La sospechosa fue identificada por el BSO como Tamica Brown, de 43 años, quien enfrenta cargos de uso criminal de información de identificación personal y tráfico de tarjetas de crédito falsificadas.

“SNAP es un programa financiado por el gobierno federal y administrado por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA) a través de su Servicio de Alimentación y Nutrición”, dijo la portavoz del BSO Claudinne Caro en un comunicado de prensa. “Los beneficiarios elegibles acceden a sus fondos a través de tarjetas de transferencia electrónica de beneficios (EBT), que funcionan de manera similar a una tarjeta de débito o crédito. Los beneficiarios acceden a sus beneficios usando la tarjeta EBT y un Número de Identificación Personal (PIN) único”.

Según el BSO, la investigación comenzó el 20 de julio de 2025, cuando agentes en Cooper City fueron llamados a un Walmart en 4700 S. Flamingo Road, donde una víctima reportó que alguien había usado su tarjeta EBT sin su consentimiento.

Los detectives dijeron que eventualmente identificaron a unas 200 víctimas que sufrieron una pérdida combinada de más de $120,000.

Una madre soltera de tres hijos que se vio obligada a quedarse sin comestibles y una mujer de 95 años estuvieron entre las víctimas, dijo Caro.

Caro confirmó que hasta ahora los detectives han entrevistado a 30 víctimas.

“La investigación de ocho meses reveló que Brown, de 43 años, operó un esquema de fraude organizado en el que obtuvo ilegalmente números de tarjetas EBT pertenecientes a beneficiarios de SNAP, los PIN asociados y los saldos de las cuentas de múltiples fuentes”, dijo Caro. “La evidencia indicó que estos números de tarjetas fueron robados por medios desconocidos y transmitidos a Brown electrónicamente a través de teléfonos”.

Según el BSO, Brown usó los números de tarjetas y PIN robados para hacer compras no autorizadas, incluyendo bebidas energéticas de “alta demanda” como Red Bull y Celsius.

Los investigadores dijeron que luego revendía los productos a bodegas y tiendas de conveniencia.

Según Caro, las víctimas descubrieron que sus beneficios ya habían sido agotados cuando intentaron hacer sus propias compras con sus tarjetas EBT.

Brown fue arrestada el martes pasado por la policía de Pembroke Pines, que la detuvo con una orden de arresto del BSO.

Hasta el lunes por la tarde, estaba detenida en el Centro de Detención Paul Rein con una fianza de $300,000.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Infante faced five charges: Four counts of battery and one count of offenses against students by authority figures. His bond was $14,000.

Infante appeared in bond court on Saturday. A judge ordered him to stay away from the teenage girl and all schools and ordered house arrest with total lockdown.

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

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

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

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

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

Read the arrest report’s narrative:

Watch Saturday’s bond court hearing

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

Read M-DCPS complete statement:

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

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

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

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

The 30th annual Florida Tour de Force charity bicycle ride began Monday morning in North Miami Beach. The five-day, 270-mile journey will end in Daytona Beach.

Two fallen South Florida officers killed in the line of duty in 2025 were among those honored: Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Deputy Devin Jaramillo, shot and killed by a suspect, and Miami Beach Police Department Sgt. David Cajuso, killed in a motorcycle crash.

MBPD Officer Rick Lonergan was riding in Cajuso’s honor.

“He gave so much to the department and the city and the citizens of Miami Beach. The only right thing to do is to come out and honor him on a day like today,” Lonergan said. “He was a great guy. Funny guy. I enjoyed working with him.”

Law enforcement will escort the riders up the Atlantic coast with stops planned every 12 to 15 miles, making the ride accessible for seasoned cyclists and those riding for a cause.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” North Miami Beach police Chief Juan Pinillos said.

Every dollar raised goes directly to the families of the fallen heroes.

Francisco Navarro, quien trabajaba como guardia de seguridad, le disparó mortalmente a un usuario de silla de ruedas que los invitados querían dejar entrar pero que no estaba en la lista, según el informe de arresto policial.

Durante una discusión, la víctima insultó a Navarro, de 26 años, con una palabrota, tras lo cual él sacó una Glock 19 de su funda, disparó varias veces y huyó, según el informe de arresto.

De acuerdo con el informe, Navarro, quien vive en el condado de Miami-Dade, le disparó a la víctima seis veces: una en el cuello, dos en el abdomen, dos en el hombro izquierdo y una en el antebrazo.

Durante la investigación, los detectives en el salón de banquetes en el 6072 de West Oakland Park Boulevard llamaron a Navarro, quien regresó para entregarse a la policía, según el informe policial.

El lunes por la tarde, Navarro, nacido en La Habana, Cuba, enfrentó un cargo de asesinato en primer grado en el condado de Broward, según registros judiciales.

Un juez de fianzas le negó la libertad bajo fianza, por lo que permaneció en la Cárcel Principal del condado de Broward en Fort Lauderdale, según registros de reclusos.

La jueza del Circuito del condado de Broward, Francis I. Viamontes, estaba programada para presidir el caso.

Se trata de una medida que se ha discutido por años en el país y que ha generado rechazo especialmente en la comunidad de Puerto Triunfo, donde se ubica la Hacienda Nápoles que perteneció a Escobar y que atrae a cientos de turistas que acuden a ver los hipopótamos. El narcotraficante falleció en 1993 abatido por la policía colombiana.

La ministra de Ambiente, Irene Vélez, firmó un documento oficial que contiene lineamientos para la coordinación institucional en el manejo y control de los hipopótamos. En rueda de prensa explicó que las medidas serían implementadas en el segundo semestre del año, cuando ya estará en funciones un nuevo presidente que asumirá el 7 de agosto.

El plan contempla la eutanasia química con una inyección y la física, que se realizará con disparo de rifle por un tirador certificado, según el ministerio. Agregaron que los cuerpos de los animales serán enterrados.

El ministerio indicó en el documento que la caza de control será una medida de última instancia que “solo procederá cuando las alternativas no letales no resulten” viables.

También continuarán intentando el traslado de animales a varios países que los acepten para cuidarlos en zoológicos y santuarios, un plan que gestionan desde 2023 y que no ha tenido ninguna respuesta positiva, según detalló el ministerio.

Ese mismo año, el país también inició decenas de esterilizaciones, un procedimiento costoso de cerca de 9.800 dólares por hipopótamo que representa riesgos como la muerte o la reacción alérgica a la anestesia; mientras, contemplaba el traslado y la eutanasia a la que le hacía falta el protocolo.

Vélez advirtió que, de no tomar medidas, en 2030 el país tendría una población de 500 hipopótamos, afectando los ecosistemas y especies nativas como el manatí y la tortuga de río. Colombia declaró esos mamíferos herbívoros una especie exótica invasora.

Los hipopótamos, territoriales y de hasta tres toneladas, no tienen un depredador natural en Colombia y están cada vez más dispersos por el caudaloso río Magdalena en estado salvaje. Las autoridades temen que se extiendan hacia otras zonas del país.

Algunas veces han salido del agua y andado por las calles del pueblo de Puerto Triunfo o por las carreteras, como ocurrió a finales de marzo, según videos divulgados por la comunidad en redes sociales.

El ministerio asignará hasta 1,7 millones de dólares para el plan de control. Vélez calculó que con el presupuesto disponible sería aplicada la eutanasia a por lo menos 80 hipopótamos.

Aún está en la memoria colectiva el caso de “Pepe”, un hipopótamo que, tras escapar de la Hacienda Nápoles, fue perseguido por francotiradores de una fundación ambiental privada y cazado a tiros en 2009, lo que provocó reclamos de ambientalistas.

Francisco Navarro, who was working security, fatally shot a wheelchair user, who guests wanted to allow inside, but was not on the guest list, according to a police arrest report.

During an argument, the victim used an expletive to insult Navarro, 26, who then pulled out a Glock 19 from his holster, fired several times, and fled, according to the police arrest report.

According to the police arrest report, Navarro, who lives in Miami-Dade County, shot the victim six times: Once in the neck, twice in the abdomen, twice in the left shoulder, and once in the forearm.

During the investigation, detectives at the banquet hall at 6072 West Oakland Park Boulevard, called Navarro, who then returned to surrender to police, according to the police report.

On Monday afternoon, Navarro, who was born in Havana, Cuba, faced a first-degree murder charge in Broward County, according to court records.

A bond court judge denied him bail, so he remained at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, according to inmate records.

Broward County Circuit Judge Francis I. Viamontes was set to preside over the case.

Location

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

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

The damage is so bad, you can barely step into Joel Elusma’s backyard.

“I’m looking for somebody to fix it,” he told Local 10 News.

Elusma said he is looking at all his options after the back of the home he lives in caught fire Sunday night.

He believes the water heater exploded.

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

She then told her grandmother, who immediately called 911.

“I was worried about him because I didn’t know if he was in the house or not,” a neighbor named Mark said.

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

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

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

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

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

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

Cellphone video shows the aftermath of the shooting. Clothing and shoes were scattered across the pavement and one of the victims was seen on the ground being treated by paramedics.

“Well, it was two gunshots,” one witness said. “I didn’t see anything.”

The witness was near the area where the shooting took place and said she heard the deadly shots.

She described the chaotic moments that followed.

“When I turned around, I saw a young guy laying (on the ground) -- was just unresponsive. He wasn’t responsive,” she said. “People were just running all over, I fell down on people. People just trying to recover from the whole incident. That was it -- it was a pause, and then it was another two or three shots.”

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

Se espera que el supertifón Sinlaku toque tierra el martes en las Islas Marianas del Norte y azote con vientos destructivos, lluvias intensas generalizadas e inundaciones, informó el Servicio Meteorológico Nacional el lunes.

Los cortes de electricidad en las islas podrían prolongarse, advirtieron los meteorólogos.

Guam, un territorio de Estados Unidos con instalaciones militares estadounidenses y unos 170.000 habitantes, también podría registrar vientos dañinos y está bajo una advertencia de tormenta tropical. La Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos emitió advertencias de inundaciones y vientos fuertes durante el fin de semana.

El tifón tropical —el más fuerte del planeta hasta ahora este año— generaba vientos sostenidos de 278 km/h (173 mph) el lunes, cuando se acercaba a las islas de Rota, Tinian y Saipan, según el Centro Conjunto de Alerta de Tifones.

Aunque se prevé que se debilite ligeramente en los próximos días, Sinlaku se espera que pase cerca de las islas como un tifón de categoría 4 o 5.

En las tres islas viven unas 50.000 personas, la mayoría en Saipan, conocida por sus relajados complejos turísticos, el esnórquel y el golf, además de ser la capital de las Islas Marianas del Norte.

Saipan fue escenario de una de las batallas más sangrientas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en el Pacífico, en la que murieron más de 50.000 soldados japoneses y estadounidenses, así como civiles locales.

En Guam, donde el tifón Mawar dejó sin electricidad a los habitantes de la isla durante días en 2023, funcionarios militares de Estados Unidos advirtieron al personal que se preparara para la tormenta y se refugiara en el lugar. Los militares controlan aproximadamente un tercio de las tierras de la isla, un centro crucial para las fuerzas estadounidenses en el Pacífico.

El presidente Donald Trump aprobó el sábado declaraciones de emergencia por desastre para Guam y las Islas Marianas del Norte, lo que permite ayuda adicional para los servicios de emergencia.

Un supertifón es el nombre que se da a los ciclones tropicales más fuertes que se forman en el noroeste del océano Pacífico, donde suelen originarse las tormentas más intensas del planeta.

Supervisados por el Centro Conjunto de Alerta de Tifones en Guam, los supertifones equivalen a huracanes de categoría 4 o 5 en el Atlántico, con vientos de al menos 240 km/h (150 mph). Se han identificado más de 300 supertifones desde que el centro de alerta empezó a usar ese nombre hace casi 80 años.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Video from Sky 10, taken just after 12:30 p.m., shows the small plane on its nose along the runway.

First responders said the plane’s nose gear collapsed on takeoff. No one was hurt.

Aside from collapsed gear, the Cessna R182 looked to be intact.

The government revealed the decision as it seeks to settle a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the removal. A judge must still approve the agreement.

According to court papers, the Interior Department and National Park Service “have confirmed their intention to maintain a Pride flag at Stonewall.” It won’t be removed, except for “maintenance or other practical purposes.”

Under the agreement, within a week, the Park Service will hang three flags on the Stonewall monument flagpole — each measuring three feet by five feet. The Pride flag will fly between the U.S. flag and Park Service flag.

The Pride flag had become a flashpoint for arguments over President Donald Trump ’s approach to the Stonewall site — the first national monument commemorating LGBTQ+ history — and various other historical properties.

After a yearslong campaign by activists who wanted the flag symbolizing LGBTQ+ pride to be flown daily inside the park service-run site, the banner was formally installed in 2022, during Democratic President Joe Biden ’s tenure.

At the time, park service officials in New York called the display a sign of the government’s commitment to “telling the complex and diverse histories of all Americans.”

But in February, the park service removed the flag, in what the agency explained as compliance with federal guidance on flag displays. A Jan. 21 park service memo largely restricts the agency to displaying the U.S., Department of the Interior and POW/MIA flags, with exemptions that include providing “historical context.”

