In 2019, Jordan Avi Ogman was diagnosed with TECPR2, a fatal neurodegenerative genetic disease. His family says it took nearly four years to get that answer.

“The worst thing was four years of not knowing,” said his father, David Ogman. “And us going to every doctor in South Florida trying to figure this out. They look at Jordan. They thumb through the physician’s desk reference. They say everything’s fine. Take him home. Every kid develops at their own pace.”

Like many families dealing with rare diseases, they faced a long and difficult path to a diagnosis.

“They all pass away inner sleep from central sleep apnea. It’s a genetic brain disease, but it affects the entire central nervous system.” Ogman said.

The case highlights a broader issue in health care: parents often wait years for answers, losing valuable time as costs and emotional strain grow.

“Unfortunately, we’re 4 years behind in developing the gene therapy. I think by the time the gene therapy is developed, you know, Jordan might not be with us because we lost those 4 years,” Ogman said.

Now, a Boca Raton company says it may have a solution.

The story is also about a local innovation -- GENA, an artificial intelligence platform based in Boca Raton that aims to reduce genetic diagnosis timelines from years to seconds.

“We actually took the mind of a geneticist and put it into algorithms, and then accelerated the 3 to 4 days that it would take to diagnose one case, and we got it down to 10 seconds,” said Pete Martinez, CEO of Sivotec.

The company says it has already helped diagnose 160,000 cases involving rare diseases and hopes to expand its use beyond geneticists to pediatricians and primary care doctors.

On average, patients wait five to seven years for an accurate diagnosis. During that time, diseases can progress, and some of them are treatable.

As for Jordan, his family is praying for a miracle. They also hope their story brings awareness so others don’t have to face the unknown.

“If we had AI at our fingertips at any of these hospitals, Jordan would have been diagnosed immediately, and his cure would have already been developed,” Ogman said.

But unless a bill moving through Congress becomes law, that money could be taxed as income, taking big bites out of their payments and possibly disqualifying them from other government benefits.

“There was this terrifying disbelief,” Bree Jensen, communications director for the Eaton Fire Long-Term Recovery Group, said of informing fellow residents about the tax.

Thousands more who are suing the utility face the same prospect, as well as fire survivors in Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon after a tax exemption on wildfire-related compensation expired at the end of 2025.

In recent years, Congress has shielded wildfire settlements from taxes, but legislation to do so was short-lived and a struggle to pass, leaving gaps between laws that risk saddling some survivors with a possible tax burden on their compensation. A bipartisan House bill to extend the tax relief passed out of committee last month, but the timeline for bringing it to a floor vote and when the Senate will take action are unknown, leaving survivors in financial limbo.

“We have to assume we don’t have that money, so we’re making decisions, choosing cheaper materials, forgoing the solar,” said one Altadena homeowner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she fears compromising her expected settlement of about $700,000. If that money counts as income, she expects taxes would take 37%.

The homeowner hoped accepting a settlement would get her family home faster, after she, her husband and their four pets spent more than a year hopping between relatives' houses and rentals.

“All we wanted was to rebuild a comfortable house and get out of the situation we were in,” she said, adding their construction costs alone are estimated to reach $1 million.

As survivors watch lawmakers lock horns over the Iran war and the record-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown, some worry extending disaster tax relief will be de-prioritized.

“People have low expectations of anything actually getting done,” said Jenn Kaaoush, a 2021 Marshall Fire survivor and town council member in Superior, Colorado.

Compensation has become crucial to rebuilding

Utility equipment is believed to have sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in recent years. Multibillion-dollar settlements have become common after these fires but take years to resolve.

As construction costs soar and insurance becomes more expensive and difficult to secure, compensation from lawsuits has become a critical component of how many households start over.

“It’s the difference between towns getting rebuilt and not getting rebuilt, quite frankly,” said attorney Doug Boxer, who has represented more than 17,000 Californians in cases against utilities and is part of the LA Fire Justice coalition suing Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International, on behalf of more than 2,000 clients.

SCE and Edison International have acknowledged their power equipment may have sparked the Eaton Fire, which destroyed 9,000 structures and killed 19 people. The utility last year announced a compensation program for those impacted, promising fast payments based on the value of one’s losses, as well as an additional premium for not joining litigation against the utility.

More than 2,800 households have applied for the compensation program. Thousands more are joining lawsuits against the utility. An investigation into the Eaton Fire's cause is ongoing.

Households can’t afford to lose a chunk of their payments to taxes, said Jensen, whose home also burned. “It sounds like a lot of money, but not in regards to how expensive it is to actually build in the community.”

A bipartisan bill would extend tax relief

Payments related to federally declared wildfire disasters from 2015 through 2026 would not count toward taxable income, according to legislation approved unanimously by the House Ways and Means Committee last month. That would apply to payouts received in 2026 and after.

The measure would extend expanded tax relief for property losses from federal disasters through this year, a provision that helped attract bipartisan support from lawmakers representing states vulnerable to hurricanes and other extreme weather.

Florida Rep. Greg Steube — a Republican who championed the 2024 tax relief bill and introduced its successor with fellow Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, now deceased, and with Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson and Jimmy Panetta of California — told The Associated Press he expects the legislation to ultimately pass, but he acknowledged “the exact timeline remains uncertain.”

Steube, whose southwest Florida constituents could benefit from the provision deducting personal casualty losses, has vowed to push the law forward.

Two similar bills were introduced in the Senate, but further action has not been taken.

After lobbying for the past and present bills as executive director of the survivor advocacy nonprofit After The Fire, Jennifer Gray Thompson said she believes lawmakers understand the bipartisan nature of disaster tax relief.

“As these disasters come in quick succession, we are going to have to adapt on all levels, and our tax code will have to adapt along with it,” she said.

Still, Gray Thompson said she can't be sure when action will come.

Survivors in Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon would also be impacted

Maui residents face similar challenges as they await payments from a $4 billion settlement with Hawaiian Electric. Only about 180 homes have been rebuilt in Lahaina among 2,200 structures destroyed.

What Lahaina survivors need most is “certainty,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen wrote to lawmakers in a letter supporting tax relief.

While the majority of destroyed homes in Superior have been rebuilt, Kaaoush, the town council member, said most survivors are still catching up financially after finding themselves underinsured.

She also worries that her constituents could be knocked off income-qualified government benefits for food, health care or veterans’ support if their wildfire payments count as income.

“This has second- and third-order impacts on their life that will do harm,” Kaaoush said.

Gray Thompson cautioned that while survivors waiting for relief can defer taxes or amend past returns, resolving issues with government programs, such as qualifying for college financial aid, is much harder. “There's no way to undo that,” she said.

Meanwhile, many in Altadena feel they’re continually facing new obstacles to returning home, said another resident who also lost his home and insisted on anonymity because of ongoing litigation.

Being taxed “would just add more pain and suffering for us, really,” he said.

It took stumbling across an article about a female chemical engineer who became a master whiskey distiller for something to click: Ireland's fellow students could go into plastics and pharmaceuticals, she was going into whiskey.

“It was kind of like a connection of, 'hey, I can see someone who looks like me, who has the same exact kind of education and background doing this job,' and kind of opened it up as an option,” said Ireland, now the chief blender behind Vermont-based whiskey brand WhistlePig.

Ireland is among a growing number of women who have become leaders inside a traditionally male-dominated industry that has not always welcomed outsiders. Increasingly, women are launching their own brands and finding new ways to innovate in distilling and blending at a time when more women are drinking whiskey.

Women are often asked: ‘Do you even like whiskey?’

There is a common, lingering doubt among some male colleagues and consumers that the women gaining expertise in the industry even like whiskey.

Becky Paskin, a journalist from the U.K. and founder of OurWhiskey Foundation, an organization that promotes and supports women in the whiskey business, said she was asked that question while serving as a judge at a whiskey tasting event.

“It is a drink that comes with certain expectations around which gender drinks it and which gender makes it,” Paskin said, adding: “Barely any other drink or food falls under such scrutiny,”

Paskin says part of her work is creating stock images of women consuming whiskey that don't present women as sex objects and are not a public service warning.

“The only images of women drinking whiskey were depicting them as being pregnant, drunk, naked; or pregnant, drunk and naked,” she said.

There's a long history of women preserving and advancing whiskey

Whiskey-making has long been considered a masculine profession in America, a drink exclusively enjoyed by men swirling golden liquid in dark, smoky rooms. But industry experts and historians are quick to point out that women have always been involved in the process and were likely key to its survival in the U.S.

The first distilling instrument was created by a woman, Maria Hebraea, an alchemist from around the 2nd century, according to Susan Reigler, a bourbon expert. From there, distilling was largely seen as women’s work as they were in charge of home brewing, making medicine and taking care of the home.

Women notably managed distilleries in the 1800s in Kentucky, where Catherine Carpenter recorded the first known recipe for sour mash, now the most common style of American whiskey. And while women led the temperance movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, some historians estimate there may have been more female bootleggers than men during Prohibition — in part because women were less likely to be searched by police, according to the book “Whiskey Women,” written by Fred Minnick.

Reigler says she often marvels at the U.S. whiskey industry's transformation, which was in a serious downturn in the 1990s when she first began reporting on it from Louisville, Kentucky. As distillers worked to make whiskey appealing to American consumers, Reigler began documenting how women contributed to that effort, ranging from the wives who made key marketing decisions that boosted distillery tourism to the female bartenders who designed new whiskey cocktails.

Three women co-founded the Kentucky Bourbon Trail — a novel idea at the time that has since been copied across the country — including Peggy Noe Stevens, the world's first female Master Bourbon Taster, who was working at Woodford Reserve, as well as Donna Nally with Maker's Mark and Doris Calhoun with Jim Beam, Reigler said.

“There have always been women in bourbon,” she said. “But a lot of them have been behind the scenes.”

Women advance innovation and creativity in whiskey

In Vermont, Ireland has been in charge of keeping WhistlePig’s whiskey consistent since 2018, but she also oversees experimental batches. Her first whiskey innovation was the Boss Hog VII that quickly attracted praise and awards for her decision to finish it in Spanish oak and Brazilian teakwood barrels.

Ireland says more women becoming involved in the industry establishes whiskey as “a drink for everyone.”

“It can be enjoyed by everyone and it’s being made by females too,” she said.

Judy Hollis Jones spent years as a senior executive in the food industry before launching a whiskey company in Kentucky in 2019. The transition to the whiskey world mimicked the boardrooms she had been in for decades, where she was often the only woman present.

Hollis Jones is the president and CEO of Buzzard's Roost, a whiskey brand she co-founded with Master Blender Jason Brauner. She describes the whiskey industry as a “tough business” that has ebbed and flowed over the years, but one thing that has steadily increased is the amount of women showing up to tastings and tours, eager to take partake in the whiskey experience.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Oh, well, you don’t wear jeans, boots and a cowboy hat,’” she said. “And I said: ‘No, I don’t. And every bourbon drinker female does not. We are very wide range of people that love bourbon.’”

___

Associated Press reporter Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed.

Witnesses said a woman stabbed her boyfriend in a parking lot at 2266 Wilton Drive.

Police officers and fire rescue personnel responded to the area outside the Alibi nightclub.

Witnesses said police officers arrested the woman, and fire rescue personnel took the man to the hospital.

No other details were immediately released by authorities.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Sofia Mendez contributed to this report.

Watch 9 a.m. report

Location

Participants started at the Freedom Tower and took a 45-minute walk toward the Unity Line in Brickell.

The march began with community groups from across Miami, with former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez helping lead the “We Are United” march.

The event was organized by Mosaic Miami and aimed to bring people from different faiths, cultures and backgrounds together for a shared purpose: connection.

“All 47 of us have the same mission,” said Makena Johnson, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami. “We’re all here because we believe in unity. We’re all here because we want to be unified. We’re all here because we believe in love.”

Organizers say the goal is simple -- turning shared space into shared understanding.

As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, organizers say the event is a reminder that unity starts at the community level.

“We’re both together 47 organizations in Miami, who said enough is enough,” said Matthew Anderson of Mosaic Miami. “We need to show the nation that were stronger together. Gatherings like this are not happening across our country. With all the conflict going on we have Jews, Muslims, Christians, people who have no faith coming together. People reach across the aisle because we all have a stake in this community to survive,” said Matthew Anderson, of Mosaic Miami.

This marks the third year for the event, and organizers say it continues to grow each year.

Edgar Monserratt Martinez and Barrett Riley were both 18-year-old seniors preparing to graduate from the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale when they died.

Riley was driving a 2014 Tesla Model S at 116 mph in a 30 mph zone when he crashed into a wall along Seabreeze Boulevard in 2018, records showed.

The grieving families claim Riley and Monserratt survived the crash on May 8, 2018, but not the fire that followed when the batteries ignited, records showed.

Riley’s parents, James and Jenny Riley, claimed Tesla had designed defective lithium-ion batteries. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Riley’s parents also claimed Tesla installed a device to prevent travel above 85 mph, and a Tesla technician in Dania Beach removed it without their consent.

Attorneys representing Tesla denied both accusations and focused on Riley’s driving record.

At the conclusion of the civil trial in 2022, a jury ruled Barrett Riley was most responsible, so Tesla was only liable for $105,000.

In the more recent civil lawsuit, Monserratt’s loved ones claimed Tesla was negligent. The civil trial is set to begin on Monday in Broward County.

Residents were seen returning to the property, looking inside and asking firefighters if any of their belongings were still there.

The American Red Cross is helping those displaced find shelter.

Lauderhill Fire Rescue officials said the fire started around 7:30 p.m. in the 5700 block of Northwest 15th Street.

No one was hurt.

A long line of Lauderhill Fire Rescue engines stretched across the scene, with Lauderhill police also responding.

Neighbors gathered outside, watching as crews worked. One man who lives two doors down said the fire was hard to miss.

“It was dark. It had a certain smell, like (an) electrical scent,” the man, identified only as Maxwell, said. “Black smoke. Maybe about 10 to 15 feet.”

It’s still unclear how the fire started, and the cause remains under investigation.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel responded to mile marker 119, south of Florida City.

An MDFR helicopter also responded.

At least one person was reportedly airlifted to a local hospital.

All lanes have since reopened.

No other details were immediately released.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

The Coast Guard said it was still searching for the six. It said the overturned boat was first spotted Saturday.

An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew with the U.S. Air Force 31st Rescue Squadron confirmed the identity of the vessel as the cargo ship Mariana on Sunday night, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

The Mariana, a 145-foot (44-meter) dry cargo vessel registered in the U.S., suffered engine failure Wednesday as a massive typhoon bore down on Saipan and nearby islands with fierce winds and relentless rain.

After the crew reported that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, the Coast Guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel.

But contact was lost Thursday. A HC-130 plane launched that morning to conduct a search, but it returned to Guam due to heavy winds.

Eight months after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation's capital and called up the National Guard, more than 2,500 troops remain, in a deployment that has grown increasingly routine, with no clear end in sight.

Deployments to other cities have ended or been paused by courts in California and Illinois, while more limited operations are ongoing in cities including New Orleans. But in Washington, guard members still walk city streets and patrol metro stations, tourist attractions, neighborhoods and parks.

Even with pivotal elections looming this year, that lingering presence is barely mentioned in city council meetings or by candidates running for mayor and Congress — perhaps reflecting both competing priorities and a sense that local officials have little power to stop it. Unless the courts step in, the guard will remain at least through the end of the year, if not longer.

“Taxpayers are paying more than a million dollars a day to have them walk around,” said Phil Mendelson, chairman of the District of Columbia Council, in an emailed response to questions.

And, he said, “the presence of armed soldiers on American streets is not a good look.”

An indefinite deployment drags on

Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order in August to deal with what he called a crime emergency. The order brought the guard in, along with hundreds of additional federal law enforcement officers.

Over the months, guard members have responded to medical emergencies, assisted with arrests, helped local police enforce the city’s juvenile curfew and carried out beautification projects. The D.C. Guard helped with snow removal during a major storm in January.

While the guard members do not make arrests, the Trump administration argues their support to the broader mission has helped reduce crime. The White House said 12,000 arrests have been made by the task force since operations began, including 62 known gang members, and thousands of illegal firearms were seized.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the president's crime task force in the city has “yielded tremendous results for local communities.”

“Every local leader should want to mimic this success in their own locales,” Jackson said.

But officials disagree over how much credit the deployment can be given in Washington, a heavily Democratic city. Figures show crime was already on the decline before, although those figures are being investigated after claims arose against local police that they may have been manipulated.

A court battle over the guard deployment is ongoing, and without a judge stepping in it could go on as long as the White House wants.

Asked how long the guard deployment would continue, Jackson said in an email that there were “no announcements to make.”

The office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, which is challenging the deployment in court, declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. The National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon did not answer requests for comment.

Guard presence absent from public discourse

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not running for reelection, has walked a fine line on the guard's deployment and the broader federal intervention, at once appearing to work with the president but also pushing back on some of his demands, like local cooperation for immigration enforcement.

Leading candidates to replace Bowser and the city's 18-term non-voting delegate in Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, have focused on affordability, statehood and trying to hold federal agencies accountable for their role in the surge.

The District Council, which includes at least four candidates for mayor or delegate, unanimously approved a measure to increase transparency in federal law enforcement operations. While the military deployment is mentioned at times on campaign websites and in ads, it isn't currently a central campaign issue.

Other pressures on the city, including unemployment and lost revenue tied to federal workforce cuts, have taken priority. The city’s primaries are June 16, along with a special election for an at-large city council seat.

Some residents say frustrations over the guard eased after two members of the West Virginia contingent were ambushed just blocks from the White House, killing Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and severely injuring her colleague.

Kevin Cataldo, a neighborhood commissioner who joined the local Metropolitan Police on a walkalong in his neighborhood recently, said he already treated the guard members courteously, making a point to acknowledge them because they did not choose to be in the city. The shooting ambush deepened his sympathies for them. “That was just horrible,” he said.

District Council member Brianne Nadeau said constituents continue to ask why the guard is still around but the complaints are far fewer than at the start of the deployment.

“It would be great if the federal government would use its money and resources to help the District on the things we need help with and not act like an invading army,” Nadeau said in an email.

Fellow council members and mayoral candidates Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie have raised similar issues, including the high costs.

There has been little recent public polling specifically on attitudes toward the presence of uniformed personnel in U.S. cities.

With DC's limited autonomy, pushback is a challenge

Several groups are planning protests and other events on May 1 to oppose the federal surge, including the continuing presence of the National Guard, said Keya Chatterjay co-founder and executive director of Free DC, an advocacy group that fights for the city’s autonomy. Among the goals: “an end to the military occupation of D.C. before the June election.”

Chatterjay said normalizing the guard’s presence makes it easier to suppress dissent and “tilt the playing field” in elections.

The presence of guns and military personnel could create an intimidating atmosphere during elections, Chatterjay said. Citizens have to step in and “number one, we have to help our neighbors feel safe voting.”

Scott Michelman, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, said the situation underscores the city’s limits on self-governance.

Washington is a federal district with limited autonomy where Congress retains authority to review the city’s laws and control its budget and where the president has direct control of the D.C. Guard and can authorize an indefinite military deployment with little effective resistance from local authorities.

“We should have local control and local democratic accountability for the people who enforce our laws,” Michelman said. “D.C. is uniquely disempowered in our system in many ways.”

With 96% of the ballots counted by early Monday, results showed the Progressive Bulgaria coalition receiving 44.7% of the vote, over 20 percentage points ahead of the center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov and the pro-Western reformist bloc led by the We Continue the Change party. Both parties ran neck-to-neck, scoring 13.4% and 12.9% respectively.

Two other parties also appear to have gained seats in the 240-seat chamber, according to the latest results.

Borissov conceded defeat and congratulated the election winner.

Radev described his party’s victory as “unequivocal,” a “victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear," saying Bulgaria would “make every effort to continue on its European path”.

“But believe me, a strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world without rules,” Radev told reporters.

During his presidency, Radev gained a reputation as being sympathetic to Russia. He repeatedly opposed EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia's full-scale invasion. He has often argued that supporting Ukraine risks drawing Bulgaria into the war and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government in the more powerful role as prime minister.

The former fighter pilot, 62, earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Air War College in 2003, before being appointed Bulgarian air force commander. His supporters are divided between those hoping he will put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his Euroskeptic and Russia-friendly views.

Bulgaria's previous conservative government collapsed in December after nationwide anti-corruption protests drew hundreds of thousands of mainly young people to the streets.

Radev’s popularity surged as he cast himself as an opponent of the entrenched mafia and their ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.”

NATO and EU member Bulgaria has been repeatedly criticized for not tackling corruption and for deficiencies in the rule of law.

Since 2021, the nation of 6.5 million has struggled with fragmented parliaments that produced weak governments, none of which managed to survive more than a year before being brought down by street protests or backroom deals in parliament.

Tired of the seemingly never-ending election roulette, people on the street reacted with mixed feelings to the latest election results.

“Above all, we expect a more stable judicial system, and for trust in institutions to truly be restored. Until now, they have been heavily influenced by various figures, many of whom, as we can see from the current results, have now left the government,” said Nikoleta Dimitrova, a 37-year-old shop assistant from Sofia.

Accountant Cveta Gerogieva, 55, was less optimistic: “I hope that we will really live a better life, but I am not sure that there will be stability for a long period. Probably we will vote again.”

Ongoing attacks in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

“We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”

Nikolay Mladenov, the director of the Board of Peace created by United States President Donald Trump, and a well-known figure in Brussels, also attended the meeting.

Palestinian PM calls for unity

Palestinians in the West Bank say that Israel has used the cover of the Iran war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the military imposes additional wartime restrictions on movement, citing security.

Gaza requires “one state, one government, one law and one goal,” Mustafa said on Monday in Brussels.

“Our common objective of achieving one security structure under the legitimate authority should guide the effective coordination between the International Stabilization Force, the Palestinian Authority, security institutions and other international actors. Security must not be fragmented,” he said.

He also called for “the gradual and responsible collection of arms from all armed groups and also the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.”

Europe eager for relevance in Middle East

The 27-nation European Union is the largest single donor to the Palestinian Authority, with its 90-year-old president Mahmoud Abbas ruling from Ramallah for two decades. And while the EU has avoided directly joining the Board of Peace, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal norms, the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in a volatile region just across the Mediterranean.

Outrage in Europe over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza drove many EU leaders to condemn Israel’s war conduct and to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. With the recent election defeat of long-serving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Netanyahu, there might now be enough political support within the bloc for stronger actions like targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers or even the suspension of some ties to Israel.

Hungarian election winner Péter Magyar said during his first news conference on April 13 that he would seek “pragmatic relations” with Israel but also rejoin the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Orbán had defied that warrant while hosting Netanyahu in Budapest in 2025 and then started the process of Hungary leaving the world's only court for war crimes and genocide.

Magyar said that he might not continue Orbán's policy of vetoing actions on Israel — a stumbling block that EU leaders critical of Israel have failed to overcome over the past three years of brutal conflict in the Middle East.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants the EU to tear up its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel.

In force since 2000, that agreement sets out the legal and institutional framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation. The EU had found indications Israel had violated that agreement in its military campaign in Gaza.

“We have nothing against the people of Israel; quite the contrary,” Sánchez said in a post on X on Sunday. “But a Government that violates international law and, therefore, the principles and values of the EU cannot be our partner.”

Spain will table a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday to end the agreement with Israel, he said.

Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands have voiced deep criticism of Israel's military campaigns in the Middle East but have failed to garner enough support to spur joint EU action.

———

Associated Press writers Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal and Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary contributed to this report.

Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of London’s Metropolitan Police Service on Monday said officers arrested two young men, aged 19 and 17, overnight in relation to the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in the borough of Harrow. The department has made 15 arrests related to six attacks on Jewish targets and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran's government that occurred over the past few weeks, he said in an interview with the BBC.

One “serious line of inquiry” is that Iran is hiring local criminals to carry out these attacks amid tensions in the Middle East, including the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, Jukes said.

“We’ve seen a pattern with other actors of thugs for hire, people taking cash that looks like quick and easy money,” Jukes said. “This is part of the modern hybrid war fought by proxies.”

In the most recent incident, a bottle containing a flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the Harrow synagogue on Saturday night, causing smoke damage, police said.

Counterterrorism police are investigating the series of incidents, which began on March 23 when an arson attack destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in north London.

Police on Friday closed Kensington Gardens, a central London park visited by thousands of tourists and local residents every day, after a group that Israel has linked to Iran posted a video claiming Israel’s nearby London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances.

Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the park as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

No one has been injured in the incidents.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on Sunday that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum."

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he said on X.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans on Sunday said police are aware that a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia had claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Britain. The same group has claimed responsibility for incidents in recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe, all of which appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests, she said.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy.”

“I want to be clear, irrespective of the motivation of this group, to those facilitating on their behalf and those committing the acts – we will not tolerate activity which seeks to intimidate or frighten our communities. You will not succeed in creating division and hate,” Evans said.

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington’s disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported.

With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 24 hours with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said American negotiators would head to the Pakistani capital on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those plans would now change.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at the same time, he did not rule it out.

“We have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has been made in this regard,” Baghaei said.

Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States but suggested a wide gap remained between the sides. It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertilizer for the world’s farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.

Iran says more than 3,000 have been killed in country so far

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.

More than 2,290 people have also been killed in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Oil prices on the rise again after renewed conflict in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has also sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades.

Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran’s announcement that the strait was being reopened a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday.

But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S. and on Sunday the military seized the Iranian cargo ship, the first interception since the blockade began last week.

Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce restrictions imposed early in the war. Already on Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit.

Oil prices were up again in early trading on Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at about $95 a barrel — up more than 30% from the day the war started.

Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance.

Security of the strait is not free and “the choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post calling for a lasting end to military and economic pressure on Tehran.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok.

Trump's announcement Sunday had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said Tehran did not have plans yet to attend any talks with the United States.

Trump said the U.S. seized the cargo ship that tried to circumvent a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.

Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.

The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Here is the latest:

Oil prices jump and stocks are mixed

Oil prices climbed more than 5% while world shares were mixed Monday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. benchmark crude gained 5.3% to $87.88 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 5.3% at $95.62 a barrel.

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Brazil’s Lula condemns massive spending on wars

Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said during a visit to Germany it is unacceptable that hunger, illiteracy and a lack of access to electricity remain unresolved for billions of people while trillions are spent on wars.

“We are experiencing a critical moment in global geopolitics, marked by great paradoxes: While astronauts fly to the moon, women and children are being killed indiscriminately in the bombings in the Middle East,” he said Sunday night at the Hannover trade fair, German news agency dpa reported.

Lula called for modern technologies to be used not for wars, but “for a more sustainable and secure world.”

China expresses concern over US seizure of Iranian ship

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern Monday over the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday.

“We hope all relevant parties will adopt a responsible attitude, abide by the ceasefire agreement, avoid escalating tensions or intensifying contradictions,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

“The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and ensure its unimpeded passage serves the common interests of countries in the region and the international community,” Guo said.

China has called for the resumption of the normal operation of the waterway.

Iran’s military explains why Tehran didn’t resist ship raid

Iran’s military offered an explanation Monday for why it didn’t fight back against U.S. Marines who raided an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which oversees operations of Iran’s regular military and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said it held back attacking the Marines because the ship’s crew had family members aboard the Touska.

“Due to the presence of some family members of the ship’s crew, they faced constraints in order to protect their lives and ensure their safety, as they were in danger at every moment,” it said.

However, Iran also has seen much of its navy and airborne assets destroyed in the war.

Khatam al-Anbiya vowed it will take “necessary action against the terrorist U.S. military” in the future, without elaborating.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman says no plans yet to attend talks

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said Tehran did not have plans yet to attend any talks with the United States.

He did not rule out Iran attending talks.

Authorities in Islamabad had been making preparations for another round potentially happened there this week.

“So far, while I am here, we have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has been made in this regard,” Baghaei said during a news conference.

Pakistan interior minister meets US chargé d’affaires

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Monday.

The meeting focused on strengthening Pakistan-U.S. relations and preparations for a second round of talks scheduled to take place in Islamabad this week, Naqvi’s office said.

The statement did not specify when the talks are expected to begin.

Naqvi briefed Baker on security arrangements, saying special measures had been taken to ensure the safety of visiting delegations.

“We have made comprehensive security arrangements for our distinguished guests,” Naqvi said in the statement.

Baker offered an appreciated for Pakistan’s role in easing regional tensions and efforts to facilitate dialogue.

Pakistan prepares to host second round of talks

Pakistani authorities on Monday prepared to host a second round of talks between Iran and the United States, despite questions about whether the negotiations will take place.

Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts since Sunday with Washington and Tehran to ensure the talks proceed as soon as Tuesday, officials said on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke by phone late Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sharif’s office said in a statement that did not mention the planned talks.

Authorities began closing key roads and stepping up security in the capital Islamabad over the weekend, particularly around a luxury hotel where the delegations are expected to meet.

Authorities deployed troops at checkpoints, closed tourist sites and instructed major hotels to limit bookings to ensure availability.

Iran’s forensic medicine head says death toll now over 3,300

Iran on Monday offered a new death toll for the war with Israel and the United States, with its forensic chief saying at least 3,375 people had been killed in the conflict.

The figure came from Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization.

Masjedi, quoted by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency and other outlets Monday, said only four of the dead remain unidentified.

His comments did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying 2,875 were male and 496 were female.

Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.

Masjedi’s figures raised questions about whether or not they included security force members, particularly given the levels of intense bombings targeting military bases and arsenals in the country.

Iran says it hangs 2 convicts claimed by opposition group

Iran said Monday it hanged two men it accused of setting fire to buildings on behalf of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

An Iranian exiled opposition group earlier claimed the men as members and alleged their charges stemmed from events that happened after they already had been detained.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the men hanged as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi.

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group identified Shahi as Nima Shahi.

The MEK said the men had been “subjected to interrogation and torture” and convicted over an incident that happened before their detention.

This brings to eight the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

Hezbollah claims attack destroyed Israeli tanks

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday afternoon in an attack against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

The group said in a statement Monday that bombs planted by Hezbollah fighters exploded and destroyed four tanks in a convoy of eight tanks that was passing the village of Deir Siryan.

It was the first claim of an attack by Hezbollah since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, says global fuel prices could stabilize only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports end.

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”

Wembanyama was making his playoff debut against Portland for a franchise and city that is longing for postseason success after six seasons of futility.

Spurs Hall of Famers Gregg Popovich, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and George Gervin were in attendance amongst a sell-out crowd at the Frost Bank Center adorned in a sea of bright T-shirts in the team's Fiesta colors.

Was the pressure of having the hopes of a city and so many Hall of Famers on his shoulders too weighty for the 22-year-old Wembanyama?

“I wouldn’t say weight. I would say it feels safe,” Wembanyama said. “It feels like if you trip, there’s a lot of hands that’s ready to catch you.”

And that’s how the Spurs feel with Wembanyama patrolling the court.

Wembanyama scored 35 points in a 111-98 victory over the Trail Blazers, setting a Spurs franchise record for the most in a playoff debut, surpassing Duncan’s 32 in 1998. Wembanyama’s 21 first-half points set an NBA record for the most in the opening half of an NBA playoff debut since the league’s play-by-play era began in 1997.

“I thought he was ready,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “He probably settled in a little bit later when he made some shots and his talent popped, but I thought he really settled in there at a point when our defense kicked into another gear.”

The Spurs played a video prior to the game that included Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off,” with the lyrics “It’s not enough” imposed on Wembanyama’s highlights. It was appropriate for Wembanyama and the Spurs.

San Antonio had not participated in the playoffs since 2019, a six-season postseason drought that came immediately after San Antonio won five NBA championships while appearing in a league-tying 22 straight postseasons.

Wembanyama made it a successful return, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers and finishing 13 for 21 from the field.

“We put different guys on him," Portland coach Tiago Splitter said. "He had an amazing game, of course. 35 points, 5 for 6 from 3s. It’s really hard to take him out of the paint. I think we did a good for the most part taking him out of the paint. Of course he rolled a couple of times with a small on him and that’s a bucket. But those five 3s really hurt us.”

Wembanyama had a series of highlights, which is nothing unusual during his three seasons. The highlights have become so routine that Wembanyama can't recall at times when asked about a particular one.

“I don’t remember,” Wembanyama said. “Was it a two or a three?”

A rundown of how he dribbled behind his back to avoid Avdija at halfcourt, spun around him to run free to the rim for a two-handed dunk midway through the first quarter didn't jog his memory.

“Yeah. I have to look again,” Wembanyama said.

As likely will millions of fans, who had 2.43 billion views of Wembanyama on NBA social media this season, second only to Lakers star LeBron James' 2.85 billion views.

Wembanyama may take a look back just to further take in the atmosphere and excitement of Sunday's victory.

“It’s great to see this many people wear their shirts,” Wembanyama said. “I love the animation (on the video boards) when they say, ‘Wear your shirt.’ Yeah, you should absolutely wear your shirt if you’re coming to the game. But now at first, I mean, the first time I stepped on the court for warmups, I felt the atmosphere was different. Everybody’s ready. I mean, the fans were ready. It’s probably the most excited I’ve seen this year in this arena.”

While the crowd left with free T-shirts, the Spurs received more extravagant clothing from Kelly Olynyk, who celebrated his 35th birthday Sunday by handing out gifts.

Wembanyama and the entire Spurs' roster came to the game in matching, custom-made black suits, purchased by Olynyk.

“That’s Kelly," Wembanyama said. “Happy birthday, by the way. He took the initiative to make us all wear the same thing. That’s good. It’s a good team thing.”

So is Wembanyama.

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

The large-scale combat drills between the U.S. and Philippines will expand this year to include other militaries, including from Japan, France and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.

More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in the Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — exercise. The event will last nearly three weeks and will include mock battle scenarios and live-fire maneuvers in locations including Philippine provinces facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel will take part in the combat drills, a major deployment that U.S. military officials said underscores Washington’s commitment to Asia despite its preoccupation with the war against Iran.

“Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” Marine Lt. Gen. Christian Wortman said in the opening ceremony.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner said the multinational combat drills build deterrence and resilience against aggression in the region. He did not mention any country in his speech but in the past, he has strongly criticized China for its increasingly assertive actions against Philippine navy and coast guard forces in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to the waters, a key global trade route, but territorial confrontations have particularly spiked between Chinese and Filipino forces in recent years.

China has objected to the U.S.-Philippine drills, saying they are aimed at containing its global rise. The Philippine military, however, has insisted the exercise does not target any country and is also needed to prepare allied forces to respond to natural disasters.

The U.S. has repeatedly warned China that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in disputed waters.

“We remain guided by a shared commitment to uphold international law, to respect sovereignty and to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific where nations can thrive without coercion,” Brawner said.

During the drills, Japanese forces will fire missiles from a coastal area in the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte to help sink a mock enemy ship about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away in the peripheries of the South China Sea, Philippine marine. Col. Dennis Hernandez told The Associated Press.

U.S. forces will use a marine drone laden with explosives to further bombard the enemy ship, Hernandez said.

Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assured Philippine officials while visiting Manila that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” Hegseth told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

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AP writers Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred early Sunday, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community.

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana.

Mourners laid flowers outside the single-story house on 79th Street, and people lit candles for the victims at an evening prayer vigil in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who was at the vigil.

The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Police said the man shot a woman at one home in the neighborhood south of downtown then drove to the second location.

Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, police spokesperson Chris Bordelon said. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

The children who were killed were 3 to 11 years old. They were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

All the children were “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet," said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the women who were shot.

The gunman died after a police pursuit

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to Bordelon. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”

Elkins had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but Bordelon said officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.

Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, according to Brown. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children,” Brown said. “He shot his wife.”

Elkins had four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.

The shooting in Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents, was the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Terry Tang in Phoenix and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t do a lot, to be honest,” Dowd said. “It’s probably better if it gets on and off my stick that quick. ... I just found a little bit of space. Everywhere across the league, there’s limited space out there. Guys are playing their best hockey defensively because everything matters that much more. It was a bang-bang play.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights, who twice trailed before scoring three third-period goals, have not lost in regulation since John Tortorella (8-0-1) took over as coach.

The Mammoth lost in the franchise's first playoff game since 2020. They are in their second season in Utah after leaving Arizona.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “It was physical. It was intense. Every inch was contested.”

Colton Sissons had a goal and assist for the Golden Knights and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev also scored. Carter Hart stopped 32 shots. Hanifin had two assists.

Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund scored for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka, playing in his first playoff game after five years in the Utah/Arizona organization, made 27 saves. Captain Clayton Keller, who closed the regular season with 16 assists over a 10-game streak, failed to record one in this game.

The Golden Knights took the fight to the Mammoth from the beginning and finished with 52 hits to 29 for Utah. Vegas' high in the regular season was 36 against Los Angeles in the Oct. 8 opener.

Both teams breaking into several fights including one after the final buzzer.

“We played physical,” Tortorella said. “We have some things to work on, but it was good to see us bang around a little bit. It's a long series. You just keep on trying to do the things you think you need to grind away.”

Former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt delivered a tremendous cross-ice pass to Cooley, whose one-timer from the right circle put the Mammoth on the scoreboard first with just 11 seconds left in the first period.

Sissons scored the equalizer at 3:44 of the second period, jamming in the puck after a backhand pass from Cole Smith. Utah retook the lead not even two minutes later when Hart found himself out of position and Vegas defenseman Kaeden Korczak knocked the puck into his own net, though it was officially credited to Kevin Stenlund.

“We didn't really pay attantion to it,” Barbashev said. “Our guys did a really good job to get one back on the power play.”

That happened when the Golden Knights again tied the game when Stone put a rebound into the open net for a power-play goal 5:33 of the third period. They then soon had the lead when Utah defenseman MacKenzie Weegar turned over the puck in his zone, and Dowd knocked in Hanifin's shot.

Barbashev closed the scoring with an empty-netter.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The world’s richest man and Linda Yaccarino — the former CEO of X — have been summoned for “voluntary interviews," while other employees of the platform are scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

It remains unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to Paris. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions from The Associated Press and Yaccarino’s current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.

French prosecutors also suspect that controversy around the platform’s AI system Grok's deepfakes was concocted to boost the value of Musk-owned companies ahead of a key market listing, and alerted U.S. authorities. Musk welcomed a report that U.S. justice officials refused to help French investigators, posting on X, “This needs to stop.”

The reason for summoning Musk

Musk was summoned after a search took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.

“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said. “At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.”

The Paris prosecutor's office said Musk and Yaccarino's potential no-show on Monday “is not an obstacle for investigations to continue.”

What is being investigated

French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.

It’s looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.

Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage this year after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users.

Grok also wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass murder — language long associated with Holocaust denial.

In later posts on X, the chatbot reversed itself and acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, saying it had been deleted, and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.

French prosecutors alert U.S. authorities

In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the U.S. federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing financial markets — suggesting "that the controversy surrounding sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses," prosecutors said.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said this could have been done "ahead of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of the new entity formed by the merger of Space X and xAI, at a time when company X was clearly losing momentum.”

Justice Department brushes off French call

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn’t facilitate their efforts to investigate Musk’s X. The newspaper reported that the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, in a two-page letter last week, accused the French of inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.

The letter also said France’s requests for U.S. assistance “constitute an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”

French judicial authorities didn’t respond to requests for comments.

Investigations launched into several internet platforms

The cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office has launched in recent years a series of investigations focusing on internet platforms' suspected illegal activities.

French-language website Coco, which was cited in the landmark trial that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon against sexual violence, closed in 2024 as its manager is accused of complicity in spreading child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, among other things.

Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, was handed preliminary charges and placed under judicial supervision for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.

The Paris prosecutor’s office opened last year an investigation into TikTok over allegations that the platform allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it has lodged a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office targeting "the platform’s policies that allow disinformation to flourish.''

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Associated Press reporter Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.

Revere's ride took place on April 18, 1775, when the silversmith and express rider was dispatched to Lexington to warn Revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming to arrest them. He then headed to Concord to warn about raids on military stockpiles.

Revere reached Lexington around midnight, and another rider, William Dawes, got there along a different route soon after with the same message.

Their efforts resulted in militiamen, muskets in hand, confronting a much larger contingent of British regulars marching from Boston on the Lexington Battle Green. The British regulars were eventually chased back to Boston, where militias pinned them down for 11 months in what became known as the Siege of Boston.

“It’s important because you have to have someone to meet the British troops,” said Nina Zannieri, executive director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association, which owns and operates The Paul Revere House. “It becomes a turning point. If no patriots had turned out on the green and the British had just rolled into town, it would have been different. But they actually meet resistance.”

The reenactor, dressed in Colonial costume and accompanied by another horseman, will roughly trace the route taken by Revere 251 years ago. The ride will start in Boston’s North End and head to Charlestown, Somerville, Medford and Arlington before finishing in Lexington — all communities where Revere alerted militias about British movements.

Some aspects of the historic night will not be part of the event, such as Revere taking a boat to Charlestown before starting his ride.

Nor will there be Revere's brief detention by a British patrol on his way to Concord after leaving Lexington. Revere was ultimately let go without his horse after convincing the British that hundreds of patriots were waiting for them, and he returned to Lexington to see the end of the battle.

“It’s basically important that he leaves Boston. He rides. He’s alerting people. Other people are out,” Zannieri said. “He starts a chain reaction, and he accomplishes his mission even though he gets stopped and held. He’s lucky he wasn’t killed.”

While Revere dodged patrols and contended with rutted and muddy roads, his 21st-century counterpart will have it easy, traversing pavement the entire way and passing through a world of stoplights, car dealerships and bustling downtowns that Revere never could have imagined. The 2026 Boston Marathon takes place at the same time, though the routes will not overlap.

Michelle DiCarlo-Domey, who organizes the ride each year for the National Lancer, the state's historic mounted cavalry unit, said thousands come out to see history come alive and show their patriotism. The National Lancer has been holding the Revere and Dawes ride for over 110 years.

“Whenever you can interact with the riders and the horses, it can help carry history on,” DiCarlo-Domey said. “Kids can relate to what they learn in school. And where else do you see two horses running down the street?”

Starmer will face a tough barrage of questions in Parliament when he stands up to explain why Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished politician and friend of Jeffrey Epstein, became Britain’s ambassador to Washington despite failing security checks — and seemingly without Starmer being told about the concerns.

The revelation has left furious opponents calling for Starmer to resign and uneasy allies wondering what else the nation’s leader didn’t know about.

Starmer repeatedly told lawmakers that “due process” was followed when Mandelson was appointed. He now says he’s “furious” that he wasn’t informed that an intensive vetting process had recommended Mandelson not be given security clearance. The Foreign Office, which oversees diplomatic appointments, cleared him anyway.

“The fact that I wasn’t told that Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting when he was appointed is astonishing,” Starmer told the Daily Mirror. “The fact that I wasn’t told when I said to Parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable.”

Starmer fired the top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, within hours of the revelation by The Guardian last week. But allies of Robbins say he would never have been able to share sensitive vetting information with the prime minister.

Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

All the main opposition parties have called on Starmer to resign. Right-of-center Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said in the Mail on Sunday that he had “misled Parliament over Mandelson, misled the country and is taking the public for fools.”

Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said Starmer had “showed catastrophic misjudgment.”

Senior government colleagues have defended the prime minister. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that if Starmer had known about the failed security vetting, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.”

But lawmakers in Starmer’s center-left Labour Party, already anxious about the party’s dire poll ratings, are restive. Starmer has already defused one potential crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers urged him to resign over the Mandelson appointment.

He could face a new challenge is, as expected, Labour takes a hammering in local and regional elections on May 7, which give voters a chance to pass a midterm verdict on the government.

Critics say the Mandelson appointment is more evidence of a failure of judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.

He picked Mandelson for one of Britain’s most important diplomatic jobs despite being warned by his staff that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

Mandelson’s business links to Russia and China also set off alarm bells. But his expertise as a former European Union trade chief and contacts among global elites were considered assets in dealing with President Donald Trump’s administration.

He lasted less than nine months in the job. Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

A trove of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January included emails suggesting Mandelson had passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009 after the global financial crisis.

British police launched a criminal probe and arrested Mandelson in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet — one of two women and one of three from Latin America — will be the first to face ambassadors from the U.N.’s 193 member nations during a three-hour question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Bachelet will be followed by U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina.

On Wednesday, U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan will take center stage in the General Assembly hall, and finally, Senegal’s former President Macky Sall.

In 2016, a hotly contested race drew 13 candidates. What has changed?

For starters, the deeply polarized and conflict-wracked world of 2026 is far different from the more peaceful global climate in 2016, the year Donald Trump was elected president for the first time.

Add to that the diminished stature of the United Nations. A decade ago, the world organization was basking in its success in helping achieve the Paris climate agreement to curb global warming and an agreement by world leaders on 17 goals to promote global economic growth, preserve the environment and close the growing gap between rich and poor nations.

Today, the divisions among world powers are so deep that the U.N. has been unable to fulfill its primary role in ensuring global peace and security. The once powerful Security Council has been blocked from acting to halt wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, among other conflicts, leaving the U.N. on the sidelines of major global crises.

The International Crisis Group’s Richard Gowan, a U.N. watcher and program director, said the current geopolitical scene has affected the race to succeed Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on Dec. 31.

He said 10 years ago, many candidates entered the race knowing they had little chance of winning, but used it to raise their profiles.

“There was no real cost associated with losing,” Gowan said. (asterisk)This time around, potential candidates and the governments who sponsor them are much more cautious. There is a feeling that if a candidate puts a foot wrong and offends Washington or Beijing, it could cause real diplomatic damage.”

How the selection worked in 2016

In 2016, there was intense pressure to choose the first woman to lead the United Nations. Seven of the 13 candidates were women. But there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the U.N. calls the “interactive dialogue” with General Assembly members.

The U.N. Charter says little about choosing the secretary-general except that the General Assembly, which includes all members, should do so upon the recommendation of the Security Council. That gives the five permanent members of the U.N.’s most powerful body — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — the decision-making role and veto power over the selection.

By tradition, the secretary-general rotates by region. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief representing Europe, succeeded former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who represented Asia. He followed Ghana’s Kofi Annan, who represented Africa.

Now, it should be Latin America’s turn, though Eastern Europe has never had a secretary-general and lost out in 2016.

Under U.N. rules, candidates must be nominated by a member nation — not necessarily their own. There is no time limit for nominations, and more candidates could appear, but in 2016 the Security Council started doing “straw polls” among the 13 candidates in late July, which basically served as a cutoff.

How the four candidates were nominated

During their sessions this week, the four candidates are likely to be asked about their vision for the job, global hot spots and the future of the United Nations — but anything goes.

Bachelet, 74, who was the U.N. high commissioner for human rights after serving two non-consecutive terms as Chile's president, was initially nominated by Chile, Brazil and Mexico. But after Chile’s far-right leader, José Antonio Kast, became president in March, his government withdrew its support for Bachelet, a leftist, though she remains a candidate because of nominations from Brazil and Mexico.

Grossi, 65, a former Argentine diplomat who has been director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, was nominated by his home country.

Grynspan, 70, a former vice president of Costa Rica, has been secretary-general of the U.N. Trade and Development agency, UNCTAD, since 2021 and was also nominated by her country.

Sall, 64, was nominated by Burundi, but his home country, Senegal, told the African Union that it had not endorsed him. Neither did the divided 55-nation regional organization.

A fifth candidate, Argentine diplomat Virginia Gamba, a former U.N. representative for children in armed conflict, was nominated by the Maldives, but the Indian Ocean nation withdrew her candidacy in late March without giving a reason.

While there are only two female candidates, pressure for a madam secretary-general continues, including from Guterres, who has sought to achieve gender equality in his administration. Britain and France have also said they would like to see a woman at the helm.

The global advocacy group 1 for 8 Billion and GWL Voices, an organization of nearly 80 global female leaders, have been campaigning for a woman. GWL’s president and co-founder, Susana Malcorra, a former Argentine foreign minister and senior U.N. official, was a candidate for secretary-general in 2016.

Bachelet, however, already faces US opposition

In a March 25 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 28 Republican Senate and House members asked the United States to veto Bachelet, calling her “a pro-abortion zealot intent on using political authority to override state sovereignty in favor of extreme agendas.”

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was asked at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week by Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska — one of the letter’s signatories — about Bachelet’s fitness for the job. Waltz responded that he wasn’t in a position to say whether the U.S. would support or oppose her, but he said, “I share your concerns.”

Gowan said the odds that a woman would be chosen were seen as changing sharply when Trump returned to the White House.

“Before that, there was a feeling that this time a woman had to win, but now a lot of diplomats assume that Washington will insist on a male secretary-general on principle,” he said. “I am not sure that is necessarily correct.”

Pese a que ha transcurrido una semana desde los comicios presidenciales, el conteo oficial de votos avanza a cuentagotas en su fase final, en medio de investigaciones de la Fiscalía por los reclamos de una presunta demora en la entrega de material electoral.

Contabilizadas el 93,5% de las actas, la derechista Keiko Fujimori lidera con 17,05% de votos, el nacionalista Roberto Sánchez es segundo con el 12,00% y le pisa los talones el ultraconservador López Aliaga con 11,92%, según la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE).

López Aliaga insistió ante cientos de asistentes concentrados en el denominado Campo de Marte —en el centro de Lima— que más de un millón de peruanos no votaron porque supuestamente “el material no estuvo listo”.

En su discurso el candidato por Renovación Popular exigió a las autoridades convocar a “elecciones complementarias antes del 3 de mayo para que voten todos los peruanos que no han votado”.

López Aliaga no ha respaldado con pruebas su denuncia de “fraude”. Una misión de observadores de la Unión Europea negó en días anteriores tal posibilidad.

En tanto, el candidato progresista por el movimiento Juntos por el Perú llamó la víspera a sus seguidores a vigilar los votos y defender “la voluntad del pueblo”, desestimando las denuncias de su contendor.

“Hacemos un llamado a la comunidad internacional y a nuestros electores que estemos atentos”, dijo el candidato Sánchez, al considerar que la “voluntad del pueblo” ya ha sido expresada.

El ajustado margen de diferencia entre Sánchez y López Aliaga podrá resolverse cuando se incorporen los votos del extranjero y se solventen inconsistencias en miles de actas electorales.

Perú irá a un balotaje a inicios de junio porque ningún candidato ha logrado el 50% más uno de los votos válidos que exige la ley para ganar en primera vuelta.

Wembanyama's 21 first-half points set an NBA record for the most in the opening half of an NBA playoff debut since the league's play-by-play era began in 1997. His 35 total points set a Spurs franchise record for the most in a playoff debut, surpassing Tim Duncan’s 32 in 1998.

“It is obviously different, but we’ve been really good in the regular season,” Wembanyama said. “So, we have no reason to act differently or do anything different.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in San Antonio before the series heads to Portland for Games 3 and 4.

Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox each added 17 points and combined for 15 assists for San Antonio.

Deni Avdija had 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead Portland, which beat Phoenix 114-110 in Tuesday’s play-in game to earn the No. 7 seed.

Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft behind Wembanyama and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, added 18 points.

The Spurs responded to the Trail Blazers' physicality while holding them to 10-for-38 shooting on 3-pointers and had a 45-38 rebounding advantage.

“The Spurs put you in tough positions,” Portland coach Tiago Splitter said. “Against them, you've got to shoot the ball well from 3s. We didn't. We've got to shoot the ball better.”

The Spurs and the sell-out crowd — which included Duncan and former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer David Robinson sitting together courtside — at the Frost Bank Center were primed for the franchise’s first playoff game since 2019. The six-season postseason drought came immediately after San Antonio won five NBA championships while appearing in a league-tying 22 straight postseasons.

Spurs fans are again dreaming big — and it’s because of their 7-foot-4 post player from France who is a finalist for the NBA's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Wembanyama’s highlights included dribbling behind his back to avoid Avdija at halfcourt, backing him down to the top of the key, spinning around him and running free to the rim for a two-handed dunk midway through the first quarter.

San Antonio clamped down defensively to regain their double-digit lead in the third quarter, with Devin Vassell blocking Donovan Clingan and Jrue Holiday while scoring eight straight points.

“That’s what we’ve talked about, just not giving up on the play,” Vassell said. “Every possession matters, whether it’s the first possession in the first quarter or the last possession in the fourth quarter. Play to the whistle.”

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

The Persian Gulf waterway was closed again after Iran reversed a decision to reopen the strait and President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

U.S. benchmark crude gained 5.3% to $87.88 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 5.3% at $95.62 a barrel.

In share trading, U.S. futures declined, with the contracts for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7%.

In early European trading, benchmarks declined. Germany's DAX lost 1.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.2% to 8,325.67. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 10,601.64.

Despite renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East, share prices were mostly higher in Asia., though they gave up the bigger gains of earlier in the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% to 58,824.89, while South Korea's Kospi picked up 0.4% to 6,219.09.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.8% to 26,361.07 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.8% to 4,0802.13.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,953.30.

In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 0.4%. India's Sensex rose 0.1% and the SET in Bangkok lost 0.2%.

“The problem for markets is not the absence of hope; it is the overpricing of it,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. “The latest move higher in equities has started to feel less like conviction and more like momentum feeding on itself.”

On Friday, oil prices had dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, and U.S. stocks raced to a fresh record after Iran said the strait was open again for commercial tankers carrying crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

A freer flow of oil could relieve pressure on prices for gasoline and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest and mortgage bills.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.2% to an all-time high of 7,126.06, closing out a third straight week of big gains, its longest streak since Halloween.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.8% to 49,447.43. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5% to 24,468.48.

The U.S. stock market has jumped more than 12% since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude had plunged 9.4% after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X that passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” as a ceasefire appears to be holding in Lebanon.

Brent crude fell 9.1%.

After Araghchi's announcement, Trump said on his social media network that the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remained “in full force” pending a deal on the war, though he also suggested that “should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. had seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to get around a naval blockade. Iran’s joint military command said Tehran would respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.

A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz raises questions over new talks to end the war.

Since the war began, market sentiment has swung between optimism and gloom over when the fighting will end and what costs the world economy will endure. A strong start to the earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies has helped support stocks.

In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.02 Japanese yen from 158.79 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1759 from $1.1742.

Detroit went into the postseason as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, openly talking about exceeding modest expectations and winning the franchise's fourth championship.

If the Pistons don't play better than they did in a 112-101 loss to Orlando on Sunday night in Game 1, they might get knocked out in the first round again.

“We’re sick about losing this one,” Cade Cunningham said after scoring a playoff career-high 39 points and not getting much help from his teammates. “It's a long series.”

Detroit, which has lost an NBA-record 11 straight home postseason games, hosts the Magic again on Wednesday night.

The Pistons have not won a home playoff game since 2008, which is also the last year they advanced in the playoffs.

They were sluggish early against the Magic and had a built-in excuse, playing for the first time in a week.

“We didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said.

They were flat early in the third quarter, too, and that's tougher to explain.

“We were chasing them all night,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We made some runs to get ourselves back in the ballgame.”

The Magic, meanwhile, looked ready to play just two nights after routing Charlotte in an elimination game to earn a spot in the playoffs.

“They’ve been off and we’ve found a little bit of a rhythm,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That always plays a part in it.”

Detroit never had the lead.

Cunningham made a 3-pointer to pull the Pistons into a tie midway through the third quarter, but they wasted the opportunity by giving up 14 of the next 17 points and couldn't recover.

Detroit finished with a season-low 31 baskets, connecting on just 40% of its shots. Tobias Harris scored 17 points as the only double-digit scorer other than Cunningham, but he missed 10 of 15 shots.

All-Star Jalen Duren, who averaged nearly 20 points in the regular season, was limited to four shots and eight points.

“They packed the paint,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re going to put a bunch of bodies in the paint to try to make it difficult on him.”

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

Tage Thompson scored goals 3:42 apart to tie it, and Alex Tuch sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with 1:12 left in nearly blowing the roof off the arena.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots.

Buffalo hosts Game 2 of the first-round series Tuesday night.

The playoff win was Buffalo’s first at home — and first overall — since a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 4 of a first-round series April 20, 2011. The Sabres proceeded to lose the series in seven games. The Sabres won their first Atlantic Division this season and snapped an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought.

Thompson dismissed the narrative of the team lacking playoff experience by saying players drew on the frustrations of going so long without a postseason appearance.

“I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this. I think any time you go eight years not making playoffs and then it’s finally here, the last thing you want is regret,” Thompson said. “There’s just a heightened feeling of hunger. You just don’t want to let this opportunity slip. I thought tonight was really important to make a statement and set our standard.”

David Pastrnak scored with seven seconds remaining, and had two assists for Boston. Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Bruins. who finished the regular season 33-2-4 when leading after two periods. Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

“I really don't know," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said, when asked what happened.

“I thought we were in the perfect spot. We were exactly where we wanted to play, being in that position five or six minutes left in the game,” the first-year coach said. “That’s something we have to learn again the hard way. We just have to stick with it for 60 minutes.”

After going 5,473 days between playoff games the Sabres delivered a stunning victory.

Trailing 2-0 after Lindholm scored 1:08 into the third period, Buffalo finally caught a spark from Thompson, who led the team with 40 goals this season.

Thompson’s first goal came on a wrap-around backhander with 7:58 remaining. He then tied it by getting to a loose puck to the left of the Boston net, and firing a low shot inside the far post with 4:16 remaining.

With the crowd still buzzing, Samuelsson scored 52 seconds later. Teammate Jack Quinn got to the puck deep in the Bruins zone and fed Samuelsson, who snapped a high shot in from the left circle.

“I don’t think the belief that was ever wavered,” Samuelsson said. “I just think we just had a lot of belief within the group. Just tried to ride the momentum with the fans and it worked out nice.”

This marked just the second time Buffalo overcame a two-goal third-period deficit. The other time also happened against Boston in a Game 4 first-round series-clinching first-round 6-5 overtime win in 1993. It’s best remembered in Buffalo as the “May Day!” game with Brad May scoring the decisive goal to secure the Sabres' first playoff series victory in a decade.

The Bruins, the Eastern Conference’s seventh-seeded team, unraveled in making their return to the playoffs following a one-year hiatus.

“We just couldn’t finish it. That’s the frustrating point, but it’s a long series,” Sturm said. “We’re prepared. We came to Buffalo wanting to get a win. We didn’t get one today, but we’re going to try our best to get one the next game.”

Pastrnak’s three-point outing upped his career playoff total to 90 points, and moved him ahead of Cam Neely and Wayne Cashman for ninth on the team list, and two back of Bobby Orr.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Trump administration's campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes have ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration's aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

In the latest attack Sunday, U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It posted a video on X showing a boat moving along the water before a massive explosion engulfs the vessel in flames.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.

Six strokes behind playing partner Sei Young Kim for a few moments on the 11th green, Green closed with a 4-under 68 to match Kim (70) and Jin Hee Im (67) at 17-under 271 on the tree-lined layout.

In the playoff on the par-4 18th, Green hit a wedge from 130 yards and curled in the right-to-left breaking putt after Kim — eight strokes ahead with five holes to go Saturday in the third round — left a 35-foot birdie try short.

“I had that putt, obviously very similar line in regulation, so I felt somewhat comfortable,” Green said. “It still was a tough putt, so really glad it went in the hole.”

Im — penalized a stroke for slow play Saturday — reached the green in three after hitting her drive to the right.

Green also won the event in 2023 and 2024 at Wilshire Country Club. The 29-year-old Australian player joined Hyo Joo Kim as the only two-time winners this season on the LPGA Tour and ran her worldwide 2026 victory total to four.

Green has eight career LPGA Tour victories. She won the tour's HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore early last month and also took the Women’s Australian Open and Australian WPGA.

Sei Young Kim took a two-stroke lead into the round and had a three-shot edge on the back nine.

“Just little disappointed because I had a good chance for the win,” she said. "Yeah, but she’s play well. Strong finish back nine.

The tournament was played at El Caballero for the second straight year because of course renovations at Wilshire.

After Sei Young Kim chipped in for eagle on the 11th to leave Green six shots back, Green followed with a birdie on the hole to get a shot back.

“I honestly didn’t think I was in the tournament still,” Green said. “I was just like, `Oh, well just go for as many pins as possible.′”

She birdied Nos. 13-16 — missing a 5-foot eagle putt on 16 — and pulled even with Sei Young Kim and Im — who made a 60-footer for eagle on 16 — when Sei Young Kim bogeyed the par-3 17th.

“Got on a nice stretch there,” Green said. "I kind of thought the putt that I missed on 16 was the crucial moment. I mean, I’m just fortunate enough that I at least got into the playoff.”

The Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, will start Thursday in Houston.

“It’s going to be really hard to come back down to earth next week, so it’s going to be my next challenge,” Green said. “I’m going to be on a flight tonight to Houston, so I don’t know if I’m getting much rest."

Ina Yoon was a stroke out of the playoff after a 69. She eagled the 16th, birdied the 17th and nearly holed a 30-foot birdie try on 18,

Former UCLA star Patty Tavatanakit (70) was 14 under with Haeran Ryu (66). First-round leader Chizzy Iwai (70) was 12 under with Minami Katsu (68).

Amateur Asterisk Talley tied for 13th at 9 under after a 70. The 17-year-old Talley played her first event since losing the lead on the back nine in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“It’s great just to get to play with the pros and get some learning experience,” said Talley, also in the field for The Chevron.

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

Detroit has dropped 11 straight home games in the postseason, a drought that dates to 2008.

The Pistons will get another chance against Orlando on Wednesday night in Game 2.

Detroit's Cade Cunningham scored a playoff career-high 39 points and Tobias Harris added 17 for the Pistons, but the rest of their teammates were quiet offensively.

Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Magic, who never trailed. Orlando’s Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter scored 17 points each and Jalen Suggs had 16.

The Pistons haven’t advanced beyond the first round in the postseason in 18 years and the Magic haven’t since 2010.

Orlando looked ready and Detroit looked rusty early.

The Magic, coming off a rout of Charlotte in a play-in game on Friday, led 18-5 midway through the first quarter after holding the Pistons to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers in their first game in a week.

Detroit rallied to pull within two before Orlando closed with six straight points to lead 35-27 after Banchero and Suggs combined to score 20 points.

The Magic led 55-51 at halftime.

The Pistons came out flat in the second half and Orlando took advantage, scoring eight of the first nine points and prompting Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff to call a timeout.

Detroit scored 10 straight points and 13 of 15 to pull into a 65-all tie on Cunningham’s 3-pointer.

Banchero answered with a long jumper over Jalen Duren and Bane followed with a 3-pointer over Cunningham, leading to the Magic restoring a double-digit lead. Orlando led 81-74 going into the fourth quarter.

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

Slafkovsky fired a snap shot from the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far side for his first career postseason hat trick.

“It's pretty nice. I like that feeling,” he said. “Obviously, we don't want to go to overtime. Hopefully we close out games before that. But now we have to focus on the next game.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena, where Tampa Bay has lost nine of its last 10 home games in the postseason. The Lightning are 1-11 in their last 12 overtime games in the playoffs.

“We took four offensive zone penalties,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That wasn't over-aggression. That was stupidity. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. This isn't game 62. That's extremely disappointing.”

Josh Anderson also had a goal for Montreal, and rookie goalie Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.

“His style of play and energy and speed and physicality is perfect for playoff hockey,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said of Anderson. “He had a big night for us.”

Brandon Hagel scored two goals and Darren Raddysh also scored for Tampa Bay.

The Lightning have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round three straight seasons after falling two wins shy of a three-peat in 2022.

The Canadiens, coached by Lightning icon and Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, are seeking their first Stanley Cup since winning their NHL record 24th in 1993. They haven’t won a playoff series since the Lightning beat them in the Cup Final in 2021.

Hagel’s power-play goal — a tip-in off a precise pass by Jake Guentzel 8:58 into the third — tied it at 3-3 a few minutes after Slafkovsky put Montreal ahead.

Slafkovsky’s shot from the high slot slid under Vasilevskiy’s left pad for a short-lived lead. He one-timed a perfect seam pass from Ivan Demidov into the net from the right circle to make it 2-2 in the final minute of the second.

Raddysh tied it at 1 with a powerful slap shot in the second. The Lightning went ahead 2-1 just 29 seconds later when Hagel picked up a loose puck from the side of the net and backhanded a shot past Dobes.

Montreal’s fourth line gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead in the first when Anderson flipped a top-shelf shot into an open net.

Anderson also had a goal overturned by video review midway through the second period. He deflected Mike Matheson’s slap shot past Vasilevskiy but it was waved off because his stick was above the crossbar.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Recycled Orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay, brought its unique performance to Miami Dade College’s North Campus on Sunday.

The musicians are known for creating instruments out of materials collected from a landfill in Cateura, transforming everyday items into working violins, cellos and more.

“The front part is made up of a paint can. This part was a pizza pan that you would cook a pizza on. Holding the strings is a fork and a spoon,” said Amara, a violinist.

The internationally known group performs around the world and stopped in Miami for a special one-hour show as guests of the South Florida Youth Symphony.

“This leads to many more opportunities for our kids that don’t understand how the rest of the world really lives and what they have to go through to make their dreams come true,” said Marjorie Hahn, executive and music director of the South Florida Youth Symphony.

The 10-person orchestra showed how they turn what many would see as trash into something joyful through music.

“So special because we make the trash music and that is so inspiring and so cool!” Amara said.

It was a unique moment as students and musicians from across the world came together, inspiring young performers in Miami during an evening of music.

El hospital presentó su nuevo departamento de emergencias de 178,000 pies cuadrados, convirtiéndolo en uno de los más grandes del país. Es tres veces el tamaño de la sala de emergencias actual, que ya es una de las más concurridas de la nación, marcando una expansión significativa en atención y capacidad.

Local 10 News obtuvo un adelanto exclusivo del interior antes de la apertura oficial.

El CEO de Jackson Health System, David Zambrana, dijo que la apertura se realizará por fases. En la primera fase, habrá 134 habitaciones disponibles. Aseguró que los pacientes pueden esperar tiempos de espera más cortos, mayor privacidad y triaje personalizado.

“En la fase dos, tendremos más de 200 camas en nuestro departamento de emergencias”, dijo Zambrana. “En nuestro segundo piso, tendremos una unidad de observación de 57 camas para pacientes que necesiten pasar, digamos, una o máximo dos noches en el hospital, brindándole a cada paciente una experiencia privada y de última generación para atención de emergencias.”

La fase dos también incluirá una nueva sala de emergencias pediátricas con 24 camas de última generación.

Las nuevas instalaciones incluyen salones privados y áreas de espera para familiares, y están equipadas con una segunda plataforma de aterrizaje para helicópteros.

Se describe como la próxima era de la atención médica, y el Centro de Trauma Ryder no desaparecerá.

“El departamento de emergencias ciertamente atenderá todo tipo de condiciones de sala de emergencias, pero el Centro de Trauma Ryder continuará atendiendo el trauma de nivel uno para adultos y niños”, dijo Zambrana.

La nueva sala de emergencias abrirá el 23 de abril, y se espera que el proyecto completo esté terminado en 2027.

Edgar Monserratt Martinez y Barrett Riley eran dos jóvenes de 18 años que se preparaban para graduarse de Pine Crest School en Fort Lauderdale cuando fallecieron.

Riley conducía un Tesla Model S 2014 a 116 mph en una zona de 30 mph cuando chocó en 2018 contra un muro a lo largo de Seabreeze Boulevard, según los registros.

Las familias afectadas alegan que Riley y Monserratt sobrevivieron el choque del 8 de mayo de 2018, pero no el incendio que siguió cuando las baterías se encendieron, según los registros.

Los padres de Riley, James y Jenny Riley, alegaron que Tesla había diseñado baterías de iones de litio defectuosas. La demanda fue desestimada.

Los padres de Riley también alegaron que Tesla instaló un dispositivo para impedir que el vehículo superara las 85 mph, y que un técnico de Tesla en Dania Beach lo retiró sin su consentimiento.

Los abogados que representan a Tesla negaron ambas acusaciones y centraron su defensa en el historial de manejo de Riley.

Al concluir el juicio civil de 2022, el jurado determinó que Riley era el principal responsable, por lo que Tesla solo fue declarada liable por $105,000.

En la demanda civil más reciente, los seres queridos de Monserratt alegan que Tesla fue negligente. El juicio civil está programado para comenzar este lunes en el condado Broward.

It's already pretty noisy.

New York dropped its 11th consecutive game when closer Devin Williams blew a ninth-inning lead in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings Sunday. It’s the longest slide for the club since it lost 11 in a row from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 in 2004.

“We've just got to stick together and stay within ourself and fight,” Lindor said. “Fight.”

Led by Lindor and Juan Soto, the Mets began the season with World Series aspirations. They had an opening-day payroll of $352.2 million, tops in the majors.

Soto strained his right calf during a 10-3 victory at San Francisco on April 3 — the beginning of a four-game win streak that lifted New York to a 7-4 record.

That seems like a long time ago.

The Mets have been outscored 62-19 during their losing streak. They are batting .145 with runners in scoring position during the skid after going 0 for 9 in those situations in the series finale against the Cubs.

“We didn't hit that many balls hard today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “So yeah, we've got to get better at-bats, for sure.”

The Mets became the first team to lose 11 or more games in a row in April since the 2022 Cincinnati Reds. The last 12-game slide for the franchise was in August 2002.

Only four teams have reached the postseason after going through a double-digit losing streak, including the Cleveland Guardians last year and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.

“I think it does compound as you continue to lose, but that's for us to stop it and get ourselves going on the right track,” Mets pitcher David Peterson said.

Most of the noise Lindor mentioned likely will focus on Mendoza, who was hired in November 2023. But president of baseball operations David Stearns backed Mendoza on Friday, and Lindor offered a strident defense of his manager after Sunday's loss.

“Mendy's our guy. He's our leader,” the All-Star shortstop said. “He's in control and he's done a tremendous job. We just haven't executed. It would be unfair to put everything on him because at the end of the day he has gotten the ship in the right direction. The people that are paddling, we've got to paddle and execute.”

Even with the team's struggles at the plate, New York was in position to salvage the finale of its six-game trip.

The Mets had a 1-0 lead before Williams gave up pinch-hitter Michael Conforto's tying double in the ninth. Craig Kimbrel was saddled with the loss when Nico Hoerner drove in Pete Crow-Armstrong with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.

The 31-year-old Williams signed a $51 million, three-year contract with the Mets in free agency.

“I'm really, really disappointed,” Williams said. “They gave me a lead. It's my job to hold it, and I made a mistake. It cost us the game today.”

The Mets are off Monday before beginning a nine-game homestand Tuesday night against the Minnesota Twins. Soto is expected to return at some point during the homestand, but Lindor & Co. know the slugger can only help so much.

“It's going to lengthen our lineup, but even when he comes, we've still got to get it done,” Lindor said. “It would be unfair to just throw everything on him. As a team, we've got to come together and execute.”

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

For the first time since Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment building in November, Keung Mak will step into his former home again Monday. But he expected little remained. A photo from his social worker had already shown the devastation.

The ceiling of the apartment where he and his wife lived for over 40 years and raised their children was burned so badly that steel rebar was visible. The floor was littered with broken tiles, and parts of the apartment needed reinforcement to prevent collapse.

“My heart is heavy, I’m very disappointed. I didn’t expect the first floor would be burned like this,” Mak, 78, said ahead of returning.

The fire spread rapidly across seven of the eight buildings in the apartment complex in the suburban district of Tai Po, killing 168 people. Starting Monday, the thousands of residents displaced by the fire were returning to see what is left of their homes and retrieve their belongings. The process is expected to continue into early May.

As the investigation into the cause of the fire continues, survivors have been living as best they can, scattered across the city, many in temporary housing as they wait to find out where they can resettle.

Elders prepare to climb the ruins

The exteriors of some buildings remained blackened from the flames, a reminder of the tragedy.

The return will be particularly difficult for many of the complex's older residents, who made up over a third of some 4,600 people who lived there before the blaze.

With elevators out of service, some have been training to improve their fitness in preparation for climbing the stairs up the 31-story buildings.

Hong Kong Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk said over 1,400 people registered for the return are 65 or older, public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong reported.

He later told reporters about 270 people would return to the complex Monday. Some residents remained silent as they left.

After the return, resident Steven Chung said the staircases were blackened when he climbed several flights. Chung still found some valuable belongings he had wanted to retrieve in his lesser-damaged home. But he said many other items, like his gaming device, were contaminated by water mixed with concrete particles.

"I worry about another problem because housing prices are increasing rapidly these days,” he said.

Limited access

There were many items in Mak's apartment that the family cherishes and longs to retrieve: a fishing rod Mak's son bought him as a gift; wedding photos from half a century ago; letters from their son from years past. They believe almost all of it is destroyed.

“A lot of things with commemorative value are all gone,” said Mak's wife, Kit Chan, 74. “Not even a single piece of paper will be left.”

Residents will typically be allowed to stay in their apartments for up to three hours, with up to four people entering. In some severely damaged units, only one person can go in.

With only two people allowed in due to the condition of their apartment, Mak and his son will go back. Chan hopes authorities can let her take a look too.

Former residents have complex feelings

Cyrus Ng, 39, lived on the 10th floor of the Wang Fuk Court complex with his parents for over a decade before moving out.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, he couldn’t sleep, feeling angry, sad and worried about his parents. Nearly five months later, he is more emotionally settled but has not fully accepted what happened.

“We know there are suspicious issues behind this,” he said. “I hope we can really find the truth.”

A lawyer representing an independent committee conducting an ongoing inquiry into the fire’s cause has said almost all fire safety devices in the apartment buildings failed on the day of the blaze because of human error.

Ng has mixed feelings about returning next week to their apartment, which was spared the worst damage. He fears the emotional impact on his parents, but looks forward to the chance to retrieve their title deed, old photos, clothes and other valuable items.

He also said he is worried about theft after months of vacancy. Police arrested three men in March on suspicion of stealing from the site.

Mixed responses to resettlement offers

The government previously said repairing the damaged buildings cost-effectively would be difficult. Officials were inclined to demolish the seven fire-ravaged buildings, and have proposed to buy back the homeownership rights from the fire victims.

They cited results from a residents' survey, dashing hopes for those who want their homes rebuilt.

Some residents questioned that stance. Data from the fire inquiry showed that only half of some 1,700 apartments in the seven buildings were damaged, to varying degrees.

Ng wondered if some of the buildings could be repaired to allow some residents to return, though his parents were already considering the government’s offer of an apartment elsewhere. He plans to take photos of his apartment during his return to document its condition and help prove that some homes were unaffected.

Other residents who lived in the only building in the complex that escaped the fire face the trauma of living with nightmarish memories.

Stephanie Leung, a resident of that block, is reluctant to live in the same apartment again. She said her family would face great mental stress every time they looked out over the seven other buildings where their former schoolmates or friends died.

She hopes the government will include her block in the same plan as the other buildings, while allowing those who want to remain to stay.

“Whenever I go back, I want to cry,” she said.

It was practically a repeat from three years ago, right down to the shot into the 18th hole that Fitzpatrick said was “out of this world.”

The 31-year-old from England quieted the crowd with a 4-iron from 204 yards, a little more left than he intended but no less magnificent. It covered the bunker, rolled past the pin and settled 13 feet away for a birdie to beat Scheffler and win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

The playoff was almost a repeat from when Fitzpatrick defeated another American favorite, Jordan Spieth, in a playoff at the RBC Heritage three years ago. That time, he hit 9-iron with the wind at his back that rolled out to a few inches for the winning birdie.

This time the closing hole was a brute, the toughest at Harbour Town on Sunday.

“It was quite funny that the playoff was just going to keep playing on 18. I was thinking it was going difficult in a way to separate ourselves because it’s such a difficult hole,” Fitzpatrick said. “To do it how I did was special.”

Scheffler, trailing by three shots with four holes to play, forced a playoff with a pair of late birdies for a 4-under 67 and some help from Fitzpatrick, who hit a poor chip from right of the green and missed a 20-foot par putt for his only bogey of the day and a 70.

The gallery that was allowed to come onto the fairway short of the 18th green in regulation filled the Calibogue Sound with endless chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” They returned outside the ropes to see Fitzpatrick hit 4-iron into a stiff breeze to a pin just over the bunker.

Scheffler followed with his worst swing of the day, a 6-iron he fanned so badly that it came up 37 yards short of the hole. He hit a superb pitch to 8 feet, but never had to putt when Fitzpatrick made the winning putt.

“A lot of grit,” Fitzpatrick said of holding on for the win.

His reaction was muted, lightly touching his finger to his right ear in a friendly response to the crowd. Fitzpatrick knew what he was up against, having gone through a similar atmosphere when Cameron Young beat him at The Players Championship.

“I didn't get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm all for it. I love the people ... they're supporting Scottie. You want golf to have an atmosphere. I'm paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds. Having them chanting at you every week, it’s great feeling.

“However,” he said with a smile, “there's no better feeling than coming out on top against that.”

It was the second straight runner-up finish for Scheffler, who came from 12 shots behind going into the weekend to finish one back of Rory McIlroy at the Masters. This time, he was seven behind Fitzpatrick through 36 holes and finished 64-67.

“In both weeks I put myself behind the 8-ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays in order to get myself into contention,” Scheffler said. "On Sunday it’s a shot here or there that makes a difference. This was one of those weeks where anytime Fitzy needed something to happen, he made something happen.

“He definitely earned the win, and he just played great golf.”

It was great theater, but only at the end.

Fitzpatrick started with a three-shot lead and birdied two of the opening three holes, never letting anyone closer than three shots all round until Si Woo Kim birdied the par-5 15th to get within two shots, and then Scheffler came on late with an up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the 15th, and a bold drive and approach to 10 feet for birdie at the 16th.

That cut the lead to one shot, and both players missed the 18th green well to the right. Scheffler capped off a perfect day of scrambling — 8 for 8 — with a chip that settled a foot from the hole. Fitzpatrick faced his first chip into the grain and came up well short.

They finished at 18-under 268. Kim closed with a 68 to finish alone in third, his fourth top 10 of the year.

Fitzpatrick won for the second time in the last month. After his runner-up finish at The Players, he won the Valspar Championship on the tough Innisbrook track. He has won nearly $8.3 million in his last four tournaments.

The victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour and 13th worldwide, moves him to a career-high No. 3 in the world ranking.

Fitzpatrick’s family used to take holidays to Hilton Head Head when he was a boy, for the golf and tennis and beaches. He came to the tournament and thought it would be cool to win it one day, and now he has done it twice.

“It means the world,” he said. “This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up more than any of the majors before I understood more about the game. To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get it over the line is special.”

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

Scattered evening showers will gradually fizzle overnight. Additional showers will move through Monday to cool us off this week. A cold front is on the move, and we will see much needed rain take over Monday. Up to an inch of rainfall cannot be ruled out. Isolated tiny showers to start the day will give way to scattered showers and downpours by the afternoon and evening.

Afternoon highs by then will drop slightly below normal into the upper 70s Tuesday. Gusty winds will take over then too. Expect winds to gust up to 30 mph then.

And for the eighth consecutive year, the MVP will be an international one.

Gilgeous-Alexander — the reigning NBA MVP — is one of the finalists for this year's top individual honor, along with Denver's Nikola Jokic and the Spurs' Wembanyama, who is also a finalist for defensive player of the year.

The NBA's run of international MVPs started in 2019 and 2020 with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is of Greek and Nigerian descent. Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023, and Canada's Gilgeous-Alexander won last year.

Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year this season.

The NBA announced the finalists for seven individual awards Sunday night and will start announcing winners on Monday. The Defensive Player award — widely expected to be going to Wembanyama — comes out then, followed by Clutch Player on Tuesday and Sixth Man on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the appeal that got the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic onto the award ballots might earn him All-NBA, but did not lead to him getting his first MVP award. He was not among the top three in the balloting for MVP; voters cast their ballots last week after Doncic and Detroit's Cade Cunningham won appeals that got them on the ballot even though they didn't satisfy the terms of the NBA's 65-game rule for eligibility in most cases.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards lost his appeal — but might get an award after all.

Edwards is a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year. He wasn’t on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other honors, but was on the Clutch ballot because those nominees were selected by the league’s coaches.

The finalists

— MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City; Nikola Jokic, Denver; Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Wembanyama; Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City; Ausar Thompson, Detroit.

— Clutch Player: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota; Gilgeous-Alexander; Jamal Murray, Denver.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta; Deni Avdija, Portland; Jalen Duren, Detroit.

— Sixth Man: Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver; Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami; Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Coach of the Year: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit; Mitch Johnson, San Antonio; Joe Mazzulla, Boston.

— Rookie of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia; Cooper Flagg, Dallas; Kon Knueppel, Charlotte.

MVP

Gilgeous-Alexander is trying to go back-to-back, Jokic — who has been first or second in five straight seasons, entering this year — is seeking his fourth MVP in six years and Wembanyama is a finalist for the first time.

Coach of the Year

Bickerstaff won the award from the National Basketball Coaches Association, selected by his peers, and is the likely favorite for the official NBA honor. Johnson and Mazzulla both led teams that widely exceeded most preseason expectations.

Rookie of the Year

This will likely be a two-person race in the end, with Flagg and Knueppel — both former Duke players — the presumed frontrunners. That would suggest Edgecombe likely finishes third.

Defensive Player of the Year

Wembanyama was the likely frontrunner to win it last season, but wound up falling short of eligibility after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis at the All-Star break and missing the rest of the season.

Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert’s bid for a fifth DPOY award — which would break a record — will continue for at least one more year.

Clutch Player

Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in clutch scoring per game, with Edwards second. Denver had two legitimate candidates with Murray and Nikola Jokic; voters clearly gave Murray the edge.

Clutch scoring is defined as points that come in the final five minutes of a game where the point differential between teams is five or less.

Sixth Man of the Year

Jaquez averaged 15.4 points in 74 appearances off the bench, Johnson averaged 13.2 points — after playing in all 82 Spurs games as a reserve — and Hardaway also averaged 13.2 points in the 74 games where he came off Denver’s bench.

The winner will be a first-time selection for the award.

Most Improved Player

Avdija averaged 24.2 points and led Portland’s surge to the playoffs, while Alexander-Walker — bidding to give Atlanta its second consecutive MIP winner after Dyson Daniels last season — averaged 20.8 points, by far the most his career.

Duren was a first-time All-Star selection and averaged 19.5 points, almost double what he averaged last season despite playing basically the same amount of minutes.

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

The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.

The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.

Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.

Sunday's higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.

The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.

Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.

“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.

Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.

A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.

Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.

A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.

The hospital unveiled its new 178,000-square-foot emergency department, making it one of the largest in the country. It’s three times the size of the current ER, which is already one of the busiest in the nation, marking a major expansion in care and capacity.

Local 10 News got a sneak peek inside ahead of the official opening.

Jackson Health System CEO David Zambrana said the opening will happen in phases. In phase one, 134 rooms will be available. He said patients can expect shorter wait times, more privacy and personalized triage.

“By phase two, we’ll have over 200 beds in our emergency department,” Zambrana said. “On our second floor, we’ll have a 57-bed observation unit for patients that need to spend, you know, one max two nights in the hospital and really giving each and every patient a private state-of-the-art experience for emergency care.”

Phase two will also include a new pediatric emergency room with 24 state-of-the-art beds.

The new facility includes private lounges and waiting areas for loved ones and is equipped with a second helicopter landing pad.

It’s being described as the next era of care, and the Ryder Trauma Center is not going anywhere.

“The emergency department will certainly care for all other types of emergency room conditions, but the Ryder Trauma Center will continue to care for level one adult and pediatric trauma care,” Zambrana said.

The new ER will open on April 23, and the entire project is set to be complete in 2027.

The reigning league MVP made just 5 of 18 field goals but went 15 of 17 at the foul line before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 for the top-seeded Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday.

Devin Booker scored 23 points and Dillon Brooks scored 18 on 6-of-22 shooting for the Suns, who shot 34.9% from the field. Jalen Green, who scored 35 and 36 points in Phoenix’s two play-in games, had 17 on 6-for-16 shooting.

It was the third straight year that the Thunder earned the top seed and had to wait through the play-in tournament to learn their first-round opponent. Two seasons ago, Oklahoma City beat New Orleans 94-92 in Game 1. Last year, the Thunder routed Memphis 131-80 in Game 1 on their way to the title.

Phoenix claimed the No. 8 seed by defeating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Suns took an early 5-0 lead Sunday as the Thunder started cold following a week off.

The Thunder heated up quickly. Brooks was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter for hitting Holmgren in the face. The Thunder went on a 12-2 surge after that to take a 24-14 lead.

In the closing seconds of the quarter, Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams threw a pass about three-quarters of the length of the court. Holmgren caught it with his back to the basket, took one dribble to his right, then turned and drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Oklahoma City up 35-20.

Oklahoma City extended the advantage to 65-44 at halftime. Holmgren had 16 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 at the break.

Gilgeous-Alexander converted a three-point play to push Oklahoma City's lead to 90-63 late in the third quarter, and the Thunder took a 97-66 edge into the fourth.

Nine Oklahoma City players saw at least 13 minutes of action.

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

O'Connor's third-period tally was his first since Game 4 of a playoff series against Dallas on April 26. He missed most of this season with a hip injury. Artturi Lehkonen had a second-period goal for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche.

“Super happy to get it out of the way,” said O'Connor, who underwent hip surgery in early June. "For us, our game translates well to the playoffs. It’s a lot of simplicity and muck it up and just wear teams down. It was nice to get that one out of the way and finish the job off.”

Wedgewood got the nod in net over Mackenzie Blackwood after leading the league in goals-against average and save percentage. Wedgewood made four career playoff appearances in relief before Sunday's start.

At 33 years, 248 days old, Wedgewood became the third-oldest goaltender in league history to pick up a win in his first career playoff start, according to NHL stats.

“Obviously, a long career to get to this point,” Wedgwood cracked.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.

Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal with 2:22 left to make it 2-1. Shortly after, forward Joel Armia was called for high-sticking and the Kings were unable to tie it up.

“We were kind of coming there late and couldn’t get enough,” forward Scott Laughton said.

Anton Forsberg stopped 28 shots in his NHL postseason debut.

“We’re comfortable in low-scoring games,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “We've got to try and keep it tight.”

Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Lehkonen's goal to give him 32 career points in Game 1s. He trails only Joe Sakic (42) for the most Game-1 points in franchise history.

The game got chippy in the third period, with Cale Makar taking a shove to the back by Adrian Kempe. Captain Gabriel Landeskog later stood up for Makar and got into it with Kempe. Both drew roughing calls.

There were a combined 84 hits.

“We know teams are going to want to push us out of games,” said O'Connor, whose team was 0 for 4 on the power play. “We feel as though we can push back just as hard. That’s one great thing about our group: the versatility within our locker room. You want to go a 1-0 game? We like to think we can beat you at that. Track meet, if it happens? We’ve got that. Physicality, we have guys who are willing to step up.”

Colorado nearly scored earlier in the second when O'Connor sent a shot past Forsberg. But as the goal horn sounded, the officials signaled no goal. It was ruled Jack Drury made contact with Forsberg following a collision with Drew Doughty. The Avalanche challenged but the call stood.

“I’d like to see it count,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They saw it different — not losing any sleep over it.”

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

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This story has been corrected to show Logan O’Connor’s last goal was April 26.

Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto tied it for Chicago in the ninth with an RBI double off closer Devin Williams.

Pete Crow-Armstrong opened the 10th on second as the Cubs' automatic runner. Dansby Swanson fouled off two bunt attempts before Kimbrel (0-1) threw a wild pitch, moving Crow-Armstrong to third.

After Swanson struck out swinging, Hoerner lofted a flyball to right and Crow-Armstrong scored easily.

Caleb Thielbar (1-1) worked a scoreless 10th for Chicago, which posted its season-high fifth straight win.

MJ Melendez homered for New York, which finished with six hits. David Peterson pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of bulk relief after manager Carlos Mendoza decided to go with Tobias Myers as an opener.

It’s the longest losing streak for the Mets since they also dropped 11 in a row from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 in 2004. They have been outscored 62-19 during the slide, and they are averaging just 2.9 runs over 17 games in April.

The Cubs rallied in the ninth against Williams. Ian Happ hit a leadoff single and pinch-runner Scott Kingery scored from first on Conforto's one-out double into the right-field corner against his former team. Conforto was stranded when Williams struck out Carson Kelly and Crow-Armstrong, both swinging.

Melendez began the fifth with a drive to right-center on a full-count fastball from Javier Assad. It was his first homer since he was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday.

Chicago had at least one baserunner in each of the first seven innings.

Crow-Armstrong hit a leadoff triple in the third, but Peterson retired Swanson on a grounder to third before Hoerner lined to second for an inning-ending double play.

Up next

Mets: Following an off day, RHP Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28 ERA) starts Tuesday night against Minnesota in the opener of a nine-game homestand. RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.98) goes for the Twins.

Cubs: RHP Colin Rea (2-0, 3.63 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a four-game series against Philadelphia.

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

The suspect died after a police pursuit, and the victims — who ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old — included children related to the gunman, said Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Investigators did not say what may have set off the attack.

The mass shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than two years.

“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Bordelon said.

Officers fired at the suspect during a chase after he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint while leaving the scene, Bordelon said.

Police said the attacks began in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to the other location “where this heinous act was carried out.”

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to escape out the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

Authorities did not release the name of the gunman but did say he was an adult male.

Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where most of the victims were shot, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away along with the sound of two shots.

“That’s’ pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.

Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof. She said she did not know the gunman’s name.

“He looks like the dad that comes over here,” she said, adding that he was just with the children a few days ago.

Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.

“I don’t really know them, I really don’t,” he said. “I do plan on having a prayer vigil for the family, and anything I can do, with so many children, to help them bury the children, I’m going to do so.”

The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office released a statement on Sunday saying it was not yet releasing any of the children’s names because identification of the victims was pending.

Police said two women who were shot and wounded were being treated for serious injuries.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

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At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”

Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.

State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport, said in separate statements that they were heartbroken and praised law enforcement for their response.

“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson said in a statement.

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Luego de visitar “rodas” (ruedas) en Río como las del barrio de Lapa, la de Samba do Trabalhador, en Andaraí, y la de Bip Bip, en Copacabana, y admirar a los músicos que cantan y tocan sus instrumentos sentados en torno a una mesa, estos productores de 31 años crearon la Rueda de Candombe, una cita que transcurre de similar manera todos los lunes en una plaza de Montevideo al ritmo de tambores, guitarras y acordeón.

Amado, productor del espectáculo, explicó a The Associated Press que lo que nació para tocar "entre amigos, se volvió visible sin intención”.

El último calor del otoño atrajo otra gran convocatoria. Cerca de un millar de personas con mate o cerveza en mano bailaron entre amigos, con niños sobre los hombros, con desconocidos, o solos, hasta el último acorde. El grupo aprovechó el suceso para recaudar alimentos para una olla popular que alimenta a personas en situación de calle.

“Soy parte de la cultura afro, y lo formo parte de una comparsa. Me parece que darle este espacio a lo que es la música afro, que no está como bien valorada, me parece que está demás, y que pueda llegar a todo público que no es parte del candombe, y me parece genial”, dijo Agustina Rodríguez, de 25 años.

Martín de León, empleado público, define a “La Rueda” como “una cápsula que también puede ser enviada al mundo, una buena pantalla, una ventana al mundo, para que se conozca más el candombe y la música popular uruguaya”.

El domingo fue la última presentación en la Plaza de España de Rueda de Candombe, en la que Fernández tocó el bajo. El grupo está integrado por seis músicos, entre ellos Diego Paredes, Darío Terán, y Alejandro Luzardo, muy reconocidos en la escena musical uruguaya.

Los temas que interpretaron pertenecen al candombe, género musical con el que se identifica el país sudamericano y que está reconocido como Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad.

De un bar a la plaza

En noviembre de 2024, un centenar de personas colmaban el pequeño bar Santa Catalina, situado en una esquina de Montevideo, para escuchar lo que empezaban a llamar la Rueda de Candombe. Al mes, el creciente interés en torno al grupo lo obligó a mudarse a la cercana Plaza España. El éxito enseguida se extendió y comenzaron a llegar furgonetas con turistas.

Las redes sociales hicieron el resto y la Rueda atrajo a reconocidos artistas. En septiembre pasado actuaron junto al célebre cantautor uruguayo Jorge Drexler en el mítico Estadio Centenario y grabaron una colaboración para su disco Taracá.

En 2025 llegó la invitación para representar a Uruguay en el Festival de Cine de Cannes, que se nutre de muestras cinematográficas de distintos países para organizar números artísticos. El festival de la ciudad uruguaya de Punta del Este los había promocionado para que actuaran en mayo de ese año en el marco del certamen europeo.

Lo hicieron tres veces: en un barco, en el Petit Majestique —un bar emblemático de Cannes— y en la vía pública.

No obstante, Amado y Fernández no se dan importancia y dicen sentirse “convidados de cartón” en el género. “Si un alemán quiere conocer el candombe, no lo llevo a la Rueda; lo llevo un domingo acá abajo a ver una comparsa”, dijo Amado en referencia a los barrios Sur y Palermo de Montevideo.

Candombe, el ritmo de raíces africanas

Desde el siglo XVIII, el candombe es pilar de la cultura uruguaya. Comenzó en la misma Plaza España, lugar de desembarco de los esclavos provenientes de África que mantenían sus ritos al latido del tambor.

Esta cultura musical se basa en tres tambores —chico, repique y piano— y celebra su fiesta máxima cada febrero, cuando decenas de comparsas desfilan durante el carnaval en los barrios Sur y Palermo.

A mediados del siglo XX, el candombe-canción sumó instrumentos y se fusionó con el jazz y la música popular. Presente en sobremesas —similares a las que organiza la Rueda—y otras reuniones, el género funcionó también como una herramienta de resistencia política durante las décadas del 60 y 70.

Rubén Rada, Jaime Roos o los hermanos Fattoruso son las referencias más conocidas del género, pero, según Fernández, “hay mucha más gente que estuvo atrás construyendo el repertorio candombero”, como Jorginho Gularte, Roberto Darvin, Eduardo Da Luz, Mariana Ingold, Rodolfo Morandi o Pedro Ferreira, cuyos temas suenan en la Rueda a lo largo de 4 horas.

El espacio público, todo un reto

Montevideo destaca por sus espacios públicos y su rambla adyacente al Río de La Plata de 22 kilómetros, que congrega a miles de personas. Sin embargo, a diferencia de otras capitales, no suelen ser escenario para artistas callejeros.

Fernández considera que habitar calles o plazas es más desafiante en la capital uruguaya que en Buenos Aires o Río de Janeiro, debido a su baja población. Caleb recordó que el propio Lobo Núñez, leyenda del candombe, le confesó que "con (Rubén) Rada y Jaime (Roos) tuvimos que levantar shows porque no había público”.

La próxima temporada de frío encontrará a los dos amigos en Montevideo, porque la Rueda, lejos de hibernar, se prepara para nuevos proyectos, entre ellos conquistar otras plazas de la ciudad.

___

La periodista de Associated Press Matilde Campodónico colaboró con este despacho.

Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and Neemias Queta added 13 for the second-seeded Celtics.

Tatum scored 21 points in the first half, playing in just his 17th game this season following surgery last May to repair his Achilles tendon.

“I’m still rehabbing,” Tatum said. “I still attack rehab every single day except for when we have off days. ... Still trying to ramp up.”

Boston never trailed, building a 35-point lead as coach Joe Mazzulla gave minutes to 12 players. The Celtics connected on 16 3-pointers.

“That was Celtics basketball,” Brown said. “We’ve been the harder-playing team all year. That can’t change now that the playoffs have started.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Boston.

Tyrese Maxey had 21 points and eight assists for the 76ers, who played without Joel Embiid. The 2023 MVP continues to recover following an appendectomy on April 9. It's unclear when he will be able to return.

Paul George scored 17 points and V.J. Edgecombe added 13. Philadelphia was 4 of 23 from 3-point range.

Maxey was hounded by a Celtics defense that contested 12 of his 14 shot attempts in the first half and held him to 8 of 20 from the field.

Philadelphia’s 64-46 halftime deficit was its largest in a playoff game against Boston since 1982. Coach Nick Nurse called the Sixers' effort “absolutely unacceptable.”

“We just didn't do enough at either end to settle into the game,” he said.

Tatum had 10 first-quarter points, punctuated with an emphatic two-handed dunk, to help the Celtics end the period with a 33-18 lead.

Philadelphia struggled at the outset to keep pace with Boston’s shooting, making one of its first nine attempts from 3. The Sixers also had issues keeping Boston out of the paint after Embiid's understudies, Adem Bona and Andre Drummond, each picked up two quick fouls.

That prompted Nurse to bring in Dominick Barlow, who played just 10 minutes in Philadelphia's play-in victory over Orlando.

___

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

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Shamim Mafi will face charges that she brokered the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition” between Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, First U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday on social media.

A phone number for Mafi could not be located and it wasn't known Sunday if she has an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Essayli posted a photo of someone in an FBI jacket escorting a woman into the back of a sedan outside a terminal at LAX.

Mafi is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016, Essayli said.

A criminal complaint dated March 12 alleges that Mafi and an unnamed co-conspirator operated a company in Oman called Atlas International Business through which weapons and ammunition were trafficked. The company received over $7 million in payments in 2025.

Separately, Mafi and the co-conspirator brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, according to the court documents.

“In connection with the transaction, Mafi submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ('IRGC') to purchase the bomb fuses for Sudan,” the complaint said.

Mafi is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

The Sudanese civil war has created a humanitarian crisis in the North African country where food supplies are dwindling and millions of people have fled their homes.

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But organizers say the event is about more than wins and losses on the battlefield.

It’s about exposing young people to opportunities in technology and showing them what they can achieve.

“It’s a battle of bots,” said 13-year-old Genesis Madrid, who is competed at he event. “I like to win. I’m super competitive.”

Before the matches even begin, students are working together to troubleshoot issues and fine-tune their machines.

“We’re trying to see what’s wrong with it because it’s not connecting,” Madrid said. “I like our teamwork.”

The event is organized by Do Good 4-1, a nonprofit founded last year by Max Joseph. He said the program focuses on more than robotics.

“We’re building confidence, we’re building character and we’re building community,” Joseph said.

Many of the students started with no prior experience, but the program has quickly expanded to 18 teams. Participants have designed, built and coded their own robots.

Joseph said he hopes the experience helps put students on a path toward careers in technology, particularly for those from high-need communities.

“It means a lot to me personally because I’m from this community and I didn’t have this opportunity,” he said. “Now they have access to scholarships to go to college. And now they’re on a career track to be a part of this tech system, where they’re not just consumers, but they’re also producers.”

Organizers say that while trophies are on the line, the bigger takeaway is the experience students gain — from coding and engineering to teamwork and problem-solving.

Do Good 4-1 also offers summer programs for students interested in robotics and technology.

Watch the morning report

Importers and their brokers will be able to begin claiming refunds through an online portal beginning at 8 a.m., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency administering the system.

It's the first step in a complicated process that also might eventually lead to refunds for consumers who were billed for some or all of the tariffs on products shipped to them from outside the United States.

Companies must submit declarations listing the goods on which they collectively put billions of dollars toward the import taxes the court subsequently struck down. If CBP approves a claim, it will take 60-90 days for a refund to be issued, the agency said.

The government expects to process refunds in phases, however, focusing first on more recent tariff payments. Any number of technical factors and procedural issues could delay an importer's application, so any reimbursements businesses plan to make to customers likely would trickled down slowly.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Feb. 20 found that Trump usurped Congress' tax-setting role last April when he set new import tax rates on products from almost every other country, citing the U.S. trade deficit as a national emergency that warranted his invoking of a 1977 emergency powers law.

Although the court majority did not address refunds in its ruling, a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade determined last month that companies subjected to IEEPA tariffs were entitled to money back.

Not all taxed imports immediately eligible

Customs and Border Protection said in court filings that over 330,000 importers paid a total of about $166 billion on over 53 million shipments.

Not all of those orders qualify for the first phase of the refund system's rollout, which is limited to cases in which tariffs were estimated but not finalized or within 80 days of a final accounting.

To receive refunds, importers have to register for the CPB's electronic payment system. As of April 14, 56,497 importers had completed registration and were eligible for refunds totaling $127 billion, including interest, the agency said.

System requires accuracy

Meghann Supino, a partner at Ice Miller, said the law firm has advised clients to carefully list in their declarations all of the document numbers for forms that went to CBP to describe imported goods and their value.

“If there is an entry on that file that does not qualify, it may cause the entire entry to be rejected or that line item might be rejected by Customs,” she said.

Supino thinks the portal going live will require composure as well as diligence.

“Like any electronic online program that goes live with a lot of interest, I would expect that there might be some hiccups with the program on Monday,” she said. “So we continue to ask everyone to be patient, because we think that patience will pay off.”

Nghi Huynh, the partner-in-charge of transfer pricing at accounting and consulting firm Armanino, said most companies claiming refunds will have imported a mix of items, and not all will qualify right away.

“It’s about having a clear process in place and keeping track of what’s been submitted and what’s been paid, so nothing falls through the cracks,” she said. “Each file can include thousands of entries, but accuracy is critical, as submissions can be rejected if formatting or data is incorrect.”

Patience with the process

Small businesses have eagerly awaited the chance to apply for refunds. Brad Jackson, co-founder of After Action Cigars in Rochester, Minnesota, said he starting compiling records and preparing to enter information into the system the minute CPB announced the launch date.

The company imports cigars and accessories from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Last year, it paid $34,000 in tariffs and absorbed much of the cost instead of raising customer prices, Jackson said.

Last spring, he had a two-week delay in a shipment due to a missing document, so he is being more careful with refund documents, he said.

“My main concern is the turnaround time,” Jackson said. “A refund process that takes several months to complete doesn’t solve the cash flow problem that it is supposed to fix.”

Will consumers see refunds?

Tariffs are paid by importers, and some companies pass on the tax costs to consumers via higher prices.

The system starting up Monday will refund tariffs directly to the businesses that paid them, which are not obligated to share the proceeds with customers. However, class-action lawsuits that aim to force companies, ranging from Costco to Ray-Ban maker Essilor Luxottica, to reimburse shoppers are winding their way through the U.S. legal system.

Individuals may be more likely to receive refunds from delivery companies like FedEx and UPS, which collected tariffs on imports directly from consumers. FedEx has said it would return tariff refunds to customers when it receives them from the CPB.

“Supporting our customers as they navigate regulatory changes remains our top priority,” FedEx said in a statement. “We are working with our customers as CBP begins processing refunds and plan to begin filing claims on April 20.”

Tamke Wardlaw said the fundraiser was an opportunity for her to stand in solidarity with her father, who is undergoing treatment.

“He is doing better, thank God,” Wardlaw said. “He is actually in Baltimore, Maryland, and I am just happy to support him.”

Wardlaw joined a team of 30 other walkers who all donated in honor of Wardlaw’s father, who has survived

For more information about how to join the effort, visit this page.

They were with Lee Gottlieb, the founder of Adopt A Dune, a non-profit that protects coastlines.

“I have been doing this 30 years,” Gottlieb said, adding that he and his teams plant sea oats to create resilient dune systems.

For more information about the rehabilitation events, visit this page.

In the 10-minute address, Carney spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries.

“The world is more dangerous and divided,” Carney said. “The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.

“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become weaknesses. Weaknesses that we must correct.”

Carney said tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump have affected workers in the auto and steel industries. He added that businesses are holding back investments “restrained by the pall of uncertainty that’s hanging over all of us.”

Many Canadians have also been angered by Trumps comments suggesting Canada become the 51st state.

Carney said he plans to give Canadians regular updates on his government’s efforts to diversify away from the U.S.

“Security can’t be achieved by ignoring the obvious or downplaying the very real threats that we Canadians face,” he said. “I promise you I will never sugarcoat our challenges.”

It’s not the first time Carney, who served as a central bank governor, first at the Bank of Canada and later with the Bank of England, has spoken about a shift in world power.

During a speech in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he received widespread praise for condemning economic coercion by great powers against small countries.

His remarks brought a rebuke from Trump.

“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said after the speech. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Carney’s comments came days after securing a majority government following special election wins and as the opposition Conservatives push him to deliver a U.S. trade deal, which was among his promises in last year’s election.

A review of the current version of the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is scheduled for July.

In his address, Carney said he wants to attract new investments into Canada, double the size of clean energy capacity and reduce trade barriers within the country. He also emphasized Canada’s increased defense spending, reduction in taxes and efforts to make housing more affordable.

“We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner,” he said. “We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbors. We can’t control our future on the hope it will suddenly stop.

“We can control what happens here. We can build a stronger country that can withstand disruptions from aboard.”

Carney said simply hoping the “United States will return to normal” is not a feasible strategy.

“Hope isn’t a plan and nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said.

Carney said Canada has “been a great neighbor” standing with the U.S. in conflicts including Afghanistan, plus two World Wars.

“The U.S. has changed and we must respond,” he said. “It’s about taking back control of our security, our borders and our future.”

Police didn’t immediately release the name of the suspect but did say he was an adult male.

Officials said they were still gathering details at crime scenes south of downtown Shreveport — two homes and a third location. Bordelon said some of the children shot were related to the suspect.

Here is the Latest:

Police say shootings were result of a ‘domestic disturbance’

That’s according to Bordelon.

“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said.

House Speaker Johnson reacts to shootings

“Heartbreaking tragedy in Shreveport this morning — 8 children were senselessly killed and multiple others were injured. My team is in touch with local law enforcement as more details emerge,” said U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport and represents part of northwest Louisiana.

“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. And we are grateful to the Shreveport, Bossier, and Louisiana State Police for their swift response,” Johnson said.

Gov. Jeff Landry says he and his wife are heartbroken

“We’re deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” Landry said in a statement.

State police say they’ve been asked to help investigate

In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.

State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.

Police say shootings were result of a ‘domestic disturbance’

That’s according to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon.

“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 2024

That’s according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

In January 2024, eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb.

Officials appear stunned at news conference in Shreveport

Officials appeared stunned outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”

She wore her favorite Indiana Fever practice gear, stretched and ran with teammates and, of course, flashed her trademark smile. And while she didn't line up any 3-pointers during the open portion of the team's first training camp practice, everyone knows those will be back — in time.

For now, just getting back to work in her adopted hometown served as a welcome respite after enduring so many frustrating twists during her injury-plagued 2025 season.

“It’s hard, it’s very isolating to come to practice every single day and spend two hours getting treatment and rehab and then you come out here and you have to show up and be the best teammate you can be,” she said. “I think that taught me a lot about what I can do if I’m not on the court, and I got to be their biggest fan. I think that was a great experience for me because through a lot of my career, everyone else was my biggest fan. That doesn't mean I wasn't cheering for my teammates. It was like I was playing the most minutes, I had the ball in my hands and when you’re not doing that you have to find another way to impact the team.

Clark did her part last year, serving essentially as the WNBA's highest-profile coach on game days while working relentlessly behind the scenes to get back to full strength. But the NCAA Division I’s career scoring leader never fully recovered from what turned out to be a season-ending injured right groin just before the All-Star break.

The seemingly indestructible Clark appeared in just 13 games, missed the All-Star Game and surrounding weekend's festivities in Indianapolis, and embraced the Fever's inspirational playoff run, which ended one win short of the WNBA Finals despite a rash of injuries.

So getting Clark back to practice Sunday was a victory for her and the Fever. Now comes the hard part — keeping her healthy.

“The biggest thing is just making sure we're mindful it's Day 1,” coach Stephanie White said. “It's not like she has to go out there and go through everything. I think with her, Kelsey (Mitchell), with AB (Aliyah Boston), just being mindful of getting them in and out, and we need to get other people integrated anyway, so I think it will give us a good opportunity to do that.”

Clark didn’t just spend the offseason rehabbing. She worked as a television broadcaster and as a sports photographer during an NBA game before returning to action while representing the U.S. during the recent World Cup qualifier in Puerto Rico. That gave her a chance to knock off some rust and get back into playing shape.

But things have changed since Clark last appeared in a WNBA game.

There's a new collective bargaining agreement in place, a deal that helped her All-Star teammates Boston and Mitchell recently sign million-dollar contracts. Longtime rival Angel Reese has been traded to Atlanta, and the league has added two expansion teams as it prepares for its second straight 44-game schedule.

It was about this time last year, Clark said Sunday, she sensed something was off. A few weeks later she missed Indiana's first preseason game, her first absence in six years, with a left leg injury that marked the start of her injury-plagued season.

The good news for Clark fans: She declared herself 100% and said she had no restrictions entering camp. That could set her up for a comeback year — presuming a slightly different approach helps her stay healthy in 2026.

"I’ve been playing pickup, playing live all the time. Eventually, skill workouts get a little boring, so you just want to play and play and play," she said. “I'm the person that doesn't want to miss a rep, I want to be out there every single time. Like I just love competing and none of that has changed. But I think just being a little smarter with my body and understanding what it takes — I think especially through camp days — taking care of my body is probably the most important thing.”

___

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

Perez was the designated hitter Sunday and said things between him and manager Matt Quatraro are fine.

“No frustration, Zero frustration for us,” Perez said before the finale of a three-game series against the Yankees. “The people they don’t want to know what’s going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know, zero frustration. I don’t have time for that.”

On Saturday, Perez was given his first day off since sitting out two games last August.

Quatraro described it as giving him a mental breather.

On Saturday night, Perez posted on social media: “I don’t need a mental breather.”

“I know people were surprised I didn't play yesterday, but I think everybody has off days in the big leagues," Perez said. "It’s kind of hard to play 162, especially behind the home plate."

“Everything’s fine,” Quatraro said. “Salvy and I have talked multiple times about it. We’re in a good spot. I think some of it comes from it’s a story when Salvy doesn’t play and there’s usually a follow-up question to how’d that go, how’s he feeling. “So it was just me trying to provide a little color to the answer that didn’t go the way it was intended and that’s really all there was to it.”

Perez was the DH for the seventh time this season.

Off to a slow start, Perez is hitting .160 with three homers and six RBIs in his first 20 games. Last season, the 35-year-old batted .236 — his second lowest-average in a full season — but hit 30 homers and drove in 100 runs for his third career 100-RBI season.

Perez caught 92 games last season, was the designated hitter in 38 other games and also played 28 games at first base. He played 47 games at first base in 2024.

To give Perez more time at designated hitter, the Royals added a third catcher when they selected the contract of Elías Díaz from Triple-A Omaha. Díaz signed a minor league contract with Kansas City in late-February and was hitting .226 at Omaha.

Last season Díaz batted .204 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 106 games for the San Diego Padres. He is a career .247 hitter with 71 homers and 326 RBIs in 11 seasons for Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego.

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

Rahm went all of last season on LIV without winning, though he did claim the points title. And he had experienced disappointment before in 2017 at Chapultepec Golf Club when it was a World Golf Championship.

There was no doubt this time after he made birdie on the reachable par-4 second hole and then holed out for eagle on the next hole. He played bogey-free.

“If you would have told me last week on Thursday afternoon that I’d be winning by a six-shot margin this week, I would not have believed you because of how bad I played,” said Rahm, who tied for 38th in the Masters. “Hell of a an effort.”

The week has been filled with uncertainty surrounding the Saudi-funded league, with CEO Scott O’Neil writing a memo to staff to say LIV was assured of funding through the end of the year amid reports speculating about the league’s financial future.

LIV announced Sunday it would be returning to Chapultepec next year.

There was a power outage on Tuesday, fueling more speculation. The streaming went out for two hours during the opening round. And then Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the final round, citing an injury to his wrist that he did not want to further aggravate.

DeChambeau, who was trying to become the first player to win three straight times on LIV Golf, was 16 shots behind Rahm when he stopped playing.

“I experienced some discomfort in my wrist during yesterday's round and have decided to withdraw from the the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City to prevent further injury,” DeChambeau said in a social media post. “Not how I wanted this week to go.”

DeChambeau said he would be evaluated and hoped to be at LIV Golf Virginia on May 7-10, a week before the PGA Championship.

Rahm motored along, and so did his Legion XIII team, which won for the first time this year.

David Puig shot 66 to finish second, picking up valuable world ranking points and all but assuring that he will be in the PGA Championship. The Spaniard is close enough that another top finish in Virginia could get him into the U.S. Open.

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

Personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue respondió al marcador de milla 119, al sur de Florida City.

Un helicóptero de M-DFR también respondió al lugar.

Esta es una historia en desarrollo. La editora de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Mariana Ortiz, colaboró con este reportaje.

Whatever concerns Philadelphia might have had about its young core evaporated over 60 minutes of confident, assured hockey in a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh in Game 1 of their first-round series on Saturday night.

Jamie Drysdale, just 24 and one of 10 Flyers players making his postseason debut, spent part of the first period mixing it up with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, then gave the Flyers the lead midway through the second with a shot that found its way through a perfectly set screen by 20-year-old Denver Barkey.

Porter Martone, 19, provided the game winner late in the third with a wrist shot from the right circle, capping a dazzling sequence in which he hit the brakes and spun around to create a shooting lane in front of Pittsburgh's Noel Acciari.

“I kind of stopped up and shot it and luckily it went in,” Martone said in typically understated fashion.

Despite playing in just the 10th game of his NHL career, Martone could sense the vibe shift from the regular season to the playoffs. The sea of yellow towel-waving Penguin fans that greeted the Flyers with boos when they came out for pregame warmups offered tangible proof. So did the intensity of the opening period, when the curiosity of the cross-state rivals' first postseason meeting in eight years quickly gave way to animosity.

Philadelphia stood its ground, often dictating the terms against the Penguins, who have undergone a retooling of their own but still go as the core of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson — who came in with a combined 573 career playoff games — go.

While Malkin had a goal and an assist, Crosby was unusually quiet, and Letang and Karlsson were part of a Pittsburgh defense that appeared caught off guard by Philadelphia's speed.

“The execution wasn't really what we were hoping for," Karlsson said. “We didn't really set out to do what we needed to do on our game plan. We turned too many pucks over in the wrong spot. We made it hard on ourselves."

Karlsson is confident that first-year coach Dan Muse and the rest of the Penguins coaching staff will have more answers for Monday night's Game 2.

If Pittsburgh wants its return to the postseason after a three-year absence to be anything more than a cameo, it doesn't really have a choice.

Muse didn't think there was anything surprising about the way the Flyers counterattacked. Perhaps the thing that did catch the Penguins off guard was the way Philadelphia's playoff neophytes hardly seemed intimidated by the stage or the opponent.

Then again, it's been that way for most of the last two months for the Flyers, who stormed into the postseason behind a scorching finishing stretch fueled by young legs that don't know any better.

Philadelphia made a not-so-veiled nod to its unlikely rise by arriving for Saturday's morning skate rocking T-shirts with Hall of Fame goalie Bernie Parent's facemask on the front, the word “Believe” on the back and “3.8” — the percentage chance it had of making the playoffs at one point this season — on the sleeves.

The Flyers are playing with house money in a sense. They're one of the longest shots in the 16-team field to end a Stanley Cup drought that's a half-century old. Not that it matters at the moment. They hardly looked burdened by history in the opener.

No one outside of their dressing room expected them to be here when they were in 13th place in the Eastern Conference coming out of the Milan Cortina Olympic break, a point in time when Martone was finishing up his only season at Michigan State.

Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet, who was just 20 when he made his first NHL playoff appearance for the Flyers more than four decades ago, knows a thing or two about the challenges that come with playing this time of year.

The pressure ramps up. Players start to grasp their sticks a little more tightly. It can be a lot to handle at any age, let alone a handful of weeks into your career. To that end, he's tried to keep things light.

“They might be nervous, so we tried to really relax the atmosphere,” Tocchet said.

Philadelphia certainly looked relaxed afterward, but not too relaxed. While Tocchet saw some “hooting and hollering” from the new kids, they were careful not to get ahead of themselves.

And if they might have been tempted to, there are enough old heads among the fresh faces to keep them in check, veterans like forward Sean Couturier. The 33-year-old captain knows how quickly things can change. He is still waiting for a chance to play beyond the second round.

What happened on Saturday night was a good start, but it was also just a start. Holding the NHL's third-highest-scoring team to 17 shots again, as they did in the series opener, may not be replicable.

The effort and energy the Flyers used to knock the Penguins off-balance, however, is another matter.

Yes, technically Saturday night was the first time nearly half the players in burnt orange, black and white stepped into the crucible of the playoffs. The reality, however, is that Philadelphia's postseason began a while ago.

“We’ve been playing big games for the last month, month and a half, meaningful games, must-win games," Couturier said. "We’re put to the test and thought we did a good job of preparing ourselves and being ready.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Police officers pulled over the driver of the stolen car at about 7:25 a.m. along West Broward Boulevard, near Southwest 18 Avenue, according to police.

The driver got out of the car and took off running, but didn’t get far, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Watch 9 a.m. report

The shooter was a burglary suspect police officers responded to shortly before 7:25 p.m. on Saturday in the Lauderdale Manors neighborhood, according to police.

Jerome Lytle, who lives in the area, said he heard the Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter circling on Saturday night over his home.

“There was like maybe five or six vehicles, up the road, there on the intersection, they had it blocked off, so no one could go through,” Lytle said.

The suspect was also injured when another police dog helped officers arrest him in the area of Northwest 16 Court and 15 Terrace, according to police.

A SWAT team responded, and fire rescue personnel took the suspect to the Broward Health Medical Center. Detectives reported recovering the suspect’s gun.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Sofia Mendez contributed to this report.

Watch 9 a.m. report

The problem with the Italy international, however, was his frailties with the ball at his feet.

Unfortunately for City, that was shown up Sunday in its biggest game of the season.

City had just taken the lead through Rayan Cherki in its much-anticipated Premier League title-race showdown with Arsenal when Donnarumma received a back pass from Matheus Nunes.

There seemed little danger when Donnarumma took a touch but he dallied on the ball, allowing Arsenal forward Kai Havertz to close him down. Donnarumma tried a hurried clearance but a nightmare ensued as the ball was charged down by Havertz’s outstretched leg and rebounded back into the net.

Donnarumma looked down at the ground and was distraught. A number of his City teammates ran over to the goalkeeper and comforted him.

Being able to pass the ball out from the back has typically been a pre-requisite for goalkeepers used by City manager Pep Guardiola.

It was why the signing of Donnarumma seemed at odds with City’s playing approach that was reflected in the raking passes and calmness under pressure with the ball at his feet shown by long-time goalie Ederson Moraes for the previous eight years.

Donnarumma vowed to improve his passing out of the back upon joining City but his issues have proved costly, gifting Arsenal a way back into the game at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

City fought back to clinch a 2-1 win, however, with Donnarumma atoning for his mistake with a crucial save low down from Havertz in the second half.

City manager Pep Guardiola refused to attach any blame on Donnarumma, saying it was the nature of being a goalkeeper.

“Gigi’s mistake is our mistake,” Guardiola said.

“I love seeing his teammates, how they support him unconditionally."

___

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

The Mario sequel has spent all of its first three weekends in the first place spot, this time adding $35 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Universal release has now made $747.5 million worldwide.

“Project Hail Mary” meanwhile dropped only 15% in its fifth weekend, earning $20.5 million and bringing its domestic total to $285.1 million. Worldwide it's at $573.1 million. Amazon MGM's hit is in the midst of another run on IMAX screens, after ceding them to “Mario” for two weeks. Filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, along with star Ryan Gosling, made an appearance at the industry trade show CinemaCon last week to thank theater owners for helping to make it the year's highest earning original film.

The weekend left “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” which opened wide in 3,404 locations, in third place with $13.5 million. The R-rated movie, directed by the filmmaker behind “Evil Dead Rise” and produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster, did not resonate with critics or audiences, recording a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lackluster C+ CinemaScore.

The film, starring Jack Reynor, follows a family whose missing daughter reappears, mummified and living. It devolves into a “a gross-out bloodfest,” according to a review for The Associated Press. But it also only cost a reported $22 million to produce, and with $20.5 million from international showings, it already has a worldwide total of $34 million.

“Horror movies had their biggest year in 2025,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's head of marketplace trends. “So far that’s not happening in 2026.”

The Bob Odenkirk-led action movie “Normal,” about a visiting sheriff in a Midwestern town, also opened this weekend, earning an estimated $2.7 million. Directed by Ben Wheatley and released by Magnolia, “Normal” was better received by critics (77% on Rotten Tomatoes) but also got a C+ CinemaScore from audiences, who were 65% male.

This weekend also had several high profile limited or art house releases, including the Lorne Michaels documentary “Lorne,” and David Lowery’s “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway as a tormented pop star and Michaela Coel as her estranged designer. “Lorne,” a Focus Features release, opened in 414 theaters in North America, earning an estimated $270,000. A24’s “Mother Mary” opened on five screens and made $168,063.

Neither were enough to make the top 10, but one independent that did was the comedy “Busboys,” co-starring David Spade and podcaster Theo Von, which managed to land in eighth place with $1.6 million from 800 theaters.

Last year on this weekend, Warner Bros. opened “Sinners” to $48 million. While the weekend is down from a year ago, the overall box office is still up over 16% from this time last year, and Dergarabedian gives a lot of credit to “Project Hail Mary.”

Things will likely pick up next weekend as the Michael Jackson movie “Michael” arrives in theaters. Early tracking suggests the Lionsgate release is poised to earn more than $60 million (some put it as high as $75 to $90 million) in its first weekend in North America, which would make it the biggest ever for a musical biopic. The current record-holder is “Straight Outta Compton” which opened to $60 million in 2015. “Bohemian Rhapsody” debuted to $50 million and went on to earn over $910 million worldwide.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $35 million.

2. “Project Hail Mary,” $20.5 million.

3. “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” $13.5 million.

4. “The Drama,” $4.8 million.

5. “You, Me & Tuscany,” $3.8 million.

6. “Hoppers,” $2.9 million.

7. “Normal,” $2.7 million.

8. “Busboys,” $1.6 million.

9. “Bhooth Bangia,” $977,582.

10. “A Great Awakening,” $823,667.

Two women, including the gunman's wife who was the mother of their children, were also shot and critically wounded, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Officials said the children — who were all killed in the same house — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to Bordelon. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”

The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in more than two years.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”

Bordelon said police were familiar with Elkins, who had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but he said officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.

Police said the attacks began before sunrise in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to the other location “where this heinous act was carried out.”

Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, Bordelon said. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can't even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

Family member says suspect was separating from his wife

The victims were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

Shamar Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the wounded women. Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children," Brown said. “He shot his wife.”

Elkins shared four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and who was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.

Brown described all the children as “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet.”

A neighbor wakes up to a mass shooting

Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where most of the victims were shot, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away along with the sound of two shots.

“That’s pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.

Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof.

Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.

“What began as a domestic dispute has ended in irreversible harm,” the parish's district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Shreveport is overwhelmed by grief

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”

Hours after the shooting, mourners gathered outside the single-story house on 79th Street and laid flowers. One door appeared stained with blood. Later that evening at a nearby prayer vigil, Kimberlin Jackson joined other members of the community who lit candles for the victims in a parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” she said.

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This story has been corrected to attribute the statements about the shooting to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith, and corrects the ages of the children killed based on updates by officials.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Terry Tang in Phoenix and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

Lee Gottlieb es el fundador de Adopt A Dune, una organización sin fines de lucro que protege las costas.

“Llevo 30 años haciendo esto”, dijo Gottlieb, y agregó que él y sus equipos siembran avena de mar para crear sistemas de dunas resistentes.

Para más información sobre los eventos de rehabilitación, visite esta página.

Harry Kane scored his league-leading 32nd goal of the season after going on as a second-half substitute, and Bayern should have scored more against the overwhelmed Stuttgart defense.

The win moved Bayern an unassailable 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund with four rounds of the German league remaining. Bayern only needed a point to be sure of the title after Dortmund’s defeat to Hoffenheim the day before.

It’s Bayern’s record-extending 35th German championship including the first for the club in 1932. Every other title came after the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963.

Stuttgart’s Chris Führich had riled the home team with the opener in the 21st minute, but Bayern’s Raphaël Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Alphonso Davies replied by scoring in a six-minute spell in the first half.

Spanish player Chema scored a spectacular second goal for Stuttgart in the 88th.

Cockatoo celebrations

Bayern's players lined up wearing cockatoo T-shirts in front of the fans, but there were none of the traditional beer showers that usually accompany league wins.

The Bundesliga is just the first in a potential treble of trophies for Bayern this season. The Bavarian powerhouse faces Bayer Leverkusen away for their German Cup semifinal on Wednesday, and then it has a two-legged Champions League semifinal tie against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.

“It’s not – hopefully not – the last title,” Bayern president Herbert Hainer said. “Because we’ll definitely win our fourth consecutive German championship with the women’s team, and we’re in the cup final with the women. And I hope that we can wrap everything up on Wednesday so that we can then travel to Berlin (for the cup final) with the men.”

Muted atmosphere

The atmosphere was muted at the start of the game. There were reports of a clash between Bayern and Stuttgart fans before the match.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany rotated his squad with eight changes to the team that started against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Manuel Neuer, Kane, Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano and Aleksandar Pavlović on the bench.

Serge Gnabry was out with a thigh injury sustained in training the day before.

The 23-year-old Jamal Musiala became the second youngest Bayern player to reach 150 Bundesliga appearances after Uli Hoeneß, who was 11 days younger, according to stats provider Opta.

Musiala beat two defenders on the left before crossing for Guerreiro’s tap in in the 31st, then Luis Díaz unselfishly set up Jackson for Bayern’s second after a mistake from Finn Jeltsch left three attackers facing one Stuttgart defender. Davies scored with a deflected shot four minutes later.

Kompany took Musiala and Díaz off at the break for Olise and Kane. The 18-year-old Bara Ndiaye later went on for his second league appearance.

Kane’s goal – his 51st of the season across all competitions for Bayern – stretched the team’s Bundesliga record for goals in a season to 109. The previous record, set by Bayern’s 1971-72 team featuring Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller, was 101 goals.

“It’s very special,” midfielder Joshua Kimmich said. “I mean, especially this season, it’s a very, very good Bundesliga season, including today’s game. It’s not a given that you come here after the games against Madrid and then play a game like this.”

Other results

Nadiem Amiri scored a penalty with the last kick of the game to earn Mainz a 1-1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach that left the home team just five points above the relegation zone.

Two deflected shots gave Europa League semifinalist Freiburg a 2-1 win over last-placed Heidenheim earlier.

Johan Manzambi scored with a deflected shot in the first half and Maximilian Eggestein netted the late winner with another deflection after Budu Zivzivadze had given the visitors hope with a brilliant strike into the top left corner in the 59th minute.

Defeat ended Heidenheim’s three-game unbeaten run and left it seven points behind St. Pauli and the relegation playoff place with four rounds of the league remaining. Heidenheim hosts St. Pauli next weekend.

Freiburg reached the Europa League semifinals with a 3-1 win at Celta Vigo on Thursday. It faces Sporting Braga away in the first leg on April 30.

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

El autor del disparo era un sospechoso de robo al que respondieron oficiales poco antes de las 7:25 p.m. del sábado en el vecindario Lauderdale Manors, según la policía.

Jerome Lytle, residente del área, dijo que escuchó el helicóptero de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward sobrevolando su casa el sábado por la noche.

“Había como cinco o seis vehículos calle arriba, en esa intersección, la tenían bloqueada para que nadie pudiera pasar”, dijo Lytle.

El sospechoso también resultó herido cuando otro perro policía ayudó a los oficiales a arrestarlo en el área de Northwest 16 Court y 15 Terrace, según la policía.

Un equipo SWAT respondió al lugar y el personal de rescate trasladó al sospechoso al Broward Health Medical Center. Los detectives informaron haber recuperado el arma del sospechoso.

La editora de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Sofia Mendez, colaboró con este reportaje.

Los oficiales detuvieron al conductor del vehículo robado alrededor de las 7:25 a.m. sobre West Broward Boulevard, cerca de Southwest 18 Avenue, según la policía.

El conductor salió del auto y echó a correr, pero no llegó lejos, de acuerdo con el Departamento de Policía de Fort Lauderdale.

La editora de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Mariana Ortiz, colaboró con este reportaje.

Guilherme Peixoto is a Portuguese Catholic priest who, in his 50s, has become a celebrity in the world of electronic music. He hosted a rave Saturday in Buenos Aires in homage to the Argentine-born leader of the Catholic church who died in April 2025.

As young and old, Catholics and agnostics alike, danced to the music Peixoto controlled from his DJ booth, three enormous screens projected images of the late Popes Francis and John Paul II as well as white doves.

“God bless you, and let’s dance,” a voice-over said before Peixoto appeared in priestly attire and headphones at the historic Plaza de Mayo. He then placed his hands on the console and for the next two hours mixed techno and religious melodies.

“This is a unique opportunity to see him, and it’s free,” said Jesús Martín, a 54-year-old Spaniard and electronic music fan. “In Ibiza, you have to pay 150 euros, and up to 2,000 euros for VIP.”

Inspiration leads to global sensation

Peixoto — better known as Padre Guilherme — has become a global sensation, performing around the world to large audiences and amassing a following of 2.8 million people on Instagram and over 220,000 monthly streams on Spotify. He was ordained a priest in 1999, partly out of religious vocation and partly to fulfill a promise his mother made to God when he suffered a life-threatening illness as a child.

Electronic music became a hobby alongside his priestly career. In the 2000s, he began playing at universities and organizing parties to raise funds for his parish, but he asked that no one take his picture for fear of reprisals from his superiors.

Those fears dissipated when Monsignor Jorge Bergoglio assumed leadership of the Catholic Church as Pope Francis in 2013.

“He often said, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ that we had to go out to the peripheries and that ‘We shouldn’t be afraid to use our hands.’ These messages were an inspiration,” Peixoto recalled in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his performance in Buenos Aires.

So, he enrolled in a DJ school, contacted electronic music producers and began composing his own tracks. Eventually, invitations to participate in festivals and play in clubs across Portugal began to arrive.

The priest burst onto the world stage after his performances at World Youth Day in 2023, before the open-air Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

“I will never lose this connection with Pope Francis," Peixoto said. "He was the one who touched my heart with this facet of music."

Many attending his Saturday rave knew little about the priest-DJ.

“I learned about him when the tribute to Francis was first announced. I came to remember the Pope, but I think what he does is very original, as long as it’s done respectfully,” Silvia Garaggiola, 60, said.

Saturday’s set list included Peixoto’s hit “El Grano de Mostaza” and remixes of Bad Bunny and Queen.

Evangelizing youth from the DJ booth

From the Medusa Festival in Cullera, Spain, to Dreamfields in Mexico, or the Hï Ibiza club — in that Spanish resort town often dubbed the “Vatican” of electronic music — Peixoto broadcasts a message of peace and coexistence to thousands of young people, the vast majority of whom are not practicing Catholics.

Amid the smoke of tobacco and marijuana cigarettes, several groups of teenagers danced and imitated the DJ priest’s hand movements, while laser lights gave Plaza de Mayo the appearance of a nightclub.

“It sounds really good,” commented 17-year-old Ileana González. “I have zero religion, but I’m having fun.”

The Curia’s resistance to modernization, its rejection of sexual diversity and the scandals involving the abuse of minors have erected a wall between the Catholic Church and younger generations —a barrier that Pope Francis sought to dismantle through his revolutionary papacy.

An admirer of English musician Carl Cox and the Italian American artist Anyma, Peixoto seeks to carry forward that mission from behind his DJ decks.

“I believe it is incredibly important to make young people smile, to help them feel happy with themselves, rather than associating happiness with merely possessing this or that material thing,” he said.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

High temperatures will be several degrees above average today as warm, humid air flows into the region from the south.

Most locations will reach the upper 80s this afternoon, but a few inland spots could even hit the 90° mark.

The day started out with a mix of sun and clouds, and a few isolated showers are possible this afternoon as sea breezes collide, mainly between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Rain chances increase late tonight into Monday as a cold front moves through South Florida, bringing periods of showers and storms with up to around 1 inch of rain for most areas — though a few spots could see higher totals.

Behind the front, cooler and drier air moves in for Tuesday and Wednesday, with breezy northeast winds and more comfortable temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s.

But there are not only ways to reduce the stress of entertaining at home, but strong arguments for throwing a party, planning a game night or bringing guests together over a shared meal, according to mental health experts and experienced hosts. Without in-person social gatherings, adults can become increasingly lonely and isolated, especially as more work is done remotely and conversations take place via text messages.

“Oftentimes, we expect someone else to reach out to us. But if the vast majority of people are expecting someone else to do it, then it’s going to become a rare thing," said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University and the lead author of a 2023 U.S. surgeon general’s report on the widespread health risks of loneliness.

Seasoned party-planners say that striving to create meaningful interactions instead of for perfection alleviates some of the stress of hosting. Organizing activities that give guests a way to settle in or mingle, planning a simple menu and asking for help are some of the strategies they use to create an event that everyone, even the host, can participate in and enjoy, they say.

“When we are more socially connected, we are not only happier, but we’re healthier and live longer,” Holt-Lunstad said.

Gatherings are not just for the guest

Madeline Johnson, 24, posts recipes, decoration tips and ideas for backyard parties on social media under the name Madeline May. She said she got into hosting because she was seeking social connection.

“As an only child, I always wanted community,” said Johnson, who hosted about a dozen large events with friends and at least five smaller gatherings with family members last year. “I started to realize if I wanted that village around me that I would have to build it on my own."

Now, she wants to help other people build the courage to invite guests over and facilitate bonds between them.

“There’s just way too much unnecessary pressure that makes people feel like the bar to host is up here when it’s much lower,” Johnson said.

As someone who is more naturally reserved, she likes planning an activity for her gatherings, such as painting a flower vase or answering trivia questions, to reduce the initial anxiety of socializing, especially when the group includes people who don't know each other.

Asking guests to bring different foods or assigning them shared tasks like setting the table also can spark conversations and reduce work for the host, Holt-Lunstad said.

“In the U.S., we are so time deprived and have over-scheduled everything that it is difficult to sit down and be present, but a meal allows us to do that. We should not underestimate the power of what food can do,” she said.

Kitchen shortcuts for hosts

Shared appetizers like charcuterie and grazing boards, and meals that can be prepared in advance such as casseroles, soups and other dishes, are simplifying how people host, reducing time in the kitchen on the day of and making serving and cleanup easier.

Oregon-based chef and cookbook author Josh McFadden, who is known for turning seasonal ingredients into approachable, shareable dishes, talks in one of his books about grazing-style eating having roots in communal farm tables.

Butter boards, which involve spreading soft or whipped butter on a platter topped with honey, herbs or spices and dipped into with bread and crackers, are a modern interpretation that have gained popularity.

“You can put a lot of variety and textures and different flavors into things in an easier way, showing off the seasonality of the food. It becomes a mobile meal," McFadden said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It also creates conversation, and it's just a fun way to eat.”

Serving food arranged for picking from a platter is a quick way to serve guests, he said. McFadden also suggests incorporating store-bought foods and asking guests to bring specific dishes or beverages as other ways hosts can lighten their loads.

Katie Eu, 26, who lives in New Hampshire, says she loves a “bring your own” type of gathering, especially since hosting can get expensive if it's not a potluck or friends don't take turns playing host, like she and hers do.

“It is pretty low pressure because what you are providing is not the food, but the space for people to gather,” Eu said.

Supporting the host as the guest

Providing a setting for social connection matters more than how great the food is, what the decor looks like or how spacious a home is, said Richard Slatcher, a social psychology professor at the University of Georgia.

“The other stuff is a bonus,” Slatcher said. “It’s really about the people.”

Inviting people into your home for the first time nevertheless creates a feeling of vulnerability since guests can learn a lot about the host’s taste, interests and beliefs through the color scheme, the books on the shelves, and the art work and mementos on display.

Try to remember that vulnerability also is an essential element in fostering authentic human connections, said Slatcher, who co-led research with Holt-Lunstad on how attending live events can combat loneliness.

Guests also have a responsibility when it comes to making a social event fulfilling for themselves and their host, Holt-Lunstad said.

“If you're passively being an attendee, you are not going to feel connected,” she said.

For Johnson, guests not confirming their attendance, showing up late or not showing up at all are a major sources of stress.

“I put my heart and soul into everything,” she said. “If you want to truly be a good guest, put the invitation on your calendar, don’t double book yourself and try to show up on time.”

Guests also show consideration for their host by cleaning up after themselves to the extent possible and not overstaying their welcome, according to Eu.

“Hosting is hard, so being aware of space that you’re coming into and space you’re taking up” matters, she said.

Husted was recently called to testify as a defense witness in the related criminal trial of two former energy executives, testimony he might have to reprise after a hung jury led to a mistrial in the case in March. A judge in Akron scheduled the retrial to begin Sept. 28, meaning Husted could be back on the witness stand a week before early voting begins for the November elections.

The former lieutenant governor and Ohio secretary of state has never been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing. But the vast public record that has emerged from the scandal has raised questions about Husted's dealings with key players who have been indicted or imprisoned in the scheme, which revolved around legislative approval of a $1 billion bailout for the state's two nuclear power plants.

It's too early to know whether Husted's association with the trial will be a political liability for the first-term senator, who in the fall is expected to face Sherrod Brown, a Democrat ousted from the Senate in 2024.

In a potential sign of concern, Senate Republicans’ main super political action committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, recently announced plans to spend $79 million on Husted's behalf. That's roughly one-quarter of its planned national spending in eight tightly contested Senate races.

Husted says he had no role in the bailout bill

Asked in 2022 what role he played in the bailout legislation, known as House Bill 6, Husted answered, “None.” He has reiterated that stance many times since, even as evidence disclosed in the case has raised questions about his involvement.

Husted calendars that came to light during the recent trial involving executives for the utility, Akron-based FirstEnergy, showed a number of additional meetings or phone calls that he had with former CEO Chuck Jones, with the state's former top utility regulator, who has since died, and with then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. They formed the triangle of influence at the heart of scheme as laid out by federal prosecutors. Husted's calendars were obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal through a public records request and have been reviewed by The Associated Press.

Jones and former FirstEnergy lobbyist Michael Dowling were charged for their alleged roles in the bribery scandal and will be retried in the fall. Householder is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 of orchestrating the scheme, which FirstEnergy has admitted to underwriting.

The interactions noted in Husted's calendars were around the time the bailout bill was being developed and passed. Evidence presented in various cases showed Jones and Dowling discussing a push by Husted for additional subsidies in the legislation.

Husted has consistently denied that he played a role in creating the legislation as well as having any knowledge of criminal activity surrounding the bill.

In an NBC4 interview in January, Husted said, “My role was very clear. I wanted the nuclear power plants to remain operational.” He said it was “about keeping those plants open and keeping the lights on for millions of Ohioans.”

Husted referenced in a text exchange about subsidy negotiations

In June 2019, Jones texted Dowling screenshots of a conversation he had with Householder that suggested Husted was working on FirstEnergy’s behalf to extend the term of the nuclear plant subsidies from six years to 10 years.

Jones urged Householder to “negotiate hard” for 10 years of subsidies or he would be forced to revisit the issue again before his speakership ended. “Ugh, that adds $600M,” Householder wrote about an additional amount that has not been previously reported. The bill called for charging Ohio ratepayers $150 million a year in nuclear subsidies.

“Husted called me 2 nights ago and was supposed to get it in the Senate version,” Jones replied.

“He’s not a legislator,” Householder replied about Husted, who was by then the lieutenant governor.

“I know but he said Senate leaders would listen," Jones replied. "He didn’t deliver.”

The texts were part of evidence gathered in Householder's criminal trial. When Husted has been asked previously about the exchanges, he has been adamant that they do not prove he was part of the deal-making.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We weren’t involved," Husted said when asked about the texts during an unrelated news conference in 2024. "Texts to other people — texts to other people shared amongst themselves — have nothing to do with me. And I wasn’t involved in that conversation.”

Cases surface utility donations to benefit Husted

A longtime Ohio lobbyist told federal agents that FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy Solutions, the subsidiary that owned the nuclear power plants helped by the bailout, funneled dark money to nonprofits that benefited Husted and Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican.

According to the notes from his Department of Justice interview obtained by The Associated Press and not previously reported, lobbyist Neil Clark identified one of the groups as Freedom Frontier. That was the very group that received a $1 million contribution in 2017 marked internally by FirstEnergy as “Husted campaign.” The donation was brought to light through documents filed in a lawsuit by FirstEnergy shareholders and obtained through a records request by cleveland.com. Husted was a candidate for governor at the time.

Dark money refers to political contributions flowing to certain nonprofit organizations whose donors do not have to be publicly identified. Coordinating between those groups and candidate campaigns is generally prohibited by federal law.

Internal FirstEnergy communications from 2017 and 2018, which is evidence in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, include discussions involving Jones, Dowling and others about attending Husted events as far back as 2016. They also reflect Dowling's concerns about dark money contributions becoming public.

Jones and Dowling also discussed strategies to contribute under alternate names. In July 2018, for instance, as the two were planning a DeWine-Husted fundraiser in Naples, Florida, they discussed contributing under one name while covering event costs under another — so there would be “no cost billed to (the) campaign.”

Husted declined a request for further comment about the details that have emerged as the various cases surrounding the bribery scandal play out.

“Sen. Husted has commented extensively with the media and given testimony under oath and doesn’t have anything additional to add,” said Josh Eck, his spokesperson.

Pellegrino “Rino” Matarazzo led Sociedad to its fourth Copa del Rey title on Saturday with a penalty-shootout win over Atletico Madrid.

It was the first career title for the coach who left the United States to try to play soccer professionally and ended up becoming a manager in Germany.

“Just the feeling you have of ‘wow, wow, this happened, we did it, we did it,’" said Matarazzo, who in less than four months took Sociedad from near the relegation zone in the Spanish league to lifting the prestigious Copa del Rey trophy.

The New Jersey-born coach was hired in December when Sociedad was two points above the relegation zone. He guided it back to safety and to its title run in the Copa in what he called "an unbelievable journey."

“If you think about all the games that we played, every game has been very very special since I arrived and I think we finished with a very special game," the soft-spoken Matarazzo said. "Wow, wow...”

Matarazzo downplayed his role in the team's turnaround and credited his players' talent and character for the improvement and the title run in the Copa.

“I'm very grateful to be manager of this club, very very grateful,” Matarazzo said. “Being part of its history now is, of course, something special, and I'm also very grateful to have this team, these players, this staff, this club. It’s a product of the work we've done together in the past weeks.”

Italian roots

Matarazzo is from an Italian family whose parents met in the United States after emigrating to the country for work.

Matarazzo's first language was Italian before he went to school. He used to watch Serie A matches on a small television in his father's bedroom during the time that Argentina great Maradona played for Napoli.

In an interview with Sociedad's TV channel, Matarazzo said he was always passionate about soccer even though the sport was far from popular while he grew up in the United States.

Before moving to Germany to try to play, Matarazzo earned a degree in mathematics from Columbia University, which he said has helped him as a coach even though he knows that the job is about people and not just numbers.

Career in Germany

Matarazzo, a defender, first tried to play in Italy but ended returning to the United States after what he called broken promises by agents. He was then invited by a friend to go to Germany, where he moved in his early 20s without knowing a word of German. He ended up staying and working in the country for 25 years.

Matarazzo started playing in the fourth division and eventually moved into coaching with Nuremberg’s reserves and youth sides. He was an assistant to Julian Nagelsmann when both were at Hoffenheim in 2018, then landed the Stuttgart job in December 2019. He steered the club back to the Bundesliga at the first attempt and guided it to a commendable finish in his first top-flight season.

He was fired by Stuttgart in late 2022 and about four months later was hired by Hoffenheim, where he stayed until the end of 2024, when he was let go following a disappointing season.

Matarazzo got off to a great start in Spain, and he hoped it could be "just the beginning” of a long and successful stint for him and the club.

“I hope that we continue to stay ambitious because we still have seven games left in La Liga and we can do more,” he said. “I'm not done yet, and hopefully we are not done yet.”

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

A “massive” nighttime drone strike on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine killed a 16-year-old boy and wounded four others, according to the head of the city's military administration.

Rescuers found the teenager’s body as they cleared away rubble, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi reported on Telegram on Sunday morning. He said the drone strike also wounded three women and one man. Several houses were set on fire, he added.

Russian drones also attacked the southern city of Kherson on Sunday, local officials reported.

A man died of his wounds after a drone hit a van driving through the city center, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the regional administration. A second man was hospitalized with blast injuries, regional authorities said.

Russia launched 236 drones into Ukrainian territory overnight into Sunday, Ukraine’s air force reported. Of those, 203 drones were shot down while 32 hit targets in 18 separate locations, it said.

Kyiv says it struck a Russian drone factory

Meanwhile, Ukraine hit a drone factory in the city of Taganrog, Ukraine’s General Staff reported. The site lies some 55 kilometers (35 miles) east of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine in southwestern Russia.

According to the military, Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at the Atlant Aero factory, which designs and produces strike and reconnaissance drones, as well as components for more powerful UAVs that can carry guided bombs weighing up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds).

Ukraine’s navy said it carried out the attack on the drone factory in southern Russia, using domestically manufactured Neptune cruise missiles.

“This defense enterprise is an important part of the Russian military-industrial complex, where drones were developed and manufactured,” the navy said in an online post.

It also posted images showing a huge cloud of smoke over the city, which it said was the impact of the strikes.

Three people were injured in a nighttime air attack on commercial infrastructure in Taganrog, according to the Russian regional governor, Yuri Slyusar. He did not specify what facility was hit, but said warehouses were set on fire following the strike.

Taganrog Mayor Svetlana Kambulova said the strike damaged “commercial enterprises” in the city, as well as a vocational school and multiple cars.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 274 Ukrainian drones during the night, as well as guided aerial bombs and a Neptune cruise missile. The ministry did not say how many struck targets.

Ukraine launches inquiry into mass shooting in the capital

Ukraine's Interior Ministry on Sunday launched an official inquiry into a mass shooting in Kyiv the previous day that killed six people and wounded at least 14 others.

A gunman wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in the Ukrainian capital before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko described the attacker’s mental state as “clearly unstable.”

The 58-year-old gunman has not been named, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said he was born in Russia. Authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.

Several police officers were suspended for allegedly failing to respond appropriately in the initial stages of the shooting. Klymenko, the interior minister, described their behavior as “shameful and unworthy” of their role as police officers.

He said there was no plan to toughen gun ownership laws, arguing that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens had helped the country’s defense against Russia.

The mass shooting — unheard of in wartime Kyiv following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — took place in a busy central district of the city, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping center, leaving bodies on a crowded street as bystanders fled for safety.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw victims’ bodies covered with emergency blankets before they were taken away.

Zelenskyy hits out at U.S. sanctions waiver for Russian oil

Elsewhere, Zelenskyy responded with dismay to the Trump administration's decision on Friday to extend its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments.

“Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, arguing that any additional revenue the Kremlin gets from oil sales “is directly converted into new strikes against Ukraine."

“That is why it is important that Russian tankers are stopped, not allowed to deliver oil to ports. The aggressor’s oil exports must decrease, and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continue to work toward that goal," he added.

The so-called general license, intended to ease supply constraints resulting from the Iran war, means U.S. sanctions will not apply for 30 days on deliveries of Russian oil that has been loaded on tankers as of Friday. It extended a similar 30-day license issued in March for Russian oil that had been loaded by March 11.

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

Authorities believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.

“This recall is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition,” HiPP said in a statement. “The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities.”

Burgenland Police in Austria said the suspicious products likely have a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include a damaged or opened lid and an unusual or spoiled smell. There also might not be a popping noise when the jar is first opened.

HiPP said it is recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Customers can get full refunds even without a receipt. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic have removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.

A customer reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, police said, though no one had consumed the baby food.

Rat poison typically includes bromadiolone, an anticoagulant that prevents the blood from clotting, according to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. Ingesting rat poison could lead to bleeding like bleeding gums and nosebleeds, as well as bruising and blood in the stool.

Symptoms could appear two to five days after ingestion, the agency said.

The FBI has used social media campaigns to attract applicants, offered abbreviated training for candidates from other federal agencies and relaxed requirements for support staff seeking to become agents, according to people familiar with the changes and internal communications seen by The Associated Press. At the same time, the Justice Department has opened the door to hiring prosecutors right out of law school to help fill vacancies in U.S. attorney’s offices across the country.

Some current and former agents also say the FBI is promoting into positions of leadership employees with less experience than is customary for the jobs.

The moves reflect a broader effort to stabilize a workforce strained by retirements and resignations prompted in part by concerns over the Trump administration's politicization of the department, along with the firings of lawyers, agents and other employees deemed insufficiently loyal to the Republican president's agenda. Critics of the changes say they amount to a reduction in standards for a law enforcement institution that has long prided itself on professional expertise and bears responsibility for everything from preventing terrorist attacks to building complex public corruption prosecutions.

“It’s a sign of, among other things, the difficulty the department is having right now in keeping and recruiting people,” said Greg Brower, a former U.S. attorney in Nevada who left the FBI in 2018 as its chief congressional liaison.

The FBI defended the changes as a necessary modernization of its hiring pipeline, saying it is streamlining, not lowering, standards and removing what it says were “bureaucratic” steps in the application process. It said applicants were still evaluated “on the same competencies.”

“The Bureau holds high standards for potential and current employees, and there is a rigorous application and background process to join the FBI,” the FBI said in a statement.

Waived requirements in some cases to become an FBI agent

The FBI has long been seen as the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency, with a recruitment process anchored around physical fitness tests, a writing assessment, interview and training academy at Quantico, Virginia.

Elements of the regimen have been periodically tweaked to fit the bureau's needs, including over the past year under FBI Director Kash Patel 's leadership.

With a mantra to “let good cops be cops,” Patel announced last year that transfers from other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration would be able to complete a nine-week training academy instead of the traditional academy that spans more than four months. The change rankled some current and former officials who say the FBI's protocols, culture and diversity of cases it handles help to distinguish it from other agencies.

For support staff employees looking to become agents, the bureau more recently said it would waive requirements of a written assessment and an interview with a three-member panel of FBI agents meant to measure life experience and judgment, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the moves and an internal message seen by the AP.

The FBI said onboard employees would still need recommendations from a senior leader and to complete Quantico training.

“We are not lowering standards or removing qualifications in any way. What we are doing is streamlining the process to remove duplicative, bureaucratic steps to the application system for onboard employees,” the FBI said in a statement, adding, "These are changes based on a wide variety of feedback from successful agents with over 20 years’ experience.”

Patel boasted in January of a 112% increase in applications, and the FBI says it has a “clear path” to add around 700 special agents this year and that its current Quantico class is one of its largest in years. But some people familiar with the matter say an applications uptick does not necessarily correspond to a surge in high-caliber recruits that can offset the attrition the bureau has endured.

At the other end of the employment spectrum, the FBI also faces turnover among senior leaders, including special agents in charge, the title given to heads of most of the bureau's 56 field offices. Some were fired by Patel over the past year. Others retired. Many offices are now led by someone who has been in the job for under a year.

Facing what current and former officials say is difficulty in filling some of the positions, the FBI has moved quickly to promote agents up the ladder, people familiar with the matter say. That includes elevating assistant special agents in charge to special agents in charge and opening the door for employees to be considered for leadership roles without the significant headquarters experience the FBI historically regarded as necessary for a holistic view of bureau operations.

As a conservative podcast host before becoming director, Patel talked about shutting down FBI headquarters and transforming it into a museum of the “deep state” and immediately upon his arrival told colleagues that as director he would move hundreds of employees from Washington into the field.

“As a field agent, you have a field agent’s mentality, you have a field agent's view,” said Chris Piehota, a retired FBI senior executive. Without adequate headquarters experience, he added, you don't know “the business side of the FBI, the logistical side of the FBI or the political jungle" that can accompany the job.

Justice Department changes

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has lowered hiring prerequisites for some federal prosecutors.

Department officials recently suspended a policy that U.S. attorneys offices only hire prosecutors with at least one year of experience practicing law. The department did not explain the reason, but said in a statement that it is “proud to empower young and passionate prosecutors and offer attorneys at every level the opportunity to invest their talents into keeping their communities safe."

It comes as parts of the agency are struggling to keep up with the workload amid critical staffing shortages, with the department recently acknowledging that it has lost nearly 1,000 assistant U.S. attorneys.

In Minnesota, for example, the federal prosecutors’ office has been gutted by resignations amid frustration with the administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement and the department’s response to fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents.

Justice Department headquarters in Washington has endured staffing losses, too.

The number of lawyers in the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, which prosecutes organized crime groups and violent gangs, is down significantly, though the section is looking to hire additional attorneys. A National Security Division section that works espionage cases has reported a 40% drop in prosecutors.

The department said in a statement that it has seen an increase in criminal complaints and indictments despite a loss in prosecutors, underscoring the “bloated, ineffective and weaponized” institution it says the administration inherited.

Officials have enlisted military lawyers to serve as special prosecutors in some offices. The Justice Department has taken to social media to recruit applicants, and the FBI has done the same in search of new agents. One recent post from the FBI's Indianapolis office said: “A calling bigger than yourself. A mission that matters. If you’re ready for the challenge, there’s a place for you on the FBI team.”

Chad Mizelle, who served as chief of staff to Trump's first attorney general, Pam Bondi, recently urged lawyers to contact him on X if they want to become prosecutors, “and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda.” Mizelle’s post raised eyebrows not only because federal prosecutors have not generally been solicited over social media, but also because support for the president has not been a prerequisite for career employees.

“We need good prosecutors,” wrote Mizelle, who left the department in October. “And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.”

But Doug Fiefia, a state representative running to be a state senator, wanted to start with something else — artificial intelligence. Fiefia used to work at Google and, like several other tech employees who have gone into politics, he has made regulating the industry a centerpiece of his campaign.

“I know it sounds like ‘Doug, this is all you talk about,”’ Fiefia said. “That’s because it’s coming, it’s here and it’s going to be our biggest fight.”

Fiefia's focus has put him on a collision course with President Donald Trump's administration, which this year helped block his state proposal requiring companies to include child safety protocols. The White House wants a single national standard for artificial intelligence, arguing that a patchwork of excessive regulation could handicap American innovation in a global competition with China.

But with no progress in Congress, it has been state lawmakers struggling to address concerns about a technology that is poised to reshape the economy. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis added the issue to a special legislative session that he is convening later this month. Democratic-controlled New York last year required major AI developers to report dangerous incidents to the state.

All told, there are more than 1,000 state legislative proposals addressing AI, a reflection of the uneasiness that has seeped through the country.

“None of us are really sure," said Brett Young, a structural engineer who attended the backyard event with Fiefia. "Is this something we should be scared about, or is it no so big a deal and it’ll enhance our lives?”

Pressure in the states

Trump has routinely tried to stamp out state-level AI policies, and he issued an executive order that included legal threats and funding penalties to deter new regulations.

The White House recently released a framework for potential congressional legislation that calls for preempting state laws considered “too burdensome” but would allow some rules to protect children and copyright material.

None of these steps has eased the number of proposals in state capitals. Popular ideas include forcing chatbots to remind users they are not human and barring the use of AI to make nonconsensual pornography, which includes replacing or removing clothing from photos that are posted online.

“There's a lot of state lawmakers looking at what the federal government is doing and saying, ‘We want to take action because we’re not satisfied,'" said Craig Albright, senior vice president for government relations for the Business Software Alliance, which represents software companies.

About 8 in 10 people in the United States said they were “concerned” or “very concerned” about AI in a Quinnipiac poll last month, with about three-quarters saying government is not doing enough to regulate the technology. Roughly 9 in 10 Democrats and 6 in 10 Republicans wanted more government involvement.

The most significant regulations have passed in California and New York, solidly Democratic states. The provisions focus on disclosure of catastrophic risk, such as the AI-controlled meltdown of nuclear plants or AI models refusing to heed human direction.

