Inkster police responded around 4:50 a.m. April 12 to the 26000 block of Penn Street for a report of a male gunshot victim at a home. The 17-year-old boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to an Inkster Police Department news release.

Lottie Landrum and Grady Carr were startled by a knock on the door of their Penn Street home just before 5 a.m.

“Grady says someone’s trying to get in the house. So I ran into the living room, the boy was banging, banging, pleading for us to open the door,” Landrum said.

The couple called 911 and said they were told not to go outside in case a gunman was nearby. Landrum said the couple watched helplessly as first responders tried to save the boy’s life on their front porch.

“He was on the ground, and I saw him, and his eyes had the color of my son’s eyes. I saw my son. I saw my son on the ground dying,” Landrum said. “Nobody, a mother, nobody should see that.”

While canvassing the area with assistance from Michigan State Police troopers and detectives, officers followed a blood trail to a backyard on the same block and recovered a firearm, police said.

A second gunshot victim, a 15-year-old boy, was found in the backyard of Carr and Landrum’s home and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, adding that detectives are gathering evidence, reviewing surveillance footage, and interviewing witnesses.

Police said there was no immediate threat to the public.

Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen called the deaths “sad” for the community and said the city is working to expand youth programming and mentorship.

“It’s just sad for the whole community to have two teenagers deceased from gunshots,” Nolen said. “We don’t have a lot of answers at this point, but we’re kind of piecing it together, and hopefully we’ll at least get some answers for the family.”

Nolen said Inkster has increased programming for young people in recent years through the We Rise Inkster after-school program and the return of the city’s summer camp program, saying tragedies like this highlight the need for gun-violence prevention.

“Do we get the kids earlier, get them into summer camps, after-school programs, keep them busy, and mentor them to make sure they don’t get into situations like this? That’s how I look at it, and then of course parents have to do their part,” he said.

Landrum urged community members to get involved.

“We need mentors for our sons and daughters. Especially our sons. Come out and help us,” Landrum said. “This don’t need to happen anymore.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Inkster police Detective T. Parker at 313-563-9869 or Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Cobb at 313-236-7903.

The warning will be in effect until 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, April 14.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for multiple counties in southeast Michigan as a storm capable of producing large hail moved through the region late Monday night.

The warning remains in effect until 12:15 a.m. EDT for northern Tuscola County, northwestern Sanilac County, eastern Bay County, and Huron County.

At 10:44 p.m., a severe thunderstorm was located over Fairgrove, near Akron, and moving northeast at 35 mph. Radar indicated the storm could produce hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter, about the size of half dollars, which could damage vehicles.

The storm was expected to impact Caro and Akron around 10:50 p.m., followed by Unionville at 10:55 p.m., Gagetown at 11 p.m., Cass City at 11:05 p.m., and Owendale at 11:10 p.m.

Additional communities in the storm’s path included Ubly, Bad Axe, and Harbor Beach, along with several smaller areas.

Forecasters warned residents to seek shelter in an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.

Click here for the latest forecast from our 4Warn Weather team.

Here’s a list of the alerts by county.

Wayne County

• No active weather alerts.

Oakland County

• No active weather alerts.

Macomb County

• No active weather alerts.

Washtenaw County

• No active weather alerts.

Monroe County

• No active weather alerts.

Livingston County

• No active weather alerts.

Lenawee County

• No active weather alerts.

Lapeer County

• No active weather alerts.

Genesee County

• No active weather alerts.

St. Clair County

• No active weather alerts.

Sanilac County

• Severe thunderstorm warning issued until 12:15 a.m.

“I’m not really sure I have words to describe that feeling, what that meant,” Fudd said of getting drafted. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in. It's nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), hearing your name called, go up there. Such a surreal feeling,”

Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings' top pick last year. Bueckers — who along with Fudd gave UConn a record seven No. 1 selections — was in attendance at the draft along with Fudd's Huskies teammates.

“Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that,” Fudd said. “She’s someone that makes playing basketball with easy.”

UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez went in the top five, a little over a week after leading the Bruins to their first NCAA championship.

Their teammate, Kiki Rice, went sixth to Toronto, the first pick for the expansion franchise. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Portland Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month.

UCLA broke UConn’s record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002, when Angela Dugalic went ninth to Washington, teaming her again with Betts. And, Giannna Kneepkens was chosen by Connecticut with the last pick of the opening round.

The Bruins later broke the mark for the most players drafted from one team when Charlisse Leger-Walker was selected by Connecticut with the third pick in the second round. Tennessee (1997, 2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023) held the previous record with five players taken.

The new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last month gave huge pay raises to rookies. Fudd will make nearly seven-times what Bueckers earned last season as the top choice. The No. 2 and No. 3 picks will get $466,913 and $436,016, respectively.

Second- and third-round picks will make $270,000 — which is more than the previous maximum salary in the old CBA.

“I’m just blessed and grateful to come at this time,” said No. 8 pick Flau'jae Johnson, who was drafted by Golden State before getting traded to Seattle. “The 30th season. My goal is to leave it better than I found it. It’s a gratitude thing, but also a responsibility thing. I’m taking that with full force.”

Minnesota took Olivia Miles of TCU with the No. 2 pick. Miles decided to stay in college last season instead of enter the WNBA draft. She transferred from Notre Dame to the Horned Frogs. She helped the team reach the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year.

“Deep breath that’s why I got emotional,” Miles said of finishing her journey. “It’s finally here, finally heard my name. This is what this was for.”

After Seattle took Spain center Awa Fam Thiam at No. 3, Washington selected the 6-foot-7 Betts before the Chicago Sky followed with Jaquez, who is the sister of Miami Heat player Jaime Jaquez Jr. She now has family bragging rights not only with a national championship, but also was picked higher than him. Jaime was taken 18th in the NBA draft in 2023.

Portland took Spanish guard Iyana Martin Carrion with its first-ever pick. Indiana took South Carolina's Raven Johnson with the 10th pick and Washington drafted Cotie McMahon of Ole Miss next.

Connecticut took French player Nell Angloma with the 12th pick. A second Gamecock went next with Madina Okot drafted by Atlanta. Seattle drafted Duke's Taina Mair with the 14th choice.

The Sun closed out the first round choosing Kneepkens.

International flavor

There were 11 international players taken in the draft who didn't play at a U.S. college, including three in the first round with Fam Thiam, Martin Carrion and Angloma.

Fam Thiam was the highest selected player from Spain ever drafted in the league. Three Spanish players were taken in all.

“Incredibly excited for our country and the global game,” said Marta Suarez, who was drafted by Seattle in the second round before getting traded to Golden State. “The WNBA is growing, attracting talent from all over the world.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in her pre-draft press conference that the league planned to play either an exhibition game or a regular-season game overseas next year.

Mother-daughter combo

Fudd and her mother, Katie Smrcka-Duffy Fudd, became the second mother-daughter pair to have been drafted into the WNBA. Smrcka-Duffy Fudd was taken in 2001 by the Sacramento Monarchs in the fourth round, but never played a game. Pam McGee was taken second overall in the 1997 draft, also by Sacramento. Her daughter, Imani McGee-Stafford, was drafted 10th overall by Chicago in 2016.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Super Typhoon Sinlaku is on track to barrel over the Northern Mariana Islands late Tuesday local time with widespread rain and flooding along with destructive winds that could cause lengthy power outages, the National Weather Service said.

Guam, a U.S. territory with several American military installations and about 170,000 residents, isn't expected to take a direct hit but still could see damaging winds.

The tropical typhoon — the strongest on Earth so far this year — was producing sustained winds of 173 mph (278 kph) on Monday as it neared the islands of Rota, Tinian and Saipan, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

While it’s expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku should cross by the islands as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon.

The typhoon has stayed mostly on a track that puts it going over or just skirting along Tinian and Saipan, said Joshua Schank, a lead meteorologist in Guam for the weather service.

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

Saipan was the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific, in which more than 50,000 Japanese and American soldiers and local civilians died.

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to prepare for the storm and 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.

The island already was being hit by heavy rains and wind gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph) very early Tuesday, Schank said. Most businesses were closed and residents were told to stay home, he said.

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, said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service 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 was still recovering from 2018's Super Typhoon Yutu when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, he recalled. The economy has yet to rebound, he said.

While bracing to take a direct hit, Hunter is also anticipating the possibility of going weeks or months without electricity and running water.

“We’re remote, beautiful islands in the Pacific, which is a plus, but in times of recovery it becomes a massive negative to getting things into our damaged ports, and so what we would hope for is just as much support as we can get from the outside world, the federal government, the military,” he said.

President Donald Trump on Saturday 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 is coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching almost 100 FEMA staff as well as personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We are ready to respond to this event,” Robert Fenton, a FEMA regional administrator, said from Guam on Monday afternoon local time. The agency began preparing supplies and staff late last week, he said.

FEMA’s response comes amid the record-long Department of Homeland Security Shutdown, but the agency’s emergency response functions continue during a funding impasse. Over 10,000 disaster personnel are still paid and FEMA’s disaster relief fund — which the agency said had about $3.6 billion around the end of March — can be spent until it runs out.

A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones that brew in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where Earth’s most intense storms usually form.

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 since the warning center started using that name nearly 80 years ago.

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Associated Press reporters Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed.

Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a disgraced former president, and Rafael López Aliaga, the ultra conservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima, lead the pack of 35 candidates with 62% of ballots tallied. Official results showed Fujimori had received 16.88% of the votes tallied, while López Aliaga earned 13.88%.

Electoral authorities counted votes throughout Monday even though thousands of Peruvians were back at the polls for a second day of voting. Authorities granted the one-day extension for more than 52,000 voters in Lima as well as to Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey.

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

“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.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. However, a runoff in June is virtually assured given the deeply divided electorate and the pool of candidates, the largest in the Andean country’s history. The winner will be Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

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.

Many of the contenders responded to the crime concerns with wide-ranging proposals, including building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes.

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 the world’s second-largest copper producer, the country posted more than 3% growth in 2024 and 2025.

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 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.

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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.

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

Trump later suggested he was willing to engage with Iran, saying he had spoken to “the other side.” This came after he warned on social media that Iranian warships coming “anywhere close” to the U.S. blockade would be destroyed.

Ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran ended Sunday without an agreement, raising questions about what happens when the current two-week truce expires on April 22. The Israeli military, meanwhile, pushed ahead with its offensive in southern Lebanon, engaging in fierce fighting with Hezbollah militants over a strategic town, while the group fires rockets and drones at northern Israel.

Here is the latest:

Pakistan proposes second round of talks in Islamabad

Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, two Pakistani officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the press, said the proposal would depend on whether the parties request a different location.

One of the officials said that, despite ending without an agreement, the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.

— By Munir Ahmed

Vance says Iranians made ‘some progress’ in talks on nuclear issues

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” that negotiations “did make some progress” in the Islamabad talks on the U.S. insistence on the removal of nuclear material from Iran as well as a mechanism to ensure uranium cannot be enriched in the future.

“They moved in our direction,” Vance said in the interview. He said he thought Iranian negotiators were “unable to cut a deal” and needed to get approval from others in Tehran.

Vance also said that U.S. negotiators made clear that Trump “would be very happy if Iran was treated like a normal country, if it had a normal economy,” but he did not go into details about what he meant.

“There really is, I think, a grand deal to be had here. But, it’s up to the Iranians, I think, to take the next step,” Vance said.

The White House won’t say if talks are in the works

The White House was not responsive to queries about whether new talks were being weighed.

“President Trump, Vice President Vance and the negotiating team have made the U.S. red lines very clear. The Iranians desperation for a deal will only increase with President Trump’s highly effective Naval blockade now in effect,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

US and Iran could be headed toward a second round of talks, AP sources say

The sides are weighing new in-person negotiations in a bid to reach a deal aimed at ending their six-week war before the ceasefire expires next week, two U.S. officials and person familiar with the development said.

The three said discussions were still underway about a new round of talks, while a diplomat from one of the mediating countries went further to say Tehran and Washington have agreed to it.

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

It’s unclear if the same level of delegation would be expected to attend, the diplomat and U.S. officials said.

The diplomat and U.S. officials said Islamabad, Pakistan, was once again being discussed as the host location. The U.S. officials also said Geneva was a possibility, and that while the venue and timing had not been decided, the talks could happen Thursday.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Trump told reporters earlier Monday that “we’ve been called by the other side” and “they want to work a deal.”

— By Farnoush Amiri, Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee

Official says Iran is seeking compensation from 5 Middle East countries

Iran’s representative to the United Nations has demanded compensation from countries it says participated in the U.S. and Israeli war effort against Iran.

Iran’s state media report the nations include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, said that the U.N. representative, Amir-Saeid Iravani, claimed the countries had violated international law and had to “make full compensation for the damages caused to the Islamic Republic of Iran, including payment of compensation for all material and moral damages resulting from their international violations.”

Many US Catholics dismayed by Trump’s verbal attack on Pope Leo

A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Trump in his 2024 presidential victory.

Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum – even among conservative-leaning bishops – there is dismay over Trump’s unprecedented verbal assault on Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church.

Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the Iran war.

Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, who only a few days ago was applauding Trump as an Easter guest at the White House.

Barron called the president’s remarks “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and urged him to apologize.

▶ Read more

Thune says US has been ‘effective’ in Iran war but needs a plan to end it

“They do need a plan for how to wind this down, how to get an outcome that actually leads to a safer, more secure Middle East and, by extension, a stronger national security position for the United States,” the Senate majority leader told reporters after returning from a two-week recess Monday.

On Trump’s blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, Thune said that “penalizing those who do business with the Iranians may get people’s attention,” including China, which depends on energy in the region.

“That probably more than anything else right now, is going to be the key issue to resolving the situation, getting the Iranians to the table,” Thune said.

Majority Leader Thune says White House spending request for war ‘has been scaled back’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says it’s his understanding that a potential request from the White House to pay for the Iran war has been scaled back, but he did not give a specific number.

Congress is still waiting for the request, which could total hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon sent the White House a request for $200 billion last month, but Trump has not yet asked Congress to approve any new amount for the war.

Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, told reporters that the request will be an “inflection point” for Republicans, as Congress will have to vote to approve it. That is a “power that Congress has to influence what happens there,” he said.

UN says Israel has opened second crossing for aid deliveries to Gaza

The U.N. humanitarian office reports that Israeli authorities reopened the Zikim crossing into northern Gaza for the first time in more than 40 days, the U.N. spokesperson said.

Five international aid groups recently said humanitarian conditions in Gaza have deteriorated further since the Iran war began.

Over the weekend, supplies were unloaded, and the U.N. resumed collecting the cargo inside Gaza on Monday, starting with food, nutrition products and other humanitarian items, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Opening the Zikim crossing “will help address a critical need by allowing supplies to enter northern Gaza directly, so we don’t have to truck them from the south,” where Kemen Shalom is the only other crossing open for goods, he said.

But despite the opening, Dujarric said, “Major constraints remain.”

He pointed to Israeli customs clearance delays, insufficient screening capacity, which makes approval for critical items difficult, and blanket bans on some U.N. agencies and partner organizations “that are central and critical to the joint humanitarian response in Gaza.”

Global financial organizations warn of oil shock

The directors of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the International Energy Agency said Monday that the war’s damage to energy facilities could keep fuel and fertilizer prices high for “a prolonged period.”

Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, said the disruptions to oil supplies from the conflict is “the greatest energy security challenge in history.” One-third of the 80 Mideast energy facilities his agency is monitoring have been damaged.

Birol spoke at IMF headquarters after meeting with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank.

Birol warned that April could be worse than March for the world economy because many fuel shipments from before the war were still arriving in ports last month.

U.S. oil prices were $98 a barrel in afternoon trading, after topping $100 earlier Monday.

US military has 16 warships in the Middle East

But military officials have offered few details about how a blockade of Iranian ports would actually work.

Aside from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy has 11 destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, and a littoral combat ship, all in the waters of the Middle East, a defense official said.

A second defense official says no U.S. warships are in the Persian Gulf — the body of water that forms most of Iran’s coastline.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

Trump said the blockade had taken effect Monday.

The second defense official pointed to a notice to mariners as a more accurate representation of the military’s plans. It says access to Iranian ports is being restricted, but how these measures “will be applied in practice ... are in development.”

— By Konstantin Toropin

Oil prices ease back from their morning spurts as US stocks rally on a still-hopeful Wall Street

The S&P 500 rallied 1% Monday and is back to within 1.3% of its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%.

Even in the oil market, where prices jumped above $100 per barrel after ceasefire talks failed to end the war, prices pared their leaps as Monday progressed. The moves for financial markets overall were much more modest than the extreme swings that have hit since the war began in late February.

▶ Read more

Naval blockades can be a tool for applying pressure

Blockades alone typically don’t settle military conflicts, but they can be a way of exerting pressure on an adversary’s economy, experts tell the AP. That’s likely President Donald Trump’s intention in declaring a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Blockades are “very much a gradual tool,” said Sidharth Kaushal, a naval power expert at the Royal United Services Institute defense and security think tank in London.

Throughout history, blockades have been a way for one power to drain another’s economy by disrupting the flow of goods in and out of a country. But they take time, and can also require significant resources by the blockading force.

“It’s a form of economic warfare,” said Raul Pedrozo, professor of international law at the U.S. Naval War College.

Navigating the legal questions of a US blockade

To meet international law, a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz must be officially announced and effectively and impartially enforced, legal experts tell the AP.

“You have to apply it to everybody going in and out of Iran,” said Raul Pedrozo, professor of international law at the U.S. Naval War College. “It doesn’t just apply to people we don’t like.”

The requirements are to warn mariners of any blockade and ensure it is enforced fairly and responsibly. International law experts will also be watching to see if the U.S. allows humanitarian aid, food or medicine to reach Iran.

“How it is carried out will determine whether it is lawful or not,” Todd Huntley, a retired Navy captain and director of Georgetown University’s National Security Law Program.

Netanyahu focuses on Iran in Holocaust speech

The Israeli leader says the war against Iran was a powerful contrast to the Holocaust.

In an address marking Israel’s annual Holocaust memorial day, Netanyahu said that while Jews were like an “abused animal crying in agony” at the hands of the Nazis, the modern state of Israel fights back against its enemies.

He then listed several Iranian nuclear sites alongside Nazi death camps.

“Had we not acted, the names Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Parchin might have been remembered eternally in infamy, just like Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, and Sobibor,” he said.

Netanyahu often uses the annual address to lash out at Iran.

Finnish president says he doesn’t see US withdrawal from NATO; allies will assist after Iran war ends

During a panel on Monday, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said that he “sees no signs” of America abandoning the trans-Atlantic alliance despite Trump’s threats over NATO countries’ refusal to help with the Strait of Hormuz.

“So don’t underestimate the interest of the United States to stay engaged with the alliance,” Stubb said at an event at the Brookings Institution.

The European leader has often leveraged his good relationship with Trump — the two men have played golf together and speak regularly — to argue against his “America First” posturing. Stubb also reiterated that a “coalition of the willing” would help ensure the critical waterway was opened after the war ended.

“It’s my job as president of Finland to try to save the situation and convince the Americans that without allies, it’s difficult to project power,” he said.

At least 2 tankers turn around after approaching the Strait of Hormuz

The vessel-tracker MarineTraffic said in a post on the social platform X that the ships reversed course within minutes of approaching the critical waterway, shortly after the U.S. blockade began.

It said one of the tankers departed the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah anchorage on Monday, bound for China. It was not immediately clear where the second vessel was headed.

Iran war has some US water utilities facing a fluoride shortage

It’s not just gas prices: Some U.S. water utilities are reporting that the war is disrupting their ability to maintain recommended fluoride levels in the drinking water.

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies says it expects additional shortages as the war stresses the supply chain. Israel is a major supplier of the chemical used to fluoridate drinking water.

The number of water utilities affected so far is small, but the shortage is affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

Dentists say a short-term drop in fluoride levels should be fine for most people, but longer-term disruptions could put Americans, especially young children, at higher risk for tooth decay.

▶ Read more

Trump says ‘we’ve been called by the other side’ but offers no details on conversation

Speaking outside the Oval Office on Monday, Trump suggested the U.S. is still willing to engage with Iran to negotiate a resolution.

“I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side,” Trump said, adding, “We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal.”

Trump did not say who called or what was discussed.

Trump confirms that Strait of Hormuz blockade started at 10 am Monday

“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world because that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said of Iran.

Trump repeated his argument that safeguarding the strait is of greater concern to other parts of the globe than the United States. The effective closure of the strait since the start of the war, however, impacts global oil prices — which has led to surging gas prices for American motorists and rising inflation on other goods.

“We don’t use this strait,” Trump said. “We have our own oil and gas, much more than we need.”

Trump says he won’t apologize to Pope Leo over Iran war criticisms

Trump is refusing to apologize for sharply criticizing Pope Leo, saying that the pontiff “went public” in his criticisms of the war in Iran, and “I’m just responding.”

In comments to reporters outside the Oval Office, Trump added, “There’s nothing to apologize for” and said of Leo, “He’s wrong.”

Trump was also asked about posting an image of himself as a saintlike healer, which seemed to draw comparisons between himself and Jesus Christ.

The image was posted Sunday night and drew widespread condemnation from Evangelical Christian leaders and has since been taken down.

Trump said, “I did post it.” But he suggested it had something to do with the Red Cross and insisted: “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.”

Iranian official says US blockade will backfire

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei derided the blockade as a “revenge of choice” against the global economy.

“Is it ever worthwhile to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face?!” he wrote on the social platform X.

OPEC oil production tumbled before US threatened blockade

The closure of the strait severely crimped output from OPEC last month. The 12-nation oil cartel, with members in the Middle East, Africa and Venezuela, said Monday that production tumbled by 7.89 million barrels a day in March, to 20.79 million barrels.

“Disruptions to shipping operations in the region raised persistent concerns about regional supply flows, while strong buying of prompt spot market barrels, production cuts, and declarations of force majeure further supported the upward price momentum,” OPEC said.

The organization said demand appears to be steady this year, but cut its forecast for the current quarter, citing the war.

Netanyahu spokeswoman rules out a ceasefire with Hezbollah

Shosh Bedrosian told reporters Monday that Israel’s upcoming talks with Lebanon will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between the two countries.

“We will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which continues to carry out indiscriminate attacks against Israel and our civilians,” she said.

Israel and the Lebanese army have both been unable to forcibly disarm Hezbollah.

US-Iran ceasefire is holding despite failed peace talks, Pakistan’s prime minister says

Efforts are underway to resolve the remaining disputes between Washington and Tehran as a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan remains intact, said the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.

In televised remarks at a Cabinet meeting, Sharif cautioned that peace efforts take time, citing past agreements such as the Geneva accords.

Trump says Iranian ships that come ‘anywhere close’ to US blockade will be destroyed

The president made the comment on social media just after the blockade of Iran was expected to begin. Trump said Iran has some “fast attack ships” remaining even after much of its navy was destroyed by U.S. strikes.

“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.

He added: “It is quick and brutal.”

Where things stand on ceasefire talks

The current truce between the U.S. and Iran appears to be holding, with no word on whether negotiations will resume before it expires on April 22.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said his country will try to facilitate a new round of dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the coming days. There was no immediate reaction from either side.

A key obstacle seems to be a perception on both sides that they won the war and that each has time on its side.

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Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed 2,089 people during the latest Hezbollah-Israel war

That’s an increase of 34 deaths since the previous day’s count, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It said Monday that among those killed were 252 women, 166 children, and 88 medical workers.

The number of wounded has increased to 6,762 people since the war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran, sparking Israel’s ground invasion and aerial bombardment campaign that has displaced over one million people.

Ahead of anticipated direct talks in Washington on Tuesday, the strikes across both sides of the tense frontier and fierce ground fighting in southern Lebanon have intensified.

Stage is set for an extraordinary showdown over shipping off Iran’s coast

The U.S. military has vowed to blockade all Iranian ports to pressure Tehran into agreeing to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and accepting a peace deal. Iran responded with threats on all the ports of U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The showdown contains serious risks for the global economy and raises the specter that a ceasefire that is currently holding could collapse.

It was not clear if the blockade had started when the designated time of 10 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. GMT) arrived. Minutes earlier, a notice to mariners issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors maritime security, said the restrictions included “the entirety of the Iranian coastline, including ports and energy infrastructure.”

The notice added that transit through the strait “to or from non-Iranian destinations is not reported to be impeded by these measures,” but it added that ships “may encounter military presence” in the strait.

Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice were taken with picks Nos. 4-6 on Monday night, barely a week after helping the Bruins win their first NCAA championship. UCLA became the first team to have five first-round selections, and the first with six players selected in one draft.

In a whirlwind stretch where the Bruins were feted from coast to coast, the good times hit their peak at the draft, where the best team this season took its place among the best of all time.

“It’s really hard to sum up because there’s so much,” Jaquez said. “I think that we’re just on a high right now. We just won the national championship. A lot of us have also graduated college, which is a huge step and something to be super proud of, especially at UCLA. And then we got to go to Jimmy Kimmel, a Laker game, Clipper game, dance, have the celebration at Pauley Pavilion. We went on ‘Good Morning America’ this morning. Obviously, a lot of us are here at the draft tonight being drafted. It’s just been a special moment.”

The 6-foot-7 Betts was selected by the Washington Mystics, with Jaquez then taken by the Chicago Sky. The expansion Toronto Tempo made Rice their first draft pick with the No. 6 selection.

With coach Cori Close sitting up front near her players, the Bruins kept having reasons to stand up and cheer. They were going so quickly that after Angela Dugalic was taken at No. 9 to join Betts in Washington, she worried she’d miss witnessing more big moments for her teammates.

Betts said she wasn’t surprised, having watched how hard her teammates worked.

“These are like my sisters, and getting to watch your family do something like that is amazing,” Betts said. “But I mean, this team is just so special. We knew the type of players that we had on the team, and to really just have this night really showcase all of the things that we’ve worked on all season is just amazing.”

UCLA went 37-1, routing South Carolina on April 5 in the title game — with their seniors scoring all of their points in the Final Four — and then made WNBA history when Gianna Kneepkens was drafted by Connecticut with the 15th and final pick of the first round. Close has said she doesn't care about records, but that changed Monday.

“Well, I mean, I sort of do care about this one actually, because No. 1, it helps us in recruiting. I think we’ve really taken a developmental approach to this and to see it come to fruition the way it has is obviously really gratifying,” she said.

“Just to be a part of an historic night and for them to be so excited for each other, that’s sort of representative of how they’ve been all year long. But it’s a pretty cool record to be a part of.”

UConn had the previous record of four first-round selections — all in the first six picks — in 2002. Sue Bird was No. 1, Swin Cash No. 2, Asjha Jones No. 4 and Tamika Williams No. 6 from a team that went 39-0.

Tennessee, in 1999 and again in 2008, had five players selected in the draft, as did Notre Dame in 2019 and South Carolina in 2023. But those players weren’t all taken in the first round.

“I think it definitely demonstrates that being a selfless team, that maybe giving up individual stats for team success, that you can win with that formula. You can still be successful. You can win at a high level as a team but you can also achieve individual goals,” Rice said.

“We knew we all wanted to go to the WNBA. We all wanted to be pros, but that wasn’t the only focus during the season. It was winning, it was giving to each other, it was how can we be the best team possible. In the process of doing that, we still got the results that we wanted to at the end of the day, and that’s something that is really special.”

Charlisse Leger-Walker was taken by the Sun in the second round, set to remain teammates with Kneepkens.

The Bruins went to dinner together while in New York and were going to spend more time together after the draft. But Kneepkens said they wouldn't be saying their goodbyes yet.

“Yeah, those girls mean the most to me, and good thing we live in this day and age and we have phones,” she said. “So hopefully we’ll keep in touch, and obviously we’ll see each other around.”

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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The list was revealed on Monday night's airing of “American Idol.” Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees were voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.

Soft rocker Collins, who already is in the hall as a member of Genesis, has had such solo hits as “In the Air Tonight” and “One More Night,” and has earned eight Grammys, including album of the year in 1985 for “No Jacket Required.” Collins got in the first time he appeared on the ballot.

Soul-jazz vocalist Sade, also nominated in 2024, had such soft rock hits as “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo.” The Wu-Tang Clan have been hailed as rap innovators since their game-changing 1993 debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang.”

Iron Maiden, nominated twice before, helped power the new wave of British heavy metal with iconic albums like “The Number of the Beast.” Vandross, who sold more than 25 million albums and had the hits “Here and Now” and “Any Love,” died in 2005 and inspired Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther.”

This year, the hall will open its arms to the sounds of Manchester, England, inducting post-punk pioneers Joy Division and New Order — which shared most of the same members — as well as Britpop’s recently reunited Oasis, made up of Noel and Liam Gallagher. Idol, also English, has brought a punky sneer to pop with songs like “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell.”

The induction will be held Nov. 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. A TV presentation will air in December on ABC and Disney+. Next year, the ceremony will return to the hall's home of Cleveland.

Those nominated this year but who came up short for the class of 2026 include Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, INXS, Melissa Etheridge, Jeff Buckley, Pink, New Edition and Shakira.

In addition to the performer category, inductees entering the hall can arrive under three special committee categories: early influence, musical excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award.

The early influence award this year will honor Queen Latifah, Cuban singer Celia Cruz, Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, rapper MC Lyte and country rocker Gram Parsons. The musical excellence will honor songwriter Linda Creed and producers Arif Mardin, Jimmy Miller and Rick Rubin.

More than 50 years after his death, Ed Sullivan, the legendary host of his self-titled appointment-viewing TV show, will go into the hall with the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award. It's a recognition of how important his Sunday night stage became as a launchpad for nearly every musical icon of the 1950s and '60s and of how his show helped break racial barriers in American entertainment.

Last year, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Soundgarden, Joe Cocker, Salt-N-Pepa, The White Stripes, Carol Kaye, Nicky Hopkins, Lenny Waronker, Thom Bell and Warren Zevon all were inducted.

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.

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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.

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.

Attorney Terrel Butler said on Monday (April 13) officials had “no evidence” to hold her client, Brian, 58, and were required to release him.

NBC News said Hooker did not respond to reporters’ questions as he left the central police station in Grand Bahama with Butler, who described him as “very emotional” and in need of time to recover from the experience.

Hooker had been taken into custody on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, days after telling authorities his wife, Lynette Hooker, 55, fell from a dinghy on April 4.

NBC News reported that Brian said Lynette went overboard with the vessel’s key, forcing him to paddle from Elbow Cay to a marina in Marsh Harbour, where he alerted police.

Shanta Knowles, commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, told NBC News that authorities decided to release Hooker after consulting with prosecutors.

Knowles said he remains a suspect as the investigation continues and that officials are still working to locate Lynette.

Butler told NBC News that police did not present any new evidence during a follow-up interview with her client on Monday, which lasted less than an hour.

She described to NBC News that the questioning was largely repetitive of prior interviews.

On April 10, Brian was questioned for more than three hours about his relationship with his wife, and whether he had caused her harm, Butler said, per NBC News.

Lynette’s body has been recovered, and authorities have not confirmed her death.

Brian has denied any wrongdoing.

Search efforts for Lynette, per NBC News, have continued for more than a week.

Origin Deleveaux of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force told NBC News crews are searching by land, air, and sea, despite challenging weather conditions, including strong winds and rough waters.

Family members have raised questions about Brian’s account.

--> Daughter speaks out as Lenawee County mother goes missing in the Bahamas, father arrested

Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has been posting on social media, urging people to help find her mother and sharing a GoFundMe to support the search.

“I’m still in a lot of shock, right now, that this is even a conversation,” Aylesworth said.

Aylesworth said her stepfather told her what happened about 24 hours after her mother disappeared, and she has not spoken with him since.

“He’s the one that told me this happened. I have not talked to him since. I don’t really feel comfortable at the moment until I find out more information on what happened to my mom,” Aylesworth said.

Aylesworth said her mother and stepfather had been together for about 25 years and described the relationship as “rocky at best.”

“There had been problems in their relationship in the past that makes this seem a little too fishy,” Aylesworth said.

Aylesworth also said she is concerned alcohol may have played a role, citing past issues when they drank.

“I just know that they fight more when they drink, that he did something that you can’t undo,” Aylesworth said.

In the GoFundMe description, Aylesworth said any funds would be used to support continued search efforts or to help cover funeral expenses if needed.

She said the U.S. Coast Guard is also involved, and she is trying to travel to the Bahamas to assist.

“We secretly hope that she’s on an island somewhere, just being happy,” Aylesworth said.