The park service insisted that the monument “remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site” through various exhibits and programs. But LGBTQ+ activists saw the flag’s removal as a targeted affront meant to diminish a site that is all about their fight for rights and visibility.

Advocates and some New York Democratic elected officials turned up soon after with another rainbow flag and — after some heated moments when the politicians seemed content to leave it on a separate, lower pole — raised it up alongside the U.S. flag that the park service had installed.

Democratic President Barack Obama created the Stonewall monument in 2016. The monument centers on a tiny park across the street from the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a 1969 police raid sparked an uprising and helped catalyze the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

After Trump, a Republican, returned to office last year, he took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and protections for transgender people. In one outcome of his policies, many references to transgender people were excised from the monument’s website and materials.

Trump’s administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that the government says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

The Oscar-winning actor and co-host of “The View” has launched the imprint WhoopInk, a partnership with Blackstone Publishing that will focus on bringing “fresh, diverse new talent to the marketplace” and on works spanning across genres. According to Blackstone, Goldberg will be “intimately involved” with the imprint, on everything from cover design to promotion.

At least one WhoopInk author already is well known to Goldberg — Rick Bleiweiss, a Blackstone executive who signed up Goldberg's “Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me” for the publisher. Goldberg plans to publish the next novel in Bleiweiss' “Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives” mystery series and to release some of her own books, including a follow-up to “Bits and Pieces,” a bestselling memoir that comes out in paperback this week.

“I am personally looking forward to finding new authors, working with established authors, and bringing influential voices into this curated imprint,” Goldberg said in a statement Monday.

Numerous other celebrities have overseen their own imprints in recent years, including Sarah Jessica Parker,John Legend and Questlove. Reese Witherspoon, Dakota Johnson and Dua Lipa are among the public figures who have formed their own book clubs.

The suspect was identified by BSO as Tamica Brown, 43, who faces charges of criminal use of personal identification information and trafficking in counterfeit credit cards.

“SNAP is a federally funded program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its Food and Nutrition Service,” BSO spokeswoman Claudinne Caro said in a news release. “Eligible recipients access their funds through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which works similarly to a debit or credit card. Recipients access their benefits using the EBT card and a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN).”

According to BSO, the investigation began on July 20, 2025, when deputies in Cooper City were called to a Walmart at 4700 S. Flamingo Road where a victim reported that someone had used their EBT card without their consent.

Detectives said they eventually identified about 200 victims who suffered a combined loss of more than $120,000.

A single mother of three children, who was forced to go without groceries, and a 95-year-old woman were among the victims, Caro said.

Caro confirmed that 30 victims have been interviewed by detectives so far.

“The eight-month-long investigation revealed Brown, 43, operated an organized fraud scheme where she unlawfully obtained EBT card numbers belonging to SNAP recipients, associated PINs, and account balances from multiple sources,” Caro said. “Evidence indicated that these card numbers were stolen by unknown means and transmitted to Brown electronically by way of phones.”

According to BSO, Brown used the stolen card numbers and PINs to make unauthorized purchases, including for “high-demand” energy drinks, such as Red Bull and Celsius.

Investigators said she then resold the products to corner stores and convenience stores.

According to Caro, the victims discovered their benefits had already been depleted when they tried to make purchases of their own with their EBT cards.

Brown was arrested last Tuesday by Pembroke Pines police, who took her into custody on BSO’s warrant.

As of Monday afternoon, she was being held at the Paul Rein Detention Facility on a $300,000 bond.

Greier se preocuparía menos si la granja solar que quería en su terreno se hubiera concretado. Pero funcionarios locales la bloquearon en 2023 en virtud de una ley estatal de Ohio, y Greier —ante una pesada deuda médica— tuvo que vender parte de su tierra para mantenerse a flote. El acuerdo que se frustró le habría aportado unos 540.000 dólares en pagos de arrendamiento cada año.

“Fue nuestra salvación”, manifestó. “No era ese panorama aterrador que a todo el mundo le gusta pintar sobre la energía solar y la pérdida de tierras agrícolas”.

La oposición local a la energía solar ha sido durante mucho tiempo un obstáculo para los desarrolladores de energía verde. Pero algunas comunidades están trabajando para revertir las restricciones locales, citando los beneficios fiscales y los empleos que aportan los proyectos, así como los pagos de arrendamiento de las empresas energéticas, que pueden proporcionar ingresos estables a los agricultores en una industria volátil.

Cuando una empresa solar se le acercó con la intención de construir paneles en parte de su terreno, Greier, de 42 años y agricultor de sexta generación, dudó. Pero, ante 1 millón de dólares en deuda médica tras una larga batalla con el COVID y complicaciones relacionadas, vio una oportunidad para salvar su granja.

Algunos en la comunidad lo vieron de otra manera.

Greier contó que él y su familia fueron marginados mientras el debate sobre el proyecto se desarrollaba en reuniones públicas. Su salud mental se desplomó. Y el proyecto finalmente fue bloqueado en virtud de una ley estatal que permite a los condados impedir la construcción de parques eólicos y solares en terrenos que consideren “restringidos”.

“Yo era el que iba a perder la granja de sexta generación. Yo era el que no podía mantener a mi familia”, expresó.

Un momento difícil para las energías renovables

La hostilidad del presidente Donald Trump hacia la energía verde ha golpeado a la industria al eliminar subsidios, préstamos e incentivos fiscales. Pero incluso antes de su regreso a la Casa Blanca, las prohibiciones locales a la energía renovable se estaban volviendo más comunes. Un estudio de 2025 de la Universidad de Columbia encontró que, de 2023 a 2024, hubo un aumento del 16% en las leyes locales en 44 estados que restringieron este tipo de proyectos.

“Muchas comunidades quieren descarbonizar y probablemente, en teoría, apoyan la energía renovable”, dijo Juniper Katz, profesora adjunta de la Universidad de Massachusetts que se centra en política ambiental. Pero, añadió, “cuando se trata de tu comunidad y tu patio trasero, equilibrar estos procesos para que la gente sienta que ha tenido voz sin crear tantos puntos de veto que no se pueda hacer nada, creo que ahí está el truco. Y no es fácil”.

Funcionarios del condado Dearborn, Indiana, pausaron el desarrollo solar durante un año en febrero tras la preocupación de residentes por la cercanía de paneles solares a viviendas y el posible impacto ambiental de los materiales de los paneles.

Bobby Rauen, que vive cerca de parte de un proyecto solar propuesto de 1.200 acres (486 hectáreas) en ese condado, está entre los residentes que solicitaron la pausa. Señaló que espera que los funcionarios aprovechen este tiempo para crear mejores protecciones para quienes viven cerca de posibles proyectos solares. También indicó que le preocupaba que las tierras agrícolas no vuelvan a producir si los paneles solares se retiran eventualmente.

Después de que funcionarios del condado Mahoning, Ohio, detuvieran el proyecto planificado por Greier —de 675 acres (273 hectáreas) y 150 megavatios—, él decidió ayudar a otros que querían energía solar en sus tierras, al afirmar que “no quería ser una víctima”. Como miembro de Renewable Energy Farmers of America, Greier, que principalmente cultiva maíz y soja, ha compartido su experiencia con legisladores, grupos de defensa y en comunidades que debaten el desarrollo de energía verde.

Recientemente habló con funcionarios gubernamentales en una reunión pública en el condado Richland, Ohio, a unos 161 kilómetros (100 millas) de su casa. Allí, defensores lograron incluir en la boleta un referendo este mayo para revertir la prohibición del condado sobre proyectos eólicos y solares.

Morgan Carroll, residente del condado de toda la vida, ha estado trabajando desde el verano pasado para reunir apoyo para eliminar la prohibición. Aunque no es agricultora ni propietaria de tierras, Carroll dijo que respalda los empleos y los ingresos fiscales que estos proyectos pueden aportar y cree que la prohibición les quita la decisión a los residentes, y que algún día podría afectar a sus dos hijos pequeños.

“Quiero que estén en un condado que pueda ofrecer empleos, que pueda ofrecerles una buena escuela”, dijo. “No quiero tener que mudarme”.

La política federal influye en las leyes locales

Los republicanos del Congreso y el gobierno de Trump adelantaron los plazos para que los proyectos solares a escala de servicios públicos pudieran calificar para incentivos fiscales tras la aprobación de una gran ley de exenciones tributarias y recortes de gasto en julio pasado. Ahora, los proyectos solares a escala de servicios públicos deben estar en funcionamiento para finales de 2027 para calificar.

El año pasado, Lita Leavell y su esposo, Joe, que operan una granja ganadera de 1.000 acres (405 hectáreas) en Lancaster, Kentucky, esperaban albergar un proyecto solar a escala de servicios públicos en aproximadamente la mitad de su terreno, lo que les habría aportado un estimado de 60.000 dólares al año. Al igual que Greier, los pagos de arrendamiento habrían garantizado que la tierra pudiera permanecer en su familia.

Pero después de que se aprobara en 2023 una ordenanza del condado Garrard que restringía el desarrollo solar, la empresa energética con la que trabajaba Leavell decidió poner fin al proyecto.

Parte del razonamiento de su condado para la ordenanza fue la oposición del gobierno federal a la energía solar y el deseo del gobierno de Trump de detener proyectos a escala de servicios públicos en tierras agrícolas, dijeron líderes del condado durante una reunión en agosto de 2025. Leavell, quien dijo ser republicana, cuestionó por qué la falta de apoyo federal a proyectos de energía verde debería afectar su capacidad de impulsar estos proyectos en su propia tierra. Ella y un grupo de otros seis propietarios de tierras están demandando para anular la ordenanza.

“Lo que supongo que me desconcertó tanto es que hay muchas cosas peores que podrían estar al lado tuyo”, comentó.

Una cuestión de derechos de propiedad

Carroll, que ayudó a reunir firmas para el referendo en el condado de Richland, Ohio, descubrió que cuando el debate sobre los proyectos solares se planteaba como una cuestión de derechos de propiedad, la gente en la comunidad era más receptiva.

Greier también se centra en los derechos de propiedad cuando habla del tema. Su granja es su plan de jubilación y, según dijo, debería tener el derecho de usarla para mantener a su familia.

“Hay familias que dependen de esto y lo están buscando”, afirmó. “Y se les ha quitado esta oportunidad”.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The analysis, part of the Economic Report of the President, outlines both a political risk and a messaging opportunity for President Donald Trump, whose public approval has slumped because of concerns about his tariffs, the Iran war and his unfulfilled promises to slash inflation and unleash stronger growth.

Trump signed two executive orders in March directing federal agencies to reduce housing regulatory burdens and make it easier for smaller banks to provide mortgages but he’s been slow to take other steps that would show that high housing costs are a top priority for his administration.

The White House has been trying to focus on housing and other affordability issues for months to get ready for what’s expected to be a challenging midterm season for Republicans, but it has been thrown off course by a series of global issues. In January, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that had been billed as focusing on housing turned into a showdown for Trump over control of Greenland.

Meanwhile, the Iran war has driven up the cost of buying homes, with average rates for 30-year mortgages jumping from just under 6% to 6.37%.

Trump also has argued in favor of keeping home prices high to protect values for existing owners. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down,” Trump told his Cabinet earlier this year. “I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen.”

The report lays out a blueprint on housing

The housing chapter of the annual economic report, obtained by The Associated Press before its release, lays out a blueprint for how more home construction would help the middle class and the overall economy, setting up an argument that Trump could make to voters.

Put together by staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, it finds there would be 10 million more houses in the country if “homebuilding and the growth of the single-family housing stock had continued at their historical pace instead of falling dramatically” after the 2008 global financial crisis. That crisis was caused largely by a wave of defaults in the housing market, where prices had been fueled by problematic lending practices.

The analysis notes that home prices have risen 82% since 2000, while incomes are up just 12% — a mismatch that had been masked for a period by historically low mortgage rates. But when rates jumped with inflation in the aftermath of the pandemic, monthly mortgage costs also rose for buyers and affording a home, a signifier of middle class status, became a top concern for voters under 40.

The White House maintains that the executive orders in March, in addition to the plans to purchase mortgage-backed securities, show that the president is focused on housing issues.

The report says that various regulations on home construction, which it calls “the bureaucrat tax,” add more than $100,000 in costs to building. That cost includes changing the building codes over the past decade, compliance costs and zoning approval fees, among other expenses.

By the report’s estimates, a reduction in those regulatory costs could help spur construction of as many as 13.2 million homes. That could add on average 1.3 percentage points to annual economic growth over the next decade and support 2 million manufacturing and construction jobs, it argues.

Trump could decide to make federal funding to state and local governments contingent on reducing some of the regulations, according to an administration official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the report before its release.

The report also attacks the green energy housing standards introduced during the Biden administration as a factor in increasing construction costs. Those steps gave preferences for more efficient air conditioning units and water heaters as well as higher standards for the related duct work.

But getting rid of some of those requirements could increase other costs for homeowners over the long run, such as utility bills.

The report relies on a 2021 analysis by National Association of Home Builders that says the standards could add up to $31,000 to the price of a new home, while it could take as many as 90 years for a homebuyer “to realize a payback on the added cost of the home.”

