Pylip Vionov and Anton Levkun “placed a skimming device on a credit card point-of-sale machine” on Monday at Sabor Tropical Supermarket in West Miami’s Alameda area, according to police.

A surveillance camera at the supermarket at 6190 SW 8 St. recorded video showing Vionov, 45, “covering the credit card machine with a large aluminum tray and distracting the cashier,” according to police.

The surveillance video also shows Levkun, 41, positioning the “skimming device onto the credit card reader" that a police officer found, removed, and impounded, according to police.

Police officers found Vionov and Levkun walking westbound on Southwest Eighth Street, and their parked car at Southwest Sixth Street and 63rd Avenue, according to police.

Levkun had “clear plastic wrap covering all ten fingertips” and “began removing the coverings and discarded them on the ground,” according to a police officer’s arrest report.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Vionov on Monday afternoon at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He faced charges of unlawful use of a scanning device or reencoder, and organized scheme to defraud or conspiracy. His bond was $5,000.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

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Authorities said Ann Borodina was last seen just before 11 p.m. Monday leaving the 1400 block of Northeast 191st Street in the county’s unincorporated Ojus area, just outside of the Aventura city limits.

Deputies said Borodina is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs around 160 pounds. They said she has brown eyes, black hair, and was last seen wearing a black shirt and gray sweatpants.

Investigators said Borodina suffers from depression and has previously made suicidal threats. They said she has not contacted family members and may be in need of services.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Deputy A. Madrigal at 305-715-3300 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477,

Las autoridades informaron que Ann Borodina fue vista por última vez poco antes de las 11 p.m. del lunes saliendo de la cuadra 1400 de Northeast 191st Street en el área no incorporada de Ojus, en el condado, justo fuera de los límites de la ciudad de Aventura.

Los agentes dijeron que Borodina mide 5 pies y 6 pulgadas y pesa alrededor de 160 libras. Indicaron que tiene ojos marrones, cabello negro y fue vista por última vez usando una camisa negra y pantalones deportivos grises.

Los investigadores informaron que Borodina sufre de depresión y anteriormente había hecho amenazas suicidas. También indicaron que no se ha comunicado con sus familiares y podría necesitar asistencia.

Cualquier persona con información debe comunicarse con el agente A. Madrigal al 305-715-3300 o con Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

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Fernandez signed with the Dolphins after going undrafted in 1968, joining the team when it was still part of the AFL. He spent his entire eight-year career in Miami before retiring after the 1975 season.

During his time with the Dolphins, Fernandez helped anchor the “No-Name Defense” during one of the most successful stretches in franchise history. He also played in three Super Bowls and was part of the teams that won back-to-back championships following the 1972 and 1973 seasons.

Fernandez recorded sacks in both Super Bowl victories and is unofficially credited with 35 regular-season sacks and 4.5 postseason sacks. (The NFL did not officially track sacks until 1982.)

He was also a member of the 1972 Dolphins team, the only NFL team to complete a perfect season. That group was later inducted into the team’s Honor Roll, and Fernandez was individually inducted in 2014.

The Dolphins released a statement remembering his impact on the franchise:

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Manny Fernandez, a member of the 1972 Perfect Team, a two-time Super Bowl champion, Ring of Honor member and an anchor of the Dolphins’ legendary N-Name Defense,” the team wrote.

“His consistent and selfless contributions on the field were instrumental to the Dolphins’ success throughout the early 1970s, particularly in the team’s three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, in which he produced some of the most memorable defensive performances in the history of the game,” the team’s statement continued. “Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones and teammates as we remember one of the best players in Dolphins history.”

His cause of death has not been disclosed at this time.

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We are deeply saddened by the passing of Manny Fernandez. pic.twitter.com/nh0xcQ0YIX

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) May 26, 2026

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Officers with the North Miami Beach Police Department said Stanley Guerrier, of Miami’s Little Haiti area, is accused of opening fire during an altercation outside Taboo Miami, located at 337 NW 170th St., around 6:40 a.m. on May 2.

According to the report, Guerrier was involved in a fight with the victim before “unlawfully discharging a firearm in a reckless manner toward the victim,” striking him during what investigators described as an incident “demonstrating a depraved mind without regard for human life” in a crowded area.

Police said they responded to reports of a man shot outside the business.

They said the victim had already been transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital by an individual before officers arrived, according to the report.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Guerrier arriving in a black BMW SUV, exiting the vehicle, and approaching the victim before the confrontation escalated.

They said surveilance video shows Guerrier pushing the victim, who then struck him in what appeared to be self-defense. At that point, Guerrier allegedly pulled out a gun and fired at the victim, according to the report.

Police said after the shooting, the suspect vehicle fled the area. The victim initially went back inside the club before exiting again with an injury to his hand and was transported to the hospital, according to the report.

Detectives later recovered a projectile and a cellphone at the scene, the report states. Security personnel and witnesses provided statements, and surveillance footage was reviewed with investigators and the club’s owner.

Police said Guerrier was later identified through investigative leads, prior law enforcement contact, and surveillance video.

They said he was taken into custody on Sunday without incident after officers located him and detained him on an outstanding probable cause alert.

According to investigators, a gun was recovered during a search incident to arrest, and Guerrier was later interviewed after waiving his Miranda rights. The report states he and another individual made statements to detectives during questioning.

Authorities said they believe the altercation was over an “unknown female.”

Jail records show Guerrier is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a public place or residential property.

As of Tuesday morning, he was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Agentes del Departamento de Policía de North Miami Beach informaron que Stanley Guerrier, del área de Little Haiti en Miami, está acusado de abrir fuego durante un altercado afuera de Taboo Miami, ubicado en el 337 de NW 170th St., alrededor de las 6:40 a.m. del 2 de mayo.

Según el informe, Guerrier estuvo involucrado en una pelea con la víctima antes de “disparar ilegalmente un arma de fuego de manera imprudente hacia la víctima”, hiriéndola durante lo que los investigadores describieron como un incidente que “demostraba una mente depravada sin consideración por la vida humana” en un área concurrida.

La Policía informó que respondió a reportes de un hombre baleado afuera del negocio.

Según el informe, la víctima ya había sido trasladada al Hospital Jackson Memorial por otra persona antes de que los agentes llegaran al lugar.

Los investigadores dijeron que un video de vigilancia mostró a Guerrier llegando en una SUV BMW negra, saliendo del vehículo y acercándose a la víctima antes de que el enfrentamiento escalara.

Indicaron que las cámaras de vigilancia muestran a Guerrier empujando a la víctima, quien luego lo golpeó en lo que parecía ser defensa propia. En ese momento, Guerrier presuntamente sacó un arma y disparó contra la víctima, según el informe.

La Policía indicó que, después de la balacera, el vehículo sospechoso huyó del área. Según el informe, la víctima regresó inicialmente al interior del club antes de salir nuevamente con una herida en la mano y ser trasladada al hospital.

El informe señala que los detectives recuperaron posteriormente un proyectil y un teléfono celular en la escena. Personal de seguridad y testigos ofrecieron declaraciones, y las grabaciones de vigilancia fueron revisadas con los investigadores y el propietario del club.

La Policía dijo que Guerrier fue identificado posteriormente mediante pistas de la investigación, contactos previos con las autoridades y videos de vigilancia.

Indicaron que fue detenido el domingo sin incidentes luego de que los agentes lo localizaran y arrestaran por una alerta activa de causa probable.

Según los investigadores, durante el arresto se recuperó un arma de fuego, y Guerrier posteriormente fue interrogado tras renunciar a sus derechos Miranda. El informe señala que él y otra persona hicieron declaraciones a los detectives durante el interrogatorio.

Las autoridades creen que el altercado ocurrió por una “mujer desconocida”.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Guerrier enfrenta cargos de intento de asesinato en segundo grado y descarga ilegal de un arma de fuego en un lugar público o propiedad residencial.

Hasta la mañana del martes, permanecía detenido sin derecho a fianza en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

The case stems from a crash in Florida last year that killed three people. The driver, Harjinder Singh, is accused of making an illegal U-turn that caused the accident. Singh, who is from India, was carrying a valid commercial driver's license from California and had earlier been granted one by Washington state.

Republican-led Florida has accused the Western states, led by Democrats, of openly defying immigration laws and asked the justices to rule that states lack the authority to issue CDLs to people who are not citizens or legal permanent residents.

The Supreme Court typically hears appeals of lower-court decisions, but it sometimes takes on what are known as original lawsuits in which states sue each other in the nation's highest court.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from Tuesday's order, as they often do when the court rejects an original lawsuit, saying that the court has no choice but to hear such cases.

Separately, a federal appeals court has blocked a Trump administration proposal to impose new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver’s licenses to drive a semitrailer truck or bus.

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Officials with iHeart Animal Rescue say the dog is decompressing and recovering well.

They said she’s got a new apartment set up and loves her new blanket, bed and toys.

The shelter also told Local 10 News “Miracle” has explored her new home and is still taking antibiotics as she recovers.

Anyone looking to donate to Miracle’s growing medical costs can visit iHeart Animal Rescue’s website.

Funcionarios de iHeart Animal Rescue dijeron que la perra se está relajando y recuperando bien.

Indicaron que ya tiene un nuevo apartamento y que le encantan su nueva manta, cama y juguetes.

El refugio también informó a Local 10 News que “Miracle” ha explorado su nuevo hogar y continúa tomando antibióticos mientras se recupera.

Cualquier persona interesada en donar para cubrir los crecientes gastos médicos de Miracle puede visitar el sitio web de iHeart Animal Rescue.

En Florida, el precio promedio de la gasolina regular es de $4.47 USD. Con los viajes de verano acercándose, Local 10 y Tropical Financial Credit Union se están uniendo para brindar alivio a los conductores.

A partir del martes, puede inscribirse en “Premio en la Bomba”. Todo lo que tiene que hacer es completar el formulario del concurso a continuación para tener la oportunidad de ganar una tarjeta de regalo de combustible de $100 USD. La fecha límite para participar es el domingo 31 de mayo a las 11:59 p.m.

Del 1 al 5 de junio, regalaremos $2,500 USD en tarjetas de regalo de combustible a 25 televidentes de Local 10. Los ganadores serán seleccionados al azar y cinco serán anunciados cada día durante nuestro noticiero de las 6 a.m.

Inscríbase hoy para tener la oportunidad de recibir su “Premio en la Bomba”.

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In Florida, the average price for regular gas is $4.47. With summer travel on the horizon, Local 10 and Tropical Financial Credit Union are teaming up to bring drivers some relief.

Beginning Tuesday, you can sign up for “Prize at the Pump.” All you have to do is complete the contest form below to be eligible to win a $100 fuel gift card. The deadline to enter is Sunday, May 31, at 11:59 p.m.

From June 1 through June 5, we will give away $2,500 in fuel gift cards to 25 Local 10 viewers. The winners will be chosen at random and five will be announced each day during our 6 a.m. newscast.

Sign up today for a chance to receive your “Prize at the Pump.”

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains.

The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month. Spikes in gas prices as well as higher food costs have worsened inflation, which has outpaced the growth in average paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Gas prices have soared to a nationwide average of $4.49 a gallon from $2.98 just before the war began at the end of February, and have been at or above $4.50 a gallon for nearly all of May.

This month, the Conference Board added special questions to its survey, which found rising prices have caused most Americans to change their spending habits. Two-thirds of respondents said they are cutting back spending in response to the increases, with most of those reducing overall purchases and delaying more expensive acquisitions.

Many consumers are also planning to economize on clothes, shoes, hobby items, and toys and games, the survey found.

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April, the highest in three years and far above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. In addition to more expensive gas, grocery prices have also started rising more quickly, likely driven by higher shipping costs. Beef prices have also risen sharply, as drought and other factors have reduced cattle herds.

The higher prices are, on average, reducing Americans' inflation-adjusted incomes. Average hourly earnings, adjusted for price changes, shrank in April from a year earlier for the first time in three years.

The iconic online payments company is facing its biggest challenge in nearly three decades of existence. Its core business of customers using the app to check out when shopping online is barely growing and new management has bluntly warned investors that “significant changes” will be needed to fix the company’s problems.

One of the biggest success stories of the original dot-com era, PayPal has seen its territory steadily conquered by new and existing competitors, particularly Apple, Shopify, the buy now, pay later companies like Affirm and Klarna, and peer-to-peer money transfer services like Cash App and Zelle, particularly in the past five years.

As a result, PayPal’s stock has fallen nearly 40% in the past 12 months. The stock, which soared during the pandemic as millions of Americans started shopping online for groceries and other necessities, has plunged roughly 80% in the past five years as investors worried that PayPal missed an opportunity to leverage its name recognition and dominance in online payments and allowed its competitors to take market share that will be hard to recover.

Investors’ concerns are not about profitability, although PayPal did warn investors that 2026 profits would be down from the previous year. The concerns lie more with how will PayPal grow and maintain its market with increasing competition.

PayPal said in its first-quarter earnings report that branded checkout — the company’s most profitable business by margin — grew just 2%. While the company noted there had been a slowdown in its European division and other discretionary purchases, a growth of only 2% in one of the fastest growing industries alarmed investors and shares dropped nearly 8%.

The pressures on PayPal's business have led to some dramatic changes at the top of the company. The board ousted CEO Alex Chriss in February and replaced him with Enrique Lores, the former president and CEO of HP Inc., and a member of PayPal’s board. Lores announced a cost-cutting plan that includes reorganizing the company into three divisions and relying more on artificial intelligence. He told investors at May’s shareholder meeting he expects to update them on the company’s turnaround plan “in a few months."

The biggest threat to PayPal’s dominance has been Apple and its Apple Pay service. Apple rolled out Apple Pay in 2014, which allowed Apple customers to store virtual credit and debit cards on their devices to pay online. The company also integrated tap-to-pay technologies into iPhones and the Apple Watch to allow Apple users to pay for items at stores in person.

So, while PayPal has embedded itself as a checkout button on countless merchant websites, that checkout button has become less useful when a customer can store their payment information on their phone and pay using a fingerprint or a glance of their face, analysts said.

This has caused customers to drift away from PayPal as a default payment method. PayPal in 2019 controlled roughly 9% of e-commerce in the U.S. and globally, with Apple Pay having a 3% market share, according to analysts at UBS. Six years later, Apple overtook PayPal as the dominant checkout option, and its market share is expected to continue to grow as Apple rolls out Apple Pay to non-iOS users.

There is also the growing popularity of buy now, pay later companies such as Klarna and Affirm. While PayPal now offers buy now, pay later services like its pay-in-four plan, and longer-term monthly payment plans, it lags its major competitors including Affirm, which was founded by one of PayPal’s founders, Max Levchin.

“PayPal has had a lot of trouble evolving from being just a way to pay on your desktop computer,” said Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst who covers credit cards and payment methods at investment bank Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Going forward, investors worry that if the branded checkout business continues to lag behind it competitors, it could spell future trouble for PayPal. Wall Street analysts have questioned whether Venmo or Braintree may be spun off from the company, noting that Lores was previously responsible for spliting HP into two separate companies.

Earlier this year, PayPal's stock jumped briefly on unconfirmed reports that the payments company Stripe was interested in acquiring all or parts of PayPal.

Según documentos judiciales federales, el grupo planea usar su dinero y sus viviendas como garantía.

Entre los nombres figuran la supervisora de elecciones del Condado de Miami-Dade Alina Garcia, el exrepresentante estatal de Florida Manuel Prieguez y el monseñor Wilfredo Pena Moredo, sacerdote católico con 52 años de ministerio.

Los expresidentes de la FIU Modesto “Mitch” Maidique y Mark Rosenberg también están entre quienes ofrecen ayuda, junto a Yvonne Soler McKinley, exadministradora municipal de Doral y South Miami.

Esto ocurre luego de que un jurado condenara a Rivera y a la consultora política Esther Nuhfer por cabildear ilegalmente para el gobierno venezolano.

Ambos fueron condenados también por no registrarse como agentes extranjeros y por conspirar para cometer lavado de dinero en relación con un contrato de consultoría de $50 millones.

El jurado determinó que los fiscales probaron que la pareja conspiró para enriquecerse intentando ayudar al régimen de Nicolás Maduro a normalizar las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Venezuela.

Documentos judiciales:

David Rivera Doc on Bail by Chris Gothner

A three-judge panel in the state’s long-running redistricting case issued the preliminary injunction that prevents the state, at least for now, from switching maps. It requires Alabama to continue using the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.

Lawyers representing Black voters in the state's lengthy redistricting case had sought the preliminary injunction, arguing the same panel in 2023 found the state map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters. They also argued Alabama was creating chaos by trying to change lines in the middle of an election year.

The ruling was a defeat for state Republicans who want to use a map for the November midterms that will give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat now held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures. However, the state could appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court order is the latest development in the twisting legal and political saga following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

The redistricting frenzy is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections.

Other states also have considered adjustments to their primary elections to allow time for congressional redistricting after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affecting the Voting Rights Act. Louisiana’s congressional primaries, scheduled for May 16, were postponed until later this summer by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry so that state lawmakers could consider a new U.S. House map that would eliminate a majority-Black district.

In South Carolina, the Republican-led legislature considered a plan that would throw out the votes from its June 9 congressional primary and instead hold a new primary in August under revised districts that could improve Republicans’ chances of winning an additional seat.

Tennessee also moved quickly to enact new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court’s ruling by carving up a Black-majority district based in Memphis that had elected the state’s only Democratic representative. The new map gives Republicans a chance to sweep all nine of the state’s seats. As part of the plan, Tennessee temporarily reopened the candidate qualifying period for its August congressional primaries, allowing new candidates to enter the race and existing ones to either switch districts or drop out.

Since Trump first urged Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts last summer, about a half-dozen Republican-led states have enacted new voting districts, though some still face legal challenges. Democrats countered with new districts in California and also expect to gain a seat from new court-imposed districts in Utah.

Mondelez, Oreo’s parent company, said Tuesday that BTS-themed Oreos will go on sale June 1 online and June 8 in stores. The cookies, which feature purple wafers in a nod to the band’s signature color, will be sold in more than 80 markets around the world, making the partnership the brand's biggest to date.

The band also designed 13 embossments for the wafers, including the names of the seven members and an outline of the light stick that fans hold at BTS concerts.

The white-and-tan creme center of the sandwich cookies was formulated to taste like hotteok, a warm, brown sugar-stuffed pancake that’s a popular Korean street food.

“For Oreo to be the first snacking brand we’ve collaborated with globally is a huge honor. We ate them as kids, we eat them in the studio and now Oreo is helping us share a taste of home with the world,” BTS said in a statement.

BTS Oreos will be sold for a limited time. Chicago-based Mondelez wouldn’t say how many packages it’s making.

Martin Renaud, Mondelez’ chief marketing and sales officer, said the BTS cookies strike a balance of staying true to Korean culture and food while remaining consistent with Oreo’s brand and flavoring.

“You want to be authentic, you want to be differentiated and live an experience. But when you are Oreo, you need to be pleasing a large group of people,” Renaud told The Associated Press. “You cannot come up with something that will be liked only by 20% of the population because it would alienate some of our customers.”

Renaud said Oreo spent around two years developing the BTS cookie, eventually narrowing the possible flavors to three before settling on hotteok.

“I think Korean food is an incredible cuisine. I’m French, maybe I should not say that, but I believe it,” Renaud joked.

BTS Oreos arrive at a time when consumers are increasingly eager to sample new and authentic global cuisines and flavors. Datassential, a food and beverage consulting company, said U.S. restaurants featuring global flavors — Asian and South American, specifically -- have been gaining market share since 2019. In Europe, West African restaurants are growing in popularity, the company said.

Social media is spurring the international taste trend. There are more than 11,700 TikTok videos under the hashtag “hotteok,” for example. Seeking out global foods or learning to make them is a low-risk and low-cost way to enjoy other cultures, said Russell Zwanka, the director of the food marketing program at Western Michigan University.

“You can experience the world without spending $2,000 on a ticket,” Zwanka said.

Delivery services and speciality grocery stores like the Asian supermarket chain H Mart have also made it easier for consumers to sample international foods, he said.

“People have a much more proactive stance on trying to find flavors they can attribute to certain regions of the world,” Zwanka said. “I think that’s beautiful. It’s way the world should be.”

In recent years, Oreo has partnered with Coca-Cola, singer and actress Selena Gomez, and the K-pop girl band Blackpink, among others. The brand also offers limited-time flavors in specific markets, like cherry sakura in Japan and red bean paste in China.

BTS is also no stranger to food collaborations. The band partnered with McDonalds in 2021 for a global meal promotion in 50 countries. BTS also worked with the Korean food companies Paldo and Hy to develop Arih, a line of noodles and drinks sold at Walmart.

Renaud said partnerships and playful, interesting flavors help Oreo expand its appeal beyond families.

“We want to be making sure we also keep our older children and Gen Zs and keep the brand up to date,” he said.

Renaud said Oreo is already working on its next collaborations, which may or may not be as big as the BTS partnership.

“We’re not obsessed to be more, more, more, more, markets. I think if we can, yes, let’s go for it,” he said. “But the key point is we need to be really resonating with the local culture.”

Fernandez firmó con los Dolphins después de no ser seleccionado en el draft de 1968, uniéndose al equipo cuando todavía formaba parte de la AFL. Pasó toda su carrera en Miami antes de retirarse tras la temporada de 1975.

Durante su tiempo con los Dolphins, Fernandez ayudó a liderar la defensa durante una de las etapas más exitosas en la historia de la franquicia. Jugó en tres Super Bowls y formó parte de los equipos que ganaron campeonatos consecutivos tras las temporadas de 1972 y 1973.

Registró capturas de mariscal en ambas victorias del Super Bowl y se le atribuyen de manera no oficial 35 capturas en temporada regular y 4.5 en postemporada. (La NFL no comenzó a registrar oficialmente las capturas hasta 1982).

Fernandez también fue miembro del equipo de los Dolphins de 1972, el único equipo de la NFL en completar una temporada perfecta. Ese grupo fue posteriormente incluido en el Honor Roll del equipo, y Fernandez fue incluido de manera individual en 2014.

Los Dolphins emitieron un comunicado recordando su impacto en la franquicia:

“Estamos profundamente entristecidos por el fallecimiento de Manny Fernandez, miembro del Equipo Perfecto de 1972, dos veces campeón del Super Bowl, miembro del Ring of Honor y figura de la legendaria defensa No-Name Defense de los Dolphins”, escribió el equipo.

“Sus constantes y desinteresadas contribuciones en el campo fueron fundamentales para el éxito de los Dolphins durante los primeros años de la década de 1970, especialmente en las tres apariciones consecutivas del equipo en el Super Bowl, en las que produjo algunas de las actuaciones defensivas más memorables en la historia del juego”, continuó el comunicado del equipo. “Nuestros pensamientos están con su familia, seres queridos y compañeros de equipo mientras recordamos a uno de los mejores jugadores en la historia de los Dolphins”.

La causa de su muerte no ha sido divulgada hasta el momento.

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Estamos profundamente entristecidos por el fallecimiento de Manny Fernandez.

pic.twitter.com/nh0xcQ0YIX

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) 26 de mayo de 2026

Little Haiti celebró el martes 10 años desde que los comisionados de Miami emitieron una proclamación clave que designó oficialmente al vecindario a lo largo del corredor de Northeast Second Avenue.

La junta aprobó por unanimidad la designación en 2016.

“Definitivamente vamos a enfocarnos en ese momento, y históricamente hemos celebrado esto cada año, así que poder hacerlo una década después nos hace extremadamente felices”, dijo Joann Milord, presidenta y directora ejecutiva del Little Haiti Revitalization Trust.

El vibrante distrito aporta a la rica diversidad cultural de Miami.

El creole llena las calles, los edificios están cubiertos de murales coloridos, la auténtica gastronomía atrae multitudes y la sólida escena artística y musical continúa prosperando.

“Lo mejor de Miami es la diversidad de culturas”, dijo Milord. “Es una forma de poder viajar por el mundo solo con experimentarlo”.

La historia de Little Haiti se remonta mucho más allá de la última década.

Las raíces del vecindario datan de hace casi 50 años, cuando el empresario, líder comunitario y activista nacido en Haití, Viter Juste, le dio su nombre al área.

Juste se mudó a Miami en la década de 1970 y es considerado un visionario por ayudar a establecer una comunidad donde los haitianos pudieran vivir, trabajar y rendir culto.

“Hemos estado aquí por generaciones, haciendo contribuciones a la comunidad, a través de negocios y de la economía”, dijo Milord.

Es un lugar donde las tradiciones han sido preservadas y todavía se celebran hoy en día.

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Little Haiti on Tuesday marked 10 years since Miami commissioners made a pivotal proclamation officially designating the neighborhood along the Northeast Second Avenue corridor.

The board unanimously approved the designation in 2016.

“We are definitely going to focus on that moment, and we have historically been celebrating this each and every year, so for us to be able to do this a decade later, we’re extremely happy,” said Joann Milord, president and CEO of the Little Haiti Revitalization Trust.

The vibrant district adds to Miami’s rich fabric of diversity.

Creole fills the streets, buildings are coated with colorful murals, authentic cuisine draws crowds and the robust art and music scene continues to thrive.

“The greatest thing about Miami is about the diversity of the cultures,” Milord said. “It’s such a way for you to be able to travel the world just by experiencing.”

Little Haiti’s history stretches far beyond the last decade.

The neighborhood’s roots date back nearly 50 years after Haitian-born businessman, community leader and activist Viter Juste gave the area its name.

Juste moved to Miami in the 1970s and is considered a visionary for helping establish a community where Haitians could live, work and worship.

“We have been here for generations, making contributions to the community, through businesses, through the economy,” Milord said.

It is a place where traditions have been preserved and are still celebrated today.

Wednesday will be a transition day into a stormier weather pattern across Florida. Expect a daily chance of widespread showers and thunderstorms, especially Thursday into the weekend. South Florida could see four to eight inches of rain over the next week, with locally higher amounts possible. Flooding is possible each day in any slow-moving showers and thunderstorms.

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It sparked around 5 p.m. at a junkyard located in the area of Northwest 135th Street and Cairo Lane in Opa-locka.

Authorities began upgrading the fire soon after they started to combat the flames, with the blaze eventually being considered a six-alarm fire by late in the evening.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said wind pushed fire and embers into a second junkyard and additional business in the area.

