El enternecedor monito de apenas 673 gramos es el caso más reciente de crianza asistida en el zoológico de Guadalajara, en el occidente de México. Ahora las miradas de miles de mexicanos se centran en Yuji, quien ha desatado las comparaciones con el popular Punch, un macaco japonés que se viralizó en redes sociales después de crecer aferrado a su orangután de peluche ante el rechazo de su madre.

A diferencia de Punch, Yuji aún no ha tenido contacto físico con otros miembros de su especie y pasa la mayor parte del tiempo dentro de una transportadora en el Centro de Integral de Medicina y Bienestar Animal (CIMBA) del zoológico de Guadalajara, donde está bajo el cuidado de 12 veterinarios y biólogos.

Aún no se define la fecha en que Yuji será trasladado al hábitat en donde viven otros 12 monos patas adultos y tres crías. Su llegada dependerá del momento en que deje de alimentarse por completo de leche y cambie su dieta a la de un mono adulto, con todo y frutas y verduras, afirmó el veterinario Iván Reynoso Ruiz, encargado del área de primates del zoológico de Guadalajara, Ese proceso podría darse cuando Yuji tenga unos seis meses de edad, agregó.

El mono patas (erythrocebus patas) es una especie de macaco de tamaño medio y originario de África. Es identificado como el primate más rápido del mundo sobre tierra firme y puede alcanzar velocidades de hasta 55 kilómetros por hora.

Supervivencia temprana

Kamaria comenzó a mostrar un comportamiento irregular apenas horas después de dar a luz el pasado 3 de marzo. Sostenía de forma inadecuada a su primera cría, la cual también tenía dificultades para aferrarse a su madre.

La situación no pasó desapercibida para sus cuidadores, quienes decidieron separar a la madre de su cría. Con apenas 443 gramos de peso al nacer, Yuji fue colocado en una incubadora en el CIMBA para mantenerlo a una temperatura adecuada y garantizar su supervivencia, relató Reynoso Ruiz.

Fue así como el mono bebé, a quien uno de sus cuidadores bautizó como Yuji —el nombre del protagonista de una popular manga y anime japonesa— entró en un proceso de crianza asistida que suele utilizarse en zoológicos y reservas de vida silvestre para garantizar el bienestar y el desarrollo físico y comportamental de crías en riesgo.

¿Cómo es el cuidado de un mono bebé?

Durante sus primeras semanas, Yuji recibía un biberón con leche adicionada con proteínas mientras permanecía en vigilancia las 24 horas del día.

Como parte de los cuidados, al pequeño primate recibió desde un primer momento un peluche que, según explicó Reynoso Ruiz, “sustituyó toda esa función que era de la madre” y “representa su seguridad”. Además del peluche del perro, Yuji tiene otros dos juguetes, uno en forma de oso y otro en forma de mono, que son alternados para permitir su higiene.

Para estimular su desarrollo, sus cuidadores instalaron una pequeña hamaca y unas cuerdas dentro de su transportadora.

Conforme Yuji dormía cada vez más horas seguidas y ganaba algo de peso, también se extendieron sus horarios de alimentación. Ahora yuji recibe el primero de sus cuatro biberones a las 7 de la mañana, y el último a las 7 de la noche, poco antes de dormir abrazado de su peluche.

A media mañana es colocado en su transportadora y se le lleva a un área cercana al hábitat de los primates, para que los monos adultos lo vayan conociendo y el se vaya adaptando a lo que será su futuro hogar.

La crianza asistida y sus detractores

Aunque los casos de Punch y Yuji han generado reacciones favorables en redes sociales, algunos defensores de los derechos de los animales se han manifestado en contra de que se mantenga la práctica de la crianza asistida en los zoológicos.

“No hay como que vivan en su hábitat natural. Ellos tienen derecho a nacer, crecer, desarrollarse y morir en donde les corresponde”, afirmó la activista mexicana Diana Valencia, directora y fundadora de la asociación local Abriendo Jaulas y Abriendo Mentes, al plantear que aunque la crianza asistida garantiza la atención de las crías, “están cuidados por un humano, lo que no tendría que ser así”.

Ante las posiciones en contra, el encargado del área de primates del zoológico de Guadalajara expresó que los santuarios y zoológicos actualmente representan una oportunidad única para salvar a muchas especies que están en riesgo por el cambio climático y la caza furtiva. Admitió, además, que si Yuji hubiera nacido en estado silvestre probablemente “no habría tenido una segunda oportunidad”.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4% to 59,549.59. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 2% to 6,215.38.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2% to 26,269.99, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6% to 4,050.42. China on Thursday reported 5% economic growth for the January-March quarter, an acceleration from the previous quarter. While economists say China has largely shrugged off the initial impacts from the Iran war, some are warning its massive export engine could be hit more significantly in the coming months on slower global economic growth.

Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 0.9% higher, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1%.

On Wednesday, regional officials told The Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran had an “in principle agreement” to extend a two-week ceasefire deal that is expiring next week and were making progress toward another round of talks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also warned that Washington was preparing to apply secondary sanctions on those doing business with Iran – including potentially those from China that’s buying Iranian oil – in order to step up economic pressure on the country.

Oil steadied early Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, edged up less than 0.1% to $94.94 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, was up 0.4% to $91.66 a barrel.

Oil prices have surged since the Iran war began in late February. The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through normally, has remained largely closed. The U.S. has imposed a sea blockade on Iranian ports this week to force Tehran to reopen the strait and to accept a deal.

“The key upside risk for the market is that peace talks between the US and Iran break down,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note Thursday. “This isn’t an unrealistic scenario, given that US and Iranian demands remain fairly wide apart.”

On Wednesday, Wall Street hit a record on optimism over progress on a longer term ceasefire of the Iran war. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 7,022.95, eclipsing its prior all-time high set in January.

The Nasdaq composite gained 1.6% to 24,016.02, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.2% to 48,463.72.

Shares of Bank of America were 1.8% higher after the bank announced better-than-expected quarterly results and its CEO Brian Moynihan saw signs of a “resilient American economy” including solid spending by consumers. Shares of Morgan Stanley gained 4.5% also following better-than-expected quarterly results.

San Francisco-based shoe brand Allbirds’ share price ballooned 582% to nearly $17, after saying it’s shifting into artificial intelligence and would be changing its name to NewBird AI.

In other dealings, gold and silver prices were higher. Gold’s price climbed 0.5% on Thursday to $4,846.40 an ounce, while silver prices climbed 1.3% to $80.62 per ounce.

The U.S. dollar fell to 158.58 Japanese yen from 159 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1814, up from $1.1799.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

The White House said any further talks would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations.

The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports continued as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would ramp up economic pain on Iran with new economic sanctions on countries doing business with it, calling the move the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.

Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator after it hosted direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad that authorities said helped narrow differences between the two sides. Mediators are seeking a new round before the ceasefire expires next week.

Meanwhile, Trump wrote late Wednesday on Truth Social that leaders from Israel and Lebanon would speak the next day in a renewed effort to broker a ceasefire after the countries' first direct talks in decades ended the previous day in Washington without a deal. It was not clear what leaders Trump was referring to. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond for comment, which was posted before dawn in Israel and Lebanon.

The war has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region. Oil prices have fallen amid hopes for an end to fighting, and U.S. stocks on Wednesday surpassed records set in January.

Officials say US and Iran are making progress

Even as the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceasefire agreement, regional officials reported progress, telling The Associated Press the United States and Iran had an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, took part in a preliminary meeting Wednesday with Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief of staff, Iranian state media reported.

But even as mediators worked for peace, tensions simmered.

The commander of Iran’s joint military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade, and a newly-appointed military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he doesn’t support extending the ceasefire.

Mediators seek compromise on sticking points

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend — Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country “based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment,” Iranian state media reported.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

China calls for Strait of Hormuz to reopen

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the window of peace was opening during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, who briefed him on the latest developments in Iran-U.S. negotiations and Tehran’s considerations on the next step, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry late Wednesday.

Wang told Araghchi that the situation has reached a critical juncture between war and peace, and said Iran’s sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights should be respected as a littoral state of the Strait of Hormuz, while freedom of navigation and safety through the strait should be ensured.

Since the war began, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which a fifth of global oil transited through in peacetime. Tehran’s effective closure of the strait sent oil prices skyrocketing, raising the cost of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East, and the U.S. has responded with a blockade on Iranian shipping.

U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that no ships had made it past the blockade since it was imposed two days earlier, while 10 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and reenter Iranian waters.

The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began Feb. 28. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash that’s been vital to keeping Iran running.

Strikes continue in Lebanon after Washington talks

Meanwhile, Israel pressed ahead with its aerial and ground war in Lebanon. The country's National News Agency reported airstrikes and artillery shelling throughout southern Lebanon on Wednesday, including near Bint Jbeil, where Israeli forces have encircled Hezbollah fighters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops were about to “eliminate this great stronghold of Hezbollah” and would continue expanding control of areas in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu said negotiations are continuing, with disarming Hezbollah a key goal.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said Israel struck three teams of paramedics Wednesday in southern Lebanon, first hitting one team and then two more that rushed to help. The attacks killed three paramedics and wounded six others, the ministry said.

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

Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel.

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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Ahmed from Islamabad and Corder from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Aamer Madhani and Joshua Boak in Washington; Julia Frankel in New York and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

In the first three months of the year, Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s campaign said he brought in $27 million, while vulnerable incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said he raised $14 million. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s campaign said he’ll report $13.8 million and former Sen. Sherrod Brown will report $12.5 million in his comeback bid in Ohio.

The money will help Democrats make their case to voters and counter Republican attacks, but it doesn’t change the fundamental fact that control of the Senate will be decided in territory that favors Republicans. Except for Maine, where Democrats Graham Platner and Janet Mills are still battling for the party's nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, all of the top battleground races are in states President Donald Trump won in 2024.

While Democrats touted their totals, they offer only a snapshot of overall fundraising, as campaigns had until the end of the day Wednesday to file with the Federal Election Commission.

Republicans lagged

In races where Republicans had reported their fundraising by Tuesday evening, Democrats were far outpacing them.

In Texas, incumbent Sen. Jon Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton — who are locked in a bitter runoff for the GOP nomination — raised $2.5 million combined, less than 10% of Talarico's revenue for the quarter. Two of the three main Republicans in Georgia — Derek Dooley and Buddy Carter — combined for about $1.1 million. The third, Mike Collins, had not yet reported his fundraising as of Wednesday evening.

Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley raised $2.1 million in North Carolina and Sen. Jon Husted raised $2.9 million in Ohio.

Collins, a top target for Democrats, raised $3.1 million in Maine. Mills, the governor who is preferred by much of the Democratic establishment, said she’ll report raising $2.6 million, while Platner, an oyster farmer backed by progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders, said he raised $4 million.

In Alaska, Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola said she'll report raising $8.9 million, compared with $1.7 million for Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Money isn't everything

Republicans said flush coffers don't guarantee victory.

Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina pointed out that his opponent in 2020 also celebrated successful fundraising quarters but didn't win.

Democrats Beto O'Rourke in 2018 in Texas and Jaime Harrison in 2020 in South Carolina shattered fundraising records and still lost to their Republican rivals.

"We don’t have to outraise them," Tillis said. "We just got to out run them.”

There's an imbalance in Republicans' favor at the national committee level. The Republican National Committee reported roughly $109 million cash on hand in its most recent FEC filing, compared with roughly $16 million for their Democratic counterpart, plus Democrats are carrying about $17 million in debt.

Waiting in the wings for Republicans is a super political action committee tied to Trump — MAGA Inc. — which has more than $300 million cash on hand, according to the FEC.

The rosy first-quarter contributions carry some advantages for Democrats, namely the ability to buy limited advertising slots ahead of the election to get on the air early and make an impression with voters. Candidates also get favorable rates for television ads so their money goes further than independent expenditures by outside groups, though that advantage is eroding as ad spending increasingly shifts toward digital streaming.

“Winning in Texas will require unprecedented resources,” Talarico campaign manager Seth Krasne said in a statement. “This grassroots fundraising haul puts our movement in a strong position to spread our message in some of the most expensive media markets in the country.”

Talarico will face the winner of the GOP runoff on May 26 between Cornyn and Paxton.

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.

Workers who earn tips and overtime are seeing bigger returns this tax season, but those savings and others resulting from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that Trump signed last year have been eaten away by higher gas pricesdriven by the Iran war.

The president’s rare trip out West comes as Trump faces growing political pressure to wrap up the war and focus on a message that helps his party as they try to defend their congressional majorities in November’s midterm elections.

On Friday, Trump will hold an event in Phoenix with conservative political group Turning Point USA. But his first stop is in Las Vegas where he will hold a roundtable with several police officers who have benefited from new tax breaks on overtime, along with a barber and a casino pit supervisor, who got to claim the new tax breaks on tips.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the average tax refund this year has been over $3,400, up about $340 from a year ago.

Vegas, once known for affordable living, feels economic pain

Trump has said he first conceived of his “no tax on tips” in Las Vegas, a city where entertainment is the financial lifeblood and many workers depend on gratuities from visitors.

But it’s also a city of commuters, including the tipped workers who drive to their jobs at glitzy casinos. Gasoline is averaging $5 a gallon in Las Vegas, up 28% from a year ago, according to AAA.

Nicholas Delaney, an airline attendant who lives in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson and said he did not vote for the president in 2024, said he thinks Trump is doing a “terrible” job when it comes to the cost of living. He thought the tax break for tips was a good policy, but is concerned about the cost of groceries and gas.

“I gotta spend over $100 for a full tank of gas, 13 gallons? Crazy,” Delaney said.

Paula Goodman, a bartender in a Henderson casino, said the cost of living is her biggest concern right now, adding that she spends more than $400 a week on groceries for her family.

But Goodman, who voted for the president, said she thought he is “doing a pretty good damn job,” and doesn’t blame him for high gas prices, which she portrayed as just a fluctuation. As a bartender, she said she personally appreciated the tax savings on tips she brings home.

“Every little penny nowadays is, like, huge,” she said. “You’ve seen diesel, right? $6.11.”

Tax refunds are offset by gas prices

The White House said Trump is focused on tax cuts, deregulation and boosting U.S. energy production to drive down prices, and describes high gas prices as a temporary disruption from the war in Iran.

“Tens of millions of Americans are benefiting this tax season from the president’s signature provisions” in the tax law, said White House spokesman Kush Desai, saying that shows “how the administration hasn’t lost focus on delivering on our affordability agenda at home.”

Even so, the conflict has made things less affordable. The Bank of America Institute looked at its deposit and spending data and in a Tuesday analysis concluded that “the average increase in tax refunds could cover the average increase in gasoline spending for at least five months.”

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, the insurance and financial services company, said last week in an analysis that “the steep rise in gasoline prices looks likely to completely offset the increased tax funds windfall with households,” stressing that the money back would likely prevent a sharper drop in consumer spending.

Trump's economic message focusing on the tax breaks has also been drowned out this week by distractions from the president himself, who angered even some of his own supporters when he got into a public fight with the pope and posted a now-deleted image on social media depicting himself as Jesus.

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean said among Republicans, “the frustration and concern is growing every week about whether or not we will be able to hold onto the House this November.”

It takes a lot of repetition for a message like promoting the tax bill to break through to voters, but Trump’s tendency to drift into other subjects can dilute that, Bonjean said. Trump, who has at times dismissed affordability concerns as “a hoax,” and “con job” from Democrats, has to acknowledge the economic realities people are facing now if he wants to help his party this November, Bonjean said.

“He absolutely has to talk about his plan to bring down high gasoline costs, or else he’s lost his own message. It won’t be credible just to talk about no taxes on tips,” Bonjean said.

When will gas prices come down?

While the president has said he thinks the war with Iran will end soon, a deal to resolve it has not yet emerged, with the U.S. and Iran still proffering stances that are far apart.

Trump on Sunday said in a Fox News Channel interview that gas prices “could be the same or maybe a little bit higher” by the November midterms.

By Wednesday, in another Fox News interview, Trump walked back that comment. “I think they'll be much lower” before the election, on the assumption the war will be long over.

“When that’s settled, gas prices are going to go down tremendously,” Trump said.

Hours later at the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was less rosy, predicting that gas prices will fall sometime this summer, depending on how the negotiations with Iran go.

“I’m optimistic that sometime between June 20th and September 20th, that we can have $3 gas again,” Bessent told reporters.

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Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

El único hospital de Saipán, una de las islas del archipiélago, sufrió graves inundaciones, además de que se recibieron reportes de grandes complejos turísticos que perdieron sus generadores de respaldo, señaló Ed Propst, un exlegislador que trabaja en la oficina del gobernador.

“Las condiciones son bastante malas en estos momentos”, declaró Propst, añadiendo que los residentes se preparaban para un largo periodo sin luz ni agua.

Las autoridades apenas comenzaban a evaluar los daños que dejó el paso del supertifón Sinlaku. La tormenta golpeó las islas el martes por la noche y mantuvo su azote con fuertes vientos e intensas lluvias por varias horas el miércoles, volcando autos, derribando postes de servicios públicos y desprendiendo techos de lámina. Hasta el momento no se han reportado muertes.

No había servicio de luz y agua y muchos caminos quedaron intransitables en Saipán y Tinian, islas de la Mancomunidad de las Islas Marianas del Norte, un territorio de Estados Unidos donde viven unas 45.000 personas, indicaron funcionarios.

“Todavía tenemos una orden de resguardo, por lo que los equipos de primera respuesta no han podido realizar una evaluación completa de los daños”, señaló Bernard Villagomez, funcionario de información pública de la Oficina de Seguridad Nacional y Gestión de Emergencias del territorio, en un mensaje de texto a The Associated Press.

La Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias de Estados Unidos (FEMA por sus iniciales en inglés) tiene planeado enviar a personal y suministros adicionales a la región.

La tormenta también azotó Guam, otro territorio de Estados Unidos y sede de varias bases militares, con vientos de fuerza tropical.

El tifón —el ciclón tropical de mayor intensidad en lo que va del año— registraba vientos máximos sostenidos de hasta 241 km/h (150 mph) al momento de tocar tierra en las islas, informó el Servicio Meteorológico Nacional.

La enorme tormenta aún tenía vientos de 201 km/h (125 mph) a última hora del miércoles, a medida que desplazaba hacia el norte de las islas de Saipán, Tinian y Rota, indicó el servicio meteorológico. Se tiene previsto que el meteoro se desvíe hacia una serie de islas volcánicas poco pobladas en el extremo norte de las Marianas.

El vórtice de la tormenta se encontraba el jueves a unos 274 kilómetros (170 millas) al noroeste de Saipán. Muchos sensores en la isla estaban fuera de servicio, pero el servicio meteorológico estimó vientos de entre 97 y 113 km/h (60 y 70 mph).

Los vientos crearon condiciones peligrosas en el exterior, pero algunas tiendas de Tinian abrieron el jueves y la población aprovechó para comprar suministros, señaló el residente Mathew Masga.

“Mientras conducía por la zona, vi varias casas de madera y con partes de concreto con los techos dañados debido al paso del tifón", dijo a la AP en un mensaje por Facebook. "Cabe destacar que se cayeron muchos de nuestros postes y líneas eléctricas”.

Imágenes tomadas desde Saipán y Tinian mostraban terrenos residenciales cubiertos de escombros y árboles destrozados. Los vientos aplastaron las gradas metálicas de un campo deportivo.

El residente Dong Min Lee grabó un video de un auto que estaba encima de otros dos en el estacionamiento del edificio residencial donde vive. Los vientos arrancaron parte de la barandilla de su balcón.

La Cruz Roja Estadounidense y sus socios resguardaron a más de 1.000 residentes en Guam y las Marianas del Norte, informó la portavoz de la agencia, Stephanie Fox.

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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Audrey McAvoy, en Honolulu, y Gabriela Aoun Angueira, en San Diego, contribuyeron con este despacho.

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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.

One can find it in the country’s name — the UNITED States of America — and in the sentiment of the motto written in Latin on its coins and one-dollar bills: E Pluribus Unum, or “out of many, one.”

The effort has been optimistic and unrealistic, successful and a failure, enduring as an American ideal during moments when citizens struggled — and struggle today — to practice it.

How has the notion of unity in American society evolved in 250 years and more? What does it mean — and what doesn't it mean, particularly in fraught and troubled moments? “It's a question,” says one scholar, “that every society has to answer.”

I. The beginnings of these ‘United’ States

From the milestone moment of the nation’s beginning, the founders emphasized that unity would be a vital component of the new country, where government would be based not on a king and monarchy as in Europe but instead, as the Declaration says, “on the consent of the governed.”

“It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it … indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest,” George Washington said as he stepped down from two terms as the first American president.

At the start of the experiment, the fabric of a nation first stitched together from 13 original colonies, defining what unity meant was far from settled.

Even as the founders spoke of high-minded ideals, they put limits on who they allowed to take part, who had rights and freedom and who didn't. All these years later, determining the meaning of unity can still be a challenge. Do we interpret that Latin motto to mean a blending of different perspectives to create a country that is greater than the sum of its parts, or does it mean there can only be one, that unity requires sameness?

Either way, here’s the thing about aspirations, as anyone who’s ever quit on a New Year’s resolution can tell you: They don’t turn into reality without effort and commitment, or come out of just a sole moment, no matter how singular.

Our individual lives are built not just from the milestones but from the everydays in between. How could the life of a nation be any different?

II. Aspiration vs. reality

Even as unity has stood among the ideals, the on-the-ground experience of life in America for the last 2½ centuries has reflected the reality that in this created nation, there’s never been just ONE America, where everyone lived in the same way or had the same access to power and prosperity.

It wasn't there at the country's inception. And in the moment the U.S. is living now, it certainly isn't either.

“I think the United State has had a more volatile history in terms of how it deals with questions of inclusion and exclusion, how it draws the line and polices the line of who’s in and who’s out,” says Daniel Immerwahr, a professor of history at Northwestern University.

“It’s a question that every society has to answer … who’s on the inside, who’s on the outside,” he says. “I would say that what’s interesting about the United States in this regard is how changeable and nonobvious some of the answers to those questions are.”

Sometimes the differences have been straightforward — like geography (rural vs. urban, plains vs. mountains) and climate (heat vs. snow, wildfires vs. flooding). Sometimes they were, and remain, cultural — people from different countries of origin, newcomers vs. generations deep, speaking different languages, following different denominations of Christianity or other religions entirely. And of course, the differences have been economic; rich and poor have always lived differently.

But sometimes, the differences have been travesties — like enslaved Africans and their American-born descendants, forced to live under the lash as they worked in the fields and elsewhere for the benefit of white owners. Even after slavery was outlawed, they were subject to discrimination and worse under racism that was legalized in systemic ways into the 20th century and that echoes still.

The Indigenous tribes whose populations were decimated by death and disease as the American experiment moved westward and newly arrived settlers hankered after their tribal lands, and whose cultures were stripped from generations as the U.S. government tried to force “unity” through brutal efforts at assimilation.

Communities of people barred from possibility because of gender, sexual orientation or other characteristics.

There have also been persistent efforts across eras to create a country where the opportunities available to some — say, voting, economic growth, or access to education — would be made available to all. That came gradually through protest movements, legal action, and callbacks to those same American founding ideals and aspirations of unity and equality.

“It provided a language for the groups that were challenging these exclusions to draw on … invoking the ideals of the Revolution and the Declaration and saying, ‘Look, this is what the nation is supposed to be about,’” says Eileen Cheng, a professor of history at Sarah Lawrence College. “They could challenge the system and yet claim that they were being the true Americans.”

III. What could ‘unity’ even look like?

One of the things about ideals, though, is that they can be somewhat abstract.

What does it mean for a country to be ‘united'? Does unity mean uniform? Is it, to borrow a reference from one of satirist Terry Pratchett's books, that people are on the same side, or can they be on “different sides that happen to be side by side.” Is unity overall even a good thing in the context of a raucous democracy?

A look around the globe and through the history books shows there's no single answer. There have been countries with a single official language, others that have recognized multiple languages, and some, like the United States, that for generations have never officially designated any. At times, countries have chosen official religions. Nations have different standards and processes for naturalizing new citizens.

“There are always tensions between the unity and the separateness,” said Paul Wachtel, a psychology professor at the City College of New York. “There’s no society that is just one or just the other … what’s really most essential is that we learn how to negotiate those tensions.”

The United States experienced that firsthand in its infancy. The Constitution we live under is the second attempt at a framework for government. The first, the Articles of Confederation, kept the federal government weaker and the individual states stronger. It quickly became clear that having such a weak central government — i.e., less unity — wasn't effective for the new country, leading to the Constitution.

For some countries, like many in Europe, those negotiations have taken place under the weight of centuries of history and geography, and other established backdrops like the existing form of government, which impacted the direction they decided to go. The U.S., from the founders' perspective, was a new entity.

“What it is to be of the United States is to adhere to a set of principles rather than to have a certain kind of lineage,” Immerwahr says. “Sometimes that makes the United States remarkably open, and then sometimes that gets the leaders of the United States in all kinds of weird contradictions as they try to explain why they’re doing some forms of inclusion and not others.”

The United States has a decidedly mixed history when it comes to dealing with those tensions. Things have fluctuated.

Take migration, for example. There have been eras when the influx of people coming to these shores was seemingly a never-ending stream, but also times when much of the world was barred. In politics, the idea that there would be different factions represented by different parties was loathed by some, even as it became embedded in the political culture. Groups that were once looked down on are later brought into the fold, and vice versa.

“What have we learned over the last 250 years is that things change,” says Cindy Kam, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. “We are inclined to be social animals, but what those groups are is culturally constructed. So political elites, social elites, cultural elites, they do that work in identifying what the groups are, who is part of ‘us’ and who is a part of the ‘other.'”

By no means is it settled; if anything, the demographic, technological, economic and other changes of the last several decades are making discussions about unity more relevant than ever. In recent years, Americans have lived in a country where polarization is rampant, and serious — sometimes dire — questions abound over what the future holds. That's probably more in line with the country's beginnings than people realize.

“This polarization, people talk about it like it’s a new thing. But I think it’s really a return back to the way that we were at the beginning of the country,” Cheng says. “It’s not like this kind of linear development where we’re growing more and more accepting of difference. I think it’s up and down.”

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This story is part of an Associated Press package looking at the United States at age 250. For more stories, click here.

For a host of reasons, Hatzenbuhler and other ranchers across the country are reluctant to grow the national herd — now its smallest in more than 75 years — and until they do so, demand will outweigh supply, and beef prices will likely remain high.

Adding cattle makes sense for some ranchers, but others are struggling to stay afloat with the cattle they have, Hatzenbuhler said.

“They’re good times, and they’re bad times,” she said. “It’s a combination of both.”

Why is the beef herd so small?

Hatzenbuhler will make her choices as cows give birth to about 700 calves this spring on her family's Diamond J Angus ranch on more than 2,000 wind-swept acres near Mandan, North Dakota. Does she opt to increase her herd, or does she offset the new arrivals by selling an equal number of cattle to be slaughtered?

The national herd size isn't the only factor that determines what beef costs at the grocery store. Still, the dwindling number of cattle is a key reason the average price of all uncooked ground beef in the U.S. was $6.86 per pound in March, 3 cents off the record high set in February, according to federal statistics. That price in March is up nearly 48% from March 2021.

The U.S. cattle herd reached a high of 132 million head in 1975, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that figure has gradually fallen to 86 million this year.

Thanks to changes in cattle genetics and feeding techniques, ranchers now produce far more meat from each animal, so despite the much smaller herd, the country's beef production hit a record 28.4 billion pounds in 2022, said Tim Petry, a North Dakota State University livestock marketing specialist. About 26 billion pounds of beef are expected in 2026.

About 2.5 billion pounds of beef were exported to other countries in 2025, and the tight remaining supply, along with the high demand, has caused record prices.

Ranchers acknowledge the higher prices, but they face plenty of challenges weighing against growing herds, especially from drought.

Drought limits land for grazing

Dry conditions have persisted across much of cattle country, with about 63% of the U.S. cattle herd in drought areas, according to the USDA. Some areas have also seen giant wildfires that left no grass for grazing.

“You’ve got to have rain. You’ve got to have grass to keep cows on because they’re out on pastures for over half the year, and so that’s been the dilemma, is we had forced liquidation of cows,” Petry said.

This time of year, as calves arrive, ranchers decide whether to retain young cows called heifers and calves for breeding herds, and a big factor is pasture conditions, said Bernt Nelson, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist.

Feed is the highest cost for ranchers, and due to drought in spots like Texas and Oklahoma, they have had to truck in supplies from elsewhere. Those extra costs make it hard to increase a herd.

“When these pasture conditions deteriorate, and water becomes an issue, some of these states have to go as far as to haul hay, haul water from other regions of the country that have grass and easy access to water, and that adds a significant cost to operations,” Nelson said.

Even if ranchers opted to raise more cattle, it takes 15 to 24 months for a calf to mature before it can be slaughtered.

