Diego Fernandez-Delgado suffered a heart attack after getting a flat tire and running out of phone battery near the 5900 block of South Flamingo Road. He later said he prayed for help.

“God didn’t send angels with wings. He sent those boys,” Fernandez-Delgado’s son Cristian said in a statement.

Three Cooper City High School students, 16-year-old Logan Royer, 16-year-old Cody Magrone, and 17-year-old Brody Murray, were at McDonald’s at 5986 S. Flamingo Road.

The boys saw Fernandez-Delgado from a distance and decided to walk over to help him. Fernandez-Delgado complained of difficulty breathing and chest pains. One of the boys decided to call 911, follow instructions, and wait for fire rescue.

Fire rescue personnel took Fernandez Delgado to Memorial Hospital West. He underwent several procedures and was released to go home.

Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue planned to have a ceremony on Tuesday evening to present them with a proclamation.

Según agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward, la balacera ocurrió alrededor de la 1 a.m. del viernes cerca de la cuadra 7900 de Southwest Seventh Court.

Los investigadores dijeron que O’Mari Doe, de 19 años, estaba dentro de un Ford Mustang 2020 cuando se desató la balacera. Los agentes indicaron que Doe sufrió múltiples heridas de bala y fue trasladado en helicóptero a Broward Health North, donde posteriormente fue declarado muerto.

Indicaron que una segunda víctima, Maurice Vorroto, de 20 años y residente de Coconut Creek, fue encontrada fuera del Mustang con una herida de bala. Las autoridades confirmaron que sus lesiones no ponían en peligro su vida.

Los agentes dijeron que Doe, Vorroto y otras dos víctimas estaban sentados dentro del Mustang cuando Aamir Dennard Adams, de 19 años, Anthony Adams, de 18, y dos menores de 15 y 16 años llegaron en un Honda Accord negro.

Según los investigadores, testigos dijeron a los detectives que los sospechosos salieron del vehículo armados con pistolas y dispararon múltiples veces contra el Mustang antes de huir del área.

Las autoridades posteriormente identificaron el vehículo sospechoso y emitieron una alerta para que otras agencias policiales estuvieran atentas.

Los investigadores dijeron que un agente de la Policía de Fort Lauderdale posteriormente vio el Honda Accord, lo que provocó una persecución que terminó cerca de la cuadra 900 de Southwest 13th Street en Fort Lauderdale después de que los sospechosos abandonaran el vehículo y huyeran.

Los detectives dijeron que los cuatro sospechosos fueron localizados y arrestados, y que se recuperaron armas dentro del vehículo.

Según la BSO, Aamir Adams, Anthony Adams y los dos menores, cuyos nombres no han sido divulgados, enfrentan cada uno un cargo de asesinato premeditado en primer grado y tres cargos de intento de asesinato en primer grado, además de intento criminal de solicitar o conspirar y resistirse a un agente sin violencia.

La investigación continúa en curso.

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According to deputies with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the shooting occurred around 1 a.m. Friday near the 7900 block of Southwest Seventh Court.

Investigators said 19-year-old O’Mari Doe was inside a 2020 Ford Mustang when gunfire erupted. Deputies said Doe suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was airlifted to Broward Health North, where he was later pronounced dead.

They said a second victim, 20-year-old Maurice Vorroto, of Coconut Creek, was found outside the Mustang suffering from a gunshot wound. Authorities confirmed that his injuries were not life-threatening.

Deputies said Doe, Vorroto, and two other victims were sitting inside the Mustang when Aamir Dennard Adams, 19, Anthony Adams, 18, and two boys, ages 15 and 16, arrived in a black Honda Accord.

According to investigators, witnesses told detectives the suspects got out of the car armed with handguns and fired multiple shots into the Mustang before fleeing the area.

Authorities later identified the suspect vehicle and issued a be-on-the-lookout alert to surrounding law enforcement agencies.

Investigators said a Fort Lauderdale police officer later spotted the Honda Accord, prompting a pursuit that ended near the 900 block of Southwest 13th Street in Fort Lauderdale after the suspects bailed out of the vehicle.

Detectives said all four suspects were located and arrested, and guns were recovered from inside the car.

Aamir Adams, Anthony Adams and the two boys who have not yet been identified each face one count of first-degree premeditated murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder, along with criminal attempt to solicit or conspire and resisting an officer without violence, according to BSO.

The investigation remains ongoing.

El vehículo fue avistado en el agua poco después de las 7 a.m. en el área de West 16th Avenue y 68th Street, al este de la Palmetto Expressway.

Funcionarios de Hialeah Fire Rescue dijeron a Local 10 News que la policía de Hialeah Gardens los notificó y la agencia envió a sus buzos al lugar.

Residentes del área dijeron a Local 10 News que están preocupados por la posibilidad de que alguien haya estado dentro del vehículo cuando cayó al canal; sin embargo, funcionarios de HFR dijeron que no encontraron a nadie dentro del vehículo.

Dijeron que la escena fue entregada al departamento de policía para continuar la investigación.

Según un informe de arresto obtenido el lunes por Local 10 News, Janice Garcia, de Miami, se entregó el domingo en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

Enfrenta cargos de conducir bajo la influencia del alcohol (DUI) y DUI con lesiones corporales graves.

Según el informe, el choque ocurrió poco después de las 3:30 a.m. del 11 de abril cuando el detective Josh Brown y otro detective patrullaban el Distrito de Kendall en una unidad de dos oficiales.

Los detectives dijeron que Garcia golpeó a Brown con su Mazda MZ3 azul cuando él estaba fuera de su patrulla en el bloque 8500 de Southwest 99th Court.

Brown le dijo a los detectives que Garcia le encendió las luces largas y su compañero dijo que Garcia conducía muy cerca del borde de la calzada.

Según el informe, Brown intentó apartarse del camino del auto, pero fue golpeado y lanzado por los aires.

El personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transportó al detective al HCA Florida Kendall Hospital con heridas que ponían en riesgo su vida.

Las autoridades confirmaron que Brown sufrió una conmoción cerebral y numerosas otras lesiones en todo el cuerpo, y tuvo que recibir un injerto de piel y someterse a una cirugía de tobillo.

Según el informe, Garcia parecía angustiada tras el choque y tenía “el habla arrastrada, ojos enrojecidos y llorosos”, y su aliento olía a bebida alcohólica.

Un miembro del Escuadrón de Control de Conductores Bajo los Efectos del Sheriff le dijo que Garcia le dijo “Dígame cuáles son mis derechos” antes de aceptar participar en las pruebas de sobriedad de campo, que reprobó.

También aceptó proporcionar muestras de sangre, que mostraron que su nivel de alcohol en sangre era de .156% y .154%, por encima del límite de .08% de Florida para conductores, según el informe.

Se espera que Garcia comparezca ante un juez en la audiencia de fianza el lunes.

La Asociación de Oficiales de Policía Hispanos publicó una foto de Brown en su página de Instagram tras el arresto de Garcia, mostrando algunas de sus lesiones.

“Para quienes han preguntado cómo pueden apoyar al detective Brown y a su familia durante este momento difícil, la asistencia a la audiencia ciertamente no pasaría desapercibida”, decía en parte la publicación. “Por favor continúen teniendo al detective Brown y a su familia en sus pensamientos y oraciones.”

Residentes como Audrey Gonzalez, quien ha vivido en el área durante 35 años, estaban en alerta máxima, preparándose para evacuar si fuera necesario.

“Estoy muy, muy preocupada”, dijo, añadiendo que ha estado “saliendo en medio de la noche, solo para asegurarme de que no se estuviera acercando hacia donde vivimos.”

El fuego podía verse desde West Broward High School, aunque los estudiantes permanecieron en clases.

La residente de West Broward Roxanne Gill dijo: “Podíamos escuchar el crepitar. Así de malo estaba. Tuve que mojar mi casa con la manguera.”

“Todo el mundo estaba mojando sus tráilers antes de que llegara el departamento de bomberos”, dijo.

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According to an arrest report, the incident happened on May 2 at Bora Bora Market, located at 3296 Palm Ave. in Hialeah.

Hialeah police identified the suspect as 50-year-old Alejandro Izaguirre, of Miami’s West Little River neighborhood.

Officers responded to the market around 3:15 p.m. in reference to a grand theft and criminal mischief investigation.

A Bora Bora employee told police that he reviewed surveillance footage and saw an unknown man damaging a slot machine with what appeared to be a metal rod.

According to investigators, the footage showed the suspect entering the business around 1:30 p.m. to play the slot machine before later leaving and returning to his vehicle.

Police said the man was then seen opening the trunk and driver-side door before returning to the market carrying the metal object.

They said the suspect then broke the slot machine, causing more than $1,000 in damage, and removed about $2,000 in cash before fleeing in a vehicle.

The victim told police the suspect had visited the business before and may have been named Alejandro, according to the report.

The report states that an officer reviewing the surveillance footage on Monday recognized the suspect as Alejandro Menendez Izaguirre, whom the officer had previously arrested in connection with a similar incident last year.

Investigators later responded to Izaguirre’s home and took him into custody.

According to the report, while officers were at the home, Izaguirre spontaneously told his girlfriend “it was because of the slot machines” after she asked why he was being arrested.

Jail records show Izaguirre is facing one count each of third-degree grand theft and criminal mischief causing $1,000 or more in damage.

As of Tuesday, his bond was listed as “to be set” in online Miami-Dade inmate records. Additionally, the Cuban national remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on an immigration hold.

Según un reporte de arresto, el incidente ocurrió el 2 de mayo en Bora Bora Market, ubicado en 3296 Palm Ave. en Hialeah.

La Policía de Hialeah identificó al sospechoso como Alejandro Izaguirre, de 50 años, residente del vecindario West Little River de Miami.

Los agentes respondieron al mercado alrededor de las 3:15 p.m. en referencia a una investigación por hurto mayor y daños criminales.

Un empleado de Bora Bora dijo a la Policía que revisó las cámaras de vigilancia y observó a un hombre desconocido dañando una máquina tragamonedas con lo que parecía ser una barra de metal.

Según los investigadores, las grabaciones mostraban al sospechoso entrando al negocio alrededor de la 1:30 p.m. para jugar en la máquina tragamonedas antes de salir y regresar a su vehículo.

La Policía indicó que luego se observó al hombre abriendo el maletero y la puerta del lado del conductor antes de regresar al mercado cargando el objeto metálico.

Indicaron que el sospechoso posteriormente rompió la máquina tragamonedas, causando más de $1,000 USD en daños, y robó aproximadamente $2,000 USD en efectivo antes de huir en un vehículo.

La víctima dijo a la Policía que el sospechoso había visitado anteriormente el negocio y que posiblemente se llamaba Alejandro, según el reporte.

El reporte indica que un agente que revisaba las grabaciones de vigilancia el lunes reconoció al sospechoso como Alejandro Menendez Izaguirre, a quien el agente había arrestado previamente en relación con un incidente similar el año pasado.

Posteriormente, los investigadores acudieron a la vivienda de Izaguirre y lo arrestaron.

Según el reporte, mientras los agentes estaban en la vivienda, Izaguirre le dijo espontáneamente a su novia “fue por las máquinas tragamonedas” después de que ella preguntara por qué estaba siendo arrestado.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Izaguirre enfrenta un cargo de hurto mayor en tercer grado y otro de daños criminales que causaron $1,000 USD o más en daños.

Hasta el martes, su fianza figuraba como “pendiente por establecer” en los registros de reclusos de Miami-Dade en línea. Además, el ciudadano cubano permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight bajo una retención migratoria.

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Andrelio Castano Rojas, 54, was booked into the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend after his arrest by federal agents.

Federal prosecutors in Norfolk, Virginia accuse Castano Rojas of working with co-conspirators as part of an entity dubbed the “Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Organization” to launder proceeds “from the sale of illegal drugs, which included cocaine” from cities in South Florida and across the country, including Sunrise; Boston; San Antonio; Anaheim, California and Richmond, Virginia.

Undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as money launderers ended up infiltrating the organization, according to a federal grand jury indictment handed down on Oct. 8, 2025 and filed publicly on Monday.

The indictment states that the organization “accepted what are known as ‘money contracts’ to arrange for the drug trafficking proceeds” to be delivered by couriers and deposited in bank accounts across the U.S., then wire transferred to various businesses “to conceal their nature, location, source, ownership and control.”

Investigators said Castano Rojas used electronics companies ― including at least two that he owned ― and purchases to conceal the drug money as part of a scheme that ran from at least 2018 through 2025.

According to the indictment, Castano Rojas owned two electronics companies, Administracion Y Servicios G Asociados SAS LLC and Acron Technology LLC, both registered to a home in Palmetto Bay.

Each was described in the indictment as a “computer parts import/export company.”

Investigators said Castano Rojas funneled at least $2 million through those companies and then “arranged” for an unnamed electronics firm in Doral “to receive drug trafficking proceeds for the purchase of consumer electronics that were then shipped to and sold” in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

That Doral company received at least $1.8 million in cash deliveries from 2021 to 2025, according to the indictment.

The indictment lists a web of transactions involving Castano Rojas and various banks.

He’s now facing four money laundering charges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Agents arrested him Sunday and as of Tuesday, Castano Rojas remained in the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail facility, being held on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service. It wasn’t immediately clear when he would be extradited to Virginia.

Andrelio Castano Rojas, de 54 años, fue ingresado durante el fin de semana en la cárcel principal del condado Broward en Fort Lauderdale tras ser arrestado por agentes federales.

Fiscales federales en Norfolk, Virginia, acusan a Castano Rojas de trabajar con co conspiradores como parte de una entidad denominada “Organización de Narcotráfico y Lavado de Dinero” para lavar ganancias “provenientes de la venta de drogas ilegales, incluida cocaína” desde ciudades del sur de Florida y otras partes del país, incluyendo Sunrise; Boston; San Antonio; Anaheim, California y Richmond, Virginia.

Según una acusación de un gran jurado federal emitida el 8 de octubre de 2025 y divulgada públicamente el lunes, agentes encubiertos de la Administración para el Control de Drogas (DEA) que se hacían pasar por lavadores de dinero lograron infiltrarse en la organización.

La acusación indica que la organización “aceptaba lo que se conoce como ‘contratos de dinero’ para coordinar que las ganancias del narcotráfico” fueran entregadas por mensajeros y depositadas en cuentas bancarias en todo Estados Unidos, para luego ser transferidas electrónicamente a varias empresas “con el fin de ocultar su naturaleza, ubicación, origen, propiedad y control”.

Los investigadores dijeron que Castano Rojas utilizó empresas de electrónicos, incluidas al menos dos de su propiedad, y compras para ocultar el dinero del narcotráfico como parte de un esquema que operó al menos desde 2018 hasta 2025.

Según la acusación, Castano Rojas era propietario de dos empresas de electrónicos, Administracion Y Servicios G Asociados SAS LLC y Acron Technology LLC, ambas registradas en una vivienda de Palmetto Bay.

Cada una fue descrita en la acusación como una “empresa de importación y exportación de piezas de computadoras”.

Los investigadores dijeron que Castano Rojas canalizó al menos $2 millones USD a través de esas compañías y luego “coordinó” que una empresa de electrónicos no identificada en Doral “recibiera ganancias del narcotráfico para la compra de electrónicos de consumo que posteriormente eran enviados y vendidos” en Bogotá, Colombia.

Esa empresa de Doral recibió al menos $1.8 millones USD en entregas de efectivo entre 2021 y 2025, según la acusación.

La acusación enumera una red de transacciones que involucraban a Castano Rojas y varios bancos.

Ahora enfrenta cuatro cargos de lavado de dinero en el Tribunal de Distrito de Estados Unidos para el Distrito Este de Virginia, además de un cargo de conspiración para cometer lavado de dinero.

Los agentes lo arrestaron el domingo y hasta el martes, Castano Rojas permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward bajo custodia del Servicio de Alguaciles de Estados Unidos. No estaba claro de inmediato cuándo sería extraditado a Virginia.

Their record at the playoffs' halfway point disagrees.

The Thunder completed their second straight series sweep of the spring Monday night when they held off the resilient Lakers 115-110 in Game 4 of the second round. Oklahoma City went 8-0 against LeBron James and the Lakers this season — and the defending champs are also 8-0 in these playoffs after back-to-back routs of Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Sure, coach Mark Daigneault can see areas for improvement and problems to be solved. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander warns that the job is far from finished.

Yet the Thunder are unquestionably the class of the sport with this playoff streak following their dominant regular season as they seek the NBA's first back-to-back championships since Golden State did it 2017 and 2018.

General manager Sam Presti's merciless machine is looking fairly unbeatable as it heads to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year and the sixth time in the past 16 seasons.

“We’ve done our job so far, that’s all it really means,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve gone out there, we’ve executed, we played at a high level and we’ve been able to win eight tough games against really good opponents. That’s all it really means. And nothing is guaranteed. In the playoffs, no two games are the same, especially when you change opponents. So the challenges are all coming up, I guess you can say.”

The next challenge is a date with either the San Antonio Spurs or the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference finals — after several more days of rest than those teams, which are tied heading to Game 5 on Tuesday night.

But whoever emerges from that rock fight of a series will face the NBA's biggest challenge in the smooth, relentless Thunder, who appear to be operating on an even higher level than they reached last season while winning the title.

“We’ve been very, very good,” Daigneault said. “I thought we had more lapses tonight than we had had in previous games, so we have to learn from that. Obviously we have to play better in more of the 48 minutes, but I also think the wind is going to be in your face in a playoff game for different reasons at different times, and you’ve got to be able to recenter. I thought we did that exceptionally well.”

The Thunder had never swept back-to-back playoff series, and neither did the Seattle SuperSonics before them.

The Lakers got blown out by Oklahoma City three times before managing one close game. The Thunder trailed in a fourth quarter for the first time in these playoffs, and their five-point win was the smallest of the spring.

But the Thunder rallied, as they almost always do.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored nine of his 35 points in the fourth quarter. Ajay Mitchell, the backup guard who has become a star in Jalen Williams' injury absence, poured in 10 of his career playoff-high 28 in the same period. Chet Holmgren had arguably the biggest baskets of all, including a go-ahead dunk with 32.8 seconds left.

The Thunder celebrated a closeout quarter that seemed to feature a big play from everybody who touched the court. A few minutes later, they were back to business.

“Everything that we’ve done so far is behind us,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We still have a huge target on. We have two more series to win to reach our ultimate goal, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Los Angeles coach JJ Redick and his staff appeared to have a surprising, effective game plan to harass the Thunder’s scorers — and yet it didn’t make much of an impact on the scoreboard at all.

Daigneault found teachable moments during his team's demolition of the Lakers, who sent double-teams at Gilgeous-Alexander and other ball-handlers at a rate they hadn't seen since the Thunder's playoff series with Denver a year ago.

In perhaps the most dismaying aspect of this series for the Thunder's future opponents, they've learned and improved from the Lakers' meager successes.

“It really had us having to sharpen our attacks, but I thought we did a great job of that,” Daigneault said. "Down the stretch, we had some big-time plays (with) high-lows, traps, and we had a dunk for Chet. That was a great attack, and I just thought we showed great execution of that. So I think we’re a lot better in that area than we were coming into the series.”

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

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Xavier Mojica, of Tamarac, was originally arrested on an attempted murder charge after the May 3 shooting that occurred in the 7600 block of Northwest 74^th Terrace, where both Mojica and the victim lived.

The victim was identified by authorities as 66-year-old Vernon Roe.

The relationship between the two has not been released, however deputies said Mojica shot Roe shortly after 6 p.m. on May 3 after the two got into a verbal dispute regarding rent payment issues.

According to an arrest report, during the argument, another person, identified as Freddy Cora, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, placed it in his pocket and returned to the patio area where the suspect and victim were arguing.

Mojica told detectives that Cora later threw the knife back into the home, the report stated.

According to the report, Mojica claimed that he tried to enter the home and pushed past the victim, but Roe, who was standing near the doorway, pushed him, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

Deputies said Mojica claimed that he then saw Roe and Cora motion as if they were going to walk toward him, at which point he fired at them because he didn’t know if they were going to “help him up, beat him up or stab him.”

The victim was struck in the torso, authorities said.

According to the report, Mojica admitted that neither Roe nor Cora were armed at the time of the shooting.

Roe was hospitalized in critical condition after the shooting and died on Friday, the report stated.

Mojica now faces a second-degree murder charge.

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

Xavier Mojica, de Tamarac, fue arrestado originalmente por un cargo de intento de asesinato tras la balacera del 3 de mayo ocurrida en la cuadra 7600 de Northwest 74th Terrace, donde tanto Mojica como la víctima vivían.

La víctima fue identificada por las autoridades como Vernon Roe, de 66 años.

La relación entre ambos no ha sido divulgada, sin embargo los agentes dijeron que Mojica le disparó a Roe poco después de las 6 p.m. del 3 de mayo luego de que ambos sostuvieran una discusión verbal relacionada con pagos de renta.

Según un reporte de arresto, durante la discusión, otra persona identificada como Freddy Cora tomó un cuchillo de la cocina, lo guardó en su bolsillo y regresó al patio donde el sospechoso y la víctima discutían.

Mojica dijo a los detectives que Cora posteriormente lanzó el cuchillo nuevamente dentro de la vivienda, indica el reporte.

Según el reporte, Mojica afirmó que intentó entrar a la casa y empujó a la víctima para pasar, pero Roe, quien estaba cerca de la puerta, lo empujó, provocando que perdiera el equilibrio y cayera al suelo.

Los agentes dijeron que Mojica afirmó que luego vio a Roe y a Cora hacer movimientos como si fueran a caminar hacia él, momento en el que les disparó porque no sabía si iban a “ayudarlo a levantarse, golpearlo o apuñalarlo”.

Las autoridades dijeron que la víctima recibió un disparo en el torso.

Según el reporte, Mojica admitió que ni Roe ni Cora estaban armados al momento de la balacera.

Roe fue hospitalizado en condición crítica tras la balacera y murió el viernes, indica el reporte.

Mojica ahora enfrenta un cargo de asesinato en segundo grado.

Hasta la mañana del martes, permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward sin derecho a fianza.

On Tuesday, researchers said a single dose of those revved-up cells strongly suppressed HIV in two people — one for nearly a year and the other for nearly two years — without requiring their usual medicines.

Larger and longer studies are needed to prove if what's called CAR-T cell therapy might really offer long-lasting help for HIV, cautioned Dr. Steven Deeks of the University of California, San Francisco, who led the research.

“We find the fact that two people have had such a really sustained response provocative,” he said. “There is a real need for a one-and-done, safe and scalable cure ... and this is one of the strategies that we’re pursuing.”

The data is being presented at a meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in Boston.

There are nearly 40 million people living with HIV around the world. Today’s medicines have turned the virus that causes AIDS from a fast killer into a manageable chronic disease, often keeping the virus at undetectable levels, but only if people can afford the drugs and stick with them. The virus hides out in reservoirs in the body and rebounds fast if people stop treatment.

Researchers have long hunted an elusive cure, pursuing such clues as a rare gene mutation that makes some people naturally resistant to HIV or how a handful of HIV patients who also had certain cancers were declared cured or in long-term remission after receiving a stem cell transplant, something too risky for most people.

CAR-T therapy involves taking immune soldiers called T cells out of a person’s blood, genetically engineering them into “living drugs” and infusing them back into the patient. They’re widely used to cure certain types of cancer and are being studied for other diseases.

For HIV, scientists at the nonprofit drug developer Caring Cross created CAR-T cells with dual features. They're programmed to better find and kill HIV-infected cells — and engineered with protection against infection by the very virus they’re supposed to fight.

With that added armor, they should be able to reproduce enough to keep HIV in check, said Caring Cross executive director Boro Dropulić.

Deeks’ early-stage experiment tested different dosing strategies in people who stopped their HIV medicine the day they received their CAR-T cells. There were no serious side effects. The first three recipients showed no response and resumed their usual medicines.

Six others received a small amount of chemotherapy to make space for the new T cells. Those two strong responders saw their HIV drop to undetectable levels, inching up only occasionally when the CAR-T cells presumably got to work again. A third patient had a temporary response and resumed regular HIV treatment.

Those three patients all had started their original HIV treatment soon after they'd been infected, Deeks said. That makes sense because people treated early tend to have less HIV hiding in the body and a healthier immune system.

“This is certainly very fascinating that they’ve had this positive response,” said Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem, a gene therapy expert at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who wasn’t part of the new study. He cautioned that it will take additional research to prove if CAR-T really works.

But the strategy is exciting because it’s “boosting what our body, our immune system, can already do,” said Andrea Gramatica, vice president for research at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, which is funding some work to create easier-to-use versions.

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

Surveillance video shows Alejandro Izaguirre shortly after 3:10 p.m. on May 2, at 3296 Palm Ave., “breaking the machine with a possible metal stick,” a police officer wrote, according to an arrest report.

Izaguirre had been “previously arrested for a similar incident” on Sept. 18 in Hialeah, and when he was arrested on Monday, he told his girlfriend, the arrest “was because of the slot machines,” according to police.

Izaguirre faced charges of criminal mischief and grand theft. His bond was $5,000.

El incendio fue reportado alrededor de las 3:30 a.m. en la cuadra 300 de Northwest Fifth Street.

Un equipo de Local 10 News estuvo en la escena más tarde en la mañana y observó ventanas rotas y cinta de escena del crimen alrededor de la vivienda.

Los residentes dijeron que no están seguros de cómo comenzó.

Bomberos de Pompano Beach y una ambulancia despejaron la escena antes de las 5 a.m.

La Oficina del Sheriff de Broward luego tomó control de la investigación, colocando cinta de escena del crimen mientras investigaban qué provocó el incendio.

Los residentes dijeron que no les han permitido regresar al interior y que ahora tienen muchos niños pequeños que necesitan ayuda.

La Cruz Roja confirmó que está asistiendo a cuatro adultos afectados por el incendio con ayuda financiera de emergencia, servicios de salud y salud mental, y asistencia para la recuperación.

No está claro si se reportaron personas heridas.

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According to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report, deputies responded around 6:10 p.m. Monday to the 13000 block of Southwest 207th Avenue following reports about someone threatening to harm another person.

Investigators said the victim told deputies he was involved in an argument with Isaac Morejon regarding utilities being shut off.

During the argument, deputies said Morejon exposed his penis to the victim about three times before continuing the dispute.

They said Morejon then grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it toward the victim while the victim was on his property.

According to the report, the victim showed deputies a photo depicting Morejon exposing himself.

Morejon‘s arrest report states that he was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Jail records show he is facing one count each of throwing or shooting a deadly missile and indecent exposure.

As of Tuesday morning, Morejon was no longer listed in online Miami-Dade inmate records.

Según un reporte de arresto de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, los agentes respondieron alrededor de las 6:10 p.m. del lunes a la cuadra 13000 de Southwest 207th Avenue tras reportes sobre una persona amenazando con hacerle daño a otra.

Los investigadores dijeron que la víctima indicó a los agentes que estuvo involucrada en una discusión con Isaac Morejon relacionada con el corte de servicios públicos.

Durante la discusión, los agentes dijeron que Morejon expuso su pene ante la víctima aproximadamente tres veces antes de continuar la disputa.

Indicaron que Morejon luego tomó una piedra del suelo y la lanzó hacia la víctima mientras esta se encontraba en su propiedad.

Según el reporte, la víctima mostró a los agentes una foto que supuestamente mostraba a Morejon exhibiéndose.

El reporte de arresto de Morejon indica que fue detenido sin incidentes y trasladado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que enfrenta un cargo por lanzar o disparar un proyectil mortal y otro por exhibición indecente.

Hasta la mañana del martes, Morejon ya no aparecía en los registros de reclusos de Miami-Dade en línea.

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According to the spokesperson, the fire was reported at about 3:15 a.m. in the 300 block of Northwest Fifth Street.

City officials said 14 adults were inside the building’s four units when the fire erupted.

“One adult male suffered a laceration after jumping from a window to escape the flames, while another individual experienced a seizure,” the news release stated. “Both patients were transported to Broward Health North for treatment. The remaining 12 residents escaped without injury.”

A Local 10 News crew was at the scene later in the morning and saw broken windows and crime scene tape around the home.

Residents said they’re unsure how the fire started.

Pompano Beach firefighters and an ambulance cleared the scene by 5 a.m.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office then took over the investigation, putting crime scene tape up as they investigated what led up to the blaze.

City officials confirmed that two of the four units were deemed “uninhabitable,” leaving six residents displaced.

The American Red Cross is providing temporary housing to those affected.

It’s unclear whether any injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by BSO, Pompano Beach Fire Rescue investigators and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Según un reporte de arresto obtenido el martes por Local 10 News, Aubrey Hackett Hunter, de 41 años y residente de Miami, fue detenido tras una investigación de varios meses sobre depósitos de efectivo desaparecidos del cine ubicado en 300 SE Third St.

La investigación comenzó el 19 de enero, cuando un supervisor del cine descubrió que aproximadamente $21,921.23 USD en depósitos de la empresa nunca fueron ingresados en la cuenta bancaria del negocio, indica el reporte.

Una revisión de registros supuestamente mostró que el 22 de diciembre de 2025, Hunter salió del cine llevando depósitos en efectivo por un total de $10,803.77 USD. Los investigadores dijeron que él era responsable de llevar el dinero al banco, pero solo depositó $2,736.47 USD, dejando $8,067.31 USD sin justificar.

El supervisor posteriormente descubrió que el 30 de diciembre de 2025, Hunter nuevamente salió del negocio con aproximadamente $13,852.92 USD destinados a ser depositados. Según el reporte, nada de ese dinero fue depositado.

La Policía indicó que el dinero no había sido devuelto hasta el 19 de enero y que Hunter había renunciado a su cargo antes de que el robo fuera reportado a las autoridades.

Durante la investigación, los detectives revisaron registros de la empresa, intercambios de mensajes de texto y videos de vigilancia. Los investigadores dijeron que los mensajes mostraban al supervisor pidiéndole repetidamente a Hunter que devolviera el dinero, mientras que Hunter supuestamente respondió que lo devolvería “en sus propios términos”.