Additionally, officials said they evacuated nearby apartment buildings out of an abundance of caution.

“To be honest, I have a sense of fear,” said Opa-locka resident Mimi Pierre. “I don’t live too far and I’m scared. If I lived here, I would start packing my bags.”

No injuries have been reported in the fire, authorities said.

There has been no word on what caused the flames to ignite.

“Right now our investigators are discussing the circumstance with one of the junkyards,” said MDFR Chief Ray Jadallah. “We have not come up with a final decision. We are having conversations with them and it’s still in the preliminary phases as a result of the sheer amount of fire.”

El fuego se desató alrededor de las 5 p.m. en un depósito de chatarra ubicado en el área de Northwest 135th Street y Cairo Lane en Opa-locka.

Las autoridades comenzaron a elevar el nivel del incendio poco después de comenzar a combatir las llamas, y la noche del lunes el fuego ya era considerado un incendio de seis alarmas.

Funcionarios de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue informaron que el viento empujó el fuego y las brasas hacia un segundo depósito de chatarra y otros negocios en el área.

Además, las autoridades dijeron que evacuaron edificios de apartamentos cercanos por precaución.

“Para ser honesta, siento miedo”, dijo Mimi Pierre, residente de Opa-locka. “No vivo muy lejos y estoy asustada. Si viviera aquí, comenzaría a empacar mis maletas”.

Las autoridades informaron que no se han reportado heridos por el incendio.

Hasta el momento no se ha informado qué provocó el inicio de las llamas.

“En este momento nuestros investigadores están discutiendo las circunstancias con uno de los depósitos de chatarra”, dijo el jefe de MDFR, Ray Jadallah. “No hemos llegado a una decisión final. Estamos conversando con ellos y todavía estamos en las fases preliminares debido a la magnitud del incendio”.

Para ganar la elección se requiere la mitad más uno del total de los votos. En caso de que ninguno lo logre en la primera vuelta, se convocará a un balotaje el 21 de junio, en el que participarán los dos candidatos más votados y ganará quien obtenga la mayoría de los sufragios.

A continuación, una guía sobre las elecciones presidenciales en Colombia.

¿Qué se vota?

Los colombianos elegirán al sucesor de Gustavo Petro, quien en 2022 fue elegido como el primer presidente de tendencia izquierdista en el país y que culminará su periodo en agosto sin posibilidad legal de reelegirse.

También escogerán a la fórmula vicepresidencial que reemplazará a Francia Márquez, la primera afrodescendiente en ocupar ese cargo.

El segundo puesto en la votación tendrá derecho a una curul en el Senado, en el caso del aspirante a la presidencia, y otro en la Cámara de Representantes para la fórmula vicepresidencial.

¿Cuántos candidatos hay?

Se medirán en las urnas 11 candidatos, aunque en la papeleta aparecerán dos adicionales que se retiraron en la recta final para adherirse a Iván Cepeda, senador y aspirante por Pacto Histórico, la corriente política que lidera Petro.

Cepeda se ha mantenido en distintas encuestas entre los primeros lugares de intención de voto, así como los aspirantes Paloma Valencia, senadora y aspirante del opositor Centro Democrático, y Abelardo de la Espriella, un abogado que se lanzó por el movimiento ciudadano Defensores de la Patria y que también se opone a Petro.

También son aspirantes los moderados Claudia López, exalcaldesa de Bogotá, y Sergio Fajardo, exalcalde de Medellín y exgobernador de Antioquia, así como los exfuncionarios del gobierno de Petro, Roy Leonardo Barreras, quien fue embajador en Reino Unido, y Mauricio Lizcano, exministro de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones.

Además, competirá Miguel Uribe Londoño, quien se lanzó en reemplazo de su hijo Miguel Uribe Turbay, quien falleció el año pasado cuando era precandidato presidencial tras un ataque a tiros durante un mitin político.

Padrón electoral y conteo de votos

Más de 41,4 millones de colombianos están habilitados para votar —de una población total de 53 millones—, de los cuales 1,4 millones lo harán en el exterior.

Los puestos de votación se habilitarán a las 8:00 de la mañana (13.00 GMT) y cerrarán a las 4:00 de la tarde (21.00 GMT). Inmediatamente después del cierre iniciará el conteo de votos realizado por jurados de votación —que son ciudadanos elegidos aleatoriamente— y bajo vigilancia de observadores y testigos electorales que pueden tomar fotografías a los formularios con los resultados.

El día de la votación la Registraduría Nacional publica los resultados de un conteo cuya función es informativa, pero no definitiva. Luego se realizan los escrutinios donde se verifican los resultados, se resuelven reclamaciones y se declara al ganador.

¿Cómo llega Colombia a las elecciones?

Las elecciones presidenciales se desarrollan en medio de una preocupación por la violencia política tras el asesinato de Uribe Turbay y múltiples amenazas a otros candidatos, así como por el accionar de grupos armados ilegales que se disputan el control de territorios estratégicos para el narcotráfico y la economía ilegal.

La estatal Defensoría del Pueblo ha advertido que la inquietud gira en torno a la “gobernanza de los grupos armados” que podrían condicionar el comportamiento electoral.

Durante la campaña la Defensoría y organismos como la ONU propusieron a los candidatos bajar el tono de la discusión y los señalamientos mutuos para evitar un escenario más polarizante.

El próximo gobierno deberá decidir si da o no continuidad a la política de “paz total” que Petro puso en marcha negociando con múltiples actores armados en paralelo en un intento por reducir la violencia y que no ha logrado desarmarlos ni detener su poderío.

También está en juego la relación con el Congreso, que se renovará en julio con una importante representación del Pacto Histórico, así como con las altas cortes y la fiscalía, con las que Petro ha mantenido una relación tensa.

In Washington, the president has a medical checkup on his schedule, and the redistricting war also continues — the Congressional Black Caucus is urging corporate America to get involved to save voting rights, ending a collective retreat during Trump’s second presidency. in Texas, the Trump-backed, scandal-plagued Ken Paxton is favored over Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday's GOP primary runoff election.

The Latest:

Trump turns 80 next month as more Americans express concerns about his age

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively.

“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Kuhlman said a complete physical would include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment. The White House has not disclosed what Trump’s checkups will entail.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

US consumer confidence is dented as gas prices remain high

U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly as gas prices remained at or above a national average of $4.50 a gallon in May and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices that have neared record levels.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains.

The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment compiled by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month. Spikes in gas prices as well as higher food costs have worsened inflation, which has outpaced the growth in average paychecks in recent months, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Polls show Americans have soured on Trump’s economic policies, which could harm Republicans in this year’s elections.

Iran denounces US strikes as a sign of bad faith, with impact on peace talks unclear

Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. strikes a day earlier as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the war.

The U.S. military said it acted with restraint in defensively targeting missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that “The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, which did not say when this happened.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said an explosion was reported Tuesday morning aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Oman. No one was injured and there was no immediate information on the cause.

Federal court blocks Alabama’s plan for new US House map

The new congressional map would give Republicans an advantage in a key House race this November. But the preliminary injunction issued by a three-judge panel requires the state, at least for now, to instead use the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.

Lawyers representing Black voters argued that Alabama’s map intentionally discriminates against Black voters and that trying to change lines in the middle of an election year creates chaos.

The state could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republicans want to use a new map that will give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat now held by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures.

US stocks rise, oil falls after Trump said Iran talks are ‘proceeding nicely’

The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil fell 3.8% to $92.99 on Tuesday after resuming trading following the Memorial Day holiday, and U.S. stocks were catching up to others around the world that climbed after Trump said Iran talks were “proceeding nicely.”

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite all rose Tuesday to near their all-time highs even though fighting continued in the Mideast and the U.S. military said it struck Iranian missile launch sites and boats placing mines on Monday. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on, causing painful inflation around the world.

Congressional Black Caucus presses US corporations to oppose Republican redistricting push

The Congressional Black Caucus is calling on major U.S. corporations to oppose Republican-led redistricting efforts that seek to eliminate majority-Black U.S. House districts.

Their letter sent Tuesday urges more than 250 companies to condemn “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some had cosigned their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.

That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, included Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.

“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” the caucus chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, said in an interview.

Trump arrives at Walter Reed military hospital for his latest physical

The White House said Trump would participate in a greeting with service members and hospital staff before he spends hours being examined by a team of doctors.

It is the Republican president’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office in January 2025, and it comes as the nearly 80-year-old Trump tries to project strength going into November elections that will test his sway with voters.

The White House says the visit is an annual preventive medical and dental checkup. Trump was last at Walter Reed in October and also had a physical there in April 2025.

Last July, the White House said he’d been diagnosed with a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins, causing the swollen ankles seen in some photos of Trump.

The White House also has blamed handshaking for visible bruising on Trump’s hands.

Presidents aren’t required to disclose health information

There’s no law requiring these disclosures and the degree of transparency varies.

Presidents for decades have released medical test results to try to reassure the public that they are up to the high-pressure job.

But the president signs off on what is released, which raises questions about what isn’t being shared.

Trump’s past medical reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and including statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.

It will be several hours before the White House releases any information about Tuesday’s exam.

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The seizure took place on April 26 at Ezeiza International Airport near Buenos Aires in an operation involving Argentina’s Environmental Control Brigade, customs officials, the agricultural health agency, wildlife conservation group International Fund for Animal Welfare and rehabilitation group Fundación Temaikèn.

Authorities said the shipment included tropical marine fish and invertebrates commonly sought for aquariums and exotic collections, including surgeonfish, puffer fish, lionfish, butterflyfish, octopuses, crabs and starfish.

Many of the animals arrived dead after 120 hours in transit from Kenya, while others showed severe signs of stress and shock, conservationists said.

The scale of the seizure forced Fundación Temaikèn, the only institution in Argentina equipped to receive confiscated marine wildlife of this kind, to rapidly establish an emergency rescue operation at its facilities in Escobar, north of Buenos Aires.

Veterinarians and wildlife specialists worked for more than 28 hours to stabilize surviving animals. Workers adapted existing facilities and installed 10 additional tanks equipped with heating, filtration and water-conditioning systems for tropical marine species.

“Many of these animals were extracted from reef ecosystems and arrived at the limit of survival, after spending days inside transport bags and boxes before the rescue could be carried out,” Cristian Gillet, wildlife director at Fundación Temaikèn, said in a statement.

Because the animals were packed individually in hundreds of plastic bags, rescue teams carried out drip acclimation procedures one by one to gradually adjust them to new water conditions and reduce physiological shock caused by sudden temperature and salinity changes.

Specialists also used a triage system to prioritize critically weakened animals for treatment while other teams identified species and separated living specimens from dead ones.

Wildlife trafficking experts say the global trade in ornamental marine species is expanding as demand grows for exotic pets and home aquariums. Conservation groups warn that the trade can damage fragile reef ecosystems and expose animals to high mortality during capture and transport.

“This is an industrialized crime,” said Christian Plowman of IFAW. "Moving 709 animals comprising 102 species across international cargo routes, packed in bags for 120 hours of transit, is not something done casually. It requires coordination along every link of the chain.”

Plowman also said that this is the third seizure in a year by the Argentine authorities at the same entry point, which is not a coincidence but an established commercial route.

“Traffickers identify and exploit corridors that work until enforcement disrupts the model. This interception — and the two before it — should be understood as intelligence, not just seizures. They are telling us something important about where the networks are operating and how.”

The animals remain under specialized care while Argentine authorities determine their long-term fate. Officials have not said who was responsible for the shipment or whether arrests were made.

Officials from the Kenya Wildlife Service did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.

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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.

The U.S. military has characterized Monday's strikes in southern Iran as defensive, saying targets included missile launch sites and boats placing mines, and said the U.S. acted with “restraint" in light of the weekslong ceasefire.

Iran's foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for “all consequences,” without details.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered,” it added in a statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, which did not specify when the incident occurred.

It wasn't immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations. The strikes came after Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks, which U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday were “proceeding nicely.”

The strikes were the latest flare-up in the fragile ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely held.

Negotiations center in part on the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway off southern Iran through which a fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes in February. Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait, stranding hundreds of ships and shocking the global economy.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said an explosion was reported Tuesday morning aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Oman, which lies near the strait. No one was injured in the blast; there was no immediate information on the cause.

Besides disrupting energy markets, the strait's closure is also squeezing fertilizer supplies worldwide. The full impact might not become clear until harvests that are months away. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu, warned at an event in Rome Tuesday that “the decisions we make now will determine whether this remains a manageable shock or evolves into a deeper global food security crisis in 2026 and 2027 and beyond."

The strait has become a powerful lever for Tehran in talks, joining the long-running issue of Iran's nuclear program and highly enriched uranium. Iran, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift its military blockade of Iranian ports that began on April 17.

“What we are witnessing today is not only a geopolitical crisis, it is a systemic shock to the global agrifood system,” Qu said Tuesday.

Trump has introduced a new angle in negotiations for a deal on the war, saying any agreement to end the war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered diplomatic, economic and security agreements aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020; Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have followed. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.

Israel’s conduct against Palestinians, including in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world, but Trump has been keen to build on the Abraham Accords, forged during his first term. He has even suggested that Iran eventually could sign on.

Top-ranked Sabalenka looked light on her feet on Court Philippe-Chatrier, despite wearing two thick necklaces in a 6-4, 6-2 win against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

“Diamonds, I don’t really feel the heaviness, but I can imagine how it looks from the outside,” said Sabalenka, the tournament runner-up last year. “So I feel pretty comfortable. For me, it’s important to look good.”

The four-time major winner was initially going to wear three necklaces but said she thought that might be too much.

“It probably sounds a bit crazy, but when I feel good about what I’m wearing, how I look on court, I tend to perform much better,” she said. "I like to bring a little bit of a fashion on the tennis court. I know the dress that I will wear on the Grand Slam, and I just try to come up with something to match the outfit."

Sabalenka said she wasn't worried over her jewelry away from Roland Garros.

“I have my fiancé. He’s kind of like my security,” she said, smiling. “My physio does jujitsu, so I feel pretty secure walking around. If I go somewhere, I don’t go alone.”

For a third consecutive day, the temperature in Paris was forecast to rise to at least 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).

The unusually hot conditions at Roland Garros make net-rushing — usually better reserved for hard and grass courts — a viable option because the court is drying out quicker and playing faster.

“Let’s hope that this is the perfect condition for me,” Sabalenka said. “It suits my game really well.”

Daniil Medvedev usually thrives in such conditions but he struggled in a five-set loss to 97th-ranked Australian opponent Adam Walton.

Gauff was opening her title defense later against fellow American Taylor Townsend.

Also advancing was 17th-seeded Iva Jovic, who beat good friend Alexandra Eala 6-4, 6-2.

Walton, who received a wild card invitation from tournament organizers, beat Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, was leading 6-2, 3-0 against Alexandre Muller when his French opponent retired. Muller wiped away tears as he left the court and later said he injured his right calf, three months after injuring his left calf.

Later, top-ranked Jannik Sinner looks to extend his 29-match winning streak when he opens against French wild card Clement Tabur in the night session.

Rising star

French teenager Moïse Kouamé made the perfect start to his French Open career with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-1 win against veteran Marin Cilic.

The 17-year-old Kouamé won one day after the 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils made his last appearance at Roland Garros.

He raised his arms in triumph and tilted his head back after defeating the 37-year-old Cilic, who won the 2014 U.S. Open, finished runner-up at two other majors, and reached the French Open semifinals in 2022.

The ATP Tour said No. 318-ranked Kouamé became the first man born in 2008 or later to win a Grand Slam match, and the crowd on a sun-baked Court Simonne-Mathieu showed their appreciation by chanting “Mo-ïse! Mo-ïse! Mo-ïse!" and clapping in-between.

“It's not easy to stay in the present without thinking of the score,” Kouamé said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the huge help you (the crowd) gave me.”

In March, he became the youngest winner in Miami Masters history when he beat Zachary Svajda in the first round — earning a congratulatory message from Djokovic.

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

To fight off predators of the humpback chub, a threatened fish native to the river, Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona would need to do what is known as a “cool mix flow,” where cold water is released from deep in its reservoir to cool the river below. But there are no hydropower turbines in the cool, deep section, so significant power generation would be lost.

The proposal comes after the worst snowpack on record for the Colorado River Basin, relied upon by farmers, industries, wildlife and more than 40 million people in seven U.S. states, tribal nations and Mexico. It also comes as those states fail to reach a long-term agreement on how to share the river's dwindling resources beyond this year, when the guidelines expire.

“There is a limited water supply. It’s getting even lower. And with that, a lot of hard decisions need to be made,” said John Berggren, regional policy manager for the environmental nonprofit Western Resource Advocates.

Utilities that buy this hydropower say the cool water releases would be costly because they would have to spend millions to buy alternative energy and would increase financial hardship for customers. But supporters say that without cool releases, the warm waters projected downstream this summer would allow non-native predatory fish to spawn, further threatening the humpback chub, and would destroy a world-famous trout fishery nearby.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which is expected to announce a decision in the next couple of weeks, said in a statement that it is weighing several factors including the ecological health of the river and the hydropower production of the dam. The Interior Department, which oversees the bureau, declined to comment. If the cool water release is approved, it would likely happen from June to October through jet tubes, bypassing the turbines near the warmer surface.

How mixing cool water protects fish

Lake Powell, one of two massive reservoirs on the Colorado River, is just 23% full after decades of overuse and evaporation of water as average temperatures rise because of climate change. A record low inflow is expected this summer. With such a low reservoir, warm water near the surface gets sucked through the generators and sent downstream.

Smallmouth bass, introduced in Lake Powell in the 1980s for sport fishing, live at that warm surface, and also get sucked through the hydropower generators and into the river below. That's a problem for the humpback chub and other federally protected fish in the Grand Canyon, a 278-mile (447-kilometer) stretch farther south on the river that's world-famous for its geologic formations. A recent study shows that roughly half the bass survive the generators. If the river below is warm enough, they spawn.

Smallmouth bass already feast on humpback chub in the river’s upper section, where agencies spend millions of dollars annually to keep the intruders in check. Native fish have been safer below Glen Canyon Dam because it blocks the path to the Grand Canyon — but that may not be true for long.

Water temperatures just downstream of the dam are expected to shatter records set in 2022, when smallmouth bass were first found there. Officials project that water will consistently exceed 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 Celsius) by mid-June due to the warm water being pulled in from Lake Powell. Any higher than that, and non-native predatory fish that pass through the dam could reproduce.

Officials say cool water releases from Lake Powell in 2024 and 2025 successfully prevented spawning.

It’s critical to consider the cost of not doing the cool mix, Heather Whitlaw, field supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said during a recent meeting on managing the issue. “We are certainly just giving up on the future for any kind of recovery for humpback chub and all of the other pieces of the system that rely on those cooler water temperatures.”

With no long-term solution to keep the predators from passing through the dam, withholding cool water would force officials to rely solely on manually removing them downstream.

More hydropower loss could further impact utilities

Utilities reliant on hydropower from federal generators are worried.

If the cool water releases are approved, it could mean bypassing about half the generation at Glen Canyon Dam, forcing utilities to buy power elsewhere that would likely be more expensive, according to the Utah utility group Heber Light & Power.

“We keep hearing comments that we must continue Cool Mix because the cost of not doing it will be even greater,” the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, which represents about 155 customers who buy federal hydropower generated from the river and opposes the releases, said this month in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “We would like to understand what remediation would consistently cost more than $20 to $30 (million) per year.”

The association said the releases are not a sustainable solution to prevent smallmouth bass from reproducing and threaten a critical fund used to operate, maintain and invest in hydropower and transmission facilities.

During the cool water releases in 2024, nearly 900,000 acre-feet of water bypassed the generators, costing $19 million in replacement energy costs, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. It’s unclear how much water would bypass the generators this year, although the cost to replace it is anticipated to be around $25 million — roughly the total cost to hydropower users from the prior two years.

The ongoing loss of hydropower due to Lake Powell's decline has brought challenges to Heber Light & Power as the population grows, said Emily Brandt, the utility’s energy resource manager. The overall decline has led to rate hikes the past five years.

Ann Moulton, who lives in Heber City, has seen her residential electricity bill from Heber Light & Power steadily rise. Her bill this April was $125.98, up from $103.24 and $86.14 for the same month in the previous two years. That's impacting her budget, she said.

Other customers are struggling to pay. So far this year, the utility has seen a jump in late payments over the past two years, from 10% to 12%.

Brandt said the utility supports caring for fish, “but this particular experiment seems unnecessary.”

“We’re already seeing reduced generation from drought, and now we’re seeing even further reduced generation because of this environmental experiment,” Brandt said.

Fisheries downstream are also in limbo

Dave Foster still remembers the 2022 trout die-off in Marble Canyon, a remote stretch of river between the dam and the start of the Grand Canyon. Warm water killed nearly half the rainbow trout the world-renowned fishery relies on, said Foster, who has been working on or around that stretch of river since age 13.

He and other guides are still recovering from the die-off, he said, as “the population has simply not rebounded.” But cool water releases in recent years have offset more negative impacts, and more this year would get them through the fall and winter.

Foster has warned customers booking trips after mid-June that he might cancel if the water gets too warm, which can stress fish. Without cool water releases this year, “that's it for the trout fishery,” he said. “There's no ambiguity about it. It will destroy it.”

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

A 50-year-old known mostly for his work with European orchestras, Harding agreed to a six-year contract starting with the 2027-28 season, the LA Phil announced Tuesday. His first appointment by an American orchestra is with the ensemble that engaged him for his U.S. professional debut in 1997.

“It couldn’t have come a day sooner. I’m very glad it didn’t come a day later,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Paris. “The perfect timing, the right moment, and here we go.”

Harding will conduct eight weeks in his first season, then expand his commitment to 12 weeks annually. He also is in his second season of a five-year contract as music director of Italy's Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Kim Noltemy, who became the LA Phil’s president and CEO in 2024, reached an agreement with Harding during dinner at Rome's Portrait Hotel overlooking the Trinità dei Monti.

“He’s an incredible musician and an inspiring leader, a devoted educator,” Noltemy said. “He has a global perspective. He's committed to working with the students. So he has all of the different pieces which we really hope to get in one person.”

Piloting long an interest for Harding

Harding has been interested in aviation since he was young and started piloting in 2014. He joined Air France in 2021 and flies Airbus A320s in Europe and North Africa. He hopes to become a first officer on either a Boeing 777 or Airbus A350, wide-body planes that fly trans-Atlantic.

“It’s absolutely the most logical thing that at some point in my first couple of years in my role in LA I will also start coming to LA with my other uniform on,” he said.

Conductor Simon Rattle, an early mentor, said Harding is restless and “he needs something to do with the second brain.”

Deborah Borda, who headed the LA Phil from 1999 to 2017, said Harding's second job gives him “a fascinating take on the world.”

“He talked about how he had to study, how much of it was technical, how much pleasure he got from concentrating on that rather than just on music,” she said.

Relationship with American orchestra took time

Harding first conducted the LA Phil at the Ojai Music Festival in June 1997. He's also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra.

Harding developed a reputation as a conductor who irked some U.S. orchestras by talking too much.

“Because Daniel is an impatient and fast person by nature, that can be more difficult,” Rattle said. “He’s very self-aware and he realized that a lot of the things that are not going right are because he wasn’t able to physically show them in the best way.”

Harding's manner stemmed from a need to show his worth.

“I wanted the musicians to understand that I wasn’t there just to profit from their expertise, that I’d done my work, I’d prepared myself, I had an opinion,” he said. “And if I spoke too much, it wasn’t because I thought I knew better than them, it was because I wanted them to know that I was trying to earn my place being there.”

Harding hired renowned conductor coach Mark Stringer to work with him.

Harding's early career and influences

A trumpet player as a child, Harding's big break came when he was 15 and a teacher at Chetham’s School of Music sent a recording of him in a performance of Schoenberg's “Pierrot Lunaire” to Rattle, principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

“When he left school early and was a year too young to go to Cambridge, basically his parents gave him to us, so he kind of lived in and out of our house for that year,” Rattle said.

Harding became Rattle's assistant in 1994, then was hired as Claudio Abbado's assistant and debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic in 1996. He gained prominence when he led Mozart's “Don Giovanni” in a Peter Brook production in 1998 at France's Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Harding's other prominent musical appointments include serving as music director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, principal conductor of Norway’s Trondheim Symphony, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris.

Dudamel transformed the LA Phil during a tenure that started in 2009 and ends this summer when he leaves to become music director of the New York Philharmonic. LA is adopting an unusual musical leadership model that includes Dudamel as artistic and cultural laureate with a mostly four-week annual commitment, creative director Esa-Pekka Salonen (six weeks) and conductor-in-residence Anna Handler (three weeks).

“It's a long commute,” Harding said of his new job, “but I have a particular easygoing relationship with airplanes, so that doesn’t bother me.”

“I’ve been dancing my whole life, it’s the best,” said Ross, who founded the Rodeo City Wreckettes group 23 years ago at an age when many people are getting ready for retirement.

Now 87, Ross and her husband and lifelong dance partner John, also 87, have long known what more older adults are now discovering: Moving to music is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Medical professionals say it doesn’t matter if it’s Western line dancing, ballroom steps, salsa, tap, Zumba at the gym, or with a group like the Wreckettes.

“Dancing is one of the most powerful activities for older people,” said Julio Loya, a nurse and geriatric program coordinator at the Tucson Medical Center.

Why dancing helps balance, strength and more

Dance, like other exercise, can help people lose weight, get stronger, reduce fall risk, increase mobility and flexibility, and even improve brain health.

“ It engages their brain, it changes their mood, and it connects them socially while getting them moving,” said Loya. “And it’s fun. Everybody has a good time.”

Dr. Tom Johnson, a gerontologist at the UC Health Seniors Clinic in Aurora, Colorado, said he remembers one man in particular whose passion for dance was so strong that he willed himself to attend one last class before he died in his late 80s.

“His No. 1 priority was that he danced until the day that he died," Johnson said of his patient.

Johnson said dance can improve the balance of his patients at the clinic, which serves about 2,500 people 75 and older a year.

He said older patients can benefit from adding two to three dance sessions to the 150 minutes of aerobic exercise he recommends for them each week, because dancing often involves movements that help with balance, such as walking backward or standing on one foot.