It is not clear how much savings would occur from rolling back Biden-era housing standards because of existing legal challenges regarding their enforcement and different practices by states. In March, a federal judge in Texas agreed with 15 states led by Republicans that said the standards for federally backed housing were unlawful.

Cichowski, 46, a 2021 Palm Coast mayoral candidate, injured his 82-year-old father and his 76-year-old mother on Friday at their home in Palm Coast, according to a Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s arrest report.

Cichowski struck his father on the head with a firearm that he also pointed at his mouth, ear, and groin, while he “threatened to shoot and kill him,” according to the deputy’s arrest report.

His mother — who was bedridden — reported Chichowski snatched her cellphone and struck her in the head with it, and she suffered “a clear injury,” according to the deputy’s arrest report.

During the attack, Chichowski told them that if they called 911, he would kill them and law enforcement, according to the deputy’s arrest report.

Chichowski faced six charges: Two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of battery on a person over 65, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and tampering or depriving a witness with the use of 911.

Johnny George Mays, de 48 años y residente de Cutler Bay, enfrenta ahora un cargo de asesinato en primer grado tras ser arrestado el jueves y comparecer ante un juez el lunes por la mañana.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Hialeah, el tiroteo mortal ocurrió poco después de las 6:45 a.m. del 28 de marzo afuera de una vivienda en la cuadra 600 de West 15th Street.

Los investigadores dijeron que un video de vigilancia mostró a Mays “apostado aproximadamente a una cuadra de distancia” durante una hora y nueve minutos, “esperando a que la víctima saliera de su residencia”.

La policía dijo que cuando la víctima salió de su casa, Mays se acercó en su vehículo, se bajó y “corrió hacia la víctima con los brazos levantados en posición de disparo”, disparándole varias veces en la entrada antes de volver al asiento del conductor y huir.

El informe no identifica a la víctima ni menciona un presunto móvil. Local 10 News contactó al HPD en busca de información adicional.

La policía dijo que pudo identificar el vehículo de escape y contactó al dueño, quien dijo que Mays lo había usado desde finales de 2025. Los investigadores dijeron que finalmente pudieron vincular el crimen con Mays.

Un informe de arresto indica que los agentes encontraron a Mays cerca de su casa en la urbanización cerrada Cutler Cay el jueves y lo detuvieron. Las autoridades dijeron que invocó su derecho a un abogado y no habló con los investigadores.

Los registros muestran que no fue ingresado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight hasta el sábado. Al parecer estuvo hospitalizado en ese período intermedio; aparece en su foto de arresto vistiendo una bata médica y su información en el registro carcelario hace referencia al Pabellón D del Jackson Memorial Hospital, una unidad de confinamiento para reclusos.

Además del asesinato en primer grado, Mays también enfrenta un cargo de exconvicto en posesión de un arma de fuego. Un juez ordenó que permanezca detenido sin fianza el lunes por la mañana.

Hasta el lunes por la mañana, Mays permanecía recluido en el TGK, según los registros.

Ocurrió en la intersección de West 68th Street y 17th Court.

Un video del helicóptero Sky 10, tomado poco antes de las 10:45 a.m., muestra la motocicleta y escombros en la calzada junto a un sedán Nissan blanco y el cuerpo del motociclista, cubierto con una lona.

Las autoridades aún no habían divulgado el nombre de la víctima ni si habían determinado quién tuvo la culpa en el accidente.

Los carriles en dirección oeste de West 68th Street permanecían bloqueados hasta el lunes por la mañana.

The analysis, part of the Economic Report of the President, outlines both a political risk and a messaging opportunity for President Donald Trump, whose public approval has slumped because of concerns about his tariffs, the Iran war and his unfulfilled promises to slash inflation and unleash stronger growth.

Trump signed two executive orders in March directing federal agencies to reduce housing regulatory burdens and make it easier for smaller banks to provide mortgages but he's been slow to take other steps that would show that high housing costs are a top priority for his administration.

The White House has been trying to focus on housing and other affordability issues for months to get ready for what's expected to be a challenging midterm season for Republicans, but it has been thrown off course by a series of global issues. In January, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that had been billed as focusing on housing turned into a showdown for Trump over control of Greenland.

Meanwhile, the Iran war has driven up the cost of buying homes, with average rates for 30-year mortgages jumping from just under 6% to 6.37%.

Trump also has argued in favor of keeping home prices high to protect values for existing owners. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down," Trump told his Cabinet earlier this year. “I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen.”

The report lays out a blueprint on housing

The housing chapter of the annual economic report, obtained by The Associated Press before its release, lays out a blueprint for how more home construction would help the middle class and the overall economy, setting up an argument that Trump could make to voters.

Put together by staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, it finds there would be 10 million more houses in the country if “homebuilding and the growth of the single-family housing stock had continued at their historical pace instead of falling dramatically” after the 2008 global financial crisis. That crisis was caused largely by a wave of defaults in the housing market, where prices had been fueled by problematic lending practices.

The analysis notes that home prices have risen 82% since 2000, while incomes are up just 12% — a mismatch that had been masked for a period by historically low mortgage rates. But when rates jumped with inflation in the aftermath of the pandemic, monthly mortgage costs also rose for buyers and affording a home, a signifier of middle class status, became a top concern for voters under 40.

The White House maintains that the executive orders in March, in addition to the plans to purchase mortgage-backed securities, show that the president is focused on housing issues.

The report says that various regulations on home construction, which it calls “the bureaucrat tax,” add more than $100,000 in costs to building. That cost includes changing the building codes over the past decade, compliance costs and zoning approval fees, among other expenses.

By the report's estimates, a reduction in those regulatory costs could help spur construction of as many as 13.2 million homes. That could add on average 1.3 percentage points to annual economic growth over the next decade and support 2 million manufacturing and construction jobs, it argues.

Trump could decide to make federal funding to state and local governments contingent on reducing some of the regulations, according to an administration official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the report before its release.

The report also attacks the green energy housing standards introduced during the Biden administration as a factor in increasing construction costs. Those steps gave preferences for more efficient air conditioning units and water heaters as well as higher standards for the related duct work.

But getting rid of some of those requirements could increase other costs for homeowners over the long run, such as utility bills.

The report relies on a 2021 analysis by National Association of Home Builders that says the standards could add up to $31,000 to the price of a new home, while it could take as many as 90 years for a homebuyer “to realize a payback on the added cost of the home.”

It is not clear how much savings would occur from rolling back Biden-era housing standards because of existing legal challenges regarding their enforcement and different practices by states. In March, a federal judge in Texas agreed with 15 states led by Republicans that said the standards for federally backed housing were unlawful.

There was no stage, no spotlight — just Yellow Springs, where he’s lived for decades, a place he spent summers as a child while his father worked as dean of students at nearby Antioch College.

It’s in places like this, away from the glare, where Chappelle finds clarity and continues to sharpen a comedic voice that has sparked debate, drawn criticism and, through it all, refused to bend.

“I’ve had a lot of support from my people,” said Chappelle, an Emmy and Grammy winner. “That’s what’s sustained me.”

He sat down with The Associated Press before walking through the town, where he'd recently participated in the ribbon-cutting for a restored 19th-century schoolhouse that now houses a public radio station and will serve as office space for his company, Pilot Boy Productions.

Enduring the backlash over his jokes

Chappelle said he didn’t initially expect his voice to carry the weight it does today.

“Sometimes people will attach things to your voice that don’t necessarily have anything to do with you,” he said. “Your responsibility is to be true to yourself and your work.”

That voice has become one of the most scrutinized in comedy, particularly after criticism of jokes about transgender people in his Netflix specials. The backlash surrounding “The Closer” in 2021 drew protests and internal pushback at Netflix, turning his work into a flashpoint in broader debates over comedy, culture and free speech.

Chappelle said he has never set out to provoke controversy, describing his work as an extension of the same stand-up he has always done. He said the reaction often felt disconnected from the audiences who continue to show up.

“The media used to talk (expletive) about jokes that I did … and none of that stuff swayed my audience,” he said. “So I feel like I need to be true to something.”

Chappelle said being in Yellow Springs allows him a different perspective without the pressures of the entertainment industry.

“One of the best sovereignties that a person can enjoy is the sovereignty of their mind,” he said. “Just the idea of knowing where you land and the rest of the world begins.”

Reconsidering ‘Chappelle’s Show'

For many fans, Chappelle’s voice is still tied to “Chappelle’s Show,” the Comedy Central series that premiered in 2003 and quickly became a cultural force with its sharp satire on race, politics and pop culture.

The show ran for two full seasons with an abbreviated third season released in 2006 after Chappelle walked away during production. It was a decision he later attributed to burnout and concerns about the show's direction.

Now, Chappelle says he’s at least open to the idea of revisiting it.

“If you’d asked me that question a year ago, I’d have told you absolutely not,” he said. “But in the last few weeks … I’m considering it.”

Chappelle acknowledged the comedy landscape has shifted, with digital platforms and social media creating new pathways for humor and a new generation of creators shaping the conversation in real time.

Finding perspective on criticism

As he walked through town, Chappelle framed criticism less as a verdict than something to endure. He pointed to “The Muhammad Ali Reader,” a collection that documents the intense criticism the late boxing legend faced during his career.

“It’s every negative thing they said about him,” he said. “And history proved him to be absolutely right. ... As bad as that weather was, there’s another side to it."

Chappelle framed the tension around his work in a broader cultural context.

“Black life in America, there’s always an ‘or else’ to all of it,” he said. “Don’t say this or else; don’t do that or else. And then there’s those few brave people who say, ‘Or else what?’”

Watching comedy’s next chapter

Even as he reflects on his own career, Chappelle said he’s paying close attention to the next generation of comedians. He pointed to Druski as part of a new wave showing how audiences engage with comedy.

“I love what he does,” Chappelle said before drawing a distinction between digital success and stand-up. That freedom to fail, he suggested, is essential to the development as a comedian — which can be harder to find in today's fast-moving digital landscape.

“One of the worst things that can happen to a comedian is becoming successful before they get good,” Chappelle said. “Because you miss the part where you get to explore and make mistakes.”

Still performing, still reflecting

Chappelle remains active onstage, including upcoming performances tied to the Netflix Is a Joke Fest in Los Angeles in May.

Back home, he continues to perform at his own comedy club — which used to be a firehouse — in Yellow Springs, where he has hosted surprise sets and brought in high-profile guests, including Travis Scott, Lizzo, Wyclef Jean, Marsha Ambrosius, Clipse, 50 Cent and Christopher Cross.

The village has also drawn attention beyond its size. Over the weekend, Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, interviewed Chappelle for their podcast at the radio station.

After decades in comedy, he said he doesn’t spend much time thinking about his legacy, though the idea occasionally comes up in conversation with peers like Chris Rock.

“I’ll be like, ‘They’re gonna write books about us,’” he said. “And those guys will laugh. But they might … or they might not.”

Asked whether he feels he’s living out his purpose, Chappelle paused.

“Man, I’m a lucky guy in that respect,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m doing that on purpose, but I dreamt of being a famous comedian. Took me 40 years, but I did it. … This is better than I dreamt of.”

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said they planned to release more details about the investigation at a news conference later Monday. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.

Choi and Fletcher said they will pursue information they need for the investigation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department has refused so far to cooperate with other state and local investigations into the killings by federal officers of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

The news conference announcement did not specify which incident is being investigated, but the county's chief prosecutor and sheriff said they would ask the public for information about this and other incidents.

The state and the chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to gain access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of around 3,000 federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.

Minnesota and Hennepin County have also appealed to the public to share information about federal officers' potentially illegal activities, given the refusal by federal authorities to provide evidence.

The Trump administration has suggested Minnesota officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate those cases. State and county prosecutors say they need to conduct their own inquiries because they don’t trust the federal government.

The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing, and two officers have been placed on leave, but the agency said a similar federal probe was not warranted in Good's death.

Over the past few weeks, a few water utilities have said their supply had been disrupted, according to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Fluoride is used in water systems as a public health measure to prevent tooth decay.

Here's what to know.

What's driving the fluoride shortage?

Israel is one of the world’s top exporters of fluorosilicic acid, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA data also shows the U.S. is among the world’s top five importers of the product.

At least one Israeli supplier has been facing workforce challenges because many employees have been called into active military service, said Dan Hartnett, chief policy officer for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.

“That has led to decreased production, and supply shortages for the U.S. market," he said.

Not every water system is affected

The number of water utilities affected so far is small, but the shortage is affecting hundreds of thousands of people. As the conflict continues, "there will likely be additional stressors placed on the supply chain, leading to shortages in additional communities,” Hartnett said.

The country's eighth largest water and wastewater utility, WSSC Water in Maryland, is among those facing a shortage. On April 7, utility officials said they were lowering the level of fluoride in the water to 0.4 milligrams per liter, down from the recommended 0.7 milligrams per liter.

Chuck Brown, spokesperson for the utility serving 1.9 million customers, said officials did not know how long the shortage would last, "but we feel confident that we’ll be able to stretch that out for a couple more months.”

In Pennsylvania, the borough of Lititz told its water customers it had to halt fluoridation for a couple weeks last month because of supply issues.