Los detectives también revisaron grabaciones de cámaras de seguridad del 22 y 30 de diciembre que supuestamente mostraban a Hunter saliendo del negocio con una bolsa que contenía los depósitos.

El supervisor lo identificó mediante una foto de su licencia de conducir y las grabaciones de vigilancia, según los investigadores.

Posteriormente, la Policía contactó a Hunter por teléfono. Durante la conversación, los investigadores dijeron que Hunter se identificó y admitió que aún tenía el dinero, diciéndoles a los detectives que lo devolvería “cuando tuviera tiempo”.

Según el reporte de arresto, un agente localizó a Hunter el lunes cerca de Brickell Avenue y Southeast 12th Street y lo trasladó a la División Central de Investigaciones para interrogarlo.

Un detective le leyó sus derechos Miranda antes de realizar la entrevista, según el reporte. Los investigadores dijeron que Hunter inicialmente renunció a sus derechos antes de invocarlos poco tiempo después.

Hunter fue arrestado posteriormente por un cargo de hurto mayor en segundo grado y trasladado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

Hasta la mañana del martes, permanecía detenido en TGK. Los registros carcelarios en línea indicaban que su fianza estaba “pendiente por establecer”.

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According to an arrest report obtained Tuesday by Local 10 News, Aubrey Hackett Hunter, 41, of Miami, was taken into custody after a months-long investigation into missing cash deposits from the theater, located at 300 SE Third St.

The investigation began on Jan. 19, when a supervisor at the movie theater discovered that approximately $21,921.23 in company deposits had never been placed into the business bank account, the report stated.

A records review allegedly showed that on Dec. 22, 2025, Hunter left the theater carrying cash deposits totaling $10,803.77. Investigators said he was responsible for taking the money to the bank, but only deposited $2,736.47, leaving $8,067.31 unaccounted for.

The supervisor later discovered that on Dec. 30, 2025, Hunter again left the business with approximately $13,852.92 intended for deposit. According to the report, none of that money was ever deposited.

Police said the money had not been returned as of Jan. 19, and that Hunter had resigned from his position before the theft was reported to authorities.

During the investigation, detectives reviewed company records, text message exchanges and surveillance video. Investigators said text messages showed the supervisor repeatedly asking Hunter to return the money, while Hunter allegedly responded that he would return it “on his terms.”

Detectives also reviewed CCTV footage from Dec. 22 and Dec. 30 that reportedly showed Hunter leaving the business carrying a bag containing the deposits.

The supervisor identified him from both a driver’s license photo and the surveillance footage, according to investigators.

Police later contacted Hunter by phone. During the conversation, investigators said Hunter identified himself and admitted he still had the money, telling detectives he would return it “when he had the time.”

According to the arrest report, an officer located Hunter Monday near Brickell Avenue and Southeast 12th Street and transported him to the Central Investigations Division for questioning.

A detective advised Hunter of his Miranda rights before conducting an interview, according to the report. Investigators said Hunter initially waived his rights before invoking them a short time later.

Hunter was subsequently arrested on a second-degree grand theft charge and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

As of Tuesday morning, he remained held at TGK. Online jail records listed his bond as “to be set.”

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Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was asked about what district she will choose to run for.

“I’m reaching out to leaders across our community and talking to them about how they feel to about what they think about the idea of who represents them,” she said.

It’s possible she runs in District 20, which has historically had an African-American representative.

VOTER GUIDE: Here is how to prepare for Florida’s Aug. 18 primary election

Tension was seemingly already building as former District 20 Rep. Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick, who was at Monday’s event, said she is running once again for the seat she resigned from in April, just prior to an Ethics Committee hearing amid allegations of stealing.

“There’s a fight in the entire south to make sure Black voices are not diluted and Black representation is being held,” Cherfilus-McCormick said.

The discussion comes as voters of District 20 made their stance clear, some of whom were wearing shirts that read “Protect Black Representation.”

“For 34 years, we’ve had Black representation and I think we should keep it that way,” said Lauderhill resident Herbert Waters.

The conversation is taking focus as Florida’s new congressional districts, drafted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, are expected to give Republicans better odds of winning four more seats in the House this November.

Wasserman Shultz has yet to officially announce which district she will be vying for.

“I’m not on anyone’s timetable,” she said. “I’ll have the conversations that I need to and will reach a decision on short order.”

Qualifying closes June 12, which is when voters will know who is running for their district.

A la congresista Debbie Wasserman Schultz le preguntaron en qué distrito planea postularse.

“Estoy contactando a líderes de toda nuestra comunidad y hablando con ellos sobre cómo se sienten y qué piensan sobre la idea de quién los representa”, dijo.

Es posible que se postule en el Distrito 20, que históricamente ha tenido representación afroamericana.

La tensión aparentemente ya comenzaba a aumentar, ya que la ex representante del Distrito 20, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, quien estuvo presente en el evento del lunes, dijo que volverá a postularse para el escaño al que renunció en abril, justo antes de una audiencia del Comité de Ética en medio de acusaciones de robo.

“Hay una lucha en todo el sur para asegurar que las voces negras no sean diluidas y que la representación negra se mantenga”, dijo Cherfilus-McCormick.

La discusión surge mientras votantes del Distrito 20 dejaron clara su postura, algunos de ellos usando camisetas que decían “Protejan la representación negra”.

“Durante 34 años hemos tenido representación negra y creo que debemos mantenerla así”, dijo Herbert Waters, residente de Lauderhill.

La conversación cobra relevancia mientras se espera que los nuevos distritos congresionales de Florida, redactados por el gobernador Ron DeSantis, den a los republicanos mejores posibilidades de ganar cuatro escaños adicionales en la Cámara de Representantes este noviembre.

Wasserman Schultz aún no ha anunciado oficialmente en qué distrito competirá.

“No estoy siguiendo el calendario de nadie”, dijo. “Tendré las conversaciones que necesito y tomaré una decisión en poco tiempo”.

El período de calificación cierra el 12 de junio, fecha en la que los votantes sabrán quién se postula en su distrito.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called it a “preventable tragedy of enormous consequence.”

The indictment names Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd., based in Chennai, India. Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, an Indian national who was technical superintendent for the Dali container ship, was also charged.

The Dali lost power twice in a four-minute span as it moved to sea from the Port of Baltimore, causing it to crash into the Key Bridge on March 24, 2024. Investigators say a loose wire in a switchboard likely caused the first power loss.

If the Dali had used the proper fuel supply pumps, according to the indictment, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely get under the bridge. It crashed instead, killing six construction workers who had been filling potholes.

“As alleged, the bridge was struck and collapsed because those who were responsible for the ship’s operation deliberately cut corners at the expense of safety,” said Jimmy Paul, head of the FBI’s Baltimore office.

The companies and Nair are charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding and false statements. Messages seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The Synergy companies are also charged with misdemeanors for the release of pollutants into the Patapsco River, including shipping containers and their contents.

The FBI investigation into the crash focused on the vessel’s operations and whether the crew knew of critical systems issues before leaving port.

The National Transportation Safety Board found last year that two electrical blackouts — one caused by the loose wire and another by problems with a fuel pump — disabled the controls of the huge cargo ship before it crashed into the bridge.

The Dali was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. The ship crashed into a supporting column of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m.

Maryland officials estimate it could cost between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion to replace the bridge, which is expected to be open to traffic in late 2030.

“The altered skyline is a constant reminder of this tragedy,” Paul said.

But the true cost of the collapse was far greater, according to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. It halted shipping at the Port of Baltimore, disrupted the livelihoods of thousands, rerouted road traffic through communities already bearing disproportionate burdens and triggered economic problems statewide.

The indictment comes on the heels of a settlement in principle between the State of Maryland, Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Singapore-based ship owner, Attorney General Anthony Brown announced in April.

That lawsuit alleged the crash was the result of negligence, mismanagement and the reckless operation of a vessel that was not seaworthy and should never have left port. Plaintiffs include the families of the six construction workers who died, owners of cargo that was on the ship and local governments seeking damages for economic losses. The details of the settlement haven’t been disclosed and some portions of the lawsuit remain unresolved.

The state sought damages on behalf of its agencies for the destruction of the bridge, harm to the Patapsco River and surrounding environment, lost revenues and economic losses to Maryland and its residents.

The settlement does not resolve any claims the state has against the shipbuilder, Hyundai, the attorney general’s office said in April.

The bridge, a longstanding Baltimore landmark, was a vital piece of transportation infrastructure that allowed drivers to easily bypass downtown. The original 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) steel span took five years to build and opened to traffic in 1977.

___

White reported from Detroit.

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Officials said 11 people were hospitalized following the sudden explosion that occurred around 2 p.m.

Jim Scott said getting the call that his wife Paola had been rushed to the hospital was unnerving, and the reason why was unexpected.

“Wy wife has burns on over 50% of her body, on her stomach, and both legs, and right arm,” he said. “I am thinking car accident -- last thing on my mind is a boat blew up. One of my wife’s friends doesn’t know how to swim, so she helped her to shore.”

That friend, 62-year-old Ruth Gutierrez, has since been discharged from the hospital.

Gutierrez returned to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with her daughter, Samantha Peña, Monday to visit her friends who are still recovering inside.

“She said her injury is minor compared to the rest. Her right arm, a part of her body, back and hair was burned as well. She thinks the hat she was wearing covered and saved her face,” Peña said. “Her whole body hurts.”

Gutierrez credits her friend, Paola, with saving her life.

“Her friend who is worse off than her helped her come back up to the boat,” said Peña, adding that her mother mentioned that she smelled gasoline before the explosion. “The only thing she remembers is that they were singing happy birthday, she said about the smell, and then a couple of minutes after, everything exploded. She remembers that someone replied and said that was a normal thing, but she doesn’t know who was it.”

Added Scott: “They went to light a candle on the birthday cake and struck the match and then woo, it blew up.”

Seasoned boat captain Patrick Lee says he witnessed the explosion.

“A gasoline explosion is just, whoosh, quick and it is just terrible,” he said. “When we looked back out, we saw three people flying off the boat and a puff of smoke.”

Jackson Memorial Hospital staff are also caring for Adriana Rojas.

Her husband, Anthony Torres, said she is suffering from severe burn injuries.

“I know nine of them were submitted here, two of them got away without a scratch, which is a miracle and it is a miracle that no one was killed,” he said. “She was screaming, ‘Help me! Help me! I’m burned! The boat blew up! Help me! Help me!’”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the cause of the explosion.

There has been no word on whether the boat captain or charter company will face any citations or charges.

Las autoridades dijeron que 11 personas fueron hospitalizadas tras la repentina explosión ocurrida alrededor de las 2 p.m.

Jim Scott dijo que recibir la llamada informándole que su esposa Paola había sido trasladada de emergencia al hospital fue angustiante, y la razón fue inesperada.

“Mi esposa tiene quemaduras en más del 50% de su cuerpo, en el estómago, ambas piernas y el brazo derecho”, dijo. “Estoy pensando en un accidente de auto, lo último que imaginaba es que un bote explotó. Una de las amigas de mi esposa no sabe nadar, así que ella la ayudó a llegar a la orilla”.

Esa amiga, Ruth Gutierrez, de 62 años, ya fue dada de alta del hospital.

Gutierrez regresó el lunes al Centro de Trauma Ryder del Hospital Jackson Memorial junto a su hija, Samantha Peña, para visitar a sus amigos que continúan recuperándose.

“Ella dijo que su lesión es menor comparada con la del resto. También sufrió quemaduras en el brazo derecho, parte de su cuerpo, espalda y cabello. Cree que el sombrero que llevaba puesto cubrió y salvó su rostro”, dijo Peña. “Le duele todo el cuerpo”.

Gutierrez atribuye a su amiga Paola haberle salvado la vida.

“Su amiga, que está peor que ella, la ayudó a volver a subir al bote”, dijo Peña, agregando que su madre mencionó haber olido gasolina antes de la explosión. “Lo único que recuerda es que estaban cantando cumpleaños feliz, ella comentó sobre el olor y luego, un par de minutos después, todo explotó. Recuerda que alguien respondió y dijo que eso era algo normal, pero no sabe quién fue”.

Scott agregó: “Fueron a encender una vela en el pastel de cumpleaños, prendieron el fósforo y luego boom, explotó”.

El experimentado capitán de bote Patrick Lee dijo que fue testigo de la explosión.

“Una explosión de gasolina es simplemente, whoosh, rápida y terrible”, dijo. “Cuando miramos hacia atrás, vimos a tres personas salir volando del bote y una nube de humo”.

El personal del Hospital Jackson Memorial también atiende a Adriana Rojas.

Su esposo, Anthony Torres, dijo que ella sufre graves quemaduras.

“Sé que nueve de ellos fueron admitidos aquí, dos salieron sin un rasguño, lo cual es un milagro, y es un milagro que nadie haya muerto”, dijo. “Ella estaba gritando: ‘¡Ayúdenme! ¡Ayúdenme! ¡Estoy quemada! ¡El bote explotó! ¡Ayúdenme! ¡Ayúdenme!’”

La Comisión de Conservación de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de Florida investiga la causa de la explosión.

No se ha informado si el capitán del bote o la compañía de alquiler enfrentarán citaciones o cargos.

“Ha sido un infierno”, dijo la residente Michele Swan.

“Es un desastre”, agregó William Swan.

“Hay ruido, la casa tiembla”, dijo el propietario Mark Gilden.

“Pensé que mi casa se iba a derrumbar”, dijo Sara Albornoz, de 83 años.

Los residentes, muchos retirados y de entre 70 y 80 años, viven justo al este del Hospital Memorial Regional, a lo largo de las calles Grant, Hayes y Garfield. Durante años, el Distrito Hospitalario South Broward ha comprado viviendas en el vecindario como parte de los enormes planes de expansión del Hospital Memorial Regional. Muchas de esas viviendas ya fueron demolidas.

Los residentes que permanecen dicen que los lotes vacíos a su alrededor ahora están siendo utilizados para estacionamiento, áreas de construcción, almacenamiento de equipos y oficinas temporales relacionadas con el proyecto de expansión del hospital. Solo queda un pequeño grupo de propietarios.

Algunos residentes pensaban pasar el resto de sus vidas allí.

En cambio, dicen que su vecindario ha desaparecido lentamente a su alrededor.

“Estoy lidiando con mi esposo que está muy enfermo”, dijo Albornoz.

Alexandra Grada dijo que la actividad de construcción ha cambiado la vida diaria de su familia.

“Ahora tengo un niño pequeño y un recién nacido y ni siquiera hemos podido caminar por nuestro propio vecindario”, dijo.

“¿Es justo quitarnos lo que hemos trabajado toda nuestra vida?”, preguntó Michele Swan.

A pesar de sus frustraciones, los residentes insisten en que no intentan detener la expansión del hospital.

“El hospital tiene que expandirse. Lo entiendo”, dijo Gilden.

Aun así, los residentes dicen que el proceso para comprar sus propiedades se ha vuelto injusto.

“Vamos a perder esta casa”, dijo William Swan.

Los residentes dijeron a Local 10 que se hicieron ofertas hace años, pero aseguran que las negociaciones luego se estancaron.

“No, no he escuchado nada más, ni del distrito hospitalario ni de la ciudad”, dijo Gilden.

Siete propietarios ahora han contratado al abogado Kyle Teal, quien se especializa en derechos de propiedad y asuntos de dominio eminente.

“Están viviendo en medio de una zona de construcción”, dijo Teal.

“Ha habido algunas negociaciones, pero no es lo que considero de buena fe”, agregó.

Teal dijo que los residentes quieren que el distrito hospitalario inicie formalmente procedimientos de dominio eminente en lugar de continuar con lo que él describe como negociaciones voluntarias fragmentadas.

“Eso garantiza un proceso justo. Los propietarios están protegidos”, dijo Teal.

Teal asegura que el distrito hospitalario se ha negado a iniciar ese proceso y en su lugar ha intentado negociar directamente con los propietarios de manera individual.

“No soy capaz de negociar con el distrito hospitalario por mi cuenta”, dijo Gilden.

“No quieren que esta sea una historia sobre quitarle la propiedad a la gente, pero la realidad es que eso es lo que está pasando”, dijo Teal.

Los residentes también dicen que no pueden permitirse mudarse con las ofertas que han recibido.

“Recibimos una oferta que era el valor de mercado en ese momento, pero ahora ni siquiera podemos comprar una vivienda equivalente con esa cantidad de dinero”, dijo Grada.

“No podría pagar los impuestos ni el costo de vida en otro lugar”, dijo William Swan.

“Nos están quitando nuestra propiedad y no quieren compensarnos por la expansión de donde tenemos que ir”, dijo Michele Swan.

“Lo único que tenemos es nuestra seguridad”, dijo. “Esto ya está pagado para que podamos vivir, podamos sobrevivir con nuestros dos cheques”.

“Incluso si compráramos una casa, no podemos pagar los impuestos hoy según lo que nos dicen otras personas que están pagando”, agregó.

Los residentes también cuestionan cómo y por qué la Ciudad de Hollywood ha permitido áreas de construcción y estacionamiento en un vecindario zonificado para viviendas unifamiliares mientras todavía hay personas viviendo allí.

La Ciudad de Hollywood dijo a Local 10 que el uso fue permitido porque el terreno es propiedad de Memorial y está ubicado cerca del área de construcción.

“Ellos dijeron que querían habilitar esto para estacionamiento y almacenamiento de equipos, y nosotros lo permitimos”, dijo Joann Hussey, portavoz de la Ciudad de Hollywood.

“Pensamos que esto tendría el menor impacto posible”, dijo Hussey.

Los residentes que viven allí no están de acuerdo.

“Tuve que pedirle a un camión de volteo que se moviera para poder salir de mi entrada”, dijo William Swan.

“El ruido despertó a mi bebé dos veces a las 7 a.m.”, dijo Grada sobre su hija recién nacida.

Russell Long, principal funcionario de construcción de la ciudad, reconoció que algunas quejas eran legítimas.

“Algunas están justificadas”, dijo Long.

Teal cree que las condiciones actuales alrededor de las viviendas restantes están influyendo en las decisiones de los residentes sobre quedarse o vender.

“Francamente, están tratando de desgastarlos”, dijo Teal.

Una carta de noviembre de 2025 obtenida por Local 10 informó a los propietarios sobre interrupciones relacionadas con el proyecto de expansión y ofreció tasaciones independientes a los residentes interesados en vender.

En una declaración escrita a Local 10, el Distrito Hospitalario South Broward indicó que todas las compras de viviendas en el vecindario son voluntarias y que a los propietarios interesados en vender se les ofrece el valor justo de mercado respaldado por tasaciones independientes.

El distrito también indicó que continúa abierto a negociaciones con los propietarios y sus abogados y que sigue comprometido a ser “un vecino receptivo y transparente” durante la expansión del hospital.

El distrito indicó que el proyecto de expansión del Hospital Memorial Regional representa una de las mayores inversiones en atención médica en la región en años y ampliará el acceso a servicios de salud para los residentes del sur de Florida.

Local 10 News también preguntó al Sistema de Salud Memorial por qué no se han iniciado procedimientos de dominio eminente relacionados con las viviendas restantes.

El distrito hospitalario indicó que está eligiendo intencionalmente no recurrir al dominio eminente, argumentando que las negociaciones voluntarias brindan a los propietarios más flexibilidad, más control sobre los tiempos y la posibilidad de decidir si desean vender y cuándo hacerlo.

Memorial indicó que el dominio eminente podría obligar finalmente a los propietarios a enfrentar largos procesos judiciales y eliminar su capacidad de decisión por completo.

Teal argumenta que el proceso voluntario actual deja a los residentes en desventaja.

“Su único comprador potencial tiene toda la ventaja y ellos no tienen ninguna”, dijo.

Teal dijo que está evaluando opciones legales adicionales para sus clientes.

Los residentes dicen que lo que finalmente quieren es algo simple.

“Todo lo que queremos es honestidad y justicia”, dijo Michele Swan.

“Solo quiero un acuerdo justo negociado por un profesional que vele por mis intereses y estoy listo para irme”, dijo Gilden.

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“It’s been hell,” said resident Michele Swan.

“It’s a disaster,” added William Swan.

“There’s noise, the house shakes,” said homeowner Mark Gilden.

“I thought my house was going to cave in,” said 83-year-old Sara Albornoz.

The residents, many retired and in their 70s and 80s, live just east of Memorial Regional Hospital along Grant, Hayes and Garfield streets. For years, the South Broward Hospital District has been buying homes in the neighborhood as part of Memorial Regional Hospital’s massive expansion plans. Many of those homes have already been demolished.

Residents who remain say vacant lots around them are now being used for parking, construction staging, equipment storage and temporary offices tied to the hospital’s expansion project. Only a handful of homeowners remain.

Some residents thought they would spend the rest of their lives there.

Instead, they say their neighborhood has slowly disappeared around them.

“I’m dealing with my husband that is very ill,” Albornoz said.

Alexandra Grada said construction activity has changed daily life for her family.

“I now have a toddler and a fresh newborn and we now have not even been able to walk in our own neighborhood,” she said.

“Is it fair to pull out of the bottom of us what we work all our life for?” Michele Swan asked.

Despite their frustrations, residents insist they are not trying to stop the hospital’s expansion.

“The hospital has to expand. I understand that,” Gilden said.

Still, residents say the process of buying them out has become unfair.

“We’re gonna lose this house,” William Swan said.

Residents told Local 10 offers were made years ago, but they claim negotiations later stalled.

“No, I haven’t heard anything else -- not from the hospital district or from the city,” Gilden said.

Seven homeowners have now hired attorney Kyle Teal, who specializes in property rights and eminent domain issues.

“They’re living in the middle of a construction zone,” Teal said.

“There’s been some negotiating, but it’s not what I consider to be in good faith,” he added.

Teal said residents want the hospital district to formally begin eminent domain proceedings rather than continue what he describes as piecemeal voluntary negotiations.

“It ensures a fair process. Property owners are protected,” Teal said.

Teal claims the hospital district has refused to begin that process and instead has attempted to negotiate directly with homeowners individually.

“I’m not capable of negotiating with the hospital district on my own,” Gilden said.

“They don’t want this to be a story about taking people’s property, but the reality is that’s what’s happening,” Teal said.

Residents also say they cannot afford to relocate using the offers they have received.

“We got an offer that was market value at the time, but now we can’t even buy an equivalent home with that amount of money,” Grada said.

“I couldn’t afford the taxes or the cost of living someplace else,” William Swan said.

“You’re taking our property and you don’t want to compensate for the expansion of where we have to go,” Michele Swan said.

“We only have our self security,” she said. “This is paid off so we can live, we can survive on our two checks.”

“Even if we got the house, we can’t afford the taxes today according to people that are telling us how much they’re paying in taxes,” she added.

Residents are also questioning how and why the City of Hollywood has allowed construction staging and parking areas in a neighborhood zoned single-family residential while people are still living there.

The City of Hollywood told Local 10 the use was permitted because the land is owned by Memorial and located close to the construction area.

“They said we are looking to do this enabling, parking, equipment storage, and we permitted it,” said Joann Hussey, a spokesperson for the City of Hollywood.

“We thought this would be the least amount of impact,” Hussey said.

Residents living there disagree.

“I had to ask a dump truck to move out so I could get out of my driveway,” William Swan said.

“The noise woke her up twice at 7 a.m.,” Grada said of her newborn child.

Russell Long, the city’s chief building official, acknowledged some complaints were legitimate.

“Some of them are justified,” Long said.

Teal believes the current conditions surrounding the remaining homes are influencing residents’ decisions about whether to stay or sell.

“Frankly, they’re trying to wear them down,” Teal said.

A November 2025 letter obtained by Local 10 informed homeowners of disruptions tied to the expansion project and offered independent appraisals for residents interested in selling.

In a written statement to Local 10, the South Broward Hospital District said all home purchases in the neighborhood are voluntary and that homeowners who wish to sell are offered fair market value supported by independent appraisals.

The district also said it remains open to negotiations with homeowners and their attorneys and remains committed to being “a responsive and transparent neighbor” during the hospital’s expansion.

The district said Memorial Regional Hospital’s expansion project represents one of the largest healthcare investments in the region in years and will expand healthcare access for South Florida residents.

Local 10 News also asked Memorial Healthcare System why eminent domain proceedings have not been initiated involving the remaining homes.

The hospital district says it is intentionally choosing not to pursue eminent domain, arguing voluntary negotiations give homeowners more flexibility, more control over timing and the ability to decide whether and when to sell.

Memorial says eminent domain could ultimately force homeowners into lengthy court proceedings and remove their choice altogether.

Teal argues the current voluntary process leaves residents at a disadvantage.

“Their only potential buyer holds all the leverage and they hold none,” he said.

Teal said he is weighing additional legal options for his clients.

Residents say what they ultimately want is simple.

“That’s all we want is honesty and fairness,” Michele Swan said.

“I just want a fair deal negotiated by a professional in my best interest and I’m ready to go,” Gilden said.

Ahora, tras una investigación de un año sobre otra balacera fatal en la que estuvo involucrado meses antes, la Fiscalía Estatal de Miami-Dade determinó que su uso de fuerza letal estuvo justificado.

El lunes, las autoridades divulgaron el video de la cámara corporal de ese caso.

Fue el 13 de abril de 2025 cuando Jaramillo respondió a una disputa doméstica que involucraba a Kelly Hudson y su esposa separada en una vivienda del suroeste del condado Miami-Dade.

Según los investigadores, la esposa de Hudson llamó al 911 varias veces, indicando que su esposo la había seguido desde Georgia hasta el sur de Florida.

Ella le dijo a los despachadores que intentaba esconderse en la casa de sus padres porque Hudson era violento, la había estado acosando y lastimando, y estaba armado.

El video de la cámara corporal muestra a Hudson saliendo de un vehículo mientras seguía las órdenes del agente. Cuando le preguntaron si estaba armado, Hudson levantó su camisa, revelando un arma en la cintura.

Los investigadores dicen que Hudson luego llevó la mano hacia el arma, lo que provocó que Jaramillo abriera fuego.

La Fiscalía Estatal indicó que el agente le ordenó repetidamente a Hudson que no tomara el arma, pero cuando Hudson continuó moviéndose hacia ella, el agente disparó varias veces.

Hudson fue trasladado al hospital, donde posteriormente murió.

Tras revisar el video de la cámara corporal, declaraciones de testigos y evidencia, la Fiscalía Estatal concluyó que el uso de fuerza letal por parte de Jaramillo estuvo legalmente justificado.

Leer en español

Now, after a year-long investigation into another deadly shooting that he was involved in months earlier, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office found his use of deadly force was justified.

On Monday, authorities released the body-worn camera video from that case.

It was on April 13, 2025, when Jaramillo responded to a domestic dispute involving Kelly Hudson and his estranged wife at a southwest Miami-Dade County home.

According to investigators, Hudson’s wife called 911 multiple times, saying her husband had followed her from Georgia to South Florida.

She told dispatchers she was trying to hide at her parents’ home because Hudson was violent, had been stalking and hurting her, and was armed.

Body camera video shows Hudson stepping out of a car while following the deputy’s commands. When asked if he was armed, Hudson is seen lifting his shirt, revealing a gun in his waistband.

Investigators say Hudson then reached toward the weapon, prompting Jaramillo to open fire.

The State Attorney’s Office says the deputy repeatedly ordered Hudson not to reach for the gun, but when Hudson continued moving toward it, the deputy fired several times.

Hudson was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

After reviewing the body camera video, witness statements, and evidence, the State Attorney’s Office concluded Jaramillo’s use of deadly force was legally justified.

Según el informe, Leroy Wright Jr., de 46 años y residente de Miami, fue arrestado el viernes por cargos de delitos contra estudiantes por parte de figuras de autoridad, actividad sexual ilegal con un menor y representación de material obsceno que involucra a un menor.

La policía dijo que la directora de Miami Jackson Senior High School recibió un correo electrónico el 28 de abril de una persona que le informó que Wright, maestro de lectura en la escuela, tenía “una relación” con un estudiante.

La directora presentó finalmente un “informe del modelo de investigación de personal” ante la Oficina de Estándares Profesionales de M-DCPS el jueves pasado, y el informe fue luego remitido al Departamento de Policía Escolar de Miami-Dade, según el documento.

Según el informe, la policía entrevistó el jueves a la persona que envió el correo electrónico a la directora, y esa persona identificó a la víctima.

La policía dijo que luego entrevistó a la víctima en su hogar, en presencia de su madre, y el estudiante les contó que conoció a Wright al inicio del año escolar cuando el maestro se le acercó y le pidió unirse al Club de Primer Año, del cual Wright era el patrocinador adulto.

La policía dijo que el estudiante se unió al club.

Según el informe, la víctima declaró que el primer incidente sexual ocurrió el 29 de abril cuando abrazó a su maestro al salir del salón de clases de Wright.

La policía dijo que el estudiante afirmó que Wright le devolvió el abrazo y luego lo besó durante aproximadamente 6 minutos mientras lo manoseaba.

Wright también besó al estudiante el 1 de mayo y lo manoseó ese día y mientras lo llevaba a casa en su auto el 4 de mayo, según las autoridades.

Según el informe, Wright renunció a sus derechos Miranda y proporcionó algún tipo de admisión, aunque su declaración exacta ante los detectives fue redactada del informe divulgado públicamente.

La policía dijo que Wright fue informado antes de su arresto de que el teléfono celular de la víctima había sido “examinado forenses.”

Fue ingresado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight el viernes y permanecía allí el lunes por la mañana sin fianza.

El distrito escolar publicó un comunicado el fin de semana confirmando que Wright sería despedido.

“El tipo de comportamiento del que se acusa a este individuo no será tolerado, ya que va en contra de la conducta profesional que esperamos de todos nuestros empleados”, decía el comunicado. “El Distrito ha iniciado procedimientos de terminación de empleo y se asegurará de que el individuo no pueda buscar empleo futuro en el Distrito. En M-DCPS, la seguridad y el bienestar de todos los estudiantes siguen siendo nuestra máxima prioridad.”

On the last Friday of every month, Calle Ocho transforms into a celebration of music, dancing, art and culture for Viernes Culturales — a monthly event designed to bring people together while keeping the neighborhood’s identity alive.