Meeting people by dancing together

The Wreckettes practice their routines during two-hour sessions at least twice a week in a rented dance studio.

After studying ballet as a girl, then moving on to everything from ballroom to tap as an adult, Ross said it made sense to keep dancing when she and her husband moved from Philadelphia to retire in Tucson.

John Ross is a key part of the Wreckettes' routines, typically joining his wife for at least one number. At one recent practice, it was a saucy saunter to Merle Haggard’s “Let’s Chase Each Other Around the Room.”

“I learned early on that dancing was a great way to attract the chicks,” joked John Ross, who slid across the floor like a much younger man.

Wreckettes member Cindy Soffrin said that watching her mother suffer as she aged convinced her to stay active as she got older.

“My mom was sedentary the last 20 years of her life. It was pretty rough,” said Soffrin, 74.

For 67-year-old Gail Kowalski, joining the Wreckettes three years ago meant finding new friends after her husband died and she moved from Utah to Tucson.

“Plus, it’s so dang fun,” Kowalski said.

The fun of performing

The Wreckettes perform throughout the year, from holiday events to rodeo shows, dressing up in a series of matching sparkly costumes.

But they all said what they love the most is being hired by retirement homes to perform for memory care patients. Wreckette members take turns picking a favorite charity to donate their earnings.

“When we first arrive, people will be distracted or sleeping,” said Soffrin. “But once the music comes on, they perk up right away.”

A similar dance group for older women in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Gals, also performs at retirement homes, said Cheryl Cortez, the group’s president. They add pompoms to their routines.

“I must now know close to 40 routines,” said Cortez, 69. “And that alone has to be great for the memory.”

How to begin dancing when you're older

If you want to start moving to music, here are some tips from health professionals and dance instructors:

BEFORE STARTING: Check with your health provider before starting a dance or any exercise program. Choose something simple to start, like line dancing rather than intricate tango steps.

FIND A CLASS: Check with a YMCA, parks and recreation department, or senior or community center. Community colleges often have dance classes, sometimes tailored for older people. Local dance studios and YouTube videos are other options. If you have Medicare Advantage insurance with the Silver Sneakers benefit, find out if your local gym has Zumba or other dance classes you can attend for free.

BEFORE THE SESSION: Dress comfortably for easy movement, and warm up and stretch before class.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Have fun! You are doing great things for your mind and body.

__

For more AP stories about healthy aging, go to https://apnews.com/hub/aging

The departure was abrupt and unexpected, with Albert Manifold having been appointed to the position late last year.

“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation," Amanda Blanc, senior independent director, said in a statement Tuesday. "However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”

BP's board named Ian Tyler as interim chair, effective immediately.

The search for a new chair is underway, BP said.

BP, based in London, is a “supermajor,” one of the five largest oil production and exploration companies in the world by when measured by revenue and profit.

The company maintains operations in about 60 countries.

Manifold, who had been the top executive at the global building materials company CRH, based in Dublin, for 10 years, became the chair at BP in October.

Last year there were media reports that British oil giant Shell was in talks to buy rival BP. Shell denied the reports at the time.

Industry analysts have suggested that BP would be an attractive takeover target after a plan to shift its focus to renewable energy, which was abandoned earlier last year.

The company recently did a hard reset and returned to its roots after it had shifted its focus to renewable energy in 2020. The decision has been criticized by some shareholders and environmentalists.

CEO Murray Auchincloss said last year that optimism over opportunities in renewable energy was misplaced, with the company moving “too far and too fast.”

Auchincloss stepped down in December, and the company named Meg O'Neill as his successor.

BP has also struggled to recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The explosion killed 11 workers and forced the company to pay billions of dollars for environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico.

More recently, like other oil companies, BP has struggled with falling demand in recent years.

BP’s 2025 earnings fell 16% from a year earlier to $7.49 billion as the price of Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil prices, dropped 16.9%. The company’s preferred measure of earnings is underlying replacement cost profit, which adjusts for one-time items and fluctuations in the market value of inventories. Net income plunged 86% to $55 million.

Shares of BP Plc slid 4% before the opening bell on the NYSE.

____________

Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

This concern is understandable given so many Americans are now responsible for not only  building their retirement savings  but also deciding how much they should pay themselves annually in retirement.  It’s a problem many don’t feel adequately prepared to solve, especially when failure means a funding shortfall at the end of life.

Limit your spending, limit your lifestyle

Recent research from Morningstar’s Behavioral Insights Group finds half of retirees opt for highly simplified approaches for determining their retirement spending, such as calculating their current expenses, just spending dividends, or anchoring on required minimum distributions.

A set-it-and-forget-it approach may sound like a prudent solution to a common fear, but these simplified methods don’t account for factors such as your total wealth, life goals, or economic events like inflation. The resulting number tends to be inflexible and overly conservative.

In fact, contrary to our fears, retirees who have at least the median amount of assets  tend to underspend relative to how much they could spend safely. Indeed, across retirement, many retirees  see their wealth increase  instead of decrease. These findings hold true even when accounting for retirees who are planning to leave a bequest or who anticipate a long postretirement period.

This issue persists even among retirees who are using more complex spending strategies like a safe withdrawal rate.  “Even the retirees  who spend in line with our ‘base case,’ which in 2025 meant taking 3.9% initially and inflation-adjusting withdrawals each year thereafter, will tend to have significant remaining balances after 30 years of withdrawals,” says Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning.

What’s at stake for these retirees, then, is not becoming destitute, but rather not fully enjoying the fruits of their labor.

How do you know if you’re spending enough of your retirement savings?

If you’re a retiree, you may be underspending relative to your capacity if you:

1. Rely on simple, hands-off strategies like withdrawing only dividends and interest, basing calculations on your current lifestyle, or pulling just your RMDs.

2. Find your retirement savings portfolio barely declines or even grows year after year.

3. Defer essential or discretionary expenses that are reasonably affordable.

If this describes you, you are not alone. It’s natural to think, “The worst thing that could happen is running out of money, and I know I won’t if I just use this simple spending rule.” However, by creating a more personalized plan to determine your retirement income, you can avoid underspending and possibly generate a more comfortable and meaningful retirement lifestyle for yourself.

Goal-setting can make spending feel approachable

Our research suggests that to engage with more complex ways of determining their retirement income, many retirees may need the motivation of personal goals. When you’re working, goals help motivate you to save. In retirement, your goals can help  motivate you to spend.

To define your retirement goals, we first recommend examining which values you want to live in line with throughout your retirement. A framework like the  PERMA-V model  can help you articulate what matters to you. From there, you can build out financial goals that reflect the life you want to live.

For example, you may find that you value spending time in nature because when you hike, you feel happy and engaged in the world around you. Then, you might develop a list of the top 10 national parks you want to see and set a goal of visiting them all in the next 10 years. This new goal provides you with an exciting opportunity to spend your retirement savings in a way that feeds your values.

Armed with your new motivation, you should then begin to think about your retirement spending strategies. Do your current, simple strategies help you reach your new goals? If not, you may consider looking at some other (slightly more complicated) guidelines for retirement spending like a  safe withdrawal rate.

If engaging with more complicated strategies on your own is still intimidating, consulting a financial adviser can help you determine how to draw on your retirement savings while meeting your goals.

It can feel daunting to get more involved with determining your retirement spending, but don’t let that fear dictate whether you live the retirement you’ve dreamed of.

_____

This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement.

Danielle Labotka, Ph.D., is a behavioral scientist for Morningstar.

RelatedLinks

3 Big Questions to Ask Your Aging Parents: https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/3-big-questions-ask-your-aging-parents

Here’s How You Can Spend More During Retirement: https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/heres-how-you-can-spend-more-during-retirement

You Just Retired (or Are About to). Now What?: https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/you-just-retired-or-are-about-now-what

Londres registró una inusual “noche tropical”, definida como aquella en la que la temperatura no baja de 20 grados Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), y el servicio meteorológico británico, la Met Office, indicó que la temperatura en el sur de Inglaterra podría alcanzar los 35 ºC (95 ºF) el martes.

El lunes fue el día de mayo más caluroso registrado en Reino Unido, con la temperatura 34,8 ºC en Kew Gardens, en Londres, superando el récord anterior de 32,8 ºC (91,4 ºF) establecido en 1922 y 1944. Los récords también cayeron en Francia, donde las temperaturas alcanzaron los 36 ºC (97 ºF) el lunes en el suroeste del país y, en general, se mantuvieron por encima de los 20 ºC (68 ºF) por la noche.

El servicio meteorológico nacional, Météo-France, indicó que una “cúpula de calor”, en el que un frente meteorológico de alta presión retenía el calor en la zona, estaba produciendo temperaturas más de 10 grados Celsius por encima de lo que solía ser habitual para esta época del año.

El clima impredecible y extremo se está volviendo más frecuente a medida que se intensifica el calentamiento de la Tierra. Los expertos afirman que los extremos meteorológicos sin precedentes y mortales, que a veces golpean en momentos anómalos y en lugares inusuales, están poniendo a más personas en peligro.

Tras un fin de semana largo en el Reino Unido que llevó a la gente a abarrotar playas, piscinas y parques con sombra, los pasajeros de Londres soportaron el calor el martes en vagones del metro sin aire acondicionado. Los trenes que iban y venían de la concurrida estación Waterloo de la ciudad se vieron interrumpidos por un reporte de humo en las vías.

En Escocia, los bomberos trabajaron durante la noche para sofocar un incendio en pastos que envió columnas de humo desde Arthur’s Seat, la colina rocosa que se alza sobre Edimburgo.

La Agencia de Seguridad Sanitaria británica emitió una alerta sanitaria ámbar para gran parte del país hasta el jueves, advirtiendo de un posible riesgo para la salud, particularmente entre los ancianos, en las horas más calurosas del día. Reino Unido está acostumbrado a temperaturas moderadas, y muchas viviendas, escuelas y negocios no tienen aire acondicionado.

Al menos tres adolescentes murieron en aparentes ahogamientos en lagos y embalses del Reino Unido, y un hombre de 60 años murió en el mar en el suroeste de Inglaterra, informaron las autoridades.

La portavoz del gobierno, Maud Bregeon, señaló que se han reportado al menos siete muertes potencialmente relacionadas con las altas temperaturas, incluidas cinco por ahogamiento y dos fallecimientos en competiciones deportivas.

La ola de calor temprana ha golpeado antes del periodo anual de verano en el que los socorristas vigilan a los bañistas en las playas populares, lo que incrementa los riesgos.

En la costa atlántica de Francia, donde las magníficas playas también tienen fuertes corrientes de resaca, las autoridades informaron de una oleada de emergencias por oleaje, con dos muertes por ahogamiento el domingo en balnearios populares de la región de Gironde, en el suroeste.

La principal administradora regional, Sophie Brocas, instó a los bañistas “a extremar la prudencia”.

El calor inusual se extendió a España, donde el portavoz de la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, Rubén del Campo, dijo que “nos encontramos con temperaturas que normalmente vemos a mediados del verano ahora en el mes de mayo”.

Señaló que Sevilla alcanzó los 38 ºC (100 ºF) durante el fin de semana, mientras que grandes partes de la península ibérica registraron temperaturas de 5 a 10 grados Celsius más altas de lo normal.

Y en Roma se esperaba que las temperaturas alcanzaran los 32 ºC (89,6 ºF) el martes.

________

John Leicester en París y Joseph Wilson en Barcelona contribuyeron a este despacho.

________

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

Inside wooden boxes tucked away in Broward County parks, thousands of bees buzz nonstop — building, feeding, protecting, producing. It’s nature’s busiest workforce.

“They’re our friends. It’s very important that we have bees around — for our food, for our flowers, for our ecosystem,” said Julie Mongerson with the Broward Beekeepers Association.

Behind the buzz is a group of volunteers on a mission — focused on helping the hives thrive while turning fear into fascination.

The Broward Beekeepers Association manages three micro-apiaries, where members gather to share knowledge, care for the hives and help protect the bee population.

The club also opens its apiaries to the public once a month — giving visitors a chance to see the work up close, learn about beekeeping and get a taste of life inside the hive.

“The cohesion of a colony. Everyone has to put in the work and do their job and do their role for the colony to be strong and to work,” Mongerson said. “What’s good for the bee is good for the colony. What’s good for the colony is good for the bee and I think we can all learn a little bit about that.”

During a recent open house, club member Dale Kern walked visitors through what sometimes looks like chaos — from identifying drones to breaking down the different ways that bees communicate, select a queen or even ventilate the hive.

Beekeepers also demonstrated how smokers are used to safely calm the hive during inspections, giving visitors an up-close look at the organized chaos happening inside the box.

“If I’m going through their hive, imagine it’s their house. I’m taking off the roof, I’m rummaging through their rooms, their pantry, everything,” Mongerson said. “They might be a little like, ‘Hey, what’s happening here?’ What we use the smoke for is just to kind of mask the scent of any kind of danger pheromone that they might be feeling.”

The monthly events continue drawing visitors of all ages — many looking to reconnect with nature and better understand the tiny pollinators playing a major role in the environment.

Club members can keep their own hives at the park, help maintain the apiaries and connect with others who share an interest in bees, honey production and conservation.

Click here to join the club or attend an open house.

To submit an idea for What Connects Us, email whatconnectsus@wplg.com.

A temperature of 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) was recorded at London's Kew Gardens and Heathrow Airport, Britain's Met Office weather service said, breaking the 34.8 C (94.6 F) record set a day earlier. The provisional readings smashed the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and 1944.

London also recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 C (68 F).

Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36 C (97 F) on Monday in the country's southwest and widely remained above 20 C at night.

The national weather service, Météo-France, said a “heat dome,” with heat held in place by a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures more than 10 degrees Celsius above what used to be usual for this time of year.

Unpredictable and extreme weather are becoming more frequent as Earth’s warming builds. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger.

After a U.K. long weekend that sent people flocking to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters sweltered on Tuesday in subway carriages without air conditioning. Trains to and from the busy Waterloo station were disrupted by a report of smoke on the tracks.

In Scotland, firefighters worked through the night to douse a grass fire that sent smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill that looms over Edinburgh.

The U.K. Health Security Agency issued an amber health alert for large parts of the country through Thursday, warning of a potential health risk, particularly among older people, at the hottest times of the day. The U.K. is used to moderate temperatures, and many homes, schools and businesses do not have air conditioning.

At least three teenagers died in apparent drownings in U.K. lakes and reservoirs, and a 60-year-old man died in the sea in southwest England, authorities said.

French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said there have been reports of at least seven deaths potentially related to high temperatures, including five drownings and two deaths in sports competitions.

The early heat wave has struck before the annual summer window when lifeguards watch over bathers at popular beaches, increasing risks.

On France’s Atlantic seaboard, where magnificent beaches have powerful riptides, officials reported a rash of emergencies in the surf, with two drowning deaths on Sunday at popular resorts in the Gironde region in the southwest.

The top regional administrator, Sophie Brocas, urged beachgoers “to exercise the utmost caution.”

The unseasonable heat extended to Spain, where weather service spokesperson Rubén del Campo said "we find ourselves with temperatures we normally see in the middle of the summer now in the month of May.”

He said Seville hit 38 C (100 F) over the weekend, while large parts of the Iberian Peninsula saw temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal.

And in Rome, temperatures were expected to reach 32 degrees C (89.6 F) on Tuesday.

___

Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

In a letter sent to more than 250 companies, members of the Black Caucus urge them to condemn the redistricting efforts, which the lawmakers describe as “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some of the companies had co-signed their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.

That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, was backed by many of the country’s most valuable and influential companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.

Tuesday's letter is the latest effort by the Congressional Black Caucus and its allies to gather support for preventing more Republican-led states from redrawing their legislative maps in ways that would dilute Black political representation. Several states have moved to eliminate congressional districts represented by Black Democratic lawmakers after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that severely weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Black Caucus, said in an interview.

Clarke described the letter as “putting corporate America on notice,” but she said the caucus was not seeking an adversarial relationship with corporations. Among those receiving Tuesday's letter were companies based overseas that have a significant presence in the U.S.

The caucus last week called for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that are gerrymandering their congressional maps to eliminate districts held by Black lawmakers. The 59-member Congressional Black Caucus consists entirely of Democrats, including more than a third from Southern states.

Some lawmakers have said mass protests and federal legislation might be necessary to undo the efforts underway in Republican-led states. Any new federal voting rights law would almost certainly require Democrats to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress and win the presidency.

It is unclear how companies will respond to the demands. The Associated Press was making efforts to contact them.

“Many companies that previously issued statements after the murder of George Floyd, pledged billions toward racial equity initiatives, and spoke forcefully in defense of democracy following January 6 now face a defining test of whether those commitments were rooted in principle or convenience,” the caucus' letter states.

It also represents the latest instance of the caucus expressing frustrations with corporate America. A 2024 Black Caucus report noted that lawmakers were “troubled that some corporations that made pledges in 2020 have taken several steps in the opposite direction,” such as rolling back or failing to follow through on pledges to diversify their workforces.

“We understand who the occupant in the White House is and the reality of Republicans being in charge,” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada said of the caucus’ message. “But what corporate America also understands is that there will be a shift at some point.”

The letter calls on companies to publicly condemn the redistricting plans, meet with Black Caucus members to discuss corporate America's role in protecting voting rights and disclose their political donations to Republican politicians in states that are redistricting their congressional maps.

President Donald Trump last year kicked off the unusual mid-decade round of congressional redistricting when he pushed Texas lawmakers to redraw their maps in a way that would add Republican seats. Democratic-led California responded, but it has been mostly Republican states redrawing their lines since as the party tries to maintain its majority in the U.S. House during this year's midterm elections.

The effort was supercharged by the Supreme Court decision, which allowed even more Republican states to redraw congressional maps that previously had protected minority communities.

Horsford, who chaired the Black Caucus during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, said the caucus is demanding that companies “stand on the side of democracy, fairness and equal representation.”

“This is about power, who holds it and what it’s used for," he said. "And when you’re diluting Black economic and political power, we need to know where these companies stand in this moment, and what side of history they’re on.”

It appeared that the minibus drove through the closed crossing barrier, officials said. A security camera showed the bus, carrying nine people, was moving when the train hit it. The collision happened during morning rush hour near Buggenhout town, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of the capital, Brussels.

The bus driver and an escort were killed along with two children aged 12 and 15, said Lisa De Wilde, spokesperson for the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office. She said the injured children were hospitalized in serious condition.

De Wilde told journalists the cause of the crash hadn't been established.

“What we do know is that the barrier was closed and the red light was on,” she said.

Federal Police spokesperson An Berger said the minibus driver appeared to have plowed through the barrier. Infrabel said the crossing was working correctly.

The train had been traveling at an estimated 120 kph (75 mph) as it approached the crossing and had “no time to brake," said Frédéric Sacré, a spokesperson for Belgian rail operator Infrabel.

“The impact was extremely violent,” Sacré told the RTBF public broadcaster.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene said the bus was toppled on its side with its front section crushed. The train was relatively unscathed.

It was believed about 100 passengers were aboard the train and that none were hurt. Rail traffic in the area was halted. Local officials stood for a minute's silence after a news conference.

In a post on social media, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he was “deeply moved by the horrific accident in Buggenhout. My thoughts go out to the affected families.”

Children played basketball and rode bicycles at a school not far from the scene.

——

Cook reported from Brussels. Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, Netherlands.

Russia on Monday urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic missions, to leave the Ukrainian capital as quickly as possible and told residents to steer clear of military and government facilities. It said that “systemic strikes” on Kyiv were being prepared.

Russia has regularly bombarded Kyiv, often causing dozens of civilian casualties with every attack, since it launched an all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone Monday that the U.S. should evacuate its diplomatic staff from Kyiv, a foreign ministry statement said. Rubio didn’t say whether the U.S. State Department would take that step, but expressed concern during a trip to India that the “terrible” war in Ukraine could escalate further.

The Trump administration has tried for more than a year to stop the war. But its efforts yielded no significant breakthrough and are now on ice as Washington focuses on the Iran war.

No diplomats say they are leaving Kyiv

There were no announcements of diplomatic departures from Kyiv. The European Union, French and Polish delegations publicly said that they would not leave.

The European Union summoned Russia’s representative in Brussels to convey its concerns Tuesday, with European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper accusing Russia of “trying to sow panic.”

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux called the Russian threat “new intimidation from Moscow.”

The level of security threats posed by Russia to Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities “remains the same as in previous years and months,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday.

Russia has continuously launched missile and drone attacks on the capital, it pointed out, adding that Ukraine was prepared to assist diplomatic missions seeking additional security measures.

Russia could target bunkers, official says

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the defense affairs committee in Russia's State Duma, said that the Ukrainian parliament and presidential office aren’t among potential targets.

Kartapolov said that possible attacks could aim at underground bunkers used by various branches of Ukraine’s armed forces, security agencies and other government structures.

“Those are well-concealed and fortified facilities, and our task is to spot and target them with the weapons we have,” Kartapolov said in remarks carried by Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the official publication of the Russian parliament.

Russia said its biggest missile attack of the year last weekend was in response to Friday’s deadly Ukrainian drone strike on what Moscow said was a college dormitory in Starobilsk, a city in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region.

But the Ukrainian General Staff said that its strike in Starobilsk hit the local headquarters of the Russian military’s special drone unit.

Ukraine remains short of air defense missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that sophisticated American-made air defense systems that Ukraine needs in order to stop Russian ballistic missiles are in short supply because of the Iran war.

“Unfortunately, there has been no progress for a long time with America on expanding the production of anti-ballistic capabilities,” Zelenskyy said on social media late Monday, adding that Kyiv is working with Europe to improve its own anti-ballistic capabilities in sufficient quantities.

He said that Ukrainian battlefield gains in recent months have enabled it to “stabilize” the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, suggesting that Kyiv's forces are holding their own against Russia's bigger army.

Russia’s spring offensive is floundering as Ukraine’s midrange drone strikes disrupt its rear supply lines, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Moscow’s warning of major strikes aims to distract public attention from its “poor battlefield performance” and an economic pinch caused by war costs and international sanctions, the Washington-based think tank said late Monday.

___

Barry Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Elise Morton in London, John Leicester in Paris, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The 79-year-old president traveled to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as annual preventive medical and dental checkups. It will be Trump's fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and it comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his sway with voters.

For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander-in-chief’s health. But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn't get to see.

Trump, a Republican, turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president. His predecessor, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was 82 when he left office, dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns he was too old for the job.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician for more than a decade under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

For a president of Trump’s age, a complete physical would be expected to include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, Kuhlman said.

The White House has not disclosed what the visit will entail but expressed confidence in what it will show.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

No law requiring presidents to disclose their medical records

In the weeks leading up to his visit, Trump has been saying he feels as good as he did five decades ago — even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise regimen. Yet he’s also sensitive to perceptions about his age, noting that he takes extra caution descending the steps from Air Force One to avoid headlines about a stumble.

There is no law requiring presidents to publicize their health records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump’s past reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and providing statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.

At public appearances, Trump is often seen wearing makeup to conceal bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and regular aspirin use. He has sometimes appeared drowsy during meetings and closed his eyes for long stretches, though he denies having fallen asleep.

Trump often boasts of having “aced” cognitive tests while frequently deriding Biden, who faced questions about his mental acuity. Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against doubts raised about his fitness for office.

Some of Trump’s previous physicals have included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment. His physicians reported a score of 30 out of 30 for Trump at 2018 and 2025 checkups.

Yet critics have pointed to Trump’s meandering speeches and sometimes bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.

Last month, a statement from more than 30 neurologists, psychiatrists and other medical experts — who acknowledged they’ve never examined him — said Trump was mentally unfit to serve and warned of an “increasingly dangerous decline” in his behavior based on what they called “objectively observable signs of serious medical concern.″

“Any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to,” Ingle said.

Just like any other patient, presidents get to choose what’s disclosed about their health, said Sara Rosenthal, a bioethicist at the University of Kentucky who studies presidential health. Questions about transparency have become more acute as America elects aging presidents like Trump and Biden, she said.

“I think we can expect very little disclosure about the true health status of any president unless they’re in perfect health,” said Rosenthal, who has suggested an independent medical organization to review and report on the health of the president and those in the line of succession.

'Nothing should be hidden'

Trump's first medical report in his second term was released last April. In July, he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Photographs have shown the president with swollen feet, ankles and calves, described by the White House as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency leading to “mild swelling” in his lower legs.

Following his last publicly disclosed exam, described as a routine follow-up last October, Trump’s physician issued a one-page summary saying the president was in “exceptional health” without divulging many specific results.

The frequency of Trump's medical checkups is not uncommon for someone his age, according to S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who has studied the health of past presidents. It's part of a strategy to catch problems while they’re still treatable, Olshansky said.

Olshansky says the public deserves to see more than White House medical summaries that “may be subject to editorial discretion.” Full, unredacted medical records should be made public, he said: “Nothing should be hidden.”

The White House has not said whether Trump's visit will include any procedures that may require anesthesia. Trump’s last colon exam was in 2024 and recommended a follow-up in three years.

If Trump were given anesthesia, Vice President JD Vance would be expected to assume temporary control of the office under the 25th Amendment. That last happened in 2021 when Vice President Kamala Harris was briefly sworn in while Biden had a colonoscopy. President George W. Bush twice turned over power to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked the exit, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.

The Lao organization Rescue Volunteer for People, which is working closely with the local authorities, posted on its Facebook page that Tuesday’s operation plan includes exploring air shafts above the cave in hopes of identifying possible access points. and locating the trapped people.

Rescuers from neighboring Thailand also arrived at the site over the weekend to assist the operation.

Challenging conditions hamper rescue efforts

According to rescuers, divers have navigated about 100 meters into the flooded, narrow cave. They believe the villagers may be trapped about 30 meters beyond the furthest point currently accessible. They are working to pump water out of the cave to aid the search efforts.

The site is in a remote area in Xaisomboun province's Longcheng district, which is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane. Rescuers at the scene have detailed on social media the challenging mountainous terrain and heavy rain that is hampering the operation.

Videos shared online by Thai rescuers showed that reaching the cave's entrance requires a steep hike on foot of roughly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). The entrance is also steep and rocky, and barely wide enough for a single person to climb through at a time.