What dentists say you should do

Water utilities add fluoride voluntarily to improve communities' oral health, so lower levels have no effect on drinking water safety.

A few months' drop in fluoride levels is probably not a cause for concern for most people, said Dr. Scott Tomar, an American Dental Association community water fluoridation expert.

Research from places that stopped fluoridating their water — Calgary, Canada; Juneau, Alaska; and Israel — has found that lower levels can have an impact over the span of years.

“Based on the best available information we have, below about 0.5 milligrams per liter, you’re probably not going to see effective preventive exposure,” he said.

Tomar said younger children would be the first to experience tooth decay, because the fluoride strengthens enamel as their teeth are developing and once they've grown in.

He recommends people in shortage areas brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and keep up with their routine dental appointments. If people are concerned they aren't getting enough fluoride, they should talk to their dentist before taking a fluoride supplement or other treatment.

What else should I know about fluoride in the water?

Research shows water fluoridation is beneficial even when it is also available through toothpaste and other means. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.

The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. The American Dental Association credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults.

However, misinformation about fluoride's safety has proliferated. Last year, Utah became the first state to ban public water fluoridation. And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly sown doubt about its safety and restricted the use of fluoride for dental health.

“The levels we use in the United States is perfectly safe," Tomar said. "Despite a lot of the misinformation, there are no adverse health effects associated with the levels we use in our drinking water.”

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Late-season dispute hinders relationship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Misfortune leads to Bucks' slide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

___

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

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

Power outages on the islands could be lengthy, forecasters warned.

Guam, a U.S. territory with American military installations and about 170,000 residents, also could see damaging winds and is under a tropical storm warning. The U.S. Coast Guard issued flood and high wind warnings over the weekend.

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

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

About 50,000 people live on the three islands, with most on Saipan, known for its laid-back resorts, snorkeling, and golf as well as the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Saipan was the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific, in which more than 50,000 Japanese and American soldiers and local civilians died.

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to prepare for the storm and shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on the island, a critical hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.

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

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

Monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam, super typhoons are the equivalent of category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified since the warning center started using that name nearly 80 years ago.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watch the TWISF episode

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watch bond court hearing

Read M-DCPS complete statement:

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

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

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

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

Location

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

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

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

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

Elite company, indeed.

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

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

So where does he go from here?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Easy, right?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has pledged to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone movie studio operations, and vowed to release a combined 30 movies a year in theaters. Paramount has acknowledged the merger will also lead to significant cuts due to duplication.

In response to the open letter, Paramount issued a statement Monday arguing that the merger will give creators “more avenues for their work, not fewer.”

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale,” the studio said.

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

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

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

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

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

Representatives for Warner Bros. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

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

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

A critical time for movie theaters

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

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

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

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

The Paramount and Warner Bros. elephant in the room

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

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

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

On Monday morning, more than a thousand Hollywood professionals, including Denis Villeneuve, Kristen Stewart, J.J. Abrams and Joaquin Phoenix came out against the merger in an open letter arguing that it would only further reduce jobs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The pace of home price growth has slowed or fallen in many metro areas and there are more homes on the market than a year ago, largely because they're taking longer to sell.

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

Mortgage rates started ticking higher in March as the war with Iran sent energy prices surging, heightening worries about higher inflation. That’s pushed up the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was at 6.37% last week, according to Freddie Mac. That's still down compared to a year ago.

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

The latest home sales snapshot and uncertainty over the trajectory of mortgage rates is clouding the outlook for the spring homebuying season.

A sharp run-up in home prices, especially in the early years of this decade, and a chronic shortage of homes nationally worsened by years of below-average home construction have kept many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. Fewer first-time buyers bought homes in March than in February, NAR said.

Those who can afford to buy are benefiting from more properties on the market, although home inventory levels remain well below historical norms.

There were 1.36 million unsold homes at the end of March, up 3% from February and up 2.3% from March last year, NAR said. That’s still well short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic.

March’s month-end inventory translates to a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

A dearth of homes for sale in the Northeast is driving competition among buyers, with some homes drawing multiple offers — something relatively rare these days elsewhere in the country, Yun said.

That helped push the region’s median home sales price nearly 6% higher in March from a year earlier, even as sales slowed to their slowest pace on record.

“We simply don’t have enough supply in the marketplace,” Yun said.

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

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

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

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

**PARTY CAKE BAKERY

103200 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY

KEY LARGO

ORDERED SHUT 4/8

15 VIOLATIONS FOUND

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

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

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

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

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

**MEAT EATERY AND TAPROOM

88005 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY

ISLAMORADA

INSPECTION BASED ON COMPLAINT

ORDERED SHUT 4/8

9 VIOLATIONS FOUND

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

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

“Tracking powder pesticide used inside establishment.”

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

“Required employee training expired for some employees.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rivers won a championship with Boston

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

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

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

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

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

Bucks struggled with injuries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, said the organization was “pleased” with the judge's decision, adding, "We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting.”

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

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

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

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

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

Some in the community thought differently.

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

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

A tough time for renewables

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Federal policy influencing local laws

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

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

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

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

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

A property rights issue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fue arrestado por cargo de agresión grave.

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

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

The decision by governing body World Aquatics marks a major shift in how a key sport treats Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and prompted condemnation by Ukraine.

World Aquatics said on Monday it will remove restrictions which required Russian and Belarusian athletes to be vetted and to compete as neutrals.

It excluded Russia and Belarus from its events like the world championships after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then allowed limited participation as neutrals a year later, and further eased the rules since.

“Senior athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality will be permitted to compete in World Aquatics events in the same way as their counterparts representing other sport nationalities, with their respective uniforms, flags and anthems,” World Aquatics said in a statement. It had previously relaxed the rules for junior athletes.

World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam added: “We are determined to ensure that pools and open water remain places where athletes from all nations can come together in peaceful competition.”

Ukraine condemns decision

World Aquatics isn't the first sports body to reinstate Russia in full — judo did it in November and taekwondo in January — but it's by far the biggest.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov thanked Al Musallam “for his firm position on this issue” and said they'd discussed the issue together in January.

“It is very important that international sporting dialogue is bearing fruit and enables the orderly restoration of sporting ties,” Degtyaryov, who also heads the Russian Olympic Committee, wrote on the social media app Max.

Ukraine Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnyi condemned the decision.

“Sport should unite around fair rules and respect for life. Returning the flag to a country that disregards and systematically destroys these rules is a wake-up call for the entire sports community,” Bidnyi said. “Today, our athletes are training under fire, and against this background any talk of 'neutrality' or the return of the aggressor’s paraphernalia looks shameful and divorced from reality.”

Ukraine has previously objected to efforts to allow Russian athletes to return to competition. Last month it led boycotts of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies after Russians were allowed to compete under their national flag.

Ukraine's men's water polo team forfeited a scheduled World Cup game Monday against a team of Russians in Malta. The Russians were handed a 5-0 win by default because Ukraine “voluntarily chose not to start," World Aquatics said.

Ukrainian media reported the boycott was a protest against the involvement of the Russian team, which was officially labeled as “Neutral Athletes B,” in any capacity, rather than Monday's announcement from World Aquatics.

Russians face ‘background checks’

World Aquatics says Russian and Belarusian athletes will have to undergo four anti-doping tests and background checks before competing after Monday's decision. It wasn't immediately clear what would be checked.

Its decision applies only to its own events like the world championships but could add momentum within the Olympic world for a full return of Russian athletes ahead of the 2028 LA Games.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the International Olympic Committee.

In December, the IOC recommended removing restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes for international youth events and letting them compete under national flags. The IOC still kept its neutral requirements for senior competitions and Russians and Belarusians were officially referred to as Individual Neutral Athletes at the Winter Olympics in February.

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Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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

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

Posteriormente fue transportado a un hospital para recibir tratamiento adicional.

No se ha divulgado ninguna otra información.

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

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

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

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

La plaza comercial ha reabierto desde entonces.

La identidad de la víctima aún no ha sido divulgada.

Fujimori encabezaba la votación con 16,96%, según el conteo preliminar de la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), pero ese respaldo es insuficiente para asegurarle una victoria en primera vuelta para la que la ley exige el 50% más uno del total de los votos válidos.

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

López Aliaga, candidato del partido Renovación Popular y exalcalde de Lima, se ubicaba en segundo lugar con 14,53% de apoyo tras una campaña marcada por la alta dispersión del voto entre los 35 postulantes a la presidencia.

En tercer lugar —y a menos de dos puntos porcentuales de López Aliaga— se ubicaba el candidato Jorge Nieto Montesinos con 12,80% de los votos y con chances matemáticas de ingresar a una segunda vuelta prevista para el 7 de junio.

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

El domingo varios centros de votación abrieron sus puertas con retraso porque no había llegado el material electoral. En el caso de la capital, el Tribunal Electoral ordenó que continúe la votación el lunes en 13 colegios públicos que no abrieron la víspera porque no habían recibido las papeletas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elecciones legislativas

En estos comicios los peruanos también escogieron a los integrantes de un Congreso que volvió a ser bicameral luego de más de 30 años que contempla un poderoso Senado que no puede ser disuelto y que tiene garantizados amplios poderes durante su mandato de cinco años.

De acuerdo con el Tribunal Electoral más de 6.000 candidatos se postularon para cubrir las vacantes de 130 diputados y otros 3.000 para 60 curules en el Senado.

El nuevo Senado no podrá ser disuelto y tendrá potestad para remover a un presidente.

Destituir al mandatario será más fácil: antes se requerían 87 votos de 130 parlamentarios del Congreso unicameral y ahora el Senado necesitará 40 votos del total de 60 senadores.

Pese a que en 2018 el retorno a un Parlamento bicameral fue rechazado por un 80% de la población en un referendo, los legisladores del Congreso unicameral reformaron la Constitución en 2024 para crear un Senado con amplios poderes.

El Senado también podrá revisar y modificar los proyectos de ley que llegan de la Cámara de Diputados.

En diálogo con periodistas Keiko Fujimori dijo el lunes que su partido tendrá un espíritu de diálogo en el próximo Congreso bicameral que empezará su mandato el 28 de julio.

“Corresponde seguir dialogando, queda mucho espacio por convencer y ese será mi objetivo, poder hacer que los ciudadanos vuelvan a confiar en sus autoridades”, indicó Fujimori, de 50 años.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chinese manufacturers among leading players

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

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

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

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

Diverse applications and manufacturing advantages

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

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

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

Human-looking robots

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The section of roof at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s garage fell Wednesday, triggering a collapse across all seven levels, Mayor Cherelle Parker told reporters last week. Crews initially rescued three workers injured in the collapse and they were taken to hospitals, where one died, officials said. The other two workers were treated and released. By Thursday, officials said search dogs hadn’t found any signs of life at the collapse site.

Crews worked through the weekend to take apart the unstable building to make the search possible and recovery operations began Sunday night, officials said. The workers were found and recovered early Monday.

“They have recovered both individuals with the utmost dignity and compassion and respect for their families and loved ones,” Parker said. The Department of Public Health and the Medical Examiner’s office will identify them.

The mayor also announced that she would order the city solicitor and law department to investigate the collapse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bint Jbeil sits in a strategic position

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

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

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

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

Lebanese Red Cross volunteer laid to rest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

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

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

He was then transported to a hospital for further treatment.

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

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

No other information has been released.

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

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

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

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

The shopping plaza has since reopened.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released.

Location

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

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

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

He was arrested on a felony battery charge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His biggest takeaways from a victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo Masters final, though, were finally winning a big clay-court title and doing it by beating his biggest rival on his most challenging surface.

“It means a lot to me, because it means I’m progressing,” Sinner said.

For Sinner, it was a first step toward achieving his main goal for 2026: winning the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam. That’s an achievement that Alcaraz completed when he won the Australian Open in January — making him at 22 the youngest man to have held aloft all four major trophies.

“Winning a big tournament on clay was one of our goals for this year so there’s no better way to start,” said Simone Vagnozzi, who coaches the 24-year-old Sinner alongside Darren Cahill.

Sunday’s meeting was the first on clay between the top two men’s tennis players since Alcaraz saved three match points and came back to beat Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreaker in last year’s French Open final.

“I’m not surprised,” Alcaraz said. “We’ve already seen his level on this surface and he’s improving a lot year after year. He can win any tournament on any surface. He understands the game very well on clay.”

No. 1 ranking could change weekly

While Alcaraz claimed this year’s first major in Australia, Sinner has now followed up his “Sunshine Double” of hard-court titles in Indian Wells, California, and Miami with another Masters series trophy. Sinner is on a 17-match winning streak during which he has dropped only one set — in the third round in Monte Carlo against Tomas Machac.

In the new rankings released Monday, Sinner moved 110 points ahead of Alcaraz, who had been No. 1 since November.

“It’s nice, obviously. I would be a liar to say anything else,” Sinner said. “But it doesn’t change my thought process. I’m playing to win tournaments and Carlos and I are very close, so the rankings can change from one week to the next.

“There are two big Slams coming up, Paris and London. Let’s see where we are after those tournaments,” Sinner added. “Right now, I’m focusing more on those than on the ranking. But waking up again as No. 1 is pretty nice.”