Brian’s attorney has said he is cooperating with investigators.

In a statement released to NBC News, Butler said Hooker “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” including allegations raised by Aylesworth.

Aylesworth has said the couple had a history of conflict, particularly when drinking, but noted both were experienced boaters who had spent more than a decade sailing together.

Both Brian and Lynette have had prior legal issues in Michigan.

Court records show Brian Hooker was acquitted of a child abuse charge in 2006. Lynette Hooker was arrested in 2015 on assault-related charges, though a warrant was denied due to insufficient evidence.

In a recorded phone call shared publicly, a man identified as Brian described the night of the incident, saying his wife fell from the dinghy amid strong winds and choppy waters shortly before sunset.

Brian said neither was wearing a life jacket and described the incident as a “cascade of failures.”

Authorities have not confirmed those details and continue to investigate.

Over several hours of sometimes emotional testimony at a court hearing packed with families of campers who were killed, Edward Eastland provided the most detailed description yet of how camp staff did or didn't respond as floodwaters along the Guadalupe River quickly rose to historic levels, trapping children and counselors in cabins before they were swept away in the early morning dark of July Fourth.

“I wish we never had camp that summer,” Eastland said near the end of his testimony. He acknowledged lives could have been saved if camp staff acted sooner, but insisted they could not have anticipated the severity of the storm.

This week's hearing comes during a legal battle between the camp owners and victims' families who have filed multiple lawsuits and the families' demands to preserve the damage at the camp site as evidence.

And it comes as Camp Mystic plans to reopen in less than two months. The camp has applied with state regulators to renew its license so that it can open an elevated area that did not flood. Camp operators have said nearly 900 girls have registered to attend.

Eastland acknowledged the camp had no detailed written flood evacuation plan. He also said more campers would have survived if he and his father, camp co-owner Richard Eastland, as well as a camp safety director had made quicker decisions to evacuate.

By the time they did, the waters were so high and so fast they were producing rapids that swirled around some cabins, he said.

Eastland also acknowledged staff didn't use simple measures like using campus loudspeakers to tell campers and counselors to leave their cabins and get to higher ground earlier in the storm.

Cici Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter Cile is the only camp victim still missing, said after the testimony the state should deny the camp's license.

“It is so clear they are incapable of keeping children safe," Cici Steward said.

Eastland attorney Mikal Watts declined comment immediately after the hearing.

Missed warnings and missed chances to evacuate

Eastland said he and other staff were signed up for an emergency warning system on their phones and used other weather apps. But he said he did not see flood watch social media posts by the National Weather Service and the Texas Department of Emergency Management on July 2 and 3.

Eastland said he thought the local “CodeRED” mobile phone alert system and phone weather apps staff had at the time “was enough.”

A July 3 National Weather Service alert asked area broadcasters to note that locally heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding in rivers, creeks, streams and low-lying areas, all features of the Camp Mystic property.

Eastland said that his father typically monitored weather issues and that he did not believe camp staff held a meeting about the alerts and warnings that day.

The storms would hit in the overnight hours, killing 25 campers, two teenage counselors and Richard Eastland, who had loaded up his large SUV with campers before the vehicle was swept away. None survived.

“We did not expect what was going to happen,” Edward Eastland said.

“You were warned,” said Brad Beckworth, an attorney representing the Steward family.

Eastland says campus loudspeakers were not used to issue a weather warning

The courtroom heard part of a video of “Taps” played over loudspeakers when the campers went to bed at around 10 p.m. July 3.

Eastland said he went to bed about 11 p.m. and never received a National Weather Service flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m.. He said he slept through a CodeRED alert text at the same time that warned of a flood event that could last several hours.

His father called him on a walkie-talkie shortly before 2 a.m. to tell him about hard rain falling and the need to move canoes and water equipment off the riverfront. They did not move to evacuate cabins at that point.

“It was not reasonable to do that at that time,” Eastland said. “The water wasn’t out of the Guadalupe River. It was pouring down rain and lightning and the cabins were safe at that time.”

Richard Eastland made the call to evacuate cabins about 3 a.m., Edward Eastland said.

Lawyers for the families introduced a signed statement from a counselor who described the horror of the night. She woke up during the storm and could see girls running for shelter.

“The water was rising faster than anything I have ever witnessed,” the counselor wrote. She said Edward Eastland eventually approached the cabin in knee-deep water, told her it was too late to leave and they should ride out the storm there.

The counselor said she tried to keep the children out of the rising water pouring in before she was eventually swept away herself.

Eastland also tearfully described trying to grab two girls and a third who jumped on his back while he stood bracing himself in a cabin doorway before they were washed away. He and a counselor eventually were pushed into a tree.

“The water was over my head very quickly. The water was churning,” Eastland said.

At one point, several family members left the courtroom during a cellphone video taken the night of the flood. Someone could be heard yelling “Help!” in the background.

Flooding killed at least 136 people along the Guadalupe River

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

Texas health regulators said last week they are investigating hundreds of complaints filed against the camp owners. The Texas Rangers are also helping look into allegations of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Safety, although the scope of the state’s elite investigations unit was not immediately clear.

The hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday.

The decision caps a swift political fall for the seven-term lawmaker, who had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out Sunday after the allegations surfaced, claims he has continued to deny.

The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell — including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said on social media. “I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

The House Ethics Committee had begun an investigation into whether Swalwell engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee working under his supervision, the panel announced Monday. Other lawmakers were pushing for a quick vote to expel him from Congress.

Another lawmaker, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, said Monday that he would file his "retirement from office" when Congress returns Tuesday. Gonzales, who had already said he would not seek reelection, gave no further details on his plans to step down.

Gonzales had acknowledged an affair with a staff member who later died by suicide and was also facing renewed calls for an expulsion vote in the wake of the allegations against Swalwell.

Several Democrats had quickly called on Swalwell to resign in the days after the allegations came to light, including prominent allies such as Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego. California Sen. Adam Schiff, who withdrew his endorsement for Swalwell's gubernatorial bid, told reporters Monday that “the whole thing is just shocking and deeply upsetting.”

“I think he made the right decision to resign,” Schiff said.

Swalwell wrote in the statement posted to social media that he was “aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote” and that it was “wrong” without due process.

“But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” Swalwell wrote. He did not provide a timeframe, saying only that he would work with his staff in the coming days to ensure their work can continue.

Swalwell, an Iowa native, was elected in 2012 and represents a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but shuttered it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

Swalwell was one of Donald Trump’s top Democratic antagonists in Congress, serving as a prominent member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees during the president’s first term and as one of several Democratic prosecutors for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

He was removed from the intel committee by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023 based on his contact with a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang.

Fang was reported to have come into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 and participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign.

Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. He was not accused of wrongdoing and a House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened in 2021 closed two years later without any action.

Swalwell’s planned departure from the House will trigger a special election in his district, which he won by over 30 percentage points in 2024. In California, the governor is responsible for calling a special election, which he must do “within 14 calendar days of the occurrence of the vacancy,” according to state election law.

The future of the House Ethics probe is uncertain, as the panel often ends its investigations when lawmakers resign. The Ethics Committee said the mere fact that it is investigating the allegations against Swalwell, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.

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Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

Sharon Simmons, dressed in a "DoorDash Grandma” T-shirt, walked up to the Oval Office’s exterior door and knocked as media cameras rolled. Trump popped out and said, “Hello. Nice to see you,” before proclaiming, “Look at this!” and then, glancing toward a pack of nearby reporters, offering, “This doesn’t look staged, does it?”

It was, of course. Making it onto the White House grounds alone requires obtaining prior permission and passing through security, while accessing the Oval Office — not to mention getting so close to the president — would have been impossible without additional screenings and background checks.

Still, the White House has attempted to call more attention to a piece of the Trump-backed tax and spend package approved last summer that allows Americans to temporarily deduct some federal taxes from income earned on tips. It lets certain workers deduct up to $25,000, but phases out for those with higher incomes.

Officials are intensifying the publicity effort ahead of Tax Day on Wednesday — even as the issue has been overshadowed for weeks by the war in Iran that has raised gas prices and spooked financial markets, and more immediately by Trump’s feud with Pope Leo XIV.

McDonald’s is a longtime favorite of the president — and fare he's used to political ends before.

He famously ordered it, along with vast piles of other fast food, to serve the visiting NCAA football champion Clemson Tigers in 2019 during his first term, when a government shutdown had reduced White House kitchen staff. Trump also staged one of the most memorable stops of his successful 2024 reelection campaign by visiting a Pennsylvania McDonald’s restaurant, where he worked the fry station and took reporters’ questions from the drive-thru window.

On Monday, Simmons, who DoorDash said was from Arkansas, recounted how the tax changes had helped reduce the amount of income she had to claim. Simmons subsequently told reporters she had earned more than $11,000 in tips a year. Exact figures on her savings were difficult to verify without Simmons' tax statement wasn't provided to reporters.

Trump then asked, “Would you like to do a little news conference with me?" and had her stand awkwardly beside him as he took questions about his threats to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and his refusal to apologize to Pope Leo.

The president eventually asked Simmons: “I think you voted for me. Do you think?” To which she responded, “Um, maybe.” Undaunted, Trump continued: “I heard you're a great supporter. We appreciate it.”

When a reporter later asked if the White House was a good tipper, Simmons hesitated: “Um ... potentially.”

“Wait,” Trump crowed, reaching into his pocket for a $100 bill and handing it to Simmons with a grin. She took the money, laughed and finished, “Yes, very," as the president patted her on the back and beamed.

Trump also invited Simmons and her husband to a UFC bout he's helping to stage on the White House lawn to mark his 80th birthday in June. And he turned to Simmons again to press her on if she believes “men should play in women's sports” — a frequent topic of his as he blasts Democrats for being too supportive of transgender rights.

“I really don’t have an opinion on that,” Simmons replied, prompting Trump to push, “I’ll bet you do.”

“No, no," she insisted. “I’m here about no tax on tips.”

The White House later said that Trump personally delivered the food — consisting of cheeseburgers and fries — to West Wing staff.

It didn't say if he got a tip for doing so.

Swalwell’s decision to suspend his campaign Sunday followed allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him, that were published Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle and later by CNN. While pulling out of the race he remained defiant in a post on the social platform X, saying, “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

On Monday, he posted a statement on X, saying he planned to resign from Congress but did not provide a date for his departure. He wrote it was unfair for his constituents to have him distracted from his duties.

For rival candidates in a wide-open race, the key issue is where Swalwell’s supporters will go. He was among the most prominent Democrats in the contest, with mail ballots scheduled to go to voters in early May in advance of the June 2 primary election. Most of the well-known candidates are expected to appear on stage together Tuesday during a forum in Sacramento.

Katie Porter, one of the leading Democrats, posted a line from a San Francisco Chronicle column on X, "Democrats can pull victory from the jaws of defeat by coalescing around Porter.” Billionaire hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist Tom 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. Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor, pitched a new ad promising to lower gas and grocery costs in a state known for its punishing cost of living.

With seven established Democrats and two leading Republicans on a primary ballot with more than 50 candidates, the race remains fluid. 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.”

Shifting alliances with Swalwell's departure

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 another leading candidate, Republican Steve Hilton, who hosted a show on Fox News for six years and has Trump’s endorsement.

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.

Many voters remain distant from governor's race

Swalwell is perhaps best known nationally as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial during his first term in early 2021. But in a media environment dominated by Trump, the race remains distant from many California voters.

After the publicity about sexual misconduct allegations, “I think there are probably more people who know who Eric Swalwell is than can articulate a Tom Steyer position paper,” Acosta added.

Swalwell was considered a leading contender along with Steyer and Porter and two Republicans, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Hilton. But Republican activists haven't rallied around Hilton, despite Trump's support; at a California Republican Party convention over the weekend the party declined to endorse a candidate in the race.

Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.

Swalwell had become a clear target for his Democratic rivals as he began to lock up institutional support. Some had seized on rumors of sexual misconduct that circulated on social media for weeks before the Chronicle’s report.

The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to a woman who alleged Swalwell sexually assaulted her in 2019, when she worked for him, and again in 2024. The woman said she did not go to police at the time of the assaults because she was afraid she would not be believed. In both cases the woman said she was too intoxicated to consent to sex. CNN reported on allegations that appeared to come from the same woman, and spoke to several other women who accused Swalwell of other sexual misconduct.

Neither outlet named the woman, and The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify her account and identity. Her lawyer declined to comment.

The alleged 2024 incident occurred in New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it’s investigating. That office urged anyone with knowledge to contact its special victims division. The Alameda County District Attorney's office, which covers Swalwell's California district, said no one has reached out to the office with allegations against Swalwell.

House colleagues call for Swalwell to resign

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 like California U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jimmy Gomez.

Some representatives had said they would support the rare step of expelling him from the U.S. House should he refuse to step aside. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation Monday.

Swalwell, who is originally from Iowa, was elected in 2012 and represents a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but shuttered it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

___

Associated Press writer Sophie Austin in Sacramento contributed.

Authorities allege 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary device about 4 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building.

Moreno-Gama is opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to a federal criminal complaint.

“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference.

No one was injured at Altman's home or the company offices, authorities said.

Moreno-Gama faces state and federal charges

Moreno-Gama faces charges including two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. He tried to kill both Altman and a security guard at Altman's residence, she alleged. He is set to appear in court Tuesday, and online state court records do not yet show if he has an attorney.

Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.

On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in prison.

The federal court documents do not list an attorney for Moreno-Gama, and he has not yet had his first appearance in federal court.

Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning.

Authorities say Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence

When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint.

Surveillance video images included in the criminal complaint show a person dressed in a dark hoodie and pants that the FBI alleges is Moreno-Gama approaching the driveway of Altman’s home. In various images, the person can be seen tossing the Molotov cocktail, which landed at the top of a metal gate and started a small fire.

Surveillance video images from outside OpenAI’s headquarters allegedly show Moreno-Gama grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass doors. Authorities said Moreno-Gama was approached by the building’s security personnel, who told investigators he “stated in sum and substance” that he came to the headquarters “to burn it down and kill anyone inside,” according to the complaint.

San Francisco police arrested Moreno-Gama and recovered “incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a blue lighter, and a document.” Moreno-Gama was being held Monday in the San Francisco County Jail on the state charges, and was expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said authorities “will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism, and together with our partners, prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”

Authorities say Moreno-Gama's anti-AI document contained threats against Altman

The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI also made threats against Altman, officials said.

“Also if I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message,” Moreno-Gama is alleged by authorities to have written in the document.

Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence.

Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI.”

Another group, PauseAI, said in a statement that the suspect had no role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as “ambiguous.”

Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform behavior.”

Altman addressed the threats in a blog post

Hours after the attack on his house, Altman posted a photo of his husband and their toddler in a blog post addressing the threats against him.

“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” Altman wrote.

He added that “fear and anxiety about AI is justified” but it was important to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”

Altman has become a preeminent voice in Silicon Valley on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The attack comes days after The New Yorker published an in-depth investigation that touched on concerns some people have about him and the company.

Debate about the impact of AI is growing

The attack came at a time of growing debate about the societal effects of AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT that millions of people are turning to for information, advice, writing help and to do work on their behalf.

An annual report published Monday by Stanford University called the AI index found that most people believe AI’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks, “but nervousness is growing and trust in institutions to manage the technology remains uneven.”

___

Lozano reported from Houston and Oyekanmi reported from Spring, Texas. Associated Press journalists Matt O'Brien from Providence, Rhode Island and Rebecca Boone from Boise, Idaho contributed.

Gonzales had already said he would not seek reelection after admitting to an affair with a staff member who had later died by suicide. His retirement announcement came just hours after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California said he would be resigning from Congress as he also confronted allegations of sexual misconduct.

House Republican leaders had already called on the three-term Gonzales to not seek reelection as they try to hold on to a strongly Republican district in November's midterm elections. And the House Ethics Committee had initiated an investigation. Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision.

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all,” Gonzales said in a social media post. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office.”

He said it has been a privilege “to serve the great people of Texas.” He gave no further details on his plans to step down. Previously, he had insisted he would serve out the remainder of his term as the GOP works to hold its slim House majority.

Last month, the top Republican and Democratic members on the House Ethics Committee said in a joint statement that an investigative panel would look into whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.

That announcement came the same day that Gonzales, appearing on the “Joe Pags Show,” was asked if he had a relationship with the aide, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles.

“I made a mistake and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales went on to say he had reconciled with his wife and had asked God to forgive him. He also said he looked forward to the Ethics Committee investigation.

But as lawmakers returned from a two-week break on Monday, there was a growing clamor among members to take a stand against alleged sexual misconduct. Swalwell's alleged transgressions brought renewed attention to the issue.

Comments from lawmakers on social media suggested some were open to an expulsion trade-off of sorts that would affect each party equally.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., said both Gonzales and Swalwell “are not fit to serve in Congress given their sexual transgressions against women who work for them.”

“There’s already been a resolution announced to expel Swalwell that I will support. I will introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Gonzales,” Leger Fernandez said.

In a separate post that came after the Texas lawmaker made his retirement announcement, she challenged Gonzales to make it "effective immediately.”

“He has until 2PM tomorrow — when we will file his expulsion,” she said on X.

Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah's political council, spoke on the eve of the talks expected in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. It will be the first time in decades that envoys from Lebanon and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations, meet face-to-face in direct talks.

“As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all," Safa told The Associated Press.

"We are not bound by what they agree to,” he added in a rare interview with international media. He spoke next to a cemetery as an Israeli drone buzzed overhead.

Historic negotiations at a sensitive time

Lebanese officials are looking to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war in the U.S. talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said the goal is Hezbollah's disarmament and a potential peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Netanyahu said Monday that there will be no ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Separately, in U.S.-Iran peace talks held last weekend in Pakistan, Iran has sought to include Lebanon in any ceasefire deal of its own with the U.S. Israel and the U.S. have insisted Lebanon would not be a part of it.

Hours after Tehran and Washington announced a truce last Wednesday, Israel launched more than 100 strikes across Lebanon, including in densely packed residential and commercial areas of central Beirut.

And though the U.S.-Iran talks broke up without an agreement, Safa said Hezbollah has been informed that Iran “was able to obtain a cessation of attacks" in the entire administrative region of Beirut, Lebanon's caital, including Beirut's southern suburbs — a Hezbollah-strong area known as Dahiyeh.

Israeli strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs have halted since Wednesday but intense fighting has continued in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah's entry into the war

Israel and Hezbollah have fought multiple wars since the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group was formed in the 1980s as a guerrilla force fighting against Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon at the time.

The latest round began on March 2, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched a war on Iran. Hezbollah entered the fray, firing missiles across the border into Israel. Israel responded with aerial bombardment and a ground invasion.

Since then, the war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon and killed more than 2,000, including more than 500 women, children and medical workers. Many Lebanese have blamed Hezbollah for pulling Lebanon into the war, accusing it of acting on behalf of its patron, Iran.

Safa said Hezbollah's actions were preemptive because its leaders believed “Israel was preparing for a second battle with Lebanon” with the aim of destroying Hezbollah.

It was “an appropriate moment for Hezbollah ... to rebuild a new equation” and restore deterrence against Israel, he said, denying any prior deals with Tehran that Hezbollah would enter the war if Iran was attacked.

After a U.S.-brokered ceasefire halted the last Israel-Hezbollah war in November 2024, Israel continued to carry out near-daily strike in Lebanon that it said aimed to stop the group from rebuilding. Hezbollah wants to avoid a return to that status quo, Safa said.

‘Black Wednesday’

Israel has claimed that its strikes on Lebanon last Wednesday killed more than 250 Hezbollah militants. More than 100 women and children were among the over 350 people killed, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

That would mean that, according to Israel’s assertion, every adult male killed that day was a Hezbollah member.

“None of our officials or cadres was killed in Beirut," Safa said. ”Those who died in Beirut are 100% civilians." He did not deny that members of the group were killed outside of the Lebanese capital.

Israel claimed to have killed Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem's secretary who was also his nephew, Ali Yusuf Harshi, as well as some high-level commanders.

Safa said Kassem’s secretary was not killed, although “maybe a relative of his was.”

He also confirmed for the first time that he was wounded during the earlier, 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, after being targeted by two Israeli strikes in Beirut, "but God granted me survival.”

Later Monday in a televised address, Kassem himself urged Lebanon to pull out of direct talks with Israel, calling the negotiations a “free concession” to Israel and the U.S.

Souring relations with the government

Relations between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah — which is not just a militant group but also a political party with a parliamentary bloc — have grown increasingly tense.

The government last year approved a plan to remove all weapons that are not property of the state — its security forces or military — and later said it had largely completed the task south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah militants are now fighting with Israeli forces.

After March 2, the government went further, declaring Hezbollah's armed wing illegal.

Safa said Hezbollah is currently not directly speaking with President Joseph Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam but that all its communications are going through Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the head of the Hezbollah-allied Amal party.

Safa said that if there is a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, Hezbollah — which calls itself a “resistance” movement against archenemy Israel — is ready to negotiate with the Lebanese government about the fate of its weapons.

“The issue of resistance weapons is a Lebanese matter that has nothing to do with Israel or the United States,” he said.

Naim Kassem spoke in a televised address on the eve of the scheduled meeting between Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the United States, as both sides set a framework for negotiations.

The latest round of fighting was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2, after the United States. and Israel attacked Iran, a Hezbollah patron.

At least 2,055 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said, among them 252 women, 165 children and 87 medical workers, while 6,588 others were wounded. More than 1 million people have been displaced.

Lebanon's government, which says it's committed to disarming Hezbollah, had called for direct talks early on in the war. Last week, Israel announced their approval of talks, but both sides don't appear to be on the same page.

Lebanon hopes for a ceasefire as a prerequisite, similar to Iran and U.S. talks brokered by Pakistan. However, Israel has framed the talks as peace negotiations with Hezbollah's disarmament as a priority, with no mention of a ceasefire or a withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon.

“We refuse negotiations with the Israeli entity. These negotiations are pointless,” Kassem said in a televised address, calling it a “free concession” to Israel and the U.S. “The opportunity is still there. We call for a historic and heroic position to cancel these negotiations.”

He called for a return to the ceasefire that halted the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024. At the time, talks were done indirectly, with the U.S., France and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon mediating.

Kassem also slammed Lebanon's government for criminalizing Hezbollah's military activities and the ongoing diplomatic approach with Israel, saying "it did not take us any step forward," as well as the government's decision to expel Iran's ambassador from the country and criminalize the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's presence.

“We will let the front line speak,” Kassem said.

Strategic border town

Fierce fighting rocked the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Monday, as Israeli troops appeared to encircle the area while Hezbollah militants launched rockets and artillery in an effort to push them back.

The clashes in the hilly town that overlooks the U.N.-mandated Blue Line dividing the two countries just over 3 kilometers (2 miles) away have intensified over the past week, after Iran and the U.S. agreed to a temporary truce. On Tuesday, Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the U.S. are set to meet in Washington for an in-person meeting to kick off landmark direct negotiations.

Israel has scaled back its attacks in Lebanon, especially in Beirut, after a series of deadly strikes without warning hit the heart of the capital in some of its busiest residential and commercial areas, killing more than 350 people.

At the same time, Israel appears to have stepped up strikes and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, where it intends to create a security zone along the Litani River, almost 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border. Bint Jbeil is among dozens of towns and villages south of the river that Israel called to evacuate early on in the war.

Hezbollah political official Wafiq Safa told The Associated Press Monday that in the town of Bint Jbeil, “there are bloody battles that are still being fought until now” and confirmed that a large number of the group’s fighters were besieged there.

“So far, this battle has not ended,” he said. “Of course, there are martyrs for us. This is very normal. There are certainly losses to the Israeli enemy.”

Israel's military said that its troops surrounded Hezbollah infrastructure and started ground operations in Bint Jbeil and surrounding areas, killing more than 100 Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah didn't immediately announce any fatalities among its ranks, and Israel didn't comment on its military casualties.

On Sunday, Hezbollah said that it carried out at least five attacks on Israeli troops in the town and outskirts with rockets, artillery and drones. According to the group, Israeli troops were positioned near a school, a hospital and juncture that surrounds the heart of Bint Jbeil. Israel said that its troops attacked Hezbollah forces conducting surveillance from the Bint Jbeil Government Hospital and found a cache of machine guns and rockets.

When Israel occupied southern Lebanon until its withdrawal in 2000, it had relied on Bint Jbeil and other elevated locations for strategic vantage points. A major turning point was Hezbollah retaking the town, and the victory speech by then-leader Hassan Nasrallah in a stadium there. The Israeli military on Monday shared a satellite photo showing the stadium apparently destroyed in a strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting Monday that the military was expanding beyond the five hilltops it controlled in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in 2024, toward a “solid, deeper security zone." He said that it was in order to protect northern Israel.

Lebanese Red Cross volunteer buried

Elsewhere, a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer killed in an Israeli strike Sunday while on a mission in the southern village of Beit Yahoun was laid to rest in Choueifat, just south of Beirut.

Hassan Badawi, 31, and a colleague were going to a house that was struck by Israel a short drive from where they were stationed, his colleagues said at the funeral. Their trip was coordinated with the U.N. peacekeepers who liaise with the Israeli army, and they received the go-ahead, the colleagues said. They drove in ambulances clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, flashed their emergency lights and wore helmets and flak jackets, they said.

"That is the only protection we have,” said paramedic Ahmad Assi, 29, a friend of Badawi.

Badawi often relayed the horrors he witnessed to friends and family while on duty.

“He said they were bombing everywhere, that he felt stuck, like he had to stay because there were too many wounded people that needed his help,” said Mohammed Cheito, a friend of Badawi from Lebanese University, where they studied engineering together a decade ago.

On Monday, an Israeli strike near the entrance to Red Cross offices in the coastal city of Tyre killed a wounded person who was being transported, damaging several Red Cross vehicles. A person familiar with the matter, but who wasn't authorized to disclose the information, said on condition of anonymity that the strike targeted a man on a motorcycle transporting the wounded. It's unclear who either people were.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged for the protection of humanitarian and medical workers in a statement on Monday.

“Saving lives must never cost a life,” said Agnès Dhur, head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon. “They must be allowed to reach and help the wounded and return unharmed.”

The Israeli military didn't immediately respond to The Associated Press when asked for comment.

___

Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Isabel DeBre in Choueifat, Lebanon, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the war.

Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, who only a few days ago was applauding Trump as an Easter guest at the White House. Barron called the president’s remarks “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and urged him to apologize.

The dismay extended into an even more solid base of Trump support — conservative Christian evangelicals. Many were appalled that Trump followed his Truth Social attack on Leo by posting an image depicting himself as a Christ-like savior.

“TAKE THIS DOWN, MR. PRESIDENT,” posted David Brody, a prominent Trump-supporting commentator with the Christian Broadcasting Network. “You’re not God. None of us are. This goes too far. It crosses the line.”

By midday Monday, the image had been taken down from Truth Social. And speaking at the White House, the president claimed that he never intended to liken himself to Jesus when he posted the picture.

“How did they come up with that?" he asked. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better."

Trump: No apology needed

On his clash with the pope, Trump was equally defiant: “There’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong.”

The president's feud with American religious communities comes just six months before voting begins in this fall's midterms as Trump grapples with low approval ratings and dissension from his MAGA base over the war with Iran. But few groups of voters have been more loyal to Trump — and important to his political success — than those on the religious right.

For now, some Trump allies are optimistic that the dispute will soon be forgotten.

“There is a deep reservoir of appreciation for the president and his faith-based policies that transcends and eclipses any disagreement over a social media post,” Ralph Reed, who sits on the president’s faith advisory board, told The Associated Press.

Through American history, numerous U.S. presidents have had policy differences with various popes. But experts on the Vatican and religious history could recall no exchange comparable to the back-and-forth between Trump and Leo over the pope’s condemnation of America's role in the Iran war.

“This is unprecedented criticism of a Pope from a US president,” David Campbell, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, said via email.

“As to whether it will have a big effect on how US Catholic voters regard Trump, that is an open question,” Campbell added. “Given that attitudes toward the president are driven largely by people’s party preference — which is hard to move -- it probably will not have a huge impact on Catholics’ attitudes toward Trump.”

David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture, noted that many lay Catholics have been standing by Trump in recent weeks and have been critical of their bishops who critique the president.

“If this attack on the pope does not shift that dynamic in a marked way it will truly be a watershed moment ... with American Catholics choosing a Catholic-baiting president over their own pope,” Gibson said.

Looking far back into world history, Trump’s attempt to “strong-arm Pope Leo” isn’t anything new, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame.

“Emperors, monarchs, and despots have long threatened popes in an effort to force them to bend to their will,” she said via email. “In an American context, however, Trump’s invective does represent a historic reversal.”

“For most of this country’s history, Americans viewed the pope as war-mongering, money-grubbing, anti-democratic menace who had designs on the White House,” she added. “Today, the menace is in the White House, and the pope is the one defending the ideals of liberty and human dignity.”

At a prayer service Saturday, the pontiff denounced the “ delusion of omnipotence ” that he said was fueling the war with Iran. Without citing Trump or the U.S. specifically, the pope said: “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

On Monday, he was specific in responding to the president’s criticisms, saying “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”

Vance suggests Vatican should stay out of politics in some cases

Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who occasionally has sparred with church leaders over their criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, said in an interview on Fox News Channel on Monday night that the president’s social media post with the Jesus-like image was “a joke."

"Of course, he took it down because he realized a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor,” Vance said.

He repeatedly dismissed the focus on the president’s fight with the pope, saying it “isn’t particularly newsworthy" and there will be disagreements from time to time with the Vatican.

But Vance also suggested the pope should stay in his lane.

“I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy," Vance said.

Catholics Vote Common Good, a nonprofit group that generally supports progressive causes, urged Vance to speak out on the rift.

“At a moment when the Holy Father is being attacked and the dignity of the Church is being undermined, silence is not neutrality. It is complicity,” said Denise Murphy McGraw, the organization’s national co-chair.

Some vocal evangelical supporters of Trump criticized the meme depicting him as healer apparently resembling Jesus, even while maintaining support for Trump himself.

“It isn’t hard to condemn this outright,” said Willy Rice, a candidate for president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida.

“Many Christians appreciate the President’s administration and have supported him in meaningful ways, but this is wrong,” Rice posted on X.

Also weighing in was Doug Wilson, co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a staunchly conservative Calvinist denomination with an outsized influence in the current administration. Its churches’ members include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I was very grateful to see how many conservative Christians immediately denounced the blasphemous Jesus/Trump image,” Wilson posted on X.

Megan Basham, a conservative evangelical commentator, posted that she agreed with Trump’s criticisms of Leo as “Weak on crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” But she assailed his meme as “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy” and urged Trump to “ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

A look at the numbers for religious blocs as election nears

Such public dissension against Trump from evangelical leaders is rare.

In 2024, white evangelical Protestants were a significant component of Trump’s winning coalition, according to AP VoteCast. About one-third of Trump voters, 34%, identified as white evangelical or born-again Christians, compared with only 8 percent of Harris voters. White evangelicals made up about 2 in 10 voters that year, and the vast majority, 79%, voted for Trump.

A February AP-NORC poll found that about two-thirds of white born again Protestants approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while about one-third disapprove.

Catholics were much unhappier with Trump’s performance in that poll. Only about 4 in 10 approved of his handling of the presidency, similar to Americans overall.

William Barbieri, a Catholic University ethics professor, said Trump’s remarks seemed aimed more at his political base than at Leo himself.

“Pope Leo’s response has been calm and measured, in a way that creates a contrast unflattering to the President,” Barbieri said via email.

“He is opposing resorts to lethal force ... and expressing solidarity with suffering people in many countries,” said Barbieri, contrasting the start of Leo’s pastoral journey to Africa this week with Trump’s appearance at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the weekend.

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This story has been corrected to attribute a quote to David Gibson of Fordham University, not to David Campbell of Notre Dame.

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Crary reported from New York and Smith from Pittsburgh. Associated Press writers Amelia Thomson DeVeaux and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed.

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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 program released a video statement Monday from the 6-foot-10 forward regarded as a top prospect in the June draft. That made Wilson's one-and-done route official, coming after he had posted an “#8out” message on social media late last month indicating he was headed in that anticipated direction.

“I am grateful for the opportunity I had to represent North Carolina,” Wilson said. “Wearing No. 8, running out of that historic tunnel every day for practice and games, and i’m happy to say every day I gave it my all.”