Inside, rescuers must go through muddy passageways, flooded sections and narrow tunnels that forced them to crawl forward.

Villagers were reportedly mining

There has been no official confirmation on why the villagers went into the cave, although the rescuers involved said that they went in to look for gold deposits.

Bounkham Luanglath of the Lao rescue group has told The Associated Press that the cave was frequented by local residents looking for gold, although authorities had repeatedly warned them against entering the cave out of safety concerns.

The average per capita income in Laos of about $2,000-2,500 is among the lowest in Southeast Asia, and it is less still in underdeveloped rural areas.

Laos is not known as a major gold producer, but its mining industry is sizable considering the country’s developing economy. The mining sector is fueled by foreign direct investment, largely from neighboring Thailand and China. Copper is a major export, and mining for rare earth elements, needed for most modern technologies, has become more common in Laos recently.

The Laos Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it has no official information to share with the media. The Southeast Asian nation is a one-party communist state with no organized opposition and the government keeps a tight lid on information.

Cave rescues are risky business

The news quickly drew headlines in Thailand because of its resemblance to the dramatic 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand, where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than two weeks before being safely rescued in an operation that became a global sensation. A former Thai navy SEAL diver was killed during the search and rescue effort.

A new tragedy occurred earlier this month, with five Italian divers found dead after they went missing while diving into a cave in the Maldives. A Maldivian military diver who was part of the recovery team was killed during the high-risk operation to retrieve their bodies.

A major health risk of being trapped in a cave is cold conditions quickly leading to hypothermia. The body can cope for weeks without food, but clean water is necessary to prevent dehydration. A contaminated water supply could cause diarrhea, hastening dehydration.

Declining oxygen levels cause symptoms similar to altitude sickness and in the long run can damage the lungs and other organs, while carbon dioxide buildup causes exhaustion and eventual unconsciousness.

Constant darkness disrupts time perception and the body’s circadian rhythms. It also causes extreme sensitivity when the eyes have to adjust again to light.

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Associated Press journalists Grant Peck, Anton L. Delgado and Haruka Nuga contributed to this report.

A previously reached ceasefire appeared more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran wants an end to the fighting to include Lebanon.

The Litani River has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire in place for over a month.

One Israeli strike kills 12, including several relatives

The latest strikes and clashes came after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorized more intensive strikes targeting Hezbollah across Lebanon.

Meanwhile, an Israeli security official said the military had called up an additional battalion to Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel's military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley area overnight, saying it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel.

One strike hit the eastern village of Mashghara, killing 12 people including several members of a family, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Israel in recent days has intensified strikes in Nabatieh city and province, just north of the river. On Tuesday it warned city residents to leave.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilizing along the river toward the Nabatieh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the militant group repelled attacks along the river banks.

Beirut, the Lebanese capital, has been spared from strikes since the start of the ceasefire, but Israel's latest moves have caused fear.

“By just saying a few words on TV, (Netanyahu) causes everyone to panic and flee their homes,” said Tony Aboud in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district. “I don’t know what’s going to happen and how long we can live like this.”

Lebanon hopes for an agreement that sees Israeli withdrawal

The Lebanese government, which came to power on a platform of reform and disarming Hezbollah and other armed groups, hopes that the direct talks with Israel, opposed by Hezbollah, will lead to a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns.

Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has boasted that it is using new fiber-optic drones that Israeli troops have struggled to intercept, hitting both Israeli forces and northern Israeli villages.

Israel has told people there not to gather in large numbers.

“What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh,” Netanyahu said Monday.

Over 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the war, sparked when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, two days after the Iran war began.

At least 3,185 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, with over 9,600 wounded.

According to Netanyahu’s office, 23 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, the vast majority by drones.

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Associated Press writers Sam Mednick and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and senior video producer Malak Harb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Minutes after the Knicks finished their four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, the DJ at Radio City Music Hall played Prince's “1999.”

That was the last time the Knicks had reached the NBA Finals. And as fans sang along to, “So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999,” they could forget the more than a quarter of a century of mostly bad years since and enjoy the record-setting run the current team is on.

“There is no precedent right now as far as point differential. That’s how good this Knicks team is,” said Ari Levine, who was carrying part of a broom as the Knicks swept their second straight series.

He's right. The Knicks have outscored Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland by a combined 262 points during their playoff winning streak, the largest margin in any 11-game span in NBA history.

They will try to continue it against Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the NBA Finals. Fans seemed to have a clear preference for Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs as they poured out of the famous Manhattan venue onto city streets, chanting “We want Wemby! We want Wemby!”

But whether it's him or the defending champion Thunder, Knicks fans believe the run will continue.

“We're taking everything! We're taking the whole thing!" rapper Fat Joe posted on Instagram from the court in Cleveland, where he was one of the Knicks' celebrity fans who made the trip.

It wasn't that long ago when fans had no reason for such confidence. The Knicks went 17-65 in 2018-19, the worst record in the league, during a stretch when they had a losing record for seven straight seasons.

“That year we won 17 games I thought we had reached rock bottom,” longtime fan Anthony Mills said at the Radio City party. "I wasn’t sure that we could ever get this back again."

He became a Knicks fan when Bernard King was playing for them in the mid-1980s, a decade removed from their second and most recent championship in 1973. The drought is now so long he believes if the Knicks end it this season, star guard Jalen Brunson would earn a spot among New York's most fabled champions.

“If Jalen Brunson wins this championship, he should be Joe Namath. And if you’re old enough, you understand what Joe Namath means," Mills said, referring to the iconic quarterback who guaranteed the New York Jets would beat the favored Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl in 1969, and then delivered.

Brunson's team, like Namath's, will be the underdog. But the Knicks sure aren't playing like one.

“This team is hungry and they know what it would mean to this city,” Mills said. “They’re going to win the championship.”

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

Brunson proved they made the right decision by leading them to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

The All-Star point guard averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists during New York's sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, earning the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP. He had 15 points and five assists Monday, when the Knicks crushed Cleveland 130-93 in Game 4.

“It's an honor to be here in this city and this organization,” Brunson said, sitting side-by-side with former Villanova University teammates Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. "I wouldn't trade it for the world.

“We're still writing our story, but I like the journey that we're on right now.”

Skepticism abounded around the league when New York extended a four-year, $104 million contract to the then-Dallas Mavericks guard in 2022. Brunson silenced many critics when he averaged 24.0 points in his first season, then added three straight All-Star selections.

After helping the Knicks reach the East finals in 2025, when they lost to the upstart Indiana Pacers, Brunson was the best player in the series from start to finish against the Cavaliers. In Game 1, his 38-point masterpiece fueled New York's comeback from a 22-point hole in the fourth quarter.

“He just puts in the work. He’s a testament of that,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He believes in that, and he showcases that every single day to all of us and it drives us to be better.”

Brunson’s work ethic instantly impressed New York coach Mike Brown when he was hired last summer, then forced him to change his sleep habits during the season as the 29-year-old went all out in morning shootarounds. It prompted Brown to compare his determination to basketball legends Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan.

“Their quiet strength, all the time, is what they all have in common,” Brown said. “Jalen's work ethic is off the chart and he makes me adjust because he goes so hard every day. When your leader is that way, it's easy to be a coach.”

The Knicks subsequently brought in Bridges and Hart via trades, and acquired Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves as the final piece of the puzzle. That core four is now just four wins away from delivering the franchise its first NBA title since 1973.

“There is no player, no other guard I'd want to be in this position with than J.B.,” Bridges said.

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

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% after trading resumed following Monday’s holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher. All three indexes are on track to set all-time highs.

The gains came even though fighting continued in the region, and the U.S. military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 4.3% to $100.27, but that reclaimed only some of its 7.1% plunge from Monday. The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil, meanwhile, fell 2.9% to $93.83 after resuming trading following the Memorial Day holiday.

Oil prices have been at the center of the action for financial markets since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The ensuing war has closed the Strait of Hormuz to most oil tankers, keeping crude pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of flowing to customers worldwide. That in turn has driven up oil’s price and sent a wave of painful inflation around the world.

Hopes for a deal to improve the flow of oil helped lift stocks of companies with big fuel bills. United Airlines rose 5.8%, and cruise operator Carnival steamed 3.8% higher.

The lower oil prices also helped pull yields down in the U.S. bond market, which eased the pressure on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.49% from 4.56% late Friday.

It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

Big technology stocks also continued their big runs. Micron Technology jumped 14.4% and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after analysts at UBS led by Timothy Arcuri raised their 12-month price target for the stock to $1,625 from $535. They're forecasting continued strength in demand for computer memory, and Micron's stock has already tripled so far this year.

That helped offset a drop of 9.5% for AutoZone, which reported slightly weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped expectations. CEO Phil Daniele said performance for the retailer’s stores in Brazil and Mexico was below its plan.

Most big U.S. companies have been reporting both profit and revenue for the start of 2026 above what analysts expected. The strong performances have helped vault U.S. stocks to records, even with all the uncertainty around oil prices and the war with Iran.

U.S. households have been feeling discouraged about the economy because of accelerating inflation, and a report on Monday said consumer confidence edged downward in May, though the number was not as bad as economists expected. It followed a report on Friday that said sentiment among U.S. consumers hit its lowest level on record.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.5% as it also caught up with other markets following a Monday closure for a holiday.

London’s FTSE 100 added 0.6% even though British petroleum giant BP fell 4.1% there. BP ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to “important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% from its all-time high set the day before.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

However, there's still a chance for a smaller blast or a fire at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant in Garden Grove near Los Angeles, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said during a news conference on Monday.

An evaluation of the tank containing 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable, showed a reduction of pressure inside the tank thanks to a crack that was discovered Sunday. About two-thirds — roughly 34,000 — of the evacuated residents can go home as a result, Covey said.

“It’s not over yet. We still have work to do,” TJ McGovern, interim fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, said. “We still have to mitigate a fire and very small explosion concern, and also a spill potential.”

Officials began ordering residents of Garden Grove, to evacuate their homes on Thursday after the tank overheated, and by the weekend about 50,000 residents had been told to leave.

Officials said they needed to cool the tank to prevent a toxic leak or explosion. The tank’s interior had cooled to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C), Covey said Monday, down from 100 degrees (37.7 degrees C) a day earlier.

Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong said she wanted to reassure everyone who is returning home that they can feel safe. Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“There was no contamination. There were no fumes. There were not vapors that came from this incident,” she said at the news conference. “There was not a leak. So it should be, you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

Environmental risks remain

The tank might eventually cool enough for crews to safely stabilize and drain the remaining material without triggering a spark or ignition, said Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor who has studied environmental contamination.

Whelton cautioned there is still some risk of an explosion while the chemical inside the tank remains hot and reactive. He said temperatures need to fall closer to ambient levels — roughly 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) — before conditions are considered significantly safer.

As the interior temperature of the tank increased, methyl methacrylate — which is used to make plastics — converted from liquid to gas, ramping up the pressure and risk of explosion, Whelton said.

Some of the methyl methacrylate may already have hardened into a stable plastic similar to plexiglass, reducing the risk inside the tank, he said.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said the South Coast Air Quality Management District will be monitoring the air for several months and the EPA will be checking the sewer and storm drains.

County health officials have said the chemical is easy to smell and people may notice it over a large area without being harmed.

Relief among residents after hearing the latest update

Authorities have not defined what a catastrophic explosion might mean, but said Monday the worst-case scenario is off the table.

Kim Yen, a retiree who had to evacuate her Garden Grove home, said she has been closely following the news and is relieved to learn that the worst has passed.

“I am happy and many of us are happy but, still, we are still on our evacuation,” she said.

Yen, who lives two blocks from the plant, said she’s ready to return home but first wants to be sure it’s safe. And, she said, she’s been worried about the emergency crews.

“They are really our heroes,” Yen said.

The parking lot was full Monday at a large park in Fountain Valley, just southwest of Garden Grove, as people sought refuge in an ad hoc shelter there or pitched tents outside. Other people gathered in the park to enjoy Memorial Day.

GKN is a British company that supplies aircraft manufacturers

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which owns the plant, is a British company that makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields for military and commercial aircraft.

GKN Aerospace technical specialists and the Orange County Fire Authority removed external insulation material from the tank to help cool its contents, according to a GKN Aerospace statement released Monday.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

GKN Aerospace says on its website that it employs about 16,000 people across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries and supplies technologies and components used by major commercial and military aircraft manufacturers worldwide.

It remained unknown when the operation would reopen.

GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

Aircraft manufacturing is vulnerable to supply chain disruptions

Disruptions at facilities producing specialized aircraft components can be difficult for the global aerospace industry to absorb because supply chains are highly concentrated and already strained, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory.

Aboulafia said aerospace manufacturing differs from many other industries because aircraft production rates are relatively low, leaving only a small number of suppliers for many specialized parts and systems.

“There’s just not a lot of margin in the system,” he said.

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This story has been corrected to attribute a quote to TJ McGovern, interim fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, not to division chief Craig Covey.

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Willingham reported from Boston. Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.

The missile fired from Jongju, a city near the North's west coast, flew about 80 kilometers (50 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea launched other kinds of projectiles, it said, but didn't elaborate.

South Korean media, citing the military, reported the other weapons systems mobilized included multiple rocket launch systems. The reports said that the simultaneous launches of different kinds of weapons were likely meant to test an ability to evade South Korean and U.S. defenses.

South Korea's military said that it closely monitors activities in North Korea. It said that South Korea, with a solid alliance with the U.S., maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea.

It was North Korea's first weapons launch event since April 19, when the country fired multiple short-range missiles in what state-media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has focused on modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In recent years, Kim has expanded ties with Russia by sending troops and conventional arms to support its war efforts against Ukraine. Kim has also pushed to cement cooperation with China, North Korea's economic pipeline.

In their summit in Beijing last week, Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed their opposition to “foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods of creating threats to the security” of North Korea, according to a statement from the the Kremlin.

Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, have previously frustrated the U.S. and others' efforts to toughen international sanctions on North Korea, despite its banned weapons tests.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to resume talks with Kim, but Pyongyang has responded that Washington must first drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

Kim has taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward South Korea, calling it his country’s most hostile enemy and taking steps to terminate all ties with its neighbor. In a meeting with military commanders last week, Kim discussed efforts to strengthen military units along the border with South Korea in line with a state objective to turn the border line into “an impregnable fortress,” according to state media.

On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for stronger efforts to advance the country’s military. In televised remarks during a regular Cabinet meeting, he emphasized artificial intelligence and drone capabilities, and the potential acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine, an issue that has been part of his diplomacy with Washington.

Lee, a liberal who espouses improved ties with North Korea, didn't specifically comment on the threats posed by the North. But he stressed the importance of South Korea demonstrating the “resolve to take responsibility for and protect our own security ourselves,” saying such a posture would also strengthen the country’s alliance with the United States.

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Elise Morton contributed to this report from London.

Trump's endorsement of state Attorney General Ken Paxton over four-term Sen. John Cornyn gives the challenger a late boost and puts Cornyn at risk of becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history to seek the party's nod and lose.

That's despite Cornyn's campaign and allied groups spending roughly $90 million in advertising since last year, the vast majority of it attacking Paxton.

It's the latest GOP contest where Trump has sought to punish a Republican he sees as insufficiently loyal. This month, he has successfully backed challengers to incumbents in Louisiana, Kentucky and Indiana, a sign of his enduring influence among primary voters.

Paxton's campaign and a pro-Paxton super PAC began airing ads promoting the endorsement within 24 hours of Trump's announcement. Cornyn acknowledged Trump's move would have an impact but said he wasn't giving up.

“I know who gets to choose our senators, and it’s the people of Texas,” he said hours after the endorsement.

The winner will run in November against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Tuesday's runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party hopes to flip.

The primary has been long, bitter and costly

Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary but failed to win a majority in the three-way contest that also included U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished in a distant third.

That was after Cornyn's campaign and allied groups waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton for ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial when allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Last year, Paxton’s wife filed for divorce, citing “biblical grounds.”

The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups have continued its attack, outspending Paxton's campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary, asking the unchosen candidate to withdraw. But he didn't act until after early voting began on May 18.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him. “Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness.”

Pro-Cornyn groups lately have been airing ads criticizing the attorney general office’s handling of a Waco sex abuse case. Pro-Paxton groups had seized on Cornyn’s awkward relationship with Trump.

Trump snubs Cornyn amid retribution campaign

The negative tenor could diminish turnout in an election already complicated by coming a day after Memorial Day, Texas Republican strategist Tyler Norris said. About 2 million of Texas’ 18.7 million voters participated in the GOP primary.

The dynamic could favor Paxton, whose support draws from more of the most loyal Trump base in Texas, said Norris, who isn't affiliated with either campaign.

“The defining battle lines are based around hyper-negative messaging, which dampens turnout to begin with,” he said. “So who is going to show up is the hardest of the hard core.”

Trump in his endorsement also poked at Cornyn, as he has done with other Republicans who are not in lockstep with the president.

He blasted Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy as “a Disloyal Disaster” on May 16, before Cassidy lost a GOP primary for the office he has held since 2015. The two-term senator had voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump backed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who advanced to a runoff with John Fleming, the state treasurer. Cassidy finished well behind them.

Last week, Trump celebrated as Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a critic of the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, lost his primary to Ed Gallrein. Trump called Massie "the worst congressman in the history of our country.”

In endorsing Paxton, Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough" and that “John was very late in backing me."

Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.” He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Senate GOP leaders backed Cornyn, saying he would be stronger in the general election. Some GOP strategists have argued a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority.

Democrats also will choose US House nominees

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee and veteran Rep. Al Green are vying for the party nod in Texas' 18th District, which the Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew last year to help the GOP. The new map led to a contest between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area. Menefee was elected in a special runoff in January to the seat that had been held by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March 2025.

Menefee finished narrowly ahead of Green in the March 3 primary but didn't win a majority to avoid the runoff.

Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead is looking to return to the House.

Near San Antonio, Democratic leaders are trying to prevent Maureen Galindo, who has expressed antisemitic views, from winning the party's runoff with Johnny Garcia. While Texas lawmakers redrew the 35th District to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and don't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.

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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.

For now, she remains the sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, where she's on an increasingly urgent mission to press media companies to more forcefully combat an administration she says is cracking down on free speech.

Her immediate focus is Disney, the parent of ABC. It is the subject of investigations launched by the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally.

In an extraordinary four-page letter earlier this month to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro, Gomez outlined what she described as the FCC's “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” against the company. She noted probes touching on everything from diversity practices to ABC's moderation of a 2024 presidential debate and the guests booked on “The View” along with the administration's calls for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired.

She's particularly worried that the FCC's move for early reviews of ABC's broadcast licenses in the markets where it owns local stations is an effort to intimidate the network. She called it “the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date.”

Her message was simple: Fight back. She argued that Disney's controversial decision to pay a $15 million defamation settlement shortly before Trump returned to office did the company little good and set a bad precedent for the rest of the industry

“That settlement did not buy you peace,” she wrote in the letter, which she also posted to social media. “It only bought you time.”

D'Amaro hasn't publicly responded to Gomez. But he has signaled a new approach in a filing this month, accusing the FCC of taking actions that could “chill critical protected speech.”

In an interview from her Washington office, Gomez said she was heartened by Disney's response and encouraged other broadcasters to prepare for similar fights. She's an exceedingly rare figure in the nation's capital, one of just a few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them in a bid to bend the bureaucracy to his will.

The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of Trump's moves and could issue a decision in the coming weeks.

While that plays out, Gomez's term is slated to end June 30. But unless Trump fires her, she's likely to remain at the agency, where her presence allows for a quorum that gives Carr the opportunity to keep enacting his agenda. Given the Senate's narrow divide and dwindling calendar ahead of the midterms, it would be hard for Trump to muscle through a replacement.

Here are highlights of the interview, edited for length and clarity.

A letter to Disney ... and a warning

AP: What prompted you to write the letter to Disney?

GOMEZ: At the beginning of this administration, I was growing increasingly alarmed by what I saw as this administration’s campaign to control and censor speech. And so I embarked on a tour across the country where I was talking to journalists, local broadcasters, legal scholars, press freedom advocates. And what I came back with was more of a conviction that we really needed to do something.

Then I started watching the capitulation. We saw CBS settle its lawsuit with the president and then agree to terms that basically require an ombudsperson to oversee the content of the network in order to get its transaction approved by the FCC. We saw ABC, of course, settle its lawsuit and I grew more and more and more concerned about the fact that this capitulation breeds capitulation.

And so I wrote the letter and the letter had two goals in mind. One was to basically put on the record and call out everything that this FCC has done to try to bring Disney to heel but also to encourage it and other broadcasters to stiffen their spine. We know, based on the record of this administration, every time it gets taken to court for these violations of the First Amendment and against the freedom of the press, it loses.

AP: Is your ultimate goal to get a court to rule against the FCC?

GOMEZ: In the end, what I want is for companies to push back because if this gets to court, any entity that challenges what this FCC is doing is going to win.

Regulation in a changing media environment

AP: The media landscape has changed so dramatically from when the FCC was founded. What is the government’s role in this space now?

GOMEZ: Traditionally, the FCC has licensed the local broadcast stations, and what we license is actually their spectrum, their airwaves over which they broadcast their television, their radio. And it has done so with three basic principles in mind. Competition, because competition’s always good for consumers and for viewers and for the market. Localism, which really means serving your local market, whether that means actually airing 24 hours a day the content, but truly local content. And finally, viewpoint diversity. We want to encourage more voices, not fewer.

And that is, I think, the right role for the FCC. Being a censor is not the right role for the FCC.

Life as the FCC's sole Democrat

AP: You’ve been in and out of the FCC for decades. You’re a lawyer, some might even say a technocrat. When you look back at your career, did you think you would take such a vocal stand against the actions of the agency and ultimately an administration?

GOMEZ: No, never in my entire career did I think that I would be having to speak up this strongly for the First Amendment in our Constitution and our democracy.

As you said, I’m a bit of a technocrat. I’m used to talking about the airwaves and I’m used to talking about broadband and how important it is for everyone to have access to broadband. I'm used to talking about really boring things like how to attach to light poles. But media wasn’t something that I particularly thought I would have to really delve into. But, like I said, this administration has just been alarming me so much and so I’ve had to pivot.

AP: You and Chairman Carr have a cordial relationship even though you disagree quite intensely. Is there a secret you want to share with the rest of Washington on how to do that?

GOMEZ: You know, we do have a collegial relationship and we do work well together. He has been in my position and he understands my need to speak out and I do so freely, knowing that some day I may face the consequences for it. But we do work at maintaining a cordial relationship.

AP: You're talking about the potential of being fired by the president?

GOMEZ: Yes, especially when I saw last year when the administration was firing all the Democratic members of different independent commissions and bodies. I just checked my email every day. Literally every day I pick up my phone and I say, “Am I going to work today?” And so far, so good.

AP: Your term lasts through June 30 and you're needed for a quorum. Absent an email that you wake up to in the morning, what are your plans?

GOMEZ: I can continue serving for another year and a half-ish after my term expires as long as no one else is nominated and confirmed for my particular slot. So I intend to continue working and to continue speaking out as long as I can.

Now, the conversation has flipped. After pouring billions of dollars into laptops, tablets and learning apps, many schools are facing a digital reckoning. Classrooms have become saturated with screens, and a growing number of parents, teachers and school districts are saying it is time to scale back.

“The Chromebook is just a world of distraction,” says Soffer, who teaches sixth-grade English and history. She favors pen-and-paper assignments but is required to use laptops and online apps for certain activities. “Every day, I’m battling, ’Who would you rather listen to, Ms. Soffer or Minecraft?'”

The Los Angeles Unified School District, where Soffer teaches, recently became the first major school district to say it will stop giving devices to its youngest students. It is part of a new screen time policy taking effect in the fall across the country’s second-largest school system.

A sweeping resolution passed last month by the Los Angeles school board requires the district to eliminate devices until second grade; set daily and weekly screen limits for all higher grades; block YouTube on school devices; and ban the use of devices at lunch and recess in elementary and middle school. The district will also audit its education technology contracts, which the teachers union says amount to $1.6 billion.

The Los Angeles crackdown is adding momentum to calls for reform emerging around the country. In many cases, parents lobbied a few years ago for school cellphone bans, which have now become the norm. Realizing phones weren’t the only classroom distraction, they pivoted to a new target: school-issued devices.

The campaign for change is becoming a public policy issue. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia. The federal government issued an advisory last week warning that excessive screen use among youth is becoming a growing public health concern.

Parents say school-issued devices undermine screen limits at home

In Los Angeles, concerned parents last year formed a group, Schools Beyond Screens, and pressured the district by speaking out at school board meetings, on social media and in private talks with administrators. Many are frustrated by trying to curb screen time at home, only to have screens mandated by school.

As a mother of three, Katie Pace does everything in her power to limit screens. There is one family iPad and one television at home, no screen time during the week and no screens allowed in bedrooms. Her eighth grade daughter, Clementine, does not have a phone.

But as soon as Clementine gets on the Wi-Fi-enabled school bus, her day takes a turn for the digital.

For the 30-minute ride to school, Clementine watches YouTube videos on her school Chromebook.

In Spanish class, assignments are on the app Duolingo, but many students use Google Translate for answers, Clementine said. Often, kids are playing games on their phones, which are supposed to be locked away. In algebra, Clementine writes with her finger on a touch screen to solve equations. In history, quizzes, tests and writing assignments are on the computer.

Almost all homework is online. Until recently, Clementine would come home and read a book, her mother said, but not anymore. On her daughter’s device history, Pace sees she spends hours a day streaming music, making Spotify playlists, and watching makeup tutorials and cat videos on YouTube.

“It makes me furious,” said Pace, a member of Schools Beyond Screens. “My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack.”

The pandemic supercharged student access to devices

A push to put a device in every child’s hand and close the “digital divide” started over a decade ago, but it accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overnight, education shifted online in March 2020. Schools raced to get kids the devices needed to connect to school. When the 2021-2022 school year started, 96% of U.S. public schools reported they had given digital devices to students who needed them, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Many schools switched funding away from textbooks, workbooks and paper printouts to digital alternatives. Educational technology, or “edtech,” exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry.

