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.”

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,

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.

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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.

La policía informó que un niño de 13 años murió el lunes después de tener dificultades en un embalse en Halifax, en el norte de Inglaterra.

En Francia, las temperaturas han batido récords para el mes de mayo, al dispararse muy por encima de los 30 ºC (86 ºF) en muchas partes del país.

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.

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.

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.

Los bomberos trabajaron durante la noche para sofocar un incendio 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 la mañana del miércoles, 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.

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 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.

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John Leicester en París contribuyó a esta historia.

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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.

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.

London recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), and Britain’s Met Office weather service said the temperature in southern England could hit 35 C (95 F) on Tuesday.

A 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a reservoir in Halifax, northern England, on Monday, police said.

In France, temperatures have broken records for the month of May, soaring well over 30 C (86 F) in many parts of the country.

Government spokeswoman 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.

Monday was the U.K.’s hottest May day on record, with the temperature hitting 34.8 C at Kew Gardens in London, smashing the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and 1944.

After a U.K. long weekend that sent people flocking to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters sweltered on Tuesday in unairconditioned subway carriages. Trains running to and from the city’s busy Waterloo station were disrupted by a report of smoke on the tracks.

Firefighters worked through the night to douse a fire that sent plumes of 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 much of the country through Wednesday morning, warning of a potential health risk, particularly among the elderly, 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.

The early heatwave 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 also 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.”

Unpredictable and extreme weather 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.

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John Leicester in Paris contributed to this story.

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.”

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'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 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 fighting that broke out after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. 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 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 for more than four years, it pointed out, adding that Ukraine was prepared to assist diplomatic missions seeking additional security measures.

Russia said its biggest missile attack of the year last weekend was a 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 noted that sophisticated American-made air defense systems that Ukraine needs to stop Russian ballistic missiles are in short supply due to 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 noted 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.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Elise Morton in London contributed.

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

The 79-year-old president is scheduled to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as annual preventative medical and dental checkups. It will be Trump's fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and 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 turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president. His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, 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 former 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 formal 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 reporting 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. 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. Former 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.

——

Associated Press journalists Grant Peck, Anton L. Delgado and Haruka Nuga 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.”

___

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 attacks came even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations on ending the war were “proceeding nicely.”

U.S. futures jumped. Oil prices were mixed, with Brent crude rising but still trading below $100 a barrel while U.S. benchmark crude oil fell.

The U.S. military said the strikes Monday were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” It said it used restraint due to the ceasefire with Iran, which gave no official response. Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations.

With the status of peace talks with Iran unclear, markets have been swayed by various developments and comments by Trump.

“Markets are behaving as though a full Iran breakthrough already exists, even though the hardest parts of the negotiation remain unresolved,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary. “Washington continues to signal optimism, while Tehran insists no agreement is imminent.”

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% to 64,996.09, falling back from an all-time high close on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.4% to 25,700.33, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.2% to 4,143.14.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.6% to 8,047.51, catching up after markets were closed Monday for a holiday.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia lost 0.4% to 8,657.80.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 0.7% early Tuesday.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil declined $4.65 to $91.95 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained $2.05 to $95.47 a barrel after falling nearly $5 on Monday.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, while European shares advanced.

The gains followed signals of progress toward a peace deal. Regional officials said Sunday that the United States was close to reaching an agreement with Iran to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium,

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz will help decide the direction of oil prices. Its closure due to the war has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide. Japan, for instance, imports almost all its oil, most of it through the strait.

On Friday, the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the Dow industrials climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%.

In other dealings early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.09 Japanese yen from 158.91 yen. The euro cost $1.1636, down from $1.1645.

While there's no longer a risk of a major explosion at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant in Garden Grove, there's still a chance for a smaller blast or a fire, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said during a news conference on Monday.

An overnight 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,” Covey 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, near Los Angeles, 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 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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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 6th 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 youths 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 8th grade daughter, Clementine, does not have a phone.

But as soon as Clementine gets on the wifi-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 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 6th-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 4th grade son capitalizing random letters and not getting corrected because there is so little work on paper. She also worries about social implications: Her 6th grader doesn’t want to go to the afterschool 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.

___

Attanasio is a former Associated Press reporter.

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.

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.”

___

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.

___

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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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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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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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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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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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.”

___

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

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.

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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 broadcast on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Finals will 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.

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

___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

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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

• Miami Gardens remembers Sgt. La David T. Johnson on Memorial Day
• ‘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

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.

The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the U.S. military's Central Command, said in a statement.

Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations. There was no official response from Iran, which had sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar for negotiations over the possible deal with the U.S.

Qatar, which faced intense attacks from Iran during the war, holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

In Iran, the news website Tabnak, believed to be close to former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, identified four dead Guard troops it said had been killed in American strikes on boats. Iranian state television separately reported blasts around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz home to a military port and a dual-use airport.

The strikes were the latest attacks to shake the weekslong ceasefire in the war. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed, remains effectively in Iran's chokehold, disrupting global energy markets.

Trump brings up recognition of Israel

Earlier, Trump said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.

The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favor a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations.

Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020, diplomatically recognizing Israel.

He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join. Saudi Arabia in particular has for decades called on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and allow the formation of a Palestinian nation with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip also has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world as well.

Pakistan remains key mediator

Recognition of a Palestinian state also remains key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal.

The president said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.

Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how workable the proposal might be for the countries on Trump's list.

“The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether new dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favorable deal.

Still, Khan said, “the diplomatic track is still working, and I believe Pakistan is very much at the center of it, supported by regional countries.”

It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached.

The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump’s first term, which also saw Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan, join.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

The French sports minister, Marina Ferrari, posted condolences to the loved ones of a runner who died Sunday in a Paris race. Le Parisien newspaper reported that the 53-year-old man suffered a heart attack during the run in the capital’s 20th arrondissement, and that firefighters were unable to revive him.

It wasn’t yet known if the cause of the runner's death was heat-related, but Ferrari suggested a possible link. Temperatures in Paris went as high as 32 C ( 90 F) in the afternoon.

“The events that occurred today (Sunday) during running races are a reminder that practicing sports in extreme heat requires absolute vigilance,” Ferrari said in an X post. “My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the runner who died in Paris, as well as with the people who were treated by emergency services.”

In the southeastern city of Lyon, local media Actu Lyon on Monday reported the death of a woman who suffered heat stroke there during another sports competition, also on Sunday.

The national weather service, Meteo France, said temperatures are breaking records for the month of May, soaring past 30 C (86 F) in many parts of the country and forecast to last into the week.

The United Kingdom broke its record Monday for the hottest temperature recorded in May, after a heat wave was declared in several parts of the country.

Residents and tourists sought relief at beaches, parks and searched for shade on the holiday as the temperature hit 34.8 C (94.6 F) at Kew Gardens in southwest London, breaking the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and matched again in 1944.

The U.K. Health Security Agency has issued its first amber health alert of the year, warning of a rise in deaths, particularly among the elderly, at the hottest times of the day.

Next-level weather wildness is occurring ever more frequently 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.

El fuego comenzó alrededor de las 2:45 p.m. en una zona de pinares cerca de la Southwest 137 Avenue y la 120 Street, próxima al Aeropuerto Ejecutivo de Miami.

Según Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, no se reportaron heridos.

Se solicitó personal adicional para combatir las llamas, que han consumido cerca de 35 acres y estaban contenidas en un 30% hasta la noche del domingo.

“Es un incendio enorme y, por supuesto, hace mucho calor aquí, por lo que todos los bomberos están enfrentando el calor y la humedad”, dijo el jefe de división de MDFR, Michael Eng. “Los vientos soplan con fuerza desde el este, lo que está ayudando a que el fuego se propague mucho más rápido.

“Una prioridad, por supuesto, es proteger las áreas expuestas, ya que hay muchos residentes en esta parte de la zona que queremos proteger”.

Las cuadrillas también evacuaron Camp Matecumbe, dentro de Boystown Pineland County Park, y cerraron un tramo de la Southwest 120 Street.

Los bomberos han indicado a los residentes cercanos que permanezcan en sus hogares, mantengan puertas y ventanas cerradas.

Leer en español

Anastasia Radzinskaya, known online as Like Nastya, has become one of the biggest children’s content creators on YouTube, with more than 132 million subscribers on her main channel and billions of monthly views across her platforms.