Role of meat processors in beef prices

Ranchers often blame the concentrated meat processing systems — primarily driven by four companies — for high beef prices, but the picture is complicated.

In a statement and market updates, the Meat Institute, a meat processors trade group, noted that retailers and food service companies, not packers, set prices for consumers. And the organization said livestock producers were “earning record profits” while packers were losing money.

The Meat Institute also argued that the concentration ratio hasn’t “changed appreciably” over the past 30 years.

“Rhetoric about beef industry concentration implies that consolidation in the beef packing sector is ongoing and that market power is becoming increasingly concentrated. That is not the case,” the group said.

John Robinson, a spokesman for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said he sees many reasons for high prices, and in some cases, meat processors are responsible, but that “it’s far more complicated than most people will give it credit for.”

A pest forces border closure

Another driver of high prices is the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border to livestock imports to slow the spread of a flesh-eating parasite called the New World screwworm. The closures that began in late 2024 have stopped about 1 million cattle from being hauled from Mexico into the U.S., said Warren Rusche, an extension feedlot specialist at South Dakota State University.

The border closure particularly affects cattle feedlots and ranchers who graze cattle in the southern plains.

President Donald Trump has called for increased beef imports from Argentina, but the country's expanded quota would be only a tiny percentage of U.S. beef production, Rusche said.

Are ranchers getting rich?

Hatzenbuhler, the North Dakota rancher, isn't getting rich, but for ranchers who own their land and equipment, she said it's a good time to raise cattle. It's not as good for people looking to break into the business, given the high cost of everything from equipment to fertilizer and the difficulty of finding workers.

“If you’re a young guy and want to get in, it’s probably not the time to do it, but if you’re kind of established and been doing this for a while, you’re doing good,” she said.

California rancher Mike Williams said he wouldn't discourage someone from getting into ranching but would caution them, “don't get too far upside down.”

“I would say that we're finally maybe getting a fair price,” Williams said. “I think people are starting to realize the value of beef, and they're finding that they're willing to pay maybe a little more than they have in the past for the quality of the product that they're getting."

It happened Sunday around 11:30 p.m. near the main stage of the event off Northeast 62nd Street and Second Avenue.

Authorities said three people were shot and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Two of the victims are recovering, but 23-year-old Kitchner Cyrlle did not survive.

In an online post, family members identified one of the victim as Crylle’s cousin, saying that he underwent surgery on his stomach.

Police are still actively searching for the shooter.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Miami police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

Loved ones of the victim created a GoFundMe page to help the family with expenses, and it can be found by clicking here.

Officers responded around 9 p.m. to the 2500 block of Northwest 21st Street after receiving reports of a possible shooting. When they arrived, they found two adults suffering from gunshot wounds.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported both victims to Broward Health Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Officials said crews administered whole blood while on the way to the hospital.

Detectives are on scene, and the investigation remains active.

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According to the outlet, the 20-year-old influencer, whose real name is Braden Peters, was taken to an emergency room after his livestream was abruptly cut off.

Local 10 is working to obtain that livestream video, but in it, Peters is apparently seen speaking with a young woman at a bar in Miami while appearing to be under the influence.

It was not immediately clear which substance or substances Peters may have consumed prior to the alleged overdose.

Miami police confirmed to Local 10 that they were called to assist Miami Fire Rescue at 8:46 p.m., however the complainant was already gone when they arrived.

MFR officials said the individual, who they did not name, was “possibly rushed away in a vehicle” before they were able to make contact with him.

Peters appears to have been released from the hospital as he took to X Wednesday morning to talk about the ordeal.

“Just got home, that was brutal,” he wrote. “All of the substances are just a cope trying to feel neurotypical while being in public, but obviously that isn’t a real solution. The worst part of tonight was my face descending from the life support mask.”

About two weeks ago, Peters was arrested by police in Fort Lauderdale on a warrant out of Osceola County for misdemeanor battery and conspiracy to commit battery.

TMZ reports reports that Peters determined to show up at Miami Beach’s first streaming nightclub, Bacara Club, where tables are reportedly selling for thousands of dollars.

“I hope that that will be a wake up call for him,” said C-C Walknine, someone associated with the Bacara Club.

The space encourages influencers to livestream, solving issues where streamers are being banned from conventional venues.

The event featured a “ladies vs. gents” matchup, with top-ranked pickleball player Anna Leigh Waters and tennis pro Genie Bouchard teaming up against legends Andre Agassi, who returned to defend his title, and James Blake.

The massive countywide cleanup is now in its 44th year, arriving at a critical time for Biscayne Bay, which is at a dangerous tipping point.

“Don’t forget, water is life. Wooo!” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

Across 33 sites in Miami-Dade County, more than 3,000 volunteers stepped up to do their part to help save the bay.

“It matters a lot. It’s our community, it’s our Earth,” said Laura Gagliardo, a volunteer with Blackstone.

Baynanza 2026 spans shorelines across local waterways and even inland areas, tackling the wave of litter that ultimately ends up in the bay and ocean.

“Beautiful bay. Lot of garbage. I don’t know who can do this to this beautiful place,” said Miami Beach volunteer Marina Spisiak.

At a site along the north shore of the Julia Tuttle Causeway off Miami Beach, organized by VolunteerCleanup.org, volunteers were shocked to find the area covered in trash.

“It’s just very sad that we have become so irresponsible and so unaware, thinking that’s not going to affect us,” said volunteer Maria Rovzar.

Much of the debris comes not only from careless visitors, but from trash carried into the bay itself -- pounds of litter flowing in from across Miami-Dade.

Eighty percent of all marine debris comes from land-based sources. That means every plastic bag, every plastic water bottle, plastic cup, Styrofoam container that gets thrown out a car window or litter on the street -- every time it rains, that gets washed into our storm drain system, into our canals, and into Biscayne Bay.

State Sen. Ileana Garcia was also at the Julia Tuttle cleanup, turning words into action after sponsoring legislation aimed at tackling Florida’s growing marine debris problem.

“I think that the time has come where we’re finally aware that we need to do this,” Garcia said.

Garcia said momentum is building in Tallahassee.

“The tide is changing in Tallahassee. I think they’re very much aware that it’s actually cheaper to take care of the resources versus having to clean up after it’s broken,” she said.

Despite that momentum, the bill died in committee when the legislative session ended. Garcia said she plans to bring it back next year. Advocates remain hopeful.

“I think the appetite is growing. It’s not there yet, but what we’re doing is bringing elected officials out on cleanups so they can see this problem firsthand,” said Dave Doebler, co-founder of VolunteerCleanup.org. “Once they do, they immediately want to be part of the solution.”

Biscayne Bay is a major economic engine for Miami-Dade, supporting industries from fishing to cruising.

“Every year, the bay produces over $64 billion in annual economic revenue, and we really want to make sure that we have a safe bay to protect the fishing industry, the cruising industry and everyone who relies on a healthy bay,” said Loren Parra, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.

Right now, the bay faces threats from nutrient pollution caused by sewage breaks, leaking septic tanks, fertilizer runoff and dirty stormwater. Reducing marine debris is key to restoring its health at a time when it is nearing a tipping point.

“In order to solve the problem, it’s going to take actions by individuals, businesses and government,” Doebler said.

“It makes a difference, even if it’s for one hour,” said volunteer Nelly Hernandez.

“We just want to do our part and come out here and clean. Does it make a difference? Hopefully, yeah. Hopefully we can inspire other people to come out here and take care of our Mother Earth,” said volunteer Ryan Oswald.

County officials said volunteers collected more than 20,000 pounds of marine debris and trash, including microplastics. The trashiest sites included the Julia Tuttle Causeway, where about 2,000 pounds were removed, and Biscayne National Park, where volunteers picked up 1,700 pounds.

Kast, del derechista Partido Republicano que llegó a la presidencia apenas en marzo con la promesa de encabezar un gobierno enfocado en la seguridad y la economía, buscará dinamizar la actividad económica mediante un paquete de 40 medidas que enviará al Congreso en los próximos días.

“Queremos más empleo, más progreso económico y social, y más seguridad para que los chilenos puedan recuperar la esperanza”, dijo el mandatario al inicio de su primer discurso en cadena nacional.

“Tenemos un solo objetivo, que Chile sea un país donde el trabajo honesto alcance para vivir bien”, dijo Kast. “Una nación donde quien quiera emprender no encuentre obstáculos sino oportunidades y donde el Estado cumple sus funciones con eficiencia”.

Entre las iniciativas principales, Kast apunta a recuperar la confianza del sector privado con una propuesta para reducir el impuesto corporativo del 27% al 23%, una medida que ya enfrenta el rechazo de la oposición. Además, el gobierno busca implementar un crédito para las empresas que paguen salarios a trabajadores más vulnerables, iniciativa que ayudaría a las compañías de todos los tamaños a reducir costos de contratación.

“Todos necesitan lo mismo: un Estado que no los trabe, una carga tributaria que no los asfixie y un marco legal que les dé certeza para crecer y dar más empleo”, dijo Kast.

Kast, de 60 años, hizo campaña con la promesa de impulsar a la economía mediante el fomento de la inversión privada, la reducción de obstáculos regulatorios y el fortalecimiento de sectores estratégicos como la minería, la energía y la infraestructura.

Sin embargo, el conflicto en Oriente Medio ha complicado sus planes. El gobierno anunció en marzo un fuerte aumento en los precios de los combustibles en un país que depende enormemente de las importaciones de petróleo. El incremento disparó la inflación mensual al 1%, su mayor variación desde enero de 2025.

El mandatario también propuso eliminar el impuesto sobre la compra de viviendas nuevas durante 12 meses para facilitar el acceso a la vivienda propia. El plan contempla eximir a los propietarios mayores de 65 años de la obligación de pagar contribuciones sobre su primera vivienda.

El paquete económico también incluye asistencia para las víctimas de los incendios de enero pasado en las regiones de Ñuble y Biobío, que dejaron 23 muertos, destruyeron más de 1.000 viviendas y obligaron a decenas de miles de personas a evacuar.

“Sé que habrá voces que digan que este proyecto favorece a los que más tienen. Esa objeción no resiste los datos. El empleo lo puede crear cualquier empresa que tenga condiciones para crecer: el almacén de barrio, la empresa familiar, la compañía mediana, la gran industria”, dijo Kast al final de su discurso. “El crecimiento económico no es un beneficio para unos pocos”.

The Sixers moved on to a first-round series that begins Sunday at Boston.

Desmond Bane and the Magic aren't done yet. They will host Charlotte on Friday night, with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Detroit.

The Hornets held on to beat Miami 127-126 when Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s attempt at a winning layup at the buzzer. Charlotte’s LeMelo Ball will play, although he was fined $35,000 for what the league said was an uncalled flagrant foul when he tripped Bam Adebayo, causing a back injury that forced the Miami star out of the game.

Embiid had an emergency appendectomy last week in Houston. While the 76ers haven’t given a timetable for his return, the two-time scoring champion returned to the team on Wednesday, surprising teammates in the locker room and watching the game from the bench.

Maxey, named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter for the first time in his career, scored seven straight points late in the fourth to give the Sixers some breathing room against a Magic team that wasted a chance to play this game at home with a late collapse in a loss to the Celtics in the season finale.

Bane, who averaged 20.1 points and played all 82 games, carried Orlando's offense with 34 points. He hit a 3 that moved Orlando within two and Anthony Black hit a 3 that pulled the Magic to 87-86.

Maxey had a bit more help down the stretch.

Andre Drummond filled the void left by Embiid with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 points and Paul George had 16.

George, who served a 25-game suspension this season for flunking a drug test, hit a fadeaway jumper in the third quarter that stretched the lead to seven and prompted an Orlando timeout. He later popped the ball free and dumped it to Edgecombe, who dunked on — and got in the face of — Jalen Suggs for a 73-62 lead.

Edgecombe, the No. 3 overall pick in last year's draft, was whistled for taunting and officials had to separate the teams. Oubre waved his arms toward a roaring crowd and the Sixers seemed primed to build some separation.

Up next

Game 2 is Tuesday in Boston, and the Sixers return home for Game 3 on April 24.

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

The change was passed last month by the Legislative Assembly, which is controlled by Bukele's party, and would apply to people convicted of committing or acting as an accomplice to crimes including homicide, femicide, rape and gang membership. The measure was pushed forward by Bukele's cabinet.

Previously, the maximum sentence in El Salvador was 60 years for adults and less for youths. The reforms slated to take effect April 26 would create new criminal courts to try cases. They also stipulate a mandatory review of life terms decades into the sentences, depending on the age of the convict and the gravity of their crimes.

Critics say the reforms are just the latest harsh move by Bukele more than four years into his war on gangs.

Following a burst of gang violence in 2022, Bukele announced a then-temporary state of emergency, which has become the new normal in the Central American nation as it's been extended for years. He suspended constitutional rights and locked up more than 1% of El Salvador's population, often on vague charges with little evidence. Prisoners are often judged in mass trials and lawyers regularly lose track of where their clients are.

In one mass trial last year, alleged gang members were handed sentences of hundreds of years.

Officials in Bukele’s government have previously vowed that gang members detained “will never return” to the streets.

Under the crackdown, Bukele's government has detained around 91,650 people in El Salvador. Bukele has said that less than 10% of those people have been released.

It's fueled accusations of human rights abuses and arbitrary detention, but also sharply dipped homicide rates in a country long terrorized by gangs, handing Bukele soaring popularity levels.

The right-wing ally of U.S. President Donald Trump has been fiercely criticized for weakening checks and balances and undermining El Salvador's fragile democracy.

The sentencing changes are the latest in a slew of constitutional reforms jammed through by Bukele and his allies. Last year, the government pushed through one of its most contentious reforms that would eliminate presidential term limits, paving the way for Bukele to remain in power indefinitely.

Emboldened by Bukele’s alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump, the government has also gone after its enemies, detaining critics and activists, and increasingly forcing journalists and opposition voices to choose between exile or prison.

Human rights organizations have documented cases of arbitrary detentions for years, and one of them even filed a complaint before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, stating that the vast majority of those imprisoned under the state of emergency were detained arbitrarily, something the leader denies.

The league said Ball made “unnecessary and reckless contact” with Adebayo on Tuesday night. Ball was fined $60,000 for the foul and for using profanity in an interview, but he remains eligible to play in the Hornets' elimination game Friday against Orlando.

The flagrant foul from Tuesday’s game, if called in real time, would have resulted in Miami being awarded two free throws and possession of the ball. The Heat wound up losing 127-126 in overtime, ending their season.

The NBA said a flagrant foul, penalty two, was merited. If that had been called, Ball would have been ejected.

Adebayo was hurt early in the second quarter and did not return, leaving Miami without its best player. Ball made the decisive layup for the Hornets in overtime.

While he lauded the way Charlotte played, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said he felt Ball should have been ejected and wondered how officials Zach Zarba, Curtis Blair and Gediminas Petraitis all missed the incident.

“I don’t think that belongs in the game, tripping guys, shenanigans,” Spoelstra said. “Curtis was there. It’s his responsibility to see that. And if it’s not his responsibility, then Zach’s got to see it. Somebody’s got to see that. He should have been thrown out of the game for that. I don’t know him from anyone. There’s no place in the game for that.”

Per NBA rules, the Heat could not challenge the ruling on the play because no foul was called. Play continued, leaving no opportunity for a replay review.

“The play wasn’t whistled in real time,” Zarba told a pool reporter. “Play continued with a fast break. And because play wasn’t stopped immediately, and there was no whistle on the play, the window to review the play was closed.”

Ball was fined $35,000 for the foul on Adebayo. He was fined $25,000 for using profanity in an on-court postgame interview. The league did not publicly address a separate incident where Ball struck Charlotte’s mascot during the postgame celebration.

Tuesday's play was reminiscent of one during a game at Miami in January 2024, when Ball grabbed at Adebayo’s leg as the Heat center was running to the other end of the court. Adebayo stumbled but did not fall.

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

The memo, a copy of which was sent to The Associated Press, followed a long day of reports suggesting Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was on the verge of cutting its financial backing of the upstart league.

The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $5.3 billion and was projected to surpass $6 billion by the end of the year.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O'Neil said. “While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.”

Left unclear was how long the funding would last for LIV Golf, which launched in June 2022 by paying roughly $1 billion in signing bonuses to some of the PGA Tour's biggest names, such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm.

Prize money for individuals and the 13 teams was raised to $30 million this year.

Koepka since has left LIV and was allowed to rejoin the PGA Tour this year with stipulations. Patrick Reed also left LIV and is playing a European tour schedule this year. He is virtually certain to be eligible to return to the PGA Tour in 2027 through the European tour points race.

Questions about LIV's future funding were raised as the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia revealed a new five-year investment strategy.

“The 2026-30 strategy marks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation, with a strengthened focus on maximizing impact, raising the efficiency of investments, and applying the highest standards of governance, transparency and institutional excellence,” the PIF said in a release.

The plan was developed before the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor who loves golf and was behind LIV Golf, told the London-based Financial Times, “Of course the war would add more pressure to reposition some priorities.”

LIV players at Chapultepec Golf Club for LIV Golf Mexico that starts Thursday did not have answers as speculation ran rampant throughout the day.

One player said Al-Rumayyan met with players the first week of March in Hong Kong and said funding for LIV was set through 2032. The player spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private. The player also said O’Neil arrived in Mexico City Wednesday and was to meet with the players.

LIV Golf promoted the Mexico event Wednesday evening on social media with the message, “Slow news day? We are ON.”

LIV has played five events this year, in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa. It celebrated an inspirational victory at its biggest event in Australia when Anthony Kim won after the American had been away for 12 years while battling drug and alcohol addiction.

DeChambeau won the last two events in playoffs, and this week tries to become the first LIV player to win three in a row. DeChambeau, a two-time U.S. Open champion, missed the cut in the Masters last week.

LIV's focus has been on a global reach, with its first U.S. tournament not scheduled until May 7-10 at Trump National in northern Virginia.

“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure,” O'Neil said. “We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.”

He ended his note to the staff by saying, “We are pioneers, and while the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile. Let’s go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game.”

LIV is in the second year of a Fox Sports television deal, with network putting it on various platforms like FS1. The opening round of the Mexico event has three hours on the Fox Sports app. The previous two years, its U.S. broadcast partner was the CW.

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

The detailed report from Human Rights Watch said the heightened pressure was part of a decade-old campaign to ensure that religious denominations and independent churches are loyal to the officially atheist Communist Party.

China’s Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn’t recognize papal authority and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution.

Pope Francis, in 2018, sought to ease Vatican-China tensions with a deal giving the state-controlled church a say in naming bishops — a task traditionally exclusive to the pope.

Despite that deal, “Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” said Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshippers.”

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, didn’t immediately respond Wednesday when asked to comment on the report.

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a query by The Associated Press.

Human Rights Watch said its researchers are not allowed into China. It said its report is based on input from people outside China “who had firsthand knowledge of Catholic life in China,” as well as experts on religious freedom and Catholicism in China.

Under the 2018 agreement, Beijing proposes candidates for bishop that the pope can then veto, though the agreement’s full text has never been made public.

Last June, a month after becoming pope, Leo made his first appointment of a Chinese bishop under the agreement. And in a subsequent interview, Leo specified that he would continue with the agreement “in the short term.”

“I’m also in ongoing dialogue with a number of people, Chinese, on both sides of some of the issues that are there,” Leo said. “ It’s a very difficult situation. In the long term, I don’t pretend to say this is what I will and will not do, but after two months, I’ve already begun having discussions at several levels on that topic.”

Since 2018, according to Human Rights Watch, Chinese authorities have pressured underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association "by arbitrarily detaining, forcibly disappearing ... and subjecting underground Catholic bishops and priests to house arrest.”

The report described some of those actions, attributed to people who had left China and who were not named in the report.

The government has also intensified ideological control, surveillance, restrictions on religious activities, and foreign ties in official churches, according to Human Rights Watch. It said that regulations adopted in December subject foreign travel by Catholic clergy to state approval.

The Chinese government officially recognizes five religions — Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam — and tightly supervises them.

In 2016, President Xi Jinping said he would “Sinicize” the country's religions — increasing oversight and ideological control in a bid to align religious practice with the Communist Party’s ideology and leadership.

Since then, Human Rights Watch asserted, the authorities have demolished hundreds of church buildings or the crosses atop them, prevented adherents from gathering in unofficial churches, restricted access to the Bible, and confiscated religious materials not authorized by the government.

The Sinicization campaign has also meant severe repression of Tibetan Buddhism and Islam , Human Rights Watch said.

In October, a pastor of a prominent underground Christian church was detained, according to his daughter, a church pastor and a group that monitors religion in China.

They said Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of the Zion Church was detained at his home in Guangxi province, along with dozens of other church leaders across China.

Zion Church is among the largest so-called underground or house churches that are unregistered with the Chinese authorities. They defy government restrictions requiring believers to worship only in registered congregations.

Last month, ChinaAid — a U.S.-based group advocating for religious freedom in China — urged U.S. President Donald Trump to demand Mingri’s release ahead of his planned meeting with Xi in May.

“The Chinese Communist Party has escalated its systematic campaign to eradicate independent religious life,” said Bob Fu, ChinaAid’s president. “The United States must respond with consequences — not just concern.”

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AP Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfield in Yaounde, Cameroon, 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.

It was a pretty big deal to Carano, too. The $120,000 she said she got to headline against Cris “Cyborg” Justino in 2009 in her last bout was quite a jump from the $1,000 she said she earned from her first.

The two pioneers will earn significantly more when they end their lengthy layoffs to face each other May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. But Carano said Wednesday the opportunity for her meant far more than a paycheck.

This is the chance for the fighter-turned-actor to write an ending to her MMA journey, and for that she thanked Rousey.

“It's so crazy being here and having Ronda Rousey acknowledge what I did and most people would've written me off,” Carano said, appearing to get choked up. “I would have disappeared in history had she not wanted to fight me. So now people are like, she was a fighter, not just an actress.”

Indeed, and one of the most accomplished ones in her sport at one time. Carano (7-1) was a network draw in MMA's early days and fought in the first Nevada-sanctioned bout between women in 2006. But that wasn't giving her a good living, with Carano saying she also had to appear on “American Gladiators” on the side to help make ends meet.

Pay eventually wasn't a problem for Rousey, who went on to become one of the biggest superstars — male or female — in MMA. Nakisa Bidarian, the former UFC executive who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Jake Paul, said Rousey (12-2), who won the UFC’s first-ever women’s bout in 2013, had become the highest-paid female athlete in the world by 2015.

Now she wants other fighters to cash in, in ways that many never could in UFC. Rousey revealed during the press conference Wednesday that every fighter on the card that will stream on Netflix will earn a minimum of $40,000. That could clearly entice other mixed martial artists to Paul’s promotion by paying more than most fighters would ever get from the UFC.

“I want to do everything I can to help everybody else out in every way and that goes for people even at the bottom of the card that have very small records,” Rousey said. “They are important in making MMA more of a viable career path.”

It's unknown how much Carano and Rousey will make next month. But whatever it is will be far more than Carano, who turns 44 on Thursday, thought she'd ever make again in the sport. After leaving MMA after the loss to Justino, she appeared in several films and became a cast member of Disney’s “The Mandalorian.”

She faced mental and physical challenges in the years after fighting, gaining weight that is clearly gone as she prepares for five rounds at the 145-pound limit again. She said now it doesn't even feel like her last fight was so long ago.

It was Rousey who proposed they fight in 2024 and sought to work with MVP, having been impressed with its promotions when Paul fought Mike Tyson, and Amanda Serrano boxed Katie Taylor in some of the biggest women's boxing matches ever.

She noticed during the buildup how much fans had missed Tyson, the dominant heavyweight boxing force in the 1980s and '90s, and figured maybe they would feel the same way about the two MMA trailblazers.

“I knew that me and Gina bring something to the table that people miss,” Rousey said.

Rousey and Carano shared a lengthy embrace after the traditional face-off to end press conferences, in appreciation of what they had done before and what they are now doing together.

While Rousey knew all about her career, Carano said even some of her neighbors didn't.

“I'm like, YouTube me,” Carano said with a laugh. “I swear I'm on there.”

In a month she'll be on Netflix, where more than 300 million viewers can watch with their subscriptions a card that also includes MMA stars such as former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz.

If MVP's first MMA promotion after four years of boxing is successful, more fighters will have the opportunities to make the kind of money Rousey believes they deserve when they enter her sport.

“It shouldn't be such a gamble,” she said.

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

In recent months, 20-somethings around the world have taken over social media with posts enthusing about how they’re embracing Chinese ways of life. Videos proclaiming users are “Chinamaxxing,” or “in a very Chinese time of their lives” — namely by drinking hot water with boiled goji berries, eating dumplings or wearing slippers in the house, or flying to China and gushing about its modern infrastructure — are racking up millions of views.

Along with its economic and geopolitical rise, China’s government has tried for years to push its soft power on the global stage. But those official efforts never came close to the success the “becoming Chinese” meme is enjoying now.

Even senior Chinese diplomats have noted the trend. Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., referenced the internet craze recently as he promoted a new visa-free transit policy and urged more Americans to “experience for yourselves a real, dynamic and panoramic China.”

The TikTok trend is the latest example of how Chinese products and consumables are enjoying a cultural cachet they’ve never had before globally. From movies to music, Labubu toys and even ordinary habits like drinking hot water, Chinese things are now seen by many as cool.

“China is gaining real soft power, and you can see it most clearly in how Chinese culture and ‘Chineseness’ are becoming familiar, repeatable, and globally consumable in everyday life,” said Shaoyu Yuan, a professor at the New York University School of Professional Studies’ Center for Global Affairs.

“That legitimacy,” Yuan said, “is earned through taste, utility, and entertainment.”

That soft power rise is enabled by China's development in many industries: From manufacturing, where it holds a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus with the rest of the world, to social media, where it developed the addictive algorithms that made TikTok, to its own consumer culture, where homegrown names compete head to head with global brands.

Mixed feelings among Chinese Americans

Sherry Zhu, a 23-year-old from New Jersey, posted a couple of videos last year joking about how if you liked noodles and hotpot and wore slippers at home you were Chinese. One of her videos was shared almost a million times in December, and other TikTokers quickly caught on with the “becoming Chinese” meme.

But the trend has also raised thornier questions. For many Chinese people who have long faced discrimination in the West, the internet’s fascination with Chinese culture seems to be the latest form of cultural appropriation.

“Appreciation does not erase the racism that many Chinese people grew up with,” said Elise Zeng, 28, from Brooklyn, New York. A video she posted critiquing the social media phenomenon was liked by more than 36,000 people.

She recalls how during the COVID-19 pandemic she was afraid for her parents stepping out of the house because they heard about people getting attacked just walking down the street. At the time, many Asians reported being assaulted or verbally abused by people who blamed East Asians for the spread of the virus.

“Those experiences don’t just disappear because Chinese culture is suddenly cool and trendy,” she said.

Zhu acknowledged that she, too, has experienced bullying based on her identity, but said she was proud of her Chinese heritage. “I believe that visibility and cultural sharing can reduce misunderstanding over time,” she said.

China’s success in soft power has been building

The meme is riding on a broader embrace of Chinese popular culture that’s been building globally.

The frenzy over Labubus, the fuzzy ugly-cute dolls carried by the likes of Rihanna and other top celebrities, reached a peak last spring and summer, bringing a 300% rise in annual profit for Chinese parent company PopMart.

Several other cultural exports with more distinctly Chinese attributes have also found global success. On TikTok, the Chinese rapper known as Skaii isyourgod or “Lanlao” has gained fans around the world — even though he raps in Cantonese and with a thick regional accent, which many people in China wouldn’t understand either.

But that didn’t matter. Skaii isyourgod’s single “Blueprint Supreme” went viral last summer in China and abroad, amassing billions of views on TikTok globally.

Last year “Ne Zha 2,” the animated blockbuster about a young god from a popular Chinese children’s tale, became the highest grossing animated film of all time even before its release in North America.

Another success, the big budget video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” was similarly based on a story familiar to many Chinese kids about an adventurous monkey hero. The game broke the record for most-played single-player game on Steam when 2.4 million people played it simultaneously after its release.

More recently, Chinese digital maps like Amap have gone viral on social media over standard ones like Apple or Google for their level of detail, such as the ability to inform users if they will be in the shade versus the sun.

Soft power goes beyond official narratives

Xi has long pushed for his government to promote Chinese soft power abroad, calling on officials to “tell China’s story well” since 2013.

They have attempted to do so with ambitious projects like the multibillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative — a plan to build Chinese-funded infrastructure across the world — and investing in hundreds of Confucius Institutes.

But many Confucius Institutes, meant to be Beijing-funded centers teaching Chinese language and culture, have shut down in the West over concerns they were fronts for spying and propaganda, while the Belt and Road Initiative has been criticized as a debt trap by Western countries.

China’s ascending hard power has been well documented. It is the dominant manufacturer in the green energy sector, most visibly with its electric vehicles, but also across solar energy. It has the world’s second-largest military, behind the U.S. It is a manufacturing powerhouse, and its exports have swept the world.