“We are having a wonderful time. We are old people but we are enjoying life,” said Elena Estopinai, who visits Viernes Culturales.

Estopinai said the city of Hialeah buses her group to the event every month from a community center.

“Things are less expensive. That’s a big plus. And we can sing, dance and enjoy the friendship,” she said.

“Viernes Culturales is the one event that unites us all,” said Viernes Culturales interim Director Denise Galvez Turros.

Galvez Turros said the monthly gathering is rooted in connection through culture — bringing awareness to the area, its rich history and the ongoing effort to protect it. The event has long brought together the neighborhoods surrounding Little Havana, connecting not just Cuban communities, but people and traditions from across Latin America and beyond — reflected in the food, art and music on display.

“Developers are calling it West Brickell. We’re like, ‘No, this is Little Havana and what unites us is the neighbors and the businesses that care about that. That care about preserving the community,’” said Galvez Turros. “We decided we’re gonna do this. We’re gonna make sure to give first dibs to the local artists -- the local residents of the neighborhood, so that they can show their artistry.”

The plaza outside Domino Park fills with live music, dancing, local vendors and artists during the event.

Annie M, of Futurama Gallery, said the neighborhood’s roots are personal to many who participate.

“I was born and raised in this area. I went to school around here. It’s my home. It’s the heart -- you know what I mean?” Annie M said.

Viernes Culturales also features a free monthly walking history tour focused on the neighborhood’s landmarks, stories and cultural significance.

Organizers said the tours help younger generations stay connected to Little Havana’s identity and traditions.

“We’re sharing those stories. Making people care,” Galvez Turros said. “The next generation -- my children, my grandchildren -- are gonna care because of those stories we share and that only happens because of Viernes Culturales.”

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

A fisherman on the island of Lefkada found the craft inside a coastal cave on May 7 and towed it close to a nearby harbor. It was moved a day later to a naval base on the mainland for inspection and the explosives were later destroyed, according to Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT.

“We have certainty now that it is a Ukrainian USV,” Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said, referring to the drone as an unmanned surface vehicle.

Ukrainian authorities didn’t immediately return a request seeking comment.

Dendias made the remarks in Brussels at a meeting of European Union defense ministers, saying that he would raise the issue with his European colleagues and with the Ukrainian officials directly.

“You understand that the presence of that USV — the drone, the sea drone — affects the freedom of navigation and affects also the security of navigation,” Dendias said. “This is an extremely serious issue.”

Ukraine has used surface drones to attack Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea, and more recently to target tankers used to transport Russian oil as part of an illicit network when returning empty as part of a campaign to hammer Moscow's energy exports.

Greek authorities gave no further details of the drone, while Greek naval experts said that its features resemble Ukrainian Magura-type craft — a platform developed by Ukraine's intelligence service.

Lefkada, off the west coast of the Greek mainland, is on a busy waterway between Greece and Italy, and is popular with tourists traveling by yacht or ferry, as well as commercial vessels. “It appears that the (drone) suffered some malfunction and was moving in an uncontrolled way,” Stefanos Gikas, a Greek deputy minister for maritime affairs, told public television on Monday. “So this craft — a black thing without navigation and carrying explosives — could have struck a tourist vessel.”

The heightening drone-led confrontation between Ukraine and the invading Russian military has led to multiple incidents on the territory of NATO and EU member states — the incursions mostly involving suspected Russian drones entering their airspace.

“They are violating our airspace. And it’s very clear that inside the European Union we should rearrange our capacities, our capabilities, in order to decrease this type of violations,” Romanian Defense Minister Radu-Dinel Miruța said in Brussels on Tuesday.

“It is very important to understand that this is a common threat,” he said. “It is happening on the entire eastern flank.”

___

Lorne Cook reported from Brussels. Theodora Tongas contributed to this report.

’’Children crying, and even babies,” said Ross, the French widow of a U.S. military veteran, whose arrest last month as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown made international headlines.

Ross spoke to The Associated Press on Monday about her 16 days in federal immigration custody after being arrested on April 1 in Alabama following an alleged visa overstay, and the late-in-life love story that brought her to the United States. She has been released and returned to France.

The experience in detention, she said, changed her and her view of politics.

She was held in a dormitory-style room with 58 other women, mostly mothers. ‘’Some of them didn’t know where their children were,'' she said. ‘’I think it’s terrible for a woman not to know where her children are.”

Her arrest in Alabama unfolded so quickly that she barely understood what was happening. Five men, who identified themselves as immigration officers, banged on her door and windows at 8 a.m. before handcuffing her and placing her in a vehicle, she said. She was still wearing her bathrobe, slippers and pajamas.

She was transferred two days later to a facility in Basile, Louisiana. Later that month she was freed. She is now recovering in a suburb of Nantes in western France with her family. The French foreign minister had publicly called for her release, saying that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement methods are “not in line” with French standards.

Ross had entered the U.S. to start a new life with William B. Ross, a retired U.S. soldier she had met decades earlier when he was stationed in France in the 1950s and she was a secretary at NATO. They married in April 2025.

After he died of natural causes in January, a dispute emerged over his estate. An Alabama judge found that Ross’ stepson, a U.S. federal employee, allegedly intervened to prompt her placement in immigration custody.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Ross had overstayed her 90-day visa at the time of her arrest. The AP on Tuesday sought comment from DHS, which previously didn’t respond to requests.

Ross described strict rules and constant shouting from guards and condescending treatment at the detention facility in Louisiana.

“The prison was clean, the food was okay, but it was the way they spoke to us,” she told the AP. “The guards could not speak without yelling.”

She described the place as noisy. ’’Everybody was talking loudly so everybody could hear what they were saying, but when silence came, you could hear children crying and even babies crying,″ she said. ’’There’s babies in this jail.″

Despite the conditions, Ross described moments of solidarity among detainees. “During the night, if my bed cover slipped away, I felt a small hand putting it back,” she said. “I didn’t know who it was, but they pampered me because I was older than them.”

She said the women called her “Grandma.” She kept a handmade friendship bracelet given to her by another detainee, a gift she wears today.

Family members said Ross is still struggling with memory gaps and emotional distress following her detention. She said she wants to seek medical follow-up in France to address symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress and is receiving support.

Ross said she continues to think about the women she met in custody, most of them from South America. Many were mothers separated from their children.

Her experience changed the way she sees the United States and its immigration policies, Ross said. Her husband was a Trump supporter and they used to watch Fox News together. But she was shocked to learn firsthand how immigrants are treated inside immigration facilities.

She used to view the U.S. as a “country of freedom, where people are not arrested based on how they look, and where those who are detained are treated fairly and with respect.” But the women she met did not deserve to be detained, she said. “Their only fault was to be South American.”

As she recovers in France, Ross still thinks about them: “When I left this jail in Louisiana, I told them that if I ever had the chance to speak about them, I would do it, to help them.”

From above, the plant forms dense, almost carpet-like mats that stretch across the surface. Up close, its long strands extend deep below the water, with roots reaching toward the lagoon bed, making it difficult to remove completely.

The scenes are unfolding in Colombia’s Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta, a vast coastal wetland on the Caribbean coast about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the city of Santa Marta. What was until recently a lifeline for fishing and transport is now being choked by dense vegetation, turning it into what he describes as an unfolding environmental crisis.

“What we’re seeing here today is a problem. One that affects not only movement or fishing, but the community as a whole,” said 32-year-old Cantillo, a local environmental and social leader from Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta.

Over the past year, residents say the fast-growing invasive plant native to Asia — Hydrilla verticillata — has spread rapidly across the wetland after first appearing around mid-2025. The dense vegetation, which some locals refer to as “horse tail,” is choking fishing routes, clogging waterways and restricting access to areas where residents collect water, while driving up costs in communities that rely almost entirely on the lagoon for their livelihoods.

The Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta is one of Colombia’s most important fishing ecosystems, serving as a nursery for many species.

In Nueva Venecia and Buenavista — two isolated fishing communities built almost entirely on wooden stilts over the water — large swaths of open water are now covered by the invasive plant. The communities themselves are largely informal and exist outside many basic state services.

Nueva Venecia — the older of the two, founded in 1847 as a fishing settlement — is home to roughly 4,500 people living in about 500 colorful houses. Buenavista, which emerged in the 1950s, has around 1,150 residents and 163 similarly vibrant homes, where residents travel between houses, shops and schools by small boats or canoes.

"A year ago, there were canoes fishing here. Teachers and students crossing the lagoon. Today, what we see is a problem,” Cantillo said.

A growing crisis for fishing communities

The impact is rippling through already vulnerable communities. Fish catches have dropped, transport has become more difficult and families are facing rising costs as they are forced to buy potable water.

In Nueva Venecia, one small-scale fisherman stood shirtless in the midday heat, pulling brittle strands of dried vegetation from his fishing nets, which he had laid out in the sun to make them easier to clean.

“We can’t work because of this plant,” said 61-year-old Santander Cueto. “It doesn’t let us cast our nets — everything gets tangled.”

What was once a routine task now takes significantly longer.

“The lagoon's completely covered. There’s nowhere left to fish,” said Demóstenes Guerrero, 58, a fisherman and representative of a fishing association in Buenavista.

In some areas, groups of residents head out in wooden boats to cut narrow “lifeline” passages through the thickest vegetation, allowing canoes to pass without getting their propellers tangled. These efforts are labor-intensive and largely driven by the community itself, and must be repeated every few days as the fast-growing plant quickly closes the routes again.

The wetland spans about 428,000 hectares (1,600 square miles) of lagoons, mangroves and marshes — roughly the size of Los Angeles — and has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2000.

Pollution and changing water flows fuel the spread

The Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta is fed by the Magdalena River — one of Colombia’s main waterways — which carries untreated wastewater from across much of the country, said Julián Arbelaez, a water and sanitation engineer working in the region.

That influx of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, creates ideal conditions for invasive species when water slows in wetlands like this one.

“That load causes the river to enter a state of eutrophication,” Arbelaez said, referring to a process in which excess nutrients fuel rapid plant growth.

The vegetation is also cutting off access to cleaner water sources. Residents typically travel by boat to collect freshwater from channels connected to the Magdalena River, but many of those routes are now blocked. As a result, Arbelaez said, people are increasingly collecting water closer to their homes — often in areas contaminated by untreated sewage.

Residents say another invasive plant, Eichhornia crassipes, which floats on the water’s surface, has long been present in the lagoon and also disrupts fishing and transport, though its impact has been less sudden.

Local leaders say changes in water flow have also contributed to the crisis, with freshwater now dominating areas where saltwater once helped suppress or kill Hydrilla verticillata.

Sandra Vilardy, a professor at Universidad de los Andes who has a doctorate in ecology and who has worked in the region for about 20 years, said there is still limited research on how the plant arrived and that current explanations remain hypotheses.

She said one of the most likely pathways is maritime transport, with the plant potentially entering through major river systems before spreading into wetlands through smaller vessels and dredging activity. A second possibility, she said, is the release of aquarium plants into waterways, a common cause of biological invasions globally, though she noted that explanation appears less likely in this case given the region’s environmental conditions.

Communities say response has been slow and insufficient

“This is a monster in terms of growth,” Cantillo said, describing how it spread from a limited presence early last year to surrounding entire communities within months.

Even attempts to remove it can make the situation worse, as fragments can break off and spread further. Residents say efforts to remove the plant have largely been limited to small-scale manual clearing by fishermen and sporadic pilot efforts by authorities, with no effective large-scale solution in place.

The crisis is now pushing some residents to consider leaving altogether.

“We now face a risk that we didn’t have 20 or 25 years ago — the risk of mass displacement,” Cantillo said.

Protests and road blockades have already taken place as frustration grows over what locals describe as a slow and insufficient government response.

Alfredo Martínez, director of CORPAMAG, the regional environmental authority, said Hydrilla verticillata is not officially classified as an invasive species in Colombia and that national guidelines for its control are still pending. He said monitoring and removal efforts are underway with local community involvement, adding that no further expansion has been observed since March and that lower water levels may be slowing its spread.

César Rodríguez Ayala, a community leader in Nueva Venecia, said the crisis is affecting nearly every aspect of life.

“If the fisherman can’t work, the shop doesn’t sell,” he said. “We are living a very difficult situation, economically and environmentally.”

While mechanical removal methods exist, complete eradication is unlikely in the short term due to high costs and limited capacity, according to Cantillo.

“We are part of Colombia too,” Rodríguez said. “We live on the water, but we also deserve to be seen — and helped — in a moment like this.”

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

The Associated Press was allowed to witness the Swedish-led military exercise this week as Europe faces not only the threat of Russia but the wavering of NATO’s most powerful member, the United States.

The war game that also involved U.S. forces played out with a real threat in mind. For months, Russia has ramped up sabotage including cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and disinformation against countries across Europe, as detailed by an AP investigation.

The war game scenario — with the Swedish island of Gotland in theory facing power outages and food shortages because of sabotage — tested what NATO members might do before NATO’s collective defense clause, Article 5, has been invoked.

“In theory, it could happen tomorrow,” said Rear Adm. Jonas Wikström, director of the exercise.

Europe considers Trump's volatile approach to NATO

Sweden’s chief of defense, Gen. Michael Claesson, noted that the U.S. is Europe’s most militarily capable ally so “any change in the American presence” affects the overall dynamics. He told the AP that announcements by President Donald Trump of troop reductions in Europe are interpreted “as the Americans are leaving — and they are not.”

Europe’s military leaders, however, are watching closely how Trump and his administration treat NATO, which Trump has described as a “paper tiger.” Most recently, he has ordered the withdrawal of at least 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany and threatens to remove more.

Trump also has criticized allies, and NATO, for not coming to the aid of the U.S. in the Iran war, while U.S. air defense systems and missiles have been moved toward the Middle East from Europe, raising concerns about gaps in protection. Some European nations have been told they will face delays to their orders of U.S. weapons.

Claesson denied that recent announcements — including that of a “hybrid navy” by a group of Nordic and Baltic nations, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands — was a hedge against a possible future where the U.S. does not come to the aid of NATO allies.

But, he said, “everything that offers European allies freedom of action is good.”

The U.K. and Norway also aim to build a combined frigate fleet, said Marte Gerhardsen, state secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Defense.

Ukrainian drone forces destroy Swedish troops in exercise

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he also has paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine and at times aligned with Moscow in negotiations to end the war.

In the war game scenario this week, Ukrainian forces had a chance to demonstrate what they have learned on the battlefield and why their country might be a worthy NATO member.

A group of Ukrainian drone pilots, invited to teach Western forces how to win at drone warfare, destroyed Sweden’s troops in an exercise, a 24-year-old drone pilot told the AP.

“They stopped the training three times” for troops to work out what to do better, but if it were real life they would have been dead, he said, giving his call sign Tarik in line with Ukrainian military regulations.

Swedish troops have potential but need to improve their drones and tactics and commanders need a deeper understanding of drone warfare, said another pilot with the call sign Karat.

He described flying small, first-person-view attack drones on the front line against Russian forces. Sometimes drone pilots are supported by reconnaissance drone teams but other times they are “working blindly.”

Western forces cannot understand what it is like, he added: “You need to see this with your own eyes.”

All Western forces need to “learn rapidly” how to perform drone and counter-drone operations, and the “fastest” way is to listen to the Ukrainians, Claesson said.

“What they’ve taught us is you have to really focus on your survivability and how you can’t be detected,” said Brig. Gen. Curtis King with the U.S. military. At the same time, he said, Western nations need to focus on “deep” detection capabilities to spot drones from far away.

Such knowledge is desperately needed along Russia’s border with NATO where there has been a spate of drone incursions in recent months, including from Ukrainian drones sent off course by Russian jamming.

The goal is to have systems that work together so that radar made by different companies in different countries can be integrated to share data and track threats, King said. That process has started but, “we’re not there yet.”

Putin could use Gotland to test the alliance

The war game exercise focused on the Swedish island of Gotland because it is strategically located in the Baltic Sea between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad – where Moscow has stationed missiles – and Sweden.

“If you control Gotland, you pretty much control the central part of the Baltic Sea,” Claesson said.

The Baltic Sea is a financial lifeline for Russia as vessels with its “shadow fleet” carry oil and liquefied natural gas that Moscow uses to fund its war in Ukraine.

After the Cold War, Sweden effectively abandoned its military presence on Gotland but Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted a rethink and a strengthened military presence there. And Sweden, along with Finland, decided to join NATO in 2024.

“A very reasonable scenario” is that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use Gotland to test NATO by trying to take a thin sliver of alliance territory to probe the collective reaction, Claesson said.

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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.

Random House Children's Books announced Tuesday that Riordan is collaborating with different co-authors on each of four “Camp Half-Blood” middle-grade novels set during the time between Riordan's first two Percy books, “The Lightning Thief” and “The Sea of Monsters.”

Since “The Lightning Thief” was published in 2005, Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” novels have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages. His books feature such beloved characters as Percy, the boy whose father is the Greek god Poseidon; best friend Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Riordan said in a statement that working on the Emmy-winning Disney+ adaptation of his work stirred his curiosity about Camp Half-Blood.

“It made me wonder what was happening back at camp between the books of the original series, when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover weren’t around,” he said. “This new series gives me a chance to explore that idea, while opening up Percy’s world by introducing a new group of demigod heroes, co-created with amazing authors who can write authentically about those heroes’ backgrounds. It’s been an incredible thrill!”

The first installment, “The Wild Zone,” was written with Annebelle Oh and comes out Sept. 29. Kyle Lukoff, Jade Adia and Pablo Cartaya are working with Riordan on the second, third and fourth books, respectively. Each will be published six months apart.

According to Random House, “The Wild Zone” tells of “ancient threats and long-buried secrets” and how “campers begin to disappear, unlikely new heroes must face monsters, curses, and impossible choices, all while discovering what it truly means to belong.”

The Labor Department's consumer price index rose 3.8% from April 2025, according to data released Tuesday, up from a 3.3% year-over-year gain in March. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6% from March as gasoline prices rose 5.4%. The month-over-month gain was down from 0.9% increase from February to March, when the initial shock of the war hit the U.S. economy.

Labor Department figures showed that gasoline prices are up more than 28% compared with a year ago. However, the AAA motor club listed the average regular gallon of gasoline above $4.50 on Tuesday, about 44% more than it cost last year at this time.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called consumer core prices rose 0.4% last month from March and 2.8% from April 2025, relatively modest readings that suggest the energy price burst has yet to spill over more broadly into prices for other goods.

Grocery prices rose 0.7% from March to April as meat prices rose after they had declined slightly in the month before.

Prices are rising at time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls Nov. 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump's Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote. “There is a real financial squeeze underway. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating up all wage gains. This is a setback for middle-class and lower-income households and they know it. They are having to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar.”

In April, average hourly wages fell 0.3% from a year earlier after accounting for inflation – the first year-over-year drop in three years.

Inflation had been dropping more or less steadily since peaking with a 9.1% year-over-year spike in June 2022, a surge caused by supply chain bottlenecks at the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and a jolt for energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But inflation remained has above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Then, the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and Tehran responded by shutting off access to the Gulf of Hormuz through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. That has sent oil prices, and most visibly gasoline, racing higher.

The Fed, which had been expected to cut its benchmark interest rate in 2026, has turned cautious as it waits to see how long conflict lasts and whether higher energy prices spill over into other products and cause a broader inflationary outbreak.

Trump has lambasted the Fed and its outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, for refusing to slash rates to boost the economy. Kevin Warsh, the president’s hand-picked choice to succeed Powell, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week; but it’s unclear whether Warsh would pursue lower rates given the uncertainties arising from the war — or whether he could persuade his colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee to go along if he tried.

Some companies are also starting to feel the pain.

Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid and Maytag appliances, reported last week that revenue dropped nearly 10% in its most recent quarter and said that the war has caused a “recession-level industry decline″ that has undermined consumer confidence.

Grace King of Ames, Iowa said that higher prices in the food aisle and at the pump are making her cut back on spending for things like clothing. The administrative assistant, 31, used to spend $200 per month on clothing, mostly on Amazon, but not anymore.

“There’s pressure basically everywhere from the groceries that I buy to the gas to fill up the tank,” she said. “I’ve severely cut back on my frill spending.”

For example, King noted that while it’s only a five-minute drive to work, she makes the trip twice a day. And if she needs to do any big shopping, that’s a 40-minute drive to malls in Des Moines, Iowa.

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AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this story.

Where that game will be played was not part of Tuesday morning's announcement. The location has not been determined yet with the NFL still finalizing things ahead of Thursday night's 2026 season schedule release.

Another unknown is whether two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes will be available for that season opener. His goal is to be ready for Week 1. The Chiefs quarterback tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14 in the final minutes of a loss to the Chargers, which effectively eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention.

Quarterback Bo Nix is expected to be ready for training camp after breaking a bone in his right ankle on Jan. 18 during the AFC playoffs. Denver finished last season losing the AFC championship game to New England.

More matchups will be revealed in the coming days.

The trio of games announced Monday came as NBC, Fox and Prime Video made their upfront presentations to advertisers. The Buffalo Bills’ first regular-season game in their new stadium will be against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 17 and will kick off Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” schedule.

The Dallas Cowboys were part of the other two unveilings. The Cowboys will visit the New York Giants in the first NBC “Sunday Night Football” game of the season on Sept. 13 and they will host the Philadelphia Eagles on Fox on Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 26.

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

Hegseth has so far softened his tone from previous congressional hearings as he defended the Trump administration’s historic $1.5 trillion military budget request for 2027. The Pentagon’s top budget official told Congress the cost of the war has climbed to nearly $29 billion, up $4 billion from the price he provided nearly two weeks ago.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is facing increasing pressure from the economic shocks of Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor where 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.

Here's the latest:

Sen. Susan Collins critiques Trump administration’s shifting strategy on the Strait of Hormuz

The Republican, who’s in the midst of a reelection campaign for her Maine Senate seat, questioned whether the military anticipated Iran could take actions to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, told her the military’s briefings to the Trump administration “cover and consider the full range of things all the time in our careful consideration of military actions.”

But Collins, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, responded with criticism for the Trump administration’s current strategy.

“It seems there has been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem,” she said.

Collins late last month also joined Democrats to vote for failed legislation that would have forced Trump to halt the war with Iran.

Hegseth treads carefully on China but says the US works with regional partners

When pressed by Sen. McConnell about U.S.-China relations, the defense secretary said he wouldn’t speak for the president ahead of his Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But Hegseth said the U.S. has “worked very hard in that region, in the Indo-Pacific, with Japan, with the Philippines and others” to prioritize U.S. security and security for its allies around China.

Hegseth said U.S. interests are “amplified by burden sharing of partners who recognize the shared threats that we face and are willing to invest alongside us.”

He insisted that “every aspect” Trump does regarding China “is to ensure that American interests are advanced.”

McConnell had asked explicitly whether Trump is trying “to preserve American primacy or simply to accommodate China’s rise?”

The senator also asked about Trump’s commitment to navigational freedom in the South China Sea. Hegseth said, “Americans ships should — should sail freely. So should others.”

McConnell warns against the administration’s budget approach

The Kentucky Republican got into the weeds on the president’s budget request, noting it’s not a $1.5 trillion annual baseline. Instead, he noted it’s a roughly $1.1 trillion request plus a supplemental bill.

The latter can be passed by “reconciliation,” a process that allows the Republican majority the smoothest process to bypass Democrats’ objections. But McConnell suggested the White House think about future years when Republicans may not have the Senate majority.

He said the Pentagon’s approach means it’s putting necessary ongoing funding requests in the supplemental, one-time measure.

McConnell alluded to “continuing resolutions” that have become a common budget device for a divided Congress to extend agencies’ funding even without a larger budget deal. But one-time funding, McConnell noted, cannot be included in those CRs.

“I’m confused by the administration’s failure to prioritize” ongoing funding, the senator said.

Anti-war protester interrupts Hegseth’s opening statement

As Hegseth started his opening statement, a woman stood up and pronounced, “I am an Iranian American and against this war of aggression.”

Within moments, she was removed from the hearing room by Capitol police offers, but she continued to tell the hearing room she was opposed to the war with Iran.

There are a handful more anti-war protesters wearing pink shirts sitting in the back row of the Senate hearing room, but they remained silent. Several of them stood and walked out while Hegseth was talking.

Senate Democrat overseeing defense spending says administration ‘distracted’ from military priorities

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons launched into a wide-ranging critique of how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is leading the military and raised concerns that his decisions are undermining U.S. military priorities.

“I am concerned that we have a distracted administration and a distracted department,” Coons said, adding that “We have a president who seems more focused on a $1 billion ballroom and a victory arch, rather than achieving actual victory.”

Coons also questioned why the administration has withdrawn support from allies in Europe, including Ukraine, at a time when their drone defenses could aid U.S. efforts to counteract drone attacks from Iran.

Sen. Mitch McConnell emphasizes the need for US alliances in a rebuke of Trump’s approach

Without naming Trump, McConnell sternly critiqued the president’s belligerent approach to traditional U.S. allies and he advocated for NATO and defending Ukraine.

The former Republican Senate leader now chairs the Senate’s Appropriations subcommittee. McConnell told Hegseth that strained relationships with democratic allies “only serves our adversaries’ interests and limits our capacity and deterrent power globally.”

McConnell, who voted against Hegseth’s confirmation in 2025, said he wanted to see U.S. assistance previously approved for Ukraine “reach their destination without further delay.”

The senator said such aid is not “charity,” but part of cultivating relationships that can benefit the U.S. in the future.

“I want to hear about the future of capacity building with committed allies and partners,” he said.

“We have things to learn from our friends,” McConnell added, alluding to Ukraine’s success in drone warfare.

Hegseth’s Senate hearing gets underway

The defense secretary has started his hearing before a Senate appropriations panel after spending several hours Tuesday morning testifying before House lawmakers.

The hearing room is packed and there are a handful of anti-war protesters in the audience as well.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy greeted Hegseth with some friendly advice before the hearing got underway. “Don’t let them get you down,” Kennedy told Hegseth.

House panel adjourns with a final push for more information from the Pentagon

The budget subcommittee adjourned with a final bipartisan push for the Pentagon to provide more details about its $1.5 trillion budget request for the coming year.

The leading Democrat and Republican also noted the more professional tenor of the hearing, which did not feature the name-calling and other tense exchanges that have defined Hegseth’s previous Hill appearances.

“This is the way these hearings should be conducted, especially when it’s dealing with national defense,” said McCollum, the ranking Democrat, after urging Hegseth to answer the panel’s questions by the end of next week.

“I thank everyone for a respectful hearing, but we need the information, Mr. Secretary,” she added.

Rep. Ken Calvert, the Republican chair, clarified that the committee wants details both for the Pentagon’s more immediate supplemental funding request and the larger proposal for fiscal 2027.

The subcommittee plans to more formally consider the administration’s requests on June 11.

Hegseth says ceasefire with Iran remains in effect despite exchange of fire

He said “it’s evident” the ceasefire remains in effect in response to questions from lawmakers Tuesday.

“Cease fire means the fire is ceasing and we know that has occurred while negotiations occur,” Hegseth said even as the U.S. military said it intercepted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz last week.

Hegseth also said restarting military escorts of merchant shipping known as Project Freedom “could always recommence should the commander in chief want us to.”

As Trump heads to Beijing, Caine and lawmakers make clear China is a main focus

Caine told the panel the Pentagon wants “a range and mix of capabilities that create outsized dilemmas for XI Jinping and others that are out there, to ensure that we maintain and sustain deterrence.”

He added that it’s “our primary focus” to assess the risks and ensure that Trump and Hegseth can always consider “a range of military options across the world.”

Caine’s statement comes hours before Trump departs for a summit with Xi.

The Joint Chiefs chair was responding to Rep. Hal Rogers. The Kentucky Republican is among several lawmakers raising concerns about China.

Earlier, the chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, Tom Cole, said “China is modernizing its military at a pace and scale that is alarming.”

Rogers, in his questioning of Caine, said he appreciated the administration’s push for more money to bolster U.S. manufacturing for weaponry but cautioned that “we’re competing against the speed” at which China can build up its military.

The cost of the Iran War climbs to nearly $29 billion

The Pentagon’s top budget official told Congress the Defense Department now believes the cost of Operation Epic Fury is “closer to $29 (billion).”

Jules Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, told Congress in testimony Tuesday that the estimate has climbed from the $25 billion he provided lawmakers nearly two weeks ago “because of updated repair and replacement of equipment ... and also just general operational costs.”

Hegseth claims reports of munition shortages are ‘overstated’

In response to lawmakers arguing the U.S. military is facing issues in replenishing the bombs and missiles it has expended in the war with Iran, Hegseth said the Pentagon is “well aware of all those dynamics.”

“The munitions issue has been foolishly and unhelpfully overstated,” Hegseth claimed before adding “we know exactly what we have, we have plenty of what we need.”

The comments come just days after Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly told “Face the Nation” on Sunday that it’s “shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines.”

Hegseth fired back on social media saying Kelly was “blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a (asterisk)CLASSIFIED(asterisk) Pentagon briefing he received.”

Hegseth sidesteps question about scaling back the Iran war

The defense secretary wouldn’t say anything specific about the next steps in Iran.

“We have a plan to escalate if necessary. We have a plan to retrograde if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets,” Hegseth told the subcommittee.

He was responding to Rep. Betty McCollum, the panel’s ranking Democrat, asking whether the administration has a “Plan B” to scale back operations.

US consumer prices rise 3.8% as Iran war sends energy prices higher

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its consumer price index rose 3.8% from April 2025. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6% from March as gasoline prices rose 5.4%.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called consumer core prices rose 0.4% last month from March and 2.8% from April 2025, relatively modest readings that suggest the energy price burst isn’t spilling over much yet into other prices.

Inflation had been dropping more or less steadily since peaking with a 9.1% year-over-year spike in prices in June 2022, a surge caused by supply chain bottlenecks at the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and an energy price shock following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But inflation remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Then, the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and Tehran responded by shutting off access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. Energy prices rocketed in response.

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Defense Secretary Hegseth defends ‘historic’ budget request

Hegseth said the “admittedly a historic budget” the Pentagon is requesting from Congress is “a fiscally responsible budget, and it is a warfighting budget.”