Wilson averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in a dynamic season was cut short by injury, first a broken bone in his left hand days after a thrilling win against rival Duke. Then, when he was on the verge of returning, he broke his right thumb in a non-contact drill to end his season on the eve of Round 2 with the Blue Devils.

Still, Wilson was named a second-team Associated Press All-American, a distinction that will ensure that he will be included among the honored jerseys in the Smith Center rafters.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Ramagem, also a former lawmaker, was sentenced in September to 16 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2023. Brazil's federal police said he fled the South American nation before he would have started serving his sentence.

Sen. Jorge Seif said in his social media channels that he had informed the U.S. embassy in Brasilia that Ramagem should not remain in custody for he was being persecuted at home. Seif did not give details as to why the former Brazilian intelligence agency chief had been put under custody.

On Monday, Ramagem appeared as in custody in ICE's online detainee database, although where he is being held was not specified.

“The political persecution against President Bolsonaro, his sons and his allies is now hitting an elected lawmaker in foreign soil,” Seif said. “In our document (to the U.S. embassy) we showed all the reasons that justify and defend the concession of political asylum to Ramagem and his family.”

Ramagem was stripped of his seat in Brazil's congress in December as a consequence of his conviction in the coup case one month earlier.

Earlier on Monday, Brazil's federal police said in a statement that a “fugitive of the country's justice was arrested" in Orlando, but did not mention Ramagem by name.

Brazil's federal police also said the unnamed fugitive was recently sentenced by the country's top court for the same three counts as Ramagem's conviction.

ICE and Ramagem's lawyer did not respond a request for comment from The Associated Press.

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

He reached out to me for help, and now the company says they’re fixing the issue.

John Ohanian showed Local 4 the bill, $443.47. He said that wouldn’t work, so Local 4 called the company.

“He still has this invoice; he hasn’t paid anything. He owes $443, so has that changed?” Russell asked Priority Waste.

A few minutes later, there was an answer. The issue had been resolved, and Priority Waste planned to inform him.

Local 4 was still near his home, so they told Ohanian.

“I just talked to Priority, and they said they are going to reach out to you to let you know that you don’t owe anything. It’s fixed, all good,” Russell said to Ohanian.

Ohanian is grateful, but this has been a long journey.

Ohanian has never used Priority Waste. He doesn’t even have cans at his house.

Local 4 checked.

“I am seeing a lot of cool stuff, but I am not seeing any trash cans,” Russell said.

“No cans,” Ohanian said.

Last September, he got this notice.

“Due to a recent one-year audit, we discovered that we have been servicing your address. You have not received any invoices from us,” Ohanian said, as he was reading from the notice.

Then came an invoice.

“$353.93,” Ohanian said when asked what the invoice amount was.

He called them to try to get some answers. Nothing came of it. The company sent him a photo as proof they were servicing his home.

“They angled it so my house is behind it. My driveway is over there,” Ohanian said.

He reached out to the township supervisor for help, but hadn’t heard since.

In January, he got another bill, the one for $443.47. For months, he’s been hoping to hear it got fixed.

“Sometimes putting it out in the light is enough to make certain people back off, because they certainly weren’t going to do anything about it when I was calling,” Ohanian said.

Ohanian said Priority Waste did reach out to him directly to say he does not owe the money.

Monday night’s looks spanned the gamut from dressy business pantsuits to full-on Hollywood-style glamour filled with designer labels.

“I feel like if you have the confidence you can pull anything off,” LSU guard and rapper Flau’jae Johnson said.

The attention and detail given to the draft night outfits also is good preparation for the “Tunnel Fits” that have become a major part of WNBA marketing with how the players look arriving for games during the season.

Johnson, who does not lack for confidence, walked the carpet in a daring black, sleeveless gown with slits down the side with a black fur wrapped around her waist and holding a bejeweled clutch. She told her stylist to give her a look that could work for both the WNBA draft and the Met Gala.

The five UCLA Bruins on hand Monday night took time before posing with the rest of the players at the draft for a version of their own first look at each other's floor-length dresses — along with a quick selfie.

Awa Fam Thiam, a 6-foot-4 center from Spain, joined TCU forward and fellow Spaniard Marta Suarez decking out in red. Suarez wore a red pantsuit with a large black belt anchoring her middle, while Fam Thiam went with a daring red gown featuring cutouts over her left shoulder and portions of her midriff.

“I saw this moment like introducing myself,” Suarez said. “I'm passionate, I'm fiery and the red looks good on me what can I say?”

Fam Thiam also loves the color red: “I saw this dress yesterday and I felt like this is the dress.”

Suarez carried a purse she painted on one side with her fellow players on hand for this draft signing the other side for what she called her introduction to the league. She also paints her shoes for games, a tradition she intends to take with her into the WNBA.

“I love painting," Suarez said. “That's my love language.”

Ta’Niya Latson brought a bit of the 1960s mixed with old Hollywood to the orange carpet as the South Carolina guard had a little swoop of hair over her forehead to go with a black sequined gown. She wore Christian Louboutin black pumps, elbow-length gloves and a clutch handbag.

Raven Johnson debuted a bob hairdo on the orange carpet — a big change from the long hair the South Carolina guard had in a ponytail at the Final Four only a week ago. Johnson said she partnered with Coach going for a rich and elegant look in a gray and black jacket-style dress with black clutch, diamond necklace and earrings.

As fabulous as the women looked for their draft close-ups, the incoming rookies also sound ready to do their part styling up lots of looks for those “Tunnel Fits” when the season starts in May.

“Tunnel fits are going to be great,” Flau'jae Johnson said. “I’m just very excited. Ever since I did the cover of Teen Vogue, I'm really into fashion.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The high cost of fuel, equipment, and fertilizer — compounded by the Iran war — and also tariffs, perceived “price gouging” by suppliers, and low soybean prices driven by a global supply glut. All of it weighs on Bartek, who is chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association.

“Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts,” Bartek said. “There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer’s kind of painted in the corner.”

Bartek’s concerns are shared by many Midwest soybean producers. Costs, such as equipment, have crept up over time while soybean prices have stayed low. Tariffs levied by the Trump administration last year and the resulting monthslong trade war with China only made things worse, they say. Then the Iran war bottled up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, restricting global fertilizer supplies and sending fertilizer prices sky high. A ceasefire deal announced April 7 raised hope that bottlenecks in the strait would abate, but the future of the agreement was uncertain.

“A lot of producers are pretty nervous going into this year,” said Justin Sherlock, a soybean farmer and president of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. “It looks like we’re going to have another year of negative returns.”

Years of rising costs, low soybean prices

Soybeans, which are used for livestock feed, food and biofuels, are among the top U.S. agricultural exports. That hasn’t always been the case. Before the 1960s soybeans weren’t a major crop in the U.S, according to Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. It wasn’t until the 1990s that soybean production accelerated due to international demand — primarily from China — and soybeans and corn are now dominant in U.S. agriculture.

But U.S. soybean farmers, who typically also grow corn, have been facing financial issues for years even before the onset of the Iran war. Soybean prices have been persistently low in recent years. The global market has been awash in soybeans, driven in part by Brazil, which surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest soybean producer years ago.

“If we look at global soybean production over the past several years, it continues to set record, after record, after record,” Hart said. “There’s been just large supplies globally, and that has led to depressed prices.”

Meanwhile, Midwest soybean farmers’ costs have risen. Overall farm production expenses, including seed and pesticide, have increased over time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Operating costs for soybean production have stayed elevated since 2020 and are projected to increase again in 2026, according to the agency.

The cost of land also is a major issue for farmers, experts say. Midwest crop land values have increased. And most regional farmers rent some of their land, according to Joana Colussi, research assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

Bartek, who rents three-quarters of his land, said landowners are increasing rents, causing further financial strain.

“There’s a lot of what I call absentee landowners that have absolutely no idea what goes on on the farm,” he said. “All they know is their taxes went up and you get to make up the difference, some way, somehow.”

“They’re very concerned about negative margins driven by low prices and high cost,” said Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, of farmers. “There’s just a liquidity cash crunch for a lot of them and they’re just trying to figure out how to deal with everything.”

The number of farms in the U.S. has shrunk over time and consolidation in farming is a long-term trend, though farmers’ financial pressures wrought by high input costs and low commodity prices have contributed, Hart said. Larger farms tend to be more competitive and depend on large, expensive machinery.

“The financial reserves need(ed) on a farm are much greater than they used to be,” Hart said. “We’re a bit more sensitive to the financial conditions these days because so much capital is being utilized within the farm business.”

Tariffs, trade war have lasting impacts

Market forces aren’t the only issue weighing on farmers. Sweeping tariffs levied by President Donald Trump in April 2025 exacerbated a trade war with China, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. China responded with retaliatory tariffs and effectively boycotted U.S. soybeans, cutting off a major export market for Midwest farmers and driving the price of soybeans even lower.

“When that was announced and soybean prices basically collapsed, if you could afford to hold on to your beans and wait for better times, you were OK,” said Mike Cerny, a soybean, and winter wheat corn farmer in Sharon, Wisconsin. “If you had a mortgage due or payments due or cash flow needs and you had to sell at that point, you were taking it pretty rough.”

The U.S. and China eventually reached a deal in late 2025. Beijing committed to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years. China has since met its initial soybean purchase goal and the Trump administration also rolled out a $12 billion temporary aid package in December to boost farmers affected by the trade war.

But the damage is already done, experts and farmers say. While China’s renewed purchases and the federal payments are helping, it’s not enough to recover farmers’ losses. Even after federal assistance, farmers still lost almost $75 per harvested acre of soybeans in the 2025 crop, according to the American Soybean Association. And the trade war further pushed China toward competing soybean exporters, such as Brazil — accelerating a trend of declining U.S. soybean exports to China.

“When China decided to stop purchasing, we couldn’t find enough other markets to replace those sales,” Hart said. “We’re still feeling the impacts today. When you look at where soybean exports are today versus where we would normally expect them to be, we’re still running anywhere from 15% to 20% behind normal.”

Joseph Glauber, former chief economist at the Department of Agriculture between 2008 and 2014, said global competitors to U.S. soybean farmers gained from the trade war.

“When China has put on tariffs against the U.S. they’ve tended to buy then from Brazil or Argentina, largely Brazil,” Glauber added. “We’re not nearly as dominant in the world as we used to be in terms of the global export market for soybeans.”

Iran war drove up fuel, fertilizer costs

After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, a severe slowdown in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sent the price of oil soaring. The shipping disruption also largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients. The price of urea, the most widely traded nitrogen fertilizer, skyrocketed.

Soybeans don’t require nitrogen fertilizer, but it’s vital for corn and most soybean farmers also grow corn. About half the global supply of urea comes from the Middle East, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia are two of the top sources of U.S. fertilizer imports, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire last week that included reopening the strait of Hormuz, but traffic remained slowed amid disagreements over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and the price of urea remains elevated.

Many Midwest farmers bought their fertilizer well in advance of the spring planting season. But some farmers who didn’t buy early face elevated prices. Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.

The war also caused gasoline and diesel prices to surge, causing further headaches for farmers. Oil prices dropped following the ceasefire announcement, but the war and the closure of the strait will have lasting impacts on farmers, said Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, an investment research company. Facilities in the Middle East that are critical for exporting chemicals, oil and other commodities were damaged or destroyed during the war and it will take time for supply chains to recover, he said.

“Facilities have been hit, like liquid natural gas plants,” Goldstein added. “You are also looking at a big supply crunch in commodity chemicals, which are the inputs for crop chemicals.”

“We burn a lot of diesel fuel,” said Chris Gould, a corn and soybean farmer in Maple Park, Illinois. “It’s hard to say if I’m gonna come out ahead or behind on this whole deal. But I suspect I’m gonna come out behind.”

Concerns about the future

Farmers’ financial problems are showing up in some measures. Farm bankruptcies, while still relatively low, continued to climb in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In a survey of 400 farmers conducted by researchers at the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture in late March, almost half said their farm operation is financially worse off than it was a year ago.

Goldstein, the Morningstar analyst, said farmers’ high costs and low revenues contributed to the spike in bankruptcies between 2024 and 2025. If costs rise faster than crop prices going forward, he added, that “would strain farmers again and likely lead to more bankruptcies.”

After 43 years of farming, Bartek said the smell of fresh dirt still gets him excited for spring planting. But he’s also heard of farmer suicides, bankruptcies and “retirement sales” where farmers are forced to auction off their operations due to financial problems. Bartek compares farmers to gamblers who put “millions of dollars in the dirt” hoping for returns.

At times, Bartek doubts his own decision to go into farming. He’s also worried about his son, who purchased a farm a few years ago.

Bartek wonders: “Did I do the right thing helping him get into farming?”

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Kelety reported from Phoenix.

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This story is a collaboration between Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press.

The lawsuit -- filed April 13, 2026, by former residents and some family members on their behalf -- accuses Vista Maria and its staff of psychological and physical abuse, “sexual abuse, including sexual assault, molestation, and nonconsensual touching and harassment,” along with unsafe conditions and negligence.

All were placed there as minors, many through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and court orders, the suit said.

The lawsuit filed is the first “in a series of lawsuits” to come against the facility, according to one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Moose Scheib, of the Moose Law Firm.

We’ve now formally filed the initial complaint, which marks the beginning of what we expect will be a much broader case,” said Scheib. “The allegations laid out by these survivors are not isolated … they reflect a long pattern of abuse and systemic failure involving young women who were placed in an environment that was supposed to protect them.”

“We’re quite actually survivors,” said Sophia Knoblauch, a former resident named in the lawsuit, now 18. “There’s girls who literally didn’t survive that place.”

Vista Maria and its new CEO, Kathy Regan, describe the nonprofit as one that “began as a home for girls and women in need” and evolved to offer mental health services, foster care and adoption, independent living, secure care for survivors of human trafficking, education and advocacy.

In a previous interview with Local 4, Regan said they had retrained staff and spent more than half a million dollars to make improvements to the facility. She said they are vowing to remain transparent.

Regarding the violations, Regan said, “It’s tough. It’s sad. Reading those allegations kills us, and that’s why you’ve seen a lot of terminations coming out of Vista Maria, because safety is sacred to us.”

The girls previously said they arrived at Vista Maria with every reason to believe those promises.

“They make it seem like, oh, it’s such a Godly place. They’re doing God’s work, and it’s really evil what they’re doing there,” a former resident said.

“They just don’t care. They don’t. I’ve tried to kill myself so many times in there just because the staff treated us so horrible,” former Vista Maria resident Sarina Jensen previously told Local 4.

Local 4’s investigation

The Investigators at Local 4 began looking into the facility in March 2025, after a 16-year-old girl went missing from Vista Maria on March 14 and wasn’t found for roughly six weeks.

The girl, who was already a victim of trafficking, was found in an apartment belonging to a 62-year-old man. Police believed sexual contact had taken place, “based on some of the evidence collected at the apartment.”

Kamal Abou Darwiche later pleaded guilty to charges of attempted child sexually abusive material and harboring a juvenile. All other charges were dismissed.

The lawsuit now alleges Vista Maria staff failed to follow missing-person reporting requirements, failed to promptly notify the teen’s guardian and case manager, deleted her computer data without backing it up, and even provided the wrong clothing to law enforcement for scent dogs.

Dearborn Heights police also told Local 4 last year that they responded to 368 calls to Vista Maria, and over the last five years, state records showed a disturbing pattern of complaints -- claims of inappropriate physical contact, improper restraints, and failure to report assaults.

Soon after, dozens of former and currents employees and residents began speaking with the Investigators on Local 4, describing the facility as a “living hell” and a “horror show.”

Local 4 went through documents from the MDHHS that showed dozens of violations published in 2025. Some current and former employees said the core issues appeared to be poor training, inadequate oversight, and unsafe environments. They said their concerns were being ignored.

“They’re hiring people off the street, or people who used to live at Vista Maria,” the former staffer said. “There are men grooming the girls, and they keep relationships with them even after they age out.”

Some allegations were even more serious, including reports of sexual relationships between male staff and teen residents. A current worker described the living conditions at Vista Maria as “inhumane,” and the other added, “There’s no structure. The girls run the place. It’s abusive for staff and for them.”

One report from 2025 said a staff member hit a young resident in the face five times, and the incident was allegedly not appropriately reported. In another case, a girl was hospitalized after claiming a staffer punched her in the lip and choked her.

“How they are training us to interact with these kids and what we’re supposed to do with these kids does not serve them anything,” a current employee said. “It’s more so a mental health facility or a lock up -- a mini lock up -- than it is a residential to help these youth get back into the environment.”

Yet, despite the complaints, a recent MDHHS report found no violation in staffing sufficiency.

State suspends placements at Vista Maria

After Local 4’s reporting, MDHHS suspended placements at Vista Maria from April 24 until July 24, 2025. The agency was told to work “towards remediations necessary to improve outcomes for the youth they serve,” “assess progress,” and “develop a re-admission plan.”

MDHHS told Local 4, in part, “During the placement suspension, Vista Maria and MDHHS worked collaboratively to assess progress and develop a readmission plan … MDHHS is unable to comment on case specific information regarding discharges.”

Vista Maria ends residential program, lays off staff

In October 2025, Vista Maria announced it was ending its residential program and was transferring the remaining 11 residents living there to other care facilities by December.

The decision to transfer the residents was made on Oct. 20, with the support of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Vista Maria’s Executive Leadership and Board of Directors.

Vista Maria said it was not closing altogether. Its other programs, such as foster care and independent living, continue.

In December 2025, Vista Maria laid off nearly 130 employees and officially ended its residential youth mental health programming.

Vista Maria said the layoffs are due to “social, systemic, and regulatory factors.” It first announced its decision to make a “thoughtful shift in how we serve Michigan’s youth.”

Details of the lawsuit

“What these survivors describe is not just misconduct,” said Scheib. “It rises to a degree of harm that can only be described as deeply disturbing, and in many ways, evil. These were young women who were entrusted to an institution for care and support … and instead of being helped, many describe experiences that left them with a lifetime of trauma.”

The lawsuit, also citing Local 4’s investigations, said girls were improperly restrained, humiliated, denied food, overmedicated, and, in some cases, sexually assaulted -- all while under the organization’s supervision from periods spanning 2020-2025, and, in one case, dating back to 1999-2000.

Ahmed Haidar, the former chief of Dearborn Heights police, said officers spent too much time at Vista Maria, referencing “two open investigations involving sexual contact between a former male staff member and two teen residents,” according to the newly filed suit.

In one Local 4 interview cited in the lawsuit, a former resident described what she called “cruel punishment” and “inappropriate restraints,” saying, “I remember I was writing in my room … and I got tackled like almost in a straddle position, like the guy [staff] was on top of me, straddling me. And I just remember with my hands pinned above my head, this is not okay. This is abuse.”

She also described another moment -- after a teen got upset on a phone call, “this guy [staff] just grabbed her by the ponytail to the ground.”

6 former residents listed in lawsuit

Sophia Knoblauch, now 18, said she was placed at Vista Maria at 12 years old and lived there from 2020 through 2025. She said staff made “abusive, and degrading comments,” including encouraging her to die by suicide. She said meals were denied as punishment and that she was subjected to restraints so forceful her head was pushed into a wall. In another incident, the lawsuit said a staff member “poured a chemical cleaning agent onto” her head “while she was restrained.”

“I feel like Vista Maria was actually like literally the worst times of my life,” Knoblauch said. “It didn’t do anything but traumatize me even more.”

Knoblauch also alleges she was denied access to her prescribed inhaler during asthma attacks, and that she was excessively sedated, sometimes with multiple sedative injections at once.

The lawsuit described an instance in which she says she was left naked while under observation and supervised by male staff. She said during this time, a male staff member sexually assaulted her by “caressing her inner thighs and fondling her nipples.”

She also said she was repeatedly placed in the “behavioral management room,” (BMR) where she says male staff forcibly removed her clothing and observed her nude on cameras.

The minor who went missing from the facility in 2025 is represented by a family member in the lawsuit. She alleges Vista Maria staff “failed to immediately notify proper authorities” when the teen went missing and engaged in a pattern of conduct that undercut residents’ safety and privacy.

In one incident, a staff member allegedly hit the teen in the face. Staff also yelled at residents during phone calls with outside family members or guardians, the lawsuit said. Residents were also allegedly denied private telephone conversations, a restriction that prevented confidentiality or disclosure of abuse in the facility.

During her disappearance, staff are accused of deleting the teen’s computer data without backing it up, therefore mishandling or hiding evidence and prolonging the search. Staff are also accused of providing the wrong clothing to law enforcement for scent dogs during the search.

Rebecca Andrzejewski, now 21, said she was placed at Vista Maria at 16 and lived at Rose Hall and Freedom Hall from about 2020 through 2022. She alleges she was twice placed in the BMR where male staff forcibly removed her clothes and watched her naked on cameras. She also describes a restraint called the “chicken wing,” and alleges that a male staff member pinned her and rubbed his groin against her.

Alaina Armstrong, now 20, says she was placed at the facility at 12 and lived there from about 2017 through 2019. She alleges phone privileges were denied after staff discovered she was calling relatives for help, and that during one BMR incident, her clothing was forcibly removed, and a male staff member rubbed her exposed thighs and pubic region before she was left nude overnight in view of cameras.

Bella Cantineri, now 21, says she lived at Vista Maria from July 2020 to May 2021 and describes an abusive environment, alleging she was “stomped on her head for several minutes without staff intervention.”

She also said staff escalated fights rather than defused them. Under restraints, the suit alleges a male staff member sexually assaulted Cantineri, “straddled her lap and spat on her.” She described poor housing conditions, including a hall without working heat or fire alarms and only a hospital blanket to keep warm.

Ashley Bell, now 40, said she lived in Vista Maria as a 13-year-old in 1999-2000. She alleges discriminatory targeting based on race, denial of food and necessities as punishment, and inappropriate sexual contact by a male therapist. She said he repeatedly rubbed his genitals against her buttocks.

She also alleges a female staff member provided cigarettes and alcohol at night and encouraged residents to perform sex acts on one another while staff watched.

First in ‘series of lawsuits’

The lawsuit alleges the women suffered long-lasting harm, including, “shock, fright; grief; emotional distress; depression; mental pain and anxiety; embarrassment; humiliation; mistrust of adults,” and post-traumatic stress disorder with physical manifestations.

It also alleges insufficient staffing ratios, improper physical punishment and humiliation, improper restraint maneuvers and excessive use of restraints, failure to report suspected abuse, unsafe conditions, falsified records, and employees hired without necessary clearances or training.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and asserts multiple counts, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, gross negligence, and negligent hiring, retention and supervision.

“As this case develops, we will be looking closely at all degrees of accountability,” Scheib told Local 4. “These include not only those directly involved, but also the leadership and governance structures in place at the time. Institutions do not operate in a vacuum, and where patterns like this exist, there are always questions about who knew, when they knew it, what was ignored, and how it was allowed to continue.”

Scheib said they will also be examining the “broader ecosystem surrounding the organization,” including funding sources, donors, and oversight failures, to fully understand “how this environment was sustained for decades.”

In the coming months, Scheib said he expects additional survivors to come forward and to be added to the case “through a rolling process.”

Scheib said his team will continue gathering records, working with experts, and interviewing former employees who have come forward to build out the “full scope of how this was ignored for so long.”

“Our focus remains on giving these survivors a voice, ensuring their stories are heard, and pursuing justice through every available avenue,” Scheib said.

Vista Maria’s response

A spokesperson for the facility told Local 4 on Monday that they will not be commenting until they have seen a copy of the complaint.

While Vista Maria’s residential program remains closed, a spokesperson for the facility told Local 4 they are “exploring potential options to support other populations.” Vista Maria’s current programs include foster care and adoption, transitional and supportive housing, job readiness and youth development, and more.

Previous coverage

Here’s some of our previous coverage of this story:

Vitale said Monday that biopsy results had confirmed a diagnosis of melanoma in his lung and liver cavity, which will have him starting immunotherapy. It marks his fifth battle with cancer, which sidelined him from the airwaves for two years before his return shortly before March Madness in 2025.

“I've beaten melanoma,” the 86-year-old Vitale said in a statement released by ESPN. “I've beaten lymphoma. I've beaten vocal-cord cancer. I've beaten lymph-node cancer. I'm 4 for 4 and I'm fully confident I'm going to make it 5 for 5."

Separate from his ESPN statement, Vitale posted on social media Monday that he had gone through 10 days of testing that included scans, MRIs, bloodwork and a biopsy.

"I obviously did not get the report today that I was hoping for when my oncologist called,” Vitale said, noting he planned on “winning the battle” and adding: “Now at least I know what I face.”

Vitale has made himself a fixture in college basketball, earning the affectionate nickname “Dickie V” with his voice and exuberant style offering a soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in the sport's history. He's inching closer to five decades with ESPN going back to its 1979 launch, armed with a contract through the 2027-28 season as well as the creation of a basketball event named in his honor this past season.

And every step of the way he's quick to tell anyone and everyone how “lucky” he feels to still be working after years of fighting cancer.

That started in 2021 with melanoma, followed by treatments for lymphoma. There were also chemotherapy treatments, radiation for vocal-cord cancer and surgery by summer 2024 to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his neck, while he was unable to speak for a time after the vocal-cord surgery, leaving him having to scribble on eraser-board messages to communicate.

Still, Vitale said in his ESPN statement that he feels “fantastic." And he quickly turned the focus of his statement to his long-running efforts to raise money for pediatric cancer research, notably with next month’s annual gala in his name that has raised more than $105 million in its two-decade history.

“At 86 years young, I've lived a hell of a life, and I'm more motivated than ever to raise money for kids battling cancer,” Vitale said, adding that he hopes to raise $12 million with the 21st “Dick Vitale Gala” set for May 1 in Sarasota, Florida.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Trump was asked about his comments toward the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church, as well as the post depicting himself as a saint-like healer, in a hastily called question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House.

“He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result,” Trump said, adding, “I think he’s very weak on crime and other things, so I’m not” going to apologize.

“He went public," the Republican president added. "I’m just responding to Pope Leo.”

That response followed Leo pushing back on Trump’s broadside against him the previous evening, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that, but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

The back-and-forth between the world's two most influential Americans served to deepen a burgeoning schism as the U.S. war in Iran stretched into its seventh week.

History’s first U.S.-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the Iran war and other conflicts around the world.

“I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for," said Leo, who said he had a different perspective on foreign policy than elected officials.

“I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,” he said.

Trump speaks to his much-criticized social media post

The image posted by the president Sunday night showed Trump wearing a biblical-style robe and laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers — while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on admiringly. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and vaporous images.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and it had to do with the Red Cross,” Trump said. “It’s supposed to me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. A lot better.”

He blamed the “fake news” for any confusion over the image, though it drew criticism from a wide range of people, including some of Trump's own evangelical supporters, who objected to the notion that Trump was likening himself to Christ. Even Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, assailed the “desecration of Jesus" while also speaking up to defend the pope.

The post was deleted from Trump's account late Monday morning. Trump didn't provide details on how that happened.

Trump had charged that Leo is not ‘doing a very good job’

The president criticized the pope in a lengthy social media post while flying back to Washington from Florida on Sunday night. He kept up the denunciation after deplaning, telling reporters, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo."

Leo said Saturday during an evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica that a “delusion of omnipotence” was fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. The comments came the same day that the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.

The talks were being led on the U.S. side by Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic who recently released a book about his faith. Asked about Trump's post depicting himself as Jesus on Monday evening, Vance told Fox News Channel that it was “a joke” and said it’s “a good thing” that Trump “likes to mix it up on social media” and is “not filtered.”

“Of course, he took it down because he realized a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor,” Vance said of the post.

The pope's Saturday criticisms meanwhile, followed him earlier naming Trump directly and expressed optimism that the president would seek “an off-ramp” in Iran. An even stronger condemnation came after Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and infrastructure, writing on social media that “an entire civilization will die tonight.” Leo described that as a “threat against the entire people of Iran” and said it was “truly unacceptable.”

While it’s not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it’s exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticize a U.S. leader — and Trump’s stinging response is equally uncommon.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."

Leo's opposition to war irked Trump

Leo, who began an 11-day trip to Africa on Monday, has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He's also referred to an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood.”

Still, in his comments on Monday, as in his Sunday night social media post, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do." His post also claimed that Leo was only elected pontiff “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”

In his comments to reporters after stepping off Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also said he was “disheartened” by Trump’s comments.

“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician," Coakley said in a statement. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

___

Winfield reported from aboard the papal plane. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

There was no stage, no spotlight — just Yellow Springs, where he’s lived for decades, a place he spent summers as a child while his father worked as dean of students at nearby Antioch College.

It’s in places like this, away from the glare, where Chappelle finds clarity and continues to sharpen a comedic voice that has sparked debate, drawn criticism and, through it all, refused to bend.

“I’ve had a lot of support from my people,” said Chappelle, an Emmy and Grammy winner. “That’s what’s sustained me.”

He sat down with The Associated Press before walking through the town, where he'd recently participated in the ribbon-cutting for a restored 19th-century schoolhouse that now houses a public radio station and will serve as office space for his company, Pilot Boy Productions.

Enduring the backlash over his jokes

Chappelle said he didn’t initially expect his voice to carry the weight it does today.

“Sometimes people will attach things to your voice that don’t necessarily have anything to do with you,” he said. “Your responsibility is to be true to yourself and your work.”

That voice has become one of the most scrutinized in comedy, particularly after criticism of jokes about transgender people in his Netflix specials. The backlash surrounding “The Closer” in 2021 drew protests and internal pushback at Netflix, turning his work into a flashpoint in broader debates over comedy, culture and free speech.

Chappelle said he has never set out to provoke controversy, describing his work as an extension of the same stand-up he has always done. He said the reaction often felt disconnected from the audiences who continue to show up.

“The media used to talk (expletive) about jokes that I did … and none of that stuff swayed my audience,” he said. “So I feel like I need to be true to something.”

Chappelle said being in Yellow Springs allows him a different perspective without the pressures of the entertainment industry.

“One of the best sovereignties that a person can enjoy is the sovereignty of their mind,” he said. “Just the idea of knowing where you land and the rest of the world begins.”

Reconsidering ‘Chappelle’s Show'

For many fans, Chappelle’s voice is still tied to “Chappelle’s Show,” the Comedy Central series that premiered in 2003 and quickly became a cultural force with its sharp satire on race, politics and pop culture.

The show ran for two full seasons with an abbreviated third season released in 2006 after Chappelle walked away during production. It was a decision he later attributed to burnout and concerns about the show's direction.

Now, Chappelle says he’s at least open to the idea of revisiting it.

“If you’d asked me that question a year ago, I’d have told you absolutely not,” he said. “But in the last few weeks … I’m considering it.”

Chappelle acknowledged the comedy landscape has shifted, with digital platforms and social media creating new pathways for humor and a new generation of creators shaping the conversation in real time.

Finding perspective on criticism

As he walked through town, Chappelle framed criticism less as a verdict than something to endure. He pointed to “The Muhammad Ali Reader,” a collection that documents the intense criticism the late boxing legend faced during his career.

“It’s every negative thing they said about him,” he said. “And history proved him to be absolutely right. ... As bad as that weather was, there’s another side to it."

Chappelle framed the tension around his work in a broader cultural context.

“Black life in America, there’s always an ‘or else’ to all of it,” he said. “Don’t say this or else; don’t do that or else. And then there’s those few brave people who say, ‘Or else what?’”

Watching comedy’s next chapter

Even as he reflects on his own career, Chappelle said he’s paying close attention to the next generation of comedians. He pointed to Druski as part of a new wave showing how audiences engage with comedy.

“I love what he does,” Chappelle said before drawing a distinction between digital success and stand-up. That freedom to fail, he suggested, is essential to the development as a comedian — which can be harder to find in today's fast-moving digital landscape.

“One of the worst things that can happen to a comedian is becoming successful before they get good,” Chappelle said. “Because you miss the part where you get to explore and make mistakes.”

Still performing, still reflecting

Chappelle remains active onstage, including upcoming performances tied to the Netflix Is a Joke Fest in Los Angeles in May.

Back home, he continues to perform at his own comedy club — which used to be a firehouse — in Yellow Springs, where he has hosted surprise sets and brought in high-profile guests, including Travis Scott, Lizzo, Wyclef Jean, Marsha Ambrosius, Clipse, 50 Cent and Christopher Cross.

The village has also drawn attention beyond its size. Over the weekend, Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, interviewed Chappelle for their podcast at the radio station.