Soft power, in contrast, is harder to quantify — or manufacture. China’s government has been eager to capitalize on the latest social media trend and throw state support behind cultural moments after they’ve broken out.

Global Times, a state-owned tabloid, claimed that the popularity of the “becoming Chinese” meme is linked to the success of “China’s social development.”

But the more officials vocally claim such successes and frame them as part of the “China story,” the more it may be received with skepticism, said Yuan, the professor.

“Cultural influence travels farther when it is chosen rather than announced,” he said.

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Officers with the Coral Springs Police Department said they took Wesley Henrique Ferreira Ramos Pereira into custody on Thursday outside of Coral Park Elementary School, located at 8401 Westview Drive.

According to police, detectives with CSPD’s Strategic Enforcement Team were helping the Broward Sheriff’s Office in surveilling Ferreira Ramos Pereira, who was wanted by BSO for three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as a charge of culpable negligence.

Investigators said they tracked Ferreira Ramos Pereira to the school, where he was subcontracted to work as a painter and help paint the walls of classrooms inside the school.

Several detectives surrounded Ferreira Ramos Pereira as he walked to his car outside the school, but when police said he refused to get on the ground, a K9 unit was deployed to assist in taking Ferreira Ramos Pereira into custody.

He did not appear in the online Broward jail database on Wednesday.

Several replacement officials have completed hiring steps including background checks and will soon progress to undergoing physical exams, per a memo sent to teams on Wednesday that was obtained by The Associated Press. Training sessions with NFL officiating supervisors would then begin as early as next month.

The league has undertaken these steps because negotiations with the referees’ union have been unsuccessful, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press last month. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations are private.

The NFL's collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Referees Association is set to expire on May 31.

NFL senior vice president of officiating Perry Fewell informed head coaches and general managers in the memo that teams will receive further information in the coming weeks about when replacement refs would be able to work offseason workout programs and minicamps, which begin in June.

The league and the union have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement since the summer of 2024.

“The league remains committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement with the NFLRA but will be prepared in the event the NFLRA permits the current agreement to expire,” Fewell said in the memo.

The NFL has increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate in compensation over a six-year labor deal, but the NFLRA wants 10% plus $2.5 million for marketing fees, the two AP sources said last month.

NFLRA executive director Scott Green told the AP “those numbers are not accurate.” He said negotiations with the league are similar to 2012 when a stalemate resulted in a 110-day lockout and replacement referees were used. ___

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

The two resolutions to block U.S. sales of bulldozers and bombs to Israel were opposed by all Republicans and rejected 40-59 and 36-63. But Sanders has repeatedly forced votes on the issue to put pressure on his colleagues — both Democrats and Republicans — to oppose Netanyahu’s regime.

Similar resolutions forced by Sanders in 2024 and 2025 were also rejected, but the number of Democrats voting with the Vermont Independent has more than doubled in less than two years amid Israeli campaigns in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon and a stepped-up campaign by party activists who have increasingly seen support for Israel as a litmus test for support.

“It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars when people in this country can’t afford housing or health care,” Sanders said after the vote.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., voted in support of the two resolutions after opposing some of Sanders’ previous efforts. In a speech just before the vote, Kelly said that “the reckless decisions being made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump” led him to his decision, which he said he did not take lightly.

“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, we’ve seen an expanded war in Lebanon that is putting innocent Lebanese civilians at risk, and ongoing violence against Palestinians and their homes being demolished in the West Bank,” Kelly said. “All of this has undermined the path forward for peace.”

Among the Democrats voting against the resolutions were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Nearly 100 protesters were arrested during a demonstration on Monday calling on the two New York senators to vote in favor of Sanders' two measures.

Led by the antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace, the crowd of hundreds initially attempted to stage a sit-in inside the senators' offices as they said they were abetting Israel’s intensifying attacks in Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. But they were blocked and many of the protesters were arrested.

“The majority of Americans and New Yorkers want a resolution to what the Israeli government is doing,” said the group’s communications director, Sonya Meyerson-Knox.

Democrats supported a resolution earlier on Wednesday to halt Trump's war in Iran, though that was also rejected, 47-52. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who voted against Sanders' Israel resolutions, said he voted to end the Iran war but did not want to abandon Israel.

“My votes should be taken neither as an endorsement of the actions of the Netanyahu government nor as an abandonment of the state of Israel, the Jewish people, or the US-Israel relationship,” Coons said in a statement after the vote.

Republicans said the vote could hurt U.S. efforts in the Iran war.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said the resolutions could embolden Iran and “send the message that the U.S. is prepared to leave our ally Israel vulnerable.”

“They will not help the United States of America,” Risch said ahead of the vote.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered John Eastman disbarred and his name stricken from the state roll of attorneys. It caps a yearslong effort by the state bar to strip Eastman of his law license after he developed a legal strategy to have then-Vice President Mike Pence interfere with the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

A judge for the State Bar Court of California in 2024 recommended that he lose his California law license. Eastman argued he was being punished for simply giving legal advice.

George Cardona, chief trial counsel for the State Bar of California, said Wednesday's decision follows clear evidence that Eastman "advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public.”

“The Court’s order underscores that Mr. Eastman’s misconduct was incompatible with the standards of integrity required of every California attorney,” he said.

Eastman’s attorney, Randall Miller, said the decision “raises pivotal constitutional concerns” and that they plan to seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ruling, he said in a statement, “departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context.”

The States United Democracy Center, which filed an early ethics complaint against Eastman, cheered the decision.

“His unethical actions have had real, lasting consequences for our democracy,” Christine P. Sun, a senior vice president for the nonprofit, said in a statement.

Eastman was a close adviser to Trump in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He wrote a memo laying out a plan for Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes for Biden while presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 in order to keep Trump in the White House.

Prosecutors looking to strip Eastman of his law license had depicted him as fabricating a baseless theory and making false claims of fraud in hopes of overturning the results of the election.

An attorney for Eastman had countered that his client wasn't trying to steal the election but was considering ways to delay electoral vote counting so states could investigate allegations of voting improprieties. Trump’s claims of fraud were roundly rejected by courts, including by judges Trump appointed.

Eastman has also faced criminal charges in Georgia in the case accusing Trump and 18 allies of conspiring to overturn the Republican’s loss in the state. The case was dismissed in November.

Earlier that month, Trump had pardoned Eastman and many others accused of backing the Republican’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon only applies to federal crimes.

Eastman had served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and as dean of Chapman University law school in Southern California from 2007 to 2010. He was a professor at the school when he retired in 2021 after more than 160 faculty members signed a letter calling for the university to take action against him.

The California State Bar is a regulatory agency and the only court system in the U.S. that is dedicated to attorney discipline.

It's the first time since May 28, 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels that Ohtani has not been in the batting lineup during a mound start.

Ohtani is still sore from being struck on the back of his right shoulder by a pitch from the New York Mets' David Peterson on Monday. The Japanese superstar let out a howl, but stayed in the game.

“If it weren’t for the hit by pitch, he would’ve been DHing and pitching tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “But I do think that just to be able to pitch and focus on that will be a benefit for the mind and the body, and hopefully, we’re just in a little moment of fatigue and we can get past it.”

Roberts said Ohtani has felt progressively better since Monday. But the training staff, coaches and Roberts felt it was better for him not to hit in the series finale, although Ohtani was initially surprised to hear the decision.

“Because I’ve never asked him to pitch and not hit,” Roberts said. “I think that he understands that I’m making a decision that’s best for the player, for him, and for the team.”

Ohtani is 0 for 7 at the plate since getting hit.

His career-best on-base streak reached 48 games after he was intentionally walked in the eighth inning on Tuesday. It's the fourth-longest streak in franchise history.

Roberts expects Ohtani to be back hitting and pitching in his next start, although he said he would consider giving Ohtani a hitting break again on a night when he's pitching at some point in the future.

“It's got to make sense to not have your best hitter not in the lineup,” Roberts said. “Then the question is when he does hit, on days that he pitches, where’s the best for him to hit in the order? I think there’s fair arguments to both, to moving him down a little bit, give him a breather, let him get into the game. But I’m not prepared to make that decision quite yet. But it is something that I’m mindful of it.”

On the mound, Ohtani had his 22 2/3 inning scoreless streak snapped at Toronto last week, but the right-hander hasn't allowed an earned run since Aug. 27, 2025, against Cincinnati — a span of 28 2/3 innings.

Ohtani made his Dodgers pitching debut last season, going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts. His four-seam fastball averaged a career-best 98.4 mph last year.

Ohtani owns the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player at 48 games, surpassing Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who reached in 43 straight games in 2009.

Roberts said Ohtani would not be available to pinch hit against the Mets.

“You can tell Carlos Mendoza he's an option, though,” he joked, referring to New York's manager.

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

The White Sox said Gerald Chaney, a longtime anthem performer, was “doing well” while continuing to be evaluated. He collapsed while performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing," and the team said he was alert before leaving Rate Field.

Chaney was a few words into the hymn considered the Black national anthem when he stopped. He started again and collapsed.

“I'm really glad to hear that he is doing well,” White Sox manager Will Venable said after his team's 8-3 loss. “But obviously a scary moment. I think everyone did a great job in responding and did the best to make sure he's all right. Really good news to hear that he is all right. That's the most important thing, obviously.”

Emergency medical technicians tended to Chaney for several minutes before he was loaded onto a gurney and taken from the field. The teams watched from their dugouts.

Chaney was also scheduled to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” after performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The start of the game was delayed 12 minutes.

“The entire White Sox family is sending love to Gerald and his family for a full and speedy recovery,” the team said in a statement.

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

“‘The Odyssey’ is a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years,” Nolan said from the stage. “It’s not a story, it’s the story.”

He introduced an extended clip from the film showing the arrival of the Trojan Horse and the intense nighttime infiltration of the city of Troy. Or, as Jon Bernthal’s Menelaus calls it, “the story of the horse.”

“The Odyssey” is the first motion picture shot entirely on IMAX film, thanks to the development of new cameras that aren’t quite so noisy, fulfilling a dream Nolan said he's had since he was 16.

The film boasts a massive ensemble with Anne Hathaway playing Odysseus’s wife Penelope, Tom Holland as their son Telemachus, Zendaya as the goddess Athena and Robert Pattinson as Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors. Nolan said it would be quicker to say who isn’t in “The Odyssey,” his first feature since “Oppenheimer,” which won best picture and best director at the Oscars in 2024.

“It’s always been a film, first and foremost, about this idea of family, this idea of homecoming,” Nolan said, adding that it is almost done.

The footage was shown as part of the Universal Pictures presentation to exhibitors where the studio also has a new “Minions” movie and Steven Spielberg’s original science fiction film “Disclosure Day" coming to theaters this summer.

“I’m just really glad not to be following Steven Spielberg,” Nolan said.

Later, Spielberg, like Nolan, got a rousing, retrospective montage of his films and a big standing ovation from the audience as well. For Spielberg’s first visit to the convention, the Motion Picture Association even gave him an award. Colman Domingo, who co-stars in “Disclosure Day,” led a discussion with Spielberg about his 35th feature, which opens on June 12.

Spielberg said he’s always been fascinated by what’s happening in the sky, and, particularly, the UFO phenomenon. And 50 years after “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” he said he's convinced that there’s more truth to it than fiction. The movie, which also stars Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor, has been kept quite secretive. Spielberg said he was adamant about not spoiling the third act.

"All I can say is it's an experience," Spielberg said. “And all you need to get from the beginning to the end is a seat belt.”

He also spoke about the industry at large and the importance of giving the audience original stories.

“That is what’s going to keep this business alive,” Spielberg said.

Snoop Dogg kicked off the presentation performing “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and announcing that he’s partnered with Universal “to finally tell my story.” Craig Brewer will direct and it’s aiming to be in theaters next year.

“My movie will be rated R, you can believe that,” he said. “So kids, get your parents’ permission.”

Universal currently has the year’s biggest box-office hit in theaters with “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which has only been out for 15 days and has already made over $631 million worldwide. It is on its way to being the year’s first billion dollar movie, said Donna Langley, the NBC Universal Entertainment chairperson. Last month the studio also pledged to extend the exclusive theatrical window for all its movies to 45 days starting in 2027.

“We’ve always been a theatrical first studio,” Langley said.

For decades the standard exclusive window was 90 days in theaters, but the pandemic and the rise of streaming led to drastic shifts from all the major studios. Universal experimented with 17-day windows during the pandemic era, as well as some day-and-date releases, but for its biggest movies they had already settled into the 45-day model.

It’s an important guarantee for theater owners and operators with the box office still at a 20% deficit from its pre-pandemic highs. Disney, by contrast, has a 60-day window, the longest in the industry but still quite depleted from the old 90-day norm.

“Audiences will find what they want to watch whether they’re big or small,” Spielberg said. “But studios need to help us by expanding their exclusive windows like Donna Langley just did.”

He added: “But today I’ve got to be greedy: Do I hear 60 days? ... We can all make it happen; we have to insist on making it happen."

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Local 10 was at Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center when she was greeted outside the jail by friends and castmates Alexia Nepola and Adriana de Moura.

Hochstein briefly addressed supporters, saying, “I just love them all. I love all my fans” and sending them well wishes, but did not directly comment on the allegations.

Her attorney, Jayne Weintraub, said, “We’re not talking about recordings,” adding that the case has “started the process” and that she hopes it “will be resolved very soon.”

Page Six published photos of the reality star smiling as she arrived at TGK late Wednesday morning, accompanied by Weintraub.

Online jail records show she had a warrant out for her arrest and a bond of $5,000.

A March 19 court filing first obtained by Local 10 News states that Hochstein and her ex-boyfriend, Jody Glidden, 52, are each facing one count of interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications.

A description of the charges states that between March 12 and March 31, 2023, the two “unlawfully and intentionally” intercepted, tried to intercept, or tried to have someone else intercept “oral statements by Leonard Hochstein and those Leonard Hochstein spoke with.”

According to Lisa Hochstein’s arrest warrant, she and Glidden planted a recording device in the driver’s seat floorboard of Dr. Leonard “Lenny” Hochstein’s silver 2023 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 SUV after the reality star asked if she could borrow the vehicle because she was thinking of purchasing one of her own.

Lenny Hochstein, a prominent plastic surgeon in South Florida, told detectives in May 2023 that he immediately informed his attorney after discovering the device and the attorney then hired a private investigator to examine it, the warrant states.

According to the warrant, a total of 98 recordings were recovered from the device, including a conversation between Lisa Hochstein and Glidden as the device was being “wrestled into place.”

In addition to conversations between Lenny Hochstein and others he spoke to while in his vehicle, a detective recovered deleted recordings from the device, including a recording of Lisa Hochstein and Glidden engaged in “intimate activities,” the warrant states.

Records show Glidden was taken into custody Saturday. He has since been released from jail.

Lisa and Lenny Hochstein’s divorce was finalized in November 2024. They share two children.

Weintraub, Lisa Hochstein’s defense counsel, and attorneys Howard Srebnick and Frank Gaviria, Glidden’s defense counsel, released a joint statement to Local 10 News on Monday afternoon saying, “This matter is part of a contentious divorce proceeding and does not belong in criminal court.”

Glidden’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, while Lisa Hochstein is set to be arraigned on April 20.

But he made his name in London — though few traces of him remain in the British capital.

A newly discovered 17th-century map sheds new light on the Bard’s London life, pinpointing for the first time the exact location of the only home Shakespeare bought in the city, and where he may have worked on his final plays.

Shakespeare scholar Lucy Munro, who found the document, said that it supplies “extra bits of the jigsaw puzzle” of Shakespeare's life. And as with so many discoveries, it was partly due to luck.

“I came across it in the London Archives when I was looking for other things," Munro said.

New evidence of the building's location

Historians have long known that Shakespeare bought property in 1613 near the Blackfriars Theatre, but the exact location was a mystery. A plaque on a 19th-century building records only that the playwright had lodgings “near this site.”

A plan of the Blackfriars precinct found by Munro and disclosed Thursday by King's College London shows in detail Shakespeare’s house, a substantial L-shaped dwelling carved from a former medieval monastery, including its gatehouse.

The 13th-century Dominican friary had been redeveloped for more secular uses after the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in the mid-16th century. The precinct included the Blackfriars playhouse, which Shakespeare part-owned.

Munro, professor of Shakespeare and early modern literature at King’s College London, said it was a desirable area moving slightly down-market – due to people like Shakespeare, who was affluent but associated with the slightly déclassé world of the stage.

“After the dissolution of the monasteries, a lot of the nobility, quite high-ranking courtiers, court officials are living in the Blackfriars,” Munro said. By the time Shakespeare bought his property, “there are still a lot of important people living there, people who make protests against the playhouses at various points, because they see the playhouses as a bit of a public nuisance.”

Shakespeare used the profits of his plays to build a fine family house, now demolished, in Stratford, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London. He died there in 1616 at the age of 52.

It’s not certain whether Shakespeare lived in his London property or just rented it out. But Munro said that the size of the house and its location a five-minute walk from the Blackfriars Theatre suggest he may have spent more time in London toward the end of his life than is widely assumed. She said that he may have worked here on his final plays, “Henry VIII” and “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” both co-written with John Fletcher.

Will Tosh, director of education at Shakespeare’s Globe — a reconstruction of the open-air Elizabethan playhouse where many of the Bard’s plays were first performed — said that Munro’s discovery provides a “dazzling new sense of Shakespeare the London writer. She’s helped us to understand how much the city meant to our greatest ever dramatist, as a professional and personal home.”

Destroyed in the Great Fire

Shakespeare left the property to his daughter Susanna, and it remained in the family for another half-century. Munro also found two archival documents detailing its sale by the playwright’s granddaughter Elizabeth Hall Nash Barnard in 1665. A year later, the building burned to the ground in the Great Fire of London, which destroyed much of the medieval city.

Only a few remnants of Shakespeare’s London remain in the area, now part of the city's financial district, including a fragment of wall from the medieval friary. Nearby, the name Playhouse Yard is a reminder that a theater once stood here.

And visitors can have a pint in the Cockpit pub across the street from the site of Shakespeare’s house. The 1600s map shows it as a building called the Sign of the Cock, likely a tavern. It’s not difficult to imagine Shakespeare and his colleagues carousing there.

“There are certainly complaints in the period about the playhouses leading to the opening of more and more drinking houses — ‘houses for tippling,’ as they call them in one of the documents I was looking at,” Munro said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that the U.S. plans to ramp up economic pain on Iran, and said the new moves will be the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.

The threat of secondary economic sanctions on countries doing business with people, firms, and ships under Iranian control — including allies like the United Arab Emirates and competitors like China — represents an escalation of sanctions that the U.S. is already employing.

Bessent said the administration has “told companies, we have told countries that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure. And the Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities.”

The Treasury Department warns China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Oman

The warning comes the day after the Treasury Department sent a letter to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Oman, threatening to levy secondary sanctions for doing business with Iran, and accusing those countries of allowing Iranian illicit activities to flow through their financial institutions.

It’s part of an economic playbook that President Donald Trump still can use to pressure Iran to accept U.S. proposals to limit its nuclear ambitions, a person familiar with the administration’s thinking told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private discussions on the record.

Privately, the argument being made to Trump is that the Iranians think they can weather the storm — but if they cannot pay their loyalists, that could pressure Iran to the table.

And some in the administration believe there are still more economic targets that can be hit that would put the economic hurt on Iran, including bonyads, the charitable trusts that account for a significant percentage of the Iranian economy.

Bessent told reporters that two Chinese banks have received warnings about handling Iranian money. Trump is preparing to visit Beijing next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bessent also said that Iran’s Gulf neighbors are now willing to look at freezing Iranian money in their banks because of Iran’s aggression during the war.

More sanctions could be ineffective or risk blowback, say experts and lawmakers

Still, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, argued that any new economic sanctions would be effectively offset by the financial windfall that Iran was seeing in the aftermath of the war.

“Instead of circumstances where we can keep sanctions on Iran and constrict their economy, the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz — combined with the sharply rising price of oil — has helped Iran’s economy,” Warren said, adding, “What Secretary Bessent is trying to do is mop up the mess that Donald Trump has created by initiating this war.”

Daniel Pickard, a sanctions attorney, said imposing secondary sanctions could result in “diplomatic and economic blowback” from allies that could hurt efforts to build coalitions against Tehran.

“A lot of our trading partners have been outspoken in regard to their opposition to the conflict in Iran,” Pickard said. “Most economic sanctions professionals would agree that when you get more people on the team, the chances of your economic sanctions being effective or greater.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on an oil smuggling network connected to the deceased senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, who was a close adviser to the former Supreme Leader of Iran. Sanctions include dozens of individuals, companies, and vessels involved in secretly transporting and selling Iranian and Russian oil through front companies, many of which are in the UAE.

“Treasury will continue to cut off Iran’s illicit smuggling and terror proxy networks,” Bessent said in a statement. ”Financial institutions should be on notice that Treasury will leverage all tools and authorities, including secondary sanctions, against those that continue to support Tehran’s terrorist activities.

The administration believes the momentum has shifted

Trump administration officials have also signaled growing confidence that the ceasefire and a blockade of shipments from Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz have shifted momentum in Trump’s favor.

Iran has endured tens of billions of dollars in damage during the bombardment to the country’s infrastructure — including setbacks to its oil industry, the heart of its fragile and long-isolated economy — that could take years to repair.

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said Trump “doesn’t want to make, like, a small deal. He wants to make the grand bargain.”

“That’s the trade that he’s offering,” Vance said. “If you guys commit to not having a nuclear weapon, we are going to make Iran thrive.”

The president’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, offered a more caustic assessment of the moment, suggesting that Trump had “played the checkmate move” on Iran by implementing the blockage in the strait.

“If Iran chooses the path of a deal that’s great for the world, that’s great for everybody. If Iran chooses the path of economic strangulation by blockade, then the world will pass Iran by,” Miller said in a Fox News appearance Tuesday evening. “New energy routes will be established. New supply chains will be established. Other nations throughout the region — throughout the world, and especially America — will power the world and Iran will become a footnote.”

Some Republicans are skeptical that more sanctions will work

Some Republicans believe that any tactic to exert more pressure on Tehran is worth trying.

“I would support anything,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “If the administration came up with the ideas, I would support all of the above. More pressure, the better.”

Others were skeptical, noting that Tehran was already facing a litany of economic penalties that had little impact on its behavior.

“I’m not sure if it’s sanctions that’ll do it. I think we’re putting some pretty heavy sanctions on right now,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Banking and Armed Services Committees. “I personally am just not optimistic that we actually can fix this thing without a regime change.”

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, a think tank that has been critical of Trump’s decision to launch the war, says that Trump had been “politically cornered and strategically constrained” before he announced the ceasefire. But now, Parsi argues, Trump may have altered the difficult dynamic and created a situation where “Iran now appears to need an agreement more than the United States does.”

“The window now open offers Tehran a chance to convert battlefield leverage into lasting strategic gain,” Parsi wrote in a new analysis. ”To let it close would mean forfeiting not just incremental progress, but the possibility of reshaping its economic and geopolitical position. By contrast, the United States, having already secured a tenuous exit ramp through the ceasefire, has less at stake in the short term.”

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Kishawn Zell Walker Perkins, 29, and Armon Christopher Jiles, 26, were arrested and face charges including armed robbery and aggravated battery on an elderly person in one case, and burglary of an unoccupied conveyance in another, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives said the first incident occurred Feb. 13 at a Chase bank branch on Northwest 56th Court near the Miami Gardens area.

The report states that surveillance video showed the suspects inside a burgundy Nissan Sentra as a customer left the bank carrying a blue money bag.

Investigators said the suspects followed the victim home and later stole items from his vehicle after he entered his residence.

They said the second case happened on March 27 at a Chase Bank on Southwest 72nd Street in the Dadeland area and involved 79-year-old Pedro Parrado.

Local 10 spoke with Parrado, who described being attacked outside his home after withdrawing cash from the bank.

He said, “I didn’t see the guy coming.”

Parrado said the assault happened after he made several stops following the bank visit.

“Someone grabbed me from behind on the strap of my fanny pack that I had, pulled me to the ground,” he said. “I yelled for help but no one was around at the time.”

Investigators said the suspects had been surveilling customers at the bank and followed Parrado after noticing he was carrying a fanny pack, which suggested he had withdrawn cash.

Parrado described the tactic, saying, “Bank jugging happens when criminals watch customers at banks waiting for someone to withdraw cash.”

Parrado said the suspects waited for the right moment to strike.

“They waited until i got here and there was nobody around to make the assault,” he said.

Parrado suffered injuries including a head laceration and abrasions to his knees and elbow after being struck during the struggle, authorities said.

He said the experience left him shaken but also carrying a warning for others.

“If you are aware of your surroundings you can prevent something like this from happening,” he said.

Investigators said surveillance video, vehicle tracking, and cellphone records helped link Walker Perkins and Jiles to both incidents. They also alleged the pair visited multiple banks in the days after the March robbery, appearing to look for additional targets.

Records show both men were taken into custody Tuesday and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. They remain held without bond as of Wednesday evening.

Deputies did not say what items or how much cash, if any, the suspects obtained in either incident.

The fire, which started on Monday, prompted evacuations that were lifted at noon on Wednesday. Shortly after 4:15 p.m., FFS reported that 70% of the fire had been contained.

Firefighters with the North Collier Fire Control & Rescue District and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, deputies with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, and troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol were also assisting FFS.

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But he said Wednesday that his body is as strong as it's been since he had what school officials said was a minor procedure in January.

“I feel 100 percent right now. We're kind of taking it slow, but if we had a game today I'd be playing,” Manning said. “Obviously when you're not out there, you're kind of antsy. It was hard the first few weeks just not being able to do anything. Now I get to do a little bit more.”

Manning is coming off his first season as the Longhorns' full-time starter. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning passed for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns and ran for 10 TDs in 2025.

While he waits to do more on the field, he’s been focused on mental reps, footwork drills and getting to know some of his new teammates.

“It’s been different, but it’s been good,” Manning said. “It’s honestly been unique for me getting a bunch of mental reps and kind of being off to the side. But I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with these new guys — freshmen, transfers — and guys coming back. So, it’s been fun.”

Texas was the preseason No. 1 and finished ranked No. 12. The Longhorns missed the College Football Playoff and finished 10-3 with a Citrus Bowl win over Michigan that included Manning’s 60-yard, game-sealing touchdown run.

Manning described the season as a roller coaster.

“I think I could have had more fun. The first half of the season, I was (ticked),” Manning said. “I wasn’t playing well and it wasn’t fun for me. And then I kind of sort of said ‘screw it’ and had a little more fun and started winning some games.”

Now he said he's concentrated on being the best version of himself going forward. He plans to leave the evaluations of how much he's improved to others.

“I think I'm just trying to get better every day,” Manning said. “That's not for me to judge, really.”

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Broward prosecutors say they had asked the judge to sentence Lori St. Thomas, the former principal at St. Coleman Catholic School in Pompano Beach, to five years in state prison followed by 20 years of probation and a $121,548 restitution payment.

Instead, a judge chose to give her 10 years of probation and to pay the restitution.

Jurors found St. Thomas, 62, of Coral Springs, guilty of organized scheme to defraud on March 3.

Authorities said she used an unauthorized bank account to deposit extra direct payments for herself and also transferred nonapproved credits into a personal pension fund from 2016 to 2024, the year in which the Archdiocese of Miami fired her.

In a downward departure memorandum, defense attorneys argued that St. Thomas committed “a non-violent crime for which the need for restitution outweighs the need for imprisonment.”

Attorneys also said she had additional mitigating circumstances that should spare her from prison.

Attorneys said those include the fact that “she requires treatment for certain mental health issues that are not readily available to her in either the Florida State Prison system or the Broward County Jail.”

They said St. Thomas also “maintains strong family and community ties, is actively engaged in her community and contributes meaningful value to it,” saying it was “evident” in “testimony and letters” presented to the judge.

“She has dedicated her life to service of others; first as a nurse, and then as an educator and leader for children in the Catholic faith,” the memorandum reads. “The outpouring of support she is receiving demonstrates that she provides invaluable contributions, value, skills, time, support, and expertise. Accordingly, the character and attitude of (St. Thomas) indicate that she is unlikely to commit another crime, and that she has responded affirmatively to non-custodial treatment.”

Records show that defense attorneys had unsuccessfully asked the judge for an acquittal or new trial.

On Wednesday, a group of Florida Democrats held a news conference to denounce Florida Republicans’ push for a political redistricting plan.

Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said Republicans are determined to manipulate midterm control of the House.

“Republicans are too busy rigging the rules to help themselves,” Fried said. “This illegal partisan redistricting scheme to rig the maps is simply about placating Donald Trump and protecting GOP power.”

The Florida Constitution bans redistricting for partisan gain.

“The excuses keep shifting as to why this is happening,” Florida Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said. “First, it’s, ‘Oh well, we have to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that never came.’ Then it was, ‘we have to redraw the maps because we’ve seen population changes.’”