Hegseth argued that the Trump administration inherited a defense industrial base that had been “hollowed out by years of America last policies, resulting in a diminished capability and capacity to project strength.”

However, in contrast with his Congressional testimony two weeks ago, Hegseth struck a much softer tone and did not personally criticize lawmakers in his initial remarks.

Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, specifically noted that “it was disappointing that you referred to members of both parties as defeatist” in previous testimony.

“I will not question your patriotism, nor will you question mine,” she added.

The defense secretary said the $1.5 trillion request also includes a large troop pay increase and “eliminates all poor or failing barracks” while investing heavily in projects championed by President Trump such as the Golden Dome and Golden Fleet.

House Appropriations Committee chair subtly pushes against Trump approach

Rep. Tom Cole, the top Republican on the powerful House money committee, added his concerns about Trump’s approach on the world stage, saying “America First has never meant American alone.”

“American power is most effective when it’s exercised in concert with like minded nations who share our interests and our values,” the chairman said in his opening remarks.

He added an endorsement of NATO as a “critical pillar of collective defense” in the world.

“American strength is not diminished when allies shoulder their share,” he said. “It’s multiplied, and we must continue to sharpen our strategic advantages.”

Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, did not explicitly mention the president or his criticism of NATO and traditional U.S. allies. But his remarks stood as a clear contrast to Trump’s statements and approach.

Top Republican and Democrat open with concerns about Pentagon strategy

Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert, a California Republican, and Ranking Member Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, opened the hearing expressing bipartisan worry over the Pentagon’s budget requests, especially to fund the Iran war.

They repeated their request that the Trump administration offer a more detailed breakout of what the war costs and how the Pentagon would spend any budget increase.

“The subcommittee needs to understand how the resources requested in this budget translates into real, measurable improvements in warfighting capability,” Calvert said, adding that he has “serious concerns” about the request.

“Questions persist about whether we are building the depth and reliance required for a high end conflict,” he said.

McCollum noted that lawmakers have “asked several times for a complete update on ammunition levels, and it has not been provided.”

Lawmakers begin hearing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine

The House Appropriations’ defense subcommittee has opened its Tuesday session to hear from President Trump’s top advisers on the Iran war.

The hearing is part of a series of congressional budget deliberations. The Pentagon is asking for $1.5 trillion for fiscal 2027, a roughly 44% increase from the current U.S. defense budget.

Hegseth has had contentious exchanges with Democrats in recent appearances on the Hill. But he’s been a staunch defender of the Iran war even as public opinion sours on the conflict.

Trump is getting another medical checkup at the end of May, the White House says

Trump is scheduled to see doctors for a medical and dental checkup this month — his fourth publicized visit to medical experts since returning to office — in what the White House describes as an annual physical and regular preventive care.

Trump, who turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president, will see his doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on May 26, the White House said in a brief statement Monday evening.

The president’s health has been the subject of tremendous scrutiny, so much so that Trump said he regretted getting imaging on his heart and abdomen last year because it raised public questions about his health.

Trump has recently remarked how good he feels despite his years. Earlier Monday, Trump that he feels the same as he did 50 years ago. “I feel literally the same,” he said at an Oval Office event. “I don’t know why. It’s not because I eat the best foods.”

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Supreme Court halts order for Alabama to use US House map with 2 largely Black districts

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday set the stage for Alabama to eliminate one of two largely Black congressional districts before this year’s midterm elections, creating an opening for Republicans to gain an additional U.S. House seat in a partisan battle for control of the closely divided chamber.

The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in April that struck down a majority-Black U.S. House district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, significantly weakening a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Alabama officials had pointed to the Louisiana case as a reason for the Supreme Court to end a judicial order to use a court-imposed House map until after the 2030 census. The high court on Monday overturned that order and directed a lower court to reconsider the case in light of the Louisiana decision. That could free the state to instead use a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.

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Trump and Xi appear intent on keeping deep differences over Iran war from overshadowing China summit

Trump is set to leave Tuesday for Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month war, or at the very least, reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has veered between venting that China, the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, hasn’t done more to get the Islamic Republic in line, and acknowledging that Xi’s government helped de-escalate the conflict last month by nudging Tehran back to ceasefire talks when negotiations wobbled.

But ahead of the U.S. leader’s high-stakes visit, the White House has set low expectations that Trump will be able to persuade Xi to change China’s posture.

Instead, the administration seems determined not to let differences on Iran overshadow efforts to make headway on other difficult matters in the complicated relationship — ranging from trade to further Chinese cooperation to block exports of fentanyl precursors.

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Ryan Cohen’s GameStop disclosed earlier this month that it was pursuing a takeover of eBay, seeing it as a vehicle to compete with online retail giant Amazon.

The national gaming retailer said at the time that its approximately 1,600 U.S. stores could become drop-off and shipping locations. One proposal included live sales broadcasts from GameStop locations featuring eBay products.

GameStop’s bid is worth $125 per share in cash and stock. The equity value of the proposed deal is $55 billion on paper. The company previously said that it started accumulating shares in eBay beginning in February and currently has a 5% stake.

In a letter from eBay Chairman Paul Pressler sent to Cohen, eBay's board said that it had completed its review of GameStop's offer and believes that eBay is a “strong, resilient business.”

“With its differentiated global marketplace and a clear strategy, eBay’s board is confident that the company, under its current management team, is well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth, execute with discipline, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders,” the letter said.

GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company's stock fell 4% before the market open on Tuesday.

Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, said in an online post that it “reached an agreement with the unauthorized actor involved in this incident.”

The company didn’t provide any details on the agreement, including whether it involved a payment, and didn’t elaborate who was behind the hack. Instructure temporarily took the system offline while it investigated, locking out students and faculty.

A hacking group named ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for last week’s breach, threatening to leak data involving nearly 9,000 schools worldwide and 275 million individuals if schools did not pay a ransom by May 6. The group then extended the deadline, indicating some schools had engaged with them to negotiate.

As part of the deal, the data was returned to Instructure. The company said Monday that it also received “digital confirmation” that the hackers destroyed any remaining copies, in the form of ”shred logs.”

The company acknowledged that there was no way to be sure that the data was erased for good, and said it took action because of concerns about potential publication of the data.

“While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cyber criminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible,” Instructure said.

The data breach appeared to involve student ID numbers, email addresses, names and messages on the Canvas platform, Instructure’s chief information security officer, Steve Proud, said earlier this month. The company found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identification or financial information were compromised, it said.

The company said it was working with “expert vendors” to do a forensic analysis, “further harden” its systems, and carry out a “comprehensive review of the data involved.”

The disruption caused panic last week among students and faculty members when they were locked out of a platform they rely on to manage grades and access course notes and assignments.

Schools and universities use Canvas to manage nearly all aspects of instruction. The platform acts as a gradebook, a hub for digital lectures and course materials, a discussion board for classroom projects, and a messaging platform between students and instructors.

Some courses also give quizzes and exams on the platform, or use it as a portal where final projects and papers are submitted on deadline.

According to police, the victims arrived Thursday afternoon at the McDonald’s located at 17730 Collins Ave. to pick up DoorDash delivery orders when one of them accidentally brushed Clifford Atis, 36, of northwest Miami-Dade, with his elbow.

Police said Atis immediately punched the victim in the face and when the second victim attempted to intervene to defuse the situation, Atis said, “I’m going to shoot you guys” before leaving the restaurant and heading toward his vehicle.

After Atis retrieved a gray item from his car, the victims, who went outside to tell him to wait for police to arrive, ran back inside the restaurant after seeing him holding what they believed to be a gun, police said.

Police said they later found the weapon inside Atis’ vehicle.

Officers took Atis into custody on two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of battery.

As of Monday afternoon, Atis remained behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $10,000 bond.

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According to an arrest report obtained Monday by Local 10 News, Janice Garcia, of Miami, surrendered herself Sunday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

She faces charges of DUI and DUI causing serious bodily injury.

According to the report, the crash happened just after 3:30 a.m. on April 11 as Deputy Josh Brown and another deputy were patrolling the Kendall District as a two-officer unit.

Deputies said Garcia struck Brown with her blue Mazda MZ3 as he was outside his patrol car in the 8500 block of Southwest 99^th Court.

Brown told detectives that Garcia flashed her vehicle’s high beams at him, and his partner said Garcia was driving very close to the edge of the roadway.

According to the report, Brown tried to move out of the car’s path, but was struck and propelled through the air.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel transported the deputy to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Authorities confirmed Brown suffered a concussion and numerous other injuries throughout his body, and had to receive a skin graft and undergo ankle surgery.

According to the report, Garcia appeared to be distraught after the crash and had “slurred speech, bloodshot, watery eyes” and her breath smelled like an alcoholic beverage.

A member of MDSO’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Squad said Garcia told him “Tell me what my rights are” before agreeing to participate in field sobriety tests, which she failed.

She also agreed to provide blood samples, which showed her blood-alcohol content level was .156 percent and .154 percent, above Florida’s .08% limit for drivers, the report stated.

The Hispanic Police Officers Association posted a photo of Brown on its Instagram page after Garcia’s arrest, showing some of his injuries.

“Please continue keeping Deputy Brown and his family in your thoughts and prayers,” the post read in part.

Garcia appeared in bond court on Monday where her attorney told the judge that his client has no prior criminal record and works as a mental health counselor for kids.

He asked for the standard bond, but the judge went with the state’s request for an elevated bond of $15,000.

If she posts bond, she will be placed on house arrest and will not be allowed to drive.

“Deputy Brown is very seriously injured as a result of a careless and reckless driving behavior by a DUI (driver),” David Greenwell, of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association said. “He will probably never be the same and he’s lucky he’s alive today.”

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Online jail records show Cira Quinones Lewis, 60, faces charges of driving with a suspended license and failing to return driver’s license or register with insurance company. She is also being jailed on an immigration hold.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash occurred late Sunday morning along the westbound lanes of I-75 to the west of Indian Trade Road.

Lewis was driving a black Ford Fiesta and was there to assist her son, whose vehicle had become disabled on the side of the road due to a flat tire, according to an arrest form.

Police said Lewis came to a stop in the outside lane of I-75, which caused a pileup after the vehicle behind her stopped, but the vehicle behind that one did not.

Authorities confirmed that two people have died from their injuries, while three others were injured, including a 1-year-old girl who was hospitalized in critical condition.

One of the deceased victims has been identified as Lucia Casco, 58, who was a passenger in the vehicle that was directly behind Lewis.

All of the injured victims were taken to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.

First responders closed all westbound lanes of I-75 while processing the scene. The highway fully reopened shortly after 4 p.m.

As of Monday morning, Quinones Lewis remained held at the Broward County Main Jail.

The circumstances leading up to the crash remain under investigation, and it’s unclear which driver was at fault.

Officers took Fabrice Jack Janvier into custody on Friday along the 900 block of Northwest 196th Terrace.

According to authorities, an Amazon driver was attempting to deliver a package when Janvier came out of the home next door and threw a machete in her direction.

Police said Janvier then picked up the machete, “raising it as if he intended to strike her with it,” causing the Amazon driver to run to her vehicle and drive away while Janvier, “chased after her with the machete,” according to an arrest form.

Responding officers went to Janvier’s home and spoke with him there, where officers saw the machete in his possession, authorities said.

With the help of Janvier’s father, officers were able to have him safely exit the home, police added.

Janvier is facing a charge of attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and as of Monday morning, he remained behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $10,000 bond.

Investments worth 23 billion euros ($27 billion) will fund various sectors in Africa including, energy, AI and agriculture, Macron said, adding that 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) will come from French companies and 9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) from African entities.

Macron said the summit marks a financial shift in relationships between the European nation and African countries, including those that once were its colonies.

President William Ruto of Kenya, which is co-hosting the summit with France, referred to sovereignty eight times in his speech on the summit's final day. He reiterated that the days of European dependency were over for Africa in favor of mutual respect between cooperating nations.

New partnerships between the African nations and France “must not be built on dependency but on sovereign equality, not on aid or charity but on mutually beneficial investment, and not on extraction or exploitation but on win-win engagements," Ruto said.

The event, which is set to close Tuesday with a declaration that is expected to be signed by all 30 heads of state and government, comes at the height of a fallout between France and its former colonies, mostly in West Africa.

France has long maintained a colonial policy of economic, political and military sway dubbed Françafrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region it controlled.

After years of criticism from leaders and opposition parties in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has withdrawn most of those troops. It completed the withdrawal of troops from Senegal in July.

Macron said Paris will be respectful of each African country's independence, adding that “sovereignty and autonomy is shared, and your success is our success.”

France’s new strategy, according to Macron, is based on a shared agenda and the “days of offering assistance are behind us.”

“I’d like to focus on co-investment,” he said.

Macron hailed a strong show of unity from the African heads of state and governments as “an image of a united continent with a shared agenda.”

The ICC in The Hague unsealed Monday an arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then- President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs crackdowns that left thousands of mostly petty suspects dead.

Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” allegedly committed between July 2016 and the end of April 2018 in the Philippines.

“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate, which took him into “protective custody” Monday when he reappeared after months of absence.

“I will avail of all legal processes,” he said, and pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: “Don’t bring me to The Hague.”

After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte designated dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte served as a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra tough approach to crimes.

“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.

“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.

Duterte’s six-year term ended in mid-2022. He was arrested in March last year and detained by the ICC in the Netherlands, where he is now awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with several killings under his crackdowns.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability. The court, however, said it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member.

Asked if the Philippines will enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant against dela Rosa, officials suggested they were ready and could surrender him to the global court’s jurisdiction like Duterte under a Philippine law enacted to address crimes against humanity like genocide.

“We have an obligation that all those who should be held to account should be held responsible,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a news briefing.

Dela Rosa cannot invoke a privilege of immunity from arrest while attending formal sessions or staying within the Senate because the crimes he allegedly committed were serious and punishable by a long prison term, Castro said.

Police have deployed nearly 350 law enforcers outside the Senate, sparking concerns from dela Rosa and allied senators, but officials said they were assigned to keep order and not to eventually help arrest the senator.

The passenger with the new confirmed case of hantavirus was in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid, where 13 other Spanish nationals evacuated Sunday also are staying. They all tested negative for the virus.

With the evacuation of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.

The director of the World Health Organization, who was in Madrid, said 11 cases reported worldwide are all among passengers or crew of the MV Hondius cruise ship. Nine have been confirmed as infections of the Andes virus, a member of the hantavirus family. Two suspected hantavirus cases have been reported but not confirmed.

“These numbers have changed little over the past week thanks to the governments of multiple countries and partners,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general.

“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” he added, “but of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.”

Meanwhile, 12 staff members at a Dutch hospital where a hantavirus patient is being treated were told to quarantine after incorrectly handling bodily fluids.

In a Paris hospital, a French woman evacuated from the stricken ship remained in intensive care in stable condition. The French government was holding two new hantavirus emergency meetings Tuesday, the prime minister said.

Health authorities say it’s the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.

The evacuation of the MV Hondius is complete

A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night. Remaining crew members then took on supplies and set course for the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, the ship’s operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight. The first was carrying 19 of the ship’s crew and three medics. The Dutch nationals were taken home to quarantine and the others, including 17 crew members from the Philippines, were sent to a quarantine facility set up by Dutch health authorities.

A second plane landed later in Eindhoven chartered by Australian authorities and carrying six Hondius passengers — four Australians, one person from New Zealand and a British national who lives in Australia, according to the Dutch foreign ministry. It said the passengers will remain in quarantine near the airport and continue their journey toward Australia “as soon as possible.” Australian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms — which can include fever, chills and muscle aches — usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

WHO chief Tedros has advised that returning passengers should stay in quarantine, either in their homes or in other facilities, for 42 days. He added that WHO cannot enforce its guidance, and that different countries may handle the monitoring of passengers without symptoms in different ways.

Dutch hospital staff quarantined

Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital where a passenger from the Hondius is being treated have to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids, Radboud University Medical Center said in a statement Monday night.

The “risk of infection is low” the hospital said, but was requiring the dozen employees to go into preventive quarantine as a “precaution.”

The hospital in the eastern city of Nijmegen received a passenger last week from one of the evacuation flights that landed in the Netherlands and the person has since tested positive for hantavirus.

Blood and urine from the patient should have been handled “according to a stricter procedure,” the hospital said.

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This story has been corrected to show that the WHO says nine hantavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide. Two suspected cases have been reported but not confirmed. ___

Associated Press writers Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Molly Quell in The Hague, Netherlands, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

The company, which revolutionized online shopping in 2005 with two-day deliveries for Prime members, is rapidly opening small order-processing hubs in dozens of U.S. and foreign cities to cater to shoppers who can't or don't want to wait for cough medicine to relieve flu symptoms or tomatoes for tonight's dinner salad.

The ultrafast service, called Amazon Now, first launched in India last June. Amazon says 30-minute deliveries now are also available in urban areas of Brazil, Mexico, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The mini-warehouses devoted to Amazon Now are about the size of a CVS drugstore. They stock about 3,500 products for expedited delivery, including beer, diapers, pet food, meat, nonprescription medications, playing cards and cellphone charging cables.

“We know that customers love speed and always have,” Beryl Tomay, Amazon’s head of transportation, told The Associated Press on Monday. “What we see customers doing, when we offer faster speeds, are they purchase more from Amazon. And Amazon becomes more top of mind for that or other types of items as well.”

In the U.S., the company first tested Amazon Now in Seattle, the home of its headquarters, and in Philadelphia. Most residents of Atlanta and the Dallas-Fort Worth area now have access as well. The service also is live or expected to land by year-end in Houston, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Florida, and dozens of other cities, Amazon said.

The service charges for Amazon Now start at $3.99 for Prime members, who pay an annual fee of $139, and $13.99 for non-members. A $1.99 small basket fee applies to orders under $15, Amazon said.

The company's bet on a need for speed also comes as some consumers are rebelling against rushed deliveries as they weigh the potential impact on the environment and the workers tasked with preparing orders at a rapid rate.

Amazon’s approach

A relentless focus on speed helped Amazon build a logistics and e-commerce empire. After it made two days the new delivery time normal, Amazon moved into one-day and same-day deliveries for its Prime members. This spring, the company began making 90,000 products available in one hour or three hours at an extra cost.

The scaled down and sped up microhubs that are designed to handle 30-minute orders represent another step in Amazon's pursuit.

Only a handful of people prepare orders from aisles of shelves in the 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot facilities, unlike the sprawling fulfillment centers storing millions of items where Amazon employs a mix of human workers and robotics to pick and pack orders.

Amazon tailors the product inventory to each location and uses artificial intelligence and other technology to analyze what customers buy, as well as when and how often. The most popular U.S. purchases so far include soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, toilet plungers, bananas, limes and wireless earbuds, Amazon said.

The competition

Amazon’s attempt to up the instant gratification ante provides direct competition to on-demand food delivery platforms like Instacart, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub, which don't have the scale of the e-commerce titan, according to independent retail analyst Bruce Winder.

“What Amazon brings is their prowess in supply chain,” Winder said.

These smaller companies said they don't see Amazon as a threat, though, citing the hundreds of thousands of items they are able to deliver to users' doorsteps by partnering with various merchants and restaurants.

“DoorDash has a mission to empower grocers and retailers and augment their existing footprint, not to replace them,” DoorDash spokesperson Ali Musa said in an emailed statement. “We win only when they win, which is how we can offer over half a million grocery and retail items in under an hour across the country.”

Amazon also is in a race with Walmart to become the retailer that reliably gets orders to online shoppers in under an hour.

For an additional $10 on top of standard delivery charges, shoppers can place Walmart Express Delivery orders from among more than 100,000 products that are guaranteed to arrive in an hour. Many customers, however, are receiving the items under 30 minutes, Walmart CEO John Furner told analysts in February.

Domino's cautionary tale

Companies have promised deliveries in 30 minutes or less before, but the landscape also is littered with failed attempts to break the speed barrier.

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a flurry of companies that promised 10- to 15-minute grocery deliveries from microwarehouses in dense neighborhoods, according to Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at market research firm Forrester Research.

But soaring operating costs, low customer loyalty and the drying up of investor money ultimately caused most to fail before the pandemic was over, analysts said.

Domino’s in 1984 pushed a guarantee that customers would receive their pizzas for free if they weren't delivered in under a half-hour. The company amended the “30 minutes or it’s free” policy after two years, providing only a $3 discount for late deliveries.

The promotion helped Domino’s win market share, but it ended up tarnishing the company's reputation. It dropped the guarantee in December 1993 after a string of crashes and lawsuits involving drivers racing to meet the deadline.

Brad Jashinsky, a retail analyst at information technology research and consulting firm Gartner, said he thinks Amazon should take the pizza chain's experience as a cautionary tale.

“You get in trouble when you start overpromising something like that,” he said.

Amazon won't be making any time guarantees and instead plans to keep customers who chose the 30-minute delivery option updated on the progress of their orders, Tomay said.

“There's no rushing either in our building workers or the gig workers,” she said.

Taking it slow

Kodali thinks Amazon will need a lot of people placing orders around the same time from the same or adjacent apartment buildings for the 30-minute service to be cost-effective.

Consumers may appreciate rapid receipt of products like toilet paper and batteries, but retailers and logistics experts said they also see some online shoppers, especially members of Generation Z, choosing no-rush shipping for products they don't need in a hurry.

Amazon for several years has invited customers to skip one- or two-day delivery and to receive their orders on the same day in as few parcels as possible. Consolidating orders into fewer packages by electing to have them delivered at the same time cuts down on boxes, shipping envelopes and fuel use, analysts said.

“The millennials who came to age in an era that was on fast delivery came to expect it de facto, whereas ... Gen Z is more accepting of a slower speed than previous generations before them,” said Darby Meegan, a general manager at Flexport, a supply chain and logistics company that fulfills orders for thousands of online merchants.

Still, Amazon executives have cited positive early results for Amazon Now in India, where they said Prime members tripled their requests for 30-minute deliveries once they started using the service.

Amazon Now also is attracting more repeat American customers, Tomay said.

“It’s in early days and time will tell,” she said. “I think that it will be interesting to see how it evolves.”

Dozens of Labour lawmakers are calling on Starmer to resign, though several ministers publicly spoke of their support for Starmer as they left a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The prime minister has insisted he has no intention of resigning. Starmer could be forced out if one-fifth of sitting Labour lawmakers, or at least 80 or them, agree to back a lawmaker to challenge him. So far, no formal leadership challenge has been triggered.

In a blow to Starmer, a junior minister became the first member of his government to quit on Tuesday.

Here's the latest:

More than 100 Labour lawmakers reportedly sign a statement rejecting a leadership contest

Amid a flurry of calls within Starmer’s Labour Party for him to step down, British media report that some 100 lawmakers signed a statement supporting the prime minister.

The BBC, Press Association and others reported that lawmakers urged party members to “work together to deliver the change the country needs” after Labour suffered heavy losses at local elections across the U.K. last week.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest,” the statement reportedly said.

Downing Street statement silent on political chaos

In a statement about the Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday, Starmer’s office said senior ministers are focused on the conflict in the Middle East and getting the Strait of Hormuz reopened.

It made no mention of the growing calls from Labour lawmakers for Starmer to resign, or his pledge to “get on with governing.”

Starmer appeared to be carrying on with the business of government, chairing a committee on responding to the Middle East conflict around noon.

Another minister resigns

Alex Davies-Jones, the minister for tackling violence against women and girls, wrote in a letter to Starmer to “act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.”

She called Starmer a “good and honest man,” but described the scale of Labour’s defeat at last week’s local elections as “catastrophic.”

“The country has spoken and we must listen,” she wrote. “We waited fourteen years to get into power and change the lives of those we represent. The time now is for bold, radical action.”

“We have needed to do more and therefore it is with a very heavy heart that I feel I have no choice but to resign,” she said.

Second minister resigns from Keir Starmer’s government

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has lost a second member of his government amid a growing chorus of Labour Party members to resign.

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, announced her resignation in a letter Tuesday.

“I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things,” she wrote. “However I have seen first-hand how that is not enough.”

“I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter,” she added. “I want a Labour government to work and I will strive as I always have for its success and popularity, but I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect, and so cannot continue to serve as a minister under the current leadership.”

The king’s speech

The political crisis engulfing Starmer’s government comes just hours ahead of the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.

King Charles III will deliver the King’s Speech to mark the beginning of a new parliamentary year. The speech, which is written by officials but read out by the monarch, will set out the government’s legislative agenda for the coming months.

“As far as I’m aware, the King’s Speech is going ahead tomorrow,” Starmer’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, said.

Growing number of lawmakers demand Starmer stand down

At least 80 out of Labour’s 403 lawmakers have now demanded the prime minister stand down, or at least set out a timetable for his departure, after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections last week.

However, so far no Labour lawmaker has announced they will challenge Starmer for the leadership.

What to know about contenders who could replace Starmer as Britain’s Labour leader

While there is no clear frontrunner to replace Starmer, here are some of the leading contenders for the top job:

1. Wes Streeting - The health secretary is widely regarded as one of the government’s best communicators and has led on one of its key pledges, improving the creaky National Health Service. 2. Angela Rayner - the formerdeputy prime minister has long set herself apart as a different kind of politician with a compelling personal story. She was brought up in social housing and left school at 16 as a teen mother. 3. Andy Burnham - The former cabinet minister has long been seen as a potential rival for Starmer. But his leadership prospects were dented after Labour blocked him from standing as the party’s candidate for Parliament. 4. Ed Miliband - The energy secretaryis a former Labour leader, but his five years at the top of the party ended in the party’s 2015 election defeat. 5. Shabana Mahmood - The home secretary has become a favorite of many on the right of the Labour Party with her moves to tighten border controls and crack down on immigration.

British minister says ‘cabinet united’ around Starmer

A cabinet member in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government said there was no direct challenge to his leadership at Tuesday’s meeting.

Jenny Chapman, minister of international development, said she did not think Starmer’s authority had been destroyed by dozens of Labour Party members calling for him to step down.

“That’s not what I have just seen around the Cabinet table,” she told reporters outside 10 Downing St. “I saw a Cabinet united and focused on dealing with the issues that are confronting the British people.”

UK health secretary ignores shouted questions

U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, long believed to be preparing for a leadership challenge against U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, didn’t comment as he left the Cabinet meeting at Downing Street.

“Wes Streeting, do you want the job, or not?” one person yelled from across the street. “Are you measuring the curtains?”

He was among senior ministers who dodged a barrage of shouted questions from a scrum of reporters gathered outside.

Starmer showing ‘steadfast leadership,’ Cabinet minister says

U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle has voiced support for embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer is showing “really steadfast leadership,” Kyle told reporters as he left the Cabinet meeting.

Kyle says the meeting discussed the economy and issues facing society. He said that he was on his way to Brussels to deepen the U.K. relationship with the European Union — one of the goals Starmer announced Monday as he delivered a speech aimed at winning back support.

No one has made a leadership challenge yet, official says

A U.K. official says that nobody had yet made a challenge to the leadership of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“The prime minister talked about the challenges we faced as a country, the crisis in the Middle East and the impact on the cost of living here,” Liz Kendall, the secretary of science, innovation and technology, told reporters as she left a Cabinet meeting.

“This government will do what we were elected to do, which is serve the British people. The prime minister has my full support in this,” Kendall said.

“There is a process to challenge the leader. Nobody has made that challenge,” she said.

Treasury chief pulls out of business event

U.K. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves won’t be taking part in a London risk summit that she was due to appear at after attending a Cabinet meeting.

Her place will be taken by Treasury minister Lucy Rigby.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is in turmoil as dozens of Labour Party lawmakers joined calls for him to quit, after poor local election results for the party last week.

UK housing secretary urges support for Starmer

Housing Secretary Steve Reed has urged Labour Party colleagues to support Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he faces calls to step down.

Reed posted a message on social media during a meeting of Starmer’s Cabinet.

“This is not a game,” Reed said on X. “This instability has consequences for people’s lives. The people who will be hurt most will be those that elected us less than two years ago. We must unite behind the Prime Minister.”

Treasury chief pulls out of business event

The Treasury confirmed that Rachel Reeves has pulled out of a London risk summit she was expected to take part in after attending a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Her place will be taken by Treasury minister Lucy Rigby.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is in turmoil as dozens of his Labour Party lawmakers joined calls for him to quit Tuesday.

Starmer resolves to stay in office

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer doubled down Tuesday on his resolve to stay in office, despite calls to step down.

Starmer told Cabinet ministers that he took responsibility for devastating losses that his center-left Labour Party suffered in last week’s local elections across the U.K., but he would fight on.

Starmer said there’s a process to oust a leader and that hadn’t been triggered.

“The country expects us to get on with governing,” he said. ”That is what I am doing and what we must do.”

Junior minister quits UK government

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer lost the first member of his government Tuesday as he faced pressure to step down following losses in local elections.

Housing, communities and local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh stepped down and urged Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” and set a timetable to step aside.

Fahnbulleh, a junior minister who is considered to be on the left of the party, said that she was proud of her service, but that the government hadn't acted with the vision, pace and mandate for change it had been given by voters.

How Starmer could be replaced

The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election.

If it comes to it, the simplest option would be for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership. A resignation announcement could possibly come if members of his Cabinet tell Starmer in their regular meeting on Tuesday that he has lost too much support within the party.

If Starmer doesn’t resign, he could face a challenge from one or more Labour lawmakers.

For his part, the Pentagon chief softened his tone from hearings before Congress nearly two weeks ago, notably avoiding the same pointed criticism of lawmakers in his opening remarks as he outlined the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up production of weapons and other military capabilities.

Even so, Hegseth insisted that the military has plenty of missile defense systems and other munitions for the Iran war or future conflicts as both Republicans and Democrats hammered him with those concerns.

“I take issue with the characterization that munitions are depleted in a public forum," Hegseth said. "That’s not true.”

The cost of the Iran war has risen to about $29 billion, the vast bulk of which — $24 billion — is related to replacing and repairing munitions but also includes operational costs to keep forces deployed, Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst said. That's up from $25 billion that he told lawmakers nearly two weeks ago.