Born in Russia and raised in South Florida, the 12-year-old content creator was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth.

Despite early concerns about her development, Radzinskaya and her family began creating videos together, eventually building a worldwide brand localized into multiple languages.

Radzinskaya said performing has always been a dream.

“Well, at a young age, I always wanted to sing,” she said. “I would sing in the shower or I would sing to my parents, and I would do a little show for them.”

Like Nastya’s online success has quickly expanded into music and live performances. But she said growing up online also came with challenges.

“Probably bullying when I was little, because sometimes when people saw my videos, they were like, ‘Oh you look so weird in them,’” Radzinskaya said. “But that didn’t take away my confidence and I just kept going.”

Now, she hopes her platform encourages other children to embrace confidence and individuality.

“Be confident, be yourself, be happy,” she said.

Radzinskaya recently celebrated her first sold-out concert and said live performances have become one of her favorite parts of her career.

“A first it’s weird, but I love to perform and I love big stages and big audiences,” she said. “So when I’m on stage, I can be myself and it’s very fun.”

That same message carries into her music, including her song “I’m Gonna Shine.”

“It was about giving people self-confidence and not caring about the haters,” Radzinskaya said.

And while her career continues to expand, she hinted at another major project ahead.

“I can’t reveal anything but you guys are probably gonna see me in a movie soon,” she said.

Leer en español

According to airport officials, portions of the North and Central terminals before the security checkpoints were evacuated and the incident is also impacted vehicular traffic entering the airport, causing delays on both the arrivals and departures levels.

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that deputies and K-9s responded to the area after receiving a report about an unattended bag.

“The preliminary information revealed that area Terminals 11-19 were evacuated out of precaution and made safe until MDSO bomb squad responds,” a MDSO spokesperson said in an email to Local 10 News.

Airport officials confirmed that the all clear has since been given.

⚠️ #TravelAdvisory 2 (05/25/26) ⚠️
Our partners at the @MiamiDade_SO have given the all clear and airport operations will return to normal. Passengers may still encounter some traffic entering the airport and some delays at the TSA checkpoints in the North and Central Terminals.… pic.twitter.com/ZT6FPBUnd8

— Miami Int'l Airport (@iflymia) May 25, 2026

Los registros de la cárcel en línea muestran que Detric McClary, de 24 años, fue arrestado en Broward por cargos de resistencia a un agente, huir y evadir a alta velocidad, violación de propiedad ocupada y dos cargos de violación de libertad condicional.

La policía indicó que cargos adicionales están pendientes por parte del Departamento de Policía de Pinecrest.

Imágenes de vigilancia obtenidas por Local 10 News muestran a un grupo de ladrones atacando vehículos en Pinecrest antes de que un oficial de policía los detectara, lo que desencadenó una persecución que terminó con los sospechosos chocando en el Condado de Broward.

Las imágenes captaron a los ladrones intentando robar frente a una vivienda en Southwest 66th Avenue alrededor de las 2 a.m. del domingo.

Los sospechosos vestían de negro, llevaban pasamontañas y se les podía ver moviéndose de auto en auto en busca de objetos de valor.

“Es un vecindario muy tranquilo”, dijo el vecino Dave Auslander. “Siempre nos hemos sentido seguros aquí, pero como creo que cualquiera en este país ha aprendido, cosas malas pueden pasar en cualquier lugar.”

Un oficial de la policía de Pinecrest notó eventualmente un BMW estacionado en el lado equivocado de la calle.

Al acercarse el oficial, los sospechosos regresaron rápidamente al auto y deliberadamente chocaron en reversa contra el patrullero, dañándolo, antes de salir a toda velocidad, dijeron las autoridades.

La policía de Pinecrest persiguió al grupo hasta perderlos de vista. Los sospechosos terminaron chocando en el área de la Interestatal 95 y Griffin Road.

Los registros carcelarios indican que la policía de Hollywood detuvo a McClary, pero los demás sospechosos lograron escapar.

Las autoridades dijeron que han identificado al dueño del BMW, pero que esta persona no ha cooperado con la investigación.

La policía de Pinecrest dijo que el caso es un buen recordatorio para los residentes de mantener sus vehículos con llave, retirar objetos de valor de la vista y de instalar cámaras de seguridad.

Hasta la mañana del lunes, McClary permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del Condado de Broward.

Perryman y Cappelletti dijeron que la marcha con mochila cargada — una caminata mientras se lleva peso en la espalda — era su manera de honrar a los militares caídos.

“Para los veteranos especialmente, es un día para tomarse un momento y reflexionar”, dijo Cappelletti. “Le recomiendo a todo el mundo que haga algo, aunque sea pequeño, para mostrar su apoyo.”

Los miembros de Power Veterans, una iniciativa que busca empoderar a veteranos mediante mentoría, beneficios y desarrollo profesional, caminaron juntos en Las Olas Oceanside Park Beach.

“Desafortunadamente, tuve soldados y compañeros de batalla que no llegaron hasta hoy”, dijo Perryman, uno de los organizadores. “Es difícil. Es simplemente una forma de honrarlos.”

La tradición del Momento Nacional de Remembranza consiste en un minuto de silencio a las 3 p.m.

Más sobre el Memorial Day

El sobreviviente más anciano de Pearl Harbor mantiene vivo el recuerdo del ataque sorpresa a sus 106 años

Los orígenes del Día de los Caídos y cómo ha evolucionado

En ‘Pressure’, la historia del meteorólogo que ayudó a salvar el Día D

Según funcionarios del aeropuerto, partes de las terminales Norte y Central antes de los puntos de control de seguridad fueron evacuadas. El incidente también afectó el tráfico vehicular en los accesos al aeropuerto, causando demoras tanto en los niveles de llegadas como de salidas.

El Departamento del Sheriff de Miami-Dade confirmó posteriormente que agentes y unidades caninas respondieron al área tras recibir un reporte sobre una maleta abandonada.

“La información preliminar reveló que el área de las Terminales 11 a la 19 fue evacuada por precaución y despejada hasta que la unidad antibombas del MDSO respondiera”, dijo un portavoz del MDSO en un correo electrónico a Local 10 News.

Funcionarios del aeropuerto confirmaron que posteriormente se dio la señal de que todo estaba en orden.

⚠️ #TravelAdvisory (05/25/26) ⚠️
We are working with our partners at the @MiamiDade_SO regarding a potential security threat at MIA. Out of an abundance of caution, portions of the North and Central Terminals prior to the security checkpoints have been temporarily evacuated.
This… pic.twitter.com/YKvN7goA6v

— Miami Int'l Airport (@iflymia) May 25, 2026

Anastasia Radzinskaya, conocida en internet como Like Nastya, se ha convertido en una de las creadoras de contenido infantil más grandes de YouTube, con más de 132 millones de suscriptores en su canal principal y miles de millones de reproducciones mensuales en todas sus plataformas.

Nacida en Rusia y criada en el sur de Florida, la creadora de contenido de 12 años fue diagnosticada con parálisis cerebral al nacer.

A pesar de las preocupaciones iniciales sobre su desarrollo, Radzinskaya y su familia comenzaron a grabar videos juntos y con el tiempo construyeron una marca mundial disponible en múltiples idiomas.

Radzinskaya dijo que actuar siempre fue un sueño.

“Desde pequeña siempre quise cantar”, dijo. “Cantaba en la ducha, les cantaba a mis papás y les hacía un pequeño show.”

El éxito de Like Nastya en internet se expandió rápidamente hacia la música y las presentaciones en vivo. Pero ella reconoció que crecer frente a las cámaras también tuvo sus momentos difíciles.

“Probablemente el bullying cuando era chica, porque a veces la gente veía mis videos y decía: ‘Ay, te ves muy rara en ellos’”, dijo Radzinskaya. “Pero eso no me quitó la confianza y simplemente seguí adelante.”

Ahora espera que su plataforma anime a otros niños a abrazar la confianza en sí mismos y su individualidad.

“Sé segura, sé tú misma, sé feliz”, dijo.

Radzinskaya celebró recientemente su primer concierto con entradas agotadas y dijo que las presentaciones en vivo se han convertido en una de sus partes favoritas de su carrera.