After decades in comedy, he said he doesn’t spend much time thinking about his legacy, though the idea occasionally comes up in conversation with peers like Chris Rock.

“I’ll be like, ‘They’re gonna write books about us,’” he said. “And those guys will laugh. But they might … or they might not.”

Asked whether he feels he’s living out his purpose, Chappelle paused.

“Man, I’m a lucky guy in that respect,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m doing that on purpose, but I dreamt of being a famous comedian. Took me 40 years, but I did it. … This is better than I dreamt of.”

That's because President Donald Trump and many U.S. conservatives have long embraced Orbán, who has become an icon among the global right for his anti-immigrant stance. The American president's agenda has striking parallels with the way the Hungarian leader used the levers of government to tilt the media, judiciary and electoral system to keep his party in power for 16 years.

Trump supported Orbán’s reelection bid and even dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week — in the midst of the Iran war — to stump for the incumbent.

Orbán's loss was a reminder of how the war has diminished Trump's ability to help allied politicians overseas, as well as of the limited ability of leaders to use their power to tilt voting in their direction in an age of worldwide discontent over incumbents of all ideological stripes.

“Oppositions can win despite a tilted playing field,” said Steven Levitsky, a politics professor at Harvard and coauthor of the book “How Democracies Die.” “Democracies are facing many challenges in many parts of the world, but so are autocracies.”

Orbán’s defeat has immediate global implications because he was the European leader closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin and had blocked European Union aid to Ukraine, which is defending itself after Russian's 2022 invasion.

His fall was celebrated on Sunday by both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom criticized their own administration for such overt support for the Hungarian leader.

“Don’t fiddle-paddle in other democracies’ elections,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said on the social media site X.

“The freedom-loving people of Hungary have voted decisively in favor of democracy and the rule of law,” posted Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Vance on Monday said he went to Budapest because Orbán was one of the few European leaders to stand up to the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels. “We went because it was the right thing to do,” Vance said on Fox News.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is part of the wing of the American right that embraced Orbán. The Conservative Political Action Conference, which Schlapp's group hosts, held its first European session in Budapest and has made Hungary a regular destination.

Orban was a featured speaker at the group's conference in Dallas in 2022.

Schlapp said there's an easy explanation for Orbán's loss.

“Eventually, democracies just want change,” he said. “In democracies, you don't have kings, and the people in the end speak.”

"The people of Hungary were saying, 'We're having a difficult time with inflation, the economy and the war. Let's try the new guy,'” Schlapp said, noting that he backs Trump's Iran war but the turmoil it's created, especially in European energy markets, hurt Orbán.

Diana Sosoaca, a far-right member of the European Parliament from Romania, on Sunday called Vance's Hungarian visit “a big mistake” given widespread revulsion at the Iran war on the continent.

“You invite a representative of the United States of America, who created the big disorder in this world?” Sosoaca said in an interview posted by the Kremlin-controlled network RT, formerly known as Russia Today. “It was the biggest mistake he could do before the elections.”

How Orbán consolidated power

An anti-communist activist in his youth, Orbán was initially elected prime minister in 1998 but took a turn to the right after being voted out in 2002. Upon returning to office in 2010, Orbán and his Fidesz party implemented a legal framework to consolidate authority that he and his allies developed while he was out of power.

Orbán embraced what he dubbed “illiberal democracy,” building a barrier on Hungary's southern border to block migrants from Africa and Asia who were moving northward through Europe. He and his party stifled LGBTQ+ rights, cracked down on freedom of the press and undermined judicial independence.

Orbán cemented his power when his Fidesz party won enough seats in Parliament during the 2010 global recession to rewrite the country's constitution. They restructured the judiciary to funnel appointments to the bench through party loyalists, redrew legislative districts to make it much harder for Fidesz members to lose elections and helped push Hungary's media companies to be sold to tycoons allied with Orban.

The European Union has declared Hungary an “electoral autocracy.”

Orbán backers have scoffed at suggestions that the Hungarian leader is an enemy of democracy, and on Sunday he quickly conceded his loss. Democrats have worried that Trump will try to use his own executive power to tilt November's midterm elections or the 2028 presidential vote to his party, much as Trump tried to use his official powers to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election.

“Most importantly for American voters, even a guy who rigs the system can be defeated when the people unite and turn out against him,” said Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan group that says it combats authoritarianism.

Democrats weigh in

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California took the opportunity to jab at Vance: “Your ally Orban conceded. In 2028, will you @JDVance follow suit if you lose?” he posted on X.

Levitsky said defenders of democracy shouldn’t take too much comfort from Orbán’s loss, noting that in some ways Trump has been more oppressive. He cited Trump’s use of the Justice Department to investigate political opponents and the shooting deaths of protesters by immigration officers -- steps that Orban’s government never took, Levitsky said.

But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said he sees parallels between Trump's and Orban’s political projects, as well as the potential fate of their parties at the polls.

“He was essentially doing what Donald Trump is trying to do here in the United States,” Van Hollen said of Orban. “My read of the election is that the people of Hungary rejected that, just like people in the United States are rejecting that here at home.”

Trump made no public comments Sunday about the election results in Hungary.

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Riccardi reported from Denver.

Attorney Patrick Kolasinski said federal officials have not said what charges Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez might face. Messages were sent to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office seeking more information about the arrest.

Kolasinski said Mendoza, who underwent three surgeries for multiple gunshot wounds, was discharged into FBI custody without any notification to his family or legal team.

“We're in shock,” Kolasinski told The Associated Press. “He should not be out of that hospital. He was in no condition to be released.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said ICE agents fired defensive shots at Mendoza when he tried to drive into them after he was pulled over last Tuesday. Officials said they were conducting an enforcement stop targeting Mendoza, 36, in Patterson, a city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. They described him as a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a murder.

Kolasinski told reporters last week that Mendoza was having difficulty speaking because he was shot in the jaw, but that he insisted he was never a member of a gang. Kolasinski said his client has been stopped for minor traffic infractions but has no criminal record in the U.S. and is not the subject of an arrest warrant in El Salvador, where he was acquitted of murder.

Federal authorities haven't said why Mendoza was the target of an enforcement action. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not responded to inquiries about Kolasinski’s statements.

Tuesday’s encounter was among a string of shootings during the Trump administration’s aggressive push to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, about which questions have been raised with federal immigration officials.

Kolasinski has said that agents fired on Mendoza while the car was stopped and he drove away to flee the gunfire.

According to an Oct. 25, 2019, court document from a judge in El Salvador, Mendoza was acquitted after being accused of murder and ordered immediately released. He was 29 at the time. The document lists 10 others who were convicted of various crimes from aggravated robbery to murder, and mentions at least one of them was a member of the 18th Street Gang. But the document contains no mention of Mendoza belonging to a gang or being accused of engaging in gang activity.

In the California ICE shooting, dashcam footage obtained by KCRA-TV shows three officers standing around a vehicle stopped on the side of a road. One of the officers appears to be touching the driver's side window when the car begins to back up and turn, hitting a vehicle behind it. At least two of the agents have weapons drawn, pointing at the car. The driver then pulls forward toward where the men are standing and turns sharply, driving over the roadway median.

The video has no sound, and it's unclear when the shots were fired or if words were said.

Mendoza’s fiancée visited him in the hospital over the weekend and he was still in significant pain, Kolasinski said Monday.

Kolasinski has said Mendoza, a dual citizen of El Salvador and Mexico, came to the U.S. in 2019 but the attorney did not know his legal status nor how he arrived in the country.

The attorney said his client works as a laborer to repair fire damage. He has a 2-year-old daughter and is engaged to a U.S. citizen, he said.

“The dog usually shows you what they’re thinking,” said Michael Burkey, the CEO of Michigan Dog Training in Plymouth. “It could be aggressive, it could be shy, or it could be happy-go-friendly. So, it’s really important to see the behavior so you know what to do to stay safe.”

If you see a loose dog:

Don’t: Run away

Burkey said the most common mistake is running because it can trigger a chase instinct.

“People are afraid, they want to run. But the dog is going to catch you,” he said.

Do:

• Stop and stand still.
• Cover your core.
• Slowly back away

Eye contact: Don’t challenge the dog

Don’t: Stare directly at the dog. Burkey said a hard stare can feel confrontational to a dog.

Do: Look slightly to the side while keeping the dog in your peripheral vision so you can still track what it’s doing.

Talking to the dog: Keep it calm

Do: Use a calm voice. Burkey said a high-pitched voice can excite a dog — “either good or bad.”

Do: Try one basic command.If you’re going to say anything, Burkey suggests trying: “Sit.” Many dogs recognize it, he said.

If a dog attacks: Protect the parts of your body that matter most

If the situation turns into an attack, Burkey recommends focusing on protection and getting help.

Do:

• Stand as still as you can and cover your core.
• If you end up on the ground, cover your ears and neck area.
• Call for help if the dog is biting.

If someone else is being attacked:

Seeing a child or another person being attacked can cause people to rush in and grab the dog. Burkey says that can backfire.

Don’t: Grab the dog by the collar.He warns the dog may “redirect” and bite you.

Do: Use the “wheelbarrow” method (if you can do it safely).Burkey recommends:

• Grab the dog by its hind legs.
• Lift and pull back, creating a “wheelbarrow” position.
• Turn with the dog as needed because it may try to twist its head toward you.
• Pull the dog away from the victim.

Carry a simple deterrent

Burkey says it can help to have something on hand if you’re regularly out walking or taking kids to parks:

• Dog treats - he suggests tossing them away from you, or throwing the pouch
• Citronella spray to scare a dog off

He recommends products such as “Direct Stop” or “Spray Shield.”

Prevention: Leashes matter

Burkey emphasized prevention, including knowing your dog and taking steps to prevent it from running loose.

Report loose dogs before there’s an incident

Don’t assume a roaming dog is friendly. In Detroit, people can report unrestrained animals to Detroit Animal Care and Control at 313-224-6356 or call their local police non-emergency line.

Annual domestic box-office grosses are still down about 20% from pre-pandemic levels, competition from streaming has only intensified and there are very real worries about what consolidation might mean for the release schedule as Warner Bros. stares down new ownership under Paramount.

It’s under these precarious conditions that Hollywood executives and movie theater owners are gathering this week in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, the annual exhibition and trade show made famous — or at least slightly less obscure — by Seth Rogen's show “The Studio” and his “old school Hollywood buffet.” Real-life Hollywood executives have bigger concerns than throwing a party, however.

A critical time for movie theaters

As “F1” and “Top Gun: Maverick” producer Jerry Bruckheimer said last week in a statement: “We are at a defining point in the future of this industry.”

Bruckheimer, “Oppenheimer” producer Emma Thomas and “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler are teaming up to do something about it. Just last week, Cinema United, the trade organization representing some 60,000 movie screens in the U.S. and abroad, announced that Bruckheimer would be chairing their newly established filmmaker leadership council, with Thomas as vice chair and Coogler as one of its inaugural members.

Other members include Brad Bird, Celine Song and Jason Reitman, who will advise on issues facing theatrical moviegoing, including windows, referring to the number of days films play exclusively in movie theaters before being available to buy or rent at home, and consolidation.

“Our industry is strongest when it works together to promote the singular experience of seeing a movie on the big screen,” Cinema United president and CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “The importance of having Jerry and Emma at the helm of this initiative, at such a critical time for our industry, cannot be overstated.”

The Paramount and Warner Bros. elephant in the room

Much of the public and private handwringing will revolve around Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Both studios will be hyping their upcoming slates to theater owners, in separate presentations: Warner Bros. is planned for Tuesday and Paramount is on Thursday. The question is how much, if at all, executives from either company will address the elephant in the room from the stage as former 20th Century Fox Chair and CEO Stacey Snider did in 2018 with the Disney acquisition looming.

While Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison has said that he would like to grow the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. slate to more than 30 movies a year, there are lingering concerns from organizations such as Cinema United.

Historically, fewer standalone studios have meant fewer movies made for theaters, and between the pandemic, the strikes, the ramping up of streaming services and general financial instability, the release schedule has taken the hit. In 2019, there were 112 wide releases, or films released in over 2,000 theaters. This year, for the first time since the pandemic, that number is up to 115, according to Comscore.

On Monday morning, more than a thousand Hollywood professionals, including Denis Villeneuve, Kristen Stewart, J.J. Abrams and Joaquin Phoenix came out against the merger in an open letter arguing that it would only further reduce jobs.

The show must go on, with stars and footage to help

Doom and gloom is hardly ever the prevailing mood at CinemaCon, however. The studios wouldn’t shell out big bucks to bring out their stars and footage if there weren’t some optimism and excitement about what’s to come.

The audience-driven studio Angel announced five new movies from the Colosseum stage Monday: A Cold War drama starring Jeff Daniels as President Ronald Reagan, an Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson action movie and a remake of the John Wayne movie “Angel and the Badman” starring Tommy Lee Jones, among the titles. The studio behind the box office hit “Sound of Freedom” plans to release 10 films in theaters this year.

Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr said he thinks the mood going into the conference is “very optimistic.”

“The first part of the year we’ve seen some extraordinary titles and great business, including our own ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’” Orr said. “I think it should be quite the celebration in Vegas this year.”

This summer has Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a Steven Spielberg sci-fi spectacle, a Star Wars movie, the live-action “Moana,” a fifth Toy Story and a new “Spider-Man.” And later this year there’s a new Marvel movie, “Avengers: Doomsday” and the third “Dune,” both coming out on the same day, December 18. Could Dunesday be the new Barbenheimer?

There have also been bright spots for movie theaters recently, including increased audience interest in premium large formats, like IMAX and 70 mm, and a PG-rating box office boom suggesting that families and younger audiences haven’t entirely abandoned the big screen for the small one.

The recent success of films like “Project Hail Mary,” “Hoppers” and “Wuthering Heights” also show that it’s not just franchises that are bringing people to the theaters — although it’s wrong to underestimate the importance of tentpoles like “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”

“At least from the box-office perspective, we are going in on a very positive note,” said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads marketplace trends for Comscore.

Plus, those inside the industry are often quick to remind that the business has survived its share of existential crises, whether it’s streaming, piracy, VHS or television.

Thomas, who is producing “The Odyssey,” emphasized the “profound cultural value in gathering together with a group of strangers and connecting while experiencing something special on the big screen,” in her statement about partnering with the movie theater trade organization.

“That is what this is about: making sure that cinemas of all sizes, around the world, can continue to present our stories in the best possible setting, so movie fans of all ages can enjoy them as they were intended to be seen,” Thomas said.

It was the first time Leeds has won a league match at Old Trafford since 1981 and the Yorkshire club moved up to 16th place in the 20-team table.

“I feel tired and relieved but also proud of the boys," Leeds coach Daniel Farke said. “It was a fantastic performance. We are into the crunch time of the season and you have to keep your nerve and stick to your plan.”

Manchester remained in third but missed a chance to move clear of Aston Villa, with which it is tied on points.

Leeds started on the front foot and almost scored in the second minute but Senne Lammers made an excellent point-blank save from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

However, its pressure paid off two minutes later when Okafor side-footed home with style after everyone missed Jayden Bogle’s deep cross from the right.

Leeds was all over United during the opening half hour and a second arrived in the 29th. A ball was half cleared to Okafor, whose first-time shot from outside the box took a slight deflection as it flew past Lammers and into the far corner.

United interim coach Michael Carrick had never lost a game at home since replacing Rubem Amorim in mid-January and his task got even harder 10 minutes into the second period when Lisandro Martínez was sent off for pulling Calvert-Lewin’s hair.

However, the 10 men kept plugging away in what was a pulsating end-to-end encounter and got a goal back after 68 minutes when Casemiro bulleted a header past Karl Darlow from a Ruben Fernandes cross.

Both sides had more chances in a thrilling last 20 minutes. United had two shots knocked off the goal-line and Leeds failed to make the most of its frequent counterattacks but neither could find the net again.

“We didn’t start the game particularly well," Carrick said. “We didn’t quite have the rhythm or click.

“I’m pleased the way we went about the second half but it was more difficult when you are a man down.”

Farke, meanwhile, was ecstatic at taking all three points from one of Leeds' fiercest rivals at such a crucial juncture in a testing campaign.

“A win is always good for the mood and the confidence. It is also good for the table," he said.

“A few more points are needed but tonight we edge three points closer. Nothing is achieved yet. We have to stay humbled, grounded and hungry to make sure we get as many points as possible.”

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

On Friday, April 10, 2026, a preliminary exam was scheduled for Sikorski in the 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores.

Sikorski waived his right to the exam and was bound over to the circuit court for trial.

He will be arraigned at the Macomb County Circuit Court on Monday, April 20, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.

Sikorski was charged with Animals – Torture – Third Degree.

The charge is a four-year felony, and the maximum charge available under the law is based on the evidence presented.

It is alleged that on Sunday, March 15, 2026, Sikorski was slamming his dog, named Steel, onto the ground, kicking the dog several times, and lifting it by its leash, strangling it, before slamming the dog into the ground again.

It is believed that Steel is not permanently injured.

On Monday, March 16, Sikorski was charged with third-degree animal torture, a four-year felony.

His bond was set at $25,000.

In Michigan, it is a felony to intentionally kill or torture an animal. Penalties for torturing or killing an animal can vary in severity in Michigan and can be impacted by many factors, including whether the animal is a pet or a companion animal. Someone convicted of animal cruelty as a form of domestic violence can face up to 10 years in prison.

Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on March 10. But the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted Friday, weeks after U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government.

Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.

The cause of Kepner's Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

Kepner's father, Christopher Kepner, released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity.”

“At the same time, we are deeply troubled that, despite the seriousness of the charges, he has not been taken into custody. ... The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family,” Kepner said.

Email and voicemail messages seeking comment from Hudson’s attorneys about the charges were not immediately returned Monday. Hudson has remained free in the care of an uncle since his arrest in February.

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this unimaginable loss,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a written statement. “A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters.”

Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”

Teens are rarely prosecuted in federal court. Hudson pleaded not guilty when he was initially charged in February, though the proceedings were not public because of his age and neither were court documents. He was seen at the courthouse wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face.

A judge on Feb. 6 said Hudson must wear an electronic tether while living with an uncle. The order was changed to allow him to join his father for a few days last week at a landscaping business, newly unsealed court records show.

Prosecutors objected to Hudson's release, citing dangerousness, and asked a judge Monday to revisit that order now that he has been charged as an adult. Defense lawyers will have a week to respond.

“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra López said in a court filing.

Davis was found guilty on Friday (April 10) by a jury in the Sixth Circuit Court.

The incident occurred on May 20, 2023, at a Royal Oak Township auto dealership where Namou was employed.

Court documents revealed that Davis and Namou, who had been in a previous relationship, shot her at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun.

It was revealed that their 10-year-old child witnessed the murder.

Davis was convicted of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, four counts of felony-firearm, and habitual offender—fourth offense, as well as felony assault and assault with Intent to commit great bodily harm charges involving other victims.

First-degree murder is punishable by life in prison without parole.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 11.

Fiorentina's season-best five-game unbeaten run lifted Paolo Vanoli’s men above Cagliari into 15th place.

Robin Gosens got the only goal in the 28th minute when he headed home a cross from Jack Harrison, the winger on loan from Leeds United.

Lazio lost for the first time since March 1. Lazio dominated the match, particularly in the first half. It remained in ninth place.

___

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

Regan Prater also pleaded guilty to attempting to aid a foreign terrorist organization for efforts to provide the militant group Hezbollah “a list of personally identifiable information for individuals purportedly affiliated with the government of Israel,” according to a criminal information filed in February.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9 in Knoxville.

A public defender representing Prater did not immediately respond to an email and phone message requesting comment.

Prater was arrested last April in connection with the arson at the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market. The arrest came more than six years after the March 2019 blaze, which caused more than $1.2 million in damage, prosecutors say.

An affidavit filed in federal court in East Tennessee last year said Prater’s posts in several group chats affiliated with white supremacist organizations connected him to the crime. In one private message, a witness who sent screenshots to the FBI asked a person authorities believe was Prater whether he set the fire.

“I’m not admitting anything,” the person using the screen name ‘Rooster’ wrote. But he later went on to describe exactly how the fire was set with “a sparkler bomb and some Napalm.”

A white-power symbol was spray-painted on the pavement near the site of the fire. The affidavit describes it as a “triple cross” and says it was also found on one of the firearms used by a shooter who killed 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019, about two weeks before the Highlander fire.

Prater was initially charged in 2025 with one count of arson. On Monday, the previous indictment was dismissed in favor of the criminal information filed in February which included the charge related to the Lebanese group Hezbollah. In a plea agreement filed the following day in February, the government agreed that a sentence of no more than 20 years was appropriate.

Prater was previously sentenced to five years in federal prison for setting a fire in June 2019 at an adult video and novelty store in East Tennessee. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $106,000 in restitution in that case. At the scene of that fire, investigators found a cellphone they later determined belonged to Prater. The phone included a short video showing a person inside the store lighting an accelerant, according to the affidavit.

Highlander is known as a place where civil rights figures including Rosa Parks and John Lewis received training. Parks attended a workshop there on integration in 1955, about six months before she famously refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She always credited Highlander with helping her become a more determined activist.

Parks returned to Highlander two years later with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for the school’s 25th anniversary celebration, where King gave a keynote address on achieving freedom and equality through nonviolence.

The blaze at Highlander broke out in the early morning of March 29, 2019. No one was injured, but decades’ worth of irreplaceable documents were lost. They included artifacts, speeches and other materials from different eras, including from the Civil Rights Movement.

The government revealed the decision in court papers as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the Feb. 9 removal. A judge approved the deal.

The Interior Department and National Park Service “have confirmed their intention to maintain a Pride flag at Stonewall,” lawyers for the government and the groups wrote in a joint court filing.

The flag — one of several Pride banners at the 7.7-acre (3.1-hectare) park — won’t be removed, except for “maintenance or other practical purposes,” the filing said.

Under the agreement, within a week, the park service will hang three flags on its flagpole at the monument. The Pride flag will be positioned below the U.S. flag, in accordance with U.S. flag code, and above the park service flag. Each will measure 3 feet by 5 feet (0.9 meters by 1.5 meters).

The site also features a large Pride flag on a city-controlled flagpole and smaller flags on a fence surrounding the monument, which is across the street from the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a 1969 police raid sparked an uprising and helped catalyze the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Those flags weren't removed.

“We fought the Trump administration and won,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote on X. The Democrat helped organize a protest Pride flag raising after the government-authorized banner was removed.

“We as an LGBTQ community celebrate the legal climb-down by the gutless Trump Administration on their contemptuous attempt to erase queer people from American history at Stonewall,” Hoylman-Sigal, the first openly gay person elected to his job, wrote.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, called the Trump administration’s reversal “a victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city” and “a reminder that New Yorkers won’t let our history be rewritten.”

The Gilbert Baker Foundation, which honors the Pride flag creator who died in 2017, was among the organizations that sued over the removal.

“Stonewall is sacred ground in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation, and this resolution helps ensure that the Rainbow Flag will continue to fly there, where it belongs,” foundation President Charley Beal said.

The Pride flag had become a flashpoint for arguments over Republican President Donald Trump ’s approach to Stonewall and various other historical properties.

After a yearslong campaign by activists who wanted the flag symbolizing LGBTQ+ pride to be flown daily inside the park service-run site, the banner was formally installed in 2022 during Democrat Joe Biden ’s tenure.

At the time, park service officials called it a sign of the government’s commitment to “telling the complex and diverse histories of all Americans.”

When it removed the flag in February, the park service said it was complying with federal guidance on flag displays. A Jan. 21 memo largely restricted the agency to displaying U.S., Interior Department and POW/MIA flags, with exemptions that include providing “historical context.”

The park service insisted the monument “remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site” through exhibits and programs. But LGBTQ+ activists saw the flag’s removal as a targeted affront meant to diminish a site that is all about their fight for rights and visibility.

Activists Michael Petrelis and Steven Love Menendez, who fought to have the park service fly the Pride flag, said they were pleased with Monday's agreement. But, they said, they were dismayed that other symbols, such as the even more inclusive Progress Pride flag, were left out.

“I look forward to the day when the flag display can restored to its original intent that allows all iterations of LGBTQ+ flags to fly,” Menendez said. “Until then at least we have the original rainbow flag flying to serve as a beacon of light.”

Democratic President Barack Obama created the Stonewall monument in 2016.

After Trump returned to office last year, he took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials.

Trump’s administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

___

Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.

So far this year, Detroit has lost five residents in accidental fires, prompting first responders to push a more proactive approach.

“What we are trying to do is become more proactive,” Detroit Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms said.

The initiative is called Community Risk Reduction (CRR). It uses community-level data to pinpoint where homes are most vulnerable and then deploys first responders to go neighborhood-by-neighborhood to focus on fire prevention education.

“This particular initiative is going to help prevent the fires, before the fires ever take place,” Detroit City Council President James Tate said.

Commissioner Simms said the CRR effort will prioritize outreach to residents considered most at risk, including seniors, families with young children, and non-English speaking communities.

Fire investigators say that in 2025, 105 residents were injured and seven people died in accidental fires in Detroit.

Investigators also cited several leading causes:

• 35% electrical
• 14% cooking-related
• 11% improper use of a product or appliance

Detroit City Councilmember Latisha Johnson said recent fires have been traumatic for neighborhoods — and her office has been trying to help residents take immediate steps to stay safe.

After two residents died in a fire at a home on Ashley, Johnson’s office began distributing free smoke detectors.

“We know that prices are skyrocketing for everything and that includes the cost of carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors,” Johnson said. “Safety is of utmost importance, and we also recognize that there are people who cannot afford those items.”

The city’s CRR team is asking residents to take advantage of the outreach, saying conversations and prevention steps now can save lives later.

“Come talk to us,” Detroit Fire Marshal Donald Thomas said. “We want to come and talk to you about making sure that we are keeping our lives, our families, and our homes [safe].”

More information on Detroit’s Community Risk Reduction program — including how to schedule a presentation — is available here: https://detroitmi.gov/departments/detroit-fire-department/community-risk-reduction.

Farmers' costs, such as equipment, have crept up over time while soybean prices have stayed low. Tariffs levied by the Trump administration last year and the monthslong trade war with China only made things worse, soybean producers say. Then the Iran war bottled up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, restricting global fertilizer supplies and sending fuel and fertilizer prices soaring. A ceasefire deal announced April 7 raised hope that bottlenecks in the strait would abate, but the future of the agreement was uncertain and experts say it will take time for global supply chains to recover.

The AP and Lee Enterprises interviewed experts and soybean farmers across multiple Midwest states.

Here are key takeaways from the report:

Rising costs, low soybean prices have hurt farmers' margins

Soybeans, which are used for livestock feed, food and biofuels, are among the top U.S. agricultural exports. But soybean prices have been persistently low in recent years. The global market has been awash in soybeans, driven in part by Brazil, which surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest soybean producer years ago.

“If we look at global soybean production over the past several years, it continues to set record, after record, after record,” said Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. “There’s been just large supplies globally, and that has led to depressed prices.”

Meanwhile, Midwest soybean farmers’ costs have risen. Overall farm production expenses, including seed and pesticide, have increased over time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Operating costs for soybean production have stayed elevated since 2020 and are projected to increase again in 2026, according to the agency.

The cost of land also is a major issue for farmers, experts say. Midwest crop land values have increased. And most regional farmers rent some of their land, according to Joana Colussi, research assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

The U.S.-China trade war in 2025 has lasting impacts

Sweeping tariffs levied by President Donald Trump in April 2025 exacerbated a trade war with China, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. China responded with retaliatory tariffs and effectively boycotted U.S. soybeans, cutting off a major export market for Midwest farmers and driving the price of soybeans even lower. The U.S. and China eventually reached a deal in late 2025. Beijing committed to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years. China has since met its initial soybean purchase goal and the Trump administration also rolled out a $12 billion temporary aid package in December to boost farmers affected by the trade war.

But the damage is already done, experts and farmers say. While China’s renewed purchases and the federal payments are helping, it’s not enough to recover farmers’ losses. Even after federal assistance, farmers still lost almost $75 per harvested acre of soybeans in the 2025 crop, according to the American Soybean Association. And the trade war further pushed China toward competing soybean exporters, such as Brazil — accelerating a trend of declining U.S. soybean exports to China.

Joseph Glauber, former chief economist at the Department of Agriculture between 2008 and 2014, said global competitors to U.S. soybean farmers gained from the trade war. The U.S. is not as dominant in the global soybean export market as it used to be, Glauber added.

The Iran war further drove up costs for farmers

After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, a severe slowdown in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sent the price of oil soaring. The shipping disruption also largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients. The price of urea, the most widely traded nitrogen fertilizer, skyrocketed.

Soybeans don’t require nitrogen fertilizer, but it’s vital for corn and most soybean farmers also grow corn. About half the global supply of urea comes from the Middle East, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia are two of the top sources of U.S. fertilizer imports, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire last week that included reopening the strait of Hormuz, but traffic remained slowed amid disagreements over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and the price of urea remains elevated.

Many Midwest farmers bought their fertilizer well in advance of the spring planting season. But some farmers who didn’t buy early face elevated prices.

The war also caused gasoline and diesel prices to surge, causing further headaches for farmers. Oil prices dropped following the ceasefire announcement, but the war and the closure of the strait will have lasting impacts on farmers, said Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, an investment research company. Facilities in the Middle East that are critical for exporting chemicals, oil and other commodities were damaged or destroyed during the war and it will take time for supply chains to recover, he said.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they are pursuing information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, on Jan. 18. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bashed open the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint — without a warrant as far as Choi and Fletcher have been able to determine — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There’s not a dispute over that," Fletcher said. “There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around.”

The sheriff continued: "Is that good law enforcement, to take an American citizen out of their home and drive them around aimlessly, trying to determine what they can tell them?”

DHS, which oversees ICE, has refused so far to cooperate with Ramsey County, or with other state and local investigations into the killings by federal officers of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“ICE does not ‘kidnap’ people," the agency said in a statement that called Ramsey County's announcement “nothing but a political stunt to demonize ICE law enforcement.”

Choi said they’re trying to determine whether any crimes were committed that they could prosecute under state or federal law. He also said St. Paul police were investigating another case related to the immigration crackdown for potential violations, but he declined to provide details.

“This is not about any type of predetermined agenda other than to seek the truth and to investigate the facts,” Choi said.

Agents who arrested Thao eventually realized he was a longtime U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said in an interview with The Associated Press in January. They returned him to his home after a couple of hours.

Homeland Security later said ICE officers had been seeking two convicted sex offenders. But Thao told the AP he had never seen the two men before and that they did not live with him. The Minnesota Department of Corrections later said one of the two wanted men was still in prison.

The ICE statement did not address the county’s request for evidence, but it asserted that investigators “concluded sexual predator targets had ties to the property” — something that Thao and his family denied.

Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns, and neighbors screaming at more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone.

Thao declined to comment on the announcement Monday.

The director of the trial division in the County Attorney's Office, Hao Nguyen, said they wrote to DHS, ICE and local federal prosecutors March 20 outlining the evidence they're seeking.

“We know there are reports, there’s just no way that there aren’t," Nguyen said. "We want also to know who was working that day, who was working that month. Where did they report to? Who did they report to? We also want to understand what recordings might be out there in terms of digital recordings, witness interviews, video recordings.”

They set a deadline of April 30, after which they could sue or convene a grand jury, Choi said.

The state and the chief prosecutor in neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to gain access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It happened during the surge of around 3,000 federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.

Choi urged members of the public who might have evidence about Thao's case or other potential violations to come forward. Minnesota and Hennepin County have made similar appeals.

The Trump administration has suggested Minnesota officials lack jurisdiction to investigate federal law enforcement actions. But Fletcher said he believes they do.

“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents," the sheriff said. "There’s qualified immunity for all law enforcement in a lot of different capacities. But seizing a person out of their home who’s an American citizen, they’re not immune from that.”

___

Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press reporter Jack Brook contributed to this story from New Orleans.

“They wanted to take the chain off my neck, so I ran,” Holstein said. “But I couldn’t run because these Crocs are pretty huge, so I looked like I ran funny.”

The chain, featuring his alias, Huntxy, caught their eye, Holstein said.

The group asked whether it was real, Holstein said.

“I have had this for like a year now,” Holstein said. “But I basically got it because I’m pretty big in social media and I’m an influencer, so it is good to have it because it shows your personal brand.”

Holstein said police moved in before anyone could grab it.

