote. Contact information for Enriquez was not immediately found to request comment. ___

Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Logan, Utah, contributed.

In some areas, a yellow emergency blanket has been turned into a drainage system. Windows are lined with black duct tape to keep rainwater out.

Local 10 News cameras inside the downtown building show the criminal investigations unit on the top floor and, below it, the evidence room -- both dealing with water issues.

“This area back here, this is where the water pools,” Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said.

Morales said repeated repairs have failed.

“We have made repairs that have failed again,” he said.

Ava Johnson, who has worked in the building for 28 years, described the conditions as unbearable.

“Something’s in the air here,” she said. “Smells like sewage.”

The downtown Miami Police headquarters is about 50 years old, and Morales said it has fallen into disrepair after decades of neglect.

“It’s a visualization of how we’ve kind of failed as a city keeping up the infrastructure,” he said.

Asked who is to blame, Morales said, “I don’t like to sit and talk… it wasn’t intentional.”

Miami’s new mayor Eileen Higgins called the conditions deplorable and is proposing a new police headquarters at the future home of City Hall next to Inter Miami’s new stadium at Miami Freedom Park.

The project would be funded through a $450 million bond, which voters would be asked to approve in August.

“Our bonding rate is the same,” Higgins said.

Some of that funding would also go toward improving conditions at city fire stations.

At Fire Station No. 1, which houses the city’s hazardous response team, mold is visible under an air conditioning unit.

At Fire Station No. 5, temporary fixes are also in place.

Fire Chief Robert Hevia said firefighters should not have to work in those conditions.

“Firefighters are expected to respond at a moment’s notice. When they come back, they get no break,” Hevia said. “We have to be able to give them a place to eat, a place to shower… bathrooms in a 24-hour period. And it should be comfortable. We’re asking for improvements -- normal improvements any person would have.”

He played in all 82 games, all off the bench, becoming only the second NBA player in the last decade to do that. He became the first Spurs player to score 1,000 points as a reserve in a season. And all year long, San Antonio touted him as the best backup in the league.

Voters agreed — and the Spurs have another award winner.

Johnson was announced Wednesday as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, joining Manu Ginobili in 2008 as the only Spurs to win the award. It's the first individual NBA award for Johnson, who was part of the U.S. Olympic team that won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

“I started for a long time,” Johnson said on ESPN after he was revealed as the winner. “Now, it's my time to come off the bench. I just continue to analyze the game, come off the bench, go in there and just do my thing.”

Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat finished second in the voting and Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Denver Nuggets was third. Jaquez led all NBA reserves in scoring and double-digit games, while Hardaway led reserves with 205 3-pointers and was fourth in the league in scoring off the bench.

Hardaway and Jaquez tied for ninth in 2024. Hardaway was also fifth in 2021, 10th in 2017 and tied for 13th as a rookie in 2014.

It was the culmination of a two-year run like few others for Johnson, who has appeared in 159 games over the past two seasons — always coming off the bench. No other player in the NBA has played anywhere near that many games without a start in that span.

“I wanted to be part of something special here in San Antonio,” Johnson said. “I knew that in order for me to really be the best for our team that coming off the bench was probably my best possibility. At first, it was tough. I had to (control) my ego and put the team first. After that, the sky was the limit.”

It was the third award the NBA has handed out this postseason, the second won by the Spurs and the first with any real intrigue about who was going to win.

On Monday, San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the first unanimous selection as Defensive Player of the Year. And on Tuesday, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City was named the Clutch Player of the Year — getting 96 of the 100 possible first-place votes.

In the Sixth Man balloting, Johnson got 63 first-place votes, while Jaquez got 34. Hardaway was followed by Minnesota’s Naz Reid (the 2024 winner who got one first-place vote this year) in fourth, Oklahoma City’s Ajay Mitchell in fifth, Houston’s Reed Sheppard in sixth, Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart (one first-place vote) in seventh, New York’s Mitchell Robinson (one first-place vote) in eighth, Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu in ninth, Toronto’s Sandro Mamukelashvili in 10th, San Antonio’s Dylan Harper in 11th and Toronto’s Jamal Shead in 12th.

“It’s a little emotional,” Johnson said. “It’s a big accomplishment. A lot of hard work goes into an award like this.”

The league’s Sportsmanship Award winner will be announced Thursday, with one player from each division — Miami's Bam Adebayo (Southeast), San Antonio's Harrison Barnes (Southwest), Gilgeous-Alexander (Northwest), Golden State's Al Horford (Pacific), Indiana's T.J. McConnell (Central) and Boston's Derrick White (Atlantic) — selected as the finalists. That award is voted on by players, not the media panel that decides most winners.

The Most Improved Player award — either Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Atlanta, Deni Avdija of Portland or Jalen Duren of Detroit — will be revealed Friday.

Other awards that are coming but have not had their announcement dates revealed are Coach of the Year (Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla), Rookie of the Year (Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe, Dallas' Cooper Flagg or Charlotte's Kon Knueppel) and MVP (Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic).

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

Researchers at the University of Alabama used 16 different factors including the geographic hazards, the population and infrastructure exposed and the vulnerability of people living there. They then brought in past damages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s database and applied three different artificial intelligence tools to figure out flood risks from Texas to Maine, calculating that 17.5 million people were at “very high” risk and an additional 17 million were at “high” risk, the next level.

The authors looked at all sizes of flooding and examined separately what FEMA considers the most extreme, which are the top 1% of events. The study found 4.3 million people along the coasts to be at the highest level of risk of extreme flooding, but 20.5 million to be at high risk, the second highest level.

They found a lot of vulnerability, highlighting eight different cities from Houston, which flooded in 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, to New York, which was inundated in 2012’s Superstorm Sandy.

Wednesday’s study in the journal Science Advances found that New York City has 4.75 million people at the two highest risk levels for all flooding, with more than 200,000 buildings likely to be damaged.

And while the number of people at risk in New Orleans is far lower, about 380,000, it involves 99% of the city’s population. That doesn’t mean 99% of the people will be affected in the next hurricane or nontropical flood, but that they might be depending on the storm’s individual path and rain pattern, said study co-author Wanyun Shao, a climate scientist at the University of Alabama.

“Just look at the magnitude,” Shao said. “Those numbers are shocking, are alarming.”

The elderly and poor are most at risk

“When the next big storm hits New York City, when the next Hurricane Katrina -like hurricane makes landfall in New Orleans, people will get hurt, especially those socially vulnerable populations,” Shao said referring to the poor, the elderly, children and the uneducated.

Shao and outside experts said the numbers stunned them even though they were familiar with the worsening effects of climate change.

“New York is known to be susceptible to floods and it has the largest population. But the fact that New York has nearly an order of magnitude more flood-exposed population than any other city is surprising,” said Alex de Sherbinin, a geographer who directs Columbia University’s Center for Integrated Earth System Information. He wasn’t part of the study.

Flood problems are becoming more frequent in New York and New Orleans because of human-caused climate change, the study said.

Other cities are also threatened

Jacksonville has 679,000 people at high or very high risk of flooding, while Houston is just behind at just under 600,000. Other cities highlighted include Miami, Norfolk, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama.

Shao and outside experts said what separates her study from others is the sheer comprehensiveness of all the factors it considers, including sinking land and pavement that doesn’t allow water to seep into the ground, as well as incorporating human social vulnerability such as poverty and age.

“This could be applied to other places in the world, such as Manila,” said University of Virginia engineering professor Venkataraman Lakshmi, who heads the hydrology section of the American Geophysical Union, referring to the capital of the Philippines. He wasn’t part of the study, but said the flooding problems it highlights will get more frequent and intense due to human-caused climate change.

Columbia University’s Marco Tedesco, who wasn’t part of the study, said “it reinforces the crucial concept that future flood disasters are not just about water—they are about where people live, how cities are built, and who is least protected.”

Actions can lessen the risk

De Sherbinin said, “the analysis of the flood risk factors is important for local planners, emergency managers, and even highway crews and utility providers. We all know that low lying areas are more flood prone, but the data they have assembled provide more insights into flood risk, particularly for flash floods.”

Study lead author Hemal Dey, a geospatial scientist, said he hopes local officials look at not just building more dams and levees, but more natural infrastructure such as wetlands, grasslands, rain gardens and estuaries.

“The research is solid confirmation of what emergency managers have been saying for years. Realtors will hate it,’’ said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who wasn’t part of the study. “The harder question is what we’re actually going to do about it.”

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But the most serious charges against the pair accused of putting Atilio Diego Bellanza through the ordeal did not stick.

According to Miami Beach police, officers responded to the 1400 block of Ocean Drive at about 9:14 p.m. Tuesday where Bellanza dropped off the suspects, identified as Ashton Montanez, 22, of Orlando, and Jefferson Mesidor, 25, of Miami.

Bellanza said he picked the two men up near 98th Street and Bay Harbor Terrace. He says on approach, he saw police on scene and two men racing away from them and towards his van.

“One laid down. And the other laid in the back. And they were yelling at me to hurry up,” Bellanza said in Spanish. “He kept touching my face and I told him to stop doing that. And he was screaming and screaming like a crazy person.

“I tried throwing myself from the van multiple times but I could never find the right time. And I thought about what could happen. That maybe they’d shoot me.”

Bellanza said, “A lot of things went through my head. I have kids. That’s why I’m working so much.”

He said when he got out, he took their photos and called 911.

“Thank god this happened to me and not someone else. I have a lot of experience on the street dealing with people. And I took it all very calmly,” Bellanza said. “I think if it were someone else ― if they had been aggressive, they could’ve hurt that person or shot him.“

The two men got out of the car near 1446 Ocean Drive, a three-story property with several tourists and short term rental guests inside. Police found one of the suspects quickly. The other barricaded himself inside, and wasn’t taken into custody until 1 a.m.

Montanez and Mesidor appeared in bond court on Wednesday afternoon after being arrested on kidnapping and resisting arrest charges.

The judge, after reviewing the arrest report, did not find that it contained probable cause for kidnapping.

Even prosecutors believed there was not enough evidence in their arrest forms to support a kidnapping charge.

“If they hired the driver, I don’t know if it’s kidnapping or if it turned into one, if there was a gun,” Judge Mindy Glazer said.

At his bond hearing, Mesidor said he’s on disability.

“I live with my mom, my girlfriend, my brothers and sisters, three dogs and my daughter,” he said.