Florida Rep. Christine Hunschofsky also questioned the motive.

“We have no data on which to support redrawing any maps,” Hunschofsky said.

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who raised more than $22 million for the Florida governor’s race, supports mid-decade redistricting.

The political maps are redrawn every decade after the U.S. Census, but after President Donald Trump pushed for mid-decade redistricting in Texas last year.

“You have California and Virginia responding to Texas, and we’ve been watching all of this kind of happen in Florida, and because of what now has been done in Virginia , now Florida needs to respond,” Donalds said.

Virginia voters decide on Tuesday on a Democratic redistricting plan. In Florida, the current map includes 20 Republicans and eight Democrats

DeSantis said the special session on mid-decade redistricting may not start on April 20.

“The reason they are hedging is because they need more time to find new excuses to make what’s happening look less illegal,” Smith said.

And unfortunately, the Panthers will not complete the three-peat, something that hasn’t been done since the New York Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983.

An injury-plagued season comes to a close Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena, marking the Panthers’ first non-playoff season of the Paul Maurice era and their first since 2018–19.

“Not the year that anybody wanted individually or collectively, but there’s a lot we can learn from this year,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said Wednesday after morning skate.

Already without Tkachuk and Tomas Nosek to start the season, the Panthers first lost Aleksander Barkov, who missed the entire year after tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee on the first day of training camp in September.

The list grew substantially.

Throughout the season, the Panthers were without several key contributors from their back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams, including Sam Bennett (lower-body injury), Carter Verhaeghe (lower-body injury), Aaron Ekblad (finger), Jonah Gadjovich (upper-body injury), and Seth Jones (foot), among others.

Regardless of Wednesday’s result, the Panthers will finish with their lowest point total under Maurice - and their lowest since closing the 2020-21 campaign with 79.

The offseason will mean extra rest for a team that has played into June four seasons in a row, but it will also require making important decisions on players hitting the open market.

When the Panthers take the ice in October to begin the 2026–27 season, most of their core players will be there: Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett, Verhaeghe, Marchand, and others under contract for the foreseeable future.

But once the offseason begins, Florida will not have a starting goaltender locked in for 2026–27.

That means both Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov, who is starting the season finale, will be unrestricted free agents.

If a player is an unrestricted free agent, they can sign with any team once their contract expires. Their current team has no right to match offers or receive compensation in most cases.

A restricted free agent, on the other hand, means the player’s current team retains negotiation rights.

If another team offers a contract, the original team can match the offer to keep the player. If they don’t match, they may receive draft compensation.

The Panthers have several restricted free agents they must address: Mackie Samoskevich, Wilmer Skoog, Mikulas Hovorka, Tobias Bjornfot, Donovan Sebrango and Michael Benning.

Bobrovsky has been very open with the media, saying he loves the Panthers, feels blessed to be the starting goaltender, and would like to remain in Florida.

In the few times president of hockey operations/general manager Bill Zito has spoken to reporters, he has emphasized how much Bobrovsky means to the organization.

“That’s just something we’ll sort out after the season,” Zito said. “I’d like to keep him. I hope we can. We’ll see what happens.”

Florida is set to enter the long offseason with a projected salary cap space of $13,812,500 for next season, according to PuckPedia.

He says he’s baffled that a program with deep roots in the region -- one that has sheltered tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors since the 1960s, including 14,000 Cuban children during Operation Pedro Pan -- is now being forced to shut down.

The Trump administration confirmed to Local 10 News it is cutting $11 million in funding for the Catholic Charities program that cares for and shelters migrant children who arrive in the U.S. alone.

The Archdiocese of Miami currently houses dozens of those children in South Florida.

“This program that he just cut was the same program that helped the Cubans when we arrived in this country in 1960,” said Sylvia Muñoz.

For Muñoz, a devout Catholic and volunteer with immigrant families, the issue is personal.

“I do because I came like that. I came in 1961,” she said.

“You were an unaccompanied minor. I was an unaccompanied minor. I flew from La Havana to Miami by myself. I had just turned 14 years old.”

“Two months after my 14th birthday when I came by myself -- I still remember it as a trauma.”

The Department of Health and Human Services defended the funding cut, telling Local 10 News the number of unaccompanied children is significantly lower -- about 1,900 compared to a peak of 22,000 during the Biden administration.

Officials added the move is part of a broader effort to close and consolidate unused facilities, as the Trump administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied children.

“The administration is really taking it way too far,” said Tessa Petit of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Petit said she’s concerned about what happens next, even with fewer children in the system.

“Where are they going to be? Where are they going to go? The foster care system is not set for them,” she said.

The funding cut comes amid an ongoing feud between the president and the pope, as well as backlash over an AI-generated image that offended many Christians who believed it portrayed the president as Jesus -- something Trump denies.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski has planned a press conference for Thursday, where more details are expected on what will happen to the dozens of children currently in the charity’s care.

The announcement Thursday comes a day after the state Supreme Court allowed the redistricting question to go to voters for an April 21 election. Early voting begins Friday.

It’s the second time Obama has agreed to stump for a Democratic effort that asks voters to temporarily set aside an independent redistricting process in favor of partisan maps as a way to counter President Donald Trump’s push for congressional gerrymandering in Republican-controlled states. California voters approved a similar measure last fall as a counterpoint to Republicans’ unusual mid-cycle redistricting that began in Texas.

In a video shared with The Associated Press ahead of its release, Obama asks Virginians to support the voter referendum on the redrawn maps. He said it will make sure “your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states.”

“This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall,” Obama says in the video, released by Virginians for Fair Elections. “And voters will have the final say over what the maps look like.”

In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map aimed at giving their party four more seats. The Democratic-led legislature passed the proposed map, and Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the document into law.

The map goes into effect only if it’s backed by voters and the state Supreme Court.

And, Obama goes on to point out, it’s a temporary construct, as was the measure put before California voters. After the next census in 2030, he notes, “Virginia will go back to a system that lets a bipartisan redistricting commission redraw the maps.”

Court challenges continue

The situation in Virginia has been evolving swiftly, and there are no guarantees the new map will take effect this year even if it’s approved by voters.

Wednesday’s ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court was the second time it has decided that the new map could go before voters while the justices review legal challenges to the effort. The court still has not ruled on whether the mid-decade redistricting plan and voter referendum are legal, indicating that the April vote could be all for nothing if it upholds a lower-court ruling blocking the effort.

Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have sought to portray their redistricting plan as a response to Trump’s push for Republican states to redraw their maps in an attempt to maintain a GOP majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans describe it as a way for liberals in northern Virginia to commandeer congressional districts in the rest of the state.

Virginia is currently represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan legislative commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.

Obama has made redistricting a priority

Redistricting has evolved into a signature issue for Obama.

He has called attention to the issue since leaving office in 2017 and helped raise money for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. That group is headed by Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general.

Obama was a vocal supporter of the Democratic redistricting ballot measure last year in California and appeared in ads supporting Proposition 50, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month.

Speaking at an NDRC fundraiser at the time, Obama said partisan gerrymandering was not his “preference.” But, he added, if Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.”

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Associated Press writer Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

Miam-Dade and Broward counties can expect partly cloudy skies Wednesday night along with east winds, sustained around 10 mph. Temperatures are forecast to drop to near 70°F overnight.

Thursday will feature ample sunshine and east-northeast winds, sustained 10 mph with gusts to 15 mph. Humidity levels will stay comfortable as temperatures climb to the low 80s. Rain chance remains near 0%.

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The incident, involving a hockey mask, a pair of scissors and an unwanted haircut, happened at VIP Gentlemen’s Club at 1221 Duval St., according to Key West police.

An arrest report states that Jeffrey Marshall Carroll, 44, of Columbia, Tennessee, “had caused issues” earlier “before leaving.”

The report states that Carroll had come in at around 6:20 that evening “for a dance session,” told one stripper “he didn’t want her services,” and then had a session with the eventual victim before leaving about 25 minutes later.

Police said Carroll then returned “shirtless with grey shorts, an orange hat, and wearing a hockey-style mask,” at around 10:10 p.m. Authorities said the stripper he rejected had been sitting on the club’s front porch and “began to take videos for her safety since he was blocking her way back into the establishment.”

The victim opened the door to have her co-worker come back inside, the report states.

Police said security footage then showed Carroll “grabbing (the victim) by her hair, appearing to pull a pair of scissors out of his back pocket, cutting (her) hair, then running out of the establishment with the scissors still in his hand.”

Authorities said the victim’s co-worker called police after hearing her screaming, believing she was seriously hurt. She wasn’t, according to the report, but “was obviously shaken up and emotional due to what had occurred.”

The report states that the victim told police that Carroll “had previously said, ‘I’m gonna take your life,’ before he left the property.”

Authorities said the strip club had a copy of Carroll’s license and officers found him in the area of Louisa and Simonton streets.

Police said Carroll refused to speak with officers. They said they also found “an amphetamine pill in his possession without the proper container” and the pair of black scissors.

The report indicates that he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time.

Officers arrested Carroll on felony charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with the intent to commit a felony and possession of a controlled substance.

Records show Carroll was being held in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Key West jail facility with no listed bond. MCSO records list an April 23 arraignment date.

The state’s settlement with Arizona Public Service, which previously prohibited shutoffs because of nonpayment between June 1 and Oct. 15, also called for the utility to pay $2.7 million that will be deposited into a state consumer protection fund and another $3.4 million to improve a program that lets customers designate family members or friends as emergency contacts who can receive notices in a bid to help prevent shutoffs, including sending text messages to inform customers of delinquent bills and disconnection notices.

Mayes’ office said the lawsuit grew out of concerns about disconnection practices during extreme heat, including the death of Katherine Korman at her Sun City West home.

Her service was cut off in mid-May 2024 because of nonpayment on a day when the daily high temperature in her area reached about 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). She was found dead six days after her power was disconnected.

APS said it made 10 attempts to contact Korman by phone, email, door hanger and monthly bills to let her know the status of her bill and offer help. The utility said regulators who examined the case determined APS had followed the rules on customer outreach and disconnection.

“No Arizonan should be at risk because they cannot afford their electric bill,” Mayes said in a statement. “This settlement ensures that APS will no longer disconnect power based on the date on the calendar alone – if temperatures are dangerous, the power stays on.”

APS, which didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, said in a statement that it already met or exceeded state laws and regulations in its disconnection policies and customer communications. “Our entire team at APS prioritizes customer safety and cares deeply about the well-being of our customers and community,” the utility said. The agreement specifies the payments from the settlement must come APS shareholder funds and that they can't be recovered through future rate cases or surcharges.

“If APS wants to spend additional shareholder funds, it is free to do so," Douglas Clark, executive director of the Arizona Corporation Commission, said in a statement. "The consent agreement makes it clear that this payment is outside the regulatory framework and will not be passed on to ratepayers.”

Maricopa County, which includes the city of Phoenix, confirmed 430 heat-related deaths last year, a decrease from 608 in 2024 and 645 in 2023. The county’s first confirmed heat-related death in 2026 was announced last week.

Las reformas penales, aprobadas el mes pasado por la Asamblea Legislativa controlada por el partido de Bukele, establecen que ese castigo se impondrá a autores o cómplices —a partir de los 12 años de edad— que hayan cometido esos delitos. También estipulan la revisión obligatoria de dicha medida dependiendo de si son menores que han cometido uno o varios delitos o si se trata de una infracción con agravantes.

Las reformas también incluyen la vigencia a partir del 26 de abril de los nuevos juzgados de lo criminal creados con las enmiendas. Estos jueces de lo criminal, otroras jueces de menores, deberán hacer una revisión obligatoria de la pena perpetua para evaluar un posible régimen de libertad controlada bajo ciertas reglas.

Esta revisión se debería hacer obligatoriamente a todos los reos condenados a perpetuidad cada cinco años a partir de 25 años de prisión para los menores, 30 años para los adultos, 35 para los adultos condenados por varios delitos y a partir de los 40 años de prisión por delitos con agravantes, según las nuevas normas.

La Ley Penal Juvenil que se reformó establecía que cuando los delitos fueran cometidos por pandilleros la pena máxima era por hasta 20 años de prisión para los menores con 16 años cumplidos y hasta 10 años cuando un menor haya cumplido 12 años.

Esto ocurre tras varias rondas de reformas constitucionales impulsadas por Bukele, las cuales han sido duramente criticadas por quienes consideran que debilitan el sistema de pesos y contrapesos y socavan la frágil democracia del país centroamericano.

En julio 2025, el gobierno impulsó otra reforma que eliminaría los límites al mandato presidencial, allanando el camino para que Bukele permanezca en el poder indefinidamente.

Las reformas se basan en otras medidas que Bukele ha tomado en su guerra contra las pandillas salvadoreñas, la cual comenzó cuando declaró el estado de emergencia en marzo de 2022 tras una ola de violencia pandillera.

Esta medida, inicialmente temporal y prorrogada por casi cuatro años, suspende derechos constitucionales fundamentales y ha provocado la detención de alrededor de 91.650 personas en El Salvador. Bukele ha afirmado que 8.000 personas inocentes han sido liberadas.

Organizaciones de derechos humanos han documentado casos de detenciones arbitrarias durante años, e incluso una de ellas denunció ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) que la gran mayoría de los encarcelados bajo el estado de emergencia fueron detenidos arbitrariamente. Bukele criticó duramente esta acusación.

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Campaign filings show the head of the “Recall Cava” political action committee is “Alex Otaola for Mayor.”

Otaola, the conservative social media influencer, is a former mayoral candidate whom Levine Cava, a Democrat, trounced in the technically nonpartisan race in 2024.

On Instagram, he accuses Levine Cava of “county mismanagement,” from persistent flooding to challenges at Miami International Airport.

Local 10 News asked Christian Ulvert, a Levine Cava campaign advisor, about the effort.

He said Otaola “is running an effort to build his name on the backs of a very popular mayor.”

“For someone who is trying to campaign on accountability, he sure knows how to duck it at every turn of the quarter,” Ulvert said.

Officials with the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Office said the PAC missed a recent campaign finance reporting deadline.

A spokesperson for the PAC described it as a delay due to a portal-upload technological issue, but according to the elections department, they “missed a deadline earlier this year too.”

Regarding what petitioners need, elections officials said they require just over 65,000 signatures by May 14.

Mercy Perez, a recall effort supporter, told Local 10 News they have obtained 50,000 so far. Ulvert said he will believe it when he sees it.

“Fifty-thousand signatures is not only questionable, it’s laughable, because we’ve been seeing folks all over this county and we really aren’t seeing it,” he said. “But what we do see are voters coming up every day to our office ― to the mayor ― saying, ‘What can we do to stand with you to show the support, to remind voters, remind this community that Mayor Cava is beloved by us, by Miami-Dade County?’”

Pollster Fernand Amandi is also skeptical.

“I don’t (believe it has what it takes) because it doesn’t seem to be a recall effort motivated by any real desire to remove the mayor,” Amandi said. “Rather it’s a partisan recall done by extremists in the Republican Party.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the PAC said, in part, “The Committee continues its lawful signature collection effort and urges eligible voters to make their voices heard.”

The Division I Cabinet discussed the possibility at meetings that concluded Wednesday but did not take a formal position. The Cabinet supports having NCAA staff continue to discuss the idea with other stakeholders to gather feedback.

The Cabinet said the new model would include possible exceptions for circumstances such as pregnancy, military service and religious missions.

The age-based model is similar to an idea included in an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on April 3.

Currently, athletes generally are allowed four seasons of competition over five years with no age restrictions.

The possibility of an age-based model comes after numerous athletes have challenged NCAA eligibility rules in lawsuits with the hope of extending their college careers and ability to earn money through revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals.

During its meetings, the Cabinet approved changes to preenrollment eligibility rules, including one that would bar athletes who have entered and remained in a professional sports draft from competing in college.

One of the rules requires prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts, including the NBA draft, to bring precollege enrollment draft rules in line with postcollege enrollment draft rules. Men’s ice hockey and baseball would not be affected because athletes don’t opt in to those sports’ drafts.

The change came after two basketball players, Alabama’s Charles Bediako and Baylor’s James Nnaji, played in college this season after entering the 2023 NBA draft.

Bediako played two seasons at Alabama and entered the draft. He wasn’t selected but played three years in the G League, the NBA’s minor league. He played in five games this past season before the Alabama Supreme Court upheld a ruling that made him ineligible.

Nnaji was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round. He played professionally overseas before he enrolled as a freshman at Baylor in December. He was granted eligibility because he had never signed an NBA contract or played in the G League. He would be ineligible in 2026-27 under the new rules.

In other changes, athletes are allowed to sign with agents prior to enrolling for purposes other than name, image and likeness and are allowed to accept prize money in their respective sports without impacting eligibility.

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

The ship's 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the USS Abraham Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.

It raises questions about the impact on service members away from home for long periods as well as increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, with the carrier already enduring a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.

The Ford began its deployment in June 2025, heading to the Mediterranean See from its home port in Norfolk, Virginia. The military rerouted it to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated.

The carrier took part in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

However, a fire in one of its laundry spaces forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said the record-breaking deployment has taken “a serious toll” on the mental health and well-being of the crew. He noted that the fire temporarily left 600 sailors without places to sleep.

"They should be home with their loved ones, not sent around the world by a President who acts like the U.S. military is his palace guard," the Democratic senator said in a statement.

Pentagon officials have not said how long the Ford will stay deployed, but the Navy's two highest-ranking officers both said publicly that they expect the ship to be deployed for around 11 months. That would put the ship returning home in late May.

“You’re going to see a record-breaking deployment by Ford,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s top officer, said during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the end of March.

Caudle told reporters in January that he would “push back” on extending the Ford and told The Associated Press in February that he wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer ships in combat zones instead of consistently asking the Navy to send aircraft carriers.

While Navy officials have not formally said the Ford's deployment is record-breaking, they did not dispute the data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News.

Another carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, is slated to head to the Middle East and is located now in the waters off Africa after deploying two weeks ago.

The Ford's 295-day deployment falls short of the longest deployment during the Cold War, a record held by the now-decommissioned USS Midway. It was deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973.

More recently, the crew of the USS Nimitz was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, that included extended isolation periods ashore in the U.S. meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Leo spoke to journalists en route to Cameroon as he continued his Africa visit.

He made no mention of Trump’s latest social media post or the suggestion by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, that he should “be careful” when speaking about theology.

Leo took no questions. Rather, he focused on his first stop in Algeria and the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, the inspiration of his religious order and his own spirituality.

But Leo spoke in terms that suggested the Trump administration’s criticism of the pope’s calls for peace in the Iran war hadn’t gone unnoticed. He spoke exclusively in English.

Trump has issued repeated broadsides this week against history’s first U.S.-born pope, accusing him of being weak on crime and a captive to the left, and asserting that Leo owed his papacy to Trump. Trump also posted, then took down, an artificial intelligence-generated, Christ-like image of himself that drew widespread condemnation, even from many supporters.

Trump’s attacks on Leo began after the pope amplified criticism of war and asserted that God doesn’t bless those who drop bombs. Leo also called Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable.”

Overnight, Trump posted “Not good!!!” in response to a post citing social media posts by Leo before he was pope that were critical of Trump. And he wrote: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”

Leo points to St. Augustine and ‘search for truth’

Leo drew attention to his visit Tuesday to Annaba, the ancient city of Hippo where St. Augustine, the theological and philosophical giant of the early church, lived as a bishop for more than 30 years.

“His writings, his teaching, his spirituality, his invitation to search for God and to search for truth is something that is very much needed today, a message that is very real for all of us today as believers in Jesus Christ, but for all people,” Leo said.

By going to Hippo, Leo said that he wanted to offer the church and the world a vision that St. Augustine offers in terms of seeking “unity among all peoples and respect for all people in spite of the differences.”

He recalled that the vast majority of Algerians are Muslim, but that they respect and honor St. Augustine as “one of the great sons of their land.” Such an attitude, he said, helps to build bridges between Christians and Muslims and promote dialogue.

And he recalled his visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers, where he stood in silent prayer.

“I think the visit to the mosque was significant to say that although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshiping, we have different ways of living, we can live together in peace,” he said.

“And so I think that to promote that kind of image is something which the world needs to hear today.”

While being on the receiving end of Trump’s criticisms online, Leo pointed to the respectful way that the Algerian government had received him on the first-ever papal visit — with a full military airborne escort through Algeria’s airspace.

“It’s a sign of the goodness, of the generosity, of the respect that the Algerian people and the Algerian government have wished to show to the Holy See and to myself,” Leo said.

A debate about ‘just war’

The Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, was more pointed than Leo in his rebuttal of Vance, who had argued that the Catholic Church had a long tradition of endorsing so-called “just wars,” when war can be morally justified.

Tornielli noted that the “just war” theory was developed centuries ago, when wars were fought with swords, not machine-guided drones.

“This teaching has gradually been enriched and deepened, to the point of recognizing how increasingly difficult it is to claim that a ‘just war’ exists,” Tornielli wrote on Vatican Media. Modern warfare poses a “reality that raises moral questions of dramatic intensity.”

“There has been a growing awareness that war is not a path to be followed,” he wrote.

U.S. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, has said the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran failed to meet the minimum criteria for the war to be considered morally just. Such criteria would have included that it was a response to an imminent threat, that the U.S. and Israel had clearly articulated their intentions or that the benefits would outweigh the harm.

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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.

La policía de Miami informó que ocurrió el martes alrededor de las 4:25 p.m. cerca de la vivienda de la sospechosa Lourdes Maria Portugues, ubicada en la cuadra 1000 de Northwest 18th Place, en el vecindario de Little Havana.

Según la policía, la empleada del Servicio Postal de Estados Unidos, una mujer afroamericana, caminaba en su ruta cuando un menor se le acercó para recoger el correo de su vivienda.

En ese momento, Portugues, de 34 años, le gritó al menor: “No hables con ella, nosotros no hablamos con ne..”.

Mientras la víctima continuaba entregando el correo, la policía indicó que Portugues tomó una manguera del patio delantero y le lanzó agua, lo que llevó a la víctima a llamar al 911.

Según el informe de arresto, Portugues luego tomó su bolso, se subió a su SUV, un Lincoln Nautilus plateado, e intentó atropellar a la cartera, obligándola a resguardarse detrás de un vehículo estacionado, antes de poner el vehículo en reversa e intentar nuevamente embestirla.

Después de pasar junto a la víctima, la policía indicó que Portugues hizo un giro en U al final de la cuadra y volvió a conducir hacia ella a alta velocidad, provocando que “varios testigos y la víctima” corrieran “hacia la acera, alejándose del vehículo de la acusada para evitar ser atropellados”, según el informe.

Las autoridades dijeron que luego Portugues se estacionó frente a su casa y le gritó a la víctima: “Te voy a disparar, tengo un arma dentro de mi casa”, antes de entrar.

La policía indicó que un testigo, identificado como el hijo menor de Portugues, dijo a los agentes que cuando ella regresó a la casa, “comenzó a poner balas en un arma en su habitación”, según el informe.

Los agentes que respondieron dijeron que encontraron una pistola de aire comprimido, junto con municiones, dentro de la habitación de Portugues.

También señalaron que el video de vigilancia y las declaraciones de testigos corroboran la versión de la víctima sobre lo ocurrido.

Portugues enfrenta dos cargos por delito mayor de agresión agravada con un arma mortal con prejuicio. Actualmente permanece detenida en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza “por determinar”.

Registros de campaña muestran que el comité de acción política “Recall Cava” está encabezado por “Alex Otaola for Mayor”.

Otaola, un influencer conservador en redes sociales, es un ex candidato a la alcaldía a quien Levine Cava, demócrata, derrotó ampliamente en la contienda técnicamente no partidista de 2024.

En Instagram, acusa a Levine Cava de “mala gestión del condado”, desde inundaciones persistentes hasta problemas en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami.

Local 10 News consultó a Christian Ulvert, asesor de campaña de Levine Cava, sobre el esfuerzo.

Ulvert dijo que Otaola “está impulsando un esfuerzo para promover su nombre a costa de una alcaldesa muy popular”.

“Para alguien que intenta hacer campaña sobre la rendición de cuentas, sabe muy bien cómo evadirla en todo momento”, dijo Ulvert.

Funcionarios de la Oficina del Supervisor de Elecciones de Miami-Dade indicaron que el comité incumplió recientemente con un plazo de reporte de financiamiento de campaña.

Un portavoz del comité lo atribuyó a un retraso por un problema tecnológico al subir información al portal, pero según el departamento electoral, “también incumplieron un plazo a principios de este año”.

Sobre los requisitos, las autoridades electorales indicaron que se necesitan poco más de 65,000 firmas antes del 14 de mayo.

Mercy Perez, partidaria del esfuerzo de revocatoria, dijo a Local 10 News que han obtenido 50,000 hasta ahora. Ulvert dijo que lo creerá cuando lo vea.

“Cincuenta mil firmas no solo es cuestionable, es risible, porque hemos visto gente en todo el condado y realmente no lo estamos viendo”, dijo. “Pero lo que sí vemos son votantes que llegan todos los días a nuestra oficina — a la alcaldesa — diciendo: ‘¿Qué podemos hacer para apoyarla, para demostrar el respaldo, para recordar a los votantes, a esta comunidad, que la alcaldesa Cava es querida por nosotros, por Miami-Dade?’”

El encuestador Fernand Amandi también expresó escepticismo.

“No creo que tenga lo necesario porque no parece ser un esfuerzo de revocatoria motivado por un deseo real de destituir a la alcaldesa”, dijo Amandi. “Más bien es una revocatoria partidista impulsada por extremistas del Partido Republicano”.

En un comunicado, un portavoz del comité dijo en parte: “El comité continúa su esfuerzo legal de recolección de firmas e insta a los votantes elegibles a hacer escuchar su voz”.

The fundraiser — shown on the scoreboard during Tuesday’s home game against the Carolina Hurricanes — featured a photo of Erik Duran, who was sentenced last week to three to nine years in prison for causing the death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey.

It included a QR code for direct donations to Duran’s legal defense, along with a message from his union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, requesting fans join “the fight for justice.” The team also said it would direct a quarter of proceeds from a 50/50 raffle toward the cause, the union said.

The union’s president, Vincent Vallelong, said the fundraiser came together after someone at The New York Post informed him that the Islanders “wanted to do something” for Duran.

A spokesperson for the Islanders declined to comment. An emailed inquiry to The Post was not returned.

An attorney for Duprey’s family, Jon Roberts, said they were “deeply troubled by the decision of the New York Islanders to align themselves, even symbolically, with efforts that appear to support Sgt. Duran’s legal defense.”

“This was not a neutral act,” Roberts' statement continued. “It sends a message — intended or not — that risks undermining public confidence in a fair legal process and deepens the pain of a family still grieving.”

The NHL did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Duprey's death came as Duran and other narcotics officers were carrying out an undercover drug bust in the Bronx in 2023.

Surveillance footage showed Duran lifting a bystander's cooler full of drinks and ice and throwing it at Duprey as he attempted to flee on a motorized scooter. The impact of the cooler caused him to crash into a tree, and he died almost instantly.

The former sergeant's conviction in February drew fierce protests from police officers and their supporters, who argued it would discourage officers from doing their jobs and hurt public safety. It is the first time in at least two decades that an NYPD officer will spend time in prison for an on-duty death. His attorney has said he will appeal the sentence.

Vallelong, the union president, said the chance to raise money for Duran at a professional hockey game “came out of left field.”

Photographs published by The New York Post show Vallelong posing with the Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and newspaper executive Pat Judge inside the team's stadium, which is on Long Island.

Vallelong said “the arena blew up into applause” when Duran's photograph appeared on the video screen. He dismissed criticism of the hockey team's decision to solicit donations.

“They’re a private organization. They can do whatever they want,” he said of the Islanders, likening the promotion to celebrations of the military common in professional sports.

Vallelong declined to say how much money was raised for the legal defense fund. The 50/50 raffle took in $44,890, according to the Islander’s website.

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Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

Los agentes de Miami-Dade señalaron que Tillman y la víctima mantienen una relación y habían vivido juntos previamente. No tienen hijos en común.

Indicaron que el incidente comenzó poco antes de la 1 a.m. tras una discusión por “asuntos personales” en una vivienda en la cuadra 7000 de Northwest 177th Street, en el área de Palm Springs North.

Según dijeron, la discusión escaló cuando Tillman sujetó a la mujer, la metió en el maletero de su vehículo y lo cerró antes de conducir con ella aún dentro.

El informe indica que luego Tillman estacionó el vehículo cerca, abrió el maletero y la víctima intentó escapar.

Los agentes dijeron que entonces la golpeó varias veces en el rostro y el cuerpo cerca del área del maletero y del lado del pasajero del vehículo.

Indicaron que posteriormente la pareja volvió a subir al vehículo y huyó hacia el este por Northwest 177th Street antes de que la MDSO realizara una parada de tráfico en Northwest 179th Street y Northwest 68th Avenue.

Los agentes dijeron que detuvieron a Tillman en ese lugar.