“They pushed me, and the cops came by and flicked their lights on, turned their sirens on, and they just ran off,” Holstein said.

The incident happened a day after Mayor Mary Sheffield unveiled a plan to address teen takeovers downtown, including giving young people a direct role in identifying safe places to gather.

Holstein, who is 19, said he won’t let what happened stop him from coming back, and he’s using it as content online.

“Everything is content in my eyes,” Holstein said.

Holstein said he will wear the chain again.

“Nobody ain’t taking it,” Holstein said.

Detroit police said one person connected to the incident was arrested for disorderly conduct.

A woman who also recorded the incident said there were many young people downtown this weekend.

In her social media post, she warned parents that their kids were about to go to jail.

Detroit police said there were no major incidents downtown over the weekend and that they will remain visible to ensure everyone can enjoy it safely.

Parents can be fined up to $500 if their kids violate the city’s curfew.

During a press conference on April 13, Hamtramck Police Chief Hussein Farhat said they received a call about a possible kidnapping at 7:09 a.m., and arrested the suspect within a half hour.

The student, identified as a 16-year-old, was found safe when officers arrested the suspect.

A weapon was also recovered, Farhat said.

Surveillance and body camera footage show the suspect parking a tan-colored car at a pump and walking into the gas station store with the victim.

The video then shows the suspect walking out of the store as police arrived. You can watch the full press conference and the body camera/surveillance footage in the video at the top of this article.

The suspect was taken into custody. The victim and the suspect did not know each other, according to the chief.

Farhat declined to release additional information about the suspect during a press conference, saying the suspect had not yet been arraigned.

Mayor Adam Alharbi, however, said the suspect has a history of rape charges.

“It’s a criminal who had a history of rape charges, and we will make sure that he gets what he deserves,” Alharbi said.

The mayor also called on the city of Detroit to “step it up” when punishing criminals.

“I feel bad for the family, and we will make sure that this incident doesn’t happen again, and the city of Detroit needs to step it up. The court system needs to make sure that they do punish these criminals, especially with rape issues.”

Earlier this morning, the president of the Board of Education for Hamtramck Public Schools, Abdulmalik Algahaim, said the abduction happened near the “bus stop in the areas of Edwin/Pulaski and Edwin/Bromback.”

Algahaim said that classmates witnessed the abduction and helped “track the student’s location through social media and cell phone information.”

Previous coverage --> Hamtramck student abducted from bus stop at gunpoint; classmates use social media to track suspect

The chief said police will increase patrols as a safety precaution, but emphasized that this was an isolated incident and the suspect is in custody.

More information will be released when the suspect is arraigned, which police believe will happen in the next 48 hours.

The property is near the intersection of Oregon and Beechwood streets.

The FBI confirmed to Local 4 that agents were “conducting law enforcement activities” in the area and said, “There is no current threat to the public at this time.”

The agency did not release additional details about what prompted the search or what, if anything, was recovered.

Neighbor Tiara Owens told Local 4 she was surprised to wake up and see the FBI digging up the vacant lot.

“This morning when I came out onto the porch, they were already working,” Owens said. “We have never had an incident, especially the FBI on this block in all of the years I have stayed here. So, it is pretty disturbing,” she said.

Owens said she was told contractors working on a nearby home discovered what appeared to be human remains Sunday and notified police.

“A human head, some type of skull was found,” she said.

Sky4 flew over the scene and showed agents using a small excavator and shovels to dig, then sifting through dirt by hand. Items that appeared to be clothing and other materials were seen laid out on a sheet near the excavation area.

Owens said the lot has been vacant for years, and she hopes the investigation provides some answers for a family.

“That lot has been vacant for over 10 years. So, there is no telling how long that person has been there,” she said. “Hopefully they can find out who the person is and the family can get some type of closure.”

What we know

• FBI agents searched a vacant lot near Oregon and Beechwood on Detroit’s west side Monday.
• The FBI said agents were “conducting law enforcement activities” and that there is no current threat to the public.
• Neighbors said contractors reported finding what they believed were possible human remains, including a skull.

What we don’t know

• What evidence, if any, was recovered from the scene.
• Why the FBI is involved and what the investigation is connected to.

But according to one of the team’s front-office executives, he is going about his job as usual preparing for next week’s NFL draft despite recent scrutiny regarding the nature of his relationship with a reporter.

“Very involved. Business as usual,” Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said when asked how much Vrabel had been involved with the team's draft process. “I’d say he’s been in there with us this round probably a little more than he was in there last year. ... He’s been in there. He’s been contributing. He’s watched a ton of the players.”

It was the first time a member of the team's front office has spoken to reporters since the New York Post published photos of Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini of The Athletic at an Arizona hotel that have raised questions about the nature of their relationship.

Vrabel spoke with reporters in a news conference setting before last year’s draft but opted not to on Monday. Though reporters did bump into Vrabel, who briefly greeted them, during a tour of the team’s new facility after Wolf's news conference had concluded.

According to the Post, the photos were taken in Arizona two weeks before the start of NFL owners meetings in Phoenix that began on March 29.

Vrabel and Russini, who are both married, released statements to the Post after the publication of the story downplaying what the photos depict.

Russini said they “don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day.”

Vrabel told the newspaper: “Those photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable."

The New York Times, which owns The Athletic, reported Saturday that the digital outlet is investigating the conduct of Russini.

That decision came after the outlet’s executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, previously told the Post that the photos “lacked essential context” and lauded her work with The Athletic.

Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player with New England, is preparing for his second season as coach of the Patriots. He coached the team to a 14-3 finish last season, which ended with a Super Bowl loss to Seattle.

The Patriots hold the 31st overall pick in next week’s draft and 11 picks in total.

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

The S&P 500 rose 1% and is back to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, just 1.3% below its all-time high set early this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 301 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%.

Even in the oil market, where prices jumped above $100 per barrel after ceasefire talks over the weekend failed to end the war, prices pared their leaps as Monday progressed. The moves for financial markets overall were much more modest than the extreme swings that have hit since the war began.

Markets have been pinballing between worries that the war will last a long time and hopes for a resolution because all the parties would benefit from a freer flow of crude oil.

After the weekend’s talks failed, President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which raises the pressure on Iran by trying to prevent it from making money by selling oil.

A blockade would keep even more oil off the global market, after prices already jumped for everyone worldwide because of Iran’s restrictions on traffic in the important strait. The narrow waterway is how much of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf area reaches customers worldwide.

Iran responded by threatening all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Afterward, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 4.4% to settle at $99.36 and is well above its roughly $70 level from before the war.

But it remains below the $119 peak it’s touched at times, when worries about the U.S.-Iran war have been at their heights. It also pulled back from its nearly $104 price reached earlier Monday morning.

“Markets are taking some encouragement from the fact that the two sides are talking and that the broader ceasefire seems to be holding, for now,” according to Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Speaking outside the Oval Office, Trump suggested on Monday the United States is still willing to engage with Iran.

“I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side,” Trump said.

In the meantime, big U.S. companies are beginning to tell investors how much money they made during the first three months of the year. Strong reports could help make up for Wall Street's worries about the Strait of Hormuz because stock prices tend to follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, said it made $5.63 billion in profit during the quarter, more than investors expected. But financial analysts pointed to some potentially concerning signals underneath the surface, including lower revenue from the trading of fixed income, commodities and currencies. Its stock fell 1.9%.

Big banks traditionally lead earnings reporting season each quarter, and Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America will all report later this week. So will Johnson & Johnson, Netflix and PepsiCo.

Helping to lead Wall Street on Monday was Sandisk, which jumped 11.8% after learning it will replace Atlassian Corporation in the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on April 20. That means it will get included in funds that track the index, such as Invesco’s QQQ, which controls nearly $395 billion in investments.

The only stock to rise more in the S&P 500 index was Oracle. It gained 12.7% to recover some of its sharp recent losses taken on worries that it may be spending too much to build its artificial-intelligence capabilities.

Different kinds of worries about AI have been hammering software companies, centered on the risk that their businesses may become obsolete. They also rallied to recover some of their big recent losses.

ServiceNow climbed 7.3% to trim its loss for the year so far to less than 42%, and AppLovin climbed 6.7% to get its loss for 2026 down to 38%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 69.35 points to 6,886.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 301.68 to 48,218.25, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 280.84 to 23,183.74.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked lower as oil prices receded from their morning highs. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.29% from 4.31% late Friday.

That could offer some relief for the housing market and rates for mortgages, which have been climbing with Treasury yields since the war began on worries about high oil prices and inflation. A report on Monday said that sales of previously occupied homes were weaker in March than economists expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9%, and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.9% for two of the world’s larger losses.

___

AP journalists Yuri Kageyama, Matt Ott and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

The Oscar-winning actor and co-host of “The View” has launched the imprint WhoopInk, a partnership with Blackstone Publishing that will focus on bringing “fresh, diverse new talent to the marketplace” and on works spanning across genres. According to Blackstone, Goldberg will be “intimately involved” with the imprint, on everything from cover design to promotion.

At least one WhoopInk author already is well known to Goldberg — Rick Bleiweiss, a Blackstone executive who signed up Goldberg's “Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me” for the publisher. Goldberg plans to publish the next novel in Bleiweiss' “Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives” mystery series and to release some of her own books, including a collaboration with longtime business partner Tom Leonardis and a follow-up to “Bits and Pieces,” a bestselling memoir that comes out in paperback this week.

“I am personally looking forward to finding new authors, working with established authors, and bringing influential voices into this curated imprint,” Goldberg said in a statement Monday.

Numerous other celebrities have overseen their own imprints in recent years, including Sarah Jessica Parker,John Legend and Questlove. Reese Witherspoon, Dakota Johnson and Dua Lipa are among the public figures who have formed their own book clubs.

We issue a 4Warn Weather Alert when we’re expecting weather conditions that will be inconvenient to our viewers.

This alert is for Tuesday, April 14, 2026, because of the potential for severe thunderstorms in the afternoon and into the evening.

The primary threats will be large hail that could reach over 2 inches in diameter, as well as damaging wind gusts of 60+ mph.

Timing for these storms remains in flux. Some individual thunderstorms could develop and become severe after 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, but there’s potential for a squall line to move through after 10 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The 4Warn Weather alert is in effect for all of Southeast Michigan.

Courtney Williams, 40, who is charged with four counts of communicating and disclosing national defense information about a “special military unit” at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after working for it as a civilian, appeared in federal court in Raleigh.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers agreed to release Williams, who was arrested last week and wore a striped jumpsuit in court, under home detention and location monitoring. She's barred from having contact with the media or using social media, Meyers said.

Williams' attorney, Christian Dysart, declined to comment after the hearing, which came more than a week after a criminal complaint was filed in her case.

The complaint was unsealed last week on the same day a grand jury indicted Williams and the U.S. Justice Department announced her arrest. An FBI official said then her alleged disclosures put “our nation, our warfighters, and our allies at risk.” Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, the government says, along with monetary penalties.

Court documents say Williams, who was hired as a defense contractor in 2010 and became a Department of Defense employee months later, worked for a “special military unit” at Fort Bragg until 2016 and held a top-secret security clearance.

Although the reporter and unit are not named in the court filings, dates and details match an article and book about the Army’s secretive Delta Force written by Seth Harp.

Williams, who lives about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Fort Bragg, was the focus of a 2025 Politico article with the headline: “My Life Became a Living Hell: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit.” The article, which describes Williams as serving previously in the Army as an interrogator and Arabic linguist, coincided with the release of Harp’s book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” which alleges sexual harassment and discrimination.

The indictment alleges that between 2022 and 2025, Williams was in contact with the author, resulting in more than 10 hours of phone calls and exchanging hundreds of text messages.

The indictment alleges in part that Williams unlawfully disclosed a “cover alias identity issued and owned” by the unit; tactics and techniques the unit used to “execute covert missions without being detected”; and “true names of individuals” assigned to the unit, and “their capture during a sensitive military mission in a foreign country.”

Harp said last week in a written statement that Williams is a “courageous whistleblower” on discrimination and harassment within Delta Force and contends former unit members reveal incidentally on podcasts and YouTube shows unit details that the government now labels a crime by Williams.

“I am confident that the DOJ’s slapdash indictment, full of misleadingly juxtaposed quotations taken out of context, will fall apart upon careful scrutiny,” Harp wrote.

An FBI agent's affidavit said that Williams had signed nondisclosure documents regarding classified materials while working for the unit and as she left her job.

The affidavit says Williams messaged the journalist on or about the article's release expressing concern about “the amount of classified information being disclosed.” And in another alleged exchange, she told her mother she may get arrested “for disclosing classified information.”

After so many seasons in which James valiantly carried otherwise ordinary teams to extraordinary achievements, the greatest scorer in NBA history was not even the Los Angeles Lakers' focal point this year. Down the stretch of his first full season alongside Luka Doncic, the 41-year-old James became a supporting player of sorts while Doncic drove the Lakers’ offense and rising star Austin Reaves thrived.

This dynamic worked superbly while the Lakers made a 16-2 surge through March, winning the Pacific Division and prompting many to wonder if they could even conjure a challenge to Oklahoma City or San Antonio this spring.

And then Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) both went down in the Lakers' first game of April with significant injuries likely to sideline them for several weeks.

Just like that, James is alone in the spotlight once again this month, the Lakers' faint postseason hopes resting on a 23-year NBA veteran who has already done it all.

When Los Angeles hosts the Houston Rockets in its playoff opener Saturday night, James will attempt yet another improbable feat in a career full of them: Keeping the Lakers alive long enough for Doncic and Reaves to return.

“I’ve had to tap back into a role that I’ve been accustomed to in the past, but obviously wasn’t what it was this year,” James said. “Circumstances have put me back in here, and I’m just trying to feed off my teammates (while my) teammates feed off of me. Trying to make things happen for us to continue to stay afloat.”

Indeed, this would be a daunting challenge for almost any player except James. After he racked up 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds while the Lakers beat Golden State last week, he was asked what his team needs from him without its two top scorers.

“Everything,” James said. “So nothing changes for me. Just back to the old ways."

James has spent the majority of his basketball life lifting up the players around him. Even after he left Cleveland the first time to relieve that burden by forming the Miami Heat's super-team, he went home again after four years and spent four more seasons carrying the Cavaliers to four straight NBA Finals against Golden State — most famously stretching the 2015 series to six games without Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, followed by leading Cleveland's epic rally from a 3-1 series deficit to win the 2016 title.

Here in the present, the Lakers realize their promising season has probably been sabotaged by unlucky injuries. Doncic, who led the NBA in scoring, has traveled to Spain in hopes of finding some medical way to get back on the court sooner, while Reaves is almost certainly out for at least the first round.

But with James in their lineup, Lakers coach JJ Redick will always feel they've got a chance.

“We’re going to need him to facilitate, and we’re going to need him to score,” Redick said. “We’re going to need him to defend and rebound. I think he recognizes the task at hand, and he’s very locked in. He’s played great.”

All three of the Lakers' stars have had injury problems this season, and they only got extensive playing time together recently. James missed training camp and the first 14 games of the regular season last fall after developing sciatica, yet he has played in 60 of the ensuing 68 games for Los Angeles, including five back-to-back sets.

“He had not a good season, not a great — he had a remarkable season, all things considered,” Redick said. “You take away the fact that he’s in his 23rd year, and he’s 41 years old, he had a remarkable season. The fact that those things are real, and they’re very real in terms of the day-to-day management, it’s unbelievable what he did this year.”

James' numbers reflect only slight concessions to his age and his lessened workload behind Doncic and Reaves: His 20.9 points per game were his fewest since his rookie year in 2003-04, while his 33.2 minutes per game were his lowest ever.

Yet when he's in the spotlight, James still delivers with remarkable frequency. He finished the regular season by averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in three Lakers victories to secure homecourt advantage in the first round.

James was named the Western Conference’s player of the week Monday for the 70th time — more than any other two players in NBA history combined.

“Just trying to squeeze as much of the juice as I can, until it’s as dry as it can be for me,” James said. “I’ve been given an opportunity to play the game that I love, and tried to do it at a high level, and I’ve tried to commit to it, and the game has given back to me.”

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

Led by the antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace, the crowd of hundreds initially attempted to stage a sit-in inside the Manhattan offices of the two Democratic lawmakers they accused of abetting Israel’s intensifying attacks in Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

After demonstrators were blocked by security from entering the building, they stopped traffic outside, chanting “fund people, not bombs” as they were arrested and loaded onto three buses.

Among the 90 people taken into custody were whistleblower Chelsea Manning, actor Hari Nef and New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés, according to a JVP spokesperson.

The demonstration focused on a set of resolutions introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders that could block the sale of more than $600 million in bombs to Israel.

Similar measures previously introduced by Sanders, an independent from Vermont, have failed. But the most recent effort this past summer drew support from more than half of Senate Democrats amid widespread hunger and suffering in Gaza. Schumer and Gillibrand were not among them.

Protesters on Monday said Israel’s air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, along with the larger U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, added to the urgency of the vote, which is expected later this week.

“This is the moment when Schumer and Gillibrand must listen to their constituents,” said Sonya Meyerson-Knox, the communications director with Jewish Voice for Peace. “The majority of Americans and New Yorkers want a resolution to what the Israeli government is doing.”

Inquiries to Schumer and Gillibrand were not immediately returned.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed Southeast Michigan under a Marginal Risk, a level 1 out of 5, for severe weather chances tonight.

Showers and storms will linger into Tuesday morning.

After starting the morning in the low 60s, highs Tuesday afternoon will be back near 80 degrees. We’ll see a break in the rain for the afternoon, staying dry with some sunshine.

Scattered rain and storms develop in the later evening hours Tuesday, some of which may be strong. The Storm Prediction Center has placed Southeast Michigan under a Slight Risk, a level 2 out of 5, for severe weather Tuesday night.

The chance for rain and storms will carry into Wednesday and Thursday before we dry out Friday.

Temperatures will remain warm with highs in the low to mid 70s to finish out the week.

Rain chances return Saturday.

The reality TV star and entrepreneur has signed on to help produce the play “The Fear of 13,” about the true story of Nick Yarris, a man who spent more than two decades on death row for a murder he insists he did not commit.

“My commitment to criminal justice reform has always been about more than just policy — it’s about people. I’ve learned that sometimes the most effective way to change minds is through a powerful story. 'The Fear of 13' is that story,” she said in a statement.

Kardashian has in the past few years used her spotlight to shine a light on the wrongfully convicted. She has gone to the White House during President Donald Trump's first term and during President Joe Biden's term to lobby for criminal justice reform and the president's clemency powers.

Kardashian lobbied Trump to commute the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who spent more than 20 years in prison for drug offenses. Johnson was released in June 2018 and later, in August 2020, received a full pardon from Trump and had her rights restored.

“The Fear of 13,” written by Lindsey Ferrentino, stars Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson, and is directed by Tony Award-winner David Cromer. Opening night is set for Wednesday.

Workers at the state-owned Metropolitan Industrial Park, informally known as Sonapi, gathered outside its gates in Port-au-Prince and shouted, “When we are hungry, we don’t mess around!”

Employees noted that they haven’t had a raise since 2023, and that they can no longer afford basic goods given that Haiti’s government increased diesel prices by 37% and gasoline prices by 29% earlier this month.

“A gallon of gas is higher than our minimum daily wage,” said Marc Jean Jean-Pierre, a 47-year-old father of two children.

He works at a factory making jeans, earning 685 Haitian gourdes ($5.23) a day, while a gallon of gasoline costs 850 gourdes ($6.49).

“You can see what we’re going through,” he said.

Jean-Pierre used to take public transportation to get to work, but now he walks for an hour to save money since the round-trip fare has increased by 100 gourdes (76 cents).

“We will be in the street until the government hears our voice,” he said.

Joining Monday’s protest was Maxime Excellence, a 49-year-old factory janitor, who worried about rising transportation prices, among other things.

“On top of it, I have to eat. I can’t spent the whole day not eating,” he said. “God knows what I’m going to have to eat when I get home.”

Excellence said the workers’ demands are fair.

“We can barely make ends meet with what we’re living on," he said.

He said that he would continue to protest until their demands are met and would resort to violence if necessary.

James Cardichon, a 37-year-old factor worker who makes T-shirts, echoed those sentiments.

“We need a revolution for them to understand,” he said, adding that the factory conditions also need to improve. “We are leaving our sweat behind.”

He said that workers are seeking a better salary so their children don’t have to experience the same problems.

“We are tired,” he said. “Our country is infested by gangs. The bus charges more because they have to pay the gangs to get through, and we end up paying for everything.”

Cardichon also said he was upset about the ongoing promises by government officials to improve the country’s situation.

“We are tired of promises,” he said. “We want them to take action, and quickly.”

Some Haitians who joined the protest don’t work at the industrial park but wanted to express their frustration at Haiti’s spiraling crises, with gang violence surging and poverty deepening.

Garry Jean Paul, 35, who sells cellphones on the street, said that rising oil prices are worsening the country’s situation.

“Some days I make a couple hundred of gourdes, some days I have to go home with nothing,” he said. “Families are doing things they are not supposed to be doing. They are begging.”

But the numbers also say as the NBA postseason begins not to count out the Celtics, who are just two years removed from winning their record 18th championship.

OKC is a +120 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook to become the first team since Golden State in 2018 to repeat as champion. San Antonio, which defeated the Thunder four out of five times in the regular season, is next at +450. Boston lurks close behind at +550.

Every other team carries odds of 10-1 or longer.

“The West team is going to be favored in the final unless there's a real shocker,” said Bruce Marshall, handicapper for WagerTalk/Gold Sheet. “We're assuming it's Oklahoma or San Antonio. Either of those two would be favored. Boston would have the best chance, I think, in the East, followed by the Knicks and then Detroit.”

David Lieberman, pro basketball lead at Caesars Sportsbook, expressed caution about assuming favorites would wind up in the NBA Finals.

“It should be pretty wide open this year, and I can see any of the top 3-5 seeds making a run in each conference," Lieberman said. "I expect several long, competitive series all the way through.”

Key Eastern players return

Jayson Tatum's earlier-than-expected return from an Achilles tendon tear sustained in last year's playoffs has made bettors believers of the Celtics. Boston was listed at 10-1 before his comeback, and 8.7% of the bets and 8.2% of the money at BetMGM are on the Celtics. That's behind only the Pistons in the Eastern Conference (10.2% of bets, 9.7% of the handle).

There is plenty of reason for optimism in Detroit with Cade Cunningham back after missing about three weeks because of a collapsed lung.

Even though the West is better and deeper, many bettors see value in the numbers in the East.

“The Detroit Pistons have been getting bet all year, and now with Cade Cunningham back and healthy, bets are coming in on them again," Lieberman said. "The top five seeds in the East have been pretty popular bets of late, so I think there is some belief in those teams outside of the Celtics.”

Lakers likely to be one and done

There was plenty of chatter about keeping an eye on the Lakers as a potential sleeper team in the West before Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) went down with injuries this month.

The BetMGM betting numbers reflect the low expectations for the Lakers. Los Angeles is listed at 125-1 to emerge from the West and 250-1 to win it all.

The fourth-seeded Lakers open the playoffs against No. 5 Houston. The Rockets are 8-1 favorites to win the series even without home-court advantage.

“The moment Luka got hurt, the chances of the Lakers making a deep run ended,” Marshall said. “Houston has been playing better, so I think that Lakers (have a) short stay. It's too bad because it was looking like they might be menacing for a while when all the hands were on deck.”

Home teams favored in play-in games

If the odds are correct, the four play-in tournament games Tuesday and Wednesday should come down to the final minutes.

Charlotte and the Los Angeles Clippers, each at 5 1/2 points, are the largest favorites at BetMGM.

The Hornets play Miami, with the winner facing Orlando or Philadelphia and an eventual matchup with top-seeded Detroit on the line. The 76ers are 1 1/2-point favorites over the Magic, with the winner of that game playing the Celtics.

In the West, the Clippers meet the Warriors for the right to play Portland or Phoenix and eventually advancing to play the Thunder. The Suns are 3 1/2-point favorites over the Trail Blazers, with the winner meeting the Spurs.

No tanking at this time of year

Marshall agreed with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that tanking is a major problem for the league.

Whether some teams aren't giving it their all won't be a factor in the betting in the playoffs, unlike during the regular season.

“Actually, I kind of enjoyed it when you got these teams that weren't trying because you could try to go against them, although the oddsmakers were really making us pay with a lot of these numbers,” Marshall said. “It's really a disease in the NBA and they're trying to address, but it gets worse every year with the tanking stuff. As soon as a team sees they're out of the playoff picture, they try not to win.”

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

The Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, will immediately return to normal operations after weeks of uncertainty, JBS USA said in a statement.

The agreement comes after thousands of workers at the meat processing plant led a three-week strike with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 Union in a bid for higher wages and better health care. The strike ended April 4 after JBS USA agreed to resume negotiations.

Workers and JBS USA agreed to wage increases over the next two years and a $750 one-time bonus. The tentative agreement represents a contract with “all gains, countless improvements, and not a single concession," the union said.

The contract requires the company to pay for personal protective equipment and defends workers against increases in health care costs, according to the union.

Local union president Kim Cordova said workers picketed through extreme weather “because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected. Today, that sacrifice has been rewarded.”

“This is what union power looks like,” Cordova said in the statement.

The union did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for further details.

JBS USA said it is pleased an agreement has been reached, but expressed disappointment that union leadership chose to eliminate pension benefits that were negotiated last year. The company said the pension was designed to strengthen long-term retirement security and argued the union chose to shift those dollars into short-term wage increases rather than into the long-term financial future of workers.

The union will also withdraw seven alleged unfair labor practice charges, according to JBS USA.

“With the agreement now finalized, JBS USA looks forward to restoring stability, supporting its workforce, and continuing to invest in the Greeley facility for the future,” the company said in its statement.

The strike at Greeley was the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985. That strike lasted more than a year and was marked by violent confrontations between police and protesters.

JBS is the world’s largest meatpacking company with a market capitalization of $17 billion. It is the top employer in Greeley, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Denver with a population of about 114,000 people.

Harry Truman refused to lend his name to any business, even in retirement. Richard Nixon so feared a brother might profit off their ties, he had his phone tapped. And George W. Bush dumped his individual stock holdings before taking office.

President Donald Trump is taking a different approach.

The family real estate business is undergoing the fastest overseas expansion since its founding a century ago, each deal potentially shaping everything from tariffs to military aid.

Led by Eric, and his brother, Donald Jr., the family business has expanded into cryptocurrencies with ventures that brought in billions of dollars but raised questions about whether some big investors received favorable treatment in return.

The brothers have also joined or invested in a number of companies that aim to do business with the government their father runs. Last month, they struck a deal giving them stakes worth millions in an armed drone maker seeking contracts with the Pentagon and with Gulf states under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father.

The White House and the Trump Organization deny there are any ethical problems. Asked about the issue at a recent crypto conference, Donald Jr. said, “Frankly, it’s gotten old.”

The problem of conflicts of interest goes back a decade to when Trump first ran for office, but some government ethics experts and historians argue it’s more pressing than ever as conflicts pile up in his second term that they consider unprecedented, blatant and dangerous to democracy.

“I don’t think there’s any line right now between policy decisions and political calculations and the interest of the Trump family,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.

Deal-making spree abroad

In Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization did zero deals in foreign countries. In a little over a year into his second term it did eight, all ostensibly complying with the Trump Organization’s self-imposed rule not to do business directly with foreign governments.

But governments in authoritarian and one-party states rarely take a hands-off approach — especially when the business belongs to a sitting president.

In Qatar, a Trump golf club and villa project is being developed in part by a company owned by the Qatari government. In Vietnam, where The New York Times reported the government pushed farmers off their land to make way for a Trump resort, the country’s deputy prime minister signed off on the deal at a ceremony. And in Saudi Arabia, a planned “Trump Plaza” resort on the Red Sea is being built by a Saudi real estate developer close to the ruling family.

Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know but the countries did get what they wanted – access to advanced U.S. technology for Qatar, tariff relief for Vietnam and fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.

And the Trump Organization got something too: Tens of millions in fees.

Asked about those projects, the Trump Organization said it has done no deals with governments so far, noting that the Saudi company was private and has said it is “collaborating” with the Qatari business and had not struck a “partnership” with it that would have broken its self-imposed rules.

The UAE, crypto and Binance

Another deal raising conflicts of interest questions first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article in January — a year after it was struck.

Days before the inauguration, the Trump family sold nearly half of its World Liberty Financial crypto business to a UAE government-linked company run by a member of the UAE royal family for $500 million.

A second UAE entity, a government fund, invested in the offshore cryptocurrency exchange Binance using $2 billion worth of a digital currency called a stablecoin issued by World Liberty. That allowed the Trump company that received the dollars to put it in safe investments such as bonds or money market funds and keep the tens of millions of dollars in interest for itself.

Shortly after, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era restriction and granted the UAE access to advanced U.S. chips. Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, later got a pardon from Trump, despite having pleaded guilty to failing to stop criminals from using his platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

A lawyer for Zhao denied any connection between the Binance’s business with the Trump family and the pardon.

“Any claim of a quid pro quo by Binance or CZ, or preferential financial treatment by Binance, is a clear misstatement of the public record,” said Teresa Goody Guillen in a email to the AP, referring to Zhao by his initials.

Asked about the pardon, the White House said federal authorities had unfairly punished Zhao in what it called “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto.”

World Liberty dismissed the notion of a conflict, saying the UAE deal had no connection to the president’s chips policy.

Crypto billions

World Liberty has also provided a separate income stream to a new Trump limited liability corporation through sales of “governance tokens” that give owners certain voting rights in its business, though not equity stakes, raising $2 billion last year. That translates into hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trumps through their World Liberty ownership stake and a separate side deal allowing them a cut of these sales.

One big token investor was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency billionaire who as a foreign citizen would be banned under U.S. law from making political donations to U.S. politicians. Between Trump’s election and inauguration, Sun spent $75 million on the tokens.

In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging Sun with duping investors was paused before being settled last month for a $10 million fine.

Then there are the souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with Trump’s face that went on sale days before he took the oath of office last year.

Over the next four months, the coins generated $320 million, mostly going to Trump-related entities, according to blockchain tracker Chainalysis. That is more than double the money collected in four years running his Washington D.C. hotel in Trump’s first term.

Unlike the lobbyists or campaign donors trying to influence Trump, the coin buyers can buy anonymously. One who chose to make his purchase public was Sun, who spent $200 million on the coins and got access to Trump at a gala party he held for the biggest buyers.

Another family cryptocurrency business, American Bitcoin went public in September, giving Donald Jr. and Eric about $1 billion in paper wealth at that time. Months earlier, their father announced a new national bitcoin reserve, sending the price for the cryptocurrency soaring to a record.

The Trump businesses aren’t completely immune to crypto’s notorious volatility. The value of bitcoin and other digital tokens have since plunged and rattled investors. Both American Bitcoin stock and the value of Trump’s souvenir meme coins have collapsed 90% from their highs.

Last month, Trump announced he would hold another dinner with new top holders of his meme coins, giving the coin a boost before it fell back again.

“Whatever constraints there were in the first term appear to have completely disappeared,” says Columbia University historian Timothy Naftali. “Do you want future presidents to be open to the highest bidder?”

Trump thinks people don’t care

Asked to comment for this story, the White House said Trump acts in an “ethically-sound manner” and that any suggestion to the contrary is either “ill-informed or malicious.” It reiterated that his assets are in a trust managed by his children and stated he has “no involvement” in family business deals.

“There are no conflicts of interest,” said spokesperson Anna Kelly.

In a separate statement, the Trump Organization said it is “fully compliant with all applicable ethics and conflicts of interest laws” and added, “The implication that politics has enriched the Trump family is unfounded.”

Trump in January told The New York Times that when it comes to potential conflicts of interest, “I found out that nobody cared, and I’m allowed to,” alluding to an exemption the president gets from the federal statute banning federal officials from holding financial interests in businesses impacted by public policy they help shape.

It’s not clear he’s wrong about American attitudes, though they appear to be changing even among Republicans. In a Pew Research Center poll in January, 42% of those voters said they were confident that Trump acts ethically in office, down from 55% at the start of his second term a year ago.

Change of fortune

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth is now $6.3 billion, soaring 60% from before he returned to office, a striking development given how much the Trump Organization struggled before.

The Trump International Hotel in D.C. never turned a profit before being sold. Two Trump hotel chains catering to middle class travelers in his first term shut down for lack of demand. Condominium buildings stripped the Trump name off their facades after discovering that instead of attracting buyers, it was repelling them.