“During the pandemic, getting kids devices was a lifeline. Now, it’s time that we reset,” said Nick Melvoin, the LAUSD school board member who drafted the new resolution.

Melvoin estimates that few Los Angeles classrooms are using screens effectively in ways that benefit learning. Too often, he said, teachers are replacing instruction with online apps and using screens “as a crutch.”

Some schools are introducing new limits

The challenge, educators say, is that technology has become so entwined with learning, especially for older students, that unplugging from screens at school is complicated.

In the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, parents launched a petition campaign for the right to opt their children out of digital devices during school, citing questions about edtech’s benefits. The district has said that opting out is not possible.

“If there’s really no evidence that it helps, and in fact there’s evidence that it’s harmful, what are we doing? Test scores are at their lowest point,” said Alex Bird Becker, one of the founders of the group PA Unplugged.

Other schools are finding that it makes financial sense to stop sending a device home with every child.

Fresno Unified School District, the third-largest in California, is spending $4 million a year to repair and replace laptops. Partly to cut costs, the district has told its 40,000 elementary school students to return their take-home laptops and it will shift computer access to in-class only in the fall, spokesperson AJ Kato said.

The Simi Valley Unified School District, near Los Angeles, stopped sending devices home for its younger students this year, partly because of costly repairs but also because they were being used for “inappropriate Google searches” and video games, according to a memo to parents. The district now stores the devices in carts at school.

A group of parents in Arlington, Virginia, gathered on a recent Saturday night to share their children’s struggles with screen addictions and other side effects of school-issued devices.

“None of us are Luddites. I know that technology adds value, but I also don’t want my son on YouTube all the time,” said LuAnn Oliver, who hosted the group in her living room. Her sixth grade son struggles to keep track of online assignments and resist the temptation the iPad offers for video games. “We get reports on websites he’s visited. He’s visiting a game site in nearly every class.”

The Arlington School District has stopped giving iPads out before first grade and is setting new limits in elementary school, but students in 6th to 12th grades will still be required to have school-issued devices.

Another mother, Jenny Sullivan, said she has noticed her fourth grade son capitalizing random letters and not getting corrected because there is so little work on paper. She also worries about social implications: Her sixth grader doesn’t want to go to the after-school program because everyone is on their iPad. “I’d rather be home,” he tells his mother.

After a three-hour gathering, the parents made a plan to approach the school in the fall with a unified request to “opt out of technology and opt in to textbooks and paper.”

“Ten years from now,” said one of the mothers, Kristina Jackson, “I can’t imagine us looking back with any other reaction than: How could we have been so naive that we just handed these devices to our kids.”

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Associated Press writer Sharon Lurye contributed to this report from Philadelphia.

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The Associated Press’ education 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.

The announcements by the group of nations known as the Quad came after talks in New Delhi between India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Speaking after the meeting, Rubio announced a new Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance initiative to integrate the four countries’ surveillance capabilities and strengthen real-time information sharing across the region. He said the Quad would work with Fiji to upgrade port infrastructure in the Pacific islands, marking its first joint regional infrastructure project.

The ministers also launched an Indo-Pacific energy security initiative aimed at strengthening regional fuel and energy supply chains, with the U.S. set to host a Quad fuel security forum later this year, Rubio said.

“We are deeply committed to this partnership. It is a linchpin in a cornerstone of our global strategy as a nation,” he said.

Separately, India and the U.S. signed a deal to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals as global concerns grow over reliance on China-dominated supplies.

Asked about the Quad agreements, China said that cooperation among countries should promote regional peace and stability and not target third parties.

“We do not support forming exclusive small groupings or bloc confrontation. Any cooperation should not undermine mutual trust and cooperation among regional countries," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing.

The Quad group is a key strategic partnership for cooperation on maritime security, supply chains and regional strategy as China expands its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Its members have repeatedly accused China of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea and aggressively pushing its maritime territorial claims. Beijing maintains that its military is purely defensive to protect what it says are China’s sovereign rights and calls the Quad an attempt to contain its economic growth and influence.

The Quad meeting comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump visited China, a trip closely watched in New Delhi for signs of any shift in Washington’s approach toward Beijing.

Ahead of Tuesday's talks, Rubio said that Washington wants the Quad to move beyond being a dialogue platform and take more concrete action on issues including maritime security and critical minerals. He also said officials were working toward a summit of the four leaders later this year, although no date has been announced.

The four countries had hoped to hold a leaders’ summit in India last year, but the plan was delayed because of strains in U.S.-India relations, including disagreements over tariffs.

Jaishankar described the talks as “an exercise of considerable value,” saying the ministers also discussed maritime trade, energy and fertilizer supplies, as well as critical minerals. He added that as economic activity, energy, trade and maritime commerce in the region grow, “the responsibilities of the Quad will grow commensurately, and we must prepare for that.”

The leaders also discussed the Iran war and halted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Australia's Wong said the Indo-Pacific was facing “acute economic stress” and warned that any closure of the strait would have serious consequences for regional energy security.

“We recognize the importance of maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition,” Wong said, referring to Iran’s plan to charge vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

She said the Quad reflects a shared commitment among four sovereign nations to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“There is great alignment between our interests. We all share a vision for the Indo-Pacific, a region that is free and open,” she said.

——

Associated Press journalist Eduardo Castillo in Beijing, China contributed to this report.

The denial of bond for many held on immigration charges has unleashed tens of thousands of lawsuits since July, alleging violations of constitutional rights against illegal confinement. The Trump administration suffered a legal setback this month when an appeals court knocked down its policy after two other appeals courts had agreed with it, setting up a likely showdown at the Supreme Court.

The practice had already played out for years in Tacoma, where immigration judges at the Northwest ICE Processing Center started denying bond early this decade. Few people noticed outside the immigration attorneys there. But when the Trump administration adopted the theory last year, it echoed the judges' reasoning.

The Tacoma judges decided Congress never authorized them to grant bond

Neil Floyd, the only one of the four Tacoma judges who agreed to talk to The Associated Press, said clerks researched the issue for about six months before the judges decided Congress never authorized them to grant bond.

“We made the decision that we were going to do it collectively because it was too big a decision for someone to step out that far on their own,” said Floyd, who became the top federal prosecutor in Seattle during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The judges took their cue from a 1996 law that states that “applicants for admission” to the United States must be detained. The law was long interpreted as affecting people recently crossing the border without legal permission. People living here for years were categorized under a different statute that allowed bond hearings.

The Tacoma judges may seem like unlikely figures to spearhead such radical change. While all four — Theresa Scala, the chief Tacoma judge at the time; John Odell; Tammy Fitting; and Floyd — started their careers as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers, they each granted asylum at rates slightly higher than the national average.

Floyd, who left Tacoma after Trump took office last year to advise the FBI on immigration law before moving to his current position, said the judges' conclusion was a matter of fairness based on the law.

“It is the right interpretation of the law, and it’s the only fair one, because if you enter the United States the right way, by coming and knocking on the door to ask for asylum at a port of entry, the law is 100% clear,” Floyd said. “And it has been from the beginning that you are detained until we decide whether or not we’re going to let you in.”

Immigration lawyers in Tacoma were stunned. They scoured the nation for anything similar and found nothing.

“It was from our perspective, a pretty blatantly prosecutorial push to keep people locked up,” said Matt Adams, an attorney for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which sued over the practice. The case has not yet been scheduled for trial.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2025, alleges that the Tacoma judges ignored decades of precedent.

The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which operates more than 70 immigration courts nationwide, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration adopted the judges’ legal theory

In July, ICE announced a major change that mirrors the Tacoma judges' view, stating that immigrants who have been in the U.S. for years are “applicants for admission” if they didn’t enter the U.S. legally and, as a result, were subject to mandatory detention.

It began arguing against all bond hearings. The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals, which sets policy for courts, agreed with ICE’s arguments in September.

The number of people in ICE custody roughly doubled last year, peaking at about 75,000 in January. ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion to increase detention to 92,300 beds by the end of November, largely by opening warehouses, or “megacenters,” that house up to 10,000 people each. Judges say massive ICE raids have compounded the strain.

Once eligible for bond consideration, some 2 million immigrants now face mandatory detention if arrested. Immigrant detainees have filed more than 40,000 lawsuits since Trump returned to office 16 months ago, according to an AP tally.

Immigrants’ lives are disrupted

Despite the Trump administration's stance, many immigrants have succeeded in the courts. Some federal judges have ordered immediate freedom, while others send cases back to immigration court for bond hearings.

Victor Cruz, a handyman in Portland, Oregon, spent 24 days in the Tacoma detention center after ICE agents arrested him without a warrant. An immigration judge granted him a bond hearing, and he was released in October. He won his immigration case in February.

Cruz, 56, has U.S. citizens in his immediate family and spends weekends playing with his grandchildren. He keeps a folder in his car with all his immigration documents, wary that immigration authorities could detain him again. He said that he met people in detention who had “been there six months, nine months.”

On a recent Friday in Tacoma, Fitting — one of the original four judges — held bond hearings under orders of a federal judge.

She denied bond for an Oregon dishwasher with a 2002 drunken-driving conviction. But she granted $14,000 bond to another immigrant with no criminal record, while saying that his pathway to legal status is tenuous.

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Attanasio is a former Associated Press reporter.

They weren't ready for the Knicks or the big stage.

The lights were too bright again.

Cleveland's season ended with a resounding, demoralizing and embarrassing 130-93 loss on Monday night in Game 4 to the New York Knicks, who swept the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Playing on tired and wobbly legs after failing to put Toronto and Detroit away before seven games in the earlier rounds, the Cavs, whose fate was sealed when they blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, had no answer for anything the Knicks threw at them.

They got out-played, out-shot, out-rebounded and out-coached.

“We did this to ourselves,” said Mitchell, who scored 31 in the close-out loss. "We didn't give our team a chance because we didn't take care of business. You can't play with your food. We had an opportunity in Game 1 and we blew that.

“We had an opportunity, but give credit where credit is due.”

And now that they've fallen short, the Cavs head into what will likely be a tumultuous summer that will trigger a major roster overhaul and perhaps other moves.

This wasn't the plan. Cleveland made a blockbuster trade at the deadline in February, sending guard Darius Garland, part of its “Core Four” to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, who was supposed to take pressure off Mitchell.

It never happened.

Cleveland's top player approved the Garland swap, but other than a few games here and there, he and Harden never truly meshed as intended. The Cavs, who shot just 28.9% (48 of 166) on 3-pointers in the series, never outgrew their growing pains.

“This was the first time going through what we were going to go through,” said Harden. “Now we have to take another two steps and get even better. ... I feel like we didn't have a fair chance. We did play one quarter of Cavs basketball offensively. If you're not making shots, you're not going to beat anybody."

Harden has a $42.3 million player option for next season that he's expected to decline to re-sign with the Cavs as a free agent. But the 36-year-old didn't perform up to offensive expectations and was a virtual turnstile on defense.

Mitchell's future is more complicated. He can be offered a five-year, $350 million super-max extension by the Cavs as early as this offseason, but the team will likely wait due to several financial factors, and still must decide if the seven-time All-Star is worth the investment.

With the Knicks up by 33 in the fourth, Mitchell and Cleveland's other starters were mercifully replaced. The 29-year-old went to the bench and watched a team he once cheered for as a kid win its 11th straight playoff game.

Mitchell feels the Cavs took a significant step this season, and he's determined to get Cleveland a title.

“I love it here,” he said when asked about the extension. “I don't know how else to say it. I have no doubt these guys can get there. We have unfinished business.”

Cleveland's stunning flame-out in the conference finals is only going to fuel more speculation about coach Kenny Atkinson's future. He guided the team to a No. 1 seed in his first season a year ago before a disappointing, second-round exit against Indiana.

Atkinson helped the Cavs take a step deeper into the postseason, but it's not certain that will be enough to satisfy demanding owner Dan Gilbert, who has dropped more than $400 million on a team that hasn't delivered him a second title.

Not long after the game, Gilbert went on social media to give a brief assessment of the season.

“We took a step ahead this spring, but we are nowhere near where we need to be,” he posted. “I can’t thank the fans enough for the support this year. We will dig in all summer and do everything we possibly can to take the next step. We will grind until we get there.”

Harden and Mitchell staunchly defended Atkinson.

“We did something we haven't done since 2018,” Mitchell said. “I love Kenny. We love Kenny. We ride with Kenny. That's all that matters. We're in this together.”

New York exposed all of Cleveland's on-court flaws and may have set the stage for Gilbert to make even bolder moves. There's little doubt that seeing his team get completely overwhelmed in Game 4 — with thousands of New York fans chanting “Knicks in 4!” — stung badly.

The Cavs will closely monitor superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo's unsettled situation in Milwaukee. The Bucks have reportedly had past interest in 24-year-old Cleveland forward Evan Mobley.

And then there's LeBron James and the possibility the NBA's all-time scoring leader could bring his storied career full circle by coming back home a second time. He's a free agent, currently at odds with the Los Angeles Lakers and surveying the landscape.

At the moment, Cleveland appears to need him again.

When asked, Mitchell wouldn't even entertain the possibility of joining forces with James. His primary concern was what went wrong against the Knicks.

“We got swept,” he said. “We've got to own it.”

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

Landry Shamet scored 16 off the bench while Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson had 15 apiece for the Knicks, who became the fourth team to have an 11-game winning streak during their postseason run. The last to do it was Golden State, which had a 15-game run en route to its second title in three seasons in 2017.

All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points.

“I feel like the word ‘hope’ has been gone from the New York Knicks name for a long time and for me to be part of this team that revives hope is something special,” Towns said.

The Knicks pulled their starters with 7:47 remaining and a 35-point lead as their large contingent of fans loudly chanted “Knicks in four!” New York fans easily outnumbered Cleveland fans as die-hard celebrity fans director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, made the trip.

“Our guys played great. You’re in the conference finals and score 65 points off of offensive rebounds and fast break points. I don’t know if I’ve seen that at this point of the year. We wanted to push the pace," coach Mike Brown said.

The Knicks dominated in second-chance points, outscoring the Cavaliers 32-5. They also had a 33-9 advantage in fast break points.

New York will play the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the finals. The Western Conference finals is tied at two games apiece with Game 5 to be played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Thunder or Spurs will have homecourt advantage when the finals start on June 3 because of a better regular-season record.

This will be the Knicks third appearance in the finals since winning their last title in 1973. They lost in seven games to Houston in 1994 and in five to San Antonio in 1999.

Knicks legends Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Patrick Ewing presented the Bob Cousy Trophy to the Knicks on the court.

It is the 15th time since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 that a coach has reached the finals in his first year with a team. The Knicks hired Brown after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau after they reached the Eastern Conference finals last year, but lost in six games to Indiana.

It will be Brown's second trip to the finals as a coach. His last trip was with Cleveland in 2007.

The Knicks have won all three of their clinching games during the playoffs by at least 30 points. They routed the Atlanta Hawks by 51 in Game 6 of the first round (140-89) and then defeated the Philadelphia 76ers by 30 (144-114) in Game 4 of the second round to complete a sweep.

Brunson was named the MVP of the series after averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists.

Donovan Mitchell had 31 points for Cleveland, which was swept in a postseason series for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State.

“They’re playing better basketball. You got to give them credit. They’re on a heater. I don’t want to detract from what we’ve done, but sometimes you’ve got to give the other team credit," Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Mitchell scored the Cavaliers first eight points as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Cleveland led for most of the first six minutes before New York took control.

Evan Mobley's putback dunk gave the Cavaliers a 17-14 advantage before the Knicks scored nine straight points.

A floater by Mitchell got Cleveland within 30-26 with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter when New York went on a 20-0 run over a five-minute span. The Knicks were 8 of 14 from the field, including four 3-pointers. The bench scored 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Shamet. The seventh-year guard was 11 of 12 from beyond the arc during the series.

Cleveland was 0 for 9 from the field during its drought, including missing all three shots from beyond the arc, and committed four turnovers.

The Knicks led by as many as 29 in the first half and were up 68-49 at halftime. It was the fourth time this postseason the Knicks were up by at least 19 after 24 minutes.

Knicks already had four players in double figures in the first half. Towns had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

New York's largest lead was 45 points in the fourth quarter.

James Harden, who finished with 12 points but was 2 of 8 from the field, lamented Cleveland's missed opportunities. Besides not making open shots throughout the series, the Cavaliers blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter in Game 1 before losing 115-104 in overtime.

“Yes, it was 4-0, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance. Genuinely, I think we are the better team. but series wise we didn’t show it," he said.

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

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BSO spokesperson Carey Codd said the stabbing happened just after 6:15 a.m. in the 1900 block of Northwest 24th Street.

Codd said medics found a man with stab wounds and took him to a nearby hospital. He’s expected to survive.

Meanwhile, Codd said deputies arrested a 25-year-old woman, identified as Dellisha Guadalupe, on an attempted murder charge.

Authorities have not released information about what led up to the stabbing.

The government earlier confirmed seven women and 12 children were heading home on Qatar Airways flights, less than three weeks after a group of 13 people in similar situations returned to Australia’s two largest cities.

Two women with seven children flew to Melbourne. Four women with six children landed about an hour later in Sydney, a joint police and intelligence agency statement said.

No one had been charged on arrival, but investigations into their activities in Syria were continuing, the statement said. Three of four women who returned home earlier were charged with slavery and terrorism offenses and remain behind bars.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said anyone among the 19 on their way to Australia who has committed crimes "can expect to face the full force of the law.”

“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group,” Burke said in a statement.

“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” he added.

Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and have long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor them, Burke said.

“The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier told Parliament: “I have nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy for ISIS,” referring to IS by an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The bid by general practice doctor Jamal Rifi, a community leader in Sydney’s Lebanese Muslim diaspora, to return 34 Australian women and children from Syria failed in February. Syrian authorities blocked their convoy's route to Damascus and turned them back to Roj camp, a location in northeast Syria near the Iraq border where people linked to IS have been held since IS forces in the Middle East were defeated in 2019.

Riji told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday that Syrian authorities had since been persuaded that the majority of Australians in Roj were children who had a legal right to grow up in Australia.

“These women are caring mothers,” he said of the 19 women who just landed in Australia.

“Definitely joining willingly the death cult of the un-Islamic caliphate, it’s a terrible decision. Some of these women, I believe they were tricked to go there. Some of them are victims of the death cult and others are not," Riji said.

After the departure of the latest group, at least two Australians remain in Roj camp, including a mother who was prevented from returning to Australia in February by a temporary exclusion order.

Exclusion orders were created by laws introduced in 2019 to prevent defeated IS fighters from returning to Australia for up to two years.

The woman, aged around 29, had remained at Roj with her daughter, who had been disabled by shrapnel wounds, The Australian newspaper reported. She left her Sydney home at the age of 18 in 2015 to marry an IS fighter in Syria, the newspaper reported.

Her family has engaged a Sydney lawyer to challenge the order, which bars the mother from Australia until February 2028.

The last Australian cohort returned from Syria on May 7, similarly without government help.

Kawsar Ahmed, also known Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested when they landed in Melbourne over allegations that their family had bought a female Yazidi slave.

Janai Safar, 32, was arrested at Sydney Airport when she arrived with her 9-year-old son on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and of entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have returned quietly without government assistance.

Spokesperson Terri Hinte told The Associated Press that Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York. She cited no specific cause of death, but said he had been largely housebound over the past couple of years because of various physical problems.

From his early days as a teen phenom to his more measured solo work and experimentation with free jazz, Rollins was revered for his improvisational skill. He was one of the last living greats of the bebop era and — along with John Coltrane and Charlie Parker — one of the most influential saxophonists of his time.

Rock fans got a dose of his music with the Rolling Stones’ 1981 album “Tattoo You,” which features’ Rollins’ wistful sax solo on the ballad “Waiting on a Friend," devised after watching Mick Jagger dance.

Despite his enduring success, Rollins was never quite satisfied with his art, occasionally taking lengthy hiatuses from playing and consistently adopting eclectic new styles.

He always referred to himself as “a work in progress,” saying he wasn’t one of those artists who settle into one way of playing.

While his early bebop work was the most popular with his fans, Rollins never looked back, saying he found it “excruciating” to even listen to the flaws in his older recordings.

“I don’t consider myself a musician that has learned as much as I want to learn,” he told The Associated Press in 2007.

Enduring achievements

In the 1990s and 2000s, Rollins released a string of critically acclaimed albums. He maintained a rigorous practice regimen, and continued to tour, into his 80s. Pulmonary fibrosis, a thickening and damaging of the lungs, would eventually force him into retirement. He played his last concert in 2012 and stopped playing altogether in 2014.

While he missed the adoration of crowds, he missed the actual playing more.

“I played a couple of concerts early on where I was out in the open in the afternoon,” He told the New York Times in 2020. “I was able to look up in the sky, and I felt a communication; I felt that I was part of something. Not the crowd. Something bigger.”

His 2001 album “This is What I Do,” earned him a Grammy award for best jazz instrumental album. He won again in 2006 for best jazz instrumental solo for “Why Was I Born?”

“Why Was I Born” was from the album “Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert,” a live recording from a performance in Boston just four days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Rollins, who had been evacuated from his apartment a few blocks from ground zero, had gone ahead with the concert at the urging of his wife and manager, Lucille. She died in 2004.

His survivors include a nephew, Clifton Anderson, and nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat.

Meeting the greats

Rollins had gotten his first major break in his late teens when he was invited to join Thelonious Monk’s band. He soon was jamming with Miles Davis and Bud Powell, who introduced him to the recording world even before he finished high school.

But like many jazz musicians in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Rollins’ rising star almost faded when he became hooked on heroin at the age of 19. As his addiction grew steadily worse, Rollins served two stints in jail — 10 months in 1950 and three months in 1953 — and ultimately found himself living on the streets in Chicago. In 1954, Rollins checked himself into a hospital in Lexington, Ky., to undergo drug treatment.

He left underwent a spiritual awakening as he kicked drugs.

“I began to have a deeper philosophy of what life was about,” he told the AP in 2007. “From that point on is when my consciousness awoke.”

After being discharged, he returned to Chicago and signed on as a member of the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet. In 1956 he recorded a solo album, “Saxophone Colossus.” Its stripped-down, hard bop sound announced him as one of jazz’s premier sax players and remained one of his most influential works.

In the following two years Rollins hit upon a different approach, switching to a pianoless trio on three more landmark albums: “Way Out West,” “A Night at the Village Vanguard” and “Freedom Suite.”

Then, at the peak of his popularity, Rollins went into seclusion, spending the next two years practicing alone on a solitary niche above the East River on a Williamsburg Bridge walkway.

“The thing that I am most proud of in my career is that fact that I was able to see beyond being popular and all that stuff," he told the AP in 2007, “and do what my inner self told me to do.”

During his absence, jazz moved away from the fast-paced, tightly woven sound of bebop to the more frenetic and chaotic free jazz. When Rollins chose to return to the scene in 1961, he embraced the new sound — a move that divided his fans. In the mid-’60s, Rollins toured heavily in Europe, switching back and forth between more traditional and avant garde approaches. He contributed original music to the soundtrack of “Alfie,” the 1966 British film that made Michael Caine a star.

It was during a trip to Japan when Rollins discovered Zen Buddhism, prompting another lengthy sabbatical that would last into the early 1970s.

A living legend

When he chose to record again in 1972, he was now regarded as a legend and gained mainstream acceptance. He was granted a Guggenheim fellowship that year, and was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame the next. He appeared on the “Tonight Show” and began playing in concert halls instead of nightclubs.

Theodore Walter Rollins was born into a musical household in Harlem on Sept. 7, 1930. His father, a naval petty officer, played the clarinet, his sister played the piano, and his older brother was a violinist.

When he was eight, his parents insisted he study the piano, but, as he recalled, “it didn’t take.” Instead, he said, he’d rather be outdoors playing baseball. But by age 11, Rollins became fascinated with the saxophone, and persuaded his parents to buy him one — an alto.

He had difficulty affording lessons and was largely self-taught, but Rollins quickly became an all-star, switching to tenor sax and playing the clubs at night.

He leaves behind many unreleased recordings, and said he didn't plan to leave behind instructions for what to do with them.

“After I get out of this planet I’m not going to have any say about what’s going on, so I’m not worried about that,” he told the New York Times in 2020. “And, boy, I agonize over my music; I won’t have to agonize about it anymore. Thank God.”

Its new report is the latest by an international rights group accusing the wealthy Gulf monarchy of financially and militarily aiding the Rapid Support Forces that have been widely accused of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The United Arab Emirates denied the latest accusations in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Report adds to a ‘growing body of evidence’

“The recruitment of Colombian private military contractors adds to a growing body of evidence that the UAE provides military support to the Rapid Support Forces, which have repeatedly carried out heinous atrocities in Sudan,” said Mausi Segun, executive director of HRW’s Africa Division.

Sudan’s war broke out on April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the military and RSF exploded into fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the sprawling northeastern African country.

The RSF was born out of feared Arab Janjaweed militias that were notorious for atrocities in the early 2000s against people identifying as East or Central African in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

In the new report, Human Rights Watch said hundreds of Colombian mercenaries were trained by Emirati nationals at a military base in Al Dhafra region, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, and at another facility in Abu Dhabi, before being deployed to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF.

The rights group quoted an unnamed Colombian mercenary as saying he trained RSF recruits at camps around Nyala, the provincial capital of South Darfur, in April last year.

Many recruits were “young children,” the mercenary was quoted as saying. The rights group said it interviewed another Colombian mercenary and other sources, including former Colombian military officers.

A United Nations panel of experts in a report to the U.N. Security Council in September said Colombian mercenaries fought in multiple areas across Sudan, including in Khartoum, its sister city of Omdurman and the regions of Darfur and Kordofan, among other areas. The experts said the mercenaries’ combat roles included the operation of RSF drones, artillery and armored vehicles, as well as participation in direct attacks.

RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged in video comments in February that Colombian mercenaries have aided his group to operate drones.

Report urges countries to press the UAE to end RSF support

The mercenaries were hired by Abu Dhabi-based Global Security Services Group, a private security firm, Human Rights Watch said. According to the U.N. experts, the firm was chaired by Mohammed Hamdan Al-Zaabi, an Emirati national.

Human Rights Watch said Emirati authorities and the firm didn’t respond to its requests for comment. The UAE’s Foreign Ministry, however, denied the allegations in an email to the AP.