He wept before his mother spoke to the judge.

“I didn’t sleep last night,” Mesidor’s mother said.

After the most serious charges were dropped, the pair only faced resisting arrest charges and each was being held on a $500 bond as of Wednesday afternoon.

Pacheco y Chaclán permanecen en un centro de detención preventiva dentro de un complejo militar en Ciudad de Guatemala, vigilados por guardias penitenciarios y a la espera de un juicio. En una entrevista presencial, ambos relataron en la jornada a The Associated Press las dificultades que enfrentan en su prolongado encierro y la importancia de las protestas para defender la democracia en el país centroamericano.

“No hay ningún arrepentimiento, nunca hicimos nada malo”, sostuvo Pacheco, para quien convocar a las marchas “no fue algo personal, fue una acción delegada por la comunidad en asamblea, un servicio al pueblo”.

“Mucha gente debería estar agradecida y reconocer el valor de las autoridades indígenas porque gracias a ellas muchas autoridades lograron tomar posesión de sus cargos y los ejercen hoy”, acotó.

Pacheco, quien en 2023 dirigía la principal organización indígena del país, logró aliarse ese año con otros grupos mayas, garífunas y xincas para comandar las protestas y exigir la renuncia de Porras con el fin de asegurar la toma de posesión del hoy presidente Bernardo Arévalo. La fiscal general argumentaba que hubo fraude en la elección de Arévalo.

Los bloqueos en carreteras liderados por los indígenas mantuvieron al país paralizado por 20 días. Pacheco y Chaclán, así como otros dos dirigentes, fueron detenidos acusados por la fiscalía de terrorismo, asociación ilícita y obstrucción a la acción penal en un proceso que se mantiene estancado debido, entre otras cosas, a recursos legales presentados contra jueces por parte de los acusadores.

“Nosotros no somos terroristas; no tenemos nada de qué arrepentirnos, fue una decisión del pueblo", señaló por su parte Chaclán. "Seguimos aportando al país, por lo que nos pasó es que mucha gente ve ahora la situación de Guatemala, lo que pasa”.

Chaclán dijo que la fe en Dios es lo que los sostiene, pero también su inocencia. Agregó que la distancia de la familia y los hijos ha sido una de las mayores dificultades.

Pacheco aclaró que las protestas no fueron para defender a Arévalo, sino para defender la democracia y hacer valer el voto de la gente. “Los pueblos indígenas saben que la democracia es muy importante en la vida de un país”.

En diciembre del año pasado, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos advirtió sobre una crisis institucional, especialmente por acciones de la fiscalía y la persecución judicial a operadores de justicia, periodistas, defensores de derechos humanos y líderes sociales, mencionando en particular el caso judicial de Pacheco y Chaclán.

En los próximos días Arévalo debe elegir quién reemplazará a Porras, sancionada por 45 países por socavar la democracia en Guatemala. Pacheco y Chaclán expresaron su esperanza en que habrá cambios y que el país pueda tener una justicia imparcial, que haga pagar a los que pusieron en jaque la institucionalidad y criminalizaron la protesta.

“A un año de nuestra detención quiero decir que la manifestación no es delito y defender el voto no es un delito sino un derecho, pero la criminalización o los mecanismos ilegales para criminalizar, incluida la tortura, eso sí es delito y deberán responder por ello”, sentenció Pacheco.

Hoyos, who had been serving as club’s sporting director, took over coaching duties after Javier Mascherano unexpectedly left the club due to personal reasons. Mascherano led Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup title in his only full season with the club.

Messi, who opened the scoring when he converted a penalty kick in the 13th minute, scored the go-ahead goal in 79th minute. After a Colorado turnover near midfield, Messi cut back near the right corner of the penalty box and flicked a rising shot that split a pair of defenders and slipped inside the back post.

Messi has seven goal this season, tied with Sam Surridge and Petar Musa for most in MLS.

Miami (4-1-3) hasn’t lost since a season-opening 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC.

Yannick Bright was shown a straight red car in the 87th minute and Miami played a man down the rest of the way.

The Rapids (4-4-0) had won back-to-back games and three of their last four

Bright drew a penalty conceded by Josh Atencio and Messi converted from the spot to open the scoring.

Mateo Silvetti, along the right end line, played an arcing cross to the back post where Berterame slammed home a header to make it 2-0 in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time.

Bertarame made his first career start and scored his first goal in MLS last time out in a 2-2 tie with the New York Red Bulls.

Rafael Navarro scored in the 58th minute for the Rapids. The 26-year-old forward scored two goals in a 6-2 win over Houston last time out and has six goals this season.

Darren Yapi subbed on for Hamzat Ojediran and, moments later, scored on the counter-attack to make it 2-2 in the 62nd minute.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

At the moment, no one in baseball is shining brighter.

“To be honest with you,” said Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, “2026 Yordan is the closest thing I’ve seen to Barry Bonds.”

Whoa.

Alvarez hit his major league-leading 11th homer, a two-run shot in the first inning, as the Astros, who have been ravaged by injuries during the season's first month, defeated the Guardians 2-0 to take two of three from the defending AL Central champions.

While the Astros have stumbled out of the gate, Alvarez has been at full stride.

The beefy 6-foot-4 designated hitter leads the majors in homers, RBIs (26), hits (33), extra-base hits (19), total bases (74), on-base percentage (.466), slugging percentage (.779) and OPS (1.245).

No wonder Correa is reminded of the peerless Bonds.

“Aaron Judge has a 1.200 OPS, but Yordan has done it a different way,” Correa said. “He’s not swinging and missing much. He’s not striking out a lot. He's walking a lot, that’s what Barry did.

“Yordan is getting the intentional-walk treatment every time first base is open. I don’t see any other player in the league they do that for.”

Alvarez went 3 for 4 in the series finale, extending his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 18. He's homered in four of the past six games, and he's become one of the few things manager Joe Espada can count upon.

“He stays within himself and he knows how important it is for him to do damage,” Espada said. “He's a presence and he's carrying us right now.”

After Correa doubled leading off the first against Tanner Bibee, Alvarez followed by yanking a curveball from the right-hander 422 feet over the wall in right field to give the Astros a 2-0 lead that held up for nine innings.

Bibee missed catcher Bo Naylor's target and Alvarez made him pay.

“It was the right pitch in that spot if I threw it where Bo wanted me to throw it,” Bibee said. “It was supposed to be in the dirt, threw it up and that guy, as good as he is and how hot he is right now, it’s going to happen. Just can’t make the mistake.”

Alvarez pulled singles to the right side in his next two at-bats and was retired on a hard groundout to first in the eighth that he thought was foul. Alvarez stood in the batter's box almost stunned that he had made an out.

It's been like that all season.

“At some point you're expecting him to get out because the game is supposed to be so hard,” Correa said. “When he's going that good, you're like, OK he's due to get out here. And he just keeps raking. It's incredible. It's so much fun.

“I haven't missed one swing of his all year because he's must-watch TV.”

Alvarez isn't making too much of his blistering start. After playing in just 48 games last season due to injuries, he's not taking anything for granted while also appreciating how well it's going.

“I just want to find a good pitch and connect on the pitch and things are turning out for me right now,” said Alvarez, who joined Lance Berkman (2002) as the only Astros to hit 11 homers in the first 26 games. “I’m not surprised with my results. That’s why I work so hard. Every at-bat that I have, I go aggressive.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The stock soared. The business never took off.

On Tuesday, the parent company of the once hoped-for social media giant announced it was shaking up its leadership. Out is its long time CEO, former farmer turned Republican congressman Devin Nunes, replaced by seasoned digital executive, Kevin McGurn.

He has his work cut out for him.

Trump Media & Technology, which owns Truth Social, has diversified far away from its original social media mandate into cryptocurrency, finance, even nuclear power. Investors are still fleeing. The stock is down more than 60% since Donald Trump was reelected president in November 2024, wiping out $6 billion in shareholder wealth.

Born in anger — and controversy

Trump launched the social media platform in early 2022 after being banned by Twitter and Facebook from posting on their sites after the January 6, 2021, riots that aimed to overturn the election.

It was angry beginning for a business, and a messy one.

A publicly traded shell company that Truth Social merged with so it could tap stock traders for money was investigated by federal regulators for misleading investors, culminating in a multimillion-dollar penalty. A board member was even sentenced to prison for insider trading.

Then Trump got allowed back on Facebook and Twitter, a seeming victory for the then ex-president. But it also undercut his new business, as platforms — particularly X, the new name for Twitter — scaled back moderation, weakening the case for Truth Social as a refuge from censorship.

Heavy losses

Years later, Truth Social is still struggling to attract users beyond the president's core supporters despite his using it for major political announcements — a practice criticized by government ethics experts as a conflict of interest with the presidency. Truth Social’s monthly audience declined both on the web and on its mobile app year-over-year in March, according to digital market analysis firm Similarweb.

Trump Media has lost more than $1 billion in the past two years and the stock has reflected those financial struggles. After closing at about $62 shortly after it went public in 2024, the stock has plunged into the single digits.

Enter crypto

As the platform has languished, the company has branched into other businesses.

In August, Trump Media said it was starting a new cryptocurrency business by teaming up with partners, including a company called Crypto.com. The idea was to hold massive amounts of a Crypto.com token called Cronos to create a Trump Media “digital ecosystem" in which users could use them instead of dollars to make payments, earn rewards and pay for services.

Trump Media is also betting on another alternative currency, raising $2.5 billion last year to load up on bitcoin. In this way it was echoing moves by MicroStrategy, a software developer that transformed itself into a bitcoin holding company by buying up the currency.

Whether the Trump company's new ventures will work out is unclear, but MicroStrategy's story could be a cautionary tale. The value of its bitcoin has cratered in the past several months, sinking MicroStrategy's holdings, along with Trump Media's. Since July, stock in the once soaring MicroStrategy has dropped nearly 60%.

Going Nuclear

In December, Trump Media announced it was moving in another direction by merging with a nuclear fusion company, a promising but far-off energy technology.

The appeal is that fusion someday could offer a way of powering the data centers needed to build and run AI research and services that are suddenly all the rage — and also threatening higher electricity bills.

The move has drawn criticism because nuclear energy is heavily regulated and Trump is not only a major Truth Social shareholder. As U.S. president, he has power to help his companies and hurt their rivals through rules, laws and government funding.