“Al principio es raro, pero me encanta actuar y me encantan los escenarios grandes y el público numeroso”, dijo. “Entonces cuando estoy en el escenario puedo ser yo misma y es muy divertido.”

Ese mismo mensaje está presente en su música, incluyendo su canción “I’m Gonna Shine”.

“Era para darle confianza a la gente y no hacerle caso a los haters”, dijo Radzinskaya.

Y mientras su carrera sigue creciendo, insinuó que otro gran proyecto se avecina.

“No puedo revelar nada, pero probablemente pronto me van a ver en una película”, dijo.

And the 2024 Olympics were held in July and August.

Temperatures for the opening two days of the clay-court Grand Slam have soared to 33 degrees C (91 F) — far beyond normal for late May in the French capital. And it’s forecast to stay that way for the entire first week.

Besides making it uncomfortable for fans and players alike, the sultry conditions have also created faster conditions on court — changing the pace of the game.

“It is much different. Maybe it was that hot in the Olympics but the balls were different, so I wouldn’t treat it as the same tournament,” four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek said after routing Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in the first round on Monday.

Players have been putting bags of ice around their necks on changeovers to stay cool, while fans refreshed themselves under sprinklers.

When workers water the clay courts between sets, they have taken to directing their hoses at spectators begging to be doused, too.

“I don’t remember the last time it was so hot at Roland Garros,” Russian-born Australian player Daria Kasatkina said after beating Zeynep Sonmez 6-4, 6-4. “Maybe one day. But we’re going to have it for the whole week.”

Kasatkina said the energy-sapping temperatures made for more up-and-down matches.

“You can suddenly just get out of the bench and feel that your focus dropped,” she said. “So this is a battle which you have to also win. … Whoever adapts better to today’s conditions gets it.”

A retirement and medical timeout

Canadian player Gabriel Diallo said the heat was the main reason why he retired midway through his match against James Duckworth on Sunday.

Both Andrey Rublev and opponent Ignacio Buse called for the trainer on separate occasions during the second set of their 3-hour, 39-minute match on Monday, which Rublev won in four sets.

Buse took a medical timeout and had salts and minerals added to his water bottle as a stethoscope was placed on his chest. Rublev received treatment a few games later.

Also during the same match, a weary looking ball girl had to be helped off the court and received medical attention.

Heat protocol

The French Open is usually cool compared to the heat at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

But like in Australia and New York, the French Open has adopted an extreme weather policy.

If the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) — which takes into account temperature, humidity, sun, wind and other factors — reaches 30.1 degrees C (86 F) or higher, 10-minute cooling breaks can be installed between the second and third sets for women’s matches and between the third and fourth sets for men’s matches.

If the WBGT hits 32.2 C (90 F), play is suspended. It would require an air temperature of about 38 C (100 F) for play to be suspended.

Fast-court players like the heat

Some players were embracing the hotter air.

“I’ve always preferred hot and lively conditions to chilly on a clay court, because I feel like I can bring a little bit more of my all-court tennis on this type of surface,” Australian player Alex de Minaur said after beating Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

“It’s easier to be a little bit more aggressive. The ball is jumping. I don’t necessarily have to use as much spin or heaviness, and I can let the conditions do the job for me. And it’s quite physical. I don’t mind the heat,” De Minaur added.

Same goes for American player Alex Michelsen, who eliminated Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets.

“It’s definitely good for us Americans,” Michelsen said. “Generally we’re big serve, big forehand, big ground game and like to play offense. When it’s super hot, the ball is moving through the air very fast. … I was so happy when I saw the forecast.”

___

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

The curtain fell on Gael Monfils just before midnight when he lost to French countryman Hugo Gaston 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0.

It was the 39-year-old Monfils' final appearance at Roland Garros. Same went for the 41-year-old Wawrinka, who earlier lost to Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on another sweltering day.

Monfils and Wawrinka are retiring at the end of the year.

They made their French Open debuts 21 years ago.

Wawrinka went on to win three Grand Slam titles, and while Monfils has not reached a major final his popularity remains high.

Monfils walked out to chants of “Ga-el! Ga-el!” on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He received loud encouragement throughout, demanding applause when he hit spectacular winners and raising his arm when he won the third set.

But he also looked tired, often hunching over with his hands on his knees. After clawing back a two-set deficit he had little energy left against an opponent 14 years younger.

Monfils was joined in an on-court ceremony by his former Davis Cup teammates Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, and also praised by his peers.

“For me you were a true inspiration. A great athlete,” two-time reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz said in video featuring several players. “But the most important thing, a great person off the court.”

Monfils thanked his wife, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, who looked tearful as she listened.

"Without her I might not be here tonight,” Monfils said. "We’ve been together for eight years, eight beautiful years ... (You) gave me the greatest gift in the world, our daughter. I love you.”

Wawrinka bows out

De Jong finished off Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion and 2017 finalist, with a whipped forehand winner, then urged the fans to applaud Wawrinka, whose face was almost as red as the baking-hot clay. Temperatures in sun-soaked Paris hit 33 degrees C (91 F).

“It’s hard, it’s hard to say goodbye to you here,” an emotional Wawrinka said. “It’s because of Roland Garros that I wanted to become a tennis player.”

He was given an ovation at Court Simonne-Mathieu, where he was scheduled to face Arthur Fils but the rising French star pulled out of the tournament with a hip issue.

Wawrinka knows it will be hard to let go — although he still has Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to come.

“For more than 20 years I experienced these emotions, you never want it to stop," Wawrinka said. "I have given everything for this sport.”

His stunning 2015 run to the title saw him defeat heavy favorite Novak Djokovic in the final after downing another all-time great, Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka stood out that year as much for his eye-catching pink-checkered shorts as for his destructive backhand.

Those shorts fed his happy-go-lucky appearance and he reinforced that image by celebrating with Champagne long into the night. But as cavalier as he sometimes seemed, Wawrinka was anything but casual and always trained fiercely hard.

He was hugged on court by tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, before sitting and watching footage of his matches down the years. He was shown video messages from Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner, reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Monfils.

At his physical peak, the barrel-chested Wawrinka had huge stamina and was one of the few who beat Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray at the Grand Slams.

Wawrinka beat Nadal in the the Australian Open final in 2014 and downed Djokovic again in the U.S. Open final in 2016, meaning all three of his majors were won against the No. 1 player. Nadal, however, dispatched him in straight sets in the 2017 French Open final.

He was an Olympic champion in doubles alongside Federer in 2008 and they won the Davis Cup for Switzerland in 2014.

“You are a legend of our sport,” said Monfils, who also lost his first-round match at the Australian Open in January.

Monfils falls short

Monfils reached the semifinals at the 2008 French Open and the quarterfinals on three other occasions.

But ultimately he fell short after being touted for a great career following junior titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2004.

He never won better than an ATP 500 among his 13 titles, and lost 22 finals — including three at Masters level. His reputation as a showman took precedence over his modest results.

“One of most likeable, fun guys out there,” Djokovic said. “There’s no one that doesn’t like you, Gaël. I think that’s your biggest victory.”

___

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

Also on the ballot are primary runoffs in more than a dozen congressional districts, plus state contests for lieutenant governor, attorney general and others.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was the top vote-getter in the March 3 primary, but strong showings by two GOP challengers forced the four-term incumbent to Tuesday’s head-to-head matchup with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the second-place finisher who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement on May 19.

The contest is Trump’s next opportunity to purge the party of incumbents he views as insufficiently loyal to him and his agenda. It also sets the stage for a general election where Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances to score an upset in the heavily Republican state as they look to retake control of the U.S. Senate. Historically, voters have tended to punish the incumbent president’s party at the ballot box in midterm election years.

The winner will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the general election.

Trump seemed open to endorsing Cornyn following the primary, and he did not excoriate the incumbent in his endorsement of Paxton, as he’s done recently with Republican incumbents in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky. But he said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

Cornyn was critical of Trump ahead of the president’s 2024 campaign.

Since much of the Texas primary campaign has focused on the candidates’ loyalty to Trump, the counties where the president has the most support could play a decisive role. Although many of the counties Trump won in 2024 with 80% or more of the vote are rural and sparsely populated, collectively they made up about a fifth of the GOP primary vote. Paxton beat Cornyn in these counties, 45% to 40%, while Cornyn performed better than Paxton in the rest of the state.