The powerful House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees that oversee defense spending are holding back-to-back hearings to review the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which calls for a historic allocation of $1.5 trillion. The discussions in the House quickly veered into the handling of a war that appears locked in a stalemate as higher fuel prices pose political problems for Republicans in the midterm congressional elections.

Hegseth and Caine face bipartisan pushback on munitions stockpiles

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told Hegseth that the "question must be answered at the end of this crisis: What have we accomplished and at what cost?”

“This administration has not presented Congress with any kind of clear or coherent strategy week to week, day to day, hour to hour," DeLauro said. "The rationale shifts, the objectives change. The end game is ill-defined when it is defined at all.”

California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, the House subcommittee's chair, also asked about the impact of the Iran war on military funding as well as the U.S. military's weapons stockpiles.

“Questions persist about whether we are building the depth and reliance required for a high-end conflict,” Calvert said.

Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, the defense subcommittee's ranking Democrat, pressed Hegseth on whether the military has a plan to draw down troops in the Middle East if Congress passes so-far-unsuccessful efforts to end the Iran war.

“We have a plan to escalate if necessary," Hegseth said. "We have a plan to retrograde if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets.”

He said he would not reveal any next steps publicly. Noting repeated questions from lawmakers over the military's weapons stockpiles, drawn down from the Iran war, Hegseth said the concerns have been “unhelpfully overstated” and that "we have plenty of what we need.”

He said the defense industry has been told to "build more and build faster,” blaming the military industrial base's inadequate capacity on previous administrations and U.S. aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Trump administration faces pressure from impact of the Iran war

President Donald Trump is facing increasing pressure from the economic shocks of Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor where 20% of the world's oil normally flows. The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports and the two sides have traded fire, with American forces thwarting attacks on their warships and disabling Tehran-linked oil tankers.

Trump said Monday that the ceasefire is on “massive life support” and criticized Iran for its latest proposal, pointing to his demands that Iran significantly limit its nuclear program.

“I would call it the weakest right now after reading that piece of garbage they sent us,” Trump said.

The Republican president also said he wanted to suspend the federal gas tax to help Americans shoulder surging fuel prices. He has previously said higher costs are worth it to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Tuesday's hearings are giving a mostly new group of lawmakers the chance to grill or applaud Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the planning and execution of the war.

The Senate hearing later Tuesday will include Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican whose reelection this year is far from guaranteed. She voted with Democrats on an effort to halt the conflict late last month, saying she wants to see a defined strategy for bringing the war to a close.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, another Republican on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, has voted against the string of unsuccessful war powers resolutions but spoken of the need for congressional authorization so Americans will know the war’s limits and objectives.

He also will face plenty of friendly Republicans, including the Senate subcommittee's chair, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and perhaps the Iran war's biggest booster in Congress, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

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Barrow reported from Atlanta.

Starmer tried to shore up support within his Cabinet following a febrile few days in the wake of hefty losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power.

Several junior ministers stepped down from their government posts Tuesday, calling for a change in leadership, though no candidate had yet come forward to challenge Starmer directly. The resignations stoked speculation that Starmer could suffer the fate of Boris Johnson in 2022 when dozens of ministers quit en masse and forced him to quit.

Around 80 Labour lawmakers have now said Starmer should stand down or at least set out a timetable for his departure, but that’s not enough to trigger a leadership contest. Under Labour party rules, a fifth of its lawmakers in the House of Commons, or 81 members, must publicly give their backing to a single candidate, and that hasn’t happened yet.

First resignations

On Tuesday, Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister of housing, communities and local government, became the first member of his government to step down, urging Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” and set a timetable for his departure.

She was followed by Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, whose resignation letter called Starmer a “good man fundamentally” but vented about his inability to make bold changes.

“I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter,” Phillips said. “I’m not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that’s needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress.”

Despite winning a landslide election victory in July 2024, Labour’s popularity has sunk and Starmer is getting much of the blame.

The reasons are varied, including a series of policy missteps, a perceived lack of vision, a struggling British economy and questions over his judgment — especially over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite the envoy’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer defiant

At the start of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said he took responsibility for the losses in last week’s local elections across the U.K. but that he would fight on.

Labour was squeezed from right and left, losing votes to both anti-immigrant Reform UK and the Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of U.K. politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.

Starmer said that there’s a process to oust a leader and that it hadn't been triggered.

“The country expects us to get on with governing,” Starmer said. “The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”

That cost was evident in financial markets on Tuesday, with the interest rate charged on British government bonds up by more than those of comparable nations. That shows that investors are putting a higher price on taking on government debt.

Some voices of support

As Cabinet ministers left 10 Downing Street, some voiced their support for the embattled prime minister.

Works and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said nobody publicly challenged Starmer at the meeting, while Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the prime minister was showing “really steadfast leadership.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, long believed to be preparing for a leadership challenge against Starmer, was among senior ministers who dodged a barrage of shouted questions from a gaggle of reporters outside.

“Wes Streeting, do you want the job, or not?” a man yelled from across the street. “Are you measuring the curtains?”

The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election.

Starmer had hoped to regain momentum with a speech on Monday and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.

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Danica Kirka and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

The accusation brought Tuesday came just before U.S. President Donald Trump was to depart for Beijing where he'll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a high-stakes visit over the war and other issues.

Iran didn't immediately acknowledge the allegation by Kuwait, which came under attack by Iran in the war and during the shaky ceasefire still holding. But that allegation and ongoing attacks throughout the region have threatened to reignite open warfare.

The narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Iran's chokehold, the U.S. is maintaining a blockade against Iran and negotiations between the two countries appear at a standstill.

With the risk of the conflict breaking out again, Israel has sent Iron Dome air-defense weapons and personnel to operate them in the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the war, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said.

That underlined the growing relationship between Israel and the UAE, both long suspicious of Iran. It also represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel's military to the Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Kuwait alleges Iran planned attack

Kuwait said a paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf near Iraq and Iran on May 1.

It accused the team of planning to carry out “hostile acts,” without elaborating.

Kuwait said it detained four men, and that two escaped when its forces disrupted the attack. Kuwait said one of its security officials was wounded.

Bubiyan Island is home to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, which is under construction as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. That project also came under Iranian attack during the war.

Kuwait provided no reason for why it delayed linking the attack to Iran after initially announcing it on May 3 without any details. Trump is traveling this week to China for a summit where Iran will likely be a main topic. Beijing long has been a buyer of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and has been hurt by the strait's closure, which has sparked a global energy crisis.

Huckabee says Israel deployed to UAE

U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a one-time presidential candidate, revealed at a conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, that Israel has sent Iron Dome air-defense to the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020. That drew criticism from Iran, long Israel's main regional enemy. Iran didn't immediately respond to Huckabee's remarks, though it has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.

The Israeli military declined to comment on Huckabee’s statement about the Iron Dome while the UAE didn't immediately respond.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, was quoted as making comments similar to Huckabee's during an event at the Israeli mission — suggesting the release of the information was intentional, likely with the Emiratis' and Israelis' blessing.

The UAE has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached last month. It has been trying to signal to nervous investors and the public that it remains open for business and safe.

Huckabee urges other Gulf states to recognize Israel

Huckabee added that he was “very optimistic” that additional countries in the region will soon join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 diplomatic recognition deal that also included the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, for formal relations with Israel.

However, many Arab states remain incensed by Israel's wide-ranging military campaigns after Hamas' 2023 attack on the country. The Gaza Strip has been leveled and Iran's allies have been attacked across the region.

Huckabee sought to shore up U.S. support for the recent war, suggesting that “Israel is the appetizer, America has always been the entrée" for Iran's theocracy.

“The Gulf states now understood they will have to make a choice — is it more likely they will be attacked by Iran or Israel?" Huckabee asked. "They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us. Israel is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you.”

Hegseth tells Congress: ‘We have a plan’

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told members of Congress Tuesday that the military was not running low on bombs and missiles amid concerns about its stockpiles.

“We know exactly what we have, we have plenty of what we need,” he said while facing tough questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers who oversee defense spending.

Hegseth avoided going into specifics about the next steps in Iran. “We have a plan to escalate if necessary. We have a plan to retrograde if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets,” Hegseth said.

The Pentagon’s top budget official told Congress that the cost of the war is close to $29 billion so far — that’s up from an estimate of $25 billion just two weeks ago.

Bahrain sentences two dozen over alleged Iran ties

Prosecutors in Bahrain said Tuesday that at least two dozen people were handed prison sentences on charges including espionage and conspiring with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. They said three were sentenced to life. Others received shorter Iran-related sentences.

Bahrain — an island nation ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with a Shiite-majority population — has sentenced dozens on Iran-related charges since the start of the war. Prosecutors and the Interior Ministry have alleged that Iran maintains cells that carry out espionage and help identify targets there. Rights groups say the island nation has widened a crackdown on dissidents during the war, as well as on Shiites.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press reporters Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed.

Andriy Yermak is suspected in an alleged 460-million-hryvnia ($10.5 million) money-laundering scheme, the agencies announced late Monday.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy met with the CEO of Palantir Technologies, part of Ukraine’s growing cooperation with the U.S. defense sector, as a three-day U.S.-brokered ceasefire that decreased the fighting but failed to stop it altogether ended Monday.

Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is now in its fifth year, with no sign of a peace settlement within reach.

Graft investigation embarrasses Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said in a Telegram announcement that the investigation into Yermak is ongoing.

The move is a step short of formally charging Yermak, who resigned in November. He was the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S and left during the scandal that brought the biggest threat to Zelenskyy’s government since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The investigation is deeply embarrassing for the Ukrainian leader as he pushes for his country’s admission to the European Union, a process that will likely take years. Endemic corruption is one of the obstacles slowing Ukraine’s admission.

Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council and a key negotiator in U.S. diplomatic peace efforts, has been questioned and is a witness in the case revolving around a luxury real estate development near the capital, prosecutors told a media briefing in Kyiv.

Several other senior officials, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, are “implicated” in the case, according to the prosecutors, as is prominent Ukrainian businessman Tymur Mindich.

The graft investigation also involves suspected wrongdoing in Ukraine’s energy sector, the defense industry, and the procurement of drones and other military equipment, they said.

Yermak was a trusted confidant of Zelenskyy, who resisted persistent pressure to replace him, and a powerful figure in the government. Investigators searched his home in November.

Zelenskyy made no public comment on the anti-graft agencies’ announcement, but his press officer, Dmytro Lytvyn, said: “The investigation is ongoing, it’s early to draw conclusions.”

Yermak’s attorney, Ihor Fomin, called the suspicion notice groundless and denied his client’s involvement in the alleged laundering of 460 million hryvnias ($10.5 million) through an elite construction project outside Kyiv.

“In my view, this entire situation has been provoked by public pressure,” Fomin said in an interview with Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.

A decision on whether to bring formal charges against Yermak could still take months.

Zelenskyy holds talks with CEO of US firm Palantir

Zelenskyy said Tuesday he met in Kyiv with Alex Karp, as part of Ukraine’s growing cooperation with the U.S. defense sector.

The Ukrainian leader said in a social media post that Ukraine and Palantir “can be useful to each other.”

“We discussed directions of technological development both in the context of combat operations and civilian needs,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Palantir Technologies is an artificial intelligence software company that helps global defense agencies. It specializes in software platforms that collate and analyze large volumes of data and has partnered with Ukraine for several years.

AI can help combatants quickly sift and decipher a huge volume of battlefield information, enabling more accurate attacks, among other things.

Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said after meeting with Karp that cooperation with the company is giving Ukraine a technological edge in the war.

It has enabled detailed analysis of air attacks, AI solutions for handling large volumes of reconnaissance data, and the integration of technology in the planning of Ukraine’s deep-strike operations on Russian soil, Fedorov said on Telegram.

Also, Ukraine and Palantir have created a platform for developers to get battlefield data to train AI models, with more than 100 companies currently involved, he said.

Russia launches strikes on Ukraine after relative lull

Ukraine offered to extend the pause in hostilities, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. But he reported Tuesday that Russia launched over 200 drones against Ukraine overnight, striking civilian infrastructure and killing at least one person and wounding another six.

“It is time to strengthen our positions and force Moscow to end the war,” Sybiha said on X. Russian President Vladimir Putin “must realize that it will only get worse for him.”

Western analysts and officials say Ukraine’s battlefield position has recently improved as it deploys cutting-edge drone technology to hold Russia’s bigger army at bay.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who visited the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, said he thinks that “the Ukrainians really have momentum” at present.

“Russia is having a phase of weakness, economically as well as in domestic political terms and on the battlefield,” Pistorius said, according to German news agency dpa.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its air defenses intercepted 30 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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

The attack took place in Lakki Marwat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police chief Azmat Ullah said. He said that two traffic police officers and a woman were among those killed.

Ullah provided no further details but said traffic police officers were apparently the target of the attack. The bombing also damaged nearby shops. Most of the dead and wounded were passersby, he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Suspicion in such attacks often falls on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has intensified its campaign against Pakistani security forces in recent years. The group is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban government.

However, the Pakistani Taliban denied involvement in Tuesday's attack, saying in a statement that it had learned about the bombing but was not behind it.

The latest attack came days after 15 police officers were killed in a suicide bombing and gun assault on a security post in the nearby Bannu district on Saturday, prompting Islamabad to summon a senior Afghan diplomat to lodge a formal complaint.

Pakistan on Monday blamed that attack on Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban.

On Tuesday, Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a post on X, rejected Pakistan’s claim that the recent attack in the Bannu district was planned in Afghanistan, calling it baseless.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan believes that problems can be resolved through understanding, mutual respect and genuine cooperation, rather than accusations, threats and emotional reactions,” he said. Mujahid reiterated that Kabul’s position remains that Afghan territory will not be used against any country, and that no one will be allowed to engage in activities that undermine regional security and stability.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Tuesday's attack and conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.

In a statement, he said the government and all relevant institutions were committed to eliminating terrorism and would not allow militants to obstruct peace and development in the country. He directed authorities to swiftly complete the investigation, identify those responsible and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Pakistani authorities have long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering militants. Kabul has denied the allegation, saying it does not allow militants to use Afghan soil to launch attacks against other countries.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, straining relations with Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups have grown more emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have persisted, including fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February. In early April, the two sides held peace talks mediated by China. However, sporadic cross-border clashes have continued, though at a lower intensity than before.

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Associated Press writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Abdul Qahar Afghan in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

The top scorer in league history stuck to the strategy he has taken into the past several summers when he declined to announce his future immediately after the Lakers' final postseason defeat.

He hasn't ruled out retirement or a return to the Lakers, and he said nothing about the possibility of moving to another team as he contemplates an unprecedented 24th NBA season.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me, obviously, as it stands right now tonight,” the 41-year-old James said. “I’ve got a lot of time now. I think I said it last year after we lost to Minnesota. I’ll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them, and then obviously when the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do.”

James' record 23rd season ended with a heartbreaking 115-110 loss, completing a four-game sweep of the short-handed Lakers by the defending NBA champions. Los Angeles began the playoffs without NBA scoring champ Luka Doncic and second-leading scorer Austin Reaves due to injury, yet James led the Lakers to a first-round upset of Houston before running into the league's best team in the second round.

“It’s amazing what he’s doing out there at this age," Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It's very impressive. It's hard to put it to words. He's not very old in the grand scheme of life, but for the NBA, he's pretty old, and he doesn't seem like it out there. He was a force. He was the top of the scouting report all series. His size gave us issues at times. He was impressive out there. I'm not sure we'll see anything like that again, his longevity and his greatness.”

James has played in more games, won more games, scored more points and taken more shots than everybody else who ever put on a uniform, but he has never put a limit on his time in the game.

Instead, he repeated his oft-stated declarations that he'll figure it out with his family over a few glasses of wine in the next couple of months.

“Nobody has any idea what the future holds, and I don’t either,” James said. “I’ll take time to recalibrate and look over the season and see what’s best for my future, and when I get to that point, everyone will know.”

James showed only marginal signs of age's encroachment in his 23rd season, continuing to play versatile basketball at an elite level throughout the Lakers' successful regular season.

Injuries forced his largest compromises: He missed training camp and the first 14 games of the season with sciatica, and he missed eight additional games during the regular season, eliminating him from consideration for inclusion on the All-NBA teams for the 22nd consecutive time.

With Doncic winning the NBA scoring title and Reaves emerging as a legitimate top-level NBA scorer, James willingly assumed a supporting role as the No. 3 option in the Lakers' offense — and it worked.

His 20.9 points per game were his fewest since his rookie season, largely because his 3-point shooting accuracy declined to 31.7%, and his 33.2 minutes per game were his fewest ever. Yet he contributed 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds with another season of steady performances — and when the Lakers needed him to step up, he did it repeatedly.

“It was so many different seasons in one season with our ballclub,” James said. “Obviously injuries played a big part in it, but as far as our identity, I thought it was super-resilient.”

James was chosen for the All-Star Game for the 22nd time, and right before the midseason break, he became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. He surpassed Robert Parish's record for the most regular-season games played in late March.

The Lakers picked up steam down the stretch in the regular season, winning 16 of 18 heading into April and kindling hope of being a dark-horse candidate to give trouble to the Thunder or Spurs in the playoffs. But that's when Doncic and Reaves both incurred major injuries, sidelining both indefinitely.

James handled the disappointment by stepping up and coolly taking charge of the Lakers' offense again. While nearly every NBA observer wrote off Los Angeles' chances of any playoff run, James and his supporting cast improbably knocked off the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in six games in the first round, sending the Lakers into the second round for only the second time since 2020.

“For our group to have the moment that we had when Luka goes down with the hamstring and AR goes down with the oblique and we’re staring down the barrel of a playoff series with Houston, I thought our guys responded and were just super-resilient,” James said. “To win that series was big-time for the group that went out there.”

James' reasons to prolong his career in Los Angeles would be multifold.

He has spent the past two seasons playing alongside Bronny James, his oldest son and a backup guard for the Lakers. They even got significant playoff minutes together this season, allowing LeBron to live another dream.

His family loves living in Southern California — and while his sons are both out of the family home, he has spoken frequently of his desire to watch the progress of his 11-year-old daughter, Zhuri, a competitive volleyball player.

And the Lakers' outstanding play down the stretch suggested they could be among the NBA's best teams with full health for Doncic, James and Reaves — who is expected to sign a massive contract to stay with the Lakers this summer.

Whether the Lakers can actually contend for a championship next season will be one factor that James must weigh, but finding a true title contender to join at this stage of his career would be difficult even if the Thunder and the rising San Antonio Spurs didn't appear to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league.

For now, James will take time off to enjoy life away from the daily grind that has allowed his career to reach unprecedented lengths — and if he decides not to come back, he doesn't appear to have regrets about how this season ended."

“I left everything I could on the floor,” James said. “I control what I can control, and I can leave the floor saying even though I hate losing, I was locked in on what we needed to do.”

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

The French Riviera festival beginning Tuesday will include 12 days of nonstop world premieres before culminating May 23 with the presentation of the Palme d’Or, the festival's top honor and one of the film industry's most prestigious awards.

The festivities kick off with the opening-night film, “The Electric Kiss,” a French period-comedy, and the awarding of an honorary Palme d’Or to the “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson.

What isn’t at Cannes has been as buzzed about as much as what is. Hollywood is largely absent this year.

While blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Elvis” have touched down at previous incarnations, studio films this year have been either scared away by the possibility of a rocky reception or by the high cost of flying in A-listers to the Cote d’Azur. The closest thing in Cannes' slate is an anniversary celebration for “Fast & Furious.”

Speaking to members of the press Monday, Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux said Hollywood “is reshaping” in the midst of Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I hope the studio films will come back,” Frémaux said.

Cannes has become better known for its lengthy standing ovations than its boos. This year, a long list of big-name filmmakers will have center stage.

Among the filmmakers set to unveil new movies are Pedro Almodóvar (“Bitter Christmas”), James Gray (“Paper Tiger”), Na Hong-jin (“Hope”), Pawel Pawlikowski (“Fatherland”) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“All of a Sudden”).

If Cannes has waned as a global launchpad for studio releases, it has grown as a breeding ground for Oscar contenders.

Two years ago, Sean Baker’s “Anora” won the Palme in Cannes before winning best picture. Last year, Cannes selections like “Sentimental Value,” “The Secret Agent” and “It Was Just an Accident” went on to play prominent roles in awards season.

More often than not, the specialty distributor Neon has been at the forefront of the Cannes-to-Oscars pipeline. Neon has backed the past six Palme d’Or winners, an unprecedented streak that it may be poised to extend. Neon is attached to more than a quarter of the 22 films in competition for the Palme d’Or.

On Tuesday, the jury deciding that award and others will hold a news conference before beginning their sequestered movie watching. South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is serving as president of the nine-member panel, along with Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård and others.

How much any of this will serve as backdrop for “The White Lotus” remains to be seen. The fourth season of Mike White’s acclaimed HBO series is based around a trip to Cannes. Last month, the show began shooting on the French Riviera.

While Cannes may be light on big Hollywood movies, it isn't lacking in stars. Set to appear over the next two weeks are Kristen Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Adam Driver, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rami Malek, Sebastian Stan, Sandra Hüller and many others.

He could stay with the Los Angeles Lakers. He could decide to join another team. He could even retire and end the longest career in NBA history. He knows all this.

He just doesn't know the answer.

“I don't know what the future holds for me, obviously,” James said.

His 23rd season ended Monday night when the Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder. At 41, James likely doesn't have many years left to play — if any. And now he'll start the process of figuring out what he wants to do, what his family wants him to do and what's best for all parties involved.

Dwyane Wade, James' longtime friend and former teammate, was on the Amazon Prime broadcast of Game 4 of the Thunder-Lakers series as an analyst. And when the conversation turned to what James is going to do, he had some thoughts.

“That’s the question," Wade said. "And I think if we all know LeBron James, he’s going to take some time off and go drink some wine, go yacht a little bit around the world. He’s going to spend some time with his family. He’s going to sit down and try to make the best decision for the James family at the end of the day.

“And then from there, you've got to look at the picture of the Lakers," Wade continued. "LeBron, Year 24 coming back next year if he does, he wants to play for something. So, are they in a position that he can play for something and compete for something?”

Salary will be another issue. He made nearly $53 million this season. He could command somewhere around $60 million next season if he wanted. If he gives a team a discount to preserve flexibility, he could certainly afford to do so.

Wade doesn't seem to think that's likely.

“History shows that Mr. James ain’t taking a lot of discounts, right? I don’t think no one knows," Wade said. “I think one of the things that him and his entire team have been great at is they hold their cards close to their chest. Decisions are made by LeBron, and they all respect it. And they wait on him to decide what he wants to do.”

A look at some of what James' next moves could be (and for purposes of this exercise, the realities of the salary cap, the aprons, tax ramifications and whatever James will command in salary if he decides to keep playing do not apply):

Retirement

This one doesn't seem likely even though James posted the lowest scoring average of his career — 20.933 points per game, down a teeny-tiny sliver from his 20.937 average as a rookie. Another made free throw this season would have been enough to keep this season's average from being his worst.

The pessimists, or the anti-LeBron crowd, can say — accurately — that his numbers are declining. They are. He averaged 30.3 points in 2021-22, and his per-game scoring average has fallen in every season since, going to 28.9 in 2022-23, 25.7 in 2023-24, 24.4 last season and 20.9 this season.

Of course, his role has changed as well and that has some effect on the numbers. James spent much of this season as the Lakers' third option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and did so happily.

Stay with the Lakers

To be fair, this wasn't a bad season. Getting ousted in Round 2 by the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA title — the defending champion, too — isn't exactly a collapse, and Doncic not being able to play because of injury almost made the outcome expected.

The Lakers have the seventh-best record in the NBA during James' eight seasons there. Not great, not bad. But the playoffs, even with the run to the bubble championship in 2020, have not been to James' expectations. The Lakers went 32-31 in playoff games during these last eight seasons, and remember, 16 of those wins came in the bubble. Since then, the Lakers are just 16-26 in playoff games.

Good enough? It wouldn't seem so. The Lakers will have to give James reasons to stay. It's simple as that.

Return to Miami

James' jersey will sway from the rafters one day in Miami, assuming he ever actually retires and allows such tributes to finally take place. And there's no question that James still holds many people within the organization — Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra and more — in high regard.

But it's not like James has unfinished business in Miami. He became a champion in Miami; two of his four titles were won with the Heat. He'd be welcome, of course, but it's hard to envision James saying Miami would be the place for his final act.

Return to Cleveland

Northeast Ohio is home and will forever be close to James' heart. He's still (and forever will be) beloved there, and whatever anger existed over him leaving in 2010 was washed away forever when he delivered Cleveland's NBA title in 2016.

Time healed all wounds. If James wants to go the sentimental route, he might go home again. It would likely be contingent on the Cavaliers finding a way to keep a roster that's capable of contention.

He takes his talents to New York

The Knicks have tried and failed before to land James.

They have some serious selling points right now — among them, a good team and Madison Square Garden. That's a place James has always revered.

The bright lights of New York wouldn't scare him off. Then again, wherever James plays, the lights will be bright there, too.

Pair up with Stephen Curry again

James won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 with Steve Kerr coaching and Stephen Curry starring at the end.

The respect James has for Curry is off the charts, and he's often raved about Kerr as well. Kerr's coming back to the Warriors, and you know Golden State will do anything it can to give Curry one more chance at a title.

Bear in mind, it's highly improbable that this would ever work financially. But if James wants to play there, the Warriors will surely find a way.

The wild scenario: James and Wemby?

The greatest scorer ever teaming up with the game's most prolific defensive player in San Antonio?

Now that would be fun.

James is one of the people who dubbed Victor Wembanyama as an “alien” and did so with the utmost of respect. James is unlike anyone the league has ever seen, and Wembanyama might be thought of in the same way.

And even though Gregg Popovich doesn't coach the Spurs anymore, he's still there and James has always had the utmost respect for the NBA's winningest coach. James would be accused of ring-chasing if he tried this one, but then again, he knows detractors won't like anything he does anyway.

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

“Here we go again,” Alex Fitzpatrick said with a laugh.

Hold up, the younger Fitzpatrick said.

Time to clear the air — and clean the room — it's actually big brother Matt who can be a bit unkempt, especially in the bathroom.

“I’m a normal brush my teeth at night guy,” Alex said after practice rounds Monday. “He's got all these different things on the side of the counter and stuff. I'm not as bad as what he makes it out to be. He's exaggerating a lot. He's a bit of a neat freak.”

The brothers out of Sheffield, England can agree more these days that it might be better to share a trophy — as they did in April when they won the Zurich Classic team event — than share a house.

Only one can win at the PGA Championship this weekend at Aronimink Golf Club and each brother is a strong contender to win the first major in the Philadelphia region since the 2013 US Open at Merion.

Matt Fitzpatrick has three PGA Tours wins this season while Alex shared one win with his brother and entered Sunday with the lead at Quail Hollow before a double bogey on 17 derailed his shot at winning the Truist Open.

It’s rare for brothers to win in tandem on the PGA Tour. There haven’t historically been many team events, but brothers Danny and David Edwards did it at the Walt Disney World Team Championship in 1980.

“I think a lot of people feel like that once they get to this stage or even to the DP World Tour that they need to change a bunch of things and that’s going to help success,” Alex said. “I just felt like I keep doing what I’m trying to do. I’ve got a circle around me that I really trust. All the advice that I get is great.”

Alex has finished tied for ninth and fourth in his first two signature events since the Zurich Classic and has won about $2.84 million over that span. Pretty good for a golfer who wasn't on the PGA Tour before that date.

A day later, Alex tried to put the late fade at Quail Hollow behind him as he practiced for the PGA.

“I think if I looked back two months ago and someone said you’d finish fourth at the Truist Championship, I’d have kicked myself," if he was crushed, Fitzpatrick said. “I was disappointed in just in that I wish I’d have scored a little better. Overall, it was a great week and I have no complaints.”

Little brother's recent hot streak has sparked a bit of a role reversal in their dynamic.

Alex Fitzpatrick is 27 — about 4 1/2 years younger than Matt — which has led to years of answering questions about his brother.

Matt Fitzpatrick was a U.S. Amateur champion in 2013 and the U.S. Open champion in 2022, both at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. He beat Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, in a playoff in April at Harbour Town.

“It can be such a blur at times, and I think it is trying to take a step back and kind of remember those moments, even on a week like this and think about, oh, yeah, I won the Valspar or I won Harbour Town, whatever it may be,” Matt said.

Fitzpatrick has enjoyed the roles this season of watching, winning — and analyzing — his younger brother.

“I have to get used to that now because he’s had it for much longer than me,” Matt said. “I’m probably known as Alex’s brother now, as opposed to him being Matt’s brother. I love talking about my brother. It’s an amazing position to be in to have that privilege to talk about how well he’s doing. I’d so much rather have these questions, conversations, than the opposite of, you know, why is he not playing well."

Maybe one of the brothers can talk Sunday about the feeling of winning a major.

“I’d say my head is still spinning and I haven’t woken up from the dream yet,” Alex said.

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

Ajay Mitchell scored 10 of his 28 points in the frantic final period as the Thunder overcame the Lakers' tenacious effort and improved to 8-0 in the playoffs with their toughest victory of the postseason.

“We've done our job so far, that's all it really means,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We've gone out there, we've executed, we've played at a high level and we've been able to win eight tough games against really good opponents. That's all it means. Nothing is guaranteed.”

LeBron James had 24 points and 14 rebounds in the final game of the unprecedented 23rd season for the top scorer in NBA history, but he missed a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left that would have put the Lakers ahead.

The 41-year-old James has repeatedly said he hasn’t decided whether to play next season, so there was no ceremony or momentousness around this game. Instead, the Lakers desperately tried to extend their year, only to lose to Oklahoma City for the eighth time this season.

“I don't know what the future holds for me, obviously, as it stands right now, tonight,” James said. “I've got a lot of time. I'll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them, and when the time goes, obviously you guys will know what I decide to do.”

Austin Reaves scored 27 points before missing a tying 3-point attempt with eight seconds left for the Lakers, who advanced one round farther than almost anybody expected after losing NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and Reaves to significant injuries a month ago.

Los Angeles still lost six of its final seven playoff games and fell well short of the conference finals for the third straight season.

“I didn't want our season to end,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “I wanted to keep this thing going. I enjoyed every bit of this year.”