And the Trump administration isn't taking a hands-off approach. In October, the U.S. Department of Energy released a “road map” showing how it could help the “burgeoning fusion private sector industry” to scale up on a ”rapid timeline.”

“There’s a huge conflict of interest,” said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. “The United States government is going to get all involved in it.”

Brave face

The new CEO, Kevin McGurn, has worked at NBC Universal, Hulu and DoubleClick, among other companies and so has plenty of business experience that Nunes lacked.

McGurn said Tuesday in a statement that the company was “poised to take off."

“In carrying President Trump’s unique, singular vision and message, Truth Social stands for the most powerful brand and voice in history of social media and beyond,” he said.

But investors are still not convinced. On Wednesday afternoon, even with the news that McGurn was coming aboard, the stock fell sharply, down 3.5% to $9.48.

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Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed.

Now that it’s been approved by voters, the new Virginia map will have to clear additional legal hurdles. On Wednesday, the state attorney general’s office said it would immediately appeal a ruling earlier in the day from a judge in rural southern Virginia who ordered that the results of Tuesday’s vote not be certified.

Ultimately, the Virginia Supreme Court will decide whether Democratic lawmakers violated procedural rules when they referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot authorizing the new U.S. House districts that could help Democrats win as many as four additional seats in the state. If so, that could invalidate the map voters narrowly approved Tuesday.

What happens next in Florida also will matter.

The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature is to meet in a special session next week that GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis called in part to draw a new map to expand the party’s congressional majority there. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to issue an opinion by the end of June in a Louisiana case that could overturn a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and lead to redrawn political maps across the South, though almost all of those could not happen until 2028.

After voters passed the Virginia amendment, Democrats could tentatively claim that they netted 10 seats nationally from the mid-decade redistricting, compared with the nine that Republicans claim. Even if things swing again in the GOP’s favor, the net result of Trump’s campaign would be at best an incremental increase in the number of GOP-leaning House seats at a time when his approval rating is dropping and Republican anxiety over losing control of Congress in November is rising.

“We have successfully blunted Trump’s attempt to completely hijack the midterms,” said John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

Many Republicans agreed.

“The GOP will now lose net seats across the country. If you’re going to pick a fight, at least win it,” Ari Fleischer, who was a spokesman for President George W. Bush, posted on the social media site X after the Virginia vote. “All this was foreseeable and avoidable. We should not have started this fight.”

Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, argued that it is too soon to declare one party a victor.

“It’s an ongoing process with many legal challenges pending, and it’s far too early for sweeping statements on the final outcome,” he said.

Trump on Wednesday tried to undermine the Virginia result by leveling groundless accusations of fraud similar to ones he made after losing the 2020 presidential election. He called the Virginia vote “RIGGED” and “Crooked” in a post on his social media site and added, “Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of ‘Justice.’”

Redistricting spread from Texas to other states

Redistricting is typically done every 10 years after each census, unless ordered by a court. But last summer, Trump pushed a redrawing in Texas, prodding the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to add up to five winnable House seats for his party. Trump then began pressuring other Republican-run states to follow. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have since created more GOP-leaning seats in addition to Texas.

Democrats began to fight back, even though they were more constrained because several Democratic-controlled states had maps drawn by independent commissions rather than lawmakers and governors.

To counter Texas, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, pushed the Democratic-controlled Legislature to place a redistricting initiative on last fall’s ballot. After voters overwhelmingly approved it, the measure will replace a commission-approved map with one that could gain Democrats five seats.

Democrats reclaimed the Legislature and governor’s office in November in Virginia and swiftly moved to replicate California’s move with an even more aggressive redistricting plan. It replaces a congressional map imposed by a court after the last census that had resulted in a 6-5 edge for Democrats with one that could allow Democrats to win as many as 10 seats.

“We are not going to let anyone tilt the system without a response,” state Senate President L. Louise Lucas said at a news conference Wednesday.

Courts could still have a say on redistricting

In Washington, U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York warned Florida Republicans, who have been openly nervous about redrawing their district boundaries and potentially spreading their core voters too thin before an election that appears to be trending against them.

“Our message to Florida Republicans right now is, ‘F around and find out,’” Jeffries said.

House Majority Forward, the nonprofit arm of the super political action committee aligned with House Democrats, has spent nearly $60 million to push back against Republicans’ redistricting efforts. Some $40 million of that was on the Virginia campaign.

Another obstacle in Florida is an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment that was approved by state voters in 2010. It is likely that any new Florida map would trigger significant litigation, although six of the state Supreme Court’s seven justices were appointed by Republicans.

Nicholas Stephanopolous, a Harvard law professor, said a challenge for DeSantis is that the Florida amendment forbids drawing lines for purely partisan purposes, so he has to find some other excuse for revising the map. “Even with that sort of acquiescent state supreme court, I don’t think it’s a done deal,” Stephanopolous said.

The Virginia move comes with its own legal issues. Republicans have challenged the process that Democrats used to place the measure on the ballot and the state Supreme Court opted to wait for the vote before even scheduling arguments in the case. It is unclear when a ruling could come.

Wednesday’s ruling stopping certification came from a separate case that Republicans filed with the same lower court judge, whose initial ruling against the initiative was put on hold by the state supreme court.

“The ballot box was never the final word here,” Terry Kilgore, the Virginia House Republican leader, said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “Serious legal questions remain about both the wording of this referendum and the process used to put it before voters.”

The biggest legal wild card is held by the U.S. Supreme Court. Its conservative majority could throw out a requirement under the Voting Rights Act that in areas with a large minority population, mapmakers draw districts that are more favorable to the election of minority candidates.

That provision has led to the creation of several majority-minority congressional seats, especially in the South. Without it, Republicans in conservative states could shrink the number of U.S. House seats winnable by Democrats even further.

But it’s unlikely that any state other than Louisiana, which brought the lawsuit the high court will rule on, would be able to adjust its congressional lines in time for November even if the court eliminates that provision, known as Section Two. That’s because the November election is already officially underway in most states and candidate filing deadlines — and, in some cases, primary elections — have already passed.

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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam in Washington contributed to this report.

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As a teen growing up in Miami’s Liberty City, records show arrests for a school bus stop shooting, stolen guns, a restaurant burglary, and a park robbery.

“The court system has failed my son. I begged for help, that my son is incompetent,” Crystal Morales said during a court hearing in 2022 after the school bus stop shooting. “He is unstable, and I begged for help, and nobody has offered me any help.”

According to inmate records, Morales has been in the custody of the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department since he was 16 years old at the Juvenile Assessment Center.

According to court records, Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Cristina Miranda has been presiding over his cases. Some have been pending since September 2022.

Earlier this year, Miranda signed a court order directing a qualified mental health professional to determine if Morales was mentally capable of standing trial after a public defender’s motion.

On Wednesday, as a 19-year-old inmate, he faced new accusations of repeated violence — some involving makeshift weapons and gang-related conflicts — at the Pre-Trial Detention Center.

Violence at PTDC

On Tuesday, Morales waited for his cellmate to be in handcuffs to use a “makeshift shank” to cause his cellmate “a superficial cut to the back of his neck,” according to a M-DSO deputy’s report.

A Miami-Dade corrections officer reported using a self-defense spray to subdue Morales during the attack shortly before 12:15 a.m. Tuesday at PTDC’s 10th floor, according to the deputy’s report.

Miami-Dade prosecutors filed the case on Wednesday, and he faced a new charge of aggravated battery by a prisoner. His bond was $15,000.

Gang-related violence at PTDC

On March 20, Morales and four other inmates attacked a victim after corrections placed him in their cell, and there was an argument about “The Blood gang,” according to a deputy’s report.

“Surveillance cameras depict the victim standing in the dayroom when suddenly all of the cameras within the cell were covered by unknown inmates,” a deputy wrote, according to the report.

The victim suffered “several puncture wounds to the back, neck, and hand” and was treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, according to the deputy’s report.

Corrections searched the cell and found two more “shanks,” according to the deputy’s incident report. Morales faced a charge of aggravated battery by a prisoner. His arraignment is on April 24.

More violence at PTDC

On Feb. 19, Morales got into a fight with an inmate in a cell while “other inmates in the cell covered all cameras,” according to a deputy’s report.

Prosecutors filed the battery by detainee on detainee case on Feb. 20, and the case was dropped on March 23, according to court records.

On Nov. 10, Morales and another inmate used paper to cover a surveillance camera in a cell before two other inmates got into a fight, according to a deputy’s report.

Prosecutors filed the case on Nov. 11, and the case was closed on Dec. 19, according to court records.

School bus stop shooting

Shortly after 7:55 a.m., on Sept. 8, 2022, Morales, then 16 years old, used a black firearm with an extended magazine to shoot and wound two students while trying to rob them of their phones, according to a deputy’s report.

Miami-Dade deputies responded to the shooting at the boys’ school bus stop at Northwest 10 Avenue and 109 Street in the Pinewood neighborhood, according to the deputy’s report.

The two wounded boys survived, Morales ran away, and when Miami Shores police officers arrested him, they found him in possession of three stolen firearms, according to the deputy’s arrest report.

Morales had a Glock 26 that had been reported stolen in Miami in his waistband; an Olympic Arms K23B that had been reported stolen in Miami-Dade in his backpack; and a Glock 23, 40 Smith & Wesson caliber, that he had been accused of stealing in Miami, also in his backpack, according to the police report.

Prosecutors filed the case on Sept. 30, 2022. He faced 19 charges: Three counts of attempted murder with a firearm, three counts of possession of a firearm by a minor, three counts of using a weapon to commit a felony, three counts of carrying a concealed firearm, two counts of armed robbery, armed burglary, aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a short-barrel gun, third-degree grand theft of a vehicle, and resisting arrest without violence.

The case remained pending on Wednesday afternoon, according to court records.

Stealing a gun

On July 19, 2022, Morales stole the G23 40 S&W caliber from a black GMC SUV that a driver he knew had parked by a gas pump at the Marathon station at Northwest 12th Avenue and 54 Street, according to police.

“The victim stated that he has known the defendant for many years, as he went to high school with the defendant’s mother,” a police officer wrote, according to the arrest report.

The victim heard his car alarm, saw Morales, then 16 years old, running away with the G23, and he drove to Morales’s house to talk to his mother and call the police for help, according to the report.