In counties Trump carried with between 50% and 80% of the vote, Cornyn received about 42% of the vote, edging Paxton by a percentage point. Republican primary voters in the 12 counties Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024 preferred Cornyn, 44% to 40%. These counties made up 25% of the overall primary vote, larger than the share of Trump’s 80%-plus counties.

Only two incumbent U.S. senators from Texas have lost a primary in the last 100 years.

In 2025, Republicans redrew the state’s congressional districts at Trump’s urging as part of an effort to maintain control of the U.S. House.

Among the notable primary runoffs that resulted from the new congressional map, Democratic U.S. Reps. Christian Menefee and Al Green will face each other in the redrawn 18th Congressional District. In the new 33rd Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson faces a challenge from her predecessor, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close statewide at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET. Most polls are in Central time and close at 8 p.m. ET, while polls in the westernmost part of the state are in Mountain time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in Republican primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, railroad commissioner, Court of Criminal Appeals, state Senate and state House and in Democratic primary runoffs for U.S. House, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state Board of Education and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Voters who did not participate in a party primary on March 3 may vote in the runoff for either party. Voters who did cast a ballot in a party primary may only vote in the runoff of the same party as they did in the primary. In other words, Democratic primary voters may not vote in a Republican primary runoff or vice versa. Voters in the non-partisan primary may vote in either party’s runoff.

How many voters are there?

As of the March 3 primary, there were nearly 19 million registered voters in Texas.

How many people actually vote?

About 2.2 million Republican primary votes and about 2.3 million Democratic primary votes were cast in the March 3 Texas primary.

In the 2022 Republican primary for Texas Attorney General, turnout was about 1.9 million voters in the primary and about 932,000 in the primary runoff.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 63% of the vote in the March 3 Republican primary was cast before primary day.

As of Thursday, about 621,000 Republican primary ballots and about 262,000 Democratic primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Counties tend to release all or nearly all results from early and absentee voting in the first vote update of the night, before any in-person Election Day results are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the U.S. Senate primary in March, the AP first reported results at 8 p.m. ET just as polls closed in most of the state. By 11:39 p.m. ET, 75% of the vote had been counted. Vote results were released continuously until about 5:58 a.m. ET, with about 98% of the total vote counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Texas requires an automatic recount only in cases of a tie vote. Losing candidates may request and pay for a recount if the margin is less than 10% of the leading candidate’s vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 161 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are “disturbing.”

“The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran,” Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem.

Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Feb. 28 vowing to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile program, end its support for proxy militant groups across the region and end Iran’s ability to pursue a nuclear bomb. Both Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump also said they hoped to create conditions to topple Iran’s government.

According to regional officials, under the current deal being discussed Iran would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Key details on Iran’s nuclear program would then be negotiated during a 60-day period. It is unclear if the deal will address Iran’s missiles or support for regional militant groups.

Lapid expressed gratitude to Trump for launching the war with Israel, but criticized Netanyahu for allowing Washington to negotiate a potential deal with little coordination with Israel.

“The Israeli government is at an all-time low in its ability to influence decisions in Washington,” he said, noting that Trump said last week: “Netanyahu will do whatever I want him to do.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed to Trump that Israel maintains “freedom of action” against threats in any arena, according to an official familiar with Israel prime minister's conversations with Trump, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“Israel is a sovereign state, we are not a vassal state and we are not a protectorate,” Lapid said.

Lapid, head of the centrist “Yesh Atid” party, briefly served as prime minister in 2022 under a rotation agreement with Naftali Bennett, leader of a small conservative party. Their coalition government ended 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule.

They have once again merged their parties into a single faction headed by Bennett as they attempt to unseat Netanyahu in elections that will be held by the end of October.

Lapid has served as Israel’s opposition leader since Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, while Bennett took a break from politics. Their alliance is aimed at uniting a fragmented opposition with a shared hostility toward Netanyahu.

Lapid, one of a shrinking number of Israeli politicians who supports the idea of Palestinian independence, said the issue would not be on the next government’s agenda. He said the conditions are not right following the trauma of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and wars that have followed.

“There will be no two-state solution in the coming years, because Israelis now understand this will become just another failing terrorist state on our borders,” said Lapid, adding that the Palestinian Authority does not have the ability to effectively prevent attacks against Israel.

But Lapid said he would oppose unilateral steps that would make a future Palestinian state impossible and had received assurances from Bennett, a former West Bank settlement leader, that Israel will not move toward annexing the occupied territory.

Lapid also ruled out cooperation with Arab parties to build a coalition to unseat Netanyahu.

Opinion polls indicate that Bennett and Lapid might not be able to form a governing majority coalition without the support of some Arab lawmakers, as they did in their previous government. They broke a longstanding taboo in 2021 when they invited Mansour Abbas, leader of a small Arab faction, into Israel’s governing coalition for the first and only time in Israel’s history.

Lapid said his previous cooperation with Abbas was “the right government for the moment,” but that Israel is in a very different place after nearly three years of wars and that he and Bennett will not build a coalition with Abbas’ party in the next elections.

Hun Sen, the Senate president acting as head of state in the absence of King Norodom Sihamoni, issued the pardon freeing Kem Sokha from house arrest. Sihamoni is in China on an extended stay for medical treatment.

Prime Minister Hun Manet, in a statement posted on the Telegram social media platform, described the pardon as a step in strengthening national unity. Kem Sokha made no immediate public comment. His lawyers said the action did not lift a ban on him taking part in politics or leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.

The decision is unlikely to greatly affect the political climate in Cambodia, with other opposition figures in exile and where political and social activists continue to face restrictions on freedom of speech and movement.

“Hun Sen’s decision to pardon Kem Sokha after more than eight years in arbitrary detention partially reverses a grievous injustice, but it is deplorable that Sokha remains barred from participating in politics or leaving the country,” Elaine Pearson, the regional director for Human Rights Watch, said a statement.

She added: “Cambodia’s remaining opposition politicians and parties are still under constant threat of arbitrary arrest and baseless restrictions. The government needs to ensure that political rights are respected in the country.”

Kem Sokha was convicted in 2023 following a long period of pretrial detention. He was accused of conspiring with the United States to topple the Cambodian government. He has consistently denied the charge.

The primary evidence against him was a video of him discussing political advice from U.S.-based pro-democracy groups. He told the appeals court last month that he had never conspired with any foreign country to cost the lives of Cambodian citizens or the loss of national territory.

His arrest in 2017 marked the start of a broad government crackdown on independent media and political opponents, notably Kem Sokha’s popular Cambodia National Rescue Party.

The Supreme Court dissolved the party shortly after his 2017 arrest. That allowed Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to sweep all parliamentary seats in the 2018 elections.

Hun Sen was prime minister when Kem Sokha was arrested and convicted. In 2023, Hun Sen became Senate president and his son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister.

Hun Sen, who served 38 years as Cambodia’s leader, has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. While the government insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, the courts have frequently dissolved political parties seen as potential rivals and jailed or harassed their leaders.

Critics charge that the situation has not improved much under Hun Manet.

The Phnom Penh Appeals Court had affirmed Kem Sokha’s 27-year sentence at the end of April, following a much-delayed appeals process. It added a condition barring him from leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.

Kem Sokha had visited his ailing 101-year-old mother with the court's permission earlier Monday before the pardon was announced.

He did not speak to the media, but a video posted on social media by his lawyer showed him hugging his mother and saying that if he were free, he would enter the Buddhist monkhood to honor her. He also said he would not seek revenge against those who put him in prison.

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Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton had no public campaign events scheduled for the final day of their more-than-yearlong quest for the GOP nomination. Instead, their fight for Tuesday's runoff continued as it has for months — intense and unabated — through advertising that has topped $109 million, heavily from Cornyn's side.

Cornyn hosted an annual, non-campaign event in San Antonio to recognize high school graduates attending the nation's service academies. The senator seeking a fifth term held his last public campaign event in Corpus Christi on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s voting.

Paxton headlined his last events Thursday in the Austin area and in San Antonio, content to let his campaign and a super PAC carry his primary message: that President Donald Trump endorsed him on May 19.

Trump's announcement and accompanying dismissal of Cornyn, who has had an awkward public relationship with the president, came on the second day of early voting, which ended Friday.