No new U.S. condominiums are putting the Trump name above their entrances in his second term, but his name is prized in Washington where people have business before the federal government.

Donald Jr., Trump’s oldest son, opened a private club in the Georgetown section of Washington that is charging initiation fees as high as $500,000 for founding members.

One of the few clubs with comparable fees, the Yellowstone Club in Montana, offers access to multiple resorts, 50 ski trails and more than a dozen restaurants across a members-only area the size of Manhattan.

Donald Jr.’s club is in the basement of a building but offers something else — proximity to power.

The club’s name is “Executive Branch.”

Bibles, guitars and sneakers

Other presidents and their families have done things in pursuit of profit that stained that high office.

Hunter Biden got paid as a director of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. The Clinton Foundation got foreign donations, though after Bill Clinton had left office. And Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy cashed in on the family name by selling beer.

In Trump’s case, the president himself is hawking goods, including $59.99 “God Bless the USA” Bibles, $399 sneakers stamped “Never Surrender” and electric guitars priced up to $11,500 — shipping not included — for a model autographed by the president.

New year, new profits

In the first months of Trump’s second year back in the White House, the momentum hasn’t let up.

In January, the Trump Organization announced its third deal involving Saudi Arabia in less than a year, this time a “collaboration” with a company more directly tied to the government because it is owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund chaired by its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Asked by the AP whether the project outside Riyadh for Trump mansions, a hotel and golf course violated the company’s pledge not to strike deals with foreign governments, the Trump Organization said it doesn’t “conduct business with any government entity” but didn’t address the project specifically.

Meanwhile, as the two oldest brothers’ new drone company seeks Pentagon contracts, other government contractors in which one or both have gotten ownership stakes this past year are taking in tens of millions of dollars of new taxpayer money. That includes a rocket motor maker, an AI chip supplier and a data analytics company, according to government contracting records.

Asked about potential conflicts after the drone deal was announced, Eric said, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in.” A spokesman for Donald Jr. said he doesn’t “interface” with the government on companies in his portfolio, adding that “the idea that he should cease living his life and making a living to provide for his five kids just because his dad is president, is quite frankly, a laughable and ridiculous standard.”

A new investment firm that the brothers joined as advisers last year has raised $345 million in an initial public offering to buy stakes in U.S. companies designed to help their father revive America’s manufacturing base. After the AP asked Trump’s chief business lawyer about language in a regulatory filing stating the firm would target companies seeking federal grants, tax credits and government contracts, he filed a new document with that language removed.

Zelizer, the Princeton historian, says he expects future presidents will show more restraint in enriching themselves, but worries about the message Trump is sending.

“He has shown politically there is no price to be paid to making money,” he said. “You know you can go there.”

UPDATE --> Suspect in custody after abducting Hamtramck teen before school, police say

The abduction happened at the bus stop near Edwin/Pulaski and Edwin/Bromback, according to an April 13, 2026, social media post from Abdulmalik Algahaim, the Hamtramck Public Schools Board of Education President.

“Community Alert & Update:

This morning, we were notified of a serious incident involving a Frontier student who was abducted at gunpoint while waiting at a bus stop in the areas of Edwin/Pulaski and Edwin/Brombach.

Several students witnessed the incident and were able to help track the student’s location through social media and cell phone information. Police were contacted immediately. Officers located the vehicle, conducted a stop, and the suspect was taken into custody.

The student is safe, and at this time there is no indication of any ongoing threat to the community.

We have been in contact with our transportation partners, who will be taking additional safety precautions during student pick‑up and drop‑off.

We will continue to share updates as needed to keep our community informed and supported."

Facebook post from Abdulmalik Algahaim, Hamtramck Public Schools Board of Education President

No other information has been released at this time.

Algahaim said they will continue to share updates with the community.

The attention is less than comfortable for the grandson of Joe Gibbs, a Hall of Fame legend as a championship team owner in NASCAR and a Super Bowl-winning coach in the NFL.

“Yeah, I feel like I could be a lot bigger in the community than what I am,” Ty Gibbs said about his place in NASCAR after his first career victory Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I just enjoy privacy. I don’t really want to show off a lot, too. I just enjoy training on my bike, getting strong, working hard during the week. I’m not here to be a moving billboard. I don’t really care. I don’t have any social media on my phone at the moment. I just really enjoy racing and focusing on myself.”

The focus at Bristol was squarely on the 23-year-old after he deftly fended off NASCAR champions Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson on a two-lap overtime restart. The relief of finally breaking through in his 131st Cup start was evident. Gibbs celebrated by playfully crashing his grandfather’s national TV interview and handing the checkered flag to his mother, Heather, before giving her a ride to victory lane in the No. 54 Toyota.

“It’s just a thrill to see this happen because I don’t know how to explain it,” said Joe Gibbs, who has half of his eight grandchildren working at Joe Gibbs Racing, the team he founded 35 years ago. “It’s just a special feeling for all of us. I called my wife, and she’s crying. The whole family is crying. We love this. We really appreciate what today meant to us and the family.”

The narrative was positive for the Gibbs organization, which has been ensnared in some unflattering headlines after suing former competition director Chris Gabehart for breach of contract.

In a court filing, Gabehart said he expressed “serious concerns” about team management after he felt pressured to help Ty Gibbs (and was moved to the No. 54 pit box to call strategy). Gabehart said Gibbs “was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team.”

After the Bristol win, Gibbs made multiple references to “people saying false things” (without naming Gabehart) and steadfastly reaffirmed his work ethic.

”I’ve stayed after it the whole time,” Gibbs said. “Obviously, people are going to say false things about how I wasn’t present in meetings. I’ve been the same the whole time, just to clarify that.”

But others have noticed a change in his demeanor. To defuse the driver’s frustration during races, crew chief Tyler Allen said “a huge focus” entering 2026 was on keeping it fun because a “loose, fun Ty is a fast Ty.”

During a stretch of four consecutive finishes of sixth or better before Bristol, Gibbs impressed his teammates by speaking up in debriefs with helpful advice.

“He’s been in a good mood,” JGR driver Christopher Bell said. “He’s happy. Ty is killing it. It’s fun to see his confidence is literally radiating from him. He’s really switched on right now. He’s taken a huge step, and he’s a joy to be around right now.”

Gibbs, who was involved in a run-in last year with teammate Denny Hamlin, was a little defensive about whether he had changed that much.

“I’ve always had fun,” he said. “I think that’s taken out of turn. I truly enjoy the position I’m in. Obviously, being around such a great group of people is so much fun. These guys love racing as much as I do, or even more, and I know I love it a lot.”

Joe Gibbs hopes more people see that side of his grandson.

“He’s really, really got a good sense of humor,” Gibbs said. “We laugh all the time. I think the farther we go in this sport, hopefully, his personality and everything come out, the kind of kid he is. When I’m around him, he’s fun.”

Pit crew woes

Bristol runner-up Blaney’s pit crew ranked 32nd of 37 teams in Sunday’s race, raising questions about how long Team Penske can stay patient with a group that has squandered more than 80 positions on pit stops over the past seven races.

“We’ve got to get better for sure,” said Blaney, who lost seven spots on two mediocre pit stops midrace at Bristol. “If we’re going to keep competing and get cars that can win, we’ve got to clean that up.”

Hendrick struggles

A Martinsville Speedway win didn’t provide much momentum for Chase Elliott, who finished 22nd after starting 18th. Teammates William Byron (30th) and Alex Bowman (37th) also struggled for Hendrick Motorsports, which has 13 top 10s among its four drivers through eight races.

Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon addressed the slow start before Sunday's race. “We’re being challenged right now, not that I don’t like it, but also I love it because I know what we’re capable of, and I love watching us do the climb,” Gordon said. “It teaches us things about ourselves, and I think it only makes us stronger.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

He never anticipated the long journey back would take a detour because of a bout with shingles.

On Monday, one day after the Pacers completed a 19-win season without their two-time All-Star ever suiting up, Haliburton told reporters that while he's ready to return from the injury, it's the illness that he will contend with this offseason. It has caused him to gain weight, lose part of his right eyebrow and forced him to wear eyeglasses to avoid scratching his swollen eye.

“First of all, I'd tell anybody over 50 years old to get the shot," Haliburton said. "It's been miserable. I have good days and bad days, but for the most part it's been bad days. I've been taking unbelievable amounts of medication to try to get rid of it. It hasn't worked. It's not been fun and hopefully it goes away soon. It's hard to really tell with nerve pain, but I've been dealing now with nerve pain for two months and in the world of nerve pain, that's not very long. Hopefully, it goes away soon.”

Anyone who’s had chickenpox harbors that virus for the rest of their life. It hides in nerves and can break out when the immune system weakens from illness or age, causing painful, blister-like sores typically on one side of the body that last for weeks.

About 1 in 3 Americans will get shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most recover, it sometimes causes severe complications. If it infects an eye it can cause vision loss. Up to 20% of shingles patients suffer excruciating nerve pain months or even years after the rash itself is gone.

While team officials wasted no time announcing last July the former Iowa State point guard would not play this season, Haliburton said his recovery was essentially tracking that of Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum, who tore his Achilles tendon last May, until the shingles diagnosis. Haliburton was injured in June, during Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Tatum recently returned to game action and appears to be getting stronger by the day for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed.

Haliburton and his teammates, meanwhile, are heading home for a crucial summer that could determine whether the Pacers can continue to be a title contender when Haliburton returns.

The good news from Haliburton is that he has no doubts about his lower right leg being healthy. Instead, he's just trying to get over this illness that delayed his return to five-on-five workouts until last week.

“I'm out of shape like crazy, like I never have been before,” Haliburton said. "I've changed my medication a bunch of times. I've gotten a Botox injection I thought would help, it hasn't really helped. I've done everything, it just hasn't worked yet. But I'm confident it goes away soon."

Most people figured losing Haliburton for an entire season would derail the title hopes of last year's Eastern Conference champs. Still, as training camp opened, team officials bristled at the thought of describing this as a “gap season,” awaiting Haliburton's return.

An early season rash of injuries to additional starters and key rotational players, coupled with a 1-13 start, quickly changed the equation and not to everyone's satisfaction.

“It was tough, just tough mentally going through that,” four-time All-Star Pascal Siakam said Sunday. “It was hard trying to get through it, find positive things, trying to continue to improve, trying to find ways to win games. It was pretty bad. It sucked.”

Haliburton felt similarly, yet at the urging of coach Rick Carlisle, continued to attend team meetings, film sessions and workouts. In the locker room, he helped counsel teammates about their injury battles while encouraging younger players to make improvements.

“Once I get off that (medication) and start running a little more, I have no worries,” Haliburton said. “I've got a long summer ahead of me — we're only in April and the season doesn't start till October. So I don't really have any concerns. I can't wait till I get out there and play and compete with my guys.”

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

Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, is accused of benefiting from access to multimillion-pound U.K. homes that were paid for and refurnished by energy firms seeking government contracts in Nigeria.

Prosecutors allege that she benefited from private jets, a chauffeur-driven car and shopping trips including 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) spent at Harrods, a famed London department store. They also allege that she received 100,000 pounds ($135,000) in cash while she was Nigerian minister of petroleum resources from April 2010 to May 2015.

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court in London, Alison-Madueke said “I did not abuse my office during that period.” She denies five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, an owner of Nigerian oil companies, denies two charges of bribery. Alison-Madueke’s brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, denies conspiracy to commit bribery.

“I can state categorically at no time did I ask for, take or seek a bribe or bribes of any sort from any of these persons," Alison-Madueke said.

The former minister had oversight of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and its subsidiaries, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Co. and the Pipelines Product Marketing Co.

Alison-Madueke told the court that the logistics and financial dealings of her work trips were handled by the Nigerian National Petroleum Co., and insisted that a string of services arranged for her were subsequently reimbursed.

Alison-Madueke was the first female president of the oil alliance OPEC. As a minister, she had pledged to transform the oil sector but was accused by authorities of looting millions of dollars in public funds alongside her associates.

Nigeria’s anti–graft agency previously secured court orders seizing houses, cars and jewelry in Nigeria said to be proceeds of corruption connected to the former minister and her associates.

Authorities say that many such assets were domiciled in the United States and the United Kingdom.

She has spent much of her time in the U.K. since leaving office.

Krofft's death, which came three years after the death of Marty Krofft, was announced on Instagram by his friend and business partner Kelly Killian. Additional details were not immediately available.

“The last six years of my life were devoted to him, and his to me,” Killian wrote. “In that time, he taught me more than I could ever put into words — about the art of Hollywood, the magic of the stage, and the depth and complexity of human nature. I wish so very much that I had more time with him.”

The Kroffts popularized cultural figures ranging from the inept Weenie the Genie to siblings Donny and Marie Osmond.

TV fans of a certain age would long remember “H.R. Pufnstuf,” the live-action puppet series with its cheerful theme song, the dragon who gave the show its name — and served as Mayor of Living Island — and such memorable, supporting characters as the larcenous witch Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo, and her patented Vroom Broom. “H.R. Pufnstuf” only aired for 17 episodes, in 1969, but lived on for decades in reruns and syndication. It ranked 27th in a 2007 TV Guide poll of all-time cult favorites.

Other Krofft productions included “Land of the Lost,” “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl” and “Pryor’s Place,” featuring comedian Richard Pryor. Their children's shows were so far-flung at times that critics suspected the Kroffts were under the influence of drugs — allegations the brothers rejected — but they also oversaw such wholesome programming as the “Donny & Marie,” the Osmonds' 1970s variety show.

The Kroffts received a Daytime Emmy for lifetime achievement in 2018, and a Hollywood Walk of Fame star two years later.

The Metro Detroit furniture retailer has spent more than four decades building a following not just on living room sets and appliances, but on outrageous TV commercials featuring costumes, sitcom parodies, and a recurring “uncle in the furniture business.” Owner Scott Bradley says the humor was never part of a calculated marketing strategy.

“It just started as a joke. And everybody just started calling and liking it.”

The approach stuck. Customers now show up to the store in costumes hoping to land a cameo. Some stop by just to socialize, with no purchase in mind.

“We have people that come by on the way to work just to have a cup of coffee, to sit with us,” Bradley said. “People come down just because they see the commercial, but they just leave like they’re our friends.”

Beyond the laughs, Robinson Furniture pitches itself on accessibility. The store’s signature “$40 down” financing program allows customers with a checking account to walk out with furniture the same day, with payments structured weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

“If you pay it off in 90 days, it’s the same as cash,” Bradley said.

The store also carries appliances, riding lawn mowers, e-bikes, and mopeds - a product mix Bradley acknowledges sounds unusual. “It’s like a kid’s candy store,” he said.

Robinson Furniture delivers next-day for orders placed before 3 p.m., with all items shipped from the warehouse as new with full warranties.

For more information, visit RobinsonFurnitureInc.com.

While most nursing programs make students spend two years grinding through prerequisites before ever touching a patient, LTU drops them into the discipline from day one. The university’s fast-growing nursing program uses a direct admission model that is turning heads in a field desperate for talent.

“We’re a direct admission program. Students start right from high school or right at entry in the nursing program, so they declare their major right from the start,” said Dr. Margaret Glembocki, program director and associate professor of nursing at LTU.

That immediacy extends into the classroom and beyond. Students work in simulation labs, rotate through local hospitals, and are immersed in what Glembocki calls the “art” as well as the science of nursing - a philosophy rooted in relationship-based care.

“When employers hire those students, they will see their culture will change and they will develop communities of support and compassion,” Glembocki said.

For students, the difference is palpable. Marisa Zilli, a current LTU nursing student, said the program wastes no time putting theory into practice.

“From the very first, like the start, we are practicing skills, we work in a simulation lab, and we also get a lot of clinical experience,” Zilli said.

She credited the program’s small cohort structure as a key advantage. Rather than getting lost in a lecture hall of hundreds, students receive individualized attention that builds both skill and confidence.

“With the smaller group and the smaller program, you get more support from the professors,” Zilli said. Walking into a patient’s room for the first time is nerve-wracking, she added, but the environment helps. “You get more confident, and with the teacher’s skill set, you learn how to assess it, use your intuition.”

Glembocki said the program also encourages students to stay engaged beyond the classroom - through student organizations, athletics, and campus life - an opportunity she says is rare in nursing education.

The stakes, she added, are high. “Nursing school is so challenging. If you don’t have compassionate faculty, the students are not going to thrive.”

More information about LTU’s nursing program is available at ltu.edu/programs/nursing.

The weekend storm came just weeks after a March heat wave melted much of California's snow, forcing many ski resorts to close. More snow was possible Monday.

On April 1, the Sierra snowpack, which provides one-third of California’s water, stood at just 18% of average, a reading in the mountains near Lake Tahoe found. It was the second-lowest mark for that date on record.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported 42.5 inches (53.5 cm) between Friday and Sunday, which “has been great to create a late-season snowpack. ”

“Unfortunately, record warm temps this winter means that we’re still well below average for the water year,” the lab said on social media.

Interstate 80 in Northern California was shut down Sunday because of blizzard conditions, and chain controls were in place early Monday for the important route between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.

The storm also brought strong winds, heavy rain and hail to many areas. A tornado touched down Sunday near Sacramento, but no damage was reported, the National Weather Service said.

Mammoth Mountain said 11 lifts were running Monday. Skies were clearing but another couple of inches (5 centimeters) of snow was possible, the resort said in its daily report.

“While fresh snow may look inviting, hazards like dirt, rocks, and bushes remain just below the surface. Ski and ride with caution and avoid venturing off trail,” the report said.

Snow was vanishing across much of the U.S. West after a warm winter with poor skiing conditions gave way to early spring record heat. This month, Colorado reported its worst snowpack since statewide recordkeeping began in 1941.

Officials warned the measurements are a clear sign that water shortages could worsen the ongoing significant drought, barring an unexpected deluge.

Cities in the region are imposing water-use restrictions, and ranchers are wondering how they will feed and water their cattle. The threat of devastating wildfires looms.

Adrian Fulford, a retired judge who led a nine-week inquiry, issued a 763-page report that cataloged the many times parents or authorities could have intervened in Axel Rudakubana's life to ultimately prevent him from carrying out killings that he said were unprecedented in the U.K. for their “extreme and very particular depravity.”

“One of the most striking conclusions from this inquiry’s extensive investigation is the sheer number of missed opportunities over many years to intervene meaningfully, which directly contributed to the failure to avert this disaster,” Fulford said. “The consequences were catastrophic.”

Rudakubana, who was 17 when he carried the attack in northwestern England, is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 52 years for killing Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, and wounding eight children and two adults.

The attack in the town of Southport triggered days of disorder after far-right activists seized on incorrect reports that the attacker was a Muslim migrant who had recently arrived in the U.K. Rudakubana was born in Wales to Rwandan Christian parents.

The report made 67 recommendations to prevent future atrocities and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised changes to correct the “systematic failures that led to this terrible event.”

“The report today is truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing,” Starmer said. “While nothing will ever bring these three little girls back, I’m determined to make the fundamental changes needed to keep the public safe.”

Police, social workers and educators were well aware of problems with Rudakubana.

He was convicted in 2019 at age 13 of assaulting another child at school with a hockey stick and placed under supervision of a local service for youth offenders. He was referred to the government’s anti-extremism program, Prevent, three times between 2019 and 2021 for expressing interest in school shootings, the 2017 London Bridge attack, the Irish Republican Army and the Middle East. Each time, the case was closed because he wasn't considered susceptible to becoming a terrorist.

During that same period, local police were called to his home five times over unspecified concerns about his behavior. He was given mental health and educational support, but later appeared to have stopped engaging with social workers. He was expelled after taking a knife to school and hardly ever attended a subsequent school.

“Far too often, AR’s ‘case’ was passed from one public sector agency to another in an inappropriate merry-go-round of referrals, assessments, case-closures and ‘hand-offs,’” said Fulford, who only used the killer's initials.

Fulford highlighted an incident in March 2022 when Rudakubana was caught on a bus with a knife and told police that he wanted to stab someone and admitted trying to make poison.

Taken together, they should have sparked an arrest that would likely have led to a search of his house that would have discovered he had bought seeds to make the biological toxin ricin and downloaded terrorist material on his computer, Fulford said.

Rudakubana wasn't arrested and was released to his parents, who feared him and repeatedly failed to report the various knives he had purchased, his troubling behavior and threats he had made.

While Fulford outlined several failings by Rudakubana's parents that could have prevented the tragedy, he said they shouldn't be vilified for what had become a challenging situation.

“Their life at home must have become little short of a nightmare given, to use the words of his own father, AR had turned into a ‘monster,’” Fulford said.

Following the Southport attack, police searched Rudakubana's home and discovered the ricin hidden under his bed and a downloaded document, which was described as an al-Qaida training manual.

Police concluded that his crimes shouldn't be classed as terrorism, because he had no discernible political or religious cause or motivation.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that new legislation would be introduced to address violent plots that aren't considered terrorism.

“Unlike terrorist attacks, if you are planning an attack without an underlying ideology, there is no crime on the statute book,” Mahmood said.

To see the full segment, click the video above.

Federal agents appear to be digging into the ground on a property near the intersection of Oregon and Beechwood streets on the city’s west side on April 13.

The FBI confirmed with Local 4 that agents are “conducting law enforcement” on Detroit’s west side on April 13. No further information was provided, but the FBI said, “There is no current threat to the public at this time.”

Sky4 flew over the scene, where FBI agents were spotted digging through the property and recovering what appeared to be items of clothing. The details of this investigation are not immediately clear.

This is a developing story.

Click the video above to check it all out.

Now could be the perfect time to bring those memories back to life by restoring your old videos and pictures. Watch the video above to learn about Hite Photo’s restoration services.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.

In a social media post several hours after the ruling, Trump said the decision “is not a termination” but rather a “suggested re-filing” of his “powerful case,” which Trump said would be done “on or before April 27th.”

Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

The letter was subsequently released publicly by Congress, which subpoenaed the records from Epstein’s estate. Trump denied writing it, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.”

Attorneys for the newspaper and Murdoch had asked Gayles to rule that the article’s statements were true and therefore couldn’t be defamatory, but the judge wrote that “whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation,” Gayles wrote.

The ruling marks yet another blow in the Trump administration’s efforts to manage fallout over its release of the Epstein files and the president’s attempts to use the legal system to chill reporting he finds critical of him.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, said the organization was “pleased” with the judge's decision, adding, "We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting.”

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Dans pulled out Friday, the last day to remove his name from ballots before the state's primary on June 9.

Trump — who long ago endorsed Graham, among his top congressional allies — reacted to the announcement with a social media post suggesting that Tucker Carlson's endorsement of Dans had been the "KISS OF DEATH” for his campaign.

Trump and Carlson have been feuding over the Iran war, which the former Fox News star called “absolutely disgusting and evil.” Dans denied his decision to withdraw had anything to do with Carlson.

Dans said he was endorsing another Republican in the contest, appliance business owner Mark Lynch. In another social media post, Trump said Lynch “would be a DISASTER for the Republican Party” if elected.

Dans rose to prominence as one of the people behind Project 2025, which was a blueprint for conservative governance if Trump won his comeback campaign. He said he was pleased with some of Trump's progress after taking office — including federal workforce reductions and cuts to federal programs — but there was “more work to do” in the Senate.

“What we’ve done with Project 2025 is really change the game in terms of closing the door on the progressive era,” Dans told The Associated Press last year. ”If you look at where the chokepoint is, it’s the United States Senate. That’s the headwaters of the swamp.”

Dans, an attorney who worked in the first Trump administration as White House liaison to the office of personnel management, often commuted on weekdays to Washington as he organized Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The nearly 1,000-page policy blueprint included chapters written by leading conservative thinkers.

Challenging the long-serving Graham, who has routinely batted back contenders over the years, is something of a political long shot. A half-dozen other Republican candidates remain in the race, and Graham's campaign said Monday it had more than $11.6 million cash on hand, raising nearly $1.4 million in the first quarter of this year.

Trump early on gave his endorsement of Graham, a political confidant and regular golfing partner of the president, despite their on-again-off-again relationship. Graham, in announcing he would seek a fifth term in the Senate, also secured the state’s leading Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster, to chair his 2026 run.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

The dress code debate was the topic of conversation for What’s The Buzz on “Live in the D” on Monday. Watch the video above to see the entire conversation.

The decision by governing body World Aquatics marks a major shift in how a key sport treats Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and prompted condemnation by Ukraine.

World Aquatics said on Monday it will remove restrictions which required Russian and Belarusian athletes to be vetted and to compete as neutrals.

It excluded Russia and Belarus from its events like the world championships after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then allowed limited participation as neutrals a year later, and further eased the rules since.

“Senior athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality will be permitted to compete in World Aquatics events in the same way as their counterparts representing other sport nationalities, with their respective uniforms, flags and anthems,” World Aquatics said in a statement. It had previously relaxed the rules for junior athletes.

World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam added: “We are determined to ensure that pools and open water remain places where athletes from all nations can come together in peaceful competition.”

Ukraine condemns decision

World Aquatics isn't the first sports body to reinstate Russia in full — judo did it in November and taekwondo in January — but it's by far the biggest.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov thanked Al Musallam “for his firm position on this issue” and said they'd discussed the issue together in January.

“It is very important that international sporting dialogue is bearing fruit and enables the orderly restoration of sporting ties,” Degtyaryov, who also heads the Russian Olympic Committee, wrote on the social media app Max.

Ukraine Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnyi condemned the decision.

“Sport should unite around fair rules and respect for life. Returning the flag to a country that disregards and systematically destroys these rules is a wake-up call for the entire sports community,” Bidnyi said. “Today, our athletes are training under fire, and against this background any talk of 'neutrality' or the return of the aggressor’s paraphernalia looks shameful and divorced from reality.”

Ukraine has previously objected to efforts to allow Russian athletes to return to competition. Last month it led boycotts of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies after Russians were allowed to compete under their national flag.

Ukraine's men's water polo team forfeited a scheduled World Cup game Monday against a team of Russians in Malta. The Russians were handed a 5-0 win by default because Ukraine “voluntarily chose not to start," World Aquatics said.

Ukrainian media reported the boycott was a protest against the involvement of the Russian team, which was officially labeled as “Neutral Athletes B,” in any capacity, rather than Monday's announcement from World Aquatics.

Russians face ‘background checks’

World Aquatics says Russian and Belarusian athletes will have to undergo four anti-doping tests and background checks before competing after Monday's decision. It wasn't immediately clear what would be checked.

Its decision applies only to its own events like the world championships but could add momentum within the Olympic world for a full return of Russian athletes ahead of the 2028 LA Games.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the International Olympic Committee.

In December, the IOC recommended removing restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes for international youth events and letting them compete under national flags. The IOC still kept its neutral requirements for senior competitions and Russians and Belarusians were officially referred to as Individual Neutral Athletes at the Winter Olympics in February.

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Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

A large swath of the movie industry, including Denis Villeneuve, Kristen Stewart, J.J. Abrams and Joaquin Phoenix came out forcefully against the $111 billion deal that would consolidate two legacy studios into one, arguing that it further reduce jobs and movies in an already downsized Hollywood.

“The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world,” reads the letter, posted on BlocktheMerger.com. “Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”

In late February, David Ellison's Paramount Skydance reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in one of the largest media mergers ever. The deal awaits a shareholder vote later this month and government regulatory approval. Paramount's victory came after months of negotiations and a rival bid by Netflix that ultimately fell short.

The deal was only the latest massive merger to rock Hollywood. In 2019, 20th Century Fox was acquired by The Walt Disney Co. for $71.3 billion.

Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has pledged to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone movie studio operations, and vowed to release a combined 30 movies a year in theaters. Paramount has acknowledged the merger will also lead to significant cuts due to duplication.

In response to the open letter, Paramount issued a statement Monday arguing that the merger will give creators “more avenues for their work, not fewer.”

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale,” the studio said.

But many in the film industry believe a merger will mean extensive job losses and a consolidation of power.

“We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good,” read the letter. “The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised.”

A coalition of advocacy groups organized the letter, including the Committee for the First Amendment — a free speech group led by Jane Fonda — as well as the Democracy Defenders Fund and the Future Film Coalition. Other signatories include: Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Javier Bardem, Lily Gladstone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish and Ted Danson.

On Monday, one signee, Damon Lindelof, detailed his decision on Instagram. Lindelof, the creator of “Watchmen” and the co-creator of “Lost,” has an overall deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs,” wrote Lindelof. “When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive — one becomes a Ghost Town. I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost. And a fight is already lost if it’s never fought.”

Representatives for Warner Bros. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

“If Vladimir Putin calls, I’ll pick up the phone,” he said at his first news conference after his landslide win against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a Putin ally. “If we did talk, I could tell him that it would be nice to end the killing after four years and end the war.”

“It would probably be a short phone conversation and I don’t think he would end the war on my advice,” he said.

Magyar's statement was likely greeted with pleasure by many across the European Union who had grown accustomed to Orbán's conciliatory tone when discussing the war or Putin.

From the jubilant crowds along the Danube in Budapest to executive offices in Brussels, praise and even glee abounded for Hungary’s next leader after he won Sunday's election in a landslide. But the outpouring after his victory focused mainly on the prospect of no longer having to deal with Orbán, who many saw as a threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity.

From Madrid to Helsinki, many hope that Magyar's win will help unshackle the 27-nation European Union as it faces hybrid warfare attacks from Moscow, an antagonistic Washington and Beijing's economic pressure. EU leaders had been increasingly frustrated with Orbán over his takeover of democratic institutions and vetoing of strategic action like a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine.

It remains to be seen whether those hopes will be fulfilled. Magyar avoided talking about Ukraine or divisive issues like LGTBQ rights on the campaign trail, and was previously a longtime conservative insider in Orbán's party. He told The Associated Press that he would work more closely with the EU and the 32-nation NATO military alliance that was forged to thwart aggression from Moscow.

“All Hungarians know that this is a shared victory. Our homeland made up its mind. It wants to live again. It wants to be a European country,” Magyar said during his victory speech on Sunday.

Olga Oliker, the director of European Security at the International Crisis Group, said that "where Orbán slowed actions and blocked consensus, Magyar, as he defines Hungary’s relationships with its European allies, to say nothing of those with Ukraine, Russia and the United States, can help shape the future of Europe.”

Unlocking EU funds for Ukraine

After Magyar takes his oath of office in May, the new prime minister could potentially lift Hungary's veto and enable the European Commission to provide Ukraine with the 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan that Orbán had agreed to in December and then backtracked on, enraging his fellow leaders.

EU diplomats will discuss Wednesday how best to fast-track the funds to Kyiv, a Cypriot official said on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to be named. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Hungary borders Ukraine, and the pro-Russia Orbán had long demonized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While congratulating Magyar on X, Zelenskyy said that “we are ready for meetings and joint constructive work for the benefit of both nations, as well as for the sake of Europe’s peace, security, and stability.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia respects the outcome of the Hungarian vote and expects to maintain contacts with the country’s new leadership.

He said that “as for what action Hungary’s new leadership will take, we probably need to be patient and see what happens.”

European institutions hope Orbán problem is over

The prospect of a nimbler, faster-acting Europe drove widespread praise for Magyar from several European leaders. EU negotiators had to increasingly find workarounds when Orbán blocked policy decisions. He also held up Sweden's accession to NATO.

Magyar said that he received calls on Sunday night — before he even took the stage to announce his victory — from French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was frequently vilified by Orbán during his campaign.

“Today, Europe is Hungarian," von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels on Monday. "The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European path.”

“Today Europe wins and European values win,” said Spain’s left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in a post on X on Sunday night. Poland’s center-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk exclaimed on social media: “Back together! Glorious victory, dear friends!”

Setback for Europe's populist right

Orbán's defeat has reverberated across the world, including across the Atlantic where U.S. President Donald Trump supported Orbán’s reelection bid and even dispatched U.S. Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week to stump for the incumbent.

Magyar's victory might signal a shift in European politics that has been dominated by a far-right shift over the past decade. Magyar comes from a right-wing background but distanced himself from Orbán’s leadership.

With nationalist parties making headways in Germany and France, the electoral earthquake in Hungary shows that “Hungarians are sending a signal to the world,” German lawmaker Daniel Freund said.

“The icon of illiberal anti-European forces has now failed — brought down by a disastrous economy, corruption and his own unfair electoral system,” he said.