In a measure of how far ahead of the rest of the field Sinner and Alcaraz are, third-ranked Alexander Zverev trails Sinner by a whopping 7,795 points.

Alcaraz heads to Barcelona

When will Sinner and Alcaraz meet again? Well, the next Masters Series event is the Madrid Open starting next week but Sinner is not committing to that tournament.

“Now it’s important to rest,” Sinner said. “So now I’ll take two or three days without even thinking about tennis and then we’ll decide whether or not to play Madrid.”

The Madrid Open and the Italian Open are the only Masters titles that Sinner hasn’t won and he is making the Rome tournament in May another of his priorities after losing before his home fans to Alcaraz in the Foro Italico final, too, last year upon his return from a three-month doping ban.

Alcaraz’s plan is to get back on court on home Spanish soil at this week’s Barcelona Open — where he can reclaim the No. 1 ranking if he wins the title since Sinner is not entered.

“The goal is to play the entire clay-court calendar. That was the plan last year, too, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible,” Alcaraz said, referring to how he had to withdraw from Madrid in 2025 due to muscle injuries.

“This year I’m going to listen to my body much more, so of that means that I need to skip a tournament then that’s what I’ll do. But if I feel OK, I’ll play everything.”

Sinner's return position

While tactics were difficult to execute on a windy day in Monaco, Sinner found a solution to apply pressure on Alcaraz’s serve by stepping into the court often.

“Cahill and I are trying to make Jannik more self-reliant,” Vagnozzi said. “He’s getting better at understanding when to try drop shots — which he’s also started hitting with his backhand by taking a hand off the racket. And then for the return of serve he’s mixing up his position more, which doesn’t provide any reference points to the opponents.”

Now Sinner is entering his 67th career week at No. 1 — one more week than Alcaraz's total of 66.

___

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In stunning fashion, Passariello won.

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

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

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

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

President Donald Trump is taking a different approach.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deal-making spree abroad

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

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

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

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

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

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

The UAE, crypto and Binance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crypto billions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump thinks people don’t care

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

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

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

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

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

Change of fortune

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

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

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

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

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

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

The club’s name is “Executive Branch.”

Bibles, guitars and sneakers

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

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

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

New year, new profits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Historic win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pressure from the EU

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Something remarkably similar and just as spectacular is unfolding in cycling today.

The sport is being blessed with a generation of male champions who have revitalized it, injecting a sense of drama that had been missing for years, when race strategies felt predictable and viewers would often only tune in for the last kilometers. Now, at the start of every major event, everything seems possible.

You can thank Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard for that.

They are the main figures of cycling’s new age. And since the start of the season, which culminates in the heat of July during three weeks on the bucolic roads of the Tour de France, there has not been a week of racing when they have not taken each other on with excitement and panache.

The latest example unfolded over the weekend in northern France at Paris-Roubaix, the grueling cycling classic over cobblestones known as the Hell of the North.

The 123rd edition of the one-day race was expected to be a duel between three-time defending champion van der Poel, from the Alpecin–Premier Tech, and Pogačar, the leader of the UAE Team Emirates XRG, who was chasing a first victory in the only Monument missing from his cabinet trophy. There are four other so-called Monument races in cycling — Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Tour of Lombardy, the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo.

Unpredictable scenarios

Nothing went as planned in what turned out to be a blockbuster script.

Van der Poel saw his hopes vanish after two punctures in the cobbled sector of the famed Trouée d’Arenberg, losing considerable time he was unable to make up despite a furious chase. Pogačar, who had also suffered a puncture earlier in the race, found himself in an ideal position at the front, but that was without reckoning van Aert.

The often unlucky but experienced Visma–Lease a Bike rider stayed with the Slovenian until the finish and comfortably beat him in the final sprint at the Roubaix velodrome, handing him his first defeat of 2026.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme praised Pogačar for the enthusiasm he is bringing to the sport by competing on all terrains throughout the year. The 27-year-old four-time Tour champion is arguably the most exciting rider of his generation. Capable of winning everywhere, he has drawn comparisons with the great Eddy Merckx.

“We have a champion who is doing what Eddy Merckx was doing 50 years ago,” Prudhomme told RMC radio on Sunday. “Not just in terms of victories, but in being present from March all the way through to October. His quest for a fifth Monument—the only one that still eludes him—will continue, and in a way, that’s just fine by me.”

Vintage Tour de France looming

The renewed excitement in cycling has been felt throughout all the major classics this season, with thrilling, action-packed races at Milan–San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. It has also been present at weeklong races such as Paris-Nice, where two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard won ahead of Dani Martinez with the biggest winning margin since 1939, and the fourth biggest in the history of the race.

Vingegaard also secured the best climber’s polka-dot jersey, and took the best sprinter’s green jersey in a show of force that foreshadowed another major battle with Pogačar at the Tour this summer.

As well as chasing a third Tour crown this year, Vingegaard is set for his Giro d’Italia debut in May in a bid to win all three Grand Tours. He won the Tour de France in 2022 and ’23 and last year clinched his first Spanish Vuelta title.

Beyond the rivalry between Pogačar and Vingegaard, the possible participation in the Tour of young prodigy Paul Seixas could add an extra layer of suspense. At just 19 years old, the versatile Frenchman from the Decathlon CMA CGM team is regarded as a future great and France hopes he can end its long wait for a Tour victory, which dates back to 1985 and the final triumph of Bernard Hinault.

Seixas became last week the youngest winner of the Tour of the Basque Country, as well as the youngest winner of a WorldTour stage race ahead of Evenepoel.

“I had said before his brilliant victory in the Ardèche (classic), after a 42-kilometre solo breakaway that If he doesn’t come (to the Tour), we won’t hold it against him. I can confirm today that if he does come, we won’t hold it against him either," Prudhomme joked when asked about Seixas's participation.

According to Prudhomme, cycling's revival is confirmed by a renewed interest among younger audiences, who follow races roadside — like last year in Montmartre during the Tour final stage which drew thousands of spectators — as well as on social media and on television.

There was nearly 150 million viewers across Europe for last year's Tour, with afternoon broadcasts in France reaching record highs.

“I don’t know if we’re living through a golden age, but we are certainly experiencing some beautiful moments,” Prudhomme said.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, Trump warned on social media that any Iranian warships that come “anywhere close” to the U.S. blockade will be destroyed. It wasn’t clear whether the blockade had started by the designated time of 10 a.m. EDT.

The move sets the stage for a showdown as Iran has responded with threats against ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The war, now in its seventh week, has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets. Ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend ended without an agreement, raising questions about what happens when the current two-week truce expires on April 22.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is pushing ahead with its air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, engaging in fierce fighting with Hezbollah militants over a strategic town while the group also fires rockets and drones at northern Israel.

Here is the latest:

Trump confirms that Strait of Hormuz blockade started at 10 am Monday

“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world because that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said of Iran.

Trump repeated his argument that safeguarding the strait is of greater concern to other parts of the globe than the United States. The effective closure of the strait since the start of the war, however, impacts global oil prices — which has led to surging gas prices for American motorists and rising inflation on other goods.

“We don’t use this strait,” Trump said. “We have our own oil and gas, much more than we need.”

Trump says he won’t apologize to Pope Leo over Iran war criticisms

Trump is refusing to apologize for sharply criticizing Pope Leo, saying that the pontiff “went public” in his criticisms of the war in Iran, and “I’m just responding.”

In comments to reporters outside the Oval Office, Trump added, “There’s nothing to apologize for” and said of Leo, “He’s wrong.”

Trump was also asked about posting an image of himself as a saint-like healer, which seemed to draw comparisons between himself and Jesus Christ.

The image was posted Sunday night and drew widespread condemnation from Evangelical Christian leaders and has since been taken down.

Trump said, “I did post it.” But he suggested it had something to do with the Red Cross and insisted: “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.”

Iranian official says US blockade will backfire

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei derided the blockade as a “revenge of choice” against the global economy.

“Is it ever worthwhile to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face?!” he wrote on the social platform X.

Finland’s president says Iran ‘holds a lot of cards’ with control of Strait of Hormuz

The president of NATO ally Finland says that Iran has the upper hand in the war with Israel and the United States because it controls the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane though which a vast amount of the world’s oil supply transits.

Alexander Stubb said at an event at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank that control of the strait has become a “de facto nuclear weapon” for Iran, implicitly suggesting that the Trump administration had created the scenario by starting “a war of choice.”

“Iran holds a lot of the cards right now,” he said. “I’m afraid that that is the reality.”

OPEC oil production tumbled before US threatened blockade

The closure of the strait severely crimped output from OPEC last month. The 12-nation oil cartel, with members in the Middle East, Africa and Venezuela, said Monday that production tumbled by 7.89 million barrels a day in March, to 20.79 million barrels.

“Disruptions to shipping operations in the region raised persistent concerns about regional supply flows, while strong buying of prompt spot market barrels, production cuts, and declarations of force majeure further supported the upward price momentum,” OPEC said.

The organization said demand appears to be steady this year, but cut its forecast for the current quarter, citing the war.

Netanyahu spokeswoman rules out a ceasefire with Hezbollah

Shosh Bedrosian told reporters Monday that Israel’s upcoming talks with Lebanon will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between the two countries.

“We will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which continues to carry out indiscriminate attacks against Israel and our civilians,” she said.

Israel and the Lebanese army have both been unable to forcibly disarm Hezbollah.

US-Iran ceasefire is holding despite failed peace talks, Pakistan’s prime minister says

Efforts are underway to resolve the remaining disputes between Washington and Tehran as a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan remains intact, said the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.

In televised remarks at a Cabinet meeting, Sharif cautioned that peace efforts take time, citing past agreements such as the Geneva accords.

China says the priority should be to maintain the Iran-US ceasefire

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday said that the current priority should be to maintain the ceasefire between Iran and the United States and prevent conflict from reigniting in the Middle East.

Chinese top diplomat made the comments in a phone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

Pakistan has been mediating between Iran and the U.S. and was able to bring them to historic, face-to-face talks over the weekend. However, the negotiations ended without an agreement, raising questions about the fate of the two-week truce.

Starmer and Macron to chair a leaders’ meeting on the Strait of Hormuz

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says world leaders will meet this week to push for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Starmer said that with French President Emmanuel Macron, “I will convene a summit of leaders this week to drive forward the international effort” to end the conflict and unblock the key oil route.

He told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday the strait must reopen with “no conditions” and “no tolls.”

France and the U.K. have in recent weeks been spearheading international efforts to increase pressure on Iran to stop blocking the strait. They have also convened military planning meetings for an operation to provide security for shipping once the conflict ends.

It’s unclear what impact a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports announced by Trump will have on those plans.

Spanish prime minister Sánchez returns to China seeking deeper ties amid Iran war tensions

It’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s fourth trip in just over three years to the world’s number two economy.

His visit comes at a complex geopolitical moment as European leaders try to influence an end to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, and as Spain’s relationship with the U.S. has been strained by Sánchez’s vocal disapproval of the conflict.

Under Sánchez, Spain has sought to diversify its political relations with the world’s large powers, including Beijing.

On Monday, the prime minister urged China to assume a larger role in a multipolar world, speaking at a university in Beijing a day before he is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

▶ Read more

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

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

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

He added: “It is quick and brutal.”

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

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

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

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

Where things stand on ceasefire talks

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

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

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

▶ Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

▶ Read more

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

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

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

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

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

Israeli fire kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— By Sam Metz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netanyahu says fighting to continue in Lebanon

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

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

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

Iran and Qatari foreign ministers discuss failed Islamabad talks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netanyahu spoke with Vance after Pakistan talks ended

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

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

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

Maritime expert previews potential conflict in Strait of Hormuz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And for the Heat, here's also some good news: They're in the play-in tournament again.

The play-in — where the final four playoff spots will be decided — has become an unwanted tradition for Miami, which is in the event for the fourth consecutive season. The Heat used it as a springboard to the playoffs in each of the last three years, and will need to win two road games this week to extend that streak.

“It’s harrowing. It's nuts," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You have to absolutely embrace it. It makes you feel alive, that’s for sure, if you’re a competitor. ... Once you’re in it, it’s exhilarating. And you have to embrace the competition, embrace how every single possession really does matter. It’s a Game 7. And so, I just want our guys to take on that challenge.”

Also in the field: Charlotte, Orlando and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference, along with Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland and Phoenix in the Western Conference.

The Clippers have a chance to get to the playoffs after a dismal 6-21 start to the season.

“It's a great achievement,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

The schedule

— East No. 10 Miami at East No. 9 Charlotte, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

— West No. 8 Portland at West No. 7 Phoenix, Tuesday, 10 p.m.

— East No. 8 Orlando at East No. 7 Philadelphia, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

— West No. 10 Golden State at West No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers, Wednesday, 10 p.m.

How it works

Every game will either have a team clinching a playoff berth and/or being eliminated from postseason contention.

— Losers of Miami-Charlotte and Golden State-LA Clippers games are eliminated.

— Winners of Portland-Phoenix and Orlando-Philadelphia games become No. 7 seeds on playoff bracket (East will face Boston in Round 1, West will face San Antonio in Round 1.)

— Orlando-Philadelphia loser will host Miami-Charlotte winner Friday (7:30 p.m.) to determine No. 8 seed in East and who'll face No. 1 Detroit in Round 1. Losing team in that game is eliminated.

— Portland-Phoenix loser will host Golden State-LA Clippers winner Friday (10 p.m.) to determine No. 8 seed in West and who'll face No. 1 Oklahoma City in Round 1. Losing team in that game is eliminated.

Play-in past performances

Phoenix is making its first appearance in the play-in tournament. The other seven teams have all been there at least once before.

Miami and Golden State are both about to make their fourth appearances in the play-in. Charlotte is in this round for the third time, while this is the second trip for Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland and the Clippers.

The Heat have gone 4-2 in play-in games. Orlando, Philadelphia and Portland are all 1-0, Golden State is 1-3, while Charlotte and the Clippers are both 0-2.

Portland won the first play-in game ever — over Memphis in the bubble in 2020, in what became a one-game playoff. The league went to the current play-in format with eight teams playing down to four spots in 2021.

Miami at Charlotte, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. (Prime Video)

Season series: Miami, 3-1.

BetMGM Sportbook: Charlotte by 5.5.

At stake: The winner moves on to an elimination game Friday. The loser is out of the playoffs.

Outlook: Expect points. The average score of a Heat-Hornets game this season was Miami 126, Charlotte 120. The Heat outscored the Hornets by exactly 23 points in the season series — and had exactly 23 fewer turnovers. Charlotte has only two players (LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges) who have been part of the play-in before. Miami has 11, including Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, both of whom have been part of four play-in victories.

Portland at Phoenix, Tuesday, 10 p.m. (Prime Video)

Season series: Phoenix, 2-1.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Phoenix by 4.5.

At stake: The winner is the No. 7 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 2 San Antonio. The loser will host the Golden State-LA Clippers winner in an elimination game on Friday to decide the No. 8 seed.

Outlook: Phoenix outscored Portland by a total of seven points when combining the three meetings, and both teams shot about 46% in those head-to-head matchups. But to be fair, the last of those games was two months ago and neither team is the same at this point. Portland probably exceeded expectations, especially after losing coach Chauncey Billups in the first week of the regular season. Phoenix was likely better than many expected as well.

Orlando at Philadelphia, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. (Prime Video)

Season series: Philadelphia, 2-1.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Philadelphia by 1.5.

At stake: The winner is the No. 7 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 2 Boston. The loser will host the Miami-Charlotte winner in an elimination game on Friday to decide the No. 8 seed.

Outlook: Philadelphia beat Orlando twice by exactly 12 points both times this season, and the lone Magic win in the season series was by 41. The 76ers are dealing with the loss of Joel Embiid to an appendectomy last week, the latest chapter in a most unpredictable season for Philly. Orlando will have to move on past the disappointment of falling against a short-handed Boston team in the regular-season finale.

Golden State at LA Clippers, Wednesday, 10 p.m. (Prime Video)

Season series: LA, 3-1.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Clippers by 4.5.

At stake: The winner moves on to an elimination game Friday. The loser is eliminated.

Outlook: The first elimination game in the West this season will send either the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard or the Warriors' Stephen Curry home for the summer. Fitting that they're facing off here; the combined four-game score of the season series was Warriors 411, Clippers 411. Leonard will be in a play-in game for the first time. The Warriors have gone 1-3 in Curry's previous four play-in appearances, but he's averaged 33.8 points in those four games.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There appears to be at least one tradeoff.

The robot umpires could be one of the factors making games a little longer this spring, with the time of a nine-inning game creeping upward to 2 hours, 42 minutes through Saturday, according to baseball-reference.com. That's up from 2:38 last season and 2:36 in 2024.

The slightly longer games make sense. Even though an ABS challenge usually takes less than 15 seconds, the mini delays in the game can add up if several pitches are contested.

One of MLB's big wins over the past decade is a rules package that debuted in 2023, which included a pitch clock that dramatically shortened games by roughly 25 minutes. Though there were scattered complaints about the changes, they've been widely viewed as a success.

The ABS system might be making a small dent in that progress, but game times are still considerable shorter than they were in the pre-pitch clock era. A nine-inning game lasted an average of 3:10 in 2021 — an all-time high.

Triple threat

Two-time All-Star Corbin Carroll is off to a good start again this season with a .327 batting average and 1.067 OPS, and the young star has developed a signature play that's increasingly rare in today's game.

The triple.

The 25-year-old speedster leads the majors with three triples in just 14 games. He's paced the big leagues in triples over the past two seasons with 17 of in 2025 and 14 in 2024.

The D-backs' home of Chase Field has a been a perfect fit for Carroll, featuring a deep power alley in right-center that forces outfielders to cover a lot of ground while he motors around the bases.

Carroll is already sixth among active MLB players with 46 triples.

Phillies bullpen looks strong

Manager Rob Thomson realizes how fortunate the Philadelphia Phillies are to already have their bullpen lining up so smoothly in April, with depth and matchups and shutdown pitching, too.

That includes reliable closer Jhoan Duran handling ninth-inning duties. He already has five saves and a 1.35 ERA

The Philadelphia relievers surrendered only one earned run during the club’s recent six-game trip, spanning 18 innings by the bullpen for a 0.50 ERA and .129 opponent batting average (8 for 62).

Rookie top prospect Andrew Painter appreciates all of the relievers backing him. Painter gave up four runs in four innings in a game last week against the Giants, but the bullpen pitched five scoreless innings that gave the Phillies time to rally for a 6-4 win.

“They stepped up, to go out there and throw up five more zeros after that,” Painter said. “Offense stepped up, I’m super happy that everyone could pick me up.”

Trivia time

Carroll is sixth among active MLB players in triples. Who are the top five?

Who's hot?

After a disappointing 2025 season, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker is showing why he's considered one of the game's top young players. The 23-year-old has already hit seven homers this season, including six over the past eight games.

Walker is batting .327 with a 1.138 OPS through 15 games, leading a Cardinals team that's off to a solid 8-7 start.

Trivia answer

Mike Trout 55, Starling Marte 55, Andrew McCutchen 50, Trea Turner 48, Amed Rosario 47.

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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

Leo responded by saying his appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he didn’t fear the Trump administration.

‘Neocolonial tendencies’

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

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

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

“Today, this is more urgent than ever in the face of continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies,” he said without elaborating, though he has previously spoken about Russia's war in Ukraine, the Iran war and Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon.

Great Mosque visit

Leo's visit dominated news headlines in Algeria, where a tiny Catholic community of around 9,000 people made up mostly of foreigners exists alongside the Sunni Muslim majority of about 47 million.

El Moudjahid, a state-run daily newspaper, declared that “the planet is staring at Algeria,” while Arabic-language daily Echorouk wrote that “the land of peace and coexistence speaks to the world.”

Leo visited the country's Great Mosque and stood silently with his hands clasped in front of him, as if in prayer. He thanked the mosque rector for receiving him in this “divine space, space of God” that is also a study center.

“Through this place of prayer, through the search for truth, including through study and through the ability to recognize the dignity of every human being, we know — and today’s gathering is proof of this — that we can learn to respect one another, live in harmony, and build a world of peace,” Leo said in Italian in a rare, off-the-cuff comment.

Tebboune hailed the historic nature of Leo's visit and the pride Algerians felt over St. Augustine, “a cherished son of this land.”

But others downplayed the significance of the visit.

“God’s religion is Islam, which has illuminated this land for 14 centuries,” said Lamia Sellimi, a literature teacher at a high school near the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa. “Algerians are deeply attached to their religion, which is one of the foundations of our identity. As such, this visit is merely a circumstantial event.”

A violent past of martyrs

Algeria fought a civil war in the 1990s that is known locally as the “black decade,” when around 250,000 people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency. Among them were 19 Catholics, including seven Trappist monks from the Tibhirine monastery south of Algiers, who were kidnapped and killed in 1996 by Islamic fighters. Also among them were two nuns from Leo’s Augustinian religious family.

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

Leo paid homage to the 19 martyrs and visited the remaining Augustinian nuns who run a social services project out of the Algiers basilica that helps people of all faiths.

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

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

Personal and pastoral visit

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

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

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

“I don’t know if I have seen a statement, a homily, an apostolic letter or exhortation that doesn’t reference Augustine,” said Paul Camacho, associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University, Leo’s Augustinian-run alma mater outside Philadelphia. “The shadow that he casts on Western thought, not just the Roman Catholic Church but on Western thought more broadly, is very, very long indeed.”

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

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

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

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

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

Years of rising costs, low soybean prices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tariffs, trade war have lasting impacts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iran war drove up fuel, fertilizer costs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Concerns about the future

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

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

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

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

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

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Kelety reported from Phoenix.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many voters remain distant from governor's race

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swalwell’s exit shakes up campaign

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

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

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

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

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

House colleagues call for Swalwell to resign

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Most workers using AI report productivity boosts

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

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

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

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

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

Why some employees don’t use AI

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

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

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

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

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

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

More workers are concerned about new technology taking jobs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Orbán consolidated power

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

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

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

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

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

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

Democrats weigh in

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California took the opportunity to jab at Vance: “Your ally Orban conceded. In 2028, will you @JDVance follow suit if you lose?” he posted on X.

Levitsky said defenders of democracy shouldn’t take too much comfort from Orbán’s loss, noting that in some ways Trump has been more oppressive. He cited Trump’s use of the Justice Department to investigate political opponents and the shooting deaths of protesters by immigration officers -- steps that Orban’s government never took, Levitsky said.

But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said he sees parallels between Trump's and Orban’s political projects, as well as the potential fate of their parties at the polls.

“He was essentially doing what Donald Trump is trying to do here in the United States,” Van Hollen said of Orban. “My read of the election is that the people of Hungary rejected that, just like people in the United States are rejecting that here at home.”

Trump made no public comments Sunday about the election results in Hungary.

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Riccardi reported from Denver.

That set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that posed serious risks for the global economy and raised the specter that the ceasefire could collapse and the war could resume. Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict — which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — failed to reach an agreement this past weekend, and there has been no word on whether negotiations will resume.

No clarity on whether blockade has begun

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

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

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which 20% of traded oil passes in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East. Tehran has allowed some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging considerable fees, leading to accusations it is holding the global economy hostage.

Some analysts are doubtful that the U.S. can restore normal shipping through force alone — and it’s not clear how a blockade would work or what the dangers might be to U.S. forces.

The question is essentially who can endure the most pain: Could a blockade make Iran’s economic situation untenable and force it to concede? Or will it drive global oil and other prices so high that U.S. President Donald Trump is forced to back down?

Blockade could have far-reaching effects

The U.S. military's Central Command announced that the blockade would be enforced “against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.” It said that would include all of Iran’s ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

CENTCOM's decision to allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait was a step down from Trump’s earlier threat to blockade the waterway.

In a social media message posted shortly after the blockade was due to begin, Trump said Iran’s navy was “laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated,” but he added that Tehran still has “fast attack ships,” and warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED."

Iran issued threats of its own.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “NO PORT in the region will be safe,” read a statement from the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guard.

The threats halted the limited ship traffic that resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, according to a report from Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire last week, down from roughly 100 to 135 vessel passages per day before the war.

The blockade is likely intended to pile pressure on Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by so-called dark transits that evade Western sanctions and oversight.

But the effects will be felt far beyond Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to hover around $102 per barrel on Monday. It cost roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, he would hold a summit this week "to drive forward the international effort” to end the conflict and unblock the strait. Starmer told lawmakers it must reopen with no conditions or tolls.

Iran says ‘if you fight, we will fight'

Top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation.

Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed U.S. warnings of a potential blockade as “more bluffing than reality,” while warning that Tehran was prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily.

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

The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, addressed Trump in a statement: “If you fight, we will fight.”

Ceasefire holds after talks end without agreement

The blockade threat came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement on Saturday.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the talks stalled after Iran refused to accept American terms on refraining from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, it has pushed forward with steps that could give it the ability to build a nuclear weapon, including enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels and developing long-range missiles potentially capable of delivering a bomb.

Iranian negotiators could not agree to all U.S. “red lines,” said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe positions on the record. Those red lines included never obtaining a nuclear weapon, ending uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities and allowing retrieval of its highly enriched uranium, along with opening the strait and ending funding for its armed proxies in the region: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said the main sticking points for Tehran were its nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief.

Neither Iran nor the U.S. has indicated what will happen after the ceasefire expires on April 22. The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,089 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and damaged infrastructure in half a dozen countries.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has supported mediation efforts, suggested that the ceasefire could be extended for 45 to 60 days to allow for more negotiations.

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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, Frankel from New York. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Jill Lawless in London; and Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunis, Tunisia, contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in midday trading after erasing an earlier dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 41 points, or 0.1%, as of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

There is more concern in energy markets with crude rising more than 3%. But even there, prices pared earlier spikes as the morning progressed. The moves are much more modest overall than the extreme swings that have hit financial markets since the war began in late February.

After weekend talks failed, President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a maneuver that raises the pressure on Iran by trying to prevent it from making money by selling oil.

A blockade would keep even more oil off the global market, after prices already jumped for everyone worldwide because of Iran’s restrictions on traffic in the important strait. That narrow waterway is how much of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf area reaches customers worldwide.

Iran responded by threatening all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “NO PORT in the region will be safe,” according to a statement from the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guards.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose back to $100.49 per barrel and is well above its roughly $70 price from before the war. But it remains below the $119 peak it’s touched at times, when worries about the U.S.-Iran war have been at their heights. It also pulled back from its nearly $104 price reached earlier Monday morning.

“Markets are taking some encouragement from the fact that the two sides are talking and that the broader ceasefire seems to be holding, for now,” according to Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

And, as with so many pronouncements made so far in the U.S.-Iran war, much will depend on the details of the blockade and exactly what gets restricted.

“Not all blockades are created the same,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

Trump said Monday on his social media platform that “34 Ships went through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, which is by far the highest number since this foolish closure began.”

In the meantime, big U.S. companies are beginning to tell investors how much money they made during the first three months of the year. Strong reports could help make up for worries about the Strait of Hormuz on Wall Street because stock prices tend to follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, said it made $5.63 billion in profit during the quarter, more than investors expected. But financial analysts pointed to some potentially concerning signals underneath the surface, including lower revenue from the trading of fixed income, commodities and currencies. Its stock fell 2.2%.

Big banks traditionally lead earnings reporting season each quarter, and Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America will all report later this week. So will Johnson & Johnson, Netflix and PepsiCo.

Helping to lead Wall Street was Sandisk, which jumped 6.7% after learning it will replace Atlassian Corporation in the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on April 20. It will get included in such funds that track the index as Invesco's QQQ, which controls nearly $395 billion in investments.

Oracle's gain of 10.2% was the biggest in the S&P 500, which helped it recover some of its sharp loss for the year so far on worries that it may be spending too much to build up its artificial-intelligence capabilities.

Different kinds of worries about AI have been hammering software companies, raising the risk that their businesses may become obsolete. They also rallied to recover some of their big recent losses. ServiceNow climbed 6.6% to trim its loss for the year so far to 42.2%, and AppLovin climbed 6.2% to get its loss for 2026 down to 38.3%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.31%, where it was late Friday.

Yields have largely been on the rise since the war began because of worries about high oil prices and inflation. That in turn has sent up rates for mortgages, which has hurt the housing market. A report on Monday said that sales of previously occupied homes were weaker in March than economists expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.9% for two of the world’s larger losses.

“The outcome of the talks was not really what people were hoping for, that’s for certain,” Neil Newman, Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said in Hong Kong about the U.S.-Iran negotiations.

“As we stand here at the moment, it doesn’t look very nice. Certainly, the oil prices are a big concern.”

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AP journalists Yuri Kageyama, Matt Ott and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

On April 6, 2024, 26-year-old Onyxia Delinois was jogging ahead of a running group near Miramar Parkway and Southwest 184th Avenue when she was hit by a driver who never stopped.

The crash left her with a critical head injury, and she required around-the-clock care.

Her husband, Roosevelt Delinois, who was her primary caretaker, is urging anyone who may have seen anything to come forward so his wife can have justice.

Police continue to investigate but do not have a vehicle description. There is a $15,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

According to investigators, the incident happened around 5:12 p.m. near the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Avenue.

The victim told investigators a man dressed in all black placed his hand over the boy’s mouth and grabbed him. The man then walked with the child, but the boy was able to escape.

Detectives said the suspect was last seen riding a purple bike.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Special Victims Unit Detective Eric Wilson at 954-321-4460 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) for a possible cash reward.

Some continue to feel the effects.

On April 12, 2023, an unprecedented 26 inches of rain fell in just five hours, causing widespread damage. One woman down the street said her home is still under construction from the water damage.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has since launched a massive stormwater improvement project dubbed Fortify Fort Lauderdale. Crews have installed thousands of feet of pipes underground in vulnerable communities.

The city invested about $14.5 million in the Edgewood neighborhood alone to reduce flooding and improve drainage. A neighbor showed a new storm drain placed in his front yard.

On Southwest 32nd Street, many families have recovered, but they still get nervous every time it rains hard.

“I know my grandmother gets very, very on edge about it,” said Matt Anderson. “I’m a little bit more relaxed. I have generators, pumps for the water. I’m prepared for it in case it happens again.”

“Yes, that was horrific,” said Sharon Dolan. “When it rains, that was the first and only time I’ve gotten PTSD.”

“I think there needs to be a lot more work with drainage, a lot more work,” Dolan added.

In total, Fortify Fort Lauderdale has targeted more than 25 neighborhoods, costing around $1.6 billion.

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP who led Milwaukee to its first title in a half century in 2021, said after Sunday's season-ending loss to Philadelphia that he learned that he had no control over his playing status as the Bucks limped to the finish.

Antetokounmpo was the subject of trade speculation as the deadline approached, but he wasn’t dealt. He since has been in a dispute with team management over his injury status.

The 31-year-old Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since landing awkwardly after a dunk on March 15. Antetokounmpo said in the closing weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, but the Bucks continued to rule him out with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise.

Antetokounmpo did not play Sunday at Philadelphia in what was also likely the final game of Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers' career.

“Being cleared to play, I don’t understand. I’ve never in my life denied participation in practice,” Antetokounmpo said. “Whoever came up with that is disrespectful towards what I’ve done for this team and the way I carry myself.

“I did what I was supposed to do. I wasn’t able to come on the court now. Who has that say? It comes from above. I thought I had control. OK, if I’m healthy, I’m going to play. This just shows me that not just me, players in general, don’t have no control. No, I didn’t feel like I had control.”

Antetokounmpo had participated in recent pregame warmups, showing no sign of injury.

“It was draining for me, for sure,” Antetokounmpo said. “If it was draining for me, it was definitely draining for me and the organization.”

Antetokounmpo said he planned to put his phone on “do not disturb” and try to avoid the distractions that plagued the end of his season.

The Bucks could look to trade Antetokounmpo in the offseason, or he could sign a four-year, $275 million extension in October.

Antetokounmpo said he had yet to be formally offered the extension — no surprise given that it could not be finalized for months.

“That’s too far away. It’s something I have to sit down with my family and see what’s best for me, what’s best for my family,” Antetokounmpo said. “Money doesn’t mean nothing do me. Zero. Absolutely zero. What means something to me, it’s winning.”

The Bucks put Rivers' job in jeopardy with a dismal 32-50 season that ended the Bucks’ streak of nine straight playoff berths.

Rivers had said he has a “great relationship” with Antetokounmpo and that he often talks to the superstar about what to work on and what to add to his game.

“I just want to see it end well for him and for the franchise. I think they both deserve it,” Rivers said. “Giannis is a fantastic person. I’ve been lucky to coach a lot of stars, and he’s right at the top as far as good people. I want good people to be taken care of.”

The Bucks reached the East finals during Antetokounmpo's first MVP season in 2019 — ending an 18-year stretch without a playoff series win. They won the title two years later. But they haven't won a playoff series since 2022.

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

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

Electoral authorities granted the one-day extension to more than 52,000 voters in Peru’s capital, Lima. Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey, were also allowed to vote Monday for similar reasons.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. Failure to do so comes with a fine of up to $32.

A former minister, a comedian and a political dynasty heiress are among 35 candidates vying to become Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

The election comes as a surge in violent crime and corruption has fueled widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency. Many of the contenders have responded to the crime concerns with wide-ranging proposals, including building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes.

Nurse Heidy Justiniano had not decided who to vote for while already in line outside a public school in Lima.

“There’s so much crime, so many robberies on every corner; a bus driver was killed. What matters most to us right now is safety, the lives of every person,” Justiniano, 33, said. “Politicians don’t always keep their promises. This time, we have to choose our president wisely so that he can improve Peru.”

More than 27 million people are registered to vote. Of those, about 1.2 million cast ballots abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. However, a runoff in June is virtually assured given the deeply divided electorate and the pool of candidates, the largest in the Andean country’s history.

Voters are also being asked to choose the members of a bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, following recent legislative reforms that concentrate significant power in the new upper chamber.

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Associated Press writer Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela contributed to this report.

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

Swire Properties, a real estate developer, worked with BG Group personnel and Miami police officers to close the Brickell Key Bridge, which connects the man-made, triangular-shaped island to Brickell.

The bridge will reopen at 1:30 p.m. The deadline for residents to leave Brickell Key was 7 a.m. The BG Group personnel asked residents to keep windows closed and turn off their air conditioning units during the implosion.

“We are very grateful for the city of Miami and all of their assistance, the building department, the fire department, the police department, there was such close coordination again 2 years in the making that went off in 20 seconds,” said Jessica Chen, a member of the developer team.

Emergency vehicles were staged at 6:30 a.m. near 500 Brickell Key Drive. The vibration monitors were installed at 6 a.m.

The final setup of barricades and signage to secure the “exclusion zone” on both land and water was at 4 a.m.

The implosion will make way for the two-story The Residences at Mandarin Oriental that Swire Properties expects to complete in 2030.

Rubble remains where hotel once stood

Crowd gets last pictures of building

Location

The event gives a taste of Caribbean carnival celebrations through dance, music genres like kompa, reggae, soca and Afrobeats, along with food.

The street festival draws people from Caribbean nations to Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Northeast Second Avenue is shut down from Northeast 54th Street to Northeast 62nd Street for the event.

Hosting again this year is Supa Cindy, who spoke ahead of the festivities.

“It’s our celebration. We do so much. All the Caribbean just unite together in Little Haiti, and so the Zoes, the Haitians, but it’s all about the Caribbean in general,” she said.

At some point, the floats are expected to reach the stage area, where the celebration will continue into the night.

Knox is taking on “Wheels of Grit,” a 2,000-mile cycling journey up the East Coast.

“They’re incredible people who have done amazing things for their country,” Knox said.

“I kind of just get in the mindset of this is all I have to do today, this is it, so just think about it one minute at a time,” she added.

A few years ago, Knox, who lives in Washington, D.C., suffered a serious accident on her bicycle. Spending months in the hospital, she saw the challenges disabled veterans face up close.

She’s a Coast Guard veteran herself.

“I just felt inspired by the people I met and their determination to embrace life and do the best with what they’ve got now,” Knox said.

Her sendoff was in Key West on Thursday alongside two American Legion posts.

By Saturday, she made it to downtown Miami. On Sunday, she reached Fort Lauderdale.

“Part of my journey is to hit American Legions and VFW posts at the end of every ride each day,” she said.

The goal is to finish the journey in southern Maine.

She expects the trip to take 42 days, riding more than 60 miles a day.

No matter the distance or how long it takes, Knox hopes this helps people believe they can go after their goals.

“I really hope to inspire people who watch this stuff to think about something that feels impossible to them,” she said.

She has already raised more than $8,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project and another $2,000 for Achilles International, which helps people with disabilities.

For more information on her journey, visit her Instagram page.

The attacks on Saturday bring the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 168 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As with most of the military’s statements on the dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. Videos posted on X showed small boats moving across the water before they each were engulfed in a bright explosion.

U.S. Southern Command stated on X that it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the search-and-rescue system for the survivor. The Coast Guard confirmed it was coordinating the search and said updates would be provided when available.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

The boat strikes have continued in Latin America even as the U.S. military has focused on operations in the Middle East, where the U.S. was engaged in a war with Iran for several weeks.

Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement. Trump wants to weaken Iran’s key leverage in the war after demanding that it reopen the crucial waterway through which 20% of global oil normally passes. U.S. Central Command said the blockade would involve Iranian ports.

Flagg winced as he left the court favoring his left ankle in the second quarter, and the Mavs soon said he wouldn't return. The 19-year-old is in a tight race with former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year.

It wasn't immediately clear how Flagg was injured. He had 10 points and four rebounds in 10 minutes before leaving the game. He will finish the season averaging 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games.

The Mavericks have been out of the playoff race for weeks in a season that started with high expectations but crumbled with Anthony Davis' continuing injury issues and eventual trade to Washington. Davis' absence led to the team keeping Kyrie Irving sidelined the entire season after the star guard tore the ACL in his left knee in March 2025.

Despite the steady slide in the standings, Flagg kept making history, capped by a 96-point outburst in two games over the second-to-last weekend, including the 51 against Orlando that made him the first NBA teenager to score at least 50 in a game. He broke his own record of 49 for a teenager.

Flagg led Duke to the Final Four a year ago as just the fourth freshman to be named The Associated Press men's basketball player of the year.

The accolades kept rolling in after the Mavs converted just a 1.8% chance to win the lottery and won the rights to draft him.

Flagg and Michael Jordan are the only two rookies to record multiple games of at least 45 points since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

Flagg was playing against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month when he scored 45 points and passed the 41-year-old for the most 40-point games by a teenager with his fourth.

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

First up: an elimination game in Charlotte. The ninth-place Hornets will take on the 10th-place Miami Heat on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. Eastern) in a win-or-go-home game to open the play-in tournament.

The rest of the play-in schedule:

— West No. 7 Phoenix meets West No. 8 Portland on Tuesday (10 p.m. Eastern), with the winner moving on to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Round 1.

— East No. 7 Philadelphia plays host to East No. 8 Orlando on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. Eastern), with the winner of that game set to meet the Boston Celtics in Round 1.

— The Los Angeles Clippers, No. 9 in the West, play host to No. 10 Golden State on Wednesday (10 p.m. Eastern) in an elimination game. The winner will play the Suns-Trail Blazers loser on Friday for the right to meet No. 1 Oklahoma City in Round 1.

— Also Friday, the Hornets-Heat winner will visit the 76ers-Magic loser to decide which team advances to face No. 1 Detroit in Round 1.

“Our group understands what wins and loses for us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that’s the most important thing.”

Rest of Round 1 schedule

The top two seeds in each conference — Detroit, Boston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio — will wait until either Tuesday or Friday to find out their Round 1 opponents.

Some teams already know. The 3-vs.-6 and 4-vs.-5 Round 1 matchups are set.

In the East, No. 3 New York will play No. 6 Atlanta, and No. 4 Cleveland takes on No. 5 Toronto. In the West, No. 3 Denver will play No. 6 Minnesota — the third time in four years those teams have met in the postseason — while the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers will face No. 5 Houston.

How Sunday went down

Inside the Heat locker room on Sunday night, everybody's eyes were on a giant television set showing the end of the Orlando-Boston game.

With good reason. It decided a whole lot in the East.

The Celtics beat the Magic, which dropped Orlando into the No. 8 spot for the play-in. It also ensured the Miami-Charlotte game would be played Tuesday, since Philadelphia cannot host basketball games Monday or Tuesday because of arena scheduling conflicts with the NHL’s Flyers.

“This one is done,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said after the loss in Boston. “You've got to make sure you focus your time and your attention and your energy all on the Philadelphia 76ers right now.”

Portland beat Sacramento to earn the No. 8 spot in the West going into the play-in, and therefore will have two chances to win one game and earn a playoff berth. The Clippers beat Golden State in their finale, and now those teams will play again in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday in an elimination game.

“Each team knows the other pretty well, just from playing against them a lot over the years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Denver — which ended the regular season on a 12-game winning streak — topped San Antonio to lock up the No. 3 seed. The Lakers beat Utah, and that result means LeBron James will be taking on Kevin Durant in their first postseason meeting since the 2018 NBA Finals.

Points record falls

More points were scored this season than in any other in NBA history, with the previous record of 282,127 points getting passed Sunday evening — with about seven games left to be played on the schedule.

The final total for the season: 284,395 points.

It wasn't a record for points per game; that mark of 118.8 points per team, per game, has stood since 1961-62. This season's pace of 115.6 points per team was sixth-best in NBA history.

Jokic plays, will be award eligible

Denver's Nikola Jokic appeared in the Nuggets' game against San Antonio on Sunday night, which pushed his total to 65 games for the season — and therefore got him eligibility on the NBA's award ballots that will be sent out later this week.

Jokic was second in last year’s MVP balloting behind only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, That made Jokic just the third player in NBA history with a top-two finish in five or more consecutive seasons, joining Bill Russell and Larry Bird.

Jokic won MVP in 2021, 2023 and 2024, plus was second in 2022 and again last year.

Russell and Bird, a pair of Boston Celtics greats, each were first or second in the balloting in six consecutive seasons.

Stat notes

The league's statistical champions have been known for some time, but now they're officially official.

The Lakers' Luka Doncic (33.5 points per game) won the scoring title, while Jokic won both the rebounding (12.9 per game) and assist (10.7 per game) titles to complete another season in which he averaged a triple-double.

Other stat items of note:

— The league finished with 96 games decided by 30 points or more, 16 more than the previous record (set last season).

— The average margin of victory this season was 13.3 points, another record (previous was 12.7, set last season).

— This one is wild. Last season in the NBA, teams listed as favorites by BetMGM Sportsbook went 853-377. This season, they went ... 853-377.

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

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

History’s first U.S.-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the Iran war and other conflicts around the world.

“I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” Leo said.

“I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”

Speaking to other reporters, he added: “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.''

“We are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have,'' the pope said, adding, ”I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.

"Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way,'' he said.

Trump says Leo is not ‘doing a very good job’

Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Leo on Sunday night, saying he didn't think the U.S.-born global leader of the Catholic Church is “doing a very good job” and that “he's a very liberal person," while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”

Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticize Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.

“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.

Trump's comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. While it’s not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it’s exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticize a U.S. leader — and Trump’s stinging response is equally uncommon, if not more so.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."

Italian politicians across the spectrum showed their solidarity with Leo. Premier Giorgia Meloni sent a message of support for his peace mission while the leader of the main opposition party, Elly Schlein, was more direct, calling Trump’s attacks “extremely serious.”

Trump repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying, “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.”

Later, Trump posted a picture suggesting he had saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ. Wearing a biblical-style robe, Trump is seen laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers, while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on admiringly. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and vaporous images.

Leo's opposition to war irked Trump

All of that came after Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire, with Vice President JD Vance leading the U.S. delegation. Vance is Catholic and recently released a book about his faith.

During his evening prayer service, the pope didn’t mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.

Leo, who is on an 11-day trip to Africa starting Monday — has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He's also referenced an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood.”

Before the ceasefire, when Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and other infrastructure and that “an entire civilization will die tonight,” Leo described such sentiments as “truly unacceptable.”

In his social media post on Sunday night, however, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.

The president wrote, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States.” That was a reference to the Trump administration having ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” Trump added, referencing his 2024 election victory.

He also suggested in the post that Leo only got his position “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”

In his subsequent comments to reporters, Trump remained highly critical, saying of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess” and adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”

Bishops say the pope is not a politician

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying he was “disheartened” by Trump's comments.

“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” Coakley said.

The Italian Bishops' Conference expressed regret over Trump's words, and underlined that the pope "is not a political counterpart, but the successor of Peter, called to serve the Gospel, truth and peace.''

In the 2024 election, Trump won 55% of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. But Trump's administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly endorsement for the war on Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.” And, when Trump was asked whether he thought God approved of the war, he said, “I do, because God is good — because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.”

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Winfield reported from aboard the papal plane.

Temperatures will reach the lower 80s all the while staying mostly dry.Plan for mostly dry conditions all week long. The lack of rainfall could intensify drought conditions across our region.

In front of a crowd just days after reaching an early milestone of his first term, Mamdani said he took office promising “that City Hall would hold a singular purpose, to make this city belong to more of its people than it did the day before.”

“For 102 days, we have endeavored to do exactly that,” he said.

After highlighting the early accomplishments of his administration, he then turned to a few new plans.

The first, he said, would be to inch toward one of his major campaign promises: opening a slate of city-run grocery stores. The initial store, he said, would open next year, with the remaining shops — eventually one in each of the city's five boroughs — opening by the end of his four-year term.

“At our stores, eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation,” said Mamdani, a Democrat.

In addition, the mayor announced plans to expand the city's covered trash bin program — “Say goodbye to black bags and say hello to the bins,” he said, vowing to spread the initiative citywide by the end of 2031.

And he reiterated his campaign promise to make buses faster and free of cost, saying he would move to speed up bus services along some routes. It remains unclear how he would make good on eliminating bus fares.

“Tonight, we're delivering the fast, and we're excited to keep working with Albany to deliver the free,” he said, referencing the governor and the state Legislature, which hold considerable sway over parts of his agenda.

Before Mamdani spoke, the crowd heard from a city transportation department staffer to hear about Mamdani’s pothole filling blitz; a tenant organizer who praised the mayor’s focus on renters; and a mother who boosted his push to expand child care programs in the city.

“No longer will city government be afraid of its own shadow,” Mamdani told the crowd shortly after taking the stage. “If anyone should be afraid it is those who take advantage of working people.”

Mamdani, 34, took office in January after a campaign centered on making New York City a more affordable place to live, centering his agenda on refocusing the vast power of government toward helping the city's struggling working class.

It wasn't quite enough.

Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday at Augusta National and finished one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy. Now McIlroy and Scheffler are even with two Masters titles each. Scheffler was trying to pull off what would have been an unprecedented comeback from 12 strokes down after 36 holes.

“I always felt like I was a couple shots out of it, but I was ahead of those guys (on the course), so I felt like if I could make a few birdies and post a score I’d be in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “Just wasn’t able to make enough birdies on the back.”

Scheffler shot a 65 on Saturday to pull within four, and he was in the mix during the final round, becoming the first player since World War II to play the last two rounds of the Masters without a bogey.

What he needed, however, was at least one more birdie. After making one on No. 1 and another on No. 3, a streak of 11 straight pars stalled his progress at a time when he was very much within striking distance.

On the par-5 15th, his tee shot went to the right into the trees, and his second shot caromed off one of them, leaving him still 189 yards out. He had a gap between two tree trunks but needed to clear water to reach the green.

He somehow pulled that off and rolled in the putt for a birdie to move to 10 under. Problem was, at around the same moment, McIlroy birdied No. 13 to go to 13 under. Then Scheffler answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th to pull within two.

And that's where it stayed until the 18th, when McIlroy's bogey was enough to win him the tournament.

Scheffler's last good chance to apply pressure on McIlroy came when he stood over an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. It was a similar putt to the one Jack Nicklaus made on his way to a sixth Masters title 40 years ago.

For Scheffler, the putt stayed just to the left of the hole.

“The putt I hit on 17 I really thought I made,” he said. “The shot into 18 I hit it exactly how I wanted to. I think we just lost the wind, and it got right up to the edge and came all the way back down. Would’ve been nice to give myself an opportunity there on 18, but I always talk about how I try to be focused on controlling the things that I can control and yesterday and today was some of the best that I’ve felt like I’ve been mentally all year.”

There were other missed opportunities. The par-4 seventh was yielding birdies left and right — and even a couple of eagles — on Sunday. But after an errant tee shot, Scheffler's approach missed the green to the left.

He went over the green from 95 yards on the par-5 eighth, costing himself another good birdie chance.

Scheffler's son Remy was born late last month, and he hadn't played since The Players Championship in the middle of March. This was his first top-five finish since Pebble Beach in mid-February.

Scheffler has won four major titles and now has three runner-up finishes. He tied for second at the 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 PGA Championship. This time he ended up alone in second, proving to be the biggest threat to McIlroy on a crowded leaderboard.

Scheffler and McIlroy have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy winning the 2025 and 2026 Masters and Scheffler taking the PGA Championship and British Open last year. They are ranked 1-2 in the world, making this the first major since the 2002 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods over Phil Mickelson) in which the top two players in the ranking were the top two finishers in some order.

Scheffler ultimately put himself in too big of a hole when he shot 70 in the first round and 74 in the second. And he didn't take advantage of the two par 5s on the back nine — Nos. 13 and 15. His remarkable up-and-down on the 15th hole Sunday was his only birdie on either of those holes, and he bogeyed both Friday.

McIlroy, meanwhile, played those holes in 6 under over the four days. And he had the fortitude to win Sunday after he lost a six-stroke lead Saturday.

“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said. “Having a six-shot lead at Augusta is never easy, and losing that is obviously something difficult. But at the end of the day when you tee it up here on Sunday, he’s tied for the lead to start the day and had a solid round and did what he needed to do.”

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

Jokic had 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot while playing 18 minutes, 15 seconds in the first half of Denver's regular-season finale.

“I think he embraced it because how hard those guys were playing with him,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “There is a respect value there when he sees guys playing for opportunities. A guy like him who has done everything in this game, I think he respects that. I heard the ‘overrated’ (chant by Spurs fans). I don’t know about the overrated thing. He was on pace for 46 and 16, but anyway, it seemed like he had a good time out there.”

The NBA requires players to participate in 65 games to be eligible for MVP, All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year honors. The NBA allows two exemptions of 15 to 19:59 minutes played to count as an official game. Jokic had one exemption remaining.

Jokic was listed as questionable with an injured right wrist, but entered the finale having played in 64 games.

Jokic did not speak to reporters after the game, exiting the locker room after grabbing his belongings.

Denver secured the No. 3 seed and will host Minnesota at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Nuggets set a franchise record with their 26th road victory and did so while executing their game plan for Jokic.

“Yeah, he’ll play the first half,” Adelman said before tipoff. “Then we’ll reconvene at halftime and see where he’s at, where the game’s at. It’s what the rules provide. So we’ll follow the rules.”

Jokic, who won MVP in 2021, 2022 and 2024, has been named to the All-NBA Team in seven of his 11 seasons.

Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama sat out after reaching eligibility in his previous game.

Wembanyama qualified for award eligibility by playing in his 65th game Friday, in San Antonio's 139-120 victory over Dallas.

Wembanyama competed in 64 regular-season games in addition to the NBA Cup Final, which does not count toward regular-season record or statistics, but does qualify as a game played.

Wembanyama suffered a left rib contusion and missed the second half of Monday's 115-102 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. He returned Friday to post 40 points and 13 rebounds in 26:13 minutes against Dallas.

He was listed as questionable due to injury management and was ruled out after the Spurs' afternoon walkthrough.

“Yeah, he’s doing well, but just a little sore and felt it was the appropriate decision,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “He was probably, to be honest, the closest call of the group, but just right in that kind of in between.”

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