Though the candidates' campaigns were quiet over the weekend, Trump reaffirmed his support for Paxton on Sunday, and disparaged Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to him.

Paxton, Trump posted on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while calling Cornyn “VERY disloyal to me.” It was Trump's strongest rebuke of Cornyn, who had dismissed his 2024 comeback chances, and echoed the president's reproach of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before he lost in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.

After Trump's jabs, Cornyn still leaned into his support for the president just before Monday's event. The senator said that 99.3% of his votes aligned with Trump, that he “wants him to be successful” and then he referenced Trump’s previous comments “where he called me a good man and a friend.”

As for endorsing his opponent, “obviously the president is entitled to make his pick," he said, but “Texans are a pretty independent breed and people will be making their own choices.”

Following Trump's call for retribution, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have also chosen GOP primary challengers over incumbent GOP officeholders who have crossed the president or opposed his agenda.

For a contest that is expected to draw a fraction of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, the two candidates’ campaigns and supporting groups were continuing to bombard all Texans with advertising, though more by Cornyn's backers than Paxton's.

"It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

The combination of Cornyn's campaign and supporting super PACs has far outspent pro-Paxton groups over the past year, by almost nine-to-one. But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached. In the final week of the campaign, the combination of pro-Cornyn ad spending was less than twice that of Paxton's group.

Cornyn's network continued to air spots attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions that have shadowed him with little effect throughout the campaign. The senator's consequent argument to voters is that Paxton would struggle in the general election and threaten to flip the seat blue.

“Paxton’s flaws and the baggage he brings to the general election is going to be exploited to the fullest by James Talarico,” he told reporters, before heading into Monday's ceremony and giving a speech devoid of campaign politics to the assembled graduates.

Cornyn’s campaign also had reprised an ad noting his tendency to vote in the Senate for Trump’s priorities.

Paxton's campaign and groups supporting him transitioned midweek to all ads noting Trump's endorsement, though Paxton's primary super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, began airing one over the weekend aimed at raising questions about state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.

“I’ll stay in the European Parliament because it would be good for the Direct Democracy party to have a European Parliament member,” Fidias, who goes by his first name, told reporters before a proclamation ceremony.

“We could’ve done better but we’re happy with what has happened, this is a small victory.”

Fidias whipped up much speculation by being coy about his political future throughout his campaign.

It was only six months ago that Fidias, 26, founded the Direct Democracy party. He said that the party was intended to upend the established political order in Cyprus and abroad by enabling ordinary citizens to have a say in formulating party policy and declare themselves party candidates through an online application.

Direct Democracy received 5.4% of total votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election and four seats in the 56-member House. Fidias, who garnered the most votes out of all of his party’s candidates, ceded his seat to runner-up Yiannis Laouris.

Even though it’s a remarkable result for a group that eschewed the traditional way of wooing voters by outlining its policies, the result didn’t live up to Fidias’ own expectations. That’s because nearly one in five voters cast their ballots for him in the June 2024 European Parliament election, even though he took no political positions, made no promises and didn't present a program for his time in office.

“It seems now that people are hungry not for political positions, but for true people that are not lying, (but) saying the truth,” he told The Associated Press in an interview shortly after the 2024 poll.

Fidias spent years boosting his popularity with outrageous video posts of him spending wads of cash in Vietnam, living a week in an airport for free, and burying himself alive for 10 days.

His online breakthrough came after he relentlessly pursued and succeeded in getting a hug from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also became a fan.

Fidias has acknowledged that his online antics had offered many Cypriot voters — who are deeply disenchanted with the perceived corruption of a party system that has operated on a favors-for-votes basis for decades — a way to express their frustrations.

Fidias has used online media as his primary tool to communicate with his supporters the inner workings of the European Parliament, the reasoning for his voting on issues as well as to answer his growing number of detractors who consider him and his trial-by-error decision-making politically infantile.

He has also courted plenty of controversy for his perceived support for negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine, and for casting doubt on what the International Criminal Court said was the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Sunday’s parliamentary election saw the ultranationalist National Popular Front, or ELAM, party make major gains, receiving nearly 11% of the vote and eight seats — up from just under 7% and four seats in the previous poll.

“'What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?’” Allred said they ask him regularly. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”

He's challenging Rep. Julie Johnson in the Democratic runoff for a Dallas-area House seat on Tuesday, and he's one of several candidates trying to harness populist anger over congressional stock trading. Allred has denounced Johnson for trades involving companies like Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to President Donald Trump's administration.

Johnson said her trades were handled by a financial manager, and she accused Allred of being “only out for himself.” She pointed to financial disclosures that showed Allred's wealth nearly doubling during his own time in Congress, although Allred said his assets were in a blind trust and the money came from his wife's income as a partner at a law firm.

“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”

The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries. The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.

Some are tracking congressional stock trading

Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” capitalizing on Americans' disdain for the Washington establishment. Now that his family is profiting while he's back in the White House, Democrats are eager to regain the upper hand on an issue that could prove potent with voters.

“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Daniel Lobo-Lewis, a political consultant in Washington. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”

Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosta founded the Political Integrity Project last year to track stock trading and corporate donations involving members of Congress.

The organization asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress and vow not to work as a lobbyist after they leave office. So far, about 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge.

“If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine,” Lobo-Lewis said.

Congress has yet to enact a stock trading ban for its members, though insider trading is already illegal for members just like it is for anyone else. There are multiple proposals on Capitol Hill, but none have gained traction.

A bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading stalled this year despite receiving Trump’s blessing during his State of the Union. And Democrats remain divided over the number of alleged loopholes in their competing proposals.

Anti-corruption messages spread in Democratic primaries

A crowded race in a Democratic-leaning Utah congressional seat has featured attacks over candidates’ personal wealth. State Sen. Nate Blouin criticized his main rival, former Rep. Ben McAdams, for having equity in a Utah data center firm, and excoriated others in the race for past investments and jobs.

McAdams said the equity of several thousand dollars was payment for a past contract completed by his government consulting firm while he was a private citizen. His campaign defended the data center project by saying it would use no water and run on clean energy.

A spokesperson for McAdams also claimed Blouin “is currently hiding his corporate donations” by removing them from campaign disclosure reports, which McAdams' campaign claims “is not only deceitful, it breaks campaign finance law.”

In an interview, Blouin rejected the claim that he broke the law, and said that he removed the donations because he returned the money to each donor.

“It was actually quite uncomfortable to return some of those,” said Blouin, because some of the firms included local firms and clean energy companies. “But there is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”

In a New York City congressional district that includes both Wall Street and the Democratic Socialists of America’s headquarters, the city’s former comptroller, Brad Lander, has accused Rep. Dan Goldman of trying to buy another term by using his own wealth to match campaign contributions. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune, says he entered all of his assets into a blind trust after taking office in 2023.

A spokesperson for Goldman said Lander is “running a deceitful campaign based on absurd lies that Dan is beholden to special interests” and that Goldman has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.” Goldman has spent his own money on the race, the spokesperson said: “To ensure that the NY-10 voters can be sure that he is beholden only to them and his principles.”

Lander said Goldman's spending is “not illegal, but it is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman not only dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections but also solicits money from the same forces who are rigging the economy and worsening the affordability crisis.”

More candidates are fighting over stocks in California

Even representatives who support a ban on congressional stock trading are feeling the heat.

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California is facing multiple primary challengers who have criticized the congressman for holding stocks while serving in Congress. Sherman does not trade individual stocks and supports a ban on stock trading.

“I only own three individual stocks, which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”

One of Sherman's primary challengers is Jake Levine, a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden, who signed the pledge from the Political Integrity Project. But Sherman said Levine “refuses to disclose key elements of his $18 million stock portfolio, and actively bought and sold stocks while serving on the National Security Council.”

Levine said in a statement shortly after midnight on Tuesday that Sherman “knows he’s losing because voters are sick of politics as usual and ready for a new generation of leadership.”

He added: “He’s chosen to close his campaign with desperate, unfounded attacks against me rather than make a real argument of why he deserves to be reelected. We look forward to the results next week.”

In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California State Sen. Scott Wiener has critiqued his progressive opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, over his personal wealth. Chakrabarti is a former software engineer who earned millions as an early employee at the tech firm Stripe. He later served as the first chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Wiener said that Chakrabarti “has enormous investments” and “is trying to buy this seat” while “spreading bogus conspiracy theories” with his own wealth. He criticized Chakrabarti for not disclosing the last decade of his stock trades.