Orbán's populist allies in the EU, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, congratulated Magyar, while praising the ousted strongman. But Fico also brought up the Druzhba pipeline, shuttered since an attack in Ukraine — an issue Orbán campaigned on and one exacerbated by rising energy prices over the Iran war.

Magyar has criticized Orbán’s government for failing to diversify its energy mix, and advocated for reaching new agreements and constructing new infrastructure to bring oil and gas from other sources into landlocked Hungary.

Both Babiš and Fico pledged to work with Hungary's next leader.

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Karel Janicek in Prague, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Leo’s arrival in Algiers marks the start of an 11-day tour of four African nations — Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea — that will bring the first U.S.-born pope deep into the growing heart of the Catholic Church.

Leo is in Algeria to promote Christian-Muslim coexistence in the majority Muslim nation at a time of global conflict, and to honor the locally born inspiration of his religious spirituality, St. Augustine.

The trip began, however, against the backdrop of a growing feud between the Leo and Trump over the Iran war. Trump overnight said he didn’t think Leo was doing a good job as pope and suggested he should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”

Leo responded by saying his appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he didn’t fear the Trump administration.

‘Neocolonial tendencies’

In his first remarks in Algiers, Leo tied his current appeal for peace to the country's struggle for independence from France, obtained in 1962. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the revolution during which French forces tortured detainees, disappeared suspects and devastated villages as part of a strategy to maintain a grip on power.

“God desires peace for every nation, a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict but one that is an expression of justice and dignity,” Leo told a crowd of several thousand people at the monument to Algeria’s martyrs.

At a later meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and other government authorities, Leo praised Algerians for their solidarity and respect for one another, which he said provided an important perspective today “on the global balance of power.”

“Today, this is more urgent than ever in the face of continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies,” he said without elaborating, though he has previously spoken about Russia's war in Ukraine, the Iran war and Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon.

Great Mosque visit

Leo's visit dominated news headlines in Algeria, where a tiny Catholic community of around 9,000 people made up mostly of foreigners exists alongside the Sunni Muslim majority of about 47 million.

El Moudjahid, a state-run daily newspaper, declared that “the planet is staring at Algeria,” while Arabic-language daily Echorouk wrote that “the land of peace and coexistence speaks to the world.”

Leo visited the country's Great Mosque and stood silently with his hands clasped in front of him, as if in prayer. He thanked the mosque rector for receiving him in this “divine space, space of God” that is also a study center.

“Through this place of prayer, through the search for truth, including through study and through the ability to recognize the dignity of every human being, we know — and today’s gathering is proof of this — that we can learn to respect one another, live in harmony, and build a world of peace,” Leo said in Italian in a rare, off-the-cuff comment.

Tebboune hailed the historic nature of Leo's visit and the pride Algerians felt over St. Augustine, “a cherished son of this land.”

But others downplayed the significance of the visit.

“God’s religion is Islam, which has illuminated this land for 14 centuries,” said Lamia Sellimi, a literature teacher at a high school near the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa. “Algerians are deeply attached to their religion, which is one of the foundations of our identity. As such, this visit is merely a circumstantial event.”

A violent past of martyrs

Algeria fought a civil war in the 1990s that is known locally as the “black decade,” when around 250,000 people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency. Among them were 19 Catholics, including seven Trappist monks from the Tibhirine monastery south of Algiers, who were kidnapped and killed in 1996 by Islamic fighters. Also among them were two nuns from Leo’s Augustinian religious family.

All 19 were beatified in 2018 as martyrs for the faith in what was then the first such beatification ceremony in the Muslim world.

Leo paid homage to the 19 martyrs and visited the remaining Augustinian nuns who run a social services project out of the Algiers basilica that helps people of all faiths.

The Algiers archbishop likes to remind audiences that Leo was elected on May 8, the Catholic feast day of the 19 martyrs. Immediately after Leo’s election, Vesco invited him to visit.

Leo has also made a mantra out of one of the sayings of the martyred prior of the Tibherine monastery, Christian de Chergé, who spoke of an “unarmed and disarming peace.” Leo has cited the line starting from the night of his election.

Personal and pastoral visit

Leo's Augustinian religious order was inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, the fifth-century theological and philosophical titan of the early Christian church who was born in what is today Algeria and spent all but five years of his life there.

On Tuesday, Leo will visit Annaba, the modern-day Hippo where St. Augustine was bishop for three decades, and will literally walk in the footsteps of the saint.

From his first public words as pope, Leo proclaimed himself a “son of St. Augustine,” and he has repeatedly cited the church father in speeches and homilies.

“I don’t know if I have seen a statement, a homily, an apostolic letter or exhortation that doesn’t reference Augustine,” said Paul Camacho, associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University, Leo’s Augustinian-run alma mater outside Philadelphia. “The shadow that he casts on Western thought, not just the Roman Catholic Church but on Western thought more broadly, is very, very long indeed.”

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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 analysis, part of the Economic Report of the President, outlines both a political risk and a messaging opportunity for President Donald Trump, whose public approval has slumped because of concerns about his tariffs, the Iran war and his unfulfilled promises to slash inflation and unleash stronger growth.

Trump signed two executive orders in March directing federal agencies to reduce housing regulatory burdens and make it easier for smaller banks to provide mortgages but he’s been slow to take other steps that would show that high housing costs are a top priority for his administration.

The White House has been trying to focus on housing and other affordability issues for months to get ready for what’s expected to be a challenging midterm season for Republicans, but it has been thrown off course by a series of global issues. In January, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that had been billed as focusing on housing turned into a showdown for Trump over control of Greenland.

Meanwhile, the Iran war has driven up the cost of buying homes, with average rates for 30-year mortgages jumping from just under 6% to 6.37%.

Trump also has argued in favor of keeping home prices high to protect values for existing owners. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down,” Trump told his Cabinet earlier this year. “I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen.”

The report lays out a blueprint on housing

The housing chapter of the annual economic report, obtained by The Associated Press before its release, lays out a blueprint for how more home construction would help the middle class and the overall economy, setting up an argument that Trump could make to voters.

Put together by staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, it finds there would be 10 million more houses in the country if “homebuilding and the growth of the single-family housing stock had continued at their historical pace instead of falling dramatically” after the 2008 global financial crisis. That crisis was caused largely by a wave of defaults in the housing market, where prices had been fueled by problematic lending practices.

The analysis notes that home prices have risen 82% since 2000, while incomes are up just 12% — a mismatch that had been masked for a period by historically low mortgage rates. But when rates jumped with inflation in the aftermath of the pandemic, monthly mortgage costs also rose for buyers and affording a home, a signifier of middle class status, became a top concern for voters under 40.

The White House maintains that the executive orders in March, in addition to the plans to purchase mortgage-backed securities, show that the president is focused on housing issues.

The report says that various regulations on home construction, which it calls “the bureaucrat tax,” add more than $100,000 in costs to building. That cost includes changing the building codes over the past decade, compliance costs and zoning approval fees, among other expenses.

By the report’s estimates, a reduction in those regulatory costs could help spur construction of as many as 13.2 million homes. That could add on average 1.3 percentage points to annual economic growth over the next decade and support 2 million manufacturing and construction jobs, it argues.

Trump could decide to make federal funding to state and local governments contingent on reducing some of the regulations, according to an administration official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the report before its release.

The report also attacks the green energy housing standards introduced during the Biden administration as a factor in increasing construction costs. Those steps gave preferences for more efficient air conditioning units and water heaters as well as higher standards for the related duct work.

But getting rid of some of those requirements could increase other costs for homeowners over the long run, such as utility bills.

The report relies on a 2021 analysis by National Association of Home Builders that says the standards could add up to $31,000 to the price of a new home, while it could take as many as 90 years for a homebuyer “to realize a payback on the added cost of the home.”

It is not clear how much savings would occur from rolling back Biden-era housing standards because of existing legal challenges regarding their enforcement and different practices by states. In March, a federal judge in Texas agreed with 15 states led by Republicans that said the standards for federally backed housing were unlawful.

Existing home sales fell 3.6% last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Sales also fell 1% compared with March last year, weighed down by declines in the Northeast and Midwest. The latest sales figure fell short of the roughly 4.06 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

“Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell 1.7 points to 70.9, remaining well below 80, a marker that can signal a recession ahead. It’s the 14th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80.

Sales have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.

Despite the pullback in sales, home prices continued to rise last month. The national median sales price increased 1.4% in March from a year earlier to $408,800, an all-time high for any March on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 33 months in a row.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows. They have remained sluggish so far this year, declining in January and February versus a year earlier.

The pace of home price growth has slowed or fallen in many metro areas and there are more homes on the market than a year ago, largely because they're taking longer to sell.

And until recently, mortgage rates were easing, lowering borrowing costs for homebuyers. Homes purchased last month likely went under contract in January and February, when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 5.98% — its lowest level in three and a half years — to 6.16%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates started ticking higher in March as the war with Iran sent energy prices surging, heightening worries about higher inflation. That’s pushed up the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was at 6.37% last week, according to Freddie Mac. That's still down compared to a year ago.

Still, the rise in mortgage rates led Yun to lower his 2026 existing U.S. home sales forecast. He now projects sales will rise 4% this year, down from his previous forecast of a 14% increase.

The latest home sales snapshot and uncertainty over the trajectory of mortgage rates is clouding the outlook for the spring homebuying season.

A sharp run-up in home prices, especially in the early years of this decade, and a chronic shortage of homes nationally worsened by years of below-average home construction have kept many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. Fewer first-time buyers bought homes in March than in February, NAR said.

Those who can afford to buy are benefiting from more properties on the market, although home inventory levels remain well below historical norms.

There were 1.36 million unsold homes at the end of March, up 3% from February and up 2.3% from March last year, NAR said. That’s still well short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic.

March’s month-end inventory translates to a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

A dearth of homes for sale in the Northeast is driving competition among buyers, with some homes drawing multiple offers — something relatively rare these days elsewhere in the country, Yun said.

That helped push the region’s median home sales price nearly 6% higher in March from a year earlier, even as sales slowed to their slowest pace on record.

“We simply don’t have enough supply in the marketplace,” Yun said.

Over the past few weeks, a few water utilities have said their supply had been disrupted, according to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Fluoride is used in water systems as a public health measure to prevent tooth decay.

Here's what to know.

What's driving the fluoride shortage?

Israel is one of the world’s top exporters of fluorosilicic acid, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA data also shows the U.S. is among the world’s top five importers of the product.

At least one Israeli supplier has been facing workforce challenges because many employees have been called into active military service, said Dan Hartnett, chief policy officer for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.

“That has led to decreased production, and supply shortages for the U.S. market," he said.

Not every water system is affected

The number of water utilities affected so far is small, but the shortage is affecting hundreds of thousands of people. As the conflict continues, "there will likely be additional stressors placed on the supply chain, leading to shortages in additional communities,” Hartnett said.

The country's eighth largest water and wastewater utility, WSSC Water in Maryland, is among those facing a shortage. On April 7, utility officials said they were lowering the level of fluoride in the water to 0.4 milligrams per liter, down from the recommended 0.7 milligrams per liter.

Chuck Brown, spokesperson for the utility serving 1.9 million customers, said officials did not know how long the shortage would last, "but we feel confident that we’ll be able to stretch that out for a couple more months.”

In Pennsylvania, the borough of Lititz told its water customers it had to halt fluoridation for a couple weeks last month because of supply issues.

What dentists say you should do

Water utilities add fluoride voluntarily to improve communities' oral health, so lower levels have no effect on drinking water safety.

A few months' drop in fluoride levels is probably not a cause for concern for most people, said Dr. Scott Tomar, an American Dental Association community water fluoridation expert.

Research from places that stopped fluoridating their water — Calgary, Canada; Juneau, Alaska; and Israel — has found that lower levels can have an impact over the span of years.

“Based on the best available information we have, below about 0.5 milligrams per liter, you’re probably not going to see effective preventive exposure,” he said.

Tomar said younger children would be the first to experience tooth decay, because the fluoride strengthens enamel as their teeth are developing and once they've grown in.

He recommends people in shortage areas brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and keep up with their routine dental appointments. If people are concerned they aren't getting enough fluoride, they should talk to their dentist before taking a fluoride supplement or other treatment.

What else should I know about fluoride in the water?

Research shows water fluoridation is beneficial even when it is also available through toothpaste and other means. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.

The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. The American Dental Association credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults.

However, misinformation about fluoride's safety has proliferated. Last year, Utah became the first state to ban public water fluoridation. And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly sown doubt about its safety and restricted the use of fluoride for dental health.

“The levels we use in the United States is perfectly safe," Tomar said. "Despite a lot of the misinformation, there are no adverse health effects associated with the levels we use in our drinking water.”

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

Gabriele Gravina's decision was quickly followed by Gianluigi Buffon stepping down as the national team’s delegation chief and will likely lead to the ouster of Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso, too.

Italy Sports Minister Andrea Abodi called for a change in the country’s soccer leadership after Gravina oversaw two sets of disappointing World Cup qualifiers.

“It’s evident to everyone that Italian soccer needs to be overhauled,” Abodi said on Wednesday, “and that process needs to start with new leadership at the FIGC (federation).”

Italy’s chances of reaching this year’s tournament in North America ended on Tuesday after a penalty shootout loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a qualifying playoff.

Buffon was the goalkeeper on the World Cup-winning 2006 team and is Italy’s record-holder with 176 appearances as a player. He was behind Gattuso’s hiring.

“It’s only fair to leave to those who come after me the freedom of selecting who will replace me,” Buffon said. “Representing the national team is an honor and a passion that has embodied me since I was a kid.”

Gravina took charge of the federation in 2018 replacing Carlo Tavecchio, who also stepped down after Italy failed to reach that year’s World Cup.

The defeat to Bosnia added more misery for four-time champion Italy after being eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.

Italy’s World Cup struggles go back all the way to 2010 and 2014 when it failed to advance from its group on both occasions.

The Azzurri’s last World Cup knockout match was in 2006 when they won the title by beating France in the final after a penalty shootout.

Gravina did oversee Italy’s European Championship trophy in 2021.

“Soccer has been in trouble since 2006,” Italian coaches association president Renzo Ulivieri said.

Players’ association president Umberto Calcagno said new regulations promoting the use of more Italian players in Serie A were necessary: “A rapid change needs to be made."

An election was called for June 22 to elect a new FIGC president.

Gravina also announced that he would attend a hearing in Italy’s parliament next Wednesday to discuss “the wellbeing of Italian soccer.”

Mancini, Inzaghi, Conte, Allegri

Gattuso took over from the fired Luciano Spalletti in June with the squad already in crisis mode following a defeat at Norway in its opening qualifier.

The Azzurri then went on a six-match winning streak before losing again to Norway in November to finish second in their group and end up in the playoffs again.

Among those being mentioned to replace Gattuso are Roberto Mancini, Simone Inzaghi, Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri.

Mancini coached Italy to the European Championship title in 2021 then failed to get the Azzurri to the next year’s World Cup before bolting to take over Saudi Arabia’s national team.

Inzaghi coached Inter Milan to the Serie A title in 2024 and now manages Saudi club Al-Hilal.

Conte coached Italy at the 2016 European Championship and is currently at Napoli.

Allegri is at AC Milan.

Gravina is a UEFA vice president

Gravina is also Aleksander Ceferin’s top vice president at UEFA.

UEFA statutes require that executive committee members are also senior FA officials but Gravina could stay in the UEFA role as a lame duck as long as the FIGC’s new leadership doesn’t demand his removal.

Gravina was re-elected last year by UEFA so he has three more years in his current term.

“Gabriele is my first vice president and is very important to me,” Ceferin said in Thursday’s Gazzetta dello Sport after attending the playoff in Bosnia.

Euro 2032

Besides revitalizing the national team, whoever replaces Gravina will be tasked with getting Italy’s dilapidated stadiums ready to host the 2032 European Championship.

Italy is slated to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey.

“I hope that the infrastructure is ready,” Ceferin said. “Otherwise the tournament won’t be played in Italy.”

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

Last week, FIFA had asked for a top price of $2,735 for category 1 tickets for the match but added new “front category” pricing.

FIFA also added a front category 2 tier to its ticket sales website without public announcement, asking $1,940 to $2,330 for those tickets for the U.S. opener. The new categories were first reported Thursday by The Athletic.

The World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19 in 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Soccer’s governing body had in its Sept. 9 “ticket products and categories” information called category 1 “the highest-priced seats, located primarily in the lower tier” but appears to have withheld some seats from that category. It had labeled category 2 as “positioned outside of category 1 areas, available in both lower and upper tiers.”

FIFA did not respond to an email sent to its media office seeking comment.

FIFA added seats at up to $3,360 in front category 1 for Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 in Toronto.

For round of 16 games, it added $905 seats in Philadelphia.

FIFA last week raised its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990 during the glitch-hampered reopening of sales. The price had been $8,680 when FIFA sold tickets after the tournament draw in December.

FIFA’s category 2 tickets for the July 19 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, were $7,380, up from $5,575, and category 3 cost $5,785, an increase from $4,185.

No tickets appeared to be available for the final on Thursday on FIFA's ticket site.

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

But no birthday cake, because sugar isn't healthy for the aging primate.

Fatou, a western lowland gorilla, arrived in what was then West Berlin in 1959. She was believed to be about 2 years old at the time, though her exact birth date isn't known — April 13 is her designated birthday. Gorillas can live for around 35-40 years in the wild and longer in captivity.

Fatou became the zoo’s oldest resident in 2024, following the death of Ingo the flamingo. The bird was believed to be at least 75 and had lived at the zoo since 1955.

Fatou was likely born in the wild in western Africa, but the story goes that a French sailor took her out of Africa and bartered her to cover his bar tab in Marseille, France, according to the Guinness World Records. A French animal trader then reportedly sold her to the zoo.

These days, Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age. She's lost her teeth and she suffers from a touch of arthritis and hearing loss.

But Christian Aust, the Berlin Zoo's primate supervisor, said that she's friendly with the zookeepers, if still a bit stubborn.

At 69 years old, she's earned it. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Fatou.

That changed when Ershad, a New York graduate student who grew up in Tehran, saw how many of the players he had adored since childhood failed to speak out following its theocratic leadership’s deadly crackdown on protesters in January.

“It feels so bad that I do not want them to succeed. They were like my icons, my legends," he lamented during a recent pickup soccer game on Long Island. “I know playing a World Cup is the biggest thing a soccer player can achieve in his life, but how can you just be silent?”

Ershad is one of many diehard soccer fans in the Iranian diaspora with conflicting emotions as Team Melli — the Persian nickname for Iran's national squad — prepares for its seventh World Cup. Iran is set to begin its campaign against New Zealand on June 15 near Los Angeles, a region that's home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran, including many who fled the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some view the men's team as complicit in whitewashing the Iranian government's repression and can’t bear to watch the competition. Others plan to attend Iran's games to show their love for the country and sport, but bearing signs of protest. Still others say they’ll set politics aside and just enjoy seeing Iran compete on soccer's biggest stage.

All of this is assuming the team actually takes part, which Iranian officials called into question because of the country's war with the United States and Israel. Iranian soccer officials recently met with the head of FIFA, international soccer's governing body, who has insisted that Iran stick to the schedule.

The Iranian team often finds itself unable to avoid political issues. Before a recent match in Turkey, players held small backpacks honoring the Iranian children who were killed in a U.S. missile strike on an elementary school — a move Iranian American fans said showed their allegiance to the government and the political pressure it places on them.

Iranian athletes have faced serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, a prominent former member of the national team was arrested for allegedly protesting against the country's leadership. This year, star striker Sardar Azmoun wasn't selected for World Cup warmup games, reportedly because of a social media post that angered the authorities.

Worries that Iran won't take part

Nader Adeli, who manages Iranian American club team Arya FC's over-60 squad in Los Angeles, is worried the war might keep Iran from attending the World Cup.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from taking part, citing safety concerns. In response, Iran asked to move its matches to Mexico, which is co-hosting the event along with the U.S. and Canada, though the head of FIFA has repeatedly rejected such a move.

Adeli, who didn’t win the ticket lottery to attend one of Iran's two Los Angeles-area matches, said the World Cup should be a moment to enjoy the sport without outside distractions.

But with war raging, he doesn't think the team will travel. And if it does, he doubts the players would be able to fully focus on competing.

“Sports should never become a political issue,” he said. “As people, we have nothing against any Americans, we have nothing against any Iranians. It is just the governments.”

Former women's team player says Iran shouldn't play

Iran's women's team made headlines last month when several members didn't sing along to the country's national anthem before their opening match at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.

Although they sang it before Iran's next two fixtures, some commenters saw their initial silence as a protest against their government — though others saw it as a display of mourning about the war. The team and players — two of whom accepted asylum offers to remain in Australia — didn't comment on the matter.

Shiva Amini, who used to play for the national team but now lives in New York City, is among the Iranian ex-pats calling on the Trump administration not to grant visas to the men's team to play in the World Cup.

The 36-year-old player, who left Iran in 2017 after being photographed not wearing a headscarf while in Europe, said many Iranians soured on the men’s squad during the 2022 World Cup, when players stayed silent as Iran was roiled by street demonstrations over the country's mandatory headscarf laws following the death of Mahsa Amini.

“They had a big platform, and instead of talking about that, they were laughing, they were so happy, and it was honestly a slap on the face,” she said. “So those are not the Iranian national soccer team. Those are the regime’s national soccer team.”

The few players who have spoken out paid dearly, Amini acknowledged, including Amir Nasr-Azadani, who faces years behind bars for his involvement in the 2022 protests.

Azmoun, the Dubai-based star striker who played for Iran's past two World Cup teams, wasn't picked to play in the team's warmups for this year's tournament, reportedly because he posted a photo on social media of himself greeting United Arab Emirates political leaders.

Plans to cheer on — and protest — Iran

Masoud Ahmadi, a 62-year-old interior designer who plays for another largely Iranian American over-60 club team, Sina FC, said he's trying to get a ticket to see Iran play. If he does, he said he'll take a stand against the Iranian leadership by carrying the country's lion-and-sun flag, which predates the Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadi said he was detained in Iran as a teenager before he fled to Turkey on foot. The U.S. granted him political asylum.

“We’re going to definitely raise our voice,” said Ahmadi, who is proud of his Iranian heritage but critical of the men's squad. “This team is not an Iranian people’s team. This is a government team."

Sasan Sadri, who manages the team, said if he scores a ticket, he'll try to wear a shirt calling for leadership change in Iran.

“As my countrymen, I like them to achieve,” he said. “I don’t support the regime, but soccer is soccer.”

As for Ershad, the New York grad student, he plans to support the Iranian team if the government is overthrown before the tournament starts. If not, he'll back soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo's side to win it all.

“It's so hard to not cheer for your national team, but let’s go Portugal," he said.

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Taxin reported from Irvine, California.

How soon Milwaukee gets back to the playoffs could depend on an offseason that’s shaping up to be among the most critical in franchise history due to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s uncertain future.

Has the two-time MVP played his last game in a Bucks uniform?

“I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said Sunday after a 126-106 loss at Philadelphia that capped the Bucks’ 32-50 season. “It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

Antetokounmpo, 31, has spent his entire 13-year career in Milwaukee, which selected the 6-foot-11 forward with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first title in half a century in 2021, and he owns franchise career records in virtually every major statistical category.

He’s eligible to become a free agent after next season if he doesn’t sign a four-year, $275 million contract extension in October. Or the Bucks could trade him beforehand if they don’t believe he will sign that extension. That uncertainty helps explain why Antetokounmpo was the center of attention at this season's trade deadline though the Bucks ultimately kept him.

Antetokounmpo was asked Sunday whether he’d sign an extension.

“It’s something I have to sit down with my family and see what’s best for me, what’s best for my family,” he replied.

Doc Rivers, who announced Monday that he's stepping down as the Bucks' coach, said he just wants a positive resolution for both parties.

“Giannis and this franchise won a title together, and to me, that should never be lost, no matter how this ends up,” Rivers said. “As I said, Giannis is a fantastic person. I’ve been lucky to coach a lot of stars, and he’s right at the top as far as just good people. I want good people to be taken care of.”

Late-season dispute hinders relationship

This crossroads arrives at a time when the relationship between Antetokounmpo and the front office is at its most fragile.

Antetokounmpo’s final game of the season came March 15 when an awkward fall on a dunk caused him to leave a victory over the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in a career-low 36 games.

He wanted to play the last couple of weeks and believed he was healthy enough to do so. Team officials continued to hold him out while saying he had a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The NBA is investigating the situation.

If the Bucks do lose Antetokounmpo, they could face a long rebuild because of their lack of draft assets.

The Bucks will have a lottery pick this year either in their own spot or in New Orleans’ spot — they’ll pick in the less favorable of those two positions. But they don’t have first-round selections in 2027 or 2029. They’ve agreed to pick swaps that could negatively impact their draft position in 2028 and 2030.

Since winning their 2021 title, the Bucks have made just two first-round picks: MarJon Beauchamp in 2022 and AJ Johnson in 2024. Neither remains with the team.

Antetokounmpo has said repeatedly he likes playing in Milwaukee but wants to be part of a franchise committed to competing for championships. The Bucks haven’t won a playoff series since 2022 and just produced their first losing season since 2015-16.

“We’re the furthest away we’ve been,” Antetokounmpo said. “I didn’t think we were going to be in this position last year, so I don’t know what position we will be in next year.”

Misfortune leads to Bucks' slide

Bad luck has played a role in Milwaukee’s downturn.

Khris Middleton had a knee injury that prevented the three-time All-Star from playing in Milwaukee’s 2022 Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Boston. The Bucks had the NBA’s best record in 2022-23, but a back bruise caused Antetokounmpo to miss 2 ½ playoff games as Miami stunned Milwaukee in the first round.

Antetokounmpo missed the entire 2024 first-round playoff loss to Indiana with a calf strain. Damian Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of another first-round defeat against Indiana last year.

Milwaukee’s injuries this season weren’t limited to Antetokounmpo. Kevin Porter Jr., the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, played in only 36 games.

The Bucks often weren't even competitive this season as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Milwaukee dropped 20 games by at least 20 points. According to Sportradar, they never before had more than 14 losses of at least 20 points in a single season.

The Bucks had 14 losses of at least 25 points — twice the previous franchise single-season high. They had eight defeats of at least 30 points, which also doubled the previous franchise record.

“Obviously when you have injuries to two of your top ball handlers like Giannis and KPJ, it kind of hurt us a lot,” forward Bobby Portis said. “And then all the outside noise as well kind of just took away from the team. Years before, things that were said or things we had internally that were about the team didn’t really get out to the media. There were a lot more dark clouds than in previous years.”

Bucks general manager Jon Horst has taken big swings plenty of times before that helped convince Antetokounmpo to stay.

Antetokounmpo signed an extension in 2021 after Horst added Jrue Holiday. Antetokounmpo signed another extension after the 2023 acquisition of Lillard.

After Lillard tore his Achilles, the Bucks took another gamble by waiving him and stretching out the remaining $113 million on his contract over the next five years. That gave them enough short-term cap flexibility to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

Horst now faces his biggest challenge yet as he tries to put together a roster strong enough to have Antetokounmpo believing he can contend for a title without changing teams.

“Money doesn’t mean nothing to me,” Antetokounmpo said. “Zero. Absolutely zero. What means something to me, it’s winning.”

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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

Perry Pendleton, 70, of Maybee, won the $100,000 prize when his Super Raffle number (071820) was chosen in the Nov. 19 drawing, according to an April 13 release from the Michigan Lottery.

“I bought five Super Raffle tickets over the course of a few weeks and put them in a box since the drawing was a few months out,” Pendleton said. “Just last week, I thought that I’d better check my Super Raffle tickets since I still hadn’t done that yet.

“One of the tickets was a $100 winner and then to my surprise, one came up as a $100,000 winner! I thought to myself: ‘Is this real?’ I had to check the ticket three or four more times after that.”

Pendleton said he shared the news with a few people on April Fools’ Day.

“I told a few family members about the big win on April Fools’ Day, so I’m still not sure if they know it’s real,” said Pendleton. “If not, they are about to!”

The 70-year-old purchased his winning ticket at the Kroger at 531 West Main Street in Milan, which is about 15 miles south of Ann Arbor.

“With my winnings, I plan to save some, share some, and spend some, in that order,” the player said.

According to the Michigan Lottery, Super Raffle featured a top prize of $6 million and two $1 million prizes. The game also offered other prizes, including 12 prizes of $100,000, 3,500 prizes of $500, and 15,000 prizes of $100.

“I have truly loved my time in Milwaukee,” Rivers said Monday in a statement released by the team. “Coming back to where I got my start, to a city that has always embraced me, has been a privilege. I am disappointed that things did not turn out the way any of us hoped, but I am deeply grateful for this experience, the relationships built, and unwavering support from our fans and the community. Milwaukee will always mean a lot to me, and this chapter will hold a special place in my heart.”

The announcement comes a day after the Bucks ended a 32-50 season that snapped their run of nine straight playoff appearances. The news release announcing Rivers’ departure as coach didn’t indicate whether he might have any role with the team moving forward.

“It has been an honor to have Doc as our coach and as a leader in our organization and community,” Bucks owners Wes Edens, Jimmy Haslam, Dee Haslam and Jamie Dinan said in a statement. “In addition to his impact on the court, we’re thankful for Doc’s class and professionalism during his tenure in Milwaukee.”

Rivers went 97-103 in 2 1/2 seasons with the Bucks. He owns a 1,194-866 overall record and overtook George Karl for sixth place on the career wins list among NBA coaches this season. The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame announced this month that Rivers would be part of its newest induction class.

The 64-year-old had left little doubt about his future as the season wound down.

“I have seven grandkids now and they’re all 8 years and under,” Rivers said about his future before an April 7 loss at Brooklyn. “And it kills me every time I miss grandparents’ day with each one of them in school. And it’s probably time to go see them more. So, I’ll let you figure out the rest.”

Rivers’ exit comes amid questions surrounding the future of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led Milwaukee to its first title in half a century in 2021 and has set Bucks career records in virtually every major statistical category.

Antetokounmpo’s status dominated league discussions as the trade deadline approached, but he wasn’t dealt. He since has been in a disagreement with team management over his injury status.

The last game Antetokounmpo played was on March 15. He said in the closing weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, while the Bucks continued to rule him out because of a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The NBA is investigating the matter.

Antetokounmpo had two extended absences because of right calf strains and ended up playing in just 36 games. Kevin Porter Jr., the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, appeared in just 38.

“It’s hard,” Rivers said Sunday. “I don’t remember guys being out like this, but it makes sense. I haven’t had a lot of this. It’s no fun. Losing, I don’t give a crap what the reasons are, I’m just too competitive. It’s just no fun not winning. It just isn’t.”

Rivers won a championship with Boston

Rivers won a title with Boston in 2008 and led the Celtics to Game 7 of the NBA Finals two years later, but his teams haven't advanced beyond the regional semifinals since. He owns a career playoff record of 114-112.

This marks the first full season in which Rivers has coached and posted a losing record since 2006-07, when he went 24-58 with Boston.

Rivers came to Milwaukee after head coaching stints with the Orlando Magic, Boston, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. He was working as a broadcaster for ESPN and ABC before the Bucks hired him.

He took over midway through the 2023-24 season after the firing of first-year head coach Adrian Griffin. The move represented a homecoming of sorts for Rivers, who played at Marquette before his 13-year NBA playing career. His No. 31 college jersey hangs from the rafters at Fiserv Forum, the arena that both the Bucks and Marquette call home.

But the Bucks never managed to establish any momentum during Rivers' tenure, with injuries playing a major role.

Bucks struggled with injuries

Milwaukee went 17-19 under Rivers during that 2023-24 season to finish a 49-33 season. They lost to Indiana 4-2 in the opening round of the playoffs, with Antetokounmpo missing the entire series because of a calf strain.

Last season, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton didn’t start playing until early December after offseason surgery to each of his ankles, and he got sent to Washington at the trade deadline. Damian Lillard missed Milwaukee’s final 14 regular-season games because of deep vein thrombosis in his right calf, returned for Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series loss to Indiana but tore his Achilles tendon two games later.

With Lillard unable to play this season, the Bucks waived him and agreed to pay his remaining salary over the next five seasons. That opened up cap space for the Bucks to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

Milwaukee won four of its first five games but struggled the rest of the way while playing much of the season without its superstar.

“I personally have enjoyed the challenge,” Rivers said after Sunday’s game. “It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, obviously. I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things. But I’m not a big guy in looking back. All you can do is look forward.”