Oklahoma City faced its first fourth-quarter deficits of the entire playoffs in Game 4 as the Lakers repeatedly refused to fold. The Thunder still got it done, and they've earned at least the rest of the week off before they open the conference finals against the winner of San Antonio’s second-round series with Minnesota. The Spurs and Timberwolves are even heading to Game 5 on Tuesday night.

“They won more of the minutes tonight than we did, and that hadn’t been the case (earlier in the series),” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “They outplayed us for stretches. They’re a really good team with prideful players. We did not expect them to give us an unearned win, and we went out and earned it.”

Oklahoma City went 8-0 against the Lakers this season, winning all four regular-season matchups as well — but this one was the toughest. The Lakers took the lead and kept it close down the stretch with big buckets from Reaves and Rui Hachimura, who scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Holmgren’s dunk with 2:03 left put the Thunder up 109-103, but Hachimura coolly converted a four-point play. Marcus Smart then drove the lane and hit a layup while being fouled in the final minute, converting a three-point play for a 110-109 Lakers lead.

But Holmgren got the ball inside and triple-pumped for a dunk with 32.8 seconds left, and James missed on his drive. After Gilgeous-Alexander hit two free throws, Reaves missed again, and the Thunder hung on to secure their sixth berth in the Western Conference finals in the last 16 seasons.

The Thunder won the first two games of the series at home by 18 points apiece, and they routed the Lakers 131-108 in Game 3.

Doncic missed the final 15 games of the Lakers’ season after incurring a grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 in Oklahoma City, and he watched the season finale on the bench in a black sweatsuit. The Slovenian superstar apparently didn’t get close to returning from the injury, which often requires two months of recovery.

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

No problem. The All-Star guard followed it up with one of the best 24-minute stretches by a player in NBA playoff history Monday night.

After scoring only four points in the first half, Mitchell responded with 39 in the second half, tying the NBA playoff record for most points in a half as the Cavaliers rallied for a 112-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“It’s pretty impressive. I'm not sure I’ve seen in the playoffs a turnaround like that where a guy is struggling and just absolutely turns the switch and complete opposite of the first half,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Mitchell equaled Eric “Sleepy” Floyd's record on a free throw with 27.6 seconds remaining. He had a chance to break the record, set in 1987 when Floyd's Golden State Warriors faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, but missed his second foul shot.

“Everybody let me know that I missed a free throw to break the record, though," Mitchell said. "I will say that, but we’re two and two headed to Detroit. That was what we came home to do and that’s all that matters.”

Mitchell didn't score until he made a free throw with 4:19 remaining in the second quarter. He also missed his first six shots from the field before hitting a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:48 left in the first half.

Despite Mitchell's early struggles, the Cavaliers only trailed 56-52 at halftime. James Harden and Evan Mobley both kept Cleveland in the game in the first half as they combined for 26 points.

“I airball the first layup and was missing shots short," Mitchell said. "Sometimes it’s natural, right? I wasn’t really trying to get in there and force it and then just doubling down on the defensive end, trying to take whoever I’m guarding, take them out of the equation. I’m not tripping, we were down four at half.

"I always tell y’all it’s not just about the scoring, it’s about your overall impact on the game. And for me, it was just like, ‘OK, now I have an opportunity to try to get downhill’ and then started going in.”

Mitchell was 12 of 18 from the field in the second half, including three 3-pointers, and was 12 of 13 at the line. Cleveland's previous mark for most points in a half was 31 by Mitchell in Game 7 of its first-round series against Orlando in 2024.

Mitchell tied a franchise record for points in a quarter with 21 in the third as the Cavaliers seized control, outscoring the Pistons 38-21 in the quarter. He scored 15 during Cleveland’s 24-0 run that went from the last 12 seconds of the first half to the first six minutes of the third quarter.

The 24-0 run was the longest in an NBA playoff game since since Minnesota also scored 24 straight in Game 6 of its Western Conference semifinal series against Denver in 2024. It was also the longest spurt by Cleveland in a postseason game since play-by-play stats were kept in 1997-98. The previous high was 19 in an Eastern semifinal series contest against Boston.

“Donovan Mitchell was killing us, and that’s pretty much it," Pistons center Paul Reed said.

It was Mitchell's eighth playoff game with at least 40 points, his fourth with the Cavaliers. He has at least 30 points in three straight games as the series shifts to Detroit for Game 5 on Wednesday with it even at two games apiece.

Cleveland is still looking for its first road playoff win this season, and will need at least one if it hopes to make the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018.

“We’ve had two good games to build off of, but it’s going to be a hostile environment," Mitchell said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. And I think I know we’re ready for the challenge.”

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

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% from its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 288 points, or 0.6%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower.

Some of the sharpest drops hit chip companies and others on electric runs because of the artificial-intelligence boom. Intel fell 4.7% after its stock had more than tripled so far this year. Micron Technology dropped 4% after coming into the day with a gain of nearly 180% for the year to date, and CoreWeave sank 8% to cut into its gain of 60% for 2026.

The pullback for AI stocks began earlier in the day in Asia, where South Korea’s Kospi index sank 2.3% from its all-time high on worries that the government may redistribute windfall AI profits to its citizens.

Also weighing on Wall Street was another rise in oil prices as the war with Iran threatens to drag on. The price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 3.6% to $107.99 as a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire looks more tenuous. The war has essentially shut the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, keeping them stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.

The resulting leap for crude oil prices, with Brent up from roughly $70 per barrel before the war, caused inflation in the United States to worsen last month by more than economists expected, according to a report released Tuesday morning. In another discouraging signal, price increases accelerated by more in April than economists expected even after excluding gasoline and food costs.

That could be a result of tariffs and bad weather also pushing prices higher, according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market following an initial zigzag, suggesting traders suspect the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high.

The Fed has been keeping its cuts to interest rates on hold recently, as it waits to see how high inflation will go because of the war with Iran and the tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump. That’s because lower rates can worsen inflation at the same time that they give the economy a boost.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.45% from 4.42% late Monday and remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

Traders still largely expect the Fed to keep its main interest rate steady this year, but they're now betting on a better than 1-in-3 chance that it could hike rates by December, according to data from CME Group. Higher rates tend to push down on stock prices, while also slowing the economy.

Despite the climbs for Treasury yields, oil prices and uncertainty because of the Iran war, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably resilient recently, in large part because companies keep producing bigger profits than analysts expected

Zebra Technologies became the latest company in the S&P 500 to top analysts’ expectations for earnings, and its stock leaped 13.6%. The company, which helps customers digitize and automate their workflows with bar code scanners and other products, also gave a forecast for profit over the full year that topped analysts’ expectations.

But Under Armour sank 19.1% after reporting a worse loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Kevin Plank said the company is continuing steps to “reset the business and restore the discipline required to operate as a best-in-class brand.”

Outside of earnings reports, GameStop fell 1.9% after eBay rejected a buyout offer from the much smaller company, calling it “neither credible nor attractive.” It highlighted uncertainty about how GameStop would raise the money to pull off the purchases, among other challenges for the deal, and eBay's stock fell 1.3%.bez

Beazer Homes USA fell 1.8% after likewise rejecting an unsolicited buyout offer. It said that Dream Finders Homes has repeatedly undervalued it in its attempts to buy the company, including with its latest bid, which offered less than prior offers.

Dream Finders fell 6.5%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly fell across Europe and Asia.

Besides South Korea’s tumble, losses of 1.3% for Germany’s DAX and 1% for France’s CAC 40 were some of the world’s sharpest.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.5%.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Host city Vienna has been bedecked in hearts and the contest’s “United by Music” motto for a week in which singers and bands from 35 countries will compete onstage for the continent’s musical crown. But five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — are boycotting to protest Israel's inclusion.

Several pro-Palestinian demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week, and security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital, and support from forces in neighboring Germany.

Last month a 21-year-old Austrian man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group pleaded guilty to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024, and the head of Austria’s DSN intelligence service, Sylvia Mayer, said “the terror threat posed by Islamist terror groups, as well as Iran-affiliated groups, is still at a high level.”

Israel aiming for the Eurovision final

Israeli singer Noam Bettan is among 15 acts competing for votes from viewers and national juries in Tuesday’s semifinal at the Wiener Stadthalle arena. The top 10 will go through to Saturday’s grand final, along with 10 from Thursday’s second semifinal. The U.K., France, Germany and Italy automatically qualify because they are among the contest’s biggest funders. Austria, last year’s winner, goes through to the final as host country.

Bettan is seeking to get Israel, which came second in 2025, into Saturday’s final with the ballad “Michelle.” Like last year’s Israeli competitor, Yuval Raphael, he has practiced singing while being booed.

Hoping to cement its status as bookmakers’ favorite is Finland, with the intense “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”) by violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen.

Other competitors in Tuesday’s semifinal include Greece’s Akylas with fan-favorite party-rap track “Ferto” (“Bring It”); Portuguese quintet Bandidos do Cante with the soulful “Rosa”; and singer Senhit, representing tiny San Marino with “Superstar,” a party anthem featuring a guest appearance by Boy George.

Long a forum for good-natured — and sometimes more pointed — national rivalries, Eurovision has found it hard to separate pop and politics in recent years. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled over its conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and allegations it ran a rule-breaking marketing campaign to get votes for its contestant.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against “suspicious or coordinated voting activity.”

But the EBU declined to kick Israel out, spurring five countries to announce in December that they would not participate this year.

Protesters urge artists to withdraw

At a press conference on Tuesday the group No Music for Genocide urged participants to pull out of the contest.

“Israel will not withdraw. The Austrian government will not have Israel removed from the competition, from the Song Contest. So I think it is a moral obligation for each and every artist to take action and step away from the competition,” said Congolese-Austrian activist Patrick Bongola, a member of the group.

Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza. Demonstrations in support of the country's participation are also planned this week in Vienna.

The five-country boycott is a revenue and viewership blow to an event that organizers say was watched by 166 million people around the world last year. Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania have returned after skipping the event for artistic or financial reasons in recent years, but the number of participants, at 35, is still the lowest since 2003.

Jonathan Hendrickx, a media researcher at the University of Copenhagen, said any more boycotts will stress the structure of the contest and raise doubts if the very show can still go on as usual.

“They really are at their limits now, in terms of what they can handle with the current format,” Hendrickx said.

Dean Vuletic, the author of “Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest,” is confident Eurovision can weather the latest storms.

“We’ll see demonstrations, but we’ll also see a lot of colorful events going on which will really represent what Eurovision is about, which is bringing Europeans together,” he said.

“If you look at the history of Eurovision, it’s gone through so many crises, so many political challenges, so many geopolitical changes in Europe, and it’s always managed to survive.”

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Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this story.

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For more coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/eurovision-song-contest

Decades later, she’s still going to camp there. A separate band program was created for adults in 2013, where she felt encouraged to take up another instrument: trumpet.

“I was thrilled because I love this place,” said Guess, 71, of Baltimore, a retired lawyer for the U.S. Department of Defense who plans to return to the New England Adult Music Camp in August. “It is serene, beautiful, a perfect setting. And it’s not all that different from what it was 50-some years ago.”

Whether they are looking to make friends, improve their skills or just take some time out for themselves after sending their own kids to camp and college, adults can find a variety of summer music programs across the United States, ranging from electronic, folk, rock 'n' roll and jazz to chamber and opera.

For many campers, it offers a way to relive the nostalgic musical experiences of their youth and make new social connections.

“Emotionally, making music is good for the soul,” said Carole Lieberman, a California-based forensic psychiatrist who has played multiple instruments herself. “It makes you feel creative, allows you to provide the music you like for yourself and can boost your spirits."

“Cognitively, research demonstrates that learning to play a musical instrument and playing it helps your brain make better neurological connections,” she added. “It can help to ward off dementia.”

For Guess, playing music is about being “in that zone” with other musicians.

“When you’re playing music together, you rise above all the pettiness of life,” she said. “And it’s just the most spiritual thing I can think of.”

A camp for every playing level

The camps cover a range of playing abilities. Some listings specifying beginner, intermediate and advanced levels can be found in camp guides put out by organizations such Musical America Worldwide and The Instrumentalist.

The Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan, where Guess attended band camp in middle school, branched out to offer a variety of summer musical programs for adults, including a weeklong Symphonic Band Camp for experienced players in August.

In Walla Walla, Washington, the Midsummer Musical Retreat has grown to include multiple performance groups, large and small, for varying levels since it began in 1983.

Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, hosts the Band Camp for Adult Musicians, where players at an intermediate level and beyond are coached by retired military members and college professors.

The camp's founder was inspired by his kids' experience at band camp, director Leigh Hurtz said.

Now in its 37th season, many players are retired and have attended the camp together for years. Some have come with their children and grandchildren.

“They were lawyers or doctors, or working full-time, mothers,” Hurtz said. “There are also people who sold their tuba for a couch in college so they could have a couch, and 20 years later, it’s like, ‘I need a tuba again!’”

In addition to putting on concerts, the camps have their own traditions. At the one in Pennsylvania, everyone gets together on the first night for a family dinner. Walla Walla has a camper-created sketch comedy night. New England has campfire gatherings and a lobster dinner. Campers often have access to other activities such as kayaking, yoga or cocktail hours, or in open-mics solo or with a small ensemble of fellow campers.

Camps also can offer special sessions covering certain genres or instruments such as jazz, drum circles, klezmer, German band and ukulele, and host talks about topics like performance anxiety and music theory.

Camps offer support and encouragement

Linda Haller, 70, of Laconia, New Hampshire, had retired as an obstetrician-gynecologist a few years ago when she learned about a community band for adults promoting “music for life” nearby. She felt motivated to try the clarinet again after last playing it in high school. So she joined.

“It hasn’t all come back, but I’m getting to the point where I think I’m playing almost as good as I did back then,” she said. Haller, who also plays piano, said the rhythms and counting came right back to her.

She attended the camp in Sidney, Maine, for two years, where she progressed from a beginner’s band to intermediate. She said she enjoyed the camaraderie.

“Returning to an instrument learned in childhood is powerful because it combines memory, discipline and renewed growth,” said Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist based in New York.

“It strengthens attention, fine motor coordination, and memory pathways while reducing stress and improving mood,” Alpert said. “But equally important is the emotional experience of reengaging with something that once required patience and repetition.”

The community band Haller plays with is affiliated with the New Horizons International Music Association, a nonprofit that provides entry points for adults to create music, including those who have no musical experience. The organization counts over 200 bands, orchestras and choruses worldwide for 10,000 adult musicians since 1991.

Its philosophy, also adopted by other programs for adult musicians, is "Your best is good enough.”

New Horizons also sponsors its own camps, including an “American Music Abroad” trip to the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary in June, and one near Cincinnati, Ohio, in July.

The programs are popular, said Russ Grazier of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who has taught at New Horizons camps and is the artistic director of the New England Adult Music Camp.

He notes that the ensemble participation rate for adults over age 60 has doubled from about 150 to 300 people at a local music and arts center he leads. He said he thinks the social connection is key.

“And that's something missing from a lot of people's lives these days," Grazier said. "So any time we have an opportunity to have a space outside of the home where we're connecting with new people and sharing a common interest, it has remarkable benefits for our health and our aging.”

The Omaha-area district, where Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon is retiring, is one of the Democratic Party's biggest targets this midterm season. It's also a national focus every four years in presidential contests because Nebraska is one of just two states that splits its electoral votes. The 2nd District has gone to Democratic presidential candidates three out of five times since 2008 — a “blue dot” in an otherwise sea of red.

Three Democrats are seen as the top contenders in Tuesday's primary: state Sen. John Cavanaugh, political activist Denise Powell and district court clerk Crystal Rhoades. Republican Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member endorsed by President Donald Trump, is running unopposed on the GOP side.

Cavanaugh, more than anyone else on Tuesday's ballot, has been under attack from both parties.

Some Democratic opponents argue that a primary victory for Cavanaugh would jeopardize the district's “blue dot” status because he'd be leaving his valuable state legislative seat, making it easier for Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature to change the law that allows the state to split its electoral votes.

The issue has defined the primary contest perhaps more than any other.

Opponents say the ‘blue dot’ is in danger

The Democratic argument against Cavanaugh has little to do with his politics or policies.

His opponents and groups backing them have flooded mailboxes, airwaves and social media warning that if he wins the congressional primary, Nebraska's Republican governor would appoint a conservative Republican to replace him in the Legislature.

That move, they say, could give state Republicans enough votes to enact a conservative wish list that includes stricter limitations on abortion and transgender rights.

It could also empower Republicans to enact midcycle redistricting or change the state's unusual system of splitting presidential electoral votes, some Democrats argue. Republicans failed in 2024 to pass a bill that would have made Nebraska the 49th state to award its Electoral College votes on a winner-take-all basis.

“Our Blue Dot. We fought hard for it. But if John Cavanaugh goes to Congress, it could all fall down,” cautions one TV ad by the super PAC New Democrat Majority.

EMILY’s List, a national group that supports women running for office, has put its reach and money behind Powell, calling Cavanaugh’s candidacy “a gift to MAGA Republicans.”

Republican groups also target Cavanaugh

Republican groups have sent out mailers and social media posts claiming Cavanaugh “is in agreement with President Donald Trump” and showing a photo of Cavanaugh overlaid on a photo of the president, making it appear as if the two are standing together.

“Clearly, the Republicans know that I’m the strongest general election candidate,” Cavanaugh said. “And so they’re trying to hurt me.”

The attacks on Cavanaugh show Democrats and Republicans believe he has the best chance of winning the general election, said Paul Landow, a former Nebraska Democratic Party executive director.

He called the “blue dot” attacks disingenuous, noting Republicans already have a filibuster-proof majority in the Legislature but have still failed to pass key elements of their agenda because it is unpopular even among GOP lawmakers. The argument that a Cavanaugh win could weaken the state’s “blue dot” also assumes Democrats won’t pick up additional legislative seats this year, he said.

“There’s so many things that have to fall into place for this alleged danger to the ‘blue dot,’” Landow said. “It’s just wild speculation.”

The Democratic primary grows contentious

While all the Democratic contenders cite affordability and opposition to Trump administration policies — from immigration and healthcare to military actions — the top three contenders began attacking one another more aggressively in the days leading up to the primary.

Candidates and allied groups have spent more than $2.6 million on TV and digital advertising since Jan. 1, according to the advertising tracking company AdImpact. Nearly all of that has been by or on behalf of Cavanaugh and Powell.

Cavanaugh has spent about $375,000. Powell's campaign has spent almost as much — $345,000 — but with the help of groups backing her, campaign advertising has been overwhelmingly pro-Powell.

Powell co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee that supports progressive female candidates, and she has a decade of Democratic political activism. She's never held office but said her deep connections have helped her with independents and third-party voters who make up nearly 30% of the district's electorate.

“My name recognition has increased dramatically,” Powell said, adding that "people are really connecting with my message.”

Rhoades carries her own name recognition after 20 years in public service and running a slew of successful local Democratic elections — including that of Omaha Mayor John Ewing, who unseated a longtime Republican last year. Rhoades has raised a fraction of what Cavanaugh and Powell have amassed, but said she's intentionally eschewing campaign ads and instead blanketing the city with door-knocking and personal contact with voters.

Both Powell and Rhoades have leaned heavily into the concern that Democrats' influence in the district will erode if Cavanaugh is elected to Congress.

The winner of Tuesday's primary will head to a highly competitive general election. Trump won the district in 2016, and the retiring Bacon, who has clashed with Trump, has held the House seat for five terms.

Other Tuesday contests

Also on Tuesday's ballot is the race for U.S. Senate, where Republican incumbent Pete Ricketts is seeking a full term, following his 2023 appointment and 2024 special election victory to replace Republican Ben Sasse.

Ricketts faces four Republican primary challengers, but he’s already looking ahead to an expected general election contest against independent candidate Dan Osborn, an industrial mechanic and military veteran who came within 7 points of defeating Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in her 2024 reelection bid. Running in the Democratic primary are William Forbes and Cindy Burbank.

In the race for governor, incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Pillen faces five primary challengers, while former state Sen. Lynne Walz and frequent candidate Larry Marvin compete for the Democratic nomination. Marvin previously ran for U.S. Senate four times since 2012.

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Peoples reported from New York.

Rather than waning, a national redistricting battle that began 10 months ago has intensified as the November elections draw nearer — inflamed by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and provided grounds for states to try to eliminate voting districts with large minority populations.

Missouri was the second Republican state after Texas to heed Trump's call last year to redraw congressional districts to help the GOP win additional seats in the midterms. At issue before the Missouri Supreme Court is whether the new districts violate a state constitutional requirement to be compact, and whether they can remain in place for this year's elections despite an initiative petition seeking to force a public referendum.

In South Carolina, the issue facing Republican lawmakers is whether redrawing the state's lone Democratic-held seat could open the door to a clean sweep for Republicans or backfire with additional losses by making more districts competitive for Democrats. State senators have yet to decide whether to allow consideration of a redistricting plan put forth in the House after the legislature's regular work ends Thursday.

Congressional redistricting also is under consideration in Louisiana, where the Supreme Court's recent ruling invalidated a majority-Black district as an illegal racial gerrymander. The state's May 16 congressional primaries already have been postponed. What remains undecided is how many seats Republicans will try to pick up while redrawing the districts.

Alabama also is poised to switch its congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order mandating use of a map with two largely Black districts. The high court sent the case back to a lower court, where plaintiffs quickly requested a new order stopping Alabama from switching U.S. House districts. The Monday night filing argued that absentee voting already is underway and that the Louisiana decision only undermined one of two grounds in Alabama's court order, not affecting a finding of intentional racial discrimination.

Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new House maps enacted so far in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four more winnable seats for Democrats.

South Carolina weighs political risks of redistricting

A South Carolina House committee is to consider Tuesday whether to send a congressional redistricting plan to the full chamber for debate. The House also appears poised to pass legislation that could delay the June 9 congressional primaries until August to allow time for new districts to be enacted. That comes even as some absentee and overseas military ballots already have been cast.

Any redistricting effort also must clear the Senate, where support is less certain. Two-thirds of senators have to agree before the regular General Assembly session ends Thursday to let the legislature take up redistricting later.

Trump said on social media Monday that he was closely watching the redistricting vote, urging South Carolina senators to “be bold and courageous” and to delay the House primaries so new districts can be drawn.

Although Republicans have a supermajority in the chamber, several senators aren’t sure the proposed map guarantees the GOP will win the seat long-held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. They also think enough Democratic voters could be pushed into other districts that the plan could backfire, resulting in a 5-2 or even a 4-3 Republican split.

Some also question whether it is fair for Republicans to get all the seats in a state where the Democratic presidential candidate has gotten at least 40% of the vote every election this century, even if Trump is asking for the new map.

Louisiana GOP looks to target one or two seats

State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican who oversees the Louisiana Senate committee tasked with redistricting, said his panel plans to vote Tuesday on a U.S. House map, with a full Senate vote expected Thursday.

The committee has several options, including versions that would leave Democrats favored in one district or none. Kleinpeter said a map that eliminated all majority-Black districts would be difficult to defend in court.

Last Friday, dozens of people urged lawmakers to retain two majority-Black districts during a grueling nine-hour hearing that featured civil rights activists and the only four Black congressmen elected to represent the state since the end of Reconstruction.

Missouri map splits Kansas City district

Six Republicans and two Democrats currently represent Missouri in the U.S. House under a map passed by the Republican-led legislature after the 2020 census. But with Trump's backing, Republican state officials adopted a new map last September that improves their chances of winning an additional seat by targeting a Kansas City district held by longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who previously was the city's first Black mayor.

The new House map places portions of Kansas City in neighboring Republican districts and stretches the remainder of Cleaver's 5th District eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. A state judge in March rejected an assertion that the map violates a constitutional compactness requirement, finding that the new districts on average are more compact — even if the 5th District is not. That was appealed to the state Supreme Court.

A separate case also being argued Tuesday at the state Supreme Court contends the new districts should have been automatically suspended in December when opponents submitted more than 300,000 petition signatures seeking to force a statewide referendum.

Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins contend the new districts can be suspended only if — and after — Hoskins determines the petition meets constitutional requirements and has enough valid signatures. Hoskins has until Aug. 4, the day of Missouri's primary elections, to make that determination.

A state judge in March agreed with Republicans' position while also ruling that the plaintiffs lacked grounds to sue and had done so too soon.

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Brook reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Chandler from Montgomery, Alabama, Collins from Columbia, South Carolina, and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri.

Judge Darren Steele approved an agreement between Woods' defense attorney and prosecutors following a four-minute hearing in Martin County circuit court, just north of Palm Beach County.

Prosecutors had issued a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer at a Palm Beach pharmacy from the start of the year through the end of March. Defense attorney Doug Duncan had previously argued that Woods has a constitutional right to privacy when it comes to his prescription medications, but he acknowledged during the hearing that the right is not absolute and that prosecutors could make a compelling argument for why they were needed.

Meanwhile, prosecutors agreed to Duncan's request for a protective order limiting the release of records only to prosecutors, law enforcement officers, state experts and Woods' defense team.

Woods has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence. A sheriff’s office report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket, and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a truck's trailer and rolled onto its side.

Woods was traveling at high speeds on a beachside, residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30 mph (nearly 50 kph) speed limit when his Land Rover caused $5,000 in damage to the truck, according to an incident report. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but refused a urine test, authorities said.

Trump has veered between venting that China, the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, hasn't done more to get the Islamic Republic in line and acknowledging that Xi's government helped de-escalate the conflict last month by nudging Tehran back to ceasefire talks when negotiations wobbled.

But ahead of the U.S. leader's high-stakes visit, the White House has set low expectations that Trump will be able to persuade Xi to change China's posture.

Instead, Trump's Republican administration seems determined not to let differences on Iran overshadow efforts to make headway on other difficult matters in the complicated relationship — ranging from trade to further Chinese cooperation to block exports of fentanyl precursors.

“We don’t want this to be something that derails the broader relationship or the agreements that might come out of our meeting in Beijing,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Bloomberg TV last week.

US administration sanctioned China ahead of the trip

Beijing publicly insists that it wants to see the war end and has been working diplomatically behind the scenes to help its ally Pakistan push to broker a peace agreement. It has also sent a “subtle message of discontent to Iran” for closing the Strait of Hormuz and to the U.S. for its blockade of Iranian shipping, said Ahmed Aboudouh, a specialist on China’s influence in the Middle East with the London-based Chatham House think tank.

“They are very cautious, risk averse, and they don’t want to be involved in anything that would drag them into something that they don’t consider their problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait on Tuesday accused Iran of dispatching an armed paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team to launch a failed attack earlier this month on an island in the Middle East nation that is home to a China-funded port project. Iran didn’t immediately acknowledge the allegation by Kuwait, which came under repeated attack by Iran in the war and even during the shaky ceasefire still holding in the region.

In recent days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have stepped up their calls for China to use its influence to help reopen the strait, through which about 20% of the world's crude flowed before the war began.

The State Department announced on Friday it was sanctioning four entities, including three China-based firms, for providing sensitive satellite imagery that enables Iranian military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Earlier, the Treasury Department moved to target Chinese oil refineries accused of buying oil from Tehran, as well as shippers of the oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them.

Beijing has called the sanctions “illegal unilateral pressure” and enacted a blocking statute — passed in 2021 and never used until now — that prohibits any Chinese entity from recognizing or complying with the sanctions.

Ahead of Trump's arrival, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week hosted his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Beijing. The Chinese foreign minister used the moment to defend Iran’s right to develop civilian nuclear energy.

Xi has also offered implicit criticism of the U.S. over the war. He has said that safeguarding international rule of law is paramount, adding it “must not be selectively applied or disregarded,” nor should the world be allowed to revert “to the law of the jungle.”

China and the US want to avoid a return to a tariff war

Trump on Monday downplayed differences with China over Iran and underscored that Xi wants to see the strait reopened. “He’d like to see it get done,” Trump said of the Chinese leader.

Like Trump, Xi also has plenty of reason to not let differences over Iran impact other facets of the relationship, analysts say. China imports about half of its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from Middle Eastern countries affected by the closure of the strait, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

Beijing wants to guard against further deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship — something that would add further challenges to its economy.

“(Xi) wants the summit to validate China’s superpower status, preserve the tariff predictability, and to reaffirm that Washington has to deal with Beijing on Beijing’s terms," said Craig Singleton, senior director for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ China program

Yet, since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February, there have been difficult moments between Trump and Xi that threatened to set back the relative stability in their relationship.

China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.

Last month, Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on China after reports that Beijing was preparing to deliver a shipment of new air defense systems to Iran, but he later backed away from the threat, claiming that he had received written assurance from Xi that he would not provide Tehran with weaponry. Days later, Trump said cryptically that the U.S. Navy had intercepted a Chinese vessel carrying a “gift” for Iran. He has not offered further explanation.

Both Trump and Xi may be eager to avoid creating dark economic clouds, as they did last year, when the two powers appeared on the precipice of a massive trade war.

Trump had set tariffs on Chinese goods at 145%, and China announced a further tightening of rare-earth export controls that would have hurt U.S. industry — before the governments backed off from inflicting maximalist penalties on each other. The two sides reached a fragile truce in their long-running trade disputes in October.

Trump and other administration officials have made the case that the Iran conflict — particularly the closure of the strait — has caused greater harm to China and its Pacific neighbors than it has to the United States, which is far less dependent on Middle East oil and has an export-driven economy.

“You can’t buy from them if you can’t ship it there, and you can’t buy from them if your economy is being destroyed by what Iran is doing,” Rubio told reporters last week, making the case that it was in China’s interest for Iran to let traffic resume.

But for now, China has shown little interest in wading deeper into the conflict and has appeared reluctant to be seen siding with Washington.

“It will be difficult to get the Chinese deeply involved under any circumstances,” said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration and chair of The Asia Group. “They will want to be careful because they can see political quicksand as well as the next guy.”

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Associated Press writers Didi Tang in Washington, Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Residents like Audrey Gonzalez, who has lived in the area for 35 years, were on high alert, preparing to evacuate if necessary.

“(I’m) very, very concerned,” she said, adding that she’s been “coming out in the middle of night, just to make sure that it wasn’t coming towards our way.”