“If you’re making a ban on stock trades a central part of your campaign — as Saikat is doing, running around saying that everyone under the sun is corrupt — how about you tell the voters about your own stock trading history,” Wiener said.

Chakrabarti retorted that his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant to his future time in office and that he would place all of his assets into a blind trust should he be elected. He critiqued Wiener for being supported by super PACs funded by the AI firm Anthropic and other major corporations.

“This is all part of a larger problem, which is just the whole idea of corruption in our politics,” Chakrabarti said. “If you’re in Congress, you sit on committees that oversee a lot of these industries, and it’s unethical to be using that insider information, that knowledge to make stock trades. But that doesn’t apply to a private citizen.”

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This article has been updated to correct the last name of the co-founder of the Political Integrity Project. It is Agosta, not Agosto. The article was also updated to correct that Jake Levine did not say that his family manages his financial assets.

The list of candidates capable of challenging top-ranked Jannik Sinner, who enters the French Open on a three-month-long 29-match winning streak, has been dwindling.

Enter Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who has been making waves on the ATP Tour.

Jodar continued to impress in his Roland Garros debut, dropping just five games in a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 rout of American opponent Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday despite boiling heat at the clay-court Grand Slam. The last man to concede fewer games in a French Open debut was Novak Djokovic, who allowed three to Robby Ginepri in 2005.

“I did the things very well from the start,” Jodar said. “It’s just my first year (on tour) and I’m experiencing a lot of things in these past few months.”

Mostly, Jodar has been experiencing victories: He’s won 16 of his last 19 matches, raised a trophy on clay in Morocco, reached the semifinals in Barcelona and had a run to the quarterfinals in Madrid ended by Sinner.

A year ago, Jodar was ranked No. 707 and playing challengers — tennis’ minor leagues — in the U.S. after he competed at the University of Virginia. Now he’s No. 29 and is seeded 27th in Paris.

“It was obviously another chapter of my life but I think that chapter also helped me to develop a lot and to be a better player now,” Jodar said.

Going to college also helped.

“Living there alone, it was great to develop and to do things by myself,” Jodar said. “It was a new chapter, new culture for me, actually a new life.”

Jodar appears destined to become a top-10 player and a serious contender for the biggest trophies.

And Jodar is in the bottom half of the draw in Paris — meaning he could meet Sinner only in the final.

Swiatek making no assumptions

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek eliminated 136th-ranked debutant Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in her opener.

The only real issue for the third-ranked Swiatek came when she needed a trainer to re-tape the middle finger on her tennis-playing right hand for an apparent blister after the first set.

Swiatek has not won a title on clay this season and recently made a coaching change. She hired Francisco Roig, who previously worked with 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

“Nothing comes easy,” Swiatek said. “With more titles it’s even a bit harder because everyone expects you to be ready always and play perfectly. So you need to stay humble and not take anything for granted and work your way from the beginning of the tournament.”

She improved to 28-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams.

Also advancing were Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who beat Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-2; and recent Italian Open winner Elina Svitolina, who rallied past Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

In men’s action, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka was beaten by Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to end his 21st and last French Open.

Gael Monfils also bowed out for the last time after losing to fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 just before midnight.

Eighth-seeded Alex De Minaur defeated Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and No. 15 Casper Ruud — a two-time French Open runner-up — won against Roman Safiullin 6-2, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2.

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

Here is a look at the holiday and how it has evolved:

When is Memorial Day?

It falls on the last Monday of May. This year, it is May 25.

Why is Memorial Day celebrated?

It’s a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The holiday is observed in part by the National Moment of Remembrance, which encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. for a moment of silence.

What are the origins of Memorial Day?

The holiday’s origins can be traced to the American Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 service members, Union and Confederate, between 1861 and 1865.

The first national observance of what was then called Decoration Day occurred May 30, 1868, after an organization of Union veterans called for decorating war graves with flowers that were in bloom.

The practice was already widespread. Waterloo, New York, began a formal observance on May 5, 1866, and was later proclaimed to be the holiday’s birthplace.

Yet Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, traced its first observance to October 1864, according to the Library of Congress. And women in some Confederate states decorated graves before the war’s end.

David Blight, a Yale history professor, points to May 1, 1865, when as many as 10,000 people, many of them Black, held a parade, heard speeches and dedicated the graves of Union dead in Charleston, South Carolina.

A total of 267 Union troops had died at a Confederate prison and were buried in a mass grave. After the war, members of Black churches buried them in individual graves.

“What happened in Charleston does have the right to claim to be first, if that matters,” Blight told The Associated Press in 2011.

When did Memorial Day become a source of contention?

As early as 1869, The New York Times wrote that the holiday could become “sacrilegious” and no longer “sacred” if it focused more on pomp, dinners and oratory.

In an 1871 Decoration Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said he feared Americans were forgetting the Civil War’s impetus: enslavement.

“We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation’s destroyers,” Douglass said.

His concerns were well-founded, said Ben Railton, a professor of English and American studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts.

Although roughly 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army, the holiday in many communities would essentially become “white Memorial Day,” especially after the rise of the Jim Crow South, Railton told the AP in 2023.

In the 1880s, then-President Grover Cleveland was said to have spent the holiday going fishing, and “people were appalled,” Matthew Dennis, an emeritus history professor at the University of Oregon, told the AP.

But when the Indianapolis 500 held its inaugural race on May 30, 1911, an AP report made no mention of the holiday, or any controversy.

How has Memorial Day changed?

Dennis said Memorial Day’s potency diminished somewhat with the addition of Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. Armistice Day became a national holiday by 1938 and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

In 1971, Congress changed Memorial Day from every May 30 to the last Monday in May. Dennis said the creation of the three-day weekend recognized that Memorial Day had been transformed into a more generic remembrance of the dead, as well as a day of leisure.

A year later, Time Magazine wrote that the holiday had become “a three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose.”

Why is Memorial Day tied to sales and travel?

Even in the 19th century, grave ceremonies were followed by leisure activities such as picnicking and foot races, Dennis said.

The holiday also evolved alongside baseball and the automobile, the five-day work week and summer vacation, according to the 2002 book “A History of Memorial Day: Unity, Discord and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

In the mid-20th century, a small number of businesses began to open defiantly on the holiday.

Once the holiday moved to Monday, “the traditional barriers against doing business began to crumble,” authors Richard Harmond and Thomas Curran wrote.

These days, Memorial Day sales and traveling are deeply woven into the nation’s muscle memory.

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.

Pinecrest police pursued the crew until they lost sight of them. The group would ultimately wreck at Interstate 95 and Griffin Road.

Police apprehended one of the suspects at the scene while the remaining suspects managed to escape. The captured suspect’s identity was not immediately released.

Authorities said they’ve identified the BMW’s owner but said he or she has not cooperated.

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.

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.

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Fire rescue personnel and police officers were seen near four mangled cars at Southwest 10th Avenue and Third Street in Little Havana’s Riverside area.

Just feet away, a power box was left destroyed, poles were uprooted, and a stop sign was nearly toppled.

According to Miami police, the crash was reported at 2:46 a.m.

Police said it appears that the driver of an SUV was speeding moments before the crash.

A driver in another vehicle was killed in the crash, authorities confirmed.

Residents in the area said this is not the first fatal crash that has occurred in the area, with another occurring about a year ago.

Police officers closed the roadway during the investigation. Two vehicles from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Department also responded to the scene.

The identities of those involved in the collision have not yet been released.

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Russia and ally Belarus held joint nuclear drills last week, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned in recent days that Belarus could provide a launchpad for Russia to open a new front in northern Ukraine. Some Russian troops entered Ukraine from Belarusian territory in Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

In a further sign of concern, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday about the war in Ukraine, their first call since the invasion began.

Russia warns of more 'systemic strikes'

Further “systemic strikes” on Kyiv are in store, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday. It urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic missions, to leave the city as quickly as possible and told residents to stay away from military and government facilities.

The ministry said Friday’s deadly Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk was “the final straw.” Ukraine said it hit only targets supporting Russia’s invasion.