Prosecutors filed the case on Oct. 30 on charges of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, third-degree grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, and possession of a firearm by a minor. His arraignment was on Oct. 6, 2022. The case remains pending.

Park robbery

On Feb. 27, 2022, Morales, then 15 years old, took a man’s sports bag and stole AirPods at the Charles Hadley Park in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, according to a police report.

Morales faced a charge of third-degree grand theft. Prosecutors filed the case on Oct. 3, 2022, and it remained pending on Wednesday afternoon, according to court records. His next hearing is June 15.

Restaurant burglary

On Jan. 16, 2022, surveillance video showed Morales, then 15, stealing $450 in cash and three cash registers from a Church’s Chicken in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, according to police.

Morales faced charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure, petit theft, and criminal mischief. Records show he was at JAC when prosecutors filed the case on Sept. 30, 2022. It remained pending on Wednesday.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.

Related stories

• Prosecutors plan to charge teen accused of shooting 2 Miami-Dade students as adult
• Miami-Dade’s new $50M mental health facility remains closed
• Deferred but not defeated: Local judge says he will continue to fight for a mental health center

The Republican governor defined DEI at a news conference as “an ideological construct that is designed to promote a particular political agenda, particularly to the detriment of disfavored groups.”

“The disfavored groups, No. 1, obviously, would be white males, and I think they’ve been discriminated against,” DeSantis said in Jacksonville. ”And it’s it’s like a lot of people are, ‘Oh that’s fine. That’s fine.’ No, it’s not fine. It’s wrong.”

While the governor is entitled to his opinion, his views differ from “everyone else’s,” said Evelyn Foxx, president of the NAACP branch in Gainesville.

“If you talked to 100 white men, they wouldn’t feel the same way” as DeSantis, Foxx said when asked Wednesday about his comments. “The governor is out of touch with people, and that is the bottom line.”

Supporters say the purpose of DEI is to remedy the effects of long-term discrimination against certain groups. A nationwide push by conservatives to limit diversity programs has led many companies, schools and governments to pull back on those initiatives, particularly during the current Trump administration, and DEI has been a frequent target for the governor.

DeSantis also said Wednesday that Asian Americans had faced discrimination in university admissions and that people should be judged on their merits not their demographic backgrounds. If people still face barriers because of discrimination, there should be policies to “even the playing field,” he said.

“But that is not the same as trying to socially engineer certain outcomes to the detriment of groups that some of the intellectual elite disfavor,” DeSantis said.

During his two terms in office, DeSantis’ administration has championed legislation which prohibits public colleges and universities from spending money on DEI programs and promoted the “Stop WOKE Act,” which restricts how race and sex are taught in schools.

Democratic lawmakers have warned that the legislation was overbroad and potentially unconstitutional.

Under the legislation, residents can sue local governments for violations. If local officials are found to have funded DEI initiatives in violation of the law, they can be removed from office.

“When people know there is accountability they are much more apt to toe the line,” DeSantis said.

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Rivas Hernandez did not live long enough to study there. She was killed before her 15th birthday. An autopsy report released Wednesday said she still had braces when she died.

Her brief life unfolded in this unassuming community with a population of more than 70,000 and a sprawling lake at the center of town that is home to a lively water sports scene.

Almost eight months have passed since her decomposed and dismembered body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer D4vd. The 21-year-old musician, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in connection with the death and his relationship with Rivas Hernandez. He pleaded not guilty this week.

Little is known about teen's relationship with singer

Little is known about how the young girl entered Burke's orbit or what their relationship looked like. She grew up roughly 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the Hollywood Hills rental home where Burke lived and near where his car was abandoned with her body inside.

Their lives unfolded in contrasting environments. The street where Rivas Hernandez grew up has chain-link fences and small front yards. The street where Burke lived had security gates at nearly every driveway and privacy hedges interspersed between palm trees.

Rivas Hernandez's home has a white picket fence around the front yard and plants and flowers lining a walkway. Two rosary beads hang on the front door, and a painted rock nearby says “You Matter.”

More than half of the town's residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the latest census data. The streets are dotted with fast food chains and local businesses.

Several neighbors on the family's street and other Lake Elsinore residents said they did not personally know the family or Rivas Hernandez and that the family tended to keep to themselves. Even the neighbor who set up a sprawling memorial in her honor, Kayleigh Cortez, said she did not know her.

Seventh grader was reported missing in 2024

Rivas Hernandez was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024. Authorities said she had run away, and several residents remembered seeing flyers with her photo around town when she was missing.

“I didn’t know her personally, but she was a girl with a normal life. She had friends at school,” Elizabeth Davalos, a Lake Elsinore resident, said in Spanish.

Her parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, issued a statement Tuesday through their attorney that marked the first time they publicly commented on the case or their daughter. They described her as “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”

“Every Friday night was movie night, and we spent wonderful times together,” the statement said. “We love her very much, and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

Some neighbors declined to be interviewed, citing fatigue from the media attention that has followed the case.

Town is a tight-knit community

Katie Favreau, a local business owner and longtime Lake Elsinore resident, said the town is a tight-knit, supportive community. Her appliance repair shop is a few doors down from where Hernandez grew up, but Faverau did not know her or her family.

“It’s just a really good, old-fashioned place to live. It’s like small towns in the Midwest. It’s just stuck in the middle of Southern California instead,” Favreau said. “If somebody is in need in this town, the whole town will rally.”

Favreau said the community has been supportive of Rivas Hernandez's family, and the majority of residents respect their privacy and grief. Conversations about the young girl's life and death are now “sporadic,” she said.

The memorial honoring Hernandez's memory showed signs of recent visitors this week, with fresh flowers mixed in with ones that had wilted long ago. There was an Easter bunny mixed in with a plush Hello Kitty toy that appeared to have been there for months.

Artificial tea candles spell out Celeste at the base of a sign that says “Justice for Celeste Rivas” and has handwritten notes from friends and mourners. Many included Bible verses or wishes that she is now at peace.

“God looked around his garden. He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest," one note read. "God's garden is beautiful, he always takes the best.”

___

Associated Press journalists Leslie Ambriz and Damian Dovarganes in Lake Elsinore, California, and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

DeBoer is getting a $2 million raise — up to $12.5 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading the Crimson Tide to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, where Alabama lost to eventual national champion Indiana.

Oats is getting a $1.2 million raise — up to $7.2 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading Alabama to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, where the Crimson Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan. Oats' new deal had been agreed to earlier this month.

Alabama announced both deals Wednesday during a board of trustees meeting.

DeBoer had been scheduled to make $10.5 million during 2026. His salary was set to increase $250,000 annually. He is now under contract through the 2033 season.

Oats had been scheduled to make $6.02 million in 2026-27. He made $5.5 million this past season. He is now under contract through the 2032 season.

DeBoer, courted by Michigan to replace fired coach Sherrone Moore, now has a $10 million buyout through January 2027. It drops to $8 million the following year and $6 million through January 2029.

“We are excited about the opportunity to continue our time in Tuscaloosa with this contract extension,” DeBoer said in a statement. "This university has become a special place to us, and I look forward to working to ensure that Alabama football remains at the forefront of college football.

"This program has a long history of success and an unmatched tradition that I was eager to be a part of two years ago, and I cannot wait to keep coaching our guys and bring more championships to Alabama.”

DeBoer is entering his third season in Tuscaloosa since replacing legendary coach Nick Saban. The Tide are 20-8 in his tenure, with a Southeastern Conference title game appearance and a first-round CFP victory over Oklahoma.

But he also has blowout losses to Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Georgia in the SEC title game on his Alabama resume as well as regular-season upsets to Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Florida State.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Eve Samples of Friends of the Everglades and Elise Bennett of the Center for Biological Diversity are the plaintiffs in the landmark environmental law case at the intersection of the remote immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades.

The pair are disappointed, but not deterred, by the federal appeals court ruling overturning a district court’s order which temporarily hit pause on the facility.

“It does feel like a setback, of course, because we’ve lost that preliminary injunction,” said Bennett. “But what I would say, especially with today being Earth Day, is that we are more motivated than ever to get back to district court.”

The case was aimed at compelling state and federal defendants to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and conduct an environmental impact study.

“The government is supposed to study the impacts of its actions on the environment before it takes action,” said Samples. “NEPA is a look-before-you-leap law, and in this case the government took action before it looked.”

But in a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court said there was no federal action trigging the underpinning federal law in part because “to qualify as a major federal action - it must receive more than minimal federal funding” and “when the district court entered its injunction,” which was in August, “Florida has received no federal funding.”

Back in October, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Local 10 News Florida did submit an application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and was awarded the full amount the state applied for, $608 million, which was money officials said could be applied to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ or a second site opened dubbed the ‘Deportation Depot.’

At the time, the state was also working to bring online a third, to be called the “Panhandle Pokey,” in July. DHS officials estimated the total cost for that site would be $450 million for one year.

Samples said since the district judge’s order in August, they have learned this from documents obtained in a separate public records lawsuit.

She said the records showed that the state originally applied for a $1.4 million federal grant and that FEMA approved a $608 million grant, which she said is “a lot more evidence about the federal government’s commitment to fund ‘Alligator Alcatraz’.”

“There’s more evidence that the site is under federal control,” Samples said. “And we’re eager to get back to the district court to prove that.”

Bennett said the government “set up this project to try to avoid accountability.”

“They may have won this round,” she said. “But there are many more rounds in the legal fight.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the DHS said in the agency’s view, the lawsuit was about, “open-borders activists,” a phrase which stunned the environmental advocates.

“If someone believes that the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity don’t care about the environment, then I’ve got a few acres of swampland to sell them in South Florida,” said Bennett.

That’s because what the facility does was not at issue in this environmental law case and the same goes for immigration policy.

“It has nothing to do with it,” said Samples.

Instead, she said the case is about whether the government followed the law.

“Any individual person, if they were to build like this in the middle of the Everglades, would have to get a permit,” said Bennett. “Why is it that the federal and state government don’t? Are they above the law? I don’t think so.”

Samples added, “We have a strong case to build. We also have filed notice of intent to sue under other laws. There are real impacts to endangered species and now that we have this opinion from the appeals court, we can get back, amend our original lawsuit to incorporate those claims and make our case even stronger.”