The fire could be seen from West Broward High School, though students remained in class.

West Broward resident Roxanne Gill said, “We could hear it crackling. That’s how bad it was. I had to hose down my house.”

“Everyone was hosing down all their trailers before the fire department came,” she said.

At long last, rain began to fall in the late afternoon, which was a welcomed sight for residents.

“This is amazing, we have been praying for this because it was very dry and the prediction was like it’s not gonna dry until tonight, so I’m super, super grateful right now,” said Elba Navarro. “I live nearby and honestly I didn’t sleep last night. I was waking up every two hours running to the window to see how close the fire was.”

As the fire moves deeper into the everglades, the concern for neighbors now is the displaced wildlife showing up at their front doors.

“Not just only something happened to them that of course I’m concerned but alligators, coyotes, snakes, they run and they run to our house because we have lakes,” said Navarro.

“It’s just about staying ready,” Kelly said, “and all these guys in here are ready.”

Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves in his first start this postseason after relieving Scott Wedgewood during a 5-1 loss in Game 3 on Saturday, and the Avalanche moved within one win of taking the first spot in the Western Conference finals. Game 5 will be in Denver on Wednesday.

“You’re never going to be perfect after 30 days off, so I just try to do my best to stay sharp,” said Blackwood, who learned the day before he would be starting.

Nazem Kadri scored on a power play in the second period, and Nathan MacKinnon — who had a brief absence to fix a bloody nose from a puck to the face — and Brock Nelson added empty-net goals in the final minute.

Nico Sturm tied the game at 2 for Minnesota with his first goal of the postseason about two minutes after Colton scored, but the Wild were outshot 20-4 over roughly the first half of the game by an energized Colorado offense.

Rookie Danila Yurov scored his first career postseason goal on a deflection midway through the first period for the Wild during a four-minute power play prompted by a double minor penalty on defenseman Josh Manson, but they failed to consistently get pucks deep into the offensive zone and allowed their crowd-noise advantage to all but disappear during their slog of a second period before coming to life down the stretch.

“The style of game that we needed to play to win the game, we didn’t,” coach John Hynes said. "We made the conscious choice not to play that way tonight, so we’ll readdress that and then we’ll get ready for Game 5.”

After leading the NHL in goals during the regular season while posting the league's best record, the Avalanche scored 14 times over the first two games before Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt stonewalled them in Game 3.

But Colton, whose wrist shot was set up by a slick across-the-slot pass by linemate Nicolas Roy, became the 15th player to score for the Avalanche in just eight postseason games this spring. Then Kelly made it 16.

“They were doing a lot of what we want to do — quick with the puck, get it down deep, work our players down low," Wallstedt said. “They got a lot of pucks to the net. They were creating rebounds. They were creating scoring chances. We want to do the exact same thing. It just took a little longer for us to get there.”

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

Trump, who turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president, will see his doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on May 26, the White House said in a brief statement Monday evening.

The president's health has been the subject of tremendous scrutiny, so much so that Trump said he regretted getting imaging on his heart and abdomen last year because it raised public questions about his health.

Trump — who has been frequently critical of former President Joe Biden for age-related health and fitness issues — has recently remarked how good he feels despite his years. Earlier Monday, Trump that he feels the same as he did 50 years ago. “I feel literally the same,” he said at an Oval Office event. “I don’t know why. It’s not because I eat the best foods.”

Last week, he joked about his exercise regimen, saying that he works out “like about one minute a day, max.”

Presidents have wide discretion over what health information they choose to release to the public. Trump's doctor reported after an annual physical exam in April 2025 that the president was “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief.

His physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said Trump was 20 pounds lighter since a 2020 checkup that showed him bordering on obesity.

Months after the visit reported last April, Trump had a checkup after noticing what the White House described as “mild swelling” in his lower legs. Tests by the White House medical unit found that Trump had chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins.

At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also addressed bruising on the back of Trump's hands that has sometimes been covered by makeup. Leavitt said it was the result of irritation from frequent handshaking and aspirin use. Trump takes aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Trump went on to have an October medical exam that the White House called a “semiannual physical,” where he also got his yearly flu shot and a COVID-19 booster vaccine. He later told The Wall Street Journal that he underwent advanced imaging on his heart and abdomen in October as preventive screening.

In his first term, Trump had at least four medical exams in office, aside from a stay at Walter Reed when he got COVID-19 in October 2020.

His upcoming dental evaluation follows two other recent visits to a local dentist near his estate in Florida, where Trump often spends his weekends.

The checkup is scheduled to take place about 10 days after Trump is expected to return from a summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Mitchell tied an NBA playoff mark with 39 points in the final two quarters as he rallied the Cavaliers to a 112-103 victory Monday night.

“What a shift, right? Really struggled in the first half and then big-time, second-half performance by Don,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.

The home team has won all four games in the series, which shifts to Detroit for Game 5 Wednesday night.

Mitchell matched the mark of Eric “Sleepy” Floyd on a free throw with 27.6 seconds remaining. He had a chance to break the record, set in 1987 when the Golden State Warriors faced the Los Angeles Lakers, but missed his second foul shot.

“Everybody let me know that I missed a free throw to break the record, though,” said Mitchell, who finished with 43 points. “I will say that, but we’re two and two headed to Detroit. That was what we came home to do and that’s all that matters.”

James Harden had his 40th playoff double-double with 24 points and 11 assists. Evan Mobley had 17 points as Cleveland remained unbeaten at home in six playoff games.

Caris LeVert had a season-high 24 points for Detroit. Cade Cunningham scored 19, the first time he has been held under 20 in 11 playoff games this season, and Tobias Harris added 16.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who takes pride in the physical style his team plays, was not pleased with the free throw disparity. Mitchell had more trips to the foul line (15) than Detroit (12).

“There is no way one guy on their team should have more free throws than our team. We’re not a settling for jump shots team," he said. “We didn’t do enough to help ourselves, but ever since we came to Cleveland, the whistle has changed.”

Even though Mitchell struggled in the first half and the Cavaliers shot 15 of 38, with most of their shots being 3-pointers, the Cavaliers felt pretty fortunate to be down 56-52 at halftime.

Atkinson's message at halftime was to play with more pace and attack downhill, which opened things up.

Mitchell scored 15 during Cleveland’s 24-0 run that went from the last 12 seconds of the first half to the first six minutes of the third quarter. Cleveland trailed 56-52 at halftime before taking control.

The Cavs were 10 of 12 from the field and made three 3-pointers. They also converted five turnovers by the Pistons into nine points.

“When (Mitchell) sees a gap, he’s going to go. We’ve got to eliminate his touches and catches on the run,” Cunningham said. “That run, we just never caught our footing again. That was the first time they really got loose in the series.”

The 24-0 run was the longest in an NBA playoff game since since Minnesota also scored 24 straight in Game 6 of its Western Conference semifinal series against Denver in 2024. It was also the longest spurt by Cleveland in a postseason game since play-by-play stats were kept in 1997-98. The previous high was 19 in an Eastern semifinal series contest against Boston.

“We understood if we could just get some stops and get out in transition and get some easier looks, we’ll be in good shape. We were doing a solid job, we just weren’t scoring,” Mitchell said, “I think understanding that we were in a good spot and did a good job of weathering a storm.”

Mitchell and Harden accounted for 49 points apiece with their points scored and points off assists. Mobley was a force on both ends of the court with eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and five blocked shots.

“Don’s going to get all the flowers, but we should give a lot of flowers to Mobley for tonight’s performance,” Atkinson said.

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

Morton died Saturday in Mill Valley, California, the Broncos confirmed through his family.

Morton is one of only four QBs to start the NFL’s biggest game with two organizations. The other three — Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Kurt Warner — all ended up with at least one win. Morton's only Super Bowl ring came as a backup.

His first Super Bowl start was in a turnover-plagued Super Bowl V to end the 1970 season — a 16-13 loss by the Cowboys to the Colts. Morton threw the Cowboys’ first touchdown pass in a title game.

Seven years later, and after an unsuccessful stint with the New York Giants, Morton led the Broncos to a matchup against his former team. He threw for 39 yards and four interceptions before getting pulled for Norris Weese in a 27-10 loss, which marked the first of four straight Super Bowl defeats for Denver.

Known for his strong arm, Morton turned in a college football Hall of Fame career at California, where he played for coach Marv Levy and assistant Bill Walsh. Morton went fifth in the 1965 NFL draft to the Cowboys. Oakland also took him in the 10th round of the AFL draft.

He joined a Cowboys team coached by Tom Landry that had veteran Don Meredith at QB. Morton played in four games that season. He then split time with up-and-coming Roger Staubach in 1970-71, the year the Cowboys went to their first Super Bowl.

The next season, Morton and Staubach also split time — at some points, even alternating every play. But ultimately, it was Staubach who took over the starting job, then led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl and a 24-3 win over Miami. Staubach was the MVP of that game and it wasn’t hard to imagine the end of Morton’s time in Dallas.

The Cowboys dealt their backup to the Giants in 1974 for a package that included a pick Dallas would use to take defensive lineman Randy White, who became a Super Bowl MVP and Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Morton struggled in New York, but enjoyed a renaissance after getting traded to Denver before the 1977 season — the season that put the Broncos on the map.

The veteran QB became the final piece for a Broncos team under a new coach, Red Miller, who inherited a strong defense that would become known as the Orange Crush.

Morton led the Broncos to a 12-2 record and playoff wins over the Steelers and Raiders. He famously spent the week in the hospital with a hip injury before spearheading the win over rival Oakland.

Four years later — and after the Broncos had toyed unsuccessfully with finding his replacement — Morton teamed with a new coach, his former Cowboys teammate Dan Reeves. In 1981, Morton threw for 3,195 yards and 21 TDs, both career highs (he matched his best mark in TDs).

He retired after starting three games in the strike-shortened 1982 season. Denver would trade for John Elway, who supplanted Morton as the franchise’s most famous and revered No. 7.

Morton threw for 27,908 yards over his career with 183 touchdowns and 187 interceptions. Morton ranked in the top 20 all-time in yards passing and TD passes when he retired following the 1982 season.

He was voted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 1988, along with two other standouts from that ’77 team — Haven Moses and Jim Turner.

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AP National Writer Eddie Pells and AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.

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

Toews tried to send the ill-fated clearing attempt from the crease toward the corner, but it made a direct hit on MacKinnon's face instead. The league's leading goal scorer during the regular season collapsed to his knees in pain before an athletic trainer arrived to press a towel under his nose and help him skate off the ice.

Blood was all over, including streaming down the inside of MacKinnon's visor, and he went up the tunnel for further treatment shortly before the second intermission. MacKinnon returned in time for the third period and tacked on an empty-net goal in Colorado's 5-2 win.

“If he was going to be able to get out there, he was going to be out there," coach Jared Bednar said. “I just felt for him because I just went through that. It doesn’t feel very good.”

Bednar went to a hospital with facial fractures and a corneal abrasion in his eye last month, missing a two-game road trip after being hit with a puck on his right cheek that soared into the bench area during a game.

MacKinnon has six goals and six assists in eight playoff games this spring for the Avalanche, who lead the Wild 3-1 going into Game 5 on Wednesday.

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

Tras la lluvia de críticas que desató entre los padres y organizaciones civiles locales la iniciativa de recorte del ciclo escolar, la Secretaría de Educación Pública informó en un comunicado que luego de un análisis exhaustivo de impacto de las medidas y una deliberación colectiva se acordó “mantener el calendario escolar 2025-2026 en sus términos originales”, y que las clases culminarán el 15 de julio.

La polémica surgió luego de que el secretario de Educación Pública, Mario Delgado, informó el 7 de mayo en un video que se difundió en su cuenta de X que se adelantaría para junio el fin del período escolar por la “extraordinaria ola de calor” que se vive en el país, que aseguró que se extenderá por dos meses, y por el torneo mundialista que se desarrollará entre el 11 de junio y el 19 de julio.

Organizaciones civiles locales que defienden los derechos de los niños y adolescentes y agrupaciones de padres rechazaron la propuesta alegando que el recorte de más de un mes de clases afectaría el derecho a aprender de los infantes y complicaría la situación de los padres que no tienen quien cuide a sus hijos durante las vacaciones.

La Copa Mundial se disputará en 11 sedes en Estados Unidos, tres en México y dos en Canadá. Las sedes mexicanas de la justa deportiva serán la Ciudad de México, donde se jugará el partido inaugural, Guadalajara y Monterrey.

The fire in the area of Florida City was 50% contained after burning about 300 acres, according to the Florida Forest Service.

Miami-Dade firefighters responded to the area of Southwest 344 Street and South Dixie Highway.

“We are working on protecting the communities around Florida City and Homestead, and also making sure that roads stay open,” M-DFR Chief Ralph Baena said.

The smoke from the fire affected air quality and drivers’ visibility. Drivers from Florida City to the Florida Keys experienced road closures on Sunday.

“You can smell it in the air,” Rafael Granadas said in Florida City.

M-DFR personnel warned people with respiratory conditions to keep their windows and doors closed and set their air conditioning systems to recirculate. Emmanuel Villa works outdoors.

“It’s going to be hard at work, breathing all this smoke at work,” Villa said in Florida City about his work in the Florida Keys.

The fire “danger” was moderate and the “potential” high on Monday in Miami-Dade, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ fire danger index report.

Local 10 News Assignment Editors Mercedes Cevallos and Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

Related reports

• Brush fire causes closure of U.S. 1 heading in, out of Florida Keys
• Brush fire ignites in western Broward County

Related social media post

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews continue assisting @FlForestService (FFS) in containing the 172 Ave brush fire in Southeast Miami-Dade near SW 344 Street & S Dixie Hwy. Currently, no structures nearby are affected.

As per FFS, the fire is 210 acres, with 30% contained.

Commuters… pic.twitter.com/rnWGLpcNf5

— Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (@MiamiDadeFire) May 11, 2026

The 81-year-old was sworn in Tuesday for a seventh consecutive term to extend his presidency over a further five years that may well be his last — although not necessarily for the Museveni family.

Army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president's son and presumptive heir, oversaw dayslong rehearsals of the military parade that animated the inauguration of Museveni, with Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets flying noisily over official ceremonial grounds in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

Museveni took the oath of office and received the ceremonial instruments of power while being cheered by thousands attending the event in the Kampala suburb of Kololo. The president urged Ugandans to work hard and build wealth for their families, citing the stories of individuals whose entrepreneurial spirit had paid off.

“No more excuses,” he said.

Many Ugandans now accept that Museveni’s presidency — the only one that many millions of them have known — is nearing its end.

What remains uncertain is the nature of the transition and how orderly things would be in the time he has left in office.

Two possible routes to the top

Kainerugaba looks poised to take over. He has declared his wish to succeed his father and said recently that the mission is unstoppable.

Still, his path is narrow and could follow one of two ways: either a bloodless but unconstitutional takeover by Kainerugaba or a constitutional amendment that allows lawmakers with the ruling party — which has an overwhelming majority — to pick him as Museveni’s successor. An electoral win is seen as a hurdle too high for Kainerugaba, whose challengers would include opposition leader Bobi Wine, the popular entertainer who has twice run for president and rejected the outcome of the January election that gave Museveni his next term.

Anita Among, the parliamentary speaker, said last month that legislators would do everything possible to assist Kainerugaba in his pursuit of the presidency.

“For the sake of MK, just assure MK that we will do whatever it takes,” Among told a group of lawmakers celebrating the general's birthday, mentioning Kainerugaba's initials. “In the 11th parliament, the opposition got swallowed. In the 12th parliament, it is going to be walloped.”

In addition to the speaker, many other leaders have been scampering to show allegiance to Kainerugaba. While their moves display a quest for political survival, they also underscore Kainerugaba’s rise as Uganda’s de facto leader as his father ages and relies more on the army chief to exercise authority.

“Many Ugandans close to power have learned this lesson. That the president is old and exhausted, both intellectually and physically,” Andrew Mwenda, a close ally and friend of Kainerugaba, wrote last month in The Independent online newspaper. “He has a limited ability to monitor many things across a large spectrum of sectors.”

Kainerugaba, 52, joined the army in the late 1990s, and his rise to the top of the armed forces has been controversial, with critics dubbing it the “Muhoozi Project” to prepare him for the presidency.

Museveni and Kainerugaba denied the existence of such a scheme, but it has become apparent in the last two years that hereditary rule is possibly what the president prefers.

Museveni, who has not said when he will retire, has no rivals within the ruling party — the reason many believe the military will have a say in choosing his successor.

“While people are waiting for the legal transition from Museveni, the de facto transition has already happened,” said Angelo Izama, an analyst who runs the Uganda-based Fanaka Kwawote think tank. “Kainerugaba, more than the president, is the final voice on defense and security matters.”

A more confrontational style than his father's

Kainerugaba’s associates describe him as a dedicated military officer who often eschews ostentatious displays of wealth. He attended military schools in the U.S. and Britain before taking charge of a presidential guard unit that has since been expanded into an elite group of special forces.

In addition to his military duties, he is the founder of a political activist group known as the Patriotic League of Uganda. Its members and well-wishers range from government ministers to businesspeople.

But Kainerugaba lacks the public charisma and folksy style of Museveni, who has kept power in part by striking deals with his political rivals and even convincing some to serve in his government. Kainerugaba's style is more confrontational, expressed often in harsh online posts that can give offense. He has ordered the arrest over alleged corruption of multiple generals, including some known to have once been his friends.

Museveni first took power by force in 1986 as the leader of a guerrilla force whose goal was to democratize Uganda after years of chaos and civil war. He said at the time that Africa’s problem was leaders who overstayed their welcome. Much later, he changed his stance to say his criticism was of leaders who prolonged their rule without an electoral mandate.

Museveni, a U.S. ally on regional security, is often credited with presiding over relative peace and stability. But many others see an increasingly authoritarian streak at odds with his early promise of democracy. Term and age limits have been scrapped and some opponents jailed or sidelined.

Lawmakers recently passed a punitive bill whose stated purpose is to deter foreign interference, but which drew widespread concern over its potential to hurt the work of non-governmental organizations and opposition groups.

The legislation forbids an “agent of a foreigner” from obtaining grants or other monetary support from external sources exceeding 400 million Ugandan shillings — roughly $110,000 today — within a 12-month period without the approval of the interior minister.

Wine's party, the National Unity Platform, condemned the legislation as “unconstitutional, irrelevant and brought in bad faith to further persecute those with divergent views.”

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

The eight-time All-Star went 1 for 5 with a single and a strikeout hitting second behind Shohei Ohtani and ahead of Freddie Freeman in a 9-3 loss in the series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

“We just have to make sure we swing at good pitches,” Betts said before the game. “Those guys are good, too. They drive nice cars, too. We just have to control the zone, swing at good pitches.”

The Dodgers have dropped eight of their last 12 games and were looking for Betts to help jumpstart a stagnant offense. They have scored three runs or fewer in nine of those 12 games.

"I know I’m not the hero,” said Betts, the 2018 AL MVP. “It’s important for everyone to know it’s going to take all of us and not just one guy getting through their struggles or whatever it is.”

Betts was batting .179 (5 for 28) with two home runs in eight games before he went on the injured list April 5 with a right oblique strain.

"I just didn’t really realize how long it takes for it to really heal,” he said. “I felt pretty good pretty fast actually. But just some of the movements I couldn’t do kind of lingered for a long time. I was trying to hurry but obviously the doctors were saying it just takes a month for it to heal.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Betts would start at shortstop Monday and Tuesday before taking Wednesday off.

“After seven days, six days, I think he’s going to want to be in there regularly, but we’ll kind of see,” Roberts said.

Betts was on a tear in spring training, hitting .357 with a .786 OPS in five games before briefly leaving the team for the birth of his third child. He cooled off the first two weeks of the regular season before getting hurt.

Roberts is taking a wait-and-see approach toward Betts' offense. The 33-year-old shortstop was 2 for 5 in two minor league rehab games.

“Certainly two games of rehab, taking batting practice, a day of live at-bats, is not ideal,” the manager said, “but I think with Mookie you just don’t know. The hope is that he can kind of hit the ground running.”

With Betts' return, infielder Alex Freeland was sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He was hitting .235 with two homers and eight RBIs in 33 games.

The front office chose to keep second baseman Hyeseong Kim over Freeland.

“What it came down to is Hyeseong has performed better,” Roberts said.

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

Already, testimony about Altman's turbulent tenure at the ChatGPT maker has become prime fodder for internet jokes. One piece of evidence that has inspired countless memes was a text exchange between Altman and a company officer, Mira Murati, in 2023 during his short-lived ouster as CEO, when Altman asked if things were moving “directionally good or bad” and she wrote back: "Sam this is very bad."

Musk, the world's richest man, is seeking Altman's second ouster from the company leadership as part of a civil lawsuit accusing him of betraying their shared vision for OpenAI. Since its start as a nonprofit funded primarily by Musk, OpenAI has evolved into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.

Even if Musk loses, the trial has invited further scrutiny of Altman’s leadership at a pivotal time for the company and its competition with Musk’s own AI firm and another rival, Anthropic, formed by a group of seven ex-OpenAI leaders. All three firms are moving toward planned initial public offerings that are expected to be some of the largest ever.

A jury that’s already heard about Altman’s character from a parade of his former allies and adversaries will ultimately decide the verdict. But the repercussions could reverberate widely.

“This is not looking good for any of them, and I think that that’s a little bit unfortunate for the AI industry at a time when the public perception of AI is quite negative and seems to be getting worse,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute.

Musk warned Altman would be one of America's ‘most hated’ men

The lawsuit accuses Altman and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company’s founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. The lawsuit alleges they shifted into a moneymaking mode behind his back.

Shortly before the trial began, Musk abandoned a bid for damages for himself and instead is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI’s charitable arm. In a text exchange with Brockman proposing a possible settlement, Musk warned that Brockman and Altman “will be the most hated men in America” as a result of the trial.

While Musk, the head of SpaceX, Tesla and a slew of other companies, was well known by the San Francisco Bay Area jury pool, fewer knew who Altman was before the start of the trial, even if they were familiar with ChatGPT.

As the trial has played out in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California over the last two weeks, jurors have heard from witnesses including OpenAI ex-board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, who spoke about the decision to fire Altman in 2023 before they were themselves ousted from the board of directors when Altman returned to his role.

In video testimony last week, Toner said a starting point for the decision to oust Altman was when OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, a respected AI scientist, reached out to confide some of his own concerns.

“A phrase we used was ‘a pattern of behavior,’ so no one single cause,” Toner said. “The pattern of behavior related to his honesty and candor, his resistance of board oversight.”

Sutskever was instrumental in the unsuccessful attempt to oust Altman but later said he regretted his role in the shakeup. In his own testimony Monday, Sutskever confirmed that he wrote a 2023 memo to OpenAI’s board that characterized Altman as pitting his executives against one another and exhibiting a “consistent pattern of lying” that was causing a loss of trust and productivity.

Sutskever said Altman’s behavior contributed to an environment that was “not conducive” to the company's goals, including its mission to safely build artificial general intelligence. But he said he later backtracked and signed a letter supporting Altman’s reinstatement.

“I felt that, had I not done this, the company would have been destroyed, and I felt that this was a Hail Mary,” he testified.

OpenAI begins presenting its side

The trial has carried risks also for Musk, who is pursuing an initial public offering this summer for his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, which could make him the world's first trillionaire. Among the witnesses has been Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member who served as a conduit between Musk and OpenAI's leaders and didn't initially disclose that Musk was the father of her two young twins, according to trial testimony.

Not until midday Monday, on the third week of the trial, did OpenAI begin calling its own witnesses, starting with Bret Taylor, the current chair of OpenAI’s board who painted a more positive portrait of Altman’s leadership.

“I think Sam has done a great job as CEO,” Taylor said. “He’s been forthright with me and the other board members.”

Syracuse University professor Shubha Ghosh, an expert in business and technology law, said regardless of the outcome of the case, he has doubts about Altman staying on as CEO of OpenAI in the long run.

“A lot this of might depend upon a testimony,” he said. “And I don’t know what he’s going to say or how he’s gonna say it. But even like the best case, movie theater type performance, with all the music playing and the angels descending or whatnot, I don’t see him coming off as a fairly strong leader, especially (since) this case has gone this far."

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O'Brien contributed from Providence, R.I.

Trump departs Tuesday for a summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in what could potentially be the first of four meetings this year.

“We’re doing a lot of business with China and making a lot of money," Trump said last week. "We’re making a lot of money — it’s different than it used to be.”

The summit is primarily about keeping the economic relationship stable, with only modest policy announcements expected. A trade truce reached last October likely will be extended, while China may announce plans to buy American soybeans, beef and Boeing airplanes. U.S. officials also have teased the creation of a Board of Trade to keep the sides talking on economic issues.

Some in the Trump administration believe "the outcome that matters more than any set of deliverables is stability and space for continued engagement, both to build domestic resilience and to facilitate future deal-making," said Brett Fetterly, a managing principal at the consultancy The Asia Group who focuses on China.

Engagement would only be the first step toward addressing the competition between the U.S. and China, as tit-for-tat tariffs, the AI and electric vehicle buildout, and the Iran war could upend relations.

China and the US are buying less from each other

Despite Trump's claims about making money, China bought nearly $50 billion less in American products last year than it did in 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Some of that decrease reflects Beijing stopping soybean purchases during last year's trade war. The Trump administration has made clear that it wants to support American farmers and factories by having China import more from the U.S., with the goal of further narrowing a trade imbalance that totaled $202 billion last year.

The United States also now imports more goods from Taiwan than China, a change provoked in part by the AI race that has U.S. firms buying computer chips and servers from the self-governing island.

But going back to Trump's first term, China also began to route its U.S.-bound products through other Asian countries, while American companies shifted supply chains for computers and other electronics to Vietnam and India.

China's share of goods imported to the U.S. has fallen from 22% at the start of Trump’s first term in 2017 to just 7.5% in the first three months of this year, according to government data analyzed by Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and co-author of the book “How to Win a Trade War.”

The US wants a board to guide trade with China

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he “highlighted” in an April 30 call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng the value of a “new government-to-government Board of Trade.”

Greer indicated the board could improve trade in goods without national security concerns. That could mean agricultural products, for instance, but not computer chips or other sensitive technology.

The initiative could make it easier to resolve trade disputes and help American efforts to sell more to China. It might help prevent a repeat of last year when Trump hiked tariff rates on Chinese goods by 145%, before finalizing a truce in an October meeting with Xi in South Korea.

The board also would give the Trump administration an alternative to severe tariff hikes, which have become a logistical and legal problem. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump lacked the authority to unilaterally impose many of last year's tariffs, while his temporary replacement tariffs that followed were deemed illegal by a federal court last week.

The Trump administration says the U.S. and China would need to get sign-off at home to create the board that could manage tens of billions of dollars in trade. Administration officials also would like to create an investment forum to discuss financing of operations in each country.

Traveling to China as part of the U.S. delegation are some 17 CEOs, including Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook and Boeing's Kelly Ortberg, the White House says.

Washington and Beijing have different goals

In some ways, Trump's and Xi's governments have been talking past each other. Trump assumes America can keep its edge on AI, so he judges the trade imbalance as the big issue to solve. But Xi sees a world disrupted by climate change and the Iran war, shifts that could give a boost to Chinese technologies such as solar panels and EVs.

“Washington and Beijing are competing at different levels and different domains, with different theories of victory,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow specializing in U.S.-China relations at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. “President Trump leveraged tariffs not as a weapon against China but as leverage to secure a trade deal. Xi Jinping is angling to win a cold war with the United States."

The U.S.-Israel war against Iran also is leading to an inflection point on energy, said Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group.

The Trump administration is banking on the world continuing to rely on oil and natural gas, whereas China sees the price spikes following the disruption to energy shipments in the Strait of Hormuz as supporting a green energy transition that favors its industrial strategy.

“The structural frictions between the United States and China, they are growing in number and severity,” Wyne said.

The tensions beneath the sunny talk

Several potential strains could easily upset the cheery talk of friendship — raising questions about whether any meaningful progress can be made at the summit on issues like:

— China's control of the majority of rare earth mining and almost all of the processing for those minerals widely needed for electronics. The Trump administration is trying to develop its own rare earths production with new partnerships and investments in companies, a strategy that would unfold over several years.

— The U.S. push to limit China's access to the most advanced computer chips. These chips, designed by companies such as Nvidia and AMD, have the processing power to further develop AI.

— China's dominance as an automaker. Its worldwide exports of vehicles increased 21% last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China can sell EVs at a much cheaper price than automakers in the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

— Tariffs. After the Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs, the administration launched national security investigations under a provision of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose new tariffs based on excess industrial capacity and efforts to prevent slave labor that could potentially withstand legal scrutiny.

— U.S. sanctions on a Chinese oil refinery and dozens of tankers and shippers for involvement in transporting Iranian oil. Beijing responded to the action earlier this month by demanding that no one abide by the U.S. penalties against Chinese businesses. The countries also are jousting over management of the Panama Canal.

The CSC in a statement said the arbitrator affirmed the commission's decision to reject third-party NIL agreements between Nebraska's multimedia rights (MMR) partner, Playfly, and the players.

At issue was whether Nebraska's MMR partner would be considered an “associated entity" — deals from which are subject to CSC scrutiny.

With that decided, the CSC said the arbitrator rejected the deals because:

— They lacked what the CSC calls a “valid business purpose” because they did not include goods or services offered to the general public for profit.

— Playfly violated a rule against “warehousing” NIL rights — i.e., paying for the rights to use for some purpose later instead of employing them right away.

Speaking to media at the Atlantic Coast Conference meetings in Florida, the CSC's CEO, Bryan Seeley, said he didn't consider the deal to be a precedent.

“Even if it’s not precedential, the fact is it’s influential, and it’s influential in people’s minds about how they think about enforcement,” he said. "So, for me, it was a good day.”

The CSC said it would release the arbitrator's full decision later.

Some observers are curious to see whether the university or the state will sue over the decision, something the CSC was hoping to avoid when it sent out a “participation agreement” for schools to sign that forbid them from suing the commission.

Many schools have been reluctant to sign the agreement, arguing they’re not allowed under their state laws to sign away their ability to take legal action.