Un guardia de seguridad del complejo donde ocurrió el incidente contactó a los agentes y proporcionó video que, según los investigadores, muestra a la víctima saliendo del maletero y siendo golpeada múltiples veces por Tillman.

Tras ser informado de sus derechos Miranda, Tillman dijo a los investigadores que ocurrió una discusión y que la víctima lo golpeó primero, según el informe.

El informe señala que Tillman también dijo que la víctima afirmó que no quería estar cerca de él y que “prefería estar dentro del maletero y no en su proximidad”.

Los investigadores indicaron que luego admitió haberla metido en el maletero, conducir con ella dentro y golpearla.

Según las autoridades, la víctima no presentaba lesiones visibles y rechazó atención médica de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Registros carcelarios muestran que Tillman enfrenta cargos de secuestro y agresión.

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

Los registros indican que Tillman había sido arrestado previamente por cargos de agresión agravada con arma de fuego, exhibición indebida de un arma y resistencia a un agente sin violencia en un caso no relacionado.

Leer en español

Miami-Dade deputies said Tillman and the victim are in a relationship and had previously lived together. They do not share any children.

Deputies said the incident began just before 1 a.m. after the couple got into an argument over “personal matters” at a home in the 7000 block of Northwest 177th Street in the county’s Palm Springs North area.

They said the argument escalated when Tillman grabbed the woman, placed her inside the trunk of her vehicle, and secured it before driving away with her still inside.

The report states that Tillman later parked the vehicle nearby, opened the trunk, and the victim attempted to escape.

Deputies said he then struck her multiple times in the face and body near the trunk area and the passenger side of the vehicle.

They said the couple later got back into the vehicle and fled eastbound on Northwest 177th Street before MDSO conducted a traffic stop at Northwest 179th Street and Northwest 68th Avenue.

Deputies said they took Tillman into custody at that location.

A security guard who works in the complex where the incident occurred contacted deputies and provided video footage that investigators said showed the victim exiting the trunk and being struck multiple times by Tillman.

After being advised of his Miranda rights, Tillman told investigators that an argument occurred and that the victim struck him first, according to the report.

The report states that Tillman also said the victim claimed that she did not want to be around him and “would rather be inside of the trunk and not in his vicinity.”

Investigators said he then admitted to placing her in the trunk, driving with her inside and striking her.

The victim was not visibly injured and declined medical treatment from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, according to authorities.

Jail records show Tillman is facing charges of kidnapping and battery.

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

Records show Tillman was previously arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm, improper exhibition of a firearm or weapon and resisting an officer without violence to his person in an unrelated case.

Speaking at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup even though its participation has been in doubt since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on the country.

“The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

Infantino met with the Iranian national team in Antalya, Turkey, two weeks ago and said Wednesday he was impressed.

“I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well," Infantino said. "And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now.”

Infantino acknowledged it's not always possible to achieve the separation of sports and politics.

“OK we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth," Infantino said. "But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job.”

The United States will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.

Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.

The war has raised doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup. There have been conflicting public comments from Iranian government and soccer officials. U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.

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

Los investigadores identificaron a los sospechosos en documentos de arresto como Kishawn Zell Walker Perkins, de 29 años, y Armon Christopher Jiles, de 26.

Agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade indicaron que el primer incidente ocurrió el 13 de febrero en una sucursal de Chase ubicada en 18800 NW 56th Ct., cerca del límite con Miami Gardens.

Según los investigadores, video de vigilancia mostró a los sospechosos dentro de un Nissan Sentra color vino en el estacionamiento del banco mientras un cliente salía con una bolsa azul de dinero.

El informe señala que la víctima entró a su vehículo, colocó la bolsa en el asiento del pasajero y se retiró.

Las autoridades dijeron que los sospechosos salieron del estacionamiento segundos antes y siguieron a la víctima hasta una comunidad cerrada, entrando detrás de él sin inconvenientes.

Después de que la víctima entró a su casa, indicaron que el conductor, Walker Perkins, se detuvo frente a la vivienda mientras el pasajero, Jiles, se bajó, corrió hacia el vehículo de la víctima, abrió la puerta del conductor y sustrajo objetos antes de huir.

Los agentes dijeron que el segundo incidente ocurrió el 27 de marzo en otro banco Chase, ubicado en 8784 SW 72nd St., en el área de Dadeland, e involucró a una víctima de edad avanzada.

Las autoridades indicaron que esa víctima acababa de realizar una transacción en el banco y fue seguida hasta su hogar por un Nissan Sentra rojo.

Los investigadores determinaron que los sospechosos vigilaban a la víctima en el banco y lo seleccionaron tras notar que llevaba una riñonera, lo que sugería que había retirado dinero.

Cuando la víctima llegó a su complejo de apartamentos, los agentes dijeron que Jiles se bajó del vehículo y se le acercó en el estacionamiento. Indicaron que le arrebató la riñonera por la fuerza y, durante el forcejeo, la víctima cayó hacia atrás.

Tras tomar la riñonera, dijeron que Jiles golpeó a la víctima en la cabeza con la misma, causándole una laceración, antes de huir en un vehículo conducido por Walker Perkins.

El informe indica que la víctima sufrió una lesión en la cabeza, así como abrasiones en la rodilla y el codo, y fue trasladada a un hospital para recibir tratamiento. Las autoridades señalaron que sus lesiones podrían resultar en “desfiguración permanente”.

Los detectives indicaron que finalmente vincularon a los sospechosos con ambos incidentes mediante videos de vigilancia, las características distintivas del vehículo y su matrícula, así como registros de teléfonos celulares que los ubicaban cerca de las escenas.

Los investigadores también señalaron que observaron a la pareja visitando múltiples bancos en los días posteriores al robo, aparentemente en busca de más víctimas.

Ambos hombres fueron arrestados el martes y llevados a la unidad de robos de la MDSO, donde invocaron su derecho a guardar silencio.

Registros carcelarios muestran que ambos enfrentan un cargo de robo de vehículo desocupado en el caso de febrero y robo a mano armada con arma y agresión agravada contra una persona mayor en el caso de marzo.

Ambos permanecen detenidos en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight. Hasta la tarde del miércoles, la fianza de Walker Perkins no había sido fijada, mientras que Jiles permanece sin derecho a fianza.

Los agentes no indicaron qué objetos o cuánto dinero, si alguno, lograron obtener los sospechosos en los incidentes.

The Masters is the first major of the year, a high-stress test at Augusta National that requires full attention on just about every shot because of the razor-thin difference in the outcome. The RBC Heritage provides a tight, tree-lined Harbour Town course that oozes a sense of peace.

The winner gets a green jacket one week, a plaid one the next.

And there was one other element that made Cameron Young look forward to the week after being in contention at Augusta National.

“It is easier, physically, like the walk,” Young said after finishing nine holes of a pro-am round. “And staying closer. Everything seems simpler.”

Otherwise, it's time to move on amid a reminder there is no time to stop to rest.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy chose not to play this $20 million signature event, not a surprise because he didn't play last year, either. Tiny, tight Harbour Town is one that doesn't quite fit him. Justin Rose also pulled out, fresh off his third time with a lead on the back nine at Augusta National without a green jacket to show for it.

The PGA Tour is in the early stages of a six-week stretch that includes two majors and three $20 million signature events.

The Masters is over. They're on to Hilton Head.

“It's over with. Can't really go back,” said Scottie Scheffler, who had reason to replay the final round in his mind in the three days between tournaments.

He was 12 shots behind going into the weekend at the Masters and finished one behind McIlroy despite making only one birdie on the par 5s on the back nine all week.

“So if I would be frustrated, it would be with the start,” Scheffler said. “But I'm proud of how I played on the weekend. That's part of the beauty and frustrating part of golf — I get to try again this week. And if I had won last week, it would be the same thing.”

He speaks from experience. The last time Scheffler won the Masters in 2024, he came to the RBC Heritage and won by three shots. He is known to put winning — and losing — behind him quickly. The difference this week was the time he invested getting ready.

“The preparation looks a little different in terms of not doing nearly as much as a normal week," he said. “That's mainly because this golf course doesn't change too much. Rest is a huge part of that.”

The field is the largest for the signature events, 82 players because of 10 additional players who won in 2025 and did not get to play The Sentry at Kapalua because it was canceled by a dispute over water.

Young had just as good of a chance to win as Scheffler, and that was on his mind when he drove three hours through the Low Country of South Carolina to the next destination. He had eight straight chances at birdie on the back nine at the Masters and finished with nine straight pars.

“I had a really good chance to win, and I played the golf to win,” Young said. “I just didn't, which happens a lot in golf. But I think about all the times Rosey has played the golf to win and hasn't, or even Rory. It does happen.”

What he enjoyed about the week in retrospect was being in the final group, leading by two shots on the front nine. Young was thinking about having a chance a month before the Masters.

“I enjoyed the battle on Sunday. I enjoyed the week,” he said. “I started in a bad spot (a 40 on the front nine Thursday) and enjoyed the grind of getting back to somewhere worthwhile. And by Sunday, I gave myself every chance.”

There is a relaxing vibe about Hilton Head, and a lot of wedges in the hands of the best players, both of which can be deceptive. The Harbour Town course can be challenging with trees that get in the way and plenty of water to punish mistakes.

“When you're out of position here, you're not often able to get it to the front of the green,” Young said. "At Augusta, you can hit it miles off line and a lot of times you can get something to the front of the green. Here, you hit one off line and you're hitting out sideways, or you have water in front.

“It's not an easy golf course,” he said. “There's no foot off the gas at all on the golf front.”

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

Vid Music Group filed the lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract against Messi and the Argentine Football Association in Miami-Dade circuit court last month, according to court records.

Messi and the AFA didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Considered one of the greatest soccer players ever, Messi appears with both his Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and Argentina's national team, and fans routinely pay much higher prices for the chance to see him play.

According to the lawsuit, Vid signed a deal with the AFA last summer for exclusive rights to organize and promote Argentina’s friendlies last October against Venezuela and Puerto Rico in exchange for ticket, broadcast and sponsorship revenue. Vid claims that Messi was supposed to play for at least 30 minutes in each match, unless he was injured.

The 38-year-old Messi watched Argentina’s 1-0 win against Venezuela on Oct. 10 from a suite at South Florida's Hard Rock Stadium, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, Messi scored two goals in Inter Miami’s 4-0 MLS win over Atlanta. That match was important to Inter Miami, since it gave them home-field advantage for Round 1 of the playoffs.

Then, on Oct. 14, Messi played in Argentina's 6-0 win over Puerto Rico. That game was originally supposed to take place in Chicago, but low ticket sales in the city where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were making more than 1,000 arrests led organizers to move the game to Florida. AFA blamed the immigration crackdowns when the smaller venue in Fort Lauderdale didn't sell out, even after ticket prices were reduced to $25 each.

Vid hasn't specified damages they're seeking in the lawsuit, but they claim they lost millions between Messi failing to appear in one game and low ticket sales at the other.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Marie-Therese Ross in Alabama on April 1 after she overstayed her 90-day visa, according to DHS. Ross is now being held at a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana.

Ross is among the thousands of people targeted by the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda that has detained the spouses of U.S. soldiers and military veterans who previously received greater leniency under scrapped policies.

Rodolphe Sambou, Consul General of France in New Orleans, told the AP that the French government has “fully mobilized” to push for her release. He said he has visited her in detention twice so far.

“Given her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as soon as possible,” Sambou said. “We want to get her out of jail.”

Sambou said that he has been communicating frequently with Ross’ family and French officials in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Paris to try and coordinate Ross’ release and ensure she has access to sufficient food and health care. He said the French government has also contacted DHS.

He declined to comment on her legal status or other details of her case.

Ross married Alabama resident William Ross in April last year, Calhoun County marriage records show. Ross died in January, according to an obituary from his family, which says he was a former captain in the U.S. Army.

A lawyer who is representing Ross in a separate legal matter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ross' family did not respond to requests for comment.

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Associated Press writer Samuel Petrequin contributed reporting from France.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

“Don’t fear the dead and don’t fear me,” Kilmer’s character, Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, says at the end of the trailer.

The actor died last year at 65, of pneumonia. The use of generative AI to recreate Kilmer for the historical drama based on archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris became a hot button topic when the filmmakers announced it last month. The trailer shows Kilmer’s character at various ages.

Writer-director Coerte Voorhees, along with his brother John, spoke on a panel Wednesday about the controversial decision to use technology to create a performance from a deceased actor and explained why they feel they've done it ethically by working with Kilmer's children and the actors union. Coerte Voorhees stopped short of calling it a Val Kilmer performance, however.

“Val Kilmer influenced this performance,” Coerte Voorhees said.

Producer John Voorhees said the use of AI actors based on real people is risky territory for anyone to venture into but emphasized that they followed guidelines from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union that he boiled down to “consent, compensation and collaboration.” Kilmer’s estate, including his daughter Mercedes, gave permission for his digital replication, is being compensated for it and provided archival footage to help the process.

They also compared Kilmer's AI-rendered performance to any actor portraying a historical figure on screen, as Kilmer once did with Jim Morrison in “The Doors.” Kilmer also utilized AI while he was alive. When he lost his natural speaking voice following a throat cancer diagnosis and two tracheotomies, he turned to an AI software company to digitally recreate his voice. Kilmer’s voice was also digitally altered to help his final screen performance in “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Kilmer had signed on to “As Deep as the Grave” years ago; Much of the film was structured around his character, they said. When Kilmer had to pull out at the last minute due to health issues they decided to proceed shooting without the character instead of recasting the role. The production had numerous stops and starts as one of the first to begin shooting in New Mexico in the fall of 2020 amid the pandemic. They realized later that the story really did need Father Fintan, and decided to broach the topic with Kilmer’s children, Mercedes and Jack.

“We were so glad they were so excited and so supportive of the idea,” Coerte Voorhees said. “We didn’t want to do it unless everybody thought this was going to work properly.”

He said that Kilmer is on screen in the movie for one hour and 17 minutes; The final runtime was not revealed but he said it’s long. The filmmakers plan to release it sometime this year.

Leer en español

Miami police said it happened on Tuesday around 4:25 p.m. near suspect Lourdes Maria Portugues’ home, located in the 1000 block of Northwest 18th Place in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood.

According to police, the United States Postal Service carrier, who is a Black woman, was walking her route when a child approached her to collect mail for their home.

That’s when police said Portugues, 34, yelled at the child, ‘Don’t talk to her, we don’t talk to n-----s.”

While the victim continued to deliver the mail, police said Portugues then picked up a hose from the front yard and sprayed the victim with water, which prompted the victim to call 911.

According to an arrest form, Portugues then collected her purse and got into her SUV, a silver Lincoln Nautilus, and tried to run over the mail carrier , causing her to take cover behind a parked car, before putting the SUV in reverse and driving toward her again.

After accelerating past the victim again, police said Portugues then made a U-turn at the end of the block and again drove toward her at a high rate of speed, causing “several witnesses and the victim all” to run “toward the sidewalk, away from the defendant’s vehicle to avoid being struck,” according to an arrest form.

That’s when authorities said Portugues parked in front of her home and yelled at the victim, “I’m going to shoot you, I have a gun inside my house” before going inside.

Police said a witness, who was identified as Portugues’ minor child, told officers that when Portugues went back inside, she “started to put bullets in a gun in her room,” according to an arrest form.

Responding officers said they found a pellet gun, along with rounds for the gun, inside Portugues’ room.

Officers also said that surveillance video and witness statements corroborated the victim’s account of how the events transpired.

Portugues is facing two felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice. She is currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a bond listed as “to be set.”

La mañana del miércoles, durante su viaje a Camerún, el primer papa nacido en Estados Unidos insistió en que “el mensaje que el mundo necesita escuchar hoy” es de paz y diálogo. En los últimos días, Trump ha redoblado sus críticas a los comentarios de León contra la guerra en Irán.

Lula, de 80 años, que se postula para la reelección en octubre, habló en un mensaje de video enviado a una reunión de la conferencia nacional de obispos de Brasil.

“Mi más profunda solidaridad con el papa León XIV. A lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, quienes abogan por la paz y por los oprimidos han sido atacados por personas poderosas que creen ser deidades a las que hay que adorar”, señaló Lula. “Es mejor tener un corazón lleno de amor que el poder de las armas y el dinero”.

La disputa entre León y el presidente estadounidense estalló cuando el papa dijo que Dios no bendice a quienes lanzan bombas. El pontífice también calificó de “verdaderamente inaceptable” la amenaza de Trump de aniquilar la civilización iraní. Luego, el presidente de Estados Unidos sostuvo que León es débil frente al crimen y es un cautivo de la izquierda, y afirmó que el pontífice le debía su cargo a él.

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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.

Soon after, while still attending school, Portuondo learned of a military force of Cuban refugees being organized by the United States government. He and several classmates decided to enlist.

“As an 18-year-old with a lot of ideals and a big heart, I wanted to be back in my country and be free and be able to do what I wanted,” Portuondo said. “I enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training.”

Remembering the invasion

About 1,500 Cuban exiles, with the backing of the CIA, attempted to invade the island nation at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s fledgling Communist government. More than 100 of the U.S.-backed fighters either drowned or were killed in action. Another 1,200 of the fighters, known as Brigade 2506, were taken prisoner after running out of ammunition and spent about 20 months in captivity before their release was negotiated.

Today, only about 200 of the veterans remain, the youngest of whom are in their 80s. They’re hosting the grand reopening of the Bay of Pigs Brigade 2506 Museum and Library in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood this month to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

“The museum’s purpose is not only to cement the legacy of what thousands of men did on that day, but also, from a historic perspective, to tell the new generations that freedom has a price,” Portuondo said.

Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, said the museum will also educate visitors about the harm caused by decades of Communist dictatorship.

“The Bay of Pigs is a historical moment that defined the future of Cuba, of the United States, of Miami, and of many Latin American countries, because the failure of that intervention made communism stay in Cuba forever and change the country completely,” Montalvo said.

The Cuban Revolution started in 1953 as an armed revolt, led by Castro, against the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Following an early failed attack, revolutionaries reorganized as a guerrilla force, and the movement gained support among Cuban citizens dissatisfied with inequality and corruption. Batista fled the island on Jan. 1, 1959, leaving Castro to take power, establish a socialist state, nationalized foreign assets and become allies with the former Soviet Union. Nearly a quarter million Cubans had fled to the U.S. by the time of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.

Supporting the president

Like most older Cuban Americans, most Brigade members have historically leaned conservative. But the group broke with a half-century tradition of not endorsing individual candidates by officially supporting U.S. President Donald Trump ’s first campaign and then reaffirming that endorsement four years later.

“You have to understand that Trump, in 2016, he came here and campaigned,” Montalvo said. “And we, for the first time ever, backed a president — politically backed him. And he made certain promises to us when he was here.”

Those promises included adding new sanctions to Cuba and reversing former President Barack Obama’s policies that loosened restrictions on travel and commerce. Now they’re hoping that Trump can finally remove the current Cuban government for good, which will likely require action from the U.S. military.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called for a change in Cuba’s leadership, with ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba in their early stages, according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. A punishing U.S. blockade has led to increased blackouts, with just a single fuel delivery in the past three months.

While Montalvo sees the need for the U.S. military, he doesn’t want a U.S. invasion and occupation of Cuba. The ideal situation would be a revolt by Cuban citizens with backing from the U.S., followed by American investment and infrastructure to redevelop the island.

“I don’t want to see American boots on the ground in Cuba,” Montalvo said. “I would hate to see an American soldier die because of Cuba’s freedom. I mean, we have to die ourselves before that happens.”

Montalvo said his group trusts Rubio, a Miami-born Cuban American, to guide Trump. But whatever happens, Montalvo said the current government in Cuba needs to be removed completely.

“We ask them that if they’re not going to get rid of the mafia that is in power right now, don’t do anything,” Montalvo said. “Because to make change in Cuba that is just for the photographs, like they did in Venezuela, in Cuba it’s not going to work.”

In January, Trump directed the U.S. military to enter Venezuela and capture then-President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro’s party remains in power, and Maduro’s former vice president now leads the country.

Fighting for Freedom

Carlos Leon, a member of Brigade 2506, said he might be more naive than his brothers. Still, despite never questioning or regretting his own participation in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he just doesn’t see how dropping bombs and killing people is going to improve anything in Cuba. Leon acknowledged that Trump’s war in Iran has made it even less clear that his administration can effectively liberate Cuba.

“How many Cubans are you going to kill? How many more enemies in Cuba are you going to create by killing all those Cubans?” Leon said. “How do you feel because the gringos send the Marines and the Air Force and kill or mutilate X number of Cubans? What kind of a country, what kind of morale do you have as a Cuban?”

The original Bay of Pigs museum opened in 1988 at an old home in Little Havana. It held a collection of photographs, documents and other memorabilia, as well as a documentary film about the three-day invasion. The new two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility was constructed on the same spot with funding from Miami-Dade County, the state of Florida and private donors.

The new building officially opens Friday with a ceremony for Brigade members and their families. The museum will reopen to the public after that.

Ernesto Freyre said joining Brigade 2506 was the most important action he has taken in his life.

“It was the biggest purpose and commitment that I took upon myself,” Freyre said.

Freyre said he’s been dreaming of a liberated Cuba since almost immediately after Castro took over. After nearly seven decades, he’s not sure if that will happen in his lifetime, with or without U.S. help.

“But at least I’m hoping that my descendants do see it,” Freyre said.

King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima stopped at the Shake-a-Leg marina on Wednesday morning in Coconut Grove.

The royals met with people with disabilities who are passionate about water sports and with a group of representatives of companies in the maritime industry.

“It’s wonderful to actually see the maritime industry in the Netherlands actually collaborated so well with the American one, so I think good for both countries,” the Argentine-born queen said on Wednesday in Coconut Grove.

The royal couple’s itinerary also included a visit to the Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Kendall, which works with Dutch companies.

The royals were also set to tour the “Libertad” exhibition at The Freedom Tower, a museum and national landmark in downtown Miami. There will be a reception, and the king will deliver a speech.

On Tuesday, the king delivered a speech before Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd to highlight the importance of the state.

“For three of the countries in our Kingdom – Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten – Florida is the main U.S. trading partner,“ the king said. ”The islands are popular destinations for American tourists, and students from the Caribbean part of our Kingdom like to come here for their studies."

Also on Tuesday, the royal couple visited the Dr. Henry W. Mack / West Little River K- 8 Center, the Pérez Art Museum Miami in downtown, the Máximo Gómez Park, better known as Domino Park, in Little Havana, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science of the University of Miami in Virginia Key.

More on their visit

• Dutch king, queen make stop in Miami during US visit

On Wednesday the San Francisco-based company said it had signed a definitive agreement with an unnamed institutional investor for $50 million in financing to shift its business to AI infrastructure. It will also have a new name: NewBird AI. It plans to use the proceeds to purchase graphics processing units, known as GPUs. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of this year.

“The rise of AI development and adoption has created unprecedented structural demand for specialized, high-performance compute that the market is struggling to meet,” the company said in the release. “NewBird AI is being built to help close that gap.”

The drastic change of direction has some industry watchers scratching their heads.

“On the surface, it’s a strange pivot,” said AI infrastructure expert Bill Kleyman. “I’ve been in this industry a while, and a company like Allbirds moving from shoes into AI infrastructure is not a very natural adjacency.”

It’s unclear how Allbirds will reinvent itself as a “GPU-as-a-service” business that rents out computing power to AI companies. That means selling access to a huge number of graphics processors, or other specialized AI computer chips designed by companies like Nvidia or AMD, that operate in big data centers typically run by cloud computing giants like Amazon or Oracle.

The business of running physical AI infrastructure “requires access to GPUs in a constrained market, long-term power agreements, advanced cooling strategies, and a credible operating model,” said Kleyman, CEO and co-founder of Apolo.

The announcement comes more than two weeks after Allbirds sold its intellectual property and certain other assets and liabilities to American Exchange Group, a leader in accessories design, licensing and manufacturing, for $39 million. The company owns such retail brands as Aerosoles, White Mountain, Jonathan Adler and Ed Hardy.

That's a dramatic fall from the Allbirds' peak in valuation at $4 billion in late 2021. The company had said that it would not be issuing its quarterly earnings report that was set for March 31.

The latest development marks a dramatic departure from when the company was founded in 2015 by former professional soccer player Tim Brown and renewable resources expert Joey Zwillinger. Its mission: to create footwear from natural material, not synthetics. A year later, Allbirds launched its iconic wool runner shoe. But the company overexpanded, like many dot.com brands that opened physical stores. And many consumers lost interest.

In February, the brand shuttered most of its remaining stores to focus on e-commerce, partnerships with stores and international distributorship. It still operates two outlet stores in the U.S. and two full-price stores in London.

Shares of Allbirds soared more than 600% on Wednesday’s news and were hovering nearly $18 in late afternoon trading. A few days ago, the stock was trading at $3. It once traded at $520 per share.

Kleyman said the stock market surge looks “more like initial excitement and speculative momentum tied to anything AI rather than validation of execution.”

Kleyman also noted that $50 million is not a lot to enter into an infrastructure-heavy market and added that it seems everybody wants to be an AI company.

“Some of those shifts are real and strategic,” he said. “Others feel more reactive. In this case, I think it’s fair to say it can come across as a bit desperate. The underlying business struggled, and AI presents a compelling narrative reset.”

The attempt at a pivot shows that the demand for AI computing power is real, “but so is the hype,” said Jim Piazza, who worked on computing infrastructure at social media giant Meta and now is the chief AI officer at IT services firm Ensono.

Piazza said building a real AI infrastructure business “takes deep capital, technical expertise and disciplined execution,” something that is already “crazy hard for tech-savvy companies” and will be “an impossible challenge” for someone outside of it.

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AP Technology reporter Matt O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

“Tenemos una situación muy difícil en salud. Hemos sido pacientes, pero necesitamos que el modelo se consolide de tal manera que garantice una salud digna”, dijo a The Associated Press Domingo Ayala Espitia, presidente del sindicato Federación Colombiana de Trabajadores de la Educación (Fecode).

En Bogotá atendieron a la convocatoria del sindicato maestros de departamentos del centro del país como Boyacá, Casanare y Cundinamarca. Mientras tanto, se replicaron manifestaciones en ciudades como Medellín, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga y Pereira.

La inconformidad con el sistema de salud se ha sostenido luego de que en 2024 entró en vigencia el nuevo modelo de salud con un enfoque en la prevención de enfermedades, que prometía eliminar la intermediación de privados, dando al Estado la responsabilidad de operar el sistema.

Se trató de una apuesta clave del gobierno de Gustavo Petro, primer izquierdista en la presidencia del país, que modificó el régimen especial de salud de los maestros con los principios que, según considera, deberían regir también en el sistema de salud para el resto del país, pero que el Congreso ha rechazado.

“Nosotros no estamos en contra del modelo, sino que pedimos que se cumpla”, aclaró Ayala Espitia recalcando que no estaban protestando contra el gobierno de Petro, al cual el sindicato de maestros ha apoyado en su mandato, sino en contra de quienes están a cargo del servicio de salud.

En el diario vivir, los maestros alegan demoras para acceder a citas médicas y recibir medicamentos. Blanca Turriago, maestra de Fómeque, un municipio a 50 kilómetros de Bogotá, relató a AP que hay escasa disponibilidad en los hospitales de su zona cuando se requieren médicos especialistas.

“Para los especialistas que necesitamos, porque la mayoría somos adultos mayores, no tenemos disponibilidad porque no los contratan. En la semana va un solo especialista para atender toda la población”, relató Turriago.

Fallas de implementación

En el modelo actual de salud, la Fiduprevisora —entidad vinculada al Ministerio de Hacienda— administra los recursos del fondo de prestaciones sociales del magisterio FOMAG, atendiendo a más de 800.000 afiliados, entre maestros y sus familiares.

Herman Bayona, vicepresidente de FOMAG, reconoció a la AP que existen “situaciones irregulares y que la prestación del servicio no se condice con las condiciones dignas de atención” para los maestros. Indicó que están trabajando en las mejoras, pero que estabilizar la atención del nuevo modelo de salud no se dará en el corto plazo.

Para Bayona, las fallas no son del nuevo modelo, sino de la ausencia de su implementación que, asegura, ha sido bloqueada por “intereses económicos de las IPS (instituciones prestadoras de servicios de salud) y otros intereses políticos”.

En las calles del centro de Bogotá, los maestros reclamaban con un megáfono que el sistema de salud estaba siendo saboteado por la “extrema derecha”. Petro también ha denunciado que ha sido saboteado y ha pedido que se investiguen presuntos casos de corrupción.

El nuevo modelo de salud prometió llevar la atención en salud a los territorios más apartados del país e implementar la salud preventiva. Sin embargo, Bayona reconoció que esa territorialización no se ha logrado, asegurando que hay un “monopolio” de ciertas IPS que continúan concentrando la atención en las urbes.

Page Six publicó fotos de la figura de reality sonriendo al llegar al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight de Miami-Dade la mañana del miércoles, acompañada de su abogada, Jayne Weintraub.

Registros carcelarios en línea muestran que tenía una orden de arresto en su contra y una fianza de $5,000 USD.

Un documento judicial del 19 de marzo, obtenido inicialmente por Local 10 News, indica que Hochstein y su ex novio, Jody Glidden, de 52 años, enfrentan cada uno un cargo por interceptación de comunicaciones telefónicas, orales o electrónicas.

La descripción de los cargos indica que entre el 12 y el 31 de marzo de 2023, ambos “interceptaron ilegal e intencionalmente”, intentaron interceptar o intentaron que otra persona interceptara “declaraciones orales de Leonard Hochstein y de las personas con las que hablaba”.

Los registros muestran que Glidden fue detenido el sábado. Desde entonces, fue liberado de la cárcel.

Leonard “Lenny” Hochstein, un destacado cirujano plástico del sur de Florida, es el ex esposo de Lisa Hochstein. Ambos comparten dos hijos.

Según un artículo de Page Six de mayo de 2023, Lenny Hochstein acusó a su ex esposa de colocar un “dispositivo de escucha” en su automóvil con el fin de “monitorear” sus llamadas.

Lisa Hochstein negó las acusaciones a Page Six.

Weintraub, abogada defensora de Lisa Hochstein, y los abogados Howard Srebnick y Frank Gaviria, defensa de Glidden, emitieron una declaración conjunta a Local 10 News el lunes por la tarde en la que afirmaron: “Este asunto es parte de un proceso de divorcio contencioso y no corresponde a un tribunal penal”.

Por su parte, la Fiscalía Estatal de Miami-Dade indicó a Local 10 News que la orden judicial se encuentra actualmente bajo reserva.

Agentes del Departamento de Policía de Coral Springs informaron que detuvieron a Wesley Henrique Ferreira Ramos Pereira el jueves afuera de la Coral Park Elementary School, ubicada en 8401 Westview Drive.

Según la policía, detectives del equipo de cumplimiento estratégico de CSPD estaban ayudando a la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward en la vigilancia de Ferreira Ramos Pereira, quien era buscado por BSO por tres cargos de agresión agravada con arma mortal, además de un cargo de negligencia culposa.

Los investigadores dijeron que rastrearon a Ferreira Ramos Pereira hasta la escuela, donde trabajaba como pintor y ayudaba a pintar las paredes de los salones.

Varios detectives rodearon a Ferreira Ramos Pereira cuando caminaba hacia su auto afuera de la escuela, pero al negarse a tirarse al suelo, la policía desplegó una unidad K9 para ayudar a detenerlo.

No aparecía en la base de datos en línea de la cárcel de Broward el miércoles.

Terms were not released, per club policy, but ESPN reported it was a three-year, $5 million supermax contract that is the most lucrative in WNBA history.

“A’ja is truly one of one, who has led this franchise to where it is today,” Aces president and general manager Nikki Fargas said in a statement. “Not only has she catapulted into the history books and surpassed almost every record in existence, but she does so with the utmost confidence, authenticity and grace. We look forward to continuing to see her thrive in an Aces uniform.”

In addition to Wilson — last season named WNBA MVP and The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year — the Aces have re-signed stars Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd, among other key contributors to their third title in four seasons.

Also Wednesday, the Aces signed guard Chennedy Carter to a training camp contract. She last played in the WNBA in 2024 with Chicago and averaged 17.4 points and 3.4 assists. She also had a high-profile takedown of Caitlin Clark and has been dogged by issues with teammates over her career.

A veteran team led by Wilson, whose leadership last season took the Aces from potentially not making the playoffs to a 16-game winning streak and eventual championship, likely wouldn't tolerate unneeded distractions.

Wilson is building a case as the WNBA's best-ever player, and coach Becky Hammon has said her superstar forward is alone on Mount Everest.

No player can match Wilson's four MVP awards. She also took home the trophy in 2020, 2022 and 2024 and was the unanimous choice in 2024.

Wilson also was named the league co-Defensive Player of the Year last season, sharing the honor with Minnesota’s Alanna Smith. It was Wilson's third such award in four years.

She led the WNBA last season in scoring with 23.4 points per game and in blocked shots with a 2.3 average.

It was the second year in a row Wilson averaged at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. She is the only WNBA player to do that even once while playing at least 15 games.

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

Duran made the gesture as he returned to the dugout after a fifth-inning groundout in Boston’s 6-0 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night at Target Field.

“We were made aware of the situation late last night and are looking into it,” Twins senior vice president of communications and public affairs Dustin Morse said. “There's no place in our game for conduct like that.”'

MLB confirmed its own investigation, per standard practice of reviewing the conduct of both the player and the fan before determining any potential discipline.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

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“Somebody just told me to kill myself. I’m used to it at this point, you know?” Duran said after the game, adding that he "shouldn’t react like that, but that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering.”

Duran discussed bouts with severe depression and a suicide attempt in a Netflix documentary series that debuted last year.

“Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters. So I’ve just got to get used to it,” Duran said. “I was just trying to hold it in and not really bring that up to the team. I mean, we’re trying to win a game. I shouldn’t even bring that up to anybody. ... It just happens.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game he hadn’t witnessed the confrontation or reviewed video of it, but he shared his thoughts with reporters ahead of the series finale on Wednesday.

“I know the Twins are all over the case and trying to find out who he was, and hopefully they find the person," Cora said, adding that if found “it’s probably the last big-league game that that person is going to attend.”

“We have Jarren’s back. Like I said last year, for him to open up, he saved lives,” Cora added. "And it’s not easy. It’s not easy because, like he said, we’re in the business of winning games, and he doesn’t want to be a distraction. And he’s not a distraction. He’s not. He’s just a player that plays for the Red Sox and has our full support.”

Duran played all nine innings in left field on Wednesday, going 0 for 5 with a run scored in Boston's 9-5 victory.

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AP Sports Writers Ronald Blum in New York and Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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

Now she is pitching a compromise.

The moderate Democrat says she will push to create a new tax on multimillion-dollar second homes in New York City known as pied-à-terres, attempting to appease Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his supporters while also tending to her concerns about destabilizing the state's finances.

The idea, announced Wednesday, would allow the city to impose a tax surcharge on secondary residences worth over $5 million, with the governor's office saying it could generate at least $500 million annually as Mamdani moves to fill a multibillion dollar budget hole and fund his ambitious agenda.

“As Governor, I understand the importance of stabilizing the city’s finances without compromising on essential services New Yorkers count on," Hochul said in a statement. "If you can afford a $5 million second home that sits empty most of the year, you can afford to contribute like every other New Yorker.”

The governor's office said she would include the measure in this year's state budget, a sprawling bundle of bills that are still being hotly negotiated in Albany after the governor and Legislature blew past an April 1 due date for the spending plan.

Mamdani, who has called for a much broader tax increase on the rich, cast the proposal as a win, saying in a statement that it places him “one step closer to balancing our budget by taxing the ultra-wealthy and global elites.”

At an unrelated forum focused on taxes, Mamdani, appearing in front of a large banner that read “Tax The Rich,” said the proposal would target the “super wealthy who can purchase properties and use them to store their wealth to benefit from New York City’s real estate market but not have to pay back into that same city.”

Hochul has long rejected increasing personal income or corporate taxes, arguing that such measures would further incentivize residents and big businesses to flee the city for states with lower tax rates, thereby eroding the state’s tax base.

Still, the calls have followed her, with progressives chanting “tax the rich” when she appears at events, and even when she was at an annual political conference in San Juan late last year.

The governor is also contending with a possible political vulnerability over raising taxes as she runs for a second full term in office and tries to fend off Republican criticisms over high taxes in the state.

Her Republican challenger this fall, Bruce Blakeman, wasted little time in turning the proposal into a familiar attack.

“Kathy Hochul’s ‘No Tax Hike’ promise has expired faster than the families fleeing New York’s affordability crisis," said Blakeman, a county executive in the city's suburbs. “Unlike Hochul, I’ll actually keep my word when I’m governor: I’ll cut your taxes, slash your utility bills in half, and protect the American Dream.”

Mamdani, a Democrat, has urged the governor and state Legislature to raise taxes on the rich, calling for wealthy residents to pitch in more money for programs intended to help the city's struggling working-class.

At the same time, he also finds himself confronting a massive budget gap — which he first put at around $12 billion but later revised to about $5 billion after savings and financial assistance from the state — that could imperil his agenda and city services more widely.

At a news conference, Hochul said the proposal will help the city close its budget gap without having to cut services, but said the mayor and City Council must find additional savings as they move to balance their budget.

“Our goal is to get the city on stable ground, to close the gap so we can take the pressure off,” she said.

The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by dozens of states, won’t immediately bring relief for concertgoers who have long complained about high ticket prices. But it could cost Live Nation hundreds of millions of dollars and perhaps force the company to sell some of its concert venues when the judge hands out penalties later.

Among other things, the jury found Ticketmaster's anticompetitive practices led to people in 22 states paying an extra $1.72 per ticket, which the judge could order the companies to pay back.

A jury in New York deliberated for four days before reaching its decision. State attorneys general who sued Live Nation said the verdict could potentially lead to lower ticket prices for music fans.

Live Nation said in a statement that the verdict “is not the last word on this matter.”

The company predicted that once a remedy phase of the litigation is completed before the judge and all appeals are resolved, the outcome likely won't be much different from what the federal government achieved with a settlement it reached with the company just after the trial began.

That deal included a cap on service fees at some amphitheaters, plus some new ticket-selling options for promoters and venues — potentially allowing, but not requiring, them to open doors to Ticketmaster competitors such as SeatGeek or AXS.

The trial was a backstage pass

The trial gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the U.S. and beyond.

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino testified, answering questions about matters including the company’s Taylor Swift ticket debacle in 2022. Rapino blamed a cyberattack.

Jurors also got to see a Live Nation employee’s internal messages to another employee declaring some prices “outrageous,” calling customers “so stupid” and boasting that the company was “robbing them blind, baby.” The employee, Benjamin Baker, who has since been promoted to a position as a ticketing executive, apologetically testified that the messages were “very immature and unacceptable.”

Live Nation Entertainment owns, operates, controls booking for or has an equity interest in hundreds of venues. Its subsidiary Ticketmaster is widely considered to be the world’s largest ticket-seller for live events.

The verdict could cost Live Nation and Ticketmaster hundreds of millions of dollars, based on the jury's estimate that customers paid an extra $1.72 per ticket. The companies could also be assessed penalties. In addition, sanctions could result in court orders that they divest themselves of some entities, including venues such as amphitheaters that they own.

In its statement, Live Nation said the jury's award of $1.72 per ticket applied to “a limited number of tickets” sold at 257 venues and representing about 20% of total tickets sold. The company estimated the aggregate single damages figure would be below $150 million, though it would be trebled.

The civil case, initially led by the U.S. government, accused Live Nation of using its reach to smother competition — by blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, for example.

Live Nation denies it is a monopoly

Live Nation insisted it is not a monopoly, saying that artists, sports teams and venues decide prices and ticketing practices. A company lawyer said its size was simply a function of excellence and effort.

“Success is not against the antitrust laws in the United States,” attorney David Marriott said in his summation.

Ticketmaster was established in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010. The company now controls of 86% of the market for concerts and 73% of the overall market when sports events are included, according to an attorney for the states, Jeffrey Kessler.

Ticketmaster has long drawn ire from fans and some artists. Grunge rock titans Pearl Jam battled the business in the 1990s, even filing an anti-monopoly complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to bring a case then.

Decades later, the Justice Department, joined by dozens of states, brought the current lawsuit during Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration.

Days into the trial, Republican President Donald Trump's administration announced it was settling its claims against Live Nation.

A handful of the states joined the settlement. But more than 30 pressed ahead with the trial, saying the federal government hadn't gotten enough concessions.

Attorneys hail verdict

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a release after the verdict that Live Nation's “illegal, anti-competitive practices” had driven up ticket prices and made it harder for fans to see their favorite acts.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the verdict “a landmark victory.”

After the victory, Kessler would not say specifically what the states will seek in the next phase of the litigation, which was expected to involve another lengthy legal proceeding before penalties are decided.

But he celebrated the moment.

“It’s a great day for consumers," he said.

“This settlement will create a safer environment for our children online, and I hope that it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms allow our state’s youth to use their products,” the Democratic attorney general said Wednesday.

Roblox, which is used by nearly half U.S. children under 16, will give $10 million over three years to support programs like the Boys & Girls Club and other nondigital activities, Ford said. It will also fund a law enforcement liaison position to respond to safety concerns about the platform and fund an online safety awareness campaign, Ford said.

The settlement, which was agreed upon in lieu of litigation, includes enhanced protections for minors who use the app, such as requiring age verification for all users and restricting nighttime notifications for minors. The gaming platform faces litigation in other states, including Texas and Kentucky, which allege it fails to protect children.

“Roblox is proud to have worked alongside Attorney General Ford to reach this landmark agreement, which builds on our work to establish a new standard for digital safety,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in a statement.

Kaufman said the agreement creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect children.

The settlement comes as prosecutors have filed lawsuits against social media companies over the role they play in children’s lives. Last month in California and New Mexico, social media companies like Meta and YouTube were found liable for designing their platforms to hook young users and were ordered to pay over $375 million in penalties.

Ford also has lawsuits pending against Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Kik, alleging the companies failed to implement safety measures for children.

As part of the agreement, Roblox will implement facial age estimation technology to limit younger users’ chats to only those in similar age groups. Adult users and users under 16 will not be allowed to chat unless they are communicating with a trusted friend, Ford said. A trusted friend can be added through a QR code or their phone contacts to ensure the child knows the person outside of the platform, he said. The company will also monitor activity to see if a user lied about their age, he said.

Roblox will create kids accounts for users under ages 16 that blocks access to adult-rated content and provides games vetted for suitability. The agreement also expands parental oversight to users under 16. That oversight was previously available for users under 13.

Donch’e King, supervising criminal investigator at the attorney general's office, said half a million online predators pursue children at any given moment, often across multiple platforms. The majority of predatory contact occurs through chat rooms and instant messaging, he said. He urged parents to communicate frankly with their children about the platforms they are on and to report concerns to law enforcement.

“Protecting Nevada’s children is not an option; it’s our duty,” King said.

The court's newest justice, Jackson delivered a lengthy assessment of roughly two dozen court orders issued last year that allowed President Donald Trump to put in place controversial policies on immigration, steep federal funding cuts and other topics, after lower courts found they were likely illegal.

While designed to be short-term, those orders have largely allowed Trump to move ahead — for now — with key parts of his sweeping agenda.

Jackson spoke for nearly an hour on Monday at Yale Law School, which posted a video of the event on Wednesday.

Last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor similarly talked about emergency orders in an event Tuesday at the University of Alabama that also took issue with the conservatives' approach.

Jackson has previously criticized the emergency orders both in dissenting opinions and in an unusual appearance with Justice Brett Kavanaugh last month. But her talk at Yale, addressing the public rather than the other eight justices, was notable.

She referred to orders, which often are issued with little or no explanation as “back-of-the-envelope, first-blush impressions of the merits of the legal issue.”

Worse still, she said, was that the court then insists that “those scratch-paper musings” be applied by lower courts in other cases.

The orders suffer from an additional problem, she said, a failure to acknowledge that real people are involved, making them “seem oblivious and thus ring hollow.”

She also pushed back on the court's assessment that preventing the president from putting his policy in place also is a harm that often outweighs what the challengers to a policy might face.

“The president of the United States, though he may be harmed in an abstract way, he certainly isn't harmed if what he wants to do is illegal,” Jackson said during a question-and-answer session with law school dean Cristina Rodriguez.

The court used to be reluctant to step into cases early in the legal process, she said. “There is value in avoiding having the court continually touching the third rail of every divisive policy issue in American life,” Jackson said.

While she said she couldn't explain the change, “in recent years, the Supreme Court has taken a decidedly different approach to addressing emergency stay applications. It has been noticeably less restrained, especially with respect to pending cases that involve controversial matters.”

Jackson, often joined by Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan, has frequently dissented.

There have been conversations about emergency orders among the justices, Jackson said, but she decided to speak publicly with the goal of being “a catalyst for change.”

Also on Wednesday, Sotomayor issued a rare public apology to another justice, Kavanaugh, for what she termed “hurtful comments" she made last week during an appearance at the University of Kansas law school.

Referencing an opinion Kavanaugh wrote in an immigration case where the court granted an emergency order sought by the administration, Sotomayor said her colleague “probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.” Her remarks were reported by Bloomberg Law.

The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime leadership, for now, citing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the potential for ongoing talks and the high stakes of withdrawal.

Still, GOP lawmakers are anxious for the conflict to end, and some are eyeing future votes that could become an important test for the president if the war drags on. And the outcome of a war powers vote in the House, expected this week, is uncertain.

Under the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorize use of force within 60 days of its start — a deadline that will arrive at the end of this month. The law provides for a potential 30-day extension of that deadline, but lawmakers have made clear that they want the administration to soon lay out a plan for the end of the conflict.

After the 60-day or 90-day deadline, “it’s time to fish or cut bait,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. “I think that the administration would be wise to put together what would look like a well-founded authorization of military force and a funding strategy."

Republican senators mull a war powers resolution

While voting against the Democratic efforts to stop the war, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has been talking to her GOP colleagues about a resolution that would authorize the conflict beyond the 60-day deadline.

She said last month that the Democratic measures would hurt the troops by prompting an abrupt withdrawal. But she said that Congress should eventually draft an authorization of force and vote on it “so the American people know the limits and objectives of this military operation.”

“There is no question that the president should have sought authorization from Congress before striking Iran on this scale, likewise bringing in our allies ahead of time as they now are equally in danger," she said at the beginning of March.

Utah Sen. John Curtis said Wednesday that he had looked at Murkowski's draft and provided feedback, but would not share details. “I think we are all watching” the war and its timeline, Curtis said, adding that he hopes it ends before the deadline.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also said he would like to see the war end in the coming weeks. If not, he said, “at the end of 60 days, I think we need to vote on a military authorization.”

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said that the president's power “is not unlimited as commander in chief.”

“If this conflict exceeds the 60 days specified in the War Powers Act, or if the President deploys troops on the ground, I believe that Congress should have to authorize those actions," Collins said in a statement.

Republican leaders are noncommittal

It remains unclear if Republican leaders would go along with a vote to authorize the war. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week that “at this point most of us I think feel pretty good about what the military has achieved" in Iran.

But Thune did say that “they do need a plan for how to wind this down, how to get an outcome that actually leads to a safer, more secure Middle East and, by extension, a stronger national security position for the United States.”

Thune said another “inflection point” will be an eventual White House request for war funding. Congress is still waiting for the request, which could total hundreds of billions of dollars.

That is a “power that Congress has to influence what happens there,” Thune said.

Republican Sen. Jim Lankford of Oklahoma said that war funding will “be the big vote." He added that the question, then, will be: “Is it going to happen or is it not going to happen?” Lankford said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that at the 60-day deadline, Congress isn’t going to “jump up and say that’s it, it’s one second past 60 days, everybody come home.”

Some of the people who want a vote just want to embarrass Trump, Kennedy said.

“I want to see us achieve our objective in Iran,” Kennedy said. “And then I want to see us get out.”

Democrats say war is illegal, unnecessary

Democrats have vowed to force votes on the Senate floor as long as the war continues.

“As our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them, we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us,” said Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in combat, before Wednesday’s vote.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that with gas prices climbing, “the American people literally cannot afford for Republicans to forgo another opportunity to work with Democrats to end Trump’s disastrous war.”

___

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Steven Sloan contributed to this report.

BSO deputies arrested Cortlin Baker on Tuesday, and he was at the Broward County Main Jail on Wednesday, in Fort Lauderdale, with a Monroe County hold, according to inmate records.

“It’s another fine example of the great partnerships between law enforcement agencies in South Florida,” Brandenburg said in the statement.

Key West detectives accused Baker, of Pompano Beach, of changing the value of a check from $15 to $5,000, and the name of the payee to his, according to the KWPD statement.

Baker is facing charges of grand theft and uttering a forged instrument.

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According to North Miami Beach police, the incident happened outside of Daily Supermarket, located at 16851 NE 15th Ave., just before 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

An arrest report states that the victim was returning to his vehicle when Arking Wesley Passmore, 21, came up to him brandishing a knife and told him “to hand over his car keys.”

Authorities said the victim ran away and Passmore briefly followed him but then went the opposite way. Police said the victim then flagged down a North Miami Beach police officer to report the incident.

According to the report, officers located and followed Passmore to his home on Northeast 176th Street, a few blocks north of the food store. Police said they took Passmore into custody on an attempted armed carjacking charge, as well as for a warrant out of Broward County.

Records show the Broward case involves a failure to appear in drug court on a felony cannabis possession charge.

A judge ordered Passmore held without bond on Wednesday morning. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, online records show.

De acuerdo con la policía de North Miami Beach, el incidente ocurrió afuera del Daily Supermarket, ubicado en 16851 NE 15th Ave., poco antes de las 11:45 a.m. del martes.

Un informe de arresto indica que la víctima regresaba a su vehículo cuando Arking Wesley Passmore, de 21 años, se le acercó mostrando un cuchillo y le dijo que “le entregara las llaves del auto”.

Las autoridades dijeron que la víctima salió corriendo y Passmore lo siguió brevemente antes de irse en dirección contraria. Luego, la víctima detuvo a un agente de policía de North Miami Beach para reportar el incidente.

Según el informe, los agentes localizaron y siguieron a Passmore hasta su casa en Northeast 176th Street, a pocas cuadras de la tienda. La policía indicó que lo arrestaron por intento de robo de auto a mano armada, además de una orden judicial pendiente del condado Broward.

Los registros muestran que el caso en Broward involucra una incomparecencia ante la corte de drogas por un cargo grave de posesión de cannabis.

Un juez ordenó que Passmore permaneciera detenido sin derecho a fianza el miércoles por la mañana. Hasta la tarde del miércoles, se encontraba en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, según registros en línea.

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Deputies said the suspect, Terrell Rashard Robbins, was arrested in connection with the attack, which happened around 11:30 p.m. Monday near the 1900 block of Northwest 77th Street.

They said Robbins, 33, arrived at the victim’s home, got out of his vehicle with a knife in his right hand, and stabbed the victim repeatedly.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with about 11 puncture wounds and an abrasion, according to Robbins’ arrest report.

The report states that the victim suffered lacerations to the left jaw, shoulders, biceps, chest, back and buttocks, requiring stitches and staples.

During the altercation, deputies said the victim bit Robbins on his right hand, injuring his pinky.

They said Robbins was taken to North Shore Medical Center and was expected to be transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital due to the extent of his injury. At one point, investigators said they considered Robbins a victim as well.

In a statement around 2:04 a.m., deputies said Robbins told them that he went to the victim’s home to discuss a prior incident.

They said Robbins claimed that while approaching Northwest 77th Street and Northwest 19th Avenue, two masked men exited a khaki-colored sedan and attacked both him and the victim before fleeing.

However, in a statement given about an hour later, the victim said Robbins arrived unannounced and began arguing over issues involving the victim’s daughter, who shares a child with Robbins, according to the report.

The report states that the victim told investigators Robbins became upset about his involvement in their affairs and began stabbing him. Authorities said the victim claimed he bit Robbins in self-defense.

After initially refusing to speak with detectives following a Miranda warning, deputies said Robbins later requested to speak with investigators and agreed to give a statement.

Robbins said he confronted the victim over an incident from several years ago and “felt threatened” after believing the victim had been watching him and driving past his home on multiple occasions, according to the report.

The report states that Robbins told investigators the confrontation turned physical, and he pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed the victim multiple times. He also said the victim asked him to stay and call police after the attack, according to investigators.

Deputies said shortly after the victim was stabbed, he was then struck by a vehicle that remained at the scene.

MDSO told Local 10 News the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday.

Jail records show Robbins is facing one count of attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.

As of Wednesday, Robbins was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”

Robbins’ mugshot wasn’t immediately available.

Los agentes indicaron que el sospechoso, Terrell Rashard Robbins, fue arrestado en relación con el ataque, ocurrido alrededor de las 11:30 p.m. del lunes cerca de la cuadra 1900 de Northwest 77th Street.

Según dijeron, Robbins, de 33 años, llegó a la vivienda de la víctima, salió de su vehículo con un cuchillo en la mano derecha y lo apuñaló repetidamente.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladó a la víctima al Ryder Trauma Center del Jackson Memorial Hospital con alrededor de 11 heridas punzantes y una abrasión, según el informe de arresto.

El informe indica que la víctima sufrió laceraciones en la mandíbula izquierda, hombros, bíceps, pecho, espalda y glúteos, requiriendo suturas y grapas.

Durante el altercado, los agentes dijeron que la víctima mordió a Robbins en la mano derecha, lesionándole el dedo meñique.

Indicaron que Robbins fue llevado al North Shore Medical Center y se esperaba su traslado al Jackson Memorial Hospital debido a la gravedad de su lesión. En un momento, los investigadores consideraron a Robbins también como víctima.

En una declaración alrededor de las 2:04 a.m., los agentes dijeron que Robbins les indicó que fue a la casa de la víctima para discutir un incidente previo.

Señaló que, al acercarse a Northwest 77th Street y Northwest 19th Avenue, dos hombres enmascarados salieron de un sedán color caqui y atacaron tanto a él como a la víctima antes de huir.

Sin embargo, en una declaración aproximadamente una hora después, la víctima dijo que Robbins llegó sin previo aviso y comenzó a discutir por asuntos relacionados con la hija de la víctima, quien tiene un hijo con Robbins, según el informe.

El informe señala que la víctima dijo a los investigadores que Robbins se molestó por su participación en esos asuntos y comenzó a apuñalarlo. Las autoridades indicaron que la víctima afirmó que lo mordió en defensa propia.

Tras negarse inicialmente a hablar con los detectives después de recibir la advertencia Miranda, los agentes dijeron que Robbins luego solicitó hablar con los investigadores y aceptó dar una declaración.

Robbins dijo que confrontó a la víctima por un incidente de hace varios años y que “se sintió amenazado” al creer que la víctima lo había estado vigilando y pasando frente a su casa en múltiples ocasiones, según el informe.

El informe indica que Robbins dijo a los investigadores que la confrontación se volvió física, sacó un cuchillo de su bolsillo y apuñaló a la víctima varias veces. También afirmó que la víctima le pidió que se quedara y llamara a la policía después del ataque, según los investigadores.

Los agentes dijeron que poco después de ser apuñalada, la víctima fue atropellada por un vehículo que permaneció en el lugar.

La MDSO indicó a Local 10 News que la víctima sufrió heridas que no ponen en peligro su vida y se espera que sea dada de alta del hospital el miércoles.

Registros carcelarios muestran que Robbins enfrenta un cargo de intento de asesinato en segundo grado con un arma mortal.

Hasta el miércoles, Robbins permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, donde su fianza figura como “por determinar”.

La foto policial de Robbins no estaba disponible de inmediato.

The testimony from Russell Vought jump-starts the White House's push to increase defense spending to nearly $1.5 trillion in the next budget year, up from nearly $1 trillion this year, while cutting health research, heating assistance and scores of other domestic programs by about 10% overall. Such cuts do not cover mandatory spending, which includes such programs as Social Security and Medicare.

The debate over Trump's proposal underscored the sharp divide that will shape some of the most significant policy debates going into a midterm election that will give voters the ultimate say on the direction of the country.

“For the industrial base to double or triple and build more facilities, not just add shifts, it requires multiyear agreements to purchase into the future,” Vought told lawmakers. “That cost has to be booked in this first year.”

The White House is calling for about $1.1 trillion for defense through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval. An additional $350 billion would come through a separate bill that Republicans can accomplish on their own, through party-line majority votes.

Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democratic member of the committee, said he believes in a strong national defense. But he said the idea of increasing defense by more than 40% while cutting programs that people need shows that the Republican administration's priorities are "out of whack.”

The committee chairman, Rep. Jodey Arrington predicted the hearing would be more “amped up” than usual, and that proved to be true, beginning with his opening statement focused on criticizing Democrat Joe Biden's presidency. Arrington, R-Texas, said he did not know of any president in his lifetime who “inherited such a complete and utter mess as President Trump did in January of last year.”

Since then, Arrington said, Trump has secured the border, cut taxes and constrained nondefense spending.

It was the beginning of several back-and-forths at the hearing.

“You know how bad this economy is when we hear Joe Biden being invoked, we hear trans people being invoked. I was waiting for Jimmy Carter to be blamed next," Boyle said in response to Arrington's opening remarks.

Boyle said consumer confidence is plummeting under Trump and noted a gas station he passed in Philadelphia recently was selling gas at $4.11 a gallon versus less than $3 a gallon some six weeks ago because of Trump's “war of choice in Iran.”

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., called the proposed defense spending increase shocking.

“We've never in the history of this country seen spending like this, paid for by slashing health care, education and housing,” Balint said. “Mr. Vought, yes or no, is $350 billion for the war in Iran lowering costs for Americans?”

“It is certainly not defunding child care. We fully fund child care in this budget,” Vought said, not directly answering the question.

Balint went on to incorporate Trump's “America First” mantra in her questioning.

She said $350 billion could pay for an enhanced health insurance tax credit for 10 years and that her constituents are asking how the country can continue to spend money on wars and not find a solution to helping people afford health care.

Vought said the president has made clear he was not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapons, missiles and a navy that affect U.S. national security.

“He is doing what is necessary to keep us safe, while at the same time trying to pursue diplomacy so that we can get out of wars and lower those costs over time,” Vought said.

Vought said it was unclear how much the administration would seek to fund the war during the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30. That money would be part of an emergency supplemental spending bill and would be on top of the funds the White House is seeking to boost defense spending next year.

“Would it be more than $50 billion?” asked Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.

“We're still working on it," Vought said. “I don't have a ballpark for you.”

Se reportaron ráfagas de viento de hasta 113 km/h (70 mph) en el estadio de fútbol americano de la universidad, y ráfagas de intensidad similar en el Aeropuerto Willow Run, dijo la meteoróloga Sara Schultz. Equipos del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional evaluaban los daños en lugares como Ann Arbor para determinar si uno o más tornados tocaron tierra.

Algunos edificios de escuelas públicas en Ann Arbor sufrieron daños estructurales y muchos se quedaron sin electricidad. El distrito fue cerrado debido a una interrupción de fibra que afecta los sistemas de incendios, telefonía y cámaras, así como el acceso a los edificios.

El alcalde de Ann Arbor, Christopher Taylor, dijo que ingenieros estructurales evaluaban los daños en un muro de la pista de hielo del Veterans Memorial Park de la ciudad. La pista de hielo Yost de la universidad perdió parte del techo.

Más de 15.000 personas estaban sin electricidad en Michigan hasta la noche del miércoles, según poweroutage.us.

Techo arrancado, árbol caído

La tormenta arrancó de raíz un enorme árbol afuera de la casa de Seungjun Lee en Ann Arbor, y su dormitorio en el piso superior apenas se salvó del impacto.

“Si el árbol hubiera caído un par de pies (60 centímetros) más, yo no estaría aquí”, dijo Lee, de 20 años, estudiante de tercer año en la Universidad de Michigan.

El ruido de una sirena y posteriormente una alerta en sus teléfonos despertó a Lee y a sus compañeros de casa entre la 1 y las 2 de la mañana, instándolos a buscar refugio.

“En cuanto salí, todos los demás salían de sus habitaciones y decían: ‘¿Qué está pasando? Esto es una locura’”, relató Lee, originario de Ridgewood, Nueva Jersey. “Y luego miramos por la ventana: este árbol simplemente se cayó”.

Uno de sus compañeros, Gautam Nigam, de 21 años, dijo que no podía faltar a clases a pesar del desastre: “Hoy tengo una presentación final”.

Más lluvia y peces muertos

Las tormentas dejaron hasta 6,3 centímetros (2,5 pulgadas) de lluvia en varias partes del sureste de Michigan hasta la mañana del miércoles, y se pronosticaban más precipitaciones para las regiones del centro-norte , los Grandes Lagos y el valle de Ohio. Se emitieron avisos de inundaciones para una gran parte del este de la Península Inferior de Michigan, el sureste de Michigan, el norte de Indiana, el noroeste de Ohio, el área de Chicago y Wisconsin.

El gobernador de Wisconsin, Tony Evers, declaró estado de emergencia después de que al menos tres tornados azotaron el estado esta semana y se pronosticaba más clima severo.

Partes de Madison, la capital del estado, registraron granizo del tamaño de pelotas de golf y de pelotas de béisbol el martes por la tarde.

En el norte de Michigan, un corte en el servicio eléctrico en plena tormenta mató a 1.750 truchas arcoíris en una instalación estatal donde se recolectan huevos y semen para producir más peces. Scott Heintzelman, de la división de pesca del estado, dijo que fue un “evento devastador” que involucró “hermosos y grandes peces".

Los peces suelen nadar hacia una represa en el río Little Manistee y luego pasan a estanques. Heintzelman dijo que el personal descubrió el martes que la falla eléctrica había detenido el flujo de agua oxigenada, lo que mató a los peces.

El Departamento de Recursos Naturales de Wisconsin dijo que permanece atento a los diques ubicados alrededor de Portage, una ciudad de unos 10.000 habitantes, ante la crecida del río Wisconsin. Hasta la mañana del miércoles, el río allí creció a casi 5,7 metros (19 pies), unos 60 centímetros (2 pies) por encima del nivel de inundación, y podría alcanzar los 6,1 metros (20 pies), indicaron.

Y luego de varios días de lluvias y el deshielo de la nieve invernal, ha ingresado una “afluencia significativa de agua” al lago Black, en el norte de Michigan, informó la policía.

El lago desemboca en el río Black y alimenta al río Cheboygan, que atraviesa la ciudad hasta el lago Hurón. Las autoridades han estado gestionando el flujo a través de la presa de Cheboygan de la ciudad, elevando compuertas, agregando bombas, levantando un puente y cerrando el acceso al público a algunas zonas ribereñas.

Las inundaciones y las condiciones peligrosas de viaje obligaron al Distrito Escolar del Área de Cheboygan a cancelar clases y eventos deportivos para el jueves y el viernes.

“Las condiciones no están mejorando de manera significativa e incluso siguen empeorando en algunas áreas”, dijo el distrito .

¿Hacia dónde se dirige este sistema de tormentas?

Bill Bunting, del Centro de Predicción de Tormentas del servicio meteorológico, describió un “patrón meteorológico muy dinámico” que combina aire muy húmedo con una fuerte corriente en chorro sobre el centro de Estados Unidos y los Grandes Lagos para crear condiciones propicias para tormentas eléctricas severas.

Hacia la tarde del miércoles, el servicio meteorológico había recibido más de 400 reportes de caída de granizo, vientos superiores a los 96 km/h (60 mph) o tornados, dijo.

El sistema se extendía hacia el norte la noche del miércoles desde el centro de Texas hasta Iowa y el sur de Wisconsin y luego hacia el este a través de partes de Michigan, Illinois, el norte de Indiana y Ohio en su camino hacia el oeste de Pensilvania y el área de Buffalo, Nueva York, señaló Bunting.

Más al este se tiene previsto un calor abrasador que amenaza con imponer récord de temperaturas máximas para Nueva York, Filadelfia y Washington, D.C., hasta el fin de semana, según los meteorólogos.

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Williams informó desde West Bloomfield, Michigan. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Ed White en Detroit y Todd Richmond en Madison, Wisconsin, contribuyeron a este despacho.

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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.

A strike would be the first in 35 years and would affect 1.5 million renters, co-op owners and condo dwellers across the city, according to the workers' union, called 32BJ SEIU. Residents could have to take on such tasks as staffing doors, sorting packages, mopping hallways, sweeping sidewalks and hauling trash to the curb.

If no deal is reached, a strike could start as soon as midnight Monday, when the current contract expires.

The union says building owners are trying to squeeze 34,000 workers who already strive to afford the pricey metro area on salaries that average about $62,000 a year for doorpersons. Averages vary for other jobs.

Building owners, represented by an umbrella group called the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, say they are facing financial pressures themselves. They want the workers to start paying health insurance premiums and want new hires to come in under a new job classification that the union says would be lower-paying.

At a rally that stretched for more than four blocks along Manhattan's Park Avenue on Wednesday, thousands of workers held up cards that said “YES I am ready to strike” as some of their colleagues looked on from their posts at doorways on the tony boulevard.

Adam Cintron, a doorperson at a building elsewhere in Manhattan, was hoping a deal would avert a strike. But he is concerned about keeping up with the cost of living.

“I love my job," Cintron said as he attended the rally with his rescue dog, Jett, whom a dog-loving resident of the building helped him find. To Cintron, that is an indication of residents' regard for the staffers who work to ensure their home runs smoothly.

“We try to take care of everyone,” said Cintron, 39.

While battling owners’ health care and new-hires proposals, the union is pushing to increase pensions and increase wages, although it has yet to make an exact proposal on pay. Union President Manny Pastreich emphasized that workers face rising costs, including rents — a source of income for “the very same building owners who say they have to come after our health care to make ends meet.”

The Realty Advisory Board says building owners also face rising expenses — and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to freeze rent on the city’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Mamdani, a Democrat, joined the building workers' rally Wednesday, saluting “those who maintain multimillion-dollar apartments, and yet, when they get home, struggle to understand how they can make rent on the first of the month.”

Realty board President Howard Rothschild, meanwhile, called for negotiating a contract that “supports a viable path forward.”

“Without meaningful movement to address costs ... the long-term sustainability of the industry and its workforce is at risk," Rothschild said in a statement.

Building owners note that few U.S. workers enjoy family health benefits without paying premiums.

But to workers such as Percy Jackson, a porter in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood, the benefits make his job of 23 years viable.

“With everything going up in New York ... if we had to pay, actually, into our medical, it wouldn't work," said Jackson, whose position entails cleaning, dealing with trash and more.

Being a doorperson — many New Yorkers call the mostly male workers “doormen” — might conjure a white-gloved fellow ceremoniously opening an ornate entrance. But the job often involves other functions (and uniforms aren't always quite so formal).

Besides providing basic security in buildings that can have hundreds of residents, doorpersons field package and food deliveries that have mushroomed since the COVID-19 pandemic. They help people with strollers and walkers navigate lobby stairs. In some buildings, they might also handle cleaning, snow shoveling, and wrestling refuse bins out of basements and alleys for pickup.

Superintendents, meanwhile, oversee maintenance, repairs and day-to-day operations in buildings that may be a more than a century old.

Some building managers already have told residents they may need to postpone renovations, moves and major deliveries and minimize deliveries and visitors, among other steps, if there is a strike.

The union's last strike, in 1991, lasted 12 days. In the years since, the union has at times voted to authorize a strike but then reached contract deals.

The killing of the DHS worker, Lauren Bullis, and shootings of the two other victims on Monday led Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin to issue a statement raising concerns that the 26-year-old defendant, U.K.-native Olaolukitan Adon Abel, was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022, when Democrat Joe Biden was president.

“These acts of pure evil have devastated our Department and my prayers are with the families of the victims,” Mullin wrote in a statement posted on social media, cataloging a litany of the defendant's previous alleged crimes but not specifying whether they happened before he was granted citizenship.

Court records show that Olaolukitan Adon Abel, whose name appears in different variations in court and government records, pleaded guilty in California in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and attacking another person when he was stationed at Naval Base Coronado.

Authorities have said they believe at least one victim in this week's shootings was targeted at random, and possibly more.

A morning of violence

The first victim was found with multiple gunshot wounds near a restaurant in the Decatur area at around 1 a.m. Monday. She was taken to a hospital but died, DeKalb County Police Chief Gregory Padrick said at a news conference. Police have not publicly identified her.

About an hour later in Brookhaven, an Atlanta suburb about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the first attack, a 49-year-old homeless man sleeping outside of a grocery store was shot multiple times, Brookhaven Police Chief Brandon Gurley said. The man, whose name hasn't been released, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

“It is apparent to us that it was a completely random attack on a member of our unhoused community,” Gurley said.

Just before 7 a.m. and more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in the suburb of Panthersville, officers responding to a call found Bullis with gunshot and stab wounds, Padrick said. She died at the scene.

Investigators in Brookhaven determined that the three attacks were connected, Gurley said.

Adon Abel was taken into custody later Monday during a traffic stop in Troup County, which borders Alabama. He is charged with two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and firearms counts, court records show. He waived an initial court appearance Tuesday, and a public defender listed as his attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Toyin Adon Abel Jr., the defendant's brother, said he did not want to talk about his brother when reached by phone but expressed sympathy for the victims. “I feel terrible for the victims, their families and their connections,” he said. “It’s a horrible thing.”

Remembered for her warmth and compassion

Bullis served in multiple roles at DHS Office of Inspector General, including as an auditor in the Office of Audits and as a Team Leader in the Office of Innovation, DHS posted on social media, saying she brought “warmth, kindness, and a genuine sense of care to her colleagues each day.”

Relatives said in a statement, that she loved her family, running, reading and traveling, and “her warmth and generosity touched everyone surrounding her.”

Fellow DHS auditor Ashley Toillion of Denver said she met Bullis at a work conference last year. The two became fast friends as they bonded over running and quickly made plans to do a race at Walt Disney World.

“You couldn’t meet her and not be her friend,” Toillion said, choking back tears. “She was just the nicest, sweetest, most encouraging person I’ve ever met.”

Naval service and criminal case in California

Military records show the defendant enlisted in the Navy in 2020, last serving in the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, and as a petty officer received a Navy “E” Ribbon for superior performance for battle readiness.

But in 2024 he was arrested and charged with assaulting two Coronado police officers and attacking another person. He pleaded guilty, court records show, and he was kicked out of the Navy in September of that year.

Mullin says suspect had criminal record

Mullin said Adon Abel has a criminal record that includes a sexual battery conviction.

Online court records show that someone listed with a similar name and the same birth date pleaded guilty last June in Chatham County, Georgia, to four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

Mullin also noted that since President Donald Trump took office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which DHS oversees, has worked to ensure that people with criminal histories don’t attain citizenship. But the U.S. has long barred people convicted of most violent felonies from becoming citizens, and it wasn't immediately clear if Adon Abel had a criminal record that predated him becoming a citizen in 2022.

In response to a request for further details about the case and the defendant's criminal history, DHS referred The Associated Press to its post about Bullis and her death.

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Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland, and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and John Hanna, in Topeka, Kansas, contributed.

“Partiendo de los impresionantes avances en materia de estabilidad, se llegó a un acuerdo sobre un paquete de políticas sólido y equilibrado destinado a afianzar la desinflación, la estabilidad externa y el crecimiento, apoyando así un acceso al mercado oportuno y sostenible”, destacó el organismo en un comunicado.

Si bien resta la aprobación del directorio ejecutivo del FMI, superar la revisión permite a Argentina recibir otros 1.000 millones de dólares del paquete de rescate por 20.000 millones firmado en abril de 2025, el enésimo que le ha concedido el organismo de crédito al país sudamericano en su historia.

El guiño del FMI llegó un día después de difundirse una inflación en marzo de 3,4%, la más alta en un año, que junto a la persistencia de desequilibrios macroeconómicos han puesto bajo cuestionamiento el éxito del plan de austeridad del presidente ultraliberal Javier Milei.

“Este acuerdo es un paso muy importante en la consolidación de la estabilidad macroeconómica en la que hemos trabajado estos dos años, y contribuirá a fortalecer el crecimiento económico de nuestro país”, destacó el ministro de Economía, Luis Caputo, el miércoles en X.

El organismo valoró “el impulso reformista” del mandatario, con la aprobación por parte del Congreso de una reforma laboral, la ratificación de acuerdos comerciales clave, como el de Mercosur-Unión Europea, y el desbloqueo de inversiones en el sector minero con la reforma de la ley de Glaciares, entre otras medidas.

También destacó que “Argentina continúa resistiendo bien los efectos de contagio derivados de la guerra en Medio Oriente, dados los continuos avances en sus fundamentos económicos y su condición de exportador neto de energía”.

Como parte del acuerdo firmado hace un año, el FMI ya ha desembolsado unos 15.000 millones de dólares destinados a fortalecer reservas del Banco Central y garantizar la capacidad del país para pagar deudas con acreedores privados e institucionales. Argentina le debe sólo al propio organismo unos 40.000 millones de dólares de anteriores programas.

“I was expecting it to smell bad, but it smelled genuinely like rotting flesh,” said Nyx DelPrado, a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College who visited its Talcott Greenhouse this week to see the blooming of a corpse flower. “Its name is accurate,” DelPrado added with a laugh, nose wrinkled, adding that it reminded them of the scent of a dissection.

The corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum, is a rare tropical plant known for its foul odor. It's native to the rainforests of Sumatra and blooms infrequently and for only a brief window, releasing a pungent scent meant to mimic decaying flesh and attract pollinators such as flies and beetles. Nicknamed “Pangy,” the plant first bloomed at Mount Holyoke College in 2023, and its latest appearance has once again drawn crowds eager to witness — and smell — the fleeting spectacle.

What appears to be a single bloom is actually an enormous inflorescence, a cluster of many tiny flowers at the base of a tall central column called the spadix and surrounded by a deep purple, velvety spathe. Although the towering inflorescence withers after a few days, the same plant survives underground and can bloom again in future years.

A repellent smell designed to attract

Tom Clark, director and curator of the Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden, said the plant’s infamous odor serves an important evolutionary purpose and has inspired a wide range of descriptions from visitors.

“A few people who have come in since have described the smell as being unbearable, tangy, like a trash can — it’s overwhelming,” Clark said. “But that odor is there for a purpose. It’s there to attract pollinators, flies in particular.”

The timing of corpse flower blooms is difficult to predict, often following years of dormancy. Over the past six weeks, Pangy grew rapidly, at times shooting up several inches a day before unfurling. The flower finally opened overnight Monday, and he and other staffers were met with its powerful scent as soon as they got to work the next day.

“Walking through the front door, we could smell it,” he said. “As we walked back to the greenhouse where it’s growing, the smell became stronger and stronger. It was just overwhelming — literally unbearable — to be back there with it. If you weren’t aware of this plant and walked into the greenhouse, you’d say, ‘What died in here?’”

From shock to wonder

“I didn’t know what the name meant. I thought it would smell like a corpse, but I don’t know what a corpse smells like,” said Mount Holyoke student Maheen Siddiqi, laughing after waiting in a growing line of people hoping to take a whiff of the flower. “And I smelled it and it smelled like really bad eggs or sulfur or something.”

Student Bryn Wickere said the smell was less overwhelming than anticipated. Still, Wickere described the towering bloom as “magnificent,” noting its deep color and velvety texture.

“I was actually expecting the smell to fill up the whole room, but it was more when you got up close and personal with her,” Wickere said.

Others found the smell more familiar than shocking.

“I would say it smells kind of like a compost pile, a little bit like a working farm,” said Caroline Murray, a Mount Holyoke senior. “I’m from Vermont, so I’m very used to the smell of the farm and manure.”

The spectacle drew visitors from near and far, including Michael Breton, who drove two hours and took a vacation day to see the bloom after tracking news alerts for years.

“If you see a news article, and it’s from two days ago, it’s gone, so you gotta run quick,” he said. He compared the scent to “a stinky diaper that’s been left out in the sun,” adding that despite the odor, the plant was “bright, beautiful and colorful. It’s a lovely plant.”

A fleeting bloom, an enduring mission

Clark said the bloom highlights the broader mission of the Talcott Greenhouse, which he called a “plant museum” that houses about 2,000 plant species — a small fraction of the estimated 350,000 to 400,000 plant species worldwide.

He called the event a “special opportunity" to impress upon visitors the diversity of the plant world, and some of the amazing adaptations species have to survive in their environment in unique ways.

By midday Tuesday, the odor had begun to dissipate as greenhouse vents were opened, offering visitors a less intense — though still memorable — experience. After the brief flowering period, the plant will gradually deteriorate and collapse. Because corpse flowers cannot pollinate themselves, seeds will only form if pollen from another titan arum is available.

For Namuuna Negi, a Mount Holyoke junior, the fleeting nature of the bloom added to the experience.

“The impermanence of it, I think. People like to be in on what’s happening,” Negi said. “If they hear something’s going to die soon, they want to go see it before that happens so they can talk about it later.”

Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, become a six-time All-Star and the 1949 National League MVP. He played in six World Series, and won his only championship in 1955 with the Dodgers.

“Every player of color who now enjoys our great sport, they owe it to this man,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

Robinson made his pro debut with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945. He was there five months before Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey interviewed him for possible selection to Brooklyn's International League farm club. Rickey wanted to make sure Robinson could withstand the racial antagonism without reacting angrily.

“What he did was incredibly difficult under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine," Kendrick said. "He had to go out there and deal not only with the racial hatred but he was carrying 21 million Black folks on his back when he walked across those lines. Had he failed, an entire race of people would have failed. That's an enormous amount of pressure. How he did it with such grace, class and dignity is absolutely incredible. And no, we should never forget Jackie Robinson."

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets gathered around the centerfield statue of Robinson stealing home at Dodger Stadium. Among the Dodgers were Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith, Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia and Will Klein. Shohei Ohtani, who has attended previously, was not there ahead of pitching against the Mets later.

“A special day, especially for me as a Latino. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't because of him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Talk about dealing with pressure at this level, imagine what he dealt with back in the day."

Dave Roberts, one of just two Black managers currently in the majors, told the teams Robinson would be proud that they reflect his dream and vision of what equality and unity would look like.

“My ask is that we remember how we got here,” Roberts said.

In New York, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. wore his pinstriped pants loose and blousy and rolled at the knees the way many players did in the 1940s, including Robinson.

A video commemorating Robinson and narrated by former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was played on the stadium scoreboard before the team’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.

“You look at the diversity in our game as far as now, worldwide, and Jackie was the start of opening those doors to not just Black players being able to play but Latin America,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, "and now we have people from all over the globe playing this, and Jackie was the start of all that.”

In Pittsburgh, Pirates manager Don Kelly said, “It doesn’t seem like one day is enough to really give back to Jackie and what he meant to baseball and to people.”

Two of Robinson's granddaughters joined the teams at Dodger Stadium, not far from Robinson's adopted hometown of Pasadena. He was a four-sport star at Pasadena Junior College before going on to UCLA, where the Georgia native was better known for football than baseball.

Last year, a historical marker honoring the Robinson family was unveiled by the city of Pasadena at their former home.

“We’re really carrying the legacy now and it’s an incredible honor,” said granddaughter Ayo Robinson, whose father David is Robinson's youngest son. "It’s a weight that feels good because it keeps you grounded in what is so important. I feel like the legacy is just as important today as it has ever been.”

Robinson's widow, Rachel, turns 104 in July. She lives in New York and still visits the Jackie Robinson Museum.

“She's the strong matriarch of our family, surrounded by love and intention to continue to allow her to live a life that she wanted,” said granddaughter Sonya Pankey Robinson, whose father was Jackie Robinson Jr.

Also on hand in Los Angeles were recipients of scholarships from the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

For the first time in at least two decades, the percentage of Black players on opening day rosters increased this season. Major League Baseball says 6.8% of players on opening day rosters, injured lists and the restricted list were Black, up from 6.2% at the start of the 2025 season and 6.0% at the start of 2024.

“He’s an icon,” Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “To take this day and make it something special says a lot about the character of the game.”

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AP Sports Writers Will Graves in Pittsburgh, Steve Megargee in Milwaukee and Mike Fitzpatrick in New York contributed to this report.

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

The international diving competition is being held Thursday at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.

“The crowd is going to be electric,” Leslie Hasselbach Adams, the high-performance director at USA Diving, said. “There’s nothing like competing in front of your home crowd.”

More than 100 athletes from 18 countries are participating, including 15-year-old Beau Amprey, representing Haiti.

Local 10 News spoke to him on Wednesday.

“I’m like Haiti’s first diver, so they don’t really have any older divers to send, so I’m happy to represent and be there,” Amprey said. “It’s a great experience; being around all these top divers in the world makes me better myself.”

The events run through Sunday.

El incidente, que involucró una máscara de hockey, unas tijeras y un corte de cabello no deseado, ocurrió en el VIP Gentlemen’s Club en 1221 Duval St., según la policía de Key West.

Un informe de arresto indica que Jeffrey Marshall Carroll, de 44 años y de Columbia, Tennessee, “había causado problemas” previamente “antes de irse”.

El informe señala que Carroll llegó alrededor de las 6:20 p.m. “para una sesión de baile”, le dijo a una bailarina “que no quería sus servicios”, y luego tuvo una sesión con la eventual víctima antes de irse unos 25 minutos después.

La policía indicó que Carroll regresó luego “sin camisa, con pantalones cortos grises, una gorra naranja y usando una máscara estilo hockey” alrededor de las 10:10 p.m. Las autoridades dijeron que la bailarina que él rechazó estaba sentada en el porche frontal del club y “comenzó a grabar videos por su seguridad ya que él bloqueaba su entrada al establecimiento”.

El informe indica que la víctima abrió la puerta para permitir que su compañera regresara al interior.

La policía señaló que el video de vigilancia mostró a Carroll “agarrando a la víctima por el cabello, aparentemente sacando unas tijeras de su bolsillo trasero, cortándole el cabello y luego huyendo del establecimiento con las tijeras aún en la mano”.

Las autoridades dijeron que la compañera de la víctima llamó a la policía tras escucharla gritar, creyendo que estaba gravemente herida. Según el informe, no lo estaba, pero “estaba visiblemente afectada y emocional por lo ocurrido”.

El informe indica que la víctima dijo a la policía que Carroll “había dicho previamente: ‘Voy a quitarte la vida’” antes de irse del lugar.

Las autoridades señalaron que el club tenía una copia de la licencia de Carroll y los agentes lo localizaron en el área de las calles Louisa y Simonton.

La policía indicó que Carroll se negó a hablar con los agentes. También dijeron que le encontraron “una pastilla de anfetamina en su posesión sin el envase adecuado” y las tijeras negras.

El informe señala que aparentemente estaba bajo los efectos del alcohol y las drogas en ese momento.

Los agentes arrestaron a Carroll por cargos graves de agresión agravada con un arma mortal, agresión agravada con intención de cometer un delito grave y posesión de una sustancia controlada.

Los registros muestran que Carroll permanecía detenido en la cárcel del Sheriff del condado Monroe en Key West sin fianza establecida. Los registros indican una audiencia de lectura de cargos el 23 de abril.

Bank of America said on Wednesday that first-quarter stock trading revenues were $2.8 billion, a 30% jump from last year, while Morgan Stanley's much larger trading desk saw its equity trading revenues rise 25% to $5.15 billion. Morgan Stanley also had a very strong performance on its bond-trading desk, posting a 29% jump in revenues to $3.36 billion.

Morgan Stanley had a record quarter across its entire business. The bank reported net income of $5.6 billion and earnings per share of $3.43, a 30% jump in both of those metrics from the previous year.

The results from BofA and Morgan Stanley reflect the results posted by the other big banks this week, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. While market gyrations can be nauseating for average investors, high-speed Wall Street trading desks can take advantage of such market movements. Further, wild market swings tend to increase activity on trading desks, which leads to commissions and fee revenue for the banks.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that, despite the strong quarter, the bank is “watchful of evolving risks,” noting the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere, plus the sudden rise in energy prices.

In a call with reporters, Bank of America executives said that despite the quarterly volatility, the bank did not post a single daily loss on its trading desk during that time. It was also the bank's biggest quarter for equity sales and trading in its history.

Like their counterparts, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley had strong performances in their investment banking businesses as well. Advisory revenues at Morgan Stanley nearly doubled from $563 million to $978 million, year over year. Both banks are advising some of the largest public companies set to go public this year, including Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Bank of America's consumer banking business, historically the bank's biggest revenue and profit center, posted a profit of $3.1 billion. Deposits and loans grew in the quarter, and its customers spent 7% more on their credit and debit cards compared to last year. Notably the bank also noted that it saw double-digit increases in debit card spending on gasoline and energy, similar to what Wells Fargo executives shared with reporters on Tuesday.

Despite the rise in energy prices, Bank of America executives said they are seeing no deterioration in the U.S. consumer.

“The main thing that we’re always looking for is unemployment, and that remains at 4.3%," said Alastair Borthwick, the bank's CFO. ”So that’s supporting the consumer at this point."

Según funcionarios de Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, el incendio fue reportado en un edificio en la cuadra 600 de Andrews Avenue.

Un hombre que vive en la unidad del sexto piso donde ocurrió el incendio dijo que él y su madre lograron salir a salvo.

“Estaba dormido, así que mi mamá básicamente me despertó y me dijo: ‘Nuestro apartamento está en llamas’”, dijo el residente, quien agregó que vio llamas saliendo de la parte trasera de la secadora.

El hombre indicó que tomó los objetos de valor que pudo antes de salir.

“No hay mucho que puedas hacer en esa situación”, dijo.

Múltiples camiones de bomberos se alinearon a lo largo de Andrews Avenue, justo al norte de Sistrunk Boulevard, tras el incendio en el edificio de apartamentos Progresso Point.

Los socorristas dijeron que el fuego se limitó a la unidad donde se originó, pero los rociadores se activaron, causando daños por agua.

Debido a los daños por agua, varios residentes deben realizar labores de limpieza y los ascensores están fuera de servicio, sin embargo, solo los dos adultos que viven en la unidad donde comenzó el incendio fueron desplazados. La Cruz Roja los está asistiendo.

North Andrews Avenue fue cerrada temporalmente en ambas direcciones en el área antes de que el incendio fuera extinguido. Todos los carriles ya han sido reabiertos.

Attention drivers in Flagler Village: N Andrews Ave is blocked in both directions while FLFR works a high rise fire along the 600 block. Seek alternate routes north and south. pic.twitter.com/1ghhLQVeU2

— Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue (@FLFR411) April 15, 2026

Muchas de las familias tienen discapacidades o afecciones médicas que requieren electricidad. Crece la preocupación de que Estados Unidos las abandone mientras persisten los apagones crónicos y se acerca la temporada de huracanes del Atlántico —que va del 1 de junio al 30 de noviembre.

“Para ellos en particular, que reciban o no un sistema (solar) es algo que realmente es de vida o muerte”, declaró Charlotte Gossett Navarro, directora principal en Puerto Rico de la Hispanic Federation, en una entrevista telefónica.

La organización sin fines de lucro figura entre las entidades que firmaron una carta difundida el miércoles a la gobernadora Jenniffer González y al secretario de Energía de Estados Unidos, Chris Wright.

La Hispanic Federation es una de siete organizaciones que iban a ayudar a instalar los sistemas solares y a educar a las familias sobre su uso. Algunos de esos grupos ahora están objetando formalmente la cancelación de los fondos o negociando con el Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos.

González afirma que “no tenemos opción” porque el gobierno federal decidió no entregar a Puerto Rico esos fondos que están previstos a ser invertidos en la deteriorada red eléctrica de la isla, que fue arrasada por el huracán María en 2017, pero que ya estaba en declive por la falta de inversión y mantenimiento.

Las instalaciones de paneles solares en techos han crecido en los últimos tres años en todo Puerto Rico, con un promedio de 3.850 sistemas instalados por mes en 2025, para un total general de casi 192.000 al final del año, según la Administración de Información Energética de Estados Unidos. Mientras tanto, más de 171.000 hogares y negocios cuentan con sistemas distribuidos de almacenamiento en baterías.

Pero no todo el mundo puede costear esos sistemas en la isla caribeña de unos 3,2 millones de habitantes, donde la tasa de pobreza supera el 40%.

Gossett Navarro indicó que no han recibido respuestas a preguntas pendientes sobre los fondos a medida que se acerca la fecha límite del 9 de mayo, que marca el fin del programa aunque para algunos ni siquiera ha comenzado.

Las cuadrillas ya habían instalado sistemas solares en más de 6.000 hogares como parte del programa, pero otras 12.000 familias ahora permanecen en el limbo.

Entre ellas está Yvette Rodríguez, de 61 años. Necesita una máquina para la apnea del sueño, y su esposo, Luis Soler, un veterano de 67 años y doble amputado, depende de una cama eléctrica ajustable.

"Es una necesidad grande que tengamos estas placas solares", indicó Rodríguez, que vive con su esposo en la pequeña isla puertorriqueña de Culebra. Explicó que su esposo necesita aire acondicionado porque tiene problemas cardíacos y vive en una zona donde son comunes las alertas por calor.

También lamentó que los apagones continuos los obliguen a botar comida.

"Económicamente nos afecta grandemente porque tenemos que gastar nuestra poca economía que uno tiene para poder comer”, expresó.

También afectada por el recorte de fondos federales está María Pérez, de 80 años, y su esposo de 88. Ella tiene presión alta y problemas cardíacos que han provocado varias hospitalizaciones. Además, tiene gotas para los ojos por sus cataratas que requieren refrigeración.

“Las pongo en hielo, pero no es lo mismo”, comentó. "Nos tienen sufriendo con esos (dólares) que nos quitaron. No es justo”.

Pérez recibe 364 dólares al mes mediante un cheque del Seguro Social, pero, como a muchos puertorriqueños, su factura de luz a menudo es de esa misma cantidad.

Gabriela Joglar Burrowes, directora ejecutiva del Consejo Estatal para la Vida Independiente de Puerto Rico, estuvo entre quienes firmaron la carta dirigida a la gobernadora y Wright.

Señaló que contar con paneles solares no solo habría proporcionado electricidad constante, sino también tranquilidad.

“Si tú eres una persona que dependes de un equipo como un ventilador, una máquina de diálisis o medicina que tiene que ser refrigerada, la falta de energía constante representa un riesgo de hasta que puedes perder la vida”, advirtió.

Joglar Burrowes, quien tiene una discapacidad, señaló que miles de familias habían esperado durante mucho tiempo los sistemas solares y no deberían ser olvidadas.

“Se ve como a veces somos (reemplazables), y no lo somos", sostuvo.

Algunas de las 12.000 familias han recibido la evaluación inicial de elegibilidad, mientras que otras ya recibieron una visita al hogar o comenzaron a reparar sus techos en preparación para un sistema solar.

La mayoría de las familias vive en comunidades rurales, incluidos pueblos montañosos como Adjuntas, Jayuya y Orocovis.

“Es aún más preocupante”, afirmó Gossett Navarro. “Es difícil salir de las montañas cuando hay un desastre”.

El Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos indica en su sitio web que algunas personas recibirán un sistema, pero no ha dicho quiénes ni cuándo.

___________________________________

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

Event organizer Stefan Pildes was arrested Wednesday on charges that he pocketed the majority of the $2.7 million supposedly raised for charity through SantaCon events from 2019 to 2024.

Money that was supposed to be divided among neighborhood charities was instead used to renovate a lakefront property in New Jersey, buy concert tickets, pay for his fancy car, and finance extravagant meals and luxury vacations in Hawaii and Las Vegas, according to an indictment.

Pildes, 50, of Hewitt, New Jersey, didn't respond to shouted questions as he left a Manhattan courthouse following an appearance on a wire fraud charge.

Widely reviled by many New York residents for the chaos it brings to city streets and subways, the annual SantaCon bacchanal draws thousands of costumed merrymakers to Manhattan’s streets and watering holes every year, with most people dressed as Saint Nick, though there are usually a few Mrs. Clauses, elves and the occasional Grinch.

Many participants pay $10 to $20 for tickets — money organizers insisted would go to charity.

The event traces its origins to a 1994 flash mob-style event in San Francisco dubbed “Santarchy,” intended to mock Christmas consumerism. As the idea spread to cities nationwide, it moved away from its countercultural origins and became more of a mass bar crawl.

The New York City version is now promoted as “a charitable, non-political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention.”

Organizers have also tried to improve the event's reputation for drunken misbehavior by instituting a “Santa code."

“Santa spreads JOY: Not terror. Not vomit. Not trash. Would you want those under YOUR tree?” reads one rule. Another admonishes participants not to urinate in the street, start fights, block streets, climb on cars or deface property — all things that have been problems some years.

As public officials pressured organizers over the years to clean up their act, SantaCon emphasized its charitable work, advertising that money raised from ticket sales would go to antipoverty groups, food banks, city parks and arts foundations.

According to an indictment, Pildes claimed he received no compensation.

“No producer received income from this event, this is a charity event,” the indictment alleges he wrote in a March 2023 email to a potential venue.

But authorities said Pildes, who was freed on $300,000 bail, siphoned more than half of the proceeds raised each year to an entity he controlled, using those funds for personal expenses.

Those included $365,000 to renovate a lakefront property, $124,000 on leasing a luxury Manhattan apartment, a $100,000 investment in a boutique resort in Costa Rica founded by a personal friend and a nearly $3,000 birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan.

"Instead of donating the millions of dollars he raised, he ran his own con game,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a news release.

Pildes was president of and controlled Participatory Safety Inc., the nonprofit entity that organized SantaCon, authorities said.

According to the indictment, he solicited dozens of bars and restaurants to participate and donate 10% to 25% of their food and beverage sales to his charity organization.

Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore was shot in the leg during the April 7 attack, but managed to wrestle the suspect onto a bench, disarm him and remain on top of him until law enforcement officers arrived, according to court records.

The video, released by the school district in response to an Open Records Act request, shows a person in a dark hooded sweatshirt enter the school and point a handgun at two students in the lobby. After the gunman fires the weapon, Moore rushes at him, tackling and disarming him while the students run away. Another school official then enters the frame and kicks the gun away before picking it up and taking it away.

No students were injured in the attack.

“The actions of the staff and the principal stepping in as soon as they saw a subject with a firearm saved lives today,” Hunter McKee, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said after the shooting.

In a statement shared on social media, Moore said: “I look forward to returning to work as soon as possible so that I may continue my life's work educating the next generation of Oklahoma leaders.”

Authorities arrested Victor Lee Hawkins, 20, a former student at the school who has been charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm, shooting with intent to kill and pointing a firearm.

Hawkins told investigators that he went to the school with plans to kill students, Moore and then himself in a mass shooting “like the Columbine shooters did,” a reference to the 1999 school shooting in Colorado in which 12 students and a teacher were killed, according to an OSBI affidavit.

Hawkins has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. His court-appointed attorney, Tyson Stanek, declined to comment on the charges, citing policies of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System.

Garvin County Detention Center records show Hawkins is being held on $1 million bond.

Pauls Valley is a community of about 6,000 people 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City.

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According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials, the fire was reported at a building in the 600 block of Andrews Avenue.

A man who lives in the sixth floor unit where the fire occurred said he and his mother were able to get out safely.

“I was asleep, so my mom just kind of woke me up out of my sleep and was like, ‘Our apartment is on fire,’” the resident said, adding that he saw flames coming from the rear of the dryer.

The man said he grabbed whatever valuables he could before they left.

“Nothing you can really do in that situation,” he said.

Multiple fire trucks were lined along Andrews Avenue, just north of Sistrunk Boulevard, after the fire at the Progresso Point apartment building.

First responders said the blaze was contained to the unit where the fire originated, but the sprinklers were activated, causing water damage.

Because of the water damage, a number of residents are having to clean up and the elevators are out, however only the two adults who live in the unit where the fire started have been displaced. The Red Cross is assisting them.

North Andrews Avenue was temporarily closed in both directions in the area before the fire was extinguished. All lanes have since reopened.

Attention drivers in Flagler Village: N Andrews Ave is blocked in both directions while FLFR works a high rise fire along the 600 block. Seek alternate routes north and south. pic.twitter.com/1ghhLQVeU2

— Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue (@FLFR411) April 15, 2026

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Neither did the young women she was hired to lead.

Yes, there was a jolt of excitement. There was also a dash of anxiousness. One of the most decorated programs in the history of NCAA gymnastics had fallen off considerably since winning the last of its record 10 national titles in 2009.

The worry that Landi might lean heavily into the transfer portal in search of a quick fix was real. It also turned out to be fleeting.

Minutes into the first meeting that Landi and co-head coach Ryan Roberts had with the team, Landi made it clear she had no interest in blowing everything up and starting over.

“Gymnastics is not rocket science,” Landi said. “It’s about consistency and being fair and working hard and working smart.”

A lifetime in the sport — from competing for her native France at the 1996 Olympics to two-plus decades in coaching — had taught her the value of dreams and the empty feeling that comes when they are taken away. Several college-bound athletes Landi mentored at WCC saw their opportunities altered or pulled outright when a new coach took over. Landi wanted no part of that.

The talent to get the program back to being a factor on the national stage was in the room, she told them. We can do this, and we can do this together.

“I wanted to give everyone a chance and embrace the change and follow the culture we were building,” she said. “I was not going to bring in 10 kids. The kids who committed two years prior, they had that goal. I've had athletes at the club level who had that taken away. It was really, really hard.”

Less than two years after that initial sit-down, the Bulldogs will walk onto the floor at Dickie's Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday for the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2019 with legitimate hopes of reaching Saturday's finals.

A more level playing field?

They will do it with a roster that has largely remained intact since Landi's arrival, led by senior floor specialist Eryn Williams and senior Ja'Free Scott. And they will do it with a sense of confidence they lacked a year ago, when a resurgent season ended early after a jittery performance in regionals.

Those days appear over. Georgia advanced to nationals by having perhaps its best meet of the season at regionals, finishing second to a powerhouse Florida team loaded with former elites that will look to spoil Oklahoma's bid for its fourth NCAA championship in five years.

While the Sooners have been dominant, the playing field in women's college gymnastics may be starting to level out. The eight-team field at nationals includes the Bulldogs, ninth-seeded Arkansas and 13th-seeded Minnesota, a close runner-up to star-laden UCLA at regionals.

The programs that didn't make it to Fort Worth include longtime NCAA fixtures Utah, runner-up a year ago, as well as Alabama and California.

“It's not going to be the same eight every year like it used to be,” Landi said. “I like that it gives an opportunity to other teams. But it makes it harder because we always have to be better. It also makes it more exciting because you know you can have that chance, you can be there.”

Arkansas rebounds

It's a belief that Arkansas coach and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber instilled in her program after the Razorbacks didn't advance out of regionals a year ago, ending an eventful season that included Wieber publicly calling out the NCAA for not allowing Arkansas to schedule a late-season dual meet with Oregon State after it failed to qualify for the SEC championships.

“It was just about the unfairness to our athletes and wanting them to have another competitive opportunity and them to say no for maybe not the best reason,” Wieber said. “We're grateful we’re on the other side of that for sure.”

There were no such scheduling issues this time — the SEC adjusted its parameters to allow all nine schools to compete for a league title — and Arkansas advanced out of the competitive Lexington regional by holding off Missouri with a steady performance on beam in the final rotation, proof of just how far the Razorbacks have come.

“I just feel like we’re building to peak at the right time,” Wieber said. “And their performance at regionals was remarkable.”

Having Morgan Price helped. The senior, who spent the first three years of her career competing at Fisk University — the first historically Black college and university to field a women's artistic gymnastics team — joined Arkansas to compete alongside older sister Frankie.

All she's done over the last four months is record the first perfect 10 in program history with a dazzling performance on vault in a meet against Kentucky in February.

“She’s a great competitor, she’s got swagger and she knows how to put up great scores,” Wieber said. “What people don’t see is who she is on a daily basis. She’s one of the most consistent workers and teammates and strives to be a great leader.”

Price's journey will end this weekend. Just as it will for Williams and Scott and the other seniors at Georgia, who have spent years competing underneath the banners at Stegeman Coliseum that beckon to the program's run of greatness, wondering when their time will come.

Turns out, that time is now.

“We were this amazing team with this legacy so many years ago,” Williams said. “I think for a while, it got lost. People forgot about us. ... I think a lot of them need a reminder of who we are."

___

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

Meta's attempt to resolve the bloc’s antitrust investigation of WhatsApp by charging third-party AI companies for access is unsatisfactory, the European Commission said Wednesday.

The commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's executive arm and top antitrust enforcer, opened the investigation last year over concerns that WhatsApp was blocking competing artificial intelligence companies from offering their AI assistants on the platform.

Officials said Meta's decision in March to start charging third-party AI providers for access was essentially equivalent to the ban it had in place.

“Replacing the legal ban with pricing that has a similar effect does not change our preliminary view that Meta’s conduct appears to be an abuse of its dominant position, that may seriously harm competition on the market for AI assistants,” Teresa Ribera, the commission’s executive vice president overseeing competition, said in a statement.

When Brussels opened its investigation in December, officials said they were scrutinizing new terms and conditions that blocked providers of AI chatbots from using a tool to communicate with customers.

The bloc said it intends to issue its order to reinstate access for third-party chatbots under previous terms until it reaches a final decision on the case.

Meta said the commission’s decision means that the company will have to provide its service for free and would amount to subsidizing select companies rather than clearing the way for more competition.

It could mean, for example, that “a small bakery in France paying to use the service to take croissant orders will be picking up the tab for OpenAI,” Meta said of one of its competitors in a statement. "Small European businesses shouldn’t foot OpenAI’s bill.”

Cars were stranded in high floodwater on a highway in Milwaukee and video shared by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel showed a woman and young child being rescued from a vehicle.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office posted online to urge people not to drive in southeast Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency after storms, which had started moving through the state Monday, brought strong winds, hail and heavy rain. At least three tornadoes have been confirmed and more severe weather was expected.

Meanwhile, communities in Michigan were recovering after powerful overnight storms damaged two ice arenas, flooded streets and uprooted trees.

Wind gusts as strong as 70 mph (113 kph) were reported at the University of Michigan football stadium, with similarly strong gusts at the Willow Run Airport, meteorologist Sara Schultz said. National Weather Service crews were surveying damage in places including Ann Arbor to determine whether one or more tornadoes touched down.

Another round of strong storms with potentially damaging winds was moving into the area Wednesday from states to the west.

Schools and ice arenas damaged

Some public school buildings in Ann Arbor suffered structural damage and many lost power. The district was closed because of a fiber outage impacting fire, phone and camera systems, and building access.

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said structural engineers were assessing damage to a wall at the city's Veterans Memorial Park Ice Arena. Part of the roof was torn from the university's Yost Ice Arena.

The storm uprooted a hulking tree outside Seungjun Lee's home in Ann Arbor, barely missing his upstairs bedroom.

“If the tree fell down a couple more feet, I would not be standing here,” said Lee, a 20-year-old junior at U-M.

Lee and his roommates were awakened by a siren, then an alert blasted from their phones between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., urging them to take shelter.

More rain and dead fish

The storms dumped as much as 2.5 inches (6.3 centimeters) of rain across parts of southeastern Michigan by Wednesday morning, and more was expected across the Midwest, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions. Flood watches were issued for a big chunk of Michigan's eastern Lower Peninsula, southeastern Michigan, northern Indiana, northwestern Ohio, the Chicago area and Wisconsin.

In northern Michigan, a power outage during a storm killed 1,750 steelhead trout at a state facility where eggs and milt are collected to produce more fish. Scott Heintzelman of the state’s fisheries division said it was a “devastating event” involving “big, beautiful fish.”

Heintzelman said staff discovered Tuesday that a loss of electricity had stopped the flow of oxygenated water, dooming the fish.

Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources said it was watching levees around Portage, a city of about 10,000 people, as the Wisconsin River rises. As of Wednesday morning, the river there swelled to nearly 19 feet (5.7 meters), about 2 feet (0.6 meters) over flood state, and could rise to about 20 feet (6.1 meters), they said.

After days of rainfall and winter snow melt, a “significant influx of water” is also entering Black Lake, in northern Michigan, the sheriff's office said.

The lake empties into the Black River and feeds the Cheboygan River, which flows through the city into Lake Huron. Officials have been managing that flow through the city’s Cheboygan Dam by raising gates, adding pumps, raising a bridge and closing some riverfront to the public.

Flooding and unsafe travel forced Cheboygan Area Schools to cancel classes and athletic events for Thursday and Friday.

"Conditions are not improving significantly and, in some areas, continue to worsen,” the district said.

Where's all this weather headed?

Bill Bunting, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center, described a “very dynamic weather pattern” that combines very moist air with a strong jet stream across the central United States and Great Lakes to create conditions for severe thunderstorms.

By Wednesday afternoon, the weather service had received more than 400 reports of hail, winds above 60 mph (96.5 kph) or tornadoes, he said.

The system was stretching northward Wednesday night from central Texas into Iowa and southern Wisconsin and then eastward across parts of Michigan, Illinois, northern Indiana and Ohio on its way toward upper Pennsylvania and the Buffalo, New York, area, Bunting said.

Further east, it is expected to be as hot as a furnace, threatening record high temperatures in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., through the weekend, forecasters say.

___

Williams reported from West Bloomfield, Michigan. Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, and Hallie Golden in Seattle, contributed to this story.

The layoffs announced during a call with staff are the biggest in more than a decade at the U.K. national broadcaster.

"I know this creates real uncertainty, but we wanted to be open about the challenge,” interim Director-General Rhodri Talfan Davies said in a staff email.

Davies said that the reductions were driven by inflation, pressures to license fee and commercial income and a turbulent global economy.

The BBC said earlier this year that it faced “substantial financial pressures” and wanted to cut about a tenth of its budget by 2029. The bulk of the cuts are to be made in the next fiscal year beginning April 1, 2027.

The cuts come as former Google executive Matt Brittin is scheduled to take over as director-general next month.

He will fill the vacancy left after Tim Davie, and head of news Deborah Turness resigned over a misleading edit in a documentary about U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, before his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion for defamation.

The BBC is both a beloved and oft-criticized cultural institution funded by an annual license fee, which recently rose to 180 pounds ($244), paid by all U.K. households who watch live television or any BBC content.

Opponents of the fee, including rival commercial broadcasters, have grown louder in an era of digital streaming, when many people no longer have television sets or follow traditional television schedules.

The center-left Labour government has vowed to ensure that the BBC has “sustainable and fair” funding, but hasn't ruled out replacing the license fee with another funding model.

The BBC was founded in 1922 as a radio service to “inform, educate and entertain.” It now operates 15 U.K. national and regional television channels, several international channels, 10 national radio stations, dozens of local radio stations, the globe-spanning World Service radio and extensive digital output, including the iPlayer streaming service.

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If you happen to be at the Fort Lauderdale Flanigan’s late at night, you may have seen Tyler at his regular time, picking up his order like he does every single day.

Everyone has their favorite food spot they love to go to regularly, but Tyler has taken his go-to to the next level.

“We had this fantastic to-go customer that I found out yesterday, while I was in the office, that is kind of unique in that he has ordered 257 times in the last eight or nine months. And he orders at the same time, and orders the same thing,” Jimmy Flanigan said.

The Flanigan’s location in Fort Lauderdale crowned Tyler their most dedicated customer for his consistent daily order of the Flanigan’s burger.

And Jimmy Flanigan, the CEO of the iconic, family-owned food franchise, made it his personal mission to gift Tyler a special award for his loyalty.

“I made an offer to him for his loyal to-go business. And it was a couple days ago, and I told him, ‘Thank you very much, and I want to give you a $100 gift card.’ And ever since I’ve done that, I’ve been told that I didn’t give him nearly enough, and I’ve been told to give him everything from free lunch for life, to a gold-plated Rolls Royce,” Flanigan said.

So Flanigan upped his gift to Tyler, awarding him a $1,000 gift card and some extra merchandise for his achievement.

“This is just mind-blowing. I was not expecting this, to be honest with you,” Tyler said. “I got a text message. I was expecting to meet him, but just to get the merch and this -- this. You guys spoke. I appreciate everybody in the comments, and I really do thank everybody at Flanigan’s. This is amazing.”

And if you’re wondering why Flanigan’s? And why the same order every day?

Tyler says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I like really good food and, unfortunately, when I get off after 10:30-11 o’clock at night, there’s not many places open,” he said. “But Flanigan’s has some of the best food in South Florida, so I’m very thankful that they’re open around the time I get out of work.”

And now with his new prize money, Tyler says he can’t wait to keep going. And the Flanigan’s staff will be waiting!

The one question Flanigan had for Tyler that so many others are probably wondering was what does he do with all those iconic, green Flanigan to-go cups?

Tyler says he has stored over 100 from his orders over the last few months, but he’s holding out for a special gold cup -- something Flanigan says he just might be able to make happen.

It's a clever way of connecting the past iconic musical theater show with its reimagined, cooler sister now playing at the Broadhurst Theatre. But there's an even more thrilling connection between these two shows:

That DJ? He starred in the original cast.

Ken Ard is making a triumphant return to Broadway after being away for 25 years in the same show where his career exploded in the early 1980s, now dancing with performers 40 years his junior.

“It’s amazing to have this full circle moment in my life,” he says from his dressing room. “I knew it was right for me then and I knew it was right for me now.”

‘The most spectacular reinvention’

Ard's return to “Cats” is a story of redemption and resilience, echoing the recovery of New York after the 2001 terror attacks. Ard lived close to ground zero, and the horror of that day left him with PTSD and dented his confidence. He went from an It boy to deeply shaken. “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” is his first Broadway show since the attacks.

“My first audition after 9/11, I burst into tears and left the room because I had no idea what to do or how to feel,” he recalls. “I just was not getting booked anymore. And before that I was getting booked all the time.”

Ard, who grew up in California, studied dance and tried his luck in New York, inspired by shows like “The Wiz” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and by performers like Ken Page and Andre De Shields, the latter who is now his co-star.

He made his Broadway debut in the chorus of “Marlow” in 1981, and “Cats” was his third show. “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” is actually his fourth production for Andrew Lloyd Webber, following “Starlight Express” and “Song and Dance.”

“His music does speak to me in a certain way,” he says. “There’s something about his shows that are whimsical and fun, and I guess I just have been able to fit into them.”

The original “Cats” — for which Ard played Macavity as well as Plato and Rumpus Cat — was a cultural phenomenon, attracting celebrities, soaring ticket sales and a devotion that's hard to explain. It was the “Hamilton” before “Hamilton.” Ard recalls meeting Diana Ross and Cary Grant.

Ard wasn't a big fan of the 2016 “Cats” revival — “It was a museum piece,” he says — or the 2019 movie — “a debacle,” he declares — so he didn't have much hope when he checked out “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” last year at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which just happens to be at ground zero.

“I went in and I saw this show with my arms crossed, like, ‘What are they going to do with ’Cats?'” he says. “I had not gone back downtown in years and years and years. ‘Cats’ was what got me down there.”

What he saw was a show that transports viewers into the Black and Latino queer ballroom scene of Harlem, which was the inspiration for “Paris Is Burning” and later “Pose.”

“It’s really just the most spectacular reinvention of a show I have ever seen,” says Ard, who says he bawled his eyes out and returned to see it two more times. “All of that trauma was washed away by this show.”

No more peeling potatoes

The music remains the same — albeit with thumping house beats — but the show has a fabulous energy. It's directed by Zhailon Livingston and Bill Rauch, with choreography by Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons.

The original musical — based on poems by T.S. Eliot — is about felines competing to get into kitty heaven. Ard says the new version is about people competing for a prize. “It makes so much sense,” he says. “It’s not your grandma’s ‘Cats.’”

When he heard it might transfer to Broadway, Ard reached out and was offered the now-enlarged role of DJ Griddlebone, the ball's sort of hype man, a trickster who pops up in various costumes and dances.

“Having Ken Ard in rehearsal was a magic portal to the original production,” Rauch says. “He gave us thrilling perspective on the original staging and the artists’ intentions from 45 years ago. At the same time, Ken was completely present in every sense of the word, helping us to shape our radically new revival.”

Ard calls the show a celebration of gay and trans joy without any preaching: “I think it’s going to introduce a whole new generation to ‘Cats’ and musical theater. People who haven’t seen themselves on stage are really going to be inspired.”

The show that changed his life once has now done it again. Ard had been working in corporate kitchens for the past decade but hopes his time peeling potatoes is done.

“I think those days are over, really,” he says. “I’m going to manifest that they are because, basically, I’ve been wanting to get back to Broadway ever since my last show.”

A 21-year-old infielder, McGonigle had four hits in his major league debut on March 26 and entered Wednesday hitting .311 with one homer, eight RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 games.

“As soon as we saw this kid play and saw the way he commands the strike zone, fights for every pitch and uses the whole field, it was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty interesting for an 18-year-old kid,’" Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “We knew he could play the infield and he had the right physical gifts.

“It was just about how quickly everything would come together, and they came together more quickly than I ever thought.”

McGonigle became the fourth top prospect to get a big-money deal since late March following a $140 million, nine-year contract for 19-year-old Pittsburgh shortstop Konnor Griffin, a $95 million, eight-year agreement for 20-year-old Seattle shortstop Colt Emerson and a $50.75 million, eight-year pact for 21-year-old Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt.

“If you think about it, this is a kid who would be eligible for this year’s draft if he had gone to college,” Harris said. “Now, he’s up here with a long-term contract, so I guess he made the right decision.”

McGonigle has a one-year contact for 2026 paying the $780,000 minimum while in the major leagues and $127,100 while in the minors.

His new deal calls for a $14 million signing bonus, including $8 million payable within 30 days of the contract's approval by Major League Baseball and $6 million on March 31, 2028. He gets salaries of $1 million next year, $7 million in 2028, $16 million in 2029, $21 million in 2030, $22 million in 2031 and $23 million each in 2032, 2033 and 2034.

“I had the confidence to think there was a possibility for something like this to happen,” McGonigle said. “I'm just super pumped and super excited to spend the next nine years here helping this team win.”

Escalators could increase his salaries in the final three seasons, capped at $25 million in 2032, $26 million in 2033 and $28 million in 2034. The escalators, based on accomplishments starting in 2026, are $2 million for winning an MVP, $1 million for finishing second through fifth in voting, $500,000 for sixth through 10th, $500,000 for making the All-MLB first or second team, $250,000 for being elected or selected an All-Star and $250,000 for winning a Silver Slugger.

He would get a $5 million assignment bonus each time he is traded.

McGonigle's deal covers the first three seasons after he would have been eligible for free agency.

McGonigle was selected by the Tigers at No. 37 in the 2023 amateur draft out of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

“Ever since I picked up a bat, this was always a dream,” he said. “Definitely at a young age, I'd say I knew I had the opportunity to play at a high level.”

He has reached base in 13 consecutive starts and 15 of 16 games. He is one of only 10 players in the major leagues with more walks (11) than strikeouts (eight) among players with at least 11 walks.

“What he is doing right now is remarkable,” Harris said. "We studied young hitters and their adjustment periods to the majors, and right down the line, they really struggled for the first 150 plate appearances in the big leagues.

“Clearly, (Kevin) hasn't. I can't remember a debut that I was this impressed with through 17 games.”

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