Durante su adolescencia en Liberty City, Miami, los registros muestran arrestos por un tiroteo en una parada de autobús escolar, robo de armas, robo en un restaurante y robo en un parque.

“El sistema judicial le ha fallado a mi hijo. Supliqué ayuda, dije que mi hijo es incompetente”, declaró Crystal Morales durante una audiencia judicial en 2022 tras el tiroteo en la parada del autobús escolar. “Es inestable, supliqué ayuda y nadie me la ha ofrecido”.

Según los registros penitenciarios, Morales ha estado bajo la custodia del Departamento de Correcciones y Rehabilitación de Miami-Dade desde que tenía 16 años en el Centro de Evaluación Juvenil.

Según los registros judiciales, la jueza del circuito del condado de Miami-Dade, Cristina Miranda, ha estado a cargo de sus casos. Algunos están pendientes desde septiembre de 2022.

A principios de este año, Miranda firmó una orden judicial que instruía a un profesional de la salud mental calificado a determinar si Morales era mentalmente capaz de ser juzgado, tras una moción del defensor público.

El miércoles, a sus 19 años y aún recluido, se enfrentó a nuevas acusaciones de violencia reiterada —algunas relacionadas con armas improvisadas y conflictos entre pandillas— en el Centro de Detención Preventiva.

Violencia en PTDC

El martes, Morales esperó a que su compañero de celda estuviera esposado para usar un “arma improvisada” y causarle “un corte superficial en la nuca”, según el informe de un agente del M-DSO.

Según el informe del agente penitenciario de Miami-Dade, este utilizó un aerosol de defensa personal para someter a Morales durante el ataque ocurrido poco antes de las 12:15 de la madrugada del martes en el décimo piso del PTDC.

Los fiscales del condado de Miami-Dade presentaron la denuncia el miércoles, y el acusado enfrenta un nuevo cargo de agresión agravada por parte de un recluso. Su fianza se fijó en 15.000 dólares.

Violencia relacionada con pandillas en PTDC

El 20 de marzo, Morales y otros cuatro reclusos atacaron a una víctima después de que el personal penitenciario lo trasladara a su celda, y se produjo una discusión sobre “la pandilla Blood”, según el informe de un agente.

Según el informe, un agente escribió: «Las cámaras de vigilancia muestran a la víctima de pie en la sala común cuando, de repente, todas las cámaras dentro de la celda fueron tapadas por reclusos desconocidos».

Según el informe del agente, la víctima sufrió “varias heridas punzantes en la espalda, el cuello y la mano” y fue atendida en el Centro de Traumatología Ryder del Hospital Jackson Memorial.

Según el informe del agente, los funcionarios penitenciarios registraron la celda y encontraron dos armas blancas más. Morales enfrenta un cargo de agresión agravada por parte de un recluso. Su comparecencia ante el juez está programada para el 24 de abril.

Más violencia en PTDC

El 19 de febrero, Morales se peleó con un recluso en una celda mientras “otros reclusos en la celda tapaban todas las cámaras”, según el informe de un agente.

Según los registros judiciales, la fiscalía presentó la denuncia por agresión entre detenidos el 20 de febrero, y el caso fue desestimado el 23 de marzo.

Según el informe de un agente, el 10 de noviembre, Morales y otro recluso cubrieron con papel una cámara de vigilancia en una celda antes de que otros dos reclusos se pelearan.

Según los registros judiciales, la fiscalía presentó la denuncia el 11 de noviembre y el caso se cerró el 19 de diciembre.

Tiroteo en parada de autobús escolar

Poco después de las 7:55 de la mañana del 8 de septiembre de 2022, Morales, que entonces tenía 16 años, utilizó un arma de fuego negra con un cargador extendido para disparar e herir a dos estudiantes mientras intentaba robarles sus teléfonos, según el informe de un agente.

Según el informe del agente, los alguaciles del condado de Miami-Dade respondieron al tiroteo ocurrido en la parada del autobús escolar de los niños, en la intersección de la 10.ª Avenida Noroeste y la Calle 109, en el barrio de Pinewood.

Los dos chicos heridos sobrevivieron, Morales huyó y, cuando los agentes de policía de Miami Shores lo arrestaron, le encontraron en posesión de tres armas de fuego robadas, según el informe de detención del agente.

Según el informe policial, Morales llevaba en la cintura una Glock 26 que había sido reportada como robada en Miami; una Olympic Arms K23B que había sido reportada como robada en Miami-Dade en su mochila; y una Glock 23, calibre 40 Smith & Wesson, que había sido acusado de robar en Miami, también en su mochila.

Los fiscales presentaron la denuncia el 30 de septiembre de 2022. Se le imputaron 19 cargos: tres cargos de intento de asesinato con arma de fuego, tres cargos de posesión de arma de fuego por un menor, tres cargos de uso de arma para cometer un delito grave, tres cargos de portación de arma de fuego oculta, dos cargos de robo a mano armada, allanamiento de morada con arma de fuego, agresión agravada con arma de fuego, posesión de arma de cañón corto, hurto mayor de vehículo en tercer grado y resistencia al arresto sin violencia.

Según los registros judiciales, el caso seguía pendiente el miércoles por la tarde.

Robar un arma

Según la policía, el 19 de julio de 2022, Morales robó una pistola G23 calibre 40 S&W de una camioneta GMC negra que un conductor conocido suyo había estacionado junto a un surtidor de gasolina en la estación Marathon ubicada en la intersección de la Avenida 12 Noroeste y la Calle 54.

“La víctima declaró que conocía al acusado desde hacía muchos años, ya que había ido al instituto con la madre del acusado”, escribió un agente de policía, según el informe de detención.

Según el informe, la víctima escuchó la alarma de su coche, vio a Morales, que entonces tenía 16 años, huyendo con el G23, y condujo hasta la casa de Morales para hablar con su madre y llamar a la policía para pedir ayuda.

El 30 de octubre, la fiscalía presentó cargos contra el acusado por robo en un vehículo desocupado, hurto mayor de un arma de fuego en tercer grado, portación de arma de fuego oculta y posesión de arma de fuego por un menor de edad. Su comparecencia ante el juez tuvo lugar el 6 de octubre de 2022. El caso sigue pendiente.

robo en el parque

El 27 de febrero de 2022, Morales, que entonces tenía 15 años, cogió la bolsa de deporte de un hombre y robó unos AirPods en el parque Charles Hadley, en el barrio de Liberty City de Miami, según un informe policial.

Morales enfrentaba un cargo de hurto mayor en tercer grado. La fiscalía presentó la denuncia el 3 de octubre de 2022, y el caso seguía pendiente el miércoles por la tarde, según consta en los registros judiciales. Su próxima audiencia está programada para el 15 de junio.

Robo en un restaurante

Según la policía, el 16 de enero de 2022, un video de vigilancia mostró a Morales, que entonces tenía 15 años, robando 450 dólares en efectivo y tres cajas registradoras de un restaurante Church’s Chicken en el barrio Liberty City de Miami.

Morales enfrentaba cargos de robo con allanamiento de morada, hurto menor y daños a la propiedad. Los registros muestran que se encontraba en JAC cuando la fiscalía presentó la denuncia el 30 de septiembre de 2022. El caso seguía pendiente el miércoles.

La editora de noticias de Local 10, Mercedes Cevallos, contribuyó a este reportaje.

Historias relacionadas

• Los fiscales planean procesar como adulto al adolescente acusado de disparar a dos estudiantes de Miami-Dade.
• El nuevo centro de salud mental de Miami-Dade, con un costo de 50 millones de dólares, permanece cerrado.
• Aplazado pero no derrotado: Juez local afirma que seguirá luchando por un centro de salud mental.

No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the Navy’s top civilian official, coming as the sea service has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is targeting ships linked to Tehran around the world during a tenuous ceasefire in the war. Another Trump loyalist is taking over as acting head of the Navy: Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House in Virginia.

Phelan’s departure is the latest in a series of shakeups of top leadership at the Pentagon, coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth also has fired several other top generals, admirals and defense leaders since taking office last year.

The firings began in February 2025, when Hegseth removed military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the No. 2 leader at the Air Force. Trump also fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Showing how sudden the latest move was, Phelan had addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals on Tuesday at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda. He also hosted the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Navy’s budget request and efforts to build more ships, according to a social media post from his office.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately."

Phelan had been a major Trump donor

Phelan had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service before Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider being brought in to shake up the Navy.

Phelan was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and had founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military came from an advisory position he held on the Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supported the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Phelan’s office for comment. The White House did not answer questions and instead responded by sending a link to Parnell’s statement.

Phelan is leaving during a busy time for the Navy. It has three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East, while the Trump administration says all the armed forces are poised to resume combat operations against Iran should the ceasefire expire.

The Navy also has maintained a heavy presence in the Caribbean, where it has been part of a campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats. It also played a major role in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

New acting Navy secretary ran unsuccessful bids for Congress

Taking over as acting secretary is Cao, who ran a failed U.S. Senate bid in Virginia to try to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024. He had Trump’s endorsement in the crowded Republican primary and gave a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Cao's biography includes fleeing Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. In a campaign video for his Senate bid, he compared Vietnam’s communist regime during the Cold War to the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

During his one debate with Kaine, Cao criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates for service members as well as the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said from the debate stage. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars.”

Trump and Hegseth have railed against DEI in the military, banning the efforts and firing people accused of supporting such programs.

When he ran for Congress in Virginia in 2022, Cao expressed opposition to aid for Ukraine during a debate against his Democratic opponent.

“My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people. ... But right now we’re borrowing $55 billion from China to pay for the war in Ukraine. Not only that, we’re depleting our national strategic reserves,” Cao said.

Cao graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, before attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

He was commissioned as a special operations officer and went on to serve with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia before retiring at the rank of captain, according to his Senate campaign biography.

Cao also earned a master's degree in physics and had fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Since becoming Navy undersecretary, Cao has championed returning to duty service members that refused a Biden-era mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Leer en español

Police on Wednesday said Deauna Wooley has since reunited with her family.

Authorities have not said what led to her disappearance.

Leer en español

Cameras caught the criminal using a beer keg to break into Smoke and More, located along US-41 in North Fort Myers, just after midnight Wednesday morning.

Video shows the man throw the keg through a glass door of the smoke shop.