“The UAE does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan,” the ministry said.

It said any private individual or entity, Emirati or foreign, that provides support to non-state armed groups “would be doing so without state authorization, in violation of Emirati law, and would be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution.”

Human Rights Watch said it verified videos showing mercenaries, apparently Colombian, fighting alongside the RSF when it captured the Darfur city of el-Fasher in October in an offensive the U.N.-commissioned experts said bore “ the hallmarks of genocide. ” At least 6,000 people were killed in three days, according to the U.N.

The rights group called for the international community, including the European Union, to press the UAE to end its support to the RSF though suspending military cooperation and arms sales.

“Other countries need to stop accepting the UAE’s blanket denials of support to the RSF which fly in the face of the facts, and should put an end to its impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Segun said.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on many people and firms based in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, over allegedly recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to fight with the RSF. But it hasn't addressed reports of the UAE’s alleged support to RSF which it accused of repeatedly carrying out “summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, and torture throughout areas under its control” during the war.

At least 59,000 people have been killed over the three years, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, known as ACLED. The U.S.-based tracking group, however, said its toll was almost certainly an underestimate given the difficulty in reporting.

The fire, fueled by strong winds, heat and humidity, had burned 25 acres and was 80% contained as of Monday evening.

It started in the Boystown Pineland County Park near Southwest 120th Street and 142nd Avenue.

Daniel Reyes, who owns a nearby gym, said air quality was top of mind.

“It’s a little complicated for us, if we’re going to be doing a lot of this exercise, breathing and whatnot,” he said.

Crews remained at the scene Monday, putting out hot spots.

Chung, chairman of Shinsegae Group, which owns a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, bowed three times during a televised statement as he pleaded for forgiveness from the families of democracy activists killed by the country's former military dictatorship and from the broader public.

The coffee chain sparked public outrage when it attempted to promote a large size of tumbler it calls a “tank” by declaring May 18 to be “Tank Day.” That's the anniversary of a democratic uprising in the southern city of Gwangju that was brutally suppressed by troops, tanks and helicopters, killing or injuring hundreds.

The campaign compounded outrage by using the slogan “Thwack it on the table!,” which many read as a reference to a notorious 1987 police statement that attempted to cover up the torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol. Police claimed that Park died suddenly after investigators “hit the desk with a thwack.”

The promotion was met with immediate outrage and within hours Shinsegae canceled it and fired the chief executive of Starbucks Korea. Police also opened an investigation based on complaints by families of people killed at Gwangju.

“I take it very seriously the fact that many people felt deep pain and anger because of Starbucks Korea’s inappropriate marketing campaign,” Chung said Tuesday.

He also asked people not to take out their frustration on staff at Starbucks shops, saying the responsibility lies with management. There were no immediate reports of major incidents at stores.

Chung issued his first apology on May 19, saying in a statement that the campaign caused “deep pain to the victims and bereaved families of the May 18 Democratization Movement as well as to the public.”

Jeon Sangjin, a senior Shinsegae Group executive, said the company has yet to find conclusive evidence that Starbucks Korea marketing employees intended to mock the pro-democracy movement, an accusation the employees have denied.

However, he said some employees refused management requests to hand over their smartphones during a weeklong internal review. Jeon said the company would look at results from the police inquiry and any employee found to have intended to ridicule protesters would be fired.

The anger over the campaign has triggered public calls for boycotts, amplified by government officials, including Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung, who said Starbucks products will no longer be used at government events and lamented the chain’s “anti-historical behavior.”

President Lee Jae Myung said on X last week that the campaign displayed “inhumane and disgraceful behavior by cheap profiteers who deny the values of the South Korean community, basic human rights and democracy.”

The crackdown in Gwangju came months after General Chun Doo-hwan seized power in a coup in late 1979. Government records show about 200 people died in Gwangju, but activists say the true death toll was much higher. Chun’s government also imprisoned tens of thousands, saying it was rooting out social evils.

Public anger over Chun’s dictatorship led to massive nationwide protests in 1987, forcing him to accept a constitutional revision introducing direct presidential elections, which is widely seen as the start of South Korea’s transition to democracy.

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According to federal court documents, the group is planning to use their money and homes as collateral.

Some of the names include Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, former Florida State Rep. Manuel Prieguez, and Monsignor Wilfredo Pena Moredo, a Catholic priest of 52 years.

Former FIU presidents Modesto “Mitch” Maidique and Mark Rosenberg are also among those offering help, along with Yvonne Soler McKinley, the former city manager of Doral and South Miami.

This comes as a jury convicted Rivera and political consultant Esther Nuhfer of illegally lobbying for the Venezuelan government.

The two were also convicted of failing to register as foreign agents and conspiring to commit money laundering involving a consulting contract with $50 million.

The jury found prosecutors proved the pair conspired to enrich themselves by trying to help Nicolas Maduro’s regime normalize U.S.-Venezuela relations.

Rivera is set to be sentenced on July 20.

Court documents:

David Rivera Doc on Bail by Chris Gothner

The operator of a 27-foot Robalo struck a docked 21-foot flats boat, a 21-foot Godfrey Pontoon, and hurt two people who were on the dock, according to FWC.

An EarthCam surveillance camera outside the 15th Street Fisheries restaurant recorded the crash.

Steve Messier and his son were among the visitors who spent Sunday at the 15th Street Fisheries, narrowly missing the danger.

The collision happened at the marina right behind the popular restaurant.

“We were right at the spot where the accident took place,” said Messier. “We feel very fortunate that we decided to leave about 10 minutes before that happened.”

The FWC is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash and the circumstances that led up to it.

Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai threw six spotless innings after walking three of the first four batters he faced Monday night. Steven Okert then got three outs before Alimber Santa made his major league debut and fired two perfect innings to complete the Astros' 17th regular-season no-hitter — four of them combined efforts — in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

“The first inning, you never thought that this was going to be the outcome of the game,” manager Joe Espada said. “Imai, he continued to compete. ... He continued to pound the zone, he fought through it. Six strong innings, and then the rest is history."

It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024. No pitcher has tossed a complete-game no-hitter since Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.

The 23-year-old Santa became the first pitcher since 1900 to participate in a no-hitter during his big league debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Yeah, there was some adrenaline,” Santa said through a translator. “I was aware of the no-hitter, but I was just trying to calm myself down from the bullpen.”

Ronel Blanco tossed the previous no-hitter for the Astros in a 10-0 victory over Toronto on April 1, 2024, which also marked Espada’s first win as manager. In fact, Houston has authored three of the past seven and five of the last 11 major league no-hitters — including one in the 2022 World Series when four pitchers combined against Philadelphia.

Okert worked the seventh after Imai got 16 outs over the last 16 batters he faced. He benefited from a double play in the first, then settled into a groove after issuing his third walk.

“During pregame, our focus was attacking the zone,” Imai said through a translator. “But in the first inning, I felt unbalanced, the timing was off. But after that inning, I was able to adjust the timing, all the rhythm and stuff.”

Santa entered in the eighth and retired all six batters he faced. His 24th pitch was a called third strike against Brandon Nimmo, ending the game with his first career strikeout. That was confirmed after an ABS challenge by Nimmo of the final pitch.

“I wasn't sure,” Santa said, but catcher Christian Vázquez was already on the mound telling him, “`Hey stud, that's a strike.'”

Texas was held without a hit for the sixth time, and third at home since moving into Globe Life Field in 2020. The previous one was Corey Kluber's no-hitter for the New York Yankees on May 19, 2021, about six weeks after San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove threw one in Texas for his hometown team on April 9.

These Rangers, hitting .232 with 201 runs through 53 games, have two of their best players on the injured list in two-time World Series MVP shortstop Corey Seager (lower back inflammation) and outfielder Wyatt Langford (right forearm strain). Plus, third baseman Josh Jung (.302 batting average) missed his second game in a row because of left shoulder soreness.

“When you get no-hit, it’s a team thing,” first-year Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “It’s not just the players who feel it, all of us feel it. ... I have to find different ways to message on the offensive side to get this team going, to get this offense going."

The Rangers struck out only four times, a night after whiffing 16 times in a 2-1 loss to the Angels.

Imai’s fourth walk was to Nimmo leading off the fourth inning, but Ezequiel Duran then grounded into a double play.

Imai (2-2) threw 57 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He struck out two.

The 28-year-old Imai, who said his only previous no-hitter came in middle school, is in his first big league season after coming over from Japan. He was 1-2 with an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts for Houston.

Imai agreed in January to a $54 million, three-year contract. He was a three-time All-Star during eight seasons in Japan, and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions.

Joc Pederson was retired on a nifty play in the third when Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña made a backhanded stop on a hard one-hopper and a twisting throw to first. Justin Foscue and Danny Jansen had deep flyouts into the left-center gap in the Texas fifth.

Okert walked Nimmo leading off the seventh before retiring the next three batters.

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

Utilityman Kiké Hernández made his season debut in a 5-3 win against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. He went 2 for 2 with an RBI double down the third base line while batting ninth and starting at third base in place of injured Max Muncy in the series opener. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh, when the Dodgers rallied with four runs to pull out their 18th comeback win.

“It was good to have him back,” manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s a lot of emotion and adrenaline and anticipation. That’s probably the thing you got to guard against, but he did a good job managing those emotions.”

Hernández, 34, missed the first 53 games of the season recovering from offseason elbow surgery.

“It’s fixed and I’m feeling pretty good right now,” he said in the dugout before the game.

Hernández will see playing time at second and third base and possibly relieve an outfielder at times. He'll also be available off the bench to pinch hit. Muncy is sidelined with a right wrist injury, but could return Wednesday.

Hernández had surgery to repair a torn muscle and torn extensor tendon in his left elbow during the offseason. The operation was done to fix an injury he originally suffered during the season and subsequently worsened.

“He’s a tough competitor, tough player,” Roberts said. “I don’t think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was.”

Despite the tear, Hernández gritted through the pain and helped the Dodgers win their second consecutive World Series. He appeared in all 17 playoff games, batting .250 with nine runs, one homer and seven RBIs. However, the extended play caused the tendon to detach from the bone, forcing him to undergo corrective surgery.

“It was a rough year,” he said. “The best description that I can put on it is every time I would get in my batting stance I would feel like I had a blowtorch on.”

After the World Series, an MRI revealed a lot of swelling and Hernández was left with the option of either rehab or having surgery. Not knowing what choice to make, he left the final decision to his family and his agent.

They reminded him that he'd try to play through a core injury for three years and ended up blowing out the other side of his body, leading to multiple surgeries. They urged him to make another trip to the operating room with Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“I woke up with ElAttrache telling me, ‘This is the worst injury I’ve ever seen of this kind and I don’t know how you played,’” he said. “I told him, ‘Thank you, I take it as a compliment.’”

In a post-surgery narcotic haze, Hernández FaceTimed with Andrew Friedman and urged ElAttrache to repeat to the president of baseball operations what he had just told his patient.

Before his phone was taken away, Hernández told Friedman: "I did this for you so you better bring me back.”

Hernández signed a $4.5 million, one-year contract in February to return for his 10th season with the Dodgers.

Because of the surgery and his recovery timeline, Hernández missed the World Baseball Classic for his native Puerto Rico.

“That hurt my soul a little more than I was in pain physically last year just because I’ve been dreaming about playing in the WBC in Puerto Rico since I was 13 years old and it kind of felt like it got taken away from me," he said. ”You got to find a way to look at positives in life. I was like, it would have sucked a lot more if we’d lost the World Series and I still didn’t get to play in the WBC. It was a fair trade."

Last October, Hernández became the franchise leader in postseason appearances with his 87th game. He ranks eighth all-time in major league history with 103 postseason games.

He's the fourth player of Puerto Rican descent with 100-plus career postseason appearances, joining Jorge Posada (125), Bernie Williams (121) and Yadier Molina (104).

“Doing that as a Latino is very important, especially in the city where there’s such a big Latino community and we’re living in some rough times,” he said. “Especially in this city, the last two years there’s been a lot of weird things going on, so I take the responsibility to not only represent this organization but the Latino community, the Puerto Rican community. It’s something that’s very touching to my heart.”

Starting the season on the IL was a blessing in disguise. Hernández was able to spend time with his son born in February and his daughter.

When he wasn't waking up in pain anymore, he realized he could be back at the end of his IL stint.

“It didn’t feel like I had to rush, it didn’t feel like I was going to lose my spot,” he said. “That was very key.”

He played in 12 rehab games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .214 with two doubles and three RBIs.

“I had lot of fun with those guys,” he said. “Now I'm back with my guys here and I'm ready to go.”

As the Dodgers chase a third consecutive World Series championship, Hernández will have his eye on his younger teammates when he's not cracking everyone up.

“I’m in charge of checking guys,” he said. “I think guys know if I’m on them, and I’m tough on them, it means I care a lot about them.”

To clear a spot for Hernández, utilityman Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment.

The 31-year-old former All-Star hit .220 with three doubles, one home run and four RBIs in 26 games for the Dodgers.

“I'll lob a call to him in the next couple days to thank him for everything he did for us,” Roberts said. “He was fantastic. Obviously, we had a tough decision to make. We were very forthright up front about the expectations. I think he respected that.”

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

Madison Square Garden, that is.

With New York one win from sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers and earning its first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, thousands of Knicks fans — and some of their well-heeled celebrity backers — descended upon Rocket Arena on Monday night.

Based on the decibel level and “Let's Go Knicks!” chants during pregame warmups, New York fans seemed to outnumber Clevelanders, who are holding out hope that the Cavs can somehow overcome an 0-3 deficit in the series. That's never happened in the NBA as teams are a collective 164-0 when leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

Among the New York A-list celebrities on hand were actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan and rappers along with former Knicks players Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Allan Houston.

The Cavs, who hosted pop music superstar Taylor Swift and her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in Game 3, were represented by rapper Machine Gun Kelly. Cleveland also brought back beloved guard Matthew Dellavedova, a member of its 2016 championship team for some karma.

Knicks fans were boisterous during New York's win in Game 3, and Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell lamented that was mostly because Cleveland gave its towel-waving crowd nothing to cheer about.

“I’m from New York, this doesn’t shock me. They do it in every arena,” Mitchell said. “That’s how Knicks fans are. I was one back in the day.”

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

La ministra francesa de Deportes, Marina Ferrari, publicó condolencias para los seres queridos de un corredor que murió el domingo en una carrera en París. El diario Le Parisien informó que el hombre, de 53 años, sufrió un infarto durante la competencia en el 20mo distrito de la capital, y que los bomberos no lograron reanimarlo.

Aún no se sabía si la causa de la muerte del corredor estuvo relacionada con el calor, pero Ferrari planteó un posible vínculo. Las temperaturas en París llegaron hasta los 32 grados Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) por la tarde.

“Los hechos ocurridos hoy (domingo) durante las carreras nos recuerdan que practicar deporte con calor extremo exige una vigilancia absoluta", manifestó Ferrari en una publicación en la red social X. "Mis pensamientos están con la familia y los seres queridos del corredor que murió en París, así como con las personas que fueron atendidas por los servicios de emergencia”.

En la ciudad suroriental de Lyon, el medio digital Actu Lyon informó el lunes de la muerte de una mujer que sufrió un golpe de calor allí durante otra competición deportiva, también el domingo.

El servicio meteorológico nacional, Meteo France, indicó que las temperaturas están batiendo récords para el mes de mayo, superando los 30 ºC (86 ºF) en muchas partes del país, y se prevé que continúen durante la semana.

El Reino Unido batió el lunes su récord de la temperatura más alta registrada en mayo, después de que se declarara una ola de calor en varias partes del país.

Residentes y turistas intentaron obtener alivio en playas y parques, y se pusieron a buscar sombra durante el feriado, mientras la temperatura alcanzaba los 34,8 ºC (94,6 ºF) en el Real Jardín Botánico de Kew, en el suroeste de Londres, superando el récord anterior de 32,8 ºC (91,4 ºF), establecido en 1922 e igualado de nuevo en 1944.

La Agencia de Seguridad Sanitaria del Reino Unido emitió su primera alerta sanitaria ámbar del año, advirtiendo de un aumento de muertes, particularmente entre los ancianos, en las horas más calurosas del día.

Los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos ocurren con mayor frecuencia a medida que aumenta el calentamiento global. Los expertos dicen que estos fenómenos, que en ocasiones suceden en épocas y lugares inusuales, ponen en peligro a un número creciente de personas.

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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.

And again.

Cowser hit a walk-off home run for the second consecutive day on Monday to complete the Baltimore Orioles’ 9-7, 13-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, one he said was one of his "favorite complete team wins.”

The fifth overall selection in the 2021 draft is hitting .333 with all three of his home runs over an eight-game stretch. The third homer, Monday’s two-run shot, followed Sunday’s three-run drive to decide a 5-3 victory over Detroit to open a split doubleheader.

He became Baltimore’s first player to hit walk-off homers on consecutive days since Fred Lynn on May 10-11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“It’s one of those things where … you get to see guys who are not getting the results they want, but the work they’re putting in and the collaboration with our hitting coaches, trying to problem solve an approach or a swing adjustment, a stance, whatever it is,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “To see it come through at the biggest moment on the biggest stage, against a really good team. Yeah, I couldn’t be happier, prouder for Colton.”

Cowser also made a pivotal head-first slide in the 12th inning for the Orioles, who rallied from two down in the 11th and 13th and one down in the 12th for their first victory in four tries against the AL-leading Rays.

Originally called out by plate umpire Ryan Additon, a successful replay challenge showed Cowser’s arm snuck beneath the tag of catcher Nick Fortes as he sprinted home on Gunnar Henderson’s grounder to first.

“I didn’t know where he tagged me,” Cowser said. “I just felt contact kind of on this arm. I didn’t know what it was. It turned out it was his leg.”

Cowser homered 24 times in 2024 and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year balloting, but followed that with a .196/.289/.385 slash line in 2025. Even after his recent uptick, he's posting similar .200/.287/.316 numbers in 2026 through Monday.

But his teammates think his holiday weekend could be the start of the return to the guy they knew two seasons ago.

“I mean, we all know what he’s capable of,” said O’s starter Kyle Bradish, who allowed a run in six innings long before the drama unfolded. “And I think he’s starting to get out of whatever he was in and starting to be the player that he is.”

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

An event held outside of the Miami Beach Police Department, featured a wreath-laying ceremony, a 21-gun salute and a performance by the Girl Scouts to honor the sacrifices of fallen veterans.

“I’m a veteran, but I think of the fallen on this day more than anyone else, because it’s their day,” participant David Patlak said. “It’s the day to remember.”

The event was a reminder that despite being a global destination, Miami Beach is also a small, tight-knit community.

Elsewhere, Fort Lauderdale saw a three-mile march with flags representing military branches, with some carrying ruck packs symbolizing the weight of loss.

Pembroke Pines held a ceremony at Fletcher Park, named after the city’s first resident killed in the Vietnam War. A Margate ceremony included first responders.

In the Florida Keys, a saxophonist marked the start of the Memorial Day Murph on Big Pine Key.

In Key Largo, firefighters gathered in solidarity and displayed an American flag from ladder truck 25 along the Overseas Highway.

There was also a ceremony at Naval Air Station Key West.

Se prevé que los recursos se destinen a empresas que apoyen el turismo sostenible, mejoren la infraestructura en la Amazonía y amplíen la “bioeconomía”, la así llamada actividad económica basada en recursos naturales que preserva el bosque.

El modelo utiliza un enfoque de financiación combinada, en el que el Tesoro Nacional presta fondos a los bancos a una tasa anual del 1%. A cambio, los bancos deben movilizar al menos cuatro veces ese monto en inversión privada, con inversionistas extranjeros que representen al menos el 60%. Hasta ahora, el programa ha comprometido 140.000 millones de reales (28.000 millones de dólares) en recursos públicos y privados en total.

El Tesoro Nacional asignó 3.100 millones de reales (617,5 millones de dólares) el lunes, y ocho bancos comprometieron otros 10.100 millones de reales (2.000 millones de dólares) en la subasta más reciente del programa Eco Invest, informó el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.

Carina Pimenta, secretaria nacional de Bioeconomía en el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Cambio Climático, señaló que el crédito podría respaldar a cooperativas que generan productos amazónicos como el açaí y las nueces de Brasil, así como infraestructura turística en áreas de conservación.

La Amazonía, la selva tropical más grande del mundo, desempeña un papel crucial en la regulación del clima global. Brasil alberga más del 60% del bosque, gran parte del cual se extiende por algunos de los estados más pobres del país. Los proyectos en la región suelen ser costosos y riesgosos para los inversionistas. El gobierno del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva diseñó el programa Eco Invest, lanzado en 2024, para reducir ese riesgo ofreciendo garantías.

João Paulo Capobianco, ministro de Medio Ambiente de Brasil, afirmó que Eco Invest respalda el camino del país sudamericano hacia la neutralidad de carbono para 2050, mediante la creación de incentivos financieros para actividades económicas en la Amazonía que no dependan de la deforestación. Si bien la expansión agrícola ha sido históricamente un fuerte motor de la deforestación, Capobianco sostuvo que, desde 2023, Brasil ha reducido la pérdida de bosques sin comprometer la productividad.

El anuncio de inversión llega después de una semana de reveses para la política ambiental brasileña.

La semana pasada, la Cámara de Diputados —conservadora en su mayor parte y alineada con los intereses del sector agropecuario— aprobó proyectos de ley tramitados por la vía rápida que debilitan los empeños para combatir los delitos ambientales, incluido uno que dificulta la aplicación de medidas contra la deforestación ilegal basándose únicamente en la vigilancia por satélite.

Esa política ha sido un pilar de la fiscalización ambiental de Brasil y, según el Instituto Brasileño del Medio Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales Renovables (IBAMA, por sus siglas en portugués), ayudó a impulsar una caída de aproximadamente el 50% en la deforestación en la Amazonía desde 2023.

Aún falta que el Senado apruebe las medidas y que Lula les dé el visto bueno, pero han generado preocupación entre ambientalistas.

“Al debilitar las herramientas de supervisión, la protección territorial y la gobernanza ambiental, las medidas reducen la capacidad del Estado brasileño para prevenir, controlar y responder a los impactos económicos, sociales y climáticos del cambio climático”, manifestó en un comunicado el Observatorio del Clima, una red de asociaciones ambientalistas no gubernamentales.

Capobianco indicó que, aunque iniciativas de este tipo en el Congreso pueden generar dudas sobre las políticas ambientales de Brasil, el país sigue comprometido a mantenerse encarrilado con el cumplimiento de sus promesas climáticas.

“Mostraremos que Brasil sigue en un camino de control y reducción de la deforestación”, expresó.

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La cobertura climática y ambiental de The Associated Press recibe apoyo financiero de múltiples fundaciones privadas. La AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido. Consulte los estándares de la AP para trabajar con filantropías, una lista de patrocinadores y las áreas de cobertura financiadas en AP.org.

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

Tuesday will offer a sun/cloud mix with the chance for sporadic, passing showers, particularly during the morning or evening. The day will be a tad breezy with southeast winds sustained 10 to 15 mph, gusts to 25 mph. The rip current risk remains high and a small craft advisory stays in place. Seasonable temperatures can be expected with highs forecast to reach the upper 80s.

And the events of Sunday and Monday surely add at least a bit of intrigue to Argentina’s plans.

Messi underwent testing on Monday — which almost certainly means an MRI exam, though the team did not divulge what procedures were involved — and was ultimately diagnosed with “an overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring” that kept him from finishing Inter Miami’s match on Sunday night.

Typically, the timeframe for recovery from such issues is varied depending on the severity.

“The timeline for his return to physical activity will depend on his clinical and functional progress,” Inter Miami said in a release.

Messi was subbed out of Inter Miami’s match against the Philadelphia Union in the 73rd minute on Sunday. He essentially stopped playing a couple of minutes earlier and was seen grabbing at the back of his left leg at least once before he could be removed for a sub.

Messi walked off the field without any assistance and went directly to the team’s locker room. Inter Miami, the defending MLS champion, won the game 6-4 and Messi had a pair of assists in the first half.

Heavy rain fell during the second half, leaving the field slippery. It was unknown if Messi took a misstep at any point during the storm or if the conditions were involved in the decision for him to leave the match. All the team said Monday was he was subbed out because of “physical discomfort.”

Argentina has a pair of friendlies scheduled in advance of the World Cup, first on June 6 in College Station, Texas, against Honduras and then on June 9 in Auburn, Alabama, against Iceland. Those games will be played in college football stadiums — the home fields of Texas A&M and Auburn — with a combined capacity of about 180,000.

Argentina is in Group J for the World Cup. Its group stage matches: Algeria, at Kansas City, on June 16; Austria, at Arlington, Texas, on June 22; and Jordan, back in Arlington, on June 27.

Messi has already appeared in five World Cups, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player twice — first in 2014, then again in 2022 when he led Argentina to the title. That award has been given out only since 1982, but he is the lone player to win it twice.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

As seen from Sky 10, large amounts of the brown seaweed has washed up along the shores of Hollywood Beach and Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Crews come to the beach every morning to clean it up.

Officials said this year could be a record year for the amount that shows up.

Sargassum lives in the ocean and is vital for marine life, but when it washes up on shore, it dries and has an incredibly bad odor.

It’s an issue for tourism and cities and towns who have to pay to clean it up.

While the holiday weekend may not be the best timing, it’s something locals know they need to get used to, as the seaweed will be around through the fall.

Cowser's 425-foot blast off Jesse Scholtens (5-3) was just his third homer of the season and punctuated a wild victory in which the Orioles rallied three times in extra innings. Cowser becomes Baltimore’s first player to hit walk-off homers on consecutive days since Fred Lynn on May 10-11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Pete Alonso and Jeremiah Jackson each singled in a run to tie it at 4-all in the 11th. Cowser scored the game-tying run to make it 5-all in the 12th on Gunnar Henderson's grounder to first, a sequence originally called an out by plate umpire Ryan Additon before a replay challenge showed the sliding Cowser snuck an arm under Nick Fortes’ tag.

Then, Leody Taveras doubled and Jackson Holliday hit a sacrifice fly to tie it a 7 in the 13th, setting up Cowser's drive that landed in the seats in right-center, mirroring his game-winning homer in Sunday's 5-3 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader.