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AP Pro Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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

As of Monday, she was 16 days old after being born here in the mud, said her mother, Haifa Kenjo.

Kenjo, 34, was nine months pregnant when Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh sent her, her husband and their 2-year-old son, Khalid, running for their lives in sandals and pajamas. They had no time to bring anything as explosions shook the house, they said — not clothes, not cash.

They took refuge in a donated tent near downtown Beirut and secured the tarp with rocks as the wind threatened to rip it from the ground.

Of the more than 1 million people uprooted in Lebanon by this latest war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, 13,500 are pregnant and more than 1,500 are expected to deliver in the next month, the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency said this week, warning that many struggle to access adequate maternal care.

When life had been normal, Kenjo pictured giving birth at Beirut's main public hospital, where she delivered Khalid. She is originally from Syria, and although she has spent almost half her life in the Lebanese capital and married a Lebanese man, she must pay to access the country’s public hospitals, where Lebanese mothers can give birth for free.

When her water broke and she went into labor on March 28, she called an ambulance and her husband scraped together the $40 admission fee. But the $500 they needed to deliver Shiman at the hospital was buried in the ruins of their home, razed the week before in an Israeli airstrike.

They returned to the tent, called a midwife and prayed.

Umm Ali, the midwife, said she did her best, but the tent was filthy. The rain seeped inside. They washed tiny Shiman with bottled water.

Kenjo had no milk in her breasts to give her child. Infant formula costs more than her husband makes in a day installing water tanks.

She knows her baby is hungry. Volunteers passing out food in the displacement camp gave her just enough formula for the next few days.

Shiman doesn’t cry like a normal infant. She coughs. Her skin is cold and clammy, pockmarked with insect bites.

“She is so precious,” Kenjo said, stroking her baby girl. “But for her we have nothing. We have less than zero.”

Elite company, indeed.

If joining the first group wasn't difficult enough for McIlroy — 11 years of trying to get the final leg of the Grand Slam — then winning his second Masters green jacket was a clear reminder of how hard it was to get there.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam,” McIlroy said. “And then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters.”

So where does he go from here?

McIlroy went into a funk last year after fulfilling a lifelong dream. He became irritated by endless questions about what would motivate him, which mountain was next to scale, when all he wanted to do was soak it all in. He finally got back on track at the Irish Open.

That doesn't sound like it will be a problem this time around.

“I felt like the Grand Slam was the destination, and I realized it wasn't,” McIlroy said after ending another wild Sunday afternoon at Augusta National with a one-shot win over Scottie Scheffler.

“I just won my sixth major, and I feel like I'm in a really good spot with my game and my body,” he said. “I don't want to put a number on it, but I feel like this win is just ... I don't want to say a stop on the journey, it's just part of the journey.”

Trying to put a number on how many majors he will win began long before he won his first Masters, much less the second one. McIlroy won his first major in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional by shattering the 72-hole scoring record at 268.

That prompted Padraig Harrington to say, “If you're going to talk about someone challenging Jack's record, there's your man.”

Nicklaus has the gold standard of 18 majors. Woods is next at 15. McIlroy is at six, tied with Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson.

Fred Couples piled on this week when he said on Thursday, “By the way, Rory may never lose this thing again after last year.” And the following day Couples added, “I mean, he really could win five more of these.”

Easy, right?

“Yeah, I don't make it easy," McIlroy said. “I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots."

He still holds the PGA Championship record for margin of victory when he won at Kiawah Island by eight shots in 2012, the year after his eight-shot victory at Congressional.

“No, it’s just hard. It’s hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here,” he said. “You’ve had maybe a couple of runaway winners over the years, but it always seems to be a very tight finish at this golf course."

It wasn't easy a year ago when he lost a Sunday lead once on the front nine and twice on the back nine before beating Justin Rose in a playoff. And it didn't look that way this time when he lost a six-shot lead on Saturday, and then twice found himself two shots behind different players, Cameron Young on the front nine and Justin Rose on the back.

Scottie Scheffler was in range and had to settle for making 11 straight pars. Young had birdie putts on eight straight holes on the back nine and converted none of them.

And then McIlroy was a whisker away from trouble over the final hour — the wedge that barely cleared the false front on the 15th, a sporty up-and-down from off the 17th green that gave him a two-shot cushion going to the last hole, and a drive so far right McIlroy wasn't sure where it was when he walked off the tee.

It ended with more joy than relief, a big difference from a year ago. The only tears came when he spoke to his parents, who were not at Augusta a year ago and had to be persuaded to come this year because they didn't want to jinx him.

With a bogey on the last hole he could afford, it ended with a one-shot advantage over Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world. This was the first time since the 2002 U.S. Open the top two players in the world — Woods and Phil Mickelson at Bethpage Black — were the top two at a major.

McIlroy and Scheffler have combined to win four of the last five majors. Scheffler is a U.S. Open short of joining the career Grand Slam club, and his position at No. 1 in the world is not threatened even after McIlroy's latest Masters title.

“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said.

McIlroy is the first player since Adam Scott in 2013 to have taken three weeks off before winning the Masters. There's a sense that will be part of his plan going forward when possible. He felt like more than an honorary member as many trips as he took to Augusta in the last few weeks.

“I think it's a good blueprint,” McIlroy said. "I’m not going to take three weeks off before every major. ... When I've talked to Jack Nicklaus over the years how he prepared for majors, and he would go the week before, and he would simulate a tournament.

“I think that’s certainly a good way to prepare going into the next majors.”

The next one starts May 15, another stop in the journey without needing to set a target for how many.

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

It comes over 60 years after the then 39-year-old was killed by the Ku Klux Klan.

Now, her family is keeping her story alive and speaking one-on-one with Local 4.

Her incredible story still lives on in 2026, but it started over a century ago.

Anthe Liuzzo, Viola Liuzzo’s daughter-in-law, said Viola was born in Pennsylvania and her family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, after.

As a young adult, Viola Liuzzo then moved up north to Detroit. That’s where she built a life and a family.

“When the last one was in first grade, that’s when she wanted to go back to nursing school, so she went to Wayne State,” Anthe Liuzzo said.

Viola Liuzzo was also involved with her kids’ schools, especially frustrated when many had not integrated.

Detroit quickly became her home. In 1965, she was 39 years old and a mom to five kids, striving to be a public health nurse.

“She heard Dr. King say, ‘Anyone who can get down here, who can march with us, please do so,’ and she just felt it,” Liuzzo said.

Viola Liuzzo traveled to Selma and joined the historic march.

After the march, and working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s transportation service, she helped ferry marchers between Selma and Montgomery.

“The Klan’s car pulled up and shot her, disorienting her in her car. She veered off and just went into a field and they went up to her and shot her twice – assassinated basically,” Anthe Liuzzo said.

Although her life may have ended there, her family has helped her legacy live on in the city of Detroit and beyond.

Other people have worked to honor her too – like artist Arlan Feiles. He wrote an original song, titled, “Viola,” to honor her legacy.

It’s keeping the legacy alive that makes this unveiling mean so much to her family.

“Talk to us a little bit about what the city of Detroit means to you all as a family and what it meant to Viola,” Local 4 said.

“This would not have gotten done in many other cities. Detroit gets it done,” Anthe Liuzzo said.

“I think I will get through this,” Jamie said on WJR. “I cannot wake up in the morning with you guys for the next couple months. ... I could have privately gone through this and just done it on my own, but I think the support that I’ve gotten from the breast cancer community and watching other women go through it has immensely helped me to get to this point where I can talk about it. So I’ve decided I want to talk about it and maybe help others.”

Jamie has been part of the Local 4 sports team since January 2013, working as both an anchor and a reporter.

She revealed her breast cancer diagnosis Monday morning on WJR, where she anchors in the mornings.

“Once you get the diagnosis, it is a dark, dark time,” Jamie said. “It is scary. It’s dark. You’re going through the motions of life. You still have to go to Kroger and get eggs. You still have to pick up your daughter from daycare, but it’s like you’re a ghost, and you can’t focus on anything. How did I get out of that? It’s by talking to other people.”

She has already had six chemotherapy sessions. She has 16 treatments over 20 weeks. She said she had a clean mammogram in July, but felt something that wasn’t right about six months later.

“You have to take that seriously,” Jamie said. “If you don’t do self breast exams, you should.”

Jamie’s broadcasting career includes two Michigan Association of Broadcasters “best sportscast” awards. She’s also been nominated twice for Michigan Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

Here’s what Jamie posted on Instagram:

For two decades on TV and radio, I’ve told other people’s stories. Today, I think it’s time I tell my own.

Two months ago, I got the call that changed my life: ‘your biopsy came back. It’s positive for breast cancer.’

After the initial shock wore off, I got really scared. Would I be around to see my young daughter grow up? Would the doctors be able to cure me? Why did this happen in the first place? I have no family history.

While many questions remain, I have full faith in my team @henryfordhealth and I truly believe I will come out on the other side.

My family, my friends and my faith helped me get to a better place and out of those dark thoughts. You know what else gave my hope? Hearing from the women who’ve been through it. I didn’t know this, but there is a network of survivors who band together to help the newest members of the club. Strangers called and texted me. It was beautiful. I also consumed a lot of social media content of women with my same diagnosis. If they can do it, I can do it.

So, if I can share my story and help others as I’ve been helped, then that’s what I plan to do.

Stay tuned.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

Jamie Edmonds on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

Michelin inspectors are already on the ground scouting restaurants across the area. It’s all part of the new Michelin Guide American Great Lakes edition.

The Michelin guide is the gold standard in fine dining. It’s one of the highest honors a restaurant can receive.

And this isn’t Detroit’s first Michelin moment. That came back in 2024, when it received a Michelin Green Guide, spotlighting the best in culture, architecture, and travel.

Now, this new chapter is putting Detroit’s food scene on the global map. Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, joined Local 4 Live to talk about what this means for the city.

You can watch the full interview in the video at the beginning of this article.

New Gallup polling finds that while more employees are using AI frequently in their work, there’s been an uptick in alarm that new technologies will replace their jobs. Many workers who are not using AI say they prefer to work without it, have ethical oppositions to the technology or worry about data privacy.

The poll, conducted in February, points to a divergence in how AI is reshaping American workplaces. Some find it to be a gamechanger for productivity and efficiency, while others are concerned about its potentially negative impacts.

Social worker Scott Segal said he regularly uses AI to find information that will help connect his elderly and vulnerable patients to health care resources in northern Virginia. While he knows that the human connection and care he brings to that work is important, he also believes that AI could soon replace him.

“I’m planning ahead,” said Segal, 53. “I think everyone who works in a replaceable field or trade should be planning ahead.”

Most workers using AI report productivity boosts

Roughly 3 in 10 employees are frequent users of AI in their jobs, meaning they use it daily or a few times a week. About 2 in 10 are infrequent users, using AI tools at work a few times a month or a few times a year.

The Gallup poll found that about 4 in 10 workers say their organization has adopted AI tools or technology to improve organizational practices. About two-thirds of those workers say AI has had an “extremely” or “somewhat” positive impact on their individual productivity and efficiency at work.

Workers using AI in management roles are more likely to say the technology has been at least “somewhat" positive for their productivity, compared with individual contributors. About 7 in 10 leaders using AI at least a few times a year say AI has made them more efficient at work, compared with just over half of individual contributors.

Labor and employment attorney Elizabeth Bloch of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said she uses ChatGPT to help “draft letters or emails in a diplomatic way because it’s a very adversarial profession and sometimes you get heated.”

AI tools appear to have a greater benefit for workers in managerial, health care and technology roles than in service jobs. About 6 in 10 employees in those fields who are using AI say it's boosted their productivity at least “somewhat,” compared with 45% of those using it in service jobs.

Why some employees don’t use AI

Even when companies make AI tools available, there’s no guarantee employees will adopt them. About half of U.S. employees use AI only once a year or not at all, according to the Gallup study.

Bloch said she's tried using AI for legal research but finds it is prone to hallucinations, or making up false information, even when using AI tools custom-built for legal work. She's worried other lawyers who were already bad at finding and citing relevant case law are “going to be bad at using AI, because you’re not using the right prompts," leading judges to sanction them for false citations.

Among workers who have AI tools available at their company and don’t use them, 46% say it’s because they prefer to keep doing their work the way they do it now. About 4 in 10 non-users who have AI available to them report that they are ethically opposed to AI, are concerned about data privacy or don’t believe AI can be helpful for the work they do.

About one-quarter of these non-users who have AI tools available say they have used AI at work and don’t find it helpful, while about 2 in 10 say they do not feel prepared to use AI effectively.

Thuy Pisone, a contract administrator in Maryland for a company that works with the federal government, said she uses AI weekly for mundane tasks but has avoided it for things she already can do just fine.

“I have heard from my colleagues that we could use AI to put together our PowerPoint slides,” Pisone said. “I’m a little biased in that, well, I could put my own PowerPoints together. I don’t need help because it took me time to hone up my skill.”

More workers are concerned about new technology taking jobs

While this was less of a reason for forgoing AI at work, the poll also found U.S. workers are increasingly concerned about being driven out of a job by new technologies.

About 2 in 10 — 18% — of U.S. workers say it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that their current job will be eliminated within the next five years because of new technology, automation, robots or AI. That’s up from 15% in 2025. People working at companies that have adopted AI are even more likely to be concerned that their job will be eliminated: 23% call this at least “somewhat” likely in the next few years.

A Fox News poll conducted in March found that about 6 in 10 registered voters believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates over the next five years. Only about 1 in 10 expect it will create more positions, and about one-third say it’s too soon to say. About 7 in 10 employed voters say they are “not very” or “not at all” concerned their current job could be eliminated by AI.

Segal, the social worker in Virginia, said his alternative plan if AI replaces him is to start a new “health care chaperone service” that physically escorts patients from one appointment to another, especially when they've been sedated and don't have family or others to pick them up.

“I don’t think that’s something that will be replaced for another maybe 10 or 15 years, until robots are embodied with AI," Segal said. “I do believe that AI is going to displace most people’s employment functions and I question what people will do for livelihood at that point.”

In the meantime, he's been asking AI chatbots to help him strategize on saving for his retirement.

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Gallup’s quarterly workforce surveys were conducted with a random sample of adults age 18 and older who work full time and part time for organizations in the United States and are members of Gallup’s probability-based Gallup Panel. The most recent survey of 23,717 employed U.S. adults was conducted Feb. 4-19, 2026. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 0.9 percentage points.

Temperatures are expected to get into at least the 70s every day this week, but that comes with storm threats every day except for Friday.

Keep in mind that forecast details for later in the week are still several days out and could change. We will continue to update the forecast as models evolve.

Monday

We’re under a marginal (level 1 of 5) risk for severe weather on Monday.

We’re expecting conditions to be dry during most of the daylight hours, but there’s a chance for showers after sunset.

Models are currently downplaying the strength of the overnight storms.

There are two windows for possible rain or storms. The first is in the southern parts of Southeast Michigan, primary south of I-94. That window is from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Tuesday

The second window of severe weather will be after 2 a.m. and until 9 a.m. Tuesday. All of Southeast Michigan is under a marginal risk of severe weather, with wind and hail as the primary threats.

The window for the greatest risk begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday and lasts overnight into Wednesday morning.

Rain, damaging winds, hail, and even an isolated tornado are possible threats during this window.

Wednesday

The full window for the slight (level 2 of 5) risk is from 8 p.m. Tuesday to around 8 a.m. Wednesday. So it could affect the morning commute.

After this window, the rest of Wednesday comes with a marginal (level 1 of 5) risk of severe weather. This comes with a risk of excessive rain and flodding.

Thursday

There’s some storm risk on Thursday, with more scattered showers expected.

We aren’t expecting severe weather on Friday.

Saturday

Storm chances return on Saturday. We’ll continue to monitor that as the week goes on.

While there are storm chances almost every day this week, we aren’t expecting all-day washouts. Most days will have windows of nice weather followed by mostly late-evening to early morning storm chances.

With an overwhelming new mandate, Magyar pledged to cooperate with other European countries, ending Orbán-era obstruction of Europe-wide policies, while also representing Hungarians’ wishes.

At a news conference Monday in Budapest, he promised to restore rule of law and overhaul government structures to make them more independent and able to fight corruption, and to create new ministries to address acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection and education.

He said he opposes fast-track EU membership for Ukraine while the country is still in a war. But he suggested he wouldn’t veto a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine, as Orbán did, and instead wants Hungary to ″opt out″ of participating in the loan because of its own financial struggles.

He didn’t immediately address his eventual relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who supported Orbán's campaign.

Magyar said his Tisza party received “a never-before-seen mandate,'' a super-majority that would allow it to embark on ambitious program and reforms.

“The Hungarian people didn’t vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change in regime,” he said.

In his campaign, Magyar also pledged to end Hungary’s drift toward Russia. On Monday, Magyar thanked Moscow and Beijing for offering their congratulations and willingness to work with Hungary’s new government.

“Hungarians said yesterday they will write their history, not in Moscow, not in Beijing, not in Washington," he added.

During his long time in office, Orbán ruled with the power of a two-thirds parliamentary majority, allowing him to pass a new constitution, rewrite the electoral system and reshape the judiciary.

Magyar’s party secured exactly such a mandate Sunday when it won 138 of parliament’s 199 seats, giving it broad authority to undo much of the legislation that allowed Orbán to stack the courts, manipulate the electoral system, crack down on press freedom and discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.

Still, there are potential pitfalls that could stand in the way of the radical changes many Hungarians had hoped for.

Historic win

Magyar’s victory was met with jubilation on the streets of Budapest late Sunday with tens of thousands, many of them young people, celebrating what they view as a ray of hope that Orbán’s loss will make Hungary freer, happier and firmly rooted within the fold of European democracies.

On streets and avenues across the capital, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed.

During the celebrations, Adrien Rixer said he’d come back to Hungary from his home in London “because I really wanted to make my vote count, and I’m over the moon.”

“Finally I can say that I’m a proud Hungarian, finally after 16 years,” he said.

Many Hungarians, and others across Europe who were closely watching the election, had feared that a simple majority for Tisza would have been inadequate to truly transform Orbán’s system.

Yet others remain uncertain about what the authority of a two-thirds majority will bring, with some uneasy about taking such a mandate from Orbán and delivering it to his opponent.

“Its hard to see that with two-thirds that it's going to be a fair government, but we will see,” said reveller Dániel Kovács. “Lets hope that it’s going to be a promising four years.”

The election win for Magyar and Tisza was without precedent in Hungary's post-Communist history: They received more votes and more parliamentary seats than any party ever had before.

Bulcsú Hunyadi, an analyst with the Budapest-based think tank Political Capital, said that while Tisza's constitutional majority gives it broad powers to roll back many of Orbán's policies, Hungary's key institutions are “led by people who are cemented in their position for many years.”

As part of his broader effort to consolidate control over Hungary’s democratic system, Orbán installed loyal allies at the helm of key institutions, from the media authority to the public prosecutor’s office and the Constitutional Court.

In several cases, mandates were extended or new appointments pushed through before existing terms had expired — moves that effectively kept loyal leadership locked in place for years, well beyond any potential change in government.

Magyar called for such officials — including Hungary's president — to step down of their own accord. Beyond that, Hunyadi said, “they don’t really have any other tools to remove these people.”

Pressure from the EU

Magyar accuses Orbán and his government of mismanaging Hungary’s economy and social services, and overseeing unchecked corruption he says has led to the accumulation of extreme wealth within a small circle of well-connected insiders while leaving ordinary Hungarians behind.

He’s vowed to hold such abuses to account, and plans to create an Office for the Recovery and Protection of National Assets to reclaim what he says are Orbán’s allies' ill-gotten gains.

Magyar campaigned heavily on a promise to bring home billions of euros in European Union funding that has been frozen over corruption and rule-of-law concerns under Orbán. He’s also pledged to introduce the euro to Hungary by 2030 — something Orbán’s government long resisted.

Hunyadi, the analyst, said Magyar's government will be under “tight pressure” by the EU to quickly carry out reforms in order to get access to those frozen funds that are badly needed by Hungary's faltering economy.

“There are deadlines in terms of unfreezing the funds. They will have to deliver certain laws and reforms by August this year, which is only a few months away,” he said.

Tisza's win raised hopes across the EU that a new government in Budapest would reverse Orbán's antagonistic approach to Ukraine and his obstruction of efforts to assist the war-ravaged country as it defends against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Orbán has used his veto power in the EU to stymie sanctions on Russia and block crucial funding to Kyiv. He's also vowed never to allow talks on Ukraine joining the EU to resume.

In a statement on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Orbán's election campaign, “which unfortunately was marked by manipulative rhetoric about Ukraine, is now behind us.”

“We expect that ... the election results will also contribute to a normalization of political relations,” Sybiha said.

According to the owners of Good Hart General Store, located on the Tunnel of Trees (M-119) in Northern Michigan, a part of the iconic route collapsed on April 13 after a combination of rain and snowmelt, along with a partial road closure earlier last week due to spring erosion.

“Our thoughts are with friends in Pellston and Cheboygan facing who are facing worse situations,” said Good Hart General Store on Facebook.

Flood Watches, Warnings

Multiple areas in Northern Michigan are under flood watches and warnings, including Clare, Mecosta, Osceola, Lake, Mason, Newaygo, Cheboygan and Oceana counties, as well as the entire Upper Peninsula.

Flash flood warnings are in effect for areas in Manistee and McKinley.

See weather alerts here.

Rory McIlroy becomes 4th player to repeat at Masters

McIlroy is just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.

Tiger Woods (2001-02), Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) and Nick Faldo (1989-90) are the other repeat champions.

After a slow start, McIlroy played the final 12 holes in 3-under par to finish with a one-stroke victory over Scottie Scheffler to earn his second green jacket and a $4.5 million prize.

After surrendering all of his six-shot 36-hole lead on Saturday, McIlroy started the final round by playing the first six holes in 3 over. He turned things around on the seventh hole when he hit his iron to 7 feet.

McIlroy was strong until the 18th hole, when his tee shot found the woods. He managed to make bogey to seal the win.

Rory McIlroy closing in on back-to-back Masters wins

McIlroy is at 13 under and holds a two-shot lead over Scheffler and Rose with two holes left to play.

Rory McIlroy back in the lead at the Masters

The pressure of the Masters might be starting to get to Rose.

He missed the green on No. 12 after his chip shot failed to reach the putting surface. It resulted in his second straight bogey, allowing McIlroy to regain the lead.

McIlroy is at 11 under while Rose dropped into a second-place tie with Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley and Cameron Young at 10 under.

Rory McIlroy misses opportunity to tie Justin Rose

McIlroy missed a makeable put on the ninth hole that would have tied him with Rose at 12 under.

He remains one back of the lead heading into the 10th.

Justin Rose has taken sole possession of the lead at the Masters

The Masters leaderboard is changing at breakneck speed — and we’re not even to the back nine.

Rose made birdie at the eighth hole and now has sole possession of the lead after Young made bogey at the seventh.

Rose lost in a playoff to McIlroy last year.

Does winning the Players Championship = winning the Masters?

Cameron Young holds a two-shot lead at the Masters after five holes as he seeks to become the third straight player to follow up a win at the Players Championship with a victory at Augusta National.

Scottie Scheffler won both tournaments in 2024 and Rory McIlroy matched that feat last year.

Young’s best finish at the Masters came in 2023 when he finished tied for seventh.

McIlroy breaks down, Young takes 2-shot lead at Masters

Young has taken sole possession of the lead at the Masters after McIlroy double-bogeyed the fourth hole. Young is at 12 under and leads by two.

Rory McIlroy moves back into a tie for 1st at Masters

McIlroy isn’t going to let Young run away with a green jacket.

The defending Masters champion birdied the par-5 third hole to reach 12 under on Sunday, while Young had to make a nervy 6-footer to save par on the same hole and remain tied with the Northern Irishman after briefly taking a one-shot lead.

They have a three-shot cushion on Scheffler, who has birdied two of his first six holes to reach 9 under. The world No. 1 is trying to become the first player since Danny Willett in 2016 to come from outside the final group and win the Masters.

▶ Here’s the leaderboard

Leaders tee off at the final round of the Masters

McIlroy and Young have teed off at the Masters, which means everyone is out on the course for the final round.

McIlroy blew a record 36-hole lead of six shots on Saturday with a round of 73, which allowed Young to pull into a tie with him at 11 under following his 65 — tied for the low round of the tournament. They had a one-shot lead over Sam Burns, though Scottie Scheffler and a host of other big names were ready to give chase.

Scheffler began the day at 7 under and promptly birdied the difficult par-4 first hole to start his round in style.

Scottie Scheffler begins hunt for a 3rd green jacket

The world’s No. 1 made up a lot of ground on Saturday, when his second-round 65 matched co-leader Young for the best of the day. It left Scheffler at 7 under for the tournament, four shots behind Young and McIlroy.

This would be the first time Scheffler has come from behind at Augusta National to win on Sunday. In 2022, he had a three-shot lead after the third round and won by the same margin. Two years ago, he led by one going into Sunday and won by four.

There’s reason to believe that Scheffler can make up the ground, though.

Through the first three rounds, the four-time major champion ranks first from tee-to-green and first in ballstriking. So, why isn’t he in the lead? Scheffler is nearly last in putting. If he can get a few to drop, watch out.

▶ Here’s the leaderboard

Leaders’ tee times for the final round of the Masters

Rory McIlroy lost a six-shot lead during the third round of the Masters, so it makes sense that anyone within six shots of the lead has at least a shot at the green jacket.

Those at 5 under were scheduled to go off shortly after 1 p.m. EDT, beginning with Ben Griffin and Jake Knapp. They were followed at 1:30 p.m. by Collin Morikawa (-5) and Patrick Reed (-6), with Patrick Cantlay (-6) and Russell Henley (-6) going off at 1:41 p.m.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li, both at 7 under, were paired together at 1:52 p.m.

Justin Rose, who lost in a playoff to McIlroy last year, was at 8 under along with Jason Day. They were due off at 2:03 p.m. Sam Burns (-10) and Shane Lowry (-9) were in the penultimate group at 2:14 p.m. before McIlroy and Cameron Young strike their opening tee shots at 2:25 p.m. on Tea Olive, the 445-yard par-4 first hole at Augusta National.

Sergio didn’t need that driver anyway

Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion, will be playing the remainder of the final round without his driver after snapping off the head of it following an angry outburst on the second tee box. After sending his tee shot into a bunker, Garcia took a swipe at a table with a green cooler on it and severed the head of the driver. It was left briefly dangling from the shaft before Garcia grabbed it and ripped it off completely. Geoff Yang, the chairman of the Masters competitions committee, met up with Garcia on the fourth tee box and issued him a code of conduct warning, according to club officials.

Setting up Sunday at the Masters

The forecast for the final round of the Masters is much like it has been all week at Augusta National: hot, dry and sunny.

That’s good news for the thousands of patrons. But it could be bad news for those trying to navigate 18 holes. The weather has been such that club officials can set up the course just about anyway they want. They seemed to give players a reprieve with easier hole locations and softer conditions on Friday and Saturday, but chances are they will want it difficult on Sunday.

That means hard, fast greens that reject wayward approach shots into difficult pin placements.

“When greens are firm and targets are tight, even a light wind can add another layer of difficulty,” said John Feerick, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “Players who manage launch, spin and landing spot most effectively may have the clearest edge.”

Masters’ gnomes coming to an end?

The Masters gnome has grown increasingly popular — and valuable — over the last 10 years. But this year’s gnome has become especially sought after on re-sale markets amid speculation this will be the final year they’ll be produced.

Masters chairman Fred Ridley has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors.

The 13 1/2-inch gnome features the traditional old man with a white beard dressed in golf attire and holding an umbrella and Masters-themed cup. It is only available for purchase at Augusta National (not online) and is selling for $59.50.

However, some are taking the gnome home and using it to help pay for their Masters expenses. The gnome is commanding more than $600 on eBay and Marketplace. With only 1,000 gnomes available per day and regularly selling out within an hour, fans are lining up early in the morning to get one.

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

Greier would be worrying less if the solar farm he wanted on his land had come to pass. But local officials blocked it in 2023 under an Ohio state law, and Greier — facing a heavy medical debt — had to sell part of his land to stay afloat. The deal that was killed would have brought him about $540,000 in lease payments every year.

“It was our saving grace,” he said. “It wasn’t a scary picture that everybody likes to paint about solar and the loss of farmland.”

Local opposition to solar has long been an obstacle for green energy developers. But some communities are working to reverse local restrictions, citing the tax benefits and jobs the projects bring and the lease payments from energy companies that can provide stable income to farmers in a volatile industry.

When a solar company approached him wanting to build panels on part of his land, Greier, 42, and a sixth-generation farmer, hesitated. But facing $1 million in medical debt from a long battle with COVID and related complications, he saw a chance to save his farm.

Some in the community thought differently.

Greier said he and his family were ostracized as debate over the project played out in public meetings. His mental health plummeted. And the project was eventually blocked under a state law that allows counties to block construction of wind and solar farms on land they deem “restricted.”

“I was the one that was going to lose the sixth-generation farm. I was the one that couldn’t provide for my family,” he said.

A tough time for renewables

President Donald Trump's hostility to green energy has battered the industry by wiping away subsidies, loans and tax incentives. But even before his return to the White House, local bans on renewable energy were becoming more common. A 2025 study from Columbia University found that from 2023 to 2024, there was a 16% increase in local laws across 44 states that restricted such projects.

“Many communities want to decarbonize and probably theoretically support renewable energy,” said Juniper Katz, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts who focuses on environmental policy. But, she added, “When it’s your community and your backyard, balancing these processes so people feel like they’ve had a say without creating so many veto points that nothing can get done, I think is the trick. And it’s not easy to do.”

In February, Dearborn County, Indiana, officials paused solar development for a year after concern from residents over the proximity of solar panels near homes and potential environmental impact of panel materials.

Bobby Rauen, who lives near part of a proposed 1,200-acre (486-hectare) solar project in that county, is among residents who petitioned for the pause. He said he hopes officials use this time to create better protections for residents living near potential solar projects. He said he was also concerned that farmland may not go back into production if solar panels are eventually removed.

After officials in Mahoning County, Ohio, halted Greier's planned 675-acre (273-hectare), 150-megawatt project, he decided to help others who wanted solar on their land, saying he “didn’t want to be a victim.” As a member of the Renewable Energy Farmers of America, Greier, who primarily farms corn and soybeans, has shared his experience with lawmakers, advocacy groups and in communities debating green energy development.

He recently spoke to government officials at a public meeting in Richland County, Ohio, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) from his home. Advocates there got a referendum on the ballot this May to reverse the county’s ban on wind and solar projects.

Morgan Carroll, a lifelong county resident, has been working since last summer to rally support to drop the ban. Though she is not a farmer or landowner, Carroll said she supports the jobs and tax revenue these projects can bring and thinks the ban takes the decision away from residents — and may someday affect her two young children.

“I want them to be in a county that can provide jobs, can provide a good school for them,” she said. “I don’t want to have to move.”

Federal policy influencing local laws

Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration moved up deadlines for utility-scale solar projects to qualify for tax incentives after the passage of a big tax breaks and spending cuts bill last July. Now, utility-scale solar projects have to be in service by the end of 2027 to qualify.

Last year, Lita Leavell and her husband, Joe, who operate a 1,000-acre (405-hectare) cattle farm in Lancaster, Kentucky, had hoped to host a utility-scale solar project on about half their land that would have brought them an estimated $60,000 per year. Like Greier, the lease payments would have ensured the land could stay in their family.

But after a Garrard County ordinance was passed in 2023 restricting the development of solar, the energy company Leavell was working with decided to end the project.

Part of her county's rationale for the ordinance was the federal government's opposition to solar energy and the Trump administration's desire to stop utility-scale projects on farmland, county leaders said during an August 2025 meeting. Leavell, who said she is a Republican, questioned why lack of federal support for green energy projects should affect her ability to pursue these projects on her own land. She and a group of six other landowners are suing to overturn the ordinance.

“The thing I guess that perplexed me so much is that there’s so many more worse things that could be next to you,” she said.

A property rights issue

Carroll, who helped gather signatures for the referendum in Richland County, Ohio, found that when the debate over solar projects was framed as a property rights issue, people in the community were more receptive.

Greier also focuses on property rights when speaking on the issue. His farm is his retirement plan, and he should have the right to use it to support his family, he said.

“There’s families that are relying on this and looking for this,” he said. “And it’s been taken away, this opportunity.”

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