Officials said the suspect stole several Raz brand vapes from the business.

Anyone with information is urged to call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS.

Cámaras captaron al delincuente usando un barril de cerveza para entrar a Smoke and More, ubicada a lo largo de la US-41 en North Fort Myers, poco después de la medianoche del miércoles.

El video muestra al hombre lanzar el barril contra una puerta de vidrio de la tienda.

Las autoridades dijeron que el sospechoso robó varios vapeadores de la marca Raz del negocio.

Cualquier persona con información debe llamar a Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers al 1-800-780-TIPS.

Carter Page asserted in a 2020 lawsuit that he was the victim of “unlawful spying” by an FBI agency that was investigating whether Trump's 2016 campaign had conspired with Russia to affect the outcome of the election. The lawsuit alleged a series of omissions and errors made by FBI and Justice Department officials in applications they submitted in 2016 and 2017 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to eavesdrop on Page on suspicion that he was an agent of Russia.

Page vigorously denied any claim of improper ties to Russia and was never charged with any wrongdoing.

Page appealed to the Supreme Court after lower courts tossed out his suit, with appellate judges saying last year that he had waited too long to file his complaint. But as the appeal was pending, the Trump administration informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it had reached a settlement with Page on his claims against the federal government. The settlement does not cover claims Page had made against former FBI officials he had also sued.

The court filing to the Supreme Court did not reveal a dollar figure, but a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss non-public information said the amount of the deal was $1.25 million.

Page's lawsuit followed a harshly critical Justice Department inspector general report that found significant problems with the four surveillance applications. Former FBI and Justice Department leaders who were involved in signing off on the surveillance have since said they wouldn’t have done so had they known of the extent of the issues, and the FBI has said it had initiated more than 40 corrective steps aimed at improving the accuracy and thoroughness of applications.

Despite the problems with the warrant applications, the scrutiny of Page accounted for only a narrow portion of the overall investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

An investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia had interfered on Trump's behalf during the 2016 campaign and that the campaign welcomed the assistance. Mueller's team said it did not find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia.

The Justice Department in March settled a separate lawsuit with another figure from the Trump-Russia probe, reaching a roughly $1.2 million settlement with Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a top Russian diplomat and was later pardoned.

The pair with deep Arkansas roots shared a few thoughts and laughs with reporters at the Cowboys' annual pre-draft news conference Wednesday.

A reporter was in the middle of a question when Jones looked through the glass wall of the media interview room at club headquarters and saw Clinton coming into the building.

After a first interruption, the reporter tried to finish the question as Clinton came through a side door into the interview room. Jones gave everyone in the room a brief scare as he stumbled trying to get off the stage and shake hands with Clinton.

Once Jones steadied himself and joined Clinton, the focus was squarely on the 42nd U.S. president and the man who also carries the titles of president and general manager of the Cowboys.

“He’s been a wonderful, not only president, but a friend over the years,” said Jones, who was born in Los Angeles but was an oil and natural gas wildcatter in Arkansas when he bought the Cowboys in 1989. “And I’m really happy to have you here today.”

A smiling Clinton responded with, “Have a good draft day,” before each had a story to tell.

One of the pictures on the wall of the media interview room is of Clinton greeting the Cowboys at the White House following one of their three Super Bowl victories in the 1990s. At that point, Jones was only a few years removed from leaving Arkansas.

“And when I said hello to him on a personal basis, he listed, three-deep, every player ... on the Arkansas Razorback national championship team,” said Jones, who played for that 1964 team. “He was a young guy that was following the Hogs feverishly, mainly over the radio. So he’s a good man to have as a fan.”

Clinton, who was born in Hope, Arkansas, and at 79 is four years younger than Jones, then shared some of that old knowledge.

“Tell ’em again the position you played,” Clinton said.

“Well, I was a guard. I was a pulling guard,” Jones answered.

“And how much did you weigh?” Clinton asked.

“About 185 pounds,” Jones responded.

“And a couple of years before him we had a guard named Wayne Harris who weighed the same thing Jerry did, and he made first-team All-America,” Clinton said. “They were great guards, and it’s a different world now.”

When Jones said he would hate to be a pulling guard in today's NFL, with offensive linemen averaging more than 300 pounds, Clinton retorted, “Yeah, you’d be the late Jerry Jones.”

Clinton and Jones left the room, and the news conference continued for another 25 minutes without the omnipresent Cowboys owner. The stage belonged to executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones, coach Brian Schottenheimer and scouting director Will McClay.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The electric vehicle maker run by billionaire Elon Musk said it earned $477 million in the quarter, up 17% from a year ago. Earnings per share totaled 13 cents. Adjusted for certain items, per share earnings were 41 cents, topping Wall Street estimates of 36 cents.

Revenue rose to $22.39 billion, led by a 16% increase in automotive revenues.

Still, profits and revenue are far below their peak when its cars were grabbing market share. Now that is in reverse as European and Chinese rivals steal its customers. The company last year lost its crown as the world's largest EV maker to China's BYD.

Musk has repeatedly shrugged off its car troubles, emphasizing that Tesla’s future lies less in car sales than getting people to t ake rides in them a s self-driving taxis. The company said robotaxi miles doubled in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year. They are currently running in San Francisco and three Texas cities, including Austin where Tesla is headquartered.

Musk has also been highlighted Tesla's production of robots for homes and businesses In a conference call with investors Wednesday, he talked about breaking ground for a new factory in Texas for the robots, called Optimus, with a potential capacity of making 10 million a year.

“I think Optimus will be our biggest product," said Musk, adding, “not just Tesla’s biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever.”

The company noted that it has begun making its so-called Cybercabs without pedals or wheels. And Musk added a teaser in the call, saying that Tesla could debut a new manually driven Roadster sports car in a month or so.

The company is spending big on its transition, including $2.5 billion last quarter in capital expenditures, up 67% from the year earlier period.

Musk warned of “a very significant increase” in the future, too.

Shares fell 1% in after-hours trading.

The incident occurred just before 3:30 p.m. at a Publix located at 15771 SW 152nd St. in the county’s Country Walk area, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the suspect, Julio Rodriguez, is accused of accelerating his vehicle toward a man who was attempting to cross the parking lot to retrieve a shopping cart, nearly striking him.

The victim, David Guzman, told Local 10’s Rosh Lowe that a verbal argument followed, during which Rodriguez reached into his vehicle’s center console, retrieved a bottle of pepper spray, exited the car and sprayed Guzman, his wife and his uncle while Guzman’s 2-year-old was with him.

Deputies said Rodriguez then got back into his vehicle and fled the scene.

Guzman was able to provide officers with a photo of the vehicle’s license plate, according to the report.

“They washed all of our eyes out,” said Guzman. “My face was burning because he literally sprayed me three feet away from him. Never in my life did I think that would ever happen for me.”

“He opens the door on me, and my wife sees that he’s coming out, so she gets scared. She gets in the car and pushes it toward him, telling him to stay back,” Guzman added. “At that time, he maced me again, then maced my wife and my uncle. He then started macing random people.”

Local 10 News exclusively obtained video in which Guzman’s wife can be heard complaining about the pepper spray in her eyes.

Authorities later located Rodriguez, who lives near the Publix where the incident occurred, and took him into custody without further incident, the report states.

Deputies said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported Rodriguez to Jackson South Medical Center before he was taken to jail.

Jail records show he is facing one count of aggravated battery on a person 65 years or older and two counts of battery.

As of Wednesday, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed at $3,000. He was also ordered to stay away from the victims.

After pulling over a pickup truck that was driving without headlights, Sarasota police officers discovered some unusual passengers.

Inside the truck’s bed were a mother possum and her babies.

Officers briefly took the animals into custody before safety releasing them into the wild.

Scott Nelson Nida, de 55 años, de Pompano Beach, fue arrestado el martes y enfrenta cargos que incluyen privación ilegal de la libertad, robo sin arma de fuego o arma, agresión doméstica y robo mayor de auto, según los registros de la cárcel.

Los agentes dijeron que poco antes de las 9:30 a.m. del martes respondieron a la intersección de Southeast 54th Street y 19th Terrace en Pompano Beach después de que un testigo llamara al 911 reportando que Nida había agredido a la víctima y tomado su vehículo.

Cuando los agentes llegaron, hablaron con la víctima, quien “parecía tener el rostro ensangrentado y con moretones, y no llevaba zapatos,” según el informe.

El informe indica que la víctima dijo a los agentes que quería presentar cargos contra Nida.

Los investigadores dijeron que la víctima y Nida han tenido una relación durante unos 16 años y anteriormente vivían juntos. No tienen hijos en común.

Según los agentes, el incidente comenzó más temprano esa mañana cuando la víctima llevó a su hija a la escuela en Boca Ratón.

Antes de salir, dijeron que ella hablaba con Nida, quien le había pedido imprimir un documento de manutención infantil relacionado con un hijo de otra relación. Ella aceptó y planeó reunirse con él después de dejar a su hija en la escuela.

Durante el trayecto, los agentes dijeron que la víctima recibió múltiples llamadas de Nida exigiendo saber su ubicación.

Cuando giró cerca de la casa de él en Pompano Beach, lo vio de pie cerca y luego se detuvo tras decirle que estaba hablando por teléfono con su padre, según el informe.

Una vez dentro del vehículo, Nida se volvió “muy alterado” y le indicó que condujera hasta su casa, señala el informe.

Después de que ella le entregó los documentos, los agentes dijeron que él comenzó a cuestionarla sobre la noche anterior y la acusó de infidelidad.

Mientras la víctima conducía hacia el oeste por Southeast 15th Street, los agentes dijeron que Nida “la agarró por la parte posterior de la cabeza y comenzó a golpearla en el rostro y la cabeza múltiples veces.”

La víctima tocó la bocina en un intento de llamar la atención e intentó escapar, pero los agentes dijeron que Nida agarró el volante e intentó quitarle el teléfono.

Poco después, dijeron que Nida la jaló de nuevo hacia el vehículo y continuó la agresión.

La víctima finalmente logró escapar, corrió por Southeast 54th Street y detuvo a un conductor que pasaba, quien llamó al 911 tras ver a Nida irse en su vehículo con sus pertenencias y teléfono dentro, según el informe.