“It’s whether their state attorney general challenges it in court and what the outcome of that is, I think that is the true test of whether this (CSC) is a legitimate governing body,” sports attorney Paia LaPalombara told The Associated Press in an interview last week in discussing the Nebraska case.

In acknowledging the decision, Nebraska AD Troy Dannen said the school would continue to operate under the CSC process “while monitoring changes in the collegiate landscape.”

“We fully support all our student-athletes maximizing the value of their Name, Image and Likeness during their time at the University of Nebraska,” he said.

Officials from the Nebraska attorney general's office did not immediately respond to emails from the AP.

Seeley still thinks there are ways for the Nebraska players to get paid within the rules.

“I don’t believe litigation is necessary for these student-athletes to get money for their NIL,” he said. "I cannot control what happens, though, outside of what we do.”

In a separate case pending in the federal court that approved NIL payments via the House settlement, attorneys are arguing that MMR partners should not be considered “associated entities.” A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 27.

___

AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Amelia Island, Florida, contributed to this report.

La cancillería peruana indicó que los pasajeros llegaron en tres aeronaves hasta Juliaca, una importante ciudad peruana del sur cercana a Bolivia. Más de 140 pasajeros eran estudiantes que habían viajado a la ciudad boliviana de Potosí para participar en el 200 aniversario de una importante escuela llamada Pichincha que había invitado a una delegación escolar peruana.

El canciller Carlos Pareja agradeció al gobierno boliviano el traslado de los escolares y varios padres de los menores, que habían llegado a Bolivia desde escuelas de las regiones peruanas de Arequipa, Puno y Cusco.

Sindicatos y campesinos protestan contra el mandatario boliviano con bloqueos de vías ante la falta de respuestas a la crisis económica, la escasez de combustibles y las demoras en el resarcimiento de daños por la gasolina de “mala calidad”, según denuncian los sindicatos. Los cortes mantienen aislada a la capital de Bolivia del resto del país desde hace más de una semana provocando el desabastecimiento y el encarecimiento de alimentos.

Las clases escolares también fueron suspendidas el lunes por un paro de maestros en reclamo de mejoras salariales.

Paz, de perfil conservador, asumió en noviembre de 2025 en medio de la peor crisis en cuatro décadas, tras los gobiernos de izquierda de Evo Morales (2006-2019) y Luis Arce (2020-2025), con una inflación anual que bordea el 20%, falta de dólares y escasez de combustibles.

El gobierno ha culpado a sectores afines a Morales de estar detrás de la ola de protestas.

Workers were seen inspecting the site of the proposed arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery with tools and equipment. Part of the site was fenced off and pink flags typically used as survey markings were planted in the grass.

The work on the site was announced in a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit challenging the proposed arch. It consists of "surveys and geotechnical testing which are being used to generate information that will assist Defendant National Park Service (NPS) in completing procedural prerequisites” that are part of the decision-making process.

The 250-foot-tall (76-meter) proposed arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington. With the potential to change the city's sightline, it has already sparked opposition, including through the lawsuit filed by a group of veterans and a historian.

The arch design, proposed by Trump, has already gotten early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump.

The proposed monument rises from the four lions guarding its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top, which would be flanked by two eagles — all gilded. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the four plaintiffs.

The group of veterans and a historian have sued in federal court to block construction on the grounds that the arch would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.

The court filing on behalf of the Trump administration said the National Park Service had not issued a final agency action authorizing construction of an arch and should it do so, it would provide at least 14 days notice before any work could begin.

The document said the plaintiffs had been notified of the survey work beforehand and said the survey work did not constitute "construction, or a demolition in preparation for construction, of an arch."

Nicolas Sansone, a lawyer with the Public Citizen Litigation Group that brought the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, said the government taking the preparatory steps for the construction of the arch is a confirmation that it intends to move forward. "Unless and until Congress has passed a law authorizing the arch, though, the project is unlawful, and the government has no valid basis for pursuing it,” Sansone added.

The 2024 rule adopted under former President Joe Biden was meant to refocus the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the U.S. It allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said the rule could have blocked access to hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of land — preventing energy and timber production and hurting ranchers who graze on public lands.

Supporters argued that conservation had long been a secondary consideration at the land bureau, neglecting its mission under the 1976 Federal Lands Policy Management Act. While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation purposes in limited cases, it never had a dedicated program prior to the Biden administration.

Bobby McEnaney with the Natural Resources Defense Council said repealing the rule ”means less protection for the clean drinking water, less protection for endangered wildlife that depend on healthy habitat, and less accountability when corporations leave these landscapes damaged and degraded."

In documents released Monday, administration officials said it exceeded the land bureau’s authority for outside parties to be allowed to obtain conservation leases.

Industry groups and their Republican allies in Congress strongly opposed the rule and had lobbied to repeal it. They said the change under Biden violated the “multiple use” mandate for Interior Department lands by catapulting the “non-use” of federal lands — meaning restoration leases — to a position of prominence.

“This action provides greater clarity and predictability for independent oil and natural gas producers—many of whom rely on consistent permitting and leasing processes to operate efficiently and invest in domestic energy supply,” Dan Naatz with the Independent Petroleum Association of America said in a statement.

The federal government's vast land holdings are concentrated in Western states including Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Since taking office, Trump has pursued a flurry of actions aimed at boosting fossil fuel production from those taxpayer-owned sites. The Republican administration also has sought to sideline some renewable energy projects, claiming they were unfairly subsidized under Biden.

The repeal is effective 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register, which was scheduled for Tuesday.

It comes after Republicans in Congress in recent months canceled land management plans adopted in the closing days of Biden's administration that restricted development in large areas of Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.

In addition to its surface land holdings, the Bureau of Land Management regulates publicly owned underground mineral reserves — such as coal for power plants and lithium for renewable energy — across more than 1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers). The bureau has a history of industry-friendly policies and for more than a century has sold grazing permits and oil and gas leases.

“Honestly, I think he would just now be coming back if he was like a normal human being, but he’s not,” teammate Mike Conley said after Edwards scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to fuel a Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday that tied their second-round series at two games apiece.

“We’re thankful for what he’s sacrificing for us and putting us on his back," Conley added. "We expect it from him. He expects it. So we just try to keep him healthy, keep him going forward.”

After returning from a hyperextended left knee that caused a deep bone bruise in nine days, Edwards had 18 points in a 25-minute reserve role to help the Timberwolves take the opener from the Spurs on the road on May 4. Edwards was back in the starting lineup for Game 3 at home on Friday and played 41 minutes.

He logged 40 minutes in Game 4 and was on the floor for the entire fourth quarter, a move coach Chris Finch made only three times during the regular season. Edwards also played the final 12 minutes in the opener of the first-round series at Denver on April 18, one week before his latest injury.

“Man, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff to get in shape. I've got the best physical therapist in the world when it comes to my body, David Hines, so big shoutout to him,” Edwards said, referring to the team's vice president of medical operations and performance. “He’s on a whole other level when it comes to that stuff.”

Edwards was limited to a career-low 61 games during the regular season, largely because of persistent pain in his right knee. Before 2025-26, he never missed more than three games in any season.

“We’re lucky to have him. He’s special, no doubt, especially given what he’s been fighting through over the last month and a half,” Finch said.

Edwards shot 13 for 22 from the floor on Sunday, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range. He took advantage of Victor Wembanyama's stunning ejection by getting to the rim, too, including a crucial finger-roll layup he dropped in through traffic with 2:24 left for a four-point lead in the 114-109 victory.

Edwards was hesitant to express much satisfaction afterward, chiding himself and the rest of the starting lineup for a lackluster third quarter while revealing that, yes, even he has his physical limits.

“I was gassed a little bit," Edwards said, "so I came out like super low on energy, just walking up and down the floor.”

His performance had more to it than simply determination and durability, though. On Mother's Day, Edwards acknowledged a deep sense of motivation and purpose in Game 4 in honor of his late mother, Yvette Edwards, who died of cancer in 2015 when he was just 13. His grandmother also died later that year.

“I couldn't lose this game for her," Edwards said before praising the support he has received from family members and close friends in Atlanta over the last decade since losing his mom and grandma. “It’s not a bunch of people that's just willing to do anything you say. These people really want to see me succeed, and they don’t let me take a day off. They stay on me.”

With that, the intensely private Edwards quickly shifted the focus in the postgame interview room at Target Center back to basketball.

“So I appreciate everybody that’s in my circle, but that’s enough about me," he said. "Just ask about my team.”

___

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

A cold front is on the move, and it is set to bring welcome rain into our region on Tuesday. While the morning will be warm and dry, we will watch numerous scattered storms develop by the afternoon. Some thunderstorms could bring gusty winds, heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Highs will reach the upper 80s and lower 90s.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Trenton Richard David Johnston and his 28-year-old friend Brandon Michael Tardibone for a cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering scheme, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Johnston, who overstayed his visa, “impersonated support representatives from a popular search engine and cryptocurrency-related companies to gain unauthorized access to victims’ digital accounts and cryptocurrency wallets,” according to prosecutors.

Federal agents accused Johnston and Tardibone of also using “a series of financial transactions” to hide the nature of the stolen funds, according to prosecutors.

Johnston faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Tardibone faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and harboring an alien in the U.S.

Homeland Security Investigations Miami investigated the case, with the help of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Golden Beach Police Department.

El informe de la CIDH se difundió a un mes de la controversia que surgió tras el reporte del Comité de la ONU contra la Desaparición Forzada (CED por sus siglas en inglés) que solicitó remitir urgentemente la situación de México a la Asamblea General para que considere medidas para erradicar las desapariciones forzadas, lo que fue rechazado por el gobierno de Claudia Sheinbaum.

La crisis que padece México bien la conoce la activista Conchita Belmontes, quien hace tres días recibió la notificación de que el cuerpo de su hijo, al que buscó por casi diez años, estuvo todo ese tiempo en el servicio forense del estado occidental de Jalisco, pero tardaron casi una década en identificarlo.

Belmontes dijo a The Associated Press entre llantos que el reporte de la fiscalía estatal sobre el hallazgo de los restos de su hijo Juan Antonio le generó “mucho coraje e impotencia” porque “todo este tiempo tuvieron el cuerpo de mi hijo, pero nunca me lo dijeron y me hicieron pasar todos estos años de dolor y sufrimiento”.

El caso Juan Antonio Olmeda Belmontes, quien desapareció en junio de 2016 en Jalisco, se suma a los más de 70.000 cuerpos que según la CED permanecen en las morgues sin identificar, lo que ha profundizado la crisis que enfrenta México, que acumula casi 134.000 desaparecidos.

La radiografía del fenómeno

Al hacer un diagnóstico del fenómeno, la CIDH admitió que las cifras reflejan la “grave situación” del país, que se ha agravado por “la falta de eficacia de las medidas de prevención, la persistencia de altos niveles de violencia, la desconfianza en las autoridades y la impunidad estructural".

Entre las víctimas de desapariciones, la comisión apuntó que hay una “multiplicidad de perfiles”, incluyendo a niños y jóvenes reclutados por el crimen organizado, mujeres y niñas víctimas de violencia de género y la trata de personas, periodistas, integrantes de la comunidad LGTBIQ+ y activistas.

Para atender la problemática que arrastra México desde hace varias décadas, la CIDH remitió al gobierno 40 recomendaciones, entre las que destacó la necesidad de fortalecer las instituciones estatales, la participación central de las víctimas y sus familias y “la identificación y el desmantelamiento de redes de connivencia" entre el crimen organizado y agentes estatales.

La CIDH también urgió al Estado mexicano a adoptar “medidas extraordinarias para reorganizar las investigaciones y la jurisdicción".

La CIDH ofrece apoyo

Andrea Pochak, vicepresidente de la CIDH y relatora para México, descartó que el informe de ese organismo que es autónomo de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) busque establecer una responsabilidad jurídica del Estado mexicano y planteó que la comisión está abierta a brindar cooperación técnica para atender la crisis.

En ese sentido recordó que desde hace varios años la CIDH ha prestado apoyo a México, tal como ocurrió con el grupo de expertos independientes que apoyó las investigaciones del emblemático caso de los 43 estudiantes de la escuela normal de Ayotzinapa que desaparecieron en 2014.

A diferencia de lo que fueron las tensiones que generó el informe de la CED, en esta oportunidad el gobierno de Sheinbaum recibió favorablemente las recomendaciones de la CIDH.

Mientras se avanza en el diagnóstico, para Belmontes la realidad es otra. La activista, de 65 años, que padece cáncer de colon, afirmó que pese al hallazgo de su hijo no detendrá su lucha para que los responsables de la demora en la identificación del cuerpo respondan ante la justicia. “Seguiré luchando para que otras madres no pasen lo mismo que yo pasé”.

Superintendent Howard Hepburn presented “the 1,000-position reduction plan,” which includes 700 vacant positions and 300 current employees.

The list includes mental health counselors, social workers, and student support instructional specialists.

“They are cutting people that actually work with children,” said Anna Fusco, the president of the Broward Teachers Union. “Everybody that works with students is educating in a different way. I’m a classroom teacher if I have a kid who came in and said my mom died that’s a mental health issue. I’m gonna call my school counselor or my social worker.”

Student support instructional specialist Patrusca Vil doesn’t know if she’ll have a job next school year. Her whole department is on the chopping block.

“Without us, all support staff, we’re with the children. If you want kids to come back, you have got to give resources and give them reasons to come back.”

Hepburn said the budget emphasizes protecting educators, and a big effort was made to prioritize cutting vacant positions and central office staff.

Adam Cervera, a School Board member, suggested cutting positions that will not affect classroom operations.

“The only thing that organizational chart does is ensure that the KCW staff will have jobs next year,” Cervera said about the Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center. “But, is that really the goal?”

The School Board recently approved $254.3 million to increase some salaries. Voters will have a referendum on the ballot on Nov 3 to decide on the renewal of a property tax increase that was approved in 2022.

Watch the special School Board meeting

Useful links

• School Board members
• Meeting agenda packet
• Organizational chart

The pole was blocking northbound traffic on South Dixie Highway at Southwest 88 Street.

For a map with live traffic updates in South Florida, visit this page.

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

Tavarus Williams was charged as an adult in the May 4, 2022 shooting death of Cairi McNear in the courtyard of an apartment complex at 7126 NW 14th Place in the unincorporated Gladeview area, just north of Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.

Williams, now 19, told a judge he was guilty of second-degree murder. Investigators with what was then the Miami-Dade Police Department arrested him days after the shooting and said that Williams shot McNear eight times following an argument.

Williams received a 25-year sentence followed by a decade of probation.

Family members of both McNear and Williams were in a Miami courtroom on Monday.

Aurianna McNear, Cairi McNear’s mother, offered forgiveness to Williams, saying she hopes to be a mentor to him.

“I am merciful for you. I want to get to know you. I want to become, at some point when my heart heals, to love you,” she said. “I want you to replace what you took from me. Cairi was my heartbeat.”

She said, “Your life for my son’s life, but in a positive manner. You become my godson. Does that sound reasonable to you?”

Williams said yes.

Angela Williams, Tavarus Williams’ aunt, also spoke.

“The fact that he’s done something wrong, he may have not known it at the time, he’s come to accept it and we just want to say thank you for forgiving him,” she said.

She added, “Thank you for forgiving my nephew.”

Williams told both the judge and the victim’s family that he hopes that one day they can see him as someone that they can care about and not someone that they hate.

In addition to his prison and probation terms, Williams must write a letter of apology, which Local 10 News learned that he has already submitted to the victim’s family.

He also must undergo substance abuse and mental health treatment and make a donation to a victim’s compensation fund.

Williams, as a condition of his sentence, cannot mention McNear in any sort of song or rap lyrics and is now allowed to communicate with Aurianna McNear.

That communication must be done so through the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and cannot be in any sort of threatening manner.

Miami enters the final week of the regular season in fifth place in the ACC, holding a 35-15 overall record that includes a 15-12 mark inside the conference.

Hurricanes catcher Alex Sosa was named the ACC’s Player of the Week for his efforts while leading Miami to a big series win over the Louisville Cardinals.

Sosa hit .692 during the series, going 9-for-13 at the plate with three home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and five runs scored during three-game series.

After transferring to Miami from North Carolina State, Sosa has had an excellent 2026 season.

He leads all Hurricanes players with 15 home runs while hitting .342 and racking up an impressive 62 RBI, 55 runs and 63 hits through his 50 games in Miami.

Sosa joins Derek Williams, Dylan Dubovik and Jake Ogden as Canes players to be named ACC Player of the Week this season.

For their final weekend series of the regular season, the Hurricanes will face a big test.

Miami heads to Tallahassee to face No. 11 Florida State in what promises to be a competitive few days of baseball.

Whether he was chipping or putting, it was a challenge.

Aronimink is marked by its 180 bunkers that frame the landing areas, except for the longest hitters. The first official day of practice for the PGA Championship brought a reminder that accuracy this week is more about shots into the green than avoiding bunkers or the healthy rough.

These are big greens with big slopes.

“Off the tee it's not extremely challenging,” said Keegan Bradley, who won on a soggy Aronimink in 2018 at the BMW Championship. “But the greens get really crazy, and they are really mounded and hilly just like a lot of Northeast courses. So to put the ball in the right spot is really important.”

The course was full, inside and outside the ropes, despite temperatures that struggled to reach 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 Celsius), which can happen with the PGA Championship moving to May and being held in northern part of the United States. Bethpage Black was even colder in 2019 until it warmed as the week went on, and that's expected to be the case this week.

Thomas was among the few who made a scouting trip during one of his weeks off. It was a chance to get reacquainted with a course that has fewer trees than the last time he played in 2018, and was in perfect condition. The last day for member play was Nov. 2.

“It's pretty generous off the tee,” Thomas said. “I don't remember, but it feels like at some point you can tell they took out a lot of trees. The holes that feel open, the rough is healthy. But the greens have a lot of slope. It's going to be dependent on how firm and fast they can get.”

There was another reason for an early trip to Aronimink. He could get in 18 holes without feeling as though he lost an entire day. That's typical in the days leading to a major championship.

“Practice rounds at the PGA are the most miserable ever,” Thomas said after playing nine holes Monday morning as the first one out on the back nine. “Unbearably slow.”

More than the U.S. Open?

“Tied for last,” he replied.

And to emphasize the importance of the heavily contoured greens, Thomas said practice rounds look like players working on the short-game area with so much chipping and putting.

“It certainly seems like it’s going to be distance control on your approach shots,” Jordan Spieth said. “Because if you’re able to really be hitting your mid- to short irons, controlling the spin and getting it into these tiers, you can actually ... have a lot of pretty close looks for birdie if you get in the right section. If you miss the section, they are going to be really difficult to either get up-and-down or to two-putt. Just lots of pitch on the greens.”

Spieth has a lot to gain this week, as has been the case since he showed up at the PGA Championship in 2017. A victory would give him the final leg of the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only six players, most recently Rory McIlroy last year at the Masters.

“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one for that reason,” Spieth said. “But the easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way. Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked.”

Brandt Snedeker and Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Canada were the final two additions to the 156-man field at Aronimink. The 45-year-old Snedeker qualified by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic last week for his first PGA Tour title in eight years; Yellamaraju was added because the winner of the Truist Championship, Kristoffer Reitan, already had qualified through his world ranking.

Tom Hoge got in as an alternate when Jake Knapp was forced to withdraw with a thumb injury.

The PGA Championship strives to have the top 100 in the world ranking, and it was close until Lucas Herbert won LIV Golf Virginia and Shaun Norris was runner-up (by 14 shots) on the European tour. Both cracked the top 100. Neither is at Aronimink.

Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player and defending champion, played nine holes. That was the case for most players, with Matt Fitzpatrick being an exception. This is his first time at Aronimink, and he saw the entire course. One part stood out.

“The green complexes, yeah, for sure,” Fitzpatrick said. "They are very severe in spots. It will be interesting to see where obviously the pins get put. There’s certainly two or three holes where you can’t have more than four pins.

“I look at the golf course that I just played, and it definitely favors length off the tee because a lot of the bunkers will be taken out of play,” he said. “So I think for me, the greens are going to be the defense for the week.”

___

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

The measure passed 93-0 in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, reflecting widespread support for punishing those found responsible for what was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting.

Rights groups have criticized the measure, saying it makes the death penalty too easy to impose while also doing away with procedures safeguarding the right to a fair trial. Defendants can appeal their sentences but the appeals have to be heard by a separate, special appeals court rather than regular appeals courts.

Because the bill empowers a panel of judges to hand down the death penalty by a majority vote — and requires the trials to be conducted in a livestreamed Jerusalem courtroom — it has drawn comparisons to the 1962 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, which was broadcast live on television.

Eichmann was executed by hanging, the last time the death penalty was carried out in Israel, though technically capital punishment remains on the books for acts of genocide, espionage during wartime and certain terror offenses.

Opponents of the bill also say that livestreaming the proceedings before guilt is established risks turning the trials into a spectacle. They have raised questions about the reliability of the evidence that may be presented, saying it could have been extracted by harsh interrogation methods.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages. Israel’s ensuing blistering offensive on Gaza has killed over 72,628 Palestinians, including at least 846 killed since a ceasefire took hold last October.

That's according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The figures by the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Israeli forces also killed hundreds of militants in battles in the coastal enclave, and took an unknown number of suspects into Israeli custody where they now await trial.

Simcha Rothman, one of the bill’s sponsors who is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's ruling coalition, said the overwhelming consensus for the bill in the Knesset shows Israeli lawmakers can come together “around a common mission.”

Several Israeli rights groups — including Hamoked, Adalah and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel — said on Monday that while “justice for the victims of October 7 is a legitimate and urgent imperative,” any accountability for the crimes "must be pursued through a process which includes rather than abandons the principles of justice.”

The bill is separate from a law passed in March that approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane.

That law applies to future cases and is not retroactive so it could not apply to the October 2023 suspects.

According to the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, the country still holds about 1,300 Palestinians from Gaza without charge in its detention facilities. At least 7,000 Palestinians from Gaza had been held in Israeli custody since October 2023, and 5,000 of them were later released.

The 1,300 number does not include those held on suspicion of attacking Israel on Oct. 7 or involvement in holding the hostages.

The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in April that struck down a majority-Black U.S. House district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, significantly weakening a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Alabama officials had pointed to the Louisiana case as reason for the Supreme Court to end a judicial order to use a court-imposed House map until after the 2030 census. The high court on Monday overturned that order and directed a lower court to reconsider the case in light of the Louisiana decision. That could free the state to instead use a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.

Anticipating a court reversal, Alabama officials recently enacted a law allowing it to void the results of a May 19 primary for some congressional districts and instead hold a new primary under the revised district boundaries. Alabama had asked for an expedited decision ahead of the primary.

Alabama Republicans praised the decision.

“Today, the Supreme Court vindicated the state’s long-held position. Now, the power to draw Alabama’s maps goes back to the people’s elected representatives. That’s our Legislature,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a video statement. Marshall said his job was “to put the legislature in the best possible legal position to draw a congressional map that favors Republicans seven-to-zero.” He concluded with the statement, “Stay tuned.”

Republican House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter called the decision “a massive victory not just for Alabama, but for conservatives across the country.”

In a dissent to Monday's brief ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the Louisiana case had reversed only one of the grounds upon which the Alabama case had been decided. Although the Voting Rights Act violation is gone, Sotomayor said a lower court could still find that Alabama had intentionally discriminated against Black voters in violation of the 14th Amendment.

The decision was a setback for Black residents and groups that had waged a legal fight for several years to get a second Alabama congressional district where Black voters had an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

“We are witnessing a return to Jim Crow. And anybody who is alarmed by these developments — as everybody should be — better be making a plan to vote in November to put an end to this madness while we still can," NAACP National President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

Deuel Ross, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney who argued the Alabama case, said, "We will consider all of our options to fight to protect the rights of these voters and keep the court ordered map in place.”

Shalela Dowdy, a plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, said she was disappointed in the decision.

“For me, I feel like this is a step backwards towards the Jim Crow era for congressional representation. The state is not going to stop here,” Dowdy said, predicting Alabama will eventually go after the remaining district.

Primaries are just a week away

The decision comes a week ahead of the May 19 primaries, setting up a potentially confusing scenario for voters. Alabama lawmakers last week approved legislation to allow special primaries in four impacted congressional districts if the state is able to switch maps. The special elections would be set by the governor.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen called the decision a “historic win for Alabama voters.” Allen said the May 19 primaries will proceed as scheduled and his office will remain in close contact with the governor’s office "as this situation continues developing.”

The change would give Republicans a chance to reclaim the district now represented by Rep. Shomari Figures, a Democrat. Figures was elected in 2024 under the court-ordered map. His election gave the state — where Black residents comprise more than one quarter of the population — two Black representatives in its congressional delegation for the first time in history.

Figures called the Supreme Court action an “incredibly unfortunate decision” that “sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and '60s in terms of Black political representation in the state.”

Alabama is one of several states trying to change their congressional district boundaries before the November elections as part of a nationwide redistricting battle being won, so far, by Republicans.

Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, immediately after a census, to account for population changes. But President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw congressional districts to their advantage in a bid to hold onto a narrow House majority in the midterm elections.

Democrats in California countered with their own redistricting. And numerous Republican-led states have followed. The high court’s Louisiana ruling provided fuel for Republicans to intensify their redistricting efforts.

So far, Republicans think they could win as many as 14 additional seats in the November elections from new districts enacted in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. Democrats think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah. But Democrats suffered a major setback when the Virginia Supreme Cour t overturned a voter-approved redistricting amendment that could have yielded four more seats for the party.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Chandler from Montgomery, Alabama.

Cici Gensler, who has been volunteering to foster the kittens for about two years, said she takes at least five at a time. She has saved more than 200.

“They really need you, and that just fills my heart, like I just feel so good giving them the love and the care that they need, rather than them being on the street,” Gensler said. “I feel so good, I took care of something that wasn’t going to make it without me, and I feel like I’ve made a difference in a life.”

Annette Jose, the director of M-DAS, said they need about 300 more fosters to help with the first few weeks, which are crucial to survival.

“The most euthanized animal in a shelter is the neonate just because they are so frail and because they are so vulnerable, but they are also the most adoptable,” Jose said.

M-DAS partnered with the National Kitten College, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving neonatal kittens, in December.

“In the next 3 months, they are expecting 800 kittens to come in,” said Marnie Russ, the founder of the National Kitten College. “We really work with fosters to take the fear out of what they are doing. I mean who doesn’t want to bottle feed a kitten?”

M-DAS adopts out 2,600 kittens on average annually.

Last year, in April, there were 169 neonates placed with foster families. This April, with more volunteers, there were 323.

With all supplies provided, fostering requires a time commitment of a few weeks filled with feeding and kitten cuddles.

“While this kitten right now needs extra help, this kitten, in a couple weeks will be the most adoptable animal in the shelter,” Russ said. “It will be the first animal out beyond anything else, puppies or anything.”

For more information about how to apply to foster a pet in Miami-Dade County, visit this page.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it approved Boeing’s proposed fix for the workhorse MD-11s “after extensive review.” And then FedEx started flying them to deliver packages again Sunday.

The UPS plane crashed in November 2025 shortly after taking off once the left engine flew off the wing as the plane rolled down the runway. Three pilots on the plane that was headed for Hawaii loaded with packages and fuel were killed along with 12 more people on the ground near Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport.

Boeing developed a plan to replace a key spherical bearing and step up inspections of the parts that hold the engines to the wings. The National Transportation Safety Board has said that in 2011 Boeing had documented four previous failures of the part that helps secure the MD-11’s engines to the wings on three different planes, but at that point the plane manufacturer “determined it would not result in a safety of flight condition.” These planes were built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later bought by Boeing.

The FAA grounded all MD-11s after the crash because of concerns that the planes might not be safe. Earlier this year, UPS retired its entire fleet of the aircraft, which made up about 9% of its total fleet. But FedEx had remained committed to getting them back in the air even though they only account for about 4% of its fleet. The other package hauler that used MD-11s, Western Global Airlines, has not commented publicly since the crash and didn't respond to an email about the FAA's decision.

FedEx said in a statement that it worked closely with Boeing, the FAA and its own experts to inspect and repair its planes, and the government certified that it had complied with Boeing's recommendations. It owns 46 of these planes though even before the crash it had been storing more than two dozen of them.

“Safety is our highest priority at FedEx,” the company said.

But FedEx does plan to eventually retire its MD-11s and replace them with more efficient models. They had announced that long-term plan even before the crash.

Aviation lawyers who are representing some of the families that have sued over the Louisville crash said they hope the FAA made sure these planes will be safe.

“We hope the FAA does a thorough job of investigating the fixes before the MD-11 fleet is allowed to return to flight,” lawyer Bradley Cosgrove said.

But aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said he’s surprised it took this long to get these planes flying again given how quickly the NTSB identified key concerns that likely contributed to the engine falling off. The NTSB is planning two days of investigative hearings on the UPS crash next week to delve deeper into what happened.

“I’m confident that the solution will work, and I would like to see the MD-11s back up in the air. It will be a safe airplane with regards to its engines after these corrective actions are made,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and FAA.

Some experts speculated after the crash that the MD-11s might never fly again if the repair proved to be more expensive that it was worth in these older planes. But Boeing found a way to address the safety concerns with just replacing the bearing and stepping up inspections.

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Associated Press writer Jack Dura contributed to this report from Bismarck, North Dakota.

There's no telling who will be the bettors' choice by the time the race actually starts Saturday at Laurel Park. Taj Mahal (5-1), Chip Honcho (5-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Ocelli (6-1) were also among the favorites following Monday's draw, but none have particularly short odds in what could be the largest Preakness field in 15 years.

The last time 14 horses made it to the starting gate was in 2011.

Post time Saturday is 7:01 p.m. at Laurel, which is hosting the middle race of the Triple Crown this year as Pimlico in Baltimore is rebuilt.

Golden Tempo is the third Kentucky Derby winner in five years not to enter the Preakness, but three other horses from the Derby are in the field — Ocelli, Incredibolt and Robusta (30-1). Great White (15-1) is also back after being scratched from the Derby when he threw his jockey just before entering the gate.

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing