Mascherano said he made the decision to end his tenure as head coach, thanking the club for its trust, the staff for their work, and the players for helping create “unforgettable moments.”

He also expressed appreciation for the fans and said he will always remember the club’s first major title in 2025 and continue wishing Inter Miami success in the future.

“I would like to thank the Club for the trust they placed in me, every employee who is part of the organization for the collective effort, but especially the players, who made it possible for us to experience unforgettable moments,” Mascherano wrote in a statement. “I also want to thank the fans and La Familia, because none of this would have been possible without them.I will always carry with me the memory of our first star, and wherever I am, I will continue to wish the Club all the best moving forward.”

Club managing owner Jorge Mas said Mascherano will remain a key part of Inter Miami’s history, crediting him for his leadership during one of the most successful periods in club history, including MLS Cup success and a strong run at the FIFA Club World Cup. Mas said the club respects his decision and is grateful for his contributions.

In his first season, Mascherano led Inter Miami to one of its most successful campaigns, winning two major trophies, including its first MLS Cup title and the Eastern Conference championship.

The team set a league record with 101 goals across the regular season and playoffs and played 58 matches across all competitions in 2025.

Internationally, Inter Miami became the first MLS club to reach the knockout stage of the FIFA Club World Cup, the first Concacaf team to beat European opposition in an official international match, and the first U.S. team to win a game in the tournament.

The club also reached the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup and advanced to a second Leagues Cup final in three appearances.

Mascherano leaves alongside his coaching staff, who joined in January 2024.

A news release from the team states that Guillermo Hoyos will serve as interim head coach for upcoming matches.

Hoyos brings more than 20 years of coaching and playing experience across multiple countries, including Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Greece, and Cyprus, and has also worked in youth development at FC Barcelona. Since joining Inter Miami, he has overseen the club’s professional development pathway and served as sporting director.

The news release also states that Chief Soccer Officer Alberto Marrero will assume the duties of sporting director effective immediately.

Inter Miami is 3-3-1 on the season and sit third in the Eastern Conference with 12 points. Their next match is on Saturday as they face the Colorado Rapids at Empower Field at Mile High at 4:30 p.m.

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Agents are asking anyone with information about the shooting to come forward,

According to the FBI, the shooting occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. on April 6.

“A large group of subjects assaulted a lone victim when one of the subjects produced a handgun and fired a single shot which struck the victim,” the FBI said in a news release. “After the shots were fired, the subjects then attempted to remove the wounded victim’s watch. The watch was not stolen.”

Offset, 34, whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, was hospitalized after the shooting, while fellow rapper Lil Tjay was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct-affray and operating in traffic without a valid license.

The 24-year-old Lil Tjay, whose real name is Tione Jayden Merritt, has not been charged in the shooting, which happened outside of the building’s valet area, and denied that any fight occurred between him and Offset.

“I don’t do no damn fightin‘,” Lil Tjay told media outlets as he walked out of the Fort Lauderdale jail.

He gave an expletive-laden account of what he said happened.

“That n---- shot me. That n---- shot me. That n---- is a rat. Cap n----,” Lil Tjay said. “Weirdos. Y’all gettin’ a good a-- interview.”

Offset has since been released from the hospital.

The FBI confirmed the suspects fled the scene in two Chevrolet SUV’s after the shooting -- a matte gray Tahoe and a black Suburban.

“The black Suburban fled the area towards Hollywood, Florida, while the Tahoe fled southbound towards Miami,” the news release stated.

Offset was part of the rap trio, Migos, before going out on his own.

The trio became known as one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time. It broke out with the 2013 hit “Versace” and later earned Grammy nominations for best rap album with 2018’s “Culture,” while a track off it nabbed a nod for best rap performance.

Offset was once married to fellow rapper Cardi B, who he shares three children with. The two divorced in 2024.

Offset’s cousin, Takeoff, who was also part of the Migos group, was fatally shot in 2022.

Anyone with information about the Hard Rock shooting and those involved is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip on tips.fbi.gov.

The FBI noted that the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood is operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and “crimes committed on Indian land are subject to federal investigation.”

Los agentes están solicitando a cualquier persona con información sobre la balacera que se presente.

Según el FBI, la balacera ocurrió poco antes de las 7:30 p.m. del 6 de abril.

“Un gran grupo de sujetos agredió a una víctima que estaba sola cuando uno de los sujetos sacó un arma de fuego y disparó una sola vez, impactando a la víctima”, indicó el FBI en un comunicado. “Después de los disparos, los sujetos intentaron quitarle el reloj a la víctima herida. El reloj no fue robado.”

Offset, de 34 años, cuyo nombre real es Kiari Kendrell Cephus, fue hospitalizado tras la balacera, mientras que el también rapero Lil Tjay fue arrestado por cargos de alteración del orden público y operar en el tráfico sin una licencia válida.

Lil Tjay, de 24 años, cuyo nombre real es Tione Jayden Merritt, no ha sido acusado en la balacera, que ocurrió fuera del área de valet del edificio, y negó que hubiera ocurrido una pelea entre él y Offset.

“Yo no peleo nada de eso”, dijo Lil Tjay a medios de comunicación mientras salía de la cárcel de Fort Lauderdale.

Ofreció un relato con lenguaje obsceno de lo que, según él, ocurrió.

“Ese tipo me disparó. Ese tipo me disparó. Ese tipo es un soplón”, dijo Lil Tjay. “Raros. Ustedes están obteniendo una buena entrevista”.

Offset ya fue dado de alta del hospital.

El FBI confirmó que los sospechosos huyeron de la escena en dos SUV Chevrolet tras la balacera: una Tahoe gris mate y una Suburban negra.

“La Suburban negra huyó del área hacia Hollywood, Florida, mientras que la Tahoe se dirigió hacia el sur en dirección a Miami”, indicó el comunicado.

Offset formó parte del trío de rap Migos antes de continuar su carrera como solista.

El grupo se convirtió en uno de los más populares del hip-hop de todos los tiempos. Alcanzó notoriedad con el éxito “Versace” en 2013 y posteriormente obtuvo nominaciones al Grammy por mejor álbum de rap con “Culture” en 2018, mientras que una de sus canciones también fue nominada a mejor interpretación de rap.

Offset estuvo casado con la también rapera Cardi B, con quien tiene tres hijos. Ambos se divorciaron en 2024.

El primo de Offset, Takeoff, quien también formaba parte de Migos, murió en una balacera en 2022.

Cualquier persona con información sobre la balacera en el Hard Rock y los involucrados debe comunicarse con el FBI al 1-800-CALL-FBI o enviar información en tips.fbi.gov.

El FBI señaló que el Hard Rock Hotel & Casino en Hollywood es operado por la Tribu Seminole de Florida y que “los delitos cometidos en territorio indígena están sujetos a investigación federal.”

Sky 10 sobrevolaba la escena en North Krome Avenue y West Okeechobee Road a las 12:15 p.m., donde el vehículo quedó calcinado a un lado de la vía.

La carretera fue cerrada al tránsito.

Funcionarios de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue confirmaron que una persona fue trasladada en helicóptero al HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.

No se dieron a conocer más detalles de inmediato.

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Sky 10 was above the scene on North Krome Avenue and West Okeechobee Road at 12:15 p.m. as the vehicle was scorched on the side of the roadway.

The road was shut down to traffic.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials confirmed that one person was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.

No other details were immediately released.

Officers with the Florida City Police Department said they responded just after 10 p.m. to the area of Northwest 12th Street and Northwest Fifth Avenue after reports of a man who had been shot.

Police said they found the victim lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to his chest and hand. They said emergency responders provided aid at the scene before transporting him to Jackson South Medical Center for treatment.

According to an arrest report, investigators recovered two .40-caliber spent casings near the location of the shooting near the 400 block of Northwest 12th Street.

Detectives later learned that the suspect, Mendez Nerette, who the victim knew as “Zoe,” had traveled to Doral and contacted police there, stating he wanted to speak with investigators about the incident and turning over a gun he allegedly used in the shooting.

Police said Nerette waived his Miranda rights and gave a statement to detectives describing a confrontation that began at an abandoned apartment where he said he was gathering belongings.

Nerette claimed a man confronted him at a back door, accused him of breaking into a car, and struck him in the head with a baseball bat after telling him “you broke into my car and stole my stuff,” according to the report.

Police said Nerette told investigators that after fleeing and later returning to retrieve his belongings, he encountered the same man again, and the confrontation escalated a second time.

Nerette told officers he then fired two shots, striking the victim before running from the area, the report states.

Police said the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office was notified of the case.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Nerette was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Como parte de un acuerdo con la fiscalía, la exfuncionaria electa de 51 años se declaró culpable este martes de un cargo de hurto mayor en tercer grado en relación con un caso de corrupción de 2024 en el que las autoridades la acusaron de acumular alrededor de $100,000 USD en compras personales con una tarjeta de crédito del distrito.

Los fiscales alegaron que Navarro utilizó la tarjeta oficial para comprar comida, comestibles, electrodomésticos, vacaciones y más.

Al menos dos de las compras resultaron inusuales: los investigadores dijeron que compró un par de “vientres de embarazo artificiales de silicona” tras una ruptura con su novio, en un aparente intento, cuando tenía 48 años, de convencerlo de que estaba embarazada, durante un período en el que lo seguía y acosaba.

Antes de la ruptura, las autoridades alegan que utilizó la tarjeta del distrito para comprar artículos para el negocio de batidos de su novio en Hollywood.

Como parte del acuerdo, los fiscales aceptaron retirar un cargo adicional de hurto mayor, además de dos cargos de fraude organizado. Bajo el acuerdo, fue sentenciada a 14 meses de prisión seguidos de libertad condicional.

También deberá pagar más de $101,000 USD en restitución.

Navarro no podrá postularse para un cargo público durante su período de libertad condicional de tres años, el cual puede finalizar a la mitad por buen comportamiento.

Las autoridades la detuvieron inmediatamente después de la audiencia judicial del martes.

La fiscal estatal de Miami-Dade, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, emitió un comunicado tras la declaración de culpabilidad el martes, señalando en parte que Navarro “ha admitido su culpabilidad y ha aceptado su sentencia” en lugar de “intentar evitar las consecuencias de sus acciones”.

“No hay duda de que yo y mi equipo de fiscales e investigadores de corrupción pública continuaremos asegurando que nuestro gobierno funcione para el pueblo de Miami-Dade, y no para el beneficio financiero de quienes ocupan cargos o posiciones”, dijo Fernandez Rundle.

Geoff Yang, chairman of the Masters competitions committee, issued a code-of-conduct warning to the Garcia on the fourth tee. The conduct policy was new to the Masters this year.

“I want to apologize for my actions Sunday at The Masters tournament,” Garcia said in a social media post. “I respect and value everything that The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club is to golf. I regret the way I acted and it has no place in our game. It doesn't reflect the respect and appreciation I have for The Masters, the patrons, tournament officials and golf fans around the world.”

Garcia, the 2017 champion, began with a bogey and then hit a weak fade on the par-5 second hole that was headed to the bunker. He recoiled his driver onto the tee, and then turned and slammed his club into the turf.

Without repairing the damage, Garcia then smacked his driver against a wooden bench holding a water cooler, and the head of the club was left dangling from the shaft.

Garcia declined to discuss what was said by the official, saying after his round, “I’m not going to tell you.” When asked about it again he replied, ”Next question."

He also did not apologize for his behavior after his closing 75 to finish in 52nd place among the 54 players who made the cut.

“Just obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens,” Garcia said.

Garcia has not finished in the top 10 in the 29 majors he has played since beating Justin Rose in a playoff at Augusta National in 2017. He has missed the cut six times in eight appearances at the Masters since winning.

Asked about his record, Garcia said, “Bad golf.” When a reporter asked him to be more specific, Garcia said, “Bad shots.”

Garcia was disqualified in 2019 at the Saudi International for damaging greens in frustration. His antics over the years include angrily kicking off his shoe when he slipped during a tee shot at the World Match Play in 2001, and the shoe nearly struck an official.

He also spit into a cup during a World Golf Championship at Doral after three-putting.

The PGA Tour has been developing the code-of-conduct policy the last few years, and the Masters was the first tournament to put it into effect. The PGA Championship also be using it next month at Aronimink Golf Club.

After the warning, a second violation during the tournament is a two-shot penalty, while a third violation would mean disqualification.

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

Mascherano, a former teammate of Messi at Barcelona and with Argentina's national team before reuniting with him as coach, is leaving for personal reasons, the team said.

“I would like to thank the club for the trust they placed in me, every employee who is part of the organization for the collective effort, but especially the players, who made it possible for us to experience unforgettable moments,” Mascherano said in remarks released by the team.

The move comes not even two weeks after Inter Miami opened its new stadium near Miami International Airport. The club has tied both of its first two matches in the new facility.

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

What was once a quieter, more exclusive space is now drawing a wider crowd — from beginners to seasoned players.

At the center of it all, is the Sunrise Center for Excellence in Chess. The program has expanded the game’s reach through tournaments, weekly open play and community events.

“What chess teaches is for you to just think one or two moves ahead in life,” said Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan, who helped build the program with support from the city commission. “A lot of folks don’t know where to go to learn how to play. They’re scared to go find a teacher. So the city of Sunrise set up a free open play every Saturday morning, and we have instructors there.”

On a recent Saturday at the Sunrise Athletic Complex, that mission was playing out in real time — open play unfolding alongside a tournament, both drawing a steady crowd.

The junior players took the boards first.

Parents were escorted out of the gym, left to watch through the windows as the room sharpened and the focus set in.

“We’ve got to create some discipline for the parents as well,” Ryan said. “That they can’t help them. They have to let them go do their thing.”

The tournament is just one part of a broader effort to make chess more accessible and inviting.

Ryan said the idea grew out of his time with the PTA, where he saw both the benefits of the game and the barriers to entry — clubs that often drew in students who already knew how to play, leaving others out.

With backing from the city commission, the center was created to change that — offering a space where players of all levels can learn, compete and connect.

“It’s never been about trophies,” he said. “We’re going to measure our success by whether the students feel like they’re more confident. Are they more engaged? Are they going to become better architects, better lawyers, better doctors, better mayors? Smarter and prepared for life ... and that’s really been the focus.”

For players like Jacorey Bynum, that access has made a difference.

A local athlete, Bynum first discovered chess after showing up to play basketball and noticing games nearby. What began as curiosity turned into commitment — and eventually, a title as a National Master.

“It’s all about gameplan,” said Bynum. “Like at the start of the opening I know what I’m going to do and what I want to do.”

Parents say the appeal extends beyond competition — pointing to a space that’s diverse, welcoming and open to all.

Eric Kuhn said his children are learning that every move matters — and every mistake teaches.

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

The latest entrant is Olivia Troye, who was an aide to former Republican Vice President Mike Pence and has become a vocal critic of President Donald Trump. She announced Tuesday that she'll run in Virginia's newly created 7th Congressional District, joining an already crowded field.

Voters will decide April 21 whether to adopt a Democratic-drawn congressional map that could help the party win four more U.S. House seats, a rare and enticing prospect for ambitious Democrats.

“I just feel like we need people that are going to stand up and fight,” Troye said. “And I’m not seeing that right now, across the Democratic and Republican parties."

The proposed district where Troye wants to run was designed to be an easy general election win for Democrats, taking in territory that is now part of six different districts.

About a half-dozen Democrats have announced plans to run in the district if voters approve the new boundaries. They include Dorothy McAuliffe, Virginia's former first lady, and former federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney, who served as a deputy to special counsel Jack Smith and was fired by Trump.

The sprawling district would have a population center in the heavily Democratic northern Virginia suburbs of Washington and would stretch deep into rural areas that favor Republicans.

Crowded primaries also are shaping up in some of the other newly formed districts, though the 7th District has an unusually deep stable of prominent candidates.

Virginia is the latest state to push a partisan redistricting plan beforethe 2026 midterms, when Democrats are looking to gain the House majority and the power it would give them to stymie Trump’s agenda.

Virginia's map aims to give Democrats the edge in 10 of the state's 11 U.S. House districts, replacing the current map that elected a congressional delegation with six Democrats and five Republicans.

Trump instigated a redistricting arms race last year when he pressed Texas Republicans to adopt new boundaries aimed at giving Republicans as many as five new House seats there. California voters responded with a plan favoring Democrats. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have adopted Republican-friendly maps.

Democrats in Maryland this week rejected a plan to adopt a map favoring their party, while Florida Republicans are pressing ahead with their own redistricting plan.

Federal investigators said that they are still searching for the suspects who assaulted Offset last Monday night outside of Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, just north of Miami. Throughout the assault, a single shot was fired into Offset's leg before an unsuccessful attempt to remove the rapper's watch, the statement said. Offset, who rose to fame as part of the influential hip-hop trio Migos, was hospitalized for a couple of days, but swiftly returned to the stage at a performance at a music festival at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.

The suspects fled the scene in two Chevrolet SUVs that went in separate directions: A black Suburban that fled towards Hollywood, Florida, and a Tahoe that fled southbound towards Miami.

Following the shooting, officers detained two people, but law enforcement hasn't shared evidence to directly tying either one to the shooting.

One of the people detained was rapper Lil Tjay, born Tione Jayden Merritt. He was arrested in connection with an altercation that occurred before the shooting, the Seminole Police Department in Florida said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a valid license. His lawyer, Dawn M. Florio, told The Associated Press last week that Lil Tjay did not have a gun and was not charged with any weapons or gun-related crimes. He was swiftly released after posting bond.

Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, launched his career with Migos, one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time. The Atlanta trio is celebrated for their rapid-fire triplet flow, an often-imitated delivery that changed the trajectory of trap.

The group had several multiplatinum selling singles, including “Bad and Boujee,” which went No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stir Fry,” and “Narcos.” Migos released four full-length albums across their career.

More than three years ago, Offset’s cousin Takeoff, another member of Migos, was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley.

The pump has the capacity to handle nearly 11,000 gallons per minute, taking flood water out of the Durrs and Dorsey Riverbend neighborhoods while capturing debris and sediment, preventing pollutants and trash from entering adjacent waterways.

“We’re entering the rainy season,” Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Pam Beasley-Pittman said. “Whew. Thank you. We got this done.”

The pump, which Beasley-Pittman said will bring “faster drainage, safer streets and greater peace of mind for families and businesses,” also features a backup generator, an electrical building and a transformer pad on site.

Three years prior, the two neighborhoods were one of several in Fort Lauderdale left inundated after record-breaking rain.

“I’ve never seen so much water in my life,” Dorsey Riverbend resident Zachary Bailey said. “It was actually knee-deep.”

The pump project is just one of many the city plans to complete over the next decade.

“This project is just a milestone,” Fort Lauderdale City Manager Rickelle Williams said. “We have many more to go.”

It’s part of the “Fortify Lauderdale” initiative, which is being broken into two phases.

Crews have finished projects in two other low-lying neighborhoods: Edgewood and River Oaks.

Up next to complete phase one will be the Progresso, Victoria Park, Southeast Isles and Melrose Manors neighborhoods. Those projects are expected to be complete within three years.

By 2034, city officials say they hope to have projects done in more than a dozen more neighborhoods.

“We want the World Cup to serve the people here, and not a cash cow for the few,” said Jonathan Alingu with Central Florida Jobs with Justice.

With matches less than 100 days away, dozens of labor and community groups gathered in downtown Miami on Tuesday, demanding answers from FIFA and the local host committee.

“For the past two years we have been trying to have a seat with the stakeholders so that the Miami host committee prioritizes human rights,” said Kris Beckford with the South Florida AFL-CIO.

Nearly 30 organizations, from labor unions to community advocates, rallied outside the Miami-Dade Government Center.

Their concerns centered on worker rights, fair pay and public safety.

Katherine Passley with Beyond the Bars says, “Mega events like this don’t just bring fans, they bring exploitation, they bring over policing, they bring systems that profit off of our most vulnerable.”

Advocates say they’ve met with organizers multiple times but claim little has changed.

“Right now, FIFA has said that host cities are expected to implement human rights protections, but expectations are not enforcement, and promises are not protection,” added Passley.

Immigration advocates added their voices, pointing to broader human rights concerns.

“When the games are being played, when there are events like the fan fest, there should be a suspension of the 287G agreements, at least while these events are happening, so that local police are not mandated to assist in this immigration enforcement,” said Thomas Kennedy with the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

With global attention soon heading to South Florida, organizers say they want transparency and real change.

“The door is open from us to the county and host committee to engage,” said Alingu.

Local 10 has reached out to FIFA for comment but has not yet received a response.

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The Florida Forest Service responded to the wildfire burning in Naples on Monday.

Officials said the fire erupted at about 9 a.m. at Picayune Park.

As of Tuesday morning, officials said the fire was 15% contained and had spread to 1,500 acres.

Footage captured from I-75 traffic cameras showed thick clouds of smoke billowing from the area.

This comes as Naples is under extreme drought conditions.

Officials are taking caution as windy conditions could cause the flames to spread.

Evacuation orders have been issued for about 150 residents in the area and shelters have been opened. Some horses were also evacuated from the area.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said evacuations have been lifted for the Forest Glen community, but evacuation orders are still in place for Stable Way, Newman Drive, Barton Gilba Drive, Benfield Road and Le Buffs Road.

Officials warn people not to operate drones in the area as it “impedes the safety of the first responders and interferes with fire operations.”

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As part of a deal with prosecutors, the 51-year-old former elected official pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a third-degree grand theft charge in connection with a 2024 corruption case in which authorities accused her of racking up about $100,000 in personal purchases on a district credit card.

Prosecutors alleged Navarro used the official card to buy food, groceries, appliances, vacations and more.

At least two of the purchases veered into the bizarre: Investigators said she bought a pair of “artificial silicone pregnancy bellies” after a breakup with her boyfriend in an apparent attempt by the then-48-year-old to convince him she was expecting, during a period in which she followed and harassed him.

Before the breakup, authorities allege she used the district card to buy items for his Hollywood smoothie business.

As part of Navarro’s plea, prosecutors agreed to drop an additional grand theft charge, plus two organized fraud charges. Under the agreement, she’s sentenced to spend 14 months in prison followed by probation.

“I just accepted full responsibility for my actions,” she said in court. “I can now begin to put this behind me and serve the time that I have accepted to be able to repair and apologize sincerely to my entire community for all of my actions.”

She’ll also have to pay more than $101,000 in restitution.

Navarro’s three-year probation term can be terminated halfway through for good behavior. She’s prohibited from running for office ― but only during that term ― meaning it’s possible that South Florida hasn’t seen the last of Navarro in public office.

“This community is really embracing of those who recognize their wrongdoing and strive to do better,” Ben Kuehne, Navarro’s attorney, said. “We have seen many situations that are sad, but that turn into positives. We expect Lubby is going to be one of those situations.”

Authorities took Navarro into custody immediately after Tuesday’s court hearing.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle issued a statement after the plea Tuesday, saying in part that Navarro has “admitted her guilt and has accepted her sentence” instead of “seeking to avoid the consequences of her actions.”

“Let there be no doubt that I and my public corruption team of prosecutors and investigators will continue ensuring that our government operates for the people of Miami-Dade County, not for the financial benefit of those holding office or position,” Fernandez Rundle said.

If Navarro does want to run for office in the future, she’ll have to get her rights restored first as a convicted felon.

Kuehne said for now, Navarro will focus on completing her prison sentence and rehabilitation.

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The Parkway Middle School student, who appeared in juvenile court Tuesday morning, has been suspended from school until further notice.

The boy was in court with his father and is not being held in juvenile detention.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on May 18.

According to police, officers were called to the school, located at 3600 NW Fifth Court, at about 7:30 a.m. Monday after the school resource officer was notified by a school behavioral technician that a student had been displaying what appeared to be a weapon prior to boarding a school bus.

Police said the student was found running through school grounds when he arrived on campus, and he was detained by the school officer.

A handgun-style BB gun was then found in his backpack, authorities said.

Police said the student is facing charges of possession of a weapon on school grounds and possession of a BB gun by a minor under age 16.

According to BCPS, the student is also facing “appropriate disciplinary measures in accordance with the Code Book for Student Conduct.”

BCPS confirmed that a tip from a student and parent led to the potentially dangerous discovery at the Lauderhill school.

Interim Principal Ackimo Charles said in a message to parents, in part, “We received information from a student and parent about a possible weapon on campus. We immediately placed our school on Lockdown and notified our School Resource Officer and security team, who safely handled the situation and confiscated the weapon.”

“He told me he was going to bring it to school, but I told him not to do it, but he still went ahead,” a student told Local 10 News. “And one of my other friends told him not to do it.”

After police got involved, the lockdown was lifted and school operations continued as normal.

Charles praised the student and parent who reported the weapon, saying that the idea of “see something, say something” worked in this particular situation.

Police confirmed no injuries were reported during the incident and there is “no ongoing threat to the school.”

Iran responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, taking aim at U.S.-allied countries.

At least two tankers approaching the strait Monday turned around soon after the U.S. blockade began, vessel tracker MarineTraffic said in a post on X.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations agency said the blockade restricted “the entirety of the Iranian coastline, including ports and energy infrastructure.” Its notice to mariners said transit through the strait to or from non-Iranian places was not reported to be impeded though ships “may encounter military presence.”

The U.S. blockade and Iran’s threatened retaliation set up an extraordinary showdown that posed serious risks for the global economy and raised the specter that the ceasefire could collapse and the fighting could resume. Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict — which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — failed to reach an agreement this past weekend.

Trump says the blockade has begun

“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world because that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said of Iran at the White House, where he announced the blockade had started.

He suggested the U.S. remains willing to engage with Iran.

“I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side,” Trump said, adding that “they want to work a deal.”

Discussions between the U.S. and Iran about a second round of in-person negotiations are underway, two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the development said Monday. A diplomat from one of the mediating countries said Tehran and Washington have agreed to more talks.

All four spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.

Before the U.S. blockade, Tehran had allowed some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging considerable fees, leading to accusations it is holding the global economy hostage.

Some analysts are doubtful that the United States can restore normal shipping through force alone. And it’s not clear how the blockade will work or what the dangers might be to U.S. forces.

The question is essentially who can endure the most pain: Could a blockade make Iran’s economic situation untenable and force it to concede? Or will it drive global oil and other prices so high that Trump is forced to back down?

The blockade could have far-reaching effects

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced the blockade would be enforced “against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

CENTCOM’s decision to allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait was a step down from Trump’s earlier threat to blockade the waterway.

In a social media message, Trump said Iran’s navy had been “completely obliterated” but still had “fast attack ships.” Trump warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED.”

Iran issued threats of its own.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “An Iranian military statement said: “NO PORT in the region will be safe.”

The threats halted the limited ship traffic that resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, according to a report from Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire last week, down from 100 or more vessel passages per day before the war.

The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by so-called dark transits that evade Western sanctions and oversight.

But the effects will be felt far beyond Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, hovered Monday just under $100 per barrel. It cost roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

Iran says ‘if you fight, we will fight’

Top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation.

Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed U.S. the threat of a U.S. blockade as “more bluffing than reality.”

“It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and makes the market — which he is angry about — more turbulent,” he said in a post on X.

The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, addressed Trump in a statement: “If you fight, we will fight.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, demanded compensation from five Middle Eastern countries — Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates — that Iran says violated international law by aiding the war effort against it, the Islamic Republic’s state-run media reported.

Legal experts are watching

U.S. military officials have offered few details about how the blockade will actually work.

The U.S. Navy has 16 warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in the Middle East, a defense official said. A second defense official said no American warships are in the Persian Gulf, which forms most of Iran’s coastline. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

Under international law, the blockade must be impartially enforced. Legal experts will also be watching to see if the U.S. allows humanitarian aid to reach Iran.

“How it is carried out will determine whether it is lawful or not,” said Todd Huntley, a retired Navy captain and director of Georgetown University’s national security law program.

Ceasefire holds after talks end without agreement

The blockade threat came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement on Saturday.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the talks stalled after Iran refused to accept American terms on refraining from developing a nuclear weapon. Vance told FOX News Channel’s “Special Report” that some progress was made on nuclear issues, but he felt Iran’s negotiators couldn’t make a deal without approval from Tehran.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, it has pushed forward with steps that could give it the ability to build a nuclear weapon, including enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels and developing long-range missiles potentially capable of delivering a bomb.

Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said the main sticking points for Tehran were its nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief.

The ceasefire expires April 22. The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,089 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed.

___

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, Frankel from New York. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations; Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee, Konstantin Toropin, Collin Binkley, Ben Finley and David Klepper in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Jill Lawless in London; Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunis, Tunisia; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

According to an arrest report from the Sweetwater Police Department, officers responded on Feb. 27 to a warehouse at 1800 NW 129th Ave. after a semi-truck trailer loaded with approximately $105,000 in ES impact windows was reported stolen.

The report states that the victim told police the trailer had been parked behind the warehouse the previous day and was discovered missing the next morning.

Police said surveillance video showed that at about 7:50 p.m. on Feb. 26, two individuals wearing dark clothing arrived in a white Freightliner Cascadia, attached it to the trailer and drove away toward Northwest 129th Avenue.

Investigators later determined that a black Chevrolet Equinox bearing a Florida tag registered to Yudier Fabregat Martell was used to transport him to the scene and follow the stolen trailer as it entered Florida’s Turnpike from Northwest 41st Street.

Police said investigative findings indicated Fabregat Martell shared “the same physical characteristics” with one of the individuals captured on video.

Authorities also determined that a cellphone associated with him was at the scene at the time of the theft.

Police said Fabregat Martell was taken into custody on Monday and transported to SPD’s general investigations unit for questioning.

After being advised of his Miranda rights, they said Fabregat Martell admitted to being present at the scene but told investigators he had been paid to drive there and did not know the purpose of the trip, according to the report.

Police said Fabregat Martell showed detectives a photo on his cellphone that he said was sent to him the day after the theft.

They said the photo depicted the stolen windows, based on shipping and product labels. Fabregat Martell told investigators he did not know who sent the image but believed “the message was related to the sale of the stolen merchandise,” the report states.

Police said Fabregat Martell denied knowledge of the crime and the surrounding circumstances before they ended the interview with him.

Jail records show he is facing one count each of grand theft of cargo valued at $50,000 or more, third-degree grand theft of a vehicle, and dealing in stolen property.

As of Tuesday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed at $70,000. He was also placed on house arrest and ordered to stay away from the victim and the victim’s business.

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According to an arrest report obtained Tuesday by Local 10 News, the incident occurred Sunday at a Shell gas station located at 2414 N. Federal Highway.

Hanoi Lugo, 53, of Miami, was arrested later that night on a charge of firing a weapon in public or on residential property.

According to the report, someone called 911 and reported that a Hispanic man carrying a gun strapped to his chest was yelling, “Get away from me!” before firing into the ground.

Police said officers were eventually able to locate Lugo, who was “yelling unintelligible comments at random passerby.”

Police said they ordered Lugo to show his hands, however he initially refused to comply, keeping his hands behind his back.

According to the report, Lugo eventually followed commands to show his hands and sit on the ground.

A loaded Glock was located in the west alleyway of the gas station, authorities said.

Police said the gas station owner said he did not witness the shooting, but did hear a single loud bang, which he believed to be a gunshot.

In addition to the Glock, officers also confiscated an assault rifle that was found in Lugo’s van, the report stated.

As of Tuesday morning, Lugo was being held at the Broward County Main Jail on a $5,000 bond.

A motive for Lugo’s alleged actions is unclear.

Según un informe de arresto obtenido el martes por Local 10 News, el incidente ocurrió el domingo en una gasolinera Shell ubicada en 2414 N. Federal Highway.

Hanoi Lugo, de 53 años y residente de Miami, fue arrestado esa misma noche por un cargo de disparar un arma en público o en una propiedad residencial.

De acuerdo con el informe, alguien llamó al 911 y reportó que un hombre hispano con un arma sujeta al pecho gritaba “¡Aléjense de mí!” antes de disparar al suelo.

La policía indicó que los agentes finalmente lograron ubicar a Lugo, quien estaba “gritando comentarios ininteligibles a transeúntes al azar”.

La policía dijo que los agentes le ordenaron mostrar las manos, pero inicialmente se negó a cumplir, manteniéndolas detrás de la espalda.

Según el informe, Lugo finalmente obedeció las órdenes de mostrar las manos y sentarse en el suelo.

Las autoridades informaron que una pistola Glock cargada fue localizada en un callejón al oeste de la gasolinera.

La policía indicó que el dueño de la gasolinera dijo que no presenció el tiroteo, pero sí escuchó un fuerte estruendo que creyó era un disparo.

Además de la Glock, los agentes también confiscaron un rifle de asalto que fue encontrado en la camioneta de Lugo, según el informe.

Hasta la mañana del martes, Lugo permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward con una fianza de $5,000 USD.

El motivo de las acciones de Lugo no está claro.

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According to one arrest report, Miguel Gabriel Andres was part of “a group of individuals believed to be involved in ongoing motor vehicle thefts throughout the area involving Honda vehicles and air bags.”

Many of the thefts took place in Hialeah, according to arrest documents.

Andres, who has addresses in North Miami and Palmetto Bay, also faces charges out of Miami Gardens. Investigators with that city’s police department said that Broward County authorities, specifically Miramar police, are also investigating him.

Authorities said he would pull up in either a Nissan Altima or his mother’s Ford Explorer and break into vehicles. In the Miami Gardens case, he and his group are also accused of stealing a Honda.

Investigators said they’ve even caught Andres in the act, but he’s “fled several times” and managed to get away.

Authorities said just after 1:45 a.m. Monday, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper spotted the Explorer near Northeast 159th Street and Sixth Avenue, in Miami-Dade’s unincorporated Biscayne Gardens area, and pursued Andres for two blocks before stopping the SUV with a PIT maneuver.

Troopers said “Andres and two other occupants exited the vehicle” and then ran off. It’s not clear whether authorities were able to capture the two other occupants, but they did take Andres into custody.

Andres now faces more than a dozen charges, including multiple counts of burglary, grand theft and fleeing and eluding.

As of Tuesday, records show he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a bond of nearly $60,000.

Según un informe de arresto, Miguel Gabriel Andres formaba parte de “un grupo de individuos presuntamente involucrados en robos continuos de vehículos en el área, particularmente de autos Honda y sus airbags”.

Muchos de los robos ocurrieron en Hialeah, según documentos de arresto.

Andres, quien tiene direcciones en North Miami y Palmetto Bay, también enfrenta cargos en Miami Gardens. Investigadores de ese departamento indicaron que autoridades del condado Broward, específicamente la policía de Miramar, también lo investigan.

Las autoridades dijeron que llegaba en un Nissan Altima o en una Ford Explorer de su madre y forzaba la entrada a los vehículos. En el caso de Miami Gardens, él y su grupo también están acusados de robar un Honda.

Los investigadores indicaron que incluso lo han sorprendido en el acto, pero “ha huido en varias ocasiones” y logró escapar.

Las autoridades informaron que poco después de la 1:45 a.m. del lunes, un agente de la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida vio la Explorer cerca de Northeast 159th Street y Sixth Avenue, en el área no incorporada de Biscayne Gardens en Miami-Dade, y persiguió a Andres por dos cuadras antes de detener la SUV con una maniobra PIT.

Los agentes indicaron que “Andres y otros dos ocupantes salieron del vehículo” y luego huyeron corriendo. No está claro si las autoridades lograron capturar a los otros dos ocupantes, pero sí detuvieron a Andres.

Andres ahora enfrenta más de una docena de cargos, incluyendo múltiples cargos de robo a vehículo, hurto mayor y fuga para evadir a las autoridades.

Hasta el martes, los registros indican que permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de casi $60,000 USD.

Crowder’s group hadn’t taken on individual clients before. The tiny policy and advocacy shop she had joined months earlier focused on researching and reforming the state’s criminal-justice system. But when a judge asked her to represent Kennard, she agreed. When he was released, the story ricocheted nationally. That case reshaped the organization’s trajectory.

It convinced Crowder that pairing policy research with direct legal work could unlock reforms that data alone had not.

In a state dominated by a Republican supermajority and long resistant to criminal justice reform, Alabama Appleseed has become one of the South’s most unexpectedly effective advocacy groups. While expanding its programs, it has kept its focus narrow, zeroing in on freeing older inmates who received harsh sentences for nonviolent crimes committed decades earlier. Personal stories gave its research a human face to engage lawmakers and supporters. And it built coalitions in unlikely places — persuading conservative lawmakers, faith leaders, and national funders that a small, locally rooted organization could have outsize impact.

Those choices transformed the group from a four-person research shop into a 10-person, $1.4 million organization supported by national grantmakers like the NFL. Part of the broader Appleseed Network of justice centers across the United States and Mexico, Alabama Appleseed was among the first to directly represent incarcerated people. It also runs reentry services, has won bipartisan policy changes, and has come within a few votes of passing sweeping sentencing reform — offering a model for how small nonprofits can influence large public systems.

“Alabama Appleseed is doing hard work in a hard system in a state where not everyone is pumped up about rehabilitation,” says Rachel Estes, director of outreach at Canterbury United Methodist Church, which partners with Appleseed clients through its Books to Prisons program. “In a state where it’s just not top of mind, they’ve done an excellent job of educating people, of advocating for people, and helping be a liaison of this really weird thing called incarceration and prison.”

A crisis and a pivot

A former crime reporter who later became a lawyer, Crowder spent years covering Alabama’s troubled prison system before deciding she “couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” she says. She joined Alabama Appleseed in early 2019, when its annual budget was under $400,000 and its work centered on fines, fees, and racial disparities. Staff worked out of a rickety historic house in Montgomery. “There were opossums in the roof,” she says.

That same year, the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report detailing unconstitutional violence, corruption, and deadly conditions inside Alabama’s men’s prisons. The findings briefly opened a window that allowed for passage of several legislative reforms. But even some lawmakers who expressed outrage balked at meaningful sentencing reforms. For Crowder, it underscored the limits of a relying on a data-driven approach to policy change.

Crowder shifted the organization’s focus toward two goals: reducing the number of people entering prison and helping those serving extreme sentences get out.

In the past, Alabama Appleseed relied on other organizations for client stories. “We offered little more than putting their face and their terrible plight on the pages of a report,” Crowder said. “That always seemed exploitative to me.”

Taking individual cases filled a gap in legal services and gave the organization firsthand insight into how sentencing laws played out in real lives.

As more people were freed, letters poured in. Just as demand for help was growing, an unexpected opportunity arrived.

A boost from the NFL

In late 2019, the National Football League invited Appleseed to apply for funding and received a $100,000 grant to support reentry work in 2020 as part of the NFL's Inspire Change program, which started in 2017 as its social-justice platform and has helped steer more than $460 million in grants to nonprofits.

Crowder used the funds to hire another lawyer. Their next case was Ronald McKeithen, who had served 37 years for robbery. After his release, he joined Appleseed’s staff and now works on reentry support.

Today the organization has a full-time staff attorney, a part-time attorney, a case manager, a social worker, and a reentry team serving more than 30 formerly incarcerated people.

Other major funders, including Arnold Ventures, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Just Trust, have also supported Alabama Appleseed’s policy and sentencing-reform work.

Clare Graff, the NFL’s vice president of social responsibility, said the group’s scale never deterred the league. “It doesn’t much matter what the number is when the number is literally one individual’s freedom,” she said.

Lessons in focus — and restraint

By working directly with incarcerated clients, the organization learned that positive, relatable stories often persuade lawmakers more effectively than grim statistics.

But storytelling alone isn’t enough. “More people just need lawyers or reentry services. There needs to be a moment where the services available catch up to the stories,” she added.

Alabama Appleseed has also learned when not to be the messenger. Sometimes a pastor, a victim’s advocate, or a conservative lawmaker can make the case more effectively.

That discipline has helped the group win support from both parties and from Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. Twice, legislation it supported — a Second Chance Act, which would create a process for judges to review certain life-without-parole sentences — came within a few votes of passing.

Pragmatism has been central to its effectiveness, said Kevin Ring of Arnold Ventures. The organization works with anyone who can help move reform forward — prosecutors, victims’ advocates, faith leaders, and lawmakers from both parties. “They only want to see lives changed and saved,” he said.

A model beyond Alabama

Alabama Appleseed’s approach has influenced other affiliates in the Appleseed Network.

“They were one of the first ones to especially do the sort of client work that they do,” says Benet Magnuson, executive director of the Appleseed Foundation.

Within Alabama, Crowder is focused on expanding reentry support and preparing to revisit second-chance legislation.

With new support from the NFL, the group is collaborating with Appleseed centers in Oklahoma and Missouri to support women serving long sentences that are a result of abusive or coercive relationships.

Crowder says she’s learned to remain hopeful while focused on an issue littered with failures. “There are too many people talking about what’s wrong, what’s broken, what’s unjust. What sets Alabama Appleseed apart is: Yes, we identify all of those things — but then we step up and say, here’s how to make it better.”

_____

Eden Stiffman is a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article. This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of a partnership to cover philanthropy and nonprofits supported by the Lilly Endowment. The Chronicle is solely responsible for the content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Según la policía, agentes fueron llamados a la escuela alrededor de las 7:30 a.m. después de que el oficial de recursos escolares fue notificado por un técnico de comportamiento escolar de que un estudiante había estado mostrando lo que parecía ser un arma antes de abordar un autobús hacia el campus.

La policía indicó que el estudiante fue visto corriendo por los terrenos escolares cuando llegó al campus, y fue detenido por el oficial escolar.

Luego, las autoridades encontraron una pistola de balines tipo pistola en su mochila.

La policía dijo que el estudiante enfrenta cargos por posesión de un arma en propiedad escolar y posesión de una pistola de balines por un menor de 16 años.

Según BCPS, el estudiante de Parkway Middle School también enfrenta “medidas disciplinarias apropiadas de acuerdo con el Código de Conducta Estudiantil”.

BCPS confirmó que una pista de un estudiante y un padre llevó al hallazgo potencialmente peligroso en la escuela de Lauderhill, ubicada en 3600 NW Fifth Court.

El director interino Ackimo Charles dijo en un mensaje a los padres, en parte, “Recibimos información de un estudiante y un padre sobre una posible arma en el campus. Inmediatamente pusimos la escuela en cierre de emergencia y notificamos a nuestro oficial de recursos escolares y al equipo de seguridad, quienes manejaron la situación de manera segura y confiscaron el arma”.

“Me dijo que la iba a llevar a la escuela, pero yo le dije que no lo hiciera, pero aun así lo hizo”, dijo un estudiante a Local 10 News. “Y uno de mis otros amigos también le dijo que no lo hiciera”.

Después de que la policía intervino, el cierre de emergencia fue levantado y las operaciones escolares continuaron con normalidad.

Charles elogió al estudiante y al padre que reportaron el arma, señalando que la idea de “si ves algo, di algo” funcionó en esta situación en particular.

La policía confirmó que no se reportaron heridos durante el incidente y que “no hay una amenaza en curso para la escuela”.

La edad y la identidad del estudiante no han sido reveladas.

The firings are the latest wave of terminations of employees involved in cases criticized by conservatives or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump's agenda. The terminations came before the release of a report accusing the Biden administration of biased prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act."

“This Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said in a statement. "No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”

The report is the first released from the Justice Department's “Weaponization Working Group,” created by former Attorney General Pam Bondi to scrutinize the federal prosecutions of Trump and other cases criticized by conservatives.

Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, and Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted Trump, have said they followed only the facts, the evidence and the law in their decisions. Critics of the Trump administration say Bondi — who was fired by Trump this month — and Blanche are the ones who politicized the agency, with the norm-breaking actions that have stirred concern that the institution is being used as a tool to advance Trump’s personal and political agenda.

The Biden administration brought cases against dozens of defendants under the FACE Act, which makes it illegal to physically obstruct or use the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services, and prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other centers. It was signed into law in 1994, when clinic protests and blockades were on the rise along with violence against abortion providers such as Dr. David Gunn, who was murdered.

The Trump administration alleges in the report that prosecutors under Biden often “ignored and downplayed” attacks against pregnancy resource centers or houses of worship, which are also protected under the law. It also claims that the Biden administration pushed for harsher sentences against anti-abortion activists than it did in cases against abortion-rights defendants. Trump last year pardoned anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances, calling them “peaceful pro-life protesters.”

Kristen Clarke, who led the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division under Biden, defended the prosecutions, saying the attorneys "enforced the law even-handedly and put public safety at the center of this work.”

“The Civil Rights Division brought law enforcement leaders, crisis pregnancy center representatives, faith leaders, and reproductive health care staff together to address the real violence, threats of violence, and obstruction that too many people face in our country when it comes to reproductive health care," Clarke said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

The firings are part of a broader personnel purge that has shaken career Justice Department lawyers generally insulated from changes in administrations thanks to long-recognized civil service protections.

Justice Connection, a network of former department employees, said the agency leadership’s “cruelty and hypocrisy are on full display in this report.”

“They insist on zealous advocacy by career staff in advancing the President’s priorities, while shaming and firing those who did just that in the prior administration,” Stacey Young, a former department lawyer who founded Justice Connection, said in a statement. "They’ve put career employees on notice: if they do their jobs, they face potential termination if future political leadership disagrees with the policy goals of prior leadership.”

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The shooting occurred around 9:15 p.m. Friday at CW Thomas Park, located near the 800 block of Northwest Second Street, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said the preliminary investigation revealed that the victim, Cardal Wyche, was shot following an altercation with several people.

BSO deputies and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue crews said they responded to the scene and found Wyche suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Authorities said paramedics transported him to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:44 p.m.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the shooting or those involved to contact BSO Homicide Detective Kevin White at 954-321-4215 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app.

Anonymous tips can be provided to Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477, online at browardcrimestoppers.org, or by dialing **TIPS from any cellphone in the United States.

La balacera ocurrió alrededor de las 9:15 p.m. del viernes en el parque CW Thomas, ubicado cerca de la cuadra 800 de Northwest Second Street, según la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward.

Los investigadores indicaron que la investigación preliminar reveló que la víctima, Cardal Wyche, fue baleada tras un altercado con varias personas.

Agentes de BSO y equipos de rescate de bomberos del sheriff de Broward respondieron a la escena y encontraron a Wyche con una aparente herida de bala.

Las autoridades dijeron que los paramédicos lo trasladaron al Broward Health Medical Center, donde fue declarado muerto a las 9:44 p.m.

Los detectives solicitan a cualquier persona con información sobre la balacera o los involucrados que se comunique con el detective de homicidios de BSO Kevin White al 954-321-4215 o envíe una pista a través de la aplicación SaferWatch.

Las denuncias anónimas pueden hacerse a Broward Crime Stoppers al 954-493-8477, en línea en browardcrimestoppers.org o marcando **TIPS desde cualquier teléfono celular en Estados Unidos.

The end of Maryland's legislative session this week marked the demise of Democratic efforts to reshape the state's U.S. House districts. But Florida lawmakers are to begin a special session Monday for a Republican attempt at congressional redistricting. And Virginia voters are deciding Tuesday on a Democratic redistricting plan that could help the party win several additional House seats in this year's election.

Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But President Donald Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting last year when he urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.

So far, Republicans believe they could win nine additional seats in states where they have redrawn congressional districts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats elsewhere because of redistricting. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that’s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.

Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, potentially allowing them to obstruct Trump’s agenda.

Where redistricting remains in play

Officials in more than a dozen states debated or floated redistricting proposals. The immediate focus is on two states — one led by Republicans, the other by Democrats.

Florida

Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans

Proposed map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a special legislative session to begin Monday on congressional redistricting. Republicans haven't yet publicly released a specific plan.

Challenges: The state constitution says districts cannot be drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.

Virginia

Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans

Proposed map: A new U.S. House map passed by the Democratic-led General Assembly could help Democrats win up to four additional seats. For the map to take effect, voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment allowing mid-decade redistricting. That amendment is on Tuesday's ballot.

Challenges: The state Supreme Court ruled the referendum can proceed, but it has yet to rule whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a Tazewell County judge’s ruling that the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated their own rules while passing it.

Where new House districts were approved

New U.S. House districts have been adopted in six states since last summer. Four took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.

Texas

Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It put on hold a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”

California

Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans

New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.

Missouri

Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A Cole County judge ruled the new map is in effect as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit claiming mid-decade redistricting is illegal. It's scheduled to hear arguments in May on claims the new districts violate compactness requirements and should be placed on hold pending the potential referendum.

North Carolina

Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.

Ohio

Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.

Utah

Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans

New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.

Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.

Where redistricting efforts were denied

Governors, lawmakers or partisan officials pushed for congressional redistricting in numerous states. In at least five states, those efforts gained some initial traction but ultimately fell short in either the legislature or court.

Maryland

Current map: seven Democrats, one Republican

Proposed map: The Democratic-led House in February passed a redistricting plan backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that could help Democrats win an additional seat.

Challenges: The legislative session ended in April without the Democratic-led Senate voting on the redistricting plan. The state Senate president said there were concerns it could backfire on Democrats.

New York

Current map: 19 Democrats, seven Republicans

Proposed map: A judge in January ordered a state commission to draw new boundaries for the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ruling it unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in March granted Republicans' request to halt the judge’s order, leaving the existing district lines in place for the 2026 election.

Indiana

Current map: two Democrats, seven Republicans

Proposed map: The Republican-led House passed a redistricting plan in December that would have improved Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: Despite pressure from Trump to adopt the new map, the Republican-led Senate rejected it in a bipartisan vote on Dec. 11.

Kansas

Current map: one Democrat, three Republicans

Proposed map: Some Republican lawmakers mounted an attempt to take up congressional redistricting.

Challenges: Lawmakers dropped a petition drive for a special session on congressional redistricting in November, after failing to gain enough support.

Illinois

Current map: 14 Democrats, three Republicans

Proposed map: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in October proposed a new U.S. House map that would improve Democrats’ chances of winning an additional seat.

Challenges: The Democratic-led General Assembly declined to take up redistricting, citing concerns about the effect on representation for Black residents.

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Authorities identified the suspect as Karen Barrios, of Hallandale Beach.

The crash happened just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday on Marina Mile Boulevard near the southbound Interstate 95 exit ramp, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said a BSO sergeant was heading westbound on Marina Mile Boulevard when he observed the crash in the westbound lanes.

They said a white Buick, driven by Barrios, was stopped on the left side of the roadway with front-end damage, while a gray Jeep was against a wall on the right side, facing eastbound in the westbound lanes, with significant rear passenger-side damage.

The report states that sergeant briefly checked on Barrios, who indicated she was OK.

He then turned his attention to the occupants of the Jeep, who had visible injuries. Deputies said Barrios then fled the scene headed west without providing information or rendering aid.

Deputies said a second sergeant followed Barrios and located her shortly after in a parking lot in Dania Beach.

According to deputies, Barrios showed several signs of impairment, including “glassy eyes, slurred speech, and unsteadiness on her feet.”

Investigators determined the Jeep, carrying three people, was traveling westbound on Marina Mile Boulevard when Barrios exited the I-95 ramp and failed to yield the right-of-way.

Deputies said her car struck the rear passenger side of the Jeep, causing it to flip multiple times.

They said at least two people in the Jeep suffered multiple cuts. All three occupants told deputies they wished to press charges, the report states.

Deputies later detained Barrios and noted a “strong odor of alcoholic beverages coming from her breath.” They said she refused medical treatment and declined to perform field sobriety exercises at the scene.

According to the report, Barrios told deputies she is “blind in both eyes,” later clarifying she has partial vision issues and said she suffers from seizures if she does not take her medication, though she reported not having a seizure at the time of the crash.

Deputies said she later participated in a sobriety test but showed multiple signs of impairment, including losing balance, missing heel-to-toe steps, and making an improper turn.

Barrios was taken into custody and transported to BSO’s breath alcohol testing center, though her blood alcohol level was not listed in the report.

Jail records show she is facing one count of DUI, three counts of DUI causing damage to property or injury, and one count of hit-and-run involving serious bodily injury.

As of Tuesday morning, she was not listed as an inmate in the Broward County Main Jail.

Las autoridades identificaron a la sospechosa como Karen Barrios, de Hallandale Beach.

El choque ocurrió poco antes de las 6:30 p.m. del sábado en Marina Mile Boulevard, cerca de la rampa de salida hacia el sur de la Interestatal 95, según la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward.

Los investigadores indicaron que un sargento de BSO se dirigía hacia el oeste por Marina Mile Boulevard cuando observó el accidente en los carriles en esa dirección.

Señalaron que un Buick blanco, conducido por Barrios, estaba detenido en el lado izquierdo de la vía con daños en la parte delantera, mientras que un Jeep gris estaba contra un muro en el lado derecho, orientado hacia el este en los carriles hacia el oeste, con daños significativos en la parte trasera del lado del pasajero.

El informe indica que el sargento verificó brevemente el estado de Barrios, quien dijo que estaba bien.

Luego dirigió su atención a los ocupantes del Jeep, quienes presentaban lesiones visibles. Los agentes dijeron que Barrios huyó de la escena hacia el oeste sin proporcionar información ni prestar ayuda.

Los agentes indicaron que un segundo sargento siguió a Barrios y la localizó poco después en un estacionamiento en Dania Beach.

Según los agentes, Barrios mostraba varios signos de deterioro, incluyendo “ojos vidriosos, habla arrastrada e inestabilidad al caminar”.

Los investigadores determinaron que el Jeep, con tres personas a bordo, circulaba hacia el oeste por Marina Mile Boulevard cuando Barrios salió de la rampa de la I-95 y no cedió el derecho de paso.

Los agentes dijeron que su vehículo impactó la parte trasera del lado del pasajero del Jeep, provocando que volcara varias veces.

Indicaron que al menos dos personas en el Jeep sufrieron múltiples cortaduras. Los tres ocupantes dijeron a los agentes que deseaban presentar cargos, según el informe.

Posteriormente, los agentes detuvieron a Barrios y notaron un “fuerte olor a bebidas alcohólicas en su aliento”. Indicaron que ella rechazó tratamiento médico y se negó a realizar pruebas de sobriedad en el lugar.

Según el informe, Barrios dijo a los agentes que está “ciega de ambos ojos”, aclarando después que tiene problemas de visión parcial y que sufre convulsiones si no toma su medicamento, aunque indicó que no tuvo una convulsión en el momento del choque.

Los agentes señalaron que luego participó en una prueba de sobriedad, pero mostró múltiples signos de deterioro, incluyendo pérdida de equilibrio, fallas al caminar talón con punta y un giro incorrecto.

Barrios fue puesta bajo custodia y trasladada al centro de pruebas de alcoholemia de BSO, aunque su nivel de alcohol en sangre no fue incluido en el informe.

Los registros de la cárcel indican que enfrenta un cargo de DUI, tres cargos de DUI causando daños a la propiedad o lesiones, y un cargo de fuga tras un accidente con lesiones corporales graves.

Hasta la mañana del martes, no aparecía como reclusa en la cárcel principal del condado Broward.

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According to an arrest warrant, the incident happened March 8.

Fort Lauderdale police said officers working in the area were alerted about a possible altercation and a man who was bleeding from the head.

Police said the officers then made contact with two men, one of whom was “bleeding profusely from his head and was covered in blood,” and the other who had a cut to his left arm.

According to the warrant, one of the victims told officers that a man had purposefully poured liquor on a woman so he and his friends tried to intervene on her behalf.

The victim said the suspect, later identified by police as Alex Elhaouli, of Garden City, Michigan, struck his friend over the head with a Grey Goose bottle, causing the glass bottle to shatter and cause severe lacerations to the victim.

According to the warrant, Elhaouli sliced the other man on the left forearm with the bottle, causing a deep cut.

Both victims were transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where they received stitches.

A third victim approached an officer a short time later and said he was also cut by the glass bottle on his chest, authorities said. That victim went to the hospital on his own, where he also received stitches, police confirmed.

Police said a fourth victim sustained a small cut to his neck, but did not require medical attention.

Elhaouli was arrested Sunday on three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Elhaouli was not appearing in the online Broward jail database on Tuesday.

Según una orden de arresto, el incidente ocurrió el 8 de marzo.

La policía de Fort Lauderdale indicó que agentes que trabajaban en el área fueron alertados sobre un posible altercado y un hombre que sangraba de la cabeza.

La policía dijo que los agentes hicieron contacto con dos hombres, uno de los cuales estaba “sangrando profusamente de la cabeza y cubierto de sangre”, y otro que tenía una cortada en el brazo izquierdo.

De acuerdo con la orden, una de las víctimas dijo a los agentes que un hombre vertió licor intencionalmente sobre una mujer, por lo que él y sus amigos intentaron intervenir en su defensa.

La víctima indicó que el sospechoso, posteriormente identificado por la policía como Alex Elhaouli, de Garden City, Michigan, golpeó a su amigo en la cabeza con una botella de Grey Goose, provocando que la botella de vidrio se rompiera y causara laceraciones severas.

Según la orden, Elhaouli también cortó al otro hombre en el antebrazo izquierdo con la botella, provocándole una herida profunda.

Ambas víctimas fueron trasladadas al Broward Health Medical Center, donde recibieron puntos de sutura.

Una tercera víctima se acercó a un agente poco después y dijo que también fue cortada por la botella de vidrio en el pecho, informaron las autoridades. Esa víctima acudió al hospital por su cuenta, donde también recibió puntos, confirmó la policía.

La policía indicó que una cuarta víctima sufrió un pequeño corte en el cuello, pero no requirió atención médica.

Elhaouli fue arrestado el domingo y enfrenta tres cargos de agresión agravada con un arma mortal.

Elhaouli no aparecía en la base de datos en línea de la cárcel de Broward el martes.

“Smith,” “Johnson,” “Williams,” “Brown," and Jones,” remained the top five last names in the United States in 2020, as they were in 2010, according to a tally from the last U.S. head count. Most of the fastest-growing last names from 2010 to 2020 were Asian, according to the Census Bureau.

The top three of those were “Zhang,” “Liu,” and “Wang.”

Rounding out the top 10 most common last names in 2020 were “Garcia,” “Miller,” “Rodriguez,” “Davis,” and “Martinez.” The only change from 2010 was “Rodriguez” which jumped ahead of “Davis” for the No. 8 spot.

The Census Bureau has tallied counts of the most common last names in each once-a-decade head count since the 1990 Census. The 2020 Census was the first since 1990 to provide data on first names, although the Social Security Administration keeps a count of the most popular male and female first names for babies each year.

The Census tally showed that the most popular male first names at the start of this decade were “Michael,” “John,” “James,” “David,” and “Robert,” while the most common female first names were “Mary,” “Maria,” “Jennifer,” “Elizabeth,” and “Patricia.”

Not too much has changed since 1990. Back then, the most popular male first names were “James,” “John,” “Robert,” “Michael,” and “William.” The most popular female first names were “Mary,” “Patricia,” “Linda,” “Barbara,” and “Elizabeth.”

Unlike the Social Security Administration's count, the Census Bureau's tally includes everyone, not just newborns.

“The names people choose are a function of what they are exposed to, so culture certainly plays a role, but so does social influence,” said Jonah Berger, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania. “People are constantly exposed to names of others around them, and that can shape not only which names they like, but also which ones they avoid.”

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Authorities in Kansas reported several people with minor injuries after storms passed through on Monday. Three people were left with minor injuries in rural Franklin County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, according to the sheriff’s office. In Ottawa, a city of about 13,000 people, officials said there was structural damage, but there were no deaths or injuries. Power lines and trees were damaged, as well as several businesses, including one where outside walls were gone.

A National Weather Service survey team will assess damage in the Ottawa area on Tuesday to determine whether a tornado passed through there, according to Chelsea Picha, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Topeka.

In neighboring Miami County, two people reported minor injuries, several homes were destroyed and recreational vehicles and campers were overturned, according to the sheriff’s office. Power lines were de-energized in Hillsdale until cleanup could be safely completed, the sheriff’s office said.

Three tornadoes touched down in southern Minnesota, where some damage to farms was reported, according to Jake Beitlich, a meteorologist in the Twin Cities office. There were also reports of baseball-sized hail that caused damage to vehicles in the area, he said.

A tornado touched down near Gilman, a village of about 380 people in northwestern Wisconsin, said Jeff Boyne, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s La Crosse, Wisconsin, office, but he said the damage was minor. The weather service was still working to determine the tornado’s rating. The storms peeled the roof off a manufactured home in Steuben, a village of about 120 people in southwestern Wisconsin, he said, but there have been no reports of any injuries in the state.

A number of schools around the Madison area were forced to close Tuesday morning due to lack of power. More than 25,000 customers were without power in Wisconsin on Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Forecasters warned of significant river and small stream flooding expected through the end of the week in the Upper Great Lakes with the heaviest rainfall expected overnight into Wednesday with scattered flash flooding.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency Friday at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex as record snowfall in March and the recent rain have elevated water levels. More pumps were being added to help push water toward Lake Huron on Monday. As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the water level was 7.68 inches (19.5 centimeters) below the top of the structure, according to a state website.

The resolution to a months-long worry in western Pennsylvania about the paper's shutdown comes at a difficult moment for the American newspaper industry, which has shed jobs, resources and sometimes entire companies due to the upending of the traditional revenue model by the internet at the beginning of this century.

The Post-Gazette dates its ancestry to 1786, the first newspaper to open west of the Allegheny Mountains, and its closure would have left Pittsburgh as the nation’s largest community without a city-based paper.

"For us to be a vibrant, strong city, as we are, it’s imperative that we have a newspaper that demonstrates that,” said Jay Costa, the top-ranking Democrat in the Pennsylvania state Senate, whose district encompasses about half of Pittsburgh.

Operations to continue in Pittsburgh

The Post-Gazette's owners, Block Communications, said the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which publishes the digital Baltimore Banner, had agreed to buy its assets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Post-Gazette said the new owners would continue to print the newspaper on two days, Thursday and Sunday, and would operate a website on the other days.

The newspaper had been due to close on May 3.

“We are committed to working with exceptional journalists, along with civic and business leaders across the region, to build a new future for local journalism in Western Pennsylvania,” said Bob Cohn, CEO of the Venetoulis Institute. “We are clear-eyed about the task ahead. We have learned in Maryland that this work takes time, discipline and investment.”

The institute, which opened the Banner in 2022, said it has appointed David Shribman, who was executive editor of the Post-Gazette from 2003 to 2019, to its board of directors.

The Post-Gazette won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018 under Shribman, but it has been mired in labor strife in recent years.

Block Communications announced in January that it would shut down the newspaper, on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal of a lawsuit regarding health benefits to formerly striking workers.

More hope, but more questions too

The Banner, despite being so young, has also won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting. In a difficult time for the news business, the Banner has grown to have 79,500 paid subscribers.

“I'm more hopeful now for the future of the Post-Gazette than I was yesterday,” said Steve Mellon, a longtime photographer at the newspaper. Employees worried that the newspaper would be sold to a hedge fund known stripping assets of media companies, instead of a nonprofit committed to local journalism.

But he said there are still many questions, such as how many staff members will stay on with new ownership and how much Venetoulis would be willing to invest in a newspaper that has been losing money. Mellon and some other journalists at the newspaper have been exploring starting a co-op news website, and he's not sure what will happen with those plans.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a newspaper based in a Pittsburgh suburb, had been planning to add staff in Pittsburgh and begin publishing a weekend city edition the week after the Post-Gazette was set to close. Its CEO, Jennifer Bertetto, said Tuesday that those plans would not change as a result of its rival's sale.

Andrew Conte, a journalism professor at Pittsburgh's Point Park University who's been active in encouraging small news organizations in the community, said the sale offers a challenge to people in the region: To what extent will they support local journalism? “It's really in their hands,” he said.

Sara Innamorato, the executive of Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, called the paper a cornerstone of the region’s civic life for generations. Innamorato said in a written statement that the “transition to a nonprofit model represents an opportunity to strengthen independent, community-centered reporting and ensure residents continue to have access to the information they need to stay engaged and informed.”

She said a strong local news source is essential to a healthy democracy, “and that must include supporting the journalists and workers who make this work possible with good-paying, family-sustaining jobs.”

Both Block and Venetoulis described their deal as reflecting “a shared commitment to sustaining local journalism in Pittsburgh.”

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Associated Press journalists Mark Scolforo and Rebecca Boone contributed.

Sze, a highly regarded poet and translator, said in a statement Tuesday that he plans to travel the country with his project “Words Bridging Worlds,” which will include readings, discussions and workshops.

“I am excited to embark on taking my signature project, ‘Words Bridging Worlds,’ to multiple cities to celebrate poetry and poetry in translation, and where people can use the book to try translating poems from another language into English,” he said.

Sze, 75, began his first term as poet laureate last fall, during a time of upheaval at the library. President Donald Trump had fired Hayden a few months earlier, part of his battle against what he calls “woke” culture in government institutions. Trump has also pushed the Smithsonian Institution to avoid “divisive narratives,” and forced out the leadership at the Kennedy Center while adding his name to the center's building, leading many performers to call off planned appearances. The center will close for repairs this summer.

But since Hayden's departure, the Library of Congress has mostly remained out of the news and continued to hold traditional events such as the National Book Festival. The White House named then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as the acting librarian, but the library's announcements about each of Sze's appointments identify longtime library official Robert Randolph Newlen as acting librarian.

“Arthur Sze is opening the world of poetry by giving us a unique view of his process of writing and translating poetry — and challenging students and the public to try writing and translating poetry as well,” Newlen said in a statement Tuesday.

Laureates, who are expected to avoid political commentary, have a mission to "raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry,” according to the library's website. Sze's predecessors include Joy Harjo, Robert Pinsky and Billy Collins.

Sze's poetry collections include “Sight Lines,” winner of the National Book Award, and “Compass Rose,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. “Transient Worlds,” in which Sze highlights poetry in translation, was published Tuesday.

Chief Judge James Boasberg abused his discretion in forging ahead with criminal contempt proceedings over the March 2025 deportation flights, according to the majority opinion by a three-judge panel from U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

President Donald Trump’s administration has a “clear and indisputable” right to the termination of the contempt proceedings, Circuit Judge Neomi Rao wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

“The legal error at the heart of these criminal contempt proceedings demonstrates why further investigation by the district court is an abuse of discretion,” Rao wrote. “Criminal contempt is available only for the violation of an order that is clear and specific. (Boasberg's March 2025 order) did not clearly and specifically bar the government from transferring plaintiffs into Salvadoran custody.”

Rao was nominated by Trump, a Republican. Boasberg, chief judge of the district court in Washington, D.C., was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama.

On March 15, 2025, two planes transporting Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. to El Salvador were in the air when Boasberg ordered the administration to turn them around.

Administration officials claim Boasberg is biased and overstepped his authority.

Boasberg has said the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith by trying to rush Venezuelan migrants out of the country in defiance of his order blocking their deportations to El Salvador. In an April 16, 2025 order, the judge said he gave the administration “ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions” but concluded that “none of their responses has been satisfactory.”

Trump has called for impeaching Boasberg. Last year, the Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint accusing Boasberg of making improper public comments about Trump and his administration. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts publicly rejected calls for Boasberg's impeachment.

The case is assigned to Rao and Circuit Judges Justin Walker and J. Michelle Childs. Walker, also a Trump nominee, wrote a separate opinion concurring with Roa's. Childs, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented from the majority.

The USSF said Crocker was leaving to pursue an unidentified international soccer opportunity, and a person familiar with the decision, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Crocker's new job was not announced, said he will work in Saudi Arabia. His hiring by Saudis was first reported by Fox.

Crocker's departure was a surprise, given the U.S. is co-host of the World Cup starting June 11 and the contract of men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino ends after the tournament. The USSF next month will open its 200-acre, 17-field training center and office complex in Fayetteville, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb.

Dan Helfrich, hired as the U.S. federation's chief operating officer in November, “will provide executive oversight and support across the federation’s sporting operations,” the USSF said in a statement. Helfrich will work with assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu — a former national team defender — and Tracey Kevins, head of development for the women’s youth national team.

Crocker, 51, was hired by the USSF in April 2023 after serving as Southampton's director of football since February 2020.

Crocker oversaw the decisions to rehire Gregg Berhalter as men's coach in June 2023, to fire Berhalter in July 2024 after first-round elimination at the Copa America and to hire Pochettino that September.

He also made the recommendation to hire Emma Hayes as women's national team coach starting in the spring of 2024. Hayes led the women's team to the Olympic gold medal.

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

Siete profesionales de la salud se sientan por segunda vez en el banquillo de los acusados señalados de tener algún grado de responsabilidad penal en el fallecimiento de Maradona por un ataque cardiaco el 25 de noviembre de 2020, mientras cumplía una internación domiciliaria en una casa situada en las afueras de Buenos Aires. Allí el exfutbolista, entonces de 60 años, intentaba recuperarse de una cirugía practicada dos semanas antes para removerle un hematoma subdural.

Las defensas de los impotados sostienen que el capitán de la selección que conquistó el Mundial de 1986 sufría de un cuadro clínico complejo y que no hubo delito alguno.

El debate oral comenzó un mes después de la fecha prevista debido a que el tribunal de la localidad de San Isidro que lo encabeza adujo semanas atrás que una variación en el número de testigos obligaba a reorganizar el cronograma de audiencias.

Expectativas

La audiencia del martes arrancó en medio de una gran atención mediática debido a que en mayo de 2025 un primer juicio fue anulado por la conducta indebida de una jueza que integraba el tribunal a cargo del proceso.

El tribunal que encabezará el debate oral en esta ocasión está conformado por tres jueces distintos ante los cuales desfilarán unos 100 testigos. Llevará a cabo dos audiencias por semana por lo que está previsto que el proceso se prolongue varios meses.

Familiares y allegados del exfutbolista se sentaron en los bancos más cercanos al estrado donde se encuentran los magistrados.

Fernando Burlando, abogado de Dalma y Giannina Maradona —las hijas mayores del exfutbolista— dijo confiar en el nuevo tribunal en declaraciones realizadas a periodistas antes de entrar a la sala de audiencias. “Depositamos muchísima confianza; son jueces de mucha experiencia y trayectoria”.

Burlando señaló que las hijas de Maradona “llegan muy cansadas” al nuevo proceso judicial. “Es muy difícil, son las hijas de Maradona y eso ya no es fácil y la circunstancia de que ni siquiera puedan tener un instante de alivio para saber lo que pasó con el papá... aunque nosotros estamos convencidos de lo que pasó”.

Mientras el abogado hablaba algunos fanáticos de Maradona se apostaron en las inmediaciones con banderas y carteles.

Acusados e imputaciones

La fiscalía sostiene que durante la internación médica en la vivienda alquilada por Maradona para recuperarse de la operación los profesionales acusados no lo atendieron adecuadamente.

Entre los principales acusados están el neurocirujano Leopoldo Luque, la psiquiatra Agustina Cosachov y el psicólogo Carlos Díaz; además están imputados los médicos Nancy Forlini y Pedro Di Spagna; Mariano Perroni, representante de la empresa que ofrecía el servicio de enfermería y el enfermero Ricardo Almirón. Todos ellos cumplieron algún papel en la internación domiciliaria del exfutbolista.

Los procesados están acusados de homicidio simple por dolo eventual, que es cuando el victimario sabe que su conducta puede ocasionar un daño, pese a lo cual continúa con la acción. Se castiga con una pena máxima de 25 años de prisión.

Escándalo judicial

El primer juicio sobre la muerte de astro comenzó en marzo de 2025 y fue declarado nulo dos meses después en medio del escándalo en que quedó envuelta la jueza Julieta Makintach, uno de los miembros del tribunal y quien participó en la realización de un documental sobre el caso sin el consentimiento debido, lo que habría viciado el proceso. Makintach terminó siendo destituida.

The negligence case centers on seven medical professionals accused of failing to provide adequate care in the weeks leading up to Maradona’s death five years ago at a home outside Buenos Aires. Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, died at age 60 from cardiac arrest while recovering from a procedure to treat a blood clot on his brain.

The seven defendants are charged with culpable homicide, a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter that alleges that the accused were aware that their reckless conduct posed a risk and failed to prevent it. If convicted, they face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.

Defense attorneys argue that the captain of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning team suffered from multiple serious medical conditions and that no crime was committed.

Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some because of an excess of drug and alcohol consumption. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.

Among those on trial are physician Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal doctor during the final years of his life, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Díaz.

Hearings will take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Slightly less than 100 witnesses are expected to testify, including family members, people close to the former player, medical professionals and police officers.

Judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani and Pablo Rolón are expected to deliver a verdict in early June.

Fernando Burlando, attorney for Maradona's two eldest daughters and plaintiffs in the case, Dalma and Giannina, told reporters before Tuesday’s hearing that he had confidence in the new panel.

“We place enormous trust in them," Burlando said. ”They are judges with extensive experience and backgrounds."

He said that Maradona’s daughters remain “very exhausted.”

“It is very difficult," Burlando said. “They are Maradona’s daughters, and that alone is not easy, and the fact that they cannot even have a moment of relief to know what happened to their father ... although we are convinced of what happened.”

The initial trial ended in a mistrial last May after Julieta Makintach, one of the three judges overseeing the proceedings, stepped down following criticism over her participation in a documentary about the case.

Makintach withdrew after prosecutors presented footage showing her featured prominently in the documentary “Divine Justice,” which covered events from the aftermath of Maradona’s death, when allegations and suspicions of foul play first emerged, through the start of the trial.

“I present my resignation with serenity, without renouncing the right to exercise my defense in the appropriate arenas,” Makintach wrote in a letter sent to judicial authorities in June.

Maradona died on Nov. 25, 2020, weeks after undergoing surgery for a subdural hematoma. He had been admitted earlier that month to a clinic in La Plata, suffering from anemia and dehydration, before being transferred to Clínica Olivos, where he underwent the procedure. After being discharged on Nov. 11, he moved to a home outside Buenos Aires, where he remained under medical supervision.

A 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death released a report in 2021, where they accused Maradona’s medical team of acting in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner,” leaving him in agony and without help for more than 12 hours before his death.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

It was Key's third straight winning season. Even so, the 9-4 finish felt incomplete after the program's first 8-0 start since 1966. The Yellow Jackets fell short of their goals of competing for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and playing in the College Football Playoff.

Key added 19 players through the transfer portal and has used spring practice to reload behind new offensive coordinator George Godsey and new defensive coordinator Jason Semore. Georgia Tech's spring game is scheduled for Saturday.

Georgia Tech fell out of the AP Top 25 by losing four of its last five games, including its last three to Pittsburgh, Georgia and BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Key still landed a new five-year contract. He then turned to the transfer portal to strengthen Georgia Tech's roster in hopes of a better finish in 2026.

One of Georgia Tech's most notable additions was Indiana backup quarterback Alberto Mendoza, who announced his transfer decision less than 24 hours after winning a national championship.

Mendoza could take over as the Yellow Jackets' starter after he backed up his older brother, Fernando Mendoza, who is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in next week's NFL draft. Georgia Tech is looking to replace dual-threat star Haynes King.

The younger Mendoza completed 18 of 24 passes for five touchdowns and an interception and ran for 190 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman in 2025.

Mendoza is competing with Graham Knowles, Cole Bergeron, Grady Adamson and Ben Guthrie this spring.

“None of those guys have really played a lot of meaningful game reps,” Key said. “So it’s a developmental position for us right now. ... I think it’s a good room, but I think Alberto has a chance to be a good player for us this year. He’s also going to make mistakes. That’s why you have to be able to run the football. That’s where you have be able take pressure off of a quarterback.”

Former Alabama and Michigan running back Justice Haynes also could start in Georgia Tech's new-look offense under Godsey, the former Baltimore Ravens tight ends coach. Haynes said Godsey was a reason he chose Georgia Tech.

“I knew he was going to bring a pro style offense,” Haynes said of Godsey. “Him being in the league for so long and the pedigree that he has, and I know what coach Key’s about, just being an O-line guy. I know he’s going to want to run the ball, but I know he is going to want to be explosive in everything he does.”

Haynes' father is former Georgia and NFL running back Verron Haynes.

Key believes Georgia Tech needed more size and he added nine offensive and defensive linemen through the portal, including five listed at more than 300 pounds. There are three tight ends in the class of transfers, including Gabe Harris, who previously played at Michigan and New Mexico State.

Key did much of his portal shopping from the Southeastern Conference bin. He added former Alabama defensive end Noah Carter, former Auburn offensive lineman Favour Edwin, former Alabama offensive lineman Joseph Ionata and former Alabama cornerback and wide receiver Jaylen Mbakwe.

Key has led the Yellow Jackets to a 27-20 record in three-plus seasons, including eight games as interim head coach in 2022. He was named the permanent head coach for the 2023 season.

___

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La derechista Keiko Fujimori y el ultraconservador Rafael López Aliaga lideraban el martes el lento conteo al computarse el 75% de los sufragios.

Fujimori se mantenía primera con 16,88%, según el cómputo preliminar de la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), pero ese respaldo es insuficiente para asegurarle una victoria en primera vuelta para la que la ley exige el 50% más uno del total de los votos válidos.

López Aliaga, candidato del partido Renovación Popular y exalcalde de Lima, se ubicaba en segundo lugar con 12,81% de apoyo tras una campaña marcada por la alta dispersión del voto.

En un cercano tercer lugar estaba Jorge Nieto Montesinos con 11,87% y con chances matemáticas de ingresar a la segunda vuelta prevista para el 7 de junio.

La lentitud en el conteo, aunque mayor al promedio de los países de la región, también caracterizó a los últimos comicios presidenciales de Perú en 2021, cuando el 100% se alcanzó cinco días después de la votación.

El Tribunal Electoral ordenó el domingo continuar el lunes la votación para 52.561 personas que no habían podido sufragar porque las boletas no llegaron a una decena de colegios en Lima. El lunes también hubo votaciones en Orlando y Paterson, Estados Unidos.

Esta es la cuarta vez que busca la presidencia la candidata de Fuerza Popular e hija del fallecido expresidente Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). Durante la campaña la dirigente política prometió combatir la delincuencia con las Fuerzas Armadas y construir nuevas cárceles.

Perú celebró los comicios en medio de una crisis política que ha provocado el desfile de ocho presidentes y tres Congresos en una década y un incremento de la delincuencia que los ciudadanos identifican como su mayor preocupación.

En el último quinquenio las denuncias por extorsión —un delito que ha provocado protestas y paralizaciones frecuentes del transporte público— se han quintuplicado, mientras los asesinatos se han duplicado, de acuerdo con datos oficiales.

Los peruanos también votaron para escoger a 130 diputados y 60 senadores de un Congreso bicameral en el que el Senado tiene amplios poderes.

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Its marine unit had just finished patrol when they said an unexpected “dock inspector” showed up -- a manatee!

Officers caught the manatee drinking fresh water flowing from the boat while crews waited for it to move along.

For safety reasons, police say they did not dock the boat until the manatee swam away.

The Florida manatee is a native species found in many waterways across the Sunshine State, and according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are only 8,350 left.

The threatened species is “considered one of the state’s keystone species whose behavior can alert researchers to the environmental and habitat changes that may otherwise go unnoticed in Florida’s waterways for extended periods of time,” the FWC stated on its website.

To report a distressed or dead manatee, call the FWC at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922). Cellphone users may also call #FWC or *FWC.

Su unidad marina acababa de terminar una patrulla cuando, según dijeron, apareció un inesperado “inspector del muelle”: un manatí.

Los agentes captaron al manatí bebiendo agua dulce que fluía desde la embarcación mientras esperaban a que se alejara.

Por razones de seguridad, la policía indicó que no atracaron el bote hasta que el manatí se alejó nadando.

El manatí de Florida es una especie nativa que se encuentra en muchas vías acuáticas del estado y, según la Comisión de Conservación de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de Florida (FWC), solo quedan 8,350.

La especie amenazada es “considerada una de las especies clave del estado cuyo comportamiento puede alertar a los investigadores sobre cambios ambientales y de hábitat que de otro modo podrían pasar desapercibidos en las vías acuáticas de Florida durante períodos prolongados”, indicó la FWC en su sitio web.

Para reportar un manatí en peligro o muerto, llame a la FWC al 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922). Los usuarios de teléfonos celulares también pueden llamar a #FWC o *FWC.

The 30-second message features a variety of voters, among them a busy farmer and a flight attendant, explaining why they cast their ballots by mail. Sponsored by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union, the advertising campaign announced Tuesday will begin airing this week in Ohio, where Union Army soldiers during the Civil War cast the first mail ballots in 1864. It will then move to other states.

The ad ends with the message: “Vote by mail — keep it, protect it, expand it.” It comes two weeks after Trump signed an executive order that seeks to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and subsequently bar postal workers from sending absentee ballots to those who are not on each state’s approved list.

The order was met swiftly with lawsuits and opposition from postal workers. The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association said USPS is “not equipped or authorized to decide who is or is not entitled to vote” and pushing it into such a role “risks politicizing one of the nation’s most trusted public institutions.” The union also said it threatens confidence in the mail and in elections.

Messages were left seeking comment from the White House and the Postal Service.

Jonathan Smith, president of American Postal Workers, said his union's TV ad was produced before Trump's executive order was issued, not in response to it. An executive order on elections that Trump signed last year also targeted mail ballots by seeking to require they be returned by Election Day, even though more than a dozen states allow a grace period.

Smith said the union wants to encourage people to continue voting by mail. But he expressed concern about the potential ramifications of requiring postal workers to determine who should receive an absentee ballot and who should not.

“It is our position that it is not the job of the postal workers to verify voter eligibility," he said. "It is our job to move mail from one destination to the next. He added: “We do not want to be politicized.”

Trump's latest election executive order is already facing lawsuits by various groups, including Democrats in Washington who argue that the Constitution empowers states and Congress, not the president, to set election rules.

Trump, who as recently as last month voted by mail, has publicly bashed mail voting as a source of fraud and is pushing Congress to curtail it through sweeping legislation. Mail voting has existed for more than a century and had steadily been increasing in popularity in both Democratic- and Republican-led states until 2020, when Trump started to target the method, levying baseless claims of mass fraud. It has now becomes less popular among Republicans.

A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that cases of mail voting fraud occurred in only a tiny fraction of total mail ballots cast — about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots.

The TV ad is intended to be a direct message to voters, not the president.

“Our message is to America: Vote by mail is efficient, it’s safe, and it’s successful. Period,” Smith said. “This is educating the American people that you can use vote by mail and you can be guaranteed that your voice will be heard and your vote will be counted.”

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A March 19 court filing states that Glidden, 52, and Hochstein, 43, are each facing one count of interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications.

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

Records show Glidden was taken into custody Saturday. He no longer appeared in the online jail database on Monday.

Leonard “Lenny” Hochstein, a prominent plastic surgeon in South Florida, is Lisa Hochstein’s ex-husband. They share two children.

According to a Page Six article from May 2023, Lenny Hochstein accused his ex-wife of planting a “listening device” on his car in an attempt to “monitor” his calls.

Lisa Hochstein denied the claims to Page Six.

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

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, told Local 10 News the warrant is currently under seal.

Un documento judicial del 19 de marzo indica que Glidden, de 52 años, y Hochstein, de 43, enfrentan cada uno un cargo por interceptación de comunicaciones telefónicas, orales o electrónicas.

La descripción de los cargos señala que entre el 12 y el 31 de marzo de 2023, ambos “de manera ilegal e intencional” interceptaron, intentaron interceptar o intentaron que otra persona interceptara “declaraciones orales de Leonard Hochstein y de las personas con las que Leonard Hochstein hablaba”.

Los registros muestran que Glidden fue detenido el sábado. Para el lunes, ya no aparecía en la base de datos en línea de la cárcel.

Leonard “Lenny” Hochstein, un reconocido cirujano plástico del sur de Florida, es el ex esposo de Lisa Hochstein. Ambos comparten dos hijos.

Según un artículo de Page Six de mayo de 2023, Lenny Hochstein acusó a su ex esposa de colocar un “dispositivo de escucha” en su vehículo en un intento de “monitorear” sus llamadas.

Lisa Hochstein negó las acusaciones a Page Six.

La abogada Jayne Weintraub, representante legal de Hochstein, y los abogados Howard Srebnick y Frank Gaviria, defensa de Glidden, emitieron una declaración conjunta a Local 10 News el lunes por la tarde en la que indicaron: “Este asunto es parte de un proceso de divorcio contencioso y no pertenece a un tribunal penal”.

Por su parte, la Oficina del Fiscal Estatal de Miami-Dade informó a Local 10 News que la orden judicial se encuentra actualmente bajo reserva.

“Este caso nos ha estado atormentando desde el año en que llegué”, dijo.

Fue el 6 de abril de 2024 cuando Onyxia Delinos, de 26 años, estaba trotando delante de su grupo cerca de Miramar Parkway y la avenida 184 del suroeste, cuando de repente fue atropellada por un vehículo cuyo conductor huyó de la escena.

Delinos sufrió una lesión grave en la cabeza que cambió su vida para siempre. Desde entonces requirió atención las 24 horas, pero la semana pasada falleció.

“Lo que aún no hemos recibido es esa llamada clave, esa llamada clave que nos va a ayudar”, dijo Moss.

La policía de Miramar indicó que continúa investigando activamente el caso y sigue varias pistas, pero lo que ha dificultado la investigación es que no hubo testigos ni cámaras de vigilancia en el área.

La policía dijo que tampoco han encontrado un vehículo con daños relacionados con el atropello.

“En este momento es difícil decir qué tan cerca estamos, porque no tenemos esa llamada clave”, dijo Moss. “Creo que cuando la tengamos, podremos decir: ‘Sí, esto es definitivamente’. Porque hemos tenido pistas en el pasado”.

El esposo de Delinos, Roosevelt, está devastado.

En un mensaje de texto a Local 10 News, escribió: “No tengo palabras para describir lo que siento. Perdí a mi esposa dos veces y la persona aún sigue ahí afuera”.

Las autoridades están ofreciendo una recompensa de $15,000 USD por información que conduzca a un arresto.

“Si tiene información, por favor, haga esa llamada”, dijo Moss.

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Cellphone video obtained by Local 10 News shows the panic and chaos after the shooting that occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday outside the Five Stars Banquet Hall in Sunrise.

Friends of the victim identified him as Kendrick English.

A candlelight vigil was held for English on Monday night.

Delarno Barrett, who said he’s known English for years, is heartbroken over his death.

“It’s unreal, I can’t believe (it). I’m dazed right now,” Barrett said.

According to Sunrise police, a birthday party was being held at the banquet hall along Oakland Park Boulevard at the time. English, who is a quadriplegic, was trying to get inside when he was met at the door by 26-year-old Francisco Navarro Sanchez, who was working as a security guard, authorities said.

An arrest form says English was denied entry and there was a verbal argument.

English left and returned for a second time, at which point investigators said English swore at him and Sanchez pulled out a gun and fired multiple rounds.

Witnesses said five shots were fired, according to authorities.

English died at an area hospital.

“He’s defenseless, he can’t harm nobody,” said Barrett.

Sanchez went before a Broward County judge on Monday, facing a murder charge.

English went through so much in life after overcoming odds following a football accident as a teenager.

Local 10 News first met English in 1995 following the accident that left him paralyzed. He played for Stranahan High School.

We caught up with him nine years later when he received a specially equipped van so that he could drive.

“I’ve been looking forward to having my own independence and being able to go from point A to point B alone,” he said at the time.

Those who knew and loved English are trying to make sense of this tragedy.

“How can we explain this? It hurts,” Barrett said.

Sanchez remains behind bars at the Broward County Main Jail after being denied bond.

Un video de celular obtenido por Local 10 News muestra el pánico y el caos tras la balacera que ocurrió alrededor de la 1:30 a.m. del domingo afuera del Five Stars Banquet Hall en Sunrise.

Amigos de la víctima lo identificaron como Kendrick English.

El lunes por la noche se realizó una vigilia con velas en honor a English.

Delarno Barrett, quien dijo conocer a English desde hace años, está devastado por su muerte.

“Es irreal, no lo puedo creer. Estoy aturdido en este momento”, dijo Barrett.

Según la policía de Sunrise, en ese momento se celebraba una fiesta de cumpleaños en el salón de eventos ubicado en Oakland Park Boulevard. English, quien es cuadripléjico, intentaba entrar cuando fue recibido en la puerta por Francisco Navarro Sanchez, de 26 años, quien trabajaba como guardia de seguridad, indicaron las autoridades.

Un informe de arresto indica que a English se le negó la entrada y hubo una discusión verbal.

English se fue y regresó por segunda vez, momento en el que, según los investigadores, insultó a Sanchez, quien sacó un arma y disparó múltiples veces.

Testigos dijeron que se realizaron cinco disparos, según las autoridades.

English murió en un hospital del área.

“Está indefenso, no puede hacerle daño a nadie”, dijo Barrett.

Sanchez compareció ante un juez del condado Broward el lunes, enfrentando un cargo de asesinato.

English pasó por mucho en la vida tras superar grandes dificultades luego de un accidente de fútbol cuando era adolescente.

Local 10 News conoció por primera vez a English en 1995 tras el accidente que lo dejó paralizado. Jugaba para Stranahan High School.

Nueve años después volvimos a verlo cuando recibió una camioneta especialmente adaptada para poder conducir.

“Había estado esperando tener mi propia independencia y poder ir del punto A al punto B por mi cuenta”, dijo en ese momento.

Quienes conocían y amaban a English intentan comprender esta tragedia.

“¿Cómo explicamos esto? Duele”, dijo Barrett.

Sanchez permanece detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward sin derecho a fianza.

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According to authorities, deputies responded to the scene of a traffic crash shortly before midnight in the area of Northwest 19^th Avenue and 77^th Street.

After arriving, deputies discovered that the victim had been stabbed at a nearby location before being struck by a vehicle.

Deputies said the driver remained at the scene.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel transported the victim to a local hospital. His condition has not been released.

Deputies said they did not immediately have a description of the person who stabbed the victim.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Según las autoridades, agentes respondieron a la escena de un accidente de tránsito poco antes de la medianoche en el área de la avenida 19 del noroeste y la calle 77.

Al llegar, los agentes descubrieron que la víctima había sido apuñalada en un lugar cercano antes de ser atropellada por un vehículo.

Los agentes indicaron que el conductor permaneció en la escena.

Personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladó a la víctima a un hospital local. Su condición no ha sido revelada.

Los agentes dijeron que no tenían de inmediato una descripción de la persona que apuñaló a la víctima.

Cualquier persona con información debe llamar a Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

Coel, taking a break from writing her upcoming BBC-HBO series “First Day on Earth” in Ghana, turned up at McKellen’s house in London to go over the script with him and screenwriter Ed Solomon.

“I walked into your house,” Coel recalls in an interview alongside McKellen. “I knew who you were. You were like, ‘Hello! What are you? What are you then?’”

“You looked interesting and beautiful,” says McKellen, smiling. “And you are.”

On-screen chemistry can be elusive, especially when two characters are intended to be diametric opposites. In “The Christophers,” McKellen stars as the artist Julian Sklar, a David Hockney-like star who hasn’t painted in years and now spends much of his days grousing in his disheveled townhouse while filming personalized videos that trade on his celebrity. Coel, the creative force behind “I May Destroy You,” plays Lori Butler, an art restorer hired to be Julian’s assistant with the tacit task, while she’s there, of forging additional paintings of “the Christophers,” Julian’s most famous and highly lucrative series.

The movie, crafty and charming, is almost entirely a two-hander. It belongs to McKellen and Coel and the charged interplay between them. They are bitter foes, scheming co-conspirators and fellow artists weighing the erratic value of their work.

As screen presences and cultural figures, McKellen, 86, and Coel, 38, could hardly be more different. McKellen, a titan of Shakespeare, Gandalf of the big screen, is more than twice the age of Coel, the multihyphenate whose autobiography-tinged work has made her a voice of a much different generation.

Yet in “The Christophers,” they make one of the more memorable on-screen pairs in years, matching McKellen's warm grandiosity with Coel's cool cunning. (The difference in cheekbones, alone, is vast.) And as they showed on a recent day in downtown New York, they are also now great chums. If “The Christophers” is about two artists from wildly different backgrounds finding an understanding, its stars have gone a few steps further.

“We’re a bit silly about each other,” grants McKellen.

“Yes, we are,” agrees Coel. “It’s morning kisses. It’s cuddles. It’s ‘Oh should we have a nap?’ We buddied up very much.”

Soderbergh on ‘where life starts’

Steven Soderbergh, the restless, mercurial director of “Out of Sight,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Black Bag,” has found himself increasingly focused, he says, on distilling something to its absolute essence. “The Christophers,” which Soderbergh kick-started by throwing a few ideas at Solomon, was conceived with an old-fashioned set up.

“Two people in a room together is where life starts,” says Soderbergh.

His guiding principle in shooting “The Christophers” was not to interfere with the magnetism of his lead performers. Soderbergh serves as his own cameraman, making him essentially the third player in every scene.

“There’s something about the two of them together that adds up to more than the two of them,” the director says. “My job was to be sure I’m in the right place, always, to capture it and not indulge in any kind of trickery that would distract or diminish what they’re doing. So you have to be secure in the material and the performers and not try to tart it up because you’re worried about boring people.”

While McKellen and Coel's differences might be glaring, the two quickly found common ground.

“Guess what we’ve got in common,” McKellen says. “We’re neighbors.”

Both McKellen and Coel live in East London, about a 15 minute walk from each other. McKellen remembers being curious about the nearby Catholic school Coel attended as a girl.

“I promise you I’ve longed to look inside there,” McKellen says. “I wonder who those kids are?”

“Maybe I’ve been on the bus when you’ve been walking past,” says Coel, smiling.

Unanswered questions

They are also both, in their own way, novices when it comes to film acting. Coel has only appeared in a handful of movies; her last one was “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” a big-budget experience she’s said she wasn’t ready for. McKellen, of course, has acted in many more films — among them “Gods and Monsters,” the “X-Men” films and “Mr. Holmes.” But he begins every movie by asking his directors how to act in front of a camera.

“And they’ve never given me an answer,” says McKellen. “Martin Mann, John Schlesinger, Bill Condon, Peter Jackson, now Soderbergh.”

Coel is confused. “Are you tricking them with this question?”

“No, it’s a genuine question,” McKellen replies. “There must be a technique for acting in front of the camera. All I know is what I’ve heard Michael Caine say in chat show interviews.”

Caine’s advice was technical; in close-up, talk to the eye closer to the camera. And Kenneth Branagh once gave him a note: “Don’t move your head so much.” But as an actor most home on the stage, the camera remains mystifying to McKellen.

“Having done so much theater where the audience is present, you can hear the audience. You can detect when they’re bored, when they’re excited,” McKellen says. “You’re controlling them in a sense. You’re the master of ceremonies. They’re there. Making a film, they’re not there. The real audience doesn’t get there until the actors have gone on to the next job or died.”

Coel offers that she was once told not to blink.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” McKellen says with mock offense.

‘The cheekiest artistry’

The life of an artist — the craft, the compensation, the legacy — is at the forefront of “The Christophers.” Julian, nearing the end of his life, is pondering what he’s leaving behind. The subject of the Christophers paintings relates to a long-ago relationship that prompts Julian to remark: “That’s the thing, isn’t it? To linger in the minds of others.” For a performer whose presence has loomed so large for so many, it’s a poignant line.

“It’s been the greatest delight of my life to know that there are people in whose minds my work has lingered,” says McKellen. “Sometimes at the stage door you’ll meet a couple of my age and they’ll say, ’We just wanted to let you know we had our first date when we saw you play Romeo at Stratford in 1976. And I said, ‘Are you still together?’ ‘Yes.’ (McKellen sighs with great relief.) But to be part of people’s lives who you’ve never met, what a feeling.”

Coel is at a different point in her career, still awakening to the thrill of acting. She loves it, she says. “This is the cheekiest artistry,” Coel says, grinning.

McKellen leans back and reconsiders.

“I just had a thought that you’d be very good at playing Julian Sklar, my part in the film. And I’d have a crack at playing your part.”

Coel laughs. “I love that. Swap? Well it kind of happens in a way, doesn’t it?

“It does, actually,” McKellen agrees. “They do overlap.”

“How fab,” says Coel.

Officials with the district said that the lockdown at Parkway Middle School, located at 3600 NW Fifth Court in Lauderhill, was the result of a weapon on campus.

Police said it appears to be the result of an accidental activation of a safety alert.

Some of the confusion can possibly be blamed on the type of weapon. Students told Local 10 News that it involved a BB gun.

Some students initially thought it was a drill.

“It was on lockdown for like the whole first period,” one student said.

But the seriousness of the situation became evident as the day went on.

Broward County Public Schools confirmed that a tip from a student and parent led to a potentially dangerous discovery.

Interim Principal Ackimo Charles said in a message to parents, in part, “We received information from a student and parent about a possible weapon on campus. We immediately placed our school on Lockdown and notified our School Resource Officer and security team, who safely handled the situation and confiscated the weapon.”

“He told me he was going to bring it to school, but I told him not to do it, but he still went ahead,” another student said. “And one of my other friends told him not to do it.”

After police got involved, the lockdown was lifted and school operations continued as normal.

Charles praised the student and parent who actually stepped in to say something, saying that the idea of “see something, say something” worked in this particular situation.

The center of the Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounded the Northern Mariana Islands early Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

It's the strongest tropical typhoon on Earth so far this year and was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) that were likely to bring widespread power outages to the islands, home to roughly 50,000 people.

Some areas already were seeing extensive flooding.

“It’s hitting us hard,” Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho of Saipan, told The Associated Press late Tuesday. “It’s so difficult for us to respond with this heavy rain, heavy wind to rescue people. Objects are just flying left and right.”

Camacho said some people have been rescued. He said trees were thrown about and wooden and tin structures had collapsed. He said he hoped the glass door to his office doesn't break.

“It’s already bending. That’s how powerful this is,” he said.

Farther south, in Guam, a U.S. territory with several U.S. military installations and about 170,000 residents, tropical force winds and torrential rainfall were leading to flash flooding, the weather service said.

The monster storm slowed to a crawl as it approached the islands, raising fears that the fierce winds won’t go away quickly and worsen its impact.

“This is not going to be an easy night for anyone across Tinian or Saipan. This is going to be a loud night,” said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service. Many “will wake up to a different island,” he said during a Facebook video broadcast.

Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. The worst of the storm was hitting hit during darkness and was expected to last for hours until at least daybreak Wednesday, the weather service said.

Camacho was concerned about the slow speed of the storm.

“That’s the scary part, ” He said, saying “it's better to speed up so it can just exit.”

About 50,000 people live on the Northern Mariana Islands, with most on Saipan, known for its laid-back resorts, snorkeling and golf as well as the capital.

While it’s expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku was crossing the islands as a Category 4 typhoon.

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on the island, a critical hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Before turning toward Guam and the Northern Marianas, the storm left significant damage to the outer islands and atolls of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, Aydlett said from his weather service station on Guam.

Glen Hunter, who grew up on Saipan, has weathered numerous typhoons.

“We sit in what they call ‘Typhoon Alley,’” he said early Tuesday after waking up to strong gusts and seeing downed trees.

For the most part, residents live in sturdy, fully concrete homes and those in substandard wooden houses with tin roofs tend to stay with family or in government shelters, he said.

Tourism-dependent Saipan — the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific — was still recovering from 2018's Super Typhoon Yutu when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, he said. The economy has yet to rebound, Hunter said.

President Donald Trump has approved emergency disaster declarations for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing for additional help with emergency services.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching nearly 100 FEMA staff as well as other personnel.

A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones. Monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam, super typhoons are the equivalent of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified over the past 80 years.

Typhoons and super typhoons are “very common” in the Pacific, but the peak season is similar to the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from summer to fall, said Jason Nicholls, AccuWeather’s lead international forecaster.

“As we’ve seen this year, you can get tropical systems in the West Pacific any time of year,” Nicholls said. “But getting them in April is a little unusual.”

___

Associated Press reporters Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego; Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

"A lot,” the coach said.

After a 6-21 start, the Clippers have scrapped their way into the play-in tournament. They finished 42-40, extending their NBA-best active streak of consecutive winning seasons to 15. They're the first team in league history to be 15 or more games under .500 and still end with a winning record.

“Usually a team deals with adversity maybe once or twice throughout a season,” Lue said, “but not five or six times.”

The Clippers host Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in a play-in game Wednesday night. The winner moves on to an elimination game Friday. The loser goes home for the summer.

“Pretty remarkable turnaround,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I know Ty well. One of his strengths is just staying the course and really keeping the guys on an even keel, and that’s not easy to do when you’re 6-21.”

The Clippers' woes weren't just on the court.

Kawhi Leonard and the team remain the subject of a league investigation that began last September into whether the Clippers circumvented the NBA's salary cap to pay Leonard as part of an endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt sponsor. There's no timetable for the outside law firm looking into the matter to wrap up.

The Clippers have said they welcome the investigation and have denied any wrongdoing.

“It doesn’t impact anything we do on a daily basis,” Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, said in February. “We know it’s out there, we know at some point there’ll be a decision made.”

The starting lineup took a blow in the early weeks of the season when Bradley Beal suffered a season-ending fracture that required surgery.

After warmly welcoming Chris Paul back to the franchise last fall, the team banished him in December.

He was sent home from a road trip in a sudden move. The 40-year-old future Hall of Fame point guard had aimed to retire with the Clippers after his 21st NBA season.

Then came the February trade deadline, and the Clippers shed their label as the league's oldest team by trading away 36-year-old James Harden and longtime fan favorite Ivica Zubac.

At times, it seemed the upheaval would overshadow their hosting of All-Star weekend at their 2-year-old arena.

Lue credited his players' resiliency for their ability to withstand a roller-coaster season.

“To not give up, not give in, it just shows a lot about the guys in the locker room that care to what they bring every single day,” he said.

Kerr compared the Clippers’ resurgence to the 1977-78 Seattle SuperSonics, who began with a dismal 5-17 mark that got their coach fired and under new coach Lenny Wilkens finished 47-35. They reached the NBA Finals that season before winning the franchise’s only championship the following year.

No one is predicting that kind of playoff run for the Clippers, but they've already survived an improbable set of circumstances.

“We always knew we were a better team that what we were showing,” veteran Brook Lopez said, “but to go out there and prove it, it’s a nice little honor.”

___

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

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin defended his coalition government by saying it had acted to end the “destructive blockade.”

The vote passed 92-78 preserving his leadership. If he lost, his government would have had to resign and Parliament would have either elected a new prime minister or called a general election.

Martin defended the tax cuts the government has offered as the largest in Europe to cope with fuel prices that have soared after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital channel for the world’s oil.

“The basic core claim that we are doing nothing and are falling behind other countries is simply untrue,” Martin said.

Martin led a motion to support his coalition made up of the center-right Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties along with some independents ahead of a no-confidence vote brought by Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party.

Opposition politicians blasted Martin for failing to respond sooner to the protests, criticized the aid package as insufficient and said the government was failing to tackle the broader cost-of-living crisis in Ireland.

Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was brazen of the coalition to bring the confidence vote after abandoning struggling, hardworking people.

“As you backslap, congratulate, flatter each other, just know that beyond your bubble people see a government out of touch,” McDonald said. “It is your own arrogance, your lack of judgment, your lack of any empathy that has left people with no conclusion other than this: Your time is up."

Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit, Aontu, The Green Party and Independent Ireland said they would vote against the government.

Protests began April 7 with slow-moving convoys clogging roadways. They grew as word spread on social media as truckers, farmers and taxi and bus operators blocked key infrastructure and the main thoroughfare in the capital, Dublin.

Demonstrators called for price caps or tax cuts to alleviate soaring fuel costs they said will drive people out of business.

Martin said the government can learn from the protests, but defended the response by police and military to clear roadblocks at the country's sole oil refinery at Whitegate in County Cork and at several depots. They caused more than a third of gas pumps to run dry.

“We had to clear Whitegate and the ports because we export about 90% of everything we make in this country,” Martin said. “The ports are the lifeblood of economy, and if the ports were blockaded for any length of time, people would have lost jobs, part-time production would have ceased, and it would have been very, very serious."

The demonstrations were tolerated until the weekend, when police used pepper spray in clashes with some protesters and an army truck knocked down a log barricade at the Galway port. Many protesters said they achieved their goal in getting the government to compromise.

Lawmakers were also scheduled to vote Tuesday on the fuel support package amounting to 505 million euros ($595 million) that Martin said will ease some cost-of-living pressures.

The package would include direct payments to truckers and school bus operators and fuel subsidies for agricultural and fishing industries. The relief measure would follow a 250 million euro tax break approved three weeks ago.

Electoral authorities continued the count for a third straight day after the failure to deliver ballots to voting centers forced authorities to extend voting into Monday.

With 75% of ballots tallied, official results on Tuesday showed Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a disgraced former president, leading the count with 16.8% of support, while Rafael López Aliaga, the ultraconservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima, earned 12.8%.

Jorge Nieto Montesinos held a close third place with 11.87% of the vote, maintaining a narrow mathematical chance of reaching the June 7 runoff.

The sluggish pace of the count mirrored Peru’s 2021 presidential election, a contest where final tallies weren't completed until five days after the polls closed.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. The two candidates with the most votes will advance to the runoff. The winner will be Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

The election has been mired with logistical issues that left thousands of people in the country and abroad unable to cast ballots. That prompted authorities to allow more than 52,000 residents of Lima to vote on Monday. The extension, announced after vote counting had begun Sunday evening, also covered Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey.

“I’m fed up,” Iris Valle, 56, said as she waited to vote Monday at a public school in Lima. She feared that her employer would cut her pay for not showing up early, because she had to meet her voting obligation.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. Failure to do so comes with a fine of up to $32.

The election took place amid a surge in violent crime and corruption that has fueled widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency.

Peru’s economy, however, has defied both the crime surge and the political instability stemming from a revolving door of presidents, having had three since October alone. Aided by its status as one of the world’s largest copper producers, the country posted more than 3% growth in 2024 and 2025. Though that’s lower than the 5%-6% annual growth it saw in the 2000s.

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, explained that the independence of the country’s central bank has also contributed to economic growth.

“Although Peru has had all these presidents, it has had only one central bank president since the mid-2000s, Julio Velarde,” Freeman said. “He’s been a real source of stability and given investors some confidence that there is an institutional core that remains from one presidency to the next in Peru.”

Still, Freeman warned, Peru can't afford to be complacent as current growth is lower than the 5%-6% annual rates the country saw in the 2000s and recent congressional decisions point to “a more conservative economic populism.”

In her fourth bid for the presidency, Fujimori has promised to crack down on crime with an iron fist, but she has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. The laws, which her party backed in recent years, eliminated preliminary detention in certain cases and raised the threshold for seizing criminal assets.

If elected, she has said that judges presiding over criminal cases will be anonymous and prisoners will have to work to earn their food.

Meanwhile, López Aliaga has proposed building prisons in the country’s Amazon region, allowing judges to conceal their identities and expelling foreigners who are living illegally in Peru.

Voters were also asked to choose the members of a bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, following recent legislative reforms that concentrate significant power in the new upper chamber.

___

Regina Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.5% from February and 4% from March 2025. The year-over-year gains was the biggest in more than three years. Energy prices surged 8.5% from February.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose a modest 0.1% from February and 3.8% from a year earlier. The gains in wholesale prices were smaller than economists had forecast.

The surge in prices complicates the work of the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve, who have faced intense pressure from President Donald Trump to lower their benchmark interest rate. But some Fed policymakers are inclined to raise rates instead, as higher energy costs increase the inflation threat.

Food prices, which will most certainly be front and center in next year's midterm elections, fell by 0.3% in March after surging by 2.4% in the previous month.

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably measures of health care and financial services, flow into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index.

The most recent peek at inflation in the U.S. validates a recent shift by the U.S. Federal Reserve to intensify its focus on rising costs, wrote Carl Weinberg, the chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

“The decline in food prices is overdue, and welcome news for everyone,” Weinberg said Tuesday. “Food price increases are at the core of political arguments over affordability.”

The Labor Department reported last week that soaring gasoline prices pushed consumer prices up 3.3% last month from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year increase since May 2024. Compared to February, March consumer prices jumped 0.9%, biggest gain in nearly four years.

The war in Iran will lead to an annual decline in oil demand for the first time since the pandemic, when billions of people were trying to live in isolation, according to a forecast Tuesday by the International Energy Agency.

The agency, formed after the 1974 oil crisis, said that oil demand is expected to decrease by an average of 80,000 barrels a day this year, a sharp revision from the increase of 850,000 barrels a day that it had forecast before the war began.

The drop-off in March was particularly severe because of attacks on energy infrastructure and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the IEA, which expects a decline in demand of 1.5 million barrels in the current quarter.

While the biggest cuts in oil usage have initially come from the Middle East and Asia Pacific region, demand destruction is anticipated to spread as oil prices increase and scarcity continues.

The campaign of attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are trafficking drugs in Latin American waters has persisted for more than seven months and continues even as the military has been preoccupied for more than six weeks with the Iran war.

It was the second day in a row that U.S. Southern Command announced a strike on social media. It said Sunday that it blew up two boats in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing a total of five people and leaving one survivor. It was not immediately clear what happened to that person.

With the latest attack Monday, at least 170 people have been killed in the boat strikes since the effort began in early September, months ahead of the U.S. 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.

U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It posted a video on X showing a small boat floating in the water before a huge blast hits it and smoke is seen pouring from the vessel.

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.”

Trump on Monday appeared to reference the tactic of boat strikes in Latin America while issuing new threats against Tehran as a blockade of Iranian ports took effect.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“For all those who crave a good page turner, this is one wild ride of a story that carries equal parts wit and wisdom,” Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday. “I learned so much about Stoicism — I laughed out loud for real. And underneath the humor there was always something tender … a quiet truth about relationships, identity, and what it means to find peace with yourself.”

Semple, whose new book was published this week, is best known for such bestsellers as “Today Will Be Different” and “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.” Her interview with Winfrey was taped for the “Oprah Book Club Podcast,” which can be seen through Winfrey's YouTube channel.

“To authors, ‘to get the call’ means one thing: Oprah has phoned out of the blue and made you a book club pick,” Semple said in a statement. “Truth is, I should have been prepared, considering the countless hours I’d spent in fantasyland imagining it happening to me … before scolding myself that it was an honor bestowed on other, more serious writers. When, while tidying the kitchen, I heard her voice for the first time, I hit the ceiling in bewildered, grateful, joy. I’m still there.”

The approach sharply differs from much of Europe’s prevailing attitudes on immigration in which governments are trying to reduce the number of arrivals and step up deportations, and contrasts with the harsh immigration policies of the Trump administration.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hailed the measure as “an act of justice and a necessity." He reiterated his government's position that people who already live and work in the country of 50 million people should “do so under equal conditions” and pay taxes.

“We recognize rights, but we also demand obligations,” Sánchez wrote on social media.

The government estimates that half a million people living in the shadows of Spanish society could be eligible to apply; analysts say the number is likely higher. Spanish think tank Funcas estimates there are roughly 840,000 migrants living in Spain without authorization.

Spain's population has risen sharply in recent years to include around 10 million people who were born outside the country, or one in every five residents. Many are from Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco.

Immigrants from Latin America and African countries work in key sectors including agriculture, tourism and the service sector.

Those who meet certain conditions can now apply for a one-year residency and work permit, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said, adding that migrants could begin applying in person on April 20 and online on Thursday. The window to apply will close June 30.

Immigrants must have arrived in Spain before Jan. 1 and must prove that they have been living in the country for at least five months. That can be done by presenting “public or private” documents, Saiz said. Applicants must also show that they have no criminal record, the government said.

After a year, the migrants will be eligible to apply for other work or residency permits.

Major questions remain about how Spain's government will handle the expected amount of paperwork within the short timeframe.

A Spanish union representing immigration officers demanded more resources on Tuesday, warning that the government is not prepared to meet the challenge.

Migrants will be able to apply in-person in 60 social security offices, 371 post offices and five immigration offices across Spain, the government said.

It's not the first time that Spain granted amnesty to immigrants who are in the country illegally. It did so six times between 1986 and 2005, including under conservative governments.

Spain's opposition Popular Party slammed the measure, with party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo calling it unsafe and unsustainable. His center-right party carried out two previous mass legalizations of migrants in the early 2000s.

The Sánchez government's measure was fast-tracked via a decree that amends immigration laws. By doing it that way, the government was able to bypass parliament, where it lacks a majority and where a previous amnesty attempt stalled.

Saiz lauded the measure as a way that Spain, which has been among the fastest-growing European Union economies for two years, can continue to expand.

“Our prosperity is demonstrably linked to our management of migration and the contributions of foreign workers,” she said. “Their contribution allows us to grow economically, generate employment and wealth, and maintain our welfare system.

But three months later, the entire Harris family was absolutely devastated when their brand new family member took a terrible turn.

“He was drooling at the mouth, bubbling at the mouth. It was just heartbreaking, it was horrifying,” said Scott Harris.

The family’s Siberian husky named Bodhi had gotten into a case of rat poison.

They immediately called poison control.

“We explained to the woman what had happened and she said, ‘Yeah, that’s a 15-pack package,’” said Harris. “So I had found three of the disks, thrown them away. Apparently he had eaten 12.”

One disk has enough toxin to kill a 25-pound puppy like Bodhi.

“This is bromethalin, there’s no cure for it,” said Harris. “It’s a poison that creates inflammation in the brain and the brain swells -- neurological damage that it creates -- and she said, ‘There’s no cure.’”

Unlike rodenticide that does have a cure, this dose of deadly toxins is expected to be terminal.

“It’s absolute death,” said Harris. “This dog is exhibiting the symptoms. He has so much poison in his system, there’s no way. Anything we do now is just going to be torturing him.”

After following their veterinarian’s orders, they fed Bodhi more than 100 active charcoal tablets, but the poison was still causing seizures and symptoms of neurological damage.

So they made the painful decision to euthanize their 4-month-old puppy.

“I was convinced that this was just a downhill slope and anything we did beyond euthanizing was just inhumane, was going to be torturing the poor puppy,” said Harris.

But behind the scenes, a rescue group was ready to take a chance on the beautiful blue-eyed baby.

Rebecca Landerman, with Rescue Dog Network, thought there was a fighting chance, so she lined up a foster family.

“The first night he came he was definitely not great,” said foster parent Martine Lebel. “He was not doing well, he had a hard time keeping his eyes open, he just kept falling on the side.”

Bodhi was sent to the ICU for 36 hours to receive fluids and a drug to reduce the swelling of his brain.

And then he had an unbelievable bounce back.

Bodhi was happy, healthy and healed!

“As a dog owner, to have your dog brought back from the dead, because they thought their dog was dead,” said Landerman.

That led to an emotional family reunion.

Nobody could comprehend how the dog that had eaten enough poison to kill a human somehow had survived.

“I still don’t know what to think,” said Harris. “I’m ready to change his name to Ghost, and the crazy thing is it all happened around Easter, so we’re like, this dog is being reborn.”

Hialeah police arrested Tanaijah Leanna Mason, 18, of West Park, for crimes that occurred back in March.

According to police, Mason was with two other women on March 5 inside the Sedanos supermarket located at 3950 W. 12th Ave. when they took approximately $1,500 worth of baby formula without paying.

Authorities said on the same day, Mason tried stealing another $1,500 worth of formula from a Publix in Hialeah, but when the women were stopped, they took off.

Four days later, police in North Miami Beach said a group of four women pulled off a similar crime at a Target located at 14705 Biscayne Boulevard.

On Friday, police said Mason was discovered to already be in custody “for arrests matching this exact same MO throughout Miami-Dade County” and that “similar cases involving the same group of females has also been reported in Broward County,” according to an arrest form.

An additional case out of Miramar is under investigation, but police cannot confirm if the crimes were committed by the same group.

Wang Hao, Tesla's vice president, said the Shanghai facilities, like other Tesla factories, will contribute after the company enters an era of robots.

Wang, who also serves as president of Tesla China, told reporters on a government-organized tour of one of its Shanghai factories that CEO Elon Musk once noted having production at scale is a critical challenge in manufacturing humanoid robots.

Wang said he believes the Shanghai manufacturing arm “is a golden key to solving this challenge," but did not specify how the operation will support the company's robotic business.

Musk has urged investors to focus less on car sales and more on what he considers a bright artificial intelligence future of robotaxis ferrying millions in cars without drivers, or even steering wheels, and robots watering plants and taking care of elderly parents.

Musk earlier underlined that shift by announcing Tesla had decided to end production of two older car models, S and X, in the second quarter and convert a Fremont, California, factory to instead produce its Optimus robots.

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia said Tesla shipped fewer than 500 general-purpose embodied, intelligent robots in 2025. Still, the company is among the vendors that showcased industry-leading advancements in AI capabilities, its report said.

Tesla entered the mainland Chinese market in 2013 and the factory Wang spoke at delivered the company's first made-in-China vehicles in late 2019. The factory delivered 851,000 electric vehicles in 2025, accounting for more than half of Tesla's total global deliveries that year.

A separate factory began production in Shanghai in 2025, marking the firm's launch of commercial energy storage manufacturing in China.

___

Leung reported from Hong Kong. Video producer Olivia Zhang contributed to this report.

In fact, a new Fox News poll indicates people are more upset about taxes than they were last year. The findings from the survey, which was conducted in late March, are another sign that Americans are on edge about their personal finances as the U.S. experiences a spike in inflation and sluggish economic growth. Other polling finds that frustration goes beyond personal tax obligations, with many believing that wealthy people and corporations are not paying their fair share, while others worry about government waste.

The surveys come after Trump and Republicans passed a massive tax and spending cut bill last year. The legislation enacted a range of tax breaks, including a boosted child tax credit and new tax deductions for tips and overtime. Tax refunds are up this season, and many households are expected to see more income from the Republicans' tax legislation, but the Congressional Budget Office estimated it will ultimately give the largest benefits to the richest Americans.

Republicans have touted the law as evidence that they are making life more affordable for working families. But polling shows that many Americans may not be feeling the benefits, especially as their tax refunds get eaten up by higher prices.

Most say taxes are too high

About 7 in 10 registered voters say the taxes they pay are “too high,” according to the Fox News poll. That’s up from about 6 in 10 last year. The poll shows heightened concern among very liberal voters and Democratic men, but there has also been a sizable increase among groups that Republicans want to court ahead of the midterm elections, such as moderates, rural voters and white voters without a college degree.

Discontent about taxes has been rising for the past few years. Recent polling from Gallup, conducted in March, found about 6 in 10 U.S. adults say the amount of federal income tax they have to pay is “too high,” a finding that’s been largely consistent in the annual poll since 2023. That’s approaching the level of unhappiness found in Gallup’s polling from the 1980s through the 1990s, before President George W. Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Now, about half of Democrats and about 6 in 10 Republicans say their federal income taxes are too high. Republicans tend to view their tax bill more negatively than Democrats, but Gallup’s polling shows that this gap often shrinks when a Republican is president.

Many believe the rich aren’t paying enough in taxes

Most Americans are troubled by the belief that some wealthy people and corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in January. About 6 in 10 Americans said each of those notions bothers them “a lot,” a measure that is largely unchanged in recent years.

By contrast, only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults in that poll said the amount they personally pay in taxes bothers them a lot.

About 8 in 10 Democrats are bothered “a lot” by the feeling that some corporations and rich people aren’t paying their fair share, the Pew survey found, compared to about 4 in 10 Republicans. Government spending is a bigger issue for Republicans, according to the Fox News poll, which found that 75% of registered voters — and a similar share of Republican voters — say “almost all” or “a great deal” of government funding is wasteful and inefficient.

That points to a perception problem for many Americans. Even if their own tax bill is manageable, the idea that the wealthy are underpaying — or that the government is wasting their dollars — bothers many. About half of Americans, 49%, in the Gallup poll say the income tax they will pay this year is “not fair,” which is in line with the record high from 2023.

Broad unhappiness with Trump’s tax approach

Americans’ tax frustration was rising before Trump re-entered the White House, but it’s still a problem for the president's party — especially if Americans are not feeling the relief that he promised.

The Fox News poll found that about 6 in 10 registered voters, 64%, say they disapprove of how Trump is handling taxes, up from 53% last April. Disapproval has risen most sharply among independents, but also among Democrats and Republicans.

This aligns with a broader feeling that Trump isn’t doing enough to address inflation. Most Americans said Trump had hurt the cost of living “a lot” or “a little” in his second term, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in January. Roughly 9 in 10 Democrats and about 6 in 10 independents said Trump has had a negative impact on the cost of living.

——-

This story has been updated to correct that less than half of Republicans, 43%, said Trump has helped the cost of living, while 33% said he hasn't made a difference and only 23% said he has hurt it.

___

The Fox News poll was conducted among 1,001 registered voters from March 20-23. The Gallup poll was conducted among 1,000 U.S. adults from March 2-18. The Pew Research Center poll was conducted among 8,512 U.S. adults from Jan. 20-26. The AP-NORC Poll was conducted among 1,203 U.S. adults from Jan 8-11.

Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union announced on social media that it won a tentative agreement with “major gains” including raises and more hours. The district announced that an agreement in principle had been reached with SEIU Local 99 allowing schools to be open Tuesday and they would work to finalize the details of a tentative agreement.

SEIU Local 99 said the tentative deal also included protections against subcontracting, stopped IT layoffs and increased staffing. SEIU Local 99 told members to report to work as usual on Tuesday and thanked its fellow unions and the Los Angeles community, saying the “victory belongs to ALL of us.”

Teachers, principals and staff had been prepared to walk out for a strike if the deal was not reached. Unions representing teachers and principals reached tentative contract agreements with nation’s second-largest school district over the weekend.

All three unions that represent about 70,000 workers across the Los Angeles Unified School District had pledged to go on strike if any of the three did not reach a tentative agreement.

The three unions have never gone on strike at the same time — administrators have remained on duty during previous teacher walkouts to help keep schools open. That was the case in 2023 when Local 99 workers went on strike and teachers joined them for three days. About 150 of the district's 1,000 schools remained open.

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A raffle in France is offering the chance to win a $1 million portrait by the Spanish artist for the price of a 100-euro ticket ($117), with proceeds going to Alzheimer’s research. The draw takes place later Tuesday at Christie’s auction house in Paris.

The third iteration of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” lottery is for Picasso's “Head of a Woman," with proceeds going to Alzheimer’s research.

The gouache on paper was painted by Picasso in 1941.

The first such raffle in 2013 saw a Pennsylvania man who worked at a fire-sprinkler business win “Man in the Opera Hat,” which the Spanish master painted in 1914 during his Cubist period.

The oil-on-canvas “Still Life” was raffled off in 2020 and made a very happy mom of Claudia Borgogno, an accountant in Italy whose son bought her the ticket as a Christmas present.

Painted in 1921, that painting was purchased for the raffle from billionaire art collector David Nahmad, who argued in an Associated Press interview that Picasso would have approved of raffling his work. Picasso died in 1973.

The Alzheimer Research Foundation, the charity raffle’s organizer, is based in one of Paris’ leading public hospitals and says it has become France’s leading private financier of Alzheimer-related medical research since its founding in 2004.

The organizers’ online sales platform said the number of tickets for Tuesday's draw have been capped at 120,000, meaning it could net 12 million euros ($14 million) if they’re all sold.

Of that, 1 million euros will be paid to the Opera Gallery, an international art dealership that owns the painting.

Organizers said the two previous Picasso raffles raised a total of more than 10 million euros for cultural work in Lebanon and water and hygiene programs in Africa.

Rubio said the Trump administration is “very happy” to be facilitating the discussions, while noting that “we understand we’re working against decades of history and complexities” that will not be quickly resolved. Hezbollah opposes the direct talks and was not represented, while the Iranian-backed group appeared to step up its fire on northern Israel as the discussions began.

“But we can begin to move forward with a framework where something can happen, something very positive, something very permanent, so that the people of Lebanon can have the kind of future they deserve, and so that the people of Israel can live without fear,” Rubio said.

Despite Hezbollah’s outright rejection, the talks are a major step for two countries with no diplomatic relations that have been officially at war since Israel’s inception in 1948. The latest round of fighting was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2, days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Hezbollah’s key ally and patron.

Hezbollah pushes back as Lebanese government hopes for end to war

Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz attended the opening of the session at the State Department that is being led by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad.

The Lebanese government hopes the talks will pave the way to an end to the war. While Iran has set ending the wars in Lebanon and the region as a condition for talks with the U.S., Lebanon insists on representing itself.

Hezbollah and other critics maintain that Lebanon’s government lacks leverage and that it should instead back Iran’s position. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that it will not abide by any agreements that are made during the talks.

On the day of the talks, incoming fire triggered nonstop drone and rocket alert sirens in Israeli communities near the Lebanese border. Hezbollah so far on Tuesday has claimed 24 attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

At least 2,124 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said, including hundreds of women and children. More than 1 million people are displaced. The deadliest day of the war took place last week, when Israel launched 100 airstrikes across Lebanon in 10 minutes, including in the heart of the capital, killing over 350 people.

The Israeli military has invaded southern Lebanon, a move some Israeli officials have said aims to create a “security zone” from the border to the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the north.

Israel’s defense minister says hundreds of thousands of people uprooted from southern Lebanon will not be allowed to return home until the area is demilitarized and Israel believes its northern communities are safe. Hezbollah, though weakened in its last war with Israel that ended in November 2024, still fires drones, rockets and artillery daily into northern Israel and on ground troops inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah enjoys wide influence in Beirut’s southern suburbs, as well as large swaths of the country’s southern and eastern provinces. Hezbollah-allied politicians hold two Cabinet minister positions, though the group’s ties have soured with Lebanon’s top political authorities, who have been critical of Hezbollah’s decision to enter the war last month and who have since criminalized the group’s military activities in the country.

First Israel-Lebanon talks in more than 30 years

The talks are the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Both countries have relied on indirect communication, often brokered by the United States or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli and Lebanese governments were meeting to discuss ways to ensure long-term security on Israel’s northern border and support for Lebanon seeking to take control of its territory and political future from Hezbollah, a State Department official said. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the talks and spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.

Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets toward Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, quickly proposed direct talks in a bid to stop the escalation, hoping that Israel would not launch its ground invasion.

Israel did not respond positively until last week, after it launched 100 strikes across the country, including in the heart of the Lebanese capital.

Beirut wanted a truce as a prerequisite to talks, similar to Pakistan-brokered negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

“Israel’s destruction of Lebanese territories is not the solution, nor will it yield any results,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday. He came to power vowing to disarm non-state groups including Hezbollah. “Diplomatic solutions have consistently proven to be the most effective means of resolving armed conflicts globally.”

Israel has ruled out a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday denied having disputes with Lebanon and said “the problem is Hezbollah.”

“Hezbollah has also its financial roots, there are a lot of dimensions holding this organization, practically keeping Lebanon under Iranian occupation,” Saar said.

Hezbollah wants a return to the 2024 agreement under which talks were conducted indirectly with the U.S., France and UNIFIL as mediators.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this report.

“We have proposed to Germany a bilateral drone deal covering various types of drones, missiles, software and modern defense systems. Our teams are starting concrete work,” Zelenskyy said at a joint news conference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a visit to Berlin.

Merz said that Germany’s commitment to supporting Kyiv's war effort is “a very clear signal” to Russia.

“We will not waver in our efforts to defend Ukraine,” he said.

U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war on its neighbor have recently petered out as the Iran war grips the Trump administration’s attention, although Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that Washington “will continue to push for a negotiated and durable end” to the war.

Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine so far. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Weapon production funding

Ukraine has the capacity to produce twice as much military equipment as it's currently deploying, but lacks funding to step up production, according to Zelenskyy.

“We simply don’t have enough money,” he said.

A key to unlocking that potential lies in obtaining a promised loan of 90 billion euros ($106 billion) from the European Union, which had been held up by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his impending departure from office after a weekend election could now free up the money.

Ukraine needs those funds “urgently,” Merz said.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who accompanied Zelenskyy to Berlin, said Germany and Ukraine agreed a defense package valued at 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion). The agreement is “a massive boost” for Ukraine's air defense against Russian barrages, Fedorov said on X, allowing Kyiv to buy “several hundred” American-made Patriot missiles.

After Berlin, Zelenskyy was due to visit Norway, another important financial and military ally, while defense leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for Kyiv will hold an online meeting Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainian troop shortfall

Kyiv is heavily reliant on U.S. intelligence for targeting inside Russia and needs more sophisticated American-made air defense systems to stop Russian missile attacks on its power grid. If the Iran war drags on, it could erode vital U.S. support for Kyiv, Zelenskyy fears.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian army is short-handed, facing around 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by around 2 million people, Fedorov said in January.

Germany will help Kyiv facilitate the return home of Ukrainian men of military age, Merz said.

“We need rapid, tangible progress here,” he said.

Domestically developed unmanned platforms are playing a vital role in holding back Russia's invasion. Ukraine makes air and sea drones, missiles that have reached around 1,750 kilometers (1,000 miles) into Russia, as well as battlefield robots that help make up for its troop shortage.

Ukraine has been approached about security cooperation, especially battle-tested drone production, by eight Middle East and Gulf countries, as well as Turkey, Iraq and countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, Zelenskyy said on Monday.

Ukraine reportedly posts battlefield successes

Despite its handicaps, Western analysts and officials say Ukraine has in recent months recorded battlefield successes against Russia’s bigger army, disrupting a spring offensive started by Russia amid improving weather, as fields dry out and new foliage on tree lines offers more cover.

Meanwhile, the long-range drones and missiles that Kyiv designs and produces are repeatedly striking oil facilities and manufacturing plants deep inside Russia.

Ukraine “is in a much better place than it has been at any stage in this horrific war,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday.

Ukraine “is on top from a military perspective,” Stubb said, noting that last month Ukraine fired more drones and missiles at Russia than vice versa.

Moscow has also claimed progress on the battlefield. Independent verification of each side’s claims wasn't possible.

Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 5 civilians

Meanwhile, a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukraine city of Dnipro killed four people and left 21 hospitalized with injuries, 10 of them in serious condition, regional authorities said Tuesday.

The city’s attorney general’s office said the victims, all civilians, were driving or walking past the scene of the strike in the city, 485 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Kyiv.

Elsewhere, a 52-year-old woman was killed in a Russian drone strike in the southern city of Kherson that also left one man seriously wounded, authorities said.

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Hanna Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report from Kyiv.

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

The Dutch are one of the tournament's great nearly men, having lost back-to-back finals in 1974 and '78 and then again in 2010.

The Netherlands has been drawn against Sweden, Japan and Tunisia in Group F.

They will be favorites to advance as group winners, but there are potential pitfalls — not least in the form of Japan, which stunned Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup.

The Netherlands

The creators of so-called “total football” in the 1970s, the Netherlands has always been easy on the eye, but it has never been enough to get it over the line at a World Cup.

Coach Ronald Koeman — in his second spell in charge of the national team — is hoping to end his country's wait.

He won major honors with the Netherlands as a player when lifting the European Championship in 1988 and he was a runner-up in the Nations League in 2019 in his last spell in charge.

The Netherlands can call on Premier League stars like Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo, but perhaps lacks some of the top-tier talent of previous generations.

Japan

Japan is competing at its eighth straight World Cup and aiming to advance beyond the group stage for the third tournament in a row.

It was first team to qualify for this year's event, other than the three host nations, securing its place with three games to spare.

It produced two of the biggest upset at the last World Cup in Qatar when beating Germany and Spain in the group phase, but it has never progressed beyond the round of 16.

The majority of Japan's national team plays in Europe, including Bayern Munich defender Hiroki Ito and Brighton forward Kaoru Mitoma.

Sweden

The Swedes advanced via the back door — needing all the help they could get to make the playoffs.

Finishing bottom of its qualifying group after failing to win any games, it was only Sweden's performances in the 2024-2025 Nations League that secured its place in the playoffs.

Under new coach Graham Potter, who was looking to revive his career after being fired by Chelsea and West Ham in recent years, the Swedes overcame Ukraine and Poland in the playoffs to advance.

Sweden's troubles in qualifying were unexpected considering it boasts two of Europe's top strikers in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres.

Other top players include Lucas Bergvall and Anthony Elanga.

Sweden, a runner-up in 1958, will have fond memories of the United States, having reached the semifinals when the World Cup was last hosted by America in 1994.

Tunisia

Tunisia is aiming to advance from the group phase for the first time in its seventh appearance at the World Cup.

It came close to breaking that streak four years ago in Qatar when finishing third in its group by beating defending champion France 1-0 and drawing with Denmark.

Coach Sabri Lamouchi was hired to replace Sami Trabelsi after Tunisia's disappointing early exit from the African Cup of Nations at the round of 16 stage.

The 21-year-old Khalil Ayari joined Paris Saint-Germain this season and recently made his breakthrough into the national team.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The 18-year-old attacker, armed with a shotgun, fired randomly inside a vocational high school in Siverek, Sanliurfa province. He later killed himself with the same shotgun after being “cornered by police,” Gov. Hasan Sildak said.

The attack left 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer hurt, Sildak said. While most of them were being treated in Siverek, five of the teachers and students were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital because their conditions were more serious, the governor said.

The motive for the attack remains unclear. School shootings are rare in Turkey.

The attacker did not have a criminal record, Sildak said. The school had been declared safe and no permanent police officer was assigned to protect it, he added, calling the shooting an “isolated incident.”

NTV television and other media reports said the assailant had threatened an attack on the school on social media prior to the shooting.

One student told the state-run Anadolu Agency that he and a friend jumped out of their classroom window to flee the attacker.

“He suddenly entered the classroom and fired. He fired four or five times. Two people were hit. He then went into the next classroom,” Anadolu quoted Omer Furkan Sayar as saying. “We first threw ourselves to the ground and then two of us jumped out of the window.”

Sayar continued: “He didn't say anything, he entered and started to shoot directly.”

Earlier, media reports said all students were evacuated and police special operations units were deployed after the assailant refused to surrender.

“The individual was cornered inside the building through police intervention and died after shooting himself," Sildak told reporters, adding that a “comprehensive” investigation into the shooting would be carried out.

Video footage showed dozens of students running out of the school toward the gate and onto the street.

Atletico is at home to defend its 2-0 win from the first leg and try to make it to the last four of the European competition for the first time in nearly a decade.

Before last week's first leg, Barcelona beat Atletico 2-1 in Madrid in a Spanish league game on April 4. The teams had already met twice in the Copa del Rey semifinals, when Atletico won 4-0 at home and then advanced to the final despite a 3-0 loss in Barcelona in the second leg.

Atletico last made it to the semifinals in 2017. Barcelona lost to Inter Milan in last year's last four.

Coach Diego Simeone has not ruled out Jan Oblak’s return even though the goalkeeper hasn’t played since March 10 because of a muscle injury. He has been practicing with the squad for the last few days and is expected to be fit to play.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has not ruled out midfielder Frenkie de Jong making his first start after a long absence because of a hamstring injury.

Whichever team advances on Tuesday will face Arsenal or Sporting Lisbon in the semifinals. Arsenal won the first leg 1-0 in Lisbon last week. Their second leg in England is on Wednesday.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump said a second round of talks could happen "over the next two days," telling the New York Post the negotiations could be held again in the capital of Pakistan.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres concurred, saying it’s “highly probable” that talks will restart. He cited a meeting he had with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar.

An initial round of talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict failed to produce an agreement last weekend. The White House said Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a central sticking point.

Though the ceasefire appeared to hold, the showdown over the Strait of Hormuz risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the regional war's economic fallout.

Meanwhile in Washington, direct talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. began, the first such negotiations in decades.

Pakistan proposes second round of Iran talks

Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of US-Iran talks. Two U.S. officials said Monday that discussions were still underway about the negotiations.

A diplomat from one of the mediating countries said that Tehran and Washington had agreed to the talks. The U.S. officials and the diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations.

The location, timing and composition of the delegations had not been decided, although Islamabad and Geneva are being considered as host cities, they said.

The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.

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

Tankers turned around after blockade took effect

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

Both the nature of enforcement and the extent to which ships will comply remained unclear during the first full day of the blockade Tuesday. Tankers approaching the strait Monday turned around shortly after it took effect, though one reversed course again and transited the waterway.

The tanker Rich Starry had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List, which cited data from the energy cargo-tracking firm Vortexa. It was not immediately clear whether the tanker had earlier docked in Iran. Yet it was listed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping.

Lloyd’s List, citing ship registry and tracking data, reported that the vessel is owned by a Chinese shipping company and ultimately bound for China.

U.S. Central Command said no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Chinese tankers will not be allowed passage through the strait. "So they're not going to be able to get their oil,” he told reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank meetings.

Since the start of the war, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most commercial vessels avoiding the waterway.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.

Trump said Monday that Iran's control of the strait amounted to blackmail and extortion as the U.S. blockade took effect. He said in a social media post that Iran’s navy had been "completely obliterated,” but it still had “fast attack ships.”

He warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED."

Iran threatened to retaliate against Persian Gulf ports if attacked.

“If you fight, we will fight," Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a statement addressed to Trump.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a conference Friday for nations willing to deploy warships to escort oil tankers and container ships through the strait. The deployment will happen “when security conditions allow,” Macron’s office said Tuesday.

Israel and Lebanon scheduled for talks

The talks in Washington between Israel and Lebanon were expected to be preliminary, focused on setting parameters rather than resolving core issues.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is facilitating the talks, downplayed expectations for any immediate agreement. He called the talks a “historic opportunity” but said the process was “working against decades of history and complexities” that will not be quickly resolved.

After more than a year of near-daily strikes in southern Lebanon, Israel escalated its offensive in the early days of the Iran war following Hezbollah launching rockets into Israel. The fighting has carved a path of destruction from agricultural towns near the border to Beirut, killing more than 2,100 people and displacing in excess of 1 million others, according to Lebanese authorities.

After the ceasefire in Iran, Israel pressed ahead with its air and ground campaign, insisting that the truce does not apply to fighting in Lebanon. It has, however, halted strikes in the country’s capital since April 8, after a deadly bombardment that hit several crowded commercial and residential areas in central Beirut and killed more than 350 people in one day.

The deaths sparked an international outcry and threats by Iran that it would end the ceasefire.

Just as negotiations were getting under way in Washington, Hezbollah appeared to step up fire into northern Israel and against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, claiming 26 attacks.

Fighting has intensified in and around the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil. The Israeli military said Tuesday that it killed three Hezbollah militants after they fired on troops, wounding 10.

Lebanese officials have pushed for a ceasefire. Israel has framed the negotiations around Hezbollah’s disarmament and a potential peace deal, without publicly committing to halting hostilities or withdrawing its forces.

Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much as was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades and said on Monday that it will not abide by any agreements that may result from the talks.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday floated the idea of cooperation with the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah.

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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee, Fatima Hussein, Collin Binkley and Konstantin Toporin in Washington, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The backcourt duo of the Hornets are the first teammates to finish 1-2 in the NBA in 3-pointers since Golden State guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Now they’re hoping to help Charlotte snap a 10-year playoff drought, the longest in league history.

After shattering the NBA rookie record for 3s in a season, Knueppel went on to lead the league with 273 while shooting 42.5% from beyond the arc.

Ball was right behind with 272 made on 36.8% shooting.

“I think it’s pretty cool — they must have a great coach that allows them to shoot that many 3s,” quipped Charlotte coach Charles Lee.

All kidding aside, the Hornets finally seem to have found an identity on offense under Lee and seem headed in the right direction after nearly a decade of floundering near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

You can bet the 3s will be flying Tuesday night when the Hornets host the Miami Heat in the 9 vs. 10 NBA play-in tournament game — the first postseason home game for Charlotte in a decade.

To reach an actual playoff series for the first time since 2015-16, the Hornets will need to beat the Heat and then defeat the loser of the 7-8 matchup between Philadelphia and Orlando.

Knueppel has been the shot in the arm the Hornets franchise needed.

He was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month four times and leads all first-year players with 36 20-point games. He passed six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan for the NBA rookie record for most games with 20-plus points on 65% true shooting with 27.

“Kon is like my brother for real, and I love playing with him," Ball said. “He’s such a great shooter it makes our whole team better the way we play off each other.”

They're different type of players, Ball and Knueppel.

Ball loves to create separation with a step-back 3 and his shot is highly unorthodox, often shooting off one foot. Knueppel has a textbook jumper that almost never changes from shot to shot, and while he's best known as being a catch-and-shoot player, he regularly uses a side dribble to escape oncoming defenders and create open looks for himself.

Yet somehow they have meshed on the floor.

Knueppel entered the final regular-season game three 3s ahead of Ball, but the point guard nearly caught him when he hit five 3s in the finale.

Had Ball taken and made another 3 in the fourth quarter, he could have shared the league lead with Knueppel.

“Well, we were passing each other good looks and trying to make the right reads," Knueppel said of the team's win against the New York Knicks. "It wasn’t like somebody was going in there jacking (up shots). We were passing back and forth trying to make the right play. It just so happened to be me.”

Lee said that's typical of what he has seen all season long from his team — unselfish basketball.

“Those two guys, they work so hard on their craft," Lee said. "One thing I like is our team’s unselfishness to create those looks for them with the drives and kicks. And it’s impressive that our guards and our bigs are setting such great looks to get these guys clean looks.”

The Hornets aren't just a two-man show.

Brandon Miller is another high-end shooter with 204 3s this season and might have been right there with Knueppel and Ball had he not missed 17 games due to injury. Miles Bridges can also shoot the 3, although he's best known more for his ability to get to the basket and his athleticism in finishing off alley-oops on the break.

And then there's Coby White, who has been a huge addition coming off the bench after being acquired in a midseason deal with the Chicago Bulls.

He has 43 3-pointers in 21 games with the Hornets.

And don't forget undersized center Moussa Diabate, who creates open 3s by kicking the ball outside after an offensive rebound.

Now it's time to find out if all of those 3-pointers can translate into playoff wins as it once did for the Splash Brothers.

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

The six-time European champion trails 2-0 after the first leg of the quarterfinal in Paris. But it is hoping for the type of Anfield night that saw it rout Barcelona 4-0 in the semifinals in 2019 to overturn a 3-0 first leg loss.

“There is a belief that we can do special things . . . but we need to be very, very, very special," coach Arne Slot said ahead of the match. “We know we need an exceptional performance to go through to the next round.”

Defending champion PSG totally dominated the first leg last week and could have ran up a more commanding lead if it had taken its chances.

Coach Luis Enrique warned his team about the potential to slip up with the semifinals within touching distance.

“You need to be really careful, there could be pitfalls and it could be a trap,” he said. “Everyone says, ‘You won (the first leg) easily and you were much better than (the) opposition.’ It might be the case but things can change so quickly in a football match.”

Barcelona must also overturn a 2-0 first leg loss against Atletico Madrid if it is to advance to the semifinals.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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

The U.S. military claimed Tuesday that it has successfully begun to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports, as the standoff between the U.S. and Iran deepens. Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region, a day after Trump warned on social media that any Iranian warships nearing the blockade would be destroyed in a “quick and brutal” strike.

With Pakistan racing to bring the sides together for more talks, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a second round “could be happening over the next two days.” The first round ended without an agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which the White House says is a sticking point.

Neither side has indicated what will happen after the ceasefire expires on April 22.

Here is the latest:

UN chief says international law is ‘being trampled’ — especially in the Middle East

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that violations of international law are fueling instability and mistrust. Speaking to reporters at the U.N. headquarters, he urged renewed U.S.-Iran talks and respect for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The secretary-general said he will travel to The Hague, Netherlands, later this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s highest tribunal, and send “a message that in a world moving toward greater fragmentation and sharper power competition, international law is indispensable.”

US State Department issues $10 million reward for Iraqi militia leader

The bounty was placed on Ahmad al-Hamidawi, secretary general of the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah. In a post on X, in which it published al-Hamidawi’s photograph, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program wrote that the group was “responsible for attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, the kidnapping of U.S. citizens, and the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians.”

Last month, Kataib Hezbollah kidnapped an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, in Baghdad, but released her several days later on condition that she leave the country. Officials with the group at the time told The Associated Press that in exchange, the Iraqi government would release several members of the militia who had been previously detained.

Kataib Hezbollah is allied with Lebanon’s Hezbollah but they are two entirely different groups with different leaders.

Trump says talks with Iran could resume this week

In a phone call with The New York Post, Trump said a second round of talks with Iran “could be happening over next two days.”

Trump initially told the newspaper they would likely be held somewhere in Europe but later updated that they could be held again in Pakistan’s capital.

An initial round of talks ended without an agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which the White House says is a central sticking point.

US military claims blockade success

The U.S. military claims that it has successfully begun to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports, though at least one ship with apparent ties to Tehran has transited the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said that “during the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.”

While some tankers approaching the strait on Monday did turn around shortly after the blockade took effect, the tanker Rich Starry reversed course again and transited the waterway early Tuesday.

Rubio says Israel-Lebanon talks are a process but doesn’t expect an immediate agreement

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that historic Israel-Lebanon peace talks the U.S. is mediating are a “process, not an event,” downplaying expectations for any immediate or significant agreement.

Meeting at the State Department with the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States, along with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Rubio said the Trump administration is “very happy” to be facilitating the discussions.

“This is a historic opportunity,” he said. “We understand we’re working against decades of history and complexities” that will not be quickly resolved.

Israeli fire kills 5 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say

Among the killed are a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old in the two separate strikes in northern Gaza and Gaza City on Tuesday, according to a health official at Shifa hospital, where the casualties arrived.

The Israeli military said it was looking into it.

The first strike on a police vehicle in Gaza City killed four, including the 3-year-old who was standing nearby, and another in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed the 15-year-old, the hospital and the families said.

“What was this little kid’s fault? He was walking in the street,” said Samia al-Malahi, the grandmother of the 3-year-old.

The Gaza Strip has seen near-daily Israeli fire and strikes since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October, and more than 750 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Turkey presses with diplomatic push for Iran-US talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held separate telephone calls with his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts on Tuesday to discuss the negotiation process, a Turkish official said.

The conversation with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar centered “on the steps to be taken in the days ahead,” the official said.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity as required by protocol, did not provide further details.

— By Suzan Fraser

Death toll in Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon rises above 2,100

Israeli strikes have killed a total of 2,124 people during the six-week war, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Among them are 254 women, 168 children and 88 health workers. Another 6,921 have been wounded.

Israel has halted its strikes in Beirut since last Wednesday, when a massive barrage on the capital drew international outcry, but strikes and ground fighting have continued in the country’s south.

The war in Lebanon started on March 2, when the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired missiles across the border, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran.

UN chief praises Pakistan’s role in US-Iran talks

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar received a call Tuesday from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in bringing the United States and Iran to the negotiating table to advance regional peace.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to promoting dialogue and diplomacy to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Hezbollah appears to step up its fire on northern Israel as talks in Washington begin

The incoming fire triggered nonstop drone and rocket alert sirens in Israeli communities near the Lebanese border on Tuesday.

Ahead of the negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, the first direct talks between the two countries in decades, the Israeli military issued a warning to northern residents to be prepared for a possible increase of fire from Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which is opposed to the direct talks, claimed 26 attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli ground troops in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. It said it won’t stop its attacks until Israel halts its strikes on Lebanon.

China’s Xi warns against ‘the law of the jungle’

As the leaders of China and Spain pledged Tuesday to work to safeguard multilateralism at a time of conflicts including the war in Iran, President Xi Jinping reiterated a phrase he used earlier in the day when meeting the crown prince of Abu Dhabi — he said countries should “oppose the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle.”

Xi said they should “jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism,” strengthen communication and cooperate closely, during a reception for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the Great Hall of the People.

Sánchez agreed and said China and Spain “can contribute to finding solutions to the various trade tensions that exist, to the geopolitical difficulties and complexities of today’s world, to the wars, to the environmental and social challenges that afflict the world.”

▶ Read more:

Modi and Trump stress the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open

Indian Prime ‌Minister Narendra Modi and Trump spoke about the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open during a call, Modi said on the social platform X.

Modi said the two leaders “discussed the situation” in the Middle East and “stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of ⁠Hormuz open and secure.”

The call between Modi and Trump lasted nearly 40 minutes, Indian media reported.

What Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah said ahead of talks in Washington

1. Lebanon: Wants a truce as a prerequisite to negotiations, similar to what Pakistan brokered between the U.S. and Iran. “Israel’s destruction of Lebanese territories is not the solution, nor will it yield any results,” said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun Monday, who came to power vowing to disarm non-state groups including Hezbollah. “Diplomatic solutions have consistently proven to be the most effective means of resolving armed conflicts globally.” 2. Israel: Has ruled out a ceasefire and said the goal is Hezbollah’s disarmament and a potential peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar Tuesday denied having disputes with Lebanon, and said “the problem is Hezbollah.” 3. Hezbollah and its supporters: Called the talks a free concession to Israel unless there is first an end to the war and a pullout of Israeli troops from Lebanon. Secretary-General Naim Kassem said Hezbollah wants a return to the 2024 agreement, with indirect talks mediated by the U.S., France and the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Lebanon and Israel to hold first direct diplomatic talks in decades in Washington

The first direct diplomatic talks between Lebanon and Israel since 1993 are set to begin in Washington as fierce fighting continues between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take part, along with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad.

Hezbollah is opposed to the direct talks, and will not be represented. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that it will not abide by any agreements made in the talks.

At least 2,089 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said, among them 252 women, 166 children and 88 medical workers, while 6,762 others were wounded. More than 1 million people are displaced.

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Treasury secretary says economic pain is ‘worth taking’ to end a nuclear Iran

As the Iran war drives up the cost of energy around the world, Bessent told a group reporters Tuesday that “a small bit of economic pain for a few weeks is worth taking off the incalculable tail risk of either a nuclear Iran or a nuclear Iran that uses that weapon.”

Asked about the impact of soaring gas prices on consumers, Bessent said “there is nothing more transient than what we are seeing now.”

“So the conflict will end, prices will come down, and then headline inflation will come down, and with that, gasoline prices will come down,” Bessent said.

US Treasury secretary says China ‘not going to be able to get their oil’

Scott Bessent was asked about Chinese tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran recently demanded to collect tolls as a precondition for reopening the waterway.

“Those ships aren’t going to be allowed out anymore, ” Bessent told a group of reporters on the sidelines of the IMF World Bank meetings. “So they’re not going to be able to get their oil.”

When asked what his message to those paying the tolls would be: “You’re not going to pass,” Bessent said. And if a country pays the toll, “they are in violation of US sanctions, and that never ends well.”

Israel says 10 soldiers wounded in gunbattle with Hezbollah in the strategic Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil

The Israeli military said a “cell” of three Hezbollah militants fired on the troops, wounding 10, three of them severely. It said the soldiers returned fire, killing two of the militants, and the third was later killed by an airstrike.

Fighting has intensified in recent days between Israeli ground forces and Hezbollah militants in and around Bint Jbeil, with the army saying Monday it had killed over 100 Hezbollah fighters over the past week.

Bint Jbeil’s elevated location overlooking the UN-mandated Blue Line that divides Israel and Lebanon has made it a strategic point for Hezbollah. It was among dozens of villages and towns south of the Litani River that received an evacuation warning from the Israeli army early last month when the war started.

A president and a pope square off over Iran war

Pope Leo XIV, a studious and soft-spoken cleric, and Donald Trump, an unapologetically bellicose and pugilistic politician, have long been on a rhetorical collision course. Now their disagreement over the war in Iran has escalated in spectacular fashion.

On social media, Trump said Leo was “Weak” and captive to the “Radical Left,” even suggesting that Leo somehow owed his position to Trump.

The pope has declared Trump’s threats toward Iran “truly unacceptable” and pointed his flock to biblical text and church doctrine on war and peace, explaining that his purpose is not about Trump at all. “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration,” Leo said Monday on the way to Africa, “or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.”

It’s a spectacle involving the world’s two biggest megaphones, both held by Americans for the first time.

▶ Read more about how they got to this point

Fuel protests have Ireland’s government facing possible no-confidence vote

Ireland ’s government could face a no-confidence vote Tuesday in Parliament over how it has handled a week of fuel protests that blocked access to oil supplies and a major port and caused massive traffic jams.

Prime Minister Micheál Martin announced new tax cuts to try to end the crisis that began after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But opposition parties blasted the government for failing to respond sooner and criticized the aid it offered, saying soaring fuel costs will drive people out of business.

Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party, called for the no-confidence vote scheduled Tuesday evening. But Martin’s coalition government has scheduled an earlier vote of support that could make the no-confidence motion moot.

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Pakistan’s prime minister briefs president on US-Iran talks, to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday on recent U.S.-Iran talks and said he will visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey this week to advance peace efforts. The announcement by the president’s office comes amid reports that Pakistan is seeking to host a second round of talks between Washington and Tehran in the coming days.

According to the statement, Zardari urged Sharif and other officials to remain engaged with the United States, Iran and other key regional and global powers to sustain the peace process and promote regional stability.

The statement said Zardari appreciates Pakistan’s role in facilitating rare direct talks between the United States and Iran, saying it had “reaffirmed its position as a responsible and pivotal state in the international community” and demonstrated its peacemaking credentials.

Italy suspends military partnership with Israel

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday that her government has suspended the automatic renewal of a defense agreement with Israel, citing “the current situation.”

Meloni and other Italian government officials have strongly condemned Israel’s air and bombing campaign in Lebanon, which has hit civilians as well as an Italian convoy that is part of a U.N. peacekeeping force. The agreement, ratified in 2005, includes ongoing cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries and armed forces. It is automatically renewed every five years.

Citing fallout from the Iran war, IMF cuts the outlook for global growth, expects higher inflation

The Iran war has stalled the world’s economic momentum, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday as it downgraded its forecast for global growth to 3.1% in 2026, an expected deceleration from last year’s 3.4% expansion.

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — and Tehran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz and retaliatory strikes on oil refineries and other energy infrastructure in neighboring countries — have driven oil and gas prices sharply higher around the world. As a result, the IMF marked up its expectation for global inflation to 4.4% from 4.1% in 2025.

Massive investment in data centers and artificial intelligence, and rising productivity combined to strengthen economic numbers, but “War in the Middle East has halted this momentum,’′ IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote in a blog post accompanying the fund’s latest World Economic Outlook.

The IMF’s forecast assumes the war ends soon and energy prices rise “a moderate 19%″ this year. Things could be much worse.

Israel’s top diplomat denies disputes with Lebanon, says ‘the problem is Hezbollah’

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is floating the idea of cooperation with the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah has also its financial roots, there are a lot of dimensions holding this organization, practically keeping Lebanon under Iranian occupation,” Saar said Tuesday, adding that the Lebanese government itself views the Iran-backed militant group as “unlawful.”

Israel and Lebanon are set to begin their first direct talks in decades Tuesday, with large gaps in what each side wants from the negotiations.

Lebanese officials want a ceasefire, while Israeli officials have said they are not interested in a ceasefire but want the talks to focus on disarming Hezbollah as an essential step toward a potential peace deal between the two countries.

Hezbollah militant group renewed its war with Israel on March 2, when it fired missiles into northern Israel. About 2,088 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since then, according to figures from Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

US forces to join combat drills in Philippines to show commitment to Asia while fighting Iran

More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in one of their largest annual combat exercises in the Philippines, aiming to show the United States’ staunch commitment to Asia despite its preoccupation with the Middle East, a U.S. military official said Tuesday.

“Our message is our dedication and commitment to our alliance and regional security,” Col. Robert Bunn, a spokesperson for U.S. forces, said when asked what message the U.S. military wants to send with its large deployment despite the war in the Middle East.

Bunn did not immediately specify the number of U.S. forces joining the April 20-May 8 maneuvers. Last year, about 9,000 U.S. military personnel joined the Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — exercises.

This year’s drills between the U.S. and Philippines will expand to include Japan, France and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.

Macron urges US-Iran talks to resume

French President Emmanuel Macron urged for the resumption of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran as he had phone calls with President Donald Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“It is essential, in particular, that the ceasefire be strictly respected by all parties and that it include Lebanon,” Macron said in a post on X Tuesday.

He also called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “without restrictions or tolls.”

Macron stressed France and the U.K. will also host a conference in Paris this Friday, bringing together by videoconference non-belligerent countries ready to contribute to a mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow.

US wholesale prices surge as Iran war drives up the cost of energy

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.5% from February and 4% from March 2025. The year-over-year gains was the biggest in more than three years. Energy prices surged 8.5% from February.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose a modest 0.1% from February and 3.8% from a year earlier. The gains in wholesale prices were smaller than economists had forecast.

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. The Labor Department reported last week that soaring gasoline prices pushed consumer prices up 3.3% last month from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year increase since May 2024. Compared to February, March consumer prices jumped 0.9%, biggest gain in nearly four years.

IEA predicts Iran war will drive down oil demand more sharply than at any time since the pandemic

The war in Iran will lead to an annual decline in oil demand for the first time since the pandemic, when billions of people were trying to live in isolation, according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency, formed after the 1974 oil crisis, said Tuesday that oil demand is expected to decrease by an average of 80,000 barrels a day this year, a sharp revision from the increase of 850,000 barrels a day that it had forecast before the war began.

The drop-off in March was particularly severe because of attacks on energy infrastructure and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the IEA, which expects a decline in demand of 1.5 million barrels in the current quarter.

While the biggest cuts in oil usage have initially come from the Middle East and Asia Pacific region, demand destruction is anticipated to spread as oil prices increase and scarcity continues.

Red Cross delivers first emergency aid shipment to Iran since war began

The Red Cross delivered its first emergency aid shipment to Iran since the war began over a month ago, which is expected to meet the needs of nearly 25,000 people.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement Tuesday that it dispatched assistance to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, or IRCS, including five truckloads delivered Monday.

Supplies included blankets, jerrycans, tarpaulins, hygiene kits and solar lamps. The remaining aid shipment, comprised of nine aid trucks, will be given to IRCS later this week.

‘Rich Starry’ reportedly headed for China

The tanker is listed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping. It is flagged to Malawi, one of several landlocked countries often cited in so-called “false flag” operations, in which ships are registered under foreign flags with little or no connection to their owners, complicating oversight.

According to MarineTraffic, a maritime analytics provider, the vessel was headed for Sohar, an Omani port outside the strait. Lloyd’s List, citing ship registry and tracking data, reported it is owned by a Chinese shipping company and ultimately bound for China.

Vessel reported exiting Strait of Hormuz

A tanker that aborted an attempt to exit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday turned around and transited the waterway early Tuesday, in one of the first tests of the U.S. blockade.

The Rich Starry, a chemical and oil tanker, had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List, which cited data from the energy cargo-tracking firm Vortexa.

The U.S. military said on Monday that the blockade applied only to vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports, and it was not immediately clear whether the Rich Starry had earlier docked in Iran or was carrying Iranian oil. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to questions about the vessel.

Trout's second home run of the game bounced off the back wall behind the Angels bullpen in left-center, giving Los Angeles a two-run lead in the eighth inning on a night when Judge had already homered twice to put the New York Yankees ahead.

And there was more drama to come — after two three-time MVPs both homered twice in the same game for the first time in 70 years.

Trent Grisham hit his second homer of the evening (and season) to tie the score in the ninth. Moments later, José Caballero trotted home on Jordan Romano's game-ending wild pitch to give the Yankees a pulsating 11-10 win that stopped a five-game losing streak.

“It was great. That’s baseball for you,” Trout marveled. "It’s what fans want, and to be able to see something like that, pretty cool.”

Only once before had a pair of players already three-time MVPs each homered twice in the same game, according to STATS Perform.

After Stan Musial had gone deep twice, Roy Campanella hit a tying, three-run drive in the ninth for his second of the game and Don Zimmer followed with a walk-off single to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 at Ebbets Field on June 21, 1956.

Trout nearly hit a third Monday night. He flied out to Cody Bellinger in front of the center-field wall, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth after the Angels tied the score 4-all with four unearned runs following Caballero's error on Trout's leadoff grounder to shortstop.

Judge had looked forward to crossing paths with Trout in a Yankee Stadium weight room.

“I was going to talk some smack to him after the one he hit all the way to the warning track,” Judge said, “but I didn’t get a chance to and then he answers right back with two big homers for him. You put that guy in a clutch situation, a big moment and he’s going to show up every single time, so it’s fun going back and forth with a guy like that, especially in New York and the Bronx.”

New York had lost five straight after an 8-2 start and had been 0-6 in one-run games.

There were seven home runs that traveled a total of 2,846 feet — more than half a mile — with the Yankees hitting five. Judge's first went 456 feet deep into the left-field bleachers and left the bat at 116.2 mph, the hardest-hit home run of the season.

Grisham and Trout each had five RBIs, and Judge had three.

Baseball's top four active home run leaders were all in the game. Judge, with 374, moved one ahead of teammate Paul Goldschmidt. New York slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who leads active players with 454, missed by about a foot with a double off the center-field wall in the fifth. Trout has 408 homers.

Trout, 34, won AL MVPs in 2014, '16 and '19 but has struggled with injuries for much of the past five seasons.

“He’s the greatest of all time. It’s been fun to watch his whole career, coming up at such a young age and instantly just putting yourself at the top of the list. It's special," Judge said.

Judge, who turns 34 on April 26, won AL MVPs in 2022, ‘24 and ’25.

“Those are two of the greats, so it’s really fun to watch,” Yankees starter Will Warren said.

Judge and Caballero each hit a two-run homer off Yusei Kikuchi for a 4-0 second-inning lead on an unseasonably warm 77-degree night. After Caballero’s error led to the unearned runs off Warren, Grisham pinch hit in the fifth and connected for a three-run drive against Shaun Anderson for a 7-4 lead.

Trout countered with a three-run homer in the sixth against Jake Bird, who was demoted to Triple-A after the game.

Judge’s homer off Anderson leading off the bottom half gave him 47 multi-homer games, one more than Mickey Mantle and trailing only Babe Ruth’s 68 among Yankees.

“To be surrounded by some greats like that, it’s special,” Judge said.

Josh Lowe knotted the score at 8 with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly, and Trout’s two-run drive in the eighth off Camilo Doval put the Angels ahead 10-8 with his 31st multi-homer game. Judge, watching from right field, shook his head.

“Every time he comes to the Bronx, man, he puts on a show," Judge said. "I hate to see it, but it’s fun competing against a guy like that.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to start the ninth against Jordan Romano, and Grisham reached down and pulled a slider into the right-field seats as the closer put both hands on his head.

Caballero doubled and stole third without a throw. And after Austin Wells walked, Caballero scored when Romano bounced a full-count slider to Ryan McMahon to the backstop on the ninth pitch of the plate appearance.

New York had not won a game while allowing double-digit runs since beating Minnesota 14-12 on July 23, 2019.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone described his own feelings as “tough ... for the belly.”

Then he switched his thoughts to his players.

“You get a lead, then you get another lead, and then it’s gone,” he said. "For the guys, maybe it was good to have a game like that where it was a little messy."

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

Xi said they should “jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism,” strengthen communication and cooperate closely, during a reception for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the Great Hall of the People.

Sánchez agreed and said China and Spain “can contribute to finding solutions to the various trade tensions that exist, to the geopolitical difficulties and complexities of today’s world, to the wars, to the environmental and social challenges that afflict the world.”

Sánchez is on his fourth trip in just over three years to the world’s second-largest economy. Spain is looking to strengthen political and commercial ties. The visit comes as Sánchez faces a strained relationship with the U.S. over his opposition to the war in Iran.

Sánchez sees China as key to end the war

Later, during a press conference, Sánchez said China was the only global player he could see helping end wars in Iran and other places such as Ukraine.

“I find it very difficult to find other interlocutors, beyond China, who can resolve this situation in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz,” Sánchez said, urging the Asian giant to do more on the diplomatic front.

Sánchez has been one of Europe’s loudest critics of the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in the Middle East. His government recently declared its airspace closed to U.S. planes being used in the Iran war, and said it is not allowing the U.S. to use jointly operated military bases in southern Spain for actions related to the war.

In Beijing, Sánchez said his country wants to avoid impunity for those who commit crimes in places like Gaza, where he said a “genocide” has been committed.

“International law is being violated today, fundamentally by one country: the government of Israel,” he said. “There is also an absolutely illegal response from the Iranian regime regarding a war that we have described from the very beginning as a mistake and an illegality.”

Spain hopes for greater access for its products in China

One goal of Sánchez’s trip is finding ways to reduce the trade gap with China. He said that after raising the issue with Xi, he sensed “understanding and a willingness to work to achieve that balance.”

Sánchez said Spain will sign 19 agreements, 10 of them on the economic side, including some to expand access for Spanish agrifood products in China and boost exports.

“The current trade imbalance between Europe and China, and between Spain and China, is excessive, and we must do everything possible to correct it,” he said.

The prime minister added that China must see Spain and Europe as a place to invest.

Sánchez's wife faces possible trial

While Sánchez was in China, an investigative judge in Spain concluded a preliminary probe with the recommendation that his wife, Begoña Gómez, who is traveling with her husband, stand trial on allegations of influence peddling and misuse of public funds. A court will decide if she does so.

Sánchez has repeatedly asserted her innocence.

When asked about the case that has dogged his wife for the past year, Sánchez replied that “I only ask that the justice system render justice.”

He added: “I am convinced that time will put everything in its place."

Leo’s visit to Annaba, the modern-day Hippo, was a spiritual homecoming for the American pope on his second full day in Algeria. He arrived Monday on a first-ever papal visit, against the backdrop of his calls for peace that have sparked a feud with U.S. President Donald Trump over the war in Iran. It's the first stop on Leo’s four-country Africa tour.

The pope arrived at the ruins in a rainstorm and with tight security, with sharpshooters positioned around the site and policemen stationed every few yards (meters) along roads leading to it.

Leo prayed under under a tent looking out over the ruins of the ancient Roman city, including its theater, market and basilica where Augustine preached and the adjoining baptistry. In a sign of peace, he planted an olive tree and watched as white doves were set free.

Accompanied by the current head of his Augustinian religious order, the Rev. Joseph Farrell, Leo then walked amid the muddy ruins for a few minutes, pausing to listen to an Algerian choir.

Leo proclaimed himself a “son of St. Augustine” on the night of his election and has cited Augustine prolifically in his first year, making clear that he's the guiding inspiration of Leo's pontificate. For this trip, Leo is focusing on Augustine as a bridge-builder as he aims to press a message of peace and Christian-Muslim coexistence.

“God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies,” Leo later told a small gathering of nuns and elderly people in Annaba.

The visit also draws attention to the North African origins of Augustine, who spent only five years in Italy but is often seen through a Eurocentric lens as one of the greatest Western thinkers of Christianity for his writings on truth, evil, creation and grace.

Leo's Augustinian religious order was founded in Italy in the 13th century, inspired by the saint.

A life in North Africa, looking to Rome

St. Augustine was born in 354 to a Berber mother and Roman father in Thagaste, today the Algerian city of Souk Ahras near the border with Tunisia. At the time, the swath of North Africa was part of the Roman Empire, including Carthage in today’s Tunisia, where Augustine was educated and taught rhetoric.

He left North Africa for Rome in 383 and then Milan, where he converted to Christianity. He returned to his homeland soon thereafter, founded a monastery at Hippo where he developed the rule of his order in use today, emphasizing community life. He became a bishop and in Hippo wrote some of the most important works in the Western canon, including “Confessions” and “The City of God.”

A new book, “Augustine the African,” by Catherine Conybeare, an Augustine scholar at Bryn Mawr college in Pennsylvania, explores Augustine from his perspective: As a North African, looking to Rome as the center of his universe but feeling insecure there about his Punic-accented Latin.

“One of the most important thinkers in the Western intellectual tradition actually came from Africa, spent almost his whole life in Africa,” Conybeare told The Associated Press. “How does that change things?”

“Of course, because his successors — the people who carried on his heritage — were in Europe, they got to tell the story,” she said. And Europe got his body: After Augustine died in Hippo in 430, his body was taken eventually to Pavia, Italy, though a forearm remains in the basilica dedicated to him in Annaba.

In welcoming Leo, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed the “immense pride” Algerians feel over St. Augustine. He called him “a cherished son of this land, which having been his first cradle, proudly became his initial resting place.”

A personal visit for Leo

Leo made clear en route to Algeria and in remarks to Algerian authorities how deeply personal and important this visit is to him, because of his spiritual connection to St. Augustine. He had visited twice before, while he was superior of the Augustinian order.

“This journey, which is very special for several reasons, was supposed to be the first of my pontificate,” Leo told reporters on the papal plane. “As early as last May, I had said that on my first journey, I would like to visit Africa. Several people immediately suggested Algeria because of St. Augustine.”

In the end, other trips intervened, but he kept the appointment.

The saint, he said, represents “a very important bridge in interreligious dialogue" that the world could use today.

“We must always seek bridges to build peace and reconciliation," he said. "This journey, then, truly represents a valuable opportunity to continue with the same voice, with the same message, that we wish to convey: to promote peace, reconciliation, respect and consideration for all peoples.”

Also Tuesday, Leo was visiting a small community of Augustinians in Annaba. He was finishing the day by celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine, the 19th century basilica overlooking the ruins of Hippo which contains the relic of the saint. Thousands of pilgrims visit the basilica each year, including Muslims.

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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.

The S&P 500 rose 1% after rallying the day before back to where it was before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February. It's just 0.4% below its record and on track for its ninth gain in the last 10 days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 313 points, or 0.6%, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.6% higher.

They followed gains for stock markets worldwide as Pakistan said it was trying to bring the United States and Iran together for more talks. Such prospects also helped lower the price of oil, whose production and transportation has been snarled by the fighting.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $95.56. That’s still above its roughly $70 level from before the war, but it’s well below its peak of $119 reached a couple times when worries about the war hit their heights.

To be sure, hope has often quickly swung into doubt in financial markets since the war began, which has caused extreme and sudden reversals. Much of the stress has been due to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that’s the main avenue for crude oil produced in the Persian Gulf area to reach customers worldwide. Blockages there have kept oil off the global market, which has in turn driven up its price.

And that has meant a blast of higher inflation. In the United States, inflation at the wholesale level accelerated to 4% in March from 3.4% the month before, according to the latest data released Tuesday. That was actually better than the 4.6% rate economists expected, but it could filter down to U.S. households if businesses fully pass on the increases.

The effect is worldwide. Global inflation this year looks set to accelerate to 4.4% from 4.1% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which had earlier thought inflation would slow to 3.8%.

The IMF on Tuesday also downgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 3.1% this year from the 3.3% it had forecast in January.

On Wall Street, strong profit reports from several companies and expectations for more helped make up for such worries. At their heart, stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

BlackRock gained 4.5%, and Citigroup rose 2.9% after the financial companies reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

JPMorgan Chase also delivered a better-than-expected quarter, but its stock dipped 0.7% as CEO Jamie Dimon said bank officials cannot predict how the “increasingly complex set of risks” will play out given so much uncertainty.

Amazon climbed 3.3% after saying it would buy Globalstar, a mobile satellite services company, for $90 per share in either cash or Amazon stock. Globalstar jumped 10.7%.

Software companies also rallied for a second day, recovering more of their sharp losses from earlier in the year taken on worries that they could be made obsolete by artificial-intelligence technology. AppLovin rose 3.1%, and an ETF from iShares tracking the software industry added 1.4%.

That in turn helped private-credit companies rebound. These companies have lent money to software businesses and others that may be under threat from AI, and they've seen investors rush to try to pull their money recently.

Blue Owl Capital rose 8% to trim its loss for the year so far below 39%. Ares Management climbed 5.8%, and Apollo Global Management rose 3.7%.

They helped offset a 4.8% drop for Wells Fargo, which reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.7%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.4% for two of the bigger gains.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked lower as the fall for oil prices took pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.27% from 4.30% late Monday.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

The clock officially ran out on the proposal late Monday night as the state legislative session ended, a casualty of internal party disagreements. In the end, the Maryland Senate left the bill in a committee, with Democrats who control the chamber concerned it could backfire under judicial review.

The unusual mid-decade redistricting, which started when Trump encouraged Republican-controlled Texas to redraw their map last year, is expected to continue next week. Republicans want to change congressional boundaries during a special legislative session in Florida, while Democrats are asking voters to approve a redistricting referendum in Virginia.

But Democrats will not be poised to pick up a seat in Maryland, where the proposed map would have made it easier for voters to oust the state's lone Republican member of the U.S. House.

Moore disagreed with another powerful Maryland Democrat on plans

Moore, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he disagreed with another powerful Maryland Democrat, state Senate President Bill Ferguson, about “what is required to be able to make sure we’re fighting back” against Trump.

“This is not a political game to me,” Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t look at this as some kind of political talking point. I look at the fact that I think Donald Trump is actively trying to manipulate and change the rules around the November election and beyond because he knows he cannot win on his policies.”

Ferguson has said redistricting could actually cost Democrats seats in Maryland because, in the inevitable legal battle that would ensue, a court could order a new map that would be even less favorable to the party. He refused to budge despite pressure from Moore and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

While speaking at National Action Network in New York on Thursday with the Rev. Al Sharpton, Moore complained that Trump was urging some states to redraw maps to favor Republicans, while telling other states to “sit on your hands.”

“Don’t play with me,” Moore said. “And if the rest of the country is going to have this conversation about mid-decade redistricting, then so should Maryland, and so should every other state. Because until it is done nationally, we have to make sure that this election is not stolen right before our face so this pain is made permanent.”

But while Moore named a panel in November that proposed the new map for Maryland, the governor could not prevail on the heavily Democratic Maryland Senate to approve it.

When it was before the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, the governor told lawmakers in January that the state needed to act to counter what he called “political redlining” by Trump in other states at the cost of Black representation in Congress.

Moore, who is the nation's only serving Black governor, compared Trump’s push for Republican-friendly redistricting to discriminatory housing practices, saying the president and his allies “are doing everything in their power to silence the voices and trying to eliminate Black leadership — elected leadership — all over this country.”

Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in Maryland and already hold a 7-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation, with Rep. Andy Harris the lone GOP representative.

The Maryland House passed legislation containing a new map in early February, but the measure ran into opposition from Ferguson.

The senator pointed out a map adopted in 2021 that would have made it easier to flip Harris’ seat was ruled unconstitutional by a judge who called it “a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.” Maryland passed another map in 2022, and the parties dropped their legal fight.

Meanwhile, here's a look at what's happening in other states this month in mid-decade redistricting efforts:

Florida

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has scheduled a special session next week for the Republican-dominated Legislature to draw new congressional districts.

Currently, 20 of Florida’s 28 congressional seats are held by Republicans.

Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for Trump’s plan to reshape districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.

Virginia

Early balloting has already begun for a vote on a constitutional amendment for a new congressional map in Virginia next week.

After a cascade of redistricting efforts, Republicans believe they can win a combined nine more U.S. House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while Democrats think they can win a total of six more seats in California and Utah. Virginia could give Democrats an extra four seats.

Jury selection started Tuesday in the onetime movie mogul's latest retrial, where jurors will weigh — for the third time — whether he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.

This time, jurors will consider only one charge based on one accuser, rather than the array of allegations that were aired at Weinstein’s previous trials in New York and Los Angeles. The Oscar-winning producer denies all the accusations and declared in court this winter that he had “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”

Prosecutors might also seek to introduce new evidence. After Weinstein arrived in court Tuesday, but before jury selection began, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Candace White told the judge that prosecutors might seek to include testimony from a court security officer about something Weinstein allegedly said six years ago.

According to White, the officer said he was on hand for Weinstein’s February 2020 sexual assault conviction — which was later overturned — and heard Weinstein say: “If you had seen these girls, you would have done the exact same thing.”

Weinstein’s lawyers urged Judge Curtis Farber to keep any mention of the supposed remark out of his upcoming retrial.

“It’s just too late” to introduce it, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said. The judge didn't immediately rule.

The first pool of 100 potential jurors was brought into the courtroom for an initial screening.

The judge has revisited some rulings about exactly what evidence gets presented about Weinstein’s and Mann’s years of interactions. For example, the judge said there may not be any mention of a claims fund that was set up for women who said Weinstein sexually mistreated them, partly because the defense team doesn’t intend to raise the subject.

Also, the judge indicated Tuesday he may curb discussion of an erectile-dysfunction drug that Mann said Weinstein used.

A new defense team

Agnifilo and his partners took on the case in February, when longtime Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala stepped aside from the retrial to focus on the former studio boss’ appeals and civil matters. Both Aidala and Agnifilo are well-known New York defense attorneys, but their litigation styles differ. Aidala is folksy, while Agnifilo is more buttoned-up.

Weinstein wielded significant clout in the entertainment industry, having built his reputation on such critical and popular hits as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Chocolat.” He also became a prominent Democratic donor.

Then a series of sexual harassment and sex assault allegations against Weinstein began to emerge in news media in 2017, propelling the #MeToo movement.

He was criminally charged in New York in 2018 and in Los Angeles two years later.

A tangled series of trials

Weinstein went to trial and was convicted of some — but not all — counts in both cases. His initial New York convictions were overturned, spurring a retrial last year.

The retrial verdict was mixed: Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006, but he was acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on model-turned-psychotherapist Kaja Sokola. The jury didn’t decide on the rape charge involving Mann because the foreperson refused to keep deliberating.

Weinstein subsequently considered pleading guilty, according to Aidala. Evidently, Weinstein ultimately rejected the idea.

Mann has testified that she had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with the then-married Weinstein. But when he cornered her in a Manhattan hotel room where she was staying on a weekend getaway, she protested, “I don’t want to do this,” she told jurors. She said he kept making advances and demands until she “just gave up.”

Weinstein hasn’t testified at any of his trials, but his lawyers have contended that he never had non-consensual sex.

The defense claimed that Mann and his other accusers willingly entertained his sexual overtures because they wanted his help with their show-business aspirations. The women, by contrast, said Weinstein dangled his Hollywood influence to draw them into his orbit and then victimize them.

His sexual assault conviction involving Haley carries the potential for up to 25 years in prison; no sentencing date has been set.

In this case, the rape charge is a lower-level felony punishable by up to four years behind bars. Weinstein, 73, already has served longer than that.

Weinstein has various health problems and uses a wheelchair. He told the judge in January that he’s haunted by the possibility that he might die in New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail.

“My mental state is collapsing. … My spirit is breaking,” he said.

Weinstein’s lawyers have argued that his New York conviction last year was poisoned by bad blood among jurors. Meanwhile, he’s appealing the Los Angeles verdict.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people without their permission if they say they have been sexually assaulted. Haley, Mann and Sokola agreed to be named.

The House bill, called the Alert Act, has the backing of key industry groups. The National Transportation Safety Board said recently that the legislation, since amended, now addresses its recommendation to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems that let pilots know more precisely where other aircraft are flying around them.

The NTSB has been recommending the new technology systems since 2008, and Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has said such a system would have prevented the collision of the American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter that sent both aircraft plunging into the icy Potomac River.

Two key House committees unanimously advanced the bill last month. The bill is now being brought up for a full House vote under rules that won't allow any amendments. But victims’ families said they want to make sure the bill has strict timelines to guarantee the reforms will be completed. And they worry the House bill would allow military flights to continue flying without broadcasting their locations on routine training flights and not just secret missions.

“January 29, 2025 made clear what is at stake. The 67 lives lost that day should be honored with an improved system that prevents this from happening again,” the main families group said Tuesday in a new statement. “And the flying public should not have to wait longer than necessary for those protections to be in place.”

Sponsored by Republican Sam Graves and Democrat Rick Larsen, the legislation needs to secure two thirds of House support to advance to the Senate. Separate legislation called the ROTOR Act that the Senate crafted came up one vote short in the House. Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell have also said the Alert Act still needs to be improved.

Earlier this year, the NTSB's Homendy sharply criticized the original version of the bill as a “watered down” measure that wouldn’t do enough to prevent future tragedies. But the board said the revised version would now address the shortcomings their investigation identified and require the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Department and the military to take needed actions.

National Transportation Safety Board members at a hearing in late January were deeply troubled over years of ignored warnings about helicopter traffic dangers and other problems, long before the collision.

Everyone aboard the American Airlines jet, flying from Wichita, Kansas, and the helicopter died when the two aircraft collided. It was the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001, and the victims included 28 members of the figure skating community.

A helicopter route in the approach path of a Reagan National Airport runway didn't ensure enough separation between helicopters and planes landing on the airport's secondary runway, and the route wasn't reviewed regularly, the board said. The poor design of that route was a key factor in the crash along with air traffic controllers relying too much on pilots seeing and avoiding other aircraft.

The bill now requires planes to have Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In systems that can receive data about the locations of other aircraft. Proponents of the use of such systems said they would have alerted the pilots of an American Airlines jet sooner about the impending collision with the Black Hawk helicopter. Most planes already have the complementary ADS-B Out systems that broadcast their locations.

The NTSB cited systemic weaknesses and years of ignored warnings as the main causes of the crash, but Homendy has said that if both the plane and the Black Hawk had been equipped with ADS-B In and the systems had been turned on, the collision would have been prevented. The Army’s policy at the time of the crash mandated that its helicopters fly without that system on to conceal their locations, although the helicopter involved in this crash was on a training flight, not a sensitive mission.

___

This story has been updated to correct the last name of Rep. Rick Larsen, not Larens.

Once a leading candidate to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Swalwell suspended his campaign — then announced he would resign from Congress — following allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman. A lengthy lineup of remaining candidates is scheduled to gather Tuesday in Sacramento, their first public appearance together since Swalwell's departure reshaped the wide-open contest.

Meanwhile, lawyers said a woman would detail new allegations of misconduct against Swalwell on Tuesday in Beverly Hills.

In a crowded race with no clear leader in the heavily Democratic state, Swalwell's exit presents an opportunity for his one-time rivals to pick off former supporters just weeks before mail ballots go to voters in early May. The outcome of the June 2 primary election featuring more than 50 candidates is unpredictable.

Democrats have feared for months that the large field of candidates dividing the vote could result in the party being locked out of the November election, with only Republicans appearing on the general election ballot under a quirk in the state's election rules.

Republicans, meanwhile, have yet to settle on a preferred candidate. President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton, but Republicans at a state convention did not endorse a candidate for governor, with Hilton splitting support with Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff.

No clear beneficiary with Swalwell out

Swalwell’s decision to suspend his campaign Sunday followed allegations published in the San Francisco Chronicle and later by CNN. He remained defiant, saying, “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

On Monday, he said he planned to resign from Congress but did not provide a date for his departure. He wrote on X that it was unfair for his constituents to have him distracted from his duties. He said he would continue to fight the allegations against him and added, “I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

It's difficult to predict where Swalwell's supporters will go, and it's possible they could scatter across the field of seven established Democrats remaining in the race, with some voters losing interest in the contest.

Swalwell is perhaps best known nationally as a House manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial in early 2021, and he didn't have strong ties to Democrats across the state outside his San Francisco Bay Area district.

Democrats have been struggling to find traction with voters.

Billionaire hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist Tom Steyer has tapped his personal fortune to blanket media with ads. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is trying for a comeback after he flopped in a 2018 run for governor, and Katie Porter is among the leading Democrats after she fell short in a 2024 run for U.S. Senate.

Porter posted a line from a San Francisco Chronicle column on X saying “Democrats can pull victory from the jaws of defeat by coalescing around Porter.” Steyer said he secured the support of a handful of lawmakers, including Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat whose coastal district runs north of San Francisco, not far from Swalwell’s home turf. Villaraigosa pitched a new ad promising to lower gas and grocery costs in a state known for its punishing cost of living.

While Swalwell has suspended his campaign, his name cannot be removed from the ballot.

“Nobody has really caught fire,” said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta, who is not involved in the campaign. Swalwell’s supporters “will scatter out to other candidates.”

Many Democrats hoped former Vice President Kamala Harris, or U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, would enter the contest, but they declined.

Lawmakers switch support

In Sacramento, a handful of state lawmakers quickly switched their support from Swalwell to Steyer. Democratic Assemblymember Nick Schultz said he believes Steyer will put in the work to form strong relationships with the legislature. Steyer’s business background — he has never held public office — means he’ll challenge the status quo, Schultz added.

Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson — who also shifted to Steyer — said he wanted to back a candidate who had a legitimate chance of winning. He said in a statement that he and Steyer shared a “commitment to building an economy rooted in dignity for working people.”

San Jose’s Democratic Mayor Matt Mahan, running for governor in his first statewide election, sought to distinguish his record from Steyer and Hilton, the Republican candidate known for hosting a show on Fox News for six years.

With Swalwell out, “now we have a field that’s got a billionaire who made his fortune investing in private prisons, ICE facilities, oil and gas companies … and a MAGA-backed TV commentator on the other hand,” Mahan said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”

“California deserves so much better,” Mahan said.

Swalwell’s swift downfall came amid rising pressure for him to leave Congress. He earlier lost the support of powerful labor unions that had backed his candidacy, along with one-time allies, including California U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jimmy Gomez.

Infante, de 53 años, le dijo entonces a su alumna que un corazón la representaba a ella y el otro lo representaba a él, según un informe de arresto de la policía escolar.

“Si tan solo tuviera 30 años menos”, le dijo Infante a la estudiante en otra ocasión, según el informe policial.

Infante estaba bajo arresto domiciliario con confinamiento total el lunes, luego de que los agentes lo arrestaran el viernes. Compareció ante el tribunal de fianzas el sábado, según registros judiciales del Condado Miami-Dade.

La Policía Escolar de Miami-Dade asignó a un detective para investigar la “relación estudiante-maestro” el 23 de febrero, y la estudiante describió cómo el comportamiento de Infante escaló entre agosto y noviembre.

Según el informe de arresto, el comportamiento de Infante incluía tomarle “la mano por más tiempo del usual”, darle “abrazos laterales que la hacían sentir incómoda”, y tomarle el teléfono el 28 de octubre para escribir una nota con su número personal que decía: “Llama a Rudy.”

Infante supuestamente le decía “eres tan hermosa”, “he estado pensando en ti” y “no puedo esperar para estar contigo”, y le “tocaba el hombro, la espalda o el brazo” y le ponía “la mano en las nalgas.”

La adolescente le dijo al detective que Infante describía sus transgresiones como “actos de amor y cariño”, y que ella “dejó de pedirle” que parara “porque sentía que no la escucharía”, según la policía.

“Infante la agarró por la cintura mientras estaba sentada en una silla y la jaló hacia él, haciendo que ella quedara sentada de lado sobre su regazo. Mientras estaba en su regazo, [él] le frotó la espalda... se inclinó hacia adelante y la besó en el pecho entre los senos... ella sintió miedo”, dijo la estudiante según el informe de arresto.

La estudiante dijo que tenía miedo de rechazar a Infante, quien mide seis pies de altura y pesa aproximadamente 225 libras, porque él “es físicamente más grande que ella”, según el informe policial.

El caso del maestro fue asignado a la unidad de Crímenes Sexuales y Abuso Infantil de la Fiscalía del Estado del Condado Miami-Dade, según registros judiciales.

Infante enfrentó cinco cargos: cuatro por agresión y uno por delitos contra estudiantes cometidos por figuras de autoridad. Su fianza fue de $14,000.

Infante compareció ante el tribunal de fianzas el sábado. Un juez le ordenó mantenerse alejado de la adolescente y de todas las escuelas, y le impuso arresto domiciliario con confinamiento total.

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Miami-Dade publicaron un comunicado el domingo informando que el distrito escolar había iniciado el proceso de despido contra Infante.

“Este tipo de comportamiento no será tolerado, ya que va en contra de la conducta profesional que esperamos de todos nuestros empleados”, escribió un portavoz de M-DCPS sin dar detalles específicos.

Miami Southridge Senior High School, ubicada en 19355 SW 114 Ave., en el área de South Miami Heights, tenía a Infante en el directorio de la facultad como maestro de Bellas Artes.

El juez del Circuito del Condado Miami-Dade, Zachary James, estaba designado para presidir el caso.

Lee el comunicado completo de M-DCPS:

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Miami-Dade (M-DCPS) están perturbadas por las acusaciones contra este individuo.

Al tener conocimiento de este comportamiento sospechoso, la Policía Escolar de Miami-Dade inició de inmediato su investigación y procedió a realizar un arresto.

Este tipo de comportamiento no será tolerado, ya que va en contra de la conducta profesional que esperamos de todos nuestros empleados.

El distrito ha iniciado el proceso de terminación de empleo y garantizará que el individuo no pueda buscar empleo futuro con M-DCPS.

Las editoras de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Sofía Méndez y Mariana Ortiz, contribuyeron a este reportaje.

Sony Pictures unveiled new footage from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Monday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, in which Zendaya’s character MJ apparently has a boyfriend.

Five years after “Spider-Man: No Way Home” became a sensation in theaters, earning over $1.9 billion worldwide thanks in part to the appearance of past Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the webslinger’s fourth standalone movie is one of the most hotly anticipated of the summer. Its trailer already broke records, with over 1 billion views in its first four days.

Tom Holland, in a video message, told the exhibitors in the audience that it’s the most emotional Spider-Man movie yet, and “the most grown-up.” He introduced an early scene in the new film showing the aftermath of his decision at the end of “No Way Home.” In the sequence, he attends a housewarming party for MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned and introduces himself as “Maynard … just a neighbor from across the hall.”

Destin Daniel Cretton, who made the Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” stepped in to direct this newest “Spider-Man,” which opens in theaters on July 31.

Sony Pictures has for years kicked off the annual conference and trade show for movie theater owners, where throughout the week Hollywood's major studios bring out stars and new footage hoping to wow the people putting their films on the big screen. The studio announced the development of an R-rated adaptation of the video game “Bloodborne,” and the release date of “Godzilla Minus One” director Takashi Yamazaki’s English language debut, “Grand Gear,” which will begin filming soon. It’s scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 18, 2028.

They also debuted new footage from the “Spider-Verse” finale, revealed the title of the next “Jumanji” movie — “Open World” — previewed “Weapons” filmmaker Zach Cregger's “Resident Evil,” and gave the audience a first look at Jeremy Strong playing Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin's “The Social Reckoning,” a companion piece to “The Social Network.”

Oscar-winner Mikey Madison (“Anora”) plays Facebook engineer Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White is then-Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz in the film, which comes out in October. Haugen leaked thousands of pages of internal Facebook records to the Journal, yielding a 2021 investigation known as the “Facebook Files.” The series of stories alleged the social media giant was prioritizing profits over safety and hiding its own research from investors and the public.

“It was time to say more,” said Sorkin, who described this film as “a real David and Goliath story.”

In the footage, Strong's Zuckerberg quips that he's “a professional defendant” and pushes back on an adviser saying, “I’m not two years out of a dorm room anymore.”

Sony Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman said he believes “it’s going to be an Olympic level movie year overall” while also acknowledging the industry’s “serious challenges” including that admissions have been down since before the pandemic.

Studios, he said, need to deliver a variety of great films for all audiences. He also made some recommendations for theaters, imploring them to enforce longer theatrical windows “even if that means you cannot play every film,” to get rid of endless advertising before films and make going to the theater more affordable.

“I’m not heckling,” Rothman said. “I’m rooting for you.”

The March export data released by China’s customs agency Tuesday missed analysts’ estimates and was sharply down from the 21.8% export growth recorded for January and February.

Imports last month surged 27.8%, up from the 19.8% year-on-year increase in the first two months of this year.

Technology-related exports including a jump in shipments of semiconductors from China on the global artificial intelligence boom have powered its robust exports in early 2026, but economists say impacts from the prolonged Iran war could affect overall global demand for Chinese exports this year.

“China’s exports have decelerated as the Iran war starts to affect global demand and supply chains,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

Despite the significant rebound in China's export growth in January and February, demand is likely to weaken due to the war's energy shock, Bank of America economists led by Helen Qiao wrote in a recent research note. The risks will "arise from a persistent global slowdown in overall demand if the conflict lasts longer than currently expected,” they wrote.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s elevated tariffs on Chinese exports and tensions between Washington and Beijing have also been straining China’s shipments to the U.S. over the past months, with China stepping up its exports to other regions including Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Analysts are also closely watching Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in May to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a delay due to the Iran war.

Chinese leaders have set an annual economic growth target for 2026 of 4.5% to 5%, the lowest since 1991. China met its “around 5%” economic growth target for 2025 on strong exports — with a record high $1.2 trillion trade surplus — and analysts say exports likely will continue to be a key driver for maintaining economic expansion this year as a prolonged property sector slump in China weighed on domestic demand and investments.

Un escrito judicial del 19 de marzo indica que Glidden, de 52 años, y Hochstein, de 43, enfrentan cada uno un cargo de interceptación de comunicaciones por cable, orales o electrónicas.

La descripción de los cargos señala que entre el 12 y el 31 de marzo de 2023, ambos “ilegal e intencionalmente” interceptaron, intentaron interceptar o intentaron que otra persona interceptara “declaraciones orales de Leonard Hochstein y de las personas con quienes Leonard Hochstein habló.”

Los registros muestran que Glidden fue detenido el sábado, aunque el lunes ya no aparecía en la base de datos de la cárcel en línea.

Leonard “Lenny” Hochstein, prominente cirujano plástico del sur de Florida, es el exesposo de Lisa Hochstein. Tienen dos hijos en común.

Según un artículo de Page Six de mayo de 2023, Lenny Hochstein acusó a su exesposa de haber colocado un “dispositivo de escucha” en su auto para “monitorear” sus llamadas.

Lisa Hochstein negó las acusaciones ante Page Six.

La abogada Jayne Weintraub, defensora de Hochstein, y los abogados Howard Srebnick y Frank Gaviria, defensores de Glidden, publicaron una declaración conjunta a Local 10 News el lunes por la tarde en la que dijeron: “Este asunto es parte de un contencioso proceso de divorcio y no pertenece a un tribunal penal.”

La Fiscalía del Estado del Condado Miami-Dade, por su parte, le dijo a Local 10 News que la orden judicial está actualmente sellada.

Criminal complaint: Jody Glidden, Lisa Hochstein by Amanda Rojas

Funcionarios del distrito dijeron que el cierre en Parkway Middle School, ubicada en 3600 NW Fifth Court en Lauderhill, fue consecuencia de la presencia de un arma en el campus.

La policía, por su parte, indicó que parece haber sido el resultado de una activación accidental de una alerta de seguridad.

Parte de la confusión puede deberse al tipo de arma. Estudiantes le dijeron a Local 10 News que se trataba de una pistola de balines.

Algunos estudiantes pensaron inicialmente que era un simulacro.

“Estuvimos en cierre durante todo el primer período”, dijo un estudiante.

Pero la gravedad de la situación se fue haciendo evidente a lo largo del día.

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Broward confirmaron que un aviso de un estudiante y un padre de familia llevó a un hallazgo potencialmente peligroso.

El director interino Ackimo Charles dijo en un mensaje a los padres, en parte: “Recibimos información de un estudiante y un padre sobre una posible arma en el campus. Inmediatamente pusimos nuestra escuela en cierre y notificamos a nuestro oficial de recursos escolares y al equipo de seguridad, quienes manejaron la situación de forma segura y confiscaron el arma.”

“Me dijo que la iba a traer a la escuela, pero yo le dije que no lo hiciera, y aun así lo hizo”, dijo otro estudiante. “Y otro de mis amigos también le dijo que no lo hiciera.”

Tras la intervención de la policía, se levantó el cierre y las operaciones escolares continuaron con normalidad.

Charles elogió al estudiante y al padre que decidieron hablar, señalando que el principio de “si ves algo, di algo” funcionó en esta situación.

Judge and José Caballero each hit a two-run homer off Yusei Kikuchi for a 4-0 second-inning lead on an unseasonably warm 77-degree night, but Caballero’s error on Trout’s fourth-inning leadoff grounder to shortstop led to four unearned runs.

Grisham’s pinch-hit, three-run homer off Shaun Anderson lifted New York into a 7-4 lead in the fifth. Trout, like Judge a three-time AL MVP, retied the score with a three-run drive in the sixth against Jake Bird.

Judge’s homer off Anderson leading off the bottom half gave him 47 multi-homer games, one more than Mickey Mantle and trailing only Babe Ruth’s 68 among Yankees.

Josh Lowe knotted the score at 8 with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly, and Trout’s two-run drive in the eighth off Camilo Doval put the Angels ahead 10-8 with his 31st multi-homer game.

Grisham, who had five RBIs, tied the score at 10 with a two-run homer against closer Jordan Romano (0-1) in the ninth. Caballero doubled and stole third without a throw. And after Austin Wells walked, Caballero scored when Romano bounced a full-count slider to Ryan McMahon to the backstop.

Judge has 374 homers, one more than teammate Paul Goldschmidt. New York slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who leads active players with 454, missed by about a foot with a double off the center-field wall in the fifth. Trout has 408 homers.

Paul Blackburn (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

Caballero allowed Trout’s grounder to glance off his glove for an error, leading to a 28-minute, 55-pitch top of the fourth that ended with Trout’s bases-loaded flyout to the center-field warning track.

Jorge Soler doubled for the Angels’ first hit and his AL-high 17th RBI. Jo Adell and Logan O’Hoppe hit two-out RBI singles off Will Warren, who threw 37 pitches in the inning while getting two outs. Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz walked a pair of batters, including Zach Neto with the bases loaded.

Up next

New York’s Ryan Weathers (0-1, 2.81 ERA) and the Angels’ Reid Detmers (0-1, 4.60) start Tuesday in a matchup of left-handers.

___

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

The lower-key four-day Australian visit comes after the couple announced in 2020 they planned to “step back” as senior royals and to become financially independent in their Californian base.

The Sussexes describe their visit as privately funded, and they flew to Melbourne business class from Los Angeles on a commercial Qantas Airways flight. But there have been public complaints about the added security costs for police agencies as the couple visits Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

The cost of security explains why the couple won’t be greeted by thousands of people at public events as they were during their 16-day tour as newlyweds in 2018 to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.

The couple’s children Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, are not traveling with them. Meghan announced she was pregnant with their first child while she was in Sydney in 2018.

Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper descried the latest visit as a ”faux royal tour to shore up Brand Sussex.”

There have been criticisms of the couple attending paid ticketed events while in Australia.

The Sussexes reject criticisms that the visit is a publicity tour.

“The program is rooted in long-standing areas of work for the Duke and the Duchess, with a clear focus on amplifying organizations delivering measurable impact. The visit prioritises listening, learning and supporting communities rather than promotion,” the Sussexes' office said in a statement.

There were also “a small number of private engagements” to “support broader commercial, charitable and commercial objectives,” the statement said.

Afua Hagan, a media commentator on the British royal family, said the news media typically portrayed the Sussexes as “villains.”

“This is a privately funded trip. To pay for that, they’re going to have to have some commercial interest,” Hagan told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“If they didn’t have commercial interest, the problem would be: ‘Oh my goodness, these people are leeching off the Royal Family and the taxpayers whether or not they’re making their own money. How dare they make their own money.’ They can’t do right for doing wrong,” Hagan added.

Giselle Bastin, a Flinders University expert on the British royals, said the Sussexes’ decision to use their titles to pursue private interests will be perceived by many as a conflict of interest.

“It’s well known that the Sussexes are in dire need of income and so a staging of a quasi-royal tour to Australia is being regarded as a rather desperate attempt to monetise their status as royalty,” she said.

Their first public engagement was at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II opened the facility in 1963 and his parents, Princess Diana and the then-Prince Charles, visited in 1985.

The Sussexes shook hands with dozens of well-wishers and were filmed by hundreds of onlookers' phones as they entered the hospital foyer.

When asked by a reporter what he looked forward to most about his Australian visit, Harry replied: “Everything.”

“It's good to be back,” he added.

Also in Melbourne, Meghan is scheduled to visit a women’s shelter and Harry a veterans’ art museum.

Harry will visit the Australian War Memorial in the national capital, Canberra. The couple will join an Invictus Australia sailing event on Sydney Harbor.

The 2018, the couple hosted the opening of the Invictus Games in Sydney. Harry founded the sporting event in 2014 where sick and injured military personnel and veterans compete.

Un video de celular obtenido por Local 10 News muestra el pánico y el caos después del tiroteo, ocurrido alrededor de la 1:30 a.m. del domingo afuera del Five Stars Banquet Hall en Sunrise.

Amigos de la víctima la identificaron como Kendrick English.

Delarno Barrett dijo que conocía a English desde hace años y que está destrozado por su muerte.

“Es irreal, no lo puedo creer, estoy aturdido”, dijo Barrett.

Según la policía de Sunrise, se celebraba una fiesta de cumpleaños en el salón de eventos ubicado sobre Oakland Park Boulevard. English, quien es cuadripléjico, intentaba entrar cuando fue interceptado en la puerta por Francisco Navarro Sánchez, de 26 años, quien trabajaba como guardia de seguridad.

Un informe de arresto indica que a English se le negó la entrada y se produjo una discusión verbal.

English se fue y regresó por segunda vez, momento en el que los investigadores dijeron que English lo insultó y Sánchez sacó un arma y disparó varios tiros.

Testigos dijeron que se escucharon cinco disparos, según las autoridades.

English murió en un hospital de la zona.

“Él está indefenso, no puede hacerle daño a nadie”, dijo Barrett.

Sánchez compareció ante un juez del Condado Broward el lunes enfrentando un cargo de asesinato.

English tuvo una vida marcada por la adversidad tras sobrevivir a un accidente de fútbol americano cuando era adolescente.

Local 10 News lo conoció por primera vez en 1995, después del accidente que lo dejó paralizado. Jugaba para la escuela secundaria Stranahan.

Nos reencontramos con él nueve años después, cuando recibió una camioneta especialmente adaptada para que pudiera manejar.

“He esperado con ansias tener mi propia independencia y poder ir de un punto A a un punto B solo”, dijo en ese momento.

Quienes conocían y querían a English intentan encontrarle sentido a esta terrible pérdida.

“¿Cómo podemos explicar esto? Duele.”

Sánchez permanece detenido en la cárcel principal del Condado Broward tras serle negada la fianza.

“Este caso nos ha perseguido desde el año en que llegué aquí”, dijo.

Fue el 6 de abril de 2024 cuando Onyxia Delinos, de 26 años, salía a correr adelantándose a su grupo cerca de Miramar Parkway y la Avenida Suroeste 184 cuando fue golpeada repentinamente por un conductor que huyó del lugar.

Delinos quedó con una lesión craneal grave que le cambió la vida para siempre. Desde entonces requirió atención las 24 horas, pero la semana pasada falleció.

“Lo que todavía no hemos recibido es esa llamada mágica, esa llamada mágica que nos va a ayudar”, dijo Moss.

La policía de Miramar afirma que investiga activamente el caso y sigue varias pistas, pero lo que ha dificultado el avance es que no hubo testigos presenciales y no se ha dado a conocer ningún video de vigilancia.

Las autoridades también indicaron que no han encontrado ningún vehículo con daños relacionados con el atropello.

“Ahora mismo es difícil decir qué tan cerca estamos, porque, de nuevo, no tenemos esa llamada mágica”, dijo Moss. “Creo que cuando la tengamos, podremos decir: ‘Sí, esto es definitivamente’. Porque hemos tenido pistas antes.”

El esposo de Delinos, Roosevelt, está destrozado.

En un mensaje de texto a Local 10 News escribió: “No tengo palabras para describir lo que siento. Perdí a mi esposa dos veces y la persona sigue ahí afuera.”

Las autoridades ofrecen una recompensa de $15,000 por información que conduzca a un arresto.

“Si tiene información, por favor, haga esa llamada”, dijo Moss.