Las autoridades dijeron que Nida no tenía permiso para llevarse el vehículo. La víctima luego dijo a los agentes que estaba “extremadamente asustada” de Nida y temía por su vida, indica el informe.

Tras el arresto del martes, los agentes dijeron que Nida admitió que ocurrió un incidente de violencia doméstica dentro del vehículo, pero negó haber golpeado a la víctima, afirmando que ella estaba “errática.”

Reconoció que ella estaba sangrando, pero no pudo explicar cómo sufrió las lesiones. También negó haber tomado su teléfono o vehículo, aunque los agentes dijeron que admitió haberse ido conduciendo el auto de la víctima y haberla escuchado pedir ayuda.

En un arresto previo en enero, Nida enfrentó cargos de agresión doméstica por estrangulamiento y privación ilegal de la libertad después de que los agentes dijeron que atacó a la misma víctima durante una discusión por infidelidad.

Según los agentes, la víctima dijo que Nida la agarró por el cuello y el rostro, la empujó al suelo, la arrastró por el césped y la obligó a subir a un vehículo antes de irse conduciendo.

La víctima posteriormente retiró la acusación y la orden de no contacto fue desestimada. Dijo a los investigadores que “se sintió coaccionada para retirar los cargos” porque Nida presuntamente dijo que “perdería su trabajo y pensión.”

El sheriff del condado Broward, Gregory Tony, emitió una declaración a Local 10 News en enero sobre el primer arresto de Nida.

“La violencia doméstica es inaceptable, especialmente de alguien que ha jurado hacer cumplir la ley,” escribió Tony en ese momento. “Cuando un miembro juramentado es acusado de este tipo de delito, se le aplican los mismos estándares que a cualquier miembro del público.”

Las autoridades dijeron que Nida fue contratado por BSO el 18 de enero de 2005. Luego fue colocado en licencia administrativa investigativa sin sueldo.

Un portavoz de BSO respondió al arresto más reciente de Nida en un comunicado a Local 10 News el miércoles.

“El sargento Scott Nida se encuentra actualmente en licencia administrativa investigativa con sueldo, y fue colocado por primera vez en licencia administrativa tras su arresto el 7 de enero de 2026. La investigación interna de BSO continúa. Fue contratado el 18 de enero de 2005,” indica el comunicado.

Hasta el miércoles, permanecía detenido con una fianza de $47,500 USD en la cárcel principal del condado Broward. También se le ordenó usar un monitor GPS, no tener contacto con la víctima, mantenerse alejado de los lugares que ella frecuenta, no poseer armas ni municiones, y entregar cualquier arma a un tercero dentro de 24 horas tras su liberación.

Las víctimas de violencia doméstica pueden contactar a BSO Victim Services al 954-321-4200, Women in Distress al 954-761-1133 o la línea directa de violencia doméstica de Florida al 1-800-500-1119.

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Authorities said the suspect, Mauricio Jimenez, conducted at least 4,500 separate unauthorized orders totaling around $55 million worth of merchandise.

According to an arrest form, Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, worked as a manager at the Home Depot located at 7899 W Flagler St. in west Miami-Dade and previously worked as a manager at the Home Depot located at 13895 W. Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies said that Jimenez, over 28 months, “engaged in a deliberate, systematic and ongoing scheme to defraud Home Depot” by “applying unauthorized markdowns to merchandize, significantly reducing retail prices beyond permissible limits.”

According to deputies, the Home Depot Assurance & Advisory Management Program was alerted to orders by Jimenez, prompting an investigation in December.

It was then revealed that Jimenez had several sales in which “highly excessive markdowns” were “conducted to repeated customers,” according to official documents.

Further investigation by Home Depot Central Investigations found that Jimenez only provided the discounts to “a core of accounts” and that the “high markdown activity” at his old store stopped once he left, and “took a dramatic upturn” at his new store once he arrived, according to an arrest form.

Investigators also determined that “the merchandise was of the quantity and nature of that typically purchased by re-seller accounts” and that Jimenez placed and structured the orders in a deceptive way in order to try and conceal his actions.

In addition, deputies said Jimenez was “creating, registering or otherwise utilizing additional business entitles, shell companies or aliases to place orders and receive discounted merchandise,” according to his arrest form.

Authorities said Jimenez was spoken to by a regional vice president and district manager and told “to no longer sell to seven of his affiliated business” while he was “questioned about these types of sales and how they were not to be made,” but authorities said he “continued to conduct said fraudulent transactions after receiving said warnings.”

Of the $55 million in gross sales that Jimenez discounted, authorities said the net sales were around $30 million following markdowns of approximately $24 million, leading to a negative sales margin for Home Depot of $4.3 million.

According to an arrest form, “not only was no money made on these sales, but it cost the Home Depot over $4 million dollars to sell to these accounts.”

Jimenez was taken into custody on Tuesday at the Home Depot location on Flagler Street in Miami.

He is facing charges of organized fraud of $50,000 or more and first-degree grand theft.

As of Wednesday morning, Jimenez was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $15,000 bond.

The child's parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, is accused of taking the child to Cuba without the permission of the biological mother. Federal and state authorities sought the return of the child after a family member expressed concern that Inessa-Ethington went to Havana to get the child gender transition surgery.

Inessa-Ethington, who had run a popular Utah political blog in the 2010s, was arrested along with her partner, Blue Inessa-Ethington, and charged in the U.S. with international parental kidnapping.

The couple traveled with the child to Canada ostensibly for a camping trip in late March with Blue’s 3-year-old child. However, the two adults turned off their phones after telling the older child’s mother they had arrived in Canada. They flew from Vancouver to Mexico and then to Cuba on April 1, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in federal court in Utah.

The charges don't say if the couple actually planned on getting the child gender-affirming surgery in Cuba or how they would get it because that surgery isn't legal for children in Cuba.

The FBI said that Blue Inessa-Ethington withdrew $10,000 from her checking account before leaving. Agents also found at their home a note with instructions from a mental health therapist in Washington, D.C., “to send the therapist the $10,000.00 and instructions on gender affirming medical care for children.” That note didn't mention Cuba.

The use of the Department of Justice plane in a parental kidnapping investigation comes after the Trump administration sought to block access to gender-affirming care for minors and pressured health care providers over the issue.

The Associated Press left telephone and email messages with the court-appointed attorneys who represented Blue and Rose Inessa-Ethington in Virginia. The defendants will be returned to Utah to face one count each of international parental kidnapping, according to court filings.

Search began after child wasn't returned as scheduled

The search for the child began on April 3 when they were not returned to the mother in Utah as scheduled, court documents show.

The 10-year-old’s mother, who was divorced from Rose Inessa-Ethington and had shared custody of the child, filed a missing-person report with police in Logan, Utah, a college and dairy farming town about 70 miles (115 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City.

Logan City Police Chief Jeff Simmons said his department’s initial focus was on the custodial interference allegations in the case, and he said investigators did not learn until later about concerns over gender-affirming surgery.

Logan police spokesperson Sgt. Brandon Bevan said those concerns were raised by one family member. He declined to say who.

“They just had the concern about it, no actual physical evidence” Bevan said.

A Utah state judge ordered the return of the 10-year-old to the child’s mother on April 13. Three days later, a federal magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant for the Inessa-Ethingtons. On the same day, Cuban law enforcement located the group. They were deported to the U.S. aboard the government plane Monday and arraigned in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

The 10-year-old was returned to the child’s biological mother, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak in Utah indicated in a statement. Representatives of the FBI and U.S. attorneys office in Utah declined to say what happened to the 3-year-old child who had been with the group.

Parents engaged in custody dispute

The custody dispute between the parents does not appear to be a new development. An online fundraiser created five years go by Blue Inessa-Ethington titled “Help a Trans Mother Keep Custody of Her Child” raised $9,766.

“Last week, Rose’s ex relocated several counties away, negatively impacting Rose’s parent-time with the child,” she wrote on the fundraising page. She said the money would be used to seek a court order that would keep the child “safe and stable throughout this process.”

Anyone who has spent time with Rose knows “how much care and thought she puts into parenting her gender open child,” she wrote.

Family members said the child was assigned male at birth but identifies as a girl because of what they believed to be “manipulation” by Rose Inessa-Ethington, according to an April 16 affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield.

Gender-affirming care for minors has been limited

The Trump administration moved in December to cut off gender-affirming care for minors, prompting a third of states to sue.

It was the latest in a series of clashes between an administration that says transgender health care can be harmful to children and advocates who say it’s medically necessary.

Gender-affirming surgery is rare among U.S. children, research shows. Guidance from several major medical organizations calls for caution around surgery for minors and says decisions about treatments are case-by-case. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 U.S. adolescents receive gender-affirming medications, such as hormones or puberty blockers.

In Cuba, gender-affirming surgeries are banned for minors and only performed for adults through the public health system under strict supervision in designated public hospitals for Cuban citizens. They must be authorized by a medical commission after a comprehensive review of the patient’s file. That process often takes years because it requires a wide range of medical and psychological evaluations.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana, and Boone from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press journalists Eric Tucker in Washington, Cristiana Mesquita in Havana and Devi Shastri in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

With a runner on third in the first inning of the Mariners' 5-4 victory over the Athletics, Carlos Cortes belted a line drive at the Seattle right-hander and the ball somehow lodged in Gilbert's jersey.

Gilbert grabbed at his stomach and turned to locate the ball as Cortes made his way down the first-base line, only to find he in fact caught it — well, kind of — in his shirt.

“It happened so quick, I wasn’t quite sure what happened,' Gilbert said. "And then, I mean, I hurt a little bit after that. So, had to take a second.”

Cortes was credited with a single as the play was considered dead, but Nick Kurtz remained at third base. Shea Langeliers advanced to second base.

Gilbert was aware of the rule that awarded Cortes first base, yet still considered himself lucky.

“At first, I thought I was pretty fortunate that it was a catch,” Gilbert said. "But, I guess it wasn’t a catch. But at the same time, if they hit it like 110 off the bat, I don’t really feel like I deserve an out there.”

Gilbert was briefly checked out by Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, but he remained in the game and made it through the inning. After the game, in which Gilbert gave up three runs in four innings, he revealed he had a bruise on his stomach, as well as a cut on his left hand.

Otherwise, Gilbert said he was fine, much to the relief of teammates like first baseman Josh Naylor, who hit a walk-off single on Wednesday.