But there is pressure in Republican-led states, too.

DeSantis pushed a bill to implement parental controls for minors using AI and to prohibit systems from using anyone's likeness without permission. It fell short in the state House after overwhelmingly passing the state Senate. AI bills in Republican-controlled Louisiana and Missouri have stalled out because of Trump administration resistance.

‘An army of full-time lobbyists’

Fiefia is part of a loose network of former tech employees turned state lawmakers trying to meet the demand for stronger regulations. He co-chairs the AI task force of the Future Caucus, a network of younger state lawmakers, with Monique Priestley, a Vermont Democrat who also has worked in tech.

Priestley said the group uses video conferences and group chats to share ideas for new proposals and deal with lobbyists who oppose their bills. She said that 166 of her state's 482 registered lobbyists weighed in on her data privacy bill last year, which was ultimately vetoed by the governor.

“It's like you're running around against an army of full-time lobbyists,” said Priestley. Like many state lawmakers, she works a separate, full-time job.

Alex Bores, a former data scientist at the tech firm Palantir who quit after it signed a deal to help the first Trump administration with immigration enforcement, is also a member of the AI task force. A Democrat, Bores wrote the New York bill that was signed into law last year.

Now Bores is competing in the crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler representing much of Manhattan in Congress, and he is facing payback from the industry. A pro-AI campaign committee has spent $2.3 million against his candidacy.

Bores said tech companies are trying to make an example of him to scare off more regulation at the state and federal level.

“It's one reasons it's so important for me to win this race is because, if I don't, that intimidation they're trying on Congress will be successful,” he said. Bores' competitors in the June 23 primary include Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, and George Conway, a former Republican who has become one of Trump's chief antagonists on social media.

From Google to politics

Fiefia has not attracted the sort of attention as Bores as he tries to move to the state Senate after a single session in the House. The subdivisions and shopping centers of his district are sandwiched between Utah's jagged mountain ranges and the cul de sacs are crammed with children on bikes and scooters.

The son of Tongan immigrants, Fiefia grew up in Utah but moved to Silicon Valley, where he worked as a salesperson for Google.

Fiefia rose to manage a team working with companies on the implementation of Google's early AI model and was disturbed by what he saw.

“What I realized is Big Tech cares about their bottom line, and they were worried about making money, not doing right for the human race,” said Fiefia, who now works at a Utah-based cloud computing and AI company.

Fiefia's legislation was unanimously passed by a House committee this year, but the Trump administration sent a letter to the Senate saying that the measure was “unfixable.” The measure quickly died.

Daniel McCay, the state senator who Fiefia is challenging in the primary, said he thinks that was a good thing.

“I've been around long enough to recognize the invention of fire, the wheel, cars and the internet did not ruin society and I'm very skeptical of anyone trying to scare society into regulations,” McCay said in an interview.

He noted that the bill went beyond child safety, including whistleblower protection for AI workers and public disclosure of risks.

“It would have driven Utah out of the AI innovation business," McCay said.

At the cottage meeting — the Utah term for a small gathering at someone's home to discuss important issues — Fiefia faced several tech-related questions from the crowd.

Asked about defying the Trump administration, Fiefia said it was especially important to stand up for states' rights when a fellow Republican was in power to demonstrate the principles involved.

“The Trump administration is, ‘We want zero regulations on AI,’” Fiefia said. “I think that's wrong. I agree with a lot of what Trump says on taxes. I disagree with him on this.”

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Rep. Jerry Nadler’s congressional district in New York City covers much of Manhattan, rather than the borough’s East Side and parts of Queen and Brooklyn.

French president Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to an actor “with whom we loved, dreamed and grew.” French media reported that Baye died on Friday in Paris from a neurodegenerative disease, quoting a statement from her relatives.

“We loved Nathalie Baye so much,” Macron wrote in a message on X. “Through her voice, her smiles, and her modesty, she accompanied the past decades of French cinema, from François Truffaut to Tonie Marshall.”

Baye featured in more than 80 movies, switching from mainstream comedies to auteur films with ease in a career that spanned over five decades. She twice claimed the prize for best actress at the Césars, France’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Baye, who was Leonardo DiCaprio’s on-screen mother in Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can,” won both popular and critical acclaim for her role in “Venus Beauty Institute,” a romantic comedy that follows three women working in a Parisian beauty salon as they search for fulfilment. Marshall won the César award for best director in 2000 for the movie.

The daughter of artists, Baye first trained as a dancer then honed her acting skills at the famed Cours Simon and the Conservatoire. She took the spotlight in François Truffaut's “Day for Night” in 1973 and, five years later, worked with him again on “The Green Room.”

Baye worked with directors Maurice Pialat, Claude Sautet and Bertrand Tavernier, among others. She rose to fame with “The Return of Martin Guerre” in 1982. A year later, her role as a tough-talking streetwalker devoted to her down-and-out gangster boyfriend Philippe Leotard in “La Balance” earned her a César.

Baye liked to work with emerging filmakers such as Xavier Beauvois. She won the César for best actress for his movie “The Young Lieutenant” in 2006.

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.

No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves," she said.

“I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London," she added.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The police force has deployed extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to northwest London after attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government.

In the most serious incident, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were torched on March 23 in the Golders Green neighborhood,

No one has been injured in any of the incidents, which all happened within a few miles of each other. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on X that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum.

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he added.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attacks, and pledged that "those responsible will be found and brought to justice.

"This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain," Starmer said.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia also posted a video claiming Israel’s London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the nearby Kensington Gardens park on Friday as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Some security experts say Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is likely a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said any “thugs for hire” who carried out such attacks would face justice.

“Let’s be really clear — it’s a mug’s game,” he said. “That’s what people who are now serving long prison sentences have found out, and the same fate awaits those responsible for these recent crimes.”

Leo traveled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, nestled in the Angolan savanas of baobab trees at the edge of the Kwanza River. It became a major pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.

But the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and it became a hub in the slave trade. It was where enslaved Africans were gathered to be baptized by Portuguese priests before being forced to walk to the port of Luanda, over 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north, to be put on ships to the Americas.

Leo, whose own ancestors include enslaved people and slave owners, prayed the Rosary at the sanctuary, a simple whitewashed church with blue trim and a statue of the Madonna inside. Speaking in Portuguese, he recalled it was here “where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country.”

He didn’t refer specifically to slavery. After viewing plans to build a basilica at the site, Leo urged the estimated 30,000 people gathered outside to also build “a better, more welcoming world, where there are no more wars, no injustices, no poverty, no dishonesty."

Muxima’s history is emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in the slave trade, the forced baptisms of enslaved people and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

“For Black Catholics, Pope Leo’s visit to the Muxima shrine is an important moment of healing,” said Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch Center, Oxford University.

She noted that many Black Catholics are Catholic because of slavery and the “Code Noir,” which she said required slaves purchased by Catholic owners to be baptized in the church.

“Others were already Catholic when they were trafficked from Angola to slave-holding colonies,” said Butler, a Black Catholic scholar whose maternal family hails from Louisiana, where the pope’s ancestors also had their roots.

The role of papal bulls in the slave trade

Angola’s Portuguese colonizers were emboldened by 15th-century directives from the Vatican that authorized them to enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere, said the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

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

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

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

Ultimately, more than 5 million people left from Angola on the trans-Atlantic slave route, more than any other country and nearly half of the roughly 12.5 million African slaves sent across the ocean.

Kellerman recalled that most of these direct victims were sold into slavery by other Africans and were not captured by Europeans.

“That being said, at the time of the building of Muxima, the Portuguese were doing both — buying enslaved people and colonizing/slave raiding. So they were fully using their papal permissions during this time,” Kellerman said in emailed comments to The Associated Press.

He said the first pope to condemn slavery itself was Pope Leo XIII, the current pope’s namesake, in two encyclicals in 1888 and 1890, after most countries had already abolished slavery. But Kellerman said that pope and others since have continued to perpetuate the “false narrative” that the Holy See always opposed slavery, when the historical record says otherwise.

While Leo's visit to Muxima was to commemorate its role as a shrine, Kellerman said he hoped Leo had also learned about its role in the slave trade.

“The popes repeatedly authorized Portugal’s colonization efforts in Africa and Portuguese participation in the slave trade, but the Vatican has never fully admitted this,” he said. “It would be so powerful if at some point Pope Leo were to apologize for the popes’ role in the trade.”

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

Leo’s own personal history a point of reflection

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

Gates, a Harvard University professor who hosts the PBS documentary series “Finding Your Roots,” presented his research to Leo during a July 5 audience at the Vatican. According to a report of their meeting in The Harvard Gazette, “The pope asked about ancestors, both Black and white, who were enslavers.”

Leo has not spoken publicly about his family heritage or the genealogical research, and some Black Catholic scholars were hesitant to impose on him a narrative about his identity that he himself has not yet addressed.

“It’s important that we tell our own stories,” said Tia Noelle Pratt, a sociologist of religion and professor at Villanova University, the pope’s alma mater.

“We haven’t heard anything from him about what he thinks about it, and so to impose anything on him, I think would be completely inappropriate,” said Pratt, author of “Faithful and Devoted: Racism and Identity in the African American Catholic Experience.”

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington and the first African American cardinal, said he had facilitated the Gates-Leo encounter and was “delighted” to have done so.

“It’s one of the things that I think for many African Americans and people of color, they identify with great pride that the pope has roots in our own heritage,” Gregory told AP. “And I think he’s happy about that too, because it’s another link to the people that he tries to serve and is called to serve.”

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Gerald Imray contributed from Cape Town, South Africa.

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

“Seeing all of my family, all my kids, my beautiful wife, and seeing all the different people I worked with, I’m just really filled up,” said Murphy, who received the life achievement award at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday night. “This is a special moment. I wish y’all could feel what I’m feeling, see what I’m seeing. I almost teared up. I’m going to get backstage and cry.”

Just before accepting the award, Murphy was met with a standing ovation, stepping onstage and moving through the ballroom as the applause followed. Along the way, he passed Spike Lee, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Arsenio Hall and Judge Reinhold.

The tribute, which also featured appearances from Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Eva Longoria, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Kenan Thompson, will premiere as a special on Netflix on May 31.

Murphy, 65, has moved from a teenage stand-up sensation to a breakout force on “Saturday Night Live” to a box office mainstay with films like “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Coming to America,” “The Nutty Professor” and the “Shrek” franchise.

Large images from those defining moments filled the venue stage, tracing a career that has crossed stand-up, television and film.

“Eddie made us laugh and made our nation feel better,” said Lee, who presented the award to Murphy. “I took a camera and told stories on how our nation could be better. … We both pushed culture forward. ... Every step of this journey, Eddie has been true to himself.”

Comedians pointed to Murphy’s influence across generations.

“There is no us without you,” Rock said.

Lawrence, who starred in the film “Life” with Murphy, shared a personal moment from early in his career, recalling how Murphy once declined his request for a photo. But now, that shouldn't be a problem since their children married each other in 2025.

“Now I can get all the pictures I want,” Lawrence said with a smile. “Because we're in-laws.”

Arsenio Hall, Murphy’s longtime collaborator on “Coming to America,” spoke about Murphy advocating for him in the film and highlighted the depth of his talent.

“When Eddie does a family film, he plays a whole damn family,” Hall said.

Chappelle reflected on studying Murphy’s stand-up as a teenager watching “Raw.” He described Murphy as one of the defining figures in the industry and shared a recent visit to his home, where seeing Murphy’s grandchildren playing offered a deeper perspective on his life.

“I would watch him every day after school like I was taking a class,” said Chappelle, who also spoke on an interview where he considered revisiting “Chappelle's Show,” a project he once stepped away from, calling it one of the most meaningful experiences of his career.

Chappelle said Murphy encouraged him to revisit the idea, and even joked about joining the project if it comes to fruition.

“You are still the hero I want to be,” he said.

Stevie Wonder described Murphy’s impact as something that extends beyond comedy. He showed his deep admiration for the comedian-actor.

“Laughter can make life livable,” Wonder said. “Eddie is more than a comedian … he is a universal reminder.”

Mike Myers, who co-starred in the “Shrek” films with Murphy, credited him with helping define one of animation’s most beloved characters, calling his character portrayal of Donkey a “masterpiece.”

Jennifer Hudson delivered a musical tribute with performances from “Dreamgirls,” backed by a house band led by Rickey Minor.

The gala, which raised more than $2.5 million to support AFI’s nonprofit education programs, also included the presentation of the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal to cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who spoke about finding her voice through the institute.

Murphy’s career has spanned nearly 50 years, from stand-up stages to blockbuster films, with a versatility that has kept him relevant across generations. In 2023, he received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes and has spoken about embracing a deeper appreciation for his journey.

“Thank you for giving me this night that I will remember forever and ever and ever,” Murphy said. “I love you.”

Starmer will face restive lawmakers in Parliament Monday to fight for his job after the explosive revelation that Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the United States despite failing security checks.

Starmer says he’s “furious” that he wasn’t told at the time, in January 2025, that an intensive vetting process had recommended Mandelson not be given security clearance. The Foreign Office, which oversees diplomatic appointments, cleared him anyway.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that if Starmer had known, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.”

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News on Sunday that Starmer “is a man of integrity and there is no way he would have proceeded” with Mandelson’s appointment had he known.

The top civil servant in the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, was forced to resign on Thursday — though allies say he was just doing his job and is being made a scapegoat. Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Simon McDonald, who was top civil servant in the Foreign Office until 2020, said Robbins had been “thrown under the bus.” He told the BBC that vetting information was highly sensitive and “would never be shared” with the prime minister or his staff.

All the main opposition parties have called on Starmer to resign. Right-of-center Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister’s position is “untenable.” Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said Sunday that the government is “in perpetual crisis, and I don’t think they can get out of that unless Keir Starmer moves aside.”

Starmer’s Labour Party holds a large parliamentary majority, so power to topple him lies with his own lawmakers, who are already glum about the party’s dire poll ratings.

Starmer defused a potential crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers called for him to resign over the Mandelson appointment. But he could face a leadership challenge after local and regional elections on May 7, in which Labour is expected to do badly.

Some Labour lawmakers think it would be damaging to change leaders at a time of global instability, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and with three years until a national election must be called.

Others despair at the prime minister’s repeated missteps since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.

Critics say the Mandelson appointment reveals the prime minister's lack of judgment. Documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer was warned by his staff that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

But his expertise as a former European Union trade chief and contacts among global elites were considered assets in dealing with President Donald Trump's administration.

He lasted less than nine months in the job. Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

The release of millions of pages of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Department of Justice in January brought more revelations, showing that Mandelson’s relationship with the financier continued even after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

Emails also suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009 after the global financial crisis.

British police launched a criminal probe and arrested Mandelson Feb. 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

Manchester City swung the race for the championship in its favor by beating Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a second-half winner by Erling Haaland.

Haaland’s league-leading 23rd goal of the campaign in the 65th minute allowed City to trim the gap to Arsenal, the long-time front-runner, to three points. City has a game in hand at relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday, after which Pep Guardiola’s team is likely to have overturned its goal-difference deficit to Arsenal and taken the lead with five rounds remaining.

“Panic on the streets of London” read a banner held aloft behind one of the goals after the final whistle — a reference to a 1980s song by The Smiths and a nod to Arsenal's end-of-season implosion that has seen Mikel Arteta's team lose four of its last six games in all competitions, including two straight in the league.

This might be a familiar sinking feeling for Arsenal fans, who have seen their team finish as runner-up for the past three Premier League seasons.

“Two weeks ago, this didn’t look very likely, this scenario,” City captain Bernardo Silva said.

An often-frenetic match exploded into life when Rayan Cherki gave City a 16th-minute lead with a weaving run and finish, only for Arsenal to draw level in bizarre circumstances two minutes later after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s clearance was charged down by Kai Havertz and rebounded into the net from close range.

Haaland and Arsenal pair Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes struck the goal frame, before Haaland slotted home a low shot from Nico O'Reilly's cross, dealing a huge blow to Arsenal's hopes of a first league championship since 2004.

City is expected to beat next-to-last Burnley, but has a tougher run-in than Arsenal that includes trips to Everton and Bournemouth and a final-day meeting with Aston Villa.

“Every game is a final,” Haaland said.

Unlike City, which is unbeaten in 10 league games, Arsenal is struggling for form and also has to balance playing in the Champions League after reaching the semifinals.

"It's a new league now — everything is still to play for," Arteta said.

Stoppage-time winners for Liverpool and Villa

Liverpool and Aston Villa look to be headed for the Champions League after grabbing stoppage-time winners on Sunday.

Virgil van Dijk headed home in the 10th minute of added-on time to earn Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Everton in a Merseyside derby featuring a record-tying goal from Mohamed Salah.

Salah, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nine trophy-filled seasons, marked his final derby by slotting in a low finish in the 29th minute. His ninth Merseyside derby goal drew him even with Liverpool great Steven Gerrard for the most in the Premier League era (since 1992).

It was Liverpool’s other stalwart, Van Dijk, who sealed the win by turning in a corner by Dominik Szoboszlai.

There was so much stoppage time because Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was forced off on a stretcher after sustaining an injury attempting in vain to save a 54th-minute shot by Beto that brought Everton level.

Villa, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 4-3 thanks to Tammy Abraham’s goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

Fourth-placed Villa moved 10 points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea. Liverpool is in between them, but stretched its advantage over Chelsea to seven points.

The top five in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League.

Gibbs-White hat trick boosts Forest survival chances

Morgan Gibbs-White scored a second-half hat trick as Nottingham Forest rallied to beat Burnley 4-1 and further boost its survival hopes.

Forest moved five points clear of third-to-last Tottenham in the relegation zone, while next-to-last Burnley slipped closer to the drop to the Championship.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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

It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.

With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump ’s earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood. He had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday.

The uncertainty sent oil prices rising again. One of the worst global energy crises in decades threatened to deepen.

Trump on social media said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned the Iranian-flagged ship, the Touska, to stop and then “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom." U.S. Marines had custody of the U.S.-sanctioned vessel and were “seeing what’s on board!”

It was not clear whether anyone was hurt. The U.S. Central Command, which didn't answer questions, said the destroyer had issued “repeated warnings over a six-hour period.”

Iranian state media suggest new talks won't take place

There was no comment from Iranian officials directly addressing Trump's announcement of talks. However, Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports suggesting that they would not happen.

Minutes after the ship seizure was announced, Iranian state media reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, earlier Sunday. U.S. actions, including bullying and unreasonable behavior, have led to increased suspicion that the U.S. will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy," the reports cited Pezeshkian as saying.

Two previous attempts at talks — last June and earlier this year — were interrupted by Israeli and U.S. attacks.

On another phone call, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, that recent U.S. actions, rhetoric and contradictions were signs of “bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy," Iran’s state broadcaster said.

Pakistan did not confirm a second round of talks, but authorities had begun tightening security in Islamabad. A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalizing preparations and U.S. advance security teams were on the ground. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss preparations with the media.

The White House had said Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of historic face-to-face talks over 21 hours last weekend, would lead the U.S. delegation to Pakistan with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States. While Iran’s chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, late Saturday said “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,” he acknowledged a wide gap remained between the sides.

It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump's announcement on talks repeated his threats against Iranian infrastructure that have drawn widespread criticism and warnings of war crimes. If Iran doesn't agree to the U.S.-proposed deal, "the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote.

Iran wants to control strait until ‘war fully ends’

Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance.

Security of the strait is not free and “the choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post calling for a lasting end to military and economic pressure on Tehran.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertilizer for the world's farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.

Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday. But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States. Iran said it would again enforce restrictions it imposed early in the war. On Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit.

For the Islamic Republic, the strait’s closure is perhaps its most powerful weapon, inflicting political pain on Trump. For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy. Each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

Since most supplies to U.S. military bases in the Gulf region come through the strait, “Iran is determined to maintain oversight and control over traffic through the strait until the war fully ends,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said late Saturday. That means Iran-designated routes, payment of fees and issuance of transit certificates.

The council has recently acted as Iran’s de facto top decision-making body.

The war is now in its eighth week after the U.S. and Israel launched it on Feb. 28 during talks over Tehran’s nuclear program. At least 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

___ Magy reported from Cairo and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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An earlier version of this story corrected the name of the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson to Esmail Baghaei.

Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Przewalski’s horses — stocky, sand-colored and almost toy-like in appearance — graze in a radioactive landscape larger than Luxembourg.

On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine sent radiation across Europe and forced the evacuation of entire towns, displacing tens of thousands. It was the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Four decades on, Chernobyl — which is transliterated as “Chornobyl” in Ukraine — remains too dangerous for humans. But the wildlife has moved back in.

Wolves now prowl the vast no-man’s-land spanning Ukraine and Belarus, and brown bears have returned after more than a century. Populations of lynx, moose, red deer and even free-roaming packs of dogs have rebounded.

Przewalski’s horses, native to Mongolia and once on the brink of disappearing, were introduced here in 1998 as an experiment.

Known as “takhi” in Mongolia (“spirit”), the horses are distinct from domestic breeds, with 33 pairs of chromosomes, compared with 32 in domesticated horses. The modern name comes from the Russian explorer who first formally identified them.

“The fact that Ukraine now has a free-ranging population is something of a small miracle,” said Denys Vyshnevskyi, the zone’s lead nature scientist.

With human pressure gone, parts of the exclusion zone now resemble European landscapes from centuries past, he said, adding: “Nature recovers relatively quickly and effectively.”

The transformation is visible everywhere. Trees pierce abandoned buildings, roads dissolve into forest, and weathered Soviet-era signs stand beside leaning wooden crosses in overgrown cemeteries.

Hidden cameras show the horses adapting in unexpected ways. They seek shelter in crumbling barns and deserted homes, using them to escape harsh weather and insects — even bedding down inside.

The horses live in small social groups — typically one stallion with several mares and their young — alongside separate bands of younger males. Many died after their introduction, but others adapted.

Declared extinct in the wild in 1969, Przewalski’s horses survived only through captive breeding before reintroduction efforts rebuilt a global population of about 3,000, according to Florian Drouard, an operations manager at a program for the horses at Cevennes National Park in southern France.

“This species is a remarkable example of successful reintroduction,” he said. “While it is still far from being fully secure, it has shown that with proper preparation, a species kept in captivity can regain the social and ecological behaviors needed to live freely.”

The horse, he said, has proved unexpectedly adaptable, adapted to open landscapes but now also thriving in Ukraine's partly forested environment.

Tracking the animals at Chernobyl takes time. Vyshnevskyi often drives alone for hours, setting motion-sensitive camera traps in camouflaged casings attached to trees.

Despite persistent radiation, scientists have not recorded widespread die-offs, though subtler effects are evident. Some frogs have developed darker skin, and birds in higher-radiation areas are more likely to develop cataracts.

However, new threats have emerged.

Russia’s 2022 invasion brought fighting through the exclusion zone as troops advanced toward Kyiv, digging defenses into contaminated soil. Fires linked to military activity swept through forests.

Harsh wartime winters have also taken a toll. Damage to the power grid left surrounding managed areas without resources, and scientists report increases in fallen trees and dead animals — casualties of both extreme conditions and hastily built fortifications.

“Most forest fires are caused by downed drones,” said Oleksandr Polischuk, who leads a firefighting unit in the zone. “Sometimes we have to travel dozens of kilometers to reach them.”

Fires can send radioactive particles back into the air.

Today, the zone is no longer just an accidental refuge for wildlife. It has become a heavily monitored military corridor, marked by concrete barriers, barbed wire and minefields — a landscape of what some describe as grim beauty.

Personnel rotate in and out to limit radiation exposure. Chernobyl is likely to remain off-limits for generations — too dangerous for people, yet full of life.

“For those of us in conservation and ecology, it’s kind of a wonder,” Vyshnevskyi said. “This land was once heavily used — agriculture, cities, infrastructure. But nature has effectively performed a factory reset.”

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Associated Press writers Dmytro Zhyhinas and Vasilisa Stepanenko in Chernobyl, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

He said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” and that U.S. Marines had custody of the vessel, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.

The news threw into question Trump’s earlier announcement that U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran. That had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, but Iran has not confirmed it would attend.

The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Here is the latest:

Iran says it hangs 2 convicts claimed by opposition group

Iran said Monday it hanged two men it accused of setting fire to buildings on behalf of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

An Iranian exiled opposition group earlier claimed the men as members and alleged their charges stemmed from events that happened after they already had been detained.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the men hanged as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi.

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group identified Shahi as Nima Shahi.

The MEK said the men had been “subjected to interrogation and torture” and convicted over an incident that happened before their detention.

This brings to eight the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

Hezbollah claims attack destroyed Israeli tanks

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday afternoon in an attack against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

The group said in a statement Monday that bombs planted by Hezbollah fighters exploded and destroyed four tanks in a convoy of eight tanks that was passing the village of Deir Siryan.

It was the first claim of an attack by Hezbollah since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, says global fuel prices could stabilize only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports end.

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”

Iran’s foreign minister says US is showing ‘bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy’

Iran’s top diplomat has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington’s demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark “clear signs” of America’s disingenuousness.

Abbas Aragchi made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.

It’s another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is to expire on Wednesday. It could also shake up plans for a new U.S.-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.

Iran’s military vows swift response to US seizure of Iranian-flagged tanker

The Iranian military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the Iranian vessel by U.S. forces was a violation of the ceasefire and an act of “maritime piracy,” according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster.

The United States says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.

Iranian state media suggest new talks won’t take place

There has been no comment from Iranian officials on Trump’s announcement of new talks in Pakistan this week.

But Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports on Sunday suggesting the talks would not happen. The reports came before the U.S. announcement of its seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM releases video of US firing on Iranian-flagged vessel Touska

U.S. Central Command released a message sent by a U.S. Mariner to the Iranian-flagged tanker in a video posted on X, saying it shows the moments before the U.S. seized Touska for crossing the U.S.-imposed blockade line in the Gulf of Oman.

“Motor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We are about to subject you to disabling fire,” can be heard in the video. Later, three rounds are fired, leaving smoke in their wake.

CENTCOM said its fire targeted the vessel’s engine room before forces seized the ship. It said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple U.S. warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room. The USS Spruance then fired, after which Marines boarded and took hold of the ship.

“American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,” it wrote on X.

Iran’s president calls US blockade actions provocative and illegal

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency has reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan’s prime minister earlier today. The report says Pezeshkian alleged bullying and unreasonable behavior by the United States during negotiations and the ceasefire.

The report says Pezeshkian warned that the U.S. actions and threatening rhetoric have led to increased suspicion among Iranian officials about the seriousness of the United States and the possibility that it will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy.”

The report did not say whether Iran’s president commented on a second round of talks in Pakistan, or on Trump’s announcement that U.S. forces had seized an Iranian-flagged ship.

French shipping company says one of its ships was targeted

CMA CGM said Sunday that one of its vessels was the target of warning shots. Trump said Iran had fired on French and British ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Maritime Organization confirmed that a French-flagged vessel was involved. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, said there have been 24 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East since March 1. The latest, on April 18, involved the CMA CGM Everglade, a container ship sailing under French flag. The IMO said it was damaged north of Kumzar, Oman, though no pollution or injuries were reported.

Trump said Sunday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Iran had “fired bullets” in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that “many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom.”

Trump said the US forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship Sunday that tried to get around its naval blockade

Trump, in a post on social media, said the ship was warned by a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop but it did not.

“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote.

He said U.S. Marines had custody of the cargo ship, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

The seizure escalates a back-and-forth with Iran over traffic in the strait and comes as the U.S. was preparing for a second round of in-person talks with Iran as a fragile ceasefire runs out in days.

US energy secretary describes extending waiver on Russian oil sanctions as ‘pragmatic’

The decision announced Friday at the Treasury Department came days after Secretary Scott Bessent had ruled out such a move, and Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called it “shameful.”

“Putin has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of President Trump’s war against Iran, as Russia saw oil revenues nearly double in March,” the Democrats’ statement said. “Enough is enough.”

But Chris Wright said the Trump administration’s reasoning was to ensure that India and other Asian countries receive oil that would have otherwise gone to China. He noted that India exports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Europe, where people are also concerned about fuel prices.

“These are short term, pragmatic decisions to allow oil that was already flowing to flow a different direction, and they’re temporary,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Pakistan and Iran aren’t confirming Round 2 of US-Iran talks

Six hours have passed since U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for more talks with Iran, but neither Iran nor host Pakistan have confirmed it.

Pakistan has kept up the diplomacy today, with its prime minister holding a 45-minute call with Iran’s president and Pakistan’s foreign minister speaking with his Iranian counterpart.

But while authorities have begun tightening security in Islamabad, the only player that has openly committed to another round of talks is the Trump administration.

British military says situation in Hormuz ‘critical’

The British military has declared the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to be “critical,” its highest risk level.

The military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, UKMTO, cited “a high level of activity by naval forces in the region.”

It said there is a “risk of attack or miscalculation” in the waterway.

The Iranian navy reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait as the U.S. military implements a blockade on Iranian ports and waters. The UKMTO also cited multiple attacks on Saturday by Iranian forces on vessels passing through the strait.

Israel reveals new ‘forward defense line’ in southern Lebanon after ceasefire

The Israeli military says it has established the line and released a map showing troops operating south of it.

The deployment has been described elsewhere as a “Yellow Line.” It says five divisions are working to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. The line was not mentioned in ceasefire terms published by the United States.

The map shows dozens of villages inside the zone, stretching several kilometers into Lebanon, whose residents would likely be prevented from returning.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials, but the move is likely to raise concerns in Lebanon about the scope and duration of Israel’s presence.

Pope Leo XIV sees a ‘sign of hope’ for peace in the Middle East

Celebrating Mass before an estimated 100,000 people outside the capital of Angola on Sunday, Leo praised the cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah as a “sign of hope” that he prayed would bring peace permanently to the Middle East.

Leo mentioned the conflict as he called on Angolans to denounce the exploitation of their mineral-rich land and people, who still bear the scars of a brutal, post-independence civil war. “We wish to build a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing,” Leo said.

The American pope is on an African odyssey that will take him to an epicenter of the African slave trade with a history emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in forcing human bondage, and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

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Israeli fire kills 1 Palestinian in central Gaza, health official says

The strike on a group of people in central Gaza also wounded three others, according to a health official at Awda hospital, where the casualties arrived.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

Palestinians in Gaza have reported that Israeli strikes have intensified over the past few days across the enclave. Since a fragile ceasefire deal was reached in October, deadly Israeli strikes have been a near-daily threat in Gaza, and more than 775 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

UK police investigating if Iranian proxies are responsible for arson attacks on Jewish sites

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government. No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said Sunday that the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as recently founded with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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What’s happening with ships in the Persian Gulf

Vessels trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have reversed course, according to the MarineTraffic shipping tracker.

The Iranian navy has reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait while the U.S. blockades Iran’s ports and waters. The standoff has left hundreds of vessels waiting in both directions for clearance through the waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil supplies normally passes.

Kpler, a maritime data firm, said 19 vessels had passed through the strait on Friday after Iran and the U.S. announced the reopening of the strait late last week as part of understanding between the two governments.

But on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said it had sent 23 ships back to Iran since its blockade began, and at least three vessels were attacked by Iran Saturday while attempting to cross the strait, bringing shipping to a standstill again and further straining the global energy market.

US energy secretary says talks with Iranians over Strait of Hormuz are ‘going well’

Chris Wright said the United States “is not too far away from a deal.”

“There are negotiations with the Iranians going on, despite what you hear in the chatter in public, I think those are actually going well,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Wright said Trump is “a creative negotiator” who uses “pressure in different ways, uses uncertainty in different ways.”

“I think we’ll have a nice end of this conflict,” Wright predicted, adding that restarting shipping “will take time but probably not too much time” once the strait is reopened.

Waltz calls potential strikes on power plants and bridges ‘an escalatory ladder’

Trump is renewing his threat to “knock out” every Iranian power plant and bridge if Tehran doesn’t agree to U.S. terms for ending the war.

Some experts in military law have said targeting civilian infrastructure can be a war crime, an issue that could turn on whether the power plants are legitimate military targets, whether the attacks are proportional compared with what Iran has done and whether civilian casualties are minimized.

When the war crimes question was posed to Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz said “that would be an escalatory ladder.”

Iran and its proxies “have a long history of actually deliberately hiding military infrastructure in hospitals, schools, neighborhoods and … and other civilian assets. … They have no ground to stand on,” Waltz told ABC’s “This Week.”

“It’s perfectly acceptable in the rules of land warfare,” Waltz added, noting that Iran has used drones and missiles to strike hotels, resorts and homes across the Gulf.

“So this is just a ridiculous argument,” he said.

Iranian official says US blockade amounts to war crime

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Sunday that the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline is an act of aggression that violates the shaky Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between the two countries.

By “deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crimes against humanity,” Baghaei said on social media.

Baghaei’s comments came after Iran’s renewed threats on shipping, in response to the U.S. blockade, fully reclosed the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Bahrain to review citizenship for those deemed threat to its security

Bahrain’s king has ordered a review of citizenship of those deemed a threat to the island kingdom.

The decision has come amid an intensified crackdown on dissent during the war in the Middle East.

According to the state-run Bahrain News Agency, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ordered the government to immediately take measures against “those who have betrayed the nation or undermined its security and stability,” including stripping Bahraini citizenship from those “who don’t deserve it.”

“The situation is still delicate,” the king was quoted as saying.

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has been one of the hardest hit by Iranian missile and drone attacks during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Authorities in the small Shiite-majority island, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, have detained many people over the course of the war.

Spain’s leader wants the EU to end agreement with Israel

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants the 27-nation European Union to tear up its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel.

The agreement, in force since 2000, sets out the legal and institutional framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation.

“We have nothing against the people of Israel; quite the contrary,” Sánchez said in a post on X on Sunday. “But a Government that violates international law and, therefore, the principles and values of the EU cannot be our partner.”

Spain will present a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday to end the agreement with Israel, he said.

Sánchez has been a vocal critic of the decision by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran, drawing sharp public criticism from Trump.

Residents of hard-hit Israeli border town protest ceasefire outside US Embassy

About 150 residents from Kiryat Shmona, located near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, traveled to Jerusalem on Sunday to demonstrate against the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The 10-day ceasefire announced by Trump began Friday. It is meant to shore up a broader ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Residents of northern Israel, whose communities were subject to round-the-clock barrages of Hezbollah rockets, have reacted angrily to the truce. They say Hezbollah remains a threat and has not been disarmed.

“It’s time to remove this threat from over the heads of the northern residents,” said Kiryat Shmona’s mayor, Avichai Stern.

One of the protesters, Einat Dardari, said she’s “very disappointed” that the Israeli military was forced to halt its offensive against Hezbollah. “We want security, I want security at home, I want security for my children,” she said.

Iran rebuilds its stockpile of missiles and drones, commander says

A senior Iranian military official said Sunday that Iran has begun rebuilding its stockpile of weapons and munitions as the two-week ceasefire nears to expire, state media reported.

Brig. Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Aerospace Force, said they have repaired missiles and drone launchers during the ceasefire which started on April 8, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

“Our speed in updating and refilling missile and drone launch platforms is even greater than before the war,” he said.

The broadcaster aired a two-minute video paired with uplifting music, showing missiles and drones in warehouses as well as mobile launches of missiles.

The United States and Israel say they have degraded Iran’s military capabilities over the course of the nearly six-week war.

Turkish foreign minister says Israel’s ‘fundamentalist government’ is a global problem

Hakan Fidan was asked whether Turkey could replace Iran as Israel’s main adversary, a question raised in both Turkish and Israeli media in recent weeks.

“This is a fundamentalist government. They are a problem for the whole world. This is not just a problem for Turkey,” Fidan told a news conference at the close of a three-day diplomacy forum in southern Turkey.

Turkish officials have described Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria as an “expansionist” threat to global stability. Fidan said stopping this threat is clearly on the international community’s agenda. He also described the defense agreements signed between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in December last year as a “military alliance against the Muslim countries in the region.”

Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran

Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Islamabad for the second round of in-person talks, according to the White House.

Trump in his social media post Sunday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement by firing bullets Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, and threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it does not take the deal the U.S. is offering.

“If they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei is in Israel

The far-right South American leader landed on Sunday for a three-day visit, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting the Western Wall of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Milei is scheduled to sign new binational accords with Israel and receive a Presidential Medal from Israeli President Isaac Herzog celebrating his commitment to fighting anti-semitism, Herzog’s office said. It is at least Milei’s third visit to the Western Wall.

He has backed the United States and Israel’s decision to launch a war on Iran. Earlier this month Argentina expelled Iran’s ambassador from Buenos Aires.

Milei is among a small cohort of right-leaning leaders who have deepened ties with Netanyahu’s government even as Israel faces diplomatic isolation over wartime conduct, including in Gaza and Lebanon. Some of Argentina’s South American neighbors have cut diplomatic ties or withdrawn their ambassadors,

Preparations pick up in Islamabad ahead of possible ceasefire talks

Pakistani authorities have begun tightening security in the capital, Islamabad, ahead of a possible second round of ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Authorities on Sunday deployed troops at roadside checkpoints, closed tourist sites and ordered major hotels to cancel bookings and keep facilities available.

Islamabad’s streets are largely deserted, as residents stayed home to avoid road closures seen earlier this month during the first round of talks.

While there were no formal announcements, Pakistani officials said arrangements are in place for talks in the coming days.

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said mediators were finalizing the preparations. He said U.S. advance security teams are already on the ground. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the preparations.

Pakistan has led mediation efforts to end the war. Its military chief visited Tehran last week, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander just before ceasefire

The Israeli army says it carried out a series of strikes that killed more than 150 Hezbollah fighters.

Among those killed was Ali Rida Abbas, which it said was Hezbollah’s commander in Bint Jbeil. The southern Lebanese town and its surroundings were the site of intense clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants in the days leading up to the ceasefire.

Israel gave no evidence to support its claims, and Hezbollah didn't immediately confirm the death of its commander.

The ceasefire took effect early Friday.

Iran wants ‘lasting peace,’ chief negotiator says

Iran’s chief negotiator says his country wants “a lasting peace so that war is not repeated again.”

Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments in a televised interview late Saturday, a few days before a ceasefire deadline is set to expire, according to Iranian state media.

“What is fundamental for us is distrust of the United States,” he said. “At the same time, we have good intentions and seek a lasting peace — one that prevents the recurrence of war.”

He said that the Islamabad negotiations didn’t address the mistrust, but that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators “reached a more realistic understanding of one another.”

He said that the two sides achieved progress in the Islamabad talks, but disagreement remained on some key issues, including the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.

“The gaps remain wide and some fundamental issues are still unresolved,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate with further details.

Lebanon's army reopens some roads in the south

The Lebanese army said in a statement Sunday that it reopened the Khardali road that links the southern city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun.

The army said that it also reopened the road that links the port city of Tyre with the village of Bourj Rahhal. The army is also working on reopening other roads, including a bridge on the Litani River in the village of Tayr Filsay.

During Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon over the past several weeks, Israel’s air force has destroyed several bridges on the river.

After a 10-day ceasefire was declared as of midnight Thursday, the Lebanese army and the Litani Authority have been working on putting up temporary bridges to replace the destroyed ones.

Iran negotiator says strait will remain closed

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the U.S. imposes a naval blockade on Iran.

“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said in televised comments aired by Iranian semiofficial media late Saturday.

Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States, said that the strait is now under Iran’s control, linking the choke point’s reopening to the U.S. lifting of its blockade.

“If the U.S. does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be restricted,” he said.

He said that the ceasefire was on verge of collapse when the U.S. attempted to mine-clear the strait.

He said Iran viewed the U.S. attempt as a violation of the ceasefire.

“The situation escalated to the point of conflict but the enemy retreated,” he said.

Another Israeli soldier dies in combat

Israel’s military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under 12 hours.

It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.

The military said that another soldier was badly wounded, along with four moderately wounded and four slightly injured.

The hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist is using his personal fortune to saturate TV screens and mobile phones with advertising, while his competitors accuse him of trying to use his vast wealth to buy the state’s most powerful job.

Steyer's ads — in which he promises to bring down household costs or rails against federal immigration raids — appear inescapable at times in heavily Democratic Los Angeles, the state’s largest media market. Data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact show Steyer has spent or booked over $115 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio — nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest Democratic rival.

If he makes it through the June 2 primary election, Steyer could easily eclipse the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history.

Even when ad buys from all his major competitors are combined, along with ad purchases by independent committees supporting candidates, Steyer is outspending the field by tens of millions of dollars.

“Billionaire money is flooding our state in an attempt to buy this election,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of Steyer’s chief rivals, warned her supporters this month.

Mail-in ballots are set to go out to voters next month. Steyer is among a crowd of candidates hoping to seize a spotlight after former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell's dramatic departure from the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies.

But while Steyer has ticked up in polling amid his spending splurge, he has not broken away from the field, leaving some wondering if he's getting value for his dollars.

“If your first round of ads doesn’t move you dramatically (in the polls), the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eighth rounds won’t either,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who for years advised the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “There is something inherently holding Steyer back.”

In recent prior campaigns for governor, at this stage a leading candidate was taking control of the race. This year, voters appear to be shrugging at a contest that lacks a star candidate among seven leading Democrats and two Republicans.

“Somehow the campaign is frozen,” Carrick added.

History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso's total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, when he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.

Steyer has never held elected office.

In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”

His campaign did not respond directly when asked about similar criticism facing his run for governor.

“Tom now stands as the only Democrat with the grassroots energy, institutional backing and resources to advance to the general election,” spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement.

The governor's race was recently reordered by two developments: Swalwell, a leading Democrat, abruptly withdrew from the race then resigned from Congress, following sexual assault allegations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton.

Still, there is no clear leader.

Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.

Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.

Leading Democrats are all claiming to have picked up support since Swalwell's exit. Steyer nabbed one plum endorsement, when the influential California Teachers Association, which previously backed Swalwell, recommended him.

In his ads, Steyer promises to “abolish” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been staging raids across California. In another, he laments the state's punishing cost of housing, “Everybody needs an affordable place to live,” he says.

The election on Sunday was the country's eighth in five years, illustrating a crippling political impasse that has gripped this Balkan nation. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.

The poll conducted by Trend research group showed Radev's Progressive Bulgaria earning 39.2% support, edging out the center-right GERB party of its veteran leader, Boyko Borissov, which is expected to capture 15.1% of the vote. Despite the huge gap between the two groups, the predicted percentage may not be enough for Radev to form a one-party government, and he will face the uphill task of looking for partners to govern.

The exit poll also predicted that voter turnout stood at 43.4%, and that six parties could pass the 4% threshold to enter a fragmented parliament.

Radev said after the initial projections were announced that “we will do our best to prevent having to go to the polls” again.

“It (new election) will be a disaster for Bulgaria,” he said. "It would mean going from crisis to crisis when what we have to do is work very hard to emerge from these crises.”

The snap vote followed the resignation of a conservative-led government amid nationwide protests last December that drew hundreds of thousands, mainly young people, to the streets. The protesters called for an independent judiciary to tackle widespread corruption.

If confirmed in an official tally, the victory of Radev's coalition could potentially bring to power a left-leaning leader who is seen by critics as pro-Russian. Last weekend, Hungarian voters rejected the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement of Viktor Orbán, who cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government as prime minister.

The 62-year-old former fighter pilot and air force commander has promised to give the nation a fresh start. His supporters are split on those hoping he will put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his Eurosceptic and Russia-friendly views.

Radev's popularity surged as he has cast himself as an opponent of the country’s entrenched mafia and its ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.”

Since 2021, the nation of 6.5 million has struggled with fragmented parliaments that produced weak governments, none of which managed to survive more than a year before being brought down by street protests or backroom deals in parliament.

After voting on Sunday, Radev said that Bulgaria now has a historic chance to change the alleged oligarchic model of governance. He urged people to go to the polls because mass “voting is the only way to drown vote-buying in a sea of free votes.”

Though Radev has officially denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has repeatedly opposed military aid to Kyiv and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.

Radev’s relatively vague campaign has left him open for cooperation with almost any party in the future Parliament, according to Mario Bikarski, senior Eastern and Central Europe analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Radev, however, seems reluctant to enter a formal coalition with the hard right and openly pro-Russian Revival party, Bikarski said.

Bulgaria is a European Union and NATO member country that joined the eurozone on Jan. 1, shortly after entering the border-free Schengen travel area. However, it has been plagued by political instability since 2021, when Borissov — a three-time prime minister at the time — resigned following massive protests fueled by anger over widespread corruption and injustice.

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race kicked off.

That was faster than the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race.

The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward from last year's inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

But the competition, which was held alongside a race for humans, wasn’t without hiccups — one robot fell flat at the start line, another bumped into a barrier.

Du Xiaodi, Honor's test development engineer, said his team was happy with the results. Du said its robot design was modeled on outstanding human athletes, with long legs of about 95 cm (around 37 inches), and was equipped with what he called a powerful liquid-cooling system, which was largely developed in-house.

“Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology could be applied in future industrial scenarios,” he said.

While it will still take time to achieve widespread commercialization of humanoid robots, spectators were already impressed by the robots. Sun Zhigang, who had been in the audience last year, watched Sunday's race with his son.

“I feel enormous changes this year,” Sun said. “It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”

Wang Wen, who came with his family, said robots seemed to have stolen much of the spotlight from human runners in the event.

“The robots' speed far exceeds that of humans,” he said. “This may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.”

Beijing E-Town said about 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were remotely controlled.

State media outlet Global Times reported that a separate, remotely-controlled robot from Honor was the first to cross the finish line in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. But it said the winning one used autonomous navigation and received the championship under the event’s weighted scoring rules.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the runners-up, which were also from Honor and used autonomous navigation, finished the race in about 51 minutes and 53 minutes respectively. A robot served as a traffic officer to direct the participants with its arm gestures and voice, CCTV added.

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

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three Chinese companies — AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp. — as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

They all shipped more than 1,000 units of the robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, the report said.

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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers.

Both teams played the opener without their most important player. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been out indefinitely with injuries since April 2, while Durant was a late scratch with a bruised right knee.

Los Angeles thrived by hitting 60.6% of its shots while holding the Rockets to 37.6% shooting with pesky defense. That disparity allowed the Lakers to win despite attempting just 66 shots — the fewest in an NBA game in the past three seasons — and giving up 21 offensive rebounds.

“That’s what it has to be — a collective group,” the 41-year-old James said after beginning his 19th NBA postseason. “When you’re missing so much firepower like we are right now with AR and Luka being out, we all have to do our job and maybe have to do a little bit more, protect one another offensively and defensively, and I think we did that tonight.”

Alperen Sengun scored 19 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets. Amen Thompson added 17 points.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The Lakers acquired Kennard from Atlanta in early February, and the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter became a key reserve before he seized a major role over the past two weeks. He hit four 3-pointers in Game 1 while making nine of his first 12 shots.

Durant banged knees with a teammate in practice Wednesday. Reed Sheppard five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, but the Rockets struggled to score consistently.

“We won a lot of areas, but just shot poorly,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “That’s going to be tough to beat, but there are some things we left on the table, opportunities missed."

Los Angeles also got a boost from Marcus Smart, who had 15 points and eight assists with four 3-pointers. Smart said before the series that success would come down to “willpower” — and the Lakers clearly had more for starters.

Bronny James began the second quarter playing alongside his famous father in the first significant playoff minutes of the 21-year-old's career.

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

El DJ Padre Guilherme, un cura católico portugués que pasados los 50 años se ha vuelto una celebridad en el universo de la música electrónica, celebró una “misa” multitudinaria este sábado en la histórica Plaza de Mayo con melodías techno, que incluyen temáticas religiosas, en homenaje al difunto líder de la Iglesia católica de origen argentino, quien falleció el 21 de abril de 2025.

Jóvenes, familias con niños pequeños subidos a los hombros de sus padres y ancianos, católicos y agnósticos, bailaron durante dos horas al ritmo de la música que controlaba Guilherme desde su cabina de DJ, mientras tres enormes pantallas proyectaban imágenes del difunto papa Francisco, del papa Juan Pablo II y palomas blancas.

“La danza no es moda, es pasión”, fue el mensaje que una voz en off lanzó en el preludio del show gratuito. “Dios los bendiga y vamos a bailar”. Fue entonces que el DJ ingresó con atuendo de sacerdote y auriculares. Puso las manos sobre la consola para reproducir una lista que incluyó su hit “El grano de mostaza” y remixes de Bad Bunny y Queen, entre otros.

“Esta es una oportunidad única para verlo, y encima gratis”, dijo a AP el español Jesús Martín, de 54 años, un fanático de la música electrónica. “En Ibiza debes pagar 150 euros y hasta 2.000 euros en un VIP”.

La inspiración de Francisco

Con 2,8 millones de seguidores en Instagram y más de 220.000 reproducciones mensuales en Spotify, el padre Guilherme actuó por primera vez en el país natal de Francisco, quien lo inspiró hace unos años a lanzarse profesionalmente a la aventura de “pinchar” discos.

El DJ se ordenó sacerdote en 1999, en parte por vocación religiosa y para cumplir una promesa de su madre a Dios cuando de pequeño cursó una enfermedad que puso en peligro su vida.

La música electrónica se volvió un pasatiempo paralelo a su carrera sacerdotal. En los 2000 empezó a organizar fiestas para recaudar fondos para su parroquia y a tocar en universidades, pero pedía que no le tomaran fotos por temor a represalias de sus superiores.

Aquellos miedos, recuerda hoy, se disiparon cuando Francisco asumió el liderazgo de la Iglesia católica en 2013.

“Él decía mucho: ´no tengan miedo´, de que teníamos que salir a las periferias y que 'no tengamos miedo de usar las manos´. Estos mensajes fueron una inspiración”, recordó en entrevista con The Associated Press días antes de su presentación.

Fue entonces que se anotó en una escuela de DJ´s en Porto, se puso en contacto con productores de música electrónica y empezó a componer sus propios temas. Con el tiempo, llegaron las invitaciones para participar de festivales y tocar en clubes de Portugal.

El sacerdote irrumpió en el escenario mundial tras sus actuaciones en la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud en 2023 antes de la misa al aire libre celebrada por Francisco.

“Esta ligazón con el papa Francisco nunca la voy a perder. Fue quien me tocó el corazón con esta faceta de la música”, resaltó Guilherme.

Este sábado, muchos asistentes a la Plaza de Mayo sabían poco del sacerdote DJ.

“Supe de él cuando recién se anunció el homenaje a Francisco. Yo vine para recordar al papa, pero me parece muy original lo que hace, mientras sea con respeto”, comentó Silvia Garaggiola, de 60 años.

En sus 12 años de pontificado, Francisco nunca visitó su país natal.

Evangelizar jóvenes desde la cabina de DJ

Desde el festival Medusa de Collera, España, la Dreamfields de México o el club Hï Ibiza, de ese balneario español considerado el “Vaticano” de la música electrónica, el padre Guilherme transmite un mensaje de paz y convivencia a miles de jóvenes que en su gran mayoría no son practicantes de la fe católica.

Entre humo de cigarrillos de tabaco y marihuana, varios grupos de adolescentes bailaban e imitaban los movimientos de manos del sacerdote DJ, mientras luces láser daban a la Plaza de Mayo el aspecto de una discoteca.

“Suena muy bien”, comentó Ileana González, de 17 años. “Yo de religión, cero, pero me estoy divirtiendo”.

La resistencia de la curia a modernizarse, el rechazo a las diversidades sexuales y los escándalos de abuso a menores levantaron un muro entre la Iglesia católica y las nuevas generaciones que Francisco intentó romper con su papado revolucionario.

Admirador del músico inglés Carl Cox y el italoestadounidense Anyma, el padre Guilherme busca continuar con el legado de Francisco desde su cabina de DJ.

“Creo que es muy importante hacer sonreír a los jóvenes, ayudarlos a sentirse felices consigo mismos. No asociar la felicidad con que tengo esto o tengo aquello. O conquistar esto u aquello”, reflexionó. “¿Cuál es mi lugar en el mundo, si puedo hacer esto o no? No lo sé, pero es una pequeña semilla que tocará el corazón”.