The Russian army is locked in a hard and costly slog on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line that mostly snakes through eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Russia hit a dead-end on the battlefield, so it terrorizes Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centers,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said on X, after the weekend barrage that killed two people and damaged buildings across the Ukrainian capital.

With U.S.-made air defense missiles in short supply because of the Iran war, Russian missiles are harder for Ukraine to stop. Meanwhile, U.S. efforts to stop the fighting have stalled.

Countries keep a wary eye on Belarus

In his call with Lukashenko, Macron “underscored the risks for Belarus of allowing itself to be dragged into Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a presidential aide in the French leader’s office who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the presidential palace’s practices. Macron also spoke Sunday with Zelenskyy.

A terse readout released by the Belarusian presidential press service said the call with Macron took place “on the French side’s initiative” and the leaders discussed “regional issues” and Belarusian relations with the EU and France.

Belarusian opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya on her first visit to Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “Lukashenko’s regime knows well what needs to be done to improve ties with the European Union, but it isn’t happening. Instead, hybrid attacks, nuclear blackmail and threats to the entire region.

Speaking after meeting with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, Tsikhanouskaya said that “Ukraine is defending not only its independence but also the right of our peoples to live without imperial dictatorship, without violence and fear.”

"I am convinced that Ukraine’s victory will open the way to Belarus’s freedom,” she told a news conference.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who appeared alongside Tsikhanouskaya, emphasized that “Ukraine consistently differentiates between the regime that has dragged Belarus into Russian aggression and the Belarusian people," adding that "we appreciate the contribution of Belarusian volunteers, journalists, human rights advocates and activists who are fighting for freedom, both ours and yours.”

Lukashenko, who has governed his country of some 9.5 million people with an iron fist for more than three decades, relies on the Kremlin for cheap energy, loans and other support. Western countries have repeatedly slapped sanctions on Belarus, including for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory to invade Ukraine.

More recently, Lukashenko has been trying to improve ties with the West. Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners as part of deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions.

Russia fires hypersonic missile at Ukraine

Sunday’s bombardment included Russia’s powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, which can carry multiple warheads. Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted it can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound and evade air defense systems.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence services had received tipoffs from the United States and European countries that Russia was preparing to launch an Oreshnik.

In addition to the two deaths, at least 91 people were wounded in Sunday's barrage, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Administration.

Shattered glass littered sidewalks on Monday after Ukrainian authorities said the assault damaged buildings across the city, including near government offices, residential buildings, schools and a market.

Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, led ambassadors from more than 70 countries on a visit to the sites of the strikes. He urged the international community to step up pressure on Moscow and ensure Ukraine gets more air defense assets.

In other developments:

Russia’s Federal Security Service said divers found magnetic mines attached to the hull of a liquefied petroleum gas tanker in the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The tanker Arrhenius was bound for Samsun, Turkey, it said, adding that the limpet mines were made in a NATO member country. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile hit a business in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Derhachi, killing two people and wounding 19 others Monday, Kharkiv regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov said. Seventeen people were hospitalized.

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Associated Press writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.

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

All the cases are linked to the outbreak in neighboring Congo, which appears to have started several days or weeks before Congolese authorities declared it on May 15.

A 59-year-old Congolese man was admitted to a hospital in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, on May 11, and died three days later, before it was known he was suffering from the Ebola virus. Two other Congolese nationals who sought medical care in Uganda later tested positive for Ebola.

Ugandan health authorities on Saturday confirmed the first local infections: a driver and a health worker exposed to the Congolese patient who died on May 11. Two more health workers at a private hospital in Kampala have since tested positive, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

“Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are now receiving care,” Dr. Charles Olaro, the national director of health services, said in a statement.

President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to “ stop shaking hands ” as part of measures to avoid infection. He also ordered the postponement of an annual religious event that attracts thousands of pilgrims, from Congo and elsewhere, who converge around a Catholic basilica just outside Kampala by June 3.

Other measures include the temporary suspension of all public transportation and flights between Congo and Uganda.

In Congo, suspected Ebola cases have topped 900, mainly in eastern Ituri province where the ongoing outbreak is centered, authorities said Sunday. The response has been hampered by fear, anger and frustration among locals including attacks on treatment centers, as well as distrust of authorities in a region long plagued by armed violence.

Congo has had more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks over the decades. Health experts say international aid cuts last year by the United States and other rich nations are devastating for eastern Congo because of the region's unique problems.

Aid groups fighting this Ebola outbreak say they don’t have the equipment they need, such as face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits, and body bags and other materials needed to safely bury the bodies of victims, which can be highly contagious.

The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment. The outbreak has been declared a global health emergency.

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever.

A family of fruit bats is believed to be the natural hosts of the viruses that cause Ebola, according to the World Health Organization. Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials.

Peter Murrell, 61, who was remanded into custody in the High Court in Edinburgh after his plea, admitted using party funds to buy a high-priced motorhome, two cars, including a Jaguar, and luxury goods, including Bremont watches and household items that included two toilet seats.

“By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country,” SNP leader John Swinney told a press conference. “I am horrified, I am betrayed.”

Swinney and Sturgeon both distanced themselves from the taint of Murrell's crimes and said they had been unaware of the theft.

Murrell's plea caps a five-year police investigation and a tumultuous period for Scotland's dominant party and the former power couple once at its helm.

Following big elections gains for the SNP in 2021, signs of internal turmoil exploded less than two years later as questions swirled about the party’s finances and dwindling membership numbers.

Sturgeon, who dominated Scottish politics for almost a decade, abruptly resigned as first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government in February 2023 after serving more than eight years in the role. Observers were bewildered by her announcement that she knew in her “head and in my heart” that it was the right time to go.

The following month, Murrell quit his job after two decades as party executive. He took responsibility for misleading the news media about the collapsing membership of the party. Three weeks later he was arrested by police at the couple's home in Glasgow.

Case casts a cloud over SNP

Police officers spent two days searching the house. They also searched SNP headquarters in Edinburgh and confiscated a luxury motorhome parked in the driveway at Murrell’s mother's home north of the capital.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said the investigation, which cost 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) in public funds, was lengthy and complex because Murrell covered his tracks over a 12-year period by making false entries in the SNP’s accounts.

“Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him,” Houston said. “He abused his privileged position with access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.”

Sentencing was scheduled for June 23.

Police Scotland's investigation into how the SNP spent more than 600,000 pounds ($810,000) designated for a Scottish independence campaign cast a cloud over the party, Sturgeon and her legacy.

Sturgeon and former party treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested and questioned. Sturgeon said at the time: “I know beyond doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing.”

Police announced in March 2025 that Sturgeon and Beattie were cleared.

Sturgeon said Monday that she never had knowledge of or suspected Murrell was siphoning funds from the party. She said she was “utterly appalled,” and “angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP.”

“To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain,” Sturgeon said on Instagram. “Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.”

When the lists of some of the items Murrell was alleged to have purchased were later published, including an expensive coffee maker and DVDS of the Danish political drama “Borgen” — which Sturgeon had told reporters she liked — she issued a statement saying she was unaware that the goods had been bought with party funds.

‘Close ranks and shut down scrutiny’

Sturgeon led her party to dominance in Scottish politics and refashioned the SNP from a largely one-issue party into a dominant governing force with liberal social positions. She guided her party during three U.K.-wide elections and two Scottish elections, and led Scotland through the coronavirus pandemic, winning praise for her clear, measured communication style.

But Sturgeon left office amid divisions in the SNP without meeting her main goal — independence from the United Kingdom for the nation of 5.5 million people.

Sturgeon announced last year that she and Murrell were divorcing after about 15 years of marriage.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said it was “inconceivable” Sturgeon knew nothing about what her husband was doing as she called on Swinney, the first minister, to explain what the party knew about the crime.

“It was Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP party machine that attempted to close ranks and shut down scrutiny when questions about the finances started to emerge, and we need to know why,” Baillie said.

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Murrell's age has been corrected in this story to 61, not 62.

“Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), Leo’s first encyclical, has been eagerly awaited ever since history’s first U.S.-born pope announced days after his election that he considered AI to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.

In the text, Leo denounced the “culture of power” driving the AI race, especially in developing ever more sophisticated methods of remote warfare. He declared that it was “not permissible” to entrust irreversible, lethal decisions to AI systems, setting up another flash point between the American pope and the Trump administration, which has worked aggressively to deregulate AI development.

“Artificial Intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death,″ the pope told a special Vatican presentation of the encyclical, one of the most authoritative types of teaching documents a pope can issue.

Experts in the tech industry, academia and Catholic morality said the document will likely become a benchmark in the debate over AI, a point of reference for policymakers, researchers and ordinary folk alike. It comes as the near-daily developments in the technology trigger concerns over AI replacing human jobs and even human intelligence.

Taylor Black, a Microsoft AI executive and director of Catholic University of America’s AI institute, said the document would prompt people “at the forefront of these tools” to ask questions such as “What does it mean to be human?”

Pope calls out AI companies even as he hosts Anthropic

The Vatican launch also included remarks by the co-founder of Anthropic, which is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over access to its AI technology. The Vatican decided to involve Anthropic as part of its decade-long effort to engage Silicon Valley in dialogue over the human cost of AI.

And yet in his text, Leo repeatedly blasted the concentration of power and data in the hands of so few people in the private sector as a danger, especially to children and the most vulnerable, and called for external regulation of their work.

“It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,” he wrote. “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few.”

Leo appealed to AI developers and political leaders responsible for regulating them to slow down and reflect on what they are doing. He urged them to use ethical and spiritual guidelines to make the choice to work not for their own profit or power, but the betterment of humanity.

AI competitors OpenAI and Anthropic are the second- and third-most valuable U.S. private companies, each valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, more than the GDP of many nations. Both companies are heading toward near-trillion dollar IPOs.

Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah welcomed Leo's criticism and concern. He said such external checks were fundamental to the technology “going well” for humankind since there is so much at stake — “a real possibility that AI will displace human labor at a very large scale.”

“We need more of the world — religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments — to do what His Holiness has done here: to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction,” Olah said. “We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”

Experts say the text will become a benchmark

In a methodical text, the math major pope traced the history of the Catholic Church’s social teaching and applied its core concepts — justice, solidarity, the dignity of work and the universal destination of resources — to the digital revolution.

“I am convinced that this will prove to be a defining document for our era, a profound and prophetic document,” said Paolo Carozza, law professor at Notre Dame Law School and chair of the Meta Oversight Board.

“Pope Leo is offering a clear, comprehensive, and coherent voice urging us to take responsibility for constructing a world in which technology will serve humans rather than degrade them,” he said.

In its strongest chapters, Leo denounced how AI had helped accelerate the “normalization of war” by desensitizing people to its cost. He didn’t name specific conflicts, but cited “opposing imperialisms, between powers that wish to preserve their supremacy, and those that aspire to seize that supremacy.”

He demanded transparency and accountability by AI developers so that the chain of decision-making command in ordering strikes with AI weaponry is always known. He declared that the Catholic Church’s “just war” theory, which provides specific criteria for when force can be justified, was now “outdated” given the technological advances of warfare.

A text in the church’s social justice tradition

Leo signed the text May 15, the 135th anniversary of the publication of “Rerum Novarum” (Of New Things), the most important teaching document of Leo’s hero and namesake, Pope Leo XIII. That document addressed workers’ rights, the limits of capitalism, and the obligations that states and employers owed workers as the Industrial Revolution was underway.

It became the foundation of modern Catholic social thought, and the current pope cited it at the start of his pontificate in relation to the AI revolution, which he believes poses the same existential questions that the Industrial Revolution posed over a century ago. “Magnifica Humanitas” thus becomes the latest chapter in a century-long history of popes adapting “Rerum Novarum” to the social questions of their times, often dwelling on the dignity of work for human flourishing.

AI is evoking both existential fears and utopian vision amid an intensifying debate on whether it will become a catalyst that enriches humanity or a technological toxin that dulls human intelligence while wiping out millions of high-paying jobs.

“The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good,” Leo wrote.

Leo extended his concern for upholding human dignity in labor to issue the first-ever papal apology for the Holy See’s own role in legitimizing slavery by giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”

A decade-long dialogue with Silicon Valley

Vatican officials declined to say who contributed to Leo’s encyclical. But Vatican and church officials have been engaged in a dialogue with Silicon Valley tech firms for a decade.

The decision to include Anthropic at the Vatican launch was criticized by some who considered it a papal stamp of approval of the AI firm, which is currently suing the Trump administration after it ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology for its refusal to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of it.

Brian Boyd, U.S. faith liaison for the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, read the inclusion of Anthropic’s co-founder Olah as a recognition of its prominence in the field and as similar to a papal audience with a head of state: not an endorsement.

Anthropic is an “enormous corporation that is taking onto itself an enormous risk and responsibility,” Boyd said, adding that the company has “demonstrated genuine goodwill and integrity and interest in dialogue.”

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Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut, and Huamani reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in London and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

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

Past popes have apologized for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no pope had ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologized for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”

History’s first U.S.-born pope, whose family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners, delivered the apology in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” (Magnificent Humanity), which was released Monday.

The sweeping manifesto is about safeguarding humanity in an era of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. Leo raised the slave trade in relation to what he called the new forms of slavery and colonialism that the digital revolution is fueling.

Black American Catholics, activists and scholars have long called for the Holy See to atone for its role in the colonial-era trade in human beings, beyond generic apologies for the involvement of individual Christians.

“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”

Shannen Dee Williams, historian at the University of Dayton and author of the 2022 history of American Black Catholic nuns, “Subversive Habits,” welcomed the apology as a "monumental step toward the kind of essential truth-telling and reparation that many Catholics have prayed and worked to witness.”

“The Catholic Church has never been an innocent bystander in the history of white supremacy," said Williams. “Black Catholics have waited a long time to hear the Vatican speak honestly about the church’s leading roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery--and thus by extension the enduring systems of anti-Black racism in the world today.”

Centuries of legitimizing slavery for European colonizers

The Vatican has insisted that it always upheld the dignity of all human beings as children of God. But a series of 15th-century directives from the Vatican authorized Portuguese sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere.

The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.

Nicholas V’s permissions to the Portuguese were confirmed or renewed by Pope Callixtus III in 1456, Pope Sixtus IV in 1481 and Pope Leo X in 1514, according to the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

Spanish kings received the rights for the Americas.

In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and weren't to be enslaved.

Holy See late to condemn slavery, Leo says

In his encyclical, Leo recalled that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the first pope to explicitly condemn slavery in 1888, long after many countries had abolished it. Before that, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, church institutions and even popes — Gregory the Great — had slaves, Kellerman said.

In acknowledging the 15th century papal bulls, Leo wrote in his encyclical: “Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to the requests of sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, including the enslavement of ‘infidels.’”

Leo said it wasn't possible to judge the morality of the decisions with today’s standards.

“Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” he said.

The pope said that the church has long affirmed the dignity of every human being as the basis of its doctrine, “even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized.”

“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached,” he said.

Leo said that the church must firmly condemn all forms of trafficking related to the digital technological revolution “if we want to avoid the need to ask for pardon again in the future for having failed to respect the treasure of human dignity that is required by our faith.”

Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch History Center, Oxford University, said Leo needed to acknowledge and atone for the church's complicity in historic slavery if he wanted to credibly “speak to the current issues of technological enslavement.”

“For descendants of enslaved persons, this is once again a much needed apology from the pope,” said Butler, who is Black.

Leo’s own family history and past apologies

Kellerman, the scholar, welcomed Leo’s apology but said more needs to be done to further acknowledge how the Catholic Church legitimized and expanded slavery.

“Pope Leo has strengthened the moral credibility of the church with this admission and apology today,” he told The Associated Press. “Hopefully a future document will explain in more detail the church’s involvement with slaveholding. As a scholar I have some quibbles with the wording, but this is a truly remarkable moment.”

During a 1985 visit to Cameroon, St. John Paul II asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not the popes. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, which was the largest slave-trading center in West Africa, he denounced the injustice of slavery and called it a “tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian.”

According to genealogical research published by Henry Louis Gates Jr., 17 of Leo’s American ancestors were Black, listed in census records as mulatto, Black, Creole or a free person of color. His family tree includes slaveholders and enslaved people, Gates wrote in The New York Times.

During a visit to Angola last month, Leo prayed at a Catholic shrine at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule. While at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, Leo recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, but he didn’t refer specifically to slavery.

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Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut.

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