“Anything hit back to the pitcher with that exit velocity’s kind of scary,” Naylor said. "You never know what’s going to happen. So, I’m glad he’s okay.”

Manager Dan Wilson commended Gilbert for bouncing back, though he did allow two earned runs on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Soderstrom and an RBI single by Jeff McNeil in the first inning. Gilbert joked postgame he no interest in exiting the game since the incident happened so early in it.

“That was crazy," Gilbert said. "That was a freak thing, to end up through the jersey, too.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

“El Estado (boliviano) va a tomar las medidas que deben tomar para realizar el pago… Se van a tomar algunas medidas. No podemos adelantarlas”, dijo el viceministro de Pensiones Horacio Valencia en conferencia de prensa conjunta con el procurador el Estado Hugo César León y el subprocurador Roger Marcelo Longaric, entre otras autoridades.

Este arbitraje se suma a más de 20 que la nación andina perdió frente a más de una decena de empresas en el sector de los hidrocarburos, la electricidad y los fondos de pensiones, entre otros, por las nacionalizaciones que emprendió el gobierno del presidente Evo Morales (2006-2019).

Sobre el monto aproximado que el gobierno del presidente Rodrigo Paz debe pagar por el resultado de esos arbitrajes, el viceministro Valencia afirmó que se estima que están alrededor de los 800 millones de dólares y acotó que "están en proceso y en curso algunos de ellos”.

Las autoridades señalaron que esta deuda la heredaron de los gobiernos de izquierda de Morales y su sucesor Luis Arce (2020-2025) y anunciaron auditorías por los manejos “políticos”.

En la víspera se conoció la ratificación del fallo favorable a BBVA que consideró que Bolivia vulneró estándares internacionales, como el trato justo y equitativo y la prohibición de medidas arbitrarias, luego de la nacionalización de la administración de los fondos de pensiones de esa entidad financiera.

El Tribunal Supremo de los Países Bajos desestimó la última apelación de Bolivia en contra del fallo del Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI) que ya había fallado a favor de BBVA.

La nacionalización del fondo de pensiones se dio en 2010 pero la transición duró 12 años y en 2023 pasó a la administración estatal mediante la creación de una gestora pública.

El fondo de pensiones estaba administrado en dos partes por la suiza Zurich South America Invest y por BBVA, que demandaron a Bolivia. El caso de la primera demandante se sigue por otros rieles.

El país sudamericano debe hacer esos pagos en momentos en que busca salir de la peor crisis económica en 40 años.

The result condemned American-owned Burnley to relegation after one season back in the top flight.

Haaland ran onto Jeremy Doku's pass to convert a deft finish in the fifth minute for his league-high 24th goal of the campaign, which allowed City to back up its 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday that, for many, turned Pep Guardiola’s team into the title favorite.

However, with goal difference potentially coming into play, City might regret not putting more past Burnley at Turf Moor.

Winning by a one-goal margin left City and Arsenal tied on both points (70) and goal difference (+37). City only leads courtesy of more goals scored (66 to Arsenal's 63).

“I was not frustrated, why would I be?" Guardiola said. “We won three points, we are top of the league.”

Haaland and Rayan Cherki struck the goal frame and Nico O'Reilly had a weak shot saved with the net at his mercy as City's players threw everything at Burnley — they finished the game having had 28 shots — in an effort to rack up the goals.

“In these types of games, if you score the second or third that you deserve, everything’s more fluid and natural,” Guardiola said.

“But,” he added, “the main target was winning the game.”

City was nine points adrift of Arsenal after drawing with West Ham on March 14. Three straight wins, combined with back-to-back losses for Arsenal, has seen the title race turn on its head.

Relegation was inevitable for Burnley

For next-to-last Burnley, a third relegation from the Premier League in the last five seasons has been an inevitability for weeks.

Scott Parker's team slipped to its 22nd loss of the campaign and is 13 points from safety with four games left.

Burnley will be going down with last-place Wolverhampton, whose fate was sealed at the weekend, and one other team.

Leeds edges further clear of relegation

In the other match Wednesday, Leeds scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to draw 2-2 at Bournemouth and edge nine points clear of third-to-last Tottenham, which occupies the other place in the relegation zone.

Sean Longstaff's late equalizer denied Bournemouth a win that would have lifted the team to sixth place, four points off the Champions League qualification positions.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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

In his testimony to various committees in both the Senate and the House over multiple days this week and last, Kennedy was tasked with defending President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 budget, which would boost defense spending while cutting more than 12% of funding from Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services.

With lawmakers of both parties raising concerns about programs and research funding being reduced or eliminated, Kennedy acknowledged the cuts were “painful” but said they were necessary to address the federal government’s record $39 trillion deficit.

When Democrats came out swinging, Kennedy became more defiant, even at times screaming his rebuttals — though some of them didn’t align with the facts. He accused multiple Democratic lawmakers of grandstanding, making things up and seeking sound bites over meaningful responses.

Here are takeaways from Kennedy’s gauntlet of budget hearings:

Kennedy deflects blame for Americans not vaccinating

One of the central fights shaping Kennedy’s interactions with Democratic lawmakers was over who bears responsibility for the decline in childhood vaccination rates and measles outbreaks that have ripped across the country over the past year, threatening the country’s measles elimination status. Kennedy’s refrain was consistent: It’s not my fault.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Kennedy said Tuesday of the uptick in measles across the country over the past year. He noted there is a global rise in measles cases, including in other countries like Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Kennedy, who spent years as an anti-vaccine crusader before entering politics and in 2021 said he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines, disputed accusations that he is anti-vaccine, saying he is “pro-science.”

Throughout the hearings, he sought to focus on HHS’s initiatives unrelated to vaccines — part of a broader administration pivot toward less controversial health topics like nutritious eating.

Kennedy argued that fewer Americans are vaccinating because they lost trust in government recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was working to restore that trust. In fact, surveys show trust in federal health agencies has continued to decline during Kennedy’s tenure.

Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington, argued Kennedy’s vaccine views have caused a “spillover effect” that has led to mothers not giving their babies vitamin K injections common at birth to prevent brain bleeding.

“I’ve never said anything about vitamin K,” Kennedy said.

“That’s exactly the point,” Schrier replied.

Kennedy did get credit, however, from Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who said his work was crucial in helping the state manage a troubling measles outbreak over the past year.

“We would not be on the right side of this outbreak without your leadership,” Scott told Kennedy.

Kennedy forcefully denies there are Medicaid cuts – a claim experts call political spin

Nearly every time Democrats brought up the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade largely being created through new work requirements for enrollees, Kennedy lashed back to argue there are no cuts to Medicaid.

“Only in Washington is it considered a cut,” Kennedy told New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, on Wednesday.

Kennedy cited a Congressional Budget Office report showing that Medicaid outlays are estimated to increase by about 47% over the next decade. But experts say his analysis of that report is disingenuous, politicized framing and that the increased spending reflects factors like inflation and a growing population.

“This is an old, sort of tired argument that’s been used by conservatives to justify spending cuts by saying, well, if spending is still growing in nominal terms, somehow there wasn’t a cut,” said Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University. “The federal government is spending nearly a trillion dollars less than it otherwise would have in the absence of the legislation.”

Lawmakers of both parties are concerned about affordability

A major concern for voters in the 2026 midterm elections is affordability — including skyrocketing costs for health care and health insurance. That wasn’t lost on those questioning Kennedy, as lawmakers from both parties raised the issue.

On Tuesday, Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican from Oregon, shared the story of his brother who pays $26,000 per year for his health coverage.

“What in the world can I go back to him and say? ‘Hey, the administration is working on trying to drive these prices down?’” he asked Kennedy.

Kennedy, for his part, cited several Trump administration initiatives to lower prices, including the White House's TrumpRx website for discounted drugs and Trump’s so-called most favored nations deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Pressed by senators, Kennedy pledged to provide details of those deals that didn’t include proprietary information or trade secrets. Some Democrats wanted him to do more.

“Why don’t you do an agreement yourself? he said in a jab to Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. “You’ve had power to do that for 20 years and haven’t done it.”

Kennedy acknowledges some HHS cuts are ‘painful’

To achieve a more than 12% cut of the more than $100 billion HHS budget, the Trump administration is proposing slashing some $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health and cutting a bevy of other programs and initiatives, including a low-income home energy assistance program.

Several senators asked Kennedy why different areas were being cut. NIH cuts, in particular, raised bipartisan outcry.

“There’s an argument to be made that we’re handing China our lunch,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Kennedy was candid that neither he nor others at his agency wanted to see the cuts, which he called “painful.”

“There’s a lot of cuts to the agency that nobody wants,” he said.

Police officers first responded to a car burglary, arrested an armed suspect, and searched for a second suspect in the area, according to the Florida City Police Department.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies with the Priority Response Team responded to arrest three suspects who were in an apartment near Northwest Seventh Avenue and 14 Street near Homestead.

A witness with Homestead Crimes shared two videos showing when a FCPD officer lifted crime scene tape to allow M-DSO patrol cars to get through.

Three of the four suspects arrested had been involved in an armed robbery on Tuesday night in the area, according to FCPD.

Detectives did not release the identities of the suspects as they continued to investigate the crimes.

Local 10 News Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

Location

A warming trend starts Friday with afternoon temperatures reaching the middle 80s this weekend. Into early next work week, the hottest air of the year is on the way with the low 90s in the forecast starting Tuesday.

In terms of rain, we could get a stray shower or two off the water on Thursday. A weak disturbance will pass by the Florida Keys on Friday with a high chance of downpours down there. Meanwhile, any showers around Miami-Dade or Broward Counties are expected to remain spotty.

“Good Neighbors” will be published next year, W.W. Norton & Company told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“Last winter, Minnesotans from all walks of life showed up for one another with compassion, courage and resilience,” Walz, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“Here in Minnesota, it’s simple — we call it being a good neighbor. I’ve always been fascinated by the ways in which we keep community in America, and how we interweave our lives.”

Walz, 62, became a national figure in 2024 after Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate in what was eventually a losing effort against President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance. A Norton spokesperson declined to comment on whether Walz will write about the campaign, saying no additional information beyond the press release was currently available.

Walz was a prominent critic of ICE’s actions, including the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January. The state of Minnesota is suing the federal government, alleging that ICE cost the local economy more than $600 million in damages.