Jonathan Aranda hit his ninth home run in the sixth and added a sacrifice fly in the 12th for the Rays, who lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping three straight April 19-21 in their second 13-inning game — and first such loss —this season.

Victor Mesa Jr. hit his second career home run, a two-run shot in the 12th inning of his Tampa Bay debut. And, Cedric Mullins and Richie Palacios each singled in the top of the 13th off Dietrich Enns (3-0).

Mullins received an approximately 10-second standing ovation while in the on-deck circle in the second inning. It was his first game in Baltimore as visitor after playing with the Orioles from 2018-25.

Up next

Orioles right-hander Shane Baz (1-5, 4.87 ERA) face Rays RHP Griffin Jax (1-2, 3.54) on Tuesday.

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

Or, at least, will have a highly limited MacKinnon, which was what he was after taking a puck to his right knee in Sunday night's 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

It's been that kind of series for the Avalanche, the Presidents' Trophy winners going down 3-0 in the Western Conference Final. With the possibility of being swept Tuesday night, coach Jared Bednar will take MacKinnon in any form he can get him.

“For him to be able to come back out, get some work done late in the second period and intermission and be able to come out and even help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that’s all he can do, we’ll take it," Bednar said. "It’s better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice.”

That comment could get plenty of attention in the Avalanche locker room, but as it is, the Golden Knights have Colorado's full focus.

The odds might have been in the Avalanche's favor before the series began — the team with the league's best record going against one so desperate to make the playoffs that it fired its coach with eight games remaining — but not now.

The numbers, in fact, are daunting.

This is the 50th time in the conference finals or league semifinals that a series has gone to 3-0. All previous 49 teams with that advantage went on to make the Stanley Cup Final, with 47 ending the series in six games or fewer.

Only four teams have erased 3-0 deficits in any round. Los Angeles in 2014 was the most recent team to accomplish that in eliminating San Jose in their first-round series.

And then there's the so-called Presidents' Trophy curse. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim that and the Stanley Cup in the same season. Colorado already had firsthand knowledge of the difficulty of pulling off the double, winning the Presidents' Trophy in the 2021 COVID-shortened season before going out in six games in the second round ... to the Golden Knights.

“There’s going to be a sense of urgency, but it’s got to be smart urgency,” defenseman Josh Manson said. "It’s got to be desperation. It’s got to be our best style of play the whole night. You’ve got to maintain that sense of do or die, while playing up to the edge. That’s what makes it so difficult.

“The margin of error is so thin now, and you’ve got to be able to balance that for at least 12 periods.”

It will take at least that many periods for the Avalanche to accomplish what no other team has done this deep into the playoffs. They will have to play like the team that looked like the NHL's best for six months and then the first two rounds of the playoffs when they went 8-1.

“We know where we’re at,” wing Martin Necas said. “We know it doesn’t happen very often, but we still feel confident in this group. It’s not like we’ve been outplayed every game and their team is better than ours. We had a lot of stretches this season where we won four in a row. So we just focus on the next game and take it home and anything can happen.”

Getting it back to Denver for Game 5 would be a start.

“Our team's played with more intensity and more desperation as the series (has) gone on,” Bednar said. "Hasn’t worked out for us yet. I think with the hill to climb, it’s definitely a tough one. It just doesn’t happen very often, and we’re certainly understanding of that, but I think we have a lot of pride and a lot of character in our room that displayed that time over time throughout the course of the year,

"This will be our most difficult challenge, but I believe that we will show up and we will be ready to play.”

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

More than one-third of all shark species are threatened with extinction.

“Great hammerheads are definitely a species that we’re really concerned with, and the reason that they have done poorly compared to some other sharks is that they are very sensitive to stress,” said Yannis Papastamatiou, a professor of biological sciences at FIU.

Papastamatiou is part of a team researching the life patterns of this elusive shark that we still know so little about.

It is illegal to kill the shark in state waters, but even catch-and-release is a death sentence for the powerful but delicate fish.

“If we could understand how shark behavior changes with temperature, then maybe we could predict where they are going to go as the temperatures change due to changing climates,” Papastamatiou said.

Most cold-blooded predators slow down when ocean temperatures shift. For some reason, hammeheads do not.

“The great hammerheads are a critically endangered species and understanding their thermal tolerance, their temperature tolerance, their preferred temperature is a really important element of trying to protect them in the future,” said Erin Spencer, an expert on hammerheads.

Spencer, who earned a doctorate, focused her dissertation on the sharks maintaining peak hunting performance of fast-moving prey like tarpon in the Summer and blacktip sharks in the Winter.

Meaning, this top predator has an edge over other species in tolerating changing climates.

“We get really a ton of data on the behavior of the animals in the wild, both what habitats they are using, how deep they are, and then how they are behaving in those habitats. How active are they? How fast are they swimming? And then from this, we can also then say, how does their behavior change based on what the water temperature is,” Spencer said.

For the study, researchers tagged hammerheads with bio markers similar to a FitBit.

“We have been using this clamp system, and basically our tag with the speed sensors can fit,” Spencer said.

After a few days, a portion of it dissolves and the tag floats to the surface to be retrieved. The clamp falls off the fin. The data stored is downloaded.

The research showed the hammerheads performed well in waters as warm as 93 degrees and as cold as 62 degrees, but the sweet spot was about 85 degrees.

“Understanding more about these animals and how they move and how they behave is power in designing ways to protect them that are going to be really effective,” Spencer said.

It’s unclear how many great hammerheads swim in our waters, but studies like this aim to understand and protect them.

“We can coexist with these predators,” Spencer said. “I think we still have got some ways to go, but I do have hope, compared to what things might have been like 20 to 30 years ago.”

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Online jail records show Detric McClary, 24, was arrested in Broward on charges of resisting an officer, fleeing and eluding at high speed, trespassing at an occupied structure, and two counts of probation violation.

Police said additional charges are pending from the Pinecrest Police Department.

Surveillance footage obtained by Local 10 News shows a burglary crew targeting vehicles in Pinecrest before a police officer caught on, leading to a chase that would ultimately end with the suspects crashing in Broward County.

The footage captured the burglars attempting to steal from outside of a home on Southwest 66th Avenue at around 2 a.m. Sunday.

The suspects were dressed in black and donned ski masks and could be seen moving from car-to-car in search of valuables.

“It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” neighbor Dave Auslander said. “We always feel safe here, but as I think any of us in this country have learned, any bad stuff can happen anywhere.”

A Pinecrest police officer eventually noticed a BMW parked on the wrong side of the road.

As the officer approached, the suspects quickly returned to the car and intentionally backed into the officer’s cruiser, damaging it before speeding off, authorities said.

Pinecrest police pursued the crew until they lost sight of them. The group would ultimately crash in the area of Interstate 95 and Griffin Road.

Jail records show Hollywood police detained McClary, but the remaining suspects managed to escape.

Authorities said they’ve identified the BMW’s owner, but said he or she has not cooperated with the investigation.

Pinecrest police said the case serves as a good reminder to residents to lock their vehicles, remove valuables from sight, and to install security cameras.

As of Monday evening, McClary remained held at the Broward County Main jail.

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It happened on Saturday around 5:23 a.m. in the area of 79th Street and Byron Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach.

Police said the driver remained at the scene following the crash.

Loved ones said the victim, Abraham Fernandez, was heading to work after being called in on his day off.

He lived just three blocks away from his workplace, family members said.

“We are still in that stage that you don’t feel like it happened,” said family friend Marta Lorenzo.

It’s an extremely tough time for his family, as Fernandez’s mother is currently battling cancer in Spain and his father is dealing with health problems as well.

His father did not want to let him go.

“Yesterday, the doctors came to the room, and they said when are we going to let him go, and the dad did not want to disconnect the machine. He said can we wait two more hours, and then after two more hours they came in, (and he asked) can we wait another hour,” said Lorenzo.

“He cooked for his father, he was happy, music on the whole time,” added Lorenzo. “He loved music, he composed music.”

At the scene of the crash, Fernandez’s uncle paced back and forth while his girlfriend remembered the last thing he told her.

“He gave me a kiss, he told me he loves me and I told him, ‘Please be careful’ and 15 minutes later he was dead,” said Jara Bardaji.

A GoFundMe page was created to help loved ones with expenses.

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Shaiekh, 34, who was born in Bangladesh, had finished work at Miami International Airport when a driver struck him in Little Havana.

Shaiekh’s sister Faeza Tajkea said she received an emergency notification from her brother’s phone after the crash in the 300 block of Southwest 10th Avenue.

“I was thinking something bad happened. It was like an instinct,” Tajkea said on Monday. “I called, and somebody picked up the call, and she told us there was an accident.”

Tajkea said that when she got to the scene of the car crash, her brother’s body was still inside his blue Camry. The investigation was ongoing on Monday.

“I don’t know how I can see his last face, I don’t know. He was my loving brother,” Tajkea said. “He was my heart.”

Family’s fundraiser

El incidente ocurrió el sábado alrededor de las 5:23 a.m. en el área de 79th Street y Byron Avenue, en el vecindario de North Beach en Miami Beach.

La policía dijo que el conductor permaneció en el lugar tras el choque.

Seres queridos dijeron que la víctima, Abraham Fernandez, se dirigía al trabajo tras ser llamado en su día libre.

Vivía a solo tres cuadras de su lugar de trabajo, dijeron familiares.

“Todavía estamos en esa etapa en la que no sientes que ocurrió”, dijo la amiga de la familia Marta Lorenzo.

Es un momento extremadamente difícil para su familia, ya que la madre de Fernandez está actualmente luchando contra el cáncer en España y su padre también enfrenta problemas de salud.

Su padre no quería dejarlo ir.

“Ayer vinieron los médicos a la habitación y preguntaron cuándo lo íbamos a dejar ir, y el papá no quería desconectar la máquina. Dijo, ¿podemos esperar dos horas más?, y después de dos horas más volvieron, y él preguntó, ¿podemos esperar otra hora?”, dijo Lorenzo.

“Le cocinaba a su papá, era feliz, con música todo el tiempo”, agregó Lorenzo. “Amaba la música, componía música.”

En el lugar del accidente, el tío de Fernandez caminaba de un lado a otro mientras su novia recordaba lo último que él le dijo.

“Me dio un beso, me dijo que me amaba y yo le dije, ‘Por favor ten cuidado’, y 15 minutos después estaba muerto”, dijo Jara Bardaji.

Se creó una página de GoFundMe para ayudar a los seres queridos con los gastos.

Shaiekh, de 34 años, nacido en Bangladesh, había terminado su turno en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami cuando un conductor lo impactó en Little Havana.

La hermana de Shaiekh, Faeza Tajkea, dijo que recibió una notificación de emergencia del teléfono de su hermano tras el choque en el bloque 300 de Southwest 10th Avenue.

“Pensé que algo malo había pasado. Fue como un instinto”, dijo Tajkea el lunes. “Llamé, alguien contestó y nos dijo que había habido un accidente.”

Tajkea dijo que cuando llegó al lugar del accidente, el cuerpo de su hermano seguía dentro de su Camry azul. La investigación continuaba en curso el lunes.

“No sé cómo voy a poder ver su última cara, no sé. Era mi hermano querido”, dijo Tajkea. “Era mi corazón.”

Dona a su familia

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Nina’s mother, Monica Villarruel, said her daughter’s organs were donated and that now Nina “will continue to live through other people.”

“Nina was our miracle even before she was born,” Villarruel said in a statement to Local 10 News. “After we were told that we would not be able to have children, God blessed us with her naturally; from the very first moment, she filled our lives with love, light, and hope. She was a beautiful, sweet, and truly special baby; her smile lit up every room, and her bright eyes captivated everyone who met her. Two weeks ago, our family endured a tragedy that changed our lives forever: in an accident, we lost my mother and my aunt, and—after a fierce two-week battle—our little Nina departed for heaven. Amidst the greatest sorrow we have ever known, we made the decision to donate her organs, for we felt deep in our hearts that Nina’s purpose was to continue giving love and life to others. We want her legacy to be a message of faith, hope, and unity—a reminder for people to embrace their loved ones more often, to cherish every moment, and never to lose faith in God. Today, we believe that Nina is in heaven alongside her grandmother and her aunt, having become an angel who will continue to work miracles in the lives of many families."

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash occurred late in the morning of May 10 along the westbound lanes of I-75 to the west of Indian Trade Road.

A woman identified as Cira Quinones Lewis, 60, was driving a black Ford Fiesta and was there to assist her son, whose vehicle had become disabled on the side of the road due to a flat tire, according to her arrest report.

Troopers said Lewis came to a stop in the outside lane of I-75, which caused a pileup after the vehicle behind her stopped, but the vehicle behind that one did not.

While Nina was initially hospitalized after the crash, Villarruel’s mother and aunt died at the scene.

“They were exceptional women,” Villarruel said. “My aunt was a teacher in Ecuador. She loved the kids. These last few weeks I spent with them, we were very happy with them. They played with my baby a lot. My mom, the same.”

Lewis was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended license and failing to return driver’s license or register with insurance company. She is being jailed at a facility in Louisiana on an immigration hold.

Nina’s family has started a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs.

Misiorowski threw 57 pitches at least 100 mph — the most by any individual in a game since pitch tracking began in 2008 — while getting 12 strikeouts to match his career high Monday in a 5-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“That's what I do,” Misiorowski said. “I throw hard.”

The previous record for 100 mph pitches in a game was 47 by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene against St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2022.

Misiorowski reached 101 mph on 40 of his 96 pitches. He got to 102 mph on 22 pitches and had nine of at least 103. His top velocity was 103.4 mph, which he reached three times.

Nine of his strikeouts came on pitches that reached 100 mph, tying the record Greene set in that 2022 game against the Cardinals.

Misiorowski (5-2) allowed two hits and one walk in seven innings while improving his ERA to 1.83.

“Magnificent,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “One of the best performances I've seen in a long time.”

Yet it wasn't much different from all of the 24-year-old's other recent efforts.

In five starts this month, Misiorowski has allowed just one run and 11 hits while striking out 49 and walking six over 31 1/3 innings. When the Cardinals scored their lone run in the sixth, it snapped Misiorowski's streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 29 1/3.

That represented the third-longest streak of shutout innings in Brewers history. Teddy Higuera had 32 straight scoreless innings in 1987 and Freddy Peralta had 30 last year.

Misiorowski hasn't allowed an extra-base hit in six straight starts since giving up a double to Miami's Kyle Stowers on April 19.

“For him, I think the biggest thing is throwing strikes, and he's doing that,” Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn said. “That fastball's probably the best in the game. It's awesome to watch.”

Indeed, Misiorowski's control is one of the biggest ways in which he has improved since going 5-3 with a 4.36 ERA as a rookie last season.

Misiorowski had 87 strikeouts and 31 walks in 66 innings last year. This season, he's walked 19 in 64 innings while getting a major league-leading 100 strikeouts.

He started Monday's game by walking JJ Wetherholt on a 3-2 pitch inside before retiring the next 15 batters he faced. The Cardinals didn't get a hit until Pedro Pagés delivered a bloop single to lead off the sixth.

Misiorowski ended up allowing a run in the sixth, then came back out in the seventh and retired the side in order. He ended his day with a strikeout of Masyn Winn in which six of the seven pitches he threw exceeded 100 mph.

“It was just one of those things you go in the dugout, they tell you the inning before, ‘Hey, this is it. Go get it,’” Misiorowski said. “And kind of trust that the bullpen's going to have your back behind you.”

Misiorowski also has greater endurance from the conditioning work he did in the offseason. Murphy noted that it's about more than just arm strength.

“You can tell all those young pitchers out there, you have to have a lower half,” Murphy said. “He’s put together a great lower half.”

Misiorowski said working on his lower half was a focus in the offseason. The results are apparent in the way he's working deeper into games while maintaining his status as the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in the majors.

According to MLB.com, Misiorowski has thrown 22 career pitches of at least 103 mph as a starter, including in the postseason. No other starting pitcher has thrown more than two pitches 103 mph or faster during the pitch-tracking era.

No wonder Misiorowski said he wasn't taken aback Monday when each of his first six pitches went at least 103 mph.

“I feel like that’s how it should be every day," Misiorowski said. “I feel like that’s where I’m at. I feel like that’s just my normal.”

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

Netanyahu's warning came as Hezbollah has been firing fiber optic drones — a weapon used widely in the war in Ukraine — at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel in recent weeks.

“We will hit them. It’s true that they are shooting drones at us, fiber optic drones. We have a special team working on that and we will solve that too,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media. “What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh.”

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that after Netanyahu's post, some residents started leaving Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah has large presence. The agency also said several airstrikes hit the eastern town of Mashghara in the Bekaa region on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said that it carried out eight attacks earlier in the day, including a drone attack on Israeli troops in Misgav Am in northern Israel.

The daily attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have been ongoing despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in place since April 17.

A U.S. State Department official said earlier on Monday that Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum. The official, who was not authorized to talk to the media and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians.

Since the ceasefire went into effect, Hezbollah has fired over a thousand drones and over 700 rockets to try and derail ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, the official said, adding that “the status quo is untenable.”

Last month, Lebanon and Israel began their first direct talks in more than three decades with meetings held in Washington. Lebanese and Israeli military officials are to meet again on Friday, at the Pentagon, to discuss the ceasefire. Israel and the United States are seeking to have Hezbollah disarmed.

The State Department official said the direct Lebanon-Israel talks and the implication that Lebanon stands to get significant support from the U.S. is a threat to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, along with a challenge to its narrative of resistance against Israel.

“A successful ceasefire led by the government of Lebanon would strip Hezbollah of their power and their narrative,” the official said.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Kfar Rumman killed four people and wounded three, the Lebanese NNA reported. It said Israeli drone strikes on other parts in the south — including one on a road near the municipality of Kfar Rumman — killed three people.

The Israel military said that throughout the day, it struck more than 70 Hezbollah infrastructure sites.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel began their attacks on Iran.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Also, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

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Lee reported from New Delhi. Associated Press journalists Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel contributed to this report.

Judge José Antonio Núñez, in his decision, considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor's mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.

“It seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and at the same time exempt him from punishment. The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one,” explained Núñez.

The judge justified the judicial pardon as a “logical and legal reasoning.”

“Thank God for everything,” Franco expressed as he effusively embraced his mother, Nancy Aybar, and other family members who accompanied him in court.

Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

After the ruling, Franco left the courthouse alongside his lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, and briefly answered reporters’ questions, saying, “I feel calm,” and asking his fans to “continue supporting me and trusting in me.”

Franco also said he personally had not contacted the Rays but that his lawyers surely had.

“We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,” Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Franco attorney Jáquez said: “We don’t have the physical sentence in our hands, but he was exempted from punishment because the president of the court established that he was also a victim and because he is exempted from punishment through judicial pardon."

The full sentencing will be June 16.

“When we have the full sentence in hand, we will give you more details," Jáquez said. "He was exempted from punishment and we think that’s fine, but we need to have the sentence in hand.

In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Rays, but his career was upended when authorities in the Dominican Republic announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.

Six months after his arrest, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.

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

The 25-year-old U.S. Army soldier assumed a second fighting position during heavy enemy fire on Oct. 4, 2017, near the village of Tongo Tongo in southwest Niger, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Johnson, a wheeled vehicle mechanic on patrol with the 3rd Special Forces Group, took cover behind thick brush, continuing to fight under enemy fire from a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun, according to DOD.

“Courage and dedication to his team were unmatched, engaging a numerically superior hostile force, disrupting the enemy’s freedom of movement, and killing several enemy fighters before succumbing to his wounds,” his Silver Star citation reads.

Johnson died of combat-related wounds in the ambush that also killed Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright.

Johnson’s body was recovered on Oct. 6, 2017, and he was buried on Oct. 21, 2017, at Hollywood Memorial Gardens. He was survived by his wife, Myeshia Manual, and their three children, Ah’Leesya, LaDavid Jr., and La’Shee.

Johnson, a Miami Carol City Senior High School graduate, also known as “Wheelie King 305,” was a member of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project and graduated from the ATI Career Training Center.

Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2014. His awards include the Silver Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Parachutist Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.

“Memorial Day weekend is really hard for our family, but I thank God for the city of Miami Gardens for honoring him every year since he passed,” said Cowanda Jones-Johnson, the aunt who raised him after his biological mother, Samara Johnson, died in 1999.

For eight years, the city has hosted a Memorial Day breakfast in Johnson’s honor. This year, Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris held it at the city’s Senior Family Center, at 18330 NW 12th Ave.

“Memorial Day weekend itself is hard for me because a lot of people don’t really understand what this day really is, so with Miami Gardens doing it, I’m trying to be able to let the youth know, understand what they’re celebrating because a lot of us don’t know,” Jones-Johnson said. “I didn’t know what it was until my son passed away.”

The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. for a moment of silence.

More on Memorial Day

• Military veterans join Memorial Day ruck march in Fort Lauderdale Beach
• ‘It’s their day’: Miami Beach honors fallen veterans on Memorial Day
• Oldest Pearl Harbor survivor is keeping the memory of the surprise bombing alive at 106
• The origins of Memorial Day and how it has evolved
• In ‘Pressure,’ the story of the meteorologist who helped save D-Day

Early voting for Colombian registered voters in Florida is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Saturday at the Coral Gables Museum at 285 Aragon Ave.

On Sunday, Colombia’s election day, the Colombian consulate, at 280 Aragon Ave., in Coral Gables, and six other assigned precincts will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Florida.

Related report: Drone attacks raise fears as Colombians vote to elect a new president

It’s a contested election. At the lead, according to recent polls in Colombia, are Iván Cepeda, the leftist who has President Gustavo Petro’s support, and Abelardo de la Espriella, the right-wing frontrunner.

Paloma Valencia, who has the support of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe in her aim to become the first woman president, and nine other candidates are also on the ballot.

Related video (Spanish): María Corina Machado se reúne con Valencia y María Claudia Tarazona

ELECTION DAY PRECINCTS

There are two other precincts in Miami-Dade County: The Miami Dade College Kendall Campus’s gymnasium at 11011 SW 104 St., and the Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment, at 4800 Palm Ave., in Hialeah.

There are two precincts in Broward County: Cypress Bay High School’s gymnasium at 18600 Vista Park Boulevard, in Weston, and Coral Springs High School at 7201 West Sample Road.

There are also precincts at Palm Beach State College’s Public Safety Conference Center at 4200 S Congress Ave., in Lake Worth Beach, and at the Hilton Garden Inn at 8270 North Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota.

For information about a voter’s assigned precinct in Florida, Colombia has a national database online.

The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. After a long run at a convention center in suburban Maryland, the bee returns to the nation's capital this year at Constitution Hall, a few blocks from the White House.

Another change for this year: ESPN NFL analyst and recent “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champion Mina Kimes has joined the bee as its television host.

This is the 98th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s champion will be the 111th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019.

Thirty of the past 36 champions have been of Indian heritage, including last year’s winner, Faizan Zaki.

How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company.

On Tuesday, preliminary rounds will stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.

Wednesday's quarterfinals will stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and semifinals can be watched on those platforms from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tape-delayed semifinals will be broadcast on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Finals will be broadcast Thursday on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The semifinals and finals will also air or be streamed on these Scripps-owned channels or services: ION Plus, Bounce, Grit, Laff, The Spot, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network.

What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country. In order to compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15.

Competitors must get through two preliminary rounds, where they are quizzed on words from a list provided in advance. There is one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round.

Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The words for the test, and for all subsequent rounds, are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary.

Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions.

About a dozen spellers advance to the finals. When only two remain, Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a “spell-off” to determine the champion.

Who is competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

This year's bee has 247 spellers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and five other countries: The Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The top returning finisher from 2025 is Sarv Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, who finished third last year as an 11-year-old fifth-grader. Even if he falls short this year, he has two years of eligibility left.

Other possible contenders:

— Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, who finished third in 2024. He has dominated the bee circuit in the past year, winning the South Asian Spelling Bee, the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee and the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee.

— Oliver Halkett, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Los Angeles who finished in a tie for seventh last year.

— Esha Marupudi, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Chandler, Arizona, who also tied for seventh last year.

What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion?

The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts:

— First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, a custom trophy and commemorative medal, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.

— Second place: $25,000.

— Third place: $15,000.

— Fourth place: $10,000.

— Fifth place: $5,000.

— Sixth place: $2,500.

— All other finalists: $2,000.

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Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.

After gulping the traditional swig of milk and dumping the rest over his head Sunday, the winner of the closest race in Indy 500 history started making the winner's rounds. He spent two hours answering questions in his fire suit before heading to another photo shoot. Then there was a short celebratory night before hitting the early morning television shows, enduring additional photo shoots and, yes, Monday night's annual postrace dinner where he'll find out how much money he won.

Never mind that there's another race next weekend in Detroit.

But the 34-year-old Swede who endured so much heartbreak at Indianapolis and in IndyCars wasn't about to start complaining. No, he was too busy savoring the spoils of victory.

“I can sit here for 24 hours and do this, whatever you want,” Rosenqvist said with a smile. “It's funny, someone asked me to sign their beer bottle a minute ago and writing Indy 500 winner was like, it kind of struck me that I've done it. I still feel like it's a dream. I feel like I could wake up at any point and it's like, ‘Oh, it’s race day, we haven't run yet.' I still hope I don't wake up.”

Rosenqvist probably didn't get much shut-eye Sunday night and not just because his newborn daughter, Stella, is less than a month old.

This was the moment Rosenqvist's family dreamt about from the moment it started scraping together money for his karting career.

While he barely remembers the effervescent, guitar-playing Kenny Brack becoming the first Swede to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” back in 1999, he does remember his father telling him how great Brack was and how great a victory it was for the country.

Twenty-three years later, Marcus Ericsson replicated Brack's feat on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. Ericsson celebrated his 500 win by taking the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy on tour across his home country, which has a population of less than 11 million.

The Meyer Shank Racing driver isn't sure if that will be in the plans this time, but he was grateful for Ericsson welcoming him to the club.

“I'm pretty proud to be one of three Swedish (winners), which is a pretty small nation in the grand scheme of things, to have won the biggest race in the world,” he said. “(Marcus) came up to me when we were drinking the milk in victory circle and he said I earned it, that I deserved it. That meant a lot to me.”

Rosenqvist certainly earned his place in history with his unforgettably daring move — hurtling down the front straightaway behind David Malukas on the final lap, making a perfectly timed swing outside, catching a tow and edging his car across the yard of bricks, barely ahead of Malukas.

The victory margin of 0.0233 seconds was even smaller than Al Unser Jr.'s 0.043-second victory over Scott Goodyear in 1992, and even in the moment, Rosenqvist understood the significance of what happened.

“I thought I was second, to be honest. I was like, this is — this sucks, now we’re second in the 500,” said Rosenqvist, who made his fifth straight start in the top nine and placed fourth twice in the previous four years. “I thought I didn’t have it, and then I shifted up, and it was just kind of sucking up to David, and it was just enough to get me over the finish line, half a foot ahead of him. You can’t even dream up that stuff. It was just so cool. I’ll watch it a million times.”

But before Rosenqvist became a winner here, he was there in the shoes of Malukas and Pato O'Ward — two-time Indy runner-ups who have been unable to bask in their own milk bath. Rosenqvist's advice: Never give up.

“That's what I've done,” he said. “If you're knocking on the door, it will happen.”

This year, it did thanks in part to this first-time father understanding that there's more to life than racing. His wife, Emille, and his new daughter helped him learn that lesson heading into the biggest race of the IndyCar season, and one day, when old enough, Stella will see her father's image on the trophy and understand what he did and how she helped.

And, to Rosenqvist, that will be the sweetest victory of all.

“It's funny because if you go to our house, we don't have any pictures of racing, you wouldn't know I'm a race car driver because I tried to separate work and home,” he said. “But I think, yeah, this kind of changes that. I hope she'll be proud of it, and for her to be our little lucky charm for the rest of her life.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

El portavoz del BSO, Carey Codd, dijo que el apuñalamiento ocurrió poco después de las 6:15 a.m. en el bloque 1900 de Northwest 24th Street.

Codd dijo que los paramédicos encontraron a un hombre con heridas de arma blanca y lo trasladaron a un hospital cercano. Se espera que sobreviva.

Por su parte, Codd dijo que los agentes arrestaron a una mujer de 25 años, identificada como Dellisha Guadalupe, por cargo de intento de asesinato.

Las autoridades no han dado información sobre lo que desencadenó el apuñalamiento.

La foto de arresto de Guadalupe no estaba disponible de inmediato el lunes.

For a team with three full-time Cup drivers and only 175 employees, that's saying something.

But that doesn't mean the team is satisfied.

“Yes, we’re seeing results. Yes, we are being competitive," Suarez said. “But we’re not even close to our full potential.”

Suarez, the first Mexican-born driver to win the Coca-Cola 600, said when he arrived at Spire last October that it didn't take long to recognize just how hard everyone worked, which he said is a credit to team owner Jeff Dickerson and crew chief Ryan Sparks.

The organization's structure, he said, is well organized.

“When you have a good foundation, the house is going to be strong," Suarez said. "Spire Motorsports has an amazing foundation.”

Spire has long been considered a small Cup Series team, and any wins it has had were largely considered upsets or one-offs.

That notion may be changing under Dickerson, who admits he can be difficult to deal with on race day but refuses to apologize for setting the bar high.

“I just don’t think we’ve hit our ceiling," Dickerson said. "I don’t think we’re hitting on all cylinders. I think we’ve still got a long ways to go to.”

Carson Hocevar won earlier this season at Talladega, giving Spire its first win and the entire organization a shot in the arm. There was a sudden realization it could compete with bigger race teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, RFK Racing, 23XI Racing and Hendrick.

Suarez's win at a crown jewel event like the Coca-Cola 600 was another huge step in the right direction.

Dickerson said the goal this season is simple: Put two cars in the playoffs and win three races.

Things are looking good right now.

With 24 races left, Hocevar is ninth in the Cup Series points standings, while Suarez moved up to 10th after his third career win and first since joining Spire. The top 16 drivers in points qualify for the Chase.

“Still a long ways to go,” Dickerson said. “I don’t want to fumble it. But, man, it would be good to meet those goals.”

Sparks was the unsung hero Sunday night.

With rain on the radar, he trusted his instincts and made the call to pit and go with two new tires late in the race. It paid off big time.

Suarez was able to go from the middle of the pack to the top spot.

Shortly after the race was red-flagged for lightning, it looked like the move might backfire on Sparks after cars were sent back on the track.

But Suarez held off JGR's Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin — who had dominated most of the race, along with pole sitter Tylor Reddick — on two restarts to stay out front.

On the final restart, Suarez exploded off the line with a little push from behind from Hendrick's Kyle Larson. From there he blocked Bell and Hamlin as the JGR teammates frantically tried to pass. Just when it appeared they might catch Suarez, the sky opened up and rain poured down on the mile-and-a-half track.

With the scheduled 400-lap race already more than four hours old and the clock approaching midnight, NASCAR quickly called the race with 27 laps, declaring Suarez the winner.

He later honored his mentor, the late Kyle Busch, by imitating the NASCAR great's postrace bow in victory lane.

Suarez led only 17 laps, several of those coming with the race under caution.

“Something in the back of my mind told me to just go ahead and put two (tires) on,” Sparks said. “I kind of looked and saw what everybody had for tires on in front of me, and I figured there was going to be a good opportunity for us to be first or second. Just wanted to get that clean air and give ourselves an opportunity."

With two-thirds of the season remaining, Spire has plenty of time to build on its early success and have a record-setting season.

And continue to shock the big race teams.

“I’m just extremely happy to be part of Spire Motorsports because I believe that we haven’t even seen the full potential of this organization,” Saurez added. “And I can’t wait to continue this journey.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The team will still play its group stage matches in the U.S. but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, a move that Iran's soccer federation announced recently and that was formally confirmed by FIFA, the sport's governing body, on Monday.

Moving the training base comes against the backdrop of the war in Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

Sheinbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by a FIFA representative the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time outside the games on U.S. territory.

“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters. She said a FIFA representative had then asked, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?”

“And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that',” she said.

Iran's soccer team is slated to play matches in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium six days later, before facing Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.

Before the war broke out, the team was originally planned to set up its base in Tucson, Arizona. But with tensions simmering, Iran's team moved its base to Tijuana in Mexico, Sheinbaum said, confirming an announcement by the Iranian federation over the weekend. The federation said the Iranians had received approval from FIFA, which made the move official on Monday when it released the lists of all 48 base camp sites.

Teams use base camps to train before and after matches. This year’s World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The possibility of a move had simmered for months in the uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and security concerns. U.S. sanctions on Iran were likely to only make the team’s stay in the U.S. more complex.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday that President Donald Trump had made it clear the Iranian team was welcome to participate in the tournament.

The department’s statement did not address where the team might stay, or Sheinbaum's comments.

Sheinbaum said that her government was working with FIFA to hash out all the details before the competition.

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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The Dream have twice rallied from 15-point deficits this season to win, including Sunday's victory over Phoenix. No one else in the WNBA has done that once according to ESPN.

“We are resilient team, the game isn’t over till it’s over,” Atlanta guard Jordin Canada said after the Dream rallied to beat the Mercury. “We always come together in the fourth quarter, whether we have to make a run or sustain a lead. ... We battle to the very end, we get stops and try to execute down the stretch. What we’ve been doing in the fourth quarter, we got to sustain that in the first three quarters.”

Atlanta sits atop the WNBA standings at 4-1 — the only team in the league with only one loss. The Dream head out for road games at Minnesota and Portland this week.

The Dream are getting everyone's best shot so far which coach Karl Smesko feels will help them down the road.

“When teams play Atlanta it's a big game for everyone now,” he said. “We'll see everyone's best shot. ... Constantly playing against a team's best effort makes you stronger over the course of the season. They are seeing a different team than other teams see. I've noticed that so far this year. ... Happy we met the moment a few times already."

Power poll rankings

Atlanta moved up to No. 1 for the first time in the 10-year history of the rankings. The Dream were followed by Las Vegas and Minnesota. Indiana, Dallas and New York were next. Golden State and Chicago were seventh and eighth. Los Angeles and Phoenix followed the Sky. Portland, Washington and Toronto were the 11th through 13. Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.

Homecourt disadvantage

Through the first few weeks of the season, playing at home hasn't really been an advantage for teams. Only two teams have winning records on their home court — Atlanta and Indiana. As a league, teams are 16-30 through Sunday's games.

Player of the week

Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles was the AP player of the week. She averaged 27.0 points, 8.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds to help the Sparks win both their games last week. Plum had a 38-point effort in the win at Las Vegas to spoil the Aces night the champions raised their banner from last season. Other players receiving votes included Natasha Howard of Minnesota and Rhyne Howard of Atlanta.

Game of the week

Atlanta at Minnesota, Wednesday. While a lot was expected of the Dream this season, the Lynx were expected to struggle early on with star Napheesa Collier sidelined after having offseason surgery on her injured ankles in late March. The Lynx have flourished with rookie guard Olivia Miles leading the way.

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

One is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, with no vaccine or treatment. The other is the anger and suspicion of residents who have pelted her with stones and verbal abuse in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak.

“We continue to tell them that the disease is out there. Some accept, and others don’t,” Birungi told The Associated Press on Monday as she and colleagues spoke with groups of people in a working-class neighborhood under the scorching sun.

Aid workers are especially at risk in this volatile region where residents, like Birungi, have long been under threat of armed groups that have killed thousands of people and displaced many more in recent years.

Trust is hard to find among the traumatized population that is wary of outsiders, even those trying desperately to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak that experts say was discovered weeks late. Surveillance for such diseases has been weakened by U.S. and other aid cuts.

The World Health Organization says that a family of fruit bats is believed to be the natural hosts of the viruses that cause Ebola. But some people don’t believe the virus exists, or are skeptical about its origins.

“These people should stop bothering us. They just want to get rich. Let’s not forget that Ebola is a white man’s invention,” declared Pierre Basola, a 56-year-old resident of Bunia, who added: “Stop talking to me anyway.”

Cases are nearing 1,000 but health centers are burned

Three times in the past week, healthcare facilities have been attacked. On Sunday, angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients, forcing medical staff to evacuate them as gunfire rang out.

On Saturday, a group of residents set fire to a tent for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases run by Doctors Without Borders in Mongbwalu, and more than a dozen people suspected to have the virus fled. On Thursday, a center in Rwampara was burned after relatives were barred from retrieving the body of a man suspected to have Ebola.

Anger is amplified as virus prevention practices keep loved ones from handling bodies in final rites following an illness some have described as sudden and dramatic, with vomiting and bleeding.

The Ebola virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, feces or vomit. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.

“Trust is almost as important as the health response, because if you get this massive distrust in the communities, they’re not going to go to the health centers,” said Heather Kerr, country director for the International Rescue Committee in Congo.

Armed conflict in the region poses another challenge. To travel from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, to Mongbwalu, aid groups risk potential attacks in a region more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, the outbreak now has more than 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.

“We are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic,” he said.

‘We leave everything to God’

Mado Nditamba, a 70-year-old Bunia resident, said that she has seen students running away from aid workers.

“The last time Ebola came, it was not on the scale that we see today,” Nditamba said. “But this epidemic today is worse. We go to the doctors in the hospitals, but they also die. That’s what worries us. We don’t know what to do and we leave everything to God.”

Congo has had 17 Ebola outbreaks, and WHO says the country is equipped to respond. But early tests in this outbreak were conducted for a more common type of Ebola, losing valuable time. Experts are still trying to determine when this outbreak began.

There are few places to test for this Bundibugyo type in a region where clinics can run on generators, and a major airport serving as a humanitarian hub has been in the hands of rebels for more than a year.

Health workers on the ground have told the AP that they are underprepared and underprotected. An unknown number of responders have been infected, and some have died.

A Congolese doctor was reported dead on Sunday in Rwampara, Rubens Dhedgia, coordinator of the Ebola response in the region, told the AP. In neighboring Uganda, where a far smaller number of cases has begun to spread after Congolese traveled there, at least three health workers have been infected.

And perhaps most worryingly, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says three volunteers died in Mongbwalu, after it believes they handled bodies on March 27 during work unrelated to Ebola.

If confirmed, that would significantly push back the timeline of the outbreak from the first confirmed death in late April in Bunia.

Some residents still believe Ebola is a myth

Even as at least one funeral home manager dusted off coffins for sale alongside a road in Bunia, experts reported a lack of trust among some residents of the region who don't believe the virus exists.

Action Aid, another of the international humanitarian groups responding, said that a high level of skepticism and lack of understanding remains, citing residents it questioned in mid-May in Ituri province just after the outbreak was announced.

"The only way to go, as far as this particular virus is concerned, is community engagement,” said Yakubu Mohammed Saani, country director for Action Aid in Congo.

How that will be improved, and quickly, is still not clear. Meanwhile, both WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the outbreak is larger than the cases reported so far.

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Ope Adetayo reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Jean-Yves Kamale contributed to this report from Kinshasa.

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The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 12.

"The committee believed this year's championship field was deep and very balanced from top to bottom," said NCAA selection committee chairman Michael Alford, the athletic director at Florida State. “Throughout the process we remained focused on applying the selection principles pretty consistently across all conferences and regions and I hope that is noticed. Every decision was based on a full body of work, not just single metrics."

UCLA (51-6), which swept the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles, was No. 1 by Baseball America in each of its weekly rankings since the preseason and has the most wins entering regionals since Tennessee came in with 53 in 2022.

The Bruins' ace, Logan Reddeman, and closer, Ethan Hawk, are among the best in the nation and lead a staff that has a 3.31 ERA. Shortstop Roch Cholowsky is widely projected to be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft and he, Will Gasparino and Big Ten Tournament MVP Mulivai Levu have combined for 57 homers.

Georgia Tech (48-9), which swept the Atlantic Coast Conference championships, features the nation's most prodigious offense. The Yellow Jackets lead Division I in scoring (10.8 runs per game), batting average (.358) and slugging (.636). Jarren Advincula is batting .431 to rank second nationally and Vahn Lackey is sixth at .410.

The national seeds following UCLA and Georgia Tech are Georgia (46-12), Auburn (38-19), North Carolina (45-11-1), Texas (40-13), Alabama (37-19) and Florida (39-19). Top-eight national seeds, if they win their regional, are assured of hosting a super regional.

Seeds Nos. 9 through 16: Southern Mississippi (44-15), Florida State (38-17), Oregon (40-16), Texas A&M (39-14), Nebraska (42-15), Mississippi State (40-17), Kansas (42-16) and West Virginia (39-14).

The Southeastern Conference had the most teams selected, with 12. The ACC has nine teams in the field, followed by the Big 12 with six, Sun Belt with five and Big Ten with four.

The last four teams to get at-large bids were Liberty (41-19), Kentucky (31-21), Texas State (36-24) and Troy (32-29).

The first four teams left out were Mercer (44-15), Michigan (34-24), Pittsburgh (33-24) and TCU (33-21).

LSU (30-28), the 2025 national champion, became the seventh program to win the title and not make a regional the following year since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999.

Been there, done that

Texas is in the tournament for a record 65th time and Miami for a 51st. Florida State is a regional host for a record 38th time.

Florida has the longest active streak with 18 straight appearances. Other notable consecutive streaks include Oklahoma State (13), Southern Mississippi (10), Arkansas (9) and East Carolina, North Carolina and Oregon State (8).

Vanderbilt (33-25) is missing regionals after making 19 straight appearances.

First timer

Western Athletic Conference champion Tarleton State is the only first-time participant. The Texans began their transition to Division I in 2021 and weren't eligible for the tournament when they won the WAC in 2024. Their most recent postseason appearance was in the 2018 Division II tournament.

Losing, but winning

South Dakota State takes a 24-31 record into its second regional, and first since 2013, after winning the four-team Summit League Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Holy Cross is 25-28 after winning the Patriot League Tournament and has its first back-to-back regional appearances since 1962-63.

Horizon League champion Milwaukee is 25-31 entering its first regional in 16 years.

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Perryman and Cappelletti said the ruck march, a walk while carrying weight on their backs, was their way to mourn fallen service members.

“For vets especially, it’s a day to take a little time to think,” Cappelletti said. “I recommend everybody does a little something just to show some support.”

The members of the Power Veterans, an initiative that aims to empower through mentorship, benefits, and career growth, walked together at Las Olas Oceanside Park Beach.

“Unfortunately, I did have some soldiers and battle buddies who didn’t make it today,” said Perryman, an organizer. “It’s just tough. It’s just something to commemorate them.”

The National Moment of Remembrance’s tradition is a moment of silence at 3 p.m.

More on Memorial Day

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• The origins of Memorial Day and how it has evolved
• In ‘Pressure,’ the story of the meteorologist who helped save D-Day

La madre de Nina, Monica Villarruel, dijo que los órganos de su hija fueron donados y que ahora Nina “seguirá viviendo a través de otras personas.”

“Nina fue nuestro milagro incluso antes de nacer”, dijo Villarruel en un comunicado a Local 10 News. “Después de que nos dijeran que no podríamos tener hijos, Dios nos la regaló de forma natural; desde el primer momento, llenó nuestras vidas de amor, luz y esperanza. Era una bebé hermosa, dulce y verdaderamente especial; su sonrisa iluminaba cada habitación y sus ojitos brillantes cautivaban a todos los que la conocían. Hace dos semanas, nuestra familia vivió una tragedia que cambió nuestras vidas para siempre: en un accidente perdimos a mi mamá y a mi tía, y —tras una feroz batalla de dos semanas— nuestra pequeña Nina partió al cielo. En medio del dolor más grande que hemos conocido, tomamos la decisión de donar sus órganos, porque sentimos en el fondo de nuestros corazones que el propósito de Nina era seguir dando amor y vida a otros. Queremos que su legado sea un mensaje de fe, esperanza y unidad — un recordatorio para que las personas abracen más a sus seres queridos, atesoren cada momento y nunca pierdan la fe en Dios. Hoy creemos que Nina está en el cielo junto a su abuela y su tía, convertida en un ángel que seguirá obrando milagros en la vida de muchas familias.”

Según la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida, el accidente ocurrió a media mañana del 10 de mayo en los carriles en dirección oeste de la I-75, al oeste de Indian Trade Road.

Una mujer identificada como Cira Quinones Lewis, de 60 años, conducía un Ford Fiesta negro y se encontraba allí para ayudar a su hijo, cuyo vehículo había quedado inmovilizado en el costado de la carretera debido a una llanta ponchada, según el reporte de su arresto.

Los agentes indicaron que Lewis se detuvo en el carril exterior de la I-75, lo que provocó una colisión en cadena: el vehículo detrás de ella se detuvo, pero el que venía detrás de ese no lo hizo.

Aunque Nina fue hospitalizada inicialmente tras el accidente, la madre y la tía de Villarruel murieron en el lugar.

“Eran mujeres excepcionales”, dijo Villarruel. “Mi tía era maestra en Ecuador. Amaba a los niños. Estas últimas semanas que pasé con ellas fuimos muy felices. Jugaban mucho con mi bebé. Mi mamá, igual.”

Lewis fue arrestada por cargos de conducir con licencia suspendida y no devolver la licencia de conducir ni registrarse con una compañía de seguros. También está detenida por una orden de inmigración.

La familia de Nina inició un GoFundMe para ayudar a cubrir los gastos funerarios.

El máximo organismo rector del fútbol confirmó en un comunicado que el campo de entrenamiento de la selección iraní estará en el Centro Xoloitzcuintle de la ciudad mexicana de Tijuana, frente a California.

Inicialmente la selección iraní tenía previsto entrenar en Tucson, Arizona, pero su traslado a México comenzó a barajarse como una opción debido a la incertidumbre por la guerra en Oriente Medio y las preocupaciones de seguridad.

El anuncio se dio horas después que la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum dijo durante su habitual conferencia de prensa que en México “no tenemos ningún problema” en que la selección iraní permanezca en territorio mexicano luego de que Estados Unidos objetó que mantuvieran su campamento en ese país.

“Estados Unidos no quiere que la selección iraní se quede a pernoctar", comentó la mandataria, y añadió que México accedió a la petición de la FIFA de recibirlos.

Los equipos utilizan campamentos base para entrenar antes y después de los partidos.

La selección iraní disputará sus partidos del Grupo G en Inglewood, California, contra Nueva Zelanda el 15 de junio y contra Bélgica seis días después, para luego enfrentarse a Egipto el 26 de junio en Seattle.

Era probable que las sanciones de Estados Unidos contra Irán no hicieran más que complicar la estancia del equipo.

El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos afirmó el lunes en un comunicado que el presidente Donald Trump había dejado claro que la selección iraní era bienvenida para participar en el torneo mundialista, pero no se abordó el tema de dónde podría alojarse, ni los comentarios de Sheinbaum.

La selección iraní participa en su cuarta Copa Mundial consecutiva y en su séptima en total. Nunca ha superado la primera ronda.

Al ser preguntada sobre las exigencias que impuso Estados Unidos a la selección de la República Democrática del Congo de que debe aislarse 21 días antes de llegar a territorio estadounidense por el brote de ébola que enfrenta ese país, la mandataria señaló que en el caso de México “tiene que haber algunas medidas sanitarias en particular que se trabajen junto con el país de origen”, para el partido que disputará el equipo africano en la ciudad mexicana de Guadalajara. No entró en detalles.

La selección africana tendrá su campamento base en Houston durante el Mundial y disputará su primer juego del Grupo K contra Portugal el 17 de junio en esa ciudad, seguido de los partidos ante Colombia el 23 de junio en Guadalajara y el 27 de junio contra Uzbekistán en Atlanta.

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It broke out at around 2:45 p.m. in the pinelands near Southwest 137th Avenue and 120th Street, near Miami Executive Airport.

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, no injuries were reported.

Additional manpower had been called in to fight the flames, which had burned about 24 acres and was 40% contained as of Sunday evening.

“(It’s a) tremendous fire and of course, it’s very hot out here, so all firefighters are dealing with the heat and the humidity,” MDFR Division Chief Michael Eng said. “The winds are coming strong from the east, so it is helping spread the fire a lot faster.

“A priority, of course, is again is protecting the exposures, so there’s a lot of residents in this part of the area that we want to protect.”

Crews additionally evacuated Camp Matecumbe, within Boystown Pineland County Park and closed a portion of Southwest 120th Street.

Firefighters have told those living nearby to shelter in place, so stay inside and to keep their doors and windows closed.

La Paz ingresó a su cuarta semana de bloqueos que han provocado desabastecimiento de alimentos y combustible y han disparado los precios.

El intento del gobierno de abrir un “corredor humanitario” para permitir el paso de suministros básicos y vehículos atrapados en las rutas no dio resultado debido a la acción de algunos “grupos violentos” que atacaron a policías y militares, según informes del gobierno y la policía.

“Bolivia está en un momento delicado. Está en quiebra. Una minoría no puede gobernar. Hay que hablar, pero no bajo la presión del hambre. Estoy apostando por el diálogo y volveré a convocarlos”, dijo Paz en la sureña ciudad de Sucre.

El anuncio de ajustes en su gabinete para incorporar a sectores sociales tampoco bajó la presión.

La Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), los sindicatos de campesinos y juntas vecinales que lideran las protestas no concurrieron a dialogar el domingo. Cuatro personas han fallecido, tres por falta de atención médica debido a los cortes y una cuarta el sábado supuestamente durante un operativo policial. La Fiscalía anunció investigaciones.

El mandatario no tiene un partido propio ni una alianza legislativa fuerte y ha descartado utilizar la fuerza pública ante un posible agravamiento del conflicto. Tampoco ha declarado el estado de excepción como reclaman sectores empresariales y apostó por el diálogo, que no ha prosperado.

El conflicto mantiene polarizado al país entre quienes exigen la dimisión del mandatario y otros que lo respaldan y demandan mano firme para frenar las protestas.

Para el obispo católico Giovanni Arana, que oficia de mediador junto a organizaciones de derechos humanos y el Defensor del Pueblo, el intento de facilitar un diálogo “ha caído en saco roto”.

El expresidente Evo Morales (2006-2019) ha propuesto convocar a nuevas elecciones. El gobierno lo acusa de alentar y financiar las protestas, pero analistas creen que el político que enfrenta cargos con la justicia ya no tiene poder de convocatoria y que busca utilizar el conflicto para levantar cabeza.

El presidente de Brasil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, en tanto, publicó en X que recibió una llamada de Paz el lunes.

“Reiteré mi solidaridad al gobierno y al pueblo bolivianos y destaqué la importancia del pleno respeto a las instituciones democráticas y al Estado de Derecho. Defendí que el gobierno y los movimientos sociales eviten el recurso a la violencia y privilegien el diálogo como camino para la superación de las divergencias y para la preservación de la paz social”, escribió.

“A pedido del presidente Paz, determiné el envío de ayuda humanitaria a Bolivia”, señaló Lula.

Por la tarde, se produjo una nueva marcha de miles de personas llegó al centro de La Paz cerca de Palacio de Gobierno y el Legislativo, donde coreaban “Gobierno incapaz. ¿Por qué no te vas?”. Esta jornada dejó al menos diez manifestantes detenidos, según informó la policía.

Poco antes, Agapito Huanca, de 38 años y mienbro de un grupo de Artesanos en la vecina ciudad de El Alto, aseguró que se vio obligado a salir porque no hay soluciones.

“Son más de 20 días y el gobierno no hace nada. Tarde anuncia que se rebaja el sueldo”, dijo Huanca a The Associated Press.

En las estaciones de servicio se formaban largas colas de vehículos que buscaban combustible. “Tampoco hay seguridad para trabajar por los ataques de los motorizados a nuestros afiliados”, dijo el dirigente del transporte público Edson Valdez.

Según la Administradora de Caminos el país registraba el lunes 54 puntos de bloqueos, la mayoría en La Paz.

Varios analistas coincidieron en que la mayoría de los movilizados votaron por Paz desencantados por 20 años de gobiernos del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) y atraídos por su discurso de ajustes graduales para superar la peor crisis económica de los últimos 40 años. “Hemos votado por Paz... y nos ha traicionado”, dijo la dirigente agraria Esther Chura mientras participaba de una marcha a La Paz.

El problema ya no es reivindicativo, es político, dijo el exgobernador de La Paz y sociólogo Félix Patzi. Paz debe redefinir su proyecto de gobierno incorporando a esos sectores sociales que protestan, agregó.